11.07.2016

Homestretch

Now that this shitshow is just about over, I thought I'd reflect upon the best things I heard and read this election season.

George Saunders, "Who Are All These Trump Supporters?", The New Yorker

Includes gems such as:

"It seemed self-evident to them that a businessman could and should lead the country. 'You run your family like a business, don’t you?'I was asked more than once, although, of course, I don’t, and none of us do."

And my single favorite quote from the past year:

"Above all, Trump supporters are 'not politically correct,' which, as far as I can tell, means that they have a particular aversion to that psychological moment when, having thought something, you decide that it is not a good thought, and might pointlessly hurt someone’s feelings, and therefore decline to say it."

Evan Osnos, "President Trump's First Term", The New Yorker

Gets past the "OMG what did he say/do now" merry-go-round to imagine how Trump would actually govern. It's as scary as you might imagine.

Marc Maron, WTF Podcast #729

Before he interviews Roseanne Barr, Marc addresses Trump and more importantly Trump-ism. He says the things I wanted to say, but couldn't articulate:

"Here’s why people vote for Trump: ‘Fuck It!’ ‘Fuck It All!’ That’s got to be the rationale. It’s a ‘Fuck it All’ vote. And when you say why you voting for Trump? The answer is ‘Fuck You!’ So its ‘Fuck It All! Fuck You!’ That should be the campaign slogan in a way, because it is the counterpart, the perfect counterpart to an opioid high... What is compelling about engaging with his vision is that it’s a rush. It's a rush of shameless hate; it's a hit of arrogant ignorance; it's the satisfaction in moments of empty victory; it is the nihilistic intensity of potential chaotic upheaval and destruction. I mean there's no other way to look at it. There's no foresight. There's no vision of the future. There isn't... You know, it's when you watch a woman with authority, speak with authority, deliver a strong leadership vibe, a grounded person; for a dude sometimes there's only one way to take that in and that is, ah, I hate this teacher, ah, she's so mean this teacher. I wish a substitute was here. Remember that guy? Grow up."

Frontline, The Choice 2016

This reminded me of why Hillary Clinton is the way she is, and that she has a long history of great work in, to say the least, challenging environments. You see why she is secretive. Why she can be robotic. She's been attacked and vilified from the start for being a woman with brains and ambition. This doc gave me new insight into her, and reminded me of some insight I already had and forgot.

Jane Meyer, "Donald Trump's Ghostwriter Tells All", The New Yorker

You've probably figured out that The New Yorker is the only magazine I read. This article bars Trump as the thin-skinned, egotistical, vindictive, petty fraud con-artist that he is.

I'm so relieved it's all finally over, but I am thankful to those above, along with the podcasts Trumpcast, Keeping It 1600, the Slate Political Gabfest, and the 538 Election Podcast for keeping me sane and entertained during the circus.

9.13.2016

Hillary Clinton is the San Diego Chargers


As a long-suffering Chargers fan, I have seen this story time and time again:
  • Get a big lead
  • Get injured at the wrong time
  • Play it conservative
  • Underestimate your opponent
  • Keep key components of your offense on the bench
  • Panic and make a stupid decision
  • Keep playing it safe
  • Lose a game you have no business losing
The world cannot afford another Mike McCoy, Hillary. 


9.01.2016

Why is They?

For some unknown reason, Fox Sports San Diego likes to air, on TV, a replay of one of our horrible radio sports talk shows.  They often air it after a Padres game, so if you're like me and doodling on your phone or tablet, you end up unwittingly exposed to this garbage. So tonight it's on, and before I can change the channel I realize they are talking about Colin Kaepernick (San Francisco played the Chargers in San Diego tonight). One of the hosts, Steve Hartman - Ted Cruz lookalike and for decades one of the worst sports talk hosts in San Diegon - makes a statement disguised as a question: If Kaepernick plays terrible tonight in San Diego (he did not, btw), does that hurt his message?

What?

It may be the most San Diego Sports Talk takes of all San Diego Sports talk takes. In a year where Donald Trump is running for president, this may be the stupidest thing I've heard all year.

But that's not even why I decided to post after a two month absence.

As I'm trying to process what I've just heard, this is what is on the screen:


That can't be right, right? Is that acceptable use of "is"? I always take a hard stand on this sort of thing only to be proven wrong. Like, I used to think the plural of "fish" was "fish" and anyone who said "fishes" was obviously a moron. Turns out I was mistaken. I was indignant enough about this to write this post, but now I'm having doubts. Can someone please confirm that Fox Sports San Diego is are the morons and not me I me I? MOOSEN.

4.21.2016

the purple banana



Some random thoughts on Prince.
  • In all honesty, there aren't many Prince songs I like. The entire list consists of "1999", "Little Red Corvette", "Delirious", "When Doves Cry", and my favorite Prince song "Let's Go Crazy." That energy! That guitar solo! Whenever I hear it it takes me straight back to middle school at P.W. Engvall when music was almost enough to take my mind off of the tornado of home life.
  • I never really paid attention to the lyrics of "Let's Go Crazy". I just now looked them up. Wow. That song really makes no sense. All these years I've been singing "Let's look for the purple banana til they put us in the truck" thinking, knowing, that I was completely mishearing and butchering the lyrics. But I was right this whole time! 
  • While I didn't like many Prince songs, I've always acknowledged he was a genius. He did his own thing on his own terms, and I always respect that. He was one of the best all-around musicians of our time. I always kind wished he's do a metal cide-project so he could just let loose and shred. 
  • April 29th, 1997 was a weird day. I went to see Built to Spill and Modest Mouse at Canes. Modest Mouse was supposed to open, but there was some hang up that caused them to run late. So Built To Spill played their set. When Modest Mouse arrived they hurried on stage and tore through a few songs before the place shut down and everyone got kicked out. Everything was so rushed because apparently Prince had rented Canes for an after-show party. Built to Spill fans exiting the show squeezing past Prince fans entering the venue was an odd sight.  
RIP to an interesting dude who marched to the bead of his own drum (or Shiela E's, whatever) and a hell of a guitar player. 


3.24.2016

I'm almost halfway finished, how do you like it so far? #GarryShandling



RIP Garry Shandling. 

The Larry Sanders Show was great and it deserves every ounce of praise it gets, and it was as influential as a show can get.

But my first experience with Garry Shandling was It's Garry Shandling's Show, and that is what I will always remember when I think of Garry Shandling.

Its run coincided with my high school years. We were an HBO family, and it was on Showtime, so I didn't get to see it that much in it's initial run (it later moved to network TV). The first time I saw it was at my friend Gary's when he was visiting one summer. Apparently they were a Showtime family. The theme song sucked me in, and at the time I thought it was about the funniest and unique damn thing I'd seen.  It was meta before meta was cool, and I'd like to think it was just as influential on it's style of comedy as The Larry Sanders Show was for its.

Thanks for the laughs, Garry.



3.13.2016

Spirit Of The American Hot Dog


I don't know what that means, but I think it could be Donald Trump's campaign slogan.

3.10.2016

Horace Pinker / Face to Face Split EP (1993 Rhetoric)



I didn't know about this 7" until Little Jon Hanks guested on my embarrassing KFSR show and played the Face to Face cover of "Blister in the Sun." Bought this shortly after.

I strut my stuff

3.07.2016

Choking on Progress - Substance Before Presentation (2000, self-released)


Kevin Bacon time: I knew a girl who dated a guy in this band. When I met him, he had an FYP pin. That made him okay by me. Beyond that, I don't know a whole bunch about these guys. Just some East County dudes playing basic punk rock. No harm in that. Oh, they cover Wide Awake's False Pride.

Git it.

3.05.2016

1.23.2016

#OscarsSoWhite? more like #OscarsSoBad.


Me and Wifey are over halfway through watching all of the movies nominated for Best Picture. While her list would differ, we both agree that no movies so far have stood out as anything special. So far, my rankings would go like this:


  1. The Big Short (it was okay, but didn't care the hyper-kinetic style, and yeah, have a little bit of a problem rooting for rich dudes becoming even richer betting on predicted misery.)
  2. Bridge of Spies (also okay, but slow, and the score was incredibly cheesy. Surprised to find it was written by the Coen Brothers.)
  3. Spotlight (again, okay, but kinda of a generic procedural with cardboard cutout characters.)
  4. Brooklyn (meh...I guess it was okay, but there was no real drama in it. Kinda hokey.) 
  5. Mad Max: Fury Road (a decent action movie aside from the ridiculous guitar dude, but has no business being nominated for best picture). 

We have not yet seen The Revenant, The Martian, or Room. Hopefully at least one of them is the real deal, because so far none we've seen has come close to being Best Picture worthy. For real, Inside Out was better than anyof these movies.

Which brings me to the #OscarsSoWhite controversy. My opinion is that it is 100% undeniable that Oscar voters are completely out of touch. Whether out of touch = racist, I can't really say, but I'm not gonna argue with those who say it is. I have not seen Creed or Straight Outta Compton, but from what I've heard both were just as worthy as those that were nominated. They surely couldn't be worse than Mad Max for Best Picture consideration.

But you know what I did see? Beasts of No Nation. How in the hell did this not have multiple nominations? This is where I start having some serious doubts with the selection process. There are at least four major categories for which it should have received nominations:

  • Best Picture. It's far better than anything on the list I've seen so far. 
  • Best Actor. You probably think I'm going to say Idris Elba, who was amazing, but I'm not, because Abraham Attah was even better. Both could have and probably shoudl have been nominated. 
  • Best Supporting Actor. Idris Elba. I'll admit I have no idea where the line between lead and supporting actor/actress is. 
  • Best Director. Cary Fukunaga. This is a no-brainer. You will not see a more beautifully shot movie this year. Insane that he was not nominated.

With a movie this good, with performances this strong, it makes you really wonder what the hell is going on. Did Charlotte "perhaps the black actors did not deserve to make the final list" Rampling see it? Did Michael "You can't vote for an actor because he's black" Caine (actually, I know he did)? You would think that it would get some nominations for minor categories, but nope. Nothing. Zilch. It's on Netflix. Go watch it. Tell me I'm wrong.



1.07.2016

hoodwinked #mixcd


Yet another comp I made who knows when and God knows why (1999 and because I was bored, actually). Lost the cover art, so I redid it, even though all of these songs pre-date Bush II by a pretty healthy margin. Probably a lot of duplicate songs from other comps I made. What can I say, I like what I like.

01 - Mandingo - Cursing Authority                
02 - Adrenalin OD - Sightseeing                  
03 - Consumed - Brutal Tooth                    
04 - Lifetime - Turnpike Gates                  
05 - Broadways - 15 Minutes                      
06 - Strung Out - Ghost Town                    
07 - No Use For A Name - A Postcard Would Be Nice
08 - Quadiliacha - Sandy Springs War Hymn        
09 - Refused - New Noise                        
10 - Bracket - 2RAK005                          
11 - Screeching Weasel - D.I.Y.                  
12 - Cleveland Bound Death Sentence - Baltimore  
13 - Sewer Trout - President Of The Anarchist Club
14 - Nards - Nuclear Mom                        
15 - Ink And Dagger - The Road To Hell          
16 - Avail - Tuesday                            
17 - Kid Dynamite - Heart A Tact                
18 - Hot Water Music - Turnstile                
19 - Neighbors - A Rich Person's Death          
20 - Inquisition - Gretta                        
21 - American Steel - Got A Backbeat            
22 - Litmus Green - D2                          
23 - Fracture - Non Serviam                      
24 - Goober Patrol - I'll Do Without            
25 - Against All Authority - Just An Obstruction
26 - Impossibles - Plan B                        


HOODWINKED