Yo dawgs, sup y'all? hahahaha.

I went to San Antonio this weekend. And I must admit that it was a very cool city, I can see why people like it. I'd call it the Vancouver of Texas, it has more culture than anywhere else I've seen down here. The river walkways reminded me of being...*not* in the US, especially Texas. Going to a French Bistro (well, ok, a Texas Bistro) next to the river was more than decent. I dig.

What else? We saw the Alamo! Woo...not really. After hearing a big speech on the "legendary defense of the Alamo" and how they "gave their lives for something bigger, freedom." Shit man, I'm so sick of that. I actually saw several children wearing shirts with "God's Army" written on it. Yeah, this exists people.


I also conned the girls (the only people who wanted to go to San Antonio) to join me at Ripley's Believe it or Not! museum. That was so cool. Guess who I saw(or likeness thereof)? Tycho Brahe. You know it, everyone's favourite 16th century alcoholic astronomer...with a golden nose. All You Can Smoke tour anyone? Yeah, yeah! And seeing a big wooden sculpture of the devil was also pretty cool, he looked so damn suave, how could you not like him? haha.

Also checked out an interesting series of caves. Since they put in humidity doors, everything was dripping wet and looked like it was out of a creepy sci fi movie. When we finally reached the stone we could touch, it was quite slimy. Interesting. Lots of bat guano as well. huh.





To top it all off? We did a Simpson's style drive thru wildlife preserve. Haha, I know, I know, so Texas. But we got to see some cool animals. And we got some food bags and handed out pellets. But it mostly involved throwing the pellets at the animals to try to wake them, that being said I never hit them. Though, this Zebra ate out of my hand. Cool, they have rough lips.



Ok, well now time for the meat of my post. As I look around the US, I feel like I am in the last days of Rome. While in San Antonio, I went to a club and rather than drink, I simply observed. If this is what the culture is going towards, I'm scared. Surely, the club isn't the best place for an overall description of culture, it's an extreme, but it's an accurate example. I see this young generation unconcerned with their future, making themselves happy with their purchases. While this materialism is apparent to everyone, I just am noticing how it is being forced on everyone, but EVERYONE JUST SWALLOWS IT UP. It is expected that you wear bling (gold chains, diamond earrings, oversize Rolex watches, etc...), have new expensive clothes you wear but a few times, and order the most expensive drinks at the bar. I talked with one military fellow, and he said he was going back to Iraq so he could buy another motorcycle. Risking your life for a machine? All the most popular songs (Fergie, Akon, Black Eyed Peas, Pussy Cat Dolls, etc...) just talk about how you should just display your wealth. Spend it all, girls are expected to have jewellry bought for them, ride on 24" chrome rims (everyone has them), and that will make you happy.

Maybe it's not spending money that gets me so worked up, but they just fuck it all up. I mean, going to the bar and buying the most expensive scotch just because it's the most expensive? C'mon guys, that's not classy, that's just sad. The new popular Akon song (don't ask, I have to hear it everywhere) fucks up the name of the Lamborghini...jesus. I guess people need to realize, the objects don't make the person, the person makes the objects. This will sound like me bragging (and maybe it is a little, just a little...), but I will look better in my mere 30 dollar shirt than most Americans will in their 150 dollar one? Why, because I clean myself up, have some respect for myself, don't have a huge gut hanging over my waistband, walk upright with shoulders back, and smile. Even GQ, my favourite magazine, was talking about how often rich people wear suits that look worn. One CEO goes as far as letting his chauffeur wear his suits for the 1st 2 years, then he'll wear them after that. Is this just me? I mean, what you wear, and "own" should not define you, it should compliment you for who you already are. This means that you don't but excess either, but exactly what you need to get the job done.

Whatever. It don't matter I suppose. Everything is going to shit. Our oceans are turning into plastic, click. Ethanol is a joke. Coal still accounts for most of the world's emissions, and it's not going to stop. Nobody here seems to care. I dunno, it's hard to fight. I guess it's easier to ignore than to deal with it.