I would also add that I don’t consider myself a “practicing” atheist. I, unlike some prominent and active atheists, do not seek out the religious to criticize them or to try to sway them to my point-of-view.

I don’t have a problem being friends with people who believe in God – in fact most of my friends do, and even the majority of my girlfriends throughout my life have been religious. Very religious, in fact.

I didn’t step foot into a church service until halfway through high-school. My girlfriend was Lutheran and I was undecided, meaning I hadn’t cared enough to think about it, but because we had our youthful puppy love, I obliged to attend church with her now and then. It made her happy, and I scored points with her family, but she could sense that I felt out of my element.

In this respect I had no element to begin with, but she reassured me whenever she reached over and grasped my hand beneath the table as her family said their prayer before dinner. It was her little wink to me that showed her appreciation for sitting through it.

We were together for long enough to where we pictured our perfect lives together, and I imagined “becoming” Lutheran in the future and raising our kids that way. Because I said I had never read or owned a copy, she gave me a bible – complete with my name and date of birth – as a gift. And at that point I actually was thankful, and received it graciously.

Now I look back on those days and, boy, am I even more thankful that I didn’t spend the rest of my life pretending to believe in things that I didn’t.

She wasn’t the last God-loving girlfriend I had, however. The next two were as well, including a pastor’s daughter. The other was more insisting that I attend church with her, and that – as it turned out – was just another straw breaking an already dilapidated camel’s back. Long story.

Couples break up for many reasons, and there were plenty of reasons each time my first three relationships ended. It is interesting, however, that my fourth girlfriend (and likely my last if we have anything to say about it, which we most certainly do) is an atheist like me. I’m not saying religion broke up my first three relationships, but I know who would: Christopher Hitchens.

Hitchens, a journalist and outspoken atheist, is the author of the book “God Is Not Great,” a manifesto of all things godly best characterized by its subtitle, “How Religion Poisons Everything.”

Now… the point I failed to make earlier and that I am tangentially making now – about not stepping into a church service until halfway through high-school – is that I didn’t even think about religion and God until women entered my life. Since being forced to think about it, I have come to the conclusion that I am an atheist. Perhaps it was the rather insistent third girlfriend, but as the saying goes, three strikes and you’re out. I tried agnosticism for a bit and it wasn’t for me either.

Sorry religion, I’m just not that into you.

So as an atheist I recently decided to brush up on the subject, and thus just finished reading Hitchens’ book. And as one might logically conclude, I liked it, and agreed with the evidence provided. Most of it, anyway.

I liked the book because it provided a detailed list of evidence supporting ideas that I’ve held in my head all of these years. Ideas I couldn’t yet express myself due either to a lack of knowledge and experience in a subject, or to a lack of eloquence of which Hitchens oozes.

Here are some of the best examples from his argument against religion:

• Religion has been detrimental to public health in some cases, including when the Muslims believed the polio vaccine was a conspiracy and the Pope claimed condoms are ineffective against AIDS. You can imagine the trouble a statement like that can cause in a place like Africa.
• The argument against condoms included the claim that they are unnatural, and you don’t see dogs out in nature wearing condoms. As Hitchens pointed out, is man, then, a creature of nature or of divine design? Can’t have it both ways.
• AIDS has been said to be God’s punishment for homosexuality. Why, then, are homosexual women statistically far less likely to contract HIV?
• The Bible is filled with both historical inaccuracies and internal inconsistency.
• Miracles, such as those attributed to Mother Theresa, are misconceived myths. An example is how a photograph in a poorly lit room came out much clearer than expected – a feat to which the photographer credits the new generation of Kodak film he was using.
• The creation of religion as a method of dealing with fears and hopes appears to be a man-made human construct that can be reproduced as if in a laboratory. During World War 2, as the Pacific theater drew American troops to remote island cultures to build airstrips, the world witnessed the creation of “cargo cults.” These civilizations, isolated from the rest of the world, viewed the soldiers like angels and saviors, bringing riches to the island. Years later, evidence shows they began worshiping them like gods, awaiting the soldiers’ return like that of Jesus. It’s like C-3PO and the Ewoks. Think about it.

These are just a few of Hitchens’ points, but are the ones that stuck out to me.

I don’t agree with Hitchens on everything, however. For starters, he views circumcision as genital mutilation and I, personally, do not. I do not equate it to the removal of a woman’s clitoris, but I’m really not about to get into a discussion of genitals right now.

On a larger scale, I don’t agree with the broad strokes with which he paints religion. Religion does not, in fact, poison everything. There is plenty of good that comes from religion, in my opinion. Many people find comfort in religion and use their faith to do good. There are good and bad people who believe in God, just as there are good and bad people who do not.

I think Hitchens feels like his hand is forced. He feels he needs to fight fire with fire, violently rejecting religion. I can see why he feels this way, and applaud him for having the courage to do so, but it’s not how I see myself as an atheist.

To reiterate, if you believe in a god or multiple gods, I don’t have a problem with you. We can be friends just fine. You are free to believe whatever you want, and so am I. Who am I to tell you what to believe and what not to believe? That said, if you try to tell me what I should believe, then we have a problem.

I am perfectly fine with religion as long as it is not trying to impose itself on me. Hitchens would argue that religion is doing just that – imposing itself – all over the world.

Do I care that the Pledge of Allegiance has “One nation under God” in it? Not really. Should creationism be taught along side evolution in school? Save it for Sunday, folks. Do I think same sex marriage she be outlawed because of what the Bible says? Absolutely not. But that’s a whole other blog post.

The moral of the story is, I can lead as moral a life as anyone, and I don’t need God in my life to do it. But if you believe in God, and feel that you need him/her/it in your life, then by all means.

My new European friends give me looks of shock and confusion when I spread mayonnaise on my sandwich before toasting it. It’s similar to look I gave them when I realized they primarily use it as a dip for French fries. I can still be friends with New Yorkers, despite my Boston-grown hatred for the Yankees. We disagree, but that doesn’t mean I hate them or my European mayo-confused counterparts.

Life is bigger than that. God vs. No God is about as important to me as mayo vs. ketchup. Just don’t try to (excuse the pun) spread your ideas about condiments over my own. I have my ways, you have yours.

Anyway, as President Bartlet on “The West Wing” continually says, what’s next? My research continues with Richard Dawkins’ “The God Delusion.” I actually have queued up some books that argue contrary to my beliefs, but if you have a suggestion for more (other than the Bible) I am all ears.

I will be writing for ReadWriteWeb, a blog that covers Internet technologies, and will be one of two startup beat reporters.  Actually, we are going to be providing resources for startups as well as reporting on startup news.

Anyway, you can now read my professional stuff there, or by clicking here.

I start officially on January 4th, but until then I will be posting a few things, and already have one up now!

That being said, it’s summer time again in the desert, and I just wrapped up the second semester of my three semester masters program.  I worked the majority of this semester in the New Media Innovation Lab, which takes on tasks from various media clients to think-tank ideas and come up with ideas for solutions to their problems.  I had a lot of fun because I basically got paid to be the geek that I am while getting experience and exposure making website mock-ups, flash utilities and other fun things.

This summer is chock-full of great experiences for me.  I am part of the News21 program, which is a nationally funded program that promotes the creating of unique, innovative multimedia journalism.  Arizona State is one of several “incubator” schools, and our groups is focusing on Latino issues in America.

My partner and I are beginning a story this Monday on Latinos in the military, specifically in regard to service as a path to citizenship. Since it is well funded, the program allows for a lot of traveling, so I will be travelling across the nation gathering sources for our story.

In addition to the News21 program, I am also working as a research intern for the popular social media and web technology blog, ReadWriteWeb.  I just began this week and so far it is going great.  I am assisting with some short term and long term research projects, and I hope to expand my role as the summer evolves.  Who knows, it could turn into a full time position later on.

That should do it for now, just a quick update on me and the coming summer.  I will make a point not to neglect the blog all summer long.  I will likely be inserting posts about the progress of News21, the RWW internship and other big news and ideas I have.  Enjoy the summer!

This presentation goes over several numbers and figures about starting businesses and is designed to showcase some shocking facts.  I hope you enjoy!

Recently on NPR’s “This American Life”, they emulated this style by reporting on 20 stories in 60 minutes. One of the “acts” was a clip from one of TMLMTBGB’s own shorts, which is a humorous exchange between a male and a female.

Check out the “This American Life” podcast to hear the clip (around the 30 minute mark), or after the jump, just read this short snippet I found on the interweb to get the gist of it.

Him: Statement.
Statement.
Statment. {cough}
Question?
Her: Agreement.
Him: Reassuring statement.
Confident statement.
Confident statement.
Overconfident statement.
Her: Question?
Him: Elaborate defensive excuse.
{audience laughter}
Her: Half-hearted agreement.
Him: Insecure statement.
Distracted statement.
Absurd statment.
Her: Clarification question?
Him: Panicked bullshit explanation.
{audience laughter}
Quick meaningless comic nonsequitur.
Fake laughter.
Fake laughter.
Accidental compliment of physical characteristics.
Her: Pleased response.

It goes on a while longer and it’s all in the performance, so check out the podcast for a full recording.

Don’t get me wrong, I love WordPress.  This isn’t about getting rid of that association, it is all about having my own home on the Internet.  Now when people ask about my blog, I just tell them, chcameron dot com!

On June 30th this year, Leroi Moore, founding member and saxophonist for the Dave Matthews Band, was injured in an ATV accident near his home in Virginia.  The band went on with their summer tour while he recovered, starting up shows the very next day in North Carolina.

Several days later, Moore was released from a Virginia hospital after suffering several broken ribs and a collapsed lung, but in mid-July was suddenly re-admitted to the hospital with complications.  On Tuesday August 19, Moore died from the complications suffered from the ATV accident.

That night, the band went on.

They played a concert in Los Angeles and following the first song, front-man Dave Matthews addressed the crowd in memory of Moore.

Less than a week later, Dave Matthews Band came through Phoenix, and I had a ticket to the show which I had purchased several months earlier.  The band opened with the same song they opened with the night Moore died, and they played their hearts out.

You could see it in their faces, you could hear it in their voices and through their instruments.  Drummer Carter Beauford, normally an upbeat smiling guy, refused to smile for several songs, until he finally allowed himself to enjoy the performance.

While that concert was not the same without Leroi, it is my favorite out of the five I have been to thusfar.  The heartache that must overcome the band every time they step on stage without Leroi was transparent in their music and in their performance which made for an unforgettable experience.

Now, I can experience that again.  Since I purchased a ticket via Ticketmaster, I was given a free digital download through iTunes of the band’s newly released Live Trax 2008, which features the best of the best from this summer’s tour.

I downloaded it the day it was released.  Today.

Six of the eight tracks are from concerts within a week and a half of Moore’s ATV accident, including one from his final concert with the band on June 28th.

My favorite track, is second to last on the album, and is that opening track from August 19, the day Moore passed.  The song is called “Bartender,” and is also the song the band opened with at the Phoenix show I attended.  I must have listened to it at least ten times already, and that’s saying a lot since this version is over fourteen minutes long.

Unfortunately, for those who didn’t purchase a ticket this summer, the album doesn’t go on sale to the public until December.

Only then will you be able to listen and experience raw unfiltered emotion at its best.

Well, fear not, because this crucial role may have been filled tonight.

On SNL.

By Coldplay.

That’s right my friends, I’m calling it right now.  Obama will be the next president and he soars to the white house on the wings of England’s favorite alternative rock band.

Lead singer Chris Martin ended the first two of the bands performances on this week’s Saturday Night Live by saying “Thank you” very close to the end of the song, usually right after.  I guess that’s his thing, I don’t listen to a lot of live Coldplay, nor have I seen them live so I wouldn’t know.

However, following the band’s third performance (the song “yellow”, which is pretty good), he just said, flat out, “Barack Obama” with his thick British accent.  Guess he didn’t want anyone to be confused about who he would vote for if he were an American citizen.  Hmm…

What is a circle of fifths, you ask?  Okay I’ll explain that one.  A circle of fifths is a chord progression in music where each chord in the sequence is a fifth apart.  As an example a circle of fifths starting on C would read something like this:

C-G-D-A-E-B-F#-Db-Ab-Eb-Bb-F-C

Each chord is a fifth apart (5 notes in it’s scale) away from the next, and eventually you wind up back at C, hence the cirle.

Anyway, a friend of mine who teaches music at a highschool said on a recent test (which was written by some group) that he gave his students, it cited Lionel Richie’s “Hello” as the perfect example.  And they are right.  Only this one goes backwards.. D-G-C-F-Bb-E  (although it should be Eb for a pure circle, but it had to also make sense and not sound like crap).

Here is a piano tab of “Hello” for the section in question.  Some of the chords are major, some minor, but it sure as heck is a circle of fifths.

Here is a sound clip of the section in question: Boo wordpress….  See the music video at bottom.

D                     G6         C                           F
I can see it in your eyes, I can see it in your smile
Bb              E                       Am         E7/B     Am/C
You’re all I’ve ever wanted and my arms are open wide
D                              G6           C                             F
Cause you know just what to say and you know just what to do
Bb                     Am/E    E            Am   G6
And I want to tell you so much, I love you.

Just thought this might be interesting to some people.