Daily Archives: March 6, 2008

Barack Obama’s “We Are the Ones” as Another Song by will.i.am

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We Are the Ones - will.i.am - Barack Obama
will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas has put together another star studded celebrity ensemble to create a second song for Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama. “We Are the Ones” is the follow-up music video to “Yes We Can“. In both videos will.i.am was able to convey the self empowerment and hope feelings that the Illinois senator has based his campaign on by gathering celebrities to express their support for Barack Obama.

“Yes We Can” was based on the now famous New Hampshire concession speech Obama delivered after losing the primary in that state to Hillary Clinton. It used the words of his speech as he delivered them and those same words sang by the likes of John Legend, Scarlett Johansson, Common, and recent Grammy winner Herbie Hancock.

In “We are the Ones” the core of the song is taken from the Obama line “we are the ones we’ve been waiting on” which basically implies that we can make the difference in controlling our fate in this country. will.i.am wrote in his blog about the effect of that line and Obama’s words in general have effected him and America. His blog is inspiring as well which shows the profound effect Obama has had on people in this country. HopeActChange.com is a collection of people expressing themselves similar to will.i.am in videos, words, and images.  The Grammy winning Obama has effected those throughout the world as well as in the United States. In Kenya residents have unofficially renamed a beer in his name.

This particular cast of 30+ includes:
jessica alba, ryan phillippe, george lopez, adrianne palicki, regina king, zoe kravitz, freddie rodriguez, john leguizamo, luis guzman, jay hernandez, kerry washington, ryan key, macy gray, omar benson miller, malcolm jamal warner, taboo, eric mabius, tichina arnold, nate parker, kate del castillo, tyrese, jesse plemons, ben mckenzie, leonor varela, n’dambi, cucu diamantes, andres levin, noah segan, troy garity, simone bent, susanna hoffs, jackson roach, anna david, javier castillo, adriana castillo, and will.i.am

“O-Ba-Ma, O-Ba-Ma” 

[youtube width="425" height="355"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghSJsEVf0pU[/youtube]

Memo to the Sierra Club…are you serious?

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Like many others, I’ve tried to make my life more “environmentally conscious.” It’s become a pretty big deal to me in the last few years…especially since law school. Read a few CERCLA cases and you’ll understand how that can happen. I’m not here to high-horse it. I’m here to take the Sierra Club to task.

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I have been a member for a couple years, and I signed up for their daily newsletter entitled “The Green Life,” which is supposed to provide daily lessons on how to move your existence in the right direction environmentally. Let’s look at a couple of their golden nuggets, shall we? They dropped this one on me just a week ago:

Getting a head start on the spring cleaning, Grist has written an article on how to green your fridge. One of their great tips:
Be unconventional. Keep a list on your fridge of these eight additional troublemakers: conventional versions of milk, peanut butter, baby food, ketchup, corn, cottonseed oil, beef, and soy. Each month, pick one item off the list — corn and its byproducts, for example — and find a way to feast without it. You’ll be reducing your household intake of toxins, pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones. The earth will be happier, too.

A great tip? You just told me to take food out of my fridge to make it greener. Why don’t we just eliminate the fridge altogether? Besides, you clowns are the only ones keeping soy in the fridge. Uh…and the baby food is staying…trust me. You’re not convincing America to stop saving baby food. I’m just getting warmed up. From 2/14/08:

Happy Valentine’s Day!
Thinking about spending some extra time between the sheets today? If so, spend it between sheets made from bamboo. Bamboo sheets are silky soft, and come from a rapidly renewable resource that doesn’t require pesticides to grow.

 

Aside from wishing me a happy f*&#ing Valentine’s Day, you just told me to use bamboo sheets. Would you like me to burn the ones I have? Bam-freakin-boo? I’ve never even heard of such a thing (which isn’t to say that it’s not effective…just not available). Seriously…my bed sheets are not the problem.

Two days ago they took the cake with the “How Green is my Bike?” survey. That’s right, if you ride your bike you may still be an inconsiderate polluter. I actually scored a 94 on it…only because I picked the answers which sounded the DUMBEST. Here’s my favorite:

If I get hungry while I’m riding…

 

1. I’m so glad I baked last night
2. I unwrap an energy bar or gel
3. I look for the nearest convenience store
4. I search for wild figs growing by the side of the road

Guess which answer gets full credit…the figs. I don’t even know what a fig looks like. Am I less environmentally conscious because I unwrap an energy bar or go to the grocery store when I’m riding my bike? Guess so. Those answers only get 7 and 6 out of 10 possible points respectively.

I don’t care if you want to float off into outer space and do the hippie dance at Widespread Panic concerts for the rest of your life, but DO NOT attempt to give me tips on the “green life” when I’m already walking and biking most everywhere I go, going out of my way to recycle when my landlord doesn’t have a curbside program and refusing every plastic bag in existence. I can do just fine without bamboo sheets and bean bags that heat up in the microwave. What is much more important than the fact that you’re insulting my intelligence is that you’re giving environmentalism a bad name. I can understand if you want to push the agenda and point towards that abstract concept of “how we might do things in the future,” but don’t go off the deep end. Here’s a real problem: recycling. According to the EPA, recycling is the most successful environmental program in United States history. Yet roughly 60% of aluminum cans are recycled globally. The Container Recycling Institute says that almost 24 BILLION plastic bottles have been landfilled, littered and incinerated so far this year…in the United States. It’s March 8. You keep looking for those figs. I’ll be pushing the recycling…just for starters. How the hell are we going to get people to build alternative-powered homes and move toward efficient land use when you’re telling them to support stores with walls made out of sunflower seeds?…SHEESH.

I unsubscribed to the Green Life e-mail list as I was writing this post. I’ll remain a member of the Sierra Club because somebody has to support the critical legal actions they pursue (even if I’ve gotten 5 mailers in the last year about saving the polar bear). Get real, Sierra Club…let’s get everybody to walk before we run. And I’ll admit that they do offer a lot of few good ideas at the Green Life…its’ just too much.

NOTE: I did not even mention global warming. Believe what you will.

Soupy Trumpet Blasts from the Web 3-6-08

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Here’s another Soupy Trumpet daily-dose of internet finds to enjoy:

Brett Favre retires…again

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In his press conference today, Favre announced that he will retire from the NFL.  I tuned in to the presser today online, and I was surprised when his very first words were to re-affirm his decision.  I thought he was going to retract his announcement from 2 days ago and make himself available to other teams.  Over the past 2 days, the mood had seemed to indicate the “retirement” that had been announced was not necessarily Favre’s idea.

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Aside from his boyish good looks, rocket arm, ability to find Warren’s baseball, gunslinger attitude and record-shattering career, why are we so infatuated with this guy?  OK.  So there’s a lot to grab on to, and the story has been run through the ringer by now.

But I’d like to take a minute to acknowledge that this time it felt like he was finally doing the right thing.  As I stated before, the prior “will I/won’t I” antics seemed selfish, and the Pack was stuck with sitting their successor and #1 pick for three full seasons with barely a sniff of the Lambeau turf.  I admitted to eating crow for part of that rant, by the way.  Today I expected another chapter in that runaround of a saga, but Favre slammed the door.  And to that, I say:

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(seriously…I may be poking fun at this dude, but not at #4)

This is me taking my hat off to Favre.  Great career.  Great story…guy could be the very best or the very worst, depending on what day you saw him…but he always let it fly (which is ultimately why I think he’s so revered).  Great perseverence.  Not-so-great drama…but he got it right in the end.  I ain’t mad atcha.

PS–you gotta check the Onion article embedded in the “drama” link. Top-notch…top-notch.

photos:
http://ia.imdb.com/media/imdb/01/M/yk/zM/2E/zN/wY/TZ/tF/kX/nB/na/B5/lM/B5/FN/5U/zN/2I/jM/3I/TM/B5/VM._CR40,0,370,370_SS90_.jpg
http://img.nytstore.com/IMAGES/NSAP465_LARGE.JPG

His little legs go so fast…

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[youtube width="425" height="355"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFMyP2VlmV8[/youtube]

The next Reggie Bush? I don’t know. I’m MC Spanky McGee. I don’t know shit about football. But it looks like this kid has some jukes. I don’t know about the theme music, though. Questionable. Very questionable.

Found at http://lovewithoutnagel.wordpress.com

Check out that site… looks like those guys have some cool sports commentary going on..

-MC Spanky McGee

Clinton Campaign: Barack Obama = Ken Starr

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Hillary’s Communication Director, Howard Wolfson, today compared Senator Obama to Kenneth Starr:

He chose not to address those questions, but to attack Senator Clinton. I for one do not believe that imitating Ken Starr is the way to win a Democratic primary election for president.

First, the “questions” Wolfson is referring to are about whether Obama is ready to lead the country. We know, bro…your gal is soooooo ready. Spanky already asked you to shut that spigot off. I’ll second that notion, but you’ll keep blasting away.

So now you’re trying to compare BO to an overzealous prosecutor who spent $70 million to find out about a beej and some dry cleaning. To that I say, “go ahead…please.” Let’s set the facts straight. BO’s tax returns are public and up to date. Hillary’s are missing….apparently all the way back to Willie’s presidency. So why don’t the Clintons release them? Is it more complicated than reaching down into the file cabinet and pulling out the folder entitled “1997 Taxes” and sending one of your minions to Kinko’s? It’s not like Camp Clinton never had any shady dealings…I mean told a lie…I mean pandered for the camera…I mean cheated (apparently what constitutes “talking dirty” in 49 states = southern hospitality in socially-advanced Arkansas). So if you want to compare BO to a guy who had to dig and dig to reveal that you actually are a cheating dirtball when you say you weren’t…so be it. Do you think that sways me philosophically?

And I’d like to point out that Camp Clinton has taken it’s bag of tricks, turned it upside down and pounded that thing until every last nugget fell out (read: learn what “plagiarism” really is). If the tables were turned, they’d be ALL OVER THIS ISSUE. This very issue is so metaphoric of what rational Americans have looked for and haven’t gotten for 2 ?? decades…transparency. It’s politics…and if one guy is more transparent than the other guy, he’ll let everybody know. I think you all know that. Just make the disclosures.

Sorry, Wolfson. It’s over. Rational people will win out over political insiders this time. We’re tired of the teeter-totter hijack known as Bush/Clinton…and I’m tired of watching you bitch at Axelrod on TV every Sunday.

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Si, se puede. Peace out, homes…

Playmobil Security Check Point?

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http://www.amazon.com/Playmobil-3172-Security-Check-Point/dp/B0002CYTL2

playmobil security check

Bro Taguchi sent me this link. Now, Amazon says that this toy is “currently unavailable.

Never mind that this is a boring fucking toy–worse than the pet rock or the cha-cha-cha-chia! Like some little kid thinks that an x-ray machine and the TSAare cool. Bullshit. Litte kids probably hate going through security.

But that doesn’t matter. Look at some of the comments on the Amazon.com page:

This is great learning too for young brownshirts.
I am waiting for a few accessories though, kids size jackboots and a toy Taser. Think how much fun that will be for your young Martin Bormann types. I envision a low voltage say 5KV instead of 50kv to give a realistic but non-hazardous jolt.
Next we can have a nice Nerf Nightstick and little Heinrich can have great start getting ready for his future job with the TSA, local police force or the new STASI ( Secure Transportation And Safety Inititive)
Be the first on your block. I also look forward to the upcoming Halliburton Play detention center real simulated barbed wire.”

Thank you Playmobil for allowing me to teach my 5-year old the importance of recognizing what a failing bureaucracy in a ever growing fascist state looks like. Sometimes it’s a hard lesson for kids to learn because not all pigs carry billy clubs and wear body armor. I applaud the people who created this toy for finally being hip to our changing times. Little children need to be aware that not all smiling faces and uniforms are friendly. I noticed that my child is now more interested in current events. Just the other day he asked me why we had to forfeit so much of our liberties and personal freedoms and I had to answer “well, it’s because the terrorists have already won”. Yes, they have won.

Now these are some truly disgruntled philosophers. We should hire them to write for the Trumpet…

-MC Spanky McGee

Cussing banned in CA? Dang it.

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Gosh darn! Cussing banned in California town

SOUTH PASADENA, California (AP) — What the $%*&*? This community on the edge of Los Angeles has become a cuss-free zone. So if you’re headed to South Pasadena this week, be sure to turn down the volume on that Snoop Dogg CD, and, if the little old lady from Pasadena cuts you off in traffic, don’t even think about flipping her the bird.

Not that police will slap cuffs on you and haul your sorry, er, butt off to jail in light of the proclamation passed Wednesday by the City Council. But you could be shamed into better behavior by the unsettling glares of residents who take their reputation for civility seriously.

“It’s part of exercising self-discipline,” Mayor Michael Cacciotti explained. “It’s about treating each other with love and respect. Profane language causes pain, anger and could lead to violence.”

This law is completely absurd.

1. Kids’ making fun of each other causes pain. We’re not going to outlaw that. Not enforceable. 2. You can’t regulate for self-discipline. 3. What is the ground of the “could” in “could lead to violence”? Is it logically possible that cussing could lead to violence? Sure. But who cares? Eating applesauce could lead to violence–in that sense. So could using the sentence, “You are a danged punk.” Kids could fight over that. NOOOOOOOO!

The mayor wants to say that it is probable that cussing leads to violence. But where is the hard data on that?

I think people should cuss so that they don’t use violence. Cussing is a pressure valve for many people.

4. How can they claim that cussing is not free speech? Apparently the matter has not yet been settled at a very high judicial level; see Michael Troy’s answer to a question about Michigan’s cussing law–which was found unconstitutional.

Go back to the time before the Revolutionary War. If the king had banned cussing, you know damn well that, during the Boston Tea Party, Sam Adams would have been on the decks of those tea ships with double-whammies high in the air–and we’d be praising him for what an awesome cusser he was. “Oh, the king oppressed us and restricted our speech, but we told him to fuck off.”

sam adams middle finger 2

That mayor doesn’t deserve death. He deserves a class in basic reasoning and logic.

-MC Spanky McGee

P.S. Yes, that’s more of my janky photoshop work.