On the importance of U2

One of my best friends wrote a Facebook note about the upcoming U2 album, and how previous albums have played roles in his life.

There have been pivotal moments in my life coinciding with U2 albums, but I guess I never really paid attention to it.
I can reduce it to this... The U2 albums I like most really don't speak to the honesty and grittiness that gave the band their start and their flavour; their soul, if you will. I mean, I have damn-near all of them. Boy, War, Unforgettable Fire, Rattle and Hum, etc... They're all classics, and they all feel as honest as the day is long.
But they're not my favorites.

• Achtung Baby is one of my all-time favorite albums. Musically and poetically, it's one of the richest albums I can think of. And they used everything they could to make that album and their namesake a true bellwether of popular culture. Their 'One' videos? Stunning. My favorite was the one with all the buffalo.
• I really like Zooropa. It's kind of a bat-shit crazy album, actually, and that brand of craziness was endemic of the relationship I was in at the time. Kray-Zee! We're talking Flava Flav Kray-Zee...
• Passengers is just so amazing on so many levels. If I have to explain why, you won't get it. But it is, so deal with it.

To be honest with you, All That You Can't Leave Behind was a sort of nail in the coffin for me. I think it kind of sucked. There are a couple catchy ones in there -- The Edge's towering, enigmatic guitar riffs in 'New York' shouldn't be missed, and 'In a Little While,' which, allegedly, Bono sang to Joey Ramone on his deathbed.

Otherwise, I think it's insipid.

I won't turn my back on U2, but I'm probably not the typical fan. When I saw them in Cleveland some years back (help me out, Joe... When was that? 2000?), it really was one of the very best concerts I had ever seen. Not only did they sounds so very good, but they sounded so very good. This is to say, the sound quality at the show was the best I had ever heard.

And, they performed 'Stay (Far away, so close!),' which is one of my faves.

I'll leave it with this:

Bono was able to verbalize, in just a few short words, my sentiments about religion:

"The god I believe in isn't short of cash, mister."

Solving the country's problems -- a running commentary, v1.0

I think that I'm far from a political visionary but from time to time, I feel it necessary to demonstrate my command of the obvious. I typically do this among friends on a mailing list that I've been a part of since 1997 -- hard to believe it's been that long. Most of us know each other quite well, and most of us would call each other friends.

Last week, we got on the topic of THEY. You know... them? Somewhere in New York, probably along the Avenue of The Americas, there has to be an office building which houses an office. On the door to this office bears a placard which reads:

THEY

And, that's where you can find them.

Anyway, this particular conversation started, somehow, with one of the people on the list bringing up the subject of banning all peanut products in schools. Now, this is issue is actually two-fold. On the one side, there's the recent salmonella-in-peanut-products outbreak (and that's where the author of this subject got started), and there's the peanut allergy issue which, while rare, is very real for those who are deathly allergic to [peanuts].

From there, the conversation shifted to how schools are run, and how silly it is that certain things happen there. The issue turned into "Zero Tolerance" initiatives implemented by many school systems today. The quote that started it for me was as follows:

"Don't forget "Zero-tolerance" rules... A kid with a knife at school------
a butter knife! A kid with drugs at school------- aspirin! A kid kissing a girl
without her consent (sexual harassment)---- 4- yrs. old! All suspended or even
expelled.

Stupid."

He's right. It is stupid. However, those zero-tolerance rules were developed and implemented by school boards -- school boards that you and I elected. They don't spontaneously generate or work autonomously. If they do, and you don't like it, fire them.

People usually don't realize that there is a zero-tolerance policy at their children's' school until an example is made of a student. Maybe it's a child bringing a butter knife to school (why he or she would bring a butter knife to school escapes me, but whatever; I don't think it's any more lethal than a pen or pencil), or a bottle of Tylenol that a parent gave him, because the parent feels that her son is capable of regulating his medication. And that's fine. Certainly by age 12 or 13 I don't think my parents were too concerned about me O/D-ing on OTC drugs -- or any drugs for that matter.

The school board has no choice but to follow the letter of the law that they wrote. Now there's outrage. 15 second soundbites have mothers and fathers decrying such draconian measures. "How could THEY do this?"

But no one ever wants to ask these people where they were for the school board meetings, which are very public, very open and very-much rely on feedback from the people the board serve.

So it all comes back to the responsibility of individual parents. If the same four people keep coming to the meetings -- probably the same four people who voted in the school board election -- the only information the people sitting on the board will get is from a hugely misrepresented populace.

School boards across the country, every day, put out desperate pleas to parents to attend the meetings. Parents are too busy, I guess --or they're not interested in what happens.

So everyone, please... Seriously. Stop the bullshit. Saying, "THEY" are doing this to "ME" and my family. It's all "THEIR" fault. It's "THEM." As the saying goes, "They is us." We do this to ourselves. It's just easier to blame someone else because we couldn't be bothered with voting or lobbying for something we believe in -- or don't believe in; our children's schooling.

Our school boards and public offices would be very different places if people invested real time and dug deeply to choose the candidates who represented their beliefs. My family makes fun of me because I vote absentee. I spend as much time as it takes to review as much information as I can find about the candidates to make some semblance of an informed decision. It often takes me several hours -- because really, who among us really knows who any of the various court candidates or county commissioner candidates are?

Heady topics for a collection of people who have been brought together by a 20 year-old motorcycle that was a sales failure in the US.

Ducati's Latest, Tastiest Offering

So, with the passing of the new year, the annual IMS has come and gone. It was, again, kind of a yawner. No surprises, and not really anything there that I would plunk down hard-earned cash on -- if I had extra said hard-earned cash lying about.

Except for one.

The new Ducati Streetfighter.

It's ridiculous, and hopefully, one of my friends will buy one so I can blag a ride.

A 155 hp 1098 powerplant makes this move when you twist the loud handle.  I can hardly wait to try it.