and another thing

so i am tired of people, especially pundits, saying that politicians and groups of people hate freedom, want to ruin the country, turn socialist, blah blah blah. it is stupid. seriously, why do you think so many people are engaged in debates right now? they care about the country. if you wanted to ruin the country, just start lighting everything in town on fire. these ppl are up there with the "god hates fags" and "thank god for dead soldiers" ppl. fuck 'em. name calling solves nothing.

tea party is exempt from the previous statement. if you believe in the tea party's core ideals you best do what you can to help out their image because all i see are a bunch of ignorant, violent, gun-loving, racists spouting talking points, lies and holding effigies. take our country back from who? the name alone tells me they dont quite understand what kind of waters theyre getting into. i see a bunch of pissed off racists that think having more pissed off ppl with a gun on their hip is a good idea, lets get the negro outta office, and fuck the people we need smaller government.

i noticed i never see anybody dressed up at those rallies. you dont see too many suits out their. why? these are middle and lower class folks. you know, the ones who benefit from tax cuts and are unaffected by ppl outside their bracket paying more. yea... way to complain about.. nothing.

bush ran his presidency like a dictator and these fuckfaces have the balls to compare obama to hitler. fuck these people. it took most people 4 years to hate bush, how about a little patience? i dont hate conservatives or republicans but i will not associate with anybody that considers them-self a tea party patriot. what a load of self important sounding shit. the things they are saying and doing actually compare to racist marches. between the volatile racism and the crazy nationalism, theyre turning themselves into the nazis. fucking idiots. "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." lewis sinclair

Dear Anonymous

Don't try to post comments on my page linking to other blogs, especially blogs I obviously don't give a shit about and are contradictory to my beliefs. You just wasted my time. From now on Anonymous cannot leave comments. Sign in and leave a comment if you want me to care.

Thanks!

PS: If you're going to sign in and still be a dick about it, it's really no big deal to /b/an you.

15 (or so) albums

copied from a recent Facebook note i posted

Think of 15 albums, CDs, LPs that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life. Dug into your soul. Music that brought you to life when you heard it. Royally affected you, kicked you in the wazoo, literally socked you in the gut, is what I mean. Then when you finish, tag 15 others, including me. Make sure you copy and paste this part so they know the drill. Get the idea now? Good. Tag, you're it!

i dont think i can go in perfect chronological order but i'll do what i can...oh and i will probably go over 15.. so whatever..

Traveling Wilburys - Vols. 1 & 3 - These are the first full albums i can recall listening to in their entirety. and i probably did more than my fair share of bouncing around the room to them even for being 3 -5 when they came out. these records are the oldest i've liked as far as how long i have liked them, and they still hold up. some on this list come and go and some have just gone. these albums and the faster ones at that surely set the pace for the music i like today. i'm pretty sure if i was given a ramones album at age 4 i would have been set, but the wilbury's did mighty fine.

unknown albums from Bob Marley and UB40 - when iw as 10 or 11 my brother Ethan, who was big into reggae, gave me a mix tape. one side was UB40 and the other Bob Marley. i used to listen to that thing every chance i got. i played it on my little walkman when i couldnt sleep and was bored staring at the ceiling. cant help but smile and think back to the good ol days when i hear ub40. goofy now but still awesome. it probably wasnt til i was over 20 years old that i realized it was a white guy singing. hella cracked up.

Bob Marley - Uprising - this was the first cd i ever bought on my own. i bought it at costco for like $13 or something and was ecstatic. looking back it was really awesome discovering songs on that album like redemption song in my room alone and then years later trying to learn it by ear when i know a lot of people heard it or covers in movies or tv. i feel some way like it was given to me rather than broadcast at me. this and the previous listing really paved the way for me to go gaga for ska later on. all be it 4 years after the craze was over.

Offspring - Ixnay on the Hombre - i still dont get the title and many of the songs but this was my first introduction to punk. i was in jr high when i got a copy of this on tape and it followed me anywhere my walkman did. i would put my headphones on under my helmet and bike around the neighborhoods as fast as i could jumping off any driveway and curb i could. i finally had an outlet for all the energy i had in my brain.

Green Day - 1,039 / smoothed out slappy hours - this wasnt green day's first cd but it basically was. it was a collab of a few EPs and songs from comps. kerplunk was technically the first but who cares. anyway, i bought this in 7th or 8th grade from Danny's Music from long time family friend Danny Markmann. i forgot what i was looking at in the store when he walked up and put that in my hand and said, "you'll love this". and he was right. well worth more than the $7 Used price but holy shit that album still holds up. i remember being angsty and pissy playing basketball in my driveway with my dad's (mine now) truck's tailgate down and the boom box blaring this cd for the world to hear. at the library, 16, paper lanterns... im glad i missed the whole emo trend as far as fashion goes but i was well on my way to being a sappy, hopeless romantic lost between the cracks and these songs should have been written by me. barf right? those songs still kick ass.

i was exposed to a lot of music growing up but i lagged behind on being open to it and really being immersed in it. so most of these albums are old but they were new to me.

metallica - black album (straight into kill em all and justice) - i was sitting at my kitchen table eating a sandwich, minding my own business since i had nothing better to do as an 8th grader on spring break... when all of a sudden i heard something that struck a chord in me like my spine was a guitar string. mtv's spring break was doing say what?/karaoke (yea remember when it was two shows?) and this guy was wailing on Enter Sandman. all i could think was HOLY FUCK. i went out and bought that album and listened to it so many times i'm surprised the laser didnt burn a hole through it. early that next year (freshman year) i met some guys who were in a deathmetal band and they quickly got me up to speed on metal giving me all of metallica's tapes and some testament cd's to copy. i was so in. thsoe albums were my soundtrack to much of early high school. couldnt stand the kids and although korn was loud and aggressive, they had nothing to say. metallica rang into my headphones on the walks to and from school. it was awesome. it was like i was in my own action movie. hahaha

most of the life changing/big impact music wasnt til the end of high school for me..

junior/senior year i had these 5 cd's on constant repeat:

weezer - blue/pinkerton - my friends were really into weezer (not the green album as i had liked. it was the firsr =w= cd i heard). they kept telling me about blue and pinkerton so i finally gave blue a whirl one week when i was home sick. it took a little while but i grew to love weezer and felt like it should be a life goal to hug rivers. (quickly left. the guy is a douche) later i got a hold of pinkerton and it took a lil bit also but i ended up liking that one way more. "across the sea" would almost bring me to tears. "why bother" was a great "fuck dating" song. "el scorcho" was fun and the video even more fun. i was obsessed with weezer for a brief time. pinkerton didnt hold up for me as well as blue did and that made me sad when i heard it the other day. i guess im just not as sad as i used to be. it stays on the list though. ill never sell those cds.

blink 182 - buddha/cheshire cat/enema of the state - i was introduced to "dude ranch" in jr high when it came out. i didnt get it. the horse and lady skit was stupid. it just went over my head. later i heard "whats my age again" it was funny but the dudes running around naked in the video? gay! totally went over my head again. then started learning guitar and enema of the state finally clicked and the subject matter (girls = the suck) was pretty rad as i was always in love with somebody and pissed about it. if it werent for enema of the state i would have put the guitar down and walked away. i owe my current interest in making music to that album. i quit lessons and was about to give up entirely until my friend showed me how to play "all the small things". thats it? really? ok i got this. buddha came later, senior year i think. again with the sappy and poppy punk songs about girls and parents rah rah rah. and then cheshire cat. a lot of the same but it was awesome hearing the older style of pop punk in blink and in general with those two cds. they primed my brain for the next big wave to knock my brain in.

oh yea, a few years after enema and before senior year there was: Fenix TX (self titled) this album will never get old to me. this to me was the epitome of what i wanted any of my bands to sound like. the songs are timeless and the melodies rad. i just love this album

Screeching Weasel - Television City Dreams - the best of both worlds to me. face melting aggressive punk mixed with poppy sped up ramones-esque tunes. this album was played many many times over. i had a band for 1 day called "two-minute masterpiece" and one of our songs was a cover of "dummy up". i'll never forget that jam. my idea band would be a mix of this album and anything by teenage bottlerocket. if i could i would buy their cd's just so i could cut them up with a razor and snort pure pop punk into my brain.

postal service - give up. this was on constant play around the time that blink stuff was. end of high school/beginning of college pt1. it was positive and dark. upbeat and crazy. kinda like me at the time.

last but not least:

Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

i was told to listen to "holland, 1945" right from the get go and i did. and i was in immediately. it took probably 5 years for me to fully appreciate the album and really fall for it. a lot of the songs were weird and didnt make sense. one of the songs starts with him yelling I LOVE YOU JESUS CHRIST! which is something i am not used to hearing a lot or blaring in my car as i drive. i soon got over it because that was part of a 3 song intro medley for the album that really if the best way to start any cd in my eyes. the energy and mix of instruments and sounds and the engineering on the album... just makes you feel like you ARE the music. the titled track is beautiful and sentimental. it really wasnt until last year that i was able to listen to the entire disc and enjoy every song. i read a book chronicling the singer songwriter jeff mangum and how the band formed up through the recording of this album and the end of the band and was smacked in the face with the theme of the album. it never clicked til i read that the album is loosely based on the life and death of anne frank. if youre already a fan, take that into mind and go back and listen to the whole album. she died in a concentration camp weeks before it was liberated "but then they buried her alive one evening in 1945, with just her sister at her side, and only weeks before the guns all came and rained on everyone" and there are tons more. some songs i will shout at the top of my lungs til my throat is raw while i drive around. others i cant listen to because so many memories and emotions are tied to this album from the time i first got my hands on it til now. all in all its a masterpiece. i have 2 cardinal rules with the theory of getting tattoos. 1-never ever get a name. 2-never ever get a band name. i will most deff make an exception for MNH and someday, somewhere get a tatt of their logo, the victrola with plane wings. i really havent met a neutral milk hotel fan that wasnt a great person. this band and album really has a cult following and so far i've only encountered genuine ppl in said cult. i really hope i get to meet jeff someday. i dont have the slightest clue as to what i would say to him that he hasnt heard by adoring fans already, but i would love to have a drink with the guy, hear some stories, tell some stories and give the guy a hug and say thank you.

Coco'a a go-go

Nobody has said it yet. Of all the reports I have seen, heard, and read, nobody has said what I am about to. If they have and I missed it, then kudos to them as well for thinking this up.

I am obviously not the only person pissed the fuck off about NBC screwing around with the late night schedule. I'm not going to retell the story so if you don't know, crawl out from under a rock, read some shit and come back here. Got it? Ok good.

So NBC said first they pulled Jay @ 10pm because the local affiliates were losing ratings hand over fist in their 11pm news broadcasts where they make the most money. Jay was sucking it up so people changed the channel. Without a strong 10pm audience they had no lead-in to their news broadcast. Ok that's true. So they pulled the plug on Jay @ 10pm. The problem could have ended there by moving a better 10pm weeknight lineup.

The second problem, now being blown up today, is that Conan was lagging in ratings. So that on top of his jabs at Leno and NBC are the reason he is being let go. He was offered to stay on but at a later time slot, the latest The Tonight Show would have EVER begun because he knew that would be the death of a franchise.

NBC was too busy sucking Jay Leno's dick to realize that if they had replaced Jay and given the local news affiliates a better ratings lead in, that Conan would have a bigger audience to lead into his show. Ahhhhhhhhh. That right there. I haven't heard ANYBODY say that yet. It was in Jay's contract a long time ago that he would stop doing The Tonight Show at a certain date to prevent another rivalry like the one with him and Letterman. See, Johnny Carson told Letterman he would inherit The Tonight Show, but NBC had other ideas. That cluster fuck on NBC's part pretty much created The Tonight Show's biggest competition. Letterman is a huge hit with a huge following. I just don't understand why NBC would have such a contract in place because of one fuck up just to turn around and fuck it up even harder.

I like Leno. I think he was good at The Tonight Show but I always loved Conan better. Now with Conan at the helm with The Tonight Show, he's pretty much the funniest he has EVER been. Jay's new show was not funny at all. Jay just ran out of steam. He has been on TV for 17 years. He should have gone free agent to another network but NBC was too freaked out. God forbid they lose such a talent as Jay Leno. Oops he tanked! Quick, let's try to fix it...

Too late. After Conan leaves, I am going to boycott NBC late night television. That is, I will not watch an NBC show past 10pm. If I do, I will not go to Hulu or NBC.com and watch a clip that pays NBC. I will go to a YouTube clip or pirate it just to keep any extra dollars out of their pockets. I call on everybody on Team Conan to do the same. Or the less illegal regular boycott.

If you want to try to sway the network exec.'s then I suggest you pour your little hearts out. This guy saved a lot of time for us all and got all the info down for us:

http://consumerist.com/2010/01/eecb-nbc-to-save-the-conan-o-brien-show.html

I have a feeling it will not help, but it couldn't hurt to try.

The only good thing to come from this? Carson Daly is finally off the fucking air.

Conan, I doubt you will ever read this. But if you do, you;ve inspired me. Thank you for everything. From The Simpson's to the Masturbating Bear. Thank you.

-Ben Mooneyham