stopgap/excuses/what have you

Okay, I will start posting here again. I just need to thaw out my brain. It's as frozen as the rest of me. For some reason the heat has only been going on around the time I go to bed. And that sounds like a boast, but I'm very much single.

Friday Random X-Mas

Yeah, it's been kinda dead around here. But it was a nice Christmas day. Not too cold, but we still have lots of snow on the ground for visual effect. Meant to call the 'rents today, but spaced on it, so hopefully tomorrow.

Yes, we have Random Tennage.

1. Brian Eno--Through Hollow Lands (For Harold Budd)
2. The Go-Go's--I'm the Only One
3. Sarah Vaughan--Nobody Else But Me
4. Little Richard--Miss Ann
5. The Rolling Stones--Stupid Girl*
6. Child's View--The Cradle of Light
7. The Squirrel Nut Zippers--Hell
8. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings--When the Other Foot Drops, Uncle
9. The National--Apartment Story
10. Grizzly Bear--Foreground

*Gotta love the line "Her vanity grows and it grows." Pot-kettle, Mick, pot-kettle.

Demolition derby

Another video post. It's easy and not too filling.

I don't know this band really well, but this is a pretty nice song. Not sure why they're going crazy with the hammers. But it's weird to think how it looks so ancient, then realize that I sort of remember this period.

UPDATE: I'm correcting my crass error from before. As to the previous question of why they were going nuts, somehow the onscreen titles got past me before.

pre-Blizzard of Doom Friday Random Ten

There's a lot of talk about how we may get 3-6 inches of snow tomorrow, or as much as TWELVE INCHES! of the fluffy stuff. Which we've apparently never seen before and don't know how to deal with. My only complaint? Sunday night going into Monday morning would be better timing. Then again, we've already got a short week.

For this week, this Friday, there are these.

1. Nellie McKay--Toto Dies
2. The Kinks--Misty Water
3. Bonzo Dog Band--You Done My Brain In
4. The Rolling Stones--Lady Jane
5. Stan Kenton & His Orchestra--Peg O' My Heart
6. Ladytron--Startup Chime
7. Sarah Vaughan--Star Eyes
8. Joni Mitchell--In France They Kiss On Main Street
9. James Taylor--River
10. The Beatles--Don't Pass Me By

It's a little weird, you gotta admit

This is a gentle-sounding song, sure. But the Mills Brothers brought forth one of the most alienated sets of lyrics in pop music history. Much moreso than anything on OK Computer, that's for sure. "You guys can keep all the actual women. I'm gonna make me an artificial homunculus from my fantasies." It's like David Lynch running a white noise generator weird. Thank God for their jovial voices and that lady's spazzy dancing, or I'd never get to sleep.

The not-so clears

Saturday night I was at Borders in their café. At the table behind me was a guy--Old world Indian but with an American accent--talking to three other people. I wasn't eavesdropping, exactly. But after a few minutes, I had gathered enough to realize that he was giving a Scientology spiel. There was something about how "We don't worship L. Ron Hubbard" which I guess I had heard before. And he was articulate, but kind of peevish. He kept stopping to say that you can't compare Scientology to any other religion, taking a tone that sounded like a teacher who's seen one too many spitballs go flying. My guess is that his small audience were less likely to sign up afterwards, not more.

Maybe that's why the church wants every celebrity it can get recruiting for them. Aside from (the somewhat reticent) Beck, few of these people actually come off as cool. But it seems to be a message that carries better in mass media than in the one-on-one.

Friday Random brrrrrr Ten

Safe to say this was the coldest day since last February. As the psychologists and social workers at my job left for nefarious activities, one noted that like, a week ago, people had been walking around with short sleeves. Which some may still be doing, if they're part sasquatch.

1. Emmylou Harris--The Magdalene Laundries
2. Ry Cooder--Low-Commotion
3. Lou Rawls--Breaking My Back (Instead of Using My Mind)
4. Beck--Que Onda Guero
5. Child's View--Sabure
6. The Rolling Stones--Don't Bother Me
7. Johnny Mathis--Chances Are
8. Brian Eno--Kurt's Rejoinder
9. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings--100 Days, 100 Nights
10. Finn Riggins--Icy Sparks

Item: Living Dennis Miller still not as funny as dead Bob Hope

Yes, I'm still alive. Anyway, this kind of thing always bugs.

My top three fascinating people — my top three fascinating people this year are Ayn Rand, because I think she’s at the front of an objectivist movement that’s coming in this country. It’s exhibited through No. 2 on my list, which is John Q. Public, as exhibited by these people at the tea party. And the No. 1 fascinating person to me, as it is every year, is the American man and woman in our military forces who afford us the opportunity to sit back here and have capricious endeavors like top 10 lists at the end of the year.

This sort of playing to the balcony "and God bless the troops" sentiment is the kind of thing that may seem classy to your pet rock. 98% of the time the intended message from the speaker is "Hey, check me out! I'm patriotic!" And "making the world safe for top ten lists" is as depressing a mission statement as I can think of.

I'm not sure if I qualify as "John Q Public." I don't intend to go to any tea parties unless and until I have a daughter with imaginary friends. If that makes me less fascinating, so be it.

No justice, no Peanuts

If I were Barack Obama I would have stood stone-faced at the lectern and announced, "That's it! No more Charlie Brown specials until our oppressed brother Franklin gets his own show." Then followed up with a black power salute. Goofy, sure, but I bet it would be enough to make Glenn Beck's head explode.

Of course if I were ever elected to office, I'm sure my sense of humor would have me out again PDQ.

True confessions and a Friday Random Ten

My ambition is to be either the friendliest unfriendly person or the unfriendliest friendly person in the world. Both are tightrope walks, but I think I can pull off at least one.

Meanwhile...

1. Dirty Projectors & David Byrne--Knotty Pine
2. Talking Heads--Air
3. Ry Cooder--The Very Thing that Makes You Rich (Makes Me Poor)
4. Mika--Blue Eyes
5. XTC--Love at First Sight
6. The Beatles--Julia
7. Talk Talk--Dum Dum Girl
8. Bonzo Dog Band--Hunting Tigers Out in India
9. Annie Lennox--Ladies of the Canyon
10. Soul Coughing--Pensacola

And here's another version of "Hunting Tigers" introduced by a young and fetching Terry Jones.

Tug of war

Had a tooth pulled yesterday. Was kind of tense about it all day, mainly because my trusted regular dentist farmed the job out to someone else. But afterwards I eventually hit an even keel. Got a prescription for Vicodin, which is luckily not making me too dopey during work hours.

More later. On the road to dentureville.

(The pronouns and stuff are just sort of dropping by themselves. Swear, am not converting blog to a twitter feed.)