Neofeudalism

Help our friends in Nashville:

So Nashville Is Flooded… How Can I Help? [Flood 2010] | Nashvillest

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2nd amendment. That's all they care about. The rest do not matter. As long as they can shoot somebody. The conservative movement is as fucked up as they come.

Bloomberg 'Terror Gap' Argument Shot Down By Pro-Gun GOP Senators:

"New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's appeal to what he called 'common sense' at a congressional hearing Wednesday morning failed to sway two Republican senators who said that giving the government the ability to block the purchase of guns by suspected terrorists would undermine the Second Amendment's right to bear arms.

'Shouldn't FBI agents have the authority to block sales of guns and explosives to those on the terror watchlists -- and deemed too dangerous to fly? I actually believe that they should,' Bloomberg told senators. Federal law currently only allows the government to block guns sales for a very limited number of reasons, and being on that list is not one of them. (For more background, see Tuesday's article on the subject.)"

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Yup:

Daily Kos: Slouching toward neofeudalism:

"The financial crisis that grips our nation's states and cities has a malicious source, and Governor Tim Pawlenty recently named that source: public school teachers.

'It used to be that public employees were underpaid and over-benefited. Now they are over-benefited and overpaid compared to their private-sector counterparts.'

The school teacher, the policeman, the firefighter - these are now the faces of what is wrong with America today. It doesn't matter that studies by the Bureau of Labor Statistics say otherwise, America can no longer afford their overpaid, middle-class salaries.

At least that is what the right-wing media is telling us."

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Hopeful, but the FCC head is a dick.

Josh Silver: Congress to FCC: Do Whatever It Takes to Protect the Internet

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Nice one, Harry.

Harry Reid: GOP 'Making Love To Wall Street':

"'The Republicans are having difficulty determining how they're going to continue making love to Wall Street,' Reid, the Senate majority leader, said in a press briefing."

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I'd like to go to Mars, now, please.

How Capt. Kirk Changed the World - NASA Science

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Water, Water Everywhere.....

Help our friends in Nashville if you can:

So Nashville Is Flooded… How Can I Help? [Flood 2010] | Nashvillest

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Of the many reasons why this isn't 'Obama's Katrina', this link clearly shows he was on top of it from the get go.

Katrina crept on shore and BushCo knew about it days before it hit and did nothing about it.

This rig blew at 10 p.m. and Obama's folks were on it at day break the next day.

So, as much as the baggers and NeoCons who dominate what passes for 'news media' these days wants it to be Obama's Katrina, it simply isn't and if you are a liberal you need to smack anyone in the nose who states otherwise.

Memo to media: Timeline contradicts "Obama's Katrina" claim | Media Matters for America

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Halliburton. The same folks shocking our soldiers with bullshit wiring:

Drilling Process Attracts Scrutiny in Rig Explosion - WSJ.com:

"The scrutiny on cementing will focus attention on Halliburton Co., the oilfield-services firm that was handling the cementing process on the rig, which burned and sank last week. The disaster, which killed 11, has left a gusher of oil streaming into the Gulf from a mile under the surface.

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This makes me sick to my stomach. An entire way of existence just blotted out.

Fishing ban imposed in oil-affected Gulf of Mexico | Raw Story

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You ain't in Mayberry anymore, Betty Lou.

'Andy Griffith Show' Actress Betty Lou Lynn Robbed In 'Mayberry':

"MOUNT AIRY, N.C. — The actress who played Thelma Lou on 'The Andy Griffith Show' was robbed in the town that inspired the show's idyllic Mayberry setting, after moving to the area to avoid big city crime.

Betty Lou Lynn had her wallet stolen at a shopping center in Mount Airy, the birthplace of Andy Griffith."

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Above this point in the blog post is a bunch of bullshit.

The article below does well in redeeming some of the above.

H/T to Brent Best.

They went BIG for this kid and your heart will swell in response:

Living | Local boy with cancer turns into a superhero for a day | Seattle Times Newspaper

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DBT Week in Review - 9/26/08

I know that Rebecca and Patterson are real proud of their involvement in Nuci's Space.

Y'all come off a few dollars today to help out this fundraiser. If you do then your sports team will win this weekend (except for UGA fans... sorry, but I'm hoping the Tide Rolls in Athens tomorrow), you'll be hit on at the bar by a pretty girl or handsome man tonight, and/or the bank in which you keep your dolla bills will not fail in the next few days.

Give, people!

Firstgiving - Drive By Trucker's Fundraising Page - Nuci Phillips Memorial Foundation Inc:

"Thanks for visiting our fundraising page!

Nuci's Space is our absolute favorite local charity. They are a non-profit support/resource center with comfortable rehearsal spaces. Their mission to provide obstacle free treatment for musicians suffering from depression and other such disorders as well as to assist in the emotional, physical and professional well-being of musicians in the Athens community is one that is close to all our hearts.

Sponsoring the DBT Phantom 309 running team is contributing to the betterment of Athens artists. Donating through this website is simple, fast (will take a couple of minutes to register your email & password) and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support my fundraising efforts.

If you would like to run in the race or be a phantom runner (& get a free T-shirt) click here.

Many thanks for your support -- and please forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too!

Best,

Rebecca Hood & the rest of the Drive By Trucker family"

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Check out the archived video footage of DBT at the Outside Lands Festival.

The AT&T blue room presents DriveBy Truckers

Also, check out some pics from the same show. You can get a good sense of how large the crowd was.

San Francisco's Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival - August 22-24, 2008

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Speaking of ATT's Blueroom, they'll be broadcasting DBT's set live tomorrow at the ACL festival.

MySpace.com Blogs - Drive-By Truckers MySpace Blog:

"DBT at ACL Festival - AT&T Blueroom Broadcast

AT&T Blueroom will be broadcasting the DBT set from ACL Festival at 3:30pm ET on Saturday."

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A Pretty Good Guy: ROCK LIVES!:

"Mercifully, it's alive and well and travelling the world in the form of the Drive-By Truckers. The road show came to Ft. Lauderdale and gave us townies a taste of the greatest touring band going. This is significant on a lot of levels. First, we just don't get many good shows. The live music scene here is abysmal, unless you're hip to Madonna, the Jonas Brothers or Merengue mega-stars that draw Saturday p.m. fans to Marlins games."

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RapidShare: Easy Filehosting

I've clearly got too much time on my hands cos I just finished creating a DBT Lyric Locator (basically all the song lyrics in one Word document with an a-z front page with internal links to the songs). It's just a v1.0 and if anyone wants a copy it's at:

http://rapidshare.com/files/147976133/Drive-By_Truckers-Lyric_Locator_v1.0.doc

If you improve it, amend lyrics (there's definitely some errors and omissions, even though they're the ones of the official site) etc. I'd appreciate if you mailed me a copy.

Paul (Bradford, UK)

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I loves me some creative DBT song usage in a YouTube:

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Music

Scholars and Rogues � Nozzle of the Week: the RIAA:

"If the RIAA were a common street thug, here’s how things would go. It would jump an innocent old lady, stomp her within an inch of her life, and then, when she screamed for mercy, it would file a motion asking the nearest court to sanction her for wasting its time.

Seriously, you ain’t gonna believe this shizzle:"

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Metallica, Run-D.M.C. nominated for Rock Hall - Yahoo! News:

"CLEVELAND - Run-D.M.C. could 'Walk This Way' into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The 1980s rap act, along with Metallica and the Stooges, are among the nine nominees for next year's hall of fame class, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced Monday.

The other nominees are guitarist Jeff Beck, singer Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, War, Bobby Womack, and disco and R&B group Chic."

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Possibly the best DBT Yahoo Group post ever.

For the male folk... or those ladies who apprecate asthetics.

dbts : Message: Johnny Cash:

An interesting use for 'God's Gonna Cut You Down'.
This video should ONLY be viewed by the male members of this group...

you HAVE been warned.

Brad

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Tornadoes and Falling Babies

A big thanks to those who have donated to the AAW Fund Raiser.

Thanks to Donelle C. for donating a couple of DBT D.C. tickets to the cause and to Mark G. for purchasing those tickets.

Thanks to Dallas Hudgens, author of two kick ass books that you should definitely give a read: Drive Like Hell and Season of Gene. Check out Wes Freed interviewing Dallas over at Largehearted Boy.

Thanks to Big Slacker Shirts. Go check out their very fine online store.

Thanks to Mrs. B-way, Don R., Ellie C., and the previously mentioned Chris C., Kim M., and Dapper Dave.

AAW Fund Raiser.

Read all about it here.

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Let's begin today with a combination of two DBT songs. I present to you Plastic Flowers and Tornadoes... fo' real. No, seriously, fo' real, fo' real:



Trippy, huh?

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Occasionaly, SNL finds a needle in a hay stack. It's funny because it is true. Ok, it's not really funny, but it is sadly true.

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Drop the baby. Don't drop the baby.... OK, drop the baby.

I could watch this all day long:

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Sometimes I wish I had a brother just for the comedy:

Mother's Day

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Saved by the Toe

Wow! You hate me, you really, really hate me!

Chris, Kim and David, thanks for the donations. You guys rock!

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AAW Fund Raiser.

Read all about it here.

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This dude kick ass. I bet he gets all kinds of donations.

Man stuck in machinery uses big toe to call 911:

"He shook his cell phone off his belt, kicked off one shoe and used his toe to dial 911. Rescuers used a thick metal bar to pry the machinery off his arms."

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These are some crazy tattoos. Be sure to scroll down to see the ones posted in the comments.

Emptees - Talk - Craziest Tatoo I've Seen

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Only 780,000? Rookie.

Japanese official demoted for 780,000 hits on porn sites:

"A Japanese civil servant was demoted for logging more than 780,000 hits on pornographic Web sites on his office computer over nine months, an official said Friday"

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Also skeptical, but I'd love to try it.

I-Doser Is Allegedly Like Drugs For Your Ears, I Am (Un)Surprisingly Very, Very Skeptical - Geekologie:

"I-Doser is some program you download and it plays music that synchronizes with your brainwaves or something and makes you feel like your own drugs. I could be completely wrong here, because I didn't actually read anything about it, but I'll post some of their captivating marketing bullshit here:"

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AAW Fun(d) Raiser

UPDATE: The PayPal link doesn't seem to be working with Internet Explorer (shocking) but works just fine with FireFox. I'll work on getting an IE fix but I highly recommend a switch to FireFox for your browsing pleasure.

I come before you today, dear reader, hat in hand.

After being online for nearly 3 years (4 months shy of AAW's 3rd webiversary) I've decided to hold my first ever Alabama Ass Whuppin fund raiser. Actually, it was less of my decision and more of my car, my computer and my current employment situation's decision.

Without boring you with the gory details (it IS Monday and who wants some blogger begging for money and whoa'ing-is-me'ing their current whoas that aren't much different than the vast majority of Americans) allow me to take a moment to bore you with some of the gory details.

My 10 year old Chevy Cavalier committed suicide a couple of weeks ago on the 101 in Northern California. She could no longer take this hard driving Northern California lifestyle and threw a rod in her piston. One moment she was a worthy stead carrying her master where ever he needed. The next moment she was a worthless hunk of metal racking up towing costs that would make your mother blush.

The Chevy Cavalier will be donated to the Jacob's Heart Children's Cancer Support Services.

Next, my computer, my life-blood, my hobby and my connection to the many, many wonderful friends I've made through this blog and the DBT family, is showing signs of yearning for that great lap-top heaven in the sky. 3 1/2 years of yeoman's work and travel have taken their toll on my trusty Compaq and a replacement may soon be in order.

Lastly, I've embarked on a different career path this year. I've abandoned the administrative/corporate world to become a full time on-line teacher. The pay is not great but the opportunity to educate and encourage folks trying to get a leg up with a college degree brings satisfaction beyond the monetary. However, self satisfaction don't always pay the bills.

So here I am, dear reader, hat in hand.

Any spare dollars you could part with to help me become mobile again, keep me blogging and teaching would be an act of kindness so large that karma will surely smile down upon you.

Thank you for you time and consideration. Even if you aren't able to chip in at the moment I want to thank all of the readers/friends of this blog who have enriched my life beyond anything money could obtain.

UPDATE: The PayPal link doesn't seem to be working with Internet Explorer (shocking) but works just fine with FireFox. I'll work on getting an IE fix but I highly recommend a switch to FireFox for your browsing pleasure.

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Directions:

Click on the above link (Donate).

You don't need a PayPal account to donate through PayPal.

Enter your donation amount then click "Update Total"

Next, scroll down and on the left portion of the page you'll see:

Don't have a PayPal account?
Use your credit card or bank account (where available)

Click "Continue" and enter your CC information.

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DBT Week in Review - 2/25/08

Help a fellow DBTer and really cool chick fight cancer.

Way off topic, I know. But since it's quiet here in DBT land, I figured I'd send this out to you guys. Cancer has hit us on this board before. We've all been affected by cancer one way or another and I've finally decided to do something about it.

I ain't no super-hero but I'm temporarily dropping the bon-bons and the cigarettes and slapping a sports bra on these cancer-free boobies and I'm running my first marathon!!! If you'd like to donate a buck or two on my team's behalf (Team Jugs), I'll let you take a quick peek at my lady lumps at the next show in a town near you. You can even cop a feel! Just click on the link below:

http://race.komenatlanta.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=1000&px=1021426

P.S. You're not really sneaking a peek at my lady lumps. Or touching them. But hey - they say sex sells. Hit me off-list if you're having trouble with the link.

Let There Be Rock and Boobs,

Andrea Gómez

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Swampland - Water, Water everywhere....

"Patterson Hood of the Drive By Truckers expresses his gratitude to Black Warrior Riverkeeper in his YouTube video. Hood says that it is time for us all---liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican, to take a stand to protect the Southern way of life which has always been involved being outdoors and on the rivers and in the woods. He says they have “strip-malled and strip-mined our land.” They have “cut down the trees and polluted all the rivers.” On the Drive By Truckers' 1999 album Pizza Deliverance, Mike Cooley writes about “Uncle Frank” who had nothing but just had a little piece of land. This land was flooded by TVA in the 1930s. Here is the opening stanza of “Uncle Frank”: “They powered up the city with hydro-electric juice./ Now we got more electricity than we can ever use./They flooded out the hollow and all the folks down there moved out,/but they got paid so there ain’t nothin’ else to think about.” Uncle Frank, who couldn’t read or write, left no suicide note but “Just a rope around his neck and the kitchen table turned on it’s side.”"

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Pop culture is getting an injection of meth - Movies- msnbc.com:

"Not getting attention Patterson Hood, one of the singers and songwriters in the Drive-By Truckers, witnessed the effects of meth firsthand in his Alabama hometown, which “really got hit hard a few years back.” He penned “You and Your Crystal Meth” in response.

“At the time, nobody was talking about it,” said Hood. “There wasn’t songs about it; it wasn’t getting much attention from the press.”

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Swampland Patterson Interview

"GRITZ caught up with Patterson to get his thoughts on the latest Drive By Truckers album, his favorite music and the state of the Union."

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NineBullets.org - a DBT fansite :: View topic - Stories From the Road: 2/19/08:

"So Matt D, DBT's tour manager, woke up this morning and went up front to check with the bus driver, Kennedy, who'd been driving all night.

Kennedy says, 'I almost got hit by a star this morning.'

He goes on to tell about this giant ball of light that came down from the sky and landed in the median about 30 - 50 feet from the bus as they were driving down the road.

So they Google and find this:

Idaho Press-Tribune: "TREASURE VALLEY - Caldwell resident Glenda Nash was on her way to babysit her grandchildren early Tuesday morning when she saw a flash light up the sky. “I never saw anything like it before. The light was kind of blue-gray, then it turned orange,” Nash said. “I was just driving down the road and I saw a big light and a big flame and it just hit the ground. It was neat but kind of scary.”"

The Dragon that almost took out the mobile Muscle Shoals.

Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

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Drive-By Truckers carry the torch for rock and roll | Entertainment Top | Idaho Statesman:

"I've got a question for you: I don't want you to get a big head, but I'm having my first child in about three months. I want to ask you about names. This has nothing to do with you, but one of the boy names my wife and I are considering -we don't know what we're going have - is Patterson. One concern with the name Patterson is: Did you ever get hit with Pat growing up?

Yeah, and I hated it. I still hate it. People still sometimes want to call me that, and I can't stand it. I don't care for the name. I've got some friends named that and it works for them, but ...

It's pretty much constant, you know, particularly for the first 35 years or so. It helped that my wife really loves the name Patterson and she would always get kind of red-assed when people would call me Pat in front of her. So it was nice to have somebody take that role for me, because I always felt kind of cheesy. So I would generally let it be and let it sit, so therefore I would continually get called that. But I never really felt like I was a Pat. I always felt I was a Patterson. Patterson's a family name. It was my granddaddy's last name, and I was named after that. I prefer to be called that."

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The Drive-By Truckers' rocky road turns brighter – February�2008:

"The process became even more alien for Tucker when she took her songs into the studio with the Truckers, as she had composed the songs with rudimentary guitar skills then had to switch back to her bassist role with the band during recording.

'I can't play guitar well at all, and we went in, and I had this bass, and I said, 'Oh, yeah, I gotta play bass and sing,'' says Tucker with a laugh. 'We had to figure it out, so it was a fun adventure. It changed my life, actually. I learned a lot about myself and that I could do things that I didn't know I could do or at least I haven't done them in a long time.'"

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Drive-By Truckers News on Yahoo! Music:

"The Drive-By Truckers are back on the road again and brought one of the most deeply probing and incendiary live rock shows out there to the Avalon in Hollywood on Tuesday night."

In a world of real justice, the Drive-By Truckers would at least be headlining a Gibson Amphitheatre-size venue. But calculated pandering rules the mainstream, and this brilliant rough-'n'-tumble outfit bravely travels the alternate highways as perhaps the best rock band in America right now.

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Exclusive Music Interviews - Music Artist Interviews - Band Interview

"'(The record has) a lot of first and second takes,' Hood said. 'I kind of like the way a song sounds when everyone's struggling to learn it more than the take when it's all polished. Sometimes there's more raw inspiration in those early takes, and we always kind of gravitated to those anyway, for better or worse at times.'"

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Drive-by Truckers - Recess:

"I can definitively say that the raucous 'The Man I Shot' is the best (and perhaps only) song I have ever heard about living with post-traumatic stress disorder"

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The Drive-By Truckers' Worst Song, Played on the Ugliest Guitar by Rob Harvilla

Spinner 3x3: Live Concert from the Drive-By Truckers - Spinner.com

dbts : Message: 2008 Grammys and Drive By Truckers @ HOB Anaheim

Seattle Pics:

MySpace.com Photos - Meramore for Prez - Feb 17, 2008

MySpace.com - Travis - 29 - Male - Seattle, US - www.myspace.com/travduke

SimpleViewer

Myspace.com Photos - Scott Baxendale

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Myspace.com Blogs - Cast your vote: Dexateens nominated for two BAMA awards
:

"Cast your vote: Dexateens nominated for two BAMA awards

The Dexateens were recenlty nominated for two BAMA awards presented by the Birmingham Weekly. Categories include best rock band and album of the year for our Hardwire Healing LP. The BAMA's are sort've a local affair, but voting is open to anyone anywhere. Stop by Birmingham Weekly to cast your vote. Not sure about the other categories? Leave em' blank or write yourselves in! The polls are open for a couple weeks. Stop by and vote if you can."

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Music

Fritts inducted into hall of fame | TimesDaily.com | Florence, AL:

"Hours before the he was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame on Friday, Donnie Fritts sat down with his longtime friend Kris Kristofferson and talked about music, and their relationship.

Kristofferson was in Montgomery to induct Fritts into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, along with Muscle Shoals native Boyd Bennett, Ernie Ashworth, Cleveland Eaton and Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw."

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After the music dies � Pointy Pointy

2. The internet will have been harnessed, and will be regulated and policed by “government” (Big Business) (probably under the guise of “saving the children”) so that you will have very few outlets for originality, as exists in the record industry and radio these days.

It’s all up to us, and who we elect, and how much attention we pay to what is going on.

If you think the internet will always be free and easy, you’re wrong - it’s gonna be a fight, believe you me.

I’m opinionated about my music and I have a definite idea of what is good and what isn’t, but I don’t try to force it down anyone’s throat any more (well not much). I do believe with all my heart that some music transcends all barriers, and unless you’ve been molested to country music or had some terrible experience with music in general, you , my friend, will like most of what I like. I believe that if you aren’t a DBT fan, then you haven’t really listened to DBT. If you aren’t a Slobberbone fan, you have not really listened to Slobberbone. If you are not a Centro-Matic fan, then you haven’t ever really listened to Centro-Matic. I think that good music like this will break through most barriers and if you listen to it correctly, you can’t miss the genius. There’s enough variety for anyone to find something they bind to.

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Springsteen, Young join anti-war soundtrack

Rocker tells Huckabee to lay off song

Apple - Trailers - Young At Heart - Trailer A

People of the Web - How to Become a Rock Star

Black Crowes Say Maxim Review a Fraud

'My lost weekend with Lennon': May Pang breaks her silence over their relationship | the Mail on Sunday

Neil Young: Music Can't Change World

French crooner Henri Salvador dies at 90 - Yahoo! News:

"PARIS - Henri Salvador, the velvet-voiced French musician credited with inspiring the bossa nova, bringing rock 'n' roll to France and helping create the music video, died Wednesday, his record label said. He was 90."

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