Month: February 2005

This clip can't be for real, can it?

I recently linked to the Good Doctor's last article not knowing it would be his last article. You've probably heard that Hunter S. Thompson has committed suicide by now. You could say a lot of things about the Good Doctor, but from what I'd read I would've have never pegged as suicidal, he had a wit that was nothing short of homicidal when locked on a target, but not suicidal.

The least ESPN could do is create some type of order amid the jumbled mess they've left of his Page 2 archive. It wasn't such a trainwreck just last week. And although Hunter's taste has been questioned by money, it is pretty distasteful that the top story in his archive is listed as “Thompson: Death in the afternoon” followed by “Thompson: XFL, R.I.P.” There's really not a need to put his Dale Earnhardt and end of the XFL stories at the top, but the titles speak for themselves.

People who are easily offended probably shouldn't be reading Hunter S. Thompson anyway, they may also be people who are often offended by the truth yet choose to ignore it. But ESPN's inappropriate archiving is not so much offensive, as it reeks with a lack of respect.

Nice post on Stereogum with excerpts from the Kevin Federline cover issue. If giving someone a cover story is the sacrifice one must make to bury them, so be it. Miss Spears has gotten much more than her promised 15 minutes, so someone please show her her lovely parting gifts, and the door too while you're at it.

It's been awhile since I paid a nod to the mash-up community. Remember the Grey album? You know, Danger Mouse, Black album (not this one, not this one either), White album, lawsuits, etc…Right,then. Well CCC presents Revolved. It's what once was Revolver. And although it's been out a bit longer, and not based on a classic album, there's Flip the Switch. A reworking of the new Chemical Brothers album, Push the Button. I just heard the last track, “Surface to Air” on Liquid Todd's show last night, hence the impetus behind this post.

Oh, and although there's no link, (Well, perhaps that will be fixed by post time), I heard new Gorillaz last evening as well. Sounded like they had the Pharcyde on it, but I'm likely to be wrong. Then again, maybe not.

Suicide Bomber Barbie. No further comments needed.

The Good Doctor Hunter S. Thompson has reinvented the sport of golf.

You know I was goingt to type more, but there's really no point. If you read the article, you've read enough. If you need anymore insight from me to spell this out to you, it's likely you're a simpleton. And likely is my kind way of saying, “Are you a fucking imbecile?”

But you didn't need all those extra words there. Those were just for my own good, so I can save this post and feel that it was more than just a link to a worthy article.

But it wasn't. Mahalo.

If you haven't read The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, then you haven't read The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. Usually sentences that start off with “If you haven't read…”, follow up with “what the fuck is wrong with you?” or “run out to the store and buy this right now” or even “mix 2 cups of flour with the whites of 4 eggs”. But I didn't really finish it off that way. I just stated fact.

Now's where I force my opinion on you. I feel compelled to write about this graphic novel, since I read it about 2 or maybe 3 months ago, yet it still sticks out in my mind. It's also lead me to read Dark Victory and Batman: Haunted Knight by the same writer/illustrator team.

Oh…I hadn't mentioned The Batman yet. No matter, this book is a suitable entry to any whodunit fans that don't normally read comics as well. Excellent pacing, great visuals.

And if you're Batman fan, I guess you've read this already.

Tim Sale's interpretation of The Joker alone is worth the cover price. The teeth never end. I've included a thumbnail of a Joker sketch from a web site featuring Tim's art.

Other non-Batman recent reads of the graphic novel variety: Goodbye Chunky Rice, David Boring, Halo & Sprocket, Ghost World, Electric Girl, Ancient Joe, and Hopeless Savages. I may one day again read a book that's just words, but right now I'm enjoying these too much, and I found them all at my local public library.

Sometimes I wonder whether my writing is maturing or fermenting.

I like these guys, and if you hadn't heard of them it's because of the overzealous press release that accompanied their debut CD. Immediate comparisons to Sonic Youth, The Fall, Dinosaur Jr,and Royal Trux elicit salivation in the mouths of the IRS that write so many reviews. (You know I started re-reading and am almost ashamed of using IRS in here. But among other things, I am an income tax preparer, so you could imagine where my head is these days, aside from up my own ass.) The acronym was for indie rock snobs. (I really freakin' hate that term, “indie”. It should go away, sure labels are independent and non-derivative musicians can certainly lay claim to an independent sound, but “indie” is no indication of the type of sound created. After all, they named the dog Indiana. And while we're calling for the deathknell for the term indie, (which should find a nice burial plot beside alternative, post-modern, and progressive (the late 80's pregressive definition)), could someone please re-release “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (no not a cover the original, any cover by the current crop of radio-friendly mallpunks would just make matters worse), 'cus radio really needs a strong dose (I actually re-read this sentence because I got lost too and the word uberdose (with umlaut(not shown)) came to mind. I immediately considered a lobotomy.) of triclosan to eradicate the current bacterial infection, and I have no fucking clue where the next sound is going to come from to break this camel's back. (Of course everyone knows that bateria mutates and develops resistance when opposed by anti-bacterial products, so my triclosan metaphor is pretty much as inefficient and ineffective as triclosan itself.)(By the way, anyone having difficulty following these parentheses needs to deal or visit another site. This is what you get when you mess with us.)(I've also eliminated paragraph breaks from this post to reduce readability for your inconvenience. I would type all caps except it would annoy me too much as I type, so be thankful this is as bad as it gets.) Perfectly mussed hair coming from bands who's influences go as far back as Blink-182, are leading today's youth down a path all too familiar to those taken in by hair bands in their youth, who later realized that most of their cassette collection was better off as unrefined crude oil. Those who never realized and remain blissfully ignorant may be blessed, their interest in music may have ended there. They've gone on to middle management, pattern baldness, and NASCAR. But those that have seen the error of their ways are deavastated, they've strayed from the ordinary found something else, and felt the emptiness of what they had missed. Back catalog purchases of the Ramones and the Clash are helpful in healing these wounds, but what about the kids today. How do we prevent this to happen to them? The shelf-life of many of these current bands is reaching the end. If you keep drinking the expired milk you will puke. It's a fact. The aural equivalent of post-partum depression looms in their future, and without a new baby to care for it will worsen. Those of you fooled by hair bands, must rise up and tell your nieces and nephews their favorite bands suck. It's tough love, but whoever said love was easy like Lionel Richie on Sunday morning.) Although it's really not a behavior limited to critics. By now we know the louder the hype, the greater something will suck. We've been given a license by these claims to search for suckiness (you get my point) in these things. And damned if we don't find it more often than not. But unfortunately for the bands who are making records, they do not write the press releases of their labels, and need to deal with the repercussions. All this said, the “these guys” mentioned before do not suck. And Warren Ellis would refer to this recommendation as whorebaggery, and so be it. (Although there's certainly nothing wrong with promoting the work of Lauren McCubbin) I know the Sudden Ensemble. I've seen them play at the Repellent Festival. John Peel apparently liked them (Search the track listings), too. I hated the record label write up of their album, because there's no sense creating big shoes to be filled, when there's really no need to fill them. They've got some mp3's here and here. Listen and enjoy. Hopefully there will be some upcoming shows, which will certainly be mentioned at this humble blog. And check out the artwork at their apachematrix 11. The illustration is tip-top. I think I would have much rather have said a few nice things about them, plugged the URL, and have moved on, than have bookended a shepherds pie of a rant with my recommendation of their labors, but it's obviously too late. Did I mention they illustrated the Royal Trux comic as well? Well, they did. And I'm done, because much like many a train on Thomas the Tank Engine, my boiler's out of steam, and it's time to add the pre-requisite URLs and get some sleep. Buy here. Bye-bye.