Wednesday, November 26, 2008

T-DAY!

Happy Thanksgiving (in advance) everyone! Hope you all eat yourselves retarded tomorrow - Lord knows I will. Mrs. TK is unfortunately working, so I'm doing the multiple house world tour thing tomorrow. But I figured I'd wish y'all a happy happy and all that.

Also, for those who were wondering, Chinese Democracy? Kinda sucks. Click here for the review, as well as a few other good reviews of far superior albums.

Later gators.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Bolt!

Quick update: My review of Bolt went up today -- forgot to mention it until now. In any event, click here to read it.

In music news, two new writers have some great stuff up today and tomorrow... Boo, of Girl Named Boo, has a review of The Sword and Year Long Disaster in concert that's a fun as hell read - here it is. And new writer Shepard has an excellent piece going up on Tuesday. Be sure to check it out.

That's all for now. Get back to work, you lazy sods!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Welcome to my family

I've been meaning to post this for a while but got sidetracked. Some of you may remember a week or two ago I posted a review for American History X over at Pajiba. Well, ever since I've let my parents in on this gig, they've taken to reading the reviews. After the AHX review, I received an email from my dad that sums up our relationship beautifully. It read:

Hey Boy,

A little masterpiece. Superb writing. Wonderful character, acting and story analysis and a balanced assessment of the social pathology of Neo-Nazism (as reflected in this particular story) that I would find difficult to achieve.

Keep it up but don’t end a sentence with a preposition.

Love,

Dad


So first off, yes, at 33 years old, my father still calls me "Boy." Frankly, I don't mind and even find it quite endearing. Second, if you know my father, and know what an all-around brilliant mind he is, you can see why a message like this has me glowing with pride. And third, that final sentence is absolutely awesome. It's so "dad" it's almost comical. God, I love my dad.

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Listening to: Cat Stevens - Father and Son
via FoxyTunes

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Can we talk about stupid for a minute?

Let's go with this:



What you are looking at, in case it's unclear, is the 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid. It's one of the largest SUV's around. In a hybrid. This has to be one of the dumbest fucking things I've ever seen. Basically, you've taken an overpriced, elitist beast of a machine and given it only slightly better mileage.

First of all, I can only assume that we all accept that the Escalade is a car designed for the vain and image-conscious, people who will likely NEVER use it for it's storage capacity or off-road capability. And no, piling in four kids for a soccer game does not fucking count. Seriously, when's the last time you saw an Escalade actually carrying anything? Towing anything? Anything on the roof? No? Didn't think so. People who buy luxury SUV's infuriate me, because a) they have no idea how to drive them and b) it's just stupid. Buying a luxury SUV in this day and age is essentially saying, "I have a ridiculous amount of money, and I'm basically telling the environment to go fuck itself. Seriously, suck my ass, Planet Earth. I've made a conscious decision to ostentatiously flaunt my wealth while simultaneously taking a shit on my children's future on this planet."

Oh ho! But now it's in a hybrid! Now, you can say, "I have even MORE money, money that I don't even know how to spend. I don't give a fuck about the environment, but I read somewhere that other people care. And since my image is so goddamn important, I'd like to at least pretend that I give a shit. So I'll continue to buy massive, overpriced bohemoths on wheels, but this one's a hybrid! Sure, it still doesn't even get 20 miles to the gallon, it's still a danger to other drivers, but now I can act like I'm actually a good person."

I apologize for this out-of-nowhere rant, but I saw one on my way to work this morning and almost exploded in my car.

Anyway, as a random aside, there's a few new music reviews going up on Pajiba at 5PM EST today. Please check 'em out.

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Listening to: Warship - Profit Over People
via FoxyTunes

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Rock You Like a Hurricane

Hi kids,

Quick announcement (again) - some of you may know that in between reviewing movies about necrophilia and writing about spilling on myself, I also write for a music site called The Music is the Message. Well, Pajiba has graciously asked me to become their music editor, and as such, I'll be diverting my musical attentions over there to work on their new music section! Exciting, n0?

Anyway, here is the official Pajiba announcement. I'm sure I'll drive this into the ground in a couple weeks, if I don't fall down a flight of stairs or break my ass mountain biking first, but until then, please do come by and read!

Tonight I go to see The Reverend Horton Heat, and I'm so excited I might pee myself.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Love is about craving

Just a quick programmatic post: A new review went up on Pajiba for Kissed, a movie about, well... necrophilia. Sort of. It's complicated. Look, just click here and read the fucking thing, OK?



Tune in tomorrow for interesting news.

dun Dun DUN!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Fighting the fight

Jesus Christ, Keith Olbermann.

It's perhaps a little overwrought and over emotional, but godDAMN if it isn't fucking brilliant. It says everything I've been thinking, only but far more eloquently.

Watch the whole thing, people.



Well said. Anyone who honestly doesn't think that Proposition 8 is a gargantuan stumble back towards a darker age and an insult to the the institution of marriage, straight OR gay... well, I don't even know why you're reading this.

*Thanks to Tarhearted.

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Now playing: Wax Poetic - Angels feat. Norah Jones
via FoxyTunes

Friday, November 07, 2008

The Better Angels of Our Nature

I'm still kind of reeling from Tuesday. I haven't really watched anything other than MSNBC and a few minutes of the Celtics. I feel like Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann live in my house, I'm watching them so much. The whole thing is just too much for me to absorb in a few days.

Anyway, I'm heading out to Cleveland this afternoon, where sadly, I will not see Mr. Brian Prisco, despite him being there as well. Bummer. We're going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though! And Sunday is the Drive By Truckers concert, so expect updates both here and on The Music is the Message. Oh, and I've got a doozy of a review coming next week as well on Pajiba, so stick around, OK?

Speaking of which, here's the link to yesterday's review. Just click here. Sort of an odd choice given this week's events, but also amazingly appropriate... I mention this in the review, but it's worth reiterating simply for the fun of it. The quote from Lincoln's inaugural address that Danny Vinyard, played by Edward Furlong, uses at the end of American History X is the exact same quote that President-Elect Obama (chills, I tell you, chills whenever I say or type that) used in his victory speech. Which gives me an excuse to paste that quote again, as it's one of my all time favorites.




“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
Take care and have a great weekend everyone.

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Listening to: The Little Willies - Best of All Possible Worlds
via FoxyTunes

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Brother's Gonna Work it Out

FUCK. YES.







As most of you know, I for the most part avoid blogging about politics other than the minor jabs here and there, and issues that affect me on a fundamental, personal level. There's no denying that last night was an historic moment, and as a result, it's worth noting here and elsewhere. It was strangely anticlimactic in a way - I watched the results from the comfort of my house, either on the couch in the earlier hours, or tucked into bed later on. But it was a moving and affecting night. Oddly, it wasn't until this morning, when I heard Obama's speech in full, that it truly hit me, andI found myself sitting in traffic on I-93, with tears on my face.



This wasn't only an election about race - in fact, the issues at hand were far more wide-ranging and critical in some ways. It was about the economy and war and the way things were and the way things should be. It was about all of those things. But, that said, to disregard the momentousness of a black man becoming president is disingenuous and even ignorant.

It may come as a surprise to many, but I truly didn't think it would happen in my lifetime. My father, who I routinely discuss politics with, felt the same. It's odd - we're probably the two most radical, leftist people we know, and yet that has also created a deeply ingrained cynicism that is hard to move past. Given the history of our homeland of South Africa, both where it's been and where it's going, as well as the blunders made in the U.S., it's hard to face the future with anything but skepticism, if not an outright pessimistic fatalism. And while I certainly don't believe that everything is going to be alright now, that our problems will be solved and the world is on the path to righteousness and harmony and that birds will sing and people will dance in the streets, I suppose I can't but help feel that at least now, finally, for the first time in a long time, we are on the right path.

The election of Barack Obama as the 44th President is truly an incredible moment in my life, and hopefully yours. I can now proudly say that there are two clear, shining moments that show that there is hope for the future of race relations, and that there is just hope, period. The release, and subsequent election, of Nelson Mandela was the first. And now, the election of Barack Hussein Obama.

That's all I've got.

Thanks for reading.

-TK

One last thing - no day like this is complete without the requisite soundtrack. So please, please, click HERE.

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Listening to: Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Amazing Grace / Nearer My God to Thee
via FoxyTunes

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Updates and miscellany and VOTE!

I've got some serious hectic times ahead. Spent Sunday and Monday at the wonderful home of Dustin Rowles, friend and editor of Pajiba. They are, despite what you may have heard, lovely people with a ridiculously cute son. Friday we leave for Cleveland, where despite being within a paltry few miles of each other, I will not be seeing Brian Prisco.

Sunday we return, and I begin my whirlwind concert tour - three concerts in six days. The Drive-By Truckers and the Hold Steady on Sunday, The Reverend Horton Heat with Nashville Pussy on Thursday, and Murder By Death with William Elliott Whitmore on Saturday. That should be sufficiently exhausting.

Also, I've got a music post up today, so click here. And a BMaT post went up Saturday, so by all means, click here if you're not sick of me yet. If you are... well, go screw.

Oh, and even though I can't due to my lack of citizenship, I'd appreciate it if you'd get out there and vote, folks. Do it for me. (psst - if you are going to vote for me, I'd appreciate it if you voted for the colored fella)