Watch Oingo Boingo instead:

Clear your mind.  Let go.  Watch Genesis:

Submitted with a modicum of comment, does this make up for Champagne Supernova, or what?

Minneapolis has been the site of some of the most intense protesting America has seen in a long time.  Video shot from amongst the protesters getting hit with tear gas and shock grenades recalls images more familiar in France or Russia than in the United States.

And Rage Against the Machine has done it’s part to incite its fans to protest, as well.  They first tried to play an impromptu performance outside the RNC that was dispersed by police.  And last night, their concert ended in another spontaneous protest in the streets of Minneapolis.

Take it for what it’s worth.  But personally, I think change requires many levels of pressure to accomplish.

I figured, “what the hell?”

The sun shines
And people forget
The spray flies as the speedboat glides
And people forget
Forget they’re hiding
The girls smile
And people forget
The snow packs as the skier tracks
And people forget
Forget they’re hiding.

Behind an eminence front
Eminence front - It’s a put on.

Come on join the party
Dress to kill
Won’t you come and join the party
Dress to kill.

The drinks flow
People forget
That big wheel spins, the hair thins
People forget
Forget they’re hiding
The news slows
People forget
The shares crash, hopes are dashed
People forget
Forget they’re hiding.

Behind an eminence front
Eminence front - it’s a put on
Come on join the party dress to
Come on join the party dress to
Come on join the party dress to
Come on join the party dress to kill
Dress yourself, dressed to kill.

I’ve read somewhere that Barack Obama is getting three times the press that John McCain is getting, but that the overwhelming majority of that is negative.  Well, with those kind of numbers, maintaining such a pace requires the occasional puff piece or three.

Witness this from the Washington Post.  It seems Ludacris has written a new song which is offensive.  Whoa.  And it makes fun of Hillary Clinton and John McCain.  So why is this controversial?  Because he says that he’s Barack’s favourite rapper, because Obama said he has some Ludacris stuff on his iPod.

Black presidential candidate; rapper.  Paging James Lawrence. . . .

There’s a new blogger in town, here in DFE land, and his name is Jamie Piazza.  His first post is an interesting republication of an article about the legendary gods of Goth, The Cure, and the controversy surrounding their song Killing an Arab. How timely in so many ways!  Maybe it’s a good thing to remember that anti-Arab hate is not a new or original thing, born solely of a misplaced anger over 911.

Go check him out and say hello!

Here’s a ripple you might not have considered: the high cost of gas hurts everybody who drives to make their living, especially those on slim margins, but its really hitting the music industry locally.  I imagine the same holds true elsewhere.  The irony is that what I’ve always viewed as a strength of Rochester’s geography is now it’s weakness: you’re a relatively short drive from a huge number of highly-active music scenes, from New York to Toronto, from Philly to Cleavland.  But the problem is, you have to drive to those places in order to make a decent showing of yourself.

I’ve never been all that big a fan of AC/DC, though I did see them at Sars-stock (AKA, The Rolling Stones and Friends benefit for Toronto). Still, they’re a bedrock Rock-n-Roll music making machine that deserves plenty of respect. Or at least, they used to. Now, they’re living in Wally World:

Report: New AC/DC Album To Be Wal-Mart Exclusive

AC/DC’s next studio album will be exclusively sold at Wal-Mart stores in the United States, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The as-yet-untitled Columbia album, which, as previously reported, was produced by Brendan O’Brien, is expected in the fall.