...with two silver bullets

Why are people wasting money on things like this? From the AP:


WASHINGTON - The simplest grammar, long thought to be one of the skills that separate man from beast, can be taught to a common songbird, new research suggests.



Starlings learned to differentiate between a regular birdsong "sentence" and one containing a clause or another sentence of warbling, according to a study in Thursday's journal Nature. It took University of California at San Diego psychology researcher Tim Gentner a month and about 15,000 training attempts, with food as a reward, to get the birds to recognize the most basic of grammar in their own bird language.

I will never understand

Don't you weep for them

George Bush has temporarily stopped any oil from being deposited in the national oil reserve. This will hopefully help curb the current hike in gas prices. They federal government is also investigating oil companies to see if they are illegally hiking prices since most oil companies are seeing record profits right now.

Personally, I just want to see prices go back down to below $2. I don't know if that's going to happen, but it would be nice. And I am taking this personally (especially since my temporary vehicle gets about 12 miles to each gallon in the city). I brought my bike back from Birmingham and will be riding it around my neighborhood and downtown. I know it will be hot this summer, but the money that it saves me will help out so much.

Now, don't start thinking that I am going all "green" and am going to break out my Birkenstocks and become a veggie. This really has nothing to do with the environment and everything to do with finances. I do care about the environment, but this has nothing to do with that.

If the government ever comes to a conclusion on the Alaskan oil fields, then we could make some progress. Granted we would have to tear into thousands of acres of beautiful nature to access this oil, but then we would not be relying so much on Middle-Eastern oil for import and could have a lot of it right here in N America. It's a tough thing to come to a conclusion on, but I think that could be an important thing.

Also, George Bush is pushing for more government funding for Hydrogen powered cars. They would use ZERO petrolium and would rely on cheaper and more enviromentally-friendly fuel. Personally, I am all for this. If I could have the most effecient hybrid I would right now. Too bad I can't afford one and even if I could there is a waiting list. I guess that's a good thing

I guess this post makes me look either very political or very hippie-like, but it realy boils down to the fact that gas prices are stupid right now and we should do all we can to help aliviate the situation.

Let the great experiment begin!!!

Two things:

I am really excited about the Angels and Airwaves record that is coming out shortly.

It's officially slip 'n' slide season in Birmingham.

I'm barely listening

So I was thinking that between Birmingham and Nashville there have been / are some amazing bands. I mean really talented people. I thought I'd list them

BIRMINGHAM:
Haste - one of the most overlooked metal-rock bands ever
Death or El Dona - an amazing punk band
Crimial Mischief - these guys were great and ended way too soon
Plate Six - one of the most creative and artistic bands around
Blue Eyed Boy Mister Death - another great heavy music band. Amazing live show
Gainer - another amazing punk band
Old American Dream - not the most original, but simply amazing
Last Flight In - at their peak they were on top of the game.
Lasting Value - as far as Ska bands, they were one of the best around
Kiss Vegas Goodbye - they were ahead of the hardcore game
Comrade - simply amazing
Maylene and the sons of Disaster - one of the most fun live shows around
None but Burning - just good music


NASHVILLE:
The Sincerity Guild - one of the most creative instrumental bands ever.
Celebrity - some of the best songwriting around
Forget Casettes - just great
Ben Crist - some of the best and most creative worship music around
The Class of 98 - they will be huge very soon. Trust me
Shirock - great 80s influenced rock
Apollo Up
De Novo Dahl
Novelift
Death Comes to Matteson
The Golden Sound - artistic and amazing
The Lonely Hearts - great americana
Redflecks - I can't get enough of these guys


So I guess I'm just lucky enough to have been able to and am still able to experience this great music on a regular basis.

3 times a lady

Albert Pujols: 3 homeruns (one to win the game) in Sunday's game. He already has 7. Is he the best player of the decade?? I think so.


Interpol "Antics" is a great record.
and if you need to listen to an amazing record just pop in Rage Against the Machine's "The Battle of Los Angeles"

with one silver bullet

I need to make a retraction to a post I made many months back. I now feel that Coldplay's "A Rush of Blood to the Head" is a better record than "X&Y."

GMA is something awful, but I have seen some amazing bands this week including:
Last Tuesday
Grits
Family Force 5
The Class of 98
Redflecks
The Lonely Hearts
The Golden Sound
and a few others

** I will be seeing the Alkaline Trio tonight