Yeah Right

Wanna Know What's Stupid?

The idea that whenever you talk about having something "shoved down your throat," you're really talking about..wink wink, nudge nudge, haha, you know. Somehow, though, this idea is taking hold on the left side of the blogosphere, particularly (and unfortunately not surprisingly) when women use this phrase.    

Well, guess what geniuses?  The throat actually has a fairly well-defined biological function, as a vehicle for transporting food and fluids from the mouth into the digestive system, where they are turned into energy that sustains life.  You can look it up in any introductory textbook.  It's also something you might have gathered from your day to day experience.  

And while I'm no linguistic expert, I would bet this phrase has been in use for well over a hundred years, from the days when people never talked about oral sex in public.  So, my friends on the left, unless you want to shout out to the world that your intellectual/emotional development got stuck at the level of a typical 13 year old boy, you might want to abandon this meme.     

 

Not Quite "Kick-Ass."

My neighborhood is so boring.  I'm not aware of anyone locally who is actively trying to incorporate "the superhero archetype into daily life."  Perhaps you are more fortunate than I and have benefited from the crime-fighting prowess of any of the members of the World Superhero Registry.  Please comment if you have, especially if you've encountered the aptly-named "Angle Grinder Man."

 

Hollywood WTF?

   

Universal is apparently working on a film "adaptation" of the classic game Battleship.  And, as if its not bad enough that they are trying to make a movie out of the most rudimentary of double-blind guessing games, the producers seem to have dialed the WTF-o-meter to eleven by making the plot revolve around the good-guys fighting a "water-bound armada" of aliens.  I am not kidding.

A Song You're Too Stupid To Know About (Pt 3)

In the third installment of this series (explained here), we visit with the band Wire.  All of you should seek out their debut, Pink Flag, an "art punk" classic that was a big influence on early R.E.M.  But this track comes from their third record, which is more moody and subdued.  It doesn't really work over the whole album, but this song is remarkable.  Enjoy.

Wire, "The 15th"

p.s.  After enjoying this one, go buy Pink Flag (or at least "X-Lion Tamer," "Mannequin" "Strange" and "12XU", and while you're at it, also "Outdoor Miner" from the 2nd LP, Chairs Missing).

A Song You're Too Stupid To Know About (Pt. 2)

My favorite band ever is Big Star.  Surely I'll write more on Big Star at a later date.  But I mention this fact now, so I can point you to a great post over at Boogie Woogie Flu, where x-dB Will Rigby talks about his experience hunting for Big Star in Memphis, back in 1978 (before Big Star became GODS, and when a former band member worked in a fast food restaurant).   It's terribly interesting (to us Big Star freaks anyway), and it inspires me to post the second song in this series of musical obscurities.   (For background on the You're Stupid series, click here.)

That you don't know this song really doesn't mean you're stupid.  I don't believe it's ever been released.  I got a tape of it two decades ago from a guy that knew Big Star's drummer Jody Stephens (the best drummer ever, by the way... just not in a show-offy Jon Bonham kind of way).   And then when Rykodisc finally released the late Chris Bell's long-lost solo album in 1992, they inexplicably left this one of it (maybe because the mix gets all weird for a clip around the 2:10 mark...).  Anyway, it's not spectacular, but it's a real nice bit of McCartneyesque pop all the same.  Enjoy!

Chris Bell, "Love You All Day Long"

p.s.  Kelly Willis has a nice cover of Bell's "You and Your Sister" as a bonus track on her most recent release.    Gotta hand it to Kelly for having done cool covers throughout her career (Westerberg, Drake, Bell...).

p.p.s.  There's also a nice Big Star post over at The Daily Growl, which lets you download a Big Star classic that you'd have to be really stupid not to know. 

A Song You're Too Stupid To Know About (Pt 1)

Let me introduce a new series, in which I’ll be sharing MP3’s of little gems of songs that have largely been forgotten by humankind.

We’ll begin with the song that has inspired the name of the series (you’ll be able to filter the site to find posts like this by clicking on the “You’re Stupid” category).  It’s a nerdy little piece of elitist indie pop, but is so endearingly ramshackle that you’ll love it anyway. 

The premise here is that Tullycraft is not impressed with your boyfriend’s mainstream music tastes, and wants to woo you with the kind of twee music that K Records, Sarah, and 53rd and 3rd released back in the day.   Inspirational verse: “Sure he buys you records if you like them by U2/ But if you want the Pastels baby here’s what you should do/ Get on your bike and take a hike and meet me at our spot/ Just you and me and the Halo Benders, hey that’s pretty hot!”

Tullycraft, "Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend's Too Stupid To Know About"

As with all MP3s posted here, these are intended to help promote and increase your interest in the artist here.   We'll remove MP3s from our site upon request.