What He Said

A hearty handshake to CRH on his triumphant return to posting. (Laurel wreaths are in tariff limbo.) I want to add to what he wrote with a couple additional observations.

We have to remember that Democrats are not the only group in the country with agency. Nobody was forced to vote for Trump; those voters made their choice and are somewhere on this handy hierarchy of hoo-boy. The terrible thing (OK one of the terrible things) we have to come to grips with is that a lot of people in this country, for a variety of reasons, want to see others hurt, and will even absorb a certain amount of punishment as long as Those People are seen to be getting it worse. The Republicans have run on this since at least 1980.

The political media, meanwhile, is all about the horserace, who's up, who's down, who's leaking. This is PRECISELY why they HATED the Obama and Biden years: quiet competence is boring. This tends to distort, to say the least, coverage of current events.

OK, where was I? Oh, right.

We may all have agency, whether we acknowledge it or not, but one thing that seems to be lacking on the other side (indeed its absence seems to be actively encouraged) is empathy. It does not matter (in this sense, and pardon me CRH) that CRH has a trans sister; I know that he would support trans rights regardless because he can empathize with that. The ability to put ourselves in other people's shoes without reference to personal experience is one of the greatest attributes of humanity if only we would let it, and there is no reason it should not influence our politics.

But fuck Elon Musk.

It Has a Good Beat & c.

Here's a musical offering that is basically every '80s video ever:



If you look closely you can spot Mr. Bean.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Comparing Big Men

I seem to have given JJV the first shot at eulogizing Mandela here. It's not comprehensively awful despite the Kiplingesque laager*-holding wankery, which is dealt with in comments.

Here's food for thought: Nelson Mandela did more for the cause of freedom than Ronald Reagan.



*Best to use the Boer spelling to distinguish from lager-holding, which I wholeheartedly endorse.

Tearses for Fearses, Yes Precious!

This came to my attention some time ago but I have been wandering in far countries where the stars are strange. OK, not really but that's a cool quote.

Behold:



The accompanist is probably not this guy.

What are Words For, when No One Watches the Simpsons Anymore

West Coast correspondent Beastybunny reports on the addition of new words to the venerable Oxford English Dictionary. At last, speeches incorporating "chillax" and "bromance" will not longer be met by sustained bouts of harrumphing and calls for division.

Oh, who cares about that, here's Missing Persons:



Update: Merriam-Webster gets in on the action.

We'll Look at the Latest in Gold-Plated Firing Pins

Earlier today my good friend Mike Sauter reminded me that we caught the Beat Farmers on their "Pursuit of Happiness" tour 25 years ago in Rome, New York, on this very day. It remains the single greatest bar band show I have ever seen. By chance Mike got hold of the soundboard recording of the show and I hope that he can one day replace the crumbling cassette copy I have with a more durable version, not least because I can be heard clearly on it at one point requesting "California Kid":



They did it without the backup singers but there was an interval in which Country Dick Montana (RIP) was transported via piggyback ride from table to table.

They also did a tremendous cover of Johhny Cash's "Big River" with Mr. Montana on lead guitar:



And of course, they performed their signature tune "Happy Boy," the very first Beat Famers song I ever heard, complete with Bud Gargle:



I don't think they did this song but holy cow it's a great one with a Cash-like rhythm:



This post is dedicated to my erstwhile partner in musical crime JWE, who I would like to assure that things once more will go his way, hey hey, hubba hubba hubba hubba hubba.

Karma Charalambos

The Cypriot Orthodox Church is celebrating the return of an icon owned for the past 25+ years by Boy George.

I recommend a quick jaunt through the comments at the end of the linked article; the erudite discussion ranges from the status of the Elgin Marbles to speculation as to what a bunch of Orthodox clergy were doing watching an interview with Boy George in the first place.

Face to Face with a Classic

As a late birthday present I was presented with an American icon as extrudedly delicious as it is venerable:



Not much has changed in 25 years, although my Cookie Puss had ice cream sandwiches for eyes instead of half-moon cookies. That could be a regional thing, as I just learned from that Wikipedia article that half-moons were invented by the same bakery from which friends of mine bought my semi-legendary 21st-birthday cake. Please join me in a heartfelt rendition of "Circle of Life."

Naturally this brought to mind the first Beastie Boys song I ever heard, from 25+ years ago as well:



As the man himself used to say, "Thank you for your support."

Dogs and Performance Artists Living Together, Total Chaos

Eighties aficionados worldwide, not to mention their dogs, envy their Australian counterparts after Laurie Anderson performs a concert for their dogs.

I'm a big fan of Laurie Anderson and saw her twice, once in Boston in the late '80s (have to dig up the ticket stub for the exact date - yeah, I'm one of those people, but not one of these people*) and once in DC in 1990. I always thought that she and recent blogroll addition David Byrne should get married and produce supergenius children, but Lou Reed also fits the dynastic marriage bill. (Little late for breeding, though.)

Wonder if she did this:



*Bibliomania, incidentally, is BS. I have several books on this very topic.

Extended (though not 12-inch dancemix) Tribute

For me EMM's most recent post proceeds from a false assumption, as "My Sharona" is one of my most welcomed earworms.

This is also a great song:



This, meanwhile, is an iconic cover of a great song. Contrary to appearances, as noted here the audio for this was recorded in a restroom to take advantage of the acoustic triumph of ceramic tile.



RIP Doug. Those wishing for the death of Weird Al Yankovic or indeed any other person should think twice.

The Face of Cowbell Fever

Or not.

Update: J has informed me via comments that the subject of an ostensibly-amusing video is in fact blind, a fact of which I was not aware when I grabbed it from Awful Announcing. I have removed the clip and replaced it with this apology. (Subsitute "blog post" for "fork" in the dialogue.)



On the original subject I defer to the authority:

a-ha oh no

Norway is in mourning this evening in response to news that a-ha has broken up. Yeah, me too: I didn't know they were still together either.

Fortunately, the Internet's ukelele players are ready:

It Never Felt So Good, It Never Felt So Right, But By God That Song is Awful

Noted music aficionado and hostess sans pareil EMM commented on a recent post about "Total Eclipse of the Heart" being one of the greatest 80s songs ever. She is right, if not in the way intended, in that it is one of the greatest bad 80s songs, if not the greatest. It would be bad enough if it did not already include the single most gratuitous use of sleighbells in all of recorded human history, but that latter "accomplishment" puts it out of reach of mere dreck.

It is serial over-producer Jim Steinman's Ishtar.

And hey, I admit it, I like a lot of (what others consider) crap. Behold:



Or:



Incidentally, one reason I can't get behind the Go-Gos' cover of "Cool Jerk" (sorry EMM) is HSR's definitive treatment, with or without visuals:



Speaking of Jim Steinman, I also performed "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" as part of Four on the Floor, an intentionally bad barbershop quartet in college that played one show (by our choice, mind you). Among other things I got to do the Phil Rizzuto play-calling. Good times.

Appalled O' Creed

Slate paraphrases Gordon Gekko, declaring that Creed is Good. No, I don't buy it either. (No no no, not that Creed - he's awesome in his own way.) It doesn't help that the author draws parallels with Journey's Don't Stop Believin', a truly awful song that resonates with a certain demographic. It's true, I just checked with a mirror.



What better time to revisit Creed than with this Literal Video:



Bonus track!

Fortune Favors the Told

I hate to poach from JWT on this as it takes place in his beloved Bethesda, where a fortune teller fights to legitimize his business. However, I sensed he would not take umbrage; I'm empathic like that.

While fraud is a serious issue and should be dealt with to the extent possible, fortune telling does not meet the definition. If it did, there would be a spectacular series of class-action suits filed against stock-issuing companies, although maybe they would counter with the Evil Eye or something.

I digress. My main point here is that I get to close this post with a Sparks video.

The one who insists he was first in the line is the last to remember her name

JJV, of all people, has beaten me to the punch on John Hughes, although I suspect he jumped at the opportunity to name-drop Ben Stein.

The standard approach of the obits I have read is that he "tapped into the teen zeitgeist" etc. in films like Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club, while I guess there's no polite way to say "he also crapped out the Home Alone movies."

My relationship with the earlier Hughes films (never saw Home Alone except part of it, entirely by accident and I want those 30 minutes back) developed over time. At first I thought they were great, as they portrayed nerds and geeks (i.e., me in high school) in at least a superficially positive light. Later on, after watching them again from time to time, I realized just how repulsive the underlying message of these films is, particularly Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club. The message: "Sure, you're an outcast now, but there's always the chance you could be part of the in crowd, and wouldn't that be awesome?" Strip away the Simple Minds song and the other '80s faves*, strip away the great supporting work by John Cusack et al. ("Black and white would really capture the moment..."), and that is all that is left.

Yes, he did capture the angst of the teenager, but his paeans to conformity and the status quo wasted a tremendous opportunity. Oh, and Ferris Bueller really is a jerk. Danke Schoen, but no Danke Schoen.

*Speaking of which, the redo of "Pretty in Pink" was a crime.

Purely Unintentional Chivalry in Left Field

From Awful Announcing comes this demonstration of athletic prowess, also a Corey Hart home run:



Luckily for the young lady the guy hadn't eaten one of those four-pound burgers.

Oh, and to answer my own question, it's not this Corey Hart:

One Hundred Hairs Make the Man

From our friends at Lawyers, Guns and Money comes a link to this essential reference to male facial hair.

This takes me back to when I first started growing a beard, and watched part of Gettysburg in the last and possibly most squalid of JJV's bachelor pads, strategically located behind the fabled (yet all too real) Tune Inn. The movie was like a giant Beard Catalog and I found myself critiquing the various styles and wondering how each might look. A couple of years later I took a horseback ride while bearded* across part of the Gettysburg battlefield and it was quite stirring.

Somewhat sadly I lost the beard to an unrecoverable beard-trimmer error a few years back, although the increasing number of pigment-challenged hairs would have crossed a vanity threshold sooner or later. Also, I am now of an age when to be told I look twenty years younger is a gigantic ego boost, so that softened the blow.

Post title inspiration via one of my favorite 80s bands:



*not a misdemeanor in Pennsylvania at the time