Hey everyone this is Stephen from the band Palmer. Andrew is also in the band. I would also have to say Brendo is an honorary member. Anyway the point to this post is, we have put up a demo that we recorded on purevolume. Please go check it out and download it if you like. Thanks a million. Also check out our website

Stephen

This is an education rant that has been building up for some time. Recent movements in education such as school vouchers, high-stakes testing (for teachers and districts), and much of No Child Left Behind, seem to be founded on the basic premise that a school ought to function like a business: Successful schools receive more funding and and unsuccessful schools are punished. On the surface, this would seem to make sense, especially since we have been taught in America that competition always leads to excellence. Indeed, this plan may work if our goal is for schools to be nothing more than factories, producing masses of students who are experts at filling in answers on bubble sheets. I hope the factory metaphor is offensive. It is to me, yet this is the basic belief that drives our nation's education policy.

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BBC NEWS | Technology | Google revamps blogging service

Blogger is trying to keep up with the pack by finally adding built in comments and such. For a free service, I think it's a good option, but if you're willing to spend a little, I would go with TypePad.

Ars Technica: Valve admits that it was premature in its release hopes for Half-Life 2

Finally the truth comes out. I'm still excited for the game though.

I just got this email. Yeah. What about a day without a whitey?? I should go just to see what kind of quality a film like this would have.

But hey, in a day without a Mexican, maybe there would a chance for honest immigrants to get work and be able to stay in this country.

"TELEVISA CINE and CAMPUS CIRCLE invite you and a guest to an advance screening of A DAY WITHOUT A MEXICAN on Wednesday, May 12 at 8:00 PM in Century City.

"TO ATTEND THIS SCREENING, DOWNLOAD A FREE PASS AT
http://www.campuscircle.net/mexican

"AS ALWAYS, GET TO THE THEATER EXTRA EARLY. SEATING IS ON A FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED BASIS AND IS NOT GUARANTEED.

"WHAT IS THE FILM ABOUT?
Comedy and Drama One morning, California wakes up to find that one third of its population has disappeared. A strange thick pink fog surrounds the state and communication outside its boundaries is completely cut off. As the day goes by, we discover that the characteristic that links the 14 million disappeared is their Hispanic background. The economic, political and social implications of this disaster threaten the state's way of life. Suddenly disrupted are the lives of Mary Jo Quintana (Maureen Flannigan), teacher and housewife; Senator Abercrombie (John Getz), hastily promoted to Governor; Louise McClaire (Muse Watson), ranch owner and agribusiness rep; and Lila Rodriguez (Yareli Arizmendi), reporter and apparently the only Latina left behind. For all of them, the cracks in their private lives are forced wide open. As time goes by, the State continues to deteriorate - garbage has taken over the streets and a mood of desperation pervades as the citizens watch the infrastructure start to crumble."

We took a trip to AZ this past weekend to go house hunting. Feels weird to possibly be purchasing a house this next week. THIS IS what we might buy. This was a great home, perfectly clean, great appliances, beautiful. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms. The view from the house right now is great, because just across the street is nothing but land. For now. Anyway, we're waiting to see the specs on the neighborhood, such as how many other renters there are and what we can charge for rent. If it looks good, we'll be putting in a bid very soon!

As most of you know I am a huge fan of U2 and Bono especially. Here's some trivia for you. During the PopMart tour Bono wore a shirt that said "Bono Man" on it. My friend Matt thought it would be cool if I made a shirt that said "Brendan Man" on it. Brendan was shortened to Brendo, Brendo and Man become one word, and thus a new nickname was born. That was around this time, so let's also say that it is the fifth birthday of the brendoman moniker.