About to Choke

John McCain said in a recent speech ..."America will never Surrender." Obviously speaking about the fucken war; and obviously trying to appeal to the Americuh Fuck Yeah demographic, who view force as the only solution, and retreat from an ignoble war we started and could never actually win as a repudiation of their personal manhood. And obviously, the implication he so desperately is trying to make is that working to remove American Troops from Iraq is tantamount to creating an abhorrent loss for our country.

An obsequious and disingenuous statement at best. The idea that retreating from violence is a surrender is ludicrous and reprehensible; the position that limiting the destruction we have sowed is to be avoided is appalling. Because that is truly what he is promising; that the death and destruction in the Mideast that we have authored will continue and even increase.

McCain and his Party have predicated an American Exceptionalism and Imperialistic attitude that demands that an Enemy be ever-present and impossible to ever defeat. The ensuing constant fear allows a People who normally would be much more concerned with things like jobs and loved ones and personal troubles and personal successes and their own neighborhoods and haircuts and other everyday concerns that never even suggest the need to dominate and destroy brown people on the other side of the world to be manipulated and stampeded into mindless support of Stupid Ideas.

The First Rule of Holes is STOP DIGGING. And when you've taken a wrong turn, going in reverse is a step in the right direction.

Surrender implies a loss; the only thing that America would lose by retreating from Iraq would be continuing death. And there's a small chance we might lose some of our standing as the world's lightning rod for Western Hatred and terrorist-generation. Maybe.

I'm going through what some might certainly see as a surrender; but in the final analysis it's merely pulling the plug on something that's run its course. One thing ends; something else will happen after. One nightmare ends and hope keeps you moving.... It's a similar, and like withdrawing US Troops from Iraq after they've done their best, I want to be able to say that I've made a respectable effort, but maybe it's not something I can do....

Starting a business is terrifying, but there's plenty of blueprints and roadmaps and angles you can take. Not so much for ending one; it a mess and disentangling all the loose ends from the knot they've been bound into takes some doing. So it comes to pass that I find myself in a startlingly similar position to the one I was in for Summerfest 1997; Little to do, no prospects and no income, and just hoping to be able to afford beer during the fest. It's not a surrender; but it IS an ending....

It has been brought to my attention that Harvey Korman has left us. Ouch. I loved the days when he an Tim Conway would compete to see who could most disrupt a sketch. A while back, when we saw the Milwaukee Rep do The Nerd and Gerard Neugent destroyed his fellow actors onstage, while ad libbing over their inability to continue with their lines, I thought immediately of Korman and Conway. Geniuses at the top of their form, and Blazing Saddles, while perfect in so many ways, was the merest tip of Korman's iceberg. (Ouch, I think I strained something pulling that simile out) Jus another episode of What Roy Said.

So rather than making this a self-pity Musical Poopery, I've gotta send it out to what we have left of Harvey. Go watch some Carol Burnett, chunderhumps.

Bit of a disclaimer; iTunes has been playing all day, so technically the following are not the initial shoots from the Musical Poop. But since nobody cares anyway, what the hell, here we go....

1. It Must Be Summer from the album "Utopia Parkway" by Fountains Of Wayne sez you. At least it's warm out. But it's cloudy and rainy, even today which is the first day of the First Festival of the season. And I'm not going to be spending it at a table with a beer listening to a polka band because of pissy clients and whiny contractors and my favoritest asshole ex-architect-now- Inspector, KA Spruce.
2. Light Of The Moon from the album "Get Close" by The Pretenders Went on a Pretenders kick a few weeks back and picked up a few of the intermediate albums. Nothing, of course, as mind-meltingly hot as the first album, but good stuff nonetheless. This is a bit MOR for me, but hey since she sang a song called Middle of The Road, at least she warned us...
3. Midnight from the album "Alpha Rev" by Alpha Rev Saw them at Summerfest last year, Zelmo and Zorg were of course absent, and their EP was great. This is their first album, and after the EP it's a bit disappointing. Too much reliance on falsetto and quietish songs....
4. Babes in Khaki from the album "How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All" by The Firesign Theatre Man, remember when comedy groups openly embraced drug-oriented humor?
5. Clampdown from the album "Burning London The Clash Tribute" by Indigo Girls I'm not a huge Indigo Girls fan, despite having seen them at Summerfest (actually we were just hanging around after watching Matthew Sweet) they are generally a bit too earnest and hippy for me (take that UC). But this material plays really well through their focus, and goes to show yet again that punk is about the attitude and the songs, not the loud and the clothes. This is a mediaocre cover album, but has some high points like this one, and I usually pair it with an independent Clash tribute, Clash City Rockers for a pretty entertaining set.
6. Bastard Son from the album "Here Comes The Groom" by John Wesley Harding OK, Harding is long been cruelly overlooked. Over and over, he releases fine albums to resounding silence. He's got a good ear for a hook, and a nice acerbic with with a lyric that recalls Elvis Costello. well worth searching out if you haven't heard him.
7. Degenerate from the album "Munki" by The Jesus & Mary Chain these guys should sue Black Rebel Motorcycle Club for copyright infringement.
8. Not Because You Can from the album "Lolita Nation" by Game Theory Another Scott Miller.
8. Waitin' For The Man/ Heroin (Live) from the album "Sex, America, Cheap Trick" by Cheap Trick
8. The Perfect Cut (11 Minutes) from the album "Helter Stupid" by Negativland
8. Dead Man Shake from the album "Dead Man Shake" by Grandpaboy three words four chords. Needs some Stinson though.
8. Speaking Sands from the album "Drums Along the Hudson (Special Edition)" by The Bongos More instrumental punkery from another lost band. Stops after a minute, knowing when to leave is a lost art. Are you listening, Chimpy McFlightsuit?
8. Enlightened from the album "Marillion.Com" by Marillion
8. 29 Ghosts IV from the album "Ghosts I-IV" by Nine Inch Nails Boy Dirt Car is releasing a new album. This may only be of interest to someone in Belgium; they always said they had a fan base there. They were Milwaukee's noize boys before Jourgensen down Chicago way had even finished with the technopop; they released a couple of tapes, on called Gravel On Urine and I probably still have a copy somewhere. I only mention it because their shows usually featured a circle saw on a sheet of steel, not only providing noise but a light show; this little bit of Reznor includes some droning and a surprisingly familiar buzzsaw.
8. Put Me Down from the album "Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?" by The Cranberries They would have been ultra-hip if they weren't so popular. Still sounds surprisingly up to date and sounds like a Song Of The Day over at 3Bulls.

I like the series of 8s up there. Like the recent Cloud Cult album, The Meaning Of 8 includes the reference to infinity you get if you look at it sideways. Which comforts me today.

Oh, and Fuck This War.

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