Quotes of the Year: 2011

Quote of the Year:

“Daniel Craig’s my Wookie bitch now!”

-Harrison Ford to Chewbacca

Stupid Quote of the Year:

“I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president — with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln — just in terms of what we’ve gotten done in modern history.”

-Barack Obama

Meltdown of the Year:

“It's no longer acceptable in mixed company -- meaning bipartisan company -- to use the goddamn word 'climate.' And some of the exact same people — I can go down a list of their names — are involved in this. And so what do they do? They pay pseudo-scientists to pretend to be scientists to put out the message: ‘This climate thing, it’s nonsense. Man-made CO2 doesn’t trap heat. It may be volcanoes.’ Bullshit! ‘It may be sun spots.’ Bullshit! ‘It’s not getting warmer.’ Bullshit!

-Al Gore

Twilight Zone Quote of the Year:

"Dreamt I died in Chicago next weekend (heart attack in my sleep). Need to write my will today."

-Former Weezer Bassist Mikey Welsh one week before he suddenly died.
　

And the rest:

“Interesting though, as we evolve and realize our social prejudices are unacceptable, we are finding new groups to hate.”

-Simon Pegg

“You spend your life fighting the spread of evil. Then you learn a Kardashian is pregnant.”

-Batman

“Ironically, the best defense against a zombie uprising would be a robot army.”

-Grant Imahara

“If Charlie Sheen outlives me, I’m gonna be really pissed.”

-Chuck Lorre

"They picked a fight with a warlock."

-Charlie Sheen on his feud with CBS

“Winning.”

-Charlie Sheen

"There are not any plans to erect a statue to RoboCop. Thank you for your suggestion."

-Detroit Mayor Dave Bing

"God didn't create all men equal, Smith and Wesson did."

-Top Shot

“I for one welcome our new computer overlords.”

-Ken Jennings

"I never hugged him, I bombed him."

-Margaret Thatcher

“Who wants to go to Europe. It’s not Detroit.”

-Jalen Rose

"They say I have no hits and I'm difficult to work with. And they say that like it's a bad thing."

-Tom Waits

“People like crap.”

-Getty Lee on popular music

“Will the universe end? many ask. Yes. Not with a bang but a whimper. Not in fire, but in ice. Not in light, but in darkness.”

-Neil deGrasse Tyson

"Why don't you just arrest me?"

-Nicholas Cage to police

"I'm now at the "happiest place on earth". And I'm not happy about it.”

-Brent Spiner

“Clarence doesn't leave the E Street Band when he dies. He leaves when we die.”

-Bruce Springsteen

"As far as I'm concerned, Betty Ford saved my life."

-Stevie Nicks

"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band …”

-R.E.M.

“It’s hard to accept being liked.”

-Andy Rooney

“This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.”

-Joe Paterno

Top 200 Albums of All Time: R.E.M.

Murmur: REM (1983)
Fans joked that Murmur should have been titled mumble. The album introduced the world to Michael Stipe’s cryptic and at times undecipherable lyrics and Peter Buck’s jangly guitar sound. The album helped kick off college rock and began the steady build to the alternative revolution of the early 1990s.

Key Tracks:
Radio Free Europe
Talk About the Passion
Perfect Circle
Pilgrimage

Document: REM (1987)
R.E.M. toyed with breaking through to the mainstream prior to Document. However, this album brought commercial success and a platinum certification. Despite the breakthrough with songs such as “The One I Love” and “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”, the band stayed true to itself with such tracks as “Welcome to the Occupation”, “Exhuming McCarthy”, and “Disturbance at the Heron House.”

Key Tracks:
Finest Worksong
Welcome to the Occupation
Disturbance at the Heron House
It’s The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
The One I Love

Automatic for the People: REM (1992)
Out of Time made R.E.M. unlikely rock royalty. The band planned to follow up the folksy sounding multi-platinum monster with a rock album, but abandoned the project. Instead, they teamed with John Paul Jones to craft a subdued album based on mortality. The result, Automatic for the People, and its themes of lost youth and death, has stood up well over two decades and is one of the finest albums of the period.

Key Tracks:
Drive
Try Not to Breathe
Everybody Hurts
Man on the Moon
Nightswimming
Find the River

New Adventures in Hi-Fi: REM (1996)
After releasing their own “grunge” album with Monster, R.E.M. created perhaps the most underrated album in music history. Many of the songs were written and perfected while touring, which is perhaps why some of the tracks deal with travel. Interestingly, the album did not do as well as prior R.E.M. efforts. In hindsight, the decline of the record industry may have actually begun just prior to Napster and the download craze of the late 1990s.

Key Tracks:
Electrolite
Binky the Doormat
Bittersweet Me
E-Bow the Letter

Quotes of the Month: September 2011

Quote of the Month:

“My neighbor’s two dogs have created more shovel-ready projects than this current administration.”

-Former N.M. Governor Gary Johnson on the Stimulus

Stupid Quote of the Month:

“It’s a very difficult district for Democrats.”

-Debbie Wasserman Schultz on New York 9 (which is 75% Democratic)

Slam of the Month:

“So does anybody want a date with Mayberry? He’s Stanford educated…”

-Hunter Pence on his teammate, John Mayberry’s attempt to ask actress Antoinette Nikprelaj out.

Gaffes of the Month:

"We’re the country that built the Intercontinental Railroad."

-Barack Obama (he meant transcontinental)

“If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a Jew, uh, as a janitor makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor. I have no problem with that.”

-Barack Obama confusing Jews and Janitors

Scary Quote of the Month:

"I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover."

-Governor Bev Perdue

And the rest…

OBAMA: "I can see the unemployment line from my house!"

-Ann Coulter

“Has anyone in the history of the world spent more money than Obama?”

-SE Cupp

"London is no longer an English city."

-John Cleese

'President Obama, This Is Your Army. We Are Ready to March. Let's Take These Son of Bitches Out'

-James Hoffa

"I get a code violation for this? I express who I am. We're in America last I checked."

-Serena Williams’ Meltdown at the U.S. Open

“Charlatan is an unfair word. He did an awful lot for effect.”

-JFK on FDR

"S---, you have to get rid of this ball just a split-second quicker."

-Ron Jaworski during a NFL broadcast

“People feel betrayed, disappointed, furious, disgusted, hopeless.”

-Anonymous Democratic Source after losing Weiner’s seat

“If you play against him, you hate him. If you play with him, you hate him a little less.”

-Ozzie Guillen on AJ Pierzynski

“Start drinking early.”

-Tom Brady to Pats fans

“If you love me, you got to help me pass this bill.”

-Barack Obama to supporters

"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band …”

-R.E.M.

Favorite 80s Albums

Appetite for Destruction- GnR (1987): Gritty and unglam. It was fresh and refreshing. The anti-Poison.


The Joshua Tree- U2 (1987): The anti-everything at the time.

Back in Black- AC/DC (1980): AC/DC doesn't need Bon Scott?

Born in the USA- Bruce Springsteen (1984): Who needs Michael Jackson or Prince?

Synchronicity- The Police (1983): Made them the biggest band in the world; then Copeland broke Sting's ribs.

Document- REM (1987): It's the end of the world...

Hysteria- Def Leppard (1987): Probably the most important album during my HS years. This was a greatest hits album.

Pyromania- Def Leppard (1983): Almost as good as Hysteria.

War- U2 (1983): U2 broke from New Wave here. The album has all time classics on it.

New Jersey- Bon Jovi (1988): I just like the album...better than Slippery When Wet.

The 10 Greatest Albums of the 80s

Not in any particular order...

Thriller- Michael Jackson (1982): It's now fashionable to claim Off the Wall was better, but those folks are on crack. This was a monster that opened doors for black artists and changed pop music. Today's hip hop, pop, and rap are all influenced by Thriller. No Thriller, no Hip Hop and today's pop is different.

Purple Rain- Prince (1984): For a time, people asked "Michael Jackson or Prince?"

The Joshua Tree- U2 (1987): U2 went in a totally different direction than everyone else in the mainstream with Joshua Tree. It was a rejection of plastic modern society and is probably more relevant today than in 1987.

Raising Hell- Run DMC (1986): Rap comes to the suburbs. Blondie introduced it to white America, Grandmaster Flash brought the streets to MTV, but Run DMC brought Hip Hop to the forefront and legitimized it. Although MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice made it mainstream, Run DMC became the first to explode onto the scene.

Appetite for Destruction- GnR (1987): Like U2, Guns n Roses took popular music in a radical direction in 1987. Unlike U2's examination of America and modern materialism, GnR took a darker approach and examined the underworld in a way no had since Exile on Mainstreet.

Back in Black- AC/DC (1980): AC/DC somehow survived the death of Bon Scott and turned that loss into one of the greatest tribute albums ever.

Born in the USA- Bruce (1984): Just about every song on this album became a hit. Bruce became a phenomenon and the embodiment of America. No one bothered to listen to the lyrics of the title track...

Murmur- REM (1983): While pop music was heading in multiple directions during the eighties including hair metal, new wave, hip hop, and some groups which defied categorization (Huey Lewis was played on rock stations that would follow Heart of Rock n Roll with Led Zeppelin), R.E.M. ushered in the alternative movement. Murmur represented an attempt to get back to basics and bring fresh rock n roll back to an audience.

London Calling- The Clash (1980): The west appeared on the verge of utter collapse in the late seventies. High unemployment, stagnant economies, and disheartened populations wanted to go to the disco. London Calling reflects the postwar apocalypse that hit during the seventies. Despite the coming ice age and sun zooming in, the album ends on an uplifting note with "Train in Vain."

Synchronicity- The Police (1983): Synchronicity made the Police the biggest band in the world. The album and its songs was omnipresent from summer of 1983 and into 1984. "Every Breath You Take" is one of the songs that defined the eighties.

My Favorite Albums from the 1990s

Actung Baby- U2 (1991)

Ten- Pearl Jam (1991)

Vs.- Pearl Jam (1993)

Monster- REM (1994)

Automatic for the People- REM (1992)

New Adventures in Hi-Fi- REM (1996)

Metallica- Metallica (1991)

Use Your Illusion I and II- Guns n Roses (1991)

From the Cradle- Eric Clapton (1994)

For Unlawful Carnel Knowledge- Van Halen (1991)

Singles Soundtrack (1992)

Albums of the 90s

Here are the top 10 albums of the 1990s. Basically based on impact. Interestingly, six of the ten came out in 1991 or 1992. They are not listed in any particular order. These are not necessarily my favorite albums. Too lazy to do write-ups...if questions, ask or look it up...

Nevermind- Nirvana (1991)

Ten-Pearl Jam (1991)

Ok Computer- Radiohead (1997)

Automatic for the People- REM (1992)

Actung Baby- U2 (1991)

The Chronic- Dr. Dre (1992)

Metallica- Metallica (1991)

Jagged Little Pill- Alanis Morrisette (1995)

Unplugged- Nirvana (1994)

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)- And then she went crazy...

#58 R.E.M.

R.E.M. was the moment alternative music appeared. Alternative rose from the ashes of punk and created an independent, less commercial sound. R.E.M. toured and recorded day after day for years. Eventually, they hit it big in 1987 with a dark and often misinterpreted “The One I Love.” They signed to Warner and in 1991, they became superstars with the folk song, “Losing My Religion.” This was the second nail in the hair metal coffin (the first being Welcome to the Jungle and the final nail being Smells Like Teen Spirit). It was also the opening volley in the 90s rock revolution.

They followed “In Time” up with an album about mortality. “Automatic For The People“ produced “Everybody Hurts” which has been named song of the year for 1993. This was followed by “Monster” and “New Adventures in Hi-Fi” and a slew of hits.

R.E.M. remained one of the biggest bands in the world for the rest of the decade. Drummer Bill Berry left the band after 1996’s “New Adventures in Hi-Fi” and the band changed their sound. Their popularity waned and they returned to their old sound with 2008’s “Accelerate.” In 2007, they were inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

Rock n Roll Moment: The now infamous Peter Buck air rage incident.

Essential REM:
Murmur (1983)
Reckoning (1984)
Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)
Document (1987)
Green (1988)
Automatic for the People (1992)
Monster (1994)
New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996)
Accelerate (2008)

REM’s Top 10:

Radio Free Europe
The One I Love
It’s The End of the World as We Know It (and I feel fine)
Orange Crush
So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)
Man on the Moon
Losing My Religion
Drive
Everybody Hurts
Driver 8