un-presidential

Okay Yglesias, I'll play the latest blog game:

1. Take out your iPod (or Zune, I guess...really, who buys a Zune?)
2. Press shuffle songs.
3. Answer the following: a) How many songs before you come to one that would absolutely disqualify you from being President? b) What is that song?

My Zune, which btw, rules, you Apple-obsessed sheep, gives me the following

1: Rudimentary Peni - "Him Hymn". Not sure if that's a disqualifier, religious overtones, but not sure quite what it's trying to say. Vague enough to pass.

2: Tear It Up - "I Don't Care That I'm Falling Apart" Downer of a hardcore song, but nothing too over the top.

3: Fall Silent - "Hail Of Bullets". Curse words, but it's 2008.

4: Code Of Honor - "Code Of Honor".  Anti-authority but not in too shocking of a manner.

5: Hi-Standard - "Wait For The Sun". Nothing shocking here.

6. Avail - "Versus". Pass.

7. Queers - "Drop The Attitude Fucker".  Not the worst offender, but the name of the band + "Fucker" in the title = Fail.

There goes my presidential ambitions.

there is a god

There's sliced bread, then there's:

george carlin tribute recap

Deadspin, Shutdown Corner, and Kissing Suzy Kolber (all sports blogs) obviously go with Carlin on the differences between baseball and football.



Boing Boing and Radar have the updated 1978 version of the 'seven words'.



Sadly, No! posted the evolution and pussification of language.



There are obviously tributes everywhere, plus, duh, Youtube, these just happen to be the ones that arrived in my Google Reader account.

I will just say that George Carlin is my all-time favorite comedian and early on instilled in me that weird combination of cynicism and humor. I can honestly say that George Carlin had an enormous role in shaping the way that I, as well as thousands (millions?) of others, see the world.

Thanks for everything, George.

Fuckin' Joey, my eye!, indeed.

fucked up

Slate wonders why Fucked Up called themselves Fucked Up.

Apparently, it hasn't dwelled on the contrarian geniuses that Fucked Up probably did not form in the hopes of being highlighted in the New York Times (I'm guessing there's not a lot of Ruination or Left For Dead - bands from whose ashes Fucked Up arose - playing in the Slate offices). Hardcore punk bands hardly ever do. They form to play some music they love, and don't really give a shit about the marketing process involved in order to become famous. I know that comes as a shock to a lot of people, but Christ, is it really that surprising that a punk band would call themselves Fucked Up? Isn't it pretty much the perfect punk band name?

rip george carlin

George Carlin has gone to see Joe Pesci.

Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits.

good company

Via the Consumerist, The Research Institute has published its list of the most reputable US companies. Got me thinking about the companies I believe generally do things the right way, and who I have no qualms about handing my money (or not, for Google, Mozilla, Craigslist, etc) over to.

Off the top of my head, in no particular order, my list would look like this:

• Google
• Roadrunner Sports
• Mozilla
• Trader Joe's
• Costco
• Logitech
• Fresh & Easy
• Southwest
• Virgin America
• Jetblue
• Amoeba Records
• Craigslist
• Amazon.com
• Buy.com
• Newegg
• Ikea
• In N Out

USAA would usually be at the top of the list, but I had a falling out over a trivial issue they neglected to correct. Also Target, better than WalMart, but by inches, not miles.

Via Consumerist.

Cops And Robbers - Execution Style EP (2001)

Boston hardcore. I hate Boston for several reasons, but hardcore ain't one of them. No frills, aggressive hardcore, kind of like, well, um, everything that comes out of the Boston hardcore scene. This was released in 2001 on Bridge Nine records.

Track List:
1) On The Decline
2) Martyr Complex
3) Last Laugh
4) Forcefed
5) Execution Style
6) Your Worst Nightmare

Download EXECUTION STYLE

7-11

7-11 just might be the sneaky best thing about America.

Once the mercury rises past 85 degrees, people start making a pilgrimage to it. You don't even have to be thirsty. It's over air conditioned environs just beg to be visited. It's cold tiles beg for your white trash bare feet.

There are three 7-11's within a few block of each other in Normal Heights, and, today being a little warm, I was lucky to find the last spot at the third one I tried. Yeah, I know, it's 7-11, wait 2 minutes, Jer, and a spot will open up. Whatever. I was impatient. That's not the point. The point is that 7-11 is fantastic, and it's high time it starts getting its due.

mike myers

Not the biggest Mike Myers fan, but I get his sense of humor and generally find him and his movies pretty funny.

So, that being said, what's up with The Love Guru? Can it possibly be as horrible as it looks? Is there any chance of it not being a steaming pile? Based on the previews, that would be the upset of the millennium, cuz man, it looks historically awful.

Everready - Getting Smarter (1993)

[Note: I'm ripping my vinyl collection and sharing some of the stuff that I'm guessing the bands/labels do not mind me sharing (attn: bands/labels: if I'm wrong, let me know and I will delete immediately). These are raw vinyl rips to 192kbps mp3s. You can remove noise, normalize, etc, yourself with Audacity.]

San Diego drunk punks Everready released a bunch of good albums and one, imho, great album (Reinheitsgebot) in the 1990's.

Soundwise, think sloppy Green Day, drunk. Sloppy drunk.

This is their first thing ever, I believe. Could be wrong. Released on Silver Girl Records in 1993.

Click here to download Getting Smarter

father's day

So, this one time, me and mi familia went to Golden Corral. If you're not familiar with Golden Corral, think Sizzler. In Kings County in the 80's, this was considered a "nice" place to have a "nice" dinner for a special occasion. I know, right? Anyways, Golden Corral has your standard Sizzler-esque array of "bars". Salad bar, potato bar, dessert bar. Whatever I ordered came with a baked potato, so I went and loaded that bad boy up with sour cream. I sat down next to my dad, took a bite of the baked potato and immediately spit it out. My dad asked what was wrong. I told him that whoops, I put whipped cream on my potato.

I don't think I ever saw my dad laugh harder.

Miss you, dad.

more straight talk

go dogs

Nice to see Fresno State return to the CWS for the first time since '91.

Brings back memories of Sugar Bear:



Also, congrats to Mike Batesole for being named National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association National Coach of the Year, finally stepping out of the shadow of Bob Bennett.

Go Dogs!

bluebeard III

"After all that men have done to women and children and every other defenseless this on this planet, it is time that not just every painting, but every piece of music, every statue, every play, every poem and book a man creates, should say this: ‘We are much too horrible for this nice place. We give up. We quit. The end!'"

Kurt Vonnegut, Bluebeard

fresh & easy

Recently, I just happened to randomly, without anyone else's prompting, stumble on a supermarket called Fresh & Easy. It's a nice little alternative to Trader Joe's. A little more straightforward than TJ's, but still some really good deals and some tasty store brands. Recommended are the chicken enchiladas and the douche chips, er, I mean, malt vinegar and salt chips.

Bottom line, this is me, officially taking credit for "discovering F&E. You are all welcome. That is all. Carry on.

fist jabbin baby mama

If the behavior from Fox News towards Barack Obama is already this bad/racist, one can only imagine how bad it's going to get before the election.

First, Fox News was baffled by the fist bump Barack gave his wife, Michelle, before a speech, wondering if it was a "terrorist fist jab". Turns out, nobody has ever heard of a "terrorist fist jab". Unless George Bush, Anna Kournikova,



Kevin from The Office, and all of professional sports are secret terrorists.

Unchagrined by that bit of buffoonery, Fox News, has now referred to Michelle Obama as Barack's "baby mama". Other people might call her his "wife", "spouse", "better half", "ball and chain", whatever. But "baby mama"? Oh Christ, it's gonna be a long summer.



I've sort of prepared myself for some media stupidity, but I didn't think I would see something this bad this soon.

So I guess my question is, is anyone falling for this bullshit this time around?

Here are links to much better/funnier takes on the issue if you're interested:

The Poorman
The Poorman (again)
Sadly, No

Bluebeard II

The Great Depression was going on, so that the station and the streets teemed with homeless people, just as they do today. The newspapers were full of stories of worker layoffs and farm foreclosures and bank failures, just as they are today. All that has changed, in my opinion, is that, thanks to television, we can hide a Great Depression. We may even be hiding a Third World War.

-Kurt Vonnegut, Bluebeard

Bluebeard I

That was an ordinary way for a patriotic American to talk back then. It's hard to believe how sick of war we used to be. We used to boast of how small our Army and Navy were, and how little influence generals and admirals had in Washington. We used to call armaments manufacturers 'Merchants of Death.'

Can you imagine that?

-Kurt Vonnegut, Bluebeard

easy answers

Question:



Answer: Yes.

obama!

A truly historic day.

Very proud to be an American right now.

It's too bad some of us refuse to celebrate this shining moment in American history.

the queers

Playing, monday, June 9th, at The Casbah.

Punk Rock Girls

Don't Back Down

Tamara's A Punk

and my favorite Queers song:

Ursula Finally Has Tits

arrested development

I confess.

I am the reason Arrested Development was canceled.

See, people would always ask me if I watched it. I would have to explain to them that I meant to watch it, but I missed the first few episodes, and I wanted to watch it from the beginning. Of course, I never got around to watching those first few episodes, and therfore never watched the show. People seemed kind of confused by this, since apparently its my "kind" of show.

Well, now that the show is dead and gone, I started watching. And yup, it's a show that is tailor made for me. It's a goddamn riot.

But I didn't watch when it mattered. Stupid me. I take full responsibility.