If, like me, you’ve spent months yelling at your TV or shaking your head in begrudging admiration as Kellyanne Conway is being interviewed, you will very much enjoy this analysis of how she’s so good at being so bad.
When the inevitable happens and she’s run out of Washington she could make a pile of money in training folks how to befuddle the media. It’s truly stunning to behold.
Lewisville, NC doesn’t get a lot of newsworthy action. Occasionally a house will burn down, a serious accident will happen on Highway 421 or some other noteworthy-for-an-hour event will occur. My family lived there for almost 12 years, from July, 2004 to February, 2016, and in that time there were a few actual newsworthy events, like the discovery of bodies or even a couple of murders, but you rarely heard of armed robberies or things of that sort happening.
That’s why it caught my attention when I saw on the news that the Wells Fargo bank in Lewisville had been robbed. There are only a couple of banks in Lewisville, and the Wells Fargo branch is literally next door to the library and one door down from Town Hall, which is where the sheriff has a couple of officers stationed. In other words, it’s in the heart of downtown and not what I’d call the most inviting target for a robbery due to the high likelihood that you could be seen and/or caught in pretty short order.
Well, to confirm that this wasn’t the work of a criminal mastermind, we learned today that a suspect has been arrested and the sheriff didn’t have to look far to find him. From the Winston-Salem Journal:
Jason Brant Henderson of the 6000 block of LaGrande Place Drive in Lewisville faces charges of robbing the bank as well as the robbery of the E-stop convenience store at 130 Lewisville-Clemmons Road and the Four Brothers store at 6351 Shallowford Road in Lewisville.
As you can see from the map below, the guy basically decided to rob the bank closest to his apartment. Maybe he just wanted a day he could walk to work?
This week’s selection from Eugene, Rob Zombie’s Hellbilly Deluxe, was a lot of fun. Unlike last week’s selection I had actually heard a couple of the tracks before, but much of the album was new to me and listening to it as a body of work really reveals how thematic it is. To help explain what I mean by that let’s start with the first paragraph from the Wikipedia page about the the album:
Hellbilly Deluxe (released with the subtitle 13 Tales of Cadaverous Cavorting Inside the Spookshow International) is the solo debut studio album by American musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie. The album serves as his first release outside out the band White Zombie, with whom he released two multi-platinum studio albums. Hellbilly Deluxe was released on August 25, 1998 through Geffen Records.[5] Musically, the project portrays Zombie’s love for classic horror films with heavy metal and electronic music. The album’s lyrics speak of murder, chaos, and supernatural forces. The majority of Hellbilly Deluxe was recorded in California, and was produced by both Zombie and Scott Humphrey; Zombie is credited as the sole writer on all of the songs.
Listen to any of the thirteen tracks individually and you’ll get a taste of the “horror films with heavy metal” thing, but you really have to listen to the whole album to appreciate his true love of the horror genre. For instance the eleventh track, What Lurks on Channel X?, starts with a very 60’s TV horror show sound to it, and the twelfth track, Return of the Phantom Stranger, opens with the haunting, low sound of church bells. The album truly is an ode to the horror genre, so if you embrace that you can truly enjoy it for what it is.
Of the 13 tracks the two that are surely the most widely known – they have to be if I’ve heard them before – are Dragula and Living Dead Girl. Both are representative of the rest of the album’s tone, and I’d say there’s a good reason those are the best known tracks. To me they do the best job of highlighting Zombie’s unique style and have the strongest musicianship (is that a word?) on the album. I also liked Spookshow Baby because it has this funky sitar sound, and Meet the Creeper, which reminded me a bit of Living Dead Girl.
I’ll end with this: of Eugene’s five selections so far I’d say this is the one that really demands to be listened to as a full album. It’s truly thematic, and the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts.
Links & Notes
Eugene’s fourth choice offers me the first opportunity to say this: I’m 99.9% positive that I’d never heard any of these songs before he sent us the link to this album. I knew I’d never heard of the band, but after listening to the album I realized I’d also never heard any of the tunes. Go figure.
So, here’s my take on these guys:
Their sound is what I’d consider prototypical 80’s hard rock. Heavy focus on the lead vocals (lots of what I think of as soaring, “let me show off my range” kind of singing), a bunch of guitar solos and strong bass and drums without a real focus on them.
What sets these guys apart is their backing vocals. Every member of the band sings so the backing vocals definitely come through more strongly than most bands – the harmony is what I’d consider their greatest strength.
Lead singer George Criston truly does have a strong voice, and what seems like a pretty good range to me. He’s kind of “screamy” sometimes, but I think that’s what was expected of singers in that era so it’s as it should be.
Guitarists Larry Gillstrom and Raymond Harvey, who are both credited with lead and rhythm guitar, offer some very strong solos and their interplay is tight – at least to my amateur ears. And as I mentioned before, I think bass (Victor Langen) and drums (Brian Gillstrom) were good but they really aren’t featured much.
All told I enjoyed the album, but of the four so far it’s probably #3 and I suspect it will end up in the middle of the pack of Eugene’s 50 for me.
Links & Notes
One test of a leader is her willingness to do something that may displease her fans/followers if she thinks it’s the right thing to do. Sen. Elizabeth Warren did just that when she voted in favor of Ben Carson for HUD Secretary. Even better, she utilized her Facebook page to explain why. Here’s an excerpt:
Yes, I have serious, deep, profound concerns about Dr. Carson’s inexperience to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Yes, I adamantly disagree with many of the outrageous things that Dr. Carson said during his presidential campaign. Yes, he is not the nominee I wanted.
But “the nominee I wanted” is not the test.
Millions of American families depend on HUD programs, including tens of thousands of families in Massachusetts. For many of them, HUD assistance is the difference between a safe, stable home and life on the street. As someone who has spent a lot of time working on housing policy in this country, my focus is on helping these families – and the countless others who could benefit from a stronger agency.
During the nomination process, I sent Dr. Carson a nine-page letter with detailed questions on a whole range of issues: Section 8 housing assistance; lead exposure in public housing; programs to prevent and end homelessness; programs to help victims of domestic violence; fighting housing discrimination; HUD’s role in preparing for and recovering from natural disasters; and, more broadly, the standards he will use for managing the department, including the steps he will take to protect the rights of LGBT Americans.
Dr. Carson’s answers weren’t perfect. But at his hearing, he committed to track and report on conflicts of interest at the agency. In his written responses to me, he made good, detailed promises, on everything from protecting anti-homelessness programs to enforcing fair housing laws. Promises that – if they’re honored – would help a lot of working families…
If Dr. Carson doesn’t follow through on his commitments, I will be the very first person he hears from – loudly and clearly and frequently. I didn’t hesitate to criticize past HUD Secretaries when they fell short, and I won’t hesitate with Dr. Carson – not for one minute.
That, my friends, is the first glimmer of light I’ve seen during a very dark period in Washington. I’m not saying I agree with her vote, but I am saying I’m glad to see someone finally showing some guts and exhibiting a little leadership.
For week three Eugene picked an album I’m much more familiar with than his choices for the first two installments. Lynyrd Skynyrd got some heavy play in my circle of friends, especially during middle school. In fact one of my buddies had a big ol’ boom box – I think that thing took 10 D cell batteries – that he would bring to the basketball court in our neighborhood and we’d listen to a steady rotation of Lynyrd Skynyrd, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Kiss and plenty of others I’m forgetting. So I have a soft spot for Skynyrd and for southern rock in general. (I’m looking forward to Tim’s comments because I’m pretty sure he feels the exact opposite about the genre).
To be clear, what was played was a mix of Skynyrd’s greatest hits that contained all the songs you’d expect: Freebird, Simple Man, Sweet Home Alabama, That Smell, Don’t Ask Me No Questions and Saturday Night Special. Of those staples the only one on this album is Saturday Night Special, so going back and listening to the full album was a fun experience because I doubt I listened to all these tracks more than a few times even back in my not-misspent-nearly-enough youth.
Now I can’t say I liked all of these tracks back then. I didn’t really enjoy the long, bluesy riffs that were staples of the southern rock scene. I much preferred the harder, fast style of songs like Saturday Night Special, which actually were bluesy when compared to the hard non-southern rock of that era, just not too bluesy. My 50-year old ears DO enjoy the deeper blues sound, so I’m really glad Eugene picked this one.
Something that needs to be said about this exercise is that it’s reminding me of the pleasure inherent to listening to a full album. In my younger days I don’t think I had a full appreciation for the artistry involved in producing an album. The choices made in song order, the progression of the “story,” is something I never paid attention to but now in the era of endless DIY playlists and streaming “stations” based on artists I’m gaining a newfound appreciation for listening to an album that as a whole is greater than its parts.
Nuthin’ Fancy is a great listen, and one that works well with a leisurely drive or while working around the house. Hell, I even had it playing at the office one day when I was working a little late. Yep, this one’s getting added to my collection – a collection that’s growing for the first time in a while thanks to this exercise.
Links & Notes
Nuthin’ Fancy Wikipedia Page
Wheeler’s Dog (Eugene’s Blog)
Useless Things Need Love Too (Tim’s Blog)
Fair warning, you’ll get sucked into watching all 56 of these bottle hacks and the next thing you know you’ve lost 45 minutes of productivity. Totally worth it though.
Harper’s Weekly Review is usually a compilation of single sentence summaries of the previous weeks news made humorous by their juxtapositions to one another and usually totaling three or four long-ish paragraphs. This week’s was a single, very long, paragraph about Donald Trump titled Tower of Babble and it’s worth spending a couple of minutes reading it. Here’s a taste:
Donald J. Trump, a reality-television star erecting a mausoleum for himself behind the first-hole tee of a golf course he owns in New Jersey, first declared his candidacy for president of the United States in the atrium of Trump Tower, which he built in the 1980s with labor provided by hundreds of undocumented Polish workers and concrete purchased at an inflated price from the Gambino and Genovese crime families. “The American dream is dead,” Trump said to the audience members, each of whom he paid $50 to attend…
Trump said that his book The Art of the Deal was second in quality only to the Bible and that he never explicitly asked God for forgiveness. At a church in Iowa, he placed a few dollar bills into a bowl filled with sacramental bread, which he has referred to as “my little cracker.” Trump, who once dumped a glass of wine on a journalist who wrote a story he didn’t like, told his supporters that journalists were “liars,” the “lowest form of humanity,” and “enemies,” but that he did not approve of killing them. “I’m a very sane person,” said Trump, who once hosted a radio show in which he discussed the development of hair-cloning technology, the creation of a vaccine for obesity, the number of men a gay man thinks about having sex with on his morning commute, and the dangers of giving free Viagra to rapists…
Trump said that he doesn’t pay employees who don’t “do a good job,” after a review of the more than 3,500 lawsuits filed against Trump found that he has been accused of stiffing a painter and a dishwasher in Florida, a glass company in New Jersey, dozens of hourly hospitality workers, and some of the lawyers who represented him. “I’m a fighter,” said Trump, who body-slammed the WWE chairman at WrestleMania 23 in 2007, and who attended WrestleMania IV with Robert LiButti, an Atlantic City gambler with alleged mafia ties, who told Trump he’d “fucking pull your balls from your legs” if Trump didn’t stop trying to seduce his daughter. Trump, whose first wife, Ivana, accused him in divorce filings of rape, and whose special council later said rape within a marriage was not possible, said “no one respects women more than I do.”
There’s more. Much, much more. This piece should be considered a contribution to the public good and Harper’s is to be commended for running it.
The Eugeology Series is based on a list of hard rock albums that Eugene Sims has compiled and shared with me and Tim Beeman. (Read his description of the process here). We each write our own comments and then share them so that we can see where we agree, or just as likely, disagree. Compared to them I’m a know-nothing, which will be obvious with each review.
Eugene’s second pick was more familiar to me than his first, but I hadn’t heard any of these tracks in at least 20 years (yeah, I’m old) so it was definitely a blast from the past.
I wasn’t a big Ratt fan back in my mullet days, but they definitely had a few songs I got into and one of them was “Lay It Down” which is the third track on this album. Hearing it again all these years later I have to say it’s not as “hard” as I remember it. I really remembered it being more like Motley Crue’s Dr. Feelgood but it isn’t close to that song’s tempo or intensity. Still, it’s a solid tune and I was happy to hear it again.
“You’re In Love” was the other song I remembered and my opinion of that one hasn’t changed much. I kind of liked it back in the day, and I kind of liked it this time around.
A surprise was how much I liked the album’s 5th track, “Closer to My Heart.” I can almost guarantee you my younger self didn’t like it much – far too slow and melodic, but with my old man ears I really liked this one. There’s also a nice little guitar riff at the end that was a pleasant surprise.
Listening to the album a couple of times over the last week reminded me why I wasn’t a huge Ratt fan bag in the day: I just couldn’t get into Stephen Pearcy’s vocals. They always sounded whiny to me, and while it’s definitely a distinctive sound it just never did much for me. When you listen to a full album, versus one song here and there, it really comes through. The band is solid, but when the lead vocals don’t work for you it’s kind of hard to overcome.
Overall it’s a good album, and if you aren’t like me and like Pearcy’s vocals, then I think you’ll find it worth your time.I’ll be interested in reading Tim and Eugene’s take on this.
Now, I’m looking forward to hearing what’s next on Eugene’s list.
Links & Notes
Invasion of Your Privacy Wikipedia Page
Wheeler’s Dog (Eugene’s Blog)
Useless Things Need Love Too (Tim’s Blog)
Over the last few years I’ve had the very good fortune of becoming friends with Tim Beeman and Eugene Sims, first as a guest on The Less Desirables podcast and then through the development of the Beer Dads Podcast. A little while back we were talking about music, our shared love of hard rock in particular, and Eugene offered to come up with a list of 50 albums that we could all listen to and share our opinions about. We’re calling it the Eugeology: Eugene’s List of Hard Rock Albums and Possible Gems. Since both of them have more knowledge about this than I ever will, by at least a factor of 1,000, I feel very fortunate that they’ve allowed me to tag along for the ride.
Tim and Eugene both regularly review music, movies, TV shows and other forms of art on their respective blogs, so rather than try and write critiques as if I know what I’m doing I thought I’d take the only approach I really can: provide the unsophisticated opinions of a guy who always just listened to whatever was on the radio when he was growing up and whose vocabulary is limited to terms like, “Loved it”, “Really liked that guitar solo”, “That dude can really sing”, etc.
So without further ado here’s the first album Eugene served up: Mother Love Bone’s Apple.
First off I should say that before Eugene sent this I’d probably only heard a couple of tracks off of the album before, and I guarantee you I hadn’t heard any of them in at least 15 years. Thus this was a real treat for me because this is a helluva an album.
The band’s singer was a guy named Andrew Wood. Sadly, he died of a heroin overdose just before the album was released which is why anyone who’s not an aficionado (like yours truly) could be forgiven for not knowing about these guys. The album has 13 tracks, of which I’d guess the best known is Crown of Thorns– which makes sense to me because I think it’s the best track on the album. That’s not to say there aren’t other contenders though, because I think you could make an argument for Holy Roller and Star Gazer as well.
It truly is a tragedy that Wood passed away before he could enjoy what was surely going to be an extraordinary career. Some of his vocals reminded me of Axl Rose, others reminded me a bit of Chris Cornell. His voice was distinctive and I most enjoyed the tracks where he was able to show it off, including the three listed above.
The rest of the group were no slouches either, with two of them – Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament – going on to form Pearl Jam with Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready. If you’re a fan of the Seattle music scene, or really any of the early 90s rock scene, then you’ll love this album.
Honestly, it’s mind-blowing that I haven’t listened to this album until now, but I’m on my third pass through as I type this and it won’t be the last. I might be slow, but I work hard to catch up.
Can’t wait to see what Eugene serves up next.
Notes:
Mother Love Bone-Apple Wikipedia page
Useless Things Need Love Too (Tim’s Blog)
Wheeler’s Dog (Eugene’s Blog)
Befuddled 