http://www.theorgan.ca
I love this band
I love this band
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Thursday, October 06, 2005
wrong kind of jacket
Neglected musical sub-genre of the day: Aspirational Sports-Rock
Example: Chesney Hawkes - I Am the One and Only
Location: Longwell Green Bowlplex
http://gizmonaut.net/bits/suspect.html
Anyone read Phillip K. Dick's the Minority Report?
Prepare to start being arrested for something you don't know you are about to do.
Just for fun, compare and contrast with Maggie Smith in Gosford Park: "I know what they want before they know they want it".
Thanks to Tom for the link.
Watched Dig!, a film about the rivalry between two bands whose pin-prick egos swell and deflate in time to the rythmic chants of the A + R sycophants who see something revolutionary in their rather average indie rock. The Dandy Whoreholes spend $500,000 on a crap video before they’d even shifted a unit. Then they get a track on a cell-phone commercial and sell loads of records so it's okay. Their mates the Brian Jonestown Massacre don't sell any because their main-man, Anton Newcombe, like Pete Doherty, is a completely deluded fuckhead who can't get his shit together. We watch him snort coke, shoot smack, kick audience members in the face and beat up his band, while his entourage waits patiently for him to finish his magnum opus which will be so amazing it will be, like, so amazing. Everyone is content to indulge the genius, who churns out sub-Jesus and Mary Chain tripe at a rate of one song an hour, but can't finish making the record because he is slowly but surely turning into Billy Corgan. These people don't deserve freedom. They should be exiled to North Korea. The high point of the film was The Dandy Whorehole's Zia McCabe -by far the most likeable of the bunch- getting her tits out on stage.
_____________________________________________
Guy in Philosophy Class Needs to Shut the Fuck Up
Monday, September 26, 2005
the average man
Spitz show the other night went well, apart from the girl at the side of the stage who kept screaming at me throughout the set.
"I heard your music on the internet. it was much quieter; it was lovely; why can't you play that?". I politely explained that whilst i would dearly love to discuss the matter further, I had a prior appointment with the paying audience who were standing directly in front of me. This bizarre, maternal heckling continued for the whole 45 minutes, interspersed with her squealing to her fuck-witted friends about the merits of her factory-distressed denims. Interesting that this reaction coincided with a documentary about Bob Dylan and the conservative, thought-crime folk crowd who screamed 'Judas!!!!!' when he plugged in. So little has changed.
I'm off to Europe on a press trip, then to a festival in Japan.
I might start using a Gmail account because the other one is riddled with spam. Using mass mailing as a market forces supply /demand indicator, I conclude that the average man is addicted to Vicodin, has a tiny penis, is worried about his portfolio, would love to own a Rolex watch and secretly wants Japanese girls to shit on his chest.
What would the benign, intellectually and emotionally advanced alien species think.
-Disgusted, Tunbridge Wells.
"I heard your music on the internet. it was much quieter; it was lovely; why can't you play that?". I politely explained that whilst i would dearly love to discuss the matter further, I had a prior appointment with the paying audience who were standing directly in front of me. This bizarre, maternal heckling continued for the whole 45 minutes, interspersed with her squealing to her fuck-witted friends about the merits of her factory-distressed denims. Interesting that this reaction coincided with a documentary about Bob Dylan and the conservative, thought-crime folk crowd who screamed 'Judas!!!!!' when he plugged in. So little has changed.
I'm off to Europe on a press trip, then to a festival in Japan.
I might start using a Gmail account because the other one is riddled with spam. Using mass mailing as a market forces supply /demand indicator, I conclude that the average man is addicted to Vicodin, has a tiny penis, is worried about his portfolio, would love to own a Rolex watch and secretly wants Japanese girls to shit on his chest.
What would the benign, intellectually and emotionally advanced alien species think.
-Disgusted, Tunbridge Wells.
Monday, September 19, 2005
what we do vs. what we stand for
The debate has collapsed into a familiar, simplistic dualism: The Islamists hate us for what we do in the Middle East (usually an 'anti-war' stance), versus The Islamists hate us for what we stand for -democracy, religious pluralism- (usually a 'pro-war' stance).
Perhaps the Islamists rationalisations for their actions are not absolutely identical to the causes of their actions. It is
plausible that the things that motivate us are not always what we think they are. Religious fundamentalism and hatred for what is seen as crusading, Christian, US Imperialism form a vicious circle, with each action confirming and enforcing both convictions.
The same could be said of those who chose to go to war. Bush may honestly believe he is fighting to liberate
people from tyrants, but he is influenced by the people around his head, like Rumsfeld and Cheney, whose
integrity is highly suspect. Bush is largely a fool, but I think he often believes what he says. As for Blair...
Bush and Blair gave us more than one reason for invading Iraq. Bertrand Russell taught us to be suspicious of a
man who offers more than one argument for the same position. If a position is truly robust then a single defense will be compelling. The multiple defence suggests a lack of conviction. Christopher Hitchens, Paul Berman and Nick Cohen, to their credit, argue for the war in Iraq one the sole basis of liberation. But as gifted polemicists they typically offer hard-edged, ideological answers. Their take on it has a refreshing directness and simplicity, but we should be wary of simple answers to complex questions.
Robin Cook's reasons for opposing the war were not ideological. He believed that acting without a UN mandate
would cause international friction that would in the long run outweigh the humanitarian benefits of regime change in Iraq. Much of the Muslim world would view it as a war on Islam, which it isn't. But people's views matter, whether or not they are mistaken. Cook's reasons were pragmatic. We should have more time for pragmatism. This cuts both ways. It means that now we are in Iraq, whether it was a mistake or not, we have to do our best to help the country achieve stability. The immediate withdrawal demanded by many on the Left would not achieve this.
Boris Johnson supported the invasion on the very grounds on which Cook opposed it. Johnson believed that it
would in the end cause more good than harm. But as Dr. Manhattan pointed out to Adrian Veidt at the end of Alan Moore's Watchmen, there is no 'end'. Consequences never end, and unlike Dr. Manhattan we don't have the superhuman ability to see how things might have turned out if we had done otherwise. There is no way of knowing whether Cooke was right or Johnson was right. So we have to make the best of it.
plausible that the things that motivate us are not always what we think they are. Religious fundamentalism and hatred for what is seen as crusading, Christian, US Imperialism form a vicious circle, with each action confirming and enforcing both convictions.
The same could be said of those who chose to go to war. Bush may honestly believe he is fighting to liberate
people from tyrants, but he is influenced by the people around his head, like Rumsfeld and Cheney, whose
integrity is highly suspect. Bush is largely a fool, but I think he often believes what he says. As for Blair...
Bush and Blair gave us more than one reason for invading Iraq. Bertrand Russell taught us to be suspicious of a
man who offers more than one argument for the same position. If a position is truly robust then a single defense will be compelling. The multiple defence suggests a lack of conviction. Christopher Hitchens, Paul Berman and Nick Cohen, to their credit, argue for the war in Iraq one the sole basis of liberation. But as gifted polemicists they typically offer hard-edged, ideological answers. Their take on it has a refreshing directness and simplicity, but we should be wary of simple answers to complex questions.
Robin Cook's reasons for opposing the war were not ideological. He believed that acting without a UN mandate
would cause international friction that would in the long run outweigh the humanitarian benefits of regime change in Iraq. Much of the Muslim world would view it as a war on Islam, which it isn't. But people's views matter, whether or not they are mistaken. Cook's reasons were pragmatic. We should have more time for pragmatism. This cuts both ways. It means that now we are in Iraq, whether it was a mistake or not, we have to do our best to help the country achieve stability. The immediate withdrawal demanded by many on the Left would not achieve this.
Boris Johnson supported the invasion on the very grounds on which Cook opposed it. Johnson believed that it
would in the end cause more good than harm. But as Dr. Manhattan pointed out to Adrian Veidt at the end of Alan Moore's Watchmen, there is no 'end'. Consequences never end, and unlike Dr. Manhattan we don't have the superhuman ability to see how things might have turned out if we had done otherwise. There is no way of knowing whether Cooke was right or Johnson was right. So we have to make the best of it.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
acrid folk
mood: hah hah hah hah hah
music: Sons and Daughters - the Repulsion Box
Snakedial guy #1: "so what's with this Baltic Knot?"
Snakedial guy #2: "oh, you know... just another one of those psych folk bands"
Beltane guy # 1: "ugh. I'm so sick of that shit."
Beltane guy # 2: "no man, they're the real deal. their guitarist James, he used to follow the Dead and sell acid in the 80's."
Snakedial guy # 1: "huh. whatever."
________________________________________
Guy Bartell phoned me up the other week to tell me he had been suffering a recurring dream that he had died, and in the film of his life he was played by Judge Rheinhold.
_______________________________________________________________________
Simplistic peaceniks churn out Ghandi quotes at times like this.
“An eye for an eye means the innocent have nothing to fear”
“An eye for an eye leaves me feeling a lot better about the little f*cker that broke into my car”
“An eye for an eye ensures equal rights for the visually impaired”
music: Sons and Daughters - the Repulsion Box
Today’s post fulfills this blog’s subtitle, being a sour-grapes folk darling anecdote I got from a friend in the
“Last summer James and I played a show in
”So it turns out that this guy and his band used to all live in Portland and when they were in high school they would come in to the record store where James worked and made fun of him for listening to "pussy-ass-shit" like Pearls Before Swine and Vashti Bunyan. At the time, they were in a band called "Backdraft" that apparantly sounded like Fugazi. But then they moved to
Snakedial guy #1: "so what's with this Baltic Knot?"
Snakedial guy #2: "oh, you know... just another one of those psych folk bands"
Beltane guy # 1: "ugh. I'm so sick of that shit."
Beltane guy # 2: "no man, they're the real deal. their guitarist James, he used to follow the Dead and sell acid in the 80's."
Snakedial guy # 1: "huh. whatever."
________________________________________
Guy Bartell phoned me up the other week to tell me he had been suffering a recurring dream that he had died, and in the film of his life he was played by Judge Rheinhold.
_______________________________________________________________________
Simplistic peaceniks churn out Ghandi quotes at times like this.
“An eye for an eye means the innocent have nothing to fear”
“An eye for an eye leaves me feeling a lot better about the little f*cker that broke into my car”
“An eye for an eye ensures equal rights for the visually impaired”
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Proposed solution to dwindling US Army recruits
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law
Godwin's Law: As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1 (i.e. certainty).
There is a tradition in many Usenet newsgroups that once such a comparison is made, the thread is over, and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress.
________________
I propose a new, normative, rather than purely empirical law, the "Law of Orwellian Flourish", which urges that anyone who quotes Orwell in order to indicate the sagacity of their position should be forced to join the US Army and fight for a war I believe is morally and legally justified as long as I don't personally have to fight for it myself.
________________
Godwin's Law: As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1 (i.e. certainty).
There is a tradition in many Usenet newsgroups that once such a comparison is made, the thread is over, and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress.
________________
I propose a new, normative, rather than purely empirical law, the "Law of Orwellian Flourish", which urges that anyone who quotes Orwell in order to indicate the sagacity of their position should be forced to join the US Army and fight for a war I believe is morally and legally justified as long as I don't personally have to fight for it myself.
________________
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
homage to my kitchen
Christopher Hitchens said in his review of Farenheit 9/11, "In general, it's highly unwise to quote Orwell if you are already way out of your depth on the question of moral equivalence." On that note, allow me to offer my two pennies worth.
Hasn't anyone read Orwell's essay on the correct way to make a cup of tea? Let there be no relativism here. If people just followed his instructions and fucking well got it right, the world would be a better place. You know what I mean? Charity begins at home, in the kitchen, making me a cup of tea.
Hasn't anyone read Orwell's essay on the correct way to make a cup of tea? Let there be no relativism here. If people just followed his instructions and fucking well got it right, the world would be a better place. You know what I mean? Charity begins at home, in the kitchen, making me a cup of tea.
Friday, August 05, 2005
New Dark Age
Music: The Sound 'From the Lion's Mouth' (1981)
"Directionless so plain to see/a loaded gun won't set you free" sang Joy Division's Ian Curtis, and
self-consciously earned himself a place in the historic pantheon of romantic suicides. Adrian
Borland sang "I was gonna drown/but then I started swimming/I was going down/but then I started winning" whilst he evidently wasn't winning. The Sound struggled commercially whilst Borland struggled with his sanity, but his suicide in 1999 came way too late for the kids to care. No romance here, just bravery, and startling music.
You can buy the album at http://www.renascent.co.uk/
"Directionless so plain to see/a loaded gun won't set you free" sang Joy Division's Ian Curtis, and
self-consciously earned himself a place in the historic pantheon of romantic suicides. Adrian
Borland sang "I was gonna drown/but then I started swimming/I was going down/but then I started winning" whilst he evidently wasn't winning. The Sound struggled commercially whilst Borland struggled with his sanity, but his suicide in 1999 came way too late for the kids to care. No romance here, just bravery, and startling music.
You can buy the album at http://www.renascent.co.uk/
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
aliens: leave my ass alone
Mood: hoping that an emotionally and intellectually advanced, benign alien species will come and transport us all to their arcadian cyber-utopia and gently teach us all to be a bit less violent and stupid, but not, like in alien abduction cases, put things in our asses.
Music: a random series of spiritless 4 bit tones from a C64 emulator
Current reading:
Terror and Liberalism by Paul Berman
Dissent Magazine
Hmm. Concerned that this blog may have become impenetrable and alienating. If you came here to find out about my favourite colour or what I did last night whilst hanging tough with my homies, I apologise. Lighten up Talbot!
---------------------------------------------------------
The carnival of culture
Multiculturalism has to be a robust exchange of ideas, rather than of festivals and food
Hanif Kureishi
Thursday August 4, 2005
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,1542252,00.html
"...I found these sessions so intellectually stultifying and claustrophobic that at the end I'd rush into the nearest pub and drink rapidly, wanting to reassure myself I was still in England. It is not only in the mosques but also in so-called "faith" schools that such ideas are propagated. The Blair government, while attempting to rid us of radical clerics, has pledged to set up more of these schools, as though a "moderate" closed system is completely different to an "extreme" one. This might suit Blair and Bush. A benighted, ignorant enemy, incapable of independent thought, and terrified of criticism, is easily patronised."
Music: a random series of spiritless 4 bit tones from a C64 emulator
Current reading:
Terror and Liberalism by Paul Berman
Dissent Magazine
Hmm. Concerned that this blog may have become impenetrable and alienating. If you came here to find out about my favourite colour or what I did last night whilst hanging tough with my homies, I apologise. Lighten up Talbot!
---------------------------------------------------------
The carnival of culture
Multiculturalism has to be a robust exchange of ideas, rather than of festivals and food
Hanif Kureishi
Thursday August 4, 2005
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,1542252,00.html
"...I found these sessions so intellectually stultifying and claustrophobic that at the end I'd rush into the nearest pub and drink rapidly, wanting to reassure myself I was still in England. It is not only in the mosques but also in so-called "faith" schools that such ideas are propagated. The Blair government, while attempting to rid us of radical clerics, has pledged to set up more of these schools, as though a "moderate" closed system is completely different to an "extreme" one. This might suit Blair and Bush. A benighted, ignorant enemy, incapable of independent thought, and terrified of criticism, is easily patronised."
Monday, August 01, 2005
[--:--]
mood: three hour tailback on the M4
music: whatever is playing on the Irish radio station which is the sole thing our car stereo can receive
Bob Mould has a new album out. Pitchfork seem to like it, in their way. It's often hard to penetrate the snake-eating-its-own-tail rhetoric deep enough to decipher exactly what Pitchfork thinks about anything.
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/m/mould_bob/body-of-song.shtml
music: whatever is playing on the Irish radio station which is the sole thing our car stereo can receive
Bob Mould has a new album out. Pitchfork seem to like it, in their way. It's often hard to penetrate the snake-eating-its-own-tail rhetoric deep enough to decipher exactly what Pitchfork thinks about anything.
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/m/mould_bob/body-of-song.shtml
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