A few free resources to help you make a difference

I'm a feeling a little agitated by the pitch and the furor of criticism aimed solely at the White House. I understand that Obama is a huge political figure and as one CNN pundit put it, "He blocks out the sun." However, let's think about who makes decisions that most directly affect our daily lives. If we really want to take control of our fates and ease the unsettling sensation that we're on a runaway train, we need to learn who our local politicians are, and what they're up to.

Breathe easy, I'm not going to get up on the soap box today, I'm only going to rest on it while I list a few resources you can use to become informed about your direct representation.

Harris County

If you are a registered voter in Harris County, you can visit the Harris County Tax Office website and simply fill out a voter search using your name and or address. Once you are able to view the results, you'll see a list of local and national representatives. The first step in moving our communities in a positive direction is to know who the decision makers are. Here's what my search results look like:

YOUR ELECTED DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVES IN PRECINCT 0173
U.S. Senator:	John Cornyn
U.S. Senator:	Kay Bailey Hutchison
U.S. Representative:	Michael McCaul
State Senator:	Dan Patrick
State Representative:	Allen Fletcher
Harris County Judge:	Ed Emmett
Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector:	Leo Vasquez
Harris County Commissioner:	Jerry Eversole
Harris County Constable:	Ron Hickman
Justice of the Peace Pos. 1:	Judge J. Kent Adams
Justice of the Peace Pos. 2:	Judge Tom Lawrence
State Board of Education:	Terri Leo

Fort Bend and Other Counties

If you live in Fort Bend county, you can perform the same search by visiting your Voter Registrar website.

If you live somewhere other than these counties, click here to find information about your county's voting system and public officials.

State Political Resources

Texas Legislature

Texas Senate

Supreme Court of Texas

Use these websites to see what is on the floor of Texas Congress. Knowing what bills are being debated empowers you to see where state and national political priorities are. Don't just rely on the national media networks to keep you informed. Being an independent thinker means going right to the source.

I know that some of the legislative material can be dense, but if you have questions call the office of your state representative and ask someone to explain it to you. That is what they are there for and YOU are the one keeping them employed. Take advantage of this.

National Politics

US Senate

House of Representatives

White House

Take a look to see what national issues are on the floor for debate here. Make it a goal to do this twice a month. Compare what you read here to what you see on your favorite news network and ask yourself if the media is trying to inform you, or if they're simply salesmen trying to keep your attention long enough to get to commercial break.

Houston City Hall

I don't know about you, but I'm embarrassed to say that I have no idea what goes on at City Hall. I don't know who my representatives are or what the hell they're up to. A lot of the decisions that take place downtown affect how and where businesses are able to operate, what lands are going to be taken for government use and other ordinances that can affect your commute, your taxes or even your child's access to education.

From the city's e-government portal, click on the Government tab and you'll find links to Houston City Hall minutes, links to several city services, and links to surrounding municipalities and other county resources.

A quiet call to arms

We need to spend less time on the couch, watching the news through the "soda straw" lens that the networks force us to use- and more time in each other's living rooms informing each other and discussing how we feel about how local, state and national government are shaping our country.

We are Americans. If we choose not to be involved, or to not use our first amendment rights, or to let the media become an arm of its advertisers and not our lens into government; we will no longer be Americans. We will become nameless consumers of whatever the hell TV is trying to sell us.

Take some time to check out the links, you'll feel better and be better for it.

Rodney Parker and Fifty Peso Reward

This Saturday my girlfriend and I went to see Randy Rogers at the Houston House of Blues. Looking forward to the concert all week, we didn't even think to see if there was an opening act. Have you ever heard of Rodney Parker and Fifty Peso Reward? We hadn't. But we're glad we have now.

They're a five man Texas country group from Denton that describe their sound as "alternative country" and "Americana".

Lead singer Rodney Parker looks like he picked up a guitar as soon as he quit the high school wresting team, but carries a great tune with his clenched jaw delivery (a la Lyle Lovett) and cowboy vocals. It doesn't take a trained ear to pick out the punk, alternative, and bluegrass elements in their "Americana" songs. The band takes you from bluegrass banjo riffs to head bobbing punk power chords so seamlessly that you don't mind spilling your seven dollar beer as you rock out.

Unassuming lead guitarist Zach Galindo drapes himself over his guitar and injects the band's sound with a healthy amount of blues and soul. Stage right, accompanist Danny Skinner might appear as if he missed a bus to Seattle, but he anchors a few songs with the down home twang of the banjo or the pub crawlin' accordion charm of their Irish sounding ditty I'm Never Gonna Get Married. Think along the lines of Charlie Robison's tune John OReilly.

Behind Parker and Galindo were drummer Gabriel Pearson and bass guitarist Brooks Kendall. Pearson kept the train rolling along throughout the steadily tempoed Texas Country pieces and brought a little punch during the grungy rock outs. I don't think I saw bassist Brooks Kendall break a sweat the entire night as he stood walking his bass, enjoying the crowd and his ice cold Lone Star.

These guys put on a fun show and I'll be back to see them again the next time they come through. Their first album The Lonesome Dirge is available in stores now.

Visit their Myspace page to listen to their songs including their new single Tell Me What It Is or their website, rodneyparker.com for more info on upcoming dates and band info.

A Knife Beneath Your Pillow

Bring Me a Gun

Shake

Your quarter life crisis solution

I've been writing four to eight hours a day lately and all the while I haven't been able to get this song out of my head,

"Stop, hey, what's that sound, everybody look what's going down..."
- Buffalo Springfield

It's a pretty familiar song that you may have heard on movie trailers, Coke commercials, and Vietnam era documentaries. The song has a slow, earthy sound like a soft breeze teasing wind chimes. It gives the listener a feeling as if "Change" were a palpable sensation.

As if the political and economic climate weren't enough reason to disturb our equilibrium, recent conversations with some fellow twenty-somethings have helped me understand that not only this moment in time, but this moment in life makes it hard for folks to feel secure in their paths.

It was during this time in life when Kafka wrote "Metamorphosis", and when Freud furthered psychodynamics. In short, it is during this time in life when we all try to make sense of the world around us, or make sense of ourselves.

Can you think of a better time? Many of us have completed our education and have had a taste of the fruits of our labor. We now begin to judge whether the path we've chosen was the right one and it seems to be a natural instinct to want to prioritize. Maybe because we have a sense of our own mortality and want to make sure that we live worthwhile lives. Maybe it's our genetics and socialization preparing us to stabilize ourselves enough to have kids and usher in the next round of wandering minds. Regardless of whether it is a "push" or "pull" impetus, it kinda sucks.

I've taken to calling this time a second adolescence- and you know what, we should embrace it...

Even if you've found yourself having a conversation that sounded like this:

Reality Bites

Now, more than ever, takes guts. For a while I felt as if I were limited by my degree, or my GPA, or prior work experience. And that sensation was largely oppressive. But the truth of the matter is, despite any external or internal limitations, we can all choose to follow our hearts and create our own success and security.

The first time I tried to commit to writing, my first writing mentor, Mr. Moody, criticized my work as not being "concrete" enough- not having sufficient support to validate my premises. Good advice at the time, and good writing advice in general.

But, Reader, if you want numbers and statistics today, find a good baseball blog. We're talking quarter-century existential fever today, and the only cure for quarter-century existential fever is more existentialism:

Helping me overcome social akwardness series: TV

The stand-bys

The Hills

I do not watch The Hills, per se. I'm merely in the room while The Hills is being watched. The Hills is to TV addicts, what Virginia Slims are to smokers: the last acceptable fix.

Having said that, fellas: watch the show. My girlfriend's eyes light up when I know which friend is flirting with the other one's ex. Know why Spencer is an epic d-bag, and that Whitney got her own show called "The City" (because stretching a title to four syllables might alienate their viewership)

And most importantly of all, you have to take on a cynical, non-nonchalant attitude that says to all your friends, "whatever, that show is weak I would never tune in Mondays at 9pm CST on MTV."


House MD

Dr. Gregory House is definitely one of the "smaht kids". It shocked me to find out that actor Hugh Laurie is British. I knew that dry sense of humor couldn't have been solely American. Laurie plays Diagnostician Dr. Gregory House- a limping, socially stunted and thoroughly brilliant physician who constantly berates his subordinates and keeps the awkward sexual tension alive with boss Lisa Edelstein. Mondays at 7pm CST on Fox.


The next potential ER: Southland

After The OC, Mischa Barton got a DUI and Benjamin McKenzie got his own prime time show on NBC. McKenzie played a rich SoCal kid on The OC and he plays a rich kid turned cop on Southland. Sounds like tv recycling characters ad naseum, but it actually works.

The show feels like Law and Order, but with an edge like The Wire. Even though the FCC will only let you push the envelope so much, the producers of Southland try to create an authentic "cop" feel by keeping colorful language on the show, but beeping it like you would see in Cops. I'm a cop show junkie and I have to tell you, for network TV this is a *beeping* good one.

Southland airs on NBC, Thursday nights at 9pm.

Chickens, mountain warfare and Shamal

Happy Earth Day people. There are plenty of trees that need huggin'. Those John Denver CDs won't play themselves, so let's get started.

I haven't celebrated Earth Day in, oh, seventeen years or so, but today I thought I would write out the three most memorable experiences I've had with Mother Nature. Enjoy.

Singin' songs about Texas

When I was young, I lived in East Texas for a short time, close to a town called San Augustine. We lived on one hundred acres of open pastures, stocked ponds and long, corrugated metal barns that housed chickens, and then pigs. The farm was carved out of tens of thousands of ancient, pine-covered acres: the East Texas thicket. The gulf winds would cut through the trees and howl like a locomotive finding new track in the evening.

In the mornings, free range hens would lay eggs, and it was always fun to find them deposited carefully in an old wheelbarrow or on top of a tattered burlap sack. Suffice it to say, seeing all that natural beauty as a kid made me aware of the world around me.

Girly men

Once my family moved back to Houston, it was harder to maintain my reverence for nature. It wasn't until I completed a Mountain Warfare Training Package in Bridgeport, California, that I regained my sense of awe.

We formed up at the base of the mountain nicknamed "94-94", called that for its elevation. As we started our ascent, slipping on the the shifting talus field, the sun erupted through the towering evergreens.We followed a path up hills and over crags and settled at a stream where we staged our gear. Our first challenge was learning how to cross a rapid stream.

The snow-melt fed stream was thirty yards wide, six feet deep and forty degrees cold. We stripped down to our "PT" (physical training) shorts, and linking our arms around each other's shoulders to form a circle, entered the gurgling, foaming torrent.

Eight inches of moving water can move a car. Six feet of icy water can make thirty half-naked Marines squeal like piglets. We were told that if we moved through the water, rotating as a group, we would be able to fight the current and get across safely. What they failed to mention were the affects of sudden cold on the human body. We began to turn the squad.

Once the water passes your ankles, it's only a matter of time before your feet go numb. No pain, no problem- keep turning Marines. Once the water passes your knees, your muscles start to stiffen, but your central nervous system starts sending messages like a giggling teenage girl clutching a Sidekick. The water reached my area of primary concern and achieved the effect President Bush had hoped for with the Shock and Awe campaign. Paralyzing terror.

Even though we made it across, we were never under the illusion that we were all of a sudden grizzled mountain men. We weren't traversing a mountain path, the mountain would decide whether or not to let us pass.

Round three

My third most memorable "nature" moment was watching an incoming sand storm when I was in Iraq. It started as a warm and heavy mid-afternoon. The sky darkened into a reddish brown blur, like some child smeared Texas clay on the horizon. We saw rapid flashes of lightning and grew anxious. The thunder sounded too much like mortar fire. We were standing at the back hatch of the chow hall, watching the shamal roll in from Syria.

Sergeant Oba took five steps outside.

"How long until it gets here, sergeant?" I said from the doorway.

"Fifteen, twenty minutes, maybe?"

Sgt. Oba stood, staring at the rolling cloud, his five-foot-three inch Hawaiian frame clutching to existence in front of the growing plume.

Staff Sergeant Klontz, a giant Kentuckian yelled over my shoulder, "Alright knuckleheads, stop gawkin' at that cloud like you want to take her britches off and lets finish up in here."

Oba turned around, his thumbs still hooked in his pockets, took one step and fell face first into the sand. I saw him fall out of the corner of my eye and spinning, ran out to meet him.

Four feet out of the door, a piece of hail, the size of a lemon, smashed into my chest so hard that I thought I had been shot. Oba crawled to me as I reached down to grab him by the back of his shirt. As we struggled back to the building, the cloud flickered with lightening; each bright moment spraying us with more hail.

We made it through the door in a daze, laughing at how ridiculous it all was. Oba and I looked at each other- I'm sure he saw the horror in my face that I saw in his. We were dripping in thick, red rain and for a moment, we both thought it was blood.

The storm raged through the night, dumping countless gallons of falling mud on our camp. The temperature dropped to near freezing and all we could do was shield our faces and perpetually re-stake our tents as the winds harassed us. Everyone made it out fine, but it took a few days to know for sure that we weren't on Mars.

Not exactly the same, but a cool video of a sandstorm

Happy Earth Day, after all

Those stories aren't necessarily the most endearing encounters with our Earth, but they left me with a sense of awe and a respect for nature. Even if we forgo the Earth Day festivities, we can all take a moment to appreciate the space around us. Yes, I really listen to John Denver.

Helping me overcome social akwardness series: Music

I love music, but chances are I don't know as much about it as you do. So, I need your help. Where do you go to get the latest news on music and pop culture? Post your comments, shoot an email or get in touch via Facebook. Thanks guys.




Here are the sites I use:

Rolling Stone
The standby

ENVY
The hot rookie on the block. Let Melissa school you on pop culture, album reviews and more. Proceed with caution, her wit is sharp.

Houston Chronicle
The local

Houston Press
The not so underground

Examiner.com
The shameless plug.


Your Suggestions

Thanks Mark: The man with the untouchable iPod himself suggested these awesome sites:

pitchfork.com
I thought Mark was recruiting for his cult again, but I was wrong- even though the odds were on my side. Pitchfork.com keeps you at the forefront with free tracks from up-and-comers as well as news and updates on our favorites. Which reminds me, I need to download the new Gorillaz album.

aquariumdrunkard.com
Blog covers a lot of indie stuff. The site has a great layout and the art content alone makes a visit worthwhile.

avclub.com
Covers the whole gambit: tv, film, movies and books. Really great reviews and interviews with some major stars. Just underground enough to make you cool.

I Know How Smaht You Really Aahh

I know him. He made a 3.8 in college without trying. He graduated from Medical School with honors.

Wait, he played rugby, lost a quarter (pronounced 'qatah' if we're sticking with the Good Will Hunting theme today) of his brain cells on the field, another quarter of them chanting "shoot-tha-boot" and swilling beer at post-game rugby parties and STILL got into a top-tier law school.

Or maybe you never knew she had a full ride to college- you never would have guessed because she was always at the best parties, with the prettiest people and was too approachable to be a genius.

I know her too. They're the smart kids.

I've had an unhealthy obsession with intellect. Partly because I'm intrigued by the human mind and partly because I dwell on insecurities regarding how smart I really am. Apparently, I'm not unlike a lot of Americans when it comes to questioning where I rank.

Lately, I've been inundated by ads telling me that I can quickly find out my IQ if I click on this link. Then, I'm transferred to a website where I take a ten-to-twenty minute test. And if I feel good about my results, they will text them to me for the low low cost of $1.99 plus standard messaging fees, of course.

This sounds familiar.

Do you remember Hotornot.com? Has anyone ever tried Hotornot.com? Come oooonnnnnn.

Surely you sir, the "Afflicted" one, you must have logged on to check out how much the internet community thought of your awesomeness. No?





Ok. Fine. Hard to believe, but I'll take your word for it.

BTW, the cell-phone-in-the-mirror-trick: classic.








You ma'am? Oh, I didn't mean to scare you. Yes, of course I think it is a good picture.

Nothing exudes confidence like the "reflective-phone-cam-booty-shot".



At the end of the day, we look to these tests for the same instant reassurances that we seek from sites like Hotornot.com.

Spanish Daily Vocab: "Mensa" is Spanish For Moron

MENSA, who only admits people with IQs in the top 2% of test takers, charges $13 for an at-home test you can use to approximate your IQ score.

They feature a joke on the first page of their website now,

"A man walks into a bar with a lizard on his shoulder. He looks at the bartender and says, "a double whiskey to me and" pointing to the lizard, "a half pint of Guinness, for Tiny, here."

The bartender asks, "Why do you call him Tiny?"

The man replies, "because he's my newt."

(Love it)

MENSA then suggests that if you got the joke upon the first reading, you're smart enough to join.

I think the smaht kids are trying to take our money again.

My advice: none of it really matters. In addition to intellect, one must also have the ability to goal set, manage time, remain motivated, etc, etc. Determining a person's IQ can be useful, especially when evaluating children. But it is only an accurate predictor of success in a very controlled environment. For all situations outside of academia- it don't mean a whole lot.

So the next time you feel the compulsion to find your intellectual percentile, don't bother. Look in the mirror and tell yourself how smart you are- that's much more productive.


Disclaimer
... but if you find yourself telling yourself how smart you are in the mirror while taking a cell phone self-portrait: put the cell phone down and check the lead content in your public water system.