tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54792282435517274272024-03-05T07:56:37.841-06:00Basshead JazzSandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-35130286506138681222010-12-08T10:06:00.001-06:002010-12-08T10:09:17.309-06:00Stash Spot.........<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWy1Rr67O_KoA9RxknzNjaguZhWHYX8v1js2BUwbHkDpN2OsTxtI2D1gnePNJk02hrx5m10zAIugJkqXCGtCatDFMQwmuLbSm3wb-Ab1VW1RR6JcpLryKJhp-CSQSDpRM4igWpH7xOr0U/s1600/delillo.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWy1Rr67O_KoA9RxknzNjaguZhWHYX8v1js2BUwbHkDpN2OsTxtI2D1gnePNJk02hrx5m10zAIugJkqXCGtCatDFMQwmuLbSm3wb-Ab1VW1RR6JcpLryKJhp-CSQSDpRM4igWpH7xOr0U/s400/delillo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548344168640979314" border="0" /></a>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-49897114186871537092010-12-08T00:45:00.002-06:002010-12-08T00:49:05.695-06:00From the secret vaults of heaven...........<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYd9SCAN4Y-P5q5ncBVrOXNhCgZRY_QsDyvQdVV6Ru0LZy-Av0rEZ-GoAta6eJwWYEBOhnzGnJYqy_cq-Lt7H6Zc5tbg1Ae3XaglKfcwovMfsPrZug_NGCCMj4PajApvL2lyYVRlg4_c/s1600/summer.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYd9SCAN4Y-P5q5ncBVrOXNhCgZRY_QsDyvQdVV6Ru0LZy-Av0rEZ-GoAta6eJwWYEBOhnzGnJYqy_cq-Lt7H6Zc5tbg1Ae3XaglKfcwovMfsPrZug_NGCCMj4PajApvL2lyYVRlg4_c/s400/summer.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548199177585746434" border="0" /></a><br />(c) 2008, Mayport, FLSandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-8052167710064508392010-12-07T13:43:00.002-06:002010-12-07T14:03:44.566-06:00The Sacred NowThere's something really obvious and profoundly American being missed in all this coverage of the TSA's pointless molestation of the traveling public. Everyone agrees that it's grossly excessive and an unacceptable invasion of privacy........but the real story here is that it apparently IS acceptable. It's being accepted every single day. There was no "opt out" day, there is no nationwide refusal to fly. I'm not judging anyone for laziness or hypocrisy. People gotta fly. I'm just pointing it out the reality of things. We're like Smokey and the government is Deebo. We got mind control. When we get on the plane, we be talkin' again.<br /><br />To me this proves that, for Americans at least if not modern humans in general, there is literally nothing that can trump convenience. It's easy for us to raise our voices on call-in radio talk shows about our civil liberties...........but it's a little harder to stand yards away from a huge pressurized space shuttle that's fueling up to fire us through the air from San Diego to Sicily in 14 seconds flat and say "No, go ahead without me, I'd rather spend the next five hours standing in this musty ass airport terminal arguing some existential point with fat high school dropouts in blue uniforms who probably agree with me anyway." Very few people are willing to sacrifice convenience to make a point, even if the point is that they don't deserve to get finger-banged before they're allowed to enjoy Christmas vacation. And really.......who can enjoy anything when their stool smells like latex gloves? 2010 will go down in history as the year that a whole nation opened up presents and sang "jingle bells" while sobbing and shaking like teen hookers after their first sado-masochist client, but hey...........at least we got to our destinations fast.<br /><br />The obvious other point that's being missed is that you're more likely to be named King of Saipan than end up on a goddamn hijacked plane, and that really not even the tiniest shred of your dignity or liberty is worth giving up to protect for such a statistical anomaly. But then we'd have to admit that the global war on terrorism might be based on some pretty shaky premises and questionable budget choices, which nobody is ready to do.<br /><br />Anyway, don't listen to me. I'm only able to sit here and spout my nonsense because I'm a poor piece of shit who can't afford to fly. Give me a real corporate job with a frequent flyer card and I'll go through the scanners smiling ear to radiated ear.Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-38699860741578786542010-12-07T12:24:00.004-06:002010-12-07T12:29:30.544-06:00After many years of searching.......<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span>.....I finally found it. The entire decade of the 1980's encapsulated in one single image.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicGLHc-Nfyou3egBxZ84EL-hDJ6QHIdJaSTXacVXfWW23S8uMChS2WSld0CpBGLtUnJnxtWPgeX5OWQIQSm6kZ43ioIsDpIIBrpw_VooA1dIU4TEfhQjAdSA0VF0RFH4VLQB1zoAFl2Ig/s1600/tumblr_lc06c5tdzg1qzwilpo1_500.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicGLHc-Nfyou3egBxZ84EL-hDJ6QHIdJaSTXacVXfWW23S8uMChS2WSld0CpBGLtUnJnxtWPgeX5OWQIQSm6kZ43ioIsDpIIBrpw_VooA1dIU4TEfhQjAdSA0VF0RFH4VLQB1zoAFl2Ig/s400/tumblr_lc06c5tdzg1qzwilpo1_500.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548008899371724994" border="0" /></a><br /></span>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-25968274990376171242010-12-06T01:11:00.003-06:002010-12-06T02:24:39.413-06:00That. Just. Happened.Forget I was ever gone.<br /><br />2010 has been an insane year for music, so much amazing stuff. It was like the musical equivalent of a chicken cordon bleu stuffed inside a super-burrito and dipped in a vat of mescaline.............awesome, but it's gonna take a while to digest. I sat down and tried to write a top 10, but I was forced to do a top 20 instead. FORCED. I included some links here and there as well.<br /><br />These were my favorite albums of 2010..................<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Euj9f3gdyM">Arcade Fire- The Suburbs</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Janelle Monae- The ArchAndroid</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Kanye West- My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78_loMbmKJ8">Earl Sweatshirt- EARL</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Phantogram- Eyelid Movies</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b5v-nUhByY">High on Fire- Snakes for the Divine</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Royce Da 5'9- Bar Exam 3</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Teenage Fanclub- Shadows</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBDs7rUsBAs">Lightspeed Champion- Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Tame Impala- Innerspeaker</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyO7P6LE7nA">Twin Shadow- Forget</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >The Black Keys- Brothers</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHXy8zT0tn4">Radio Dept- Clinging to a Scheme</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" > Gil-Scott Heron- I'm New Here</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Black Breath- Heavy Breathing</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >The Roots- How I Got Over</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" > Rick Ross- Teflon Don</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTqq4ypLxo8">The Depreciation Guild- Spirit Youth</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Warpaint- The Fool</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Arial Pink's Haunted Graffiti- Before Today</span><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">For me, the best album of the year wasn't even a contest. The Suburbs. 30 years from now I'll be listening to that masterpiece. And I wasn't even generally an Arcade Fire fan before this album. They've matured by leaps and bounds, and really done something that very few artists manage to do every decade, which is find the sound that captures the time.<br /><br />Anyway, I'm back on the blogspot for good now. Tumblr is cool and I'll keep mine, but ultimately it just a) moves too fast for me, and b) is full of teens, and while they are far more artistic and creative than I'll ever be, they are still teens, and therefore shitty awkward human beings who don't make any sense.<br /><br /></div></div>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-15877905049641554502010-07-20T02:15:00.005-05:002010-12-08T00:19:26.395-06:00Growth and movement.............<a href="http://syntheticshipmates.tumblr.com/">http://syntheticshipmates.tumblr.com/</a>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-10127804784918924162010-07-18T14:43:00.000-05:002010-07-18T14:44:14.888-05:00With great power............<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCKcOcv-W0SgRqpMZnIV9xENPmw7k80T4TGcTthBqkN6bIoEsJayUVIChUSaZT1-SQOggQyxzOdu3K8JRgs6pXGtWUP8u1zEpEGcTiCMz4olifk72Mxo9w7L8HvDomq5MbkDxkfsjRe1A/s1600/Savetheday.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCKcOcv-W0SgRqpMZnIV9xENPmw7k80T4TGcTthBqkN6bIoEsJayUVIChUSaZT1-SQOggQyxzOdu3K8JRgs6pXGtWUP8u1zEpEGcTiCMz4olifk72Mxo9w7L8HvDomq5MbkDxkfsjRe1A/s400/Savetheday.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495334350764761730" border="0" /></a>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-12386078418066640292010-07-17T22:48:00.002-05:002010-07-18T00:47:49.995-05:00Podcast Episode 3: \m/(><)\m/<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:180%;" >The Basshead Jazz Podcast- Episode 3 </span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?rn6wyyglycbd70w"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:verdana;font-size:130%;" ><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Download Here</span></span></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >Playlist</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >The Sword- March of the Lor</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Meshuggah- Rational Gaze</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Eyehategod- Peace Thru War (Thru Peace and War)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Mastodon- Iron Tusk</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Judas Priest- Desert Plains</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Lamb of God- Terror and Hubris in the House</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Candlemass- Black Dwarf</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Slayer- Cult</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Dethklok- Bloodlines</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Probot- I Am the Warlock</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Pantera- By Demons be Driven</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >System of a Down- Shimmy<br />High on Fire- Nemisis<br />Acrassicauda- Garden of Stones<br /><br /></span><br />Thanks for listening.</div>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-58080842161044997732010-07-11T12:05:00.001-05:002010-07-11T12:09:01.246-05:00Ghosts of Nevada.....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhetkh2HycdqUdS_KXomebeNGMCzTQHDKbBqp8JMUpntT-tRM1OL90CwvaATKvFdOdOmdXN6T7KZ_NtLmMR39yKty-X-v3CwElam31-Y6CgpOx4AGNYp4W_HiVpOhggqtbR4FPhhXgddmE/s1600/Haunting3.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhetkh2HycdqUdS_KXomebeNGMCzTQHDKbBqp8JMUpntT-tRM1OL90CwvaATKvFdOdOmdXN6T7KZ_NtLmMR39yKty-X-v3CwElam31-Y6CgpOx4AGNYp4W_HiVpOhggqtbR4FPhhXgddmE/s400/Haunting3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492696310998318386" border="0" /></a>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-23642688877319120272010-07-11T03:41:00.003-05:002010-07-11T03:49:26.223-05:00Podcast Episode 2: Cool Chicks and Heartless Bastards<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:180%;" >The Basshead Jazz Podcast- Episode 2</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?hqdju32fmzm"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:verdana;font-size:130%;" ><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Download Here</span></span></a><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >Playlist</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Sia- Death By Chocolate</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Heartless Bastards- The Mountain<br />Band of Skulls- Hollywood Bowl</span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Gun Club- Ghost on the Highway</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Yoko Ono- Death of Samantha</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >The Dears- Fear Made the World Go Round</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Iggy and the Stooges- Gimme Danger</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >The Depreciation Guild- Dream About Me</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Joey Ramone- Like a Drug I Never Did Before<br />Teenage Fanclub- Baby Lee<br />Witchcraft- Leva<br />The Smiths- This Night Has Opened My Eyes<br />Idiot Pilot- A Day in the Life of a Poolshark </span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks for listening.<br /></div></div>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-39717426798385281782010-07-08T15:58:00.003-05:002010-07-08T15:59:23.078-05:00When you figure this comic out....................you will know the meaning of life.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnmeQAxAtIfWJX_miX9XF8ICJwqg6O-PbLODN5V80GlxDXFQa66c1E4L6vjN_nqRZW3hdIHILwZTRvMFo0BCQjE6q0Jzs-VSMyqpAHzEOp3Ddx0cUsCbkf8PhZ4YE0pj17SHaixPFllyI/s1600/Forbidden_Worlds_001-27.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 337px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnmeQAxAtIfWJX_miX9XF8ICJwqg6O-PbLODN5V80GlxDXFQa66c1E4L6vjN_nqRZW3hdIHILwZTRvMFo0BCQjE6q0Jzs-VSMyqpAHzEOp3Ddx0cUsCbkf8PhZ4YE0pj17SHaixPFllyI/s400/Forbidden_Worlds_001-27.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491642804409168178" border="0" /></a>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-50730209855828964552010-07-07T13:20:00.004-05:002010-07-07T14:17:34.171-05:00Random thoughts and brain misfires...............- Louis C. K.'s new show on FX called "Louie" is already one of the best TV shows I've ever seen in my life, and it's only a few episodes in. The way they piece it together is amazing and hilarious. DVR that shit!<br /><br />- If there was ever an expert on the look of disappointment on people's faces, it's the guy who stands at the exit door of a wax museum.<br /><br />- A random amazing sentence from the Louise Erdrich novel I'm reading.......<span style="font-style: italic;">"The clouds cover the horizon and within the mass, as the thing opens over us, we see the heart of the storm, the dark side of the anvil shot through with an electric lacery of light."</span> I like her.<br /><br />- I feel like I should own a cactus. I live in the desert. I feel like when you live in the desert you should have a cactus somewhere in your house, and maybe a southwestern style native-american blanket hanging over your couch. I think I'm gonna go get a cactus.<br /><br />- Love is amazing. And by "Love" I mean the Aurther Lee 60's rock band. Actual love will ruin your life and murder everything you are inside. Which is usually when you start listening to down-tempo 60's psychedelic rock music like Love.Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-11699909630482366032010-07-06T13:07:00.002-05:002010-07-06T13:11:25.846-05:003:10 to Nowhere.............<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBlP7Is-9fdeRb6b06B0GMIQr9zb0DAwJUdfz2JbzQZuELTEv16omGjuH21txdUIbgrArqTlEK9EQHb1zIwgc8vkGuNEDR6D6sDYArhKbFoXrVMo814mQvqIMQmPTzDu0DTj2D9TGdwA/s1600/conducting.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBlP7Is-9fdeRb6b06B0GMIQr9zb0DAwJUdfz2JbzQZuELTEv16omGjuH21txdUIbgrArqTlEK9EQHb1zIwgc8vkGuNEDR6D6sDYArhKbFoXrVMo814mQvqIMQmPTzDu0DTj2D9TGdwA/s400/conducting.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490856817132783778" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFcYty3Up7T7eShoDn8il-IkCWbYoj7oYvBmGue3H3GfKmN6lfReQoAS1KY7lZC5779iQ4qu-pQbWyL0l7YF18FDwTMT1t8JTPS666gU62h01MzI9hutNlo7EuWLgks9kyxSizqbN2jY/s1600/OldSac5.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 201px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFcYty3Up7T7eShoDn8il-IkCWbYoj7oYvBmGue3H3GfKmN6lfReQoAS1KY7lZC5779iQ4qu-pQbWyL0l7YF18FDwTMT1t8JTPS666gU62h01MzI9hutNlo7EuWLgks9kyxSizqbN2jY/s400/OldSac5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490856538385512642" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFcYty3Up7T7eShoDn8il-IkCWbYoj7oYvBmGue3H3GfKmN6lfReQoAS1KY7lZC5779iQ4qu-pQbWyL0l7YF18FDwTMT1t8JTPS666gU62h01MzI9hutNlo7EuWLgks9kyxSizqbN2jY/s1600/OldSac5.JPG"><br /></a>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-35979410075074581162010-07-06T12:06:00.004-05:002010-07-06T12:41:43.850-05:00Sleep is the Cousin of Death......<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Most Slept On Movies of the Last 30 Years </span><span>(according to me)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Science of Sleep</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Redbelt</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dogfight</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Quiet American</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Last Supper</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Altered States</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">House of Games</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Punch-Drunk Love</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Fountain</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Night on Earth</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bubba Ho-Tep</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Delicatessen</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Darjeeling Limited</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Stairway to Heaven (also called: A Matter of Life and Death)</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Last Life in the Universe</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Whatever on that list you haven't seen, rush out immediately and find. DIRECT ORDER!!<br /></div></div>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-48985794701955151892010-07-05T15:33:00.004-05:002010-07-05T15:39:50.681-05:00What is Cool?: A Haiku........<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /><br />Cool is Rod Serling</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Smoking While Telling His Fans</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Martians Should Eat Them</span>.<br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglN2pJGYJgDtz7gqnvnIZn-Dt4sdTOsOE3BF9w46RR1MIOS80jR1h2RFj_yo26TQTUq0STtZorb8FhYJPXpkVcayr787UqLQiB0YG1Cs3FyXMlTiqq6VFWmktZIGymq6xWwThRJzsFAA4/s1600/SerlingCool.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 275px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglN2pJGYJgDtz7gqnvnIZn-Dt4sdTOsOE3BF9w46RR1MIOS80jR1h2RFj_yo26TQTUq0STtZorb8FhYJPXpkVcayr787UqLQiB0YG1Cs3FyXMlTiqq6VFWmktZIGymq6xWwThRJzsFAA4/s400/SerlingCool.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490523236071341570" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" >(My artist rendering of what Cool may look like)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-75937864880725334242010-07-04T17:42:00.002-05:002010-07-05T02:14:45.075-05:00Synthetic shipmates............<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizIyu_Q5IgqikcxmivFB8zUhCOBbCKNv1BEf2Da5FdLZcfIfhGTag1bPgP-OCKXULZYYkKXTqi53BpLIqh6uM4Fj6XLX8noNkETfrc4qdqQhMH2-Bg-g8Kh9h8DmURA9GJNkHCTDgBYkM/s1600/Sailor.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizIyu_Q5IgqikcxmivFB8zUhCOBbCKNv1BEf2Da5FdLZcfIfhGTag1bPgP-OCKXULZYYkKXTqi53BpLIqh6uM4Fj6XLX8noNkETfrc4qdqQhMH2-Bg-g8Kh9h8DmURA9GJNkHCTDgBYkM/s400/Sailor.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490185225958150482" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Happy 4th of July. Thoughts go out to my boys Jason Stoddard and Joseph Bell spending today somewhere in Afghanistan.<br /></div>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-69655728321736921222010-07-04T14:48:00.004-05:002010-07-04T15:46:21.059-05:00A "friendlier" God?<object style="background-image: url("http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/4jisYWdj_HU/hqdefault.jpg");" width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4jisYWdj_HU&hl=en_US&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4jisYWdj_HU&hl=en_US&fs=1" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><br />By far, one of my favorite people living today is Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She is an amazing woman who actually lived through all of the worst third-world fascist <span class="text_exposed_hide"><span class="text_exposed_link"></span></span><span class="text_exposed_show">theocracy we hear about only through the news, and she came out of it a champion of freedom and human rights. </span>She literally has a fatwa on her head across the Muslim world for saying things like.............well...........like what she says in the video above.<br /><br />She is now an atheist who has officially denounced her former religion of Islam. But even among atheists she is controversial in some ways. Especially in America and Britain where we are not at daily risk of being murdered for our beliefs, or lack thereof, and so we have the luxury of over-exaggeration. We atheists in the west really only have one outlet of flexing our mind grapes [(c) Tracy Jordan].............which of course is fuckin' with our moderate Christian friends. We push their buttons. We get in over-the-top arguments in highly inappropriate places, like work or baby shower parties, where we accuse American christian fundamentalists of being "just as bad" as muslim terrorists. We point to the shooting of abortion doctors, mothers drowning their children, half-retarded presidents who think stem-cells are the devil's Lego blocks. And all that IS obviously out there and worth criticizing.................but isn't it a little offensive to people like Ayaan Hirsi Ali and those who have actually suffered through religious oppression when we equate those fringe aspects of American life that, at the end of the day, are pretty few and far between, to entire regions of the world where beheading, slavery, honor killings, amputation, genetic mutilation, public stoning, martyrdom, rape, domestic violence, and suicide bombings are literally EVERYDAY occurrences and completely sanctioned by whole governments?<br /><br />Just a little offensive, maybe?<br /><br />And this is why many atheists in this country have a problem with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, because they don't want to give up that intellectual argument. In her new book Nomad, Ali suggests that not only is Christianity BETTER than Islam in it's practice and it's practitioners, but she goes so far as to say that "enlightened moderate Christians" should be more active in the Muslim regions, spreading their good word and trying to convert people. Why? Because she believes (and I would say rightly so) that while some of us can clearly do without God or religious belief.......................most people in the world cannot. And so her proposition is that for the time being, while we are forced to live with the religious, we might as well promote the "friendlier" religions over the less friendly ones. At one point in the interview I posted above, she makes the point that in a whole region of the world, Islamic fundamentalists have a monopoly on the marketplace of ideas.<br /><br />On face value, I am one of those atheists who basically disagrees with her. I believe that as time goes on, the world will only continue to become more and more secular. Development and wealth are the solutions. Technology, access to information, comfortable living conditions.............these are what drive young men away from strapping bombs to their chest or killing their sisters to protect family honor, not introducing new gods. Christians aren't better people than Muslims at heart, and god knows (pun intended) that their holy book isn't any less violent or oppressive. If American Christians really believed in a literal translation of their book and truly lived by its word..........I don't think anyone could disagree that we would also have beheadings, slavery, subjugation of women, etc, because all of these things overlap both the Bible and the Quran. In my opinion, Ali's solution is very much like the one we hear every 4 years in political elections when folks try to rationalize their reasoning for not voting for third party candidates who are clearly better.<br /><br />It's the "lesser evil" argument. And personally, I don't see why we need to settle for any lesser evil. Evolutionary theory is less than 2 centuries old......................of COURSE it's gonna take a while to embed itself and compete with religious superstitions that possibly go back as far as a THOUSANDS of centuries (which if you are decent at math, is a few more than 2). What I'm sayin' is.....................so what, we're in a rough patch? Atheism is not some flash-in-the-pan trend that needs to be coddled, like Scientology or MGMT's career. It's basic logic. And besides, Islamic fundamentalists can be physically fought. I have a couple ribbons on my military uniform that say I'm supposedly fighting them right now, although that's up for debate. My point is that you can't fight fire with fire, unless you're that little bald kid from Avatar, in which case you'd have bigger things to worry about than Islamic terrorism. Like for instance, firing your agent and picking better scripts.<br /><br />Anyway, what are your thoughts on all this?Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-228257134496043762010-07-03T12:15:00.001-05:002010-07-03T12:36:26.647-05:00She smiles and melts all math and logic.......<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6OChl-7IaLL1-PEvx0GBpm2eVIVAVnd_gof_PdseN8UwaOTSZ6aL3Dy1qmMGvn0AoI6SrzUeMHYOHbOHuJsDsF5TTbzl5hfHy28QvnezQw9Shf9JVtKYr0FDegi2IhC5RMPcgZjWrBP4/s1600/Holding+Forever.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6OChl-7IaLL1-PEvx0GBpm2eVIVAVnd_gof_PdseN8UwaOTSZ6aL3Dy1qmMGvn0AoI6SrzUeMHYOHbOHuJsDsF5TTbzl5hfHy28QvnezQw9Shf9JVtKYr0FDegi2IhC5RMPcgZjWrBP4/s400/Holding+Forever.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489730074858275218" border="0" /></a>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-38527363538692051782010-07-03T04:14:00.009-05:002010-07-03T04:37:56.966-05:00ON AIR...........<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">It's okay, you can sit down if you need to, I understand how exciting this must be for everyone. Sandman has a new podcast! And he's, uhh.............he's by himself? WHY NOT!! Is it gonna be any good? WHO CARES!!! Just take the pill and ride the wave, people. We don't have much time.<br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:180%;" ><br />The Basshead Jazz Podcast- Episode 1</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.zshare.net/audio/77916677ec85e50b/"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:verdana;font-size:130%;" ><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Download Here</span></span></a><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >Playlist</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Lightspeed Champion- I Could Have Done This Myself</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Local Natives- Wide Eyes</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Queens of the Stone Age- Mexicola</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Guided By Voices- Surgical Focus</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Charlie Daniels- Ghost Riders on the Storm</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Ian Brown- Keep What You Got</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >The Shins- Saint Simon</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Cee-lo Green- You Don't Shock Me Anymore</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Janelle Monae- Oh, Maker</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Thank you for listening, seriously. Leave feedback and tips, large bills only. For all the old Speaker Madness fans, welcome back. To the new fans who have no idea what Speaker Madness was.............welcome to the shit.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-468603787854795662010-07-02T21:26:00.003-05:002010-07-02T21:47:20.207-05:00In a faint and phantom blue.......<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobnnJ9QrljihwjyD1jZfVqHNu_edCQOHGtTmHrjllo6_FuXH0embf8c0AQIjH62CLgCQngzgnGTu6g8SCQAmk3DahO-aYmZ7wPrdbfhYNxHC4kW650tBU_JUn0Ut176BzkwF-y4g3dFw/s1600/34.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobnnJ9QrljihwjyD1jZfVqHNu_edCQOHGtTmHrjllo6_FuXH0embf8c0AQIjH62CLgCQngzgnGTu6g8SCQAmk3DahO-aYmZ7wPrdbfhYNxHC4kW650tBU_JUn0Ut176BzkwF-y4g3dFw/s400/34.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489505907544650098" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrY58O3DnhLkx8YS5CBXnazCNTwsLfDHeVHDRqwudz521MZt_Sl_2rbETQH1_sJulY4zV5FxEi263lQ5ZqW_qsNlICVQifw2XQwLUU8cKGcrvQYzDJMArpHDuqgXtNwpYXlDWme2SfNxI/s1600/34.JPG"><br /></a>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-51204584282570807262010-06-13T15:52:00.005-05:002010-07-04T15:51:19.251-05:00Furthermore on the topic of time travel.........Inspired by my last post.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Top 7 Women from the 1960's I would travel back in time and allow to fall in love with me</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Ronnie Spector</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Lucille, the car-washing girl from Cool Hand Luke. </span>Don't know her real name, but you know..........."Anything so innocent and built like dat just gotta be named Lucille." Word, Dragline. Word.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Pam Grier.</span> Technically not a 60's star, but I would go back in time to get her pregnant in 1969, one year before her first movie. Why? Because I'm a selfish asshole.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Francoise Hardy. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Shirley McClaine.</span> Mainly in the movie <span style="font-style: italic;">The Apartment.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">6. Ruby Dee.</span> Yes....Mother Sister. Contrary to popular belief, she wasn't always old. Back in all those old 50's and 60's flicks she seemed like a cool ass wife to have. Smart, sexy, and always a little sweaty for some unexplained reason.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">7. Your Mom.</span> OOOOOOOOOOOH!<br /></div></div>Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-77303741637678557682010-06-13T11:50:00.005-05:002010-06-13T12:04:12.586-05:00The Time Traveler's Old Lady......If (when) I get a time machine, the first thing I'll probably do is go back to 1965 and allow Ronnie Spector to fall in love with me. I figure I'll walk up to her and say something super cool like, "Hey baby, I can hear music...........in your pants!" See what I did? I took one of her famous songs, and made it about her vagina. That's pretty romantic. And if Phil Spector's little nerdy ass has anything to say about it I'll just punch him in his tiny chest and yell "FUTURE MURDERER" and run away, and everyone will be confused because it's 1965.<br /><br />It's a working plan.<br /><br /><br /><object style="background-image: url("http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/z7pmwqDLxU0/hqdefault.jpg");" width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/z7pmwqDLxU0&hl=en_US&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/z7pmwqDLxU0&hl=en_US&fs=1" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Editors Note:</span> Yes, I realize Ronnie Spector is still alive. But now she's all old and blotchy and weird. At best, my love affair with her ends somewhere in the late 80's. So keep your smartass comments to yourself.Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-82352591768645633452010-06-12T19:22:00.005-05:002010-06-12T20:53:26.912-05:00Everyone Lies, Nobody Minds..............I've spent most of my life being annoyed by pretentious hipsters who almost pathologically lie when you ask them what movies/music they've been enjoying lately. They usually pull the most obscure local synth pop band that opened for New Order once in 1984, or some indie doc they claim they saw at some Palestinian film festival that never happened. In reality.........they've mostly just been listening to Jay-Z and watching America's Got Talent like everyone else. Maybe it's genetic, maybe it's habit, but they've developed this skill for building up their own legend with white lies.<br /><br />I don't have that. At all.<br /><br />Maybe it's out of spite of the aforementioned hipsters that I hate, but if you ask me what I've been watching and listening to lately, I'm gonna fucking tell you. For better or worse. Like now, I'll tell you straight up the last movie I watched was Land of the Lost with Will Ferrel (which I thought was hilarious), and as I type I've been listening to Cocteau Twins and Morrissey solo albums. The entire time. Pretty gay, right? See? You're already calling me a loser in your heads. Silently judging me. Even the name of this post came from Morrissey lyrics. So why the hell did I tell the truth? I could have said anything. I could have just as easily told you the last movie I watched was some newly restored Kurosawa masterpiece, and while I was typing I was listening to a Bob Dylan/Iggy Pop jam session bootleg that nobody knew existed but me (mainly because I just invented it, but also because it's INCREDIBLY RARE).<br /><br />But I didn't. And that is the textbook definition of "honest to a fault". White lies can clearly help you look cool, but for some dumb reason I choose to opt out of coolness in the name of some misguided integrity.<br /><br />Another example.<br /><br />I watch the Turner Classic Movie channel. A lot. And not in some nostalgic "they don't make 'em like they used to!" kinda way. We've already established that I think post-Anchorman Will Ferrel movies are funny. Trust me, I don't own any high horses. I just watch a shitload of movies and have absolutely no filter for what is acceptable viewing. Old, new, foreign, whatever. It's all worth a try. And my late discovery of the miracle that is DVR technology has only made this unhealthy obsession worse. I'll press record on pretty much anything that sounds halfway interesting or features Sidney Poitier. The sad fact is that this means I end up watching an uncomfortable amount of musicals every month. I don't know if Ted Turner just has a soft spot for motherfuckers tap-dancing in kilts or what, but the regular programming schedule for any given week on TCM will lead you to believe that roughly 83% of all movies released from 1929 to 1959 were sweeping set-piece musicals.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong...........not all of them are terrible. Road to Bali for instance, the old Bing Crosby/Bob Hope comedy, is pretty hilarious and dumb and I watch it anytime it's on. And I don't think anyone who's actually seen Singing In the Rain could bring themselves to say anything bad about it. It's a legitimate classic. But still............there's really no cool way to tell someone the last movie you watched involved choreographers and costumes. And yet, I put myself in that position more often than anyone should.<br /><br />Most recently, I saw an old musical on TCM starring <span style="visibility: visible;" id="main"><span style="visibility: visible;" id="search">Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy called "New Moon". It's about a French revolutionary who </span></span>escapes on a ship headed for New Orleans posing as a petty criminal to be sold into slavery. Falls in love with a wealthy debutante who owns a plantation. Becomes her man-servant in New Orleans. Reveals his identity when the French come looking for him. Leads a slave revolt. I know, it sounds boring. But it's really a fucking awesome movie, I promise. Well written, funny, action packed. There's one scene deep in the Louisiana swamp where Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald are singing to eachother romantically, and outta nowhere they get interrupted by this weird voodoo ritual involving slaves dancing around an ancient tree and calling to dead spirits, and it all can very easily be taken as racist or a product of the time in which the movie was made (1940)............but really it's a beautiful and haunting scene, no matter how you slice it.<br /><br />Anyway, so it was a great movie and I enjoyed it. The next day at work (and remember, I'm in the military, I don't work in some curtain store where this kinda shit is acceptable) a friend of mine says "Hey Mike, you have pretty good taste in movies, what's the last one you watched?" Instead of doing what I should have done, which was lie my ass off, I said "Oh, last night I watched this one called New Moon". He says, "What.........that fucking Twilight vampire movie?" I had totally forgot that was even a thing. Never seen those movies. So I quickly corrected him, "Hell no, I don't watch that bullshit. No, this is an old movie from the 40's I saw on TCM, a musical about the french revolution." No sooner did the words leave my mouth than I realized this made me seem a million times gayer than if I HAD been watching Twilight, and had been literally drooling over Robert Pattinson in a room full of teenage girls. While licking an oversized candy lollipop.<br /><br />So my mid-year's resolution is to be a liar from now on. And next time when you ask me what I'm listening to on my Ipod and I tell you Black Sabbath or Clipse, please don't grab the headphones and call me on it, cuz neither of us will feel comfortable when the truth comes out.Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-45992878361885233222010-03-26T11:52:00.007-05:002010-03-26T12:41:25.261-05:00The late, late blues............I've been pretty busy lately what with HAVING THE MOST IMPORTANT JOB IN THE WORLD and all. I also took the 3rd class petty officer exam last week, which I only realize now that I've typed it all out on the screen is of absolutely no interest whatsoever to anyone on planet earth. If I pass, I move up a rank, that's all you need to know. But I have still been faithfully reading a book a week. Here's a quick rundown of the last 4 weeks..............<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">"The Artificial White Man" by Stanley Crouch</span></span><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZooaBM8hhU766gqmbwGV3vok0DWPzpkTPTRkhGj0O9hc9OYvQpZvxlW-BfUCAFBjsPvBTB9jFB7zkYEYFuU4Db_iAsK8469S7A3A6ksw25eRIDI7K2Y4Dp4ZX4J1XfwZ7MueJt7t0M0/s1600/41QS9T77SPL.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZooaBM8hhU766gqmbwGV3vok0DWPzpkTPTRkhGj0O9hc9OYvQpZvxlW-BfUCAFBjsPvBTB9jFB7zkYEYFuU4Db_iAsK8469S7A3A6ksw25eRIDI7K2Y4Dp4ZX4J1XfwZ7MueJt7t0M0/s320/41QS9T77SPL.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452997653765191650" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Probably the most talented "black intellectual" when it comes to pure novelistic prose, he also manages to be the most controversial, just because he has the nuts to point out that gangster rap might be full of overblown stereotypes of murderers and whores. As a rapper, and a kid who grew up on gangster rap, do I agree? Well................yeah. It's kinda hard not to. Especially when he writes like this.............<br /><br />"As people of the western hemisphere, we are a mix and a mess and given to reinventing something more important than the truth, which is the poetry of our connections, above and below, in the heavens and the sewers, the happy blues, the plaintive blues, and the hilarious blues."<br /><br />Wow.<br /><br />Anyway, the book is a collection of essays on race and authenticity in popular american cutlure, and I highly recommend it. Whether you agree with him or not, if you are not reading Stanley Crouch, you are wrong.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Pygmy" by Chuck Palahniuk</span></span><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUceiTHiWc0g7ZLVosJJfx_forIPVrWfxImWM8TcRTEU812fWy6Q5pv_fIENmoYkgbhQnt44_BzwK_CoMTxVjKkikBe4Y_ysgZmnWNbIAM5xPOPbK8ydwSbaOI9P_1ItskZbhPqQUvKU/s1600/pygmy1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUceiTHiWc0g7ZLVosJJfx_forIPVrWfxImWM8TcRTEU812fWy6Q5pv_fIENmoYkgbhQnt44_BzwK_CoMTxVjKkikBe4Y_ysgZmnWNbIAM5xPOPbK8ydwSbaOI9P_1ItskZbhPqQUvKU/s320/pygmy1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452997786740112514" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Chuck's last 5 or 6 books have gotten mixed reviews at best, if not universally bad ones. Sometimes it has been warranted (Haunted, Snuff), and other times it has not (Rant, Lullaby). And yet we still all race out to read anything he puts out, which has to say something about the guy. Either way Pygmy is no exception to the mixed reviews.....critics and readers have been pretty dismissive of it so far. But I have to say, I loved it. I thought it was his best book since Invisible Monsters. And it's probably his funniest book, period. It has a real slapstick feel to it, mixed in with the usual Palahniuk topics.............you know............anal rape, zombie consumerism, and love.<br /><br />The plot follows Pygmy, a foreign exchange student from an unnamed asian communist regime, who is secretly a member of an impending terrorist plot against the United States. Pygmy speaks a broken english, which to some can come off as borderline racist, but if you just let go and accept the joke premise it's really hilarious and impressive how Palahniuk uses this speech pattern to play with prose. Pygmy sees nothing but evil and ugly in Americans and their culture, especially his host family. Much of the story takes place in three settings that even to the most staunch patriots could be seen as the biggest representations of anything and everything wrong with America............walmart, church, and high school. But Pygmy doesn't see Americans as frigid right-wing puritans. The America he sees is a world where high schools are unsupervised orgies, and batteries are in short supply because all the oversexed adults walk around with sex toys lodged inside them.<br /><br />Even with all the judgment being passed on western culture, make no mistake............this is not Fight Club 2. Whereas in Fight Club you felt like Palahniuk was, for better or worse, assaulting you with his own personal views, in Pygmy you get these high-minded socialist rants from a brainwashed terrorist fresh from the reeducation camps, and you never feel that it's Palahniuk speaking through the character. In a weird backhanded way, this is a very pro-american book.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">"A Man Without a Country"- Kurt Vonnegut</span></span><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRiyCaqMDHEqUuHuWPNpOWIydbbm9vMZ58CEQd8Tjw-FC-6IsLvvRZDLN_O89jPkkJxkHRHxxUa9J_KWRxaWn-gU0Ddev-3u58R13RMop9tQ7pL9qWE3-nHvLEtzIbpSuD2dsVaxApk8M/s1600/x10876.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRiyCaqMDHEqUuHuWPNpOWIydbbm9vMZ58CEQd8Tjw-FC-6IsLvvRZDLN_O89jPkkJxkHRHxxUa9J_KWRxaWn-gU0Ddev-3u58R13RMop9tQ7pL9qWE3-nHvLEtzIbpSuD2dsVaxApk8M/s320/x10876.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452997931711328354" border="0" /></a><br /><br />No explanation needed really. The genius of the second half of the 20th century talks about stuff, and things.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">"More Information Than You Require"- John Hodgeman</span></span><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIV8ltbFAvJBK40B7PehkZDo8vJt_Orng7sLIdys8nn_MeNI2EKiarS7hcTb5CjCJ7yRgyZrQI16NPivKJXj_-lv3c16xFjnqkfEWssJjF1N4UNbVD6Zh-_DOXD5jZN6VAzD9zrJeFaIw/s1600/More_Information_Than_You_Require-122375311447173.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIV8ltbFAvJBK40B7PehkZDo8vJt_Orng7sLIdys8nn_MeNI2EKiarS7hcTb5CjCJ7yRgyZrQI16NPivKJXj_-lv3c16xFjnqkfEWssJjF1N4UNbVD6Zh-_DOXD5jZN6VAzD9zrJeFaIw/s320/More_Information_Than_You_Require-122375311447173.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452998166464346994" border="0" /></a><br /><br />If you don't know who John Hodgeman is, you are missing out. He's probably most known as the "PC" in the PC vs Mac commercials, opposite Justin Long. He also is a regular contributor on the Daily Show, which is a pretty good representation of his style of humor. Nerdy. This is a sequel to his first book, "The Areas of My Expertise", which was basically a book of fake facts written in the style of those old timey almanacs from the 1800's. But it's so much more than that, and you really have to read it for yourself to understand. Areas of My Expertise was by far the funniest book I have ever read. At the time I remember being amazed that one human being could fit that much hilariousness into every single page. Even the JACKET of the book was funny. Little did I know he had enough for a whole new book, and what's more he has hinted that this will be a trilogy.<br /><br />I'm about halfway through the new one, and already it's even better than the first. So you can get a basic grasp on what kind of thing these books are filled with, here's Hodgeman's description of Ulysseys S. Grant, 18th president of the United States.............<br /><br />"Financial scandals plagued the Grant administration, though historians debate how much Grant knew about it due to his fondness for whiskey and for not knowing things. We do know that when the robber baron Jay Gould proposed to take all of the nation's gold and hide it in his private mountain, he invited Grant to join his heist as a grappling-hook man. But Grant declined. His skill with a grappling hook may have won the Civil War, but he was not corrupt. He saw the White House as a brief chance at drunken peace and an opportunity to work on his many hobbies, such as throat cancer."<br /><br />That's just a random passage I picked. Seriously, get both books immediately if you haven't read them yet.<br /><br />I'll try to stay on top of the blog now that I have some free time again.Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479228243551727427.post-49250367979992496322010-02-07T16:32:00.003-06:002010-02-07T17:32:47.838-06:00Week 5- Paper TigersThis week I read "The Book of Lost Books" by Stuart Kelly...........<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4anBZe2l4RNA0LzsHoCmnwp-VOKeFfgrorW52FEAbBp4U7P1PUDjkEgdt2KIuOXssHjJHRTcYpb_cn7OsU6kOYBhTvUnzTcSbqXMHvwMYy2KUfkpof3BvTwKupYRQh-FfS_N54sFzhGU/s1600-h/400000000000000077066_s4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4anBZe2l4RNA0LzsHoCmnwp-VOKeFfgrorW52FEAbBp4U7P1PUDjkEgdt2KIuOXssHjJHRTcYpb_cn7OsU6kOYBhTvUnzTcSbqXMHvwMYy2KUfkpof3BvTwKupYRQh-FfS_N54sFzhGU/s320/400000000000000077066_s4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435633658258650786" border="0" /></a><br />The title says it all, it's a loose and wildly speculative journey through the history of what could have been, books that are either lost forever or were never completed. Instead of making it a straight-forward list of individual books, Kelly has the chapters broken down by author, starting with Homer and ending in the 20th century, which gives him a lot more leg-room. And he kicks a lot. Some chapters are about one lost book, some about multiple. Often a chapter will be less about a book than the circumstances of the author's life that led to it being lost, in particular those that were censored or burned. In these cases, the political and social atmosphere surrounding the author is, admittedly, much more interesting than whatever fiction might have survived. The result is a series of biographies chopped to shreds, with only the most insane and eccentric parts of the authors' lives left in. <br /><br />The big surprise for me in reading this was that Stuart Kelly is such a wonderful writer himself. I mean, this is essentially a toilet-book for literature nerds, so it's not like he had to be too poetic about it. He could have easily just let the stories speak for themselves. But at times it's hard not to notice that his own style and prose is better even than the author he's covering. Kelly is consistently witty, with the kind of dense flowing vocabulary you would expect from a veteran novelist, not a first-time amateur historian.<br /><br />The biggest problem I had with the book also concerns Kelly's style, though. Halfway through the book it started to bother me that he has a kind of balls-out final authority about every topic. The tone he presents is basically "THIS is how it was, no matter what hundreds of historians have written about these people over centuries, what I say now about them is law." He has a habit of belittling biographers, for what seems to be the purpose of propping up his own (more interesting, maybe) version of events in an author's life that contradict a popular consensus. When you take into account the fact that most biographers are fanatic experts of the personalities they write about, it's hard not to find more than a little egomania in the picture Kelly paints of them as naive and lazy.<br /><br />But at the end of the day, that's a small criticism for such an interesting and unique piece of work. Kelly's enthusiasm for the topic bleeds through the pages, and if you share even a fraction of his love of reading then you will love it. Personally I got excited just to learn that something like this even existed. And you <span style="font-style: italic;">can</span>, if you want, treat this as a toilet-book, skipping around the vignettes in any order you please.<br /><br />One point that Kelly constantly hammers home is that, given the long history of wars between nations, natural disasters, and self-destructive tendencies of authors themselves, it's a downright miracle that any of our greatest literature exists at all. After reading this book, it's hard to disagree, and even harder to not harbor a little more appreciation for the rest of your bookshelf as well.Sandmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03111284293470639368noreply@blogger.com0