Reader Tips

Reader Tips 32 Comments

The Violent Femmes were a rather unorthodox, stripped-down three piece folk-punk band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who, during their heyday in the 80s and early 90s hovered between underground cult status and mainstream success. The thematically offbeat nature of their songs is at least partially attributable to the fact that Gordon Gano, the band’s songwriter and lead singer, was (he still is) a devout Christian; while nobody could consider the Femme’s music to be religious per se (the other two band members made clear to Gano that they weren’t amicable to that) Gano’s lyrics often expressed, if obliquely, a rooted unease with mass-culture morality.
In tonight’s amusement en route to the Tips, Gano sings with a disarmingly cheerful tension about the undeniable, there-it-is fallout – the widespread joy and damage – of a society weaned on American pop culture. From a live appearance on the old Dennis Miller TV show, here are the Violent Femmes performing a song from their 1991 album Why Do Birds Sing? called American Music.
The comments are open for your Reader Tips.

32 Replies to “Reader Tips”

  1. Via The Flea:
    “A sweeping and blunt proposal by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to strip French citizenship from persons of foreign origin who endanger police is bringing storms of protest by minority groups and the opposition who accuse the president of a new low in playing the race and ethnic card to appeal to the French far right.”

  3. ——————————————————————————–
    Stelmach Government Seeks to Extinguish Property Rights
    Alberta is the one place in Canada, where at one time, many had a sense that the adults were in charge. There was something attractive and comforting about it, even for those of us who lived outside Alberta. Ottawa and the other provinces could be as irresponsible as they may, yet the reassuring presence of Alberta’s professional, adult-like political administrations, gave every Canadian a sense of stability.
    Unfortunately, that’s all changed. The adults have moved on.
    Now, in the same way that we used to instinctively sense Alberta as a place with a mature, business-like political administration, we now understand that the men and women who have taken over are the political equivalent of teenage boys who have been given car keys and whiskey.
    In terms of respect for the principles of due process, individuals rights, and traditional Alberta values—what many would call conservative values—the Progressive Conservative Party of Edward Michael Stelmach is a shadow of the provincial party’s former prominence.
    What the Stelmach government has done to its own traditional support base is hard to be believed.
    Why the Stelmach crowd would be so stupid as to systematically and deliberately embark upon a legislative agenda that undermines the very people that put them in office, is irrational. Yet they are doing it, and not reluctantly. Their passion for centralizing power in the hands of cabinet, as they trample property rights and collude with federal regulators to strip Alberta landowners of longstanding provincially-regulated property rights, is giving new meaning to the word enthusiasm.
    The Stelmach government spied on people solely because those people questioned some of its energy policies related to the development of hydro corridors, and the enormous costs that would subsequently be imposed upon all Albertans. Then, after getting caught spying on its own citizens, rather than admit the process it was trying to follow was wrong-headed, having the effect of isolating people, Stelmach and the knuckleheads surrounding him decided to pass a series of laws that would put the power of a court in the hands of cabinet. And what’s more, is that the power these guys want goes beyond the power of a court, because under the Stelmach government’s legislative agenda its decisions could not be appealed (even to a real court), after the politicians make a backroom decision about what you can or cannot do on your own property.
    Alberta’s Bill 36 establishes an unimpeded easy access highway for politicians in cabinet to impose regional plans upon anyone in the province. Through these “plans,” the politicians could specify what your land could be used for, or not used for, depending on what they think. The Act is written in such a way that the decisions of cabinet about your property will trump every other piece of existing provincial legislation, and the courts. These are cabinet decisions that would apply to crown corporations, municipalities, boards, commissions, and private Alberta citizens.
    The Bill gives a handful of politicians in a backroom the ability to amend or extinguish existing rights someone might hold as a result of any existing agreement, license, or contract, including land titles, mortgages, water licences, leases, well licenses, permits, etc. At the same time, it also restricts a landowner’s right to appropriate compensation for any damages that result.
    Most importantly, under Bill 36, there is no way for anyone to appeal a decision made by cabinet. The Bill blocks a citizen’s right to seek judicial review or undertake legal action. Essentially, the Bill stops the courts from having anything to do with what the politicians might want to do to Alberta citizens, and to their property.
    The Bill also enables a cabinet minister, at his or her sole discretion, to file a judgment against a landowner without there ever having been a trial or court hearing—and the cabinet minister’s judgment would be as binding on the citizen as if it were issued by a real judge in a real court.
    What citizen in his or her right mind, living in a democracy, would want to identify with people who think this kind of policy reflects good government, let alone vote for them? These people are arrogant scoundrels and pompous asses who think they know better than ordinary people, exactly how those people should live, and what should or shouldn’t be done on their own private property.
    – by Dave Core and CAEPLA Staff

  4. I really don’t know why I bother, but I read through and respond to the Radical Lefties who comment on my blog and elsewhere. Today I’ve “learned” that:
    1. The support for & against the Ground Zero Mosque in America is about 50/50.
    2. Republicans are doing really badly in all political races across America and are going to lose even worse in November.
    How do such people maintain any semblance of reality living in Bizarro World?!?

  5. EBD, you are the first person in probably 20 years that I know of has heard of The Violent Femmes. I have three of their albums – The Blind Leading the Naked, Why do birds sing?, and New Times. I like their somewhat tongue in cheek verion of Do You Really Want to Hurt Me by the Culture Club on Why do Birds Sing. I don’t remember for sure, but I’m pretty sure they changed the lyrics to make fun of poor Boy George.

  6. Eric, I saw them about fifteen years ago at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver and really enjoyed it. Humorous anecdote: at one point the bass player, who’s kind of an ass, took a big puffed-out mouthful of beer and spit it on the crowd, who weren’t very happy about it. Gordon Gano gave him the nod to do a bass solo…and then he (and the drummer) walked offstage…for about ten minutes. Kinda taught bass-boy a lesson, they did.
    Anyhoo, here’s a Reader Tip for any MMA fans out there: Randy Couture just casually crushed IBA Heavyweight boxing champion James Toney. Toney didn’t land a single shot.
    Now, off to watch BJ Penn…

  9. …says larben, speaking for everyone else.
    It’s okay, it’s just a scratch:
    “A political adviser to Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party who mowed down two pedestrians in her car triggering a backlash against Russia’s elite has been told she does not need to go to jail until 2024.”
    (…)
    “(In December 2009) Ms Shavenkova lost control of her car and mounted the pavement, hitting two sisters who were walking in central Irkutsk, Siberia, at the time. One of the sisters later died of her injuries, while the other was crippled for life.”
    “Ms Shavenkova, whose mother is the head of the local election commission, sparked fury at the time due to her apparent indifference to what she had done. She showed no interest in the two women she had just run over but instead rushed to inspect damage to her own car…”

  10. I saw this comment on another site and thought it well worth repeating:
    If a conservative doesn’t like guns, he doesn’t buy one.
    If a liberal doesn’t like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.
    If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn’t eat meat.
    If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.
    If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
    If a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.
    If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
    A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.
    If a conservative doesn’t like a talk show host, he switches channels.
    Liberals demand that those they don’t like be shut down.
    If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn’t go to church.
    A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced.
    If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
    A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.

  11. A remarkable figure:
    “A recent New York Times/ CBS poll found only 6% of respondents believed the stimulus package created jobs.
    “’Six percent of Americans also believe Elvis is alive,’ said (Richard) Land. ‘And I know Elvis’ stepbrother and Elvis is definitely dead.’”

  12. I happened to live in MKE for some years in the 90s, and then re-discovered Violent Femmes, as a great live band.
    Fantastic band, and fantastic songs! Blister in the Sun, Gone Daddy Gone, Dance M-F Dance,…

  13. Thank you for posting that, EBD. The fact that only 6% of Americans believe that is irrelevant to the Big Government Democrats & Republicans though. You can just see them now, blethering at their cocktail parties, “Did you see that recent poll? Just goes to show how stupid the average person is to not understand how the rescue package we supported was so incredibly necessary.”

  14. Robert W. (Vancouver) >
    A well put comparison between Liberals and Conservatives.
    In a nutshell, Conservatives are rational, level headed, and mature. Liberals are mentally ill.
    No surprises.

  15. Knight 99, sometimes you are a bit over the top!
    Conservatives are ruled by logic and reason
    Liberals are ruled entirely by emotion – without regards for facts and consequences.
    Re MMA – sorry EBD – minus 150 points!!

  17. Please don’t be sorry, Erik – even after the deduction I’m still 835 points in the black.
    Conrad Black in the National Post:
    “The United States now is in a shockingly deteriorated condition. It is debt-ridden, hobbled by grievous failings in honesty of government, integrity of the justice system, competitiveness of the education system, anomalies in immigration policy, insupportable health-care costs, a presidency that has almost no credibility, a foreign policy that has foundered on the appeasement of Iran (as well as absurd nostrums such as the pursuit of a non-nuclear world and the war on global warming) and an economic policy that has been an epochal failure. The second half of the double dip yawns before us like the Grand Canyon, and it will be deeper and longer than the first, until leadership provides the radical solutions that are required.”
    The whole thing here.

  19. The Socialist/Communist Hope Narrative.
    “progressives” return to the past.
    Progressive/left-liberals are regressive.
    Fear* and Hope*: A progressive, aka left-liberal call for an ideology of socialism/communism from the TORedStar.
    “Progressive-minded Canadians are bewildered.”
    >>> “But no political party — left, right, centrist or green — is articulating the hope narrative and fleshing out the corresponding agenda to support it.”
    “Obama’s political manifesto, The Audacity of Hope, released two years prior to his presidential run, defined his winning election narrative.”
    >>> Whittaker Chambers: Hope = Communism.
    >>> The Communist Party “had one ultimate appeal. In place of desperation, it set the word: hope. If it was the outrage, it was also the hope of the world. In the 20th century, it seemed impossible to have hope on any other terms.” (Witness)
    …-
    “The audacity of fear
    From crime to refugees to foreign policy, Harper’s Conservatives play on Canadians’ fears”
    “”But no political party — left, right, centrist or green — is articulating the hope narrative and fleshing out the corresponding agenda to support it.”
    http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/853969–lang-the-audacity-of-fear
    …-
    Hope* and Fear*:
    Charles Lamb, aka Elia.
    “Hope* is charming, lively, blue-eyed wench, & I am always glad of her company, but could dispense with the visitor she brings with her, her younger sister, fear*, a white liver’d-lilly-cheeked, bashful palpitating, awkward hussey that hangs like a green girl at her sister’s apron strings & will go with her whithersoever she goes.”
    (Letters of Charles and Mary Anne Lamb)

  20. This is truly frightening, from Time Magazine, you must read the whole thing.
    Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn’t violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway — and no reasonable expectation that the government isn’t tracking your movements.
    Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2013150,00.html#ixzz0y0GAOZz0

  21. Thanks for the Violent Femmes shout-out! I first heard them on a bootleg tape belonging to my cousins from Michigan, and I was hooked.

  22. My favourite Liberal/Conservative saying is ‘Conservatives believe what they see. Liberals see what they believe.’
    Seems to fit most time and kinda lingers.

  23. Actually, Robert W., I heard a truly breathtaking conspiracy theory at a restaurant/lounge in Saskatoon yesterday. Apparently, Bush Sr., OBL and Saddam Hussein were all in cahoots and the Iraq War was nothing but an oil negotiation gone bad. The drunk made sure that all of us in the restaurant were aware of these “facts”. This space cadet is definitely part of the 6% that will believe pretty much anything.

  25. Good post at Cjunk, by Dave in PA.
    Does Islam suck? As Klaven noted, we can fairly judge a tree by it’s fruits. Islam sucks!
    Someone else was more eloquent on the subject. It really bears repeating what the young Winston Churchill wrote in 1899 in his first book, The River War. Young Churchill had several years experience of Islam, in India, in what’s now Pakistan, Egypt and Sudan, in peacetime and in combat. Plus ça change…
    “How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.
    A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.
    Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it.
    No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.”

  29. Gord, though we’ve never met, I wanted to personally (& emphatically) thank you for your many calls to Dennis Miller’s show. You put Canadians in a VERY positive light with your brilliant observations.
    I’ve also noticed that there’s now a fellow named Neil calling in from Toronto from time to time and he has some pretty smart things to say as well. So perhaps an East-West rivalry is soon to develop! 🙂
    Btw I assume you know that Dennis’ beautiful wife, Caroline, hails from Tsawwassen, just south of Vancouver, so he’ll always have a soft spot for Canadians.

  30. Rock-a-Bye-Baby: Ahoy thar, Rocky.
    …-
    “Cruise ship exploring Northwest Passage runs aground”
    “Evacuation efforts are under way in the Canadian Arctic after the cruise ship Clipper Adventurer, pictured, ran aground in three metres of water. Quark Expeditions photo”
    >>> “Passengers safely removed after ship hits rock that wasn’t on map”
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/cruise-ship-exploring-northwest-passage-runs-aground/article1689257/

  31. PETA wins another one. Conversation wins over people.
    Emotionalism over tradition.
    Now if baboons where the homeless, could they be behaving out the same patterns as their human counterparts, of the lovers of the grape…
    Drunk baboons plague Cape Town’s exclusive suburbs
    The sun is setting over South Africa’s oldest vineyard and the last of the wine-tasting tourists are climbing onto their buses. But one large family group has no intention of leaving – and there is little the management can do about it.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/7969313/Drunk-baboons-plague-Cape-Towns-exclusive-suburbs.html

  32. Saw the Violent Femmes at Zapatas in Halifax back in ’83 or ’84 timeframe. Also saw Uzeb there on another night several months earlier.
    How’s that for eclectic avant garde musical tastes 🙂

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