Made up names

For the record, not only is Elspeth not made-up. Jiagie is not either.

1993-2000 Member of the Ghanna State Council Anni Jiagie


So there.

:)

Neal Peart of Rush addresses accusations of satanism and back tracking

An interesting glimpse into a strange era in rock music where everyone was considered the agents of Lucifer.

The irony is AC/DC shirts are sold in department stores, every major and minor league baseball game in the country plays Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne at least once and black metal bands have been started that actually DO promote satanism, but they get no press at all.

Here is Neal in all of his loquacious glory:
-Mook

Rock Groups Hardly Satanistic
by Neil Peart
Daily Texan, Believed to have been published July 19, 1981
Reprinted in Backstage Club Newsletter with introduction by Neil Peart, September 1983

Hi folks! I've got another little goodie for you this month. Personally I fail to understand why this subject needs to be addressed at all, but there has been such a prevalence of questions about this silliy "Satanism" business directed at our friends and ourselves, that I felt it was time to clear it up once and for all!

This little editorial was written in response to a very vicious and untrue story which a newspaper (The Daily Texan) had printed about all of these rock bands (including ourselves) who were supposed to be concealing Satanist and other anti-social messages in their songs by (get this!) recording them backwards! A real "ha ha" don't you think? Well, they didn't think so, and consequently if you find my reply a little on the strong side you will understand; they made me mad!

As to some of the ridiculous meanings I have heard attached to the "Man and Star" logo by some sick units, one hardly knows what to say! Those who are interested in such things should surely have noticed that the star is not a pentagram, it is of course an open star, which is quite a different geometric and symbolic thing. I even heard recently that there is supposed to be a subliminal "devil's face" worked into the naked man's back! Now really!

I'll tell you what. If you don't understand or care about such things, (good for you!), then just ignore the whole thing. If you are one of those who find "secret" things all over the place, do us a favour; keep it a secret-don't tell anyone! Especially not me.

All seriousness aside, I hope this finds you all well and happy. If you are one of those who attended our concerts on this tour, I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
Until next time-
Neil Peart

Editor's note: The following column was submitted by a member of the rock group Rush in response to Jim Hankins' July 19 coverage in The Daily Texan of a seminar entitled "No One Here Gets Out Alive." The seminar was sponsered by the Longhorn Christian Fellowship and centered on the theme that many popular rock music songs are trying to turn American youth against Christianity toward satanism or other religions. The group contended that either blatantly or through subliminal means, musicians convey satanic messages in their songs.

I am writing in response to an article which was written by your reporter Jim Hankins in your issue of July 19, "Group seeks to show rock 'n roll Satanic." It was awhile ago, but the article was sent to me through several intermediary steps. Besides, it's never too late to discuss a matter like this, and as I happen to be a member of one of the groups mentioned, perhaps I can interject a little rationality and truth into such a hysterical exercise in propaganda.

Satanism. Now here is a word that should be kept away from some people the way you should keep matches from children and guns from jealous husbands!

There is a certain trait evident in human nature which some people seem to possess in greater degrees. It derives from a state of insecurity and low self-esteem and shows itself in the actions of those who wish to make themselves look good by making others look bad. You see it everywhere once you start to look for it. People who can't gain respect for their own merits feel obliged to try and tear down those who do. We see it in the failures who try to prove their aloofness by criticizing the actions of those who actually do something, or in cases like this one where the weak and pusillanimous prove their righteousness by trying to punish the "less-righteous."

A big advantage to such an attitude is that it keeps them so involved in other peoples' lives that they need not examine their own.

So these are the grim-faced hypocrites who are stirring around in the dark places of life hoping to find something - anything - dirtier than their own reflection. And if they can't find anything - no problem - they'll just make something up!

And here they are accusing rock musicians of being sincere and dedicated satanists attempting to poison the souls of America's youth with subliminal messages of devil-worship. You know that's almost a very good joke! Almost.

As one who knows many of these "demonic figures" personally, especially some of those mentioned in the article, the idea of some of these sold-out, burnt-out, cynical, strutting peacocks being so deeply and religiously committed to anything (save their "image" and chart numbers) is also a bit of a joke. And a pretty lame one at that!

These nameless mercenaries don't even demonstrate that kind of commitment in their music why on earth would they be bothered to go to all that trouble to put anything else into it? All they need (and care) to do is find a kind of lowest common denominator of commercial "acceptability." Yes, you Christian crypto-fascists, it is a joke! The only problem is - you're not laughing.

I'm not laughing anymore, either. I've started to receive too many questions and letters from confused and impressionable young people wanting to know if it's true that we worship the devil. Who is it that is corrupting the minds of young Americans?

Let us not for one minute forget that this is the same self-righteous mentality that has put itself to work persecuting witches, Christians, Jews, Quakers, Indians, Catholics, Negroes, Communists, hippies and capitalists down through the ages. There's always somebody to kick you when you're down. It seems like every group has taken its turn at one end of the stick or the other. From the bitter oppressed to the righteous oppressor is a very short step.

Speaking for myself, as lyricist and drummer for "Rush", and one of those accused of this heinous crime, I must object, Your Honors. Far from being a closet Satanist, I confess crudely, I don't even believe in the old bastard! I wonder if that's better or worse in your eyes, Grand Inquisitor?

I can certainly assure you that my lyrics contain no "demonic" secret messages or cleverly concealed mystical commercials. Nothing like that, I'm afraid. It is not only absurd and pathetic, but it is also totally incompatible with my philosophy, my work and my beliefs.

I get all kinds of letters from people like this whose perceptions are narrowed and distorted by pre-set values and ideas, telling me the most fantastic things that they have somehow "discovered" in my words! As is ever true - they find what they want to find. Fair enough. I know what I put in there. It isn't that, and it isn't this either. Period.

I don't wish to offend anyone's genuine beliefs, as it is a fundamental tenet in my philosophy that people should believe what they choose to believe. It must be stated, though, that when you've "got" religion, like Siddhartha, you find it everywhere you look. And when you've got evil, you'll find it everywhere you look, too.

Ah! It's the old "recorded backwards" trick again, is it Watson? Ha! I'm sure you could play "The Star Spangled Banner" backwards and find a secret message there too. Wouldn't Francis Scott Key be surprised at your cleverness! How do you suppose he knew what it said in 1812?

Don't you think something as vague as this is rather like a Rorschach ink-blot, or cloud shapes? Interpretation is based on the perceiver's state of mind - not on any objective reality. An ink-blot is a cloud is a song - frontwards or backwards. One finds what one wishes to find.

Yes, there's something subliminal at work here all right. The subliminal and poisonous sickness that dwells in the minds of these fearful and pompous so-called Christians. And they even call themselves a "Fellowship." Think about that for a minute. Then think about what this paper and others have accomplished by giving innocent ink and paper over to this kind of drivel. You readers don't know that I would never even use the kind of grammar that these people have attributed to me, let alone the insipid and valueless supposed message. Listen to this: "Oh Satan, you, you are the one who is shining. Walls of Satan, walls of sacrifice; I know it's you are the one I love." That's disgusting. I mean really you just know these people have to be sick. If you don't believe me, ask my Mom!

As a Mormon, I'm used to the logical gymnastics that I'm forced to go through to make certain facts reconcile with belief.

Oxford compiles list of top ten irritating phrases

Some of the smartest minds in the world at Oxford University put their combined intellect together, along with a super-computer database full of news, blogs, articles, books and speeches. The result of this timely and costly work?


The top ten most irritating phrases:

1 - At the end of the day

2 - Fairly unique

3 - I personally

4 - At this moment in time

5 - With all due respect

6 - Absolutely

7 - It's a nightmare

8 - Shouldn't of

9 - 24/7

10 - It's not rocket science


I could probably come up with some worse ones, but these are pretty good... or bad.

Bubb Rubb & Lil' Sis

So, a few years ago the Bay Area suffered at the hands a few shops that would trick out cars for various reasons, including muffler add-ons that would whistle while running.

This hilarious clip is about the infamous Bubb Rubb and Lil' Sis.



The clip was so popular, people have been playing with it for a long time. Here is one little girl that seemed to like the video too:



And finally a remix of the singing for your dancing pleasure:



Gidian has had a few nicknames in his day:

Gidian
Gidro
Gidster
Booga
Booga Lou
Bubba
Bubbie
Bubba Lou
Bubbie Lou
Scooby Doo
Scoob
Booby Blue
Bub
and finally: Bubb Rubb.


Nickname update for Elspeth:
Jiagie
Jiager
Jiagie Roger
Jiager Dodger
Sweetie
Sweeters
Sister Jiagie Sweeters (her full name)
And finally: Lil' Sis

New videos

One of Jiagie and Gidian

and

A quick documentary on the birth of Jiagie.

Please sign in to YouTube and Subscribe to my "channel" and then Rate and Comment on my videos, so I know if anyone is watching them and/or if you like them.

My wife explaining to my friends why I can't get certain times off.

HA! Ok so you all know that I don't side with Ben much here, but you clearly don't understand the nature of this shitty job. He COULD take some time off and have a nice long vaca.....until he found another job. I can't even tell you how many people have had a family emergency or death and they seriously have to weigh taking off the time. The other thing you don't understand is even though it's possible to do 90% of the work from home....it's not really done that way. The firm environment is old school, they like to preach that you can work remotely but just try it. Really the remote hookup is so that you don't have an excuse to not work from your deathbed, otherwise your ass better be planted in your cubicle like every other poor bastard there. It's a really weird, old school mind set.

It's a shame...they'll tell you that if you need to then take it, but they also don't tell you that there will be consequences to it, you find that out at your review down the road. Most jobs tell you that "life happens" but you better do your best to make them happen AROUND the deadlines. Ben's first job told him NOT to move or have a baby during busy season....and they were serious. When I had Gidian in April he was able to take that day off....sort of.

The good thing for me is that my ugly time is only once a year with some stress around the october deadline, and now quarterly with payroll filings....but Ben is different, he doesn't do taxes...he has these damn quarterlys PLUS the extended deadline and then the deadlines for those with fiscal years, pretty much there is a damn deadline every other month with every month having a heavy busy time.

I couldn't have Els earlier than the 19th because of his damn deadline and in fact I should have had her the 20th or the 21st because I wasn't thinking that it was the extention deadline...he seriously had to work like crazy and should have worked while we were in the hospital but couldn't get the internet connection there to work.

It's cliche/ridiculous how high the turnover rate for an accountant is....there is a reason for that, it's not because they pay you well, give you lots of time off and don't expect your first born in return. So why do it? Becuase it's glamorous. Actaully it's because it looks a hell of alot better than the job most of us had when we went into business school and by the time we figure out what a sham it is it's too late....the ink is dry on the devil's contract and the loans need to be paid.

Bubba's 5th birthday bash. This is the Gidian few get to see.

Bubba's favorite commercial.

First watch this.

Then watch this.

Against All Odds

August has been a weird month.

I have celebrated my 20 year high school class reunion, the birth of my daughter, my 38th birthday and my 10th year anniversary. Who would have thought.

I had never made any real plans to get this old. Not that I thought I would die young, but my plans only went out to college, career, house, wife and kids. I'm not really sure where to go from here, or if I should go anywhere at all (except to a bigger house, I just read B'Andra's mind in the future as she reads this ;) ).

I'm lucky to have such a intelligent, cute, funny, fun wife who is such a good mom. I had forgotten the work that goes into a newborn. Wow. Just: WOW. Not even mentioning the trauma that her body has gone through (I took video for her) and is still going through (turns out little Jiagie thinks that if she is awake, she should be nursing), but she is tired beyond belief and when a baby nurses ever 1-3 hours, it pretty much takes up your day. Doesn't sound too bad, right? But you forget (as I did) that it takes nearly an hour to DO the nursing. I'm grateful for her willingness to bring another baby into the world and into our family.

My job is becoming more and more consuming the more responsibilities I take on. B'Andra is so supportive of my job, everyone in the office is jealous of me. She is very patient with the little to no help at home. She gets frustrated and gives me a wake up call occasionally, which I need, but it makes it nice that she realizes how important it is to be able to not only earn a salary, but progress.

The thing that stands out in my mind at the moment that I owe her for is for sticking with me "in sickness or in health" (which was not part of our wedding vows). 3 years ago I was getting sick every 6 weeks. Very sick and she always nursed me back to health and didn't push me when I was feeling weak. It was she and she alone that finally grabbed a doctor by the proverbial ears and said, "Figure this out NOW!"

The finally took me seriously enough to stop the strep culture tests and actually do some real blood work. 3 years later, my thyroid medicine is ramped up to 125 micrograms and a daily regimen of 4 other pills, I am free from my affliction. Gone are the days that missing single nights sleep would put me into a high fever for 4 days. Gone are the days that my sick leave are used up in the first 3 months of the year. Gone are rummaging through the cabinets for old painkillers from dental work so I could drink some water and get to sleep.

Thanks, baby. You are the best!

For our 10 year, B'Andra gave me my dream: another child
I gave her an engraved paver stone in the Disneyland Entrance Plaza that reads our names and our wedding date (August 22, 1998) and an invitation to Club 33.

We beat the odds, baby. Here's to 10 more!
I love you!

What's in a name

So, we started with B'Andra making it very clear that she alone was calling the shots on the name for our little girl. She claims that I was able to pick Gidian, a name she was not crazy about, and that it was her turn.

Hard to argue with someone actually forming the child in her belly and suffering all the discomfort associated with the task.

So B' set a few rules:
1) the name could NOT be made up. it had to exist in a name book, genealogy chart or something.
2) it could not be so common that it was a trend name (i.e. we had chosen Ella a few years ago, but in the meantime, it has become very popular)
3) it had to be classy and hopefully something that would work for a child AND an adult.

I should get a copy of the list of names that were in the running. Some pretty cool names.

The reason we went with Elspeth:
1. It is unique
2. It sounds pretty
3. It is the Scottish version of Elizabeth (B'Andra has a Scottish heritage as her maiden name is McAffee), another name in the top 5 and my mom's favorite name of all time.
4. It has great nicknames: Elsie, Elsa, Elise, Betty (just kidding, Betty is off limits)
5. Elsa (a diminutive of Elspeth) is the Danish version Elizabeth: Consecrated to God.

The reason we went with D'Lene:
1. Madelene was at the top of the name list
2. Dalene was in the baby name book shown as a diminutive form of Madelene.
3. Dalene sounds like B'Andra's parents Dallen and Shirlene combined without being made up.
4. We decided to change the spelling to D'Lene as a memorial to B'Andra's dad and his history of cool spelling protocol as shown by the following list of B'Andra's siblings:

Gragn Ethn
Shamby Cryl
B'Andra Rhondi
DeLys Aryann
Zont'l Phylesh

So we added the apostrophe, the capital letter in the middle of the name and the seemingly obvious shortage of vowells.

Nick names:

Jiagie:

Jiagie came around when B' was pregnant last summer. we were in Disneyland (I can see you are surprised by that) and we would talk about the baby, but B'Andra thought we needed a name. At the time, Gidian had "Pirates on the Brain" and we were going laps through Pirates of the Carribean. At the time, Gidian pronounced Jolly Roger (the priate flag with skull of bones) Jiagie Roggah (jaw-gee raw-gah). So we just started call the baby Jiagie.

As most of you know, Jiagie I never happened and everytime Gidian asked "Mommy, where is Jiagie?" She would cry. So when she got pregnant last november and told Gidian, he said "Jiagie is back???? ". So cute.

So he has been calling Mom's belly Jiagie since day 1 and before we knew if it were a boy or girl. We will try to keep that nick name in the family, but I'm afriad it is here to stay.

Other nicknames that have surfaced already:

Els Bells. Cute for two reasons: Elle is 'girl' in French and "Belle" is beautiful in French. So Els Bells = Beautiful Girl. And it is also a kick-ass AC/DC song!

Bug-a-boo. Or just Bug. This one just crept up on accident, like Bubba for Gidian. Nothing you would ever plan or athorize, but just feels right.

In the life of Baby Elspeth

Elspeth
Consecrated to God.

Each sentence has a hot-linked word, in case you can't see it. If not, just click on all the words, you'll find it eventually! :)

She has a case of chronic hiccups.

Here is her first bath.

Here is the first bath at home.

Here is Gidian with a handy song to remember her name.

First diaper change in the hospital.

Here is Jiagie three minutes in the real world and already grabbing daddy's hand for comfort.

Spring in SLC

A lot of people ask me where I"m from. The list rivals that of any Army brat: Provo, Bountiful, North Salt Lake, St. George, Midway, Salt Lake City. (ok, and Army brat in the nation of Zion, I never left Utah)(unless you add Voronezh, Russia; Pan Yu, China and Cleveland, Ohio).

Since Heber Valley is where my parents still live and where I graduated from high school, people assume that is where I call home. But I quickly correct them: "I grew up in St. George. That is my hometown." And I feel that way. All of my fond childhood memories are in St. George. I get nostalgic when I go there and feel the sun rays that are unique to Dixie. When I smell the smells of the sparse vegetation and see the desert landscapes and sprawling urban blight, I feel like I'm home... felt like I was home.

But more and more, Salt Lake is becoming my home. I have, after all, lived her the longest of any single city: 12 years and counting. This is where I came when I finally struck out on my own. I came knowing nobody and having nothing, but an associates degree from Dixie and some skills with a sauté pan and a spatula.

I eventually found a job at Chili's and a place to live. Originally it was alone in a boarding house with some ex-homeless dudes and a billion cockroaches (which my biology teacher said couldn't live in Utah. Apparently, he failed to factor in the filth that can be accumulated by some people.)

I was able to find some roommates, got accepted into the U's accounting program and found the love of my life. All within a few blocks of the Temple. Even my first job after my MBA program was a block from Chili's, my first SLC employer. And my first apartment after marriage was a block from my old apartment and 4 blocks from Chili's.

Now I live 6 blocks due south of that same Chili's and work 1 block north of the Energy Solutions Arena (Delta Center). So you can see, I'm pretty tied to this geography.

I really like my old neighborhood and the old timey houses, as sucky as ours is. Our ward is weird, because it is more like a "missionfield" ward than a Utah ward. Our neighbors are interesting as well. The confirmed bachelor to the West who spends more time on his vehicles than most do on their career and family put together. The cute couple to the East who single handedly raised the property value of my home $10K each (they are really hot). There is the Bolivian/San Salvatore family across the street. 4 generations, last I checked. That isn't bad, it's the pet pit bulls that bother me. But the son, Jimmy, makes up for it by being a really good drummer in a Death Metal band and I love to listen to them play. Of course, we have the former bishopric member sharing our backyard who has laid claim to about 500 sq. ft of our yard, thieving bastard that he is.

All in all, it is a fun place to live. I'm a mile from NBA games, concerts of all types and genres. I have access to all sorts of ethnic foods. I work with a girl from Beijing, I stop and chat with a former Chili's cook from Mexico all the time who lives near my home. We had grilled sausages last Saturday overlooking the valley from Federal Heights with a mathematics professor from Serbia. My two best friends from the MBA program are Samoan and Congolese.

I get crap my from brothers as being a "city slicker". Having been to some big cities in my day, here and abroad, Salt Lake is decidedly NOT a big city. It has a very small town feel. Small town atmosphere with big city luxuries. And I love how June 3 is cool enough to need a jacket in the morning.

Trying some more

Some pictures, this time.

Trying more features of my new toy

Hmmm. This is working quite right.

Duck Head: the consumption

ScribeFire and I'm back baby!!

Ok, after a lot of pressure from the old man, I'm resuming my blog.

I have some new software add-on called SCRIBEFIRE for my Firefox webbrowser that makes it really easy. So, hopefully I will think of it more often and share all my zany adventures and ideas with you all.

I'll write more later, but I'll leave you with this thought:

A lady took a clock to a German clockmaker to get it fixed. "My clock will tic, but it won't toc", said the women.

The old man said sinisterly, "Ve have vays to make it TOC."