Now There's More Than One Magical Thing Happening the Second Week of July

As if the anticipation of the sixth installment of Harry Potter wasn't already giving me heart palpitations, but OMG , finally finally finally The State is being released on DVD. According to TV Shows on DVD this long overdue release is slated for July 14th (gah! only one day before HP searches for horcruxes!). So now if you missed the sketch comedy show the first time around, and weren't cool enough to buy a few selected episodes on VHS tape, this is your chance to get with it. Do you like Wet Hot American Summer, Stella, and/or Reno 911!? The genius of all of 'em was birthed from The State. Grab your fattest Sharpie and mark your calenders for 7/14/09 so next time I tell you I'm seeing Stella at 6th and I Synagogue you act a little more jealous (I was seriously disapointed when I said I stood a foot from Micheal Showalter and you were like "Who?"). If you can't have Piggy-Shoes that make piggy sounds every time you step down on the heel, than The State DVDs are defintely the next best thing!

Jocular Jaunt Overs: Life Imitating Art and Vice Versa Edition

The awesomeness of Obama's State of the Nation address last night is really threefold. Not only did we get to see a positive, excited, fresh, can do attitude from the US president, we also got to bask in the warmth of VP Joe Biden's ear to ear smile (as a friend of mine said "I need a piece of currency with his face on it!"). However, though both of these things are undeniably awesome, the the sweetest cherry of them all was the GOP response from Louisiana Gov. Bobby "Castrate 'Em!" Jindal. We learned so much from Jindal last night. Mainly that Americans can do anything (sweet! take that laws!) and that Kenneth the Page from 30 Rock isn't really the exaggerated character we all thought him to be. So for those of you who have not had the pleasure of comparing Gov. Jindal to Kenneth the Page in the last 24 hours, here's your chance! Just jaunt on over to The Huffington Post and check out Jindal's white, spindly doppelganger in action.

But wait! I've got something else up my sleeve...I know you hunger for more hilarity so jaunt on over to Geekologie and enjoy some Obama sushi.

Domestic Dispute My Ass! When 3 Family Members Are Killed by Another Family Member It's DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

Jennifer Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, was not arguing with her son-in-law, William Balfour, over taking out the trash. They didn't have a screaming match over who finished the milk and put the empty carton back in the fridge. Darnell Donerson, Jason Hudson, and Julian King were not victims of a domestic dispute. They were shot to death. Darnell Donerson, Jason Hudson, and Julian King are victims of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. That is of course if the shooter/perpetrator/abuser was in fact the main suspect in the case, William Balfour.

Mr. Balfour (Julian's step-father, Jason's brother-in-law, Darnell's son-in-law), has convictions for attempted murder, carjacking and possession of a stolen motor vehicle, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections. The Huffington Post reports that "Hudson's mother and brother had thrown him out of their Englewood house in the past." It goes on to state this very important bit of information: "Julia Hudson also told police that Balfour had threatened the family. A source said Balfour told Julia Hudson he would kill her if he found out she had a boyfriend, despite the fact that he had other girlfriends." (Emphasis Mine)

Why, with all of this knowledge, is the media and those involved in the case still cowering away from calling the murders what they suspect them to be, an act of: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE? Superintendent Jody Weis, of the Chicago police, literally said that "the murders and the child’s disappearance seemed to be part of a domestic dispute." I know that no convictions have been made, but if they're going to speculate, how hard is it to to replace DISPUTE with VIOLENCE.

Now for a trip over to Dictionary.com. I hate to be that writer, but in this case since we are debating (or disputing if you will) what words really mean, I think it's necessary. Here's a list of definitions for the word "dispute:"

1.	to engage in argument or debate.

2.	to argue vehemently; wrangle or quarrel.

3.	to argue or debate about; discuss.

4.	to argue against; call in question: to dispute a proposal.

5.	to quarrel or fight about; contest.

6.	to strive against; oppose: to dispute an advance of troops.

7.	a debate, controversy, or difference of opinion.

8.	a wrangling argument; quarrel.

Skipping on over to the V's we find the word "violence:"

1.	swift and intense force: the violence of a storm.

2.	rough or injurious physical force, action, or treatment: to die by violence.

3.	an unjust or unwarranted exertion of force or power, as against rights or laws: to take over a government by violence.

4.	a violent act or proceeding.

5.	rough or immoderate vehemence, as of feeling or language: the violence of his hatred.

6.	damage through distortion or unwarranted alteration: to do editorial violence to a text.

Paying particular attention to entry #2, "rough or injurious physical force, action, or treatment: to die by violence," I think I have made my point.

If the police think that this abhorrent crime was committed by a family member, thus using the word "domestic," can't they concede that since the Hudson family was shot to death in their own home, the correct word to describe the crime is in fact "VIOLENCE" not "dispute."

The Hudson family did not argue, quarrel, or debate with suspect, William Balfour, they were allegedly MURDERED by him. This is a suspected case of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, not a suspected case of a domestic dispute.

Scenes From a Pseudo Nouveau Punk Show

If it wasn't the meat head behind me shouting "Bad Religion is better...YOU wish you were Bad Religion," then it was the high school first timer on the other side bending over and pushing her sweaty ass into my friend and I every time the crowd swayed into her. Or maybe it was the shaggy haired 17 year old with his flip-flop wearin' tiny entitled girlfriend who started calling my other friend (who is twice his size) a "faggot" in between sets. Really it could have been any number of annoyingly unnecessary altercations, or peer jeers that made me want to leave the Baltimore NoFX show even before they played "Sticken' in My Eye." Actually, by the time Fat Mike stopped encouraging a 10 year old audience member to fist his teacher and got to telling me about his closest friend, linoleum, a quick punch to the back of my neck solidified this: I am done with the entire scene.

Well, fuck me then, right? It's a punk show, and a decade ago a younger Jason Segal entertained me for the first time with the idea that, "mayhem and punk shows...it's like peas and carrots." I know that. I'm down with mayhem. I've craved mayhem, and I've created mayhem. But, last night, as I set my empty water cup on the ground, just as another cup from someone behind me sailed over my head, it seemed mayhem and me are just going in different directions right now. It's becoming clear that our goals are different and honestly, we're really just growing apart.

After all these years, am I really left standing, wondering what changed? The scene or me?

What is this? Some stale bullshit realization about being too old for punk rawk? The same bullshit realization that the main character in the above film comes to? Or the same one that millions of songs from this genre write about? Well, fuck. It sure as hell is. Hey, if punk is dead, then realizing you're too old for it is even deader. So how come this sentiment is more ancient than Chuck Taylor? Because at some point everyone, even Fat Mike (there's a reason they play clubs big enough to have that 5 foot barricaded off space between us and them), gets sick of being punched by teenagers. Not to mention being over that grody-to-the-maxx feeling when that fat sweaty, shirtless, skinhead slips past you on his way outta the pit. People's limits are different, and while I enjoyed watching the kids throwing elbows last night, I haven't been interested in doing it myself since I broke my finger at a 2003 Rancid show. And up until the few punches, asshole remarks, and beer spillage that amounted to last nights show, I still enjoyed standing off to the side screaming along with the band. NoFX may be over 40 and doing just fine, but shit, only weeks before turning 25 I'm too tired, and ouchy to do this much longer...

Fuck it...I've totally got tickets for Bouncing Souls and Strike Anywhere next week.