Cover Versions and why ska music DOESN'T suck

So faffing around with itunes I noticed that my covers playlist is now over 140 songs long and pretty well reflects my tastes given it is all ska, ska punk, pop punk and punk with a smattering of "other". And it appears the metal, punk and ska are pretty well the three biggest culprits when it comes to covers... At least in the covers I know. The Short Fast Loud cover show is my favourite of the year.

Before I get deeper into this post time to address the most commonly touted opinion I get from people after they hear I like ska (after "what is ska?") is "Ska sucks, Propagandhi said so"... now the first counter I've seen to this arguement is "Ska bands never make any money compared to most other bands due to their size" or "of course they're in it for the money, all bands are". But I'm much prouder of my counter arguement which is simply, "yes believe everything you hear unquestioningly and let someone else make up your mind for you... that's clearly the central message that Propagandhi are trying to get across in their songs"

Anyway, cover versions are good so I thought I'd post some here... So I thought I'd post some of my favs here, but that was harder than it seems given I couldn't work out and easy way to upload the songs here for people to see. So there will be just a list with links to youtube vids if I can find them.
(incidentally this is the default video I link to when I got to youtube... semi related)

So here's not the exhaustive list of covers I have, just the more amusing ones (and I'm not bothering with any of the Me First and the Gimme Gimmes or Reel Big Fish stuff... that would make the list far to long)

• Baby One More Time- August Burns Red
  
• Hazy Shade of Winter- Bodyjar (I have the live version though)
  
• Black Betty- Spiderbait
• Baby Got Back- Throwdown
• Men in Black- Forever the Sickest Kids
• I Kissed A Girl- Machine Gun Fellatio
• Gummi Bears- The Suburban Legends
• Fight for Your Right- The Deadwalk
• Surf City- The Ramones

plus given the you tube searching I did, I found a bunch of other covers on there

• The Xmen Cartoon Theme (this was always begging to be covered)
• Spiderman- The Ramones (I couldn't miss this one)
• TMNT Cartoon (surprised this isn't covered more)
• Tetris (which was interestingly a copy of a Russian tune)
• James Bond Theme- The Skatalites
• YMCA- Skandalous
• Ghostbusters (Of course)
• The Roadrunner show (The theme is actually a country song
• I hate Spongebob but there are a distressing number of bands covering that theme
• The Less than Jake TV covers album (that I don't have) also needs a mention...

Oh well, punk/ska is good and so are covers

Love, Hugs and Kisses
ANt

Ninja Turtles, Disney Rip Offs and etc

Went to the the Royals last night, good show as normal... They did a cover of the Lion King soundtrack (much to the crowd's delight) and I've got to say I think I was born without the "disney" gene... Fantasia is kinda cool... everything else coming out of there is shit... Preachy, fluffy storeies stolen from fairy tales... The Lion King isn't original either... it's essentially just hamlet. Walt Disney was a massive dick and any studio that sues preschools for painting their characters on the walls is just asking for contempt.
True the Warner Bros where dicks too, but at least their cartoons were good... And Chuck Jones was a freaking genius.

Anyway, below is a XKCD I found years ago that was really kick ass and we where talking about last night.


This diagram is far to true... I did a ninja turtle stury at the British art museum when I was 18 and found all but donatello stuff, same as my look seeing at the Lourve and in Italy... What the hell did the Renaissance Donatello even do... I think he was an architect/sculpture, he definitely didn't paint or make anything "famous" (compared to Dave and Ms Lisa).

ANYWAY

So I had my standard ninja turtles discussion AGAIN last night... It was something I noticed back in High School and has held true from then on... The ninja turtle you liked when you where 8-9 years old is still the one that you think is the best. If anything your views have hardened to the point you're willing to fight to the death over your favourite Turtle.

So to end matters here is the official turtle ranking system
1) Donatello- The best, hands down... One of the Funny turtles (win), Rides a single kick skateboard in the original movie (win), smarter than the others (win), voiced by Corey Feldman (win), half of the best line in the movie "You're a Claustrophobic!" "You want a fist in the mouth? I've never even looked at another guy" and not to mention the best character in any of the computer games based on his range... Good range and bad clipping meant that in the amiga game Donatello could actually attack THROUGH THE FLOOR OF THE STORY ABOVE... killing everyone before he even got there


2) Michelangelo- One of the funny ones (win) and clearly the "coolest" but definitely trying a little to hard... Bit of a dumbass too, but can be single handedly blamed for the nunchuck popularity that still exists in the world today...

3) Raphael- Tries so hard it hurts, one of the unfunny turtles, constantly running off alone to get the shit kicked out of himself and then be used to trap the others. Crap at being in the team and an all round annoying guy... Worst choice in any of the computer games due to having absolutely no range too. Oh and he got beaten up by Casey Jones in the movie...

4) Leonardo- Unfunny and douchey but whilst better than Raphael in most respects Leonardo comes last for two reasons. One as a leader he spends his whole time waiting for orders/instructions rather than leading and Two he had the most deadly weapon of the lot (with the 2nd best range in the games) and he spends his whole time not being allowed to use it. So not only does he effectively have no weapon, he doesn't even use his hands because they're occupied holding a sword he's not allowed to use... plus he's kinda a pussy


I really did like the amiga 500 game if you hadn't noticed... Interestingly the pics I found are for the UK version, you can tell because they're the hero turtles not the ninja turtles...


Oh well

Love, Hugs and Kisses
ANt

It's Like Poetry

Was listening to this Logan Whitehurst song last night... it still makes me chuckle...

See him running from the porch,
Like some kind of human torch,
Orange tendrils everywhere,
Acrid stench of burning hair,
Flailing like a drowning bird,
In the dirt he scrawls this word,
O,
H,
M,
Y,
G,
O,
D,
I,
M,
O,
N,
F,
I,
R,
E .
Burning bright from head to shoe,
Stopping, dropping, rolling too,

Local news is on the scene,
See the writing on the screen,
O,
H,
M,
Y,
G,
O,
D,
I,
M,
O,
N,
F,
I,
R,
E,
S,
O,
M,
E,
B,
O,
D,
Y,
P,
U,
T,
M,
E,
O,
U,
T,
F,
O,
R,
C,
R,
Y,
I,
N,
G,
O,
U,
T,
L,
O,
U,
D
I can hear the neighbors say,
"Never liked him anyway"
As I watch on my t.v.
They sweep away his dusty plea
O,
H,
M,
Y,
G,
O,
D,
I,
M,
O,
N,
F,
I,
R,
E.

Love, Hugs and Kisses
ANt

Lyrics by Logan Whitehurst

I don't like horses

So it's Melbourne Cup day and everyone is getting excited... Well it seems like everyone is supposed to be getting excited. But I'm not...

I hate horses...

Like seriously, in our current world they're the most pointless animal that we "farm" and horse racing is a seriously pointless industry.

I can understand that horses USED to be important when they were the primary means of getting anything done on a farm (and thus helping us produce food). They also used to be one of the most important methods of transport which is pretty important. And when your military strength was significantly related to the strength of your cavalry wing horses were pretty important too...
And horse racing surely just grew as an offshoot of people trying to prove they had the "best" horses...

But now? What do we use them for? Seriously? They get ridden recreationally... by spoilt little kids and professionals the size of spoilt little kids...

We don't use them on farms, we don't use them for (non recreational) transport, they have been irrelevant militarily since the advent of massed gun powder and we don't even eat them... They're not even clever/funny/cute...

Most over hyped animal ever

I hate horses

Love, hugs and kisses
ANt

ps this has nothing to do with horses hating me

Stolen From Bookface Two: Return of the self plagariser...

So I decided to raid my old facebook notes for other bollocks to put into my blog (and preserve for eternity)... And I came across these "gems"

Velociraptors vs Batman

in depth analysis

Velociraptor

Pros

• They're DINOSAURS
• They're smart for dinosaurs
• They work in packs
• Feathers! So they're probably not cold blooded
• They're agile, fast and have that massive (for their size) killing claw

Cons

• They're WAY smaller than you think… Like the size of a Turkey
• They probably aren’t smarter than a cat (although Catwoman is one of Batman's most difficult adversaries... mainly because he's so busy trying to "get it on" with her)
  
• Feathers! So they look silly

Batman

Pros

• he’s batman and therefore not allowed to lose (LAME)
• he has plans for EVERYTHING, so that probably includes dinosaurs
• Velociraptors are pretty small… he could just drop kick them
• ”OMG! They can open doors!” so he’ll just booby trap the door

Cons

• he’s batman and therefore lame and the image of velociraptors eating him is cool
• there’s only one of him (and he is subject to the law of inverse ninja strength... He always gets the most screwed when working with Robin/Batgirl etc)
  
• he is “just a man”... Crazy Prepared isn't really a superpower anymore than "Logistics" is a superpower for Awesome X
  

So that tells me that vs a Velociraptor Batman would win… Vs a pack, batman would win…
However bring in a Utahraptor (a much much bigger raptor and it’s a different story… Over 2m tall and 7m long!) but even then I think batman would beat an individual dinosaur (of ANY kind)…

So now we’re up to Batman vs a pack of deinonychus (1.5-2m tall and 3m long)… They are the first dinosaur that blew my mind (even before J-Park) and I think a pack of them would possibly be a damn tough opponent for Batman… Victor would depend on the environment, how prepared batman is and just how many you have in the pack…

Discuss…

Next up....

It's a Monday with no league... what do real people do on a Monday?
I know! I'll write a facebook post...

So it's not that time of year and the hottest 100 of the year isn't rolling around. Instead Triple J are running a Hottest 100 of ALL TIME poll. They last did this 10 years ago or so. I do love my triple J and voting in the hottest 100 is an essential task to do each year (very rarely do I vote for a winner or even the top 10... I normally get a couple in the top 20 though... and got Muse- Knights of Cydonia through a couple of years ago). Anyway I've been nagging people to vote in this one or even just to think about it. What're your favorite songs of all time? That's a tough damn question.
For those not in the know about the process works... You don't pick 100 songs you don't pick 1... you choose 10 songs and the top 100 voted for songs win and are ranked and played in order. So you need to choose 10 songs which is a damn hard thing to do. So after much agonising and soul searching I've picked my top ten... and are listed as follows

1) The Living End Prisoner of Society
Kick Ass song... Kick Ass Band... When we're old and crusty telling our grandkids about what it was like back at the turn of the century this is the band we will be talking about... I have no doubt of that. There is a reason every year these guys make the hottest 100 for that year. This song made this band, it fucking rocks and 10 years after it came out we all still love it and know the words. It was MANDATORY listening at parties for at least 5 years after it came out and I have no doubt you could still whack it on a stereo at any time and NOONE will turn it off. Plus this song is amazing live....

Ranks 2-5 haven't bee assigned, but would include in no particular order

Rage Against the Machine Killing in the Name
Yes... Rage... Rage are good... This is a very intense song. There's not many feelings like a whole crowd screaming "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me!"...

Frenzal Rhomb Ship of Beers
I was a mid-90s punk boy... Blink 182, NoFX, Strung Out, NUFAN... the whole Fat Wreck Chords scene. Frenzal held the Australian torch up pretty damn high. In a very public secret confession I'll admit I only just bought Meet the Family last year. And I knew the words to half the songs, probably dating back to when i was first listening to it circa year 8-9. The sorrow felt when those guys took "time off" was much more intense than I thought it would be (you don't miss something till it's gone... "we can't accidentally see frenzal anymore!"). Those who saw how overstimulated I was at their gig this year might have a clue as to why these guys kick so much ass...

Madness Baggy Trousers
Associated with the mid 90s punk thing comes a love of third wave ska... "But Madness are a second wave two tone band from the 80s!" chorus the pedantic ska music nerd crowd (if there is one). True... I would dearly love to put some Reel Big Fish on the list, but deciding on my favorite single song of theirs is nigh on impossible. Given that RBF owe their existence to Madness, RBF and Madness are the two best live shows I've EVER seen and I have a clear favorite Madness song I felt voting for this is a good compromise... I went ballistic when they played this song live... BLISS

The Action Design Eyes on Me
Who? Why waste a vote like that? Well two words TSUNAMI BOMB... Everyone who knows me should know the absolute thing I have for this band... So how does that connect to Action Design? Well unfortunately Triple J's list is exhaustive but doesn't have Tsunami Bomb songs on it (although the band is there strangely enough). So I voted for the next best thing, the follow up band. For the record I would've voted for 5150 (which is somewhat ironically the police code for an escaped lunatic) and possibly ...Not Forever or No Good Very Bad Day.

Ranks 6-10 (no order)
Midnight Oil The Dead Heart
The Oils are the best band to come from Australia ever... and definitely one of the most important. Go and listen to them now. And I don't care if he's a politician I still think he kicks ass. This is the song of theirs I like the most.

Ramones Blitzkrieg Bop
Partially a "fuck you" to all those kids out in their Rah-moan-ez shirts and don't even know the name of the song "Hey Ho Let's Go" comes from (it's Blitzkrieg Bop btw). But mainly I choose this for two reasons... One I love the song, Two I'm a punk boy (kinda... pop punk I guess) and these guys are the Moses of Pop Punk... Gotta pay your dues and this song deserves the votes...

Michael Jackson Beat It
He's the king of pop... Sure he's not playing with a full deck (i think his deck is just the 7 of Spades and a joker actually) but he sings and dances VERY well. To not put him in the top 100 artists of all time would be a travesty... I choose beat it for the same reason as the Oils... I like the song the most.

Queen Bohemian Rhapsody
Do I really have to explain this? Play this song anywhere and find me a group where at least one person doesn't sing along...

Joy Division Love Will Tear Us Apart
There's a reason this topped the list last time they did this... It's a good song... Listen to it and try and challenge me.

So that's my top ten... It was damn hard to pick too
other stuff that crossed my mind

Smells like teen spirit- Nirvana
You spin me right round- Dead or Alive
Blister in the Sun- Violent Femmes
- Daft Punk
Wonderwall- Oasis
Just a Girl- No Doubt (a karaoke classic!)
New York New York- (Best karaoke song EVER)
-Rise Against
-The Might Be Giants
Intergalactic- Beastie Boys
Fight for your right- Beastie Boys
Knights of Cydonia- Muse
Hazy Shade of Winter- I like the Bodyjar version
Black Betty- Once again I prefer Spiderbait’s version
Rock Lobster- B52s
Kung Fu Fighting-
-Crowded House
-Misfits (probably skulls)
Oh Fortuna Carmina Burana- Carl Orf
Night on Bare Mountain-

so yeah... comments/questions?

Love, Hugs and Kisses
ANt

ps I think they should try a hottest 100 from all the songs that have been on a hottest 100 before... best of the best style... but that's just a slightly more selective hottest 100




Followed by death threats for Keanu Reeves...

So in his daily foray into the creepy underbelly of the interweb (ie he surfs 4chan) my brother found this picture and alerted me to it...
Three pictures, all with approximate dates... From right to left

Keanu Reeves last year, Keanu Reeves 14 years ago, and a portrait of an actor (who uses the name Paul Mounet) from 1875!... That's right 134 years ago!

Now obviously they're all the same person, which logically makes Keanu Reeves a minimum of 162 years old (given Paul Mounet was apparently born in 1847)... And if I know my "immortal beings" life stories (Ra's Al Ghul, Apocalypse and the Highlander characters) they just change their name/country of residence and resume their life every generation or so. This means we clearly can't tell how many "lives" Keanu has lived so far... I wonder who he was and what he did between 1922 and 1964? Something to do with fighting the Nazis I hope...

But obviously we now have one choice of action... Behead him with a sword and inherit his powers.

I needs to get me a sword of some form...

Love Hugs and Kisses


And last of all....

Discuss



So yeah extra stuff to think about from Bookface

Love, hugs and Kisses
ANt