Albums

1. Middle Cyclone – Neko Case
   A certain “5 Star” album for me. It’s so comfortingly perfect to my ear. Neko Case’s voice is itself enough to fall in love with. But here she’s crafted a wonderful album around that voice. Lyrically, it manages to be both personal and about nature. When she sings about a tornado or a wild animal, they aren’t simply metaphors. They are quite literally songs about forces of nature and wild creatures. That they also allude to more personal themes only illustrates Case’s remarkable craftsmanship.
2. The Hazards of Love – The Decemberists
   A wonderfully enjoyable proggy folk opera by Meloy and company. Shara Worden’s guest appearance is a real highlight both on the album and in live performances.
3. Oh My God, Charlie Darwin – The Low Anthem
   On the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his On the Origin of Species, this trio delivers a strong album that ponders the implications of “survival of the fittest.”
4. Elvis Perkins in Dearland – Elvis Perkins in Dearland
   A devastating yet hopeful album that evokes Neutral Milk Hotel, Buddy Holly, and New Orleans’ second lines.
5. Embryonic – The Flaming Lips
   I think this one is only going to get better with time. After hearing some of these songs at the upcoming NYE Freakout, this album may very well creep up higher on this list.
6. Noble Beast – Andrew Bird
   As if guitar, violin, voice, and whistling weren’t enough for a multi-instrumentalist, Bird manages to make language itself a musical instrument.
7. I and Love and You – The Avett Brothers
   This sneaks its way onto the list partly based on the strength of The Avett’s 2007 album Emotionalism which I discovered this year. If that album had been released this year, it very well might be at the top of this list.
8. It’s Blitz! – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
   Bravo, Karen O. Bravo.
9. Songs in the Night – Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers
   Hailing from Shawnee, OK, Samantha Crain delivers a very strong follow-up to the excellent 2007 The Confiscation EP.
10. Veckatimest – Grizzly Bear
    A beautiful album. I don’t love it. But I do expect it will grow on me over time.

Honorable Mention: Actor – St. Vincent, Horehound – The Dead Weather, Merriweather Post Pavilion – Animal Collective, Dark Was the Night – Various Artists

Songs

1. “The Rake Song” – The Decemberists
2. “Charlie Darwin” – The Low Anthem
3. “Doomsday” – Elvis Perkins in Dearland
4. “I and Love and You” – The Avett Brothers
5. (tie) “Oh My God”/”I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” – Ida Maria
6. “Home” – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes
7. “Watching the Planets” – The Flaming Lips
8. “Songs in the Night” – Samantha Crain
9. “My Girls” – Animal Collective
10. (tie) “Zero”/”I Can Be a Frog”/”All is Love” – Karen O / The Flaming Lips feat. Karen O / Karen O & the Kids

Yesterday, I had the dubious pleasure of attending the “Get Motivated!” seminar at the Cox center. (Hey – it was an opportunity to get out of the office for a day.) As you can imagine, the arena was full of outgoing, enthusiastic, motivated people, people full of faith and patriotism. I felt like a lonely period in a sea of exclamation marks, and was strongly reminded of why I hate most people. Keep reading, and you’ll find out why.

The seminar was basically a series of commencement addresses, punctuated occasionally by some “financial wizard” hawking his workshop. There were elements of the bizarre: pyrotechnic displays, an inexplicable (and very ill-advised) white boy rap tribute to the 80s, and a “beach party dance-off.” And there were plenty of reminders that I was in Oklahoma, home to the “God and country” crowd. Red, white and blue streamers drifted down upon our heads as Colin Powell took the stage. The beach balls that were distributed among the crowd for the beach party dance-off were bedazzled with the Stars and Stripes. And there were innumerable references to God and faith. So many, in fact, that at times I felt I was not at a motivation seminar, but at a Sunday morning church service.

The worst offender was one of the financial gurus, James Smith. I knew it would be rough sailing when he opened by shouting, “How does it feel to live in the greatest country on Earth? Anyone who doesn’t think so can just get out! I don’t even care!” The crowd cheered raucously. Defiantly. As if they were really sticking it to that “Blame America First crowd.”

You go, crowd. Nothing says “I love my country” more than cheering at some financial pseudo-expert‘s pandering statements – well, except maybe a ribbon magnet on the back of your SUV.

Unfortunately, Smith was just getting started. He seemed to enjoy reminding us every five minutes how much he loves everyone, yet would follow each profession of brotherly love with some of the douchiest remarks imaginable. For example:

“I love each and every one of you here today, because you’re all created in God’s image. I can’t hate anyone who was created in God’s image. Yep, even this crazy-looking lady here on the fifth row, who’s looking at me all jacked up-like.”

“Now, I know some of you in here don’t believe in God. Some of you are atheists. That’s all right; you won’t always be that way. I still love you! God still loves you!”

“I love everyone, no matter what color they are. I once gave a truck to this Mexican guy who worked on my house. He didn’t want to take it at first, but I told him, ‘Don’t be the kind of Mexican who can’t take a gift.’ He got so excited he wouldn’t stop humping my leg.”

In retrospect, I should have gotten up and left, but I was too curious to see what dickish thing might come out of this guy’s mouth next. Of course, the crowd seemed to savor every moment. After Smith finished, a man seated behind me remarked to his companion, “That guy was hilarious.”

That’s when I got up and left – but not before catching a glimpse of the hordes of people flooding the information tables, where they could sign up for Smith’s workshop. They seemed anxious to find out how to “make their money work for them,” and excited by the “special deal” Smith cut just for them. What deal might that be, you ask? Well, it normally costs thousands of dollars for these top professionals to come out and work with you on how to manage your money. But since Smith is such a great guy, he’s cut the cost down to only $99! Just because you’re all such smart, special people! And he loves you so much! Yes, even you, crazy-looking lady in the fifth row!

It was like being in the studio audience at an infomercial taping. It was also a case study in gullibility. I’m irritated, but also a little saddened, by how many people fall for this crap.

Another speaker who had my eyes rolling was Steve Forbes, who spent half of his allotted time railing against taxes (what that has to do with motivation, I haven’t a clue). And he was violently railing against taxes – as in, “We need to kill the federal income tax, and drive a stake through its heart.” As one might expect in this part of the country, the crowd went wild. Oh, yes – everyone hates taxes.

Not all the speakers were so awful. I rather enjoyed Colin Powell and Laura Bush, who basically just related a few personal anecdotes. They were warm, humorous and self-deprecating, and offered a welcome relief from the aggressive “USA! USA! USA!” and “God! God! God!” motifs. I’ll also admit to having long harbored a weird fascination with Laura Bush – perhaps because she’s so quiet, or because of my theory that she’s secretly a hardcore liberal, or perhaps just out of bafflement at the mystery that someone who seems like a perfectly lovely, normal, intelligent person could marry George W. Bush.

Then, there was the famous Zig Zigler – motivational speaker extraordinaire. Poor old Zig, who seems like he should’ve retired twenty years ago, was trotted out by his family. It felt vaguely exploitative. The guy has lost a lot of his short-term memory, and could only answer a few questions posed to him, interview-style, by his daughter. We were also treated to some “vintage Zigler video clips.” Zigler’s family should just let the poor man find his way to a nice beach where he can chill out for the rest of his days. This was just a really uncomfortable scene to witness.

So, at the end of the day – was I motivated? I’m sure my answer will surprise no one: no. I wasn’t. I left the seminar motivated to do little else besides disengage completely from most of my fellow citizens.

Not long after I crawled into bed last night to watch South Park, I heard a deafening crash from outdoors. I peeked out the window into the front yard, but saw nothing besides flashes of lightening and sheets of rain slamming against the window.

Huh.

Woke up this morning to find someone’s aluminum shed in our backyard. A small section of our stockade fence was semi-collapsed, but aside from that – no downed power lines, no broken tree limbs. It was almost as if someone picked up the shed and dropped it smack-dab into our backyard.

Mystery Building

It may have hailed last night in Edmond, but it was raining buildings in Moore.

Last night was my night to be the Discussion Leader in my Nonprofit-Public Sector Relations class. The topic? Faith-based organizations and the public policy issues surrounding their relationship with government.

Although the syllabus describes this discussion-leading event as a “15-20 minute presentation of the week’s readings,” it has somehow, throughout the semester, morphed into teaching the class for the entire freaking evening. So not cool.

I spent the last couple of days poring over the assigned reading material, taking notes, thinking about the subject. And last night, I kicked so much freaking ass, if I say so myself. Barely a nerve in sight.

It’s funny how unfazed I’ve become by public speaking over the last nine months. I remember when I had to give my first presentation last semester, and how absolutely sick I felt. Now, I can get up in front of the class for a couple of hours and talk. Who woulda thought?

Of course, my interest in last night’s subject helped a lot. As readers of this blog already know, church-state issues are something I geek out over very easily.

I knew very little about faith-based organizations at the beginning, only that I hated Bush’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives. Hey! Separation of church and state, hello?! The government has no business getting mixed up with faith-based organizations! It seemed, to me, like little more than a cover for endorsing religion.

Once I started reading up on this stuff, though, I realized things were, naturally, a bit more nuanced. First of all, I had no idea that Bush’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives was actually the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. As in, doesn’t have-to-be-religious.

Oh.

Nor was I aware of the Neutrality Principle, which the courts have basically adopted as their stance in dealing with any church-state issues that may arise. The Neutrality Principle essentially states that it’s okay for the government to fund faith-based organizations, as long as they’re being neutral about it. In other words, faith-based organizations should be treated no worse than, but also no better than, secular organizations.

Of course, I still don’t trust Bush, and there could still be an element of governmental religion-endorsing going on here – but in theory anyway, it ain’t that bad of an idea. My reasoning:

There are way too many problems in this country, poverty perhaps being the largest. And, the government has way too little money to properly address these problems (and many people think the government has no business providing social services, anyway). Therefore, it only makes sense that we try to enlist voluntary sector help. And there’s no reason that shouldn’t include religious organizations.

Although they do a lot of good work, faith-based and small, secular, community-based organizations generally don’t have the same levels of resources as larger, more established nonprofits – so it makes sense to establish an office to help reach out to them and give them support in their missions. These are largely untapped resources, and it would be silly to fail to seek out any help (secular or religious) in addressing poverty and other issues that affect so many of us.

However.

Keeping the Neutrality Principle in mind, I still see some things that strike me as rather un-neutral. Supporters of faith-based organizations often say that these organizations are being discriminated against because they don’t receive the same level of governmental assistance as secular organizations. There is some evidence (albeit circumstantial evidence) that this may be the case. But, it seems to me that faith-based organizations enjoy certain privileges secular organizations do not:

First of all, religious organizations can make hiring decisions on the basis of religious orientation. If a qualified person walks in to interview for a job, but doesn’t share the same religious beliefs as the organization, the courts have decided that the organization doesn’t have to hire that person. Even if the organization’s primary function is something other than advancing their particular religion. Even if that person has nothing to do with the religious mission (i.e. a janitor, in the case of Presiding Bishop v. Amos).

That doesn’t sit well with me, especially if the organization is receiving any public money. And all the while, secular organizations are forbidden from discriminating on the basis of religion when hiring employees.

Secondly, some states have different licensing and accreditation requirements for religious and secular entities. Sometimes, religious day cares and drug treatment programs are allowed to remain unlicensed, whereas their secular counterparts are not. I could go much more in depth here and talk about day care centers in Alabama and Texas’s attempt at an alternative accreditation program, but in the interest of brevity, I’ll just say that this is also something I’m not cool with.

What mucks everything up is the idea of religious freedom. I understand the desire of faith-based organizations to retain their autonomy and individuality, and that’s been the rationale behind both of these issues. They feel that by having to hire people who don’t share their beliefs, they’d be put at risk of losing their religious identity. Similarly, by having to comply with professional licensing requirements that may operate under different assumptions than theirs (i.e. drug dependency is a medical vs. a moral problem), they’d be forced into accommodating beliefs other than their own.

While I brought up some of these issues in class last night, and some fairly lively discussion ensued, I still bit my tongue numerous times. There are two or three conservative Christians in my class – and to my chagrin, I continue to live in fear of being labeled “The Crazy Atheist Chick.” Regardless, it was still the most fun I’ve ever had in a public speaking situation.

I shouldn’t be ashamed of being an Atheist – if anything, I should be ashamed for being so awesome.

Let’s take this opportunity to remember that not all potential terrorists are of the Islamic variety:

Two young men who are believers in “white power” have been arrested and charged in Tennessee in what federal officials described as a plan to assassinate Senator Barack Obama and kill black children at a school.

When I saw the initial, breaking-news headline, my heart caught in my throat. But after learning details, it sounds as if these two are more racist, IQ-challenged douchebags than actual, competent terrorists. Nevertheless, cheers to the feds for taking the threat seriously. I do actually worry that there are more jackasses like these out there, if the shouts of, “Kill him!” and “Off with his head!” heard at recent McCain-Palin rallies are any indicator. 

And, as Dwight pointed out, we should also remember where these two idiots came from. Not Afghanistan, not Pakistan, but small towns in Tennessee and Arkansas – otherwise known as “Real America.”