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November 16, 2005

GOP Video: Dems On Saddam's WMD's

Who you gonna believe, them or your own lying Times?

Subliminadabbubble Messages? Traffic Non-Santa points out the music playing in the clip is Traffic's Low Spark of High Heeled Boys, which, I guess, he supposes is some kind of gay joke.

Not necessarily. The song's about whores. Male whores, gay whores, hustlers, yes. But whores first and foremost.

I'd say the "hustler/whore" message is the intended one, not the "fruity fairyboy" one. 'Sides, a lot of hustlers aren't even actually gay. (Or so the movies tell me.) Same as a female prostitute isn't really all that in to having sex with you.

If the RNC really wanted to push the gay thing, the song would have been Relax (Don't Do It) seguing into Duran Duran's Wild Boys, which, for my money, is even gayer than the Frankie Goes To Hollywood one.

NRO acclaims Insty's knowledge of Traffic's songbook. Identifying their most famous song? C'mon. Reciting lyrics from the song proves something. Like this:

The percentage you're paying is too high a price
while you're giving up on all of your dreams
and the man in the suit just bought a new car
from the profit he made off your jeans

Or something pretty close to that. From memory. That second line looks a little off.

If Instapundit really wants to show off his knowlege of Traffic, he can answer this question: Which Traffic album is Can't Find My Way Home on?

Loose Lyrics: Dan says the second line of that chorus is "while you're living beyond all your means," which sounds right. To be honest, I completely spaced on that line, and just made up words with about the right number of syllables and with an approximate rhyme at the end.

posted by Ace at 12:37 AM

Comments

You've gotta love Traffic's "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" as soundtrack to the perfidy of todays Dems.

Life is So Grand!!

Posted by: Shivas Irons on November 16, 2005 12:44 AM

What is it with the GOP these days, anyhow? It's like they're competing with themselves, trying to get the longest most drawn out rope-a-dope strategy they possibly can. Is it like some weird contest? "Good one, Karl. But, I bet you can't go two years without responding. By that time, it'll be too late to undo the damage." / "Oh yeah? Just watch me." I think that Rove has been, in a manner of speaking, taking the party for a joyride. "Oh yeah, let's see how this baby handles!"

Or maybe that's just the Val-U-Rite talkin'.

Posted by: sandy burger on November 16, 2005 12:51 AM

The more important question is: Did Traffic ever use COWBELL?

I can't believe a major political party's main talking point is 'we are too dumber than Bush'. Its like the Carter Presidency... but with a _whole_ lot more Carters.

Posted by: Al on November 16, 2005 01:02 AM

Cant find my way home is from the Band "Blind Faith" in which winwood was lead singer. The band had Clapton and Baker and Grech in it also. God I am getting old.

Posted by: bill on November 16, 2005 01:07 AM

"He's a moron, but he fooled all of us democrats!" doesn't say much about the democrats...

Sounds like a declaration of fundamental unfitness for office to me.

Posted by: Purple Avenger on November 16, 2005 01:09 AM

right, trick question.

Posted by: ace on November 16, 2005 01:09 AM

"Can't Find My Way Home" isn't by Traffic. Blind Faith did that one.

;-)

Posted by: Stillers on November 16, 2005 01:10 AM

I know, I know. It was meant as a trick question.

Posted by: ace on November 16, 2005 01:11 AM

Same as a female prostitute isn't really all that in to having sex with you.

Generally speaking, yes, but a female prostitute can still want to have sex with Ace...for free nonetheless.

Just sayin'.

Posted by: Feisty on November 16, 2005 01:21 AM

Isn't that the album with the, um, questionable cover on the import copy? I have that one. I have kids. It stays at the back of the bus.

Posted by: Tom M on November 16, 2005 01:26 AM

That second line is:

"while you're living beyond all your means"

Posted by: Dan Wismar on November 16, 2005 02:44 AM

" Its like the Carter Presidency". Yes, Billy Carter

Posted by: Master of None on November 16, 2005 02:51 AM

A better, more hip song for the lying/skeezer theme:
(The song is half Spanish, half English. Early 90's tune. You'll remember it if you listen to it again.)

Mellow Man Ace
Mentirosa

so I told the girl in Spanish I said hey ya me voy
cuz u aint treatin me like I'm some sucker toy cuz who needs u neways
con tu lengua venenosa, today u tell me something y mañana es otra cosa
MENTIROSA!

Isn't that cool? Y mañana es otra cosa. Today you say one thing and tomorrow you say another thing.

Posted by: Bart on November 16, 2005 03:31 AM

Okay. I'm digging out my John Barlycorn Must Die CD.

I love Ace of Spades sing alongs:

Come down from your throne
leave your body alone
somebody must change
you are the reason
I've been waiting for so long
somebody holds the key

Posted by: on November 16, 2005 06:29 AM

I thought Mr. Fantasy was their most famous song. But then again, I'm only 26, so most of my knowledge of classic rock has been distilled through those Time Life CD collection commercials.

Posted by: Mark V. on November 16, 2005 09:27 AM

Fuck all you geezers. I'm 25, and I know more about Winwood, Traffic, Blind Faith, The Spencer Davis Group, or any fucking '60s/'70s group for that matter that isn't named after a city, state, or municipality. DON'T FUCK WITH THE ROCK TRIVIA JESUS.

Pray for me.

Posted by: Jeff B. on November 16, 2005 09:49 AM

There are as many theories about the meaning of Low Sparks as there are Democratic senators whinging about intelligence failures. Not their own, amazingly enough.

Posted by: tongueboy on November 16, 2005 10:07 AM

Dreams, not jeans.

Posted by: Lurker on November 16, 2005 10:26 AM

Spencer Davis Group

They played at my high school. Scary but true. Not even in the auditorium but in the, gasp, gym.

Posted by: on November 16, 2005 11:06 AM

I wonder, how long before we hear from Steve Winwood (or someone else from Traffic) speaking out for or against the Bush administration co-opting their signature tune? Do they even still hold the rights to the recording or does Island Records, or someone else?

Posted by: Joshua on November 16, 2005 01:06 PM

Geez, it's
The profit he's made off your dreams,
not jeans.

Posted by: Uncle Jefe on November 16, 2005 02:12 PM

Whupps, looks like Lurker caught that earlier.
Hey, you want a great Traffic song?
40,000 Headmen

Posted by: Uncle Jefe on November 16, 2005 02:18 PM

"To be honest, I completely spaced on that line, and just made up words with about the right number of syllables and with an approximate rhyme at the end."

I've been doing that for years, on stage, with songs I wrote myself, no less. I blame the alcohol. And the drugs.

And Bush, of course.

Never, ever the fact that I'm just not very good. Much like today's Democrats, for example.

Posted by: Mike on November 16, 2005 03:20 PM

Hey, Steve winwood did not authorize the GOP authorize use of this song. check the web site out. www.stevewinwood.com. GOP volated copy right laws. if that means anything to you guys since you are GOP and laws mean nothing to you.

from the web site:

'Many fans recently have written about the use of “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” in a Republican National Committee video about opposition to the war in Iraq. Steve was not aware of the RNC's plan to use Traffic’s music nor did he authorize the song's use in any way. We are currently working to have the song removed from the video..

Posted by: on November 25, 2005 10:12 AM

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Top Headlines

Kid punks CNN chump by speaking truth to retard

Podcast: CBD and Sefton talk birthright citizenship, the 14th Amendment and SCOTUS, no boots in Iran, Artemis II and refocusing NASA, the NBA's hatred of everything non-woke, and more!

In more marketing for Project Hail Mary, scientists say they've found the biosigns indicating life growing on an alien planet. It's not proof, just signatures of chemicals that are produced by biological metabolism, and it could be nothing, but scientists think it's a strong sign that this planet is inhabited by something.

In a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, a team of scientists announced the detection of dimethyl sulfide (along with a similar detection of dimethyl disulfide) in the atmosphere of an exoplanet called K2-18b. This is actually the second detection of dimethyl sulfide made on this planet, following a tentative detection in 2023.
Tons of chemicals are detected in the atmospheres of celestial objects every day. But dimethyl sulfide is different, because on Earth, it's only produced by living organisms.
"It is a shock to the system," Nikku Madhusudhan, first author on the paper, told the New York Times. "We spent an enormous amount of time just trying to get rid of the signal."

He means they tried to prove the signal was caused by things other than dimethyl sulfide but they could not.

Artemis moon shot a go, scheduled for 6:24 Eastern time tonight
Great marketing arranged by Amazon to promote Project Hail Mary. Okay not really but it does work out that way.

TJM talks John Boorman, director of Excalibur

Good rickroll

What? Skeleton of the most famous Musketeer, D'Artagnan, possibly discovered in Dutch church closet.
Dumas picked four names of real musketeers out of a history book, D'Artagnan, Athos, Aramis, and Porthos. So there was an actual D'Artagnan, though he made most of the story up. (Or, you know, all of it.)*

Charles de Batz de Castelmore, known as d'Artagnan, the famous musketeer of Kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV, spent his life in the service of the French crown.
The Gascon nobleman inspired Alexandre Dumas's hero in "The Three Musketeers" in the 19th century, a character now known worldwide thanks to the novel and numerous film adaptations.
D'Artagnan was killed during the siege of Maastricht in 1673, and there is a statue honoring the musketeer in the city. His final resting place has remained a mystery ever since.

A lot of Dumas's stories are based on bits of real history. The plot of the >Three Musketeers, about trying to recover lost diamonds from the queen's necklace, was cribbed from the then-almost-contemporaneous Affair of the Queen's Necklace. And the Man in the Iron Mask is based on real accounts of a prisoner forced to wear a mask (though I think it was a velvet mask).
* Oh, I should mention, Dumas says all this, about finding the names in an old book, in the prologue to his novel. But authors lie a lot. They frequently present fictions as based on historic fact. The twist is, he was actually telling the truth here. At least about these four musketeers having actually existed and served under Louis XIV.
Fun fact: You know the beginning of A Fistful of Dollars where the local gunslingers make fun of Clint Eastwood's donkey and Eastwood demands they apologize to the donkey? That's lifted from The Three Musketeers. Rochefort mocks D'Artagnan's old, brokedown farm horse and D'Artagnan is incensed.

A commenter asked which should be read first, The Hobbit of LOTR?
Easy, no question -- read The Hobbit first. It's actually the start of the story and comes first chronologically. It sets up some major characters and major pieces in play in LOTR.
Also, the Hobbit is Beginner-Friendly, which LOTR isn't. The Hobbit really is a delightful book, and a fast read. It's chatty, it's casual, it's exciting, and it's funny. In that dry cheeky British humor way. I love that the narrator is constantly making little asides and commentary, like he's just sitting next to you telling you this story as it occurs to him.
LOTR is a very long story. Fifteen hundred pages or so. The Hobbit is relatively short and very punchy and easy to read. If you don't like The Hobbit, you can skip out on LOTR. If you do like it, you'll be primed to read LOTR.
Oh, I should say: The Hobbit is written as if it's for children, but one of those smart children's stories that are also for adults. Don't worry, there's also real fighting and violence and horror in it, too.
LOTR is written for adults. (It's said that Tolkien wrote both for his children, but LOTR was written 17 years later, when his children were adults.) Some might not like The Hobbit due to its sometimes frivolous tone. Me, I love it. I find it constantly amusing. Both are really good but there is a starkly different tone to both. LOTR is epic, grand, and serious, about a world war, The Hobbit is light and breezy, and about a heist. Though a heist that culminates in a war for the spoils.

The Hobbit Challenge: Read two more chapters. I didn't have much time. Bilbo got the ring.
I noticed a continuity problem. Maybe. Now, as of the time of The Hobbit, it was unknown that this magic ring was in fact a Ring of Power, and it was doubly unknown that it was the Ring of Power, the Master Ring that controlled the others.
But the narrator -- who we will learn in LOTR was none of than Bilbo himself, who wrote the book as "There and Back Again" -- says this about Gollum's ring:
"But who knows how Gollum had come by that present [the Ring], ages ago in the old days when such rings were still at large in the world? Perhaps even the Master who ruled them could not have said."
In another passage, the ring is identified as a "ring of power."
I don't know, I always thought there was a distinction between mere magic rings and the Rings of Power created by Sauron. But this suggests that Bilbo knew this was a ring of power created by Sauron.
Now I don't remember when Bilbo wrote the Hobbit. In the movie, he shows Frodo the book in Rivendell, and I guess he wrote it after he left the Shire. I guess he might have added in the part about the ring being a ring of power created by "the Master" after Gandalf appraised him of his research into the ring.
I never noticed this before. I know Tolkien re-wrote this chapter while he was writing LOTR to make the ring important from the start. And also to make Gollum more sinister and evil, and also to remove the part where Gollum actually offers Bilbo the ring as a "present" -- Bilbo had already found it on his own, but Gollum was wiling to give it away, which obviously is not something the rewritten Gollum would ever do.
But I had no memory of the ring being suggested to be The Ring so early in the tale.

Finish the job, Mr. President!
Melanie Phillips lays out the case for the total destruction of the Iranian government and armed forces. [CBD]

TJM acts like he knows anything about John Wick and screenwriting. It's embarrassing, really.

Podcast: Sefton and CBD talk about how would a peace treaty with Iran work, Democrats defending murderers and rapists, The GOP vs. Dem bench for 2028, composting bodies? And more!

Oh, I forgot to mention this quote from Pete Hegseth, reported by Roger Kimball: "We are sharing the ocean with the Iranian Navy. We're giving them the bottom half."

Batman fires The Batman
Batman is disgusted by the Joachim Phoenix version of Joker
Batman tries to fire Superman
Batman is still workshopping his Bat-Voice

Forgotten 80s Mystery Click: Red Leather Suit and Sweatband Edition
And I was here to please
I'm even on knees
Makin' love to whoever I please
I gotta do it my way
Or no way at all

Tomorrow is March 25th, "Tolkien Reading Day," because March 25th is the day when the Ring is destroyed in the book. I think I'm going to start the Hobbit tomorrow and read all four books this time.
The only bad part of the trilogy are the Frodo/Sam chapters in The Two Towers. They're repetitive, slow, and mostly about the weather and terrain. But most everything else is good. Weirdly, the Frodo-Sam chapters in Return of the King are exciting and action-packed and among the best in the trilogy. (Though the chapters with everyone else in Return of the King get pretty slow again. Mostly people talking about marching towards war, and then marching towards war.)

Sec. Army recognizes ODU Army ROTC cadets for their bravery and sacrifice in private ceremony
[Hat Tip: Diogenes] [CBD]

TJM gives you a brief tour of his movie collection.

Forgotten 80s Mystery Click
One day I'm gonna write a poem in a letter
One day I'm gonna get that faculty together
Remember that everybody has to wait in line
Oh, [Song Title], look out world, oh, you know I've got mine

US decimation of Iran's ICBM forces is due to Space Force's instant detection of launches -- and the launchers' hiding places -- and rapid counter-attack via missiles
AI is doing a lot of the work in analyzing images to find the exact hiding place of the launchers. Counter-strikes are now coming in four hours after a launch, whereas previously it might have taken days for humans to go over the imagery and data.