Just got back from dinner. I went to a small place that has a restaurant and bar main section with a little mini-bar attached, and as always, because I am antisocial and the only reason I went out for dinner was because I didn’t want to cook, and not because I had some great urge to deal with idiots who got housed at Happy Hour, I sneaked up to the minibar with my dinner to watch the news alone (the mini-bar portion doesn’t open until eight, so I am literally the only person in there, with chairs on top of the bar). I go there about once every couple of weeks, and the staff all know me (Hey, Norm!!!!), so they don’t pay attention to me, just the way I like it. At any rate, the satellite radio was on some craptacular station that was playing all sorts of dreck that makes me want to retch (Four Non Blondes, etc.), so when one of the wait staff came in I asked them to change the channel. They flipped through the channels, until I heard some Cypress Hill and told them to stop.
This was the very next song (and this it the part for DougJ):
I just gave up at that point, although whoever runs the satellite station totally redeemed themselves with several songs featuring Chris Cornell.
At any rate, you all asked for a cocktail open thread, and even though I didn’t have any tonight, here it is. Also, as an apology for the Creed, here is some Cypress and then some Cornell:
And, as a bonus, Rage:
At any rate, I am blogged out. Have at it.
*** Update ***
Upon reflection, the music in this thread really isn’t appropriate for “cocktail hour,” and probably better suited for “I’m 21, I have a handle full of Maker’s Mark, a pocket full of cash, and a get out of jail free card,” but whatever. I’m going to go listen to some Elastica at ear-bleeding volumes. Because I can. And if you tell me my taste in music sucks, the next ten threads will be nothing but Pantera. Why? Again, because I can. Suck. On. That.
arguingwithsignposts
Tomlin is about to be on Countdown with KO. Apparently he’s a huge fan of Countdown. Your steelers pr0n for the evening.
demkat620
My husband just called B-Rod, Blowevich. He mangles the english language on a regular basis, so, I think this is a close as he is gonna get.
amorphous
Your taste in music sucks.
There’s no way you’ll write 10 consecutive Pantera posts.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
Line Up
Dave C
I think there needs to be a reckoning done and amends made for the completely undeserved mocking of Sunny Day Real Estate that occurred here earlier today (see "Aw, Poor Babies"). Using an SDRE song as a musical illustration of Republican antics is a slap in the face to all right-thinking ’90’s indie rock fans. And we shall not stand for it, Sir!
maxbaer (not the original)
John, have you considered a "curmudgeon" blog label?
Conservatively Liberal
Ten Pantera posts? Go for it. I double dog dare ya. ;)
Cocktail Hour? Fuck that, I prefer Bong Hit Day. All day, every day. THEN comes the cocktail hour, if I am so inclined. I am usually not though as I am not much of a drinker but I was regularly the last man standing in a Bongathon.
Works for me.
/toke
skippy
rip billy powell, keyboardist for lynyrd skynyrd. no matter what you think of their music, you gotta luv freebird, and 56 is far too young to die (at least, in my 55 year old’s mind it is).
mortimer
ew…no…not pantera…whatever you do, not that…
Max B.
i second amorphus on both counts. the suckiness of your taste in music is only exceeded by your lack of sufficient testicular fortitude to post pantera 10 straight.
John Cole
LMAO. The original name of this blog was the “Curmudgeon’s Corner,” and the first url was http://grump.blogspot.com.
Hell, from the third post ever in the archives:
I was the Corner before the Corner was the Corner. And I was just as wingnutty.
Damnit. I see I missed my blogiversary again this year. You would think I would remember since it is on January 2nd.
John Cole
I should have realized you would like Pantera.
I am changing the threat. Neil Diamond.
Laura W
@John Cole: See, I knew that from archive dumpster diving. I commemorated the forever naming of the BJ blog in a comment in early January, missing the exact date by two days as I recall.
Bu Whatever.
(I especially liked you thanking your two readers, Mom and Dad.)
While you’re here, John…
(of jail free card,” bu whatever.)
Alan
I guess I have a very lame taste in music. I like 4 non blondes’ "What’s Up" and Creed’s "Higher".
Conservatively Liberal
Neil Diamond? Just don’t play Holly Holy, ok? Really, that would just be too much for me to deal with. Don’t do it. Oh the horror!
Actually, I like Neil Diamond quite a bit. Now if you wanted to issue a musical fatwa that makes people quake in terror, try Tom Jones or Don Ho.
Evil Bender
Wow. Bad enough you’ve made me think about Creed–threatening Neil Diamond is just plain evil!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to play AC/DC on Rockband.
Joe Lisboa
Wait, what? You were dissing SDRE?! Now I’ve got even more to cry about. In the dark. Wearing all black. Making mix tapes for girls that don’t even exist. *sob*
Ash Can
Music, like humor and beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Having said that, lynrd skynrd sucks.
But our curmudgeonly host has declared this a cocktail thread, so I will report that I had a lovely martini (or whatever you purists prefer to call it) made with Tito’s vodka (nice, but it doesn’t blow my other favorite vodkas away) and garlic-stuffed olives while I was making supper. Now the dishes are in the dishwasher and I’m relaxing with Miller High Life.
Mr. Poppinfresh
Man, that Soundgarden video gives me goosebumps, remembering back when rock didn’t suck the big one. Turning on commercial rock radio these days is a recipe for heartache, with the amount of generic crap that all sounds the same being pumped out of bands with no souls.
Hell, Soundgarden wasn’t even my favorite- I was an Alice In Chains/Nirvana man, though I still preferred Cornell to Pearl Jam any day of the week. Still, I’d trade Eddie Cheddar for those rejects in Puddle of Staind or whatever the fuck they call themselves any day of the week.
Christ, I hate getting old.
Mr. Poppinfresh
P.S., I’m hitting the rye pretty hard tonight. It’s been an awful week to be a lobbyist in Canada, too much nerve-wracking shit to cope with sans self-medicating.
John Cole
@Ash Can: I don’t know how someone relaxes while fighting the gag reflex, but I hope you enjoy your Miller anyway.
morinao
Again, because I can. Suck. On. That.
took me a second to parse the punctuation here.
Mr. Poppinfresh
@John: but it’s the champagne of beers!
Incertus
4 Non Blondes did a decent cover of Misty Mountain Hop, as I recall. And is there any way to do ten consecutive Pantera posts without repeating a couple of songs?
I’ll be over here in the corner listening to the Mendoza Line.
John Cole
@Mr. Poppinfresh: Big fan of Alice in Chains. Was listening to Dirt yesterday.
Oddly enough, I like Rooster more than I did back in the day. Maybe because I thought it was KBR (killed by radio).
Laura W
@John Cole: It’s enough to make you retch, John?
(could’ve saved myself an email with that opening.)
John Cole
@Laura W: DIAF.
At some point, you will recognize that spelling errors and typos are part of the charm here, like a step that always creaks in an old home.
John Cole
@Mr. Poppinfresh: Every time I see the word champagne, you know what pops into my head?
Christoper Walken as the Continental.
Is there enough evidence on this blog for me to be committed, or do I have a couple of years of blogging left in me?
Laura W
@Ash Can: What are your favorite vodkas? I got into vodka late last spring for the first time in my life (because it’s TOO DAMN HOT HERE TO DRINK WINE) and I tried at least 6 till I pledged my devotion to Ketel One Citroen. I even relented and tried Tito’s after the badgering I took. Meh.
I’ve been on the wagon this year (with one teeny tiny dive off on Nov 20), so I really have nothing else to contribute. But would like the benefit of your research.
Mr. Poppinfresh
@John Cole: I had the weird sorta-privelage to see Jerry Cantrell play a show in Vancouver the day after Staley died, and it was pretty raw stuff- an amazing experience. That vanguard of early 90’s bands from Seattle (grunge) and L.A. (Tool, Rage Against the Machine, etc) were a pretty hard act to follow, so it’s no surprised their descendants chose instead to suck mightily as a way of distinguishing themselves.
Laura W
@John Cole: Die in a Fire?
Harsh.
I guess that’s "cease and desist now please" in blog speak.
The creaky step is a nice touch, however.
Mr. Poppinfresh
Also, I don’t think this blog will result in your getting committed, since I see BJ as a kind of group therapy session, which QED protects you and the rest of us by way of medically privelaged information.
Or so I hope. Like I said, there is a lot of rye involved here.
John Cole
@Laura W: No, I actually appreciate it. Keep fixing it, pls.
@Mr. Poppinfresh: Junkhead. ‘Nuff said.
John Cole
BTW- Alice in Chains-Dirt, Little Feat-Waiting For Columbus, and the Allman Brothers at Ludlow Garage are the best albums to listen to when driving long distances. Just push your foot down and put the sunglasses on and you are an hour closer to your destination.
Like that.
John Cole
Love that song, too, even though I am not a dope smoker.
Bell Curve
Am I the only one who thinks Creed’s "Higher" might actually be about marijuana? If any other rock band released a song with that title we’d assume it’s about drugs. Why not this one? I mean, have you read the lyrics?
Dude who doesn’t want to get out of bed, wants to escape reality? And the giveaway line of course is this one:
Clearly a glaucoma reference.
Why have I never seen this theory posited?
Mr. Poppinfresh
@John Cole: He didn’t even go there, not surprisingly.
Alright, that’s enough blog spamming for one night. Time to retire this poor bottle of Crown Royal and hit the hays.
Ash Can
@John Cole: LOL! Maybe my taste buds have been cauterized by too much Indian and Thai food over the years, but there are a few cheap-ass beers I like to have once in a while. Old Style, Special Export, and PBR are the others. They’re best served ice cold and with a ball park or Wisconsin wrapped around them, though.
David
Bush shoe attack spawns artwork
A sculpture of an enormous bronze-coloured shoe has been erected in Iraq to honour the journalist who threw his shoes at ex-US President George W Bush.
[ . . . ]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7859444.stm
khead
"You look so lovely. It is, as if, Michelangelo sculpted you by hand and then kept you for himself…… in a closet….to visit on lonely nights."
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/148995/951695
AhabTRuler
John, I assume that you didn’t get into RATM, like, yesterday, so answer me this….did you not pay attention to the uber-leftist lyrics, or what?
I mean, I thought that Zach de la Roche was part of the Free Mumia Fringe.
John Cole
@AhabTRuler: Dude. I toured with the Dead. What can I say? I am a strange ranger.
Although I will say this- limited government conservatism is really not that at odds with much of what you all believe in. What Obama did the other day, allowing the EPA to make a decision regarding states setting their own pollution laws- that is what I consider.. federalism. Just because the Republicans have screwed everything up does not mean that conservatism (or what used to be conservatism) is completely without merit.
Ash Can
@Laura W: I’m partial to Ketel One and Grey Goose, and I also like Finlandia, Absolut, and Skyy. I prefer non-flavored, since I use them for plain martinis, although the good brands make decent flavored ones, like your favorite. Ketel One Citroen would make a kick-ass lemon drop or cosmo, I’m sure.
John Cole
@Ash Can: I always drank Skyy. Cheap, serviceable vodka.
randiego
Nice! Chris Cornell, Rage and Alice… well done!
.
I’m happy to report to you that I caught both Chris Cornell AND Tom Morello in San Diego in 2008. San Diego now has several smaller intimate music venues to catch acts like this…
.
Oh yeah and it was 75 here today.
Ash Can
@John Cole: Definitely. No import surcharge, and easily as smooth as Tito’s in my book. Then again, I drink Miller High Life…
dobrojutro
Pantera’s first four records were not far off from Manowar schtick.
One minute into Cowboys from Hell and all is forgiven.
John Cole
@dobrojutro: I still count Vulgar Display of Power as one of the greatest album names ever.
Josh Hueco
You can never go wrong with Manhattans…made with rye, dammit. That reminds me, I need to order a bottle of Templeton Rye, one of the best things to come from Iowa—after Donna Reed and Captain Kirk of course.
Josh Hueco
That is, if you can order liquor online in this fucking state. You can shoot two people in the back and you’re a hero but you can’t get hooch by mail in Texas. Communist, I tell you!
p.a.
Grey Goose is nice, but I prefer those actually distilled from potatoes; Chopin and another Polish vodka with an unpronounceable name I can’t remember- begins with K but sounds like sh.
Also, I’m not stiff-necked about most things but a martini is gin, vermouth and olives (maybe pearl onions). NOT VODKA.
Conservatively Liberal
Here are some good tunes:
Bell Bottom Rock
Big Hair Bell Bottom Rock
One of my favorite worldwide YouTube guitar jams
There are some talented guitar players in that piece.
Some great musical comedy using the above song
Some great Canadian rock
Conservatively Liberal
Teh BJ Mod Gawd is upset at my musical selection! Musical Censorship! Oppression! I demand justice!
Please? ;)
Tattoosydney
@John Cole:
Ah, Cypress Hill… one of my oddest memories is going to a dance party where (for some unknown and decidedly strange reason) Cypress Hill were also playing. At set time, all of the little rave boys and girls disappeared off the dance floor, to be replaced by about a thousand people all carrying bongs (which they had somehow managed to smuggle past six police sniffer dogs). Within (quite literally) a minute, there was a smoke haze so thick that visibility was about two feet… We spent the entire set outside, but occasionally walked in, took a deep breath, and wandered back outside feeling very happy.
@Laura W:
I had thought that 42below was almost unbeatable. Their plain vodka is lovely, as is their passionfruit.
Howewer, I recently discovered this distillery which is just near where I grew up, and which makes a vodka flavoured with Australian native finger limes. Heaven.
cleek
FYI…. i’m running a Name That Tune contest over at my place… if anyone thinks they’re any good at that kind of thing.
wag
Another great variations(s) on canon law…
LAGQ rocks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yflWG-e38OU
lost in GA
hey John. One of the great Elastica lyrics is "I work hard but I’m lazy" which I guess is conventional wisdom, but none the less . . . oh, and Big Dumb Sex is quintessential Cornell.
stickler
Holy crap! Someone on this verteufelten website has a clue:
Also, I’m not stiff-necked about most things but a martini is gin, vermouth and olives (maybe pearl onions). NOT VODKA.
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Martini = Gin. All else = crap in a martini glass. Oh, and with onions = Gibson.
Although, regarding vodka, you people ought to be on the lookout for Monopolowa (from Vienna, Austria, of all places). Here in Oregon it’s surprisingly cheap ($14).
And if you’re under the impression that you’re "enjoying yourself" while drinking Miller Lite … well, there’s not a lot we can do to help. Seek lupulin at your nearest convenience. Take daily.
The Other Steve
Perhaps, but a proper vodka martini tastes a thousand times better.
And for that, you must visit Moscow on the Hill in St. Paul, MN.
Cain
I will wait for the Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Black Sabbath, Train set. :) I would have mentioned dream theater, but I’m not in the mood for them. Besides, the whiny bastards refuse to show up in the northwest, because they aren’t popular enough. Motherfuckers.
cain
Ash Can
@p.a.: How could I forget the potato vodkas? I don’t know if this is the one you’re thinking of, but Luksusowa straight out of the freezer is unsurpassed.
Oh, and stickler, it’s High Life, not Lite. There IS a difference.
Andrea
I’ll be in my bunk, with a rum toddy.
Conservatively Liberal
@wag:
Great jamming but too sedate for me…lol! There is some great improv playing there to listen to though. As a guitarist I appreciate all styles of playing, except country. A person has to draw the line somewhere.
I think Pachelbel would be impressed with how far his one song has been taken. Three hundred years and still being played.
How about some British ‘Action’?
How about some Philadelphia rock?
Excellent Zep cover by GW
Some rockin SOS by MC
Anyone want to ‘Dance’?
Rock on!
Conservatively Liberal
Damn! I thought I only had four links in that post but the preview hid one! Thanks for saving the last post John, could you do it one more time?
I will keep the max links to four in the future. Grrrr. ;)
DougJ
CAN YOU TAKE ME HIGHER?
So bad for so many reasons. I may have to put my own video up to wash away the memory.
bago
Wooo! Opeth and Tito’s!
Punchy
Dio’s Greatest Hits. Just tits.
Pun +7
Jess
Cypress Hill? Soundgarden? Elastica? John, I’m amazed how closely your eclectic tastes match mine. Lemme check out the range on this thing: Birthday Party? Mano Negra? PJ Harvey? White Zombie? JJ Cale? Or are we getting too art school now?
Zuzu's Petals
Okay, not a music link, but worth a read, and worth cutting and pasting on wingnut message boards everywhere.
Bertha Lewis, CEO of ACORN, responds to the wingnut lies in this HuffPo piece:
Lucky Red
I LOVE your taste in music! And yes, I too remember catching Rusted Root when they were playing street gigs and abandoned buildings…
JGabriel
John Cole @ Top:
Damn. That sounds just like someone I see in the mirror every day.
.
Jess
My fav Mano Negra song. Just in case any of you care…
Martin
John, this 40-something approves of your music taste.
There is no better than good gin. Sorry. Gin reminds me of camping and camping means I’m not at or going to work, and that there is nothing that can bring me down.
Polish the Guillotines
I was in a band that rehearsed in the space next to them right before they "hit it big". They were nice enough, but I just never could figure out what they had going for them other than being an all-female band during The Year Of the Woman(tm).
One hit wonders, ultimately. But that’s more than I can claim. I hated that song, even before it infected the airwaves.
Cain
[queues up Lacuna Coil.. ]
When I hit the Michael Jackson, I know that I’ve drunk too much.
cain
TheAssInTheHatOnMyCat(Formerly Comrade Tax Analyst)
When I was about 25(1975), my brother and I saw a display set-up in the local supermarket of "Count Vasya" Vodka – it was the first time we ever saw hard liquor sold in PLASTIC bottles. We bought this huge thing (I think it was something near to a half-gallon) for about $3. But we didn’t drink it…you see, the very next day was the birthday of the guy who wrote out customer tickets at our family business (a car wash), he was a really nice guy named Gary, who had at one time been Lenny Bruce’s drummer (rim shots and probably not much else). Unfortunately for Gary, he got caught up in the full-fledged efforts of folks in authority to mess with Lenny Bruce, and so the kid got popped with some marijuana in Nevada. This was in the 50’s, mind you, so he did 6 years at Carson City penitentiary. It didn’t do him much good. Anyway, here he was in 1975, writing tickets and pumping gas as he turned 40. Since we knew his favorite vices were cheap vodka & mini-whites, and we weren’t about to give him any speed, we gave him the cheap Vodka.
Yes, it was probably wrong, but he sincerely thanked us for it.
srv
My ears are still ringing from the Combichrist concert Sunday night. It was nice not to be the oldest guy there, but it was awkward when I was the only one to recognize the Charlie the Unicorn intro.
Leather is so much more expensive looking now, and these girls bathe unlike the punkers of my day…
Johnny Pez
Your problem is your blogiversary is on Isaac Asimov’s birthday. The Asimov Field causes all other events that occur on January 2nd to fade into the background.
What you need to do is ask your household robot to remind you every year.
Beej
You don’t know from great. Back in my day there was the greatest American rock band evah! CCR baby, Credence Clearwater Revival. Amazing how those city boys learned all about the delta blues. You kids just don’t know. Now, get off my lawn!
Common Sense
1) Whatever your opinions on Miller High Life, the new ad with the proposed tag line "Drink High Life! Your wallet love it!" Is pretty much dead on.
2) Pachelbel’s Canon as covered by Japanese rockers
ImJohnGalt
For you vodka drinkers, if you ever have a chance to try Xellent Vodka, from Switzerland, do.
http://www.thewineblokes.com/uk-wine-shop/xellent-vodka-70cl-bottle-28358/
I had it at a vodka bar in my neighbourhood not too long ago and it was just fine. Wouldn’t waste it on a mixed drink, however.
bago
You ask your household robot for purified water and jokes.
Thlayli
First Elastica album: TEH AWESOME.
Second Elastica album: not so much.
Drugs are bad, n’kay?
Chuck Butcher
I suppose this explains why most of the music I own and music channels are tuned to the Blues. 20+ yrs of sobriety make commenting on good alcohol a bit difficult.
Reverend Dennis
John Martyn passed away Thursday.
May You Never
Martyn was one of the many damned good musicians who, when you played his stuff for someone, always evoked the question "Why haven’t I heard of him before?"
RIP, John.
Original Lee
John, instead of 10 Pantera posts, try Neil Sedaka.
Xanthippas
OMG…that’s hilarious. Mr. Cole, that sort of deep reflection is why I keep coming back to this blog.
Anyway every now and then I forget how much I hate Creed, so thanks for that. There is something cosmic about a band producing, for their most famous song ever, a video that encapsulates their assitude and tool-ishness. Really, everything that is horrible about that band is in that video, and they were proud of it.
Krista
John, with your musical tastes and comfortable grumpiness, I would swear that you and my husband were separated at birth. We actually went to see Down at the Roseland in NYC on our honeymoon, for goodness’ sake.
And yes, it was an absolutely awesome show. You would have loved it.
The Mantis
Pan-ter-a! Pan-ter-a! I actually saw Cypress Hill and Rage on tour together. This is my dream post! All you need now is some Minor Threat/Fugazi and I am right back in high school (with a handle of Makers Mark, a pocket full of ice cream truck profits, and a spend the night in jail card!)