Pic of the Day: Proof of Ent!

Here we have a profile of Treebeard himself. Ironically, this Shepherd of the Forest has seen fit to manifest in...wooden paneling. In a men's restroom.


I'm willing to sell!

Amusing bit: when I hit "Publish Post" I got this ad on the status page:

• Interior Wood Paneling Pre-Finished Cedar & Pine. Cost Savings up to 50%.

Picture of the Day Fratboy's Presidency, summarized

Forget all the analysis. Forget the Smirking Fratboy's recent outing as a motivational speaker. Forget about the "ranch" that was sold as soon as Fratboy was out of office.

This should be the summary of George W. Bush's 8 years in office:


This prick is still alive



Because this prick didn't do his job


Good riddance to the Fratboy. Guess it's too bad about the other prick, huh?

Expanding again--Kook Clearinghouse!

Well, actually, it launched October 31. I got bored and tried to do a Google search to find a list of anti-vaccination celebrities.

Couldn't find a damn thing, other than individual references to "Typhoid" Jenny McCarthy, her dork of a boyfriend (husband? meh.) Jim Carrey, and Brent "Data" Spiner.

One would think that since celebs tend to be attention whores, they'd be lined up on the street corners to be on such a list, proudly trumpeting their ignorance.

Nope.

Well, now there'll be a place to list them. I call it the Kook Clearinghouse.

It won't just be the anti-vaxxers; teabaggers, creationists (and other religious nutjobs), AIDS deniers, moon-hoaxers, 9/11 hoaxers...if it's a kook, I want it here.

Song of the Day: Del Davis Tree Farm (Primus)

Another track from Primus' "Tales From the Punchbowl," and another bit of impressive right-hand pyrotechnics from Les Claypool. As he did with "Professor Nutbutter's House of Treats," Claypool is slapping out a low-string rhythm with his thumb and popping chords with his fingers. Pretty much the coolest damn thing I've ever seen, bass-wise. Granted, I haven't really seen much of this right-hand technique, and I suck at it, so that makes it seem a lot cooler.

I've had this album since maybe mid-1996 and had it on heavy rotation in my tape deck (remember those?)--but I never paid as much attention to the bass lines then as I have since I started "playing" bass in 2004.

See, THIS GUY is PLAYING:



Me, I consider barely a beginner. But it's not Claypool who makes me want to put the bass down and quit. That'd be Jaco Pastorius.

Weather Channel's death-spiral: Friday Night at the Movies?!

Fark's sake.

Now I have to add to my rant from a few weeks ago; the creeping stupid that has absorbed the Weather Channel in the last few months (since NBC's takeover) has gotten even more stupid. Bad enough they wasted an entire Saturday evening with crap about Atlantis....

Now they're showing prime-time movies.

Tonight, it's "The Perfect Storm." Get it? It's a "weather" movie, so it belongs on the "weather" channel!

What.
The.
Fark?

And it's not an isolated thing; it started tonight (October 30) and will continue at least 4 weeks:

"The Perfect Storm
8:00 pm to 10:30 pm, Friday - Friday
10:30 pm to 1:00 am, Friday - Friday

The Weather Channel Presents series brings you popular movies all with a unique weather tie-in! Every Friday night starting at 8p ET."

Gee, I hope the local weather stops at 8 p.m. and starts up again at 1 a.m.

Is NBC TRYING to kill off this channel?

What other movies would they show?

"Sleepless in Seattle" There was rain and fog.

"Twister" Hey, they like tornadoes--every time I surf past, it seems like another "Storm Stories" episode with a house leveled by a tornado is playing. This one will just be hours long and the people will be prettier.

Hell, why not go for Shakespeare's "The Tempest"?

I better not give them ideas.

Here's their list:
The Perfect Storm – Oct. 30 (18-year anniversary of the “perfect storm” on which movie was based)

March of the Penguins – Nov. 6

Misery – Nov. 13 (there's a snowstorm in it; Weak.)

Deep Blue Sea – Nov. 20

Maybe I should smile and shrug, since I don't watch the channel constantly. I pop in for the "Local on the Eights" thing when I know there's rain on the way, just so I can see the 3- and 5-hour Doppler loop and get an idea of how quickly the front's moving in. It's quicker than waiting on my dialup connection for a Web-based loop. What they offer in its place is the standard text-bar with local conditions--but no radar.

Can't interrupt the movie, after all.

Guess it's time for a fast Internet connection.

Pic of the Day: Rush-Zep Trifecta Complete! (two-fer!)

So now I've discussed John Rutsey's being heavily influenced by John Bonham's drum riff from "The Immigrant Song" in no less than four songs on "Rush."

I've discussed Alex Lifeson's being influenced in two songs by two Jimmy Page riffs in Zep's "Heartbreaker."

Now, the Zeppelin Influence Trifecta ia complete!! This time, it's fashion rather than music:

Page & Plant:


Lee, Lifeson & Peart, in the mid-'70s--note Geddy's open-to-the-navel shirt:


Wow.

I hate to say it--Rush being my favorite band and all--but the Zep guys look a lot cooler. The Rush guys look like they're in tryouts for the "Charlie's Angels" drag review.

Song of the Day: Professor Nutbutter's House of Treats (Primus)

Wow.

I'd forgotten how insane Les Claypool's bassline is in this first track from 1995's "Tales From the Punchbowl."

Most of the fast-driving groove Claypool lays down sounds like slap-and-pop (thumping a string with the side of your thumb--the "slap"--then plucking the same or another string with one of your fingers...it's all in the wrist). He's got the bass tuned to near-subsonic lows that will make your subwoofer happy and your housemates and neighbors frantic for quiet, but it's never muddy.

Add Larry LaLonde's ever-weird guitar playing and Tim Alexander's solid drumming, then top it off with Claypool's twangy nasal vocals. That's a sound only someone with strange musical tastes could love.

...and there are ALBUMS (well, CD's) full of that in their catalog.

Here's Primus doing the song back in 1995:



Not the best-quality audio or video, but if you watch Claypool's right hand, you can see the slap & pop technique (which I've always been fascinated by). He's playing a 6-string bass as if it's a plain, dinky little guitar, which impresses the hell out of me.