Revenge of Silverman - part 2

Starring our own Michael Padeken and Tony Gunn.

My Thoughts Exactly OR Conservative Hypocrisy on the Plains

Fighting Food Subsidies with Food Subsidies, posted over at Political Calculations captures my feelings exactly. The irony is that small government, conservative politicians here in Kansas wouldn't dare to touch the farm bill and farm subsidies even though they are a poster child for federal government excess and meddling. They make a big talk about fighting "special interests" but don't dare mention agribusiness because if they did they would be out of office lickety-split. Here's their graph comparing food subsidies to the food pyramid:

Weigh in, if you please

Tony and I are debating this in emails today. Well, it's not much of a debate. More of a "can you believe this?" back and forth. And I wanted others to weigh in on it while you can still view it.

Watch the clip below while you can. It's only on Hulu for now and who knows for how long. Let me know what you think. It was designed by Banksy, the increasingly famous graffiti artist with more street cred than Jay Z, and is pregnant with a not-very-thickly-veiled message.



So, our debate: is this funny? I'll go ahead and say the unicorn gag is, but you know me and my hatred for endangered, magical creatures.

Revive THIS!

If you follow cjane at all or even if you happen to read my Jayne's blog from time to time, you may have heard of this Lower Lights project that I've been involved with for the last year. It's getting off the ground this fall, starting with a free concert tonight downtown in Provo. It should be a cracking good time... and it's free.

Come check it out if you're around. It's a great chance to experience the hymns in a new way. We went about it all in a spirit of reverence for these great old songs, hoping to use our talents for something good. Brandie was there with me in the beginning, documenting the making of the record. If you haven't, go here and see the story behind the project. Or take a minute and view a couple of the music videos that Brandie cut together.

This is one of my personal faves.

Secret Prayer from The Lower Lights on Vimeo.

And if you don't live in Provo, anymore (suckas!), you can buy the whole blasted record here. Or on itunes or whatever, but if you buy it from bandcamp, the band gets all the monies for mounting firesides and spreading the germ of Hymn Revival to all the world!

It's September 29

An important day. Not just because in 522 BC, Darius I of Persia killed the Magian usurper Gaumâta, securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire, but because Anthony Christopher Gunn entered mortality as a dark and hairy gift to his proud parents, David and Lorraine Gunn of Shelbyville, IL (it's a real place, look it up!)

Here are some other important things that happened on this date:

61 BC – Pompey the Great celebrates his third triumph for victories over the pirates and the end of the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday.

1227 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, is excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for his failure to participate in the Crusades.

1789 – The 1st United States Congress adjourns.

1916 – John D. Rockefeller becomes the first billionaire.

1942 - Marion Gawain Wells is born in St. George, Utah to George and Hannah Wells.

1943 – World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio sign an armistice aboard the Royal Navy battleship HMS Nelson off Malta.

1966 – The Chevrolet Camaro, originally named Panther, is introduced.


Some important people born on September 29:

106 BC – Pompey the Great, consul of Rome (see above)
1321 – John of Artois, Count of Eu, French soldier
1912 – Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian film director
1935 – Jerry Lee Lewis, American musician
1942 – Madeline Kahn, American actress
1957 – Andrew Dice Clay, American comedian and actor
1963 – Les Claypool, American bassist (Primus)

Finally, the marriage of Google images yielded from searches of 29 and 32:

Birthday Collage

Here's a hearty happy birthday to Jed. Hope 32's even better than 31 was.

And to celebrate, here's a visual representation of 32 (I was going to do a collage of the term "fat guy", one of Jed's nicknames in high school {not because of his weight mind you, but because of his cool "fat guy" voice}, but that unlocked a scene of horror I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.)

Anyway, these were a few of the scenes unlocked by searching "32" in google images. Jed, I hope you find them as inspiring as I did.

Cool Cinematography

I thought ya'll might enjoy this.

Dancing Pigeons - Ritalin from Blink on Vimeo.