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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 10, 2004
Moqtada al-Sadr has to go
This dirtbag cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has to go. There's no two ways about it.
George Will, as usual, has a good, thoughtful analysis of our current tough situation in Iraq. It's bad enough to have to suck up the old Shiite ayatollah, Ali Sistani, and deal with all the brewing internecine hostilities that threaten a civil war.
This Moqtada al-Sadr has declared open war on the US, though, and that absolutely cannot be tolerated. Screw worrying about national pride or any such thing, but if we do anything less than squish this murdering thug, we will have hell on our hands- and not just in Iraq.
Then there is this report from Salam, our man on the ground in Baghdad:
Remember the days when every time you hear an Iraqi talk on TV you had to remember that they are talking with a Mukhabarat minder looking at them noting every word? We are back to that place.
You have to be careful about what you say about al-Sadir. Their hands reach every where and you don't want to be on their shit list. Every body, even the GC is very careful how they formulate their sentences and how they describe Sadir's Militias. They are thugs, thugs thugs. There you have it.
Oh HELL no. We haven't come this far to turn the country over to some punk ayatollah. Why would we snatch defeat from the jaws of victory like that?
This guy has to be terminated with extreme prejudice. If some people get mad, ten times as many will THANK us- which is really probably closer to the overall picture in Iraq now.
posted by Al at 4/10/2004 02:20:00 AM
In defense of offense
People need to be offended. You can't very well challenge outmoded or mistaken thinking patterns about anything significant without irritating or offending their established sensibilities.
Yet somehow in some people's minds, merely branding some idea as "offensive" constitutes an overwhelming argument that the idea is wrong and shouldn't even be expressed or considered further.
Then the argument becomes one of what is or is not "offensive." Some social conservatives have problems based on some WWJW idea- What would Jesus watch? Some liberals are deeply offended by any expression even hinting that homosexual marriage is anything less than an inviolable constitutional right.
"Offensiveness" seems to be basically a moral judgment. Within it are numerous sub-categories of offensiveness: obscene, homophobic, sexist, and- of course- racist. If you can tag someone or some writing, video or other art work with one of these labels indicating immorality, then it is invalid and discredited.
Some people are Most Always Complaining that anything or anyone they don't like "is" somehow "racist" or otherwise "offensive." Doesn't Involve Valid Argument, but it doesn't need to.
For my part, when someone objects that some article I've written is offensive, or one of the sub-categories of offense, I find it irrelevant. If someone says 'This is a homophobic article,' I'll say, "And your point is?"
The point is, offensiveness is not the question. Truth is. Homophobic (whatever that means) is beside the point. Is the offending statement TRUE? Is it logical, and in keeping with known facts on the ground?
Besides which, "offensive" is a subjective personal emotion. In essence, people are arguing that their subjective internal emotional reaction of distaste constitutes an argument that an idea, artwork or person is wrong. Sounds kind of silly when you look at it like that, doesn't it?
Offending people just for the fun of seeing them mad tends to mark someone as a jerk in my book, though. It's not nice to say things just to hurt people's feelings for no good reason. It's good to be nice where you can.
But you're not doing anyone a favor by coddling bad beliefs and dysfunctional behavior systems for fear of offending them.
You can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs. Being offended is part of learning.
Plus, as per the slogan of my Culpepper Log, Sacred cows make the tastiest burgers.
Mmm, burgers...
This column has a particularly good comments thread at Blogcritics.
posted by Al at 4/10/2004 02:19:00 AM
Clarification needed for rules against "selling out"
Damn, but that Dylan ad for Victoria's Secret is HILARIOUS. I've complained for years that Dylan had lost his sense of humor. He hasn't done a good "Rainy Day Woman" or "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" in decades, but this ad makes up for a lot of it.
Look at his meaningful scowl for the supermodel in underwear and angel wings. Dylan IS the master thespian. Acting? Genius!
Yet, this silly ad has really and truly hurt the feelings of a lot of people. They've been somehow let down. Dylan has sold out.
Now Dylan is a whore. He's in it for the money. He sold his soul to the corporate machine.
I don't understand how, exactly. Is there anyone who thinks for a second that Dylan will somehow pull his punches on the next album to avoid offending a sponsor, or something like that? Dylan?
First, what does this phrase "selling out" even mean, and why exactly is it bad?
What exactly constitutes this terrible crime of selling out? What are singers and songwriters allowed to do to "legitimately" make a dollar on their music, and when does it become an offense against the proletariat, or something?
Is it "selling out" when a singer takes money to play a live concert? If he takes requests from the audience, does that constitute selling out? "FREE BIRD!!!!" Maybe you were going to play some song you wrote yourself, but gave in to the demands of the paying public to play a familiar cover. Is that bad?
Apparently, making an album is allowed, and NOT considered selling out, even if you manage to actually get paid. Are you selling out, though, if you take a suggestion from the record company to bring in some-and-such producer, or to cover some-and-such song?
Or perhaps the record company absolutely cannot have any legitimate say about the content of the record. Is it "selling out" though if you let them recommend an album title or cover photo?
Have you "sold out" if you play Saturday Night Live? Musical guests are identified on-air as sponsored by Budweiser.
Is it "selling out" if you accept tour sponsorship, and print the sponsor's name on ticket stubs and a couple of banners hanging in the halls? What if you said the sponsor's name from the stage? That used to be routine practice. The Light Crust Dough Boys were apparently named for a sponsor back in the day.
Is it selling out to do merchandise? Is it OK to sell t-shirts or baseball caps? What about TOYS in the bands image? Is it selling out when Alice Cooper licenses dolls and sculptures? Comic books?
Or is it OK to take money for your work only if you really "need" it? Someone who is broke might have justification for doing an ad, but someone like Dylan who is obviously a multi-millionaire has no moral justification for doing an ad. Is that the problem? How much money can you be making and still qualify for an approved exemption?
Who gets to approve these exemptions, and decide what those rules are in the first place? All I know is that SOMEBODY needs to decide how singers can and can't legitimately make a buck.
Obviously from these comments, I'm not putting much stock in these cheap anti-capitalist sentiments about "selling out." They strike me as mostly just pinko nonsense.
I personally tend to judge such things based on my own aesthetic assessment. I just HATED the damned California Raisins desecrating the image of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." I just hated seeing them foul one of the central classic songs of the Motown label with these dumb, thoughtless, soulless claymation raisins.
Likewise, I don't know that I'd holler "sell-out," but I'd be un-thrilled to see "Blowin' in the Wind" pimped out to sell fans or air conditioners. I'd probably be a little irritated if Sam Cooke was heard singing "A Change Is Going to Come" in a diaper commercial.
I might, however, appreciate the irony if they used the Nirvana song to in fact advertise Teen Spirit deodorant.
Most pop star ads don't make much impression on me either way, but some strike me as absolutely positive. This Dylan ad uses and exposes a decent lesser known song to a beautifully dry comic effect, for example. There was a lemonade ad that made great use of Randy Newman's obscure classic "Dayton, Ohio 1903."
I also really liked the Kohl's department store ad last summer with Jonathan Richman's "Ice Cream Man" which basically just illustrated the song, with kids trailing an ice cream man through a nice summer neighborhood scene. It was aesthetically pleasing to me, like a simple short music video and no heavy-handed sales message. It was just a feel good thing. [I note that Mr. Richman himself specifically says he did NOT approve of this usage of his music.]
All in all, though, I recognize that what I like and don't like aesthetically are not particularly moral judgments. I'm not particularly morally offended even by the uber-annoying Raisins.
If nothing else, I figure we don't have much room to bitch about artists making money off songs they wrote by placing them in commercials while we're busy downloading them for free on the internet. They got to make a living somehow.
posted by Al at 4/10/2004 02:12:00 AM
April 08, 2004
Janet Jackson album sucking wind
Janet Jackson sure has a lot riding on hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend.
She needs something to kick in, cause her new album so far has sucked wind. It debuts at #2 this week in Billboard with approximately 381,000 domestic sales- a little over half of what her last album did. This makes Damita Jo her first album NOT to debut at #1 in 15 years.
Further she's had TWO singles from the album now, neither of which made any impression at radio. Unless the SNL gig jump starts this thing, it's pretty well dead in the water.
This suits me fine. Her music sucks. It only ever was mediocre at best, and has deteriorated from there. She doesn't DESERVE to sell millions of records.
Further, I'm glad to see that her dumb whore tactics aren't doing her any good. The Superbowl thing obviously is NOT helping sell records. She was in her more early state a "good girl" as it were- naturally modest. As her career has faded, however, she went to adding in more explicit stuff, such as some lesbian schtick on The Velvet Rope. She's got some stuff about blowjobs here. Then there's the Superbowl.
Just go away, please.
Look, your music sucks, no matter what kind of sex acts you're willing to perform to convince us otherwise.
posted by Al at 4/08/2004 12:25:00 PM
April 07, 2004
"The Passion of the Jews" South Park Gibson satire draws big audience
From Studio Briefing:
4.4 million viewers...tuned in to watch last week's episode of South Park, titled "The Passion of the Jew." It was the highest ratings the Comedy Central show has received since 1998 and was the top-rated cable telecast last Wednesday in the 18-49-year-old demo.
This analytical satire of Mel Gibson's movie ran several good directions all at once. Cartman, of course, began literally worshipping Gibson as Lord and Fuhrer, and Kyle was consumed with guilt for being a Christkiller.
Meanwhile, Stan and Kenny just thought the movie sucked, and went looking for Gibson to get back the money they spent on movie tickets.
This set up the best part- Mel Gibson as a South Park character. SPMG was just nutsy, with a strong desire to be tortured. He was absoutely crazy, or -as Stan specifically said, "daffy." Gibson was going "woo-hoo" and bouncing off his head like ol' Daffy Duck.
Among other things, this classic episode was a pretty fair tribute to Looney Tunes.
I would take one small point of difference with them, however. At one point, the nice minister explains to Kyle that there really wasn't very much in the Bible about the details of the crucifixion, and that stuff was mostly made up for the anti-semitic passion plays in the middle ages.
With due respect, seeing the movie, I recognized most of the specific details of the presentation as specifically Biblical. There were a few things here and there added to fill in the viewing experience, but still.
Far more than that small disagreement, however, I for one am just continually impressed with how much this show totally succeeds as comedy yet consistently makes real social analysis and argument.
Is this the most brilliant show on television?Labels: south_park
posted by Al at 4/07/2004 07:01:00 PM
Francis Ford Coppola turns 65
Born April 7, 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, Francis Ford Coppola turns 65 today. That makes him nominally retirement age, but he apparently has a new movie coming out this year, and hopefully a few more left in him.
Already, he's given us some outstanding landmark films. Of course, the Godfather movies are the main backbone of his reputation. Heck, I even think Godfather III was outstanding. Then there is Apocalypse Now.
As reknowned as he is, still not all of his films have gotten their due. Finian's Rainbow, his first major budget feature, remains underappreciated. It was a musical based on a big Broadway play, which was the original source for the classic "Old Devil Moon." Coppola's movie featured Fred Astaire in his last starring musical role.
Tucker: The Man and His Dream didn't fare well in theaters, and his languished among critic types. Nonetheless, it is just about as good a movie as he ever made. Beautiful stuff. Give it a try.
Happy birthday, Francis, and thanks for all the great work.
posted by Al at 4/07/2004 02:12:00 AM
April 06, 2004
New album releases this week
A listing of major new album releases this week include Johnny Cash and Toots & the Maytals.
Whole list at Blogcritics.Labels: new_album_releases
posted by Al at 4/06/2004 02:24:00 PM
Almost had me
Spammers are getting more clever. I got a letter from "Dora Casso" today offering to exchange links- just reply to her email.
Here's where it gets clever. They managed to make it look personalized from my website. "She" claims that I have the #3 Google listed site for "preacher kid." This seems plausible, as my Tori Amos page is named "Preacher's Kid Gone Bad!"
It hadn't occured to me to search that way. "Preacher kid" as listed does me no good, but in fact I find my site listed as #6 for "preacher's kid."
Hmm. Why would someone be looking for links to pages about preacher's kids? I was about curious to see what kind of page this was.
I noticed, however, that there was no link. "She" wants email. Also, the doracasso.com domain from whence her email supposedly came doesn't exist.
A quick search for "Dora Casso" led me to THIS page from someone who has received such a letter. The comments have numerous amusing examples of different supposed Google searches that had led Dora to their sites. My favorite was "chinese tattoo translation."
Still don't get what the point of this spam is, though.
posted by Al at 4/06/2004 02:59:00 AM
April 05, 2004
Kurt Cobain makes a crappy excuse for an icon
With all due respect, Kurt Cobain makes a poor excuse for a cultural icon. I don't mean to discount his personal pain, or anything like that. Ten years ago today, though, the cat offed himself. Since then, a lot of people have set him up as some kind of great symbol, like some cheap rock and roll Christ figure who died for our sins or something.
Yuck, people. This guy was weak and suffering and did not ever seem to get any joy from his success. He was one miserable downer. Of all the musicians you could set up as your hero or idol, why this sad sack?
Camille Paglia made a similar point several years ago. She contrasted Cobain as a sad little lost boy, compared to the tough MEN of the 60s rock generation- Bob Dylan, Mick and Keef, etc.
It's not like Nirvana's music was all that. They only made about four albums, and none of them was a Sgt Pepper or Purple Rain. They did some good work, but it's not like it was anything to lose your mind over a decade later. I don't see anyone carrying on like this about Terence Trent D'Arby now, for example, and he's FAR more accomplished on every musical level.
On the other hand, TTD didn't tragically blow his brains out to complete some requirements for legendhood. What's up with that? Does getting yourself dead somehow make you a greater artist retroactively?
What's with this cheesy death cult stuff, anyway? What do people get from obsessing over these dead people? There are plenty of much more accomplished musicians who did not self-destruct you could cast as your golden calves.
Why would you set your mind on Kurt Cobain when you could just as easily be doting on Paul Simon or Prince? Call me crazy, but I'd much rather obsess over Graceland or Lovesexy rather than Cobain singing "I Hate Myself and Want to Die." It's a lot more fun- and a lot healthier as well.
posted by Al at 4/05/2004 01:08:00 AM
The Passion of the Christ enters all-time top 10
The Passion of the Christ has just slipped by Forrest Gump and The Lion King to become the number 10 top grossing movie in US domestic box office history. It has grossed over $330 million dollars.
Some have suggested that this will be the biggest grossing movie ever, but that seems a bit ambitious. It's only a little over halfway to the $600 million domestic gross of Titanic.
Still, everyone expects a big Easter weekend coming up, and it should end up petering out around $400 million and fifth place. On the other hand, this movie has been pretty phenomenal, and may have surprises left. For example, it could be re-released annually for Easter runs, and make a new chunk of fresh box office annually- eventually surpassing Titanic.
Anyway you look at it though, this film has been a huge commercial phenomenon already.
Also, it has inspired the confessions of at least one arsonist and another murderer. It has also inspired millions of lesser sinners to re-dedicate themselves to their Christian faith.
Congratulations to Mel Gibson and all involved. Good Christian work AND good business.
posted by Al at 4/05/2004 12:13:00 AM
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