John's Rest

I had one of the most relaxing weekends with Kirsten at one of the PATC cabins. We mostly sat around, talked, and played games (Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, Fluxx) and just enjoyed the trees and seclusion. It was a really nice time.

Gun Control

So the Supreme Court made a decision regarding the 2nd Amendment this week, and I thought I'd make a quick comment about it. The 2nd Amendment is a unintentionally vague, and it's not quite clear if the right to "bear arms" is a collective right for militias or a personal right for individuals. In other words, can groups, clubs, and organizations own guns, or does each person have the Constitutional right to own a gun. The details of the Supreme Court case involve the gun ban in DC designed to cut down on the horrible crime, however, the decision basically states that gun ownership is an individual right. Meaning basically that no city or state can ban gun ownership.

As for me, I believe that American freedom necessitates the right of the individual to be stupid, so I think that many things (as much as I may or may not like them) should be legal but controlled (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, prostitution, etc.) and this includes guns. So in that sense I agree with the Supreme Court decision. But I think that since guns can be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands, they should be much, much more difficult to obtain. Gun ownership should require examination and licensure, like driving. I'm also thinking of the hobbyist community (and I'm not talking strictly hunters here). People should be able to purchase and own vintage and antique guns, build and create their own guns, and etch or engrave or cosmetically alter guns, and generally be able to generate an income based on these activities.

Now you may be thinking, "Brad, you're a pretty liberal guy...why are you pro-gun?" Well, more than being liberal, I would consider myself libertarian in the sense that personal freedom and choice are very important as long as it doesn't fuck with anybody else (directly). Also, unfortunately, I think a lot of anti-gun people are unreasonably afraid of guns. I've had several conversations over the years with people who can't even consider themselves firing a gun at a target. Yet I was raised responsibly with rifles and shotguns in the house. I've owned a rifle, took a gun training course, took a gun safety course, practiced shooting at a firing range, shot clay pigeons. I've even made my own shotgun shells using the setup my dad used to have in the garage. I've never hunted or shot a gun at a living thing, though (although I have been shot in the stomach with a BB gun, but that's a story for another day). So the bottom line is that I'm comfortable around guns and know how to use them properly. And I get the impression that some of the anti-gun people are not so comfortable and make their opinions based on that feeling.

Now the downside of my stance is that it allows Americans to be extremely stupid and dangerous. Especially in DC, which has been known as the murder capital of the US, and because of the sniper incident a few years back. This is why I support strict controls on gun ownership, but I can't consciously support a flat-out gun ban. I know this is a sticky issue for some people, especially those that have experienced gun violence in their life somehow. It's hard to argue this point with somebody who has lost a loved one.

Cool Science Shirts

Amorphia Apparel - really worth checking out, and they offer American Apparel versions as well.

I Synchrotron, Therefore I Am

I don't know why, but I think it's funny to use "synchrotron" as a verb.

Anyway, I'm up at the NSLS again, in the middle of bumblefuck Long Island, and I've had an eventful first day of beamtime. Everything was going great until someone on some other old beamline fucked up their vacuum system, which brought the hole synchrotron to a crashing halt. Then, we had a major thunderstorm in the afternoon and evening, which really shut everything down. Basically the synchrotron was down until 4am, but even then the particular beamline I was using was completely fucked up (valves and detectors shut themselves down ), so I had to wait until the morning for the beamline tech to come in and reset everything anyway. I only stayed up until midnight, and when I saw that things were still FUBAR, I decided to just go to sleep. This morning so far things are working well, and I think we can get through a bunch of samples quickly. And there are no more thunderstorms on the weather report, so at least that's one less disaster to worry about!

Songs that I Hate Myself for Liking #24

Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl.

That song happens to have a really catchy beat and crunchy guitars (my weakness), and Katy Perry has that powerful female voice that I like. But what really interests me about her is she is a "double PK" (both her parents are pastors) and was even heading for a promising gospel career, when she heard a Queen album and "left the flock", so to speak. Now I do think she's a little extreme on the rebellious side right now (judging by her lyrics), but that kind of story warms my heart. I always felt a little sorry for PKs, because they were even a little outcast by the rest of us non-PK kids. They were supposed to be examples of what good little Christians were supposed to be like, so they always had extra rules and restrictions put on them, which made them slightly less fun to hang out with.

By the way, 24 is just a random number, but if I thought about it, I bet I could come up with 23 other songs that I'm embarrassed to admit that I like.

M83

Last night I went on a whim to the M83 show at the Black Cat, and I'm glad I did because it was amazing. I'm a sucker for fuzzy guitars and synths, and M83 has it in spades with an 80's vibe. They released a really good album this year, and they even played several songs from their last album, Before the Dawn Heals Us (not counting the 2007 ambient album), which was very cool. They also had this cool clear plexiglass box with a bunch of dials and blue LEDs that was used to create alot of the electronica sounds (or maybe to pipe instruments through, I have no idea how it works, but it was cool). There were a lot of people there, but I don't think many of them were really getting into it. I mean, some of their songs are very danceable, but not many people were moving around (damn hipster douchebags!). Anyway, I think that was their last concert in the states, and I'm glad I got the chance to see them (and for only $15 too!).

White Rabbits

Will and I went to see White Rabbits at the Black Cat last night. The two opening bands were good but forgettable, but White Rabbits were great. They put a lot of energy into their show, and their songs have a fast tempo, so there were quite a few people moving around. They had two (and at times three!) drummers. They're worth checking out.

Before the show, I met up with Kirsten at Bar Pilar just up the street. It's a nice but not too cozy little tapas place, but the food was great. I highly recommend the mushrooms and leeks dish.

The Crystal Skull

I saw the new Indiana Jones movie, and I did not like it. While watching it, I kept thinking to myself, "really?...REALLY!?!"

Regina Spektor is Jewish?

I guess so because she was the headliner for the kickoff concert for the DC Jewish Music Festival this weekend. It was free, so Kirsten and I decided to check it out. I think Regina Spektor gave a pretty good performance, despite the fact that she forgot some of the lyrics to On the Radio (she was a little embarrassed and asked the audience for help!). I hadn't heard a lot of her songs except the radio hits, but they're all kinda quirky and fun, and it was cool when she started banging on a chair with a drumstick while she was playing the piano and singing. And then she had this guy come out and they did a really cool beatbox version of Hotel Song.