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Do you think bin Laden will ever be found? Do you believe he is dead? Does capturing bin Laden still matter? Is Bill Clinton responsible for missed opportunities to capture him? How about George W. Bush?
I'm not interested in getting into the middle of the blame game. But I...
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My morning music often depends on my mood. I like a wide variety of music, including classic rock, alt rock, post-punk and 70s pop and R&B. Most modern rock stations don't hold my attention for too long unless they are playing bands like Jet, All American Rejects, or Green...
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I'd like to introduce a new blog series and a relatively new band. The Rolling Scones started in the summer of 2004 in Bakersfield, California. Jerry Rothberg and I alternate on lead vocals, and his main instrument is the sax. He also plays lead guitar and I play rhythm guitar. ...
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Psyops involves the psychological operations of the military. What if psyops joined forces with evangelical Christian psychologists in planning a grand intervention in the war on terror that would win over the seemingly intractable soul, while penetrating the seemingly impenetrable...
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I initially became aware of the limits of psychological diagnosis and psychiatric-based classification systems when I worked for Fresno Unified School District as a Music Therapist and participated in Individualized Educational Plans for students who were developmentally delayed. Developing...
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I posted the lyrics to this song yesterday, slightly altered them in this edition, and finished recording the song this morning. It's for one of our own dear soldiers who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country. Lester, this one's for you and you for your...
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We've lost another one of our own. It's a time to remember that we are the United States of America, not the Divided States of America. We disagree on many things, but if there's one thing we can remain united on, it's our collective loss and our shared sorrow...
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Do you know somebody that seems to drive you absolutely crazy? Is it a lover? Is it a boss or fellow employee? Is it your cat? How about a politician? Does another person have the power to drive you crazy? Can the issues of a mentally unstable person drive an...
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If you were lucky enough to be born and raised on the praries of Saskatchewan, like I was, you either go outside and play hockey, or you stay indoors and play rock n roll. I opted for the later. If I had the skills, and the motivation, I'd be playing hockey. Instead, I play a...
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This one's for you, Lester. Rest in peace, brave soldier:
In this world
we face so many trials
so many heartaches we must endure...
In the early days of the war in Iraq, our soldiers really felt the overwhelming support of their community. Supportive sentiments were at an...
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If man is the measure of all things, then why have I spent my whole life trying to measure up to the demands of significant women in my life?
Humanism, also referred to as "third force" psychology, rose in popularity in the 1960s and has been having a profound influence on...
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We've all met one. Some of us continue to be haunted by memories of them. They are the Halloween Queens of the world. They look innocent and sweet, like a Halloween treat, but once you discover the way they rip out your heart with their wicked tricks, it's too late to salvage...
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No hablo espanol. Will somebody translate this for me please, so I'll know whether I'm getting bigger in Spain, or whether I'm merely the subject of their ridicule? Pehaps it's not even Spain. Please forgive my ignorance. This is from the web site Neil Young Noticias:...
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I'm doing something a little different this time around for my advice column for musicians at Phantom Tollbooth (Ask the Rock Doc: Sound advice for a song). I'm asking visitors of my blog (like yourself) to offer a little advice of your own. I'll provide the original inquiry (details...
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To say that we, as a society, are undergoing rapid technological change is a gross understatement. What price too great? I worry that we are leaving our children, and thus, our future behind. Everybody seems to be so caught up in the tiny (and, relatively insignificant) roles...
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No, Bakersfield my not represent "Life as it Should Be," but Bakersfield cleary has a plethora of talent. When I heard Bakersfield's own Alyssa sing, it became abundantly clear that she would be the perfect artist to sing When I Heard You Sing, my tribute to the love songs of the...
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I met Neil's son, but I never met his father. I'm sure it was devastating to Neil when his father passed away, even though his father had lived a long life, and was prolific in his own way. The fact that his father passed away right before Father's Day must have magnified the loss to...
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Drugs are like a playground that can become a graveyard overnight. They have taken their toll on many a man and many a woman. Johnny Cash was no exception, and his rapid rise to fame, along with all of the demands that go with it, left him with a gaunt, etiolated visage and a haunted...
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Few celebrity couples survive the vicissitudes and pressures of rapidly acquired fame and fortune. Johnny's first marraige failed. But few women stand by their man through thick and thin the way June Carter Cash did with Johnny. It could be argued that their...
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Elvis is generally known for his collosal contribution to rock n roll. As my recent interview with Pat Boone revealed, Elvis's bad boy image served as an antithetical contrast that helped Pat Boone launch his career as the all-American, squeeky clean teen on the scene. But what most pepole...
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I don't believe I've ever introduced my interstate band to any of you. This is Practically Poetz. We come from Bakersfield and Sacramento. We've mostly performed at coffee houses in Sacramento and Bakersfield. We haven't performed in Bakersfield for several years. Our last performance was at...
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Every song title from the Beatles RUBBER SOUL is incorporated into this song. Can you find those titles in my lyrical content? Take the Rubber Stamp challenge and let me know where you find them. RUBBER stamp my SOUL (Part I) is a tribute to the Beatles album, Rubber Soul. Furthermore, it is the...
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This is an audio track featuring an intoductory skit and The Entire Collection of Johnny Cash Hits (from A-Z). It's from my forthcoming CD: Blackout: A Tribute to Johnny Cash and from my forthcoming podcast that will feature songs from that collection. Enjoy, and thanks for visiting my blog in...
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We all laugh about our anal retentive tendencies, but to those who suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, being obsessed with what may seem to others to be insignificant, trivial aspects of one's enviornment, is no laughing matter. One of the best movies to address this psychological...
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It is much easier to avoid intimacy than it is to enter into its seemingly daunting territory. Don't worry. There are plenty of ways of avoiding intimacy in relationships.
One way is to have plenty of sex without ever making love. Another way is to avoid people altogether. Then there are...
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Believe it or not, I did not learn these campfire songs at a communist rally. I learned Peace Like a River and Down by the Riverside (which fervently and repeatedly proclaims: "...ain't gonna study war no more)," as a child attending an old fashioned, right-wing Bible camp. The hymn books and...
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I thought that shrinks wore spectacles--had little tiny beards. I thought that shrinks were nuts, and yo, I thought that shrinks were wierd--until the day I met a shrink who forced me to adapt. My biased view of shrinks it seems, was just a bunch of crap. 'Cause the shrink rapped. He danced...
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Karen Carpenter was a legendary singer. When she left us, due to complications of Anorexia Nervosa, she left a huge void that can never be filled. Her premature death opened the window so we could all take a closer look at this life-threatening psychological disorder. It's hard to understand why...
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Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy effects over a million people, yet little is known about it. My daughter Ashley age 15 is trying to get help to hold a Benefit Concert to help others that suffer from this terrible disease.
She has already raised over $1,000 in donations and auction items but needs...
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Rap music has taken a beating for its worship of bling, its fasination with promiscuous sex, and its emphasis on violence as the primary means of problem solving. Furthermore, critics claim that rather than lifting the listener, and elevating the mind, it caters to the lowest...
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In existential philosophy and it's offspring, humanistic psychology, there exists the premise that human beings operate in accordance with two pervasive, all-consuming fears: Fear of life, and fear of death. Life and death, in these schools of thought, go well beyond the notion of a physical life...
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Thanks to all who responded via email with myriad German to English translations, varying dramatically in terms of precision. The winning translation comes from Erika who has German friends in high and low places. Here it is:
Ein Song über die Bee Gees von Dr. BLT [A...
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People who drive drunk are playing Chicken: the solitary version. Others on the road who are driving sober don't ask to play the game. We are S.A.D.D.! We are S.A.D.D. for all those innocent victims who lost their lives at the hands of a drunk driver. We are S.A.D.D. that people are still playing...
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My guitar and I have always been partners in rhyme. One early spring day in May, 2003, in front of a nationally-famous establishment that serves coffee on Coffee Road, in Bakersfield, California, my guitar was apparently an alledged accomplice in an alleged crime. I was an alleged witness. I...
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One morning while I was sitting right next to Starbucks at Rosedale Highway, working on a brand new song, underneath the Rubio's umbrella, a young man who worked for Starbucks who had been listening to the song I was struggling to write, politely waited until I stopped playing for a moment, and...
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Most of us experience feelings of rejection from time to time. I did recently, after being banned at the Marketplace for breaking Castle and Cooke's rules against performing as a way of raising money for charity without a permit. Music is against the law in Bakersfield. I'm kidding. I was...
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When I used to play for small change up in Sacramento, it landed me a cameo on an award-nominated MTV hit music video. News crews would stop by every few weeks and have me write a song on the spot to share with early birds on their way to work in the morning. All of this over my decision to opt...
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It happened one morning, on April 19, there he was---old Mick Jagger, in the middle of my dream. I had one back-stage pass to an old antique store. Mick stood there smilin', as he answered the door. He was packin' his clothes, he was slick in his duds---painted felt shoes, and he wiped off the...
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You may find yourself forgetting how to spell his name, but you will find yourself by losing yourself in his books and articles depicting the "optimal human experience." Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has made it his passion to observe common elements in human activities which allow individuals to lose...
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Freud believed that religion was a crutch for people who could not face their problems. Carl Jung, a student of Freud's, on the other hand, considered spiritual factors to be central to the study of the human psyche. He regarded religion and religious symbols to be a core element in the...
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If you ever stop by Starbucks on Rosedale Highway on your way to work in the morning, there's something you can depend on even more than the myriad coffee drinks and pastries that Starbucks has to offer. The group I proudly gave the name "The Starbucks Bible Boys" to will be there, gathering...
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Daniel, I knew you could do it. It's now been officially one month, and nobody has even dared to challenge your title as Kern County's King of Christian pop. The contest never ends, so it's not too late for those of you who feel you are up to the challenge. Simply review the original blog...
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I was wondering if any of you out there could provide a translation of the text linked below. I need to know whether the Germans are making fun of my music, whether I'm on my way to the top of the German top forty charts, or something in between. Once you hit the link, you'll need to scroll down...
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Well, it's been nearly a metal month, and, so far, no Kern county metal band, or any metal band for that matter, has stepped up to the plate to challenge Metal2Metal for the title as Kern County Kings of Heavy Metal. If you're band enough for the challenge, review the simple rules and...
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Can CAUTION and CANDOR co-exist, or does CAUTION kill CANDOR and CANDOR kill CAUTION? When he was recently asked if Muslims go to heaven, Billy Graham said he would leave that decision up to God. Ask his son, Frankin Graham, who has inherited his dad's ministry, the same question and you will...
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T'was christMAS in September, and all through the Nile, all the creatures were dancing, they did it in style. The stockings they wore, were worn out on the floor, as the Santa delivered a dozen or more, Salsa songs flavored with Latin and Rock, and Reggae and Jazz, as we rocked 'round the clock....
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There are many questions that could be asked concerning a local radio interview with members of the infamous folk duo, Prussian Blue, and their misguided mother. Did local radio host Inga Barks fan the flames of nationalism, racism, and anti-semitism when she hosted twins Lamb and Lynx Gaede in...
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This is the question of the hour, the question of the day, the question of the decade, yes, perhaps even the question of the new millennium: ARE U DOWN WITH O.P. Stylee???!!! Sandwiched between an interview with Pat Boone, and what looks promising in term of a forthcoming interview with John...
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This is the first in a sub-series from the grand series: CRYSTAL PALACE STATUES. It will feature artists present in the collection of bronze statues housed at the Crystal Palace. There's no better way to bring Buck back, and keeping the spirit of Buck Owens and the Buckaroos alive than to pitch...
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Welcome to my first blog in the Crystal Palace Statues Series. The first collection of blog threads in the series will feature Johnny Cash. I'm kicking it off today for reasons that will be obvious to true Cash fans.
I was moving in to my brand new home in Bakersfield, California. It was...
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