September 2006

"It’s not the First Amendment, it’s not religious freedom, it’s not church and state, it’s not…abstract. It’s the fourth grader who gets his ass kicked at recess because he sat out the voluntary school prayer in homeroom. It’s another way of making kids different from other kids. And they’re required by law to be there. That’s why you want it front and centre. The fourth grader. That’s the prize." -Toby in an episode called "Shibboleth" from Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing

School prayer is fine so long as you’re a christian or a Catholic.

I watched Bill Clinton crush that twerp from Fox News. It made me remember what it was like to have a president who could construct sentences. He said something very profound. Democracy is more than majority rule. It’s about minority rights, too. When we stop protecting the minority, we begin to lose our most important freedoms.

The treaty is signed once again and I am back in Manhattan. More and more this place is feeling like home and I am sure it will be tough to leave when the time comes. For those of you keeping tabs, I took another step towards the door two weeks ago by taking my prelims. I did find out last week that I passed them. Yea me. Now, as my advisor advised, the only thing standing between me and the door is me. Unfortunately, I can be an imposing figure in a doorway. Next is the dissertation proposal and proposal meeting. That is planned for the end of this semester. That is a lot of work between now and then.

Well I can’t say enough about what it was like to play at Peace Treaty. If you had told me ten years ago that I would be standing onstage at that street dance, I would have laughed. It was a neat experience. Several complimented the band on a job well done. It sure was fun and I am glad people liked it. There are several highlights to the weekend. Here are a few:

1. My ten year class reunion was incredible and I sure had fun seeing and talking to several people I had not seen in ten years. We were missing a few people too but overall, I felt like it turned out to be a first class experience for the people that attended. Kialee should be crowned for the amount of work she did and several others played key roles. Who knew that several people in my class were nuts for "Guitar Town" by Steve Earle? Glad you all made it up to the street dance to hear that one…Sarah, Kialee, and Brandon…! Big Mc all the way from Taiwan, to Sarah R. from Pittsburgh and Jeremy E. all th way from Hawaii, the class of 96 proved they travel well and I am thankful they did.

2. It was great to see my grandmother, uncle, and cousin from Arizona. They came for the weekend’s festivities and it was neat that they got to see us play too. My brother and Jessica brought the next in the long line of Goering boys with Evan. He was super cute and quite the hit at the various events. My parents deserve some props for hosting over half of the ATB in addition to a couple of politicians and the rest of my family that was there. Happy Birthday to my mother on Friday when we all descended on her house. What a special treat:)

3. All the friends I saw and had a chance to catch up with at the Treaty was incredible. One never realizes just what it is like to live in such a tight knit community until an event like this when you cannot walk anywhere without seeing ten people you want to talk to. That was certainly the case.

4. I felt frazzled all weekend. Between 12 hours with the ATB on Friday alone setting up, playing, tearing down, and "debriefing," it was hard to get much else done or feel like I was giving anything all of my time. Decorrating for the reunion, talking to friends, and hanging with the family all seemed to take a backburner at times. I guess that is what pt is all about though. Good times and not enough time.

5. Playing with Dorfus Cracktractor was a blast. Those guys are an incredible band and they sure have a lot of fun doing what they are doing. Thanks again to Kevin for helping us get this opportunity and thanks to Justin and Dave for melting our faces off. Keep an eye out for them at www.dorfuscracktractor.com

Looks like we have three weeks off before our next show. Time to get cracking on this dissertation. If you are in the lawrnece area this saturday, several of us plan to be at Matt Egging’s 30th birthday party. God that guy is old. Loose skin… I would guess there might be some music played there that night; just a nasty little rumor though.

That is it for now. Till then, g

Well, just finished our big show at the Peace Treaty in Medicine Lodge. I had such a great time. I got to play with the guy that taught me how to play and gave me my first kit. Justin and Dorfus Cracktracktor put on such a great show…………and wow, brought a lot of fans. You guys did great! I got a great picture of Teacher and Pupil.

I really enjoyed the weekend.
I’d like to say thanks to G and his folks for giving my wife and I such a comfortable place to crash, you guys are great!
Thanks to all of the ATB fans that came out, good to see you all again.
Congratulations to Brett on his engagement!
Thanks to the band for putting on such a great show………..we really smoked’em this show guys.

Hope to see you all again soon.

MP

This weekend marks the beginning of two weeks of the Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty. A normally quaint town turns into nights filled with gun weilding crazies. We are excited to be playing with Dorfus Cracktractor at the street dance. Kevin, Dave, and Justin are three cool guys and it will be fun to get to hangout with them, regardless of how the show goes. We all think the show will go well though.

I remember being a little kid at the dance watching some high school girl named Martina sing from a flatbed trailer on main street. She did alright for herself.

Getting to be the merch girl for Garth Brooks and all.

Maybe Aaron can sell shirts for Toby Keith next year?

Class reunion. Well, we have about 50 people coming, many from across the country and even "Big" McCarthy from across the pond Taiwan. I am looking forward to having this reunion and seeing everyone but also for it to be finished. It has been a bit stressful at times but I think it will work out when it is all said and done.

Go class of 96.

To Dusty: As soon as you buy me a stand up bass, I will begin playing it. I just missed an inexpensive one the other day but if it comes down to me shelling out 2500, I am out.
To Aaron: Thanks for blogging the other day and catching us up on everything that happened since your last blog. I think you forgot that Bush got reelected and a war broke out in Iraq.
To Mason: The new music rocks from Guse on your myspace site. Check it out everyone.
To Jim: I check daily to see if you have blogged again.

Last night I asked Mike, one of our employees at the Purple Wave, if he’d ever heard of a book called What’s the Matter with Kansas?
He said, "No, but it must be thick."

I went to the Union last night to see Thomas Frank, the author, give a lecture. He makes a big assumption, both when he speaks and when he writes. He goes on and on talking about how liberals are the scourge of America and presumes that his audience will understand that he is quoting the conservative perspective. I looked around at the hilljacks in the audience and wondered if they actually understood his satire.

Where do I begin? We had some killer shows in Hays, arrested a guy for impersonating a police officer, played Lawrence and Topeka and Kansas City and Manhattan and hosed an amplifier since the last log. I had the time of my life playing with Blaine, Pete, Titts, and Russel in Emporia and had a good-for-the-soul experience getting paid pennies at Buster’s. I had an amp rack fall off the stack in the back of my truck and, because it was strapped on, fall back and leave a huge dent in the side of my bed. There was a coup d’état in Thailand, Ford and Intel fired a bunch of people, the crew of the shuttle lost some bolts — though I’ve done the same on a Massey Ferguson — the crock hunter died, someone messed with Texas in football, and the West Wing is getting better the second time around. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is going to be the shit-diggity. The band has a mascot, Mason has new drums, we have a monthly at Bobby T’s, we booked Thanksgiving at Buster’s.

We’re getting ready for Peace Treaty this weekend. Big show, little dough.

I am full of mirth. Don’t ever forget it.

are speaking loud and clear as the four by six room gradually begins to close around me. I ponder for a moment whether they can hear what I am saying on the microphone. Maybe I should unplug it and shatter the mirrored glass with it and strangle the invisible person watching me and stop pretending to be normal and start believing what they tell me.

Sorry about the creepy blog entries this week but they all fit into a story. I have been literally sitting in a room with padded walls and mirrored glass for the past two days writing my preliminary exams for the PhD. Each of these lasted four hours and I wrote about a single topic for that entire time. They are finished and they "let me out" of the room yesterday. The room itself is just as it was described. It has had padded walls and ceiling for soundproofing, mirrored glass for clinical observations, and a microphone so the observer could listen to what was going on. They used to use the rooms to train counselors or psychology people I believe. Now they are used for prelims. Kind of appropriate I suppose. I should know next week whether or not I passed. Have to have three out of four to pass and if I don’t, I am effectively expunged from the program. If I pass, I am officially ABD–all but dissertation–and a Doctoral Candidate rather than just a student, whatever the hell all that means.

Bobby T’s tonight should be great fun. Kevin and Christina Fowler, Greg and Heather Seiler, Eric and Sarah Van Allen have all made noises about coming to the show. Might a little bit of a preview to next weekend. PT. Peace Treaty along with the 1996 class reunion. What the hell was I thinking when I ran for class president at the end of my junior year? I was elected to the permanent office that keeps giving your entire life–senior class president. It will be good to see everyone and hopefully everyone can get along.

See you tonight or next weekend,
g

In a cold room tucked away inside other rooms in the midst of academia, I sat today for nearly eight hours. A microphone hung precariously from the ceiling, its cord barely peaking through the dark gray foam padding. Across from me was a curtain and behind the dingy yellow folds peaked mirrored chrome glass. The chair felt like 19th Century furniture intending to perfect one’s posteur and a brown table screamed institution while I sat motionless. Can’t wait to do it all over again tomorrow.

Till then,
g

Hey everyone, just wanted to update the ol’ blog. I’m getting excited about heading to Bobby T’s this weekend, going to be a fun show. Had a pretty slow week, thank god for that, I needed the rest and still do. If you are looking for some cool new music you should check out my other band’s myspace page:

http://www.myspace.com/guserock

We just posted a recording that was made at the Jazzhaus in Lawrence. Exciting stuff!
Anyway, don’t have too much to say………..we’ll see you at Bobby T’s this weekend.

Hey everyone, just wanted to update you all on the weekend from hell that I’m having. I had a show with the ATB on Wednesday, a show with Guse on Thursday ( while running a 102 temperature) and now I’m headed to Danny’s. I must say though I am feeling a hell of alot better than I did. I’m excited about the show tonight, see you there.

MP

Tonight is the show at Danny’s and we are all excited about this new venue for the ATB. Hope to see you there…unless you are crazy. The last two weekends out on the road have been full of crazy people.

There should be a good group of guys and gals there tonight. Be another one.

It is too early for blogging. I have meetings at KSU today from 9 to 3. I think I am going to cut out early on the blog…and the meetings.
g