A Necessary Update

Well, for the moment, my conncection to the interwebs is still rather limited, and as such I am still unable to post the music I've been listening to for the last few weeks. But I can still type, and so I am.

-Several members of my family have a rather unhealthy addiction to American Idol. I have resisted the urge to rail against American Idol anytime it has come up in conversation, but how long my strength to do so will remain is a rather uncertain prospect. I've never really understood the appeal of glorified karaoke, except maybe in the case of my younger sister, so I won't go through the motions of presenting broad social theories to explain it. I do know that it is somehow related to the need for my red-blooded American grandparents, who work in construction and in the Church, to watch Entertainment Tonight! every evening. I long ago reached the conclusion that most people listen to music just for the sake of having easy-to-listen-to background noise. Maybe they watch TV in the same vein. I'm not really sure.

-Unlike some of my former jobs, I have no control whatsoever of the radio in my office. Because of this, the radio is constantly tuned to the local country station. While occasionally they may play some "Gram Parsons Project" (as one of my co-workers referred to Gram Parsons), this usually means I get to comtemplate suicide every 30 minutes when the mandatory Rascal Flatts song gets played. Maybe one day I will hijack the radio and throw in a Fela disc and count how many seconds it takes for somebody to complain.

-On the other hand, my grandfather is now a fan of The Hold Steady. Who knows... maybe he partied too hard in the 80s.

-To quell the onslaught of bad country music, I have been feeding on a heavy dose of Nas, My Morning Jacket, and El Guincho. The excellent new MMJ album comes out on Tuesday, and needless to say I am eagerly awaiting the Pitchfork slandering of it.

-Also, to celebrate the release of Tha Carter III, MTV Jams was playing a heavy amount of mid-to-late 90's New Orleans jams. Whenever I wasn't watching soccer, tennis, or LSU baseball, the TV was glued to MTV Jams as I indulged in my fantasies of growing up in the Magnolia Housing Projects.

-Obama v. McCain... yada yada yada. I wonder how many people have realized that the states with the highest proportion of black voters are all solid Republican states? Also, how many people have realized that McCain's supposed advantage in foreign policy is rendered null by the fact that his plans are mostly idiotic? (From the FT: 1, 2, 3)In other news, oil prices are rising yet again, and every car ad I have seen in the last three weeks is for a truck or an SUV. Somewhat related to this is the fad of moving to New Orleans "exurbs" from the "suburbs," making the necessary commute even longer. Again... who knows.

-All the while I continue to study politics at an unhealthy pace. To quote de Quincey, author of "Confessions of an English Opium Eater": "In this state of imbecility, I had, for amusement, turned my attention to political economy."

-Euro 2008 has started and my love affair with the Dutch national team continues. With Ryan Babel out, Robin Van Persie somewhat injured, and Arjan Robben due for injury any day now... well disappointment looms. The fact that the Dutch back line is about as reliable as the New Orleans levee system does not help either.

-For now my money is on Germany. They looked rather impressive today against Poland, and I don't expect the form of Podolski, et al. to drop off any time soon.

Well that's about it for now. I'll be spending the rest of the week penning verses to "Monroe State of Mind."