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Bands that time forgot is going to be a new series on here.  Tonight I’m shooting Monotonix.  An Israeli band that has been banned from just about every club in Tel Aviv for their live show antics which include (not an exclusive list) setting their instruments on fire, stealing drinks from the audience, not to mention setting up their stage IN the crowd and having the crowd, crowd surf the drummer…Quite the interesting assignment.

Watching footage reminded me of At The Drive-In and their impeccable dance moves.  Enjoy.

One Armed scissor – ATDi

Indie favorites Elf Power swung through Madison on Friday night, playing a short set of their own songs before taking a short break and serving as the backing band for Vic Chestnutt who they recently recorded an album with.  Talking with the keyboardist from Elf Power (woman with the funny hat) about life on the road was an interesting insight into the life of a touring band.

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Last night, while planning my great adventure I found myself watching a television show called “John and Kate Plus Eight”, a show about a couple who after having twins decided they wanted one more child and ended up with sextuplets. I’m no Doctor, but I have to assume the odds of having sextuplets without some sort of fertility program are very very slim, but that’s beside the point.

The program after “John and Kate Plus Eight” was “Kids By The Dozen: The Gonya Family.”  Some brief research found that “Kids By the Dozen” follows several different families who have more than a dozen children. The majority of the hits were with the Duggar Family.

The Duggars

“Kids By The Dozen” has focused on four families, one of which identifies as conservative Baptists who endorse the Quiverfull movement, which states that one should eagerly receive children as gifts from God and do not believe in any kind of family planning or contraception. Two of the other families also adhere to similar beliefs and make religion a significant part of their lives.

The Heppner Family

All three of these families home school their children and all three live ‘debt-free’ lives thanks to several different products; Financial Freedom Seminar, Training Minds Ministries and The Institute in Basic Life Principles a 501(c)3 with $63 million in assets.

While this program is on cable and thus can air whatever programs on whatever topic they wish, I found it interesting at the concentration of fringe religious beliefs as the focus of their families.

The fourth family, the Goyna Family from Massachusetts, seemed to be the only remotely ‘normal’ family. While still obviously sticking to some religious belief that would put them in the situation to have 14 children, religion was never mentioned, prayer time was never featured and the patriarchal ministry found in the other three families was absent.

The Jeub Family

There was an interesting quote from Mrs. Goyna on what her husband does which I attempted to find video of but cannot. She said, “Jay works as the Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service.” What? Jay Goyna, father of 14 children in rural Massachusetts is the Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service? Googling his name should bring up several results detailing his service. Nothing. Nothing on the USPS website.

My interest in this was peaked by TLC’s glorification of the religious extremism in practice without any sort of commentary on how they live their lives adhering to a fringe method of family planning.

EDIT:

This seems to be relevant again with the birth of octuplets to a Fullerton, CA woman who already had six children, four single births and one set of twins with each of the pregnancies being the result of invitro fertilization.  14 children to a single mother without steady income and a seemingly unhealthy desire to rear children, not due to fringe religious beliefs as in the TLC cases but rather as some in the media have deducted, to emulate Angelina Jolie and her soccer team of children.  Whatever her motives, she lacks not only the forsight to raise these children but apparently the financial and mental capacicty to do so as well.  There are arguments for and against whether or not we are overpopulating our planet, either way, when you live in suburbia and your ecological and carbon footprint is as large as the Suleman clan is, it’s hard to find a rationalization.