Alexander

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Ain't no such thing as a "guilty pleasure." You likes what you likes. If other people have a problem, they can go fuck themselves. I like Paul Simon. I like (early) Rod Stewart. I love Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and a ton of stuff that would make other people my age (33) retch. Do I care? Not a bit. "If it sounds good, it is good." - Duke Ellington.

I was working a mid-shift (11 - 7:30) at Barnes & Noble, so I was still at home when the attacks happened. I'm not much of a TV watcher, or a radio listener, so I wasn't aware at the time of what had happened. I just got Sammie (who was about 1 1/2 at the time) ready while I finished preparations for work, and we left. It was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL September morning as we drove over to my in-laws' house. I arrived and my father-in-law answered the door. He asked me if I'd heard what happened. I said that I hadn't. His exact words were "The whole country's under attack." This turned out to be an exaggeration. I remember walking up the stairs while he told me that a plane had crashed into the WTC. I felt relieved (!) because I was sure that it had been a case of pilot error that everyone was blowing out of proportion. Then he told me about the second plane. We went into the TV room, while my mother-in-law took care of Sam, and I got there just in time to see the second tower fall. I remember looking at my daughter and thinking "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that grown-ups are so fucking stupid." I went to work and everyone was talking about it. There was a radio on in the back room and we were all ducking back there to get updates. I remember wracking my brain trying to think what the signficance of September 11th could be (knowing that terrorists often choose significant dates or anniversaries when planning attacks). When I mentioned this to a co-worker he said, "I think this day is creating its own significance." Rumors were flying. People were talking about a truck bomb that had blown up in front of the Pentagon, the Capitol building, or the White House. Dozens of planes were supposed to be missing. When the smoke cleared (figuratively), it turned out that only (!) four planes were involved. That two had hit the WTC and one the Pentagon. The fourth had gone down in Pennsylvania (at the time a lot of us wondered if that one was connected at all). I remember feeling better since many of the rumors had turned out to be false. After all of the hyperbole of that day, reality seemed strangely comforting. The store closed early, of course. Half the staff ended up leaving anyway and very few customers were coming in. Still, even as we were counting down the tills, I kept fielding calls from customers who were surprised that we were closing. When one person asked me "why" for the tenth time, I said "Because two great big public buildings fell down. Is that good enough for you?" I don't believe that "everything changed" three years ago today. Human beings were mortal before, and we're still mortal today. The time, date, and manner of our deaths is as uncertain and as inevitable now as it was on September 10, 2001. What happened on 9/11 was a momento mori...a reminder that we must all die and that we don't know how or when it will happen. You don't wake up in the morning on the day you're going to die and get a reminder card in the mail like the one you get from the dentist ("It's time!"). And there's no such thing as an "omen." Death can come out of a beautiful clear blue sky, like the one on that terrible day three years ago, just as it can come out of a black stormy sky (like the one in the south Atlantic right now). I remember thinking, as I drove into work after hearing about the attacks, that this horrible deed is the legacy of religion. This unreasoning hatred of anything or anyone different from us and the absolute certainty of our own personal salvation. WE are God's chosen people. YOU are not. When we kill you, it is just. When you kill us, it is a sin. And it's not just Bin Laden. It's Pat Robertson. It's Ariel Sharon. It's everybody who ever thought, "I'm going to heaven...and you're not." As for the question of 9/11's lasting effects...I have to say that I DON'T wake up at night worried that something terrible has happened. I did, at first. And I worried on holidays. But I don't anymore. Honestly, I barely ever think about terrorism. Yes, it is real, just as death is real. And I am going to die, but I can't spend every moment reflecting on that fact. When it happens, it happens. And when another attack comes, we'll deal with it, just as we dealt with 9/11. After all, it isn't the first time something like this has happened. Just ask the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki...

My favorite Waits albums: Early Waits: "The Heart of Saturday Night" Middle Period Waits: "Nighthawks at the Diner" & "Small Change" Post-Modern Waits: It's too hard to pick just one! Start with "Swordfishtrombone" and get "Rain Dogs" and "Frank's Wild Years" if it appeals to you. Scary Waits: "Bone Machine" Sill scares the HELL out of me when I listen to it. I generally save it for around Halloween... His last three albums ("Mule Variations," "Alice," and "Blood Money") all have some good writing, but his stuff has become too much of the same. The ones I mentioned above are the cream of the crop. Everything else that I don't mention ("The Early Years," "Closing Time," "Foreign Affairs," "Blue Valentine," "One from the Heart," "Heartattack and Vine", "The Black Rider") are quite good, and worth picking up, just not essential Tom.

I got it, and I've gotta say that I like it. Yes, Chick is a flake and his devotion to L. Ron isn't one of his most attractive features, and yes, the disc features EXTREMELY cheesy "spacy" synths. However, that said... If you dig fusion (and I do) and you dig the whole jazz-rock/prog rock thing (which I do, to a certain extent), this disc has a lot to recommend it. The compositions are very beautiful, and the playing is of the highest order, especially Patitucci's bass (he's another major flake, btw). I could have done with a LITTLE less whanging guitar, but on the whole this is a very tasteful album. Not NEARLY as bad as I had feared...

"Zombie Heaven" is my favorite. You get absolutely EVERYTHING by this underrated 60s group on four discs. JUST right.

Someone once attempted to scam me, but I was too smart for 'em. This was waaaay back in the early 90s when I was still in college and had only recently gotten my first credit card. I got a phone call from a guy claiming to represent Citibank. He said that someone had used my card to rack up a ton of phone sex calls, and they were investigating. I thanked him for his help, and asked him to let me know what he found. A few weeks later, the guy called back. He said that the calls appeared to have originated from my phone (how he would be able to tell this I don't know) and that I was responsible for the charges. I protested, saying that I made no such calls. I asked for the dates that the calls were allegedly made. It so happened that the dates (in November) he mentioned corresponded with dates that my phone was disconnected (the phone company had screwed up). When I told him, he said that he meant December when he said November. I told them that I had been in Omaha visiting my wife's family on those dates in December. He then got his supervisor who screamed at me and essentally bulled me into agreeing to pay off the debt (which amounted to about $800). He gave me an address to send the payments to and then hung up. Suspicious, I called Citibank and asked if I had $800 in phone sex calls. They said no. I asked if they did business with this company. They said no. After that, I called the State Attorney General's office and reported the scam, giving them the address. I don't know what happened after that, but I did have my phone number changed just in case.

Add "Moonlight Sinatra" to the list of Reprise albums. That one has always been a favorite of mine...

I got it when it came out. It's quite good, although the last track is very "out." All three saxophonists are in great form. Liebman spends most of the album on soprano, so I don't see why they'd tour as the three tenors. Seriously!

Yikes! Look out below!!!

More like caught pokin' a pig... Ba-dum-bump!

I file Little Walter right next to Little Richard...both under "L."

Here's another one: Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf? Strangely enough, I file Muddy under "W" for Waters since I consider "Muddy Waters" to be McKinley Morganfeld's stage name rather than a "nick name." So the first name is Muddy and the last name is Waters. Wolf, however, I file under "H" for Howlin'.

I make a distinction between stupid people and stupidity or stupid acts, if you prefer. Everyone, even me, is capable of committing stupid acts. I don't think Christians, Jews, Muslims, etc. are stupid. Naive, perhaps, but not stupid. I think belief in something that does not exist is stupid, but that's not the same thing as saying that the people *themselves* are stupid. I'm 33 years old and I still read comic books. You may think that's a pretty stupid thing too, but it doesn't make me stupid.

Thanks so much!!!

Lon, Thanks for Andrew and Complusion! It looks like you tried to post the other two, but I don't see them. Would you mind trying again? Or PM me and I'll give you my e-mail address to send them to.

HWright has allowed me to burn certain Andrew Hill titles that aren't available individually on CD from his Mosaic set. I was wondering if anyone has scannable images of the covers they'd like to post. These are the titles: Andrew! Compulsion One for One (or Cosmos) Involution Otherwise I'll have to design covers myself, and lord knows we don't want that! Thanks!

I own both and I enjoy them immensely. I can't recommend them highly enough. The Hancock CD is frequently electrifying and the Haynes CD is even better.

Yeah, they do. And a lot of them probably are. That's what happens when you let people take an intimate experience and turn it into a spectacle. Sorta like porn, ain't it. THAT, my friend, is a VERY wise statement...

My point (and I do have one) is that it is possible to live a full and happy life without God or Christ or the Easter Bunny (but then who would bring the chocolate bunnies?). You should try it sometime! The part I don't understand, I guess, is that I've been backwards and forwards through the Bible a number of times (as a well-informed atheist I like to know what I don't believe) and its provoked no reaction in me other than scorn. What is it that perfectly reasonable people (such as yourself, Jim) find comforting and/or enlightening about this particular book? Any play by Shakespeare is better written. Any one of Plato's dialogues is more enlightening. I can think of at least a hundred books I'd rather spend my time reading (including comic books) than the Bible. It doesn't inspire me. It doesn't enlighten me. Do you have to be raised with it, or what? It's an amusing read, and certainly important in terms of understanding the mess Judeo-Christian thinking has made of the world in the past 2000 years, but it failed to leave me with that warm fuzzy feeling that Jesus loves me. So what am I missing? Am I supposed to be touched by Jesus's sacrifice on the cross? Dude, I've noted a number of times that I'm far from convinced that Jesus ever existed, so his alleged "death" does nothing for me. Besides, dead-Jew-on-a-stick never did anything for me. Have you seen pictures of fundamentalist congregations on TV? They look like zombies all waving their hands in the air with their eyes shut. I can't help it, Jim, if I think they look like suckers. Wasting so much time, money, and mental energy on something that isn't real. Why don't they go home and read a GOOD book? And I'm sorry, it's far easier to prove that God doesn't exist than proving that he does. Look around you. Where is God? I can't see him. I can't hear him. He wasn't there for 3000+ people on 9/11/2001. What the fuck good is he? Infinite power and he can't stop two planes from crashing into a building? I mean, if there was a time to prove he existed with a little action, that was it. Where was the miracle? Where was the parting of the Red Sea on that day? Here's a possibility: He wasn't there on 9/11 because he never was there. Man created God in his own image. And he did a pretty crappy job of it too.

For Paul and others who may be confused about exactly what constitutes an atheist and/or a humanist (and most humanists are atheists), here is a nice definition from the website of the Capital Disctrict Humanist Association: "What do secular humanists believe? Secular humanists believe that this is the only life of which we have certain knowledge and that we owe it to ourselves and others to make it the best life possible for ourselves and all with whom we share this fragile planet. We believe that human beings have made society what it is - the good and the bad. We find no evidence for supernatural causes of, or remedies for, humankind's condition. We believe that people are best able to solve this world's problems when they are free to use reason and knowledge as their tools. We recognize these realities: Humankind has, over the millennia, evolved codes of moral and ethical conduct necessary for survival of the individual and the species. Also, over the millennia, humankind has created deities (gods) to account for the natural world and devised mysteries and myths to assuage the fear of death by promising immortality. These gods and myths evolved into a variety of religions, which selectively adopted elements of society's evolving codes of conduct and claimed for those codes some form of supernatural or divine-origin. These religious have provided (and still provide) the rationale for compassionate behavior but also for hatred, bigotry, and brutal inquisitions, wars, crusades, pogroms, and holocausts causing untold misery and countless millions of deaths." For further info, click here.

And this, once again, proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that atheists are satanists. If there is no good and there is no evil, then do what thou wilt shall be the extent of the law. Right Mr. Crowley? If I don't believe in God, I certainly don't believe in Satan. As should be obvious to anybody with a capacity for abstract thought, when I use the terms "good" and "evil" I mean ABSOLUTE good and evil. I am not an anarchist. There is still the rule of law. There are still ethics. I certainly believe that human behavior should and must be governed by codes of conduct. I simply recognize that these codes are codes of OUR OWN CHOOSING. They have not been handed down from on high. And I don't need the threat of punishment from some imaginary super-being to make me comply. An example (insigificant, but something that happened this morning): I came into work this morning at my part-time gig at the library. I wanted to get a drink from the vending machine, but I didn't have change. Being the good employee that I am, I asked my boss if she'd give me change for a fiver. She just pointed me to the cash register and said "I trust you." So I go to the register and get myself five ones in exchange for my five dollar bill (doing this could have gotten me fired at B&N, but the library is more trusting). No one was looking. I could have swiped a little more cash out of the drawer, but honestly the thought never even occurred to me. Now why not? If I don't believe that stealing is a "sin" and I could have gotten away with it, why not help myself to a little extra? First of all, I didn't steal because to do so would be to abuse the trust of my employer, and that's the last thing I want to do. Secondly, I recoginze that if we all just helped ourselves whenever we felt like it, we'd end up with chaos. So I don't do it. Would I steal if I were starving and I had to feed my hungry family? I probably would, but that's an extreme circumstance. Under ordinary conditions, I don't need to steal and so I CHOOSE not to steal. Similarly, I choose not to cheat on my wife, I choose not to cheat on my taxes, I choose to donate money to charities, etc. I choose to do good and not to do evil not because I seek heavenly salvation or fear divine punishment, but because I am a human being who has to live in cooperation with other human beings. Observing these rules of conduct allows our society to function, and makes my relationships with others more pleasant. I don't steal for the same reason I vote or hold the door open for a stranger: because it's a part of being a member of society. John Donne (a man of God, no less) said it best: "No man is an island, complete unto himself...every man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind." That philosophy is very important to me. It's a part of my creed as a socialist, that we are all involved in mankind and therefore have a severe obligation to take care of each other. As to why I am so passionate about my atheisim, it's very simple: You know how you feel when you say that you are into jazz, and someone says that they love jazz too, but then mention how much they love Kenny G? And you want to cure them of their delusion by exposing them to REAL jazz? It's the same thing with me and religion. My wife and daughter and I live a deeply contented life with satisfying interests and fulfilling work, and we do it all without God. And when I see people deluding themselves with religion I want to scream, "You don't have to do that! You can be a good person and find happiness and not bow down before something that isn't there!" I don't know what it is. Stupidity has that effect on me, I guess. I do believe that as human beings we can do better. At the end of the day, I am an idealist. Just as socialism is an ideal for me (a world without private property where no one is hungry or homeless), so too is atheisim (a world without holy wars and discrimination against homosexuals and women, where people live for today and not dreaming of an alleged hereafter). Am I passionate about it? Damn straight I am. I believe in human beings. I believe that a better world is there, outside of our reach for the moment. And one thing we need to do in order to fulfill our potential is cast aside superstition. There is wonder in the natural world. There is terror and magnificence in the universe beyond the wildest dreams of the God of Exodus. Does it really improve a sunset to believe that God made it? Isn't all the more beautiful knowing that it just IS?

Hey, guess what? Your God (along with any other god) doesn't exist. The universe is completely random. There's no such thing as "good" and "evil." There is no heaven and there is no hell. Jesus Christ never lived and the book you devote yourself to is an ancient con-job. Religion is social control. Hilter said that people would believe any lie provided the lie was big enough. P.T. Barnum said that there was a sucker born every minute. There are a lot of Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the world as well as millions of Hindus, Buddhists, Mormons, etc. Obviously both Hitler and Barnum were right. Look, everybody is going to die, right? It happens to everyone and it's forever. It's a pretty scary thought, realizing that every day might be your last. People get scared, they start looking for comfort. And they find it in the words of a fictional 2000-year-old carpenter. "Don't worry! Death is not the end! You're going to be saved and live with God forever." People just eat that shit up, don't they? It's the oldest sucker game out there, and you swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. Is there something greater than man? I don't know, but I seriously doubt it. If there is, why were hundreds of millions of human beings of African descent enslaved in the United States for 300 years? Where was God when 6 million human beings belonging to the Jewish faith were turned in to lamp shades and bars of soap? Why doesn't God intervene when a child is abducted, raped, and murdered? Where was God on 9/11 anyway? Oh, but that's right, it's all part of the plan. That's why "bad things happen to good people." So in that sense, we shouldn't be going after Bin Ladin, right? If it's all part of God's mysterious plan, then those planes were *meant* to crash into those towers, right? So instead of hunting Bin Ladin, we should give the man a medal. After all, didn't he act as an agent of God's will? And have you ever considered this: Suppose there is a God. But that God *is not on your side.* Suppose God really DID send those 19 hijackers to heaven for slaughtering the infidel? Suppose only Mohammed's followers are going to heaven? After all, Mohammed claimed to be divinely inspired, no? How dare you say he was wrong! If the Bible is the word of God, that goes DOUBLE for the Koran (dictated, according to Mohammed, dicrectly from God's own lips). Doesn't that possibility bother you? What if you're the one who's deluded? What if God is planning on casting YOU into a lake of fire because you don't bow down and pray towards Mecca five times daily? Or maybe, just maybe, it's all a fucking CROCK invented by human beings who wanted to know why the sky was blue and what was going to happen to them after they died. Given what people are, and have been since the beginning of recorded history, it seems to me that the latter is likliest by far... You can tell Jesus AND Mohammed that they can kiss my lilly white infidel butt TWO TIMES.

I think you've humiliated him enough. (I think that when they challenge you to find something in the Bible, they really don't expect you to look...)

"Baptisim! You two are just dumber'n a bag o' hammers!" - Ulysses Everett McGill "Sold your soul to the devil, eh Tommy? Well, ain't this a small world, spiritually speaking? Pete and Delmar here just got themselves baptized and saved. I guess I'm the only one who remains unaffiliated!" -ibid

Why are there so few Atheist organizations and charities? For the same reason my wife and I (even though we've been planning to for the longest time) still haven't joined our local Humanist League: Atheists and humanists just aren't joiners. It's like having an "Anarchists Union." It's almost a contradiction in terms. I for one would like to see atheists more involved in charities and in politics as atheists. But we are involved, just not under that name. My wife and I give money every year to the local rescue mission. Do we like the fact that they keep sending us religious crap in the mail? No, but I don't let my personal feelings get in the way of helping people.