OKC Thunder

SEATTLE SUPERSONICS FOREVER!

The Kinks -- Johnny Thunder [Mono Version]
From the Village Green Preservation Society album.

Ween -- Old Man Thunder
From GodWeenSatan.

Poison Control Center -- Ride the Thunder
From the A Collage of Impression album.

Eddie Beram -- Riot in Thunder Alley
From the Death Proof soundtrack.

White Zombie -- Thunder Kiss '65
From the Past, Present & Future album.

Bob Dylan -- Thunder on the Mountain
From Modern Times.

Beck -- Thunder Peel
From the Odelay Deluxe Edition.

Bruce Springsteen -- Thunder Road
From the Greatest Hits album.

The Battle Royale -- Thunderbabe
From the Wake Up, Thunderbabe album.

Tom Jones -- Thunderball
From the James Bond Themes collection.

John Mellencamp -- Thundering Hearts
From the American Fool album.

AC/DC -- Thunderstruck
From The Razor's Edge album.

This Can't Be Real

The Dallas Morning News has a story on how Texas has the highest percentage of people without health insurance. For some reason they asked a John McCain health care policy advisor, John Goodman, what he thought about this...

You don't need a master's degree in Healthcare Administration to be shocked by what he said:

But the numbers are misleading, said John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a right-leaning Dallas-based think tank. Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance, albeit the government acts as the payer of last resort. (Hospital emergency rooms by law cannot turn away a patient in need of immediate care.)

"So I have a solution. And it will cost not one thin dime," Mr. Goodman said. "The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American – even illegal aliens – as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care.

"So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved."

Mr. Goodman's analysis drew a sharp response from the Center for Public Policy Priorities, an Austin-based think tank focusing on poverty issues. "That is not the same thing as having health insurance," said Eva Deluna, a budget analyst for the center. People without insurance are less likely to seek care, and when they do, the cost to the health system is greater, she said.

The idea that he doesn't know the basic tenants of the EMTALA laws is a little frightening. The laws only provide ER care to patients with an emergency medical condition...what that exactly means is left to the hospital to decide. A badly sprained ankle probably wouldn't be covered. A severe flu may not be treated. Furthermore, the level of care that must be provided is to "stabilize" the person or transfer them. If a person has a heart attack, the ER would only be required to treat the blockage and stabilize...no rehabilitation care would be required by law. This is not an insurance plan.

Gomez -- Emergency Surgery
From the Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline album.

Stereolab -- The Emergency Kisses
From the Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milkey Night.

Beck -- Emergency Exit
From the Guero album.

Mogwai -- Emergency Trap
From the Mr. Beast album.

999 -- Emergency
From The Best Punk Album in the World collection.

Wisconsin: In One Image

A.C. Newman -- Beer Run
From the Souvenir of Canada EP.

Beck -- Beercan
From Mellow Gold.

De Novo Dahl -- Wanna Beer Man?
From the Cats & Kittens double album.

George Thorogood & The Destroyers -- One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
From the Anthology collection.

Siberian -- Belgian Beer and Catholic Girls
From the With Me album.

ZZ Top -- Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers
From the Tres Hombres 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.

Wouldn't You Know It

I'm afraid that now that I know I will be moving away from Seattle in July that all these great opportunities will happen in Seattle just after I leave. Case in point, yesterday they announced a "teaser" list of performers at this year's Bumbershoot which happens each year over Labor Day weekend. Of course, two of my favorite performers/groups, Beck and Stone Temple Pilots [on a reunion tour], are playing...

Beck -- Nausea (Live on Saturday Night Live)
This is from Live on SNL! album [only available at Target].

In Memorium of CS's Hero

Some great William F. Buckley books and a musical counterargument:

Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography
Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- Miles Away [from the original Yeah Yeah Yeah's EP.]

Cancel Your Goddamn Subscription: Notes & Asides from the National Review
Beck -- Canceled Check [from the Mutations album.]

God and Man at Yale
Sam & Dave -- Soul Man [from the Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration.]

The Redhunter
The Shins -- Red Rabbits [from Wincing the Night Away.]

English Earthquakes

You learn something new everyday...

Earthquakes frequently hit Britain -- between 200 and 300 annually, according to the British Geological Survey, although most have a magnitude of less than 2. Earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.0 to 4.9 hit mainland Britain about once every two years and strike beneath the North Sea about once per year.

Britain's strongest recorded quake was the North Sea quake of June 7, 1931, with a magnitude of 6.1. It was felt across the British isles and in northwestern Germany. The quake killed one person.

Beck -- Earthquake Weather
From the Guero album.

Haven't I Heard That Before #3: The Troggs and Beck

In all accuracy "I Can Only Give You Everything" has been recored by a bunch of groups including the MC5, Them, The Modernettes, and Richard Hell. I prefer The Trogg's version [maybe their third best song after "Love Is All Around" and "Wild Thing"]...but I'm not sure which version Beck became so enamored with that he incorporated the lead guitar part into "Devil's Haircut" from Odelay.

The Troggs -- I Can Only Give You Everything
From the Archeology (1967-1977) box set.

Beck -- Devil's Haircut
From Odelay.

Remember the Beer Next Time

Thanks to my buddy Dan for forwarding this article to me...it doesn't look good the motherland...

WAUPACA, Wis. — A man who was upset with his wife for not buying beer took
vengeance by shooting one of the family's two pet goats, prosecutors say.

Peter W. Mischler, 48, was charged this week in Circuit Court with mistreatment of animals, possession of a firearm while intoxicated and disorderly conduct with a dangerous weapon.

The complaint said Mischler came home Saturday from hunting and became angry with his 22-year-old daughter for letting the goats out and making a mess. While she was talking on the phone to her mother, authorities said, he told her to tell his wife to bring home some beer, but his wife refused.

He then threatened to shoot the goats, according to the complaint.

After his wife arrived home, she and the daughter heard four gunshots and went outside and found one of the two goats with its entrails hanging out, authorities said. They said that goat had to be killed later by a sheriff's deputy.

A judge scheduled a hearing for Tuesday.

Beck -- Beercan
From the Mellow Gold album.

Siberian -- Belgian Beer and Catholic Girls
From the With Me (Dig) album.

The Simpsons -- It Was A Very Good Beer
From the The Simpsons: Songs in the Key of Springfield soundtrack.

Real Time Blogging: Shuffle

I deleted everything off my mp3 player yesterday and was putting things back on but only got through A-F before it was kippy's time...so my real time blogging today won't have much variation...

1:22pm -- Beck "Where's It's At" -- My favorite song from Odelay and the beginning of the Beck "comeback" following "Loser"...has there been a song like it since?...not that I've found...even Beck doesn't sound like this anymore.

1:26pm -- The Darkness "Stuck in a Rut" -- This is from their 1st album and of course the Boston influence is front and center. "Stuck in a rut / stuck in a rut for eternity" Both songs so far have what could best be described as audio clips in the background that have little to nothing to do with the song except for setting the mood.

1:30pm -- Fall Out Boy "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More "Touch Me"" -- Giving your songs songs titles such as this sometimes fall into the trap of being better than the song itself. This is not the case.

1:32pm -- Blur "Theme From Retro" -- a largely instrumental track (minus the random Damon Albarn echos) from the Blur album...I will never forget my first introduction to Blur. I was 18 with my parent's on the last "family" vacation we would take together. We were in Wichita, Kansas and my sister and I were able to talk by Dad into tuning into the "alternative" station...which researching it today must have been FLY 92.7 and they played "Song 2." Years later and countless Blur EPs from eBay it is still one of my greatest musical "Ah Ha" moments.

1:36pm -- Doves "Last Broadcast" -- Not "The Doves" by the way, just "Doves"! I argue that "The Last Broadcast" is the greatest album of the 2000s thus far and that Doves taught Peter, Bjorn and John everything they know. Take that! I'm throwing seven different kinds of smoke!