Thank god for great country music:):):)...
Mood:
blue
Now Playing: ...great country music:):):)...
Topic: music/movies
Something that We Do:):):)...Clint Black:):):)
(probably my favorite country music song of all time...and the song that I plan to sing to my wife at our wedding:):):)...
Top of the World:)...Dixie Chicks:):):)...
Beautiful Mess:):):)...Diamond Rio:):):)...
These Days:):):)...Rascal Flats:):):)...
I Miss My Friend:):):)...Darryl Worley:):):)...
A Home:):):)...Dixie Chicks:):):)...
Long Black Train:):):)...Josh Turner:):):)...
Godspeed:):):)...Dixie Chicks:):):)...
American Soldier:):):)...Toby Keith:):):)...
More Love:):):)...Dixie Chicks:):):)...
I've watched the video for Darryl Worley's I Miss My Friend three times, this morning...
And I've balled twice...
I miss my friend:(...
When Brandi and I broke up almost 4 years ago, now (we broke up the first August of 2001...about a month before 9/11)...it was temporary...
It took 6 months for Brandi to figure out that she wanted to make it permanent...
And...so...in the spring and summer of 2002...I fell in love with root beer and country music:):):)...
With songs like I Miss My Friend...by Darryl Worley:):):)...These Days...by Rascal Flats:):):)...Beautiful Mess...by Diamond Rio:):):)...
...and later:)...
The entire Home album put out by the Dixie Chicks...the one that got them in so much trouble:):):)...and one of the most beautiful albums, period, I've ever heard...and definitely the best country album I've ever heard in my life...
Songs like More Love...A Home...Top of the World...Traveling Soldier...Godspeed...Tortured, Tangled Hearts...White Trash Wedding:):)...I Believe in Love...Truth No. 2...Long Time Gone:)...the Chicks' AWESOME cover of Landslide:):):)...Little Jack Slade:):)...
It's an INCREDIBLE album...beautiful...smart...compassionate...loving...funny:):):):):):)...
And uniquely the Chicks:):):):):):)...
I repeat:):):)...it is one of THE BEST ALBUMS I've ever heard, period:)...but it is definitely the best country album I've ever heard in my life:):):)...
Has anyone ever heard any of these songs?:):):)...Am I the only country music geek among us?:):):)...
I hope not:):):)...because these songs are BEAUTIFUL:):):)...and should be appreciated by everyone, I think:):):):):):)...
These songs are so authentic:):):)...these really beautiful reflections on relationships gone awry:):):)...for grown-ups who know that they have to pick themselves up and move on to new loves and new dreams:):):)...
The best that country music has to offer, I think:):):)...no matter how many people say that they like old country better than new country:):):)...
It's pretty clear to me that the life in country music is derived from wonderful, new, progressive country music bands like these:):):)...
These Days is this GORGEOUS song about a couple running into one another after having broke up years earlier:):):)...
"Hey, baby...is that you?...wow, you're hair got so long:)...yeah, yeah, I love it...I really do":):):)...
"Norma Jean, ain't that the song we'd sing in the car, driving downtown, top down, making the rounds, checking out the bands on Dulhemy Avenue"...
"Yeah...life throws you curves"...
"But you learn to swerve"...
"Me...I swung and missed...and the next thing you know...I'm reminiscing...dreaming old dreams...wishing old wishes...like you would be back again"...
"I wake up...and teardrops...they fall down like rain"...
"I put on that old song we danced to and then"...
"I head off to my job...guess not much has changed":):):)...
"Punch the clock...head for home...check the phone...just in case...go to bed...dream of you"...
"Yeah...that's what I'm doing these days"...
"Yeah that's what I'm doing":):):):):):)...
AMAZING song:):):):):):)...I must have listened to that song a hundred times after Brandi and I broke up:):):)...
I listened to a lot of country music after Brandi and I broke up:):):)...sat in the driveway...drank root beer:):):)...
I did have one night of whiskey and Darryl's "I Miss my Friend":):):)...another GREAT country song:):):)...
And "The Good Stuff":):):)...by Kenny Chesney:):):):):):)...
A lot of REALLY GREAT love stories that got played a lot (I'm not sure when they came out since my following of country music is only very recent:):):) about the time when Brandi and I broke up:):):)...just post 9/11 (Brandi and I broke up in August of 2001, just a month before 9/11:):):)...
I later learned to love Toby Keith and Josh Turner and more conservative country singers:):):)...I would sing American Soldier at the top of my lungs in my car when it first came out:):):)...and Josh Turner's Long Black Train was some comfort and a healthy antidote to the slight mean streak I could feel coming on when I was out of work, after Community Living Opportunities (I just want to go on record to say that I have been fired twice...and both times -- 100% -- the folks who fired me were soon fired afterwards...which was little comfort to
me while I slept in my car in Milwaukee, scared to death of where I was going to sleep, eat, work, etc)...
And only very recently did I find Leann Rhimes' GORGEOUS version of Amazing Grace:):):)...
But, recently, the creative juices in country music just didn't seem to flow so easily:):):)...Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying" is beautiful:):):)...but his "Drugs or Jesus" is just one of the shittiest country music songs I've ever heard in my entire life:):):):):):)...
And just not a lot of songs like these really beautiful love songs that seemed to be playing more in 2001 and 2002:):):)...
I was just having this conversation with my friend, Angela, last night:):):)...
The Academy Awards, I think, have just been much shittier in the last few years (as has mainstream cinema, as well, I think, relative to some recent past years -- like 1993 and 1994, when the Unforgiven and Schindler's List won Best Picture awards) for whatever reasons:):):)...
I mean...Lord of the Rings was good...but Best Picture of 2004?...I don't think so...Lost in Translation was nominated that year...and there were at least 10 and as many as 20 movies I named for Angela that I thought should have been nominated and/or won over Lord of the Rings:)...
The Cooler?...Monster?...Girl with the Pearl Earring?...
I have my normal beefs with the Oscars...not nominating Glengarry Glenn Ross for Best Picture or the rest of that cast other than Al Pacino for Best Supporting Actor in 1993...or Denzel Washington in Malcolm X losing to Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman that year for Best Actor the same year ...Al DESERVED Best Supporting Actor, for Glenngarry Glenn
Ross:):)...but Denzel deserved the Best Actor award, and was robbed, I believe:):):)...
But my problem with the Academy runs deeper the last couple of years...
The movie selection, generally, just hasn't been as good these last couple of years:):):)...
...and then the Academy's just been making these really poor choices, lately, I think:):):)...
Like Rene Zelwigger for Best Supporting Actress in 2004 for Cold Mountain, a TERRIBLE movie, that she tries to save like a sinking ship...when there were 20 actresses, at least, who did better jobs with good scripts and deserved that award:):):)...that pick was THE BIGGEST EMBARRASSMENT in recent and maybe all-time Oscar history, I think:):):):):):)...
...or Lord of the Rings for Best Picture in the same year when Lost in Translation is nominated:):):)...and when a ton of other movies...
...Monster...House of Sand and Fog...The Cooler...In America...Finding Nemo...the Barbarian Invasions...The Girl with the Pearl Earring...even
American Splendor...
...are all probably better movies:):):)...
I think my favorite, that year, amongst all of those (there are still a couple like Seabiscuit or Master and Commander: The Farther Side of the World that I still have not seen or, as in the case of Seabiscuit, which I've only seen in part) was Monster...which didn't get nominated...but deserved it more than Seabiscuit, I can tell just from what I'm seen of that cheesy little flick:):):)...and certainly more than the cold, dark, helpless landscape painted in Mystic River...
...and Monster is a fairly decent-sized budget movie...with two stars, Charleze Theron, who was BRILLIANT and TOTALLY deserved the Best Actress Award, and Christina Ricci, who WAY deserved that Best Supporting Actress Award far more than fuckin' Rene Zelwigger for Cold Mountain...
The Oscars and the movie world, generally...and the music world (U2, in particular)...and the entertainment, world, generally, I think...they've all just not been putting out their best stuff in the last couple of years...
And it's just kind of disappointing when you compare it with really great stuff from earlier periods:):):):):):)...
A lot of it I think is money...people rationalizing and compromising quality with profits...I think that explains the Lord of the Rings pick for Best Picture in 2004, which was DEFINITELY NOT the best picture of 2004:):):)...
And a lot of it, I think, may be politics...war and uncertainty...a conservative push that was scaring a lot of the liberals, in particular, in Hollywood, that the Appocalypse was near:):):):):):)...
And...I don't know what...exactly:):):)...
I just know that a lot of the best movies and performances were/are not getting recognized:):)...and a lot of shittier movies/performances ARE when they don't deserve it, as much:):):)...
I'm sure the Academy will sort through it, over time:):):)...
But it's just sad and frustrating to watch it happen in the meantime, as people rationalize why they don't do GREAT WORK:):):)...and why they, far too often, do a lot of SHITTY WORK:):):):):):)...
But it's great work, in the end, that really innovates in the field:):):)...
50 years from now...very few people will remember Under Siege:):):):):):)...one of the candy movies that made big bucks in 1993:):):)...or Stephen Segal, probably:):):):):):)...
I mean...we all will:):):)...
But not like Stephen Spielberg:):):)...and Schindler's List:):):)...which won Best Picture -- rightly -- that year:):):):):)...
Spielberg makes a lot of silly candy movies:):):)...But he will, ultimately, be remembered for his greatest movies:):):):):):)...
Two of which, I think, are two of the greatest movies, if not THE TWO GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME:):):)...
Schindler's List...and Saving Private Ryan (I can't decide, any more, which I like better:):):):):):)...they're both AMAZING:):):):):):)...
But no movies like those last year...or the last couple of years...
I haven't seen Million Dollar Baby or Ray, yet...so I'm probably speaking too soon on this one:):):):):):)...
Because I'm really looking forward to seeing both of them:):):)...
I hope this is all just a blip on the America's and the world's cultural screen:):):)...because we need the life that great music and movies and TV and journalism and media and culture, otherwise, breathes into our lives and into the culture...
For all of his whining...
Does David Horowitz...or Newt Gingrich...or Ann Coulter...or Jerry Falwell...or Pat Robertson...or other pushers of the culture war, feeding America's addiction to blame someone else for the sorry state of our lives...
Do these folks really believe that the culture could really sustain itself on their culture war or their ideas or their words or voices, alone...or even primarily?...
The truth is that I doubt these folks have thought VERY MUCH AT ALL ABOUT ANYTHING except for THEIR HATE OF LIBERALS...and just about everyone else, as well, I would bet...
What piss poor culture it would be if the growth of the culture was based on the whims or the permission of folks like David Horowitz:):):)...or Ann Coulter:):):)...or Jerry Falwell:):):)...or Pat Robertson:):):)...or Newt Gingrich:):):)...
...or as it already is, far too much, on the whims of my Senator from Kansas, Sam Brownback, as his modern day crusades from the FCC:):):):):):)...
What does it say about the future of the Republican party, by the way, that the only two people flirting with running for office amongst Republicans and conservatives, right now, are Sam Brownback and Newt Gingrich?:):):):):):):):):)...
That's like a Democratic race between Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich:):):):):):):):):):)...
What a shitty race that would be:):):):):):):):)...and then you get a fairer idea of what a shitty selection Republicans have in front of them, right now:):):):):):)...
I think I'd rather elect Mandy Moore -- who I'm listening to right now and who's about as candy as red licorice, though her most recent
performance in Saved -- which I have not seen but am DYING to see:):):) -- looks like a nice break from that old typecast:):):):):):)...
...or the Five Blind Boys from Alabama:):):):):):)...
...at least we might get some authentic soul into Congress:):):)...
...instead of all the same old power-wrangling that tries to play itself off as more honest soul-searching:):):):):):)....
In the meantime...
I have a message for conservatives still engaged in the culture war:):):):):):)...
YOUR CULTURE WAR IS GETTING IN THE WAY OF MY/OUR CULTURE:):):):):):)...
You need to take a seat and find a place within it...rather than trying to control or hurt or limit it:):):):):):)...it's doesn't need your control or regulation, thank you:):):):):):)...
It needs room to grow and live and breathe...and create:):):)...
Including...and especially:):):)...
Room to criticize what sons-a-bitches you are for trying to herd something that, fundamentally, needs to be out from under your thumb:):):):):):)...
Because I'm tired of shitty "Drugs or Jesus" songs from Mr. McGraw:):):):):):)...
I want great music, again:):):)...American Soldier and Long Black Train and Living Like You Were Dying being notable exceptions to the overall general trend of not-to-terribly-great-country-music-lately...
And I want new stuff all over the airways:):):)...
Not having to find old stuff from a downloading service because new stuff gets squeezed by an unforgiving, ugly, nasty inversion of everything that authentic religion and spirituality does or should stand for:):):):):):)...by this stupid little culture war, that needs to take a break, pick up a book (preferably one by someone whom you DON'T AGREE WITH:):):):):):)...
...and LEARN SOMETHING ALREADY:):):):):):)...
Which reminds me:):):):)...after reading Ala's blog...
Blonde sagacity:):):)...Ala's great little conservative blog:):):)...I remembered the Tom Delay article I read that quoted Ted Nugent radicalizing the right:):):):):):)...
The right is radicalizing:):):):):):)...that's what's been going on lately:):):):):):)...
So...if you're wondering why this last week or so has seemed as loopy as the earlier days of left radicalization at the beginning of the war:):):)...
Look no further:):):):):):)...
And don't worry you're pretty little heads about it:):):)...RADICALIZATION ALMOST NEVER WORKS IN ANY SUBSTANTIAL WAY:):):):):):):)...except in the solipsistic minds of folks like Ann Coulter and David Horowitz:):):)...or Noam Chomsky and Catherine McKinnnon:):):):):):)...
Everyone else has to deal with the real world:):):):):):)...
In the meantime:):):)...
I've got my Chicks:):):)...and my Rascal Flats:):):)...and my Diamond Rio:):):)...and Darryl Worley:):):)...and Toby Keith and Josh Turner and Tim McGraw:):):):):):)...
And I need them during times like now when...
...when I miss my friend...
It took an awful lot for me to open up my heart after Brandi and I broke up...
I think Brandi and most of my friends just totally take that for granted, really...
But Brandi, especially...
I'm so thankful to have these songs:):):)...
...to help me let it all out...and all of the love in:):):)...
...because love isn't something that we find...it's something that we do:):):)...
Have a great day, everyone:):):):):):)...
Love,
Ben
Posted by benfrankln
at 9:11 AM CDT
Updated: Wednesday, 27 April 2005 12:54 PM CDT
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