I’ve gotten emails from people asking why I haven’t blogged about the situation in Wisconsin. To which, I wish to reply that there’s two models of blogging. There’s the model where you comment on anything of importance, even if you have nothing of value to add, to register that you’re paying attention. Then there’s the model where you only write about things that you personally feel you have an interesting angle on. I’m in the latter camp. I am skeptical of the claims that simply noticing things publicly does anything more than bolster the ego of the blogger. The situation in Wisconsin is amazing, but I have nothing to say beyond that, since others are more tuned into union politics than I am. My feeling right now is that my talents are best served at keeping an eye on the ever-wackier tone of wingnuts and the threats to reproductive rights, two stories that could get washed out during a news cycle loaded with exciting events like the Egyptian uprising and the Wisconsin protests.
But hey, what’s Friday Genius Ten for if not simple gestures of support through song dedications? And of course, the only way to do that is to build the Genius Ten off the most famous band out of Wisconsin, the Violent Femmes. Many of my favorite songs by them are dark, but this one I think is, profanity aside, a great pick-me-up song, which is what you need when you’re fighting the good fight. Leave yours in comments, comments about whatever you think is relevant, or whatever you like. Open thread.
For good coverage of the events in Wisconsin, check out Talking Points Memo.
Original song: “Dance, Motherfucker, Dance!” by the Violent Femmes
1) “Your Racist Friend” by They Might Be Giants
2) “Soul Suckin Jerk” by Beck
3) “Gone!” by The Cure
4) “I’m Amazed” by The Pixies
5) “Piss Up A Rope” by Ween
6) “Stop!” by Jane’s Addiction
7) “Candy” by Morphine
8) “I Don’t Want To Grow Up” by Tom Waits
9) “Trainspotting” by Primal Scream
10) “Romance” by REM
Geek music day! Videos and cat pics below the fold.
A good song for the occasion, as the unions are telling their governor to stop the assholery:
The cats are adapting well to the new place, and to my Instagram app on iPhone.
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Seed song: “She Came Along To Me”—Billy Bragg & Wilco (Woody Guthrie lyric)
Genius has no idea what to do with my music collection, so this is random instead.
1. “Red Letter Year”—Ani DiFranco
2. “Dixon’s Girl”—Dessa
3. “Raining in Baltimore”—Counting Crows
4. “Ain’t Talkin’”—Bob Dylan
5. “High Times”—Jamiroquai
6. “Iris”—Miles Davis
7. “Can’t You See (You Doin’ Me Wrong)”—Tower of Power
8. “Lyresto”—Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane
9. “What Do We Do Now?”—John Hiatt
10. “Lithium”—The Bad Plus (cover of Nirvana song)