Wall Street: Less Responsible Than a Coked-Out NFL Running Back

The reason I keep pimping Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi is because I inevitably go, "Damn, I never thought of it that way" every time I read one of his essays. I probably do that because he's a helluva lot smarter than I am.

Wall Street: Less Responsible Than a Coked-Out NFL Running Back

Damn, I never thought about Great Depression v.2.0 that way.

But I did think of the Republicans' plan to pin their mess on liberals and poor minorities this way, taken from an earlier Taibbi blog:

There aren’t enough low-income minority homeowners in the remaining years of human history to create $62 trillion worth of pressure on the economy. You’ve got not billions but trillions of dollars tied up in the Wall Street equivalent of a craps game – the ruling class of the earth gambling away the whole world’s bank deposits on a dice roll, which is about as irresponsible a use of resources as can be imagined – and guys like York want to blame the blowout on a few black people who tried to do something absolutely and completely sensible with their money, buying houses they intended to live in.

I'd love nothing more than to offer a link to his blog, but I'll also keep pimping him to you all just in case.

Peace Through Rock & Roll

I guess it goes without saying that I pre-ordered Guitar Hero World Tour, but through some scheduling snafus I really didn't get any time with my new game until yesterday when I played the hell outta it.

Cliff Notes Review: Loads of fun; Great additions like drum and vocal tracks, create-a-rocker/guitar, loads of cameos, an Amoeba Records stage and an improved battle system that's more in the spirit of the game. Instead of beating them with tricks like snapped strings or amp overloads, you just gotta keep up with them in an intense jam session without getting booed off stage. This last touch goes with a much-needed step down in difficulty from the insanely hard Guitar Hero 3, which was often too brutal and competitive to be fun.

That said, I do prefer Rock Band, largely because of the setlist. Between the songs I've saved on the hard drive from the first game, the ones I've downloaded and those included in the second edition, it's a badass playlist that has a lot of tunes I absolutely love. There are some nice ones on GH4, but it lacks the "I gotta have that one" factor that the previous music games had. Definitely the weakest rundown to date.

Nonetheless, something very cool happened the other day as I finally got acquainted with both the game and the wonderful world of playing online.


You randomly get placed in a band and have nothing to go on in these anonymous gaming encounters except a screen name and character. Early on during the experience I found myself in a band with Dr Ice Berg and DiabolikLord. I'm not one for chit-chat, so I keep the headset that allows you to talk with your fellow gamers turned off. But upon being placed in this new band I was greeted with a strange "R0CKET King...Allllllooooooo, R0CKET Kiiiing?" coming from my speakers.

My silence was interrupted by the *other* bandmate, who began speaking German of all things. Then the first responded in kind. Soon, I was privy to a conversation that was likely taking place halfway around the world. I couldn't understand much...Actually I couldn't understand a damn thing that was said except when they mentioned a song title.

"Ich bin ein 'Love Removal Machine'"

"Ich möchte spielen 'Hot For Teacher'"

The funniest bit came when one of the dudes said something to the effect of, "Was wenn wir spielten 'The Joker' (Mimicing song's signature guitar effect) Weeeeeeet-wooooooo"

So as we ripped through a few songs, this gave me a vision of a better tomorrow, one in which a generation who have learned understanding and cooperation with people different than they are through years of joining forces via Xbox Live to hammer out Bullet For My Valentine songs stop blowing each other up over their nationalistic, religious or cultural differences.

Peace through rock & roll...Just like Rufus said it would be.

The Death of a Red State

This is another Rolling Stone essay written by the brilliant author of the Sarah Palin essay I pimped here a couple weeks ago.

The Death of a Red State

The author validates a hope I've long held; Racism, if not dead, is at least in critical condition in this country and Obama's color and exotic name really won't be issues for most of the voters 9 days from now. If true, it would explain the GOP's sudden struggles as they no longer have the same tried and true villains to use as a distraction.

The geeks shall inherit the Earth

Woman Arrested After Murdering Online Ex-Husband

I say throw the freakin' book at her. If some psycho chick messes with my musicians on Rock Band she better pray that the authorities get to her before I do.

What you *should* be watching every Wednesday

Yeah, I know what you're thinking: Here goes motorcycle boy telling us to watch a show about guys on bikes. Big f'n surprise, jerky.

The motorcycles in "Sons of Anarchy" are irrelevant, much like they matter little to the real life motorcycle clubs (Don't use the "g" word) the titular crew is based on. It's part of the culture and nothing more. This show just flat-out kicks ass.

"SoA" is the first episodic television show that I've followed since the "The Sopranos" bowed, and comparisons between the two are obvious. It's the tale of a crime family, only the Sons (Or SAMCRO: Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Originals, in case you heed my advice and then wonder where the name comes from) wears patched leather vests and wallet chains instead of velour track suits and medallions. The most important comparison, though, is that both are amazing series that raise the bar on what we should expect from TV.

The program is intelligently written, shockingly dark without being overindulgant, and brilliantly acted; Patricularly Katey Sagal who is so amazing as the ruthless, calculating matriarch of the club that after a handful of eps that it's getting harder to remember that she played Peg Bundy for what seemed like half of my life.

As I said earlier, "SoA" will immediately remind you of "The Sopranos," but it would actually be more apt to compare "Sons" to Hamlet. Wouldn't you agree that a show with a pedigree that includes Tony Soprano and Bill Shakespeare may be worth your space on the DVR and hour every week?

I'm in love...

It's called the Suzuki Gladius (Which, I believe, is Latin for sword), and unlike that badass Honda I drooled over awhile back, this bad boy will be available stateside very, very soon.

On top of being minimalist without being boring, it's based on the SV650 motor Suzuki has been building since Jesus was a child, so you know it's bombproof. I imagine it'll be even hotter with a proper set of bar-end mirrors replacing those bug-eyed deals the factory installs and a fender eliminator on for a cleaner profile on the backside.

With a $6,000-ish pricetag, I think you might see one beneath my ass moving very, very quickly up the 101 very, very soon.

Remember that Axl Rose guy?

Well apparently it really is go time for Chinese Democracy for reals as Axl and company continue to try to pull a massive viral tease by blitzing the 'net with a ton of promo videos only to pull them all just as quickly. This is following a couple years worth of "unauthorized leaks" of both songs and press releases that would promise drop dates which never materialized.

Why does it feel any different this time? Well, they rolled out an exclusive deal with Best Buy and iTunes. Axl may have been stringing what few fans he has left and his label along for 14 years now, but I don't believe for a second that he can get over on a pair of retail giants. If they're offering presales, then I'm a believer.

Now, if only I could be bothered to care. Sorry, but Axl has long chewed through every ounce of good will I ever had for him despite the fact that he's responsible for both my all-time favorite album and song.

I don't hold many grudges, so I'll swoop on a copy if I like what I hear. But Axl's gotta earn his way back into my good graces, much like Metallica did recently after they too spent a decade and a half killing their legacy.