Goodbye Mr. Waldheim

Kurt Waldheim died today. Honestly, this doesn't really hold much significance for me except that the only reason I know who Kurt Waldheim was is because of Lou Reed's "Good Evening Mr. Waldheim" from the New York album, which I haven't listened to in quite a long time.

Top Ten Non-PC Songs?

I took a (late) movie back to the video store today and heard one of my favorite Devo songs, "Mongoloid," playing. It made me smile. How silly and absurd they were to write a song about the mentally challenged, which, somehow, makes it really, really funny to me. And it would very, very likely be really, really offensive to a lot of people--if not when they wrote it, definitely in our current wear-my-heart-on-my-sleeve litigious society. I'd probably rank it in the top ten non-PC songs.

Mongoloid, he was a mongoloid
Happier than you and me
Mongoloid, he was a mongoloid
And it determined what he could see
Mongoloid, he was a mongoloid
One chromosome too many
Mongoloid, he was a mongoloid
And it determined what he could see
And he wore a hat
And he had a job
And he brought home the bacon
So that no one knew
Mongoloid, he was a mongoloid
His friends were unaware
Mongoloid, he was a mongoloid
Nobody even cared

I say "probably" on purpose, because I wonder whether they were really writing a song about some mentally challenged guy making his way, unobserved, in the workforce. This just seems too easy of an interpretation, especially when interpreting a band like Devo. Those guys were much smarter than that. It seems much more likely to me to be a stab at Corporate America (or something in that ilk). The guy went to his job, brought home a paycheck--he essentially did what everyone else was doing and did it so well that no one could tell what he was. If he could fit in that well with those around him, what does that say about those around him? About the society they/we live in? Their lives are no more special than the "special" guy in the song.

80s New Wave Is Back, Baby

Was introduced Monday to a new band: The Epoxies. I've read it described as the bastard child of Debbie Harry and Devo, and this isn't far off the mark. Add a little Talking Heads, Joe Jackson, and some top-40 to the gene pool, but be sure to go heavy on the synth. Being a musical child of the 80s, I am thoroughly enjoying it.

I still don't have internet access at home, so I imagine that I'll continue blogging more infrequently. That is, until/unless I get a laptop. I should probably get one anyway, this windowless fluorescent-lit dungeon of an office is just depressing. I feel the need to be mobile. The thing is, I don't know what kind of laptop to get. I've set my sights on a Mac (like my desktop), but now they've moved to Intel-based processors (not Windows OS, mind you!), so it seems reasonable to think that Power PC-based programs (which is what Macs have run on until the new processors) will become obsolete at some point, which means I should probably get a new one with the Intel processor, but since they're new they're also buggy and expensive, and I'll mainly be using it for word processing and email and blogging, etc. anyway so why not get a cheaper soon-to-be-outdated Powerbook (to match my outdated PowerMac desktop) rather than the new Macbook, except that the Macbooks are faster and maybe I want to do something more with it than email and word processing one day. Breathe. I love my Mac, but what would be wrong with getting a PC laptop, besides the inferior OS? It'd likely be cheaper and run just as fast/well, and since I use Microsoft Office for Mac, the files transfer easily between the Mac and PC OSs, and any music, etc. I downloaded or DVDs I burned wouldn't be a problem to put on my Mac from the PC. Breathe. Sigh.

I've been playing around with my Google homepage lately. There are literally hundreds of little things (calendars, games, news, sports, etc.) you can insert into your homepage. But, at the risk of cluttering up one page, you can have multiple pages accessed through tabs. Pretty cool. One of the things I added to my page was a section from the How Stuff Works website. Yesterday was a pretty interesting article "How Hangovers Work." Today there is a nice article on "How Beer Works." They've got a few videos of the owner of the Brick Store Pub in Decatur, GA -- a most excellent place to have a pint, BTW -- talking about beer-related topics.

Speaking of beer, I think I found a new old beer fridge. I've been rearranging a corner of my room for a space. I think it will work. Goodbye bottles! My kegs have gone missing for long enough.

Yes, I saw the poor-quality cell phone video of Saddam's hanging. Now that's swift justice, my friends.

Bad Brains (Rastafarians who started playing punk and reggae in the early 80s) is supposedly back in the studio and almost ready to unveil their first album in ten years or so. I lost interest as they leaned toward more reggae and even heavy metal after they're second album -- that, and they kept breaking up and reuniting all the time. Well, this latest album is supposed to go back to their hardcore punk roots. If they tour, I've absolutely got to see them. Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch is producing the album. No surprise there, really -- at least two Beastie Boys songs feature samples from Bad Brains.

Iggy & the Stooges are also coming out with a new album sometime this year. I got to see Iggy (solo) several years ago at the 40 Watt here in Athens. It'd be sweet to see the Stooges, too (minus the one who died a while back, of course), for another show.

The Cowboy Junkies will be taping and filming a concert at the Holy Trinity Church in Toronto to commemorate the 20th anniversary of The Trinity Sessions. And to make some more money off of a really good album.

I should be finishing my syllabi for classes next week, but instead I'm just filling my time and this space full of music and beer related crap. No more, my sweet. No more.

Sufjan Stevens has a 5-disc box set, Songs for Christmas, that came out at the end of November. And there are more goodies in it than just the music. There are no more at Amazon.com, but you can get one at BarnesandNoble.com*. Do it. Now.

*You can't get one at B&N anymore. I got mine straight from the source, Asthmatic Kitty Records.

Matthew Ryan

His show last night (with David Mead and Thad Cockrell) here in Athens was most excellent. Matthew played sans his trusty sidekick Brian Bequette, but David and Thad did a fair job as substitutes. Instead of Brian's haunting guitar as background, we had Thad's harmonicas and David's mandolin. An interesting substitute, but it worked, particularly since David and Thad were decidely more folk- and bluegrass-oriented in their music than Matthew. D/T were also good substitutes for the banter that Matthew and Brian usually engage in during their shows. (Much to Kim's chagrin, I'm sure! "Just play!" I recall her saying during one of B/M's drawn out and irrelevant discussions from a previous show. Love it.)

Matthew played from his new album, From A Late Night HighRise, which we purchased and which we've been listening to. I remember his mentioning a couple of shows back at Eddie's Attic that he thought is was up there with May Day. Since that's my favorite of his albums, and since I've only listened to HighRise a few times, I can't agree with him at this point, but it's a good album nonetheless.

We talked to Matthew a little before and after the show. He seemed genuinely glad that we made it to see him. Funny thing was that he thought we were from Atlanta, since we'd mostly seen him play there. I hope he makes it to Athens more often.

1. Saw Syriana Saturday night. It seemed to get good critical reviews, but I found it pretty boring and (as Simon Cowell would say) unmemorable. Political thriller? Well, they got the political part right. Very hard to follow. So was Memento, but at least that one kept my attention. The coolest part of Syriana was when Clooney's character got all of his fingernails ripped off with pincers. Mmmm, pincers.
   
2. Speaking of movies, I replaced my special edition copy of This Is Spinal Tap. Some sap ran away with it a while back. This one will not leave my place of residence. Period.
3. I've been listening to Death Cab For Cutie's early album (their first one, I believe). For the most part, it's very different from the bulk of their two latest albums. Less airy and ethereal both musically and vocally. More of the rough-and-tumble driving feedback guitar that I dig, some of it with a decidedly alt/punk feel. With 18 songs on the album there's definitely a mix, some songs anticipating the path they took on their latest albums, while some of their latest (I'm thinking mainly of "We Looked Like Giants" and parts of "Expo '86" from Transatlanticism) is reminiscent of this early stuff. I like it a lot. There's also a fabulous cover of The Smith's "This Charming Man" on it--alone almost worth the purchase.
   
4. Headphones just keeps getting better.
   

Bauhaus was great. I'd never been to the Tabernacle (Atlanta) before, but it was a really great venue. Very cool.

Peter Murphy had this really hilarious mustache going on. Daniel Ash can still crank on that guitar and looked like he did in the 80s with his poofed hair (think Love and Rockets). Except that he's 48 years old. Talk is that they might do an album for next year. Twenty-two years after their breakup, and they might do an album?? I hope they don't turn out like the Stones and just shrivel up into mediocrity.

One thing to keep in mind about Bauhaus is that they have been credited with the first real "Goth" anthem: "Bela Lugosi's Dead." In fact, this song is supposed to have begun the whole Goth movement in rock music. (Some of the band members have kids, so I hear. I wonder what it would be like to be the son of someone credited with starting the goth movement in music history...) Goth music is riddled with dark themes of love and death, eerie minor chords with minimalist rhythms (no drum solos), and pale faces dressed in black clothes and black makeup. (Yes, I've worn black lipstick before, but it was only for the picture that was my previous blog profile photo.) There was plenty of that at the concert, but not everyone (including me) was dressed that way. Everyone on stage had on black, except for Murphy who had on some Brad-Pitt-in-Ocean's-Eleven blue shirt with shiny vertical stripes. So, most of the people were in character. Except for the two hispanic guys who were there. That was one demographic that I didn't expect to see there.

I was by myself, but somehow I ended up in a conversation with a man/woman couple and another guy (wearing a black three-piece suit with black necktie and black combat-type boots). Somehow it came out that I taught philosophy, so we started discussing that a bit. The man left to get more drinks and the woman asked me more about philosophy and just seemed to want to talk. Later when I was just scanning the room to see what there was to see, one of two other guys (dressed in black--one had on a t-shirt with this weird looking black poodle on it--but no white face make-up) who were near our conversation asked me about something he overheard me say. He was very soft-spoken and seemed the quiet type, but boy did he want to talk.

Turns out he considers himself Hindu. Eventually it came out that I was a Christian. We had an interesting conversation, but mostly I just listened. I didn't confront him when he noted commonalities among religions and say that they were all different paths up the same mountain. Wouldn't that have been the perfect time to gently say, "No, there's only one path up the mountain but many skirting it"? To give the gospel to this guy? Yes. Did I do any of that? No. Why not? Because I'm pathetic. After the show, he asked for any last reading suggestions (we'd talked a bit about books), but I couldn't think of anything on the spot. WHAT!? I COULDN'T THINK OF ANYTHING?? Man, how pathetic is that? Of course, during the ride back to Athens I thought of several and felt guilty for the entire drive. I still do.

ZOSO

Went to see ZOSO, a (the?) Led Zeppelin tribute band, Thursday night. (The punks didn't start until midnight, so I was pretty whipped on Friday. But I've been wanting to see them and Gordy convinced me.) It was a good show. They played some standards and some less-knowns, whipping out "Good Times Bad Times" -- possible my favorite LZ song -- during the encore. (Dad, you would've LOVED "Immigrant Song"!) Robert Plant looked a little flabby (for a skinny guy) and didn't seem to have much rhythm (or many moves -- you'd think a repertoire could be built up after 10 years), but he did a fine job of it.

I remember listening to Led Zeppelin III as a boy in the living room with Dad. Good times. It was funny watching the students at the show go nuts when "Plant" busted out the beginning screach of "Immigrant Song" and thinking, "I was probably listening to that song before their parents even met." During the show I took to reminiscing about the Dread Zeppelin shows I'd seen over the past 15 years. There is nothing quite like watching an Elvis impersonator singing LZ songs reggae style! Good times, indeed. If a concept like that appeals to you, get their first album, "Un-LED-ed." You won't be disappointed. (Apparently, after having broken up several times, they're touring once again. If they ever make it back over this way...)