Plastic In the Afterlife

Obama lays the smack down at press conference

Ed Henry, CNN's senior White House correspondent got verbally bitch-slapped by Obama at Tuesday's press conference when Henry pressed the President on the reasons behind his administration's delayed reaction to the AIG bonus scandal.  To that, Obama replied, "It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak."  Boo-Yah! 

U2's No Line On the Horizon fades like the setting sun

No Line On the Horizon feels too deliberate, from the lyrics to the music itself---it feels like a self-conscious and aging actress baring her body in a subpar film as an attempt to stay "current".  They've taken a departure from the celebratory/spiritual aesthetic of All That You Can't Leave Behind and the "I'll kick the damn door in and kick your ass too" attitude of How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.  Instead, they've entered a world-weary, introspective examination of (I guess) Bono's "soul"---and I'm not sure if it really makes for great music.  Unfortunately, maybe what we've always loved about U2 is not what's really on the inside, but rather their shiny exterior---y'know, the kind of pomp and flash that easily sells out ampitheatres and stadiums.  If that's the case, then count me as one of the guilty parties.   

If there's anything that I found to be most disturbing is that Bono's incredible voice seems to have slipped a bit on this album.  At times in the song "Moment of Surrender", Bono is shouting the lyrics, instead of giving this plaintive song the tender vocal treatment it deserves.  Yeah, maybe he's trying out a newer "rawer" sound, but quite frankly, it just sounds like he's lost some of his vocal touch, kind of like a veteran athlete whose performance on the field has fallen off with advanced age and injuries.  Also, his forays into the falsetto voice in "I'll Go Crazy..." are totally unnecessary and are a distraction instead of a daring vocal device.  I've often times worried about what effect smoking cigarettes would have on Bono's voice, especially because of the fact that he had an operation a number of years ago on his nose, ear and throat, which in itself could alter one's vocal range and stylings.  Maybe we're seeing the initial deleterious effects that cigarette smoking have had on Bono's once seemingly limitless voice.  Bono even admitted that "It's dumb to smoke, and it really changed my voice, and I lost the high register, and I lost the ability to fly as a singer. I had a lot of complications with my voice anyway. The doctor told me I couldn't smoke."

Now, I'll be the first to acknowledge that Bono's lyrics have always been bombastic and, at times, ridiculous (as on the album Pop), but taken as a whole body of work, he's produced some truly lovely and poetic stuff.  I guess amidst the gems there will always be some fool's gold.  Take, for instance, the cliched line from "Magnificent" where Bono croons "I was born to be with you in this space and time" and in the refrain how he remarks how "only love can heal such a scar."  In true "Discotheque"-esque fashion, the lyrics from "Get On Your Boots"---"Hey, sexy boots/Get on your boots, yeah"---are just out-of-place, trying-to-be-cool, hey, let's-write-a-radio-friendly-single awkward.  There are some aforementioned gems, such as the lyrics from "Stand Up Comedy" in which he extols the listener to "Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady" or the ironic and oh-so-true line from "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" in which he states that "Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot."

As far as song selection goes, I'm surprized that they picked "Get On Your Boots" as their first single.  It's really an insipid song whose frenetic melody seems to be its central selling point.  It's as if they're trying to replicate the success of the hit "Vertigo"---it's a miss.  I think the fun and confident "Stand Up Comedy" would have been a much more enjoyable and ultimately more marketable choice for their first single.  Other worthy singles would be the title track "No Line On the Horizon", "Magnificent", "Moment of Surrender", and "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight".  Seeming b-sider "Unknown Caller" is a strange, but somewhat adventurous song that tries to evoke a Zooropa-like vibe with interesting harmonies and "modern" lyrics that are a nod to today's techie lingo---"Force quit and move to trash...Restart and re-boot yourself."  The album ultimately fizzles out with "Cedars of Lebanon", which is written from the perspective of a jaded reporter living in Lebanon.  The song ends suddenly---maybe a fitting end to such a largely underwhelming creation.

So, what's the final verdict?  I'd give this album 3 out of 5 stars, mainly because you can tell that the lads are making an earnest effort to "break the mold" that they themselves created, but once again, you can tell that they are trying, and that's one of the biggest knocks on this album.  Where would this album rank in the discography of U2?  Well, I'd definitely put it above Pop, but behind all of their other albums, save for Rattle and Hum, which is pretty much in the same bag as No Line On the Horizon.  It's interesting that U2, after the two most recent U.S. tours consisting of ultra-successful arena shows, is deciding to dive back into the stadium show game with an album as tame as this one.  In any case, they have enough adrenaline-pumping hits from former albums to have the crowd rocking and on their feet.    

Pepsi wants Obama DEAD?

Well, here's another case of people with too much time on their hands---today a co-worker turned a Pepsi bottle on its side and said, "Hey, it says 'Obama is ded' on it!"  I was like, "Wow.  I'm sure they really meant to do that."  Now, I acknowledge that Pepsi was probably trying to emulate the Obama logo on some level to capitalize on the inauguration, as there were a ton of people handing out these buttons with their new logo on it at the inauguration in January.  However, "Obama is ded"?  I don't think so.    

  I remember in high school a friend of mine turned a pack of Marlboro cigarettes upsidedown and said, "Look---it says "Horrible Jew".  Or how about that naked dude on the front leg of the camel on a pack of Camel cigarettes?  Intentional? I think not.  However, for those conspiracy theorists out there, there are so many wonderful unintentional coincidences out there for you to spin your lame-ass webs around.  These are probably the same kind of people who claim that man never landed on the moon or that they saw the face of Jesus in the soap scum on their shower door. 

  Well, I think this one just speaks for itself.

GOP Chairman licks Rush Limbaugh's taint

GOP Chairman Michael Steele said of Rush Limbaugh in a CNN interview "Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer.  Rush Limbaugh, his whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it's incendiary, yes, it's ugly."  To that, an indignant Limbaugh retorted:  "I would be embarrassed to say that I'm in charge of the Republican Party in the sad-sack state that it's in."  He even said he would consider committing suicide if he was the GOP Chairman---are they hiring?!?  In true Limbaugh style, he even called Steele "gutless" and insinuated that Steele was afraid to take on Barack Obama (what, to a fist-fight?).  Limbaugh's speech "incendiary" and "ugly"?  Judging from these comments, surely not!

Anyway, Steele ended up going back on his original assessment of Limbaugh, saying to politico.com: "I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh.  I was maybe a little bit inarticulate...there was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership."  Yeah, because he's the real leader of the GOP, right?  Well, not exactly (though you couldn't convince Rush of that fact), but it's frightening to consider just how much sway he has over the hearts and minds(?) of hard-core "America First" conservatives.

While Rush would never see his comment "I want Barack Obama to fail" as being an inherently unAmerican, in the sense that a failure for our president is a failure for this country in a time of extreme financial crisis, nothing could be more unpatriotic than to wish such a thing.  It seems that Rush's main sticking point about Obama is that "He is liberal. That's what matters to me.... I want the country to survive. I want the country to succeed."  Yeah, we did real well under the ultra-conservative Bush Administration.  But hey, who needs real ideas when you have rigid ideology to fall back on?

The GOP both denounces and defends Rush's comments, both acknowledging his words as incendiary and divisive, but also trying to make it seem that he actually has some insight into...something(?).  With the GOP doing such doublespeak, all they are doing is inflating both Rush's ego and cementing his stature as a real "player" in the Republican Party.

I wonder if you wave your hands above Michael Steele, if they'll get caught up in the strings that Rush Limbaugh is pulling?