Revisiting - Pennywise

It's kind of funny the shit you get up to on a long airplane ride.

Generally, I'm an album listener.  I like albums.  But when you're in that slumbery never-neverland 8 hours into a flight, it's tough to commit.  So I started exploring a bit.  And I stumbled upon Pennywise.  I was going to specify Pennywise, but look at any of the first three (Pennywise, Unknown Road, About Time) and you really can't go wrong.  But check out Wikipedia.  Can you believe this fuckers are still making music?  Okay, Full Circle was a decent album.  But that's a "classic" now?  Jesus Christ.

Incidentally.  I work with a religious dude.  He says "fuck".  He says "shit".  But he's visibly distressed when I say "hell" or "jesus christ".  I'm struggling to adapt.

So.  Back to Pennywise.  So many good songs.  And, it's not embarrassing to listen to this music, what...20 years later.  They were just so fast.  Some of the solos are a bit embarrassing, but nobody can touch this right now.

Okay.  The whole of Pennywise is just fucking awesome.  I guess I should have specified that one.  Wouldn't It Be Nice.  Rules.  The Secret.  Living for Today.  Come Out Fighting.  Ending of with Bro Hymn.  Come on.  It's a classic.

Then you have...Man.  Just go listen to that album.

Revisiting - Gob

I have a new challenge for you guys to not do every month - come up with an old album that needs revisiting.

I'm going to start us off with the Gob EP from 1994 (Holy shit I can't believe there is a Wikipedia entry for this).  Honestly, I think that this album is about as important as any to me as far as learning to love music.  I didn't really have much experience with music released on anything other than a major label before this.

Gob rolled through Kamloops around this time.  I think my friends band was talking to them about opening, but they never did.  But I remember the show and they seemed so...just beyond all of the other things I was listening to.

I bought this little EP and it stayed in my CD player for weeks.  I'd listen to it 3-4 times in a row, no problem.  These were the days of lots of Pixies and Jane's Addiction and whatnot for me.  I'd consciously avoided the whole Offspring/Bad Religion thing that was going on.  It scratched an itch.

And listening to it now, man, it's actually really stood the test of time.  It didn't fall victim to the horrible staccato drumming of pop punk that would come in the next few years.  There seems to be a reason that I really liked it.  Too bad all the shit they made after this EP kind of sucked.

Oh wait.  Bad drums show up on the last song.  I forgot about that.

Huffington Post - A pillar of investigative journalism

This has absolutely nothing to do with anything.  But.  The Huffington Post has a story, with video, about anal tattoos up.

"Thanks, King."

In the spirit of the Olympics. I just got on the internet and found out a little more about Jim Thorpe.

Why? Here's why: won both the decathlon and the pentathlon in the 1912 Olympics, after which King Gustav of Sweden (the Olympics were in Stockholm that year) reportedly said, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world." Thorpe replied, "Thanks, King." Played three professional sports: baseball, football, and basketball. He was good at all of them, but best as a football fullback, where most agreed he was a pain in the ass to tackle. There are awards, days, and a town in Pennsylvania named after him. Half Native American (Potawotomi). Had his medals stripped, then reinstated, because of racists and apologists.

Why, though? Check the picture. It's from Stockholm in 1912, when he won those two events, pentathlon and decathlon, which is really like winning every event. He's wearing two different shoes. His own shoes got ripped off and he wore two mismatched ones that he found in a trash bin, with an extra sock on one foot.

(thanks to Wikipedia and, yes, My Daguerreotype Boyfriend.)

Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey

I'll firmly admit that I'm only listening to this due to the recent Pitchfork reissue review.  But I just put on Paul McCartney's Ram (perhaps this is a subconscious result of the Olympics?  Have you noticed that everybody that is not an official Olympic broadcaster is digging up all sort of British movies to show all of a sudden?).  Anyhow, I just realized that Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey is one of my favourite songs ever.  It's immediately recognizable, but I always assumed it was a Beatles song.  It has a magical, irreverent Sgt. Pepper's feel to it.

Homeland.

As I get older, I no longer have the eloquence to explain my obsessions.  However.  Holy shit you have to watch this show.  This thing hits all of the necessary nails on the heads.  Espionage. Terrorism.  Iraq.  Etc.

Start watching an you will be finished in a week.  Guaranteed.  We can have a discussion after that because I don't want to give up any spoilers.

Royal Headache

I listened to this album twice in succession today.  I may even listen to it on my drive home (Yes.  Yes I did).  I haven't done that in a long time.

I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was that made it stand out.  The ingredients do not suggest greatness (3 man garage rock).  But something about it suggests more than that.  Hints of greatness.  It's like you're listening to a classic rock station blaring out nameless 60's rock hits, but they've somehow updated it to modern standards.  I went and read the Pitchfork review and they put all of the success on the singers shoulders.  Perhaps that is it.  Regardless, have a listen.