Hello everyone, I've got word that some people may be getting spammed by way of their bakotopia accounts.  If you're having an issue, please e-mail me or matt and we will try to work things out.  Thanks.

Chase

*update:  So chances are that if you get an e-mail saying you've been signed up for something, it is just an attempt to get you to that website.  One way you can check to see if it's spam versus an actual user message is by checking the return address.  Very few people will add unneccesary strings of letters of numbers to the end (i.e. it would be chase@bakotopia.com versus chase431908132487@bakotopia.com)  Get it?  But again, any problems, feel free to contact us!  Thanks!

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I don't know who of you have heard already, but comedian George Carlin died last night from heart failure.  He was 71.

If you get bored tonight there are two great events going on.

One is Fishbone at Fishlips with Mento Buru

and the second is me doing a stand-up set at Vinny's bar, with Russ McGaffin, Bobby Detrick, and music by The Silence Club and more.  I go on at 9.  Cover is $5.

If you like the bizzare yet hilarious, check out this from the Mighty Boosh.

Think about it.  Hillary Clinton would not be the change Obama has been campaigning around.  He would lose respect from those who made his nomination possible.  What would really make people understand his change would be choosing his Vice President running mate as...  John McCain.  Think about it! 

I just blew your mind didn't I.

I just got to watch our boys Velorio on SiTV's Jammin!  And the representative for People en Espanol was pretty stoked on them.  If you get the channel, definitely check it out.  Check it!

Saturday July 5th @ the Empty Space theater

Bakersfield Stands Up

A local stand-up comedy show featuring all local comedians

Featuring:

Tyson Paul
Dane Forst
Chase Brockett
Joe Alaniz

and more!

Show starts at 8:00 p.m. and costs $5 which goes to benefit the theater, which is non-profit. 

Oh yes... and beers will be $1

So make sure to come down and check out Bakersfield's burgeoning comedy scene!

I figured I should probably mention Auggie Smith show I went to last Thursday at Fishlips.  To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much.  I’d figured there’d be a few comedians and they’d do ok but the laughs would be more chuckling than throwing chairs on the stage at the comedians.  I was right.  Aside from some mild chuckling, the rest of the show was pretty much filled with strong laughter, a few guffaws, and some high pitched squealing here and there (mostly from myself). 

The show actually surprised me quite a bit.  They definitely pushed the “Bob and Tom” appearances in order to get people who had previously heard nothing about them to give them a chance.  There were a couple other comedians that night, who put on just as good of a show, but I can’t for the life of me remember where I put the paper that I had written their names down on.  But if you just google the term “comedian” then I’m sure you’ll have no problem finding out who the other guys are. 

Set your calenders people.  Saturday, July 5th at the Empty Space theater is a special "Bakersfield Stands-Up" night of stand-comedy, featuring local comedians such as Tyson Paul, Dane Forst, Chase Brockett, Joe Alaniz.   The show begins at 8:00 p.m. and will have special $1 beers!  Suggested donation is $5 at the door, which goes to the Empty Space Theater. 

The thing with Barack Obama is that voting for him is a business move.  What I mean by that is, we have a promising new product that seems like it could shift the way our nation is perceived by both its citizens and by its onlookers.  Think of him as an undifferentiated political stem cell.  He’s done enough to inform us as to his tendencies, but we don’t really know what type of organism he will grow into.  Now, we can take the route that we have for years and rely on conventional wisdom – which does have its place, as well as its benefits.  Or we could move with something new and learn a tremendous amount, good or bad, from it.

The way I’m voting this election, still green in the political field, is not only on policies, but also on who has the best potential to change the way things are going.  The truth is, I don’t know.  Barack Obama could turn out to be the worst president in the history of the United States.  He could also turn out to be the most significant one.  We’re gambling with out country.  And as dire as that sounds, we’ve been doing it for years now, and something is failing. 

There may be something to the notion that liberalism is permeating through our society and destroying the foundation it was built upon without a thought as to what to replace it with aside from a government that wants a say in everything you do. But there may very well be an equally destructive force emanating from the idea of traditionalist construction that has lost its place, if it ever had one, in this phase of our social evolution. 

Maybe the state of our society is merely the in between phase that is a result of two opposing forces clashing for power. 

I personally think that we have lost touch with reality and personal responsibility in situations that call for it.  But I also agree that there are many situations that only judicial action can resolve.  We’re heading more and more toward a society that is free to say whatever they want, as long as it’s not what those in power don’t want to hear.  And that is directed at both ideological camps.  Some posed the question (about the recent Ford ad that told the 14% of those in the country who don’t believe in God to “Sit down and shut up!”) as to whether they should even be allowed to say that on air.  The answer is unremittingly YES!  You can’t be pro-free speech when it praises your own God but against it once you realize not everyone agrees.  And you don’t deserve free speech if you think it’s ok to make fun of religion on the air but not to say “fag”.

We’re trying to wall off our society and trying to filter out the opposition that we may face.  But the fact of the matter is, it’s better to teach somebody how to absorb the blows rather than to run from them, because at some point you can no longer run.

I think there is an issue with liberalism that doesn’t account for the need for personal responsibility in social matters.  I had to give a presentation for a communication course in college about poverty (not excluding the working class poor) in Kern County and what sound be done about it.  I had already assumed that there would be a number of presentations on government assistance and reaching out, so that perspective was covered for those who fell under the circumstantial hardships category.  But knowing that, I opted to address a cultural issue which I feel to an unknown degree affects our poverty rate here. 

I do agree that there are a number of people who fall into states of poverty and working-class financial hardships that are not explained by any particular fault of theirs.  But there is a segment of the population who is doing this to themselves.  I worked at a high-end car dealership for a year as a lot porter (I washed cars, parked them, took them to customers, shuttled them home and whatever’s left to do) and I came across the cultural issue a number of times.  After watching one couple drop off their Cadillac Escalade with 22” rims and a fully decked out stereo system, and then dropping them and their newborn child off to their one bedroom, dilapidated apartment, the question comes up: is it really not their fault? 

Obviously I understand how some of their money had been gained.  But the bigger question is, why are people supposed to show concern for a ‘poverty issue’ when the image they get is that of people who invest in image over life?  And the problem I think this creates is the ideological division that either wholly focuses on the scenario of the unfortunate circumstance or the self-destructive individual.  When you pose the other half of the picture to somebody in their ideological shell, they reject any legitimacy that the idea may hold.  I tried explaining the level of first-hand experience I’ve had with those who put themselves in that position and that there is a problem with that, and I was greeted with a response that suggested I was out of touch or insensitive.  I had already agreed with the other presentations before I had begun mine. I was trying to present the most difficult hurdle to overcome, which was the image that must be reconciled before people will care enough on a large enough scale.   But how are we supposed to move forward as a nation if we always discredit the other’s argument based on ideological principal rather than on testing the premise? 

There is also an immense issue with conservativism that hasn’t adapted to the changing environment and still thinks that there was ever a time in America with “traditional” values.  People have been fucking and smoking and drinking from the transients to the priesthood and from the birth of man through the birth of America.  And the idea that you can legislate morality is one that doesn’t understand that humanity is complex - an idea that doesn’t understand that freedom of religion means freedom of all religion. 

But I may just be hitting on points that people are already well aware of, and that the issue is not what it appears to be, but rather the ever-present thirst for power and control.  We all have it, we just present it in different ways.  From Conservatives to Liberals to Anarchists, we all have the same desire to control.  The blueprint for the systems may be different, but the fundamental motivator is always there.  In order to achieve what you feel is the best solution for yourself and those like you, you have to take over somebody else.  Even those with the best intentions are trying to conquer others.  The dissenter, given the chance, will do just as the oppressor has done to them, and not for the sake of retribution, but out of the product of human existence.  

So then what does that mean?  It means two things to me.  One is we are constantly in a struggle, but the struggle maintains a purpose and function.  That purpose and function will persist but the exact outward manifestation will change.  Or two, the reason the machine is persisting is because we are not fighting the targets we think we are.  If the latter is the case, then the solution is education and intelligence from all sides of the spectrum, and that means testing the validity of arguments, the soundness of reasoning against all that we do, not just that which we find favorable to our cause. 

Working in customer service sucks.  Pure and simple. If you ever hit the point in your life where you think your benevolence has gotten out of hand, just take a few months to work in a drive thru and you will be fine.

Face to face service is hard enough in many cases, but when customers pull up in their car next to a metal box and shout their order to me as if they’ve forgotten the North won, it explains to me why.  I sincerely believe that these people glance at their watches and say “My god!  Is it 9:00 already?!  I have to go be a dick to somebody!” 

What people seem to fail to realize is that there are actual, living human beings behind that box that they are grunting into. 

Quick test - figure out which number comes next in the sequence: 1, 2, 3, …  If you guessed anything other than four, you might benefit from this next tip.  If you order a latte and the barista asks you what size, chances are that they are just as interested in the sizes you want for the next six drinks you will fire off in rapid succession into the speakerbox.

Which of the following should you order to receive a blended iced coffee:  water, hot vanilla latte, or blended iced coffee?  The answer may surprise you!

Aside from the advent of the cotton gin, the vacuum cleaner and Martha Stewart Living, there has also been an often overlooked, yet revolutionary item: a menu.

Looking at someone and slobbering out the word “Caramel” and expecting them to know what you mean by that will instantly make even the most unwaveringly pro-life reconsider their position.  Just remember, even John Edwards couldn’t pretend to predict your order for you (the fake psychic, not the politician).

On second thought, that isn’t that bad of an idea.  I think all customer service employees should be able to receive cold-reading training so that they can convince their customers that they are psychic, and over time suggest that they stop carrying their tiny dog in their purse because eventually, it will get crushed, that it’s probably better to have your infant not sitting on the passenger side floorboard, or that a prince from Nigeria has no living heir and would like them to take over his fortune, if they could only supply you with their checking account and social security number, the prince would be very grateful! Sincerely, NigerianPrince@yahoo.com