boywiththorninside

Welcome to VC! Nice first post--and I'm totally with you regarding "Born Alone." I think it's one of best power pop songs in the Wilco catalog. Love it.

Yes! This song is great and is the one that, to this point, has inspired the most head shaking air guitar.

Now all the criminals on the Upper West Side

Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise

While Patterson sits like Buddha in a 210 sq ft cell

An innocent man in a living hell.

I enjoyed this.

Based on the snippets, I counted 6 or 7 songs that I could see liking. Unfortunately, that includes the two I have already heard. I really want to hear "Life Is Hard" in full. I'm a sucker for the late-era Dylan ballad.

I can't think of a band, but as for active, prime of their career artists:

Lil' Wayne

Beyonce

Now, Dylan, Young and countless others are more important to my life, but I'm getting old.

(Yes, I know Young is a Canadian native)

Another vote for Harvest Moon. I love all of the songs from that one that have already been mentioned.

I also like Silver & Gold a whole lot. "Razor Love" is outstanding.

Prairie Wind is another nice, gentle post-1980's Neil record.

I think Planet Waves has some of Dylan's most tender and poetic moments. Has he ever written a better line than this one (from "Tough Mama")?

"Today on the countryside it was a-hotter than a crotch"

A line at once beautiful, lyrical, and genital. There is but one Dylan.

When was the recorded? I'm guessing right after Summerteeth?

Yeah, it was taped March 23, 1999.

It's an older one with Blur and Van Morrison.

Wilco performs "Can't Stand It" and "I'm Always in Love"

"Forever Young" on Dylan's Planet Waves.

All recorded sound post-Thomas Edison sucks.

I can't believe some of the things I have read here. Also, I love some of the things I have read here.

Good thread.

And here is the big thing: The Red Sox win now. Not just games and series, but championships. The great backstory to this matchup evaporated along with that three-games-to-none lead the Yanks let slip away in the 2004 ALCS. Boston was no longer Charlie Brown falling on his butt after the Yankees went all Lucy and kept pulling it away at the final second.

 

In 2003-04, every game - heck, every inning, every pitch - was as riveting as baseball gets. But that was because the Yankees had something and the Red Sox were trying to take it away. The context was everything. The Curse defined The Rivalry. Once the hex was lifted, so was the Luke-and-Laura-are-getting-married portion of the script. The intensity could never be the same again.

 

In fact, now it is contrived. We are told these games carry the same heat as always by their presence in special time slots on Fox and ESPN, and by people like me trying to convince you that nothing has changed, that it is Red Sox vs. Yankees and it is the same as it has ever been.

Yeah, there's definitely some truth in this. Still, as long as both the Yankees and Red Sox continue to be playoff contenders, continue to battle for the AL East crown, I'll still care about the "rivalry." Just not as much as ESPN wants me to.

Anyone watching Yankees-Sox? I hate high scoring back and forth games like this one. Give me a well pitched 3-2 final score. That's good baseball. Also, is that Robert Wuhl sitting behind home plate? I hate him too.

"Hate It Here" had an earlier incarnation: "You're Really Gone" (performed live once - 5/16/03).

I don't really think that's fair. The intention of the original statement was pretty clear from the start, I think, which might explain why nobody needed clarification until this weekend, when his opponents finally decided to try to spin it in their favor. Was it perfectly phrased? No, but I think it requires a willful desire to think the worst of Obama to miss the very clear empathy--rather than condescension-- that underscored the statement.

If Obama's remarks were made directly to the individuals he was speaking of, I would have no problem seeing his words as poorly phrased but, ultimately, empathetic. The fact that he was addressing a San Francisco fund-raising audience does influence my perception. I fear he shaped his remarks to fit his audience. I personally don't, but I do know that where I'm from (NYC) many people do look down on "Gods and guns" small-town Americans. I'm willing to bet the political pulse of NYC is quite similar to that of San Francisco, and that Barack was trying to connect with that sensibility. Thus, I find Obama's comments to be not only condescending, but also pandering. Give 'em what they want to hear, Barack.

I also love how he consistently used the pronoun "they." These weren't his fellow Americans he was speaking of, these weren't people who had anything in common with the San Francisco audience, these were

This is what Obama said today:

 

"So I said well you know when you're bitter you turn to what you can count on. So people they vote about guns, or they take comfort from their faith and their family and their community... And now I didn't say it as well as I should have because you know the truth is that these traditions that are passed on from generation to generation those are important. That's what sustains us... But what is absolutely true is that people don't feel like they are being listened to. And so they pray and they count on each other and they count on their families. You know this in your own lives. What we need is a government that is actually paying attention."

Today. This is what he said today. O.K. I don

Didn't see this anywhere...

Dylan Pulitzer

Heston, Baldwin, Brando, Belafonte - March on Washington, August 28, 1963

Nice work posting this, mountain bed. I just got around to seeing it. Gil is truly one of the greats and, yes, woefully underappreciated.

I also feel that there is a double-standard working here, when Pat Buchanon can say this on National Televison, and he is still employed by MSNBC:

 

"America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known. Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American."

 

But its ok for Buchanon, why? Because he is white? Because its expected of him?

I don't agree with Buchanan's point, but I don't see his statement as intentionally inflammatory. What he said wasn't exactly "nappy-headed ho's." Do you think he was trying to say slavery was ultimately good? I didn't take that from it. I interpreted his remark to be a clumsy effort to condense the African-American experience into a single, concise statement (Point A - began as slaves, Point B - struggle and community growth, Point C - current freedom and prosperity). Now, if Pat really believes Point C, he needs to take a more thorough look around some predominantly African-American neighborhoods. Things aren't always all smiles, sunshine and lollipops there. Then again, Obama, Clarence Page and Gwen Ifill appear to be doing alright for themselves and those might be the only "black folks" Pat knows.

Nonetheless, Pat isn't the self-proclaimed candidate of hope and unity. Obama is. I know I'm holding Barack to a high standard, but - one more time - this is the standard he set for himself though his words and imagery. I don't care if 95% of Wright's sermons have been uplifting and positive, Obama's created image allows for almost nothing less than perfection from himself or his associates. Having your spiritual leader on tape saying "God damn America" - no matter the context - isn't going to cut it. The self-proclaimed candidate of hope and unity has to be better and more careful with who they associate with than everyone else. Otherwise, they are just another candidate. And if Barack is just another politician, just another candidate, some of my true-believer friends are going to be very disappointed. Nobody wants that.

Also, shoot MSNBC an e-mail if you are offended by what Buchanan said. I wouldn't mind seeing him fired. As long as he could still go on the McLaughlin Group. The sexual tension/energy between Pat and Eleanor Clift is electric. It's a joy to watch and always jump starts my Sunday mornings.

I admit to having not read this entire thread, so forgive me if anything I write is recycled. Also, I admit to not being as politically well-versed as most people here probably are. I simply can

UConn and Louisville have identical 24-7 records. UConn and Louisville both lost a game last week. UConn beat Louisville in their only head to head matchup just over a month ago. The consensus is Louisville deserves to be seeded higher (3 seed) than UConn (4 seed). Boo.

Yes, I'm an oversensitive UConn fan.

Still, that was interesting to look at. Thanks.

That was cool.

I love Marvin. The picture that was used in the mural has actually been my avatar/featured photo on my Rate Your Music page for the past few weeks. Also, just re-read Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye.

If you don't want to wait for a download, this guy has both performances posted (for the time being anyway):

Hate It Here and Walken

I don't know much about television production, but those performances were pretty well directed. For the most part, the camera seemed to be on the right person. When Sansone added an organ fill, the camera was there; when Cline was going off, the camera was there, etc. Not much focus on the bass player though. That man has paid his dues. He's been in it for the long haul. He deserved more face time.

The Beatles were only the best band till 68? Have you even heard Abbey Road?!

 

This list feels more like "the most popular band".

What is this Abbey Road that you speak of?

In my attempt at a timeline, I wasn't trying to find the band that was literally the best. That would be way too difficult, and would probably involve too much subjectivity. Were The Beatles better than The Velvet Underground in 1967? I don't think so, but The Beatles commerical success and cultural impact far surpassed VU's at that time. Thus, The Beatles get the nod. What I was trying to do was find the band that in some way defined/had the greatest impact on a certain time period - at that time. Popularity definitely factors into that. Like I said, I used an "unscientific amalgamation of critical acclaim, commercial success, and the band