Strange World

Ok, it's been a while since I posted, but there is an excuse. I've been busy, and unless you are married and have half a dozen kids to concern yourself with, you won't understand.

That being said, I haven't had my head stuck in the sand. There are so many things that are going on in this weird wild world of ours, that I want to use this post to try and show some of the mile high observations I've made.

A lot of other people have been diving into the minutiae. I have to give credit to the people who I read daily.

Little Green Footballs;
Charles Johnson has done more to expose the scam and swindle mentality of the traditional media than anyone else. Let's face it he has forced the media to pay attention.

EU Referendum;
The most complete chroniclers of this current rash of shameful media dishonesty.

Zombie Time;
He has taken some of the best photos and videos of nutcase San Francisco protests.

Hot Air;
Witty, intelligent, and they give us videos staring Michelle Malkin!

Jawa Report;
All your fakes belong to us... ROTFLMAO! That is just greatness!


OK, so you are still reading, and that's a good sign.

I'm perplexed by the many insidious implications that the current rash of violence has. I see things like Michelle Malkin's Vent and wonder how none of this ends up on the so-called news.

How many hours did the national news outlets spend on the latest developments in the Jon Bennet Ramsey case last month? Yet not a single on of these networks took more than thirty seconds to talk about the photoshopped "News" photos that Reuters put into distribution. Of course Fox News was the only one that even did that! Fox has become as bad as the rest of them as far as I'm concerned. Not in the way that they lean, but in expending enormous amounts of time on stories that really don't mean anything.

Is a plane crash, due to stupidity, really more important than an American citizen broadcasting Al Manar out of his home on Staten Island?

These are things that we really need to address as a consuming public if we want our children to see their grand children. I want actual news. I don't care if a three legged dog ran a race today. I'm tired of the media being consumed by tawdry scandals . What does it mean to my life if John Mark Karr really killed Jon Bennet Ramsey? NOTHING! It has absolutely no bearing on my life. What if Iran gets nuclear weapons? See what I'm talking about? Some things are just a little bit more important.

Master!!!

Ok, we all know what it takes to become a great musician, right? Dedication, practice, and of course some talent never hurt anyone. My question is what does it take to master an instrument that no one cares about? There are people out there who take up the Banjo, Bagpipes, or Bassoon. Why? I am obviousely a drummer, by no means does that mean I've mastered the drums. I like to many other things, so my focus has never been completely on my music. I do however know many people who have mastered their instuments. Like Rhett Butler, Phil McNeese, and Martin McCall. These guys are masters of their craft. They have dedicated literaly years of their lives to honing their skills.

But when you are becoming a great guitar, bass, or drum player there are immediate payoffs. You instantly become more attractive to the opposite sex. You enter into the fraternity of musicians and feel instantly like you have more friends. There are none of these benefits to mastering the Ukulele, but this guy did it anyway. Check him out.

OK, I admit it... I'm a slacker!

For those of you who religousely read this sad excuse for a blog... Last month was a big week for me! Oh, no I didn't make a mistake there, because last month didn't feel like a month, it felt like a week.

How? you ask? Well, let's start off. On Memorial Day I met a woman, two days later our children met for the first time, and then a week after our first meeting we decided to get married!


Ok, I know what you're thinking, "Gee, that's really fast to make that decision!" Well, you don't know the half of it! We decided to forget the long engagement, and opted to be married on June 17th. So I've now been married for a couple of weeks, and my wife and I have moved into a new place where the six (again not a typo) children that we now have are free to roam.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. I started a new job as well. Ok, so it's more like a new career, in a totally different industry, but none the less Life is GOOD!

Time flies when you're having fun!

Time stands still when you are looking for a new job.

I've been in the job market for a few months and I've got to tell you... it sucks. Spending hour after hour on Monster, HotJobs, Dice, and every other job forum out there is sucking my will to live. I've calculated that for every 150 jobs I apply for I get 3-5 responses. The worst thing is that my e-mail has been inundated with e-mail about "Exciting opportunities". Let me be real clear, I need money, and that is a very immediate need. I don't need a job that I can possibly make $100 grand my first year, but won't see a penny for at least 60 days. That doesn't work for me.

So here is the tale of an interview I went on that had me on the verge of murder. I got a call back from the "HR" person, and he scheduled an interview for me. I was pretty excited, they had a nice website, even though it was pretty vague. Also the job I was interviewing for sounded like exactly my cup of tea.

I arrive about 15min early (as I always do for interviews), and introduce myself to the receptionist. She told me the before the interview she needed me to fill out a questionnaire and an application. Ok, I hate this practice. You have my resume on file, and even if your server crashes, I have a hard copy with me! Why do you feel the need to make me fill out an application? Of course being the nice guy I am I just sat down and filled out the application, returned it to the receptionist, and she hands me the survey. I understand the reason for the surveys, the are pseudo-scientific questionnaires that supposedly give the company a window into your soul.

After all is said and done I've finished the survey, and now it is the time that I was officially supposed to arrive for my interview. Of course this company was obviously not ready for my efficiency, and I proceeded to wait for another thirty minutes! I was just about ready to leave when a guy came out and introduced himself to me.

Let's get something straight, I'm a 32yr old man, I have over 7 years work experience in the IT industry, and have managed networks with over 500 nodes. My interviewer couldn't have been more that 21.

He started off with the typical rah-rah speech, and started to outline how the company works. Drawing on the board he started a diagram and low and behold, it was a pyramid. According to him the great thing about this company was that all promotion was done from within. Even the VP was once the lowest man on the totem pole.

I was pretty pissed by this point, half my day and a quarter tank of gas was now gone. So, I decided to ask some questions. What's the base? Nothing. What is the commission percentage? Uh, What? Is there re-embursment for expenses? No. Oh, and the second interview was a day long "drive-along".

So this was the IT version of Amway. I asked him how long he'd been doing this "job", and he's only been in it for a couple of months. I asked he had done before coming to this company, and he had been a waiter at Chile's.

I walked out of there feeling used. The plus side is that I came out wiser. I have turned down "interviews" since with many companies that are similar in nature. My question is how many people have been sucked in. So desperate to find a job back in the IT field that they are willing to go to work for a 21yr old without industry experience. And just wait and hope to make a dollar.

Mike

Immigration reform

This is a touchy subject, but we need to talk about it. Not everyone agrees what should be done about illegal immigration, but I think we can all agree that something has to be done. Now I realize the hard-liners on both sides will start to scream, but we need to secure the border, and we can not deport all the illegals.

Here's how I see it going down;

1) Secure the borders, without that the rest is meaningless.
2) Start a guest worker program for the people who are already here, and have been here for more than a year.
3) Have a $1000 fee for getting the visa and a reasonable time period for them to comply in.
4) Upon application for the Visa you must declare whether or not you intend to become a U.S. Citizen.
5) Every person who applied would be issued a LEGAL temporary worker's permit.
6) If you were pulled over, or otherwise detained after the drop dead date, and didn't have proper a permit, you would be deported.

That's a good start. I would also want required citizenship classes for anyone who wants to come here and work if only temporarily. Our nation is a melting pot, it's one of the things that makes this country great. This notion of Multiculturalism is what is dividing us. More later.

Mike (one man melting-pot) Skembo

Keep checking back

Inspired by my first comments, (thanks Erik and Janika) I have started writing a post for the ages! Trust me, that post (unlike this one) will be worth reading.

To tempt your taste buds, I am righting a timeless peice on relationships, and the difference between dating girls you meet in bars and girls you meet in church. Guess which one feels better, stop that, I mean in the long run! For those of you who don't know me, I hate dating! It is such a beating... until it happens. That moment when you look in her eyes and see that she feels the same way about you as you feel about her.

Ok, it's been a long time since I've looked in a woman's eyes and seen that look, probably four years. The pitifull thing is it's all chance.

Mike (Taking a chance) Skembo

My battle with addiction

Today I have realized that I am addicted. To something that I never thought would be a problem for me... "24". You heard me right, I am addicted to the Fox TV show "24". Every Monday I hope I can get out of work on time so that I don't miss the opening minutes of the show. While some people were complaining that the President's address to the nation was going to delay "24", I was glad, that meant that I would not have to drive 100mph down I-30 in order to get home and watch my show. Hey, I might even be able to eat before hand!

So what makes this show so addicting? I have been trying to figure out the answer to this question for a while. I think the true answer is, Everything! The show has it all. The actors are divinely top drawer, and the writers aren't afraid to kill off major characters mid season. Truly Jean Smart is an amazing actor, and it doesn't hurt that she is a hot older lady. If you have any doubts about her acting ability, check her out on youtube.com, she is truly amazing. The other actors on the show are just as great, and the characters have real depth and feel.

Just for the record, I know that 24 is a soap opera with guns. That's probably why I like it! You get to watch a chick flick without all the guilt! Really, who hasn't wanted to watch a terrorist get tortured, while a man confesses his true love to a woman. This is great stuff!

Of course none of this is works without great writing, and 24 has that in excess (we'll just leave out that the writers tried to kill off Aaron Peirce earlier this season). The writers seem to enjoy taking the plot somewhere completely different then you'd ever expect. All I can tell them is if they don't have Martha confess her undying love for Aaron before the end of this season, I will never watch again... Until next season. That's right no re-runs for me and I mean it!

Ok, so my title is probably a little mis-leading. I'm not battling it, because I like it!

Mike (Soap Opera With Guns) Skembo

Blah blah blah!

Ok, it's been a while since I updated my blog (not that anyone is reading!) , but that doesn't mean that I haven't been working. Currently I am writing a book, and making some progress. Of course progress is relative, but a good friend of mine has been proof reading for me. The great thing about having a proof reader is they catch things that you miss. The downside is that has meant a lot of re-writes. I've chosen to view that as a good thing. I'm debating posting the first chapter on my blog, but I'm not sure if I'm willing to be that naked right now. On the band front, Dean will be arriving back on the 29th! Hopefully that means we will get to play again. It's been rough not playing, but Steve's cousin stopped by and we jammed with him on bass. His Mom, Lisa, was there too, and she recorded the jam. I am personally in awe of the quality of the recording, both sound and video. If I can figure out how to put that up on here I will, otherwise I will post it to MySpace.

Ok, I haven't really addressed this on my blog yet, so I will put it out there. I've been doing the online dating thing lately, and it has been a positive experience for the most part. Of course only one of the women I met lives within a convenient dating distance. The cool thing is that I have met three different women that are close enough that it would be acceptable. Of course I feel like a sleaze. Some guys can date several different women, deciding later on which one is his best match. I have never been that way. At the same time, I don't want to commit myself to one of them and then have to start over again when the feelings aren't returned. It's a totally different mindset dating with eternity in mind. Trying to concentrate on getting to know a woman is different for me, but it feels really good.

I know what your saying, "Mike, you're a musician! You're not supposed to have these types of feelings floating around!" Sorry to disappoint you, but contrary to what my ex might say, I am not dead inside!

Well, that's enough from me for now. I'll try to post more regularly, but I promise nothing!

Up to no good!

OK, this has been a really strange week. It all started with me agreeing to go to Missouri and help my Dad build his log home. Of course being the over acheiver that he is, he got Oak logs instead of pine. Just for the record... Oak is 31-58lbs per square foot, and Pine is 22-35. Multiply that times 10ft long logs that are 18in high and 12in wide... Yeah, that equals heavy! Well, I'll have to share more fun things from this trip later.

Mike