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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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April 05, 2003
Eddie Vedder, statesman
Eddie Vedder's ritualistic destruction of a picture of the president onstage constitutes a thoughtful political statement from a mature adult whose ideas about politics deserve to be taken seriously.
Indeed he's changed my mind. I used to think that it was important to defend the country, and that taking out a dangerous thug might be an ugly but perhaps necessary thing.
Now, however, seeing that Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam opposes the war can't help but impact my thinking. He makes a good argument when he destroys a picture of the president onstage with his mic stand. You can't very well argue with that.
Plus, check out the lyrics of their new "Bushleaguer" song: "A confidence man, but why so beleaguered? / He's not a leader, he's a Texas leaguer". "Beleaguered" and "leaguer" almost rhyme. How could anyone support Bush after that?
Indeed his whole ritualistic destruction of a picture of the president constitutes a bold and convincing artistic statement of the illegitimacy of the Bush regime. It's certainly more than an overgrown little boy acting out cheap Freudian schtick with his own daddy. No sirree, this shows thoughtful consideration of the world situation that we face today and the president's monumental responsibilities. I mean, look how sincere Eddie is when he does it. He must be right.
Plus, when this album doesn't sell any better than the last several, it won't be because the band only ever had one decent song and their recording career is long dead. No, it will be martyrdom, for bravely and at great personal risk speaking truth to power.
After all that, doesn't he deserve a nice warm bottle and a nap?
posted by Al at 4/05/2003 01:33:00 PM
April 03, 2003
This just in: Saddam Hussein is still dead
Back during the first season of Saturday Night Live Chevy Chase had a recurring bit on the Weekend Update in which he read a news bulletin confirming that the late dictator "Francisco Franco is still dead." Seems like we're needing such an item for Saddam Hussein.
Every day of this war, I'm seeing news anchors and pundits speculating on what Saddam's next move will be. He may be ready to give the orders to use WMDs any time. He's planning strategery agin us. They keep talking about him like he's still alive.
Every indication, however, suggests that the rat bastard is good and dead. The first night of the war, we started by hitting HIM personally. They tossed out their original blueprint and went for the decapitation strike because they had quite solid information on where he was. They dropped a pair of 2,000 bunker busters on his dumb ass, and apparently followed that up with maybe as many as two dozen cruise missles. If he was in there, he's toast. Not scared, not wounded, not hiding. Obliterated. Nobody saw him come out- and we were looking. Nor have we seen either son. Nor have we seen his evil cousin Chemical Ali.
Since then, there has been absolutely no indication that he continues to breath. None. Not one fresh appearance, not even by videotape. Now you may have to allow for possibilities of unpredictable behavior; he was a wily SOB. However, if he were still alive, it would be critically important to make this known to his own henchmen in order to let them know that he was still around, less they get ideas of jumping the sinking ship. Plus, he'd be needing to command his army. No one particularly seems to be running such military as he left. There's no sign of him even on cell phone, apparently.
Now I understand that the military has to work with the assumption that the guy could conceivably just be hiding. They must account for this contingency. However, that doesn't mean that it is likely.
I can understand how we're all having a bit of trouble wrapping our minds around the fairly likely fact of Saddam's demise. He was such a survivor. Plus, he was the very image of the devil made flesh in this generation.
He was not a literal demon, however. He was merely a very evil 65 year old mortal man. He's not Freddy Kreuger, who comes to you in dreams and can't be really permanently killed no matter what.
One big-assed bomb dropped on his head means he's dead, and dead forever. The End. Roll credits.
I've been holding off on celebrating his demise, waiting for official confirmation. Thinking about it, he hit my superstition buttons enough that I've been half-afraid of "jinxing" it by just stating the obvious without official confirmation. However, that may not come. I wouldn't think there'd be much left for them to find. Two tons worth of bunker busters and a couple dozen cruise missles might not have left much of a body to find. Much like the apparently late UBL.
Anyway, I know how I'm going to celebrate his demise. South Park, naturally. The South Park movie features the recently deceased Saddam Hussein going to hell to become Satan's homosexual lover. I'll be relishing their hellish pillow talk, and the results when even his longsuffering lover gets tired of Saddam's dumb ass. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
posted by Al at 4/03/2003 03:46:00 AM
Ann Coulter pimp slaps Peter Arnett
Rand bless Ann Coulter. Dissection of liberal and fifth column media types being her specialty, the world really needed her specifically to properly break down the Peter Arnett treachery. And oh yes, she has it down.
Arnett also bragged about the demoralizing effect his reporting was having back home: "Our reports about civilian casualties here, about the resistance of the Iraqi forces, are going back to the United States. It helps those who oppose the war when you challenge the policy to develop their arguments."
Any journalist who boasted that his reports were helping demoralize the enemy the way Arnett was boasting that his reports were demoralizing his own country would be brought before the Columbia School of Journalism on ethics charges. What journalists mean by "objectivity" is: relentlessly attacking your own country while engaging in mindless boosterism of the enemy. At least now we know.
Damn, she's evil. If we'd just strap a bazooka on her back and drop her into Baghdad, the war would probably be over in a day.
posted by Al at 4/03/2003 02:32:00 AM
Best of 2002 custom CD mix
A few weeks ago at the time of our Music Critiquees, I put together a custom mix CD of the best songs of 2002 from my own published top 10, and some picks of our various Blogcritics. I've been particularly pleased with listening to this, so I thought I'd take a minute to detail it for you. In short, if you whip these songs together, you'll have a jam that just won't quit.
BEST OF 2002 - AL'S PICKS CD
"Get Over It" by OK Go
"We Are Going to Be Friends" by the White Stripes
"Make You Feel That Way" by Blackalicious
"Hate to Say I Told You So" by the Hives
"When I Was Cruel" by Elvis Costello
"Hot in Herre" by Nelly
"Stairway to Heaven" by Dolly Parton
"Without Me" by Eminem
"Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" by the White Stripes
"John Walker's Blues" by Steve Earle
"Bonnie and Clyde" by Jay Z with Beyonce Knowles
"The Man Comes Around" by Johnny Cash
"Lord Franklin" by Sinead O'Connor
"None of Us Are Free" by Solomon Burke
"My Ride's Here" by Warren Zevon
"Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell" by Flaming Lips
"Days Go By" by Dirty Vargas
"All the Things She Said" by Tatu
"The Last DJ" by Tom Petty
posted by Al at 4/03/2003 12:52:00 AM
April 02, 2003
Mellencamp's anti-Bush song
John Mellencamp has a new protest song available for FREE DOWNLOAD on his website. It's not so much an anti-war song as an anti-Bush diatribe.
If you're any kind of Mellencamp fan, it's definitely worth a listen. It's not the very most exciting song he's ever done, but it actually is pretty listenable. It has a good tune, and a nicely developed arrangement. I'd say that overall it is the best song I've heard from him in most of a decade.
Stylistically, it's in his Woody Guthrie mode. He has an approach that sounds like humble farmer with hat in hand. Which isn't to say that he's not scathing, but not at all haughty or self-congratulatory. I mean this not only in terms of the lyrics, but the whole understated nature of the composition.
It reminds me of his anti-Reagan song "Country Gentleman." The general musical approach is similar, as is the lyrical approach. Both songs are quietly and humbly delivered bitter denunciations of the president. One example of the perhaps slightly affected humility is that he doesn't actually use the name of either president, though there's no possible doubt who he means. The approach is similar, but I'd say "To Washington" rates higher. I'm not necessarily overly impressed with the political insights, but it is well written, and has some personality about it. It reflects some distinctive personal style; he's not simply re-gurgitating boilerplate lyrical cliches like the Lenny Kravitz record.
This is definitely pretty good, but it's not Mellencamp's very best protest material. In the range of social protest, one old song of Mellencamp's didn't get the attention that it should. If you don't have it, hunt down a copy of "Love and Happiness." It absolutely breathes fire. "To Washington" won't make me forget "Rain on the Scarecrow" or "The Authority Song" or "Pink Houses," but then what would?
TO WASHINGTON
Eight years of peace and prosperity
Scandal in the White House
An election is what we need
From coast-to-coast to Washington
So America voted on a president
No one kept count
On how the election went
From Florida to Washington
Goddamn, said one side
And the other said the same
Both looked pretty guilty
But no one took the blame
From coast-to-coast to Washington
So a new man in the White House
With a familiar name
Said he had some fresh ideas
But it's worse now since he came
From Texas to Washington
And he wants to fight with many
And he says it's not for oil
He sent out the National Guard
To police the world
From Baghdad to Washington
What is the thought process
To take a humans life
What would be the reason
To think that this is right
From heaven to Washington
From Jesus Christ to Washington
posted by Al at 4/02/2003 04:49:00 PM
April 01, 2003
Poor silly Geraldo
Poor silly Geraldo Rivera has gotten himself in hot water again. There's some controversy about the specifics, but it looks like he's getting booted from Iraq by the US military or pulled voluntarily by Fox for saying too much during a live broadcast.
I have to say that maybe just this one time I feel a little bit bad for Geraldo.
I saw the live broadcast in question. His diagram consisted of two lines drawn in the sand, and maybe three dots. Here, here and here are the places where we've had a lot of resistance. We're cleaning 'em up, getting some reinforcements and getting ready to go on up to Baghdad.
To me this didn't seem real overly specific. Surely the Iraqis already knew where they had been bedeviling us.
Perhaps he did go over the line as to what he was allowed to say, though. Fox News has certainly been the most pro-administration network on this war, so I doubt they'd screw with Fox unless they thought there was a serious breach. Not knowing the exact instructions and agreements, I have no way to judge. If Geraldo screwed up, then he has to go.
However, even if he did screw up, it was in the direction of being just a little too gung-ho in his patriotic fervor. I find this pretty easy to forgive. He wasn't saying stupid crap TRYING to give aid and comfort to the enemy, like comrade Arnett.
posted by Al at 4/01/2003 03:54:00 PM
Classic country music patriotism
Some years ago I bought a Rhino compilation of patriotic country songs called Country Shots: God Bless America specifically for this Bill Anderson song that I was mocking in an old public access show. It turned out to be a pretty listenable collection [mostly Vietnam era] with a fair variety of styles and tone, suprisingly good for not even having Merle Haggard. Here's the line-up:
1. God Bless America Again - Bobby Bare
2. Viet Nam Blues - Dave Dudley
3. It's America (Love It Or Leave It) - Ernest Tubb
4. God Must Have Blessed America - Glen Campbell
5. The Minute Men (Are Turning In Their Graves) - Stonewall Jackson
6. Ballad Of Two Brothers - Autry Inman
7. Americans (A Canadian's Opinion) - Tex Ritter
8. Where Have All Our Heroes Gone - Bill Anderson
9. Don't Give Us A Reason - Hank Williams Jr.
10. God Bless The USA - Lee Greenwood
I've just dug it out again, and it all sounds interesting and fresh in many ways in our current situation. Hearing it from a real wartime situation, instead of from the safe campy comfort of even two years ago makes it vital. I would highly and heartily recommend it to one and all.
One track has jumped out at me in the current context. Autry Inman's "Ballad of Two Brothers" is more of a drama/comedy sketch than a song, but it's excellent however you want to label it. He narrates a letter home from a dedicated soldier in Vietnam, interspersed with his highly mockable brother back home at the university, and his protest marches.
What fascinates me is the contrast of this silly protester brother to modern protesters against the Iraq war. I regarded the Inman character as a cheesy caricature of peace activists. Yet this broad parody of a Vietnam protester does not BEGIN to look as utterly stupid as the ignoramuses at the modern "vomit-ins" and such.
I got the CD in the first place for "Where Have All Our Heroes Gone?" It is mostly a breathy Bill Anderson narration with a female chorus. He's basically lamenting the no-goodniks that our young people look up to today (1970ish) versus his boyhood heroes. I mocked it on air, and would do so again- but still with an appreciation for his execution. The examples and explanations have real personality, and a strong air of real conviction- more so than a lot of his better known hits.
I saw a group of boys the other day standing in the corner of a playground, looking and laughing at a magazine. And I overheard one of the boys say, 'Man is he ever cool.' And he pointed to the man whose picture was on the magazine cover. And everybody kind of said under their breath, 'Yeah, he's cool all right' And I got sick to my stomach, because I had seen the cover. The man that they were talking about had instigated a riot in one of our major cities last summer. The magazine was writing about how the police were 'unkind' to him, the judges were 'unfair' with him, and how he talked back and slung his long hair about and cussed, and 'did his thing.' And they made him into a regular hero.
The most musically satisfying jam comes from Dave Dudley singing the "Viet Nam Blues". This is a pretty good trick for something that is basically through-composed, one long narrative lacking a recurring melody or chorus. Kris Kristofferson wrote this evil talking blues about a soldier on leave in DC, wandering amongst the anti-war protesters and having to actively restrain himself from beating ass on some ignoramuses circulating a petition of support for Ho Chi Minh.
Three of these of the least interest were probably actually the biggest hits. "God Bless America Again" along with "God Must Have Blessed America" and the infamous "God Bless the USA" are pretty much Madison Avenue jingle writing. They have nice pro-American sentiments of a muted and impersonal nature, bathed in sappy strings. Beyond anything else, they're not particularly country. At that though, I will admit that they are reasonably well written bromides; they do have hooks.
The Ernest Tubb and Stonewall Jackson tracks are both outstanding songs, whatever you may think of the specific political content. "It's America (Love It or Leave It)" sounds fairly offensive on the basis of the title, even to me, but try it out. Ernest Tubb was absolutely not a belligerant or bellicose guy, and the tone of the song is more thoughtful and carefully considered than you might guess. "If things don't go their way, they can always move away. That's what democracy means anyway." Hmm. That's certainly what the liberals would be saying if Gore had won the election.
The least musically interesting track still has a pretty interesting ring today. "Americans (A Canadian's Opinion)" involves Tex Ritter reading a letter to the editor from some Canadian speaking up in praise of America. It's nothing to do with the war, but basically excoriates the entire rest of the world for being ingrates, with nice details. Again, it's not really a song, but I am really, really appreciating the sentiment about now.
Oddly, the most recent and directly relevant song here seems the most distant and out of place. Hank Jr had a decent sized hit during the first Gulf War with "Don't Give Us a Reason." It's even a pretty good outlaw rock song with good hooks, actually one of his best musical constructs.
The tone of this thing absolutely would not fly today, however, and makes a real clear display of differences between then and now. The whole glib tone of this, the truly jingoistic and arrogant belligerance would be totally unacceptable. "You can take that poison gas, and stick it in your sassafrass." I seem to remember a lot of guys with cheap macho posturing about killing them all and letting God sort them out, and so forth. It's a much more serious world now, and I'm not hearing ANY of that, not even out here in rural crackerland. "I'd like to find out just for fun just how fast those camels can run." Yup, that was a different era.
You need to hear this. The CD is long out of print, and most of the songs do not seem to be commercially available. So here are the better half of these songs for download:
"Americans - A Canadian's Opinion" by Tex Ritter
"Ballad of Two Brothers" by Autry Inman
"It's America, Love It or Leave It" by Ernest Tubb
"The Minutemen Are Turning in Their Graves" by Stonewall Jackson
"Vietnam Blues" by Dave Dudley
"Where Have All Our Heroes Gone?" by Bill AndersonLabels: country_music
posted by Al at 4/01/2003 03:47:00 AM
March 31, 2003
Tough ol' queen
"Forget the f�-ing Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is all about, supposedly, peace. Now, I love the idea of that. We all would love to have peace. But you know, in times of war and times of aggravation, where is this peacemaking man when you need him? F�-ing nowhere to be seen."
-Elton John
posted by Al at 3/31/2003 12:31:00 AM
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