Music and Things and Stuff and Such As

What the hell, might as well post something since it's been over 4 years, eh?

I'm still around. Occasionally lurking/commenting over at LGM and checking in on what's left of the ol' blogroll every now and then. The bloggerverse isn't what it used to be, but it's still not dead. Figured I'd keep this place from dying entirely too. Maybe I'll keep posting, maybe not, who the fuck knows? It was sad to watch the slow demise of Sadly, No! but hey, what can you do? Many of the old regulars there show up now and then at LGM and other places, so it's nice to see those nyms when they show up.

Anyway, I've been to a few good shows this year, so that was neat. Got to see two nights of Phish in Seattle last April. Those shows aren't availble on the ute oobs but a bit of the next one down in Berkely is. Here you go:

Saw Goose in Eugene for the first time a couple weeks after the Phish shows. They were decent. It was at a relatively small venue (The McDonald Theater, an old art deco theater from the 1920s, owned by Ken Kesey's family) so that was a plus. Here's one of the songs from that show:

Tool played in Eugene in October and a buddy had an extra ticket so got to see them too. It was nice to finally see Tool. I'd never seen them but had seen A Perfect Circle in Eugene a few years ago. Very different crowds than those at the jam band shows like Phish and Goose. No Nitrous Mafia selling balloons outside after the Tool show, and no discarded balloons littering the sidewalks for blocks because the fucking wooks can't be bothered to find a trash can. People suck, a continuing series. Can't say I was sad to see the lack of idiots blacking out on the sidewalk after huffing a bunch of nitrous balloons. That scene can die a quick death as far as I'm concerned.

Other than that, still just a working stiff. Maybe I'll retire some year soon, that would be nice. We'll see. Did a bunch of camping this year, got a new camper van and have been enjoying how nice that is to travel and camp in. Riding my mountain bike a bunch. Had a minor health scare a couple years ago (well managed now, no big deal now) like so many others of this aging blogosphere. Nothing like the occaisional health scare to remind you that you shouldn't miss out on all the fun shit there is to do in this stupid country, even as the idiots in the GOP are doing their damndest to take it all away from us.

Ah, yes. Politics. In 2023, in are we really this fucking close to becoming fascist, America? Yeah, there's that too. Trying to still stay involved but also trying not to obsess too much about shit I can't control, or how shitty people are, or how horrible war is or... or... or... Yeah, you get it the idea.

Well, on that cheery note, if anybody is still around and reads this, I hope you're doing as well as you can. If you happen to want to leave a comment and let me know you're still around, please do.

Until next time, if there is one.

OBS

Remember when?

(From Diesel Sweeties)

Gone.

Morose Monday

This song is 50+ years old.

Well I'm about to get sick
From watchin' my TV
Been checkin' out the news
Until my eyeballs fail to see
I mean to say that every day
Is just another rotten mess
And when it's gonna change, my friend
Is anybody's guess

So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
Hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin'
Every time I hear 'em sayin'
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin' every day

Wednesday I watched the riot . . .
Seen the cops out on the street
Watched 'em throwin' rocks and stuff
And chokin' in the heat
Listened to reports
About the whisky passin' 'round
Seen the smoke and fire
And the market burnin' down
Watched while everybody
On his street would take a turn
To stomp and smash and bash and crash
And slash and bust and burn

And I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
Hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin'
Every time I hear 'em sayin'
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin' every day

Well, you can cool it,
You can heat it . . .
'Cause, baby, I don't need it . . .
Take your TV tube and eat it
'N all that phony stuff on sports
'N all the unconfirmed reports
You know I watched that rotten box
Until my head begin to hurt
From checkin' out the way
The newsman say they get the dirt
Before the guys on channel so-and-so

And further they assert
That any show they'll interrupt
To bring you news if it comes up
They say that if the place blows up
They will be the first to tell,
Because the boys they got downtown
Are workin' hard and doin' swell,
And if anybody gets the news
Before it hits the street,
They say that no one blabs it faster
Their coverage can't be beat

And if another woman driver
Gets machine-gunned from her seat
They'll send some joker with a brownie
And you'll see it all complete

So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
Hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin'
Every time I hear 'em sayin'
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin' every day

Hey, you know something people?
I'm not black
But there's a whole lots a times
I wish I could say I'm not white

Well, I seen the fires burnin'
And the local people turnin'
On the merchants and the shops
Who used to sell their brooms and mops
And every other household item
Watched the mob just turn and bite 'em
And they say it served 'em right
Because a few of them are white,
And it's the same across the nation
Black and white discrimination
Yellin' "You can't understand me!"
'N all that other jazz they hand me
In the papers and TV and
All that mass stupidity
That seems to grow more every day
Each time you hear some nitwit say
He wants to go and do you in
Because the color of your skin
Just don't appeal to him
(No matter if it's black or white)
Because he's out for blood tonight

You know we got to sit around at home
And watch this thing begin
But I bet there won't be many live
To see it really end
'Cause the fire in the street
Ain't like the fire in the heart
And in the eyes of all these people
Don't you know that this could start
On any street in any town
In any state if any clown
Decides that now's the time to fight
For some ideal he thinks is right
And if a million more agree
There ain't no Great Society
As it applies to you and me
Our country isn't free
And the law refuses to see
If all that you can ever be
Is just a lousy janitor
Unless your uncle owns a store
You know that five in every four
Just won't amount to nothin' more
Gonna watch the rats go across the floor
And make up songs about being poor

Blow your harmonica, son!

Shitgibbon Friday

This delightful term has been everywhere during the recent troubles, but gained additional prominence when a Pennsylvania state senator tweeted it this week. This article, which includes the tweet is definitely worth a read in general, but an especially interesting thing to me is the first comment, claiming credit for the term:

Hi, I wrote the Veep line [Ed: he's talking about the show, discussed in the article]. It was originally “spunk-faced shitgibbon”, a phrase I used in a 1988 column in New Musical Express and have put in most of my writing since. PS I’m not Scottish and have nothing to do with bootlegging. all the best David Quantick

[Harvey]Now we know .............. the rest of the story[/Harvey]

Oh yeah, here's a picture of one in the wild, for reference/future use:

(Click to enlarge. Source photo: Kaeng Krachan -- Wikimedia commons)

Punching Nazis, a visual guide

In case anybody had questions, or perhaps even concerns about such things, this might help:

You're welcome.

(Sadly, not mine, blatantly stolen from Imgur user RobotsWKnives. Many thanks, anonymous knife-wielding robot!)

Shorter Hugh "Eww" Huwitt

Really it's more like "almost verbatim" Hugh Hewitt: "You can't stop it, so you might as well lie back, relax, and enjoy it."

Also, too: I'm back. I'll try to be funny. We'll see.