See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die
12.02.2008
TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
I know, it's early, there's still an entire month left before 2009...but glancing at Amazon's "New Release" list, I can't see anything coming out between now and the end of the month that would change my mind. (Other than a Cat Power vinyl EP...grrrr...)
Unlike movies, (which I hope to actually get done THIS YEAR) the music industry doesn't wait until the last possible second to release the best it has to offer. So without further ado, here's my picks for the Top 10 Albums of 2008:
10. SHE & HIM * VOLUME: 1
I've loved Zooey Deschanel's voice ever since she sang "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Leon Redbone on the ELF soundtrack. M. Ward, I actually passed off as just another singer-songwriter who's friends with Jack Johnson. But together, they created one of the sweetest, most romantic melodies of the year. Try and not get goosebumps while listening to "You Really Gotta Hold On Me." It's impossible.
9. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS * DIG!!! LAZARUS, DIG!!!
Still randy off singing "No Pussy Blues" from his Grinderman days, Nick Cave brought his Bad Seeds along on a wild and adventurous ride following Lazarus's tale of coming back to life. Songs like, "Lie Down Here (And Be My Girl)" and "We Call Upon The Author" demand your full attention, or else there will be consequences.
8. DAVID BYRNE & BRIAN ENO * EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS WILL HAPPEN TODAY
This album would probably be ranked higher if it didn't just come out a couple weeks ago. I've listened to it repeatedly ever since I bought it, and love most of the tracks. A few here and there wander off too far for my taste, but given enough time, I probably would have fallen in love with them all. Give "Life is Long" a spin and see if you dig it as much as I do.
7. FOXBORO HOT TUBS * STOP DROP AND ROLL!!!
I'm a sucker for 50's type sock-hop music. You give me a backbeat, and I'm all yours. Toss in the members of Green Day and a sense of fun and nonsense, and I'm swooning. This record just encompassed the fact that you can sell millions of albums, win plenty of Grammy awards, and still make a silly, pointless album. They are so carefree and loose on here, and songs like "Mother Mary" just echo the call that more bands should try this.
6. RANDY NEWMAN * HARPS & ANGELS
Yes, he's that old guy who sang the Toy Story song. He's also one of the sharpest wits out there and can write a sad love song that can rip your heart out straight from your chest. Oh, and he's damn funny. Basically, he's insanely awesome and you should feel like a total asshole for assuming he's lame. Even Amazon doesn't respect him enough to make his album picture regular size. Go listen to "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country" and educate yourself...fool.
5. BOB DYLAN * TELL TALE SIGNS: BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 8
Everyone knows I'm a huge Bob Dylan fan. Especially late Dylan. Sure, "Blood on the Tracks" is a classic, but "Time Out of Mind" is the best for me. Lucky for me, this collection of out-takes and B-sides focus mostly off that album and ones thereafter. It's two discs of bliss, (if you're a Dylan fan, obviously. Molly would define it as "torture.") and songs like "Red River Shore" are so good, you wonder how they ended up on the cutting room floor.
4. VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Much like the David Byrne & Brian Eno album, this one is probably suffering from the time it was released. But in this one's case, it's the fact that it's nearly a year old now. Don't get me wrong, it was one of the few albums to match the humongous hype surrounding it, but it's kind of slid a lil' bit in recent months. I love it like it's the 2nd child I'll never have. The other three albums before it are mighty awesome and wonderful...and Vampire Weekend is good too. Just in a different way.
3. LITTLE JOY
A side project from the drummer of The Strokes and the guitarist from Los Hermanos, Little Joy is probably my biggest surprise of the year. It caught me off-guard and completely stole my heart. A cross between The Velvet Underground (with Nico!) and sipping fruity drinks on the beach, this album will make you smile. Period. It's simple, romantic, and short enough that each listen leaves you longing for more. What more could you ask for from a record? Listen to "Don't Watch Me Dancing" and remember what it feels like to get swept off your feet.
2. RA RA RIOT * THE RHUMB LINE
The circumstances surrounding the recording of this album are tragic and weigh heavy on the sound they were able to achieve. Their drummer drown in the ocean following a concert in Massachusetts, and as a band, they had to make the difficult decision of continuing on without him. With only an EP under their belt, The Rhumb Line is actually their debut, and it's simply remarkable. They create a rich sound with stings, dual vocals, and just incredibly catchy pop melodies. This album is top notch and all around a treat for your senses. It took me to the East Coast, even though I've never been to New England. See where songs like, "St. Peter's Day Festival" take you.
1. ELBOW * THE SELDOM SEEN KID
Easily the best album of the year. I made that statement when I bought it, and throughout the entire year, nothing was able to beat it. It's glorious, it's epic, it's outstanding in scope and purpose. Elbow set out to make a masterpiece and they delivered. Each and every song sets the bar higher. This is truly the reason people come up with "Albums of the Year." To showcase something that slides in under the radar. Something that captures the essence of why we all adore music so much. Songs like "One Day Like This" prove that this band is no fluke, and that this record deserves all the praise it can get.
Unlike movies, (which I hope to actually get done THIS YEAR) the music industry doesn't wait until the last possible second to release the best it has to offer. So without further ado, here's my picks for the Top 10 Albums of 2008:
10. SHE & HIM * VOLUME: 1
I've loved Zooey Deschanel's voice ever since she sang "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Leon Redbone on the ELF soundtrack. M. Ward, I actually passed off as just another singer-songwriter who's friends with Jack Johnson. But together, they created one of the sweetest, most romantic melodies of the year. Try and not get goosebumps while listening to "You Really Gotta Hold On Me." It's impossible.
9. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS * DIG!!! LAZARUS, DIG!!!
Still randy off singing "No Pussy Blues" from his Grinderman days, Nick Cave brought his Bad Seeds along on a wild and adventurous ride following Lazarus's tale of coming back to life. Songs like, "Lie Down Here (And Be My Girl)" and "We Call Upon The Author" demand your full attention, or else there will be consequences.
8. DAVID BYRNE & BRIAN ENO * EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS WILL HAPPEN TODAY
This album would probably be ranked higher if it didn't just come out a couple weeks ago. I've listened to it repeatedly ever since I bought it, and love most of the tracks. A few here and there wander off too far for my taste, but given enough time, I probably would have fallen in love with them all. Give "Life is Long" a spin and see if you dig it as much as I do.
7. FOXBORO HOT TUBS * STOP DROP AND ROLL!!!
I'm a sucker for 50's type sock-hop music. You give me a backbeat, and I'm all yours. Toss in the members of Green Day and a sense of fun and nonsense, and I'm swooning. This record just encompassed the fact that you can sell millions of albums, win plenty of Grammy awards, and still make a silly, pointless album. They are so carefree and loose on here, and songs like "Mother Mary" just echo the call that more bands should try this.
6. RANDY NEWMAN * HARPS & ANGELS
Yes, he's that old guy who sang the Toy Story song. He's also one of the sharpest wits out there and can write a sad love song that can rip your heart out straight from your chest. Oh, and he's damn funny. Basically, he's insanely awesome and you should feel like a total asshole for assuming he's lame. Even Amazon doesn't respect him enough to make his album picture regular size. Go listen to "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country" and educate yourself...fool.
5. BOB DYLAN * TELL TALE SIGNS: BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 8
Everyone knows I'm a huge Bob Dylan fan. Especially late Dylan. Sure, "Blood on the Tracks" is a classic, but "Time Out of Mind" is the best for me. Lucky for me, this collection of out-takes and B-sides focus mostly off that album and ones thereafter. It's two discs of bliss, (if you're a Dylan fan, obviously. Molly would define it as "torture.") and songs like "Red River Shore" are so good, you wonder how they ended up on the cutting room floor.
4. VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Much like the David Byrne & Brian Eno album, this one is probably suffering from the time it was released. But in this one's case, it's the fact that it's nearly a year old now. Don't get me wrong, it was one of the few albums to match the humongous hype surrounding it, but it's kind of slid a lil' bit in recent months. I love it like it's the 2nd child I'll never have. The other three albums before it are mighty awesome and wonderful...and Vampire Weekend is good too. Just in a different way.
3. LITTLE JOY
A side project from the drummer of The Strokes and the guitarist from Los Hermanos, Little Joy is probably my biggest surprise of the year. It caught me off-guard and completely stole my heart. A cross between The Velvet Underground (with Nico!) and sipping fruity drinks on the beach, this album will make you smile. Period. It's simple, romantic, and short enough that each listen leaves you longing for more. What more could you ask for from a record? Listen to "Don't Watch Me Dancing" and remember what it feels like to get swept off your feet.
2. RA RA RIOT * THE RHUMB LINE
The circumstances surrounding the recording of this album are tragic and weigh heavy on the sound they were able to achieve. Their drummer drown in the ocean following a concert in Massachusetts, and as a band, they had to make the difficult decision of continuing on without him. With only an EP under their belt, The Rhumb Line is actually their debut, and it's simply remarkable. They create a rich sound with stings, dual vocals, and just incredibly catchy pop melodies. This album is top notch and all around a treat for your senses. It took me to the East Coast, even though I've never been to New England. See where songs like, "St. Peter's Day Festival" take you.
1. ELBOW * THE SELDOM SEEN KID
Easily the best album of the year. I made that statement when I bought it, and throughout the entire year, nothing was able to beat it. It's glorious, it's epic, it's outstanding in scope and purpose. Elbow set out to make a masterpiece and they delivered. Each and every song sets the bar higher. This is truly the reason people come up with "Albums of the Year." To showcase something that slides in under the radar. Something that captures the essence of why we all adore music so much. Songs like "One Day Like This" prove that this band is no fluke, and that this record deserves all the praise it can get.
11.28.2008
MERRY HANUKKAH!!!
The White House sent out Hanukkah cards last week with a Christmas Tree on them.
Only two months left, folks.
Two. Long. Months.
11.26.2008
BESIDES RANTING, I ALSO WRITE REVIEWS
All of these are posted over at INK, but I might as well link to them here as well...
MOVIES
Twilight
Madagascar 2
Zach & Miri Make a Porno
Pride & Glory
W
Religulous
Body of Lies
MUSIC
Gringo Star
Little Joy
The Billy Bats
Billy Wassung
Amanda Palmer
MOVIES
Twilight
Madagascar 2
Zach & Miri Make a Porno
Pride & Glory
W
Religulous
Body of Lies
MUSIC
Gringo Star
Little Joy
The Billy Bats
Billy Wassung
Amanda Palmer
11.21.2008
ANOTHER RANT ON WHY VOTERS SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO TAKE AWAY HUMAN RIGHTS
I was reading the Rolling Stone review of MILK last night, (I know Jamie, I shouldn't read them and spoil the experience for myself) and came across a startling fact.
Harvey Milk, (who later became the first openly gay man elected to public office in California, on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors) was fighting against a "California Proposition" of his own. The year was 1978, (one year before I was born) and "Prop. 6" was hoping to ban homosexuals from teaching in public schools in California.
...seriously.
One week before the election, with public opinion polls showing nearly 61% in favor of the Proposition, Ronald Reagan wrote an editorial in opposition to it, in which he stated, "Whatever else it is, homosexuality is not a contagious disease like the measles. Prevailing scientific opinion is that an individual's sexuality is determined at a very early age and that a child's teachers do not really influence this."
Just let that sink in for a second. The Godfather of Conservatism was against this bullshit proposition. Good for him.
And even though it ultimately failed, similar propositions had already passed in Oklahoma and Arkansas. Is this something we also should have let voters in states decide for themselves? At what point do we realize that it's not our place to take rights away from people? We cannot, and should not vote on civil rights. They are our birthright. We're have them from the moment we're born, no matter how much voters might want to take them away.
I can't wait for the California Supreme Court to finally overturn Prop. 8 early next year, on grounds that it's unconstitutional. And 30 years from now, let my son look back on this moment in history and wonder, "Why the fuck were they even debating that in the first place?!"
Harvey Milk, (who later became the first openly gay man elected to public office in California, on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors) was fighting against a "California Proposition" of his own. The year was 1978, (one year before I was born) and "Prop. 6" was hoping to ban homosexuals from teaching in public schools in California.
...seriously.
One week before the election, with public opinion polls showing nearly 61% in favor of the Proposition, Ronald Reagan wrote an editorial in opposition to it, in which he stated, "Whatever else it is, homosexuality is not a contagious disease like the measles. Prevailing scientific opinion is that an individual's sexuality is determined at a very early age and that a child's teachers do not really influence this."
Just let that sink in for a second. The Godfather of Conservatism was against this bullshit proposition. Good for him.
And even though it ultimately failed, similar propositions had already passed in Oklahoma and Arkansas. Is this something we also should have let voters in states decide for themselves? At what point do we realize that it's not our place to take rights away from people? We cannot, and should not vote on civil rights. They are our birthright. We're have them from the moment we're born, no matter how much voters might want to take them away.
I can't wait for the California Supreme Court to finally overturn Prop. 8 early next year, on grounds that it's unconstitutional. And 30 years from now, let my son look back on this moment in history and wonder, "Why the fuck were they even debating that in the first place?!"
PROOF THAT THERE IS NO GOD
Pushing Daisies has been canceled.
The only bright spot is that the series creator adores the world he created so much, that he's going to continue the stories in comic book form! (Ala Buffy.)
Meanwhile, Knight Rider is still on TV.
YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE THIS VIDEO!!!
Because even after I finished watching it, I still don't believe my eyes...
On Thursday, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, "pardoned" a turkey for Thanksgiving. Big fucking deal, right? Happens all the time.
The problem is, after doing that, she moved over to a different area and took some questions from the media. And in the background, I swear to God, a man is SLAUGHTERING a turkey!!!
Watch and see for yourself, as long as you don't have a weak stomach:
Her life is just one long Daily Show episode.
On Thursday, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, "pardoned" a turkey for Thanksgiving. Big fucking deal, right? Happens all the time.
The problem is, after doing that, she moved over to a different area and took some questions from the media. And in the background, I swear to God, a man is SLAUGHTERING a turkey!!!
Watch and see for yourself, as long as you don't have a weak stomach:
Her life is just one long Daily Show episode.
11.19.2008
NEWSFLASH: AL-QAIDA HATES OBAMA?!
But...but...I thought Obama was friends with terrorists?!
And nice use of the term, "house Negroes" boys. As if you all weren't hated enough.
And nice use of the term, "house Negroes" boys. As if you all weren't hated enough.
11.15.2008
11.11.2008
A VOTE AGAINST LOVE
Keith Olbermann was in rare form last night. He almost lost it a couple times during this Special Comment speaking out against those who defeated Prop. 8 in California. It's heartbreaking to watch, but all the more reason to never give up the fight. We're on the right side of history on this issue. Young people, future generations have no fear of homosexuality...and one day, we will outnumber those who do.
(full text below)
Finally tonight as promised, a Special Comment on the passage, last week, of Proposition Eight in California, which rescinded the right of same-sex couples to marry, and tilted the balance on this issue, from coast to coast.
Some parameters, as preface. This isn't about yelling, and this isn't about politics, and this isn't really just about Prop-8. And I don't have a personal investment in this: I'm not gay, I had to strain to think of one member of even my very extended family who is, I have no personal stories of close friends or colleagues fighting the prejudice that still pervades their lives.
And yet to me this vote is horrible. Horrible. Because this isn't about yelling, and this isn't about politics.
This is about the... human heart, and if that sounds corny, so be it.
If you voted for this Proposition or support those who did or the sentiment they expressed, I have some questions, because, truly, I do not... understand. Why does this matter to you? What is it to you? In a time of impermanence and fly-by-night relationships, these people over here want the same chance at permanence and happiness that is your option. They don't want to deny you yours. They don't want to take anything away from you. They want what you want -- a chance to be a little less alone in the world.
Only now you are saying to them -- no. You can't have it on these terms. Maybe something similar. If they behave. If they don't cause too much trouble. You'll even give them all the same legal rights -- even as you're taking away the legal right, which they already had. A world around them, still anchored in love and marriage, and you are saying, no, you can't marry. What if somebody passed a law that said you couldn't marry?
I keep hearing this term "re-defining" marriage.
If this country hadn't re-defined marriage, black people still couldn't marry white people. Sixteen states had laws on the books which made that illegal... in 1967. 1967.
The parents of the President-Elect of the United States couldn't have married in nearly one third of the states of the country their son grew up to lead. But it's worse than that. If this country had not "re-defined" marriage, some black people still couldn't marry...black people. It is one of the most overlooked and cruelest parts of our sad story of slavery. Marriages were not legally recognized, if the people were slaves. Since slaves were property, they could not legally be husband and wife, or mother and child. Their marriage vows were different: not "Until Death, Do You Part," but "Until Death or Distance, Do You Part." Marriages among slaves were not legally recognized.
You know, just like marriages today in California are not legally recognized, if the people are... gay.
And uncountable in our history are the number of men and women, forced by society into marrying the opposite sex, in sham marriages, or marriages of convenience, or just marriages of not knowing -- centuries of men and women who have lived their lives in shame and unhappiness, and who have, through a lie to themselves or others, broken countless other lives, of spouses and children... All because we said a man couldn't marry another man, or a woman couldn't marry another woman. The sanctity of marriage. How many marriages like that have there been and how on earth do they increase the "sanctity" of marriage rather than render the term, meaningless?
What is this, to you? Nobody is asking you to embrace their expression of love. But don't you, as human beings, have to embrace... that love? The world is barren enough.
It is stacked against love, and against hope, and against those very few and precious emotions that enable us to go forward. Your marriage only stands a 50-50 chance of lasting, no matter how much you feel and how hard you work.
And here are people overjoyed at the prospect of just that chance, and that work, just for the hope of having that feeling. With so much hate in the world, with so much meaningless division, and people pitted against people for no good reason, this is what your religion tells you to do? With your experience of life and this world and all its sadnesses, this is what your conscience tells you to do?
With your knowledge that life, with endless vigor, seems to tilt the playing field on which we all live, in favor of unhappiness and hate... this is what your heart tells you to do? You want to sanctify marriage? You want to honor your God and the universal love you believe he represents? Then Spread happiness -- this tiny, symbolic, semantical grain of happiness -- share it with all those who seek it. Quote me anything from your religious leader or book of choice telling you to stand against this. And then tell me how you can believe both that statement and another statement, another one which reads only "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
---
You are asked now, by your country, and perhaps by your creator, to stand on one side or another. You are asked now to stand, not on a question of politics, not on a question of religion, not on a question of gay or straight. You are asked now to stand, on a question of...love. All you need do is stand, and let the tiny ember of love meet its own fate. You don't have to help it, you don't have it applaud it, you don't have to fight for it. Just don't put it out. Just don't extinguish it. Because while it may at first look like that love is between two people you don't know and you don't understand and maybe you don't even want to know...It is, in fact, the ember of your love, for your fellow **person...
Just because this is the only world we have. And the other guy counts, too.
This is the second time in ten days I find myself concluding by turning to, of all things, the closing plea for mercy by Clarence Darrow in a murder trial.
But what he said, fits what is really at the heart of this:
"I was reading last night of the aspiration of the old Persian poet, Omar-Khayyam," he told the judge.
"It appealed to me as the highest that I can vision. I wish it was in my heart, and I wish it was in the hearts of all:
"So I be written in the Book of Love;
"I do not care about that Book above.
"Erase my name, or write it as you will,
"So I be written in the Book of Love."
---
Good night, and good luck.
(full text below)
Finally tonight as promised, a Special Comment on the passage, last week, of Proposition Eight in California, which rescinded the right of same-sex couples to marry, and tilted the balance on this issue, from coast to coast.
Some parameters, as preface. This isn't about yelling, and this isn't about politics, and this isn't really just about Prop-8. And I don't have a personal investment in this: I'm not gay, I had to strain to think of one member of even my very extended family who is, I have no personal stories of close friends or colleagues fighting the prejudice that still pervades their lives.
And yet to me this vote is horrible. Horrible. Because this isn't about yelling, and this isn't about politics.
This is about the... human heart, and if that sounds corny, so be it.
If you voted for this Proposition or support those who did or the sentiment they expressed, I have some questions, because, truly, I do not... understand. Why does this matter to you? What is it to you? In a time of impermanence and fly-by-night relationships, these people over here want the same chance at permanence and happiness that is your option. They don't want to deny you yours. They don't want to take anything away from you. They want what you want -- a chance to be a little less alone in the world.
Only now you are saying to them -- no. You can't have it on these terms. Maybe something similar. If they behave. If they don't cause too much trouble. You'll even give them all the same legal rights -- even as you're taking away the legal right, which they already had. A world around them, still anchored in love and marriage, and you are saying, no, you can't marry. What if somebody passed a law that said you couldn't marry?
I keep hearing this term "re-defining" marriage.
If this country hadn't re-defined marriage, black people still couldn't marry white people. Sixteen states had laws on the books which made that illegal... in 1967. 1967.
The parents of the President-Elect of the United States couldn't have married in nearly one third of the states of the country their son grew up to lead. But it's worse than that. If this country had not "re-defined" marriage, some black people still couldn't marry...black people. It is one of the most overlooked and cruelest parts of our sad story of slavery. Marriages were not legally recognized, if the people were slaves. Since slaves were property, they could not legally be husband and wife, or mother and child. Their marriage vows were different: not "Until Death, Do You Part," but "Until Death or Distance, Do You Part." Marriages among slaves were not legally recognized.
You know, just like marriages today in California are not legally recognized, if the people are... gay.
And uncountable in our history are the number of men and women, forced by society into marrying the opposite sex, in sham marriages, or marriages of convenience, or just marriages of not knowing -- centuries of men and women who have lived their lives in shame and unhappiness, and who have, through a lie to themselves or others, broken countless other lives, of spouses and children... All because we said a man couldn't marry another man, or a woman couldn't marry another woman. The sanctity of marriage. How many marriages like that have there been and how on earth do they increase the "sanctity" of marriage rather than render the term, meaningless?
What is this, to you? Nobody is asking you to embrace their expression of love. But don't you, as human beings, have to embrace... that love? The world is barren enough.
It is stacked against love, and against hope, and against those very few and precious emotions that enable us to go forward. Your marriage only stands a 50-50 chance of lasting, no matter how much you feel and how hard you work.
And here are people overjoyed at the prospect of just that chance, and that work, just for the hope of having that feeling. With so much hate in the world, with so much meaningless division, and people pitted against people for no good reason, this is what your religion tells you to do? With your experience of life and this world and all its sadnesses, this is what your conscience tells you to do?
With your knowledge that life, with endless vigor, seems to tilt the playing field on which we all live, in favor of unhappiness and hate... this is what your heart tells you to do? You want to sanctify marriage? You want to honor your God and the universal love you believe he represents? Then Spread happiness -- this tiny, symbolic, semantical grain of happiness -- share it with all those who seek it. Quote me anything from your religious leader or book of choice telling you to stand against this. And then tell me how you can believe both that statement and another statement, another one which reads only "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
---
You are asked now, by your country, and perhaps by your creator, to stand on one side or another. You are asked now to stand, not on a question of politics, not on a question of religion, not on a question of gay or straight. You are asked now to stand, on a question of...love. All you need do is stand, and let the tiny ember of love meet its own fate. You don't have to help it, you don't have it applaud it, you don't have to fight for it. Just don't put it out. Just don't extinguish it. Because while it may at first look like that love is between two people you don't know and you don't understand and maybe you don't even want to know...It is, in fact, the ember of your love, for your fellow **person...
Just because this is the only world we have. And the other guy counts, too.
This is the second time in ten days I find myself concluding by turning to, of all things, the closing plea for mercy by Clarence Darrow in a murder trial.
But what he said, fits what is really at the heart of this:
"I was reading last night of the aspiration of the old Persian poet, Omar-Khayyam," he told the judge.
"It appealed to me as the highest that I can vision. I wish it was in my heart, and I wish it was in the hearts of all:
"So I be written in the Book of Love;
"I do not care about that Book above.
"Erase my name, or write it as you will,
"So I be written in the Book of Love."
---
Good night, and good luck.
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