Soul In Isolation

Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)

2011-07-07T17:19:00.002-04:00

In an earlier post I took issue with some of Sam Harris' arguments against the existence of free will. I highlighted three issues in particular: there is no room for free will in a fundamentally deterministic system, the granularity at which Harris analyzes the brain is too fine, and free will is never satisfactorily defined. At the end of the post I promised to offer my own opinions on free will, which I shall attempt to do here.

Before I begin, let me offer the disclaimer that I am not a scholar of philosophy or psychology and I do not claim to have any expertise in either field. My opinions are based solely on my experience and my own thoughts on the matter.

So what do we mean when we say that an individual has free will? Certainly we are implying that the individual in question is not being manipulated by any other individual or entity. In general, however, it is implied that the individual in question is also not manipulated by his or her environment or fate or some supernatural or spiritual being. An individual with completely free will is the source of his or her own decisions.

This sounds simple enough, except we are assuming we know what an individual is and what decisions are. The notion of the self is just as tricky as the notion of free will, so for the sake of brevity let us assume the existence of the individual for now and see where it gets us. That leaves us with the task of defining what it means to make a decision.

Conceptually we may think of a decision as the moment before which many options were possible to the individual, and after which only one option is possible. A choice has been made and possibility has been reduced to necessity. Unfortunately this is a somewhat mystical way of looking at the situation and tends to defy analysis. How can we move in a single moment from a nondeterministic state of mind to a deterministic one? The mystic will tell us that this question is unanswerable. The skeptic, on the other hand, will search for causes. Surely there must be some reason why one choice was made and another was not.

Again it may be instructive to consider how a computer is able to make what appear to be decisions to the outside observer. A computer is always presented with a multitude of options: what instruction to execute next, which thread of computation to attend to, and so on and so forth. Which option the computer will choose is either determined by its hardware and the software it is running at the time, or external factors over which it has no control. A computer does not so much make decisions as it evaluates expressions and executes instructions which determine the next course of action.

So it is by and large with the human brain. We tend to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of various options if we are thinking rationally, or pick the option that feels correct if we are thinking intuitively. In either case we are allowing internal processes in the brain, whether intellectual or emotional, essentially make a decision for us. Again, this process is far more complicated than the process of selecting the next instruction in a computer, but the principle is basically the same.

However, let's imagine that the individual in question is aware of all of these factors and in the course of making a decision starts thinking about the decision process itself. "My rational mind will clearly conclude that option A is the correct option and therefore I shall decide option A," she says, "but as I am aware of this imminent decision I shall instead choose option B." With complete knowledge of the processes of her own brain she must know what option she will choose. However that knowledge can be used to subvert the decision itself, which then implies that she never had complete knowledge of her mental processes to begin with.

Here we have a classic Douglas Hofstadter self-referential paradox. Knowledge implies power, but power subverts knowledge. Logically speaking then, this particular knowledge of ones own mental processes must be impossible. But if that knowledge is impossible can we truly say that said processes are deterministic? They might be, but we can't ever prove it. For all intents and purposes, they might as well be nondeterministic, or at the very least are shrouded in mystery. It is at this point that the mystic smugly says to the skeptic "I told you so" and proceeds to start babbling on about the akashic field and how everything is connected and the skeptic orders a very strong drink.

So do we have free will or not? I'll offer some concluding thoughts in part III.

We Don't Need No Education

2011-06-14T14:02:00.002-04:00

My friend Sean posted an excellent response to a blog post by Chris Tompkins about programming languages that seems to be generating some controversy. The original post argues for a more user-friendly natural language based programming language for people who are turned off by overly terse notation typical of most languages. Sean argues that programming is a skill that takes years to master and the terseness actually ultimately benefits the programmer.

However, Tompkins has a very good point. He just argues it very, very poorly.

Let's start with what he gets wrong. As Sean points out, programming can be very difficult to the novice because communicating to a machine is very different than communicating to a person. People have a vast amount of contextual knowledge that they take for granted, and can become frustrated when a computer does not possess this knowledge, and therefore must be instructed to do things in excruciating detail. This is a typical novice mistake: assuming the computer knows more than it does.

Having been frustrated by the inherent complexity of the task, the novice blames the tools for being insufficient. This is another typical novice mistake, as the novice has no idea what decisions were made when those tools were created, what their intended use was, and by whom they were intended to be used. The fact that the blog post confuses C and Objective-C is a tip-off that the poster doesn't fully understand what he is talking about.

But what rankles me the most about this post as a professor of computer science is that the poster assumes that a very complex skill can be learned quickly without the benefit of a proper education. There are plenty of self-taught programmers out there, but each and every one of them spent hours and hours honing their craft and learning the ins and outs of programming, and are probably still doing so. For those who need a bit of a leg up there are books and classes and degrees aplenty to provide assistance in mastering these skills. Fundamentally, if you are not willing to do the work of learning, you will not learn.

All of this is a great shame, because the blog post has touched on a very real problem that the blogger frankly lacks the expertise to properly explain. The problem is that historically, the first programmers were solving mathematically sophisticated problems dealing with complex tasks like computing weapons trajectories and cracking encrypted messages, and therefore the languages they created were highly mathematical in nature. Despite the fact these types of problems have become the minority of what programmers deal with today, many of the mathematical concepts (functions, variables, structures, etc.) persist.

Of course this complaint is nothing new. In 1959 a committee came up with a language intended for use by business professionals who lacked the advanced technical training required to program in a language like Fortran or ALGOL. The result was COBOL, a hugely successful language that is still widely used today. However COBOL had one little problem: working programmers and computer scientists hate it. The great Edsger Dijkstra one said that "[t]he use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore, be regarded as a criminal offense."

Here we have arrived at the great tension in programming languages that poor Mr. Tompkins has blundered into without the knowledge and experience to address properly: if you create a programming language that is easy enough for anyone to learn, people will assume that programming is easy and proceed to write very, very bad programs. This is the main reason why languages like COBOL, BASIC, Pascal, Visual Basic, PHP, and JavaScript get as much flak as they do. This is not to say that bad programs do not exist in other languages, they most certainly do. However, if one is not willing to learn the admittedly opaque syntax of a language like C, one is probably not willing to learn the much more important principles of programming.

That said, I think there is plenty of room for languages that make it easier to write good code, and resources that help aspiring programmers to understand the complexity of the tasks they are about to take on. I hope that both my research and my teaching can contribute to the equally important tasks of making programming easier to learn and providing the understanding to do it well.

Another Brick in the Wall (Part I)

2011-06-12T18:51:00.005-04:00

Sam Harris has a book out called The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values where he discusses among other things the nature of free will. I have not read his book, but I did read his recent posts about free will on The Huffington Post (here, here, and here). His thesis is that from a neurological perspective there is no evidence for the existence of free will in the human brain. He makes a good case, but there are some flaws in his arguments that I'd like to address.

The first and most glaring flaw, which Harris himself may not see as a flaw, is that it is difficult to see how there could be any evidence for free will from a neurological perspective. Analyzing the human brain at that granularity is a bit like analyzing a computer at the level of transistors. Actually, it's quite a lot like analyzing a computer since the brain is basically doing the same thing a computer is doing which is storing and processing information, and sending signals. The main difference is that the brain is far more complex than the average computer and mixes the durability of hardware with the malleability of software. But essentially the same things are going on in both.

The comparison is important because viewed from that level both the brain and the computer are essentially deterministic. The same signal sent to the same part of the brain/computer in the same state should have the same results. I say essentially, because in both cases there is a certain amount of non-determinism in both systems, but despite this they both function under a certain set of rules. In a deterministic system there can not be any room for free will or choice of any kind.

If this was all there was to say about free will, Harris could have made this argument and stopped there.

This leads us to the second problem with his argument, which is that while at the granularity of neurons we have a largely deterministic system, this is not the granularity at which the notion of thoughts have much meaning. This discrepancy was discussed with great eloquence by Douglas R. Hofstadter in his masterful book, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. In it he compares the brain to an ant hill in which the ants themselves are simply sending signals back and forth, unaware of the larger purpose of the ant hill (which appears as a sort of consciousness which has befriended an anteater in one of the book's dialogues).

The important distinction in the analogy is between signals (the individual ants), which represent very simple pieces of information, and symbols (the larger activities of the anthill of which the ants are unaware) which are much richer and more complex and exist on a much higher level. It is at the level of symbols at which the notion of though starts to make sense. Thoughts are composed of words and images, both of which are symbols used to represent reality. It is only at this level that we can discuss concepts like will or intention with any clarity.

Now, this does not mean that at the level of symbols and thoughts that the system is any less deterministic. If we build a complex system using simple mechanical components it will still be a machine whether it is carbon or silicon based. On this I think Harris and I both agree with Alan Turing. Computers of a sufficient degree of complexity should be just as capable of thought as human beings are. Rather, I make the distinction in order to point out why Harris' particular argument is flawed.

Finally, and most crucially, I think Harris fails to properly define what free will is. This is understandable because free will, like many philosophical concepts, is very difficult to define. Like the notion of cause and effect, it's very hard to explain what free will means without ending up in an infinite regress of circular definitions. However, this does not mean one should not make a good faith effort at doing so.

I'll stop here for now, and discuss my own opinions on free will in my next post on the subject.

Soundtrack to the End of the World

2011-05-20T18:55:00.004-04:00

And while we're on the subject of the apocalypse, here's a playlist I cooked up some time ago that seems pretty relevant now:

Final Day - Young Marble Giants
It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) - R.E.M.
Five Years - David Bowie
Armageddon Days Are Here (Again) - The The
Apocalypso - The Lords of the New Church
The End of the World - Pet Shop Boys
Banned From the End of the World - Sleater-Kinney
The End of the World - Avengers
World War 3 - D.O.A.
(I'll Love You) Till the End of the World - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Should the World Fail to Fall Apart - Peter Murphy
World's End - Leæther Strip
The Future - Snog
Isle of Man (V2) - Ministry
The Great Annihilator - Swans
Shiva Descending - Comsat Angels
Until the End of the World - U2

Until the End of the World

2011-05-20T14:48:00.002-04:00

It seems like everyone's talking about Harold Camping and his prediction that tomorrow, May 21st will be Judgement Day. Camping is by no means the first to make a prediction like this and, much to his followers' disappointment, will not be the last. Leaving aside the Rube Goldberg-like rationale for this particular date (based on a variety of Biblical passages, sketchy dates, and obscure numerology), what could possible drive someone to make a prediction like this?

Empirically speaking, every prediction of a date marking the beginning of the end of the world that has proved wrong should be a warning sign to anyone attempting to make further predictions. Camping himself got it wrong multiple times in the past, but according to him these were due to errors of interpretation. No doubt, when Saturday comes and goes he will most likely have more excuses at the ready. Many others have brought up Matthew 24:36 which states "But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." (King James Translation)

Yet there are still many who do not believe we know when the so-called "rapture" will happen, but still believe it will happen someday. There is certainly no shortage of apocalyptic rhetoric in the Bible to support their arguments, most prominently in the Book of Revelation. Of course, anyone who has studied up on the scholarship on Revelation knows it was written as a polemic against the Roman Empire. The beast and the number 666 are both thinly veiled references to Nero, who was no friend to the early Christians.

References to the day of judgement in the Gospel of Mark are similarly predicted as near-term events. After describing the coming apocalypse Mark 13:31 states "[t]ruly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened". Most scholars believe this passage refers to the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 66 C.E.

While the apocalyptic prophets of today frequently misinterpret these and other scriptures, their doomsaying is remarkably consistent in spirit to that of the earlier writers, especially John of Patmos (the supposed author of Revelation). The mindset comes from a sense that the world is full of injustice, sin, and general disobedience to the will of God. Naturally a just God would not tolerate this state of affairs and would bring a final judgement to the Earth separating the sheep from the goats. Unsurprisingly, the people who make these predictions almost invariably see themselves as among those who will be saved.

But what does it say about one's faith if it can only be validated by the torture and eventual death of the vast majority of the population of the world that does not share that faith? What kind of person actively wishes for terrible disasters to befall the people of the world so that their doctrines may be proven right? As Fred Clark of slactivist has pointed out, many of the people who believe in the Rapture were indoctrinated when they were very young and have been traumatised throughout their lives. They deserve some measure of compassion from the rest of us. However, if an adult who is capable of understanding the ramifications of one's beliefs still chooses to promote this vile nonsense, I have very little sympathy for their point of view.

Beyond Belief

2011-04-30T09:40:00.003-04:00

I am an agnostic. Contrary to popular belief, that does not mean that I am indecisive or wishy-washy. Quite the opposite, in fact. I am very decisively of the opinion that I do not know the mind of God. Neither do I know that there is a mind of God, or a God for that matter. I do not know these things because there is no evidence to draw on nor is there any reasonable argument that can shed any light on these matters. Without reason or evidence there can be no knowledge, so I am firmly of the position that I do not know.

This of course is the point at which many religious people would argue that this is a matter of faith, not a matter of reason or evidence. To which I would reply that any belief that is not grounded in reason or evidence is probably grounded in ignorance and wishful thinking. By and large, this sort of faith does more harm than good however well intentioned it may be. There are some that are of the opinion that one's beliefs determine whether or not one is a good person (rooted most likely in a misreading of the Apostle Paul) and others that are convinced that believing in something hard enough will make it happen (rooted in an unfortunately accurate reading of Norman Vincent Peale and reinforced by countless Disney movies). I am of the opinion that beliefs are largely irrelevant, it is one's actions that determine one's goodness and one's effectiveness.

So where does that leave religion? Well, that depends on what you mean by religion. Jonathan Z. Smith, having studied the religions of many cultures, proposed a theory of religion as comprised primarily of myths and rituals. Myths are stories that make sense of the natural, social, and imaginary worlds. Rituals are events that align those worlds together in the present moment. But myths are also used as a crude sort of history and as a means of predicting the future. Rituals are often performed in order to affect events in the natural world. In an age of reason and science these applications of myth and ritual are no longer necessary, yet they persist. At the core of all of this are beliefs that are not based in reason or evidence, but on the way we want the world to be.

This is why I am not a Christian. Even in the most progressive denominations myth is still confused with history and ritual is still confused with science. I do not believe in the Resurrection or Heaven or Hell or God because there is no evidence or reason for these things. Furthermore I have no desire to believe in them, because they do nothing to enrich my life. I have no need for an afterlife, or for my sins to be forgiven, or for a God to worship and pray to. This life is good enough. I can forgive myself and hope that others forgive me for any wrongs I have done them. And no amount of worship or prayer will make life any less terrible or more wonderful than it already is. And it doesn't really matter what I believe anyway; it's what I do that matters. And that's enough for me.

So Cruel

2011-04-10T10:47:00.002-04:00

Recently, Paul Krugman wrote a column in which he described the federal budget proposal from Rep. Paul Ryan as both "ludicrous and cruel". Robert Reich wrote a blog post where he characterized the Republican party as bullies for their behavior in the recent battle over the budget. Meanwhile, Ezra Klein wrote a column about how Obama and the Democrats appear to be celebrating the fact that they made major concessions in that battle to keep the government from shutting down.

There appears to be a perverse relationship between the two parties right now, which I would describe as Sadomasochistic. The Republican party has become the party of Sadism, and while they prefer to cite Ayn Rand rather than the Marquis as an intellectual influence, ultimately both Rand and De Sade extolled cruelty as a virtue. On the other hand, the Democratic party has behaving as if they derive pleasure from being beaten, much like Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. There's only one way this dynamic can go: the Republicans beat up on the Democrats and the Democrats ask for more.

I would argue that this paradigm extends beyond the way the parties treat each other and into their respective fundamental governing philosophies. The Republicans want to make life more difficult for the most vulnerable Americans, while at the same time making life much easier for the most powerful. They can yap all they want about balancing the budget, but during the Bush years taxes went down while spending went up and a record surplus became a record deficit. The Democratic response is not to fight back, but to accept the Republican narrative that suffering is necessary and to beg the Republicans not to hurt us all too much.

How do we break out of this vicious cycle? Someone needs to stand up to the bullies and refuse to assume the position and receive the next punishment. Someone needs to stand up for the most vulnerable in our society, most of whom are suffering hardships not because they are lazy or immoral but because they are unlucky. Someone needs to advance the philosophy that cruelty and unnecessary suffering only diminish us, and that exercising compassion and justice is the right way to govern this country.

No Hell Below Us, Above Us Only Sky

2011-03-18T20:42:00.003-04:00

I've been reading Fred Clark's excellent slacktivist blog quite a bit lately, and recommend that you do too. One of the things he's been talking about in recent posts is the furor that Rob Bell has created in the evangelical Christian community for suggesting that God loves people and doesn't send them to Hell to suffer in eternity. It turns out that a lot of folks are very invested in the concept of Hell, even though (as Clark points out) there's not much of a basis for it in the Bible.

Unlike Clark, I am not a practicing Christian (though I used to be not that long ago) so I don't consider the New Testament to be the authority on this subject. My disbelief in Hell has pretty much been a constant throughout my entire life. Even as a child it seemed implausible to me that after we die our souls are relocated below the surface of the Earth to be tortured for eternity. Aside from the fantastical nature of it, Hell doesn't make any logical sense. As Bert Russell argued in his excellent essay, "Why I am Not a Christian" there is no crime that can be committed in a finite lifetime that could possibly merit eternal punishment. And what would be the point of the punishment anyway? If it lasts forever there's no opportunity to affect one's behaviour or improve one's character.

Fundamentally, the concept of Hell exists to make up for a perceive lack of justice in life. If everyone got what they deserved in life, there would be no reason for them to be punished or rewarded after they die. Even under this framework the eternal nature of Hell is overkill. But many modern evangelicals take this idea even further. People are not just sent to Hell for the terrible and evil things they have done. They go there for the simple fact of not subscribing to the evangelical Christian dogma of accepting Jesus Christ as their personal lord and saviour, whatever that means. Simply put, if you're one of "us" you are rewarded for eternity and if you're not you are punished for eternity.

I respect the arguments that Rob Bell and Fred Clark make against the concept of Hell from a Christian perspective. However, I have to point out that many of the same arguments applied to Hell can be applied to Heaven as well. Just as the concept of Hell satisfies the desire for the evil or the simply non-pure to be punished, the concept of Heaven satisfies the desire for the good or the pure to be rewarded. Even if this were true, who among us can truly claim to know who is good or pure? Who can claim to know the mind of God?

But of course it can't be true, because it doesn't make any sense. What is the purpose of an eternal reward? What is it for? Wouldn't people start to get a bit bored after a while? What would you do? What motivation would you have to do anything if you already earned eternal bliss? Like Hell, the whole Heaven idea starts to fall apart very quickly when you start to analyze it. It's not only implausible, it's unnecessary. Why do we need an eternal reward to motivate us to be good people at all?

All that remains then is wishful thinking. No one who has lost someone close to them can be faulted for wanting to be reunited with them after they die. But let's analyze this a bit closer as well. If we really are reunited with all of our loved ones after we die (presuming that we and they all meet the preconditions for Heaven) what does it matter that we lost them in the first place? What does any of our time on Earth matter if we spend an eternity in Heaven? If anything, the existence of an afterlife implies that we should not cherish the moments we have in life at all, as long as we live in the prescribed manner. If death has lost its sting, hasn't life lost its meaning?

One Month - No Internet

2011-01-31T17:23:00.002-05:00

So yadda yadda yadda I haven't blogged in over six months yadda yadda yadda. Mea culpa. It has been a rather busy six months workwise, and that shows no sign of changing any time soon, so don't expect much change on the blogging front.

With that out of the way, I'll get on to the real reason for this post. I have decided that I spend far to much time sucked into the vast sea of nothingness that is the Internet. It has gotten to the point where I believe it is seriously impacting my quality of life. I have been wondering lately what I would do with that time if I weren't staring at the screen of my laptop absorbing information that I don't really need. For the next month I intend to find out.

Starting tomorrow, February 1st 2011, I will be cutting the cord. Not completely of course, I'll still monitor my e-mail on a limited basis and any necessary work related Internet use is exempt from the ban. However, I will not be using Facebook or Google Reader for the next 28 days. I will abstain from Huffington Post, Slate, Buzzfeed, and all other Internet "news" sites for the entire month. I intend to continue writing reviews for Listen, Dammit and will update my review link post accordingly.

Anyone who would like to get in touch with me can still do so via e-mail (I do not guarantee a prompt response), telephone, letters, telegraph, pony express, smoke signals, or God forbid stop by and visit sometime.

This is not some sort of statement about or reaction to anything. It is simply an experiment, and I will be back on-line in some form or another on March 1st.

Au revoir, and wish me luck.

- Chameleon Man

108 reasons the 90's were awesome

2010-07-23T13:45:00.009-04:00

So, I've been doing these reviews of albums from the 90's on Listen Dammit and posting links to them on this here blog as well as on Facebook and Google Chat and it occurred to me that people might like to see the list of albums that I concocted for these reviews. I initially wanted to do one album per month for all 120 months of the decade, then dropped it to 10 per year, then changed my mind again and set a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 12 per year. No more than one album can be reviewed for any given month and no artist can appear twice. Those who know me well know that I need arbitrary rules like this in order to stay focused on a project, and I also like making up arbitrary rules.

The list has been in flux for some time and is subject to revision, but I think it's reached a steady state of sorts and can be published for the perusal of interested parties. Note that this is not a list of the 108 best albums of the 90's. I'll leave that sort of thing to Pitchfork as it seems to be the only thing they do that approaches being readable. I will be updating the links each time I post a new review. (Each album is preceded by the month in which it was released)

1990
01 - Flood - They Might Be Giants
02 - Chill Out - The KLF
03 - Fear of a Black Planet - Public Enemy
04 - Repeater - Fugazi
05 - Bloodletting - Concrete Blonde
06 - No Depression - Uncle Tupelo
08 - World Clique - Deee-Lite
09 - Bossanova - Pixies
10 - Behaviour - Pet Shop Boys
11 - Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions - Killing Joke

1991
01 - Tyranny >For You< - Front 242
02 - Green Mind - Dinosaur Jr.
03 - Spiderland EP - Slint
04 - Blue Lines - Massive Attack
05 - Yerself Is Steam - Mercury Rev
07 - 13-Point Plan to Destroy America - Nation of Ulysses
08 - Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill
09 - Naughty by Nature - Naughty by Nature
10 - No Pocky for Kitty - Superchunk
11 - Laughing Stock - Talk Talk
12 - Until the End of the World - Original Soundtrack

1992
01 - Congregation - The Afghan Whigs
02 - T.V. Sky - Young Gods
03 - Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury - Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy
04 - Bricks Are Heavy - L7
05 - Daily Operation - Gang Starr
06 - The Question is No - Fastbacks
07 - Your Arsenal - Morrissey
08 - The Death of Cool - Kitchens of Distinction
09 - Copper Blue - Sugar
10 - Liar - Jesus Lizard
11 - Circa Now! - Rocket from the Crypt
12 - Happy Hour - King Missile

1993
01 - Star - Belly
02 - Tabula Rasa - Einstürzende Neubauten
03 - Songs of Faith and Devotion - Depeche Mode
04 - Frosting on the Beater - The Posies
05 - Republic - New Order
06 - Exile in Guyville - Liz Phair
07 - Chrome - Catherine Wheel
08 - Last Splash - The Breeders
09 - Cure for Pain - Morphine
10 - Pussy Whipped - Bikini Kill
11 - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - The Wu-Tang Clan

1994
01 - Initiation - Course of Empire
02 - Troublegum - Therapy?
03 - Hex - Bark Psychosis
04 - Illmatic - Nas
05 - Diary - Sunny Day Real Estate
06 - Bee Thousand - Guided by Voices
07 - Punk in Drublic - NOFX
08 - Grace - Jeff Buckley
09 - Release - Cop Shoot Cop
10 - Dummy - Portishead
11 - MTV Unplugged in New York - Nirvana

1995
01 - The Great Annihilator - Swans
02 - Music for the Jilted Generation - The Prodigy
03 - The Bends - Radiohead
04 - Thank You - Royal Trux
05 - I Should Coco - Supergrass
06 - Exit Planet Dust - The Chemical Brothers
07 - Elliot Smith - Elliot Smith
08 - ...And Out Come the Wolves - Rancid
09 - The Great Escape - Blur
10 - Different Class - Pulp
11 - Soul Food - Goodie Mob

1996
01 - Millions Now Living Will Never Die - Tortoise
02 - The Score - The Fugees
03 - Call the Doctor - Sleater-Kinney
04 - Do You Know Who You Are? - Texas Is the Reason
05 - Dr. Octagonecologyst - Dr. Octagon
06 - Reasonable Doubt - Jay-Z
07 - Drum 'n' Bass for Papa - Plug
08 - ATLiens - Outkast
09 - Pinkerton - Weezer
10 - Now I Got Worry - Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
11 - Endtroducing - DJ Shadow

1997
01 - Perfect From Now On - Built to Spill
02 - Brighten the Corners - Pavement
03 - Homework - Daft Punk
04 - I Can Feel the Heart Beating As One - Yo La Tengo
05 - Red Apple Falls - Smog
06 - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space - Spiritualized
07 - Funcrusher Plus - Company Flow
08 - F# A# Infinity - Godspeed You! Black Emperor
09 - Homogenic - Björk
10 - Young Team - Mogwai
11 - Lonesome Crowded West - Modest Mouse

1998
01 - Challenge for a Civilized Society - Unwound
02 - In an Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
03 - Big Calm - Morcheeba
04 - Darkest Days - Stabbing Westward
05 - A Thousand Leaves - Sonic Youth
08 - Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star - Black Star
09 - Electro-Shock Blues - Eels
10 - Prolonging the Magic - CAKE
11 - Without You I'm Nothing - Placebo
12 - Jurassic 5 - Jurassic 5

1999
01 - I See a Darkness - Bonnie "Prince" Billy
02 - Things Fall Apart - The Roots
03 - Summerteeth - Wilco
04 - Avant Hard - Add N to (X)
05 - The Soft Bulletin - Flaming Lips
06 - Selenography - Rachel's
07 - Vaya EP - At the Drive-In
08 - Third Mall From the Sun - Snog
09 - 69 Love Songs - The Magnetic Fields
10 - Emergency and I - Dismemberment Plan

Tyranny (For You)

2010-06-14T11:01:00.003-04:00

Back to the 90's is back on Listen Dammit after a two-month hiatus. We're now on to 1991 with Front 242's landmark album Tyranny (For You). It may not have been their most popular album, but it was an important step forward for EBM and Industrial Dance Music. Without bands like Front 242 and BiGod 20 there never would have been a VNV Nation or an Apoptygma Berserk. Next, up Dinosaur Jr...

The 60's and 70's revisited

2010-06-10T13:08:00.007-04:00

I haven't posted anything in a while, so I thought I'd put up some revised versions of the various Punk Anthology Sampler and Punk Anthology Expansion Pack volumes I've blogged about before. This also gives me the opportunity to talk a bit about the early days of punk rock, which I pretty much glossed over before giving a very thorough treatment to the 80's and 90's.

The main reason for the revision is that while all of the other Samplers covered 3 or 4 year spans, the first one covered a whopping 15 year span, mostly due to the fact that some of the Anthology mixes it drew from were rather anemic (a problem to be dealt with at a later date). In order to compensate for this, I decided to split the first Sampler into two parts, and promote the best tracks from the corresponding Expansion Packs. This, of course, resulted in the need to fill out the Expansion Packs whose songs had been pilfered. It also resulted in some title changes.

The first Sampler now covers the 14 year period between 1963 and 1976 which is still a lot of ground, but there's not much to be done about that for the moment. The corresponding Expansion Packs divide this period into the garage rock years (1963-1968) and the glam/proto-punk years (1969-1976). Eventually I'd like to delve into this period in more detail, but for now this will have to do.

PAS 1963-1976: Psychotic Generation

Louie Louie - The Kingsmen
Wooly Bully - Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
I Want Candy - The Strangeloves
Dirty Water - The Standells
My Generation - The Who
Psychotic Reaction - Count Five
Pushin' Too Hard - The Seeds
Friday on My Mind - The Easybeats
I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night - The Electric Prunes
Break On Through (to the Other Side) - The Doors
Venus in Furs - The Velvet Underground & Nico
Nobody But Me - The Human Beinz
Pictures of Matchstick Men - The Status Quo
Kick out the Jams - MC5
I Wanna Be Your Dog - The Stooges
Sweet Jane - The Velvet Underground
The Man Who Sold the World - David Bowie
Bang a Gong (Get It On) - T. Rex
School's Out - Alice Cooper
Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed
Search and Destroy - Iggy & the Stooges
30 Seconds Over Tokyo - Pere Ubu
Blitzkriek Bop - Ramones
Blank Generation - Richard Hell & the Voidoids

The second Sampler is more in line with the rest of the Samplers in that it only covers a three year period from 1977 to 1979. A lot happened in those three years, and I'll get into more detail when I post the new Expansion Packs. From the bird's eye view, those years saw the transition from punk to post-punk as groups started to incorporate influences outside of the New York scene embodied by The Ramones, Television, and the Patti Smith Group (though it's noteworthy that all three are included in the Sampler). It's also a transition from an American-dominated scene to a British-dominated one that would persist until the mid-80's. The corresponding Expansion Packs each cover a single year, as they did before.

PAS 1977-1979: The Lust for Life Pours out of Me

See No Evil - Television
God Save the Queen - Sex Pistols
Sonic Reducer - Dead Boys
Lust for Life - Iggy Pop
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
Cheree - Suicide
Because the Night - Patti Smith Group
Nice 'n' Sleazy - The Stranglers
Rock Lobster - The B-52's
The Light Pours of of Me - Magazine
I Wanna Be Sedated - Ramones
Down in the Tube Station at Midnight - The Jam
Oliver's Army - Elvis Costello
At Home He's a Tourist - Gang of Four
She's Lost Control - Joy Division
Death Disco - Public Image Ltd.
I Don't Like Mondays - The Boomtown Rats
Making Plans For Nigel - XTC
London Calling - The Clash
Video Killed the Radio Star - The Buggles

That's probably enough to chew on for now. I'll post the revised tracklists for the Expansion Packs with commentary fairly soon. I should also have a new Listen Dammit review done fairly shortly as well.

Freedom Isn't Freedom

2010-05-14T11:38:00.005-04:00

In my last post I made a fleeting mention of the "mass movement of cognitive dissonance that is the Tea Party" referencing their rather odd notion that their freedom is threatened by having to pay with taxes for services provided by the government that they use every day. It strikes me that the Tea Party people may be having a Vizzini-Montoya moment:

Vizzini: HE DIDN'T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE.

Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Tea Party people are always on about freedom and liberty and how Obama is going to take it away from them. Like Inigo Montoya, I do not think they know what the words freedom and liberty mean.

Let's start with literal definitions of the words, and see how the Tea Party conceptions hold up. Freedom and liberty are Germanic and Romantic versions of the same concept: the state of being released from bondage. This means freedom is really a negative concept, in the sense that is defined as the absence of something else. When one talks about "freedom from" something, they are implicitly comparing that something to the state of bondage (e.g. freedom from tyranny). On the contrary, when one talks about "freedom to" one is only indirectly referencing the concept of bondage. "Freedom to speak one's mind" is really shorthand for "freedom from restrictions against speaking one's mind". A more direct way of saying this is that one has the right or privilege to speak one's mind.

So what sort of liberty does is Tea Party defending? Clearly there's the freedom from unfair taxation as expressed by the Boston Tea Party from whence they took their name. However, as many have pointed out, the Americans of 1773 were protesting against taxation without representation. This is clearly not the case today, as we have a representative government that is elected by the citizens of the United States. In addition, as I mentioned in the previous post, tax rates in this country are at the lowest they have been since 1950.

More generally the Tea Party claims to be protesting government overreach into people's lives. There are a few problems with this claim. First, the Tea Party has been completely silent on the obvious government overreach taking place with the state of Oklahoma's recently passed restrictions on abortion. Second, the Tea Party has also been nowhere to be seen when the state of Arizona decided people could be detained for simply appearing to be an illegal immigrant. Third, no one in the Tea Party seems particularly upset about state laws banning gay marriage. All of these are clear cases of government infringement upon the rights of Americans, yet the Tea Party has not come out against any of these policies.

So it seems to me that the freedom the Tea Party claims to fight for does not apply entirely to women, non-whites, or non-straight people. Add in the fact that the members of the Tea Party are on average more affluent than the average American, and the policies they oppose tend to aid the poor and those with lower incomes at the expense of the rich and those with higher incomes (which they incorrectly label as socialism - a topic for another blog post), and a picture starts to come into focus. The freedom they advocated only fully applies to straight white male landowners, which explains their fetish for the 1700s. As others have pointed out, the 18th century was a time when only (presumably straight) white male landowners could vote, and it's this aspect of the past that the Tea Party is nostalgic for.

Liberty and justice for a narrowly defined segment of the population (white, male, and well-off) is most certainly not the same as liberty and justice for all. I think the word the Tea Party is really looking for is privilege. The privilege that comes from being white, straight, male and well off is what is truly endangered by the Obama administration. That's what's really got the so-called Tea Party so hopping mad.

Freedom Isn't Free

2010-04-29T20:33:00.003-04:00

Lately there's been a lot of hubbub about Facebook's newest feature, which appears as a "like" button on external web sites. This feature is actually only a small part of a larger project by Facebook developers called Open Graph. The controversy stems from the concern that by using this feature, a Facebook user's personal information becomes accessible to other web sites. I'm not entirely certain whether or not this concern is valid, but for the sake of argument let's say that it is. Why are people so surprised, shocked, and or indignant that Facebook is doing this?

Let's review the facts. Facebook is a service that provides a user-friendly interface to connect with friends, find people with common interests, and establish a low maintenance web presence. It does all of this for the low low price of nothing at all. There is a pervasive misapprehension by users of the Web that free services like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Gmail, and LiveJournal are also free of cost. Anyone who has been involved in any way with providing internet services knows that this is not the case. Web sites need servers, routers, cables, and maintenance, none of which are without cost.

Who pays for all of this you might ask? Initially, the costs are covered by venture capital (VC) from investors. But investors want a return on their investment, which mean the company providing the free service has two options: require payment for some or all of the services provided or find an alternate revenue stream. The problem with the first option is that putting even part of a formerly free site behind a pay wall tends to turn off many of the users, as the New York Times discovered. Sometimes this can work if your audience can be convinced that they are getting extra value for their money. Even if your users don't raise a stink, putting content behind a pay wall means it can't be indexed by search engines and can't be easily shared with others, unless they pay up as well.

This leaves the option of alternate revenue streams. In order to generate income, a web site needs to have assets that people are willing to pay for. The service itself is not an asset to anyone by the users, who get to access the site for free. The only other asset of a site like Facebook is access to the content that is generated by users, and more importantly access to the network of connections built up by the users. Facebook already targets advertisements based on a the contents of a user's profile, the next logical step is to leverage its massive network to market and promote products and services. The potential for Facebook to generate income in this way is the reason why VC investors pony up the money to keep the site running.

For the user, this may seem like an invasion of privacy. Except that the user has provided all of this personal information to Facebook to use in any way it sees fit (subject to Facebook's privacy policy and terms of use). Keeping this information private make it largely worthless to the organization, and therefore costs them money without providing any income. If users were paying to keep information private that would be one thing, but they are not, and Facebook is not offering that service anyway. So while Facebook may be free, using it does not come without a price. That price is that Facebook can use the information you provide to generate revenue. If you are not willing to pay that price, you should not expect to get the benefits of having an account for free.

The whole situation reminds me of the mass movement of cognitive dissonance that is the Tea Party. Tea Partiers, like all Americans, benefit from the services provided by the US government. They drive on public roads, they walk through public parks, they check books out of public libraries, they get educations at public universities, and when they reach retirement age (given the high average age many of them already have) they will receive benefits from Social Security and Medicare. Yet, they bristle at the notion of paying for these benefits via income tax, even when the rate of said income tax is lower than any point in recent history and considerably lower than that of most other developed nations. As supporters of the military often say, freedom isn't free.

Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions

2010-04-19T22:36:00.003-04:00

I had a little fun with this one. Also, I'm quite looking forward to the new Killing Joke album due in September (original lineup!), and hope they get their American tour dates rescheduled. (clicky the pic-y)

Behaviour

2010-04-10T14:33:00.003-04:00

I'm almost done with my 1990 album reviews on Listen, Dammit. The latest is Pet Shop Boys third album Behaviour. As I note in the review, PSB are better known for their singles, but they released a number of very good albums as well. Next up, Killing Joke. Then it's on to 1991...

Easter

2010-04-04T12:26:00.006-04:00

I haven't talked much about religion on this blog, for much the same reason that people don't talk about religion in "polite conversation." Like politics, it is likely to rub up against some very strongly held beliefs and devolve into doctrinal and denominational bickering that is of little use to anyone. But aside from music, which I talk about profusely on this blog, and mathematics, which I try to avoid talking about outside of the classroom because it tends to put people to sleep, religion and politics are the two things I'm most interested in talking about.

Today is Easter, and I'd like to delve into some of the issues I have with the holiday. I have no problem with the mostly pagan symbols that are commonly associated with the day (eggs and rabbits primarily) that have more to do with the coming of spring than anything remotely Christian. I also have no problem with the supernatural nature of the story of Easter. Christianity is by no means the first religion to incorporate death and resurrection into its mythology (see Egypt and Osiris for a much earlier example). My primary issue with Easter is what it means, or at any rate is supposed to mean.

The message of Easter is absolutely central to Christianity, so it is essential that we understand where it comes from and why it arose in the first place if we wish to understand the Christian religion. I am not a scholar of religion or theology, but I have read a number of books on early Christianity so I will attempt to piece an explanation together from what I have read.

The people living in Palestine (the Greek name for the region) in the time of Jesus were living in the midst of several different cultures. The majority of the population of Judea and Galilee in particular was of Jewish descent and practiced Jewish rituals like the Sabbath, Seder, and various purity laws which restricted what one could eat among other things. The region also had significant exposure to Greek culture, including the language and modes of education, largely due to the Hellenistic Empire founded by Alexander the Great. Finally, at the time of Jesus, the area was under the control of the Roman empire, which mostly collected taxes, built roads and kept the peace.

The confluence of these cultures led to conflicting ideas about how to live one's life, and who or what served as an authority both in the legal and religious sense. This led to a lot of questions, debates, and other intellectual activity, some of the fruits of which can be seen in the sayings, parables, and pronouncements of Jesus in the gospels. Two of the most important topics of discussion were power and purity.

In the near-eastern temple state, of which the Jewish kingdom centered around Jerusalem was one, there were two separate authority systems. The king was at the center of power, and was responsible for executing the laws of the land. The high priest in the temple was responsible for arranging rituals and adjudicating matters of purity, such as who or what was unclean and what needed to be done in the case of violations of the purity laws. These systems were challenged intellectually by the Greeks and politically by the Romans.

This was the context in which the early Christians came to terms with the life and death of Jesus. Most of the early Christian traditions were oral, though by the 50's and 60's written works began to appear as well. Some of these were collections of sayings like the Gospel of Thomas, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the source of the material common to Matthew and Luke but not found in Mark (known by New Testament scholars as "Q"). Some of these were collections of stories reminiscent of those in the Old Testament about Moses and Elijah (walking on water, the loaves and fishes). Others were pronouncements, healings, and other challenges to the interpretation of the purity laws made by competing sects such as the Pharisees.

None of these writings contained references to the crucifixion and resurrection that are central to the story of Easter. This is not all that surprising as it was likely somewhat embarrassing that the founder of the schools of thought that generated these writings was tortured and executed by the hated Roman occupiers.

Through the letters of Paul, however, there is evidence of yet another group of early Christians that commemorated the death of Jesus in the manner of a Greek hero cult, and formulated some of the earliest versions of the kerygma or proclamation of the death and resurrection of the Christ. I use the title "Christ" here instead of the name "Jesus" because that is how this group referred to Jesus, using the Greek word "khristos" which means "anointed one" and is a literal translation of the Hebrew word "messiah". A messiah in the Jewish tradition was a person chosen by God to lead the Jewish people to defeat whoever happened to be oppressing, enslaving, or occupying them at the time.

Paul went a step further in his Epistle to the Romans by arguing that through the life and death of the Christ, the followers of Jesus were made righteous by their faith. This wouldn't have made much sense if the Christian movement had stayed exclusively Jewish, since Jews were made righteous by following the laws of purity as set down by the temple authorities. Due largely to Paul, the movement had expanded to include gentiles as well as Jews. This caused quite a stir with the so-called "pillars" of Jerusalem, notably Peter and James. Paul and Peter managed to come to a sort of truce where Peter would preach to the circumcised (the Jews) and Paul would preach to the uncircumcised (the gentiles).

Preaching to the gentiles meant dealing with the sticky issues of the purity laws. Paul's loophole for the gentiles was that they did need to obey the Jewish purity laws to be righteous. Instead, they could be made righteous through their faith in God and in Jesus as the messiah. This concept of righteousness by way of faith is a key part of the meaning of the story of Easter.

While Paul spoke often of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the story of Easter does not appear in any of his letters, which were probably written in the 50's, around the same time as the first drafts of the various sayings collections mentioned earlier. It wasn't until after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E. at the end of the first Jewish-Roman war that the first version of the Easter story was written, in the Gospel According to Mark.

The Jewish revolt in 66 C.E. and the ensuing war with the Romans culminating in the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem was a tremendous crisis for the Jewish people. When the Romans occupied Palestine they diminished the authority of the Jewish King, the center of power in the temple state. When they destroyed the temple they diminished the authority of the Jewish High Priest, the center of purity in the temple state. Everything that defined the lives of the Jewish people had been upended, and they needed a new way to establish their identity without the temple. This was the moment in which Christianity and modern Judaism were born.

The Gospel of Mark attempted to combine earlier oral traditions of sayings, pronouncements, and miracles into a "bios" or biography of Jesus, centered around the story of the arrival, capture, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus in Jerusalem. Up until that point, Jerusalem had not played a significant role in the stories of Jesus, other than the fact that Peter, James, and others were based there, according to Paul. All of the stories of Jesus had taken place in Galilee, where he grew up and spent the majority of his life. After the destruction of the temple, Jerusalem became much more relevant.

Here is where, after all this background (which turned out to be much longer than I had anticipated), we get to the meaning of Easter. The current Christian dogma, which may be the only thing that unites the disparate sects and denominations of the Christian church, is that Jesus died for the forgiveness of our collected sins, and through his resurrection and our faith we are saved from eternal punishment and rewarded with eternal life. This dogma is actually a collection of a number of different ideas that were developed over the history of the early Christian church, and in the humble opinion of the author is complete and utter nonsense.

I hold this position for two reasons. First, the rationale behind and context of the story of Easter in the Gospel of Mark has been completely misrepresented by this modern formulation. Second, the consequences of this assertion have caused a great deal of unnecessary suffering throughout the history of the various branches of the Christian Church. I have already established most of the context of Mark, it remains only to explain the rationale, and consider the effects.

The rational behind the story in Mark is that Jesus was unrighteously persecuted, and was made a martyr by the Romans. Much like the Maccabean Martyrs two centuries earlier, his wrongful death was interpreted as a sacrifice which conferred righteousness upon his followers. This interpretation fit in nicely with Paul's concept of righteousness by faith as a justification for including gentiles in the Christian church. It also served as an explanation and a reaction to the destruction of the temple. The destruction was tied to the collusion of the Jewish temple authorities with the Romans who tortured and executed the Christ. More importantly, Mark set up Jesus as a replacement for both the King (who had great power) and the High Priest (who had great purity). All of these things positioned the Christian movement with Jesus as it's founder and authority figure as a replacement for the temple state system of the past.

Here's the real sticking point: the forgiveness of sins that we associate with the story of Easter was a way of expanding the membership of the Christian movement to include those who did not follow the Jewish laws of purity. It was a means of defining righteousness in terms of something other than the traditions and taboos of the Jewish people. This is what allowed Christianity to spread throughout the world, as it was no longer tied to a single ethnic group. While this notion is very enlightened and commendable, it should not be confused with the concept of forgiveness in general, which is also very enlightened and commendable, but not relevant to the original story of Easter.

What is not enlightened or commendable is the way in which this story and the message behind it has been twisted and turned on its head to create a new division based not upon ethnic lines but upon doctrine. As the Christian church became more powerful after Constantine's conversion and the Edict of Milan in 313 C.E., it began to persecute those who did not accept the dogma of the resurrection, be they Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Animist, or Atheist. Those who believe will go to Heaven to receive their eternal reward, and those who do not believe will go to Hell to receive their eternal punishment. This is not only inconsistent with the vision of the early Christians, it is inconsistent with common sense. Are those who commit terrible crimes, yet repent at the end of their lives rewarded in Paradise, while those who's lives are defined by charity and good will who don't subscribe to the dogma damned to eternal torment?

But what of the more progressive denominations of Christianity that do not hold to these dogmatic beliefs? While I have great respect and admiration for Christians who adhere to the teachings of Jesus to give aid to the poor and sick and treat others with kindness, I have to ask: are these qualities uniquely Christian? Is it really necessary to retell a story which was constructed in a completely different context, and embellished with supernatural events (OK I guess I do have a problem with that part too) in order to get these points across?

It is my personal opinion, though it is shared by others, that the story of Easter is ultimately a distraction from the more important and universal principles espoused by Jesus and his early followers: treat others with compassion and strive to make this world more just. Everything else is just window dressing.

Bossanova

2010-03-23T21:39:00.004-04:00

The hits just keep coming. This week it's Pixies' Bossanova, which as it happens does not contain a single bossanova, but does contain some kick-ass tunes like "Dig for Fire" and "Velouria." It tends to be overshadowed by Surfer Rosa and Doolittle, but it stands on its own pretty well. Up next, Pet Shop Boys. (Click the planet for the review)

World Clique

2010-03-11T23:55:00.003-05:00

Another week, another classic album from the 90's. This time it's Deee-Lite and their debut album World Clique.

No Depression

2010-03-04T19:31:00.004-05:00

The latest post in my "Back to the 90's" series for listen, dammit is on the debut album from Uncle Tupelo. Amazingly, I had never actually heard the album until I picked it up for this review. Not so amazingly, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it, and wish I had done so sooner. Click below for the link.

Bloodletting

2010-02-22T20:17:00.005-05:00

New review up on Listen, Dammit for Concrete Blonde's Bloodletting. I have to thank H for turning me on to this one. Up next... Uncle Tupelo.

Master of my domain

2010-02-20T17:39:00.003-05:00

I finally bit the bullet and bought a real domain name form my blog. This blog can now be accessed at www.soulinisolation.net, soulinisolation.net, or for those who are nostalgic at soulinisolation.blogspot.com. I have also turned on moderation as I have been getting unwanted attention from spammers. I suppose it's a good thing that the site is getting attention at all.

Read 'em and Weep

2010-02-11T21:24:00.008-05:00

Recently, I've been writing a series of music reviews for the venerable blog Listen, Dammit. The theme of the series is "Back to the 90's", and it's something of a continuation of the blogging I've been doing here, but drilling down on specific albums. Just like I did with my Punk Anthology series of mixes, I'm reviewing albums chronologically. I've limited myself to no more than one album per month, and around 10 albums per year (I'd do 12 but December is a very slow month for non-holiday albums). I'm trying to pick albums that are of high quality and importance, while at the same time favoring those that are lesser known. This means I'll be avoiding big ticket items like Nevermind, Loveless, and OK Computer which have been reviewed to death and don't need any more exposure.

Here are the four entries I've put up so far:

Flood - They Might Be Giants (Jan. 1990)

Chill Out - The KLF (Feb. 1990)

Fear of a Black Planet - Public Enemy (Mar. 1990)

Repeater - Fugazi (Apr. 1990)

While you're there, check out the rest of the blog. It's run by music critic par excellence Eric Danton, and features some great reviews of stuff that isn't 20 years old as well.

On choice and life

2010-02-07T09:37:00.003-05:00

There seems to be a big to-do about a certain Super Bowl ad this year. The network running this ad has rejected ads from other religious organizations in the past. What makes this one so special? Well, for starters, this advertisement was funded by an organization called "Focus on the Family." What could be less controversial and more wholesome than focusing on families? That is, as long as it's a soft focus, and a selective one at that. Focus on the Family would rather you didn't focus on families with gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender persons, single mothers, single fathers, interracial couples, muslims, jews, buddhists, hindus, taoists, pagans, atheists, agnostics, feminists, or anyone who might want to have an abortion. They would much rather you focus on two-parent, heterosexual, same-race, Christian families that see all of their pregnancies through to the end. Even if that end threatens the life of the mother, as it did for Pam Tebow.

"But this ad celebrates choice!", you say. And indeed it does. Focus on the Family and the pro-life (or anti-choice as some would have it) movement in general is all about choice, as long as that choice is the right choice. They believe women should have the freedom to make the right choice about abortion (not having one), that teenagers and young adults should have the freedom to make the right choice about sex (not having it until they get married), that same-sex couples should have the freedom to make the right choice about marriage (not getting one), that families of persons in a persistent vegetative state should have the freedom to make the right choice about life-support (not pulling the plug), that gays and lesbians in the military should have the freedom to make the right choice about serving their country (not doing it, or not telling anyone about being gay), the terminally ill should have the freedom to make the right choice about ending their lives (not doing it) and that everyone should have the freedom to make the right choice about their religion (accepting Jesus Christ as their personal lord and savior). Choices are so much easier to make when there is a clear distinction between right and wrong, and the beauty of the philosophy of Focus on the Family is that there always is. It's even easier to make the right choice when the government makes the wrong one illegal.

"But this ad celebrates life!", you say. And indeed it does. Focus on the Family and the pro-life movement are all about life too, as long as that life is the right life. Living the right life is not just about making the right choices. Ideally, it's about not having the capacity to make the wrong choices as well. After all, wasn't original sin all about a woman making the wrong choice to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and convincing a man to partake in it as well? Wouldn't it have been so much easier if God had not given them the ability to make that decision?

There is a word for the inability to make the wrong choices: innocence. The innocence of Jesus is at the heart of the Christian faith. What would Jesus do? He would do the right thing. That's why the highest form of life for Focus on the Family is the fetus. A fetus can not make choices, and therefore can not make wrong choices. A fetus is completely dependent on its mother, and we should all aspire to be just as dependent on God, the church, and the government (as long as it is run in accordance with God and the church). The next best thing to a fetus is a person in a persistent vegetative state. Terry Schiavo was unable to make the wrong choice to end her life in a dignified fashion, and her husband should have been equally unable to make that choice for her.

Of course, because of Eve's poor decision making skills, the rest of us can only aspire to be as innocent as a fetus. Aside from choosing Jesus Christ as our personal lord and savior so that we can be forgiven for the sins we have committed as well as those we have inherited, we can choose not to repeat Eve's mistake: choosing knowledge. It was knowledge that started us down the path to sin, so whenever possible we must avoid any knowledge that would take us further down this path.

There is a word for this too: ignorance. We must ignore the words of Charles Darwin who observed that life adapts to its environment by means of natural selection. We must ignore the words of Bertrand Russell who argued that no evil deed performed in a finite lifetime is justly punished by eternal damnation. We must ignore the words of Martin Luther King who preached that all of God's children should be judged by the content of their character. And above all else we must ignore the words of Cheris Kramarae and Paula Treichler that "feminism is the radical notion that women are people." If we do not ignore these words, if we allow our curiosity to get the best of us, if we open our eyes to the possibility that not every decision can be cast in black and white, we may someday find ourselves making difficult decisions. Even worse, we may find ourselves taking responsibility for the decisions we make.

So kudos to Pam Tebow for choosing life. And even more kudos to the government of The Philippines for making it illegal for her to choose otherwise. If every government in the world would make it illegal for us to make the wrong choices, no one would ever have to worry about facing the consequences of our actions. If every religion in the world would keep us from knowledge that may lead us to difficult questions, no one would ever have to worry about the rightness of their actions or their beliefs. In short, we could all live happily in a persistent vegetative state, and never leave the womb at all.

Best albums of 2000-2009

2009-12-31T12:36:00.002-05:00

Since everyone else is doing it, here's my list of the best albums of the last decade:

Kid A - Radiohead (2000)
Silent Shout - The Knife (2006)
Turn on the Bright Lights - Interpol (2002)
Misery Is a Butterfly - Blonde Redhead (2004)
Leaves Turn Inside of You - Unwound (2001)
Discovery - Daft Punk (2001)
Silent Alarm - Bloc Party (2005)
One Beat - Sleater-Kinney (2002)
Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons - Blonde Redhead (2000)
The Black Album - Jay-Z (2003)
Amnesiac - Radiohead (2001)
Arular - M.I.A. (2005)
Stankonia - Outkast (2000)
Music for People - VAST (2000)
The Moon and Antarctica - Modest Mouse (2000)
The Woods - Sleater-Kinney (2005)
23 - Blonde Redhead (2007)
Change - The Dismemberment Plan (2001)
Relationship of Command - At the Drive-In (2000)
With the Tides - South (2003)
Echoes - The Rapture (2003)
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea - PJ Harvey (2000)
Vespertine - Björk (2001)
Hail to the Thief - Radiohead (2003)
Source Tags and Codes - ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (2002)

The 90's are coming part 10: 1999

2009-12-27T11:29:00.006-05:00

On January 1st, 2000 I was standing on a pier on Lake Mendota looking wistfully into the sunrise, wondering what the new millennium would bring. Technically it wasn't a new millennium yet, as the years of the Gregorian calender began with year one, but it felt like the new millennium much in the same way that hitting 10,000 miles on your odometer feels like an event. Nearly ten years later it still feels odd referring to the twentieth century in the past tense, and odder still to consider the last ten years as a decade on par with the 80's or the 90's. Maybe that's because we haven't come up with a proper name for it yet.

Like all years ending in a nine, 1999 stands both as a summation of the decade that came before and a hint of what was to come in the following years. A number of career-defining albums came out that year: Emergency & I by The Dismemberment Plan, Keep It Like a Secret by Built to Spill, Summerteeth by Wilco, The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips, Third Mall from the Sun by Snog, Beaucoup Fish by Underworld, Empires by VNV Nation, 69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Fields. These were artists that had emerged in the early 90's, survived the end of the alternative rock scene in the mid 90's, and would continue to produce intriguing music in the following years. Of these groups, only The Dismemberment Plan is no longer active, though their legacy remains as forefathers of the disco-punk sound that dominated much of the following decade.

As we leave behind the 80's nostalgia and begin the inevitable 90's nostalgia, I would like to make one request: use this opportunity to take a second look at the artists who never quite broke through to the mainstream. Hopefully I have provided some of the means to do so here with the Samplers and Expansion Packs. If you haven't already, I urge you to check out Bel Canto, Course of Empire, Leæther Strip, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Cop Shoot Cop, Catherine Wheel, Fugazi, Curve, Snog, Diatribe, Rocket from the Crypt, Recoil, Machines of Loving Grace, James, Low Pop Suicide, Therapy?, Slowdive, Jawbox, Stabbing Westward, Pulp, Guided by Voices, XC-NN, Kristin Hersh, Swans, Gracious Shades, Blonde Redhead, Sleater-Kinney, Everything but the Girl, Republica, Rasputina, The Olivia Tremor Control, Eels, Unwound, Hooverphonic, Wolfsheim, VNV Nation, Covenant, Faithless, The Dismemberment Plan, Neutral Milk Hotel, VAST, Lo Fidelity Allstars, Imperative Reaction, Spy, Shivaree and LEN. And that's just the tip of the iceberg...

Edit 12/29/2009: Road tested the last two PAEPs. 1998 was excellent, but 1999 just didn't flow right, so I've made a few changes.

Edit 1/23/2010: OK. So I'm still working on 1999. One more minor change.

PAEP Vol. 25: Goodnight Twentieth Century (1999)

Scorpio - Imperative Reaction
Baby - Spy
Head - Tin Star
I Don't Like the Drugs (but the Drugs Like Me) - Marylin Manson
Burn, Don't Freeze - Sleater-Kinney
Carry the Zero - Built to Spill
Sheep Go to Heaven - CAKE
Race for the Prize - The Flaming Lips
A Shot in the Arm - Wilco
Late Twentieth Century Boy - Snog
Shudder/King of Snake - Underworld
Blue Is the Frequency - Royal Trux
Yeah! Oh, Yeah! - The Magnetic Fields
Just Like You Imagined - Nine Inch Nails
Mark David Chapman - ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
Goodnight Moon - Shivaree

The 90's are coming part 9: 1998

2009-12-26T23:39:00.004-05:00

As the 90's drew to a close they started sounding less and less like the 90's. Lollapalooza went on hiatus after 1997, only to come back a few years ago as a Coachella-clone. Of the notable bands from the Seattle scene, Nirvana and Soundgarden were gone, Mudhoney and the Melvins never broke through to a wider audience, and Pearl Jam had graduated to stadium rock status much like U2 had by the early 90's. Beck was still going strong, though not by making more gen-x anthems like "Loser." As the dust settled from the collapse of alt-rock, what was left standing?

One artist from the 90's came back very strong riding the trip-hop wave they had started back in 1991. Massive Attack's third album Mezzanine may not have been as groundbreaking as their first album, but it was every bit as sleek and seductive. Several other bands were capitalizing on a mix of hip-hop and electronica including Faithless, Moloko, Hooverphonic, Lo Fidelity Allstars, Morcheeba, and of course Portishead whose self-titled second album was released the year before.

In the industrial scene a shift from the guitar-heavy rock of Nine Inch Nails toward the electronic body music (EBM for short) pioneered by Front 242 and BiGod 20 was taking place. While Stabbing Westward and Course of Empire both put out solid albums in 1998, the future belonged to VNV Nation, Apoptygma Berserk, and Covenant.

But what about punk? It seemed at times that Green Day, The Offspring, and the soon-to-be superstars Blink 182 were more of a parody of punk than a revival. The emo scene was a mixed bag. For every Modest Mouse and Dismemberment Plan, there seemed to be more than a few Promise Rings and Dashboard Confessionals. It fell upon punk stalwarts Fugazi and their tour-mates Blonde Redhead to keep the spirit of punk alive, though the latter would go in a very different direction after the turn of the century.

A number of great albums were released in 1998, but the one I keep coming back to is the third release by CAKE: Prolonging the Magic. From start to finish it provides unforgettable melodies, immaculate songwriting, and harmonies worthy of The Beatles. It also contains more than a little dark humor and cynicism (viz. "Sheep Go to Heaven" and "You Turn the Screws"), yet leaves room for heartfelt sentiment.

Here for you, is the penultimate Expansion Pack for the 1990's. With any luck I'll have 1999 finished before the new year...

Edit 12/30/2009: Had to make a swap when I realized I missed a great Eels song.

PAEP Vol. 24: God Is a DJ in the Church of Noise (1998)

Data - Unwound
Automatic Writing No. 17 - Course of Empire
Church of Noise - Therapy?
Hunter - Björk
Waking Up Beside You - Stabbing Westward
Teardrop - Massive Attack
No Surprise - Fugazi
The New Zero - Rasputina
Renaissance Affair - Hooverphonic
Futurism vs. Passéism, Part 2 - Blonde Redhead
Last Stop: This Town - Eels
Once in a Lifetime - Wolfsheim
Solitary - VNV Nation
God Is a DJ (Edit) - Faithless
2nd Floor - The Creatures
The Ice of Boston - The Dismemberment Plan
Satan Is My Motor - CAKE
Battle Flag (feat. Pigeonhead) - Lo Fidelity Allstars

The 90's are coming part 8: 1997

2009-12-14T23:43:00.002-05:00

What happens after a movement dies? Calling the alternative rock scene a movement might be a stretch, but it sure as hell felt like one in 1992. It wasn't moving so much by 1997, when most of the original alt-rockers had called it quits, radically altered their sound and image, or simply faded into irrelevance. Top 40 had already moved on to The Spice Girls, Puff Daddy, and a brief flirtation with techno. What about the so-called underground? Was it really the parody of itself that Ben Folds Five so wittily posited in their hit song of the same name? Or was their something left worth listening to?

Under the shadow of the grunge scene a number of other interesting pockets of creativity had developed in the early and mid-90's and came into their own once the alt-rock hype died down. The lo-fi indie rock of Pavement, Guided by Voices, and Built to Spill had become decidedly less lo-fi and a lot tighter by 1997. The emo-core scene that found its inspiration in Dischord records artists like Fugazi was in full swing producing some artists with staying power like Modest Mouse, Unwound, and The Dismemberment Plan. The riot-grrl scene was not as long lived, but it produced one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands of all time in Sleater-Kinney. The UK also kept churning out hitmakers like Radiohead, Blur, and The Verve.

Perhaps the most forward-looking release of 1997 was Daft Punk's Homework album. Presaging the house music revival that would bring us Basement Jaxx and Groove Armada as well as the dance-punk of the early 2000's, Daft Punk managed to stay fresh in a year when techno acts like The Chemical Brothers, Crystal Method, Sneaker Pimps, and Prodigy were in heavy rotation on MTV. Most of the critical praise went to OK Computer and Homogenic -- and rightfully so -- but Homework was the template for the next decade of underground dance music.

So I'll tell you what I want (what I really really want), and it's not a Spice Girls reunion. It's the next Punk Anthology Expansion pack...

PAEP Vol. 23: Lucky Man in Hell (1997)

Stereo - Pavement
The New Pollution - Beck
Water - Blonde Redhead
Around the World - Daft Punk
Exquisite Dead Guy - They Might Be Giants
Dig Me Out - Sleater-Kinney
The Perfect Drug (Plug Mix) - Nine Inch Nails
Lucky - Radiohead
Future Boy - Catherine Wheel
I Am a Tree - Guided by Voices
Dirt - Death in Vegas
Your Lucky Day in Hell - Eels
Mourning Air - Portishead
What Do You Want Me to Say? - The Dismemberment Plan
Cowboy Dan - Modest Mouse
Lucky Man - The Verve
Hooray!! - Snog

The 90's are coming part 7½: 1997-1999

2009-12-08T23:23:00.003-05:00

Just finished extending the Punk Anthology through 1999. It's really a rough first draft, but there's some great stuff in there. The new stuff (1997-1999) is spread out over 16 CDs, and I have compiled a 7th sampler by picking one song from each of the CDs (just like the first six). I'll talk about these years in more detail when I get to the Expansion Packs. For now, here's a taste...

PAS Vol. 7: Steal My Symphony (1997-1999)

Your Woman - White Town
Da Funk - Daft Punk
Paranoid Android - Radiohead
Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve
Jóga - Björk
Trailer Trash - Modest Mouse
The King of Carrot Flowers, Part One - Neutral Milk Hotel
Pretty When You Cry - VAST
Save Yourself - Stabbing Westward
Special - Garbage
Never There - CAKE
You Were Right - Built to Spill
Push Upstairs - Underworld
Buggin' (Mokran Mix) - The Flaming Lips
Steal My Sunshine - LEN
You Are Invited - The Dismemberment Plan

The 90's are coming part 7: 1996

2009-12-04T18:44:00.003-05:00

The fracturing of the alternative rock scene that had begun in 1994 and intensified in 1995 reached a breaking point in 1996. What started as a promising and energizing reorg of rock radio and MTV had been reduced in a few short years to MOR blandness reminicent of the late 80's. In the following years modern rock radio listeners would be subjected to musical atrocities like Third Eye Blind, Matchbox 20, Nickelback, and Creed. The moral of the story? Wherever originality and creativity lead, mediocrity will follow.

Still, there were some gems to find, if one were willing to sift through the piles and piles of worthless crap. The Eels, CAKE, and Republica all scored breakthrough hits in '96 with unconventional songs like "Novocaine for the Soul", "The Distance", and "Ready to Go." Beck was pumping out hits from his latest LP Odelay. Stalwarts from the 80's Everything but the Girl and Pulp finally broke through to the mainstream thanks to the production of Massive Attack and the antics of Jarvis Cocker respectively. On the indie tip, future superstars Sleater-Kinney and Modest Mouse were starting to generate some buzz with their albums Call the Doctor and This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About. Stabbing Westward, Gravity Kills, and other industrial rock groups were getting more airplay in the wake of Nine Inch Nails' success with The Downward Spiral two years earlier.

Once again, just as in 1982 and 1987 and 1991, an old order had to pass before a new one could come into being. An what a new order (though not a New Order) it would be. But that's another story. Here's the story of 1996...

PAEP Vol. 22: Stupid Girl with a Devil's Haircut (1996)

Candle - Skinny Puppy
Stupid Girl - Garbage
Lay Lady Lay - Ministry
Cut-Out Witch - Guided by Voices
I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone - Sleater-Kinney
Marlboro Lights - XC-NN
Ready to Go - Republica
Good Cop Bad Cop - Everything but the Girl
Shame - Stabbing Westward
Transylvanian Concubine - Rasputina
The Opera House - The Olivia Tremor Control
Novocaine for the Soul - Eels
In Search of My Rose - The Tear Garden
Italian Leather Sofa - CAKE
Devil's Haircut - Beck
Lady Picture Show - Stone Temple Pilots
Vent - Tricky
Blow Up the Outside World - Soundgarden
Sister - Diatribe

The 90's are coming part 6: 1995

2009-12-03T18:16:00.004-05:00

In the 90's the term alternative rock was frequently derided as meaningless. "Alternative to what?" was a typical critique. Certainly by 1995 the line between mainstream and alternative music had become thin to the point of anorexia. Was Pearl Jam an alternative rock band or just a plain old rock band? And what about the endless grunge-rock imitators like Live, Bush, Silverchair, Collective Soul, and Candlebox? Did they have any claim on the punk rock legacy? This was nothing new of course. Nirvana, Jane's Addiction, Soundgarden, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and even Hüsker Dü had all been accused by purists of diluting the punk rock sound with elements of metal, classic rock, and funk. The difference was that the earlier alternative rockers were combining genres to create something new. The newer artists were just lifting the sound of the older groups to make conventional, unoriginal modern rock radio fodder.

Whenever a scene or genre or sound starts to become saturated, it's time for someone to come up with something new. In 1995 a number of interesting options presented themselves. On the one hand Green Day, Rancid, and The Offspring were recalling the straight-ahead punk rock of The Clash, Buzzcocks, and Ramones but with a pop sensibility and better production. On the other hand lo-fi acts like Pavement, Guided By Voices, and Sebadoh were trading in lower production values and drawing on more esoteric influences like The Fall, The Soft Boys, and Swans. Across the pond, bands like Oasis, Blur, and Suede were making a case for the UK scene, commonly known as brit-pop. And how could anyone forget the impact of former Canadian teen idol turned rocker Alanis Morissette and her hugely successful album Jagged Little Pill?

While Morissette is often credited with paving the way for the success of a slew of female singer-songwriters in the late 90's, her most lasting legacy -- with the aid of fellow travelers in The Dave Matthews Band and Hootie and the Blowfish -- was killing the beast that was alternative rock once and for all. After Alanis, any trace of the rough edges and innovation of punk rock was gone. In many ways she opened the door for acts like The Spice Girls and Brittney Spears and their brand of overproduced super-sweet pop who arrived on the scene in 1997 and 1999 respectively.

Curiously enough, none of the artists mentioned above made the cut in volume 21 of the Punk Anthology Expansion Pack (or for that matter the Punk Anthology Sampler covering 1994-1996), though some of them (Pavement, Suede and Guided By Voices) do appear on the more exhaustive anthology, and others (Blur, Oasis, Sebadoh, Rancid) are likely to appear in future editions. In 1995 I was listening to the less iconic (at the time) Brits like Radiohead, Pulp, and PJ Harvey and more industrially inclined American rock bands like Stabbing Westward, Machines of Loving Grace, Course of Empire, Cop Shoot Cop, and Filter. Throw in a few old hands like David Bowie, Nick Cave, and Peter Murphy as well as a few promising upstarts like Blonde Redhead and Tricky and you have a pretty well rounded mix of the mid-90's from my vantage point, rather than that of MTV or the increasingly homogeneous modern rock radio format...

PAEP Vol. 21: Thorns for the Scraping (1995)

Any Day Now - Cop Shoot Cop
I Am the Sun - Swans
Freemasons of Enochian Magick (Jack the Crowley mix) - Penal Colony
Long Snake Moan - PJ Harvey
Juke Joint Jezebel - KMFDM
Planet Telex - Radiohead
I'll Fall with Your Knife - Peter Murphy
Amie - Gracious Shades
Bed for the Scraping - Fugazi
Hey Man Nice Shot - Filter
Hell Is Round the Corner - Tricky
Isobel - Björk
Thorns - :wumpscut:
(I Am Taking Out My Eurotrash) I Still Get Rocks Off - Blonde Redhead
Casual Users - Machines of Loving Grace
Where the Wild Roses Grow - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Strangers When We Meet - David Bowie

The 90's are coming part 5: 1994

2009-11-25T22:44:00.003-05:00

In the history of popular music there are peaks as well as valleys. Which is which sometimes depends on your perspective. For Rock 'n' Roll music the first few years of the 1960's were a very low point. 1959 saw the death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and Jiles Perry "The Big Bopper" Richardson Jr. in a plane crash. Elvis had enlisted in the army. Safe prepackaged teen idols ruled the airwaves. It wasn't until late 1962 in the UK and 1964 in the USA that the Beatles would bring Rock 'n' Roll back from the brink of being a fad of the 50's.

Of course if your eye was on girl groups like The Shirelles, The Ronnettes, or The Chiffons, that same time period was a high point. Same goes for the scene surrounding the Motown label in Detroit. Ray Charles and James Brown were also making waves with what would soon be called Soul Music. Dick Dale, Jan & Dean, and The Beach Boys were pioneering the surf-rock sound.

The 90's started out at a pretty low point for Rock 'n' Roll if you only followed the Top 40 and the videos they played on MTV. It seemed as though the teen idols of the day like New Kids on the Block and Milli Vanilli were the wave of the future. Even Guns 'n' Roses, which had brought some new energy to Rock 'n' Roll in 1987 were putting out sprawling epics (Use Your Illusion Parts I and II) with maudlin ballads like "November Rain". Yet at the same time some great music was being made in Seattle and Manchester and Chicago and Detroit in underground scenes not unlike those at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in the early 1960's or CBGBs in the mid 1970s.

Some years, however, were clearly high points from any perspective. 1966 gave us Pet Sounds and Revolver. 1979 and 1980 gave us Unknown Pleasures, Entertainment!, London Calling, Metal Box, and Remain in Light. 1994 gave us Dummy, The Downward Spiral, Hex, The Charm of the Highway Strip, There's Nothing Wrong With Love, Release, Dear Valued Customer, Grace, Bee Thousand, Parklife, His 'n' Hers, Mellow Gold, Troublegum, Crooked Rain Crooked Rain, For Your Own Special Sweetheart, and Initiation. So yeah, it was a pretty good year. Here's a pretty good mix...

PAEP Vol. 20: I Am a Savory Scientist (1994)

In Your Room - Depeche Mode
Savory - Jawbox
Light - KMFDM
ACF - Stabbing Westward
The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get - Morrissey
Heresy - Nine Inch Nails
Acrylic Afternoons - Pulp
Infidelity Groove - BiGod 20
Born on a Train - The Magnetic Fields
Big Empty - Stone Temple Pilots
Low - Cracker
Die Laughing - Therapy?
I Am a Scientist - Guided By Voices
Sour TImes - Portishead
Car - Built to Spill
Lullaby - Cop Shoot Cop
1000 Easy - XC-NN
My Iron Lung - Radiohead
Red Right Hand - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

The 90's are coming part 4: 1993

2009-11-24T21:50:00.004-05:00

We have now come to the point in the Punk Anthology when the songs on the Samplers and Expansion Packs were by and large songs I was listening to when they first came out. I was not fortunate enough to be into Joy Division when I was 4 or The Replacements when I was 9 or The Stone Roses when I was 14, but the year after I turned 17 I was pretty much infatuated with Industrial, Techno, and Alternative Rock and consumed whatever I could find. A big part of that was Madison's finest radio station WORT and shows like The Infernorama, Psycho Acoustics, Friday on My Mind, and especially The Loud Music Seminar. I would listen to and record these shows and filter out the stuff I liked the best, then hop over to B-Side or Exclusive Company and pick up some CDs.

In that period of time I discovered some of my favorite artists including Radiohead, Course of Empire, Bel Canto, Stabbing Westward, Therapy?, Cop Shoot Cop, Leæther Strip, Orbital... the list goes on and on. There were a number of bands that I missed, or at least didn't pay much attention to at the time. In college, friends of mine turned me on to The Pixies, Fugazi, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Camper Van Beethoven, and The Replacements among others. I discovered a lot of the punk acts that populated the 1960's and 1970's portions of the Punk Anthology later on in college as the Alternative Rock scene seemed pretty played out by 1997. While working at IBM I discovered much of the post-punk music that followed, and in grad school I started work on what would eventually become the Punk Anthology in earnest, eventually bringing me back full circle to the early 90's where my obsession began. I should also mention that Heather has helped me fill some of the gaps (Pet Shop Boys, Cocteau Twins, Catherine Wheel, Kate Bush, and The Cure appear on the Anthology largely thanks to her).

It's quite a powerful thing to connect the past to the present, to be able to draw a line from The Kingsmen to The Troggs to The Stooges to New York Dolls to Sex Pistols to Public Image Limited to Hüsker Dü to The Pixies to Nirvana to Radiohead to Modest Mouse to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs to whatever comes next. And while I may not have encountered those artists in that order, it's illuminating to hear them that way, in a continuous evolution of great music. Speaking of great music, here's Volume 19 of the Punk Anthology Expansion Pack...

PAEP Vol. 19: Infested Sensuality (1993)

My Way - Low Pop Suicide
Just One Fix - Ministry
Anyone Can Play Guitar - Radiohead
I Feel You - Depeche Mode
Screamager - Therapy?
Yuri-G - PJ Harvey
Souvlaki Space Station - Slowdive
She Don't Use Jelly - Flaming Lips
Never Said - Liz Phair
Room 429 - Cop Shoot Cop
I Am God - Negativland
Butterfly Wings - Machines of Loving Grace
Heart-Shaped Box - Nirvana
Go West - Pet Shop Boys
Lemon - U2
Animal (Zoo) - Front 242
Big Time Sensuality - Björk
Infested! (Darwin Goodman Mix) - Course of Empire

The 90's are coming part 3: 1992

2009-11-23T19:46:00.002-05:00

After Nirvana's surprise success, major labels started signing "Alternative" bands left and right. It was sort of like the dot-com boom that would start heating up at the end of the decade. No one cared if bands had commercial appeal or not, as long as they had some hipster credibility or at the very least wore flannel and looked unkempt. How else can we explain Butthole Surfers being signed to a major label?

Though in time this shift in focus towards Seattle and similar underground scenes would produce derivative knock-offs -- Live, Silverchair, Bush, and Creed come to mind -- it also provided a wider audience to a number of daring and original artists who wouldn't have been given a second look a year before. Whether it was stalwarts like Nick Cave, Bob Mould, and The Jesus and Mary Chain or fresh faces like Curve, Radiohead, Liz Phair and Björk, Nirvana opened the door and legions of interesting (and not so interesting) groups followed. It was a golden age of sorts that lasted until the late 90's when the big labels started dropping acts faster than they signed them on in the early 90's.

A lot of attention has been paid in the last decade to the post-punk heyday between 1978 and 1982, and rightly so. But the years between 1992 and 1996 were every bit their equal in creativity, variety and intensity. So to get us started on that wild ride that we'll probably be reliving in the years to come, here's Volume 18 of the Punk Anthology Sampler...

PAEP Vol. 18: Far Gone and Outshined (1992)

Unicorn - Bel Canto
Mindphaser - Front Line Assembly
Hit - The Sugarcubes
Fait Accomplit - Curve
Ghost of a Texas Ladies Man - Concrete Blonde
Far Gone and Out - The Jesus and Mary Chain
Why - Annie Lennox
Straight to You - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Corporate Slave - Snog
The Other Side - Diatribe
The Bog - BiGod 20
Strap Me Down - Leæther Strip
Hoover Dam - Sugar
Happiness in Slavery - Nine Inch Nails
Outshined - Soundgarden
Ditch Digger - Rocket from the Crypt

The 90's are coming part 2: 1991

2009-11-19T19:54:00.002-05:00

I've already commented on what a big year 1991 was for Nirvana. Their second album Nevermind even managed to symbolically knock Michael Jackson's Dangerous off of the number #1 spot of the Billboard album charts. Not a bad feat for a band whose first album included a cover of an obscure song by Shocking Blue, and who had been opening for The Melvins. But 1991 was very kind to some other folks too.

After 10 years that saw them transform from a New Wave dance act to an Industrial Metal powerhouse, Ministry finally managed to release the hit single that had eluded them since "Every Day Is Halloween" with the classic "Jesus Built My Hotrod" featuring Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers mostly just being Gibby Haynes. Nine Inch Nails got a lot more attention after playing the main stage at the first Lollapalooza tour, organized by Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction. Trent Reznor was also touring with Pigface, an industrial supergroup centered around Martin Atkins of Public Image Limited and Killing Joke.

On the alt-rock side of things, Throwing Muses were making waves with their album The Real Ramona. The Pixies were also starting to make it big with their Trompe Le Monde LP, which sadly turned out to be their last. Former members of both bands ended up joining forces as The Breeders, though Tanya Donnelly would leave to start her own band Belly shortly thereafter. My Bloody Valentine released their swan song Loveless as well leaving thousands of hipsters waiting years for the follow-up. Fellow shoegazers Catherine Wheel put out a strong debut the following year that picked up where Talk Talk (another former New Wave 80's band who underwent a radical evolution, though in a completely different direction from Ministry) had left off with their final LP Laughing Stock.

It's hard to overestimate the impact and influence of Nevermind and Loveless (though many have tried), but for my money the most significant release of 1991 may very well have been Massive Attack's Blue Lines. By the late 90's the Grunge and Shoegaze scenes had pretty much evaporated, while the Trip-Hop sound that Massive Attack had pioneered was still going strong. Though Deee-Lite's House music and The KLF's hard trance may have grabbed the headlines at the time, Blue Lines had staying power and sounds fresh to this day.

So break out the glow sticks, tear up the jeans, get behind the wheel of your Jesus built hot-rod, and pop in Volume 17 of the ever more expansive Expansion Pack...

PAEP Vol. 17: Safe from Harm for the Last Time (1991)

Counting Backwards - Throwing Muses
Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You) - Pet Shop Boys
Last Train to Transcentral - The KLF
Ratskin - Swamp Terrorists
Sex with You - King Missile
Antius - Leæther Strip
Good Beat - Deee-Lite
Kiss Them for Me - Siouxie and the Banshees
Safe from Harm - Massive Attack
Pregnant for the Last Time - Morrissey
Suck - Pigface
Grouch - Schnitt Acht
Grey Cell Green - Ned's Atomic Dustbin
Chameleon Man - Cop Shoot Cop
Drain You - Nirvana
Jesus Built My Hotrod - Ministry
Black Metallic - Catherine Wheel
Mysterious Ways - U2

The 90's are coming part 1: 1990

2009-11-18T21:56:00.004-05:00

Now that I'm done with the 80's (with any luck American popular culture is as well), it's time to face up to the next wave of nostagia: the inevitable 90's revival. By some reports, it has already started. So to prepare ourselves for an onslaught of flannel, flat tops, and fanny packs, I have begun to compile a few more mixes in my Punk Anthology Expansion Pack series. We begin at the beginning with 1990.

As I mentioned in my previous posts, the early 90's were really a continuation of a movement that had begun in the late 80's. Nirvana, The Pixies, Fugazi, Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction, and countless other bands and artists had already been active for a few years before the 80's ended and the 90's began, and would continue to set the pace for the underground music scene until the big breakthrough came with the release of Nirvana's Nevermind in late 1991. Up until that point the alternative scene was considered something of a niche market, served mainly by hip upstart labels like Sub-Pop and Wax Trax, but not taken very seriously by the major labels who were busy pushing vapid pop music like New Kids on the Block and Milli Vanilli.

There were hints of the change to come. The B-52's success with "Love Shack" from 1989's Cosmic Thing and Depeche Mode's breakthrough "Personal Jesus" off of 1990's Violator showed that Alternative music had the potential to connect with a wider audience. Buzz was also growing around They Might Be Giants, My Bloody Valentine, Concrete Blonde and the Pixies. In addition, the Rave scene in England, the House scene in Chicago, and the Techno scene in Detroit were starting to make waves promising a bizarre fusion of the psychedelic 60's with the Disco of the 70's. Less well known, but equally vital was the burgeoning Industrial Dance scene mostly centered around Chicago's Wax Trax label who released a string of top-notch singles from KMFDM, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Front Line Assembly, Front 242, and various side projects featuring members of Ministry, Skinny Puppy, and Nine Inch Nails.

Of course, none of these groups would take off quite like Nirvana did the following year with their potent mix of Hüsker Dü style punk and Black Sabbath style sludge. Nirvana wasn't really doing anything radically new so much as continuing a tradition that had started with The Troggs, ? and the Mysterians, Count Five, The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, and MC5. They brought back the garage aesthetic, the punk attitude, and the post-punk experimentalism to a Rock 'n' Roll scene drowning in derivative and increasingly indistinguishable hair bands (who themselves were a pale echo of the much more daring New York Dolls). Nirvana's success had as much to do with who they weren't as who they were. They gave us a taste of this with the "Sliver"/"Dive" single in 1990, but the real feast was yet to come...

PAEP Vol. 16: A Daisy Chain for Flogging (1990)

Cuts You Up - Peter Murphy
Picnic on the Moon - Bel Canto
Birdhouse in Your Soul - They Might Be Giants
Fit for Flogging - Leæther Strip
Iceolate - Front Line Assembly
Repeater - Fugazi
Soon - My Bloody Valentine
Policy of Truth - Depeche Mode
Provision - Front Line Assembly
Tomorrow, Wendy - Concrete Blonde
What Time Is Love? - The KLF
A Daisy Chain 4 Satan - My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
Godlike - KMFDM
Coming of the Century - Course of Empire
Sliver - Nirvana
Dig for Fire - Pixies

I'm so done with the 80's part 10: 1989

2009-10-21T20:58:00.004-04:00

We've finally reached the end of our little journey. I've learned a lot and hopefully you have too. We laughed, we cried, we rocked, and we rolled. The last year of the 80's saw the last LP by Camper Van Beethoven (until their reunion in 2002) and the first by The Stone Roses, Nirvana and Nine Inch Nails. Depeche Mode, The Cure, Love & Rockets, Fine Young Cannibals and The B-52's all scored breakthrough hits that year as well. Ministry and various alter egos (Pailhead = Ministry + Ian MacKaye, Lard = Ministry + Jello Biafra, Acid Horse = Ministry + Cabaret Voltaire, Revolting Cocks, PTP, 1000 Homo DJs) put out some of the best tracks of their career.

Despite all of the great music I've catalogued over the last few weeks, the 80's as a decade were not all that much fun to live through. People have selective memories, and nostalgia tends to gloss over the ugly parts of our past. Much of the groundwork for the financial collapse we are currently living through was laid down during the Reagan administration. The wars we are currently fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan might not have been fought if it hadn't been for the tacit support we gave to the Mujahedeen and Sadaam Hussein in the 80's. It wasn't until 1989 that the Cold War finally showed signs coming to an end with the fall of the Berlin Wall.

As I noted in the first post in this series, most of the music that came out at the time was pretty awful as well. There was too much Great White and not enough Big Black, too much Motley Crüe and not enough Hüsker Dü, too much Eddie Money and not enough Mudhoney, too much Billy Ocean and not enough Green River. My thoughts on the matter at age 15 on January 1st, 1990 were pretty much: "Thank God the 80's are over. At least the 90's can't be any worse." Little did I know then how wrong I was. But that's a story for another day. Until then, here's the last of the 80's Punk Anthology Expansion Packs...

PAEP Vol. 15: Ouija Board Warrior (1989)

She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young Cannibals
Don't Stand in Line - Pailhead
Fisherman's Blues - The Waterboys
Debaser - Pixies
See a Little Light - Bob Mould
Channel Z - The B-52's
Promises - Fugazi
Physical (Let's Get) - Revolting Cocks
Warrior - Public Image Ltd.
Personal Jesus - Depeche Mode
The Virus - KMFDM
So Alive - Love and Rockets
Pictures of Matchstick Men - Camper Van Beethoven
Fool's Gold - The Stone Roses
Ouija Board, Ouija Board
So What - Ministry

I'm so done with the 80's part 9: 1988

2009-10-20T20:40:00.004-04:00

When you think about it, dividing recent history into decades is a fairly arbitrary convention. We surely wouldn't use increments of ten if we didn't use a base ten system for numbers. We wouldn't even use base ten if we had evolved like the characters in the parallel world of the Simpsons where everyone has only eight fingers. So even though the late 80's bore little resemblance to the early 80's the whole decade is wrapped up together in a convenient and generic package.

As I noted in previous posts, there are less arbitrary ways of slicing up time -- at least in terms of the history of punk and punk-inspired music. The Punk Anthology so far has covered the Garage Rock Era (1963-1968), the Proto-punk Era (1969-1973), the Punk Era (1974-1977), the Post-punk Era (1978-1982), and -- for a lack of a better title -- the Proto-alternative Era (1983-1987). We now begin the next span of time which I will call the Alternative Era (1988-1991). This was the period of time when most of the bands we think of as "Alternative Rock" -- Jane's Addiction, The Pixies, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Nine Inch Nails -- released their first full-length albums, but before the music gained much attention in the mainstream media.

The Alternative Era was particularly good for the industrial scene. Ministry transformed themselves from noisy synth-pop to a much noisier Big Black style hybrid of hardcore punk, metal, and electronic music. Skinny Puppy and Front 242 were also coming into their own after a series of strong releases in the mid-80's. Add in Nitzer Ebb, KMFDM, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Leæther Strip, Front Line Assembly and Nine Inch Nails among others and you get some of the most fruitful years in aggressive electronic music.

Looking over the tracklist of the 1988 Expansion Pack, it's amazing how many bona fide anthems came out in 1988. Front 242's "Headhunter", Ministry's "Stigmata", Fugazi's "Waiting Room", Dinosaur Jr's "Freak Scene", and Mudhoney's "Touch Me I'm Sick" all qualify, as does Sonic Youth's "Teenage Riot" featured on the Punk Anthology Sampler for 1988-1990. Add in some iconic artist-defining tracks like "Under the Milky Way", "The Mercy Seat", "Anchorage", "Where Is My Mind?" and "Everyday Is Like Sunday" and you've got yourself a hell of a good year...

PAEP Vol. 14: Touch Me My Mind Is Sick (1988)

Victoria - The Fall
Where Is My Mind? - Pixies
Under the Milky Way - The Church
Headhunter V1.0 - Front 242
The Mercy Seat - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Everyday Is Like Sunday - Morrissey
Testure - Skinny Puppy
Anchorage - Michelle Shocked
Touch Me I'm Sick - Mudhoney
Broken Heart (Thirteen Valleys) - Big Country
Jane Says - Jane's Addiction
Burn Up - Siouxie and the Banshees
Carolyn's Fingers - Cocteau Twins
Stigmata - Ministry
Freak Scene - Dinosaur Jr.
Love Buzz - Nirvana
Don't Blow Your Top - KMFDM
Waiting Room - Fugazi

I'm so done with the 80's part 8: 1987

2009-10-15T21:09:00.003-04:00

As I mentioned in the last post, 1987 was in many ways as much an end of an era as 1982. But listening to the music from that year, it feels more like a time of transition. The music that came out before that year was nothing like the music that came after, but the year itself was an odd mix of the two. As Hüsker Dü was ending, the Pixies were just getting started. The last days of Big Black were the first days of Nitzer Ebb. Green River was winding down just as Jane's Addiction was coming up. The seeds of the new scene were planted during the old scene.

That's not to say that everyone was either debuting or bowing out. Sonic Youth, The Cure, New Order, R.E.M. and U2 got their start in the post-punk era, hit their prime in 1987, and all would go on to play to enormous crowds in the 90's and beyond. U2 didn't have to wait for the 90's, as the breakout success of The Joshua Tree catapulted them to new heights surpassed only by Bono's ego. The singles from that album were so overplayed that year that it took me 10 years before I could bring myself to order the album from the BMG music club.

1987 also saw the last releases from the first bands in the so-called "emo" scene: Guy Picciotto's Rites of Spring and Ian MacKaye's Embrace. The two band leaders would join forces the following year for the debut EP from Fugazi. Today's emo artists probably owe a greater musical debt to The Cure and Descendents than to any of the bands from DC's Dischord label. Songs like "Clean Sheets" and "Just Like Heaven" practically invented The Promise Ring and (shudder) Dashboard Confessional.

So grab The One You Love (who very well might Need You Tonight) and find out why children by the millions waited for Alex Chilton when he came round...

Edit (10/21/2009): I road tested this sucker and it was a bit of a bumpy ride so I revised the tracklisting a bit.

PAEP Vol. 13: Kerosene Expressway (1987)

Clean Sheets - Descendents
Past - Embrace
All Through a Life - Rites of Spring
Human Cannonball - Butthole Surfers
Mary Had a Little Drug Problem - Scratch Acid
Strangelove - Depeche Mode
Like Cockatoos - The Cure
Alex Chilton - The Replacements
The Model - Big Black
True Faith - New Order
Join in the Chant - Nitzer Ebb
Girlfriend in a Coma - The Smiths
Happy When It Rains - The Jesus & Mary Chain
(I Got a) Catholic Block - Sonic Youth
Never Let Me Down Again - Depeche Mode
The One I Love - R.E.M.
For the Singer of R.E.M. - Firehose
Stop Me If You Thing You've Heard This One Before - The Smiths
Rent - Pet Shop Boys
Just Like Heaven - The Cure
Need You Tonight - INXS
The Holiday Song - Pixies
In God's Country - U2

I'm so done with the 80's part 7: 1986

2009-10-14T19:43:00.005-04:00

By 1986 the fracturing of the punk scene that began in the early 80's had produced a number of punk-influenced genres that had developed into full fledged scenes of their own. As the New Wave started to ebb and hair bands began to take over MTV, the only survivors were of a decidedly synth-pop bent -- Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, and a more electronic (thought not yet Electronic) New Order being the most notable. Despite the drum machines, noisier industrial bands like The Swans, Big Black, and Skinny Puppy had little in common with their synth-pop brethren, though Ministry managed to inhabit a middle ground (for now) on their Twitch LP.

If guitar rock was more your cup of tea, there was plenty of that going around as well from the clever jangly pop of R.E.M. and The Smiths, to the dark and atmospheric epics coming from Killing Joke, The Chameleons, and Sonic Youth. Splitting the difference was the always uncategorizable music of The Fall who put out poppy singles like "Hey! Luciani" while at the same time recording the decidedly dark Bend Sinister LP.

Like the post-punk scene before it, the mid-80's indie scene would soon give way to the next generation of punk rockers. The Smiths and Hüsker Dü only lasted another year before acrimoniously breaking up. U2, R.E.M., and Depeche Mode would all find significant commercial success in the late 80's and early 90's, while The Fall jumped from mid-major Beggar's Banquet to a series of smaller indie labels. Other bands merely faded away, treading water for the rest of the decade. While the scene lasted, it produced some great tunes. Here's some of the best...

PAEP Vol. 12: Kerosene Expressway (1986)

Kerosene - Big Black
Isle of Man (V2) - Ministry
Stripped - Depeche Mode
Hounds of Love - Kate Bush
Running on the Rocks - Shriekback
Look Away - Big Country
A Screw - Swans
Oh l'Amour - Erasure
Bigmouth Strikes Again - The Smiths
Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) - Pet Shop Boys
Expressway to Your Skull - Sonic Youth
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths
Antagonism - Skinny Puppy
Swamp Thing - The Chameleons
Rubicon - Killing Joke
Superman - R.E.M.
Hey! Luciani - The Fall

I'm so done with the 80's part 6: 1985

2009-10-13T20:41:00.003-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen we are over the hump! We now begin the second half of the decade finding many of our favorites from the first half in fine form. Hüsker Dü and the Minutemen both contributed two excellent releases that year and R.E.M. and The Replacements each dropped an album of their own. It almost seems quaint, the idea that a band might release an album (or two) every year. The Fall were already on their seventh full length studio album in six years, and would put out three more by the end of the decade. This was before the advent of the compact disc of course, but more significantly the indie labels like Beggar's Banquet, SST, Twin-Tone, Wax Trax, and Rough Trade didn't see the need to space out albums in order to maximize sales as the now ailing major labels do today.

1985 had it's share of debutantes including Camper Van Beethoven and Love and Rockets, along with some strong sophomore efforts from The Chameleons, Nick Cave, The Pogues and New Model Army. Sadly, it was also the last year for the Minutemen as lead singer and guitarist D. Boon died in a car accident at the age of 27. So this one's for you D...

PAEP Vol. 11: The Dog-End of Paradise (1985)

Love Like Blood - Killing Joke
Yu-Gung (Futter mein Ego) - Einstürzende Neubauten
Up on the Sun - Meat Puppets
Shake the Disease - Depeche Mode
My Country - New Model Army
Take the Skinheads Bowling - Camper Van Beethoven
Push - The Cure
Everything That Rises Must Converge - Shriekback
Makes No Sense at All - Hüsker Dü
Tupelo - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Dirty Old Town - The Pogues
Driver 8 - R.E.M.
I Am Damo Suzuki - The Fall
One Flesh - The Chameleons
The Dog-End of a Day Gone By - Love and Rockets
The Whole of the Moon - The Waterboys
The Price of Paradise - Minutemen

I'm so done with the 80's part 5: 1984

2009-10-12T21:40:00.005-04:00

If there was a single year that encapsulated everything the 80's were about it would have to be 1984. Reagan was reelected in a landslide, the famous Big Brother Macintosh ad introduced the Mac to the world, Van Halen released 1984, Madonna released Like a Virgin, and the Soviets boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics. '84 was a pretty big year for the punk rock scene as well with Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade and Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime released in the same month (each one a double LP recorded in a matter of days). It was also a high point for the new wave/synth pop scene with strong albums from Depeche Mode, A-Ha, and Tears for Fears. Manchester was well represented by strong albums from The Smiths, The Fall, and New Order five years before the Stone Roses would make the city a household name. The industrial dance scene also came out swinging with solid LPs from Front 242, Foetus, and Skinny Puppy, and some killer singles from Ministry and Shriekback.

Of course, I wasn't listening to any of that in 1984 as I was only 8 years old and got most of my exposure to new music from MTV (I had to go over to SJB's house because my parents refused to get cable). OK, I do remember A-Ha and Tears for Fears, but by and large most of the stuff on this mix eluded me until more than a decade later. Even so, it still sounds like 1984 felt (or should have felt), despite the not at all lamentable lack of Van Halen's "Jump". Enjoy...

PAEP Vol. 10: This Ain't No Wonderland (1984)

The Killing Moon - Echo & the Bunnymen
Plateau - Meat Puppets
Pretty Persuasion - R.E.M.
Wonderland - Big Country
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now - The Smiths
The Ghost in You - Psychedelic Furs
From Her to Eternity - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Turn on the News - Hüsker Dü
This Ain't No Picnic - Minutemen
Creep - The Fall
Song to the Siren - This Mortal Coil
Unsatisfied - The Replacements
Take on Me - A-Ha
Lorelei - Cocteau Twins
Shout - Tears for Fears
All Day - Ministry
Pink Frost - The Chills
Smothered Hope - Skinny Puppy
Rat Patrol - Naked Raygun

I'm so done with the 80's part 4: 1983

2009-10-08T19:15:00.004-04:00

Once post-punk is over, what comes next? Post-post-punk? If we are to get technical, post-anything can never be over since it's defined by what it came after. Some might argue that post-punk didn't end and a clear line can be drawn from Joy Division to Interpol, from Gang of Four to The Rapture, or from Josef K to Franz Ferdinand. The only reason I stopped at 1982 in the first iteration of the Punk Anthology because my primary source for release dates, The Post Punk Diary, also stopped at 1982.

Sometimes artificial boundaries can be helpful, and in this case I think it is helpful to consider the period of time from 1983 to 1987 on its own merits. For one, the hardcore punk scene that had started with loud and fast rockers like Minor Threat, Black Flag, D.O.A., Dead Kennedys, X, and The Avengers was mutating into something different by 1983 with the emergence of The Replacements, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, and Hüsker Dü -- all of whom mixed punk with elements of classic rock. 1983 was also the year R.E.M. and U2 became major players in what was to become the "alternative" rock scene. The Cure, The Fall and Depeche Mode had been around for a few years already, but put out some of their strongest work in the mid-to-late-80's. Some great debut albums came out in '83 like The Script of the Bridge by The Chameleons, Murmur by R.E.M. and The Crossing by Big Country. Shriekback and Ministry also put out their first LPs that year, though their best work was still ahead of them. And then of course there is (are?) The Smiths.

So without further ado, let us begin the alternative era...

PAEP Vol. 9: Fire Dance with Me (1983)

New Year's Day - U2
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Eurythmics
Fields of Fire (400 Miles) - Big Country
(Keep Feeling) Fascination - The Human Leauge
Color Me Impressed - The Replacements
She's in Parties - Bauhaus
Revenge - Ministry
Lined Up - Shriekback
In a Big Country - Big Country
A Person Isn't Safe Anywhere These Days - The Chameleons
Let's All Go (to the Fire Dances) - Killing Joke
Working on the Ground - Shriekback
Everything Counts - Depeche Mode
In the Gold Dust Rush - Cocteau Twins
Don't Fall - The Chameleons
Dance with Me - The Lords of the New Church
This Charming Man - The Smiths
Talking in Your Sleep - The Romantics
Smile - The Fall

I'm so done with the 80's part 3: 1982

2009-10-07T20:11:00.003-04:00

All good things come to an end, and for all intents and purposes post-punk came to an end in 1982. Blondie and The Jam both broke up that year, and post-punk mainstays like The Cure and Killing Joke would come into their own in the following years as founders of Gothic rock. Gang of Four and Public Image Ltd. stuck around for a while, but never sounded as fresh and vital as they did in the golden years between '78 and '82. Still, with every ending comes a new beginning and 1983 was the beginning of some great things. But more on that soon. For now we say goodbye to the post-punk era, one of the most creative and fascinating times in the history of American popular music. Cheers...

PAEP Vol. 8: My Spine (Is Working Overtime) (1982)

Senses Working Overtime - XTC
Never Say Never - Romeo Void
Airwaves - Thomas Dolby
Let's Have a War - Fear
In Shreds - The Chameleons
New Church - The Lords of the New Church
The Back of Love - Echo & the Bunnymen
The History of the World - Gang of Four
Temptation - New Order
Only the Lonely - The Motels
Vacation - The Go-Go's
Rock the Casbah - The Clash
The Hanging Garden - The Cure
Open Your Eyes - The Lords of the New Church
My Spine (Is the Bassline) - Shriekback
Should I Stay or Should I Go - The Clash
The Safety Dance - Men Without Hats
She Blinded Me with Science - Thomas Dolby
Mexican Radio - Wall of Voodoo
Tell Me When It's Over - Dream Syndicate

I'm so done with the 80's part 2: 1981

2009-10-06T19:13:00.004-04:00

It was around 1981 where the splintering of the post-punk music scene really started. On the one hand you have the slick synth-pop of Depeche Mode, Heaven 17, and Soft Cell. On the other you have the raw art-rock of Mission of Burma, The Fall, and The Birthday Party. Somewhere in between you get disco-punk hybrids like New Order's "Ceremony", Killing Joke's "Follow the Leaders", and Bauhaus' "Kick in the Eye." Then there's the madness that is Pigbag.

Here's another mix to give the 80's revival a run for it's money...

PAEP Vol. 7: That's When I Reach for My Fascist Groove Thang (1981)

Ceremony - New Order
I'm in Love with a German Film Star - The Passions
That's Entertainment - The Jam
(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang - Heaven 17
What We All Want - Gang of Four
Eye of the Lens - The Comsat Angels
Kick in the Eye - Bauhaus
Zoo-music Girl - The Birthday Party
An Older Lover Etc. - The Fall
Follow the Leaders - Killing Joke
Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag - Pigbag
Passion of Lovers - Bauhaus
Computer Love - Kraftwerk
That's When I Reach for My Revolver - Mission of Burma
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
Passionate Friend - Teardrop Explodes
Just Can't Get Enough - Depeche Mode
Lazy in Love - 8 Eyed Spy
Steppin' Stone - Minor Threat

I'm so done with the 80's part 1: 1980

2009-10-05T21:23:00.003-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, the 80's revival is starting to get old. I lived through the 80's once, and I can assure you it was 99 parts Billy Ocean and only one part Billy Bragg. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the disco-punk, the electro-clash, and the retro-new-wave. I enjoyed hearing my childhood on the radio from time to time, but it's time for something new. Unfortunately, that probably means were in for a 90's revival next, since we seem to be stuck in an endless loop of regurgitating the past. Instead of that, how about we try to come up with sounds we've never heard and sights we've never seen before. Until then, here's my own personal contribution: ten mixes to remind us what was good about the 80's so we can move on. With any luck I'll be able to preempt the 90's revival before it even starts with another seven mixes after that.

Let's start at the beginning...

PAEP Vol. 6: Atomic Killer in the Home (1980)

Dark Entries - Bauhaus
Atomic - Blondie
Happy Birthday - The Birthday Party
Raised Eyebrows - The Feelies
Dead Souls - Joy Division
Going Underground - The Jam
Because You're Frightened - Magazine
Poppies in the Field - Teardrop Explodes
Final Day - Young Marble Giants
Academy Fight Song - Mission of Burma
Train in Vain - The Clash
How I Wrote Elastic Man - The Fall
Isolation - Joy Division
Start! - The Jam
Generals and Majors - XTC
California Über Alles - Dead Kennedys
Whip It - Devo
I Wanna Destroy You - The Soft Boys
Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) - Talking Heads
Killer in the Home - Adam and the Ants
White Mouse Disco - Mo-Dettes
Statues - Hüsker Dü

1979

2009-09-30T20:41:00.003-04:00

As promised, the next in the series...

PAEP Vol. 5: Scared to Dance at the Death Disco

In a Rut - The Ruts
Scared to Dance - The Skids
Frightened - The Fall
We Are Time - The Pop Group
I Fought the Law - The Clash
At Home He's a Tourist - Gang of Four
She's Lost Control - Joy Division
Death Disco - Public Image Ltd.
Something's Gone Wrong Again - Buzzcocks
Rowche Rumble - The Fall
Cars - Gary Numan
Heaven - Talking Heads
A Mutual Friend - Wire
I Found That Essence Rare - Gang of Four
Jumping Someone Else's Train - The Cure
Turn to Red - Killing Joke
The Eton Rifles - The Jam
Diamond Smiles - The Boomtown Rats
Video Killed the Radio Star - The Buggles

Up next, I single-handedly put the 80's revival out of its misery with 10 definitive mix CDs.

Can You Smell What the Punk Rock is Cooking?

2009-09-20T22:43:00.006-04:00

More expansion packs, for your viewing and listening pleasure:

PAEP Vol. 3: One Chord Addicts (1977)

Pinhead - The Ramones
(Get a) Grip (on Yourself) - The Stranglers
Neat Neat Neat - The Damned
See No Evil - Television
Nightclubbing - Iggy Pop
White Riot - The Clash
One Chord Wonders - The Adverts
Chinese Rocks - Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers
Down on the Boulevard - The Pop!
Gary Gilmore's Eyes - The Adverts
Complete Control - The Clash
Oh Bondage Up Yours! - X-Ray Spex
Lust for Life - Iggy Pop
Don't Worry About the Government - Talking Heads
Science Friction - XTC
Orgasm Addict - Buzzcocks
Watching the Detectives - Elvis Costello
The Modern World - The Jam
Holidays in the Sun - Sex Pistols
Don't Dictate - Penetration
Mary of the 4th Form - The Boomtown Rats
Three Girl Rhumba - Wire
Ca Plane Pour Moi - Plastic Bertrand
Rockaway Beach - The Ramones
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads

PAEP Vol. 4: Anthrax Free Adolescents (1978)

Shot by Both Sides - Magazine
What Do I Get? - Buzzcocks
No Time to Be 21 - The Adverts
I Am the Fly - Wire
News of the World - The Jam
(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea - Elvis Costello
Because the Night - Patti Smith Group
Warm Leatherette - The Normal
The Light Pours out of Me - Magazine
(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais - The Clash
Just What I Needed - The Cars
Ever Fallen in Love? - Buzzcocks
I Wanna Be Sedated - Ramones
Are You Receiving Me? - XTC
Rat Trap - The Boomtown Rats
Take Me to the River - Talking Heads
Public Image - Public Image Ltd.
Anthrax - Gang of Four
Radio Radio - Elvis Costello
Germfree Adolescents - X-Ray Spex
Hanging on the Telephone - Blondie
(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding - Elvis Costello and the Attractions
Human Fly - The Cramps

Still to come: The Fall, Killing Joke, Joy Division and more...

Expansion Packs

2009-09-19T11:34:00.006-04:00

Those of you who have played RPGs or other nerdy games are probably familiar with the concept of the expansion pack. For those of you not familiar, these are additional books, cards, figurines, etc. that extend the possibilities of the game you are playing. They are also an example of brilliant marketing to obsessive nerds. I've adopted the concept with the series of CDs I've been working on.

So far we have the full blown Punk Anthology which spans 100 CDs and 34 years. In an effort to slim that down somewhat I pulled a single song from each CD to make a six CD set called the Punk Anthology Sampler. This was a very difficult process since there were so many great songs I had to leave out. So I came up with the idea to do a series of Expansion Packs as a middle ground between the Sampler and the Anthology. It turned out these were much easier to pump out than the Samplers were, though road testing is still needed to work out the kinks. The first two cover the years from 1963-1968 and 1969-1976 respectively. The first focuses on garage rock (drawn heavily from the various Nuggets compilations), and the second on proto-punk like The Stooges, MC5, and New York Dolls as well as glam rock like Bowie, Roxy Music, and T. Rex. The only rule was that songs on the Sampler were not allowed on the Expansion Packs. The remaining Expansion Packs will cover a year each from 1977-1996, making 22 CDs in all in addition to the six CDs in the Sampler series.

Without further ado, here are the first two Expansion Packs with covers and track listings:

PAEP Vol. 1: Strychnine on My Mind (1963-1968)

Louie Louie - The Kingsmen
Farmer John - The Premiers
Wooly Bully - Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl - The Barbarians
Dirty Water - The Standells
My Generation - The Who
Strychnine - The Sonics
Primitive - The Groupies
You're Gonna Miss Me - The Thirteenth Floor Elevators
Substitute - The Who
Making Time - The Creation
Save My Soul - Wimple Witch
Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White - The Standells
Pushin' Too Hard - The Seeds
Mr. Pharmacist - The Other Half
Talk Talk - The Music Machine
Friday on My Mind - The Easybeats
I'm Rowed Out - The Eyes
Blackout of Gretely - Gonn
Break on Through (to the Other Side) - The Doors
I'm Waiting for the Man - The Velvet Underground
I See the Rain - The Marmalade
Lucifer Sam - Pink Floyd
Nobody But Me - The Human Beinz
A Question of Temperature - The Balloon Farm
White Light/White Heat - The Velvet Underground
Bat Macumba - Os Mutantes

PAEP Vol. 2: Anarchy in the Street (1969-1976)

Kick Out the Jams - MC5
1969 - The Stooges
Sweet Jane - The Velvet Underground
I'm Eighteen - Alice Cooper
Down on the Street - The Stooges
Bang a Gong (Get It On) - T. Rex
Over and Over - MC5
School's Out - Alice Cooper
Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
Virginia Plain - Roxy Music
In the Street - Big Star
Satellite of Love - Lou Reed
20th Century Boy - T. Rex
Search and Destroy - Iggy and the Stooges
Personality Crisis - New York Dolls
(I Live For) Cars and Girls - The Dictators
Final Solution - Pere Ubu
Gloria - Patti Smith
Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones
New Rose - The Damned
Anarchy in the U.K. - The Sex Pistols

More to come as I do more road testing, come up with titles, and find cover art via Google Image Search.

Cover up

2009-09-18T21:49:00.010-04:00

Blog posts always look prettier with pictures, so I'm posting the covers for my six part Punk Anthology Sampler.

Raiders of the Lost ARP

2009-07-26T18:55:00.003-04:00

Those of you who have been following this blog for a while, and are still following this blog (which might be nobody) may be wondering, whatever happened to the ARP? I'm glad you asked. For those of you not in the know, the ARP is the Alternative Rock Primer (which is the sequel to the PPP or Post-Punk Primer). The ARP is essentially a collection in mp3 disc form of some of the best albums loosely categorized as Alternative Rock released between the years 1983 and 1996. At present I have finished all of the entries up to 1995, and 1996 will be complete shortly.

As it would be somewhat impractical to provide the track lists for an estimated 30 mp3 discs, I decided to compile ARP Samplers in which I would pick one or more songs from each album on each mp3 disc, and burn it as a CD. I have posted track lists for all of the ARP Samplers I completed. However, after completing 1988 I abandoned the ARP Samplers in favor of a much more interesting (to me) project: the Punk Anthology (henceforth referred to as PA) .

The PA is a chronological history of the pre-punk, punk, post-punk, and post-post-punk eras in popular music. I have essentially been compiling the PA for the last 10 years or so, focusing initially on the years 1978-1982 (post-punk/new wave), but then expanding back to 1969 (glam rock/proto-punk), back further to 1963 (garage rock), and finally forward all the way to 1996 (alternative rock). This history now spans 34 years, and contains over 5 days of music spread out on 100 CDs.

Just as the details of 30 mp3 discs are more than I care to post here, the contents of 100 CDs is probably of interest to just about nobody. However, I came up with a similar solution to this problem: the Punk Anthology Sampler. With the aid of DJ Bloodlossgirl (who provided me with a great deal of the music for the ARPs and the PA) I selected one track from each of the 100 CDs, to create a much more manageable set of 6 CDs. After road testing these mixes and making some adjustments, I am proud to present for the first time the Punk Anthology Sampler.

PAS Vol. 1: Psychotic Reducer (1965-1979)

I Want Candy - The Strangeloves
Psychotic Reaction - Count Five
I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) - The Electric Prunes
Venus in Furs - The Velvet Underground & Nico
Pictures of Matchstick Men - The Status Quo
I Wanna Be Your Dog - The Stooges
The Man Who Sold the World - David Bowie
Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed
30 Seconds Over Tokyo - Pere Ubu
Blank Generation - Richard Hell & the Voidoids
God Save the Queen - Sex Pistols
Sonic Reducer - Dead Boys
Cheree - Suicide
Nice 'n' Sleazy - The Stranglers
Rock Lobster - The B-52's
Down in the Tube Station at Midnight - The Jam
Oliver's Army - Elvis Costello & the Attractions
I Don't Like Monday - The Boomtown Rats
Making Plans for Nigel - XTC
London Calling - The Clash

PAS Vol. 2: Totally Wired on the Chain Gang (1980-1983)

Happy House - Siouxie and the Banshees
Johnny Hit and Run Paulene - X
Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
Totally Wired - The Fall
A Woman in Winter - The Skids
Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads
Stand and Deliver - Adam & the Ants
To Hell With Poverty - Gang of Four
Homosapien - Pete Shelley
Hip Priest - The Fall
No One's Little Girl - The Raincoats
Love My Way - The Psychedelic Furs
Back on the Chain Gang - The Pretenders
Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2
Second Skin - The Chameleons
Chance - Big Country

PAS Vol. 3: Bizarre Blasphemous Bastards (1984-1987)

Eighties - Killing Joke
I'll Meet You in Poland Baby - Scraping Foetus off the Wheel
Blasphemous Rumours - Depeche Mode
How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths
Running Up That Hill - Kate Bush
Bastards of Young - The Replacements
West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys
Rise - Public Image Ltd.
The Teacher - Big Country
The Angel - Ministry
Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order
Ice Cold Ice - Hüsker Dü
The Kiss - The Cure
Dear God - XTC
Lips Like Sugar - Echo & the Bunnymen
Fairytale of New York - The Pogues

PAS Vol. 4: Kill Your Gigantic Television (1988-1990)

Suedehead - Morrissey
Peek-A-Boo - Siouxsie & the Banshees
Gigantic - Pixies
Teenage Riot - Sonic Youth
Suggestion - Fugazi
Vagabonds - New Model Army
Fascination Street - The Cure
No Name No Slogan - Acid Horse
Armageddon Days Are Here (Again) - The The
Head On - Jesus & Mary Chain
Worlock - Skinny Puppy
Head Like a Hole - Nine Inch Nails
Kill Your Television - Ned's Atomic Dustbin
The Weeping Song - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
I Am Stretched on Your Grave - Sinead O'Connor

PAS Vol. 5: Smells Like a Good Idea (1991-1993)

Gripped By Fear - Front 242
Miracle of Love - Swans
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
U-Mass - Pixies
Reverence - Jesus & Mary Chain (edit 8/8/2009)
Faith Healer - Recoil (edit 8/8/2009)
I Want to Touch You - Catherine Wheel (edit 8/8/2009)
Something Good - Utah Saints
You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side (edit 8/8/2009)
A Good Idea - Sugar
Like a Prayer - BiGod 20
Regret - New Order
Smallpox Champion - Fugazi
Cannonball - The Breeders
Limiter - Machines of Loving Grace
Heal It Up - Concrete Blonde
Laid - James

PAS Vol. 6: Army of Common People (1994-1996)

Your Ghost - Kristin Hersh
Do You Love Me - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Closer - Nine Inch Nails
Cliché - Snog
Roads - Portishead
Two at a Time - Cop Shoot Cop
High and Dry - Radiohead
Army of Me - Björk
Common People - Pulp
Only Happy When It Rains - Garbage
In the Meantime - Spacehog
In Zenith - Bel Canto
Dramamine - Modest Mouse
Bitch - Republica
The Distance - Cake
Christiansands - Tricky

That's all folks. If you're interested, I also have cover art for these mixes (which I acquired by entering the titles of each mix into Google Image Search).

I don't want to see dead people

2009-06-25T21:52:00.002-04:00

Hey folks... I'm willing to bet that there were lots more non-famous people who died today. I bet there were also many non-governors who got caught cheating on their spouses too. I was as shocked as anyone to hear about Michael Jackson, but the shock has now been overwhelmed by disgust at how obsessed we are with the private lives of the famous and powerful. So please everyone, take a step back and recognize that these people are human beings just like the rest of us.

Cultivating Your Outernet

2009-06-14T13:26:00.003-04:00

I've been spending a great deal of time on the Internet in the last month or so between the end of the spring semester and the start of summer nerd camp, which shouldn't surprise anyone who has ever had a lot of time on their hands, little to do, and a cable/DSL/T1/FIOS/neural implant connection. But today I was thinking about why people spend so much time on the Internet in the first place -- the alternative being going outside, visiting real places, and talking to real people. Could it be that we find the Internet more interesting than real people, places, and things? How could that be, since the former is only an indirect approximation of the latter? Are we just lazy? Do we have allergies? Perhaps, but I think that ultimately the problem is one of marketing. The Internet is an extremely well marketed tool, and a big part of that is that is has a cool name: The Internet. Clearly the world outside of the Internet needs a cool name too in order to compete for our attention. I have decided to call it "The Outernet."

As a computer scientist, I mustn't fail to distinguish here between the Internet and the World Wide Web: the Internet is the networked hardware (servers, routers, etc.) that the software that makes up the World Wide Web (twitter, facebook, youtube, blogs, mittromneyisatool.com, etc.) runs on. Similarly, the Outernet is the hardware (trees, animals, pavement, oceans, chemical plants) that the software of the World Wide World (us) runs on. Sometimes quite literally (though sadly not for me these days as my knees will not abide anything faster than a brisk walking pace).

As an amateur philosopher, I should also point out that our experience both the Internet and the Outernet can be very subjective. Though they share the same objective qualities, my Internet is not the same as your Internet. So we each have our very own Internet and Outernet which neatly intersects with the Internets (hey, maybe Dubya was on to something...) and Outernets of other people.

Finally, as a very amateur gardener, I can't help but think of both 'nets as gardens of living things in need of cultivation. The concept of cultivation is commonly used as a spiritual metaphor, and for good reason (it is no coincidence that "cultivation", "culture", and "cult" all come from the same Latin root). Living things need nourishment, space, and pruning in order to be fruitful. I think that sometimes we put a great deal of energy into cultivation our own personal Internets, partly because we have a great deal of control over our experiences as well as an easy way to protect ourselves from them by closing our connection, rebooting, or shutting down entirely.

However, we all too often forget to put energy into cultivating our Outernets. Perhaps this is because we have much less control over our experiences there, and no easy way to protect ourselves from those direct experiences. But therein lies the great tension of the Outernet: while it is sometimes dangerous and out of control, it is also exciting and unpredictable. It also forces us to inhabit our bodies which can be both an exhilarating and frightening experience. The Internet, on the other hand, tends to bring us out of ourselves and therefore less present.

The Internet pulls us out. The Outernet brings us back in.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking the Internet. There are many things that it allows us to do that are sometimes prohibitively difficult in the Outernet. It would be quite hypocritical for me to use the Internet to communicate to others that they should not use the Internet to communicate to others. What I'm saying is that we must guard against using the Internet too frequently to do things that may require more effort in the Outernet, but reward that effort with direct experience that the Internet can not provide.

Now, if you will excuse me, I need to step out into my Outernet to prune back the ivy and trees that have been encroaching on the path to our home. I encourage you to do likewise.

One Day Old and I'm Living on Credit

2009-02-21T14:15:00.003-05:00

If you're not quite following the credit crisis that is currently pummeling the economy, here's an excellent animated primer:

If you still want more, PBS put together an excellent episode of Frontline called Inside the Meltdown.

If that's not enough I highly recommend the episodes of This American Life that were put together by the guys from NPR's Planet Money blog titled The Giant Pool of Money and Another Frightening Show About the Economy. Word is, part 3 is in the works.

New Year's Day

2009-01-01T01:43:00.004-05:00

Here are my resolutions, for what it's worth:

Exercise more. I know, everyone says this every year and they get a gym membership and then some time in February decide that it's too much hard work, but I'm really sincere about this. To help me along in this goal, my Father has challenged me to be prepared to hike the entire Great Range in the Adirondacks by August. That's over 20 miles over 7 high peaks (4,000 ft or more). No mean feat. But we've got lots of hills in our neighborhood and Blixa loves long walks, so I'm going to shoot for it.
Write that book I said I was going to write. You know, the one about how being pessimistic can make you happy. Enough talk, time to start writing.
Get serious about research. The one thing that's missing on my resume is post-graduate research and post-dissertation publications. I've got a lab with high powered computational machinery. It's time to put it to work.
Keep in touch. As most of you are I'm sure quite aware, I'm not so great with the staying in touch with friends thing. Coming back to Madison and spending some quality time with some really awesome people made me realize that I know a lot of really awesome people, I just don't talk to them very often. Does this mean I'll finally get a Facebook profile? (My wife chuckles in the background). Stay tuned...

49 down, 2 to go

2008-11-05T21:18:00.002-05:00

For those keeping score, I called 48 states and DC correctly. Missouri hasn't been called by most of the networks (NBC gives it to McCain) and North Carolina hasn't been called by any of them. I'm guessing I'll turn out right about NC (Obama) and wrong about Missouri (McCain). Four years ago I had all of the states pegged except Ohio.

Really though, all credit goes to fivethirtyeight.com. I just took a guess and got lucky on Indiana and possibly NC. Those were probably the three closest states in the polls, and the polls turned out to be right on the money.

Except, it seems, in Alaska.

Thirty-Three and a Nerd

2008-11-02T12:32:00.005-05:00

Happy Day of the Dead everyone!

Today is also auspicious because it will be last time I post a chart about the election on this blog. In honor of this very special day I have spiffed up my chart to make it a bit more readable, including some minor color changes. Here is a key for the different colors:

And here are the numbers as of today:

I've widened the scope of the chart to cover all states that have less than a 100% chance of going one way or the other, according to fivethirtyeight. Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and New Mexico are all "Safe Dem" on fivethirtyeight and "Strong Dem" on pollster.com, so I'm calling all three for Obama. That gives him a total of 264 electoral votes, which means he needs 5 to tie (which would then go to the Democrat controlled House for a tie breaker, which is as good as a win for Obama) and 6 to win outright. That means he can take his pick of Ohio, Nevada, Virginia, or Colorado, all of which Obama is ahead by over 5 points on average according to pollster.com. McCain, on the other hand must win all four states plus all of the toss-ups in order to win, unless he pulls of a miracle and wins Pennsylvania (His odds of that are about 1 in 50 according to fivethirtyeight).

I'll go further at this point and project wins in Ohio, Nevada, Virginia, Colorado, Missouri, Indiana, North Carolina and Florida for Obama, giving him a 375 EV landslide. South Dakota, Arizona, and Georgia will definitely go for McCain, though Georgia may be close. Montana and North Dakota will be close too, but I think McCain still has the edge. In four years they might just turn blue.

If you're watching on election night, the states to keep an eye on when the polls close on the East Coast are Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, and North Carolina. If Florida, Ohio, or North Carolina are called for Obama, the election is over. If Pennsylvania and Virginia both go for Obama, he's probably got it in the bag as well. If McCain wins four of these five states, then we're in for a long night. If McCain wins all five he'll almost certainly win, unless Obama can pull out Colorado, Missouri, Indiana, and New Mexico.

On the other hand, if Georgia is too close to call, they'll be uncorking the Champagne (or would that be Urbana-Champaign?) in Chicago early.

Blue

2008-10-26T13:17:00.006-04:00

Here's my latest spreadsheet snapshot for the presidential election. For an explanation of the column labels and colors, check out my earlier blog post here.

The major changes from last week:

Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan are pegged as safe Dem by fivethirtyeight and strong Dem by pollster so I left them out.
Virginia is now strong Dem on pollster.
Arkansas and West Virginia are now safe GOP on fivethirtyeight and have been replaced by South Dakota which has moved to lean GOP on pollster.
Montana has moved from lean GOP to toss-up on pollster.
Indiana has moved from lean GOP to toss-up on fivethirtyeight.
North Carolina has moved from toss-up to lean Dem on fivethirtyeight
Ohio has moved from toss-up to lean Dem on pollster, and from lean Dem to likely Dem on fivethirtyeight
New Hampshire is now the tipping point state giving either candidate the 270 votes to win the election

The only good news in there for McCain is that Arkansas and West Virginia are probably safe, which does him very little good. The bad news for McCain is that if Obama wins every state that pollster considers strong Dem -- totalling 268 electoral votes and favoring Obama by 8 points or more -- McCain will need to win every other state.

I must admit, this is the first time that data entry has made me giddy.

Music and Politics

2008-10-25T13:49:00.002-04:00

Once again I find myself in Radford, VA at the ACM programming contest with very little to do. It's now been nearly 2 years since I started the blog, and while it hasn't been fast and furious with the posting, I only missed one month in the past year (I had a busy summer).

Most of my posts have been music or politics related, though I have deviated a bit with rants about friending and D&D. I gave very poor advice on the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, recommended some of my favorite websites, mused on the future of my discipline, and made my youtube debut. I still haven't written my book yet, but I'll be getting on top of that any day now.

The ARP posts have stopped as the wedding put the kibosh on shopping to fill the holes in my CD collection. If I get through 1989, my faithful readers will be the first to know. OK, third after Heather and Blixa, though Blixa doesn't seem too interested in the ARPs even when his namesake makes an appearance.

The politics posts will probable stop for a while once the election is over. I have some predictions from 10 days away:

Obama will win Hawaii, Vermont, Washington, Oregon, California, New York, New Jersey, Maine, Massachusets, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Delaware, Maryland, and the District of Columbia (255 EVs)
McCain will win Oklahoma, Utah, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Arizona, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisianna, Georgia, South Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Alaska (157 EVs)

It's a bit too soon to call the rest of the states, though New Mexico will probably be callable after a few more polls. Note that Obama just needs 15 more EVs to win, 14 to tie (NM+CO or NH+VA would do it), while McCain needs 113. All the remaining states are either toss-ups or lean Dems on pollster so Mac's got his work cut out for him. He might want to spend less time in Pennsylvania and Iowa, and a little more time in Indiana and North Carolina.

Full Frontal Nerdity... in Technicolor!

2008-10-19T18:32:00.005-04:00

So for those of you who have been anxiously awaiting my next ASCII text chart of where the election stands, I can cheerfully report that I have upgraded my political nerditude to the point where I'm now keeping a spreadsheet of the polling averages, projections and win percentages from pollster.com and fivethirtyeight.com. I also have columns for the cumulative Republican and Democratic electoral votes, as well as color coded designations based on the categories given to each of the states. As I mentioned before, 538 breaks down states into Safe GOP, Likely GOP, Lean GOP, Toss-up, Lean Dem, Likely Dem, and Safe Dem. Pollster only has five categories: Strong GOP, Lean GOP, Toss-up, Lean Dem, and Strong Dem. The image below is a snapshot of today's numbers, sorted by the 538 projection of the Democratic win margin. Both poll averages are represented as Democratic win margin as well. The 538 % Dem column is the percentage of simulations in which a state went Democratic.

As you can see, the key state is still Colorado (it takes 270 EVs to win), though if you go by pollster's numbers it's Virginia. These two states along with Florida and Ohio are going to be the ones to watch on election night, because more than likely they will determine the winner of the election. If McCain loses either Florida or Ohio, it's over for the Republicans. Even if he does manage to win them both, Obama can win with Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico, and New Hampshire -- all of which he is currently ahead in the polls/projections by a comfortable margin.

Read It in Books

2008-10-18T15:42:00.010-04:00

A friend of Heather asked her to recommend some good books on punk rock. Of course she had a quick reply, having an amateur punk anthologist for a husband. Here's my list of essentials in case you are interested:

Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung - Lester Bangs: This one starts with the original punk rock bands (some say Bangs was the first to use the term punk rock) from the 1960's like The Count Five and The Troggs, then works its way through Lou Reed and The Clash among others. He was probably the first rock critic to champion punk, and is portrayed perfectly by Philip Seymour Hoffman in Almost Famous.

Please Kill Me - Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain: The oral history of the New York punk scene starting with the Velvet Underground, jumping to Ann Arbor and
Detroit to cover the Stooges and MC5, then back to New York for The New York Dolls, Television, Patti Smith, The Ramones, The Dead Boys, and many many others. It also relates stories from scenesters like Danny Fields, Penny Arcade, and Bebe Buell (mother to Liv Tyler).

England's Dreaming - Jon Savage: The flip side to Please Kill Me, this book explores the roots and development of UK punk, tracing the influence of the French Situationists on Malcolm McLaren (who also pops up in Please Kill Me), the svengali behind the Sex Pistols, as well as the pub rock scene that produced many UK punk musicians. A much denser read than Please Kill Me, but work the extra effort.

Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs - John Lydon: This is simply an excellent memoir from the
lead singer of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd. From growing up poor and Irish to his time with the Pistols and PIL, Lydon loves to call out the phonies and hypocrites, and offers an insider's perspective on the UK punk scene.

Route 666: On the Road to Nirvana - Gina Arnold: Starting with the Sex Pistols' last show in San Francisco, and ending with the unexpected success of Nirvana, Arnold traces the American underground music scene in the 1980's through essays written for various magazines. Also check out the sequel: Kiss This.

Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie
Underground 1981-1991 - Michael Azerrad: This book also covers the independent music scene in the US from the early 80's to the early 90's but focusses on a different set of bands than Arnold including Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, The Minutemen, Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Mudhoney, and others. Among other things it offers a rather different perspective on John Lydon a.k.a. Johnny Rotten.

Rip It Up and Start It Again - Simon Reynolds: This is the definitive work on the UK post-punk scene, with a few American bands like Talking Heads, Devo, Pere Ubu, Mission of Burma, and The Residents thrown in. Not only does it cover the better known groups like Joy Division, Gang of Four, and Public Image Limited -- it also explores lesser known artists such as Scritti Polliti and Orange Juice. As Heather's friend Dylan once said, he likes to hear himself write. Luckily the pretentiousness is kept to a minimum and the music gets center stage.

The Punk Diary - George Gimarc: If you've made it through all of these books and are still thirsty for information, The Punk Diary is your reference manual. Organized like a diary with entries arranged by date, Gimarc's book covers a massive amount singles, LPs and EPs released between 1970 and 1982, along with news about the artists and dates and locations of live shows. This has been my primary reference for the punk anthologies I've put together and reworked over the years (currently spanning 20 years and 33 CDs).

So there you have it. If I missed anything you think is essential, please let me know.

You have no friends

2008-10-17T22:02:00.003-04:00

Heather and I were talking about the whole "friending" and "unfriending" phenomenon on websites like LiveJournal, GoodReads, and so on. And I've decided that the whole concept of friends on the internet is complete bullshit. The only reason websites have "friending" capabilities is so insecure internet junkies can go to their friends page and see hundreds of pictures of people they believe to be their friends. And then people get all nutso about being "unfriended". Guess what. Most of these people never were your friends in the first place. All this does is add more unnecessary drama to the already overdramatic interwebbyblogoshpere.

Now, I think Twitter has the right idea with their concept of "followers". There is no relationship implied here other than "I'm (occasionally) reading what this person has to say". And if you stop following someone, it's no big deal. It's hard to complain that you don't have enough followers without sounding like an ass.

Your real friends are the people you see on a regular basis, talk to on a regular basis, keep up with online, send e-mails and letters, or visit when you can. Any on-line verification that you are indeed their friend is completely unnecessary. If you doubt what I'm saying, take a stroll through the once mighty Friendster and watch the virtual tumbleweeds blow past the digital street... electronically.

For those about to Barack, we salute you.

2008-09-18T19:41:00.005-04:00

What a difference a week makes. The McCain campaign is surfing on their post Palin/convention bounce, and just as the bounce starts to fade ever so slightly, Wall Street investment banks start falling like a house of cards and the stock market goes into free fall. The bounce would have gradually faded away regardless, but now it's gone. And yet, the swing states haven't changed much. They've just moved ever so slightly towards Obama. And once again, Colorado is smack dab in the middle. According to FiveThirtyEight.com it is now the most likely "tipping point" state -- that is, most likely to determine the winner of the election -- by a wide margin. Here's the latest high quality multimedia chart:


|     |     LEAN R    |    TOSS-UP    | LEAN D
|-----|---------------------------------------
|state| WV        FL  | NV  VA    OH  | CO
|R del| 200       227 | 232 245   265 | 274
|-----|---------------------------------------
|D del|  202 212 222 |   243 260 264   273
|state|  NM  MN  WI  |   PA  MI  NH    CO
|-----|---------------------------------------
|     |   LIKELY D   |        LEAN D

Note that West Virginia is now dangling suggestively in the "Lean Republican" category. I still think it's a long shot, but WV could be competitive this year. I'm pretty sure Charleston's in the tank for Obama. I suspect most of the rest of the state isn't wild about they options, but all it may take is some kind words about guns and coal and WV might just go blue this year.

Rocky Mountain High

2008-09-11T15:34:00.002-04:00

This past week my father and his friend Gary have been hiking in the Rocky Mountains. I've been there a couple of times and it is absolutely stunning.

In the two weeks since my last post, the polls made a big jump towards Obama after the Democratic convention, then started heading towards McCain after the Palin selection and Republican convention. So for all of you who asked (OK, none of you actually asked) here is an update on the swing states:

|     |LIKELY R|       LEAN R          | TOSS
|-----|--------------------------------------
|state| WV     | FL  VA        OH  NV  | CO
|R del| 200    | 227 240       260 265 | 274
|-----|--------------------------------------
|D del| 200 210 217 238 | 242 247 264 | 273
|state| MN  WI  OR  PA  | NH  NM  MI  | CO
|-----|--------------------------------------
|     |       LIKELY D  |   LEAN D    |   UP

I've shortened the list somewhat as most of the other states aren't really in play. Notice that once again, Colorado is right there in the middle. This time it's the lone toss-up as Virginia, Ohio and Nevada have drifted toward McCain. It's also worth noting that Montana and Alaska appear to be no longer in play at all (along with North Dakota which has been an off-and-on swing state). It's further worth noting that West Virginia has jumped in front of a number of other states as the most recent poll has only a five point lead for McCain. None of these mountain states have been polled particularly frequently, so take this with a grain of salt.

Ultimately I think the race is down to eight swing states: New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan, Colorado, Nevada, Ohio, Virginia, and Florida. Pennsylvania could still be in play, but I don't think any of the other states are.

Sultans of Swing

2008-08-28T20:59:00.008-04:00

Most of you know I'm a bit of a political junkie, and nothing feeds my fix like fivethirtyeight.com (though pollster.com is a strong second). They do a polling average for each state, and augment that with a computer model based largely on demographics. As new polls come out they factor that in and come out with odds for who will win each state. They break the states into regions, and classify them as "safe Democrat", "likely Democrat", "lean Democrat", "toss-up", "lean Republican", "likely Republican", and "safe Republican". If you haven't been following the site as obsessively as I have, here's a pictorial representation of where the swing states stand right now:


|     |     LIKELY R     |   LEAN R     |        TOSS-UP     
|-----|------------------|--------------|---------------------
|state|WV     IN  AK  MO |NC     FL  MT |     OH  VA   NV  CO 
|R del|165    176 179 182|197    224 227|     247 260  265 274
|-----|----|-------------|--------------|---|------------|----
|D del|165 |168  178   185 200  221 226  236|243  260 264|273 
|state|WA  |DE   OR    NJ  WI   PA  NM   MN |IA   MI  NH |CO  
|-----|----|--------------------------------|------------|----
|     |SAFE|           LIKELY D             |   LEAN D   |

It takes 270 to win, which puts Colorado smack in the middle. If only one of the candidates could make a big speech at a big venue in the state like ... I don't know ... Mile High Stadium or something.

Biden: his time

2008-08-23T09:33:00.002-04:00

I have to disagree with Oncee on Obama's VP pick. Everyone likes to cite his 25+ years in the Senate as proof that he is a "Washington Insider" with all of the baggage that comes with it. I would argue that Biden has all of the best qualities of a Washington Insider (experience, the ability to get things done, considerable respect both nationally and internationally) without most of the worst qualities (cynicism, corruption, an aversion to speaking the truth). He complements Obama with his foreign policy experience, his fiery rhetoric, and -- yes -- the fact that he is an old white guy. As Jacob Weisberg points out in Slate, old white guys (and gals) are Obama's number one electoral problem. Picking an old white Catholic firebrand from Scranton, PA can only help this situation. As a bonus, Biden won't make Obama's term as president a living hell, as I suspect that other old white person from Scranton and her ex-president husband would. But, most of all I just like the guy. And I'm eagerly awaiting the evisceration he will perform on Mitt Romney in the VP debates.

Opportunities

2008-06-18T16:15:00.004-04:00

Heather and I are now back from our honeymoon in Scotland and England. The trip was wonderful, but a bit too travel heavy. Still we got to spend time on a number of islands in the Inner and Outer Hebrides, drive through the highlands, and see the sights in Glasgow, Inverness, Edinbugh, York, and London. The wedding was wonderful as well. It was so fantastic to see so many amazing people in the same place at the same time. A couple of folks have posted photos, and as more of them appear I will post links. Here is what we have so far.

My sister Jen's pictures on her blog.

My uncle Chuck's picture slideshow on youtube, entertainingly set to Oportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) by the Pet Shop Boys

Our friend Miriam's pictures.

My Best Lady, Sara's pictures.

If anyone else out there took photos and have them online, send me a link and I'll post those as well.

ARP 1 Redux

2008-05-13T11:50:00.004-04:00

After much hand-wringing I decided to revisit my first ARP (a.k.a. Alternative Rock Primer) and make a few changes. Mainly I wanted to include the first disc of New Order's Substance, since The Best of New Order doesn't cover their early singles, or only includes remakes of those singles. However, that meant that two other albums would have to go, so I ditched The Art of Noise and The Pixies. The Art of Noise collection is pretty good, but it pales in comparison to the rest of the stuff on the ARP from much stronger singles bands like New Order, Depeche Mode, and The Smiths. Death to the Pixies, while every bit as good as the other collections, pretty much covers stuff that appears on the albums, all of which are or will be covered on subsequent ARPs.

This, of course, means revising the ARP 1 Digest. Since these collections span the entire 1983-1996 period (and a couple of years before and after), I figured I would go chronologically. So here's the revised digest:

ARP 1 Digest - Collections

New Order - "Blue Monday (12 inch mix)" - Substance
Big Country - "In a Big Country" - Best of
Psychedelic Furs - "The Ghost in You" - All of This and Nothing
Cocteau Twins - "Lorelei" - Stars and Topsoil
The Smiths - "How Soon Is Now?" - Singles
Pet Shop Boys - "West End Girls" - Discography
Depeche Mode - "Stripped" - The Singles 86-98
The Smiths - "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" - Singles
Big Country - "Teacher" - Best of
New Order - "Bizarre Love Triangle (Shep Pettibone Remix)" - Substance
Morrissey - "Every Day Is Like Sunday" - Suedehead
Depeche Mode - "Personal Jesus" - The Singles 86-98
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - "The Weeping Song" - The Best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Pet Shop Boys - "Being Boring" - Discography
New Order - "Regret" - The Best of New Order
Depeche Mode - "In Your Room" - The Singles 86-98
Morrissey - "The More You Ignore Me The Closer I Get" - Suedehead

It was 20 years ago today... Sgt. P(ARP)er taught the band to play

2008-05-08T18:31:00.002-04:00

That's right it's time again for everyone's favorite feature here on Soul In Isolation, the ARP digest! Today we take you back to 1988. A fresh faced Michael Dukakis was challenging then Vice President George H.W. Bush for the presidency. A truce is called between our great enemy Iran and our trusted ally Iraq after eight years of war. The summer Olympics are held in Seoul, South Korea. Rihanna is born in February. I turn 13 in November.

ARP 10 Digest - 1988 I

Beat Happening - "Indian Summer" - Jamboree
Book of Love - "Pretty Boys and Pretty Girls" - Lullaby
Butthole Surfers - "John E. Smoke" - Hairway to Steven
Camoflage - "The Great Commandment" - Voices & Images
Camper Van Beethoven - "She Divines Water" - Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "The Mercy Seat" - Tender Prey
The Church - "Under the Milky Way" - Starfish
Cocteau Twins - "Carolyn's Fingers" - Blue Bell Knoll
Crowded House - "Mansion in the Slums" - Temple of Low Men
Dinosaur Jr - "Freak Scene" - Bug
The Fall - "Victoria" - The Frenz Experiment
Fishbone - "Bonin' in the Boneyard" - Truth and Soul
Front 242 - "Headhunter V3.0" - Front By Front
Fugazi - "Waiting Room" - Fugazi EP
Green River - "Swallow My Pride" - Rehab Doll
Jane's Addiction - "Jane Says" - Nothing's Shocking
Ministry - "Stigmata" - Land of Rape and Honey
Morrissey - "Suedehead" - Viva Hate

ARP 11 Digest - 1988 II

Mudhoney - "Touch Me I'm Sick" - Superfuzz Bigmuff + Early Singles
My Bloody Valentine - "Nothing Much to Lose" - Isn't Anything
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult - "Do You Fear (for Your Child)?" - I See Good Spirits, I See Bad Spirits
Naked Raygun - "Soldier's Requiem" - Jettison
New Model Army - "Vagabonds" - Thunder and Consolation
Pailhead - "Don't Stand in Line" - Trait EP
Pixies - "Where Is My Mind?" - Surfer Rosa
Pogues - "Fairytale in New York" - If I Should Fall from Grace with God
Pussy Galore - "Adolescent Wet Dream" - Sugarshit Sharp
Michelle Shocked - "Anchorage" - Short Sharp Shocked
Siouxie and the Banshees - "Burn Up" - Peepshow
Skinny Puppy - "Testure" - VIVIsectVI
Sonic Youth - "Teenage Riot" - Daydream Nation
Soundgarden - "All Your Lies" - Ultramega OK
The Sugarcubes - "Birthday" - Life's Too Good
Talk Talk - "Eden" - Spirit of Eden
Waterboys - "World Party" - Fisherman's Blues
Wire - "Kidney Bingo" - A Bell Is a Cup until It Is Struck

It may be a while until I get to 1989 what with the wedding, honeymoon, and all.

West Virginia is trying to kill me

2008-04-20T20:38:00.004-04:00

Heather and I had a nice trip down to Montgomery & Fayetteville yesterday, with an excursion to Babcock State Forest thrown in as well. I had to be in Montgomery in the morning for Tech "Open House" - basically an event for prospective Tech students, and wanted to see some of my students in a production of Pippin in the evening. We had a fair amount of time to kill in the meantime, even after driving to Fayetteville and Babcock, taking a walk around campus, and having dinner at the new (and quite good) Mexican restaurant in town. So, even though it had started to rain, we went for a drive east of town. Not 5 minutes later a car comes barreling down a creek road and starts to spin out of control towards us. I veer left to avoid it, but it manages to smack the rear of the passenger side. We pull over to the side of the road, as does the other vehicle, and get out to survey the damage. The back right tire was slashed, and the wheel well was damaged as well, but the car was still drivable (I'll post a pic tomorrow). The driver of the other car gets out, and he is clearly coming straight from the coal mine because his face is covered in black soot. He apologizes, says his brakes locked, and offers to change our tire.

This is now the second time in less than two years that my car has been plowed into by a reckless driver in bad weather in West Virginia. I'm beginning to wonder if Driver's Ed classes around here are held at Nascar races.

Ted Moesby Is a Jerk

2008-04-01T19:06:00.004-04:00

Here's a general rule for How I Met Your Mother watchers. If they mention a website on the show, check it out. Make sure you listen to the entire 20 minute song too, just watch out for some occasionally loud screaming. The C&C comedy factory does it again.

Is anybody reading my blog?

2008-03-28T12:55:00.003-04:00

Not to be petulant or anything, but seeing as how there's only been one comment since my Every Day I Write the Book post, I was just curious if anyone is reading this blog. Clearly I haven't been consistently posting on a regular basis, but I've posted 5 (now 6) times in the month of March, yet no comments have manifested themselves. To be fair, I haven't been commenting on other people's blogs very much either, but I chalk that up to the fact that I use Google Reader to follow blogs and other RSS feeds, which doesn't have an interface for comments. In order to comment on any of the blogs I read I have to click through to the blogs themselves. In the case of the blogs whose entries are only available in digest form, I have to do that anyway, so I'm more likely to comment (if commenting is enabled).

So, if it isn't too much to ask, would the readers of my blog please leave a comment on this post so I know if anyone reads it anymore? If no one does this, I won't stop blogging. In fact I might start blogging absolute nonsense on a daily basis, or letting my dog blog for me for a while.

The People's Front of Judea

2008-03-25T19:13:00.002-04:00

Here's a great summary of the Obama and Clinton factions in the Democratic party (NSFW):

Political risks

2008-03-25T14:16:00.006-04:00

It's been a week now since Barack Obama's captivating speech on race in America, and I've been following the reactions, at least on Slate. Most of them have been effusive with praise, but the critical reactions have been much more interesting, with the exception of Christopher Hitchens' rather bleak assessment for which Andrew Sullivan had a thoughtful response. The responses that really intrigued me were from Slate's Mickey Kaus and The Root's Michael C. Dawson. What intrigued me was the similarity between the two responses. Responding to the following part of Obama's speech:

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother - a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

Kaus says:

If Obama's saying that those who fear young black men on the street are racists, the equivalents of Rev. Wright in offensiveness, then he's just insulted a whole lof ot[sic] people. If he loses the votes of everyone who fears young black men, he loses the election. People fear black men on the street--as even Jesse Jackson once momentarily admitted--because they cause a wildly disproportionate share of street crime. Does Obama want to be the candidate who says that thought is verboten?

Meanwhile, in response to this part of the speech:

In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience - as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.

Dawson says:

It was too little in that while addressing race it equated white racial resentment (which scholars know is really just a more polite label for white racism) with the black anger and skepticism that comes out of past and current racial discrimination.

So according to Kaus white people will be offended by Obama equating white resentment with black racism, while Dawson argues that black people will be offended (but will "give Obama a break on this score") by his equating black resentment with white racism. It is helpful here to consult a Merriam-Webster's dictionary definition(s) of racism:

1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
2 : racial prejudice or discrimination

I think it may be wise to distinguish here between the two definitions when slinging around a term that provokes such strong emotional reaction. Definition 1 is what I would consider true racism, as the word was originally used in the context of Nazi philosophy. The key word here is superiority. The racism espoused by Hitler was an overt statement that the "Aryan" race was superior to the "Semitic" race, never mind that Aryan and Semitic are categories of languages rather than ethnic groups. I would argue that a very small percentage of Americans fall into this category of overt racial elitism. However, this connotation is always present, even when definition 2 -- racial prejudice -- is the intended meaning of the word.

So, contrary to Dawson's assertion, "white resentment" is not simply a "more polite label for white racism." What Obama describes as resentment is closer to the second definition, though even that may be a bit strong. That resentment is characterized as misguided, but rooted in a real frustration with welfare, affirmative action, busing, and most tellingly "when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced." It isn't so much racial prejudice as it is the reaction to the implication of racial prejudice.

On the other hand, Kaus' assertion that Obama says "those who fear young black men on the street are racists" is incorrect as well. All he is implying is that black and white people from previous generations sometimes elicit cringeworthy statements based on fear, anger, and ignorance. Obama is also owning up to the fact that he can disown neither Rev. Wright nor his grandmother because, despite their shortcomings, they are a part of who he is.

Like anyone else who has turned on the news in the last few weeks, I have heard the comments of Rev. Wright. I have also heard the comments of Geraldine Ferraro and Bill Clinton. I don't think any of them are racists, at least not in the definition 1 sense of David Duke and Louis Farrakhan who firmly believe in the superiority of their race. I think Ferraro and Clinton came off as insensitive and even somewhat offensive, but I have a hard time believing that either of them is particularly racially prejudiced. Wright's comments were offensive too, and even relied on some ugly racial stereotypes, but were hardly racist. What offended me about his remarks was the trivialization of the suffering of those with HIV-AIDS implicit in the ludicrous trope about the government inventing AIDS to destroy the black community. As for the "God damn America" line, I think the context was clear that he was referring to those in power who approved the bombings of civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki along with those who approved the occupation of Iraq which has now claimed the lives of over 4000 Americans and untold numbers of Iraqis. It was an over the top and inflammatory was of saying it, but I highly doubt that he wished damnation upon the entire country of which he and his congregation are a part. For those who doubt my conclusion, I would suggest reading the comments from a white member of Rev. Wright's UCC congregation as well as those of David Moyer, the Wisconsin Conference minister for the UCC, posted here on Beautiful Horizons.

So if it isn't racism, what's behind all of this resentment? Obama suggests the following:

Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze - a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many.

The problem with our discussions about race is that -- while important -- they mask the more important issue of class in America. As Warren Beatty's titular character in the film "Bulworth" bluntly put it, "white people got more in common with colored people then they do with rich people." Those white people who are angry about Affirmative Action aren't living in the affluent neighborhoods in this country, and neither are the parishoners of the predominantly black inner city churches like Obama's. I would further add that the "wildly disproportionate share of street crime" that Kaus attributes to young black men probably has something to do their wildly disproportionate share of poverty.

Barack Obama took a serious political risk by making this speech, given that it is likely to have alienated some black and white voters alike, but it was a risk worth taking. Sadly, the same can hardly be said about Hillary Clinton's persistence in this primary race. I'm not suggesting that she drop out now -- I think if she did it would not only alienate the voters in Pennsylvania, but many of her followers as well. Why not drop out after the last couple Obama victories erased her delegate gains in Ohio and Texas? For similar reasons she can't drop out after a victory in PA, so it may be May or June before she exits the race. This constant game of chicken has clearly damaged the party, as many recent polls appear to give McCain the advantage regardless of who is the nominee. I'm beginning to wonder if Clinton realizes this, or whether she will stubbornly continue to fight until June or beyond.

Of course if the Democratic party hadn't invested nearly a third of the vote in superdelegates, the primary would be over as soon as one candidate received the majority of pledged delegates. Be that as it may, between now and June the superdelegates may need to exercise their power to consolidate behind a nominee, if they want to win the election in November. If that means a joint ticket, then the Obama and Clinton factions will just have to suck it up and make nice with each other.

cARPe diem

2008-03-23T14:48:00.003-04:00

Here's the newest installment of ARP digests. Read 'em and rock:

ARP 8 Digest - 1987 I

Bel Canto - "White-Out Conditions" - White-Out Conditions
Big Black - "The Model" - Songs About Fucking
Butthole Surfers - "Human Cannonball" - Locust Abortion Technician
The Cure - "The Kiss" - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
The Cure - "Just Like Heaven" - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
Depeche Mode - "Strangelove" - Music for the Masses
Descendents - "All-O-Gistics" - All
Dinosaur Jr. - "Sludgefeast" - You're Living All Over Me
Echo & the Bunnymen - "Lips Like Sugar" - Echo & the Bunnymen
Einstürzende Neubauten - "Morning Dew" - Five on the Open Ended Richter Scale
Embrace - "Past" - Embrace
Firehose - "For the Singer of R.E.M." - If'n
Front 242 - "Masterhit (Part I & II) - Official Version
Hüsker Dü - "Ice Cold Ice" - Warehouse: Songs and Stories
Hüsker Dü - "You Can Live at Home" - Warehouse: Songs and Stories
INXS - "Need You Tonight" - Kick
The Jesus and Mary Chain - "April Skies" - Darklands
Love and Rockets - "Mirror People" - Earth, Sun, Moon

ARP 9 Digest - 1987 II

Meat Puppets - "Paradise" - Huevos
Melvins - "Bitten into Sympathy" - Gluey Porch Treatments
Nitzer Ebb - "Join in the Chant" - That Total Age
Pet Shop Boys - "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" - Actually
Pixies - "Nimrod's Son" - Come on Pilgrim EP
Pixies - "The Holiday Song" - Come on Pilgrim EP
Pussy Galore - "Wretch" - Right Now!
R.E.M. - "The One I Love" - Document
The Replacements - "Alex Chilton" - Pleased to Meet Me
Rites of Spring - "All Through a Life" - All Through a Life EP
Scratch Acid - "Mary Had a Little Drug Problem" - Berserker EP
The Sisters of Mercy - "This Corrosion" - Floodland
The Smiths - "Girlfriend in a Coma" - Strangeways Here We Come
Sonic Youth - "(I Got a) Catholic Block" - Sister
Squirrel Bait - "Kid Dynamite" - Skag Heaven
Swans - "New Mind" - Children of God
Swans - "Children of God" - Children of God
The Tear Garden - "Room with a View" - Tired Eyes Slowly Burning
U2 - "Running to Stand Still" - The Joshua Tree
Yo La Tengo - "It's Alright" - New Wave Hot Dogs

Madness into Method

2008-03-22T14:53:00.003-04:00

As someone who really doesn't know much about college basketball, but has been watching tournaments for 8 or 9 years now, I think I'm uniquely qualified (as everyone else does) to advise on bracket construction. It also helps that the tournament is underway and everyone has made their picks already so I can't be blamed for bad advice. Anyway, here are a few cardinal rules that keep me from winning the UW Comp Sci pool year after year:

Despite what you may have read on fark.com, Duke does not suck. Except when they do. But usually they do pretty well in the tourney.
Beware the Big East: West Virginia, Pittsburgh, and Villanova routinely get further in the tourney than anyone expects them to. I hear Georgetown is pretty good to. Connecticut and Syracuse will either lose in the first round, or win the entire tournament.
Beware the Big Ten: Wisconsin, Michigan State, and sometimes Purdue can also go very deep and are frequently underrated. Three years ago there were 3 Big Ten teams in the Elite 8: Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Illinois. All three were felled by the eventual champion North Carolina.
Schools that start with a K will probably flame out. I don't know much about Kansas State, but Kansas and Kentucky routinely have great seasons only to be dropped by an 8 seed in the tournament. Kentucky didn't even bother to have a great season this year. Many people have been saying this will be the year that Kansas goes all the way. But many of those people say that every year. (Note that schools from states starting with K aren't necessarily bound by this rule: Louisville often outperforms expectations, and clearly Western Kentucky is no slouch either)
I hate Florida
I also hate Stanford
I will (almost) always pick Wisconsin to go further than reason would dictate, because every so often they do.
If you're playing on a point system like the ESPN tourney challenge, be very conservative in the first round. There will be upsets, just not the ones that you picked. Give the second round a bit more thought, but (again) don't pick too many upsets. By the time you get to the sweet 16, all bets are off. The people who win the whole shebang do so by being lucky. Or at least that's what I tell myself.
Oh yeah, Notre Dame is pretty good too.
I'm not sure exactly what happened to the ACC. It's telling that Virginia Tech, a football school, had a better year than either Wake Forest or Georgia Tech. Duke and UNC will always be Duke and UNC, but the conference as a whole is not what it used to be.

So those are my keys to success, which somehow haven't helped me to succeed all that well, but it's better to have a system that doesn't work than to win your pool by guessing. Everyone hates that.

Putting the Drag in Dungeons and Dragons

2008-03-10T19:19:00.002-04:00

I know next to nothing about Gary Gygax who passed away recently at the age of 69. I can't speak to who he was as a human being, nor to whether or not he was the creative genius that the copious eulogies popping up all over the net seem to imply he was. I do know one thing though:

D&D sucks big time.

I know I may lose whatever nerd credentials I have acquired in my lifetime of watching Dr. Who and Bablyon 5, reading Tolkien and Azimov and Douglas Adams, and -- most recently -- earning a Ph.D. in Computer Science. But sorry folks, I tried D&D a couple of times and it was a thoroughly dull experience. Maybe I should have given it another chance. Maybe I just needed a better dungeon master. Maybe I simply lack the imagination and creativity to truly appreciate the world of wonder Mr. Gygax created. Or maybe my idea of fun isn't spending several hours with a bunch of adolescent boys slaying non-existent monsters and accumulating worthless experience points.

As we all know, D&D was only the beginning of the hurting. Many more RPGs followed, but the real sordid legacy of D&D was the remaining three horses of the apocalypse:

Magic: The Gathering
Doom/Quake/Every other blood spattering first person shooter
World of Warcraft

If D&D was the gateway drug, then Magic: The Gathering was heroin. Otherwise sane friends of mine would gather together, pour obscene amounts of money down the drain to procure the best "decks", and waste hours of their lives playing the saddest card came ever devised by mankind. You could tell Magic addicts by the glazed look in their eyes, a glazed look that only intensified in its glaziness when they all started wasting yet more hours of their lives playing Doom. And Quake. Et Cetera. Then came MUDs and LARPers and the current craze, MMORPGs. I swear, if my students spent as much time studying as they spend organizing raids in WoW they'd have their own Ph.D.s by now.

Call me a stick in the MUD, a rabble rouser, or whatever you like, but I stand by my assertion that the world would have been better off without D&D. And I'm not alone.

The World According to ARP

2008-02-23T17:33:00.002-05:00

And now for the 6th and 7th installments of the Alternative Rock Primer (digest)...

ARP Digest 6 (1986 part I) :

Bad Brains - "Secret 77" - I Against I
Big Audio Dynamite = "C'mon Every Beatbox" - No. 10 Upping Street
Big Black - "Kerosene" - Atomizer
The Bolshoi - "Sunday Morning" - Friends
Budd/Fraser/Guthrie/Raymonde - "Sea, Swallow Me" - The Moon and the Meoldy
Butthole Surfers - "Creep in the Cellar" - Rembrandt Pussyhorse
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - "Hey Joe" - Kicking Against the Pricks
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - "Long Time Man" - Your Funeral... My Trial
Cocteau Twins - "Oomingmak" - Victorialand
The Chameleons - "Swamp Thing" - Strange Times
Depeche Mode - "Fly on the Windscreen (Final)" - Black Celebration
Erasure - "Oh L'amour" - Wonderland
The Fall - "R.O.D" - Bend Sinister
Green River - "This Town" - Dry as a Bone EP
Hüsker Dü - "Sorry Somehow" - Candy Apple Grey
Killing Joke - "Rubicon" - Brighter Than 1000 Suns
Legendary Pink Dots - "Tower Six" - Island of Jewels

ARP Digest 7 (1986 part II) :

Love and Rockets - "Kundalini Express" - Express
Ministry - "The Angel" - Twitch
New Order - "Bizarre Love Triangle" - Brotherhood
Pet Shop Boys - "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" - Please
R.E.M. - "Begin the Begin" - Life's Rich Pageant
Scratch Acid - "Damned for All Time" - Just Keep Eating
Shriekback - "Running on the Rocks" - Big Night Music
Skinny Puppy - "Antagonism" - Mind: the Perpetual Intercourse
The Smiths - "Bigmouth Strikes Again" - The Queen Is Dead
Sonic Youth - "Expressway to Your Skull" - EVOL
Swans - "Time Is Money (Bastard)" - Greed
Swans - "A Screw (Holy Money)" - Holy Money
Talk Talk - "Life's What You Make It" - The Colour of Spring
This Mortal Coil - "Tarantula" - Filigree and Shadow
XTC - "Dear God" - Skylarking
Yo La Tengo - "The Way Some People Die" - Ride the Tiger

There you go folks. And just to make you all feel old, I'll point out that 1986 was 22 years ago.

Halber Mensch

2008-02-07T18:13:00.000-05:00

For the sixth year in a row I made my yearly contribution to Flak Magazine's Super Bowl ad review marathon by reviewing Tom Petty's lackluster, slightly obscene halftime show. For those who didn't see it, the obscene bit happened at the very beginning of the show. Take a look, if you dare.

My new favorite website

2008-01-30T21:56:00.000-05:00

http://www.mittromneyisatool.com/

The ARP Digest

2008-01-26T12:41:00.000-05:00

While you're all waiting patiently for me to write my book, I thought I might report on one of my latest music-related projects. Some of you may know about the Post-Punk Primer series I made for Heather, which was a set of mp3 discs containing some of the key albums and singles from 1978 to 1982. After the sucess of the PPP, I thought I'd get even more ambitious and follow it up with the best albums of the "Alternative Rock" era, which I place between 1983 and 1996. As with the PPP, the ARP (Alt-Rock Primer) starts with a disc of singles and best-of collections, then proceeds year by year. So far I've produced 7 discs, and about 27 more are in the works (though the list seems to keep getting longer). It's turned out to be very successful, and it's been a fun way of picking up used CDs that I've always meant to get, as well as a great way to get acquainted with Heather's CD collection which fills in some of the gaps in mine.

For those of you who might blanch at 34 discs containing over 500 albums and over 5000 songs, I've decided to put together a one-CD digest of each disc as I go along. These are not necessarily the best songs from each year, rather they are representative of the albums I have chosen. As always, you may feel free to disagree with my choices. With the exception of the first disc the songs appear alphabetically by artist, just like on the mp3 discs. So, without further ado, here are the first five mixes in the ARP Digest Series:

ARP1 Digest - Collections:
1. Art of Noise - "Paranoimia (Featuring Max Headroom)" - The Best of the Art of Noise
2. Depeche Mode - "Stripped" - The Singles 86-98
3. Cocteau Twins - "Lorelei" - Stars and Topsoil
4. The Smiths - "How Soon is Now?" - Singles
5. Pet Shop Boys - "West End Girls" - Discography
6. New Order - "Regret" - The Best of New Order
7. Big Country - "In a Big Country" - Best of
8. Morissey - "Every Day is Like Sunday" - Suedehead
9. Depeche Mode - "Personal Jesus" - The Singles 86-98
10. Pet Shop Boys - "Being Boring" - Discography
11. The Psychedelic Furs - "Love My Way" - All of This and Nothing
12. The Pixies - "Where Is My Mind?" - Death to the Pixies
13. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "The Weeping Song" - The Best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
14. Big Country - "The Teacher" - Best of
15. Depeche Mode - "In Your Room" - The Singles 86-98
16. Morissey - "The More You Ignore Me the Closer I Get" - Suedehead
17. New Order - "1963-95" - The Best of New Order
18. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "Where the Wild Roses Grow" - The Best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
19. The Smiths - "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" - Singles

ARP2 Digest - 1983:
1. Bauhaus - "She's in Parties" - Burning from the Inside
2. Cabaret Voltaire - "Just Fascination" - The Crackdown
3. The Chameleons - "Less Than Human" - Script of the Bridge
4. Cocteau Twins - "In the Gold Dust Rush" - Head over Heels
5. The Fall - "Garden" - Perverted by Language
6. Hüsker Dü - "Diane" - Metal Circus EP
7. Killing Joke - "Let's All Go (to the Fire Dances)" - Fire Dances
8. Ministry - "Revenge" - With Sympathy
9. Minutement - "Little Man with a Gun in His Hand" - Buzz or Howl under the Influence of Heat
10. New Order - "Age of Consent" - Power, Corruption, and Lies
11. R.E.M. - "Shaking Through" - Murmur
12. The Replacements - "Within Your Reach" - Hootenanny
13. Shriekback - "Lined Up" - Care
14. Sonic Youth - "Shaking Hell" - Confusion Is Sex
15. Swans - "Big Strong Boss" - Filth
16. U2 - "Sunday Bloody Sunday" - War
17. Violent Femmes - "Blister in the Sun" - Violent Femmes

ARP3 Digest: 1984
1. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "From Her to Eternity" - From Her to Eternity
2. Cocteau Twins - "Donimo" - Treasure
3. The Cult - "Spirit Walker" - Dreamtime
4. Depeche Mode - "Master and Servant" - Some Great Reward
5. The Fall - "Lay of the Land" - The Wonderful and Frightning World of the Fall
6. Foetus - "I'll Meet You in Poland Baby" - Hole
7. Front 242 - "No Shuffle" - No Comment
8. Hüsker Dü - "Turn on the News" - Zen Arcade
9. Meat Puppets - "Plateau" - Meat Puppets II
10. Minor Threat - "Out of Step" - Out of Step
11. Minutemen - "History Lesson Part II" - Double Nickels on the Dime
12. The Raincoats - "Overheard" - moving
13. R.E.M. - "Pretty Persuasion" - Reckoning
14. The Replacements - "Unsatisfied" - Let It Be
15. Scratch Acid - "Owner's Lament" - Scratch Acid
16. Skinny Puppy - "Smothered Hope" - Remission EP
17. Swans - "Young God" - Cop/Young God
18. This Mortal Coil - "Song to the Siren" - It'll End in Tears

ARP4 Digest: 1985 Part I
1. A-Ha - "Take on Me" - Hunting High and Low
2. Black Flag - "Retired at 21" - In My Head
3. Kate Bush - "Running up That Hill" - Hounds of Love
4. Camper Van Beethoven - "Take the Skinheads Bowling" - Telephone Free Landslide Victory
5. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "Tupelo" - The First Born Is Dead
6. The Chameleons - "One Flesh" - What Does Anything Mean, Basically?
7. The Cure - "In Between Days" - The Head on the Door
8. Dead Milkmen - "Bitchin' Camaro" - Big Lizard in My Backyard
9. Einstürzende Neubauten - "Yü-Gung (Fütter Mein Ego)" - Halber Mensch
10. The Fall - "I am Damo Suzuki" - This Nation's Saving Grace
11. Foetus - "The Throne of Agony" - Nail
12. The Golden Palominos - "Clustering Train" - Visions of Excess
13. Hüsker Dü - "Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill" - New Day Rising
14. Hüsker Dü - "Games" - Flip Your Wig
15. The Jesus and Mary Chain - "Just Like Honey" - Psychocandy
16. Killing Joke - "Eighties" - Night Time
17. The Legendary Pink Dots - "Echo Police" - Asylum

ARP5 Digest - 1985 Part II
1. Love and Rockets - "The Dog-End of a Day Gone By" - Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven
2. Meat Puppets - "Up on the Sun" - Up on the Sun
3. Minutemen - "Tour-Spiel" - Project Mersh EP
4. Minutemen - "The Price of Paradise" - 3-Way Tie for Last
5. Naked Raygun - "Rat Patrol" - Throb Throb
6. New Model Army - "My Country" - No Rest for the Wicked
7. New Order - "Love Vigilantes" - Low Life
8. The Pogues - "Dirty Old Town" - Rum, Sodomy and the Lash
9. R.E.M. - "Driver 8" - Fables of the Reconstruction
10. The Replacements - "Bastards of Young" - Tim
11. Rites of Spring - "Nudes" - Rites of Spring
12. Severed Heads - "Ayoompteyempt" - City Slab Horror
14. Shriekback - "Nemesis" - Old and Gold
15. Sisters of Mercy - "No Time to Cry" - First and Last and Always
16. Sonic Youth - "Death Valley '69" - Bad Moon Rising
17. Squirrel Bait - "Sun God" - Squirrel Bait
18. Tears for Fears - "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" - Songs from the Big Chair
19. The Waterboys - "This Is the Sea" - This Is the Sea

I'll post more digests as they appear. Right now, I have completed ARP6 and ARP7 (1986 Parts I & II), but I haven't listened to them yet. Once I do, I'll post digests for those two as well.

Everyday I Write the Book

2008-01-11T18:21:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I was up late scribbling in the notebook Heather gave me a while back as I am wont to do, and I came up with an idea for a book. Now that I have a Ph.D. I feel it is my duty, as it is the duty of everyone with a doctorate, to write a self-help book. However, as a pessimist, I can not support the dominant self-help paradigm first postulated by Normal Vincent Peale in his book The Power of Positive Thinking, and most recently and egregiously by Rhonda Byrne in her video and book The Secret. Though I have read neither of these books, the gist I get is that if you think happy thoughts, click your heels and sprinkle some fairy dust on your head you will get whatever it is that you want. I will concede that an upbeat attitude can often provide the confidence necessary to accomplish tasks that appear daunting; however, when that upbeat attitude turns into irrational wishful thinking, very bad things happen. In my estimation, "positive thinking" and the "law of attraction" are just nice ways of saying "fairy dust."

As a result of all of this nonsense, self-help books are rarely ever helpful to the selves they purport to help. This is where I come in. I actually know the real secret to happiness. Unfortunately, to paraphrase Deep Thought, you're really not going to like it. The real secret of happiness is...

We Are All Going to Die

And that will be the title of my book, the subtitle being...

A Pessimist's Guide to Happiness

I told you you weren't going to like it.

My first task is to read the copy of The Power of Positive Thinking that I picked up cheap at an estate sale (fitting given my book-to-be's title) and point out everything that's wrong with it until I can't stand it anymore and set the book on fire, then stomp on the ashes. I will do my best to record my results here in an effort to breathe some life into my humble and currently somewhat moribund blog.

Moonage Daydream

2007-12-10T10:52:00.000-05:00

Ok, so since I haven't gotten any comments on this post and it appears to be confusing people, let me explain. You see, there is this computer game called "Rock Band" where the players either play fake guitar, play fake drums, or fake sing along to popular hit songs from yesteryear (or last year as the case may be). Some of my students procured a copy of this game and goaded me into playing it with them. I of course went for the classic glam rock sound of David Bowie as my inaugural Rock Band performance, specifically the song "Moonage Daydream" from the seminal album Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. My students, being the tech savvy geeks that they are decided to preserve this event for posterity by recording it and posting it on the "YouTube". This is not my new band. I don't actually have a new band... yet.

Happy Slapsgiving!

2007-11-22T21:08:00.000-05:00

Is Computer Science Dying?

2007-11-19T16:48:00.000-05:00

Here's an interesting article about the current state of Computer Science, or rather the current state of enrollment in Computer Science programs. There has been a marked decrease in enrollment in CS undergraduate programs in the US (and apparently in the UK as well) since the dot-com bubble burst around 7 years ago. Based on the conferences on CS education I've been to, it would seem that this phenomenon is all CS educators talk about anymore. Many potential solutions have been put forth, including "Alice" (which I have blogged about before), "programming lite", and teaching different programming languages in the first CS intro course. These are all good things, but they are missing a crucial point that Mr. Chisnall addresses in his article: most people have only a vague idea about what Computer Science is, and often confuse it with Software Engineering.

I was so bored a year ago, I started a blog

2007-10-27T12:21:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of Soul in Isolation, and I find myself in the same position I was in when I started the blog: sitting around for 5 hours, waiting for the ACM programming competition to finish. One year and 33 posts later I'm somewhat surprised to find that I haven't gotten bored with the blog itself. I haven't exactly been posting often, but I have been posting, which was more than I expected when I started it. This, of course, is a perfect demonstration of the philosophy of low expectations. Had I expected this blog to be a smash success I would have been very disappointed. Expect the worst and you will never be disappointed. Sometimes you might even be pleasantly surprised.

I was pleasantly surprised to receive my diploma last weekend, given that the UW grad school threatened to charge me an extra 3 semesters' tuition for taking leave while a dissertator. I expected them to bill me when my friend Ian filed my dissertation for me (I was back in WV preparing for classes and had to FedEx the final version to Ian in Madison), but they only charged me the binding and microfilm fee. I was sure they would catch up at some point, so I kept checking my tuition balance online. About a month later, my degree was posted on my online transcript. Ever the pessimist, I figured they'd catch up to me before sending the diploma, but the wonder that is academic bureaucracy appeared to keep it from happening. Good move on their part because they wouldn't have gotten dollar one from me as an alum if they made me pay it.

In other news, Heather and I have finalized a wedding list and are working on "save-the-date" cards. We'll also have to deal with hotels, catering, her dress, my suit, getting the officiant (who recently moved to Virginia), invitations, and I'm sure lots of things we haven't even thought of yet.

Also I turn 32 on Friday. It's been 15 years since I was last a power of two, and it'll be another 31 years before I'm a power of two again. For you geeks out there that's 0x20 in hex, 040 in octal, and 00100000 in binary. You know what they say, 0x20 is the new 0x14.

I'm a nerd.

Bush is a Sad Panda

2007-10-12T16:03:00.000-04:00

These stipple drawings were taken from the Wall Street Journal on three different dates. Kinda says it all.

Legendary!

2007-10-06T17:53:00.000-04:00

Once again it's the time of year for another shameless plug for How I Met Your Mother on DVD. Season 2, just came out and, frankly, it kicked seacon 1's ass, which is saying something. Season 3 is also underway on Mondays at 8pm on CBS. If you missed the first two episodes then you missed Ted's beard (which disappeared gradually in the same fashion mine did in 2000), Mandy Moore as a skanky love interest, Enrique Iglesias as Robin's new boyfriend from Argentina, the slapdown counter, Marshall and Lily's death letters, Ted's New Jersey smackdown, and Ted's tramp stamp. So get watching!

Not So Golden Bears

2007-09-10T20:19:00.000-04:00

WVU Tech does not have a very good football team. Granted, they were playing a Division I-A team (they had trouble with Division II teams before they switch from the NCAA to the NAIA) in Western Kentucky this past Saturday. However one still doesn't expect any football team to lose 87-0. That's right, 87-0. That's like a college basketball team playing a middle school basketball team. At least the WVU Mountaineers dispatched Marshall.

Bucky Done Gun

2007-09-01T19:14:00.000-04:00

I got my car yesterday. It's a more bright red than I expected, but it still looks and drives like a dream. Since college football season just started and it is red, I've decided to christen it Bucky. Hopefully Bucky and Victor will get along OK.

Dude, Where's My Car?

2007-08-28T12:47:00.000-04:00

So my original car was sold before the dealership could get it for me. They found another blue Prius and had me come in and sign all the paperwork again, this time with the new VIN number. Yesterday they called and said THAT one was also sold out from under them and there were no blue Priuses (Prii?) to be found. They did find a red one though, which they assure me they WILL be able to get without any more hassle. Of course I have to sign all the paperwork yet again as well. If they screw this one up too I'm going to be mighty upset.

For Those About to Rock...

2007-08-26T10:59:00.000-04:00

I had an inspiration while I was in Madison to put together a mix called Rock Block, which would start out with Guns 'n' Roses, end with Led Zeppelin, and contain the most rockingest songs I could think of. When I started putting this mix together I ended up with a surplus of rockitude, so I made two mixes instead of just one. Here are the tracklists:

Rock Block Vol. 1: Let's Have a War in the Jungle

Welcome to the Jungle - Guns 'n' Roses
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
My Way - Low Pop Suicide
Knives - Therapy?
Paranoid - Black Sabbath
School's Out - Alice Cooper
Down on the Street - The Stooges
We're Comin' Out - The Replacements
Vamos - Pixies
A Good Idea - Sugar
Entertainment - Sleater-Kinney
California Über Alles - Dead Kennedys
Steppin' Stone - Minor Threat
Let's Have a War - Fear
World War 3 - D.O.A.
Institutionalized - Suicidal Tendencies
That's When I Reach for My Revolver - Mission of Burma
Turn on the News - Hüsker Dü
Walk This Way - Run-D.M.C. feat. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry
Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who

Rock Block Vol. 2: When the Blitzkrieg Breaks

Back in Black - AC/DC
It Was There That I Saw You - ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
Animosity - Ministry
The Death & Resurrection Show - Killing Joke
Gear - Course of Empire
Touch Me I'm Sick - Mudhoney
Kick Out The Jams - MC5
Blitzkrieg Bop - Ramones
This Ain't No Picnic - Minutemen
Should I Stay or Should I Go - The Clash
God Save the Queen - Sex Pistols
Bed for the Scraping - Fugazi
Enfilade - At the Drive-In
Savory - Jawbox
Don't Stand in Line - Pailhead
Hey Man, Nice Shot - Filter
Save Yourself - Stabbing Westward
Papercut - Linkin Park
Chop Suey - System of a Down
When the Levee Breaks - Led Zeppelin

Clearly this is not an exhaustive collection, so I'm willing to entertain suggestions for Vol. 3 (and of course approvals and admonishments for Vols. 1 and 2.)

Jesus Built My Hot Rod

2007-08-19T17:31:00.000-04:00

Actually Toyota built it, but it's still way cool.

Hi Everybody!

2007-07-31T12:58:00.001-04:00

The Final Cut

2007-07-21T17:46:00.001-04:00

About a week and a half ago I submitted the final draft of my dissertation to my defense committee. Now I have to prepare a presentation for the final oral exam on July 31st. After my committee is done grilling me I'll have to do whatever rewrites they want me to do, and then print out the final final version and hand it in. Then I will be Dr. Nick. (Notice the new glasses? They're not held together by tape or superglue and they actually stay on my face!)

Nine Inch Rails

2007-06-23T14:57:00.000-04:00

Our home insurance company made us put up railings on our front steps, so I built some. Note for the future: drilling through concrete is hard, but it's much harder with the wrong tools.

Rainin in Paradize

2007-06-07T22:19:00.000-04:00

Manu Chao is back!

Back in Black

2007-06-02T10:45:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts, but we've been rather busy with moving into the new house and unpacking. I've also been working furiously on the dissertation, and Heather has her hands full with the Symphony. Blixa has been exploring the new backyard, a bit too much actually -- he's trying to dig a tunnel under the deck. I'm going to get a lawnmower, clippers, and various other implements of destruction tomorrow, so I can start attacking our encroaching vegetation.

I'm going to start diverging from my typical fare on this blog (what's new with me and H) and start talking a bit about some of the things this blog is supposedly dedicated to -- namely the philosophy of low expectations, the power of negative thinking and the pursuit of useless information. I will try to clarify these concepts.

My friend Jim once told me a story about him and his brother Dan. Their parents would routinely ask them to rake the leaves in the back yard. When Jim was asked he would always do a very thorough job. In contrast, when Dan was asked he would rake the leaves around a bit, and basically do a half-assed job. The upshot of this is that their parents stopped asking Dan to rake the yard. Jim mused that perhaps there was something to Dan's approach to yard work. I've found plenty of examples of this in other situations: do a good job and you'll be rewarded with more work, do a mediocre job and you'll be rewarded with less work. This leads me to propose a general philosophy of low expectations. Here are a few benefits of said philosophy:

If others expect little from you, you are less likely to be given unwanted responsibility.
If others expect little from you, it is also easy to impress them.
If you expect the worst, you will never be disappointed.

This last point leads me to my second notion, the power of negative thinking. Ever since Norman Vincent Peale published his paean to positive prognostication, there has been a persistent cult of optimism preaching his philosophy (most recently in the hubbub about The Secret). Now, I'll cede that a positive attitude can be helpful in achieving one's goals, but people have taken this banality a bit too far. Some people seem to believe that thinking positively can actually affect events that are beyond their control. Others appear to base their governmental policy on preparing for the best case scenario, and ignoring the worst case scenario. I think that in the face of all of this unbridled optimism, a little injection of pessimism might be healthy. Apparently I'm not the only one. Hence, I propose an investigation into the power of negative thinking.

Finally, this blog is dedicated to the pursuit of useless information. I don't really have anything profound to say about this one, I just needed a third thing to dedicate the blog to, and pursuing useless information happens to be a hobby of mine. If I come up with anything deeper on this I'll post it, but for now I'll just leave it open-ended.

Jean Steinhart (1917 - 2007)

2007-05-03T22:16:00.000-04:00

My grandmother Jean passed away this morning. She has been fighting cancer for the last few years, and her health took a turn for the worse in the past month or so. Jean was an amazing woman. She was independent, strong-willed, and incredibly kind. One of her pet peeves was when people were slow in sending thank-you cards for gifts, so I thought I might take this oportunity to thank Jean for all the gifts I may have forgotten to send thank-you cards for, but mostly for the gift of her presence in my life. As you can see from the picture above, my sister Megan takes after Jean quite a bit, so a part of her lives on in her all of her children and grandchildren.

Happy House Part 2

2007-05-02T11:10:00.000-04:00

Here are the promised pics. More to come soon.

Here's a closer view of the house. Note the sunroom on the right.

Here's our new house number sign.