Monday, December 30, 2019

Harry and Liam both release albums -- only one's a classic

One Direction, a British band, was an international phenomenon.  For us, the only song that ever registered was "Kiss You" with its echoes of the theme to THE BANANA SPLITS and Yes' "Owner Of A Lonely Heart." But they were huge.  Even in the US where they had five studio albums that each sold over a million copies.  They also notched thirteen singles on the US top forty.

Currently, the band is said to be on a hiatus.  Members have pursued solo careers.  Harry Styles released his second album FINE LINE this month.  Liam Payne released his first album LP1 this month.



 Dec 5
My debut album is out now! So excited to share this with all of you! 🙌🏼
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540K views
5,557 replies21,734 retweets66,955 likes



Listening to LP1, we missed the song from two years ago "Bedroom Floor."  We loved that song and thought, in 2017, that it might lead to a George Michael type career.  We were surprised when a prudish woman we knew took her daughter to Chicago to see Jojo Siwa on NICKELODEAN's SLIMEFEST tour in 2018.  We were surprised because Liam was part of that concert and we knew she'd hit the roof at little precious (her daughter) hearing "Bedroom Floor."

But as we listened, we were thrilled to discover that the two-year-old song was included on LP1.  That's good in terms of purchasing power, it's bad in terms of LP1.  The album isn't a true album, there's no mood to be set, no statement to be made.  It does make clear that Liam is a strong singer.  It also makes clear he's not a songwriter.  17 tracks, only four of which he gets a co-writing credit.  Did he earn any of those credits?  When a song like "Strip That Down" has Liam as one of among 18 songwriters, we seriously doubt it.

LP1 works better as a minor hit collection.  The strongest song you haven't already heard for months and years would be "All I Want (For Christmas)" which will probably remind you of Taylor Swift's "New Year's Day."


 Dec 12
FINE LINE. THE ALBUM. OUT NOW.
16,040 replies115,128 retweets304,846 likes



By contrast, Harry's delivered a real album.  FINE LINE is 12 strong tracks -- all of which Harry co-wrote.  The best song on the album is "Falling" which he wrote with Thomas Hull.  The other eleven, however, are rather amazing in their own way.  The album is an instant classic.

LP1 offers moments of pleasure while FINE LINE provides consistent pleasure and real adventure while LP1 offers a lot of frustration, a little pleasure and one big question: Why did Liam name his album LP1 after Joss Stone had already used the title for her 2011 release?



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Martin Chulov and THE GUARDIAN can't stop selling war

Never forget that THE GUARDIAN pimped the Iraq War.  It was as bad as THE NEW YORK TIMES.  In the US, we complained about the US press ignoring The Downing Street Memo but, in the UK, THE GUARDIAN ignored it.

Keep that in mind if you read the paper's latest nonsense.  Martin Chulov offered "US isolationism leaves Middle East on edge as new decade dawns" on Sunday.


The first problem is that this opinion piece is presented as news.  It's not news.  Martin's offering his opinion.

The second problem is that yet again empire is endorsed.  We're not allowed to question it ever -- not at THE GUARDIAN -- but we are allowed to watch it be perpetuated.

The third big problem?  This is a UK paper.  The UK was part of the original 2003 invasion.  Why the hell is Martin, a British subject, obsessing over what the United States does?  Can't the UK step in?  We're not arguing that they -- or anyone -- should.

But Martin's arguing and, typical War Monger, he's arguing that someone else step up.


This garbage should never have been published but, if it had to be published, it should have been clearly labeled an opinion column.








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From The TESR Test Kitchen

1stove


The TESR Test Kitchen has tried out a few bad products, even a few epic fails.  But we think we've now sampled the worst of all.

Do you like links?

Those of us who do were intrigued when Jim announced Friday that he had just tasted the worst links ever.

Dickey's Barbecue Pit Hot Links.

We sampled them on Sunday.  Jim was correct, this was truly the worst piece of meat we've ever tasted.

We grilled two, microwaved two, baked two in the oven and boiled two.

No matter how we cooked them, they were consistently awful.

Let's deal with the casing first.  What is it made of?  You try to chew through it with your teeth and most times you fail.  You have to grind your teeth through it.

Then there's the taste of the meat.  It's bad.

The only thing worse?

The after-taste.  Everyone of us got indigestion -- including Dona who thought she was having a heart attack because she'd never had heart burn before.

We strongly recommend against this product.

Strongly.












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Christmas greetings for the War Criminals

 Dec 23
As for the children of Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Pakistan, Somalia and Mali though, Obama showered them with bombs.


1:03
President Obama brought Christmas cheer last year to this children's hospital like only Obama could
151 replies2,301 retweets4,943 likes





  1.  Dec 24
    Merry Christmas to the war criminal couple who dropped depleted uranium on Yugoslavia, starved 500,000 Iraqi children to death, bombed back to the Stone Age, destroyed , and robbed the Haitian people for billions in earthquake aid money 🤗

    A merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
    397 replies6,059 retweets14,168 likes


  2.  Dec 24
    You dropped bombs on , , right as Syrian Christians were in the midst of their Christmas celebrations.


    0:50
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Merry Christmas to all our Christian friends in Israel and around the world!
    Show this thread
    170 replies1,739 retweets3,638 likes





 10 hours ago
Don’t miss anything about the guy who destroyed , toppled Gaddafi, and turned the country with the highest Human Development Index in Africa into a war-torn, failed state now run by extremists who sell human beings in slave markets.


0:54
Oh, how adorable. What do you miss most about President Obama?
93 replies1,006 retweets2,326 likes



















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This edition's playlist

alicia


1) Alicia Keys' HERE.


2) Coldplay's EVERYDAY LIFE.


3) Harry Style's FINE LINE.


4) Sam Smith's THE THRILL OF IT ALL.


5)  The Mamas and the Papas' THE PAPAS & THE MAMAS.


6) Dionne Warwick's SHE'S BACK.



7) Cat Powers' WANDERER.



8) Mavis Staples' LIVE IN LONDON.


9) Ben Harper's BOTH SIDES OF THE GUN.


10)  Taylor Swift's  LOVER.




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Song to groove on




Cher's "Love is the Groove'' first appears on her album BELIEVE.





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Highlights

a park painting 11


This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ, Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends, Ann of Ann's Mega Dub, Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.


 "The protests continue and many protesters continue...," "Talking post" and "You don't know me" -- most requested highlights by readers of this site.


"Kat's Korner: Coldplay sneaks in as the year winds..." -- Kat reviews Coldplay's new album.


"Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "The Bodyguard …" and "Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Grand Dragon G..." -- Isaiah serves up two new comics.


"Iraq snapshot," "Iraq: Protests continue, new election law, multipl…,"  "Iraq snapshot,"  "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq's do-nothing government still does . . . noth…," "Go away Tiny Pete -- back to the lab that cloned you," "Has Hunter Biden cleaned the dildo yet?," "We need Bernie," "Idiot of the Week," "Thoughts on the debate," "Tiny Pete's Big Racism: Release the tapes," "Around the world," 
 "Tiny Pete is a bully," "Wait, how is Joe Biden different from Donald Trump?," "Queers of color can't trust White lesbians like Jane Lynch," "ACLU owes us an LGBTQ post," "The timeline for the spying," "Oh, Hunter, you're so trashy," "Deadbeat Dad Hunter Biden," "So many liars,"  "Does it ever shut up?," "2 comics," "We can have better," "Oh, look, it's psychic Michael Tracey," "Oh, shut up, Amy Klobuchar," "Tiny Pete hides his money maker," "rachel maddow's caught in a web of her own lies," "the palestinians," "get you f**king hands out of my vagina, pete buttigieg," "why is joe biden yelling at me!!!!," "Sarah Silverman is an uninformed idiot or else an …," "Some Tweets from the Green Party," "Tiny Pete is trash and a little bitch,"  "Bernie for Christmas!," "THIS JUST IN! CAN KEVIN CARRY HIM ACROSS THE FINISH LINE?," "Will Kevin hand him a rose?," "Likes and dislikes?," "Two entitled White celebrities want you to know they're for Tiny Pete," and "Pete Buttigieg is a jerk" -- political coverage in the community.


"I blame the cow" -- Ruth dream journals.
"dance," "I'm trying really hard to have the Christmas spirit" and "Happy Holidays" -- noting Christmas.

"Vegan Mac & Cheese and Creamy Vegan Thai Mac," "Arugula Salad in the Kitchen," "2 Chicken Recipes in the Kitchen" and "Chile peppers can help your health?" -- food coverage by Ann, Trina and Kat.


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