Our Country Divided (by Matt Dooley)

I’m amazed at how polarized our country is. I wrote this song 3 years ago and it only gets more true over time.  Enjoy and please vote.

world-shaker:

magicalteacher:

Oh my goodness…..this is sooooooo funny!!!

::facepalm::

This is so sad and so funny

Recent Quotes:

Thing 2 “I don’t really like (teacher’s name). “Seems like she’s always on her last nerve.” (8 years old)

Thing 1 ”That doesn’t even make sense” Thing 2: “I know, I just want you to suffer the annoyance!” Thing 1 “Well you’ve got that perfected!” (Ages 13 and 8)

Thing 2: “Where’s Mom?” Me “She’s teaching tonight.” Thing 2 “And why wasn’t I made aware of this? (8 years old)

Thing 2 “I’m your little brother, it’s my job to annoy you.” Thing 1 “Then you’re about to suffer some work related injuries!” (Ages 8 and 12)

Classic Quotes

Thing 1 “I’m Angy and fustrated” (up to age 4)

Thing 2 “There are two groups, The Cool Boys and the Stinky Butt Girls” (Age 4)

Thing 1 “Girls have two strategies, some are nice, and some are cute. (girls name) is cute, that’s her strategy!” (Age 5)

Me “here is your present” (i’d just come home from a business trip). Thing 2 (crying) where is my nother present? (Every trip until he was about 6) Thing 2 (1/2 hour after getting the present) “Dad, I really love my present!” (Carries around or wears for the next 3 days).

I decided to read this book because someone I follow on twitter was reading it for book group. It seemed from a few posts that it was a little bit of mind candy and having just finished Guns, Germs and Steel I needed something easy.

The gist of the story is that the Greek Gods (Zeus, Aphrodite, etc.) having fallen out favor with the human race have lost much of their power. As a result they now call a dingy flat in London home and are forced to work odd jobs (Artemis walks dogs, Bacchus runs a club, you get the picture). The thing is, in the story they are still the “true gods” meaning they have to keep the sun rising, the earth turning and generally keep the world alive.

In addition to losing their powers they are also bored. After thousands of years of living with each other they really can’t stand being with each other. Their only real pleasure is in messing with each other and with humans (the behaving badly part). This, of course drives a lot of the humor in the book. However establishing the gods as bored, and boorish, makes it hard to like the characters enough to care what happens to them (and keep reading past the first few chapters).

If you persevere, you’ll emerge into a funny, if predictable story that is entertaining at the level of a good sitcom. You won’t learn much (other than a refresher on your Greek gods), but you’ll get some good laughs, find some unlikely heroes and enjoy A bit of irony now and then.

I give this one two stars and recommend it to those who want to be entertained without thinking very hard.

slaughterhouse90210:

“The real marriage of true minds is for any two people to possess a sense of humor or irony pitched in exactly the same key, so that their joint glances on any subject cross like interarching search-lights.” 
— Edith Wharton, A Backward Glance

I love this. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a passage written that so clearly articulates the joy of being with my wife.

What a great show with great energy!  This was the first time I had seen either Grace Potter & The Nocturnals or the Wood Brothers and they did not disappoint. 

The Wood brothers started things off with a nice back and forth between mellower tunes that would have fit perfectly in the Austin, TX music scene and more rockin’ stuff that really showcased Oliver’s great southern rock voice and his slide guitar.  As the opening act I don’t think they had everyone’s attention, but those not focused on the show missed 3 great musicians.  I particularly liked the creative arrangements employed by the band.  From tunes where all instruments were used for percussion to really creative bowing work on Chris’ stand-up base the versatility was impressive.

For the main event GP & The Nocturnals brought the 70s Pop/Rock they are known for (If you couldn’t hear the influence you could certainly see it; there was a serious amount of hair on that stage!!).  I’ve seen them compared to Creedence and Jefferson Airplane (they even delivered a true-to-the-original cover of White Rabbit), but the bands I kept coming back to were Fleetwood Mac and Journey.  Part of the reason for this is that the band brings very tight melodic rock songs to the stage with a strong pop feel to them.  Don’t get me wrong, the playing was great, but the first part of the show definitely left me feeling like I had heard it all before.

The show took a grittier, bluesier turn with “Stop The Bus”.  This song absolutely rocked and was probably my favorite of the night! Perhaps the fire on their tour bus earlier in the day (Grace dedicated the song to the bus) led the band to bring a much heavier vibe to this song.  From there they had me and with the exception of their cover of “Riders on the Storm” everything worked.  Nothing but the Water I is just an amazing showcase for Grace’s voice and brings goosebumps every time I hear it.  Paris is a great tune and was a perfect way to cap the night.  But the coolest song of their 3 song encore was a cover of ZZ Top’s “Tush” (the first time they ever played it live).  It’s a great song that everyone knows so I was surprised how good a job they put on making it their own.  The breakdown prior to Grace’s call & response section two thirds of the way through the song was brilliant.  You can check it out here: http://youtu.be/ZnFvnZ7O-iQ

All in all a great way to celebrate my birthday (thanks Cait!) and two bands I’ll look forward to seeing again.

Set List:

Ah Mary, Money, Goodbye Kiss, That Phone, Mastermind, Apologies, One Short Night, Low Road, Stop The Bus, Elvis Presley Blues, Treat Me Right, Riders on the Storm, Tiny Light, White Rabbit, Nothing but the Water I, Nothing But the Water II, Medicine.  Encore: Hot Summer Night, Tush, Paris (Ooh la la)