-
-
Search
Archives for May 2004
Who Wrote This Stuff?
For the last week or so I haven’t been able to turn a radio dial without hearing Toby Keith and Willie Nelson singing “Beer for My Horses.”
I was a little shocked the first time I heard it on the radio. It’s pretty jingoistic even for Toby Keith. I’m actually a little surprised that Willie Nelson got involved, but it seems like he’ll do just about anything for a buck these days.
Selected lyrics follow, with my comments in italics:
Well, a man come on the 6 o’clock news, said somebody’s been shot, somebody’s been abused.
You mean like the prisoners at Abu Ghraib?
Grandpappy told my pappy, back in my day, son, a man had to answer for the wicked that he done. Take all the rope in Texas, find a tall oak tree. Round up all of them bad boys hang them high in the street for all the people to see.
Ah… Sweet nostalgia for the days of public executions at the hands of the mob! Those were the good ol’ days.
We’ll raise up our glasses against evil forces.
Did Willie Nelson and Toby Keith join the Superfriends?
Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses.
You know the PETA folks just love this song.
This little ditty has got to be pretty damn terrifying if you’re not an American because it confirms just about every anti-American stereotype out there.
Mark my words, it’s only a matter of time before some Italian DJ with a biting sense of irony remixes this into a European underground dance hit.
My Wrists Thank You
About four months ago I broke down and picked up a Kinesis Advantage keyboard because a constant tightness had developed in my wrists from spending so much time in front of my workstation.
It has really made a difference for me. It minimizes uncomfortable reaching and it keeps my hands in a comfortable resting position while I type. I haven’t bothered learning to use the advanced macro features yet but they look very interesting.
This one has been worth every penny of the seemingly ridiculous price.
Killed Him a Bear When He Was Only Three
I somehow missed this John Fund article on the forgotten libertarian credentials of Davy Crockett. It’s a shame that most people just associate him with Fess Parker and coonskin caps.
But I guess the caps are pretty neat.
Disney’s Problems and Belleville
I just watched The Triplets of Belleville and I was quite impressed. If you haven’t already seen it, go buy the DVD. Don’t bother renting it–you won’t want to give it back.
The cameo appearances were particularly amusing. Tune incarnations of Glenn Gould, Josephine Baker, Fred Astaire, and Django Reinhardt are peppered throughout the picture. The attention to detail is uncanny and the effect is absolutely charming.
As of late, Disney’s management seems to be under the mistaken impression that their disappointing success with recent animated features is merely symptomatic of their need to transition away from 2D animation entirely.
Pixar’s films (which Disney currently distributes) don’t succeed simply because they’re produced in render-farms. They succeed because John Lasseter and his colleagues are creative geniuses who constantly stay focused on the story.
Hopefully, the success of The Triplets of Belleville has served as a wake-up call to Eisner and his cronies, who desperately need to understand that animation technology is irrelevant if the storytelling is good.
Stories from Cannes
My sister’s rough life working as a correspondent for the Associated Press in France includes the miserable task of covering the Cannes Film Festival on an annual basis. There are some absolutely riotous stories from this year’s festival in a story she wrote that hit the wire today.
My personal favorite involves Jean-Luc Godard calling Michael Moore “halfway intelligent.”
But I’ve known that for years.
Taxonomy
Lessons learned from David Barron’s “Hobo Glossary” in the liner notes of the Kronos Quartet’s CD recording of Harry Partch’s “U.S. Highball” (a hobo themed piece of avant-garde mid-century microtonal music):
- Hobos are migratory workers who wander from place to place.
- Tramps wander, but refuse to work on principle.
- Bums neither wander nor work.
This Is News?
How did an article about the waning popularity of duckpins make it onto the front page of today’s Washington Post?
Out of Kindness I Suppose…
I was sitting around listening to Townes Van Zandt’s Live at the Old Quarter with a friend the other day and he pointed out something I found rather disturbing about “Pancho and Lefty.”
The song never explicitly indicates that Pancho and Lefty ever met. The only link between them is the fact that “the dust that Pancho bit down south, it ended up in Lefty’s mouth.”
I had always just assumed that they were accomplices or something. I guess not.
Carry on.
The Special Management Meal
Why bother sexually humiliating those Iraqi prisoners when you can just force them to eat the nutritious–yet far from delicious–disciplinary loaf?
The Humanity!
In case you were wondering what it’s like to experience a tapeworm infestation (with nice illustrations).
Now I Hate Sofia Coppola Even More
I just saw Lost in Translation and I honestly don’t understand the appeal.
The cinematography was breathtaking, and the film could have been bearable had I chosen to view it with the sound muted. Instead, I somehow subjected myself to 102 minutes of watching an elitist directionless bitch and a washed-up actor “connect” by sharing their general malaise.
No stars.
