hi, my name is blake, and i'm a U2 fan. now i'll admit that it might be considered lame to be a fan of the biggest band on planet earth what with all the cool indie bands and other underground/grassroots-type bands, but as we've learned in my recent posts... i'm evidently not that cool (that's a joke for those of you slow on the uptake)
anything you can feel, their music can reflect.
feeling revolutionary? sunday, bloody sunday
in love? all i want is you
lonely? with or without you
insane? the fly
resolved? walk on
unsure? i still haven't found what i'm looking for
joyful? where the streets have no name
so you get the point...
needless to say i've been enthralled in the new album since last tuesday and one song has captivated me. 'sometimes you can't make it on your own' is amazing!

tough, you think you've got the stuff
you're tellin' me and anyone
you're hard enough

you don't have to put up a fight,
you don't have to always be right,
let me take some of the punches for you tonight

listen to me now,
i need to let you know,
you don't have to go it alone.

and it's you when i look in the mirror,
and it's you when i don't pick up the phone,
sometimes you can't make it on your own.

LET'S END WOMENS SUFFERING...OR IS IT SUFFERAGE?

the simpsons, the king of queens, yes dear, the family guy, home improvement, etc. this is a list of popular (at least marginally) television shows. i love sitting around and watching them and laughing at the situations presented and the bizarre ways the men in the shows react to them. however while i enjoy the comedy, i've become more and more alarmed at the underlying message encased in each episode. the message that all men are idiots.
now i'll acknowledge that there are innumerable times in a man's life when he doesn't exactly use common sense, but come on. people have made an arguement that television and movies are a reflection of the society that produces them. while i'll acknowledge that this is the case sometimes, more often than not this 'reflection' is skewed to fit an agenda. in the case of the shows mentioned above i strongly believe that the agenda being pushed is the one for the advancement of women; not just women's advancement, but advancement over men by any means necessary. i am in no way for women as an entire group being held down in their pursuits, but i find it alarming how men are increasingly degraded and ridiculed by the media. there is a reason men are supposed to be leaders...it's ordained by God. now i will acknowledge that in many instances men have dropped the ball on this, but by projecting a negative, buffoon-type image of every male character in sitcom television (the most powerful medium in the US) what message is being sent to the men, women, and especially children that view these programs. the message that the women and children get is that men are undependable, weak, stupid, and incapaple of contributing to the family aside from fathering children, contributing some income, and lounging around in front of the tv, beer in hand. i'm offended.

the hoosier lottery is a curse. working the job i work affords me the opportunity to see the whole spectrum of american society in an eight hour shift. pauper to millionaire and the thing that blows me away is the similarity between everyone. the mindset of 'let me get all i can get legitimately (by working for it), and then let me have some more.' how can they all advance themselves you may ask. the answer is simple...lottery tickets!
on an average powerball cycle (sat. and wed. night draw until someone hits the jackpot) i sell around $1500 in tickets at $1 apiece, not counting scratch-offs. millionaires by in lots of $5 hoosier, $5 powerball. paupers by a dollar on each. both leave the store praying that this time around will be thier night. the odds of hitting the jackpot are 1:120,526,770 for powerball and 1:12,271,512 for hoosier. now the thing that gets me most is not the millionaire buying tickets, he can pay for my license plates all he likes. the thing that gets me is the poorer person coming in and putting down $20 for lottery and scratch-offs and then using the foodstamp card to buy 2 20oz. sodas and as many candy bars, where is the sense in that!! if ever there were an example of sound investment planning this is not it.
blatent abuse of the wellfare system really steams me. don't get me wrong i'm all for families that make less than $20,000 per year per household getting the assistance they need to make ends meet, and there are some who legitimately use the funds allocated by the state, but more often than not, the scenario described above is how it plays out.
people talk and talk about social injustice and the vicious cycle that poverty creates. here's the thing if you want to get ahead in this life you've gotta go without more times than you indulge yourself. you've gotta stay in when you really want to go out; scrimp, save, invest (properly). above all, you've gotta be smart and stretch every cent as far as you can make it go for your needs until you earn the right to spend on your wants.
case-in-point: andrew carnegie got off a boat in new york with six cents in his pocket, built US Steel and became a 'titan of industry'. he didn't get there by spending those six cents in the closest bar to the harbor or letting it ride on chance. he worked and worked and worked and worked until he got the prize he was after.
the lottery would have you believe 'fun is good', i say fun is the reason i see far fewer millionaires than paupers every single day.

i just finished watching 'something's gotta give'. sidelight...excellent movie. however, while i loved the movie i guess i can't help but draw a few correlations to me. i guess the thing that struck me most was when diane keaton was talking about 'having the time of her life'. her daughter replied, 'i've never had the time of my life'. keaton's response was a simple, 'what are you waiting for?.' so i have to wonder what am i waiting for? what is it that holds me up from having the time of my life?
well i've never been one to wear my heart on my sleeve, but i think there are some good reasons for this. about a year ago i found out that if you put it out there there's a distinct chance that someone might get ahold of it, own it, fawn over it, and then cast it aside taking extra care to stomp on it as they walk away. so what lesson have i learned from this? well i guess the only answer is that i learned that if you don't take the risk you can't get hurt...by someone else. unfortunately this fact carries along with it the self-imposed torture of chaining yourself down just to protect something that takes a long time to heal. nevermind the ache of wishing you could have every opportunity, every ripe moment back to live over again and actually take a risk. nevermind the melancholy that sitting around wishing for those moments again generates.
i've always admired people who have the guts to say something courageous like, 'damn the torpedoes' or ' get busy living or get busy dying' or some other cliche movie line and then move on to their heroic moments; admiration, yes, willingness to imitate, not so much. i've never been much of a risk-taker. my desire to keep things safe, simple, within my control has overruled me more often than i'd like to remember.
so what have i written here? a mission statement? a self-sustaining curse? or just an evaluation of the status quo content to move along as such? i guess i'll find out tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that.

today i sprung from my couch excited like a child on christmas morning. why you may ask? well today it all stops. mudslinging that is. angry, greedy, ruthless political committees filling up valuable beer commercial time slots to let us know that thier candidate "approved this message."
i need to know why this election, at state and federal levels, has been so dirty. why is it that the focus shifted from the issues to the candidates. that sounds like a reasonable way to appoint the most powerful man in the world...lets have a popularity contest!! qualifications: who looks better on the cover of Rolling Stone, what do any number of musicians have to say about the candidates (the most ludicrous idea ever i think. lets have a concert where someone can stand on stage and give his/her political views when all the fans really want is to hear "Born in the USA".), who looks better in a flight suit, and last but certainly not least who's daughers are hotter (i love you barb and jenna) in true American spirit these factors will shape the next four years of my life.
even though you have to be a little excited about this whole mudslinging process this year. for the first time ever over a billion dollars was spent on advertising. this must be like the superbowl of elections...too bad no one was paying as much attention.