Heretic Pride

Ok

Real quick.

The Mountain Goats
Heretic Pride

Give it a listen...

http://www.emusic.com/album/The-Mountain-Goats-Heretic-Pride-MP3-Download/11163092.html

Peace
MarcuSinger

God Bless America! For real?

A Hearty Hello!
and a Grand Welcome Back!
to Matt and Brian and my Mom and Dad, aka My Audience!

Thank you for your support. I am honored that you all would take the time to read what's going on in my mind. So, you ask, what is going on? Anything?

Well, thanks to a couple friendly reminders and the historic 2008 Presidential Primaries, I'm back on the Blogosphere, if you will. Bridget and I have been watching dangerous levels of MSNBC, C-Span, CNN, PBS, and any channel that carries political coverage. Coverage here generally means short bursts of Live footage from each campaign, followed by virutally ceaseless hours of commentary about those short bursts.

I have discovered a few things during my political bingeing.

-Barack Obama is the best candidate for president I have ever seen, and most of that is simply due to the fact that he IS authentic, honest, principled, and a leader in the truest sense of the word. In the words of the great David Foster Wallace, he is "in the ballpark of an ACTUAL human being". Candidates past and present who are Not In the Ballpark include...

Mitt Romney (He doesn't know where the ballpark is.)
Hillary Clinton (She used to know. Now she just pretends she's in the ballpark.)
John Kerry (Same for him.)
Rudy Giuliani (Every sentence includes A verb. A Noun. And 9/11. Clearly Not a Human.
George Bush (Duh)

and the list goes on...

But my point is that it's really not that hard to tell who is "acting" from who is simply "being." (To be fair, all politicians act, but you catch my drift right?) For decades I've been astonished that anyone could actually watch someone like Mitt Romney speak, and also BELIEVE the things he's saying. How can you believe that he believes? How can you listen to him and conclude "He does speak for me! He represents my interests! He really does believe in the things I believe in! He really does care about me as more than just a political tool to get him elected whereupon he will come back to screw me out of a job so that him and his cronies can make more money and consolidate power over the working class!"

The same goes for GW Bush. It has continued to baffle me over the years. How can people NOT SEE that he is lying and manipulative and in essence, is completely full of shit? I'm not talking about his political policies or his political party. I'm talking about Bush as a person. We all know BS artists. We've all met the salesman who will say ANYTHING to get you to buy his products. So how is it that we didn't identify GW Bush has one of "those" right from the beginning? Maybe it's because we expect our politicians to be fake and manipulative, so we just accept that they are and hope for the best. Maybe we just want so badly to believe that our President is a man of honor and integrity, that when he tells us he is, we believe him. I don't really know why we accept total phonies to represent us. But this year is different. You'll notice who I did NOT put on the list of politicians who are Not in the Ballpark of an Actual Human Being.

Mike Huckabee
John McCain
Barack Obama

What in the world could these three guys have in common, aside from being 3 of the 4 Presidential candidates still standing?

I'll tell you what they have in common. Some folks call it "character", some folks call it "honesty", some folks call it "credibility". I think the best word to describe it is "integrity". The 2nd best word to describe it is "authenticity". They are men of their word. They are motivated by patriotism, not by profit, although I'm sure they will all be quite well off financially after this campaign. They have beliefs which constitute the core of their character, their soul, and they DO NOT BETRAY their own SOULS to get elected!

*I'm a little uncomfortable including McCain in this group, he was right in the middle of the ballpark in 2000, he's barely in the bleachers now, but he's still there I think...

But what I am LOVING with all of my own soul in this election, more than a woman and a black man vying for the Democratic nomination, more than the splintering of the Republican party, more than the grace, courage, wisdom, and humor of Mr. Obama, is that it appears America is finally rejecting the phoniest candidates and embracing those with true authenticity, credibility, and honesty.

If my theory here is correct, all I can say is,

God Bless America!

ok one more thing...

It's about Time!

ok one more thing

Vote Barack Obama in 2008!

Peace
Marcus Singer

ps
I've seen hours and hours and hours of pundits over the past week. Not one of them has even mentioned words like "credibility" "authenticity" and "honesty" as reasons why people are voting how they are.

pps
Not to toot my own horn here, it's a popular thing to do on a blog and all...

pps
Toot! Toot! ;)

Chit Chat

Hey People, (Bri-guy)

So yeah it looks like there's a new trend in marketing. The first time I noticed it was from a box a french fries I purchased.

The box said things like "You're different. That's why you chose me. Because you're smart. Because these fries are golden, delicious, and just waiting to be eaten."

The text went on too. There was a whole paragraph of dialog that was ostensibly directed toward me and me alone. The box of fries seemingly wanted to be my friend. The box of fries was talking to me like I was his "buddy". The box of fries wanted to not only be eaten, but it wanted to "hang with me" as well. The box thought we could do some bonding in our short time together, form a personal connection. The box thought that maybe if it could make a friend out of me, then maybe I would be a friend to the entire franchise of this particular fast food eatery. The words were so personal, so warm, so much like real chit-chat. I half expected the box to scribble out a phone number and hand it to me.

"You see that extra long fry, the one that's extra crispy. Before you eat it, check out the digits. Call me?"

Then I got to thinking. There have to be at least several million of these boxes, and there's no way this chain spent the money to customize each one. So that means that millions of french fry consumers are reading this one batch of dialog. And that means that the group of marketing executives who came up with this idea think that it's gonna work. That if they put some words on a cardboard sleeve, that people will bond with the words, and come back to enjoy more fries and banter with the packaging. That these consumers will become every marketers cream dream, what they call "brand loyal".

So these marketers are under the impression that a single set of words printed on packaging will form a bond with each and every customer that reads them. They think that nobody will see through these efforts as patronizing and condescending. They think we are stupid. They think we are so stupid that we won't even notice that the writing on the fry box doesn't make the fries taste any better. They think we are so stupid that we'll actually believe the fry box is our friend! That every person who reads these words will think to themselves,

"You know, I do love WacArnold's. They've always been good to me. They're just such a friendly company. And I do relate to the chit-chat on the box. The fry box is right! These fries are delicious and just waiting to be eaten! I am smart! I did choose you! This fry box is just like a real friend, I could even add them to my MySpace page! Maybe this box will give me a ride to the airport next weekend! And then it'll help me move! I can cry on it's shoulder when I'm feeling down! The hot grease stains might burn my cheek a little, but I just like this cardboard so much, it would drive me to the hospital right?"

And the worst part is, the trend is growing. More and more packaging is adopting a personal tone. More and more inanimate mass-produced consumer goods are trying to strike-up a conversation. This can mean only one thing; the unholy predatory profit-driven demons that came up with this strategy believe that it's working. They put these words out there, and the sales climb.

Are we as consumers really that stupid?

Are we as consumers really that lonely?

Peace
Marcus Singer

It's time for a new job when...

You're a college graduate and you find that the following things are true

-You work with recently released convicts.
-You are the only one in your department who speaks fluent English.
-You find that a few of your daily tasks can be done with your eyes closed.
-Some can even be done while reading.
-Problem solving is figuring out how to transport numerous heavy objects from their bins to your work-space.
-You notice that the words "chronic lower back pain" apply to you.
-Your boss is unfamiliar with the word "cacophony".
-Your boss asks you for help with simple arithmetic.
-Your job could be considered among the "hottest and smelliest".
-You are the only one who brings a book to read during breaks.
-And your co-workers eye you suspiciously for being one of them "readin-types".
-You get called "bookworm".
-People say things like "The Unabomber was just too smart for his own good".
-You start thinking that being a long-haul truck driver would be a step UP.

Peace
Marcus Singer

Paranoid Blogadroit Spring Cleaning

Howdy howdy howdy,

Long see, no time, errr, long time, no see, errr, long time no blog. Ahh, that's it. It's been a long time since my last blog. Well, here I am, back in the saddle of the inter-galactic blogosphere, ready for another ride of unprovoked opinions and soap box prancing, prattling, and blathering. Wooo hoooo! When I feel heavy metal! Woooooo hooooo!

Ok. Here are some things I jotted down in my notebook that I thought were worth blogging about.

-Imagine if Henry Rollins did an intense spoken word reading of the lyrics to Radiohead's "High and Dry".
-"Two jumps in a week, I bet you think that's pretty special...(long dramatic pause)...Don't you boy" (and then maybe he repeats "don't you boy" followed by the inimitable scowl.)
-"...you just sit there...wishing you could still make love (scowl)"
-"oooooooh. Well it's the best thing that you ever had...the best thing that you have ever had...has...gone...away (sick n twisted grin)"

Here's a rhyme I wrote..
-"I'm at work/OH NO! i gotta take another shit!/Pop said to The Jerk "see a doctor get rid of it"/On the pot i write just a little bit/gotta go back to work in justa little bit/but even these is givin MC's so many fits/so i guess this job has to have some benefits"

So I read a report that more than 73,000 Pakistani's have died due to lack of food and adequate housing during the last winter. I read that the US has given barely a pittance to help them. I read that we have found several billion to help Americans during and after hurricane Katrina. So is the official policy of our country "American lives are worth more than Pakistani lives."? Is this a doctrine that our Christian president has adopted from the teachings of Jesus Christ? Is this a doctrine we are all complicit in? Is this wrong?

The soul neither speaks of nor abides by any systems.

Here's a poem...

A Great Feeling

It's like the feeling you get when "Friday I'm In Love" by The Cure comes on the radio and you suddenly realize that it is friday and you are in love.

Here's another poem...

9 to 5

Every dreaded morning you wanna walk out in a huff.
Every stolen morning you wanna scream aloud ENOUGH!

And every blessed morning your paycheck calls your bluff

-Have you ever pooped and it felt like you just cleared the freeway a jack-knifed semi and a ten car pile-up?

-So I'm working on my list of my ten most favorite songs of all time. As you can imagine this project is far from finished and maybe it never will be, but after a few months of thinking about it, I've come up with the following songs. The more I think about it, the best criteria I can come up with is that the song has to sound absolutely beautiful and extraordinary every single time I hear it. And because I love these songs so much I can't resist quoting at least one (more like 10 jeez) lyric from each song...

-Talking Heads "Once In A Lifetime" "...and you may ask yourself, MY GOD, what have I done?!?!"

-Radiohead "Paranoid Android" "...you don't remember. you don't remember. why don't you remember my name???!!! ooohhh....off with his head man off with his head man why don't you remember my name i guess you dooooonnnnnn't (super high falsetto!) aaaaahhhhhh'''!!!!

-Bob Dylan "Mr. Tambourine Man" Ok. Since ole' Bob is such a poet and this verse is so fuckin good here's the whole thing...

Take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind
Down the foggy ruins of time
Far past the frozen leaves
The haunted frightened trees
Out to the windy bench
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow
Yes to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea
Circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves
Let me forget about today until tomorrow

-Jeff Buckley "Hallelujah" written by Leonard Cohen " "There's a blaze of light in every word, it doesn't matter which you heard"

-Queen w/David Bowie "Under Pressure" The part where they build it up and then totally smash it right as Freddie Mercury sings "Why can't we give ourselves, one more chance?" is about as rocking as rock has ever been rocked in the history of all rock ever. And if Neal Pollack doesn't think Queen is "authentic" enough to really rock then Neal Pollack can eat a dick.

Ok so apparently it's amateur hour in this corner of the unending blog universe because as you may have noticed the fonts and spacing have become all screwy and for this I am sorry. I should know how to fix it, but I don't. I've been trying to do what I always did while working in MicrosoftWord but it's not working. I come not to font n space but to write.

Ok back to the BLoG.

-Memo to all super-models. Emaciated carcass-like bodies and the look of utter boredom and exhaustion do not make you attractive.

-Memo to teen pop recording artists. Vapidity, lack of soul, big tits and tight clothes do not make you attractive or compelling to listen to.

-Memo to Deal or No Deal the TV show. You look like you were designed for lobotomized Attention Deficit Disorder 5th graders and Howie Mandel you are about as funny as a lobotomized A.D.D. 5th grader.

-Memo to Adam Morrison. Just because you CAN grow a mustache doesn't mean you SHOULD grow a mustache. Judging punk bands by their musical chops is like judging apples by their stems.



Peace

Marcus Singer

The Trick

...is to be humble enough to acknowledge your weaknesses, yet proud enough to improve on them.

Peace
Marcus Singer

Tonight's the Night for Vinyl

Holla Holla Blogga Blogga Reada Reada!
Good good to see ya!

Sorry, I'm listening to Kanye West. He makes you wanna hippity-hop.

So the other night I was drinking a fine glass of Scotch and listening to my recently purchased vinyl copy of Neil Young's "Tonight's the Night". It is an incredible record and unlike any album I've ever heard. The vocals are ragged, drunken, and often despairing. The playing is a-few-drinks-too-many loose/perfect. But as a whole, the album is unflinchingly honest, emotionally raw, and listening to it from front to back gives one the sense that they are right there in some middle-of-nowhere smoky dive bar taking in one of the greatest bar band performances of all time. I had heard a few of the tracks on a compilation called "Decade" but until I heard the songs in the context of the album, I didn't find them all that remarkable. Which brings me to my point. An album as heard on an actual piece of vinyl is a different and in many ways superior experience to hearing it on an Ipod or anywhere else.

So after a few Scotches and a full album's worth of inspiration from Neil Young, I wrote the following by hand in my trusty notebook. With a few exceptions and corrections and grammatical improvements, here is that text...

There are now those who only get their music from digital streams, on a computer, on an Ipod, or over a satellite radio service. These inventions allow you to hear exactly what you want anywhere anytime anyplace, and offer a mind-boggling numbers of choices at the click of a button. As someone who owns a discman I certainly appreciate the near-magical ability of music to completely transform your surroundings into a more hospitable and less alienating environment. However, there are certain drawbacks to the Ipod/portable/random shuffle/$.99 a song experience of music. I would argue that the plethora of choices and instant availability of nearly any song off any album from any artist you choose in some ways cheapens or devalues the experience of music. The Ipod/Itunes shuffling on random way is too easy. It doesn't require you to choose, engage, or even listen to the music coming through. It can all be simply absorbed like just another gazillion jingles or slogans.

On the other hand, the act of carefully pulling a large 12" diameter piece of delicate black vinyl from a nice perfectly square sleeve covered in artistry, (sometimes quite beautiful, othertimes really bad, truth be told) and placing it on a table to be spun at just the right speed, then resting the needle on the already spinning tray gives the magic/music therein a "buried treasure" or "priceless antique" type of feel. The discs require the occasional soft cloth cleaning. The turntable can not be bumped even slightly while the disc is spinning or it will skip quite nastily. Any bit of dust on the needle will result in a skin-spelunking buzz on each and every note.

I realize the last few aspects of vinyl listening could unapologetically be considered botherances and actually rather irritating. Even still, the whole delicate nature of the process serves another purpose. You feel privileged to hear the music. The effort involved makes you appreciate fully what you're hearing. The melodies take on a richer resonance and the flipping of the disc half-way through reminds you to actually LISTEN to the tunes, and not just let them drift idly through your conscienceness. And if you happen to care about such things, the sound of vinyl is in fact, somewhat "warmer" than the sound of a digital stream or a CD. (For a good introduction to the great Vinyl vs CD debate, go here.

http://www.mio.co.za/article.php?id=152)

Not only that, but like a fine wine, well cared-for vinyl sounds better with age.
So in conclusion, I won't say that vinyl is hands down the better format, but that the experience of listening to an LP on vinyl is richer and more rewarding.

For those without a record player, you should try it. For those who know already, Cheers!

Peace,
Marcus Singer