Pop Culture

It’s been awhile since we’ve had a song of the day. Skye brought up the late, great Senator Paul Wellstone in the comments section and it made me crave a particular song. This track is “Ballad of Paul and Sheila” by Mason Jennings, who is a Minnesotan. The song is a tribute to Paul and Sheila Wellstone and a call for not letting their lifes’ work die. It’s beautiful, sad, yet motivational.

Enjoy knowing a close friend of Paul’s has his seat.

Adam Feser

Glenn Beck hates the World Cup a lot, likely because the rest of the world hates it. Beck also draws some giant analogy with almost no thought put into it about how the World Cup represents Barack Obama’s policies. (If he means Barack Obama’s policies unite the world, I guess he sees that as a bad thing?) Beck also thinks America will reject the World Cup no matter how much it is forced down our throats. This facts, once again, have no impact on Beck’s ravings. World Cup coverage is breaking records with numbers of viewers. He also must really hate Rupert Murdoch for shoving soccer down our throats, what with Fox Soccer Channel and all. And those damned corporations advertising soccer apparently have been socialists all along.

Dan Gainor believes it must be a socialist plot because soccer is for the poor. He also claims our sporting events don’t devolve into riots. (Hmm, within the last week L.A. rioters burned a cab, Artest and team fighting the crowd, Michigan St. riots, the ten here, and on and on. Is he kidding?) He also claims soccer is being sold in America due to the “browning” of America. Seriously.

Some say soccer is being promoted by the left because they are uncomfortable with American exceptionalism (or something?). Gary Schmitt says soccer must be unAmerican because of some drivel about excellence prevailing in American sports and not in soccer (which is absolute garbage).

Others wonder why it’s being forced on us when we aren’t getting any better, though we’ve clearly improved a great deal and continue to do so. Look at the amount of youths that play soccer. It is growing.

I’m not the biggest soccer fan in the world, and for a good deal of time I would always say I hated soccer. Weird, right, since I’m a left-wing nutjob. But I hated it because I thought it was boring, not because of some strange conspiracy, or because it was scary and different. I’m really giving watching it a shot and I find that even the games not involving America are interesting. The score might be 1-0 but there are no shortage of near goals, great shots, great saves, or great crosses. And I realize it was hypocritical of me because I love a 1-0 baseball game and a 3-0 football game for many of the same reasons. The more America learns about the game the more it can appreciate and enjoy it, which is what is happening.

But back to the left-wing conspiracy garbage. These people are simply afraid of what is different. If something they don’t understand comes along, it must be dangerous. If the rest of the world (including allies and enemies) loves it, it must be horrible. Poor countries play it, it must be for poor people. Brown countries play it, it must be for brown people. The crap spewing from these peoples’ mouths is truly insane, and it makes me even happier to be enjoying the World Cup. I hope it’s a huge success and soccer continues to grow, just to make these crotchety old dudes uncomfortable. I can just picture the, “I hate change!” and “New things scare me!” cries emanating from various conservative news sources.

Enjoy the World Cup.

Adam Feser

I hate soccer so anytime someone uses Lego’s to make fun of it, I have to show the world

The Ohio version that is…

I love lists, and I just realized I haven’t laid out the best albums of 2009. So here we go.

1. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

This album rocked my world several times over.  There isn’t a slow spot in the entire thing.  Every track feels like a standout.  Even songs that deal with frustration or problems feel upbeat and joyous.  They also put on one of the best shows I have ever seen.

Key track – “1901″ (and every other track)

2. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

Animal Collective have become accessible, and it is awesome (though their live show is considerably less accessible).  I recommend this and their Fall Be Kind EP.

Key track – “My Girls”

3. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

This may be the prettiest album ever.

Key track – “Two Weeks”

4. Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle

Bill writes simple, awesome (more…)

If you didn’t catch it in the paper, here are some lists I compiled about the decade in television:
The Decade in TV

The A.V. Club occasionally has a recurring group of articles called “I watched this on purpose” (the link will take you to many examples). It consists of one of their critics watching a movie that is considered to be horrible and looking for some good in it. It could be because the movie has a strong following, has some supposed value or has contributed to pop culture in some way, but they watch it and report on various things. What is the movie infamous for? What was the curiosity factor (why watch it)? What was it like to watch? And, finally, how much of it was not a waste of time? Jumper (which is absolute garbage), for instance, was considered mostly a waste of time while Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo was considered 85% not a waste of time. This does not mean it was a great film, but it was highly entertaining because it was absolutely (unintentionally) hilarious.

So it is in this spirit that I will grade New Moon, the tween sensation that long ago swept (and continues to sweep) the nation.

Cultural Infamy:

New Moon is one of the culprits most responsible for inundating the world with loads of vampire stories and kids and adults that pretend to be vampires.  What might be worse than creating hordes of kids that wish they were vampires is the fact that vampires are no longer scary; they are just beautiful, misunderstood heartthrobs that just need a chance. It is also responsible for launching the career of Kristen Stewart, who apparently thinks acting sad and melancholy works for any role and any situation (if you didn’t see Adventureland, guess how she acts).  Another annoying aspect of the books/films (more…)

I apologize to all of the readers of this blog.

I apologize because I have needed a break. I needed to have a few days in which I didn’t spend hours debating health care reform.

I needed a few days where I didn’t have to constantly assure people the government didn’t want to kill them. I needed a few days where I didn’t have to correct, assure, and correct again baseless lies.

I needed a few days where I didn’t have to read about Congress and the administration going soft. I needed a few days to not worry about lies actually affecting the plan to fix what is broken.

I needed a few days to relax. I needed a few days to just watch some baseball and kick back before school kicks in. The Red Sox made relaxing more of a chore than a pleasure.

I needed a few days to enjoy something besides aggressive conversation. Watching some TV and movies and listening to some awesome music can help a man calm down.

I needed a break because my wonderful girlfriend needed a break. All the negativity surrounding the debate and country was weighing on her (and me). It’s no longer a policy debate; it is a scary, gun-toting, apocalyptic debate. She needed a break, and I needed to join her.

I need something new to talk about. I need to write about more than that which we all know and disagree on. If you don’t realize the government isn’t hell bent on murder by now, you never will. There’s only so much I can do. I must write about other issues, because most people are already set in there ways on this issue, regardless of how ludicrous their ways may be.

I need to continue writing. This will be facilitated by the fact that I begin school tomorrow, and I need something with which to procrastinate.

Get excited.

Enjoy some new topics on the horizon.

Adam Feser

This post will be about the easier options from a comment made by hmm. I’ll save the more in depth options, such as health care, the newspaper industry, and tobacco regulations, for another time. They each deserve a full post.

Our Youth:

I like to think of youth as a frame of mind. Age doesn’t tell how far along a person is physically or mentally. So I say keep the zestfulness of youth in your mind, and you shall be young. But succumb to needless worry and your youth is over. If you’re lucky, you may be able to stave off your midlife crisis until your mid 70s.

Death:

Accept the tea and cake and you won’t need to worry about it. But all Eddie Izzard references aside, um… Make it quick?

Summer TV options:

First of all, do not watch any reality.

Weeds -
Season 5 of Weeds has just begun. If you haven’t ever watched the show, go back to Season 1 and get after it.

Entourage -
Entourage should be back with Season 6. It’s a pretty solid show with some stellar characters.

Merlin -
I’ve never seen this show, but it may be good. NBC bought the rights to it (it’s a British show) and will begin airing it June 21. Let’s all give it a shot.

The Goode Family -
The newest show from Mike Judge (King of the Hill, Beavis and Butthead, Office Space) is quite a flip from the Hill family. I haven’t watched it yet, but it appears to be about a group of well-meaning hippies that somehow find a way to do wrong in their attempts to do good. This is worth a look.

Hung -
This show is created by Dmitry Lipkin (creator of the awesome show The Riches [speaking of Eddie Izzard], which died too young). It is about a high school basketball coach who finds a way to use his, um, generous endowment.

Mad Men –

This isn’t coming back until August, but that’s still summer. Watch the first two seasons if you haven’t, then watch the third.

The Daily Show and The Colbert Report –

We all know they’re awesome.

Michael and Michael Have Issues –

Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black finally have another show. They’ve teamed up for shows such as Stella and The State, as well as amazing movies such as Wet Hot American Summer and The Baxter, and it’s about time they were together again. They will play fictionalized versions of themselves. Hey, it worked for Larry David.

New shows to catch up on before next season -
Fringe, which is a combination of X Files, Lost, and House, is amazing. Definitely check it out.
Lie to Me, starring Tim Roth, is a really cool show about a group that uses applied psychology, such as microexpressions, in investigations. It’s pretty good.
Friday Night Lights isn’t new, but it is awesome. Jump on the bandwagon if you aren’t already there.

Also, remember that if you don’t have the proper network to watch shows, the internet’s got your back.

Movie Recommendations:
Movies I’ve seen -
I’ve seen Up and would recommend it. Pixar just makes good movies.
The Hangover was a fun movie. It’s about time Helms and Galifianakis did a movie.
Star Trek was great if you haven’t seen it.

Movies I’m going to see -

I’m going to see Sugar this week, and you should do the same if you can. It’s a movie about a baseball player from the Dominican Republic and his journey to America.
Away We Go with John Krasinski (Jim Halpurt) and Maya Rudolph looks like a solid movie. They find out she is pregnant and go on an adventure or something. Jim smiled and I was done.
Public Enemies stars Johnny Depp as John Dillinger. Boom.
Ingloroius Basterds isn’t out until August, but it looks awesome. Brad Pitt looks badass in this Tarantino movie.
Bruno, Sacha Baron Cohen’s title character, will be awesome. I can’t wait to see the “interview” with Ron Paul.
Whatever Works is the newest Woody Allen flick, but it stars Larry David. Both are neurotic, but I like David more. So this should be solid.
Funny People, starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen, looks to be the next hit from the Apatow train. Rogen’s character is an amateur comedian and fan of Sandler’s character, and they become friends as Sandler’s character finds he has a terminal disease. It may be a more serious movie than is normal for this crew, but I think that will make it better.

There are probably more than this, but I think this is enough for now.

The College World Series:

If you’ve never tailgated at the CWS, you definitely should.

It’s been hard for me to pay too much attention this year. Nebraska was horrible and didn’t even make a regional tournament. It looks like Texas is going to be tough to beat. I’d call them a slight favorite over LSU if they can shut down the Tar Heels. Also, Cal State Fullerton being done is awesome. Their crowd is always full of arrogant jerks.

The Red Sox:

People say they suck because they are jealous of how great the franchise is. We have a great farm system along with the ability to sign people to fill in holes. We have that ability because of an avid fan base that makes every game feel like a home game.

The Twins:

The Twins are great because they employ the same system from single A through the bigs. This makes their best players’ transitions easy and natural, leading to immediate production (think of Denard Span). They have finally started committing to their best players as opposed to letting them go, and they will always contend in the AL Central as a result. If only Liriano would return to his pre-surgery form, they’d be a lock.

Thanks for the ideas, hmm.

Enjoy the brief break from political talk.

Adam Feser

I am writing this because Season 3 of Friday Nigh Lights has just started airing on NBC. I just checked and every episode from the first two seasons, in addition to those that have aired from this season, is available here. After reading this, go get started.

Friday Night Lights is one of the best shows on television. I told my sister to watch it, and Carrie said, “Isn’t that just about high school kids partying?” No. It is unlike any movie based on Texas football. It is also unlike any teen drama there is. It is phenomenal.

It is different from other dramas and the movies that came before it because of its scope. It follows the lives of the athletes, the coach’s family, the athlete’s girlfriends, a booster, and basically people from all parts of a small town. This allows them to go into all the aspects of living in a small town.

I don’t even want to ruin any of the plots for anyone who is going to watch the show, just know it is awesome. Watch a few episodes and you will agree.

Enjoy this show. Go on, get to enjoying it already.

Adam Feser