Kip showed me this Maxim article.
Hoax away.
Saturday, February 28, 2004
Newspapers
I wish I knew how to credit this, but it's the text of an email forward I got a couple years ago.
Regardless, it's good for a laugh:
1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.
2. The New York Times is read by people who think they run the country.
3. The Washington Post is read by people who think they should run the country.
4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand the Washington Post. They do, however, like their smog statistics shown in pie charts.
5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country, if they could spare the time, and if they didn't have to leave L.A. to do it.
6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and they did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.
7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country, and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.
8. The New York Post is read by people who don't care who's running the country either, as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.
9. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren't sure there is a country, or that anyone is running it; but whoever it is, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped, minority, feministic, atheist dwarfs, who also happen to be illegal aliens from ANY country or galaxy as long as they are Democrats.
10. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country, but need the baseball scores.
Regardless, it's good for a laugh:
1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.
2. The New York Times is read by people who think they run the country.
3. The Washington Post is read by people who think they should run the country.
4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand the Washington Post. They do, however, like their smog statistics shown in pie charts.
5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country, if they could spare the time, and if they didn't have to leave L.A. to do it.
6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and they did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.
7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country, and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.
8. The New York Post is read by people who don't care who's running the country either, as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.
9. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren't sure there is a country, or that anyone is running it; but whoever it is, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped, minority, feministic, atheist dwarfs, who also happen to be illegal aliens from ANY country or galaxy as long as they are Democrats.
10. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country, but need the baseball scores.
Friday, February 27, 2004
Antitrust litigation
I got a check in the mail today - $13.86 - payment for buying cds at an illegaly fixed (high) price. Attorney General Goddard noted that it is "a pleasure to bring this matter to a satisfactory conclusion and to return value to consumers who purchases cds while the challenged pricing policies were in effect."
The lawsuit alleged that record companies and retailers "conspired to illegally raise the prices of prerecorded Music Products by implementing Minimum Advertised Price policies, in violation of State and Federal laws." This, of course, is a charge the defendents - Capitol, Virgin, Time Warner, Universal, Bertelsmann and Sony and retailers Tower Records, Musicland and Trans World Entertainment - all denied.
Sadly, screwing nearly all music consumers between 1995 and 2000 cost the companies just $67 million and $75 million in compact discs. Apparently the settlement is figured into the cost of doing business and I doubt these companies are hurt at all.
The fact that a polyopoly of five huge international corporations dictates nearly everything that happens in the entire recording industry is absolutely wrong at face value. These companies aren't the leaset bit concerned with music, artists and fans - they're driven by profit alone. While pushing mediocre crap at $18 a cd, they suddenly start a crusade against file sharing, blaming downloaders for dropping sales. I wish this made sense outside of pure greed.
Executives of these companies average more than $5 million a year in salary: Robert Ames of Warner - $5 million, Jason Flom of Atlantic - $3 million to $5 million, Antonio "L.A." Reid of Island Def Jam - $5 million, Clive Davis of BMG - $10 million, Lyor Cohen of Warner - $10 million and Sylvia Rhone of Elektra - $10 million, according to Rolling Stone.
Does anybody wonder why top-companies engage in price fixing? Or marketing drivel by beautiful people while screwing actually talented artists?
The lawsuit alleged that record companies and retailers "conspired to illegally raise the prices of prerecorded Music Products by implementing Minimum Advertised Price policies, in violation of State and Federal laws." This, of course, is a charge the defendents - Capitol, Virgin, Time Warner, Universal, Bertelsmann and Sony and retailers Tower Records, Musicland and Trans World Entertainment - all denied.
Sadly, screwing nearly all music consumers between 1995 and 2000 cost the companies just $67 million and $75 million in compact discs. Apparently the settlement is figured into the cost of doing business and I doubt these companies are hurt at all.
The fact that a polyopoly of five huge international corporations dictates nearly everything that happens in the entire recording industry is absolutely wrong at face value. These companies aren't the leaset bit concerned with music, artists and fans - they're driven by profit alone. While pushing mediocre crap at $18 a cd, they suddenly start a crusade against file sharing, blaming downloaders for dropping sales. I wish this made sense outside of pure greed.
Executives of these companies average more than $5 million a year in salary: Robert Ames of Warner - $5 million, Jason Flom of Atlantic - $3 million to $5 million, Antonio "L.A." Reid of Island Def Jam - $5 million, Clive Davis of BMG - $10 million, Lyor Cohen of Warner - $10 million and Sylvia Rhone of Elektra - $10 million, according to Rolling Stone.
Does anybody wonder why top-companies engage in price fixing? Or marketing drivel by beautiful people while screwing actually talented artists?
Thursday, February 26, 2004
just pathetic
Swept by Washington? Losing to the Beavers? Leading scorer suspended?
This all just hurts. Bad. It's not time to give up yet, but it's worth mentioning that the D'Backs will start full squad drills Friday.
This all just hurts. Bad. It's not time to give up yet, but it's worth mentioning that the D'Backs will start full squad drills Friday.
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
The DNA theory of American political parties
Nobody invited Ralph, but here he is again. And surprise, surprise, he wants to be president because there's no difference between Democrats and Republicans. He's trotting out the same arguments: They're two sides of the same coin. They both bow to corporate interests at the expense of common citizens.
For the most part he's right. And yet it doesn't matter.
Look at the political donations, look at the supporters, look at the suits making power deals in Washington. They are the same. Mostly.
Which brings us to the chimps. Pay attention.
You may recall from some high school biology course that scientists estimate that the DNA in humans and chimps are remarkably similar - between 95 and 98 percent. But that small difference gives amazing results. Chimps haven't been to the moon, or invented computers, or put tiny cameras into cell phones. Chimps haven't produced Hamlet, or Apocolypse Now (hell, they didn't even wage a war in Vietnam - or any war for that matter), or even one symphony of note. They're in zoos, we're not.
Accept for a moment that Ralph may be on the right track - Democrats and Republicans are remarkably similar. But it doesn't take a genius to understand that - as in the DNA of chimps and humans - small differences yield huge results.
A Democratic president wouldn't have sacrificed the necks of more than 500 soldiers to a vanity crusade in Iraq. A Democratic president wouldn't gleefully watch jobs sail overseas. A Democratic president wouldn't clear cut every forest he could.
If Nader could honestly tell me that he expects a Democratic president to match Bush blow for blow, policy for policy, accross the board, I'd be convinced he's deluded to the point of insanity rather than a hardliner, egomaniac who blinks way too much on camera.
I voted for Nader in 2000 not because I for a second wanted him as president but out of a pragmatic desire to give the Greens just enough support to start having a voice in the two-party mess. Oops. Anybody making the same mistake this year doesn't deserve his or her job, safety or environment.
The only way to defend those - and truthfully any liberal cause - in 2004 is to suck it up and step it up: vote Democrat and make damn sure everybody else you know does as well. Save idealism for 2008. Now isn't the time. Let's put a human back in the White House, rather than this chimp.
For the most part he's right. And yet it doesn't matter.
Look at the political donations, look at the supporters, look at the suits making power deals in Washington. They are the same. Mostly.
Which brings us to the chimps. Pay attention.
You may recall from some high school biology course that scientists estimate that the DNA in humans and chimps are remarkably similar - between 95 and 98 percent. But that small difference gives amazing results. Chimps haven't been to the moon, or invented computers, or put tiny cameras into cell phones. Chimps haven't produced Hamlet, or Apocolypse Now (hell, they didn't even wage a war in Vietnam - or any war for that matter), or even one symphony of note. They're in zoos, we're not.
Accept for a moment that Ralph may be on the right track - Democrats and Republicans are remarkably similar. But it doesn't take a genius to understand that - as in the DNA of chimps and humans - small differences yield huge results.
A Democratic president wouldn't have sacrificed the necks of more than 500 soldiers to a vanity crusade in Iraq. A Democratic president wouldn't gleefully watch jobs sail overseas. A Democratic president wouldn't clear cut every forest he could.
If Nader could honestly tell me that he expects a Democratic president to match Bush blow for blow, policy for policy, accross the board, I'd be convinced he's deluded to the point of insanity rather than a hardliner, egomaniac who blinks way too much on camera.
I voted for Nader in 2000 not because I for a second wanted him as president but out of a pragmatic desire to give the Greens just enough support to start having a voice in the two-party mess. Oops. Anybody making the same mistake this year doesn't deserve his or her job, safety or environment.
The only way to defend those - and truthfully any liberal cause - in 2004 is to suck it up and step it up: vote Democrat and make damn sure everybody else you know does as well. Save idealism for 2008. Now isn't the time. Let's put a human back in the White House, rather than this chimp.
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
What scene?
Sometimes tooling around Pollstar is good for little more than letting friends in other cities know when bands are coming their way. I sent Kip an email today listing about 12 top notch acts heading to his corner of the Northwest in just the next two months.
Still, I'm actually impressed with the shows heading to the Old Pueblo this season. I'll miss X this weekend - Vegas Baby! - but there's plenty more: Supersuckers, Mason Jennings, Neko Case, Okkervil River, the Decemberists... and best of all, Wilco on April 29.
If the anectodal doesn't convince you that for what it is the Ol' Pueblo pulls more than its share of fine national acts, today comes official news that at least some people in Phoenix envy the scene south of the Gila. Now that's a shock - not the fact, but the admission. Rest assured though, Phoenix, you can cram all the Britney Spears and Metallicas you want into the soul-less dens that are sporting arenas. I'll stick with my near turn-of-the-century hotel turned club, railroad district warehouse gallery and Vaudeville theatre. And the faith that it's getting better all the time.
Still, I'm actually impressed with the shows heading to the Old Pueblo this season. I'll miss X this weekend - Vegas Baby! - but there's plenty more: Supersuckers, Mason Jennings, Neko Case, Okkervil River, the Decemberists... and best of all, Wilco on April 29.
If the anectodal doesn't convince you that for what it is the Ol' Pueblo pulls more than its share of fine national acts, today comes official news that at least some people in Phoenix envy the scene south of the Gila. Now that's a shock - not the fact, but the admission. Rest assured though, Phoenix, you can cram all the Britney Spears and Metallicas you want into the soul-less dens that are sporting arenas. I'll stick with my near turn-of-the-century hotel turned club, railroad district warehouse gallery and Vaudeville theatre. And the faith that it's getting better all the time.
Friday, February 13, 2004
That's what I like to see
This doesn't erase the pain of the Bay sweep and the strange UW mess, but a nice spanking is great to see. On-ball defense and half-court alley oops combined for a thrill. Why can't the 'Cats do this more often?
Winning out for the season - no guarantee - and taking the Pac 10 tournament - very tough - would put Arizona right back in a 2 or 3 seed come March. And the momentum might make this a team that can intimidate people again. If not, welcome back Mr. Fox and hello to Jawann, Daniel and Mohamed.
Winning out for the season - no guarantee - and taking the Pac 10 tournament - very tough - would put Arizona right back in a 2 or 3 seed come March. And the momentum might make this a team that can intimidate people again. If not, welcome back Mr. Fox and hello to Jawann, Daniel and Mohamed.
Friday, February 06, 2004
Hey there thunderhead
I'm headed shortly to see the Richard Buckner show at Congress. I've been listening to Buckner for about five years and he never fails to impress. One of the best songwriters around these days, Buckner writes tales of people weary of travel, or life, and captures the down-and-out mentality as good as anyone. He's vague at times, veiled even. He's a storyteller, but the stories are loose, more grounded in emotion than narrative. They have holes - big, mysterious holes that lend more to the song's essence because they're there. Where Buckner drops off a tale is rarely where he picks it up again. And that divide is a powerful, evocative statement - and where his words are at their best. Comparisons to Townes Van Zandt are mostly appropriate, but I wouldn't put Buckner in the legends realm quite yet. His voice can both float and dig. In a way, he sounds similar to Jay Farrar, but his guitar work also stands out.
His earlier work leans toward folk for the most part, and Bloomed is absolutely stunning. If you were to spread out the mood of his records over the course of a day, Bloomed is the late afternoon. "Put your arms up dear and we'll keep the casket open," he sings on Surprise, Arizona, one of many standouts.
Devotion + Doubt could well be his top album. Recorded with Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino. They're not merely session players, their sound goes a long way in defining the album (and their work is as stunning as it is on Neko Case's Blacklisted). Late, late night. Too late for companionship with anything but your own thoughts.
On Since, Buckner makes a turn to more of a straight ahead rock sound, where some say he suffers and some say he excells. Regardless, it's probably the least "Buckner" of his proper albums (I'm not even going to touch The Hill, a curious and ill-advised tangent in an otherwise stellar catalogue). This was the first album of his I got, so tunes like "Jewelbomb" are near and dear ("Did you let your angel burn out, like a pipeload under a flame" - an odd, odd simile that sounds like it would fit in a Tom Robbins book). Since kinda strains my day analogy, but we'll call it the drunken energetic part of the night.
Impasse is mostly a return to form and if any of his albums approach happiness or contentment, it may be this one. It's not his best, not his worst. It may simply suffer the set-back of being a mid-career album that falls away, mostly unnoticed, simply because it doesn't strike familiar listeners as stunning or immediate as the first songs they hears. Relaxing midday, on a porch, with a slight breeze.
His earlier work leans toward folk for the most part, and Bloomed is absolutely stunning. If you were to spread out the mood of his records over the course of a day, Bloomed is the late afternoon. "Put your arms up dear and we'll keep the casket open," he sings on Surprise, Arizona, one of many standouts.
Devotion + Doubt could well be his top album. Recorded with Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino. They're not merely session players, their sound goes a long way in defining the album (and their work is as stunning as it is on Neko Case's Blacklisted). Late, late night. Too late for companionship with anything but your own thoughts.
On Since, Buckner makes a turn to more of a straight ahead rock sound, where some say he suffers and some say he excells. Regardless, it's probably the least "Buckner" of his proper albums (I'm not even going to touch The Hill, a curious and ill-advised tangent in an otherwise stellar catalogue). This was the first album of his I got, so tunes like "Jewelbomb" are near and dear ("Did you let your angel burn out, like a pipeload under a flame" - an odd, odd simile that sounds like it would fit in a Tom Robbins book). Since kinda strains my day analogy, but we'll call it the drunken energetic part of the night.
Impasse is mostly a return to form and if any of his albums approach happiness or contentment, it may be this one. It's not his best, not his worst. It may simply suffer the set-back of being a mid-career album that falls away, mostly unnoticed, simply because it doesn't strike familiar listeners as stunning or immediate as the first songs they hears. Relaxing midday, on a porch, with a slight breeze.
Thursday, February 05, 2004
Pay close attention
He has the potential to be a columnist on par with Jim Anchower, so it's a sad fate that Ronwell Q. Dobbs has produced but one work. Still, as advice columns go, it's a winner. If only one day The Cruise and The Run could join forces, we'd all live in a much better world. Ronnie Dobbs and Jim Anchower hanging out, imagine the possibilities...
Saturday, January 31, 2004
From the secret files...
For fans of Max Cannon, who once attended a party at my house (as did David Cross) and whose style never fails to please:
Make your own Red Meat!
Print 'em out, pass 'em around, laugh your ass off!
I've produced some certifiable winners in the past. It's hours and hours of fun.
Make your own Red Meat!
Print 'em out, pass 'em around, laugh your ass off!
I've produced some certifiable winners in the past. It's hours and hours of fun.
In praise of monkey suits
Could we please, at some point in time, stop worshipping the Beatles?
I mean, wow, they came to America 40 years ago. Let's all put down what we're doing and commemorate this.
Here's one vote for a substantially more important occurrence 40 years ago this month, The Times They Are A-Changin'.
Go ahead and take your screaming Sullivan fans, I'll stick with "One Too Many Mornings."
It's substance vs. style.
Now, the Beatles did evolve into an exceptional band once they started thinking, but smiling monkey-suited pretty boys just don't deserve such praise.
If you're gonna insist on hyping the Beatles, stick to the period in which they could grow facial hair (and did they ever! Much better than Bob.)
And just three months after 'Times,' Dylan released Another Side. Let's hear it for one of the most underrated songs in his entire catalogue: Chimes of Freedom:
"Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake
Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned an' forsaked
Tolling for the outcast, burnin' constantly at stake"
To contrast, Lennon/McCartney (or, is it right in egocentric retrospect McCartney/Lennon) hadn't quite reached their peak as wordsmiths:
"I’ll buy you a diamond ring my friend,
If it makes you feel alright,
I’ll buy you anything my friend,
If it makes you feel alright,"
Cute. Catchy. Promising. But certainly not groundbreaking.
I mean, wow, they came to America 40 years ago. Let's all put down what we're doing and commemorate this.
Here's one vote for a substantially more important occurrence 40 years ago this month, The Times They Are A-Changin'.
Go ahead and take your screaming Sullivan fans, I'll stick with "One Too Many Mornings."
It's substance vs. style.
Now, the Beatles did evolve into an exceptional band once they started thinking, but smiling monkey-suited pretty boys just don't deserve such praise.
If you're gonna insist on hyping the Beatles, stick to the period in which they could grow facial hair (and did they ever! Much better than Bob.)
And just three months after 'Times,' Dylan released Another Side. Let's hear it for one of the most underrated songs in his entire catalogue: Chimes of Freedom:
"Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake
Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned an' forsaked
Tolling for the outcast, burnin' constantly at stake"
To contrast, Lennon/McCartney (or, is it right in egocentric retrospect McCartney/Lennon) hadn't quite reached their peak as wordsmiths:
"I’ll buy you a diamond ring my friend,
If it makes you feel alright,
I’ll buy you anything my friend,
If it makes you feel alright,"
Cute. Catchy. Promising. But certainly not groundbreaking.
Halloween in March
It comes March 23: Bob Dylan - Live 1964: Concert at Philharmonic Hall -- The Bootleg Series Volume 6. Columbia records is set to release the all-acoustic, October 31, 1964, Halloween-night concert by Bob Dylan at Philharmonic Hall in New York City.
For fellow fans:
Disc 1
1. The Times They Are A-Changin'
2. Spanish Harlem Incident
3. Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues
4. To Ramona
5. Who Killed Davey Moore?
6. Gates of Eden
7. If You Gotta Go, Go Now (Or Else You Got To Stay All Night)
8. It's Alright Ma, (I'm Only Bleeding)
9. I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
10. Mr. Tambourine Man
11. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
Disc 2
1. Talkin' World War III Blues
2. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
3. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
4. Mama, You Been On My Mind
5. Silver Dagger
6. With God On Our Side
7. It Ain't Me, Babe
8. All I Really Want to Do
For fellow fans:
Disc 1
1. The Times They Are A-Changin'
2. Spanish Harlem Incident
3. Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues
4. To Ramona
5. Who Killed Davey Moore?
6. Gates of Eden
7. If You Gotta Go, Go Now (Or Else You Got To Stay All Night)
8. It's Alright Ma, (I'm Only Bleeding)
9. I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
10. Mr. Tambourine Man
11. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
Disc 2
1. Talkin' World War III Blues
2. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
3. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
4. Mama, You Been On My Mind
5. Silver Dagger
6. With God On Our Side
7. It Ain't Me, Babe
8. All I Really Want to Do
Friday, January 23, 2004
From the files
And now, a sestina, dug from the ancient vaults.
Mimic Escape Over Radio, Through Pictures
Returning through
The late night hours on the radio,
Thinking about the failed escape
With my mind fixed on an ancient picture,
The brown-tinged mimic
Of a life I thought was over.
Here, looking over
The dash, through
The spotted windshield as the highway distances mimic
Water, no radio
Can contend with my mind's absurd picture,
Looking again for an escape.
I think it's time we shall escape.
The nowhere blues aren't even half over
And my eyes rest on the picture
Taken before she'd been through
Too many broken dreams. And on the radio
Play songs for the lonely - heroes we'd like to mimic.
I learned once to mimic
Others' successes. But that was no escape
From long hours staring blank at the radio
Dial, trying for mindlessness over
The soft static. And through
Failures, I see new details in my own picture.
I want to take a picture
Of life, somehow mimic
The grand and the terrible, see through
Faces - smiles and frowns - all trying to escape
That force which drives them. But over and over
Again, time calls, like a forgotten song on the radio.
I want to turn that radio
Loud, and find a picture
That looks like me, but over
The years it faded. I want to mimic
Those desperately seeking an escape
And triumph through
Humor, triumph through my songs played on the radio.
There's no escape - life is written in pictures
That mimic the truth of times long since over.
Mimic Escape Over Radio, Through Pictures
Returning through
The late night hours on the radio,
Thinking about the failed escape
With my mind fixed on an ancient picture,
The brown-tinged mimic
Of a life I thought was over.
Here, looking over
The dash, through
The spotted windshield as the highway distances mimic
Water, no radio
Can contend with my mind's absurd picture,
Looking again for an escape.
I think it's time we shall escape.
The nowhere blues aren't even half over
And my eyes rest on the picture
Taken before she'd been through
Too many broken dreams. And on the radio
Play songs for the lonely - heroes we'd like to mimic.
I learned once to mimic
Others' successes. But that was no escape
From long hours staring blank at the radio
Dial, trying for mindlessness over
The soft static. And through
Failures, I see new details in my own picture.
I want to take a picture
Of life, somehow mimic
The grand and the terrible, see through
Faces - smiles and frowns - all trying to escape
That force which drives them. But over and over
Again, time calls, like a forgotten song on the radio.
I want to turn that radio
Loud, and find a picture
That looks like me, but over
The years it faded. I want to mimic
Those desperately seeking an escape
And triumph through
Humor, triumph through my songs played on the radio.
There's no escape - life is written in pictures
That mimic the truth of times long since over.
Midnight
Planning to go check out the midnight showing of The Goonies at the Catalina. It's been too many years since I've seen what was one of my favorite movies growing up.
There are some random rumors of a Goonies 2 - not sure whether to believe this. I can't imagine the purpose behind concocting some other random adventure 20 years later. Weird stuff.
The Goonies ranks with Stand By Me, Princess Bride, Hoosiers and Back to the Future as my favorites from the mid 80s. I'd be nice if they all get a spin in the midnight slot sometime so I could check out the big-screen experience.
There are some random rumors of a Goonies 2 - not sure whether to believe this. I can't imagine the purpose behind concocting some other random adventure 20 years later. Weird stuff.
The Goonies ranks with Stand By Me, Princess Bride, Hoosiers and Back to the Future as my favorites from the mid 80s. I'd be nice if they all get a spin in the midnight slot sometime so I could check out the big-screen experience.
Saturday, January 17, 2004
500
A roadside bombing Saturday killed three U.S. soldiers about 12 miles north of Baghdad. Now, 500 American lives have been lost in an ill-advised, arrogant campaign. 500.
What's more, three more deaths won't change a damn thing. Read, if you'd like, the apalling machine-like attitude with which the DOD treats the continuing deaths. Sure, each soldier is entitled to full military burial honors, but THEY DIDN'T NEED TO DIE.
Nothing in the course of this war needed to happen. Outright lies, sly insinuations and heavy-handed manipulation of the facts led the United States into this mess. "Mission Accomplished," "Shock and Awe," and "Major Combat" are all a load of bull. It was the campaign of "Bring 'Em On" and "We Got Him," played out with child-like detachment by a child-like president who sees fit to treat the American people as children.
500.
There's no reason that riled me up moreso than 497 or any other figure, other than the 99 cent/odomoter theory. People take notice of big, fat round numbers. Take notice, please. Please turn the reins of this country over to somebody else - somebody remotely qualified - in November. By then it'll be 1,000, or 999.
What's more, three more deaths won't change a damn thing. Read, if you'd like, the apalling machine-like attitude with which the DOD treats the continuing deaths. Sure, each soldier is entitled to full military burial honors, but THEY DIDN'T NEED TO DIE.
Nothing in the course of this war needed to happen. Outright lies, sly insinuations and heavy-handed manipulation of the facts led the United States into this mess. "Mission Accomplished," "Shock and Awe," and "Major Combat" are all a load of bull. It was the campaign of "Bring 'Em On" and "We Got Him," played out with child-like detachment by a child-like president who sees fit to treat the American people as children.
500.
There's no reason that riled me up moreso than 497 or any other figure, other than the 99 cent/odomoter theory. People take notice of big, fat round numbers. Take notice, please. Please turn the reins of this country over to somebody else - somebody remotely qualified - in November. By then it'll be 1,000, or 999.
Thursday, January 15, 2004
¡Americano!
Wonderful news: the new Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers album is released Saturday, almost exactly two years after the band came out with Sonoran Hope and Madness, a stunning record. The buzz, locally at least, is very good.
I've always been a big fan of Roger Clyne, a great lyricist and bandleader. The band really thrives on stage and I'm excited for another album mostly to learn a bunch of new songs in anticipation for a live show.
Clyne is known to bust out three and a half hour shows, running through most of his catalogue, including the always-popular Refreshments material. And the covers "American Girl," "Pancho and Lefty," "Rosalita," "Kodochrome," "Train in Vain," "Dukes of Hazzard" are spot on.
On Sonoran Hope and Madness Clyne really started expanding his lyrics, digging more into the dirt and dust of the Southwest and its people. He doesn't hide behind anything but a beer bottle. He's at the same time mystical and cynical: "Give me hope! Ah, sweet madness! Struggle, volcanoes and iron and sadness!" Using "Sonoran" in the title echoes both the wide, sweeping landscapes of Southern Arizona and the dusty magic of the Mexican state. "Ashes of San Miguel" is a heartfelt tale of friendship and nostalgia, "I got the ashes of my best friend in a cremation jar on the shotgun seat of the car." The album's peaks are in the density Clyne achieves writing about his greatest heartaches - the desert, dying beneath the ugly greed of progress ("machines will not make sweeter dreams"), and the loss of friends and the oft-adventurous, oft-liesurely days of youthful exploration ("one last tour through our happy, happy hunting grounds").
Enough words on the old album, I'm itchin' to hear the new one...
I've always been a big fan of Roger Clyne, a great lyricist and bandleader. The band really thrives on stage and I'm excited for another album mostly to learn a bunch of new songs in anticipation for a live show.
Clyne is known to bust out three and a half hour shows, running through most of his catalogue, including the always-popular Refreshments material. And the covers "American Girl," "Pancho and Lefty," "Rosalita," "Kodochrome," "Train in Vain," "Dukes of Hazzard" are spot on.
On Sonoran Hope and Madness Clyne really started expanding his lyrics, digging more into the dirt and dust of the Southwest and its people. He doesn't hide behind anything but a beer bottle. He's at the same time mystical and cynical: "Give me hope! Ah, sweet madness! Struggle, volcanoes and iron and sadness!" Using "Sonoran" in the title echoes both the wide, sweeping landscapes of Southern Arizona and the dusty magic of the Mexican state. "Ashes of San Miguel" is a heartfelt tale of friendship and nostalgia, "I got the ashes of my best friend in a cremation jar on the shotgun seat of the car." The album's peaks are in the density Clyne achieves writing about his greatest heartaches - the desert, dying beneath the ugly greed of progress ("machines will not make sweeter dreams"), and the loss of friends and the oft-adventurous, oft-liesurely days of youthful exploration ("one last tour through our happy, happy hunting grounds").
Enough words on the old album, I'm itchin' to hear the new one...
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Inexplicable
A paltry 19 percent? Unbelievable. But this wasn't domination, it was a once-in-a-lifetime fluke. It says here that the road victories will continue with this series Feb. 7 in Palo Alto, this time on national TV.
Friday, January 09, 2004
Hoops heaven
Taking the New Year’s shift gives me Saturday off – perfect because I can now watch the Arizona-Stanford game in a proper setting. I plan to join the General (and perhaps the Simpsons) for some pitchers and top-notch basketball.
I can’t for the life of me figure out why there’s minimal national buzz about this game. A match between No. 3 and No. 4? The West Coast’s two premiere programs, a series that is as tight and exciting as any in the country over the last several years and there’s hardly any attention.
It’s on the Web as ESPN’s marquee matchup, but it’s still referred to as just a Pac 10 game. Both these teams will be ranked No. 1 at some time in the year and beat the top one-two punch of any conference in the nation.
Stanford is undefeated and has knocked off a No. 1 team in Kansas. Meanwhile, Arizona’s only loss was by 1 point on the road to the then-No. 1 Florida. Josh Childress, touted in the preseason as Stanford’s top player – although I wouldn’t be too sure of that anymore with Lottich’s 34 points – has just returned to the lineup. But Arizona’s newest – 6 foot 10 Serb Ivan Radenovich – is amazingly multi-faceted and a dream fit for the team.
Look for Olson to outshine Montgomery and the Wildcats to outplay Stanford everywhere it counts – on the break, on the boards, defensive quickness and from behind the arc. And here’s a promise that Andre and Hassan will each – again – deliver stunning highlight reel slams. It wouldn’t be an Arizona game without it.
I can’t for the life of me figure out why there’s minimal national buzz about this game. A match between No. 3 and No. 4? The West Coast’s two premiere programs, a series that is as tight and exciting as any in the country over the last several years and there’s hardly any attention.
It’s on the Web as ESPN’s marquee matchup, but it’s still referred to as just a Pac 10 game. Both these teams will be ranked No. 1 at some time in the year and beat the top one-two punch of any conference in the nation.
Stanford is undefeated and has knocked off a No. 1 team in Kansas. Meanwhile, Arizona’s only loss was by 1 point on the road to the then-No. 1 Florida. Josh Childress, touted in the preseason as Stanford’s top player – although I wouldn’t be too sure of that anymore with Lottich’s 34 points – has just returned to the lineup. But Arizona’s newest – 6 foot 10 Serb Ivan Radenovich – is amazingly multi-faceted and a dream fit for the team.
Look for Olson to outshine Montgomery and the Wildcats to outplay Stanford everywhere it counts – on the break, on the boards, defensive quickness and from behind the arc. And here’s a promise that Andre and Hassan will each – again – deliver stunning highlight reel slams. It wouldn’t be an Arizona game without it.
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
Is downloading the culprit?
The New York Times has an interesting piece on the effects of music file sharing on songwriters who do not perform their music (Songwriters Say Piracy Eats Into Their Pay).
While the basic premise that lower album sales are causing these songwriters financial harms makes perfect sense, the article so oversimplifies the issue it sounds like a well-written RIAA press release.
I doubt anybody would argue that songwriters may have the most to lose of any segment of the music business simply because their pay is almost exclusively limited to royalties. They don’t get concert revenue and don’t sell merchandise like artists, they’re not on salary like the A&R creeps and don’t have stake in multimillion dollar companies like the executives (on whom I’d place the greatest blame for dropping sales.) But while the premise is right on, and an angle rarely mentioned in the press, the scope of the article doesn’t take into account anything but downloading.
The article immediately introduces the “piracy” argument, which unfortunately has become commonplace although it ignores fair use.
"I am hurting," says a 75-year-old composer who made $250,000 in royalties in 2002. His publisher said he drew only about half that in 2003.
Interesting sob story, but Charles Strouse’s big ’02 was due in large part to the enormous success of Jay-Z’s “Hard Knock Life,” which sampled his work from "Annie.” Can’t we presume, perhaps, that the rap album and song containing his sample simply didn’t sell as well another year later? Blaming the “pirates” for the obviously short lifespan of a hit album is a little suspect, especially for a composer who has admittedly “gotten fat off this business.”
I’m skeptical of the reporting in this story because it really does nothing more than extend the RIAA’s hard line argument without exploring anything else and further degrades the concept of popular music into nothing more than another cash-cow for large multinational corporations.
Barton Herbison, executive director of a Nashville-based industry group, says there are half as many songwriters in the country music haven as there were a decade ago. You could easily draw a parallel between that time period and the boom of marginalized, commercialized gloss pouring out of Nashville. Never has country music sold so well or been so popular as when it was at its dumbest and most generic. Pushing big-ticket acts to superstardom with slick production and marketing blitz absolutely tore the heart out of the genre, just as it did with rock ‘n’ roll.
What the executive director says next takes the cake, though:
Illegal downloading "doesn't just affect Garth Brooks. It affects songwriters, it affects every studio in Nashville that's closing, it affects the working musicians. What it ultimately affects is the choice of music the public gets. When I have No. 1 songwriters working other jobs, we're not getting more music."
This is a retread of the RIAA’s bread and butter argument and it’s patently false. Truly passionate musicians and songwriters create their art not for money but because that’s simply what they do. Making a living at it is a bonus, ask any guitar god toiling for free beer and 20 people on a Monday night.
Maybe we can hope Herbison is right about one thing: When the dollars dry up for the songwriters and artists peddling the crap that dominates the airwaves, they’ll go away and leave room for those with actual passion and talent.
The article goes on to quote a rep for the National Music Publishers' Association theorizing that illegal downloading has cost them more than $300 million since 1999. That’s quite a figure, but I’d like to hear just how much favorable speculation went into the calculation.
Still, that’s not the point and what the music industry refuses to consider is the fact that they’re own policies in the 1990s contributes, at least in part, to the drop in album sales.
While there are plenty of places to stick blame in the music industry, (Clear Channel, Ticketmaster, Wal-Mart, etc.) I’m just talking about the recording industry. Five major companies own nearly everything and have increasingly turned their focus to just the immediately successful act. Nurturing artists, or even having the slightest bit of faith in them, is a lost practice. If a debut album can’t go platinum in a month, the company doesn’t throw them jack shit in terms of marketing. So the quality releases from the big 5 are getting less each year, with most of the worthy albums coming from established acts who can’t be toyed with. And, for some reason, those cds cost $18.99? Give me a break.
Music lovers will continue to buy good music. Teeny-boppers will continue to buy over-produced crap from the manipulated, image-oriented acts. But don’t expect music lovers to cross over. When a quality, critically acclaimed act does break through and achieve commercial success as MTV/VH1/radio darlings, they’re often shunned by their fan base (see Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay) because music lovers are so disgusted by the big 5.
I don’t buy the line that downloading is ruining the recording industry. It may hurt the bottom line of corporate profits, but that should not be the only focus of a record company. If downloading (illegal or not) succeeds in breaking the big-business structure, then all the better.
While the basic premise that lower album sales are causing these songwriters financial harms makes perfect sense, the article so oversimplifies the issue it sounds like a well-written RIAA press release.
I doubt anybody would argue that songwriters may have the most to lose of any segment of the music business simply because their pay is almost exclusively limited to royalties. They don’t get concert revenue and don’t sell merchandise like artists, they’re not on salary like the A&R creeps and don’t have stake in multimillion dollar companies like the executives (on whom I’d place the greatest blame for dropping sales.) But while the premise is right on, and an angle rarely mentioned in the press, the scope of the article doesn’t take into account anything but downloading.
The article immediately introduces the “piracy” argument, which unfortunately has become commonplace although it ignores fair use.
"I am hurting," says a 75-year-old composer who made $250,000 in royalties in 2002. His publisher said he drew only about half that in 2003.
Interesting sob story, but Charles Strouse’s big ’02 was due in large part to the enormous success of Jay-Z’s “Hard Knock Life,” which sampled his work from "Annie.” Can’t we presume, perhaps, that the rap album and song containing his sample simply didn’t sell as well another year later? Blaming the “pirates” for the obviously short lifespan of a hit album is a little suspect, especially for a composer who has admittedly “gotten fat off this business.”
I’m skeptical of the reporting in this story because it really does nothing more than extend the RIAA’s hard line argument without exploring anything else and further degrades the concept of popular music into nothing more than another cash-cow for large multinational corporations.
Barton Herbison, executive director of a Nashville-based industry group, says there are half as many songwriters in the country music haven as there were a decade ago. You could easily draw a parallel between that time period and the boom of marginalized, commercialized gloss pouring out of Nashville. Never has country music sold so well or been so popular as when it was at its dumbest and most generic. Pushing big-ticket acts to superstardom with slick production and marketing blitz absolutely tore the heart out of the genre, just as it did with rock ‘n’ roll.
What the executive director says next takes the cake, though:
Illegal downloading "doesn't just affect Garth Brooks. It affects songwriters, it affects every studio in Nashville that's closing, it affects the working musicians. What it ultimately affects is the choice of music the public gets. When I have No. 1 songwriters working other jobs, we're not getting more music."
This is a retread of the RIAA’s bread and butter argument and it’s patently false. Truly passionate musicians and songwriters create their art not for money but because that’s simply what they do. Making a living at it is a bonus, ask any guitar god toiling for free beer and 20 people on a Monday night.
Maybe we can hope Herbison is right about one thing: When the dollars dry up for the songwriters and artists peddling the crap that dominates the airwaves, they’ll go away and leave room for those with actual passion and talent.
The article goes on to quote a rep for the National Music Publishers' Association theorizing that illegal downloading has cost them more than $300 million since 1999. That’s quite a figure, but I’d like to hear just how much favorable speculation went into the calculation.
Still, that’s not the point and what the music industry refuses to consider is the fact that they’re own policies in the 1990s contributes, at least in part, to the drop in album sales.
While there are plenty of places to stick blame in the music industry, (Clear Channel, Ticketmaster, Wal-Mart, etc.) I’m just talking about the recording industry. Five major companies own nearly everything and have increasingly turned their focus to just the immediately successful act. Nurturing artists, or even having the slightest bit of faith in them, is a lost practice. If a debut album can’t go platinum in a month, the company doesn’t throw them jack shit in terms of marketing. So the quality releases from the big 5 are getting less each year, with most of the worthy albums coming from established acts who can’t be toyed with. And, for some reason, those cds cost $18.99? Give me a break.
Music lovers will continue to buy good music. Teeny-boppers will continue to buy over-produced crap from the manipulated, image-oriented acts. But don’t expect music lovers to cross over. When a quality, critically acclaimed act does break through and achieve commercial success as MTV/VH1/radio darlings, they’re often shunned by their fan base (see Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay) because music lovers are so disgusted by the big 5.
I don’t buy the line that downloading is ruining the recording industry. It may hurt the bottom line of corporate profits, but that should not be the only focus of a record company. If downloading (illegal or not) succeeds in breaking the big-business structure, then all the better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)