Rude Ending

The Rude Pundit polishes off the year with the final of his three installments his Our Destruction Seeds Sown: A Final "Fuck-Off" to This Awful Decade series.

No arguments here...'cept maybe the Lady GaGa liking part.

Hand grenades and horseshoes

D'oh! Missed it by that much. What an end to the year that would've been...

You mean, coitus?

Here's a late Xmas gift suggestion for all you dear readers out there. The Bob abides..

More reflective posts

Dr. Cole has a look back on the decade that wuz. Painful, but worth the read.

The Coen Brothers

Here's some more "best of the end of the decade" stuff.

Vonnegut

Looks like some rootin around in the attic has paid off. A bunch of Kurt Vonnegut stories have been unearthed and published. There's hope for us yet.

A Musical Interlude

How 'bout some Tom Waits, Bob? Why, sure folks...here you are.

Jib Jab

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

I think I got tired of the Jib Jab craze, oh, let's see...um, about an hour after I saw that first cartoon 10 years ago. That said, this one is pretty clever about the year we love to hate.

Zero, Nada, Zilch, Zip...

While Kunstler looks gloomily ahead, Mr. Nobel Prize for Economics checks the rear view mirror.

Whatever the decade past ends up getting labeled, it's a pretty good consensus that it by and large it blew chunks.

Good riddance mutherfucker, say I.

Oh, and just in case you're curious whether The Big Zero was the preeminent decade that saw the advancement of a grand apocalypse, just click through here to confirm that theory.

Kunstler

Big Jim drops his glittering disco ball of NYE's gloom and doom in the lead-up to 2010.

Frankly, I don't know what to believe anymore. Go ahead and read the whole thing if you dare.

Cavs win!

Oh, and I almost forgot...suck on it Kobe.

Gregorious!

I have no earthly idea as to why I'm posting this video. And no, you'll never get the 2:15 back that you wasted watching it.

Friday Random Ten (Saturday edition)

What with the all of the excitement over the birth of Baby Jeebus and shit, I plum forgot to post the Random Ten.

A day late and a dollar short...story of my life.

Days -- Ray Davies
Quitting Time -- The Roches
4th Of July -- X
Pretty Women -- Sweeney Todd
Old Old Woodstock -- Van Morrison
War -- Mos Def
The Gymnast, High Above The Ground -- The Decemberists
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds -- Elton John
The Seeker -- The Who
So Right -- Dave Mathews Band

Bonus Boxing Day cut:

Daughter -- Pearl Jam

It's a Festivus Miracle

...according to Paul Krugman.

Season's Greetings my Bitches!

The Magic Bus

And you wonder why mass transit is eroding before our eyes in this country...'cause a-holes like Lamar Alexander have never been on a bus.

Spectacle

For you folks out there with The Sundance Channel on your cable package, Elvis has The Basher on his Spectacle show this evening at 10:00.

Along with Nick Lowe; Richard Thompson, Levon Helm and The Band are also featured on tonight's episode.

Gentlemen, start your DVRs...

Stewie on Dave

Gosh I love Stewie...

Top Cat, RIP

Arnold Stang, dead at age 91

Shrill One

Paul Krugman makes an excellent point on the imminent passage of the HCR bill over at his blog.

Where there's a weed...

...there's a way. Interesting findings from across the pond.

LBJ

LeBron just barely missed besting some very spectacular numbers this weekend. Read 'em and weep...

James' just short: LeBron James played in his 500th career regular season game Sunday in Dallas. He had 13,795 points, 3,498 rebounds and 3,380 assists in those games. But he fell just two rebounds shy of becoming only the second player in NBA history to collect 13,750 points, 3,500 rebounds and 3,250 assists in their first 500 contests, equaling Oscar Robertson.

The "Big O" was always one of my favorite players when I was a kid. Just sayin...

Another Season has passed

Today marks the end of the celebration of Zappadan. FZ was born on this day in Baltimore, 69 years ago today in December of 1940.

May the Frank be with you.

Ointment.

To mark the culmination of the fortnight, here's some nice live audio of a couple of old faves from a 1979 concert in Manchester, UK.

Update: I almost forgot to mention that's it's also a mere 60 days until pitchers and catchers report for Spring training on this; the shortest day of the year. So here's a shout out to all you pagans and your rockin' Solstice Night.

Mind Numbing

I know that I'm increasingly the weblog version of a broken record about Obama and Afghanistan, but I read these figures and I'm left dumbstruck.

I'm never going to feel like an American I think. What this nation has done to the world for the last 60 years is ruinous. Let's all collectively hang our heads at the end of the first decade of this new millennium for the wrongs that our government inflicts daily on the earth.

We're all Katrina now.

Feh.

Friday Random Ten

Not Even Jail -- Interpol
G.E.S. -- Nellie McKay
Dynamite -- Dave Edmunds
Nothing Wrong With You -- The Finn Brothers
Someday, Someway -- Robert Gordon
Radio Cure -- Wilco
Mothership Connection -- Parliament
Front Page -- The Redwalls
Something To Look Forward To --Spoon
Little Ways -- Dwight Yoakum

Bonus cutski:

Melatonin -- Silversun Pickups

Happy Christmas

Shane and his teeth nearly had a hit with this one. Kirsty McColl is long dead now. Cheery innit?

Unemployed

I've now been unemployed for 2 years today. If you're reading this and you've got a job, you don't understand me at all...

Rudie

I'll let The Rude One do the talking today on HCR and Sen. Lieberman.

Not that I particularly put any more blame on Joe than anyone else in this mess. If you really want to find the fuckers behind the failure of Health Care Reform for the past 30 years, look no further than Newt, Grover Norquist and his band of ass clowns.

Lieberman is just a symptom of a larger disease called deregulated free market even though he is a pretty big putz. This way, all those Hartford insurance companies he shills for can buy votes, like Joe, as they wish. In a properly regulated environment, they'd have a smaller sphere of influence. Again, Grover Norquist.

Of course the Democratic leadership in the Senate are all knobs as well. Spineless and weak. Harry Reid is limp.

Life In Hell

Here's an old LIH cartoon that embraces the spirit of the season. FZ, that is...

Bailouts, Bonuses and Bombs

Here's my main man, Dennis Kucinich, in front of the White House this weekend. The amassed crowd sounded smaller than my high school graduating class. No matter though, the truth will out.

Turning off the lights

Editor and Publisher signs off for good. Yep, just another sign of the impending apocalypse.

It's often the plumbing that goes first

Whew, trouble averted in Breederville. Film at 11:00.

More of the same

Another Friday, another disappointment from Mr. Obama's administration. It's Matt Taibbi's turn this particular afternoon. Oh, and don't neglect clicking through to David Sirota's opinion piece about the Dorgan Canadian drug bill. Our gov'mint sure is good at failing.

Thanks goodness it's 5:00 somewhere.

Tom Engelhardt

The money quote and the last sentence of this piece from Tomgram reads..."Whatever the Obama administration does in Afghanistan and Pakistan, however, the American ability to mount a sustained operation of this size in one of the most difficult places on the planet, when it can’t even mount a reasonable jobs program at home, remains a strange wonder of the world".

After reading this kind of stuff you really begin to wonder why one should even bother thinking, caring or being informed about anything. It's a quitters paradise. Sigh.

Ich bin der Chrome Dinette

On the eighth day of Zappadan, ol' FZ gave to me...a Browns victory over the Stillers.

It's a Zappadan miracle.

Friday Random Ten

Don't Lose Your Temper -- XTC
Frankenstein -- New York Dolls
Going Down Fast -- The John Doe Thing
Pancho & Lefty -- Townes van Zandt
Three Days -- Jane's Addiction
No, You're Not -- Spoon
Leave The Biker -- Fountains Of Wayne
People As Places As People -- Modest Mouse
When The Shit Hits The Fan-Sunset Blvd. -- Todd Rundgren
I Wish I Was The Moon -- Neko Case

Numero eleveno:

What Ever Happened To? -- Buzzcocks

EIT

Here's a fun little "chicks dig guns" snippet via the Everything Is Terrible website. Look's like that weapon could stop a 400 lb. Delta Burke at 50 paces, right Major Dad?...

Welcome to the Middle

Today is the 7th day of Zappadan or as I've christened it, The Mezzo.

Glad tidings of Frank to all. Here's the man hisself with his great '73 era band and that friggin' SG of his.

John vs. Paul songs

There are a host of tunes I could select to reflect the vast aesthetic difference between John's songwriting style versus that of the Mac. Personally, I identify with John's side of the equation more deeply and have always liked his tunes better.

In trying to select one for today's memoriam, I chose Savoy Truffle, not so much because it's a great song, but mostly because it's just been stuck in my head for about a flipping week now.

I've always thought the lyrics were funny as well.

They're alleged to be about Eric Clapton's chronic affliction for sweets and accompanying dental problems with rotting teeth hence the tag, "you'll have to have them all pulled out after the savoy truffle"...

Creme tangerine and Montélimar
A ginger sling with a pineapple heart
A coffee dessert--yes you know it's good news
But you'll have to have them all pulled out
After the Savoy truffle.

Cool cherry cream, nice apple tart
I feel your taste all the time we're apart
Coconut fudge--really blows down those blues
But you'll have to have them all pulled out
After the Savoy truffle.

You might not feel it now
But when the pain cuts through
You're gonna know and how
The sweat is going to fill your head
When it becomes too much
You'll shout aloud

But you'll have to have them all pulled out
After the Savoy truffle.

You know that what you eat you are,
But what is sweet now, turns so sour--
We all know Obla-Di-Bla-Da
But can you show me, where you are?..

Creme tangerine and Montélimar
A ginger sling with a pineapple heart
A coffee dessert--yes you know its good news
But you'll have to have them all pulled out
After the Savoy truffle.
Yes, you'll have to have them all pulled out
After the Savoy truffle.

John

We interrupt today's celebration of Zappadan to remember the life of John Lennon; murdered 29 years ago today.

Corny, but accurate, journalist, Bob Greene gives us a viewpoint from the Upper West Side on this somber but hopeful day.

Zombie Reagan

Zombie Reagan Raised From Grave To Lead GOP
Missed this one from The Onion over the weekend. Yummy.

A date which will live in infamy

Today is the 68th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It's also the day before the 29th anniversary of the murder of John Lennon. Two solemn events in succession.

So, with no tangible connection to any of these remembrances and to leaven the loaf a bit and to celebrate day 4 of Zappadan, here's a cut from Frank's 1973 classic, Over-nite Sensation album, I'm The Slime.

Vietnam Redux

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Barack Obama is fast becoming this generation's Lyndon Johnson.

Mos Def

This piece is 48 minutes long. I dig Mos Def.

By Lipton's Beard!

Weird and creepy James Lipton has a PSA campaign out there about thinking before you text. The other ads are pretty funny too.

It's the Holiday Season

Time for Zappadan folks.

The price of meat has just gone up and your old lady has just gone down.

Friday Random Ten

Like U Crazy -- Mates Of State
Damned Old Dog -- The Roches
All The World Is Green -- Tom Waits
The Angry Mob -- Kaiser Chiefs
Mother Mary -- Foxboro Hot Tubs
Here It Goes Again -- O.K. Go
Liar -- Sex Pistols
The Other Side OF The Coin -- Nick Lowe
Reservations -- Wilco
Soil, Soil -- Tegan & Sara

Bonus jobless cut:

Generator -- Foo Fighters

Update

I posted all about DC trip but it went it to Monday's date as a blog entry since that's when I started writing this behemoth. If you don't want to scroll down, feel free to click here....

Hippy Hippy Shake

Bob Keane, the man behind several seminal artists of days gone by has passed away. He was, among dozens of other things, the first person to produce Frank Zappa's music, so that's good enough fo me.

BTW, Zappadan starts on Friday.

Obama

Can someone please explain why Obama is making this choice? Oh, that's right...I forgot, we're war mongers.

Tiger

I'm sure that several of you have been wondering when i was going to weigh in on Tiger. Frankly, I don't give a rat's ass who and what Eldrick is banging. His big mistake was actually getting in the car and running into a tree.

He's a freak competitor. Many, if not all, of these guys swagger around the world like they're untouchable. Perhaps with the exception of LeBron, nobody is bigger than Tiger. This is what they do.

I must say tho', if his wife did in fact bash him with a golf club, it redefines the phrase, "irony".

Anyway, here's a piece from ESPN that captures exactly how I feel about Tiger. This tawdry stuff that's going on now will fade but if he's smart, the last several days should make for a life changing event, pronto.

Crystal Ball

Here's us 4 or 5 months from now.

Washington, D.C.

All right, I'll lay out our trip to D. C. as best I can after a week or so. (clicking on the pictures makes 'em bigger) Here's the skinny.

We flew direct from Cleveland to Reagan National last Friday. Easy breezy flight on one of those little Embrerer jets. GG had a bunch of extra points so the flight cost a total of $10.00 for the two of us.

We gathered our gear and headed for the Metro station at the Airport and were in our hotel in 30 minutes after landing. Again, Blondie had some coupons and shit, plus it was the weekend before Thanksgiving, so the room was $83.00 per night. Right on.

We were two blocks south of the Capitol in Capitol Hill. Just half a block from the "C" Street house of recent lore which is in the heart of RNC controlled south side of the Hill.


We first went to the National Botanical Garden. Lovely and free. Then off to the Air and Space. Saw tons of cool stuff including John Glenn's Freindship 7 capsule, bunches of Goddard related materils, a space monkey, the Enola Gay and a complete replica of the Hubble Space Telescope.

We had a 2:30 appt. for a tour of the Library of Congress at the Jefferson Building.
Breathtaking building that had a great Herblock exhibition and a nearly complete restoration of Thomas Jefferson's actual library which was, of course, the collection that begat the entire Library. Tres cool.

We went to dinner on Friday night at the world famous Ben's Chili Bowl. Sam Cooke on the jukebox and a greasy spoon on Friday night on U St.

Terrific.

We also tried to see the Numbers Band at a little joint down the street called The Velvet Lounge. That didn't pan out so well.

Saturday morning went straight to Ford's Theatre. First tour of the day starts at 9:00. We went in with a horde of High schoolers but jumped ahead of them and went straight to the balcony of the theatre. You can stand directly behind the chair that Lincoln was in when he was shot. It's really something and I oddly thought of Crazy Joe Davola when we were there. No pictures allowed.

We then went to the White House Visitors Center which sucked but had nice bathrooms. The line for our 11:30 appt. to tour the WH was chaos. People misdirected and confused and once past the initial metal detectors and such, a very loosely designed event. After going through there I frankly wasn't surprised that those boneheads that crashed the State Dinner 3 nights later got in as easily as they did. Again, no pics allowed at the WH.

Had a House of Reps tour scheduled via Dennis' office but that too became a unique mess. Because the House was out of Session, there were no tours of the House Chamber. However, with the health care vote going into Saturday, you could get into a live Senate session. The tour was great and just as we walked into the Senate Chamber, we heard the familiar tones of Al Franken orating in favor of passage of the HCR bill. Very neat indeed. Finished the evening at with dinner at Johnny's Half Shell and nightcaps at Sonoma

I also need to mention the excellent Trolley Tour we took both Saturday and Sunday. Ticket is $30 each and you can get on and off for two days all over the District and Georgetown. One of our drivers was an equity actor from OK named Sooner Steve. Hilarious and informative. We also used the Metro extensively. Fare cards and mini map got us all over.

Sunday was Memorials and such. Lincoln, WWII, Korea and the Vietnam Wall. Our trolley went across the Potomac to Arlington where we went up to the Tomb of the Unknowns and Kennedy's grave. Teddy, Jack and Bobby are the only plain white wooden crosses in the whole place. And unbelievably, it wasn't until we were directly in front of the Eternal Flame...at about noon...that GG observed that it was November 22nd. That kinda blew our minds.

We headed off to Georgetown for a late Sunday lunch and stumbled across Martins. Great joint. Got back on the trolley and headed back to the room. Monday was a travel day.

All in all it was a great time although I was yet again reminded of the power that the USA has always had is primarily military. Regardless, from an architectural and cultural perspective, this is a world class city that left us wanting to stay longer.

New Spoon

Mr. B. sent me one of those newfangled email things as he found today's All Songs Considered over at the NPR site replete with a pre-released cut of Britt and the boy's new tune-smithing.

Clangy guitars, ripping good bass lines and Prince vocals. Yep, that's fucking Spoon all right.

Friday Random Ten (Black version)

I Got Shit -- Pearl Jam
Boppin' The Blues -- Carl Perkins
Star Bodies -- The New Pornographers
The Gymnast, High Above The Ground -- The Decemberists
M79 -- Vampire Weekend
Night In My Veins -- The Pretenders
Zacatecas -- The Iguanas
Girls Talk -- Dave Edmunds
Bury Me With It -- Modest Mouse
Air -- Talking Heads

Bonus punkin' pie slice:

Fuck And Run -- Liz Phair

Anyway the wind blows

This vid is going to go viral right quick. Very darn clever. Hat tip to TBogg...

Nighttown this evening

I still need to get some pics and commentary up here about D.C., but I've been running around all day doin' pre T'day stuff and tonight is Nellie McKay @ Nighttown.

I'll have the whole Nations Capitol story for you'ns tomorrow. In the interim, here's Nellie...

They walk among us

King of teh funny, TBogg, has a clip of some early morning Palinites out for a glimpse of Hillbilly Barbie at a bookstore near Columbus last Friday.

Oh. My. God.

BTW, I'll have a roundup later of our super fantastic trip to Washington D.C. later in the week. It was a blast.

Friday Random Ten

Winging off to Chocolate City for the weekend with the Blonde. We'll do what we can to push this health care thingy through while we're there and be sure to say "hi" to Mr. and Mrs. O for everyone. Here's the ten...

SAD.TXT -- Pere Ubu
Break Up The Concrete -- The Pretenders
Burnout -- Green Day
Reddy Teddy -- Buddy Holly
Till The End Of The Day -- The Kinks
Strapped For Cash -- Fountains Of Wayne
Chinese Radiation -- Pere Ubu
Darkness -- Black Uhuru
Hope For Us All -- Nick Lowe
Poor Places -- Wilco

Non Ubu Bonus cut:

Biscuit -- Portishead

I'm a quitter

Today is the Great American Smoke Out. Best thing I ever did for myself was to quit smoking. It's never to late to quit.

Gun Shows

This brave young man with the cool last name is trying to expose the major loophole to our flimsy gun laws as they relate to gun dealers at gun shows. Here's his film.

Tonight on Dave

Letterman has Mr. Ray Davies on his television programme this evening. You'll have to slog through Stupid Human Tricks and that vampire kid from the Twilight revenue generator first, but it'll be worth the wait.

Do tune in.

Presumably, he's stumping for this release.

Anybody feel like some Eels?...

Hey, me too.

Here's the video for Souljacker part 1. This was the only embedded version I could find so you'll just have to put up with the German video interview part at the beginning.

Robert Scheer

Bob Scheer asks the question that is on many a mind these days.

Mr. Obama?...we're waiting.

Bing-fuckin'-O

The Rude One gives Quitter McPalin the complete treatment.

No Take Backs

Oh, Puhlezeeee.

I thought that Republicans were all about rules, fair play and self responsibility. What a tool.

NME

Swell. I guess that we'll start seeing a bunch of this stuff now that we're nearing the end of the decade. I'm tired of time fleeting so quickly.

Anyway. Pretty good list all in all. I have several of the recordings on this list including what I think may be the best record of the bunch.

The Arcade Fire's Funeral

Lou Dobbs

Huh. I guessed I missed this story what with all the hub-bub about Lou leaving CNN last week.

Not a drop to drink

I'm continually curious as to why this topic isn't a big deal for the entirety of the desert SW beyond Las Vegas. The whole freakin' place could shrivel up in a matter of a couple of years one day relatively and while there is a general sense of concern, there appears to be little urgency in advance of that inevitability.

Who's Gonna Save My Soul

Huh. Those Gnarls Barkley fellas are really something special.

Pre Thanksgiving Strike

Ha!

I never liked pumpkin pie anyway.