Damn. The shit with WBM has taken down all of LP and FM's stuff from YouTube. SUCH a bummer for all the fans. I can't even begin to explain how much this turns me off of major corporate labels.
Here's a new link to another post of the FM video for "cigarette" that was refereced in this post.
WBM = Fail.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Another blast from the past
GUSTER.They're so good. I haven't listened to them in ages, and I don't have the last two or so albums, but I adore the older stuff. You can see in this picture that the drummer plays bongos and everything, and if you listen to their stuff, you can hear that they're a very drum-centric band, and he has a HUGE kit of drums, all of which he plays with his hands. Every time I've seen them live, I tend to just stare in awe at his taped up hands making magic on the drums. They're a pretty mellow band; great driving music, great work music too, it turns out. Check 'em out: Guster.com. I added a couple of songs to my playlist on the right, too.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
I don't believe in coddling
Has everyone heard about the girls' high school basketball team in TX that just won a 100-0 victory over some rival school? The story is here. The coach was fired after he made a statement about how he didn't support the apology issued by the winning school to the community and the losing school (an apology which, by the way, offered instead of the 100-0 win, to forfeit the game!?!? WTF?!). I raise my glass to that coach. Good for him. What was he supposed to do, tell his girls to start losing because they were winning by too much? They were supposed to quit playing? That's absurd. Is that what we want to teach our kids now - that you should go easy when you feel bad for someone - that winning is a bad thing? No, because it's not. They're playing a team sport. The point of playing sports games is to win, not to hold hands and sing cum-ba-yah. I think it would have been degrading to the losing team if the winning team had just given up on playing. It's wrong to let someone win because you feel bad for them, and it's equally wrong to play down to them for the same reason.
Kids are coddled now a days, and I hate it with a passion. When we were kids, someone won and someone lost; someone got picked last in gym class; some kids had no stickers next to their name on the multiplication tables leader board; some kids didn't make the team; some kids made the team and rode the bench; the monkey bars were 10 feet high over concrete, and we played king of the mountain on them - and someone always got to be king, while some never got to be because they just weren't tough enough. That's the way it went back then, and the way it should still go now. You're teaching your kids to be wusses by treating them this way. These kids were all respectable kids, and none of them needed the parental intervention that led to this coach being fired. The winners didn't gloat, and were completely upstanding about the fact that they kicked some ass. The losers were equally gracious, I think I read a quote somewhere from one of the players to the effect of "you win some, you lose some, and then you move on." Their coach said something similar, about how the girls that lost just picked up and moved on to the next game. Good for them, and I hereby issue a smack in the head to their parents, who whined and cried about the win being "shameful." Maybe if your kid (or maybe it's you) can't handle a good old fashioned ass-whooping on the basketball court, they shouldn't be involved in organized sports. Sign them up for piano lessons. Or art classes. But only if they're wicked good at it, and they are assured not to fail, because God forbid they learn something about life in the real world.
Kids are coddled now a days, and I hate it with a passion. When we were kids, someone won and someone lost; someone got picked last in gym class; some kids had no stickers next to their name on the multiplication tables leader board; some kids didn't make the team; some kids made the team and rode the bench; the monkey bars were 10 feet high over concrete, and we played king of the mountain on them - and someone always got to be king, while some never got to be because they just weren't tough enough. That's the way it went back then, and the way it should still go now. You're teaching your kids to be wusses by treating them this way. These kids were all respectable kids, and none of them needed the parental intervention that led to this coach being fired. The winners didn't gloat, and were completely upstanding about the fact that they kicked some ass. The losers were equally gracious, I think I read a quote somewhere from one of the players to the effect of "you win some, you lose some, and then you move on." Their coach said something similar, about how the girls that lost just picked up and moved on to the next game. Good for them, and I hereby issue a smack in the head to their parents, who whined and cried about the win being "shameful." Maybe if your kid (or maybe it's you) can't handle a good old fashioned ass-whooping on the basketball court, they shouldn't be involved in organized sports. Sign them up for piano lessons. Or art classes. But only if they're wicked good at it, and they are assured not to fail, because God forbid they learn something about life in the real world.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Social Vibe - Music for Relief
Okay, I figured out how to get the charitable ads posted into my side bar. There's a Billabong ad and an Ed Hardy ad in the side bar on the right now. When you click on them, the sponsors will make a donation to Music for Relief. Music for Relief is a grassroots organization made up of musicians, music industry professionals, and fans. It's purposes are to aid victims of natural disasters and raise social awareness about global warming and its effects. From the MFR website:
OUR MISSION: To respond to natural disasters and help victims recover and rebuild with an emphasis on housing, education programs and resources. MUSIC FOR RELIEF also recognizes the environmental consequences of global warming, which has demonstrated the capability to accelerate and strengthen certain types of natural disasters. Therefore the second goal of MUSIC FOR RELIEF is to prevent and decrease future natural disasters by reducing greenhouse gasses, seeking renewable forms of energy and educating the public about climate change.
Just by clicking on one of my links, a donation will be made. No actual money donation required on your part, just a little clicky. As I write this, the current drive is to raise funds to help with Haitian hurricane relief.
OUR MISSION: To respond to natural disasters and help victims recover and rebuild with an emphasis on housing, education programs and resources. MUSIC FOR RELIEF also recognizes the environmental consequences of global warming, which has demonstrated the capability to accelerate and strengthen certain types of natural disasters. Therefore the second goal of MUSIC FOR RELIEF is to prevent and decrease future natural disasters by reducing greenhouse gasses, seeking renewable forms of energy and educating the public about climate change.
Just by clicking on one of my links, a donation will be made. No actual money donation required on your part, just a little clicky. As I write this, the current drive is to raise funds to help with Haitian hurricane relief.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Social Vibe - Music for Relief
This is meant to be a widget in my sidebar. Clearly my blogging skills have just taken a step backwards because I'm having such issues with getting it in there. Anyway, Just by clicking the link, you can support Music for Relief. Just your click will help a good cause.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Life in New England
I received this as an email forward, and couldn't resist posting it. It's so true! There's so many things I could add to this, too! Post comments adding your favorite New England-isms!
Forget Rednecks, here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about
New Englanders...
If your local Dairy Queen is closed from October through April, you live in New England.
If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in New England.
If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in New England.
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in New England.
If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of New York City for the weekend, you live in New England.
If you measure distance in hours, you live in New England.
If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in New England.
If you have switched from 'heat ' to 'A/C' in the same day and back again, you live in New England.
If you can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in New England.
If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you live in New England.
If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you live in New England.
If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in New England.
If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 70 and everybody is passing you, you live in New England.
If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in New England.
If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you live in New England.
If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in New England.
If you find 20 degrees 'a little chilly', you live in New England.
If there's a Dunkin Donuts on every corner, you live in New England.
Forget Rednecks, here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about
New Englanders...
If your local Dairy Queen is closed from October through April, you live in New England.
If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in New England.
If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in New England.
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in New England.
If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of New York City for the weekend, you live in New England.
If you measure distance in hours, you live in New England.
If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in New England.
If you have switched from 'heat ' to 'A/C' in the same day and back again, you live in New England.
If you can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in New England.
If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you live in New England.
If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you live in New England.
If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in New England.
If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 70 and everybody is passing you, you live in New England.
If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in New England.
If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you live in New England.
If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in New England.
If you find 20 degrees 'a little chilly', you live in New England.
If there's a Dunkin Donuts on every corner, you live in New England.
The House of God
I just finished reading this, and I will never think of hospitals or doctors the same again. It was excellent. This is billed as a novel, but really it's a memoir about the training of doctors in the United States. Specifically, it centers around the author's internship year at Beth-Israel Medical Center (the "House of God" referred to in the title) in the early 1970's. It's riveting. It's eye-opening to read about what these people are put through in the name of medicine and the "delivery of medical care." At times it's really pretty depressing, but that takes nothing away from the quality of the writing, which is excellent, or from the story, which is both compelling and shocking. Half way through, as the narrator is starting to become a machine during his MICU rotation, I found myself not seeing what was so bad or wrong with his behavior - I was sympathetic. This book really got to me. I highly recommend it.
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