Happy X-Mess!

Remember to be nice to everyone today...or the Baby Jesus gets it!


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Listening to: Gustav Holst - Mars
via FoxyTunes

AN ATHEIST OF SORTS

'Tis the season, the season I affectionately refer to as "X-Mess". A time of panic, of violence in suburban malls, of depression, of religious extremists ranting endlessly about how the fact that other beliefs are tolerated during this time of year makes the Baby Jesus cry.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

For a while, probably from my early teens up to a few years ago, my feeling towards this season wobbled between indifference to outright hostility. I was at times disgusted by the displays of greed and patronizing lip service to the religious symbolism of Christmastime.

Then I found Jesus.



Just kidding!

Actually, what turned my feeling towards the holidays around is a tradition we adopted several years back. Sy and I realized that it was silly to buy each other a bunch of presents every Christmas. After all, we could pretty much afford to buy anything we really wanted at any time - why not give to people who don't enjoy that luxury?

We usually go and buy toys to donate to Toys For Tots, as well as going to the supermarket to buy some stuff for the food shelf. This actually makes me feel all warm and fuzzy about this time of year. I think that this is a great way to celebrate with, as well as pass on our values to, our son. Plus, it helps me take on this smug air towards all you miscreants who are reading this right now!

Now, when jerk-asses cut me off recklessly in traffic because they're all stressed out from trekking endlessly from mall to mall, I don't swear nearly as much. I barely even wish death upon them. And if Jesus has a problem with the way I spend his birthday, he can take it up with the Flying Spaghetti Monster. But I'm pretty sure Jesus would be OK with this.

Have a wonderful holiday, everybody, whatever it is you do. And may His Noodly Appendage embrace you this season!

Yep, another damn BFF post

I just found this on YouTube...maybe you've heard of it?

This little video captures perfectly everything I love about Best Friends Forever: the experimentation, the energy, the irreverence.





I gotta email these guys about playing our garden party ASAP!


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Listening to: Flight of the Conchords - Business Time
via FoxyTunes

FRE - Bold New Adventures In Obsolescence and Futilty

I would be remiss, as I bloviate across the empty vacuum of this far-flung arm of the blogosphere, if I did not, among other things, such as, in the interest of full disclosure, admitting that I've just absolutely lost control of this sentence, point out the little music player on my sidebar over there. Give it a listen, won't you?

Great...now let's get on with the FRE while it's still Friday, shall we?

1) Shiver - Coldplay.
I really can't abide what's become of Coldplay since this album.

2) Somewhere Only We Know - Keane.
I like this song, but it just needs a big "gong" at the very end. That'd be sweet!

3) Victory - PJ Harvey.
Love me some Peej! She's a real artist, growing through her medium. Great stuff.

4) Question! - System of a Down.
If a song has an exclaimation point in it, it's good. That's just the way it is.

5) Satchel Mouth - Balloon Guy.
Ooo...look at me! I'm supporting local music!
This is pretty good, actually.

6) Fake Pastic Trees - Radiohead.
You could really tell they were about to do something big when The Bends came out after Pablo Honey.

7) Been A Son - Nirvana.
Old school Nirvana is the best-school Nirvana.

8) Ghost Song - Best Friends Forever.
The one time I saw BFF in concert, we only got like two and a half songs out of them before the equipment crapped out, but it was awesome. This was the one of the two songs I heard all the way through, and it echoed surrealistically off of the brick facade of the Bell Museum.

It was fucking awesome.

This video doesn't do it justice, but check out their stuff.

9) Cannon Ball - The Breeders.
Who doesn't like this song? Show me one person - I will personally spit upon them!

10) Would? - Alice in Chains.
OK, we're going a little early 90's here. Let's see if we can turn it around on #11.

11) Fuck and Run - Liz Phair.
Nope, I we couldn't turn it around. That's OK though - I like this song...except the part where she goes, "Fuck and run, even when I was seventeen, fuck and run, even when I was twelve."

Twelve?!? WTF!


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Listening to: PJ Harvey - Rid Of Me
via FoxyTunes

What was that cool song I heard on that commercial?

What's that song on the Adidas commercial? The one with Kevin "The Kid" Garnett, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliot, David "Bend It Like" Beckham, Katy "My Song Might Have Been Considered Edgy If I'd Released It, Oh, Maybe A Few Years Before I Was Even Born" Perry, and all the others?



What is that song? Here you go, "Beggin'", by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons:




Who knew Frankie Valli was so cool?

Oh, by the way...

You're Welcome!
/condescension


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Listening to: Nitzer Ebb - Control I'm Here
via FoxyTunes

The gayest FRE of the year

The new issue of Newsweek has a great article about the religious case for endorsing gay marriage. I do find it fascinating how the Fundies can get so hung up on an obscure quote that describes homosexuality (as well as shellfish) as an abomination, and yet somehow completely gloss over the whole overarching "be good to other people" and "don't judge other people" theme of the Good Book.

Now, internet dating isn't something one would generally associate with fundamental Christian values, but one man has created an unholy amalgam of technology and repressed sexual tension: eHarmony.com, which I'm sure everyone here has heard of. eHarmony.com does not accept gay people, which is why it's so fun to make fun of it:


see more pwn and owned pictures


Here'e the FRE for this week. Let's have a gay old time:

1) Army of Me - Bjork.
This takes me back. I listened to this song while walking along a glacier in an Icelandic national park. So sweet!

2) Memorabilia - Nine Inch Nails.
I'm pretty sure the only reason I have this on the bobPod is just because of it's obscurity Q rating.

3) Beercan - Beck.
Off of Mellow Gold, which sounds like one of those "Sessions" records, which is awesome. You remember "Sessions Presents...", don'tcha?



4) Song 2 - Blur.
One word: Woo-hoo. Or wait, two words? I think it's one. Oh well, the song is over before you have the chance to think it through.

5) Eisenhower Is the Father of the Interstate Highway System - BFF.
If all goes as planned, I'll get these guys to play at our garden party this summer!

6) An Ode To No One - Smashing Pumpkins.
Does anyone release double albums anymore? Oh wait, I guess the Chili Peppers did a year or two ago...nevermind.

7) It's Enough -Sleater-Kinney.
Rocks! But are they queercore. Google says...maybe.

8) Dam That River - Alice In Chains.
I just had to turn up the volume a little.
To eleven.

9) Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - They Might Be Giants.
Ever wonder where this song comes from? Here you go:




10) Just You Just Me - John Coltrane.
Sy looked at me funny the other day when I had Miles Davis playing. "You don't like jazz," she said, sexily accusingly. Do so, I countered. I just don't like white people jazz; it's too gay.

11) For Us - Pete Yorn.
Can't get enough of this song. I'm totally going to hit the back button when it's done.



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Listening to: Pete Yorn - For Us
via FoxyTunes

Return of the FRE, powered by Guinness

Allow me to start out this music-related post on a more, erm - beery note.

Actual Irish Guinness!

For dinner this evening I had a small pizza and a Guinness. I never had a Guinness before I went overseas this summer. I had my first one in the Galway, in Real Ireland. Part of me wants to kick myself for denying myself this by far best beer I've ever had for my entire life, and part of me is glad I remained Guinnesselibate until I was actually in Ireland.

One of my simple pleasures is listening to music after a couple of drinks, so let's get started!

1) "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time" - Jarvis Cocker.
I'm not sure why, but I dig this song. I first heard it on The Current's "Song of the Day", and I found myself hitting "repeat", well, repeatedly.

2) "All Your Way" - Morphine.
Mmmmm...good, dirty, jazzy.

3) "Beside You In Time" - NIN.
With Teeth. I recommend it.

4) "Airbag" - Radiohead.
Another great album. I got into a very serious debate (OK, I was actually yelling at my car radio) not so long ago about whether the advent of downloadable MP3s spelt the death of the album. I argued (yelled) that as long as there are people who view music as art, the album will be around. The radio was a jerk the whole time.

5) "Satan Gave Me a Taco" - Beck.
My favorite Scientologist! Singing about smoking heroin!

6) "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life" - Monty Python.


7) "Sabotage" - Beastie Boys.
My browser spellcheck does not consider "Beastie" a legitimate word.

8) "So What" - Miles Davis.
This is a earlier, faster version of the song that eventually appeared on Kind of Blue. It is not as good, so I'll let you hear the good, Kind of Blue version here. About 10 minutes long, but totally worth it.



9) "Wandering Star" - Portishead.
Not a big fan of Portishead's newest album...maybe I just need to listen to it more?

10) "Get Up" - Sleater-Kinney.
From The Hot Rock. I just noticed that the bobPod has mistakenly listed this song as being from All Hands On the Bad One, which is a fantastic album title. The best Sleater-Kinney album, however, is The Woods. Now you know. And now I have to fix that glitch.

11) "Sliver" - Nirvana.
In the interest of full disclosure, the eleventh song on these lists is always pre-approved, not random like the others. This time, however, I lucked out and this was an actual random song. I LOVE this song.

That went down smooth - like the nectar of the gods.
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Listening to: Björk - Human Behavior
via FoxyTunes