1) Grateful Dead – some of the songs are classics. If you think I am a fool, you are not listening. You are more afraid of being considered a “deadhead,” being part of that culture, than just plain disliking the music. Most people who claim not to like the music cannot name a single song even though they know 20, much less say why they don’t like it. We’re too old for this. Get over it. 2) Dirty Dancing – I was forced to watch it as a teenager by my, now dead, chorus teacher on days that she did not feel like teaching. Saw it again over the weekend and it’s a good movie. The main characters all show substantial growth. They are all sympathetic. And it’s a coming-of-age story: Jennifer Gray’s character has to deal with growing up and dealing with a world that she know nothing about. I prefer my coming of age stories to be about boys, as it is easier for me to identify with, but thankfully this one is not a male coming-of-age...
“Every year, back comes Spring, with nasty little birds yapping their fool heads off and the ground all mucked up with plants.” – Dorothy Parker “Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons in life do not last. The spring rains will come again.” -Sarah Ban Breathnach As if on cue, the calendar brings in spring and waking this morning we witness what the night has brought us. A powdery-yellow coat clings to all surfaces outside the windows that we were just thinking of starting to open to let the cool air in, to cut down on the extortionary gas-electric prices. Without a day in between, we will likely have to turn off the furnace and turn on the AC. To open the windows would let in far too much of the harmful things. They would climb into your nose and down into your lungs while you sleep, and you would wake to an elephant sitting on your chest, African not Asian. Even the tarry-nicotine protective coating on the lungs, if you are lucky enough to have such in this polluted city, cannot provide immunity from this yellow villain. And the boss still doesn’t understand that you may need to just stay in bed for the day, for to leave the house would be to risk further contact with the insidious golden haze. Yet, I suppose, it is this time of the year in which we can all be reborn. Running begins in order to prepare us for certain summery challenges lying in the near future, and to make sure...
“North Carolina is a vale of humility between two mountains of conceit.”
I saw some good shows; I saw some bad shows. I listened to some good albums; I listened to some bad ones. So, here�s my �Best of� list. It�s not really exhaustive and everything is either in chronological or alphabetical order. I prefer not to get into what is �best� really, everyone knows that since Radiohead didn�t release an album or tour in �04 that there is no best. So, here you go. Click on album covers to purchase from Amazon BEST CDs Artist: I really have no idea what to say about this one, and I think that�s why I like it so much. It�s really like nothing else I�ve ever heard. Maybe if Talking Heads had more instruments, more background choirs, more drama, joined forces with Roxy Music and moved to Canada. I don�t know. Artist: This is on here for no other reason then she�s just so damn cute. Seriously, sometimes experiments like this don�t work�think Bobby McFerrin�but this is great, weird, spooky, beautiful music. Artist: If one of your New Year�s resolutions was to listen to more art rock, start here. Artist: I don�t care if it�s popular, it�s good. I�ll be anxious to see if they suffer the same fate as the also overly-hyped Strokes, that is, making a second album as good as the first but getting panned for making a second album as good as the first. Artist: It�s been written about to death, but this Jack White produced gem is the epitome of what I mean when I say I love country music. Artist: Two words: �Float On.� Artist: For years...
A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk. FDR (1882-1945) Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives. John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) A conservative is a man who sits and thinks, mostly sits. Woodrow Wilson...
Aging Popstar?I saw R.E.M. the other night at the United Center. They’ve probably been my favorite band since I was about thirteen. I had a strange reaction though. I’m not thirteen anymore. And the three remaining members of R.E.M. aren’t exactly spring chickens themselves. My first reaction upon walking into the gigantic arena was, “Wow, they’re fan base is really old.” Failing of course to realize that I am part of that fan base and I am getting old. When they started off with “Finest Worksong” and ” Begin the Begin” I thought it was going to be a raucous night of comradery b/w the band and their fans all raging against the dying of the light. All of us remembering where we were when we heard “Life’s Rich Pageant” or when we discovered that there was more to rock music than synthesizers and hair gel. Funny thing was, no one remembered. Shira and I were giddy after the first two songs but no one else seemed to care. Their enthusiasm was saved for “Man on the Moon,” “Everybody Hurts,” even their new song “Bad Day,” (very reminiscent of “End of the World” by the way) bought more people to their feet than “Fall on Me.” But when I really realized I was an aging fan alone was when the band played “Shaking Through” and everyone headed for the restroom. I guess their early fan base has moved on to other things like Pete Yorn and John Mayer, sugary sweet songs of love and loss. I guess all of our favorite bands get old. I do admire them for...
Our Fearless LeaderAlthough I try to not stray into political territory too much, I am a political person. Some would call me pinko, commie, bleeding-heart, sob, fascist, mexican faggot etc. etc. There are a few things that have got me going lately politically and I wanted to post some links that I found interesting. The first link is testimony given to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. The testimony of Jenny Toomey (formerly of the band Tsunami and record label Simple Machines) is well worth the read if you are in to this kind of stuff. http://commerce.senate.gov/~commerce/press/03/2003124A29.html The next link is Wired Magazine online coverage of this testimony. http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,57487,00.html The other issue at hand is a recent leaked document detailing th Justice Department’s plan to introduce a bill that will increase the government’s power under the “Patriot Act” that was passed after 9-11. A copy of this document can be found here, and the Wired article can be found here. Please feel free to post any comments about what you are thinking about this stuff. If you feel really strongly, even write your senator or congress person, because I don’t think writing Dubya is going to make a damn bit of...
These bombs do more in seconds than a team of dentists do in a full day.Reporter: Can you explain the effect that a 100 pound bomb has on anyone who is nearby the explosion? Colonel: Basically, the sheer force and shockwave of a 100 pound bomb will knock the teeth out of anyone in a half-mile radius. Reporter: Can you describe the humanitarian efforts being made, specifically what types of food are we dropping for the people living in the area? Colonel: [Chuckle] Various things like beef jerky and peanut...
Hollywood star, Gillian Anderson, plays an FBI agent on TV. Paraphrase of Josh Joplin quoting Phil Ochs: At times like these, sometimes the most revolutionary act can be to turn our backs and attempt to create something beautiful I’ve been through all of this with you before. I am tired of the pessimism. My mother was the queen of ruined holidays. My father the king of mellow. Eat your goddamn chocolate. Have your Christmas crackers and pudding. Play God Save the Queen at top volume on the hi-fi and pretend that your country is still the steward of the language. Godammit I am going to enjoy the holiday this year, come hell or high water. I would steal your keys at a bar, you kindly spoken pansy boy, and run as fast as I could into the streets of that town. I’d take the hell, and highwater, the fifths of bourbon on the way, and a couple of chocolates just for myself. I’d run in and out of movie theaters like I was Bruce Willis, you asshole. And I really am. You may not recognize me, but you have seen my movies…. But alas, tonight, for once, I have faith in the world. It came in the singing of Closer to Fine, a song I thought I had given up some 10 years ago. A taburnacular resonating of sweet chords that were familiar and strong and strange. All bosses gone, and a night of semi-abandon. And all I can say is I love you all. War on Iraq be damned, and why do we always send our boys in...
I’m opting out. I’m opting out of everything: capitalism, relationships, social conformity, the legal system, fashion and especially Christmas. I do not want to take part, thank you very much. I don’t want to traipse around town looking for gifts that will be under-appreciated and consigned to the we’ll-find-some-use-for-it-but-for-now-we’ll-hide-it-under-the-bed pile. I don’t want to write any Christmas cards – but I’ll have to. For God’s sake, I’m an atheist! I do want to drink to excess and tell my parents things I would never tell them when sober. And I do want to see those friends I haven’t seen for six months. I do want to eat the turkey and all that chocolate. I don’t want the have-you-got-a-girlfriend conversations with distant relatives. Please don’t make me go through another Christmas. Next year I’m going to rent a cottage in the middle of nowhere. It’ll just be me and the television and bottle of the strong stuff. I’ll wake up at noon to a big cup of coffee with croissants, then slam a Marks & Sparks’ Christmas dinner for one in the oven. After I’ve eaten, I’ll go for a long walk in the rolling hills to clear my head before heading to the pub for a booze-up with total strangers, who I’ll invite back to the cottage for a knees-up. We’ll drink so much that we decide to go skinny dipping in the freezing-cold local stream (beck), but collapse in a heap before we manage to get so much as our socks off. The next day, I won’t remember any of their names and they won’t remember mine, because...
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