Jaded Times

So about 100 years ago or the Friday before last, whichever is more recent, I went to see the Two Gallants at their October 7th Los Angeles show at El Cid

Unfortunately, I took too long a nap and so I missed all of wires on fire. Held in line on the stairs during the end of Holy Ghost Revival, I enjoyed the 1½ songs I managed to catch through the stair vines as the doorman studied his people counter clicker. I was behind an acquaintance, friend of a friend, Gabe, the guitarist/vocalist for the Starvations (you should check them out too) who had rushed over from work to see the Holy Ghost Revival, he aptly described them as the Stooges meet Queen.

Gabe told me the Starvations had played a show with the Two Gallants about a year ago, just down the street at the Elliott Smith Memorial Wall and I think he said only about 20 people were there (it was noisy on those stairs). That gig was on March 12th, 2004 to be exact, wish I hadn’t missed it. While we’re on the subject of that wall and that building has anyone else had their stereo fixed at Solutions and gotten the nipple and breast milk speech delivered to them by the store’s owner? It’s an interesting experience.

We were allowed to enter a few minutes before the Two Gallants. They were definitely worth the wait. Folk, country, punk to me – check out “fail hard to regain” for visual of the fun punk side of them. They are a guitar, drum two piece – that rock but don’t sacrifice the clarity of word. It was also very nice to hear the harmonica in some of their songs, something about those songs with that instrument made me think of an Uncle who’d passed away, hadn’t thought of him in a long while; he used to play the harmonica at breakfast time. During the show, it occurred to me that out of the two-pieces I’ve seen in the last three years, this is the one that’s affected me the deepest.

With tantalizing intros, it’s no wonder a guy yelled just before the vocals started for Drive My Car “Don’t stop now I’m almost there!” . Was it to Drive My Car? I could be wrong, couldn’t find lyrics and still don’t have the CD (see the next paragraph). What I do know is that the word “car” was in the first line or so, after that audience outburst.

I wish I had bought a CD but somehow I wandered outside the club with (I mean without) my Whiskey Sour and forgot to go back to the merch table. I looked in two smaller indie record stores in my area later that weekend but failed to locate it.

They’ll be in Europe next – go see them there, or when they get back to the States or you know as soon as you can manage to get yourself in the same place.

Two Gallants: Saddle Creek

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Rick Moranis released a country record last month. I was shocked too; but read the lyrics, you won’t be disappointed.

Thanks to Jeffrey Rowland for unintentionally bringing this to our attention.

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In the largest irony bid I’ve seen since Bush proposed conserving energy, activist Jack Thompson has offered $10,000 to charity if a game company will produce a game from his bizarrely hypocritical concept:

I have a modest proposal for the video game industry. I’ll write a check for $10,000 to the favorite charity of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc’s chairman, Paul Eibeler – a man Bernard Goldberg ranks as #43 in his book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America – if any video game company will create, manufacture, distribute, and sell a video game in 2006 like the following:

He goes on to describe a game plot consisting of the father of a child who was brutally beaten to death by gamers taking violent action against the gamin industry and fighting the FBI. Is it just me, or does this sort of discredit his punditry?

Another quick note: He cites Goldberg’s book as a source. I find it humorous that people are starting to take anything that comes into print as a reliable source; I mean, hell, anybody with enough money can self-publish, or anyone with an interesting idea can find a house willing to publish their work. It doesn’t make them a journalist (and I use the term loosely with Goldberg, who actually is a journalist, at least technically). I mean, he also listed Barbara Streisand and Harry Belafonte in the top 100. Not that I totally disagree on Streisand, but I can easily think of 100 more destructive members of our society than her. I do applaud him for including Springer, though (link to summation of list).

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I’m as shocked as you are, but mindless neo-con douchebag Ann “believe the lie” Coulter has a valid point or two. Granted, she still goes off on her left-bashing agenda without making a single valid point, but she makes several regarding the nomination of Harriet Meirs:

First, Bush has no right to say “Trust me.” He was elected to represent the American people, not to be dictator for eight years.

Yup. This is from Ann. She goes on to say something that, while I don’t know if this is technically a left or right viewpoint, I 100% agree with:

Contrary to recent practice, the job of being a Supreme Court justice is not to be a philosopher-king.

Damn straight. Leave it to Ann Coulter to point out what should be common sense. And I can’t fucking believe I just typed that.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you the new Germany. What can we expect of the Christian Democrats (because we all know the “coalition” will be as effective as FEMA in a southern flood)? Let’s just say Bush is dancing a jig at the moment. And Iran is pissing itself.

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Interesting article from the Baltimore Sun today about “sexist shorthand” in statements about Supreme Court nominee Hariet Miers. Columnist Susan Reimer references comments made by both supporters and detractors, calling Miers:

- “a pit bull in size 6 shoes”
- one of “Bush’s office wives”
- “Steel magnolia”
- “Sweet Southern lady”
- “Part silk, part steel”
- “A very decent lady”

While coverage of Roberts did reference his character, Reimer argued that one would be hard-pressed to find any comments comparing him to a flower or calling him “a bulldog in size 13 wingtips.”

Read the rest of the article here. (Registration required)

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Hey, just because many conservatives are chicken hawks doesn’t mean they don’t possess a few special ninja fighting skills:

They spar!

but it’s not over yet . . .

Bush hits back!
and look who takes a smack:

In a stunning attack, Bork said the Miers nomination had betrayed conservatives. He called it a ‘a slap in the face to the conservatives who’ve been building up a conservative legal movement for the last 20 years’.

ouch!

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The BBC will air a special on the peace process in Israel starting this Monday which will cover the last decade or so of Israeli/Palestinian politics. In it a source claims that President Bush told him, and the rest of the officials present at the meeting, that God told him to invade Iraq. Though the comments have been disregarded on all sides as metaphoric, the only real casualty is White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, who was caught in a bold faced lie this past week:

A Palestinian official who said the US president had claimed God told him to invade Iraq and Afghanistan says he did not take George Bush’s words literally…Scott McClellan said the comments had never been made.

In McClellan’s defense, he didn’t think the other Arab leaders would actually defend the President.

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In many ways, our animal friends take care of us as much as we take care of them. A creative project between the Dixon Correctional Facility and the HSUS is positive and helpful: (1) It assists the displaced residents of Katrina in caring for their pets and helping reunite people who have already lost so much, with their non-human family members, (2) the animals themselves get more individualized care in a lower stress environment and (3) this is the type of rehabilitation program that I think actually helps my fellow Americans succeed in their post-prison lives.

It’s a win-win situation. Many of our inmates are from the areas affected by the hurricane. They can’t help with the disaster relief efforts, but this way they give back to the area by helping the animals

“Maximum Care” is the media bonus featured under the “Watch the Video” sidebar

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Look, Jesus was cool, ok? He was a passive, nice Jew with some good ideas which some white men nailed him to a cross for. We all get it. Can we move on now?

As of today, I can officially come out against Meirs as a supreme court candidate. It’s not religious persecution, it’s a simpler perspective; do we really need someone who has “dedicated their life to Jesus Christ” deciding issues of national freedoms? I’m not saying she isn’t qualified–aside from the lack of bench experience, I’d say she isn’t remotely the worst Bush could have done (especially him being Bush, and all)–but enough already. It’s a logic based position, it should go to a logical person, and I’m sorry, but the truly devout of ANY faith are simply not logical people.

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