Mountain of Judgment

Here's a work-in-progress cover shot for the homemade box set of early 90s college rock I'm working on with Matt. Limited Potential was the name of the label that released the "All Time/All the Way" single by the Groove Diggers, and I think it describes most of the no-hit indie rock bands of that period pretty well. I can't imagine the Llamasauruses and Mules of the world ever envisioned platinum albums or LA mansions; they just wanted to play, record, and get some records out to kids. And yes, this is just me dicking around, playing amateur Rhino employee, but what the hell.

Abe was very particular about his cake specs this year. It had to fit in with the overall Wizard of Oz theme, and it had to scream "Go Away!" If he had the vocabulary, I'm sure it would have been a "fuck off and die" cake. There's always next year.

Dave wanted to know if any of the children at the party were scared by the cake. No, but I think some of the parents might have been.

Turn your attention to the new links at the left.

David Campbell's "Dave's Long Box" dumpster dives through mouldering old comics, many of them uttery horrible specimens from the 1980s, and comes up with comedy gold.

The Comic Treadmill is a catchall comic essay site, with comments on old and new books--the recent atention paid to old Bob Haney-written issues of Brave & the Bold has been comforting to me.

Jim Roeg writes very smart, in-depth essays on superhero comics with titles like "On Christmas: An Athiest Reads Daredevil #253".

The Comics Curmudgeon is devoted to mocking horrible newspaper comic strips, which at this point is almost all newspaper comic strips.

On the political side, I've added firedoglake, one of the best-written leftwing blogs thanks to Jane Hamsher, and Crooks and Liars, which houses all the best TV clips pertaining to politics. At least the ones that reveal Republicans, and the media that covers them, as craven hypocrites. More political links when I get a few minutes.

Who has time to blog when there's sudoku to be played? Literary novels about Superman to be read? Gilmore Girls DVDs to be watched? Girl group box sets to be marveled at? Ice skating to be done? Rice and bean recipes to be made? Lego dinosaurs to be assembled? Wizard of Oz themed birthday parties to be decorated? Month-old dog shit to pick out of the snow in the backyard? Evil, imperialistic governments to fear and hate? Ice hammers to be purchased?

Not me, that's who.

But you should:

Give a listen to Otter Pop Radio, dj'ed by our very own Mattie. I assume this endeavor is why he's only had time to post here like once. Not that I'm complaining. Buckets of the twee-est twee with some delicate indie pop and synth gently mixed in just to break up the twee. Listen to more than ten minutes and you will be so sensitive that strong winds will bruise your skin. But it's nice and you will like it.

Buy the new book Makers by my friend Bob Parks. It's a handsome collection of profiles of backyard inventors and their homemade gadgets. It also happens to be researched, in part, by my wife, the lovely and talented Mrs. Mountain. Which probably isn't the best nickname for her, now that I think about it.

Ponder the insight of Vermont governor Jim Douglas, who introduced his sham of an insurance reform plan (with deductibles so high that it would be useless to many of the poor people it ostensibly serves) with the brilliant observation: "I really believe the most common reason people don't have coverage is they can't afford it." What a maverick. I bet he dares to keep his kids off drugs.