Three Roads Blog

Archive Page 21 of 25

Is Indie Rock Too White?

Published on November 5, 2007 in music.

If you aren’t yet privy to the lively debate going on about indie music and race and class issues, then here’s a primer:

This article, by the New Yorker’s music critic, Sasha Frere-Jones, started the discussion (some would say controversy). In it Frere-Jones laments the lack of “miscegenation” in current rock and roll, particularly within indie rock and roll. The story is titled “A Paler Shade of White: How Indie Rock Lost Its Soul.”

Slate magazine, picking up on the chatter caused by Frere-Jones’ article, added its two cents with this story, bringing the class issue into the mix. The article agrees with the assertion that indie rock is a pasty affair, but it takes issue with many of Frere-Jones’ points, namely the Why of it all.

Evidenced by a rash of blog posts on the topic, Frere-Jones has been forced to defend both his thesis and use of the charged word “miscegenation.” His posts are on his New Yorker blog.

Some Monday Ephemera

Published on November 5, 2007 in ephemera.

Word of the day—jentacular

Published on November 1, 2007 in words.

This word’s definition comes from Wordsmith.org, via Moke.

jentacular (jen-TAK-yuh-luhr) (adjective) Relating to breakfast

Now for some jentacular subject matter.

The Health Care Blog unhappily reports on a new Hardees breakfast burrito that fits a half a day’s calories (920) and all of your daily fat and sodium allowances into one tortilla. (It’s still a better option than the Hardees salad, which has 1,100 calories.)

And here’s some jentacular etymology from Patricia T. O’Conner: “The word “breakfast,” by the way, dates from 1463. It refers to the meal that we eat to “break” our overnight “fast.” That reminds me of a poem by Shelley that compares breakfasts “professional and critical” to dinners “convivial and political.”

I’d say the Hardees burrito fails both of Shelly’s breakfast criteria.

And lastly, we have a headline from the Onion that explains a lot:

Most Terrorists Fail To Start Day With Good Breakfast

John McCain, crazy bastard

Published on November 1, 2007 in politics.

This from the Harper’s magazine’s weekly e-newsletter:

Senator John McCain promised workers at Thompson Center Arms, a small-weapons factory in Rochester, New Hampshire, that he would “follow Osama Bin Laden to the gates of hell” and “shoot him with your products.” McCain also promised that if he were elected “the background music would be ABBA in the elevators all over the White House” and proposed “Take a Chance on Me” as his campaign song.

Although it was a short-lived romance, there was a time when I was smitten with John McCain. (I made the mistake of actually taking a closer look at his positions on various issues.)

Still, there are aspects of his personality that I like, namely his surly, unscripted side. I’m not talking about the highly cultivated “maverick” shtick, but rather the side that’s not afraid to call a college kid a “little jerk” for asking him if he’s too old to be president. I find his notorious temper oddly appealing. (If he were elected, it would concern me more, but at this point his chances seem pretty slim.) And then there’s the ABBA quote. That’s just great. He’s a multifaceted guy. One minute it’s wild-west-, pulp-novel-style declarations of vengeance. The next it’s Swedish pop music in the White House.

The truculent quote above fits squarely with McCain’s surly side. But it also fits into the theme of overall Republican belligerence and false bravado, the kind exemplified by the Napoleon from New York, Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani’s belligerence is purely demagogic—designed to cater to prejudice and insecurity. It is in no way meant to advance any kind of rational policy.

At least when it comes from McCain there seems to be an appreciation for the absurd, a degree of playfulness, even.

Movie Review: Michael Clayton

Published on October 29, 2007 in movies.

If you need reasons to go see this movie, here are four that quickly come to mind:

Because it was written and directed by Tony Gilroy, the guy who wrote the screenplays for the Bourne movies. It’s as fast-paced and suspenseful as those are, but not a single round is fired.

Because Tom Wilkinson, who plays a manic-depressive trial lawyer with a newfound conscience, will surely get the Oscar for best supporting actor. (You heard it on Three Roads first!)

Because Tilda Swinton is far more cold and ruthless as the executive of a polluting agribusiness than she was as the White Witch.

Because George Clooney “gives a beautiful, modulated performance, and he’s never been more likable,” says New Yorker critic David Denby.

Quiz

Published on October 26, 2007 in politics.

Which candidate for president said these words recently?

Slate: You talk about the need for arts education in school. Why? And how have you benefited from being a musician?

?????: The discipline that one learns from it is important, but also the stimulation and creativity. If an education system is only left-brain and it does not properly stimulate the right brain, then it’s no small wonder why students are bored to the point of quitting. We lose 6,000 kids a day to drop-out. A third of students in our public schools will drop out of school. It’s not because these kids are dumb. They are bored. What music and the arts do is make sure that those who are right-brain oriented have their lives touched as much as kids who are logic-centered. It’s our creativity that becomes our cultural vehicle and gives us continuity between one generation and the next. Without that continuity, we not only lose some songs or artwork, we lose our capacity to transmit our culture.

Click here to get the answer, or just continue reading and it will become clear….

Mike Huckabee stands no chance of winning my vote, but he has certainly won my respect. He’s a politician who’s both incredibly conservative and, dare I say it, compassionate. He has conservative views, but you can clearly see that they’re the result of genuine thought, not some Rovian calculation. And he doesn’t vilify people with different points of view or seek to impose his conservative creed on the entire population.

Continue reading ‘Quiz’

Mitt Romney, President of Iran

Published on October 24, 2007 in politics.

I’m sorry, I meant Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Silly me. Well, can you really blame a guy for getting them confused? Their names are pretty similar.

It’s a new spin on the ‘elect Democrats and the terrorists win’ canard. Now it’s ‘elect Barack Obama and you’re actually electing the leader of al Qaeda.’

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m referring to Mitt Romney’s difficulty in distinguishing Osama bin Laden from Barack Obama. Here’s the transcript of a recent speech, courtesy of the Caucus Blog:

“I think that is a position which is not consistent with the fact,” Mr. Romney said. “Actually, just look at what Osam — uh — Barack Obama, said just yesterday. Barack Obama calling on radicals, jihadists of all different types, to come together in Iraq. That is the battlefield. That is the central place, he said. Come join us under one banner.”

Yes, the names do have similar assonance, but if you think for a second that it was real mistake, you don’t quite understand the depths that Mitt Romney is willing to troll in his quest for the presidency.

First off, Republicans have already been messing with Obama’s name. Remember the flack he got for having the middle name Hussein?

The only difference here is that Mitt is so shamlessly—so clumsily—trying to tar Obama for having a Muslim-sounding name. Mitt thinks this will go down well with the xenophobes whose votes he needs to win the primary.

But Mitt’s going to have to do better than that–for example, next time he needs to make sure he doesn’t start off by saying the right name: “Actually, just look at what Osam — uh — Barack Obama, said just yesterday.”