Home of the jester in the court of the ragtag soldiers.
Archive for October 22, 2008
Music Worth Seeking Out
Oct 22nd
It’s been way too long since I’ve written a music post. And even longer since I’ve done a podcast. I will get back to making those when time permits, promise. In the meanwhile, hopefully this will make amends.
First up, good news: after a certain amount of prodding (mostly by yours truly), Almost Ugly is finally releasing some more music to the world. Look for a nine-track collection to be hitting iTunes within the next couple of months. In the meanwhile, there are four songs available for listening on their MySpace page.
Next on the playlist is Chris Ryan. A young man with a gift of melody presented through well-formed acoustic work, earnest vocals and reflective lyrics minus the usual overwrought teen angst. He might make it anyway. Beat the bandwagon and herd of swooning young ladies sure to flock his way once they catch a glimpse of that rarity of rarities — heartthrob looks with actual talent behind the dreamy sigh-inducing eyes (so I’m told — like how would I know?). Get hooked now over at his MySpace page. Make a point to check out “Color Of Your Eyes.” It’s a hit, or at the least ought to be.
Last but certainly not least, the mighty Marillion’s new album Happiness Is The Road will be released domestically in CD format next week. Naturally I couldn’t wait, so I pre-ordered it from the band’s Web site many moons ago. It arrived a couple of days ago. Two word review: Oh. Wow. The band’s gift for intricate, richly textured heart-rendering musing free from commercial constraints has never shone brighter. Marillion is the band Radiohead can only dream of becoming when it grows up.
Your Being Offended Offends Me
Oct 22nd
Little late to the party on this one, but such is life which can really interfere with your blogging.
A couple of news items came though in recent days, one borderline absurd and one anything but. The former requires a bit of a preface. I’ve never been much into video games due to the primary reason of being decidedly less than accomplished at anything more advanced than, oh, Tempest on which I wasted many a quarter in the days of my youth. Although I did occasionally get to the second level in Frogger. (I’m o-l-d… ah well. Beats the alternative.) Mentioned this to illustrate that I am anything but up on the latest and greatest — so I’m told — in the genre.
Anyway, apparently the fine folk at Sony, home of very nice but ridiculously overpriced laptops among other items have recently issued a major mea culpa and plea for a thousand pardons over the heinous crime the below pictured miscreant attempted to perpetrate on an unwitting populace:
The offense against humanity this foul Beelzebub from the belly of the beast hiding behind the innocuous name of Sackboy planned on bringing forth?
The video game featuring him contained background music with a couple of lines borrowed from the Koran… excuse me, Qu’ran. Pick your spelling.
Oh the humanity.
This offended some Muslim group somewhere, for in Islam it is considered highly offensive and/or blasphemous to put ones sacred writing to music. (Makes you wonder what King David was thinking with all those Psalms. But I digress.) Since the only sin in today’s world other than having sex with a child and uttering a racial epithet is offending any Muslim, naturally Sony threw itself on the tender mercies of those wonderful, wacky people whose never-ending zany madcap antics include the occasional mumbled “yeah that’s not nice” over beheadings and the like perpetrated by members of the faith who occasionally stray into errors of enthusiasm. Naturally this must be immediately followed by a full-court press about being the victims of discrimination and stereotyping lest ones place at the Don’t Blame Me I’m A Victim feeding trough be lost. Hope there’s no ham in there.
As a Christian, the notion of being offended by someone or someones committing some slight about the tenets of my faith is cause for near-hysterical laughter. Come on already. Even if that whole “turn the other cheek” and “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head” deal wasn’t in effect, by the time I got through being offended by profanity and promoted promiscuity and all that I’d be wiped out… five minutes into my morning commute. By the time I arrived at the office I’d have to immediately drink the nearest Starbucks dry for purposes of lasting until lunch.
A few hours after the Sony snafu came to light the Taliban murdered in cold blood a woman in Afghanistan for the crime of working with handicapped residents under the guise of it being justified by her allegedly talking about the One (no, not Obama) Who said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Which pretty much cuts Mohammed out of the picture. Between that and all those things He said about loving and caring for each other, no wonder she was declared an enemy.
Just once I’d like to see a Muslim skip the sniveling about someone giving them a dirty look three weeks ago or some slight against their hypersensitive religion and go absolutely 100% medieval on other Muslims who spend their time partying like it’s 389 (that’s 999 A.D. in the Gregorian calendar if this online calculator is correct). Go completely nuclear on them. Rip them to pieces so small you’d need a electron microscope to do the autopsy. Denounce them in every fashion imaginable. And that’s the warmup.
Just. Once.
In the meanwhile, be so kind as to note this photograph of Gayle Williams, the young woman murdered by the Taliban:
She gets lip service. A couple of lines in background music for a video game get action.
Any question about the real offense here?
