Was Martin Luther King a Republican? No. He wasn't. Nope. Not even a little. -Raging Elephants' Stupidity

So....recently, I saw this:

.....aaaaand this:

Today, let's just focus on the big text on the second one and ignore the outright complete dripping insanity of RagingElephants.org claiming to be "Leading America's 2nd Emancipation", and the borrowing of tactics from the Josie and the

Pussycats movie, in lieu of reason, in order to create a massive philosophical and political change in America.

So.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

WAS A REPUBLICAN!

I've heard this one before. On the internet. Never screaming down on a billboard in big bold letters and followed by an exclamation mark, like they're very, very certain of this undeniable fact.

Believe it or not, but Martin Luther King was not a Republican! If you go to support this with historical facts and quotes from the man's work, you will not only find this to be true, but incredibly easy information to access. So I decided to hit the contact button on their website right here:

Yes. They are proud of that billboard. And yes. They have a featured article on the hottest conservative men of 2010. I digress -I wrote a message to whomever messages go to when you contact the contacted with the contact button:

I'm sorry. But I saw your billboard saying that Martin Luther King Jr. was a republican. This is factually inaccurate, and could misinform a lot of people. You most definitely should not have these billboards out there, and post on your website the truth and an apology, because I'm sure that among the objectives in your mission are not misinforming and stating historical inaccuracies as fact to reach your goal.

Martin Luther King voted for John F. Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election, and in spite of his history of not publicly endorsing candidates for office in the past, said that he probably would have endorsed Kennedy, had he not been assassinated, in the 1964 election.

http://books.google.com/books?id=pynSnGuC964C&pg=PT187#v=onepage&q&f=false

And in fact, although he had a lot of criticisms of both parties regarding their lack of support for the civil rights movements, for different political and cultural reasons, Martin Luther King Jr. said that he "always voted the democratic ticket."

http://books.google.com/books?id=4ysIWgsSr9AC&pg=PA384#v=onepage&q&f=false

Even if you were just saying that ideologically, Martin Luther King held beliefs that are similar in any way to the right of today, you would be wrong. Martin Luther King was not on the side of a limited government. Yes he opposed racist government intervention but he was in fact a proponent of ideas that today would have him be called a socialist.

He wasn't on the side of limited government, he wasn't on the side of the free market, that imposed racial and economic inequality, he wasn't on the side of traditional values, and his voting record was liberal and for liberal people, according to the man's words and actions.

I beg of you to stop supporting this false idea in order to help your cause, and do your best to right this wrong. History is important, if misinformation muddies it, the concept of learning from our past is lost, because we aren't learning from our past. We're being misinformed from an inaccurate portrayal of what is the past. I look forward to your response, and hope that you're hearing me.

/end.

I don't expect to hear back from the raging heffalumps. They're probably way too busy with their hard work of desperately attempting to get American black people to vote for republicans to deal with my pleas for reason. Perhaps they'll get back to me after they've achieved their next goals of constructing a space shuttle entirely out of unicorn foreskin and getting Firefly back on the air. Until then, I'll be patient, and continue to enjoy their work from afar.

I Can I Will I Do -Max on Musics

So I decided to start small with my first Max on Musics, with just a run through of this little song by Barenaked Ladies, my favorite band ever. Just to get this out of the way, yes, my favorite band is the band that did the 'Chickity China' song as you peons call them, and yes, I think they're better than the Beatles, and pretty much any band ever. You know who else thinks so? PAUL FUCKING MCCARTNEY. That's right. Paul McCartney said his favorite band is the band that did the: "I just made you say underwear" song. And for good reason, unlike some other crazy things Sir Paul believes, like that PETA isn't crazy. Barenaked Ladies, since they were just Ed Robertson and Steven Page in their parent's basement recording cassettes, have demonstrated scary lyrical and compositional skills, and continue to to this day.

Most people remember them for their quirky, goofy songs like "One Week" and "If I Had A Million Dollars", but to really understand the depth of their talent, you need to listen to more Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at The Wheels and For Yous and Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hanks. It's sort of like people remembering Warren Zevon for Werewolves of London, and not French Inhaler or Carmelita.....Or The Beatles for I Want to Hold Your Hand and not Strawberry Fields..you get the idea. Barenaked Ladies have a lot of amazing songs. The one I'm singing today is among them.

Download my performance of I Can I Will I Do by clicking here:

http://kiwi6.com/file/1fo4896km2

INSTRUCTIONS: Don't click anything that says download except for the blue text in the yellow box that says: Download File 4.37 MB. NOT the green thing that says download now, and not the blue button that says download. Just the blue text in the yellow box. I'm sorry for the not so user friendly shit, once I find a better way to file host I'll do that.

....

"Friend, this shouldn't be the way things end
But then, a break is just around the bend.
And when you tell me as I leave
You're scared you'll never see my face again
Well, I'm not sure it's the truth

You don't think I can love you
You don't think I can love you
You don't think I can love you
But I can and I will and I do

You write - I read your letters every night
All right, I skim them just to be polite.
I fight embarrassment and shame
The mention of your name makes me turn white
But guilt still makes me refrain

You don't think I can love you
You don't think I can love you
You don't think I can love you
But I can and I will and I do

I imagine you think I don't think of you
You know you couldn't be more wrong
If good intentions paved the road that gets me through
Then I've got a six-lane highway
And I intend to someday
Do all the things I say I can and I will and I do

Hey - it's hard for me to go away
Okay, I know it's not adult
But it's just as difficult for me to stay
And anyway you say

You don't think I can love you
You don't think I can love you
You don't think I can love you

love you

love you

love you

I can and I will and I do
I can and I will and I do"

-From "I Can I Will I Do", written by Steven Page and Ed Robertson

Performed by Barenaked Ladies

What I especially love about the writing style of Steven and Ed, is how much they say with so few words, and mislead you into believing the song is about something it isn't, and turning this misconception on you.

"You don't think I can love you, but:

I can

and I will

and I do"

Just listening to these words, Steven and Ed set up our narrator, desperately trying to convince the 'you' of this song, (let's just assume it's a girl he's in a relationship for expediency's sake, many other interpretations can be had that I ), that in spite of what she's seeing, he in fact loves her and that she shouldn't break it off with him (hint hint, or perhaps she shouldn't be the one breaking it off because he wants to), because her beliefs are unfounded.

But if you really look deep into it, you see he's full of shit. When he talks about what he actually does, as opposed to intends to do, we see that he only skims her letters, and that he internally struggles with and feels guilt and embarrassment about what he does to her. In the end, his reasons for fighting to stay with her are revealed, it's just as hard for him to leave her as it is for him to stay with her, so he chooses to do neither and be wishy washy not really there for her, not committed, but not leaving. The contradictions of what he's trying to convince her that he feels and what truly lies inside of him become obvious, and it fleshes out the story and characters farther than what it seems like on the surface. It's like one day you were passing by this couple arguing, and you hear this guy, his voice breaking and saying some things that strike true with you, but when you think about something he's said deeper and discover a giant hole in his logic, you think: "Wait...He's full of shit! That guy was an asshole!"

That's a lot like my relationship with this song, for a while I sang it in my head, I thinking it's sweet and about heartbreak, and didn't give it much thought until all of a sudden something clicked and I stared off into the distance as I started to understand the song on a deeper level. When that happened, I connected it with personal experiences I've had of someone doing the same thing to me, deeply trying to convince me that everything will be alright and appealing to my emotional side that they intend to someday, do all the things they say, and stop living in their intentions. Mistaking the words of 'can' and 'will', the ability to and planning to with 'do', actually doing it. If they've convinces you...then you've let someone off the hook who hasn't proven themselves, and more than likely will not.

Singing this song was fun, but challenging. I was definitely attempting to channel the way Steven Page sang this on BNL's White Album: Barenaked Ladies Are Men, and he chose to sing it in a different style than he does with most songs. The guy is one of the greatest singers of all time, his voice is powerful with a capital owerful. Just look up Break Your Heart or Call and Answer and you'll see this guy's got some serious pipes, and can belt like a motherfucker. But on the recording of I Can I Will I Do, his voice is hoarse, and restraining the strength we know he has, and his voice gets high just to the point of breaking, and the strong guitar riff hanging above all of the other instruments contrasts the performance style. The guy sounds broken, and it makes us empathize with him immediately, very important in understanding the true meaning of the song. In the end it shows us how weak the character truly is.

I'm not used to singing like this, I'm more used to needing power to stand over a guitar or other instruments, so attempting this live without the vocal levels way higher than the instruments would result in the lyrics being drowned out. Luckily I had garage band, and one taked it with some background sounds from my cat playing with a battery, most of which I cut out. I apologize for whatever I couldn't cut out, next time I'll be better. I hope you enjoyed this new section I'm doing, comment/email if you have any future suggestions for it.....and more coming soon! Essays! Moar International Coffee Day! Book Excerpts? Maybe! WE'LL SEE. WE'LL ALL SEE.

EDIT: Something I didn't add that was cool about the song: When he says "Guilt still makes me refrain-", he's transitioning to the actual refrain of the song, while talking about how literally his guilt makes him refrain. Just a little thing I thought was really goddamn cool. Another example of how clever these ladies are.

COMING SOON:

The Fetishizing of the Founding Fathers

(And not in the good way, like George Washington rule34, that's awesome.)

I've seen one too many conservative politicians and crotchety old assholes in tri-cornery hats talking about the founding fathers in a fashion that suggests that they have even the slightest understanding of these people's lives and ideas, American History, or the basic logic given by Odin to every creature on Earth above that of an armadillo with its head run over.

Max on Musics Ideas

This was something I've been thinking about lately for a regular project I could work on here. I'm really obsessive about some things, and I spend a lot of time picking things apart, movies, tv shows, books, video games, arguments and ideas, etc., but one of the major ones is music. It's safe to say music is a big part of everyone's life, and I'm not hanging out with the exceptions like the . I've been the lead singer in a few bands, all with hilarious names, and I've played piano and the acoustic lobster since before I could walk. But what I really love about music, especially pop music, is how it has developed as an art form in a very specific way that no other has. Sticking with people.

The entire art form has relied heavily on honing catchy hooks, phrases, licks, themes, etc., to become a part of the listener for quite some time now; that really you can't be a successful artist (not entrepreneur of music like products) without mastering these creative abilities. It's truly an amazing feat to create something that becomes a part of people, but if the artist can make their little ditty not only stick with them, but make them think and feel complicated shit way after they've last listened to it, in my opinion, they have reached a level of personal connection with someone that they haven't even met, that they probably couldn't reach even if they had.

Had enough of my fucking paper on music as an art form? I'll tell you when you've had enough, but back to my original idea. What I'm planning on doing is just analyzing songs every once in a while, mainly focusing on the lyrics as a piece of fine writing (that's kind of my thing), but also touching on analyzations of the musics as it's just as important in understanding the whole picture, I believe. On top of all that, I'll perform the songs I analyze and link them at the top of the article sos you can listen to it before or while you read and I don't have to worry about youtube links expiring or anything.

So....Until then, expect more writing updates soon, an updated catalogue of my works in progress, a link every once in a while updating International Coffee Day, and this new musical feature. Until then. Keep your eyes on the prize and don't falter in the face of adversity. Endeavor to perceiver. Exterminate them all. A boy's best friend is his mother.

-Maxwell Wilson esq.

INTERNATIONAL COFFEE DAY ON THE DRUNK DUCK

http://www.drunkduck.com/THE_INTERNATIONAL_COFFEE_DAY_SAGA

That's right! Thine eyes in fact do not deceive you, my silly comic is now on the famed webcomic-webzone: 'drunkduck.com', and in much higher resolution than EVER SEEN BEFORE! It's like the time fish is swimming right in your face! Cuddling on your lap for a few moments before taking a sip of your pepsi and swimming back into the story to spout of some more of his famous catch phrases!

As of noonish saturday, it's just got all of the old ones you've all seen already, but soon it'll have some new pages to peruse, and I'll be updating it with regularity on the side of updating this blog with regularity.

A Myriad of Stuff: International Coffee Day Continuation and Detective Antipathy

Sooo

Today I realized I have 7 International Coffee day pages with more coming on the way, so I'll post those whenever I get around to shrinking them and putting them in my computer.

I'm thinking about making it a regular thing on someplace like the Drunk Duck or start a new blog, so I can just put a link on here or facebook for you folks that want to follow it. So I'd have a streamlined system going on, Journals Wilson for writing, (insert wherever ICD is going) for drawrings, and post a link on facebook whenever there's anything new on either so people can keep up.

I've been writing some stuff for Detective Antipathy lately, which is now titled: 'Detective Antipathy: A True Love Story by Max Wilson', sort of as a misdirect while pointing out a couple important themes. I dig the 'Love Story' sub-line because it sets it up expectations of perhaps being a romance or at least have two main characters in love, when....well...let's just say throw expectations out the window. This is going to be a weird one. Like. A pulp magazine and a bad dream had a baby and it wants to eat your feet. It's such a blast to write; so much experimentation.

A lot of the stuff I've been working on is grounded in the fight of insanity vs. reason. Most of the time it's a character conflict, but that is a lot less fun to write than when it's the overarching theme as in Detective Antipathy, focusing more on the internalization of that struggle and less on I said they saids. Those are fun too, they just take a lot more walking outside my head and crafting dialogue between at least two people, while Detective Antipathy is more my territory; somebody spilling their guts.

Updates coming when they do. Thank you for reading, my pungent friends.

interlude

You know that warm feeling you get when you never have to talk to someone ever again? Goddamnit I love that. You sit back and your mind goes to thoughts about someone you used to have to deal with and then you realize that you never have to again. Goddamn. It's like a million tiny candy corns in my brain are singing me ballads whilst they melt and coat my cerebral cortex with a thick candy shell of deliciousness that no assholes can get through.

Just something I was thinking about today that made me smile as I cuddled into my bed tonight with toasty sheets straight out of the dryer. I don't know why, but this week was a bit of a downer for me. I'm getting used to being alone a lot, most of my day is me alone, reading and writing and school stuff and the like. High school ending separated me from the couple close friends I had, and that sucks, but there's always an up side. In this case; it's the introvert inside of me having a warm, anti-social epiphany that there are more than a few assholes I've had to put up with in this last year alone that I don't ever have to speak to again and will not, and that little control I have over my life and happiness really makes up for a lot.

I have several more pages almost ready to post from the new, sexed up International Coffee Day, so get ready to skip that if you don't like that. I have a couple things I'm writing right now to post up here as well later. This little thing I wrote on pulp, this analysis of Maggy from Binding of Isaac that I'm working on....other stuff? Yeah. Real writing stuff. If anybody out there wants to drop me an email or a comment and ask me to write about something I'll probably do it. Seriously, that'd be pretty Louise Brooks.