New Supergrass

Supergrass -- Bad Blood
From the new album Diamond Hoo Ha.

P.S. Supergrass will be playing in Seattle on July 9th at Key Arena with the Foo Fighters.

Born In The Flood

My buddy Adrian clued me in on this band and I have been enjoying them a lot recently...the first track is from their new full-length and the second was on their debut EP from a few years ago.

Born In The Flood -- Anthem
From If This Thing Should Spill.

Born In The Flood -- Low Flying Clouds
From The Fear That We May Not Be EP.

Matt F. Presents: A CS Presents Hitchcock MegaPost

Here are some songs to go along with CS' great Hitchcock series...

I can't start any post about Hitchcock without first posting this:

Alfred Hitchcock -- Music to be Murdered By [Theme from Alfred Hitchcock Presents]

For Lifeboat:Dntel -- Rock My Boat
From Dumb Luck.

David Gray -- Last Boat To America
From the A New Day at Midnight.

Kasabian -- U Boat [Live]
Live at Glastonbury 2005.

Johnny Cash -- Rowboat
From Unchained.

P. Williams -- The Theme to Love Boat
From Television's Greatest Hits 70's & 80s.

Highwaymen -- Michael [Row Your Boat Ashore]
From the Folk Hits Collection.

For Rear Window:

Grandaddy -- Rear View Mirror
From the Just Like the Fambly Cat album.

Moby Grape -- Sitting by the Window
From the Moby Grape album.

Fiona Apple -- Window
From the Extraordinary Machine album.

Les Savy Fav -- One Way Window
From the Inches album.

Joy Zipper -- Window
From the Heartlight Set album.

Roni Size & Rerazent -- Watching Windows
From the New Forms album.

The Beach Boys -- At My Window
From the Sunflower/Surf's Up album.

Billy Bragg & Wilco -- At My Window Sad and Lonely
From the Mermaid Avenue album.

For Rope:

Alice in Chains -- Man In the Box
From the Facelift album.

The Minus 5 -- Bought a Rope
From [The Gun Album].

Mclusky -- Rope!
From the Mcluskyism collection.

Ani DiFranco -- This Box Contains...
From the Revelling album.

Tokyo Police Club -- Box
From the Smith EP.

Babyshambles -- Lost Art of Murder
From the Shotter's Nation album.

CS Presents: Lifeboat

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.

Lifeboat (1944)

What I liked best about Lifeboat is that it never veered into sensationalism. Every bit of it was realistic, especially the human nature involved.

It is a virtual guarantee that this film would never be made today, at least not the way Hitchcock made it. Barely out of the shadow of World War II, the German "prisoner" is neither a shining beacon, showing us the error of our intolerant ways, nor a monster to be defeated with a stake through the heart. Can you imagine a film today that showed a shadowy Middle Eastern Muslim as neither a saint martyred by our intolerance nor as a maniacal terrorist intent on our destruction?

The German -- Willy -- had a warm, inviting face. He was pulled from the boat and we had instant sympathy for him, right up until he muttered "danke schoen" and we felt the same apprehension as our motley crew. And his acts of betrayal, pushing Smith/Schmidt off board, hoarding the water and the energy supply, directing the boat toward a German supply ship, wasn't the act of a madman trying to starve and kill his American/British crew mates. It was selfish, but he thought he was doing the right thing for everyone involved. Willy was easily the most competent member of our crew: he instantly took charge during the storm and did everything right. Willy's dual nature is why the film has been seen both as German and Allied propaganda.

There was a small throwaway moment that anyone who has ever really liked someone should recognize. Sparks was playing with the rope in Mac's hair, pulling on the string so it would be untied, and she asked him, "Why do you like to do that?" There was a sigh of half a beat and he replied, "I don't know." The dialogue is borderline ridiculous, but it captured that feeling of intimacy when you get to touch and tease that person you like and you do it for reasons you can't even explain. It's one of the best parts of being in "deep like." (One of my co-workers has been dating a girl that he is falling for fast, but he hasn't completely gone head-over-heels. We dubbed it a state of deep like.)

No character in this film was one-dimensional. The black man was neither the minstrel nor was he all knowing and wise. He had a history of petty crime that he was trying to overcome. He could play his recorder (god, did that bring back memories of fourth grade), but it wasn't handled in demeaning way. Telluah Bankhead's character managed to be everything you would imagine a wealthy socialite on a lifeboat to be, but never ventured into territory later covered by Mrs. Thurston Howell. She was both the woman who was appalled at losing her precious footage and the woman who willingly let the young mother wear her mink coat.

As a matter of sheer filmmaking, the amputation scene should be shown to every aspiring director. We see nothing of Smith's leg. We are left to imagine the wound and we see the surgery from the prospective of Sparks, a man who couldn't see the surgery. We see his facial expressions and we see the expressions of the people who can see the surgery. And the boot falling to the ship's floor tells us everything we need to know. I guarantee that Hitchcock could have not topped what imagined and HE KNEW THAT. For a non-Hitchcock example of getting it right vs. screwing it up, compare Silence of the Lambs to Hannibal.

The film perfectly captured the despair when you believe that there is no hope to how your thinking changes when rescue is imminent. Think back to the times in college when you had no money and didn't see any money coming in for a while. You stare at your pantry and think, "well, that bag of noodles should last me for a while. I am never going to waste my money again. I can't live like this, but I don't know when it is going to end. I wonder if I'll even have enough money to go home for Christmas. Please God, I really hope so. I don't want to have to beg my parents just for gas money. I don't want them to know how broke I am." And you mope around like that until you get a check you weren't expecting or someone offers you a quick job to make some cash. Flush with the feeling of having money in your pocket, all of that thinking about changing your ways is gone as you waste it as quickly as you can. As soon as rescue is 20 minutes away, Connie begins to worry what she looks like. Ritt has the gleam of capitalism in his eyes, no longer lamenting that he has no wife and kids to go back to. And the final scenes, with our new German captive, only adds to the film's ambiguity.

Grade: A/A-

Up Next: The Trouble With Harry

Previous:

Rope

Rear Window

This Week's Rolling Stone

Cheap Shot Saturday

So I feel bad about my last post/cheap shot about McCain...so here's one about Obama...The Los Angeles Times has a good piece on Obama's rather rapid move to the center on things such as gun control, executing child rapists, Iran...you know, the things you like to debate over Sunday dinner at your Grandma's house...maybe that's just me.

The Huffington Post claims he is "undercutting his brand" and I would have to agree.

How Do These Things Happen?

Now, I haven't read the article in question yet...I'll be waiting patiently at my mailbox but the question is this, how?....how?....how?....how do you forget to pay taxes on a house for 4 years? I'm not saying they are trying to cheat anyone. I now they have plenty of money...McCain himself gets $58,000 a year in disability payments [above his Senate salary]. It must come down to the fact that it has to be hard to keep track of the taxes on "at least 7 houses"...

Number 2

I think naming a sewage treatment plant after George Bush is in poor form...dislike him a little or a lot he still deserves some respect...it's a little embarrassing...not as embarrassing as say this is or this, or this [and remember, this last one was put together to make the President laugh]:

Songs That I Like #1: Saves the Day "Freakish"

Song: "Freakish"
Time: 3:47
Group: Saves the Day
Album: Stay What You Are
Label: Vagrant Records
Release Date: July 10, 2001

Sometimes I think that I make things too complicated so we will start a new series that keeps things nice and straightforward. To begin, we have the song that without a doubt has had the biggest effect of my life thus far. I first heard this song in the summer of 2001, shortly after it's release and I really, really, really liked it. I picked up the album, and started working through Saves the Day's back catalogue. STD became my new cause celeb and I even bought a patch and put it on my school bag. A lot of people commented on it and many of them thought it was some sort of organization like Unicef...

One day, a girl noticed the patch on my bag...now I'm not saying that's the only reason she thought maybe I was a little cool...it was probably my award-winning personality...but we started hanging out, watching Alias, and eventually fell in love...how's that for a quick progression! The impact that that girl has had in my life is incredible...and it may have all started with a Saves the Day song.

Saves the Day -- Freakish

Korea/Cuba

One has to wonder...if we can now trade with North Korea [1/3 of the Axis of Evil] then what's wrong with trading with a post-Castro Cuba?

New Oasis Album Details

NME is reporting that the new Oasis album will come out in October and be called Dig Out Your Soul. The first single, "The Shock of the Lightening" will be out September 29th.

Missing Seattle #3: Rainer Cherries Megapost

Both CS and I have written in the past about the things we love to eat and drink and let me add another, Rainer Cherries. Without a doubt, this is the single food item I will miss the most about leaving the Northwest. They are only in season for a few summer weeks each year and I buy them like they are going out of style. Technically they are a combination of Bing and Van cherries and their flavor is the perfect mix of sweet and tart. I am seriously considering figuring out how to get some sent to Lawrence next summer.

The Smashing Pumpkins -- Cherry
From the 1979 EP.

Pavement -- Cherry Area
From the Shady Lane EP.

The Runaways -- Cherry Bomb
From the Dazed & Confused soundtrack.

Neil Diamond -- Cherry Cherry
From the Essential Neil Diamond collection.

Eagles of Death Metal -- Cherry Cola
From Death by Sexy.

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals -- Cherry Lane
From the Cold Roses album.

Garbage -- Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)
From the Beautiful Garbage album.

Monty Python -- Cherry Orchard
From The Final Rip Off.

Skip & Flip -- Cherry Pie
From It Was I: The Best of Skip & Flip.

Cherry Poppin' Daddies -- Cherry Poppin' Daddy Strut
From the Zoot Suit Riot album.

The Crystal Method -- Cherry Twist
From the Vegas album.

Tommy James & The Shondells -- Sweet Cherry Wine
From The Essentials collection.

Spoon -- You Got Yer Cherry Bomb
From the Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga album.

CS Presents: Rear Window

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.

Rear Window (1954)

If you ever want to know why you should never consent to be interviewed by the police, watch Rear Window. It sounds like an odd statement to connect that with this movie. After all, the main law enforcement character, Doyle, is on Thorwald's side for almost the entire film.

Jeffries has his theory of what happened and everything that follows -- which has both an innocent and sinister explanation -- is formatted to fit his theory. Doyle is unconvinced and always opts for the innocent explanation. He's a detective, he's heard 1,001 crazy theories in his career and this is just another one. When you are interviewed by the police as a suspect, regardless of whether or not you actually did it, the police probably have a working theory of what happened. Whatever details you give them, they will simply try to fit into their theory and they'll discard the evidence that doesn't quite fit. This doesn't make them evil or stupid. Simply human. Unless you can show them the elephant in the room -- the incontrovertible evidence that smashes their theory to bits -- they will continue to try to make it work.

Much has been written about the ethics of voyeurism and how the film treats marriage. Both are interesting subjects and I noticed both during the film, especially how the newlyweds' relationship inversely tracked with Jeffries and Lisa's relationship. The most interesting part to me was the innocent vs. sinister aspects of Thorwald's actions. For a man whose speaking parts are minimal during the movie -- I suspect we hear his voice about as often as the newlywed husband -- Raymond Burr did a masterful job of acting. His facial expressions and actions had to be transparent enough that we could jump to the same conclusions that Jeffries did, yet inscrutable enough that they could seemingly be innocent.

I can see why Rear Window is one of the most heralded Hitchcock films. In the special features of the DVD version, someone mentions that Hitchcock would focus on a scene on his way into work and run it through his mind, thinking of all the different ways he could shoot it. The preparation and creativity are obvious. The many side stories, like Miss Lonelyhearts, The Composer, The Torso, The Newlyweds, etc., were Hitchcock's creation. Jimmy Stewart did a masterful job. So much of the film was him looking at something, us seeing that something and then Stewart's reaction and those three shots needed to advance the plot and tell us exactly what Jeffries was thinking, often times without uttering a word.

But the final scene nags at me a bit. The tension was masterfully built for Thorwald's entrance and having Jeffries keep him at bay with flashbulbs was genius, especially as we essentially saw the scene from Thorwald's point of view, complete with the after-effects of the flash. The payoff seemed so weak. Yeah. he's the murderer. He chopped her up. As I watched it, I pretty well suspected that. To me, the tension didn’t center around whether Thorwald did it as much as it revolved around whether Jeffries could prove Thorwald did. I was more curious of the how and the why than finding out if, because I assumed Torvald had murdered his wife. I wish there had been some kind of payoff and twist at that moment. The film didn't treat the question of if he did it as a real question; the film was more about how Jeffries would get around those obstacles than treating them as plausible alternative explanations. It seems dishonest to make the payoff what we assumed was happening to begin with.

Grade: A-

Up Next: Lifeboat

Previous reviews:

Rope

Missing Seattle #2: Get Jesse!

Each city has their own media personalities and without a doubt my personal favorite is Jesse Jones from King 5. And really, those words should not be in lower or upper case...instead a whole new way of writing a word should be invented for Jesse Jones' name. To be honest, it is how Mr. Jones signs off his news segments that make me love him so much.

Jesse is the type of news reporter that CS would be if he were black, bald, and had a really cool way of saying his name. There is this pause before "Jesse Jones, King 5 News" that just gets me every time. Each week Jesse is out and about Seattle looking out for you, solving problems, and making things right. Just like a superhero I guess. Some of his best spots have such titles as "No-show contractor is in for a surprise" and "Seattle man upset about mysterious phone charge." He also has "Save Money Monday" tips to save money...such as renting movies at the public library! Thanks Jesse! I'll miss you.

George Carlin Megapost

"Life is a zero sum game."

These are the words of George Carlin about 2 1/2 minutes into the "Free Floating Hostility" skit on his best album Back in Town. And after hearing the news that George died yesterday, it's been pretty much a Carlin Fest all day today as I have been remembering back to obsessing over his late 90's albums again and again hoping to be as quick witted and opinionated one day. He could say the things I wish I could so succinctly and intelligently it was almost disheartening. He was the king of political humor mainly because he hated the politics of either party. Although he told a lot of Bill Clinton jokes, Ronald Reagan and the Republican Revolution 90's were his main targets of his last few albums, some of which I have highlighted below.

In doing their obituary stories on Carlin, the major media centers focus on one particular routine of his career to highlight: The 7 Dirty Words You Can Never Say on Television. They focus on this, because to be honest, nearly every skit he did after that one makes it look pretty tame in comparison. In that skit, you only have to bleep seven words. Take for example, his skit on Abortion & The Sanctity of Life...in my opinion the best work he ever did. I imagine that it would be pretty hard for Brian Williams to queue up a clip that begins "Why is it that most of the people who are against abortion are people you wouldn't want to fuck in the first place?"

George Carlin -- Abortion

George Carlin -- The Sanctity of Life

George Carlin -- Free Floating Hostility
These three tracks are from the Back in Town album.

George Carlin -- Carlin on Campus
This is the whole album on one track.

George Carlin -- I Used To Be Irish Catholic
From the Class Clown album.

George Carlin -- 7 Words You Can Never Say On Television
From the Class Clown album.

George Carlin -- Asshole Jackoff Scumbag
From the Place For My Stuff album.

George Carlin -- Kids and Parents
From the You Are All Diseased album.

George Carlin -- Don't Pull the Plug On Me
From the Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics album.

George Carlin -- Reagan's Gang, Church People, and American Values

George Carlin -- More Stuff About Cars and Driving
These last two are from the album with possibly the best title ever What Am I Doing in New Jersey?

CS Presents: Hitchcock

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.



Rope (1948)

Jimmy Stewart is what is wrong with this movie. I suspect that is not a sentence often typed.

And it's a shame because this movie had incredible potential. Based on the Leopold and Loeb murders, it revolves around two college-aged men who kill a former classmate to prove their superiority. To add further force to their argument, they place his body in a large wooden chest and hold a dinner party where the food is served atop the chest. Among the guests are the victim's father, aunt and girlfriend.

Up to this point, the movie is executed brilliantly. John Dall gives an Academy Award-level performance as Brandon Shaw. His Shaw is so charming, witty and happily disturbed that you are repulsed every time he is on stage, yet can't bring yourself to hate him completely. It is in the tradition of good movie villains, from the men James Bond fought with through Hannibal Lecter that Dall's performance arises from. Just as Loeb was dominant over Leopold, Philip Morgan (Farley Granger) is subservient to Shaw. Morgan is not as in love with the idea of this audacious murder as he is in love with Shaw. The homosexual aspects of their relationship are never discussed, but can virtually be assumed. Granger is pitch-perfect as the weaker, nervous co-conspirator, who is terrified of being found out.

But neither Shaw nor Morgan is the most important character in this movie. That distinction falls to Stewart's Rupert Cadell. He was their prep school housemaster and their intellectual guiding star. Their Nietzschean view of themselves -- as the Ubermensches who are superior to normal humans -- comes from Cadell. He is the one who formed them and he is the one who will turn them in.

Hitchcock loved to use Stewart as the everyman. We see the world through his eyes and instinctively like him. As a result of films like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington or It's A Wonderful Life or Vertigo or Rear Window, we have a Pavlovian response to Stewart. We know that even when he does the wrong thing, at heart, he is doing them for the right reasons. When is the last time you saw a film where you didn't root for Stewart's character? Much like Tom Hanks or Kevin Costner or Harrison Ford, we instinctively root for Stewart whenever he appears on the screen. So expecting Stewart to carry a role in which he has to be the champion of the Nietzschean view of superior humanity is a bit like asking Don Knotts to play the coldly efficient police sergeant on the take.

When Cadell defends those views, we twitter just like the victim's aunt. Stewart seems to be playing more of an academic shock jock than a true believer. This role is key because it shows the evolution of this murder. Just as Shaw pressed Morgan into the murder, Cadell shaped Shaw to the point that his interest became more than an intellectual belief. Stewart's Cadell is such an intellectual dabbler that it seems so incongruous for him to have influenced Shaw so strongly.

I took a history of the theater class in college and the professor once asked how someone should play royalty. Should they walk differently? Would we be able to tell simply by having them wear a crown? Should they manically treat their subjects with a tyranny befitting absolute power? All of those actions are worthless unless the other characters react in ways that one would react around a king. If a character walks on to the stage wearing a robe and crown, but the other characters feign indifference, we know that he is not as important as he seems.

The key to this movie is in how every reacts to Cadell when he is on the screen. In this respect, it is the victim's father (Cedric Hardwicke) who plays the Everyman, sputtering his indignation at the horror of the Nietzschean ideas while garnering our sympathy. In order for Cadell's turn from defender of the ideas to prosecutor of the boys for taking the ideas to the logical conclusion to have real force, we have to believe that he held those ideas firmly to begin with. Stewart's persona prevents him from filling that space given to him in the reactions of the other characters.

Cary Grant apparently turned down the Cadell role as he did not wanted to be associated with the film's homoerotic undertones (he didn't need any more public evidence that he might be a homosexual himself). Grant would have been better able to fashion a character that was an older version of Shaw and filled that space. It is a shame that we will never know.

Grade: B/B-

Up Next: Rear Window

Please Forward

Please forward to all your friends that want to know the truth about Barack Obama:

There are many things people do not know about BARACK OBAMA. It is every American's duty to read this message and pass it along to all of their friends and loved ones.

Barack Obama wears a FLAG PIN at all times. Even in the shower.

Barack Obama says the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE every time he sees an American flag. He also ends every sentence by saying, "WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL." Click here for video of Obama quietly mouthing the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE in his sleep.

A tape exists of Michelle Obama saying the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE at a conference on PATRIOTISM.

Every weekend, Barack and Michelle take their daughters HUNTING.

Barack Obama is a PATRIOTIC AMERICAN. He has one HAND over his HEART at all times. He occasionally switches when one arm gets tired, which is almost never because he is STRONG.

Barack Obama has the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE tattooed on his stomach. It's upside-down, so he can read it while doing sit-ups.

There's only one artist on Barack Obama's iPod: FRANCIS SCOTT KEY.

Barack Obama is a DEVOUT CHRISTIAN. His favorite book is the BIBLE, which he has memorized. His name means HE WHO LOVES JESUS in the ancient language of Aramaic. He is PROUD that Jesus was an American.

Barack Obama goes to church every morning. He goes to church every afternoon. He goes to church every evening. He is IN CHURCH RIGHT NOW.

Barack Obama's new airplane includes a conference room, a kitchen, and a MEGACHURCH.

Barack Obama's skin is the color of AMERICAN SOIL.

Barack Obama buys AMERICAN STUFF. He owns a FORD, a BASEBALL TEAM, and a COMPUTER HE BUILT HIMSELF FROM AMERICAN PARTS. He travels mostly by FORKLIFT.

Barack Obama says that Americans cling to GUNS and RELIGION because they are AWESOME.

Has It Really Already Been A Year?

Blessid Union of Souls

Here's a group I completly forgot about...I can't imagine a group with three Top 40 hits that has been talked about less.

Blessid Union of Souls -- I Believe

Blessid Union of Souls -- Hey Leonardo (She Like Me For Me)
Both tracks are from The Singles collection.

Joe-mentum?

Salon.com has two articles today basically saying the same thing twice...one has Obama picking a Republican for VP [in this case Chuck Hagel] and another has McCain selecting a Democrat...ah excuse me, sorry, an Independent as VP [in this case Joe Lieberman]. My conventional wisdom is that none of this is going to happen...

Aimee Mann -- Momentum
From the Magnolia soundtrack.

MC Hammer -- Gaining Momentum
From the Greatest Hits album.

This Is How I Feel...

....about the Grateful Dead. I've tried, I've really tried.

Suicide is Painless

If you are a news junkie like me, you have probably seen the story of Samuel Israel III who may or may not [probably not] committed suicide by jumping off the Bear Mountain Bridge in New York. On the front of his car, he wrote "Suicide Is Painless" in the dust, which is a reference to the theme song to M*A*S*H*. When I was in high school, my best friend's parents had nearly every episode of M*A*S*H* on tape...not DVD...tape. Now that is what I call commitment.

P.S. The movie is way, way, way, way better than the best TV episode ever was...

Theme from M*A*S*H* [Suicide is Painless]
From one of the countless TV theme song collections.

John Mandel -- Suicide is Painless
From the M*A*S*H soundtrack.

The Ventures -- Suicide is Painless
From the collection Tele-Ventures: The Ventures Perform the Great TV Themes.

Bill Evans -- Suicide is Painless
From the You Must Believe in Spring album.

Manic Street Preachers -- Suicide is Painless
From the Forever Delayed collection.

Marilyn Manson -- Suicide is Painless
From the Blair Witch 2 soundtrack.

Tim Russert

Since Tim Russert passed away last week I've been thinking of what to write in his honor. Mainly I think it was about who Tim Russert wasn't rather than who he was. He wasn't Chris Matthews. His show wasn't called "The Tim Russert Show"...Even if he had left Meet the Press on day, there would never have been a show with that title...and looking back on clips now, there is almost no use of the word "I"...if you've got cable, just listen for how often the cable new host references himself or herself...The idea of "What Would Russert Do" sounds a lot better than some of the other people associated with that phrase...

Republican Congressman Darrell Issa "honors" Mr. Russert recently using this logic...and comes up with the idea that Tim would support more domestic drilling for oil. If you are fan of Keith Olbermann you may remember this:

Anti-Obama Propoganda

I was just clicking around this morning and stumbled upon these which I hadn't seen before:

I guess I really don't have much to say about them except Obama isn't John Kerry and it's going to be more difficult to attack the Obama as an elitist. There just aren't going to be any photos of Obama windsurfing that are going to come out.

Here is the original version of the first two Anti-Obama posters:

New Cinematic Titanic Episode

A new episode of Cinematic Titanic is headed our way on June 19th and this time the movie is called The Doomsday Machine.

Sales

The Onion takes a look at rising LP sales and falling CD sales:


Tammy Parnell,
Loan Officer
"I think at this point people are just fucking with the record industry as a whole.

Missing Seattle #1: The Space Needle

It may seem a little obvious but one thing I will miss about Seattle is The Space Needle. It is simply nice to live in a city that has a monument that grabs your attention every time you see it. Although I feel this way, I only recently went up to take a look at the view from the top.

This last one is of the University District and the University of Washington where I live and went to school.

If you want to see a great movie, check out The Parallax View with Warren Beatty. The opening sequence was filmed in and on top of the Space Needle...



Maximo Park -- By the Monument
From the Our Earthly Pleasures album.

Funtime's Over

So I finished up my grad school degree yesterday and so Funtime is over...the job hunt begins and in a few weeks I am moving from the Emerald City to....drum roll please...Lawrence, Kansas. From the home of grunge rock to the home of....well, after a quick search Lawrence's got the Mates of State [who I actually saw in concert here in Seattle] and The Appleseed Cast.

The Appleseed Cast -- Sunlit and Ascending
From the Peregrine album.

Mates of State -- These Days [Nico Cover...written by Jackson Browne]
From the European Tour 2003 EP.

In honor of my eventual exit from Seattle, I am going to do a series of posts highlight the things that I am going to miss about the city that I called home for four years.

By the way, here's the view of downtown Lawrence...I think it was taken last week.

The Primary Season in 10 Minutes

Here is a video from Keith Olbermann's show that condenses the entire primary season into about 10 minutes...it's amazing how quickly I forget some of the things that went down...

Bo Diddley Megapost

Bo Diddley passed away on Monday and a more influential musician they may never have been. While many people cannot name a Bo Diddley song outright, they have without a doubt heard the distinctive beat that Diddley created and that thousands "borrowed" afterward...some in tribute, some because the beat seeps into your brain never to escape...The Diddley Beat is possibly the archetypal rhythm that all of our ancestors at one time sang and drummed to around the fire in a primordial cave.

The best example of the Diddley Beat can be found in the song "Bo Diddley":

Bo Diddley -- Bo Diddley
From the Chess Box collection.

While listening to The Tony Kornheiser Show podcast this week, he did a great tribute to Diddley and played his songs throughout the show. He commented that if you had a Mount Rushmore of Rock, three of the four faces would be Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley. He added, you could throw Elvis up there if you wanted. I agree. Here are some of the people directly influenced by Bo and the Diddley Beat...as well as some of Diddley's greatest hits...

Greatest Hits [all these songs are from the Chess Box collection]:

Bo Diddley -- I'm a Man

Bo Diddley -- Who Do You Love?

Bo Diddley -- Mona (I Need You Baby)

Bo Diddley -- The Story of Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley -- Road Runner

Bo Diddley -- Bo Diddley 1969

Songs with the Diddley Beat:

Elvis Presley -- (Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame
From the Elv1s 30 #1 Hits collection.

Bruce Springsteen -- She's the One [Live]
From the Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 double live album.

U2 -- Desire [Live]
From the Rattle and Hum live album.

Morrissey -- How Soon Is Now? [Live]
From the Live at Earls Court album.

George Michael -- Faith
From the album of the same name.

KT Tunstall -- Black Horse and the Cherry Tree
From the Eye to the Telescope album.

Primal Scream -- Movin' On Up
From the Screamadelica album.

David Bowie -- Panic in Detroit
From the Aladdin Sane album.

Wayne Fontana -- The Game of Love
From The Very Best of Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders collection.

The Strangeloves -- I Want Candy
From the Nuggets collection.

The White Stripes -- Screwdriver [Live]
From the Walking With a Ghost EP.

The Stooges -- 1969
From The Stooges album.

The Rolling Stones -- Not Fade Away
From the Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) collection.

Buddy Holly -- Not Fade Away
From The Buddy Holly Collection.

The Who -- Magic Bus
From The Who: The Ultimate Collection.

Bo Diddley Related Songs & Covers:

The Animals -- The Story of Bo Diddley
From The Complete Animals collection.

Warren Zevon -- Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger / Bo Diddley [Live]
From the Stand in the Fire live album.

George Thorogood -- Who Do You Love?
From the Live album.

The Zombies -- Road Runner
From the Begin Here album.

And last but not least, we should not forget this:

Haven't I Heard That Before #7: Mike Doughty & The Fifth Dimension

As happens nearly every time with these posts , these discoveries just sort of happen while casually listening to my stereo on shuffle..."Fort Hood" is the first song on Mike Doughty's new album Golden Delicious and like many of his newer songs it has an anti-war sentiment to it. About half way through though, the song takes a turn and starts into the chorus of the great Fifth Dimension song "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In."

An interesting choice I must say. The 5th Dimension are one of my all time favorites and I think they are possibly the most underrated group from the 60's. Except for that dang "Wedding Bell Blues" song about Bill the Jerk...I can't stand that one.

Mike Doughty -- Fort Hood
From the new album Golden Delicious.

The 5th Dimension -- Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In
From the Very Best of the 5th Dimension collection.

Here are the other posts in the "Haven't I Heard That Before" sub-section.

The Whigs Forever!

"Right Hand On My Heart" is the song of the summer in my opinion. My sister bought me the album for my birthday in April and I have been enjoying it since. Here is a live performance from David Letterman's show:



The Whigs -- Right Hand On My Heart

The Whigs -- I Got Ideas
From the outstanding album Mission Control.

Hit the Easy Button

Flobots -- No Handlebars
From the Fight With Tools album.

Procol Harum Video

I always enjoy watching those Time-Life 60's CD collection infomercials because it reminds me of songs that I have forgotten about. The new one featuring Peter Fonda in a leather jacket is particularly good...one of the little video clips they have enticing you to buy the collection is the video for the Procol Harum song "A Whiter Shade of Pale." I had never seen it before and I had hoped that it might help in understanding the song a little more...but as you can see, it might just make things a little more confusing...

Red Album

Artist: Weezer
Album: Weezer (The Red Album)

Rating: Jimmy Carter

Having lived with the Red Album for a few days, I am thoroughly frustrated with it. It has one my favorite Weezer song since the Maladroit record's "Death and Destruction" and "Love Explosion" with "Pork and Beans." But it also has a serious battle on its hands for not just worst Weezer song to make its way onto an album but for worst songs of all-time. The two main offenders here are "Heart Songs" and "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived." I can't really bring myself to talk about "Heart Songs" it's so bad but "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived" gives us nearly six minutes of crap-tastic entertainment to talk about. Let's start with the opening lyrics:

"You try to play it cool like you just don't care
But soon I'll be playin' in your underwear"

And I haven't mentioned that this is rapped by the way. This is the sort of rhyme scheme that I come up with when I try to write poetry...I guess I should stick to haikus.

Let's now move on to the full song title "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Quaker a Shaker Hymn). Here's an idea...let's write a 6-minute song essentially about sex [as a good 75% of Weezer songs are] and let's use a Shaker hymn as the backing meolody. In case you don't know, here are some facts about Shakers:

• they did not have sex, and instead adopted children to grow the congregation
• Shaker homes were segregated by sex
• They lived a communal lifestyle
• they made some pretty good furniture

I don't think a Shaker has ever uttered the words "I'm the Greatest Man That Ever Lived."

And I want to not that I'm not writing this because maybe it's cool to rip on Weezer. Weezer has probably shaped my life more than any other band...they are why I wear the glass frames that I do. I buy all their albums, no questions asked...what more could they want? I am just afraid I have come to expect too much from my favorite nerd band.

Let's leave this on a positive note...the best song on the album does not even come from Rivers Cuomo but instead guitarist Brian Bell with "Thought I Knew." I hope Weezer keep this up and take a more Blur-like attitude to sharing their lead singer duties.

Weezer -- Thought I Knew

Weezer -- Pork & Beans

Weezer -- The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)
Both tracks are from the Red Album.