From one of the most underappreciated bands ever.

 

You be the judge.

 

 

 

 128+64+32+16+8+4+2+1=255

 

 

 

 

 

Two things in common.

 

Last weekend, Parkersburg, Iowa was destroyed by an EF-5 tornado, the worst type of tornado.

 

Ten years ago today, Spencer, South Dakota was befallen the same fate, and tonight, one of the stations in Sioux Falls was supposed to have a special to remember what happened about twenty miles or so from my hometown of Mitchell, and how that event brought out volunteers to help the residents.

 

Instead, southeast South Dakota was in the middle of the nightmare of Spencer and Parkersburg.  Basically, the storms were extremely unpredictable.  There have been touchdowns of tornados, but nothing truly devistating. Routes to Centerville, South Dakota were blocked off by authorities to to downed powerlines.

 

KeloLand News did not stop the non-stop coverage until about 8:15pm.

 

Before Kelo went into storm mode, they were talking about how Spencer has still much to rebuild and remember.

 

Parkersburg will go through the same.

 

And anyone else touched heavily by mother nature's wrath.

It's 1 AM, and I was watching MTV's Headbanger's Ball.

 

It was the first video Metallica put out.

 

You be the judge.

 

 

 

I cant remember anything
Cant tell if this is true or dream
Deep down inside I feel to scream
This terrible silence stops me

Now that the war is through with me
Im waking up I can not see
That there is not much left of me
Nothing is real but pain now

Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please god,wake me

Back in the womb its much too real
In pumps life that I must feel
But cant look forward to reveal
Look to the time when I'll live

Fed through the tube that sticks in me
Just like a wartime novelty
Tied to machines that make me be
Cut this life off from me

Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please god,wake me
Now the world is gone I'm just one
Oh God help me hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please God help me

Darkness imprisoning me
All that I see
Absolute horror
I cannot live
I cannot die
Trapped in myself
Body my holding cell

Landmine has taken my sight
Taken my speech
Taken my hearing
Taken my arms
Taken my legs
Taken my soul
Left me with life in hell

 

 

 http://www.cnettv.com/9742-1_53-7358.html

 

 

 

 

Ever since I was a young boy
I've played the silver ball
From Soho down to Brighton
I must have played them all
But I ain't seen nothing like him
In any amusement hall
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball

He stands like a statue
Becomes part of the machine
Feeling all the bumpers
Always playing clean
He plays by intuition
The digit counters fall
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball

He's a pinball wizard
There's got to be a twist
A pinball wizard
He's got such a supple wrist

How do you think he does it?
(I don't know)
What makes him so good?

He ain't got no distractions
Can't hear those buzzers and bells
Don't see lights a flashin'
Plays by sense of smell
Always gets a replay
Never tilts at all
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball

I thought I was
The Bally table king
But I just handed
My pinball crown to him

Even on my usual table
He can beat my best
His disciples lead him in
And he just does the rest
He's got crazy flipper fingers
Never seen him fall
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball

How do you explain this?

 

Like when Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, this movie brought me back to when I was a kid.

 

It's over the top. And who cares?

 

It makes call backs to the previous movies.

 

It's not as tight as the first movie, but I'll say this:

 

If Harrison Ford was young enough, Hat and Whip would be the type of story/movie that would lead up to the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

 

I wish to disclaim that I did not go to Billary, because as I was riding home from Wal-Mart, it was reported that the security was very tight on the South Dakota State University campus.

 

Basically, I would have walked quite some way, since I do no know the campus at all.  But I watched a web feed, and I have gathered my thoughts.

 

First off, her opening statements to me were extremely contradictory. She said that South Dakota's voice was being ignored, and that we were being left out of the process by those who wanted the primaries finished early. Now South Dakota matters.

 

It matters now, eh?

 

She actually gave a rather decent oratory, but the question and answer portion is why I wished I would have attended:

 

I would have asked her to explain her comments about RFK.

 

The exploitation (my words) is of a woman who has been waiting for almost a year for social security benefits, will be used in campaigns.

 

She used American Girl from Tom Petty as a closing.

 

I'm offended by her carpet-baggering.

 

 

As you probably know by now, I am not a fan of Hillary Clinton. She's got a town hall meeting here in Brookings tomorrow night, and I plan to go.  I'll be straight up honest: I'm going to it for the fact that I can one day say, "I saw the first ever woman to seriously run for President." Like the University of South Dakota Coyote in the middle of South Dakota State University Jackrabbit country, I'm in enemy territory.

 

I'll admit that she may say something that I may agree with.  But, she simply is not as Presidential like her husband was (sans scandal stuff).

 

As a historian, here's a banquet of thought:

 

1). Back in 1992, when Bill Clinton ran, he was the upstart, just like Barack Obama.  I'll freely admit, I voted for him in that election.  But would (or could) that Bill Clinton be scrutinized like the upstart Obama?

 

2). Bill Clintons "I didn't inhale" defense was thrown right back at Bush in 2000 with his use of much harder drugs.  We forgave Bill Clinton for that. We rewarded him with a landslide second term against an established Senator, even with mounds of contraversary surrounding his first term. Right or wrong on how Florida got handled in 2000, President Bush got elected.

 

3). In my opinion, Hillary is trying to change the rules that she never objected to long before the "official" run for President began this year. The Democratic National Committee warned both Florida and Michigan on the penalties of leapfrogging the process they had placed months before.  Now that's a total mess.  The second glaring one is when Nevada had their caucuses.

 

4). With Nevada, the state DNC allowed that state to have caucuses for the 24/7 workers of the casinos to caucus while at work.  This was after the largest working union in Nevada backed Barack Obama.  The Nevada State Supreme Court denied the Clintons on this.

 

In some ways, Hillary does have the experience to do things.  My problem is, she has too much empty promises and baggage from her husband's administration.

 

But..she, like Al Gore got sucker punched. Except she got suckerpunched by someone who was more like how her husband was just as charismatic when he won in 1992. Unlike 1992, we have the internet to research a person by viewing videos, going to blogs. We had 24/7 news, but not internet feeds where one could actually view YouTube.

 

I'll just react to Billary.

Next weekend, another one of those movies in a beloved series of that I grew up with adds a chapter to a wonderful world of adventure.

 

Back in 1981, three of the greatest minds of our era collaborated to create one of Hollywood's best films and one of the most memorable characters.  This little known film was called Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

Like Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, this film left its mark on me because it was fun and campy, and in some ways, alittle dangerous.  I still laugh at the scene where Harrison Ford shoots the swordsman, because you just expect that Indiana Jones would use his whip to disarm the guy. If I recall, Mr. Ford was sick at the time, and improvised the scene. To me, Indy just thought to himself, "Ahh, you're not worth it."

 

As a grown man and a student of history, the movie interests me because of what it tries to convey. it uses the worst time in 20th century history to tell the story. Even though Adolf Hitler isn't in the film, the ideas of Nazism is present. Belloq's character is a great bad guy, because even though he by self-admission an evil man. But yet, he contradicts himself by insisting having a Jewish ceremony to essentialy offend the Nazis.

 

Sallah is Indy's sidekick, but he isn't a sidekick.  The guy knows his stuff, doesn't depend on Indy to bail him out.  I actually feel that Indy is Sallah's sidekick in that respect.  Indy is the hero, but he gets himself into trouble throughout the film, and the loyal friend helps him get out of it.

 

Marion Ravenwood is resourceful, rough, and stubborn. She, like Indy, starts off as someone who is in it for the money. However, once she realizes what they are going for, and eventually forgetting the way she and indiana parted years before, she understands that he really would do anything for her.

 

Then of course, there's the set pieces. The opening sequence is classic for both it's absurdness, but it's great. The sword scene i mentioned before is classic. The fight with the German soldier with the plane is awesome, but still over the top.  Besides the sword scene, the truck sequence is my favorite scene.  It's the most over the top scene in a movie, but it works.

 

The final scenes are rather sobering, because you really want to see pieces of the stones inside the Ark. But the point is, each mortal sin, each Commandment is conveyed. Indiana Jones realizes before it happens that in order to witness the power of God, you have to believe in faith, and not see the Wrath of God.

 

As a kid, I didn't understand the warehouse scene, but that one scene really sticks out.  What did the government do with it?  Did they place it in safe-keeping?  Or did the "Top Men" befall the very same fate that the Germans did? Did they learn like Indy learned, that the Ark has more powers than we could imagine.  Or did the "Top Men" open it, and saw something more?  After all, the Wrath of God took out the Germans and Belloq because they were evil men. If good men opened it, would they have seen something different?

 

That's why this movie is one of my favorites, and why it's one of my favorite movie series.

 

This one infruiates me to no end, but I have to let it go emotionally and spiriturally.  However, I'm offended on so many levels on what this soldier did.  I'm sure he will feel the repercussions.

 

If this is true, he desecrated a holy book of a religion in a place we want to try to help.

 

This outright pisses me off.

 

I know nothing of this soldier, but he fucked up more than just his life.  He's now added fuel to the fire in the ainti-American presence.  Abu Garib was a bad example for our presence in Iraq.  Now, when you have chants of "American Out" chanted in Baghdad, this truly proves something.

 

We truly need an exit strategy.  I know Abu Garib showed some things we did was bad, but now...

One dumbfuck may have offended the very ones we are trying to help.

 

Good job kid,

Whatever your fucking name is.

 

Sincerely,

Me.

 

Former Senator and Presidential candidate George McGovern gave a nice speech, and former Senator and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle gave impressive speeches tonight to introduce Democratic Presidential hopeful (and in my personal opinion, the nominee) Barack Obama.

 

June 3rd, I am voting for him.

 

I'm going to break down portions of the rally I watched from the Sioux Falls Arena via the live feed I witnessed.

 

When Mitchell, South Dakota native George McGovern spoke, I felt it was like a commencement speech.  Very South Dakotan, if you will.

 

I've never cared for Tom Daschle, but I've discovered that he is a very good speaker after his introduction speech.

 

Now to Mr. Obama.

 

He stumbled at first, saying Sioux City (IOWA) instead of Sioux Falls, but that does happen alot.  I've seen that gaffe in Sioux City, so no big deal to me.  However, i felt he was extremely engaging.  As I watched the feed, he really hit home on the issues very well for the most part.

 

Energy. Healthcare. Education. Taxation. Iraq.

 

He touched those.

 

Nuff said.

Barack Obama was in Watertown today (approximately 40 miles north of me), and in less than an hour from now, he will speak in Sioux Falls (about 50 miles south).  If interested, www.keloland.com, and www.ksfy.com will have streaming video of the event for those interested.

 

Who would have thought that South Dakota would become a battleground state for the Democrats?  To me, it's about time that we're considered somewhat important to either party.  I'm not ashamed to say that I switched to being Democrat, because being an independant, I was barred from voting.  I got cheated the last two primaries (2000 and 2004) when it "mattered".

 

Yes kiddies, I will be a swing voter.  I'm the type that can make or break a candidate.  Screw Rush Limbaugh by telling Republicans to vote, etc.  I'm voting my conscious both now, and eventually in the fall.

 

Screw those dumbasses at Air America.

 

I do what I want.

Hadrian's Wall

 

I walk up the slope from the south, I became winded.

 The slope was at least at a thirty-degree angle.

As I climb up the wall, I notice that the height is at chest level.

 My fingers felt the cold stone.  It must have been insane to even try to attack this thing.

I walk the summit of the wall, and just look straight down.

  From the south the climb to get to this point was a chore.

 As I look to the north, towards Scotland,

I understand the placement of this fortification.

As I look to the north, I notice the incline.

There's no way one could pass this wall

Seventy-five degree angle of slope

I am now just a tourist

One who saw the significance of this wall.

I respect the men who built it,

And I respect

Hadrian's Wall

 

 

 

 

 

This ban just plain ruled back in the day.

 

Of course, I had to start out with the..fun video..:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ridley Scott's Gladiator is one of the most complete films I've ever seen.  I didn't see it in the theater in 2000, but I picked it up on DVD when friends at work told me that it would be my kind of movie. It's one of those milestone movies for me in describing to someone how when I saw The Hunt For Red October in the theater, that this is one of those movies that requires you to have to see it on some form of big screen.  The relation is watching something so monumental, and then watch a documentary on how hard working special effects groups work, improvisation, and the sheer seamlessness of the end result...well, it's phenom.

 

I purchased the extended edition DVD of Gladiator a few months back, and I just finished watching a documentary on how they managed to finish up the scenes featuring Oliver Reed (Proximo) who passed during the shooting of the film. He was described like Jack Nicholson, where his presence is just felt. According to his words (there are some incredible interviews with him), he hadn't done a line reading in years, and had that aloofness about him.  One telling statement is he said that when he opened the envelope that contained the script, a note fell out, "This does not gurantee you the part."

 

However, Ridley Scott says in the piece that he had Oliver in mind for the character, and even built a makeshift set for the reading.

 

The original script had Proximo live, and plant his wooden sword in the arena at the end of the film, to depict his own freedom.  However, Mr. Reed passed on three weeks before the ending of production. One of the scriptwriters literally was called back to write alternate takes in light of the events. The special effects team, Ridley Scott, and even Russell Crowe had to find a way to film the scene where Proximo frees Maximus, and produce his redemption in another form.  The theme of the the documentary is this was a tribute to Oliver, as he hated not completing any project he was involved in.

 

It's incredible on what they accomplished, considering the fact that they almost reshot Proximo with a completely new actor (no names mentioned).

 

"We mortals are all but shadows and dust! Shadows and dust."

One of the founding members of the band formed on the E-Street recently passed away.

 

I didn't find out until several days after the fact, but I will say this:

 

Danny's voice is heard throughout all of Bruce Springsteen's music over the years. I did not get into The Boss until 1984, but when I did, my eyes were opened to so many musical styles. Like Clerance Clemen's distinctive saxaphone to Little Stevie's mesmerized harmonies complimenting Bruce's music, Danny was a major part of the sound.

 

Danny was an everyman in the band with many talents.  He played keyboards.  You could hear him sing from time to time, or even his work with the organ.  However, he was so influential in the band's sound when it came to the boardwalk sound.

 

You know, the guy who plays the mandolin, or the accordian as you walk by with you baby in your arms.

 

It took me a very long time to figure out what song I wanted to give tribute to Mr. Federici.  So many classics like 4th of July(Sandy) or Hungry Heart which he's best known for with accordian.

 

But I decided to pay tribute to him with the lyrics of the 40th (and final) track on Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band: Live 1976-86, which is my favorite live album of all time.  It, to me, represents what Danny conveyed both in life, and sadly, in death.

 

You are sorely missed, and you Rest In Peace.

 

 

 

I got no time for the corner boys

Down in the street making all that noise
Or the girls out on the avenue
`cause tonight I wanna be with you
Tonight I'm gonna take that ride
Across the river to the Jersey side
Take my baby to the carnival
And I'll take her on all the rides

`cause down the shore everything's all right
You and your baby on a Saturday night
You know all my dreams come true
When I'm walking down the street with you

Sha la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la
Sha la la la I'm in love with a Jersey girl

You know she thrills me with all her charms
When I'm wrapped up in my baby's arms
My little girl gives me everything
I know that some day she'll wear my ring
So don't bother me man i ain't got no time
I'm on my way to see that girl of mine
`cause nothing matters in this whole wide world
When you're in love with a Jersey girl

Sha la la la...

I see you on the street and you look so tired
I know that job you got leaves you so uninspired
When I come by to take you out to eat
You're lyin' all dressed up on the bed baby fast asleep
Go in the bathroom and put your makeup on
We're gonna take that little brat of yours and drop her off at your mom's
I know a place where the dancing's free
Now baby won't you come with me
`cause down the shore everything's all right
You and your baby on a Saturday night
Nothing matters in this whole wide world
When you're in love with a Jersey girl

 

This is a video on YouTube of a tornado that went through the Rock Valley, Iowa area.  A friend of mine who is originally from the area shared this with me.  Most impressive, but scary.