Sara Talks Openly About Obama Vs. Romney 2012

I asked Sara to tell me her opinion about the upcoming election.  I didn't coach her or tell her what to say.  This is what she said.  I thought it was kinda funny.

Video: The Australian Pink Floyd at ACL Live

Here is some video I shot on my new iPhone of the Australian Pink Floyd doing the Floyd classic, "Comfortably Numb." You can decide for yourself if you think they captured the Floyd sound or not.

ACL Live: The Australian Pink Floyd

October is a pretty big month for music fans in Austin, as the Austin City Limits Music Festival takes place next weekend (October 12-14).  I'll be attending once again, as the lineup this year is quite a bit better than last year.  This years headliners feature The Black Keys, Neil Young, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Before the ACL Festival, however, there was Austin City Limits Live.  This is a show that has been broadcast on PBS stations since 1976, and is pretty famous here in Austin.  If you get to see a live taping, you can see some pretty famous bands (sometimes) performing in a very small venue.

Last night Christy and I saw our first ACL Live show, featuring the most famous of all the Pink Floyd cover bands out there: The Australian Pink Floyd.

The Australian Pink Floyd has been around for a very long time, gaining a pretty solid reputation as the best re-creation of a Pink Floyd concert (circa the '87 and '94 tours).

The show started off well.  "In the Flesh?" opened the evening, but since the Roger Waters production of "The Wall" was still fresh in my mind, I couldn't help but compare the two, and obviously it's better to see the real thing.  Then they segued into songs from the David Gilmour-led Pink Floyd, with "Take It Back," "Sorrow", and "What Do You Want From Me?"  They did a very good job with these later songs.  The highlights for me, however, were the two songs that the actual band didn't even sing on.  "One of These Days" sounded almost identical to the PF version from "Pulse."  "The Great Gig in the Sky," performed by their three backup singers, was also quite excellent.

It would have been a pretty good evening, if it weren't for the smoke alarm that went off during the group's first set.  After about 5 songs in, the house lights came up and the music was abruptly halted.  The band quickly left the stage, and we were never told what happened.  Only later did I find out that the smoke alarm was accidentally triggered.  Any momentum the band was gaining was quickly lost due to this "What the hell just happened?" moment.  I should point out that, even though the smoke alarm went off, the audience was never told about it, or asked to leave the venue.

Christy enjoyed the show and said it made her appreciate the original band more.  But she still insisted that "a clone is still a clone."  I think The Australian Pink Floyd serves a niche.  Pink Floyd hasn't toured since 1994, and there's an entire new generation of Floyd fans who wish they could have seen them.  Barring an unlikely reunion, this is probably the best they're going to get.

Ramblings #18 : Birthdays, iPhones, and Romney (again)

"There are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what.  All right, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.  My job is not to worry about those people.  I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
  -Mitt Romney, 2012

I have to wonder sometimes, if Mitt is purposely trying to sabotage his chances as president.  Does this guy really think that nearly HALF of the country sees themselves as a victim?  That doesn't take personal responsibility and care for their lives?  Sorry to inform you Mitt, but I'm one of those 47% who supports Obama, and I'm not dependent on government for anything, nor have I ever received any handouts.  I buy my own food, pay my own mortgage, pay for my own healthcare, and I take responsibility for everything I do.  This is really insulting.  Basically he's calling half the country a bunch of lazy freeloaders with their hands out.  Yes, those people do exist, but 47%???

My support for Obama has nothing to do with wanting free stuff.  It's very simple, actually.  I prefer the policies of the Democratic platform more than I do the Republican one.  I agree with the Republicans on some issues, but I agree with the Democrats on more issues.  That's all there is to it.

As it gets closer to November, people are getting more and more heated about the election.  I try to talk as little about it as possible.  I have Facebook friends who are staunch supporters of Romney, and when I read their anti-Obama rants, all I can really do is cringe a little, and ignore it.  I can't debate or argue with them because it leads nowhere, and it will most likely end our friendship (not that I'm close friends with most of those Facebook people anyway).  I don't really know anyone who is on the fence about this election.  Everyone seems to be very pro-Romney or very pro-Obama.  People talk like it's going to be the end of the world if Romney or Obama win.  It's not.  Life will go in.  I've already told my wife that the only difference we're likely to see if Romney wins is owing more taxes.  So...we'll just have to prepare for that.
====================================================================

 I celebrated my 42nd birthday earlier this month.  My birthday fell on Labor Day this year, so I had to work.  It was probably the most un-fun birthday I've had in quite a while.  For those who are new to this blog, I work at a hospital, and on this particular shift, I had the unique experience of trying to talk to someone who was already dead.  I've never actually experienced a death at work before.  Odd, considering I work at a hospital.  I had heard stories about deaths constantly, but this was the first time for me...and on my birthday!

Later, after the melancholy of the days events had passed, Christy and I went to Wal Mart to buy the iPhone 4s, which they currently had on sale for $148 (with a 2 year contract, of course).

I've never actually owned a smartphone before.  I hung on to my crappy little flipper cell-phone for years while the smart phone dominated the market.  I always seem to be last in line for the latest technology, and by then something better has come out (in this case, it's the iPhone 5, which was just released.)

But...I really love this iPhone, particularly the talking assistant, "Siri."  The first day I had the phone, I spent hours asking Siri all kinds of random questions, and she had some pretty good answers.  But I got over that pretty quick.

I gotta give credit to Apple for making some really cool and easy to use products.  I can imagine sometime in the future we're going to see houses (iHouse?) created by Apple, where all you have to do is speak to Siri (or HAL?) to do things for you.
Siri....start the oven.
Siri....turn on the shower.
Siri...flush the toilet.
Siri...open the living room window.

Etc. etc.  Imagine an entire house jacked in to Apple.  Hell, this kind of house probably already exists somewhere.

So will I be waiting in line for hours (or days) to buy the iPhone 5?  Hell no!  Get a life, people.

Video - US Citizenship Ceremony

This is the video I took this afternoon of Christy's citizenship oath in San Antonio.  The video runs about 3 minutes long.  It wouldn't be that interesting if it wasn't for the wacko shouting after the country "Sudan" was read.  Listen carefully and you can hear Taiwan right after.

First Day of School

Today was the first day back to school for the kids.  Just as I thought, Sara was excited to be going back.  She loves school, and I can easily see her becoming a school nerd in the future.  Kyle, on the other hand, was a bit scared.  This was his first day ever at school, having skipped Pre-K and spending most of his time at home with me.  I have to say, I think I was more excited for him than he was.  Now I'll finally have some peace in the mornings.

Why Mitt Romney Will (and Should) Lose in November

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."  - Franklin D. Roosevelt

I saw this quote on the FDR memorial in Washington D.C. last month, and those words really resonated with me.  I took a picture of it, which you can see on my blog from last month.

It seems like never have those words meant so much as they do now, as we have a man running for president who wants to raise taxes on about 95% of Americans to fund a tax cut for the remaining 5%.  For me personally, using the Romney "tax calculator" found online, I'll be paying approximately $641 more under Romney.  Now, using the same calculator, once my annual income hits $200,000, suddenly I'm saving $4,016.  Under Romney, it literally pays to be rich.

I don't particularly mind paying more in taxes, if those taxes were going to something like...say...universal health care for all, or building high speed trains, or making college more affordable for everyone.  But...it seems my tax increase is going to fund their tax decrease.  It's like Robin Hood in reverse.  It's not fair.

The right will respond: But 47% of Americans pay no taxes at all!  They pay nothing, and they even get a big refund!

Well...yeah, but those 47% are POOR.  Is it so wrong for the poor to not have a tax burden?  I guess I must be poor too, because I don't pay any taxes either (mainly because I have two kids, and their tax credit eats away most of the taxes we owe), but I don't get any big refund.  I haven't received a big refund since we got the "New Homebuyers Credit" a few years ago.  I don't get the "Earned Income Credit" like the very poor get, but I do get the "Child Tax Deduction" and the "Mortgage Interest Deduction", which would both be on the chopping block under Romney.

So...whether I think Obama is doing a good job or not, I have to vote for what's in my best interest, and the candidate that is most likely to hurt me in the pocketbook will be Romney, hands down.

Okay...so you're probably saying "Well, you were going to vote for Obama anyway!"  Well..true...but here's a little story.  About ten years ago in California, Gray Davis (a democrat) was running against Arnold Schwarzenegger (republican) for Governor.  The economy was in terrible shape at the time (and still is).  Gray Davis was planning to raise the "Vehicle Registration Fee" at the DMV to an outrageous fee, something like $600 for my car alone.  Arnold promised he wouldn't do that, and he would revert the fee back to it's original rate (which was less than $100).  On that one issue alone, I voted for Arnold.  I didn't want to pay freakin' six hundred dollars!  Maybe he screwed the state up in the long run, I don't know.  I left California shortly after that and never went back.  So..the point is, I'll occasionally vote against my own party if I feel it's in my best interest.

My initial feelings about Romney weren't as bad as they are now.  As I've gotten to know more and more about him, the more I dislike and distrust him.  He's the epitome of the snake oil salesman.  The issue with his taxes isn't helping that image either.  The right hounded Obama like crazy for his birth certificate, which he eventually released.  Now Romney is getting hounded for his tax returns for the past ten years, which the guy refuses to release.  Not that he he's required to, but he should do it just to shut up the democrats.  But, I doubt he will.  John McCain saw 23 years of Romney's tax returns when he was vetting him for the VP position in 2008.  He didn't like what he saw, and went with Sarah Palin instead.  That should tell you something.  Either it's true that he paid no taxes during those ten years, or there's something else that is equally bad.

I've predicted (more than once), that Obama will likely win in November.  Even the media is saying it will be a landslide victory for Obama.  I hope it turns out to be true.  My bank account just can't afford a Romney victory.