Fear of Change

All of the people who are so afraid of American government should remember we have survived 8 years of torture, wire taps, and disregard of crimes committed by corporations. I have native American ancestors, get all those european aliens outa here.

Betsy's last surgery is postponed until Monday afternoon.

Make all medical charges public. Charge everyone the same thing for the same service. If you cut off my arm, my insurance will pay 80% or 50% depending on their contract with you and the hospital. Medicare would only pay you what they think they should charge, which I personally think could be too much or to little depending on the job you do. If I have to pay out of my pocket I'll get charged too much, I'll pay part, then have my credit ruined by a collection agency. Secrecy is bad for public service customers and patients who aren't allowed to shop around.

Mid November Ramblings

I had tried putting some big band videos on Webshots, but they must be too big or something. We did have nice weather that day. I'm surprised how good the sound is from that little Canon camera that fits in my shirt pocket. I put them on my myspace page.

http://www.myspace.com/tubascooternuke

I've had a cold for about a week now. Played tuba for a Veteran's Day program in Granbury last week. Janice, the director at The Langdon Center, took us to lunch at Babe's. It was a delicious , fun lunch. Nothing to do with playing or lunch, I started feeling puny that afternoon. As Granny Moses said on The Beverly Hillbillies, I will get better in about 14 days without medicine, but with Granny's medicine you're cured in 2 weeks! I went to the community band practice on Tuesday night. We have a Facebook page? Our name is now the Paluxy Wind Symphony.

I got my check from the county for helping with the election Nov. 4. They paid $8/hr straight time for 13 & 1/2 hours. Today is our anniversary. We could spend that cash on a night out.

Some of the people I voted for actually won their races. Since I usually vote for Democrats, that is unusual in this neck of the woods. I live in the same congressional district with George Bush's ranch. We have been represented by a very good Democratic congressman, Chet Edwards, since the Republicans gerrymandered this district to make it more republican. Our county voted more than 75% republican.

My dogs have been inside quite a bit the last few days. My big dog, Ginger doesnt really like the cool weather. She prefers to sleep in the sunshine outside most of the time, but she curls up next to the TV or on the window seat inside.

Be safe.

Worries of Hypocrisy & Band Update

I'll be working all day Tuesday. I'm supposed to be at the polling place an hour before it opens and stay 'til its closed. I have community band practice in Tolar after that. I'll try to go to that if I'm not too tired.

Its Halloween today! Woo-hoo!

Yesterday my oldest grandchild had his 13th birthday. That's real exciting!

Here's the Bible story my Mom always referenced when she was concerned about the poor getting poorer and the rich getting richer. I'm concerned that the early church was a communist leaning socialist organization. Its a GOOD(?) thing we have TV preachers now letting us know God wants us to be rich.

Mom always told me the Devil quoted scripture too.

God's will will be done.

Ananias and Sapphira
1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet.
3 Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God."
5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?" "Yes," she said, "that is the price."
9 Peter said to her, "How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also."
10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

I haven't said anything about the Big Band lately. The picture above was taken at the Langdon Center last Sunday afternoon. It was the Fall performance, Jazz On The Green, where the Pearl Street Combo opened up with Dixieland, followed by Langdon Center Big Band, and then finished with a superb performance by the Tarleton University Jazz Band led by Greg Ball. It was a lot of good music in a nice setting.

Internet, politics, and low brass

GINGER & MARYANN

My internet connection was not working for a few hours today. It is a wireless connection to a radio tower in town that the recorded message said was having an emergant firmware problem.

I received some more slanderous mail about Obama again today. I understand the fear being generated by the right wing propagandists. The Bushies have ruled the country with fear for 8 years. Obama is not the candidate with erratic reactions, old age, documented temper problems, snap questionable decisions, history of cancer, snarky smile, and nervous laugh. Obama is the one telling everyone how he would like to see America in the future. Its too bad we can't really see into the future. Of course some Democratic outrider groups' mailings are trying to scare people about a future President Palin too.

The weather is really nice in Granbury today. I rode my scooter to town to do a little shopping. I put $7.70 worth of gasoline in the scoot. It would have been more than $10 3 weeks ago.

The Langdon Center Big Band is playing for "Jazz On The Green" Sunday afternoon. We are the warm-up band for the Tarleton Stage Band. We sound a lot better this year than we did last year.I hope that trend continues Sunday!

I had community band practice at Tolar High School Tuesday night. My lack of serious practice was evident since the other euphonium player was not there and we were practising Gustav Holst's First Suite In E flat for Military Band. The 1st movement starts with euphonium/ tuba duet. Only 1 tuba player was there too. It will get better!

Monday, Monday

I visited the dentist's office this morning for teeth cleaning. Thankfully there were no surprises found today. The stock market had another down day. The economy is falling at an inconvenient time for a guy who doesn't want to interrupt his retirement with work.

I decided to add a few pictures of my dogs since my older daughter had requested pictures of her"doggie sisters". The dogs get to go to camp Wednesday while Betsy and I go stay with my parents for the weekend. My sister is going on an airplane for the 1st time for a weekend vacation to the BIG mall up in Minnesota. We had this weekend available too, so we are staying in my sister's Master suite while she and her husband are away. I get to go with Mom & Dad to Dad's doctor's appointment Friday morning.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, is community wind ensemble practice at Tolar High School. I need to play my euphonium some today and tomorrow to be ready. We should get some printed music to bring home and practice tomorrow night!

I sure have a lot to do considering I dont get paid to work anymore. Bye!

More political lies

I was busy yesterday playing my trombone and missed the news of Palin joining the conspiracy theory world of politics. It looks like the Bush advisers are bolder this year than they were when they were spreading the crap (illegitimate-black-baby smear) about McCain back in 2000.

Note: Barack Obama had TWO black babies !

Abraham Lincoln actually said "In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong."

Democracy was invented(?) in Greece long before the world had heard of the Judeo/Christian/Islamic Old Testament and even Rome called itself a Republic.

I've tried to resist the urge to fear all of the Pharisees, the supposed religious public speakers showing their piety in public for us all. We should let the people attend the church they believe in and try to talk to them rationally about their beliefs, but I don't have to believe your speaking directly from the Lord is any more than a delusion you received from drugs, emotional blackmail, or mental illness. If the spirits tell me to go out & do bad things, I must be talking to BAD SPIRITS. Don't worry about Palin. She's protected from the DEVIL.

If you want to keep spreading conspiracy theories about other political party reps, read The Onion. At least the Onion is funny while the right -wing & left-wing bloggers are just scary.

The election

I am usually disappointed in the results of elections. To quote John McCain, "If I were dictator, something I've always aspired to..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4yskSdhQ6o,

things would be different. I made the mistake of writing a letter to the editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1988 that called attention to my populist leanings that caused our local Democrats to look me up. I stayed fairly active with them for a few years, making phone calls & trips to rallies etc. I was a Gore delegate to our state convention in 1988 when we picked Dukakis to run for President.

The first time I saw Bill Clinton was at a Dukakis rally in Texarkana. I mainly thought he was really big standing next to Dukakis. I've voted for Bill Clinton more times than most people since I voted in the primaries and the after polling caucuses. I have also gotten to vote against George Bush more than most people since he ran as Governor of Texas twice and was elected both times.

Our country is very resilient, we survived the losing of the Viet Nam civil war, Richard Nixon resigning, Jimmy Carter being the real maverick fighting both entrenched parties with zero results, the Reagan administration selling weapons illegally to our apparent enemy Iran, Reagan dementia in office while Nancy called on devil worshipping astrologers to keep the country and her husband on track, my favorite Republican President, Daddy Bush, going back on his promise to not add taxes ( old Bush did know you leave a war when you met your objectives), Bill Clinton being so conservative as to give big business the keys to our economy and then getting caught with his pants down, and for the last 8 years we have been led by the advisors to younger Bush that "led" us into a war without objectives who has nothing but right wing philosophy and a belief God chose him to capture and torture people.

I shouldn't say just the bad stuff that happened. A lot of people don't think the things I characterize as bad are bad.

I don't understand the "conservative Christian" belief that its OK to be against the lifestyle you live. I have lived in our modern society long enough to recognize I don't agree with the teachings I received in the 1960's, that if you live with a member of the opposite sex you aren't married to, while you're married to someone else, you could not be considered as a leader in the conservative churches. Their teaching was our country's leaders should also meet these standards. I attended as a child. I saw it myself.

That would have eliminated Reagan, McCain and Gingrich (don't you love the name Newt?).

Clinton would have gotten the pass because he stayed with his wife or if she had thrown him out, he could ask for forgiveness and never re-married.

Change happens whether we like it or not. I retired because I personally quit changing my own ways just to change while our results were good. Also I had changed in my own abilities. I believed I needed to get out of the way of younger folks who were learning newer and hopefully better ways of doing my old job. Since I retired the company I worked for was sold and I'm sure lots of change has happened. Did your electricity bill go down? Has the nuclear plant continued to operate safely?

Because of this change stuff, I think we will change party again this year. Either candidate is a risk. Its a risky world. Just check the stock market. Its a gamble. If we knew the future we could all be rich. I sent money to the Obama campaign in 2006 because he was the only candidate at that time that advertised the way Reagan did. He desribed a better future for our country and thought we could all get there by working together.

http://www.barackobama.com/index.php

I haven't posted often because I think I'm too busy. How come I'm not getting much done if I'm so busy?