Sounds like there are more hearings on the sex and violence in hip hop. And what can be done about it.

I've never been a big fan of censorship. And I don't think an artist should have to hold back with what they have to say just to make sure they're not offending people. Are there musicians out there that throw in a "bitch" here and an "uzi nine" there just to help sell albums and sound more authentic (whatever the hell that means these days)? Well. Duh. I throw in a "bitch" here and a "cocksucker" there just because I think I sound more street.

Yo.

So what to do about it? If legislators want to put little stickers on CD covers, fine. If it makes them think they've helped to save the world from naughty words, that's just super.

But I've never been clear on how that's supposed to solve anything. It won't change our culture. It won't change our collective, engrained stupidity. Because it certainly didn't start with rap music and definitely won't end with it. There's just as much misogyny, violence and ignorance in white bread corporate America.

I'm looking your general direction, Bill "falafel and ice tea" O'Reilly.

I think the real problem is lack of education.

And I don't mean that those easily targeted public schools are failing our younger generations (althouh, let's face it, they are), I mean that society as a whole is failing to educate. About racism, about sexism, about different cultures, about... spelling. Let's at least try to teach kids how their attitudes and their words can affect others. Then it's up to them. If the kid still ends up identifying with negative attitudes toward people different from them, if the kid still winds up some huge ass...

Well, maybe we can just slap a big label on them.

Did you make it over here with me?

I suppose if you're reading this, the answer would be "yes".

My mom got a new car this week. Finally. She's been driving this white minivan for years, which seriously downgraded her coolness.

So she bought a Toyota Matrix. I think mainly because the trunkage area is so large. And although it's a vast improvement from a minivan, it's kind of a goofy little thing. I don't know why, exactly, but when looking at the rear of the vehicle, it looks like it's wearing highwaters.

"That makes absolutely no sense," you say. "Explain yourself." I can't. It was just the first thing that came to mind when I was following her in my car. High waters.

Okay, maybe not high waters. Just very high-waisted. That seems more descriptively accurate.

My mom's new car is wearing very high-waisted pants.

Next thing you know, it'll be trying out for first tuba in the marching band and shopping for a new pocket protector.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

What's going on here, you ask?

I'm in the middle of changing over my old rant to a new format. It's just too hard to organize the thing anymore.

So all old posts are being added in little by little until I've moved everything. Which should be completed sometime after never.

I made a field trip this afternoon to the local courthouse. It was slightly unscheduled (and a boring story to boot) but there you go. I had to take care of a ticket that I thought I'd already taken care of.

Now, I don't know about you, but I don't frequent local courthouses. So I sort of stood around with a dazed look on my face until I figured out where to go. There were a fair amount of people milling around.

And it seemed odd that there were so many televison trucks parked in the lot. But who was I to question? Maybe television trucks routinely park in the lot of the local courthouse. And set up tents. I had no idea.

But they do, apparently, at local courthouses where Larry Craig is due to appear the next day.

I certainly lucked out—I don't think I would have gotten anywhere near the place had I showed up on Wednesday.

But it might have been a better story if I had.

My car, while parked out in the suburbs at my mom's, was broken into this weekend.

Or... got into this weekend. They didn't break anything. At least that I can tell. I haven't looked in my trunk for fear of a dead body stowed away.

In fact, the only evidence that something was amiss was that the contents of my glovebox had been unceremoniously dumped onto my front seat.

I suppose there was nothing all that tempting for the would-be burglars. I would have taken the roll of stamps sitting on my front seat. I mean, they're as good as money, issued by the government and everything. But neither those nor my relatively new sneakers were disturbed. Nor was the decorative ceramic bowl that's been sitting in the backseat. Which is really rather attractive—and proof the would-be burglars just have no sense of style.

I have mixed feelings about this whole situation. Part of me is thankful that nothing was taken and nothing was damaged—it was most likely neighborhood kids finding an unlocked door and checking for anything good to steal. It could have been worse.

But the other part of me wants to hunt down the little cocksuckers and kick them in the nuts repeatedly. And then go to work on their face.

Oh well. Maybe they'll get hit by a car or higher taxes or something.

I've been wildly attempting to get organized this week.

It's not going well.

But that's okay. Things will sort themselves out eventually. I think. I've already had several sales at my newly updated and expanded store, thank you very much. Including my new favorite: the towel tee. Twelve more and the initial expense will be covered.

Anyway, aside from taking care of some of the shows on this site, I'm caught up with maintenance. That feels good.

But I have not concluded and/or continued my theme song... theme. Because you know I've got more:

Death Cab for Cutie : Little Boxes (Weeds)
Elvis : A Little Less Conversation (Las Vegas)
Joan Jett : Bad Reputation (Live) (Freaks and Geeks)
Love Spit Love : How Soon Is Now (Charmed) —this one's an MPEG4
USMC : Fired Up Feels Good (The Unit)

I think I have a few more actually. Eh, next time.

I had my cellphone off for the latter half of the weekend. I would like to tell you it was because the battery was dead, but in actuality it was because I was trying to get work done in peace. So I checked messages today and have a mysterious call. It was either a wrong number or someone I know just drunk off their ass.

I'm hoping for the latter. Always more fun that way.

Anyway: I'm currently on a mini-break from working tonight. So I thought I'd post music. I had a recent email correspondence with someone and it led me to try and track down theme songs from TV shows. Not, you know, the opening to the Andy Griffith Show or something. I mean decent stuff. And I found a bunch.

Installment Y:

Von Bondies : C'mon C'mon (Rescue Me)
Rolfe Kent : Dexter 5 (Dexter)
Kool G Rap, Lord Jamar & Talib Kweli : Oz 2000 (Oz)
Phantom Planet : California 2005 (The OC)

You sort of have to download the OZ one at least just to hear a rap about Schillinger, Beecher and Adebisi. I think the part that had me snickering is that the song is essentially in the same Fontana-verse as Hill's "Behind These Walls" which was just about in every shot in season... five? Six? I forget. Anyway, a book available for sale in the real world that showed up in the show constantly.

I'm just not sure why they didn't try to sell the CD the same way. All of Em City could have been listening to and talking about the album constantly. Wasted cross-marketing opportunity, really. I hope someone was fired.

In other, less Oz news: The street in front of my print shop is completely torn up. According to local lore right below the sidewalks are a series of cavernous tunnels dating back to a time when deliveries were made straight down into the basements from the street. I think the liquor store across the street still uses theirs.

So we keep joking that one of these days we'll hear a loud noise and the gigantic piece of machinery that was moments ago tearing into the sidewalk outside the window is now twenty feet below.

Because destruction is funny now.

Speaking of business: I updated my lil ol' store over the weekend. And there are some rather awesome shirts in there now. Awesomer than usual. And with towels on them.

Because you should always know where your towel is.

I'm still struggling with the loss of my laptop. Along with some old files and accounts that I've had for ever.

Which is so whiny. How many people open some stupid account and then forget the password and just open a new one? Like every day? And here I am all hung up on a stupid AIM account.

Every last Friday of the month a bunch of bikers ride through downtown Minneapolis to protest cars. Or something. And this time it got nasty and about 20 riders were arrested.

Now I'm not personally a big fan of the bikers in this city. At least the ones that ride down the middle of the street and make sure that no cars can go around them. And then run all the red lights and ignore traffic laws.

And I'm not necessarily pro-cop (although they've always done right by me and I have no complaints).

And I've been stuck in this monthly protest ride/cluster fuck before. And I really hope at least a few of the people arrested are the ones that have yelled epithets at me for being in a car.

And maybe if they were roughed up a little bit that would be okay.

You ain't better than me because you're on a damn bike. You may be better than me for other reasons, but it ain't because of your god damn bike.