An email showed up in my spam folder about some “Human Rights Amendment.” I did some research at the Legislative Analyst’s Office and I think it’s title is gravely misleading.

“…State Constitution provides that a person cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law or be denied equal protection of the laws. This measure would amend this section of the State Constitution to define the term person. This measure states that the term applies to all living human organisms from the beginning of their biological development, regardless of the means by which they are procreated, and regardless of their age, race, sex, gender, physical well-being, function, or condition of physical or mental dependency and/or disability. Thus, this measure would confer due process and equal protection rights upon human embryos and fetuses. This measure may conflict, in certain cases, with federal court rulings, such as the U.S. Supreme Court case discussed above relating to abortion.

Some provisions of existing state law might be applied differently based upon the new definition of the word person established by the measure. Whether those state laws would be applied differently would depend on the intended scope of those laws as they may be interpreted by the courts. Among the potential legal issues that could arise are: (1) whether some activities involving embryos and fetuses would now be subject to criminal prosecution or require their legal representation in civil court proceedings, (2) whether access to some types of reproductive services and methods of birth control would be restricted, (3) whether certain types of medical research would be restricted, and (4) whether some medical practices by medical personnel would be affected by broadening their consideration of patients’ rights to include the rights of a human embryo or fetus.

Depending upon how this measure is upheld and interpreted by the courts, it may have the following major fiscal effects:

* Potential increased costs for courts, law enforcement, and other agencies for criminal and civil proceedings.

*Potential costs and savings for health and social services programs if the courts determined that the measure restricts access to some types of birth control methods.

*Potential loss of state or local revenues due to reduced research activity that may be offset by reduced state spending on research.

*Unknown potential effects on state and local health care expenditures due to changes that may occur in medical practices. ”

- from www.lao.ca.gov

…Oh, and ultimately a loss of a woman’s right to choose. If this piece of backdoor legislation ever makes it on to a ballot, please don’t be fooled by it’s heart warming title. This is a sneaky attempt to stifle women’s rights and progress of many kinds. I hope it never sees the light of day, but who knows…

save the world or start a war
i don’t want either anymore
if i think too much i’ll go insane
so keep me thoroughly entertained
and tell the future to never come
’cause i’ve seen my father’s son
in my window reflection
saw the world cut down and paved
in his eyes, one of a slave
and the other a sittin duck’s

- Nathan

This just in from space:

Aries: You wanted to wear something different today, but you were rushed. You should have taken the extra minute and changed your outfit. Your life may have taken a beautifully unexpected turn if you had. You look better in orange anyway. Better luck tomorrow.
Taurus: No one can do it like you do it.
Gemini: You got a missed call. You think it might be an old flame trying to track you down to re-kindle. It will just be a debt collector calling about that modem you forgot to turn in at your old apartment.
Cancer: You’ve been feeling weird lately. This will continue through today.
Leo: No one gets you, but they should. You would have changed the world already if people just quit yapping and realized you were always right.
Virgo: You’ve been unable to make up your mind about important things. Who cares? Live in the moment.
Libra: Work sucks. Today: Happy Hour?
Scorpio: Look up.
Sagittarius: Don’t look up. Look both ways before crossing the street (even if it’s green). Think about this one, it may be a metaphor.
Capricorn: Life is moving at light-speed and you love it. But sometimes… you don’t.
Aquarius: Love has been lurking on your social-networking window front. Will they ever speak up? Tonight: Make eyes.

Pisces: Bad vibes surround you. Why is everyone so negative? Don’t let it seep in or you will have little sleep tonight, broken up by horrible dreams and it might last for days. This unfortunately is no joking matter. If all else fails: Nightcap.

If you don’t have a sign: You think about life sometimes. Today it will lead you to make a face that no-one can read. You wont quite know how to feel about that, and then you understand infinity.

* Update – In re-reading over the fax from space I noticed an error. Space doesn’t recognize Zodiac symbols so the horoscopes come in without tags or names, just predictions. They then are placed in with the Zodiacs in the order specified by Space. Today it was “Backwards.” So I attached them to the corresponding sign, starting from the end to the beginning of the Calendar. The problem is that “Backwards” in Space also means “Alternating side to side from inside out.” It can also, at times, mean “Forwards” and even “Sideways,” which makes no sense. Point being: the order is mixed up so don’t feel bound to any one prediction, it’s probably not yours, but it might be.

I tried to do our end of the year wrap up, then it turned into this. I flunked outta high-school so it’s a bit more of a rant than I had hoped, due to my organizational aptitude limitations.

It’s been a weird year for us. A better way to say it might be ’surprising’ or ‘eye-opening’ maybe even ‘educational.’ We spent a lot of the year listening to and trying to do what people were telling us to do. We spent years “just playing shows” because we were told to just play shows. We tried to make an album on our own dollar (which were no dollars aside from one’s pocket specifically) because people told us “You need an album.” We left our jobs and homes (some of us permanently) because getting on the road was all the rage. Don’t get me wrong, we love performing and recording and touring, perhaps too much, and we are very grateful for what these choices have been shaping us into and whetting our appetite for more, bigger, and better. Everything comes to a point though when you take a step back, out of the propulsion of the moment, and ask yourself, “In a world of chasing after homogeneity as the means to the end of having an identity… What are we doing?” We took little time this year, spare a few good discussions amongst ourselves, to really think about what we wanted and how to get there, or make that in a way that was truly “ourselves.” On top of this not-so-unique dilemma we are kicking at the door of an industry that, honestly, even to a musician seems a bit irrelevant when compared to what’s happening nationally and worldwide. Continue reading We are fascists, we are pure.

It is the end of the year and most blogs are putting up their ‘best-of’ lists. Seeing as we made the cut on a few I feel compelled to put links up to these altogether classy, elegant and cherished blogs that have been so kind to us.

1. http://www.webinfront.net – These sweet mothers notched our EP at the much coveted #1 spot on their list of best EPs of LA this past year.

2. http://www.surfingonsteam.com – This apple-shooter also scored us at #1 on best local EPs list. We love you, man. (Apple-shooter is a compliment… ‘bad-ass, braniac-technician’ just wasn’t as catchy).

3. http://www.buzzbands.la – Made a list of EPs for around town with our dudes in Voxhaul Broadcast, and Union Line. In the vein of his four word reviews: “Who needs numbers, anyway?” Thanks always, brother.

We will accept all these like a spelling bee trophy (with hot, ruddy faces and probably a good amount gloating to the babes and rubbing it in the faces of those kids that button their shirts all the way up. Spiffy chumps). Thanks to all these blogs for always giving us a listen. Let’s say we try to get you guys a  full-length not too soon, eh?

Take care, ladies and gentlemen. Enjoy your family or cider or whatever and we’ll see you New Year’s Eve at Spaceland.

-Nathan

Below are some shots our good friend Pat Rogers took of us at the House of Blues show last month.  The night was a total successs thanks in part to the great bands assembled (Yellow Red Sparks, The Shys, The Steelwells, The Color Turning) as well as the friends and fans who came out to support.  Also, thanks again to everyone who came out to the Detroit Bar show a few weeks ago.  Wish we had more time to have chatted with many of you at these local shows.  Please know that your friendship and support is greatly appreciated and we are humbled to know that you come out to share our songs with us.

We will be playing the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa with two very special bands on Thursday Nov. 19th.  We’ve asked the Henry Clay People to join us from Los Angeles as well as our local friends in Kiev from Orange.  Fun fact, we shared a studio with Kiev for about a year and actually played our very first show with them at the Chain Reaction.  The Henry Clay People are coming off a recently finished tour with The Airborne Toxic Event.  Should be a night of great live music and its only gonna cost you $6.  We have been practicing with our good friend Sean Cimino and he will be accompanying us as a five-piece for the night.  Really looking forward to this show and hope you can all make it out!

We’re back in Santa Ana, CA adjusting back to regular life.  Locked down a rehearsal room in a 7-8th grade classroom.  Making magic happen after school hours.  We’re going back to the drawing board on a couple songs from the Limbo EP and seeing where we can take them.  Stripping them down and building them back up, seeing how many different ways we can dress them up.  Its fun to be back in rehearsal working out songs again with the ideas we gathered from tour.  We spent long drives between cities listening to records such as the eerie sounds of the Space Odyssey soundtrack or thrift store tapes featuring Halloween sounds.  Speaking of…need a Halloween costume idea.  Have a few great CA shows coming up.  Be sure to see our calendar.

Our tour with Civil Twilight ended in St. Louis yesterday.  We wrapped it up playing the Firebird and then crashing a hotel room together, drinking a stolen 30 pack of Milwaukees Best to celebrate.  The guys were from Nashville but originally came over from South Africa a few years back to play music.  It was a pleasure to be out with them and experience the road together.  After a few hugs and shaking of hands, we went our separate ways and begand the 25 hour drive from St. Louis to Phoenix.  There’s a lot of things that go through your head when you’ve got 25 hours on your hands – relationships, the future, sometimes nothing but staring off into distance, or trying to remember the last time I showered.  I had the 3am to 10am shift.  The early sun looked beautiful coming up over the New Mexico horizon.  Tonight we play in Phoenix…where the tour originally kicked off.  Its a great city and group of people to finish things with.  We’ll be home tomorrow.  Yeah.