Putting Up A Fight

R.E.M. weighs in on the war with “The Final Straw”. It’s certainly not their best work, but it is a reasonably good old-school folk protest song. If the Zack de la Rocha/DJ Shadow song captures the righteous rage of the opposition to the war and the Bush administration, this R.E.M. song articulates the empathy and humanity that informs that rage.

Personal Whiney Stuff

I just can’t catch a break lately. Stomach flu-like sickness late last week, a severe head cold now. I’m not a healthy boy. There’s too much fluid in my head, it’s interfering with basic thought processes, all of my thoughts feel sluggish and awkward.

In a related story, I’ve probably imbibed more Gatorade in the past seven days than I have cumulatively in my entire lifetime. Something that I’ve discovered: the pastel-colored Gatorade varieties tend to have a vaguely soapy flavor.

Also: Hail To The Thief is a very lame title for an album. I’m not too crazy about “The Gloaming” either. In my mind, that’s about one step away from naming a song “Goblinquest”.