Hurricanes, Gasoline, and the dangers of internet rumors

Before I officially begin tonight's rant, I would like to extend sympathy and condolences to those who have been adversely affected by the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

Price inflation and panic are nothing new for disaster situations, but the case of gas prices in Georgia, and particularly the Atlanta metro area, is not merely a case of supply and demand rising by natural course although that may have been the initial idea. Reports from WSB radio in Atlanta unearthed a reason for the gas prices rising in some location to as high as 5 and even 6 dollars a gallon in some instances. It seems that internet rumors of Georgia running completely out of gasoline spawnned rampant paranoia and long lines at every gas stations. In some cases there were reports of violence. As the lines grew, the prices rose without bound. Many locations reaching price levels nearing $4 per gallon before the state government stepped in.

This story provides two areas for comment on my part. First in response to rumors and internet speculation, It's always necessary to verify sources before spreading the information. In cases such as this, the spreading of these rumors helped to prolong and exacerbate the situation. Though it most likely cannot happen, I almost wish that those who started the rumors could be punished in some regard but since proof of intent would be speculation and hearsay, it is merely wishful thinking.

Secondly, It is critical to note that the idea of price controls should only be used as temporary measures until the crisis situations are allowed to settle out. Applying these on a more widespread levels (to quell the rise in national gas prices) should be approached with caution. I could see applying these restrictions for a period of a couple of months; but the free market should eventually be allowed to regulate itself. Particularly for an international industries like oil and natural gas, imposing artificial retail price caps on a market where the raw material cost continues to escalate has potential to be devastating in a number of ways.

Thats just my opinion and I'm often wrong.

Song Lyric of the Day
"What sort of mess I mean
Self-destructive gasoline
The kind that strips you of your best"
-- Blue October

Revisionist (baseball) history

Admittedly yesterday I only caught highlights of baseball and a few moments of the Atlanta Braves at the Milwaukee Brewers, but the few minutes I caught showed an example of a throwback jersey game that was just unacceptable. The Brewer decided to turn back the clock and where Milwaukee Braves uniforms. One problem: The Brewers were never associated with the Braves organization. The Brewers came in 1970 after an initial season as the Seattle Pilots, and moved to Milwaukee to fill the void left by the Braves. If you're going to do turn back the clock day that's fine. Just don't do it in such a way that both teams are representing the same organization. While it may be interesting for some it's also very confusing for those who tune in and out. My last caution is not to do throwback jerseys not relating to your organization. I allow exceptions to this for cities and teams like Kansas City who frequently pay tribute to their cities involvement with the Negro Leagues by resurrecting the uniforms of the Kansas City Monarchs. Usurping the history of another franchise in the same league however should not be permitted.

8 days and counting...

Wow, I'm disappointed in myself I have not mixed in a single sports post in over a week. Admittedly, this will not be one of my more enlightened sports posts. As a graduate of the University of Tulsa, I have a mere 8 days of preparation for the college football season. I am hopeful that both Tulsa and Rice (where I presently attend) will have positive results now that they have moved to Conference USA. I was pleased to read that the alma mater has given the starting quarterback job to Paul Smith who I've seen play a number of times when I was still residing in Broken Arrow. I am hopeful that Tulsa's offense will be more productive early in the season than they were last year, but the non-conference schedule will not be an appropriate judge of the improvement of the team with games against Minnesota in Tulsa and a trip to Norman to face Oklahoma. Though I do not foresee a Conference USA title this season, I would expect improvement and a winning season.

Being born and raised in Norman, Oklahoma, I cannot have a college football post without discussing the Sooners. Unfortunately, it appears that they have lost a key member of the defensive line. However, I'm still certain that the Sooners led by Adrian Peterson should have a great season.

I'm sure I'll mix in some seriousness later, but there is a well-defined limit to the number of serious posts allowed on this page. (usually 2-3 a month)

Robertson over steps again

As I was going through my morning reading, I stumbled across an AP story in which Pat Robertson had suggested on air that the US should strongly considered the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

While I do not agree with Chavez's politics and his socialist/communist regime, There is no justification for Robertson's comments that I could find acceptable. Regardless of your opinions, there are certain lines that you cannot cross. Calling for someone's assassination just because you disagree with their politics and feel it would be an easier route than starting a war is still lunacy and completely abhorrent.

Then again that's only my opinion...

Song Lyric of the Day
"If I gave you the truth
Would it keep you alive?
Though I'm closer to wrong
and I'm further from right
And now I'm convinced on the inside
Something's wrong with me."
Seether - "Truth"

Concert Review: Five Dollar Friend

Those that know me understand this, but I am not trying to be a prude. I'm all for people enjoying themselves at shows as long as it does not come at the detriment of others. All of this rant stems from my experience at Helios yesterday attending the Five Dollar Friend and Lazlo show. The actions of a single concert goer nearly derailed the whole show on a couple of occasions leading me to construct a list of suggested rules for club show attendance.

1. If you're just attending the show to get hammered with no regard for the music being played please pick a different show.
2. Stay off the stage. (We didn't pay the cover charge to see attempt to dance around the musicians and make a complete ass of yourself.)
3. When in various states of impairment also don't stand on the tables or chairs. You're balance is worse than mine and I and those around me do not wish to catch you as you fall.
4. Once you've been asked to leave, don't come back.

As for the performance itself, the opening band Lazlo played well when not having to tackle our drunken concert goer off the stage. Lazlo played a set of louder and faster rock which was though very predictable and run of the mill was still an entertaining set.

Five Dollar Friend took the stage and began their set with the melodic "Dancehall". They played a number of songs I had not yet heard from their forthcoming disc Kisses, Hugs, and Prescription Drugs; however, these new songs were impressive. Most impressive were the title track and the final track of the set which I was unable to get a title but singer Jacob Trevino said that it like most songs was about ex-girlfriends. Aside from "Dancehall", the other tracks I had heard before "35 going 85 (speeding)" and "Spilling the Blood of Hipsters" were well performed having an almost identical sound to the studio recordings only with fewer backing vocals from keyboardist Michelle Hudson.

In closing, despite the actions of a disturbed concert attendee, Five Dollar Friend's performance (also with the few songs I heard from Lazlo as I arrived somewhat late) were probably worth more than the price of admission (which yes, to cut off sarcastic comments at the pass, was appropriately $5.)

Since of my readership of maybe four only I have actually heard the songs in question, "Dancehall", "35 going 85" and "Spilling the Blood of Hipsters" can be heard here.

Song Lyric of the Day
"She needs the bright lights of the city
To make her pretty
Just for tonight"
Five Dollar Friend - "Spilling the Blood of Hipsters"

A city's children left behind past and present

A word of caution as this rant will be political in nature and might be rather lengthy.

Earlier this week, a number of Tulsa news outlets reported the finding that 23 middle and elementary schools in Tulsa Public Schools fell below minimum standards in the state of Oklahoma imposed as a result of "No Child Left Behind." (Thanks to Michael Bates and Batesline for the my initial exposure to the story.) The news got worse when the high schools were included. At least within the district there are transfer options for the youngsters. Only one high school in Tulsa Public system managed to meet the government's new standards. As a result, those students in failing schools (or to be more correct with the government term "Schools that need improvement") have no immediate escape route. While this is an unfortunate situation for all involved, I tend to give the teachers and students the benefit of the doubt since their are merely working with than hands they've been dealt The way the state and local governments and school districts have dealt with the education system has been comical since the time I was a high school student.

As this is a blog, I don't have any good visual effect to signify a flashback, but let me travel back to a political visit during my junior year at Broken Arrow High School in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Then Governor Frank Keating had been canvassing the state to build support for his 4x4 education plan (4 years of each of 4 core subjects: English, math, science, social studies as a requirement to graduate high school). On the surface this sounded like a good idea at least on paper. When it was determined that Governor Keating was going to come visit us, the school selected its honor students and student leaders as an audience. Rule #3 of politics: Always know your audience. (For rules 1 and 2 check my earlier post) During the Governor's speech he mentioned some of the struggling Tulsa schools by name which I won't do out of respect, and proceeded to paint all Oklahoma students with the same brush. Needless to say his attempts to gain support that day were futile as he essentially spent an hour telling a room full academic achievers that we were all dumb and needed his new program to solve things. As it was a while back, I can't remember the details of specific questions but the Q and A session turned into something equivalent to target practice with the retrieval cart on the driving range. Had perhaps the state focused on issues such as addressing the budgets or teaching qualifications during this time, we may have seen the necessary improvements. Never mind increasing teacher pay above 48th or 49th in the country to keep the qualified teachers we had.

Eight years later and many of the same schools are failing. Many of the qualified educators are leaving the state with the speed of a summer squall line (and no for you weather geeks this particular line shows no sign of circulation) in search of higher pay and better working environments. Our schools have become focused on a number of social issues rather than the basic education they are needed for. Adjusting the standards or the curriculum requirements only addresses the surface issues. Without addressing the other issues brought up in this rant (teacher pay, teacher qualifications, and school budgets) along with increasing the parental involvement, progress may not be made. That may be too much to ask from a state whose only plan for education is a poorly funded "Lottery for Education"which though approved approximately a year ago has yet to be officially implemented, and a district whose most pressing issue as of two weeks ago was a feud over changing the start times of their schools in part because high school students weren't getting enough sleep.

Thanks for reading.

"Duality" an apt title for a quality disc

As promised tonight's musical rant is my review of Duality by Ra. Those of you who what Sunday Night Football on ESPN may be familiar with Ra's initial radio hit "Do You Call My Name" from their debut From One. For the majority of From One, Ra reveals a style of harder edges rock/metal with clear Egyptian and other Middle Eastern influences. Their sophomore disc Duality shows a clear evolution in style while not fully abandoning the harder edge from the first records. The first single "Fallen Angels" is an aggressive fast-paced dealing with paranoia and the fear of influence from outside negative forces (and coincidently my probable new theme song). "Fallen Angels" anchors the initial half of the disc which deals almost exclusively with fear, loss, and recovery. The latter half deals with love and all its positives and pitfalls. Each set has a distinct, interesting spoken intro which creates the appropriate mood shifts to more easily convey the messages in the album. To fully explain to shifting musical styles I will you a few examples. The album in general goes through a decrescendo from start to finish with "Fallen Angels" being the hardest track and the final track "Swimming Upstream" being an outstanding fully acoustic closer. Song in the middle of the album artfully blend acoustic and electric elements along with some very interesting and effective lyrics. The album in my opinion has four absolute standouts in "Swimming Upstream","Fallen Angels", "Superman", and "I've Lost Everything Today" while most of the other tracks are very solid. My only problem with Duality is the inclusion of the cover of Sting's "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" which in my opinion adds nothing and breaks up the solid flow of the album.

Overall: 8.5/10 and highly recommended

Song Lyric of the Day
"And I've gotta move on from here
I've done all that I can do
Yeah, I've gotta move on from here
I'm just swimming upstream for you"

Ra - "Swimming Upstream"

Musical Recommendations Part 1

Of late I've been listening to quite a bit of new music which I will review in full later but for now taking the lead from Mike, (be warned rational ideas may be ahead as the idea didn't come from me) I offer a couple of entertaining recommendations.

From Under the Cork Tree by Fall Out Boy

For those of you who enjoy music with deep subject matter and thought-provoking lyrics, I can only say this album may not be for you. If you enjoy music which can be humorous by being simple and yes at times juvenile, I would recommend this album. From the somewhat self-depricating slap and "flavor of the month" pop-punk band in "Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of this Song..." to the more melodic "(Summer Song)"-- much longer title omitted for brevity-- about the perils of comparing yourself with other constantly. Other quality tunes include: "Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year," "7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen)","A Little Less Sixteen Candles...", and of course the infective radio single "Sugar, We're Goin' Down." Overall. ...Cork Tree is a quality dose of entertaining pop-punk as long as you don't read too much into it.

7/10

Tomorrow I'll have of review of Ra's sophomore effort Duality but for today's song lyric I'll leave a preview.

Counters:
15 days until Healthy in Paranoid Times
61 days until Blue October live at Meridian

Song Lyrics of the Day:
"I feel as if I'm floating
Not aware or in control of what I am
God bless me
Take me out of this existence
End my role as the sacrificial lamb
Life is hard
But so is everything
Give my regards to a man who cares
If I succeedI will save my fellow man
And if I fail
I'll just stand and stare"

Ra- 'Superman'

Curses! Foiled Again

Mixed bag of news today. The good news is the Blue October tour was announced. [October 15th at the Meridian] Unfortunately, Foiled has been pushed back to January or February. Here's the album cover though to allow me to settle down a bit.

A creative way to lose a division lead

Finally, I get to give the Gas Can of the Day to Francisco Rodriguez of the Orange County Angels. This award is not the result of his stats but his inability to catch a throw back from the catcher because he was distracted and irritated about a previous call. His nonchalant effort resulted in the ball deflecting off his glove far enough toward second base that Jason Kendall was able to score the winning run from third and give the A's the game and the lead in the AL West.

If you haven't seen the play it's available here.

More useless commentary later...

A Gas Can Performance for the Ages

Yesterday's baseball provided 2 notable gas can performances. Under normal circumstances, the performance of Kevin Grybowski would be a hands down winner. Enter Yhency Brazoban. 4 batters faced, a walk, a hit batsmen, an intentional walk to load the bases, and a grand slam to Ryan Howard of the Phillies. Brazoban was then removed. He entered the game with it tied at 5 and left in shame having not retired a batter and left the Dodgers trailing 9-5. Thus Yhency Brazoban becomes the first 3-time winner of the Gas Can of the Day.

Counters
19 days until 'Paranoid Times'

A naming rights dilemma

While enjoying the Chris Baker show on KTRH this afternoon, an interesting local story came up. The St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital received a 25 million dollar donation from billionaire lawyer John O'Quin who through his foundation has been a donor to many institutions and worthwhile causes in the Houston area. In exchange for his donation St Luke's has agreed to change the name of their medical tower to the O'Quinn Tower at St. Luke's. On the surface this seems fine, but the physicians at St. Luke's are petitioning to stop the move saying they do not want to work in a building named for a man who made a large percentage of his money on medical malpractice suits which have been called into question by present science. O'Quinn was involved in among other cases the silicone implant case which drove Dow Corning to bankruptcy. While I understand the nature of the physicians sentiments, it is hard for me to see where a hospital can in good conscience turn down such a large donation. So as I see it St. Lukes has no choice but to do what is best for the hospital and take the money, but I welcome the opinions of the more educated on this matter.

For those who like me can't wait the 3 weeks...

Thanks to ourladypeace.cc, I have been made aware of a review of Healthy in Paranoid Times on the Florida Music Scene website.

Back to life as disturbed as it is.

Song Lyric of the Day:
"I see fallen angels
As I try to go to sleep
And they're always watching
I see fallen angels
As I'm walking in the street
Silently preparing
For what they'll do to me"

Ra -- Fallen Angels

Back in Houston

After a very positive and refreshing break I have now returned back home to resume normal work. Based on the news stories of the day, I have just a couple of comments. Rest in peace Peter Jennings. When I watch network newscasts, it was usually the ABC version so I had grown accustomed to Peter Jennings' delivery of the news. Though I often disagreed with his political viewpoints when interjected, I felt that he did a good job of presenting the stories in a way that I could understand and form a coherent opinion about them. He will be missed.

God speed to the crew of Discovery on their return and the successful completion of their mission tomorrow.

Lastly, After a week in which I didn't have the ability to award the Gas Can of the Day, I am somewhat dismayed to award today's version to Chris Reitsma of the Atlanta Braves. Giving up a grand slam walk off will gain you the award everytime. Giving up said slam to David Eckstein of all people puts you a step closer to the Gas Can Hall of Shame.

Counters:
22 days until Healthy in Paranoid Times
64 days until Foiled

Now taking mascot suggestions

Before I ramble on, let me acknowledge that I realize that some of the nicknames used in college sports may be considered offensive to some individuals or groups. My issue is not as much the names as the fact that the aloof NCAA higher-ups, who have decided to ban the use of Native American or other ethnic mascots in NCAA postseason tournaments, have made a national mandate out of it rather than letting the schools address the issues on an individual basis. Apparently, local approval is not sufficient to preserve the existing mascot. Florida State for example has the approval of the Seminole tribe in the state of Florida to use the Seminole name but the NCAA will not permit them to. Luckily for FSU, the football team will not be affected as Division I NCAA football does not have a playoff or NCAA championship tournament (rant on this subject will occur in October). However, when March Madness comes around, it will be interesting to follow the exploits of the Florida State Felons or the Illinois Orange (I hate nicknames that are colors but with Syracuse and Marquette threatening to pave the way Illinois can't be far behind).

'Paranoid Times' in 25 days
'Foiled' in 67 days

Let the steroid controversy begin anew

Congratulations to Major League Baseball for catching another steroid user. Unfortunately, in the case of Rafael Palmeiro, this time it has to be a guy whose career I liked because he never tried to upstage anyone or put personal accomplishment ahead of team goals (unlike a certain Oriole teammate and former Tulsa Driller whom I will refer to as "Corky" for the purposes of this rant). With Palmeiro's 3000th hit acouple of weeks back, I was very solidly in the camp of supporter for his Hall of Fame bid, but now , though I believe he should still get in , I find my support wavering. If it was an accident, as Palmeiro stated, it was just horrid timing, but the deeper issue still troubles me. I am a baseball fan, and I want to be able to look at a game and genuinely root for guys because they are giving fair effort at a game that I and many others would love to play if we had the ability. One more thing , just as a note to MLB, it may be a good idea to test "Corky" next time you're in Baltimore.

Counters:
'..Paranoid Times' in 29 days
'Foiled' in 71 days
Gas Cans:
Saturday: Giovanni Carrarra of the Dodgers
Sunday: Russ Springer of the Astros

Song Lyric of the Day
"It's okay.
They say it's natural
Popping pills everyday for self-control
To stay alive"
Endochine -"Enough About You"