Thor Rocks The City

Now here's a god I can believe in ... THOR!

Jon Mikl Thor (that's Thor to you and me) got his start as a bodybuilder, finding hard rock music effective for workout motivation. After claiming the titles of Mr. Canada and Mr. USA in the early 70s, he reinvented himself as a buff Alice Cooper-style theatrical rock singer, now performing the hard rock that drives him. He's been doing this for over 30 years, sort of a Jack LaLanne for metalheads.

Tonight my head-bangin' friend Dave and I caught Thor's show at 12 Galaxies in the Mission District. (Ten bucks a head, easy to get front row center, camera OK. Sweet!) The opening band, named The Lord Weird Slough Feg (don't ask), got the blood running with a blistering speed-metal set. After a quick stage set change, the Viking Invasion begins. The audience gets even more packed (including his female groupies, which Dave dubbed "Thor's Whores") as the broadsword-bearing Thor commands the stage. Blending his powerful singing with theatrics, fans were shrieking and fists were pumping as he performed his songs and his trademark acts of strength: snapping his mike stand in two (and tossing the halves to the crowd - what a souvenir!) and bending a steel bar with his hands and teeth (after passing it around the crowd for inspection. Yep, it was solid steel).


It's 2005, and Thor is still in great shape. A cage match with Thor, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jack LaLanne, would be a contest for the ages.

New Orleans In Song

Thanks to Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans has been getting a lot of mention in the news media. And most of what is heard is mispronounced. It's not "New OrLEENS" or "New Or-Lee-Ans," it's "New Orlins." (Or "N'Awlins" for the true natives.)

Newscasters are guilty of mispronouncing the flooded Mississippi coast town too. It's not pronounced as it is spelled, "Biloxi," rather, it is pronounced "Buh-LUX-ee."

Pronouncing city names incorrectly immediately brands one as an outsider (as with those who call FreeThinker's adopted hometown "Frisco." Please don't call it "Frisco!")

Not to discount Biloxi, but we are all thinking about the Hurricane Katrina epicenter of New Orleans. Music can be a salve to tragedy, and New Orleans is mentioned in many, many popular songs. I've noticed that every single song that mentions New Orleans -- and I mean every single one I can think of, with one possible exception -- uses the New OrLEENS pronunciation. Why is this? Is it because it rhymes better with other words? Is it some kind of musical tradition? Think about it, and sing along: City of New Orleans by Alro Guthrie. Witch Queen of New Orleans by Redbone. Baby Please Don't Go by Big Joe Williams.

The possible exception is House of the Rising Sun by The Animals. But even that's not pure: "...there is a house in New Or-Lee-Ans ..."

Can anyone think of a popular song that pronounces "New Orleans" correctly? Please leave a comment!

Katrina And The Waves

Thoughts are with all the good people in and around New Orleans, which was slammed today with wind and water from Hurricane Katrina. FreeThinker has many friends and family there; fortunately, everybody is okay so far. It could be a lot worse than being soaked and without utilities.

This is hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico area, and it coincides with the commotion of "back to school." FreeThinker's heady college years were spent in Lafayette and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in the 1980s. (Yes, "Walking On Sunshine" was included in the soundtrack of these years.) The first big campus parties are traditionally "hurricane parties" complete with, of course, hurricanes. Some of my more adventurous friends would skip these parties (and school) to go where the real action is -- the coast. (These are the crazy guys you see in news clips, fighting the elements, and sometimes losing.)

Right now, the weather here in the Bay Area is sublime. It's at that perfect natural point where you don't even sense any temperature -- it's just right. This is the best time of year here, and at no time of the year do we need to worry about hurricanes or tornados. Then again, you never know about those pesky wildfires or earthquakes ...

"Intelligent" Design?

Local cartoonist/animator Mark Fiore's latest gem, Supernatural Selection, makes me ponder the stealthy rise of "Intelligent Design" as a way to plant doubt on science in general and evolution in particular.

Evolution, the theory that all species of plants and animals descended from a common ancestor and that the process of natural selection plays a large role in the diversification of life over time, is the cornerstone of modern science. It complements and confirms what we know about biology, geology, astronomy, paleontology, physics, cosmology, anthropology and other sciences. And evolution provides a rational framework for the interconnectedness of all life. Awareness and understanding of evolution is perhaps the most revolutionary advance in all human history.

Virtually all scientists accept the theory of evolution as readily as the theory of gravity. The same can be said for educated theists, and even, officially now, the Catholic church. But there is a persistent religious opposition (oddly enough, only in the US) to evolution because it doesn't square with a literal, creationist interpretation of the Bible. "God created the world, and Adam and Eve, 6000 years ago." Of course, our Constitution prohibits religious instruction in public schools. What better way to proselytize "under the radar" than to dress up creationism as a "science" and slip it into public education? "Intelligent Design" is their new and developing theory which posits that living systems are best explained by an intelligent cause rather than an undirected mechanism. It's legal to teach in public schools, because religion is never mentioned, but who/what else could this "intelligent designer" be? (Never mind the question of who designed the Designer.) Move over, Darwin, there's a new theory in town! Teach the controversy! It's not a sectarian religious viewpoint, it's a science! Equal time, they say, for competing ideas! (They are conspicuously silent on giving "equal time" to sex education theories in schools, but that's another issue.)

Even President Bush cozies up to Intelligent Design. He made remarks earlier this month that endorsed the teaching of Intelligent Design in public schools. This is not surprising, but it is sad. The American Federation of Teachers described Bush's remarks as "a huge step backward for science education in the United States," adding that "by backing concepts that lack scientific merit, President Bush is undermining his own pledge to 'leave no child behind.'"


So where did all these people espousing "Intelligent Design" come from?

One word: Evolution.

Anthem Of The Stamp

You can call me a Deadhead. You can also call me a Recovering Philatelist. And as a fan of Jerry Garcia and as a former stamp collector, I'm interested in the new talk of honoring the Grateful Dead guitarist with a U.S. postage stamp. He's been dead for ten years now, making him eligible for the honor. Why not? This son of San Francisco brought happiness to millions and continues to do so with his music and his art and his legacy of philanthropic causes. As the leader of the Grateful Dead, he steered the band on course with many styles of all-American roots music. His ideals of peace and love are perhaps as relevant now as in the Vietnam War years.

Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley, Ritchie Valens, Dinah Washington and Otis Redding (among others) have received this honor, so a precedent has been set for American stamps honoring American rock, jazz, and blues musicians.

This movement is starting off strong. An online petition is growing, and a campaign website has been established.

Red and White, Blue Suede Shoes, Hey Uncle Sam, What Will You Do?

Life

If this poem does not connect with you, you are just too young! Read it again in a couple of decades ...

When I can look Life in the eyes,
Grown calm and very coldly wise
Life will have given me the Truth
And taken in exchange -- my youth.

-Sara Teasdale, poet (1884-1933)

The Yellow and Black Attack is Back!

We probably have all those hip young overtly Christian bands (gee, thanks, Creed!) to blame for this, but Stryper -- yes, Stryper -- is back. After about 15 years of obscurity, the band has returned to music store bins today with a new album called "Reborn." The new album is also available through the band’s website. As a bonus, website orders also receive a Stryper pocket Bible autographed by the band, just like the ones the band throws out to the audience in concert.

So now a new generation of suburban teenagers can safely rock guilt-free with these big-haired headbangers jamming out syrupy pre-grunge power ballads while dressed like bees. All with the Good Housekeeping seal of approval. And a Stryper Prayer Team. But just like your parent's Stryper, don't expect any scantily clad, suggestively gyrating vixens to be cavorting through their new MTV videos.

Bonus Stryper Trivia: Stryper is an acronym for "Salvation Through Redemption Yielding Peace Encouragement and Righteousness." Ain't that the bee's knees!

In These Glasses, No Passes

After recieving a tip from a trusted source that these sunglasses looked, frankly, horrible on me, I had to take some shots and take a look at other people's perspective.

Yes, they are horrible. I look like a psycho stalker.

They won't be worn again.