English As She Is Spoke

Recently I was called a "grammar boy" for commenting on someone's poor writing.  He hadn't just made a typo; he had screwed up half of the words he used, and of course hadn't used any punctuation, or capitals, or made anything remotely resembling a complete sentence.  Besides, what he was trying to say was something inaccurate and repulsive.  Ever since then I have had this song stuck in my head, with a slight alteration to the title, of course:



I ain't no glamour boy.  But grammar boy?  I can live with that.  I don't jump on people all the time about piddly things, or at least I try not to.  But if someone keeps repeating the same mistake I'll gently correct them.  Maybe not so gently if they're being a jerk.  Sometimes I can barely understand what someone is trying to say, their spelling and/or grammar is so bad.  In those cases, I often assume that their thoughts are as jumbled as their writing.  It's usually true.  This guy was an ignorant, incoherent mess.  We all make mistakes in our speech, writing, and thinking.  Hopefully we learn from and try to fix them.  I appreciate it when people point out my mistakes.  I can be persuaded to change my mind.  But if you can't even get your point across to me, well, if you're lucky I'll probably just ignore you.

Dos and don'ts for conservatives

Do point out problems you see amongst liberals.  They are far from perfect.

Do look around your party and tell me what you see; if you see people misbehaving, hold them accountable. I hold you accountable for what happens in your party.

Don't say Lincoln was a Republican. I know, and know how far they've fallen.  So pointing it out just makes them look bad.

Don't talk about shit you know nothing about (hearing it on Fox does not count as knowing it.)

Do hold your own religious and political beliefs.  Just don't expect me to hold the same ones.  I like conversation, and differences of opinion and experience.  I like diversity (unlike most conservatives.)

Don't tell me Stalin was a liberal (or Hitler was a socialist.)  Or that Obama is a Muslim and furrin.  If you do, I will feel sorry for you.  After I laugh at you and tell you how full of crap you are.

Don't tell me that reasonable gun regulations are the equivalent of confiscating guns. Is a stop sign the same as taking your car?

Don't tell me raising the minimum wage is bad, but raising CEO pay and lowering their taxes is good.

Don't tell me that your religion should be treated as science.

Don't tell me the economy sucks. I know it's not great, but it is so much better than it was in 2009.  Give credit where it's due, which includes some for Obama.

Don't tell me you want less regulation, then complain about food disease, air crashes, etc.  You really want radioactive sludge in your water?  Thanks, there's enough already.  Some- most- regulations are good, and necessary.

Don't tell me conservative are more moral.  Just don't.  Both individually, and in terms of politicians (who are mainly buffoons, and slimy people,) it is simply not true.  Conservatives are less nice, and less honest, than liberals overall.

Don't say you're more patriotic.  You may be more nationalistic.  More jingoistic.  You may do more flag-waving.  But you're not more concerned about this country's future; you just want more of your idealized version of the past.  You're not really upholding American principles; you pretend to like the Constitution but don't really understand it.

Don't tell me single-digit instances of voter fraud justify keeping tens of thousands from voting.

Do donate to your favorite church and charity.  If you don't want to support 'government handouts,' step up. Try to do it with individual charities. You have a big job ahead of you...

Do speak out.  It's educational and entertaining and helps the rest of us identify idiots in our midst.

Do vote.  Democracy is important, and takes personal involvement.  Even though I sometimes wish for low conservative turnout, I want what's best for the country, I want people thinking and involved.

Pros and Cons

I took a political test the other day.  I've taken the "shortest test" one the Libertarians have, and I tend to end up in the "Statist" and "Liberal" areas, though I hold some views that could be small-L libertarian (like, mind your own business/your rights end where mine begin.)  This one was a bit more involved, and interesting.

It got me to thinking about what liberal views I have, and what conservative ones.  And what might draw me to one group or the other.  I try to be open-minded.  I try to be rational.  And conservatives try to win me over, and might even have a chance if more of them were rational and open-minded.  And decent people.

I know this is simplistic and over-generalized, but when I look at liberals and conservatives and try to weigh their pros and cons, I end up favoring liberals.  We can talk about pros another time, but here are the cons I see when looking at each group:


Cons of Libs:
naive
do-gooders


Cons of Cons:
racist
sexist
close-minded
cynical and/or ignorant
selfish

So, um, tell me why I should like conservatives?

I don't know much about ska, but I know what I like

Lately I've had several ska songs in my head.  Why?  Random reasons, including free-ranging discussions with Miss Mox, etc.  Some I hadn't heard in years, but when I was a teenager I loved them.  And suddenly I realized- I liked ska and reggae long before I even knew what they were.  Possibly the earliest song I would have heard in that genre was "I Shot The Sheriff," a Bob Marley song covered, of course, by Eric Clapton.  But around the same time I remember hearing the Clash, the Police, and others who had some ska and reggae seeping into their styles.  And of course Madness had a song that seems to have been the first big ska hit in America, "One Step Beyond."  I didn't know it was ska, just that it sounded cool.  And it was a cover, though few knew that at the time.  Then there was a song called "Lebanon" that took me weeks to track down recently.

I slowly became more aware of the music, and got into Bob Marley (who started in ska,) UB40, The Skatalites, Toots and the Maytals, Eek-A-Mouse, Jimmy Cliff, Fishbone, all sorts of variations on the theme. Even later, I got into Reel Big Fish, who are still around and who I've talked about on here before.

So herewith, some ska and reggae songs that have been on my mental playlist recently.


I Shot The Sheriff- Eric Clapton

Everyone knows this song, but not everyone knows it is reggae, or that it is a cover.  That's a bit sad, but then, it's not like Bob Marley isn't famous anyway...  And Clapton's version is pretty amazing.




Simmer Down- The Wailers

The first Wailers, that is, fronted by Bob Marley but not superstars yet.  I actually only discovered this after I had known Marley's later music for awhile.




One Step Beyond- Madness

They might be slightly better known for "Our House," but this is what I think of when I think of Madness.  It's actually a cover of a much earlier song by Prince Buster.




Lebanon- The Untouchables

This one rattled around in my head recently and I just could not figure out who did it.  I thought of it as a punk song and searched for it that way, coming up with The Human League's similarly-named song.  Not that that one's punk, but it is a bit of a stretch from their New Wave origins.  Not the same song, though; I like this one better, and remember listening to it over and over as a kid.




True Love Is Hard To Find- Toots And The Maytals with Bonnie Raitt.

 An old song, updated.

 

Dragged Into The 21st Century

Twenty years ago I bought my first new car.  A Volkswagen Fox, the cheapest "real" car out there (all the others were sketchy, and missing things I wanted like a full-size spare, etc.)  I kept that car for 17 years, drove it into the ground.  I got 2 other Foxes as it got too unreliable.  Yes, at one time I had three red Foxes.  After several breakdowns, and lots of help from Miss Mox and our friends and family, she persuaded me that it was time for something more reliable.  I'm hoping to keep the best of the Foxes (the wagon) going, using parts from the other one.  The wagon's a quick car, with a turbo for backroads fun.  Plus it's useful for hauling stuff, and maybe I can use it to teach Miss Mox and her siblings to drive a stick.

I tend to hold onto things, and definitely do not often get the latest gadgets. I'm not a Luddite, but I appreciate simplicity and reliability.  Besides, the best way to be green is to "recycle" by just keeping something a long time in the first place, repairing it when necessary.  The Foxes have been getting 30mpg the whole time.  I feel like I've done my bit.

My commute is long, and sometimes cold and dark.  I needed something reliable and economical.  We had rented some cars for trips (and a breakdown,) and I did other research on what I might want.  To me the choice was either another very cheap old car, or a newish used one.  Miss Mox went with me to a local megaplex where we could compare many.   As with anything we do, she made car shopping fun; more than just tolerable.  The salesman was decent, not too pushy.  Miss Mox provided insight, and levity, and distracted the salesman so I could focus.  And just for fun urged me to test a Hyundai Veloster- a sporty, semi-practical 3-door.  It was about as fun as the wagon, but at 2x the cost of what I ended up with, a Ford Fiesta.  The Fiesta is almost new.  My first near-new car in decades.  My first American (well, kinda- Mexican) car.  And my first automatic.  Actually, it has power everything. Plus heated seats.  Nowadays, manuals are rare.  Crank windows are almost gone.  Some people don't know how to use them, just as some are confused by rotary phones.  To me, AC was a luxury- I had it, never used it.  So this is a big change for me.  Of course, it's still red...

Now I'm trying to figure out all the gadgets.  I may never use all the capabilities (just like my iPhone...) Some of the things are nice; I guess I'm getting soft as I get older.  I'm enjoying the reliability, and economy, and even the driveability- it's no sports car, or even Fox, but it's more fun to drive than some.  See you down the road...

Hot Piece of Grass

You know by now that I like cover songs, especially well-done covers in an entirely different style than the original.  Well, Hayseed Dixie are masters of that.  I'm not sure where I first heard them; my vague memory is that I saw their first CD at a store, borrowed it from the library to check it out, and was hooked.

They call what they do "rockgrass"- bluegrass covers of rock songs.  It's so wrong and so right.  The story goes that they lived in a holler and came upon some rock records; only having a Victrola they played them on that, at 78rpm instead of 33, and copied what they heard.

In reality, these guys are great musicians.  Two of them are sons of the guy who did "Dueling Banjos," from the movie Deliverance.  I saw them once, and they were both musically impressive and a blast to watch.  They were clearly having a ball, and the audience was too.  They have a huge following in Europe, quite a few CDs, and have branched off from the covers.  They do some originals, as the Kerosene Brothers, and most members have side projects. Here are just a few favorites, but I encourage you to explore their catalog.


Hell's Bells- Their first album was AC/DC covers, as you can guess from their name.  As a kid who grew up in the '70s, hearing that band's music done this way (and with this particular bell) was hilarious.




Walk This Way- From their second album, assorted rock covers; this one just feels right.




I Don't Feel Like Dancing- Apparently a big hit for Scissor Sisters, I heard this version first.




Alien Abduction Probe- an original.  Truly bizarre, and makes me laugh every time I hear it.