At long last...Black Sabbath is going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Fuck Yeah!
It's ironic that Rolling Stone should be the proud tribune of this news--the very magazine that led the music press in its universal contempt of Sabbath and the Sex Pistols (who put out only one album--stupid punks). Look at any RS record guide and you'll see that the Ozzy-era Sabbath release suffers from quite a bit of rating inflation.
What was it that George Orwell said about controlling the past by controlling the present, again? What happened between 1970 and 2005 that made the albums more valuable than your contemptuous initial reviews show, Mr. Rolling Stone? Did the music on Paranoid suddenly get better in the intervening 35 years? Not likely.
I think the erstwhile opinions of RS's well-paid critics had as much validity as a Dick Morris prognostication. Toe-Sucker Dick has NEVER been right about anything, and yet FOX keeps him on as a trusted consultant. If he were a baseball player, he would have been busted down to triple-A status years ago. The real problem is that music journalists see themselves as hipster pundits, an awkward paradox. On one hand they're middle-aged teenagers, keen on showing off their industry-insider status and street cred like their first leather jacket and bag of ditchweed. At the same time, they play the anguished ivory-tower aesthete who can't seem to convince the rabble that DISCO IS GONNA LIVE FOREVER!
And they are never, ever wrong.
To paraphrase Zappa: written about people who can't play by people who can't write for people who can't read.
Tony should take his award and shove it up Jan Wenner's RIAA-lubed ass. Never Say Die, beyotch!
It's ironic that Rolling Stone should be the proud tribune of this news--the very magazine that led the music press in its universal contempt of Sabbath and the Sex Pistols (who put out only one album--stupid punks). Look at any RS record guide and you'll see that the Ozzy-era Sabbath release suffers from quite a bit of rating inflation.
What was it that George Orwell said about controlling the past by controlling the present, again? What happened between 1970 and 2005 that made the albums more valuable than your contemptuous initial reviews show, Mr. Rolling Stone? Did the music on Paranoid suddenly get better in the intervening 35 years? Not likely.
I think the erstwhile opinions of RS's well-paid critics had as much validity as a Dick Morris prognostication. Toe-Sucker Dick has NEVER been right about anything, and yet FOX keeps him on as a trusted consultant. If he were a baseball player, he would have been busted down to triple-A status years ago. The real problem is that music journalists see themselves as hipster pundits, an awkward paradox. On one hand they're middle-aged teenagers, keen on showing off their industry-insider status and street cred like their first leather jacket and bag of ditchweed. At the same time, they play the anguished ivory-tower aesthete who can't seem to convince the rabble that DISCO IS GONNA LIVE FOREVER!
And they are never, ever wrong.
To paraphrase Zappa: written about people who can't play by people who can't write for people who can't read.
Tony should take his award and shove it up Jan Wenner's RIAA-lubed ass. Never Say Die, beyotch!
by at 5:50 PM
Jeez, what a whore Bob Woodward has turned into. From bringing down Nixon to propping up the Bush administration...what a dismal career arc.
In hindsight, what better person to leak Plame's identity to than Woody? He'd been chasing the dragon ever since those halcyon days of Watergate--just mention the words "anonymous sources" and "top-secret information," and old Bob probably started getting flashbacks. The principal motivation for the leakers, however, was Woodward's disposition toward his sources.
The internal, professional struggle for Woodward and Bernstein during Watergate was the use of completely anonymous sources for their stories, which was considered unethical at the time. Despite the immense editorial and political pressures placed on Woodward, he would not give up the identity of Deep Throat--even if the prevailing notions of journalistic credibility demanded he do so. He bent the rules, and brought down a Presidency.
These days, that exception has BECOME the rule--reporters use anonymous sources all the time--and the White House was counting on this when they hatched the scheme to burn Plame. They dangled "access" before reporters like a Damoclean Sword; in turn, they were granted anonymity for dishing their insider info. And even if their information was 100% bullshit, lesser reporters like Judith Miller could be counted on to dutifully keep a secret. What reporter steeped in the legend of Watergate would pass up the opportunity to become a heroic, Woodwardian atavism?
What's even worse was how Woodward took every opportunity to publicly disparage Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and discredit the investigation without disclosing his own involvement. He's no different from the vapid talking heads on the cable news shows who never disclose their own proximity to their subjects or personal biases...Daryn Kagan's cozy relationship with arch-propagandist Rush Limbaugh and James Carville's barely-disclosed marriage to Republican operative Mary Matalin should be enough to disqualify both as impartial arbiters of truth, but the news organizations don't seem to care, as long as the ratings are there.
Bob is so close to the subjects of his hagiographies that he seems to identify with them--some call this Stockholm Syndrome. His primary fear was "being subpoenaed"--which is a legitimate fear if you actually wrote a story about it, Bob. You didn't--it was "almost gossip," wasn't it? Not worth writing about. If you don't write a story about it, you're therefore not acting as a journalist...which means you get to plead the Fifth Amendment, if you really wanted to "protect your sources." It's also known as obstructing an investigation, and makes you an accessory. Not as glamourous as a First Amendment plea, is it? Well, you may get your wish to share Judy's jail term, yet.
Woody, you've fallen so far. Consider this the revenge of Nixon. Somewhere, Tricky Dick and Haldeman are looking up and smiling at you, Bob.
In hindsight, what better person to leak Plame's identity to than Woody? He'd been chasing the dragon ever since those halcyon days of Watergate--just mention the words "anonymous sources" and "top-secret information," and old Bob probably started getting flashbacks. The principal motivation for the leakers, however, was Woodward's disposition toward his sources.
The internal, professional struggle for Woodward and Bernstein during Watergate was the use of completely anonymous sources for their stories, which was considered unethical at the time. Despite the immense editorial and political pressures placed on Woodward, he would not give up the identity of Deep Throat--even if the prevailing notions of journalistic credibility demanded he do so. He bent the rules, and brought down a Presidency.
These days, that exception has BECOME the rule--reporters use anonymous sources all the time--and the White House was counting on this when they hatched the scheme to burn Plame. They dangled "access" before reporters like a Damoclean Sword; in turn, they were granted anonymity for dishing their insider info. And even if their information was 100% bullshit, lesser reporters like Judith Miller could be counted on to dutifully keep a secret. What reporter steeped in the legend of Watergate would pass up the opportunity to become a heroic, Woodwardian atavism?
What's even worse was how Woodward took every opportunity to publicly disparage Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and discredit the investigation without disclosing his own involvement. He's no different from the vapid talking heads on the cable news shows who never disclose their own proximity to their subjects or personal biases...Daryn Kagan's cozy relationship with arch-propagandist Rush Limbaugh and James Carville's barely-disclosed marriage to Republican operative Mary Matalin should be enough to disqualify both as impartial arbiters of truth, but the news organizations don't seem to care, as long as the ratings are there.
Bob is so close to the subjects of his hagiographies that he seems to identify with them--some call this Stockholm Syndrome. His primary fear was "being subpoenaed"--which is a legitimate fear if you actually wrote a story about it, Bob. You didn't--it was "almost gossip," wasn't it? Not worth writing about. If you don't write a story about it, you're therefore not acting as a journalist...which means you get to plead the Fifth Amendment, if you really wanted to "protect your sources." It's also known as obstructing an investigation, and makes you an accessory. Not as glamourous as a First Amendment plea, is it? Well, you may get your wish to share Judy's jail term, yet.
Woody, you've fallen so far. Consider this the revenge of Nixon. Somewhere, Tricky Dick and Haldeman are looking up and smiling at you, Bob.
by at 10:05 AM
Loveable musical reprobate R. Kelly is caught on a sex tape again...well, maybe.
From the Toronto Star:
*Yawn* I don't know about you, but this sounds like a classic mafia-style shakedown, performed by psychotherapists. "It would be a shame to see your marriage wrecked if you refuse to visit Dr. Smegma's office for counseling." I can understand the Gospel/R&B angle of it--it gives the threat some verisimilitude--but come on: R. has probably been filmed having sex with most of the world by now. Ironically, whatever shock and embarrassment a public kinky sex scandal would have caused Sheffield has been forever muted by Tha R's involvement--it's small-time, dog-bites-man stuff. No wonder Sheffield called his bluff & went straight to his lawyer. Besides, he wasn't even married to Richards at the time the alleged tape was made.
Even if the sex tape is legitimate...at least R has stopped recruiting from the Babe Ruth Leagues. Good on him.
Just don't take the lie detector test!
From the Toronto Star:
A self-described minister was convicted in Chicago yesterday of trying to blackmail New York Yankees slugger Gary Sheffield and his wife by claiming he had a video showing her having sex with R&B singer R. Kelly.
A federal jury convicted Derrick Mosley, 39, of two counts of extortion and two counts of wire fraud for allegedly plotting to extort money from Sheffield and gospel singer DeLeon Richards-Sheffield.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Clarence Butler said Mosley asked Sheffield's business agent for $20,000 (U.S.) to destroy a tape that Mosley claimed showed Richards-Sheffield having sex with Kelly before she married Sheffield.
*Yawn* I don't know about you, but this sounds like a classic mafia-style shakedown, performed by psychotherapists. "It would be a shame to see your marriage wrecked if you refuse to visit Dr. Smegma's office for counseling." I can understand the Gospel/R&B angle of it--it gives the threat some verisimilitude--but come on: R. has probably been filmed having sex with most of the world by now. Ironically, whatever shock and embarrassment a public kinky sex scandal would have caused Sheffield has been forever muted by Tha R's involvement--it's small-time, dog-bites-man stuff. No wonder Sheffield called his bluff & went straight to his lawyer. Besides, he wasn't even married to Richards at the time the alleged tape was made.
Even if the sex tape is legitimate...at least R has stopped recruiting from the Babe Ruth Leagues. Good on him.
Just don't take the lie detector test!
by at 8:47 AM
Can't believe it. Vinnie Mac's got quite a pile of bodies buried under his back porch now. I wouldn't rule out foul play just yet...Vince probably wanted to cash in that secret million-dollar life insurance policy he had taken out on Eddie years ago.
Link
Looks like there will be another Hulkster in Heaven. Even though I'll only remember you as the guy who got the queso kicked out of him by dudes twice his size on the TV bouts, you were always a good sport.
Vaya con Dios, Eddie.
Link
Looks like there will be another Hulkster in Heaven. Even though I'll only remember you as the guy who got the queso kicked out of him by dudes twice his size on the TV bouts, you were always a good sport.
Vaya con Dios, Eddie.
by at 8:47 PM
Hope you all like the new look to KoS. I don't know about anybody else, but I was getting tired of the old Blogger-centric design of the entire site. (It didn't exactly scream "high society rock and roll band," if you know what I mean.) While a few things have changed, you can STILL tell us to fuck off in our comments links. I will warn you that the archives are not quite right just yet, so bear with me as I make a few more adjustments over the next few days.
Special Category 7 thanks to Lynn for helping me with the redesign--I couldn't have done it without you.
Special Category 7 thanks to Lynn for helping me with the redesign--I couldn't have done it without you.
by at 8:52 AM
I watched the news today, oh boy...
Another example of how clueless the American Media has become was the WGN morning news' coverage of the French riots. Since everything these days is viewed through the cracked lens of the Global War on Terror, it's no surpise that whenever a bunch of swarthy Muslims get together and burn stuff anywhere in the world, Americans wonder if it's okay to use the T-word.
The "Terror Expert" looked ill at ease, and a little frustrated with the cant of the questions. You would too, if you were a surgeon being asked for your opinion on the state of modern hip-hop. He politely explained the riots were closer to Watts or LA '92 than any organized terror campaign, but the befuddled hosts couldn't seem to recall our own country's rich history of labor riots and racial unrest--
Not since the days of labor unions=Communism have Americans been so effectively propagandized and deceived by their own government. It's as though nobody can remember why poor people get pissed off and start torching everything in sight anymore. Let's bring things closer to home for a minute. If the poor/immigrant population in this country were really as lazy as the Randroids and Reaganites think, they could be bought off with a welfare check each month, right? Well, surprise--people DON'T LIKE BEING ON WELFARE, and only do it as a last resort. If you didn't have any job prospects & had to deal with that awful French nativism that permeates EVERYTHING on top of it, what would you do? Pray harder and hope God turns you into a Frenchman? Fuck that!
Maybe I'm out of line. I love the WGN morning news show and its self-consciously offbeat take on the "happy chat" news format (which originated in Chicago, BTW). However, when it tries to take its cues from the national media, "garbage in-garbage out" is the result.
WGN, leave the propaganda to Fox News and their local affiliates.
Another example of how clueless the American Media has become was the WGN morning news' coverage of the French riots. Since everything these days is viewed through the cracked lens of the Global War on Terror, it's no surpise that whenever a bunch of swarthy Muslims get together and burn stuff anywhere in the world, Americans wonder if it's okay to use the T-word.
The "Terror Expert" looked ill at ease, and a little frustrated with the cant of the questions. You would too, if you were a surgeon being asked for your opinion on the state of modern hip-hop. He politely explained the riots were closer to Watts or LA '92 than any organized terror campaign, but the befuddled hosts couldn't seem to recall our own country's rich history of labor riots and racial unrest--
- Host: Are the Paris riots the result of terrorism?
- Expert: No. It's protest of racial discrimination by government and society...
- Host: Okay.
- Expert: ...a reaction to lack of economic opportunity and record-high national unemployment...
- Host: Okay.
- Expert: ...by immigrants...
- Host: Okay.
- Expert: ...many of whom are Muslim...
- Host: OH MY GOD...ARE THEY TERRORISTS???? THEY'RE BURNING AND DESTROYING STUFF!
Not since the days of labor unions=Communism have Americans been so effectively propagandized and deceived by their own government. It's as though nobody can remember why poor people get pissed off and start torching everything in sight anymore. Let's bring things closer to home for a minute. If the poor/immigrant population in this country were really as lazy as the Randroids and Reaganites think, they could be bought off with a welfare check each month, right? Well, surprise--people DON'T LIKE BEING ON WELFARE, and only do it as a last resort. If you didn't have any job prospects & had to deal with that awful French nativism that permeates EVERYTHING on top of it, what would you do? Pray harder and hope God turns you into a Frenchman? Fuck that!
Maybe I'm out of line. I love the WGN morning news show and its self-consciously offbeat take on the "happy chat" news format (which originated in Chicago, BTW). However, when it tries to take its cues from the national media, "garbage in-garbage out" is the result.
WGN, leave the propaganda to Fox News and their local affiliates.
by at 1:31 PM
Dear Religious Right,
You're a bunch of wackos.
Hey, don't get pissed at me, I'm just the messenger. It's an awfully funny description, though, coming from one of your supposed allies--Republican fundraiser Michael Scanlon.
How does it feel to be treated like an Indian, white man? Yes, your "friends" in the Republican party only see you as a means to an end...a wild-eyed gaggle of useful idiots who can be swindled and manipulated at will. And yet you let them get away with it every single time, because your persecution-complex theology demands it. If Christians aren't being tossed to the lions every day, then something just isn't right somewhere.
But maybe you want to be content in your ignorance. Judging by the 30-years Culture War and continued efforts to replace science with mythology and reason with blind faith in public schools, you obviously think we should just scrap 230 years of American history, the Enlightenment and Renaissance, and go back to living in caves and mud huts. Fine, no problem. Just don't expect the rest of the country to follow you...least of all, your White KKKnights in the GOP. Ignorance and blind obedience are just the qualities they want in their followers--it's job security. You won't see them working next to you on the master's fief.
Who knows. Call me crazy, but maybe those commie pinko Founding Fathers had a point in keeping churches and the state apparatus in separate containers. You have let the money-changers into the temple, and this sacrilege debases American politics and religion--especially when your church could be an accessory to felonies. Money laundering: it's not just for drug lords anymore.
But I really don't care about your faith's Dominionistic fantasies. Once again, you caught the Party of Morality and Family Values ball-deep in the village hooker. This time, when they ask you "who are you going to believe...me, or your lying eyes," for once leave faith out of the question and go with your senses. It's time to tear the scales from your eyes, and view these Elmer Gantrys for who they are.
And then...only then...may you realize you should keep your religion to yourself.
You're a bunch of wackos.
Hey, don't get pissed at me, I'm just the messenger. It's an awfully funny description, though, coming from one of your supposed allies--Republican fundraiser Michael Scanlon.
How does it feel to be treated like an Indian, white man? Yes, your "friends" in the Republican party only see you as a means to an end...a wild-eyed gaggle of useful idiots who can be swindled and manipulated at will. And yet you let them get away with it every single time, because your persecution-complex theology demands it. If Christians aren't being tossed to the lions every day, then something just isn't right somewhere.
But maybe you want to be content in your ignorance. Judging by the 30-years Culture War and continued efforts to replace science with mythology and reason with blind faith in public schools, you obviously think we should just scrap 230 years of American history, the Enlightenment and Renaissance, and go back to living in caves and mud huts. Fine, no problem. Just don't expect the rest of the country to follow you...least of all, your White KKKnights in the GOP. Ignorance and blind obedience are just the qualities they want in their followers--it's job security. You won't see them working next to you on the master's fief.
Who knows. Call me crazy, but maybe those commie pinko Founding Fathers had a point in keeping churches and the state apparatus in separate containers. You have let the money-changers into the temple, and this sacrilege debases American politics and religion--especially when your church could be an accessory to felonies. Money laundering: it's not just for drug lords anymore.
But I really don't care about your faith's Dominionistic fantasies. Once again, you caught the Party of Morality and Family Values ball-deep in the village hooker. This time, when they ask you "who are you going to believe...me, or your lying eyes," for once leave faith out of the question and go with your senses. It's time to tear the scales from your eyes, and view these Elmer Gantrys for who they are.
And then...only then...may you realize you should keep your religion to yourself.
by at 9:57 AM
And you think you suck at your job....
Jot on over to The Smoking Gun and check out some of the email Michael D "Drownie" Brown was sending while NOLA struggled to stay afloat.
Just like his boss, Drownie is pathologically obsessed with appearances, and seems blithely indifferent to the human impact of the disaster. It's almost as if he's watching it on TV...while loading his iPod, shopping online, and polishing his shoes.
But what else would you expect from a patronage appointment? Drownie's job was a quid pro quo for being a good little fundraiser--nothing more. Hey, if I were given a cushy sinecure for which I was criminally unqualified, I'd probably be watching the clock and waiting for my shift to end, too.
But I sure as hell wouldn't be whining like a little bitch-ass titty baby to everybody in my address book--and not from government servers, either.
Nevertheless, we should be thankful for these emails--they really provide a window into the demented crisis management skills of incompetent political appointees:
Ha ha. Brownie, you're a heckuva yob!
Jot on over to The Smoking Gun and check out some of the email Michael D "Drownie" Brown was sending while NOLA struggled to stay afloat.
Just like his boss, Drownie is pathologically obsessed with appearances, and seems blithely indifferent to the human impact of the disaster. It's almost as if he's watching it on TV...while loading his iPod, shopping online, and polishing his shoes.
But what else would you expect from a patronage appointment? Drownie's job was a quid pro quo for being a good little fundraiser--nothing more. Hey, if I were given a cushy sinecure for which I was criminally unqualified, I'd probably be watching the clock and waiting for my shift to end, too.
But I sure as hell wouldn't be whining like a little bitch-ass titty baby to everybody in my address book--and not from government servers, either.
Nevertheless, we should be thankful for these emails--they really provide a window into the demented crisis management skills of incompetent political appointees:
- email #1: I'm a princess! I'm beautiful! Can I go home now?
- email #2: Stupid corporate dress code. What did I take this job for?
- email #3: Man, I'm just fucking up all over the place. Did I remember to feed the dogs?...
- email #4: I hate my job! Why haven't I been fired yet?
- email #5: Oh, you think YOU had a rough day?...
- email #6: Look busy, the boss is coming!!!!
- email #7: Shit, everything's really fucked now. Time for lunch.
Ha ha. Brownie, you're a heckuva yob!
by at 8:08 AM
Thanks everybody who came out to the show at Double Door last night. The Bitchwax was excellent, as usual...they didn't play "Going Guido" but the cover of Purple's "Leo" more than made up for it. Thanks to Battlesnake for keeping it loud and frightening. I know I wouldn't want to pick a fight with that Wes guy, man.
It's been a while since I last blogged, and I apologize. I haven't completely dropped off the face of the earth...my computer crashed early this fall, which took me offline for a few weeks. I've also been working real hard on revamping the site, which has entailed a ground-up edumacation in Dreamweaver (teh awesome). Unfortunately, I tend to get tunnel vision easily, and my bloggin' has suffered a bit.
Not to worry though...if everything goes according to plan, I'll have the new design launched later on this week, and you can tell me it's great/sucks/whatever. Until then--suffer!
Oh, I almost forgot. FUCK BUSH!!!
It's been a while since I last blogged, and I apologize. I haven't completely dropped off the face of the earth...my computer crashed early this fall, which took me offline for a few weeks. I've also been working real hard on revamping the site, which has entailed a ground-up edumacation in Dreamweaver (teh awesome). Unfortunately, I tend to get tunnel vision easily, and my bloggin' has suffered a bit.
Not to worry though...if everything goes according to plan, I'll have the new design launched later on this week, and you can tell me it's great/sucks/whatever. Until then--suffer!
Oh, I almost forgot. FUCK BUSH!!!
by at 10:09 AM