Nov 16th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Endgame
Permanent daylight:
— Noam Schieber on David Brooks and John Thune.
— The Cold Drank Summit will go down in history as a crucial moment in the history of the internet.
— Jessica Valenti follows up on “fourth wave” feminism.
— OED considering adding “teabagger”.
— There’s some CW out there that Europe’s efforts to implemented the Kyoto Protocol didn’t work, but in fact despite some initial snags everything’s one track.
— “China’s New Engagement With the International System”.
— I don’t really understand why Oregon’s economy is in such bad shape.
— Larry Coon’s indispensable NBA Salary Cap FAQ.
Does Women’s “Black Rice” just remind me of the Beetles in general, or is there some specific Beetles song that it closely resembles?
51 Responses to “Endgame”
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November 16th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
the Beetles
You have got to be kidding me.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
So the song reminds you of insects with wing covers?
Or do you mean the Beatles?
November 16th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Construction wood products big business in Oregon.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Matt’s post reminds me of the time the famous biologist J. B. S. Haldane was asked to speculate on God’s taste in popular music. Haldane famously replied that God must have “an inordinate fondness for The Beatles.”
November 16th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
I want to think this is a case of spellcheck preemptive strike.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
I was born and raised in Oregon, and I can tell you my entire life (I’m 30) the economy has varied between not-that-bad and horrific.
I’m sure there’s lots of reasons to do with taxes, spending, history, demographics, etc… but one thing I think about is that we probably have one of the most economically unproductive educated classes on the planet. Maybe they produce other things of greater cultural value, but a lot people move to Oregon (and Portland in particular) because they hear its an easy place to live with a relatively inexpensive high quality of living.
Thus you get lots of young people with the combination of the means (at the time) to move, and not all that interested in doing shit when they get there. I’d be interested in the percentage of coffee stand baristas that have masters.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Just checking in to see if maybe there was a band called the Beetles I hadn’t heard of. But no, just Matt’s amazing spelling.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Regarding comment #4 by james Gary
MR Gary Thank you for making my day with that comment.The original qoute by Haldane has always been one of my favorites.But your “new” qoute is even better.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
The Beatles? No. It does sound like one of dozens of garage-y bands that occasionally got airplay in the 60s. This ditty could have been pulled off any of the Rhino Nuggets series and nobody would have known any different.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
@ matthewc…
To counter the stereotype of the lazy Portland hipster, I was very much interested in doing all sorts of things when I lived in Portland for three years. Problem was, my BA wasn’t enough to land me one of the very few good jobs available, as everyone applying for those positions had advanced degrees. So I became a house painter. Because it was a way to pay bills. And paying the bills is of the utmost importance.
(I suppose that the fact that I did many other wonderful things in my free time is irrelevant, because those things were “economically unproductive.”)
Ultimately, this isn’t a chicken or egg question. The existence of people with master’s degrees doing the latte art on your four dollar Stumptown coffee beverage does not explain the economic situation that produces such an outcome. It describes a small part of it. Portland hipsters be damned.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Pete–Thanks! Believe it or not, I thought of that joke years ago and have been waiting for a chance to use it. (Thanks also to Matt Y for the set-up.)
November 16th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
It does sound like one of dozens of garage-y bands that occasionally got airplay in the 60s. This ditty could have been pulled off any of the Rhino Nuggets series and nobody would have known any different.
An excellent lead-in to Chuck Klosterman’s hilarious “review” in The Onion of the new Beatles box set:
http://www.avclub.com/articles/chuck-klosterman-repeats-the-beatles,32560/
November 16th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Black Rice: Yeah, Be-atles in general rather than a specific song. A hint of 67-68-era Beach Boys maybe? Otherwise, lotsa bands … early Floyd, late Move, Dantalian’s Chariot maybe (Zoot Money’s devolution) … Much as I love the Beatles, they sure did inspire some unfortunate digressions
November 16th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Oregon’s economy saw a big housing bubble, in part due to Californians coming here to retire. It’s economy is also heavily based on commodities whose prices have tanked.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Well the lick reminds me of “Last Train to Clarksville” and the lyrical opening reminds me of “California Dreaming” so not the Beatles but that era.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
If you only listen to the first note, it sounds like “I Feel Fine.” I, too, wondered if “The Beetles” was some seminal garage band I’d never heard of.
November 16th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Checking out the TNR link led me to a another story back on TP where John Derbyshire wishes away inconvenient (to the GOP) voting blocks by repealing womens’ suffrage. The piece concludes with a quote from Ann Coulter:
Ah yes, the leggy, unmarried fornicator hits the nail on the head. The proper role for ambitious female elites is to go to the right schools, become the masturbatory aid for a wealthy patron, and make millions subverting the Republic.
November 16th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
My grossly overpriced kids’ private school newsletter has an alumni news section. Last issue had an item about a Phd program drop-out moving to Eugene to pursue a career in pottery.
November 16th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
I don’t really understand why Oregon’s economy is in such bad shape.
I’m sorry, but what is that map even trying to communicate?
November 16th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
The yardbirds
hang on sloopy
November 16th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Re “Jessica Valenti follows up on “fourth wave” feminism.”
———
Doesn’t Jessica know that we men lose any interest in what a feminist has to say — about feminism or any other subject — one the feminist’s butt reaches a certain width?
As they say in West Virginia , never marry a woman who weighs more than your pickup.
Fortunately, she has tagged and bagged Andrew. Thereby achieving the feminist’s secret goal of finding some poor schmuck who will give her a lifetime meal ticket in exchange for sporadic sex of so so quality.
November 16th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
No wait—
red rubber ball
November 16th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Fortunately, 3000 years of the Bene Gesserit breeding program has crafted Andrew to live under the cat’s paw.
Plus there’s the work experience with Josh Marshall.
November 16th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Suggested wedding vow for Andrew:
” I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain. “
November 16th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
I know your misspellings are legendary, but how can we take you seriously on anything if you can’t spell “Beatles” correctly?
November 16th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
not so much the Beatles but maybe the Beach Boys (Brian Wilson) or Syd Barrett Pink Floyd…
November 16th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Monks anyone? or more contemporary like the Black Angels?…
November 16th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
the opening chords are reminiscent of a slowed down “Day Tripper” kind of…
November 16th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
not so much the Beatles but maybe the Beach Boys…
The Beach Boys? Or did you mean the Beech Boys? (A little-known overall-wearing garage-jug band from Kentucky that had a few minor hits about the time “Beverly Hillbillies” was popular.)
November 16th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Given how many words, and senses of words, the OED should have added years ago but has failed to, it really ticks me off that they’re considering a term as faddish as “teabagger.” If the epithet sticks for a few years, as “Bircher” did, then sure, it deserves an entry. But wait and let it prove itself, fer chrissakes. It reminds me of an article that the Guardian ran in 2000, about controversy over some dictionary’s definition of “Blairism.” I’m sure it was good for some publicity at the time. But nine years later, can anybody name any good reason that “Blairism” should be in the dictionary? Is this a term that anybody ever uses?
November 16th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
It reminds me of the Kinks’ “Tired of Waiting for You”.
November 16th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Regarding Oregon’s economy: The Oregon Blue Book provides some details on the basis of the state’s economy and will give you some understanding of the general issues involved here without having to resort to bland anecdotal evidence or stereotypes.
Here’s the link: http://bluebook.state.or.us/facts/economy/economy.htm.
It basically boils down to the fact that any manufacturing industry the state had has been fairly well decimated while the high-tech industries that carried us for awhile are not exactly in an expansive mood. Oregon’s economy never recovered fully from the high-tech bust or the end of the logging boom, so the recent recession took any unusually high toll. Having your tax base made up of income and property taxes when a lot of people don’t have income and everyone is selling their property doesn’t do much for the state’s budget or social services. Oregon does not have a sales tax.
November 16th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Does Women’s “Black Rice” just remind me of the Beetles in general
No, not really, except maybe the opening riff. It’s got some real heavy (heavy, dude!) psychedelic influence from the late ’60’s. I keep coming back to the Velvet Underground and say Venus in Furs or something else off the record. The riff is a different beastie, and the vocals are out of the toilet stuff like the 13th Floor Elevators.
I can’t find the particular riff though.
max
['Annoying.']
November 16th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Does Women’s “Black Rice” just remind me of the Beetles[sic, sic, sic!] in general
No, it does not remind you of the Beatles. Shecky at #9 gets this right– this is a 60s garage band sound. Maybe Paul Revere and the Raiders or the Electric Prunes.
I think I’m the only person more offended that MattY could have associated that song with The Beatles than his egregious spelling error. How little familiarity with the songs of the Beatles would you have to have to make a mistake like that?
November 16th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Does Women’s “Black Rice” just remind me of the Beetles in general, or is there some specific Beetles song that it closely resembles?
It sounds like a bad Oasis song. It’s droning and whining. I think if you spelled the Beatles correctly I would have understood your comparison as blasphemy, but now I’m forced to conclude it is a mistake of ignorance.
November 16th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
The melody (not arrangement) reminds me of some 60s a.m. radio hit that I heard a zillion times on the oldies station when I was a teenager, like the Association or something like that, but I can’t even think of any of the words, except I vaguely think the words “all of the time” pops up in it, maybe. So that’s all I got.
November 16th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
ITT: MY trolls his commenters. lol
November 16th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
OK, what I was thinking of was “Tired of Waiting” by the Kinks, which I guess is considered Serious, Important Rock Music, rather that what I described a moment ago, but anyway, there you go.
November 16th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Re: Matt’s post reminds me of the time the famous biologist J. B. S. Haldane was asked to speculate on God’s taste in popular music. Haldane famously replied that God must have “an inordinate fondness for The Beatles.”
Re: If we took away women’s right to vote, we’d never have to worry about another Democrat president.
Leaving aside Ms. Couleter’s morality or lack thereof, she’s also wrong on the merits. Women may (in the United States, at least) be less likley to vote hardcore conservative, but they’re also less likely to vote for the hard-core Left. In many European and Latin American countries the female vote was counted on as a bulwark against Marxism, and in fact the Chilean women’s vote was responsible for losing the Allende the presidency in, I think, the 1958 election.
You could make a case that women vote more _reasonably_ then men (i.e. not being caught up in the ideological fad du jour), but it’s not accurate to say that women generally vote either Left or Right.
Re: Doesn’t Jessica know that we men lose any interest in what a feminist has to say — about feminism or any other subject — one the feminist’s butt reaches a certain width?
Don Williams,
That’s horrendous. As my kindergarten teacher used to say, if you can’t say something nice about someone, then don’t say anything at all.
It’s also stupid and false. I don’t really know what Simone Weil or Judith Jarvis Thomsen looked like, but I do know they were both very influential moral thinkers, the first for good and the second for ill.
November 16th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Yeah, that really sounds no more Beatley than any other music that sounds like circa-1966 rock music does. The Beatles always used much stronger rhythms and just had better production in general than that song.
It’s a dirgey garage rock sound. Some influence from Syd Barrett, some influence from the Kinks’ “Tired of Waiting,” as noted above, but nowhere near as catchy.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:35 am
Oh, Matt…
November 17th, 2009 at 1:39 am
The Europeans have a One Track Mind about Kyoto. Cool!
November 17th, 2009 at 1:46 am
@MatthewC #6,
And this is a bad thing? When “productivity” is measured by how many people one can fleece? When “economic growth” means pissing away a 120 million year old patrimony? When “foreign policy” means kicking the door down on one country after another because they have the temerity to say “We want to keep our resources for our own uses.”
I’d say that pulling lattes is a good use of a mind if those are the alternatives.
November 17th, 2009 at 2:36 am
1) James Gary ftw..if there’s such a thing as a perfect comment on a post, that was it
2) +1 to that it’s closer to “tired of waiting” than anything else, and is certainly way too garage-y and lo-fi to be mistaken as Beatles-y
3) +1 to Tyro. man, if you thought this sounded like a beatles song, you haven’t done beatles due diligence..you should get on that. listen to the white album a couple of times, stat–it’s ridiculous
November 17th, 2009 at 7:22 am
As a former Washington State native, my understanding of Oregon’s economy is that it’s equal parts logging, agriculture, and high tech, with a sprinkling of the Ashland Shakespeare Festival. Since none of those areas are doing particularly well (Ok, I don’t know what the Shakespeare industry is like these days), it makes sense that Oregon’s in a bad way. It gets bundled in with Washington by most of the country, but there’s a pretty big difference between the size of their local economies.
November 17th, 2009 at 7:30 am
Oh, and it’s nice to see my current home, New Jersey, scoring so highly on that. I’ve been saying since California’s collapse that New Jersey is California circa 2004-5. We’ve got massive fiscal problems and absolutely no political will to address them. I’m not sure if this is a truism everywhere, but New Jersians can’t stop griping about how they’re subject to the highest property taxes in the country, when New Jersey’s average individual tax burden puts us somewhere in the mid-teens among the states.
November 17th, 2009 at 7:36 am
New Jersians can’t stop griping about how they’re subject to the highest property taxes in the country, when New Jersey’s average individual tax burden puts us somewhere in the mid-teens among the states
How is that possible? In addition to high property taxes, NJ also has a relatively high income tax and middling sales tax. What are NJiabs saving money on compared to other states?
November 17th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Matt, the Beatles song “Black Rice” most resembles is “I Feel Fine”. There is a very strong similarity for the tone and plucking of the guitar in the opening moments of the song. “I Feel Fine” did not appear on an album and can be found on the Past Masters CD.
November 17th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Beetles: She’s a Woman
I feel fine was on the US album Beatles 65, I remember playing air guitar to it at a friend’s house in my much much younger days. Of course some US albums were moneygrubbing compilation albums that had no UK counterpart
November 17th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Well Tyro, I guess I should say that I’m not in any way an expert. I was just curious one day, did a Google search and found this CNNMoney ranking of overall tax burden by state. I didn’t check into their methodology, so it’s perfectly possible that they’re overlooking something. Anyway, according to them, the national average is 10.1% and NJ is 10.4%. Highest overall is Maine with 13% and lowest is Alaska with 6.4%. New Jersey’s ranked 14th, which is certainly top half, but also certainly not the highest, which you’d expect based on what you hear from NJ residents.
November 17th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
[...] the original post here: Matthew Yglesias » Endgame By admin | category: beach boys, boy | tags: beach boys, beatles, boy, chariot, dantalian, [...]