Score

This post from JC is not only an excellent bit of blogging, it also illustrates, in microcosm, why modern "journalism" is in the shit.

As if we needed any more examples, really.

I still believe that if some rich person out there were to start a news organization that actually practiced honest-to-God journalism -- no anonymously-sourced crap, no suckling at the teat of influence and power, and no circling of the wagons at the least hint of criticism -- they'd make a mint.

New Addition to the Legion of the Damned

I'd like to welcome an extremely silly blog, Eco-Comics, to my reading list on the left there. A sample of its genius:

Norman Osborn started as a weapons and chemical designer. But like all wealthy industrialists do in the comic book world, he decided profit margins weren't enough. And as such he began riding around on a bat-shaped glider in a green and purple outfit and started throwing pumpkin bombs. It truly boggles my mind when I consider the amount of research and development that must have gone into the creation of pumpkin-shaped explosives. Some poor R&D guy had to sit in front of his computer screen, working on plastic explosive casings while dealing with Norman standing over his shoulder and shouting, "No, it needs to be MORE ORANGE!"

My Five... Almost There!

I've narrowed my list of Five Most Influential Albums down to seven... four 'locks', and three more on the bubble for the final spot.

I really don't know how to make the final cuts though. All three greatly influenced both my musical tastes and who I am as a person.

I think the only responsible thing to do is to listen to al three back-to-back-to-back and see if that helps. But then I'm faced with the dilemma of what order to listen to them in. Any suggestions from my teeny tiny audience would be welcome... the three finalists are:

Yeah, I know. Black Monk Time? Little Earthquakes? Astral Weeks? A bit predictable. A little too 'music criticy'. But hey, the greats are sometimes great for a reason.

Peggy Noonan Admits That Republicans Are Children

Peggy "Just Keep Walking" Noonan lets slip the truth:

"Let's play grown-up." When I was a child, that's what we said when we ran out of things to do like playing potsie or throwing rocks in the vacant lot. You'd go in and take your father's hat and your mother's purse and walk around saying, "Would you like tea?" In retrospect we weren't imitating our parents but parents on TV, who wore pearls and suits. But the point is we amused ourselves trying to be little adults.

And that's what the GOP should do right now: play grown-up.

Y'all read that the same way I do, right? That Peggy Noonan realizes that the Republican Party right now is made up of a bunch of children, and that the best they can do in terms of maturity is to "play" grown-up?

Suddenly I'm having flashbacks to this. Co-starring Rush Limbaugh as the Gorgon!

Happy St. Wieters Day!

Having just made a somewhat lopsided short-term deal to acquire Matt Wieters in my keeper AL-only fantasy baseball league, I'm naturally curious as to what the wunderkind will do in his debut tonight.

All I can say is, thank God the kid's not a Phillie. He could go 4-for-5 with four grand slams and a strikeout, and get booed for the strikeout.

Today's Find

Via Sully - Movies in Four Frames.

Here's one for the Gamines:

Inching Closer To Five

Being utterly ruthless about the definition of 'influential' has gotten me down to 13. I won't say which 13, so as to leave all four of you reading this in suspense.

Gonna have to sleep on this, I think.

My Not-Quite-Five Most Influential Albums

OK, I've got it narrowed down to 27... yeesh. This is gonna be tough.

Arcade Fire - Funeral

Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique

David Baerwald - Triage

David Bowie - Heroes; Ziggy Stardust

Dire Straits - Love Over Gold

Husker Du - Zen Arcade

Lyle Lovett - Pontiac

Monks - Black Monk Time

Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God

Prince - 1999

Prince Charming - Psychotropical Heatwave

Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back

Radiohead - The Bends

Robyn Hitchcock - Element of Light

Sixteen Horsepower - Low Estate

Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space

Steve Earle - I Feel Alright

Talking Heads - Remain in Light

They Might Be Giants - Flood

Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes

Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece; Astral Weeks; Moondance; Hard Nose the Highway

Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out; May I Sing With Me

A Challenge??!?!??

Hmm. I accept.

I assume this was originally one of those Daily Five Facebook dealies, but I only do goofy shit on those, like The Five People You Meet Waiting For the Bus In Heaven.

This will require a bit of pondering. A couple of choices are obvious, but getting down to five could be tricky.

Tonight's Find

While poking around on YouTube for Coulton's cover of Baby Got Baby, I stumbled across him doing Still Alive live at the Penny Arcade con... with Felicia Day doing the vocals.

It's like a chocolate and bacon nerdgasm! In video form!

Coultonmania!

So Steve-O finally gave in to my bleatings and got a bunch of Jonathan Coulton karaoke songs in. Did Creepy Doll last night; Skullcrusher Mountain, Re: Your Brains and The Future Soon will be coming along shortly. Forgot to ask him to see if Coulton's Baby Got Back cover is available too; Still Alive apparently (and sadly) isn't.

Also, he got in Rebellion (Lies) by Arcade Fire. Also tried it last night, but it needs a little work. Pretty much the entire Funeral album is among my karaoke holy grails, so needless to say these are pleasing developments.

And by 'pleasing' I mean 'gobfanfuckingsmacktastic'.

Coolest. Thing. Ever.

At least until the next Coolest. Thing. Ever.

Andre Michelle's ToneMatrix

Writing for the Weekly Standard: Cheaper Than Therapy!

Over at Balloon Juice, DougJ links to TNR's link to the ramblings of a broken mind over at the Weekly Standard.

Seriously. These cannot be the words of a functioning member of society, can they?

Few men would ever bother to enter into a romantic heterosexual marriage--much less three, as I have done--were it not for the iron grip of necessity that falls upon us when we are unwise enough to fall in love with a woman other than our mom.

Bravo to the Standard for daring to publish such a blatant cry for help.