My Grey Dove

Had some fun this morning playing one of my new electric guitars (I'll dedicate a post to that later) and recording a cover of "Pigeon" off of Stone Gossard's solo album. This is pretty much my first electric guitar recording and I probably went a little overboard. I doubled up the guitar track and put a garageband effect (Heavy Blues & Grunge) on each one. That gave the guitar a pretty cool sound. I didn't really care for my vocal that much because the song is way high for me - so I recorded a double track in a lower register. So there's this weird chorus effect that I don't think is in the original song but it's kinda cool.

I don't think I'm very good a mixing the volume - so there are probably improvements that could be made there. Also, the bridge isn't that great but I didn't feel like being a perfectionist.

I've gotta say, it's pretty fun working with a bunch of tracks like this. I was actually thinking today, "Wow, I need a bass guitar" but I've spent so much money on guitars lately that I think Hannah would kill me if I randomly bought a bass.




[Update: Apparently the blogamp thing doesn't show up in google reader - so most of my recording posts don't make much sense unless you actually visit the blog]

Local Elections: Democratic Tax Collector Nominee

This about the Democratic primary for the office of Brevard County Tax Collector. The election is on August 26, 2008.

This is the first partisan election I've covered on here and the dynamic is definitely different than the nonpartisan elections because we need to consider the general election. In the republican primary there are two candidates (this is an open seat - no incumbent) who both seem to be well funded because I've seen their signs far more often then either the Democrats...

The Republicans

First, there's Jackie Colon, who seems to be very well funded (I even saw that commercial on her web site on actual TV!) and is even endorsed by Governor Crist. It seems like her signs are everywhere - far more than anyone else in this race.

Colon's opponent is Lisa Cullen, whose web site claims she won some kind of straw poll and is even endorsed by the AFL-CIO. I've seen her signs all over the place too - although I still think Colon is better funded - and the Crist endorsement makes it clear the republican establishment is strongly behind her. I would be surprised if Cullen wins this one.

Carie Exline

Judging by the signage on my route to work, Exline seems to be the best funded of the Democrats. Her campaign web site is fairly blah but I like the fact that not only is she a CPA, but she that has a masters degree in accounting. I'm not sure exactly what being the Tax Collector involves, but it seems like a strong background in accounting would be good. She is currently an internal auditor for the Brevard County Clerk of Courts. Having a background in Brevard local government also seems like a good thing to me.

Laura Dils

Again, judging only from signage - Dils seems to be less well funded then Exline - I don't think I've seen any signs for her. From her web site, it seems she's running as the "outsider" with statements like "I am the only candidate running for Tax Collector who is not a career politician or currently employed by one." In something like a local election, I just don't see how that's a great thing to brag about. It's not like she's Mr. Smith Going To Washington - this is only Brevard County - it seems like knowing how local government works would only make you better at something like Tax collector. In national elections I tend to be pretty anti-establishment - so I guess this attitude is a little odd for me - but I just find her sales pitch kinda cheesy.

Also, she seems to emphasis that she's from the "private sector" with a degree in business and a resume filled with titles like "regional manager", "marketing specialist", and "banking consultant." Maybe it's just my personal biases - but I don't find this background too appealing or impressive when talking about government posts.

Conclusion

So I don't have a lot of hard facts on this one - since I don't know what the hot button "issues" are in a tax collector race and the web pages are all pretty blah - I'm judging this one more on feel. As you can tell, I think Exline is probably the better candidate here that's probably who I'm going to vote for. She's got a good resume, knows local government, and appears to be running a more successful campaign than Dils (which is going to be important if the apparently well funded Colon wins the republican race).

Local Elections: County Court Judge, Group 3

This is about the nonpartisan office County Court Judge, Group 3 for the election on August 26, 2008

Oscar A. Hotusing

Hotusing is the incumbent in this office. He was appointed by former Governor Jeb Bush in 2006. His campaign web site is fairly boring and uncontroversial as you would expect for a nonpartisan office. His background includes being a JAG officer in the army and working as an Assistant State Attorney. About the only interesting thing I could find on Hotusing was that he was the Judge on Rep. Bob Allen's solicitation trial.

Michelle Baker

Baker is the challenger in this race. According to her web site, she has been "a practicing attorney in Brevard County for 20 years." Her web site is kinda strange with odd statements like "I have wanted to be a judge for the latter part of my career--at least the past five years." Really? Wow, a whole five years, I can tell this is important to you. But seriously, the only thing interesting I found on her web site was that she speaks "at the Women’s Center to abused women" and is "a Board Member of Brevard County Legal Aid." From what I can tell, the Brevard County Legal Aid focuses on aid for domestic violence cases. That all sounds good.

Conclusion

This is a tough one because there just isn't that much information out there. Neither one of the candidates web pages are that informative. Since Hotusing was appointed by a republican and has a military background (not to mention my general distrust of all incumbents) I'm a little hesitant to recommend him. I like some of Baker's charity work (Women's abuse center, etc) but her web site is just a little strange. Since incumbents usually win anyway, I'll probably vote for Baker but if anyone has any additional information on this race please let me know - post a comment or something.

Local Elections: Judge, 18th Judicial Circuit, Group 17

Here's our next election overview for the nonpartisan office of Circuit Judge, 18th Judicial Circuit, Group 17. This is for the election on August 26, 2008.

Meryl L. Allawas

There's not a lot of information out there on judges at this level, and it's been hard finding information on both of these candidates other than what is found on their web pages. Meryl Allawas' campaign page tells us that she is currently the incumbent and that she was appointed by former Governor Jeb Bush. Prior to holding this office she was a state prosecutor specializing in child abuse and sex crimes cases.

Robert T. Burger

The challenger in this race Burger's campaign page tells us he's a "Florida Bar certified trial lawyer with 33 years of experience." We can translate this by taking a look at his law office page which tells us he's a personal injury/medical malpractice lawyer.

Conclusion

The only real interesting fact about this race is that Meryl Allawas was reprimanded by the Florida Supreme Court for "not expeditiously issuing rulings in a dozen cases." That sounds pretty serious to me. Allawas claims that she has learned from her mistakes and is now better able to handle her caseload. Burger has not hesitated to point out her reprimand on his web site and seems to be running his campaign on the theme of "I work hard." There is something just a little bit sleazy about Burger but since it's clear that Allawas has actually been incompetent... I'm think I'm going to vote for Burger.

UPDATE: Local Elections: School Board, District 5

There's a tropical storm outside so it's a good time to update the old blog.

Good news when it comes to this election... I was driving home the other day and noticed the Stuart Rowan signs all had an additional piece of paper attached to them that said something along the lines of "Endorsed by the Brevard Federation of Teachers."

According to Hannah, BFT is the largest teachers union in this area and is the local branch of the Florida Education Association (FEA). To my knowledge there are essentially two large national teachers unions in this country: The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which is a part of the ALF-CIO and the National Education Association (NEA). While at USC, Hannah was a member of NEA and she seems to trust them. She says she doesn't know as much about the AFT. We're a bit confused about the FEA because according to their web site they are affiliated with both the NEA and the AFT. Regardless of who the BFT really is, an endorsement by them is almost definitely a very good thing.

So I'm about this write this post and I'm referring back to my original post on the subject and I notice that someone has left a few comments. Guess what... It's Stuart Rowan himself!

Ben: This is the guy with the bad tie! (Sorry, I was warned!) I do not support vouchers, I am in favor or holding charters accountable for both their finances and product. I am also a firm believer in the seperation of church and state. The Science classroom should teach science and all of its corroborating theories, and our churches should teach Faith and all of its corroborating lessons. I am endorsed by the BFT (Brevard Federation of Teachers) and by BASA (Brevard Association of School Administrators.) Sorry, the tie thing is without explanation. drop me an e mail. Sturow@aol.com

I'm glad he seems to have a good sense of humor about my tie joke but more importantly, he firmly states his belief in the separation of church and state. So, I think I feel pretty good about voting for Rowan and I encourage everyone else to do so as well.

Local Elections: School Board, District 5

So from now on I'm going to attempt to post my research on local elections. Most people don't pay much attention to local issues so I figure this can add some value to the blog. To start off, we'll be looking at races in the Democratic primary for Brevard County, FL taking place August 26, 2008.

First off: the Non-Partisan office, School Board Member, District 5.

Margie Kinder

Wow, this one is a doozy. DO NOT vote for this lady... please, I'm begging you. Why? Well for starters, check out her myspace page. This is impossible to read! And what's with the babies? That's just creepy. But seriously, bad myspace formatting aside, if you keep scrolling you'll eventually see pictures of Charlie Christ (UPDATE: and Mitt Romney!) at a Young Republicans meeting and someone called the "Fair Tax Babe." Ok... yeah, this is scary. But it's the school board right... a nonpartisian position... I mean, her campaign page probably isn't that bad.

NOPE! Check out some of these "issues":

• I support charter and Magnet schools as a way to promote public school choice (Pretty good so far...) and the school voucher program (No! ahh, fail) as a way to promte competition between public and private schools.
• I oppose the adoptions of text books that include historical revisions or political correctness. (What does this mean? "Politically correct" is usually a republican code word)
• I oppose the concept of "social promotion"
• I oppose the involuntary use of teachers' union dues to support or fund candidate for politcial oice (Yes, this is copied straight from her web site) or their campaigns.
• I support the "Be there Program" for the increase of parent involvement. I DO NOT believe it takes a village to raies a child as my opponent Andy Zeigler states on his brochures and website. (Really, Zeigler says that? Wow, I might vote for him now)
  
• I oppose state income taxes. (What does this have to do with the School Board?)
  
• I support less government and bureaucracy. (Yes, clearly we spend too much on education...)

So yeah, please, don't vote for her.

Stuart Rowan

Ok, first off, I'm not sure I can vote for a guy who wears this tie:

But seriously, about all I can find on this guy is that he's an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene which is an evangelical denomination. While I find all evangelicals scary, I think this is especially scary when you're talking about a position like the school board. His campaign page is rather boring and his "issues" page are things that I think most people would agree with. He's clearly playing it safe - which is more of what I expect from someone running for a local nonpartisan office. So I'm not sure what to say about this guy - could be really bad, but he might be the best of our options because this next guy...

Andy Ziegler

is even more openly religious than the Nazarene guy because he believes "we need to share our resources, training, and opportunities with all schools including Charter schools, Religious, Pre-K and Early Intervention Programs." Yeah, sounds a little unconstitutional to me - but hey - Bush has gotten away with his faith-based thing - maybe Ziegler can do it too.

On the other hand, the rest of his campaign web site is pretty uncontroversial and guess what - he's a Software Engineer (degree from FIT). He never worked for Harris but his page does say he was awarded the coveted "Harris Preferred Supplier Award." That puts him in the same category as Jabil! Wait... is that a good thing?

Conclusion

So none of these people seem like particularly good options. I'm not sure what to recommend. Hannah thinks that Rowan is the least bad. Not sure what I think... Ziegler earns points for being a SW Engineer and the whole "it takes a village" thing that Kinder attacks him for - but his religious thing is scary and Rowan's a fucking minister. We have learned one thing though: don't vote for Kinder. Really, please.

Understanding The Packers...

So as everybody knows by now, the unthinkable has happened: The Packers have traded Brett Favre. Why, you ask, would the Packers trade a 3-time MVP coming off one of his best seasons, a season in which he led the team to the NFC Championship Game, to instead go with a guy who has played in maybe one meaningful half of a football game? Well, I present you with exhibit A:


Yes, you see, clearly the Packers believe that even Brett Favre, the NFL's iron man, is not immune to the Madden curse. The Packers had the foresight to see that Aaron Rodgers probably going to end up starting anyway and that they might as well get some value for Favre while they can. Smart man that Ted Thompson.