Monday, March 29, 2010

Hairy-Chested Love God! Hairy-Chested Love God!

"Morrison said Batman coming out of 52 OYL will be a more of a 'fun guy, more healthy,' more like the 'Neal Adams, hairy-chested, love-god' version of Batman.’"

Newsarama-- February 15, 2006

This post probably won't mean much to you if you're not a Batman and/or Grant Morrison fan.  But for those of us in the know, check out this little tidbit, lately posted on DC's Source Blog

"Can you say Caveman Batman? Sure. Well, now you can see him, too." 



The Source has more Chris Sprouse/ Karl Story artwork posted on the site, if you're interested.  Three cheers for the return of the hairy-chested love god!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Health Care Reform: The Day After

I've said it before, I'll say it again.  Last night's vote on health care reform was do-or-die time for the Democratic Party.  If passage would have been blocked in the House last night, the Democrats' failure would have been seen as a high-water mark.  The party would have been demoralized beyond repair and likely obliterated in November.

Instead, the passage of health care reform is a rally point for the Left.  The Right threw absolutely everything it could at Democrats, Congress, President Obama, and anyone else even vaguely associated with the Democratic party over the last year.  They pulled out all the stops in terms of hyperbole, disruption, misinformation, and intimidation.  Thanks to relentless smears by far-Right talking heads, Democrats were caricatured as nazi-socialist-fascist-maoists, intent on destroying the American Dream, killing Grandma, and leading the true Americans to slaughter.  And for a while, it looked like the GOP was succeeding.  Two months ago, there wasn't much hope for health care reform.  Like the failed attempt of 1993-1994, it seemed that health care reform circa 2009 would be just another Democratic Waterloo.

And now, thanks to the tireless efforts of President Obama and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi among others, it's a brand new day for the Democratic Party.  Health Care reform made it through the House and will soon make it to the Executive Office and then the law books.  The Waterloo prophesy will not come to pass.  At least, not for Democrats.

Former Bush speechwriter David Frum has a very interesting take on what health care reform passage means for the Right.  And while I don't quite agree with his predictions of a GOP sweep in November (sure, we'll lose some seats, but that's what historically happens anyway), I think he's dead-on regarding the irreversible damage health care reform has done to his party, and the actual motives of Conservative mouthpieces.  Here's a little tidbit from his article, "Waterloo."

"So today’s defeat for free-market economics and Republican values is a huge win for the conservative entertainment industry. Their listeners and viewers will now be even more enraged, even more frustrated, even more disappointed in everybody except the responsibility-free talkers on television and radio. For them, it’s mission accomplished. For the cause they purport to represent, it’s Waterloo all right: ours."

Here's a link to Frum's article in its entirety.  I highly recommend it.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Mark Linkous, 1962-2010

From the New York Times:

Mark Linkous, a singer and songwriter whose music, released under the name Sparklehorse, was renowned in indie-rock and alt-country circles for its haunted, allusive themes and fragile beauty, committed suicide on Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn. He was 47.

He shot himself in the heart in an alley outside a friend’s home, said his manager, Shelby Meade. Lt. Greg Hoskins of the Knoxville Police Department confirmed that the police responded to a call at 1:20 p.m., and that Mr. Linkous was pronounced dead at the scene. According to his family, Mr. Linkous owned the gun that he used.

On four Sparklehorse albums, released between 1995 and 2006, and in numerous collaborations, Mr. Linkous developed a style that sent sunny, Beatles-esque melodies through a filter of crackling, damaged folk-rock, and his songs were filled with entropic imagery. “Everything that’s made is made to decay,” he sang in a whispery tenor on Sparklehorse’s debut album, “Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot” (Capitol).

Frederick Mark Linkous was born in Arlington, Va., in 1962 to a family with roots in the coal-mining country of southwestern Virginia. After graduating from high school he moved to New York City and started the band the Dancing Hoods, which relocated to Los Angeles in pursuit of mainstream rock success. But disillusioned with the music business, Mr. Linkous returned to Virginia and reinvented his sound as Sparklehorse, a name that he applied to himself as well as his band.

“We were trying so hard to get signed, and I just quit and came back home and just gave up on all those aspirations of being a rock star,” he said in an interview in 1999. “That’s when I started making good music.”

Although Sparklehorse’s music never had wide commercial success, it found respect among critics and other musicians. Rolling Stone called its 1999 album, “Good Morning Spider,” a “homemade tour de force of psychedelic Appalachian folk slop,” and the third Sparklehorse record, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” released in 2001, had guest appearances by Tom Waits and PJ Harvey.

While on tour in 1996, Mr. Linkous collapsed in a hotel room after taking Valium and antidepressants. He briefly went into cardiac arrest before being revived, and he sustained injuries to his legs that put him in a wheelchair for six months. His legs never fully recovered their strength. His convalescence inspired “St. Mary,” a song on his second album named after the hospital where he recuperated. “Come on boys,” he sings, “please let me taste the clean air in my lungs.”

Mr. Linkous was also in demand as a producer, working with the singer Daniel Johnston and the Swedish singer (and member of the Cardigans) Nina Persson, among others. He collaborated with Danger Mouse and the director David Lynch on “Dark Night of the Soul,” an album and photo book whose scheduled release last year was delayed by legal entanglements; last week Danger Mouse announced that those problems had been worked out and that the album would be released soon.

Mr. Linkous had recently completed most of the work for a new Sparklehorse album and was in the process of moving to Knoxville and setting up a studio to complete the record, said Ms. Meade, his manager.

His survivors include his wife, Teresa Linkous; his mother, Gloria Hughes Thacker; his father, Frederick Linkous, and stepmother, Leta; and three brothers, Matt, Paul and Daniel Linkous.