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Up to the minute notes on the current state of free thinking and free living: Kentucky moonshine - original analysis and reporting from MoreThings, and all round pop culture museum of sight and sound - photo galleries, mp3 and video downloads.
Al Barger and MoreThings - getting people's goats since 1998.
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February 08, 2003
Albums of the Year 2002
Truthfully, I have to say it was a pretty disappointing year musically, though I must acknowledge that perhaps many groovy things went on that have just escaped my notice.
Among things that I have heard, perhaps six albums made the grade of being worth making the annual top 10. Operationally, "made the grade" here means that an album has at least two exceptional songs.
1) Elvis Costello - When I Was Cruel
This one is clearly the best Western pop album of the year. It absolutely has more outstanding songs than any other album all year. At least nine of these tracks are classics. CLICK HERE to get my full comments on this modern classic.
2) White Stripes - White Blood Cells
The effective raw Neil Young style performance of "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" constitutes the top reason for this album's inclusion. The other main beauty is the tender schoolyard romance of "We Are Going To Be Friends."
3) Eminem - The Eminem Show
"Without Me" was just one of the catchiest damned tunes of the year. "Cleanin' Out My Closet" may not have had the perfect anti-social outrage of, say, "97 Bonnie and Clyde." It does, however, constitute his best dramatic presentation, having something of an actual SONG underlying his story points. [Turns out he was on a roll with the drama thing, besting himself a couple of months later with "Lose Yourself."] Several other songs are catchy enough to merit repeated listening, particularly "Business."
4) Dolly Parton - Halos and Horns
Dolly does a really beautiful re-casting of "Stairway to Heaven." She takes the song backwards to the folk roots of the original composition. Also, ponder on the weird sadness and pluckiness of "These Old Bones." The affectation of her voice as the old granny witch doctor strikes me as incredibly cheesy and then again as a really effective unique Dolly style. It perplexes me. Indeed, most of the album bears repeated listening.
5) Johnny Cash - American Recordings IV: The Man Comes Around
Cash has this amazing vocal power, this old school Old Testament prophet of Yahweh thing. He can sell a song, and he has picked out some alternative rock songs of merit, and some perhaps less than obvious standards. Alongside the apocalyptic Biblical drama of the title track, he records a beautiful simple reading of "Danny Boy." His dry reading of John Lennon's "In My Life" drains away any easy sentiment or perfunctory prettiness of the Beatles' classic original recording.
6) Sinead O'Connor - Sean-Nos Nua
I'm not entirely sold on some of the production choices here. Sinead has always been about mixing old misty Irish mystic roots with modern production. You could, however, say that the exact way she's going about it here is arguably a little ham-handed. She's singing traditional ballads in strict traditional stylings, but adding obvious flourishes of modern studio vocal production. The effect is certainly novel, but may be more distracting than artistically meaningful.
Nonetheless, Sinead O'Connor is the singingest bitch on the face of this planet. When she wraps her lungs around "Lord Franklin" or "Peggy Gordon", she exudes a powerful draw in a very quiet and understated way. This album makes some strong listening, give or take minor production effects.Labels: johnny_cash
posted by Al at 2/08/2003 05:47:00 PM
February 04, 2003
Nelson Mandela weighed in the balance and found wanting
President Bush is wealthy and white - Nelson Mandela poor and black. Therefore, Mandela obviously possesses great moral superiority.
Or to put it another way, Mandela is a big commie jackass. This Lowell Ponte ARTICLE from Front Page compares Mandela to Bush, and the ingrateful murdering Mandela gets way the worst of it. Based on actual facts, it's hard to argue against his conclusions, despite the cheap aura of false sainthood being whipped up around Mandela.
posted by Al at 2/04/2003 01:24:00 PM
I'll trade you Manuel Noriega for Rupert Murdoch
Fifteen years ago today, 1988 Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega was indicted on drug charges. The US military went into Panama, deposed the government of which Manuel Noriega was head, and brought him to America to charge with helping distribute narcotics in violation of US law.
This has always struck me as incredibly and totally lawless. The US government makes laws for what you can and can't do in the United States. They do not have authority to make laws for Panama. In Panama, it was legal for their president to help distribute drugs, him being the government and all. If not, it would be a matter for the Panamanian justice system, such as it is, to abjudicate. You may regard this as somehow unjust, that Noriega would have gotten away with bad stuff because he had corrupt strongman control over the local legal system. Nonetheless, playing with drugs in Panama does not fall under the jurisdiction of American law or courts.
Sovereignty and jurisdiction are serious matters. Noriega was not in America to have been breaking American laws. You might arrest people caught smuggling in the US, but Congress does not have the right to make drug laws for any country on the globe.
If the US government can go snatch Noriega for violating American laws, then why wouldn't Iran have a right to send people crashing in to arrest, say, Rupert Murdoch and haul him off to face pornography charges stemming from satellite dishes beaming "The Shield" and "Married with Children" reruns down on Iran? The actual practical bad effects of illicit sex such as is sometimes being promoted by Fox programming are arguably greater than the bad effects of any drugs.
Either that, or you draw in some boundaries, and recognize some sovereignty, even towards governments we don't like. If you send people to come murder us or play footsie with those what do, then it's on. If we just don't like the way you run things in your own country though, that's most generally not our business to dictate.
posted by Al at 2/04/2003 01:23:00 PM
The original Detroit shocker!
 About the time Eminem was born, Vincent Furnier was putting the dark side of Detroit on the map. Born February 4, 1948 as Vincent Furnier, a minister's son, Alice Cooper was the original Detroit shocker. Happy number 55, Alice!
When young Mr. Mathers was still crapping his diapers, Alice was singing about dead babies and the joys of necrophilia. His stage show had more depictions of executions and woman beating than you could shake a stick at.
Eminem has it over Alice in terms of a narrow kind of authenticity. That is, we all about half expect Mathers to go nuts and kill his wife/ex/whatever-the-hell they are now, just like in his songs. Whereas, no one ever expected to literally have police catching Alice acting inappropriately in a mausoleum. You could say that Eminem is more "real," or you could say that Alice has reflected his personal experiences through a more rarified artistic prism than the sometimes dully literal psychotic diary entries of Eminem.
One thing sure, though, Alice Cooper has it all over Eminem as a songwriter. Eminem has mayble half a dozen songs to which you might give the benefit of the doubt. Alice Cooper, on the other hand, has a couple dozen classics. From the wife battering guilt of his scandalously empathetic "Only Women Bleed" to the terrorist defiance of "School's Out," Alice and his partners were songwriting SOBs. Then, of course, they also created the ultimate anthem of a guy really properly ENJOYING his adolescent angst, "I'm Eighteen." Don't forget to check out the Welcome to My Nightmare DVD, originally a theatrical release documenting his primetime stage show, at the height of his legendary showmanship.
Any y'all what are attracted to Eminem, but would really like something with more musical meat on the bones owe it to yourselves to dig into some classic Alice Cooper. For your introductory listening pleasure, you might LOOK for some of these classics:
"I'm Eighteen"
"No More Mr. Nice Guy"
"Only Women Bleed"
"Welcome to My Nightmare"
"Desperado"
"Teenage Lament '74"
"The Man with the Golden Gun"
"Go to Hell"
"You and Me"
"Muscle of Love"
"Poison"
"Elected"
ALICE COOPER HAS FUN WITH HIS ISSUES
"The Ballad of Dwight Frye"
posted by Al at 2/04/2003 01:22:00 PM
February 02, 2003
DEMOCRACY means THINKING
Ol Pal sent me THIS PICTURE in email, directing us to the www.democracymeansyou.com website. Frankly, the thing annoyed me. I replied, then, thusly:
So you sent me this picture with an extremely stale joke point about the Iraq conflict and B-I-G O-I-L. "We Shell not Exxonnerate Saddam Hussein for his actions." Yeah, yeah.
Thing is, these simplistically harsh and unsubstantiated ad hominem attacks on the president represent about the mental level of most opponents of action in Iraq. You seriously have no better argument than "NO BLOOD FOR OIL." Yeah, this doesn't have anything to do with his likely literally TONS of WMDs. It has nothing to do with crazy Arabs killing and trying to kill more of us.
I hate to keep speaking in support of President Bush. I didn't vote for him. Some of the administration's civil liberties ideas unthrill me, and damn his near total lack of willingness to engage in any bit of budgetary discipline. I hope to be again supporting the Libertarian Party candidate in 2004.
Nonetheless, George W Bush is the duly elected president of the United States. The security of hundreds of millions of Americans, and many others, rides on Dubya's picking our way across the minefields of nasty violent and often irrational individuals and governments.
Meanwhile liberal jackasses just think they represent the very summit of sophistication when they are regurgitating bumper sticker slogans such as those on this brain dead "democracy means you" website. "Bush is a dumbass." Consider the uber-cleverness of "The REAL Axis of Evil: Cheney, Bush, Ashcroft."
Bush administration members have been in different parts of the oil business in their lives, and there is oil in the Middle East. Therefore, Dubya is only going into Iraq to steal their oil. QED. Of course, this is logically STUPID. It's just plain personal visceral hatred of Dubya, and naked partisanship. I could understand such foolishness among schoolkids, but surely no one with a college degree could sincerely believe that this constitutes any legitimate THINKING about politics. Other than North Korea, 90+ percent of our worst problems come from Arabs or Muslims. Reports suggest that American authorities have stopped over 100 planned terrorist attacks on our soil since 9/11. It's damned tricky business. Bush is a serious man, with the most serious job in the world.
There's not really even an attempt being made at rational discussion. Most of the lefties, such as this Democracy Means You site are more concerned with resenting the president than with dealing responsibly with the security of the country. People spouting these lefty slogans seem to be either too illiterate or way too childishly partisan to be part of our civic life.
I'm just damned glad to have a responsible adult at the helm right about now.
posted by Al at 2/02/2003 02:58:00 AM
Got to give it up
Y'all got to check out THESE POSTERS. This outfit intends to be leftie idiotarians, but these images are nicely done. And does this image really denigrate Rumsfeld?
It is only in the context of seeing this image with those around it on the page that I can tell it is actually supposed to be a criticism. I think it's cool. Then again, I'm inclined to go around singing the "Don't Vote" song from Tim Robbins' Bob Roberts movie.
ANN COULTER PHOTO GALLERY
ANTI-ANN COULTER PHOTO GALLERY
THIS POSTER is really fairly much a Slander of Ann Coulter, whom I admire greatly and wish to submit to. However, they did it so cleverly that I can't really object.
OK, so they're commie pukes. At least they're witty vomit.
posted by Al at 2/02/2003 02:29:00 AM
Ayn Rand's birthday
Ayn Rand was born February 2, 1905. She was certainly the most important philosopher of the 20th century. You could reasonably argue that Atlas Shrugged made the most important mark of any book of the century.
posted by Al at 2/02/2003 02:13:00 AM
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