"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
I admit that I don't quite get some aspects of our contemporary culture...but what the hell is that all about? And, am I enabling something evil? Or just confusing? I'm so confused...
And now for something completely different...but equally bizarre. These are from Power Pop, the great Steve Simels site and what the hell were they thinking?
And this madness? Granted, the Sid Vicious cover of Sinatra is the epitome of the worst cover ever but still...
And then, remember when we thought Sting was a serious musician instead of a papparazi-baited wanker wannabe?
Actually makes this one make sense...sort of...I mean, did we ever take Elton John seriously? But, Springsteen? Really...
This is par for the course in the creative industries: the two best places for young people on the make in Hollywood to meet the players are bars and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.But celebrity can be an even more powerful drug than cocaine. It encourages people to push the limits: the more scandalous they are the more they attract the attention of the paparazzi. Mr Galliano produced ever more outrageous fashions as his fame grew. In 2000 he dressed his models like tramps—le look clochard—with newsprint dresses and dangling pots and pans. He probably counted the fact that protesters surrounded Dior’s offices as a publicity triumph. Celebrity also makes people think they are fireproof: their fans love them come what may. Mr Sheen seems to have revelled in his bad-boy image. But there is clearly a line that you cross at your peril: insulting your boss in Mr Sheen’s case or endorsing the Holocaust in Mr Galliano’s. --Schumpeter, The Economist, March 3 2011
I was reading through one of Harry Turteldove's alternate history volumes last night, and there was an extended piece on how well things would have gone had the media been as omnipresent in 1941 as it is today. Well, the answer is not well...little things like announcing Doolittle's raid and the location of ships headed for Midway resulted in defeats leading up to Roosevelt's impeachment. Point taken -- in an era where everything can be known to everybody at everytime and anything can be said and gain some credence, Churchill's idea of the Bodyguard of Lies for truth becomes more important and less achievable.
The Schumpeter column from The Economist is focused on the creative industries, especially film and fashion. However, it's a cautionary tale for anyone who achieves stardom. Athletes face it, but people in business, industry, the military and government need to pay attention. Hubris, the overwhelming pride that the Greeks used to set up heroes for failure -- and possibly redemption -- is the real issue. When you start to think you're irreplaceable , you're one screwup away from the door.
There's a great line from the first season of Justified, when Raylin says to his ex-wife that "I never thought I was an angry man," and she responds, "You don't show it, but I've never met an angrier individual." It seemed perfectly reasonable to Raylin Givens to give a thug in Miami 24 hours to get out of town, and then to get into a gunfight. So, he finds himself back in Harlan. Hilarity ensues, and the show is supreb and captures that Scots-Irish flavor of the Mountains. And, the anger...
The difference between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton was miniscule, except that Burr was fairly open in his scandals, and Hamilton was discreet. In a time when honor was critical, piercing the veil of hypocrisy could be fatal. As attorneys -- and by all accounts, very good ones -- both Hamilton and Burr knew that truth was the absolute defense. Had Hamilton admitted that he had said somethings about Burr that were uncalled for even though true, and apologized publicly, he could have avoided the duel. Unfortunately, that was impossible.
Personally, I have on more than one occasion decided that I needed to stand on my hindlegs and sound off. While not convinced that I was irreplaceable, I was pretty much convinced that I was right and that right was an absolute defense. Things normally worked out fine, but at some point the bosses felt compelled to do something else. I could have been right, and might even have been civilized and restrained in my approach on this occasion, but they'd been backed into a corner by my previous behavior. In most cases, we parted friends, but we parted.
Have I changed? I'd like to think so, and that I am more careful about picking my fights. However, as I look around, I see a world where lots of people are not careful. I have opinions, and I express them. Since I no longer drink, I suspect that more of them are rational than there were 20 some years ago. I hope I am more articulate and reasoned in my approach...
But, one thing to remember is that everybody get's tired of people who are always right. Sometimes teh wisest thing to do is shut up early and help pick up the pieces.
Then, there are people like Charlie Sheen and others who just can't shut up. In his case, the constant media and self-aggrandizement and just plain craziness far exceed what one might expect a boss to tolerate. Unfortunately for Charlie, so long as his lifestyle seemed in line with his character on Two and a Half Men, he could act out as much as he wanted to. However, rich drunks and crackheads tend to become mean drunks and crackheads, and then violent drunks and crackheads. If you lead your life in a transparent bubble, and make a point of shooting off flares to attract attention, you're going to bump into an unpleasant reality, from which recovery is difficult.
If you must be outside the normally acceptable range of deviance, I recommend that you do everything you can to make your deviance be simple and not let it extend to all aspects of your work. Barney Frank is an openly gay man; however, he does everything he can to keep his personal life a fact, but stand in the public as an expert on government and the economy. But, some people can't avoid crowing -- Newt Gingrich is so far removed in character from the moral paragon he purports to be...and yet, he feels comfortable crowing about morality. He's intelligent and a deep-thinker on some levels; but, he's neither as bright, charismatic or intelligent as he thinks.
In a similar way, Sarah Palin draws fire from the moderate right through hard left for what many commentators see as a "snowbilly" white-trash existence. There is probably some justification to that view, but in a way she's a more modest Alaskan version of Daisy Duke. I suppose Todd could get his snow machine to jump a ditch or two...Palin became a star nationwide for no discernible reason, and her ability to stay on script and mouth cliche's has kept her in conscious for a while. But, she's one bit of craziness from becoming a denizen of infomercials, and that's probably where she'd be most comfortable. Bristol and Levi and the rest are really the Kato Kaelins of that experience. Again, so long as she stays on message and doesn't really say anything, she'll be fine.
The thing about being a Rock Star is that unless you actually are a Rock and Roll person you really shouldn't aspire to lead your life that way. Chris Hillman tells a story about trying to find Graham Parsons back in the Byrds days for a gig that he was probably going to be late for, and found him hanging out in a recording studio with the Stones. When he refused to leave, Jagger got very angry and basically threw him out of the studio, telling him that "Whatever else, you do the gig." When you start missing the gigs, you tend to go away. Somewhere, Brian Jones is nodding to that, and for a change not because he's high...
And, as for me I'm still on the road headed for another joint, always did feel the same just saw it from another point of view...Tangled up in Blue...and red and white and green.
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.
Flint defended his porno empire based on pornography as political speech. McMahon defends WWE as not as bad as it used to be and protected by the constitution...because women on leashes and barking like dogs in spandex halters and speedoes makes money and making money is protected by the rights of the...Chamber of Commerce?
Sometimes, you just want to know more...FAIL says that the headline is too long but if the purpose of the headline is to make you want to read the rest of the story, well, shitfuck...
Remember the Jimi Hendrix Coke/Pepsi commercial where the young Jimi could have opted for an accordian instead of the Strat? Great commercial, funny content. But then, you get people who have to try...Let me begin by admitting that I am a Gibson guy. I've owned a bunch of them over the years, as well as Epiphones and during the days when Ibanez was ripping them off, I even had one of their Hummingbirds. Today, I have only one Gibson, a Songwriter and two Epiphones -- a cherry red Casino and a gorgeous cherry-burst Les Paul Ultra 2. So, I am a denizen of their website, and if you are interested in music and are interested in learning, hearing and just saying "wow" at times, it's a great place to go. They're more eclectic than Crusader AXE with some of my music postings.
Well, that said, they have a new feature that I thought could be fun, but they've already run out of steam. Called "The Daily Throwdown," their blogger throws up something by, oh, Chet Atkins and then something similar, ideally the same song, by Martin Barre. I pick those two because they are radically different in style, texture and everything else, but their playing on Bouree is just plain cool. Compare, contrast and argue as to who nailed it better. Jimmy Page versus Clapton in the ES 333 days for Eric; how about Derek Trucks versus Lee Roy Parnell? Get the idea...here's one that makes sense, Scotty More versus James Burton
However, when you compare artists, you have to have some common ground. Comparing Piss Christ to The Last Supper ain't gonna work -- not just different mediums, eras, and times but different worlds. I believe that there is a line between interpretation and simply transposing. If I chose to do Gloria like Ricky Lee Jones does it instead of harsher and slammier like Them did it, I'm still doing the same song. But, if I sing Morrison's lyrics to Leonard Cohen's music, I'm just screwing them both. And myself. If I have something that radical to say, maybe I ought to write my own goddamn song.
So, Joan Baez got some perspective on here relationship with Bob Dylan in the 60s during the time around the Rolling Thunder Review, and she wrote Diamonds and Rust. Incredible song...profound things about love, loss and acceptance. There are people I'd like to hear cover it sometime -- Elvis Costello, Dianna Krall, Susan Tedeschi, KD Lang. The Indigo Girls could have fun with it. I'm sure there are an infinite number of people who could cover it and have something to say through their interpretation. You know who would be wonderful?-- Marianne Faithful accompanied by Mark Knopfler! Emmylou with Ry Cooder...lots of opportunities. Emmylou with Robbie Robinson and Levon Helm...
And then, there's Judas Priest. Shit. You can take lyrics from a song and sing it with a totally different structure, tone and intent, but that doesn't make it the song. Baez song defines lost love and could have been; it is a masterpiece. Judas Priest's version is interesting to their fans, boring and repetitious to Baez purists and musicians who resist metal and to my mind, just plain silly. The video is belligerent posturing and creepiness. It's like playing Heartbreak Hotel on a dulcimer -- you can do it, but why the hell do you want to? It's possible to do something worthwhile and true to yourself if the song is as universal as this one...for example, this...
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...
come from an island, Ireland, a nation
Built upon violence and morose vendettas.
My diehard countrymen like drayhorses
Drag their ruin behind them.
Shooting straight in the cause of crooked thinking
Their greed is sugared with pretence of public spirit.
From all which I am an exile. -- Louis MacNeice
The Partition of Ireland remains the gift that keeps on giving. Michael Collins has got to be laughing in his Guinness. Or, to look at it another Protestant politicians make a porno! And, George Michael the former Senator--no, wait, George Mitchell, the former Senator --and Bill Clinton are obviously to blame for Missus Robinson and the lad with the restaurant...although, what sort of woman gives her lover $80K to open restaurants and then asks for 20% kickback fo Jaysus and the Orange Order and Presbyterian Church? I think this is really kind of cool in a Gonzo way. Presbyterian political women have mid-life crises? Wouldn't it have been easier to get this gal a Rolex, a Miata, and a chihuahua and a membership in a tennis club with a Gay, Argentinian Tennis Instructor...
"She looked out for me to make sure I was OK," McCambley told the BBC. (AXE commentary: Sure.)He said Iris Robinson, now 60, gave him two checks for 25,000 pounds
($40,000) each, but she then asked him for 5,000 pounds ($8,000) back,
possibly to donate to the evangelical Protestant church she attends. (AXE amazement: Semen money instead of blood money? Protestants got indulgences?)
The BBC said Peter Robinson was aware of the financial deal – which
should have been reported to British parliamentary standards
authorities in both Belfast and London. Peter Robinson denies having
known about the deal. (AXE commentary: Well, he was probably reading something and she announced she was giving the lad some money to invest in a restaurant because he did such a great job on boiled sheep stomach and lentils, and he said, "Sure, dear. You're in my light...or words to that effect. Or, she was threatening him with sex...)
Even before the scandal, Iris Robinson had caused her husband
political problems when she condemned homosexuals as revolting and
called on them to seek help from psychiatrists and Christianity. "Just as a murderer can be redeemed by the blood of Christ, so can a homosexual," she said. ( AXE praeteritio:(Yeah, it's a word, look it up in any text on rhetoric! In Greek it's this παράλειψις; it's also called paralipsis, and one of the texts indicates that it's primarily used for ad hominem attacks. Well, we'll refrain from gay-bashing here, having used up our supply of the blood of Christ for more natural abhorrent practices like sex with women and speeding past schools. )Having just posted about the Magdalene laundries, what the fuck can I do with this...pass! It's too easy...)...
And then, the human interest slant:
The exposure of Iris Robinson's affair had Protestants and Catholics
united in gossip Friday – including at the Lock Keepers Inn,
McCambley's thriving cafe on a popular River Lagan walkway. McCambley himself spent most of the morning standing outside the inn
talking on his cell phone. Then he carefully walked across an icy river
bridge to a waiting car without speaking to journalists who had also
poured into the inn. "It is just such a surprise, to think with someone so young," said
Janice Richards, 33, sipping tea with her baby asleep beside her in a
stroller. Another customer, 43-year-old Carol Blaney, leaned over and agreed
furtively: "I know there is the whole political thing. But to me it is
the fact he is so young." (AXE commentary: Young and nubile? Wait...would this be a big deal if she had gone after a more mature man like, oh, Sean McGowan? Now, that's an image...proper Protestant lady and the principal Pogue. Bring a whole different slant to the Pogue Mahon bit. It would have been better still if the politicians boy toy had actually been a girl...heheheheh. Protestant pobahs plunging into the port and perusing pictures of perverted political girl on girl pederasty...or some such! )
Of course, there is a lot of serious political crap going on here...Martin McGuiness and the IRA are concerned that the lad might have been traumatized by the Mrs. Robinson bit, the Orange Order feels betrayed, and will the Peace Process survive? Well, Gerry Adams and Marty besides, the Nationalist Movement has a history of rejecting its leaders over sex, so why not the Protestant Boys? The Orange Order has always felt betrayed since before they left Scotland. It was easier for Cromwell to ship them to Ulster than exterminate them in Scotland. They were pissed off ever since. And, if the Peace Process doesn't survive, I suspect it was never real anyway. If its not strong enough to survive this bullshit, well...
Peter Robinson's many political rivals in Northern Ireland have
questioned whether he can remain head of a shaky coalition with Irish
Catholics _the central achievement of the province's 1998 peace accord.
Many within his own Democratic Unionist Party – a movement with a
deeply conservative Protestant base – expressed doubts about his
political survival as well. ( AXE commentary:The guy replaced Paisley. A technocrat replaced a giant of hatred, intolerance and bitter reminiscence of various massacres of Catholics throughout his career? What hope did he ever have?) Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, the senior Irish Catholic
in the coalition, sought an urgent meeting Friday with Robinson but
failed to get one. The two have had an increasingly tense relationship
in the past year.(AXE commentary: Yeah. Before it was just great. They go down to the Pub and talk about the good old days when Marty was leading the armed struggle and they were both trying to kill each other in the interest of Jesus Christ. Sad when old friends fall out.)The political tensions coincide with ongoing attacks by IRA
dissidents against police and British soldiers in Northern Ireland...
Now, if the world-weary, cynical old United States can get utterly befuddled by Monica Lewinsky and this current issue of the big-dicked weasel from the Budget Office, and on and on and on, ad infinitum and ad nauseam as they say in Lubbock, with our somewhat more liberated view of sex and human nature and forgiveness and David Vitter hiking the Appalachian trail and so on, WHAT THE HELL WILL THIS DO IN NORTHERN IRELAND, where the Weltanschauung is, shall we say, somewhat Talibanian?
No, Ireland needs Brendan Behan and Liam Clancy and Sean O'Casey to handle this. Bono and the Edge aren't up to it, and McGowan doesn't write enough of his own stuff anymore...I actually feel sorry for Mrs. Robinson and her husband. And, may god in his mercy be kind to Belfast...which would be a first.
A city built upon mud;
A culture built upon profit;
Free speech nipped in the bud,
The minority always guilty. --Louis Macniece
Recent Comments