#46: Avoid the crazy, enjoy the good, and chill.

[claytonic]

I don't think some people fully understand what the term 'liberal' represents. For me, it's about acceptance, it's about inclusion.... that everyone counts, and those who are least able to have a voice (members of 'minority' groups) are the ones who need inclusion in a special way. We will never be equal, but a true liberal seeks to bring about equality in terms of human dignity.

Liberals, however, have a reputation for being "do-gooders" without the economic priorities that the conservatives hold dear.

Ideally, a conservative head with a liberal heart would be the 'perfect' politician. But can the left and right ever meet in the middle?

[Couch Tomato]

I'll pitch in and play the triangle in Clay's band for the tour. It will be needed to announce the glory notes.

OK this cracks me up. The FCA band.

duckyvee - triangle

Bottlecap -cowbells

ok what else we got. Gibby of course will be our conductor.

[merrieeee]

Band Instruments.......Hee I'll go for the Theremin!!!

[claylove]

I don't play any musical instruments and you don't want me to sing.... can I be Clay's stylist? hee

[Gibby]

Regarding the word "liberal" -- it was re-branded as a negative term by its opposition, and makes no sense because our Founding Fathers were extreme liberals, and were opposed by converservatives / Tories / Loyalists / monarchists. What's more liberal than a revolution and a declaration of the rights of man! Liberal was redefined by a group led by William F. Buckley in the 1950's to mean anything the conservatives deem "anti-American" or "anti-God." It was a ploy and sadly was believed by people who really don't know America's history as a progressive people. So sad, and through the looking glass! It was a bad joke that liberals laughed at, and shouldn't have. The root word is Liberty. Okay, I'm done. Wait a minute, one more thing .... Jesus was a liberal and the Pharisees and Sadducees were conservative. Okay, now I am done.

Excellent post! It's so true. :clap:

I'll pitch in and play the triangle in Clay's band for the tour. It will be needed to announce the glory notes.

OK this cracks me up. The FCA band.

duckyvee - triangle

Bottlecap -cowbells

ok what else we got. Gibby of course will be our conductor.

Conductor? Cowbells? A theremin? Erm,, yikes! Maybe Caro should conduct, and I'll play keyboards!

[KAndre]

FCA band?

I'll be the groupie!

[Couch Tomato]

FCA band?

I'll be the groupie!

LOL..of course you will. And something tells me it won't be the FCA saxophone player that you'll be chasin' hee.

We got any backup singers around here...of course to be a clay back up singer it takes more than a good voice..you have to have a quick brain to be able to sling any zingers right back at him when he uses you for cheap laughs

[ldyjocelyn]

We got any backup singers around here...of course to be a clay back up singer it takes more than a good voice..you have to have a quick brain to be able to sling any zingers right back at him when he uses you for cheap laughs

I'm in, just for the sake of I like the idea of grinding with Clay. *g*

And if you won't let me sing, I'll play handbells.

[Gibby]

Heh - I sing backup from the piano, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to come up with zingers when I'm already multitasking!

[Couch Tomato]

more importantly..if you are part of the band, what does Clay need to include in his tour "rider" to keep you happy and satisfied and I'm a little scared that I just wrote that. LOL.

[KAndre]

My rider is short and sweet:

a fully charged Segway to be at my disposal 24/7.

[Couch Tomato]

My rider is short and sweet:

a fully charged Segway to be at my disposal 24/7.

of course I had to look that up...

jazzgirl, nice to see you!!

[Bella19]

Band member? You can take all the musical instruments you like - I wanna be his dresser!

[ausdon]

I'll pitch in and play the triangle in Clay's band for the tour. It will be needed to announce the glory notes.

OK this cracks me up. The FCA band.

duckyvee - triangle

Bottlecap -cowbells

ok what else we got. Gibby of course will be our conductor.

Put me down for the paper & comb!

[keepingfaith]

I heard an interesting discussion on BBC World News this morning forecasting popular music trends in 2009. Apparently it's all about reviving the music of the 60's British female soul singers a la Cilla and Dusty, the 70's Glam-Dram of Elton, Freddie and friends, and 80's techno-pop. The commentator says there is no looking forward to breaking new ground in pop because "it's all been done better than it's being done now." So, we should be hearing lots of covers -- reworked classics and the resurrection of overlooked songs that shoulda/coulda been classics.

Now, only ONE more thing about economics .... the old paradigms are dead, ding dong. Milton Friedmanism -- totally discredited (ask Iceland). Unfettered, unregulated, full-tilt capitalism -- dead in the dirt. Keynesian economics -- dusted off and back on the shelf. The WTO, the IFM -- teetering on the brink of collapse. Does anyone else find it interesting that people get up in arms at the thought of the US ceding sovereignty to a world body such as the UN, in the pursuit of cessation of war and hostilities and killing innocent people, but embrace it and fully genuflect to giving it up to the WTO, which is just about cash in the right pockets. I mean, really. It's always been a puzzlement to me. The bottom line is that liberal economic theory is based on the greater good, a social contract between people and government and that we're only as strong as our weakest ... and conservative economics are based on radical Darwinism: laissez-faire survival of the fittest and the weak don't really exist in the equation. It's interesting to watch the traversing of the lines during economic downturns. I remember back when I was a bitty-girl and my grandfather told me that while there were liberal and conservative wings in both major parties, there was a movement for the parties to become purely conservative or liberal and that, when that happened, it would be horrible for the country and would not stand but be a difficult recovery. I've never forgotten it. Anyway, the old head/heart thing .... I always thought it made the best sense to be inclusive, fair, and extend justice to all. That's just smart thinking, IMO.

In the band -- I've got drums!

[gbmifan]

Well, if we are talking being part of the band, give me the tamborine. I cannot read music, play an instrument, and can not carry a note thus can not be a backup singer thats is all I can do. I know now I should of taken piano lessons or something as a child instead I took 17 years of dance. When people would say to me why did I not go on and try to be a Rocket I would look at them and say,"ever see a 5 ft Rocket, I do not think so."

[FearofH2O]

Does he need a triangle? If not I might be able to play a harmonica. Of course I can't read music or stay on key.

My rider would be for lots of snacks and a membership in weight watchers as well as gym equipment.

I remember back when I was a bitty-girl and my grandfather told me that while there were liberal and conservative wings in both major parties, there was a movement for the parties to become purely conservative or liberal and that, when that happened, it would be horrible for the country and would not stand but be a difficult recovery. I've never forgotten it. Anyway, the old head/heart thing .... I always thought it made the best sense to be inclusive, fair, and extend justice to all. That's just smart thinking, IMO.

Well unfortunately Democrat or even Independent have become the synonyms for Liberal and I've been called that many times. Putting ones self in another's shoes is definitely a good way to look at things but it's rarely done, unfortunately.

[Lotus]

jmh123 May I share this date with you? It's my birthday and yes I would forgo Mother's Day to see him in concert.

I don't play any musical instruments and you don't want me to sing.... can I be Clay's stylist? hee

Likewise...not musical. I will volunteer to be his dresser and I'm sure I could learn over the course of the tour to dress him quickly.

Regarding the word "liberal" -- it was re-branded as a negative term by its opposition, and makes no sense because our Founding Fathers were extreme liberals, and were opposed by converservatives / Tories / Loyalists / monarchists. What's more liberal than a revolution and a declaration of the rights of man! Liberal was redefined by a group led by William F. Buckley in the 1950's to mean anything the conservatives deem "anti-American" or "anti-God." It was a ploy and sadly was believed by people who really don't know America's history as a progressive people. So sad, and through the looking glass! It was a bad joke that liberals laughed at, and shouldn't have. The root word is Liberty. Okay, I'm done. Wait a minute, one more thing .... Jesus was a liberal and the Pharisees and Sadducees were conservative. Okay, now I am done.

Excellent post! It's so true. :clap:

After the US election of 2004 I read that in the United States the number of people who identified themselves as liberal is greater than the entire population of Canada, now at 33,212,696.

My rider is short and sweet:

a fully charged Segway to be at my disposal 24/7.

I saw people on the Capitol building grounds in Austin taking a tour on Segways and thought what a fun way to get around.

[smittenwithclay]

what about a kazoo? that doesnt take much skill lol

[jmh123]

jmh123 May I share this date with you? It's my birthday and yes I would forgo Mother's Day to see him in concert.

Absolutely!

[tribeca]

I heard an interesting discussion on BBC World News this morning forecasting popular music trends in 2009. Apparently it's all about reviving the music of the 60's British female soul singers a la Cilla and Dusty, the 70's Glam-Dram of Elton, Freddie and friends, and 80's techno-pop. The commentator says there is no looking forward to breaking new ground in pop because "it's all been done better than it's being done now." So, we should be hearing lots of covers -- reworked classics and the resurrection of overlooked songs that shoulda/coulda been classics.

In the band -- I've got drums!

That's pretty sad. You would think that there would be more creative people in music. I am tired of hearing the same songs over & over & over again on the radio. Now I am going to hear the same songs on the oldie stations and the new stations?

I use to really love all types of music (except rap even though I tried to like it) but I really like to hear new stuff more than repeating the same old stuff over again.

[jmh123]

On the topic of liberalism, there's also the liberal arts education, which is intended to broaden people's minds and make them well-rounded intellectually and socially. It doesn't necessarily mean that you'll end up a political liberal, and that isn't the intention, but it often does make people more liberal politically than they were (or their parents were). Lot of whining these days from ardent conservatives about liberal bias on campus, and from some parents who want students' college degrees to be practical and oriented directedly towards the job market (usually business), instead of wasting time with all that unnecessary liberal arts stuff.

Great essay here from the President of Wesleyan College: What's a Liberal Arts Education Good For?

[tribeca]

Tribeca, although NC is conservative in voting, I haven't found anymore anti-gay or racist people here than I did when living in NJ. Many of my friends are very religious but accept the gay members of their families and/or co-workers as equals. So I'm not sure that Clay saw things any differently than if he had lived in NY. I have lived in NC since before Clay was born and in a smaller town. Being a liberal was probably the worst thing I could have been and was.

When I worked in NYC, in a large CPA firm, I witnessed the ignoring and laughing behind his back of a young gay male co-worker. We shared a love of opera and since I was the only female on the staff I knew what it was like to be left out of a lot of things. When we got our first black staff member, he and I were assigned to the same jobs since we were both different and they didn't want to lose any clients. There are a lot of different prejudices and the one that directly affected me was that women were not equal to men.

Just ignore my reminiscing, I'm getting older.

sorry I mispoke about NC I guess I was assume things I shouldn't. I live in CT which is considered liberal and I don't find it that liberal at all.

I just thought it would be an interesting book. I don't think it will ever really be written but if it was I would read it.

Does Clay need any backup dancers?

[Gibby]

Couchie, you want info about riders??? Heh - I can certainly think of some riding that would be fun!

[cha cha trusty]

My rider is short and sweet:

a fully charged Segway to be at my disposal 24/7.

SEGWAY!!! Thanks KAndre! I've been trying to think of that word for DAYS!!!

Ever since someone was trying to describe one over the weekend using hand gestures!!

~~~~

OK - I'll sing back up - I wanna be on the grinding side! I'll play a little tamborine with that. :pickme:

"Hear the beat from the tambori-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-ne" tm Mamma Mia

(has anyone watched/played/sang the sing-along version from the DVD yet?)

kim - hope you don't get stuck!

wish I