I'm looking for knowledgeable individuals to answer several questions I have regarding the choices made for us in regards to transportation and energy. Seriously, if you know anything about this topic feel free to comment this post!

Here we are, trying to figure out ways to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and research alternative energy, when there is a history of solutions to the problem. There is so much talk of using corn to produce ethanol that many people view it as an obvious solution. Questions: why are we putting so much money and time into developing ethanol from crops, when the same crops could be used to create vegetable oil in greater quantities with fewer environmental trade-offs? Are you aware that a diesel car can run on simple vegetable oil and that Germany did this after the second world war? Why is it that EVERY (U.S.) electric car company is destroyed via regulatory agencies and political sabotage before they can take off? I'm thinking of Corbin Motors as a great example, but the new Tesla is also in jeopardy.

The electric car is the obvious solution to many of our problems. There is a reluctance to embrace the possibility, yet it's the most obtainable and renewable of any choice to date. Electricity can be created cheaply and easily; it costs $3 to drive a Tesla 200 miles! They outperform the most expensive sports cars in the world and yet the public thinks of golf carts when they think of electric vehicles. Battery technology is getting better and the argument that electric cars lack range doesn't apply to the vast majority of people who drive under 50 miles a day. What is so special about combustion engines that keeps us "stuck on stupid" so we can't move to the next thing?

I suspect the answer to this dilemma rests in the need to heavily tax us on gasoline. If we drove electrics, there'd be fewer ways for our bloated government to profit on our travels. By controlling any fuel (including ethanol, biodiesel and hydrogen) you gain enormous power. If we were capable of charging our cars with solar or wind power, there'd be little money to be made from our greedy oil-baron overlords or government agencies wishing to control "desirable" fuel alternatives.

Cars should run on straight, unaltered vegetable oils or electricity PERIOD. There are no excuses in this day and age other than greed, ignorance and apathy.

I made this as a side last night and it turned out great! I'm only sharing this recipe as a blog because it's a little unusual and I like the title:

*Heat a large iron skillet in a 425 degree oven.
*Rinse and break the hard ends from a pound of asparagus. Dust them lightly with a mix of light brown sugar and freshly ground sea salt and black pepper. Add crisp-cooked bacon pieces to taste.
*Add a tablespoon of butter to the hot skillet and throw in the asparagus.
Roll the asparagus every few minutes for even cook and coverage in resulting glaze.
Ready in 10-15 minutes depending on thickness.

Don't knock it until you've tried it. Kids love it!

Anyone who knows me knows how I feel about good customer service. Simply: I think that when you pay someone for something you should expect respect! If in performing my duties I were to discover I had done something wrong or made something difficult for my client, I would be a mountain of apologies. That is far from the case when it comes to my experience with the streaming music service called Rhapsody. Over the past several years I have typically had a decent experience using Rhapsody, but when things go wrong- they REALLY go wrong with their horrible customer service. When their application expanded to handle downloads to MP3 players, I was really excited. However, it is exactly at this juncture where their service and apparent lack of desire to deliver it went down the tubes. At one point in 2006 I filed complaints with the FTC and BBB regarding Real Networks/Rhapsody. In those complaints I charged the company for my time spent troubleshooting their software product that wasn't fit for launch (i.e. it was completely unusable for my device, though they said they supported the device). Through several painful hours of talking to tech support in India, I was able to get things running. I even got a refund for several months of service! But every time an upgrade would come by, my account settings would be wiped or I would lose my entire library on their server (all of your favorite albums and artists- GONE). And since Real has several entities selling Rhapsody, you have to be really careful which version you install. Here is what I hope to be my very last exchange with their "customer service" folks:



Marry: Hello. Welcome to Real's Live Chat. How can I help you?
Darrel: Hello...
Marry: Hi Darrel.
Darrel: You guys started billing my credit card in December...
Marry: I'm listening. Please go ahead.
Darrel: but you have historically billed my debit card.
Darrel: I have been charged twice for my service for December and January
Darrel: Somehow you kept that card on file, because I can't even see where it's entered as a choice.
Marry: Sure, I can help you to provide the required information.
Marry: Please give me a couple of minutes while I check your account.
Darrel: 12/31 you charged my debit card 14.99, but then you also charged my credit card 14.99 on 12/24.
Marry: Thanks for your time.
Marry: I can see that you have two active Rhapsody To Go subscription under the email address 'darrel-------------------com'.
Darrel: WHY?
Darrel: I haven't changed anything in my account settings and I fixed this erroneous charge before. I have already disputed the charges you've made since December.
Darrel: I was charged again on my credit card 1/23. I just noticed that for two months I've been paying on two cards for one account...
Marry: Thanks for your time.
Marry: You have mistakenly purchase two Rhapsody Subscription under the same e-mail address "darrel-------------------com".
Darrel: See...I didn't. Your upgrade lost my account info.
Darrel: I basically had to reinstall, and a dupe account was created.
Darrel: I called to have the card cleared from the duplicate account and it was. They told me not to worry about it, but somehow at random you started charging again.
Marry: For your convenience shall I cancel one of your Rhapsody To Go account which is started on 12/6/07?
Darrel: YES.
Darrel: What of the extra charges?
Marry: I will go ahead and cancel your Rhapsody account with the username "darrel---------------------com".
Darrel: What about the 14.99 x2?
Marry: I will provide the refund for the one Subscription charge.
Darrel: There were TWO.
Darrel: 12/24
Darrel: and 1/23
Darrel: I paid you guys with my debit card on 12/31, 12/03, 10/31, etc. for the account I have always used.
Darrel: I don't know why you started this other account, the email address is the same for my original account and the duplicate.
Darrel: All I did was upgrade to your new version...
Marry: Darrel you have mistakenly created this account.
Darrel: For the sake of argument- perhaps...
Darrel: but the EMAIL is the same, and I have FIXED this before...as in cancelled this account!
Marry: I will provide refund for one month Subscription charge.
Darrel: Whatever- this is going nowhere and you're wasting my time. I'm disputing them both, and while you are at it, cancel the other account. Screw you guys.
Darrel: Cancel them both.
Darrel: I'm done.
Darrel: No more.
Darrel: You can't keep screwing up my account and making it this difficult to fix. I have been through this with you guys so many times before in so many ways.
Darrel: Cancel both, I'll dispute the charges through my credit card company.
Marry: Please give me a couple of minutes while I check with my supervisor.
Darrel: You need to check with a supervisor to cancel my account?!
Darrel: I'm totally serious- there is nothing you can say to make me put up with this crap from you guys.
Marry: Please bear with me for a few more minutes.
Marry: Thanks for your time.
Marry: Sorry for delay in reply as I was working in your issue.
Marry: Per your request I will go ahead and cancel one of your Rhapsody To Go Subscription provide refund for two months.
Darrel: This account you say I created happened during an upgrade where the original registration info was lost. I use Audiogalaxy's version and another version installed...creating a duplicate. I did not knowingly create another. The fact this even happens pisses me off.
Darrel: I really think I'm done with your service. You are not hearing me tell you CANCEL BOTH.
Marry: I regret for the inconvenience caused.
Darrel: Refund two months, and please cancel BOTH accounts. I know this isn't your fault personally, but this service has been a headache and I don't appreciate the runaround and battle in correcting what is obviously a mistake.
Marry: Darrel I'm sure you will not experince this issue again.
Darrel: THAT'S WHAT YOU GUYS SAID LAST TIME!!! OMG CANCEL CANCEL CANCEL CANCEL CANCEL
Marry: Please bear with me for a few more minutes.
Marry: Thanks for your time.
Marry: Okay, I've gone ahead and canceled your accounts. You will not be billed from this point for forward.
Darrel: Thank you!
Marry: Is there anything else that I can help you with today?
Darrel: No thanks. I will keep an eye on my credit card for the two refunds. Tell your supervisor I'd still be a subscriber if I didn't have to spend a frustrating hour getting you guys to do the right thing.

Why are they trying to kill our economy, run up an insane debt and leave us homeless? Aside from sounding like a Levitra euphemism, the newly proposed stimulus package is a joke in my opinion. Being self-employed and presently not required to make quarterly tax payments, this package may very well go through and provide me with some extra cash...just in time to PAY MY TAXES. Not exaxctly helping the economy huh? They want us to get the money and spend it. They do not want you to save it or it defeats the purpose. Thanks Mr. Bush for suggesting a solution that doesn't come close to fixing the real problem for ANYONE. What difference will 600-1500 bucks make for someone who has lost their job or someone close to losing their home? What difference will this make for the millions of people who are uninsured? All we are doing is borrowing money from ourselves, with interest, to go shopping or buy gas. Great. If consumers are remotely savvy they will use the cash to help pay off some of their debts (probably a drop in the bucket), but the reality suggests they will use the cash to go buy something they couldn't afford anyway. This is a stop-gap solution that doesn't address anything material.

The pundits say we are heading towards a recession. The people know we are already there and this idea is like pissing on a forest fire to put it out.

I am getting old. It must be true, because I am getting cranky over things like this. I am experiencing some shock and awe concerning the commercial use of popular and sometimes not-so-popular songs from bands I enjoy. What ever happened to "the jingle"? You know, advertising agencies using material created especially for their product. Ridiculous as they are, the FreeCreditReport.com commercials featuring Eric Violette and his band are a good example of the correct use of talent in my opinion. To all you 30-somethings working for larger than life agencies wishing to breathe life into your dusty CD collection by featuring bands you respect...just STOP IT! You are soiling our memories by association. Go find a band or producer that will create something for your purpose instead of borrowing from pop culture in a lame attempt to gain familiarity. Guys like this can obviously do your bidding:


Some things should just be left alone. Take HUM for instance. HUM was a band from Champaign Illinois that broke up in 2000. Besides having interviewed the band for my old magazine, we shared some friends in common who I am sure are equally annoyed by the fact one of their most popular songs is in a Cadillac commercial for the 2008 CTS. Their song "Stars" can be heard while a sleek caddy drives down a dark interstate. I can think of so many sounds, so many melodies that would fit this scene...WHY did they have to use such an obscure and great song for this purpose? Is it actually cheaper than a song (or piece of one) written explicitly for the purpose? I wonder...

My friend and former band mate Kliph is now the live drummer for The Flaming Lips. How surprised I am to see Range Rover...yes, RANGE ROVER, using a Flaming Lips song to sell gas guzzling, over-priced SUVs with more cup holders than seats. "Do You Realize" is the track, but the title is a very good question for the folks who decided to use it.

I was watching TV a few weeks ago when this chicken sandwich tried to seduce me on screen. It glided from left to right and showed me what was under its sesame-speckled bun. Burger King took Joe Jackson's "One More Time" and swirled it in a toilet by playing it in the background. Another great song marginalized by a fan at an agency. I assume this is the case, because the lyrics don't even fit the commercial. At least when "Don't Stand So Close to Me" by The Police was used to sell deodorant, IT ACTUALLY MADE SENSE.


And here comes Dunkin' Donuts out of nowhere with their first campaign in a while featuring a song by They Might Be Giants. "Things I Like to Do" seems like a bad fit to me. Here we have a completely energetic and happy community tied together by their (energizing?) love of fried, sugary, carb-heavy dough. "I'm slightly more efficient than I previously was"... riiiiight. I love donuts enough to know better.


I'm sure this will never end. It's been going on for a while and will likely continue. Sure, I make tons of assumptions regarding the choice to use this material commercially, but it's not a huge assumption that the mental association of these tunes will be displaced on products instead of the artists who created the songs. I know from experience to a certain extent. In 1995, my band Stick was on a compilation with artists like Love Spit Love, The Stone Roses, The Smithereens, A Tribe Called Quest, Pop Will Eat Itself and They Might Be Giants. The purpose of this compilation? It was included FREE in a six pack of Zima. Yeah...ZIMA. I couldn't be happier it went nowhere.

WOOD

acrylic collage

6"x8"

Darrel Brannock, 2003




Transgression

August & September 2003 @

The Forgotten Works Gallery

Sloppy home builder-
you destroyed our neighborhood.
Clean up your mud, jerk!

Real estate agent...
Why did you screw up the deal?
You know who you are.

Driving fast through town,
your kids are jumping wildly.
You heard of seat belts?

Pigeon overhead
plotting to avenge something.
Belly full of seeds.



It's too confusing!
She rearranged the kitchen
just to torment me.

Paddlefish in jar
sitting on my basement desk.
Thank you, Marcosis!

I don't get flu shots.
Fever versus mercury-
I'll take the first one.

Some friends are not good
though they think and say the are.
Beware of bullsh*t.

You are in control.
You are very talented.
Now go get our lunch.

HGTV show-
Greedy house-flipping show off
can't sell, now he's hosed.

THE CARPET IS MOVING

acrylic collage

6"X8"

Darrel Brannock, 2003



Transgression

August & September 2003 @

The Forgotten Works Gallery

TV news pundit:
"I know who will win the race!"
I just laugh and laugh.

My dog shakes a lot.
Could be her age or perhaps
she has a habit.

Sleeping populace-
Wake up and see your prison!
You built it, so there! :p

Great, stuck in traffic.
The light is green, idiot.
Can't wait for light rail.



I don't eat breakfast.
I know I should but I can't.
What is up with that?!

Wife of six circles:
Head, boob, boob, cheek, cheek, belly.
She's pregnant...I'm dead. :)

Phoebe, a puking cat,
flows copious, yellow goo.
Gross- I know, but TRUE.

Cheap SONY products-
seem so sexy at first glance.
My gadget graveyard.

If you missed our post-holiday show, you are in luck as we are playing The Rendezvous with Whiting Tennis on 1-22. It's only $5 so bring a friend and come join us!

Various comments regarding 12-26 at El Corazon:

"You guys sound kinda like Fugazi only... faster?" Randy

"What was that third song you played? I don't know what it was called, but it's a hit!" Joe

"Dude, what kind of amp is that?" Door Guy

"Man, who actually PRINTED your set list?!" The other Joe

"I couldn't hear the guitar." Nate

"All I could hear was guitar!" Joan

"All I could hear was bass." Megan

"I couldn't hear the bass." Darrel

"You guys played last night?" Jay

"This is your first show? Not bad!" Tara