Yeah I was WWF-obsessed during my childhood years (completely lost interest by 15-16, 2000-01). Obviously being young was a big reason I (and a lot of others) were into it. I could never bash wrestling as a whole even now, due to how big of a part of my kid years it was. It would be like bashing my childhood. But, it's still alright to look back at how cheesy some of it (then and now) is. It hasn't really changed much at all in terms of formula and new ideas, and I think that's another part of why we don't hear about it anymore. Even if we were kids when we loved it, it was new then - it was evolving, becoming more racy, etc. They have nowhere to go now. And as far as I'm concerned the newer characters they've been coming up with will never match up to the awesome simplicity of a hero type character like Bret Hart, for instance.
And again, the point I want to make clear here is that such preposterous thinking doesn't exist in small numbers. This is why I felt those poll results were particularly relevant. Nearly half of the US population believes the absolutely fucking insane.
All the Teabaggers are doing is making more clear how widespread and ludicrous such thinking is. The wackjobs that make up the Tea Party are the same people that make up the Republican base. The two are inseparable.
" It's not that the Teabaggers are giving the Republicans a bad name. The right is known as often being particularly stupid. Not all right-leaning people are stupid, but many are. It's a well known fact. The Tea Party (at least the portion that supports Palin, as opposed to Ron Paul, which is apparently about half) represents the Republican base. "
I'd argue the vast majority of right and left wing people are very dumb. The vast majority of America, and the whole world really are completely ignorant/just generally dumb, and this is magnified even more so in politics because even some semi intelligent people get their information spoon fed to them by crazy left/right wing sources. "
Yeah a good portion of Americans are quite unintelligent. For instance, 22% of Americans are certain that Jesus will come back sometime within the next 50 years to judge the living and the dead, and another 22% think he probably will. That's nearly half of the US population (source: http://richarddawkins.net/articles/2820). I'm certainly not saying that the right are particularly stupid and the left are particularly smart (conspiracy theories regarding 9/11, for instance, originate from the left), but we definitely see a lot more outspoken stupidity from the right. In regards to that previous stat I mentioned (the results of polls Sam Harris reports are reliable), it is generally the Evangelicals that hold such views. It's well known that Evangelicals are almost exclusively Republican supporters. Christian fundamentalism and conservatism overlap in the US, and these people are generally concentrated towards the south. There are definitely some stupid theories coming out of the far left, but the widespread, extremely retarded and potentially dangerous thinking that exists (for instance, the rapture is coming so who cares about global warming, etc.) comes from the right.
Yeah, mostly non-fiction (particularly popular science), but not exclusively. Just finished The Greatest Show On Earth (Richard Dawkins). Just started How The Mind Works (Steven Pinker). I always have something going.
They certainly haven't made same album three times, but at the same time they definitely haven't drastically changed their style. They don't need to because they have a formula that works. What they do they do masterfully. And they've taken what they do well this time around and maximized it, resulting in arguably the best album of their career, and also an album that truly and honestly captures feelings of sadness and despair. It's a touching album that tugs at the most basic and core aspects of what it is to be human. The lyrics are only a part of this. At times it can just be, for instance, the combination of Matt's unshakably honest baritone and Bryan's wonderfully affective drumming, just hitting you in directly in the gut. It's an absolutely beautiful album. And you're right, you did explain yourself. I just disagree with you so strongly that even when I do agree with you (for instance in the fact that the album offers less hope in comparison) I have a hard time understanding why you feel such a thing is a negative.
Look, if I insulted you, I didn't mean to. The reason I made that comment was because I don't want people to miss out on this album. Because your opinion differs from the general reception doesn't make you wrong. I just wanted to make it clear that I hope people aren't basing their decision on whether to listen to High Violet on this review.
I'd go as far as to call High Violet a masterpiece.
edit: Ugh, this review. Everyone's obviously entitled to their opinion, but readers who aren't familiar with The National should know that Bruce's opinion is far from representative of the general reception of the album.
Well, I strongly disagree with you on about every point.
I found the review quite surprising. Not your somewhat negative opinion of the National in general (pre-High Violet), but more so the fact that you feel their latest is in fact a step down. The album's absolutely brilliant, and I'll argue that it's their best work. It's at least in the same category as Alligator and Boxer. I'm not going to get into too much detail on why I disagree with you, but in general... First, your review is rather sensationalist and a bit hard to read in that sense. Exactly why you feel the album is a step down in unclear to me (other than 'more of the same'), but it's as if you've set out to take your heart out of the music, and just focus on overanalyzing Berninger's lyrics. He's not a particularly brilliant lyricist, but his words do often resonate, and the band's sound as a whole is not only immediately affective and emotionally striking, but builds and grows and lasts and stays with you. The National are a special band, and this is a particularly special album. I'm not saying to take your mind out of the music, but The National aren't a band specifically (technically) skilled in any area. It's all elements combined that creates such a moving effect.
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