Is it just me, or has there been, like, a lotta good music coming out lately? I’m thinkin’ specifically of albums by Danger Doom, Sigur Ros, My Morning Jacket and Franz Ferdinand.

Wow, it completely ate the second part of my post. Anway, it’s not just you, but it’s not just the bands you cite, either. It’s also stuff by New Pornographers, Dandy Warhols, Supergrass, Echo and the Bunnymen, Michael Penn, and the Super Furry Animals.

And Fiona Apple and Arcade Fire and Death Cab For Cutie and the Libertines and Bloc Party and (a local fave for me) Aubrey Debauchery and The Ex-Boyfriends (okay, another friend’s band) and The Lashes and…

Anyway, just wanted to take this open thread as an opportunity to warn anyone else of off topping Niall Ferguson — it’s like hittin’ a big bowl of warm tapioca. Cute in the face, but too loose “down there.” And halitosis!

Oh, and to mention that I have many cool new additions to my blogroll. Check them out!

non sequitur: as i’m sure most of you know, in and around paris riots have been going on for over a week with thousands of vehicles burned and some pretty serious violence against civilians and police. but let’s ask the important question…what are the wingnuts saying? look no further:

http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2005/11/03/parisriots/

LaShawn — I believe that was on that list of funny Mormon names somewhere on the interwebs…

I’d be more worried about Edgerrin James running roughshod over the defense…

fiona apple has something new out?

Finoa apple is still alive?

There hasn’t been a good album made since Pet Sounds.

From what I understand, and it’s been on now, so anyone who actually watched it can tell us whether this is true or not, the animated version of the Boondocks uses the “N”-word rather, um, frequently. That alone made me a bit uncomfortable with the idea. I’m caucasian, and though I just don’t use that word, it linda gives me the willies. Yes, civil-rights groups have successfully demonized that word (and rightly so!). I understand that freed from the restrictions of newspaper publication, Aaron McGruder is sorta feelin’ his oats, but still….

Oh, and “Disturbing, if true–” is ? 2005, Prof. Glen Reynolds.

Well Brad, at least you can console yourself by knowing that you have the poor, unfortunate Saints all to yourselves quite soon.

I’d really love to see the Boondocks Cartoon. It’s by far the most insightful (and funniest and saddest and ?.) comic running in mainstream papers today. I hated to see it get dropped by so many papers just because of its controversial and pretty frank themes. Thank god the local weekly picked it up and runs a week?s worth of strips at a time.

Amen to that PupH!

vyncent, Admiral: yes and yes. And I agree with Atrios’s Duncan: it’s a fine little album. Certainly a lot more coherent than her debut; at least now we know what she’s singing about…

marq – did you know Caucasian is a leftover term from the 18th century, based on discredited theories of race? (See the book Going Nucular by Geoffrey Nunburg) I usually use white because I don’t go around calling Asians Mongoloids or Africans Negroids, terms which correspond to Caucasian. (Not that you have to, but it’s food for thought)

Anyway, I saw the show, and they definitely used it alot, but it was to make a point, and I found it a pretty clever and sophisticated take on race and class relations in America. (I’ve just been arguing with a bunch of 15 year olds over on the IMDB boards about it)

It was funny, but it was kind of more of a ‘huh’ than a ‘ha-ha’ funny. Definitely, definitely watch it. It’s supposed to make you squirm a little.

PupH – nonsense! For one thing Workingman’s Dead came out since then, not to mention Bitches’ Brew

“Boondocks” is among the lamest comics ever made….it’s right up there with “Cathy”.

there’s only so much self-involved angst one can possibly be expected to suffer from those whose primary demons are mostly perceptual figments.

I never really liked the comic too much (although I haven’t really read it very often,) but I liked the show. I just watched it again, and I still thought it was pretty good.

Much better than 12 oz mouse or squidbillies or whatever this thing is I’m watching now on Adult Swim.

Squidbillies is funny. 12 oz mouse, not so much. The Boondocks was fair to middlin’. I love the comic, and I chuckled at the cartoon. I expect it will improve.

Please, don’t forget Deerhoof. Underground, but eerily awesome.

It makes sense that Boondocks is a lot funnier if you grew up in Oakland or Richmond (like me) than if you grew up in, say, Blackhawk or Orinda…In other words, I can understand why some might not find some of McGruder’s (sp? I’m too lazy to look up…) references “ha-ha” funny.

PupH – nonsense! For one thing Workingman’s Dead came out since then, not to mention Bitches’ Brew

Ianua Ditis – Don’t mind PupH he just likes Pet Sounds because he thinks that it’s about him. I may have to revoke his internet rights soon as he’s gone on a couple of anti-cat tirades.

after watching it a second time I laughed more. Stuff was funny, but I still think it was meant to be provocative more than humorous. (no reason it can’t be both.) For the record I come from the suburbs of NYC, not Blackhawk or Orinda (I actually have no idea where those places are…)

Pet Sounds is one of the best, though, up there with Revolver and Highway 61 Revisted. Great albums since then? I’d have to go with Odelay, OK Computer, Illmatic, Enter the Wu Tang (36 Chambers), Nevermind, Doolittle, Murmur, Achtung Baby, Fear of a Black Planet… OK, there’s a lot.

Also, SMiLE is really frickin’ good even though Brian can’t sing anymore.

Sorry Mr. Ditis — was using concrete examples of locales with richer and more established and more storied black history and culture (as opposed to those without) to try and find the possible disconnect that might explain why some people might get more our of Boondocks.

Certainly no offense was intended. If I wanted to cause offense, I’d make some sort of random genital-wart joke.

no offense taken. I know what you mean; I was on the IMDB boards last night, and there was one guy bitching about the fact that the kids dared to look at a white cop through the scope of a pellet gun and to ridicule a veteran of Iraq. (nobody answered me when I asked if they’d have been so outraged if it had been a black cop.) Other people there were saying that racism doesn’t really exist anymore. I probably should have asked if they were from Blackhawk or Orinda…
(One of them was from Florida…I had to leave after I found that out.)

Nah, I hope that the Pats wreck the Colts tonight. That will do 2 things for me – 1) it will mean the Panthers have the longest winning streak in the NFL, and 2) it could help my fantasy football team win.

But I will point out that people are starting to talk about the Panthers for the Superbowl again… and it’s not just because their cheerleaders have sex with each other in bathrooms before starting fights.

Nah, I hope that the Pats wreck the Colts tonight. That will do 2 things for me – 1) it will mean the Panthers have the longest winning streak in the NFL, and 2) it could help my fantasy football team win.

Oh man… I REALLY hope you don’t have the Pats’ defense on your team…

To Yosef: Huh? Tell me more.

Brad, the guy I’m playing against has Manning and Harrison, so I’m probably screwed.

Hysterical Woman, check out the link in the post on 3bulls called What a party! It’ll give you the details, but (alas) no photos.

Damn you americans and your television! I live in the great white north eh? And we don’t get the cartoon network (only it’s bastard Canadian brother Teletoon, which both sounds and acts like it should be a mexican station.)

At least We get the daily show tho… And our version of the comedy channel is picking up the Colbert report this monday… so all is not lost…

I suspect, Ianua Ditis, that at some point the cops were told to refer to “whites” as “caucasians” because it sounded less “racist” than “whites”. These things are, like, cyclical language fads. None of them make much literal sense. Thinking further back, I suspect that the idea that “whites” were of “caucasian” origin was supposed to sound better than saying they were “aryan”. But as long as concrete economic and political advantage and disadvantage exist, people will keep trying to change the labels because it is easier than changing the facts.