New feature at Good Nonsense! So here's an idea I had...what if I started e-mail exchanges with fellow bloggers just to see what topics came up (and if anything interesting was said)? After I came up with this obviously brilliant idea, I realized that I was basically copying Bill Simmons' "Curious Guy" bit from ESPN.com. But hey...he's not a lowly D-level blogger, so it's like an original idea down here!
Anyway, Erik Loomis from Alter Destiny was nice enough to be the guinea pig...I'll let others determine if anything actually interesting was said...thanks Erik!
Boy: You started blogging (according to your archive) in September 2004. What made you think, "What the hell...I should start a blog..."?Erik: OK, here goes. Let me know if these things should be shorter, longer, orwhatever. Hope you like it well enough.
Yeah, my first comment was somebody correcting me. That's always fun. Berlin Niebuhr's first comment was from me. We're bigtime. But man, the first time somebody (either Avedon or Debate Link...can't remember who was first) linked to me was like Christmas, New Year's, and 10 birthdays wrapped up into one...
Why did I start a blog? Was I overcome with delusions of grandeur? Did I gothrough a spell of hating the world and wanting to exact revenge by makingit suffering with my writing? Had I just consumed too many Percosets with vodka chasers? The obvious answer to all these questions is yes, but none isthe real reason that I started this. I was reading the blogs of friends and then right-wing blogs like Powerline and Glenn Reynolds. I figured that if these loud-mouthed idiots could write a bunch of shit and put it on the web, certainly this loud-mouthed idiot could also write a bunch of shit and put it on the web. And seriously, have you read some of the things I've written? I've often wondered if China wasn't right for cracking down on blogs. If I had power, I'd crack down on people like me writing too. Just kills the public discourse. I've thought about just typing random letters and putting it on the blog, but it would raise expectations too high. I can't deal with that kind of stress in my life. The first time someone commented on one of my posts, I thought I was going to have a panic attack but luckily the person was just saying they had prayed to all the gods in the universe that I never be allowed to write again. Most of them agreed with the commentor except for Kali. In her quest for destruction, she figured I would end the use of the English language. She may still be proven correct. In fact I have $50 in Vegas on it being true by the end of the year.
Or maybe I just started the blog because I was bored at work. It's so hard to remember now that I'm coming down from my latest Percoset/vodka cocktail.
The funny thing is, this blog wasn't even our idea. Considering how long he's been reading them, I was actually a bit surprised that berlin never started one (he probably didn't know how!)...no, one day The Butterfly read a series of articles that really pissed her off to the point where she said, "You know, we should start a blog and vent about issues that are affecting us. You and me and your dad." But then she got an immediate fit of writer's block, and we hijacked it from her! We're so nice...
You guys talk about some issues and places--South America, for instance--that not a lot of people pay much attention to. What do you feel is the one issue that people just aren't talking about enough?That's an easy question. The one topic disgracefully ignored in theblogosphere is Lawrence Welk. While there actually is a Welk blog out there, where does Yglesias stand on this issue? Kos? The other big liberal bloggers out there? There are so many questions to ask. What did Arthur Duncan think about being ablack man on the whitest show in American history? What percentage of audience members were Lutheran? Was the Welk show a Norwegian intelligence plan to spread Scando culture across America? Who on the show was in the closet? And what's the deal with the fashion? I know it was the 60s and 70s, but Christ!!
I...wow. And here I thought you were going to say the Oregon Ducks and the odds that they'll return to greatness post-Joey Harrington...
Okay, so your blog covers a lot of ground in the given week...sexploitation in Chinese film...college football...unsung musical heroes...occasional politics...most of my favorite blogs are each individual episodes of Short Attention Span Theater, so that's cool with me. But with such a broad range of interests, what's the first blog you visit on a given morning? I have a relatively set routine (e-mail -> gmail -> Missouri's rivals.com site -> digby -> ESPN -> Alter Destiny/Blankenhorn/Axis of Knievel/Mannion/whatever else I have time for while drinking coffee), and I wonder if others do too...You mean what blog do I look at first other than the Welk site?
Ahh, powerpoint...good to know I'm not the only one with war stories...
These days with the gmail thing I just look at the blogs on there. Sometimes I look at the other blogs on my blogroll. A really great site is Global Voices Online which is a compendium of sites around the world. A lot of the international stuff I write come from there.There are so many blogs out there better than mine. I am the least technologically adept person in the blogosphere. If you have 10 minutes and don't have an antipathy to extreme swearing, I'll tell you about my experiences with powerpoint sometime. But once Rob from Lawyers, Guns, and Money introduced me to the gmail thing, I was hooked.
Okay, I'm gonna go all rapid-fire on you now...
1) Who has the better music collection--you, Lyrad Simool (I had to stare at this name a long time to figure it out), or Mister Trend?
2) Who's more important to his respective genre, Johnny Cash or Ray Charles?
3) Who's more underrated to their respective genre, Ornette Coleman or the Louvin Brothers?Rapid-fire? Will I keep up?
Now we're rolling!
1. Obviously I have the superior music collection. Lyrad and Mr. Trend are posers. They think they're all trendy. Lyrad--no man that bald can be considered to be hip with music unless his name is Tony Levin. As for Mr. Trend--he didn't even know who Roger Miller was before I told him. How can you be trendy without deep knowledge of Roger Miller? Not to mention Conway Twitty and Ray Price. Hell, when I first mentioned Ray Price to him, he thought I was talking about Ray Parker, Jr., singer of the Ghostbusters theme song. Loser.
2. This is an interesting question. I have long argued that Johnny Cash is a highly overrated musician. While his best stuff is phenomenal, there isn't very much of it. For most of his career, he produced second-rate material at best. Anyone care to hear his cover of Call Me The Breeze? I didn't think so. If it wasn't for Rick Rubin, his current reputation would be far lower than it is. So much of Cash is the image. People love Cash but they don't understand him. Hell, I've talked to people who don't even really consider him country. That's absurd. Compare Cash to Merle Haggard. Cash was a big influence on Haggard, but Merle outshone his mentor, producing album after album of first-rate tunes for years. "Silver Wings," "If We Make It Through December," "Mama Tried," "I Threw Away the Rose," "Sidewalks of Chicago"--the greatness kept coming for years, far longer than Cash. That said, I think Cash is more influential within his genre of music than Charles. Both reached incredible heights. Charles' New Sounds in Country and Western Music is arguably better than anything Cash ever put out. But Cash's influence is manifest throughout popular music today whereas Charles, not so much. Consider the reactions to the deaths of both. Cash's death was like anational tragedy. Young and old alike, people were sad. When Charles died, for lots of young music fans, he was just some old dude. The difference was image and Rick Rubin. Although I think those things shouldn't count, they do. So Cash is more influential by a pretty wide margin at this point.
3. This is a great question. Ornette Coleman is great and isn't remembered today like he should be. Hell, he's still alive and he's kind of forgotten. Somewhere along the line, Miles and Coltrane got enshrined as jazz gods. That's fine, especially for Miles, but was Coltrane really that much better than Ornette or Sonny Rollins? I don't think so. That said, the Louvin Brothers might be the most underrated band in the history of American popular music. Long beloved by country musicians and especially knowledgeable music fans, they've never really caught on with the average fan, even in a retro sort of way. But my God, what amazing music! The melodies are beautiful. Ira and Charlie sure knew how to sing together. Although I'm not exactly what I'd call a church going kind of guy, their gospel songs are amazing. The whole Satan Is Real album with that lunatic cover designed by Ira. "Dying from Home, and Lost," "Broadminded," "The Great Atomic Power," "The First One To Love You," "I'm Praying For You." These are amazing songs. Not only are the one of the greatest country acts ever, they are one of the greatest acts in the history of American popular music.
1. As a Certified Music Snob, I say my collection's better than all of yours.
...though I don't see what's wrong with a little Ray Parker, Jr.
2. Let's see...both of their biopics gave somebody an Oscar. Johnny's biopic got Joaquin Phoenix. Ray's got Wanda from In Living Color. Advantage: Johnny.
Seriously though, while Cash stopped making influential music, for all intents and purposes, when the '60s ended, his best songs are still fantastic. Live at Folsom Prison and Live at San Quentin are two of the most intense live albums I've ever heard (Folsom more than San Quentin), and I must say I go out of my way to listen to more Cash than Ray.
But I think Ray is more influential...musically, at least. Put it this way: Ray is a lot more present in today's music than Cash. Cash is on T-shirts and posters. Ray is sampled (sort of) in a Kanye West song, and he is present in every song that guys like John Legend sing. No country artist sounds like cash, but every piano-playing R&B singer is trying to sound somewhat like Ray (or Stevie).
And of course, neither are as influential as Curtis Mayfield, but that's another story entirely.
3. A few years ago, I started working in a Barnes & Noble music section part-time. An album came out entitled Livin', Lovin', Losin': Songs of the Louvin Brothers, with artists like Vince Gill and Emmylou and Dierks Bentley, and it was featured on NPR. Pretty much every Columbia, MO, native who heard it on NPR immediately called B&N to order it. It was not stocked in the store, and we sold a ton of them. It really was like people were suddenly discovering them 40+ years after they were making their mark...which was pretty cool. I'll be honest, I hadn't really heard of them before that either, but they made an impression. It's hard to argue against them on the Unappreciated Scale, but Ornette really does make it a good fight. John Coltrane called Ornette his biggest influence (he opened Coltrane's eyes to a completely new way of playing jazz), and I really did think he was dead until recently. I love "The Sphinx", and his albums as a whole are really interesting to listen to (when I'm in the right mood, anyway).
Alright...so I guess we should wrap this discussion up (this has been a lot of fun, by the way) by tying it back to politics. Hmm...what's a generic discussion question...ahh, yes. Who do you see winning the Dem and Rep nominations in '08? And who wins the overall election? And whoever wins...are they going to look as silly, immature, petulant and uncomfortable visiting other countries as our current leader does? Did you see that clip of Bush in Vietnam wearing the local garb with a dumb, spacy smirk on his face? Awful.You may well be right about Charles. It's certainly an interesting argument. As for Curtis Mayfield, what can I say that has not already been said. Great beyond words.
Mayfield's Roots is one of the more underrated albums of all time. "Get Down" and "We Got to Have Peace" are both amazing, and this seemed to be the album where he really started figuring out what kind of sound he could create without The Impressions. Just great stuff.
As for the nominations--it's still so early. For the Democrats, I think what is coming to light is that Hillary Clinton is going to have a much harder time securing the nomination than conventional wisdom has claimed since 2004. Ultimately, who really wants her? The Democratic Party elite I guess. But no one else. The netroots doesn't want her. SEIU is backing Edwards bigtime. Her stance on the war is suboptimal. And half the nation loathes her. I think Edwards is going to take it. I'm interested in Wesley Clark but only if he's learned how to campaign. I'd rather see Gore than anyone but I doubt he'll run. Obama is interesting as well, but it's so early. Does he have the necessary experience? He would be fierce competition in the primaries though, no question. One of the governors could come out of nowhere of course--in 2002, who had heard of Howard Dean?
The Republican race is pretty interesting to me. Right now, we're looking at McCain, Romney, and Giulani who have decided to run. Will the crazies on the right support any of these guys? They don't trust McCain, Romney is a Mormon and Giulani is a moderate from New York City. Meanwhile, their boys Fristand Allen are out. I imagine Sam Brownback will run and garner their support but it's hard to see how someone as crazy as him will win the primary. Jeb remains a wildcard but the unpopularity of his brother can't be helping him. Republicans always vote for whoever's turn it is and this time it's McCain.
So I'm saying Edwards-McCain. An interesting race. McCain will no doubt havean early lead but he's so abrasive that I see much of that disappearing. Ofcourse, it's a long time from 2008 and who knows what the political landscape will be like.
No doubt though, either will look like idiots frequently. I'm hoping to see McCain in a ballerina outfit on his first trip to Moscow.
Anyhoo, I'm in the same "don't know what to think yet" boat for '08, but since people are already talking about it, I thought I'd throw it out there. Honestly, I think Obama is being extremely smart here by going ahead and pulling the trigger. There's a reason Senators have such a bad track record in Presidential races...they just have to take too many positions that come back to haunt them. I think running now before you start to develop a track record is quite smart...and it just might get him the nod.
And speaking of the Senatorial thing...sheesh...Obama, Hilary, Edwards, McCain, Brownback...it's like Vilsack and Guiliani are the only two non-senators looking at running. Vilsack obviously doesn't have a chance, but that really might end up helping Rudy. Rudy and McCain both had Daily Show moments that will come back to haunt them considering their attempted "not the normal Republican" reputations. Jon Stewart got McCain to basically admit that he was selling his soul for the Republican nomination, but Rudy's was just as bad. After the first debate in '04, when everybody was in agreement that Dubya got absolutely demolished, there was Rudy on Daily Show saying "I think Bush won the debate. He did great." It was such an obvious shill thing to do...I worry that the media won't nail both of them for the sellouts they are, but I think that they both have a history (personal and/or political) that will be hard to ignore.
But you're right...the Religious Right really isn't going to have a candidate other than Brownback, and while I hope Brownback gets the nomination (I really really really do), the odds aren't good...so really, where they throw their power will dictate the entire election. They don't like McCain, but Rudy could benefit from being a "9/11 Hero" (even though he really didn't do anything but have a press conference and say everyone will get through it...in other words, he didn't do anything nobody else would have done in the same situation).
It's just a damn shame that Macaca Allen had to implode the way he did...I was really looking forward to him imploding on a more national stage. Would have been high-quality entertainment.
Alright, so this exchange thing worked pretty well! Any last thoughts you want to give to Good Nonsense's massive international audience (seriously, somebody from Iran read berlin's La Fea Mas Bella updates one time...we're bringing the world together!)? Any words of wisdom? Any Lawrence Welk cd recommendations?Well, I don't actually listen to Welk. In fact, I would recommend avoiding it at all costs unless you want to analyze for all of its weirdness. A little goes a long ways, let me tell you.
As for pearls of wisdom--I should recommend to everyone that they not waste their time at my blog but I guess that would be self-defeating. I could tell people to support local farmers but that would be all liberal and gushy. So I'll just end by quoting Jason Isbell of the Drive-By Truckers by saying, Have fun and stay clear of the needle.Indeed!
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