Hip Hop is our Vietnam Tue. Feb 26th, 08

In case you missed the recent Evergreen Riot hullabaloo..

When Not Being Stupid Is Not Enough Mon. Dec 3rd, 07

Let’s start off with an easy one:

You show some interest.
I respond.
I respond again, with no response.
I hang my hat. And move on.
You show interest again, even more inviting this time.
I figure, okay, why not.
But again, I respond.
I respond. And no response.
I once again hang my hat, this time with conscious temerity in the terminus.
You show interest yet again.
This time Bogart a la Rick Blaine comes to my aide and I respond, in my own fashion, “Sascha, see her to the door.”

Alright, the next one isn’t really any different from the first, only it’s more involved.

The scene: several interrelated questions are raised: Is de Tocqueville ultimately giving American democracy a thumbs up or thumbs down? Would he do the same today? Is it necessary to even question or even think of another system besides democracy? This last question is asked rhetorically, some objections are raised, but they are brushed aside or placated by once again counting up the benefits of democracy.

Thinking to self: wow, it’s incredible. Here it is again, that jolly optimism about the US of A. It really is amazing how people generally have a strong aversion to criticizing anything at the foundation of things. I wish grabbing someone by the collar would do some good. I feel like I just boxed this employee on the ear and didn’t even get a shrug . . . maybe there’ll be a delayed reaction? Did I really have to explain that the ability for a genuinely critical perspective of an idea is surely connected to the ability to question the very existence of the idea in general? (in this case, democracy.) I’m flabbergasted.  And I think he caught me staring at him with frustration and general ill will in my eyes.

Then a fellow student remarks on the place of education in a democracy (representative democracy, however you slice it) and how its failure further proves the failings of the current system. Anecdotal evidence is brought in to the tune of that conference back in 1942 wherein a number of people in Germany decided to give a green light to a plan that would later be known as the holocaust. Fourteen of the people that voted yes had doctorate degrees in the humanities. This is then used to express a disbelief of the importance of education in democratic nations, USA in particular, and at the same is used to expess that the universal good of a democracy is beyond the reach of education and its possible pitfalls and is somehow unquestionable.

Thinking to self: wow, I can’t believe he thinks that is even worth considering as compelling evidence in this argument. One, it’s sensationalism. Two, as far as research methodology goes, it’s a wicked bad sampling. Three, and this is really kids stuff, correlation does not mean causation. I feel like I should scold him. But I’m not that kind of boss.

The point of all this is that this song is so right, right now.

When Not Being Stupid Is Not Enough.mp3 by Built to Spill Caustic Resin. Turn it way, way up.

I’m Not there, the Fourth Time Around Thu. Nov 29th, 07

Well, the film’s out. The new biopic on Bob Dylan (I’m Not There) wherein a handful of juxtaposing actors play fanciful flights on the legends surrounding Dylan. I’ll say this much: if you’re familiar with Dylan to the point that you know what he looked like in 1962, 1965, 1973 (amongst other times), then you won’t be confused by the shifting in character names (no one is actually called Bob Dylan in the film) and actors’ faces. Otherwise, you could become impatient and think it all a sore affectation. But I think the shifting works to profound effect. The film is endowed with a sublime gift of storytelling; the myriad foldings of ideas and myths in the film allow for the impact of the film to be more than just a fan piece on Dylan by Dylan though I don’t think I can delve into it now. And the fact that Dylan cowrote the script (I forget the clever pseudonym he uses) makes many of the lines in the film quite moving, I think.

BTW, Cate Blanchette as Dylan is a fucking bad ass though it’s tough to say who does the best job — everyone in the film is acting their asses off.

Oh yeah, the music is simply wonderful. Much of the soundtrack is backed by the Million Dollar Bashers, consisting of Sonic Youth stars Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, Television guitarist Tom Verlaine, Dylan bassist Tony Garnier, guitarist Smokey Hormel and keyboardist John Medeski. That’s a superband.

Here’s a few glimpses of the soundtrack:

I’m Not There.mp3 — Sonic Youth offer an instantly classic version of this obscure (until now) Dylan tune. Sing along, “She’s gone like a rainbow…”

Fourth Time Around.mp3 — Yo La Tengo give listeners a near overdose of lovely sound in this authoritative cover. I can’t imagine anyone else doing this must justice to this wondrous Dylan tune.

Going to Acapulco.mp3 — Jim James and Calexico do this song with a grace that is silencing. I love this song. I quickly fell in love with Dylan’s version years ago, so much that I learned the song and used to sing it to myself, on repeat. There’s something about the tone and melody of the song (in both versions) that combines a feeling of aching pain and beautiful comfort. I’ve often used the line, “It’s a wicked life, but what the hell,” like a mantra to aide in lasting the day, and there’s a charming sentiment in the story told in the song that I like returning to.

Ballad of a Thin Man.mp3 — Stephen Malkmus & The Million Dollar Bashers. Enough said.

OpenID Sat. Nov 24th, 07

WordPress.com uses OpenID.  So does vox.com, as well as LiveJournal and many other sites.  This means that you can use your user ID from one site on the other.  So, if your name is Bob, you can sign in to WordPress with bob.vox.com.  This is as long as you are signed into to Vox at the time.   You can also get your own domain  to use (bob.name) or use an ID service.  Personally, I really wish Google would offer OpenID support.  I’d love to log in to the various services I use with just my email addy.

Famous Bus Stop Sat. Nov 17th, 07

My Bus Stop is famous! It was recently featured in a local newspaper!

If you look closely past the civics lesson in the foreground, you will clearly see the Woolworth’s building. My stop is right in front of it!

More..

Chip has a Girlfriend Sat. Oct 27th, 07

Chip has a Girlfriend

Originally uploaded by 4durt

I’ve been absent, but have arrived. Sat. Oct 6th, 07

Sorry for the lack of contributions lately.  I have just arrived in my new city (Seattle) last week and have not had much web access.

I have, however, been enjoying the lovely foliage and magnanimous landscape.  I forgot how much I really, really love this place when I am here free of obligations.

I do have a little treat for you, though.  Look up Flight of the Conchords on YouTube.  You’ll find this and more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHuOrJQua_c

They’re pretty addictive.

Heh, “Schadendouche” Mon. Sep 24th, 07

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/09/24/idiot-criminal-uploa.html

REMIX: “Can’t Tase This” Sat. Sep 22nd, 07

I could really use some help from The Fates right now! Thu. Sep 13th, 07

I normally try to refrain from posting anything here that I think will be of interest to only me, but, you know what? I need some advice. Help!

RIP Pavarotti Thu. Sep 6th, 07

From the San Francisco Chronicle:  http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/09/06/MNM0K578G.DTL

I have a VHS video somewhere of The Three Tenors and I used to watch it at least once a week (much to the chagrin of my mother) as a child.

 Everyone seems to think of Nessun Dorma as their Pavarotti favorite, but mine has always been Ave Maria.

Pavarotti singing Ave Maria from YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uYrmYXsujI.

Pavarotti with James Brown from YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCIyzNISw1Q.

The Ralph’s Thriftway Boycott Continues… Mon. Sep 3rd, 07

The Ralph’s Thriftway Boycott Continues…

Originally uploaded by dreamsjung

My cd player has this in it and it won’t come out. On purpose. Thu. Aug 30th, 07

www.csshurts.com

 But since the mp3 link on their website isn’t working right now, I offer you up some MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/canseidesersexy

 These chicks (and 1 boy?) from Brazil are fricking rad.

I’ve been doing not-so-smart things like this lately. Tue. Aug 28th, 07

I was just looking for some sound clips of this band: http://www.importantrecords.com/releases/imprec145_release_page.htm

I really like some of the other stuff on this label, and I’m pretty sure someone has mentioned this band to me before, so I thought I’d better check them out. I just plugged it into the Google search field.   Nice.   Hope my IT department at work gets a kick out of that one.   I just did a search for “smegma.”

hee hee

This video is, like, SO popular! Mon. Aug 27th, 07

Miss Teen USA 2007

agents provocateurs Wed. Aug 22nd, 07

This is a very strange video. It appears that during a demonstration in Canada some cops went undercover as demonstrators, trying to provoke a riot. When some demonstrators called them out as cops, they pushed into the line of riot police and were taken down. Really strange. Via Boing Boing. Link.

Is This What a Dying Blog Looks Like? Tue. Aug 21st, 07

At the peak of activity for this blog we were getting almost 900 views per day.  This last week we’ve sometimes gone just above 50.  The only people who seem to be reading this thing is Mr. I-Get-Drunk-And-Call-You-All-Fucking-Idiots himself, Nathan Levans, and people who like year-round christmas music.  At least judging by the fact that the top search term leading to this blog is continually “Nathan Levans.”

Not that it makes any real difference.  We can’t have ads here on WordPress.com, so we’re not missing out on the $20 or $30 a day some bloggers count on.  There’s just a feeling of a tree falling in the forest here.   Was it something we said?  Are we boring you?  Is it having to log in now that keeps you away?  Let us know in the comments.

This song won’t get out of my head Fri. Aug 17th, 07

It’s been here for days on end.

Here’s a lovely live video. You, too, can feel the (wonderful? painful?) torture.

U.S. to Designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as Terrorists Wed. Aug 15th, 07

via digg:
The United States has decided to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country’s 125,000-strong military branch, as a “specially designated global terrorist,” according to U.S. officials, a move that allows Washington to target the group’s business operations and finances.

read more | digg story

New mp3 blog Tue. Aug 14th, 07

There’s a new mp3 blog on the block. Since it’s new, I don’t have much to say about it other than the man behind tracker.twee.se is the blogger. From Andreas Olsson’s Facebook feed:

So I’m back. This time with a mp3 blog focusing on both images, words and sounds.
You will always get lyrics to the mp3’s that’s posted, always an image (being an album cover or photo of the band, whichever I get my hands on) along with a small comment from my side about the meaning of it all. I’m pretty excited, hope you guys will like it.

And Then Suddenly