Chester Copperpott’s blog

Free time, oh how I have missed you. Free time to catch up on emails, write blogs, that sort of thing. December is just so hectic. Actually starting with Thanksgiving and straight through to January 2nd, its an onslaught of go, go, go. I say this like its some sort of surprise, like I didn't go through this last year, and the year before, and the 28 before that. But anyway, here I am back in the throws of banality. So where should I start?

Ah here's a good place, the holiday season is always a time for gift giving, and although I acknowledge the fact that it's the thought that counts, some gifts just shouldn't be given. Let me explain in a simple compare and contrast. Which is a better gift?

 

Went to New Jersey to visit the family and do the Christmas thing. (PS- the pen holder thing was from them.) Amanda came with. A lot has changed up there.  When I say that what I mean is, now it looks just like here, there and everywhere else. Best Buy, Target, Walmart. Its kinda depressing to see a town that 10 years ago had a general store and 1 traffic light go the way of the Dodo. You can catch some photo's from the trip in my photo section.

Side note : it is currently 62 degrees, and its December 4th, whats wrong this this picture?

I spent New Years/my 3 year anniversary working, but hey at least I work at a bar, thats better than most jobs ain't it? Don't answer that.

Gerald Ford died, whats funny is every time I say his name in my head, I hear it through Walter cronkites voice.I have no Idea why.
James Brown kicked the bucket too. That was disappointing.

In the last month or so I've been seeing quite a few good films, mostly rentals but still, try these out in your spare time; A Scanner Darkly, Casino Royal, Green St. Hooligans, Happy Campers, Lady in the Water, Layer Cake, Northfork, Night at the Museum

Not much continuity to this post, but hey its my first one back. I cant be perfect all the time. Anyway, hope this finds you well.

'till next time.

Me
 

Greetings and Salutations from Virginia,

I've got so much to rant about, and so little time. First off,

::: You've got to be kidding me files :::
-Dear Colorado, you're off my Christmas card list;
Okay, so there this town in Colorado, and in this town is a neighborhood, that neighborhood is home to Lisa Jensen, your average everyday person, and this holiday season she put up her decorations outside her house as she has done years before. One of these decorations is a peace wreath on the side of her house. Now you're probably wondering where I'm going with this. Well here's where everything gets a bit wacky. Her neighbors complained, and the home owners association asked her to take it down. A peace sign. You with me so far? 'cause it gets better...

"The association in this 200-home subdivision 270 miles southwest of Denver has sent a letter to her saying that    residents were offended by the sign and the board "will not allow signs, flags etc. that can be considered divisive.""

The HOA president, Bob Kearns asked the HOA committee to step in and force her to take it down, the committee said they had no problem with this seasonal decoration. So Kearns fired the entire committee. As of now Lisa Jensen is being fined $25 a day 'till she takes it down.

I read this and, it just plain confused me, amused me, and angered me all at the same time. Am I the only one thinking WTF, people in Colorado are idiots. Okay I shouldn't generalize. these particular people are idiots. My favorite quote after reading this story in a few articles on the net was the following, its;

"a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti-iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan."

uhmmmmmmm right, 'cause when I think Satan, I think peace sign.
 
-Dear Mariah Carey, please move to Colorado;
So I'm reading the paper recently and notice a small blurb in the style section about Mariah Carey blah, blah,blah. And since I couldn't care less about her, I skip the article. Later that night I look up at the TV in the bar and theres CNN talking about her. Now I'm like WTF, this  slut must have done something stupid; rehab? bulimic? died? what? No, none of the a-for-mentioned sadly. What she did do is she donated a $7,500 fur coat to refugees in Mongolia to keep them warm. And now its lost in the mail somewhere. Okay I say, thats great. Maybe shes not so bad after all. Then it dawns on me, she donated a fur coat to, wait back up she donated "A" fur coat, as in ONE fur coat, singular. Are you seeing where the problem is here. "A" fur coat can keep one person warm. "Refugee's" is plural. What are they gonna do "Okay my turn to wear the coat." all winter.

-Dear Art Institute of Portland, did you forget that you're not Colorado
So, I am a firm believer in the separation between church and state, but at times these things do become blurred, as an example Art is a tricky middle ground, sculpture, paintings and such  from days of yore were  funded, and of religious meanings. So to speak of religion in an art school seams understandable as long as it is within reason. To have a NO religion in class rule seams a bit silly to me. Why I bring this up is in reference to an article about Bob Averill, a former student of the institute, who was expelled less than a year before graduation, due to a conversation had after class with another student about his beliefs as an Agnostic and her beliefs in other plains of existence. (Note: she also believes in Leprechauns, but I'm not gonna go there) She after being offended that Averill, would not accept her beliefs as "Fact" complained to administration, who then ended up expelling Averill. Another, WTF of the day.

I'll let you make up your own mind on all of these, but seriously folks, what are we doing? When did we start to accept these dictatorial ways into our everyday life? This isn't normal, at least not that I can bring myself to believe. This is just lunacy.

Wow, didn't plan on a tirade but there it is. Questions, comments, concerns are welcome

CC

What's the worst pickup line you've ever heard?
Submitted by ShellEy.

I used this a few years back, during the sars scare, intending for it to be a joke, not a pick up line, but somehow I got the girl anyway;

"Is your name sars? 'cause you take my breath away."

I know, I know....terrible.

What's your method for calculating a tip?

Now I've looked around at quite a few answers to this query, seeing as how I work in the service industry, I wonder, in general why people tip more often then not, poorly. And I see a lot of your answers have merit to those who have never been a bartender/waitress/waiter/any other S.I. position. Thats why some coworkers and I have decided it should be a rule that everyone needs to work this sort of job at least once in their life. Then they'd see it all quite differently. End of speech. On to my personal answer to the question.

My only rule fore tipping is; If you get something for free, pretend that its on the bill, when you pay out, and calculate 20% or more, depending, from that. Thats how I do it.

Greetings from Virginia once again. It's wet and nasty outside, so my usual excursions to my yard for a cigarette, have been cut short, and this makes me a tad bit edgy. So bare with me....

I just finished watching to Washington Redskins loose another game of the season. Now for those of you not from around here let me fill you in by quoting a the Redskins entry in Wikipedia; "According to Forbes Magazine, the Redskins are the most valuable sports team in the United States, valued at approximately $1.423 billion and have been the most valuable sports team in the U.S. for seven years running. They are also the wealthiest team in the NFL, generating almost $300 million in revenue per-year. They also rank #1 in average attendance per game in the NFL and have broken the NFL's mark for single season attendance six straight years in a row." Now let me add.....AND THEY SUCK. Granted, I'm not from here per say, NYC/NJ is where I spent my youth. So I'm a Giants fan, they suck for the most part too, but lets be honest here, the Redskins couldn't make a play if they had Shakespeare on their team.....ohhhhhhhhhh bad literary reference. Sorry about that, I guess cigarettes make me funnier too. Anyway, I just had to rant about that for a second. Lets move on.

So I love everything under the broad umbrella called "the arts". And when you read or see a news article about an actor or musician, or whoever dieing, it always strikes me as odd that we sometimes feel a tinge of sadness to hear that they passed, as if we actually knew them, and in a way I guess we did through each and every one of their roles, yes it's acting, but there's always a part of them that we really see. This hit me just yesterday upon reading that Jack Palance had passed on. You may not recognize the name, but you've seen him, I can promise you that. With acting credits in the hundreds, you'd probably best know him as Curly from the City Slickers franchise. Man, I'm dating myself realizing those films are over 10 years old. But anyway, my point of all of this is; for those who don't know his work, and like cinema, check him out. But also to say that I'm sorry to see him go, always the penultimate bad guy, his characters were always hard to like, but easy to love. RIP.

Damn that was some depressing shit, so lets change moods with this;

That's better.

Hey has anyone seen this Ben Folds cover of "Such Great Heights"? I'm starting to think every musician in the world should cover it and get it over with. I love Postal Service, but this is getting kinda silly. Rilo Kiley, Iron and Wine, Dresden Dolls, I'm sure there's someone I'm missing.

Well anyway this week passed by uneventful, Democrats are now in charge of the asylum, and thats fine with me. We celebrated Veterans Day. I worked, I slept, I ate and drank. You know how I roll. (yes I did just say that) Anyway, I need a smoke and I think it stopped raining.

Peas

CC

   Spending election night with Death Cab for Cutie at DAR Constitution Hall in our nations capitol was a bit interesting in and of itself. The reason being, at least to me, is the fact that when playing a gig, there's a choice you make, a conscience decision, "do I use this as a soap box moment, I have the mic, I have an audience, an audience of which most hang off my every word?" Or do I make a passing "Happy election day, and this next song has nothing to do with that" as Ben Gibbard, lead singer for DCFC, did early in their set. And there in that one moment the choice was cast.
    DCFC can in no way be called a political band, they are no Rage Against the Machine of old, they're not Ani Difranco, and they know that. What they are, first and foremost is an indie rock band. An indie rock band with, as of late, cross over appeal to the masses that had eluded them only a few years ago.
    My first experience with DCFC was at the late, great Metro Cafe on 14th street in DC, a venue with about a 75 person capacity. Paying a $5 cover there was the norm. This was back in '98 or '99. They had an EP and one full length out then I think. I bought both for $15 if I memory serves. So total for the night was $20 bucks plus drinks. Thats not a bad night.
    I saw them a few more times between then and now, each time, little by little, the crowd grew, but DCFC, when on stage seemed almost unaware of that fact. They played, we listened and thats all that mattered. Last nights show was the second of a 2 night stay at DAR/Constitution Hall, by the way, capacity at DAR is 3702 people. Oh, and the first show sold out. A far cry from Metro Cafe if you ask me. Intimacy though doesn't seem to be an issue for the band. The solo acoustic performance of "I will follow you into the dark", made even me, a jaded thirty year old musician forget that there was anyone else around me. These quiet moments, such as "I will Follow..." and "Transatlanticism" were equally matched by the bombast of tracks like "We Looked like Giants" or "New Year". "Giants" became epic in scale with the addition of a drum off between Ben and Jason, erupting over and over with one-up-manship, that not only was musically intruging, but amusing as well.
    The set list was quite extensive and varied, early albums such as "we have the facts..." were seamlessly mixed with tracks from "The Photo Album", "Transatlanticism", and their newest release "Plans". Tracks included Photobooth, Company Calls, Company Calls (Epilogue), Movie Script Ending, We Laugh Indoors, Why You'd want to live here, I was a Kaleidoscope, Marching Bands of Manhattan, Soul meets body, Your Heart is an Empty room, Crooked teeth, What Sarah Said, New Year, Lightness, Title and Registration, Sound of Settling, Transatlanicism, and We Looked Like Giants.
    The venues may have gotten bigger, and the ticket prices may have gone up (last nights show was $34), but Death Cab for Cutie, as well as their stage show, remain tethered to where, why and how it all began. The love of the music, and I for one still love it too.

More Here

While I waste my good nights sleep strolling Vox here,  I'm currently rocking out to Facing New York a post/math rock band from the west coast that played TT's this past month. They may fill my Dismemberment plan fix, that's been nagging at me for some time. Hopefully they wont be breaking up anytime soon akin to The Plans demise.

Lastly, if I haven't already mentioned, The Departed is too good for words.
See it. Go. Now.

Questions, comments, concerns? Leave 'em.