Among Saxdrop's favorite blogs is The Agitator, written by native Hoosier Radley Balko. I just wanted to mention he has recently included several guest-bloggers, including current IU-Indianapolis Law School student, former editor-in-chief of the Hoosier Review, and former Bryan House resident Joshua Claybourn. I really enjoy Claybourn's writings, and I thought I'd mention another great addition to a great blog.

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So let's keep the ball rolling on the free music. This latest installment is likely something that many of you have already heard, and even more likley to end up on a million top ten lists in coming weeks. Occasionally a band comes along that deserves the kind of critical recognition reserved for groups like Radiohead.

Case in point, The Arcade Fire. Ali and I caught them in Cincy the other weekend and it was unbelievable how hot this band was. The group is large - 8 or 9 people kind of large - and they all switch up instruments, employing mini string sections, accordian, steel drums, two bassists, keyboards, and a whole slew of extra percussion. Plus, they run around stage like a bunch of crazed lunatics. They opened up with this tune, a powerhouse opener if there ever was one:

Arcade Fire - Wake Up

Funeral is probably the best album of the year, though I'm trying my best to find something to eclipse it for my personal year-end list. I would highly recommend picking it up if you can find it (initial pressing was only 10k and those are long gone).

You can also grab another track of theirs, and my 2nd favorite cut on the album - Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) - (via Coolfer) if you want to get an idea of their Talking Heads-esque numbers.
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SO the Supreme Court has once again needed to look over the possibilities of illegalizing Marijuana for medicinal purposes. There are two ladies helping to lead the storm of lobbyists running throughout this bitch, Monson (above) and Raich who have been currently using marijuana for medical reasons. Who both were allowed to do this because they cultivated their own plants, thereby standing outside of the commerce laws that would allow the federal government to step in. But, yet the Bush administration, who is supposed to be so Republican that it is not supposed to be increasing the Federal Government's power....is pushing to have this thwarted. "It would be "very hard" for the government to enforce the nation's drug laws if an exception was made for medical marijuana," says Paul Clement. What about the many other countries around the world who have made marijuana decriminalized, yet don't seem to have any more problems with other "hardcore" drugs??

My favorite line from this article from Justice David Souter says, "that would undercut Barnett's argument that the amount of marijuana used for medical purposes would have a "trivial impact" on the market nationwide and on prices." Market Nationwide, prices?? Isn't this an illegal product at the moment?? Why are they considering the impact on the market and its prices?? Good god, you can't regulate trade on an illegal product. That's just....Check the article.

And to keep you up to date on the Ukranian thing, check this out. Powell's up in this bitch too.
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In the great tradition of the P'Zaaaaaaahn, I have decided to focus some of my blogging efforts away from music and on to freakish new food products.

The first such unconventional food mutation is the new Pepsi Holiday Spice. Is there anything more American than a holiday-themed cola drink? First things first, I want to commend Pepsi for not going overboard with this drink. Knowing full-well the shoddy product quality that Pepsi is known for (Macky prefers the liquid bliss of Coca-Cola), I fully expected small chunks of half eaten gingerbread men to float about like pulp from some ill-favored holiday fruit. For instance this picture, where this innocent cookie appears ready and willing to drown himself in sacrifice to the gods of new product rollout.

Actually, this drink tastes a lot like regular Pepsi, which is to say that it provides sub-par quench-ability and taste sensation sure to piss off the nation rather than sweep it. First of all, it has a very strange coloration and according to the ongoing experiment The Pepsi Holiday Spice Project may cause your shit to turn red, and weight gain in excess of 10 pounds a week*. If you were handed this drink at a bar you might say something along the lines of "Hey bartender! How about another Captain and Coke with some damn booze in it this time?" But don't take my word for it. Go out an get you some.

*when consumed as the sole liquid in a diet for 45 consecutive days
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At the request of the resident Marine operative, check this photo of the man with the yo-riginal STLien.

"I told you all that Nelly and Chilled, shit last night we were on the east side at the titty clubs drinkin on some Crys and shit, one day i'll be iced up like my boy Nelly. I will talk to Nelly bout gettin a party in my Aunt's basement going on. It will involve hookers, firetrucks, and of course Nelly."

--Fuller
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I thought this was an hilarious post by The Onion. We just won't stop outsourcing, hehe. Also, I wanted to hear everyone's thoughts on the new appointments. Obviously we hate Condi(or I do, sorry), but we all knew it was going to happen. Powell is far too reasonable for this administration. They just want someone exactly like Leeza, who's going to be a straight up biotch do everything in the way that the administration wants it and do it NOW. She has absolutely zero patience in getting things done, like the whole admin. and when dealing in International Relations, believe me it is the #1 attribute you must have and constantly use...especially when dealing with such issues as nuclear weapons, war and (I chuckle when I say this) PEACE. By the way, did you guys here about Powell's comments on Iran?? Getting his final two cents in....

And here is a great opinion article on Powell. "My grounding is in the idea that the best loyalty you could give to anyone you serve is your best opinion."

Bush's answer was "You're Fired." "The best loyalty you can give me is -Yes-."
He also said he liked, "Yee Haw", "Let's get dem bastards", and "Hey, didn't he try to kill your daddy too??"
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While Byron over at In THA Congo is chiggity-checking himself at the Ted Leo show tonight in Chicago, Ali and I will be in Cincy to scope blog darlings and multi-instumentalist extraordianaires The Arcade Fire. I'm pretty psyched to see this band, since their record is easy one of the best this year. The Morning News calls them a mix of Springsteen, The Pixies, Black Heart Processian, Nick Cave, and Bjork, which is almost self-evident when you hear the number of singers and instruments on the album. The NYC dates sold out a month in advance, but there are a ton of tix still available for their show tonight at the Southgate House. I feel one of those "I saw them way back when..."-type nights coming on. I hope to have some photos to post next week.

To those of you who have spent some time in Cincy, any thoughts on some good places to eat tommorwo and maybe something to do on the town before we head back home?
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Those who have been watching football this season undoubtedly have seen the awesome new commercials from Ford trucks starring noted badass Toby Keith. This man continues to be "Shock'n Y'all" 2-the-Xtreme. Whether you like him or not, you cannot discount the pure brilliance of that title. Plus the new enhanced CD version comes with a bonus video of Keith's ford truck commericals. I know what you're saying... You mean I have to buy it again?

As I just said, these commericals are AWESOME. They are chock-full-o classic truck commercial one liners that are sure to remain in my vocabulary for many many years. Lines such as: "Yeah, I dri'a fore, I wood'nt dri' nuthin' else BRUTHER" and "Ima Fore truck man, 'ell that's all I drive... BRUTHER!

Keep you eye out for this commercial when you're watching football this weekend. The important thing here is that we're listening for the way he pronounces "Brother." Also, listen to the song at the end, and the way he turns one sentence into a big long word:

Ain'tNoDoubtMyKingOftheMountainBuiltFordTouuuuuuuuuuugh!

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For the sake of something new on here, I'd like to take a moment to talk about two flicks that Ali and I rented this past week. I've been long overdue on these two and finally decided to venture into the back catalog section of the video store. So here we go, I'm about to diss on two movies that A LOT of people like.

Less Than Zero - 1987

I already own the other Bret Easton Ellis film adaptations (American Psycho, Rules of Attraction), so I figured I should at least give this one a go. I haven't actually finished this book (yet, of course), but I did notice that this film really misses the boat in comparison to the other two adaptations. The Easton Ellis style - the way that he converys a lead character's inner thought patterns - is almost non-existent here. On top of that, the emphasis on 80s materialism and excess is significantly played down in comparison to the book. I do think that the story, cinematography, and soundtrack did a good job of encapsulating the 80s, but this adaptation is horrible. Imagine that, someone bitching about an adaptation!

Lastly, the acting is shit. Would someone please tell me how Jami Gertz got the role as Blair? She is atrocious in this flick. Where was Phoebe Cates? Andrew McCarthy is just being Andrew McCarthy, and I'm not talking about the Andrew McCarthy we all know and love (Weekend at Bernie's), but the McCarthy that never should have had a job in the business in the first place (Weekend at Bernie's 2). I will give props to Robert Downey Jr, whom I love as an actor (check out Black & White sometime), and in this movie he displays his skills as the total crackhead that he would actually one day become.

Magnolia - 1999

I now know why Kevin Smith felt the need to bash Paul Thomas Anderson. When this "Art" (I'll give it that, because it sure as hell wasn't "Entertainment") finally came to rest just past the three hour mark I found myself saying "Hmmmmm.... well then... I think that might have sucked serious balls." I love PTA (Boogie Nights is in my all-time 10), and I typically like more artsy, genre-bending type movies, but this to me was a sham. I want my three hours back. John C. Reilly was great, I will say that much. Aside from that I found most of the performances, from actors like William H. Macy and Phillip Seymour Hoffman whom I normally love, dull and relatively uninspired. I could get into the story (or lack thereof), but I'll save it before the post gets really long.

So I'd imagine a lot of you have seen these. Thoughts?

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[you wanted commentary]

I've found myself on some sort of masochistic trip lately. I keep subjecting myself to public spectacles of political embarassment, like some kind of intellectual self-flagellation. It started with listening to a local afternoon talk radio show, the host of which I agree with a healthy 0.2 percent of the time. Why would I do such a thing?

Last week it continued, in the form of an "investigative report" called Is Wal-Mart Good for America on PBS' Frontline. I caught a preview of the special on NPR that I was sure was unfairly spliced to bash Wal-Mart--the full special had to include atleast one person who represented the concensus among economists. To no avail, I sat through the agony of the TV special, wherein only one free-market proponent (and incidentally and somewhat conspicuously the only economist, the one discipline I would expect would have anything insightful to say on the subject) was interviewed. Moreover, that one person, whom I personally know to be extremely erudite and compelling in his arguments, was made to look like he had nothing to say at all.

Now for my diatribe: I like Wal-Mart and everyone should be counting their lucky stars that we have it. It's not evil, it's a master of cooperation with the consumer (see here). One-eighth of the productivity gains of the late 90s came from Wal-Mart and as a result U.S. customers saved $20 billion last year (see here). Mexico owes 100,000 jobs and lower inflation to Wal-Mart (see here).

The "argument" that Wal-Mart stores are lowest-common denominator constructions is so elitist, I don't even know where to begin with. Boo all you want about those people who don't shop at locally owned stores. For those fortunate to have incomes that allow buying thumbtacks and cereal at uptown boutiques, don't play aesthetic dictator to others! Some people can't afford that option, and your paternalistic notion that they should know better ignores the God sent aspect of providing vital goods at prices that more people can afford.

I just feel like I've had this conversation a thousand times, with every brand of smart-growth advocate and main street nostalgic alike, and it gets tiring defending a company whose virtue should be self-evident. Think beyond stage one people -- I'm not one to ever support government subsidies but a massive, publicly funded economic re-education would not meet much resistance from me.

UPDATE: Now I see Bruce Bartlett, whose 3-second interview in the special I happened to have missed, has an op-ed deconstructing the "documentary," rehashing some of my points but also bringing in others. It's worth a read, not just to reinforce my stance on Wal-Mart, but to see how PBS deliberately made its case to support a forgone conclusion.

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Apologies for not posting a new track last week. Here's the latest installment:

Interpol - Not Even Jail

As always, right click -> save to download. This is my favorite track from the new Interpol disc, and has a strong connection to the tragedy last tuesday. The lyrics are dark, but speak of anger that is only pacified by the faith that there will be "Some meaning to the means to your end." In many ways this song reminds me of this past weekend, and that we all will take meaning and closure from the means to Bryan Gooldy's end, be it life in prison or otherwise.

As for the music, the track builds to one of those cresendos that any fan of music can appreciate. Listen for when the drummer switches from hi-hat to ride cymbal in the chorus - tasty. Great band, brilliant song.
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I just got word that Kate's funeral service will be held this Friday at noon.

First Friends Church
3030 Kessler Blvd. East Drive.
Indianapolis, IN

Calling will be 10 a.m. to noon at the church.
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I figured we could all use a little something to lift the spirits today, so via the information smorgasbord known as Meg Dwyer's away message check out some of the grades handed out for children's art, courtesy of an art critic who claims that his skills are superior to that of children.


"This was a Christmas gift from Kelly to her parents. Good job Kelly, now pack up your shit and find a foster home. If my kids tried to pass this off as a gift, they'd come home from school and find all their shit outside in a box. What a lousy gift, seriously. You give them video games and toys, and they give you some half-assed drawing with a crooked tree. I wonder how much a gift like this would set someone back. Five, maybe ten minutes to find a napkin and some markers? F"

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As many of you already know, our good friend Kate Comiskey died yesterday morning on North Walnut in a head-on collision with another vehicle. Kate was a free spirit and the most sincere and true friend a person could ever know. I can only begin to describe how much her friendship meant to me and how deeply she will be missed.

Here are a few news pieces that ran today and yesterday:

IDSnews, with quotes from Kate's mother Nancy.
WRTV 6 News - with a photo of her car, and video.

My condolences go out to her family, Ronen, Teddy and each and every one of her many friends. I'll post more details on funeral arrangements as they become available.
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and watching NASCAR. You read me right, I went to the NASCAR event in Phoenix this weekend. I had never been, and one of Sara's friends works for a sponsor, so with free tickets in hand and corporate passes around my neck, we decided to make it our Sunday outing.

I'm sure you've all heard about the mini-cities that set up around these things. And of course to anybody in Indy at the time of the Indy 500, this will be small potatoes. Reportedly 100,000 people were in attendance for this one however.

So this isn't a post about race car culture, per se. What occurred to me as I watched Earnhardt, Jr. narrowly hold off Jeff Gordon for the win, is how beneficial the over-commercialization of NASCAR is. We all know how crazy the drivers and their cars look, what with all the corporate sponsors vying for consumer attention. But I'm not sure that's a bad thing. On the contrary, it's probably a good thing.

To start, NASCAR is profitable. Nextel's 10-year sponsorship of the championship series (the Nextel Cup) alone is over $700 million. While we all like to hoot and holla about the corporate naming rights of hallowed baseball fields and ads on the bases, what this means for NASCAR is that the sport will never need to go groveling to city taxpayers for construction costs, or any kind of direct subsidy to the team. It also means teams are self-sustaining (usually by way of a single, vain, narcissistic benefactor)--racing teams don't need to subsidize each other. Even poorly performing teams are able to attract enough sponsor revenue to maintain themselves. The Yankees and Red Sox of the sport (say Gordon and Earnhardt, Jr.) don't need to hand off winnings to the Expos and Padres of the sport.

It also means that teams are subject to sponsor demands, who are in turn subject to consumer demands. While this sounds insidious, it all works out. Sponsors want drivers to win, because that's what their customers want. As a result, drivers are very cozy with their sponsors, making them part of the larger team; the relationship is very significant and sponsors will allow drivers as much freedom and provide as much support as possible to allow them to compete.

Beyond that, it means NASCAR is a very fan-oriented sport. Sponsors don't want inaccessible superstars, they want fan-friendly superstars. Since I was privy to the "Corporate Village" portion of the event, I could see the relationship between sponsor and driver first hand. Sponsors are the reason that fans feel connected to the drivers, because drivers wouldn't be so fan-oriented without some prodding from the check-signers.

Fans respond in kind by sporting team logo-wear, which is invariably saturated in one or another corporate logos--Busweiser being the most popular at this event. In fact, seeing gear that had only the corporate logo (Home Depot, UPS, Bud, Miller Lite) was commonplace. This may seem aesthetically cheap, as if fans have given in to something other than the sport, instead conceding to evil corporations. But it's really as arbitrary as wearing a Colts hat. Both teams and corporations are sales organizations, with some strong branding cache. They may be selling different products, but 'tis no nobler to schill for an athletic organization than an overtly one. Atleast the sponsors don't try to sucker you in behind some false sense of legacy and a veiled attempt at team/fan unity.

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So I stumbled onto this site because of Jon Stewart's interview on Crossfire, which by the way is one of the most hilarious interviews I think anyone will ever see or do. I mean beats out the Bill O'Reilly one, demolishes it. Although it was almost a month ago, if you haven't seen it...ya gots too.

Favorite quote:

Tucker Carlson: Hey Jon, you know I think you are more fun on your show.

Stewart: That’s funny, because I think you are as big a dick on your show as any show.

I mean can you beat that shit? Anyway, he makes a mockery of what they do. Check it. But this site also has great movie trailers like from Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou which will be hilarious, other comedy things like
Triumph in the spin room (fucking awesome). You will not be disappointed by the funny at this site. Oh, not to forget the video of that Crazy guy who jumped into the Lion's Den in Korea or wherever. Only downer is there are a lot of ads, but scroll past them if you want.
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At the request of the Rodillbeanus - check out this slidshow. Don't feel down, Dushawn still loves you. Won't you please love him?

Are You feeling down in the dumps?
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I figured that some of us could use a little pick-me-up today, so here is the latest installment from my ongoing 2004 Best-of series.

From Bubblegum to Sky - Operation Big Beat
("Right click -> Save as" to download)

This tune was my personal summer anthem and possibly my favorite song all year. It represents some kind of lost middle-section to Electric Light Orchestra's "Mr. Blue Sky." In other words, this jingle has a very giddy effect - a three minute nitrous-oxide-induced happy spell. Fabulous melodies and great horn parts (they were sampled and used often as background music for NBC's recent Olympic coverage) make this a great three minute pop tune - a hard thing to perfect if you ask me. Don't buy the record though. It's a classic "One or two good songs" case.

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Sure, the election hasn't been decided yet, but it's not looking good for us liberals. Does somebody care to explain how all of the socially conservative backwoods rednecks come out to the polls, but we can't get a few intelligent, well-informed college kids out to vote? THE KIDS DID NOT VOTE... AGAIN! We drew nearly the same numbers as the last election. This is so dissapointing. We, as a generation, are no-good, worthless, spoiled fucking losers who could care less about our own futures. It's truth, and we have proved it once again.

So, what becomes of P. Diddy's "Vote or Die" campaign??? That dude has a lot of asses age 18-29 to pop a cap in.

Somebody say something...

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That's right folks http://www.inthecongo.com is back! Check it yo...

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Those of you who voted today so far, how long did you wait in line? I got to the polls at 8:30 and left about 10. I was a little peeved that they only had two voting machines for about 150 people waiting. In 2000, they had 5 machines and I waited no more than 10 minutes, given turnout was phoenomenally low that year. The line was a lot worse when I left too. What about you?

The champagne in the fridge and the alarm is set for 4am. Just incase I fall asleep, I'll be getting up to catch the final result of this mother-bitch. May the worst man lose.

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind.... And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded with patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader, and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar." -- attributed to Gaius Julius Caesar -- The last dictator of the Roman Empire

# posted by Mike H. @ 10:54 AM

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This pix are in from this past weekend's drunken rampage tailgate and Halloween celebrations. Check out all the photos and desriptions at this location.

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You all may be aware of the proven (it's 16/16 so far) coincedence involving the Redskins final home game that precedes each presidential election. Alison had a post about it several weeks ago on Paper-Thin Wallz, and Seattle Pst-Intelligencer covered it today. Skins win - incumbant stays. Skins lose... you get the picture.

Green Bay 28, Redskins 14

Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out Georgie.
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This time of the year is particularly slow for traveling musical performances, but here are a few notable shows coming to the Indiana area over the coming months. Many of these bands have dates in lots of cities, so if you don't see your city here check out pollstar for other addtional show info.

TUE 11.02 The Unicorns - Btown
WED 11.03 Helio Sequence - Btown
THU 11.04 De La Soul - Btown
MON 11.08 Sondre Lerche - Indy
THU 11.11 Del Funky Homosapien - Btown
FRI 11.12 Luna / Apostle of Hustle - Chi
SAT 11.13 Animal Clctv / Black Dice - Louvl
SAT 11.13 Pixies - Chi
SUN 11.14 Walkmen - Chi
MON 11.15 MF Doom - Chi
FRI 11.19 Arcade Fire - Cincy
TUE 11.23 Impossible Shapes - Btown
FRI 12.03 Tiny Universe - Btown

I'm up in the air about whether to forego the drawn out, and likely inconsistent network election coverage tommorow in favor of seeing The Unicorns, who are rumoured to SMOKE live. I've already got tix set up for the Arcade Fire in Cincy and all are welcome to join in that excursion. Also, I'll be in Chicago the weekend of Nov 12-14 and would love to see the Luna / Apostle of Hustle show and / or the Pixies, which is likely sold out anyway. Apostle of Hustle is a side-project of Broken Social Scene and should be worth seeing. Some mp3s to check...

The Unicorns - 2014 (Suicide Squeeze)
Arcade Fire - Wake Up (Merge Records)
Helio Sequnce - Everyone Knows Everyone (Subpop)

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