Does everyone in the Bush Administration...

... free base?

Now, some may argue that I'm devaluing the rantola by suggesting that members of the Bush team take time out of their busy days (when not lying to Congress, threatening World War III, or engaging in book clubs with "thinkers" crazier than rabid badgers stuck in a cage watching "The View") to spoon up and ride the crack rocket, but let's take a close look at just how the world continues to burn, even with a Democrat-controlled Congress:

• Valery Plame Wilson - covert CIA operative working on counter-proliferation in the Middle East (likely Saudia Arabia and Iran), her cover blown by Dick Cheney's minions concerned at the size of their small penises and the fact that their back-room impersonations of Darth Vader would suddenly be brought to light by her husband's findings that Iraq NEVER sought yellow cake from Niger.

• The prosecutor firings, involving not just the "let-go 8," but also scores of others who were considered for dismissal by AG Alberto Gonzales and his wannabe law, er, theocratic university grads so that ultra (and I won't even defame the term "conservative") CRAZY and/or PARTISAN hacks could fill-in the gaps and turn Dubya's Justice Department into Taliban-lite

• The latest news that Gonzo and former White House Chief of Staff tried to get a quasi-comatose former AG, John Ashcroft, looped up on meds pre-pancreatitis surgery, to sign-off, from his hospital bed, on the illegal wire-tapping program targeting Americans suspected of having affiliations with terrorist suspects overseas. While I am no fan of Ashcroft, he berated the two White House lackeys before bailing into sleep land... and the White House still signed off on the program, without Justice Department approval as to its legality.

• Um, yeah... Gitmo is still open... remember what happens there?

• Riiiiight, so too is Bagram Air Base... but that place is pretty much an Afghani Chucky Cheese...

• And finally, the President of the United States of America is such a complete (criminal) moron that not only does he continuously bail off of sofas and bicycles, the guy can't even work a Segway... and is it just me, or does the pic make it look like he crashed into a 9-year-old girl's trike? Hey, Free World, we're all in good hands...

Only Go(oogle)d knows...

Here's a trippy, 000 hrs thought:


What if, one day, Google didn't just answer all of our inane questions... but actually asked us something in reply? What if there really was Something on the other side of the screen?

Guest Post: That Neon Glow...

Guest Post: More Brilliant than Neon

Alyson Saunders - Contributor

Think back to the last time you experienced perfection; an ice cold Heineken, a cloudless hot summer day, a fresh fall of snow on the eve of the first ski day of the season, a hidden $20 bill discovered in the bottom of a coat pocket. It’s obvious that perfection isn’t something that frequents most people’s lives, but when it visits, its unexpected appearance is even more pleasurable. Such is the case with the new album by Arcade Fire, "Neon Bible." Yes, there was an incredible amount of hype before this album was even released. But it goes well beyond the hype, introducing listeners to an entirely new and much needed sound, all the while throwing the disgraceful top 40 bands to the curb. Not only is the album perfect in itself, but the true perfection comes from the way this album emphasizes the lack of talent and creativity that exists in ninety percent of the bands today.

The title track of the album, “Black Mirror” tricks the listener into thinking that this song has set the overall tone of the album. While the track is one of the more darker songs on the album, all of the 11 songs flow smoothly from one to the other, blending a mix of upbeat rock with dark, melancholy notes. “Intervention” is a moving track, filled with deep organ chords, awakening the listener to a somewhat religious, euphoric melody where one is almost motivated (but not quite committed) to attend the upcoming Sunday service. Besides the unique harmonies that the band is so expertly capable of creating for each one of the songs on the album, the eloquent lyrics are really what wake up the listener, allowing you to embark on a profound journey, making you question your own thoughts each step of the way. Maybe Bush should consider quoting some of the band’s proverbs in his next speech and then at least we could be guaranteed a somewhat more intellectual dialogue.

Although the songs describe a variety of mixed tones, it’s clear that Win Butler is using this album as a forum for his discontent with worldly issues, particularly with the American government. In “Windowsill,” he blatantly expresses his opinion of the USA with his lyric, “... and I don’t want to live in America no more...” He goes even further with his comment when speaking of the state of music and its promotion with the lines, “MTV what have you done to me? Save my soul, set me free. Set me free, what have you done to me...” emphasizing the celebrity-obsessed and self-destructive culture in which we live.

Personally, I haven’t come across an album as solid and creative as this one in a very long time and it should be an essential component in any true music devotee’s collection. The band’s line from “Interventions” perfectly describes the instability that exists among us all - “Singing Halleluiah with the fear in your heart.” Not only does this album press the listener to face the exceptionally strong anxiety that exists in today’s society, but it pushes you further, forcing you to actually feel and experience it. More bands need to understand the essence behind Arcade Fire - their belief that music is meant to hurt, uplift, inspire ,and intrigue. And with “Neon Bible,” this exceptional Canadian band does it perfectly.

The Full Nelson...

... on "Half Nelson"...

I watched the first 80 minutes of this "critically acclaimed" movie and couldn't help but wonder when awkward interactions between characters and 80's drug collapse cliches suddenly fell into the "critically acclaimed" category of film, well, critique.

The "Brando-esque" comparisions were a little much for Gosling's portrayal of Dan, the high school teacher-junkie... he likes crack... he likes cocaine... as the lead drug dealer in the film notes, he's a true "basehead"... and while the whole "scene" looks pretty "cool" when he's snorting blow and macking on two co-eds at once in the back of some dance club, I was expecting an NBC, "The More You Know," public service announcement with Phylicia Rashad to creep up like a dirty sanchez and really bring me back to reality... "Whoa, crack smoking is bad? Whew, good thing you caught me when you did Phylicia... Wow, do I feel better now."

But like my word of the day, "Half Nelson" really is half of the the full - it's a "slow burn"... and by the time you hit the 81st minute straight through to its, again, awkward yet touching conclusion, you know you've watched a kaleidoscope of Americana that shines the magnifying glass on the burning ant called the Void.


That's right - the Void. Summed up in the void of race relations (no way Katrina could happen... oh wait, it did, and centuries of inequality blasted to the front pages yet again); the void of the presidency (while I thought that side of the film was hugely "try-hard" when the first rant against Dubya was thrown out by Dan as he did blow and slow-danced with some tricked-out soccer mom, maybe that's the irony - really, this void was generational, between his family's Vietnam ties and his emptiness to anything current involving Iraq); the void of the family (Dan's telling night out at dinner with his family, all of them sloshed on wine and rum, while he rolls his eyes and grinds his teeth to the James Taylor records in the background, only to leave and dive head first into a crack house night of shit-stained sheets and cheap lingerie... a scene that also tied into his student, Dre, and her lack of a true set of support mechanisms - the facade and cliche of her family that is comprised of a nice-guy dime bagger and a mom working triple shifts); and the void of what is Now, the Present (Dan, so preoccupied with his history class, revolutionaries, and how fucked we all in this Century of 21st's... and yet, he can't pull himself away from the crack long enough to make sure his cat hasn't pulled a self-taxidermy move on his bedroom floor).

"Half Nelson" may be an incomplete film, but its message is loud and clear. The Void is Here. Now what do we do to fill it?