The Soundboard: Big Bang Boom

Posted on October 5, 2006 by Phil Kadath

Last week we were travelling through 1968. We have now arrived back in the 21st Century.

I originally purchased the album which today’s tracks come from last year via Amazon. Sadly, the album got damaged in transit and was returned to the seller. They wrote to let me know that they would refund my money and then email me when they got another one in stock.

Needless to say, I never got an email.

I was cleaning out my Amazon “Wish List” folder during the down time caused by getting hacked in July and saw it still in there. I found a seller with a good price, bought it and received it in the mail shortly thereafter.

After the first listen, I cursed the bastard postal worker who damaged my first purchase because this album rocks so damn hard that I felt my life had been incomplete until I heard it. OK, maybe it isn’t that groundbreaking, but it is definitely one of those albums that makes you want to tell people about it and suggest they buy it.

The album is “Hold Your Color” by Pendulum.

From what I can gather, they are a Perth, AU based electronica group of the ‘Drum & Bass’ variety. But then again, they can’t really be roped into just one classification because the music is just huge. I don’t mean “huge” as in large file size either. The sound is so all encompassing that it surrounds your head and you know that they filled all sixty tracks on their recorder for nearly every tune on the album to make it that big.

Depeche Mode never sounded this huge. Prodigy, The Crystal Method, Fatboy Slim and The Chemical Brothers don’t sound this huge. Even the Propellerheads album ‘Decksanddrumsandrockandroll’, as excellent as it was, didn’t sound this huge and they had Shirley Bassey on their album.

If you can imagine Massive Attack, with their sampling prowess, getting together with Rush and their ability to make huge, arena filling sounds, then you might just have and inkling as to what I’m talking about.

But enough about size matters, let us get to the tunage.

Today’s selection is in two parts because the main track has an intro that is necessary in order to “get it”. You will want to right click and ‘save target as’ on both tracks and then play them consecutively.

Youse guyz with subwoofers hooked to your PCs are in for a treat!

Prelude – Pendulum

Slam – Pendulum

I’ll be featuring these guys for at least the next two weeks to try and entice you all to buy this album. Then, maybe, I’ll bring in some of the above mentioned groups so as to give a comparison.

Coincidentally, they also have a new mix album coming out on Friday that should be in my mailbox sooner than later, provided the USPS doesn’t run it over.

Posted in Kewel! | 2 Comments

RNS Quote of the Day: 10/05/06

Posted on October 5, 2006 by Phil Kadath

We seem to have achieved the worst of both worlds: A system of regulation that goes too far while it also does too little.

This paradox is explained by the absence of the one indispensable ingredient of any successful human endeavor: Use of judgment. In the decades since WWII, we have constructed a system of regulatory law that basically outlaws common sense. Modern law, in an effort to be “self-executing” has shut out our humanity.

The motives were logical enough: Specific legal mandates would keep government in close check and provide crisp guidelines for private citizens. But it doesn’t work. Human activity can’t be regulated without judgment by humans.

The Death of Common Sense – Philip K. Howard

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Obviously

Posted on October 5, 2006 by Phil Kadath

The left’s idea of “economically stable” does not match mine.

Unless Social Security and Medicare are revamped, the massive burden from retiring baby boomers will place major strains on the nation’s budget and the economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday.

“Reform of our unsustainable entitlement programs” should be a priority, he said in prepared remarks to the Economics Club of Washington. “The imperative to undertake reform earlier rather than later is great,” Bernanke added.

Of course, since they have an entire segment of the population convinced that Clinton left the country with a surplus of funds and no deficit, they probably feel the right to have a number of definitions that don’t match with reality.

Posted in Freaks, Mutants, and Morons | Leave a comment

No Response

Posted on October 5, 2006 by Phil Kadath

Just an FYI, I got no response from either Schram, Carlson or Carson from my email yesterday. Not that I was truly expecting one.

I only hope that it was because there were many other writers other than myself.

I listened to as much of the web replay as I could before going to work yesterday and heard nothing on the topic or a retraction/apology. It is kind of sad, really.

Posted in Life in the Atomic Age | Leave a comment

The Dumbest Thing I’ve Read All Day: 10/05

Posted on October 5, 2006 by Phil Kadath

What with all the talk about the homosexual alcoholic former Senator who swapped sexually suggestive messages with pages, the left’s usual daily writing of stupid things slowed down a bit, which would account for the absence of these posts for the past couple days.

But you knew it couldn’t last forever.

In fact, they are now writing stupid things on the topic of the homosexual alcoholic former Senator who swapped sexually suggestive messages with pages, for which it has been discovered that people on that side of the politcal aisle held back the evidence for an “October Surprise” and giving them something to rant about.

But that doesn’t keep them from complaining

Chris Bowers at MyDD

Conspicuous Lack of National Polls in Wake of Foley Scandal

When Bush’s approval is rising, more polling firms conduct polls of Bush’s job approval. Don’t believe me? Well, it is true, and Professor Pollkatz can prove it.

You can bet that if a big scandal had broken out last Friday that was harmful to Democratic chances in this election, that there would already be several congressional generic ballot polls completed and widely reported on. You can bet that those polls which were least favorable to Democrats would be the most widely reported on of all. You can bet that poll or polls would be worked into a national media narrative of how Democrats are plummeting in the upcoming elections, and Republicans are likely to retain control.

Other than a half a load of dubious circumstantial evidence gathered by partisans, they’ve got not a whiff of proof of their allegations.

But hey, when you have a conspiracy theory, you can’t actually investigate. That would get in the way of your whining.

Posted in The Left is Never Right | Leave a comment

RNS Quote of the Day: 10/04/06

Posted on October 4, 2006 by Phil Kadath

When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), after years of hearings, passed a rule requiring that specific equipment be put into smokestacks to filter Benzine, a harmful pollutant, Amoco complied and spent $31 Million at its Yorktown, Virginia, refinery. In a chance encounter on an airplane between James Lounsbury of the EPA and Debora Sparks of Amoco led to a discussion about the frustrations and inadequacies of environmental law. One thing led to another and, with some trepidation, Amoco let a team from the EPA into its Yorktown plant to see how the environmental rules, written in windowless rooms in Washington DC piled high with scientific evidence and legal briefs, actually worked in practice.

The EPA found that its precisely drawn regulation almost totally missed the pollution. The Amoco refinery was emitting significant amounts of Benzine, but nowhere near the smokestacks. The pollution was at the loading docks, where gasoline is pumped into barges. Just as fumes escape when you use an old-style nozzle when filling up your car at the gas station, large quantities of Benzine were escaping as Amoco pumped several hundred million gallons of gasoline every year into barges. Once the EPA and Amoco officials actually stood on the dock together and realized the problem, the solution was easy and relatively inexpensive. Meanwhile, pursuant to the rigid dictates of a thirty-five page rule that many government experts had spent years fine-tuning, Amoco had spent $31 Million to capture and insignificant amount of Benzine at the smokestack. The rule was almost perfect in its failure: It maximized the cost to Amoco while minimizing the benefit to the public.

Philip K Howard – The Death of Common Sense

Actually, Mr. Howard forgot to include that the equipment in the smokestacks cost Amoco nothing, since they simply passed the cost of the nearly uselss equipment on to the consumer, as every well run business would do.

But as the eco-socialists would tell us with a straight face; it was for our own good.

I still haven’t gotten all the quotes I wanted transcribed, but this one had been staring me in the face for far too long to hold it back any further.

Posted in Quote of the Day | 1 Comment

This is one of those times

Posted on October 4, 2006 by Phil Kadath

Last night as I was getting ready for work I was listening to an internet replay of a local morning radio show called “The Commentators”. Local right-wing station, KVI 570, put together it’s afternoon drivetime host, John Carlson, and a local general commentator, Ken Schram, to do this show from 9am to Noon.

I’m usually asleep during their regular broadcast time, but I was listening to the new drivetime host, Bryan Suits, via the web, got up to go eat when his show was over, came back to the computer room and their show was on. They were talking about the shooting that took place at the Amish school in PA, so I decided to listen.

Sure enough, it turned into a gun-bigot vs. gun rights argument, with Scham on the bigot side and Carlson supporting gun owners. I was having fun listening to the bigots getting their asses handed to them via reason and knowledge when Schram said something so insulting that I felt I had to write an email to the show’s producer (neither Schram or Carlson have a direct email addy).

I can count the number of times I have written a radio host on one hand and still have two fingers and a thumb available. Not any more.

You can read my email to Schram’s producer, Dave Carson (who will hopefully forward it on to Schram) below the fold. There you will find out what he said that made this “One of those times”.

Continue reading →

Posted in Freaks, Mutants, and Morons | 13 Comments

Check it out

Posted on October 4, 2006 by Phil Kadath

I got an email the other day from one Drew Cline, who really liked the Rush lyrics that occasionally appear in the squakbox atop the right hand column.

Drew has gathered together with a couple of other conservative journalists to create GunsNButter.Com, a satire site.

Now, I’m not much of a fan of political “joke”, “satire” or “comedy” sites because my time is very limited and I just don’t have a whole lot to spend hanging around giggling these days.

But yeah, you might want to swing in to GunsNButter every so often, if not more frequently. They had me at their top post, mocking the proposed 700 mile long fence along our sothern border.

Mexico to build 700 mile long ladder

After decades of discussion, Congress on Friday finally approved construction of a 700-mile fence along the U.S./Mexico border. Four days later, Mexico approved construction of a massive, 700-mile-long ladder.

They be rolled.

Posted in Kewel! | Leave a comment

Calling All Anti-Gitmo Fanatics!

Posted on October 4, 2006 by Phil Kadath

Do you remember that email that was going around a a couple years back about the people who were fussing over the treatment of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center and how they could, since they were always going on about how innocent the prisoners were, actually adopt one to live at their house instead of at Gitmo?

Well, it looks like we may actually have to start a program like that up

Britain to US: We don’t want Guantanamo Nine back

The United States has offered to return nearly all British residents held at Guantánamo Bay after months of secret talks in Washington, the Guardian has learned.

The British government has refused to accept the men, however, with senior officials saying they have no legal right to return.

So how about it, anti-imperialist peaceniks; Do you have a room ready for Jagdeesh? He’ll need halal meals, a new Koran, prayer mat and arrow pointing Mecca, trips to the library and exercise?

Put forth some effort to stop the bushitlermccheneyburton death squads!

Found at Captain Ed’s place

Posted in The Left is Never Right | Leave a comment

Nerfworld of the Unlearned

Posted on October 3, 2006 by Phil Kadath

Right here in my own backyard. You have to read these snippets to understand just how selfish and/or over-protective some of the people in Seattle are.

Too much homework can be harmful, critics assert

Is homework a waste of time?For years, students have whined that their book reports, math problems and science projects were pointless. Now, several authors, and even some parents, agree that homework isn’t worth much, at least for early grade-schoolers.“Homework generally is worthless. It’s all pain and no gain,” said Alfie Kohn, author of “The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing.” “No study has ever demonstrated any academic benefit to doing homework before high school.”

 

 

Tough tittes, boys and girls. If you haven’t the time to devote to parenting, maybe thou were not ready to become one? I can guarantee that a goodly number of these parents are only complaining because their “Me” time has to be spent on little Johnny and Suzie.

“How am I supposed to pay attention to Desperate Housewives when Billy keeps asking me math questions?”

But it gets worse

This fall second-grader Julian Forester has had plenty of homework, causing nothing but frustration inside his family’s Ballard home.

Many evenings Julian and his mother, Anne, sat down at 5:30 to tackle two sheets of work and finished at 7. The district’s guidelines say Julian shouldn’t have more than 10 minutes of homework a night.

The ordeal led to tears, eye rubbing and ultimately one exhausted 7-year-old.

“It was shocking how he was just so frustrated,” Forester said. “He was being so difficult, and he’s not a difficult child.”

So Forester pushed back. After a friend sent Julian’s Loyal Heights Elementary teacher an e-mail complaining about the work, Forester did the same, and the teacher responded. Now after Julian spends 15 minutes on one worksheet he can stop, as long as he has a note.

Fifteen minutes and then Mommy can excuse little Julian from hurting his wittle brain. What kind of lesson does she think this teaches the kid? Oh, that’s right, she’s not thinking, at least not about why baby Julian became a whining, co-dependant mama’s boy at age 30 when his boss asks him to work a little overtime at the deli-mart. Too bad Julian hadn’t learned to put enough effort forward to finish college.

It’s two damn sheets of either spelling or simple math exercises! How hard can it be? I don’t care that he’s seven. Finishing an assignment outside of instructor supervision is a scale model of self-governance. It teaches the student that there are rewards for doing what is right instead of what is easy.

Does anyone want to take me up on the bet that in ten years, mommy here will be complaining that Jules isn’t learning anything?

Posted in Academia and Other Nonsense | 5 Comments