Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 9/23: The Ramones, “I Wanna Be Sedated”
By the time you’re reading this I will have gotten Joey Ramone’s wish, and I’ll be minus a gall bladder. Contrary to popular belief, the chorus isn’t about wanting pain relief. Joey wrote most of it in London on Christmas Day 1977 while the band was touring the UK. “we went over to England, and […]
DL Open Thread Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021
This has been obvious for a while now, but media people are starting to say it: Vaccine resistance by top Republicans is part of a strategy to fuck things up on purpose so Biden can’t succeed. They literally would destroy the country’s prosperity rather than share it with the Blah people. Thom Hartmann makes a […]
Song of the Day 9/21: Graham Parker, “You’ve Got to Be Kidding”
Judging by the visitors to our comments section today, I’m guessing it’s walkabout day at the RWNJ adult-care center. They apparently take themselves very seriously, but if they expect anyone else to take them seriously, well, they can take it up with Graham Parker. This tune was on Parker’s debut LP, “Howlin’ Wind,” released in […]
Song of the Day 9/19: Squeeze, “Tempted”
Writers lazily compare Squeeze’s Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, but they worked more like a musical theater team — Difford wrote the lyrics, Tilbrook the music, like Bernie Taupin and Elton John. Tilbrook’s inventive melodies and genre-spanning compositions get most of the critical attention, but Difford could amaze in […]
DL Open Thread Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021
The conservative grift seems like such an easy dodge: Mouth a few idiotic slogans you didn’t even have to think up yourself, rake in the bucks (just ask Lauren Witzke). But there’s apparently some kind of secret code involved that prevents it from working for just anyone. For example, the crank yanker who organized a […]
Song of the Day 9/18: Nicki Minaj, “Anaconda”
Given that Trinidadian rapper/twerker Nicki Minaj is now an expert on the Covid vaccine’s effect on the male reproductive organs, I thought readers might appreciate a look at her credentials. I’m not sure what her major was in college, but immunology doesn’t appear to have been her field of advanced study. I do think, however, […]
Song of the Day 9/16: Tom Jones w/ CSN&Y, “Long Time Gone”
I confess that teenage me was not into watching “This Is Tom Jones,” the variety show the Welsh belter hosted from 1969 to 1971. I was too young to realize that though he found fame and fortune singing what came to be called Adult Contemporary, Jones was a helluva soul singer. Just listen to what […]
DL Open Thread Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021
You know how to tell your precious American democracy is already dead? When the guy who has to save it turns out to be Dan Quayle. Yes, that Dan Quayle. If you guessed that some House Democrats are balking at a $3.5 trillion spending bill because they’re in toss-up districts, Johnny will tell you all […]
Song of the Day 9/15: Billy Joe Shaver, “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday)” Plus the Best Norm MacDonald Clip
Comedian Norm MacDonald, that self-identified Old Chunk of Coal, was sick with cancer for almost a decade before he died the other day, and told almost nobody. He started referring to himself as “just an old chunk of coal” seven or eight years ago, and this, apparently his favorite country song, is where the phrase […]
The Brady Exoneration
Here’s the report of the House Ethics Committee on the complaint against Rep. Gerald Brady: Committee Vote: Complaint fails to allege facts which constitute a violation of the Rules of Legislative Conduct and no further action will be taken by the House Ethics Committee; 5-0 Committee Findings: The Ethics Committee of the House of Representatives […]
Song of the Day 9/13: Iggy Pop, “Mask”
What is it with MAGAnuts and their hatred of masks? Have you seen videos of these disturbed people, frothing at the mouth over the fact that their kids have to wear facemasks in school? Not only is wearing a mask a crucial step in public health, I have to agree with Iggy here — you […]
Song of the Day 9/12: Bill Withers, “Ain’t No Sunshine”
This one gets my vote for the most effective I-miss-my-woman song ever written. Bill Withers’ breakthrough hit was inspired by one of the great parting scenes in cinema — no, not “Casablanca,” but a film we don’t hear much about anymore despite its outstanding reputation, “Days of Wine and Roses,” starring Jack Lemmon and Lee […]
DL Open Thread Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021
Thank whatever you believe in that the 20th anniversary of 9/11 passed with as little flag-waving horseshit as it did, but Jesus Christ on a tandem bike, can we stop mourning the loss of national unity? You know what unites people? Grief. It wasn’t patriotism, or feeling for our fellow Americans. It was heartsick sadness. […]
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