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Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ was released 10 years ago today. Holy fucking christ.

My short Nirvana history:

1. I hear ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ for the first time on MTV.
2. It takes me a while to get into Nirvana, as my Metallica-loving stage has just kicked in and has yet to grow into the festering hate I would harbor in later years.
3. Eventually In Utero is released, forcing me to reconsider my lukewarm attachment to said band. I look into the albums prior to Nevermind and am pleasantly surprised to find music that I enjoy.
4. I see Nirvana in concert at the San Diego Sports Arena on Decemeber 29, 1993, coincidentally one year to the day before I would move away from my hometown, my life ripped to shreds.
5. Cobain dies, I am really not that affected although a future girlfriend at the time is terribly unhappy as she is a huge Nirvana fan, and Kurt’s body is found on her birthday
6. Unplugged is released posthumously, and keeps me warm during the cold Colorado nights. Almost.

Right now, 6,300 Americans are presumed dead, a fact barely acknowledged by the protesters in Boston and many others swept up in the anti-war reaction. A foreign state that treats women like slaves is harboring and sponsoring a known terrorist with global connections. The world has a strong, reasonable suspicion that a network of genuinely savage fighters is being sheltered by the mountains of Afghanistan — men who have publically and clearly stated their intentions to kill Americans and Jews, regardless of age, gender or military affiliation.

…

…staging street protests and petitions that seem to lend sympathy and comfort to those who destroyed the World Trade Center can only sabotage the Left’s ability to reach into the mainstream of American opinion — and create real change.

I’m with him, I think. Decide for yourself.
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And read this one, too.

This is kind of interesting. Multiple people claim to see some sort of ghost of the twin towers at night. The quote that struck me as odd, however:

The towers “were the most beautiful thing you could see from here,” said Carlos Torres, 28, a lifelong resident of the Lower East Side.

Torres said he also saw the faint image of the towers one recent night when his boss pointed it out to him. “Scared? Why?” Torres asked. “It’s a thing of God.”

Not to be harsh or anything, but I just didn’t think that Lower-East siders were the type to believe in God. Just a thought.

Sounds to me like a country with nothing to hide.

Recently here at work, someone sent around a picture of American and United Airlines airplanes announcing new, non-stop flights to Afghanistan. The planes pictured were, in fact, B-52 bombers, and they were carpet bombing the ground beneath them. It raised a giggle, of which I quickly became ashamed, but raised some very real concerns as well.

I feel uneasy at even the suggestion that we begin carpet bombing Afghanistan. In times like this, it’s important that we look at all the ramifications of any action we might take. Carpet bombing anyone right now is a bad idea. Especially with all the hardwood floors currently being used in new home construction, particularly here in Denver. These kind of things go in and out of style all the time, and then where will we be? Out of badly needed carpet, that’s where.

As well, I have to ask how much good carpet bombing would really do. How much could that hurt? At best your going to have some really angry rug-burned Afghans with freshly carpeted homes, planning revenge. And that’s if we use a short berber. Don’t even get me started on shag…

I seriously can’t help it but… Listening to The Smiths gives the irrestistable urge to go and aggresively read Oscar Wilde. Don’t ask me why.

My previous post titled “Must see.” had problems for some people loading the images. Anyway, this link is a consolidation of those pictures and more.

It’s funny, but it’s not. All at the same time.

Some notes on my recent trip to California:

1. San Diego has fucking great sushi.
2. Don’t buy a stunt kite and fly it at mission bay all day without sunscreen. I acquired probable second degree burns due to sunburn.. my feet and calves swelling again for the second time this year. Sucks ass.
3. IKEA is fucking rad. I spent 200 bucks on like 20 things and they all fit in my little Corolla’s trunk for the drive home.
4. Thinking about moving back to San Diego in February. We’ll see.
5. Playing ‘Taboo’ while drunk with 8 other equally drunk and like-minded people is the most fun I’ve had in a long time.
6. The Paris hotel in Las Vegas is actually very nice and not that expensive. It’s not the Las Vegas-y type of place I tend to hate and the $23 buffet was to die for.
7. Las Vegas, New Mexico is a shithole.

Simplicity, patience, compassion.

These three are your greatest tresures.



There is no greater misfortune

than underestimating your enemy.

Underestimating your enemy

means thinking he is evil.

Thus you destroy your three treasures

and become an enemy yourself.



There is no greater illusion than fear,

no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself,

no greater misfortune than having an enemy.



When rich speculators prosper

while farmers lose their land;

when government officials spend money

on weapons instead of cures;

when the upper class is extravagant and irresponsible

while the poor have nowhere to turn-

all this is robbery and chaos.

It is not in keeping with the Tao.



When a country obtains great power,

it becomes like the sea:

all streams run downward into it.

The more powerful it grows,

the greater the need for humility.

Humility means trusting balance,

thus never needing to be defensive.



A great nation is like a great man:

When he makes a mistake, he realizes it.

Having realized it, he admits it.

Having admited it, he correscts it.

He considers those who point out his faults

as his most benevolent teachers.

He thinks of his enemy

as the shadow that he casts himself.



If a nation is centered in the Tao,

if it nourishes its own people

and doesn’t meddle in the affairs of others,

it will be a light to all nations in the world.



People are born soft and supple;

dead, they are stiff and hard.

Plants are born tender and pliant;

dead, they are brittle and dry.



Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible

is a disciple of death.

Whoever is soft and yielding

is a disciple of life.



The hard and stiff will be broken.

The soft and supple will prevail.



Nothing in the world

is as soft and yielding as water.

Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible,

nothing can surpass it.



The soft overcomes the hard;

the gentle overcomes the rigid.

Everyone knows this is true,

but few can put it into practice.



Therefor the master remains

serene in the midst of sorrow.

Evil cannot enter his heart.



-Lao Tsu circa 500BC