Obama Rally in Leesburg

Hearing that Obama was coming to Leesburg, Virginia, I decided to take off work and go up for the rally (Leesburg is about 25 minutes away from our house). After 7 hours of standing and waiting, I managed to get a front row spot for the speech! It was a very good event, with his typical, yet powerful stump speech. I even got a hand shake for my efforts! :)

Here are some of my best shots.











My ugly mug with Obama in the background.


In this short clip of Obama's entrance, the guy next to me yells "we love you" at the end and Obama retorts "I love you back!"



This is a really good clip on the importance of our time in history and the critical issues facing our nation and our world. At the end I pan the crowd briefly.



A short, but very good clip on healthcare. Obama gets personal about his Grandmother and her death from cancer.

Indigo Girls Concert

My twin sister Melissa recommended that I check out the Indigo Girls as part of my music quest. Over the past month I have enjoyed their music on my iPod and was excited to hear they were performing in Virginia this fall. Last night Maranda and I dropped Kieran off at some friends house and got out for a rare night on the town where our conversation is not interrupted by constant interaction with our wonderful, but busy little boy.

We watched the Indigo Girls in concert at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. It was our first time to visit Wolf Trap and we really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere in an outdoor setting.


The Indigo Girls are a folk music duo with punk rock and blue grass influences. They are very active politcally and particularly support environmental and gay rights issues. It was a wonderful experience to see them in person, they are amazing musicians and full of life and personality! It was also very good to be surrounded by lots of folks from the gay subculture, a reminder that I need to get out of the suburbs more often! The most poignant moment of the night for me was when they stopped singing and allowed the crowd to sing full voice. The entire place swelled with voices and the hair on my back tingled, it felt like church!

Here are the lyrics from Pendulum Swinger (Maranda's favorite so far), which is on their newest album. It is a powerful and pertinent message.

Indigo Girls - Pendulum Swinger Lyrics
I meet you for coffee
We get together periodically
I got a bad case I can't shake off of me
The fevered walking round wondering how it ought to be
You work in the system
You see possibilities and your glistening
Eyes show the hell you're gonna give 'em
When they back off the mic for once and give it to a woman

I dream like a mad one
Brutal fantasies I catch as catch can
I'm a psychic and a laywoman
I see love and I like to make it happen
What we get from your war walk
Ticker of the nation breaking down like a bad clock
I want the pendulum to swing again
So that all your mighty mandate was just spitting in the wind

It doesn't come by the bullwhip
It's not persuaded with your hands on your hips
Not the company of gunslingers
The epicenter love is the pendulum swinger
She is she is she is

It's fine about the old scroll Sanskrit
Gnostic gospels the da vinci code a smash hit
Aren't we dying just to read it and relate
Too hard just to go by a blind faith
But they left out the sisters
Praying to a father god so long I really missed her
The goddess of benevolence
You should listen to your mama if you have a lick of sense left

Pushed under by the main press, buried under a code of dress
Relegated by the Vatican
But you can't keep a spirit down that wants to get up again

If we're a drop in the bucket
With just enough science to keep from saying fuck it
Until the last drop of sun burns its sweet light
Plenty revolutions left until we get this thing right

My personal favorite is Closer to Fine, which has a message that resonates with my place in life right now. I will let the lyrics speak for themselves.

Closer To Fine

I'm trying to tell you something about my life
Maybe give me insight between black and white
The best thing you've ever done for me
Is to help me take my life less seriously, it's only life after all
Well darkness has a hunger that's insatiable
And lightness has a call that's hard to hear
I wrap my fear around me like a blanket
I sailed my ship of safety till I sank it, I'm crawling on your shore.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

I went to see the doctor of philosophy
With a poster of Rasputin and a beard down to his knee
He never did marry or see a B-grade movie
He graded my performance, he said he could see through me
I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind, got my paper
And I was free.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

I stopped by the bar at 3 a.m.
To seek solace in a bottle or possibly a friend
I woke up with a headache like my head against a board
Twice as cloudy as I'd been the night before
I went in seeking clarity.


I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

We go to the bible, we go through the workout
We read up on revival and we stand up for the lookout
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in a crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine

Tay Zonday revisted

This song is very good, I like it even better than Chocolate Rain. Check it out, the lyrics are powerful!

Worst idea of the week

This seems like a brilliant plan to help bring peace and stability to the middle east...

07.07.07

Maranda, some friends, and I attended the kick-off for Live Earth 2007. We didn't get in to the actual event so had to watch screen from the side of the platform. The event is intended to raise global awareness and commitment to reducing global warming pollution. Attendees were asked to sign a 7 point pledge. Here is a shot of the capitol and Al gore on the stage (he was about 150 feet to our left out of sight. To add your name to the pledge, click HERE.

Bush with Micron CEO

Picture from a few minutes ago. I am not a Bush fan by any means, but it is good publicity for Micron...



Here is a link to an article regarding his comments. There is a link to clips of the speech as well.

http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-feb0607-bush_at_micron.582260d8.html

Bush Visit - Press Release

U.S. President Bush to visit Micron's Virginia plant Tuesday WASHINGTON - The White House announced Friday (Feb. 2, 2007) that U.S. President George W. Bush has accepted an invitation to visit Micron's state-of-the-art 300mm manufacturing facility in Manassas, Va. on Tuesday, Feb. 6. He will tour the facility with CEO Steve Appleton and then speak to employees and members of the press. It's believed to be the first time a sitting U.S. president has visited one of Micron's worldwide manufacturing sites since the company's inception in 1978.

The company extended the invitation to President Bush to tell him our story how Micron is:

o Helping the U.S. economy grow by creating well-paying jobs. During the past year, Micron hired 1,021 new team members as part of its $3.5 billion expansion of the MTV plant.

o Improving the balance of global trade. In fiscal 2006, Micron's international sales helped reduce the U.S. trade deficit by $3.6 billion.

o Strengthening public education. Through its K-12 volunteer programs and teaching tools, Micron is supporting the math and science education critical to cultivating tomorrow's technology leaders.

o Supportive of patent reform. For the past six years, Micron has been among the top 10 recipients of U.S. patents and protecting such intellectual property is vital to U.S. leadership in technology innovation.

Photo of Micron Parking lot

Bush visiting my company today

So President Bush is due to arrive at my company in Manassas in a few hours. Parking really stinks because they sequestered an entire lot for the 4 helicopters that will be arriving. We are locked into the building from 8:00 a.m. until sometime this afternoon for security reasons. I didn't get the big invite to go down to the conference, so I will be at my cubicle watching a live recording.

This is pretty big news for Micron. The focus will be on the number of new jobs Micron has created in the U.S. in the past year, as well as the impact Micron has (in the positive) on the trade deficit.

I will post more updates later, since I don't expect that anyone will do much work today...

Ken

Bush vs. Satan - Actual Poll Results

This is an actual Associated Press poll aired in December on MSNBC, wow!!

Cheney vs. Pelosi: The Blink Off

This is truly hilarious!!

SADDAM HANGING VIDEO

This gives me very mixed feelings, as I am horrified by both Saddam's life and his death. Neither give me joy. Yet evading the reality of real horror, when we watch fictional horror ever week on the screen, seems too escapist to me. If you decide to watch (and it is not graphic except for the reality of impending death), choose not to be a voyeur but a participant in the reality of these times.

Foolish Peace

I found this painted doorway deep in china town in Melacca, Malaysia. I was struck by the message and very curious to know the full story. There is much truth that living peacefully comes at a cost at times (if not all the time?). Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jesus, and many others suffered for their courageous peacefullness. They were "fools" to believe that humankind could live together in openness and dialogue, even love. They were fools to believe that centuries of ethnic and religious barriers could be broken down, and ideed, they suffered greatly during their lives.

And yet, as I write this post I reflect on my time here in S. Asia. I have made many friends and found everyone warm, accepting, and engaging. At any given time there might be three or more religious traditions reflected in our group, yet accord, not discord, rules the day. Is it possible that those who suffered for peace have moved the very foundations of humanity, that kindness, understanding, and love may be more the norm today than 100 years ago?

And yet there is still much anger in the world today. For those who wish to intervene, to be courageous peacemakers, are we prepared to suffer for our belief in a better world? Watching from the side is much safer than being an agent of change, yet in our hearts (in my heart), is that really all we desire, all we are capable of?

B-Day Thoughts

On the day of my hallowed birthday, I though I would reflect on the BEST birthday present I have every received! Now you might be thinking of a Sony Playstation, or perhaps that first rifle years ago, but I have something even better in mind: The 2006 Mid-Term Elections! Wooo hoo, what a wonderful gift! And lest you think me facetious, this truly is a uplifting and tremendously exciting day for me. After years of watching a beautiful country take hawkish stance after hawkish stance, alienating ourselves from even our closest allies, it is wonderful to see the power in our Government re-balanced. Of course I will be deeply disappointed if the Dems use this as a chance to engage in witch hunts, something I strongly hope they avoid. My hope is that a more reasonable and sensitive government will emerge. Are the Democrats that much better in the end, I'm not absolutely sure yet. But I am sure that an imbalance of power in a Governmental system is NEVER a good thing, so this has got to help some!

For any friends or family members who might be miffed at my words above, gimme a break - it's my B-Day for goodness sake!!

Bits and Pieces

So as many people know, my sister and brother are in Bangladesh. We are planning to go visit them soon, perhaps early next year. Right now things are pretty turbulent due to some election protests, check out the story on BBC.

Just 5 days before the mid-term elections and it looks like things are still leaning toward the Democrats making big gains! Check out a nifty status of the contested senate and house races here. Go Dems!

Democrats ONLY!

If you are not a democrat, don't blame me if you get mad!

World Events

Interested in discussing a recent world event? Post a response to this post and see what everyone else thinks?