Shout out to the Raytractors!

I posted some time ago about Ray Comfort's blog and his apparent hatred of all things factual. I still check it out from time to time, as it's kinda like the equivalent of a website devoted to train wrecks. I just can't help but not look. For those of you who don't know, Ray is an evangelist and best buddies with Kirk Cameron. His ministry basically revolves around getting people to feel as though they need God because they're awful, degenerate sinners. He's also pretty infamous for his critiques of evolution - every one of which demonstrate that he doesn't even know the first thing about what he's critiquing.

The thing is, I have a near-obsession with always getting in the last word. I call it "near" because I've actually been able to work on it a bit lately and just let certain things go. It's even easier to just limit my posting to his blog to the occasional comment because of a group of people whom I hearby dub The Raytractors (short for Ray Comfort Detractors).

In fact, I find myself checking out his blog more for what they have to say than what he does - because after all, he's pretty much saying the same thing over and over again. He has a few regular posters, many of whom are Christians who subscribe to his particular brand of the religion. Their comments are usually along the lines of "Great job, Ray!" However, the good stuff comes from The Raytractors. They're basically a bunch of skeptics and atheists (I don't think that all of them define themselves as atheists - because after all, there are a lot of Christians who find what he says to be offensive) who point out all of his logical fallacies and absurdities.

Of course, the true believers attack the Raytractors - usually by making sweeping statements that don't address the content of what they wrote, quoting the Bible, or simply insulting them. (There's even a guy who seems to have multiple personalities who supports Ray.)

I honestly believe though that if there was somebody who was genuinely on the fence regarding Christianity versus atheism, and they read Comfort's blog, they would have a hard time siding with the Christians. Now, they might not necessarily become atheists, but I can't see them subscribing to the extreme fundamentalist, scientifically ignorant views of Comfort and his true believers. (In fact, I believe that there's a guy out there who was on the fence, and the Raytractors appealed to him more). I know some people would wonder why I (or others) would bother even arguing with these people, but this is the reason why. One of the reasons why I finally came around to admitting I was an atheist was by reading the atheism discussion board on usenet. There was plenty of arguing, but the atheists had all of the most logical and compelling arguments. The Christians just kept saying the same stuff over and over again and proved themselves to be ignorant, dishonest, and sometimes both. (And I should probably point out that these were fundamentalist types - I know, I know, there are plenty of Christians out there who can justify their beliefs without attacking atheism.)

The thing is, these folks seem like a real fun bunch. While they can sometimes be slightly aggressive in their criticisms, most of them are just plain old funny. What seems to be happening is that a loose camraderie is starting to form amongst us. Now, many of you know me, and you know that it's difficult to get me to socialize sometimes. However, if these folks all lived close by me, I'd be really excited about having them over for dinner and/or homebrews (not sure if they all like beer or not). Kirsti (my wife, for those of you who don't know) reads the blog as well, and she's often asking me, "Hey, did you see what (fill in a Raytractor's name here) wrote?" She posts less than I do, but she enjoys their wit, intelligence, and devotion to intellectual honesty just as much as I do.

One thing that I find interesting is that many of them are women. Now, perhaps this reveals an inner sexism in me, but generally speaking (and I think that there are even statistics that prove this) women are less likely to be skeptical of the supernatural and more likely to believe not only in God but things like astrology. Perhaps that's turning around now that women are being encouraged to not just be nurturing homemakers (which there's nothing wrong with) but thinkers and scholars as well (which there's everything right with). I know that if I have a daughter, I'll expect her to look at the world objectively and critically just the same as I would with a boy. (And yes, I realize that she may very well wind up disagreeing with my religious views.)

So, a big shout out and raise of the homebrew mug to my fellow Raytractors! I've recently created a list of links to some of their blogs on the side of my Blogspot blog (sorry, MySpace readers - you'll have to go there to check it out). It's good reading, so check it out. And, if there are any Raytractors whose blogs I've missed, please leave a comment so I can be sure to include you.

This made me happy

I realize that I am often rather sarcastic, snarky, perhaps even belligerant on this blog. Please believe me when I say the following, as I am using absolutely no sarcasm whatsoever:

The video below made me so happy that I literally got some tears in my eyes. It goes on a little long, but I can only imagine it not touching you in some way if you're absolutely dead inside.


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Look who's on the cutting edge of progress!

I read an interesting article this morning in my local paper. For those of you who don't pay attention to what's going on in the state that's run by a guy who beat The Predator (no - not Minnesota - their former governor was killed by The Predator!), there has recently been a Supreme Court decision to overturn the ban on same sex marriage. Some of the fallout of this decision has included: boils, frogs, locusts, water turning to blood, and pineapple no longer being refreshing and delicious. Also, all of the straight men have become gay, and every traditional marriage has now completely collapsed.

Probably the most significant bit of fallout (apart from the whole pineapple thing) is that certain people are moving forward to amend the state's Constitution to ensure that marriage remains between a man and a woman. These people are known as the T.F.A., which stands for Total Fucking Assholes. (Oh, I'm sorry, opponents of same-sex marriage - does that offend you? How does that feel? As bad as not being able to be with your loved one who's dying in the hospital because you're not technically "family"? As bad as being told that you're going to hell because of who you love? As bad as being called degenerate, perverted, etc? Man, that's gotta suck. I really should care more about your feelings.)

Anyway, the article stated that there are apparently a significant number of Mormons who aren't getting behind this whole Constitutional amendment thing. This is significant for two reasons. One, the church leaders are urging them to get involved with it. Two, the Mormon Church was one of the biggest voices in the anti-gay marriage proposition of eight years ago. Apparently, the times are changing.

I'll be honest with you. There are some things about Mormonism that really make me scratch my head in bewilderment. However, that's pretty much true of any religion, so there's nothing special about them in that regard. The one thing that I find interesting about them though is that they believe that God continues to reveal Himself. In other words, it all doesn't end with The Bible, nor does it end with The Book of Mormon. The revelations keep coming, and this allows them to change their values with the times - which I personally see as a positive thing. Now, sometimes they can be a bit behind (took a while to finally let black people join the church), but at least they're able to adapt and evolve. I think that this is a reason why Mormonism will continue to be strong long after many other Christian denominations blur into one another.

So, obviously the Mormon church as an institution isn't quite where it should be in terms of equal rights for all people, but it looks like many of the Mormons themselves are using their reason and compassion istead of just blindly following what their leaders tell them.

It gives a guy like me hope.

War on the 4th of July

Quick, somebody call Bill O'Reilly!

Today, after buying some cheese from the deli counter at my local Nob Hill, the lady wished me a "Happy Holiday".

I dropped all of my things and growled at her. "Holiday? Holiday? HOLIDAY??? What the hell???"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I meant Happy 4th of July!"

"That's Independence Day, bitch!" I said to her. "What's the matter, do you hate freedom? Don't you know that, according to Sean Hannity, this is the greatest, best, most amazing, nacho-cheesiest country on the planet and all of its corresponding other dimensional realities? Hannity has conducted a very scientific survey, and his conclusions are air-tight!"

"Okay, Happy Independence Day then!" She was looking at me like I was the one who was being an asshole.

I didn't let her get away with that. I then stood there, with my hand on my heart and said the Pledge of Allegiance. (I even did it one better by saying "under the one, true God, Jesus Christ" instead of just "under God".) That was just a warm-up though, as I then proceeded to sing "The Star Spangled Banner" and then "America the Beautiful." After that, I recited the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, The Gettysburg Address, Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, several of George W. Bush's malopropisms, and the lyrics to "Proud to be an American" and several other songs, most of them by Toby Keith.

By this point, there were several people staring - as if there was something wrong with being patriotic! I then shouted at them that they all hated America. To really drive my point home, I leaped over the deli counter and cold-cocked the Blame America Firster, knocking her mask off to reveal - Osama bin Laden! I should have known! But wait, it gets worse - as I went in to punch him again, I noticed that he was wearing another mask! I pulled it off to reveal none other than King George!

"You've failed, your majesty," I said to him as I kicked him square in the nuts.

Why did I do all that? Because I'm a patriot, dammit. Now, pass me a Bud while I eat hot dogs and watch shit blow up.

Writing an epic

I'll write more about this on my creative writing blog, but I have been working on a huge, epic story since summer started. Whether I'll ever attempt to get this published or not is an issue that I'm not dealing with right now, as I'm mainly just doing it for myself. Still, I'd love to get feedback from anybody who's willing to read it. Last night, I had just finished the second chapter, and below are a couple of PDFs of what I have so far.

Do check it out, as after I reread it, I honestly believe that it's pretty entertaining. Imagine a superhero story set to the voice that I write my blogs - toss in some spiritual issues, Jesus, Satan, Greek and Slavic mythology, and even a few zombies, and there you have it. Any comments and/or criticisms are welcome.

Book I
Book II

What is art?

Since I have some time off, I decided to take advantage of Free Museum Day in San Francisco (first Tuesday of the month - for many of them, anyway) and check out the SF Museum of Modern Art and the Cartoon Art Museum. I've been to the Cartoon one before, but it was my first trip to SF MOMA. Actually, that's not entirely true, as there was an exhibit of props from the original Star Wars trilogy there years ago, and being the geek that I am, I checked it out.

It's funny, because I remember something in the program about how the museum wasn't going to comment on whether the props were actually "art" or not. I wondered why not. Why not just call it art? I mean, just because it was created in the service of popular entertainment, does that somehow devalue it? The people who designed the ships, costumes, sets, etcetera certainly had to have artistic talent, and they drew inspiration from a variety of sources. Obviously, each one wasn't following their own unique vision, but it's definitely a creative endeavor. In my mind, that's what makes it art.

Anyway, I know that a lot of people cringe when they hear the term "modern art." They think of stuff that elicts the response, "I could do that." You know, different colored squares. Big splotches of paint. That sort of a thing. They want to see things that look like the things that they're supposed to be. They like cabins in the woods, mountains, rivers, trees, etcetera.

It's interesting, because I recently watched a documentary on the Nazis and Hitler's particular artistic aesthetic a while ago called Architecture of Doom. It showed how Hitler had some very definite ideas about what counted as art and what didn't. He liked the classical looks. He liked beauty and heroic-looking figures. Anything that was distorted or abstract was food for the fires. Go figure that Hitler would be so closed minded, huh?

As for me, I'm willing to admit my ignorance when it comes to art. I like what I like, but I don't think that I'm really consistent about what I enjoy. I really enjoyed the works of Rembrandt when I went to the Reichsmuseum in Amsterdam, and I would stand there mesmerized at somem of his works just absorbing the amazing attention to detail. As for paintings of little cabins in the woods that you see in hotel rooms, they don't do much for me. I mean, they're nice and all, but I find them to be rather uninspiring. They're just kinda there, ya know?

What about the more abstract stuff though? I don't care for the works of Jackson Pollock, but I've had a couple of people, who know a whole lot more about art than I do, explain what was good about him. I understood what they meant, and it made some sense. At the end of the day though, it just doesn't look very good to me. That's the thing though, I don't want to be one of those people who are instantly critical of anything that's abstract. While I realize that some of it might be popular due to pretentious people who want to sound smart, I also realize that my own ignorance hinders my appreciation somewhat.

So, going through SF MoMA, I decided to just keep an open mind and have a look around. Much of it didn't do anything for me, but there were some pieces that I really liked. One was really wild, and pretty hard to explain, but there was something about the way it all came together and played with my vision that appealed to me. There was some other stuff that was pretty abstract, where I didn't know what I was looking at, but there was either something about the colors or design that appealed to me. I can't explain what's good about it; I just liked it.

So, when is it art and when is it not? Does it matter so long as at least one person enjoys it?

Tired of music

There have been a few cds coming out over the past few months that I've had some interest in getting. I planned on getting the new releases of Death Cab for Cutie, Weezer, and Coldplay. Yet, for some reason, I haven't yet.

I don't know. I guess I'm just starting to feel a bit uninspired by a lot of the new music I've been hearing lately. Death Cab for Cutie's new single is pretty good, but it just doesn't scream out to me "buy the whole album!" Weezer's last cd was pretty blah, and what I've heard of the new one just doesn't do much for me. It's not bad, but it's just not going to get as many listens as their first three discs did, I just know it. As for Coldplay, I've heard a few of their new songs now, and absolutely none of them are doing anything for me. I'm willing to concede that maybe I need to listen to them some more, as Coldplay was one of those bands that I originally didn't think much of, but slowly they grew on me.

I probably should point out here that I downloaded the new Raconteurs album from Amazon.com. That's some damn good music, and I've been listening to it quite a bit. The new one by The Black Keys is pretty good as well, so it's not like I'm totally turned off to all new music.

I remember when pop and rock music used to be a lot more exciting for me. In high school and college, I used to keep up with all the new bands and with what was going on in music. Like so many others, as I got older, I paid less attention, and the new music I got was mainly new releases by bands that debuted when I was paying attention. I also had pretty much drained the classic rock well, as there just didn't seem to be much out there that appealed to me anymore, as I already owned pretty much the entire catalogue of Beatles, Creedence, The Who, etc. I wasn't going to start listening to butt-rock like Boston, Bad Company, and Foreigner, that's for damned sure. (I should also mention that I got into a Blues phase for a while there, and while I still list it as one of my favorite genres - let's be honest, you can buy a disc or two by a particular artist and you have all you need from them.)

And when I do pay attention, I'm pretty underwhelmed. Every now and then, I'll hear something that impresses me. Luckily my wife still pays attention to what's popular, and a few years back while she was watching some awards show, I was introduced to The Hives, The Vines, and The White Stripes (the latter of which becoming probably one of my favorite bands). Now, I'm not so foolish as to say that music was better back when I was a teenager - there was plenty of crap. I guess I was just less discerning then, as certain entries in my cd collection prove. (I mean - do I really need all of the Van Halen albums with Sammy Hagar? Do I really need even one of them? Isn't Van Halen and 1984 with David Lee Roth enough?)

Much of the rock I hear now strikes me as being pretty blah, as it seems like a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy. When I hear it, I don't hear a riff or a melody, and it sounds like the singer is forcing a melody over music that's just one chord over and over again. (At this point, I will admit that my musical ignorance is preventing me from having the proper verbage to say exactly what it is that I mean.) I mean, think of Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker." Got that guitar riff in your head? That's the kind of thing that I'm not hearing from a lot of the rock bands of today. (Not that everybody should be doing Zeppelin-like riffs - but there does need to be some sort of a hook.)

Now, before you start saying, "But what about (fill in the blank here)" I am sure that there are a lot of really good bands out right now that I haven't heard yet. I sometimes listen to the radio (106.5 - KWOD) and I'll hear some good stuff. I also admit that some of these bands seem pretty crappy on the first listen, but then I later have to swallow my words and admit that there's something to them. (My Chemical Romance seems to be one of these. I thought that they were really lame at first, but the more I hear of them, the more interesting their music gets.) Still, I have always been of the mind that 90% of everything is crap - and nothing proves that moreso than popular music.

I was in the city today and I stopped off at the Virgin Megastore. While browsing around, I saw a bunch of cds by new rock bands (including some of the ones I mentioned at the beginning) and debated buying them. I didn't struggle too much in passing them by. However, when I went to the top floor, I started checking out the jazz section. There were about three Coltrane cds that I didn't have, and I gave each one a listen. I wanted to buy them all, as I've been listening to him quite a lot. I listen to music when I take my dog on a walk, and his albums have been getting a lot of play from me. I settled on just one - Lush Life.

There was also a listening station for a bunch of World Music compilations. They had discs on everything from African dance to European cafe music to Americana. I listened to a bit of each one, and I wanted to buy them all (about fifteen or so). I limited myself to the Afro-Latin Party disc, and I can't wait to play it next time I'm cooking in the kitchen. I'm sure that I'll be shaking my butt and dancing in a horrific manner that would instantly kill any passer by who's unfortunate enough to look in my window. (Fear for my wife.)

It's funny, but for as underwhelmed as I'm feeling about pop and rock music, I'm starting to get really excited about jazz. I feel as though there's a whole world of good stuff out there that I still have to discover, and my wallet will feel lighter as a result. I'm still figuring out what I like and what I don't about jazz, and it's almost like when I got my first cd player - I've got a lot to learn.

I doubt that my love affair with rock music is over. It's just in a bit of a lull right now as I broaden my horizons a bit. The thing is, a lot of the music I find myself liking isn't what I'm going to hear on the radio - maybe on one of the XM stations that my satellite company provides, I suppose. I have to take the time to look for it - but whenever I get something really good, I definitely feel rewarded.



"Betece" by Africando - one of the bands on the Afro-Latin Party cd.