the evil mastermind of the 20th century

i wanna be adored

there's a lot going on today. it's the 8th anniversary of 9/11. we're a year on from our financial meltdown that basically starting this blog. and apparently kurt cobain looks like a dancing monkeybear on the new guitar hero video game. nice.

it's the 8th anniversary of 9/11. feels so long ago. anybody else want to play the "where was i when...." game with me? so i was in huntsville and i had woken up and turned the tv on before going to class, like i always did. but by september baseball is wearing down and it seemed like there were highlights from track and field or bowling or something stupid that i didn't like, so i changed the channel and found a building in new york had a hole in it and it was believed to have been caused by a plane. so i sat there and continued to watch. at this point, it was believed to have been a mistake. so my girlfriend at the time and i walked to class, not believing it was anything other than pilot error, and by the time we walked to class and sat down, there had been another building hit by a plane. by this time, it was apparent, this was not an accident. so we sat there through our first class and our second class and watched. watched the buildings fall. watched the ash and debris. we walked back home and stayed there pretty much all day. i called my mom and some other people just to settle my mind. later that night, my girlfriend, myself and another friend went bowling. we felt like we had to something to take our minds off of it. i got home late, probably about midnight and watched dan rather sign off. he had been on the air all day. i called my dad and sat there talking until about one in the morning. i guess it was actually 9/12 when i got off the phone. the next seven years sure were shit as far as our decisions and methods taken to correct such an injustice. but i won't forget the collective feeling i felt with my country that day.

it's also been about a year since our entire financial system fell apart. let me ask you a question: what have we done to ensure this doesn't happen again? the answer: nothing.

did accountants help to cause the financial meltdown?

has the federal reserve bought the entire economics profession?

here's krugman's explanation for why the economists got it so wrong for so long.

so often people forget that simply trust is a big reason why our economic system works.

grizzly bear has a new video out for "while you wait for the others."

also, it's the 20th anniversary of the stone roses debut album. if you don't have this album, buy it, you will love it. it's incredible.

across the universe

the beatles are everywhere, still. i guess it's only been a day since i wrote it, but it's still true. i love listening to their music when i walk into best buy or a starbucks. their music instantly puts a smile on my face and makes me start singing out loud, and i find myself just walking and listening and seeing the world a little different. how many bands can you say do that for you?

but one song in particular i find completely mesmerizing and utterly unguarded, naked in its lyrical approach and almost conscience shattering. i feel like i've left my plain of existence when i sing these words and hear the melody. "nothing's gonna change my world."

across the universe is a lennon triumph. it hits me right where i have nothing, a void is filled when i hear this song. "jai guru deva om." it's gentle. it's comforting. it's sad, yet promising.

it's incredible still.

here are some different versions:

fiona apple

rufus wainwright

there's also a cover by david bowie that i can't find.

i'm looking through you

the beatles are everywhere right now. the rock band game is out and all their albums have been re-released in stereo and mono and dolby. i don't think they do dolby anymore, do they? dolby went the way of the dumont network. actually by being on that dolby website for less than a minute, it looks as if dolby is still around and doing quite well.

what a discussion. anyway, the beatles are everywhere and pitchfork is reviewing each album. their reviews have been spot on for me. even some being more generous than i would have been, see magical mystery tour.

but it got me thinking about music and about artistic leaps. the leap these liverpool lads took from help to rubber soul was amazing. and as good as rubber soul was, the leap to revolver is even more amazing to me. i think revolver and the white album are their best albums. so i started to think about the greatest leaps in rock history. and a few quickly came to mind:

radiohead: pablo honey to the bends
wilco: a.m. to being there
pink floyd: meddle to dark side of the moon
the beach boys: all summer long to today

that's really all i got right now. i'm actually ashamed of only being able to think of these four. this office is hot. i can't think when i'm hot.

does anyone has anymore?

and by the way, go read those reviews at pitchfork. if you can't find them, just search "the beatles" and you'll find them. they're a great read.

lovers at the airport

matthew simmons is at it again. talking about peak oil and such. go here.

ben bernanke has made our financial mess worse. he didn't mean to though. he had to. and he'll do it again.

"massive global wealth destruction."

daisies of the galaxy

daisy wasn't the most socially adjusted dog. she was notorious for bringing you a tennis ball or a stick and setting it down next to you and barking until you finally picked it up again and threw it. this process would go on forever. she would never, ever tire playing fetch. never. it was amazing. what she was though was a good dog. she was good for her owners. she was proud to stay and guard the house, proud to lay by the fence and wait until someone would come home and maybe they would play fetch with her again.

i wasn't close with daisy. but the reason i'm writing about her is because i watched her die yesterday. she had a brain tumor and we'd known about it for several months. by the way, daisy was my wife's mother's dog. anyway, she would wobble and fall over when she tried to get up and walk. but she had good days and apparenty these last few days were good for daisy. she had a friend, a younger dog that the neighbor's brought with them while vacationing from houston. they were playing together and chasing each other and daisy chased the young dog into a pond and got her foot stuck. she didn't have enough strength to get her foot out of the mud. the stress of the water and almost drowning, sent daisy into a seizure.

a young girl, probably 17 or 18 jumped into this nasty pond and rescued daisy. we got there when she'd been out of the water for about 20 minutes. her breathing was labored and she was unable to stand up, but other than that, she seemed alright.

but about an hour later, she wasn't alright. something had collapsed inside her head. her tumor had ruptured and she was suffocating with blood in her lungs. she was drooling blood and she was unable to control her bowels. we found a 24-hour vet who would see her. so we loaded her up on a flat bed truck and my wife's mom rode with her all the way to the vet like that. when we lifted her up and put her on the truck, she started bleeding everywhere and let out this howl of pain and it became very clear to me that it was daisy's last day on earth. i had never seen anything die in front of my own eyes. people, animals, they were either close to dying or already dead. i had never witnessed the event of dying. and although i wasn't there when they put daisy to sleep, i petted her for the last time and her eyes were rolled back into her head. she was gone.

it's tough when animals die. like i said, daisy could be extremely annoying when you were hanging out in the back having beer and just wanted to relax. she would bark and bark and bark until you played fetch with her. but she wasn't full of malice. she was sweet and she wanted your attention. and who can fault her for that. she rests easier today and i'm happy for her.