Here's the Billboard list of the current tops in modern rock along with my letter grade and analysis:
1. Jimmy Eat World - Pain A
It took me awhile to come around to these guys. I didn't dig their radio hit, "The Middle" from their album Bleed American, and never paid much attention to them afterwards. However "Pain" has me listening a second time and reconsidering my judgment. The haunting voice of the lead singer is the main emphasis of this mesmerizing song and it's at the top of my rotation.
2. Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dreams A
One of the best songs off their awesome album American Idiot, this is grunge rock at its finest. Yes, the boys of Green Day have grown up. (Literally, they're all in their mid-30s.) No one can call themselves a Green Day fan if they don't have this CD in their players and this song stuck in their head.
3. U2 - Vertigo B
I don't care who you think you are, even if you came way before Nirvana along with Blondie when music was still on MTV -- you can't go from tres to catorce. Regardless, "Vertigo" is a catchy song with good beats proving that U2 still has the gas to make the charts after all these years.
4. Chevelle - Vitamin R B
The Red was a great album and title song for this rock band who at the time was still searching for an audience. While "Vitamin R" isn't as impressive as their 2002 hit, Chevelle continues to show they have a passion for music and instills it in every song, especially this one.
5. Crossfade - Cold A
Awesome song by a relatively unknown band. The lyrics are simple and straight forward, and I just love the harmonizing by this band. Any girl still mad at her boyfriend after being directed to this apologetic ballad is just a bitch. Plain and simple.
6. Breaking Benjamin - So Cold A-
With a hypnotizing and haunting melody, "So Cold" became a summer favorite of mine and I'm surprised this single is still hanging high on the charts. If there's a tune stuck in your head, you won't be miserable if it's to this song.
7. Modest Mouse - Ocean Breathes Salty B-
These guys give the term 'experimental' a whole new meaning. The lyrics, like those found in most of their songs, are quick and upbeat and you may find yourself clapping along whether you like the song or not. I'd be lying if I told you I was taking this song off my rotation.
8. Papa Roach - Getting Away With Murder B
Simple lyrics. Simple rhythm. Simple fun. I've never been a big P. Roach fan but I appreciate how much these guys get into their music. The whispering effect makes quite an impact. You believe it when they say they're addicted to your punishment and craving disaster.
9. The Killers - Mr. Brightside C+
The Killers emulate the 1980s panache of British rockers and they have a good sound, but Mr. Brightside is too fluffy -- so yeah, the title is rather fitting. The Killers will surely find a following in America, but "Mr. Brightside" isn't as fun as their earlier, trippy radio hit, "Somebody Told Me."
10. Velvet Revolver - Fall to Pieces B
These guys sound a lot like Saliva but are not nearly as hard. Velvet Revolver slows it down a bit with "Fall to Pieces," a track that's heavily dependant on repetitive guitar riffs. But when it sounds sweet that fact is not necessarily a negative.
Top 10 in Modern Rock
Hitmen Playing Hitman
From the Associated Press:
Missouri's most violent criminals can no longer play video games that simulate murders, carjackings and the killing of police officers, a decision reached after prison officials were told about the content.How lovely. Makes you wonder what other activities are going on in prison that the administrators are obvious to.
"We didn't closely review these," Dave Dormire, superintendent of the Jefferson City Correctional Center, told The Kansas City Star. "We were told these games had more like cartoon violence."
The Star reported Thursday the state's new maximum-security prison pulled dozens of violent Sony PlayStation 2 games from its recreation center on Wednesday, after officials were alerted to their content by a reporter. Inmates had been using them for months.Why do I have a feeling that at least one inmate was clever enough to conceal a copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas before the confiscation took place?
In fact, the prison's PlayStation offerings included one of the most violent games on the market, "Hitman: Contracts," in which players use everything from meat hooks to silencer-equipped pistols to carry out brutal contract killings.
In all, 35 of the facility's more than 80 games were removed. Others remain, including science fiction and sports games.
Realizing the Dangers of Alcohol
From the Associated Press:
Drinking will be banned at University of Oklahoma fraternities and residence halls under new policies announced Wednesday, two months after a 19-year-old student died of alcohol poisoning.Alcohol consumption, which is a major problem on college campuses across America despite the lack of mainstream media coverage, is finally being taken seriously by the University of Oklahoma and other big universities.
But is the right solution being implemented? How will banning alcohol consumption in the dorms and frat houses reduce the likelihood of underage alcohol poisoning as minors aren't supposed to drink anyway? It appears the administration is out of touch and longing for practical solutions.
Not to be Ignored
More than a few e-mails have come in wondering why I haven't remarked on the horrible hunting tragedy on Nov. 21 that left six people dead, and why I haven't updated the ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN COUNTER.
I didn't mean to wait this long and never intended to ignore the issue, but I have been extremely busy last week with Thanksgiving and everything that goes along with it. This is problem that needs to be addressed.
But as for the assault weapons ban issue, the man accused of the brutal killings, Chai Vang of St. Paul, Minn, used a Russian-built Saiga 7.62 mm, SKS semiautomatic rifle.
As this article points out, the SKS wasn't included on the list of banned weapons as part of the 10-year ban on certain "assault weapons" signed by President Clinton. The ban expired in September and at the time of this posting, no one has been killed by any one of those weapons since the ban expired.
But let's talk about this case, as I'm sure discussions have started and many want stronger gun control because of this freak incident. While the media use words like "military style," "assault" and "semiautomatic," the gun used in the slayings was not unlike a typical hunting rifle.
The SKS is a medium-powered carbine equipped with a 10-round magazine, just like the pistol I'm displaying in the photo on the left hand side of this blog. Banned weapons had capacities of more than 10 rounds; so like my small 9mm, the SKS was not classified as an "assault" weapon. So let's not center our discussion around the gun, let's talk about the person behind the trigger.
If convicted of the killings, Vang faces life in prison as Minnesota does not honor the death penalty. I look forward to Vang's conviction and I pray for the families of the victims. What happened was indefensible and justice must be served.
It's God we Exclude
It appears the link I posted to my column titled "It's God we Exclude" has mysteriously vanished. In the article I go over the hypocrisy of the secularists who bash religion because it supposedly excludes non-believers however they always ignore other aspects of daily public school life that excludes people in a much bigger way.
Opinions Not Welcome
Tommy Craft, a high school principal in Athens, Georgia, said he meant to provoke thought when he read a poem called "The New School Prayer" over the school's intercom last Tuesday before Thanksgiving break. As a result, some parents have complained saying he violated the principle of separation of church and state.
"The New School Prayer," which is not a prayer, points out the irony that exists in the public school system which calls for the distribution of condoms but shuns religion. Mr. Craft will most likely be chastised by the local school board for having the audacity to ask his students to think about something. I mean, it is a school...you know, a place for learning and thinking.
So not only is voluntary, non-religious specific prayer forbidden in school, but so is the pro-position of it. Here is the partial text from the prayer you can easily find online:
Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.
If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.
We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.
They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.
We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.
It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!
Amen
Don't You Know Drugs are Bad?
From the Associated Press:
Angel Raich tried dozens of prescription medicines to ease the pain of a brain tumor and other illnesses before she took up another drug: pot. The 39-year-old mother of two has the support of her doctor and a California medical marijuana law when she uses a blend of a marijuana variety known as "Haze X" every few hours.It's funny how the victims of the "war on drugs" turn out to be terminally ill patients like Angel Raich. I doubt the severity of her pain has ever been shared by the proponents of federal laws that ban the use of medicinal marijuana even when prescribed by doctors.
Dozens of people camped out outside the Supreme Court, some with blankets, to hear justices debate Monday whether that's enough to protect Raich from the federal government, which makes no exceptions for the seriously ill in its war on drugs.
There is no better way to violate someone's "pursuit of happiness" than to keep them in a permanent state of unbearable pain; untreatable by even the most powerful prescription drugs.
Color Wars
Defeated liberals have responded to this year's election with a slew of faux graphs and statistics in a useless effort to prove that blue is better than red. To begin with, it's absolutely ridiculous that we’ve reduced ourselves to being a "red" or "blue" state in a unified nation, but the two sides are so vitriolic towards each other that blue and red now represent ideologues in the same way the also represent gangs.
The idiots on the Left are still trying to redeem themselves after America said "NO" to their unwanted ideology last election by pushing this graph showing that blue states are in fact smarter than red states. You may want to take note that the proprietor of this material is none other than the famed smut-peddler, Howard Stern, and that the disclaimer on the bottom of the page warns that it "should not be taken as fact."
In response to the 11-state shutout vote to end gay marriage, liberals found a way to assault the institution of marriage with this chart, claiming that blue states have a lower divorce rate than the red ones. Take that religious nutjobs.
Power Line isn't convinced and has no reason to wonder why that bit of evidence doesn't explain the low levels of marriage in those states which obviously affect divorce rates. If fewer people are getting married in Massachusetts than obviously fewer people will be getting divorced there as well.
Conservatives have responded with the Generosity Index, showing that red states are more charitable than blue states - though I doubt anyone is surprised that southerners are generally nicer people than their northern neighbors.
In response to the notion that blue states are smarter, Power Line points to this ACT table recognizing that Washington DC reports the lowest test scores in the country and is and always has been run by liberals.
Whether you're a reddie or a blue boy, these graphs and tables can been twisted in a number of ways to make you look "dumb" or "more likely to get divorced," and it's those who use them to make arguments that are applicable to such.
Porn Poison
From SFGate:
Now this is what I call tax dollars at work. Let's "finance" a study to find out what makes porn addicting. Mary Anne Layden, co-director of a sexual trauma program at the University of Pennsylvania, has called for "billboards and bus ads warning people to avoid pornography, strip clubs and prostitutes."
Comparing pornography to heroin, researchers on Thursday called on Congress to finance studies on "porn addiction" and launch a public health campaign about the dangers.
Yes, because a bus ad is going to shed the light on johns who routinely spends $20 on aging, toothless and disease-infested hookers. Here's an idea, and it didn't cost a single tax penny: Porn is addicting because men like looking at naked women and the Internet makes it readily and freely available.
Okay, time to move on – unless we really need to go into solutions here. Although I too wish we could regulate everyone's personal lives and install taser guns on computer monitors that zap anyone who tries to access a porn site, they do have those pesky Constitutional rights which would forbid such measures.
And those strip clubs. We need to abolish them to because looking at beautiful naked women trying to make a buck (or a few thousand) is bad for the soul. Then we'll outlaw all R-rated films, rap/hard rock music, novels not suitable for the classroom, and finally we'll forbid all Americans from cursing in public. It's time to put Congress to work!
H.O.P.E. is Here
This is just too funny. From their website:
H.O.P.E. (Horrified Observers of Pedestrian Entertainment) and Rhino Records are offering the good people of America who have been duped into buying Ashlee Simpson's CD a reprieve; the opportunity to turn in her CD for one of a higher entertainment quality. Elvis Costello, The Ramones, X, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Aretha Franklin, Mr. Bungle, Ray Charles, Abe Lincoln Story, Grateful Dead, Neil Hamburger, Joni Mitchell, and Brian Wilson. Due to the overwhelming response, and the public's suggestions of other substandard artists for trade, this exchange will continue indefinitely and will be expanded to include other artists who are detrimental to the public's well being. Starting immediately we will also accept any Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Lachay, Jessica Simpson, Creed, Paris Hilton, Limp Bizkit, and any boy band albums for trade. If you're in a city outside NYC or L.A., contact Hopeinfilm@aol.com or visit www.hopeinamerica.com for an exchange.Too bad I don't own crap otherwise I might consider. Okay, I own a Limp Bizkit CD (Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water), and I'm not about to give it up. Anyway, daily Aggressive-Voice readers know I've been especially hard on non-talents; just scroll down to read my review of two bad popular pop songs and check the October archives for my lauding of Ashlee Simpson. Several of you seem to agree with my analysis, and now is the chance to do something about it!
Michael Regan Reads my Blog
Either the son of former President Ronald Regan reads my blog like every good person should and got inspired, or his article, Get off their backs! is coincidentally similar to my blog post, Get Off Their Backs.
Both are a defense of the Marine who shot a wounded Iraqi after a fierce firefight erupted inside a mosque. I recommend Reagan’s article as it discusses the hidden agenda of the NBC photographer I’ve not covered.
O'Reilly's Marine Defense
Bill O'Reilly reiterates what we've been saying:
But the tape of the incident actually helps the Marine because you can clearly hear him yell to his squad, "He's (blanking) faking he's dead! He's (blanking) faking he's dead!" Then the soldier shoots. On the tape you can see the insurgent move before the soldier pulls the trigger.This is what I like about O'Reilly. He may not always be right or in touch with reality, but he's not afraid to speak his mind even if it goes against the status quo. I made the same points a few posts ago, and surprisingly most of the feedback -- comments and e-mail -- have been positive. That courageous Marine isn't going through this investigation alone.
One day earlier, another Marine in the same unit was killed by a booby trap which was strapped to a dead insurgent's body. The enemy in Iraq rejects all rules of warfare, and American troops know it. Iraqi insurgents and foreign terrorists routinely dress in civilian clothes, hide behind civilians while shooting, mount operations from inside Mosques, wear the uniforms of pro-American Iraqi police and National Guardsmen, attack civilians, and on and on and on.
But the so called "human rights" groups are all over the incident, calling it a "possible war crime." What a bunch of bull. The Marine made a decision that was reasonable. His own words before the fact clarified the danger he felt.
The war in Iraq as well as the war on terror is as ugly as it gets. Mistakes will be made. But this action is not one of them.
Hot Bods & Silly Sandals
Conservatives have an inexplicable fetish for Hollywood-bashing, whenever the subject is a movie that isn't about Jesus.
Now don't get me wrong, I loved Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and was just as amused by all the liberal critics who called it "too violent" days after praising Kill Bill 2, as I am over the conservatives' constant whining about bankrupt values and morals in Tinsel Town.
Yes, Oliver Stone's new movie, "Alexander," which opens next Wednesday (I should have an early review coming soon), is a biopic starring Colin Farrell who plays the legendary Macedonian emperor. And yes, he's -- gasp -- bisexual!
The conservative blogosphere has already started taking notes as they did with the exaggerated disaster film, The Day After Tomorrow, because it dared to pretend that global warming was a problem. "Alfred Kinsey" (unseen by me), the movie about the famed sex researcher is being protested, and "Alexander" is being met with the same resistance as if a secret homosexual agenda is in play. Powerline is obviously no fan of Oliver Stone:
I may be wrong, but I don't think this film stands to break Stone's streak of execrable movies dating back to 1986's agitprop bomb "Salvador."The public audience will determine next week whether or not "Alexander" is a good film, but until then there are more important things to gripe about than homosexuals in the movies.
Get Off Their Backs
From Reuters:
U.S. Marines rallied round a comrade under investigation for killing a wounded Iraqi during the offensive in Falluja, saying he was probably under combat stress in unpredictable, hair-trigger circumstances.Of course the anti-American world press is jumping all over this story, casually omitting the fact that just a day earlier the marine in question lost a fellow soldier who was attending to a dead insurgent that was booby-trapped with explosives.
Marines interviewed on Tuesday said they didn't see the shooting as a scandal, rather the act of a comrade who faced intense pressure during the effort to quell the insurgency in the city.
"I can see why he would do it. He was probably running around being shot at for days on end in Falluja. There should be an investigation but they should look into the circumstances," said Lance Corporal Christopher Hanson.
"I would have shot the insurgent too. Two shots to the head," said Sergeant Nicholas Graham, 24, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "You can't trust these people. He should not be investigated. He did nothing wrong."
Add the tactic of booby-trapping your own dead to the effective suicide bombings, and it's clear to say that the Geneva Convention isn't on the minds of the insurgents. For that I believe the Marines should handle dead and wounded insurgents by any means necessary to ensure their own safety and prevent a possible ambush. I'm no fan of this war either, but it irks me to no end reading and listening to civilian opinions on how soldiers should conduct themselves in hostile war zones from their comfortable recliners.
To the world press and everyone else who despises the United States: You don't have to like our president or those operating this war, but get off the backs of the 18, 19 and 20 year-olds thrown into a situation you will never see or have to encounter. I've got too many friends in Iraq right now I want to see come home alive and well, and I will support them at every opportunity.
Speaking of Slutty
You’re not going to believe this. From AFP:
A plan to teach British children (12+) the risque art of pole dancing, usually the preserve of strip bars, has been cancelled (sp) after an uproar from child welfare groups, the teacher (Sarah Davis) said.Ya' think!
Ah, what a marvelous idea. Let's enroll our young pre-teen girls in a class that will teach them the art of seductive dancing. It will perfectly compliment the explicit sex-education they’re being taught. Finally a class that shows them *how to* remove their clothes before engaging in what is taught in the latter class.
The story gets better. The instructor defended the course, saying it was a "demanding activity which would improve fitness." Uh-huh. I guess the sport of gymnastics is outdated, and softball should just be available to those girls not endowed with the talents for the stage.
Something Different
So I could talk about President Bush's new Attorney General appointee. I could talk about his plan to privatize social security. But after having just witnessed two music videos by a couple of young, sexy bombshell singer-wannabes, I figure politics can take a break...at least until my next post.
First up on the review docket is Rumors by Lindsay Lohan. The video, an expensive production featuring glitzy nightclub sets and whizzing helicopters, is an outlet for the young Ms. Lohan to prove she's not daddy's little girl anymore. Wait...isn't every up-and-coming Disney channel actress trying to make that point? Doesn't matter here, because there's no stopping Ms. Lohan or her body from coming out of that skimpy outfit in this dance number.
As for the actual music, let's just say I'd rather ramble on about what she's (hardly) wearing. Rumors is your typical pop number with lyrics so abysmal...
Saturday steppin' into the club
And it makes me wanna tell the DJ
Turn It Up
I feel the energy all around
And my body can't stop moving to the sound
...that perhaps it's best for Ms. Lohan that she doesn't credit herself with the song writing. And it only gets worse with the added synthetic, electronic voice effects we're all familiar with.
The song is about Lindsay hitting up a club (god forbid one of these idolized pop stars would ever hit up a...oh, I don't know, a library or something) and trying to avoid the cameras so she could just dance, sing and hump every wall she dances past.
The video screams sex-appeal, or anything that takes the attention off the horrible song that's being sung by a computer and on the flashing lights and the gyrations of Ms. Lohan's body. Needless to say, Rumors does not get a passing grade from yours truly.
Next up is Tangled Up In Me by the lesser known Skye Sweetnam, a young pop star out of Canada looking to make it big in the States.
Her video debut, Tangled Up In Me, falls short of impressive, but at least in this video there's a visible band behind her. In the video, young Sweetnam is doing nothing more than getting herself tangling up in her microphone wire while selling herself to all the adolesant boys who can still be turned on after hearing such lines as I'm the girl who's kicking the coke machine and Can you see I want you by the way I push you away?
Yes, we get it, girls play hard to get and sometimes don't realize it until it's too late. From what I hear Skye writes some of her own music and that's a promising start to what could be a profitable career in the U.S. Hey, if Hilary Duff can do it...
Power Hungry
From the Associated Press:
Six years after the Supreme Court took away the president's (Clinton's) ability to veto specific parts of legislation, President Bush is asking Congress to bring back the line-item veto to let him make precision strikes against projects and tax provisions he doesn't like.There is something both very good and very bad about the line-item veto. At its best, it allows the president to cut out from important policy unnecessary pork baked into its language. President Clinton couldn't have been any giddier with his veto power; using the pen 82 times to cut out smaller and specific projects from larger spending bills. While the Republican-controlled Congress overrode 38 of his vetoes, Clinton managed to save $2 billion.
But the very, very, very bad thing about the line-item veto is that it completely negates the Constitution's delegation of the 'power of the purse' to Congress. The line-item veto, which was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court quickly after Clinton began using it, allows the president unilateral policy making authority which is a major violation of the important 'check' Congress has over the president. When a bill passes his desk, he must either sign it or reject the whole thing. There is no middle ground. There is nothing he can sign into law that hasn't first passed through Congress.
At a news conference, President Bush said he wanted a line-item veto that "passed constitutional muster," explaining it would help him work with lawmakers "to make sure that we're able to maintain budget discipline."
But if this new line-item veto is anything like the one Clinton once used, then pass constitutional muster it doesn't, not even close. If Mr. Bush wants to maintain budget discipline he should communicate effectively with Congress and threaten to veto entire bills that contain unnecessary pork and waste spending. Let's not continue abusing the Constitution. Hear that, presidential-hopeful Mr. Schwarzenegger?
Testing the Comments
I have decided after much deliberation to allow for comments on my blog. Up until now all feedback was submitted via e-mail and I would occasionally publish a few notes on my site.
However I recognize that some people may wish to comment on certain posts without going the distance of writing out a formal e-mail, so for at least a temporary period of time I will allow commenting and see how it goes. As long as the system isn't abused the feature will be enabled…otherwise you know how to reach me.
Quote of the Day
Let's see how many people appreciate this one:
"Question for graduates of the University of Phoenix: When you open your diploma, do pop-up ads come flying up?" -- Richard Roeper 11/09/04
Welcome to Your Centerfold
X-ray technology at London's Heathrow airport
I don't understand why they just don't have us all strip completely naked before boarding the plane at the terminal. It would both speed up the security process and eliminate any chance of grandma packing heat under that sweater she'll no longer be allowed to wear.
Besides, why should airport security personnel get to have all the fun?