I’m not sure why so many people are shocked by Lane Kiffin’s departure from UT.  Loyalty and decency are relics of the past, much like typewriters and cassette decks.  This is an age where Johnny Damon and Roger Clemons can go from the Red Sox to the Yankees without pause, and Brett Favre can suit up in Viking purple against his beloved green and gold.  It’s not just the athletes who no longer have loyalty.  Sports franchises will release a player without second thought if they can upgrade the position, however slightly, or sometimes even just save a buck.  I learned that lesson when the 49ers put Joe Montana out to pasture.  Sure, he was the most beloved player in the team’s history, but what had he done for them lately?

Of course, all of this is really just a symptom of the larger issue in society, which is that mega-corporations have steadily been eroding the foundation of loyalty for decades.  A friend mine’s mother worked for 19 years for one company, and when she was within just a few months of being eligible for a pension, the company laid her off and never called her back.  In her late thirties, she had to start over with a new company as a temp, making around $8 an hour.  That’s just one example of how large corporations screw working people; we all know dozens more.  In response to the “disposable workforce” mentality of the elite, workers have adopted a mercenary mentality.

That’s why it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that Lane Kiffin left UT in the lurch with no notice.  He got a better offer.  Had the roles been slightly reversed, I have no doubt Mike Hamilton and the university’s leaders would have fired him just as abruptly.  Don’t get me wrong; I’m not condoning his actions.  After making countless promises to parents about how he would take care of their boys and make sure they lived up not only their athletic potential but academic as well, he just stabbed those young men in the back and broke the commitments he made to them.  That’s despicable.  While I’m certain he won’t lose a night’s sleep over his actions, he should be ashamed at what he did to those kids.

But I’m not surprised that he did it.  We live in the Age of Greed.

www.thirdaxe.com

We live in an amazing age.  Yesterday, I shopped around for a printer for the poster Rob Brown designed.  I looked at one brick and mortar store here in town, and the man, while very kind, seemed confused and overwhelmed by what I wanted.  After probably fifteen minutes of discussion, he went to his office and scratched out a quote.  His price was well over what I could afford, so discouraged and disheartened, I came home, believing that I would have to wait even longer to get this beautiful artwork into print.

Then, I sat down with Google and searched for printers online.  Within minutes, I had browsed through three or four different sites, each with automated quoting systems.  The first couple were similar in price to the local shop, but a little less expensive.  Then, I found one that had an amazingly efficient system that within seconds had an affordable quote exactly to my specs.  After a few minutes of tinkering, I had a quote for twice as many at half the price.  I uploaded the file from my desk here in Tennessee to their server in LA, a file which I had downloaded from my artist in Georgia.  This morning, I awoke to a PDF proof that was a perfect match.  After a little deliberation and some second-guessing of myself, I paid for the order, and with any luck, this time next week, I’ll have the posters in hand and ready for this year’s convention schedule.  The truly amazing thing is how natural and normal the entire process felt.  Welcome to the digital age!

www.thirdaxe.com

I’m an entertainer, not an intellectual, so I don’t pretend to know more about the world or society or the future than other people.  Anyone who claims to know the future is either a fool or a con artist, and in my opinion, the same can be said for anyone who “knows” god’s plan.  Once upon a time, I believed myself to be a highly spiritual person and, in my arrogance, I’m sure I believed that I had more figured out than most.

Then, life kicked my ass.

One of the most humbling experiences of my life was a year ago on Christmas morning.  For anyone who doesn’t know already, that was the first anniversary of the day my ex-wife told me she wanted a divorce.  I woke up alone to complete silence.  Those of you with children, try to imagine it.  It’s a silence with its own gravitational pull.  I challenge you to experience that and then try to feel like you have more figured out than anyone.  It brought everything in my life into sharp focus, and it put my ego in check.

If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, you’ve noticed that I battle depression pretty regularly, and in a lot of ways, I’ve lost my spiritual faith.  Most days, the world seems cold and vicious, a rolling speck of dust in the black vacuum of space.  There’s little justice to be found and even less fairness, and what mercy exists is finite and fleeting.  I never thought my consciousness would transform into this state, but it’s where I find myself at the beginning of 2010.

When people meet me, they generally describe me as nice or kind, and in a lot of ways, I guess I am a kind-hearted person.  I’m glad that despite everything that’s happened, I’ve managed to retain that facet of my personality.  I like treating others with respect and dignity, even if we are on a speck of dust hurtling through the void.  Compassion and kindness are two of our greatest traits as humans, and if more people cultivated them, we could have a better world.

I guess that’s all for tonight.  www.thirdaxe.com