This is my perfect pop song:



What I love about the Beatles, and about this performance in particular, was that they seem to have manifested a zeitgeist in ways that are no longer possible in today's fractured media market.

Granted, the Lads had many peers who contributed to the Art of Rock, and who were era-defining in their own ways. But the Beatles are quintessential. Indispensable. If The Beach Boys are Oregano, and Donovan is Saffron, the Beatles are Salt - simply necessary for life and flavor (the Stones, of course, would be Pepper*).

I think that perfection of pop music has much to do with context and delivery. The Beatles debut on Ed Sullivan's show did two things: it provided them with a large and captive audience, but it also allowed them to showcase their skills. Not talent - mind you. Skill. Of course they were a seething mass of talent, but the great thing about the Ed Sullivan debut is how totally sharp and on point these guys were.

This is even more impressive, given that Elvis made one of his first noteworthy national appearances on Ed's show - and Elvis was an idol to the Fabs. Also consider: the Ed Sullivan show was live. And yet here were these kids, really, rocking their asses off. It's so funny - when you look at the crowd there are teenagers wearing ties. Yet from the vantage point of generations; you KNOW all those guys are going to be wearing bellbottoms and have their hair to their shoulders within four years. This, to me, is why these videos are invaluable.

She Loves You is my favorite song of the four performed that fateful night, for several reasons. They came out strong with All My Loving, but the crowd was only getting warmed up. Till There Was You is sweet, but it's not a rocker. She Loves You is full-on rock and roll, though. I think it took until this, the third song, for them to realize: Every single adolescent vagina in this audience is dripping with lust and awakening. The harmonies are sweet, George's nascent talent is suggested in his graceful soloing - it's just. perfect. They are hitting every single mark. And they know it. To a bunch of boys who are all about twenty, this is essentially Nirvana.

By the time they get to I Want to Hold Your Hand you can tell they're a little tired. Even though both songs are excellent, to me this specific performance represents a high water mark in Western culture. The whole night was great. Their whole career was great. But this nougat of time and song represents so much more. It is the realization not only of their hard work to that point, but of the potential energy coiled within everyone watching - waiting to unfurl into a revolution of consciousness. Any minute now.



What is your Perfect Pop Song, and why?















*You can live without pepper, but why would you want to?

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Now I totally get it:



http://www.wftv.com/video/17790025/index.html


The ease and panache with which he dispatches this pitchfork wielding, FOX-style questioning brings it home. Sic balls, Joe!

To whom it may concern,

I'm writing to express my disappointment in KRTH for running commercials promoting Proposition 8, which would deny same-sex couples the dignity of marriage that heterosexual couples enjoy.

I understand that radio stations must sell advertising to keep the lights on. However, running a "Yes on Prop 8" ad is a tacit endorsement of bigotry and homophobia. Your recent heavy rotation of Elton John makes this especially ironic.

I urge you to consider the Civil Rights Movement in 1960s America, which provided the cultural backdrop for much of your playlist. In the fullness of time, laws banning same-sex marriage will seem as foolish as anti-miscegenation and Jim Crow. Your listeners appreciate nostalgia, but only to a point.

Pending a response to this letter and elimination of the "Yes on Prop 8" ads from your broadcast, I have removed KRTH from my autosets and am encouraging all of my friends and family, gay and straight alike, to boycott KRTH.

I hope you decide to do the right thing.




Also: I totally would have downloaded the new AC/DC album. But there's no way in hell I'm going to buy anything from WalMart. Seriously guys, you couldn't have sold it at Target, too?

LAME LAME LAME

On Boys:

"Boys, they love to tickle you in the right place."

On Music:

"I like Ice Cube. Especially the part when he says swear words."

On Leisure:

"I don't want to go back to school. I need another vacation. I need like four vacations."

On Faith:

"I don't want to go to Bible Study. They always say the same thing. Why they always got to repeat themself?"


She's actually doing really well. When we first started working together, she could barely add or subtract two digit numbers, and forget multiplication unless it involved long, drawn out sums and counting hash marks. Now she is multiplying and adding two digit numbers like a champ. Subtraction is still a little meh but the thing that makes me really satisfied, apart from all the little improvements in focus and comprehension, is that she'd rather do LONG DIVISION than go to BIBLE STUDY.

I'm not opposed to bible study per se. But when a child is required to attend thrice weekly, and expresses a desire to finish her math homework instead of spending Thursday evening at church, this delights me. And it's not like she was sucking up. If she wanted to skip church to watch TV she would damn well say so, because C-pain says every single thing that pops into her head.

On Politics:

"Obama is so fine! If I was older I would totally get on that."

On Race Relations:

"Have you ever dated a Mexican guy? My grandma said I shouldn't date Mexicans but Diego gots muscles!"

Etc.

Did you know that Jehovah's Witnesses don't even vote? I was kind of surprised by that.

This has been making the rounds. Because if you saw the debate last night, you'll think it's HILARIOUS.



My mind can't help but draw unavoidable parallels. Yours will draw them, too. If only John McCain had Burgess Merideth's style, that would really be something.

But it begs the question: Who is the Boy Wonder to Obama's Batman? (I think we can safely cast Joe Biden as Commissioner Gordon.)

Oh, postmodern life. So silly.

Check out www.moshimonsters.com

Adopt a monster. Then our monsters can play together.

My monster's name is Shelby.

(these are the same people responsible for Perplex City. They do good work.)

Many have crafted analogies likening Barack Obama to Lincoln: Illinois attorney, short on experience, preternaturally articulate and bound to unite a nation divided.

Others have compared him to Kennedy: Young, sexy, forward-thinking, politically gifted Harvard man.

While my perception resonates with both to some extent, I would like to propose an alternative construction:

Barack Obama is The Reagan of the Left: He has (and will proceed to) revitalize and characterize the foundations of the Democratic party. He'll always be unpopular among hardline Republicans, but exceedingly popular among everyone else. Whether you agree with him or not: he's honest and unpretentious (or just pretentious enough) and WYSIWYG. Getting people to engage with each other despite their differences would be nice - but if they don't he's going to do what he thinks is right anyway. Twenty years from now, people running under the Democratic ticket will refer to themselves as "Obama Democrats" and drop his name as though 'twere breadcrumbs for voters to follow through the forest of political discourse. Libraries, hospitals and freeways will be named after him.

AND: he WILL survive the assasination attempt.

Instead of rocking ass at Decom, Rand and I are staying home and enjoying our functional oven.

AWESOME: The oven attains, and REtains, 350 degrees. I am making a roast! A pot roast! OMG. OMG. OMG. I am so happy, I will probably make cookies for our landlords for replacing this thing.

ALSO: After 20(!) seasons, The Simpsons may no longer be revolutionary. That's normal for a long-lived project. Times change, and its unreasonable to expect that a continuous series will have the same impact on society for all time.  Like all products dependent upon craftsmanship (not mass production) the quality of The Simpsons waxes and wanes.

My personal favorite was 2000 - the year Lisa developed Bully Spray and Homer won a Pulitzer (and the family was banished to The Island, a la The Prisoner). Since then, there have been some seasons I've thought were just ok, and some I thought were stinkers.

However, the bit I've seen of Season 20 has had me laughing as hard as I've ever laughed at anything. Ever. In my life. Again: not necessarily revolutionary, but still (again?) at the top of their game. It's good shit. Mazel tov, guys.