Be A Hero

When I learned in history class about the Holocaust in Nazi Germany or the Native American Holocaust here or about slavery and then about segregation and racism or about the mistreatment of immigrants and women through out history, the thing that scared me the most was that so many people were complicit in such horrible behavior.

I started to look at my classmates and neighbors differently. I wondered who amongst them would go along with hatred and who would be heroic. Of course we'd all like to believe that we'd have been heroic had we been alive in those times but the math is against us. Most people were not heroic and if we did not have the benefit of hindsight we most likely would not have been either.

It feels dangerous to be too confident that I'd have done the right thing. I was tortured by this thought in my teen years. Yeah, I was a teenager, I would've found something to be tortured over but I really wanted some assurance that I wouldn't have been one of the fiends.

Eventually I realized that I had to let go of those ghosts. What mattered was that I look for opportunities to be heroic now or at the very least to not be a bigot, a hater, a fiend. And we have an opportunity now to be heroic. Please, take this opportunity. Be a hero.

Vote NO on 8.

Don't let the gay couples of CA pay for the sad state of marriage in our culture. Go after the divorces if that is your issue.
And if it is a religious issue, please look at the truth of the proposition.
It is not protecting your kids from being taught to be gay.
It is not protecting your church.
All it is doing is stopping gay couples from having the protections under law that straight couples enjoy through marriage. They are still going to be gay. They are still going to be in love. They can still move in right next to you. You can't stop that. but you can stop them from being treated like valued citizens in our great state, even though many of them are fire fighters, police officers or stand up comedians.
If you want them to have their own word for their unions you need to really listen to what you're saying and realize that it sounds an awful lot like "Seperate but Equal." We all know how well that works.

They can vote. They can own property. They can own businesses. What's next? Are these basic rights safe?

And why stop at gays? After all what right do I as an atheist have to be married? It is a contract with God is it not? Historically speaking it is.

This is an important time and it is important the we do the right thing.
So don't be like the sad Americans who fought at one time to keep people of different races from marrying (it wasn't that long ago.) Be a hero instead. This is a simple issue of personal freedoms and equal rights. Don't be fooled into thinking you're protecting marriage or family by denying someone else the opportunities that the rest of us enjoy.

Vote No on 8.

I hope to toast you at the party after this is defeated, because them homos, they really know how to throw a party (but I'll supply the music, I promise.)

Republicans Vote No On 8!

Its The Economy Stupid
Double income gay couples are vital to California's fragile economy. Vote no on 8! Keep the gay consumers (Really, they LOVE to shop) in CA.
(Thanks Dave)

SAVE MARRIAGE!!!
Vote No On 8! Heterosexuals have screwed marriage up so bad, bringing in some new blood is the only way to save it. Let the Homos show us how it's done.
(Thanks James)

Prop 8 is Gay!
(Thanks Jason)

Best Political Endorsement Ever!

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Science Comedy?

The Coexist? Comedy tour invited Brian Malow to be our guest Jew for the night when we did Stockton last week. He did a great job, very funny.
He told me about his show "Rational Comedy for an Irrational Planet." described as Science Comedy.
Science Comedy? Sounds great to me, but is there an audience for such a thing?

Well I was honored to be Brian's guest at his sold out show last night at Rooster T. Feather and yeah, there was an audience. The audience included a table full of Google employees, a couple of NASA employees and a whole lot of smart people. How'd I know they were smart; they laughed at my geekiest jokes that's how.

What an awesome show and what a privilege to be a part of it. I am working on helping this geeky funny man bring the show to Sacramento. Hopefully soon.
www.sciencecomedian.com/

The Debates

I was lovin' the debates. The part where the older candidate said to the younger candidate, "I eat pieces of poo like you for breakfast."
And then the younger candidate said, "You eat pieces of poo for breakfast!?"
Oh man, that was AWESOME!
Then my wife got home and pointed out that the debates were on a different channel and I was apparently watching Happy Gilmore.

So, I switched over to the actual debates.

BOOORRRRRIIIIINNNNGGGGG!

From Sacramento's "Atheist and Other Free Thinkers"

"Your performance at Freethought Day 2008 was exceptional, a crowd pleaser. Thank you! Next year's event will surely be bigger, better, more outrageous. We hope you will be part of it.

~ Ken Nahigian
Entertainment, Sacramento Freethought Day"

I stand back stage, my head throbbing, dizzy, cold sweats. I've never set foot on stage without feeling a need to go to the bathroom even if I just got back from there which is usually the case. I don't get nauseous but that may be the only symptom of stage fright I'm free of. I get an ache in my bones, a cold panic that feels like a real physical presence behind my eyes. My wrists hurt.

Sometimes, when it's bad enough, my memory shuts off and I do my act in a black out state. I will, afterwards, only be aware of succeeding or failing with the audience but I will have no recall of what I actually said or did onstage. I have to trust that the words that came out of my mouth were those I wrote and rehearsed for this occasion. It is rarely this bad anymore.

I have ulcerative colitis according to the doctors, but it seems to be a hysterical form of the condition as it only flares before performances or other stressful occasions, mostly performances.

If I go onstage at least once a week it stresses me less and less; wait a month and I may as well be going up for the first time.

It doesn't matter the audience. I will stress just as bad before a twenty person crowd at a dive bar as before a 1,000 person audience in a nice theatre. And then once in a while I get no stress in a situation where the patterns of the past tell me I should be a mess. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to these much appreciated and rare bits of relief.

I must REALLY like hearing the laughs and applause to keep going up. I ask myself "Why do you do this?" over and over and the only answer is, "You'll remember why after its done."

An Atheist Symbol

Atheists want a symbol.

Christians have the cross, Muslims the crescent, Jews the star of David, etc. etc. (Sorry to the millions of religions who were reduced to an etc. )

The symbols I've seen proposed for us, frankly, suck. A check mark, a Scarlet Letter style A, a circle with a slash through it. I will admit I kind of liked the Ghostbusters symbol with a halo added above the ghost but I think I have found the ultimate symbol for us atheist.

This bunny having sex with a rooster (often labeled "Where Easter eggs come from.")

Why? Well, mostly because it would be so much fun to watch them try and work it into the Coexist bumper sticker. I've got $20 to the best (or first in case of a tie) photo-shop depicting that Coexist bumper sticker. E-mail me at keithlowelljensen @ gmail dot com with your entries. No attachments please.

Stage Call

Last night I was the host at Curtain Call at City Hall, a weekly comedy show in Davis. I had a great time. The feature, Alex Koll, who I was familiar with as a sketch comedian, is one of the funniest and most unique comics I've seen in some time. He bring a bizarre story telling approach to the stage that I really enjoyed. I look forward to working with him again.
Headliner Bill Santiago has the best qualities of a seasoned pro. The way he used his volume and pauses and posture to keep the audience attention focused intensely through his entire set was inspiring.
I suggest checking both of these guys out and be sure to catch the shows at Curtain Call. I like what they're doing out there and the food was delicious.
My sincere thanks go to Eric Miller for making it happen.