Blind Bim's Emporium

In the Old Way- ask the old folks

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

I'm out on the lawn watching a hundred typewriters soaked in green paint

It being something of the zeitgeist- and I'm all about contributing to the spirit of the age- I decided to pursue some turf change I can believe in. So I ripped up the front yard, filled in some hollows with dirt from the patio excavation, and planted grass seed. I felt like Blind Bim shaving the earth dry and regaining some of the Lost Farm.

(I especially liked the 19th C yeoman's tool used to remove the old sod. The Maine Woods Thoreau essays I've been reading put me in the proper mood to slave away on that implement that resembles a medieval torture device. )

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Monday, September 29, 2008

Bailout the banks, loan art to the church

Does anyone remember the other $170 billion stimulus package that was supposed to fend off a recession?

We have always been at war with Eurasia.

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Monday, September 22, 2008

Been too long at the fair

"I'm all out of sick days. Next time I'm calling in dead."
"Not as lean, not as mean, but still a Marine."
"The Bible talks about St. Paul but doesn't mention Minneapolis"

-t-shirts seen at the State Fair

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Thursday, September 11, 2008

A melody haunts my reverie

I used to have that lonesome ability to be ensnared by melodies that played endlessly in my head. But I haven't felt found myself in that state of addiction since, say, the emergence of Neutral Milk Hotel's last opus. Noting how my latest listening excursions weren't "sticky" (to borrow that Web 2.0 term), I wondered what changed. I'd lost the ability to become haunted: was it me or the music?

I decided it was me. I chalked the change to having a much fuller life with Mrs. B, with school, then a fledgling career, then kids, so I didn't simply have the time to drown myself in any single aural ocean.

But then along came a record that has upset my internal jukebox apple cart. I think it's the seduction of the hopelessly obscure- I just can't get enough of those private sonic thrills. Who else would be interested in a collection of low-fi ditties from '90s Buckeyes?

Well, I would or Bob's your uncle. It has all the right personal connections for me to kindle that delusion that I'm Almost Famous. The album contains cuts from a guy from Gaunt I met at a French Quarter party in the mid-'90s and from the Scat Records owner who lived down the street from me in high school. It even has the cache of possessing a song from the Yo La Tengo bassist who's anonymous on the track listing. But the two songs that really slay me are from a guy who shamelessly steals the Galaxie 500 sound (and gets away with it) and a song from a Guided by Voices member.

So excuse me while I go hit "play."

Friday, September 05, 2008

Evil Minds that Plot Destruction

After witnessing the St. Paul Hatefest put on by the Republicans, I was feeling a little uncertain about the likelihood of Democrats prevailing in this year's presidential race; that is until I heard Black Sabbath's "War Pigs"* on classic rock radio while driving through rural Wisconsin yesterday.

I think it can be safely said; when you've lost classic rock radio, you've lost the nation.

*for the Sab illiterate, I offer the lyrics below:

"Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of deaths construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds, oh lord yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor
Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait till their judgement day comes, yeah!

Now in darkness, world stops turning
As the war machine keeps burning
No more war pigs of the power
Hand of God has struck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings
All right now!"

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Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Jokerman

Call me clueless because I don't get John McCain's jokes.

"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?
Because her father is Janet Reno."

What's funny about that?

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