SAVE THE MANATEE FROM HATERS!!!!!!!!

Even if everyone thinks you are completely useless, and question your the purpose of your existence, I still think you are awesome.

"God on our side" by Bob Dylan

Oh my name it is nothin'
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I's taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that land that I live in
Has God on its side.

Oh the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
The Indians died
Oh the country was young
With God on its side.

Oh the Spanish-American
War had its day
And the Civil War too
Was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes
I's made to memorize
With guns in their hands
And God on their side.

Oh the First World War, boys
It came and it went
The reason for fighting
I never did get
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead
When God's on your side.

When the Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too
Have God on their side.

I've learned to hate Russians
All through my whole life
If another war starts
It's them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side.

But now we got weapons
Of the chemical dust
If fire them we're forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions
When God's on your side.

In a many dark hour
I've been thinkin' about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you
You'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side.

So now as I'm leavin'
I'm weary as Hell
The confusion I'm feelin'
Ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
If God's on our side
He'll stop the next war.

write ups

a couple of humbling articles :)


"I came to the show pretty much unaware of the first two acts and expecting to be blown away by the band I came for, Clock Hands Strangle [pictured below, photo by Nicole Kibert]. That’s not exactly what happened.

The opener, Tampa’s own Alexander and The Grapes, were the best band of the night. They sounded like Tallahassee’s fantastic Holiday Shores with Yoni Wolf of Why? on vocals (if Yoni were less nasally). The foursome produced some pretty pleasant pop-infused rock music, not too loud or too heavy. For one of the songs, “The Walk,” they brought out a slide guitar and the delayed twang of the instrument complemented the song’s country-tinged melody. The crowd was digging the band during their almost hour-long set and clamored for an encore. The band satisfied, ending epically with a rendition of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.” Although lead singer/guitarist Alexander Charos called the freezing cold weather “Floridian blasphemy,” the music made this reviewer warm and toasty.......................
Oh, well. I guess it just goes to show that expectations don’t always turn out as planned. But at least I discovered a new local band I like — Alexander and The Grapes....."
-Creative Loafing


"Well the weekend was good all in all. I hope all of you had a nice one as well. However, mine was enhanced at the New World Brewery in Ybor City Friday night. After a couple beers, I was sitting with a smoke and a band kicked in. The sound was new and took my ear immediately. Then, a gentleman by the name of Alexander pushed lyrics out to the crowd with a wisdom of that from another era. This four piece band, by the name of Alexander and the Grapes not only caught my attention, they were able to captivate a crowd of about 100 people. The band played a half hour set that was filled with their originals. Alexander Charos the lead singer, Phillip Charos the drummer, Tom Dicks on Bass, and Chase Swan playing lead guitar/slide combined to put out a sound infused with a little Wilco, a little Dylan, and all of their souls. Be on the lookout for Alexander and the Grapes 6 song LP which was recorded and is being mixed in Cambridge, MA as we speak. You can catch them on MySpace where they have the band’s gigs posted regularly."
-SLAM magazine

know anyone who wants to buy a guitar??

its a great deal.



http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/msg/1521718427.html

Once we've really discovered how to love our neighbor as ourselves Capitalism as we know it wont be possible, and Marxism wont be necessary.

Peace? or a Genocide of the Wicked?

"There will be times when nations -- acting individually or in concert -- will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified." - Barack Obama

Recently Obama made his decision to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, and shortly after recieved the Nobel Peace Prize.

The fact that he declared this war morally justfied was very troubling. There have been too many "morally justified" wars in our world. I heard a story on NPR from the people of Afghanistan asking Obama not to send more troops, but to create jobs and build schools, and I longed to see that kind of peace making. Martin Luther King Jr. who also won the Nobel Peace prize said "violence never brings permanent peace" and history shows this to be true. I understand that there are threats against the United States, but is force really the answer? I had hoped for Obama to be better than this. His inauguration speech made me hopeful that I would see America act differently, non-violently and make real steps towards nuclear disarmament, And he did act differently for the most part, but a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Has war made the world a better place? If these people had jobs, and their children were educated they would never want to join the radicals. But with every terrorist killed, countless more are born.

This war is about revenge,
This is not peacemaking.
Peacemaking is forgiveness. Reconciliation.
This is a genocide of the wicked.

If you look up the antonym of peace, you'll find out that is war. Peace by way of war truly is like purity by way of fornication.

If Bush had sent 30,000 more troops, advocates for peace would be raising hell, but it seems like many have been pacified by Obama and their voice is becoming a faint whisper. There have always been anti-war activists in Downtown Dunedin over the past few years almost every evening, dozens of them. Now there are only about three people out there still there asking for us to get out of Afghanistan. As Christians and as human beings we cannot support this war. I pray the church and all people of good-will will rise up to practice radical peace. Non-violent peace. Imagination. Shining a light in the darkness. It takes a very creative mind to practice non-violence. War becomes the easiest solution to so many problems. History is full of stories of war and battles of people who believed themselves to be morally justified, in fact that is a majority of what I learned about in all of my history, and we record the periods of our country by all of the wars we were in. But every once in a while we stumble across people who did things differently, Ghandi, M.L.K., Jesus, St. Francis, Thomas Merton. These were some amazing minds, but why have there been so few?

When God told Solomon that he would give him anything he asked for he was pleased that Solomon did not ask for the death of his enemies. We should do the same, because we do not have the right to judge the fate of the wicked, only God. This world is broken, and it can't be fixed with smart-bombs, and tanks, but with peace and love for our fellow human beings.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

Love your enemy.

Another world is possible.

Give your greed

Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.

-Luke 11:39-40

I find this to be an amazing statement.