The judge smiled. Men are born for games. Nothing else. Every child knows that play is nobler than work. He knows too that the worth or merit of a game is not inherent in the game itself but rather in the value of that which is put at hazard. Games of chance require a wager to have meaning at all. Games of sport involve the skill and strength of the opponents and the humiliation of defeat and the pride of victory are in themselves sufficient stake because they inhere in the worth of the principals and define them. But the trial of chance or trial of worth all games aspire to the condition of war for here that which is wagered swallows up the game, player, all.
–Blood Meridian
Feet up (Taken with Instagram at Home)
1. Going to the gym
You went to the gym. Or you ran a couple of miles. Now you feel sick/full of energy/amazing/tired. That’s fine, but keep it to yourself. Nobody else gives a single solitary shit about it. Only tweet about the gym if you witnessed a stabbing, fire or rape there.
2. Your music
Unless you’re actually good at making music, don’t spam your twitter followers with links to your music. What’s even more unforgivable is tweeting links to BUY your worthless compositions for actual money which could be better spent on drugs or drawing pins.
3. Your love life
You went on a date. It was okay and you might see the person again. Good for you - not very interesting for everyone else. Again, unless your date involved a stabbing, fire or rape, in which case we’re all ears.
4. Photos of food items you’re about to eat
Come on.
5. Links to your blog
I kind of get why people do this but it just comes off as pathetically desperate unless your blog is actually good. Make your blog acceptably interesting and you get a pass for this.
6. Photos of your pet doing something “zany”
Pretty much the same as the gym/date tweet. Interesting for you, less so for people that have no emotional investment in your feline/canine/feathered friend.
7. Photos of your new haircut.
Bad enough if you’re a woman. If you’re a man this is an instant unfollow and you should take a long look in the mirror. Sadly if you’re the kind of bloke who does this, taking a long look in the mirror is probably something you do a lot anyway.
What is it with sexually provocative mid-1990s female rappers and late 2000s weirdness? Lil’ Kim has plastic surgeried herself into this and now Foxy Brown is testifying about smacking the hell out of a neighbour with a BlackBerry and subsequently mooning her.
This reminded me a bit of the cover of Underworld. The book, not the vampires versus werewolves film.
Steely Dan - “Only A Fool Would Say That”
Becker and Fagan offer a typically barbed, deliciously cynical take on the idealism of John Lennon and other hippie singer-songwriters of the 1970s.
This is Bruce Springsteen, my parents’ cat.
10 amazing cover versions - 10. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - “Down In A Hole”
Ryan Adams is no stranger to songs about depression or addiction, which is possibly why he and his former backing band cover this Alice In Chains track so ably. Adams’ voice is pretty much perfect in this one.
10 amazing cover versions - 9. Cat Power - “I Feel”
What was an unremarkable slice of Dirty South hip hop from the Hot Boyz becomes a startlingly soft, sad, almost elegiac ballad in the hands of another notable Southerner. Nothing but piano and Chan’s smoky vocals.
10 amazing cover versions - 8. Belle & Sebastian - “The Boys Are Back In Town”
The twee Glasgow pop band do love a live cover, and have been known to turn their hands to some unlikely material – like Thin Lizzy’s stomping rocker. Listen to them nail those harmonised guitar licks.
