The End of an Era

I'm in mourning today. I just learned of the passing of a very, very old friend.

WKLS FM, 96Rock in Atlanta, GA.

Yes, that's right, a radio station. But not just any radio station. 96Rock was the station for me and my friends during late elementary school, all of high school, and during college. That's a lot of years out of my life, so I suppose I'm also mourning my lost youth, and the memories of happier, simpler times.

96Rock was there for me when I first began to discover and explore my own awareness of music. Remember arguing with your parents over what station would be playing on the car radio? Well, 96Rock was always my choice.

As the name implied, 96Rock was Atlanta's home of rock n roll. In the early 80's, a lot of the heavier stuff got played - Ozzy, Iron Maiden, Nazareth, AC/DC, all in their album-oriented glory. Then, a TV commercial featuring Paul Schaeffer announcing that "our voices had been heard. Enough of the heavy stuff!" From then on, it was a steady mix of the Clash, Aerosmith, The Cars, The Police, plus all of the classic stuff (Led Zep, The Who, Stones, Beatles). I was exposed to everything that made rock great during those days - the best of the British Invasion, the supergroups of the 70's, Southern Fried rock, plus all of the newest mainstream goodness. Back then, you didn't just listen to the music, you lived it, you loved it. I think that's what made the AOR format so great - you didn't just hear what was popular, you heard what was good (at least in the DJ's opinion), and it was never the same. During those days, 96Rock provided the soundtrack to my life.

I can still remember hanging out in my room at night, the lights off, just laying there listening to Willard spin the "Perfect Album Side"...

Listening to Kaedy Kiely in the afternoons. Kaedy has forgotten more about rock music than most people will ever know. I had a huge crush on her...

The Friday 5:00 Whistle. The official end of the week for a lot of years. Once those songs started playing, you knew the weekend was officially here...

Christopher Rude in the mornings always made me laugh...

Honestly, Pink Floyd and Comfortably Numb would have meant nothing to me without 96Rock.

It's no secret that radio has seen better days. With competition from the Internet and IPods, radio stations have had to struggle to stay profitable. Unfortunately, the best business decisions are rarely the best programming decisions, which is why a great legacy station like 96Rock had to die its slow death. A regular poster on the Radio-Info site sums it up nicely:

Radio is no longer flesh and blood; it’s becoming a playlist on a media server connected to an antenna run by suits. Nothing lasts forever. RIP 96Rock.

I suppose I'm part of the problem myself. My intense hatred of what passes for today's "popular" music has kept me listening to a steady diet of talk radio and my IPod for years. It's not that I haven't wanted to listen to 96Rock, it's just that I've long since gotten out of the habit of relying on radio for my musical entertainment. It's okay, though. Today's 96Rock is certainly not the same glorious station I listened to in my youth. Those days are truly gone. However, I would liked to have been listening as the station breathed its last. I understand the last song played was Baba O'Riley by The Who.

Which, by the way, was the very first song ever played on 96Rock.

So we have come full circle, and it's nice that someone thought to end it on that note, rather than just playing the next song in the rotation. It's nice that someone remembered.

And of course, those of us in the teenage wasteland will never forget.

The Taser Incident

The net is buzzing about an Iranian-American UCLA student getting tasered by campus police at the library:

Mostafa Tabatabainejad, a UCLA student, was repeatedly stunned with a Taser and then taken into custody when he did not exit the CLICC Lab in Powell Library in a timely manner. Community Service Officers had asked Tabatabainejad to leave after he failed to produce his BruinCard during a random check at around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Naturally, a concerned citizen with a cellphone camera caught the incident on video. YouTube, anyone?



"Here's your Patriot Act! Here's your fucking abuse of power!"

Now, I don't want to get all knee-jerk here, but if I get tasered by some cop, I'm not going to be making political statements. I'm going to be pretty much doing whatever I have to to avoid another shock. But that's just me.

I know this is going to get a lot of play over the next few days, with the inevitable blaming of President Bush for the whole thing. From what I saw, the student was being unresponsive to the officers' commands and argumentative. Plus, the whole "Patriot Act" comment really makes me wonder if this wasn't a bit of planned street theatre.

I know, I know, but I find it hard to put anything past the "socially aware".

By the way, here's a video of someone getting tasered who doesn't have a comment to make about the Patriot Act or abuses of power. Please note the lack of hysterical screaming.

People Are Crazy

Fergie, female singer for the Black Eyed Peas, recently said that anyone who insults her singing is actually insulting God:

“I may not have the type of voice you like, but I can sing,” the white hip-hopper told Vibe. “You can’t take that away from me, ‘cause singing is a gift from God, and when people say I can’t sing, it’s kind of like insulting God.”

When asked for comment, God replied "In Fergie's case, it was actually a gag gift."

Election Night...Not Looking Good

It's about 9:40, and I'm flipping channels between election results on
Fox News and Star Trek:TNG.

Right now, the Dems are 3 Senate seats and 13 House seats from taking it all.

We may end up losing it all.

If so, it'll suck getting up tomorrow.

K-Fed Bocomes Fed-Ex!

Man, no sooner do I put up a little post about Kevin Federline's dismal concert appearance, than this hits the news: Britney Spears Files For Divorce!

In her petition, Spears asks for both legal and physical custody of the couple's two children, one-year old Sean Preston and two-month old Jayden James, with Federline getting reasonable visitation rights.

I'm fairly certain that K-Fed has soiled himself over all of this. I can't even begin to imagine what is running through his head right now.

K-Fed In Da House...By Himself!

Poor K-Fed! The road to rap superstardom is fraught with potholes:

K-Fed plays to an almost empty house
Wannabe rapper has to beg club not to cancel his concert

C'mon, you knew this was coming when he first announced his "tour"

K-Fed’s New York City gig at Webster Hall wasn’t cancelled as some predicted — but it reportedly took some big-time begging on his part.

Begging. Begging. Heh.

Only 300 people showed up at the club that holds 1,500.

For me, the real story is not that 1,200 hundred people didn't show up, but that 300 people actually did. Was this a free concert by chance? Oh yeah, K-Fed kept those 300 fools waiting for three hours hoping more "fans" would show up. For that, they got to see K-Fed rap for all of 30 minutes, in a performance described as "mercifully short". One witness claimed that Federline

seemed really confused about how to act on stage. He would pace from one side of the stage to the other, just saying things like, ‘Hey’ thirty times in a row or ‘New York, thank you for coming — buy my CD.'

I think it's obvious K-Fed is confused about many, many things.

K-Fed doing his "thang"

Cry Havok, And Let Slip The Dogs Of War

At last, The Day is upon us.

In about twelve hours, we'll have a pretty good idea of how this thing will turn out.

Judgement Da - er, I mean - Election Day!

I'm nervous, but hopeful. On some level, I just can't believe the cosmic powers, those that bring order and balance to the Universe, would actually allow the Democrats to win. I mean come on, Speaker Pelosi?!? God, that would be a Hell on earth.

I hope when this is all done, I'll have good cause to revisit this little post.

Once again, Ace of Spades is in my brain:

If the Democrats lose, do you have any doubt they will decide, in their typically-thoughtful Councils of Herd Animals, that John Kerry alone cost them the entire election?

Damn... even if I hated Bush I'd vote Republican just for that.

After the 2002 election disaster for the Democrats (remember? they were counting on big wins then, too) William Kristol said, "And now comes the most enjoyable part of any election season: the recriminations."

Please vote, just so we can have those recriminations.

Do you know what Chris Matthews' tears taste like? I don't, but I've heard stories they taste like gold spun finely into cotton candy. I need to know if those stories are true.

Heh. Amen to that!

I'll be voting tonight after work. Until then, I'll be tracking the excitement all day.

Bill Maher Is A Putz

From Perez Hilton:

"Stop hassling me about my Halloween costume. Yes, you've seen it on the internet. I went as the Crocodile Hunter with a bloody stinger in my chest. People who really love animals understand if you get killed by one, chances are you were doing something to it you shouldn't have been. You want me to apologise for making a joke? Who do you think I am, John Kerry?"

Translation: "I'm yet another in a long string of whiny, liberal asses who thinks I can do whatever I want - no matter how tasteless or inapproriate - and get away with it. As a liberal, I'm naturally better than you, and will therefore not be held hostage by your mundane sensibilities. As a liberal, I possess the sort of intellect which enables me to know that what you see as a cruel jibe at a beloved figure is actually a clever and nuanced statement on today's media-saturated society. However, should my actions begin to attract enough negative attention to actually make me look bad (at least bad enough to where market share may begin to suffer) then, as a liberal, I will simply suggest that Irwin got what he deserved and that I am, in fact, defending the rights of animals to live free and untainted by human interference...which you would have realized if you were as smart as me."

Tool.

You know, I used to like Bill Maher, way back when he was a comedic actor and not spewing his particularly noxious brand of lefty commentary.

Although I don't watch his HBO show, I do find it interesting that Maher feels four liberals versus one conservative is a fair fight. Are their ideas so weak that it takes four of them to equal the candle power of one average conservative? I doubt Billy would admit to that.

Only in America could someone go from D.C. Cab opposite Mr. T. and Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death opposite Shannon Tweed to being one of the premiere mouthpieces for the Left.

What If They Win

From Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake:

First of all — I don't care if John Kerry was eating live babies on TV, one week out from an election you do not repeat GOP talking points. Ever. It makes you look like a big pussy who can't stand up to the Republicans, even when they're playing from an exceptionally weak hand on an issue you own.

Of course. After all, what's a few babies when we have an election to win?

From the Kosfather himself:

Thats the way you show strength. That's the way you beat back bullies. That's the way you win in America. Not by going around whining about "apologies" and worried that Rove and his Republican bullies might say "boo!"

All you hand-wringers -- grow some cojones or get the frak out of our way.

Somebody botches a joke. Big fucking deal. Laugh at those who would make it an issue, kick them in the shin for good measure, then move on.

Sure, why apologize for a "botched" joke that insulted our troops. BFD! After all, we have an election to win!

All over the blogosphere, lefty blogs are ranting about Kerry having to apologize when he was, in fact, right - the military is overwhelmingly populated by underschooled idiots with damn few options.

You can almost feel their desire to drop the pretenses and just say, "Why are you talking about the troops? We have an election to win!"

At what point do we begin to wonder about the true intentions of people who crave power - crave control - this much?

For the past six years, they've talked about offering us a new course, about returning America to its former glory. But their actions and their attitude convey a different message - it's inconceivable to them that they are not in control, and they simply must do whatever they can to remedy that situation.

As we continue counting down to E-Day, they know the only thing standing between them and the total domination they seek are a few Red State rubes who don't have enough sense to know when they're not being properly governed.

I might have been content in the past to accept the idea of the Democrats taking over Congress; on an intellectual level, one has to understand that is always a possibility. But the world we live in today doesn't inspire me to be that practical. I can't afford to place my trust in a group of people who won't be happy until American is just another bit player on some global stage instead of the lead. Until our society becomes one bizarre, giant hive-mind, programmed to slavishly follow their twisted socialist doctrines.

Am I being paranoid? Would things really be as bad as that? Hell, we're already on our way there, it's just that most people can't or won't see it.

I'm sure at one time the Romans thought they'd last forever. So too the Persians, the Egyptians, the British. That is the way of the world - everything eventually ends.

And that end has to start somewhere.

The Joke, Take 2

MSNBC reports that John Kerry has cancelled most of his campaign appearances in the wake of his comments at the Angelides rally. The article also gives us the joke which Kerry regretfully "misspoke" as an insult to the troops:

A Kerry spokeswoman, Amy Brundage, said Kerry’s prepared text had called for him to say: “Do you know where you end up if you don’t study, if you aren’t smart, if you’re intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush.”

Sorry, but I call bullshit. After the reaction his actual comment got, it's way too easy to trot someone out a day later and have them say "this is what the Senator meant to say". Besides, it's still suggesting that the penalty for being dumb is getting elected President.

That certainly doesn't say much for Kerry himself considering his own Presidential ambitions. It sort of makes sense, though. You'd have to be pretty stupid not to be able to get this crappy joke right to begin with.

John Kerry Is A Moron

Honestly, what else is there to say?

While at a Pasadena Community College campaign rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides, John Kerry said the following:

You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.

So, according to Kerry, if you're smart you'll have options in life. If you're not, then joining the military and shipping out to Iraq is pretty much all you have to look forward to. Which I suppose suggests all of our troops currently deployed in Iraq are uneducated losers. Seems pretty clear cut to me. I mean, I can't see how you can read that statement any other way.

Apparently, I'm wrong.

Now, Kerry is saying he botched a joke - that he wasn't insulting the troops, he actualy meant to insult President Bush! What's more, Kerry says Bush knows that's what he meant to do, and to suggest otherwise is more "despicable Republican attacks". The entire statement is chock full of handler-speak, calculated right down to the last period.

The only thing missing, I'm sure, is a finger wagging.

So John Kerry was admonishing a crowd of college students to study hard and do well in school, because the alternative is...becoming President of the United States and initiating hostilities in a foreign country with the support of Congress?!?

Oh, I get it now.

Heh.

Update: Ace of Spades has the same take on Kerry's "stay in school" message. Great minds think alike...except of course Ace actually has a readership while I'm pretty much just talking to myself here.

Brad Pitt Gets A Wake Up Call

From those intrepid reporters at Contactmusic.com:

Pitt Shocked by Anti-American Attitude

Brad Pitt discovered how unpopular America is across the globe when a group of drunk Dutchmen threatened to kill him because of his nationality.

Seems Brad was tooling around Amsterdam on a bicycle at midnight during the filming of Ocean's Twelve when he had to swerve to avoid the drunken Dutch revelers who were exiting a local bar.

I said, "Excuse me," and swerved out of the way and they started screaming, "You fucking American. We'll fucking kill you." I'd never come face to face with that before - that turn in the way we are perceived in other countries.

Now, let's look at the facts in this case, shall we?

1. It's midnight in Amsterdam.
2. Brad Pitt is riding around on a bike.
3. He swerves to avoid a group of drunk Dutchmen as they were leaving a bar.
4. Brad says "excuse me".

I guess my first question is, how did they know Brad was an American? I mean, I find it hard to believe that a bunch of Dutch drunks would immediately recognize Brad Pitt as he zoomed by them on a bicycle at midnight. Was Brad's "excuse me" so noticeably American? Perhaps Brad was draped in the flag as he rode around to guard against the chill.

I think it's laughable that Brad's first instinct is to believe the Dutch want to kill him because America has sullied its reputation across the globe and not because he's some pretty-boy Yank who almost ran over their drunk asses.

Who knows, maybe they're pissed at Brad because of how he left Jennifer Aniston for Angelina Jolie?

I know it's been a while since that all went down, but let's not forget - Brad made Jen cry.

On Oprah!

You don't just forgive something like that...

Eight Days...

It's eight days and counting until the election. The polls are still
indicating a Democratic sweep of one, maybe both houses of Congress,
and you better believe the media is trumpeting that. You can't get
away from it.

If you're a Republican like me, you may just think about staying home
on election day.

I mean, what's the point, right?

Right?

I'm staying positive about our chances for victory; it will definitely
come down to the GOP's GOTV efforts. Hopefully they'll be up to the
task. I have to hope that rational people won't want to live in a
world where Nancy Pelosi is third in line for the Presidency.

If we do keep Congress, can we once and for all declare the liberal
agenda officially rejected? I mean, if they can't win in this
environment, they have to be doing something seriously wrong.

Eight days...

A Poem...

I just saw this in the comments section on Sweetness & Light, one of my regular reads. The poster's name is Nimblicity; his name wasn't linked to a blog, so I don't know if he has a site of his own. I also don't know if the poem is an original or something he found somewhere. What I do know is that it's a very clever summary of just what's facing this country right now.

And so, without further ado:

Two Guys and a Girl in Blue Jeans
“You’re a prude,” said the Euro with his hand in his pants.
“Your clothes and conventions oppress you.”
He gave her a box of buttons and a silk sock, and said,
“This is how I would dress you.”

“You’re a slut,” said the Mullah with his finger in the air.
“Your shirt and tight blue jeans reveal you.”
He gave her a baggy burqa and a silk shawl, and said
“Here’s is how I’d conceal you.”

She spurned one and both,rejecting with
pride the folly with which each would drape her.
Thus scorned, these two found,though they should
be foes,common cause and conspired to rape her.

“She” is America. The last stanza is yours to write–not with words but deeds. And
there’s a lot more at stake than public standards of dress.

Why I'm Going to Vote Republican

Michelle Malkin has a nice little post on the differences between the Dems and the Republicans going into the election. For her, the main reason to vote Republican in one of security:

As one of those post-9/11 security moms, it all comes down to a simple question for me: Who will keep this country — and my children — safer from harm?

I agree that security is a very important reason to vote for the Republicans; frankly, I will never trust the Democrats with that particular issue, no matter how hard they play at "supporting the troops".

But if I may be honest for a moment? One of the many reasons I'm going to vote Republican is because I don't want the Democrats to be in charge. More than that, I can't wait to see their faces when they lose.

When I visualize the morning of November 8, 2006, and the media is announcing that the GOP has done the impossible and held on to Congress, I see

...the heads of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Howard Dean, Keith Olbermann, Bill Maher, etc. literally popping off their collective shoulders and flying around the room under their own steam like so many deflating balloons (deflating like their HOPES AND DREAMS!)

...Markos Moulitsas and the rest of the Kos Kidz weeping bitterly as they deal with the fact that reality really sucks for the "reality-based" community.

...dozens of left-wing bloggers desperately trying to spin their defeat into something positive, only to give in to their true impulses and just throw tantrums while labeling those who re-elected the GOP to power as idiots who just don't get it.

...armies of Republican faithful trolling on every liberal website, leaving only one short but delicious comment: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

...George W. Bush, sitting in the Oval Office with just the barest smile on his face, the true winner in the election. Hail to the Chief, baby.

Tell me that wouldn't be the greatest day ever.

Michael and Rush

I was listening to Rush's show this week when he made his comments about Michael J. Fox. I sort of cringed when Rush said MJF was "faking" his illness in the ad - I knew what Rush meant to express, but felt he chose the wrong words to express it. He wasn't suggesting that MJF was faking about his Parkinson's in general, only that he was faking the extreme tremors in the ad.

Okay, so maybe that's a small distinction, but it is true - Rush wasn't saying that MJF doesn't have Parkinson's disease.

Although I personally don't believe that MJF was acting or exaggerating the effects of his condition, it is worth noting that he once testified before Congress without taking his medication in order to make his tremors more pronounced, so as to better demonstrate the ravages of his illness. Clearly, he knows the visual impact his tremors have when talking about his illness. I also won't deny that Michael's ad is compelling, which I suppose is the point. However, if the substance of his ads are misrepresenting the facts (which Rush claims they are), then that has to be addressed. Also, if Michael wants to throw his lot into the fight, then his actions and his motives become open to criticism; perhaps the Democrats were counting on no one having the nerve to do so. This, of course, is a favorite tactic of theirs - find messengers who are immune to attack based on the severity of their circumstances. This keeps the debate focused on the purely emotional rather than on the purely factual. Oftentimes, this indicates a lack of substance in one's position.

I am in favor of expanding stem cell research; however, I want a debate grounded in facts, not on emotion or sympathy.

Hillary Comes Clean

Hillary Clinton is setting the record straight on how she got her name:

For more than a decade, one piece of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s informal biography has been that she was named for Sir Edmund Hillary, the conqueror of Mount Everest. The story was even recounted in Bill Clinton’s autobiography.

But yesterday, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign said she was not named for Sir Edmund after all.

It's certainly looks like Hillary's planning on running for President in 2008. After seeing how "I invented the Internet" and "Love Story was written about me and Tipper" worked out, I suppose Hillary doesn't want to take any chances.

One last quote from the article:

“It was a sweet family story her mother shared to inspire greatness in her daughter, to great results I might add,” said Jennifer Hanley, a spokeswoman for the campaign.

Give me a motherfucking break!

How do these people manage to get these types of statements out of their mouths without their tongues bursting into flames? Does Hillary really, really think that bullshit actually works? Is that what we have to look forward to if she actually wins?

A Deep Cleansing Breath

Ok, I'll say it.

Mark Foley is a disgusting person. What he did was disgusting, and
I'm glad he's out. Anyone who knew about this mattter also needs to
go. I don't care who it is. That may make things harder for us in
the short term, but will only make us stronger in the long term.

Now, here's the thing.

Vote these guys out, and vote in some new, better REPUBLICANS!

We can do the right thing here and still keep ourselves in power.
After all, the alternative is to have a Democcratic majority long
after the Foley thing goes away.

Adventures in Mobile Blogging

I'm in my car, in a parking lot, enjoying my lunch hour.

Not very exciting in itself, but I'm blogging about it anyway.

You gotta love technology.

Mobile Blogging

Very cool.

I got a new Cingular 8125 smartphone over the weekend. Yes, it was expensive, and no I didn't need it. However, the phone is very cool, and has a ton of great functions. One of things I did with the new phone is something I've wanted to do for a while - mobile blogging. I just used the phone to send an e-mail message to Blogger's mobile site, and that message was uploaded as a regular post.

I look forward to doing some more mobile blogging in the very near future. I'll just drive around, see what there is to see, and blog about it.

Technology is a wonderful thing.