Test Part II

Yesterday's test didn't work so here's another test song:

Belle & Sebastian -- This Is Just A Modern Rock Song
From the This Is Just A Modern Rock Song EP.

Trouble

I've been having zero luck getting my posts to show up on The Hype Machine through YouSendIt and I'm thinking about abandoning them for greener pastures elsewhere....and so here is a track from another file host company to see if something shows up...

Ween -- You F***ed Up
From the God Ween Satan album.

Not Missing Seattle #2: 20 Cents Per Bag

I recycle, I don't like throwing away things I shouldn't, I would never own a Hummer, and when I lived in Seattle I recycled everything King County told me to...but for me they really have gone too far now. Customers are to now be charged 20 cents for each bag they use in stores. The thing about it though is that plastic bags are recyclable in Seattle and paper bags are used fundamentally for holding the recycling [at least in my house]. Even though the bags I take from stores in the end will be recycled and have zero effect on the environment [except the creation expense I guess], I would still have to pay the fee. To bad I'll miss it I guess.

Oh wait...hold on a second...my fiance told me plastic bags get into the ocean and turtles try to eat them and they choke on them and they die...I am now doing a full reversal on that earlier paragraph...I now believe that we need a full ban of plastic bags!

Gomez -- Shitbag

Gomez -- Shitbag 9
From the Abandoned Shopping Trolly Hotline album.

The Stereophonics -- Handbags and Gladrags
From the Handbags and Gladrags EP.

ASCAP vs. GITMO UPDATE

Today I received an email from a Meredith Topalanchik from a company called CooperKatz that describes themselves this way on their site:

"CooperKatz, one of the first communications agencies to recognize the enormous impact of consumer-generated media on business products/services and corporate/brand reputation, factors Cogence into our strategic response to every client challenge, helping organizations to:

• Find the online influencers who are their biggest evangelists and vigilantes
• Listen actively and transparently to these vocal individuals via as many online channels as possible
• Engage constituents in a dialogue through social media channels
• Empower individuals to spread the organization’s message online

At CooperKatz, Cogence – our proprietary communications discipline – is a key part of the breakthrough strategic thinking and creativity that enable us to achieve exceptional results for our clients."

She was contacting me on behalf of ASCAP about my recent post dealing with the group ASCAP and the Guantanamo Bay detention center. For fairness sake, here is the entire email she sent me:

"Hi Matt- I hope you are well and had a good weekend. I wanted to reach out to you regarding your post from Saturday http://sorelevant.blogspot.com/2008/07/ascap-vs-gitmo.html ASCAP vs. Gitmo. We work with ASCAP and their PR/communications team and after reading your post wanted to send a note of clarification.

In your post you noted a story on Wired.com and referenced that the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (“ASCAP”) “might sue the government for using their member's music in torture...”

We wanted to reach out to you and let you know that ASCAP has not made any such demands. I believe that certain commentators, in blogs and elsewhere, have posited that under copyright law such uses of copyrighted music may in theory be public performances that require licensing. However, all such discussions were of a theoretical nature as far as ASCAP was concerned. Again, ASCAP does not pursue licenses for such uses.

We hope that you will consider including a note of clarification on your blog so that this confusion does not perpetuate. Please feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions regarding ASCAP.

Best~

Meredith"

So it looks like the articles written were based on possible "wishful thinking" rather than cold hard facts.

What is possibly most exciting to me is that I could maybe be one of the "online influencers who are their biggest evangelists and vigilantes"...I am hoping maybe more of an evangelist and not a vigilante.

ASCAP vs. GITMO

I'm a little behind the curve on this issue but this may be the perfect mix of politics and music into one story...This story is from Wired.com and talks about how the musicians group ASCAP [that's the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers for those of you scoring at home...] might sue the government for using their member's music in torture...

It may not be the Bush administration's biggest worry about Gitmo policy -- after all, they've lost both Supreme Court cases about detainee treatment and Barack Obama and John McCain, who agree on little else, both want the place shut down.

Insult, meet injury: Now there is talk that the US government may owe royalties on the song that has been blared over and over and over again to to weaken detainees' resolve of "War on Terror" prisoners warehoused there.

Most prominently US forces in Guantanamo Bay have played David Gray's "Babylon" on heavy rotation -- not that the song itself constitutes torture, of course.

Arguably, that constitutes a public performance and conceivably makes it subject to royalties owed ASCAP and BMI.

David Gray -- Babylon
From the Greatest Hits record.

Not Missing Seattle #1: Spikes in the Water UPDATE

You might remember my post about the metal spikes put in the water at the Green Lake Beach in Seattle...well the case might be solved. So who did the intrepid Seattle Police find as the culprit? None other than the City of Seattle! Whoopsy.

From today's Seattle Times:

Turns out, the dozens of spikes plucked from the lake bottom probably were put there not out of malice but with the best of intentions as part of a campaign launched more than two decades ago to rid the lake of milfoil, a pesky weed that clogs the lake.

Kathy Whitman, city aquatics director, confirmed Friday that looped metal spikes were used in the early stages of milfoil control in the 1980s to hold down plastic sheeting, and the spikes found this month may be those devices. The metal spikes were replaced later with plastic ones, she said.

Good Fortune

I got a great fortune in light of the move to Lawrence at the best Chinese restaurant in the world yesterday:

"Travelling to the south will bring you unexpected happiness."

PJ Harvey -- Good Fortune [iTunes Originals version]

Crime Map

I've been catching up on my local news since moving back to my hometown for a few weeks and the local paper [The Leader-Telegram] has a new feature called "The Crime Map." Here is June's map which makes Eau Claire look like murder's row because someone setting up the Google Earth map doesn't know how to use different colored icons for different types of crimes...


The Decemberists -- The Perfect Crime No. 2
From The Crane Wife album.

Don't Choose Me

It looks like CS will get his "wish" and Bobby Jindal will not be McCain's Vice-President nominee...the article linked here pushes Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty as the leading candidate...we here at YASR have mentioned this before...

The Wrens -- Everyone Choose Sides
From The Meadowlands album.

New Cinematic Titanic Episode -- The Wasp Woman

Good news MST3K and Cinematic Titanic fans...a new episode [called The Wasp Woman] comes out August 7th with plans for new episodes every six weeks.

Here's the preview for the new episode:

That 70's Song

Song That I Like #4: Shawn Colvin "Sunny Came Home"

I remember distinctly in my high school A.P. English class reading a poem...I can't remember who wrote it but I remember it was about a flower bed. Our teacher, Mr. Sampson, [the best English teacher I ever had, college included] asked us what we thought the poem was about...I was certain it was about a wife who had killed her husband and buried him in the flower bed and that was why she took such good care of it.

Man I wish I could rediscover that poem today just to see if I was close with ten years of literary experience behind me...Anyway, I raised my hand, gave my answer, and silence of the class gave me a clue that I might be off base a little bit...Mr. Sampson looked down, ran his hand through his beard, and said, "well...that's a unique perspective."

Much the same can be said about the focus of this post Shawn Colvin's song "Sunny Came Home." It is one of those song that I listed to a thousand times on I-94 in my hometown until I actually took the time to listen to what she was singing about.

Let's examine the lyrics:

Sunny came home to her favorite room
Sunny sat down in the kitchen
She opened a book and a box of tools
Sunny came home with a mission

[The obvious question is where did Sunny come home from? At this point, let me propose either it was jail, or my personal favorite, a mental institution.]

She says days go by
I'm hypnotized
I'm walking on a wire
I close my eyes and fly out of my mind
Into the fire

[More evidence that the mental institution might be the right answer...she feels "hypnotized" maybe by the drugs they give her. The lyric "I fly out of my mind" maybe a reference to schizophrenia. And then we come to the final lyric of the chorus and possibly the answer to why Sunny would be in the institution to begin with: pyromania].

Sunny came home with a list of names
She didn't believe in transcendence
It's time for a few small repairs she said
Sunny came home with a vengeance

[Now we are coming to one of my favorite verses in contemporary pop music. What I think we have is Sunny has escaped from a mental institution and she's out for revenge against the people that put her there..."A few small repairs"? How about a few fires and maybe a few singed bodies? I wish I could write lyrics like "Sunny came home with a vengeance."

She says days go by
I don't know why
I'm walking on a wire
I close my eyes and fly out of my mind
Into the fire

[Repeated chorus.]

Get the kids and bring a sweater
Dry is good and wind is better
Count the years, you always knew it
Strike a match, go on and do it

[Here I think we are in Sunny's mind...they pyromaniac side is giving her instructions..."Dry is good and wind is better" are clearly reference to the best conditions to start a good house fire. "Count the years, you always knew it / Strike a match, go on and do it" we are referring again to the time that she spent in the institution plotting her revenge...]

Days go by
I'm hypnotized
I'm walking on a wire
I close my eyes and fly out of my mind
Into the fire

Light the sky and hold on tight
The world is burning down
She's out there on her own and she's alright
Sunny came home
Sunny came home...

[Sunny is literally burning down the world now and she makes her escape to make the next "repair" on her list...]

Or this all could be metaphorical...

Shawn Colvin -- Sunny Came Home
From the A Few Small Repairs album.

P.S. Here is the album cover in case you think I'm off base:

Novak / Zappa

While working on a post about Robert Novak I came upon these from 1986:

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Frank Zappa -- Willie the Pimp Part One [Live at Fillmore East]
From the Live at Fillmore East album.

Frank Zappa -- Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance
From the We're Only In It For the Money album.

Frank Zappa -- Peaches En Regalia
From the Hot Rats album.

Frank Zappa -- Muffin Man
From the Best of Frank Zappa.

Revenge of the Gin Blossoms

I was reminded today of an email I forgot to post from a few months ago. If you remember this post/tirade about about the Gin Blossoms then you will enjoy an update on the situation:

P.S. The Gin Blossoms played Sawdust City Days last week, 6/12/08, from 9 - 11 pm. Mandy and I heard the loudest sound ever coming from Carson Park. I bicycled down to Cameron Street, only to be greeting by the simultaneously sucking and blowing sound of "Hey Jealousy." GODDAMMIT. I HATE THE GIN BLOSSOMS.

Random Photo From the Trip #4

More Info Please

This advertisement was on the front of the Drudge Report yesterday and my question is this: Don't we need a little more information? Pray for China...to what? Become a Christian nation? Win gold medals? Pray for China to clean up their algae problem? Pray for China to deflate Michael Phelps' ego? How about pray that there isn't a second Tianamen Square uprising? If I'm being commanded to do something, please be a little more specific.

If You Can't Trust Pravda...

If you can't trust Pravda who can you trust?

Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper wrote with reference to The National Examiner tabloid that George and Laura Bush were planning a divorce after the presidential election in the USA.

According to the supermarket tabloid, George and Laura Bush hardly ever speak to each other. George feels very unhappy and does not want Laura to leave him. However, the newspaper wrote, Laura is tired of everything; she is determined to live her own life.

The couple still keeps their relationship alive just because they are contractually obliged to stay together during George W. Bush’s presidency; it is not a matter of feelings at all.

And the possible reason for the breakup:

The tabloid dwells upon the reasons which could lead to the possible divorce. The newspaper believes that George . W. Bush has been having an affair with US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. A former employee of the presidential administration told The National Examiner that Laura Bush once spent her night in a hotel to stay away from the White House.

From the Inbox

From the Inbox this weekend:

I don't have much information here but I would say it's like Nick Cave but with not quite as deep a voice...

Joe Jack Wagner -- We Ain't Horses
Joe Jack Wagner -- Hello Darling
Joe Jack Wagner MySpace

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I would say Paul Turner is like David Gray mixed with Cat Stevens. Not the extremist Cat Stevens though...

Paul Turner -- Love Meteorite
Paul Turner -- City Lights
These songs are from the debut album Clear Blue which will be out September 16th.

Paul Turner MySpace
Paul Turner Website

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Recommended if you like The Wrens...a performance by Titus Andronicus:


Watch the full concert at baeblemusic.com

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Sinkane is the new drummer for Of Montreal and he also opens for them on their new tour...I'm not sure if all the music is instrumental but "Color Voice" is...it has a real nice free jazz form.

Sinkane -- Color Voice
Sinkane MySpace

Songs That I Like #3: Van Morrison "Comfortably Numb"

I've recently been watching the final three seasons of The Sopranos just to remind myself how good the show was and how exactly the series ended. And to end the debate, Tony dies at the end of the series. End of discussion.

This song is playing when Michael drives off the road in Season Six, Part 2, leading to his death at Tony's hands. It is Mr. Morrison covering Pink Floyd's classic.

Van Morrison -- Comfortably Numb [Live]
From the Van Morrison At the Movies: Soundtrack Hits album.

The Austin of Wisconsin

As a self described music fanatic I am ashamed to admit that my home town [Eau Claire, WI] is home to one of the largest country music festivals in the world [Country Jam] and I've never been...never wanted to go...in fact, "Country Jam weekend" is one of the weekend that the people of Eau Claire dread as we are inundated with people with cowboy hats looking for beer and ice...always more ice...

I can only imagine what it is like for the people of Austin, TX who have to cope with the South By Southwest festival and the Austin City Limits Festival.

The Contrarian

I've recently been catching up on my queue of All Songs Considered pod casts and it reminded me of a point that has been nagging me for a while..on several of the episodes I listened to host Bob Boilen bring on Pitchfork Senior New Editor Amy Phillips to go through the albums featured or, in one case, discuss the anthems of the Y Generation. Maybe it's just me, but is it a contractual obligation for Pitchfork editors/writers to be contrarians just for the sake of it?

In one episode, everyone was sort of liking the new Kimya Dawson album until we got to Amy who couldn't stand it. "Thankfully I have not heard that..." She continued "an entire record of that would drive me up the wall. Later she picked the ear pollution "Shake Your Pompom" from upcoming Missy Elliott's Block Party album as something good. Here is a video put together for the song [I don't think it is the official video]:



This is the kind of music they use to torture people in Guantanamo. This song is almost like audible assault with Missy Elliott commanding me to look at her "butty shake."

In another episode, Phillips and Boilen get into what can be called the closest thing to an argument on All Songs Considered. Boilen was agreeing with a listener who wrote in saying that what was great about the 60's music was it threw out all the previous music and invented something new [For example, there was never anything like Jimi Hendrix before Jimi Hendrix]. Phillips disagrees [of course] and says that The Rolling Stones were influenced by 50's blues. To which Boilen gets as close to blowing his stack as I've ever heard:

"It [the 1960's music] did [sound like the blues] until 1966, that's where it all shifted. And you can't hear...you can't listen to Beggers Banquet and hear "Sympathy for the Devil" and think of blues because it was really different. Sympathy for the Devil was not a blues song...there was nothing else like it."

Not Missing Seattle #1: Spikes in the Water

I did a little series about the things I would miss when leaving Seattle and now here's one I'll start when I find something that I won't miss...First item, metal spikes put in the local beach by someone to cut the feet of swimmers...The Post-Intelligencer has more:

Four dozen metal spikes had to have been intentionally lodged in shallow Green Lake waters, city officials say, but almost a week after they were found, police have no idea who put them there.

Authorities still aren't exactly sure how long the spikes, found Sunday, were under water. They say the corrosion on the metal spikes, ranging from 12 to 18 inches long, shows they were likely there for at least a month.

UPDATE: They've found some more spikes!

Random Photo From the Trip #3

Looking at my Dad's license plate makes me realize how hard it would be to be a Buddhist:

Songs That I Like #2: The Libertines "Good Old Days"

I really fell in love with this song four years ago and still listen to it often when I need a reminder of what's important in life. I've never really understood if there is maybe a sense of humorous irony to what The Libertines stood for at first and what their lead singer and songwriter Pete Doherty became as a drug addict. Did they really believe the things they sang about in such anti-drug anthems of "Good Old Days" and "What A Waster" and do they realize that Pete became/nearly became that very same Waster.

I don't think you should be allowed to sing lyrics like "If you've lost your faith in love and music, oh the end won't be long" without being dead serious about what rock music can do and the serious nature of it. No smirking allowed. It was this seriousness that attracted me to The Libs and they almost pulled it off until the humanity of the members caught up with them.

The Libertines -- Good Old Days
From the Up the Bracket album.

New Verve Album Details

If I'm not careful, this summer [into early fall] may turn out to be one of the best ever in terms of new albums by my favorite artists/groups. We've already had new Portishead and Beck...I'm counting down to new Oasis and Ben Folds. And now we have details of the new Verve album.

As you can see the album is called "Forth" and will hit our shores August 26th. There are a bunch of different ways to the buy the album and some have bonus tracks available as well as downloads right away. Check out all the info at The Verve's store.

Here are a couple of older Verve tracks:

The Verve -- Star Sail
From the A Storm in Heaven album.

The Verve -- 6 O'Clock
From the No Come Down album.

Random Photo From the Trip #2

Somewhere in South Dakota:

New Bloc Party Video

Here is the new video from Bloc Party called "Mercury":



Of all the new generation of British bands [let's say from Coldplay on], Bloc Party is my favorite. But after watching this video, I am struck by how bad it is. Criticising the United States is such an easy trap to fall into, especially for a band that isn't American. It is so easy to say, "look at them, they're horrible, they're so stupid they would elect a horse/crab thing."

As I once said to my girlfriend who is living in Europe currently, "don't ever let anyone from England make you feel bad about being an American." The level of absolute bullshit and tyranny England unleashed upon this world is staggering for it being such a small country. [And I say this with 1/4 English blood running through my veins]. Here's a short list:

--Invention of concentration camps [Boer War]
--Occupation of Ireland...why isn't Ireland united yet?
--They still have a Queen. What kind of gutless country determines the type of government they will have because it might effect tourism sales?
--No English person should ever say anything about George Bush...because you have your own: Margaret Thatcher. At least we have the foresight to limit Presidents to terms [eight years]...Thatcher got 11. Not to mention Bush's partner in crime Tony Blair.
--You think America's racist, American racism can learn a lot from Enoch Powell.
--An unwritten Constitution...make fun of Americans' phone getting tapped all you want at least we have actual rules that you can see and read. It sort of helps in protecting them.
--Occupation of India, United States, Canada, Egypt, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, etc...

The point is this, is America perfect? Far from it. But the English shouldn't be the ones to criticize.

New Ben Fold Album Details

My boy Ben Folds will have a new album out in September [the 16th to be exact] and it will be called Way to Normal. Paste magazine has an interview and a few more details about the album including that there will be a cameo by Regina Spektor and a song called "Bitch Went Nuts." I can't wait...

Ben Folds Five -- Kate [Ska Remix]
From the U.S. version of the Brick single. I think it is shocking how much better this remix is over the original.

From the Inbox

From the Inbox today:

A Night in the Box -- Fiddle Foot Jones
A Night in the Box MySpace

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One of my favorite bands has a new mixtape they are offering free on iTunes...here are a couple of songs they given away over the years...

Voxtrot -- Heaven [Talking Heads Cover]
Voxtrot -- Love Vigilantes [New Order Cover]
Voxtrot -- Summer Mix Tape entitled "First Thought Only Thought"
You should really own their self-titled debut.

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The email from this group of Swedes includes comparisons to Jens Lekman and Adam Green and I would have to agree. Good stuff here.

Klas -- Honda Civic
Klas -- Birds
Klas MySpace

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Calamity Magnet is Sara Radle and fairly or unfairly she will also be referred to as an important member of the 2nd reincarnation of The Rentals. However, she is more than Matt Sharp's accomplice as you can here on the new Calamity Magnet album.

Calamity Magnet -- Baby, You Forgot
This song is from their self-titled album.
Calamity Magnet MySpace

It's Time

I've Got To Remember

I've got to remember that when I inevitably get frustrated by the conservative politics of my new home state it could be so so much worse:

A prosperous hamlet of 6,300, Sioux Center is home to 17 churches, 13 of them with the word "Reformed" in their name, a sign of a strong evangelical presence. In 2004, 16,000 people in the county voted, 14,000 of them for Bush.

I've driven through Iowa twice in the past three days and but I missed Sioux Center both times...

X-Files 2

As you can tell from my countdown on the right, I am a little obsessive about the new X-Files movie and the X-Files in general...although the preview doesn't blow me away [and it actually makes me a little worried about how good it will be], the X-Files always deliver a good soundtrack. Here is the group UNKLE remixing the X-Files theme:

UNKLE -- X Files Theme (UNKLE Remix)
From the X-Files: I Want To Believe soundtrack.

Here is the preview:

Random Photo From the Trip #1

Long Live Aaron Rodgers

As someone who has written on this blog 17 times about Brett Favre and my beloved Packers, this news is the final straw...you are dead to me Brett.

You are as big a douche bag as this photo makes you look:

The king is dead, long live Aaron Rodgers.

My solution...the Packers should do nothing and just pay him and bench him. He can ride the pine for the rest of his contract even if Rodgers throws 4 interceptions his first game...don't forget what Brett's first game was like.

Be Like The Squirrel

I've built up quite a bit of blogging steam here and so I need to take a breath...one post at a time...it's like this song from the White Stripes "Little Acorns"...the lesson: "Be like the squirrel."

The White Stripes -- Little Acorns
All the White Stripes albums are good but the best is Elephant.

Reflection

I'm sitting here in Wisconsin today watching the first real thunderstorm I have been through in 4 years arrive from the west [there typically aren't any t-storms in Seattle] after taking a long adventure from Seattle to Lawrence to Wisconsin in 6 days and I am thinking to myself "it is so quite here." No loud buses, no screaming students, no planes flying overhead...and then my silence is broken by a loud crack of thunder that puts the sound of the #48 bus at 5:00am to shame.

Moving Megapost

So my move to Lawrence is upon me and consequently posting from me will be on hold for a while. Here is a Movin' Mix to keep you busy until I'm back to normal.

Supergrass -- Moving
From their self-titled album.

Butthole Surfers -- Moving to Florida
From the Left of the Dial collection.

Blur -- Movin' On
From their self-titled album.

The Byrds -- You Movin'
From the In the Beginning collection.

Beastie Boys -- Body Movin'
From Hello Nasty.

The Black Crowes -- Movin' On Down the Line
From the Warpaint album.

Moby -- God Moving Over the Face of the Water
From the I Like To Score album.

Yoko Ono -- I'm Moving On
From the Double Fantasy album.

Art Brut -- Moving to L.A.
From the Bang Bang Rock & Roll album.

The Warlocks -- Moving Mountains
From the Heavy Deavy Skull Lover album.

Deep Purple -- You Keep On Moving
From The Very Best of Deep Purple.

Wombats -- Moving to New York
From A Guide To Love, Loss and Desperation.

Happy Birthday George

George Bush's birthday has snuck up on me again and so what do you get the man who has given America so so much? How about a wooden box?:

The staff presented him with a wooden box made from a giant oak tree that fell on the White House lawn in 2007. Some of the wood from the tree, planted by Benjamin Harrison's daughter in 1892, had been sent to Texas to be fashioned into a box about 12-by-18 inches. They filled it with notes and cards from members of his senior staff.

CS Presents: Vertigo

I decided to undertake something only slightly less harrowing and much more enjoyable than studying for the bar exam this summer: watching as many Alfred Hitchcock movies as I could get my hands on via my Blockbuster subscription. I will review the movies after I watch them as a way of actually posting here. I grade each movie simply on how much I liked it in relation to the others. SPOILER ALERT: If you don't want to know what happens in a movie, then don't read my reviews. There will be no SPOILER ALERTs within the reviews.

Vertigo (1958)

I don't even know where to begin.

Vertigo might be the oddest and most enchanting film I have ever seen. For all of its complexity, the plot is relatively simple. The detective going out on one last case and falling in love with the woman he was hired to be watch, etc. The plot could have easily come out of a film noir or a Michael Connelly novel.

I've enjoyed some very good films that I really don't have any desire to see again. Chinatown is an incredible movie, but it's a movie that I only intend to see once a decade or so. It is a deeply uncomfortable movie despite its genius. Anyone who has seen Dylan Baker's performance in Happiness can attest that incredible acting does not necessarily equal a desire to ever see it again. And I'll probably watch North by Northwest at every opportunity, because it is so easy to watch. You can be dropped in at any point and quickly understand it.

I never felt mesmerized watching Vertigo as I did when I watched Rear Window or Lifeboat or even the first half of Rope. There are some movies that you can't get into because the plot is so Byzantine that you give up. And there are others where the actors are sleepwalking through it, so you match their level of effort. Vertigo has neither of those problems, yet it didn't completely suck me in. But that tracks with how Scottie is seeing the world. The notion of a dead woman inhabiting Madeleine is so un-Hitchcockian. One of the reasons I have enjoyed watching his films is that his suspense is borne of reality. He doesn't need the supernatural to create tension -- the real world will suffice. Scottie doesn’t really believe Madeleine, which makes it kind of surprising that he doesn’t see what is happening. We get sucked in the way Scottie gets sucked in: slowly, surely and entirely.

It was not highly critically received at the time of release and it is not hard to see why. The film's name is not only a description of Scottie's condition, but how the audience feels when they leave the theatre. It is a disorienting film that lacks an easy payoff. In the final bell tower scene, the bad guy is in Europe. We have liked Scottie from the beginning, but his obsession with Madeleine/Judy is positively creepy. Our sympathies should transfer to Judy, a woman willing to do anything to be with the man who she yearns for, but her duplicity robs her of that trust. It is one of the few climatic scenes I can remember where everyone really is in shades of gray.

The performances are incredible. Kim Novak has to play the dual role of the cool, dark and beguiling Madeleine Elster and her counterpart, the down-to-earth Judy Barton who knows the truth. In many respects, Novak's portrayal of Madeleine is representative of the film as a whole. Her exterior is a bit cold and it is clear that there is something disturbing about her. But in spite of her problems, there is something underneath that is seductive...it draws you in. I wish I could write those sentences in a way that pointed to something concrete in the film that makes me want to see it again despite the fact that I am still not sure how much I really liked it. I guess that is the magic of Hitchcock.

Grade: Anywhere from a B to an A+. Ask me in a few months or so when I rent it again.

Up Next: North by Northwest

Previous:
Rope
Rear Window
Lifeboat
The Trouble With Harry

A First

Well for the 1st time, you guys maxed out my interweb tub bandwidth...thanks, I guess...The good news is that the links are back up and working again...

What's He Thinking?

I've been a part of two City Council, one U.S. Senate, and countless Student Senate campaigns so I know just enough about campaigning and politics to be dangerous...Here we are on the 4th of July during a Presidential campaign and you would think that both candidates would in full "baby kissing, hand shaking" mode...let's just double check things...

Okay, first up Obama in Butte, Montana...large groups of voters? Check. Babies to kiss? Check. Hands to shake? Check. Michelle looking cute as ever? Check.

He even took a turn at the barbecue.

Now on to McCain in Mexico. Large groups of voters? Ah...well maybe in Mexican elections. Babies to kiss? None in sight. Giant police helicopter with Spanish writing on it? Check.

This reminds me of working on Student Senate campaigns...you would be out there campaigning on campus and just amazed that your opponents were not out there in the freezing cold trying to persuade students to vote for them...It made you excited that you might just pull this off and win, but at the same time there was a feeling of "what am I missing?" Of "they can't really be this stupid?"...in the end, it was always a case of the opponents had really no idea on how to run a campaign.

Don't you have to ask, what is McCain thinking wasting the July 4th week in Columbia and Mexico, two countries his party views as simply "future illegal aliens?" Why isn't he in Philadelphia delivering a speech about securing the next 232 years of America's freedom?

Put A Smile On Your Face

This video was posted over at the Stranger's blog, The Slog, and is just perfect...

41%

The question always seems to be "are we better off than we were eight years ago?"...Well as you ponder that, read this [my emphasis added]:

"When President George W. Bush went to his first Group of Eight summit in 2001, a dominant issue was the dollar -- the strong dollar, that is. The U.S. currency was on a record-setting streak, and the free-marketeering president wasn't going to stand in the way.

On the eve of Bush's last G-8 appearance, the dollar's gyrations are again in the crossfire. This time, it is a weak currency, upended by slumping growth, a housing recession and record gas prices, that is gnawing away at the world economy.

The dollar's 41 percent drop against the euro during Bush's term writes the economic epitaph of an administration that set out to restore American preeminence. Instead, Bush heads to Japan next week for his final international summit with diminished leverage as Russian and Chinese influence grows"

Wizards From Kansas

In honor of my impending move to Lawrence, we have, according to allmusic.com, "an obscure country-psych rock group from Kansas:"

"The Wizards from Kansas were an obscure country-psych rock group from Kansas. In 1968, four of the five original members (from the Kansas City area) formed a band called New West, and began playing in the Lawrence, Kansas area, at clubs and parties, near Kansas University. Guitarist Robert Manson Crain, from California, joined the group soon thereafter, expanding to a quintet. At that time, the guys were calling themselves "Pig Newton", then Pig Newton and the Wizards from Kansas. The name Pig Newton was apparently one of their inside jokes, however, as there was no one named Pig in the group. The band would often make up stories about Pig Newton to confuse people, according to Crain (whose songs, incidentally, are credited to either "C. Manson Roberts" or Mance Roberts).

The five-man group played shows in the local area, and in the summer of 1969, toured the east coast. They were invited to play the Fillmore East in the fall of that year, a gig that led to them being offered a number of record deals, which they initially turned down. Finally, towards the end of the year, Mercury Records persuaded the band to sign a contract. The label reps did not like the "Pig" part of their name, however, and made the group drop it. Six months later, in July and August of 1970, the Wizards From Kansas recorded their eponymous debut album, The Wizards From Kansas, in San Francisco. The album was issued in October, but a week before its release, drummer Marc Caplan and bassist Bob Menadier decided that they'd rather play jazz instead of rock and left the band to pursue those interests. With no band to promote the record, Mercury lost interest and the album sank without a trace. The Wizards From Kansas disbanded shortly thereafter"

Wizards From Kansas -- Codine

Wizards From Kansas -- Freedom Speech

Wizards From Kansas -- She Rides With Witches

Wizards From Kansas -- Mass
All tracks are from the self-titled album.

Yeah, Man!

Politico has a little article about an exchange between Senator Robert Byrd and Senator Jim Bunning on the floor of the Senate from earlier in the week...

Bunning: "Regular order!"

Byrd: "Who said that?"

Bunning: "I did."

Byrd: "Who are you?"

Bunning: "I'm a senator."

Byrd: "You're a great baseball man."

Bunning: "I'm a senator; I have the same rights as you."

Byrd: "Yeah, man, you're a senator." [Ends by laughing hysterically at Bunning.]

Obama's Favorites Megapost

Okay, this is the last time I will milk Rolling Stone for a blog post for a little while, but in this week's issue, there is an extensive interview with Barack Obama in which he talks about the songs and artists that he likes...some tracks were mentioned specifically and some artists were just mentioned...here's what he likes:

Songs:

Bob Dylan -- Maggie's Farm
From Bring It All Back Home.

Bruce Springsteen -- The Rising
From the album of the same name.

The Rolling Stones -- Gimme Shelter
From the Let It Bleed album.

Artists: These are artists he mentions in the article but not the specific songs. The songs are of my choosing.

Bob Dylan: Obama reference the entire album Blood on the Tracks as one of his favorites...I've selected two songs from that.

Bob Dylan -- Buckets of Rain

Bob Dylan -- Shelter from the Storm
These two tracks are from Blood on the Tracks.

Aretha Franklin -- Chain of Fools [Live]
From Aretha in Paris.

Stevie Wonder: Obama is apparently a big Stevie fan and he mentioned five albums in the interview that come from the 70's.

Stevie Wonder -- Girl Blue
From Music Of My Mind

Stevie Wonder -- Big Brother
From Talking Book

Stevie Wonder -- Heaven is 10 Zillion Light Years Away
From Fulfillingness' First Finale

Stevie Wonder -- Higher Ground
From Innervisions

Stevie Wonder -- Sir Duke
From Songs in the Key of Life

Earth Wind & Fire -- September
From their Greatest Hits collection.

Elton John -- I'm Still Standing

Elton John -- The Bitch is Back
Both tracks are from Greatest Hits 1970-2002.

John Coltrane -- Impressions [Live]
From the Live in Antibes 1965...which can be yours for only $1.78.

Miles Davis -- Directions
From The Cellar Door Sessions.

Miles Davis -- Salt Peanuts
From the Steamin' album.

Charlie Parker -- Koko
From The Talented Mr. Ripley Soundtrack.

Howlin' Wolf -- Killing Floor
From The Definitive Collection.

Sheryl Crow -- All I Wanna Do
From the Tuesday Night Music Club album.

Sheryl Crow -- D'Yer Mak'er [Led Zeppelin Cover]
From the Ecomium: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin album.

Jay-Z -- Big Pimpin'
From the MTV Unplugged album.

Jay-Z -- 99 Problems [Grey Album Version]