8.31.2009

shoot me now

ugh, tomorrow is going to stress me out. The last 4 years have changed what could be/should be fun into a funeral service. it is just so hard to celebrate something so unimportant considering everyone who died in katrina. I feel like i should have stayed and moved things into the attic instead of going to san antonio.

in the end, no amount of ice cream cake will make me feel any better. i will just put on the "happy face" and pretend it is so great. like everyday...

8.29.2009

Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs (part 1)

I have started listening through all 500 of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs. I have decided that for the blog to work i need a focus. My focus is the media and arts I consume like water. I have started with this project to see which songs are most overrated, underrated, or surprising.

Here are the 50 songs I started with:

001 - Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone
002 - Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
003 - John Lennon - Imagine
004 - Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
005 - Aretha Franklin - Respect
006 - Beach Boys - Good Vibrations
007 - Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode
008 - Beatles - Hey Jude
009 - Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
010 - Ray Charles - What'd I Say
011 - Who - My Generation
012 - Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come
013 - Beatles - Yesterday
014 - Bob Dylan - Blowin' In The Wind
015 - Clash - London Calling
016 - Beatles - I Want To Hold Your Hand
017 - Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze
018 - Chuck Berry - Maybellene
019 - Elvis Presley - Hound Dog
020 - Beatles - Let It Be
021 - Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
022 - Ronettes - Be My Baby
023 - Beatles - In My Life
024 - Curtis Mayfield - People Get Ready
025 - Beach Boys - God Only Knows
026 - Beatles - A Day In The Life
027 - Derek And The Dominos - Layla
028 - Otis Redding - (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay
029 - Beatles - Help!
030 - Johnny Cash - I Walk The Line
031 - Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven
032 - Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil
033 - Ike & Tina Turner - River Deep, Mountain High
034 - Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
035 - Doors - Light My Fire
036 - U2 - One
037 - Bob Marley - No Woman, No Cry
038 - Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
039 - Buddy Holly And The Crickets - That'll Be The Day
040 - Martha And The Vandellas - Dancing In the Streets
041 - Band - The Weight
042 - Kinks - Waterloo Sunset
043 - Little Richard - Tutti Frutti
044 - Ray Charles - Georgia On My Mind
045 - Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel
046 - David Bowie - Heroes
047 - Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
048 - Jimi Hendrix Experience - All Along The Watchtower
049 - Eagles - Hotel California
050 - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Tracks Of My Tears

SO here is what i think

Overrated/Worst Song: Hotel California
This song is terrible and overrated. I cannot stand the pretension that it is and the faux folk feeling. It is so overdone that I can't stand it. The fact that it rates so high shows how terrible some people's taste is.

Surprise: How many of these hold up over the years. I actually enjoyed listening to the elvis songs.

Underrated:
1. One by U2 - their best song and it is pretty great overall. I am not huge U2 fan but this is great.
2. My Generation by The Who - How can you not listen to this and hear this hints at the future of punk rock? This song should be higher on the list.

Ok readers, what other lists and popculture things you want to hear me talk about? Stay tuned for part 2 of this with the next 50 songs and more thoughts as I hear more new songs.

8.23.2009

Suck It Fox News!

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Fox News: The New Liberals
www.thedailyshow.com
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Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits

I find giving good reviews or even appropriate reviews to books difficult. I often like to get lost in them and enjoy their worlds. This is easier though because it is a biography (however unauthorized) and i can base it on what I learned through it.

I have grown to enjoy Tom Waits' music but at times found it difficult to enjoy. This book helped place the albums and songs in context and gave me valuable information about how Tom Waits became Tom Waits. I do wish there was more information available to the researcher because at times it feels a bit disjointed. The British anachronisms through out throw me a bit but I found I could move past them.

I enjoyed the book. The reading was not difficult or thick but presented by someone who obviously enjoys Waits and his music. I wanted more information on the collaboration of Waits and theater director Robert Wilson. Mr. Hoskyns uses mostly interviews and magazine for the information but considering how closely Waits keeps his privacy and true self guarded it makes sense.

I would give it 3.5 stars if I could because I got a better feeling of the music Waits created through it. The music says more than any book probably could but I am so grateful for the ability to get into the more difficult and experimental music that Waits created that it payed off to read.

I hope anyone who embarks on reading this also takes time like I did to listen to the music. It helps so much hearing what Mr. Hoskyns is writing about in the songs and albums.

8.22.2009

8.18.2009

Texting

Text, drive, and kill

8.17.2009

400 years of USA


400 years of USA, originally uploaded by Super Bjorn.

i fucking give up

I am done with this fucking country. I am tired of this inaction and inability to get anything done.

1. DADT - really? you can't repeal this fucking nonsense? how hard is it?

2. Healthcare - taking out the one that can make a difference in the debate allows the GOP to win. how fucking hard is it for the DFL to get into one room and work shit out before the fucking congress gets it. Since they are removing the public option there is no change. We are all still fucked. The public option would have helped my sister when my parents cannot cover her. So no change. Thanks Reagen, I mean Obama.

3. Economy - just collapse already. Obviously nothing is going to change. Either get better or get worse. Pick something already.

4. Enviroment - No one wants to change or even cares. Fuck you. Fuck all of you. We need a straight carbon tax and fuel standards that are VERY STRICT. 32 MPG should not be acceptable at all. We should require 50 MPG minimum and have a 30% tax on all cars noget getting at least 40 MPG. We need to require the removal all plastic bags and fresh paper bags. We need radical change not in 5 years but no later than 2011. We need it now or we are fucked.

5. Obama - Was a lie. Clinton would not have been better and McCain worse but we are being lied to. One and done president. We'll get another GOP in 2012, if we're lucky it will be Palin only to make everything worse.

I am going to learn French and hope to someday leave this fucking disaster and get out of here.

8.15.2009

Björk - Declare Independence

I love the song and video. Just felt like i needed a video posted since I have nothing to write about.

Sorry Nessa

8.02.2009

MOVITS! - Äppelknyckarjazz Video (Officiell)

I am totally grooving on this song right now.