here's a COOL website

My friend Rice is almost finished making his new website, but he said we could check it out now. check out the hyperlinks.

where my ninjaz at?

thanks to everyone who came out last night to the echo. i had a great time and i hope you guys enjoyed it.

are you white? do you listen to rap? when you sing along, do you mumble the "n" word, slightly uncomfortable about saying it? here's a tip: replace it with "ninja," as in: "hey sucka ninja, whoever you are." or "jigga....my ninja....." works every time.

gen. wesley clark could beat the flight suit off bush in 2k4.

i'm currently the high bidder for a talking master p doll on ebay. you can make it say "ungh (nah na nah na)"

go redskins.

be there or be a dork



other fliers here, here, and here (this one isn't work safe). come on out and party.

van impe update

here's a story from the buffalo news that gives a bit of context to the whole bush/van impe story i was chasing last week, saying that van impe's outline of prophecy was sent in lieu of the televangelist attending a meeting of religious leaders in washington on july 14th, 2003. here's one interesting series of paragraphs:

National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormick said the White House did not ask Van Impe to make a presentation. McCormick said the meeting is one of many the White House conducts to meet with leaders in various walks of life. He denied it was held to sell evangelists on the peace plan.

However, a official for another group with strong links to evangelicals and Jewish conservatives said, "The meeting was an attempt to sell us the peace plan, and it failed."

i highlight this section because it casts doubt on the the office of the national security advisor's characterization of this meeting, and this is certainly not the first time that the official line coming out of Condi's office hasn't been exactly, or even remotely, accurate. the NSA's version of "the fight for the 16 words" is the most glaring example, of course, but this meeting, and its purpose, seems to me like something that they didn't need to hide. The Bushies were trying to get support from leaders of a group that overwhelmingly voted for them (Evangelicals) for a piece of policy (the road map for peace) that was at odds with the interests (fulfillment of biblical prophecy, in this case through a unified state of israel) of that constituant group. and they failed, it seems.

the picture of W that accompanies the article is priceless. looks like he could save a few souls himself.

a quiet moment

cem and el never cease to amaze me. good, safe travels to you both.
st. christopher smiles.

i received the master for the CD version of the recoys record today, which means that it should be in stores within 6-8 weeks if everything goes smoothly. it includes 3 songs that weren't on the vinyl: 2 recoys studio recordings (including 'Look Out the Window,' which some of you might know from the Walkmen/Calla split) and the Lil' Fighters song "The Recoys," the story of the band told from the perspective of guitarist Peter Bauer and written and sung by Walter Martin. exquisite additions, I assure you.

speaking of pete, he's more than a nascent rock god. he's also a cat breeder. he's currently looking to rid himself of four kittens and one two year old. if you're in the nyc area and want to pick up some free felines, e-mail him.

and, actually speaking of pete again (this is getting awkward), i'm tour managing the walkmen on their september west coast tour, so get your tickets now or you'll just have to read about it here.

sunday night bruce springsteen was at Dodger Stadium. the boss rules. stadium beers are expensive.

i'll mention it again: tues., Aug. 26th my friend Al and I are spinning at The Echo. the night will be free and the beers will be cheap and honestly, if you live in LA and consider youself my friend i am requiring you to go to this. i really don't ask much of you people, you know?

fade to black...

thoughts and prayers and a 3-day weekend go out to the 50 million people without power. get a cold 40 and park yourself on the stoop and thank god that it was incompetance and not terrorism that got you there.

the blackout shows you how little the bushies have done since 9-11 to prepare us for an attack. there is absolutely no reason that we should still be using 50 year old electricity infrastructure when we a) had a huge surplus a few years ago and b) are at war and under attack from terrorists seeking to disrupt our economy and lifestyle. yesterday was a big 'kick me' sign we painted on our own ass. it should not have happened, and the fact that it wasn't caused by sabatoge, the fact that this can just happen naturally, is unacceptable.

if the dems have an ounce of sense they'll pick up on yesterday and when we, on the same day, announced that al qaeda was planning more 9-11 style hijackings and that we were taking air marshalls off the flights most likely to get hijacked, and with the duct tape they had us buy tape those two events to george bush and tom ridge and the tax cuts.

infrastructure upgrades would put americans to work, stimulate the economy, and make us safer as a country, three things that the tax cuts haven't done yet.

update II: you gotta have Feith-a-faith-a-Feith

from this MSNBC report on the Van Impe/Bush question:

“My investigation into it is that there’s no truth to it,” National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack told The Scoop, “but I’m continuing to look into it.”

not quite a denial, hopefully we'll get a confirmation or denial tomorrow. anyone talked to Van Impe Ministries (248.852.2244)? I just called them, but it was past their business hours (8am-4.40 EST). I'll try tomorrow and let you know what they say.

UPDATE: I just found this previous van impe response to a similar 'question of the week,' this time mentioning the rest of the bush clan. interesting little rabbit hole we've got here.....

UPDATE II: via long story, short pier, here's the map that van impe has on his web site describing the battle of armageddon, a map likely similar to the outline of the future he claims to have sent the president.

follow up to the last post

I just called the white house press office. they wouldn't talk to me without talking to my editor first, and since I was trying to work this story freelance it was no go. but they have someone commenting on it. someone with an editor, make it happen:

white house press office: 202 456 2673.

and the fact that they're "commenting," not "denying," makes me think there's something to this. but who knows...

no need to worry, folks

now, i know people are getting pretty worked up about what's happening in asia minor/the middle east these days, but they're getting excited over nothing. our president knows "exactly what is going to happen in the Middle East and what part he will have under the leading of the Holy Spirit of God." sound incredible? per Condi Rice's request, W now has in his hands an outline of the future of the middle east, and his role in it, prepared by our friend jack van impe.*

now I've only been born once, but I've heard about the beliefs of the double-birthed christians with respect to the middle east, the apocalypse, and the second coming, mainly through discussions of the left behind series of novels. now i've got no problem with the rapture, where all the twice-birthed disappear into heaven. they'll be happy, it'll be less messy for the rest of us than heaven gate, and maybe we could finally start showing tits on network tv and buy FHM at wall-mart. the one part that gives me pause is where apparently all the jewish people in the world are either killed or converted into christians. now we all know that ashcrost believes in witches and demons, but, you know, whoa....

for bonus points, research the history of western powers using foreign policy as a tool to hasten armageddon. it's not quite as rare as you would think.

*UPDATE 8/13: link changed to google's cache of the relevant web page, as jack van impe ministries seems to have taken down the original.

swimmin in women like a water ballet instructor

i'm spinning @the echo tues. august 26th. mark your calendar.

while i won't be on the ballot for governor, I will be accepting, and expecting, your write-in votes. together we can take this state forward.

we're looking for "write-in"terns at campaign HQ. please e-mail a photo & resume if you're interested in this one-evening-a-week position.

it's hot as hell out here.