Always Thirsty for Victory

The United States was under the presidency of George W. Bush during the start of the Iraq War. The big idea seen mainly in the media is triumph. That's what America sees itself as: Victory. If one strives to be victorious at war, there are little things that will contribute and/or hurt their goal. However, these little things will be viewed in different ways by many different people. For example, Republicans supported Bush's decision to invade because of the suspicion of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. They would find it logical to invade; however, most democrats opposed because their wasn't enough concrete evidence. Plus, there was another war already going on. The focus on a larger issue would diminish if the invaision of Iraq followed through.

Another example would be the killing of Saddam Hussein. Having the evil dicator captured by the U.S was a victory but to what degree? Republicans saw it as a huge success. They felt like it was the victory that they had been waiting for. Liberals could find some satisfaction in this, but not to a republicans level. I consider myself to be a liberal but only to a degree. The U.S killed one dicator that our government didn't really like. There are many evil dictators that the U.S government doesn't like. By realizing that, one can't enjoy the small victory to a huge degree.

People see war in different ways. Some see it as a potential victory, and some see it as pure nonsense. Everyone has different opinions on why nations go to war. The little things ( which could be big things to you. I don't know. It's your opinion) that built up to or during the war have caused many mixed opinons. The big picture is always clear though. America has always been thirsty for Victory. Maybe we'll be able to quench that thirst soon. Maybe we won't.

How Tim O'Brien Educated Me.

The Things They Carried is a great book. It's so different compared to other literature on the Vietnam war. Growing up, I heard a lot of negative comments about the government during the Vietnam war. That seems to be the only thing I was educated on: The government's involvement. The Things They Carried really shot at emotion. Tim O'Brien, the author, didn't bother to write about the government's overwhelming power during the war. He wrote about the war in a different perspective. Not in the eyes of someone on U.S soil but through the eyes of a soldier in a war zone. This really brought out the emotion. He makes it clear that Vietnam had the power to change people. Not the government or anything like that, but just being in a war in Vietnam. In his writing one can easily tell that the war was gruesome. War is gruesome, but the violence in Vietnam was life changing. I always hear how America is and always has been patriotic down to the last battle throughout history, but this book totally disagrees with that. The killing in Vietnam was quick and unexpected at times which is different than a lot of the battles fought in the past. Soldiers had buddies in the jungle that would be shot dead at random times which had a lot of negative affects on them. In this book Tim O'Brien even writes about how vetrans are still dealing with the deaths in Vietnam today. I grew up learning about the government action in Vietnam. The question was always raised: Should the U.S have gone to war in Vietnam. That question is a serious question, but Tim O'brien doesn't really ask that. I asked myself after reading: Was the Vietnam war worth all of the human sacrifice? Vietnamese and American? This book clearly taught me that it was not worth it. It wasn't then, and It still isn't today.

The Tea Party Is Not a Fun Party

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/opinion/29friedman.html?_r=1&ref=columnists

The writer, Thomas L. Friedman, refers to the well-known Tea Party Movement as the ' Tea Kettle Movement.' He calls them this because 'all it's doing is letting off steam.' I think that Friedman's made up name for the Tea Party members is very fitting. In this essay Friedman explains that most of the 'Tea Kettle Movement' doesn't have a plan for the future. They explain what they want, but they have no set plan to get there. They talk about the future of America and the problems that they think the U.S is creating, but they have no plans/programs to fix them. It is a movement that can't have a positive impact on the country. Friedman explains though that there are people who would like to consider themselves as Tea Party Patriots, but they can't because there just aren't enough people that have the same moderate views on politics. There just isn't a leader for these people. The nation will just have to deal with the 'Tea Kettle Patriots.'

Friedman knows what he's talking about. This tea party movement shouldn't be a problem, but it's growing and growing which could potentially really hurt the country. There are people who would like to consider themselves to be Tea Party Patriots, but they aren't as right-winged as the 'Tea Kettle Patriots.' I feel like the people in the 'Tea Kettle Movement' are just hurting this country. I encourage everyone that reads this to avoid the 'Tea Kettle Movement.'

Fear of Peanut Butter sticking to the roof of my mouth

Arachilbutyrophobia: The fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. Let it be known that I do not fear peanut butter. I love peanut butter. I have about seven empty Peter Pan Peanut Butter containers on my kitchen counter. Everyday after school at 5:15 is peanut butter sandwhich time. It's simple and delicious. It's a win-win. Nothing can be perfect though. I overload the peanut butter on the bread. By doing this, I have an enjoyable but stressful snack. The large amount of peanut butter tastes delicious, and it makes me happy; however, one bite can ruin my mood. After a large intake of peanut butter, I feel like I can't breathe. It's a horrible feeling. The only thing that can cure this horrible feeling is water or any liquid found in the fridge. Once I blend the water and the peanut butter together, my problem is fixed. The feeling of suffication doesn't feel good. It isn't comforting. One might think that I would stop overloading the amount of peanut butter that I eat at one time. This is not true at all. I still overload my sandwhiches with peanut butter. It's too delicious to resist. It would be an extreme sacrifice to lighten the load of peanut butter. The suffication scares me, and I'm aware that I'll go through that pain when I eat. Lighten the load of peanut butter so I won't get that sufficating feeling: that's a sacrifice that I will never be able to make.

Like Music

Writing is like music. One can't write or perform music without expressing emotions. It could be anger. It could be happiness. One could even express their personal opinion by writing. Music can do the same. People are affected by both. Music and writing can make people come alive. Listening to music can cause happiness, hate, or even sadness. Writing can do the same. For example: When I read an essay that I totally don't agree with, I want to scream and express my opinion. Igor Stravinsky, a Russian composer, once composed a piece and had an orchestra perform it. Stravinsky's piece caused a riot. People walked down the street in disgust of his new composition. Stravinsky changed. Take Bob Dylan for another example. The "folksters" loved him, until he went eletctric in the mid '60s( How can one go wrong with Bringing it Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited?). He was hated by some people. He wasn't going to work on maggie's farm anymore though. I see some writers in the same way. Chuck Klosterman is known by many for writing essays for certain magazines and newspapers. He made a book out of his essays. I love them. I'm afraid to read his fiction book though. I just feel like it won't be the same. I'm kinda upset that he didn't write another non-fiction book. Take Richard Dawkins for another example. He wrote some books focusing on evolution. He then wrote a book about religion. He changed. I'm not sure if he had many religious fans, but I'm sure there were some people who disliked his change. I loved his book. That's just me though. It makes sense to me though. Music and writing brings out emotions in people. It could be anger. It could be happiness. Music and writing can wake up people.

Summer Books

The books I read during the summer (In order)
1. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
2. Bob Dylan: Revolution In the Air by Clinton Heylin
3. Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris
4. IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas by Chuck Klosterman
5. Darker Than the Deepest Sea: The Search for Nick Drake by Trevor Dann ( this book was a let down).
6. Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror by Richard Clarke.
7. A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties by Suze Rotolo
8. I'm currently reading The End of Faith by Sam Harris.

Next on my list: Bound for Glory by Woody Guthrie

I really enjoyed reading over the summer. I read a lot. All the books I read were extremely enjoyable expect for the book about Nick Drake. I was excited about it, because Nick Drake was a very mysterious guy living in solitude. I thought it would be interesting to find out more about him. The book didn't really grab my attention at all though. Major disappointment. He wrote some cool tunes, but he was a pretty strange guy.
The God Delusion: I'm obviously not a very religious person considering that I enjoyed reading Dawkin's book. It was great. A huge eye opener. A friend of mine was confused why I was reading a book written by a "cult leader." He's talking about an Atheist. This friend of mine is a Catholic, so he can't really talk. I could say the same thing about the Pope. This book is extremely interesting. This book should be next to every bible in every hotel.
Revolution in the Air: This book is about all of Bob Dylan's songs written from 1957 to 1973. The author tells the story of how and why each song was written. Each song is like a chapter. The author wrote about the songs in the order that they were written. That was cool. Bob Dylan has always been a hero of mine. I've had that feeling since middle school. This book made that feeling stronger. Did you know that Lay Lady Lay was written in the early '60s before Dylan recorded his first album? I do like Nashville Skyline, but how can you beat the early Dylan? I can't even imagine what the original version would sound like. What do you think?
Letter to a Christian Nation: It's only like 97 pages, and it's awesome. Read it.
IV: This book is full of essays. They are mostly of Chuck Klosterman and his interviews with famous rock musicians. He interviews some actors too though. And the NBA star, Steve Nash. I really enjoyed reading about Thom Yorke of Radiohead, the guitarist from Wilco, and Robert Plant. He's really funny in his writing too. This is probably my favorite Chuck Klosterman book.
Against All Enemies: This book is amazing. The author, Richard Clarke, was the head of the Counter Terrorist Unit for the white house during George Bush's, Bill Clinton's, and George Bush Jr.'s years in office. Clarke was super honest in the book. It's believable too, because he knows all the facts. The first chapter is about the evacuation of the White House during the 9/11 disaster. Crazy stuff. Clarke just points out what each president did on the war on terror. Clinton did the most out of the three. Clarke clearly points this out. He also clearly shows his frustration with the Bush administration. He quit his job about a year after 9/11. No one would listen to him. This book brought up some questions. Should the U.S really be in Iraq? If your answer is yes, please get educated. Read this book. I researched a little about the book. I guess Dick Chenny said that Richard Clarke was "out of the loop" with the war on terror. However, Condoleezza Rice said that he was completely "in the loop" with the whole fight on terror. It's weird. Clarke was the loop. Don't you love the government sometimes?
A Freewheelin' time: Suze Rotolo was Bob Dylan's girlfriend during the '60s. She experienced a lot. How couldn't she? She was dating the fastest growing folk singer in the world. She wrote about how times were great, but also about how times were tough. The times were definitely a changin' when Dylan got massive attention. He changed. Suze didn't see Dylan as a very reliable person. He really wasn't. Suze didn't want to deal with the change. She also didn't want to be used. Used by all of Dylan's fans. They would all go up to her hoping to get closer to Bob. She hated it. Lots of interesting stuff in Suze's memoir.

I really enjoyed reading over the summer. It's so much better to read for pleasure. What was wrong with me when I was a little kid? Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings are cool and all, but non-fiction is so much more interesting to read in my opinion.

War of the Sexes

Mary Wollstonecraft probably had a solid point in the 1700s. Her essay is a little outdated, but it was well written. She had an awesome vocabulary . Lots of cool words. I kinda want to throw a Richard Dawkins book at her though. A couple Sam Harris books too. I got a little tired reading about God in her essay. When God and morals are talked about together, I get a little angry. I won't get into that though. ANYWAYS, Wollstonecraft wrote the word "slave" in her essay a lot. Women were treated like slaves in a way back then. It's a bummer. I always hate it when women act like they are still treated that way. I here things like that every once in a while. It's not my problem that some guys are complete tools. My favorite is when male athletes rip on female athletes for being "weak" and "not as good as males". (Go McFarland Football!!!! Whoohooo!) I applaud those female athletes. My girlfriend could beat me up if she wanted to. I have no doubt about that. I am a small person. There are girls who are stronger than some guys. There are also some guys who are stronger than some girls. There are girls on the cross country team that could outrun me. Am I outraged because of this? No. They are good. Guys who think they are better than girls are tools. I know this is a strong judgment, but it needed to be said. Take music for example. I love so many female artists. Artists that i try so hard to emulate. Their sound. Not their looks. haha. Examples: Esperanza Spalding, Meg Baird, Karen Dalton, the Carter Family, Anais Mitchell, Klara Soderberg, Joan Baez, etc. I think labeling women as slaves today would be pretty outrageous. In the U.S at least, they have just as many rights as men. (i don't really know if this is true, but it seems that way at least.) This was an interesting reading. She has a very strong point. The essay was strong the whole way through. There will always be a war with the sexes, but who really cares who's better. People are people.

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

This blog is super late. Yikes! I apologize. Is Google Making Us Stupid? No, but Yahoo is. Just kidding. It's all too far fetched. I like Kubrick's 2001 film though. That's good. It's a good book too. Realistic though? who knows. Should I even be writing this blog? People will probably read it. People should probably be reading books instead of reading what Leif Larson has to say about Nicholas Carr's essay. I like blogs though. They are fun to read. I also like books though. So I can't really agree with part of the essay. It was said that some people can't read books like they used to because of the internet. I've finally reached that age where I like to read for pleasure. I was never a huge reader. Growing up when the N 64 (best system ever) and the internet increased in popularity, one might think that it would be hard for me to dig books(can't forget all other electronic gadgets. There are too many to list). I also love going on the internet and reading articles on current events and what not. I have no struggle reading books. Does the internet really change the way a person reads? I can't believe someone is trying to make the google search engine into an artificial intelligence. A Hal-like machine. If someone is smart enough to create that, they have to be a little dumb. Who would want to create something that would out smart everyone. Who would want to create something similar to the Hal robot. That robot is scary. Chuck Klosterman says it best. " Perhaps we humans are still in command, and perhaps there really will be a conventional robot war in the not-so-distant future. If so, let's roll. I'm ready. My toaster will never be the boss of me. Get ready to make me some Pop-Tarts, btich" I think we have better things to think about. We don't need to be working on upgrading the internet or anything like that. I just threw out my windows '98 last year. The computer store said it was the best windows '98 they have ever seen. No big deal. I don't have a microwave. I don't have cable for my television. I don't have fast internet. I got my first cell phone two years ago. I have an Ipod, but I won it in a raffle. I don't really have many electronic things. I'm doing fine. I play music, read books, play badminton, and hang out with people. People should just get off the internet. That's the problem. Google isn't. Take internet language for example. g2g, lol, ic, ttyl, 2day? i don't really know it that well. ANYWAYS, It's people who talk like that. People know how to write. They just choose not to write the full word. And when you think about it, people started these ideas. People are stupid. The internet just shows how stupid people are.

Skunk Dreams

Last night I dreamt that I met NBA star Steve Nash. This is weird and random. I know. I was reading about him in a book called "IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas" by Chuck Klosterman. That new film, 'Inception', came out today. I guess the movie is all about dreams. Maybe. I haven't seen it. "Skunk Dreams" is about dreams in a way. Louise Erdrich is a very descriptive writer. I was amazed on how well she could describe things. I'm not going to give an example, because the whole essay is very descriptive. She tells about a few dreams that she had. "I may be a woman who has dreamed herself a skunk, or a skunk still dreaming that she is a woman." Kinda weird to think about. When she is in Valley City, North Dakota, she dreams of the woods. She didn't think about the dream until she moved to New Hampshire. She talks about how she thought that the woods there seemed "bogus" at first. She later beings to find the beauty in the woods. She finds solace in the trees. She even wrote it: "I found solace in trees." I also find comfort in the woods. Ticks suck though. I slept under the trees the other day actually. I know this is probably weird for some people, but I think it's great. Waking up to the sound of birds singing is great. ANYWAYS, the author said, "My dream, was about obstacles still in place. The obstacles that we overcome define us." Everyone has different dreams. I'm not sure if there are obstacles in my dreams. I once dreamt that I was riding a huge white horse through a rain forest. I think we should just leave it at that. There is no need to think deeply about this dream. Maybe I'll ride a huge white horse someday. Maybe fight in the Civil War. Maybe I'll meet Gram Parsons. These things could never happen in my life because A)Horses cannot be the size of whales. B) The Civil War was in the past. and C) Gram Parsons is still feeling blue in his grave. Dreams are dreams. I don't think anyone will fully understand them. The author makes it seem like dreams show what the future will be like. Similar things might happen, but it's a little overwhelming to think that dreams show the future in a way. In the essay the author talks about skunks too. She says skunks come and go. Dreams come and go too. It's easy to dream, just like it's easy to get near a skunk. People have no reason to kill skunks, but if they are killed, people will forget about them. This is kinda like dreams. Dreams are forgotten all the time. She says that she would be a skunk if she could be an animal. I'd be a cat. This essay was very interesting to read. I'm not sure if I understand it completely. Maybe this essay is supposed to be like a dream: Difficult to comprehend.

Wake Up

"The Talk of the Town" is a powerful essay. Adam Gopnik proves a lot of good points about gun control. "Reducing the number of guns available to crazy people will neither relieve them of their insanity nor stop them from killing." Gopnik basically wrote my thoughts in her essay. The Virginia Tech shooting was horrible, and I hope it doesn't happen again. Let's be realistic though. These "crazy people" will find ways to get a hold of guns. Gun control is an obvious issue in the United States. It's too bad the U.S can't fix the problem. The country could stop selling weapons in well-known places for starters. They can start at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart also sells Machetes for a pretty low price. I wonder how many working families want/need machetes. ANYWAYS, guns are useless for a lot of families. Guns are tools used for killing things, and for some reason people love using these tools. When I think about it, most of the people who use guns are tools.......ANYWAYS, The U.S should look at other countries that don't really have the whole gun problem. "Who doubts that America is strong? But that's not all America has to be." The country should build off of other countries' policies. We, as a country, don't have to be so selfish.

9/11. I could go on for a while with this. I know that a lot of people might say this, but I'll say it anyways.....Bush wasn't that smart. I don't even know where to start. I'll start with his nuclear weapon suspicion in Iraq. According to Bush, God told him that there were nuclear weapons in Iraq. I guess God couldn't tell him exactly where they were. I guess God couldn't tell him the truth.......ANYWAYS, there is a lot of suspicion that Bush had knowledge of an attack on the towers before September 11th. I can believe this, but I can't believe that Bush actually planned the attack. That administration showed that they can't do a lot of things right. How could they stage this attack? "Our leaders are bent on convincing us that everything is O.K. America is not afraid." Susan Sontag wrote this, and it's right. Bush couldn't even do that right though. When the country had the chance to capture the Al-Qaeda leader, Bush decided to bomb Iraq. A right-winged nut might say in response that Clinton didn't get Osama Bin Laden either, so stop blaming bush. Clinton tried though. Bush didn't. He did get Saddam Hussein though. One cruel dictator down, many many many more to go. It's weird how everything worked out for Bush. He got a lot of people thinking that Iraq was the place to be. Why are we there though? Blood for Oil? Spreading democracy? Sometimes I think that Bush was thankful for the 9/11 attack. It was like a free ticket into the Middle East for him. It was probably helpful for him to have Donald Rumsfeld by his side as Secretary of Defense. Rumsfeld met with Saddam Hussein in the '80s to make a deal. Rumsfeld made it possible for the United States to give WMDs to Saddam. Everything is so messed up with that administration. Everything is so messed up with 9/11. Was 9/11 an act of terror or was 9/11 a political trick?

I recommend the documentary called 'Zeitgeist,' if anyone is interested in the 9/11 attacks. I'll warn you though. It's pretty heavy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_E4N5YIycI&feature=PlayList&p=03883D92DD00DEBF&playnext_from=PL&index=0&playnext=1

Hello, I'm Leif Larson

Hello,
My name is Leif Larson. I will be a senior at McFarland High school during the 2010-2011 school year. I live with my Mom and my dad; my two brothers are both at school. My brother Lars-Erik is about to start his first year in grad school, and my other brother, Karl, is busy getting his doctorate in Contemporary Music. My family has been musical for a very long time. My mom is a music teacher at the Wabesau school in McFarland. My dad is a percussionist. Both of my brothers play percussion and the piano ( one may debate that the piano should be considered a percussion instrument). I play percussion, the piano, and the guitar. I recently bought a banjo, so I'm hoping to learn how to play that this summer. One might have already guessed that I'm a "folkster." I love folk music (the good king). Bob Dylan is my hero. I love his music. I've started to make my little collection of Bob Dylan things: I have all of his albums on my itunes, I have nine Bob Dylan vinyl records, I have Bob Dylan's Biograph on tapes, I have a few live videos, and I have a couple Bob Dylan posters. I like The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home, and Highway 61 Revisited the most. It's not just Bob Dylan that I like though. There are many great musical artists out there. I do love folk music, but I am open to a lot of other musical genres. Some of my favorite artists are as followed: Joanna Newsom, First Aid Kit, The Beatles, The Tallest Man on Earth, Fleet Foxes, Karen Dalton, Steve Reich, Sigur Ros, Esperanza Spalding, Bill Evans, Radiohead, Beethoven, Ligeti, Bright Eyes, Oscar Peterson, Anais Mitchell (Hadestown), Devendra Banhart, and many many more.

I also really like movies. I'm a huge fan of Stanley Kubrick and Wes Anderson. I actually just watched Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut last night for the first time. That movie is messed up. (very well done though). I love The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Full Metal Jacket, A Clockwork Orange, Dr. Strangelove, The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, The Life Aquatic, and Bottlerocket. Kubrick's films are almost always based on books. I've read some of them. I've read A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and The Shining. They were very good, except for the Shining. I'm not a huge fan of Stephen King. Kubrick changed a lot of the story. He made it better. The book wasn't very good.

All I really want to do in life is listen/play/discuss music.