Fresh Loaf

Nothing in the Atlanta blogosphere has been more enjoyable this week than Duane Moody’s 31 Best of 2007, his daily December countdown of his favorite albums of 2007.

Some highlights.

31. Some Mad Hope by Matt Nathanson:

I downloaded it before a trip, and was determined to give it a go while I was traveling. Unfortunate choice or not, the first song on the record is Car Crash, which isn’t really something one wants to hear while flying (the imagery was just too uncomfortable). So the CD went on my back burner.

30. Tangled Up by Girls Aloud:

When the first single, Sexy No No No! was released, my suspicions were confirmed; this was going to be a record that moved fast, and rocked the pop . . . It is masterfully produced, and the manufacturing couldn’t be more pristine, which must have you wondering why I couldn’t give it a perfect 5 star rating. The fifth star is missing first and foremost, because of the strength of previous Girls Aloud hits that unfortunately, greatly overshadow more than a few of the tracks on Tangled Up.

29. Katharine McPhee by Katharine McPhee:

Given what is going on throughout the rest of the world with regards to pop music, I have to say it: America doesn’t have a great track record for doing proper pop. Fortunately for us, Katharine McPhee’s debut is a huge check in the plus column of what good pop should be.

27. Wincing the Night Away by The Shins:

For whatever (stupid) reason, the Shins’ latest album initially wasn’t even in the running for my favorite records of the year; but then I listened to it again, and was like, “WTF? It totally should be!”

And the best one so far . . .

26. Dignity by Hilary Duff:

. . . she doesn’t seem interested in the parties and paparazzi like other stars her age, and she is here to sing about why . . . She seems more intent on finding love, living her life, and just having a good time; all without the flash bulbs, problems, and pitfalls that afflict other girls her age that experience the same fame that she has found. . . Hilary hasn’t been to rehab, and isn’t flashing her cooch on the cover of a magazine, and that is because she has made a conscious effort to avoid it (unlike many of her Hollywood peers). Making it a main theme of her record is her way of saying how she feels about the whole thing, and I say good for her.

Bookmark It

Once again, the name of Christ is tarnished by pastoral malfeasance. This type of behavior screams for condemnation, but is predictably (as you’ll read in the article) met with rationalization and blame-shifting.

– Mile High Rev of Littleton, Colo., on the latest sex scandal to emanate from Bishop Earl Paulk at DeKalb’s Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at Chapel Hill Harvester Church. Paulk got biblical with his brother’s wife and fathered his own nephew. Paulk’s sonphew, D.E. Paulk, is now the church’s head pastor.

—–

What are we really giving thanks for? Things are pretty shitty right now for the economy, we aren’t doing well with international relations, and we, as a nation, continue to marginalize ourselves; both from the rest of the world, as well as our “unwashed masses”. I guess we could give thanks for being able to eat, breathe, live, etc… but it really makes me think about how far away from the sense of “survival”, and the meaning of Thanksgiving in the first place. Are we really thankful for what we have anymore?

– Duane at DuaneMoody.com ponders the meaning of Thanksgiving.

Don’t worry, it’s not a depressing post. By the fourth paragraph, Duane reveals that his partner, James, has just given him a Nintendo DS. “Perhaps the fact that I am becoming a Nintendo fanboy is reason enough to be thankful this week, eh?”

—–

For Monday, November 19, my household used 12 cubic feet of water or 93.6 gallons.

– JMac at Safe As Houses is keeping track of his household water consumption.

Bookmark It

Hey, I have an idea: why doesn’t Dave G-damn Matthews think of ways to give concerts more truck- and bus- and generator-free! For three days leading up to the concert, my street and the Piedmont Park Meadow were covered with trucks, buses, generator-powered streetlights, and all manner of workmen moving fences, stage construction materials, port-a-potties, trailers, and other accoutrement around in preparation for an environmental extravaganza that would surely leave our newly re-landscaped park in muddy ruins.

-Shelbinator, responding to an obnoxious, tone-deaf announcement by the Midtown Neighbors’ Association telling residents that use of cars would be “frowned upon” all weekend.

—–

. . . and the press has the nerve to insult her figure? Fuck you. Fuck you big time. THIS is WHY so many women (and men) have issues with their bodies, and why so many have eating disorders in this country. Statements like this are completely despicable and do so much harm to the self esteem of so many, and for what? All in the name of insult? SHAME, shame, shame.

-Duane Moody, who LOVES Britney Spears, lashes out at the author of an article mocking Spears’ physique at last night’s MTV video crapfest. Because, as we all know, Spears’ career until last night was focused on sending healthy messages to young women about body image and sexuality.

—–

There will be buzz aplenty in the room when Black Lips, The Selmanaires, and The Coathangers take over the 40 Watt stage. It’s the first night of the extensive Black Lips/Selmanaires tour, and the night before The Coathangers play their own CD release show over in Atlanta. We’re so damn spoiled around here.

-Rich at Cable & Tweed on this Wednesday’s Atlanta rock mega-gig at the 40 Watt. I’m a sentimental old fogey, so I’ll be at Crowded House that night.

Bookmark It

My weekend is set…

Friday:
- Work (8am to 4pm)
- Ronald Reagan marathon
- Cut grass
- Ronald Reagan marathon
- Sleep

— Jason Pye on TCM’s Ronald Reagan movie marathon. Knute Rockne All American is on at 11:45 tonight. Set your TiVo.

—–

I would hope that people like Sean Kingston, being a teenager himself, would realize that gay and lesbian youth are extremely disproportionately affected by suicide. Additionally, in my opinion, by making light of something as serious as depression and suicide, by relating it to being simply turned down or broken up with, is ignorant and shameful.

— Duane Moody is offended because the hit song “Beautiful Girls” by Sean Kingston includes the refrain “Damn all these beautiful girls/They only wanna do your dirt/They’ll have you suicidal, suicidal/When they say it’s over.” In Duane’s estimation, it’s insensitive because it makes light of teen suicide, which affects gays disproportionately.

—–

Hard to believe it’s been almost 10 years since Princess Di left us. What an amazing, amazing woman! I remember where I was when I heard the news. I was in my dorm room, crying in bed after some jerk made what I interpreted to be a homophobic remark to someone I didn’t know.

I felt so bad for Di’s yummy sons. I wonder if they’re circumcised? I’d loves me some Prince Harry!

— ATLMalcontent parodies Duane Moody’s blog very well.

Bookmark It

Gay voters shouldn’t trust Hillary, even though they do. Blame the petty queer establishment, which has sold its soul to the senator from New York.

— ATLMalcontent on how Sen. Hillary Clinton tries to spin her husband’s enactment of the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy on gay personnel into something positive for gays and lesbians.

The military has kicked out 58 Arabic-speaking linguists using Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, even though the military is desperately short of Arabic-speakers.

—–

The city government cannot & should not legislate where stores catering to particular ethnicities can be opened. Doraville’s best bet for attracting many new residents in the numbers that would support these supermarkets is high density, mixed-use development in the area where the GM Plant currently stands.

— Joseph G at Dora-Blog on a petition by some Doraville residents to try to keep a new Asian-food supermarket from being built on Buford Highway. The petition signers would prefer a non-Asian-food grocery store, like Kroger or Publix.

—–

I LOVE Kathy Griffin, and I was elated to know that her show was coming back, because it is a side-splitter, and definitely the best that reality TV has to offer; she is a brilliant comedian, and her show always has me in stitches. But she is an unusually bright light in the otherwise dark realm of reality tv.

— Duane Moody likes LOVES Kathy Griffin!

Bookmark It