Chile today . . .

Interesting map renaming each state as a country with a similar GDP. Some of the comparisons seem quite apt culturally as well as economically (South Dakota as frozen, teeth-clenchingly miserable Bulgaria; Florida as leather-skinned, half-witted Australia; Tennessee as heavily-armed theocracy Iran, etc.); others less so. Larger version here.

My Christmas Music Contribution

Vince Guaraldi, bitches! This holiday season, won't you Feed The Penniless?

Robot Love

Maybe it was already on my mind from catching Cherry 2000 (wonderful '80s apocalyptic B-movie with Melanie Griffith) last week, but I found Salon's Machinist column Love and Sex with Robots pretty interesting. It reviews a book (written from a doctoral thesis, no less) that predicts that people will bond ever more closely with their mechanical servants, until something like LOVE happens. Crazy?

"What's love got to do with robots?

Well, what's love got to do with pets? Levy points out that like robots, cats and dogs first pushed into human lives by providing services to our ancestors -- cats kept homes free of rats, dogs were guards and hunting partners and herders. Love was only a side benefit of such relationships, a feeling cooked up in human brains and exploited by the animals, who got shelter and food and safety from the deal."

I personally find if more likely that huge, rich corporations like Microsoft will find a way to dominate the market, squelch all competitors and charge more and more for worse and worse robots. It's more likely we'll hate the damned things. And if the robots ever turn on us, I swear they'll be like malevolent, deathray-equipped Nascar vehicles!

Who Watches The Watchmen?

As you may or may not remember, I got a little excited back in March about the news that Zack Snyder would be directing Watchmen. Here's a photo from the set apparently showing Rorschach strolling past a Nixon campaign poster. (Click photo to enlarge your member.) Great care is being taken to duplicate the look and feel of the graphic novel, set primarily in a 1985 that has been altered by events that I won't divulge. I can't decide if my inner 12 year old is more excited about this movie or Iron Man.

Here's the official Watchman website with a few other goodies. Enjoy or don't.

This invasion is brought to you by Denny’s

I was quite intrigued by this series of photographs, in which the supporting poles etc. for various signs are photoshopped out, leaving only the sign itself floating in mid-air. Reading the inevitably-pretentious artist’s statement about the “disconnect between the corporate symbols and terra firma,” it struck me that in a future age of not just global, but truly universal sponsorship opportunities, these photos may be how alien spacecraft would eventually appear to take over the earth, covered in sponsor logos like malevolent, deathray-equipped Nascar vehicles.

Andy's Top 15 - Thumbs Up!

Now that I've had time to digest Andy's list, I have to say it kicks bloody ass! I'm loving the Libertines, thanks (you don't happen to have "Up the Bracket" do you?). I hope you will update your blogger profile soon, with totally fallacious, but cleverly self-revelatory personal data. And get a better avatar. Delighted you're on board! Best addition we've had since Lurker Mike!

Half Man Half Biscuit

This is one of my favorite odd Christmas songs: All I want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away Kit. The band is Half Man Half Biscuit. Possibly incomprehensible to non-Brits (and not only because of the poor quality of this video), the title and the bulk of the song refer to Subbuteo, which was a table soccer game popular in the 70's and 80's. I assume that Scalextric made it over here though.

Yuletide Rock and Roll, part 1

Ray Davies is an absolute treasure. I love how he can be hilarious in a song and also unexpectedly poignant.

I submit to the jury the world's unluckiest criminal

Meet poor Michael Millhouse. Not only was he recorded on high def video taking a woman's wallet from the counter of a convenience store, but his identification and capture were all but guaranteed thanks to Thursday's front page of the Lewiston Tribune. Scroll down about halfway through the first page and you'll 'read all about it'.

Pioneers

If it can be broke then it can be fixed,
if it can be fused then it can be split
It's all under control
It's all under control
It's all under control
It's all under control
If it can be lost then it can be won,
if it can be touched then it can be turned
All you need is time
All you need is time
All you need is time
All you need is time

We promised the world we'd tame it, what were we hoping for?

A sense of purpose and a sense of skill, a sense of function but a disregard
We will not be the first, we won't
You said you were going to conquer new frontiers,
Go stick your bloody head in the jaws of the beast

We promised the world, we'd tame it, what were we hoping for?

Breath in, breath out

So here we are reinventing the wheel
I'm shaking hands with a hurricane
It's a colour that I can't describe,
It's a language I can't understand
Ambition, tearing out the heart of you
Carving lines into you
Dripping down the sides of you

We will not be the last.
We will not be the last.
We will not be the last.
We will not be the last.
We will not be the last.
We will not be the last.
We will not be the last.
We will not be the last.

I guess it was inevitable.

2007 Holiday Cheer Brought To You By Toyota

"We are very excited to be working with holiday cheer," said Lentz, who called the look of wonder on a young child's face and the company's new line of durable trucks a "natural pairing." "From now on, whenever anyone curls up in front of a crackling fireplace, or takes a moment to reflect on the importance of family, Toyota will be there."

Speaking of Catchy and P.O.M.s

Am I the only one who jumped up and down about this album?

Catchy Friday

A random, absurdly catchy tune to hum in the car on the way to happy hour this evening . . .

Power Pop & Tron Can't Lose

All this talk about power pop got me thinking about the best Cars song they never wrote. I'm not a big Strokes fan, and I didn't even acquire Room On Fire when it was released in 2003, but I could not stop listening to "12:51." The video sealed the deal, as I'm "of a certain age."

Anyway ...

12:51

Talk to me now I'm older
Your friend told you 'cause I told her
Friday nights have been lonely
Change your plans and then phone me

We could go and get forties
Fuck going to that party
Oh really, your folks are away now?
Alright, let's go you convinced me

12:51 is the time my voice
Found the words I sought
Is it this stage I want?
The world is shutting out for us
Oh we were tense for sure
But we was confident

Kiss me now that I'm older
I won't try to control you
Friday nights have been lonely
Take it slow but don't warn me

We'd go out and get forties
Then we'd go to some party
Oh really, your folks are away now?
Alright I'm coming

Finally, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has some credibility

The latest inductees were named today. Madonna, Mellencamp, the Dave Clark Five, Leonard Cohen, and the Ventures are the main recipients. The Dave Clark Five? Jesus Christ. One big hit and no lasting cultural impact. The rest I'm OK with (full disclosure: I own some Madonna CDs). All of the recipients were also named steroid users and HGH devotees. Oh wait. That was THIS list!

New Bastard Hazing

It is with unspeakable pleasure that we unanimously accept you, (your name here), as a contributing participant to our Sacred Blargh. Through your faithful lurking and wanton disregard of your day-to-day work responsibilities, you have demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that you are a complete bastard, and therefore a worthy addition to this organization.

The honorable title of United Bastard is officially bestowed upon you this day, December 13, 2007, along with all rights, privileges and abuses contained therein.

Now, let the hazing begin!

As your first task, you must provide a list of your top ten - no 15 - favorite power pop tunes of all time. We all had to do it. Here's the founding members' lists, and here's Lurker's.

Also, we decree that you must complete your Blogger profile no later than one week after induction, and that you further must use this avatar for no less than three months.

Tacky Christmas Yards

Just in time for the holidays, here's Tacky Christmas Yards which points out seasonal decorating sins. Offenses include mixing themes and mismatched character sizes. Pass an amusing moment or two making fun of others, won't you?

Revisionist History

In light of Neil Diamond’s disturbing (and preposterous) recent suggestion that he wrote Sweet Caroline after seeing a photo of the then-nine-year old Caroline Kennedy, I thought it wise to remind us all of the true origins of that masterpiece.

Shit.

I guess, like Chuck Berry, Phil Spector, Jay and Dave, he was a bit of a RnR Reprobate, but you can't deny Ike's contribution to the music we all hold so dear and near.

Dec 12th, 2007 | SAN DIEGO -- Ike Turner, whose role as one of rock's critical architects was overshadowed by his ogrelike image as the man who brutally abused former wife and icon Tina Turner, died Wednesday at his home in suburban San Diego. He was 76.

....

Turner, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is credited by many rock historians with making the first rock 'n' roll record, "Rocket 88," in 1951. Produced by the legendary Sam Phillips, it was groundbreaking for its use of distorted electric guitar.

But as would be the case for most of his career, Turner, a prolific session guitarist and piano player, was not the star on the record — it was recorded with Turner's band but credited to singer Jackie Brenston.

And it would be another singer — a young woman named Anna Mae Bullock — who would bring Turner his greatest fame, and infamy.

Read about it all day if you like.

That Barton Fink Feeling

I've come to the realization that my favorite Coen Brothers movie is the one that I saw last. Having said that, the wife and I caught Barton Fink last night. It was the first time I'd seen it in 13 years or so, and I had forgotten what a truly bizarre film it is. So, in my usual obsessive compulsive way, I looked online for reviews and interpretations at my earliest convenience. Here's a quote from the best (and ugliest) site I found, Cinepad:

Barton views most of the people around him as incomprehensible grotesques because they're so much coarser, so much more animated and alive than he is. They curse, they drink, they sweat, they spit, they vomit, they have sex -- but Barton is so repressed that he's become completely disconnected, not only from others but from his own body. So, he sits behind his typewriter, imprisoned in his own head and his own room, and stares dully at a framed tinted photo of a beautiful girl gazing out over the ocean at a sky as blank as the paper in Barton's typewriter. Barton's life of the mind is composed of nothing but barren abstractions. It takes Charlie to bring Barton crashing into the real, physical world.

You can read the rest of it here, if you so desire.

And as a bonus, there's an interview with Joel & Ethan Coen, conducted by the same writer before Barton Fink's release. Right about ... here.