Friday, December 12, 2003
Roller Coaster Week
There are 13 days until Christmas and for some reason it feels like middle of March, except without St. Patty's day. Work has been a real killer but there have been some pretty cool things too. Wednesday night I won some money playing poker with the guys and last night a bunch of us went to see Dave Attell and Lewis Black at the Murat. Dave Attell was real funny as were the opening acts, but Lewis Black is by far my favorite. You may know him for his stand up on Comedy Central or from the best news show around, The Daily Show, with his commentary section Back in Black. When he gets real mad his arms are flailing and he is damn near going into convultions, funny shit. Being at the Murat he opened his act by saying: "Who the fuck would build an entire room in the middle of Indiana dedicated to the fucking Egyptians. Just great an entire fucking room dedicated to a culture that oppressed my people for thousands of years!" Now I am not going to go through and butcher all the jokes from last night but my point is that after a long hard week funny stuff really brightened my day. Kinda like on South Park when Butter's said: "No way Stan. I would
rather be a crying pussy than be some fagoty Goth kid." That was funny shit too. If you want to check out more about Louis Black check out his site here. Also don't forget about this funny site. Well kids I am off to drink myself into a stupor, get excited, God knows I am! Have a good weekend. B
There are 13 days until Christmas and for some reason it feels like middle of March, except without St. Patty's day. Work has been a real killer but there have been some pretty cool things too. Wednesday night I won some money playing poker with the guys and last night a bunch of us went to see Dave Attell and Lewis Black at the Murat. Dave Attell was real funny as were the opening acts, but Lewis Black is by far my favorite. You may know him for his stand up on Comedy Central or from the best news show around, The Daily Show, with his commentary section Back in Black. When he gets real mad his arms are flailing and he is damn near going into convultions, funny shit. Being at the Murat he opened his act by saying: "Who the fuck would build an entire room in the middle of Indiana dedicated to the fucking Egyptians. Just great an entire fucking room dedicated to a culture that oppressed my people for thousands of years!" Now I am not going to go through and butcher all the jokes from last night but my point is that after a long hard week funny stuff really brightened my day. Kinda like on South Park when Butter's said: "No way Stan. I would
rather be a crying pussy than be some fagoty Goth kid." That was funny shit too. If you want to check out more about Louis Black check out his site here. Also don't forget about this funny site. Well kids I am off to drink myself into a stupor, get excited, God knows I am! Have a good weekend. B
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Fun with Jesus and Lawn Ornaments
My favorite thing about Christmas time has got to be lawn and house decoration. This is not because I like to look at all the pretty lights. I gave up hallucinogens along time ago. It is because it reminds me of one my favorite stories and one of the best schemes I have ever had the good fortune of being apart of. A couple years back me and some nameless coworkers (you know who you are) we discussing a funny news story we had heard about a bunch of garden gnomes being abducted in Paris France by a radical group calling themselves the Garden Gnome Liberation Front. We thought this was hysterical. Now liberation of garden, lawn, and porch decoration is nothing new. I can think of at least one ceramic penguin that was kidnapped and taken all over the world. Be the thing that really got our minds into a whirl was the fact that it was Christmas time when we heard of this. We decided that it was a travesty how baby Jesus was being held captive in lawns all across America during the Yuletide and we decided it was up to us to help him out. Thus the Baby Jesus Liberation Front was founded. Our goal was to go house to house and "borrow" all the baby Jesi we could find. We would toe tag each one with the address or origin just in case the cops thought we were stealing. On Christmas Eve at midnight we were going to go downtown to Monument Circle and deposit all of the Jesi on the steps with little protest signs they could carry. We never did get around to actually doing this but it is still one of the best ideas I think I have ever been apart of. For more fun with Jesus check out this. B
My favorite thing about Christmas time has got to be lawn and house decoration. This is not because I like to look at all the pretty lights. I gave up hallucinogens along time ago. It is because it reminds me of one my favorite stories and one of the best schemes I have ever had the good fortune of being apart of. A couple years back me and some nameless coworkers (you know who you are) we discussing a funny news story we had heard about a bunch of garden gnomes being abducted in Paris France by a radical group calling themselves the Garden Gnome Liberation Front. We thought this was hysterical. Now liberation of garden, lawn, and porch decoration is nothing new. I can think of at least one ceramic penguin that was kidnapped and taken all over the world. Be the thing that really got our minds into a whirl was the fact that it was Christmas time when we heard of this. We decided that it was a travesty how baby Jesus was being held captive in lawns all across America during the Yuletide and we decided it was up to us to help him out. Thus the Baby Jesus Liberation Front was founded. Our goal was to go house to house and "borrow" all the baby Jesi we could find. We would toe tag each one with the address or origin just in case the cops thought we were stealing. On Christmas Eve at midnight we were going to go downtown to Monument Circle and deposit all of the Jesi on the steps with little protest signs they could carry. We never did get around to actually doing this but it is still one of the best ideas I think I have ever been apart of. For more fun with Jesus check out this. B
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
Congress' Ongoing Neglect and Misuse of the Alphabet and Neolinguistics
This has got to be the most interesting title of a post I have done yet. I think it even beats "Gay Rights and Michele Branche". I was listening to NPR today and I heard a story that Congress wants to pass the "Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003" or it's cute name "CAN-SPAM". This led me to think about Congress and their constant need to give big, complicated, multi-hundred page legislation cute names. The most notorious of these being "The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001" better know as the "USA Patriot Act". I think these cute names are a problem. I mean when you say you are against the "Patriot" Act you sound like a traitor. Now if you were against the "We Can Spy On Anyone We Damn Well Feel Like Act" that would be a different story. Now the Patriot Act gets a lot of the heat, but I think there are other bills that are just as bad and just as deceptively named. I think the politicians owe it to their constituents and we owe it to ourselves to not use these acronyms but instead think of proper titles for the legislation they try to pass under our watch. By the way speaking of acronyms, like the title? Tell me what you think. B
This has got to be the most interesting title of a post I have done yet. I think it even beats "Gay Rights and Michele Branche". I was listening to NPR today and I heard a story that Congress wants to pass the "Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003" or it's cute name "CAN-SPAM". This led me to think about Congress and their constant need to give big, complicated, multi-hundred page legislation cute names. The most notorious of these being "The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001" better know as the "USA Patriot Act". I think these cute names are a problem. I mean when you say you are against the "Patriot" Act you sound like a traitor. Now if you were against the "We Can Spy On Anyone We Damn Well Feel Like Act" that would be a different story. Now the Patriot Act gets a lot of the heat, but I think there are other bills that are just as bad and just as deceptively named. I think the politicians owe it to their constituents and we owe it to ourselves to not use these acronyms but instead think of proper titles for the legislation they try to pass under our watch. By the way speaking of acronyms, like the title? Tell me what you think. B
Monday, December 08, 2003
It's that time of year...
That's right everyone with the holidays rapidly approaching it is time for top ten lists of 2003. In the spirit of this I have compiled a list of albums that I think are some of the best that 2003 had to offer. I know most of you will be pissed off right away, but please bear with me and just remember that you are wrong. Here is the list:
10. Dave Matthews: Some Devil Most of you will disagree with me on this one, but I think it is a quite an accomplishment for Dave. On his first studio solo album he collaborates with Trey Anastasio and Tim Reynolds among others. It is the laundry list of guests who really give this disc a nice sound. Dave has gone darker than any of the DMB albums except for the unreleased Lillywhite Sessions. I like it. Good song writing and strong themes help make this album sneak it's way into the top 10. Even though it is cool to hate Dave on principle this is really worth a listen. His best work in years.
9. Ryan Adams: Rock N Roll He was good in Whiskeytown and he is just as good solo. Adams continues the great tradition of No Depression with another stellar work. Having something for everyone, it is called "Rock N Roll" but there are still deep roots in country as well as even a little bluesy fell at some points. Fellow bloggers will also be interested to know that Adams is known as quite the blogger himself. His other album released this year, "Love is Hell", did not make the list because I could not get over the fact he decided to cover a shitty Oasis song. Proof that being prolific does not equal it all being quality.
8. Outkast: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below How could the most anticipated hip hop album of the year not make it onto my list? This two disc set really is a treat. On Speakerboxxx you have Big Boi kickin down serious old school 808 based rap, while on The Love Below you have Andre "Ice Cold" 3000 making the long lost Prince album. This a lot like packaging the Mono Lisa with Swans Reflecting Elephants into a two disc set. Although both brilliant, they could be stylisticly farther apart. This album also gets the side award for spawning the best video for "Hey Ya". If you have not seen it, check it out. Real quality film making combined with a song that just makes you want to shake your ass. You should already own this album.
7. The Postal Service: Give Up This album marks the first in a disturbing trend that can be seen later on the list as well. This is an album that Brie really loves and after hearing it over and over again it had really grown on me. Although Ben Gibbard does sound like a prepubescent twelve year old singing about ex-girlfriends he does not sound old enough to have had yet, it is suprisingly good. Although most of the critics raved hard about his other work this year, Death Cab for Cutie's "Transatlantasism", this is by far the better of the two. After seeing him live with DCFC and wishing he would play songs by the Postal Service this became brutally apparent.
6. Grandaddy: Sumday This is yet another album inspired by Brie. This one has really grown on me. I must admit that you have to love a band that it trying single handedly to make trucker hats and footlong beards cool. And they are actually succeeding. Not to mention that the complex blend of synths and guitars is really fun to listen to. They seemed like they might have some mainstream success for about 2 weeks but it looks like they have fallen back under the radar. Although not as good as their earlier effort, "The Sophtware Slump", one of the best albums of 2003.
5. Hey Mercedes: Loses Control Some of you old school indie kids will remember a little indie outfit out of Chicago named Braid. And some of you might be wondering what ever happened to them. Well Hey Mercedes is what happened to them. Although the sound is different it is kinda the same band. This is yet another Brie inspired choice and as of late has been in heavy rotation. It is very emo, but the singer has a more adult sound to him, it even vaguely resembles Alkaline Trio. For those of you who like to rock out hard, give this a listen.
4. Black Eyed Peas: Elephunk definitely my choice for Hip Hop album of the year. If any of you have seen an iPod commercial with copious amounts of ass shaking you have heard some of the new Peas. These songs have great lyrics and are groovy as hell. When I think of something I would shake my ass to on the dance floor, this album is it. Not to mention it holds the honor of having the best song to rock a party of the year, "Let's Get Retarded". Raise you glasses, shake your asses and get down like the clown.
3. Widespread Panic: Ball After losing a founding member and lead guitarist Michael Houser to pancreatic cancer everyone was wonder what would happen to the pioneering group of southern country-rock jam bands. They decided to press on and returned to the studio and put together this amazing album. These songs are just a suited to sitting on you porch drinking a beer and watching the sun set as they are to dancing like a mad fool at a three day festival in rural Tennesee. This band has always been a favorite and they come through again in a big way.
2. The Long Winters: When I Pretend to Fall Definitely the biggest and best surprise of 2003. I saw these guys live at a Death Cab for Cutie show as the openers. They were fantastic. After having the balls to cover Madonna and doing it well, they went on to completely rock out. It is kinda confusing though that a self proclaimed emo band (read as likes to cry in the dark) could have such a fun and upbeat album. "Cinnamon" is definitely the stand out track. You have never heard of them and that's ok, go buy the album today.
1. Tori Amos: Scarlet's Walk Now I have to admit that I am a little biased being as Tori is one of my favorite artists of all time, but she has really done it this time. Her best work since "Under the Pink". Not only is it a brilliant concept album but the lyrics and song writing style are absolutely unparalleled. "Taxi Ride" is the number one song of the year. It is amazing. Not to mention the best show I have seen all year. Tori is the best female song writer since Joni Mitchell. A must have.
That's right everyone with the holidays rapidly approaching it is time for top ten lists of 2003. In the spirit of this I have compiled a list of albums that I think are some of the best that 2003 had to offer. I know most of you will be pissed off right away, but please bear with me and just remember that you are wrong. Here is the list:
10. Dave Matthews: Some Devil Most of you will disagree with me on this one, but I think it is a quite an accomplishment for Dave. On his first studio solo album he collaborates with Trey Anastasio and Tim Reynolds among others. It is the laundry list of guests who really give this disc a nice sound. Dave has gone darker than any of the DMB albums except for the unreleased Lillywhite Sessions. I like it. Good song writing and strong themes help make this album sneak it's way into the top 10. Even though it is cool to hate Dave on principle this is really worth a listen. His best work in years.
9. Ryan Adams: Rock N Roll He was good in Whiskeytown and he is just as good solo. Adams continues the great tradition of No Depression with another stellar work. Having something for everyone, it is called "Rock N Roll" but there are still deep roots in country as well as even a little bluesy fell at some points. Fellow bloggers will also be interested to know that Adams is known as quite the blogger himself. His other album released this year, "Love is Hell", did not make the list because I could not get over the fact he decided to cover a shitty Oasis song. Proof that being prolific does not equal it all being quality.
8. Outkast: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below How could the most anticipated hip hop album of the year not make it onto my list? This two disc set really is a treat. On Speakerboxxx you have Big Boi kickin down serious old school 808 based rap, while on The Love Below you have Andre "Ice Cold" 3000 making the long lost Prince album. This a lot like packaging the Mono Lisa with Swans Reflecting Elephants into a two disc set. Although both brilliant, they could be stylisticly farther apart. This album also gets the side award for spawning the best video for "Hey Ya". If you have not seen it, check it out. Real quality film making combined with a song that just makes you want to shake your ass. You should already own this album.
7. The Postal Service: Give Up This album marks the first in a disturbing trend that can be seen later on the list as well. This is an album that Brie really loves and after hearing it over and over again it had really grown on me. Although Ben Gibbard does sound like a prepubescent twelve year old singing about ex-girlfriends he does not sound old enough to have had yet, it is suprisingly good. Although most of the critics raved hard about his other work this year, Death Cab for Cutie's "Transatlantasism", this is by far the better of the two. After seeing him live with DCFC and wishing he would play songs by the Postal Service this became brutally apparent.
6. Grandaddy: Sumday This is yet another album inspired by Brie. This one has really grown on me. I must admit that you have to love a band that it trying single handedly to make trucker hats and footlong beards cool. And they are actually succeeding. Not to mention that the complex blend of synths and guitars is really fun to listen to. They seemed like they might have some mainstream success for about 2 weeks but it looks like they have fallen back under the radar. Although not as good as their earlier effort, "The Sophtware Slump", one of the best albums of 2003.
5. Hey Mercedes: Loses Control Some of you old school indie kids will remember a little indie outfit out of Chicago named Braid. And some of you might be wondering what ever happened to them. Well Hey Mercedes is what happened to them. Although the sound is different it is kinda the same band. This is yet another Brie inspired choice and as of late has been in heavy rotation. It is very emo, but the singer has a more adult sound to him, it even vaguely resembles Alkaline Trio. For those of you who like to rock out hard, give this a listen.
4. Black Eyed Peas: Elephunk definitely my choice for Hip Hop album of the year. If any of you have seen an iPod commercial with copious amounts of ass shaking you have heard some of the new Peas. These songs have great lyrics and are groovy as hell. When I think of something I would shake my ass to on the dance floor, this album is it. Not to mention it holds the honor of having the best song to rock a party of the year, "Let's Get Retarded". Raise you glasses, shake your asses and get down like the clown.
3. Widespread Panic: Ball After losing a founding member and lead guitarist Michael Houser to pancreatic cancer everyone was wonder what would happen to the pioneering group of southern country-rock jam bands. They decided to press on and returned to the studio and put together this amazing album. These songs are just a suited to sitting on you porch drinking a beer and watching the sun set as they are to dancing like a mad fool at a three day festival in rural Tennesee. This band has always been a favorite and they come through again in a big way.
2. The Long Winters: When I Pretend to Fall Definitely the biggest and best surprise of 2003. I saw these guys live at a Death Cab for Cutie show as the openers. They were fantastic. After having the balls to cover Madonna and doing it well, they went on to completely rock out. It is kinda confusing though that a self proclaimed emo band (read as likes to cry in the dark) could have such a fun and upbeat album. "Cinnamon" is definitely the stand out track. You have never heard of them and that's ok, go buy the album today.
1. Tori Amos: Scarlet's Walk Now I have to admit that I am a little biased being as Tori is one of my favorite artists of all time, but she has really done it this time. Her best work since "Under the Pink". Not only is it a brilliant concept album but the lyrics and song writing style are absolutely unparalleled. "Taxi Ride" is the number one song of the year. It is amazing. Not to mention the best show I have seen all year. Tori is the best female song writer since Joni Mitchell. A must have.
=Online
=Offline
