Once again, the racists, bigots, drunks and pill popping unemployed of Philadelphia get a free pass to trash the city in a mummers parade. Here we go again. I saw the Caitlyn Jenner bit on TV at the Liberty Bell diner that morning. As soon as I saw it, I could hear other people in the diner gasping and saying, “oh, thats a problem” and “can they do that?”
Ahh Philly. Land of the bigot. Hate to post this again, but here’s the passyunk ave fountain in south philly. Almost looks like a troop of “wenches” or “fancies” or whatever they call drunk racists who get off on dressing like women (rather than confess they aren’t man enough to admit they are gay).
Look at the mummers doing a mini show by the Passyunk Avenue fountain.
It’s time for Philadelphia to do the right thing and end this parade, or open it to the general public (minimizing the affect of the racists “mummers” spectacle). Besides, no one cares or even knows what a “mummer” means (even the idiots that do it don’t know and cant explain it).
Here’s an article in the Washington Post that does what every media outlet does with class warfare, TURNS IT INTO A RACE ISSUE.
I left a comment. This is what I wrote:
This is what I have learned about Maryland as a state. It isn’t about race folks. The media constantly raises the race issue to hide the real issue. Maryland is extremely talented at propping up their rich constituents. They tax the crap out of the poor and middle class and pump up the rich in this state so much, it is visibly disgusting. Look at the heliports behind the mansions in Howard county.
Maryland is a state that relies on people driving cars EVERYWHERE. If you ever wondered why, just re-license your car in another state, then come back to license your car in Maryland and notice how much it costs. This is probably the most expensive state to transfer a drivers license. The govt makes too much money on this. They WANT us to sit in our cars. It’s too much of a cash cow for the state. It’s all about roads and parking and driving and people complaining about their commutes. You see the license plate honoring our farm land, but really it’s just a ruse for another Maryland “fake city”/”town centre” and sprawl with no reasonable means of accessibility. Look at Montgomery County with its little pockets of fake plastic urban existence (fake cities), with NOTHING in between. Maryland is a model of poor planning, excess, and waste. Nothing here is done efficiently with growth in mind. Its a mess. And anytime you hear a Maryland politician talking about “quality of life”, its just the rich pandering to the ignorant media absorbed middle/low class so they can rape us for another dime and another heliport behind a mansion. (Note: I’m a democrat, and Maryland makes me ashamed of my party).
This is what I feel about today’s presidential election issues, (and sadly, as much as I care). Proof that the debate never changes, and the bullshit continues year after year after year after year. This is the reason I’m glad I get older everyday:
This has been a very difficult year for me musically. Another favorite of mine has passed. This time it is Dieter Moebius. He is from the German electronic collective known as Cluster and Harmonia. I have highlighted their stuff before on here:
Here’s a live concert video with Michael Rother. Wonderful music.
Here are some of my most favorite tracks:
Speed Display
Deluxe (Immer Wieder) – I love this track like crazy. Total genius!
Dieter Moebius was one of these electronic music pioneers who sat behind a table of boxes and wires and made some of the wildest crazy noises anyone has ever heard. I have most of his work in my collection. I listen to it a lot when I’m in that Kraftwerk and Can sort of musical mood. His music inspires me to make electronic noises of my own. I think of him fondly when I create stuff for CHOB and Hozpitality.
This year has been very painful for my musical taste. Everyday we lose another and we are left with the crap that passes for musical entertainment that floats around today. Honor this man, and make some funny musical noises today!
Below is an exchange between one of the 6-10 job recruitment emails I receive DAILY. (Don’t be fooled folks, the job market out there is really good).
However, this demonstrates what is inherently wrong with labor and the “job creators”* in our country.
(*Remember, the term “job creator” is total bullshit because the people who have the ability to create jobs really dont give a damn if they are creating jobs or not. They just want to see if they can get their overhead and hire people for as little wage as humanly possible. Essentially, these companies would hire neuro physicists for $5 an hour if they could get away with it). Below is the exchange.)
From: Jolly 8:12 AM (1 hour ago) Hi: Hope you are doing good today! This is in reference to your profile I got from our database. I wanted to check your availability for an URGENT position we have. Please review the details below and let me know your interest. Position: Technical Documentation Specialist Location: Martinsburg, WV 25405 Duration: 5 years+ Client: Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Purpose: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) intends to do an 8(a) Competitive procurement for Data Entry, Imaging, Indexing, IT Support Services and Related Support Services for the ATF National Tracing Center located at the Martinsburg, WV facility under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 518210. General Qualifications: · Proficient Technical Skills · Demonstrated Writing Skills at the 12 grade (High School) and higher · Demonstrated ability to accurately type at least 40 wpm · Interpersonal Skills · Active Listening Skills Required Skills: · Demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft Office Products (Excel, Word, Power Point, etc.) · General knowledge of IT concepts and terminology relative to Web Development · Experience drafting technical documentation and training materials Jolly
——– my first response ——- Chad Graybill 9:10 AM (19 minutes ago)
to Jolly
Everything listed is well within the scope of my experience. Currently, I am working on a contract that seems to have no end for HRSA.
I am making $xx/hour on a 1099 with absolutely no benefits including no sick leave.
If you can do better than this, I will consider.
Thanks, Chad Graybill
——– Jolly’s response ———- From: Jolly to me
I can do $xx + $5/hr on 1099.
Please send me your updated resume.
Thanks!
Jolly ——– My second response ———– To: Jolly (attached resume)
Considering I just re-signed a year lease living in North Bethesda, MD…. I don’t think this rate is reasonable enough for me to break my lease and move my life to Martinsburg, WV. The commute from my current residence is 50+ miles one way through some of the worst traffic the east coast has to offer.
Can we reconsider with this in mind?
A friend of mine said, “There are many job opportunities out there right now. The problem is that everyone wants help, but nobody wants to pay for it.” Can you show ME that you really want my help and make it worth my while to uproot my life for this? The way I see this, we are all responsible for our own health care at this point. I dont understand why companies have very little to pay for labor these days. It’s bad enough that we now cover our own health care, then companies don’t want to pay for any sick or vacation leave. How much more cheaper can we make labor for the “job creators”? I don’t understand why BEFORE the ACA(“obamacare”), companies covered health care AND leave. Now they want to cover NOTHING? I dont see how this is reasonable or even fair.
Merely $5 extra dollars an hours doesn’t seem really reasonable enough for this.
Apparently, when we want something we pay for it. When the “job creators” or the people who HAVE MONEY want something, we are supposed to give it to them for free.
This is why I do not rise for the national anthem.
UPDATE: this person didn’t even read the response and just sent me a form to sign for “exclusivity” so nobody else can PIMP me for this contract. Essentially, they just made the assumption that I accepted their offer. Once again, proof that nobody in America reads ANYTHING. I responded saying:
We are still negotiating! If you actually read my last post you will know that I did not accept your offer and was questioning the reasons why the consideration is so low. I will not sign any agreement until the terms are reasonable. Your suggested terms are not reasonable as mentioned in my last post.
Spent the weekend in Atlantic City at Harrah’s Casino/Resort. We got a room at the Harrah’s Marina building. Everything was expensive. The room looked like a bad motel 6.
Here are some of the atrocities.
Hunk of hair weave hair on the floor of our hotel room. So obviously lazy vacuuming.
The carpet was stained and discolored in so many places, walking around in your bare feet was a disgusting thought. I know what a vomited wine stain looks like. There was a lot of that all over the place
Carpet Stains Another lovely carpet stain
The furniture looked like it had not been replaced since the 80’s. The stains on the furniture were so nasty looking, we put towels on the furniture before we sat on it.
Stain on chair. Looks like someone had to pee really bad.Stain on 80’s couch. Once again, looks like someone had to pee really bad.
Even the pictures had stains on the glass framing. So it looks like they cant even spray some windex and wipe down the pictures.
Even the pictures haven’t been wiped down.
Here is the view from the window in the room. You can look out over Atlantic City, NJ and see Hotel/Casino’s that are closed (out of business) and other Hotel/Casino’s where they may actually properly clean their rooms.
UPDATE (6/5/2015): The legendary and monolithic Mike O’meara Show podcast read this blog post on their podcast. I was driving with MsNeeBo to Atlantic City, NJ for the weekend and heard this while driving on the Black Horse Pike. I nearly had a heart attack! Many THANK YOU’S to my favorite broadcasting gods, The Mike O’Meara Show. (Go shop at their god damned Amazon page)
Play
Stop
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Here we go with the list so far… Feel free to add in comments! NO REPEATS! (I may do another list for MD and VA as some of these issues leach over into both states).
Bad traffic
Rude opportunistic people
Poor work ethic
Everyone thinks they’re entitled i.e., “Dont you know who i am?!!”
The food sucks
Not a single good pizza in all of DC, MD or VA
Yes washington dc sucks, but MD and VA are definitely contributors to the suck.
Extremely high prices.
One of the most expensive nights on the town.
Nights on the town suck.
The subways dont go to places, they go to parking garages and office buildings and businesses that close at 5.
The parking police are high (literally. They cant even correctly type a license plate number, and they fine you for legally parking your vehicle thus sending you to court to fight a stupid ticket).
The people are completely incapable of driving correctly.
(Because of Maryland drivers) everyone drives in the left lane and makes right hand turns from it.
(Because of Virginia) everyone drives with their turn signal on when not turning and drives entirely too slow.
Extremely high taxes (for infrastructure that sucks).
(probably mostly a maryland thing but) The power goes out a lot.
(probably a virginia thing but) Full of racist evil conservative religious zealot republicans.
The zoo is lame.
The water tastes really bad.
The weather sucks (no spring or fall, goes right into winter/summer).
Stinky nasty humidity all summer and the air rarely moves.
The subway is extremely expensive.
The subway is extremely dirty.
The subway is extremely slow and inconsistent.
The subway is ugly (no! it is not beautiful… and who cares how it looks when it is always delayed or broken down).
The subway is just plain dangerous.
The radio stations suck (all pop and political / sports talk).
Too many alcoholic rich people (who act like idiots).
Overcrowded (and they just keep building overpriced housing to bring in the rich entitled douche bags).
Not enough grocery stores to match the population (so they’re always out of stuff).
Some people are stupid enough to be proud to live here.
It is not a city, it is a facility.
It is not “world class” it is “world ass”. Everyone from all over the world comes here to be an overpaid asshole!
It’s too far from an ocean.
It’s like living with an international terrorist target on your ass.
Unsafe on a local and international level.
Too many police forces covering too small of an area and still crime is rampant and it isn’t safe at all.
The general public in DC is really stupid. (Proof: They have an announcement on the Metro that instructs the public how to use the ESCALATOR).
The traffic circles are not beautiful or helpful. They just plain suck.
The design of the city is meant only for horses.
All of DC, MD, and VA are built for cars ONLY yet they claim to be pedestrian friendly.
Nobody cares about their local sports teams (the fans aren’t fans, they just think it’s a night out on the town and they dont care if their teams win or lose).
Their sports teams suck.
The beltway is a useless parking lot.
There is no effective way to access DC from the north.
Highest rent (you might as well live in NYC. At least you would have some entertainment value for the high prices).
Their baseball stadium is ugly and looks like a prison from the outside.
The DC opened a trolley system that doesn’t take any passengers, yet runs 24/7 and clogs up traffic. This is not some sick joke. It really exists and does nothing!!
Their football stadium for their team isn’t even in their city (The Laurel, Maryland Redskins).
Their football team has a racist offensive name.
The river that runs through the city is disgusting and stinky and stagnant (BOTH OF THEM: potomac and anacostia).
The subway has so many stops and no express (so it takes forever to get to anywhere – if the subway actually WENT somewhere).
The subway only has 2 tracks (so if a train breaks down its a disaster for the entire system, and it happens daily).
Income disparity is disgusting. (Probably a Maryland thing but, slums on one side of the street, and mansions on the other).
Chris Rainbow (aka Chris Harley), one of my favorite singer/song writer/producers, passed away February 26, 2015. Known as a “one man beach boys”, you can hear why in his vocal production.
He sang in many of my favorite Alan Parsons Project songs.
I liked his solo stuff the best though.
This one hurts folks. May take a while for me to heal this. Sad day for my taste.
UPDATE:
This website provided a few extra tracks on youtube that I did not have. They have promptly been ripped (as they aren’t available anywhere else).
I sent this email to building management this morning:
SUBJECT: Hallway etiquette, or How can we say this nicely?
Since I have been living here at Avalon at Grosvenor Station, I have noticed some behavior in the hallways that seems to be acceptable and I do not understand how this is reasonable:
1. Every weekday morning (6:50am) and evening (4:30pm) it is apparently ok to let your kids run screaming, yelling, chanting or stomping as loudly as possible in the hallways. This is similar to releasing your hyper children into a McDonalds play place. So apparently the halls of Avalon Grosvenor are a place to allow your kids to have a discipline free LOUD wild run in the hallway EVERY WORKDAY.
2. Apparently if the weather is not the best, it is okay to turn the hallway into an exercise yard for your dogs. I guess its okay (and even comical) to let them run up and down the hallway with no leash at top speed chasing each other like it’s a grey hound track.
I had no idea that this was accepted as common courtesy in a shared apartment complex hallway.
Next time, if I come home drunk early in the morning or at any odd hour, I’ll be sure to hire a brass band to march down the hallway and play loudly OR I will allow my cat to use the hallway as a litter box.
I realize that this negligence of others is accepted behavior in Montgomery county and the DC metro area (as I had the unfortunate pleasure of living in this area before and I realize coming back here is not a step up in quality of life). I have grown to consider that, in this area, one cannot expect other people (especially strangers) to be considerate of others. If that was the case, the traffic around here wouldn’t suck so bad.
Do you think I’m out of line by expecting anything different for a common use hallway?
UPDATE 11:32 AM SAME DAY!
UPDATE 11:54 AM SAME DAY!
Now I guess I should just wait for the flaming bags of poop and dirty diapers in front of my door. We’ll keep you updated!
