The start of something good

- to roughly paraphrase Rufus.

You know how sometimes you think, if I would happen to lose one of my senses, which would truly be the worst? I'd have to say, my sense of hearing. (As my vision is already shot to hell). That being said, I truly love music.

So, I'm starting on writing a series on my favorite features of popular music. Dear God, I'm afraid I'm going to sound like either the most insane or most pretentious bitch on the face of the planet, but what the hell.....

I realize that quite a few of these performers may not be the 'best,' but they're my favorite, so bite me....wink;)

My absolute favorite guitar players and their work I love (in a very particular order)-

1. John Squire- The Stone Roses. Fluid, classical structure to his playing. Minimal, yet unbelieveably gorgeous runs and solos. No wanking here, friends.

-essential cuts- the last guitar run in 'This Is the One' off the Roses 1st album. Possibly the most perfect song in pop music. Ever. 'Made Of Stone.' Not far off from perfection. 'Sally Cinnamon,' the song that always brightens my day, if only from residual E vibes from the Roses in Madchester-era Manchester. Squire's guitar parts tend to remind me of a plane taking off. Kind of random, but there you are.

2. Keith Richards- Rolling Stones. He is the Human Riff. A fashion icon. A badass. Captain Jack Sparrow. Allegedly. Total prototype for the romantic working-class Brit guitar slinger.

-essential cuts- 'Brown Sugar' or 'Before They Make Me Run.' Or 'Happy.' My favorite Stones song, evah!

3. Jimmy Page- Led Zeppelin. He's fucking Pagey, man! On my study abroad experience at Iowa State, 'The History Of British Rock and Roll'- my last credits before graduation, God Bless the Cyclones, I got my picture taken in front of Jimmy's house in London (the one with all the stained glass windows). Fucking roll of film was ruined in transport, though. Story of my life.

-essential cuts- 'The Wanton Song' and 'Out On the Tiles.' Ooo, and 'Misty Mountain Hop.'

4. Noel Gallagher- Oasis. Why? As someone who is such a pop culture whore- who has to check themselves when making claim to a particularly clever comment or saying, that I didn't actually crib said particular statement or saying from someone- I truly appreciate someone who wears their influences on their sleeve.

What's so wrong with emulating the Beatles? The Stones? The Jam? The Roses? The Pistols? Uses the Buzzcocks's trick of concealing a sad lyric in a bouncy tune? Nothing, I say. Also, he's quite cute, isn't he?

- essential cuts- 'Whatever'- the strings arrangements are utterly superb, 'Listen Up!,' smooth and haunting guitar part, 'Acquiesce,' "Because we need each other, we believe in one another,
And I know we're going to uncover, what's sleepin' in our soul."

I don't care, I taste Ambre Solaire

Jackson Pollack's Number 5 just sold for $140 million. Sadly, this is the only piece from Pollack's catalog that I am familiar with.

Why? It's mentioned in a very innocent sounding, yet extremely dirty Stone Roses song, 'Going Down.' Strangely enough, the reason that I realized that the song was positively filthy was not the title. What was it? The bass line. Absolutely raunchy. Lovely.

Think I'm going to listen to it right now, and have Rose-y dreams. Errr, wait, that sounded bad. Stone Rose-y dreams. That's better. I think.

**Ambre Solaire may sound exotic to we Americans, but apparently, it's a cheap suntan lotion made by Garnier. Who knew?

Nice

Primal Scream on Jools

Bobby, Einstein (Innes), Little Barry (Marr-looking MoFo) and my man, Mani.

This song is more fun than a barrel of monkeys. With liquor.

Random 10 and some

1. Sunshowers- M.I.A.
2. I Don't Mind- Buzzcocks
3. She Bangs the Drums- The Stone Roses
4. Anarchy In the U.K.- Sex Pistols
5. Shine On- Jet
6. Out Of Space- The Prodigy
7. Country Girl- Primal Scream
8. High Fidelity- Elvis Costello
9. Push the Button- Sugababes
10. Love Will Tear Us Apart- Joy Division

Bonus-
11. Rocking Chair- Oasis
12. American Idiot- Green Day

Happy Friday, from the Mondays

Fantastic song. Also, would like to send a shout-out to the casting persons from '24 Hour Party People.' Spot on, y'all. Spot fucking on.

Daffydd tells the horrible truth

After the Haggard scandal broke today, it felt right to post this, if you get my drift. And I think you do! Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

(With apologies to the Monty Python boys).

Oh. My. GOD. The NME is trying to kill me, again

I'm absolutely in tears reading this. Lucky bastards at the concert.

Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller joined forces onstage at a charity gig in London tonight (November 2).

Gallagher, watched by his brother and bandmate Liam and backed by a two bandmates including Oasis bandmate Gem Archer, was joined by his buddy onstage at KOKO, at a show in aid of drugs charity Focus.

Together they performed Weller's 2005 hit single 'Come On/Let's Go' and 'Thick As Thieves', a classic by Weller's old band The Jam, from their 1979 album 'Setting Sons'.
Noel also covered his heroes' The Beatles' 1967 classic 'Strawberry Fields Forever'.

Earlier comedian Russell Brand had acted as MC, introducing opening act The Holloways, and then Dirty Pretty Things, standing in for Kasabian. Their guitarist Serge Pizzorno is suffering from laryngitis, or as Noel put it onstage later when dedicating 'Cast No Shadow' to his pal, "something pretentious like that".

DPT were joined by a guest of their own, The Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess, who sang with Carl Barat on the singles 'Deadwood' and 'Bang Bang You're Dead' as well as his own group's 1997 hit 'North Country Boy'.

Gallagher, who was playing acoustically (with Archer on electric guitar), played a set including the Oasis classics 'Wonderwall', 'Don't Look Back In Anger' and 'Slide Away', and rarely performed B-sides such as 'Fade Away', 'Listen Up' and set opener '(It's Good) To Be Free'

I'm absolutely DYING here. 'Thick As Thieves' is one of my absolute fave Jam tunes, and 'Listen Up' is definitely in my top 5 Oasis tunes. (I like the echoey guitar part. Very fluid and lovely). And DTP and Tim did 'North Country Boy?' My favorite Charlatans song? Jesus.

Also, get well soon, Serge, you sexy bitch... Grrr.....

If my dear friend and co-worker Jen reads this before tomorrow, I guarantee you that she's saying to herself, "Gee, wonder if we're going to be spinning Jam, Charlatans and Oasis tunes at the shop tomorrow?"

Nice hat

Diamond Lil in concert.

Oh Lord

Before becoming a florist par excellence, in a former life, I used to teach social studies in Houston, Texas. I loved my students to pieces, most of them anyway. The 16 year-old 6th graders? Not so much. Since this was a very poor area, many of my students had fairly fluid home situations, so I kind of functioned as a parent/big sister/teacher/dork who instructed my students on the finer points of rock and roll. Let's just say, most of them felt pretty comfortable around me, so they sometimes shared a bit too much. Sometimes, this was hysterical.

Which brings me to this. During my school's open house in the fall of 2004, some of my former students-who were now in junior high-came back to see their old school. Rick Perry and Chuck Norris had just made a public appearance at their junior high to campaign for something or another. This is how it was described.

"Miss, we had to sit in the gym for a really long time and watch the dude with big hair (Perry) and some old white guy (Norris) talk and jump around and stuff. For real."

I just about passed out from laughing. So I read this, and am not surprised at all. You hang with Good Hair Perry, you can't have a lot going on upstairs. Besides the hair.

Alleged Chuck Norris Fact: "There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live." It's funny. It's cute. But here's what I really think about the theory of evolution: It's not real. It is not the way we got here. In fact, the life you see on this planet is really just a list of creatures God has allowed to live. We are not creations of random chance. We are not accidents. There is a God, a Creator, who made you and me. We were made in His image, which separates us from all other creatures.

By the way, without him, I don't have any power. But with Him, the Bible tells me, I really can do all things - and so can you.

Blimey.

What is wrong with this picture?

Look at this headline.

Scots Take Kylie Minogue Over the Boss, Yo La Tengo Ruins Hannukah, Should Gnarls Rerecord “Crazy”?

Now, read this.

When legendary UK summer rock festival Glastonbury returns next year, Bruce Springsteen will be headlining! Oh wait. No he won’t. This long-standing rumor has been put to rest. Bruce definitely will not be playing, according Emily Eavis, the festival organizer who originally was quoted as saying the Boss would headline the event. “He wasn’t even in the picture at any point, really, despite what some people have written,” she reportedly said. So who do we get instead? Possibly Razorlight and Kylie Minogue. Nice moves, Eavis.

Can you tell me what is wrong with the above? No? Well, let me tell you.

THE GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL IS NOT IN SCOTLAND. IT'S IN FUCKING ENGLAND! NOT SCOTLAND. THE VERY 'WOO, WOO, GROOVY' SECTION OF THE SOUTH OF FUCKING ENGLAND. (Paraphrasing Eddie Izzard). THAT'S WHERE IT IS! NOT SCOTLAND!

(And, on a slightly less shouty note, I'd like to point out that La Minogue and La Borrell are slightly bigger, make that massively bigger deals over across the pond).

Damn it, shouldn't a writer for Rolling Fucking Stone know that Glastonbury is in England? Or anyone, since it's kind of important in the whole Knights of the Round table thingy? Since Rolling Stone's blog appears to, ahem, liberate story ideas from the NME, you'd think they would have picked up on that fact. But, NOOOOO.

Of course, in the same article, the writer refers to a musician named 'Snoop Dog,' who may have some problems, since there already is a rapper named 'Snoop Dogg.'

Boy, I'm a bit ranty today, aren't I? You damn kids need to get off my lawn!

To hell with it.

I'm going back to bed. By myself. However, since I'm over 30, I apparently am ALLOWED to shag the male of my choice with impunity. Oh wait, I'm not married.

Gee, I wonder when the whackjobs in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services will decide that unmarried over-30's screwing pose a threat to the moral fabric of this country. GAH.

I'd like to point out that the dipshit making the announcement is named Wade Horn. Horn. Hee hee.

The federal government's "no sex without marriage" message isn't just for kids anymore.

Now the government is targeting unmarried adults up to age 29 as part of its abstinence-only programs, which include millions of dollars in federal money that will be available to the states under revised federal grant guidelines for 2007.

The government says the change is a clarification. But critics say it's a clear signal of a more directed policy targeting the sexual behavior of adults.

Via ShakesSis

They have to be joking me

How. In. The. Hell. Could. This. Be. EVER. Considered. A. Good. Idea?

BALTIMORE - Johns Hopkins University has suspended the Sigma Chi fraternity because of a "Halloween in the Hood" party that drew protests by black students.

The invitation to the party, posted on the Web site Facebook, encouraged guests to wear "regional clothing from our locale" with jewelry including "bling bling ice ice, grills" and "hoochie hoops."

The party, held Saturday night at the fraternity house, featured a skeleton pirate hanging on a noose.

Black Student Union members protested the party on Monday, saying the appearance of the image and the language on the invitation highlighted racial tensions at Hopkins and the strained relations between the university and the surrounding community.

And I hope to shout that the Black Student Union members weren't the only students protesting this bullshit.

Wait just a minute

"No" means nothing once sex has started

Thanks, I guess, to Jessica at Feministing for bringing this scary piece of news to our attention: A Maryland appellate court yesterday ruled that the state's rape law is clear on the fact that no doesn't mean no if it comes in the midst of consensual sex.

The three judge panel yesterday tossed out a rape conviction on the grounds that when the jury on the case asked the judge to clarify whether a woman could legally withdraw her consent after the start of sex, the judge should have informed them that she could not. According to this panel, Maryland law is not ambiguous on this point

Are you trying to tell me that if I was having 'relations' with some guy, and he pulled out jumper cables/small animal/another person/a gun/whips and chains/some horrible and nasty thing of unknown provenance, I couldn't say, "Look here, buddy, you need to go fuck yourself, because I'm certainly not going to continue to do so?" AND THERE WOULD BE NO LEGAL RECOURSE?

What is this, a particularly ill-considered and timed April Fool's Day joke?

Little Britain

Dear God, I love 'Little Britain.' And Rob Brydon.

Life On Mars

I haven't mentioned my intense love for "Life On Mars" on BBC America. It is utterly fantastic.

John Simm is awesome as Sam Tyler- and I'm not just saying that since he played Bernard Sumner in 24 Hour Party People- and I have a slight thing for Phillip Glenister, who is extremely attractive to me in an older English guy sort of way. Also, I adore Liz Wright as Annie, whose unrequited crush on Sam had damn well be requited before the series ends.

The show is only going for 2 seasons, so there's no danger of the post-coital awkwardness that David and Maddie faced on Moonlighting. Seriously, Sam and Annie need to hit it before the series ends. Watch the show, you'll agree.

I am just DYING here, people

HOT DIGGITY DOG!

Oasis, Arctic Monkeys and U2 were the big winners at the 2006 Q Awards, with Oasis being crowned best act in the world today.

The band's Noel Gallagher also collected the classic songwriter award at the London ceremony.

The Arctic Monkeys - who had four nominations - won the best album and the people's choice awards, while U2 picked up the prize for innovation.

May I point out that, honest to God, Jesus, Allah, Buddha, WHOEVER, I seriously own CD's by almost all of the bands honored at the Q awards, and in some cases, i.e. Oasis, Weller and the Screamers, own almost their entire back catalog? Wow, what a run-on sentence.

AND that I saw the Arctics in concert in Chicago, and would have attended the Kasabian concert, were it not for a family funeral?

Hot damn, I'm good. Here's a lovely piccie of Noel as a reward for reading that crap piece of writing, though. Fwwahh, Mr. Gallagher.











Okay, I have GOT to quit re-reading Bridget Jones's Diary once a month. Alright, weekly. V.v.v. bad for writing technique. Dammit.

Oh, I would have enjoyed this

Paul Weller opened the BBC Electric Proms in London last night, with a greatest hits set featuring guest appearances from Carl Barat, Amy Winehouse and Richard Archer.

Set list?

"Blink And You'll Miss It"
"Paper Smile"
"From The Floorboards Up"
"Out Of The Sinking"
"Wild Blue Yonder"
"The Changingman"
"Porcelain Gods"/"I Walk On Guilded Splinters"
"Above The Clouds"
"Savages"/"Fly Little Bird"
"I Heard It Through The Grapevine"
"Don't Go To Strangers"
"You Do Something To Me"
"Come On/Let's Go"
"Peacock Suit"
"In The City"
"Running On The Spot"
"Foot Of The Mountain"
"Sunflower"
"That's Entertainment"
"Down In The Tube Station At Midnight"
"Broken Stones"
"Town Called Malice"

Dear GOD! So awesome......