dead0 is turning 50 this month and I'm doing my one and only AMA

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

What's your opinion of this Family Guy cutaway I generated? It's probably the craziest one I've ever gotten. The prompt was these lyrics:

Here again the chords clash
Again the half-past
Carrie nation cut glass
Children of the have-caste
Across a dark barlack of concentration camp of self-harm
Feel again the Dr. Bronner sermon on the soap jar
Open as a bank vault
Focused on a passed fault
Not-named Lot's craned neck-salt
Another clay mouse thrown into a potter's house
Bait-and-switch hell pitch, Dutch blitz
Venus of the gem state
Cleaners of a blank slate
Of metamorphic straight-laced
Latter-day saint-faced, speed it up a knot
Feed, meat, no, milk, no
Paper cow, may it be so
Living cow, make it so
Low in the burst of a red dwarf star
No one on earth will know who we are
Blue ribbon pigs in a 4-H show
No one on earth must know
Quiet as the church-top lead roof thieves
No one on earth must know
Custer in his stone-drunk Bighorns rolled up
Juliet shirtsleeves, no one on earth must know
No one on earth must know
Counter-terror prophet in a watermelon ascot
Coriander manna in the mortar of a joke
C.I.A. beneath a Coatsville farm with incorruptible charm
We leaned ephemeral bones on everlasting arms
Four-behavior frontal lobe, a universal product code
Of iridescent Joseph coat hallucination H-show
Low in the hearse after Red Cloud's war
No one on earth will know who we were
Buried Beds of regrets at the eight-straight-buffalo show
No one on earth must know
What have I to dread, what have I to fear?
Leaning on the everlasting arms
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near
Leaning on the everlasting arms
O, how bright the path grows from day to day
Leaning on the everlasting arms

(Scene: The Griffin family is sitting in the living room watching TV. Suddenly, the screen transitions to a colorful and surreal sequence, reminiscent of a musical number)

[Upbeat music starts playing]

Stewie (singing):
Here again the chords clash,
Again the half-past.
Carrie Nation with a cut glass,
Children of the have-caste!

[Cut to a group of children dressed in fancy outfits, sipping tea in a luxurious mansion.]

Children:
We're the children of the have-caste,
Living life at such a fast pace!

[Cut to Dr. Bronner's soap bottle with a sermon on it, zooming in dramatically.]

Dr. Bronner's Soap (singing):
Feel again my wisdom, pure and true,
Like soap, I'll clean and enlighten you!

[Cut to a bank vault swinging open with bright lights shining through.]

Vault (singing):
Open wide, I reveal secrets untold,
Focused on past faults, behold!

[Cut to a man with a long neck, peeking over a salt shaker.]

Man (singing):
Lot's craned neck-salt, a peculiar sight,
In this potter's house, a clay mouse takes flight!

[Cut to a wild sales pitch with people exchanging random items.]

Salesperson (singing):
Bait and switch, a Dutch blitz,
Venus of the gem state, oh what bliss!
Cleaners of a blank slate, metamorphic and straight-laced,
Latter-day saint-faced, speed it up with haste!

[Cut to a cow made of paper being transformed into a real cow.]

Paper Cow (singing):
Feed me meat, no, milk, no,
From a paper cow to a living show!

[Cut to a burst of a red dwarf star with unknown characters floating around.]

Unknown Characters (singing):
Low in the burst of a red dwarf star,
No one on earth will know who we are!

[Cut to blue ribbon pigs at a 4-H show, hidden from view.]

Pigs (singing):
Blue ribbon pigs, in secrecy we grow,
No one on earth must know!

[Cut to a quiet church with lead roof thieves sneaking around.]

Thieves (singing):
Quiet as the church-top lead roof thieves,
No one on earth must know what our heist achieves!

[Cut to General Custer stumbling in the Bighorns, wearing Juliet shirtsleeves.]

Custer (singing):
Custer in his stone-drunk Bighorns rolled up,
No one on earth must know, let it be a closed-up cup!

[Cut to a watermelon wearing an ascot, sitting in a room filled with intelligence agents.]

Watermelon Prophet (singing):
Counter-terror prophet in a watermelon ascot,
Spreading wisdom in the mortar of a joke, that's a lot!

[Cut to a hidden CIA operation beneath a farmhouse.]

CIA Agents (singing):
C.I.A. beneath Coatesville farm with charm,
We lean on everlasting arms, keeping the world from harm!

[Cut to a brain with four different behaviors, labeled with a universal product code.]

Brain (singing):
Four-behavior frontal lobe, universal and coded,
With iridescent Joseph coat, hallucination bestowed!

[Cut to a hearse moving slowly through a war-torn landscape.]

Hearse Driver (singing):
Low in the hearse after Red Cloud's war,
No one on earth will know who we were anymore!

[Cut to buried beds of regrets at a buffalo show, covered in shadows.]

Regretful Figures (singing):
Buried beds of regrets, hidden from the light,
No one on earth must know, keep them out of sight!

[Cut back to the living room where the TV suddenly turns off, and the Griffins are left in silence.]

Peter: (puzzled) What the hell was that?
Lois: (sarcastically) Oh, just another random cutaway gag. You know how the show is.
Stewie: (excitedly) I quite enjoyed it, actually. It was like a surreal musical number, full of hidden meanings and metaphors.
Brian: (shrugs) I guess it was better than the time Peter sang "Surfin' Bird" for five straight minutes.
Peter: (defensively) Hey, that was a classic moment! Everyone loves "Surfin' Bird"!
Meg: (sighs) Can we please just watch something normal now?
Chris: (nods eagerly) Yeah, I don't think my brain can handle any more weirdness.

The TV suddenly turns back on, and a news anchor appears on screen.

News Anchor: Breaking news! An unidentified flying object has been spotted hovering over Quahog!

The Griffins all gasp in shock.

Peter: (excitedly) Oh boy, this is gonna be good! (runs towards the door) C'mon guys, let's go see what's up!

The family follows Peter out the door, and the screen fades to black as the sound of a spaceship whirring can be heard in the distance.

[dead0man]

those WGA guys don't have a lot to worry about just yet

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Why does everyone hate Council Bluffs? I know it gets dumped on all the time but I've never been there (well I went through it on I-80 but never stopped there) so I don't know why.

[dead0man]

Why does everyone hate Council Bluffs? I know it gets dumped on all the time but I've never been there (well I went through it on I-80 but never stopped there) so I don't know why.

it's 60k middle and lower middle class white people living on a strip of flood plain (the main street through town famously floods everytime it rains a decent amount), squeezed in between the river, the "bluffs" and industry.  We don't really think about it much.  It's got casinos, a smallish convention center that gets a lot of mid level acts and a mess of car dealerships.  There are no other reasons to go there.  I've lived in the area since 1997 and I can count on one hand the times I've gone there for something.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Why does everyone hate Council Bluffs? I know it gets dumped on all the time but I've never been there (well I went through it on I-80 but never stopped there) so I don't know why.

it's 60k middle and lower middle class white people living on a strip of flood plain (the main street through town famously floods everytime it rains a decent amount), squeezed in between the river, the "bluffs" and industry.  We don't really think about it much.  It's got casinos, a smallish convention center that gets a lot of mid level acts and a mess of car dealerships.  There are no other reasons to go there.  I've lived in the area since 1997 and I can count on one hand the times I've gone there for something.

There's definitely at least a bar there that a lot of bands I like apparently play at on tour, it shows up on tour dates a lot. I guess it has plenty of dive bars?

[dead0man]

Why does everyone hate Council Bluffs? I know it gets dumped on all the time but I've never been there (well I went through it on I-80 but never stopped there) so I don't know why.

it's 60k middle and lower middle class white people living on a strip of flood plain (the main street through town famously floods everytime it rains a decent amount), squeezed in between the river, the "bluffs" and industry.  We don't really think about it much.  It's got casinos, a smallish convention center that gets a lot of mid level acts and a mess of car dealerships.  There are no other reasons to go there.  I've lived in the area since 1997 and I can count on one hand the times I've gone there for something.

There's definitely at least a bar there that a lot of bands I like apparently play at on tour, it shows up on tour dates a lot. I guess it has plenty of dive bars?

I would assume so, but I don't have any knowledge of them.

[Kamala's side hoe]

What’s your favorite time of year in Nebraska? And what season if any do you like the best weather wise?

[dead0man]

What’s your favorite time of year in Nebraska? And what season if any do you like the best weather wise?

this time of year actually.  It's in the high 70s or low 80s everyday, and in the mid 60s at night, ya know, perfect.  The extreme cold and extreme heat suck, but those days just make you appreciate the nice days more, or at least that's what we tell ourselves when we suffer through -10s and 110s.

the fall is probably better overall weather wise because there are fewer strong storms but it still has the reasonable temps

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Do you currently or have you ever worked with anyone at your job that you could conceivably do what Trump did and is now facing charges over or is that pretty crazy even for low level employees?

[John Dule]

Finally, an interesting person decides to do one of these.

1. How many states have you been to, and which was your favorite?

2. What are your thoughts on John Stuart Mill, Ayn Rand, and other libertarian philosophers?

3. Have you ever voted for a major party presidential nominee?

4. Given what you said about your favorite authors, have you ever considered writing a novel?

5. What experiences from your childhood do you think shaped your political/philosophical worldview?