Tag Archives: 2009

Dope Media of the Day: Trunks & Paws

Genetically Co-evolved: The Elephant & The Ghetto Blaster

Genetically Co-evolved: The Elephant & The Ghetto Blaster

[pic via Brock Davis]

Progressive Rock.

King Crimson, Rush, Genesis.

These are the bands with pictures over the definition of “Pretense“, one of the worst offenses of Douchebags everywhere. I mean, I can take some proggy songs, some of the time, but when some frat boy plunks $5 into the jukebox, I pray that we aren’t in store for 80 minutes of rock opera crooning and over the top drum solos. [[1]]Although I gotta admit, you get your band for your buck with the 10 min+ songs.[[1]]

Prog Rock is one thing, but I am not ashamed to admit: Pink Floyd… is a great band. Ever since I was first enthralled by “Time”, and the rest of Dark Side of the Moon (the pinnacle of stoner rock){{1}}, The Wall (We Don’t Need No Education), both super selling mega classic rock blockbusters. [[1]]Anyone remember chillin’ out after the party, sleepin’ in the back of the truck, buzzed and cold, but happy to be among friends, underneath the starry, starry night?[[1]] Although DSotM will always be my first and favorite, my really close second is not “The Wall”, but “Animals”.

Pink Floyd’s tribute to George Orwell’s story, “Animal Farm”, this album has a short, but sweet tracklist:

  1. Pigs on the Wing, Pt. 1 (1:25)
  2. Dogs (17:08)
  3. Pigs (Three Different Ones) (11:28)
  4. Sheep (10:20)
  5. Pigs on the Wing, Pt. 2 (1:25)

Songs there are few, but each of the 4 animals get over 10 minutes of haunting singing and guitar solos. Sung from the perspective of the animals, songwriters Roger Waters and David Gilmour imbue each animal with a negative trait. Waters—the mastermind behind the spiral of despair that is The Wall—wrote all of the songs except one.

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Bad Transportation = Pollution ≠ Green | Change

Soon, the U.S. Senate will hold a confirmation hearing on the president-elect's choice of Ray LaHood for Secretary of Transportation. No one expects that hearing to be anything but easy for LaHood. That's too bad, because it shows that when it comes to greening the stimulus, we're not only missing the forest for the trees, we're not even seeing the trees right…

…LaHood’s appointment is so disappointing to transportation advocates who’ve been waiting eight years for change, that they’re boiling with indignant disbelief, branding him “an unbelievably disastrous pick,” “Status quo we can believe in” and “same.gov” (a dig at the Obama transition site, change.gov). As one insider summed it up: “It’s a real read-it-and-weep moment.”

This is exactly what I was talking about. Dammit Obama!

[via Worldchanging]

BART Shooting

I was in the bay for new years. Did my thing with my friends. Didn’t get too fucked up, tho I can’t say the same for everyone; Came home relatively early.

Next day, I heard bout some crazy shit.

Someone got shot and killed at the Fruitvale BART station.

What’s really sad is that my first reaction was, “Oh, really? Damn, not again.”

It wasn’t outrage. It wasn’t even shock.

Whatever “society” us Americans are supposed to have… created this lack of emotion.

Some say it’s (police brutality) a post 9/11 thing. I’m inclined to believe that it was 9/11 that gave this kinda shit some spotlight. That made Americans stand up and take notice what’s going on in their own backyard.

A lotta college kids know about Mumia Abdul Jabbar now. I ‘spect that when he gets killed off, his memory’ll go the way of Guevarra: injustice & tragedy commercialized to sell a shirt.

But what most of em don’t know is that this shit ain’t new. Hell, This shit ain’t even old.

It’s institutionalized.