Well it seems that I have been set into a trance when I hear any song by the “Polyphonic Spree.” I know that it sounds like a hippie band from the early seventies, but they made a debut in America in 2003 but have been popular in Europe for a while now. They have that “feel good” feeling to their music, much like the Partridge Family, just good sing along type jingles. But I was hooked after I saw their performance on the VMA’s down in Miami this year, I was compelled first off since I saw Marlyn Manson, and Jessica Simpson introduce them, I thought that was a bizarre pair to introduce this band called the “Polyphonic Spree” But I said what the hell, then all of a sudden I was drawn in by their free flowing colorful robes, and catchy song “Hold Me Now” I was taken, more or less in a daze as their crazed Lead singer looked as if he had Sniffed a whole tube of modeling glue before he went on…..He looked like he ate the “Bad Acid” Anyways they seem to be over joyed in every picture I see them in, which leads me to believe that before too long there will be the Polyphonic Cult, where you wear a rode, and you are called by your biblical name Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, and they will round you up to drink the special kool aid……. They Just seem WAAAAAY too happy! But I like the song……
Archive for November, 2004
That’s right, c/o MJ’s web browsing we now have Road Rage Cards. Now the ass next to you doesn’t have to be a lip reader to figure out what you’re saying, he can read. Well.. if he can’t read then he shouldnt be driving.. but still.
Here are my favs:
Its that time of year again, wetwired has a new artist and will be getting a face lift. Once again, just subtle, you’ll notice little changes. Keep watching.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!!
So, I was listening to Bob and Tom today and something a comedian said inspired the following. If you’re looking for the perfect gag gift for any liberal and/or Democrat friends this year, then give them just two items:
1 coloring book of the United States of America
1 red crayon
Out.
Every so often, I say the words that bring a shudder to all who know me and make the hairs on Beerslinger’s neck stand on end. Those words are “So, I’ve been thinking…”
See, it’s a well-known and well-documented fact that when I get to thinking in-depth about certain subjects I tend to get… well, broody. (Also, you can throw in such adjectives as “pissy, depressed and in a general funk.”)
Well, that was my weekend. The excitement of my weekend came from shopping around for a replacement DVD player as my former model had begun to go out. That took up most of my day yesterday- well, that and watching Smallville’s second season. This is in fact where my thoughts from tonight came from.
See, I was watching the show and realized that I’m a much bigger fan of Lex on that show than I am a fan of the show’s main protagonist, Clark Kent. I think I figured out why, too. It’s the same reason why I’m a bigger fan of Batman than I am of Superman.
There are two types of superheroes in comics- those that see the world in black and white, good and evil, and those who see the world for the shades of gray that it contains. That one difference defines and differentiates your basic superheroes. It’s what separates Batman from Superman, Wolverine from Cyclops and Rupert Giles from Merrick. (Hey, it’s an arcane reference to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie! Whedon would be so proud…)
It also defines the separation between standard villians from classic villians. Sure, the Joker is the archnemesis of Batman. But he’s nowhere as interesting as Lex Luthor is to the Superman mythos. The reason why (in my own humble opinion) is that the Joker is just straight-up, complete evil. He’s fricking psycho. Lex Luthor, on the other hand, is a businessman and respected figure in Metropolis (oh yeah, and President in current comics continuity) who happens to be Superman’s biggest enemy. The difference between the two is that Joker can only see the world from one viewpoint, whereas Luthor sees the shades of gray.
(Follow me here, folks, I’m getting to something here.)
I think that this difference can also be seen in today’s real world. It’s “good/evil” as opposed to moral relativism. It’s the difference between just calling your enemy “the evildoers” and looking deeper to better understand them, how they tick and how they can be willing to do what any sane person would consider acts of pure savagery.
Post-9/11, this has become something of a quandary for me. I listen to those at the head of government (and whom I have voted for) take the stance that those whom have committed such heinous acts are “the evildoers” who need to be brought to justice, no questions asked whatsoever. The part of me that has long yearned for a simpler worldview attempts to placate itself with that.
The part of me that questions everything- authority included- says to itself “Hey, come on. There’s much more to this than simply calling them evil. What can possess a person to do what was done on that day and still allow them to sleep at night?”
Before you say it- no, I’m not equating an act of terrorism to a shade of gray. Flying planes into buildings cannot be rationalized by a sane person, and even thinking that this is an option tends to show that the tin-foil antenna attached to your brain is picking up some heavy interference.
The problem is that somewhere along the way to where I am in life, my viewpoint changed from “We’re the good guys and they’re the bad guys.” Nowadays, I see that while there are indeed good guys and bad guys sometimes the good guys have to get their hands dirty and sometimes the bad guys can clean theirs.
I still know we’re a force for good in the world, for the most part. I can still figure out that some options leadershipwise are better than others- hence, me voting the way I did this year. However, I still can’t seem to shake off the gray no matter how much I try.
Makes me long for the simpler days when I knew who the bad guys were, when we were the undisputed good guys across the globe and when Superman was my favorite. And to think- all this from me watching a show on the friggin’ WB.
God, I hate thinking sometimes.
Out.
I’m in San Francisco until late Sunday night… So posting will be light. But, I just might have pics up next week when I’m back.
Rob, at Xset finnally got his 1,000 comment. I was a little late to notice. Anyway I got curious how many does wetwired have?
Drumroll.
1866
ok, so big party at 2000 comments.
Pulled from the wetwired archives:
Most people get nostalgic over the holidays its just normal. Most of the time, the smells of turkey, eggnog, and pumpkin pie trigger thoughts and feelings that we’d long since forgotten. Our parents always talk about what they miss when they were growing up that has changed. Mine for instance grew up during the late 40s through the 50’s and 60’s. My parents always talked about missing a soda jerk. They always talked about the smell that it had, the smell of a real vanilla coke. They talked about leather stores, walking into a store that had lots of leather items and the smell you got from them. The things they remember I will never experience, but from the way they describe them, so vividly, I’ll always wish I had.
One thing I remember from my childhood was the ending of the multi-level department stores. In my home town we had a department store called Mullers. Each floor was a different department and there was a person that operated the elevator. You’d walk into the elevator and a man dressed up in a nice bellhop style suit asked you which floor. When the elevator arrived he said “3rd floor, Toys”.
You’d thank him and get out and stare in amazement at the department. I don’t remember too much of the place other than I had pictures taken there and the first floor had lots of candies because they had a candy store. It was very early on in my childhood when they closed Mullers down. It was the last of a dying breed, giving way to Super Malls, less centralized stores, and Wal-Mart.
Thats right, nominate and then vote for wetwired as Best Group Blog. Why? Because we are one of the best. So do it!
Voting starts later on this week.
People ask me, “Hey pylorns, what do you think about our environment?”
My answer is simple. It’s fucked. Now most of you know or have an idea where the political standings of this site are. Even if we don’t come out and say it (and we never will exactly cause we’re mixed), you get the idea. But you don’t know where we stand on certain issues.
When it comes to the environment I am not in favor of huge drastic changes, but I am in favor of changes for the better of our environment. The reason I say I am not in favor of instant dramatic changes is that we can’t just put ourselves in the dark ages and ride horses again in order to save the ozone. But, at the same time we can’t forget that the ozone, the upper atmosphere, and our air quality is suffering. So what would happen if we all stopped driving cars today?
Nothing. The ozone layer would still continue to weaken. It goes in cycles and we are on a weak cycle. The holes are not holes but merely spots where its very thin. It will take the earth another cycle to right everything. Hell it will take the Earth a while to scrub out all the crap we’ve already put in the air so far. But its not like the earth hasn’t had lots of crap in the air before. Any time we’ve had a catosrophic event like a meteor, we’ve had a year or so worth of dust in the air. We’ve had higher and lower levels of sulfur , you get the point. The earth will right itself.
You’re thinking I’m almost saying whatever we do won’t matter. No I’m saying we are moving in the right direction. I feel that the sooner we are not reliant on fossil fuels the better. Our economy runs on gasoline. We need to take the number and cut it in half. Hybrid cars are a must. If everyone stopped driving cars in LA - there would be no more smog there. The air quality would improve to near perfect in less than a week. That’s not going to happen of course. But what we could talk more about is if we swapped out the cars with the new generation of hybrid cars; gas electric. The ones that actually have an engine that is worth a damn.
Most people are apprehensive about hybrid cars, saying they don’t go fast enough or aren’t quick enough compared to a regular gasoline car. Why don’t you look at this car and tell me they aren’t quick enough.
Alessandro Volta invented the electric battery in 1800. Toyota is honoring Volta by naming the first high-performance hybrid vehicle in his name. The Volta is powered by a V6 with an electric motor on each axle. The engine provides 408 horsepower and allows the car to travel 435 miles (700 km) on a 13.7-gallon (51.86 liter) tank.
To prove that hybrid technology can be used in a high-performance vehicle, the Volta can go from 0-60 mph (95.56 km/hour) in 4 seconds and reach a top speed of 155 mph (249 km/hour). It won’t compete with Lamborghini or Ferrari with that top speed, but it uses a lot less gas.
Think its just a fluke? Check this one out. Under the hood, the FTX is powered by a large-displacement V8 hybrid gas-electric engine that pumps out loads of torque while delivering V6 fuel efficiency.
So what am I saying? I’m saying buy a hybrid car next go around. They will all be on the market within the next 5 years.
I’m going to describe a situation to you, and I’d like to see waht you think of this.
ABC planned to show the movie Saving Private Ryan tonight. It’s Veteran’s Day, and that movie is an excellent tribute to the sacrifice made by those who fought in WWII. Now, several stations across the country decided not to air it, for fear of fines from the FCC.
Fair enough.
Here in Austin, KVUE decided not to air the movie. The station’s line is that they petitioned the network to air the movie beginning at 9, but the network refused. So, the station decided to show other programming. From 7 to 8, they showed an episode of Oprah. From 8 to 10, they are showing Lethal Weapon 3.
Go ahead and reread that. They are broadcasting Lethal Weapon 3.
I know I’m cynical and I know that they had to show something. But Lethal Weapon 3? That right there is the definition of hypocrisy.
I swear, we live in a world of fuckin’ idiots.
Out.
Veterans’ Day (formerly Armistice Day) November 11, is the anniversary of the Armistice which was signed in the Forest of Compiegne by the Allies and the Germans in 1918, ending World War I, after four years of conflict.
At 5 A.M. on Monday, November 11, 1918 the Germans signed the Armistice, an order was issued for all firing to cease; so the hostilities of the First World War ended. This day began with the laying down of arms, blowing of whistles, impromptu parades, closing of places of business. All over the globe there were many demonstrations; no doubt the world has never before witnessed such rejoicing.
In November of 1919, President Woodrow Wilson issued his Armistice Day proclamation. The last paragraph set the tone for future observances:
“To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nation.”
In 1927 Congress issued a resolution requesting President Calvin Coolidge to issue a proclamation calling upon officials to display the Flag of the United States on all government buildings on November 11, and inviting the people to observe the day in schools and churches…But it was not until 1938 that Congress passed a bill that each November 11 “shall be dedicated to the cause of world peace and …hereafter celebrated and known as Armistice Day.”
That same year President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill making the day a legal holiday in the District of Columbia. For sixteen years the United States formally observed Armistice Day, with impressive ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where the Chief Executive or his representative placed a wreath. In many other communities, the American Legion was in charge of the observance, which included parades and religious services. At 11 A.M. all traffic stopped, in tribute to the dead, then volleys were fired and taps sounded.
After World War II, there were many new veterans who had little or no association with World War I. The word, “armistice,” means simply a truce; therefore as years passed, the significance of the name of this holiday changed. Leaders of Veterans’ groups decided to try to correct this and make November 11 the time to honor all who had fought in various American wars, not just in World War I.
In Emporia, Kansas, on November 11, 1953, instead of an Armistice Day program, there was a Veterans’ Day observance. Ed Rees, of Emporia, was so impressed that he introduced a bill into the House to change the name to Veterans’ Day. After this passed, Mr. Rees wrote to all state governors and asked for their approval and cooperation in observing the changed holiday. The name was changed to Veterans’ Day by Act of Congress on May 24, 1954. In October of that year, President Eisenhower called on all citizens to observe the day by remembering the sacrifices of all those who fought so gallantly, and through rededication to the task of promoting an enduring peace. The President referred to the change of name to Veterans’ Day in honor of the servicemen of all America’s wars.
Excerpts from All About American Holidays by Mayme R. Krythe.
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We at Wetwired support our Vets past and present and hold upmost respect for those lost during all the wars.
Thank you for our freedom and making us proud to be Americans.
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Incorporating interviews with well-known cultural figures such as Albert Maysles, Andrew Breitbart, Dinesh D’Souza, Penn Jillette, J.C. Watts, David Horowitz and others, “Michael Moore Hates America” examines the present cultural dialogue in the United States, highlighting the often shrill and misleading style of Moore’s documentaries in particular. See the film that Variety writes is “far more jocular, good-natured and thoughtful than Moore partisans might expect” and that Ebert and Roeper give Two Thumbs Up!
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