Friday Babyblogging: Road Trip!!

Just heading out to dinner with the Eschatonians, but wanted to babyblog, now that we've found the camera.

So, AT THIS VERY MOMENT:



SP is sprawled on an ugly bedspread.


Rosie is asleep in a stroller, her nose looking distinctly "On the Waterfront" after a brutal encounter with a rest area sidewalk.


And Young Thers is sprawled watching Nicktoons while Dad changes for dinner.

Viva la Road Trip!

Et tu, Mick?

I'm speechless.

By far the most unlikely star of a prospective fall situation comedy is that still-active lead singer of the Rolling Stones, who has signed on to an ABC pilot for its fall schedule. Just to increase the degree of unlikelihood, Mr. Jagger shot his scenes for the New York-based pilot in a hotel room in Auckland, New Zealand, last week.

That was the culmination of a saga at least as whimsical as the premise of the show, which, for now, anyway, is titled "Let's Rob Mick Jagger."

(I will confess to a crush on Donal Logue, however, just part of my whole Irish lout thing.)

White Rap

This may in fact be the worst thing ever, and that includes Olestra.

Average Homeboy

My favorite lines?

My house is just
Middle class
And every week it's my job to
Cut the grass.

And

I don't have a butler
Or a maid
And my exterminator is
A can of Raid.

(I especially like the computerized cockroach. Nice touch.)

No idea when this is from, but I'm guessing the second half of the 1980's. If it's any later, this guy definitely needs to be shot.

What it reminds me of most is the stunning work of DeeDee King, whose video "Funky Man" is a lot like this in style and pacing.

I like hot dogs
Franks and Beans
I grew up in
Forest Hills Queens

quoth DeeDee. (Note that his rhythm and rhyme scheme is slightly better. That's how you can tell he's a professional.)

Original link courtesy of Nim, who should be ashamed of himself.

Cover Songs

Speaking of Neil, I hope everyone caught Sid and Susie (Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs) on The Tonight Show this week. They did a cover of Neil's "Cinnamon Girl" off their new record, which I blogged about last week. Hoffs looks about like she did 20 years ago, but she's getting that aggressively taut and ropy look that thin women sometimes do as they age. Sweet is rather more endomorphic than I can remember seeing him before, and his scruff is gray now, but honestly, he looked and sounded fine to me. Well, no, he looked pissed off or uncomfortable or something, but as a performance, it was good.

I do confess to a bit of prejudice about cover songs generally, and that's a certain impatience with covers that don't "do" anything to the original. Just covering a great song isn't really enough, in my opinion: I need to see an interpretation, a reconsideration of the song. It's one of my biggest issues with Sweet: he's never met a cover he didn't like (the running joke around Liberal Mountain is that you're not legally allowed to make a tribute disc without including Matthew Sweet--snarky, but not wholly unfair) and his default position is a pretty straightforward recreation of the tone and feel of the original (witness for example, his version of "Karen" on Shoe Fetish--terrifyingly faithful to the original).

In that sense, his partnership with Hoffs is excellent, since she's responsible for one of my favorite reinterpretation covers of all time: The Bangles' take on Simon & Garfunkel's "Hazy Shade of Winter." (Other faves include The Lemonheads' "Mrs. Robinson," and Sonic Youth's "Superstar.") Of the four songs I've heard off Under the Covers Vol 1 so far, most are more faithful than interpretive, alas.

What are your favorite cover tunes? Is it because it's a great song, or because you like the covering or original artist?

Neil's New Record

Lotsa buzz around these days about Neil Young's new record, excoriating Bush and calling for his impeachment. I think it's pretty clear where I stand on all this, but I was particularly interested in this generational assertion from Neil:

The real surprise for Young loyalists is that it took him so long. As the veteran rocker explains it, he was finally moved to record the album, "Living With War," in a two-week burst of creativity after his patience with Generation Next ran out.

"I was waiting for someone to come along, some young singer 18 to 22 years old, to write these songs and stand up," Young said. "I waited a long time. Then, I decided that maybe the generation that has to do this is still the '60s generation. We're still here."

I'm not convinced that's wholly fair: the article notes Pearl Jam's "World Wide Suicide" and the Dixie Chicks' "Not Ready to Make Nice," but ignores the explosive effect of Green Day's American Idiot.

But none of these are exactly 18-22 year olds, obviously. Are there young artists taking on this mantle? Or is it something which can only be accomplished whn one has a certain freedon to say Fuck You to the market?

Things That Make Me Laugh Out Loud.

The Colbert Report.

In tonight's segment, Colbert was discussing the recent report that Jesus, instead of walking on water, may have been walking on an ice floe. He conferred with an expert: The Cars' Ric Ocasek, who himself walked on water in the video for "Magic." After getting Ocasek to give Jesus "the benefit of the doubt," Colbert offered him a chance to put someone of his choice on The On Notice Board.

Ocasek's choice?

Todd Rundgren.

Heh.

(I'm looking for the bitchy gossip on this: all the major music mags have is that Ocasek "opted out." This story has to be out there somewhere. Help me out, people.)

Lyric Blogging: Holy War

I've spent twenty years learning to live
In a world that takes back all that it gives
But I do not want a war

'Cause I'm not in for killing another man
Defending my holy land
As if there's a god who would understand
Feeding the promised land
With your blood by my own hand
At Allah's own command
At Allah's own command

I've spent twenty years learning to live
In a world that takes back all that it gives
But I do not want a war

I don't know what's going on
In the scenes behind
I worry about it some of the time
And I hope there's not a war
'Cause I'm not in for killing another man
Defending my holy land
As if there's a god who would understand
And I would walk across highways
To find my fate
If that might settle your crude debate
But I do not want a war

'Cause I'm not in for killing another man
Defending my holy land
As if there's a god who would understand
Feeding the promised land
With your blood by my own hand
At Allah's own command
At Allah's own command

I came up from the desert and here I will die
Tooth for tooth and an eye for an eye
Though I didn't want a war

I went in for killing another man
Defending my holy land
As if there's a god who would understand
As if there's a god who would understand

I went in for killing another man
Defending my holy land
As if there's a god who would understand
As if there's a god who would understand
Oh yeah...

--Matthew Sweet

A Goofy Internet Game...

Somehow, I knew this would be the answer....

You Are Jan Brady

Brainy and a little introverted, you tend to think life is a lot worse than it actually is. And while you may think you're a little goofy looking, most people consider you to be a major babe.

What Brady Are You?

Oh Sure.....

that TBogg!

He's just trying to capture my dozen of fan with his blatant slutting for the discerning power pop audience.

Isn't he?

(Great list!)

Photoblogging

I am speechless. As, I expect, is Nick Lowe. 

Courtesy of Firedoglake, my latest must-read blog.