Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Victoria Jackson and rap

Wow, I can't believe it's been since March 4 that I last blogged. Where have I been? I promised myself that I would do this every day but when I get home at night, other stuff beckons like feeding the small herd of cats.

Anyway there's a lot to discuss. Victoria Jackson a former SNL performer has been all over the news lately. First she went to the conservative shindig and complained about how hard it is for Christians to get parts in Holloywood because of discrimination. Funny, I didn't think right-wing Christians had a sense of humor. She has also apparently called President Obama a muslim and/or communist. Then this week she popped up on CNN.com again to complain about the gay kiss on Glee and the fact that gays and secular humanism were destroying America. She rambled on about the persecution of Christians and held up her Bible. She appeared to be under the influence of something -- perhaps Jesus juice? She was out there, man. She also said the gay Glee kiss was harming gay youth. The host of the program -- one of those Insider types actually challenged her. Sue and I discussed whether she is for real or just gaming us -- like some extended SNL skit. I hear she has a blog -- who among us doesn't these days -- and that it's something to behold. I think I may google it and check it out.

Now for the rap portion of our programming.  I read a blog called Metacritic.com on a daily basis. Today they were featuring the top "albums" of the spring. One of the featured albums was the new one by Pittsburgh rapper Whiz Khalifa. I am not usually a rap fan. For a lot of reasons. But I clicked on the song and, if you can get past the constant references to "bitches," it's a rather catchy song. I don't think I would go out and buy it, but you never know. He's getting a lot of love in the national media including my favorite music blog, Pitchforkmedia.com. He was also on the cover of Rolling Stone. Speaking of Roling Stone, I read somewhere about the fact that certain people are questioning it's relevancy. I am a faithful subscriber and have noticed that they are covering a lot of the newer artisits. They need to put some of them on the cover instead of Snooki but nonetheless they are trying. But, I would subscribe just for the articles on politics by Matt Taibbi. I just read his latest article on Wall Street (I am behind in my reading too) and it was a brillant article.

Musically, I have been listening to concerts on NPRmusic.org from South by Southwest music festival. My wish is to go there someday. Guess it's on my bucket list. There is so much great music out there and I want to go to Paul's and buy it all. I may have to break down and buy an Itunes card so I can download some of it to my MP3 player.

Japan, Libya, a lot going on there. Of course the usual right-wing nuts have said the tsunami in Japan is the coming of the Apocalypse. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. What it is, however, is a damn shame and a terrible thing for that country to go through. And we don't need the so called Christians nammering on about the end of the world. Use your money and influence for good.

That's all folks.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Friday night bowling

Tonight we stayed in and had leftovers. Then we did Wii bowling. I got beat but held my own. I'm writing this while I listen to a World Cafe session on Iron and Wine, a favorite group of mine. This week I have been listening to the steaming of the new "albums" by REM, Kurt Vile and the Mountain Goats. So far, I like all of them. The Kurt Vile record I like a lot. He is coming to the Warhol so I might see if I can get a ticket and go see him. I like to see shows at the Warhol. They bring in great artists in an intimate atmosphere with a great sound system.

I loved REM when I discovered them in college/law school. I saw my one and only REM concert when I was at WVU law school. The Indigo Girls opened up for them!! Unfortunately I have not cared for their last few albums. Many of the critics/talking heads are saying this new release is their best since their work in the 80's. I have listened to it several times and I am slowly liking it. I would like to listen to it a few more times but several of the songs do sound like the vintage 80's stuff.

As for the Mountain Goats, I discovered them awhile ago -- I can't really remember when but I probably read about them on Pitchforkmedia. I love their music -- I say "their" loosely because they are the work of one main man, John Darnielle (sp?). He is a very literate song writer and his themes are about broken down people and other heavy subjects. I really like this new "album." His last one was good but was very bleak and a little depressing.

I have to give thanks to NPR. I know the right wingers want to cut the funding but I so love their website because I have been able to preview a lot of great stuff before it comes out so I can decide what to spend my money on. In addition, I get to hear all kinds of new music by artists I have read about or never heard but get to discover. Music, for me, is life.

I meant to write this post last night when I discovered that all of my favorite shows were re-runs. Thursday nights are my night for TV. Three of my favorite shows are on that night -- the show about the little nerds (Big Bang Theory); old school CSI (the original Las Vegas edition) and the Mentalist. Unfortunately two shows I also really like -- Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock are on opposite my favorite CBS shows and we don't have cable and/or a DVR so if I don't remember to watch online I'm out of luck. Unfortunately those shows weren't on last night so I read my book on the introduction to the Universalist Unitarian religion instead of watching TV or blogging.

The UU religion is fascinating to me. I was raised Presbyterian but never quite believed everything I was taught or read -- such as all homos are going to hell -- and that there is a hell and an afterlife or that Christ was resurrected, etc. etc. But UU doesn't say it's important to beleive all that and that what's important is the way you live your life and your deeds which I always thought was the way to go. So even though I am only part way through the book and have been to two adult education classes and five Sundays it is very appealing to me --what I'm hearing and reading so far.