still love ya ben

Saturday, April 01, 2006 "abolish the racist white overclass" Current mood: cheerful what's wrong with the world? you know something when a band like white trash gets on myspace. talk about rabble rousers. one time, after a show at circle of hope (then "center city") my girlfriend at the time told me "that was the worst music i've ever heard." needless to say, we didn't work out. t shirts with big letters across the back read "end american apartheid now." one time at a christian festival, i was stopped by a middle aged parent who beligerantly asked me "can you give me one example of apartheid in america?" (somehow that question became a sample used at subsequent shows by those anonymous bards). i like that a band with few pretentions can throw a monkeywrench into the music industry and cookie-cutter christian events. they got into some trouble on occaision, but managed to make people think and talk. the anonymous frontman, at a cornerstone show in front of a couple hundred people (who in their right gord was there?) told the crowd "look around you, cornerstone. why is it that you're all white? why is it that abortion is the only issue that christians care about?" and then began the next loud section of music. what a band. anybody heard the word on this keenan baby? what you don't know is i am the white elephant and i want to talk Currently watching: Little House on the Prairie - The Complete Season 1 Release date: By 08 July, 2003 3:32 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Friday, March 31, 2006 jady-vu Current mood: confused Category: Life jady wrote a blog the other day about how she picked up someone's change at Dunkin and gave it to the dudes at the counter. i had a real similar experience at the Deeps today. i was buying large garbage cans with lids (to keep the smell down and mice out) and went to that "self checkout" line-what a scam. anyway, i roll up and there is an Alexander Hamilton sitting in the change slot. now, i didn't see anybody leave. it could have been sitting there for an hour and the poor sucker who walked away w/o it (obviously doesn't NEED it) is probably long gone. or they were loading their car and were about to grab some lunch and now are like "man, my money!" and are on their way back in. or the nice old lady will realize when she gets home that she is short and will not be able to play bingo tonight. what do you do? A.) take the money, pay for your stuff, and roll casually B.) give it to the customer service lady at the island and tell her the story C.) wait around for a couple minutes, if the dude comes back give him the money, if not then roll with it D.) something else (if so, what?) i don't want to ruin it by saying what i did (or didn't do) yet. i wonder what you would do. will you tell us? i'm guessing that a "i hope you guys are alright" doesn't work both ways, Currently listening: Donovan's Greatest Hits By Donovan Release date: By 30 March, 1999 2:13 PM - 13 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Thursday, March 30, 2006 renting a car Current mood: bouncy Category: Life i don't want to incite any bad ideas in your head, but i realized some werid stuff that surrounded renting a car (a pickup, actually, which amanda, lauren, and jon o are dumping ish loads of dirt onto the park today if you're available). if you have your own car insurance you can use that. if you prefer, of if you don't have any, you can use "theirs." for $24.99 you liability, collision/comp and if you total the vehicle you don't have to pay anything extra. i even asked the guy, and he said that you could and not be liable. if you bring an animal into the vehicle, though, the animal's hairs can get tangled with the fibers of the carpet and seat, so you would have to pay for them to have it detailed and pay for the days that they couldn't rent it out. same thing if you mix cement in the back bed of the truck, or put a bunch of tar back there. you have to pay. so i guess the only logical thing to do (if you have to mix cement back there or take your dog to the vet) is to let the car go off a cliff when you're done and apologize that the vehicle got destroyed. that way the insurance covers it and you don't have to pay for removing the fibers or for the mess. dirt is okay to be in the bed, though. just not sticky stuff. i went to ride out but left the DVD home was that on purpose? Currently listening: Superwolf By Bonnie Prince Billy Release date: By 26 April, 2005 10:28 AM - 6 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Wednesday, March 29, 2006 not far from it Current mood: mellow Category: Life i was reminded that another one of the teens that i used to work with (for a little more than a year) at a community center got locked up. it's hard to hear. it's easier to remember that little 13yr old boy and how much he liked to play games than face the reality that he's growing up. another one of the kids who is doing some time did a dumb thing. when i put myself into his situation (especially when i was his age) i don't know if i would've done much different. the big difference is that i don't get into that situation. be it healthy lifestyle choices, class differences, race, age, whatever. sometimes we look for trouble and sometimes trouble looks for us. when people i know get a DUI i remember how many times i drove drunk and stoned in high school and never got busted. i also think how irresponsible they were being, but i keep in mind that i am not all that detached from such brokenness. i guess my cell's discussion that stemmed from Romans 8 has me thinking about how we can marginalize people because of poor performance (or because they got caught) and not realize that we all need Grace. flowing streets under wheels invisible bumps and the smell. Currently listening: Mr Beast By Mogwai Release date: By 07 March, 2006 11:11 AM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Tuesday, March 28, 2006 false selves and image Current mood: bouncy Category: Life image, man. it's everything to some people. we somehow become pleased by the aesthetic that is put out there...enough for us to like something or someone just enough to say that we like them and not get close. or we get close and get disappointed because the image was just a hologram and not the real thing. i woke up one day and started to hate reading book or album reviews. and soundbytes that people get known by. the other side (if i actually passed through) is that sometimes the idea is more important than the person, anyway. so what if they're a flake (of COURSE they're a flake). they might be right. let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. let's also not just project these ideas of ourselves to each other (that's kind of antithetical to myspace, i know) and not be false. that's me trying to organize my thoughts into concise paragraphs. maybe next i'll start using punctuation and capitalization correctly. (i recently found out that my wife dilikes "all lower case." i said to her "how else can you write on the internet?" or at least that's what i thought 2min after that conversation was over. a semi too close for comfort i'm imagining the pain... and then he drives by. Currently listening: Reaching to the Converted By Billy Bragg Release date: By 31 August, 1999 3:06 PM - 4 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Monday, March 27, 2006 HR-4437 Current mood: cheerful Category: News and Politics olga (and christopher) got back from a west coast trip for a couple weeks. olga told me about the immigration bill protest in LA. over 500,00 people turned out to protest HR-4437 (Sensenbrenner immigration reform bill). i don't know too much about it, but one thing that is not cool with me is (as reported by dailybulletin.com) "would call for employers to check documents submitted new employees against a federal database to verify their authenticity and make it a crime for citizens to help undocumented immigrants." so i guess if you see any of your family members or friends helping undocumented immigrants, report them immediatly. april 10 is the planned Phila ralley if you're into it. i want to find out more about this bill. is that all it took? feels like i'm riding on rocks... or into the sky Currently listening: Sung Tongs By Animal Collective Release date: By 01 June, 2004 11:43 AM - 3 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Sunday, March 26, 2006 sweet movie recommendations and baby excitement Current mood: calm Category: Life wanna watch some kick ass films (don't ask why me and martha watched back to back tear jerkers this weekend)? In America and Dead Man Walking (i've seen this one before) are both choice. DMW was adapted and directed by tim robbins (who is "my man"). i don't often cry watching movies (martha cried watching Elf). but those are intense. man. jesse and lois. kool aid keenan is coming like at any time. talking about them and birthing stories is so fun. there is nothing like watching a new person come out of the birth canal. it's hard to imagine that some people watched me come out with the same bewilderment all those years ago (i'm playing up how old i am lately). it's funny how so many babies are born every day (an incredible miracle) and we take that for granted. when your baby is born, though, your whole world changes. now my babies count to 10 in english, spanish (and sometimes arabic) and have crazy teeth growing out of their gums and give kisses and hugs before naps. we rise and we fall -but not in circles, in waves we're headed somewhere Currently watching: Dead Man Walking Release date: By 01 January, 2000 3:00 PM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Saturday, March 25, 2006 big idea brainstorms... Current mood: creative Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes for some reason when i was driving by this huge industrial space in n.phila (3rd and cumberland for you n.phila enthusiasts) i was reflecting on my meeting the other day with this forming alliance of about 35 community leaders (currently calling ourself the Eastern North Philadelphia Coilition). all this talk about negotiating community benefits from large scale developers and how affordable housing and job creation are major concerns. we need to get some serious cash flow and start a new kind of CDC that buys large scale buildings (and houses) and rehabs them (while training people from the area who need work to do the work) and create large and small mixed income housing (50% could be "affordable housing"). funds could be set up to do other community benefiting operations (street lighting, sidewalks, tax help for fixed income residents, youth programming/centers, etc). i told jeremy about it and i think that we have a seed that if God wills could develop into something huge. details later (i'm a big picture guy anyway), but i think that we have the potential with all these connections that we're making to do something that has only been wished for. cars form single lanes (single driver vehicles) Why don't we carpool? Currently listening: And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out By Yo La Tengo Release date: By 22 February, 2000 4:17 PM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove