the next phase of the band saga is underway... DH says the shows have been going well, she likes the sound guy... the due date for the baby is just a week away... in the interim ive been doing various interviews, (phoners as they are referred to) numerous with australian media... much as i try i cant help but repeat myself when asked similar questions within a short span of time... but a lot of these journalists are bright and easy to talk to... one guy was surprised at my negative views about former mayor juliani or gewel any or whatever being that he was used to the mainstream view... im looking forward to getting over to europe to get a different perspective on whats going on in the world... from lately speaking to a lot of foreign writers i get the impression that the US is losing more international respect than ever... a french journalist told us that as he was leaving the country recently a customs person upon handing him back his 'papers' said "and dont come back!" 'freedom fries' etc etc americans have short memories it seems; pop stars come and go like waves on a beach and everyone has obviously forgotten completely that were it not for french support the US might still be a british colony... on the fourth of july we watched a particularly sad little parade in one of these upstate towns, 'floats' consisted of a lot of flatbed trucks with elderly people just sitting on chairs waving being hauled down the small main street, various shabby groups of firemen and military types all shouldering their respective weapons of choice: axes, rifles etc... the crowd was all decked out in its own uniform gap finery, stood about without any enthusiasm, this event was just something to do on a day off, the meaning of freedom liberty etc lost in the sale of plastic inflated happyface and spiderman balloons... its obvious now that the farther one gets from big urban areas the poorer the population becomes... will america become like some third world place where there is no middle class anymore only very rich and very poor? for all of our dull greatness we still are in a position to feed and clothe the parts of the world that need it though we all know this aint gonna happen; why spend a hundred dollars taking care of someone when we can spend a hundred thousand blowing them up?
    i hadnt really intended to write gloomy shit today but having free time now and thinking about what things will be like for the kid is taking up a lot of mental space... some of the reading i have been doing says this: that the human race is in decline, that all of our values are reversed; what we call primitive is of course the opposite, that the ancient races of people before history were the ones who were the advanced civilizations, that the metaphor of adam and eve is the current "fall" of mankind that has been going on since man decided he knew what was right and wrong for the world... and everyone seems to 'know' all of this stuff inside but doesnt seem to care enough to do anything about it
      youll have to forgive my moralizing right now, this went off on a tangent, i'll get back to band and related topics shortly
      for now peace out
          chris