Just a Personal Pet Peeve

Pet peeve.  Right, like I'm going to be responsible for feeding and caring for a peeve; take it for walks, send it to school to learn to shut up and not be a nuisance, etc.

That being said, I find it highly annoying when comedy and variety shows invite politicians on for fun, phony, self serving banter.  The government holds the power over broadcasters so they have to kiss ass.  Obama wants on the show, OK.  Makes them feel safe with fcc and all that, while the pres gets to push his party and campaign for whatever bs he's peddling today.

Same goes for all of them. Huckabee, you name it.  Stay off of regular programs.  If it isn't designed for the thug, bully, political class, then the thug bullies ought to stay off the show.  Who is going to refuse and want the wrath of the IRS or whatever to come bother them?  It is extorted publicity in a way.

It is also cronyism.  They've been doing it for awhile with increasing regularity and boldness.  Such bull.  But it works.  Dolts and dumbasses, who have that inborn affinity for royalty will watch and say, "See?  They're just regular people like us.  Just a little smarter and better dressed. But he wakes up every day asking himself, 'How can I make the lives of the wretched little people better today'.  Yep, he's got my vote."

I do not like authority any more now than I did when I was a kid.  Less than I did then, actually.  They told me my views would change the opposite direction.  In some ways, though, I have more empathy and less judgement.  I judge philosophy and ideas more than make judgements on  personal matters that have no effect on me.

Maybe they aren't dumbasses.  Maybe they just either hate people or they enjoy the dynamics of cults of personality so much that they will suspend disbelief and adherence to reality as much as it takes to keep the king in place and looking good.  Make excuses, don't demand accountability.  Hating the "haters" can become addictive so  it is important to create events to bring out the battle.  I think people just do not grasp the idea that being owned is not how it ought to be.

They are perfectly willing to put the state on the title in exchange for some financial perks and 3rd world quality medical care.  Sometimes better.  But if you are 100% on the state's dime, the insurance is like playing Russian Roulette.  Primary care then referrals then bs.
Some people do OK and some probably give up or fall through the cracks.

If I'd had that sort of thing, I bet I'd have given up on them.  

Anyway, be careful because you have no idea what is at play with strangers, and often, with friends.  Ever look around while driving on the freeway and hope those people are not feeling as wiped out and restless as you are?   I do.  I think "this is no fun.  Feeling low."  Then I think "satay awake and alert so you can get home.  You can do this."  Fighting the sudden wave of sleepy exhaustion.  Almost dozed at stop lights and even driving.

Cannot let that happen.  I don't care who you are, if you sleep drive you are screwed.  Few things are more guaranteed to queer the deal.

Roughing It In No Part Harmony

Arachnophobia  is a fear of either spiders or archeologists, I'm pretty sure.  No need to look it up. I am probably right.  I like to remain as in touch and informed as our Dear Leaders.

I know all I need to know about events in states many miles away.  Trayvon in Florida?  Uh huh, mmm, hmmm, we know what's what.  No need to be there to know how it goes down.

Same with Ferguson and any other situation in which bestowing victimhood, deserved or not, upon a person or group simply for a predetermined condition of birth, can further one's popularity, career, and get votes.  Creating enemies of "the people", condoning violent mobs and calling them peaceful demonstrators, or even protestors, is a crafty power maneuver which uses any lie that will work.

What would be a fear of one's own nerves, for whatever reason, attacking one at the exact wrong time; like during gig time.  I did have that happen right before the Ramona gig, months ago.  My first outing with Enter the Blue Sky.  I had to hunker over someone's icy Toyota Sienna A/C for about 45 minutes, with fan running full blast.  It mitigated the discomfort and finally the episode passed. It felt like the wave of relief when a migraine leaves.

It wasn't in any memos I can find, but I thought the attacks had become permanently more subdued.  I was mistaken.

Last night it came on during a drive to town.  By the time I was driving home I had to scrunch over just to deal with it.  I could not wait for the full hot water shower.  That took awhile and I have a fear of it happening again.

Perhaps there is a name for it.  I am trying to think of something that would fit.  Pruritiocarcinophobic.   Also can be interpreted to include a fear of pilgrims.  There is a longer name for fear of pilgrim dolls and for pilgrim clowns.

I think you saw about as many pilgrim clowns on the Mayflower as there are jihadists clowns with water squirting flowers in a mosque, pbuh.  Oh I guess mosque can be said without pbuh. That is only when matters of profit, pbuh, come into the act.  Gross minus net, pbuh.

Sunday at Navajo live. Big stage, lights, etc.  Nice sound set up.  But their sound dudes, so far, appear to not only be deaf, but dumb, and not in the sense of inability to speak.  In the sense of making everything at least twice as loud as it should be, and spreading the balance between instruments in a random and unpleasant fashion.  Warren and I may force him to show us our channels, then educate him on what to do.

The last guy was a bit arrogant.  Guitar player of some kind. Diseased, so he can't fathom the fact that he does not know it all, and that the object of the effort is a nice blend; classy instruments with vocal on top.  Not an assault upon listeners, passers by, and humanity in general.

It is not that damned hard.  I'm often astounded by the sheer size of their bubble of obliviousness.

Then Monday, it is Hard Rock.  Our own sound stuff for that.  And that is not always good.    Often when playing out our PA has feedback issues and is not putting her on top, much of the time.  Yet in practice it is fine.

Different configuration of people placement when we are out must influence the PA performance.

Wait a minute, maybe Hard Rock is one with their own sound system.  They have nice people so we may get it right there.


We had to get a portable air conditioner at work.  Only one in town, and I found it.  Who knew Home depot and the rest thought San Diego had seasons?  They won't stock the portable a/c for another couple of weeks.

It is hot now.  I'm thinking it will end up in my house before too long.  It is becoming a health necessity to stave off much discomfort.  Heat and humidity are the real culprits.

I've seen posts on the aquagenic pruritus forum from people who have had the condition for over a decade.  Some do not have blood issues.  Some do.  But ten or fifteen years?  And they have twenty minutes or so of madness after every shower.  I'm not sure all of them have tried the near-scalding shower trick.  It is so counter-intuitive that I may have not considered it on my own.  I read about the hot shower solution,  and the theory of why it would work, both in the same forum post.

The theory on the forum coincides with what all the dermatologists concluded, though few, if any, of them had heard of this trick.  We think it causes the mast cells, which release histamines, to deplete themselves while the hot water numbs the area being affected by the histamines.  So it runs its course under the hot water stream.  Getting it hot enough is the trick.

Seriously, that trick is useful for people who may need it. It has saved me untold hours of near agony. When sweating or getting on the verge of it cause intractable itching, and humidity increase can also set it off, something is not working right.  At least in my case I know it is a by product of some iffy hydraulic fluid.  If a car was built by the same people who brought you humans, there would only be one fluid used for everything.

That is how blood is.  It is hydraulic fluid for the fun stuff, and like a fuel carrier, O2, for other stuff.  It's one of those items in the inventory of the garden variety human body which would leave a noticeable void were it to be removed.

On nights like this, I wonder how I can possibly manage to make all the gigs and do well.  I think it is important to set that as a goal.  Even if I feel out of it and not remembering to do the right things at the right times.  I have a long way to go before it is riddled with wrong notes and such.  But there is a difference in ad libbing accents and such, and working out what seems the best direction which works to be a consistent arrangement.  We do that, but I can forget, lately.

I've had people describe symptoms similar to these attacks as a side effect of chemo.  Something wrong with that approach, and really wrong that the art of targeting and destroying the enemy without killing our friends or ourselves has not advanced further than it has.  I knew a guy who was into such research and developed equipment to help.  He suggested the corporate-government-charity-pharmaceutical complex was corrupt, despicable and far more in love with treatment than cure, and only treatment that costs big money.   I tend to agree.  You kill the whole damned village to get rid of a street gang?  That is no good.

Oh, we did pass that audition so we'll be playing the Coyote festival at a local college on May 2.  Outdoor, afternoon thing.  I rarely ask for much, but I do want to be able to handle these shows without the need to run off for a scalding shower or stand under a very cold blast from freezers or a/c.

Think positive, but don't expect that to do anything but keep you working on tricks to make it happen.
amen
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