or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
•
"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
•
"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
October 13, 2007
No Hugs For Anyone
No one has correctly answered my "guess the musical snippet" quiz—so no one gets the tiny prize, which might have included a hug from me. Perhaps avoiding this possible hug is your reason for not coming up with the answer. However, I prefer to believe it's because it was genuinely obscure: it's from the end of the song "The Postman" from the 1992 David Baerwald album Triage. I have never in my life met a single person who's listened to Triage, at least before I urged it upon them. That's too bad, because it's a true work of art.
If you couldn't hear it clearly, in the clip Baerwald is saying: "A society...it's like any animal. It's gotta live. It's gotta eat."
Posted at October 13, 2007 06:46 PM | TrackBackFirst time hearing about them. (oldies, I guess that dates me)
Posted by: Mike Meyer at October 13, 2007 07:44 PMTiny revolution, tiny prize.
Posted by: StO at October 13, 2007 08:39 PMI actually know who David Baerwald is. My impression is that he was in the duo that recorded "Welcome to the Boomtown", and he later recorded several of the most unsuccessful albums in major-label history as a result of his sudden decision that his music was pointless if it wasn't intensely political, although intensely political lyrics did not make any sense when wedded to mainstream 80s-style soft rock with highly limited melodies. This may be erroneous.
Posted by: Cryptic Ned at October 13, 2007 10:43 PMOK, I didn't understand this at all. I thought you were trying to find out who created that bit of music.
But I'm glad there was actually a prize because listening to that snippet was not a reward in and of itself. Baerwald's post-rock political niche is secure if only because most significant political statements now surface in hip hop, not rock venues.
As the WaPost recently explained, rock is now the soundtrack for tv commercials.
Posted by: Mark Gisleson at October 14, 2007 10:40 AMHey!
Can I get a hug anyway?!
I am among the hordes of Philistines who have never so much as heard of David Baerwald.
I too would like a hug anyway.
Posted by: Krinn DNZ at October 14, 2007 04:45 PMI would like a hug for listening to that six times in a row through my crappy computer speakers, trying to figure out what the hell he was saying. (That was GHW Bush in the background, wasn't it?)
Posted by: slim at October 15, 2007 05:42 PM
