Tuesday Tunes

I assure you, I have no idea why, but I've been thinking "they've gone about as fur as they can go" all day long.

Cursed by Rodgers and Hammerstein earworms!

Kansas City - from the musical OKLAHOMA



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A great song about impending motherhood, by adoption.

I Had Something - Lucy Kaplansky



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Great mid-70s art-rock tune, with lyrics by Kurt Vonnegut!

Nice, nice, very nice - Ambrosia



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I never truly appreciated this song until I no longer identified as a Christian. And now, I just love it. Thanks to the indispensable WPCI!

Where to now, St Peter? - Elton John

Sherry Darling

This is what we used to call a "rave-up"--after much investigation, I still can't find out where it was recorded, but it sounds like it was performed live in some South Jersey saloon. The song was originally recorded for "Darkness on the Edge of Town"--but ended up on the subsequent album "The River" instead. The real puzzle is why someone didn't release it as a single and make trillions of dollars.

I challenge you to name the last rock song you heard in which a guy complains that he has to take his girlfriend's mom to the unemployment office and she's talking too much. Ahhh, working class Bruce, that is one reason we loved him.

Once upon a time, I played this tune every single day before I went to work ... it was as good as coffee. :)


Sherry Darling - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

Imitation leather shoes

Imitation leather shoes - Widespread Panic

Taxes, Death and Trouble

Daisy's latest pesky earworms and other assorted music for your Thursday. Turn it up!

Only You Know And I Know - Delaney and Bonnie with Eric Clapton



Live from their British tour in 1969, also features George Harrison. YOWZA! Listen to them purty gee-tars! Excellent visuals, also.

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That song reminded me of this one, since Delaney and Bonnie play/sing back-up... we also heard the Jerry Garcia Band's version on the indispensable DEAD AIR (namesake of this blog) last night.

Lonesome and a Long Way From Home - Eric Clapton



Rest in Peace, Delaney Bramlett. A true son of the south, you rocked the house with aplomb and style.

~*~

Got bluegrass?

Nice capsule history of this tune is provided before they break out the shit-kickin music. As I have written here before, my stepfather played bluegrass professionally, and he loved this song.

I always find it somewhat jarring to see bluegrass played by people wearing SUITS, ha.

Rocky Top - Osborne Brothers



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They got a name for the winners in the world
I want a name when I lose....

Deacon Blues - Steely Dan



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Super Motown finale!

This song was the theme to the movie of the same name. (The movie's protagonist is named Mr T, and I've always assumed that is where the famous Mr T got his name.)

Smooooooooth and nice as gravy on rice. Unbelievable talent.

Biographical aside: I used to listen to this song every day before I went off to slog through the 10th grade... for several months. It made me feel like an otherworldly being! Especially when combined with other things, but we won't go there...

I just love love love it, and I was somewhat surprised to discover, in a check of this blog... that I have never posted it before. (Must correct this situation posthaste!)

Trouble Man - Marvin Gaye



And yes, it's where we get today's blog post title. Rest in Peace, Marvin.

Tuesday Tunes: Mind of the South edition

Mary Huff, calling up the ghost of my mother (right down to the hair and the bass), sings "Nitty Gritty"--yeah!

Nitty Gritty - Southern Culture on the Skids



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Mary's bouffant hairdo made me think of Kate Pierson's.

In case you didn't know, there is also a pretty good movie named after this song, titled My Own Private Idaho, starring Keanu Reeves. It's based on Shakespeare's Henry IV and Henry V. Really.

I love Fred's canary-yellow pants.

Private Idaho - B-52s



(Did you catch the Twilight Zone theme?)

The lyrics also contain some excellent advice, as well as an important historic workers-reference (see link):

You're living in your own Private Idaho
Living in your own Private Idaho
Underground like a wild potato

Don't go on the patio
Beware of the pool
Blue bottomless pool
It leads you straight
Right through the gate
That opens on the pool

You're living in your own Private Idaho
You're living in your own Private Idaho

Keep off the path, beware the gate
Watch out for signs that say "Hidden Driveways"
Don't let the chlorine in your eyes
Blind you to the awful surprise
That's a-waitin' for you at the bottom
Of the bottomless blue, blue, blue pool

You're livin in your own Private Idaho
Idaho
You're out of control, the rivers that roll
You fell into the water and down to Idaho
Get out of that state
Get out of that state you're in
You better beware

You're living in your own Private Idaho.
You're living in your own Private Idaho.

Keep off the patio
Keep off the path
The lawn may be green
But you better not be seen
Walkin' through the gate that leads you down
Down to a pool fraught with danger
It's a pool full of strangers

You're living in your own Private Idaho
Where do I go from here to a better state than this?
Well, don't be blind to the big surprise
Swimming 'round and 'round like the deadly hands
Of a radium clock at the bottom of the pool

I-I-I-daho
I-I-I-daho
Whoa, oh, oh, oh
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
Get out of that state
Get out of that state
You're living in your own Private Idaho
Livin' in your own Private Idaho

Who could argue?

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I know I've played this one before. This is my favorite song by Pylon, the best Athens band you never heard of... the band who didn't get famous, while all their friends did.

And they should have. :(

Danger - Pylon



Silent film footage is from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920).

Nature's Way

Nature's Way - Spirit (1970)

Bright lights, dark room

I am currently watching Dennis Hopper playing a neo-nazi on an old Twilight Zone episode. Very strange.

I heard this hypnotic old song from Speak and Spell the other night. (I have it on vinyl and therefore have not heard it in eons, since I have nothing to play it on.) Now I can't stop hearing: I.. take.. pictures... photographic... pictures... in my head, over and over, as well as the words of today's blog post title. Bright Lights. Dark Room.

Sharing the dreaded earworm!

Depeche Mode - Photographic



Although I usually agree with Eminem that "don't nobody listen to techno"--I always made exceptions for Depeche Mode and Kraftwerk. I also confess to an enduring love of Dirty Vegas's "Days go by"--something I would not ordinarily admit if I were not watching an ancient Twilight Zone episode.

Odds and Sods: Post-Thanksgiving edition

At left: I didn't mean to look so bloody GRIM! From Occupy Greenville yesterday, photo by wonderful Uma.



And we are still at it. For how long? I don't know, but I don't mind. I figure any lasting changes in our society will take a long time--and I figured that out a long time ago, as well. As it is, we are dealing with a society that often has no clue. People come out of the CVS and Starbucks and ask us what we are doing; they've never even HEARD of Occupy. Some Occupiers bravely went to the malls on the day after Thanksgiving, with signs instructing shoppers to "Buy Local!"--and various customers replied, "But we ARE buying local!"

Do they know that Walmart is in Arkansas? On some level, they seem to realize this. On another, they don't get it.

I think they are probably typical of the majority.

And we plow ever onward.

~*~

Back from Hotlanta, where I spent the holidays ingesting fabulous coconut cream pie and shopping in those amazing big-city thrift stores.

Some interesting stories for your perusal:

:: Occupy Atlanta occupied Lenox Square Mall, placing provocative "BUY NOTHING!" price tags over selected merchandise.

:: Highly recommended: Leonard Pitts column titled Seek holistic solutions.

:: Atlanta Journal-Constitution is all over Newt Gingrich's recent statements about immigration during the last Republican debate:

Gingrich has risen to the top of the polls recently on the strength of his debate performances and the shortcomings of other candidates, becoming the latest in a carousel of top challengers to front-runner Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts.

Rival campaigns pounced on the immigration issue as a chance to take Gingrich down a peg.

“I think there’s a major and legitimate difference of opinion on immigration between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney,” said Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom. “Newt Gingrich supported the 1986 amnesty and even though he concedes it was a mistake, he’s willing to repeat that mistake by granting amnesty to today’s illegal immigrants.”

:: Amish Haircutting Attacks! The leader of the hair-cutters is named Mullet. Now, I ask you, is that funny or what?

Seven members of a renegade Amish sect face hate crime charges - and possibly life in prison - for a beard-cutting spree that terrorized fellow Amish in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana.

The sect's leader, Samuel Mullet Sr., and six of his followers, including three sons, were arrested in an FBI raid of their Ohio compound, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.

They also are accused of heavy-heavy handed tactics to keep sect members in line - including beatings, forcing members to sleep in a chicken coop, and having sex with married followers in “cleansing” rituals, the Associated Press reports.

Mullet and his followers attacked those in the wider Amish community who disagreed with his sect’s interpretation of the faith, according to law enforcement officials.

The hair-cutting attacks, carried out with scissors and battery-powered clippers, were a particularly horrific affront in the Amish community, whose religious beliefs call for men to stop shaving their beards once they marry.

"You've got Amish all over the state of Ohio and Pennsylvania and Indiana that are concerned. We've received hundreds and hundreds of calls from people living in fear," Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla told reporters at a news conference Wednesday. "They are buying Mace, some are sitting with shotguns, getting locks on their doors because of Sam Mullet."

Mullet justified the shearings to the Associated Press as retaliation for what he percieved as violation of Amish orthodoxy.

So much for those peaceful Amish we always heard about.

At left: a still from WSPA-TV, I am on the far left (as always) holding yellow sign, as in the above photo.


:: Interesting tax loophole has allowed New Yorkers to save money on roll-your-own tobacco, even though they technically aren't rolling their own, machines are:

NEW YORK – There is no place in the U.S. more expensive to smoke than New York City, where the taxes alone will set you back $5.85 per pack. Yet, addicts who visit Island Smokes, a "roll-your-own" cigarette shop in Chinatown, can walk out with an entire 10-pack carton for under $40, thanks to a yawning tax loophole that officials in several states are now trying to close.The store is one of a growing number around the country that have come under fire over their use of high-speed cigarette rolling machines that function as miniature factories, and can package loose tobacco and rolling papers into neatly formed cigarettes, sometimes in just a few minutes.

The secret to Island's low prices is simple: Even though patrons leave carrying cartons that look very much like the Marlboros or Newports, the store charges taxes at the rate set for loose tobacco, which is just a fraction of what is charged for a commercially made pack.

Customers select a blend of tobacco leaves, intended to mirror the flavor of their regular brand. Then they feed the tobacco and some paper tubes into the machines, and return to the counter with the finished product to ring up the purchase.

The savings come at every level. Many stores sell customers loose pipe tobacco, which is taxed by the federal government at $2.80 per pound (450 grams), compared with $25 per pound for tobacco made for cigarettes. The shops don't pay into the cigarette manufacturer trust fund, intended to reimburse government health programs for the cost of treating smoking-related illness. And the packs produced by "roll-your-own" shops are generally also being sold without local tax stamps, which in New York include a $1.50 city tax and a $4.35 state tax.

New York City's legal department filed a lawsuit against Island Smokes on Nov. 14, arguing that the company's Manhattan store and another on Staten Island are engaging in blatant tax evasion.

Busted!

Doncha know, the government will ALWAYS take their share? Nice try though!

~*~

I listen to my "Truckin with Albert Collins" CD when I travel! Now I have his infectious, curlicue 60s blues riffs lodged in my head.

Sharing the dreaded Thanksgiving earworm!

Shiver and Shake - Albert Collins



Kool Aide - Albert Collins

Tunes for 11-11-11

At left, Daisy meets local legend Country Earl! I was thrilled beyond measure. I was introduced to him when I visited the Mauldin Open Air Market last week, to buy Joel Ann's legendary cashew brittle, as well as oodles of fabulous local produce.




I hope you are all having a good 11-11-11, which is a suitably cosmic thang.

I tried to remember to make a wish at 11:11am, and forgot. Yall don't forget at 11:11pm!

Below, some earworms and other delights.

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I thought this was called "Rock and Roll Star" but it's just "Star." It's been ages since I looked at the album cover.

Its a pop/rock gem from that amazing work of art titled The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

I also love it, since he explains exactly what he is going to do, and then he went out and did it. (And how often does that happen?) For emphasis, at the end he adds, "just watch me."

I could do with the money
I'm so wiped out with things as they are
I'd send my photograph to my honey
And I'd come on like a regular superstar


Star - David Bowie



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Okay, trigger warnings and all that stuff. You know what comes from poppies, and you know what happens when people get too fond of it. (Lyrics here)

My tarot reading for 11-11-11 started with the Temperance card, which made me think of this song. It always does.

Baby want more.

Poppies - Patti Smith Group



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My favorite song by the late Jim Croce, which it seems few people have heard.

Hey Tomorrow - Jim Croce



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And finally, this is for Veterans Day.

How many of you were aware that Jim Morrison's father was a Rear Admiral in the Navy? It really does explain a lot.

In concert, Morrison would hit the ground at the sound of the gunshot, like, splat. No slow toppling-over, but bang, flat on the ground. I think you probably have to be really high to do that. Nonetheless, it was damned impressive.

Note the cheering-crowd noise spliced with funeral-church bells at the end. Perfect.

The Unknown Soldier - The Doors



Happy Veterans Day. Bring Them Home Now.

Time to get it, before you let it get to you

A quick round-up of Daisy's latest earworms.

I heard this two weeks ago and it hasn't stopped torturing me yet.

My parents used to sing it. :)

Does anyone know who is harmonizing with her? Mandolin-player? What is the line-up of this particular band? SPEAK UP, DEADHEADS!

Emmylou Harris - If I could only win your love



EDIT: Eagle-eyed (eared?) reader, Blue Heron, spotted VINCE GILL on mandolin. I didn't know he could even play mandolin, but I did think it sounded like him on the last verse. THANK YOU!


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I have tried to post this for OVER FOUR YEARS--ever since I started blogging... usually I would find the video and it would get yanked by nightfall.

SO LISTEN NOW, before evil greedheads snatch it away again.

Greatest guitarist in the history of the world, his unique playing seemed to replicate the way emotions swirl in the heart. That's why we can't really say what it is about his work that moves us so much. It bypasses our critical centers and goes straight for that part of us that is most human.

After he sings the word, "anything"--he plays the CONCEPT of "anything" and what that feels like to us.

Jimi Hendrix - Little Wing



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This haunting song totally hypnotized me as a lovesick 18-year-old, and made me cry and everything. I had no idea what it was about, except it seemed that the narrator had escaped death or was contemplating it. From Wikipedia:

The third and final single [from the album "Stampede"] was Patrick Simmons' "I Cheat the Hangman", released November 12, 1975. It is a somber outlaw ballad that was inspired by the story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce. "It's about a ghost returning to his home after the Civil War and not realizing he's dead," said Simmons about the song. The album version of the song is a progressive rock-style composition ending in a twisted collage of strings, horns and synthesizers made to sound like ghostly wails. "We'd cut the track, and we kicked around how to develop the ending-I thought about synthesizers and guitar solos. Ted [Templeman] got to thinking about it, and he ran it past [arranger] Nick DeCaro for some orchestration ideas. 'Night on Bald Mountain' by Mussorgsky really inspired the wildness of the strings, and Nick came up with the chorale thing at the end." The ambitious "I Cheat the Hangman" only managed to reach #60 on the music charts.

Doobie Brothers - I Cheat the Hangman



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Last time I tried this one, also got yanked. LISTEN NOW.

Does it make you feel old? Then you are. :)

And its where we get today's blog post title.

Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot



Ah, here it comes
I know it's someone I knew

Monday Music: And the cat just finished off the bread

LIVE FROM NEW YORK, 40 years ago... this contains excellent, rare old photos of the band, as well as some blistering guitar solos to wake you up this Monday.

One Way Out - Allman Brothers Band (Live 1971)



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Playing this to commemorate 9/11. Of course, it's significantly dated now, since we have no longer have any Berlin wall. Do the kids understand? (Could they ever?)

"Please don't be waiting for me."

Holidays in the Sun - Sex Pistols (1977)



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"When I see you comin, I just have to run"... he was so funny! Debating if I should use a BDSM tag or not. (Nah.)

Vicious - Lou Reed (1972)



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Who else thinks, "I am a passenger, I stay under glass" is the greatest line ever?

(PS: And now, you will also be earwormed to death with LA LA LA LA LALALA LAAAAAH! for the rest of your day.)

The Passenger - Iggy Pop (1977)



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And this is the song that gives us today's blog post title.

Pinball - Brian Protheroe (1974)

Friday Earworms

Is everyone having an excellent start to the weekend? If you need some musical accompaniment, you've come to the right place.

Currently, I am preparing for our trip to Charlotte for HeroesCon... unfortunately, it will be even hotter tomorrow than it is now. Hydration! Packing extra kombucha and Tramadol.

Maybe I'll even meet up with my Blogdonia heroine and alter ego, Fanboy Wife. Perhaps we should have some kind of 12-Step meeting while we're there, modeled on Al-Anon: Are you married to a Fanboy? Chances are, you're as addicted to sick behavior as he is!

NO, NO, I refuse to believe it! Denial, denial!

PS: It's been awhile since I've shared my earworms, so here you go.

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I recently heard this gem on our local wonder-station, WPCI-AM, and I've been hearing it in my head ever since. Just beautiful!

Passion Play - Joni Mitchell



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This one also comes courtesy of WPCI... Good Lord, will you listen to this woman SING?! I have no idea how old this tune is, but it sounds ancient... raw and unglossed. Lovelovelove!

A Fool in Love - Ike and Tina Turner



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I was worried, the last time I posted a song by Journey, that I'd jeopardized my musical cred... and whaddaya know, Journey's been rehabbed! Tony Soprano, we owe him.

This is what is known as a "power ballad" (did Journey actually invent the power ballad?), and if I hear it just once, these lovely intertwining riffs stay lodged in my head for weeks.

Weeks, I tell you.

Send her my love - Journey



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This song has plagued me since the death of my father in late April; I'm hoping once I post it here, it will stop continuously haunting me.

Probably not, though.

Mansion on a Hill - Hank Williams



Hope you all have a great weekend.

Choctaw Bingo and other Saturday earworms

Lots of people prefer the original by John Prine, who wrote it... but I am partial to the version by the Man in Black.

Paradise - Johnny Cash



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A great song about a drug dealer, although some have posited that it's actually about capitalism and bosses (Joe Strummer was red to the end). How fascinating that they are interchangeable!

Quite simply, some of the tightest rock music ever recorded.

Hateful - The Clash



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Mimi Farina wrote this song about Janis Joplin, upon hearing of her passing in 1970... it was recorded by her sister, Joan Baez, in 1972.

Great photos of Janis in the video.

In the Quiet Morning - Joan Baez



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You knew it was time for Steely Dan again, right? I tried to stay on topic about the economy and the budget and everything. ;)

Great graphics!

Black Friday - Steely Dan



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As Charlie Daniels used to say, Time to Get Loud, Children. Starting at about 2:25, this boogies so hard, it will knock the mud right off your boots.

And check out Mary Huff's outfit, I MUST get one. (My late mama had that exact hairdo, exact color.)

Southern Culture on the Skids - White Trash/Greenback Fly



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James McMurtry played Asheville recently, and I am told the entire audience knew all the words. (Well, of course they did.) I was fortunate enough to hear this performed live a few years ago, in a venue fulla rednecks jumping up and down. At the time, I realized, this was a quintessential southern moment, so it isn't surprising that "Choctaw Bingo" has turned into a southern anthem, of sorts.

Ann and Lynn come down from Baxter Springs
That's one hell raisin town way up in Southeastern Kansas
Got a biker bar next to the lingerie store
That's got them Rolling Stones lips up there in bright pink neon
And they're right downtown where everyone can see em
And they burn all night
you know they burn all night
you know they burn all night

And yes, you really should listen to all 8+ minutes, if you want the whole Choctaw Bingo experience. It's actually far better live, with raucous yelling and jumping-redneck accompaniment, but I could not locate a good live version, so going with the studio rendition for now.

Choctaw Bingo - James McMurtry



Have a great weekend everyone.

Gut feelings

I recently spotted a local celebrity in the flesh, a woman who is a regular on the local fundamentalist religious TV station. She is something else, and her old-school bouffant hairdo is hard to miss. She was getting food and sitting down for a quick afternoon meal with her family.

The overhead music was playing, and I heard Lou Rawls' old 70s hit, "You'll never find another love like mine"... and just as I passed her, as we both gathered our napkins and silverware, I heard her singing along with Lou, "You're gonna miss my lovinnnnnnn"... and I was momentarily startled. She likes old disco, I thought, surprised. Did I think all the fundies were raised in caves or something? They share the same pop-culture as the rest of us, as separatist as they sometimes are.

As I heard the TV-evangelist sing along with Lou, I was filled with a sudden, unaccountable affection, possibly because I had previously only heard her sing bad gospel songs.

I also realized that being a professional fundie was her job, and it is possible she gets as tired of her job as the rest of us get tired of ours.

I turned and smiled at her, as she was singing the old Lou Rawls song, and she smiled warmly back at me. It was a nice moment.

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My second recent realization is one that I need to chew on awhile... but I will share it with all of you nonetheless. You can help me nail it down, so to speak. To wit:

I live in a very conservative area, and as someone with radical politics and personal style, this means I have to possess a pretty strong personality to go against the grain of the majority.

If someone lives in a very liberal area, and has very conservative politics and personal style, they will also have to possess a strong personality to go against the grain of the majority.

My realization: I may be temperamentally more similar to the minority-conservative-in-liberal-area, than I am similar to the liberals around them. In a majority-liberal area, people can easily take liberalism for granted and don't often get very spirited about it. Thus, the liberals may be lukewarm liberals that in a conservative locale, would be lukewarm conservatives.

When conservatives emigrate to the upstate (and yes, they do, as if there weren't enough of them here already), they are excitable and revved up, like new converts. You can spot them. They take nothing for granted. They have arrived at Ground Zero of Tea Party Central--the Promised Land--and they are raring to go.

They remind me of myself, back in the day, when I got to Berserkley and thought I knew everything.

It's an unnerving realization that I first got whacked with upon reading Eric Hoffer's brilliant book, The True Believer (that all fanatics and extremists are more alike than different). But I never made the connection about geography before, and the concurrent personality types.

In a place where 'everyone' is liberal (Seattle, San Francisco), then an individual's liberalism will mean something very different that it does in a place like upstate South Carolina, where they will try to run you over for having pro-Obama/vegetarian bumper stickers on your car. Thus, the individual's response to political challenges will be very different. There is no need to be defensive when you are in the majority. It is interesting (and telling) to note how this political defensiveness is exhibited. What happens in one place, as standard and typical, would never happen in the other.

Example: During a recent group-conversation, I used the word "evolved." (Correctly, as in, "We evolved to crave fat and carbs"--this may have been, in fact, my exact phrase.) I used the word in a dietary context a number of times, and in each instance, two people in the room corrected my word choice, "created." We were not evolved to crave fat and carbs, we were created that way, by God Almighty. (Well, if we were indeed CREATED that way, why bother to fight it?)

I did not want to start a fight over Darwin at that particular juncture and in that social setting, so I allowed them to correct me, but kept right on using the word, too. And I realized, that kind of shit annoys me, and it's the type of thing that people living in liberal areas don't realize we have to put up with. And the conservatives don't realize it either. (I always wondered what William F Buckley thought of the dopey-fundie brand of right-winger, which he surely knew existed? Or did he believe all conservatives were yacht-club members in good standing?) In the same social situation, would the radical atheist from San Francisco just drop everything and jump in whole hog, and start preaching the Darwin gospel? I only know a couple of radical atheists here in the upstate, and neither behave in this fashion; I think the new arrivals might let a few things slide, the way the rest of us have learned to do.

And how does this influence us and our approach to what we do? Our politics? Our writing? The way we frame the issues?

Can you tell when a blog is written in a conservative or liberal area? How can you tell?

Just some ideas. Discuss amongst yourselves!



~*~


And of course you know I have been earwormed with the damn thing ever since, right?


You'll never find another love like mine - Lou Rawls



~*~

I heard the first two minutes of this old Devo song on the Weather Channel (!) of all places, played over and over during the weekend whilst announcing rain, and now I am earwormed to death with this, too.

And so, it magically becomes our blog post title for today.

Gut Feeling - Devo

Odds and Sods: Old St Charles sing edition

Image at left is courtesy of YELLOWDOG GRANNY, thanks Jackie Sue... you always sum up my thoughts! :D



This installment of ODDS AND SODS starts with a major TRIGGER WARNING, as they say. Warning, this thread descends into some very disturbing transphobic nastiness, but that's my whole reason for recommending it. It's pretty educational; I think the "radical feminists" who have colonized that thread illustrate one of the biggest problems with Second Wave radical feminism: Mean Girls.

And yeah, I knew a few in my time.

There was something about Second Wave feminist theory that easily lent itself to weird 'female superiority' arguments (in many instances, not just concerning transgender politics). Note their roaring silence on the subject of F to M transgender people: trans men don't fit their little just-so story, so they don't seem to piss them off as much. It's a very strange victim-chic thing. There is only so much victimization to go around, and the trans women are trying to horn in on OURS, which is COPYRIGHTED. At least, that's how several of the most pedestrian comments sound (yes, looking at you Delphyne!)... it's funny in the way that white supremacist websites are funny: not funny haha, funny sad.

The argument that trans people "uphold the gender binary" is bizarre, since I don't know anyone who doesn't. (The fact that we are forced to CHOOSE A SIDE, in fact, is the whole point, isn't it?) Why do these anti-trans feminists think they do not ALSO "uphold the gender binary"? Because they do. I do, you do, everyone does: If someone looks at you and calls you he or she on sight, well, you've passed the gender-test and you ALSO uphold the gender binary. IS there anyone on earth who does not uphold the gender binary? Where IS this magical omnigendered person? (Glen or Glenda?)

The question is then: Why are you holding trans people to a standard you are not holding everyone to? Why are they expected to "opt out" of a system you have not (and can not) opt out of?

PS: If you've had enough of reading that sort of thing, I can certainly relate. Warning, warning, warning, once again, highly offensive, reactionary victim-chic at the link.

~*~

I have not written about the political upheaval in Egypt, since I am ignorant of specifics and haven't had the time to delve properly into the subject. Thus, I share what smarter people have written:

Mubarak departs – what next? (A Scottish Liberal)

Mubarak Finally Listens – “Let My People Go!” (FireDogLake)

Katrina Vanden Heuvel: Neocons Have a Hard Time With Democracies That Emerge From Within a Country (Crooks and Liars)

~*~

:: A picture is worth a thousand words! You gotta see this: A Children’s Treasury of CPAC Stupidity: the Final Chapter Subtitled: TRINKETS OF THE DEATH OF AMERICAN CIVILIZATION... I promise you will love it!

:: On a more wonky note, Ezra Klein explains things carefully, in this post titled Do Republicans really oppose making health-care insurance cheaper? Yes, I've wondered that, too. Excerpt:

[The] short version is this: If you make health-care insurance cheaper and make it harder for insurance companies to deny people coverage, then a certain number of people who would like to leave the labor force but can't afford or access health-care insurance without their job will stop working.

To understand why, imagine a 62-year-old woman who works for IBM and beat breast cancer 10 years ago. She wants to retire. She has the money to retire. But no one will sell her health care under the status quo. Under the health-reform law, she can buy health care in an exchange because insurers can't turn her away due to her history of breast cancer. So she'll retire. Or imagine a 50-year-old single mother who wants to home-school her developmentally disabled child but can't quit her job because they'll lose health care. The subsidies and the protections in the Affordable Care Act will give her the option to stop working for awhile, while under the old system she'd need to stick with her job to keep her family's health-care coverage. That's how health-care reform can reduce the labor supply. If either case counts as a destroyed job, then so does my winning the lottery and moving to Scotland in search of the perfect glass of whiskey.

:: By way of Onyx Lynx, I found Avedon Carol's post quite thoughtful:

But I think there's also a deeper game here, and it explains why the entire media - not just the Murdoch and Moonie media - stays so focused on the right-wing crazies. It's the circus that deflects attention from what's really going on while everyone is playing games like "Beck is crazy" and "Look - Sarah Palin!" Well, yes, they've pretty much consistently done that sort of thing for the last 20 years, but I mean going even deeper than that, to why it is so consistent - enough that even some of our best liberal, independent bloggers just can't seem to pull their eyes away sometimes. Somebody out there wants us to keep watching the clown show for an even bigger reason.

:: OPEN LEFT is shutting down. Which is not a good sign. :(

Bye yall! I'll miss you!

~*~

This week's especially merciless ear worms:

This first one contains the original language, "I don't give two fucks about you"--which was sanitized for US airplay and became the more neutral, "I don't give a damn about you"... punks were considered pretty scary and thus, properly de-fanged for stateside radio. I'd never give you a de-fanged version on DEAD AIR!

I am proud to say, I own both versions in various mixes and anthologies, or I wouldn't even know about the censorship.

The Modern World - The Jam (1977)



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Trigger warning, probable suicide references (debatable ever since song recorded in 1967); Joan Didion famously started her Doors essay with this song.

Moonlight Drive - The Doors (1967)



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TOO GREAT FOR WORDS, this first-class mystical acidhead music can't be beat. Question: Are they chanting "Stonehenge! Stonehenge!" at the end? I've always thought so. Not sure what St Charles had to do with Stonehenge but hey, why not?

I really love this. NOTE: Acid flashback warning for at least half of my regular readers. :P

St Charles - Jefferson Starship (1976)

Old School with Daisy

I thought this was the Stylistics, said Daisy, embarrassed. (An honest mistake; they were both from Philadephia, okay?)

Sideshow - Blue Magic



And this IS the Stylistics:

Betcha By Golly Wow - The Stylistics

Musical interlude

Time for tuneage! (Or is it spelled tunage?) Here are my earworms for the past few weeks; I've been delinquent in not sharing! A variety of styles represented, you should be able to find at least ONE you like.

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In this strangely-staged video, Steve Winwood looks like a boy scout. Come to think of it, he still does. Also, I know he is talking about tribesmen, but I always think of Marvel comics Headmen. I blame my spouse for that!

40,000 Headmen - Traffic



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I debated whether I should jeopardize my musical cred by playing a JOURNEY song ((gasp)) -- an 80s-era secret guilty pleasure of mine, along with Duran Duran. I figured if they were good enough for Tony Soprano, they're good enough for me. Just listen to these purty power chords. (my favorite is at 1:07-14---yowee!) And check out that utterly flawless, bang-up finish.

I love this because it brings back the period surrounding my second divorce quite vividly. Ironically, I wasn't having any fun at the time... but your youth is still your youth, even when it sucks... and one day, believe it or not, you will wax nostalgic over even the suckiest times.

The Girl Can't Help It - Journey



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Did I say Duran Duran?

It is notable that (unlike today) all of the women in this video appear to be of a reasonably healthy weight.

Girls on Film - Duran Duran



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You can close your eyes - James Taylor and Carly Simon



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I frequently quote Billy Jack on blogs ("I try, I really do") and only recently discovered the kidz never even heard of him. Admittedly, I forced my daughter, Delusional Precious, to watch Billy Jack when she was 14 or so (the age I was when I saw it), and she rolled her eyes during most of it. So, I will simply show this montage of clips with the theme song, which you may have heard before.

Time out for hippies!

One Tin Soldier (theme from Billy Jack) - Coven



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There are several excellent versions of this on YouTube, including a great live one w/Crazy Horse, but I wanted the one with fiddles, horse-clopping sounds and Nicolette Larson. (R.I.P.) And whaddaya know, I found it, played right off the record. :)

Comes a Time - Neil Young w/Nicolette Larson



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I was planning to save these last two for Instrumental Oldies, Pt 2, but decided to play them now... since it appears I will never get around to fabled Part Two. I was doing pretty good to post the first one!

Time is Tight - Booker T and the MGs



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Not everyone has an iphone to tell them the names of songs! Whenever this gets played in the store where I work, someone asks me who it is. This was the 'official' video; the original song was well over 7 minutes. (Again, the presence of dancing women of healthy weights! Pretty radical stuff!)

Rise - Herb Alpert

Just like heaven

It really is!

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Just Like Heaven - The Cure

I never saw Lynyrd Skynyrd, but I sure saw AC/DC

It's Saturday and time for my weekly earworm roundup. Yes, earworms all through the election and beyond.

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Here is a 70s song I've always identified with, particularly on a religious/spiritual level. Yep, I know just what he means.

I've always loved the line "and I nearly died from hospitality"... ohhhh, me too.

Couldn't Get it Right - Climax Blues Band



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In the US, the hit version stopped right after "funny how tiiime fliiiies"--but the British version goes on about 45 seconds longer. I like the original better.

Head over Heels - Tears for Fears



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For my beloved Mr Daisy! "I never saw Lynyrd Skynyrd, but I sure saw Molly Hatchett..."

It's a righteous song indeed, that genuflects at the name of the late Bon Scott. (My spouse goes through periods of playing this over and over, hence the unavoidable earworm.) If you ever see the Truckers play this live (we did), you will witness a giant crowd of hopped-up rednecks screaming in unison "With Bon Scott singin LET THERE BE ROOOOOOOCK!!!!!" which I bet is scarier than shit. (But what a lotta fun.)

Let there be rock - Drive By Truckers



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Wait, why don't I just show it to you?

Let there be rock - Drive By Truckers (live)



Repeating my goal: to come back as Shonna Tucker in my next life!

Have a great weekend!

Steely Dan should have won the Nobel Prize

For some reason, woke up with Larry Carlton's killer riffs from this song all in my head. I think I must have dreamed about it.

I'd like to give him some special DEAD AIR award for playing guitar like that: LARRY CARLTON IS THE MAN.

Loooove this song, and I've played it here before.

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Can you hear the evil crowd
The lies and the laughter
I hear my inside
The mechanized hum of another world
Where no sun is shining
No red light flashing
Here in this darkness
I know what I've done
I know all at once who I am

~*~

Don't Take Me Alive - Steely Dan



Have a great weekend!