A post for the womerns

Go check out the website for Unknown Hinson. I suggest starting at the video page. My favorite was Cheeseburger.

On a related but divergent note, a friend sent me this hilarious Louvin Brothers' album cover



The Louvin's took their Jesus stuff a little too seriously for my taste (although perhaps not, judging from that picture), but they wrote some great (non-gospel) songs (When I Stop Dreaming, You are Learning, If I Could Only Win Your Love, Cash On the Barrelhead, many more) and sang with harmonies second to none. You can learn more about them here.

Can you imagine...

what would happen if, during Clinton's presidency, it were discovered that a male prostitute with no valid journalistic credentials was asking Clinton and his Press Secretary softball questions as part of the White House Press Corps (WHPC)? I'm sure it would have been front page news for weeks! Well, if you haven't heard, a fake reporter using the name "Jeff Gannon" magically became a part of the listless WHPC and has been acting as a shill for the administration for the last two years. But it gets better. First off, he isn't Jeff Gannon, but James Guckert. James Guckert is not a credentialed reporter, but he did advertise his services as a male escort (don't click on that one at work...). For more details about Guckert, check out this blog.

Now, with a liberal media, you would think this would be the biggest story on every network but the fair and balanced Fox, but it ain't... Press Secretary Scott McClellan is trying to downplay the issue by acting as if anyone can get into the WHPC and ask questions. We know, of course, that can't be true. Otherwise, the President might actually have to answer a tough question. It is pretty obvious that Gannon/Guckert was ushered in (as legitimate reporters were ushered away) to ask easy (predetermined) questions. Perhaps this site explains this strange phenomenon...

It is bad enough that almost every critical voice in the WHPC has been removed, or at least muted, but now we learn that they have planted non-reporters to keep the heat off of our bumbling leader and to shape the message. Is there a pattern? It was just a few weeks ago that we learned that the administration was paying "reporter" Armstrong Williams to push part of their agenda. And then there was the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame by crudbucket Robert "the slobberer" Novak. She just happened to be the wife of a dude who pissed off the administration by correctly pointing out that their WMD claims were a bunch of crapola.

Can it get worse? I'm sure it already is. The more we learn about this sleazy administration, most of which will come to light years from now, the more it will become clear that this is the most corrupt group to ever soil the presidency...

Across the Universe

I was crawling the cable the other night when I came upon the Grammys and heard "Coming up next, an all-star tribute to the tsunami victims..." blah, blah then I heard they were doing "Across the Universe," so I stayed with it. Wow, what an awful version of a great song... As soon as the "all-star" version of this infectious Beatles (Lennon) tune began, my thoughts turned to the inevitable SNL parody that will doubtlessly happen. A quick check online and I found someone who shares my thoughts,

If it's bad form to criticize do-gooders, well, then, we'll just take the karmic hit as we state what seemed obvious: The tsunami-relief song - a superstar performance of the Beatles' "Across the Universe" - was flat-out terrible. It was a surprising outcome given all the talent on the stage: Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Brian Wilson, Norah Jones, Bono, Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, Steven Tyler, Tim McGraw who, for some reason, performed three different times on the night. Now being sold to raise money for the tsunami-relief effort, the performance was so sloppy that it might have passed for a "Saturday Night Live" skit had we not known better. In fact, somebody more crass might say that this disaster of a performance deserves its own benefit concert. But not us. (Oops.) To get more of these insights, go here.

Yikes! Half the singers were off key and the rest just sucked. Good cause or not, have some respect for the original piece. Playing the original version while montaging some hopeful images of the aftermath would have impacted me. Instead, this ear-scratching display of self-promotion only cemented my lack of respect for this milquetoast awards show. It also made me glad that I had already donated for the cause. I would hate to have my sincere empathy for this tragedy linked to the starpower involved with this embarrassing effort...

Here the real story from the international menace Tommy Chong

Yes, they finally put Tommy Chong behind bars, but he is now out (grab the children and hide)! Listen to the Fresh Air interview with Chong and then listen to the "hero" who used such time honored techniques as entrapment to make a poster child out of Chong. You will also learn that they could only pull their hijinks in one of two states (and these are Feds), one of which is Iowa...

Bush Sings U2!

Have you heard Bush sing Sunday Bloody Sunday? If you want to create your own smash hit with your favorite smirky crooner, you can find all the clips you need here.