"Back in the 60's, before either of you young folks were born there was a guy named Barry Goldwater.  He was the GOP nominee that LBJ beat in '64.  He was an intellectual.  He was a big believer in rational government and making government smaller.  He was of the belief that the American people were the best judges of what was good and not good for them but wanted and fought for them to have the right to choose for themselves.  Barry Goldwater was far from perfect though.  He had his faults as all men do but he was also a man who was very much about ideas and liberties and not about policies and programs.  He liked the idea that America was a place that you could talk about big things and have big ideas that made big achievements.  It was really something.

"When Reagan won in 1980 it was almost a vindication of those beliefs.  You have to understand that for many of us who voted for Regan it wasn't so much about his policies as it was about his ideas.  Back then Conservatives talked about policy and ideas like they were important.  They valued intelligence and education.  They believed that if they presented their ideas pragmatically and logically that people would respond and we could unite the country.  Regan did that.  Not perfectly of course but he did it.  

Then something happened.  Nixon played to it of course but it really came into play in the 1990's and even more this past decade.  Republicans turned their backs on smart people.  Just like that, being smart was less important than being 'real'.  Being qualified was about being ordinary.  New ideas and thoughtful discourse was something to be ridiculed and not something to be examined.  A good education and vocabulary became something to disdain and not something to celebrate.  The Republicans stopped being leaders and started becoming drum bangers.  Oh, they'd pull out their tanks and missiles like they were penises and pretend that asking questions was akin to treason.  Scary."

"The Republican party is the party of the bowling alley.  It's the party of the poker game.  It's the party of pseudo patriotism and talking points masquerading as a platform.  It's the party of shrillness and fear and I couldn't in good conscience be a part of that smoke and mirrors any longer."

This doesn't even really count as a real blog. I just wanted to make sure that these words never went anywhere; and that ,regardless what happens in the future, I'll always be able to look at this and smile.

The following is ripped straight from Tk101's best DJ, Candy's, blog.

"Usually I hit Gabriels (Joachim) (downtown Mobile) after Bayfest every year - this year I went to see a band that stole me heart at our Radiothon last year.They're called ManDown and they are amazing.

"It was a walk. They were playing at the old Soul Kitchen - I beleive the place is called "Alabama Music Box" it's on lower Dauphin St. I've tried to make their shows before but my work schedule doesn't always lend itself to everything I want to do.

"Let me back up a little - I heard ManDown on our Radiothon last year (this is where bands pay us to play them with the $$ going to the Children's Home Society. Their song is called "A Hazy Waste" and you may have heard it on Nooners from time to time. It's one of my favorite songs - top 10 easily (and I'm counting Rush and Tool btw) since I heard it last year.

"So - Ray and I start walking out of Bayfest and down Dauphin. And down Dauphin. And down Dauphin. Every time we thought we saw their venue - which we were assured was somewhere on Dauphin - it would be a weird hat store or something.  We see some - what Shark would call hair farmers - on the street. One of them recognizes me from - presumably - last year. Paul and his girlfriend Becca. I hear "You're in the right place, Candy" which looking back could have been said by God - not just the guitar god - but the one people fight wars over.

"The band is outside - thankfully they haven't started yet - and I'm excited to meet them all. The 4 piece is very unassuming and well spoken and their girlfriends (the singer is single) are all equally sweet.

"On a side note - what happened to band girlfriends? I have met so many bitchy jealous whores that date/marry band guys - and they're enough to keep you away from seeing someone you kinda like.  Girlfriends/wives have taken a turn for the better over the past few years. I should write a blog on that - . My husband's band's wives have all been awesome too - before Ray though? Not so much - but again - that's another blog.

"Regardless - the girlfriends are nice. Their friends (that I met) were nice. The bar people were nice. Turns out I knew the bartender, Chris - one of my favorite vocalists. All in all - the night had several good omens so far.

"Before we walked in, we heard the strains of what appeared to be a brass band kind of thing - some sort of Beast Rising or something - they sounded great also.

"We order two Red Bulls (we had a drive ahead of us afterwards) and I took a place in front of the stage.  That's when my soul was moved. No lie.

"The band was in place - and I feel like a shit for writing these words - I was kind of hoping to hear my favorite song "Hazy Waste" and then we'd slip out - like we do with every concert. Little did I know - I'd get hooked on these 4 artists like a child on cartoons, like a scottish person on heroin, like a Republican on money - no shit - this band was THAT GOOD.

"If I had to compare them to anything - I'd have to say Mars Volta meets old Incubus meets old Chili Peppers. I hate comparing bands to other bands - because most bands have their own thing going on (except maybe Theory of a Deadman who is basically Nickelback lite) however comma this band has some great influences and they dont steal (see Oasis), their love of original good music lends itself to original great music.

"For their entire set, I was torn between dancing spastically to every new song I heard and staring dumbfounded in amazement. As anyone that was there could tell you - I stared dumbfounded. Every time I felt myself starting to do more than bob my head and stay cool, I'd stop myself, turn to Ray and say 'what do you think' He'd say "they're good" and we'd go back to me trying not spaz out.

"If I spazzed out though - I'd like to feel I wasn't alone - there were people dancing behind me - infact the bar filled up pretty quick when the band started playing - and people continued to enter through out their set - at $8 a pop. No small feat for an unsigned act.

"The music was bar none outstanding, the bar was a great place to see a show - and the band had such energy  that I was tired for them by the end of their set. The singer connected to everyone in the crowd - and when his voice floated over the bassist and guitarist and their flow - it literally lifted me from where I stood.  The drummer is also - of course amazing - for lack of a better term. He plays so fast - and it goes with the song. I'm not a musician so I'm not sure if what I'm trying to say is coming out right. We'll see some bands that do the best they can and their drummer will try to become Neal Peart and it doesn't always fit. ManDown's precussion section is solid. The whole band is.

"When they were done, I was literally moved to tears by their set and it wasn't a set of love songs or anything like that. ManDown has the best live show I've ever seen (and again, I'm counting Rush and Tool btw).

"There are some great unsigned bands that deserve to be seen that maybe you won't find on main concert stages - Analog Missionary, 60 Cycles of Sound, Deadly Fists of Kung Fu, Terrific Kid, The Grey and Before 9 are just some of my personal favorites - ManDown joined those ranks on Friday night and shot straight to the top of my list.

"Their songs won't do them justice  on My Space - but I suggest you hit their page, befriend them and catch a live show.

http://www.myspace.com/mandownofmobile

"Start with "Hazy Waste" and move on to any of their songs from there. It's funny "Waste" isn't even their best song - and I don't mean it like that. I felt like I was watching the next big thing.

"I think I uttered to the bass player as we were leaving that if they were a commodity, I'd buy stock in them. If you're in a local band, I certainly meant no slight to you in this blog but I'd really like to invite you to hear this band and if you're in Pensacola - maybe invite them to play a show or two with you. You'll see me in the front row trying not to spaz out. I'd like to catch your band live too. I love music and I love people that love music.

"That said - I love you. Thank you for reading - if you have a chance, take a listen to ManDown and thank me later."

Last Sunday, Ben decided that he wanted to record the one song that (as of that point) had not been recorded. So we did, and it was fun.

The way we have done all of our recording is that everyone gets to go one at a time into my 8-track recorder. 

Ben goes first, always. This time he said he wanted to do something a little different.  He wanted to record two separate drum tracks, which isn't a big problem. On the first track, which was all of the verses and choruses, we did it normal. Normal = one mic on his bass drum, one mic used as an overhead (we'd mic more spots overhead if we had a means of doing so.)

On the second track, We took the overhead mic and moved it into the farthest corner of his computer/dining room (that's where we were doing all of the recording.) He wanted a "far-away", ambient feel to it. So we did it, and it came out ok.

After him I usually go next. Since I got my new half-stack, I've gone from a direct-out on my head and left my cabinet in the car. This song is really easy (not like something like spunk'd where I have to do a lot pedal switching). The only difference in my tone from verse to chorus is this: In the verse I use the middle pick up of my strat ( a Dimarzio middle position hot-rails P/U), and on the chorus I turn on my Tube Screamer with super low gain (so it gets a little "crunch").  Also, at the end of the second verse, I add Phaser to the sound and do a picked out part instead of a strum.

Luke recorded his part in two takes, which was better than what I did. It took me four to get mine right. He took his signal straight from his multi-effect pedal.

Then I had Kevin come in with his part. Needless to say Kevin's a badass and I just let him do his thing. I wrote most of his part, but he added changes to it that fit really good. I recorded him from a direct-out on Markie's amp.

Then my favorite part, Lok. 

Lok did REALLY good with this song.  There's one or two things that bugged me at first about this song, but I got over it and decided that the note in the bridge that made me cringe at first was good.

After he got through his part, I looked at my effect chain thinking of how I could give him a little reverb. Delay, of course. My recorder has an effects chain send/return loop on it.  The thing that bugged me about it was, for send, it had female 1/4 in. connection. For return, it had two. I was like,"Ok, I'll send two out from my delay. It has two outputs, anyways." If you have a Boss DD-6, you may know that the result of applying both outputs is that the signal will "bounce back and forth" between your two cables. This worked out orgasmically (sp?). Also, you may know that fucking around with you delay time in the middle of it processing a signal will lengthen and shorten the wave-length of said signal, which results in a sound that sounds eerily like a DJ scratch. Call me a homo, but I did it, and at 2:45, if you listen closely, you can hear the resulting "Scratch."

After that I went home and put the .wav file on my computer, converted it to .mp3, and uploaded it to myspace. Then Ben put a decibel boost on the choruses and added a pan on lok's voice between the left and right channels.

The result is what you hear on our myspace RIGHT NOW.

Now go listen to that shit.

-Paul

Every night for the past few weeks I've been going out to my back porch, lightin' up a cig., and enjoying the view from my back porch. It's liberating.

local youth affirms, "Yes, it does."

on a lighter note...
DreamNeonBlack37 (8:55:34 PM): whats a badass?
paulofmandown136 (8:55:49 PM): you?
DreamNeonBlack37 (8:56:01 PM): you who?
paulofmandown136 (8:56:07 PM): im over here
DreamNeonBlack37 (8:56:12 PM): hahaa
DreamNeonBlack37 (8:56:18 PM): im no badass

I just finished watching a video of a band on tour.  They keep bitchin' about how tired they are. I wish that was my problem.

More importantly, I want to play huge shows for thousands of people who know my songs. With several of those people being so into the band that they know what pictures of me are floating around the internet, and could call me on the lie if I told them I hated sunkist.