I get to be as self-indulgent as I want without wasting anyone's time. Guilt-free solipsism -- excellent!

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So my latest thoughts on the Iraq mess (you can all exhale now...)? There are some legitimate reasons to invade, but the Bush administration is methodically screwing the whole thing up with its string of cack-handed diplomatic bumblings. Plus I have zero confidence that they will handle reconstruction with the patience and commitment that is so clearly called for. Of course, now he's backed himself into a corner, having given himself no graceful way to step back (as has Chirac). As usual, see Thomas Friedman....

When Fleischer moved the goalposts by saying that the only things that could prevent war were Iraq's disarmament and Hussein stepping down, my heart sank. With that statement, he fucked all our allies who've put their credibility on the line by backing Bush in the face of overwhelming dissent by their various populations. Dumb dumb dumb.

Been listening to 6music at work a lot lately: Stevie doing "Boogie On Reggae Woman", Polyphonic Spree, a string quartet covering "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", Hot Hot Heat, and now Aretha singing "Think" -- nice mix of stuff.

Speaking of Re Re, an entertaining quote from a recent Elvis C interview:

"Nobody today can sing with the confidentiality of those vocal jazz records of the '50s -- Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan. People today haven't heard those records -- they've heard Mariah Carey, who in some ways has an amazing voice but absolutely no taste [cough, Barbra Streisand, cough]. That's 90% of singers today -- no taste. Just sing the bloody melody, what's the matter with you? If you want to get into a trilling, melismatic competition, just ring up Stevie Wonder because he will kick your arse every time. Nobody's going to sing that phrasing better than Stevie Wonder so why bother? What's it proving? It's proving that you can't hold a bloody note, that's what. It denotes some kind of nervous energy that's supposed to be sexy or something.

"The whole divas thing is complete bullshit. If you want to hear that done properly, buy Aretha in Paris, then you'll hear the real thing. Hear "Never Loved A Man" at half the speed of the studio recording. Amazing."
| posted by Alex at 10:30 AM