China's ministry of culture is now banning music performances that threaten national sovereignty. Russia is having its own moral panic over music and trying to ban Goth and Emo music. They're also trying to disallow kids from dressing up Emo and Goth, calling the trends a "social danger" and "a threat to national stability". But black is so slimming!

These aren't the first government actions to control culture; in the U.S., we haven't been concerned about the evils of Rock n' Roll or Eminem for awhile, but there are still a lot of vocal supporters calling to get rid of all those violent, influencing video games. The Russia and China incidents are just recent, but they caught my eye and got me thinking again about the power of music and how the cultural suppression of an Orwellian dystopia are possible.

One of the best things about music is how it arouses emotions and memories, often which are shared with friends, or even shared with total strangers that were doing something similar when they heard the same song. Whenever I hear Regenerator, I'm going to think of Mil (and probably one person in particular, whose name will be protected), while everyone else will just hear mediocre Electronica. If you graduated or went to prom at an American school at any point in the late 90's (and probably thereafter), you'll probably get the same nostalgic twing whenever you hear Good Riddance, no matter how many thousands of times you've heard the song. All of the summer songs of 2000 are branded in my mind because I heard them on the loudspeaker over and over and over again while lifeguarding at my local pool (and depressingly, that playlist includes Thong Song). And then all the artists and songs that make me think of the people that recommended them... Friends of P by The Rentals, anything by Thursday, No Ordinary Morning by Chicane, Infected Mushroom, Of Montreal. The examples go on and on, but music just has a power to evoke feelings that few other legal substances can, and what a shame when leaders of the world are calling for it be controlled and restricted.

Steve, Leo, John, and Dean have all opened my eyes to some great music of recent, and I hope I've introduced others to something new or interesting. These are some of my favorite, recent recommendations (both new songs and some classic old ones) that might spark something in someone out there:

• Fade Into You by Mazzy Star
• Boy With a Coin by Iron and Wine
• The Beginning is the End is the Beginning by Smashing Pumpkins
• Boten Anna by Basshunter
• Une americaine a Paris by Rupa and the April Fishes
• Handlebars by Flobots
• Konichiwa Bitches by Robyn
• The Funeral by Band Of Horses
• Le Café by Oldelaf

Have a song to add to the list?

My most artistic of friends, Mr. Jason Pietrucha (the "Patroosh"), came to visit me after a stint in L.A. with Steve. Jason is one of those amazing types that was smart enough to be any of those professional occupations (and was well on his way to medical school), but eventually chose to follow his natural artistic genius and go the artsy design route. I'm slightly jealous at all the awesome projects he gets to work on in school, and it's made me think a bit more seriously about starting a design oriented degree program around here. Part time, for the hell of it, with no motivation other than to do it.

Every time someone visits, I get to do something touristy that I should have already done. Jason and I went to Moma over the weekend and well, I was unimpressed. Admittedly, I've never bought into modern art. A blank canvas with one neon light is not art. It's a blank canvas. And a light. Oh well, we gave it a shot. On the positive note, their book store is amazing. I could sit in there all day and look at the gorgeous art books and trinkets. They have some especially impressive pop-up books.

A week later, my mom visited. Our excursion of note was to Sonoma, which was just lovely. On top of the winery hopping, we did a few circles around the town and stopped by the famous cheese and fudge factory (free tastings!), had lunch in an outdoor garden at a perfect little cafe, and found one of the best thrift stores I've ever been to. It was so clean and organized and had great prices (e.g. I bought a perfect quality free form wine rack originally sold for about $75 for just $10). I'd return to Sonoma just for the thrift store.

For those nearing the bottom of their Netflix queue, I shall supply two recommended documentaries:

1. Jesus Camp: Follows a Pentecostal summer camp for children who spend their summers learning and practicing how to "take back America for Christ." There is no strong hidden bias in this film (unlike your typical Michael Moore flick), and the main characters depicted in the film were generally pleased with the resulting film. Amusingly, the only character displeased with his depiction was Ted Haggard. Then again, he was probably just bitter because of some incidents that were exposed months after this film was released. This was quite disturbing, at least for someone who is otherwise unfamiliar with religious extremism. Still, a worthwhile watch.

2. Grizzly Man: Follows the adventures and not too unexpected death of Timothy Treadwell as he lived among Grizzly bears for 13 years in the Alaskan wilderness. I know what you're thinking... "Bet all those trees and bears would look really nice on a big screen... Yawn." And yes, there is some nice bear footage, but the more entertaining part of this documentary is watching the eccentric, bipolar, yet at times charismatic main character spread his controversial Grizzly gospel.

And remember, even if the documentary is bad, you sound that much smarter for watching it over some crappy romantic comedy.

I took a glass blowing class about a month ago and thought I'd post some of my finished products. There are a few places in the bay area that offer glass classes, typically for lampworking and typically for around $400 for a weekend workshop -- pricey! I really wanted to try out glassblowing (think glory hole and big vat of molten glass) over flame working (think little blow torch and rods of glass), and I finally found a dude in Santa Cruz that offered to teach me out of his rented garage. Hooray for hippie art dudes on Craigslist! So we set up a time to do it, I paid him some money, and he taught me the basics of glassblowing while helping me make some paper weights, some pumpkins, and a drinking glass. I'd love to continue doing this, but it's a pretty expensive hobby, requires a lot of equipment or studio rental and you really need a partner to work with. Until I figure out those details, I'll just have a much greater appreciation for glass work.

These suckers are stealing my letters!

...annoyed (as always) that there are two exits for Mission Blvd on I-680 (how confusing!). This means nothing to most of you, but if you live in Northern California, you can appreciate how stupid this is.

...listening to the "Time after Time" cover by Quietdrive.

...adoring a baby pineapple, which was twice the cost of a regular pineapple, a quarter the size, and five times the cute.

...making my obligatory post for March.

Who actually is buying this stuff? And no, the irony of selling paper on the Internet is not lost on me.