Is the Obama Administration actively trying to bring down the Iranian government? →
No. No they’re not.
Read it before a Paulster tries to tell you something about it.
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel. Requested by several, including mayor-tusks, stridingdirty, the0r4ng3 and laserdinosaurs.
I am a little in love with this blog now.
Bests of 2011
There’s an argument to be made against the end of the year list. It’s a lot like the argument against New Years as a holiday, really: It’s an arbitrary date, a length of time without major cultural significance, etc. But I like the holiday and I like the lists. For one thing, it allows me to catch up on new art and media, which I don’t always have a good opportunity to do during the rest of the year. As long as ones sources are diverse, one can get a good selection of what really was good. Also, both the holiday and the lists are positive. They represent a sunny outlook on the changing of the year: A whole new year is a thing to look forward to, what better way to start it by celebrating the victories and forgetting the failures of the previous? And so we remember the memorable art, and forget the forgettable. To that end, some of mine:
Best album, metal: Lantlôs - Agape
Best album, non-metal: Jonathan Coulton - Artificial Heart
Best song, metal: Devin Townsend Project - The Mighty Masturbator
Best song, non-metal: Battles - Ice Cream
Album I listened to the most that wasn’t from this year: Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks
Best movie, American, serious: Source Code.
Best movie, American, light-hearted: The Muppets
Best movie, non-American: Le Havre
Best decision: Going to Massachusetts for school
Best podcast I hadn’t heard before this year: My Brother, My Brother and Me
Best standup CD: Pete Holmes - Impregnated with Wonder
Best book: Neal Pollock - Stretch
I haven’t seen all of the media. I have missed a lot of it. So this probably isn’t all correct. But these things are subjective, so as this represents only what I’ve experienced, it must be true. Right?
Republicans attempting to discourage students, minorities from voting →
To anyone who has ever claimed that both parties are essentially the same: when is the last time you heard about Democrats trying to discourage religious people from voting? Hell, when’s the last time you heard of the Dems doing anything so brazen, anything at all, to make it less convenient for ANYONE to vote?
Just another thing to remember for the next time any Republican tries to sell you a line about liberty.
Opeth - Slither
Definite candidate for song of the year. There have been lots of haters about this album, especially with the attitude that this isn’t real Opeth, because it’s not enough of a death metal album or a metal album. The moral of this is that you do not tell Opeth what Opeth is; Opeth tells you what you are. And Opeth tells you that they are going to put out a rock and roll album and you are going to like it.
