Auld Lang Syne-Aretha Franklin & Billy Preston
Happy New Year!
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Friday, December 29, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Backscratch Fever
Nixon's shill has died, and in the postumous love in, we can not lose sight of the fact that he pardoned Nixon, and signed off on the "truth" known as the Warren Commission, not to mention he was the replacement for that ethical paragon, Spiro Agnew, a choice made most likely because he would grant Nixon a pardon.
Really, if you think about it, Ford absolutely made Bush possible, by not holding Nixon accountable for his imperial tendencies, thus granting a kind of institutional permission.
I wouldn't say, necessarily, that there is some grand conspiracy here, but often times, the failure to consider the implications in favor of short term gain has disasterous consequences down the road.
Really, if you think about it, Ford absolutely made Bush possible, by not holding Nixon accountable for his imperial tendencies, thus granting a kind of institutional permission.
I wouldn't say, necessarily, that there is some grand conspiracy here, but often times, the failure to consider the implications in favor of short term gain has disasterous consequences down the road.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Four Years Ago Yesteday...
Though it was actually four years ago today that I found out that the world lost Joe, and we are infinately poorer for that. I drank Jameson and sulked for a week.
Christmas has never been the same for me. Joe, of course, would probably remind us all of the possibilities for the human heart to turn and embrace truth-and try to have some fun...
Friday, December 22, 2006
The True Meaning of Christmas
Do yourself a favor and watch this.
Junky's Christmas (part 1)
..>
Junky's Christmas (part 2)
..>
Junky's Christmas (part 3)
..>
Junky's Christmas (part 1)
..>
Junky's Christmas (part 2)
..>
Junky's Christmas (part 3)
..>
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Goddammit! The Walrus was PAUL!
Or: Regarding the Christmas Greeting from a Hope Fiend.
Though late, Rintrah Roars reminds us that the U.S. government has always treated its critics very well, which, coincidentally, is also the subject of a documentary. The last of files came out today.
I came to John Lennon later than most. Being surly and all, I wanted nothing to do with the Beatles. I grew up in a staunch 'Stones household, or so I thought.
My first epiphany came when going through my folks record collection, and finding a LP with what was and still is my favorite Beatles track: "The Ballad of John and Yoko". Later, I discovered the first Plastic Ono Band album, and was hooked. Interestingly, this was around the time I figured out that being Punk was about far more than clothes and hair.
Anyway, its our nation's shame that we persecuted someone who actually believed in our country's creed, perhaps naively. Of course, these are the same fuckers who killed Martin Luther King, so there you go.
Though late, Rintrah Roars reminds us that the U.S. government has always treated its critics very well, which, coincidentally, is also the subject of a documentary. The last of files came out today.
I came to John Lennon later than most. Being surly and all, I wanted nothing to do with the Beatles. I grew up in a staunch 'Stones household, or so I thought.
My first epiphany came when going through my folks record collection, and finding a LP with what was and still is my favorite Beatles track: "The Ballad of John and Yoko". Later, I discovered the first Plastic Ono Band album, and was hooked. Interestingly, this was around the time I figured out that being Punk was about far more than clothes and hair.
Anyway, its our nation's shame that we persecuted someone who actually believed in our country's creed, perhaps naively. Of course, these are the same fuckers who killed Martin Luther King, so there you go.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
WTF?!
Swell.
The U.S. is moving warships into the Persian Gulf as a show of force to Iran, and what is the big news story of the day? Whether Miss America will keep her crown? No joke: MSNBC devoted an afternoon to this, as though all the other problems in the world disappeared, and we have this to focus on.
What the fuck are the responsibilities of Miss America anyway that makes it impossible for her to drink or get high? Are shopping mall openings really involved, like being an Air Traffic Controller? Does competing in the Miss Universe pageant require so much moral fiber (and how does Donald Trump end up in a sentence with morality)? Is she really the represent the United States on the world stage, and if she does, who cares if she gets hammered on Stoli and blow anyway? It's not like she's the President or anything...
Speaking of which: By the way, America: While you were engrossed in this little diversion, two more of your children, parents, brothers and sisters were killed, and if they aren't being blown up, evidentally, the situation is so fucked and hopeless, that they are killing themselves. Oh yeah, and there's more homeless, too.
Merry fucking Christmas, indeed.
Update: Trav has cracked the conspiracy: Purple Hooter Shooters for Truth, and Jon Stewart weighs in.
The U.S. is moving warships into the Persian Gulf as a show of force to Iran, and what is the big news story of the day? Whether Miss America will keep her crown? No joke: MSNBC devoted an afternoon to this, as though all the other problems in the world disappeared, and we have this to focus on.
What the fuck are the responsibilities of Miss America anyway that makes it impossible for her to drink or get high? Are shopping mall openings really involved, like being an Air Traffic Controller? Does competing in the Miss Universe pageant require so much moral fiber (and how does Donald Trump end up in a sentence with morality)? Is she really the represent the United States on the world stage, and if she does, who cares if she gets hammered on Stoli and blow anyway? It's not like she's the President or anything...
Speaking of which: By the way, America: While you were engrossed in this little diversion, two more of your children, parents, brothers and sisters were killed, and if they aren't being blown up, evidentally, the situation is so fucked and hopeless, that they are killing themselves. Oh yeah, and there's more homeless, too.
Merry fucking Christmas, indeed.
Update: Trav has cracked the conspiracy: Purple Hooter Shooters for Truth, and Jon Stewart weighs in.
Flame On Rummy
Do you think they used to sit around in the Oval Office and laugh about these after the press conferences? Memorable Quotes by Donald Rumsfeld
"I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started."
"We do know of certain knowledge that he [Osama Bin Laden] is either in Afghanistan, or in some other country, or dead."
"We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat." –on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
"Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war."
Via C&L
"I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started."
"We do know of certain knowledge that he [Osama Bin Laden] is either in Afghanistan, or in some other country, or dead."
"We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat." –on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
"Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war."
Via C&L
Saturday, December 16, 2006
"It's a real, honorable experience..."
Tonight is The_Wizard's annual Holiday Party.
Myself, Covington, JenJen the Tavern Wench, the Deacon and Kizzle will all be wassailing rather well by midnite, no doubt.
So, for everybody else...Grab an adult beverage, and sing along...
Update: Somebody turn on a blue spotlight!
The "Fabulous" Disaster
Yesterday, while watching Ronald Dumsfeld give his Lou Gehrig speech, I was dumbstruck.
Metaphorically speaking, all the self-congratulation brought to mind a kind of egotistic contortionist act, with the amount of smug backslapping he was doing. The man must be double jointed.
"Sgt." Dummy, who never saw a second in the green machine,and never met a defense contractor he didn't like, sends thousands to their death because, well, he never got over the cold war. After all, what does an asshole like this have to do without an shadowy monolith to obsess over. Its Rocky vs. Ivan Drago, or rather, Hulk Hogan vs. The Iron Sheik.
The thing is, Asshole is also a romantic in the pulpy-ist, kitchy sense of the word: He loves the unmediated images that capture so many of his ilk, the kind of Father Knows Best certainty that comes with revisionism. A golden age, if you will, when things were black and white. America in possession of moral supremacy. The UNITED STATES that liberated Europe. Hell, he even described the "liberation" of Iraq like he was Ed Herlihy describing Paris being liberated, possibly oblivious the the glaring differences between Paris in 1944 and Iraq in 2003.
He knows full well, of course, that the United States then no longer exists, and that its people like him that destroyed it, with Eisenhower prophesing his coming. The America of corporatism, of lazy, unmediated mediation, concerned more with casting iconography over icons, the shadow over the light, the lipservice of democracy over the actual voice of the people.
Since that mid twentieth century apex, this America has gotten into the business of churning out war criminals; McNamara, Johnson, Nixon, Kissinger-quite a rogues gallery, though history may reveal the current administration as being far more pernicious. Certainly there are those who are already demanding Dummy end up in front of the Hague. Since none of the above ended up there, I doubt he will, either, since that would mean that this country has done wrong as well as right, and Jim Anderson was always right and true, no?
Then it hit me: Dummy probably feeling kind of Sinatra, a "My Way" kind of mood. Certainly, the scappy, defiant tone in that song would be something Dummy feels like he's entitled to.
However, I'm more inclined to let Old Blue Eyes out this association, because the Chairman's rendition had a certain simpatico to it, a touch of regret, something Dummy cannot even fathom. So, in my imagination, Sid Vicious's version is more apt. Afterall, Vicious was another deluded idiot who saw the world in black and white as well. Plus, the video would suit Dummy's personality to a tee.
I'll close with this Bob Dylan quotation:
Metaphorically speaking, all the self-congratulation brought to mind a kind of egotistic contortionist act, with the amount of smug backslapping he was doing. The man must be double jointed.
"Sgt." Dummy, who never saw a second in the green machine,and never met a defense contractor he didn't like, sends thousands to their death because, well, he never got over the cold war. After all, what does an asshole like this have to do without an shadowy monolith to obsess over. Its Rocky vs. Ivan Drago, or rather, Hulk Hogan vs. The Iron Sheik.
The thing is, Asshole is also a romantic in the pulpy-ist, kitchy sense of the word: He loves the unmediated images that capture so many of his ilk, the kind of Father Knows Best certainty that comes with revisionism. A golden age, if you will, when things were black and white. America in possession of moral supremacy. The UNITED STATES that liberated Europe. Hell, he even described the "liberation" of Iraq like he was Ed Herlihy describing Paris being liberated, possibly oblivious the the glaring differences between Paris in 1944 and Iraq in 2003.
He knows full well, of course, that the United States then no longer exists, and that its people like him that destroyed it, with Eisenhower prophesing his coming. The America of corporatism, of lazy, unmediated mediation, concerned more with casting iconography over icons, the shadow over the light, the lipservice of democracy over the actual voice of the people.
Since that mid twentieth century apex, this America has gotten into the business of churning out war criminals; McNamara, Johnson, Nixon, Kissinger-quite a rogues gallery, though history may reveal the current administration as being far more pernicious. Certainly there are those who are already demanding Dummy end up in front of the Hague. Since none of the above ended up there, I doubt he will, either, since that would mean that this country has done wrong as well as right, and Jim Anderson was always right and true, no?
Then it hit me: Dummy probably feeling kind of Sinatra, a "My Way" kind of mood. Certainly, the scappy, defiant tone in that song would be something Dummy feels like he's entitled to.
However, I'm more inclined to let Old Blue Eyes out this association, because the Chairman's rendition had a certain simpatico to it, a touch of regret, something Dummy cannot even fathom. So, in my imagination, Sid Vicious's version is more apt. Afterall, Vicious was another deluded idiot who saw the world in black and white as well. Plus, the video would suit Dummy's personality to a tee.
I'll close with this Bob Dylan quotation:
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain
Thursday, December 14, 2006
I've always wondered.
I now know why the so called conservatives hate science so much-they are not very good at it!
"Soy is making kids 'gay'".
"Soy is making kids 'gay'".
The Wizard...R.I.P.
Sadly, we've lost the living presence of Peter Boyle, the man whose character in Taxi Driver, made me take up "magic".
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
"The Dead"
This time of year, I always like to return to this James Joyce classic. This is absolutely one of the most beautiful, moving things I've ever read. I cry everytime.
You Design so Intelligent...
via Rintrah Roars...
New York Dolls "Dance Like a Monkey" wins the Best Music Video at the Bradford Animation Festival in the UK (their biggest animation fest).
Rintrah Roars also recommends some fine apparel for our "Inherit the Wind" Field Trip. Sounds like a winner to me.
No...its Magda GOEBBELS!
So...
A white supremacist, a Persian Strongman, a Canadian Professor, and a handful of Orthodox Jews walk into a conference...
It warms the heart, doesn't it, that such a divergent group of deluded ideologues can come together and deny historical record. This is surely a "We Are The World" moment. Wonder what sort of song and video will come of this?
Strangely, or no, I'm actually listening to Bob Dylan's "Idiot Wind" right now, though maybe its more like, to crib an eloquent blog line, "a perfect storm of stupid".
At any rate, I suggest we send a boatload of these over...
...or perhaps a nice basket.
HAPPY HANUKKAH, geniuses.
A white supremacist, a Persian Strongman, a Canadian Professor, and a handful of Orthodox Jews walk into a conference...
It warms the heart, doesn't it, that such a divergent group of deluded ideologues can come together and deny historical record. This is surely a "We Are The World" moment. Wonder what sort of song and video will come of this?
Strangely, or no, I'm actually listening to Bob Dylan's "Idiot Wind" right now, though maybe its more like, to crib an eloquent blog line, "a perfect storm of stupid".
At any rate, I suggest we send a boatload of these over...
...or perhaps a nice basket.
HAPPY HANUKKAH, geniuses.
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Non Sequitur, anyone?
"Conrad Burns Defends Himself: 'They Call Me Racist. Don't Even Own A Car'..".
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
An Erudite Discourse on Serious Issues
Check out the hilarious exchange in the comments to this post at The Cincinnati Blog. Here's a sample:
Browning: Your diatribes would be so much more effective if you could cobble together a coherent sentence. Seriously, maybe you should enroll in some adult literacy courses. Miami University must be the equivalent of Clermont Community College.
Brian: What the fuck is up your ass today? I typed a couple incorrect words that got missed in spell check because they are spelled correctly but not the right word. WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT FROM ME?...
Browning: What is up my ass? I hate coming to your site and reading some stupid fucking diatribe in a post that has misspellings every third word...
Luke: If you don't care about his argument, Browning, then don't comment on it.We don't go to your Klan meetings and talk about Rosie O'Donnell while you're masturbating to about Baby Jesus, do we?
Browning: Unlike you, most of us have busy lives. We don't have time to write, go spank it to porn, and then come back and edit our posts for typos.
Browning: Your diatribes would be so much more effective if you could cobble together a coherent sentence. Seriously, maybe you should enroll in some adult literacy courses. Miami University must be the equivalent of Clermont Community College.
Brian: What the fuck is up your ass today? I typed a couple incorrect words that got missed in spell check because they are spelled correctly but not the right word. WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT FROM ME?...
Browning: What is up my ass? I hate coming to your site and reading some stupid fucking diatribe in a post that has misspellings every third word...
Luke: If you don't care about his argument, Browning, then don't comment on it.We don't go to your Klan meetings and talk about Rosie O'Donnell while you're masturbating to about Baby Jesus, do we?
Browning: Unlike you, most of us have busy lives. We don't have time to write, go spank it to porn, and then come back and edit our posts for typos.
Silly Season Songs that Don't Suck.
I was talking to the Deacon the other day about the various "all Christmas, all the Time" radio station programs that spring up this time of year, and how many time can someone hear Bing belt out "Adeste Fideles", or, worse, choral versions of "Silent Night" without going postal.
Of the ponderous vast array of Christmas songs, it becomes a bit of a challenge to think of Christmas songs that don't suck, that edify the season beyond the cheap cloying of the usual fare, or just express the fact that some of us, however jolly, are just plain sick of the whole thing.
So I ask you: What do you think are Christmas songs that don't suck, in any particular order. The one that springs to mind is the Pogues "Fairytale of New York". What do you think?
Of the ponderous vast array of Christmas songs, it becomes a bit of a challenge to think of Christmas songs that don't suck, that edify the season beyond the cheap cloying of the usual fare, or just express the fact that some of us, however jolly, are just plain sick of the whole thing.
So I ask you: What do you think are Christmas songs that don't suck, in any particular order. The one that springs to mind is the Pogues "Fairytale of New York". What do you think?
Friday, December 1, 2006
Well...duh...
Interesting. Bushies are nuts, which is eerily similar to the thesis of John Dean's Conservatives Without a Conscience.
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