Sunday Random 10

Let's see what the little green Nano has in store to ring in August!

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - I Learned the Hard Way
Rosanne Cash - Black Cadillac
The Mercy Seat - I Am a Pilgrim
The Beatles - Maggie Mae
Dan Zanes & Friends - Goodnight, My Someone
Vince Guaraldi - Christmas Time is Here
Dolly Varden - Some Sequined Angel
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Into the Great Wide Open
The Pogues - Sally MacLennane
The Faces - (I Know) I'm Losing You (Live)

We're just going to say that the Ms. Jones tune is a strong contender for the 2010 Faves compilation, unless one of the other fine songs on that album (What? You don't have it yet? Go!) muscles its way past it.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question (Really, Anne Rice? You've never heard of any of the other flavors that aren't anti-gay*, anti-feminist, anti-artificial birth control? Really? Really?!?), already in progress.

*Sadly, our flavor can't yet claim this one. Someday, someday.

They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love, Pt. 72610

As we pose This Week's Discussion Question, Jesus is leaning over a toilet bowl somewhere, asking one of the angels to help him hold his hair back.

The stupid never stops, does it?

Please keep the discussion civil and feel free to channel Stephen Colbert: "I believe it's divinely inspired, because whenever I tell people what they're doing, they always say, "Holy shit."

Discuss.

Sunday Random 10

Let's see what the little green Nano is shuffling up on this gorgeous Sunday morning!

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

Ry Cooder - Fool for a Cigarette/Feelin' Good
Over the Rhine - Nobody Number One
World Party - When the Rainbow Comes
Ike Reilly - Seven Come Eleven
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
Johnny Rivers - It Wouldn't Happen with Me
The Beatles - Don't Pass Me By
The Replacements - Swingin' Party
Continental Drifters - I'm a Dreamer
The Replacements - Valentine

The Johnny Rivers song is about how you'd be better off with him than one of the Beatles or Ricky Nelson, so it being wrapped by Beatles tunes, especially one sung by Ringo, who's name-checked in the song, makes us wonder what exactly Jobs' people stuck in that shuffle code.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

It's Sunday again! Much quieter around TWDQ HQ this weekend, save for last night's storms, so here's this week's offering from the little green Nano.

Let's...Play...Shuffle!

Elvis Presley - Money Honey (Live)
Elvis Presley - Blue Moon
Aaron Neville - The Greatest Love
Del Amitri - Roll to Me
The Hold Steady - Banging Camp
The Avett Brothers - All My Mistakes
Fountains of Wayne - Strapped for Cash
This Train - Who's Stopping You
Joe Henry - Cold Enough to Cross
The Hold Steady - The Sweet Part of the City

Looks like the Nano had a thing for Elvis and The Hold Steady this week.

Had a funny spell of shuffling the other day. Aretha Franklin singing "R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me" followed by the Old 97's "If I had half a brain left after my debauchery, I'd give up the other women and the W-I-F-E."

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10 (Monday Edition)

Busy day at TWDQ HQ yesterday, so here's the Monday Edition of Sunday Random 10.

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

Fountains of Wayne - Imperia
Rosanne Cash - Miss the Mississippi and You
Patty Griffin - Wiggley Fingers
Wilco - Outtasite (Outta Mind)
The Who - My Generation
Wilco - Jesus, Etc.
The Avett Brothers - Kick Drum Heart
Los Lobos - Shakin' Shakin' Shakes
Eddie Cochran - Nervous Breakdown
The New Standards - Hey Ya

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question ("Can you blend a vuvuzela?") already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Happy Independence Day to our fellow Americans!

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

Van Morrison - Bright Side of the Road
The Swell Season - Fantasy Man
Patty Griffin - I Smell a Rat
The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever
Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - Back of a Car
Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey - To Be Loved
Kathleen Edwards - In State
Beki Hemingway & Jonathan Rundman - No Regrets
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Here Comes My Girl
Crowded House - Something So Strong

Well, it came up half American today. Couple of Brits, an Irish/Czech combo, a Canadian, and we wrap with New Zealand's finest. (We admit to grabbing a guitar and hitting the replay button on Ms. Edwards about ten times before moving on with the last entries. Go click that link if you haven't heard it. Or this one.)

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question ("How can you let a .158 hitter pound a pinch-hit salami?"), already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Busy day yesterday at TWDQ HQ, first out celebrating birthdays and anniversaries with a New Orleans brunch, then back to HQ for some televised baseball & World Cup, then some lawn mowing and a movie. Finally got around to the little green Nano late last evening. Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

Jason Falkner - Miracle Medicine
The Beatles - Honey Don't
Laura Nyro - He Was Too Good to Me
Shawn Colvin - You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
XTC - Books Are Burning
Old 97's - Color of a Lonely Heart is Blue
The Jayhawks - Six Pack on the Dashboard
Dave Edmunds - Girls Talk
The Beat Farmers - Happy Boy
Joe Henry - Stop

If you've only heard "Happy Boy" on the daily segment on Ian & Margery's radio show, you're missing a couple of verses that might put one off one's breakfast.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Sorry we missed you last week, been a whirlwind couple of weeks around TWDQ HQ and while we shuffled up the iPod last week, we didn't get around to posting. So here's another two-fer.

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

06/13/2010
The Beatles - You Won't See Me
Oberhofer - o0O0o0O0o
Fountains of Wayne - You're Just Never Satisfied
Professor Longhair - Thank You Pretty Baby
Jonathan Rundman - In Thee Is Gladness
Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground
Laura Nyro and Labelle - Gonna Take a Miracle
Shawn Colvin - Polaroids
Rosanne Cash (w/Neko Case) - Satisfied Mind
Beki Hemingway & Jonathan Rundman - Easy Chair

06/20/2010
Lucy Wainwright Roche - University Drive
Van Morrison - Wild Night
This Train - Seafoam Green
Sarah Jaffe - Stay with Me
Los Lobos - One Time One Night
Kirsty MacColl - Can't Stop Killing You
Professor Longhair - Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand
The Replacements - Here Comes a Regular
Ike Reilly - The Assassination of Sweet Lou Diablo
Patty Griffin - Flaming Red

Let's see...we just saw the amazing Ms. Griffin last evening with the amazing Buddy Miller, there's a pair of tunes from 'Fess reminding us that we must get ourselves to New Orleans some time, we're looking forward to Ms. Cash's gig at the free bandshell at the State Fair this August, and we've already mentioned Laura Nyro & Labelle's wonderful Gonna Take a Miracle album and if you don't already have it, you should stop reading this instant and go get it.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Graveyard Shift

After catching Jake Tapper's roundtable on This Week this morning, here's This Week's Discussion Question (Thanks for the idea, Arianna!):

Man, how much overtime does the PolitiFact crew have to put in when Liz Cheney's on This Week?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "Why does anyone care what Liz Cheney thinks about anything?" or "Holy crap, I agree with George Will that Bud Selig did the right thing! Sorry to anyone who got splattered when my head exploded."

Discuss.

Sunday Random 10

Before we head out for some quality contemplative time behind the TWDQ HQ lawnmower, here's what spilled from the little green Nano this week.

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

U2 - Until the End of the World
The Beatles - When I'm Sixty-Four
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Cinnamon Girl
Sally Seltman - Harmony to My Heartbeat
Crowded House - Everything is Good for You
World Party - And I Fell Back Alone
Fairground Attraction - Falling Backwards
The Beatles - Hold Me Tight
Los Lobos - I Will Go Sailing No More
Dan Zanes and Friends - I'm Flying

Feel free to post your own random ten in the comments.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! We at TWDQ hope you're taking time out to honor the memory of those who've served this nation and all those who have gone before.

Here's this week's shuffle:

Wilco - Say You Miss Me
Ike Reilly - God Damn Shame
Fountains of Wayne - Peace and Love
Over the Rhine - Suitcase
The Muppets - Wipe Out
Joe Henry - Tiny Voices
Rhett Miller - Refusing Temptation
The Hold Steady - The Smidge
Fountains of Wayne - Hung Up on You
Patty Griffin - Mary

Way poppier this week. Looks like the little green Nano is back from its Tom Waits obsession.

Still looking for time to post a question or two. In the meantime, the right-wing hissy fit about the President's Memorial Day plans not including Arlington National Cemetery (which the president--even the Republican ones--hasn't always done every Memorial Day, but facts always seem to get in the way of a good hissy fit, don't they?) does make us wonder if we were this damned whiny during the eight years of Junior's administration. It's a shame nobody could be bothered to get worked up over torture or a war sold with lies.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

The iPod Has Been Drinking (or Sunday Random Tens)

Sorry we missed you last week, kids. Been busy 'round TWDQ HQ. Here's a couple of weeks worth of Sunday Random 10s for you.

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

05/16/2010
The Pogues - The Broad Majestic Shannon
Mary Lou Lord - Speeding Motorcycle
Sam & Dave - Hold On, I'm Comin'
The Replacements - Valentine
The Replacements - Nightclub Jitters
Norah Jones - Young Blood
Gear Daddies - Time Heals
Dave Brubeck Quartet - The Way You Look Tonight (Live)
Beki Hemingway & Jonathan Rundman - No Regrets
The Coasters - I Must Be Dreamin'

05/23/2010
Mary Chapin Carpenter - Mrs. Hemingway
Over the Rhine - Ohio
Tom Waits - Metropolitan Glide (Live)
Tom Waits - Trampled Rose (Live)
Over the Rhine - Born
Beki Hemingway - Over With
Preservation Hall Jazz Band (feat. Tom Waits) - Corinne Died on the Battlefield
Vince Guaraldi - Mr. Lucky
Tom Waits - Shiver Me Timbers
Over the Rhine - All I Want Is Everything

This week's list is really interesting. Once that first song kicked in, I was wondering if one of Ms. Hemingway's cuts would pop up. Sure enough! Then the little green Nano definitely had it in a big way for Mr. Waits and we swear it KNOWS we contributed to the Let's Make a Record project so Over the Rhine could spend this past week in Los Angeles recording their new album with Joe Henry. (Mr. Henry's luminous "Love Is Enough" from the excellent Civilians made an appearance a few songs after the initial ten wrapped up.)

Gonna be a busy week, but stay tuned, we might have an actual question here soon.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day! Gorgeous day here.

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

Crowded House - Not the Girl You Think You Are
Old 97's - Can't Get a Line (Live)
The Beatles - One After 909
The Ike Reilly Assassination - I Will Let You Down
Bob Dylan & The Rolling Thunder Revue - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (Live)
Crowded House - Everything Is Good for You
Joe Henry - Want Too Much
Jason Falkner - Take Good Care of Me
Neil Young - A Man Needs a Maid
Preservation Hall Jazz Band (feat. Pete Seeger & Tao Rodriguez-Seeger) - Blue Skies

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Hey, it's Sunday again! And no Discussion Question again! It's a good thing we got us an iPod, eh?

Here's what it shuffled up today. Let's...Hit...Shuffle!!!

Jonathan Rundman - Kuortane
Patty Griffin (feat. Buddy Miller) - Never Grow Old
The Pogues - Sit Down By the Fire
The Heardsmen - She Knows It
The Beatles - Get Back
The B-52's - Mesopotamia
World Party - When the Rainbow Comes
Tom Waits - Get Behind the Mule (Live)
Bruce Springsteen - Backstreets
Joe Henry - Widows of the Revolution

Wow. That's about as solid a list as it's ever produced. We're going to see Mr. Rundman Wednesday night and Ms. Griffin (w/Mr. Miller opening) in June. We just saw the amazing Mr. Henry in March. The Pogues and Springsteen tunes are from our stack of desert island discs. The Heardsmen tune is from one of our favorite film soundtracks. The kid played in a B-52's cover band while in college. We wore out World Party's Goodbye Jumbo and Waits' "Mule Variations back in the day. And, of course, it all comes back to The Beatles. (BTW, "Help" was the 11th tune up.)

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question already in progress for several weeks now. We know, we know.

Sunday Random 10

It's Sunday and you know what that means? (We mean besides the Twins blowing the final game of a series instead of sweeping.)

It's time to see what the little green Nano's going to cough up! Let's... Hit...Shuffle!!!

The Replacements - Gary's Got a Boner
Los Lobos - La Bamba
The Beatles - I Need You
Laura Nyro and Labelle - I Met Him on a Sunday
Talking Heads - Love -> Building on Fire
Rufus Thomas - Walkin' the Dog
Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey - Some of the Parts
Over the Rhine - Born
Dan Zanes - California
Kristina Train - I Can't But Help

Interesting mix. Once again, if you don't already have that Laura Nyro and Labelle album Gonna Take a Miracle, it's less than eight bucks here. Go! We are also huge fans of the Dan Zanes record, which is so loose and fun it made Springsteen's Seeger Sessions disc seem like a dull lecture.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

It was a beautiful Sunday in TWDQ's neck of the woods and we got mildly sunburned watching baseball, which is a possibility once again in TWDQ's neck of the woods! Now it's time to fire up the little green Nano.

Let's...Hit...Shuffle...

Over the Rhine - When You Say Love
Peter Wolf (w/Neko Case) - The Green Fields of Summer
She & Him - I'm Gonna Make It Better
Elvis Presley - Good Rockin' Tonight
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - When the Other Foot Drops, Uncle
Gnarles Barkley - Crazy
The Beatles - Two of Us (Let it Be...Naked version)
Johnny Cash - Luther Played the Boogie
The Beatles - Let It Be (single version)
The Twilight Hours - Dreams

Thanks to everyone who raved about the new Wolf record. We're so glad we picked it up.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

This Is How We Do It

Here's This Week's Discussion Question:

Isn't this beautiful?

Please keep the discussion civil and do feel free to wander off into "Da da da da da" or "All together now!"

Sing.

What the World Needs Now, Vol. 41110

Since she didn't show up in today's random 10, here's This Week's Discussion Question:

Why is anyone still watching American Idol?

Please keep the discussion civil, but for cryin' out loud, people, if you want a new singer who came out of obscurity, there isn't a better story than a funky, gritty, 50-something former Rikers Island corrections officer fronting a top-notch soul band.

And if you want to watch competition, baseball season just started.

Discuss.

Sunday Random 10

It's Sunday again! Let's see what the little green Nano has to offer this week.

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!!!

The Beatles - Lonesome Tears in My Eyes
The New Standards - Maps
The Rascals - Lonely Too Long
Miles Davis - Blue in Green
XTC - Ball and Chain
The Who - Substitute
Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl
Kirsty MacColl - Can't Stop Killing You
The Pogues - If I Should Fall from Grace with God
Patty Griffin - Carry Me

Cool. Something from the newly-acquired Beatles "Live at the B.B.C." and the title track from one of our Desert Island albums.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Let's see what springs from the little green Nano on this Easter Sunday. Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

Wilson Pickett - I'm in Love
Dan Zanes - Phone Call Home
Dan Zanes - The Colorado Trail
Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham - I'm Living Good
The New Standards - Bring It On Home to Me
The Beatles - I'll Cry Instead
The Who - A Legal Matter
Nick Lowe - Homewrecker
Fountains of Wayne - Joe Rey
Dusty Springfield - I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore

Hope you all had a great day! We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

It's Sunday again! Hey, did we mention that we're in the paper this morning?

Well, let's see what surprises the little green Nano has in store for us today. Ready?

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

Kristina Train - I Can't But Help
The Suburbs - Rattle My Bones
Dan Zanes and Friends - Gary, Indiana/The Wells Fargo Wagon
Shawn Colvin - I'm Gone
Muddy Waters - She's Nineteen Years Old
U2 - FEZ-Being Born
Miles Davis - All Blues
The Coasters - Smokey Joe's Cafe
Allen Toussaint - Solitude
Professor Longhair - Mardi Gras in New Orleans

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Papers

Hey! We're in the Sunday paper!

Hot, Hot, Hot

We interrupt This Week's Discussion Question to point you--once again--to Fred Clark's blazing work at Slacktivist.

Boy, oh boy, Fred OWNS the internets these days.

Go. Read. Now.

Discuss.

Sunday Random 10

Been a busy day at TWDQ HQ, so we had to wait until tonight to see what the little green Nano would shake out. Ready? Let's...Hit...Shuffle!:

Son Volt - Roll On
The Rascals - See
Wilco - Muzzle of Bees (live)
Wilco - Misunderstood
Johnny Cash - I Walk the Line
Gear Daddies - Get It Right Someday
The Beatles - Rocky Raccoon
Dusty Springfield - So Much Love
The Decemberists - A Bower Scene
XTC - That Wave

We'll have more in a few days on a couple of great shows that book-ended last week, as well as some more pointers to our favorite blogger, who is currently owning the internets, so stay tuned.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

It's Sunday again, so Let's...Hit...Shuffle!:

The Who - Call Me Lightning
Kirsty MacColl - Caroline
Allen Toussaint - Blue Drag
Tinted Windows - Back with You
Gary U.S. Bonds - Not Me
Muddy Waters - (I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man
Gear Daddies - No One's Home
Over the Rhine - Here it Is
Joe Henry - Monkey
The Beatles - If I Fell

Hope you've all adjusted your clocks accordingly and will enjoy the later sunset this evening. We're off to a darkened jazz club to see the artist responsible for the penultimate tune and the production on the third track.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Monday Morning Rock (Belated Sunday Random 10)

Didn't get around to shuffling the little green Nano yesterday, so here's the mix from Monday morning. Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

Van Morrison - Domino
Joe Henry - Prelude: Light No Lamp When the Sun Comes Down
Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
Jonathan Rundman - Continental Divide
Joe Henry - Lighthouse
Bob Dylan & The Rolling Thunder Revue - Hurricane
Aaron Neville - Waiting at the Station
Tom Waits - What's He Building?
Brendan Benson - Feel Like Taking You Home
Alice Cooper - School's Out

The little green Nano must know we're going to see Mr. Henry next Sunday evening at a cozy little jazz club. The list also features no fewer than three tracks from the annual faves compilations we've been assembling since 2003.

Mr. Waits' spoken-word track is also a long-time favorite from which some of the TWDQ HQ crew regularly recite lines: "He has no friends, but he gets a lot of mail. I'll bet he spent a little time in jail," or "I'll tell you one thing, he's not building a playhouse for the children," or just "What the hell is he building in there?" (Naturally, one needs to recite these in his/her best Tom Waits growl.)

And last, but not least, the final cut prompts This Week's Discussion Question:

Is there any verse more rock 'n roll than this?:

Well, we got no class
And we got no principles
And we got no innocence
We can't even think up a word that rhymes

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "Grease is the time, is the place, is the motion; Grease is the way we are feeling," or "Well, since she put me down there's been owls pukin' in my bed..."

Discuss.

I'm Talking to You...

We're pleased to introduce "I'm Talking to You,"* a new feature on This Week's Discussion Question that will consist of open letters to whomever we feel like addressing open letters.

Chuck Todd, I'm talking to you:

While watching the 2010 Olympic Games coverage, we saw the spots for your new show, The Daily Rundown, where you gush about how much you love politics. "I wish every day was Election Day," you say.

Well, every day isn't election day, Chuck. The rest of them are governance days, which are important not for how they impact an elected official's chances of getting re-elected two or four or six years down the road, they're important for how they impact people's everyday lives.

If you want to cover horse racing, apply for a transfer to NBC Sports and knock yourself out every damn day.

(While Googling around for Chuck's line in the commercial, we learned that we're thinking like the pros.)

Sports networks, I'm talking to you:

We're not waiting four more years for our two-week fix. Cut a bunch of your poker programming and give us curling!

John Yoo, I'm talking to you:

If we'd just been given a pass on professional misconduct for our part in writing memos that authorized torture, we'd be keeping such a low profile that we'd be looking up at Dick Cheney's final approval rating. But hey, if you want to keep flapping your yap until somebody finally gets fed up and indicts your arse, be our guest.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

* We regret that we were unable to find a YouTube clip of Mary Lou Lord performing the title song.

Sunday Random 10

Had shuffle going while painting one of the bathrooms at TWDQ HQ yesterday, so here's a belated posting of yesterday's Random 10.

Let's...hit...shuffle!

Brendan Benson - Garbage Day
Dan Zanes - The Railroad Cars Are Coming
Dusty Springfield - Goodbye
The Beatles - All Together Now
Fountains of Wayne - Peace and Love
The Kinks - Dedicated Follower of Fashion
Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne
Wilco - Far, Far Away
Vince Guaraldi - Star Song
Wilco - Heavy Metal Drummer

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

We interrupt This Week's Discussion Question for a special "Twins' Pitchers and Catchers Reporting Day" edition of Sunday Random 10, so Let's...Hit...Shuffle!!!

The New Standards - September Song
The New Standards - London Calling
Rickie Lee Jones - It Hurts
Lucy Wainwright Roche - Chicago
XTC - Books Are Burning
Dusty Springfield - Live Here with You
Fountains of Wayne - Strapped for Cash
Van Morrison - Wild Night
The Beatles - From Me to You
Muddy Waters - Don't Go No Farther

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

You Talk Too Much

Caught a bit of the former Vice President on ABC's This Week with Some Reporter this morning and it prompted This Week's Discussion Question:

How many times can you publically confess to war crimes before you get formally charged with them?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "No, we don't miss you either, Dick."

Discuss.

Sunday Random 10

It's Sunday! Let's...Hit...Shuffle!!!

Al Green - You Ought to Be with Me
Los Lobos - Wicked Rain (Live)
Elvis Costello - Alison
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife 3
U2 - Zoo Station
The Clash - Train in Vain
Interference - Gold
The Hold Steady - Don't Let Me Explode
Tom Waits - That Feel
The Beatles - Sea of Holes

Ooh! Couldn't have been a more appropriate opener than the Reverend Green! Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!

Miss You

You never know where This Week's Discussion Question will pop up so you have to keep your eyes open.

A couple of questions arose over the weekend, one in a Nashville hotel ballroom and one along an interstate highway not far from TWDQ HQ, so as Mr. Cub would say, "Let's play two!"

How's that Hopey, Changey stuff workin' out?

and

Miss me yet?

Please keep the discussion civil and please, do not read from the crib notes scrawled on your palm.

The correct answers, however, are "One helluva lot better than it would have if you'd been elected," and "Considering Princess Dumbass of the North Woods, we miss you only in the same way that you made us unexpectedly nostalgic for Dick Nixon," respectively.

Discuss.

O Say, Can You See Who Are You?

The championship of American football was decided this evening, raising several opportunities for discussion.

And now, Bridgestone Tires presents the Doritos/Bud Light/E*Trade Super Bowl Edition This Week's Discussion Questions:

Why isn't "America the Beautiful" the National Anthem?

Could we please give the old rockers a rest?

Did CBS push to have The Who because all 42 CSI shows use a Who tune in their opening credits?

Is Dave Letterman a genius or what?

and

WHO DAT?

Please keep the discussion civil and feel free to wander off into "Ms. Underwood sure has guts to sing that lame anthem after what the Queen did," or "To their credit, after a rusty "Pinball Wizard", Pete and Roger tightened it up nicely," or "Football season's over!!!"

Discuss.

Sunday Random 10

It's Sunday, so Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

The Wild Tchoupitoulas - Here Dey Come
Wilco - Should've Been in Love
Golden Smog - Red Headed Stepchild
Crowded House - In the Lowlands
Ritchie Valens - We Belong Together
Fountains of Wayne - Tell Me What You Already Did
Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Radio Radio
Wilco - I Got You (At the End of the Century)
Vigilantes of Love - Blister Soul (Reprise)
Levon Helm - When I Go Away

We wondered if the first track out of the chute was a sign that Mardi Gras was going to come early this year.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Sorry this is late, just got back from a baseball banquet where Danny Gladden was telling some pretty good stories.

Let's...play...shuffle!

Fountains of Wayne - Hackensack
Fountains of Wayne - The Girl I Can't Forget
Old 97's - Friends Forever (Live)
The Beatles - Come Together (Anthology 3 version)
Allen Toussaint - Bright Mississippi
Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - Care of Cell #44
Jonathan Rundman - Daylight Saving(s) Time
Wilco - You Never Know
Jonathan Rundman - Armyman
The Saw Doctors - I Useta Lover

Nice mix, including two songs from this year's edition of our annual faves compilation (Toussaint & Wilco), plus one from an earlier faves compilation (the second Fountains entry).

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Hot Stuff

We interrupt This Week's Discussion Question to say that Fred Clark has been on fire lately. And the footnote in this one is excellent, too.

Go forth and bookmark.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

It's Sunday and time once again to find out what surprises the little green Nano holds for this week. Ready? Let's...hit...shuffle!

The Wonders - That Thing You Do! (Live)
Neil Finn & Friends (Eddie Vedder, vocal) - Stuff and Nonsense
Talking Heads - Memories Can't Wait
U2 - Peace on Earth
Fountains of Wayne - Baby I've Changed
The Chantrellenes - Hold My Hand, Hold My Heart
Stevie Wonder - Jesus Children of America
U2 - Stand Up Comedy
Elvis Costello - New Amsterdam
Rickie Lee Jones - Road to Emmaus

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

It's Sunday again! We don't have a question again! (Well, we've got one but not enough time to write it up.)

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

The Beatles - This Boy
Nick Lowe - Man That I've Become
The Beatles - Roll Over Beethoven
The Beatles - What Goes On
Dusty Springfield - Stay Awhile
Girlyman - Joyful Sign
The Cure - Friday I'm in Love
The Rascals - I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore
Gear Daddies - Party Stomp
The Rascals - Love is a Beautiful Thing

3404 songs and we get three tunes from the Liverpool lads and a couple from Felix and the boys, but we aren't complaining.

Hey, number 11 just popped up the live version on Shawn Colvin's "Sunny Came Home", so here's a This Week's Discussion Question for ya:

Why wasn't "Get Out of This House" a monster hit?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "Couldn't people just buy Shawn Colvin records and we could forget about finding another American Idol?"

Discuss.

Sunday Random 10

It's Sunday! Let's...hit...shuffle!!!

Todd Rundgren - You Cried Wolf
Crowded House - Private Universe
Stevie Wonder - Jesus Children of America
Rhett Miller - Haphazardly
Patty Griffin - Go Now
Wilco - Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway (Again)
Marshall Crenshaw - Little Wild One (No. 5)
Dusty Springfield - Just a Little Lovin'
Jonathan Rundman - Sick of Eric Blues
Mark Mallman - The Fool on the Hill

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

That Toddlin' Town - 08 & 09-01-10

When in Rome, or Chicago...

08-01-10
1. Interstate highways between Columbia Heights and Chicago were way, way, WAY clearer than anticipated. Major props to DOT workers in all three states.
2. Pretzel buns on the burgers at Charlie's Ale House on Clark.
3. Discussing atonement theology on the El.
4. Finding Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren on vinyl at the Reckless Records outpost in the Loop! Also, EW&F on vinyl and Ivy, Kristina Train, XTC, and Beatles Anthologies 2 & 3 on CD.
5. A subdued hootenanny at Casa Oscar Romero.

09-01-10
1. Ann Sather cinnamon rolls.
2. Ann Sather cinnamon rolls.
3. Ann Sather cinnamon rolls.
4. Ann Sather cinnamon rolls.
5. Ann Sather cinnamon rolls.

Oops...

1. Ann Sather cinnamon rolls.
2. Leftover breakfast bruschetta at a beautiful rest stop near the Dells. (Complimented one of the workers on how great it'll look when it's done.)
3. See "Interstate Highways, Clear", above.
4. Turned off the Wild/Blackhawks tilt in disgust when the Hawks were up 4-1 and appeared to be simply toying with the locals. Later, down in the young man's place, he flipped the game on as the foghorn went off to signal the tying goal with about a minute and a half left in regulation. Watched the Wild steal a win in an eight round shootout.
5. Bed & pajamas.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Happy New Year, faithful blogreaders! (Remember blogs? Back before Facebook?)

Let's see what the little green nano shuffled up this week:

Son Volt - When the Wheels Don't Move
Miles Davis - Freddie Freeloader
The Avett Brothers - Tin Man
Joe Henry - Stations
Jonathan Rundman - Gospel Verses
Jonathan Rundman - Second Language
7 Worlds Collide (John Stirratt, vocal)- Over and Done
Dana Thompson - Golden Nightlight Lullaby
Joshua James - Coal War
Marshall Crenshaw - Our Town

There were really 11 tracks this week because after the Son Volt tune, it ironically pulled up a track with Garrison Keillor chatting with his former Uncle Tupelo bandmate Jeff Tweedy of Wilco on A Prairie Home Companion on 10/03/2009.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Hope you all had a great Christmas! Here are the ten the Nano shuffled up this week:

Van Morrison - I'm Confessin'
Nick Lowe - 14 Days
U2 - Get on Your Boots
Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over
Gear Daddies - Drank So Much (Live)
Nick Lowe - Indian Queens
Wilco - Comment (If All Men Are Truly Brothers) (Live)
The Hold Steady - Citrus (Live)
Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground
Van Morrison - Warm Love

New and old bookends from Van the Man, a pair of later Nick Lowe tunes, some fresh U2, one of the best songs of the 70s and what mightbe the best song from the 80s.

See you next year!

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

I bought a crap detector...

Had Meet the Press ("THE Place to Go to Get Your Message Out!") on this morning and as GOP shill Ed Gillespie opened his yap, the teevee started buzzing, Ed lips moved silently, and a green bar appeared at the top of the screen, scrolling white text and we thought we had been gifted with This Week's Discussion Question:

Hey, when did they implement the Early BS Warning System?!?!

Unfortunately, it was just a test of the Emergency Broadcast Warning System, so we'll have to go with the alternate question:

How great would an Early BS Warning System be?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "Heh. Fox News Channel would only need to broadcast an audio signal for the commercials," or "Not that Glenn Beck has any advertisers left, mind you."

Discuss.

Sunday Random 10

It's Sunday again, so Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

Bob Dylan & The Band - Million Dollar Bash
Jonathan Rundman - Out Behind the Old Hotel
Todd Rundgren - I Went to the Mirror
Old 97's - Designs on You (live)
Jonathan Rundman - Every Town's the Same (live)
The Pogues - The Battle March Medley
Fountains of Wayne - The Senator's Daughter
This Train - A Million Years
Jonathan Rundman - Ambassadors
Los Straitjackets - Christmas Weekend

Couple of nice Christmas tunes in there. One's obvious, one not at all but it's one of our favorite Christmas songs. Plus, there are two, maybe three tracks from our list of Desert Island Albums.

Merry Christmas, faithful readers.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

It's Sunday again, so Let's... Hit... Shuffle!:

The Beatles - You're Gonna Lose That Girl
Fairground Attraction - A Smile in a Whisper
Son Volt - Atmosphere
Elvis Costello and the Attractions - I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down
Aretha Franklin - Respect
Them - Gloria
The Suburbs - Monster Man (R.I.P. Bruce C. Allen)
Over the Rhine - Goodbye Charles
The Coasters - Bad Blood
Old 97's - The Other Shoe

Wow. Very, very cool mix today. As a bonus, we've linked to a great post on the craft of a Help! "throwaway" song and an obit for the 'Burbs guitarist who passed this week (he also designed the cover of this).

Also, the Over the Rhine track is from Snow Angels, their terrific Christmas album from a couple of years back, and if you shuffled that tune in with the rest of Vince Guaraldi's classic A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack, not many people would notice.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

The Nano shuffled up a lot of the Fab Four this morning:

The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night
The Temptations - Get Ready
Throw Me the Statue - Ancestors
The Beatles - Don't Bother Me
Bob Dylan - Shake Shake Mama
Stevie Wonder - All in Love is Fair
The Kinks - Sunny Afternoon
The Beatles - Dig a Pony
Sam & Dave - You Don't Know Like I Know
Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova - Leave

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Here's what the iPod shuffled out this week. Let's see if it grabs anything from this week's additions (Cachao, Peter Case, Fairground Attraction, Midnight Oil, and Van the Man from the Thanksgiving week pilgrimage to the amazing Reckless Records in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood; and Los Lobos, the spanking new Tom Waits live, the Dan Zanes and Friends Broadway album, and this month's Paste Magazine sampler that were in the mailbox when we got back into town):

The Rascals - See
State Radio - Calling All Crows
Elvis Presley - Kentucky Rain
Bruce Springsteen - Backstreets
Nick Lowe - High on a Hilltop
Jonathan Rundman - Calm the Storm
Los Lobos - Sabor A Mi
Crowded House - Private Universe
The Wild Tchoupitoulas - Indian Red
The Beatles - Birthday

None of the new stuff (the Lobos tune was from a different record), but that last one's really interesting because today's my brother's birthday! Hey Don, we really had a good time. I'm glad it's your birthday. Happy birthday to ya!

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Chapter and Verse(s)

Heard about these Psalm 109:8 bumperstickers the other day on the radio:

During the last few days, Psalm 109:8, a Bible verse in the form of a "prayer for Obama," has topped the Google trends chart: "May his days be few; may another take his office." Evidently, a bumper sticker emblazoned with this verse has popped up in various parts of the country. It is a sort of right-wing Christian equivalent to the old "01.20.09" stickers looking forward to the end of the Bush era.

It was, most likely, intended as a joke. But it isn't really very funny. Especially since the next verse reads, "May his children be orphans, and his wife a widow."

Rather than being horrified by the subsequent verse, they actually printed up bumperstickers and coffee mugs and whatever else Cafe Press prints junk on, so here's This Week's Discussion Question:

What the hell is wrong with these people?

Please keep the discussion civil and do feel free to wander off into "What the hell ever happened to context?" or "01.20.09 bumperstickers are most certainly not equivalent. Never, not for a nanosecond, did we wish President Bush or Vice President Cheney harm. Impeached? Absolutely. Hauled up on charges at the International Criminal Court? We'll buy their one-way tickets to The Hague. Shunned by decent society, ashamed to show their faces in public? You bet. But dead? No, not ever. Never. Also, 'it isn't really very funny', is an incredible understatement. It ought to earn someone a visit from the Secret Service."

Discuss.

Sunday Random 10

Greetings faithful readers! Thanks for getting off Facebook for a few minutes to read a blog, any blog!

TWDQ HQ was recently assimilated into the Apple Borg, and after years of railing against the silliness of the shuffle button on a CD player--Do you know how long the band spent sequencing that album so it flows properly?-- we're in love with shuffle on this device.

Sunday mornings are usually pretty quiet around TWDQ HQ, so we're proud to present the inaugural edition of Sunday Random 10.

To borrow a phrase from the gang down at the Xcel Center, "Let's hit SHUFFLE!":

Heartless Bastards - The Mountain
The Beatles - Martha, My Dear
Laura Nyro and Labelle - The Wind
St. Dominic's Trio - Home on the Range
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Adam Raised a Cain
Yonlu - I Know What It's Like
The Swell Season - This Low
Matthew Sweet - Sick of Myself
The Beatles - There's a Place
Wilco - We're Just Friends

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Going, Going, Gone

We interrupt This Week's Discussion Question to acknowledge America's newest author (and boy, do we use that term loosely):

Rogue, schmogue, whatever. As long as you go.

Oh yeah, you're going.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

This is Easy

This Week's Discussion Question comes from Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes Glenn Beck:

Can you imagine what America would be like if we didn't have Fox News?"

Glenn suggests that progressives would think it'd be utopia. (We'd settle for a populace that's better informed less disinformed and less afraid.)

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "Holy crap, he's finally right! It would be utopia! "

Discuss.

It was twenty years ago today...

We interrupt This Week's Discussion Question (and will step out of the third person) for a bit of personal reflection.

A co-worker and I were chatting yesterday about The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", an album he'd just listened to for the first time in a long time while driving to his uncle's funeral. His uncle succumbed to cancer at 56 and it reminded me that it was 20 years ago today that my dad lost his battle with lung cancer at the much too young age of 58.

20 years. Twenty years! The then-youngest grandchild, who'd just turned two, graduated from college in May. The now-youngest grandchild, born nearly 10 years after his passing, just turned ten.

And I'm now six years shy of 58 and I am reminded of what a gift each day is. Recently, I asked a former pastor how she and her husband were enjoying retirement, she said simply, "We're doing the things we want to do and not doing the things we don't want to do."

Yeah. Do the things you want to do. Don't do the things you don't want to do. Savor each day. You never know how many you're gonna get.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress. Heck, we don't even remember what the current question is, but feel free to wander off into "Should I get the Stereo Box set, the Mono Box set, or the individual Beatle albums?"

Breakdown Dead Ahead

Look at this and when you're done shaking your head, take a whack at This Week's Discussion Question:

How long before Glenn Beck completely melts down?

Please keep the discussion civil and shame on you if you're watching Beck for the impending flameout. Also, shame on you if you're watching Beck thinking he's got some insight to share. To borrow a line from the great Fredonian philosopher Rufus T. Firefly, Beck "may talk like an idiot, and look like an idiot, but don't let that fool you: he really is an idiot."

Discuss.

School's Out

We interrupt This Week's Discussion Question to say that if you object to this, the only acceptable note that ought to be accepted to excuse your kid from watching it/coming to school that day (Who knew Fox News was pro-truancy?) would read:

Please excuse (kid's name here) from class today because her/his parents are morons.

Also, we'd like to remind you that even though Van Jones resigned, it doesn't mean that Republicans aren't assholes.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

This Is How We Do It

Bill Moyers hit one out of the park Friday night:



Here's This Week's Discussion Question:

Is PBS an example of a government-run agency outperforming the private sector?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "If you added Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity's intellect to that of Crazy Michele and Princess Dumbass of the Northwoods [1] how many hammers would you have to take out of the bag to make it competitive?"

Discuss.

[1] h/t Charles Pierce

Idiot Wind, Pt. 949

We interrupt This Week's Discussion Question to bring you yet another gem from TWDQ's former congressional representative. (Have we mentioned that getting out of her district was the best side benefit of last summer's move? We have? A couple of hundred times? Oh, well.)

Here's Michele!:

"They want to make sure no women, no woman becomes president before a Democrat woman," Bachmann said, "and so they're doing everything they can to, I think, sabotage women like Sarah Palin, perhaps women like myself, or similarly situated women, to make sure that we don't have a prominent national voice."

Damn it, kids! She's onto us!

Okay, you've sussed us out, Congresswoman. We just want a "Democrat woman" in the big chair before you or Sarah get a turn.

Doesn't have a thing to do with the fact that the two of you are dumber than a bag of hammers. (And that's the two of you combined vs. a single bag of hammers. And it's not a large bag.)

Nope, not a thing.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Odds 'n Sods

No, we didn't forget about this blog once we got on the Facebook thingy. Been a busy summer, but the graduate is now off to Chicago for a year with Lutheran Volunteer Corps, so after a great summer, things are quieting down around TWDQ HQ once again.

(Speaking of Lutherans, here's a big shout-out to the ELCA, which voted last week to allow openly gay clergy to serve churches. As a result of another of vote last week, the ELCA is now in full communion with our brand, which, sadly, is not yet as enlightened on this issue.)

As such, we thought we'd dump out some random thoughts that have crossed our minds over the summer, so feel free to discuss them if you'd like.

Quotes of the summer:

Michelle Cottle, on the theory that the Obama Administration's program of soliciting tips about health care disinformation so they could fight the b.s. was really encouraging "informants" to help them build an "enemies list":

"I have given up hope for a loyal opposition. I'd settle for a sane one."

Next, Minnesota Twins first base coach Jerry White, who also works with the outfielders. LaVelle E. Neal first related this story in his blog, but here's the tidied-up version that ran in the dead-tree edition:

The MLB Network aired a replay of the 1981 National League Division Series between the Dodgers and Expos. Since Jerry White played for Montreal at the time -- he hit .313 with a homer in the series -- the clubhouse television was turned up.

"Hey, Jerry, did you play in this game?'' Carlos Gomez asked. "I just wanna know if you did anything in this game.''

Gomez asked the question again, and White couldn't resist.

"I hit the cutoff man!'' White fired back, "I know that for sure!''

Jon Stewart, who, after running clips of Glenn Beck moaning about his rectal surgery ordeal to his tiny CNN Headline News audience and how the U.S. health care system nearly killed him, juxtaposed with his Fox "News" cheerleading for the totally excellent U.S. health care system, summed it up:

"I'll tell you what really doesn't speak well of our health care system: That in those 16 months, the hole that they stitched up in Glenn Beck's ass hasn't healed enough for him to stop talking out of it."

And we'll close by saying that we're pleased that Eric Holder's taking baby steps toward doing the right thing on torture. Here's dday, with the most hopeful paragraph we've read in a long time:

We know that none of the torture here happened by happenstance, but through a directed policy emanating from the top. Instead of prosecuting "bad apples" who were young MPs on the night shift in Baghdad, we're talking about mid-level career CIA. They aren't dupes, and they know how to shift the attention up the chain of command. I don't think these interrogators will live with being the scapegoats. It may take some time, but we really could see some legitimate accountability here. And I hope so - because otherwise this will remain a black mark that can never wash out.

We hope so, too.

More soon...

Messing with My Head

Went to the Twins game last night and saw The Great .400 Hope Joe Mauer bang into four ground outs to the second baseman, one of which became a 4-6-3 double play. Today, he whiffs four times in five hitless trips to the dish, bringing us to This Week's Discussion Question:

Can you screw up your swing before being in the Home Run Derby?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "I sure hope the left field fence is low," or "Weekly, huh? Been about nine weeks, dude."

Discuss.

Reason #50809 Why Baseball is Better...

We interrupt This Week's Discussion Question to bring you yet another reason why--despite one of its biggest stars being booted for 50 games for testing positive for a female fertility drug--baseball is still the Best. Game. Ever.

Pioneer Press beat writer Phil Miller had this excellent item in his ugly road trip wrap-up blog post this morning:

-- Speaking of (Manny) Ramirez, (Michael) Cuddyer was generous with his time in talking about the case, and about how careful players have to be to protect themselves. And it led to a pretty funny moment. In asking him about how much players really know about what they're taking, I pointed to a bottle on the shelf of his locker. "How sure can you be that that's safe?" I said, pointing to the bottle. Cuddyer laughed, and said, "Pretty sure, since I only put that stuff on my glove." Good answer.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Is This Thing Working?

We interrupt This Week's Discussion Question to note that after reading this fine piece of "journalism", we breathlessly await Politico's upcoming pieces in the series, "Does human trafficking work?" and "Does genocide work?"

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Drift Away

We interrupt This Week's Discussion Question to reassure Minnesotans that Senator-in-waiting Al Franken doesn't stand a snowball's chance of snaring the title of "America's Most Embarrassing Congressperson" when there's competition like this, kids. (And it's not Crazy Michele this time!)

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Update: Giant Blooming Pansies!* This dim bulb thinks he outwitted the Nobel Prize-winning Secretary of Energy.

*We saw that on a florist's sign this weekend and are trying it out as a catchphrase.

Sunday Morning Comin' Down

One of the great things about participating in a community of faith that worships at 5 p.m. Sundays is that you can sleep in a bit, then lounge around in your bathrobe on Sunday mornings. The downside is that if you have the teevee on, you can frequently catch something that'll make you spit your Cheerios across the room.

Like when Serious Person Peggy Noonan said this to George, George, Cokie, and Sam about the decision to release the OLC torture memos:

"It's hard for me to look at a great nation issuing these documents and sending them out to the world and thinking, oh, much good will come of that."

Now here's Charles Pierce checking in last Friday, chez Alterman:

I have now lived through three major episodes in my life where the political elite have told me quite plainly that neither I nor my fellow citizens are sufficiently mature to suffer the public prosecution of major crimes committed within my government. The first was when Gerry Ford told me I wasn't strong enough to handle the sight of Richard Nixon in the dock. (Ed. note--I would have thrown a parade.) Dick Cheney looked at this episode and determined that the only thing Nixon did wrong was get caught. The second time was when the entire government went into spasm over the crimes of the Iran-Contra gang and I was told that I wasn't strong enough to see Ronald Reagan impeached or his men packed off to Danbury. Dick Cheney looked at this and determined that the only thing Reagan and his men did wrong was get caught and, by then, Cheney had decided that even that wasn't really so very wrong and everybody should shut up. Now, Barack Obama, who won election by telling the country and its people that they were great because of all they'd done for him, has told me that I am not strong enough to handle the prosecution of pale and vicious bureaucrats, many of them acting at the behest of Dick Cheney, who decided that the only thing he was doing wrong was nothing at all, who have broken the law, disgraced their oaths, and manifestly belong in a one-room suite at the Hague. Not to put too fine a point on it, but I'm sick and goddamn tired of being told that, as a citizen, I am too fragile to bear the horrible burden of watching public criminals pay for their crimes and that, as a political entity, my fellow citizens and I are delicate flowers encased in candy-glass who must be kept away from the sight of men in fine suits weeping as they are ripped from the arms of their families and sent off to penal institutions manifestly more kind than those in which they arranged to get their rocks off vicariously while driving other men mad.

Hey, Mr. President. Put these barbarians on trial and watch me. I'll be the guy out in front of the courtroom with a lawn chair, some sandwiches, and a cooler of fine beer. I'll be the guy who hires the brass band to serenade these criminal bastards on their way off to the big house. I'll be the one who shows up at every one of their probation hearings with a copy of the Constitution, the way crime victims show up at the parole board when their attacker comes up for release. I'll declare a national holiday -- Victory Over Torture Day -- and lead the parade right up whatever gated street it is that Cheney lives on these days. Trust me, Mr. President. I can take it.

So here's This Week's Discussion Question:

What would you give to see Pierce at that table with Noonan, Roberts, and Will?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "Man, it'd make yesterday's 14-run top of the second at Yankee Stadium look like a 1-0 pitchers' duel" or "Yeah! And wearin' Levi's!"

Discuss.

Update: Jon Stewart takes Ms. Noonan downtown in the last bit of this segment and Stephen Colbert just put Mr. Will's anti-denim nonsense through the wringer a few moments ago. Link coming...

Update: As promised, here's the Colbert link.

I'm Gonna D.J.

We're only five games into the new baseball season and we're pleased to present another Greatest. Sport. Ever. edition of This Week's Discussion Question:

We've heard of bench jockeying, but how cool is a sport where players are disk jockeying?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "The Cell? They call it the Cell?"

Discuss.

Houses of the Holy

Because we're sick of Crazy Michele and would rather think about Opening Day, here's This Week's Discussion Question:

Why do we have the feeling that no one will do anything like this for the Metrodome?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "$4 box seats? Last year a beer was $9" or "Yogi's right--it does get late early out there in left."

Discuss.

Idiot Wind

No, we didn't give up blogging for Lent. Crazy busy around here.

Speaking of crazy, we interrupt This Week's Discussion Question to exclaim yet again how glad we are that this piece of work is no longer our representative in Congress.

Go watch the video. (We especially love the fantastic double-take our former pastor does in the second part of the clip.)

Holy mother of pearl, if that wasn't the dumbest question anyone's ever asked in a congressional hearing, there was no doubt about it after the THIRD FREAKING TIME she asked it.

To think that there are people who'll think Minnesota will become a laughing stock when Al Franken finally gets his certificate of election.

Too late, kids. We already are.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Tinted Windows

Okay, it's fairly well-known that Fountains of Wayne are minor deities at TWDQ HQ. It's also no secret that Hanson was played heavily and enjoyed by everyone at what would someday become TWDQ HQ. Some of us saw Cheap Trick play live long before Budokan and shortly thereafter, and there's a copy of Smashing Pumpkins' best-of CD chez TWDQ.

So here's This Week's Discussion Question:

How did these guys get together and decide to form a band?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "What?" or "Huh?"

Discuss.

Naked

In the debate over the economic stimulus bill, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) said this:

"The emperor has no clothes! Somebody has to say it. I'm referring to this additional bailout, this spending bill that spends everything we've got on nothing we are sure about."

That prompts us to drop the veil from This Week's Discussion Question:

After eight long years of a petulant little dictator wanna-be preening and prancing around nekkid as a jaybird to the cheers of his fellow Republicans while flushing away trillions on a war we were lied into and tax cuts for the fabulously wealthy, are you joking, Senator?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "Could we please have a lot more of that 'Whaddya think stimulus is?' snark?" or "We caught a bit of Rep. Mike Pence on Meet the Press Sunday and think that he and Crazy Michele could have a epic stupid-off. We hope Rep. Barney Frank didn't get some 'contact dumb' just from sitting next to him."

Discuss.

Don't Call Us, We'll Call You

In a Politico interview, former Vice President Cheney fired a shot (ba-dum-boom) across President Obama's bow, warning that we'll all die in our beds there's a "high probability" of a terrorist attack if we don't leave the Constitution in tatters Bush administration policies of illegal surveillance and torture in place.

Cheney said Obama would put the country at risk if he backtracked on Bush administration security policies.

"When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an Al Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry," Cheney said.

Protecting the country's security is "a tough, mean, dirty, nasty business," he said. "These are evil people. And we're not going to win this fight by turning the other cheek."

And who would know tough, mean, dirty, nasty, and evil better than the former Vice President? But we digress. What we really came to do is toss out This Week's Discussion Question:

Who gives a damn what Dick Cheney thinks anymore?

Please keep the discussion civil and do feel free to wander off into "Dick, when we want to hear from you again, we'll send around someone with a subpoena--and we'll ensure that your rights are read loudly and clearly enough that even you might understand them."

Discuss.

Supernatural Superserious

This afternoon is an American High Holy Day, with just about everyone in the United States hunkered down in front of a television set pondering This Week's Discussion Question:

What'll Bruce play at halftime?

Please keep the discussion civil and feel free to wander off into "Pitchers and catchers report in 13 days," or "...One! Two! Three!...the highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last-chance power drive..."

Discuss.

Update: Cool. Couldn't have asked for a better set, outside of giving them an additional 2.75 hours. The great "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" with horns, The Anthem, a brief snippet of the title cut of the new album (which is growing on me slowly), and "Glory Days", with some terrific Bruce and Miami Steve interplay to wrap it up. (Some day we'll go on at length about the theology of two or three people leaning in to share a microphone.)

And if, from this day forward, the football/Hail Mary couplet replaces the baseball/speedball lines that kick off "Glory Days", it'll be okay with us.

"I'm goin' to Disneyland!"

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

Now back to the guacamole dip...

Hope

We believe that you couldn't have picked a more apt piece of scripture to cite in an inaugural address at this moment in history than 1 Corinthians 13, proclaiming this is the time to set aside childish things.

With this in mind, here's the first Inauguration Day edition of This Week's Discussion Question:

Whad'ya say we all grow up?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander back into childish things. (Choosing hope over fear was a damn good start, America.)

Discuss.

Like grownups.

And on the other side, it didn't say nothin'...

I'm going to step out of the first-person plural briefly to say that I don't think I've ever been prouder to be an American than I was yesterday afternoon:



That said, this may get a run for its money tomorrow.

I got a timebomb in my mind, Mom...

During last week's confirmation hearings for Attorney General nominee Eric Holder, Sen. John Cornyn (R-watches too much "24") pressed Holder to answer a hypothetical question about what interrogation methods he'd approve to get the setter of a ticking time bomb to spill his or her guts in time to save "tens of thousands" of American lives. With a straight face, he asked this.

Holder did an admirable job of not telling him to turn the damn television off and take a long walk off a short pier. We're not so generous, ourselves, which brings us to This Week's Discussion Question:

How could anyone possibly think that Al Franken is going to make Minnesota a laughing stock while this clown is in the Senate?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "Okay, forget that hypothetical. If Obama had to waterboard the Joker to save everybody on the..." or "Tuesday? Is it Tuesday yet?"

Discuss.

Good Old Boys

Last week, the Justice Department's Inspector General released a report on the partisan shenanigans in the Civil Rights division, with a lovely little tidbit in the middle:

In that incident in August 2004, Voting Section Chief John Tanner sent an e-mail to Schlozman asking Schlozman to bring coffee for him to a meeting both were scheduled to attend. Schlozman replied asking Tanner how he liked his coffee. Tanner's response was, "Mary Frances Berry style - black and bitter." Berry is an African-American who was the Chairperson of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights from November 1993 until late 2004. Schlozman forwarded the e-mail chain to several Department officials (including Principal DAAG Bradshaw) but not Acosta, with the comment, "Y'all will appreciate Tanner's response." Acosta said that when he was made aware of the incident, he required Schlozman to make a written apology to him for his role in forwarding the e-mail and that Schlozman did so.

This leads us to the long overdue premiere of the 2009 season of This Week's Discussion Question:

And that was IT? An apology to the boss and they let these moral midgets continue to work on Voting Rights and Civil Rights? Tanner and Schlozman and the DAAG weren't called into the AG's office and asked if they thought defending our most treasured and essential rights is a good fit for any of them? That the apology didn't go to everyone on the original distribution list with a blatant warning that if anybody that ever pulled anything as stupid as this again, they should start emptying their desk after hitting "Send"?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "Well, police departments have a Vice Squad that tries to stamp out vice, so maybe Schlozman thought the Civil Rights Division..." or "Tuesday, man. Come on, Tuesday."

Discuss.

Poor Poor Pitiful Me

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had lunch with the Wall Street Journal recently and raised a couple of questions that have been nagging him. Well, questions are what we do around here, kids, so we're pleased to help out:

"What is it that I did that is so fundamentally wrong, that deserves this kind of response to my service?" he said during an interview Tuesday, offering his most extensive comments since leaving government.

Well, for starters, Al, let's go back to this handy chart. Your name's in the center, having had your fingers into the authorizing of:

• Warrantless wiretapping
• Coercive interrogation (we prefer the less polite term "torture")
• The CIA's destruction of tapes of "coercive interrogations"
• Hiring political hacks to fill the ranks at the DoJ
• Firing U.S. Attorneys who were insufficiently political
  

That was easy, wasn't it? (Here's a friendly tip regarding #2: Stay in the U.S.. For the rest of your life.) The next one's even easier.

During a lunch meeting two blocks from the White House, where he served under his longtime friend, President George W. Bush, Mr. Gonzales said that "for some reason, I am portrayed as the one who is evil in formulating policies that people disagree with. I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror."

You poor baby.

Alberto, this goes beyond disagreement. When you're formulating policies that are evil, such as torture, you get portrayed as evil. Comes with the territory.

Oh yeah, we had a question our own selves. Mr. Gonzales also mentioned that he's writing a book about his time in office, which brings us to This Week's Discussion Question:

How can someone who, while under oath, couldn't remember a damned thing, write a freaking memoir?

Please keep the discussion civil and feel free to wander off into suggesting a title for former AG AG's misty water-colored memories.

Discuss.

Beginnings

News of the passing of Mark Felt, Watergate's "Deep Throat", reminded us of how the TWDQ concept originated, so we thought we'd share that historic moment with our faithful readers. (We should really have the three of you over for dinner sometime.)

Shortly after Mr. Felt acknowledged that he was the character who surreptitiously fed Bob Woodward information that helped him and colleague Carl Bernstein unravel the scandal, we ranted to some close friends on YahooGroups. We remember it like it was only yesterday (rub chin, dissolve to flashback):

After catching a few episodes over the past few days of yammering pundits kicking about the ethics of Deep Throat's actions in a darkened D.C. parking garage in 1973, here's today's discussion question:

"If I take Chuck Colson or G. Gordon Liddy's opinions on Mark 'Deep Throat' Felt to my local coffee house, how much cash will I still have to come up with for a $1.60 cup of java?"

Please do not wander off into "When Vincent Bugliosi dies, will they go to Charlie Manson for his thoughts, too?" or "Mr. Colson, would you ask the president that 'Do the ends justify the means?' question you asked Mr. Ben-Veniste this morning, with reference to either Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, or the Downing Street Memo?"

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Update: Fixed the blockquote so IE doesn't splatter it across the screen.

Boom Boom

At this moment, Sen. Norm Coleman's lead over him, Al Franken, in the MN Senate recount has dropped to single digits--single digits that one could count on one hand--as the Canvassing Board plows through Norm's stack of challenged ballots. This doesn't bode well for the senator's reelection bid, so here's a "Senator Al Franken" edition of This Week's Discussion Question:

What kind of sound will Sean Hannity's head make when it explodes?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into, well, fits of giggling.

Discuss.

Happy Birthday to Me

Today's the third anniversary of TWDQ and we just happen to have a birthday-themed question to kick off the fourth year of This Week's Discussion Question:

What kind of idiot would decorate a baby's birthday cake with a swastika?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "When you name your kids 'Adolf Hitler', "Aryan Nations', and 'Honszlynn Hinler' (because it sounds like 'Heinrich Himmler' but that isn't quite appropriate for a girl, is it now?), doesn't that blow your claim to any kind of superiority?"

Discuss

Happy Birthday

I'm going to step out of the first person plural for a moment to mark what would have been my dad's 78th birthday.

One of the many gifts he gave me was a love of this artist, so here's a 78 for your 78th, Dad:

Lipstick Sunset

As the clock runs out on the reign of Bush the Younger, Karl Rove and Karen Hughes are apparently hanging out at the White House attempting to craft a glittering narrative for the past eight years, and we'd be remiss if we didn't honor this project with a fresh episode of This Week's Discussion Question:

Just how much lipstick can one put on a pig?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "I'll bet you hear more 'ummmm's in there than at a transcendental meditation retreat" or "I got your legacy right here, Junior"

Discuss.

My Favorite Things

This week at work, we were asked to complete a couple of forms to prepare us to discuss our career goals with our direct manager. After a couple of questions about what's important/what we value at work, one of the forms asked about our lives away from the job:

What's important to you/what do you value outside of work? (i.e. baseball, family etc..)

We think they meant "e.g." instead of "i.e." but in our case "i.e." fit like a infielder's glove, so we took off from there, answering:

Baseball, family (these aren't necessarily in order), music, silence, faith, doubt, love, grace, literature, dark coffee and dark beer.

The more we thought about it, we felt we ought to share that question with our vast readership as an edition of This Week's Discussion Question:

What's important to you/what do you value? (e.g. baseball, family, etc..)

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into any additional Latin abbreviations.

Discuss.

Me Talk Pretty One Day

We fear that Time's 2004 Blog of the Year (the blogosphere equivalent of Celine Dion nabbing an Album of the Year Grammy) is going to put The Onion out of business with stuff like this:

Obama thinks he is a good talker, but he is often undisciplined when he speaks. He needs to understand that as President, his words will be scrutinized and will have impact whether he intends it or not. In this regard, President Bush is an excellent model; Obama should take a lesson from his example. Bush never gets sloppy when he is speaking publicly. He chooses his words with care and precision, which is why his style sometimes seems halting. In the eight years he has been President, it is remarkable how few gaffes or verbal blunders he has committed. If Obama doesn't raise his standards, he will exceed Bush's total before he is inaugurated.

Now that we're done shaking our heads at that, here's This Week's Discussion Question:

How quickly would you be reaching for the Yellow Pages after learning your lawyer had scribbled a paragraph like that?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "Here's a bit we call 'Great Moments in Presidential Speeches'" or "Cliff, what color is the sky in your world?"

Discuss.

Wise Up

We saw this headline on Yahoo News today and got rather excited:

Philips develops "intelligent pill"

Sadly, it's about a pill with a microprocessor, wireless radio, pump, and drug reservoir, that can release pharmaceuticals in parts of the body where they'll be most effective.

While this is very cool and has the potential to make lots of folks' lives better and all, we were hoping it was a pill that would make people smarter, which would make everyone's life better.

Well, everyone except the folks who get royalties from Adam Sandler's movies.

What Digby Said

After a campaign stuffed with disinformation and outright lies (to use a sanitized, family-friendly term) about who's gonna tax whom and how much and whether or not it's patriotic to settle up with the IRS, Digby (not at all surprisingly) nails it all beautifully.

Here's the conclusion, but go read the whole thing:

For those government helps directly, whether it's through educational opportunities or unemployment insurance or health care for their kids and elderly parents, the benefits are obvious. But there's nothing unusual about financially comfortable people also being willing to pay for a decent society in which to live and work and bring up their kids. The unnatural ones are those who think they can live a good life without contributing to such things. Apparently, they think they can live inside a castle and pull up the drawbridge behind them, leaving all the ugliness outside. And that is the perfect, time tested recipe for revolution. It's not exactly the smart move for the long haul.

Like we said, go read the whole thing. While trees die in vain so the dumbassery of Bill Kristol and Charles Krauthammer can regularly stain the New York Times and Washington Post op-ed pages, respectively, this woman is cranking out shimmering brilliance each and every day at Hullabaloo. If you're not a regular reader, you should be.

We'll leave you with a pair to kick around as This Week's Discussion Questions:

Isn't a broken clock right more often than Bill Kristol?

Can Charles Krauthammer milk four (eight!) more years out of nothing more than "You'll be sorry you voted for Obama! SORRY, SORRY, SORRY!"?

Please keep the discussion civil and feel free to wander off into "Is Obama President yet?"

Discuss.