The Audio Stylings of Chris Levens
"I'm a Gangster"

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Who cries about how little American's read? Authors. Who says our culture is decaying due to video games, movies and TV? Authors. Who thinks books are a superior form of art over film? Authors. Who has the most to lose as the volume of reading decreases and the volume of cinema increases? Authors. I think there is a bias in their criticisms.

A book isn't always better art than TV. Does "The Exotic Escapades of Miss Wilson" found at the grocery store have any more artistic merit than "Married with Children"? No. Authors are just jealous because their market is shrinking.
 10:28 AM   •  2 satisfied customers!!  

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Why is it so fun to read, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" by Hunter S. Thompson? Because of lines like this:

Dr. Ganzo says, "As your attorney I advise you to get the chiliburger. It's a hanmburger with chili on it."


 2:44 PM   •   like your cut?  

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Be not deceived. Korn and Rage Against the Machine are Pop music just like N-Sync and Jewel. There is nothing wrong with Pop music. I like Pop music. But let it be know that Pop music takes many different forms. Not only are the bubble-gum pop bands Pop music - gangster rap, rage rock, jungle music and punk are also part of the category. It all appeals and is marketed to a pop audience. Therefore it is pop.

But don't be afraid to like Pop music. It is O.K. There is nothing wrong with it. It is natural to enjoy easy to listen to music. And yes, Korn fits in this category.

I get the sense that a lot of these 'harcore' types would cringe at the idea of being mainstream. But they are. If your favorite band is on the cover of every music magazine, played on MTV, makes shirts, posters and stickers, and is imitated by Jr. High school children, then it is Pop music and mainstream. But that is O.K. There is no reason to fear the popular. But there is reason to fear my wrath if you refuse to see that Rage Against the Machine is an integral part of the Machine that it pretends to be against. Don't deny it!
 4:00 PM   •  2 satisfied customers!!  

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"Social learning, as described by Albert Bandura, deals with the fact that a fundamental means of learning is through observing and imitating of models."

"An important tenet of Bandura's theory is that exposure to highly esteemed models can alter students' attitudes." - from lecture on Educational Psychology.

This seems to explain why people think that if you get a football player or musician to tell kids to stop smoking or become a Christian you might get good results. I have two things to say about that:
1) As a kid I was always able to sniff out a compulsion to conform using a popular figure and I never liked it. In fact it was usually a motivation to do what they were telling us not to do.
2) In the Christian world I think it is a shame when we rely upon developmental psychology to teach us how to win people to Christ. What ever happened to Paul's robust confidence in the "foolishness" of the preaching of Christ Crucified? Sure Bandura would disagree with Paul on how to influence people. But I think we should side with the apostles on matters pertaining to the Christian life.
 4:59 PM   •   like your cut?  

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I don't know what is better: stronger states or stronger central government? I don't think this is necessarily a capitalist/ socialist debate. Why can't you have a socialist state that is more centralized according to state rather than nation? Why can't you have limited government and be nationalistic? And what about a national bank? Is that good or bad? I know the capitalistic founding fathers were opposed to it in principle. But it seems that it was neccesary and every time we eliminated the national bank things got screwey.
 1:16 PM   •  1 satisfied customer!  

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History is the most depressing story. Rather than a single person as the main character you have Mankind as the main character. So you follow this Mankind through his seemingly pointless story and you just can't help but get depressed. All the minor characters are so adamant that they know what is right and they do their darnest to make the world the way they think it should be. Then they die and someone else tries to do the same thing. It turns out that nobody is right in what they do. And if you think the Founding Fathers of our country, or the Protestant Reformers or the English Puritans didn't follow in suit, then you got another thing coming. They have warts just like everybody else.

History makes me long for heaven when I will finally be out of this place.
 8:54 AM   •  3 satisfied customers!!  

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I got to take a gander at Mark Ryden's Bunnies & Bees exihibit in Santa Ana. What a hoot! Got to cruise there with the Dane, Drunken Pooh Bear and the Irreprehensible Levey. Story of note: Levey almost destroyed at several thousand dollar archetectural display as he walked by a little too close and his shirt cought the peice. Close call! Too bad it didn't happen. What a story that would have been!
 9:58 PM   •  5 satisfied customers!!  

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Liberty: giving the same rights to those that hold different beliefs than you.

Personally, I think the saddest thing is the lack of liberty in the Church. Of all places the church should have the greatest amount of liberty. Instead it seems to be the place with the least. The body of Christ has fragmented so much that now there are such things as non-denominational churches. A non-denominational church is the apex of divisiveness and anti-liberty. A non-denominational church has cut itself off from the rest of the body of Christ entirely and refuses to work out difficulties with the rest of the body at large. It saddens my heart.
 9:20 AM   •  2 satisfied customers!!  

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Of all the rock stars in the world, I think Bruce Hornsbey deserves special recognition.
 2:22 PM   •  3 satisfied customers!!  

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During prohibition days, my family, along with all the other Italian families in New York, made their own wine. If a Christian was to make his own wine during prohibition days, should the church discipline him? From what I gather, making illegal wine was quite normal in those days. I wonder if prohibition is over stepping the government's bounderies? In that case is it OK to break the law? Are we allowed to break unconstitutional laws? Does the constitution give the government the right to make laws concerning morality? What happened to that line in the preamble of the Constitution which secures, "the blessings of liberty to ourselves and posterity."
 5:38 PM   •  6 satisfied customers!!  

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Anyone ever read developmental psycology (Piaget, Vygotsky, Erikson)? Does it seem like an idea gained from some mind altering drugs? It is kind of cool in a Pink-Floyd sort of way, but I'm not sure I can call this stuff science. It seems to theoretical with out any proof. Doesn't the scientific method start with a hypothosis, then you do the controled experiments, then you draw your conclusions? Well this developmental psycology stuff seems to stop with the hypothosis. Interesting hypothosis, but hypothosis none the less.
 7:36 PM   •  2 satisfied customers!!  

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My great discovery: Nothing is every as easy as you think.

Second great discovery: When you think something is going to be too hard, it isn't as hard as you think.

Third great discovery: Our judgement of situations isn't so hot.

Fourth great discovery: Snappy sayings are only true some of the time.

Fifth great discovery which is related to great discovery number four but is seperated for arbitrary reasons: For every snappy saying, there is a counter-snappy saying.
 11:04 PM   •  2 satisfied customers!!  

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Psychologists are kind of like prostitutes for your emotions. They don't really care about you. But for the hour that you buy, they will be your best friend, listen intently to everything you have to say, give some common sense advise and pat you on the shoulder when you need it. If you were to bump into the same psychologist at a coffee shop and begin to spill your guts to the guy, I imagine they would be much different. Instead of being compassionate they would probably give you the cold shoulder, excuse them selves and snobbishly remind you that their services aren't free. Sort of like the same thing a hooker would do if you tried to cop a feel for free.

Sometimes I get tempted to hire one of these rent-a-friends. The temptation comes when my wife gets tired of listening to me ramble. I then think to my self, "A psychologist wouldn't get annoyed if I rambled about how great of a food beans are". Maybe this Friday night I will roll down Main street and try to pick me up one of these painted friends. I think I would go for the real grandfatherly type. Preferably bald with glasses and a tweed coat.
 9:12 PM   •  3 satisfied customers!!  

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That last post was due to some somber self-reflection. Apologies.

On the brighter side of life, I think I made a big break-through. I am going to try not to buy things because I think they might be worth something now or later. I have this horrible habit of searching for a diamond in the ruff. I always go to garage sales looking for something that someone didn't know the value of that I will be able to sell for 500% profit. Do you want to know how well my treasure hunting has paid off? Not too much. I've been doing this since I was a kid. I have collected money, comics, baseball cards, pins, stamps, hats, cups, and a brain full of bad ideas. What a crock! I thought I would be rich by the time I was 25, and I'm not. New take on life: I will only collect things that I actually like. I will still go to garage sales looking for old records, because I love music, not because I think I will find some valuable rare record. It feels good to free myself from miserly inclinations.

Some credit needs to be given to the Dane for this breakthrough. Thanks Sethie-poo for showing me what a fanatical collection looks like when it is fun based instead of investment based.
 12:29 PM   •  4 satisfied customers!!  

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It is ruff being honest with yourself. I've been making a concious effort to not excuse any of my stupid acts. The result: I realize that I am stupider than I previously thought. Another result is an increase in my comfort level with my stupidity. In a way it is nice. But it is still tempting to excuse all my dumb doings.
 11:46 AM   •  1 satisfied customer!  

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I'm coming to bed soon honny, don't worry.

I just said that to my wife. Does that make you wish I was saying that to you? It makes me wish I was saying it to me. Sometimes, when no one is around, I shake my own hands and give my self hugs. Sometimes, when I feel comfortable, I do it around others. And on rare occasions I teach a class on the subject.
 11:46 PM   •  3 satisfied customers!!  

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Holy crap! What a bad idea online class is! I am taking one right now. It is for my teaching credential program at UCI. It is insane - everybody talks at the same time. The amount of quality education going on is minimal. Why don't they do the old fassion lecture style class? I feel like I am part of some hideous educational experiment. Speaking of experiments, do you ever wish that you could have been part of the Mescaline and LSD experiments conducted by the government. You know, the sort of stuff that created Ken Kasey?
 7:18 PM   •  4 satisfied customers!!  

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Death and destruction are the main drawbacks of war.
 8:20 AM   •  3 satisfied customers!!