BBBQ, the extra "B" is for bats!

First show at the Headies' Home-Base in Toddy's basement on Harrison and Shallcross, in the Happy Valley neighborhood of Wilmington, went swimmingly! Lotsa cool kids, grillin', racoons, a bat, no cops, The Headies, Skinny Dick Jones and His One Man Band, Count von Count, and Hot Toddy and the Wilmington Wastoids. Then came the hurricane.

J-Vav is the first to arrive.
Evan can sing, and build grills!

Grillin' up some hamburg!
Park Plaza, sunny.

My crazy friend Tommy von Count turned down a free-ride to Bovine University! Crazy!







Billy Frolic and Chris Crust.
The Headies!




















Wild Bill Kate on Saxamaphone.
CvC & CC.









Alex keeping ahead of those confounded sleeping deadlines.
Skinny Dick Jones and His One Man Band a.k.a. Wild Bill Kate

Count von Count

mc Ben ain't scared of lightning!

Park Plaza, dark.

All pics take by Dan, except Headies shots by mc Ben. No Wastoids shots!? I know, I know...

F@%k You Critics!! or On Criticism

No matter what artistic field you're in, if you do it long enough, someone is going to criticize you for it. Maybe you'll get some "constructive criticism," the kind where the critic isn't after you, and in fact probably likes you, but wants to help you do better. Most likely though, you'll get someone telling you that your music's bad and you should feel bad. These day, playing punk rock is illegal. That is, it is uh-hip. They want everything scaled back and solid, and heaven help you if you like simple chord progressions played with power chords. So, it would be pretty idiotic to actually solicit reviews, knowing they're gonna be negative, right? Well, when you really are DIY, and the "Y" actually mean "yourself," sometimes soliciting reviews is a good way to get publicity. Advertising is expensive, and any random review we get is crucial to our highly successfull press machine, locally, nationwide, globally and into the uni- and multiverses. Back when I started in 1994, it was pretty safe to send your stuff out, Green Day was at the top of the charts and the Ramones were at their most appreciated. Maybe most importantly Tim Yohannon was still alive. I read a eulogy for him in 1998 when he died of cancer which stated, at it's most believable, that punk rock was finally dead. It compared punk rock to Latin, and Tim Yo it's last native speaker. Punk rock became scholarly, and most people couldn't keep up. What's more, many people became disillusioned, feeling punk rock ultimately didn't offer them everything they needed. They mistook specific content for general flexibility, selling the music short, underestimating it, or, in a sinister way, outgrowing it, discarding their velveteen vynil. But before that teenage America 1995 was riding that leather wave to heartbreak beach, and my first round of public criticism of my first band was pretty freakin' positive. My first real band was Ninja Attak - me, Brendan "Huffer" Huffman, and Mike Cruz. Our first seven inch record was called "My First Time" and was on Bill Kate's Trickshot Records.

Tim Yo's MRR luke-warmed us, "Ultra girl-obsessed pop-core. Ah, pop-core: a word I'll never have to use again, even though thy're competent at the pop-core genre and writing pop-core songs and all." (PC) Pretty alright, but the reviewer actually did use the word pop-core in two other reviews that month." Tim Yo personally chose the cover for the side bar too!

Larry Livermore's Punk Planet gave us two reviews! "This makes me think of the late eighties in pop-punk. Seven songs crammed on a seven inch, cheap mastering, all songs about girls. Think about Brent's TV or any other early lookout band. I really actually liked this record alot. Kind of brought me back and remembered a different time. I suspect these kids are fairly young. I hope so, they sing about girls with braces (in her mouth, not to match her boots, oi)." (EA) Yeah, see that dude got it. Very importantly, he was gonna like it no matter what, he liked punk rock. I flip to be compared to Brent's TV...

The same month, the same record could have gotten into the hands of a Neurosis or Locust fan and they would have torn us apart. You never know whose gonna be asked to write you up. In the same issue, "They sound like every other "pop-punk" band on earth, but Ninja Attak has something that sets them apart. Perhaps it is the vocals, I am not sure. But is you are into this realm of music, by George, buy this!" (MD) An excellent review! It doesn't gush and admits that it is merely a pop-punk record, but the guy reviews it as such! This kind of journalism is not really around today.

Finally, the notorious hardcore mag HeartAttak even liked us, "Seven short songs of punk and hardcore, all with that early eighties feel. A good dose of melodic punk is also thrown in there. The energy level is quite high. It just trucks through, with no let up, good record." (Thrashead) See, was that so hard? It gives you an idea of what it is, doesn't oversell, is honest, etc...

Soon Ninja Attak did a split seven inch with the Crash, and MRR had this to say, "What we have here is two very scrappy bands doing rough-around-the-edges style pop punk. Both play fast and sloppy, and sing off key more times than not, but in a way, that is their charm. The cheese factor that seems to be a pre-requisite for pop punk these days is nowhere to be found. It's simply honest, aggresive music reflecting these folks' everyday hopes, dreams, and frustrations. I'm completely taken in with this EP's charm. There are two songs from each band, the Ninja Attak side being more chaotic and snotty, the Crash side more gruff. And don't let the horrible 5th grade style cover art scare you away. This rocks." (BG) Ha! That sould never happen today! That record would be destroyed! By the way, the fifth grade art comment caused drummer/cover artist Mike Cruz to chuck the mag across Father Gilborgess' social something or other class.

Hmmm... next I was in Power of IV. We made two records, one which got released, the other of which is newly available for digital dowload at http://www.madisonundergroundpress.com/, but I guess we never sent them for review. I musta been pretty secure! Chances are that we would have been media darlings, everybody liked Power of IV. No joke, everybody.

Next came Endless Mike Jambox, so far the ultimate in mixed reviews, still recieving them about our CD, "Another Hot Freshy-Freshy" four years after it's completion. MaxRock loved it! "These Delaware folks have a cool amateur punk thing going on. This reminds me of a mix of LATTERMAN and WESTON. Another Hot Freshy-Freshy is a strong full-length that is sure to make my yearly top ten with its good variety of pop, punk, and fun indie." (P$) Sure 'nuff, we were right on the ol' top ten and getting orders as we speak.

Now, over in Razorcake, about the same record, they say, "Almost equal parts of a watered-down, slowed-down version of Lifetime and a Drive-Thru band without the turd polish. I don’t know what the band name means, but I think the album title means a steaming pile of shit." (Vincent Battilana) Ha! Nearly Spinal Tap-esque, huh? Oppinions being what they are, I can only really say that this dude, wouldn't have liked the record on any day, but atoms in the void directed it into his grubby mitts, so the review stands! Horrible work though, no effort, no style, not even funny. Probably should stick to reviewing music in his head, but he's not the worst, oh no!

Finally on the Jambox, we got a beuatiful write up from http://www.lawngnomedeathmarch.com/ that completely paints a picture. I don't agree one-hundred percent, but the positive effort is worth all the knowledge in the world.

"Do you remember that guy in high school with the tall green or blue mohawk who always wore is Docs or Cons; dirty and tight blue jeans; and always seemed to be wearing a Crass, Ramones, or Business T-shirt? Remember how he always bashed people who listened to bands like Blink 182, MxPx, or Sum 41? Remember how he was such a huge douche-bag? Well? Do you? I know I remember that guy. Well, this is the same guy who would secretly go home throw on his new Hurley shirt and Dickies shorts that mommy bought him, and skank around his room while blasting MxPx. He would then ponder life while listening to Blink 182's "Adams Song". Yep, we all knew someone like this in high school with there more punk-than-thou attitude. The reason I bring this up is due to this band, Endless Mike Jambox. If they were around while I was in high school this stupid punk fuck and I might have been able to find a happy little medium when it came to 'punk' music.In most reviews I would half-ass-ly attempt to go into a bit of detail about each song but since they had ten songs I've decided not to do so this time. What I will do is talk a bit about the band.I was immediately impressed when I went to the bands website and saw that I would be able to listen to ten of their songs. I was even more impressed when I actually listened to their music. Endless Mike Jambox flawlessly combines the ferocity of east coast hardcore, the poppy sound of So-Cal punk, and the Down and Dirty attitude of old-school punk. They then wrap it all up and top it with a shiny red bow."Tonight I'm gonna get fucked up. Tonight I'm gonna be a slut..." This is a line from their song 'The Karl Konnection' and I feel it aptly sums up what this band does for me. Endless Mike Jambox envokes long-lost memories form high school; the parties, the drinking, the shows, the hot chicks who wouldn't give me the time of day. What guy in school didn't want to get fucked up and be a slut? Really now, because you all know that you thought this. This band's music really seems to reflect the feelings of youth. Shit, I'm 24 and I still feel this band speaking to the high-schooler in me.The music is poppy but not so much where you can throw them directly into the pop-punk genre. It is just enough to allow you to sing to it. The band's music provides catchy but well-written lyrics, strong hooks, strong vocal ability, and great composition. The music is, for a lack of better words, happy sounding.Endless Mike Jambox are the band you'd want to play at your party, they're the band that you wish would get radio play, they the band you listen to while driving around with friends. Quite simply they're the band that you'd create memories with.Although, they aren't the Clash, I'll still give them 4 out of 5 stars."

So, I currently play in the Headies and Tit Patrol, both of which have CD's out, and both of which can't seem to buy a good review! Tit Patrol's "Shut Up Juice" has fared slightly better, International Punk & Hardcore (www.punk-hardcore.info) said, "American uptempo pop-punk, along the lines of THE RAMONES and THE QUEERS. They also sound a lot like many of those early LOOKOUT! records bands. The songs are short, which is cool, and overall the music’s pretty good. I just have no idea what the lyrics are about. Girls it seems?" (Y.B.)

And that numb-nuts over at Jersey Beat said, "There is little expected when opening up an album called "Shut up Juice" by a band called Tit Patrol. Of course, this only helps their cause because without any lofty expectations it can hopefully only be better than expected. Queers-like lyrics that you can actually understand (clearly with songs like "Butt Foot", "Daily Lobotomy", and "Surfin’ Suzey"), chanted choruses, and a little bit of speed. It’d be easy to discard this band as another novelty – a group of ridiculous teenagers who have nothing to offer. While it’s true that they aren’t doing anything particularly new they are doing it better than many other bands who they are emulating. "Candy Not Cops" is the sort of song that could win over any teenager with a sense of humor, and "One of my moods" shows that they can write some pretty clever lyrics with some pretty innovative songwriting too. It’s also absolutely embarrassing and adorable that they spelled ‘you’re’ and ‘rhythm’ incorrectly. It reminds me of high school and falling in love with punk rock music. Not too shabby for a band named Tit Patrol."

Alright, the new coup de gras, from Razorcake, "How can you go wrong with a name like Tit Patrol? Let me count the ways! Awful, regurgitated song themes (heroin addiction, lobotomies)? Check! Tired harmonies for backing vocals? Check again! Boring riffage? Check thrice!! Uninspired delivery? Quadruple check! The problem with fifth and sixth generation Ramones rip off bands, among which Tit Patrol can count themselves, is that they’re not ripping off the Ramones at all, but the third and fourth generation Ramones rip off bands. The formula is so diluted by the time Tit Patrol gets its hands on it that there’s no possible way anything remotely listenable can come of it. It’s all of the worst aspects of ‘90s pop punk burned onto a CD and pushed out the anus of the underground. There is some other stuff going on here, namely the use of Suicidal Tendencies and Adam Sandler for inspiration on the opening track, which, in the case of Mr. Sandler, should never, ever happen. If I want to listen to a Ramones rip off band, I’ll stick with those who do it right. Gimme the Queers! Gimme the Riverdales! Gimme Head!" (Josh Benke) Whoo! But, did you like it? Ha!

It is really easy to tell when someone is reviewing a record and when they've got a bug up their butt. The Headies and our "It's a Super-Man's World" have gotten it the worst, though International Punk & Hardcore wasn't too hard on us, "It seems MADISON UNDERGROUND is specializing in pop-punk bands, cos this is another American band that sounds like they could be on LOOKOUT, HONEST DON’S, etc. The sound quality is good, they cover THE RAMONES and ANGRY SAMOANS… but where’s the lyric sheet??" (Y.B.) Dude is French so he can't understand us, but he knows more about punk rock than someone from, oh I don't know, New Jersey?

In Jersey Beat, douchebag comments, "Straight forward rock and roll leaning towards punk rock vocally featuring Tit Patrol’s guitarist and bassist. They're trying for humor, I think, although they don't do too well on the terrifically un-funny "That’s All I Need" about smoking weed. It’s unfortunate because the music on songs like "Not a Heartbreaker No Mo" and "High on Drugs" is catchy, but the lyrics are a little too true on the latter when he says:"I’m just a loser in this big life game". Stick to Tit Patrol, fellas." (Andrew Fersch) This is a rewrite. In his first review, he lambasted us for the use of the word "fag" in the title track. That word is, OF COURSE, not there. The line is, "It's a Super-Man's world and the rest are fucking fads." I got into it with him via e-mail, telling him to call me a loser all you want (even if he's the first), but call me a homophobe and I'll drive up to Jersey and kick your fag ass. He apologized and ran that watered down version.

The Headies have reviews pending in MaxRock, Razorcake, and other places, and I don't know if I wanna even see 'em. There are just so many people out there who wanna tell you that you aren't Joey Ramone. They know less, they feel less, yet they are heard more, and centrally. No matter how much bad criticism I recieve, I know it pales in comparison to what the Ramones themselves actually had said about them, and they didn't even have the Ramones to look to for inspiratation! I'll never have as many bad things said about me as Kathy Griffin, Barack Obama, or Pat Burrell, but I feel for and with them, for you can only do two pro-active things in the face of criticism: ignore it or own it. I OWN!!

The Montauk Monster and Me

I'm sure that y'all have seen that ol' Montauk Monster a couple weeks ago, an unidentifiable beast with a beak-like snout, sharp teeth, a long tail, and mammalian body with patches of fur jutting out of it's pink skin on it's raw water bloated body. On July 12, Jenna Hewitt found and photographed the strange animal washed up on Rheinstein Estate Park, a popular surfing spot in East Hampton, New York. On July 29, the story went national on Gawker.com with the headline "Dead Monster Washes Ashore in Montauk." Well, as a dedicated follower of cryptids, I was intrigued.


In Cryptozoology, a cryptid is defined as a creature whose existence is suggested but not proven scientifically, as there is usually only anecdotal information or limited photographs. Such presumed entities as Yeti, Sasquatch, the Loch Ness Monster, Mokele-mbembe, and Lake Camplain's Champ are popular cryptids. Certain animals, such as the coelacanth and the okapi, once thought extinct and fictitious, respectively, have since been found and verified due to cryptozoological studies, and similar hopes are held for finding the moa and the thylacine. Cryptids these days usually do not include animals of mythology such as the unicorn, griffin, or dragon, all assumed to be hybrids of existing animals and ancestral imagination. http://www.newanimal.org/ and http://http://www.cryptozoology.com/ are cool sites dedicated to all kinds of cryptids.

















But! Do we have a brand new cryptid to study? Well, not to study. Hewitt allowed her "friend" possession of the monster's carcass, and in a posted you tube video, he admits to pretty much letting it melt in his back yard, a pile of bones, chillin' in oil.

So speculations abound, both about what kind of thing the carcass was and how/why did it get there. Naturalistic explanations are many and all imperfect. On August 1st, Gawker published pictures and x-rays of a Rakali (or Water Rat, Hydromys chrysogaster) showing several convincing similarities with the Montauk Monster: the "beak", tail, feet, size, and general appearance are similar. The Rakali originates from Australia.

Also on August 1st, Jeff Corwin appeared on Fox News and claimed that upon close inspection of the photograph, he feels sure the "monster" is merely a raccoon or dog that has decomposed slightly. This was backed up by Darren Naish, a British paleontologist, who examined the images and agreed that, if real, the creature was a raccoon.

On August 5, Fox Channel's Morning Show news host Megyn Kelly revealed that the most recent theory is that the beast is a decayed corpse of a capybara, an animal indigenous to South America. However, capybaras do not have tails. Classic Fox News!

William Wise, director of Stony Brook University's Living Marine Resources Institute, had a look at it and analysed it. It can't be a raccoon, "The legs appear to be too long in proportion to the body," or a sea turtle, "Sea turtles do not have teeth," nor can their shells be removed without damaging the body. It isn't a rodent, "Rodents have two huge, curved incisor teeth in front of their mouths," nor a dog or other canine such as a coyote, because the "Prominent eye ridge and the feet" don't match, or a sheep, because sheep don't have sharp teeth. Professor wise then deemed it a hoax.

That is a popular theory, claiming it is a prop designed as a viral marketing campaign for either Cloverfield 2, some movie called Splinterheads, or the Cartoon Network's Cryptids Are Real for which Evolutionary Media has similar looking cryptids posted on their site. Remember in Summer 2006 when that Japanese blue-jeans company did that ad campaign where they staged amazingly real-looking angel wings falling around the world? That was a good one!


Now, the real inters ting stuff. The location of the find is key. On the same body of water reside both a government animal testing facility, the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, and the famed U.S. Air Force Base Camp Hero. The creature could be a diseased mutant, improperly disposed of by the Disease Center, or something far stranger.

Camp Hero is the military-scientific base that houses the continuation of the ideas and processes started with the Philadelphia Experiment. This of course was the use of a hybrid of Einstein's Unified Field Theory and Tesla's (unpublished) theories in order to render a Navy ship, the USS Eldridge, invisible through "electro-magnetic shielding" or bending light around the object. Testing began in summer 1943 in the Philly shipyards, and was successful to a limited degree. One test, on July 22, resulted in the Eldridge being rendered almost completely invisible, with some witnesses reporting a “greenish fog” in its place. However, crew members complained of severe nausea afterwards. At that point, the experiment was altered at the request of the Navy, with the new objective being invisibility solely to radar.

The equipment was not properly re-calibrated to this end, but in spite of this the experiment was performed again on October 28. This time, Eldridge not only became almost entirely invisible to the naked eye, but actually vanished from the area in a flash of blue light. According to some accounts, the U.S. naval base at Norfolk, Virginia, just over 215 miles (346 km) away, reported sighting the Eldridge offshore, whereupon the Eldridge vanished from their sight and reappeared in Philadelphia at the site it had originally occupied, in an apparent case of accidental teleportation.

The physiological effects of the experiment on the crew were profound: almost all of the crew became violently ill. Some suffered from mental illness as a result of their experience; behavior consistent with schizophrenia is described in other accounts. Still other members, like Jacob L. Murray, were physically unaccounted for—supposedly they “vanished”—and five of the crew became fused to the metal bulkhead or deck of the ship. Still others faded in and out of sight. Sometimes they disappeared, then crewmates would stick their hands into the spot from which they had disappeared and try to grab the crewmate, but, if they did not, that spot would burst into flames. Horrified by these results, Navy officials immediately cancelled the experiment. All of the surviving crew involved was discharged; in some accounts, brainwashing techniques were employed in an attempt to make the remaining crew members lose their memories concerning the details of their experience.

Surviving researchers from the Philadelphia Experiment met in 1952-53. The researchers aimed to continue their earlier work on manipulating the "electromagnetic shielding" that had been used to make the USS Eldridge invisible, and investigating possible military applications magnetic field manipulation as a psychological warfare device. By 1968, this work would all be done at Camp Hero in Montauk.

By the 1980's much progress had been made and the research delved into not only electromagnetic fields and invisibility, but time travel, parallel dimensions, and teleportation. On or about on August 12, 1983 the time travel project at Camp Hero interlocked in hyperspace with the original Project Rainbow (the Philadelphia Experiment) back in 1943. The USS Eldridge was drawn into hyperspace and trapped there. Two men, Al Bielek and Duncan Cameron both claim to have leaped from the deck of the USS Eldridge while it was in hyperspace and ended up after a period of severe disorientation at Camp Hero in the year 1983 at Montauk Point. Here they claim to have met John von Neumann, a famous physicist and mathematician, even though he died in 1957. John Von Neumann had supposedly worked on the original Philadelphia Experiment, but the United States Navy denies this. A "porthole (portal) in time" was created which allowed researchers to travel anywhere in time or space. This was developed into a stable "Time Tunnel." Enrico Chekov, a Spanish-Russian dissident, reported in 1988, after defecting to America, that satellite surveillance captured during the 1970s showed the formation of a large bubble of space-time centered on the site, lending further support to the Time Tunnel idea. Nikola Tesla, whose death was faked in a conspiracy, was the chief director of operations at the base (which if they started in the 80s would make him 120+).

So, is it as obvious to you as it is to me? That either, sure, it's a prop or hoax, an f'ed up, water decayed regular animal, a new cryptid for speculation, or, most likely, it is a transdimesional beast from the future, improperly disposed of, one of a zoo in the inner-most military base at Montauk, the only one still not open to the public, or perhaps in a system of elaborate underground tunnels leading to the past, future, Denver, Mars, and the universe next door.

The Night the Lights Went Out in Wilmington

My kid brother is almost home. After a year on the left coast (San Diego to be specific), Paddy is in Harrisburg, PA, and will be back by tonight!! I think my feelings can best be expounded upon by the incomparable (except to Joan Crawford) Miz Dixie Carter.



Say something. Yeah that's what I thought.

Make Fish Tacos, Cinderelly!

Oy! So, my summer vacation has so ended. I'm back to work behind the line, making money in an attempt to vanquish a level of angst from my situation. Ask those closest to me, and they'll tell you, I'm not what you'd call "Good with finances." I remember when that was pretty okay. I mean, it's never been cool. It's really not good to not understand the system, even if you hate it, but when I was younger, nobody got hurt ya know? But now people count on me, and the government is holding back me and Todd's imagination-powered car, so I cook. At the Forty Acres/Trolley Square border, at 1717 Delaware Avenue (our name is our address!), I cook thirty dollar dinners, like peppercorn crusted filet with rosemary whipped potatoes, spicy broccoli rabe, and Gorgonzola fondue, and tapas like Tempura shrimp atop wasabi risotto with a ginger-honey drizzle. Drizzle is probably not the real word for it. Chef Toby is really, really talented and never busts me for my down-home ways, and I'm learning more than I ever have about the culinary arts.

But, get this: 1717 has stinkin' direct TV, which means, you guessed it- no PHILS, who are exclusive through Comcast. When I'm at work (Tuesday through Saturday nights, excluding Thursday for band rehearsal) I get my updates from the ESPN bottom line or other peoples iPhones (my land-line offers me no such help). No fear though, tonight I bring in the transistor sister and the Phils are at my fingertips. Wednesdays and Saturdays have the added bonus of bartender Aaron "Ace" Marshall of Iron Hill fame, noted baseball fan and philanthropist.

This silver lining, as it were, is huge. 1717 is the bast damn martini bar in Delaware because, on tap, M.F.'n PEPSI. Yup, no lame-o Coke Classic, it's pure Pep! It is so sweet and delicious, it's a deal-maker. SO, after the Phillies beat up on the Florida Fish tonight, come in for a Pepsi, why not.

And While We're At It...

Hot Toddy and the Wilmington Wastoids doing "Dirty Sox" at the 700 Club, July 2008. Yeah, it's a little dark, screw you! Film credit: Billy Frolic.

Since you can't see us, the Wastoids are -

Hot Toddy Purse - lead vocals
Danny Robinson- lead git-box
Grant Robinson - bass
mc Ben - rhythm guitar
Justin Vavala - drums

Hot Toddy and His Wilmington Wastoids!!

These are from the last ever 700 Social Club Show. Oh, you weren't there? Well you were the only one! Big ups to Ally's pally for the shots. Keep up the good work kid! But where's J-Vav? Anybody with Wastoids/Headies/Tit Patrol pics should hit me up ASAP.

Chuck Taylor All-Stars

The absolute best smell in the world is a new pair of Chuck Taylor All-Stars. For serious, it's the canvas. No other shoe, with the exception of perhaps Keds and true Bobos, could compare to the life-affirming aroma that is some new Chucks. Since 1917 Chucks have been the shoe of choice for the cool and very cool alike. I wear the All-Blacks, P.F. Flyer styles. Only hi-tops, lo-tops are for hippies. I believe it was Ghostface Killah who told y'all about Tan-Tops, Aqua-Tops, etc... Toddy has a pair of super-sweet air-brushed Tit Patrol Chucks that Miz Ashley Tucker had made for him at the One-Stop Hip-Hop Shop on Concord Ave. Timmy has a variety, red, white, green, but he is also known to rock such reputable kicks as Air Force One's and Barkley's. About eighteen years ago they had the bombest Chucks of all - the All-Joker Chucks from the first Batman movie, starring the best Batman of all, Michael Keaton, and the second best Joker of all, Jack Nicholson. They featured a million Neal Adams' Joker faces laughing at the dude you was dunkin' on, and I believe they had purple soles. A little bit ago they came out with Jim Lee drawn Batman Chucks, and recently they got Heath Ledger Joker chucks, which are both very thematically different from the ones from '89, to say the least. About fifteen years ago Ben Weasel would deem a certain color of Chuck's the only cool color and all else for poseurs in the pages of MaximumRocknRoll, causing an uproar from the scene. With the proliferation of on-line shopping and the lack of punk rock, you can get any ol' Chuck any ol' time in any damn ol' color, including Roll-Down Reversible. These days footwear is taken less seriously by most. Not me though, here's what I say:

Hi-tops! Hi-tops! When I'm runnin' from the cops.
Hi-tops! Hi-tops! When my bike chain pops.
The creditor wants me, so does the jailer.
But they can't catch me in my Chuck Taylor Hi-Tops!
Hey! Ho!

Hi-tops! Hi-tops! Keep my feet on the ground.
Hi-tops! Hi-tops! When there's danger all around.
I ain't got nuthin' to worry 'bout at all,
Cause outside my bedroom window Spider-Man's stuck to the wall with Hi- Tops!
Hey! Ho!

Hi-tops! Hi-tops! First we gig and then we cop.
Hi tops! Hi-tops! Dance when the needle drops.
My laces are long and my head is strong,
And no one's gonna catch me now, no no no. Hi-Tops!
Hey! Ho!

PHIL105 "Critical Thinking" Test Today

Study guides are ultimate fun...

Explain why the mere fact that some datum is consistent with your hypothesis does not mean that it is not evidence against your hypothesis.

Because, if the probability of your hypothesis given the consistent data is less than the probability of any other hypothesis given the same consistent data, it is evidence for the other hypothesis, even if it's also consistent with your's. {P(e/not h) greater than P(e/H)} Consistent data is neither necesarily evidence for or against an argument.

What is an auxiliary hypothesis?

An auxilary hypothesis is a sub-conclusion in a complex argument. It is a conclusion that serves as a premise for another conclusion and must be true in order for the main hypothesis to be true.

Can a theory be weakened if auxiliary hypotheses are used to help the theory to accommodate a troublesome piece of data? Explain.

Yes, the more auxilary hypothesese introduced, the weaker an argument becomes. It's inherant probability lowers with each auxilary. For instance, the probability of (H1) is inherantly higher tha the probability of (H1 & A1) which is higher tha (H1 & A1 & A2) etc...

What is Occam’s razor? Explain its relevance to evidential arguments for God’s existence.

Occam's razor is the theory that favoring the simplest explanition is the preffered method. In reference to the evidential argument, it is pointed out that pain and suffering in the world are morally random. This makes metaphysical naturalism more likely, because if theism were the case, pain would be allotted to the morally negative, and pleasure to the morally good. Just the existence of evil in a world created by an all-good loving God seems contradictory. The simplest explanation of the moral randomness of suffering and pleasure is that there is no God to care about or regulate it. The probability of theism given the evidence of pain and suffering is less likely that the probabbilty of matephysical naturalism given the same evidence. {P(p&s/theism)less than P(p&s/metaphysical naturalism)} The theory that posits the fewest unknown entities or phenonmena wins.

Explain: For any datum e and hypotheses H1 and H2, e is evidence favoring H1 over H2 if and only if P(e/H1) > P(e/H2).

e is evidence for an hypothesis iff the probability of the hypothesis is higher given e is than the probability of the hypothesis alone. {P(H/e)greater than P(H)}
Conversely, it is evidence iff the probability of e given the hypothesis is greater than the probability if e given not the hypothesis, any other hypothesis.
Given two hypothesis, if the probability of hypothesis one given e is greater than the probability of hypothesis two given the data, than e favors hypothesis one by fifty percent or more. It has the most explanatory power.

Explain Draper’s formulation of the argument from God’s hiddenness.


Why, if God exists, can science ignore him and still explain so much, so successfully? Science has had extreme success using naturalistic explanations to solve life's mysteries, and given this evidence, it is less probable that theism is correct than it is that metaphysical naturalism is correct. (P(success of naturalistic explanations/theism) less than P(success of naturalistic explanations/metaphysical naturalism)

Explain the wider teleological argument for the existence of an intelligent designer of the universe.

Wider Teleological Argument -
The universe is made up of numbers, constants on which a livable cosmos depends. Humans can't theoretically predict these constants, they must be measured, experimented upon in order to know them. There is no necessity to the values these numbers have. If their values were any different, our cosmos would be unimaginably different and indeed unlivable, incapable of supporting rational animals who could even question the different universal constants.
Metaphor of the cosmos producing machine- machine with many dials that determine the base constant features of a cosmos. If dials were slightly differently set- no life. But our's is set to enable it to contain life.

Teleological Argument - Irrational objects act towards an end. Always behave the same way, the way that produces the best result. By design. An irrational thing can not direct itself. God directs it.

Proof of fine tuning argument is that the universe has been fine tuned. Since the large scale constants have been fine tuned for life, and rational life does exist, the life too must have been fine tuned by the same designer.

Teleological argument doesn't posit/prove omniscient, omnipotent, all-good god, eternal and perfect.

Objection - our fine tuned cosmos is no more or less likely than any other combination of constant dials.

Straw analogy. You're forced to draw a straw out of a trillion straws. Only one short straw, if you don't get it, you will cease to exist. You do get it! It is likely to conclude, given the infinite odds that the draw was not at random, but you were helped by some mysterious unseen benefactor. Is it unimportant because it was equally likely you'd draw one of the trillion minus one longer straws and cease to exist? If a very good explanation can be offered, it is preferable to no explanation at all.

Explain Van Inwagen’s "multiverse objection" to that argument. Explain the "this universe reply" to the objection.

MULTIVERSE OBJECTION -

The cosmos is only one in a vast number of actual cosmoi which exhibit a vast number of cosmos designs. Cosmos machine is random and non stop in producing cosmos, or a vast number of machines each producing a cosmos. With that many cosmos being produced, it stands to reason that some or at least one would be completely suitable for rational life. (We can not observe the cosmoi not suitable for such life. We can only see our cosmos - observational selection effect.)

Either this is the only cosmos which some rational being has fine tuned in such a way that it is suitable for life, or this is one out of a vast number of cosmoi, a few of which are suitable to life.
While van Inwagen admits that it is less likely that a designer designed given that at least one universe is life permitting than it is that there are random multiverses, he claims that it is more likely that a designer designed given this universe is life permitting than it is that there are random multiverses.

THE PROBABILITY CALCULUS.

restricted conjunction rule - P(A and B) = P(A) x P(B) independent events
general conjunction rule - P(A and B) = P(A) x P(A given B) events together, not independent
restricted disjunction rule - P(A or B) = P(A) +P(B) mutually exclusive events
general disjunction rule - P(A orB) =P(A) = P(B) - P(A and B) not mutually exclusive
negation rule - P(A) = 1 - P(not A)