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Evolution — the ultimate anti-depressant

By on Dec 12, 2011 in Politics

Greg Graffin, lead singer of seminal punk band, Bad Religion, also has a Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology. As a young wannabe-punk and young science-nerd, I found a lot of solace in the likes of Graffin, Milo Auckerman, and Dexter Holland. Graffin’s recent book, Anarchy Evolution has some great quotes on evolution. Enjoy! “… reading about evolution has helped me through many difficult times. Evolution is full of dead ends, as is the experience of every human life — relationships ended, time wasted, songs unfinished, goals not achieved. All organisms and species die, just as all of us must die. Yet tragedy also entails creativity and opportunity. Over the course of deep evolutionary time, species go extinct and the earth is repopulated with new ones. As Michael Crichton’s chief scientist in Jurassic Park says, ‘Life finds a way.'” “The...

New Playlist: “Reinventing Happiness Again”

By on Oct 14, 2008 in Music

I made this last night. It’s the first playlist I’ve made in a long time. Significant? Perhaps. Give it a few minutes; it takes forever to load … If it never loads, click here.

Open Questions for Greg Graffin, Lifetime Acheivement in Cultural Humanism Award winner and all-around inspiring dude

By on Apr 28, 2008 in Music

This past Saturday, April 26th, 2008, Greg Graffin, lead singer of Bad Religion, Phd in evolutionary biology, and generally inspiring dude received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism from the Harvard Humanist Chaplaincy (Watch it here; Listen here.). Being the big fat nerd that I am, Adam and I headed to Boston to witness this blessed event. The church(!) pews were filled with an odd assortment of mostly punk rock kids/adults, a few parents, and other middle age adults. The front pew was filled with Greg’s dad and his fiance. Sadly (well sad for the stalker in me), I couldn’t catch a glimpse of her. I did already know that they were getting hitched because Brett & Jay don’t seem to understand the peeping tom potential of their beloved myspace. But I digress … The event began with introductions by the president of the Harvard Secular Society...

The Glitz! The Glamour! Bad Religion on Broadway!

By on Oct 18, 2007 in Music

Monday night I saw bad religion at the nokia theater times square. Does anyone remember when music venues weren’t named after big corporations? Going to times square is always an ordeal. The tourists, the flashing lights, the traffic – I have a hunch it’s pretty close to hell. We step out of the subway, get our bearings and walk 2 blocks on that strange patch of triangular cement that exists between broadway and 7th. Suddenly, to our left, there was a huge screen screaming Bad Religion and prominently displaying their new cd cover. Adam says there was a music video clip but I missed it. We walked up to the entrance where security guards yelled “All exits are final!” swept us with metal detectors before letting us in the door. And wow. It was just so … shiny. The carpets were clean and the color was obvious. There were escalators. Multiple sized televisions dotted the walls...

I’m a stalker!

By on Oct 17, 2007 in Life

i admit it. i was, hands down, completely, childishly obsessed with Mike Herrera and MxPx in high school. but i thought i had gotten over that. and not just because i had gotten older and started feeling lamer about liking pop-punk bands like MxPx. the real downfall was when they all got married. yuri’s marriage wasn’t so disconcerting but once tom got hitched, we all knew mike would be a close third. and after that, after the everpassing moment, their songs just went down hill. without a broken heart, mike’s lyrics lost their gusto. it all seemed a bit too formulaic and cheesy. but things changed yesterday when i came across mike herrera’s new solo, country myspace page. i mean, hello, is that not the most amazing thing you’ve ever heard? for me, it is. i’m always looking for sense in my musical tastes (really in my tastes in general), which in our...