AliThinks

Moar* Music

I know I've talked quite a bit about music here recently, but that's because it's going on. Tuesday night we saw the Wailers; tonight we're seeing the Asylum Street Spankers (a band I'd never heard of until a month ago). Last night we could have seen the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, but we stayed in.

There's so much live music in Lexington, it's just amazing. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to see so many great bands. And the local music scene is just as incredible.

And that's my little quickie post for today. Time to eat dinner and get ready to go. W00t!

*apologies to I Can Has Cheezburger.

One Drawback

...to NaBloPoMo is that you have to write a blog entry every day.

"Duh, Alison," you're saying. "That's the point."

It is the point, and there have been a couple of slacker days where I've ruined posted three lines. And here it is, 9 pm, and I haven't written today's blog entry yet. It's Veterans' Day, and I haven't mentioned that fact anywhere, although many have. A Facebook friend wrote this, and I couldn't agree more:

a sincere thank you to all the veterans of our military as well as the currently active. however, in my heart of hearts, i wish "we" could evolve far enough to never need your service in the first place.

Here's to the those men and women who've fought for our country. Thank you.

And today Lexington lost a landmark, "Shoeshine." He was a downtown fixture, and he died of a heart attack this afternoon. Here's to Shoeshine. Rest In Peace.

Ob-la-di, ob-la-da and all that. Our flawed, cracked, beautiful lives go on. Here's to them.

Score!

Allan won two tickets to see the Wailers tonight. A perfect ending to a pretty darn good day.

White Trash Nation

The other day we were driving behind a huge pickup truck, a Ford F-350 —I think— in any case, it was so large it needed a double set of back tires. A pair of shiny silver testicles dangled from the hitch.

And I just sighed and thought it was an example of the worst and the best in this country. It's the worst because, just, eww. Nobody wants to see that, not even a shiny metal caricature of it. It's the best because some guy (it had to be a guy) had an idea and was able to see it through to actual sales. GO, AMERICA!

Allan (who gets props for the title of this post) could see the driver from his vantage point. He had a mullet.

So, you wanna see the photo or not? Because you know I took one.

Edit: The yeas have it. All three four of them. Photos after the jump.

Angry

So last night history was made when the House of Representatives passed a Health Care Reform bill, 220-215.

Not to get all über-feminist on you, but it is truly HIStory. In this health care bill, women get the shaft. Pun intended. Let's all bend over, ladies.

I'd be elated that we are on the way to health care reform in this country if it weren't for a little thing called the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, which will make it illegal for even private insurers to cover abortion costs. Planned Parenthood has a great explanation:

The Stupak/Pitts amendment violates the spirit of health care reform, which is meant to guarantee quality, affordable health care coverage for all. In fact, this amendment would create a two-tiered system that would punish women, particularly those with low and middle incomes, the very people this bill is intended to assist. The majority of private health insurance plans currently offer abortion coverage, and the Stupak/Pitts amendment would result in the elimination of private abortion coverage in the ‘exchange,’ the new insurance market created under health care reform, as well as in the public option, if one is created.

I'm angry, because although I'm lucky enough to be able to afford birth control (and an abortion, if I ever needed one), this amendment means that so many other women will not have access to such care.

Abortion is a legal procedure that has helped millions of women stay on course with the lives they want to lead. Nobody wants to have an abortion. But sometimes the condom breaks. Your antibiotic interferes with your Pill. Or, worse, you're the victim of rape and you get pregnant. 

It's unconscionable that health care coverage for a legal procedure is being tampered with, especially on the private level. (There's been no public funding for abortions, except in certain cases, since 1977.) 

This post is not meant to spark a moral debate on abortion. I am firmly pro-choice; I always have been and I always will be. If you think abortion is wrong, that's your prerogative. But as it's a legal (yes, I said it again. LEGAL.) medical procedure in this country, the debate needs to lie with whether the government has any right to legislate the private insurers' coverage of it.

I know, how ironic. I'm rooting for the private insurers on this one, but only because I'm rooting for women and their rights. And the Stupak-Pitt amendment relegates us to second-class citizen status.

Trippy

Another thing we have in Lexington is a most excellent music blogger whose name is Matt. His blog, You Ain't No Picasso, is full of info, videos, mp3s, and the like. Today he posted this video for Grizzly Bear's song "Ready, Able," stating

...this video is a really draining ordeal. Why? Well, there’s something emotionally taxing about watching a lot of scary acid-nightmare monsters slowly melt and reform, soundtracked by Grizzly Bear’s already-dramatic song.

Well, I kind of like the scary acid-nightmare monsters. But then I'm a sucker for claymation and stop-motion. I like the song, too. In a related note, just two days ago I read in a forum that the Grizzly Bears' album was the best of 2009. (Me? I thought it was The Decemberists' Hazards of Love.) I'd never even heard of The Grizzly Bears, and here are two references in three days. 

Check out the video and tell me if you think it's scary or way cool.

I Need To Invest In A Good Set Of Earplugs

There's no shortage of live music in Lexington. Local, regional, national, and even international (I'm looking at you, Os Mutantes) acts have their place here.

We just got back from seeing Ekoostik Hookah, and WOW. One of my big brothers is a huge fan, and I can see why. Fun stuff. For a jam band, they rock out. (Because, um, when I think "jam band," I think "Grateful Dead," and WE MISS YOU, JERRY!)

My point is that I am so glad there's a lively music scene here. It feeds my soul.

There's more I could write, but my ears are ringing and I just need to sit. And yeah, I'm totally backdating this entry. It's 2 am on Saturday.

Could It Be?

...that things are changing round here?

Lexington is getting another roundabout. There are two I know of, a dinky, stupid one on Reynolds Road, and a new one out at the Horse Park. I've long said that this city needs more roundabouts. And if you live in Lexington, you know how STUPID the traffic is here. Putting a roundabout at certain intersections would help the flow of traffic.

It's true that a roundabout takes some getting used to, but really, the concept is quite simple: Yield to those in the roundabout. If you are turning right or going straight, stay in the outside lane. If you are turning left, get in the inside lane of the roundabout. USE YOUR TURN SIGNAL.

It's true that I became adept at navigating roundabouts in France. This past spring I heard that my département, la Charente-Maritime, was a pilot département for roundabouts, so we have more than the rest of the country. I haven't verified this. In any case, I love them. LOVE. 

So it's good news to me that we are getting another roundabout. I may have to head over to that part of town, just to drive on it.

How do you feel about roundabouts?

More info:

Roundabout Safety and the Modern Roundabout

Alaska's Roundabout Website (chock full of information!)

Photos of Roundabouts

Edit: Mama really needs to edit before she hits Publish.

On Health Care

Several weeks ago, in a comment to a ranty post about SUVs, a reader (Salut, Jean!) challenged me to write about the health care issue from the point of view of someone who's experienced a different system. 

Here, then, is How I See It:

• Health care should not be a privilege that only some can afford.
• Barack Obama is not a Marxist, or even a Socialist.
• I'm willing to pay taxes for roads, schools, police and fire protection, and libraries. I'm also willing to pay taxes for health insurance.
• My French example for Americans: I gave birth to two children over there. They were normal births, yet I stayed in the maternity ward for five days each time. The only charge was for the telephone line (I didn't have a cell phone at the time). Why such a long stay? To make sure both the babies and I were healthy. Preventive care, it's sometimes called.
• I had 200 € ($295) withheld from my last French paycheck for health care costs. 150 went into the national pool, 50 went to my mutuelle, or complementary insurance. That's a lot of money, but I never worried about what would happen to me financially if I had an accident or got really ill. Oh, and that was a monthly paycheck.
• We're all in this together.
• Healthy citizens make for a healthy country.
• If there is no public option in this health care reform, then it's not reform.
• Medicare and the VA system are socialist ideas that (mostly) work for different sections of the population. We need a system for everybody.

There's more, of course, but that's just a short list of top-of-my-head thoughts. I read a great blog entry by comic strip author Dan Piraro yesterday, and I encourage you to read it too. Here's a select quote: 

People opposing health care are afraid the government will control their lives. Right now, huge corporations control our lives by controlling our health care and virtually every other aspect of our lives. At least I can vote against a government. I have no recourse against CEOs.

I encourage you to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments. I'd love for some of my American bloggers in France to pipe up. If you disagree with me, pipe up. Oh, and I will answer comments with comments, rather than a personal email.

Testing

A few commenters said they'd love to see the marching band in action, and I'm going to try something which may not work. Most of the videos folks take of us end up on Facecrackbook, so here's a link to some of them. Let me know if you are able to view them (and if you have an FB account or not).

My theory is you won't be able to view them, but I want to be sure. And as I don't want to exclude those who don't have a Facebook account, I'll find videos of us on other websites like YouTube and Vimeo.

Quiet Night

The house is quiet tonight. We're sitting silently, companionably. There's not much to say tonight; the house is quiet.

Here I Go

OK. I'm going to try NaBloPoMo again. If anything, it will be a good exercise in writing and self-discipline, right?

I've been rather silent here about personal things, but if we are friends on Facebook, you'll know that Allan and I have a pretty rich social life. I suppose one could blame Facebook on what seems to be an across-the-board lassitude with blogging. I'm not the only blogger who's cut way down on posting. To some degree I suppose it's true: Facebook has a more immediate feel to it, plus, you can really control who sees what you post there. 

In any case, let me write a bit about an activity (and a big part of that rich social life I mentioned) that's held me captive (in a good way) for the past 8 months. I'm in a marching band. I play the flute.

This is not just fanfares and John Philip Sousa. This is funked up music performed by some of the most creative people I've ever met. We play music written by Quincy Jones, James Brown, Squirrel Nut Zippers, and Edgar Winter, among others. We have a troupe of dancers called hoop girls, who accompany us with joy, grace, and beauty.

We've been noticed, too. We were asked to play at Louisville's Forecastle Festival this past summer, and last night we held the attention of 1000 people who were at Buster's to see Man Man.

But this isn't just about patting the collective group on the back. (Although, seriously, people? We. Are. Awesome.) It's about how much pleasure I get from playing music again, performing for people, seeing their reactions to the marching band (which really ought to have air quotes around the "marching" part; we strut and mosey and dance), and feeling the creativity and love pouring out of my fellow band mates. 

It's hard to find the words to express all my feelings about the March Madness Marching Band. I'm out of practice with writing, and feel I'll fail if I even try to explain. And while it might sound hyperbolic, I'm pretty sure this is one of the best things that's ever happened to me.

I'm Thinkin' About It

Nablopomo. That's National Blog Posting Month, in case you're not a blogger, or you're a blogger who lives under a rock.

It's a great concept. Post a blog entry every day. I used to do that, almost. These days? Not so much, obviously.

I'm not sure I'm ready to commit. On the other hand, it's great to complete a project. And my writing muscle could use a little exercise. 

Anyway, I'm just throwing that out there.

An Open Letter

Dear Lady In The SUV Trying To Pull In The Parking Lot Which I Was Leaving,

Perhaps if you had had both hands on your steering wheel, instead of one on the wheel and the other on your cell phone, you would have been able to make your turn without waiting for me to pull out. Really, I wasn't in the middle of the parking lot entrance. I wasn't blocking you in my little Honda Civic. And I took a risk leaving the parking lot when I did, because it was hard for me to see around your large vehicle.

Next time, SUV Lady, hang up your damn phone and just drive. 

Sincerely,

Alison

EDIT: I don't have anything against SUVs per se. I realize they can be useful automobiles. I just can't see around or through them!

I Want To Be A Part Of It

Sometimes I write little blurbs in my head, things I think I should post here, but either the moment passes or I forget the phrasing I'd come up with.

Such is the case now. We just got home from a week in New York City, and I'd come up with a clever way to mention it here. Except I forgot. I know it had something to do with food. And walking. And [insert gushing words about New York City here].

I keep a little notebook with me, not that I remember to use it. Because I really need to write this stuff down.

Anyway, um, hi. *blows away the cobwebs*