Rockin Tune of the Weekend: Gov't Mule

Gov't Mule - Slackjaw Jezebel (Live)

For most of my music lovin' life I haven't exactly been a fan of so called jam bands. In my view these bands took the concept of the obligatory '70's "live in concert!" drum solo and needlessly extended it into a collaborative effort. Instead of crafting well honed, tight musical compositions (which doesn't necessarily mean 2 minutes and 50 seconds of formulaic pop) these bands lazily extended jams and ended up distorting what limited musical idea originally drove the song into a bloated, meaningless sonic blob. I know I'll get criticism but some of the greatest offenders of the genre are the Grateful Dead and their odious coat tail riders, Phish.

There are bands that manage to write solid songs that extend past 5 minutes and still avoide this trap and they do so with outstanding results. The most prominent and routinely under rated example, when they were still together, is the mighty Allmans. Yes, they felt the need to play with two drummers - go figure - but anyone who suggests that those good old boys aren't American classics is both wrong, and itchin' for a fight.

As this Wikipedia entry details, one band with similar chops was born out of the reformation of the Allmans. That band is today's Rockin' Tune of the Weekend artist, Gov't Mule.

In addition to a fantastic name for a band, Gov't Mule, for my money represents the modern day torch bearers for the southern twinged, blues based rock that the Allman's excelled at. Slackjaw Jezabel is probably their most radio ready tune to date, so I've included it this week as your first step into Mule lovin' nirvana.

Gosh, I wonder if that last phrase is going to get me some bizarre search hits.

Enjoy

What Song Is This?

I'm linking to a blog with some not work safe, very cool nudes photography. You could say it's kind of an advance reward for answering this question for me:

Who is the artist and what is the song that is playing there. It sounds a bit Portisheadish, but I don't know. I must have this on my Ipod today.

Putting Lipstick on the Pig

I, as much as anyone else, was disappointed that the recent mini-war (mini, that is, unless you happened to be in the middle of it) ended without the total destruction of Hezbollah. As is often the case with these things, passions become inflamed, hopes rise and expectations begin to take on a life of their own, and this latest conflict was no exception. It seemed that maybe, just maybe, Israel might have a chance to take out the noxious "state within a state".

So now that the cease fire has been declared and a multi-national force is moving into place to "keep the peace" (which is UN speak for maintain the odious status quo) my conservative brethren are suffering morning after regrets. True, Hezbollah was allowed to live another day, and yes, Israel was disappointingly less successful than we might have otherwise hoped, but I wonder if the result is really as bad as it seems.

First of all, if prior to Hostilities we had said Israel was going to push Hezbollah back away from the border, see 4,000 rockets land with only 40 civilian deaths and gain a renewed commitment from the UN to enforce a buffer zone, I wonder if we would have thought this to be an all that bad conclusion? I think it is clear, that as long as the cowards who make Hezbollah continue to hide amongst civilians and absent a global consensus that Hezbollah must go, the odds of completely eliminating the terrorist organization were extremely unlikely.

Furthermore Israel did gain quite a few intangible benefits from the month long campaign. First and foremost, there is no longer any doubt anywhere in the world that Iran and Syria are on the side of the terrorists. More importantly, Hezbollah's moral standing in the eyes of all but the most lunatic lefty groups has been severely down graded. Only one side in this fight targeted the civilians of it's enemy and only one side used it's own civilians as human shields against it's otherwise assured total destruction. Shia nut jobs around the world can say whatever they want to try to put some lipstick on this pig, and apparently enough of their pathetic followers will believe them to keep things going for a few more years. But international support from cultures that have actually achieved a thing or two in the last 700 years has clearly attained a new low.

what's more is that that very international support will at some point begin to include more moderate Arab states - moderate being a relative term here. As these states begin to realize the destabalizing force of the Shia - Irani/Syrian threat an Israel that just wants to produce high tech goods, and private equity funds doesn't appear all that bad anymore.

Finally, as we move into the cease fire period, Israel has gained international agreement for both a continued presence in Lebanon until peace keepers arrive, and for the legal authority to attack further Hezbollah provocations. Given that the peace keeping forces seem to be having trouble getting organized, and given that Hezbollah has committed to re-arming, Israel may have the opportunity to advance their defensive cause further in the very near future with greater international support than in the past.

So, I'm not completely sold on this latest peace movement in the middle east, but I can't really see where an improved outcome could practically be expected. Net net I 'd say that our side has moved the ball forward, positioned itself for further gains, and now has the opportunity to build increased international support. Lets see what happens.

A Pursuit Fiction

The loathsome Sully reached a new low today in his secular jihad. In a foul post that equates "Christianism" with Hezbollah, Sully demonstrates the depths he's willing to plumb in his quest against those who he believes are out to turn our country into a Christian nation. Never quite realizing that his fevered anti-Christianism posts are far more hysterical than those he rails against, Sullivan continues to destroy whatever is left of a formerly admirable reputation.

I could go on, but Goldstein beats me to it today in "Andrew Sullivan: Man of nuance", and does it better than I ever could.

Instead, I got to thinking about what kind of person this Sully character must be. I mean my goodness he seems to fly off the handle so easily. One second a guy can do no wrong, and the next he is public enemy number one. Or so it seems to me. Can you imagine what it must be like to be Andy's boyfriend?

As Mr. Mike used to say, I think it would go something like this:

Andy And The Boyfriend's Socks

"Socks on the floor?! Again, with the socks on the floor? What is it with you and leaving bits of clothing all around our tidy little cottage? I've got real issues to deal with dear! Christianism! Bush! Rumsfeld! There is also that evil genius Rove! Is it too much for you to pick up your socks? My God, and I don't say that in a Christianist sort of way but rather in a Gobsmackingly pissed off boyfriend sort of way, why should I have to look at the PTown sunrise with your bloody socks on the floor!"

"I should add that you, my dear fiance, still refuse to acknowledge or account for your own role in the whole boxer shorts on the daybed incident! Again, your inability to cop to even basic moral and intellectual responsibility is a feature of the very slovenliness that I have tried to sketch. Oh sure you still insist that you make a "mistake" once in a while, but you do not make an actual argument against why your boxers were there in the first place! All I can say is that I see deep tropes of medieval Andrew hatred, perhaps invisible to virtually any casual observer! Oh but I know it's there and it is deeply disturbing. Why, how do I know this foul act wasn't committed for political reasons?! In fact, I have a mind to include a whole chapter on the creeping filth with which I'm forced to live in my new book!"

"Now be gone and get me a latte from that hunky barrista down at The Cup! I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I've got modern conservatism to save!"

Rockin' Tune of the Weekend

This weekend's tune is Joan Osborne's St. Theresa. Joan first became known to me when her hit, One of Us was popular. While that was a terrific song, the CD was chock full of tunes that were even better. Since then I've been a Joan head.

One interesting point is that if you listen closely to the songs on the One of Us CD you hear a resemblance to a band from the late 80's early 90's.....The Hooters. As it turns out, two of the guys in that band, Eric Basilian and Rob Hyman wrote or co-wrote many of the tunes on Joan's CD including, I think, today's rockin tune.

21st Anniversary

Yup, yesterday was the big day...21 years. Yikes!

Went out to dinner at a place in town that we haven't tried before. Five spices powder, pork tenderloin and vanilla froth?

More later.

A Link?

As we celebrate the victory in the GWOT today, and I truly hope we accomplished this without looking at any international financial transactions because then the terrorists will really have won, it's worth asking the following question:

Is this related to this?

With a wife flying to Europe on Sunday, I really hope not.