May 06, 2004
Booze Up and Riot!
Posted by nerdling | May 6, 2004 09:38 AM
The brand new Old 97's record, Drag It Up, will hit the shelves July 27th. I am so first in line for this.
In the meantime, amuse yourself with some Rhett Miller anime. Yes, you read that correctly. Anime.
From a review of Loretta Lynn's new album, Van Lear Rose:
"Van Lear Rose" doesn't have a political point of view, and, as a work of art, it is within its rights not to have one. But it is, significantly, an album very much of its time. For one thing, Lynn, like Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton before her, is reaching out to a new audience -- a rock 'n' roll one -- that's potentially more appreciative of great country music than many of the people who call themselves country fans are. Like many of her contemporaries, Lynn hasn't had great success on country radio in the past 20 years. But "Van Lear Rose," which was produced and arranged by the White Stripes' Jack White (he also sings and plays on several of the songs, and wrote the music for one of them), is Lynn's way of reaching across the boundaries that have constricted her.
"Van Lear Rose" is a country record, pure and proper, if you believe that country music is more a state of mind than a rigid genre. But even though the arrangements use all the instruments we're accustomed to hearing on a country record (fiddle, pedal steel guitar, dobro and banjo), many of them show an angular inventiveness that's downright startling. This is music that fits squarely within the tradition of country as it's been laid out here on the ground -- the difference is that it stretches up into space, where it's free to blossom into something both familiar-sounding and bracingly new.
Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher beaten up by angry mob of computer geeks. If there was ever anyone who needed it, that was the guy.
The dark side of the Google IPO.
More news on the continuing battle against Wal-Mart's attempts to enter urban areas, this time in Chicago. Gee, I wonder if they chose Chicago because it has the most historically corrupt city government in America?
"This is certainly not a local issue for one ward or for Chicago," said William J. P. Banks, an alderman who voted against the plan. "It's a nationwide issue, and it's not going to go away anytime soon. People are looking for a quick fix in areas where economic development is very poor, but down the line they'll see that along with that quick fix come a lot of problems."
I would also like to mention that Wal-Mart is now participating in an out-and-out lie regarding their anti-union activities, which have been well documented, along with the fact that Wal-Mart knowingly hires illegal immigrants to keep the pay scale lower: Mr. Bisio said that Wal-Mart was not anti-union, and that "the reason our associates haven't wanted third-party representation is because they have faith in the company, and it provides them with tremendous opportunity." Opportunities like unaffordable health care, poor pay and marginal working conditions.
Picasso's painting "Boy With a Pipe," the link between his blue and rose periods, sold at auction for a record $104.1 million, making it the most expensive painting ever sold.
A dessert close to my heart made easy. God bless the French and their love of eggs and cream!
