Nothing to fear, nothing to doubt

By the Time I Get To Writing An Obligatory, But A (In My Opinion) Much Needed, Blog Entry About Tuscon

2011-01-28T09:13:00.000-08:00

It's kind of old news now, since the blogosphere is saturated with opinions, comments and the like about the shooting of Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords, her progress, whose fault it is, what's up with Jared Lee Loughner and all that other shit. Nonetheless, it's very much a relevant story, and a definite game-changer in the face of American politics; More than electing Barack Obama, more than the Tea Party Movement, or anything else in recent history. The shooting that severely wounded Giffords and killed six people, including a 9-year-old girl who ironically was born on 9/11/01, has raised many questions on what exactly the heated political landscape of the past 2 years has lead to, and what we all can do to fix it (if we can).

I'm not going to opine on Giffords' would-be assassin, Jared Lee Loughner, because not too much is known about him except that he appears to be mentally unstable, ranking with the likes of Mark David Chapman or John Hinckley. To me, judging from his mugshot, he looks like Divine towards the end of Female Trouble.

While most of the country seems to be united by the tragedy and thinking that it's a terrible thing, there are those usual suspects that have to divert the tragedy from what it really is to an episode of self-victimization. Enter Sarah Palin, everyone's favorite half-term governor, and a recent one-season wonder reality TV star. The one who said "Don't retread. Reload" as a battle cry for the 2010 midterm elections and who had an ad showing a map of the U.S. with crosshairs pointing to districts of representatives her and her Tea Party/Fox News/Reagan Rimming buddies don't like, one of them being Gabrielle Giffords. Even Elisabeth Hasselback jumped off the Palin Express upon seeing that one! Back to Palin, now she's boo-hooing over the media making her the target of ridicule and shame that she is, and now she's trying to fan the flames of the political wildfire she and a few others have set. Did she mean "Reload" literally, as in point a gun and kill a politician who voted for Obamacare? Probably not. If Giffords or Alan Grayson were moose in the Yukon, yeah, but I don't think so. Then again, the rhetoric of the Tea Party and Palin has always confused me. What with Teabaggers waving the Don't Tread on Me flag, which was used a lot during the Revolutionary War, some people bringing loaded guns yards away from the president or other sitting politicians, holding up signs talking of "watering the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants" and the constant glorification of our Founding Fathers (i.e. Ben Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, etc) all being constants at rallies and political events. I wonder how in tune with American history a lot of these people are. I wonder if they know that the blood of tyrants in 1776 was literally blood, or that George Washington saw carnage and human suffering in the Revolutionary War that was gut-wrenching and emotionally taxing. Or that Obama's nowhere near the tyrant King George III was, not even if he tried. I'm curious on how much of this Boston Tea Party-esque rhetoric is symbolic and how much of it is literal. Did people want the Tea Party Revolution to spill blood? A coup d'etat, like the Bolsheviks or the Sandinistas? Especially with messages reverting back to the era of the American Revolution, Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck need to be careful with their comparisons, considering that gun nuts and rednecks a lot of the time aren't the most educated people in the world.

Regardless of her message, now is not the time to play victim (or dumb). Playing dumb might have worked for Reagan during the Iran-Contra scandal, but not now. Playing victim is just plain old inappropriate. Using terms like "blood libel" is irresponsible and misguided - a testament to the number of office seekers in the Republican Party who take pride in being an average Joe who wasn't taught at a fancy-shmancy Ivy League school, who drives a pickup truck, and who is willfully ignorant. And another thing for Palin and Bill O'Reilly to remember this THIS IS NOT ABOUT THEM!!!!! Six people died, many more wounded, and Giffords faces a long road to recovery. Thankfully, she is making progress, which is amazing since very few people get shot in the head and live. And Palin and others are concerned about themselves? Sorry, but when you're famous, stalkers, death threats and people going after your kids is common. Ingrid Newkirk, Palin's total opposite, gets death threats and hate mail all the time but no one sees her whining! It just shows how selfish and dumb Palin is. She uses this tragedy to cry about herself, as she has other occasions. Maybe this is her way of mourning the cancellation of her reality TV show, which bombed (and for very good reasons).

Dead iPods, Black Swans, and Assorted Holiday Miscellany

2010-12-22T04:03:00.000-08:00

I remember my sister got me my first iPod for Christmas back in 2006. Four years later, tens of thousands of songs later, and 3 computers later, I think it's safe to say that it has finally gone on to digital heaven. It was crashing an awful lot the past month or so, so I guess you could say I saw this coming. iPods do not last forever, and I know people who have had iPods shit out on them after less than 2 years, so I was pretty fortunate to have mine last as long as it did. It still sucks though. Now I'm going to have to deal with the shitty radio (or just endure a silent trip) when I'm in the car, and I'll just have to grit my teeth when I hear that shitty Katy Perry song in the gym, in addition to the other saccharine garbage they play. But hopefully I'll have enough dough for a new one soon enough... one that has more memory. Right now, I have it plugged into my computer and it just says "Please wait, very low battery," but nothing's happening. I think this sort of digital life support is failing. Well, the last song that was played on it was "Gimme Danger" by the Stooges.

Amelia and I saw Black Swan a couple of nights ago. Definitely the most intense film I've seen this year. Natalie Portman gave such a haunting and flawless performance that if she is snubbed for an Oscar this year, then the people at the Oscars are stupid (I mean, they're stupid anyway. When your list of Best Pictures includes Crash and Titanic, there's something wrong). Mila Kunis was also incredible in the film, a departure from any of her previous work: I caught myself saying "Shut up, Meg" during a few of her lines of dialogue, a nod to her role in Family Guy. It was your typical Darron Aronofsky flick; The story was of a tortured soul striving for some form of perfection or euphoria and having that person experience a tremendous pitfall, with grotesque detail of physical or mental trauma. Nonetheless, Black Swan was perhaps the most captivating of all of his movies, and Nina (Portman's character) was certainly one of the most sympathetic characters in any Aronofsky flick (topped by possibly lonely, old Sarah Goldfarb in Requiem for a Dream). Black Swan definitely deserved the critical hype it got, and if it weren't for Scott Pilgrim v. the World, it'd be my pick for best picture of 2010!

Captain Beefheart died over the weekend due to complications of multiple sclerosis. It was weird because before he died, I was listening to him a lot. Just last week I found an old copy of Safe As Milk for $6 at a local record store. One of rock's most uncompromising visionaries who was light years ahead of his time.

I have a busy week ahead of me before Christmas. Today I meet with an academic advisor for Southern. I have laundry to do. I have work tonight. I have to put more shit up on eBay, and I have to schedule a physical so Southern can have an updated health record of me, I guess to make sure I don't have tuberculosis or the bubonic plague. Not like I have money for a physical (I'm still uninsured. Thanks Obama for caving in on public option!), and the cheapest doctor I know of is in Bridgeport, and that's $100. $100 I do not have at present.

I'm compiling my list of the best albums of the year. It's gonna be harder now that I don't have an iPod, but I have a list that I've narrowed it down to.

Something I Don't Talk About Often...

2010-11-24T06:17:00.000-08:00

The week of Thanksgiving is always a bittersweet week for me. I always enjoyed the shortened school week, and the general feeling that the holidays are upon us. I don't like the bombardment of Black Friday ads on radio, TV and the internet, though, but that shouldn't take away from me eating like a pig on Thanksgiving and otherwise not having to do anything (though I do have to work on Black Friday, but luckily for me, I don't work in retail).

Thanksgiving has also become kind of a sad time for me, as a very tragic event happened to my family 5 years ago. About twenty minutes after midnight on Thanksgiving Morning 2005, my cousin Tyler was killed by a drunk driver. He was just four days shy of his 19th birthday, and his passing has opened up a floodgate of emotions for me that took a long time for me to deal with (and I still have not fully made sense of this tragedy, nor do I accept it).

I would have been devastated by Tyler's death anyway, as he and I were the closest in age out of all my cousins and when we were younger we were close. But at the time of his death, he and I had not spoken in over 5 years. I don't want to get too much into the details about why, but basically when I was 13, in early 1999, my parents divorced. My dad had a pretty bad alcohol problem and my mother had attempted suicide shortly beforehand. I'm not going to sit here and say who did what and what was said and all that, but as a result of this, I pretty much lost contact with my dad's side of the family There was a schism in our family, if you will. My mother was an only child and by the time her and my dad had divorced, both her parents were dead. My dad was one of four children, and they all had kids of their own. My dad's older brother, Robert, was Tyler's father. For the most part, my uncle Robert stayed out of our family mess, and he did have the advantage of living 300 miles away from us (he lives in Northern Virginia, literally a hop a skip and a jump away from Washington D.C.).

After that, the only time I ever saw Tyler again was in October 2000. I had been asked to help my grandparents move to their new house, I guess as a way of them extending an olive branch, and I agreed to it despite my reservations. My uncle Robert, my Aunt Nancy and Tyler had come up from Virginia to help out as well, and before that, it had been at least 2 or 3 years since I had seen any of them. For obvious reasons (distance and jobs and all that), they didn't come up too often, maybe twice a year, and since the rest of my family lives in Connecticut, we didn't make it down to Virginia too often either. But it was like no time had passed when it came to Tyler. The first thing he did when he saw me was throw a football at me, and we played catch for a while. I don't remember the rest of the day too well, but I also had no fucking idea that that would be the last time I would ever see him. I always think of that scene in Forrest Gump where he was talking to his friend Bubba, who had been mortally wounded in Vietnam, and Gump (while narrating) said "If I had known that this would be the last time me and Bubba was gonna talk, I would have thought of something better to say." Well, that's true for me and Tyler.

Fast forward to five years later, on Thanksgiving night 2005, my girlfirned and I went out to dinner and we were at my house watching a movie. The phone rang. It was my Aunt Diane. Out of everyone in my extended family, she had always kept in touch with me and my sister. She was (and still is) probably the only one in my family who could be flat out open about our family's history of alcohol abuse (my dad is an alcoholic, so is my grandfather, and so was his father), so I thought that she was naturally just checking in on us (which I'm sure she was); the rest of my family tends to keep their problems to themselves, which I guess I can't fault them for. So it started off like your nomal "Hi, how are you? Happy Thanksgiving!" type phone call you would expect from a relative or friend. And then she broke the news that Tyler had been killed, which, as probably expected, she burst into tears after trying to keep her composure for the first minute or so into our phone conversation. And I just went cold. I did the whole "WHAT?!?!?!" thing, and I think I started cursing for like a minute straight trying to take in the news that my cousin was dead. It was hard. I did not take the news of it well at all. For the rest of that week, I hardly spoke and I was really depressed about it. I didn't cry about it; I couldn't, for if I did, my tears would never stop.

It had already been a shitty week to begin with. I had lost my job at some restaurant I was working at, and that year in general was just a shitstorm and a half. The part that really bothered me (and still bothers me to this day) was that the night before Thanksgiving, around 11:30 PM or so, I was driving hme from my friend's house, and out of nowhere I had this pang of nervousness and instability. I had some starnge feeling that something was wrong somewhere to someone I knew. Tyler didn't come to mind; In fact, NO ONE IN PARTICULAR came to mind. It could have been my mother, my sister, my girlfriend, or some guy I used to be friends with. This feeling wore off by 1 AM, but upon hearing of Tyler's death (which happened at 12:18 AM that morning, probaby as I was pacing around my house listening to music), I knew that I had felt that for a reason. Good ol' intuition. It never fails.

Three people I knew died in 2005, all of them around the same age as me. The first one was in April, this guy Brian, who was a friend of my girlfriend's brother. He was no angel; basically spent his teenage years rebelling against his overly Christian family by doing drugs and all that, and ended up overdosing. Less than a month later, this guy I went to school with, Jon, was killed by a drunk-and-high-on-pills driver. I wasn't close to any of them, but still. They were the same age as me, and it instilled the truth in me that I could die tomorrow too.

One of the most tragic elements about this story is all my cousin had to persevere against throughout his short life. He was born with some birth defects involving his back, and had to endure 5 operations before his 2nd birthday. These setbacks never stopped him from anything, and judging from what I know about his life up until it ended, he was well on his way to becoming an incredible person. He was studying Criminal Justice at a community college at the time of the crash, had legions of friends from all corners of the nation, and was just your typical American male teenager. And honestly one of the kindest people I've ever known in my life.

In October, I went down to Virginia for the first time since 1997; I couldn't make it to Tyler's funeral in 2005, even if I desperately wanted to. My Uncle Bob and Aunt Nancy seem to be doing OK, meaning that they're able to smile and laugh and leave the house and all that, but they're still mourning (and they probably will for the rest of their lives). They're able to talk about Tyler, filling me in on details that didn't make the newspapers or that I kind of avoided to delve into, but there is that element of insurmountable sadness there. Nancy is more outwardly stronger in talking about it, as I always thought that she was very much a strong-willed person, yet Bob still appears as if he could start crying at any time (and I don't blame him). It was creepy being there though. The last time I was at their house, Tyler was still here obviously. They redid their house, which looked fantastic, but they showed me Tyler's bedroom; his possessions untouched, supposedly in the same place they were when he left his house for the very last time. In the guest room Amelia and I stayed in (which I swear was Tyler's childhood bedroom; he must have switched rooms as he got older), there was this wreath on the wall, surrounded by some of his old toys. I had fun on that trip, but it was also very emotional for me as well. I held back a lot. I guess at the end of the day, I just don't know how to tell my aunt and uncle how sorry I am that it happened and the tremendous amount of guilt I felt towards it, even if I had nothing to do with it. I guess there's a part of me that felt like if I had stayed in touch with him, somehow his life would be spared, like if I had emailed him that day or called or whatever, he would have left his house a few minutes later than he had planned, and the pickup truck that crashed into him would have passed him. I was always encouraged to keep in touch with him from my mother, and she was right that I should have. I also had no clue in the world that he would be dead before he was 20. I always kind of envisioned that we'd meet up for a beer one day as I travelled across the nation and I stopped in Virginia or something like that, but obviously that can never happen. And that's one of the biggest regrets of my entire life.

BTW, the guy who did it (who was actually an illegal immigrant from Mexico, which is my only argument AGAINST illegal immigration) got 10 years in jail for vehicular manslaughter. He also attempted to flee the scene. But once he gets out, he'll be sent back to Mexico. Glad he didn't get off.

Well, have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Be safe and happy, and if you do drink, I urge you to make the right decision when it comes to driving.

R.I.P. Jonathan Tyler Bentley (November 28, 1986 - November 24, 2005)

In Memoriam: Greg Giraldo (1965-2010)

2010-10-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, comedian Greg Giraldo overdosed on prescription medication leaving him in critical condition in a hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey. On Wednesday the 29th, he died after five days in a coma. He was 44. Again, we've had to endure the loss of a brilliant comic, especially in a world where many mediocre comics run amok. Greg Giraldo was probably best known for his razor-sharp barbs he used in many Comedy Central Roasts, and every single one of them he gave a killer performance, telling oft-offensive jokes about the person being roasted and fellow dais members, but he did it in a way that sounded good-natured. In many Comedy Central Roasts, he usually was the first guy up to lash into Bob Saget or Larry the Cable Guy, but a couple of months ago, they had a roast of David Hasselhoff, which was brilliant (considering the roast for Joan Rivers was a dud), Giraldo was the last person to perform on the show, which now seems eerily prophetic. And I think that performance was the best one out of all the roasts he had done previously, although it would be very hard to choose just one.

I never know why whenever a comedian dies, it's always a good one. I don't wish death on Dane Cook, or Larry the Cable Guy, or Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias, or Carlos Mencia, but I find it unjust that we've lost Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Richard Jeni, and now Greg Giraldo. Giraldo never achieved the level of popularity he deserved, which is unfortunate because even his regular stand-up bits were very acute and observational, but I'll always remember him fondly. And he seemed like a cool guy too.

True to roasting fashion, Gilbert Gottfried, another fairly frequent presence on the Comedy Central Roasts tweeted, "If Greg Giraldo is cremated, will that be the 'Greg Giraldo Roast'?" which had a lot of people crying "too soon!" However, I think that he would have gotten a hoot out of that joke, since he always took whatever insults were hurled at him at roasts in life, so why not in death?

Roast In Peace.

The Roast of David Hasselhoff

Uncensored - Greg Giraldo - No Talent Success

www.comedycentral.com

New Whitney Cummings Special

South Park

Nick Swardson's Pretend Time

The First Week of Autumn

2010-09-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Second Equinox, everybody! Fall officially begun a couple of days ago (and it still was 85 degrees outside!), and fall has always been my favorite season. I've always been lucky to have been a resident of New England for all my life, where the foliage has always been absolutely stunning to look at. I always enjoyed taking long walks or drives and absorbing the beauty of the landscape during autumn. The leaves are kind of changing color here, but not a lot, which is typical for September; the true change in weather usually comes around October. And October is easily one of the best months of the year for me.

Even better, my girlfriend and I are taking a trip down to the Washington D.C. area in the middle of October. She's never been there before, and I haven't been there since I was 11. My uncle lives down there, so we have a place to stay. We need a vacation; this summer was especially stressful, and we're still incredibly busy now that we're back in school and trying to form a new music project. So 4 days in D.C./Northern Virginia/more of Virginia if we're feeling ambitious just may revitalize us and give a sense of relaxation that vacations usually do. I heard that fall in D.C. is absolutely gorgeous, and I've actually never been down there during that time. I am going to be bummed because we're going two weeks before Jon Stewart's Restoring Sanity Rally/Stephen Colbert's Keep Fear Alive Rally). I did some research on record stores in that area, and there's a ton of 'em, including one literally 5 minutes away from my uncle's house!

I've had the soundtrack to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World on repeat the past couple of hours. It's a brilliant soundtrack to an even more brilliant movie. It contains music by Beck (he even wrote the music for the fictional band in the film, Sex Bob-Omb, which sounds like a hybrid of The Stooges and Death From Above 1979), Broken Social Scene, T-Rex and Metric. I also got acquainted with some now-defunct bands; Plumtree, an all-girl Canadian band who actually had a song called "Scott Pilgrim," whom the character was named after, and Beachwood Sparks, a country-influenced rock band who did a gorgeous cover of Sade's "By Your Side," which perfectly complimented one of the more romantic scenes in the movie. Usually, soundtracks serve as a way for a filmmaker to shoot off his/her favorite tunes, but very few these days see a film soundtrack as an art form: this one does, surely.

And fuck the Senate for blocking the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell! Proof that the GOP is still living in the '50s (1950s? Or 1850s? Can't decide which).

I'm Not Dead

2010-09-16T22:58:00.000-07:00

I know it's been an eternity since I have written anything on this, or anywhere else for that matter. I tend to drop off the face of the blogosphere and go Nick Drake on everybody's ass, but up until now I feel like I have had nothing to say. I have started drafts on blog entries and other shit, but hit a creative dead end after a few paragraphs and it all ends up in the digital trashbin. I started an entry about Obama standing up in favor of the Ground Zero Mosque (more like a Muslim version of the YMCA a few blocks away) and railing on how he just might have a set of testicles after all, but then I got distracted by the carnival that has been my head for the past few months. Apart from turning 25, (finally) getting my first taste at waiting tables (far more lucrative than ice cream whore), moving in with my girlfriend, listening to a shit ton of new music, having my band break up, trying to eat healthy, trying to get an exercise regiment going, and a lot more other stuff, it has been hard to finish writing a sentence, let alone upkeep a blog. And such distractions and errors actually cost me a freelancing gig that didn't pay me a lot, but I was able to put some away (until I needed new shelves, a new dresser, and a master brake system for my trusty ol' Lumina). But I'll find others I'm sure

Last time I blogged, back in July, I had supposedly begun work on a project to name the Top 125 albums since 1985 as a way to say "fuck you" to SPIN magazine, who had done a similar list (factoid: both me and SPIN were birthed in 1985). I compiled a list of 125 albums out of a possible 600 or so contenders, got writing and stopped. Because it's bullshit, no one really cares, and I was checking out a whole slew of new albums that I had never heard before from all different genres and eras, and I thought the list was predictable. What was my #1 choice? You guessed it: Nirvana's Nevermind. That's right. The album I've listened to more than any other album ever. How original. And yes, I was on a major Nirvana kick this entire summer. I was also gonna do a commentary piece on VH1's latest "Greatest" list where they did the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time (which they did in 1998, when VH1 cared more about music than reality shows starring Bret Michaels), and for what? To show how culturally bankrupt VH1 has gotten in the past decade? To opine about who should be on and who shouldn't, consdering I think the artists in my Top 100 would be people VH1 and their "panel" would never consider in a million years? Who cares? It's a waste of goddamn time.

My band A Slanderous Choir, disbanded in August. The split, overall, was amicable, but it was awkward since I was the one who pretty much decided to quit. Basically, we played about 10 shows (including a radio spot on my friend Malcolm Tent's radio show on WNHU, a local college station), and I just didn't feel like we were clicking. Amelia and I wanted one sound, and our drummer wanted another. Practices usually lead to squabbles and arguments, and it was damaging our friendship. So it got to a level if we wanted to stay friends, the band would have to go. We played our last show on July 23, although we didn't know it at the time, and it was a bad final show. The bar PA was shitty, Amelia blew her voice out after 3 songs, and we cut our set short by 4 songs just to get the fuck outta there. We practiced one more time and then I decided that I had had enough. I actually felt like a hypocrite for a while because our drummer wanted to quit after our very first gig for pretty much the same reasons (wanting a different sound, not feeling like we clicked musically, general depression and dissatisfaction), and Amelia and I had to talk her into staying and giving it another go, which she reluctantly did. Even then, she had wanted to form another band. And I had entertained a similar idea secretly. It took me until that last show to confront the feeling that I wasn't behind our music 110%; Truth be told, I hated a couple of our songs. But we all decided that splitting up would be for the best; Our ex-drummer is forming another band, and Amelia and I are in the process of starting another band. I'm not too worried right now. I'm still young, and I'm focusing on work and school also. But I took away a lot of lessons and positive experiences from being in A Slanderous Choir. I got a taste of doing gigs, meeting other bands, networking and all that fun stuff.

I'm kind of glad I'm not doing music right now because I've come to the conclusion that I know nothing. I've been doing nothing but checking out new artists/bands/albums/7"/EPs for the past couple of months. I try to check out a few a day. I've also been cleaning out my vinyl collection and the stuff on my iPod. Seeing what I really like, what I never want to hear again (Led Zeppelin, here's looking at you!), and what I just don't care for. I'm also taking a music history and appreciation class (my final class at Housatonic, then off to Southern; I gotta get the ball rolling on transferring and all that shit), and I'm finally developing a taste for classical music and minimalism.

Politically speaking.... You know what? Fuck it. I'm a socialist. Happy, Hannity?!?!?! The right these days is making Bush and his pals look like hippies passing out free condoms and pamphlets on fighting homelessness at a Hendrix show! The new superstar in the Tea Party is Christine O'Donnell from Delaware, who beat out Mike Castle, probably the most center-leaning Republican in the House of Representatives, in the Delaware Senate primary. Things are looking kind of bleak for the Democrats, not that, in a way they don't deserve it. After wussing out on public option and passing a watered-down health bill that catered to insurance companies and lobbyists perhaps wasn't the best way to keep their base excited and their grip on power intact, but when you have a 24-hour news cycle up your ass all the time, it's hard to have any integrity. Still, when you consider the alternative, the Tea Party..... The GOP is probably gonna win in November, there will be a stranglehold in Congress from now on, things will get worse when people realize that the Tea Party candidates only want limited government when the Democrats are in power, people will realize that the GOP got us to where we are now in many aspects,and the sane people in this nation will be wagging their fingers going "See? I told you so."

I'm gonna focus this blog more on myself, and less on the world. I'll still write about music, politics, films, books, etc, but I'll be more personal. I know not to turn this into a bitchfest, and view this blog as a work of art and a vehicle to keep my writing up.

And now for my current theme song. A little tune from Paul Weller and co. from 1980. The Jam's "Going Underground."

25 So Far...

2010-07-06T11:12:00.001-07:00

Last week, on June 28th, I've turned 25. Up until my birthday, I was depressed about it. My ever existential self kept thinking that if by chance I live to be 100, I'm a quarter way at best from kicking the bucket. I would hate to think that my life is even that much over, but I also have to think that I could die tomorrow, so just carpe diem and shut the fuck up. I moved out of my mom's house, for once NOT under acrimonious circumstances, and I moved in with my girlfriend's family. I'm still adjusting and I haven't moved all of my shit over here yet, but so far it's not bad. Of course, the past few days the weather has been creeping near 100 degrees and hella humid. It doesn't help that work's been really busy too.

So what happened with Music Spiel (the blog I was paid to write for)? Well, the guy who ran it, Dave, said that he was putting it on the back burner for now and he'd get in touch with me. So I've come back here. I'm gonna post the Top 125 albums of the last 25 years, because SPIN Magazine did something like that and I wasn't too happy with it. I'll tell you why when I start the list, which will be in the next couple of days. And right now, I'm just gonna blog on here. And politically speaking, I just don't care anymore.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"

2010-02-19T10:01:00.000-08:00

I realize that I haven't been all that personal on my blog. It has been basically a plethora of political rants, music stuff, social commentary, and general critiques of the state of the world. My personal whining was reserved for my LiveJournal, which I stopped writing in.... 2007? So I'm gonna do that a lot more because when all is said and done, I guess I'm worth knowing... sorta.

"Miss Me Yet?" Not In a Million Years

2010-02-10T17:50:00.000-08:00

If you were to go driving on Interstate 35 near Wyoming, Minnesota, you would see this billboard. It shows a picture of former President George W. Bush waving, and it says "Miss Me Yet?" Who knows? Michelle Bachmann probably funded it.

Alright... Bush looks like a jackass in this picture, number one. Number 2, Bush left office with the lowest approval rating since they kept track during the Eisenhower Administration. Number 3, who could you trace a good chunk of the mess we're in back to?

Well, Bush-in-a-Billboard, to answer your corporate-funded question: NO!!!!!!!!!!! The Republicans got their ass handed to them in 2006 and 2008 for a reason, and the answer lies no further than the goofy man waving in the ad. For all of his faults, President Obama is nowhere near as bad as George W. Bush; he's broken a lot of campaign promises, and hasn't lived up to his potential, sure, but Bush he is not.

And anyone who misses Bush must be swiggin' some serious moonshine!

Irony and Contradiction

2010-02-08T07:36:00.000-08:00

Here are some great ironies and contractions in American policies:

- Thomas Jefferson writing "all men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence, while being a slave owner (and knocking one up)

- Ronald Reagan having an airport named after him after firing all the air traffic controllers (Yes, I stole this from a stand up comic; can't remember her name, otherwise I'd give her credit)

- Herbert Hoover supporting Prohibition, yet sneaking off to the Belgian embassy to enjoy a frosty cool Belgian ale

- Any GOP politician speaking out against homosexuality only to be caught in homosexual tryst (and getting busted for it)

- Al Gore using a private jet, and having a home that leaves a massive carbon footprint, while going on & on about energy conservation.

Well, the Teabaggers have managed to give irony a whole new definition this past weekend. Their summit in Tennessee had a pretty hefty pricetag of $549 (or $349 just to hear Sarah Palin open her mouth), all while protesting "reckless spending." Yes, they were spending their own money, and the government is pulling it out of thin air, and we'll have to pay it all back, blah blah blah. Still, it's not consistent with their message (other than "We have a darky in the White House, we're tools, and we listen to every word Glenn Beck says"). Most grassroots political summits such as this one should not cost much of anything; $20 and a cookout maybe. Summits with a big pricetag are for those "Washington elitists." Dinners of steak and lobster are for the assholes in charge of things, right? Imagine if Martin Luther King did that during the Civil Rights Movement.

The keynote speaker at the Tea Party Convention was the Queen of Irony and Contradiction herself, Miss Alaska. Sarah Palin took the stage to an adoring crowd, and managed to go on about slamming Obama, and dissing the "lamestream media," which she is now a part of, I might add. Recently, she has become a contributor for Fox News, which has more viewers than any other news network (I dunno why). In fact, one of Bill O'Reilly's key talking points when combating the "loony, leftist media" (which does not exist; I guess no one mentions that Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan are conservatives and are on MSNBC) is that Fox News owns NBC & CNN in ratings.

She did make some talking points on how people are fed up with Democratic leadership. I hate to give her even the slightest bit of credit, since I absolutely despise her, but the Democrats are sucking right now. The Democrats losing Massachusetts was a sure sign of that. Palin irked that the Democrats blamed their candidate, but let's face it; Martha Coakley was an awful candidate. The campaign was run on complacency, and they took Massachusetts' mostly liberal demographic for granted. Scott Brown had more charisma, and won people over simply by running to be the 41st vote to attain a filibuster for a bad health care bill. It's not some great referendum on the "Obama agenda" (and polls show that neither were the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia; more New Jersey). It's a sign of frustration amongst voters, and Scott Brown may be conservative, but he's more centrist and he's not some great Republican hero either. Sarah, you're putting way too much hope into a minor election. What she doesn't seem to get is that the Republicans are in trouble too.

She also went on about "nothing but talk, talk, talk" from Washington, and I do agree. Obama has been all about a lot of talk. A lot of talk and not a lot of follow through. I don't need to go over that again. However, most politicians are all talk, and I can bet you dimes to dollars that Palin is the same way.

However, most of her speech was just cheap shots to entice the crowd. She chastised him for his use of teleprompters, even if she used one during her RNC speech back in 2008, and politicans have been using them since Jah knows when. Also, she had points of her speech WRITTEN ON THE PALM OF HER HAND!!!!! She also said that this nation needs a commander-in-chief and not a law professor. And what qualifies as a commander-in-chief, ex-Governor Palin? Making decisions that are 'from the gut' and because YOU think that they are in your best interest? Unless I slept through Civics class one too many times, the President is supposed to interpret laws and follow the Constitution. Laws are always subject for debate. I think if Bush had acted less from his gut and maybe thought about things, we would have saved a trillion dollars and at least 4,000 people would still be alive.

And what better keynote speaker during their ironic conquest than Sarah Palin! She is a walking contradiction if there ever was one. Apparently it's OK for Rush Limbaugh to call someone a retard, but not Rahm Emanuel. Add that to the Book of Palintology!

The thing that irks me about Sarah Palin is that she can dish it out but she can't take it. Whenever she comes under fire by anyone in the media, whether it be MSNBC, Katie Couric, Dave Letterman, Elmo, Snoopy, SpongeBob, the girls from Jersey Shore, etc, she curls up and plays victim. She can spout hateful rhetoric about socialism, and Real America vs. Fake America, Obama is evil, and all that, but when someone attacks her, she whimpers in the corner. She demonizes the media for victimizing her, but she sets herself up for it. Once you go into politics, especially on a national stage, everything you do is up for grabs. Every shit you take has someone willing to inspect it. If you don't like that, ex-Governor Palin, become a private citizen, stop charging $100K per speech and SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!! If you don't like being dragged through the mud, stay away from the mud pit.

What else really grinds my gears about Palin is that she uses her family as a political football. Dave Letterman made a crack about her daughter, she calls for him to get fired. Rahm Emanuel makes a comment about liberal Democrats being retards, and she uses her Down's syndrome afflicted baby as a political crutch to get him fired. She whores her family out for her political gain, and she also whores them out to pursue action against others who may have offended her? Is nothing sacred to Sarah Palin?

Back to the Tea Party Movement, who are protesting raising taxes even if 95% of them will get tax cuts when they fill out their W-2s, I'm hoping that this is another third party that peters out in a few years, like most of them do. However, them gaining traction in the political field is actually a little unnerving. This party was started when people took reasonable concerns about Obama's administration, such as jobs, the economy, spending, and turned it into a right wing version of Paranoid Time, only some of the people in this movement are indeed Minutemen who support border control, and not the 80s punk band (or fans for that matter); and at the helm were people like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin.

Alanis Morissette should remake her song "Ironic" and put some of these contradictions in. It would add some truth to the song, since the original lyrics weren't ironic at all.

UPDATE: 2/9/2010 11:17 PM

And another thing... She got $100,000 for speaking in Nashville, as she does wherever she goes. She says that she is donating it to "the cause." Why charge at all, then? I'm sure "Going Rogue" has generated its share of revenue. It was #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List. She must have made at least a few million off of it at this point. If she felt so strongly about this cause, why not donate more money to it? Why charge "the cause" $100K to speak, only to donate it back to them, pretty much leaving them no better or no worse financially than before their giant convention in Nashville?

Updates Amid Snowpocalypse (well, not here, but not far from here either)

2010-02-05T22:34:00.000-08:00

Ahoy mateys!

I've come to you all with some news. I have accepted a pretty low-paying job as a music blogger on another website. It is located at www.musicspiel.co.uk. As a result, any music-related blog entries I do will be on there... because I'm getting paid for it. tee hee.

However, I still will be updating Nothing to Fear, Nothing to Doubt to discuss current events, my boring life and its many self-discoveries, political crap, and other shit. I will keep all 3 of you who read this happy!

Till then, check out my new blog.

Justice in Kansas

2010-01-29T10:27:00.000-08:00

Earlier today, Scott Roeder was convicted of first-degree murder. Prosecutors are calling for a "Hard 50" sentence, which basically means that he should get a life sentence and do at least 50 years before even being considered for parole. Roeder was convicted of the murder of Dr. George Tiller, a late-term abortion provider in Wichita, Kansas. For the pro-choice movement, a man getting life in prison for killing an abortion doctor in the state of Kansas, a pretty conservative state at that, I would consider it a victory.

George Tiller was controversial, to say the very least. I, for one, do not condone late-term abortions, unless you have a really good reason. The way I see it, and I could very well be wrong, by the time you've reached 21 weeks of pregnancy and you fully know it, a decision on whether an abortion should be had or not should have been made at this stage. However, in the case of George Tiller, many of the women who sought his services found out late in their pregnancies that the fetus had severe or fatal birth defects, or healthy fetuses were aborted when it was discovered by two or more doctors that the effects of the pregnancy would cause the mother "substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function," or even death. I'm guessing pro-lifers would be more concerned with the damaged fetus' life than the mother's.

However, most pro-lifers spoke out against the murder of George Tiller, with most wanting to work out their differences legally, and non-violently. Yet there are those whackjobs who call Roeder a hero to the movement and a martyr, and those people miss the point entirely: One of them being Pastor Wiley Drake, the same guy who supposedly engage in an imprecatory prayer for God to kill President Obama, a human being, for his views on abortion, the termination of UNBORN FETUSES. They totally miss the point.

People should care about the people that are already here. I'm glad that jury in Kansas saw things that way, and took less than 40 minutes to come back with a guilty verdict. No matter what side of the fence you are with abortion, killing a person is not right. And I'm glad to feel like me and 12 jurors from the Wichita area are on the same page about something. It's one of those few moments that make me feel that the world is in perfect harmony, and that there are universal opinions on right and wrong, and all of that idealistic hippy-dippy crap I normally don't buy into.

Then, I see Bill O'Reilly on the next channel, and that notion goes straight to hell.

Enjoy prison, Scott Roeder!

Long May You Run: Conan O'Brien

2010-01-23T10:36:00.000-08:00

Last night, after only 7 months on the air, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien came to a sudden end. I'm guessing his ratings weren't that great, but I also remember the days where they gave shows a chance before pulling the plug. If TV had the same approach it does now back in the late 80s, Married With Children would have only lasted one season. However, Conan certainly knew how to pull off a fantastic show, pulling no punches, making no secret of his disappointment with NBC. For the past couple of weeks there had been a war of words between him, Jay Leno and NBC. And for good reason. Leno was going to retire and give him the Tonight Show, however when Jay's bid into doing a prime time show didn't pan out, the network and Leno wanted to put him back to the 11:35 time slot and basically demote O'Brien back to late night programming. Only after Conan moved his entire family, staff, and life from New York to Los Angeles did they decide this. Nonetheless, Conan did walk out with a settlement deal in the range of 30-45 million dollars, so at least they didn't entirely screw him.

I've been a fan of Conan O'Brien since about 2002, partially thanks to Comedy Central playing reruns of his show in the daytime. I loved his sense of humor; quixotic, yet very dry at times. His show was very entertaining, especially Triumph the Insult Dog, his mock interviews, and he had a good ear for music; I got into bands such as the Black Keys because of him, and he had on Regina Spektor on several occasions. To me, he seemed to be the perfect candidate to replace Leno on the Tonight Show. Leno's really not that funny, in my opinion, and in the events following Conan's departure from the Tonight Show, Leno has proven to be a greedy fuckface. It sucks that Bill Hicks is dead, because he could do "Artistic Roll Call Redux." Well, it took a lot of doing, but he got his show back!

The most poignant part of last night's broadcast was that the musical guest was none other than Neil Young, who first called Conan to be on the final night. He did a very beautiful rendition of "Long May You Run," which seemed fitting. After the performance, Neil and Conan shook hands and Neil said "Thank you for all you've done for new music!" Despite the acrimony between him and NBC, he did say some very nice things about the network, having been employed by them for a good quarter of a century. You could tell that Conan was very emotional during this show, but was able to maintain his feelings and make everyone laugh. However, the closing bit was brilliant as well. Will Ferrell came on stage dressed as Ronnie Van Zandt from Lynyrd Skynyrd (complete with a Neil Young t-shirt), and lead him and the Tonight Show band in a rendition of Freebird that I actually enjoyed (me being a hater of all things Skynyrd). Conan also joined them on guitar, where he proved to be quite a good axeman himself! Beck and one of the guys from ZZ Top also joined in on the fun. It's really a damn shame that it was his final show, but goddamn he nailed it! He went out with a resounding bang that couldn't quite possibly be topped.

Starting March 1, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno will be back on the air (whopee), with the chin that won't shut up basking in his victory. I really hope it gets canceled. Most everyone I know who may have liked Leno at one point will no longer watch his show as a result of this bullshit, and those who hated him now hate him even more. Nonetheless, I hope that Conan will persevere through this mess, get another talk show and blow the lid off of Leno!!!

And, for your viewing pleasure: Bill Hicks' rant against Jay Leno (1993)

Neil Young on Conan:

One Year "Progress" Report

2010-01-19T21:43:00.001-08:00

Last night, the voters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, arguably the most liberal state out of all of them, accomplished the near impossible task of replacing Ted Kennedy with a right-leaning Republican. Senate-elect Scott Brown's campaign was energized by the Tea Party crowd, as well as people generally disenfranchised with Democratic leadership, or lack thereof, the opposition to the healthcare bill (which has a snowflake's chance in hell in getting passed now), and the fact that unemployment is in the double digits. While Brown may not be a complete blowhard conservative amongst the likes of Bobby Jindal or Sarah Palin (he supports Roe v. Wade, and while personally opposed to gay marriage, he had no interest in reversing Massachusetts' legalization of gay marriage; he also supports the exploration of alternative renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power), the Democratic supermajority has taken a crucial hit with the election of Opposing Health Care Bill Senator #41.

There has been a lot of finger-pointing amongst Democrats on why this happened. And they need to look no further. Obviously they have not learned ANYTHING since the Clinton years. Time and time again, instead of being leaders, the Democrats have become dealmakers. President Obama, especially, has softened his approach towards governing. During his campaign, which was nothing short of electrifying, he vowed to end the War in Iraq, close Guantanamo Bay, create health care reform, and not resort to "business as usual" politics. His term as president got off to a pretty good start, with approval ratings hovering around 70%, and his reversal of the ban on stem cell research. He also signed legislation to have Guantanamo Bay closed by 2010. His nomination of Sonia Sotomayor marked a shift on the Supreme Court bench for the better, and honestly, for the first few months, I was relieved not to see Bush on TV anymore. However, we're still in Iraq, even if the war has significantly shifted its attention to Afghanistan (which we should have done ages ago), Guantanamo's still open, and so-called health care reform resulted in a bill that would benefit insurance companies more than anyone else, and basically all because the Democrats let Joe Lieberman win and have his way by permanently axing public option from the bill.

I probably have said this before, but I generally have a rule of thumb when it comes to presidents or politicians before I start having any criticisms or praises, and I give them one year. One year to get their feet wet, and to adjust to the hard tasks they face (especially during these hard times). Yes, I did not have this approach for George W. Bush when he first became president, probably because he usurped the election, but I was also 15, and not as politically aware as I am now; when I was 15, I was hung up on homosexual rights, abortion rights, and being virulently anti-religious. However, having voted for Obama, I gave him one year. Well, Mr. President, it has been one year to the day since you placed your hand on the Bible taking the oath, and your grace period with me is over. Consider yourself fortunate, Mr. President. There are many who never gave you a chance at all, and there are supporters who jumped off the Change Express before it hit the Nobel Peace Prize landmark in Norway. And right now, I'm in the bar car getting hammered!

Regarding the economy, I understand everybody's frustration. Many people are unemployed, underemployed, or not making enough money. I am one of them. Before the great economic collapse, I was making decent money for a guy still in college and still figuring life out (even if I squandered a lot of it in the name of being young and financially irresponsible). Now, if I get 20 hours a week, enough money to pay my bills, and have some money leftover to have some semblance of a life, I consider myself to be very fortunate. That said, I understand that people are mad that the economy has not gotten better. I do not fault President Obama for that. A collapse that was a good 25 years in the making, especially when our economy under Bill Clinton in the 1990s was at its definite zenith, is determined to hit hard and to linger for years. I didn't shit a brick when Obama passed the surplus bill, high price tag and all. You have to spend money to make money. It created jobs, probably saved a few jobs, and let's face it, some highways desperately needed to be repaved! I'm not an economist, and I probably could use a course in economics, but I do know that the economy is a human creation. It's an illusion. However, I am critical on the bailouts, particularly the bailouts that were given to the Wall Street assholes. They were able to get people scared that if they didn't get billions in taxpayer money, the effects would be traumatizing. In good faith, they got their bailouts under the premise that they would not use them for huge bonuses. Well, they did. I knew that they would. Remember when Obama said that the "trickle-down" approach to the economy doesn't work and hadn't worked for years during his campaign? Just because we changed presidents doesn't mean that the trickle-down approach will magically work, especially since Johnny Bourgeois Fuckface of Citibank got a 1.3 billion dollar bonus come Christmastime courtesy of the taxpayers' dime!

Considering the national debt is high anyway, although it was higher under Reagan in 1982-83 (of course, FOX News will never admit to that), what Obama should have done was give Americans a few thousand dollars apiece to spend however they want. He always said that the economy is built from the bottom up, so what better way to prove that point than to send a guy about to lose his house a check to possibly save his house from foreclosure? When people have extra money in their pockets, they are a lot more eager to spend it. This could give someone working in a store more hours, or quite possibly save their job from extinction. This is the touchstone of our economy, not the assholes on Wall Street who rob us of our money, buy 6 houses, and say "oh well" when the people who trust them become homeless after their hard-earned dollars are squandered. Despite my criticisms of the bailout, I am happy that Obama is asking for a good chunk of that money back. Whether he'll get it or not remains to be seen, but he has learned a good lesson, and has 3 years still of financial decisions to make, so perhaps his judgment will be better. Of course, this is my argument for government regulations on pretty much everything, but more on that later.

While I do keep in mind that Obama really walked into a terrible situation, the "blame Bush" record is starting to get warped due to repeated playing, and my needle is getting worn down to the nub (can my record player get a bailout?). Different people cite when the bubble started to form; some date it back to Carter. Others blame it solely on Bush fucking up. That said, the economy rode high for at least two decades before collapsing significantly. This leaves for a lot of mess, already adding to the mess endured over the last decade. What Obama needs to do is stop playing the blame game. Time, simply, does not stand still because there's a new guy in the Oval Office, and the blame game does not work for very long. People need to make money. People have bills to pay and lives to lead. I think Obama knows this, and I think Obama is fully smelling the coffee.

Unfortunately, Obama no longer has a supermajority of Democrats in the Senate. Election Day came early this year. If this doesn't serve as a catalyst to both Obama and the Democrats to serve the people, and, you know, do stuff, the results come November could be even more cataclysmic. I'm with Barney Frank on working with the Republicans (or at least the few rational ones) and not rushing to pass a bill that sucks anyway.

The election of Scott Brown is a disappointment, especially he ran for Ted Kennedy's seat, leaving me to feel that Ted Kennedy is rolling around in his grave right now since his life's work may be heading down the toilet. Sure, there are ultra-conservative nutjobs in Massachusetts, and the people voted for Brown mostly because the Democrats piddled around in dealing with Wall Street effectively, but it could be a hell of a lot worse. Massachusetts hasn't had a Republican in the Senate since 1972, and just how conservative can one guy from Massachusetts be?

The Top 100 (+20) of the 2000s Part Five: 20-1

2010-01-16T09:23:00.001-08:00

Here we are. The final stretch. The final 20. Again delayed. My band's show was a success, for a first show anyway. A lot of our friends showed up, and we got a good response from those from other bands and other people there. We didn't make any $$$ but that's OK. Pics, audio, and video and a blog entry will soon follow.

Anyway, the final 20.... in my opinion. Again, I am not a music critic, even if I did consider journalism as a major when I first started college.

20. The Microphones - The Glow pt.2 (2001):

Thank God that my Journalism teacher in high school was into good music. He turned me on to a lot of awesome shit (wazzup Mr. Cass, in case you're reading). The Microphones was one of the many bands he got me into, and I listened to this album so much, I wore out my CD-R copy of it.... and immediately made another one. Challenging as hell, sure, but Phil Elverum perfectly mixes noise, and lo-fi acoustic weird- folk nonchalantly.
Key Tracks: "The Moon," "Map," "You'll Be In the Air," "Headless Horseman"

19. M83 - Saturdays = Youth (2008):

This album was on repeat back when I delivered newspapers. "Kim & Jessie" perfectly encapsulates the feeling of being young on a spring day after a cold winter.
Key Tracks: "Kim & Jessie," "Coleurs," "Dark Moves of Love"

18. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar (2006):

Heavily influenced by Balkan folk music, Zach Condon created one of the most appealing albums I've heard this decade. He probably took a few cues from Devotchka, but he's very much an original voice in music these days. His voice also sounds like an old Italian singer, and he's from Albuquerque!
Key Tracks: "Rhineland (Heartland)," "Postcards from Italy," "Mount Wroclai (Idle Days)"

17. Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass (2007):

If Aesop Rock isn't the decade's most captivating rapper, then I must be deaf. Fewer rap records can create such an atmosphere as this one. This is some pretty serious shit!
Key Tracks: "None Shall Pass," "Fumes," "Bring Back Pluto"

16. Isis - In the Absence of Truth (2006):

This is the album that made me a true fan of the band. From the first listen of this album, I can say without hesitation that this is what music should sound like, especially in the metal genre. Aaron Turner and co. don't create songs: they create atmospheres that only a few other bands are capable of.
Key Tracks: "Holy Tears," "1000 Shards," "Garden of Light," "Wrists of Kings"

15. The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree (2005):

The second Mountain Goats album to contain a biological theme, John Darnielle focuses his angst and craft towards an abusive stepfather. "Pale Green Things" is one of his most moving songs.
Key Tracks: "This Year," "Dilaudid," "Love Love Love," "Dinu Lupatti's Bones"

14. Portishead - Third (2008):

Eleven years since their last album, Portishead definitely made up for lost time. Darker and completely detached from the trip-hop they helped perfect, Third sounds so vital that I have a hard time listening to Dummy these days.
Key Tracks: "Machine Gun," "Plastic," "The Rip," "Small"

13. Joanna Newsom - Ys (2006):

The Milk-Eyed Mender is easily one of the best debut albums of all the time. Miss Newsom, not content with releasing the same album twice, switched gears by creating epic-length songs woven in intricacy, laden with elaborate orchestration, and containing nothing short of a maelstrom of emotion. No joke: during performances of "Only Skin," people were seen openly weeping.
Key Tracks: Well, there are only 5...

12. Beck - Sea Change (2002):

His own Blood on the Tracks for sure. Written in the aftermath of a dissolution of a relationship that lasted 8 years, Beck's sadness on this album is apparent from the first chord on. He dabbled in acoustic music before, but Sea Change proves that he's just as capable of making effective music without samplers. Sea Change also revitalized his creativity,
Key Tracks: "The Golden Age," "Guess I'm Doing Fine," "Lonesome Tears," "Round the Bend"

11. Feist - The Reminder (2007):

My sister sent me the leak to this album two or three months before its release (naughty, naughty). Upon first listen, Feist had me at "I'm sorry." Sure, it's more rock-oriented with a few ballads, and the bossa-nova influence is absent on this album, but I don't mind. I also don't mind that iPod commercial either.
Key Tracks: "I Feel It All," "The Water," "Honey Honey," "My Moon My Man."

10. Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007):

Pay your own price! I did! Five bucks! Best damn 5 buck I've ever spent! I didn't like this album at first. That didn't stop me from listening to it six more times in the course of a Wednesday evening while working on an English paper. By the third time around, this album's magic finally set in with me.
Key Tracks: "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi," "Videotape," "House of Cards," "Al I Need"

9. Deerhunter - Microcastle (2008):

More song-oriented than Cryptograms, Deerhunter made one of the best albums this decade (I mean, duh! I did put it at #9). it's hard to describe the beauty of this album, but albums this great are usually hard to put into words.
Key Tracks: "Agoraphobia," "Little Kids," "Saved By Old Times," "Green Jacket"

8. Regina Spektor - Soviet Kitsch (2004):

Regina Spektor has always had a problem with making cohesive albums. Her albums, before or since Soviet Kitsch, have always been incredibly choppy. She gets it right on this album. It builds a perfect bridge between her more raw and jazzy early albums and her more straightforward recent work. I saw her open for the Dresden Dolls in 2005 back when they were nobodies, and her set blew them away.
Key Tracks: "The Flowers," "Ode to Divorce," "Us," "Somedays"

7. Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped (2006):

Their last album for Geffen Records may have contained shorter songs, but Rather Ripped just may be one of their best albums, and is a good starting point for any new Sonic Youth fan along with Daydream Nation, Sister, or even Goo.
Key Tracks: "Reena," "Light Out," "Incinerate," "Jams Run Free"

6. Joanna Newsom - The Milk Eyed Mender (2004):

The average first impression of Joanna Newsom's music is, typically, "What the fuck is this?!?!?!?!?" Her sound either wins people over or completely alineates them. I first heard this album in a friend's car, and thought that Yeardley Smith (the voice of Lisa Simpson) made an album. Nope. It was by a harpist from Northern California. I had to listen to this album again and again, and I eventually fell in love with it (and her).
Side note: New Joanna album on February 23rd??? Awesome! It better not disappoint! And I'm going to see her in Philadelphia on March 20!!!!!
Key Tracks: "Sadie," "Sprout and the Bean," "Cassiopeia," "Peach, Plum, Pear"

5. Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica (2000):

Some albums come to you during the right moments in your life. For me, it was when I was 19, confused, depressed, misguided. This album got me through all of that. If existentialism had an album to define it, this would be it.
Key Tracks: "Alone Down There," "A Different City," "Lives," "Gravity Rides Everything"

4. The Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004):

It has always compelled me that the Arcade Fire's debut album was called Funeral, which usually is associated with closure and endings. Yes, every critic has kissed this album's ass to no end, but it deserves it unequivocably.
Key Tracks: "Neighborhood #2 (Laika)," "Rebellion (Lies)," "Une Annee Sans Lumiere," "Crown of Love"

3. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002):

Wilco's first few records didn't do much for me. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, as much as I tried avoiding all the critical hype surrounding it, made me a Wilco fan. Often called an OK Computer doused in Americana, this album is chock full of guilt, heartbreak and reflection.
Key Tracks: "Reservations," "Radio Cure," "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart," "War on War"

2. Sigur Ros - ( ) (2002):

The songs on this album don't have titles, and aren't even sung in a real language (they're sung in Hopelandic, which is soley an invention of singer Jonsi, and even lacks words or definitions). Who knew that nothingness could say so much?
BTW: People are wondering "Where is Agætis Byrjun on this list?!?!?!?!" Answer: Not on this list. Agætis Byrjun was recorded in 1998-99, and released in its native Iceland in 1999. It might not have seen a proper American release until 2000, true, but I have to go by technicality here. Since it originally saw the light of day in 1999, regardless of where, Agætis Byrjun is a NINETIES RECORD!!!!!! And if I were to make a list of the best albums of the 90s, this would certainly be up there.

1. Radiohead - Kid A (2000):

Not an original choice for the top spot because everyone else pretty much picked it. But what do you want? I was hoping that Radiohead could follow up OK Computer without it sucking, and I thought they couldn't. I also didn't know that they were influenced by Sigur Ros and German music at the time (probably because when I was 15, I hadn't delved into muisc THAT much). The first notes of "Everything In its Right Place" were like a vacuum, and throughout the album, it sucked you in with no warning and hardly any tracks that even remotely resembled their earlier work ("Optimistic" and "How To Disappear Completely" come somewhat close, but even they have more of a darker and abstract atmosphere than anything on OK Computer). Radiohead surpassed all expectations by making something completely different than their 90s work and having it be completely original.
Key Tracks: All of it.... This is an album you can't skip around, otherwise you'd be depriving yourself of the full experience.

Well, there you have it. A pretty good list, I must say. Hopefully, you think so, too. Sure, I'm probably missing some albums on this list. There are other albums that may appear on other critics' "Best of" lists that I just don't give a damn about (Flaming Lips, Kanye West, Jay-Z and Animal Collective come to mind, although the jury's still deliberating on the latter-most). I always check out new shit, and I'll kick my own ass for not including a few other albums as I keep listening, but whatever. Hopefully, the 2010s will provide my eardrums with some good music.

The Top 100 (+20) of the 2000s Part Four: 40-21

2010-01-12T08:24:00.000-08:00

Again, yes, I've been slacking. Actually, I've been busy. My band's first gig is tomorrow night and we've been working our asses off, fine tuning our songs, arguing, arguing, arguing, jamming, some more arguing, perfecting our songs, arguing... you get the idea. In case anyone reads this and is in the CT area, we're playing tomorrow at the Space in Hamden. Doors at 6, and we're expected to play from 6:45-7:15. Any support would be greatly appreciated, this being our first show. We have a Myspace (we're so 2006): www.myspace.com/clarkandthekents for some bad quality demos (that really need to be re-recorded).

Enough self-promotion. Let's get back to this list-a-roo!

40. Atlas Sound - Logos (2009):

Bradford Cox is definitely one of this decade's most vital musicians. Between Deerhunter and Atlas Sound, his solo project, he's released some great shit. Noah Lennox from Animal Collective and Laetitia Sadier from Stereolab collaborate with him on a few tracks on this album, and Cox is capable of making very compelling soundscapes.
Key Tracks: "Attic Lights," "Shelia," "Washington School"

39. Crystal Castles (2008):

I'm not really into electronica/electro/whatever the fuck you wanna call it, but I was very impressed by Crystal Castles. I was mesmerized by the fact that Ethan Kath used a keyboard with an Atari 5200 sound chip as an oscillator, and vocalist Alice Glass' caustic vocals give Lydia Lunch a run for her money.
Key Tracks: "Untrust Us," "Reckless," "Courtship Dating," "xxzcuzx me"

38. Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy (2005):

Their best album so far, Black Sheep Boy may not be as melancholy as Don't Fall In Love With Everyone You See, but it's still moving as anything they've ever released.
Key Tracks: "A Glow," "So Come Back, I Am Waiting," "In a Radio Song"

37. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (2006):

In a perfect world, Shania Twain and Taylor Swift would not be considered country and people would not listen to them. Unfortunately, the world's far from perfect, but at least Neko Case is around. Even if she's not 100% country, she gives its influence a damn good name.
Key Tracks: "Hold On, Hold On," "The Needle Has Landed," "Dirty Knife," "That Teenage Feeling"

36. Mission of Burma - The Obliterati (2006):

Heavier than their first post-breakup record, ONoffON, the best band ever to come out of Boston rock harder in their 50s than most people do in their 20s. It's also probably their most resonant album, or at least up there with Vs.
Key Tracks: "13," "Is This Where," "Nancy Reagan's Head," "Spider's Web."

35. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights (2002):

Paul Banks does kind of sound like Ian Curtis, but this album sounds like they took Unknown Pleasures and added a huge shot of New York energy.
Key Tracks: "Obstacle 1," "Hands Away," "PDA," "NYC"

34. The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely (2006):

John Darnielle once said something along the lines of the only way you can understand this album is if your girlfriend (or boyfriend, spouse, what-have-you) left you. Hopefully I won't experience a breakup anytime soon, but I reckon that along with The Meadowlands by the Wrens (see #61), and Beck's Sea Change (on this list somwhere) this is one of the decade's best breakup albums.
Key Tracks: "In the Hidden Places," "Wild Sage," "If You See Light"

33. Sleep - Dopesmoker (2003):

It took three years to make, and the label would not take it, so they released it as Jerusalem in 1999, shortly before the band broke up, but as nine seperate tracks, and with some parts slightly done over. This 2003 release puts the track "Dopesmoker" as the band wanted it; as one solid track over an hour long, no frills, no bullshit.
Key Tracks: Well, there are only two; the title epic and a live track called "Sonic Titan," and out of the 2, the first one's better.

32. Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway (2003):

Mark Kozelek, formerly of the Red House Painters, forms a new band that doesn't sound that much unlike his former band, but Kozelek proves himself still capable of making some incredibly moving music. Focal point: "Duk Koo Kim," a 14 minute track which refers to the late Korean boxer.
Key Tracks: "Carry me Ohio," "Duk Koo Kim," "Gentle Moon"

31. Cat Power - You Are Free (2003):

Other than an album of covers, Chan Marshall hadn't released an album of material since 1998's sublime Moon Pix. You Are Free boasts better production, and I suppose Marshall was more stable, but there are some very emotionally draining moments on this album. I hope "Names" isn't autobiographical.
Key Tracks: "He War," "Free," "Shaking Paper," "Names"

30. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond (2007):

After 19 years, the original Dinosaur Jr. lineup released the band's best album since they were last together. I'm certainly glad that J. Mascis and Lou Barlow resolved their differences because their music had gotten pretty medicore by the end of the 90s.
Key Tracks: "Pick Me Up," "Almost Ready," "We're Not Alone"

29. The Decemberists - Castaways and Cutouts (2002):

Out of all the Decemberists' albums, this one resonated with me the most. I remember picking this up on vinyl, and hearing "Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect" and felt that it was one of the most beautiful songs ever.
Key Tracks: "Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect," "Odalisque," "Coccoon"

28. The Microphones - Mount Eerie (2003):

The last record under the Microphones moniker is definitely a strange one. Consisting of five tracks, Phil Elverum made some of the atrangest music of his career on this album, and "Universe" ends the album with perhaps the most unsettling feeling ever: uncertainty.
Key Tracks: Only five songs on this album, all amazing. Not picking favorites.

27. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! (2009):

They changed gears for sure on this album. They sound almost like a completely different band on It's Blitz, with guitars for the most part forsaken in favor of synthesizers, but one thing remains constant: Karen O's reputation as one of the premier women in rock music in the 2000s.
Key Tracks: "Zero," "Head Will Roll," "Dull Life"

26. Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (2000):

My personal favorite Yo La Tengo album, some of the band's most heartfelt songs are on this album. Just as long as your average latter-day YLT album, but not nearly as much of a hodgepodge as other albums.
Key Tracks: "Night Falls on Hoboken," "Our Way To Fall," "You Can Have It All," "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House"

25. Japandroids - Post-Nothing (2009):

Another two person band making it without a bass player. However, they manage to do it by creating awesome riffs and utilizing amazing songcraft that anything else added to their mix would be overkill.

24. Tom Waits - Alice (2002):

Released on the same day as Blood Money (see #81), this may be Waits at his most delicate (which really isn't that delicate). A theater production before making the album, it's theatric in a way only Tom Waits can make it.
Key Tracks: "Lost in the Harbor," "Everything You Can Think," "Reeperbahn," "Flower's Grave"

23. Songs: Ohia - Ghost Tropic (2000):

Few albums have the capacity to be visualized, in my opinion, and Ghost Tropic is probably a near-perfect soundtrack to a quiet walk alone on a September night, about 50 degrees out, after a breakup or a fight with a significant other, and having it wind down a desolate beach, watching the waves and wanting to work your problems out.
Key tracks: "No Limits on the Words," "Incantation," "The Ocean's Nerves"

22. Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse (2004):

Yet another amazing album by Sonic Youth, it's definitely less jam-oriented than Murray Street, but continues in a similar style as their late 80s-early 90s records. If radio didn't suck, "Unmade Bed" could have been a big modern rock single.
Key Tracks: "Stones," "I Love You Golden Blue," "Dripping Dream," "Unmade Bed"

21. Godspeed You Black Emperor! - Life Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000):

Two discs, 4 songs, and unlike a similar album that has the same format (Yes' "Tales From Topographic Oceans," I'm looking directly at you!), these compositions go somewhere.
Key Tracks: Yeah....

And for the last 5 that didn't make it in the final 100....

105. Mogwai - Rock Action (2001):

Rock Action may not be as spellbinding as Young Team, though I don't think they'll make another album as good as that. That said, "Take Me Somewhere Nice" is their best song ever, and it'll be even harder to make a song that good.
Key Tracks: "Take Me Somehwere Nice," "Secret Pint," "Dial: Revenge"

104. The Mountain Goats - We Shall All Be Healed (2004):

The first Mountain Goats album to be at least biographical, Darnielle's songwriting rose to a newer plateau with this album. Darnielle's tales of people he knew as a teenager "who are probably dead or in jail by now" make me look back on my own teenage years a bit more fondly. At least I didn't know any meth addicts!
Key Tracks: "Cotton," "All Up The Seething Coast," "Palmcorder Yajna"

103. OutKast - Stankonia (2000):

I don't love this album as much as everyone else in the music press does. It's still a great album, and I always gave OutKast credit for being the most intelelctually quixotic of all the hip-hops groups out there.
Key Tracks: "B.O.B." "I'll Call Before I Come," "Red Velvet," "Miss Jackson"

102. The xx (2009):

I usually say "Consumer Beware!" when it comes to bands both Rolling Stone and every "hip" music blog/publication out there love, and I was skeptical about The xx. One listen and I was hooked. Reminds me a bit of early Cure, but not as.... Cure-ish.
Key Tracks: "Stars," "Infinity," "Crystalised"

101. Tool - Lateralus (2001):

Very much like Ænima but on a bit of a darker trance, Tool loses the mock-industrial tracks sung in German about a recipe, but they still follow in the tracks of Bill Hicks of following their own vision and playing from their hearts. A bit more melodic, most likely due to Maynard James Keenan's tenure in A Perfect Circle, but just as heavy and epic, Lateralus was Tool's last great album.
Key Tracks: "The Patient," "Lateralis," "Reflection"

The Top 100 (+20) of the 2000s Part Three: 60-41

2010-01-08T06:40:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay. I've been a bit lazy the past few days. But there are blog entries on the way, and I will finish this damn thing.

60. Sonic Youth - Murray Street (2002):

NYC Ghosts & Flowers was a tremendous disappointment, for they had been on a wave of overly consistent (and some absolutely fantastic) material for a good 15 years. However, few bands have the longevity and creativity that Sonic Youth has, so they are allowed one or two missteps here and there. Murray Street certainly makes up for any mediocrity, and contains some of their most enduring material.
Key Tracks: "Rain on Tin," "Disconnection Notice," "The Empty Page."

59. Electric Wizard - Dopethrone (2000):

Proof that metal can be good when it's slowed down to Melvins speed (particularly "Boris" or "Hag Me"). The thematic elements of this album are a bit silly, but who cares?
Key Tracks: "Vinum Sabbathi," "Weird Tales," "Barbarian"

58. Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (2006):

A hip-hop album so good, the Wu-Tanger had to release another album of pretty good shit that didn't make it onto this album.
Key Tracks: "Whip You With a Strap," "The Champ," "Be Easy," "Back Like That"

57. Swallow the Sun - The Morning Never Came (2003):

I first heard this album at a friend's house while I was high, and it moved me in a way that few metal albums have. When I sobered up, I downloaded it at home and felt just as moved by it. It's one of those metal albums that I listened to a lot even as my interest in my genre as a whole was dwindling, and the more mainstream metal was getting more dumb.
Key Tracks: "Deadly Nightshade," "The Morning Never Came," "Hold This Woe"

56. Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass (2006):

Ridiculous album title aside, Yo La Tengo managed to create another excellent album 20+ into their career. Perhaps their most experimental album probably ever, the band focuses less on their traditional fuzzy shoegazing inspired minimalist music and add in piano ballads, and other genres of music.
Key Tracks: "Sometimes I Don't Get You," "Beanbag Chair," "The Race Is On Again"

55. Andrew Bird - Armchair Aprochrypa (2007):

A slight departure from the more acoustic The Mysterious Production of Eggs, Andrew Bird plugs in more on this record and puts down the violin a little bit on this record, and creates some of his most instantly enjoyable material, whereas his other albums took me a while to get into. Few albums have ending songs as beautiful as "Yawny and the Apocalypse"
Key Tracks: "Heretics," "Armchairs,” “Imitosis,” “Plasticities”

54. Feist - Let it Die (2004):

A flawless combination of indie rock, bossa nova and jazz, Feist made one of the most appealing albums of the decade. Half covers and half originals, even the songs that weren’t hers to begin with she makes her own.
Key Tracks: “Mushaboom,” “One Evening,” “When I Was a Young Girl”

53. Explosions in the Sky - All of the Sudden I Miss Everyone (2007):

I was in Boston at a friend's, and they had on a college radio station that played the Minutemen, Sigur Ros and Feist all in a row (among others). They also "premiered" "Welcome, Ghosts," by far one of the band's most intriguing songs. I wanted more. And I got more.
Key Tracks: "Welcome Ghosts," "What Do You Go Home To," "Catastrophe and the Cure"

52. Bear in Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth (2009):

Few other bands that I know of can mix Krautrock, psychedelia, and electronic music as nonchalantly as Bear in Heaven. "Teenagers In Love" was probably the most hypnotic single of 2009.
Key Tracks: "Teenagers In Love," "You Do You," 'Casual Goodbye"

51. Neko Case - Blacklisted (2002):

Back during my Starbucks days, they played many of the tracks off this album in the store. During shitty days, Neko Case helps me get through it. Blacklisted may be the perfect soundtrack to the 9 AM Starbucks rush with people screaming at you for not making their quad-venti-skim-2 pump vanilla-latte 182 degrees instead of 183.
Key Tracks: "Deep Red Bells," "I Wish I Was the Moon," "Things That Scare Me"

50. Tom Waits - Real Gone (2004):

If you take a piano away from Tom Waits, except it to get ugly. Real Gone is, by far, Waits' ugliest album. Scratchier than an irritated cat, sludgier than a mudslide, Waits' voice has rarely been as hoarse and demonic as it is on this album. That's not to say that "Trampled Rose" and "Day After Tomorrow" are two of his most beautiful and poignant songs.
Key Tracks: "Hoist That Rag," "Trampled Rose," "Shake It," "Baby Gonna Leave Me"

49. The White Stripes - De Stijl (2000):

The White Stripes' second album, definitely one of their rawest (although all of their albums are pretty raw) and very moving in some parts. After this album, the Stripes expanded their sound a little and made maybe some better material, but their music never was as direct and real as De Stijl.
Key Tracks: "Why Can't You Be Nicer To Me?" "Sister Do You Know My Name," "Truth Doesn't Make a Noise"

48. Radiohead - Amnesiac (2001):

Recorded during the same sessions as Kid A, but this album was not Kid B. This kid was an Amnesiac. Slightly more straightforward and less cold and clinical than Kid A, Amnesiac was just as barren as its predecessor, like feeling as if you're in an emotional wasteland.
Key Tracks: "Pyramid Song," "Knives Out," "Like Spinning Plates," "I Might Be Wrong"

47. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones (2006):

Rejecting their loud, abrasive, No-Wave influenced beginnings, Yeah Yeah Yeahs may have turned it down a bit on Show Your Bones by incorporating (*gasps*) acoustic guitar and more vulnerability than on "Maps," which lead to a derision of this album. Screw those who didn't get it though. Karen O. can be just as primal and just as much of a rock goddess by wearing her emotions on her sleeve.
Key Tracks: "Way Out," "Warrior," "Cheated Hearts"

46. PJ Harvey - White Chalk (2007):

By far her most beautiful album, White Chalk retreads the rather stark territory she visited on Is This Desire? but on a different level. Her vocals have never been better, and on some songs, she never sounded so broken and vulnerable.
Key Tracks: "When Under Ether," "The Piano," "White Chalk"

45. The Mountain Goats - Tallahassee (2002):

The first Mountain Goats albums to be 100% non-lo-fi, the transition from a cassette recorder to more developed arrangements and higher-quality recordings seemed to serve John Darnielle's often-brilliant storytelling very well.
Key Tracks: "First few Desperate Hours," "See America Right," "No Children"

44. Sufjan Stevens - Greetings from Michigan, The Great Lakes State (2003):

Sufjan Stevens first installment of the now-aborted 50 States Project, and about a state now ravaged in unemployment, Michigan is full of intricate yet sublime arrangements, and it makes me want to go to Michigan.
Key Tracks: "All Good Naysayers Sepak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!" "Romulus,"
"Vito's Ordination Song," "

43. Isis - Panopticon (2004):

Another brilliant record by Isis, and often at times overlooked in favor of Oceanic, some of the band's most capitvating moments are on this album.
Key Tracks: "So Did We," "Wills Dissolve," "Grinning Mouths"

42. Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill (2004):

Elliott Smith's untimely death was one of the decade's biggest tragedies in music. Released two days before the first anniversary of his death, From a Basement on the Hill contains some pretty harrowing lyrics that probably was a sign of events to come, but is also done so beautifully that it's like he was saying goodbye.
Key Tracks: "Let's Get Lost," "Twilight," "The Last Hour," "A Fond Farewell"

41. Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine (2005):

Fiona Apple's lone album of the decade, finally released six years after her last one and amid struggles with her label, Extraordinary Machine shows a slightly less somber Apple and a lot more mature. Then again, some of the stuff in this album is pretty bizarre.
Key Tracks: "Not About Love," "O Sailor," "Get Him Back"

And now for 5 more just outside of the Top 100

110. At The Drive-In - Relationship of Command (2000):

It had been swirling around in the media around the time of this album's release that these guys would be the next Nirvana. I'm not sure if I feel the same way, but "One-Armed Scissor" was one of the freshest and visceral songs to have a hit on modern rock radio. Considering that the Mars Volta, for the ost part, is an overindulgent, turgid mess, and Sparta's just mediocre... Supposedly these guys may reunite soon.
Key Tracks: "Invalid Litter Dept." "One-Armed Scissor," "Arcarsenal," "Quarantined"

109. Tori Amos - Scarlet's Walk (2002):

Before she spent the rest of the decade churning out pure turgidity (I really like that word!), Myra Ellen Amos could still write some very compelling material. An 18-song snapshot of traveling through America, and defining it post-9/11, Scarlet's Walk contains some of Tori's best stuff. "Messiahs needs people dying in their names" should be posted in philosophy books everywhere.
Key Tracks: "Pancake," "Carbon," "Sweet Sangria," "I Can't See New York"

108. Foo Fighters - One By One (2002):

I don't care if the band hates this album, because I think, after their debut, it's their best one! After this album, I kind of stepped off the Foomobile. They recorded this album quickly, and some of their most aggressive moments are on this record.
Key Tracks: "Low," "Come Back," "All My Life," "Disenchanted Lullaby"

107. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (2007):

I kind of expected Win Butler & Friends to hit the classic sophmore slump with Neon Bible. While it is not as immediately captivating as Funeral, repeated listens warmed me up to this album, and is just as resonant as Funeral, but on a different level.
Key Tracks: "Ocean of Noise," "My Body is a Cage," "No Cars Go"

106. Sleater-Kinney - One Beat (2002):

Their first album post-September 11, the riot-grrl trio is at their most political on this record, critical of the Bush administration and draped in personal angst. Tracks like "Hollywood Ending" also take on preconceived notions of beauty in modern day America. One Beat may be even more powerful than Dig Me Out.
Key Tracks: "Light Rail Coyote ," "Combat Rock," "Oh!"

The Top 100 (+20) of the 2000s Part Two: 80-61

2010-01-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

Here we are at Part Two of my list of the best 100 albums to have been released during the last decade (2000-2009). Enjoy

80. No Age - Nouns (2008):

No Age is another band that has only two people, no bassist, and a cavalcade of sound, brought on by loops and effects. A pretty short album, but full of energy and ultimately a satisfying album.
Key Tracks: "Sleeper Hold," "Eraser," "Impossible Bouquet," "Things I Did When I Was Dead"

79. PJ Harvey - Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea (2000):

Easily one of her most straightforward releases, PJ Harvey proves she can be just as resonant without being pissed off, weird or downright bleak in attitude (see her previous 3 records). And what better person to do a duet with than Thom Yorke?
Key Tracks: "The Mess We're In," "Beautiful Feeling," "Good Fortune"

78. Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele (2000):

Ghostface Killah is perhaps the member of the Wu-Tang Clan with the most consistent solo career (even if GZA's Liquid Swords is in my top 3 rap/hip-hop records ever). He really comes into his own with Supreme Clientele. Fuck Kanye West. Fuck Jay-Z. Fuck all of these soulless bling-pushing MTV douchebags.
Key Tracks: "Stroke of Death," "We Made It," "Ghost Deini," "One."

77. Wilco - A Ghost is Born (2004):

Any band trying to follow up a perfect album like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is going to have a really difficult time. I think Jeff Tweedy was too stoned to really care, and while this album took me a few listens to get into or even enjoy, A Ghost is Born has some of the band's finest moments. Tweedy entered rehab around the time of this album's release for his abuse of painkillers.
Highlights: "Wishful Thinking," "Hell is Chrome," "Muzzle of Bees," "Less than You Think"

76. Caribou - Andorra (2007):

I liked him when he was called Manitoba too! More organized than The Milk of Human Kindness, Dan Snaith's second record under the Caribou moniker rules. Enough said. Very trippy.
Key Tracks: "Melody Day," "Irene," "After Hours."

75. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns (2009):

I liked Natasha Khan's debut, Fur & Gold, but she only hinted at her true potential. She sure realized it on this record, truly letting her excellent voice serve as a powerful force, and she proved herself capable of coming up with some of the most ethereal music of the last decade.
Highlights: "Daniel," "Glass," "Siren Song."

74. The Decemberists - Picaresque (2005):

The Decemberists were one of this decade's most amazing bands. Picaresque is one of their best albums, although you can't really go wrong with their first four albums (wasn't too impressed with their latest one).
Key Tracks: "The Engine Driver," "The Infanta," "The Bagman's Gambit"

73. El-P - Fantastic Damage (2002):

Very few rap records blow me away when I first hear them. El-P managed to do that with Fantastic Damage. Very unconventional, and some of the sounds mustered up on this record are absolutely awesome.
Key Tracks: "Stepfather Factory," "Accidents Don't Happen," "Deep Space 9mm"

72. Aesop Rock - Labor Days (2001):

Aesop Rock... well, rocks. This guy has a way with words and a flow that very few rappers these days have.
Key Tracks: "Labor," "Bent Life," "9-5ers Anthem."

71. Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up the Hill (2008):

Ethereal, full of reverb and.... acoustic (mostly)! Grouper (the alias of one Liz Harris of Portland) does a tremendous job in creating atmosphere that is arty yet organic, like being in the woods on a cold day near an almost-frozen lake.
Key Tracks: "Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping," "When We Fall," "Fishing Bird"

70. Life Without Buildings - Any Other City (2001):

Only together for 3 years and releasing one album, Glasgow's Life Without Buildings created a sound that was simple (I don't think the guitarist used any effects) and augmented by singer Sue Tompkin's childlike sing-speak vocals Energetic, and at times cathartic, it's a shame these guys couldn't make another album.
Key Tracks: "Juno," "New Town," "Philip."

69. Beck - The Information (2006):

I suppose this was a cross-pollenization of the somber Sea Change and the danceable Guero. Mr. Hansen creates tracks that are just as funky as "Where It's At" ("Cellphone's Dead," "We Dance Alone"), and as stark as anything on Sea Change ("Movie Theme") and leaves plenty of room in between.
Key Tracks: "Movie Theme," "Nausea," "Think I'm In Love," Elevator Music"

68. The Antlers - Hospice (2009):

Heartbreaking story about a man who meets a bone cancer patient, falls in love, and dies by her side. Emotionally obliterating, and I hope that this is what dying sounds like.
Key Tracks: "Sylvia," "Thirteen," "Wake"

67. White Stripes - White Blood Cells (2001):

Their breakthrough album, Jack and Meg White subtract many of the blues influences that permeated their first two albums, and Jack really blossoms as a songwriter on this album.
Key Tracks: "The Union Forever," "Fell in Love With a Girl," "I Can Learn"

66. The Vivian Girls (2008):

Ten songs, 22 minutes, 3 girls from Brooklyn, loads of reverb. The Vivian Girls' debut album was probably recorded on a nothing budget using probably terrible equipment. Still, this doesn't stop them from creating surf rock/grunge influenced mayhem.
Key Tracks: "All the Time," "Wild Eyes," "Tell the World," "I Believe In Nothing"

65. Radiohead - Hail to the Thief (2003):

Radiohead, by the time 2003 rolled around, were already seen as rock legends for the new generation. They also proved themselves to be outspoken critics on the Bush Administration (and their own Tony Blair's involvement with the bullshit war in the Middle East). Still wanting to experiment with samples and Moogs, the band did "return" to rock on many songs, and Thom Yorke wrote lyrics worthy of a pat on the back by Joe Strummer while continuing to be in his own world.
Key Tracks: "There, There," "Sail to the Moon," "2+2=5," "Where I End and You Begin"

64. Opeth - Blackwater Park (2001):

In 2001, I had gotten out of metal (save for a few bands) but then I heard "The Drapery Falls." Mikael Akerfelt can both sing well and growl well (a rarity). Blackwater Park will most likely be the best album they will ever release.
Key Tracks: "The Drapery Falls," "Harvest," "The Leper Affinity"

63. Mission of Burma - ONoffON (2004):

After 22 long years, Mission of Burma released another album. Since initially disbanding in 1983, the Boston trio's small discography influenced everyone from REM to Nirvana. ONoffON sounds like a band that seemingly never spent two decades apart; they were always ahead of their time anyway.
Key Tracks: "Into the Fire," "Hunt Again," "Falling," "What We Really Were"

62. The Roots - Phrenology (2002):

Just may be the most challenging hip hop album ever made, but what did you expect from an album named after a psychological theory that personality traits are influended by the shape of one's skull?
Key Tracks: "Seed 2.0," "Rock You," "Water"

61. The Wrens - The Meadowlands (2003):

In a perfect world, emo would not exist, and if it did, it would sound like this. Taking four years to complete, mainly due to problems with their label, this New Jersey quartet created one of the best break-up albums ever. Emotion on a record is rarely this palpable.
Key Tracks: "Thirteen Grand," "Happy," "Boys You Won't Remember," "13 Months in 6 Minutes"

And 5 more that didn't quite make it...

115. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone (2009):

I was pretty shocked and amazed when this album debuted at #3 of the charts. Those spots are usually reserved for the Britneys and the Lady Gagas of the world, and no records that really have any emotional substance, such as this one.
Key Tracks: "Polar Nettles," "This Tornado Loves You," "The Pharoahs"

114. Bob Dylan - Modern Times (2006):

I suppose you can't have one of these lists without adding an album from Mr. Robert Zimmerman. The late 90s/early 00s had been a time of creative renaissance for Dylan, and Modern Times was just a great blues-rock record. "Someday Baby" was his best single in at least 30 years.
Key Tracks: "Someday Baby," "Nettie Moore," "Thunder on the Mountain."

113. Franz Ferdinand (2004):

When I first heard these guys, I thought the Talking Heads had regrouped and made a new album. Like David Byrne, these lads are from Scotland and definitely took a few cues from the early Heads records, but added their own edge to it; still danceable, but more punk and less funk.
Key Tracks: "Take Me Out," "Jacqueline," "This Fire," "Auf Asche"

112. The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas (2002):

John Darnielle's last "lo-fi" record before using fancy-schmancy things such as multi-track studios, drums, and other non-acoustic instruments, All Hail West Texas is still one of his finest albums.
Key Tracks: "The Mess Inside," "Distant Stations," "The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton"

111. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife (2006):

Continuing with their tradition of complex wordplays and intricate often-acoustic arrangements, the Decemberists took their style and added more elements of prog. "The Landlord's Daughter" section of the 12-minute "The Island" epic plays like a lost Peter Gabriel-era Genesis track. Did I mention that this was a concept album?
Key Tracks: "Yankee Bayonet," "When the War Came," "The Island," "O Valencia!"

The Top 100 (+20) of the 2000s Part One: 100-81

2010-01-04T03:11:00.001-08:00

What better way to celebrate the new decade's start than to revisit the crap-tastic decade that was the last one?!?!?! Woo-hoo!!!!

Actually, it's positive. About the universal language: music.

The 2000s (oughts, zeros, whatever) were filled with some great music, most of it pretty underground. So, I've decided to compile the best 100 albums of this decade, and since there was so much good stuff, I'm adding 20 onto that as kind of an extra bonus. I must note that I am not a music critic, and I'm not omniscient when it comes to music. This list may not even be all that definitive, for I haven't heard all of the great music of this past decade, and keeping up with all of the "cool" bands (or good ones, really) is pretty exhausting.

I'm sure I'm missing albums, but.... coming up with this list was enough, thank you very much.

100. Tom Waits - Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards (2006):

Even this guy's leftovers are incredible! Waits described this sprawling 3-disc set as songs that "fell behind the stove while making dinner." Glad he brushed the dust off of them and served them.
Key Tracks: You really want me to pick 3 or 4 songs out of 60?

99. Jeffrey Lewis - It's The Ones Who Cracked That the Light Shines Through (2003):

Anti-folk wordsmith Jeffrey Lewis is honest as all hell, and is also a really good storyteller. Quirky as he is poetic, he's definitely one of the most resonant voices to emerge from NYC's anti-folk scene.
Key Tracks: "Back When I was 4," "Texas," "Don't Let the Record Label Take You Out to Lunch"

98. Fugazi - The Argument (2001):

The legendary band's last album before going on indefinite hiatus (8 years later, and we're still waiting!), the band still delivers tracks that pull as much pun ches as something off of 13 Songs ("Epic Problem," "Cashout"), yet also delve further in more experimental territory ("The Kill," "Strangelight," "The Argument").
Key tracks: "Epic Problem," "The Kill," "Life and Limb"

97. St. Vincent - Actor (2009):

Bizarre and accessible (Yes, not a very original description; shoot me!). With Actor, St. Vincents proves herself to be one of the most original female artists of the 21st century, thus far, and rises above the competition.
Key Tracks: "Laughing With a Mouth of Blood," "Save Me From What I Want"

96. Roosevelt Franklin - Something's Gotta Give (2003):

Really underground hip-hop, like so underground I don't think Pitchfork Media has recognized them (update: they have). However, any rap group that samples Chappelle's Show and Nirvana's "Scentless Apprentice" automatically deserves my respect.
Key Tracks: "Lately," "A Meditation on Why Love Sucks," "Kurt Loder"

95. The National - Boxer (2007):

I wrote these guys off when I first heard them because I thought they sounded like Interpol. But I was wrong. Dead wrong.
Key Tracks: "Mistaken for Strangers," "Gospel," "Start a War"

94. Okkervil River - Don't Fall in Love With Everyone You See (2002):

A guest spot by Daniel Johnston ("Happy Hearts"), some country-influenced goodness (good country, not that Garth Brooks/Shania Twain nonsense) and some of the most heartfelt songs ever = one great debut album. Plus, they're from Austin!
Key Tracks: "Red," "Kansas City," "Listening to Otis Redding At home During Christmas"

93. The White Stripes - Elephant (2003):

Jack & Meg White take their brand of minimal two-person blues rock and tweak it with a speck of sophistication that would be more evident on their later albums. Deserved the Grammy of the Year award that year (no offense, OutKast).
Key Tracks: "Black Math," "Girl, You have No Faith In Medicine," "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself"

92. PJ Harvey & John Parrish - A Man A Woman Walked By (2009):

PJ Harvey's second collaboration with John Parrish was incredible. PJ Harvey was able to express her weirder side without sounding forced or out of place, and the two seem to have a chemistry with each other. I especially enjoyed Polly Jean exploring her inner Beefheart on "Pig Will Not."
Key Tracks: "Sixteen, Fifteen, Fourteen," "Pig Will Not," "Black Hearted Love"

91. Isis - Wavering Radiant (2009):

After In The Absence of Truth, I wondered if a new Isis record could top that. Wavering Radiant may not be as good as their previous albums, but it's certainly not lackluster. And judging by my most recent listen to this album, I can see myself perhaps reconsidering my position.
Key Tracks: "Hand of the Host," "Threshold of Transformation."

90. Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf (2002):

I have to admit that if it weren't for Dave Grohl drumming on this album, I never would have given Queens of the Stone Age a chance, basically due to their stupid name. However, never judge a book by its cover because this was one of the best mainstream hard rock records this decade. And you can't go wrong with Dave Grohl's drumming.
Key tracks: "The Sky is Falling," "No One Knows," "Do it Again," "First It Giveth."

89. Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem (2009):

Phil Elverum's output had been dodgy since he ceased using the name the Microphones and changed it to Mount Eerie, although some of it was very good. I'm guessing in between albums, he discovered Xasthur, as this album boasts a huge influence from black metal. Keep looking to Telepathic with the Deceased for inspiration there, Phil, because it's working!
Highlights: "Lost Wisdom pt 2," Wind's Dark Poem," "Between Two Mysteries."

88. M83- Dead Cities, red Seas and Lost Ghosts (2003):

Definitely more lo-fi than their later releases, and more resonant, M83 (when they were still a duo) created some of the best soundscapes of their career on this record.
Highlights: "Unrecorded," "America," "Cyborg."

87. Isis - Oceanic (2002):

Isis albums are hard to review... All I'm going to say about Isis is that after Tool released Lateralus, if there's any band that can top them in metal, it's Isis. In fact, when Tool released their bloated 10,000 Days, the supposed "leaks" online before the album's release that I downloaded were tracks from Oceanic. And they were awesome!!!! Starting with Oceanic, they released some of the best metal this decade. Intellectual and arty as it is intense and heavier than Black Label Society ever released.
Highlights: "Hym," "Weight," "The Other"

86. Explosions in the Sky - The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place (2003):

My introduction to this band. Some beautiful shit. Like an American Sigur Ros, but heavier in terms of volume and less precious than some Sigur Ros stuff.
Highlights: I'm really not a big fan of picking two or three songs that have only five or six songs on them. It doesn't seem quite fair.

85. Sleater-Kinney - The Woods (2005):

Their swan song, and perhaps their rawest. Sad to see them go, but they left us wanting more and the fire they had on records such as Dig Me Out got gasoline poured on it with this album.
Highlights: "Jumpers," "Entertain," "Wilderness"

84. Rosetta - The Galilean Satellites (2005):

A "multimedia" project (sounds pretentious but hear me out), in which one disc was songs (more like slow post-metal epics) and the other was ambience. And someone online (not sure if it was the band or some fan with a lot of time to kill) combined the two discs together so the tracks from both discs were combined with each other. You can listen to them separately, sure, because either way you can't go wrong, but when the tracks are mixed with each other, it's awesome. Whenever I'm mad, I crank "Departe/Deneb" and feel 100 times better.
Highlights: All of it... again, this album, when condensed into one, has 5 songs on it, so I can't choose.

83. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (2005):

Two states down, 48 to go! Actually, earlier last year, Mr. Stevens said that the idea of making an album for ALL 50 states was kind of silly. And it is. Why would we want an album about Wyoming? Anyway, his second and last installment of the 50 States Project about the Land of Lincoln, I must say, deserved the critical firestorm of excellent reviews it received.
Key Tracks: "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts," "The Seer's Tower," "Chicago."

82. Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You (2001):

Unwound's last album before breaking up... and it sure was challenging. One part experimental, one part heavy, always melodic, and always schizophrenic. It's hard to pin down their sound, especially on this album, but it's some of the best post-hardcore ever. I miss these guys, and I didn't even hear of them until this year.
Highlights: "Scarlette," "Terminus," "Look a Ghost."

81. Tom Waits - Blood Money (2002):

This album and Alice were released on the same day (sometime in May 2002; look the date up yerselves!!!!!!!!!!!). However, whereas Alice was more beautiful and romantic (in ways that can only be described as Waits-esque), Blood Money was dark and cynical, weighing in on corruption ("Who were the ones that we kept in charge/Killers, thieves and lawyers"), heartbreak ("A red rose blooming on another man's vine") and the dismal state of the human condition ("If there's one thing you can say about mankind/There's nothing kind about man").
Key Tracks: "God's Away on Business," "Another Man's Vine," "Everything Goes to Hell," "A Good Man is Hard to Find"

And here's 5 more that didn't make the final 100, but deserve recognition anyway.... or to satisfy my self-indulgence.

120. Opeth - Deliverance/Damnation (2002/3):

Yes, they are two different albums, but recorded at the same time, and kind of impossible to conceive as different works. Deliverance adds more to their canon of progressive metal, while Damnation takes a 180, and delves into their "softer" side.
Key Tracks: Deliverance: "Deliverance," "A Fair Judgment." Damnation: "Windowpane," "Hope Leaves"

119. Okkervil River - The Stage Names/The Stand Ins (2007/8):

Again, two different records, but very much alike. Okkervil River again proves to be one of the decade's best bands with these two records.
Key Tracks: The Stage Names: "A Girl In Port," "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe," "Savannah Smiles." The Stand-Ins: "Blue Tulip," "Starry Stairs."

118. The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America (2006):

It was hard to pick one Hold Steady album, but this one I think was the most enjoyable out of all of them.... if only I had more room. It's their most accessible, and I think their most enjoyable.
Key Tracks: :Citrus," "Massive Nights," "Stuck Between Stations"

117. People Under the Stairs - Stepfather (2006):

Their sound is definitely a throwback to old school rap, especially since they tend to sample more old school R&B and funk jams than most rappers I can think of. However, People Under the Stairs add their own modern twist to the genre, and Stepfather in particular is one of the freshest rap/hip-hop records this decade.
Key Tracks: "Step In," "You," "Reflections."

116. ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes (2002):

Once upon a time, MTV2 played videos. Underground videos. In 2002 or so, MTV2 found its way onto basic cable. It was here I discovered bands like the White Stripes, and ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, amongst many others (plus they always played classic Nirvana videos, and other great bands MTV1 threw under the bus long ago in favor of Britney Spears and reality TV abortions, such as Newlyweds and Jersey Shore). Now, they are showing 2-hour clips of Wildboyz. Back to where I was... By far, one of the most energetic records of the decade. Ferocious, like early Sonic Youth and Mission of Burma, yet complex like Television. Too bad they couldn't keep their momentum.
Key Tracks: "Another Morning Stoner," "How Near, How Far," "It Was There That I Saw You."

The End of the 2000s

2009-12-31T08:12:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day of 2009, and the first decade of the 21st century. Ten years ago, I was 14 years old and for some reason I was very apprehensive about the new millennium, and not because of that Y2K bullshit either. I didn't build a lair underground equipped with shotguns and canned beef and bottled water or anything. I just remember I was at the store and on my way home just looking at the sunset and thinking "things are not gonna be the same after this..." It was a very real feeling that was deeper beyond the rather empty words of what I was thinking. It was sad to say goodbye to the 1990s.

The clock struck midnight ushering the year 2000, and alas the world did not blow up!!! (Though I knew that wasn't going to happen) The first day of the new millennium was just like any other. Yet I couldn't shake this feeling of nervousness towards the year 2000 and what was to come. It could have been the aspect that my teenage years were in full swing by this point, where the crap my older sister spoke of, such as problems with the opposite sex, friends, alienation, REALLY fucked with you on a more severe level than when they first crept up on you when you're a little younger. It could have been the looming events that would unfold over the next couple of years; in the year 2000, we would have a new president, a terrorist plot was being planned against our country, and while the economy was pretty good during that time, it was all a lie that would blow up in everyone's face in a matter of years (except no one really knew it at that time). Of course, I didn't think in those terms, me being 14 and relatively ignorant of current world events, but I still had intuition I guess.

Without this being an overwrought entry reviewing all the shit that happened year by year, we had to deal with a lot this decade.... not all of it bad. The major elephants in the room being 9/11, the Bush presidency, and the economic collapse around 2008. I'm not going to write what pretty much everyone else has written about those events already. I will say that my sister had overslept the morning of 9/11 and was supposed to be at the Twin Towers when they were attacked by hijacked airplanes. And every day that passes, I'm really really thankful that she wasn't killed or injured or even THERE at Ground Zero. I only wish that countless other families who did lose someone in that attack were blessed the same way I was. Or that BOTH the Clinton and the Bush administrations had paid more attention to Bin Laden's threats and had taken action to perhaps thwart the plot against the US. The lives that could have been saved that day... (and the wars that came after it, most certainly)

As a society, we have been given some very valuable lessons on how to live this past decade. Whether people choose to take them to heart is up to every individual, but nonetheless there were lessons to be learned. After 9/11, the lesson (and this is all my personal take on everything, btw) should have been caring for your fellow man, and not taking every second for granted and we could lose something very dear to us at any time. Who knew that on a beautiful sunny day such as that fateful Tuesday that the world would be changed forever? Sadly, however, a lot of people didn't share that sentiment. A new era of jingoism and xenophobia was ushered in, as well as an era of war in the same vein as that of Vietnam. Our enemy was a word (terrorism), and war on a word is never good.

Yet we lost sight of our #1 enemy, which was Osama Bin Laden, and the genius in the White House decided that Saddam Hussein was behind the attacks, even if it's a fact that he didn't, and Iraq was holding nuclear weapon, even if both Iraq and the weapons inspectors said that there were none. Our country, already divided as it was, became even more divided, and George W. Bush certainly didn't help that when he said that "you were either with us or against us." Those who opposed the war were basically told that their opposition to the war, either for reasons regarding pacifism or seeing through the bullshit they were being fed, meant that they might as well be siding with Saddam Hussein and Communism, even if the 2 didn't have anything to do with each other. Those who supported the war were seen as ignorant redneck warmongers, and I know that that wasn't 100% true either, even if having stickers that said "GOD BLESS AMERICA" or "THESE COLORS DON'T RUN" on the back of a Tahoe didn't help their case any, not that I'm taking sides.

Fast forward to the present day. We now have a new president, who ran on a campaign that was nothing short of electrifying. However, his first year of his administration was overall pretty dismal, though that's not entirely his fault either. He inherited two wars and an economy that's in the crapper, never mind a scared and paranoid public and many right-wingers vowing to stop at nothing to bring him down (even if right-wingers had been driving this nation to the ground for decades now, and left-wingers had their part in it too). For me, the jury is still out with President Obama (I have a rule of thumb; one year before I start criticizing a president... however since things are so bad and so beyond his control, I'm giving him a bit longer), but I ultimately believe that after all of this, we'll emerge as a better nation.

On a personal level, this decade was one big lesson. I learned a lot, regardless of many false starts and fuck-ups on my part, and I will take the wisdom and lessons of this decade to make the upcoming one way better than this one. Trite, yes I know, but ultimately true (see above for the feelings deeper than empty words). I've come to realize that I'm not a bad person, I'm not stupid, how much money you have is not everything (even if it helps make life easier and more enjoyable), and I have many things to conquer and many roads to travel. And if no one else likes it, then fuck them.

I'm not one for New Years' resolutions. I also don't think that bringing in a new decade will smooth everything over (the unrealistic clean slate bullshit); there's still work to be done. Yet, what better opportunity than to start off a new decade the right way?

Other Than Treatment for a Gunshot Wound, What Do Guns and Health Care Have to Do With Each Other?!?!?!?!?!

2009-08-19T08:16:00.000-07:00

Even Alan Gottlieb says that during a political rally when the president is attending, or any politician for that matter, staging a Second Amendment protest is not the right venue. That's right, dingbats! A gun nut is saying not to do this. Him and Ronnie Reagan Jr. actually agree on something.

This is a very scary thing. I don't know about you, but this is freaky! Guns + presidents do not mix!!! Just ask Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy. And FDR, Reagan, Ford, and any other presidents who may have survived an assassination attempt. Especially now that our current president is even more of a lightning rod because of his skin color for some people (never mind the fact that I think a good number of the attacks on him come from deep-rooted and deeply disguised racism; he has been playing with an uneven deck of cards ever since he declared his candidacy for office I think, to a degree, primarily because of race).

Even so, why would someone bring a gun to a rally about health care, which is an issue that is, in my opinion, completely separated from gun rights? Obama may not support gun rights to the degree that many other Americans do, but still do people really feel the need to come to a political protest, an already volatile environment, strapped with a loaded gun? Political statement? Really?

And to answer these people's questions about Obama's belief in the Second Amendment, watch this:

But no one ever brings this up...

These are my twisted words...

2009-08-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

Radiohead - (In Memory of) Harry Patch/These Are My Twisted Words (track review)

Radiohead seems to have taken a liking to releasing songs individually (and usually free of charge) and over the internet. The always inventive Radiohead certainly have used the internet to their advantage in the ongoing war between the recording industry and the digital world (pirated or otherwise). Their 2007 release, In Rainbows, let fans decide how much they wanted to pay for it, even if it was nothing (I myself paid $5 for it; a reasonable price in my opinion). Supposedly, they made more money off of that as far as sales go than all their previous albums, which all sold pretty well for an 'alternative' band.

Over the summer, Radiohead has put out a couple of songs for more or less nothing. The first entitled "(In Memory Of) Harry Patch" (a tribute to the last surviving World War I veteran of the same name who recently died) was sold for a mere 1 pound, with all proceeds donated to the British Legion. The other, a song entitled "These Are My Twisted Words" was leaked on August 12, but officially released by the band on the 17th free of charge. According to stereokill.net, Radiohead have been hard at work on a new album since around May, although further speculation has stated that the band may be releasing more EPs as opposed to full albums.

Regardless of what direction Radiohead takes as far as releases go, they certainly have no shortage of good material, as these two new songs indicate. I'm always waiting to hear a Radiohead song that will leave me cold or disappoint me to the point where I lose interest, but save for a couple of average tracks on Amnesiac and the more electronic songs on Hail to the Thief, their output from OK Computer on has always floored me. These two new tracks certainly are not disappointing. "Harry Patch" is layered in rich, beautiful orchestration which is funereal without being somber, and also contains a sublime vocal delivery by Thom Yorke. It's reminiscent of "Motion Picture Soundtrack," but in the case of Harry Patch, this song could be played during his biopic's ending credits (if one is ever made on him, that is). "These Are My Twisted Words" is composed primarily of a hypnotic guitar riff and Neu!-influenced drumming that creates a very trance-esque mood through its 5-and-a-half minutes.

Radiohead has done it again! Whenever they are working new material, it finds a way to leak out one way or another, whether it be by an eager fan recording a live show where they premiere a slew of new songs or the band previewing some new material. And I, being the curious and eager fan, always spend hours listening to whatever new sounds Radiohead is dabbling in. Very few bands this day in age have that affect on me, and very few bands can have the same momentum as Radiohead. Aside from a few songs that were simply OK (no pun intended) on some of their albums starting with The Bends, the band has been pretty much on a creative kick that has not soured or gone stale for almost 15 years. And they always have me craving more...

Fear and Impermeability

2009-08-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

In my hometown of Stratford, CT, there was a small protest of universal health care; nothing like those mobs you see on the news, there were maybe 5 or 6 six protesters. Me and a couple of friends went there and basically asked questions and gave them our views on it. The protesters ranged from people who were really well informed on political issues, to older people who already hate Medicare, to a lady who looked like Ann Coulter if she took really bad care of herself (and even shared her rheotic regarding opposing viewpoints). Either way, the best thing to do when examning political issues, in my opinion, is to talk to people who share different views, respectfully debate with them if your opinions differ, and get in their heads. And I'm glad I did because most protests are marred by people screaming at each other, and leads to name calling and misunderstanding on a very grandiose level.

There were a few protesters I honestly pitied. They honestly believed in the so-called "death panels" that Sarah Palin has circulated across the media (nice way of following your own advice about making things up, half-term governor extraordinare!). They were getting up there in age (one of them was 71), and they actually had signs speaking of genocide towards sick old people due to the cost of taking care of them. They misinterpreted the "end of life" counseling. They think that doctors will be forced to talk you into death, but that's not true. Seniors will have the option to refuse end-of-life counseling, and there are a lot of things regarding end-of-life counseling, such as living wills, what course you want to take as far as treatment goes, and the inevitability that people fear (understandably) that one day a person will reach the end of the road. Obama does not want to kill your grandma! There was a man who was spearheading a campaign to get rid of Senator Chris Dodd in 2010, which to me seems kind of inappropriate since he's currently battling prostate cancer (they caught it early and he's OK, but still). Him and I talked for a while, and he was pretty nonpartisan and said that he wanted BOTH Republicans and Democrats out of office. I didn't agree with a lot of what he said, but he seemed like a good guy.

Yet there were a couple who were just jingoistic, and I avoided dialogue with. Case in point, a young man came and debated with them, and explained on how he lived in a country where socialized medicine was in effect (Russia) and how easy it was. And this lady (the Ann Coulter-esque woman I told of earlier) was like "Then why don't you go back there? I'll pay for your ticket back!" and asked if he was a Communist. By then he was ready to leave to meet up with a fiend, and as he was walking away he said "What if I am?!?!" Pretty bold move. Of course she and this other fat guy in suspenders carrying a DON"T TREAD ON ME flag were like "He's a Communist!" By then the 'protest' had died down, and I wasn't in the mood to go in the whole debate on whether or not what they knew what Communism and socialism were other than what FOX News and conservative politicians tell them. Last night at the bookstore I started to brush up again on Communism, and I'm gonna do some research on this issue because supposedly next week they'll be protesting again, and it's always good to be more informed on political issues. I can't say I've fully delved into the health care plan.

I wish I had brought my camera with me, but I just drove by it and my friends and I extemporaneously went to see what they were selling. Most of them agreed with one thing though; the current health care system needs to be reformed, and to my pleasant surprise, most of them didn't like Bush or McCain either. I only wished that they didn't buy into the right-wing fueled misconceptions that are plaguing this bill.

Another classic example of right-wing hypocrisy; I was watching Rachel Maddow last night before I went to bed, and Palin, Limbaugh and Gingrich, the unholy trifecta, are opposed to living wills as proposed in the health care bill. However, they supported them in the past and even pitched it in various advertisements and political spiels. Sarah Palin even pointed out their importance and declared 4/16/08 to be Health Care Decision Day in the Frontier State, in which she emphasized the importance of living wills, the thing she is now calling evil. Limbaugh pitched a commercial for a company that specialized in living wills (which he is now blasting like a stick of dynamite on his radio show), and Gingrich backed Palin on her 'death panel' claims, yet stated he has a living will and a power of attorney. I don't see living wills as a way to try to kill off the elderly. My dad and stepmother have one, my mom has one (and the 3 aforementioned people's average age is 56.67 years), and it's important to have dialogue about end-of-life care in case you reach a state in which you can't speak for yourself and there's no squabble over what you may have wanted as you reach the end of your life.

Fond Memories of John Hughes

2009-08-09T07:39:00.000-07:00

John Hughes, the quintessential 80s film director and writer departed from this world courtesy of a heart attack. He wasn't too old (59), but he left behind a legacy of great films that were just good. They didn't need to be artsy, or have some deep existential meaning or full of ridiculous special effects. He could just conjure up plots of average Americans, families, teenagers, going through everyday dysfunctional bullshit, but he created his own vision on suburban America, and it worked repeatedly.

My earliest memories of John Hughes started when I was 4 or 5. My family loved Uncle Buck, starring the late John Candy (another actor who died way too soon of a heart attack) and a pre-Home Alone Maculay Culkin. Me being a young lad, I didn't get much of the subplot and the conflicts (family tragedy, teenage rebel vs parent, slacker uncle, relationships, etc.) but the movie was hilarious, and I still get a hoot out of it.

The year after that, Home Alone came out and the American moviegoing public lost its collective shit. You think the premiere of those recent Star Wars/Lord of the Rings/Harry Potter movies were mobscenes? My grandma attempted to take my sister and I to see Home Alone a week or so after it came out and tickets were sold out. I think this happened to us twice, if I remember correctly. It's the first movie I remember seeing more than once in theaters. My friend saw it 5 times in theaters.

When I was a teenager, I got more into John Hughes' angsty teenager-in-distress movies (what teeanger didn't?). I thought Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink were a bit too girly for my tastes. Weird Science was pretty cool (I still wish Kelly LeBrock would show up in my shower!). I didn't like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but that's because I have a deep-rooted hatred for Matthew Broderick, and I thought th plot was kind of silly. The Breakfast Club, on the other hand, is one of those movies I still watch when it comes on network TV regardless of how many times I see it and regardless of how silly the swears sound when they're dubbed over (i.e.: Judd Nelson's impersonation of life at home with his father). The plot is far-fetched, at least from my experiences. Saturday detentions at my school didn't allow talking, and whoever supervised them were on your ass like a tight pair of briefs (so I've heard; I never got one myself). That and I never saw a gothic misfit get transformed and made over by a cheerleader and walk off in the arms of the star of the wrestling team. Nonetheless, Hughes' vision of the film was certainly idealistic, and if teenagers of different backgrounds and social cliques were locked in a room and forced to interact with each other, who knows? Maybe high school wouldn't be such a hellish nightmare.

As a writer and director, John Hughes was not exactly Scorcese. But he didn't need to be. Many of his movies have aged well, even if some of them are dated as hell as far as imagery goes. Along with the demise of Michael Jackson, I feel like my youth has died yet again in some ways.

A Recap of a Pretty Bizarre Summer (thus far)

2009-07-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

According to the news, only two people exist in the world; Michael Jackson and Sarah Palin. Michael Jackson died almost a month ago, and I must say I definitely felt like a part of my childhood went with him (and I'm sure the same can be said for anyone who grew up in the 1980s). Sarah Palin resigned as governor of Alaska a couple of weeks ago and all people can talk about is what she will do next (hopefully she'll disappear in a cave in Wasilla and never be heard from again).

I haven't blogged in well over a month (bad boy), and a lot has happened that I should at least comment on, if not write an entire spiel on.

First: Iran. The revolution will not be televised according to the Iranian government, but it will be YouTubed and Twittered by daring dissenters. Tragically, Neda will be a symbol of rebellion the same way the guy who stood up to the tanks in Tiananmen Square was a symbol back in 1989.

Then... every celebrity under the ace of the earth (seemingly, anyway) dying.

First to go was Ed McMahon, but he was pretty old. Then Farrah Fawcett sadly lost her battle with cancer.

Then when I was at the DMV one sweltering Thursday afternoon getting my driver's license renewed, my finace's mom calls me and tells me that Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, had a heart attack and died. I was in shock, and admittedly, I revisited the old Michael Jackson albums I listened to and loved as a little kid. Bad and Thriller were fuckin' great... never had a copy of Off the Wall as a kid and never bothered checking it out, but I guess now's a good time as any to check it out. Dangerous had a few good songs. But his music pretty much was overshadowed by the fact that he was a freak (the Reverend Al Sharpton said that he wasn't a freak, but a genius, but what he doesn't get is that the two are like peanut butter and jelly).

With that said, I feel bad for Farrah Fawcett. Not only because her death, I'm sure, was pretty agonizing, but the fact that she didn't even get a full news cycle to herself because some other celebrtiy had to die. And, of course, it had to be perhaps THE biggest celebrity ever. Not that I don't feel bad for Jacko: his life was pretty unstable. But it's getting to the level where if I hear another news story about him, or his will, or his kids, or his financial status, Imma dig him and kill him again.

Then Billy Mays dies... ON MY BIRTHDAY!!!! Truth be told, his voice irritated me to no end and I oftentimes said that I would kill him (jokingly of course). I find it weird on my birthday. Not that I'm glad he's dead... but him dying on my birthday would be like if Bill O'Reilly died on Kieth Olbermann's birthday; he probably wouldn't be glad of it, but there is a speck of sick joy buried down there somewhere. And tonight, I actually saw a Billy Mays commercial... not even as a tribute, just a regular commercial. Pretty weird.

And Sarah Palin resigns as governor of Alaska. Retarded move if she wants to run for higher office cuz any opponent of hers would throw "RESIGNATION" in her face faster than a question over Sarah Palin's head. But she won't shut up! And no one in the news will shut up about her!

And, of course, politics are a mess, but I won't get into that now.

So far this has been one of the weirdest months I've experienced in my life....

The Rise and Fall of a Band Called Van Halen and Two Dutch-born Douchebags from Pasadena

2009-06-10T13:54:00.001-07:00

Another ridiculously long title for this blog entry could also be called "How Michael Anthony Got Dissed, Not Only In Real Life, But In the Virtual World of Music-Related Video Games."

Once upon a time, there was a band called Van Halen. They started in the mid 1970s in California and were eventually discovered by Gene Simmons. They release their first album in 1978, and introduced the world to a new dynamic guitarist (Eddie Van Halen), a new dynamic frontman (David Lee Roth), the guitarist's brother who is a pretty damn good drummer (Alex Van Halen) and a bass player who may not be Geddy Lee but provided some pretty solid background vocals (Michael Anthony). They sell lots of records, they do lots of drugs, they get lots of pussy, Eddie marries Valerie Bertinelli (or Valerie Bertnernie as Peter Griffin calls her), and they make a boat load of cold hard cash. Fast forward to 1985. David Lee Roth exits the group under murky and questionable (still to this day) circumstances, but the band reconvenes with a new lead singer, Sammy Hagar. This changes the band's sound drastically, dividing many fans yet winning new ones, they still sell a lot of albums, they still get pussy and drugs... Eddie becomes a drunk... Then around 1996, the Van Halen story becomes a soap opera that still throbs like a thumb that got hit by a sledgehammer. Hagar quits/gets fired (depends on who you ask), Roth is let back in for about 5 minutes, they hire the singer from Extreme as the new lead singer, they make a bad album, the Extreme guy quits, nothing happens for about 5 years, then they reunite with Hagar, that lasts about a week or so, Eddie gets cancer, Eddie enters rehab, Sammy still kicks it solo, Michael Anthony kicks out the jams with him a few times, Van Halen reunites with Roth, tour becomes very successful, bands gets inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame, Sammy & Mike form a new supergroup with Joe Satriani and the drummer from the Chili Peppers...

Wait back up.

OK.

It's pretty much a known fact that Michael Anthony is no longer in Van Halen. He is replaced by none other than Eddie Van Halen's son, Wolfgang. So now the Van Halen saga has shifted gears. It used to be a war of words between the exiled lead singer and Eddie Van Halen, and now it's an ongoing battle between the bass player who stuck by the band for 30 years as pretty much a Yoda-esque force and Eddie Van Halen who clearly is the Darth Vader of the group. Eddie asserts that he quit, like he always does probably to cover his ass to disguise the already known fact that he's pretty much a dictator. Michael Anthony, however, says that when Van Halen reunited with Roth, he found out when the fans found out and he did not get an offer to join them on tour, and he was replaced by a fat kid with a silver spoon up his ass less than half his age. Then as tour plans are announced, it has become known that Michael Anthony has been getting the raw deal by the Van Halen brothers for about the last decade. Supposedly on that one album with the Extreme guy, he only played on 3 songs on it (which, in retrospect, isn't so bad considering that album was an abortion and a half), and Eddie didn't want Anthony to join the band on their 2004 reunion tour with Hagar; Hagar, however, refused to do the tour if Anthony was not on board, so Anthony was basically paid the same as a session musician and not as a member of a highly influential hard rock band.

And here's the real shitty part:

About a day after the band announced their reunion with David Lee Roth, their original website was updated and it showed the album covers of their six albums with Roth, two of which feature a picture of the band on their cover (their debut and 1980's Women and Children First). Turns out someoned (probably Eddie) removed Michael Anthony from those album covers and replaced his image w/ that of Wolfgang Van Halen. What a way to try to erase history; are you gonna pull an Ozzy and have Wolfgang rerecord the bass lines, asshole? Anyway, after much protest from fans, the website was redone a day later and Anthony was back on those album covers again.

Now, to further add insult to injury, Van Halen is getting their own Guitar Hero game, and reports are saying that both Anthony and Sammy Hagar are not represented in the game. There are no digitized images of the two ex-members (the same way the late Cliff Burton did not get a digitized figure on Guitar Hero: Metallica, and if I remember correctly, neither did Jason Newsted). The previews show both the modern band, and a 1984 representation of the band (with spandex pants, long hair, the whole shebang), and Wolfgang (who was but a gleam in Eddie Van Halen's drunken bloodshot eye in 1984) is in both versions of the band; another clever way to try to erase history.

Michael Anthony is not exactly the greatest bass player in the world. My friends and I back in high school (who were all pretty big VH fans) often said that he was the luckiest guy in the world next to Ringo Starr. But he was a good background vocalist, and in fact, their most recent tour had a backing track for background vocals because Eddie & Alex (and probably Wolfgang) are not known for their excellent vocal skills; in fact, Eddie's attempt at lead voals are largely maligned by the band, considering that they were on that horrible Gary Cherone-lead album. Despite his lack of musical virtuosity, Anthony has proven to be a class act through all of this. Anthony & Sammy Hagar were the only two members to show up at Van Halen's induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (when they weren't even in the band anymore) and Anthony had nothing but nice words to say about his ex-bandmates. He doesn't really badmouth Eddie or anyone else in interviews even if he has every right to, he toured with the band even when Eddie didn't want him to and he took a major deduction in his pay, and before he was ejected he stuck with the band through all of the drama anad bullshit.

Eddie Van Halen said that since Michael Anthony went and played some shows with Sammy Hagar, while Eddie was sitting at home with his fingers up his ass and getting wasted, he quit Van Halen. Yet in an earlier interview he said that "You can't be in two bands at once," which contradicts the whole "he quit" statement, nevermind the fact that that statement is complete bullshit. Phil Collins balanced both a solo career out while he was in Genesis, Maynard James Keenan played in Tool & A Perfect Circle at the same time, Aaron Turner plays in both Isis and Old Man Gloom, the list goes on. Michael Anthony said that he played those shows with Sammy because he didn't want to sit at home and do nothing and wait for a call from Eddie to do something. Eddie says that he has like 10 albums worth of new material, but none of it has seen the light of day, and Van Halen did like 3 tours of rehashing their old hits.

I can understand that Michael Anthony appearing with Sammy Hagar is a pretty lame career move, because, let's face it, Sammy Hagar is a pretty lame guy. His work with Van Halen contained a lot of sappy ballads (which wasn't entirely his idea). Ironically, though, the ballads were better than when Hagar tried rocking with the band. Seriously, some of his lyrics in some of the heavier Van Hagar songs make Paul Stanley's lyrics read like Paradise Lost. However, he didn't deserve what happened to him, and how people still support Van Halen and give them money, while knowing how lucid the abnd's assholeness and douchebaggery is, is beyond me. It breaks my heart because I grew up really liking Van Halen, but I have officially disowned them at this point.

On the next Sick Sad World!!!!!!

2009-06-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

I don't agree with abortion 100% of the time... actually, now I do. I'm nothing short of a misanthrope at this time. Shit, if you're 8.75 months pregnant with a little demon, get it scraped out because... yeah.

OK, perhaps I'm being too harsh here.

But whatever side of the abortion fence you sit on, one thing must be certain; the murder of an abortion doctor, most recently the murder of George Tiller (in a CHURCH, fercryinoutloud!), is abominable. By killing a person who was very much alive, had a birthday, had a family and all that shit (Social Security number, in the books, etc.; whereas, let's face it, fetuses DON'T), whether it be an abortion doctor or a young child or an old woman crossing the street, that is a worse crime than killing a fetus and it directly contradicts the term "pro-life." Though, our last president was "pro-life" and sent thousands of men and women off to die in a bullshit war, and in turn, had a bunch of civilians killed...

Now, another Christian nutjob is coming out saying that he is praying for the death of President Obama.

Listen in to the madness:

Yeah, I know it was broadcasted on Fox News Radio, but even the guy interviewing this Pastor Wiley Drake (sounds like a fuckin cartoon character) seems to be flabbergasted and appaled by what he is saying. Supposedly, this guy has openly engaged in imprecatory prayer against the current president.

Shouldn't this guy be in jail? If Tim Robbins or Michael Moore (or someone even more left than them) came out 6 or 7 years ago and said that they hoped that George W. Bush would die, they would have been sent to Guantanamo! Shit, they might have been executed! The right would yell out treason or sedition for such an act! Now, this nutjob gets on the radio and spews out that he is praying for the death of Obama?

In all honesty, I have spewed out anti-GOP fervor for years, in LiveJournal entries, in this blog, in my high school newspaper, amongst my friends, everywhere. I think that Dubya is one of the 5 worst presidents ever, I think Palin is an idiot, I think Rush Limbaugh is a fat piece of shit. But I have never wished death upon them. I have never prayed for it (not like I believe in such deities anyway), I have never suggested that an assassin should end their lives, I have never wished it for even a second because that would be wrong. I hated every second that Bush was in office, but I never wished him dead. I wished that he would get impeached or defeated in elections, but never dead.

And that brings me to another point I haven't written about, and it's old news now, but I need to say this: I think Rush Limbaugh stating thast he hopes for Obama to fail is downright treasonous and hateful, and exemplifies fawlessly another GOP double-standard. What if someone from NPR or Janeane Garofalo said back in 2002 that they hoped that Bush would fail? Rush would have been on that mic faster than his mouth on a dozen Krispy Kremes and called for some heads on sticks! Now, Limbaugh hopes that Obama fails, and he's a fuckin hero to the few GOP loyalists they got left, and he's enjoying a resurgence in popularity!!!! I may have disliked Bush but I never wanted him to fail either. I wanted him to succeed. I don't like feeling rage and anger towards the leader of my country. I hoped that Bush would prove that he wasn't the overpriviledged fuck-up of one of the most powerful families in American politics (not like his dad was much better) and his fraudulent at best administration would produce some good out of it. But he didn't and I knew it wasn't. But I never hoped for it. I stayed up all night on 11/2/2004 hoping that John Kerry would nab Ohio's 20 electoral votes to win the election, sure, but that's different. Completely different. My point is; if your president fails, your country certainly does not benefit from it much. But that doesn't make a difference to Mr. Bouncy Man; either way he'll earn $37 million a year.

My New Political Hero: Jesse Ventura

2009-06-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

As of today, June 1, 2009, my inactivity on this blog has drawn to a close. Why? Cuz I says so!!!!

Lately, I've been retuning in to the lovely and ever-so-volatile world of American politics: How, ever since the inauguration of Obama, the GOP has devolved into a smear-machine. How Rush Limbaugh (Mr. Bouncy-Bouncy, as Olbermann would call him) now has become nothing short of a voice and a media channel for the GOP. How right-wing attacks about Obama (besides the false claims that he's heading this country into a realm of socialism, as opposed to the fascism Bush could have very well lead us into) have degenerated to what kind of mustard he likes on his burgers. Never mind the fact that the Democrats don't entirely come out smelling like a rose either with Nancy Pelosi.

In the midst of all this political balderdash comes a voice of reason from an unlikely source: a former pro-wrestler turned one-term governor. Jesse Ventura. Up until now, I haven't followed his political career and if you had asked me on what his views were I wouldn't have been able to tell you. He's an independent, aligned with the Libertarian Party; socially liberal, fiscally conservative. He has a reputation for some rather controversial views, such as ending the embargo on Cuba, and legalizing drugs. If you were to listen to his arguments on why those events should happen, his answers are so simple it basically borders on common sense, which I respect the hell out of.

Lately, he has been making the rounds on television everywhere from Larry King Live to the View, and he is highly critical of the Bush Administration and how they authorized the use of torture. Turns out during his training as a Navy SEAL, Ventura himself was waterboarded and pretty much sets the record straight that it does create the sensation that you are drowning and you don't necessarily have an idea of whether or not you'll survive it.

Here's Venutra on Larry King Live where he expresses his views on Obama, Bush, Cheney, waterboarding. Kudos to him for not judging Obama by saying that it's too early to tell how he's doing.

Here he is on The View, and watch the blonde conservative dumbass get "pwned"

And here he is duking it out verbally w/ Sean Hannity. Pretty easy to say that Ventura schooled his ass too.

You know, I wouldn't mind if he ran for president in 2016. We need more politicans like Jesse Ventura out there; no holds-barred, sticking to his own guns without caring about what the public's perceptions of his actions may be.

I started reading his latest book, Don't Start the Revolution Without Me. I'm about halfway done. It's an excellent book so far. It bounces back and forth, focusing on his trip to Mexico (where he now lives for about half the year), his ascent in wrestling, his governorship in Minnesota, and his overall views on political issues. Really compelling and interesting personality.

I also started reading Tear Down This Myth by Will Bunch, which pretty much downplays Ronald Reagan's legacy for what it really was; he didn't singlehandedly end the Cold War, his tax cuts more than anything else helped usher in the financial mess we're in now due to greedy CEO & Wall Street assholes leeching off the middle class, and his popularity wasn't all it was cracked up to be despite winning 49 states in 1984 (due to the Democrats, in their infinite wisdom, running Walter Mondale, the VP of Jimmy Carter; smart one, guys!).

I went on two trips recently to various parts of the country, but that will be for my next post.

(Bad) Bands Reunited

2009-05-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

Hey remember 1999? The year of Limp Bizkit, Blink 182 and Creed, 3 bands that were thankfully passe and disbanded by 2004? Well, they're back! I can't wait!

We have fake Rage Against the Machine (an apolitical one at that), fake Green Day, and fake Pearl Jam touring arenas and, most likely, filling up magnetic tape and ProTools hard drives with musical abortions throughout the year (and the real ones are still around, even if I don't really care about them anymore). My middle school years are coming back to life in a bad way (nevermind the fact that I went to a party the other night and saw people I hadn't seen since middle & high school, which actually wasn't too horrible, but still a little awkward). Excuse me while I barricade myself in my room, and turn on Reign in Blood.

Announcing their "reunion" first, I believe, was Limp Bizkit, lead by Fred Durst, a guy who gives Vanilla Ice a run for his money in terms of lameness. I have to admit, when I was 13, I liked them. I saw them open for Korn before they got famous, and I bought their first album. To this day, I like their guitarist, Wes Borland, who jumped ship in 2001 to try to create more artistic projects to better suit his talents, but I haven't checked any of them out, and I guess he needs money so he's back with them. When their second album came out, it sucked so bad I denounced my "fanhood," and watched as other bands followed in their vein of bad white-boy rap, detuned boneheaded riffs so low that I don't know what notes they're playing, and lame turntable scratches. That era of rap-rock was a pretty dark age for rock n roll, let me tell you. Since then, Fred Durst has basically become a punchline and no one gives a shit about them anymore... at least I hope (let's see how this "reunion" plays out).

I'm not a huge MADTV guy, but back in 2001 or so, they did a brilliant parody of Limp Bizkit.

For your viewing pleasure:

Next we have Blink182, who broke up like two years ago. Really, do people miss "All the Small Things" all that much? Besides being punk rock posers, their essential crime is setting off the powder keg that lead to the uprsie of emo bands. Hate Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco? Thank the success of Blink 182 (and, to a lesser extent, Green Day). My research shows that Blink182 "disbanded" in 2005. It is now 2009. A band who breaks up and "reunites" 4 years later never really broke up; they took a hiatus. Regardless of what bad blood went down, 4 years is not a long time. Some bands take 4 or 5 years between albums without breaking up. Whatever.

And last but not least, there is perhaps the #1 musical abortion to terrorize airwaves and bring new meaning to the messianic complex: Creed. A band I thought would be gone for good, and I seriously threw a party when these guys broke up. Seriously, the mere thought of never having to hear from Scott Stapp ever again gave me a huge boner, no lie. But now, they decided to earn back some of the $$$ they blew on drugs and hookers, and tour the arenas of America with their brand of uber-lame adult-contemporary-friendly rock n roll that makes a mockery of everything that even remotely rocked in the early 90s! They were the worst (and ironically, the most successful) band that imitated Pearl Jam. I could deal with Stone Temple Pilots, and I liked them a lot when I was younger, I thought the one song Candlebox did was OK, great whatever. But Scott Stapp's self-important attitude, and him seriously thinking he was Jim Morrison and that Creed was like Led Zeppelin because "Hey critics hated Led Zep too, and now look at them! 30 years later, we'll earn 5 star reviews at allmusic.com and Rolling Stone" (not far off from what he actually said). And poeple bought it! Their first 2 records went DIAMOND ferchrissakes!!!! Shows how smart the consensus of the record-buying public is. Well, hey, maybe 7 Mary 3 will get a call to be asked to open up for them!

How come whenever bands reunite, it's almost never bands people WANT to reunite? How come it's always a band like Creed or the Eagles that reunite, and never a band like the Smiths, a band most people would give their eyeteeth to see? The Smiths, Talking Heads, Pavement, the original Guns N Roses lineup all wont reunite, but Creed, Blink 182 and Limp Bizkit all decide to reunite around the same time. Goddamn it!

Whatever Happened To... (Part Two: Chris Cornell)

2009-04-26T07:44:00.000-07:00

I don't know what's worse; continuing going on and sucking, while staying true to the sound that made you famous (a la Billy Corgan), or embarassing oneself by 'reinventing' one's sound witht he aid of a noted hip-hop procuder, and having the results be unspeakably horrible.

Take the classic case of one Chris Cornell, the former vocalist of Soundgarden and Audioslave. Have you seen him lately? Popping up in a cell phone commercial, with a song he did that sounds like it would fit more on an R. Kelly CD than on Superunknown, vowing to never reunite with Soundgarden, chilling with Timbaland...

Seriously, when i saw that commercial, I was shocked. Appalled. Bewildered. Did Chris Cornell become an R&B balladeer?

I can forgive Audioslave (or RageGarden, as I liked to call them). Save for a few songs off their first album, Audioslave was basically a failed xperiment that tried to crosspollenate the sounds of two of the 90s most influential bands (Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine, for those who aren't kepping track). Yet, for their flaws, at least Audioslave didn't completely betray their rock-influenced roots. Cornell's latest solo venture, however, only taints his name and legacy. When I see Chris Cornell now, it's like he's completely separated from the Chris Cornell of 1994. How could he do this?

I've been on a Soundgarden kick lately, particularly their last two albums. After Nirvana, they were definitely the best grunge band. Musically, they were the most proficient. The way they put together many of their songs were nothing short of extraordinary, and to this day, when I listen to Superunknown, I am just floored. After they broke up in 1997, drummer Matt Cameron joined Pearl Jam on their continuance of mediocrity that started with Yield, and guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Ben Shepard joined other bands.

Ironically, however, Soundgarden did reunite... sort of. Sometime in March, during a Tom Morello gig in Seattle, the other 3 members of Soundgarden joined each other on stage for a few songs with the 400 pound Tad Doyle, from the lesser known grunge band Tad, on vocals. For those who know Tad's music, Tad Doyle is no Chris Cornell. The crowd was massively excited for this near-reunion, however, despite the vocals that sounded like a corss between a pig getting it's head cut off and Captain Beefheart.

I think putting Tad Doyle on vocals should send a pretty good message to Mr. Cornell; JOIN YOUR FORMER MATES AND ROCK!!!!!! Abandon treading into adult-contemporary R&B territory, strap on a guitar, and rock out! I don't call for bands to reunite very much, but Soundgarden is an exception. I think they still had lands to conquer.

Till then, Chris Cornell will go on looking like a baked potato, and disappointing fans everywhere.

Here's an old Soundgarden video.

Whatever Happened To... (Part One: Billy Corgan)

2009-04-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

Ah, Billy Corgan, everyone's favorite bald, nasal-voiced mastermind behind one of the 90sd most influential bands, the Smashing Pumpkins. Ever since he first dissolved the Pumpkins back in 2000 (only to reform them 6 years later), he has been creating a suckfest in which he's not aware of (or in denial of), and making stereo systems everywhere blast shitstorms. Seriously, his catalogue this decade has not even remotely matched his 90s heyday, not even slightly.

Lately, though, Mr. Corgan has just been emabarassing himself. Whenever I read an article about Corgan's desperate attempts to try to stay relevant, it's like watching a train wreck, only it's kind of funny. This year alone, he's done some pretty stupid shit that makes me wonder if this is the same Corgan who wrote
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.

First, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin quits the Smashing Pumpkins, basically stating that "Hey, we suck now I'm jumping ship," though of course he worded it a lot nicer than that. Then, Billy Corgan decides to pull an Axl Rose, and become the sole Smashing Pumpkin, and record albums himself. This now leaves him as the only original member of the band, as he hired a bunch of replacement members to join the Pumpkins to replace James Iha and D'Arcy, who, with very good reasons, declined Corgan's offer to rejoin the Pumpkins. If Corgan was just going to be the only permanent member of the Smashing Pumpkins, he should have just done that in 2000 when he broke up the band in the first place. Not like it would have been very good in the first place, but remember how mediocre Zwan was? Oh yeah, no one bought that record.

So, now Corgan tore a few pages out of the Axl Rose handbook. Now, he has built up the audacity to charge fans $40 to watch him in the studio working on new material. Yes, you read that correctly. “Subscribers will be able to watch the next era of Smashing Pumpkins music take shape. … Each update would be a minimum of 5 minutes in length. That would mean subscribers would receive at least 25 minutes of unique audio/video material per week, and at least 5 hours over the course of the 12 weeks,” according to the Smashing Pumpkins' website. I got my MasterCard out for this one! $40 of my hard-earned minimum wage paychecks to watch Uncle Fester wank out, trying to recycle "Zero," and "Cherub Rock!" Yeah!

And now, Billy Corgan is reportedly dating Tila Tequila. I'm not gonna touch this. I'll just show you a photo.

Maybe when he gets the herp, he'll write some good music!

And now, he's doing an 8-Mile spoken word rap of "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" to promote a wrestling commercial.

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Uh... wow. Nice way to ruin a classic song! Do you need the money and publicity that badly?!?!?!

Well, while Billy Corgan continues to make an ass out of himself, I will listen to my old Pumpkins records with an element of sadness. Though, Billy Corgan isn't the only 90s rocker to make an ass out of himself this decade. However, if bad career moves were the Nuremberg Trials, Billy Corgan would be Hermann Goring.

The Roast of Larry The Cable Guy

2009-03-15T12:29:00.000-07:00

Tonight, Comedy Central is hosting the Roast of Larry the Cable Guy. Normally, I enjoy the roasts they do on Comedy Central; the Bob Saget Roast had me in stitches, as well as the one on Flavor Flav a couple of years back. However, I'm sitting this one out. First off, Larry the Cable Guy hasn't been around long enough to DESERVE a roast (nor has he done really much of anything except entertain rednecks), and I simply just don't like him. I also see a roast of him as a bit superfluous, if I must say so myself. I can roast him, and sum up a 2 hour special in a matter of minutes.

To Larry the Cable Guy:

You are not funny.
Your accent is not even real.
Your sleeveless flannels (along with Crocs) are an example of a complete disregard for good fashion. (Jeez, I sound like a chick)
Your catchphrases are stupid. WHAT THE FUCK DOES GIT-R-DONE MEAN?!?!?!?! What is the "R" in "Git-R-Done?" What "R" you "Gitting Done?"
You sound like the only book you ever read (besides the Bible) was "Cat in the Hat."
You're definitely the least funny out of all of those Blue Collar Comedy people.
Your movies are terrible. Stop making them.
You really should just be a cable guy instead of a comedian.

There. I just roasted Larry the Cable Guy. And I didn't even need Lisa Lampinelli or Greg Giraldo to help me out.

Out of Hiding

2009-02-15T09:08:00.000-08:00

Hey, I'm still alive. Just figured I would write... just to write.

School's in full swing. I'm a little rusty on working w/ my school & work schedule and getting my shit together. It's complicated, but it's at the point where it's do or die because I've been in school for almost a month, and it's getting serious. I should be OK though. After this, I have to read for my British Literature class. Fun fun. Like lyrics out of an Iron Maiden song.

So I haven't been up to anything too great. Actually, I take that back. I've been working on music. My band (now called Clark and the Kents) made a Myspace page and put some rough demos up. And I mean ROUGH demos. Like "we're poor, can't afford a studio or a 4-track" demos we recorded on an old tape recorder. They sound like crap (or they sound great if you like some of the early Mountain Goats stuff or Daniel Johnston or Half Japanese), but I think it's a good start. Go to www.myspace.com/clarkandthekents if you wanna hear it (yes I am advertising myself on my blog).

Valentine's Day. The Hallmark Holiday. Amelia and I got invited to a show in NYC at this place called the Cakeshop. Pretty much a hipster cafe with a venue in the basement where the up-and-coming indie bands make their start, possibly upgrading to a show opening up for Caribou at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. And a lot of them are pretty good. So my friends paid, and went into the venue, and I had to take a leak. After I got out of the bathroom, they came back up and told me that the place was pakced, and the closest they could get to the stage was the entryway into the damn place, so they decided that they weren't gonna spend the next 3 hours sandwiched in between obnoxious, condescending hipsters listening to bands that might suck. My friend wanted to see the Screaming Females, and there were 2 opening bands. So I didn't know anything about these bands (I haven't been trying to keep up). All I know if it was that bad as far as space was concerned, like if there were a fire there would be a stampede to get out with few survivors, I wouldn't have wanted to stay either. So, we drove into Manhattan on a Saturday nught (Valentine's Day, nonetheless), and we don't want to leave without doing something. So what do we do? Get a slice of pizza, and revel about how much hipsters make us feel like losers. Then drove home. I texted my sister to see what she was up to, but she was already ready to retire for the night. But it was fun, though. It was 100 times better than spending a Saturday night in CT probably doing nothing.

I have to say I feel less depressed than I did a week ago. I was feeling kind of depressed because I'm 23, still at home, and I haven't moved to any big city, like New York, Boston, Portland, whatever. But last night, I was in a room full of these pretentious know-it-all hipsters who base their friendships and conversations about the latest bands Pitchfork Media advertises and about what albums they chain smoke to in their lofts at 3 in the morning. And most of them probably have parents who pay for their lifestyles. And I realize that as much as I like talking about music with people, or as much passion as I feel for music, I realize that basing friendships around it is pretty stupid, and with these people, if you're not dressed like them or up to date on EVERYTHING hip or whatever, then you might as well be shopping at the Virgin megastore wearing a Nickelback shirt. It's elitism. I tried being friends with people like that and ended up being rejected as much as I did by the 5th grade boys who wore Boss jeans and listened to "No Diggity." I realized that if I did move to Brooklyn or whatever, and tried making friends, I'd probably end up feeling more depressed and lonely than I would here at home. This won't stop me from travelling and going to shows, though.

Here's a stand-up act by Louis C.K., who describes hipsters to a T (for the first minute or so):

"And they say cool things like 'Yeah me too,' or whatever."

So that's been my sad life lately. Now, it's time to do actual work. Yay.

Winter Writing Doldrums

2009-02-04T19:10:00.001-08:00

I haven't written shit lately, probably due to a lack of motivation. Winter does that to you. I apologize.

We Can Finally Move Forward Now...

2009-01-20T12:18:00.001-08:00

By far one of the happiest moments of my life as a news consumer was watching Dubya take off in that helicopter and leaving the parameters of our nation's capital for seemingly the last time as a man in power. The presidency was officially bequeathed this morning by Barack Obama, and I already feel the change occuring.

In the streets of D.C., Harlem, and places outside the nation's borders, people were jubilant in the rise of the nation's first black president, many, whom 45 years earlier, couldn't even drink from the same water fountain as a white person, let alone achieve the presidency. Many people from that generation never thought that they would see a day like today, and that same sentiment carried over to my generation, a generation raised on hip-hop, Nintendo, and the internet.

As revolutionary as this day is (as it should, for this is a remarkable achievement for any African-American), it is easy to forget how qualified Barack Obama is to lead this nation, and how great of an example he is, an example that will resonate with people from all backgrounds. He was raised by a single white mother who lived off food stamps, and worked his way on up to attend the finest universities (Columbia & Harvard), and even after being offered jobs in prestigious law firms, went back to the South Side of Chicago to give back to his community. His life story is a refreshing change in light of our most recent ex-president, who had a silver spoon jammed up so far up his ass he tasted nothing but metal.

We, as a nation, have endured 8 years of greed, dishonesty, and a severe lack of integrity. And now, we are paying for it, even if most of us did not cause it. We are in the middle of two wars, one of them we shouldn't even be in, many of us don't have jobs, our economy sucks, and our reputation as a country has been tarnished in the eyes of our one-time allies (and yes, having allies is important; you don't think we won all those wars singlehandedly did we?). President Obama has walked into the worst situation for any incoming president since FDR, and the man has a lot on his plate. He is not in an enviable position. Bush certainly created many shitstorms and an overwhelming amount of debris as a consequence. Even opponents and non-supporters should wish him luck.

To the outgoing President,

Fuck you. You have helped turn this country from a functioning one to a country badly in need of repair. You let corruption, greed, and lies fly under your nose with a sense of nonchalance towards those who may be affected by it in a way that borders on evil. You have mislead the American people by leading us into a war that served the interests of your criminal oil friends in the name of fear. You have turned Americans against each other, by calling out dissenters and providing a "with us or against us" mentality. Your ridiculous faith-driven beliefs set science back at least 10 years, and your abstinence only approach towards sex ed only lead to more teen pregnancies than ever. Only towards the very end of your joke of an administration did you show any thought to the people you have done wrong, or show any remorse, or any indication that you may have been wrong in many instances. Sure, you could say that "tough decisions had to be made" until judgment day, but some of your decisions defied just "tough times calling for touch measures," considering that things didn't get horrible until recently.

So, enjoy your life in Texas and do us a favor, and keep a low profile. The world has had enough of you & your kind.

With shame and emabrassment,

Kyle

To President Obama,

To reiterate that memo I had written to you right after Election Day, please don't fuck up.

Officially calling for the arson of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum...

2009-01-14T13:45:00.000-08:00

Ever since I became aware enough to realize its irrelevance, I have had a serious beef with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Its backdoor politics, elitism, and limitations on who gets in is bullshit. It's a sham. It's based on the opinions and views of like 10 people who claim to "know" music. Assholes like Jann Wenner & David Wild. I keep hoping that they'll get their shit together and stop adding crap among their ranks, much like how a person who has a loved one in a vegetative state hopes that they wake up one day. Year after year, however, I keep getting enraged. I think I'm a sadist, because I shouldn't care, and yet I do.

Once again, The Stooges have been denied entry into the (C)Rock Hall, despite being eligible for the past 15 years, this news coming about a week after the death of guitarist Ron Asheton. Instead, make way for Metallica, Run DMC, Jeff Beck, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and Bobby Womack. Couldn't fit one more inductee in there, ay guys? Why just five inductees a year now? Oh yeah, VH1 has to make more room for relaity shows based on washed-up celebrities, and people who were on other VH1 reality shows who are looking for an extra 5 minutes of fame. This is a fucking disgrace.

Looking at this year's nominees; first we have Metallica. Heavy metal gods, sure. I'd have no problem with them being here if they had put out a decent album since 1988, and if they didn't sue their fans when they downloaded "I Disappear" off of Napster. Run DMC I like, but they're not really "rock & roll" are they? Yet again, this is the same institution that inducted Madonna last year, and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five back in '07. I guess you could call Run DMC an influence on rock & roll for their collaboration with Aerosmith on "Walk This Way." This move reignited Aerosmith's stagnant career, and was considered by many to be the genesis of "rap rock." Just for that, however, Run DMC should be disqualified. Maybe not; how could they foresee Limp Bizkit? That and I do like Rage Against the Machine. Jeff Beck's already in with the Yardbirds, but I guess his solo career had to be represented there too. The other two nominees should have been inducted years ago.

The (C)Rock hall inducted the Ramones, the Clash, and the Sex Pistols (who refused to attend the ceremony, denouncing the hall as a "piss stain"; their attitude has never left them, thankfully). But not inducting the Stooges is a mortal sin in the world of punk (or anything considered "alternative"). Iggy Pop's antics set the stage for all the Sid Viciouses and Will Shatters of the world (and he managed to survive), Ron Asheton's riffs set the stage for all the Johnny Ramones and Kurt Cobains, and their lack of finesse on their instruments proved to be inspiration to many young misfits, despite virtually no commercial success. That's something Metallica can't claim.

The Stooges have been eligible for induction since 1994, 25 years after their debut album (that's the rule). They should have been inducted then. Let's see who was inducted in 1994:

-The Animals
-The Band
-Elton John
-Duane Eddy
-Grateful Dead
-Rod Stewart
-John Lennon (as a solo artist)
-Bob Marley

OK, what the fuck is Rod Stewart doing in there? The majority of his career was spent crooning Top 40 Adult Contemporary hits. And did they really feel the need to induct the Grateful Dead then, too? Fuck the Dead. All they did was inspire the wave of bad jam bands that people follow like sheep all the time and do lots of drugs (Dave Matthews Band, Phish, etc.). Musically, they had nothing to offer, except turning a 3-minute song into a 35-minute wankfest. They were the representation of all the bad things about the hippie movement; overindulgence, wanking, and cult-like behavior. I would've inducted the Stooges over the Band, too. I don't give a fuck if they were Bob Dylan's backing band, they were boring as hell. Every year since then, the Stooges ahev been passed up for induction, even if Madonna had asked the Stooges to play 2 of her songs at her induction last year (which, in a way, was pretty cool).

The Stooges tearing through "Burning Up" & "Ray of Light."

And don't even get me started on last year's joke of a ceremony. Madonna? John Mellencamp? I'm surprised Huey Lewis didn't get inducted. I'm also sure that because Madonna got inducted, there will be a Britney Spears induction around 2025, I reckon.

Here's a small list of bands I think should be in there and their year of supposed eligibility:
MC5 (1993)
Rush (1999)
New York Dolls (1998)
Tom Waits (1998)
Minutemen (2005)
Husker Du (2007)
Can (1994)
Kraftwerk (1996)
Television (2002)
Skip James (1986)
Nick Drake (1994)

Though, it'll most likely be freezing in hell (as it is here) before that happens.

100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs: 40-21

2009-01-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

It's almost over... thank God. Don't worry, there's a reason for this. And some videos for your amusement.

40. Talk Dirty to Me-Poison: Completely throwing a bone at Bret Michaels, since he hosted this show and he earns VH1 plenty of viewers by boning skanks on the Rock of Love.

39. More Than a Feeling-Boston: I wouldn’t consider this a hard rock song. It’s not hard. I don’t care how many guitar tracks Tom Scholz created for it. This song kind of has a new element of sadness to it since their singer turned out to be a pretty unhappy guy, who took his own life a couple years back.

38. Stone Cold Crazy-Queen: Love this song. Queen proved that they had as much balls as Zeppelin or Sabbath with this song. Classic.

37. My Generation-The Who: I think the Who is the most overrated band ever, other than the Eagles. With that said, their earlier stuff was pretty fucking good, and the line “Hope I die before I get old” signaled a new guard in rock music, and stripped rock of its innocence, along with Bob Dylan and the Beatles experimenting with music (and drugs).

36. Hot for Teacher-Van Halen: I’ve been on an “anti-Van Halen” kick, since they reunited w/ David Lee Roth and giving their longtime bassist, Michael Anthony, the boot. Eddie Van Halen is an arrogant piece of shit, and overrated. However, this song kicks ass, and I still crank it every now and then, as it’s one of their radio workhorses that I’m not entirely sick of. And what school did David Lee Roth go to that had all these ‘hot’ teachers? I’ve never been “hot for teacher” I think ever.

35. School's Out-Alice Cooper: Alice Cooper deserves to be on any hard rock list. My pick would have been “I’m Eighteen.”

34. Barracuda-Heart: Another one of those bands that my dad listened to 24/7 that I never want to hear again. This song’s one of the few songs by Heart I can stomach, probably because it rocks.

33. Basket Case-Green Day: Besides Nirvana, Green Day was my band from when I was 9 or 10. They suck now, but I enjoy spinnin’ Dookie every now & then.

32. Cat Scratch Fever-Ted Nugent: Say what you want about the Nuge; right-wing loudmouth, sexist, asshole, pro-NRA, anti-even drinking a beer every now & again (but bone underage chicks and have a few baby mamas across the planet; that‘s fine). Indeed he is. But I can’t help but like “Cat Scratch Fever.” The only decent riff the Nuge squirted out, amongst gallons of semen on underage groupies.

31. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap-AC/DC: I think “TNT” or “Highway To Hell” would have represented the Bon Scott years better than this song, but this song ain’t bad either.

30. Even Flow-Pearl Jam: Ya know, I just don’t like Pearl Jam too much anymore. And, they have better songs than “Even Flow.”

29. Bad Reputation-Joan Jett and the Blackhearts: No arguments against this song. Joan Jett has more attitude than most dudes on this list. Plus, she’s sexy as hell.

28. Everlong-Foo Fighters: Dave Grohl proved his worth as a songwriter with “Everlong.” I often say that this was one of the few things that made the end of Nirvana kind of worth it. I always loved the riff.

27. Still of the Night-Whitesnake: HA! Whitesnake. What a fuckin’ joke.

26. Freebird-Lynyrd Skynyrd: If hating Lynyrd Skynyrd and “Freebird” is considered “un-American” (as one blogger wrote), then I’m on board with al-Qaeda.

25. Blitzkrieg Bop-Ramones: Should be way higher, for most of the band that came after the Ramones (and bands on this list) would not exist. I fucking LOVE the Ramones, and still can’t believe that 3 of Da Brudders are gone. Sad story behind the band too.

24. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida-Iron Butterfly: Great riff, but did the song REALLY need to be 17 minutes long?

23. Crazy Train-Ozzy Osbourne: After he left Black Sabbath, I don’t really care about Ozzy…. Except for this song, and maybe 3 or 4 others. Even then, Sabbath stopped making good records after 1974.

22. Hey Joe-Jimi Hendrix Experience: OK, why isn’t this song in the Top 10? And why “Hey Joe?” Why not “Purple Haze?” People are stupid. Not that I’m slamming “Hey Joe.”

21. Kashmir-Led Zeppelin: Zeppelin’s crowning achievement, in my honest opinion. This song is fucking fantastic, and should be higher than #21 (especially since the song that came at #20 flat out blows and is unworthy in the face of “Kashmir”)

Top 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs (60-41)

2009-01-10T02:31:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm slacking. But it has been a pretty hectic week. Part 3 of my commentary on a stupid list (Why am I even doing this? Boredom and underemployment, I guess. And to exemplify my music snobbery). I'm including some videos here for sheer entertainment value, and because I can. Thanks, YouTube!

Here we go:

60. 18 and Life-Skid Row: I think this is on the list to throw a bone at Sebastian Bach, since the only publicity (or work) he probably gets is on these VH1 shows.

59. The Stroke-Billy Squier: “Stroke me, stroke me!” I’ll pass. Go dance around in a pink tank top.

58. Interstate Love Song-Stone Temple Pilots: Definitely one of their best songs, even if I don’t really give a shit about STP anymore.

57. You Really Got Me-The Kinks: They should be higher. They were definitely the best band of the British Invasion, and were definitely responsible for the creation of hard rock. I’d put “All Day and All of the Night” in my Top 10.

56. Cherry Pie-Warrant: SHE’S MY CHERRY PIE! TOO BAD I DON’T LIKE THESE GUYS! THESE GUYS ARE So UNMETAL IT MAKES ME CRY! SWEET CHERRY PIE!

55. Don't Fear the Reaper-Blue Oyster Cult: Should be higher. This song is just fantastic.

54. Epic-Faith No More: I never really got Faith No More. Supposedly Mike Patton is metal’s version of Frank Zappa, but I find him kind of pretentious. This song is good though, and so is “Falling To Pieces.”

53. Born to Be Wild-Steppenwolf: The penultimate biker anthem. My dad is obsessed with Steppenwolf, so if I never heard this song again, it’d be too soon.

52. Cherry Bomb-The Runaways: Launched the careers of Joan Jett and Lita Ford, and showed that all-girl bands could party with the boys.

51. Peace Sells-Megadeth: Pretty fuckin’ good song. If I compiled a list of best hard rock songs, my Megadeth pick would be reserved for “Holy Wars.”

50. Give It Away-Red Hot Chili Peppers: Not big on the Chili Peppers. Maybe if I didn’t hear this song all the time, I’d have more positive things to say about it.

49. Search and Destroy-The Stooges: You will all bow down to the Stooges! Iggy Pop, at the ripe old age of 61, has more energy and charisma than people half his age. If you want heavy, listen to the original David Bowie-produced fuzzfest mix of Raw Power! It’ll knock the metal spikes off of Iron Maiden! RIP, Ron.

48. Freak on a Leash-KoRn: The 7th grade me loved KoRn. The 23 year old me finds them KoRny.

47. Bawidabata-Kid Rock: Get me the puke bucket! This spent piece of white trash ranked higher than The Stooges? Ohhhh no! This list is officially retarded!

46. Madhouse-Anthrax: Out of the 4 thrash metal bands to really make it (Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth), I never really got into Anthrax. But I respect ‘em. BTW, how come there are NO Slayer songs on this list? Pussies.

45. Slow Ride-Foghat: SLOW RIDE! TAKE IT EASY! This song will always make me think of that scene in Dazed & Confused where that chick is rolling up a joint, blasting this song on headphones (parodied on Family Guy, with the Evil Monkey rolling up a joint and crankin’ up the Foghat!).

44. Sunshine of Your Love-Cream: Should be higher, because Cream were one of the first archetypes of hard rock, along with the Who, the Kinks, and Hendrix.

43. Holy Diver-Dio: I hate admitting this, but I like this song! I’ve come to appreciate Ronnie James Dio a little bit in my old(er) age. Even the cheesy keyboard in “Rainbow in the Dark.”

42. Should I Stay or Should I Go-The Clash: Not my top pick for the Clash at all. Such a great band, though. I’m still pissed as hell that Joe Strummer died, and there was talk of a Clash reunion around that time. Anyway, as for Clash songs that could’ve made this list: “Rock the Casbah,” “London Calling,” “White Riot,” “Clash City Rockers,” “Clampdown.” (see video below)

41. Cum on Feel the Noize-Quiet Riot: I think Quiet Riot gets credit for being the first metal band to top the Billboard charts, but musically they had nothing to offer. Never mind the fact that 2 out of 3 songs I know from them were Slade covers.

100 Greatest Rock Songs (80-61)

2009-01-07T05:30:00.000-08:00

80. Any Way You Want It-Journey: Journey + hard rock = No solution (I wish I knew of a way to create the zero with the line crossing it out like they do in algebra class when a problem had no solution).

79. Rebel Yell-Billy Idol: The snarler! I would have picked “White Wedding” myself.

78. Feel Like Makin' Love-Bad Company: This song deserves to be on the list, even if I’m not too fond of it. Why the hell not?

77. Black Hole Sun-Soundgarden: “Black Hole Sun” this low on the countdown? This song would be in my Top 20.

76. Kiss Me Deadly-Lita Ford: Lita Ford had attitude, but this song was too glossy; as glossy as a 8x10 black & white wedding photo.

75. Seven Nation Army-White Stripes: I’m not sure if the White Stripes would be considered ‘hard rock’ but I guess they are in a lot of ways. A lot of their songs have pulsating beats, ballsy riffs, and a ton of passion, and send me off in a frenzy. Try to get me not to thrash around when “Fell In love With a Girl” or “Black Math” come on.

74. Love Removal Machine-The Cult: Never really got into The Cult.

73. Jailbreak-Thin Lizzy: I like a few Thin Lizzy songs. I love the riff in this song.

72. Heartbreaker-Pat Benatar: A classically-trained operatic female singer, who was about 5’1 and 98 pounds who sang “Love is a Battlefield.” Turns out, she was capable of churning out a song that flat out rocked.

71. Mountain Song-Jane's Addiction: I don’t love Jane’s Addiction, but I appreciate that they were one of the few pre-Nirvana alternative bands that somewhat broke through. This song is awesome, though.

70. Hot Blooded-Foreigner: I dunno man. I think “I Wanna Know What Love Is” eclipsed anything “hard rock” about Foreigner. Even then, I wouldn’t consider Foreigner a hard rock band anyway.

69. Cult of Personality-Living Colour: Back in 1988, an all-black metal band showed whitey how it was done! I always loved the guitar solo.

68. More Human Than Human-White Zombie: This song is in every other movie or commercial, so this song certainly has had an impact, even if I find Rob Zombie to be pretty silly.

67. Tush-ZZ Top: Not big on ZZ Top. But I guess they earned a spot on this list. Those beards!

66. The Final Countdown-Europe: OK, now this is just sad. A few years back, VH1 ranked this song as the Most Awesomely Bad Metal Song Ever, as well as naming it one of the "Least Metal Moments." Just for that, this song should be disqualified from even being a nominee for this list, even if this list ranks "hard rock" songs. That, and this song just flat out blows. The singer looks like Kylie Minogue ferchrissakes!

65. Kick Out the Jams-MC5: Now we’re talking! They were punk before punk. They were metal before metal. They were MC before MC Hammer (an actual quote from the late Rob Tyner). Who else in 1968 started off a song with “Kick out the jams, motherfuckers!”?

64. Liar-Rollins Band: Gotta love Henry Rollins. I’m not big on the Rollins Band, but he is a great writer and orator. And I love Black Flag. I’d put “Rise Above” or “Six Pack” on my list of best hard rock songs.

63. Eye of the Tiger-Survivor: Immediate disqualification because of its association with Sylvester Stallone.

62. Breaking the Chains-Dokken: You’ll never catch me rockin’ to Dokken.

61. Round and Round-RATT: Not too big on “RATT & roll” either. Enough with the 80s hair metal, already! The metal on those bands’ Aqua Net bottles were more metal than them!

WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK?!?!?!?!?

2009-01-06T09:26:00.000-08:00

Indeed, another great musician has left this earth. Ron Asheton of the Stooges was found dead in his Michigan home. Age 60. One of the most influential (and underrated) guitarists in history. I was going through a major Stooges kick too, recently.

Well, this blows. My girlfriend and I had a chance to see The Stooges 2 years ago in New York, but were strapped for dough at the time, and missed out, thinking 'Oh yeah, they'll definitely be back.' I dunno what the future for the Stooges looks like now with Ron's passing. This blows. WHY CAN'T A GUY IN A BAD BAND DIE FOR ONCE?

RIP, Ron.

The 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs (100-81) (Yeah right...)

2009-01-05T21:26:00.000-08:00

As promised, I am posting the first 20 songs on VH1's mostly pathetic list of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs, hosted by a guy who just DEFINES hard rock. Ozzy? Lemmy? Rob Halford? Angus Young from AC/DC? Nope. Bret Michaels of Poison! Probably to promote the upcoming season of Rock of Love. Hasn't this guy banged enough sluts in the course of 20+ years? Anyway, this list was determined by viewers, as opposed to critics and musicians, so this pretty much explains why some horrible songs are on this list. The first hour (the first 20 songs) were definitely the worst of the bunch. Read on.

100. I Can't Drive 55 - Sammy Hagar: Sammy Hagar pre-Van Halen… I suppose it’s a decent song, but I have a hard time considering Sammy Hagar “hard rock,” due to him adding ballads to Van Halen’s list of “accomplishments.”

99. We're an American Band- Grand Funk Railroad: Grand Funk Railroad is hard rock? Well, OK.

98. Lit Up- Buckcherry: I never understood Buckcherry’s appeal when they first came out when I was like 14, perhaps cuz I was too angry to listen to a band that sounded like a newer Black Crowes. Now, 10 years later I heard this song again, and realized why I didn’t like them; because they were mediocre, as were the Black Crowes.

97. Frankenstein - Edgar Winter: That riff is pretty hard rock! But not one of my favorite songs by a long shot.

96. Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas: Ah, no. Kansas is about as hard rock as a stuffed koala bear.

95. Higher - Creed: The day I consider Creed a hard rock band is the day I consider George W. Bush to be a good president. Seriously. These pseudo-spiritual Pearl Jam rip-offs are by far one of the top 3 worst things to happen to music in the past 15 years. And did you see Scott Stapp’s new style? He went from looking like a grunge-era reject to looking like an American Idol reject. Asshole.

94. I Believe In a Thing Called Love - The Darkness: Never took this song seriously, probably because Justin Hawkins’ vocals made Barry Gibb sound like Barry White, but I suppose it was a throwback to all those emo bands who took themselves too seriously.

93. Turn Up the Radio - Autograph: Don’t care about this song enough. Your typical 80s rock song.

92. Don't Tell Me You Love Me - Night Ranger: Don’t tell me that Night Ranger is a hard rock band.

91. Bullet With Butterfly Wings - Smashing Pumpkins: Definitely one of their heaviest moments. “Despite all my rage I’m still just a rat in a cage.” Defines rage to a T.

90. Aqualung - Jethro Tull: Art rock w/ flutes… normally, not very “hard rock,” but believe it or not the Aqualung album had some pretty heavy moments.

89. Party Hard - Andrew W.K.: I always thought this guy was a colossal joke. Some things should stay in 2001, much like how hair metal should have stayed in 1988.

88. Would? - Alice In Chains: I’m surprised they picked “Would?” I thought “Man In The Box” would be a shoe-in, but I’m not complaining. “Would?” is one of Alice In Chain’s best songs, one of their most poignant, and only got sadder with Layne Staley’s death. I find it hard to sit through an Alice In Chains record, though.

87. Seventeen - Winger: Oh sure, this is hard rock… Lars Ulrich made that Kip Winger dartboard because Metallica was envious on how rockin’ Winger was compared to them!

86. The Beautiful People - Marilyn Manson: Marilyn Manson is a joke now, but this song (and the Antichrist Superstar album) didn’t fuck around. Ah, memories.

85. Slither - Velvet Revolver: Good song. But, like Audioslave, VR was more of a case of curiosity to see how members of 2 different bands of two different types could work together.

84. I Wanna Be Somebody - W.A.S.P.: Not into WASP. Kiudos to them for pissing off Tipper Gore, though. I wonder how Tipper Gore found out about “Fuck Like a Beast,” though… or “Golden Showers” by the Mentors, as opposed to more obvious mainstream targets, such as Prince and Twisted Sister…

83. Bring Me to Life - Evanescence: No disrespect, but Evanescence isn’t really hard rock. Amy Lee has a good voice, but she sings like the same 5 notes in every song.

82. Since You've Been Gone - Rainbow: Why not “Stargazer?” Or “Man on the Silver Mountain?” Or any song with Ronnie James Dio upfront? Nope. The voters have spoken, and decided they like their Rainbow songs to be early 80s cheesy and sung by a guy who was pretty much hard rock’s version of the guy from Mr. Mister.

81. Heaven and Hell - Black Sabbath: Well, here’s Dio now, speak of the devil… To me though, Sabbath will always be the original line-up with Ozzy.

Next up are the songs from 80-61. Stay tuned.

New Year, New Approach

2009-01-04T14:12:00.000-08:00

I rung in the new year tipsy and sad. Not a good way to start the last year of the trainwreck called the 2000s. I can't say life has been at all stable the last few months or so. The job market's dim, the economy sucks, Israel & Hamas are fighting each other to holy hell, and now I'm fighting a cold. But why should I let it continually get me down? Why should my mind be a never ending tidal wave of bad thoughts and negative emotions?

I'm just glad that the holidays are over. The holidays put everything on pause, and don't tell me it doesn't! People go off their diets, employers put off hiring people, and people hold off on changing their lives for the cliched New Years Resolution. Including me.

But this year, things are gonna be different. They better be. I've learned to fight through how exhausted and depressed I get to just move forward and get things I need to get done. I've learned to save money better than I have been the past few years. I've learned that as a person I'm OK, and I'm 18 credits shy of a Bachelor's Degree. I've learned that I'm capable of kicking ass, and that beating myself up all the time just doesn't get anywhere.

There will be a lot more entries in this blog. There will be a lot more money in my bank account. There will be nothing but positive things this year, goddammit!

My friend Joe is leaving for Iraq in a couple of days. He's in the Air Force. Thankfully, he won't be in a combat zone, but I'm still worried about his safety. It's still so goddamn unstable over there (although, last month, casualties there were at an all-time low since the war started). Tonight's his last hurrah here. My friends and I are going to a steakhouse. It'll be fun but bittersweet. He is letting me housesit his Playstation 3 for 5 months, so I guess that's one positive. I'll miss him though. We got to be pretty close over the past year or so.

So, yeah, I'm gonna start the new year off by commenting on VH1's mostly pathetic list of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs they had on the past week. Those list shows used to be pretty good, but now they let fans vote, and most music fans I think are 5/8's retarded. I mean, how else can you explain Britney Spears' latest musical abortions outselling pretty much everything else out there? Anyway, I'll get to work on that within the next day or so. I'll also be looking for more online freelancing jobs and a normal shit job to keep the $$$ rolling in... sort of.

Year in Review: Part One

2008-12-28T08:59:00.000-08:00

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?:
- Drove thru Manhattan, got a credit card, shit I dunno.

2. 2008’s Goals:

-Travel more (which I failed at)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?:
-my friend's brother had a kid, but he's not really close to me.

4. Did anyone close to you die?:
-No, thank goodness. Though one of my ex-coworkers died in May, which was kind of a bummer

5. What countries did you visit?:
-the U.S & A.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?:
-Less drama, more responsibility, more direction in life.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?:
-9/22/08 - the My Bloody Valentine show, 8/9/08 - my sister's play, 11/4/08 - Obama won the election, 12/6/08 - I moved back home

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?:
-Not losing my shit, and developing more of a skin.

9. What was your biggest failure?:
-Not dealing with issues well, procrastinating everything.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?:
-No.

11. What was the best thing you bought?:
-muisc gear, and those My Bloody Valentine tickets.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?:
-53% of the American public

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?:
-the other 47% of the public, my parents.

14. Where did most of your money go?:
-Bills.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?:
-The shows I went to, Obama winning the election

16. What songs will always remind you of 2008?:
- "Tell the World" by Vivian Girls, "Machine Gun" by Portishead.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i) happier or sadder?: sadder
ii) thinner or fatter?: the same
iii) richer or poorer?: poorer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?:
-traveling, being happy and not dwelling on the past

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?:
-Beating myself up for shit that wasn't my fault

20. How did you spend Christmas?:
-my sister's crib in Queens. No poverty baskets this year!

22. Did you fall in love in 2008?:
-I've been in love since 2004

23. How many one-night stands?:
-none

24. What were your favorite TV programs?:
-none. Well, Bill Maher & MSNBC kept me sane thru the election

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?:
-I don't hate. In fact I let go of a lot of hate I was carrying, but some people got elimintaed from my Xmas card list, that's for damn sure!

26. What was the best book you read?:
-Women by Bukowski.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?:
-Portishead, Isis, Silver Apples, Vivian Girls, Wire

28. What did you want and get?:
-Out of Southbury, and being happy with myself for who I am.

29. What did you want and not get?:
-A new job, a lot of my debt not paid off.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?:
-I didn't see too much, I'd say Stepbrothers.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?:
-I turned 23, spent it w/ my parents, went out for sushi

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?:
-Too much.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?:
-I know what I like, and I like what I know.

34. What kept you sane?:
-My girlfriend, my friends, music, writing, getting lost in video games.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?:
-Anne Hathaway.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?:
-Prop 8, Sarah Palin....but definitely the election in general.

37. Who did you miss?:
-A few people.

38. Who was the best new person you met?:
-Didn't really meet anyone new this year that I really liked. Miranda from the Newtown Starbucks lately, but I didn't keep in touch w/ her after I was let go.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
-That I'm fine the way I am, and don't let anyone affect who you are.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

-"I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me."

Xmas Sucks!

2008-12-20T04:31:00.001-08:00

So we're coming to the end of perhaps the most depressing Christmas season in my lifetime, with the bad economy and all. I hate Christmas anyway, but this year especially. Seriously, I just wish it was January... actually flash forward to April of next year so the miserable winter will be over. And put an end to this damn recession too! Kill all the greedy bastards that helped cause it! Chuck shoes at your boss when you get laid off! That'll get the point across!

Here are the Top 5 Things I Hate About Christmas... the top 5 things that make you want to commit some Holiday Harakiri:

1. TV commercials: Celebrate the birth of Jesus by buying shit you can't afford! Max out your already maxed credit cards to buy your daughter a Hannah Montana doll you'll donate to the poor next year! I especially hate those BMW commercials, where some snooty bourgeois fuck looks out the window and sees a shiny BMW/Mercedes/Lexus SUV with a big red bow around it. Why are they even advertising? For the rich 1% that the Bush Administration didn't screw over? Most people this day in age can't even afford a junky $2500 1992 Ford Taurus in the car lot on the bad side of town, let alone a car that's $35K at the cheapest.

2. Snow: We just got our first major snowstorm yesterday here in Connecticut, Five to 8 inches of cold, white, frosty goodness draped across every street, driveway, house and car, making it fun to drive in, and even more fun to shovel and clean up! And even more fun if you're a seasonal UPS driver helper getting paid slave wages to deliver QVC packages to rich housewives who live near a country club. Ho ho fucking ho!

3. Xmas Music: I hate Xmas music. HATE IT! HATE HATE HATE! Every radio station, and every place I go to blares it, and it sounds like a cow getting castrated with a chainsaw to these ears (my next list will be Top Five Worst Xmas Songs Ever). The ones I hate the most aren't even your average "Jingle Bells," "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" type crap. It's the ones that are either done over by popular artists, or when they write their own. I've worked in restauarants and retail long enough to just want to kill the motherfucker who wrote "The Little Drummer Boy." Pa-rumpumpumpump this!

4. Post-Xmas Depression/The brevity of the holiday itself (same category): People stop flooding the streets to go shopping or to travel to their Xmas destinations once Xmas is over. Even where I live now (Bridgeport, CT which has about 150,000 people) is like a ghost town on December 26th. It's depressing. Xmas is like not getting laid for 6 months, having your girlfriend tease you by wearing a short skirt and high heels promising to do you but she has a period that never ends, her finally getting off her rag, you finally getting to score, and you cum within 2 minutes of fucking her; all that excitement, and buildup for nothing. And she only lays you once a year.

5. The Shit Always Hits The Fan Before, During or Right After Xmas: Ask any family. They'll always have a great, heartwarming Xmas story about how someone lost their job right before the holiday, their parents getting in a drunken fight on Xmas, or their asshole Dad checking into rehab right after Xmas (That's me!). I don't want to rehash bad Xmas memories at the moment, but holy fucking shitballs, I've had some terrible Xmas moments that not even Bukowski or any great contemporary fiction writer can come up with.

It's only 5 days until Xmas, and I will be on an "I Hate the Holidays" tangent that will end as soon as I pack up the Xmas tree and put it back in the storage room! The sooner this holiday is over, and the sooner 2008 is over, the happier I will be. Bah Humbug!

I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me

2008-12-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

I refuse to let this become a blog consisting of my whining. That's what livejournal was for, and I've gotten to really hate airing out my dirty laundry on the internet. It usually has some pretty bad repercussions. In fact, that's kind of why I'm here today; not in a terribly great position financially, my personal possessions being held for ransom, and back somewhere that's more familiar. It's a hard adjustment. A lot of tears, anger, emotions... and self-realization. Though, this was a long time coming, and I can't place blame over anything that may have acted as an outside catalyst.

Whatever 'personal' blog entries I do write in this thing are epiphanies - revelations, if you will. They're moments of clarity being expressed in writing, and my patterns of self-sabotage, anger and regression have not worked out for me. It hit me the other day that I'm 23 and one half years, and I should be a lot farther than I am. I also know that it's not too late to change anything and turn your life around, and really, I could be doing a lot worse.

So, 2008 needs to end, like seriously. Next year is the last year in a pretty shitty decade, but I can always make the 2000s right, even if it's almost over if you really think about it. And why not make the remaining 18 days of the year good?

2008-12-05T03:31:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's December already. Where the fuck did this year go? Well, come December 31st, good riddance! This year blew more than Bristol Palin at her homecoming dance!

So what's been up? I landed that UPS drver help job till Xmas Eve, managed to get most of my Xmas shopping done, put some money away, and work on my writing a little bit. Speaking of writing, go to http://blog.photos2view.com, because I wrote a few articles for that and working on a long term relationship with the blog's owner. I can now say that I'm a freelancer (even if I'm not making very much money doing that, but some is better than none). My girlfriend and I even went out for the first time in a while. We saw a movie (Twilight, which SUCKED, but we saw just to see what the fuss was about, and we hadn't been to a movie in a while) and went out for a cheap, but very delicious Chinese meal. Seriously, we've barely done much of anything the past few weeks.

I have to stop watching the news and reading the news. It's depressing. All this talk of recession, bailouts, layoffs, and greedy CEOs on their knees asking for bailouts while flying private jets is making me discouraged about finding another permanent job. I have my days where I'm just a complete downer, consumed by negative thoughts, and that never leads to anything good; the past few years should be an indication of that. I overthink and overanalyze things and kind of view everything like it's the apocalypse sometimes. I get panicky, anxious, irritable, pissed off, and bitter. But when it all comes down to it I shouldn't be.

Things could be a lot worse. I could be entirely jobless. I could be homeless. I could be a woman in Darfur getting raped by militiants watching her kids being macheted. McCain could have won the election, and the U.S. could have turned into a fascist state under Bush. It could be a lot worse.

This holiday season is just full of pressure. It's hard to tackle even a crappy seasonal job. Both my girlfriend and I are struggling financially, and have been rejected for many jobs. I'm worried about after Xmas when UPS lays me off. I'm worried about having to pick up extra cash by doing temp jobs w/ lowlifes (Labor Ready... I did that a few years back during a worse period). I guess it's all about how you make it. Maybe people who aren't lowlifes are seeking temp jobs as well. Actually, I know that for a fact.

So I just have to stay positive, keep trying even when I'm exhausted, and remember that I'll come out on the other side. And, most importantly, I'm not the only one suffering, and I'm capable of making things awesome for myself.

Now, if only I could stop my brain from going 8 million miles per hour...

Every bottom has a trapdoor...

2008-11-20T14:00:00.000-08:00

As much as I bitched about the lack of sunlight last week, things started to look up that week as the sun finally peaked through the clouds on Sunday. I had a bid on some freelance writing job, and the guy who owns the blog decided to give me a go. It's not much money ($20 for 10 articles, so far), but hey it's something.

Then, the douchebags at the newspaper I guess have an issue with people doing more than one paper route with the weather approaching freezing, so one of my 2 routes got cut, which slices my current income of $350 a week (sometimes more, sometimes less) in half. So, I have 2 good checks coming in, then it's back to being the hobo I was in September, except with no awesome My Bloody Valentine shows to make me feel exhilarated , and with friggin' X-Mas coming up! Plus, my 2 front tires are balding, and need to come up w/ $200 by next month to get 'em replaced without having to borrow any more money from my parents and then having them give me one of their lectures about where my money goes, and that I'm in debt, and yadda yadda yadda. Seriously, I've been living pretty econo lately. I go out maybe once a week, eat cheap, and haven't really had any urges to buy anything for myself, save a couple of records earlier in the month. In fact, I kinda want to sell everything I own just to get out of hock. I know I won't, and really I don't want to, but that's why I'm doing that 'housecleaning' project.

So I've been applying everywhere, tryin' to get interviews. I have 3 lined up for next week. I have an interview at UPS tomorrow. I worked there in 2005, talk about regression. Well, regression rhymes with RECESSION! I've been trying to get another job since September, so I can actually TRY to get out of debt, but nothing has pulled through yet, so now I'm getting a job just to break even again.

I feel like my life is playing like a sad Bruce Springsteen song... I've been feeling "Atlantic City" lately, but I haven't been driven to kill anyone yet out of desperation, and I don't have any kids (thank God).

My mantra lately is "I'll get it right one day."

Dirge Blog For November

2008-11-15T13:28:00.000-08:00

Around the same time every year (late October-mid November), I just feel blah. No other words to describe it. And it could be because Daylight Savings Time ends and we lose one hour of sunlight every day.

The past week, I feel like I've been living a Joy Division song (Decade, maybe, or something less macabre but intensely dreary; Atmosphere or Dead Souls, or perhaps even Colony). I also feel like the entire Dirt album by Alice In Chains; sluggish, bleak, exhausted and trying to find a way to keep your shit together.

The past 4 or 5 days have been miserable, and rainy. The past 4 or 5 days, I haven't done much of anything but sleep. I work overnight from 2:30 to 6 delivering papers, and on a normal day, I sleep lightly. I usually wake up at 11 or 12, sometimes 1 or 2 if I'm really tired. Lately, though, I've been waking up later and later, and whenever I do set an alarm for 11:30 (because I have to look for another job and do errands I've been putting off), I can't get out of bed for the life of me. I feel like my bed is made up of Krazy Glue and I can't loosen myself from it. Today, I set my alarm for 12, and didn't get out of bed until 2. Thursday, I didn't get out of bed until 4:45 in the afternoon. And I feel like shit because of it. It's not like I really needed the sleep or anything, or enjoyed it. I've been feeling like I've accomplished next to nothing, or done next to nothing, and it's been like one long day that will never end.

To counter that, and try to make myself not depressed, I've been listening to nothing but jazz, Parliament/Funkadelic and Prince. And Patti Smith's Horses album gets me goin'. I need upbeat music. I heard Nirvana's "Something in the Way" the other day, a song I absolutely love, and felt suicidal. I think those dimwits who shot themselves after listening to Judas Priest did it on an overcast, crappy day. Bad call. If it were raining, you should have borrowed your little sister's Bangles record. It would have saved Judas Priest a trip to court!!

Seriously, though. The sun needs to come out. November sucks enough, with it getting dark at 4:30 in the afternoon, and the weather getting cold. Fuck you, November!

Another one bites the dust...

2008-11-12T18:11:00.001-08:00

If I were to take the original master tapes of the 3 Jimi Hendrix Experience records and mix them according to who was still alive today, you wouldn't hear anything (not including guest musicians, which was especially prevalent during Electric Ladyland).

That's right folks; I just found out via Tim Napalm's Myspace blog, and Pitchfork Media that the last surviving member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Mitch Mitchell, was found dead in his Portland hotel room this morning. Natural causes, they say. A real shame. A real drag. Jimi died in 1970. Bassist Noel Redding died in 2003, and now Mitch Mitchell has joined them.

Mitchell was an extraordinary drummer, and one of the most underrated. He emerged in an era where drummers began to gain the spotlight in music, and he competed with the ranks of Ginger Baker, Keith Moon and John Bonham. With the exception of Bonham, Mitchell, in my opinion, was a far better drummer than the drummers of that era. It was that Jimi Hendrix was a bona fide guitar god, and people were marveled by his antics that Mitchell's drumming, always a source for acclaim, was kind of left in the dark. His drumming was frantic, jazzy and inventive. Motherfucker could create some killer drum fills. Listen to the drum fills in "Manic Depression," and you'll know what I'm talking about. Whenever I had a conversation about the Jimi Hendrix Experience, I always recognized Mitchell's drumming, in addition to the obvious genius of Hendrix. It's a shame that he didn't do too much, aside from under-the-radar session work, after Hendrix's death in 1970. He did however, just complete a tour with a few fellow musicians (Kenny Wayne Shephard, Buddy Guy and Aerosmith's Brad Whitford, to name a few) dubbed the Experience Hendrix Tour 2008, which celebrated the life and music of his former bandmate.

Predeceasing Mitchell this year was another Hendrix collaborator, Buddy Miles, who played with Hendrix during his short-lived Band of Gypsies. Miles died in February.

Damn! These classic rockers keep dropping like flies! And all the good ones, too!

Here's some classic Jimi Hendrix Experience

"The creator has a master plan..."

2008-11-12T03:16:00.000-08:00

As a result of my housecleaning project (see below), I also came across a bunch of old CD-Rs that I hadn’t touched in a long time. I really haven’t had any use for CDs in the past couple of years, because CDs suck and I have an iPod with a pretty high storage capacity. In fact, I made back-up discs for all my CDs, sold them all, and made about $500. I still have a few CDs that either are on CD-Rs, or I can’t find the case or the insert to them (therefore, I can’t sell them), so I kept them in one of those spindles that CD-Rs come in. Always keeping inventory of my music collection, I decided that I should listen to them again. It wouldn’t hurt to rediscover some old stuff I loved when I was in high school.

Since the age of 15, I have been into jazz. I like Miles Davis a lot, and I worship John Coltrane. I go through phases where I listen to jazz incessantly, from the dissonant grooves of Ornette Coleman, to the whimsical stylings of Thelonious Monk’s Misterioso. I’ve always been drawn to avant-garde jazz (or free jazz), basically where jazz musicians say “fuckall” to conventional structures, and just play what they feel. It’s a generally misunderstood art form, and I even knew some hardcore jazz fans who found Coltrane’s Ascension to be “too out there,” even if they love Charles Mingus. But I get it. A lot of it is pretty genuine, but there are others who are avant-garde and experimental just for the sake of being so (and being able to tell the difference is an accomplishment on its own, a small victory for me).

Kenneth* and I were very into jazz during high school. We would listen to jazz records all the time; we would go to the library to rent jazz CDs, download notable jazz records online, and trade recommendations with one another. I went through a phase where I listened to these jazz records more than I listened to rock. I still would put Coltrane’s A Love Supreme in my personal Top Five records ever.

During my daily paper routes, I usually tune in to the local college radio station (WXCI – WestConn) but I guess after hours, they have a set playlist until regular programming resumes, so the same songs, most of them great, are getting kind of tiresome and repetitive. Regular radio sucks, and I’m too paranoid to leave my iPod in the car when I make deliveries (though, sometimes, I walk with my headphones on, but they get uncomfortable after a while). For the last week, these old CDs I have suffice just fine.

I put on an old jazz record I used to love, but had forgotten about; Karma by Pharoah Sanders. Sanders was a protégé of Coltrane during his experimental, free jazz period, and served as a sideman for him from 1965 until Coltrane died in 1967. I haven’t heard anything except some of his work with Coltrane and the aforementioned Karma LP, so I’m not gonna pretend like I know his entire back catalogue, although I intend to plunge into it headfirst soon. I put it on, and I immediately was transported back to when I was 16 or 17, and hearing it in my room for the first time. The opening notes to “The Creator Has a Master Plan” almost drove me to tears, and I was captivated immediately.

I put that track on repeat, and listened to it 3 times in a row. The track is 32 minutes and 47 seconds long…

That’s right. I spent over an hour and a half listening to the same song only 3 times. Some people do this with your average three or four minute songs. Not me. I do this with extended jazz compositions that grasp at your soul, flare up your heart, and make you feel like you are immortal.

From the opening four notes of Sanders’ wailing saxophone, you know that you’re in for an interstellar journey. The introduction alone is resonant in a way that most music just isn’t. After about two minutes, the main theme to the song begins, and along with a bassline reminiscent of Coltrane’s “Acknowledgement,” a flute, and exotic percussion instruments, Sanders solos for several moments, with not one note out of place, and not one second bordering on the song becoming repetitive or self-indulgent. The vocals finally start around 7:26, provided by the song’s co-author, Leon Thomas, an avant-garde jazz vocalist, and a disciple to Sanders. The lyrics to this song are very simplistic, yet effective, telling of a higher being whose ultimate plan for the universe is eternal grace for everyone.

The lyrics:

The creator has a master plan,
peace and happiness for every man
The creator has a working plan,
peace and happiness for every man
The creator makes but one demand,
happiness through all the land

In the liner notes, there are two additional verses, but Leon Thomas probably forgot to sing them. Oh well.

Then there’s the focal point of the song, which starts around 15:40 (stupid emo kids call it a breakdown, I call it the emotional zenith!). It starts off as a sped-up variation of the main theme of the piece, with Sanders just reaching deep into his soul and exerting these notes that are so primal and so passionate that it seems like his life is dependent on them, and Thomas singing and wailing as if he was experiencing an epiphany or a great deal of joy. And I wish I could be right there with him, getting a contact high on whatever he was feeling. Let’s not forget that the other musicians in that song (James Spaudlin on flute, Lonnie Liston Smith on piano, Richard Davis on bass, Billy Hart on drums, and Nathaniel Bettis on percussion) playing from their souls, and adding as perfect sidemen to Sanders (17:29 – 28:14).

After that, the song basically goes back to its variation, and Leon Thomas reiterating about the creator’s master plan. After the piece finally ends, you feel like you have been given a gift. Not only are you alive, but you live in a world where sound and technology has advanced to the point where seemingly perfect and evanescent moments such as these at your convenience. This may be just me, a cynical atheist who lost his faith in organized religion at the age of 9, but this song makes me feel that maybe there is a god of some sort that wants us all to be happy. The song’s lyrics, probably derived from the teachings of Buddha, are praising a higher deity in its simplest terms, which, in my opinion, is the correct way. If I were to believe in a higher power, I would be a Deist. I would believe in a higher power that created the world and all that, and wants us all to be happy, but does not interfere with your life, much like the Christian God portrayed in the Bible (or as Bill Maher calls it, “The book of Jewish fairy tales.”).

As one critic once wrote, “The Creator Has a Master Plan” is like a sequel to A Love Supreme. It’s not only that, but it’s a testament to Coltrane’s influence, as well as a cathartic tribute. Nickelbackers won’t get it, nor will I expect them to, but for those who look for music that is emotionally charged with joy, and need a break from anger or melancholia, this is one of those rare pieces.

Addendum:

I was on eBay the other day, just browsing, and I searched for records that the auctions on them were soon expiring. Lo and behold, I found Pharoah Sanders’ Karma. The original Impulse! label pressing from 1969 for $10. I placed a bid on it for $15.00, and guess what happened? That’s right. I was five seconds away from winning, and some douchebag OUTBID ME A THE LAST SECOND!!!!! I was so pissed off.

I wept. Like a kid with a broken toy…

Hope’s not lost. I found a few more copies of it on eBay stores, going for around $20. A small price to pay for spirituality you can’t find in your local congregation.

Housecleaning Time in Kyleland

2008-11-11T19:15:00.000-08:00

There was a point in time that lasted for years that I would buy or collect things just to have them around. Clothes, records, books, movies, video games. I used to keep CDs and records if there were maybe three songs I liked from the record, or if I was just too lazy to MP3 them, and burn onto a CD (or, more recently, transfer them to my iPod). I kept movies I enjoyed a couple of times, or video games I enjoyed playing a couple of times, and what for? In the battle of quantity versus quality, quantity won for a long time. Friends are not exempt from this category. I used to add people on my Myspace page that I was nothing more than mere acquaintances with, or add people to my AIM Buddy List I’d talk to maybe once or twice. Perhaps it was a manifestation of my ever-persistent desire to be accepted or “popular.” Perhaps I was just a paranoid, insecure kid who thought that people would look down on me if I only had a handful of Myspace friends, or phone contacts. A testament to my stupidity and naiveté, I know.

Right before I moved around July, I started doing an inventory list of everything I had. All my records, DVDs, video games, books, and clothes… scattered in piles in my room with no A/C. Writing down what I had in a notebook. Everything went into generally two categories (with a third category being added, contingent on whether or not I liked something); the “No Shit Sherlock” Keepers, and the “You Know I’m Not Sure If I Like This/I’ve Never Fully Played This To Make an Educated Decision” Up For Review items. It took me a few hours to sort through everything, and write everything down, but I did it. I should have been packing them at the persistent request of my dad and stepmother, but I’m the King of Procrastination. But, I figured that this was a perfect opportunity to at least start such a daunting project, because frankly, a lot of my shit was just taking up room, and was usually purchased at the expense of personal and financial responsibility (a bad habit I’ve had for years; I might be a spend-a-holic).

Now, don’t get me wrong. A lot of the things I own I’m proud to have. My record collection (yes, records, the stuff before CDs and iPods, and even cassette tapes; I’m old school) has some great stuff I’ve acquired over the years. A lot of my finds I’m especially proud of. But then there are some records that I’ve acquired from thrift stores and old collections I’ve come across that I just don’t care for, as well as some overplayed and overrated classic rock albums I owned just to have them on vinyl. Sure, Back in Black sounds great on vinyl, better than on CD, but I really don’t need it. I’m tired of AC/DC! And if I hear their latest song again, which sounds like a rewrite of most of their other songs from the past 30 years or so, I’m gonna kill someone! As for video games, I’m old school as well. I’ll kick anyone’s ass in Street Fighter II (even when I’m drunk, as one of my friends found out one Halloween when I was shitfaced on Dubra), and Super Mario 3 for the regular Nintendo still gets my vote as the greatest game ever made, I don’t care how realistic graphics are nowadays! The most recent system I have is a PS2… I’m like 10 years behind on video games. Not that it really matters. DVDs? It’s pretty easy to buy a movie you like and think you’ll watch them a lot, but I’ve realized that that only applies to a few select ones. Clothes, you wear ‘em out, you outgrow ‘em, it’s natural. Books, you read ‘em once, maybe twice, and they just sit there. I used to think that money bought happiness. I was told that it doesn’t, but I used to prefer finding things out for myself, sometimes at my expense, and sure enough, it doesn’t. As I gazed at my possession sprawled across my bedroom that humid July afternoon, I realized that I felt as empty as I had ever since my senior year of high school. I had been nursing a void that had been persistent ever since I was young (see that long-winded entry about friends and letting go below), and what a pathetic way to fill it… with stuff that you can lose in a fire, or get stolen, Jah forbid.

So for the past few months, I’ve been on-and-off, playing the video games, listening to the records, and watching the films that I had put up for review. It’s an overwhelming process. I put it off a lot. But when I’m at it full force, it feels pretty liberating. The things that are worth keeping, I just put back on the shelves. The things that are not worth keeping I intend to sell (selling being that third category). FYE gives cash for used DVDs given they’re in good shape, so I’ve made a few runs there and got some money back for them. Amelia and I have been consigning old clothes, jewelry, and assorted knick-knacks to a consignment shop, and we’ve managed to rack in a good amount of dough for that. As for my retro video games and records, for now I’m gonna try my luck with eBay. I’m sure I can make some good money off of some of the shit I have! Some of the records I ultimately didn’t like too much are pretty generous in value. I have a mono copy of Jefferson Airplane’s “Surrealistic Pillow,” the original 1967 pressing, and see people sell it on there for upwards to $100, and I’m sure that there are some young record collectors who would like some of my old Van Halen records. Even old Nintendo games sell for a lot of money, depending on the popularity and scarcity of them, since, you know, they don’t make them anymore. For all the money I wasted on them, I might as well try to get some of that money back, and put it to good use. I am in a good amount of debt right now, and I’m just too old for pissing my money away.

As far as friends go, the delete button is still hard to press for a few people. I have a hard time diminishing or extracting people out of my life, mainly for the sole purpose that they’re people. People are composed of blood, skin and feelings, and an old Springsteen record won’t care if I get rid of it. But, you know what? I’m sure half the people on my AIM list and Myspace friends I haven’t had contact with in years won’t be affected one bit if they have one less friend on there. And if they do care, they can always add me back. Myspace is stupid. Fuck Myspace! I just deleted one-third of my “friends.”

Yet, there are a couple of people I’m just confused about. There are people you develop connections with, and there are people you can tell a lot of yourself to, but they turn out to be unreliable. I don’t know whether we’re friends or we just use each other for time, attention and a pair of ears. You know those types… the type that will talk to you once for a long time, then not talk to you for like a couple of months and make it a tedious and exasperating task to even try to hang out with them. I used to be able to take that with a grain of salt. I used to endure my stomach boiling out of anger and hurt feelings and write it off as an allergic reaction to milk, even if I had eaten no dairy products that day. I should just confront them and be like “So are you in or out? Cuz I ain’t doing this shit anymore.” One less person on my mind would be great at this time. I have too much to do to worry about other people’s perceptions and bullshit.

I already went over this “friends suck worse than the people who hate you” thing in my “letting go” entry, and it does fit in with the theme of this entry, using cheesy architectural metaphors. And no, I did not attend “The Plan.” But your life is essentially a house that needs regular and consistent upkeep, and too much clutter just makes your state of affairs a huge mess, and that gets in the way of everything. However, the more progress I make with sorting out my personal inventory, paying off my debts, and getting my life even the slightest in order, the better I feel. Unfortunately, it's like a colonic of the soul. It's a pain in the ass! but the results are positive. Invigoration, here I come!

If music be the food of love, play on...

2008-11-10T13:53:00.000-08:00

This blog is going to feature more shit about music.

I'm gonna start a webpage devoted to music reviews.

I realized this today while working the paper routes, and listened to a 33 minute jazz epic two times in a row. I'm rediscovering all the freaky jazz records I was into my junior & senior years of high school.

More on that later.

Epiphany.

One of those survey things, stolen from my sister

2008-11-08T21:26:00.000-08:00

1. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up?

I’m gonna have to go with Sarah Palin on this one. Hard choice, and unoriginal, because my sister gave the same answer on her blog when she did this questionnaire. But, the talk of MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, etc. is that Sarah Palin is seen as the GOP’s possible future during its stage of regrouping and reprioritizing its ideals, while Barack Obama enjoys a well-deserved presidency, even if Sarah Palin is one of the most divisive cunts ever to tarnish the national stage. Then the GOP will have to find someone entirely new. Muahahahahaha!

2. You can flip a switch that will wipe any band or musical artist out of existence. Who will it be?

Just one? AHHHH! Do NOT ask a music snob this question. It’s a tossup between Miley Cyrus and Panic At The Disco. Panic, I think wins because they might have just a little more longevity than Miley.

3. Who would you really like to just punch in the face?

Dane Cook. And tell him that he’s not funny, and to stop stealing jokes from good comedians.

4. What is your favorite cheese?

Not a cheese guy. But I like me some mozzarella (fresh, or on pizza)

5. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your immediate disposal. What kind of sandwich will you eat?

Grilled chicken, with a slice of turkey bacon, romaine lettuce and BBQ sauce, served with an awesome pickle on the side.

6. You have the opportunity to sleep with the movie celebrity of your choice. We are talking no-strings-attached sex and it can only happen once. Who is the lucky celebrity of your choice?

Anne Hathaway, hands down!

7. You have the opportunity to sleep with the music celebrity of your choice, who will it be?

Joanna Newsom!!!!! I’d say Tori Amos circa 1992 or so, but she has that whole rape trauma thing, and from what I heard, mace sucks.

8. Now that you've slept with two people in a row, you seem to be having an excellent day because you just came across a hundred-dollar bill on the sidewalk. What do you buy?

Records

9. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

I’d say Paris. Or possibly Amsterdam. I wouldn’t have much fun though, as I am broke.

10. An angel appears out of heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the beverage of your choice. It is?

v-8 Splash!

11. Rufus appears out of nowhere with a time-traveling phone booth. You can go anywhere in the PAST. Where do you go?

I hate this question. How many places and time periods do I get to go to? You should specify!

12. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place?

No assholes or douchebags allowed! Hey, you have to start somewhere!

13. You have been given the opportunity to create the half-hour TV show of your own design. What is it?

“Shoot Assholes Out of a Cannon!” This week’s guest, Rush Limbaugh and that caller on his show that called the Obama supporters at Grant Park in Chicago on Election Night “Bolsheviks.”

14. What is your favorite curse word?

Fuck. Because you still can’t say it on network TV 

15. One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren't really doing anything, what do you do?

Kick ‘em in the balls!

16. Your house is on fire! What do you do?

Make like David Lee Roth’s spandex pants and SPLIT!

17. The Angel of Death has descended upon you. Fortunately, the Angel of Death is pretty cool and in a good mood, and it offers you a half-hour to do whatever you want before you bite it. Whatcha gonna do in that half-hour?

Kill the Angel of Death!

18. You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and whats even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What super-power is it?

Flying. I’d say teleporting, but… I like scenery and listening to my iPod when I travel!

19. You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?

If I went back anywhere, I would be tempted to want to live past that half-hour and carry on as life was then with what I know now and prevent me from making some dumb mistakes. I guess the My Bloody Valentine show during the last half hour.

20. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

I wouldn’t change anything, per se. How I dealt with it, maybe, but I wouldn’t change anything.

21. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check this out you can move anywhere. Where are you going?

England

22. This question still counts, even for those of you who are under age, if you were banned from every bar in the world except one, which one would it be?

I dunno. I guess Rudy’s

23. Hopefully you didn't mention this in the super-powers question... If you did, then we'll just expound on that. Check it out… Suddenly, you have gained the ability to fly! Whose house are you going to fly to first, and be like "Check it out I can FLY!?"

Amelia’s 

24. The constant absorption of magical moon beams mixed with the radioactive vegetables you consumed earlier has given you the ability to resurrect the dead famous person of your choice. So which celebrity will you bring back to life?

Kurt Cobain or Bill Hicks. They weren’t done yet!

New Day Rising

2008-11-07T21:03:00.000-08:00

Apologies in advance for the belatedness of this entry, but I have spent the last three days in shock. Three days ago, Barack Obama won the election for president by a sizable margin. Obama received 65,302,008 votes, more than anyone else in history, and 52.5% of the popular vote, while Republican John McCain received 57,335,106 votes, and 46.2% of the vote. With that said, the electoral college also worked out heavily in Obama's favor, surprisingly. He nabbed 364 votes (270 needed to win), while McCain trailed with 164 votes. By 11 PM EST, Obama was projected as the winner to this much-anticipated election, and John McCain gave his concession speech around 11:30. Obama won some of the heavily contested swing states in this election, including Virginia (who last voted Democratic for Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964), North Carolina (who hadn't had a Democrat win the state since Jimmy Carter in 1976), Florida (the one deciding state for George W. Bush in 2000), and Ohio (which cost John Kerry the election in 2004). He also won Indiana by a hair, and put Iowa and New Mexico back in the blue column after Bush nabbed them in 2004.

That day, I was a complete wreck. I voted, and spent the day anxious, nervous and irritable over the slight chance that the so-called Bradley effect would come into play, and John McCain's platform of being a "comeback kid" would result in the voting booths. For the first few hours of the votes being counted, I tried distracting myself by not watching the coverage on TV. I did, however, keep calling my mother every 30 minutes, and acting like Brad Pitt in Se7en after Kevin Spacey delivered that box with his wife's head in it, and Morgan Freeman not showing him the contents of the box. I was eventually told that Obama had shot up past the 200 mark with McCain pretty far behind. I then rushed to my girlfriend's house to watch perhaps the most crucial part of the election coverage.

The races for Ohio, Virgina, and Florida were still being counted. The press refused to project a winner for any of those states until the votes were 100% counted. By then, he was at 209 electoral votes. Between 9 and 10 PM, McCain managed to nab North Dakota and Nebraska. A total of 8 electoral votes (3 for North Dakota, and 5 for Nebraska). Woo-hoo. How threatening! McCain was now at 145, and he had already won Texas' 34 electoral votes, and most of the South as expected. However, the game-changer came at 10 PM EST, when the polls closed in California, Oregon and Washington. It was projected that Obama was going to win those states, like the Democrats have done so in the past 16 years, which gave him the three states' combined 72 electoral votes, which brought him past the 270 mark. Senator Barack Obama was now projected to be the 44th President of the United States. Shortly thereafter, Ohio, Florida, and Virginia added to Obama's total, which really sealed the lid on the McCain campaign's coffin.

When Obama made it past the 270 mark, the whole country exploded. People were celebrating in the streets everywhere, even in other countries. African-American congregations in Atlanta were dancing in churches, Times Square was an explosion of cheer and hope finally realized after 8 years of darkness, many people were crying, text messages and phone calls were made everywhere, and it was just a defining moment in American history. Other than 9/11, this is by far the most memorable major event to occur in my lifetime. A man of African-American descent has finally made it to the White House. The Bush-era has been wiped out with a bang. And I can sleep better now.

With that said, what's next for this country that has been through divisiveness, discord, mismanagement, and corruption for the past 8 years? We have 2 wars, a bad economy, a joke of an education system, and a health care crisis long neglected by elitism and greed. An election of a candidate as powerful and invigorating as Obama doesn't magically change things overnight, you know.

I can say this though; Sarah Palin can go back to Alaska and not bother us for a while. While she's at home in Wasilla, she can study a globe (bitch thought Africa was a country), read the U.S. Constitution, and shut the fuck up! Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh can take a good hard look at their parties they're so vehemently supportive of and realize that "Hey! The GOP fucked up!" and think before they run their mouths off. I will now laugh my ass off whenever I see Sean Hannity's stupid looking face on TV (I used to scream at him, much like my grandfather did during The Price is Right). John McCain can write a book called "When Your Party is in Trouble, This is How You Lose an Election" and detail every fuck-up of his campaign. And the U.S. can also look forward to being respected again on the international stage.

And this is a personal memo from me to President-elect Obama,

You have earned the confidence and trust of a good amount of voters and citizens of this nation you are now representing. I think you know this, but you did not waltz into a perfect situation. There is a lot at stake here; consumer confidence, two costly wars, jingoism, home foreclosures, health care, the cost of school, the list goes on. With a lot of other voters, you have to prove yourself. You have to prove to them that you're not a Marxist, you won't blow them up, you won't overtax them, you'll effectively manage the wars we're in right now, and get us back on our feet again with regards to the economy. You also have to prove to the people who worked so hard on your behalf for you to win this damn thing that their support and dedication was not wasted or misguided. I understand that there is a lot of pressure on your half, but you always appeared to be mild-tempered, cool, and calculated on the campaign trail and the debates. Let that same suave attitude carry over to the executive branch, and show some bona fide leadership. This country needs it. Besides, it wouldn't hurt for a reelection bid in 2012 either!

You are also now an inevitable historic figure. Even two months before your administration starts, if a guy were to write a history book of the United States, you would be written as our nation's first black president. Now, we've come a long way since the days of slavery, Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement, but racism is still existent in this country, I'm afraid. There are still some people who don't trust African-Americans, even if they aren't Nazi sympathizers, or Klansmen. As the nation's first black president, you MUST earn the trust of the American people, so that people won't be so weary or divided on whether or not to elect African-Americans into the Oval Office in the near future. It took this nation over 200 hundred years to even have an African-American presidential nominee, nonetheless a winner, so don't screw it up! I'm not saying you will, nor do I believe you will for even a second, but those people exist out there.

You have earned a distinguished honor, President-elect Obama. You seem ready to take it on without a hitch, and you're choosing your cabinet members, and making plans for your presidency. Never lose sight of why you ran for president, never forget the hardworking Americans who have put their confidence in you, and don't get blinded by bipartisanship or corruption. We don't need that shit anymore. Eight years of it with Bush and his criminal friends was more than enough, and look where it got us. We're now more divided as people than we have been in a long time, we're practically bankrupt, and the line between classes only seems to get thinner. I know you probably can't fix everything during your first term, but give it all you have. You have a good guy as your Vice President (Mr. Joe Biden) who has been in the Senate since 1972, and you have some good people looking out for you if you need help.

Oh, and President-elect Obama? Do us another favor; be very careful out there, as you are now a target. Granted, all major politicians are targets for psychos and assassins, but you especially need to take caution. I have been fortunate enough not to deal with any presidential assassinations so far, and I don't want to have to deal with JFK-redux. I don't want to hear that a white supremacist (or Ted Nugent) decided to blow your head off! Save us the despair... please.

YES!

2008-11-04T21:42:00.000-08:00

We did it!

Just got home from the voting booth...

2008-11-04T06:19:00.000-08:00

I just performed my civic duty as an American citizen. I filled in my ballot, and now Barack Obama and Joe Biden have one vote. My dad and stepmom voted for them too, so that makes three.

Well, the polls in Connecticut close at 8 PM EST...

The results should be pouring in as night falls...

"God, are you there? It's me, America."

Today should be interesting. At least we made it here, right?

"Is It The Fourth?"

2008-11-03T02:59:00.000-08:00

These were the last words of Thomas Jefferson, in which his doctor replied "It will soon be." On July 4, 1826, both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams passed away, 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I always found it fascinating that two of the signers (Jefferson, himself, drafted it) of the Declaration of Independence, as well as being 2 U.S. Presidents, died on the 50th anniversary of its signing. Five years later, in 1831, the nation's fifth president, James Monroe, also died.

Enough of my dorkiness, straight from my endless troth of (often) useless presidential information. Is it really the goddamn 4th yet?!?!? I just want the election to be over with! I'm tired of watching the campaign stops, the spin masters, the commentary. I'm tired of constantly checking the polls, and reading ignorant comments on message boards and YouTube. Yet, I'm a political junkie during election season. It gives me fodder for writing, and I can't help but be like a guy with a scratch on the roof of my mouth. But I'm getting tired. I just want to get it over with.

As of this morning, the polls lead in Barack Obama's favor. Most election-related websites have him in the lead in both the popularity polls and the electoral college polls. Most of these sites also predict that Obama will lead with over 300 electoral votes. They're usually correct. They predicted that the Bush/Kerry election of 2004 would be very close, which it was. It should also be stated that no presidential candidate as far behind in the polls as John McCain is in this point in time has come back to win an election. I just hope that doesn't change in the next 24 hours or so.

I'm still optimistic, albeit cautiously. Thanks to the stock market going kersplash, Obama clearly has an advantage, and most voters seem to be worried about the economy and who will get it back on track, rather than the skirmishes in the Middle East, Roe v. Wade, whether or not fags can get married (I use the term "fags" not as a jab towards homosexuals, but more as a jab towards those religious nutjobs and redneck bigots who use that word perhaps too literally, and voted for Bush based on his gay-marriage ban proposal back in '04) and who has more experience in politics. As optimistic as I am, and as much as I can't fathom things going wrong, I'm also very nervous. I'm hanging on the edge of my seat at this point, and I can't seem to shake the thoughts of the upcoming election for a mere 3 minutes. I just want it to happen one way or another, so I can move on from it. I'm prepared already. Stop with the anticipation! Stop with the time moving as fast as a snail on quaaludes!

I know I broke my promise to not write about the election until the election was over. But, fuck it. It's not like I made a bet on it or anything.

New Title

2008-11-01T22:46:00.000-07:00

I changed the title of my blog. It was "Nothing to fear, nothing to doubt," which in many ways is my personal mantra, but I changed it to something more striking in my opinion. "Do You Want Hannah Montana, or Do You Want the Truth?"

The title was inspired from a Minutemen song from 1984 entitled "Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth?" The Minutemen are one of my all-time favorite bands, and that song is one of the best songs ever. That band, for me, signifies being true to yourself and rejecting the status quo, and using the best of what you have to achieve greatness. As a part of the burgeoning 1980s American alternative rock movement, the Minutemen were perhaps the most unique band out of the Southern California punk/hardcore scene. Bands like Husker Du and Black Flag were often identified with heavily distorted guitars, fast songs, and anguished screaming, at least in the early days of the movement. The Minutemen played perhaps faster than anyone (most of their songs averaged less or a little more than a minute long), but their late guitarist/vocalist D. Boon never used distortion, and their vocals were more like campaigning politicians than pissed off kids who hated their parents. Therefore, the Minutemen were more a microcosm of their own. Most hardcore fans rejected them early on in their too brief career, and most of their contemporaries (particularly those on Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn's SST label) outsold them. But they were one of the most respected and revered bands of the 1980s. Shit, the press loved them.

As for that song, it says so much without saying much of anything (much like most Minutemen songs). As a brief encapsulation of their freethinking philosophy, "Do You Want New Wave..." is almost a mantra of using words to express thoughts and ideas that challenge people to think, and trying to get escape from their comfort zones (Duran Duran, perhaps?) to confront the truth. It also denounces the glitter and glam of mainstream Reagan-era society as a fraud, and saw their world of music and art expressed as a solace for many disaffected young people instead of a way to make a ton of money. For me, the message of the Minutemen (and a lot of other bands in that movement) resonates more than ever two decades later, as this decade has been marred by a turbulent economy, a disastrous presidency, and a society more superficial than it ever has been. My writing has always been very honest, and I don't hold back. I tell the truth. As for using Hannah Montana in the title for my blog, I think that she is the ultimate representation of superficiality in this generation. She is a product; an overexposed, commercialized, no substance, no talent product that the masses suck up like a vacuum. Forget the fact that her father was Billy Ray Cyrus, one of the 1990s worst musical figures (tied with Fred Durst and Vanilla Ice for my money). Remember "Achy Breaky Heart?" Remember his repulsive mullet? Well, he shot a load of semen into whoever was dumb enough to fuck him in 1992, and out came Hannah Montana (or Miley Cyrus, whatever her fucking name is; I think the role model for 9 year old girls today represents multiple-personality disorder, but that's another argument).

People don't think. Individuals do. I concur with whoever came up with that philosophy. People use trends to try to dull harsh realities, always have. In the 1980s, it was, in fact, the New Wave movement. I'm not talking about Elvis Costello, Blondie, Talking Heads New Wave. More like the Duran Duran, Culture Club, Human League New Wave, which occured a few years after the prementioned bands and the scene had become diluted. Nowadays, I can't go anywhere without seeing Hannah Montana's saccharine smile. This will never change. There will always be huge businessmen that want to get rich, and will always find something or someone to capitalize. They will put out products that will fly off department store shelves, sell out stadiums, make millions of dollars, and then be a cultural footnote in five years time. What will it be next? I'm almost scared to find out.

For now, here are the lyrics to the song that this rant was inspired from, and a video of the band performing the song 11 days before I was born (6/17/85), six months before D. Boon was killed in a van accident. To this day, their bassist Mike Watt still jams econo, and has never let money or whatever success he has had (which isn't very much, although he landed a gig playing with the reuinted Stooges, which is a pretty sweet deal!).

"Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth?"

a word war will set off the keg
"my words are war!" should a word have two meanings?
what the fuck for? should words serve the truth?
i stand for language
i speak the truth
i shout for history
i am the cesspool
for all the shit
to run down in

I Remember Halloween....

2008-11-01T02:51:00.000-07:00

Back when I was young, Halloween was the coolest time of year. It was my favorite holiday, after Christmas. Getting to dress up, roam the streets, and get as much free candy you can lift to last you a few weeks. It was the best. Sadly, now I'm too old to go trick-or-treating, and for the past few years I've spent most of my Halloweens drunk or stoned (except this one). I still wish I could be 9 years old for one night, and go from house to house getting candy sometimes.

Apparently, Halloween ain't what it used to be in the suburbs. It seems that I see less and less people out. I drove past my old neighborhood, and past trick-or-treating landmarks, with my girlfriend, to see if the streets would be swarmed with kids, as it was way back when. Back in the 90s, you were literally tripping over other kids trying to go to as many houses as possible. I was disappointed when I revisited my old street. Barely anyone was out. It was around 8 PM on a Friday. When I was a kid, regardless of what day of the week it was, 8 PM was peak time for trick-or-treaters, especially if Halloween fell on a day where there was no school the next morning! Has life gotten lame or what?

Seriously. What the fuck, youth of today? This is your one time of year to dress up as a hooligan, and get all the free candy you can shake a stick at! How often do you get to do this, and why aren't you taking advantage of it? You only are young once, you know! And what the fuck, parents of today? Are you scared to take your kids out? I think that may be the case. My friend's family owns a gymnastics studio, and she overheard parents saying that they're weary and nervous to take their kids out, and instead have parties for Halloween. Scared of what? Terrorists? Child molesters? Kids stupid enough to not get out of the road when they see a car? Take a fucking chance! Don't curb a little kid's excitement in lieu for some stupid party in your basement! That's fucking lame! Teach em some responsibility ferchrissakes!!!! How are they gonna learn anything in this world if you keep them from experiencing anything? Grow some balls!

I remember Halloween 2001, that trick-or-treating seemed to be on the decline. It was right after 9/11, and parents were concerned that Osama and his buddies had taken over a Kit-Kat factory, and spent their time adding anthrax to chocolate bars. What a crock of shit! I know that terrorism is a concern, especially in the modern world, but honestly, I think that they have more important things to do than to poison candy, and have suicide bombers prowl suburban neighborhoods waiting to take out a few kids dressed as pirates & superheroes! If that's the case for these uncertain and paranoid times, then seriously, get a life. Just because something bad is out there, doesn't mean you shouldn't live.

Is Halloween just dying? Will Halloween not exist if and when I have kids? I would hate to think of a future without it for some reason. Seeing the empty streets of my old neighborhood was very sad in such a way that there is some sort of loss of innocence rampant in the world. Hopefully, that sense of joy will come back. Because, seriously... Halloween has sucked for the past 8 years!

$150,000 can't buy class

2008-10-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

Last year, people gave John Edwards shit for being pro-middle class, and spending $400 on a haircut. Now, this year, Sarah Palin, the non-elitist, small town values girl spends $150K (twice as much as her gubernatorial salary) on a new wardrobe, and the GOP is calling foul.

Another GOP double-standard. Will it ever end?!?!?

I think there may be another civil war, between the "real" America and the "fake" one. Yet, who the fuck decides what states/cities are real America and what states/cities are fake? Aren't politicians supposed to be uniters during these divisive times? Here's what Joe Biden had to say:

I couldn't have said it any better.

I'm not writing anything about politics, pre-election. Watch Keith Olbermann or the Daily Show (or Sean Hannity if you're an idiot) for pre-election coverage. The final 2 weeks before an election are too much of a headache, and I need to distract myself from the presidential migraine.

Then The Letting Go...

2008-10-22T13:28:00.000-07:00

I did something this past weekend that I needed to do for a long time; I let go. For the past 5 or 6 years, I had spent a lot of time harboring feelings about people that ultimately mean nothing, and stunted my progression as a human being in all respects to try to impress people and to be something I'm not. My soul has been marred by envy, hatred, and low self-esteem, and for a long time I thought that there was a good reason for all of this. I thought that there was some poetic recourse for this, and my mindframe during my fits of rage was that "I'll show them!" and then vow to write pages and pages and pages of verses I can mold into the next "Rid of Me" but only to find myself not writing much of anything, and just pacing around my house being pissed off for no good reason, and just flat out bitch about it, and have people kind of boost my ego for some lame reassurance for something deep down I already knew, but my neurosis needed to hear it again and again to keep my self-image at bay for the time being.

My tale of self-deprecation began in middle school. I had spent the better part of elementary school as an outcast because I knew I was different. I preferred reading over sports, and Nirvana to Naughty By Nature. I was bullied a great deal, and beaten up on several occasions. Come middle school, I finally met a few people who had the same interests as me, and I had hoped that it would solve all my problems, I can create some sort of identity for myself, maybe form a band, and be "cool" (whatever the fuck that is). My best friend was a guy, who I shall call Kenneth (his middle name). From early 7th grade to about the first half of 8th grade, we were inseparable. We were the yin to each other's yang, we related to each other, we wrote songs together (bad ones, but still, better than nothing), and I honestly felt that I had found a guy who truly identified with me, and me with him. It was great. But, for reasons I still don't know to this day, he just... changed. I don't know if it was drugs, or influence from his other friends to latch away from me, or he was afraid to tell me if he didn't like me or whatever, I'll never know. Around this time, he started to pursue a career in acting, which was fine, but he would make plans with me then blow me off all the time with no phone call/email/IM beforehand, leaving me in the cold for that day or weekend or whatever. If I had a nickel for every time this happened, I'd have enough money for 2 years at NYU. I guess it started when we formed this bad metal/hardcore band called Endorphin, which splintered apart, and by all accounts, Kenneth quit. But he never told me, and I didn't find out until someone sent me a link to this new "band" he had formed, and I had gotten questions from some friends about what happened to our band, Endorphin. I felt betrayed like I never felt before. But I forgave him, and lived in denial that there was discourse in our relationship, probably because I was afraid of going back to the isolation I felt in elementary school, and I figured that this was better than nothing. Sure, we'd still hang out on occasion, but he would make plans with our friends without me several times, and canceled me out of many conversations.

This sadomasochistic friendship carried on into high school. One of the defining moments of this time period for me was when he formed another band with this kid named Alex, who had been a bassist in Endorphin briefly in 8th grade. And he resurrected the name Endorphin, and gave me a cassette demo of a song they had did. The song sucked, but I thought it was really good at the time, and I wrote this lengthy diatribe to him, saying that I was hurt that he had used the name we had came up with without my consent, and that I wasn't considered at all to be in the band. And he just wrote it off. He did let me in the band for like 3 days, but I was just a guy who would program their shitty drum machine for demos they redid over and over again, and I did some spoken word thing for a song at some lame show they did. Nothing came from this band, they never went anywhere, and I'm glad of that, but I guess I was, and still am, a man of principle, and the principle of the situation was beyond shitty, and what he did was something I would NEVER do to someone I considered a close friend, which says a lot about Kenneth. We would write stuff together on-and-off for a few years, we went to shows together until 2004, but by then it was truly a friendship of convenience at this point. It was me hanging on to a friendship that was diagnosed with a fatal tumor in early 2000, and me putting every resource I had into keeping it alive when really it should have gone out gracefully and without unnecessary suffering.

What really infuriated me for years was that Kenneth was a major part of my identity in the eyes of other people. He dropped out of school in the 10th grade to work on his acting career full-time (and his credits include a deleted scene in a cult movie, an indie movie that garnered about as much attention as a pig taking a shit, and a few walk-on roles on a few TV shows; some career, ay?), and I guess to be weird, and artsy and unique, or whatever. So I would get questions from almost EVERYONE in my class who knew me and him, and ask me questions about what he was doing, why he dropped out of school, and all that shit, like I was his spokesperson or something. They would rarely ask me how I was, or what was up with me. It was all about Kenneth. And for years that stripped me of any identity I had. I still had a group of friends I went out with, and played pool and all that shit, but I still had this phantom to try to cope with as well. And a new identity I'm still trying to carve out (aren't we all?).

I'm not exactly sure what was the straw that broke the camel's back when it came to our friendship. I know it was in 2004. I had gotten him a ticket to go see Rush, and he never showed up, something he had never done before. He had been late plenty of times, but never blew off a concert. He paid me back, but still... That year, he also formed yet another band, but by that time, the cloth over my eyes on his supposed "talent" and "brilliance" was starting to unravel, partially thanks to me dating someone who wasn't impressed with him at all. His band made a CD. To review it briefly, it was just ordinary but it was trying to be weird. He tried creating a few Can-esque sound collages, and wrote songs about infanticide and "acts of pure, pure color" (yeah, that's right), and there was nothing compelling about the composition of the songs. As far as his vocals... he would do fine if his vocals were laconic, and I always told him that, but his vocals were beyond histrionic. He would try to channel Neil Young, or Kurt Cobain into lyrics that had as much substance as a kernel of popcorn. I went to a couple of shows he had, and I just was tired of his shit by that point. I was tired of being his fanclub and not being appreciated. I hated his asshole artist friends, and all the insufferable pretentious girls he dated. I realized that most of his writing flat out sucked, and little by little cut ties with him. I talked to him briefly once last year, and never spoke to him again after that, for no reason except the fact that I had no desire to.

However, not speaking to a person doesn't mean they vanish forever. I still felt like I had to compete with him somehow. I still felt like I had to impress people by stuff like traveling or going to shows or by materialism, which Kenneth did nonchalantly. He came from a pretty well off family, so going skiing, or having good musical equipment and the original pressing of Blonde on Blonde on vinyl came almost naturally to him. That, and the people I know talked of him as if he was this great person who is immensely talented and all that, and they were more interested in him than me. I also befriended a couple of other people briefly who were "unique" but it seemed forced, and they were just pretentious shitheads. What I mean is people that write bad poetry, worship Wes Anderson, and list things such as vegan peanut-butter milkshakes, and exploration as interests on their myspace pages. Now, I'm not saying that all people who watch Wes Anderson movies are pretentious assholes, but it's an almost-constant pattern in life. As for listing obscure and esoteric interests on your myspace page (i.e. airports, vegan peanut-butter milkshakes, spontaneity, etc) is just plain old pretentious, and self-righteous. It just screams "I'm so goddamn unique, worship me!" and in the process, makes you seem like you're better than everyone else, except the few you've allowed into your self-important world, and have those that don't look to you like you're an emperor, and they're your tailor. I was a tailor for many an "emperor" (they only were emperors in their own mind) for many years, and I sewed my last stitch last year with some other girl I tried in initiating a friendship. She was one of those people, like Kenneth, who had to fill her life up with being busy for the sake of being busy, and would only hang out with you if she felt like doing you a favor, like if you were free to hang out once in a while, you're a loser with no life. The last show my band played in 2007, she said that she'd come, but never came, yet went to college in New York, formed a "band" and then texted me at 2:45 one morning while I was sleeping and said "Come to NYC on this day and see my band play!" And I was like "fuck you!" She couldn't be bothered to come to my show, so why should I spend money on a train ticket to New York, when I can't really afford it, and see a folk duo who isn't all that good anyway? I never said this to her, and probably never will, but... this is turning into a tirade against people I used to be friends with.

For a long time, I wanted to be like one of those people. I bought into that "High Fidelity bullshit," as Henry Rollins put it, and envied people who were snobby like that (at the time, I thought it was "profound"). I wanted to fit in somewhere, with some clique (I guess "hipsters," for lack of a better term). But, I hate labels, and the personifications of labels are complete snobby assholes who take you for granted. My conflict for a long time is that I was too weird for the "normal" preppy kids, and too "normal" for the arty people. My point is; I don't need to try to impress people anymore. I like the music I like because it appeals to me, and not to be cool. I don't measure my success because I go to all the latest shows to see the latest hip bands, have 30987 pictures (and almost that many friends) on my myspace, or whether or not I traveled to LA at age 17 and lived there in squalor for 3 months. I have a few close friends who accept me for who I am, and honestly, the most fun I had was with my girlfriend and two other friends, and all we did was watch movies and drink beer. We didn't feel the need to discuss the latest Stereolab record, or poems by T.S. Eliot (shit, most of my friends don't listen to Stereolab or read T.S. Eliot, but that's more to prove my point about the people I desperately tried to fit in with). It was just fun. I have friends I talk about music with, but I don't get too close to them a lot of the time. I don't force it neither. If I hang out with them, I hang out with them. I learned my lesson of forcing friendships that weren't meant to be more than what they are sometimes. I'm in a band with two people who don't share the exact tastes as me, but we write good shit and we have a creative energy that eclipses any connection I had with Kenneth.

I also realized that as a writer, and as a person, I was perfectly fine the way I was, with the usual developmental flaws everyone has growing up. There were moments where I didn't think of what others thought of me back in high school, and I was content with not hearing from Kenneth for weeks at a time, and being really happy. Granted those moments didn't come often, but happiness like that comes in short doses. I'm a likable guy, when all is said and done, but a guy who also lets his emotions, fears and anxieties get the best of him since the age of 8. I was also depressed the past month or so because I lost my job at Starbucks. But, so the fuck what? A lot of the people I worked with revolved their lives around Starbucks, even outside of work, and I didn't fit into that mold. Why should I feel like a loser because I left work-related stuff at work, and I wasn't a walking and talking Starbucks manual? I'm getting too old to worry about other's perceptions of me, and I should only concern myself with those who do care about me and have earned my trust, and friendship, instead of being a groupie to those who dispose friends faster than toilet paper, and take people and connections for granted.

To sum this all up; if anyone feels that I'm not cool enough to be their friend because I'm not a clone of you, then FUCK YOU! I don't need you! There, I said it.

You all probably feel like I'm silly and stupid, and childish, but I'm sure that everyone has their own humiliating story of trying to fit in and force yourself to try to fit in at a great cost to yourself. It's human nature, and for everyone dealing with it now, the best advice I can give you is not to care. It'll only end up hurting you in the long run. Live for yourself, and carefully evaluate the people you know in life, and sort out which ones mean the most to you, and which ones are expendable and you can picture your life without. It took me 23 years to do that. So the younger you start doing shit like that, the better off you'll be. Thank you, and goodnight.

Postscript:

I almost forgot something. Kenneth always said that I was a better writer than him and a better guitar player. Whatever I wrote came naturally, and my playing had soul, according to him. He also told me in a few moments of weakness that he had a lot of respect for me because of dealing with a shitty family life, yet managing to keep my shit together, and he wished that he had the same composure. I don't entirely agree with him still, to this day, but he must have had to be somewhat jealous of me in that respect, and I'm not even trying to be arrogant. I was always told I was a commendable writer, and I could do whatever I put my mind to. Hell, one of my lasting friendships was with a guy no one liked because he was weird, overweight and unconventional. But he didn't give a shit. I always think of this at times, and then forget it, because I let myself be duped by people who long to be the center of attention, and who feed off of attention stupid people give to them. OK, enough already! You made your point!

I feel compelled to post this story I read about McCain...

2008-10-08T03:46:00.000-07:00

My stepmother forwarded this story to me, and I was appalled and disgusted by it, if in fact this story regarding Senator McCain is true.

Note from Kate:

Ana has a PhD in psychology and has a private practice in San

Francisco. Her husband, who has started and sold a number of successful

companies. Ana's husband is currently a Managing Director of a private

equity firm in the Bay Area. Ana and her husband are not political

activists and don't have any personal ax to grind. In fact, in writing

this account of her experience with John McCain, Ana is acting outside

of her own economic self-interest as she and her husband are among the

top 3-5% of our population who would benefit from the McCain

tax/economic policies. Please pass this on to anyone you know who

might vote for John McCain.

Dear Friends,

I have written about my encounter with McCain and his family in 1999 -- please feel free to share my story with whomever you think might be considering voting for him.

Ana

MY HOLIDAY WITH JOHN Mc CAIN

It was just before John McCain's last run at the presidential nomination in 2000 that my husband and I vacationed in Turtle Island in Fiji with John McCain, Cindy, and their children, including Bridget (their adopted Bangladeshi child).

It was not our intention, but it was our misfortune to be in close quarters with John McCain for almost a week since Turtle Island has a small number of bungalows and their focus on communal meals force all vacationers who are there at the same time to get to know each other intimately.

He arrived at our first group meal and started reading quotes from a pile of William Faulkner books with a forest of Post-Its sticking out of them. As an English Literature major myself, my first thought was 'if he likes this so much, why hasn't he memorized any of this yet?'

I soon realized that McCain actually thought we had come on vacation to be a volunteer audience for his 'readings' which then became a regular part of each meal. Out of politeness, none of the vacationers initially protested at this intrusion into their blissful holiday, but people's buttons definitely got pushed as the readings continued day after day.

Unfortunately this was not his only contribution to our mealtime entertainment. He waxed on during one meal about how Indo-Chine women had the best figures and that our American corn-fed women just couldn't meet up to this standard. He also made it a point that all of us should stop Cindy from having dessert as her weight was too high and made a few comments to Amy, the 25 year old wife of the a that she should eat less as she needed to lose weight.

McCain's appreciation of the beauty of Asian women was so great that David the American economist had to move his Thai wife to the other side of the table from McCain as McCain kept aggressively flirting with and touching her.

Needless to say I was irritated at his large ego, and his rude behavior towards his wife and other women, but decided he must have some redeeming qualities as he had adopted a handicapped child from Bangladesh. I asked him about this one day and his response was shocking 'Oh, that was Cindy's idea I didn't have anything to do with it. She just went and adopted this thing without even asking me.

You can't imagine how people stare when I wheel this ugly, black thing around in a shopping cart in Arizona. No, it wasn't my idea at all.'

I actively avoided McCain after that, but unfortunately one day he engaged me in a political discussion which soon got us on the topic of the active US bombing of Iraq at that time. I was shocked when he said 'if I was in charge, I would nuke Iraq to teach them a lesson'.

Given McCain's personal experience with the horrors of war I had expected a more balanced point of view. I commented on the tragic consequences of the nuclear attacks on Japan during WWII but no, he was not to be dissuaded. He went on to say that if it was up to him he would have dropped many more nuclear bombs on Japan. I rapidly extricated myself from this conversation as I could tell that his experience being tortured as a POW didn't seem to have mellowed out his perspective but rather had made him more aggressive, and vengeful towards the world.

My final encounter with McCain was on the morning that he was leaving Turtle Island. Amy and I were happily eating pancakes when McCain arrived and told Amy that she shouldn't be having pancakes because she needed to lose weight. Amy burst into tears at this abusive comment.

I felt fiercely protective of Amy and immediately turned to McCain and told him to leave her alone. He became very angry and abusive towards me, and said 'don't you know who I am' and I looked him in the face and said 'yes, you are the biggest asshole I have ever met' and headed back to my cabin. I am happy to say that later that day when I arrived at lunch I was given a standing ovation by all the guests for having stood up to McCain's bullying.

Although I have shared my McCain story informally with friends, this is the first time I am making this public. I almost did so in 2000, when McCain first announced his bid for the Republican nomination but it soon became apparent that George Bush was the shoo-in candidate and so I did not act then. However, now that there is a very real possibility that McCain could be elected as our next president, I feel it is my duty as an American citizen to share this story. I can't imagine a more scary outcome for America than that this abusive, aggressive man should lead our nation. I have observed him in intimate surroundings as he really is, not how the media portrays him to be. If his attitudes toward women, and his treatment of his own family are even a small indicator of his real personality, then I shudder to think what will happen to America were he to be elected as our President.

Ana

What an asshole! This demeanor is only showing on the campaign trail, mirroring his desperate attempts to diminish Obama's lead. I seriously think that McCain will do anything in his power to try to become president and will stop at nothing. Luckily, every plan he has executed so far (the "suspension" of his campaign to ineffectively come up with a bailout solution, the linking Obama to Ayers and Wright as if no one else had done that before, and his fiery temper) has backfired terribly, and the number of battleground states are quickly evaporating from McCain's sight.

Three out of the four debates have happened, including the vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden & Sarah Palin. According to the majority of polls, the Obama campaign has been declared the victor in all three of the debates so far. Looks like McCain is in deep shit. YES!!!!!!

Yet, anything could happen at any time, but I'm cautiously confident that Obama could win swimmingly.

Bye Bye, OJ!

2008-10-04T07:57:00.001-07:00

So yesterday, OJ Simpson was found guilty of 12 felony counts, including armed robbery, 13 years to the day after he was acquitted of that minor double-murder charge that was following him. After losing millions in the civil trial, The Juice decided that it might be a good idea to rob two memorabilia collectors at gunpoint w/ a few of his buddies. Not his smartest move. He faces an absolute MINIMUM of 20 years in prison, given the judge in Clark County, Nevada is the most lenient and sympathetic person on the face of the Earth. Otherwise, he faces a life sentence. Even then, if he does get the bare minimum sentence, here are the simple facts; OJ Simpson is 61 years old. If he serves 20 years in the pen, he'll be released at the age of 81, and even then, that's pretty much the rest of his life, if he even lives that long. Needless to say, we'll probably never hear from OJ again.

That notion is actually kinda sad. After his sensational trial, you never heard from OJ all that much. He would only pop up once in a while engaging in some new shenanigans. And it was entertaining. So last year, when I heard that OJ was being charged with armed robbery, I was like, "Uh oh, our lovable, ex-football star wife-killer OJ's causing mischief again!" It was great, because the news had gotten pretty boring during that point in time. I don't seem to remember any hype about the trial. It seemed to kind of come and go, maybe because it occurred just in time for election season, and as you know, that diverts most of my attention between the months of July-November every four years (any years beginning with 2000, that end in 0, 4, 8, 2, 6 in that order). You picked the wrong time to have a trial, Orenthal!

So was he framed this time? I don't know, and frankly, I don't care. A part of me believes that he murdered his ex-wife and the guy she was fucking. That's not out of racism, or anything like that, let's not even go there. He got off because he had a very good legal team, which at the time, he could afford (and it didn't hurt that Johnny Cochrane was still alive and healthy too in 1994-95).

So that's it for our friend OJ. Sentencing is set for the 5th of December. Unless his lawyer can appeal the case, it looks like The Juice is going away for a pretty long time. Thanks for the media sensationalism you stirred up for much of my later childhood, and the memories, OJ (and your performances in the world of football, and the Naked Gun movies)!

MY BLOODY VALENTINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-23T01:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is a rant about music... not politics. Not even a rant. A recollection of the most amazing show I've ever been to.

The place was Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan. The act was My Bloody Valentine, playing their second U.S. gig in over 16 years. The long-dormant band had been long mythologized by the indie & mainstream rock press, and I honestly thought that the chances of a reunion were small for a while. Mastermind Kevin Shields did involve himself in music projects, namely working on the soundtracks to Sofia Coppola films Lost In Translation and Marie Antoinette, and a disc with Patti Smith, which brought some publicity to the reclusive Shields, and made us My Bloody Valentine fans rejoice to know that he was still alive, and messing with his tremolo pedals. Finally, this spring, it was announced that My Bloody Valentine would be going on tour. I maxed out my credit card to get tickets, so I can guarantee me and my girlfriend, fans of the band for the last 5 years, and who had been wishing they would reunite, could secure a place there in case the show sold out (which it did).

It was worth it.

The opening bands weren't that great, although the second band, Wounded Knees, did bring out J. Mascis from Dinosaur Jr. for a song, which was pretty good, considering due to financial problems, I had to miss out on a Dinosaur Jr. show at Toad's Place last week. Pretty much the opening bands were like third-rate, British Drop Nineteens, who, in turn, were Bostonian third-rate My Bloody Valentines (but they were good).

Then My Bloody Valentine took the stage around 10, and... wow. They opened with "I Only Said," and they were in top form, almost better sounding live, than on record. And LOUD!!!! Bilinda Butcher still looks gorgeous after all this time. Colm Ó Cíosóig's drumming was ferocious, and perfectly contrasted with the onslaught of guitar effects. Bassist Debbie Googe was very energetic. Kevin Shields stood like a statue, like some sort of sorcerer, and just intoxicated the sold-out crowd by his enigmatic presence, and his deafening, yet ethereal playing. The band just tore through their most notable songs ("Only Shallow," "When You Sleep," "Soon," "When You Wake (You're Still In A Dream)," etc.) It was like heaven. A complete aural orgasm. They hardly said a word to the audience, but they didn't have to. They just let the music speak to them, and the audience felt it. During the 15-minute feedback holocaust during "You Made Me Realise," many people (including myself), just held their hands in the air, as if it was some sort of seance or divine intervention. In many ways it was just that; many people's souls were enriched by My Bloody Valentine's music for the past 20+ years, with new converts who were born after 1991's Loveless, and somehow the band knew that those people needed them to come back and save them. I felt rejuvenated that night, and enthralled. All I want to do now is follow them for the rest of their tour, and after the show I was in such a state of bliss that I know for the fact that the comedown back to reality will be very dysphoric.

Thank God for Youtube! Here's some videos, so in case you missed it, you can kind of capture the magic for yourself.

"Soon"

By far, the most AMAZING thing ever

Sorry if this review sucks. But it's hard to find words for shows such as these.

Why Sarah Palin is a Misogynist

2008-09-09T01:36:00.000-07:00

This will probably be my last political spiel until at least the debates. The lava that shot through my veins during convention season is simmering down to just… well, hot red water. Besides, there are other things in life. Politics only affects them.

So, I’ve come to the conclusion that Sarah Palin is a misogynist. And worse, she’s disguised as a GOP MILF. Underneath lies a black dragon with Pat Robertson’s face taped on!

So how did I reach this conclusion? Well, it’s very simple; her inflexible stance on abortion. She has stated that even if a woman was raped, or a victim of incest, she would not support abortion for those reasons. If I’m not mistaken, that’s even more conservative than Rush Limbaugh’s stance. I know that people have their reasons for being pro-life, not that I agree with them. But even then, most people would bend their stance for cases of rape and incest.

Not for our potentially next VP (oh God, I hope I’m not calling her that, come January 20th!)!!! Pretty much what she’s saying is that if you get raped, and you get pregnant, tough shit sister! Your assailant’s sperm is more important than your own well-being, and if it were up to me, you would have a reminder of your horrible encounter for the rest of your life, because your trauma has taken form of a baby! And that’s much better than a bunch of congregated cells being senselessly murdered in the name of science!

As for incest, THE GREATEST PERVERSION IN HUMAN HISTORY PERHAPS SECOND ONLY TO CHILD PORN, how could Palin justify someone not having an abortion if it is an act of incest? A sexually abusive father rapes his 14 year old daughter, and she gets knocked up. She has to live with more than the trauma she already has to deal with day to day? I’ll tell you this; if Palin and McCain hire enough Supreme Court justices to overturn Roe v. Wade, and more “Janie’s Got a Gun” families continue to exist in America (which hopefully aren’t that many), we’re gonna see a lot of messed up family trees. So, fuck you, you Godless feminists, cried the Whackjob from Wasilla!

I think the misogyny speaks for itself here...

BTW, her church wants you butt-pirates and carpet-munchers to PRAY THE GAY AWAY!!!!! Maybe her church could have Obama pray his blackness away, too! Or maybe her church could help me pray away my dick and make a vagina appear, so I can get shanked after a night at the bar, and carry a terminally fucked up kid (wait until 2010, though, when her and McCain are ravaging D.C.), which will provide for a very bad “Mommy, where did I come from?” story.

God Help America,

Kyle.

Should I Be Optimistic? A Tale of a Young Voter Who Worries Too Much About Politics

2008-09-05T21:07:00.001-07:00

So both conventions have come to pass. I spent the better part of the week watching the speechs from the DNC that I missed, and being totally inspired and enthusiastic about the Obama/Biden ticket. Kudos to the Clintons for putting their electoral differences and animosities aside and urging everyone who voted for Hillary to vote for Obama. Al Gore’s speech was awesome; Clinton delivered a speech that made me wish he was still eligible for another term in office (though, I’ve felt that way for the past 8 years); I even give props to John Kerry for delivering a darn good speech, as much as he is a critical disappointment to the Democratic Party. Lewis Black said it best when he said that “For the Democrats not being able to find somebody who could’ve defeated George Bush… It would be like finding a normal person who would lose in the Special Olympics!” But, all of that rubbish aside… The Dems had ideals, plans, and substance. Job well done guys! Job well done!

Now, onto the Republican National Convention. I couldn’t sit through any of the speeches, because all of them I watched seriously provoked me to throw my TV out the window! Fred Thompson…. GO BACK TO FUCKIN’ LAW & ORDER, ASSHOLE. NOT LIKE I WATCH IT ANYWAY. Joe Lieberman, clearly spitting venom in the face of anyone who voted for him to be our vice president in 2000, was no picnic either. And for the record, Al Gore’s stupidest move, besides marrying Tipper, was getting that smirking dimwit as his vice president. I really wish Joe Lieberman would just admit that he’s a closet Republican. After all, he was the asshole who called for a video game rating system after Mortal Kombat had Sub-Zero ripping someone’s head off (as well as their spine), and went after Marilyn Manson, which sounds awfully conservative to me. Yet again, Al Gore spearheaded the PMRC hearings. Still, though. Mike Fuckabee…. Er, Huckabee. Irrelevant. Not even a Chuck Norris endorsement could’ve saved his campaign. Mitt Romney, who wants to change Washington from liberal to conservative (as he said in this speech; so pretty much, Mitt, you want one party to rule? Fascist!). I never for three seconds took him seriously. He’s a Mormon, and has a demeanor of a used car salesman.

I saw Rudy Guiliani’s speech, and all he did was criticize Obama. He didn’t mention any plans that John McCain has for this country (if he even has any), and lead a bunch of jingoistic assholes to chant “Drill, baby, drill!” And, as always, the gopher-lookalike had to bring up 9/11 (I’m surprised they didn’t show video footage of him with his mouth covered, walking through the wreckage), as if he really knows what has gone on since. I think he should realize that President Bush lost sight of Osama Bin laden (you know, the guy who actually planned the 9/11 attack on us), and waged a dumb war in Iraq, and that this war is vastly unpopular with a lot of Americans, and WE ARE NOT MAKING PROGRESS! What Republicans don’t realize is that they are waging an abstract war; The War on Terror. There’s no nation called Terror. No one country is entirely a terrorist state (though, Iran is coming pretty darn close), but rather a network of many of them throughout the Middle East. Of course, this has only lead to innocent lives being lost, and as a result, less guilty ones being brought to justice (given they don’t blow themselves up first).

And so what if John McCain proposed a troop surge in Iraq when it wasn’t the popular thing to do? No offense, but popularity (and approval, I might add) is kind of influenced by these types of things. Just ask Dubya; he’ll tell ya. Do something to piss off the American people, and that a lot of them disagree with, and watch your approval numbers sink like a dog tied to a stone in a lake. The audience at the RNC ate it up though. I guess they haven’t been duped for the past eight years! Now they want four more, thinking that just because the president changes, the party will just transform into a delinquent, corrupt, unpopular mess to a progressive, fully operating unit. What tools!

Now onto the lady of the campaign, thus far, Alaska’s governor, Sarah Palin. Wow, what a cuckoo this lady is! Pro-life, pro-oil, anti-gay, moose-eatin’, big talkin’…I already don’t like her. Her speech at the GOP is garnering praise from the press (I dunno why), and she is strewn across headlines all over the nation. People praise her ability to stand up to her critics, and to throw punches at the opponent, but that’s about it. All she did was bash Obama, and undermine his experiences and accomplishments. I think she’s trying to create a diversion from all the other headlines concerning her family life, and she pulled the cheapest cop-out there was; making Republicans jeer the Democratic candidate by putting him down. She may have more executive experience than any major candidate on both tickets, but let’s face it; Alaska ranks 48th in population (that’s 683,478 people), and before she became governor, she was the mayor of the town of Wasilla (population estimated anywhere from 5400-9000). I’m not saying that being the mayor of a town with less than 10,000 people, or the governor of a state where caribou outnumber people isn’t a hard job, but Barack Obama and Joe Biden have been senators in Washington D.C., the nation’s capital, and have dealt with issues that affect about… 230 million people. Compare 683,000 to 230 million. Just the way I look at it. I do not claim to be an expert on politics.

Now onto her personal life. Her 17 year-old daughter, Bristol (nice name, ay?), got knocked up, and isn’t married (yet). Normally, it’s a sore spot for the Republican Party in their agenda of family values, morals, and all that other horseshit, but the Republicans and fundies are backing her up, and the press is having a field day. Now that the press is dragging Palin through the mud, even amidst her speech at the RNC, the Republicans are now crying foul. That brings me to a point; they say that private lives are nobody’s business. And, you know what? I’m for that. I think a public figure has a right to privacy. But, you have to remember the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky fiasco ten years ago. The Republicans crucified Clinton on a cross made of cigars, cum-stained blue dressed, and 50 million dollars the U.S. never got back for a bullshit investigation. I think Clinton was dumb to have lied about it, but I didn’t care. The economy was great under his administration, and we had the largest surplus in our history when he left office (only to have the biggest deficit ever a mere administration later), not to mention a better job market, no inflation, and him being aware of Bin Laden’s threats, in which a Republican controlled House & Senate cared less about. Nonetheless, the Right exploited Clinton’s flaws, and impeached him. In fact, there are many who still groan at the mere mention of Clinotn because of that. Now that Sarah Palin’s daughter is only 17, and unmarried (nice family values), it’s ok. It’s a double standard in the worst possible way. If, say ten years from now, one of Obama’s daughters got knocked up, the right would create a firestorm over the issue, and would be calling his daughter a whore faster than a bullet from Sarah Palin’s gun into a moose’s head, and put an emphasis on how liberals have no family values.. But don’t make fun of Sarah Palin and Bristol!

Speaking of which, Sarah Palin has some pretty dumb fucking names for her kids; Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig (who has Down’s syndrome). Did she just flip through pages at random of a Webster dictionary and pick a name at random? Seems like it. What’s her grandchild’s name gonna be? Pyx? And her husband’s name is Todd. My dad and I were watching the news, and there was a story on Alaska’s “First Dude,” Todd Palin.All we could think of was that George Carlin skit where he talks about guys named Todd. “Hi, what’s your name?” “TOOOOODD!!!!” I’m sure if George Carlin stuck it out for just a little while longer, he would revise that skit and add Bristol, Willow, Piper, Track and Trig to his list of goofy names.

The Republican National Convention was just a barrage of insults to an idealistic candidate, with very little substance and very little talk about the issues on most Americans’ minds these days; jobs, the economy, health care, the government fucking them over. Instead, most of the speakers rallied over the right-to-life (yet the right to hunt animals and execute retarded people), the elimination of the writ of habeus corpus (Sarah Palin actually jabbed that Obama’s main worry about terrorism would be whether or not their rights were read; a real bummer to those few who were innocent like Murat Kurnaz). As for John McCain’s acceptance speech, he did do something noble; he stated that he admired Obama…. And then went on to attack him. Nothing good can last. He also just told the crowd his life story on how he was a POW, and now he’s not his own man, but his country’s man, and yadda yadda yadda. He states that he will bring change to Washington, but he never said exactly what. I have no fucking idea what the GOP plans to do if they do get elected in November (and if they do, God help us all!).

So, now the conventions are over. Now it’s the time, like back in 2004, where I obsessively, and daily look at poll numbers to see where the candidates stand. Right now, Obama is still in the lead, but McCain is not far behind him, probably because the RNC just ended yesterday. I remember back in 2004, John Kerry and George W. Bush were deadlocked in the polls, so this could mean that we have a decent chance of Obama winning the election. Also, recent poll numbers have Obama leading slightly in noted “red” states, such as Indiana and North Dakota, two states Bush won by over 20% of the votes back in 2004, which makes things certainly more exciting (but I’m not sold on North Dakota voting for Obama; Indiana? Maybe, since it neighbors with Obama’s home state of Illinois). It’s still early to tell, but Obama’s lead has been for quite a while. Now with Palin possibly being a detriment to the GOP ticket, voters still unsure of what McCain is exactly going to change if/when he’s elected, and rather lackluster reviews for McCain’s acceptance speech, it might be safe to say that the Democrats will be victorious in November, if only slightly. But is it safe? We still have the debates. Should I be optimistic for an Obama victory at this point, or is it just wishful thinking?

It Has Begun: The Democratic Convention in Denver

2008-08-25T20:12:00.000-07:00

It’s convention season now. The Democratic Convention has started tonight in Denver. Denver may be an ideal city to have this convention, for Colorado is considered a swing state, since the Democrats lost it in both 2000 & 2004. I haven’t seen any clips from it yet. I made a promise to myself to try to avoid watching CNN with my eyes glued to the screen like I did in 2004, and focus on living. But sometimes I feel like conventions and pre-election coverage is a huge cut on the roof of my mouth that my tongue can’t help but wander to. Fuck promises.
I was nineteen yrs old in 2004, and I first voted that year. I knew my choices were terrible; I would have much rather been 18 in 2000, so I could cast my vote for Al Gore… not the greatest politician known to man, but a man with ideals. A man who has since made more money and gained more power as a result of his crusade on global warming, which may be more important to us in the long run than a 4-to-8-year presidential term. But in 2004, Al Gore didn’t run, nor did he want to, and having seen what George W. Bush had done to this country in his first term, I sure as hell wasn’t gonna vote for him! So my choice was left with John Kerry, the Frankenstein-esque, Vietnam veteran with a low GPA at Harvard. And the soon-to-be adulterer to his terminally ill wife-$400 haircut John Edwards.
Come election day 2004, I knew the election was going to be a close one. I knew that there were still a good chunk of ignorant warmongering homophobes, as well as a ton of people who had logic and thought that a box of Tic Tacs would make a better president than Bush (no joke: a website actually had that poll back around 2003, and the last time I checked, 85% of those who took the poll voted in favor of the box of Tic Tacs!). Unfortunately, the ignorant warmongering homophobes slightly outnumbered the people with logic by 3 million voters (and enough to tip the Electoral vote to Bush). Now I’m not saying that everyone who voted for Bush was indeed an ignorant warmongering homophobe, maybe perhaps just one of the three, or just easily gullible to think that terrorism really is a threat to our every day lives, and switching leaders during a time of war could lead to another 9/11 attack or worse. Maybe people just hadn’t been fucked up the ass enough by the Bush Administration to change that, or just enjoyed the great comedic jabs Bush took to switch presidents yet.
Come 2008, however, the jokes about Bush don’t seem funny anymore. Or at least as funny as they did back in 2006. I still remember when Dick Cheney shot his friend in the face. That made for some good comedy! Family Guy, Lewis Black... Bill Maher. Yet, political satire about Bush and his homies seem kind of beside the point, when we’re paying $4.30 a gallon for gas, and I’m sure the owner of a local deli with a wife & three kids is laughing at Bush when the foreclosure sign was being posted in front of his house, or the young and rising computer programmer whose job got outsourced to India. Now, Bush’s stupidity and his friends’ diabolic greed are just getting scary. And Barack Obama’s Republican opponent, Mr. John “Couldn’t Win the Primary in 2000 to George W. Bush” McCain, offers no solace to the mess Bush made; he only vows to add on to it, by naively thinking that we’re on the right track to victory in Iraq, and offshore drilling (and fuck-all to alternative energy) is the answer we really need.
So the race is finally on. It’s getting down to the wire here. First come the conventions. Then come the debates. Then come the pundits weighing in. Then comes the public. Then comes Election Day. Spreading pre-holiday cheer to all 50 states. From Kennebunkport to Hilo, and all points in between.

Breaking the Creative Dam; The Bob Saget Roast; Movies

2008-08-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

The other day I went over Liz's. Liz is the drummer for my band. We've been on hiatus since June because of Liz having to sell her house and having to move (her dad died last year, left her the house, and all that shit). So finally, that ordeal is thankfully coming to an end. We ended up jamming for a while, and ended up improvising this awesome idea for a new song. Then Amelia came by, and we ended up jamming acoustically. We ended up playing Nirvana's "Polly," and a few other songs we knew, including "Love Stinks" (as a joke). Hopefully, we're reconvening sometime this week and getting the band started again. That day at Liz's kinda was a further emergence from nothing short of a creative slumber. Ever since my sister had her play (and got really fucking good reviews for it, btw!), and jamming with Liz again, I realized that maybe I am as good as people think I am. I'm not trying to come off as narcissistic, but I know I do have a way with words when I really think about it, and I listen to the right music to get inspired to tweak a good tune. I may be wrong. Nah... I'm tired of being wrong.

The Roast of Bob Saget was on Comedy Central was on last Sunday. Jesus Christ, I couldn't stop laughing. Those roasts on Comedy Central are downright hilarious. Last year, they roasted Flavor Flav, and it was 2 hours worth of comedic genius (My favorite joke was when Patton Oswalt said that "Chuck D. wanted to be here tonight, but the 'D' stands for 'dignity.'" I love that guy!). The Bob Saget Roast definitely upped the ante a little bit. The roastmaster was, of all people, John Stamos. Of course, he took some comedic jabs, particularly about how he was in that Beach Boys video wearing a pink tank top, and how his ex-wife, Rebecca Romijn, is dating Jerry O'Connell. Greg Giraldo quipped that "He lost his wife to the fat kid from Stand By me." But, he was a good sport about it, and actually shot off a few hilarious barbs as well (I'm not sure if he came up with them himself or if he hired the best insult comedy writing crew). The Olsen Twins were absent, but the girl who played Stephanie on Full House was there. Overall, it was hilarious, and worth watching TV for (can't say that about most TV programming nowadays!). Here's a clip by Gilbert Gottfried describing what happens to the Olsen Twins when they walk into a bar:

I've been watching some good movies lately. I'm weird. I go through phases where I'm a film-o-holic for like six months, and then I go through a period where I can't sit through even my favorite movies for a few months. My girlfriend and I rented this film called Flakes, with Zooey Deschanel, who win me over with her cameo in the second season of Weeds, and, from what I've heard, the She & Him record. It's an interesting story about this twentysomething hipster couple living in New Orleans. The lead character (played by Aaron Stanford) is an aspiring musician who works in a cereal bar, and his girlfriend (Deschanel). The storyline is kind of Clerks-ish (a slacker who wastes his potential working a dead-end job and a girlfriend who's trying to get him out of it), but adds something I've never seen in a film, or even in real life (could be because Southbury, CT isn't hip enough for a "cereal bar," where stoners, and old farts come in and eat a bowl of cereal; in fact, I haven't seen one or heard of one anywhere, yet again, I don't get out too much). Naturally, some young hot-shot businessman opens a corporate copy of a cereal bar adjacent to Flakes, the store the protagonist works at. His girlfriend sees it as a sign for him to quit his job and finish his CD, but he sticks with the job and his zany boss (Christopher Lloyd returning from his vacation off the face of the earth). Trying to act as a catalyst, his girlfriend (who goes by the name Miss Pussy Katz) works at the corporate competitor. A really good indie film. Not superb acting, or anything, but better than most shit in theaters.

I want this combination. Viva la Soul Power Special!:

I also rented Closer, the biopic of Joy Division's doomed lead singer, Ian Curtis. It was directed by a little-known upstart director/photographer Anton Corbijn, who directed a low-budget video for an unknown band called Nirvana in the early 1990s, with a song that got NO airplay called "Heart-Shaped Box." It was very powerful. Very sad. Great performance by Sam Riley (who strikingly looks like Ian Curtis). Great parallel between Ian's marriage and his affair with journalist Annik Honore (played by Riley's real life girlfriend, Alexandra Maria Lara; beautiful woman, hope to see more of her). Kudos to Corbijn for capturing the anguish of Ian Curtis (especially his epilepsy and the effect of his medication), and the somber mood of Joy Division's music and tragic story without being too dramatic or overbearing.

Here's perhaps the most riveting scene from the film. The band performing "Dead Souls," and Ian having a bad epilepsy attack.

More on Joy Divison: The video for Atmosphere (also directed by Corbijn):

Hey, I also read that Sam Riley was in 24 Hour Party People (the movie about Factory Records, which signed Joy Division, and also delves into Joy Division's brief history), playing Mark E. Smith of the Fall, but his scenes never made the final cut. Oh well.

"I Guess It's True It's Never Too Late"

2008-08-12T22:22:00.000-07:00

I'm still holding on to the positive elements of Saturday, and I'm trying really hard not to let them fade into obscurity. I think I need to keep doing that, and keep drawing on what's good in my life instead of everything that has sucked in my life (a bad trait, yes I know, but... no one's perfect). I think I'm already making progress. This is my second blog this week. That's one good thing right there. I got two MUG awards in two weeks at work. That's another good thing, especially since about two or three weeks ago my head was on the chopping block for "inconsistent performance." What can I say? My boss, a nice guy most of the time, is a nitpicker, and perhaps too meticulous with everything down to the most minor detail. I, on the other hand, don't sweat the small stuff. A MUG award is an award at work (just a cheesy coffee-mug shaped pin and a little card) given to partners (as we're called, not employees) who go the extra mile for customers and/or fellow partners. One was for leaving a shining store for the openers the next morning, and the other was staying an extra hour and a half the other night to help mend a leaking ceiling (and yes I did get paid for it).

I was browsing through some old literary magazines from back in high school, and I reread some old shit I had wrote, and I was actually kind of proud on what I had written back four or five years ago. I was reminded on how much people actually kinda liked my writing, and I don't know why I ever stopped, or tried my hand submitting shit to magazines or whatever. Ever since I had a nervous breakdown 4 and a half years ago, I became ultra-guarded about everything, including my writing, and felt that it was better to build a wall around myself. I've spent the better part of this time isolating myself from old friends that actually liked me and weren't the pretentious assholes that took me for granted. I restrained my muse, and let it wither on several occasions. I procrastinate terribly to the point where I go to do something, and, to me, it doesn't matter anymore. If I could keep an annex full of aborted ideas or unrecorded thoughts, the annex would be the size of Honduras. I'm not gonna do that anymore. I'm not gonna let my writing be a secondary priority anymore. Nor am I gonna isolate myself from everyone. Nor am I gonna put off things that may better me anymore. I'm also not gonna feel like I missed the boat on opportunities that will make me excel in this life. Sure, I'm 23 years old, but 23 isn't old. Some people are out of college and have decent paying jobs by that age, but there's also a lot of people who, at 23, don't even know what the fuck they want in life. They're still toughing it out at a not-so-great job, and are easing their way through school until the day they actually know what they want, and I fall into that category. And I'm not feeling like shit about it anymore.

With that said, I'm going to bed, going to the bank tomorrow morning, going to the mailbox and mailing my car tax bill. In between tat, I'll conjure up a good idea for my next blog (next apolitical blog; my girlfriend says I blog about politics too much). Peace out.

A Permanent Night, Indeed

2008-08-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a break from ranting and raving about how much I hate everything, and shedding a light on something actually positive. Last night, my older sister had her original play, The Permanent Night, premiere at the Fringe Fesitval in New York. This was her first time she had a play of hers submitted into the festival, after a couple attempts. It was marvelous. I always envied my sister's ability to conjure characters and create a story that's cohesive and meaningful. As a writer, I've always struggled with that. To be fair, I haven't really made a full scale effort to do that in a couple of years. Back in April I started writing some fragments, but they got erased because my computer crashed and I was an idiot for not having them backed up. But the play itself was really good, and I recommend anyone to shell out the $15 to go see it. There are still a few more performances, including one today at 1:45.

After the performance, we went to a local Mexican restaurant/bar (to remain unnamed, tell you why later) up the block. I had a beer. My girlfriend had her usual dry martini. I met the cast, the producer, my sister's friend Jess, a few other people. Everyone was really nice. It was kind of a life-affirming experience for me, pathetically enough. Ever since high school, I've always tended to dissociate myself from a lot of people that I might relate to. Most of the aspiring actors, writers, musicians I've ever come across were pretentious snobs who had egos the size of Alaska and who could care less about authentic friendships and relationships. I'm a writer, and I hate writers. I'm a musician, and most of them I want to throw out the window. I used to act in middle/high school, but I could've done without a lot of people I worked with. But there was something different about these people... in NEW YORK CITY of all places! It could be an age factor. Most of these people are in their mid/late 20s-early 30s I'm guessing, and perhaps I'm judging from an 18 year old's point of view, an age where reality hasn't slapped a lot of people in the ass yet. It made me want to full-on pursue writing at the level I did in high school, and just do it for myself, and not worry about it going anywhere.

So at this bar, it was a bit pricey ($14 for a margarita, people). A few people got food, everyone got at least one drink. Somehow, the bill came out to $515, and the dickheads there charged us for a few things either no one ordered or no one received. My sister's friend, Kelly, a restaurant manager herself, tried arguing her case to the restaurant owner, but he was such a jackass and didn't know a damn thing about "the customer is always right," and threatened to call the cops if we didn't pay the full amount, so my poor sister and brother-in-law were stuck putting in about $100 more than they had to (and everyone had put their share in). So that bar we're never going to again, but I don't think it matters to them. It's in a touristy area, and the place was packed, so I'm sure they don't care that they lost a few customers.

So we went to this dive bar called The Slaughtered Lamb. One of the cast members bought everyone a shot of Jameson (whiskey). He also bought a round of drinks for everyone, too (I hope he has a good job). I ordered a Guinness. I got drunk. I talked with Mike (my brother-in-law) about 80s rock, Tori Amos, becoming a teacher (which is my realistic career goal), a few other things. I just had a lot of fun. Overall, I've never felt prouder that my sister's a part of my family, and (after a schism that lasted a few years due to familial bullshit) a part of my life again. I woke this morning, and The Permanent Night got a pretty decent review at nytheatre.com, which was awesome.

As always, though, after a really good day, I have to go to fuckin' work today. It should be fine. I'm still in a good mood.

"I'm John McCain, and I'm a complete douche nozzle!"

2008-07-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

I'm officially breaking my nonpartisan stance on this election (at least in writing), and voicing my opinion on the political candidates. Generally, I know for a fact that most politicians (Democrat, Republican, Green Party, Libertarian, etc.) are corrupt and give a lot of lip service to Americans in order to receive votes and approval ratings and permission to lead the country according to THEIR standards. There are a few I don't mind. But there are many I wish would disappear.

My views on politics are moderately liberal. I am pro-gay marriage, pro-choice in most cases, against the war in Iraq, and I'm no economics major, but things are seriously fucked up as far as the economy go. I don't pride myself as an expert on political issues because I'm not. I keep my political awareness to a minimum because anymore awareness that I already give to me would make me not want to leave the house. Though, whenever I pass by election coverage on CNN, MSNBC, and the wretched FOX News whenever I channel surf, I'm like a rubbernecker looking on a 3-car pile-up on a busy street, with politicians, pundits, journalists and moderators evaluating the damage. So much for the minimal amount of political awareness.

Now my very least favorite part of the campaign is happening; the mud-flinging. The person doing the crucial amount of mud-flinging, especially now in television ads attacking his opponent, is the ever-so-desperate-to-be-president, John McCain. One of his ads compares Barack Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears (which pissed the Hiltons off, considering Paris Hilton's parents were financial backers of McCain's campaign). John McCain is doing exactly what Bush did in 2004. Most of his campaign trail stops consist of him just criticizing Obama and giving people very little about what HE would do as president. Nevermind the fact that McCain is a fucking idiot who couldn't even beat George W. Bush in the 2000 primaries (which, to me, says an awful lot about him. Why no one else that I know of has brought that up, I'll never know).

I might be getting ahead of myself, given the election is 3 months away, but I think McCain sees Obama as a threat to him winning without a good fight. I think many Americans are starting to realize that the last thing this nation needs is an old wrinkly, white warmongerer who is older than Ronald Reagan when he became president, as president. Barack Obama isn't perfect I'm sure, but he's young, intelligent, charismatic, and chock full of decent ideas (I say decent because anyone who becomes president after the 8 year disaster trail that was the Bush administration has a lot of shit to clean up, and it would take a miracle if someone came in who had feasiblem, long-term solutions as opposed to temporary fixes). He may only be a first-term senator, but who cares? He has done a lot in local politics before becoming senator, and last time I checked there were no minimum requirements or curriculums in public service before you qualify as president. John McCain may have been a war hero, but so was Ulysses S. Grant and he is consistently ranked as one of the 5 worst presidents ever. Woodrow Wilson and FDR had no military experience, and they both managed to win two world wars (and they were Democrats, go figure). Abe Lincoln was in the military, but never saw a day of combat, and look what he did. John McCain can blather on all he wants about how Obama has no military experience, but there's not an ounce of substance to that saying, considering that some of our best presidents (and some of them active during a time of war) never fought in a war.

As for mocking Obama for suggesting that Americans inflate their tires to save on gas, proves that mcCain lacks any common sense. He might as well laugh at Obama for remembering to tuck his shirt in. And of course, that ad comparing him to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton? Some politicians do attain celebrity status. Clinton, JFK, even George W. Bush is his own way (mainly for political satire purposes). I think McCain is envious that he doesn't have that degree of star power (probably because he's scary), and sees Obama's "celebrity status" as another threat to his campaign. John McCain does not look appealing to a lot of people (and that's important, call me shallow). Barack Obama looks like Tim Meadows' older brother. It's time for another young guy to shake things up in the White House. It worked when Bill Clinton was president. He was roughly the same age as Obama when he became president, defeating a scary white guy (Bush I), and getting our economy out of a recession. Controversies aside, I remember Clinton's presidency to be a stable eight years. I don't go by books pundits write, or "facts." I go by memories and my own instinct. John McCain also said that he wouldn't resort to negative ads if he ran for president. So much for that.

And as much as I hate, hate, hate, HATE Paris Hilton, I hate her just slightly less because of her response to McCain's ad.

Score one for Paris Hilton, I must say. I give creidt where credit is due. I'm not implying that she's creative enough to think of something like this herself (she must hyave some smart people working for her), but McCain definitely got served by Paris! Take away one point off McCain's score sheet.

So... please... vote Obama. No more scary old, warmongering white guys in the White House.