I was just raving about how awesome London Calling is and how it took me forever to really get it. Seriously, I probably owned that record for 15 years and only now, in 2007, am I as stoked as I should have been. Anyhow, there was apparently some limericking going around, it all started here, and then a fellow named Nate did it to London Calling, and it is awesome. Incidentally, not only am I super pumped on “Train in Vain”, but it’s also my favorite limerick. (That said, I think the “Lost in the Supermarket” one is the most accurate.)
The Weekly World news will be publishing it’s last edition this week, as CBS reports. (The article has a sweet picture!)
I’ve only bought the paper once or twice in my life. I’ve always though its headlines (which you get for free) were probably better than anything actually in the paper. (Kinda like the Onion, come to think of it…) Still, despite never having read it, I’m surely sorely going to miss seeing the headlines at 7-11 and other fine establishment check-out lines.
Fortunately, there still will be an online edition. I only home all super markets will install computer monitors with an auto-refreshing weeklyworldnews.com. I’m probably not going to take the time to do it myself.
Big Trouble in Little Russia; or Big Trouble in Big Russia; or Little Trouble in Big Russia
Monday , 30, July 2007 Politics 1 CommentThe headline on Drudge was “Sex for the Motherland” and it was on its face an article about some event that was aimed at getting couples to get it on, with the goal of increasing Russia’s dwindling population. That seems interesting enough, especially from an American perspective. It seems funny to have a quasi-governmental group encouraging sex as basically a national security/economic issue. Upon closer nspection (and by that I mean once you read it) it’s actually more than that.
The organization that sponsored the sleep-in, if you will, is called Nashi, and here’s the basic premise of the Daily Mail article:
But the real aim of the youth camp – and the 100,000-strong movement behind it – is not to improve Russia’s demographic profile, but to attack democracy.
Huh? Nashi is really about more than getting people to have sex, though I’d love to be in charge of an organization with that tall task. Here are the main points of the article:
- Nashi also sponsored a book burning event, collecting “unpatriotic” works and destroying them. The kicker? Not that the hurricane’s name is Ditka, but that the to-be-burned books were provided beforehand by the organization.
- Nashi led a protest at the Estonian embassy after Estonia got bummed on some old Soviet memorial. The protest wasn’t the regular oldAmerican kind with flag waving and placards and basically impotent old hippies. They covered the building with graffiti, destroyed an ambassador’s car, and rocked out to some sweet old Russian propaganda music.
- Nashi makes a point of finding examples of fascism in other countries. I guess the idea is, “You think we’re fascist?!? Check out those other dudes!” Smelt-it-deal-it, anyone?
The articles goes on an discusses a bunch of other examples of general worrisome behavior happening in Russia. We know Putin’s basically an autocrat, but it’s weird seeing all sorts of slippery steps towards fascism. Rampant nationalism, xenophobia, and rewriting popular history an dshowing Stalin as a great leader, Yeltsin as a lame-o Russian version of John Kerry. (That means wimpy.)
The thing that caught my eye was really the way they’re trying to recast Russian 20th century history n good light. We say Stalin sucks and that mass murders were bad. Putin says that might have been bad, but so was the atomic bombing in Japan. (Yeah, the bombing that stopped the war that Russia was fighting with us.) Their Afganistan is no worse than our Vietnam. Maybe so, but nearly half our country was protesting like crazy in the streets, whereas they sorta frown on it.  (Sorta.) With Putin talking openly about considering “running” for a thirteenth term or whatever, it kinda makes you nervous for global relationships over the next twenty years. China’s probably still worse than Russia as far as democracy is concerned, but at least they’re honest about where they stand on the issue.
(Side note: I don’t know much about British journalism or the Daily Mail, but this news piece really reads more like an extended opinion article. Maybe the Daily Mail is a hack tabloid, or maybe British conceptions of proper journalistic tone are different. If anyone is more familiar with their customs over there, let me know. Seems like a lot of stuff I read from there have a similiar, conversational/opinionated vibe to them, even when presented as straight news. Of course, maybe it is an editorial, and I just didn’t get it.)
The Rentals have a new EP coming out, called The Last Little Life. This album’s been talked about for awhile, so I’m glad that it’s finally coming out, though I get the impression that it’s only a handful of tracks. They’re playing at the Metro next month, so maybe I’ll scrounge up some dollars and try to go. Here’s something kinda interesting. It’s a French TV show with Blur playing “Friends of P” with Matt Sharp. It’s kinda neat.
So I’m about to drop a bomb that’s going to require going majorly in debt re: hipster credibility. I’ve been listening to London Calling a lot recently, and the Clash in general. I’ve never been a super fan, but just sort of instinctually knew it was awesome, without ever having really thought about how great it is and why. It’s great, and it’s great because it’s awesome. Anyhow, as I was listening to London Calling tonight, I realized that there was someone I’ve been listening to a lot that was really similar, but I couldn’t figure it out. The night went on, I watched Daria, and then I went back to the Clash and it hit me. Ted Leo! Now that I’ve realized it, it seems to stupidly obvious that I’m ashamed it took me so many years as a TL/Rx fan before I realized it. The punk/reggae/ska combo, and the usually political lyrics, combined with the occasional emo/love song.  Anyhow, on the of chance that there’s a Ted Leo fan who never bothered with the Clash, or a Clash fan who never bothered with Ted Leo, I think the relationship should be checked out. The real standout, holy-cow type songs that struck me are “Lost in the Supermarket” and “Train in Vain”, the latter being such a rad song it’s unbelievable. I think I never really listened to the second side of London Calling, so that could be why I’m suddenly so stoked. It’s fantastic though; better late than never.
(Sidenote: I still have a crush on Jane Lane. Why didn’t she get a spin-off show?)
Henry Rollins defends using punk rock songs in ads:
These bands are not being co-opted or selling out at all. Selling out is when you make the record you are told to make instead of the one you want to make. I wonder if it ever occurred to these people that the reason the music of these interesting and alternative bands is being recruited is because their fans are now the ones calling the shots. In other words, we have arrived!
Not that my opinion matters, but I think he’s right. There was something like an AARP ad that had the Buzzcocks “What Do I Get?” playing, and the first time I saw it, I was a little put off. Then I thought about how those that liked the Buzzcocks back in the day… Singles Going Steady was released in 1979, after they had been a band for four years. If you were say 20 in 1979, in 2007 you’re 48. At 48, it’s not too hard to believe that you’re thinking about whatever it is that the AARP offers. Plus, as Rollins mentions, would you rather hear the Buzzcocks in a commercial, or some lame pop song? Think of it as a mini-music video. It’s seriously better than whatever you’d hear on MTV.
A recent article in Slate discusses shoe sponsorships in China. Nike and Adidas are doing gangbusters over there, with Adidas planning on doubling (to ~5000) the number of stores they have there. Like the US, the shoes don’t really matter as much as the sponsorships do, so the local and foreign companies go bonkers for sponsors. The jokey headline of the article was “Who gave Kim Jong-Il a sneaker deal?” but it was only jokey. He doesn’t have one, however the coutry of North Korea does have one, apparently the DPRK is outstanding at table tennis and diving, though of course divers don’t wear shoes, I don’t see why that should stop them. Anyhow, were Kim Jong-Il to have a personal sneaker deal, they’d probably look something like this:
 
(Of course, he’s stellar at golf, shooting 11 holes-in-one at his first round.  They’d probably also have spikes.)
(Sidenote: This website is awesome. The pseudo-swoosh!  Li-Ning shoes. Passion: a flaming torch. Vitality: a moving rhythm. Youth: a flying red flag.)
Not this is really news, but there’s a new study out about the carbon footprint resulting from eating beef.
This also consumed 169 megajoules of energy.
That means that 2.2lb of beef is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions which have the same effect as the carbon dioxide released by an ordinary car travelling at 50 miles per hour for 155 miles, a journey lasting three hours. The amount of energy consumed would light a 100-watt bulb for 20 days.
Of course, this was printed in a news paper, so it’s highly likely that it was distorted and confused as much as possible. Nonetheless, it’s yet another reason for vegetarianism that doesn’t involve the “Animals are cute!” rationale.
Seriously. A real, live Truck-truck-truck-truck. Somewhere between Oregon and Mexico.
