Monday, December 10, 2007

The Leader is Back!

The last Maximum Leader comeback didn't last too long. I got into one movie review and nearly lost my reader. I made up several posts that I deleted. And next thing you know a couple of months have gone by.

But The Leader is back once again. Lots of things have been happening here and at home and I'm going to try to catch you up on some of them. There's been a lot of music, and I'll tell you about that. And there's been a lot of running around, and I'll tell you a little about that. And I will tell you about the straight up coolest, strangest thing that has EVER happened to me. That's right , ever. If The Maximum Leader beleives in God this will be why.

Lots of things to write about. Lots of stories to tell.

Welcome back to The Maximum Leader!!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

The Truth is Unreasonable

Last night I watched most of the documentary, Ralph Nader: An Unreasonable Man. There are some people out there that are still really mad at him. A guy in the movie blamed Nader for the war in Iraq. Because he took votes from Al Gore in Florida. If Nader had not been on the ballot in Florida, Gore would have likely won that state and the presidency. But if Pat Buchanan had not been on the ballot in Florida, George Bush might have won by a wider margin.

None of it would have mattered if Gore had won his home state of Tennessee.

This morning I did a little research on the presidential elections of the last 50 years, and here's what I found out:

Since 1952 three presidential candidates have failed to carry their home state:

Adlai Stevenson (D-Illinois) 1952 and 1956
George McGovern (D-South Dakota) 1972
Al Gore (D-Tennessee) 2000

Barry Goldwater, Jimmy Carter in 1980, and Walter Mondale all got it handed to them in the general election, but they won their home states.

No winning candidate, going back to 1948, has lost the state they claimed as their own.

Bill Clinton won Arkansas and Tennesse in 1992 and 1996. But when Al Gore took his turn he couldn't win either of them.

A professor and a journalist who were featured in the movie rejected the "home state" argument and placed the blame squarely on Nader. But I have a hard time discounting it.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Welcome Back to the Maximum Leader

It's been over a month since I've made a post here. So it's high time I catch up on a few things.

CONFIDENTIAL pre-release show was a huge success. there was a great crowd. Thank you to every one who came out. If you weren't able to come, and you'd like a copy of the special edition CD drop me a comment and I'll let you know how to get one.

Nashville is still boring, but not as boring as it was. I've got my Nashville weekend behind me for the month anyway. This weekend I'll be in Detroit with the Anthropologist. We're going to see Tiger Army (And that doesn't have anything to do with the Detroit Tigers. It's a post-hardcore psychobilly band from California, and I am real excited about the show.) And we're going to the River Rouge Ford plant where Walter Reuther got beat down by thugs from the "Service Department."

Speaking of Walter Reuther, I've been working on a piece about the United Auto Workers. Look for that to be up on the Leader sometime soon.

I've done a little volunteering for the Barack Obama campaign. I used to be fired up for Obama, now I'm not so sure. But I still think he's the best choice among the front runners.

No Logo by Naomi Klein. This book is a real eye opener when it comes to understanding how multi-national corporations do business. I'm not sure that I go along with all of her conclusions and I sure don't think that "ad-jamming" is going to make a hell of a lot of difference to our increasingly branded world. But it is an important book all the same. Look for a post on No Logo, coming soon to the Leader.


How did South Florida get invited to the Big East instead of Memphis? And would Memphis be a top 10 football team now if they had?

Thursday, August 30, 2007

"You're Kind of a Snob" Part 4

This week I hit the Frugal McDougals and what did I find there? The Rock in a can. An 18 pack for $10! That's a deal.

But I noticed something strange on the can. Where it used to say Latrobe, PA, it now says St. Louis, MO. And then I remembered why I wasn't supposed to be drinking Rolling Rock. Because of Budweiser putting the people of Latrobe, PA, out of work when they shut down the plant there. Damn!

I have been trying to drink the Miller Lite, and it's not bad. It just doesn't hit the spot the way a CL does.

If you look hard enough you can probably find some reason to boycott every corporation in America. Hell, you probably wouldn't have to look hard at all.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

The Truth is a WHUUTT!!

From today's CA story about the new Itta Bena restaurant on Beale:


"We've always wanted to have a quality experience where locals could come, either to enjoy themselves or bring out-of-town visitors to Beale without being in a honky-tonk," said Tommy Peters, majority investor in the three B.B. King clubs around the country, including one opening this fall in Orlando.


There are Honky Tonks on Beale Street?! That is so cool!! I thought it was all hippity hop and booty shakin' clubs! But there are Honky Tonks! Country Music is alive and well on Beale Street!

Maybe I should round up the gang and go down there this weekend. As long as no one tries to bring a chai past the security guard it could be a swingin' time!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

the Truth is a Lie #5

The Evilblog has a very interesting discussion regarding the death of Country Music. I've weighed in a couple of times and intend to make a broader, more developed statement on that topic---probably here on the Leader.

But I've also got sports on my mind, basketball in particular. I just read a piece on ESPN.com about the upcoming tournament of the Americas (or something like that) which should be USA Basketball's return to glory. But what really intrigued me was Team Mexico. They've hired Nolan Richardson to be their coach. Hell Yes! I really like Nolan. I know he went sort of crazy and accused the University of Arkansas of being racist of whatever, but the man won the Final Four! With Dwight Stewart! (who I talked to one time in Planet Music on Winchester, the night or so after I got my wisdom teeth taken out and I was a little out of it. Dwight was checking out the rap CDs and I just HAD to congratulate him on winning the Championship. Best I can remember he was pretty cool. Then again, it's all a little hazy.) And Corliss Williamson. That dude was cool. Too bad his rap career never took off. And Nolan even had a white dude on the team. I don't remember his name, but he was from Massachusetts. Anyway, I'm glad to see Nolan is back in the game. He would make a good candidate for the University of Memphis job after the Tigers win the Final Four this year and Callipari jumps to a BCS school or the NBA.

And that wasn't the only thing interesting about the Mexican team. The story said they tried to get Earl Watson to play for them?! Earl Watson the former Grizzly. I didn't know that Earl was a Mexican. Maybe one of his parents is from Mexico. I don't know. If anyone has any info on this I'd like to hear it.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

"You're Kind of a Snob" part 3

On a lighter note, I've been thinking again of finding a new regular beer. Coors Light has been my favorite for quite some time, but several factors have lead to me searching for a new go to brew. They are:

1. Coors shut down their plant in Memphis. This was convieniently timed to coincide with the year they would have had to start paying some taxes to the city.
2. The Coors plant in Memphis was unionized. And I don't think that the other facilities are.
3. I found out that Miller Beers are made by workers who belong to the U.A.W. The U.A.W. is my favorite union so I thought it would be cool to support them.
4. My favorite NASCAR driver, Kasey Kahne, is very likely going to be driving the Budweiser car next year. And that's gonna make it strange to put a CL in my number 9 huggie.

So, it might be time to make a change. But I do have a couple of guidelines. My new beer is going to have to be a main line domestic. No "sub-premiums" like Busch, Natty, or PBR. And no high dollar micro brews like Sam Adams or Sierra Nevada. I like a S.N. every now and then. But they cost like 8 bucks a six pack. 8 bucks is too much for a regular, everyday beer. This rules out imports too. I am pretty sure I could make Tecate my regular beer if I lived in Mexico, but since I live in Nashville I've got to keep searching my other options. Plus, I might get tired of the lime eventually.

That leaves me with the Big Two: Budweiser and Miller.

I really like a Budweiser every now and then, but when I come in from the gym (yeah, i go to the gym sometime. I'm 35 years old and I like to drink a cold beer. this requires some time on the treadmill every now and then) the King of Beers is just to heavy. I like a draft Bud Light at the ballpark. But, maybe it's because it's the prefered beer of my dad and my uncles, Bud Light feels kind of old. And it lacks a certain style. I can drink it at the house, but I feel decidely un-hip when I order it out at a bar.

Among other Anheuser-Busch Brands there's Bud Select which is o.k., but a little girly and I'd be just as (un)likely to order a Michelob Ultra (also an A-B product,) and Rolling Rock. There was a brief time back in 1997 that the Rock was my beer of choice. It was always good, but for then I moved to the CL. In late 1997-early 1998 my weight was really going up. And moving to a light beer seemed like a good idea. But, since I no longer have the weight issue due to my frequent trips to the gym and a serious decrease in my CL cunsumption, it might be time to reconsider the Rock. The Rock in a can's relative unavailabilty might be a little problem (I've been trying to pre-cycle,) but I could probably get over that.

So, if I want to stick with my driver and go with a Budweiser affiliated brand I might try Rolling Rock.

But what going with the product that will support my favorite union, the United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agriculural Implement Workers? (The union that was brought to prominence the greatest of the labor leaders, Walter P. Reuther.)

Here are my U.A.W. made Miller Beer choices:

Miller Lite, Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Genuine Draft Light, Miller High Life, Miller High Life Light, Milwaukee’s Best, Milwaukee’s Best Light, Milwaukee’s Best Ice, Leinenkugel’s, Sharp’s (non alcoholic), Mickey’s Malt, Mickey’s Ice, Hamm’s, Hamm’s Draft, Hamm’s Light, Icehouse, Miller Lite Ice, Red Dog, Olde English 800, Henry Weinhard’s Private Reserve, Henry Weinhard’s Blue Boar Pale Ale

Does that say Miller Lite Ice? Yuck! I guess that's a light Icehouse. Ice beer is BAD news. Ice beer is a headache the likes of which I never want to experience again in my life. And I don't even know what the hell the rest of that stuff is. I think it's all malt liquor.

Taking away ice beers and sub-premiums, I am left with Miller Lite, MGD, and MGD Light if I want to be in solidarity with my U.A.W. brothers and sisters.

Miller Lite is good to drink if you are doing something outside, and it is hot. It is also good to drink if you have to drive somewhere. It is very low in calories, carbs, and alcohol. Which makes it low in the important area of "Kick." I have only the slightest familiarity with any beers from the MGD line. Though I would be willing to give one a try.

The problem is that I just don't like any of these beers as much as I like Coors Light. A CL hits the spot like a DC if you know what I mean. (And if you don't know, DC stands for Diet Coke, the official soft drink of the Maximum Leader.) Other beers are o.k., and I enjoy them every now and then, but they just aren't the same.

I can go with what I like. Or I can go with my principles. This is going to be rough.

MEMPHIS --- Part 1

Ever since I moved to Nashville, almost a year ago now, I've read the Commercial Appeal on line. And I often feel much more involved and interested in what's going on in Memphis than I do to what's going on here. Nashville really just feels like a place that I am staying. Memphis feels like home.

The last couple of days I have been really bothered by something going on in my hometown: the beating of a 51 year old Collierville man by a 21 year old security guard on Beale Street.

The story goes that the man from Collierville and his wife were celebrating their 25th anniversary with a night at the new Westin Hotel downtown. They were walking back to their hotel when they crossed Beale Street at Beale and Third. The wife had a cup of tea, and the security guard told her that she could not bring it onto Beale Street. The man attempted to explain to the guard that they were not going onto Beale Street. They were going to their hotel. An argument followed, and the guard slammed the older man onto the pavement, critically injuring him.

I do not know what words were passed between the men. I do not know the security guard's side of the story. I do know that the guard's actions were so far out of line that he has been charged with aggravated assault and is currently sitting in the Shelby County Jail on a $25,000 bond. And I know that one couple's 25th Anniversary was completely and utterly ruined. And Downtown Memphis is going to take another serious hit in the public relations department. Beale Street is going to become a "Steer Clear" zone for a lot of folks---if it wasn't already.

This story is so disgusting to me. I imagine my folks coming in from Cordova to spend a special night at the Westin or maybe just go for a nice dinner downtown. They might go for a walk a cup of coffee from Starbucks before heading in. I imagine them running into a young security guard with a bad attitude....and well, I don't even want to think about the rest.

Just this past June the anthropogist and I went to Memphis for a party, and, because we had not seen each other in a while and neither of us live in Memphis anymore, we decided to splurge on a night at The Madison. We had a great time there, and being back in Downtown Memphis was awesome. And it should have been for that way for the couple from Collierville. But intsead of a night of celebration, their lives were horrifically changed forever. And the city of Memphis is going to have to step up and do something about this or all of the work that has gone into making Downtown Memphis so wonderful is going to be for nothing.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Back to the Tap

I've seen a lot of things change in my 35 years on this earth. I've seen music go from LPs to CDs (never mind cassettes which I always thought were rather disposable and might come apart in your player) to digital down loads and now, increasingly, back to vinyl.

I can't recall the exact year, but I remember when bottled water started showing up in stores. And I remember that a lot of folks thought it was pretty silly to pay 75 cents for a plastic bottle of water at the convenience store. Water came out of the tap for free! or next to free. No, if were spending our money we wanted something for it. We wanted a Coke! But eventually a lot of us started to think of water as a healthy alternative to Coke and sometimes a person just needs a drink of water.

So we bought a cold water at the gas station, at sporting events and concerts. This was a good development. Who wants to get up from the game every five minutes to get a drink from a water fountain? And water fountains sometimes aren't the cleanest places. Bottled water was a hit.

But then something happened. We liked the bottled water so much that we started buying for our houses, and they started serving it in restaurants. And now there is too much bottled water. And, according to folks who study this type of thing, the water bottles are piling up in our land fills, and their petroleum based materials are driving up the price of oil.

So, what do these folks want us to do? Drink tap water. Yep, just like we used to do it back in the old days. And I don't guess that's a bad idea. Water tastes better with ice in a glass. And nothing beats music coming through a needle.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Lee Surrendered. The Maximum Leader didn't!

Last weekend was a hell of a lot of fun. Me and Rob K B went all the way to Richmond, VA, for a CONFIDENTIAL pre-show. And it went really well. The folks in Richmond are good to play for. It was a really long ride home, but we got to see Appomattox Courthouse. It kinda made me hate the Yankees a little bit, but it was great to see such an important place in the history of our country that I would not have seen otherwise. While we were there I saw a dad and his kid come out of the gift shop wearing new civil war soldier caps. They must have been foreigners because they had bought BLUE caps! They got the wrong color!! I don't know, they could have been Yankees. When I was a kid I wouldn't have been caught dead wearing anything other than gray. I knew which side I was on damn it!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

The Truth is a Lie is Boring!

What has The Maximum Leader come to? Where's the action?

Truthfully, there hasn't been a lot lately. As Evil pointed out, I have been blogging about golf, yoga, and Becker (which is an under-rated sitcom.) And what's worse, it was a nostalgia piece about Becker! I don't even have cable up here!

Maybe it's time for a shake up.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

The Truth is a Lie #4

Yesterday I tried in vain to set up a blogger mobile account so I could send text and images from the Blueberry to The Maximum Leader. I wanted to post a pic of a radio station van with a large picture of Steve Harvey on it. But the mobile blog and the mail to address feature are either not working or I'm not doing it right. Damn. That was a cool Steve Harvey van.

The Steve Harvey Show was one of a number of "bad" sitcoms that I used to be into when I had cable. I would happen upon a syndicated sitcom that I missed when it was on the first time (I have no idea when the Steve Harvey Show was on originally) and, with the exception of the SHS, usually get pulled in by the presence of some cute girl or girls. Next thing I knew I was hooked. I was into Two Guys and a Girl, Ned and Stacy, and my all time Fave: Becker.

Becker gets run down a lot. People make fun of it. Some folks just plain hate it. And wonder how Ted Dansen could go from a great show like Cheers to Becker. Maybe I'm strange, but I like Becker a lot more than Cheers. I like Reggie (the original Reggie, the tall one,) and the office assistant chick is real hot. The other characters are good too. The blind guy is funny. So is the cab driver.

And Becker is funny. But you have to get into the rhythm of the show. And being on a six month vaction is really the best way to do that.

I don't have cable anymore, much less a DVR. And I go to work everyday, so I don't get to watch Becker for an hour like I used to when I got up at 10 or 11 every day. But maybe some day I'll have the chance again. And I can catch up on some shows I'm missing now.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

You're Kind of a NASCAR Snob

ESPN is reporting that Budweiser is in negotiations to sponsor Kasey Kahne and his red number 9 Dodge next year.

What does this mean for my beer drinking habits? I enjoy the King of Beers every now and again, but Coors Light is my number 1. (I have given up attempts to find a sub-premium brand that I like.) If my favorite driver is wheeling the Bud car I might have to drink the Fatweiser more often. (And increase my treadmill time.)

Budweiser used to have a policy that they did not use anyone under 30 to promote their products (at least in their commercials), but I guess that doesn't apply to race car drivers or maybe they've changed their minds.

It's been reported that Dale Jr. might be sponsored by Mountain Dew. Kasey used to have a Mountain Dew deal, and he'd have to drink one in the post race interviews. Sometimes he'd make a face like he really didn't like the Dew, but he had to get in his "chug points." He'll probably like an ice cold Bud a lot better.

All Star Game

I understand that Larussa needed to hold someone back in case the game went into extra innings. BUT how the hell can you not send Pujols up to bat with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th!! There were two outs and the NL was down by one run. If Pujols gets a hit the NL wins and there's no extra innings to worry about. Larussa blew that one big time.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

The Truth is a Lie G.C.

My golf game is really coming around. Don't know where that came from. Back in my pre-rock and roll days I played golf a lot and I always sucked. Just ask that dude who was mowing his lawn next to the Cordova Club. But these days I'm not playing bad at all. Must be the yoga.

I have a couple of friends back home who are really against golf. With one of them I suspect it's some kind of political/class thing. He has obiviously never played at the Shelby Golf Course in East Nashville where, like a lot of other places on the East Side, sleeves are optional. (Seriously, is it just here, or are men every where rocking sleeveless shirts this summer? I've been out sleeveless a couple of times myself---not to the golf course tho---and the first time I was a little self concious about it but the last time I didn't care at all. Of course it is hot as hell. That might be part of it.) And the fee for 18 holes with a cart came in at just under 19 bucks! Put a few CLs in the bag and that is a fun and affordable way to spend an afternoon.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

The Truth is a Lie #3

There's no topic that is burning me up today, like yesterday's post on the state of NASCAR. I'm not sure how I'm not keeping it real by questioning the rampant corporatizing of the sport. Maybe keeping it real would entail not thinking about it so much and just enjoying the racing. Which I could do if it wasn't all a big set up! Though, I used to really like WCW and that was a set up. So, who knows.

The Maximum Leader literary blog is suffering because its author has not read a whole book in a really long time now. I am, however, involved in a close re-viewing of Twin Peaks Season 2. And at some point I might have something to say about that.

CONFIDENTIAL is coming soon!

Monday, June 25, 2007

Is NASCAR Fake?

Something is going on with NASCAR. And I'm losing interest. For the last few years I have really enjoyed watching the NASCAR races and reading about the drivers and the drama and talking about it with other fans, but this year my devotion to the sport is really slipping.

It started when my favorite driver, Kasey Kahne, was caught with some kind of illegal part or modification at Daytona, docked 100 owners points, and had his crew chief suspended for 4 races. And then Kasey started sucking, and Jeff Gordon started winning every week (or Jeff Gordon II aka Jimmie Johnson.) Next thing you know, I just didn't care as much.

Then there was all of the Junior drama. The idea of Junior driving a red, Budweiser No.3 was pretty exciting. But I don't guess it was ever going to happen. Now Junior has joined up with Hendrick and will probably be racing a Sony No. 5. or a Visa No. 25. Will he win a championship? Does it matter? And if he does win a championship what will it be called?

Thanks to the tobacco settlement, Winston had to end its relationship with NASCAR several years ago. Nextel, a second tier cellular telephone company, scraped together the big bucks and bought themselves a Major League Sport. I'm sure this was supposed to help them sell telephones, but I haven't known anyone with a Nextel phone since I was a facility manager and had to call maintenance folks to come work on something at one of my buildings. Air conditioning repairmen and electricians needed the walkie talkie feature to communicated with their shops and their co-workers. Nobody else needs this. And nobody else bought Nextel phones. And I guess that's why they sold out to Sprint, a barely first tier cellular company. Sprint got themselves a cool walkie talkie cell system for electricians and air conditioning repairmen and a Major League Sport! So next year the drivers will compete for the Sprint Cup. Never mind that this sounds like a competition for sprint cars. And never mind that Nextel can change the name of the series to Sprint, but Cingular can't change its car to ATT to reflect their recent name change. A judge ruled in ATT's favor, so Sprint sued them back and now who knows how it'll end up. Though I would bet that ATT gets to keep its name on Jeff Burton's car. Yeah, Nextel had a deal with Cingular. But Nextel isn't Nextel anymore!

NASCAR has had sponsors and ads for a long time. It was the Winston cup forever. But it seems like the corporations are really running the sports part of stock car racing in the ground.
The companies and their logos take precedent over anything else. When Michael Waltrip was caught using jet fuel in his car in qualifying was only docked some points and moved to the back! He was still allowed to run the race, and that had to have something to do with the major auto parts company with their name painted on his hood. That same major auto parts company is now very unhappy that Waltrip has not been able to get his un-jet fueled car into very many races. The sponsors are running the show.

And that's what brings me to my the point of my title. Is there a set-up going on? Do certain sponsors cut deals with NASCAR to have their driver win? Is it just coincidence that Jimmy Johnson's Lowe's car owned Lowe's Motor Speedway over the course of several races? Or what about this year when Casey Mears' and his National Guard crew were oh so proud that they could win one for the troops on Memorial Day weekend?

Today's newspaper story about Juan Pablo Montoya's victory at Infineon contained a brief mention, near the end, about the win being well timed and well placed with Montoya getting to celebrate in front of a large crowd of folks from Chevron, the parent company of his sponsor, Texaco, whose headquarters are relatively near the raceway.

NASCAR, more than any other sport, is about selling product. Hell, most things in this country are about selling product. And sports are no different. But the other big sports at least try to appear like it's about the game. They have resisted ads on uniforms, changed their minds about things like Spiderman bases.

Maybe it's just another example of consumer society run wild. Maybe it's just about a sport that is getting boring. Maybe when Kasey starts running better I won't mind so much.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

"You're Kind of a Snob" part 2

I went to the grocery store last night and bought a 12 pack of regular Busch. My Kroger card knocked it down to 6.99. And though I said I was going to pay the extra couple of bucks for full flavor, when it came down to it that savings really called to me. And Busch is really pretty tasty. Kind of like one of those Budweiser Selects, the Marlboro Medium of beers.

I wonder how many other folks are combatting the rising fuel costs by buying discount brands? I know that one of my uncles has switched to Miller High Life Light from his usual Bud Light. And it's not like he can't afford to spend the extra. Choosing to save some money by buying a bargain brand beer, smokeless tobacco, or breakfast cereal gives us a little feeling of being in control. The oil companies can rape us all they want to because we really have no alternative. We have to drive. The mass transit in most American cities is so aggravating that no one with a choice is going to use it. I would have to spend 2 hours on the bus to get to work and I work 6 miles from my house. Which would you rather spend: four hours on the bus or four dollars? I'll hand over the four bucks to the gas man. And to make up for it I'll pick up some bargain beer.

But there is still no way I am drinking PBR.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

New Car Fever

I have caught a terrible case of new car fever. And I know that the only thing that is going to make it go away is that new car smell.

My love affair with the blazer began to fade over the winter when the heater core ruptured and eventually filled the truck with steam and smoke one morning on the way to work. Because I was in Nashville and had no other options I wheeled it into the Chevy dealership across the street from the old office. That was a $1500 repair job. A couple of months later some kind of rocker arm broke and I had to get new tires. (a veritable bargain at $800) that was followed by another $800 hit the next month when the numerous engine leaks wound up driving up the temperature to dangerous levels. I really wanted to trade the Blazer, but there was always something going wrong with it. And then I really wanted to get some riding out of those fresh off-road tires. (i know, i know...but the Blazer has an off road suspension package that would make any other tires look absolutely ridiculous.)

And now with the price of gas skyrocketing I could be making a note on a new economical car for less than what I am spending on fuel---and I don't even drive that far unless you count my trips back home, when the Blazer gets 17 MPG on the Highway. (It gets 10 or 12 in the city)

The number one thing that has kept the Blazer so near to my heart is it's clean title with my name on it. The other thing is it's tough 4x4 stance. (It's a really good looking truck!) And I have always just liked it. But it's time to start thinking about something else.

The problem with thinking about getting something else is getting a bad case of new car fever. Which results in thinking about new cars constantly. It's a really good thing that there was no internet when I was 16 because I wouldn't have gotten any school work done. I swear, I'm going to have to buy something just to shut down the new car freight train in my head.

The Maximum Leader is coming to town this weekend. Maybe we'll go cruise the lots.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

"You're Kind of a Snob"

For the past six months or so I have been sampling cheap beer. I have tried Pabst of course but also Busch and Busch Light and Lone Star and Natural Light, etc. And I think that I am about to go back to full price and full flavor.

I once told someone that I would quit drinking beer if I couldn't afford Coors Light. And she told me that I was "kind of a snob." And maybe I was (what else was she going to think with my BMW and fancy Star Tac phone and all the other things I said or did to blow her indie rock fantasies away.) But as far as the beer was concerned I think that I was on to something.

The BMW days are long behind me. And things started going in a different direction when the CRM money ran out. When I moved to Nashville I had a job at a bookstore that paid $7 an hour. I was getting by because of some money I had saved, but there wasn't a lot left over. So I started buying cut-rate beer, PBR for 5.99 a 12 pack. And after a hard day hustling books or later making copies at a temp job A cold PBR tasted pretty good. I hardly ever drank more than 3 or 4 beers a night and everything was going fine. I laughed at my former self. Think of all the money I could have been saving. Yes, PBR was all right. And with its hipster popularity it was easy to come by. I might have still been drinking a PBR every now and then today if it had not been for the night in January when Tommy USA came up for a visit. We went out that Friday night on an East Nashville Bender, drank PBRs from 7 PM til 3AM, and the next day I thought I was going to die. The Anthropologist came in at 3PM Saturday and I was in bed. It was terrible. She was visibly upset by the sight of me. I was so bloated and red eyed. That might have happened with some other kind of beer, but I can't imagine it being that bad. If I drink just one PBR now I have a headache the next day. Yuck.

The rising gas prices have sent me back to the cheap end of the beer aisle. And while none of the beers I have tried are as nasty as PBR, they just aren't worth the money you save. The biggest reason for this is their low alcohol content. I will get tired of drinking Natty or Busch light before I get any of the benefits I'm looking for in a cold beer. Busch gets closer. But not enough. Next time I am going to spend the extra 2 bucks and get Coors Light or Bud. And leave the Busch and the Natty for a day at the pool. And leave the PBR alone all together!

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Underworld

I was reading a review of the new Don Delillo novel, and it mentioned his 1997 novel, Underworld. And whenever I read about Delillo or Underworld I remember that I never finished it, and I'm not sure why. The articles about Delillo or some new book of his usually say that Underworld is very good. But the only thing I remember about it is that it starts with a short story about Bobby Thompson's "Shot Heard Round the World." And it might have something to do with a lady who is painting old planes in the desert. There might be a lady who is taking pills so she won't be afraid of dying, or that could be White Noise. There may be some kind of Illuminati postmen, or that might be from that Pynchon book Dr. Duvall thought we ought to read in his modern novel class at the University of Memphis way back in 1994. (He thought we ought to read White Noise too and that short story about Bobby Thompson. Maybe that is why I've got them all mixed up.) Dr. Duvall also thought it was a good idea for us to read The Sound and the Fury. That's the kind of book I can get into.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

The Truth is a Lie #2

"Hello, we're The Truth is a Lie from Lake Mary, FLA."

Originialy The Truth is a Lie was a fake hardcore band I made up. It just sounded so much like a hardcore band. And because hardcore bands need an agenda I decided that this one should be a pro-cigarette hardcore band, a play on the Truth campaign to stop teenage smoking and the opposite of Straight Edge. Later, when I made the fake Robert Brown myspace page, I annointed him the President of The Truth is a Lie Action Committee to Promote Smoking, and I claimed myspace.com/thetruthisalie for his URL. Then mypace made it to Grenada, MS, and Robert found his page. Eventually I removed his name and all of the pro-smoking references and rechristened the page "The Truth is a Lie." But I kept a picture of Rob K B, the Maximum Leader --- like Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels --- and began to think about the Truth is a Lie as something like a wide focus personal literary journal. Because the Truth is a Lie was already claimed here the Truth is a Lie now becomes The Maximum Leader.