"There is a house in New Orleans they call the Rising Sun.
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy, and God I know I'm one"
-- The Animals, "House of the Rising Sun"
I really, really, really, really, really hate Daylight Saving Time (not "savings time", as one friend had the decency to point out to me yesterday. No "s" at the end of "saving").
First off, it's an affront to our biology. Our bodies work with a certain set of cycles and rhythms, and DST disrupts those cycles. Sometimes for weeks and some people never adapt at all. DST results in lack of sleep and all the obnoxious side effects that accompany that (irritability, inability to focus/attention deficit, inability to multitask, depression, anxiety, and, in some cases, increased likelihood of heart attack and suicide). For more details, here's some links (that I found on Google while looking for convenient evidence to support my point):
Second, the idea that DST saves energy is faulty, especially as we've changed how we use energy in the world. In fact, studies actually seem to contradict that DST has any effect on energy usage any more (if it really ever did). Behold my use of Wikipedia to support my agenda!!
Third, why do we have to fool ourselves by changing the clocks if we honestly think we need more daylight? Why not just have Summer Hours for places of business that find it useful and let the rest of us keep our hour? Are we so advanced as a species that lying to ourselves is the most productive choice?
Fourth, they've extended DST to the majority of the year now. It starts in March and doesn't end until November. Two-thirds of the year is currently spent in DST - more time than we spend in our "regular" timezone. Really? This does not make sense! (Link to: Chewbacca defense)
Fifth... Calling it DST makes it sound like some kind of disorder of the brain or disease. I'm going to refer to it as such from here on out. "I'm dealing with DST! It's not my fault! I didn't ask for this!"
Now that I'm done with my rant, let's get back to the point of my blog, shall we?
Back on the 3rd, I got to go to the Witches' Ball in Benicia. It suffered from the usual problems that Pagan Alliance events seem to regularly suffer from - a lack of any real advertising, very little seating if you didn't pay for a VIP ticket, and bad sound techs (seriously, have none of these guys heard of doing sound checks before people start showing up?). They also suffered from an extra problem this year, entirely outside of their purview - ridiculous gas prices kept a large number of the usual attendees from SF and the South Bay from making it out.
The DJ was pretty awesome, though. Got some good gothy tunes, at least for part of the evening. Also, the mead was excellent.
I also got to go to Hexenfest on the 9th. This is a first shot at a, potentially, annual event. Primarily put together by tribal rock outfit Pandemonaeon, it also featured goth-rock act The RaZor Skyline and a number of local bellydancers.
The RaZor Skyline was quite good. A little more rock than goth, they still had some solid tunes and a strong line-up. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of them in the future.
I was also surprised and delighted to see one of my favorite bellydancing divas, Dusty Paik of Snake Church, get up onstage to dance with them. Yay!!
Between stage acts, bellydancing by Anaar and Morpheus Ravenna was quite lovely as well (I particularly enjoyed Anaar's use of fans and silks).
And then we got Pandemonaeon to wrap the evening up. Best way to describe them might be Fleetwood Mac if Fleetwood Mac were more metal. Definitely good music to dance to if you like to dance in the pseudo-folk fashion that a lot of pagans do.
Also, the bar at the Oakland Metro Operahouse is pretty good for such a small bar. Hey, a man has to have his priorities, and mine apparently involve getting drunk.
Upcoming events to be aware of:
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy, and God I know I'm one"
-- The Animals, "House of the Rising Sun"
I really, really, really, really, really hate Daylight Saving Time (not "savings time", as one friend had the decency to point out to me yesterday. No "s" at the end of "saving").
First off, it's an affront to our biology. Our bodies work with a certain set of cycles and rhythms, and DST disrupts those cycles. Sometimes for weeks and some people never adapt at all. DST results in lack of sleep and all the obnoxious side effects that accompany that (irritability, inability to focus/attention deficit, inability to multitask, depression, anxiety, and, in some cases, increased likelihood of heart attack and suicide). For more details, here's some links (that I found on Google while looking for convenient evidence to support my point):
Second, the idea that DST saves energy is faulty, especially as we've changed how we use energy in the world. In fact, studies actually seem to contradict that DST has any effect on energy usage any more (if it really ever did). Behold my use of Wikipedia to support my agenda!!
Third, why do we have to fool ourselves by changing the clocks if we honestly think we need more daylight? Why not just have Summer Hours for places of business that find it useful and let the rest of us keep our hour? Are we so advanced as a species that lying to ourselves is the most productive choice?
Fourth, they've extended DST to the majority of the year now. It starts in March and doesn't end until November. Two-thirds of the year is currently spent in DST - more time than we spend in our "regular" timezone. Really? This does not make sense! (Link to: Chewbacca defense)
Fifth... Calling it DST makes it sound like some kind of disorder of the brain or disease. I'm going to refer to it as such from here on out. "I'm dealing with DST! It's not my fault! I didn't ask for this!"
Now that I'm done with my rant, let's get back to the point of my blog, shall we?
Back on the 3rd, I got to go to the Witches' Ball in Benicia. It suffered from the usual problems that Pagan Alliance events seem to regularly suffer from - a lack of any real advertising, very little seating if you didn't pay for a VIP ticket, and bad sound techs (seriously, have none of these guys heard of doing sound checks before people start showing up?). They also suffered from an extra problem this year, entirely outside of their purview - ridiculous gas prices kept a large number of the usual attendees from SF and the South Bay from making it out.
The DJ was pretty awesome, though. Got some good gothy tunes, at least for part of the evening. Also, the mead was excellent.
I also got to go to Hexenfest on the 9th. This is a first shot at a, potentially, annual event. Primarily put together by tribal rock outfit Pandemonaeon, it also featured goth-rock act The RaZor Skyline and a number of local bellydancers.
The RaZor Skyline was quite good. A little more rock than goth, they still had some solid tunes and a strong line-up. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of them in the future.
I was also surprised and delighted to see one of my favorite bellydancing divas, Dusty Paik of Snake Church, get up onstage to dance with them. Yay!!
Between stage acts, bellydancing by Anaar and Morpheus Ravenna was quite lovely as well (I particularly enjoyed Anaar's use of fans and silks).
And then we got Pandemonaeon to wrap the evening up. Best way to describe them might be Fleetwood Mac if Fleetwood Mac were more metal. Definitely good music to dance to if you like to dance in the pseudo-folk fashion that a lot of pagans do.
Also, the bar at the Oakland Metro Operahouse is pretty good for such a small bar. Hey, a man has to have his priorities, and mine apparently involve getting drunk.
Upcoming events to be aware of:
- Club Nocturne on 3/17
- Death Guild's multi-night 19th Anniversary Bash from 3/18 to 3/21 (featuring some really awesome bands!!)
- The Hubba Hubba Revue's "Goth Night" in celebration of Death Guild's anniversary on 3/22
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