Darth Drabek

Mojo Nixon - Burn Down the Malls Which I will dedicate to Forum Malcontent and Conscientious Objector Lou Gutman, a frequent contributor to our little music thread. Because he shares a few traits with the esteemed Mojo Nixon. 1) They are both crazy. 2) They have both impregnated Debbie Gibson. At different times, mind you.

Iron Maiden - The Trooper Happy Monday.

Steve: I think that shift has happened in the U.S. as well. I know a lot of traditional Democrats who couldn't bring themselves to vote for Kerry because they thought he was weak on terrorism or that he did not have strong convictions (flip-flopper, how I came to hate hearing that term). Some of them just thought he was too patrician, and although W comes from old money just as much as Kerry did, at least W has the "good ol' boy" thing going to identify with Joe Sixpack. Kerry's image pretty much screamed "I'm from New England and I drink tea regularly!" Also, I know quite a few traditional Republicans who voted for Kerry because they 1) opposed Bush's exorbitant spending or 2) resented going to war in Iraq without finishing matters in Afghanistan. I'm outta here. Have a good weekend everybody!

Di ~ Pulling votes from one of the big two is considered a huge success for a third party. Unfortunately, they aren't viable alternatives at the moment, you said so yourself. It's interesting how conservatives align with the Republican party, and liberals align with the Democrats, but to get elected you need to be sufficiently middle-of-the-road to try to appeal to everyone. It's one reason Clinton did so well and Howard Dean never had a chance.

^ One of my favorite Led Zep tunes. Steve Earle - Jerusalem i woke up this morning and none of the news was good Death machines were rumbling 'cross the ground where Jesus stood And the man on the TV told me It had always been that way and there was nothing anyone could do or say

It's easy to find talking heads who are nothing more than mouthpieces for the conservative or liberal cause. John Stewart had it right on "Crossfire." Those guys are not journalists, they are just two guys yelling the party's line on whatever issue they're talking about that day. And I swear, there's people out there who just reiterate that same line as their "opinion" just because it's the "Liberal" thing to do, because the liberals oppose the war, or it's the "Conservative" thing to do, because the conservatives oppose gay marriage and abortion. Of course it makes sense to form your own opinion issue by issue, but it's much easier to just subscribe to a particular set of pre-selected opinions. And many Americans are lazy. Especially when it comes to thinking.

he's never early, he's always late first thing you learn is that you always gotta wait... Bowie's live version is far superior to the VU original. And that ain't opinion, baby, that's fact. Right now: Billy Bragg and Wilco - Walt Whitman's Niece

Pixies - Here Comes Your Man The song that can put me in a good mood no matter how bad my day has been.

LONG LIVE RFTC Tomorrow I'm gonna wear my RFTC T-shirt to a Ted Leo concert to achieve my maximum street cred capability. I might even dig up my low-top Chuck Taylors. Anyway, The White Stripes - Truth Doesn't Make a Noise

True dat, true dat. And the beloved RPG genre. Join up with a diverse posse, have adventures and defeat enemies during the search for a potent talisman that is the key to defeating an ancient evil, etc. etc. There's your debt to Tolkien, right there! Party-based RPGs!

I know various mythologies have done "The Quest" before, but Tolkien definitely set the template for a protagonist gradually picking up group members of different skills and abilities to go off searching for a talisman that has the power to defeat evil. It's the classic formula, ripped off (sometimes lovingly, sometimes just ripped off) in books, movies, video games and the occasional TV show.

David Bowie - Queen Bitch

How about one with Chuck Norris bringin the pain? You wanna know how awesome Chuck Norris is? Chuck Norris can divide by zero.

What happened to the "Hoff" thread? I was just about to defend the honor of his Highness, the great Chuck Norris...

That's not a fault of the music though. It's just meant to gather to a different taste... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Clarification: It bugs me when I'm not catching everything in a song/piece. That's my failing, not the music's. It's great that people make complex music that you can't just pump your fist to, that's fantastic. I'm talking about not noticing a counter melody until the tenth time you listen to a piece, that sort of thing. You'd catch it if you were concentrating, which sometimes I'm in the mood for, sometimes I'm not.

The big difference that I see between jazz and blues is that blues is more predictable. That said, there must be something compelling about a genre that recycles the same chord progression so much, yet still exists and is popular. The best examples of the genre are generally the people who really do have the blues. How bummed can Eric Clapton be about anything anymore? That's why I don't listen to any Clapton CDs, post-"Unplugged." Which was fantastic, by the way, and the best example of acoustic blues I've heard in the last ten years. My jazz experience is not extensive. I have a few Miles Davis albums and Coltrane's "A Love Supreme," and that's about it. My personal preference is early Miles over later Miles. I can feel the visceral impact "Bitches Brew" had and I can understand *why* it was groundbreaking and important, but if I want to listen to jazz, it's usually because I want to relax. And that's very difficult while listening to music that's so challenging. I find that when I listen to classical or jazz music, I have to give it my full attention, or I miss things. Which bugs me.

^ I was in downtown Boise, Idaho, and I saw a duck, and I knew the duck was lost, 'cause ducks ain't s'posed to be downtown. There's nothin' for 'em there. So I went to a Subway sandwich shop, I said, "Let me have a bun." But she wouldn't sell me just the bun, she said that I had to have something on it. She told me it's against regulations for Subway to sell just the bun. I guess the two halves ain't supposed to touch. So I said, "Alright, well, put some lettuce on it," which she did. She said, "That'll be $1.75." I said, "It's for a duck." And they said, "All right, well, then it's free." See, I did not know that. Ducks eat for free at Subway! Had I known that, I would have ordered a much larger sandwich. "Let me have the Steak Fajita Sub - but don't bother ringing it up, it's for a duck! There are six ducks out there, and they all want Sun Chips!"

I'm listening to Mitch Hedberg's stand-up comedy CD, "Strategic Grill Locations." I'm not good at golf, I never got a hole-in-one ... but I *did* hit a guy - And that's way more satisfying. You're supposed to yell "fore," but I was too busy mumbling, "Ain't no way that's gonna hit him."

Matthew Sweet - Thought I Knew You

Steve Earle - John Walker's Blues He got in a lot of trouble for writing this one, but Steve Earle is used to trouble. It's a story written from the point of view of the American who joined the Taliban. I'm just an American boy Raised on MTV I seen all the kids in the soda pop ads And none of 'em looked like me So I started lookin' around for a light out of the dim And the first thing I heard that made sense was the word Of Mohammed, peace be upon him

I don't have their latest album, but Girls Can Tell is pretty good. They use a lot of bass and keyboards added to simple drumbeats to anchor their songs with a lot of rhythm. It's solid indie-rock with a jazzy feel. Cool songs. BTW All Outta Angst is one of my favorite NOFX songs. No steppin' out 'til Spring Ya know it's difficult to sing When it's 23 below (and that's during the day) I'm not insane! Oh yeah, Twilight Singers - Feathers

Spoon - Everything Hits At Once So smooooooth.

One day I hope to go to a medieval faire. But for now, I wish you and your wife a hearty "Congratulations!"

The Clash - Charlie Don't Surf