I took my wife and friend to Van Halen last night in the Izod Arena, which used to be the Continental Arena,and everyone still calls “Meadowlands”. The good news is they were great! Eddie, Alex,and David together played like the old days, and Eddie’s kid Wolfgang (who looks like Valerie Bertinelli with short hair) kept up well.But EDDIE is still the star of the show, and made sounds with his guitar I didn’t know a guitar could make. Rock on, gentlemen!Funny though… I used to be able to hear the keys “click” when I typed on my keyboard.
What the fuck does this have to do with atheism?
Has AA now turned into a “personal diary” blog?
Have the wheels come off the tracks in the absence of Ellen Johnson’s leadership?
Hey, you guys need to look at the big picture here. Van Halen is still around, still playing… very much evidence of NO GOD!
Lighten up people!
I saw them here in Louisville a couple years ago. I was shocked at how good they were still. I’ve seen Kirk Hammett, Zack Wylde, Dave Mustain and other legends… Eddie Van Halen made them all look like novices. He played “Eruption” while laughing with someone in the front row
Goshgollygee guys, it’s an atheist blog for an atheist community, I think it’s ok to go off topic every now and then. Save for a recent Mother’s Day post and a Van Halen post, I’d say it’s pretty damn consistent on atheist issues. The fact that we have to deal with our resident troll every damn day is proof of that. If you ask me, we should go off topic more often, ’cause I could use some new recipes for cookin’ up the neighborhood newborns.
Now remember, it ain’t a friggin’ band aid. Doing it quick will only cause damage and make you more grumpy. Be sure to apply plenty O lube, and then gently EASE the stick out of your bums.
Glad you had fun at the Van Halen concert, Dave. And the video thread was cool, too. But I haven’t been distracted from wanting to know what happened with Ellen. Still waiting to hear about this NEW DIRECTION the board wants to take. So when you get your hearing back to normal, maybe you could ask them, and then do a post on it?
PS: anyone else having trouble with this site today? It has either been painfully slow, or hasn’t come up at all for me, but the my other favorite sites are fine.
Oh man, I’m way more indie than you guys…
My favorite guitarists are Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, J Mascis, and Neil Young. But I can’t deny that guys like Buckethead do amazing things with their guitars.
If you want to hear some great guitar work, go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBxtjhhzNAs
How many great melodies can you fit into one song? Sonic Youth says “more than you can imagine.”
alatham,
Neil and J – two of my faves! I never really got into Sonic Youth though. Tried, but it just didn’t move me.
Saw Dinosaur and Sonic Youth, and of of course Hoboken heros, Yo La Tengo a billion times here in Jersey in the late 80s/early 90s (City Gardens, Maxwell’s etc.).
But all that guitar stuff is making me feel like an 82 year old these days. I’m patiently waiting for the gentler, more therapeutic sounds of my twee wuss pop heroes, Camera Obscura to make the rounds here in Jersey.
Van Halen was the first big concert I ever went to. I keep hearing good things about their recent reunion.
karen,
Me too
Rusty,
You are now dead to me.
I have to admit though, I don’t think Sonic Youth have ever matched Cowgirl in the Sand. But I would certainly put “Youth Against Fascism” up against Dinosaur Jr’s “Freak Scene.”
Nodster,
I’m jealous, I’m a sucker for noisy stuff. I love Yo La Tengo as well, they played a show in Chicago about a year ago, it was great. But I would never suggest avoiding the gentle stuff altogether. Iron and Wine put together some great records (The Shepherd’s Dog especially). I would also recommend Island’s Return to the Sea (which has a 10-minute opening track that continually gets better as it plays out, though it’s anything but mellow at the end).
I should check out Camera Obscura, I’ve heard good things.
karen,
Yes. However, it is often a difficult site for me. Damn disgusting christians. Somewhere along the line they still won’t feed me challengereligion either. Damn christians.
Damn disgusting christians.
rna2dna
Van Halen = washed up drunks.now the marshall tucker band was music.
off topic
my thoughts go out to the victims of the storms here and the people of Burma,China.
Reason
Here here.
A couple of my recent favorite pop bands:
Check out Sugarcult. They really know how to get er done when it comes to rock but my favorite is a tune called the investigation. You can hear the tune at http://www.dizzler.com.
Also check out Maxeen. I don’t know if they are still recording but they are very talented songsters. One of my faves is a tune called Release the Neck of Love. Find it on MySpace. Be sure to turn em up, way up … to 11!
Now there’s some godz worthy of worship. I worship them everyday, especially while on my treadmill.
If anybody can sit and listen to Slipknot and not feel the waves of radical energy, to the point where you gotta get up and MOVE, well then you’re dead. Metal is all about energy. Energy creats energy. Soak it up, be healthy, and live!
PS, haven’t seen Eddie and the boyz since 1978. Good thing I don’t feel that old. Heavy Metal keeps me young, even though it’s hell on my ears!
Today, it is the “last comments” link that is extremely slow or sometimes doesn’t work at all. Quite annoying. Is there a webmaster who can check this out? Or was that one of Ellen’s duties?
Check out a guirtarist named HERMAN LI from a band called DragonForce( not a big fan but) he is amazingly fast. Slipknot is great to move to seen them a bunch of times Joey is a great drummer. If you want to hear the METAL MASTERS though its SLAYER by far. They write great anti- religion songs and both guitarists Kerry and Jeff are excellant, then you get Dave Lombardo the master of heavy metal drums and my personal GOD !!! Praise him !!!! Good to hear Eddie is doing ok though and sounding great glad to hear he is healthy again. ROCK ON
What do you think of this article? Is it just politics or is Obama so naive that after he completed his law degree, he goes to church one day and finds god? Presumably, prior to that, my guess is that he was following the belief of his mother who was an atheist. Personally, I think that he is really a “closet” atheist, but recognizing that it would not be politically expedient to admit it. What do you think?
POLITICS AND RELIGION
Obama Brings Back ‘Cross’ Flier To Try to Reach Kentucky Voters
Barack Obama has recycled his startling “Cross” flier to appeal to Kentucky voters.
The pamphlet has circulated in other primary states and is striking for its overt appeal on religion. The words across the top read “Faith. Hope. Change.” Obama is pictured at a church pulpit, with a large illuminated cross in the background. A quote at the bottom reads: “My faith teaches me that I can sit in church and pray all I want, but I won’t be fulfilling God’s will unless I go out and do the Lord’s work.”
On the flip side is a photo of Obama in front of a stained-glass window. A few paragraphs describe his work as a community organizer in Chicago and tell of how some people he met encouraged him to attend church one Sunday: “That day Obama felt a beckoning of the spirit and accepted Jesus Christ into his life.” The words along the side proclaim “Committed Christian.”
One aim of the flier is to counteract the persistent and false belief held by some voters that Obama is Muslim. And circulating it in Kentucky suggests that while the Obama campaign expects to lose the Bluegrass State, it would like to avoid another wipeout like the one it suffered in West Virginia.
But it also signals Obama’s determination to compete for evangelical voters, who may not be as enthralled with John McCain as they have been with past Republican presidential nominees.
“I know the conservative policy purists will say that Obama is liberal and therefore Evangelicals won’t buy his ‘Evangelical speak.’ Not so fast,” Christian Broadcasting Network correspondent David Brody wrote in his Brody File blog.
– Shailagh Murray
“Glad you had fun at the Van Halen concert, Dave. And the video thread was cool, too. But I haven’t been distracted from wanting to know what happened with Ellen. Still waiting to hear about this NEW DIRECTION the board wants to take. So when you get your hearing back to normal, maybe you could ask them, and then do a post on it?” – Karen
I agree, Karen. When I play my guitar, there’s no religion; no war; no hatred – for the moment. That stuff’s still all there when I set it down.
I propose a boycott of this forum until the board gives up the goods on Ellen’s firing.
No more comments – zero, nada, zippo!
JayDave,
Slayer rulez. When I need to get pumped up, in goes Reign in Blood. In their genre nobody can touch ‘em.
cry4turtles
I saw Slipknot a few years back on Ozzfest and I couldn’t get into them. Granted by the time they came on I was I was pretty fried already so maybe I should give them another shot. It’s tough to find good metal these days.
Rusty:
Angel of Death rules.
Tarma
That’s happening to me today too. As it was yesterday. Actually, yesterday, sometimes the whole site came up blank.
matador
It is certainly unfortunate that that there was not an orderly and planned transition from Ellen Johnson to whomever becomes the new president. And whose fault that is, we don’t know.
It would at least be nice to know if the board is presently undertaking the process to hire a new president. That could take a while: in the meantime, is the organization just going to remain in limbo under an “acting president?”
Talking about talented guitarists is er, interesting (how about Tom Morello – Rage Against the Machine & Audioslave?), but I think most of us are a little more interested in the future of American Atheists.
Believe me Karen I know and they know. Frank is truly stepping-up to this volunteer position (he’s not taking pay), but my PERSONAL opinion (I do not know anything) is that we will not see a substantial change in direction until the new President is installed, which is several months away. Please stand by and be patient. Like me.
WHAT and 666, come the hell on! I blog here every day and guess what – sometimes there’s not much to say, so I throw in something fun or light. Give me a freaking break.
Dave
Give me a Phreeky break.
There, I fixed it for you.
Karen, Tarma, Matador
I could get behind the boycott.
Dave
I am trying to be patient. But the board seemed to be in a rush to fire Ellen- they had to do it in a phone call while she was in the middle of her Freedom Walk- and they apparently had no plan in place, even though this was a premeditated move. So I am suspect about just went on and why. And I would have expected them to have some of their ducks in a row. Otherwise, it just looks like a coup of convenience with Ellen on the road in the middle of something she was very committed to. I am very disappointed in this turn of events and the cloak of secrecy surrounding the board’s actions. I expect better from the atheist leadership at AA.
Karen
Well put and I concur. The secrecy and poor planning with respect to this “transition” makes me suspicious – very.
For your hearing problem, you might need this little widget “Noisy Keyboard”. It makes your keyboard sound like an old typewriter.
http://www.leeos.com/noisy_keyboard.html
What and Karen,
With all due respect, I think you’re having a bit of trouble putting 2 and 2 together.
1) Ellen had the opportunity to attend every meeting, and DID attend her vote meeting. This was not done in secret.
2) If it was a “power play”, Why would Frank take the job as an interim president only, and for no pay? Frank has a full-time job, and is now quite overwhelmed with work to do, for which he will earn nothing.
3) If this had been planned out, don’t you think a permanent president would have been ready to take over?
4) Do you really think any of the board members wanted to fire the respected leader and “resurrector” of the organization?
This is really clear. Ellen really differed from the board in an urgent way (and maybe vice versa), and the board removed her because they thought it was the best course of action. Sometimes things just don’t work out well.
The board is well aware of the situation. They are experienced activists. Most of them remember Madelyn. They’re just trying not to get anyone in trouble (especially American Atheists). Please note Ellen IS still on the Board.
Dave
OK, so what was the beef? I think it’s important we know, because I may differ with the board in an urgent way myself. Except for that “don’t vote” fiasco, I have pretty much agreed with Ellen on most things she’s said and done. So have the board explain to us this new direction that they want to take that differs so much from what Ellen wanted. That should be simple enough.
1) Ellen had the opportunity to attend every meeting, and DID attend her vote meeting. This was not done in secret.
But why did it just happen to coincide with her Freedom Walk, when she was already well into it and committed to the project? Are you saying this came up all at once in one phone call and this was some kind of knee-jerk reaction that ended up in a call for a vote to keep or fire her?
2) If it was a “power play”, Why would Frank take the job as an interim president only, and for no pay? Frank has a full-time job, and is now quite overwhelmed with work to do, for which he will earn nothing.
How would I know why Frank or the other board members would do anything, since they aren’t talking?
3) If this had been planned out, don’t you think a permanent president would have been ready to take over?
Seeing as how we’re just now finding out how the AA hierarchy works, no. I would have thought so, but this question leads me to further believe this was some kind of knee-jerk retaliatory move now.
4) Do you really think any of the board members wanted to fire the respected leader and “resurrector” of the organization?
Obviously something motivated them to look beyond their respect for her and all the great work she’s done. You’ve already said there was no wrong-doing, and she hasn’t found religion. WTF was so urgent about the decision being made right then and there?
This isn’t as simple as adding 2+2. This is you and the board telling us the answer to our question is 4, but not telling us how you arrived at it. And we want to know that the books weren’t cooked.
Dave
What’s this 2+2 stuff?
The board fired Helen and set themselves up for a long disorderly and feckless transition period. That was dumb. Really really dumb. The appearance, and possibly the reality, is that some members of the board have been stalking the presidency and struck hard when they saw an opportunity despite its consequences to the organization.
The board needs to explain, with Ellen’s help, what happened or I am shifting my support elsewhere. So this isn’t about addition at all. It’s about subtraction.
Helen -> Ellen
I do hope that all of you wonderful posters here, from whom I’ve learned so much, don’t abondon this blog. I feel we’ve developed a pretty close familial relationship; it would be sad indeed to lose that bond over the firing of Ellen. Yes, we do need answers, but I need all of YOU to keep me sane in this insane world.
If you chose to leave, I for one, will sorely miss you.
cry4turtles,
At this point, I have no intention of giving up on this blog. In fact, as I have stated elsewhere, this blog is the best thing about American Atheists. I am occasionally and temporarily driven away by the continual inanity of the likes of phreedm, jcc, et al. However, the good feeling of fellowship and the interesting things all the rest of you post always bring me back.
Having said that, since becoming a member of AA a few years ago (post 9/11), I’ve never been terribly impressed with the organization. It has always seemed rather stagnant and unprofessional to me. Perhaps it does the best it can with limited funding, but a growing and vibrant organization would be working harder to increase membership and to bring a level of excellence to its publications and website that are sadly lacking.
For those reasons, I am not necessarily upset with Ellen Johnson no longer being president – just the outrageously clumsy way in which it was handled. I’m all for a new and positive direction for American Atheists. So far, though, this regime change isn’t knocking my socks off.
“I doubt everyone would get behind a boycott.” – Karen
Obviously fucking not! The next two posts stayed w/ the irrelevant guitarist topic. Not that EVH is irrelevant in general – just to atheism.
It takes a lot for a guitarist to make that statement.
I was in communication with Ellen via email regarding Viewpoint episodes when one of her replies came with the shocking news that she’d just been fired.
I’ve promised her that I’ll keep the details confidential. I don’t consider it a betrayal of her trust to tell you that those details are very disturbing.
Sorry – I thought music was the topic.
“Sorry – I thought music was the topic.” – Rusty Shackleford
No – music was merely a bright, shiny bauble – intended to distract.
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