Deus Ex Malcontent

Listening Post

2012-01-31T10:00:00.000-05:00

I'm really surprised by just how much I like the new Jane's Addiction album. Songs like this are the reason why.

Here's the lead-off track on the record -- Underground.

Bug Hunt

2012-01-30T20:00:00.001-05:00

Between the game itself and the music from Clint Mansell, this brand new trailer is one minute of pure nerd-gasm bliss.

Now if only they'd stop pushing the release date back on this thing.

Listening Post

2012-01-30T14:00:00.000-05:00

I swear, kids -- just a few more days of being all but completely incommunicado.

Until then, consider this site a video jukebox.

Here's LCD Soundsystem's North American Scum.

The Bob & Chez Show After Party 1.27.12

2012-01-27T11:30:00.001-05:00

Download a 3-minute Clip from This Week’s Show (1MB)

This week’s show: Drinking and Math Don’t Mix; The Science of Hangovers; Disgusting Bloody Blog Photos; Paula Deen Shocked by Backlash, Eats Gigantic Burger; Tattoos; David Lee Roth Won’t Shut Up; The Steven Weber Tweets of the Week with the Actual Steven Weber; Misleading Headlines; There Is No G-Spot; and more!

Join the After Party Here

The Bubble Genius Bob & Chez Show 1.27.12

2012-01-27T11:15:00.000-05:00

The State of the Union; Ron Paul’s Homophobia; Debates Aren’t Supposed to be Exciting; All of the Above Energy Policy; Assaulting Public Figures; Newt Gingrich Screws Up the First Amendment; Gingrich’s Moon Base; Video Games; Bob is an Angry Old Man; and much more. Brought to you by Bubble Genius.

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Listening Post

2012-01-27T11:00:00.000-05:00

There's just nothing better.

Happy freaking Friday, kids. It's the Roots -- Dead God 2.0.

Listening Post

2012-01-26T11:15:00.000-05:00

Metronomy's The English Riviera was one of the best albums of 2011 -- and quirky, instantly memorable little tracks like this were a good reason why.

Here's The Look.

Quote (and Picture) of the Day

2012-01-25T18:30:00.000-05:00

"Did Home Depot go from hardware store to sex dungeon when we weren't looking?"

-- Happy Place, commenting on the above photo

SEAL of Approval

2012-01-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I'm still incredibly busy and will be through next week (look for things to improve drastically a few days into February) but I wanted to take a second to link to this story, which once again proves just what bad-asses our Navy SEALs are.

The Huffington Post: U.S. Military Raid Frees Hostages/1.25.12

The first line of the article says it all:

"U.S. Navy SEALs parachuted into Somalia under cover of darkness early Wednesday and crept up to an outdoor camp where an American woman and Danish man were being held hostage. Soon, nine kidnappers were dead and both hostages were freed."

This team was apparently the same one that both killed Bin Laden and took out those three Somali pirates back in 2009, so their record just keeps improving. As I've said before, my father was a SEAL, so I hold these guys kind of close to my heart. Rangers lead the way and the Deltas liberate the oppressed -- but when you want the most dangerous people in the world to die never knowing where the hell that shot came from, you call in the SEALs.

Listening Post

2012-01-25T11:30:00.000-05:00

Somewhere between Zero 7 and Ivy lurk the Australian electro-indie outfit Car Stereo Wars. If you've never heard their 2008 album, For Your Comfort and Safety, and you're into late night chill music, do yourself a favor and go download the whole thing right now.

Here's Broken.

The Master Debater

2012-01-24T10:45:00.001-05:00

I really do feel bad outsourcing commentary right now, but I can't stress enough how, well, stressed I am during the day as a deadline on a project I'm working on is fast approaching.

With that in mind, here's Jon Stewart last night rightly losing his mind over not just Newt Gingrich's almost sociopathic hypocrisy and utter lack of shame but the testicularly challenged John King's unwillingness to call him out on it.

The Daily Show
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Listening Post

2012-01-24T10:15:00.000-05:00

Violens are a Brooklyn-based trio that sound like they came out of London, circa maybe 1964.

This is one of those little songs that's tough to get out of your head once it's lodged in there.

Here's Violent Sensation Descends.

Listening Post

2012-01-23T11:00:00.001-05:00

Sleigh Bells are back and the first single off their new album kicks all kinds of ass.

Plus, yeah, Alexis Krauss remains ridiculously hot.

This is the appropriately titled Comeback Kid.

Let's Stay Together

2012-01-20T13:45:00.000-05:00

Dear God is this one cool motherfucker.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the President of the United States -- singing Al Green.

The Bob & Chez Show After Party 1.20.12

2012-01-20T11:50:00.000-05:00

Join the After Party Here

Star Trek Fans Aren’t All Virgins; Chez’s Experiences with Ecstasy and Heroin; Anthony Bourdain versus Paula Deen; Food Network; Cable Television Executives; Good Television versus Bad Television; The Steven Weber Tweet of the Week; Bob’s Scary Ron Paul Hate Mail; The 10 Most Conservative Movies; and other assorted crap.

The Bubble Genius Bob & Chez Show 1.20.12

2012-01-20T11:45:00.003-05:00

Marijuana Legalization; Progressive Priorities; Newt Surges in the Polls; South Carolina and The Southern Strategy; Inspiration for Blogging About Politics; Mitt Romney’s 1% Problem; Andrew Sullivan’s Newsweek Cover Story; Convincing Progressives of Obama’s Successes; and much more. Brought to you by Bubble Genius.

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Listening Post

2012-01-20T11:30:00.000-05:00

Some of you may remember that several months back I posted a song from Mimi Page that I couldn't stop enthusing about, mostly because of the fact that it moved me in indescribable ways.

Well, Mimi wrote to me not long after that and sent me some of her other stuff. She's a sweetheart and it's all great -- so with that in mind I'm more than thrilled to pop up the title track from her new record.

This is Breathe Me In.

Breathe Me In by Mimi Page

Listening Post

2012-01-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

The new School of Seven Bells album, Ghostory, hits outlets on February 28th.

If you've got any taste at all, that's all I should have to say to get you really, really excited.

Here's the first single from the record -- Lafaye.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-18T15:30:00.000-05:00

"Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later."

-- Anthony Bourdain, via Twitter, on Paula Deen's announcement that she has diabetes, which just happens to coincide with a sponsorship by diabetes drug-maker Novo Nordis

Deen knew three years ago that she was a diabetic and yet she held off on telling anyone -- continuing to cook ridiculously terrible-for-you crap on television all the while -- until there was a way she could turn it into a cash cow (then promptly deep fry that cow in butter and eat it).

Pretty busy right now so I don't have time to really get into the back-story of Bourdain's ongoing, and perfectly understandable, loathe of Paula Deen -- but I can bring back what I had to say about it a few months ago.

"Quote of the Day" (Originally Published 8.20.11)

"She revels in unholy connections with evil corporations, and she’s proud of the fact that her food is fucking bad for you. I would think twice before telling an already obese nation that it is OK to eat food that is killing us. Plus, her food sucks."

-- Anthony Bourdain

I'm actually a couple of days late to the table, so to speak, on this one, as Bourdain's typically astringent comments have quickly earned him a pretty nice little public feud with Paula Deen.

It should surprise no one to learn that I'm a huge fan of Bourdain: He's a surly, unapologetic prick who doesn't care one bit what anybody thinks of him, going so far as to regularly pick fights with those he dislikes; he revels in his lengthy history of bad habits and in his connection to the seedy cultural underbelly where he believes the true individuals among us can still be found; and he's a spectacular writer, chronicling his adventures and misadventures with a kind of balls-out gonzo flair that would've made Hunter Thompson proud. The guy's got one of the best lives imaginable, and he knows it -- and yet he still finds things to bitch about, because that's just who he is. So when someone like Tony Bourdain figuratively backhands a Rachael Ray, Guy Fieri or Paula Deen, you know whose side I'm gonna come down on.

For her part, Deen's response has been pretty much by-the-numbers. She says, with a predictable lack of willingness to offend, that Bourdain needs to "get a life." Ouch. But while a toothlessly genteel bon mot from Deen's Southern Belle persona is par for the course, her defense of the kind of cooking she does is a little disingenuous. "You know, not everybody can afford to pay $58 for prime rib or $650 for a bottle of wine. My friends and I cook for regular families who worry about feeding their kids and paying the bills... It wasn’t that long ago that I was struggling to feed my family, too," she argues.

I've said before that what a person eats is his or her own business, but Paula Deen's working class martyr spiel is a bunch of opportunistic nonsense. First of all, everyone knows by now that it's possible to cook on a budget without running an IV drip of some liquified butter-and-Crisco concoction into your family's veins, thereby keeping the Wal-Mart "Fat-Eze" scooter industry in business well into the next couple of generations. The stuff Deen makes tastes fantastic; it's also horrible as shit for you. Case closed. And if you've ever been to The Lady and Sons, Deen's restaurant in Savannah, you know that she overcharges for all that supposedly humble fare anyway. Paula and her two kids have turned their unpretentious "aw shucks" image into a massive money-generating enterprise. There's nothing particularly wrong with this, of course -- until you start believing your own hype and playing the righteous indignation card by holding yourself up as some kind of hero to the common people.

Bourdain's already backed off a little, saying on Twitter that while he still thinks she's a "destructive influence" on the Food Network -- a spot on the dial that's a regular target of his, by the way -- Deen is still a "nice lady."

Rachael Ray, though? Yeah, she still has no redeeming qualities.

Life Happens

2012-01-18T13:00:00.001-05:00

Yeah, so about my lack of steady attention to the site lately.

I know that in the past I've had to occasionally make excuses for not keeping the content flowing around here, but the current situation is something entirely new for me. First of all, my move out to the other side of the country means that I'm not really getting started on anything until around 10:30AM on the East Coast so I'm automatically behind in the morning. Add to that a pretty nice new wrinkle: I'm actually living my life these days. I'm working long hours, yes, but when I'm not doing that I go out, I do dinners and drinks, I exercise, I hang out with friends and, as anyone who's paid the slightest bit of attention to my Facebook timeline recently can probably figure out, I've actually started kind of seeing someone. In other words, I'm doing things that make me happy -- occasionally just content, sometimes deliriously over-the-moon, but generally happy.

Now I just have to figure out a way to make sure the upkeep of DXM -- which has been like a home to me during the long period in which I felt like I had no home -- isn't something I neglect.

It's gonna take a little time, but I promise we'll get back on track soon. I'm eager to really start writing again.

Until then, though, it's nice to be able to say that your humble narrator is finally living a little.

Don't worry, I'm still a smart-mouthed son-of-a-bitch -- but at least I'm a more agreeable one.

Twit-ers

2012-01-18T12:00:00.000-05:00

Chances are by now you're aware that Wikipedia's basically on strike today, having taken itself down in protest of the draconian SOPA and PIPA bills that threaten to change the way the internet operates by consolidating an immense amount of power in the hands of corporate content providers. Well, while you know what the hell is going on outside your front door, there are needless to say a lot of people out there who've never even heard of SOPA, don't know a thing about the bigger internet strike happening in response to it, and who are now collectively scratching their heads and spewing outrage over the fact that Wikipedia isn't working.

They don't get it. And judging by a Twitter account that's now been set up to retweet their pissy, often misspelled and utterly hilarious tweets in response to losing Wikipedia for a day, it's easy to see why.

Twitter: @herpdepedia

Listening Post

2012-01-18T11:30:00.000-05:00

Somewhere over the past maybe year or so, National Skyline quietly became one of my favorite bands. Jeff Garber, formerly of Hum, has been letting oodles of largely new material trickle out via MTV's Hype label for months and months now, and a good portion of it is flat-out gorgeous, the kind of stuff music supervisors on television dramas spend their days praying to the gods for.

Here's Walk Away.

The Bob & Chez Show After Party 1.13.12

2012-01-13T12:00:00.001-05:00

It’s our first After Party podcast; We dive in with gratuitous amounts of profanity; Deadwood is American Shakespeare; The new and very awful Van Halen song; David Lee Roth has a punch-me face; Gary Busey is a psychopath; Reality shows are staged and stupid; Forms of ‘stupid’ that are actually funny; The Ceiling Fan Idiot; Forever Lazy; Masturbating in an MRI tube; and more.

Join the party here.

The Bubble Genius Bob & Chez Show 1.13.12

2012-01-13T11:45:00.000-05:00

Mitt Romney is the Presumptive Nominee; The Weakness of Romney; Romney is Not Like President Obama; We Continue to Tweak Ron Paul Supporters; Bob on Television; The Politics of Envy; The First Lady of Progressivism; Wall Street in the White House; and much more. Brought to you by Bubble Genius.

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Listening Post

2012-01-13T11:30:00.000-05:00

Their last album was freaking outstanding and their next one arrives in March.

Here's the first single from it -- the new song from Civil Twilight.

This is Fire Escape.

Quote of the Month

2012-01-12T12:00:00.000-05:00

"Oh, Lord. Oh, Lord — what are we just a bunch of numbskulls out here in the heartland of America?"

-- Sarah Palin, last night on Hannity

It's just too easy. Anyone? Anyone wanna step up on this?

Listening Post

2012-01-12T11:00:00.001-05:00

Yeah, I know -- I'm way behind the curve on these guys, but in my defense I had a thing.

Here's an emotional nuclear warhead from the Civil Wars.

This is Poison & Wine.

Quote of the Day, Jr.

2012-01-11T15:30:00.000-05:00

"Do you believe that Mitt Romney has a big penis?"

-- Prank caller to New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Wayne MacDonald during an interview on C-Span

First of all, no, I'm not one of those people who believes that politics, and in particular the political media, in our country should be treated with veneration and dignity -- far from it these days. So, yes, this is hilarious and shows the whole damn circus that is the Republican race for the White House the respect it deserves.

Second, who knows the kind of powers Mitt's magic underwear have. It's entirely possible he's huge. Although he'd still only be using it to fuck the working class.

Upper-Class Tweet of the Year

2012-01-11T11:45:00.000-05:00

In case you don't get the joke, here you go. As for the reference in the title of this post -- I can't help you with that if you don't already know.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-11T11:30:00.001-05:00

"CNN, why don't you just stick to what you do best? And as soon as we figure that out, we'll let you know what it is."

-- Jon Stewart, mocking CNN's new morning show and one segment in particular in which the hosts cold call someone at 5:30AM to wake him or her up

I want to like CNN. I really do. I especially want to be happy for Ashleigh Banfield, being that I worked closely with her, like her, and think she deserves an anchor slot. But as with everything involving that network, my good will takes a swan dive off the top of the Time Warner Center as soon as I subject myself to about ten minutes of the actual programming. It really is like the executives sit around a conference table and get high before dreaming up this nonsense -- that's the only explanation I can come up with for most of it.

Listening Post

2012-01-11T11:00:00.000-05:00

Real Estate - "Easy" from Tom Scharpling

It's obviously early in the year, but this clip could wind up eventually becoming one of the better music videos of 2012. It features Jake Fogelnest of Sirius XM U -- the network's indie channel -- and three very enthusiastic fans of Real Estate.

Here's Easy.

Quote of the Day, Jr.

2012-01-10T17:30:00.002-05:00

"Understand it's going to be a brutal bloodbath because this is such an important election cycle."

-- Florida Congressman, Tea Party darling and raving psychopath Allen West on the eventual fate of Barack Obama come November

Is there anything this asshole can say that isn't steeped in violent imagery? Look, I get that it's a comment that would normally be little more than benign, given that people use that particular metaphor all the time -- but this is Allen West we're talking about. The man honestly can't open his mouth without some horseshit-masculine, Peckinpah-esque reference to barbarism tumbling out onto the floor.

By the way, sorry for the low output lately. Got a lot of projects going on right now and still trying to get a handle on how I'm gonna keep things running at East Coast speed now that I'm out west. Things will get back to normal soon enough.

Bond Finger

2012-01-10T13:45:00.000-05:00

Yeah. This made me laugh out loud a good four or five times.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-10T11:30:00.000-05:00

"I want to report a rape. I feel as if my body -- or, at least my body of work -- has been violated by the movie, The Artist."

-- The first line of an ad in Variety taken out by Kim Novak in which the star of Vertigo complains that the recent, nearly silent film The Artist samples a line from Bernard Hermann's score for the Hitchcock classic

See, this is why Garbo made the wise choice to disappear from public life: She knew that eventually all aging starlets wind up looking like ridiculous, self-important caricatures who just need to shut the hell up for their own good, lest they end up sullying their legacies by melodramatically accusing movie producers of "rape."

Listening Post

2012-01-10T11:00:00.000-05:00

I was going to post the new Van Halen single, Tattoo, this morning because I still have fond memories of the band and of Diamond Dave. But then I heard it and it's quite possibly the worst song in the history of recorded music.

So, hey, there's always this catchy little track from Fun.

Here's We Are Young.

All Things Shining

2012-01-09T14:30:00.000-05:00

Sometimes things don't work out the way we planned. And sometimes that's a very good thing.

I came out to Los Angeles with the intention of putting in a couple of months of freelance work, then turning around and heading back to Miami. That was the plan. It's not anymore. Since arriving two weeks ago, the work and the opportunity have piled up exponentially, friends old and new have embraced my older-and-slightly-wiser ass, and I've felt a burst of energy and momentum that I haven't known in years. Bottom line: What started a couple of months ago with finally finding my footing after years of pain and depression has evolved into, believe it or not, a little happiness and honest-to-God optimism.

I've needed to get a life for quite a while -- and damn if I didn't find one in the last place I ever expected.

So that's it. I'm staying in California.

Anybody wants to know how I am, I can finally answer: I'm good.

Listening Post

2012-01-09T11:00:00.000-05:00

God how I love this little band.

I honestly can't think of a better way to start the week than with music from the Weepies.

This is Can't Go Back Now.

Whatever you do today, make it count, folks. It's not so bad out there.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

2012-01-07T12:00:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since I've posted one of these, and since I'm staying right behind the Hollywood Bowl, this clip seems particularly fitting.

From 1949, here's Bugs Bunny in Long-Haired Hare.

The Bubble Genius Bob & Chez Show 1.6.12

2012-01-06T11:15:00.000-05:00

We Launch on Washington, DC Radio; Rick Santorum’s Racist Remarks; The Cult of Ron Paul; Newt Gingrich Is a Whiny Diaper Baby; The Southern Strategy is Back; Who’s Really on Welfare; CNN’s Ridiculous Coverage; Mitt Romney Off Prompter; and much more Brought to you by Bubble Genius.

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Listening Post

2012-01-06T11:00:00.001-05:00

Hey, kids -- it's Cut Copy's Need You Now.

Happy Friday.

That's all I got.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-05T12:30:00.001-05:00

"Folks, the Republican Party has been in a mad rush to its extreme white wing, and Rick Santorum has been there waiting the whole time."

-- Al Sharpton on MSNBC

A lot of hay is already being made of this comment, with people asking whether he actually meant to say "white" or if it was simply a gaffe. And by people I mean the three households nationwide who watch Al Sharpton's show and the internet media who make money and score page views by blowing up any dumb thing anyone says on television into an earth-shattering controversy.

Did Sharpton really mean to say "white wing?" Well, on the one hand he's conditioned himself to see blatant racism everywhere he looks, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he naturally ran his views on Santorum through that prism -- nor would it be a shock if the racism center of his brain simply misfired, Tourettes-like, because it had been a while since he'd said anything racially incendiary or just plain blamed whitey for something. On the other hand, I don't get the idea that Sharpton's mind is stratified enough to be capable of dynamic repression, so I'm not sure a Freudian Slip is even possible. Chances are he just fucked up the word "right" because he's a buffoon who can't go two minutes without tripping over his own tongue.

Current Main Event

2012-01-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

It's tough to take anything Hamilton Nolan says seriously simply because every time I see his byline in Gawker I'm immediately reminded that he looks like the product of about six generations of brothers and sisters having sex with each other.

Still, his take this morning on the bitter feud brewing between -- wait for it -- Keith Olbermann and ~~(insert employer here)~~ Current TV is pretty dead-on, at least insofar as it offers a warning to anyone else inexplicably considering bringing the toxic cloud that is Olbermann into his or her workplace.

Once again, Keith is engaged in a very public fight with his bosses and once again it's everyone's fault but Keith's. At this point, hiring Olbermann is like dating me: Yeah, it's got its occasional moments of brilliance and bliss, but there's just too much well-documented history for you to want to seriously consider it. As they say, 50,000,000 Elvis fans can't be wrong.

Gawker: "Keith Olbermann: Not Worth It" by Hamilton Nolan/1.5.12

Listening Post

2012-01-05T11:00:00.000-05:00

When it comes to dance music, even confectionery pop dance music, they simply do it better overseas. Whether it's Sweden's Robyn or this very cool and shockingly talented girl from England, Katy B, it just feels like dance artists outside the U.S. try harder, reach farther outside pop's comfort zone, and take their game a little more seriously.

Case in point: The Katy B album was honestly one of the best things released last year.

Here's Broken Record.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-04T11:15:00.000-05:00

"Good Lord, again with the social media screen? This is the third hit and I still don’t understand what the hell this thing shows."

-- Anderson Cooper, last night on CNN, who seemed to be the only one who understood the absurdity of both the predictably over-the-top technology used by the network during its Iowa caucus coverage and the fact that anybody was staying up past 1:30AM to cover a relatively meaningless event anyway

Listening Post

2012-01-04T10:30:00.001-05:00

Yet another decent way to start off 2012 -- with new music from Our Lady Peace.

Here's their new single, Heavyweight.

We Will, We Will Stone You

2012-01-03T13:00:00.001-05:00

This is fascinating stuff. And by fascinating I mean thoroughly disturbing and not the least bit surprising.

Michele Humes: Global Ad Campaigns Diverge to Chilling Effect/1.3.12

No Rest for the Working

2012-01-03T13:00:00.000-05:00

Just a heads up that although it may be a new year, I've got a massive project still on my desk leftover from 2011 -- and the deadline for it is fast approaching.

In other words, it's gonna be slow around here for the next couple of days.

Sorry, kids.

Listening Post

2012-01-03T09:00:00.001-05:00

Swedish trio Miike Snow's debut album was one of my favorite records of 2009. Now they're back with a brand new single, and it certainly won't disappoint anyone who loved their last effort.

Can't say there's a whole lot to this video, but the song's great.

This is Devil's Work.

Air Heads

2012-01-02T10:45:00.000-05:00

Now that Cesca has gone ahead and made it public, I can follow suit: our little podcast, The Bubble Genius Bob and Chez Show, is coming to a radio near you for 2012. Well, it is if you happen to live in the DC area.

Yesterday a new progressive talk channel, WPWC 1480 AM, launched in the DC market and as it ramps up it'll feature the likes of Thom Hartmann, Stephanie Miller, David Shuster, Sam Seder, Lizz Winstead and Cliff Schechter (also Ed Schultz, but I hear he comes with a year-long pass to the all-you-can-eat buffet at Sizzler as a package deal, so you kind of have to include him). Among these illustrious voices, you can throw in Bob and me, since our show will be part of the line-up, airing Sundays from 3PM-4PM.

Obviously this means I'll have to curb my foul language, which won't be easy. That's why I'm now wearing a shock collar around my genitals that activates whenever I swear. Hopefully this will act as a kind of aversion therapy; it's not one of the uses described in the back of the magazine I got it from, but I'm improvising.

Anyway, consider this our first step toward terrestrial radio domination. You've been warned.

By the way, the line of groupies forms to the left.

Listening Post

2012-01-02T10:30:00.000-05:00

This is one of those songs I've continued to go back to over the past decade or so. Never really get tired of it.

Here's Travis -- Side.

Listening Post

2012-01-01T12:30:00.000-05:00

As is tradition around here on this day -- it's Death Cab for Cutie's New Year.

Hope everyone had a great night -- and not too painful a morning.

Good luck to all of us in the coming year.

By the way, it's 75 and gorgeous in Los Angeles this morning. Not a bad way to kick off 2012.

Picture of the Day

2011-12-31T15:45:00.000-05:00

At Bachmann campaign HQ

The 25 Best Singles of 2011 (5-1)

2011-12-31T11:30:00.001-05:00

5. Elbow -- Lippy Kids

Youth, friendship, longing and just a hint of regret made up Elbow's stunning tale of wistful nostalgia, and when frontman Guy Garvey asked about kids, "Do they know those days are golden? Build a rocket, boys!" it brought a knowing smile to your face and warmed your heart.

4. Wye Oak -- Civilian

It started off simply enough, with a little guitar, a droning drum-line and Jenn Wasner's haunting vocals -- but as the song began its build to a ferocious, near-biblical crescendo, it grabbed you by the throat and would not let go.

3. Adele -- Someone Like You

There's just no denying the force of nature that is Adele -- and her ode to resignation in the aftermath of a painful break-up was the most emotionally devastating song of the year. We've all been there.

2. Manchester Orchestra -- Simple Math

The linchpin of a concept album about a young man questioning everything in his life, Simple Math as a single perfectly encapsulated the epic scope of what singer-songwriter Andy Hull was going for across ten songs. It was powerful, it was passionate, it was heartbreaking, and when Hull desperately belted out, "Believe me, everything is brilliant," you knew it was that too.

1. Bon Iver -- Holocene

Plaintive, lovely and moving in ways that can't be properly described in mere words -- at least ones not set to music -- the second single from Bon Iver's miraculous self-titled 2011 album was something more than special. It was a song you felt from start to finish, and the year's best musical creation.

Yeah, That Boycott's Gonna Work Great

2011-12-30T21:45:00.000-05:00

Quote of the Day, Jr.

2011-12-30T18:00:00.001-05:00

"She is certainly one of the people you would look at. I am a great admirer of hers, and she was a remarkable reform governor of Alaska. She's somebody who I think brings a great deal to the possibility of helping in government and that would be one of the possibilities. There are also some very important cabinet positions that she could fill very, very well. I can't imagine anybody that would do a better job of driving us to an energy solution than Gov. Palin, for example. Tell her that she would certainly be on the list of one of the people we would consider."

-- Newt Gingrich on the possibility of naming Sarah Palin as a running-mate or to a cabinet position

I'm really not sure there's a way for these people to become any more of a joke.

Picture of the Day

2011-12-30T16:00:00.000-05:00

For those who thought Bloomberg had run out of things to tax. By the way, this is why Mario Cantone always wound up paying just a little more than the women on Sex and the City.

Quote of the Day

2011-12-30T12:30:00.000-05:00

The 25 Best Singles of 2011 (10-6)

2011-12-30T11:00:00.003-05:00

10. The Beastie Boys w/Santigold -- Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win

They may be elder statesmen in hip-hop, but the Beastie Boys' decision to team up with Lower East Side alt-art idol Santigold proved to be a stroke of inspirational genius -- injecting funky life into a single that was one of many tracks on an album which proved the Beasties are doing anything but going gently into that good night.

9. TV on the Radio -- Will Do

They've been fierce and they've been wonderfully bewildering, but it was when TV on the Radio slowed their groove and added sensuality and just a hint of haunting melancholy that they produced their best song yet.

8. The Black Keys -- Lonely Boy

How good are the Black Keys? So good that they could release a song in late October that would push almost all the other great singles of the year aside. Lonely Boy didn't have the surprise or whimsy of Tighten Up, but what it had going for it was a driving beat and a kick-ass, bluesy guitar riff right out of a 70s road picture -- and that was more than enough.

7. Frank Ocean -- Novacane

Much like his role in one of the coolest songs of the year, Jay-Z and Kanye's lead-off track on Watch the Throne, No Church in the Wild, the mood on Frank Ocean's big single this year was pitch black. But unlike Church, Novacane found Frank not reveling in his imperial depravity but questioning it, and it's that "How the hell did I get here and is this really all there is?" humanity that made this song hit home. Plus, it's just damn sexy.

6. M83 -- Midnight City

Instantly memorable, slyly retro and flat-out great, French electronic maestro Anthony Gonzalez -- AKA M83 -- rode the chill-wave to something much more profound than many of his contemporaries, producing not just one of the best songs but one of the best full-length albums of the year.

Tomorrow: 5-1

There's Always Room for One More

2011-12-29T19:00:00.000-05:00

I was once fired by CNN for blogging. Just keep that in mind as you read this.

Gawker: Extorting David Letterman Not Enough To Keep Guy Out of a TV Job/12.29.11

The only way this story is surprising to you is if you've never worked in TV news and understand nothing about what a cesspool of drunken, drug-addicted, mentally unstable amorality it is. It's the Island of Fucked-Up Toys.

So, to recap: Joe Halderman, who went to prison for trying to blackmail one of the most famous people in television, has a TV job again (ID Discovery). Larry Mendte, who confessed to having an affair with his co-anchor then pleaded guilty to federal charges of rifling through her e-mail, has a TV job again (WPIX in New York City). Alycia Lane, that co-anchor, who was once arrested for allegedly slugging an NYPD cop, still has a TV job (KNBC in Los Angeles). Richard Quest, who was arrested in Central Park with a dildo in his shoe, rope tied around his balls and meth in his pocket, never lost his job and is still employed by CNN.

I blogged. And I guarantee you I'm still radioactive and will be for the foreseeable future.

God, I love that fucking insane business.

One More Day of Summer

2011-12-29T16:15:00.001-05:00

Alright -- if this doesn't make you smile, you're a communist.

Quote of the Day

2011-12-29T14:30:00.001-05:00

This entire article:

The Huffington Post: "Vote Against Obama in Iowa" by Cenk Uygur/12.29.11

I wanted to pick just one part of it, but I couldn't -- the whole thing is so deliciously, laugh-out-loud stupid.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Cenk Uygur. At least now we finally know for sure that the reason he talks like he has marbles in his mouth is that he's fucking retarded.

In the Cut

2011-12-29T12:18:00.004-05:00

The surgery I underwent five years ago is known as "non-invasive." That's an almost comical misnomer, as you quickly come to realize that the term is a relative one, with most doctors only considering a procedure invasive if it requires that they cut or drill into you and hack off various parts of your physical person.

In today's Salon, Mary Elizabeth Williams writes about the thing the medical community doesn't often warn you about when you undergo a potentially life-saving surgery: that it can leave devastating psychological and emotional scars to go with the physical ones, and that somewhere along the line doctors may have become so impressed by what they're capable of as a matter of routine that they forgot how violative their actions can seem to the patients.

There's a reason "body horror" is its own sub-genre of scary movies.

Salon: The Post-Surgery Secret Your Doctors Won't Share/12.28.11

The 25 Best Singles of 2011 (15-11)

2011-12-29T11:00:00.000-05:00

15. Ryan Adams -- Lucky Now

Six years after the hopeless heartbreak of Love Is Hell, Ryan Adams found a fragile optimism -- and the result was beautiful.

14. Foo Fighters -- Walk

Grohl and Company's exhilarating anthem about finding your footing and moving on was everything we've come to expect from them. And even though many called Wasting Light their most cogent album in years, the reality is that it merely cemented what we already knew: that over the course of 17 years, the Foo Fighters have quite possibly become the best band in rock and roll.

13. Florence + The Machine -- What the Water Gave Me

Florence + The Machine are evolving at a nearly miraculous pace, and the lead-off single to their 2011 album, Ceremonials, proved it in spades. Dark, lovely and dripping with mystery, it signified Florence Welch and her band as no mere flash in the pan.

12. Chase & Status -- Hitz

Dubstep gods Chase & Status teamed with 2011 breakout rapper Tinie Tempah and the result was one of the most authoritative and aggressive British DJ concoctions since the Prodigy slammed the planet with Firestarter.

11. The Joy Formidable -- Whirring

Fronted by a tiny, blonde force-of-nature named Ritzy Bryan, the Joy Formidable cranked out the most surprising single of the year simply because it gave you catchy, irresistible pop for most of its length -- then degenerated into a raw sonic blast at the end. The Big Roar was probably the most apt title for an album you were likely to find in 2011, given that this band sounds like a tour bus crash between My Bloody Valentine and Pantera.

Tomorrow: 10-6

Quote of the Week

2011-12-28T15:00:00.002-05:00

Yeah, it's from four days ago, but there's no way I can let this kind of hilarity pass by without popping it up here. Plus I so enjoyed the ridiculous outrage the last time I brought up the subject of Jesus's favorite lousy quarterback.

Needless to say, angry conservatives are now calling for a boycott of HBO. That should be effective considering how many hardcore Christians are big fans of True Blood and Hung yet will now be forced to cancel their subscriptions.

Adding: Big props to Andy Levy of Fox News's Red Eye, who's consistently one of the cleverest and genuinely smartest things on that otherwise barren wasteland of a network. This was his response to the Maher tweet "controversy" on Hannity last night: "He's a comedian. People need to stop being outraged by what comedians say. Part of their job is to say things that are outrageous... He's not a politician, he's not running for office. He's got a show on HBO, and he's a comedian. Who cares?"

Picture of the Day

2011-12-28T14:45:00.001-05:00

Overcome by grief at the death of "Dear Leader," mourners openly weep and gnash their teeth at the memorial service for Kim Jong Il today in North Korea -- and I laugh and laugh and laugh.

Which reminds me, I hope everyone's seen this by now:

North Korea Reports on Death of Kim Jong Il - watch more funny videos

Headline of the Week

2011-12-28T14:30:00.000-05:00

From the Huffington Post.

Well no shit.

The 25 Best Singles of 2011 (20-16)

2011-12-28T12:30:00.001-05:00

20. The Kills -- Satellite

A single that sounded like three-and-a-half minutes of pure, raw sex kicked off the best Kills album yet.

19. Friendly Fires -- Live Those Days Tonight

In a year in which the dance music scene was dominated by the ear-cleaning boom of dubstep, one of the best tracks of 2011 was an 80s-influenced dance floor anthem that you could not stop listening to.

18. Lykke Li -- Get Some

Swedish goddess Lykke Li's sensual, visceral declaration of authority provided us with the most memorable chorus of the year.

17. The Naked and Famous -- Young Blood

Remember what it felt like to be young, fearless and have the world at your fingertips? If you didn't, all you needed to do in 2011 was listen to this blast of pure audio exuberance.

16. Radiohead -- Lotus Flower

Codex was actually the better song that got worldwide airplay, but this was the closest Radiohead's come to releasing an actual single in years, and it was as mysterious and beautiful as anything they've ever done.

Tomorrow: 15-11

Market Crash

2011-12-27T12:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't had the chance to read my friend Steve Bunche's blog for a while -- for the record, his was the initial inspiration for this site -- and therefore missed the post he put up earlier this month that I swear is a must read. It's heartbreaking and infuriating -- and yet funny as hell.

Do yourself a favor and check it out.

The Vault of Buncheness: Lost in the Supermarket/12.9.11

Quote of the Day

2011-12-27T11:45:00.002-05:00

"You know and I know that she's not young enough or pretty enough to be the wife of a president."

-- Newt Gingrich on his first wife, Jackie, according to former friend and campaign official Kip Carter

Is it hearsay? You bet. But just tell me you can't hear Newt -- puffy, self-satisfied asshole that he is -- actually saying something like that. Especially when you consider how thoroughly the facts smack down the revisionist fairy tale he's now telling about his infamous first divorce.

The 25 Best Singles of 2011

2011-12-27T11:30:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my week on the road and the very big project still calling my name from the bowels of my laptop -- one that needs to be finished before deadline next Tuesday -- I have no choice but to keep the best singles list short this year. No, I'm not shrinking the countdown itself, just my commentary on the songs that made it into the top 25.

2011 was a damn fine year for music: We saw the popular rise of chill-wave and the domination in the states of dubstep, and the ethereal shoegaze sound that was so big in the 90s suddenly seemed to be reasserting itself everywhere. Also, interestingly, the very best singles of the year were down-tempo tracks -- some lush and lovely, some powerful and passionate, some just plain heartbreaking.

So let's begin our look back.

25. Beady Eye -- Bring the Light

Liam won the battle between the Gallagher brothers to see who could release the better post-Oasis record by being something Oasis hadn't been in years: fiery and a hell of a lot of fun.

24. Portugal. The Man -- Got It All

Big, irresistible hooks that would make ELO's Jeff Lynne proud, these guys were living proof that at least something good can come out of Wasilla, Alaska.

23. Cat's Eyes -- Face in the Crowd

From the Wall of Sound production, to the ominous horns, to the swinging 60s girl-group vocals, this song was like a goth Bond theme from the Connery era.

22. Yuck -- Get Away

Who knew there was a love for Dinosaur Jr. among Britain's indie underground? While we've heard this sound before, rarely have we heard a reboot/homage that's this catchy and refreshing.

21. Fucked Up -- Queen of Hearts

Honest to God, ferocious punk rock that was as audacious in scope as it was joyously blistering in its delivery.

Tomorrow: 20-16

The End of the Road

2011-12-27T10:00:00.004-05:00

Los Angeles, CA

Pulled in yesterday at around 1:30PM PT. 72 and sunny, just like I remembered.

Final Stats:

3,210 total miles traveled.

Last Songs on the Playlist:

Elliott Smith -- Angeles

Ryan Star -- Brand New Day

Stone Temple Pilots -- Glide

Listening Post

2011-12-26T10:00:00.000-05:00

The last leg of the road trip begins this morning. I'm giving up my posh hotel room in Vegas in favor of getting back into my now sparkling clean car and back onto the highway for the three-hour desert drive to L.A.

Here's Phantom Planet's California.

This has been an adventure, which is exactly what I wanted.

Goodbye

2011-12-25T16:46:00.003-05:00

I've been out drinking at Todd English's Pub most of the morning so this will be quick.

If you've read Dead Star Twilight you know about the very good friend of mine whom I called "Brando." If you read the updated version of the book, which includes a kind of "where are they now" afterword, you know that he's been battling stage four lung cancer recently.

Well a few minutes ago I got what I assume was a mass text sent out to everyone in his contact list telling me that he's died.

God how I loved that guy. Fuck. Just -- fuck.

I'll miss you, man.

"Hairy Chests Destroy Our Power"

2011-12-25T11:15:00.001-05:00

"NEWT GINGRICH" â a Bad Lip Reading Soundbite - watch more funny videos

Listening Post

2011-12-25T11:00:00.000-05:00

A little holiday number from the Raveonettes.

This is The Christmas Song.

Hope everyone got what they wanted.

...And To All a Good Night

2011-12-24T21:00:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Winter Wonderland

2011-12-24T18:53:00.012-05:00

Coconino National Forest, AZ

The Grand Canyon

In-N-Out Burger, Western Arizona (Didn't even make it to California before getting one of these)

The Aria Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas

Stats:

Arrived in Las Vegas right around 3:00PM PT. 2,933 total miles traveled.

Most Recently on the Playlist:

The Rolling Stones -- Gimme Shelter

Our Lady Peace -- Starseed

The Crystal Method -- Busy Child

Listening Post

2011-12-24T08:30:00.000-05:00

Cannot lie: My little wigwam provided the best night's sleep I've had so far on this trip. So glad I took the leap of faith and stayed here. This morning it's off to the Grand Canyon, followed by a sprint into Vegas where I'll be checking in at the Aria for Christmas Eve. Why leave it to Santa to bring you something special?

Here's Audioslave's Show Me How To Live

Fortress of Solitude

2011-12-23T20:15:00.001-05:00

Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

After a genuinely treacherous drive across an only recently re-opened I-40 -- we're talking snow and ice everywhere and wind gusts pushing the car all over the place -- I crossed the Arizona border around 3:30PM MT or so. After that, made a bee-line for the Petrified Forest, which, next to the Grand Canyon, is about the closest you can get to actually seeing the face of a benevolent god on this planet. These pictures don't even begin to do it justice. Not by a long shot. Tonight I'm staying in my own private wigwam, compliments of the legendary Wigwam Motel on old Route 66 in Holbrook, AZ. You know something? It's damn cozy. Time for dinner and a cold beer.

Stats:

Left Albuquerque, NM at 11:00AM MT, arrived in Holbrook, AZ at 5:28PM MT. 2,398 total miles traveled.

Most Recently on the Playlist:

Train -- Something More

U2 -- All I Want Is You

Dum Dum Girls -- Coming Down

Life Goes On

2011-12-23T10:38:00.006-05:00

Last night's dinner was with a guy I worked with for all of maybe five months back in late 2000 in L.A. Anyone who's read Dead Star Twilight knows what I was up to during that time period and therefore what I must've been like at work. Astonishingly, this person is one of quite a few who put in time with me during that brief era before I truly became strung out who still remembers me fondly, as someone with a good mind who had talent to burn. (Both the mind and the talent would be burned in short order.) The really ironic thing about this guy, though, is that it would be a couple of years later that he'd travel down his own road to full-blown, thoroughly horrific addiction. It was much different than my personal highway to hell -- there was a lot of West Hollywood partying and, from what I can gather, a total submergence into the meth scene that's destroyed so many good lives -- but the end result was pretty much the same: He lost everything and had to claw his way back to becoming, hopefully, a better version of the man he used to be.

What was interesting about the two of us sitting across a table from each other, was, well, everything. We weren't really great friends back in the day, just a couple of co-workers who admired each other's abilities. And now, as he said last night, here we are in Albuquerque, New Mexico on a Thursday night having dinner a decade later. His point was that you really don't know where life will take you, where the road ahead will lead or what it will reveal. He's got a good life and a good future here in Albuquerque -- which includes a damn terrific job and a guy he seems to be cultivating a healthy relationship with -- and despite the ongoing, everyday struggle all former users have to wade through, he's rigorous about staying positive and he's grateful for each new day he gets.

He's writing his own book, too -- which I have to believe will be a hell of a read once it's complete. A thematic refrain within it: pay attention to everything. Again, the future's completely uncertain -- whether you'll even have a future from one minute to the next is often out of your hands -- and the past is history. The only thing you have right now is now. It's the only thing you can be sure of and by its very nature the rarest gift imaginable because there will never be another time just like it. You'd be a fool to waste something that precious.

Word has it the roads are finally clearing and reopening. I'll probably be back behind the wheel soon.

Listening Post

2011-12-23T09:00:00.003-05:00

Oh how I love a challenge. A good night's sleep in Albuquerque, followed by an ugly "wake-up call": All the highways out of this city are currently shut down. Like, all of them -- in every direction. Could mean I'm stuck in this admittedly very nice, warm hotel room for another day, followed by a Cannonball Run to Vegas in the morning, or it could mean I just have to wait a few hours until things get moving again. We'll see, I guess.

Here's REM's Can't Get There from Here.

Into the West

2011-12-22T23:30:00.004-05:00

17 degrees and snowy as hell. Driving was -- challenging. Very happily in for the night after a terrific New Mexican dinner with an old friend in Albuquerque. Today's travels took me to Ft. Sumner, New Mexico, where Billy the Kid was killed, and through the ruins of various ancient towns along Route 66. The bitter wind, leaden skies and snow flurries made them seem even more forlorn and haunted. Gorgeous stuff.

Stats:

Stopped in Albuquerque, NM at 4:38PM MT. 1,966 total miles traveled.

Most Recently on the Playlist:

Patrick O'Hearn -- A Lovely Place To Be

The Rolling Stones -- You Can't Always Get What You Want

Jose Gonzalez -- Far Away

Listening Post

2011-12-22T10:30:00.000-05:00

Day 4 begins where Day 3 left off. The scenery's getting truly spectacular, though.

Here's Mazzy Star's Fade Into You.

The Great Wide Open

2011-12-22T10:15:00.012-05:00

Erick, OK

I dreamed about this place, as strange as that may seem. I visited it once before, years ago, and not long after had a dream in which I woke up in a strange bed in this long-since-decayed town and asked the girl next to me, "How did I get here?" She gave me a reassuring smile and answered, "You've always been here." Odd, I know. Erick is one of a thousand little stops along the old Route 66, ghost towns that years of rust and neglect by the outside world have transformed into inexplicably lovely still lifes. These places died on the vine, a vine which was strangled by a much larger and more powerful growth designed to make travel easier for the masses: the interstate. But they remain -- living museums of a bygone era and generation. And they are absolutely worth taking the time to stop and see.

Shamrock, TX

Amarillo, TX

My evening in a nutshell: Dinner and a room at the Big Texan Steak Ranch, where kitsch is Texas-sized. A monster steak and a couple of beers. Surprisingly good conversation with some other folks who were passing through. At around 6AM I heard the words, "It was nice to have met you," and a little laugh, followed by my motel room door opening and closing. It's been a long time. I don't think anyone will begrudge me a night of good, semi-clean fun. Ready to hit the road again. I'll be in Albuquerque later today having dinner with an old friend. Oh, and it's 24 degrees outside right now.

Stats:

Stopped in Amarillo, TX for the night at 6:48PM CT. Total number of miles traveled: 1,721. Number of bite marks on my neck: One (but it's a doozy).

Most Recently on the Playlist:

Mazzy Star -- Rhymes of an Hour

National Skyline -- Permanent Haze

Sneaker Pimps -- Post-Modern Sleaze

Where the Wind Comes Sweeping

2011-12-21T13:00:00.000-05:00

Reconsidering stopping in OKC. May blow straight through -- so to speak -- and onto Route 66.

Stats:

Crossed into Oklahoma at 11:30AM CT. 1,313 total miles traveled.

Most Recently on the Playlist:

BT -- Good Morning Kaia

The Dead Weather -- Treat Me Like Your Mother

Elton John -- Tiny Dancer

Listening Post

2011-12-21T08:30:00.000-05:00

A good night's sleep followed by a cup of early-morning coffee with my hotel room benefactor, Josh, who's a terrific guy I can't thank enough. Almost time to hit the road again, heading west toward Oklahoma City where I'll likely stop for lunch and to see an afternoon showing of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Beyond that, who knows? Why make plans?

Here's Morcheeba's Enjoy the Ride.

High Plains Drifter

2011-12-20T22:00:00.001-05:00

Driving pretty much all day. A couple of good stops, including Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga and just outside Nashville for lunch with Offspring drummer and extraordinarily great guy Pete Parada. Crossed into Arkansas at 7:38PM CT. Now finally stopped for the night after being delayed on an I-40 reduced to one prehistorically bumpy lane for several miles. Where am I? Little Rock. At the Courtyard Marriott, compliments of a very nice reader/listener named Josh. I'm saying this out loud only in the hope that Monica Lewinsky is still somewhere in the neighborhood, because given how exhausted I am right now I could totally handle a Clinton-style Happy Ending.

First, though, a drink. Yes, I need that.

Stats:

Arrived in Little Rock, Arkansas at 9:00PM CT. 1,112 total miles traveled.

Most Recently on the Playlist:

Aerosmith -- Draw the Line

Faces -- I'm Losing You

Underworld -- Beautiful Burnout

It Was All a Dream About Tennessee

2011-12-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

My God -- it's full of Cracker Barrels.

Stats:

Left Atlanta at 8:32AM EST, crossed into Tennessee at 9:51AM. 603 total miles traveled.

Most Recently on the Playlist:

Moby -- Shot in the Back of the Head

Ryan Adams -- Shadowlands

Matthew Good -- How It Goes

Listening Post

2011-12-20T07:30:00.000-05:00

Day 2 begins. Onward, upward and westward.

Here's Led Zeppelin doing Going To California.

Short Change

2011-12-19T22:30:00.000-05:00

Pulled into Atlanta at around 5PM. Dinner at Miller Union. Farm egg baked in celery cream with rustic toast, pork and peanut terrine with fig and bacon, and chocolate bread pudding with rum sauce and crème fraîche. Also a cocktail. The place is located a literal stone's throw from where I once lived. I could honestly stick my head out a window and see the loft apartments Jayne and I called home directly across the street. I drove around Atlanta for a while. Never really noticed what a beautiful city it is. People everywhere. 52 degrees, so bundled up just enough. Omnipresent holiday lights providing a cheerful glow. Restaurants and bars and stores and theaters. There's a new black box theater directly behind my old apartment. Just part of the monumental change that's taken hold in that neighborhood. It's no longer "up-and-coming," as it was once pitched to us. It's now very much arrived. I thought. Thought a lot. I still wonder sometimes what would have happened had I not taken the job in New York. If my wife and I had stayed in Atlanta. In our lovely loft. With our dog. And my good job. Would we still be together? Would things have been different? Is there a parallel universe in which we never left? Never drifted apart? Never broke up? Could I walk up the stairs in my old building, find a key, put it in a lock and walk into my old life? Would she be there? The person I once thought I knew. I miss that person sometimes. But she never actually existed. So if she was a phantom anyway, why can't she still be there? Up there. In that apartment. Waiting. The future I imagined for myself ready to be unlocked and lived, exactly as I'd hoped. But I know that's not possible. The past is meaningless. There's no going back. There are no do-overs. There's only here. Now. This. And forward. I leave in the morning.

Stats:

Stopped in Atlanta for the night. 532 miles total. End of Day 1.

Most Recently on the Playlist:

Death Cab for Cutie -- Passengers Seat

Elliott Smith -- Twilight

Liz Longley -- Little White House

Just Peachy

2011-12-19T13:15:00.000-05:00

Clermont, FL: To see this appear in my rearview mirror and pull alongside me -- it's gotta be a sign. Kowalski is with me.

Outside Leesburg, FL: Whoa. I had no idea. If I can get a full physical that includes a finger in my ass, I'm totally in.

A gas station in Ocala, FL: And you thought the freakshow was outside in the parking lot.

Welcome to Georgia.

Stats:

Left Sebring, FL at 7:42AM. Crossed the Georgia line at 12:53PM. 269 miles total.

Most Recently on the Playlist:

Middle Class Rut -- USA

The Black Keys -- Lonely Boy

Lykke Li -- Get Some

Listening Post

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

Every time I decide to drive anywhere for a serious length of time, especially if I'm heading west or toward the desert, this song is never far from my reach in some capacity.

Time to hit the road.

Here's U2's Where the Streets Have No Name.

Into the Arms of America

2011-12-18T19:00:00.003-05:00

"I was surprised, as always, by how easy the act of leaving was and how good it felt. The world was suddenly rich with possibility."

―- Jack Kerouac

"There's therapy in movement -- serenity in freefalling headlong into the unknown, particularly when what's known isn't so great. This is why, for a lot of people, the road is an anodyne. There's something indescribable about setting out with no particular destination in mind -- or with an eventual destination but no clear plan for how to get there -- and simply traveling. Going literally where the road takes you."

As pretentious as it seems to quote myself, I'm not sure I can come up with anything more profound than what I did the last time I made the decision to fling myself out into the heart of the country and eventually to its ragged edges. That's why I posted that second quote above: It was how I began my official announcement two years ago that let everyone know I was hitting the road for a while. While the last time around I had a goal but no real plan for getting there, this road trip will be slightly more disciplined; I know where I have to end up, when I have to be there and the basic paths I have to take to reach my destination. I'm going to Los Angeles. I need to be there by the middle of the holiday week between Christmas and New Year's at the latest. I'll be heading up through Georgia, across the 40 through Tennessee and Arkansas, and eventually along the Mother Road, Route 66, through Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, with a detour to the Grand Canyon and Vegas for Christmas Eve.

Unlike the last time I set out across the land, I'm not necessarily trying to find myself, heal any wounds or wander in search of, well, something. Something better. I'm simply traveling on my own -- something that nourishes my soul like little else.

So for the next week-and-a-half or so, DXM will be a bit of a road blog. I'm bringing my laptop and mobile broadband hookup, as well as my Galaxy Tab and Droid, so you can expect regular updates and pictures here, on Twitter and at Facebook as I move through the country; I'll be chronicling what I'm seeing, who I'm meeting, how many miles I'm clocking and, of course, what I'm listening to. The last time I did something like this, my ride was a roomy and comfortable Dodge 1500 pick-up; it served me well on the road. This time, things are a little different. I feel like I've found my footing recently: My mood's a little more sanguine and I've got a bit of fire back in my belly, in spite of the sadness I feel over not being with my daughter for Christmas for the first time in her young life, hence I'm unleashing my inner Kowalski. No, I unfortunately don't have access to a white '71 Challenger, but a modified 2010 Mini Cooper S will do just fine. It's lightning fast (thanks, Shark Injector), tight against the road, and it's an all-around blast to drive.

And beginning tomorrow morning, that's what I'm gonna do -- drive the hell out of it.

It's time to go.

Hope you all enjoy the ride.

The Bubble Genius Bob & Chez Show 12.16.11

2011-12-16T08:45:00.000-05:00

Last Show of 2011! Indefinite Detention; Habeas Corpus; The National Defense Authorization Act; The Greatest Christmas Movie Ever: The Exorcist III; Debtors’ Prison; Exploiting Post-Recession Pain; Robotic Customer Support Operators; The War Against Christmas; Marketing Christianity; The Bob and Chez After Party Begins Next Month; and much more. Brought to you by Bubble Genius.

Listen and subscribe on iTunes

Download the mp3 (64 minutes, 25mb)

Listen on your smartphone via Stitcher.com

Listening Post

2011-12-16T08:15:00.000-05:00

A lot of bands are doing the ethereal neo-shoegaze thing these days, but few do it with as much gorgeous mystery as Warpaint.

Here's the eponymous track from them.

Have a good weekend, kids.

The Measure of a Man

2011-12-16T01:30:00.004-05:00

Anyone who's read this site for any length of time knows how I feel about Christopher Hitchens -- and just about everyone understood once his cancer diagnosis was made public that it was only a matter of time before we had to say goodbye to him. Today, unfortunately, is that day.

There's an almost comical irony to the fact that I can't even begin to find the words to properly explain the indelible mark that Hitchens's brilliance, fearlessness, and all-around larger-than-life presence has left on the world around him over the last six decades -- the irony being that those very words would likely come easily to him, and did, right up to the end. He lived his life with a kind of conviction few of us could muster, turning an intellect so virgorous that one would normally imagine it as a cold and sterile instrument into a weapon of pure human passion. He regularly challenged the expectations and sensibilities of even his fiercest defenders, forcing them, as he did everyone else, to accept that the mark of a truly exceptional mind was the willingness to not simply break with conventional wisdom but to sometimes angrily turn against the opinions of your idols. Put simply: Hitchens never expected you to agree with him all the time, even if you were someone who admired the way his brain worked and reveled in his ability to bring that genius to the page; on the contrary, he'd probably think quite a bit less of you if you did.

Sometimes it felt like he argued simply for the sake of arguing, but he was never some grotesque and gratuitous provocateur, pushing buttons in the hope of drawing attention that would be its own reward; his militant intelligence, scalpel wit and irrepressible tongue never felt self-serving. What Hitch was doing -- always doing -- was flexing a muscle so fucking powerful that, like the many other unabashedly human impulses he exhibited, not even he himself could completely control it.

In the end, Christopher Hitchens was something few of us can claim to be -- a completely honest man. Honest in his beliefs. His faults. His vices. Intellectually honest. And what he may be remembered best for: honest in his willingness to voraciously live the one and only life he knew he had.

Here's to you, Hitch.

Vanity Fair: In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens/12.15.11

Quote(s) of the Day

2011-12-15T16:30:00.000-05:00

Years ago, Matt Taibbi put together a bracketed, March Madness-style competition that pitted the various hacks in the world of journalism against each other in an effort to see who would emerge as the single worst offender. It was actually called "Wimblehack," though for the life of me I can't remember who ended up being the Last Hack Standing at the time, at least as Taibbi saw it.

Well, in the spirit of that, Salon's Alex Pareene is apparently making it a December tradition to count down the year's most impressive practitioners in the ever-broadening journalistic sub-genre of absolute hackdom. Do yourself a favor and keep up with his picks over the next couple of days or so. These are my favorite moments so far:

#17 John Stossel

"Stossel’s a ridiculous local-news 'consumer watchdog' reporter who discovered Milton Friedman. He’s the worst of simple-minded sensationalist television news masquerading as a maverick because he’s 'politically incorrect' (a term that when self-applied invariably means 'an asshole')."

#16 Andrea Peyser

"Peyser is the New York Post’s resident joyless puritanical scold with a particularly Murdochian obsession with sex. Week in and week out, her column — which has expanded to become an entire page in the physical paper — details precisely which women are hookers, sluts, gold diggers and tramps (hint: most women, besides some wronged wives) and which men are whore-mongers and perverts (every Democratic politician alive)."

#14 Joe Scarborough

"Nothing sums up everything hatable about cable news and politics and possibly America itself better than 'Morning Joe,' MSNBC’s daily extended advertisement for Starbucks products and Joe Scarborough’s odd belief that he is funny and charming... Every morning he and Mika Brzezinski -- who either pretends to be a weak-willed flighty moron because she thinks it’s necessary for her continued professional success as Joe’s oft-belittled second banana/screwball love interest or who is actually tragically stupid -- perform the world’s most self-satisfied kaffeeklatsch (along with Willie Geist, the former Tucker Carlson sidekick and a man born to play the guy who dies first in a war movie)."

#13 Megyn Kelly

"I imagine that perma-sneer, that disgusted look of disbelieving contempt that remains plastered on Kelly’s face during the entirety of 'America Live,' disappears the minute the red light on top of the camera goes off, because Megyn Kelly doesn’t actually give a shit about the National Day of Prayer or seriously believe the New Black Panther Party represents a threat to democracy. She’s just happy to have a job doing something she loves: being a reliable bile-delivery system for a massive political messaging organization."

Listening Post: Tattoo You Edition

2011-12-15T10:30:00.000-05:00

A little something extra for you this morning, since I'm slammed with work. When it comes to the soundtrack to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a lot of the focus has been on Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Karen O's cover of Zeppelin's Immigrant Song. As much as I love that track -- and God do I -- there's a dark horse cover on the record that I've found myself listening to over and over again since first hearing it.

It's the album's closing song: Trent and Atticus's "band" How To Destroy Angels, with Trent's wife on vocals, doing Bryan Ferry's gorgeous Is Your Love Strong Enough -- itself from the soundtrack to the 1985 Ridley Scott film Legend.

It was a fantastic song to begin with and I really like what they've done with it.

Listening Post

2011-12-15T08:15:00.001-05:00

Yup, I'm gonna continue to post just about anything of decent quality that I can get my hands on from this band, because they really are one of my favorites these days. I want to cuddle with Genevieve Schatz. Is that creepy?

Here's Company of Thieves doing Nothing's in the Flowers live in-studio.

(Not long after I posted this on Facebook, someone else sent me this. And it just made my morning. Dear God is it good.)

Rock Is Dead

2011-12-14T13:30:00.007-05:00

A musical. Featuring Broadway versions of Night Ranger, Journey, Starship and Def Leppard songs. Starring Catherine Zeta-Jones as the obligatory uptight, anti-rock crusader cliché and Tom Cruise method-acting his way into skin-tight leather pants to play a 70s-era rock god (for the glory of L. Ron).

Somebody please, for the love of all that's holy, stop the Glee-ification of American culture.

I would seriously rather have a screwdriver jammed into my brain through my ear, like Dennis Hopper's mad bomber did to that guard at the beginning of Speed, than sit through ten minutes of Rock of Ages.

Watch this if you dare.