Wednesday, June 29, 2011

New Poll: Appetite for Destruction vs. Nevermind

vs.

It's been a while since I've had a poll, so why not make it a good one?

I just started re-reading Fargo Rock City by Chuck Klosterman, and he has a good discussion of Guns N' Roses, which includes a comparison to Nirvana, as well as a brief comparison of Appetite for Destruction and Nevermind.

Twenty years ago, Nirvana was recording their seminal album Nevermind at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, where Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers recorded Damn the Torpedoes, Neil Young recorded After the Gold Rush, Fleetwood Mac recorded Rumors, and, most importantly, Dio recorded Holy Diver.

Nevermind would be released a few months later, in September 1991, and soon there was a great debate amongst rock fans: hair bands and heavy metal vs. grunge. I remember not really knowing that I was supposed to choose a side until my buddy The Weez told me that it was my moral imperative to do so. Of course, when given the choice, I chose (and still choose) hair bands and metal.

As a result of these very clear dividing lines, as I imagine was the case with a lot of people, it took me a few years before I was comfortable with grunge and "alternative" rock, when I realized that it is possible to like both sides without exploding.

As far as I'm concerned, the two most important hard rock albums of my generation are Nevermind and Appetite for Destruction. I'm guessing if you asked a music critic which they thought was a better album, most would probably say Nevermind because, for some reason, people are more comfortable lionizing a suicidal heroin addict than an asshole. At home, though, I bet they blast Appetite when they want to rock out. As for you, my fair readers, I'm not sure. I know many of you, and I know that you (at least outwardly) prefer GNR over Nirvana.

Nirvana made one monumental album and two average albums. Guns N' Roses made one monumental album, two really good albums, and The Spaghetti Incident? (I'm leaving Chinese Democracy out of the equation.)

I'm not sure exactly why it's somehow more acceptable to like Nevermind than Appetite (or at least to openly show appreciation for Nevermind rather than Appetite). I'd imagine some people might say that Nevermind is more "real," which is wrong. "A mulatto / An albino / A mosquito / My libido"? That's gibberish. I've never owned a bird, so I have no frame of reference for "Polly." And I've tried, but I simply cannot relate to "Territorial Pissings."

On the other hand, the songs on Appetite ARE real because they are generally written from experience. "Welcome to the Jungle" is about moving to a big city. "Mr. Brownstone" is about the debilitating effects of heroin addiction (as experienced by Slash and Izzy). "Nightrain" is about drinking Nightrain. "My Michelle" is about a chick named Michelle whose mother died of a heroin and whose daddy worked in porno.

So if reality favors Appetite, what can it be about Nevermind that still makes critics drool? There's something pseudo-intellectually appealing to Nevermind, perhaps because it's dark and brooding, which stands in stark contrast to most of the hair band music that was popular when Nevermind was released. Appetite is kick-'em-in-the-teeth party music.

Both albums are phenomenal, and I like both albums, so don't take this post as some sort of indictment against Nevermind. Both albums have a punk attitude. Musically, both albums are excellent, although I'd give GNR the nod on musicianship. Both albums have iconic album covers. Both albums were (and continue to be) hugely successful. Appetite has sold 18 million copies in the U.S. and 28 million copies worldwide, while Nevermind has sold 11 million copies in the U.S. and 26 million worldwide. There's not a bad song on Appetite, although there are a couple songs on Nevermind that could be considered average.

By coincidence (or so I assume), both albums have 12 songs, which allows for a song-by-song comparison. In case you are unfamiliar with two of the most important albums of the last 25 years, the songs from Appetite for Destruction are listed first.

1. "Welcome to the Jungle" vs. "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Edge: Even
These are both anthems that top or come close to topping many lists.

2. "It's So Easy" vs. "In Bloom"
Edge: "In Bloom"
This one was tough because they're both great songs, but the edge goes to "In Bloom." It's a little less rapey than "It's So Easy."

3. "Nightrain" vs. "Come as You Are"
Edge: Even
Nirvana sympathizers might be saying, "Dude, no way," after they sip their coffee and take a drag from their American Spirit. GNR sympathizers might be saying "Fuck you, GMYH," after they take a slug of Nightrain and a drag from their Camel. You're both right. "Come As You Are" is great, but overrated. "Nightrain" is underrated, but not better than "Come As You Are."

4. "Out Ta Get Me" vs. "Breed"
Edge: "Breed"
"Breed" is my favorite Nirvana song.

5. "Mr. Brownstone" vs. "Lithium"
Edge: Even
They're both about drugs. "Lithium" is probably my second-favorite Nirvana song after "Breed." "Mr. Brownstone" is in my top 5 for GNR songs.

6. "Paradise City" vs. "Polly"
Edge: "Paradise City"
No contest.

7. "My Michelle" vs. "Territorial Pissings"
Edge: "My Michelle"
I really like "Territorial Pissings," despite the fact that I was never an alien. But "My Michelle" has more grit and more balls than any song on Nevermind.

8. "Think About You" vs. "Drain You"
Edge: Even
This was another close call. I like both songs. I was leaning towards "Drain You," but then I listened to "Think About You," and I can't say that I like one song more than the other.

9. "Sweet Child O' Mine" vs. "Lounge Act"
Edge: "Sweet Child O' Mine"
"Lounge Act" is a very underrated song, but I sure as shit don't remember exactly where I was the first time I heard it.

10. "You're Crazy" vs. "Stay Away"
Edge: Even
Both of these songs are hyper and full of angst, with "You're Crazy" aimed at a crazy woman and "Stay Away" apparently aimed at cool monkeys.

11. "Anything Goes" vs. "On a Plain"
Edge: "Anything Goes"
"On a Plain" is a good song, and this was a tough call. I was going to put this as "even," but then I listened to both songs. "Anything Goes" just has more gusto.

12. "Rocket Queen" vs. "Something in the Way"
Edge: "Rocket Queen"
"Rocket Queen" was, is, and always will be my favorite GNR song, and it would be impossible for me to ever like a Nirvana song more than "Rocket Queen," much less the worst song on Nevermind.

Final Tally: 5-2-5 in favor of Appetite for Destruction.

With that, fair readers, I ask you the following question: Which do you think is a better album, Appetite for Destruction or Nevermind? You have one week. Go! (And, of course, I would love to hear your thoughts, comments, or hate-filled rants.)

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Shit I Hate: People Who Don't Brush Their Teeth in the Morning and Ride Public Transportation

I don't have time or plausible ideas for a Tuesday Top Ten this week, but I will enlighten you about some shit that I hate: people who don't brush their teeth in the morning and then ride the L (or other modes of tightly packed public transportation).

In general, I have issues with the general population's inability to account for the various stenches emanating from their mouths. People drink way too much coffee, smoke way too many cigarettes, and eat way too many non-potatoes to not carry mints, gum, or breath strips at all times (and use them with reckless abandon). But this is one of the most egregious offenses.

This morning, the L was crowded, as it is every workday morning, which means that people are standing very close to one another. Some dude was mouth breathing right in my face, peppering me with a nice combination of his dinner from last night and eight-plus hours of bacterial growth. I just had to stand there and pray he was getting off at the next stop. It was miserable.

For Colgate's sake, there is no reason you should ever leave your dwelling in the morning to ride face-to-face with strangers without brushing your teeth. It's just inconsiderate. You know how your girlfriend hates your morning breath? So does everyone else in the world. And let's not forget that five out of five dentists recommend brushing your teeth in the morning.

So, as a courtesy to your fellow train riders, co-workers, significant others, and baristas, brush your fucking teeth every morning. Until then, I will hate you and all dragon-breathed sons of bitches like you.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Meaningless Post #2

I finally started watching Archer. Where was I on this one?

Meaningless Post #1

For some reason, the Playlist.com embedded boomboxes are playing automatically, for which I apologize and must immediately post twice so that every time you go to the GMYH home page, you don't hear both "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" and "To Be With Me" playing over each other.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Veni Vidi Vici

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of traveling to Colorado Springs for the nuptials of my old friend Dan and his female life partner. This is what I remember.

Upon my arrival, I paid Thrifty for the pleasure of driving a Hyundai Elantra, which had XM radio. When I got in the car, the first thing I did was press the "4" preset button. The Elantra knew it was Hair Band Friday, so it changed the station to XM's Hair Nation. Soon, I was cruising through Colorado Springs jamming to Tyketto.

I was left to my own devices during the rehearsal dinner. Thankfully, there was a BW3 across the street from my hotel. During the next four hours, I sat by myself at the bar, eating wings, drinking happy hour-priced draft beer, and beating the shit out of the rest of the restaurant at NTN trivia. There was a round about songs about drinking -- two things I love. Come on, NTN.

It stopped being fun at some point, so I texted Dan, and he informed me that they reserved a conference room at the hotel that was fully stocked. I settled up and walked out of BW3 to a standing ovation. Around this time, someone else in town for the wedding headed to BW3, where he was accosted (in the bar) by two guys who demanded his wallet and said they had a gun. He said, "No you don't." They said, "Yeah, you're right." And then they drank some beers together. They turned out to be, I shit you not, members of the United States Army.

But I digress. I headed into the party room, and it was bumpin'. I conversed with an old high school friend Carl. Beers were consumed. Laughs were had. Then something magic happened.

You know that scene in Braveheart where Longshanks's gay son's cocksure "friend" is trying to convince Longshanks that he is a good hire, so he tells Longshanks, with hubris, "I am skilled in the arts of war and military tactics," then Longshanks takes him by the scruff of his neck and tosses him out of a window, sending the cocky fop to his death? That's almost exactly what happened Friday night.

At some point in the evening, it was rightfully decided that a game of flip cup would be played. A non-Italian suggested the teams be comprised of those of Italian descent on one side and everyone else on the other. Presumably, the thought was that these non-Italians were more skilled in the arts of cups and flipping tactics than the Italians. "Without papers!" the non-Italians mockingly shouted. We were called guineas, goombas, and degos.

The Italians gathered on one side of the table –- olive-skinned gods and goddesses prepared to conquer as our people have done in the past. We were unified, gregarious, and terribly good looking. On the other side of the table, a ragtag bunch of "multiculturals" gathered, including people of Irish, English, Jewish, Mexican, German, and Polish descent. Notably, there were no Ostrogoths on their team.

With a "salud!" from our side of the table, the game started. The other team had no idea they were about to get thrown out of the window.

The grease from our fingers allows us to flip with less friction, so there is a much smaller chance of overflipping – a problem that plagued the Saxons on the other side of the table. And the Anglos? Jesus. Last time we had to deal with them, all we did was put up a wall and that was that. The Gaels were too overcome by the effects of alcohol to successfully flip a small plastic cup 180 degrees and have it land on its top, which is the entire purpose of the game. The Poles kept trying to flip the cup before drinking it, while the Germans kept barking orders and trying to take the game over. These shortcomings were not enough for the Jews and the Mexican (no strangers to ancient empires themselves) to overcome.

Our victory celebrations were marked with shouts of "tutti bravi!," hugs, dual cheek kisses, whistling at any woman who walked by, and sliced "capicohl." Here is the only record of the event. We stopped counting at five.



Eventually, the other side of the table surrendered, and soon the room devolved into an all-out orgy, in honor of Caligula. There was arm wrestling and beers poured on peoples' heads (the latter mainly as a result of infighting on the non-Italian team). At one point, the night clerk from the hotel walked in and was quickly sacrificed and devoured.

I woke up Saturday morning facedown in my bathtub wearing only giant gold pinky ring. "Volare" played from a nearby record player that was for some reason in my room. Balled up in a pile nearby were my silk boxers, wifebeater, black Z. Cavaricci jeans, and a Slovenian woman's hand. Battabing.

I dressed myself in what I would consider a post-modern summer casual frat guy attire, popped a few Excedrin Migraine, and shuffled my way to the front desk. I asked the still-living clerk where to get some fast food. Her response was, "There are tons of fast food options right around here. There's Chili's, Outback Steakhouse, BW3, Denny's, and Baskin Robbins." Really? I drove less than a mile and saw a Burger King, Arby's, Fazoli's, and Carl's, Jr. This explained why I dominated these people in games of the mind the night before.

I settled on Carl's, Jr. and bought a gigantic burger. When I got back to the hotel, I saw Dan, who was on his way to Outback (another fast food joint) for lunch with some other dudes, so I had a bite of my burger and put the rest in the minifridge. At Outback, I ordered a gigantic burger, but I ate the whole thing, which made me feel surprisingly good about myself.

We dispersed, as Dan had to get married. I took a much-deserved nap, took a shower, put on a suit, grabbed a VHS tape of Kid Colter, and headed to the front of the hotel, where a shuttle bus was waiting to take guests to The Broadmoor, where the wedding was.

On the shuttle bus ride, our driver informed us that the bears "are out," as if she was taking us to a campground instead of a wedding at the nicest hotel in Colorado Springs. Regardless, I left my stash of walleye on the bus.

The venue was pretty awesome. It was at a reception hall on the grounds of The Broadmoor, with an awesome view of the mountains on one side and Colorado Springs on the other.




The cocktail hour at the reception was on a terrace overlooking the city. A Latvian boy named Adam gleefully served the guests appetizers with smoked salmon and shrimp. Quietly hoping to see a bear maul an Eastern European live, rather than on YouTube or When Animals Attack, I failed to inform him of the bus driver's warning and stuffed chunks of salmon in his pockets while he wasn't looking.

Over the next several hours, people ate, drank, and danced. Grand plans were hatched on the shuttle ride back to have another rager in the party room, but we had no beer. Apparently in Colorado, you can get medical marijuana for back pain, but you can't buy booze after midnight on a Saturday. That didn't deter us, as we had several cases of wine in the party room. A sign was made, so that people wouldn't be confused as to the direction of the party.



Notice how the exclamation marks are smiling. I found that to be very inviting. Apparently few others did. The crew Saturday night ended up being much smaller than Friday night, since many people were drunk off of alcohol from the wedding. On the bright side, we could just drink our own bottles of wine, and there weren't any parents around to bust us, so we stayed up till like four in the morning. Whatever.

Sunday, I had some time to kill between checkout and my flight. I hoped to drive up Pike's Peak (which is a mountain, not the bosom of some one-titted chick named Pike). Unfortunately, there was some construction on the only road up there. It was a risk I wasn't willing take. Instead, I went to Garden of the Gods (Roman gods, no doubt). I walked around on some rocks, openly mocked some people with an Idaho license plate ("no YOU da ho!"), and then got back in the Elantra and jammed out to some White Lion while I drove back to the airport. Then I flew home and went to bed.

In conclusion, I like Colorado Springs. And remember, no Hair Band Friday post tomorrow because I will be doing it all over again in the dirty South.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches I slam in the back of my . . . washing machine?

Rob Zombie once made an album called La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1 and has directed a horror film called House of 1000 Corpses. Woolite wants to ensure that your clothes are clean. Seemingly, the two wouldn't mix, but then Woolite went and hired Zombie to direct a commercial. (Thanks to Ryan for the link.) Here is the commercial. I'll be honest, it's a bit more macabre than what I've grown to expect from laundry detergent commercials.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Tuesday Top Ten: Summer Beers

I'll be honest, I'm a bigger fan of dark beers and winter beers than I am of light beers and summer beers, but I still enjoy the latter. There is nothing like sitting on a porch, roofdeck, bar patio, boat, or gazebo while sipping on a cold beer and just going to town with some chick. Here are my favorite ten summer beers.

10 (tie). Bud Light and Coors Light
Many people poo-poo Bud Light and Coors Light. They are not my favorite overall beers, but they are still beer and they serve a purpose. In the summer, oftentimes you just want the lightest beer available. Both of these go perfect with cornhole.

9. Corona
Admittedly, it's not a fantastic beer, but there's just something about drinking a Corona with a lime during the summer that makes me feel like an American. Yes, I fully realize the irony of that statement.

8. Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy
Half-beer and half-lemonade, this is like a radler in Germany. It's a good beer for hydrating yourself.

7. Hoegaarden wheat ale
Germans aren't the only ones who can make a good wheat beer. Belgians can too. Hoegaarden, which I refuse to pronounce correctly because "ho garden" is funnier than "who garden," is a delicious, unfiltered, spicy wheat beer.

6. Red Stripe
Hooray beer!

5. Sam Adams Summer Ale
There is a reason Sam Adams has managed to become the largest American-owned brewery: mergers and acquisitions of other breweries. But that's beside the point. They also make great beers. The Summer Ale is no exception, and it has rightfully become a staple of taps during the summer.

4. Goose Island 312
Call me a homer, but I am a fan of Goose Island's "urban wheat," 312. It's not as heavy as a lot of wheat beers, and it's a great cookout beer. Hopefully Anheuser-Busch InBev doesn't screw it up.

3 (tie). Hacker-Pschorr Weisse and Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier
The Germans do good things with beer, and particularly with weissbier (or, as we English speakers call it, wheat beer). Hacker-Pschorr and Paulaner make my two favorite regular weisses.

2. Franziskaner Weissbier Dunkel
As the name implies, this is a dark weiss, and it is fantastic. It is particularly enjoyable at the Englischer Garten in Munich (or any biergarten in Munich for that matter), but if you're one of those pansies who hates to fly, then just go to Binny's and drink it in the privacy of your secure, locked, xenophobic home.

1. Bell's Oberon
This is a delicious and refreshing unfiltered wheat ale, which Bell's makes seasonally each summer. Remember when Bell's had to leave Chicago a few years ago because of a dispute with it's distributor? I killed a man because of that. Bell's eventually came back, so you might think my actions were a bit hasty, but I had to go two summers without Oberon.

As always, I'd love to hear any other suggestions.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Daysleeper Record Release Show This Wednesday at Schuba's

Hey Chicago music fans, my good friend Chris has a brother named Patrick, who has a band called Daysleeper. They are having their record release show this Wednesday night at legendary local music venue Schuba's. Tickets are only $10. 56 Hope Road and Adam Richardson are opening. The show starts at 8. Click here for more details about the show, click here to go to Daysleeper's website, and click here to go to Daysleeper's MySpace page. See you there!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Map of Metal and Pre-HBF Goodness

Even though I'm going to be in the air (literally, due to the aeroplane, and figuratively, due to the Jacstocy -- my killer punch that combines Jack, Ecto Cooler, and X -- I'm going to be slamming beginning at 5 a.m.), Hair Band Friday will not be tamed for two reasons.

First, Hess sent me a link for a website called Map of Metal. Whoever put this together deserves a Nobel Prize. (I assume they give one out for Metal-Related Web Design now.) Seriously, though, even if you don't like metal, check out the website. It's very impressive. You scroll across a "map of metal," which has links between the various genres of metal and its influences. You can click on any genre and it will give you a description of the genre and allow you to play various songs. My favorite genres (not musically) are Viking metal, funeral doom, and unblack metal (that would be Christian black metal).

Second, as long as there are shirtless Brazilian dudes busting their asses trying (and failing) to cover "Sweet Child O' Mine," there will be Hair Band Friday. (Note: there will also be Hair Band Friday without shirtless Brazilian dudes busting their asses trying to cover "Sweet Child O' Mine.) Thanks to The Weez for the link.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

The Golf Boys

With the U.S. Open starting tomorrow, this video is especially poignant. Kudos to Ben Crane, Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan, and Bubba Watson, who are not only professional golfers, but also stone cold pimps.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Cell Phones in Flight

I don't have time this week for a Tuesday Top Ten, but here is a link to an interesting and relatively terrifying ABC News video about the dangers of turning on your cell phone on a plane, especially during takeoff or landing.

In other horrifying news (for you, not me), I am out of town this Friday and next Friday, so I am likely not going to be able to post the first ten hair band songs I listen to each of those Fridays. Calm down. Here's what I want you to do in my absence: take a Valium, take another, take another, listen to my Hair Band Friday station on Pandora, down a bottle of Jack, eat some carrots (good for the eyes), get some chicks (or dudes) in your office to take their tops off before they are allowed to enter your office or cubicle, and rock out like you're in a band with an umlaut in the name. I'll be doing the same, just in different locales, and without the carrots.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Drop That Zero and Get With the Hero

J-Diza, this one's for you. I received a Facebook message from The Weez today, sending me an internet link with the subject line "Have You Seen This Series?," which is odd, since I thought it was pretty well-known that all I view online is amputee porn, recaps of Gwar shows, and YouTube videos of dachshunds getting into mischief. Am I to understand that incorrigible little Biscuit got his head in the cereal box again?!

The link is to a long-overdue story entitled "An in-depth breakdown of the Vanilla Ice movie 'Cool As Ice'" (as if there is another Vanilla Ice movie or another movie called Cool As Ice). This movie was featured prominently at my eighth grade birthday party, so it has a special place in my heart. It is also one of the most ridiculous mainstream movies ever made. Slide 16 is all the evidence you need. Enjoy.

Thursday, June 09, 2011

Return of The Darkness?

As you may know, I love the rock and roll. One of my favorite bands from the last decade was The Darkness, a balls-to-the-wall English hard rock band who seemed to be the cheeky love child of Queen and AC/DC. Their debut album, Permission to Land, came in at #16 on my list of my Top 100 favorite albums of the 2000s, and their second album, One Way Ticket to Hell . . . And Back, came in at #45. Their signature song, "I Believe In a Thing Called Love" is my #1 song from the last decade. I absolutely love that song. I've even been known to sing it at live band karaoke as a birthday present for my lovely wife, even if the performance wasn't as great as I'd like to remember.

I had the pleasure of the band in concert in Columbus back in '04, along with Wildhearts, and it was a great show. It was before they had released their second album, and they played a few songs from that album, in addition to every song off of Permission to Land. They seemed like the future of hard arena rock. However, lead singer Justin Hawkins fell into the problems that accompany being a rock star, and decided in 2006 to quit the band for the sake of his health. I was crushed, but I understood.

And then today, I get an email from The Weez with a link to a story that, gulp, reunited. For any of you lucky enough to go to the Download Festival in Donnington (for some reason, I'm assuming I have a lot of British readers), The Darkness is playing tomorrow night before Def Leppard. Damn, that would be one of my dream shows. Apparently, The Darkness played a club show a couple days ago, featuring a couple new songs, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us" and "Cannonball." The audio isn't great on the clips, but you can tell they still rock. I'm hoping this means a new album is in the works (and, of course, the resulting US tour).



Here are the Darkness songs I could find on Playlist.com:

Get a playlist! Standalone player Get Ringtones

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

New Book: Clapton by Eric Clapton

I finished Runaway Dream: Born to Run and Bruce Springsteen's American Vision by Louis P. Masur, a nice little book about Springsteen's seminal album Born to Run, its reception, and its impact on music and Springsteen's career. I enjoyed the book, but I think it's definitely a book geared more towards fans of the album and/or fans of Springsteen than casual fans.

I have since started reading Clapton by Eric Clapton. It's about a guy named Clapton and his merry adventures in or around London and such. But seriously, so far it's great. It's a quick read, despite relatively small font. I'm up to Derek & The Dominos, which, as you may know, put out my favorite album of all time.

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Tuesday Top Ten: More Questions I Struggle With on a Daily Basis

In November 2009 and May 2010, I posted a couple Tuesday Top Tens with questions I struggle with on a daily basis (click here for post 1, post 2, and post 3). I think it's good to question everything, so I do, mostly in my head and occasionally to people walking down the street. So anyway, here are ten more questions I struggle with on a daily basis.

10. If I had to give up watching sports or listening to music forever, what would I choose?

9. Do dogs get Alzheimer's? How can you tell?

8. Do wire hangers have insane amounts of unprotected sex? If not, I have no explanation for where they all came from.

7. Is it hypocritical for a pro-lifer to eat eggs?

6. What's with ear plugs? More importantly, what happens when someone with ear plugs decides to take them out? Presumably, it's not followed by a job offer at, well, anywhere. I have nothing against ear plugs as a form of social expression, but I think it's a bold choice with certain irreversible consequences.

5. Can there ever be another Beatles?

4. It's 95 degrees. How can you possibly be wearing a hoodie and Uggs?

3. Are people oblivious to how obnoxious they are or are people just assholes? Do people really think everyone on the train wants to listen to their iPods? Or do they just not realize that everyone on the train can hear every word coming from their headphones? And what's with the house music? It's eight o'clock in the fucking morning.

2. What in God's name did people do at work before computers or the internet? Did they actually do work all day? Or was that why people drank at work, Mad Men style? I have to assume the invention of the internet has cut down on intraoffice interaction and romance.

1. Who the fuck is stealing my socks?

If you know the answers to any of these questions, please respond.

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

McCartney Does Holly

On June 28, a Buddy Holly tribute album will be released, featuring the likes of Lou Reed, Graham Nash, The Black Keys, Patti Smith, Cee Lo Green, Kid Rock, My Morning Jacket, Modest Mouse, and many others, most importantly Paul McCartney. It's no secret that Buddy Holly and The Crickets were a huge influence on The Beatles. Hell, the name of the band is an homage to The Crickets. And one (that "one" being me) can assume the "wings" in Wings were cricket wings, assuming crickets have wings. Anyway, on the album McCartney covers "It's So Easy" (which is not in any way similar or related to the Guns N' Roses song of the same name). McCartney's version of the song is fuzzy, raunchy, and, as the Rolling Stone review says, "awesomely batshit." Here's a link to listen to the song. It's pretty sweet. Thanks to Bonham for the links.