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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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March 22, 2003
A profane prayer for Salam
We haven't heard from Salam in maybe a day and a half. I'm not real overly worried. I've been expecting him to lose internet access before now. High tech shiznit like computers and phone lines tend not to respond well to bombing. It's a wonder he's keeping access as well as he has. He'll pop up just fine eventually. I hope.
To the end of expressing hope, I wrote him a poem a few weeks ago. He seemed to like it. I present it here as something of a profane prayer for his safety.
Splendor in the Grass
Our ol' buddy Salam, he's a dirty lil' perv
Hussein just can't stop him
Bushy's chances are slim
When he's on a love mission, you know he won't swerve
So our bombs start to droppin' on his city so dear
And the Casbah starts rockin'
While the town folk be gawkin'
In shock as the smoke starts to clear
As the neighbors start looking for their goats most preferred
Past Saddam's charcoaled ass
Follow the bleats in the grass
And find Salam out humpin' the herd
posted by Al at 3/22/2003 10:22:00 PM
Is Salam for real?
Now this is an old topic to me, but quite a few people have been questioning the veracity of Salam, the pseudonymous blogger from Baghdad. Is he REALLY just a regular fella from Baghdad? Could he be a Ba'ath operative or a CIA front or something? Enquiring minds want to know. Indeed, I was asking the same kinds of questions some months ago when I was first becoming acquainted with him.
For his part, Salam is somewhere a couple of steps past being bored with the question. He's got the US dropping big bombs on his town, and bunches of new people now want him to prove himself.
The more interesting question here is epistemological. What would constitute convincing evidence of his veracity? For obvious reasons (ie not wanting to have his tongue cut out), he can't be giving out his real name or address. But what would a "real" name and address prove? Those could be made up, or an assumed identity.
What really convinced me was reading his site, and exchanging email. His personality, his interests and tastes, his reporting ring true to me.
Indeed, these things are considerably MORE convincing to me than would be the kinds of proof that others might come up with. A driver's license or birth certificate are easily enough forged. Indeed, if I went to Baghdad and met him physically, that wouldn't necessarily mean anything. If for some inscrutable reason the CIA wanted to trick ol' Al, they could send some Arabic agent to meet me at the corner cafe in Baghdad. How would I know the difference?
It would be much more difficult to fake a convincing personality. Hell, even most Hollywood screenwriters can't do it, even with top actors and our willing suspension of disbelief. It would be quite difficult to fake up the details of his life and moods and friends and opinions so skillfully that I wouldn't catch on after a few hours of being engaged with his writing.
Now I won't say that I 100% "know" that Salam is who he claims to be. There aren't many things about which I'd say I'm 100% certain. So I'll just say that I'm 99 44/100% sure that he's straight..uhm, I mean honest. I'll just have to take the last little bit on faith.
Hopefully, one day soon the war will be over, the damned Ba'ath regime will be gone, and perhaps we can even meet face to face. "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." I Corinthians 13:12
posted by Al at 3/22/2003 10:20:00 PM
The Show Must Go On
(Welcome to the Amish Tech Support Blog A Day Tour!)
Who cares about the Oscars? At least the Razzies went off without a hitch!
Madonna and director-husband Guy Ritchie "Swept Away" the competition with their widely reviled box office bomb of the same name at the 23rd annual Razzie awards on Saturday which "honor" the worst of the worst in Hollywood.
The Razzies are traditionally awarded a day before the Oscars, Hollywood's highest honors which are set for Sunday.
"Swept Away," a remake of Italian director Lina Wertmuller (news)'s 1974 classic about a bourgeois woman shipwrecked in the Mediterranean with her yacht's communist cook, swept the Razzies with nods for worst film, worst performance by an actress, worst remake, worst screen couple (Madonna and co-star Adriano Giannini) and worst director Ritchie. There were absolutely no reports of terrorist attacks during the presentation ceremony. Hopefully this will reassure Hollywood celebrities that have been so worried about their Botoxed hides that they're been renting armored limos for the Oscars.
posted by Laurence at 3/22/2003 02:32:00 PM
Think what we're asking
Our blog buddy Salam managed to post from Baghdad as recently as Friday morning. Watching his countrymen on the BBC surrendering, he said, "yes it is better for them to do that but still seeing them carrying that white flag makes something deep inside you cringe." I felt immediate pangs of empathy.
Now, Salam's the kind of guy whose ideas of "macho" run more to the Village People than to Saddam. Even he has trouble taking surrender, much less what a soldier might feel. Surrendering might be the smart thing to do, and US making them surrender may be necessary, but we should keep in mind that this surrender runs counter to our basic hard-wired programming down in the deep recesses of our mammal brains.
posted by Al at 3/22/2003 04:56:00 AM
A timely musical lesson
Hear all of world history turned into a snappy 3 minute rock song for the kiddies, complete with bitchin' guitar solo.
Lucifer had a bone to pick,
so he went to have a chat with God
He said 'You've been king of the hill too long,
I think I'd like to have your job'
The learning continues with Hitler versus Stalin and, of course, Bush versus Hussein.
CLICK HERE for a free download of "I Think I'm Better Than You."
posted by Al at 3/22/2003 04:00:00 AM
March 21, 2003
Gratitude, schmatitude
Lot of folks think the people of Iraq should come kiss our feet in gratitude that we've come to liberate them. Matthew Yglesias, for example, was taken aback that Salam, writing from Baghdad, does not particularly favor us bombing the living crap out of his hometown.
Nonetheless, I wouldn't expect somebody on the other end of our guns to just be full of trust, as I wouldn't be real thrilled to have to trust someone not to blow me up.
Furthermore, our government has arguably historically acted in a cavallier manner with the Iraqi public, ignoring their interest and sufferings first by supporting and then by trying to suppress Hussein.
Now, I'm glad of what we're doing in Iraq. It just badly needs doing. Hussein was an evil threat to US and all decent nations. The fact that our government was sponsoring him at one time just makes it that much more our responsibility to deal with him now.
Also, the people of Iraq should be expected to have some serious reservations about US running up in on them like this. We need to prove ourselves to the people of Iraq, to show them that they're not getting screwed in the deal again.
I trust that we will. Of course, that's real easy for me to be all trusting, sitting safe in Indiana. It takes a lot more trust to trust someone with your life, which is the level of control we're demanding of the Iraqi people.
It might be necessary, and even (by our estimation) in their own best long term interests for us to come take the wheel for a minute. It is not reasonable, however, to expect them to like it.
posted by Al at 3/21/2003 02:41:00 AM
March 20, 2003
Is it Saddam or is it Memorex?
It's on. In the 9 o'clock hour EST or right at dawn in Baghdad time, US forces struck with some several dozen missles and bombs, primarily targeting Iraqi leadership, particularly Hussein and sons- a "decapitation" attempt. We don't have damage assessment yet at this hour.
However, in our midnight hour EST, Iraqi tv broadcast a supposed live speech from Hussein. Thing is, there was nothing in the content of the prepared statement that he or a look alike read referring to anything from the strikes of the last several hours- nothing to show that it was live or even recent within the last few days. Moreover, the broadcast had glitches that strongly suggest that it was videotape rather than a live broadcast. By the content, it had no real news references to date it. It could have been taped weeks or months ago. This wasn't any more live than a Milli Vanilli concert- after Vanilli died. Although I suppose that Vanilli's passing wouldn't make much difference as to their live-ness.
Now, you have to think that at this moment if he could, Hussein would be showing up unequivocally live at least long enough to show his people that he's still alive and in charge, lest they jump ship. This leads me to suspect either that Hussein is dead, or trying to convince us that he is. We and the Iraqi people should be so lucky.
posted by Al at 3/20/2003 12:56:00 AM
March 18, 2003
Mussolini's smooth move
On March 18, 1940 Mussolini joins Hitler in Germany's war against France & Britain. This was a very good idea on Mussolini's part.
On a COMPLETELY UNRELATED note, perhaps Iran and Syria and any other local thug governments that feel froggy might wish to jump on US while we are in Iraq. Show a united Arab front against the infidels, and all that. Give us a good reason to destroy a couple of other deserving tyrants while we're in the neighborhood.
posted by Al at 3/18/2003 01:49:00 AM
Sending this one out to Salam
As we gird our loins for battle, one song comes to the fore, "Drink Before the War" by Sinead O'Connor. It is from the album The Lion and the Cobra. Hunt it down if you don't have it.
you say, oh I'm not afraid - it can't happen to me
I've lived my life as a good man
no you're out of your mind
it won't happen to me
'cuz I've carried my weight
and I've been a strong man
but listen to the man in the liquor stor
he yelling, anybody wanna drink before the war?
The wizened old men are bracing themselves for the coming conflict. Sinead's voice soars with sadness and resolve. The lyrics only read so-so on the page, but it's all in the tune and the performance. Beautiful dynamics building up through this one.
Drink up buddy.
posted by Al at 3/18/2003 01:36:00 AM
March 17, 2003
International Eat an Animal for PETA Day Wrapup
Ah, the joy of a last few hours of having time to mock the likes of PETA before our attention turns fully to regime change in Iraq.
However, I will have to admit that I may have fell a little short of my stated goal of eating 10 different species of animal for IEAPD on Saturday the 15. I was actually a little surprised at how limited are meat diets really are. Out of thousands of species of critters we could be eating, outside of fish probably 90+% of the meat in American diets probably comes from as few as four of five species. Pigs, cows, chickens, turkeys. Throw in three or four varieties of fish, and you'd probably have 99% of our diet. I accept this realization as a challenge.
Properly, I think I got as many five different species: chickens (eggs, baked wing, fried livers), cow (roast beef), pig (baked ham), pollack fish, and salmon. However, I did finally have some Armour Potted Meat on crackers. That probably should count for at least half a dozen unknown species right there. I admit, however that this method of counting may constitute cheating. I report, you decide.
posted by Al at 3/17/2003 10:30:00 PM
Rock Hall of Fame induction dinner
On March 10, 2003 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the new class: The Righteous Brothers, AC/DC, The Clash, The Police and Elvis Costello. The induction dinner is airing on VH1. Check their schedule for repeat viewings.
This was one of the more satisfying awards ceremonies I've seen. Partly this is because they are lifetime achievement awards, so rarely do any truly bad acts get into the list. I'm afraid there'll be no spot here for Milli Vanilli.
This show had a much greater sense of intimacy than most awards shows. It was a few hundred people setting at dinner tables. It came off that people were speaking and performing for their immediate audience rather than posturing for the cameras. It seemed much more like we were dealing with human beings rather than some plasticized media spectacle.
The Righteous Brothers opened the show with "You've Lost That Loving Feeling." Those guys can really sing. When they lay up the combination with the full orchestration, they really put it on us. I obviously need to listen to more Righteous Brothers.
Elvis Costello and the Attractions found themselves being inducted by Elton John with a speech that climaxes with a discussion of his tastes in homosexual pornography. It was a tasteful display of pure English class.
Elvis made a quick litany of favorite musicians, finishing up with "and especially Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell." Dylan is obvious, but citing Joni Mitchell as his co-favorite seems odd. The influence of Joni Mitchell on his music is not obvious to me. Nor do I recall ever hearing him mention her before. Nor do I recall him ever covering any of her songs live. Most curious.
He also had curious choices in song. Obviously he had to do "Peace, Love and Understanding." OK, fair enough. No cheap shots at the microphone, but instead he made the point with an impassioned rendition of one of his classics. This is the right approach to a musician expressing political opinions: let your guitar do the talking. It's what you do.
Also, though, he performed "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror" from Spike. Now this song IS a favorite of my baby brother's, but not a single or one of his couple of dozen most obvious audience favorites. Yet even a relatively obscure album track from a dozen odd years ago absolutely KICKS ASS. The guy really could just randomly pick great forgotten classics from nearly any album in his catalog. Indeed, I'll take Elvis' catalog of songs and records over Bob Dylan's. And damn VH1 for cutting his performance of "Pump It Up" from the broadcast.
The Clash were the only act not performing. Their lead charismatic figure Joe Strummer lived long enough to hear that the band was being inducted, but not long enough to actually come to the dinner.
The only really stupid cheap political statement in the broadcast show came, naturally enough, from the way least famous or accomplished individual on the stage, from Tom Morello of the late Rage Against the Machine. He came up with some crap about the spirit of the Clash being there whenever people took to the streets to protest an unjust war. Pause for applause. Yeah, yeah. You've never written a real song in your LIFE, but you're against war, so you're important too, just like the Clash. Shut up. Nobody would have ever given a rat's ass about their ignorant political slogans if they weren't just exceptional songwriters.
The Clash were a pretty hot band, and they made some outstanding records. But truly a lot of their stock gets grossly inflated because of cheap political considerations. Why, they named an album Sandinista! in honor of their revolutionary brothers. Yeah, yeah. Too bad there weren't more memorable songs on this extremely self-indulgent three album set. Nonetheless, judging acts by their best work rather than their least, there's no arguing against The Clash or the classic London Calling. Can't argue against them.
AC/DC perhaps haven't gotten the respect they deserve from music connoisseurs. Maybe if they stuck in some cheap crap about rising up against The Corporate Establishment they would be recognized as geniuses.
On the other hand, just on the basis of comparing lists of their best songs, AC/DC will go head to head with their more critically celebrated revolutionary Clash brethren. And their pure performing presence on the stage was dead on. Their skills have not diminished with age. "You Shook Me All Night Long" sounds even better than it did 20 years ago, if only by being played somewhat less than every five minutes now.
One of the benefits of this being a taped event was EDITING. Thus, while missing the induction for non-performing inductee Mo Ostin, we missed out on seeing Neil Young say, "One thing is on my mind before I get to Mo," he said. "War sucks the big one, it just sucks. We're having a good time tonight, but we're gonna kill a lot of people next week. Let's not forget about that. I didn't want to ruin this, but it's too real to not mention it. And music used to be about this, and it still is about this. This is a human thing, and these are human beings over there. And we're making a huge mistake. I feel like I'm in a giant, gas-guzzling SUV and the driver's drunk as a f***in' skunk."
The real stars of the evening definitely turned out to be the Police. For one thing, their tiny backstage snippets gave some of the best band of brothers vibes you could ask for, particularly for guys whose egos are famously too big to fit into the same stadium.
Mainly, though, they were just playin' sons a bitches. They might be arty and jazzy, but they have a ferocious swing that is not to be denied. "Roxanne" was the top musical highlight of the whole evening, especially that nice extended instrumental break. Programmers at VH1 will have plenty of time in hell to contemplate why they cut "Message in a Bottle" from the broadcast.
posted by Al at 3/17/2003 10:30:00 PM
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