"I think they are all homosexual communists in Satan's army...I espect as well they all live together and bathe together every morning and have the anal sex with one another, with the fisting and the guinea pigs." - Manuel Estimulo
"I can never quite tell if the defeatists are conservative satirists poking fun at the left or simply retards. Or both. Retarded satire, perhaps?" - Kyle
"You're an effete fucktard" - Jeff Goldstein of Protein Wisdom
"This is the most pathetic blog ever..." - Ames Tiedeman
"You two [the Rev and el Comandante] make an erudite pair. I guess it beats thinking." - Matt Cunningham (aka Jubal) of OC Blog
"Can someone please explain to me what the point is behind that roving gang of douchebags? I’m being serious here. It’s not funny, and doesn’t really make anything that qualifies as logical argument. Paint huffers? Drunken high school chess geeks?" - rickinstl
So, in the proper spirit of the thing. Ok. Yesterday was our 36th anniversary. We are very fond of each other and have a reasonably complex financial life that would make disengaging difficult. We don't want to cause the other pain or even inconvenience. I rate this as a successful marriage. We don't hate each other, wish the other grevious harm, and try not to act contrary to our mutual best interests.
That said, we got married on Friday the 13th. My thought, being a strategic thinker, was that this way I would not forget both Valentine's day or the Anniversary and hopefully, one would key my brain as to the other. Generally has worked...I see the Valentine's bullshit in the stores, and it triggers the response that I need to do something to commemorate the day so as not to violate the "first, do no harm or cause unnecessary pain" part of my ethic. It does not make me happy. This makes me happy...
I hate Valentine's Day. It is part of the conspiracy of the consumer society that begins in pre-school to make us all ready for a life of disappointment and conspicuous consumption.
If my cousins across the sea can get their act together and do this, maybe there's hope for us. Notice that the demographics of the people angry at the banks and rest is the same as that of the Tea Party in the United States. Says something about having good schools and making people learn math...and, note the anger at the interest rate.They've done the math...and why the hell should Greece get a better rate than Ireland? Of course, the link should take you to the Guardian's page that also has the interest rate for 30 year mortgages through the Royal Bank of Scotland...we've been robbed.
Builder Mick Wallace, who has had to lay off 100 of his workers due to the crash in the construction industry, said it was time the Irish became more militant. "We are far too quiet. We should be more like the French and get onto the streets more often. Because our politicians go over to Europe and tell the EU that our people do not demonstrate, they don't take to the streets. It's time we changed that and openly opposed what is going on," he said.
Jimmy Purdy, 77, from Dublin's Ringsend area, was at the demonstration outside Dublin's GPO – the scene of the 1916 Easter Rising. "I have lived through three recessions and I think this could be the worst one yet," he said. "I'm here because I'm angry that the EU are telling us to cut euros off the minimum wage and boss Irish workers around while the people that caused this crisis get off scot-free."
Now, Ireland has a parliamentary form of government; we do not. We're not where we are at because of Barrack Obama; we are where we at because of Alan Greenspan, Phil Graham and the election of 1994. Clinton supped with the devil and as perhaps the most sophisticated politician of the 20th and 21st centuries, used a long enough spoon that we didn't hate him as much as we should for rubbing brass cleaner on parts of the safety net. However, Obama is a political science savant -- he gets the governing part, he just doesn't get the political part. He'd be great in a Parliamentary system. He'd be like Churchill, clawing his way back into power when the other side overreached while doing the Tony Blair thing when in office. But, in our system, he forgot about the political reality -- as President, the world goes topsy turvy every two years when the Congress changes. Instead of audacity and thinking big about politics, he decided to focus on a three corner offense and a zone defense. And, he's where he is not because of Nancy Pelosi -- he's where he is because of himself, and Harry Reid.
Of the two houses, it was more critical to maintain the House than the Senate. The House is where the action is; the Senate is not. While more involved than Lords versus Commons, the filabuster and general rules of order in the Senate favor the minority unless there's a super majority. But, the House can create all sorts of havoc, and then the Senate has to stop it. Or the President has to veto it.
In a Parliamentary system, a vote of no confidence is pretty simple -- start defeating bills and the whole mess gets redone in six weeks. The Irish can go to the streets, cause panic and dismay, and something will happen. Remember that the roots of the IRA and the roots of the struggle in Ireland has a strong anti-capitalist branch...here, we've been stupid most of the time. The Republic feel in Rome not because of the populares but because of the overreaching of some of the optimates. Caesar and the boys of the XIII Legion just found it all ripe for picking, kicking and rolling over on its back...
Well, get ready for the return to the 19th Century...After all, the federal government shouldn't really be involved in clean water or anything like that...
The 80's produced a surprisingly large amount of decent music, once you got past the hair and the disco remnants. Unfortunately, Gibson's panel has selected a list that Crusader AXE thinks is challenged by reality -- unless, of course, they were requiring rotation on FM radio. Best riffs that includes nothing from Bruce Springsteen, J.Geils Band, and one from the Stones. Which came in at number 2. No Bryan Adams, which I can sort of understand. But, come on...
For example, the Stones have "Start Me Up" as number 2. Well, that is an incredible riff, and I have no problem with it at the top end. However, AC/DC is number 1 with "Back In Black". What the fuck? "Cuts Like a Knife" or "Summer of '69" are pathetic, and far, far better. The 80s brought us the Honky Tonk rock of Dwight Yoakum -- the riff from "Guitars, Cadillacs" sets the stage for a lot to come, and --oh yeah -- Yoakum was considered a cowpunk.
Start Me Up is great, but some of the riffs from Steel Wheels were superb. I'm very partial to "Mixed Emotions," for example.
Springsteen. Ok, some of the stuff on The River -- most of it, I guess -- was left overs from Darkness at the Edge of Town and so was recorded prior to the 80s. But, "Born in the USA?" Seriously, people went nuts to things like the title track, and "Glory Days"...Why is there no Southern Rock...this was the glory days for .38 Special and Molly Hatchet? "If I'd Been the One" or "Back Where You Belong" should get a mention.
I've got no issue with the Clash, although I think they could have more than one entry -- "Train in Vain", maybe as well as "Should I Stay". Hell, "Rock the Casbah" would have been fine. They even stuck a Michael Jackson song on the list -- yeah, there was a Van Halen guest appearance, but what the hell? Where's the Van Halen?
If Randy Rhoades sat in on "Hit Me Baby One More Time", would that make the list from the 90s? Or whenever the hell that tripe came out...Well, the purpose of these lists is to excite discussion, and it certainly happened with this mess.
Again, it's confusing. Not many a lesser demon appears from the fiery depths of hell with a penchant for human food. You'll usually find a hell-beast hell bent on devouring souls. Or babies. Or baby souls. Rarely do you find one who wants sandwiches. And when you do, if you're in Washington D.C. to protest taxation (is that why they're here?), well then for some reason the sandwichery strikes a menacing chord.
Well, the demon found the teaparty people he met fairly generous, getting so many sandwiches he fed a bunch of them to ducks. He did not get his ass whipped, although there were some people who discussed it with him. He appears to be David Cross, comedian and cast as a possible homosexual opposite Portia de Rossi in Arrested Development.
At the same time, there was a case of exploitative violence at the George Washington University Deli. Yokels in Tea Bagger regalia supposedly came in, got incensed that the District was going to tax the paper bags that they wanted the sandwiches in, and got so angry one of these fine Americans threw the sandwich in the face of the kid behind the counter...who was probably a student trying to pay the incredibly overpriced tuition and costs associated with going to school in DC, so he can get a good job and live the American dream...which does not include dealing with outoftown assholes. And, the kid was probably from Wyoming or some other goddamn place. If they'd thrown the sandwich at Marion Barry, that might have made sense, cosmicly.
Well, I read Power Pop. Tonight, Crusader AXE glanced at it and got to see a piece of sheer brilliance from their Rolling Stone tribute show. Dear God...this could send them all to a Zen monastery. Except Mick, of course, who is really all about the money. This guy tries to turn "Under My Thumb" into a Archies-romantic ballad. Power Pop is in pain in his comments, and well he should be.
Very few Stones covers are very good. That's really not surprising. Arrowsmith or J.Geils or The Chesterfield Kings could do a mean Stones cover. There have been a few others of course. Susan Tedeschi kills on Silver and Gold; Linda Ronstadt gets a slam dunk on Tumbling Dice. But, the malicious humor that Jagger infuses everything with back in the day along with the really great playing on albums like Aftermath really makes several things apparent. A bunch of American IDOL contestants do not make rock and roll...they make Muzak.
Now, we probably would not be remise to point out that most of the best stuff from the Stones is at least 35 years old. Still...
One of our murder of malcontents appears to be doing the whole mid-life crisis thing. Damn. Now, having gone through a number of these damn things, I decided a while back that life for a certain type of guy is probably a continuing mid-life crisis. Some are worse than others. Our pal has just gotten through a bout of cancer, which makes a certain amount of confusion and anger not only justifiable but probably therapeutic. However, Crusader AXE is not a physician. Our pal, well, he's a talented guy with a lot to offer, but he's starting to sound like a 60s radical who has had too many subliminal encounters with Black Metal. Babbling about Amerika and wanting to drive through the campus streets at the college where he works, screaming cunnilingus out the window. Although I hate drugs and their impact on the culture, heroin might be an improvement.
Look, it's really common to get pissed off at your life. One of the gang commented that well, the best work is done in the shadows; what can you do in the shadows. I think for a certain type of person, we lead our lives in the shadows; anything shared with the world at large is really camouflage. Most of us work solely for a paycheck; if we find some fun and interest in what we are doing, that's a bigger bonus than the amounts most of us get.
Look, I've been through a bunch of these things -- seven at last count, but who's counting. If you find yourself in one -- women deal with their crises better than men in some regards, once they're post-menopausal -- I recommend the classic solution. Go to AA meetings; blondes, muscle cars or corvettes, a rolex, a big ass gun, a German Shepard, growing a mustache or shaving the one you have, and lots of frantic activity. The AA meetings can be a big help, if you keep your mouth shut, drink the coffee and listen to the folks whine about life, how much they want a drink, how God fucked them over, how they don't have enough, nobody loves them, they're spiritual, organized religion/politics/the man has done them in, and so on. Perspective helps a lot; your life sucks, but their lives suck more, and you are probably happier being where you are and not being like them.
None of these things really work. The blondes, although fun, have been trying. The cars work fine, but you have to keep stopping for speeding tickets and gas, which is a drag. Rolexes and such are overpriced and over-rated. (I recently seem to have developed the tendency to create too much static electricity in my body, and automatic watches don't work on me. However, I now have an Italian Racing Driver's watch in black metal that runs on a battery which appears to do well with the static electricity. And, a drawer full of other watches.) The knives are really a waste, unless you plan on fighting a bear hand to hand -- and if you do, seek medical help now. You're not having a midlife crisis, you're fucking crazy. Put the goddamn doctor on retainer. Hell, get a blonde as the doctor...
The dog has an upside -- German Shepards are loyal, friendly and photogenic -- and a downside, in that they rapidly fill the house with shit. The blondes do also, of course. Just a different species of shit. And, they'll shed all over the muscle car or the Corvette. (Both the dogs and the blondes...) which means you'll have to spend more time in the car wash getting the damn thing detailed. Most men look silly with facial hair, except for those who don't. For the most part, if you have it, you shouldn't' if you don't, you should. And, the frantic activity thing can be helpful...until you break, tear or pull something.
So, I go back to Mr. Fun's thought -- the best work is done in the shadows. What can you do in the shadows?
Certainly, I'm struggling with another mid-life crisis. It snuck up on me, this time. Lost the job, all the people I liked being around at work were generally blondes except for Consuela, the Mexican-Irish problem/solution for my worklife ills; I got sick of the V6 muscle car and got the real thing. So, I'll deal with it. Already have the watches, the knives, (and a battle axe and hand and a half sword) and got the facial hair thing worked out a while back. Frantic activity...yeah.
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