It's time to face reality: the Democratic Party is populated by spoiled, whiny, petulant, 15-year-olds, at least based on the comments to Nate's NYT post from a couple days ago.
Twilight fans are more emotionally mature than that bunch. "Obama didn't give me my pony! Let's primary him!" "I don't think the country has suffered enough to accept my progressive wisdom, so I'm going to vote straight Republican in 2012!"
On the bright side, if that lot can get organized, watching the liberal equivalent to the Tea Party in action for the next two years will be a hoot. The pieces are mostly in place, after all: Jane Hamsher's already positioned herself to be their Pam Geller.
Greatest Hits Month
Oh, hello blog. How've you been?
I've been joking around that I was going to make December a "greatest hits" month, instead of the usual "try out new stuff and then discard it" approach I use. If I do decide to go through with it, the list of songs I'd consider among my best would look something like this:
Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)
Asia - Heat of the Moment
The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
The Band - The Weight
Big Country - In a Big Country
Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays
David Bowie - Five Years
David Bowie - Young Americans
David Bowie - Rock 'n' Roll Suicide
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Chilliwack - Fly At Night
Clash - London Calling
Joe Cocker - With a Little Help From My Friends
Cream - White Room
Cure - Just Like Heaven
Damned - New Rose
Bobby Darin - Mack the Knife
Dave Matthews Band - Crash Into Me
Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round
Devo - Girl U Want
Neil Diamond - Girl You'll Be a Woman Soon
Doors - Roadhouse Blues
Duran Duran - Rio
Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone
Bob Dylan - Tangled Up In Blue
Eagles - Peaceful Easy Feeling
Steve Earle - Copperhead Road
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Faith No More - A Small Victory
Foo Fighters - Everlong
Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
Fratellis - Whistle For the Choir
Peter Gabriel - Solisbury Hill
Garbage - #1 Crush
George Baker Selection - Little Green Bag
Eddy Grant - Electric Avenue
Hall & Oates - Maneater
Billy Idol - White Wedding
Jam - Down In the Tube Station At Midnight
Jam - Going Underground
Billy Joel - My Life
King Floyd - Groove Me
Living Color - Cult of Personality
Paul McCartney & Wings - Band On the Run
Modern English - I Melt With You
Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl
Naked Eyes - Always Something There To Remind Me
Nirvana - All Apologies
Nirvana - Breed
Pearl Jam - Elderly Woman Behind the Counter In a Small Town
Platters - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
Pogues w/Kirsty McColl - Fairytale of New York
Poison - Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Prince - Little red Corvette
Pulp - Common People
Queens of the Stone Age - Go With the Flow
Radiohead - The Bends
Radiohead - Karma Police
Radiohead - Creep
Radiohead - High and Dry
Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge
Charlie Rich - Behind Closed Doors
Rolling Stones - Let's Spend the Night Together
Rolling Stones - Wild Horses
Rough Trade - High School Confidential
Jimmy Ruffin - What Becomes of the Broken Hearted
Social Distortion - I Was Wrong
Spandau Ballet - True
Split Enz - I Got You
Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road
Cat Stevens - Father and Son
Cat Stevens - Wild World
Rod Stewart - Maggie May
Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song
Stone Temple Pilots - Vaseline
Styx - Babe
Suede - Animal Nitrate
Sweet - Ballroom Blitz
Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
Talking Heads - Life During Wartime
Tenacious D - Fuck Her Gently
Tenacious D - Tribute
Tool - Aenima
Tragically Hip - New Orleans Is Sinking
U2 - All I Want Is You
U2 - One
Rufus Wainwright - Hallelujah
Waterboys - Whole of the Moon
Weezer - Say It Ain't So
White Stripes - Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
Steve Winwood - While You See a Chance
Bill Withers - Lean On Me
Gary Wright - Dream Weaver
XTC - Senses Working Overtime
Rob Zombie - Dragula
Obviously I won't get to sing anywhere near all of those before the month is out, and there are even some songs I can think of (like The Verve's The Drugs Don't Work) which would be on there if I'd sung them since I began keeping track.
I've been joking around that I was going to make December a "greatest hits" month, instead of the usual "try out new stuff and then discard it" approach I use. If I do decide to go through with it, the list of songs I'd consider among my best would look something like this:
Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)
Asia - Heat of the Moment
The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
The Band - The Weight
Big Country - In a Big Country
Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays
David Bowie - Five Years
David Bowie - Young Americans
David Bowie - Rock 'n' Roll Suicide
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Chilliwack - Fly At Night
Clash - London Calling
Joe Cocker - With a Little Help From My Friends
Cream - White Room
Cure - Just Like Heaven
Damned - New Rose
Bobby Darin - Mack the Knife
Dave Matthews Band - Crash Into Me
Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round
Devo - Girl U Want
Neil Diamond - Girl You'll Be a Woman Soon
Doors - Roadhouse Blues
Duran Duran - Rio
Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone
Bob Dylan - Tangled Up In Blue
Eagles - Peaceful Easy Feeling
Steve Earle - Copperhead Road
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Faith No More - A Small Victory
Foo Fighters - Everlong
Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
Fratellis - Whistle For the Choir
Peter Gabriel - Solisbury Hill
Garbage - #1 Crush
George Baker Selection - Little Green Bag
Eddy Grant - Electric Avenue
Hall & Oates - Maneater
Billy Idol - White Wedding
Jam - Down In the Tube Station At Midnight
Jam - Going Underground
Billy Joel - My Life
King Floyd - Groove Me
Living Color - Cult of Personality
Paul McCartney & Wings - Band On the Run
Modern English - I Melt With You
Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl
Naked Eyes - Always Something There To Remind Me
Nirvana - All Apologies
Nirvana - Breed
Pearl Jam - Elderly Woman Behind the Counter In a Small Town
Platters - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
Pogues w/Kirsty McColl - Fairytale of New York
Poison - Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Prince - Little red Corvette
Pulp - Common People
Queens of the Stone Age - Go With the Flow
Radiohead - The Bends
Radiohead - Karma Police
Radiohead - Creep
Radiohead - High and Dry
Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge
Charlie Rich - Behind Closed Doors
Rolling Stones - Let's Spend the Night Together
Rolling Stones - Wild Horses
Rough Trade - High School Confidential
Jimmy Ruffin - What Becomes of the Broken Hearted
Social Distortion - I Was Wrong
Spandau Ballet - True
Split Enz - I Got You
Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road
Cat Stevens - Father and Son
Cat Stevens - Wild World
Rod Stewart - Maggie May
Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song
Stone Temple Pilots - Vaseline
Styx - Babe
Suede - Animal Nitrate
Sweet - Ballroom Blitz
Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
Talking Heads - Life During Wartime
Tenacious D - Fuck Her Gently
Tenacious D - Tribute
Tool - Aenima
Tragically Hip - New Orleans Is Sinking
U2 - All I Want Is You
U2 - One
Rufus Wainwright - Hallelujah
Waterboys - Whole of the Moon
Weezer - Say It Ain't So
White Stripes - Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
Steve Winwood - While You See a Chance
Bill Withers - Lean On Me
Gary Wright - Dream Weaver
XTC - Senses Working Overtime
Rob Zombie - Dragula
Obviously I won't get to sing anywhere near all of those before the month is out, and there are even some songs I can think of (like The Verve's The Drugs Don't Work) which would be on there if I'd sung them since I began keeping track.
November Travesties
Kind of a quiet month... only 31 songs. It's not only blogging that has been neglected.
New total: 434 different songs sung.
A Small Victory - Faith No More
All I Want Is You - U2
Angel From Montgomery - John Prine
Another Nail In My Heart - Squeeze
Boogie In Your Butt - Eddie Murphy
Breed - Nirvana
California Uber Alles - Dead Kennedys
Creepin' Up the Back Stairs - Fratellis
Cry - Godley & Creme
Cry Little Sister - Gerard McMann
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da - Police
Diamond Dogs - David Bowie
Electric Avenue - Eddy Grant
Fascination Street - Cure
Father and Son - Cat Stevens
Good Times Roll - Cars
I Love the Nightlife - Alicia Bridges
In My Life - Beatles
In The End - Linkin Park (duet/Johnny Priceless)
It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty
Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In - Kenny Rogers & First Edition
Laid - James
Last Night - Strokes
Masochism Tango - Tom Lehrer
Question of Time - Depeche Mode
Roadrunner - Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers
Search & Destroy - Stooges
The Dead Heart - Midnight Oil
Whistle For the Choir - Fratellis
Whole Of The Moon - Waterboys
Y-Control - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
New total: 434 different songs sung.
A Small Victory - Faith No More
All I Want Is You - U2
Angel From Montgomery - John Prine
Another Nail In My Heart - Squeeze
Boogie In Your Butt - Eddie Murphy
Breed - Nirvana
California Uber Alles - Dead Kennedys
Creepin' Up the Back Stairs - Fratellis
Cry - Godley & Creme
Cry Little Sister - Gerard McMann
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da - Police
Diamond Dogs - David Bowie
Electric Avenue - Eddy Grant
Fascination Street - Cure
Father and Son - Cat Stevens
Good Times Roll - Cars
I Love the Nightlife - Alicia Bridges
In My Life - Beatles
In The End - Linkin Park (duet/Johnny Priceless)
It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty
Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In - Kenny Rogers & First Edition
Laid - James
Last Night - Strokes
Masochism Tango - Tom Lehrer
Question of Time - Depeche Mode
Roadrunner - Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers
Search & Destroy - Stooges
The Dead Heart - Midnight Oil
Whistle For the Choir - Fratellis
Whole Of The Moon - Waterboys
Y-Control - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Where Are the Populists?
The flip side to this DougJ post about those Bainbridge posts (don't worry, I popped a Gravol before writing something that wankerific and nausea-inducing) is that a big part of the Tea Party's success, among non-racists anyway, is the complete lack of a populist appeal from the Dems.
Sure, Obama has managed to get some things done which will directly benefit the lower and middle classes, but none of it was sold as populism. Which leaves a vacuum that the Tea Party has filled, even if they filled it with crap. Deficit reduction isn't populist, but a "get big government off my back" sentiment is -- just as health care reform is populist, but a "let's make sure the insurance companies have a soft landing" sentiment isn't. I don't know whether the Dems are afraid of populism or just forgotten how to use it, but either way what should be a natural argument for them has become a foreign one.
Granted, it's hard to sell your policies as populist when the corporate media has no interest in reporting it as such, but the Dems need to figure out a way to do it. I still think Obama's a lock for 2012 simply due to a lack of competition, but 2014 and 2016 will be on us damn quick, and if they don't pick up the populist banner someone else will.
Sure, Obama has managed to get some things done which will directly benefit the lower and middle classes, but none of it was sold as populism. Which leaves a vacuum that the Tea Party has filled, even if they filled it with crap. Deficit reduction isn't populist, but a "get big government off my back" sentiment is -- just as health care reform is populist, but a "let's make sure the insurance companies have a soft landing" sentiment isn't. I don't know whether the Dems are afraid of populism or just forgotten how to use it, but either way what should be a natural argument for them has become a foreign one.
Granted, it's hard to sell your policies as populist when the corporate media has no interest in reporting it as such, but the Dems need to figure out a way to do it. I still think Obama's a lock for 2012 simply due to a lack of competition, but 2014 and 2016 will be on us damn quick, and if they don't pick up the populist banner someone else will.
Who Will Be Canada's Pam Geller?
Looks like the jihadist threat is now targeting Canada. O noes!
You'll notice, I hope, what's missing from the article (and maybe even the intelligence report it's based on): any sense of proportion. How successful have those advocating a Muslim "parallel society" actually been? How many people attended that Mississauga conference, and did any of them have any actual influence in the Muslim-Canadian community?
I suspect these questions didn't come up because answering them would be counter-productive to the Post's fear-mongering...
You'll notice, I hope, what's missing from the article (and maybe even the intelligence report it's based on): any sense of proportion. How successful have those advocating a Muslim "parallel society" actually been? How many people attended that Mississauga conference, and did any of them have any actual influence in the Muslim-Canadian community?
I suspect these questions didn't come up because answering them would be counter-productive to the Post's fear-mongering...
Tucker Carlson Admits He's Not a Journalist
...and instead unleashes his inner wannabe James O'Keefe.
I think from now on, I'm just going to openly mock anyone who calls Tucker, or Breitbart for that matter, a journalist. There are stricter requirements for me to get my film reviews on Rotten Tomatoes than there are for someone to "earn" the title 'journalist' in today's media environment.
(h/t LGF)
I think from now on, I'm just going to openly mock anyone who calls Tucker, or Breitbart for that matter, a journalist. There are stricter requirements for me to get my film reviews on Rotten Tomatoes than there are for someone to "earn" the title 'journalist' in today's media environment.
(h/t LGF)
Look At Me Everyone!
More footage of me butchering songs.
Actually I don't sound bad in either clip - in fact, I wish more of California Uber Alles had made it into the reel. That seemed to go pretty damn well, and I would have been singing it just about when they would have been declaring Governor Jerry's win.
Actually I don't sound bad in either clip - in fact, I wish more of California Uber Alles had made it into the reel. That seemed to go pretty damn well, and I would have been singing it just about when they would have been declaring Governor Jerry's win.
October Travesties
32 different songs this month.
'Lifetime' stats: 413 different songs sung, 634 total.
Aenima - Tool
Back On the Chain Gang - Pretenders
Ballroom Blitz - Sweet
Black - Pearl Jam
Borderline - Madonna
Cut Your Hair - Pavement
Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Poison
Footloose - Kenny Loggins
Go With the Flow - Queens of the Stone Age
Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran
In a Big Country - Big Country
In The End - Linkin Park (duet w/Johnny Priceless)
Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots
(It's a Long Way To the Top) If You Want To Rock 'N' Roll - AC/DC
Let's Spend the Night Together - Rolling Stones
My Sacrifice - Creed
Nemesis - Shriekback
One Thing Leads To Another - Fixx
Piss Up a Rope - Ween
Raspberry Beret - Prince
Respect - Erasure
Rest In Peace - James Marsters
Right Now - Van Halen
Shake a Tail Feather - Ray Charles
She Came In Through the Bathroom Window - Beatles
Silly Love Songs - Paul McCartney & Wings
Something To Sing About - from Once More With Feeling (duet w/Leah)
Steal Away - Robbie Dupree
Superfly - Curtis Mayfield
True - Spandau Ballet
Wild Horses - Rolling Stones
Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
'Lifetime' stats: 413 different songs sung, 634 total.
Aenima - Tool
Back On the Chain Gang - Pretenders
Ballroom Blitz - Sweet
Black - Pearl Jam
Borderline - Madonna
Cut Your Hair - Pavement
Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Poison
Footloose - Kenny Loggins
Go With the Flow - Queens of the Stone Age
Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran
In a Big Country - Big Country
In The End - Linkin Park (duet w/Johnny Priceless)
Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots
(It's a Long Way To the Top) If You Want To Rock 'N' Roll - AC/DC
Let's Spend the Night Together - Rolling Stones
My Sacrifice - Creed
Nemesis - Shriekback
One Thing Leads To Another - Fixx
Piss Up a Rope - Ween
Raspberry Beret - Prince
Respect - Erasure
Rest In Peace - James Marsters
Right Now - Van Halen
Shake a Tail Feather - Ray Charles
She Came In Through the Bathroom Window - Beatles
Silly Love Songs - Paul McCartney & Wings
Something To Sing About - from Once More With Feeling (duet w/Leah)
Steal Away - Robbie Dupree
Superfly - Curtis Mayfield
True - Spandau Ballet
Wild Horses - Rolling Stones
Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
Speaking Of Swift and Terrible Wrath
The anonymous douchefuckbagtard who sold his not-quite-a-hookup with Christine O'Donnell story to Gawker (which got posted this afternoon, and which I won't dignify with a link) has already been outed.
Just to be clear: I think O'Donnell has no place in the US Senate, and I think guys who sell hookup stories to gossip rags should be castrated. And not chemically. I'm talking with a meat tenderizer.
Just to be clear: I think O'Donnell has no place in the US Senate, and I think guys who sell hookup stories to gossip rags should be castrated. And not chemically. I'm talking with a meat tenderizer.
King For a Day Decree #623
All electrical towers will be re-designed so as to appear as giant roboty things, as they were in my imagination in my youth.
So decreed on this day of the Reign of Our Benevolent Overlord, Anton the Terrible, May His Wrath Come On Swift and Merciful Wings
So decreed on this day of the Reign of Our Benevolent Overlord, Anton the Terrible, May His Wrath Come On Swift and Merciful Wings
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