You? Me? Us?

I bet I know whose fault this is.

It's the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, and People For the American Way.


Just heard: Fred Below actually swinging on Howlin' Wolf's "Spoonful," and Hubert Sumlin's slippery solo on "Shake For Me"

Crazy rhythms

I've been walking more lately. There are several reasons: $2.49-per-gallon gasoline, the iPod, the third year of working at home all the time. There are several positive results too: the burning of lunchtime's calories, stronger calves, seeing more of the city in new and exciting ways. Sometimes you really have to get creative with reasons to leave the house when you work at home all the time, and although it really helps to have a car out here by Fort Miley, the city is best experienced on foot whenever possible. I'm trying to run at least two or three times a week, but walking around town is the next best thing.

After making my own lunch most weekdays for two years, I'm starting to enjoy sitting on the sidewalk eating and reading, or at least going out for coffee after lunch. And then I walk -- sometimes a few miles, all the way home. To that end, I take the bus, fire up the Pod, and revisit neighborhoods all over town -- some familiar ones, and others less so.

There are those who question or lament the rise of urban, public iPod culture. If it's not Andrew Sullivan's nutty "end of society" prediction, it's usually something along the lines of, "We're turning into a nation of zombies." Those are probably the same people who scowl when you brush into them on the bus while they're trying to read the newspaper, zoned out in a slightly different way. I wonder about those people.

I remember when my friend's amigo from Spain was visiting San Francisco. He stepped up onto a city bus and waved hello to all the other passengers. They looked back at him like he had three heads.

Anyway I was iPodding around town yesterday, enjoying song after song, when it occurred to me that I was hearing another band that mixed up swing rhythms and straight ones at the same time. It was the Chess house band -- probably Hubert Sumlin, Otis Spann, Willie Dixon and Fred Below -- behind Howlin' Wolf on the great, great "Back Door Man." Another fabulous mystery groove. I don't know how the heck they sound like that. Whatever Fred Below is doing behind the drum kit, he's not swinging. Heavy stuff.


Just heard: Van the Man's "Street Choir" ("Why did you leave America? Why did you let me down?"), Django and Stephane's lovely "Nuages," and Camper Van Beethoven's mindblowing "Peace and Love"

We'll order up two bowls of chili

Oh boy. Photos of the Wendy's finger. Not for the faint.


Now playing: John Hiatt's Bring the Family. We were talking last night about the groove on "Thing Called Love": half the band swings, half plays straight. Jim Keltner works the voodoo; Ry Cooder is in top form throughout. And it's Nick Lowe's birthday -- either today or yesterday, depending on your source -- too.

Year of the Rooster

In case your live draft is this week...

I myself have recently become a big Ben Sheets fan.


Now playing: The Kinks' Muswell Hillbillies

Part of the process

"[The Schiavo case] is a clash between the social conservatives and the process conservatives, and I would count myself a process conservative," said David Davenport of the Hoover Institute, a conservative research organization.

"Process conservatives." I Googled it in quotation marks and got only 152 hits. Few if any of the pages use the words "process conservative" to describe a political philosophy or stance. I think we might be witnessing the coinage of a term here. In this case, Davenport is saying that he's a stickler for process, that Congress doesn't have the right to intervene in the state judicial process. Okay. Economic conservatives, social conservatives, and now process conservatives.

I imagine "process conservatives" could also be people who rail against the "judicial activism" that legitimized gay marriage, rather than social conservatives who simply think homosexuality is an abomination. Economic conservatives might actually think the state should not intervene in marriages at all -- that's what my libertarian friends say, anyway.

So what's a "process liberal"? Probably one who supports an outcome he thinks is just, but is willing to make up his own rules in order to see it happen. Hmm.


Now playing: R.E.M.'s Chronic Town ("was the first EP...")

It's what's for dinner

It's been only two days since I saw Super Size Me, and now this. (Grossout warning on that link, friends.)

[UPDATE: New, improved story.]

One of the bonuses on the Super Size Me DVD is a 25-minute conversation between director Morgan Spurlock and Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser. For a good laugh -- I hope -- I refer you to the National Review's review of that book, including the memorable line, "A prosperous nation strives to be 1) fat, 2) dumb, and 3) happy." No wonder so many intelligent, healthy, happy people are finding themselves at odds with American culture.

I'm afraid I still occasionally eat fast food when I'm traveling. But I'm trying to get smarter about planning ahead: fruit and crackers will hold you over nicely during a six-hour journey. And then, of course, California offers the best fast-food option there is: animal style, of course.


Now playing: The Clash (UK edition)

Juicers.

Oh ...
Some still doubt
I can hit them out
Without the help of drugs.
Have you seen me swing?
I am everything.
Those pinhead racist thugs.
I insist
When I top the list
Of the best to play this game,
The clear that I took
Shouldn't keep me from the record book.
Children far and wide should know my name.


Now playing: Mingus Dynasty

Poor guy

Whatever you do, please do not direct your opinions, supportive or otherwise, to The Unruly Servant, a blog run by an entirely different Michael Schiavo. "I’ve gotten more than my share of emails telling me not to take my wife off life support, that it’s not what Jesus would do," the alternative Schiavo writes. Frankly it's kind of freaking him out.

Anagrams

the singer Rod Stewart = shattered songwriter

Now playing: Curtis Mayfield's Curtis/Live! (1971)

Bulworthy?

The latest potential Democratic challenger to California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Warren Beatty.

"Here is my prediction," said Garry South, a Democratic strategist who was Mr. Davis's top campaign adviser. "A nontraditional candidate is going to get into this field. Someone who never ran before, who is independently wealthy and who looks at the Arnold precedent and says, 'I am not going to let the Democratic nomination be a beach ball fought over by a bunch of career politicians.'"


Now playing: George Shearing And The Montgomery Brothers

A mailbox on your bumper and a bald front tire

It looks like my amigo is on the ball. According to this briefing from The Week magazine (admittedly a three-year-old one):

Just phasing in a 25 percent increase in fuel efficiency for all vehicles over five years would save more than 1 million barrels of oil a day — about as much as ANWR is expected to produce. If all motorists kept their vehicles tuned, and their tires properly inflated, that would save an additional 1 million barrels a day.

Wow, tires and tune-ups save as much oil as a 25% increase in fuel efficiency over five years. Who knew?

As for where you read it: There may be a copy of that magazine in my bathroom.


Now playing: Nick Drake's "Man In A Shed," Howlin' Wolf's "I'll Be Around," and OutKast's "Return of the G"

A catholic decision

"The parade of horrible social ills envisioned by the opponents of same-sex marriage is not a necessary result from recognizing that there is a fundamental right to choose who one wants to marry."

"The state's protracted denial of equal protection cannot be justified simply because such constitutional violation has become traditional."

Smokestack lightning

Interesting that GWB asked Americans to conserve energy (live on CNN right now) on the same day that he moved to relax pollution standards on businesses.

So it's mostly about "increasing our energy security," as he puts it, rather than reducing environmental damage, taking no more than our share, or -- gasp! -- trying to live gently on a rapidly changing planet.

It's good to hear the President finally acknowledging that individual consumers need to make sacrifices as we spend massive resources in an attempt to reshape the governments of some of the world's largest oil producers. Virtually anytime I hear an authority figure stressing conservation, I think it's a good thing, regardless of the circumstance or his party affiliation. But it's still upsetting to know that polluters are celebrating relaxed environmental regulation on the same day that consumers are being asked to huddle in the darkness.

Meanwhile, I suppose if you're going to pursue a coal-centric energy policy, investigating ways to burn it more cleanly isn't the worst thing. As for drilling in the Arctic, well, I think it'll happen eventually (to my chagrin). Looks like those caribou will be huddling in the darkness too -- up against a brand-new warm pipeline.


Now playing: CNN

Monster in the mirror

The Independent screened the Metallica documentary for free last night, although there was a two-drink minimum. So with cheese steaks in our bellies, El Lefty Malo and I split a pitcher and enjoyed Some Kind of Monster on the big(gish) screen and in full-throttle, high-volume stereo stage sound.

There is a lot of humor in the film, much of it not intended by the band members, which keeps it interesting for a non-fan. There are times when the group-therapy process seems farcical and ridiculous, and other times when it seems like the only thing that can keep these overgrown adolescents from killing each other or throwing away the best thing that ever happened to them.

But you know what sticks with me the most? Yes, Monster "humanizes" the guys in Metallica, and shows them as "three-dimensional people" -- which really only serves as a reminder that their music itself doesn't really do those things at all. The reason I've generally avoided heavy metal music is that its emotional range so often spans roughly from A to B, or at least to A-minus. These guys have made such a career out of being fucking relentless that we've never seen much vulnerability at all, or much of anything else besides anger and fear, for that matter, in their art.

Punk rock, which extends the middle finger just as high as metal does, is more liable to be self-effacing as it rages. Pop songs, other kinds of rock'n'roll, classic songcraft (pre-1950 style, roughly), jazz and classical music -- they just seem more likely to include a range of ideas and emotions, often within a single song. But metal? I guess there is metal that ranges from disappointment to triumph to wistful longing and reflection... somewhere. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough, but I've always thought the genre was limited that way. And sure enough, the documentary shows metal's kings as somewhat emotionally retarded, and exposes something with which they've never dealt -- either in their music or anywhere else, it seems.


Now playing: X's "The World's A Mess, It's In My Kiss," Husker Du's "Celebrated Summer," The Band's "Caledonia Mission," and Spoon's "The Way We Get By"

¡No! ¡No! ¡No! to draft and war

It's another sad day for young students who aspire to gain a better understanding of the world around them, as the trustees of two California community colleges have cancelled their schools' study-abroad programs in Spain, apparently because they don't appreciate the Spanish government's change in attitude toward the U.S.-led war effort.

To some, it may be frustrating that other governments have not shared the Bush regime's enthusiasm for war in Iraq. But to express that displeasure by ruining students' courses of study? Depressing. Those trustees are teaching their students a hard lesson, all right.


Now playing: The Flying Burrito Bros.' "Juanita"

Again: "I don't know, what are the hours?"

A new spin on an old joke.


Now playing: Camper Van Beethoven's "Ice Cream Every Day," the Pernices' "Weakest Shade of Blue," and Gram Parsons' "I Can't Dance."

Bad news for Bubba

And just like that, Bubba dies.

I'd just like to note that it was not my intention when I started this Weblog to deliver news about oversized crustaceans. Nonetheless, I'm happy that I could be your #1 resource as this urgent news has come to light.

Nothing new to report about the guy with the nachos, by the way.


Now playing: the Yankees and Pirates on ESPN... and someone's car alarm. It's really time to stop installing those things. They don't work, and they're a nuisance.

A nice pair

I give you two stories, published four minutes apart:

Nude Man Covered in Nachos Gets Probation

"In addition to being naked, Monn had nacho cheese in his hair, on his face and on his shoulders, police said. He also had a strong odor of alcohol and was semi-incoherent."

No Butter for Bubba, the 22-Pound Lobster

"'If you sat down and ate this thing, wouldn't that be a bit shellfish?'"


Now playing: Freddie Hubbard's Straight Life