Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Bark louder, little dog.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Yet Another Friday Night Open Thread

Yet Another Friday Night Open Thread

by | 226 Comments

This post is in: 

I sort of hate weekends ending with serious posts, so I am throwing up this new post for light banter. Take that, DougJ! Also, this:

lick

Right now I’m listening to the 9/2/2009 episode of this radio show, which one of you all hosts. A nice eclectic mix. Also have Altered Carbon open, but have not had made much progress, and am chatting with folks.

This is your final open thread for the night. Let the youtube wars begin.

Reader Interactions

226Comments

  5. 5.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Re: kittehs. Just an update in case anyone is interested. I’m now debating a “black-ops” kitteh, since I haven’t been able to talk landlord into one. That, or I move, which I need to do eventually, anyway.

    and the tuna steak was excellent. thanks for the suggestions.

  7. 7.

    SGEW

    @arguingwithsignposts: My kitteh was pretty “black-ops,” seeing as how I just left a window open one night and she came in and then called my place hers.

    I used to have my own apartment. Now I’m a guest in a cat’s home, without ever really having a say in the matter.

    (Not that I’m complaining about mai kitteh, mind you, but it was a bit presumptous on her part)

  9. 9.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    I am throwing up this new post

    So you’re saying it’s a hairball, basically. Here you go, nice fresh post to play with.

  12. 12.

    Steeplejack

    Let the YouTube wars begin.

    I prefer to think of it as a dialogue, John.

    At the part-time gig (health insurance!) tonight they were playing some CD of pasty white boys butchering classic soul songs. Put me in a bad mood, but the absolute worst was their tepid, bloodless version of Edwin Starr’s “25 Miles.” If you’re going to try that, then, as the sport-o’s say, you gots to go big or go home. These guys did neither. Can’t even find their CD on Amazon to mock it. Human Nation? Human something. Not sayin’ white guys can’t do good soul, but these guys were hapless.

    Anyway, tried to tune it out and meditate on classic soul tunes. Now I’m home and trying to cleanse myself. I couldn’t find a good YouTube clip of Edwin Starr, but here’s another great one I was thinking about: Bobby Womack doing “Nobody Wants You When You’re Down and Out.” It’s not a performance clip, but too bad. He brings it with the thunder. Anybody gets in my grill, I’ll come back with “Across 110th Street.”

    Once I lived the life of a millionaire
    Spending my money, honey, oh, I didn’t care
    Takin’ my friends out for a mighty good time
    Drinking that good gin, champagne and wine

    Oh, just as soon as my money got low
    Couldn’t find my friends, and I had no place to go
    But if I ever get my hands on a dollar again
    I believe I’ll hold on until that eagle grin

  18. 18.

    Harry

    Convicted felons in an administration?

    Fine.

    Someone wanting to get to the bottom of 9/11 before the commission?

    Out.

    President wants to talk to kids?

    Everybody complains about how much the Pres is on tv.

  19. 19.

    Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist

    I am throwing up this new post for light banter.

    Thank you, John – this blog is excellent as always but starting to get a lot of the kneejerk despair “we’re all fucked” stuff in comments, which was an early sign of the rot that made Digby’s blog unreadable to me a while back. Some light banter is perfect. And as for youtube, this still kills me (and helps me remember that times have been this crazy for a while now):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8Ky1_pyn6Q

  21. 21.

    Thomas Levenson

    Altered Carbon has some serious chops within. I did like number two in the series, contra dopalope at number 10…but Morgan fell apart for me in his corporate horror/fast and furious novel (whose name I now forget). Couldn’t suspend my disbelief at the the thought of a SAAB holding together enough to win one of the demolition derbies described therein.

  23. 23.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Another salvo — Steely Dan — Dirty Work

    Linda Ronstadt –http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPvqFkCtAqw&feature=PlayList&p=A38D3A47553557EF

    Nitty Gritty Dirt Band —Mr. Bojangles

    Big guns coming out later.

  28. 28.

    srv

    I have been in SoCal, Wisconsin, Chicago, SLC and NorCal in the last three weeks.

    Everywhere I go, it’s like 1984, and not just MJ tributes. Same tracklist everywhere. Is there some 25 year royalty expiration and Musak can only afford to repeat it endlessly?

  29. 29.

    Steeplejack

    @John Cole:

    Only I can embed, sadly.

    Yes, rub it in.

    Although, actually, I prefer the minions not being able to embed. Sometimes the links are awful enough. (Not any of mine, of course.) I can’t think how awful it would be to get hit in the face with the actual video without being able to give semi-informed consent first.

  33. 33.

    Steeplejack

    @Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist:

    I think there should be an anthology of all the Downfall knockoffs. I find them endlessly hilarious–which is embarrassing, because I have actually seen Downfall, and it is a tremendous film in its own right.

  34. 34.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Here is a real oldie. It is the first song I fell in love with and with music in general. I was like 12 and was the first 45 lp I ever owned. May not be something for the genx crowd, but you old timers might remember it.

    Gale Garnett — We’ll Sing in the Sunshine

    Now I’m going to watch a Firefly episode. Always a pick me up. I like Kaylee, a good person.

  36. 36.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Steeplejack:

    I have several on my computer. Do you have the Choirestral Version done in the early 60’s? It is fabulous, but couldn’t find it on you tube.

  40. 40.

    Max

    I, for one, hope that the President starts off his school-kids speech with….

    My name is Barack Hussien Obama and I’m here to recruit you!

  42. 42.

    John Cole

    Can I just say these open threads are my favorite?

    The rest of the time I am just venting to keep my damned sanity. These are kind of fun.

    I’m going to ask the blogmistress if there is anyway to give embedding privileges to longtime users.

  52. 52.

    asiangrrlMN

    @John Cole: Of course you can say it! It’s your damn blog, Cole! You can say whatever the fuck you want!

    And, just to show that I’m not ALL about depressing music, here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOg5VxrRTi0

    My favorite 80s band, Duran Duran.

    P.S. I am retiring my old stripper song, Crazy Bitch by Buckcherry (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtOPWWG2z1c) because I discovered that the bitch, she weren’t really crazy. So, I need a new stripper song. Suggestions?

  53. 53.

    stibbert

    @Thomas Levenson: IMO the 3rd Takeshi Kovacs book, ‘Woken Furies’, is the best of them, where Quell’s politics finally start to play a major role. Of course, it’ll make little sense if you’ve not read the first 2. I didn’t try ‘Market Forces’, but did like ‘Thirteen’ – i think either one might also count as a 500-years beforehand prequel to the Kovacs series. Must add, though, that these books will likely peg the needle on your violence scale, definitely reaching into ‘American Psycho’-type territory (but thankfully w/o that book’s ‘contrasting banality’).

  54. 54.

    Steeplejack

    @asiangrrlMN:

    My eyes! They burn!

    Thank you so much for putting a visual to what had been only an auditory nightmare before. Yes, that’s it. [Shudder]

    And I have followed your saga this week of getting your depression on with “Mr. Brightside.” But that’s like a walk in the park to me now after Human Nature.

  57. 57.

    BethanyAnne

    @asiangrrlMN: I never knew that the Concrete Blonde version was a cover. His voice is amazing. If I’m going to listen to things like that, then here is Johnny Cash’s cover of “Hurt”.

  59. 59.

    Steeplejack

    Also. Beer should not have blackberries in it.

    The grocery store was out of my usual, Sam Adams Black Lager (WTF?!), but I could score two bottles if I got a six-pack “sampler”–two bottles each of three flavors. The other two flavors were Irish Red, which I have had before and is okay, and . . . Blackberry Witbier. I was a little skeptical, but I needed the Black Lager, even just two bottles.

    Suffice it to say that the Blackberry Witbier is as sketchy as it sounds. I had one of the two bottles, and I can feel the other one pulsing balefully in the refrigerator. Will have to see if there is a hazmat disposal unit in the neighborhood.

  60. 60.

    John Cole

    Also, too:

    BTW- you guys remember that last night in a thread there was some moron named cat vasectomy who I thought was a spoof? It turns out he was real, and he sent me all sorts of fun emails:

    Hey John, loved the fact when I pointed out your pet fetish, I was kicked off the site in five minutes. You fucking loser. Curious minds want to know, do you make any money off Sullivan or Greenwald or Yglesias or all the other bloggers who actually do some research into what they’re writing, unlike you? While we’re sympatico on the politics, you’re a parasite, talking about your recipes and your fucking pets. Nobody fucking cares about a parasite in Pittsburgh living off his parents’ trust fund. Fuck you!

    BTW, when was the last time you had a real job? I’m working on an article about worthless liberal bloggers like you. I’ve got a lot of interest (Nation, Atlantic, Mother Jones, etc.) on this one. Want to talk? Cocksucker!

    I told him he was unbanned and I was dying to read his piece in the Nation about me and my parent’s basement, and he sent me several additional emails in blue text.

    I hope he came down alright.

  69. 69.

    burnspbesq

    @John Cole:

    I hope he came down alright.

    I wouldn’t bet on it. Looks like the brown acid hasn’t gotten any better in the 40 years since Woodstock.

  70. 70.

    asiangrrlMN

    @John Cole: That guy fucking sucked. I hope you cut off his balls.

    I have poured myself some Maker’s Mark, and I am wending my way through all your suggestions–I’m on Sweet Jane right now, which I fucking love.

    Cheers to all of you for helping a grrl out!

  71. 71.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @John Cole:

    I used to get drunk and high and try to call my favorite movie and rock stars. At least with the internet, you can chase your own personal rabbits for free, and not get a phone bill later for eleventy hundred dollars. Progress, I reckon.

  77. 77.

    burnspbesq

    @Tonal Crow:

    I just run a cable from one of the USB ports on my MacBook Pro to the Benchmark. I have Grado RS-2s and Ultimate Ears Triple-Fis. All the music (2,800 albums worth, and still growing – I’m ripping a lot of my old vinyl) is on a 4 TB disc array that is attached to the AirPort. And it also feeds the stereo in the family room via Sonos.

    Yes, I am Gadget Boy – why do you ask?

  80. 80.

    Steeplejack

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    Pearl Jam did “The Last Kiss”? No way! [Dean Venture voice]

    That song was my younger brother’s favorite song for about a year. My friends and I used to mock him when he played it in the jukebox at the bowling alley, but now I laugh when I think about it. And, of course, I can remember all the lyrics perfectly. Damn it.

  82. 82.

    BethanyAnne

    Hmm, stripper songs… Spin Spin Sugar? overdone
    Barcelona’s “I have the password to your shell account” wearing a catholic schoolgirl uniform? too niche

    Ah! Garbage, “Androgyny”.

    mmmm, smoking. not sure it’s the best beat, but Shirley Manson as Ziggy Stardust? Woo.

  84. 84.

    Steeplejack

    @John Cole:

    I’m going to ask the blogmistress if there is any way to give embedding privileges to longtime users.

    Be vewy, vewy careful. [cough] Laura W [cough]

  85. 85.

    Tonal Crow

    @burnspbesq: I’m interested in opinions on headphones. I am using a set of AKG K240 Studios, which are crisp and flat, except that they seem to fall off some below ~60Hz. Also, their sensitivity is lousy, so my card can’t really drive them to full volume.

  88. 88.

    Jason Bylinowski

    Evening, all.

    @Tattoosydney: ‘I like this for battered spirits.’

    Thanks for the link to that, I used to sing sections of masses like that in high school back in my chorus days. Man what fun that was. Anyway it got me looking at some of the other stuff we used to sing, Josquin Desprez, Hildegaard, etc, but then I just figured why mess around with those guys when I could just post something from Faure’s Requiem?

    Best example of a happy-sad song that I could think of.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82L8AaqA-Dc

    (sorry if it doesn’t link, I’m working on it)

  90. 90.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @John Cole 12:18 am

    You’ll be sure to let us all know when cat vasectomy’s articles show up in all those nice progressive magazines, okay? In case we somehow miss them on the newsstands.

  93. 93.

    srv

    @burnspbesq: Oh stop with the audiophile porn! I have a friend who wants to sell his to me, and it would mean the end of my speakers.

    How are you ripping the vinyl?

  95. 95.

    Jason Bylinowski

    Oh, and then little youtube foray (pun not intended, sorry) led me over to Arvo Part, who’s album Lamentate in 2005 made me believe in modern composition again. He’s kind of this giant composer figure, gets no little attention right now but one day our grandkids will known of him.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxKqg0Fwsro

    This is a live recording and a little rough but you can still tell that it’s pretty badass. Anyway, off I go to make some of my own music, thanks for the inspiration, guys.

  97. 97.

    Brian

    The kitty up top is Jinx! She sez ‘mew’ to you all. Also…she would appreciate a freeze dried cod snack.

    I am out on the town enjoying some kick ass atmospheric metal.

  99. 99.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Tattoosydney:

    Terrific tune. Sounds a little like Gregorian Chants that I love. Used to live near a Benedictine Monastery and a couple of times a month they gave something like concerts with the G Chants, I;m not catholic or religious but would go and listen to this gorgeous mesmerizing music.

  104. 104.

    burnspbesq

    @srv:

    How are you ripping the vinyl?

    Cable goes from the phono preamp to the line input on the MacBook, and I use Audacity (a fantastic piece of open-source software) to sample at 96/24. I get WAV files out of Audacity and use a program called Max to transcode them to AIFF for iTunes.

    I had to buy all new vinyl gear, because my old turntable got trashed in a move in the early 1990s.

  107. 107.

    John Cole

    @burnspbesq: You know what I am still rocking for my stereo- I have a new yamaha for the surround sound and tv, but for my music, I am still using an Adcom setup I bought in 1991. Still is awesome.

  108. 108.

    JK

    @Steeplejack:

    I wish all of Playboy in the Dark was available on dvd. In addition to the Byrds and the Grateful Dead, the program also had on comedians like Mort Sahl and David Steinberg

  109. 109.

    Steeplejack

    @Tattoosydney:

    Think nothing of it. You have also given us Australian rules football, which I watch with disturbing frequency. I think it reminds me of the weird, chaotic games we neighborhood kids used to play way back in the day.

    And it’s educational. To think that once I thought Footscray was a veterinary disease.

  110. 110.

    burnspbesq

    @Jason Bylinowski:

    There is actually some really good opera being written today, amazingly enough. I listened to Ades’ “The Tempest” for the first time today, and I was completely blown away. He must hate sopranos, though, because the parts he writes for them are just motherfuckers to sing. HIgh, higher, highest. Rinse and repeat.

  112. 112.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Brian 12:40 am

    Jinx is an incredibly awesome kitteh! And has a really fat tongue.

    She has similar markings to, but is otherwise completely different from, my beloved Hamish of blessed memory. He was solid black with that little white bibby thing but was a different shape altogether, and his part-Siamese ancestry gave him a triangular face and slightly crossed eyes. (Also a little kink in his tail and an endearingly annoying voice.) His tongue was equally pink, but much much thinner than Jinx’s.

    What a great cat he was, to be sure.

  113. 113.

    Steeplejack

    @lhf:

    Eek! I didn’t see them do that. Now all I can think of is “Come on, Eileen.” And I don’t mean that in a good way. Only this song can purge it from my mind. Hint: “Your technique, it leaves me weak.”

  114. 114.

    bago

    Ptui on this YouTube nonsense. I just heard the star trek theme on the theramin, and Richard cheese is about to lounge against the machine.

  116. 116.

    asiangrrlMN

    @burnspbesq: I have gotten this far for songs, and I love the version of this song that features Carlos Santana–it’s on my stripper list!

    Natalie Merchant a hit as well. Fake-hubby, love the Allegri: Miserere. BethanyAnne, I listened to that version of Hurt and the NIN version back to back. Gorgeously brutal.

    Steeplejack, I KNEW what song you were gonna recommend for my stripper song. LOVE that song, so on the list it goes! Max, I am adding the Annie Lennox song to my stripper rotation as well.

    And, here is a great ’80s song:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnqj31VPNoE&feature=related

    And, his brother (Anthony Stewart Head) is teh hawtness.

  119. 119.

    John Cole

    @burnspbesq: I grew up listening to opera because it was all my mother played, and about 15 years ago she started sending them to me. The best is how there are so many quality performances on dvd that are high-quality. My personal favorites are Carmen, Rigoletto, and die Zauberflote. I just love Pipino.

    My friends all mock me, but on a solid stereo system, it just sounds so good and the range of the singers is so amazing. Maybe you had to grow up with it.

  120. 120.

    Jason Bylinowski

    @General Winfield Stuck: narrow tastes….

    Yeah, me too. Ridiculously narrow. For me it’s always the really primitive early renaissance stuff (see above) or totally post-modern weirdness (Adams, Glass, Reich), with the occasional mainstream composer thrown in (Faure, Dvorak, Mussorgsky, Shostakovich).

    Classical music is great though, you know, but you know what gets me? 99 percent of the time, no drums. Seriously, what’s that about? There’s something uniquely western European about that concept, and it’s certainly okay not to have percussion be the center of a song, but drums really are lacking in a lot of what we call the work of the Great Masters. This probably sounds like the sort of argument Marky Ramone would make, but if you examine the entire history of the world’s music, you’ll see that I’m right, dammit!

  122. 122.

    BethanyAnne

    And these videos have led me to an old favorite. If you like Natalie Merchant, you might like Julia Fordham – both have amazing voices. Here’s a link to a live version of “Porcelain”. Dunno if I can put a 2nd link in a post, but here’s my favorite song of hers: “Falling Forward”.

  124. 124.

    srv

    @burnspbesq: OK. So I spend at least $3K for a phono, tone-arm and cartridge to covert it all to 24-bit and then $2K for a BM DAC/amp and headphone to listen to it so all the money in my CD, amp & speakers is sunk.

    I wonder if I can rent a hi-end phono rig…

  130. 130.

    BethanyAnne

    Prolly confused my [href] tag with the embedded quote marks… or I forgot one somewhere. 125 is the Androgyny link.

  133. 133.

    Tattoosydney

    @Steeplejack:

    “Think nothing of it. You have also given us Australian rules football, which I watch with disturbing frequency. I think it reminds me of the weird, chaotic games we neighborhood kids used to play way back in the day.”

    And it has cute boys in shorts hitting each other!

    “To think that once I thought Footscray was a veterinary disease.”

    You will find many people in other parts of Australia who will tell you it IS a veterinary disease.

  135. 135.

    Steeplejack

    @burnspbesq:

    Dude hit a nerve there. “Kind Woman” is one of my favorite Buffalo Springfield songs. Was listening to it and then “Pretty Girl Why” on my cell phone music player just yesterday.

    God, we are old.

    As I overheard a Zen bus driver tell a woman a few months ago: “You ain’t old till you’re cold.” Words to live by.

  137. 137.

    asiangrrlMN

    Wow. I just hit the wall, peeps (and I’m kinda drunk). I thank all you lovely folks for all your song suggestions. I am going to listen to the rest of the songs later. For now, I am going to listen to The Killers’ Mr. Brightside one more time before going to bed.

    Night all!

  138. 138.

    DaBomb

    I think I will have to send in some pics of my cat Rocket. He’s a pretty big Maine Coon. He’s scared of bubble wrap or any piece of plastic. He’s also scared of the vacuum cleaner.

  141. 141.

    PanAmerican

    JK:

    Full credit to Hynde for soldiering on but that Pretenders before and after is just overdose inducing depressing. Scott and Farndon had some sort of magic going on.

  146. 146.

    JK

    @PanAmerican:

    I miss Pete Farndon and James Honeyman Scott along with Joe Strummer, Joey Ramone, John Lennon, George Harrison, Jerry Garcia, Zappa, Hendrix, Allman, Moon, Entwhistle et al All these guys were robbed of many productive years and their fans were cheated out as well. Thankfully, the remarkable music they all made lives on.

    I love Chrissie Hynde. She’s one of the most beautiful women in rock music and has one of the greatest singing voices of all-time.

  147. 147.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @John Cole: Yeah it’s too bad in a way that idea stuck, it was from one opera (La Fille du Regiment) in which he hit this seemingly effortless string of high Cs- and it was astounding, but it’s so not what I love his stuff for.

    There’s a great, simply great documentary about Pavarotti and his life and the history of Italian tenors– rats, looks like it’s been taken down off youtube but I suppose fair enough, here’s the link to buy it:

    http://www.amazon.com/Pavarotti-Levine-Recital-Italian-Tenor/dp/B0002W19Q0

    I always thought, when I knew nothing about opera, that he was so popular that he must be sort of lightwieght once you knew what you were listening to, but nope. The opposite in fact. Incredible. It’s all about musicality, as musicians tend to say. Which means, somewhat paradoxically, getting the to the stuff that the music is just a vehicle for expressing. He didn’t read music, for one thing. Which means the ears take over, which is closer to what you do in jazz.

  148. 148.

    BR

    Folks –

    Obama’s speech to schools on Tuesday needs to go viral. (Digg, reddit, facebook, etc. can help with that.) Keep an eye out to popularize it on Tuesday. Naturally, kids are going to want to know what the president said if they were kept from watching.

  149. 149.

    Steeplejack

    @lhf:

    That doesn’t kinda rock–it does rock. Fuck, now I can almost forgive them for “Come on, Eileen.” Kudos to you.

    And what the hell was it with all those English groups dressing like 1930s street urchins?!

  150. 150.

    burnspbesq

    @John Cole:

    Check out the DVD version of “La Fille du Regiment.” Natalie Dessay is a fabulous singer AND a great comic actress. And there is a recent recording of “I Capuletti e I Montacchi” with Anna Netrebko as Juliet and Alina Garanca as Romeo (the role is written for a mezzo). Un-fuckin-real.

  151. 151.

    burnspbesq

    @srv:

    There are services that will rip your vinyl for you, but shipping the stuff is expensive.

    You would be amazed at how good entry-level vinyl gear is these days. Get a Rega P1 or a Pro-Ject Debut III for $400, including cartridge, and an entry-level preamp from Music Hall or Cambridge Audio for less than $200 and you’ll be happy as a clam.

  152. 152.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @JK:

    I love Chrissie Hynde. She’s one of the most beautiful women in rock music and has one of the greatest singing voices of all-time.

    Isn’t she though. Both inside and out. Down to earth and all about the music.

  153. 153.

    burnspbesq

    Srv,

    I have it on very good authority that there will be a practically brand-new Rega P1 going on eBay next week.

  154. 154.

    Steeplejack

    @JK:

    “The Weight.”

    I think I have harangued you before about my mix CD of different versions of Oliver Nelson’s “Stolen Moments,” my all-time favorite jazz song. (Latin version by the Caribbean Jazz Project here.) I think “The Weight” could be my next “all one song” CD.

    A few months ago I was listening to a Band tribute album, and I was struck by Lee Ann Womack’s version of “The Weight.” It’s not the greatest version I’ve ever heard, but it’s good, and it opened me up to something. I was not a big fan of the song when it first came out (and was featured in the soundtrack of Easy Rider), but now it seems almost mystical and religious. I started looking up different versions of it and found one by a woman soul singer (whose name I can’t remember now, damn it) that is hair-raising.

    I picked up my bag, I went lookin’ for a place to hide
    Then I saw ol’ Carmen and the Devil walkin’ side by side
    I said, “Hey, Carmen, come on, let’s go downtown”
    She said, “I gotta go, but my friend can stick around”

    Brr!

    Anyway, I was amazed at the variety of artists who have done it, in all sorts of styles, and I think it could be a nice “collage” project.

    Will have to hunt down the soul singer whose version really hit me. It wasn’t Mavis Staples, although she does a great version. (As does Aretha Franklin. With Duane Allman on guitar!)

  155. 155.

    Steeplejack

    Damn, that is one good-looking black cat. I think I would like to get to know her better. [Falls face forward in hummus, Wheatsworths and rum and tonic]

  156. 156.

    JK

    @Steeplejack:

    Thanks for that link. I didn’t know there was a Band tribute album.

    I don’t doubt you that there have been good cover versions of Stolen Moments. For me, the original studio version by Oliver Nelson is otherworldly. I just want to hear the original version of that song.

    The downside of YouTube is the fact that clips can disappear at any time. There used to be a great cover version of the Beatles song Tommorrow Never Knows by Sonic Youth but it’s been removed.

  158. 158.

    Steeplejack

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I have done further research on your behalf. If you are open to an old-school stripper song, I heartily recommend Grant Green’s “Sookie, Sookie.” Listen to this and tell me you can’t hear the dollars Hamiltons flying to your thong.

    (I’m getting a disturbing visual, but I mean that in the best possible way.)

    Freudian anecdote: After the collapse of one memorable relationship, I had this recurring dream for months in which the ex was strip-dancing to this song. She was not a stripper (not even close!). It was one of those structurally unsound relationships in which someone is crazy–not saying who–but the sex is so good. The recurring dream almost made me go into stalker mode. But I didn’t, because my strength was as of ten because my heart was pure.

    God, I’m spilling my guts tonight. Damn you, Human Nation, and your pasty white pseudo-soul music.

  159. 159.

    JGabriel

    Steeplejack:

    I think “The Weight” could be my next “all one song” CD.

    I keep thinking I should do one of those for New Order’s

    Temptation

    . Just off-hand, I know of at least 7 different versions/mixes: original 7″, original 12″, BBC live in studio (with a very intense guitar & bass bridge), Substance rerecording, Live in Concert, Secret Machines Mix, plus that kind of inessential Moby remake – and I’m sure there are more.

    .

  160. 160.

    JGabriel

    Arrgh, I hit blockquote instead of italic for the song title, Temptation.

    When do we get editing back?

    .

  169. 169.

    John Cole

    I can’t find a link, but one of my favorite songs, and I mean all time, is from one of the most under-appreciated albums of the last 20 years. The album is Delbert McClinton- Nothing Personal, and the song is Read Me My Rights.

    Delbert is a genius.

  170. 170.

    Steeplejack

    @lhf:

    Hell, there was a time back in the ’70s when people would start waving their lighters and yelling “‘Whipping Post’!” at any concert. Which led to a memorable cover by the Bay City Rollers, if I remember correctly.

  172. 172.

    John Cole

    Also, there is a shit ton of Hammond Organ in it.

    Anything with a Hammond has me at hello.

    “Do you still love me
    Or am I just wastin’ my time
    Just losin’ my mind
    Before you break my heart tonight
    Baby, baby, read me my rights “

  177. 177.

    Steeplejack

    @Linkmeister:

    The Red Dot “listening station” system at Barnes & Noble is also an underutilized source of the same information. You can enter a “track” title and see all versions of the song still in print. And even listen to 30-second snippets of some of them. Eye-opening!

    Thanks for the tip. I will try AllMusic.

  178. 178.

    Steeplejack

    @John Cole:

    Cole!

    One problem I am noticing with the embed thing is that as I reply to other messages and refresh this page, the embedded “Whipping Post” gets interrupted and screwed up. Whereas when I open a link from someone in another tab (in Opera) it continues to play uninterrupted while I’m doinking around in the Balloon Juice page. Just sayin’.

  179. 179.

    JK

    @Steeplejack: @John Cole:

    Long live the Allman Brothers Band. Live at the Fillmore East is timeless.

    @lhf:

    Zappa also recorded a very good version of Stairway to Heaven. I don’t recall what album it appears on.

    What’s the best alternative website to YouTube for finding videos?

  183. 183.

    Steeplejack

    @Linkmeister:

    Oh, you bastard, you. Now I’m going to have to dig out Neil Young’s “Southern Man” to counteract that. Or maybe go directly to the anti-antidote: “That Smell.”

    Don’t make me go to the well for 38 Special. Because I will.

  185. 185.

    Steeplejack

    And have I mentioned what a gorgeous black kitty that is at the top of the page? Hey, baby, what’s your sign? Leo? Somehow I knew that. I bet your tongue feels like sandpaper. Aarrggle!

  193. 193.

    JK

    @Linkmeister:

    I’d forgotten about that interview. I heard portions of it some years ago. Simmons was a major league asshole in that interview.

    I’ll cut John Lydon slack for his interview with Tom Snyder and Sly Stone for his interview with Dick Cavett because I enjoy their music, but I can’t stand Kiss’ music so Simmons is just an obnoxious dick as far as I’m concerned.

  195. 195.

    bago

    Whoever was overpaying for their sound setup, know that technic 1200’s are pretty much top of the line turntables, a good diamond needle cart is like 200 bucks, and why would you run from analog through a 24 bit dac before hitting your amp? Unless your speakers are hdmi there is no need to go digital for a vinyl setup.

  202. 202.

    Steeplejack

    @BethanyAnne:

    I love “Constant Craving.”

    And is Julia Fordham the one who did “Everything Reminds Me of My Cat”? Or maybe dog. I seem to remember an album cover that is white on white on white.

    And, because I seem unable to post anything without a YouTube clip tonight, this is my last one, I think hope. Emerson, Lake & Palmer, “From the Beginning.” Dunno why. Just seems appropriate.

  213. 213.

    burnspbesq

    @bago:

    Unless your speakers are hdmi there is no need to go digital for a vinyl setup.

    Or unless you want to stream the contents of your music server wirelessly all through the house, and don’t have room for over 2,000 CDs and over 1,000 albums.

    Also, re the Technics 1200: sometimes old is better, but sometimes old is just old.

  216. 216.

    BethanyAnne

    @Steeplejack: I don’t remember her doing a song like that. The Porcelain album is a white background with her wearing a red bathrobe. And her “Collection” album cover photo is her in white in front of a white wall.

  217. 217.

    Brian

    “Altered Carbon” was quite good, the next two in the sequel grew a bit long in the tooth. However, I found “Thirteen” by the same author to be his best, so I rec that..

  219. 219.

    Keith G

    Bastards all! Suberb thread that I had to miss since bed time was early. Now I am off to work after only getting thru 1/2. Sigh.

    In Houston, the weather is cooler, barely 90, but chances for rain. Looks like a rather nice wk end. As always, mine begins Sunday night.

  221. 221.

    asiangrrlMN

    Good lord, people! How the hell am I ever gonna listen to all these songs? I forgot how a BJ YouTube throwdown can get!

    Max, Tonight will be my wind down song for my stripper set. Hooooot. BethanyAnne, I need a cigarette after listening to Androgyny. That is definitely on my stripper rotation. Steeplejack, Sookie Sookie is old-school sexy. Yup, I can certainly grind to that one. (Black thong, by the way. I’m just saying if you’re going to visualize, you should do it right).

    Thank you all again for expanding my horizons when it comes to music. It’s one of my favorite things about this place, right behind kittehs and goggies.

  222. 222.

    Cassidy

    I’ve read everything by Morgan except Thirteen and the fantasy one. As said, way back before, I think woken Furies was the best of the Kovac’s novels. Altered Carbon is the most fun to read, but Woken Furies pulls everything together pretty tightly. The violence is a little on the ultra-violent side, but it fits into the whole concept of the world they live in. It isn’t gore, just for the sake of gore.

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