President Huckabee?

I'm a liberal. I listen to a lot of conservative and Christian talk radio. I figure why should I listen to liberal talk radio. I already know what they're saying. I figure I should listen to the other side so that I can get a better understanding of what they're saying. I was listening to Sean Hannity (what a moron) interview Mike Huckabee. The interview focused on the recent flap over the release of convicted rapist/murderer Wayne Dumond. You can read more about that story here
I'm sure there are two sides to the story. There always are. Lots of spin on both sides. Since Huckabee has become a serious contender for the Republican nomination, there will be a lot of dirt being dug up. There has been a lot of focus on Huckabee and his religious beliefs. He was the youngest ever head of the Arkansas State Baptist Convention and produced video Bible lessons with his friend Pastor Jay D Cole. His Baptist background and beliefs were not mentioned in the Hannity (what a moron) interview, but he makes no bones about the role his religion plays in his personal and political life. The part of the interview that really caught my attention was when Huckabee was talking about how the Dumond incident would be spun by his opponents as him being soft on crime. His response was that he presided over more executions than any governor in the history of Arkansas. Wow. As everyone knows, executions really lower the crime rate. He also stated that he had increased the prison population in Arkansas by something like 40%. That certainly qualifies him to be president. When I got home I thought I would see what Jesus had to say about executions and incarceration so I got out my bible that has what Jesus said highlighted in red. It's really funny, I couldn't find a single thing relating to executing criminals or increasing the prison population. Maybe I missed it. I don't know, maybe I have the wrong idea of what a Christian really is. I thought it had to do with helping the poor, healing the sick and caring for those less fortunate, that sort of thing. There were alot of references to those kinds of things in red. Maybe I should look a little more closely since most politicians that say they're Christians say the same kinds of things that Huckabee says. I wonder why he chose to release Dumond? Maybe it was an act of Christian charity. After all, Dumond claimed he was "born again" after spending alot of time in prison reading the bible and praying with Pastor Cole.

Italians and their food

Every great culture will tell you that their cuisine is the best. Gourmands will tell you that classical French cooking reigns supreme. It is what most "Fine Dining" restaurants base their dishes on. Chinese, real Chinese, not the typical overcooked, greasy Chow Mien found in most Chinese restaurants, Italian, Thai, Spanish, Indian and various other cuisines can make their case as well. People from those cultures will tell you their food is the best. It's what they grew up eating and what they are the most familiar with. I grew up eating Italian food. I won't tell you it is the best cuisine in the world, since you may have grown up eating other types of food, but I will tell you that Italians celebrate great food more than any other culture I know. A great meal is almost a religious experience. Friends and family gather to eat, drink, talk and argue, but the focus is always on the food. There's always too much. Maybe we fear we'll run out of food tomorrow, or someone will waste away. Great food and lots of it is a sign of prosperity even if we're not really well off. During the Depression, my Grandmother would feed her family and half the neighborhood great meals (always more than enough for everyone) even though they were no better off than any one else and worse off than most. Whenever my family gets together, no matter how many their are, we always wind up congregating in the kitchen, no matter how small the kitchen may be. We talk about what is being cooked at the moment and what we're going to have for the next meal, or some great dish we had recently, or some great dish we want to try. It's not an obsession. Nobody in my family is overweight or has an eating disorder. It's just an appreciation for one of life's great pleasures. Oh. The picture above is a seafood cous cous my wife had on the last night of our most recent trip to Sicily. As in most Italian dishes, it was made with ingredients caught or harvested that day, prepared simply, served with great pride, and proportioned to feed a family of four.

Beautiful Bass (not the fish)

I've been a bassist for 40 years. I've played with some really fine musicians and consider myself pretty good. I've played bass in most styles of music that use a bass. Everything from classical to country. I'm a decent soloist, but it is definitely not my strong suit. Ive seen people like Victor Wooten and Steve Bailey solo with the whatever ensembles they are playing with and been blown away. In the last few years there has been a growing number of solo bassists. They perform on stage as soloists with no backup. They play on everything from 4 to 12 (and more) string basses. There is a fairly large community of them. I've heard quite a few but I haven't heard anyone better than Jeff Schmidt. I found him on the internet while searching for websites where I could put my own music for download. There was no information on him at that particular website, just his music. At first I thought he was playing guitar in some sort of different tuning. I found his home website after a Google search. That's when I found out he is a bassist. Wow. My first thought? "I'm never playing the bass again." I listened and watched his video clips for perhaps an hour. I literally had tears in my eyes and chills down my spine. This guy is brilliant, a true master of his instrument. I watched him do things with a bass that I never would have thought of. He plays left handed and upside down. Jimi Hendrix played his guitar the same way. Solo bassists remain fairly obscure. It may not be the kind of music you are interested in, but you really should check out Jeffs website to see someone who has spent a huge amount of his life in mastering his art.

I am continually amazed by how many great musicians there are to be discovered on the internet.