Tower Records: Tales from the past and a documentary

Friday is a perfect day to talk about this: weekends, off time, entertainment, having fun, good times. And so we bring you, "Stories from the past about MTS Incorporated."

MTS, Inc. the corporate name on my old paychecks for Tower Records. Tower Video. Tower Posters. And also, Tower Classics. Tower Plants, even. The Tower stores international. Russ Soloman. The Man. It was a dynasty or sorts, really. A culture, certainly.

And now a documentary is on the way.

Russ Solomon - USA Today

I've mention before that I worked at Tower in my college years. I was on VA college benefits from the Air Force. When in Viet Nam Era, came out somehow, Post Viet Nam Era. Strange how the government can change things like that at the stroke of a pen.

And so, I didn't need to work to afford college and to survive through it, but I needed some extra cash to make life just a little bit easier.

I had always wanted to work at a head shop, a record store, and a movie store (okay those didn't exist then, but still....).

So I was out putting in resumes all over town one day and I though, what the Hell and went to Tower Records store. I ended up talking to the Tower Posters manager, not knowing who she was at the time. She looked like a kind of hippy.

She interviewed me on the front step of the store. She must have liked me because she hired me on the spot. That started my Tower career that lead to some very interesting stories, some I can't tell here for possibly obvious reasons. But they were good times, fun times, but still, I didn't have much money to speak of.

Tower Records Tacoma 38th St, Posters, then Video to the left - photo by  Bill  Hansen

After she left the company, one of the women took over as interim manager, hoping to become manager. She was quite attractive and one day walked up to me and asked if I wanted to move in with her. I was a little stunned but said, "YEAH." She then said, "No, you don't quite understand, my sister is moving out of my apartment. I need to make up for her rent." To which I said, in front of the other employees, "Oh. I see. YEAH!"

Later, they demoted a really bad manager down to Tacoma from Seattle. He fired her, then found a reason to fire me. One day he called me into the back room. There was a little ceiling fan in the tiny bathroom that I swear, if you scrapped the fan, you could smoke the residue and get high. The manager offered me a snort of something white and powdery trying to be nice. Then he said, "If I did something to [your roommate], what would you do." I was now in a heightened state of awareness which he should have realized and didn't. I reacted appropriately as one would to a manager in a situation such as this one. I said, "Well, I guess I'd punch you out." He didn't react well to this and I noticed that.

So, I said, "Well, if you mean a work related matter, that's none of my business. On the other hand, if it's not work related...." He stammered quickly, "Oh, no, it's work related." (and yes, I could have kicked his ass, he saw himself more as a hipster than a fighter, basically as I remember him, and how others told me, he was simply more of a sleaze.). So I said, "If it's work related it's none of my business." He was greatly relieved. I told my roommate. He fired her the next day. He fired me that next weekend.

I happened to be next door and the Records manager asked what I was doing in his store rather than next door at work. He was being nice, just wondering why I was standing around by the register, talking to the guys there, looking dejected. I told him what happened. He immediately got angry and said, "Want a job?" I said, "YEAH!" He said, "You're hired." I said, "I don't think the jerk next door will like that." He said, "Oh yeah, well, send him back to me. I'll talk to him."  And he walked away pissed off.

"The Floor" at Tower Records Tacoma circa 1980? - photo by Bill Hansen

The next day I was working on the register. I was assigned to the tape section, working under the guy who would become my future Video Store manager, friend, and eventual roommate when we moved to Seattle to run the Tower Video store there. I didn't want the tape section, I wanted a vinyl section, not the silicon section. But that was okay, I was working at a record store. I was working at, Tower Records.

The jerk walked in and angrily said, "What are you doing here?" I said, "I work here." He said, "WHAT?" I said, "Kevin said if you want to talk to him about it, he's in the back." He stormed back there. Three minutes later, he stormed back out, past me, without looking, and out the double doors.

We all three at the register, started cracking up. I thought my new manager, Kevin, was God at that point. What a nice guy.

Eventually, I graduated from my two year college and got my AA degree. Now what? My girlfriend and I both graduated. She had started at Wazzu (Washington State University in Pullman, WA). But finished with me at WWU.

Washington State University logo

She got in so much trouble at Wazzu (read that as, DUIs), mostly drinking (a big problem there back then as people would cross the border to Idaho a few miles away and could drink at a younger age than Washington's 21). So she came back to live with me, stay sane and semi sober and did her second year at my Ft. Steilacoom Community College (now Pierce College). She didn't have a lot of money in her family either, but had scholarships I think. So she was thinking a BA degree. Luckily, it was rated the best Community College in the state at the time and has since gotten its accreditation as a full College.

We were both into Psychology as a major. Actually, I never expected to do college at all. I graduated High School saying "NEVER, I will NEVER go to school again." Bad experience, you see. But after four years of Hell in the Air Force (authority issues), I figured and had proved, that I could do almost anything. Surviving the mental duress of being stuck somewhere you hated (Spokane and the military) for four years, I proved to myself I could do pretty much anything. So I thought, "Maybe I'll get a four year degree; might as well, go where she's going." So I did. Big mistake. Best mistake I could have made, however.

My older brother (older by seven years) had talked me into college ("Look, girls, parties, a degree, better money when you graduate, it's all paid for by the government, where's the downside?"). I was also the first in my nuclear family to get a college degree of any kind, and so, I applied to all the state colleges and visited all their campuses. I liked WWU best in Bellingham. Beautiful campus and not just "rat counters" like the UW and others (strangely, though the UW turned down my app for education, I ended up working there for seven and a half years later on). They accepted me, happily, to my surprise.

WWU Miller Hall, Psychology Department Home

I got my degree, had a tempestuous relationship with that girlfriend, graduated, moved back to Tacoma (to my dismay, as I felt I was somehow going backward) and couldn't find a job. I was looking for a Psych job, but they all paid the same or less than my Tower job had ($5/hr or so). My friend and supervisor at Records said if I wanted a job, they were starting a new business, Tower Video, since Tower Posters had gone out of business. The thought was, it was just a bunch of stoners working at the posters stores (Head Shops) and they were robbing the stores blind. So I said okay, and after all, it was a movie store. Score!

I ended up a supervisor there, became Media buyer (blank tapes, cables, etc.) and developed a very good statistical analysis formula I learned in Psychology Statistics (the hardest most miserable class I ever had, and it was a requirement, and a two semester, year long class and the second semester had the Professor from Hell). So at least in my failed effort to avoid math like the plague, I had learned something.

Supervising one Thursday night, about 10:30pm. Female Emp. comes into the back to say there are two shoplifters, 1 tall, 1 short, both black. I went out front, they had just run out the door, I chased them down the store block, around, onto the street, I'm running down the street, nothing, no one. I'm standing there in the dark, two male employees still in the store. No backup. Me alone on a dark street after two guys. Uh huh. Okay....

I went back to the store, thinking how I could have been lying in the street dying about then. Over the next week I stewed over the fact that two guys stole from the store on my watch. Busting shoplifters was a stable at Tower. Not so much at Posters as they store was so cluttered it was nearly impossible to catch someone, but Video and Records got to be very expert in it.

The somewhat humorous end to that story is in the next week following. All employees showed up for an all night inventory at both Video and Records. Those two guys showed up again. Same night, Thursday, same hour. The employee came back and told the manager and I. He had me lock the font door, he went through the back door to the Record store and came around the front of the store with about twelve male employees. Record store employees were very professional in their apprehending shoplifters as it happened a lot.

So I nonchalantly breezed to the front of the store, passed the two guys and locked the front door, which, well, spooked them a little. I just said, "Sorry for the inconvenience, it's just for a couple of minutes." There was a tall black guy and a shorter one. As I had walked by, the tall one was doing a lousy job as lookout as he was watching the shorter guy (as was I) stuffing VHS video tapes down the back of his pants. After I spoke to them, he set the videos down on the rack again. I immediately picked them up and walked them to another employee as evidence.

Needless to say, we caught the guys this time. Once the manager showed up with the guys from next door, he unlocked the door. It was then that the small squirmy one tried to get out the door but one of our video employees, kind of a young, muscular Tom Cruz look a like, grabbed the metal framed bullet proof glass door (someone threw a crow bar through the door so we had recently fixed that issue), and slammed the door shut on the guy, repeatedly (we thought he was trying to cut the guy in half) until the guy had to back off and myself and another guy, got him into the back room.

He almost got away from us but I had just started Aikido as a college gym class and got a twisted arm, thumg grip on him and he had to give up. The guy's arm popped twice and he groaned and said, "Hey don't break my arm." I said, "I'm not moving, you are, stop struggling or you WILL break your arm."

They had chosen a night to rip off a Tower store when two Tower stores had all their employees working that night. Talk about losers. A little while later the police came and took the guy away. The other guy got off because he hadn't taken anything, which really annoyed me. But I had caught the guy that burned me the week before and got away with it; and I had caught the first shoplifter at Tower Video Tacoma.

Eventually my manager and I got an apartment on Seattle's Queen Anne Hill on the Magnolia side and moved to run the Tower Video store on Mercer Street. That was some interesting times. There were times when my dinner was an apple from the nearby CircleK store. Talk about poor. I got my supervisor keys though I was supposed to be an assistant Manger, but the Manager in Tacoma wouldn't let me go, she really screwed me on that, but she knew she had an employee that could run the store.

One night I was working during Christmas time and the place was packed. I was on break and when I got back the District Manger, Wayne, who had an office in the single brick building that contained Tower Records, then Video, then Classics with a long office way in the back, came up to me, very proud. He said, I just stopped two guys carrying a case of video tapes out the front door. I said, "Cool, good job. Where are they?" I was all innocent like not expecting his response.

He said, "I let them go." Incredulous and being from Tacoma where we dealt on a daily basis with thieves from the projects across the street from the shopping mall, and the Army training base Ft. Lewis, and local High and Junior High schools. Honestly, most our shoplifters were black, military, or kids, and no one was racist that I met at the stores, we dealt in demographics and those were the demographics). So my point being, in Tacoma, we had some tough customers.

Wayne got all defensive and angry and I got angry right back. But he won (District Manager, remember). He said, "This isn't TACOMA, this is SEATTLE. You don't take on two guys alone. I did good getting the product back." True. But, lame. Whimpy, cowardly even. From our Tacoma standards. In my book.

I told the manager/roommate. His comment was laughter. He said, "What?! He let them go!? He has no concept what it's like in Tacoma. Don't let it bother you." And so, I didn't.

Jeff Ament

At some point Jeff Ament (bass player, Pearl Jam, back then Green River) was our media buyer, the job I had in Tacoma.

Jeff (right) looking more as I was used to him back when

 Not sure if that's a "Mother Love Bone" or "Green River" (above) band photo.

When he decided to go get serious about playing music, he passed his job to me and I replaced him (as if that were possible). Using that formula I had made in Tacoma, I hit top sales one media and accessories one month, world wide. Not bad.

Eventually, I got a job at the UW working on computers. That lead to writing and IT work. And the rest is history.

Colin Hanks

Colin Hanks, Tom's son, is now doing a documentary on Tower Records and it's founder, Russ Soloman. I've met him, nice guy. When I met him, gold chain medallion, open shirt, bare chest but that was the 80s. It's called, "All things must pass, the Rise and Fall of Tower Records". Check it out. Maybe donate a couple of bucks. Tower was an icon, portrayed in film and now documentary. It gave its customers a music home away from home. It had its downside, especially if you worked there, but we made the best of it we could. I have fond memories of it now that life is far, far better.

And I'm never going to forgot those Tower days, or the people I met and worked with there. I'm still in contact with some of them on Facebook and some were friends all these years. That Video manager I worked for and lived with was eventually the best man at my wedding (one of them, the one my brother married us at and some Tower employees attended in Issaquah, WA) and I was best man at his wedding (one of them). 

Some of those people are gone now and I miss them, some I miss greatly. But most of us are still here and have some very fond memories of our years with Russ' stores. Some very fond memories, indeed.

If, you find any of this interesting, or especially perhaps if you don't, one of my dear friends who was one of those Tower people who has passed on, was Rose (ironically and unrelated, her ex husband, Ray, is also gone now; seems from what I hear, he left "Skinheads" a bar on the Tacoma waterfront with a couple of guys, and was found the next morning on the beach).

Rose was a very special person. Liz, was another, funny, sharp wit, attractive, who was lost to us too soon. They were friends, they were friends of mine. At times friends of mine together and at times when they were annoyed with one another, friends of mine separately. But I was very close to both of them. As close as I've ever been to anyone. I was pleased to be included in their inner circle of friends.

Rose

They had a falling out, the two of them, after I moved on from Tacoma. I know why, I understand it, and it saddens me, but that's really not relevant here. I found a page online about Rose and so I'll share that with you here and now. The guy that put that page up, came on the scene just after I left it. What he says is so true for me also.

What he doesn't know is Rose refused to bow to life, to her Diabetes. I told her time and again to stop partying along with us, she couldn't do it, but she would anyway. I told her it will kill her, and she looked up at me and said, "I don't care, I will live my life how I want to live it and if it kills me, so be it. But I will live life on MY terms!" I choke up writing this. But there it is. Nothing he could do would ever have changed that indomitable spirit.

Liz

If you hate feeling emotions, just move on and don't read this. But if you decide to, you will come to understand the side of Rose I knew. And everything this guy says on his page, from my own experience, was true. Rose had some hard times, especially later on before she passed on. But she will always be a very special person in my memories.

There were others lost to us over the years, like Leo in Seattle who was lost to AIDS, and other unnamed Tower friends,

But first and foremost, Rose and Liz, you are on my mind, forever.

Art, learn from the masters or just learn?

I have always thought that learning to play songs someone else wrote, was stupid. Less than (or more than) stupid, insipid. Degenerative.

In my writings, I've entered contests for prose fiction and screenwriting and seen success. But at this point in my life, I feel I never want to enter another contest, ever.

Why is that? I am not sure I know, really.

But is that bad?

I have been thinking all this time, kind of in the back of my mind, that it was bad. But then I really started to think about it recently. I was watching the HBO show, "Treme" the other day, a show about New Orleans. I love that show, I love the character's passion for their town, for the music, for their History. One of the musician characters made a comment to high school kids, about how you listen until you can simply feel it. He was saying, to paraphrase, that these beloved Jazz musicians are simply spilling poetry from their instruments and you simply need to close your eyes and "listen" to understand what they are saying.

And that clicked with me. That was what I was saying. NOT to play other's music, but to learn your own, to play your own. You can never only play your own, if you've heard music before. But now I think maybe my stupid, my own insipid way, is slower (it's taken years that way) but there is a kind of logic to it.

As for Treme (brief aside here) I have to say the carryovers from the show The Wire, have continued to be brilliant and entertain: Wendell Pierce, Clarke Peters. Not sure if there are more. And not to mention all the real professionals included in this show, peppered here and there.

As for newcomers, Lucia Micarelli, what's to say? I'm in love? What a talent!

More seasoned actors Steve Zahn, I've never liked him more. I like his exuberance, even his blind foolishness at times. But his passion for music wins me over every time. As do all the characters, those on the side of art and music, except for the criminals, drug addicts and sleazes of which there are a few anyway.

OK, okay, now back to our regularly scheduled show....

My heroes of music have never inspired me to mimic their rifts, but to listen to them talk, to try to understand how they view their Art. Eric Clapton, Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp and others. You could argue, "Well, you're not a professional guitar player are you?" No, you're right. I liked keyboards too and I'm not a professional pianist or keyboardist either. To become a pro, you do need to move quickly, learning the masters is the way, I'm sure. But I think I'm trying to get at something else here.

The same goes for my writing, in a different way. I started reading young, because no one would read me the comics in the newspaper until they were done reading the entire stupid newspaper on Sundays. I read voraciously (mostly because I was grounded so much as a kid). I always found writing fairly easy. I was probably a writer from birth, predisposed to it and only needed to be taught the mechanics of my particular language.

Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA

I got a B.A. in Psychology from a PNW University, Western Washington University. A great campus, my favorite in Washington state. Someone asked my while in college, why a Psych degree? I said, because I want to be a writer. She said, "me too, but I'm getting a Fine Arts degree." I said, "Will that works too, but it's heavy on the mechanics of writing and I wanted to learn the mechanics of Human Beings.

She thought for a moment and said, "Wow, that really makes sense to me, maybe I should switch my major?" I freaked as I didn't want her parents coming after me with shotguns and said, "No, we need all kinds, so I would stay with your major, that may be what you need. I just have different concerns. And we can still both be good, well read, successful writers." She went off happy.

Later, as I was graduating, someone asked if I was going to go for a Masters Degree. I said no. I felt that at that point, I could either become a writer, and artist, or I never would.

Twenty-five years later, I'm still hacking away at it. I'm not saying you shouldn't follow the Masters, that is a good way to go. I'm saying that for me, for some reason, I couldn't so much do that, as find my own path. My son was much like that also, frustrating when you are trying to teach him math in grade school but he has to plot out things that were settled a hundred or thousand years ago. It was slow for him, but now he is so far beyond me in math and physics I will never catch up to him. So there is some value, but for people with brains and minds that work in a certain way. Maybe.

Two years ago, I got really serious about my writing again; mostly because my kids are grown and now out  of the house. And I find that I have gotten much better over the years, without working full time on it. I'm sure I would have been far better now had I been actively working at it, but it gives hope to those who thought they could never make it. If you only at some point, stop, shift gears and go for it. Hope, is good. But it's nothing like focus, determination and doing it your own way. Listen to those who know, don't waste time you don't have to, find short cuts when you need to. But get there. You can do it. I can do it.

And, since now I have the luxury to do what I will....

I am.

The Carousel, think you know what it is?

History of Jousting - The Carousel

This was something I had always wondered about. When my daughter was young, we could never walk by a carousel without stopping to let her ride it. Even years before that, as a kid, I wondered, how did this ever come to be a circular ride with horses on it. The benches to sit on were obvious, parents wanted to sit in dignity while their kids rode amazingly fabulous rides. Typically horses, I've seen all kinds of fantastic beings as themes, Unicorns, Bunnies, sea animals, just about anything you can think of. 

Then there are the models of carousels. My ex wife, being a horse trainer and riding instructor, a rider since she was four, loved collecting San Francisco Music Box Company carousels. I would buy her these for Christmas, including one that was a full Carousel and a bit expensive. I can't find a picture of that online anywhere now, maybe that is a good thing, for her, collectable-wise.

Then I started giving them to our daughter, starting her out with the snow globes with a single horse in them. That way she couldn't easily break them. As she got older, she got the external kind.

Then she moved up to a single carousel horse. They are quite fantastical looking things. They were always a bit more than I could understand, but the girls loved them. But still, where did they originate? I finally found out kind of inadvertently.

But these are just toys. The originals were a bit more, aggressive in their existence, use and purpose.

Many thanks to Middle-Ages .org for the following information:

The decline of jousting in England occurred at a faster rate than the rest of Europe - due to the development of the new entertainment offered in the theatre. In France the notions of Chivalry continued tournaments and jousting into the seventeenth century - these were also referred to as Carrousels. The word Carousel is derived from the words "garosello" (Italian) and "carosella" (Spanish), both of which mean "little war". 

The origins dated back to the time of the crusades when a carousel was a horseman's game in which cavaliers pelted each other with balls. The "carrousel" was a ring-spearing tournament in which expert riders used their lances to spear small rings suspended between two posts at full gallop. Young French princes trained for this type of tournament by sitting on wooden horses which were attached to a center pole. The young nobles would attempt to spear small rings dangled along the outer edge of the device. 

To make this more difficult the device was powered round and round by a horse or a servant. The device was soon referred to as a carousel. This history of Jousting remains with us today at fairgrounds in the form of the Carousels!

Many thanks to Middle-Ages .org for this information.

How Socialist is the Pledge of Allegiance?

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! In that vein of Patriotism and Nationalism and memorialism, I give you:

The Pledge of Allegiance. As many of you (should) know, it reads as follows:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an oath of loyalty to the national flag and the Republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Francis Bellamy in 1892. The Pledge has been modified four times since then, with the most recent change adding the words "under God" in 1954. The latest update is a detriment to the Federation of these United States, it was when instituted, albeit lacking at the time in obvious reprisal, but especially now as things have changed and it's become more of a thorn in the finger, infecting our solidarity as a mixed people and a "tossed salad" nation.

Do we really need to be relying, even if only done to achieve votes as it typically the situation at this time, on the mystical in guiding our diverse nation? Allow me to help you with closure on that question: No.

Students swearing the Pledge on Flag Day in 1899

Now this will really drive some conservatives nuts:

Bellamy was a Socialist. 

So, the most American of pledges people say, are socialist. :) Too funny, if you ask me. The original was:

"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

The Pledge was supposed to be quick and to the point. Bellamy designed it to be recited in 15 seconds. As a socialist, he had initially also considered using the words equality and fraternity but decided against it - knowing that the state superintendents of education on his committee were against equality for women and African Americans.

That is a solid pledge and should never have been changed, as it actually covers all American citizens and is actually more American in my view than the revised version.

Some have wanted to substitute the revised words "Under God" with "Under Law" an even worse idea as it raises the concept of law to that of God, at least in many people's minds and when conservative administrations take over as we've seen (Nixon, Reagan, Bush jr., funny, they're all Republicans) we seem to lose civil liberties and freedoms.

This next part is verbatim and should be known by all Americans, especially if you are going to go all crazy about being American. From Wikipedia:

"In 1951, the Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization, also began including the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. In New York City, on April 30, 1951, the Board of Directors of the Knights of Columbus adopted a resolution to amend the text of their Pledge of Allegiance at the opening of each of the meetings of the 800 Fourth Degree Assemblies of the Knights of Columbus by addition of the words "under God" after the words "one nation."

"Over the next two years, the idea spread throughout Knights of Columbus organizations nationwide. On August 21, 1952, the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus at its annual meeting adopted a resolution urging that the change be made universal and copies of this resolution were sent to the President, the Vice President (as Presiding Officer of the Senate) and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The National Fraternal Congress meeting in Boston on September 24, 1952, adopted a similar resolution upon the recommendation of its president, Supreme Knight Luke E. Hart. Several State Fraternal Congresses acted likewise almost immediately thereafter. This campaign led to several official attempts to prompt Congress to adopt the Knights of Columbus’ policy for the entire nation. These attempts failed.

Pres. Harry Truman

"In 1952, Holger Christian Langmack wrote a letter to President Truman suggesting the inclusion of “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Langmack was a Danish philosopher and educator who came to America in 1911. He was one of the originators of the Prayer Breakfast and a religious leader in Washington, D.C. President Truman met with him along with several others to discuss the inclusion of “under God” and also “love” just before “liberty and justice”.[citation needed]

"At the suggestion of a correspondent, Representative Louis C. Rabaut of Michigan sponsored a resolution to add the words "under God" to the Pledge in 1953.

Students pledging to the flag with the Bellamy salute.

"Rev. Dr. George MacPherson Docherty (left) and President Eisenhower (second from left) on the morning of February 7, 1954, at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church.

"Prior to February 1954, no attempt to get the Pledge officially amended succeeded. The final successful push came from George MacPherson Docherty.

Some American presidents honored Lincoln's birthday by attending services at the church Lincoln attended, New York Avenue Presbyterian Church by sitting in Lincoln's pew on the Sunday nearest February 12. On February 7, 1954, with President Eisenhower sitting in Lincoln's pew, the church's pastor, George MacPherson Docherty, delivered a sermon based on the Gettysburg Address titled "A New Birth of Freedom." He argued that the nation's might lay not in arms but its spirit and higher purpose. He noted that the Pledge's sentiments could be those of any nation, that "there was something missing in the pledge, and that which was missing was the characteristic and definitive factor in the American way of life." He cited Lincoln's words "under God" as defining words that set the United States apart from other nations.

"President Eisenhower, though raised a Jehovah's Witness, had been baptized a Presbyterian just a year before. He responded enthusiastically to Docherty in a conversation following the service. Eisenhower acted on his suggestion the next day and on February 8, 1954, Rep. Charles Oakman (R-Mich.), introduced a bill to that effect. Congress passed the necessary legislation and Eisenhower signed the bill into law on Flag Day, June 14, 1954.

"The phrase "under God" was incorporated into the Pledge of Allegiance June 14, 1954, by a Joint Resolution of Congress amending §7 of the Flag Code enacted in 1942."

End Wikipedia citation.

So, the pledge including "God" is actually a mostly Catholic invention.

I submit that we should have a separation of Church and State in this country and that what differentiates us from other non secular countries is our ability to accept all and treat everyone with equal understanding and consideration under and by, the law. However, justice being blind, we need more than that and to have the words "Under God" detracts from that because for some reason when you put God into the picture, people use that to insert their own biases and treat people as less if and when different.

We should be able to speak out against wrongs, be they commited by or in the name of, our Country, our or another's God, or people for reasons religious or other. When you are dealing with so powerful a concept as an omnipotent God figure, you decrease the protection of the people by the mere nature of that concept and that never has a place in a democracy devoted to the people being the end all be all of the society. "The People" are not those generally accepted, or the "In Crowd" or those rich or in power. Eliteism creeps into any and all levels of a society and this needs to be countered by any and all means.

That is not to say I am saying we should seek communism, or even absolute socialism for that matter as I do not. Communism does not work because of the greed inherent in Human beings, evolved from the need to acquire to subsist through hard times. Socialism is already prominent in our Government and Society and is not bad, total or absolute socialism is. The rich and powerful do not like the concept of helping everyone in society as it costs them. But it doesn't cost those dying from lack of food or healthcare, they simply die and are no longer a worry, concern or cost to those in power. And those in power include those upper middle class to upper upper class.

No one should be receiving free handouts to live. If anyone gets help, it should be for a reason and until they can be independent on their own unless they are not capable. But no one should be suffering in America to the extent that some of them do, either. On the other hand, our prison system is designed purposely to give a free handout, if you want to think of it in that way, and then simply turn those interred out back again into the populace when they are released from their term, rather than holding them away from society for a reason, to train them out of their situation, so they can become independent and no longer have a need to seek crime as a lifestyle choice or method of income. We tend to lock people up like animals and then expect them to shape up when they are released.

In coming back around to the Pledge of Allegiance, we need a pledge that EVERYONE can get behind, not just those who think they are the betters in a society. And so the word "God" needs to be removed. It is not so much as removing God as many religious types will see it, but putting the pledge back to its original form so that all citizens are included. You do not even have to swear on a bible in court any longer but can choose another book or simply state that you will tell the truth and have it made understood that if you should be found to be lying, you will suffer the consequences. Something that is missing when you swear to God. Courts should not be concerned with you suffering for lies in the afterlife but in this life and immediately.

So, think about it.

Only, I would change the phrase, "my flag", to "our flag". Really, we don't need any more separation than necessary in our citizenry, just between Church and State. We should all see it as "our flag", "our Nation", "our Responsibility" to be a good Citizen and be behind what our country stands for, to feel motivated to keep it from running astray away from our base principles of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

And I've seen too many, for too long, getting between good, law abiding citizens, who in some cases have been made to be law breaking citizens for no good reason, in those simple principles being perverted by the authorities that be.

"I pledge allegiance to our Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Anti-Squatch Music Festival?

The People's Festival

"Can't afford Sasquatch? A Spokane 21-year-old and his high school friends think they have the answer for you." Read the Inlander.com's Leah Sottile's article here. No really, read this, then go there, then read that.

Anti-Squatch Festival

Austin Mell is a character, there's no doubt about that. I've known him for a couple of years now. He is always thinking up interesting stuff. But he and his friends have come up with a very good idea.

Austin, the guy who had enough courage to step forward and propose the idea of anti-(sa)squatch as well as organized and help put into motion the events of which some of us partook. Even though the performers and attendees did something too. - Wraith Snow

There has been a lot of talk in the NorthWest about how the Sasquatch Festival has started to suck and has lost its roots. I've been hearing this from the kids who have gone to it the past few years or longer and well, it's lost some of its originality, its "specialness".

javascript:void(0) Yes, it's definitely an event. Maybe even an event to attend but it depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for what it was originally all about, well, you should probably attend an entirely different festival.

In fact, this year, there was one. Fifteen miles south of Spokane, Washington. I wasn't there, I only just heard about it, but I know Austin and I thought I should point this idea out here. Kind of help along the movement, you know? No, I haven't been to Sasquatch, I've never much been into things of that size. I like smaller venues, less renowned artists. I prefer the grass roots of things. Even big bands admit that once you get to a certain size, somthing gets lost.

That's why Pearl Jam used to throw impromptu shows like one at the Crockadile downtown Seattle years ago. People showed up and hey, Pearl Jam is playing tonight, awesome! There are many more examples of bands doing things like that. My point is, they do that for a reason. Because to be really big, like Sas is, is to lose something you still crave.

It's something you just can't get or feel in a festival the size of a Sasquatch. Should Sas be killed? Perhaps not. That isn't the point. The point is, those who started loving it, have lost interesting. And you have to ask yourself, why?

I think Ausin and his friends have hit the nail on the head. Or smacked the rock star in the face with his guitar. What a concept, throw a festival with good people, art and artists that are trying to make it at reasonable people's prices.

Kudos to Austin and friends!

Now, what's next on the horizon? Because once you get on a roll, well, don't stop. People are counting on you.

From Inlander.com

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day!

What to do on Memorial Day? Well first of all, what is it?

Wikipedia defines Memorial Day as:

"Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 30 in 2011). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates men and women who died while in military service to the United States. First enacted to honor Union and Confederate soldiers following the American Civil War, it was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars. By 1865 the practice of decorating soldiers' graves had become widespread in the North. The first known observance was in Boalsburg, Pa on October, 1864, and each year thereafter.

"On Memorial Day the flag is raised briskly to the top of the staff and then solemnly lowered to the half-staff position, where it remains only until noon. It is then raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day. The half-staff position remembers the more than one million men and women who gave their lives in service of their country. At noon their memory is raised by the living, who resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain, but to rise up in their stead and continue the fight for liberty and justice for all.

"Memorial Day often marks the start of the summer vacation season, and Labor Day its end."

There are many people traveling around to see family, spend time in the great outdoors, and general fun mayhem and anarchy. Drinking, camping, extreme sporting, etc. Just remember, go nuts, but be safe. Professionals have always played the odds and consider calculated risks. Inebriation and sport is fun, but be smart and do it in such a way that you cannot get (too) hurt. Be sure you have help available to the possibility level of how damaged you can get. First aide, both skill and equipment is a good thing to have available.

Camping requires fire usually in some form. Do not burn down a forest.

Travel is usually involved. Be considerate (no road rage, take your time, plan with time buffers so you don't FEEL like killing that idiot in front of you or the fool that just cut you off. Remember that this is a time to have a good time, but to have a good time you survive to think back on at the next Memorial Day so that you are alive to have a memory to begin with and still have all your limbs and family members and friends to enjoy it with.

It is also a good time to get some things done around the house for you "staycation" types. Maybe people are choosing to vacation home due to the current financial situation. Do not just simply work all weekend. Take time to blow off some steam, then you'll be even more fresh at work next week. We all need down time. Exchanging your day job for your work on the house/yard job may give some pleasure, but for some it will just be another job and you need your time to do nothing, do fun, experience the new, novel and entertaining.

Do something extraordinary, out of the ordinary. Even go do something you don't really want to do, if you've never done it before. Never seen a 3D movie? Pick one, go see it. Take yourself out to dinner, or with a friend or loved one. If you are broke, try to expend a few bucks, it will be a good investment. If not, plenty of free things are available. Simply, go for a walk. But go walk miles somewhere. I've had some of my best times doing that. Walking around Seattle at night, suddenly going in this or that place.

I've had completely unexpected adventures that way. I saw a football player bounced off a brick wall by the biggest bouncers I've ever see at JR's Cafe in Pioneer Square; he was being a drunk ass and even his friends tried to tell him to knock it off; I was picked up by an out of town rock band with a "posse of bitches" (their words, and yes, the girls too) and they took me with them all over town in two vans of people. Then I've seen things that were just laughter invoking or odd or interesting. And the next day I woke feeling I'd had a grand adventure.

You don't have to spend a lot of money, drink, or do anything unnatural. Just something unusual. Break out of your rut if you're in one, and who isn't? Have some fun. Take a little while to think about how you got here, who spent what so you could be here, or live this lifestyle, or live in this country that yes, could be better, but certainly could easily be worse. Many lived and died and gave the ultimate sacrifice for your freedoms. Pay them back by making them proud they gave for what you (and I) got for it.

Have fun. Be appreciative. Be sane (okay, get a LITTLE crazy) and be safe.

Have a Happy Memorial Day!

Weekend Wise Words

Be Sharp! Be Brilliant!

Humorous definition of the day from the Urban Dictionary's pending bin:

Purpleism

 

Also known as the Church of the Pure Purple, Purpleism is an absurdest pseudo religion started in the Pacific Northwest of America decrying the unaesthetic in life as a reaction against all the stupid religious nonsense going on in the world.
 

Some of the tenets are:
 

-No killing over religious issues.
-The Religion Purple Priests are never taller than 2 universal cubits and 2 palms (or for US Standard, 3'6") because that puts their eyes at precisely the right point to be able to see clearly, The Color Purple, as it is most visible at that height off any horizontally planed surface.
Logic:
-As there can be no nothing, something must exist. Therefore, the concept of God is a non-sequitur.
-Purpleism is most notable near Universities.
 

In Cinema/Media:
 

-"Pan and scan" (what is sometimes misleadingly called, "full screen") is an outright sin. --Language / content should never be altered. Only the director has that right, and even that should be greatly limited.
-Nudity is not ugly or offense, people that think it is, are.

-Sound should be standardized so you are never blasted by changing channels, or when you go from a show to a commercial. Commercials that break this rule should lose their access to the television (or radio, etc.) medium.
Romance:
-Love someone for themselves, not for who they "should" be, or for who one wants them to be;
and,
-Find a way to communicate to your partner, Exactly, as precisely as possible anyway, Who it IS that you are. 

 

Usage:

"I went to Temple Purple today and we discussed Purpleism."