There’s been something depressing about the past few weeks, culturally. Not just the death of Ted Kennedy, but the mainstreamed craziness before and the certainty that this craziness will manifest itself in new and terrible ways, perhaps mimicking the whole right-wing Wellstone funeral myth.
So here’s a video that I’ve watched a hundred times since I finally found it on the internet last week. It always makes me feel better and it seems especially appropriate for me since a speaker at my university’s convocation earlier today confused Darth Vader with Obi-Wan Kenobi.
via videosift.com
Consider this an open thread.
Update. This is almost funnier. Apropos of the last thread, the drummer from Nickelback taking a six minute solo.
Dismayed Liberal
Bill Murray is teh awesome.
SGEW
Actually, it seems like we’re considering the last thread as an open one. Sorry ’bout that.
YellowJournalism
Oh, Bill Murray. Is there nothing you can make better?
Okay, “Dumbo Drop”, but we all forgive you for that.
jnfr
That is truly ancient.
freelancer
I see you a Bill Murray and raise you an Adam Duritz Parody:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=370md9Hw_OM
DougJ
Actually, it seems like we’re considering the last thread as an open one
I took that as a sign you needed a real one.
freelancer
@freelancer:
GAHHH!
ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY
geg6
Oooo, Bill Murray! Doug, I love you and sorry about messing up the last thread. But you are right. August really has been the cruelest month.
DougJ
sorry about messing up the last thread.
No apology necessary! I just thought people might want a fresh one, it having been three hours plus since the last.
General Winfield Stuck
I watched it live in the late 70’s surrounded by my stoner friends and we were out of state, mon.
Laura W
@DougJ: Yawn.
The old open thread was way better.
General Winfield Stuck
Always a spirit lifter for meh, Libby peeking over the couch,.
Or, if your a chipmunk fan, as I am, here is this cute little feller.
Rosali
I love Bill Murray. Just seeing his face on the screen makes me laugh.
This is a video I’ve watched 100 times this week: The 7 y.o. dancehall queen.
superfly
Paul Schaeffer on the piano back there
MikeJ
Think of how bad that movie is. Now think of how bad it would be without him.
Doug: When it comes to feeling down generally, maybe it’s because you hang out at a website where the reaction to Republicans doing something stupid is to call Obama the “black Jimmy Carter” (As if that would be a bad thing!)
gbear
When I’m feeling rotten about my life, the blog I go to is ‘Ugliest Tattoos’. I always feel tons better about where I’m at after visiting there.
http://ugliesttattoos.com/
Trollhattan
Gawd I loved the Nick character. My favorite was probably when he sang “Beast of Burden” to Cicely Tyson.
On a completely different note, losing your children in a fire is bad enough, but having Texas wrongfully execute you for it, too?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-tc-nw-texas-execute-0824-082aug25,0,5812073.story
Laura W
@Rosali: Here is a video I shot just this week. (Do not even get me started on what I did to fuck up my camera, making it black and white or sepia.)
Indigo Girls were not deliberate, but BOB will dig it, anyway.
Sadie, The 7-Year-Old Rollerball Queen of the Universe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T7Gy66TZKY
Indylib
@General Winfield Stuck:
That is without a doubt one of the cutest puppies ever.
The chipmunk reminds me of neighbors we had when I was a kid. They went to the mountains and caught chipmunks and brought them home where they had created a chipmunk heaven for them in their back yard, that included a “chipmunk crossing” sign (yes they were old). Needless to say said neighbors hated our outdoor cats.
gbear
@gbear:
1. Of course I meant website, not blog (I must review my knowledge of internet traditions).
2. The videos aren’t working for me. Is this a private fail or is it widespread?
shelley matheis
All-righty. I think what we need is another Lily and/or Tunch photo.
freelancer
@Laura W:
I mentally conflated Rollerball with Roller Derby. Yet I knew you were referring to your kitteh. Imagine my disappointment upon clicking on said video.
That would be awesome though.
Glyph_2112
OK, good drummer but best ever???? Unless you’ve seen Neil Peart’s (of Rush) drum solo, you have nothing to compare to.
Makewi
What myth would that be?
geg6
You know, I really have no respect for Mike Barnicle as a writer or commentator, but knowing he was good friends with Ted, I’m feeling a bit bad for him on KO right now. It’s gotta be hard to go on teevee and talk about your good friend when you are mourning. I couldn’t do it, myself. I’d be a big, teary pile of mush.
Sputnik_Sweetheart
And just when I thought Nickelback couldn’t possibly be more lame.
Laura W
@freelancerFriday night is Sadie’s Roller Derby night.
Watch This Space!
ellaesther
Ok, I need to ask, because Mr. Google didn’t help: What’s the Wellstone funeral myth? (Sorry, I realize this request isn’t in the spirit of “let’s lighten things up!” Can I make it up to you with wonderful indie rock by none other than Steve of Blues Clues? http://emilylhauserinmyhead.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/good-stuff-steve-burns/)
DougJ
What myth would that be?
Here.
freelancer
@gbear:
You feel better after seeing that site?
After the third page, and seeing the full back tat of a Naked woman pooping whole strawberries, and a different pic of Wolverine riding My Little Pony, my sense of taste came to the definitive conclusion that we’re not gonna make it as a species.
geg6
Glyph_2112: you obviously haven’t met me or read my later posts on the last thread. So I’ll be as kind as I can possibly be. That cannot possibly true as he is a member of Rush. And no one in a band as bad as Rush can be the best at anything.
gbear
Videos working for me now. Gawd. I’m a drummer and I only made it thru 2 minutes of that solo before I had to shut it off. I’m assuming it didn’t get better.
I searched on google and found the holy grail of drum solo pyrotechnics. It’s a guy from Minneapolis named Charlie Adams who had a drum set that spun around and did summersaults while he was playing. I never saw it live but it was totally legendary within five minutes of the first time he did it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEvlh8IQBL8&feature=PlayList&p=1003350D4191AD29&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=60
DougJ
I searched on google and found the holy grail of drum solo pyrotechnics. It’s a guy from Minneapolis named Charlie Adams who had a drum set that spun around and did summersaults while he was playing.
I like it.
Crashman06
@freelancer: I was a little more disturbed by the tat on page 2 of Beavis and Butthead raping Lisa Simpson…
ellaesther
@DougJ: Why, that was magically fast! It’s like you read my mind! Or the comments that came before mine, whichever!
Thanks for the link, and God bless Al Franken. You know what we call blatant falsehoods spread in order to mislead? The English language has a word just for that sort of thing, and Al Franken uses it: LIES. We call that sort of thing LIES.
I wish people would use that word more often these days.
gbear
@freelancer:
I feel better about my own life. It only works when I’m feeling like the worlds worst loser. After I visit the site, I realize I’m wrong.
Can you imagine? That horrid stuff is permanent. They can never get away from all that incredible damning stupid. The site is a very twisted pleasure.
Fulcanelli
A drum solo without rhythm and a groove going is masturbation with wood in your hands.
Makewi
Interesting DougJ. So by myths, you mean it was a crass political rally rather than a somber respectful remembrance of a man, but not really as bad as the wingnuts made it out to be.
Sort of like a which fart smell worse contest.
DougJ
Sort of like a which fart smell worse contest.
You would know, I’m sure.
Makewi
Well I know that John Cole, perhaps you remember who he is, thought it was a flaming dog turd and I remember that the head of the DNC and Chris Dodd were both very apologetic about how out of hand it was. But Al Franken said it was fine, so it is.
Carry On. I
geg6
Why must trolls insist on coming into our places when our guys pass and piss all over the corpse? I didn’t go on the Freeper site or NRO and discuss what a slimy, evil, murderous and genocidal piece of shit Ronnie Reagan was when he died like they have with Wellstone and Kennedy. Why can’t they show the same good manners to us?
General Winfield Stuck
@Makewi:
It was in the heat of an election and it was perfectly appropriate the his son and other allies to couch the memorial in that way, as a let’s carry on moment, if they chose to. Plus, with the trauma factor on his family, a little understanding was warranted for Sen. Wellstone’s followers.
What the GOP did was after the fact, making a cold calculation to use it for political gain, something they had no excuse for other than raw crass politics.
The turd stink was all GOP, like it usually is.
Cain
Speaking of drums, Neal Peart just had a baby girl. Not too late to start all over again. Oh yeah, and “Closer to the Heart” was shortlisted as one of the songs that defines Canada to President Obama. Not sure if it was picked or not, but it was one out of 24.
“And the men who hold high places must be the one to start…”
of course, I much prefer:
“pariah dogs and wandering madmen, barking at strangers and speaking in tongues..” an apt description of wingnuts.
cain
Makewi
@geg6:
You are an idiot. I’ve said nothing but respectful things about Kennedy. I’m just saying that DougJ and Franken are mistaken.
Makewi
@General Winfield Stuck:
Which is why the head of the DNC and Chris Dodd apologized. Because the GOP was so full of shit. In any case, if you want to live in some sort of alternate fantasyland where that funeral wasn’t a flaming disgrace, who can stop you?
Fencedude
@Makewi:
Yes, because its not like Franken was there or anything, right?
ellaesther
@General Winfield Stuck: Really, best not to feed them. I swears it.
gbear
Wow. When some people start over, they really take it all the way.
geg6
And you know that Doug and Al are wrong because you were there? And, honestly. I never mentioned your name, I just made an observation. But if you recognize yourself in my comment, perhaps you should reflect on that. Seems I’m not the only idiot, huh?
Anne Laurie
@Laura W: Good gracious Bastet, Sadie could be the Demon Kishkan’s long-lost twin… assuming Sadie is a tiny petite thing, by Maine Coon standards. Kishkan is only 7 pounds or so, waaaay too small for a “purebred” Coon cat, but that particular northwoods-forest-feral gene packet is widely distributed here in New England.
And around this house, the firedogs are fire dogs… cast-iron labradors, a wedding gift from old friends… and the furry lurking in the fireplace is Flicker, aka Bute-Hime-Sama, twelve pounds of canine malevolence nursing her rich fantasy life as a princess abused by her wicked stepmother (namely me)…
jenniebee
The talking heads are talking about legacies and how they aren’t built by being a party activist, getting elected just to get elected and voting just to stop your opponents, that legacies are made by working together in a bipartisan spirit to build something great.
The bobbles are about to demand that Edward Moore Kennedy Memorial Health Care Act.
Crashman06
@Makewi: Why’d you have to start this in the first place? You dropped in on this thread and made a deliberately provocative remark about a throw away line in DougJ’s post. And that’s the only remark you made. Even BOB isn’t that obtuse. If you want to be part of a community here, post something else in an open thread. If you really wanted to discuss Paul Wellstone’s funeral, use some more polite language to post the question. If your only intention is to get a rise out of people you disagree with and/or detest, please go somewhere else. This is not the same blog you may or may not have frequented five or six years ago, so don’t take your frustration out on us.
General Winfield Stuck
They were idiots if they did. Still doesn’t erase the stink of using it for political gain by GOP. It was a dem memorial, not a wingnut one.
Your right ellaester, no more crow for you Makewi.
Midnight Marauder
Hmm. Looks like the stink of Makewi has reared its ugly head yet again.
I blame the inclusion of the Nickleback video, personally. Those fuckers are a magnet for people like that jackass.
Midnight Marauder
@Crashman06:
Why’d you have to start this in the first place? You dropped in on this thread and made a deliberately provocative remark about a throw away line in DougJ’s post.
Bingo. That jackass represents the pinnacle of douchebaggery.
There is no other reason for its presence in this thread (or any other) except for unnecessarily agitating and aggravating everyone else.
Delia
@geg6:
Because they’re Republicans.
SATSQ
Laura W
What the hell is wrong with this place lately? Every damn thread turns into Troll Tango.
You can hardly get 20 comments in before it starts.
It’ll be the death of this site some day. You can’t keep playing to the lowest common denominator and steering every topic downhill right out of the gate (although many deserve to be shoved that way, anyway).
Eventually, the smart and funny people will just get bored and go away.
Midnight Marauder
@Laura W:
Eventually, the smart and funny people will just get bored and go away.
Or we’ll just unleash the MOTHERFUCKIN’ FURY on those assholes.
Or just ignore them.
Either way.
Makewi
Wah. Why can’t you just let our attempt to rewrite history be! It was just a throwaway line!
I do it because I love you. It hurts me more than it hurts you.
mai naem
@geg6:
Barnicle’s had a bad year. He was one of Russert’s best buds too. He was falling apart when Russert died.
Going back to the last thread and 80s bands – you guys forgot INXS,Midnight Oil, Split Enz, Squeeze and uhm… does Culture Club count?
geg6
ellaesther: I will second Stuck on that. You’re right. I was having a little lighthearted fun after all the troll attacks today (well, really for the last month) and I let it take me right back to the ugly place I was early this morning and the trolls were already here. So I’m gonna relax and watch Tweety’s Kennedy special and Top Chef and forget about the trolls, IRL and online.
General Winfield Stuck
@Laura W:
Maybe you should rephrase that, being that everbody here, is well, obviously still here, Crops up some uncomfortable questions.
Rosali
@Laura W: Sadie’s very cute but I was expecting roller skates or kangoo jumps. That would be very impressive. Maybe you can try that next time.
eric
On brown line. Go to you tube. Type steve smith drum. Look for hi hat or tribute to max roach. Enjoy. Eric
JK
This question is for JGabriel or anyone else who thinks they have a firm grasp of their rock music historay and genres.
We had an interesting discussion in the last thread about the distinctions between art rock, prog rock, and glam rock.
If you were explaining the history of rock music to an anal retentive novice who insisted on a label or tag being applied to the following: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, what tags would you assign to these bands?
slag
Ack! A Paul Wellstone debate. See what you did!
My favorite Darth Vader video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5blbv4WFriM.
Ash
Seeing anything related to Nickelback does not cheer me up in any way. It makes me suicidal.
The next-to-last samurai
A question to my fellow Tunchians. If you were as, er, uninformed as the average Murikan, do you think you’d be happier than you are now? Unhappier? Or would this factor make any difference in your happiness or unhappiness?
General Winfield Stuck
@JK:
All primo tags of Classic Rock, except The Stones, never liked em much, though most of my friends did.
The Beatles cover several genres, pop to psycholdelic, to rock, and for a period, strictly a genre of their own, that no other band or musician will ever belong to.
gbear
@DougJ:
Doug, thanks for that link to Frankin. Reading that reminds me of what it was like in MN after the plane crash, the memorial (I listened to it on the radio) and Coleman’s pathetic lurch and sputter across the finish line. It also reminds me how totally sweet was Frankin’s belated victory over the still lurching and sputtering and finally crashing and burning Coleman campaign.
And Obama won too! These victories still feel like miracles. ‘President McCain’ would have been too much to bear.
Linkmeister
@JK: I’d classify the first three as “First Wave British Invasion” and the fourth as “Arena Rock.”
And me with a retired librarian for a mother.
geg6
JK: Interesting question. All seminal bands and all could be what we might call the seminal band of a type of rock music. Sort of the inspiration for others to create a category of rock that was inspired by the styles of each band, though all of them were more versatile and moved among those styles more than their successors. In the spirit of that thought, I’d say the Beatles were pop. The Stones blues rockers. The Who were art rock (a little glam, a little punk). Led Zeppelin would be heavy metal.
Calouste
@gbear:
Well, he lost both his wife and his daughter in the space of twelve months, it was not like he had much left family-wise.
Betsy
@gbear:
http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ serves that function for me. That tat website was pretty phenomenal, though.
DougJ
All primo tags of Classic Rock, except The Stones, never liked em much, though most of my friends did.
Okay, now the Stones and the Clash have been trashed in my threads. That’s too much for me to take in one day.
I’m calling it a night.
mai naem
@Makewi:
I generally refrain from dealing with trolls but I have just about had it with the Teddy Kennedy threads being taken over by trolls. I for one didn’t say anything negative about Ronald Raygun when he died even though I thought he was a scumball of the first degree. But on Kennedy – keep on trolling, keep on talking about Chappaquiddick. Who do you fuckers have on your side that would even hold a candle to Kennedy? You have absolutely nobody. You have Phil Phucking Gramm who got Glass Steagle repealed. You have Billy Tauzin who rammed through Medicare Part D and then got himself a handsomely paid lobbying job. You have Billy Frist who diagnosed a brain dead person off the teevee and who managed to get a sweeet deal for his daddy’s hospital co’s medicare fraud charges. You have GWBush who managed to get into a war by mistake. You have DickieDooDoo Cheney who couldn’t figure out that a company that was facing asbestos related lawsuits up the ying yang was not a good buy. Guess what twits – you don’t have anybody on your side who was the force behind Meals on Wheels, the ADA, Title 9, the Ryan White Aids Act, SCHIP, decreasing the voting age to 18. So please carry on with your trolling but you ain’t gonna take that away from TMK.
Midnight Marauder
@JK:
I don’t think any of the aforementioned genres you listed would cover any of those bands, IMO. I think they all come under the umbrella of Rock & Roll, albeit with different underlying heavy influences.
The Beatles – straight old school Rock & Roll with a little Psychedelia thrown in towards the later years.
The Rolling Stones – Much more of a heavy Blues foundation than any other band, minus Zeppelin.
The Who – A lot of R&B thrown in the mix.
Led Zeppelin – Blues Rock, some early Heavy Metal, and a whole of just Fucking Awesome.
Linkmeister
@DougJ: Nah. Nobody’s started up the “who’s better, Beatles or Stones?” argument yet.
All the geeks who thought Mac v. Windows was virulent shoulda been there for the music one.
General Winfield Stuck
@DougJ:
Nighty night. Don’t take no wooden nickels:)
gbear
@Calouste: I’m sorry. I didn’t know that.
@Betsy: I think I went to that site when you recommended it in a past thread. It’s great fun.
General Winfield Stuck
@Midnight Marauder:
Roger That!
eric
You tube. Steve smith and bonhan. Fun.
Demo Woman
Do I know that Ted was flawed, well duh, no diapers though,
but what’s interesting to me is the whackos trying to compare him to Helms. Did Helms ever pass a bill that helped the middle class?? I’m serious, cuz I sure don’t remember it. I remember the Ryan White bill, I remember Cobra cuz , personally, that saved me lots of money, I remember the minimum wage, I remember my sons being able to vote when they were 18 and I also remember his caring education and the poor. Was he flawed, hell yes but thank you Ted.
Ted is my George Bailey.
Demo Woman
@Demo Woman: Oh I did not mention Title IX which some folks say has flaws but I would assume that would not be the gals in the 96 Olympics. Thanks Mia Hamm.
gbear
Who would you rather be? The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqldwoDXHKg
geg6
Oh, and now that it’s been brought up (well, both Rush and Led Zep have been mentioned), John Bonham’s corpse kicks Neil Peart’s live Fountainhead-loving ass when it comes to drumming. In fact, I’d pay to see John Bonham’s corpse play, whereas I’d pay to keep Rush from ever playing anything anywhere ever again.
Demo Woman
@mai naem: You probably won’t get a response, because there is none. It’s easy to spout off but when you are called on it, it’s also easy to disappear.
Makewi
@mai naem:
I never said anything negative about Kennedy. Not. One. Thing.
But since you are all so riled up because I had something to say about your attempts to rewrite history, let me make it up to you.
Here
Norman Rogers
@gbear: If you have not availed yourself of his books, please do. Ghost Rider deals with the subject of loss in a fairly open and honest way, and I never detected any of that “oh, pity me” thing you will sometimes see in other instances where someone has had a really tragic loss in their life.
Peart’s site is fantastic, by the way, and if you like that old classic rock (and I know I do, because it gets the blood flowing and lets this old fart go on the treadmill like a madman) then check this out:
http://www.neilpeart.net/index2.html
I have to say, when someone dies, and if you really, really hated their guts, keep it to yourself for a day or so. Give it a moment. Take a pause. Start your own blog, and then, when the moment strikes, tell us how you feel so we can ignore your rant with some thoughtful deliberation.
I don’t fault liberals their grief over anyone, and I thought the outpouring of real patriotism was genuine for Reagan. I thought that was handled magnificently at the time, and, really, in a free country, of course you can get pissed and rant and flame.
But have a measure of dignity and class about it. Citing examples where someone else had no class doesn’t raise yourself up, sir. It really doesn’t.
Betsy
@gbear:
Oh dear, repeating myself in blog comments? How embarrassing! It’s bad enough when it’s only my partner who gets to hear things thrice.
JK
I know it’s very popular or cool among those 30 years old or younger to trash the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, but give me the name of any band that emerged from 1980 or later whose music reflected so many different musical styles. I can’t think of any, and that’s why to me the Beatles and the Rolling Stones are the Mount Everest and K2 of rock music.
@Midnight Marauder:
I agree that pscyhdelic, glam and art rock are completely inadequate to describe the music of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Who, and Led Zeppelin. That’s what intrigues me about these bands. They can’t be easily pigeonholed.
@geg6:
I agree with your tags for the Rolling Stones, the Who, and Zeppelin. I have a problem with using pop for the Beatles. I’ve generally been in the habit of using pop for music I don’t like and rock for music I do like.
@Linkmeister: I suppose First Wave British Invasion and Arena Rock are reasonably good quick and dirty designations.
@General Winfield Stuck: Classic rock has merit, but its meaning has been devalued to some extent by radio execs who have used it as a catch all phrase to include the Eagles, the Doors, Fleetwood Mac, Yes, Jethro Tull, Genesis, the Grateful Dead, Boston, Aerosmith.
Midnight Marauder
@Makewi:
Shut up.
Makewi
The internet is a good place to find useful information. And porn. Lots and lots of porn.
Not that I’m linking that.
Makewi
Well, messed that one up.
@Midnight Marauder
No.
General Winfield Stuck
@Makewi:
GO
AWAY TROLL!
Midnight Marauder
@Makewi:
That actually should have read:
Shut up.
JK
@geg6:
For favorite drummers, I’d place Keith Moon, Ringo Starr, Charlie Watts, and Ginger Baker alongside John Bonham.
I’d also give props to Stewart Copeland, Carl Palmer, and Bill Bruford.
Makewi
Wait, I’m getting the impression you guys don’t like me. Was it something I said? Maybe it was my respectful comment on the Kennedy thread.
Or maybe you guys iz just crazy.
Midnight Marauder
It’s not an impression and you’re stupider than I realized if you’re just getting it.
Makewi
Best drummer ever
DougJ
Or maybe you guys iz just crazy.
Hey, I realize you may just be a spoof, but if so, just humor me: what is it with right-wingers and the “iz” stuff?
Makewi
Midnight Marauder
Is midnight the only time your mommy will “let you” use the internet? Way to “Maraud” there champ.
ellaesther
@ ALL I didn’t know, because of my on-again-off-again commenting habits, that the troll thing had become a big huge issue the past few days. This place is such a good place! It saddens me that people I so enjoy would have their days/evenings/Balloon Juice soured in this fashion.
The only way to make a troll go away and maintain both one’s own pleasant evening, and the sane (even if occasionally heated and passionate) exchange going on on a widely loved and respected website is to NOT FEED THE TROLLS.
I know from experience how hard this can be. But when trolls are ignored, they go away.
I would love it if Mr. Cole could also ban the particularly and persistently noxious, but I’m not sure if that’s a thing he wants to do.
We however can exercise our right to not read certain things, and not reply to them in any fashion.
Fwiffo
Always good for a smile, the Star Wars Trumpet Solo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr7ifB8JF-w
Makewi
Everybody loves Iz.
General Winfield Stuck
@Makewi:
What group sent you here?
Makewi
I am the butter on your floor.
Makewi
I am the butter on your floor.
Better.
jwb
@ellaesther: If you have Greasemonkey installed, you can use this to detrollify the comments to some extent.
freelancer
@ellaesther:
He could create a killfile dungeon a la PZ Myers’ infamous list of jackasses.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/plonk.php
At one point he had his known trolls compete in a survivor-esque competition and at the end, he banned everybody but the winner.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/03/survivor_pharyngula_day_one.php
C’mon, think about it.
Paul L, Bender, Makewi, BOB.
There can only be one!
freelancer
@freelancer:
dammit
Midnight Marauder
@freelancer:
Masterstroke. Although, I think BOB would wipe the floor with all those fools.
Bender
@Makewi:
Since when did reality mean anything to this group? You don’t vote their way, ergo… you said nasty things about Kennedy! See how much easier that is than thinking?
I mean Doug is busy rewriting history, as if the “right-wing Wellstone myth” wasn’t also documented live by left-leaning witnesses like the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, which lamented:
http://www.startribune.com/politics/11758066.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU
Videos of the “myth” are at youtube. Just like those Sasquatch movies!
Believe me, the DNC will be all over the funeral speakers to make sure there is no repeat of the Wellstone debacle. Let’s see if the speakers will be able to contain themselves.
gbear
@JK:
My personal three favorite drummers are Bill Buford, Phil Collins (yea, he’s a tremendously gifted drummer), and Dave Mattacks. All three are more geek than wail, but I love them for their minds…
Midnight Marauder
Yep, BOB in a landslide.
I demand a Troll-Off!
Makewi
@General Winfield Stuck:
I was sent by a consortium of intergalactic poppy seed wranglers. I’d leave it at that if I was you as poppy seeds are notoriously hard to wrangle and as a result those that do it are best not messed with.
You know what’s a great movie.? Krull.
Makewi
@freelancer:
I vote freelancer.
gbear
I agree with this point, but that’s only because politics has gotten so controlled and image-conscious that no one (with the possible exception of Obama) is willing to say anything heart-felt and spontaneous any more. Every politician lives in total fear of the hatchet job that will follow any unguarded moment. Look at all the speeches that Obama had to give just to put out fires when he was campaigning for prez. We’re lucky he was such a good firefighter then, given the inferno he’s facing now.
This statement reveals you as a total fucking tool. Go away.
Midnight Marauder
Such a shame that you would waste your vote like that. Everyone knows third-party candidates never win.
General Winfield Stuck
So Young College Republicans. Figured it was them sorry motherfuckers.
gbear
Well I see it’s much to late to have an intelligent conversation on this thread. G’nite.
Bender
This statement reveals you as someone who’s not from Minnesota.
Makewi
@General Winfield Stuck:
The world is a magical place full of wonder and excitement for you isn’t it? Well it won’t be if you ever have to wrangle a poppy seed. It’ll change your whole outlook on things.
General Winfield Stuck
Yawn!
Morbo
That solo does not hold up to the first three seconds of Honor Thy Father.
les
@jwb:
Thanks; I haven’t been able to get killfiles working here lately, but that one does. My disgust level was getting out of hand.
les
And may I join ellaesther in her quest v. troll-feeding? Having watched wonderful gathering places degenerate to waste in the creationism battles, I can say you never win with the likes of makewi–you only lose the places you liked to converse. If you respond, you lose. You can’t fight vile.
jhinaz
Best drum solo ever???
Wow — I’m really showing my age here, but what about the drum solo by the teenage kid drummer for Santana at Woodstock (Soul Sacrifice). Not so long, but a real virtuoso. One of the best ever… (Conga players were pretty damn good too).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnamP4-M9ko
JK
@jhinaz:
Michael Shrieve’s drum solo during Santana’s performance of Soul Sacrifice remains pretty damn amazing even after 40 years.
Josh E.
You couldn’t handle that shit on strong acid.
Glyph_2112
Look, you can hate Rush all you want but if you can’t take the time to admit that Neil Peart is a really great drummer, then you really don’t like music.
John Bonham was also an awesome drummer, but alas, never got to see him in concert. Phil Collins and Chester Thompson, now that is a great drum duo as well. Stuart Copeland and Terry Bozzio both really take an academic approach to the instrument.
As far as the question of influential bands, U2 has got to be an act after the 80’s that has a pretty long resume.
And while The Stones and Beatles were some of the pioneers of rock, one can’t count out numerous other acts that have made only one or a few albums that were totally influential.
All in all, I totally love music, with one exception. Country Western, seems to be where the low info knuckle draggers from the right seem to gather.
steve s
I disagree. In my experience, telling people not to feed the trolls accomplishes nothing. The issue is the small percentage of people who like arguing with trolls, and the trolls themselves, are usually very energetic, and can easily dominate discussion. The only things I’ve seen work are structural solutions, like giving them dedicated threads. Which all obviously bring their own problems. But in my experience, telling people just not to ever feed them never works.
steve s
Though obviously my experience is limited and I’d be open to hearing about somewhere that they just told everyone to net feed the trolls, and the feeding, and trolling, actually stopped.
Fulcanelli
@jhinaz: His name was Michael Shrieve and that solo is still one of the best in rock n’ roll. That was one of the first real “drum solos” that made it onto an “album”, along with Alligator and The Other One on Live Dead and Cream’s “Toad”.
And who could forget the best of ’em all from the early rock era: Led Zep’s Moby Dick.
JK
@Glyph_2112: When reflecting on Country Western music, don’t forget Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristopherson. Some or many of their fans may be rt wing knuckle draggers, but I don’t think these guys themselves fit that description.
Chester Thompson did a great job with the live version of Turn it on Again.
Fulcanelli
@JK: Amen, bro. Don’t lump the Man In Black, Willie or Kristofferson in with ignorant, wide-stanced poseurs who use FOX News patriotism to make a buck like Toby Keith and Hank Jr.
mai naem
@Glyph_2112:
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill did not have a lot of good things to say about GW Bush especially as related to Katrina and McGraw supposedly has showed interest in running for the gov. of Tenn. at some point . Even Merle Haggard had some not so nice things to say about Bush and some good stuff to say about HRC. Ralph Stanley, granted he’s bluegrass and not contemporary C&W, did an ad for Obama. My guess is that Alison Krauss is not a repub. Same goes for Emmylou Harri. Don’t forget the Dixie Chicks.
General Winfield Stuck
@JK:
At Woodstock. Yes yes yes/
Steeplejack
@Laura W:
I think Antonioni used that same technique in L’Eclisse. And Sadie has a sort of Monica Vitti vibe. Kudos.
JDG
Sorry to crash the party so late, but THIS is the greatest drummer ever!!!
gopher2b
Re: the Minnesota “myth”.
I was there that night and was with some fairly high ranked Minnesota officials. Many of them considered the night to be a disaster. But DougJ knows better because he lives in Troy, NY and read the Huffington Post.
Was it pre-planned? Of course not. Did it result in Norm Coleman’s election? Probably.
arguingwithsignposts
@jwb:
Thanks, jwb. Added. It will save lots of time.
Marco
Maybe Peggy Noonan will compose an article as Ted Kennedy writing from heaven preemptively scolding everyone who’ll be speaking at the funeral, therefore preventing the tragedy of politics entering the eulogizing of a politician so you “eeks, politics spoken at a funeral makes Jesus cry” pantywaists won’t have shed a tear while blogging about it.
trollhattan
Hmmm, drummahs. I guess the best I’ve seen are Bill Bruford and Billy Cobham. I don’t think there’s an “instrument” more hobbled by the recording process than drums. Have to see them live to get the real impact. Seeing versus listening to a recording of taiko drumming for example. Vastly different.
Keith Moon is the craziest I’ve seen, fer sure. He was permanently set on “11.”
Please preannounce any trolloff so that I may be out of the country (off the orb?) at the time, mmmkay? My sanity is fragile enough as is.
Marco
Oh, and here’s my favorite Nickleback moment – when they’re pelted with rocks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQzhOyHTarU
trollhattan
Forgot Aynsley Dunbar. A drummer’s drummer, with severe demerits for the Journey and Starship associations. On second thought….Nah, anybody who could drum for Zappa gets a star in the musician’s fermament.
trollhattan
Fermament, firmament, fur moment…whatddyawant?
rs
There’s two kinds of music- good and bad.@JK: The most recent Rolling Stone has a profile of Ginger Baker. Interesting character.@gbear: I was sitting two rows from the stage at the Easttown Theatre in Detroit in 1970 or 71 when a band I’d never heard of opened for Traffic. I can still hear them doing Walk Awhile. Could have cared less if Traffic took the stage, and Traffic were pretty damn good. I’ve probably seen RT several dozen times since then. Saw Fairport a year or two ago at the Ark in Ann Arbor.@JK: Or Hank Williams, Webb Pierce, Townes Van Zandt, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Steve Earle……….
NR
When it comes to drummers, I always have to mention Steve Gadd. Listen to his playing on Steely Dan’s “Aja.” The fact that he walked into the studio and played that song one time, in one take, looking at the chart, solos and all, just blows my mind.
NobodySpecial
Led Zeppelin would be heavy metal.
Wait, what? A third of their recorded music was acoustic! I mean, granted, Black Sabbath with Ozzy were hippies with tuned down guitars, but Zeppelin is NOT Heavy Metal. They’re a precursor.
geg6
@NobodySpecial:
“They’re a precursor.”
I’m pretty sure that’s what I was saying. If that’s not how it came out, that is what I meant about all of the bands. They were precursors for the people who came along afterward.
DZ
When the first album came out, we considered Led Zeppelin to be ‘heavy music’ but it wasn’t heavy metal. Also, best drummer ever? WTF. Isn’t anyone old enough to remember Ginger Baker?
Evinfuilt
Let me give props to that Nickleback drummer for one bit. I’d say about the 4 minute mark he’s doing an amazingly quick bit on the bass. No question he had to double peddle it, but that was some impressive footwork.
Kerry Reid
Why are people, er, trolls so shocked, SHOCKED that a memorial service for a politican might get, oh, I don’t know – POLITICAL?
Are they similarly shocked when funerals for musicians or composers feature music? Would it be awful and pandering for a memorial for an actor to feature clips from his or her films?
Paul Wellstone lived his life as a fighting liberal politician — it was the greatest part of his identity. So did Ted Kennedy. If you’re going to have a celebration of someone’s life, you celebrate the biggest parts of that life. It’s not our fault that the GOP hasn’t produced any great politicians whose passing inspires people to terrific eulogies (even the Reagan services felt pretty phoned in — and can you honestly imagine anyone living cascades of flowers in memory of Bush II and Cheney when they finally slither off this mortal coil? If you want to be remembered well in death, try not being a total lying selfish shitbird in life.
Kerry Reid
Er, that should of course be “leaving” cascades of flowers for Bush and/or Cheney.
Xanthippas
Nickelback and “best” do not belong in the same sentence.
MeMe
Probably one of the best drum solos ever!
even Carlsburg could not produce a better one!