Awesome Music Week: Phoenix

I first heard them: Last week on Saturday Night Live
Would Side Bar like them?: possibly
Would Open Bar like them?: probably not, it's a little new wave-ish
Would LJT like them?: Since the default is no, we'll go with that.
Bonus Guess, Would WinIt like them?: Indubitably. If there were a party at his place, this would be on the playlist before the party would be canceled.

(Has anyone else noticed that there seems to be a debate raging among grammerians as to whether canceled is spelled with one or two L's? It seems like it should be two, but for some reason, one L seems to be the technically proper use. Both are acceptable in Microsoft Word. It's kinda strange.)

There's a thin line between real good band and a bunch of douchebags, and Phoenix toes that line really well. There's a real possibility that I'd be the only of the four of us who'd like this band. These gies have what some might deem strikes against even before any songs play. First of all they're from France. Secondly they have a real distinct 80s laid back pop sound. You can almost imagine them with huge hair and androgenous clothes jumping around on the stage. Despite that fact, however, I'm really digging on them in the last week or so. I've basically spent the last week listening to a lot of these gies along with our last two entrants, Glasvegas and the Ting Tings.

This particular band just seems to hit me in a sweet spot. Really mellow vibe, catchy tunes, the singer has a cool voice. And they use their synthesizer really well. It's not overused, as is probably the temptation, but it really adds to every song. Phoenix seems to me like the type of band that would really appeal to people under the influence of mind altering substances. I can't really say this for sure, but for some reason they just throw off that kindof vibe to me. This band has actually been around for a long time. They released their first album in 2000, I believe, and actually have 4 albums all together. Their first couple records are not as great as their more recent efforts, in my opinion. They really seem to have grown into their sound. This song posted below, 1901, represents everything that is good about them. Kick back, put your feet up, and break out your phat nug if you're still into that sort of thing, because you'll need it.

Sanjay Gupta can smoke my cock

So CNN’s Sanjay Gupta is gonna be our new surgeon general, eh? Color me unimpressed. (A tannish/beigeish shade, sort of a cross between dry sand and sand that was wet like half an hour ago but is pretty much dry now. So, basically sand-colored, I guess.)

The Gupe (as I'll be calling him)? Not a big pot fan. And his reasoning is even weaker than your mom's. Quoth the Gupe:

"[M]arijuana isn't really very good for you."

[Insert blindingly obvious well-neither-are-alcohol-or-cigarettes-or-a-thousand-other-things-and-they're-not-illegal spiel.]

He then begins quite an impressive list of reasons why, in fact, marijuana is good for people:

"True, there are health benefits for some patients. Several recent studies, including a new one from the Scripps Research Institute, show that THC, the chemical in marijuana responsible for the high, can help slow the progress of Alzheimer's disease. (In fact, it seems to block the formation of disease-causing plaques better than several mainstream drugs.) Other studies have shown THC to be a very effective antinausea treatment for people--cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, for example--for whom conventional medications aren't working. And medical cannabis has shown promise relieving pain in patients with multiple sclerosis and reducing intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients."

That's a fairly convincing series of arguments for legalizing pot, at the very least for medical purposes, right? Right? No?

"But I suspect that most of the people eager to vote yes on the new ballot measures aren't suffering from glaucoma, Alzheimer's or chemo-induced nausea. Many of them just want to get stoned legally."

:-( 

That's right, fuck all those goddamn sick people. We can't be turnin' all of society into hippies and wastoids, now can we.

"Why do I care? As Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, puts it, 'Numerous deleterious health consequences are associated with [marijuana's] short- and long-term use, including the possibility of becoming addicted.'"

Nora Volkow is this luscious beauty, for the record:

KILL IT WITH FIRE!

So yeah, take what "she" says with a grain of salt.

"What are other health consequences? Frequent marijuana use can seriously affect your short-term memory. It can impair your cognitive ability (why do you think people call it dope? [Ed. note: Duh, because it’s doooooooooope!]) and lead to long-lasting depression or anxiety."

Or it could, you know, not. It could just feel awesome while I watch my new Pineapple Express DVD sitting on my couch not side-swiping children as I rush back home from happy hour. Maybe the consequence is that it enhances my creativity, so I sit down and write out 5,000-word blog posts on why tigers are way bad-asser than lions, but a liger is like the One Ring in Lord of the Rings – it rules them all. Number four on my Sweetest Big Cats list would have to be the black panther. ‘Cause, man, you can’t like see it when it’s dark. 

Leave It To The Stoners

Ok, so two fuckheads were in their dorm room over the weekend. One of them opens the window and yells out to some girl who was in the vicinity, "If you're looking for weed, my roommate Ferrante has some for sale". Announcing that he was a drug dealer. Out of the fucking window.

Amazingly, two cops were nearby, heard this, walked up the stairs, and arrested the two kids. Say what you will about the tenets of marijuana's legality, dude, but don't yell out the window that you're a drug dealer. Please.

Sunday Classic Video?

It's actually just audio in the guise of video. Fucking potheads, man.