MobileChelonian

Nope, no snakes on my plane. I am back in San Diego, and have been for a busy, busy week. Highlights include arguing with officers, winning $60 playing Texas Hold 'Em, and learning in Logic class how to build atomic bombs. And there's a guy from Tehran sitting behind me in class, no joke. I didn't see him taking many notes though.

I just got back from the Adams Avenue Roots and Folk Music Festival - since it's going on a few hundred feet away from my apartment and it's free, I felt I should attend. Within seconds of walking into the roped off area, I was accosted by a monk in a baseball cap who liked my tshirt and who tried to give me a copy of the Bhavagad-Gita...when I told him I already had one, he gave me a different book on Hinduism, and I gave him $2. I saw bluegrass in the park, mandolin Italian chamber music in the street, met a street magician/busker named Jimmy from New Orleans who was really pretty good. He had just gotten back from Europe ("now recently from the Sultan's Palace, the Courts of Kings & Queens and now performing for you ladies and gentlemen on this street corner. Stay in school kids, really") There was cowboy and Celtic music in a church, and Chinese people doing while-you-wait calligraphy. Why, there were even rides for the kids - one of which is the picture you see. Overall, I had a good free time.

The Coachella movie is out on DVD now - Radiohead, the Pixies, the Flaming Lips, Morrissey, Aracde Fire, Belle and Sebastian, and quite a few more. Beck talks about music, and there are giant robots belching flames and beating each other. Recommended! Now they're only 4 DVDs behind Bonnaroo...

Posted by Aaron at 6:08 PM | Permalink | Comments

The Shreveport Times made an appearance on my favorite political scandal-rag site, Wonkette. Here's the link to the story - Wonkette's tag ? "It’s not her fault, there’s really no predicting what you’ll say after you get hit with a tazer. ZAP! “I’m Rick James bitch!”

It's been a week off from blogging, and I'm trying to play catchup in the plushest airport lounge I've ever been in at DFW. I'm in a leather swivel chair at a faux-marble counter, with my laptop plugged in and wirelesly connected. A flat screen TV is injecting me with CNN, without asking first. I'm watching escaltors go up and down, empty,. Lots of leather, brushed steel, and stained wood. I'm waiting for Christopher Walken to come dancing out of an elevator.



I finally got around to buying music legally from iTunes. That's right, Aaron, music pirate since 1998, finally paid for someone's intellectual property. And what did I buy? Why, these guys new album! I've had one of their EPs knocking around my harddrive since '02, and now I'm finally giving them money. Hey, if I go to school in Tennesee, maybe I'll get to see them live! Oh yes, and one of their videos has them dressed in pirate costumes...so you know the Features are cool.


I need to buy a scanner and digitize several years worth of terribly old fashioned sticky photos. Any suggestions from you artistic tech-heads out there?

Oh yeah, and if you can get it, I recommend the new issue of Believer magazine. Mainly for this
article, but hell, read the whole thing if you want it in Dead Tree format. Oh, and I found out Terry Pratchett is a libertarian. According to a libertarian website anyway, which has a list of Libertarian celebrities. I can't help but wonder if this is like Mormons reverse-baptising dead relatives...you know..."well, they never said they weren't, so we'll give them the hat and plaque". I'm not sure how I feel about this...generally if an entertainer or artist gets linked to a political movement/philosophy, I'm much less likely to read them. I dislike getting beat over the head with a Point or a Cause. What they said about Pratchett isn't inaccurate, as such. It's just, selective. After all, one of his recurring heroes is a policeman who ends up in the Nobility. Not very Robespierre.

I think they're playing my song...pre-boarding United Airlines flight to San Fran. Man, I sure hope there aren't any snakes on my plane.

Nah, couldn't happen.

Posted by Aaron at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments

National Geographic magazine has unveiled a 26 page parchment document - The Gospel of Judas. In it, a conversation between Jesus and Judas is reproduced - and it appears that according to this Gospel, Jesus asked Judas to betray him. Christ tells Judas, "…you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me."

In another section, Jesus tells Judas, “Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom. Look, you have been told everything. Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars surrounding it. The star that leads the way is your star.”

Hmm. Now, these documents apparently date from 300 BCE/AD, giving a lot of Biblical scholars the opportunity to poo-poo their authenicity. After all, Judas killed himself shortly after the betrayal, right? Bible Society chief executive James Catford said,“It really would be a miracle if Judas was the author of this document, because he died at least 100 years before it was written." Well, no. It means this copy was printed then, that doesn't mean the original text is that recent. After all, the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are generally accepted to have been written long after the events they describe. What difference does it make? And really, doctrinally, what difference does this make to Christianity? I mean, I have always held the strong suspicion that if the events in the New Testament really fell out the way they're described, Jesus obviously knew who was betraying him. He calls out Judas at the Last Supper...the only clueless people at that table are the other Disciples who are pretty deep into their kosher wine at that point. So, Jesus knew who was going to turn him in to the Romans, and he didn't stop Judas from doing it. So isn't that called 'suicide by cop' nowadays? Also, wasn't it necessary for Christ to die in order for him to cleanse mankind of its sins? So, isn't Judas an integral part of that? I dunno. I can't quite believe this is a surprise to anyone. Maybe I just watched Jesus Christ Superstar too many times.


In other news, I almost got sprayed by a wild skunk in the alley behind my apartment. I think I'm going to move to Tennesee when I'm out of the Navy, not only because it's cheap and I have friends there, but because they had tornadoes today, and I miss those. I got 2 mix CD's from Hannah - and found another good band that you've never heard of called General Sherman. It
s an unfortunate name if you're from Atlanta, but their songs as near as I can tell aren't about burning the Shenandoah Valley and torching Tara. Monday I'm flying into DFW and driving into Shreveport for the week, so if you are somewhere in the I-20 corridor between Dallas and Shreveport, and want to hang out, let me know.

Oh yeah, and Annie is going to to Savannah College of Art and Design! So go here and tell her congratualtions for going to a really cool school in a very nice town. Let the Exodus from San Diego begin!

Posted by Aaron at 11:04 PM | Permalink | Comments

Just a note, that neat Flickr badge you see below my links is my latest validation at a blogger. I mean, Pretty much everyone has one of these now, so I figured what the heck. There are only 10 photos there, because I hit my max upload limit pretty quickly. Check back for more. I will try to limit the number of pictures of me in a moustache...which leaves out basically 2004 and the first half of '05.


I wish I knew what the heck I was doing with a camera. I've had more training with firearms, which doesn't get exercised nearly as often.

Posted by Aaron at 9:30 PM | Permalink | Comments