Crush All Boxes!

ferret in pants
Originally uploaded by jonnybutter.

Funny how the subconscious mind can have a perverse sense of humor. We often see it in our dreams - visual puns, word play. I am particularly subject to the intercranial playback - in ultra-Hi-Fi - of random songs which pun or leap from the stuff of the day. Somebody said the word 'Diamond' at some point, and then I went out on my porch to enjoy the beautiful....yes, 'September Morn'. Suddenly the rivers of unrendered schmaltz started to flow, and Neil Diamond's faux-rasp voice filled my head. Yes, two lovers playing scenes from......some romantic play. Ack, all the crap 'ballads' of the last 25 years: the disease which keeps on giving. Funny how that kind of obvious, humorless crap ('I'll be your knight in shining armor') really took off in the 80s. Hmmmm... 'It's Morning Again in America...we danced until the night became a brand new day.

And speaking of earnest humorlessness, there was the Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam thing today. Aside from the insulting idiocy of keeping this guy out of the country, it also prompted an involuntary review - in my head - of his greatest hits. Before the slick cynical goo of the 80s, was the 'sensitive' singer-songwriter tra-la-la thing of the late 60s and 70s (quick: what rhymes with 'legal tender'?......ICE CREAM VENDOR!). I wonder which I don't not dislike more?

And, BTW - as Jon Stewart just pointed out - what is the point of discovering someone on a 'watch-list' when they're already airborne? And furthermore, does Tom Ridge give one damn about Salman Rushdie and his fatwa? I doubt it. Cat Stevens is going to come to America (hey! 'He's comin' to America®') and coordinate terror. Riiight.

[UPDATE: As Eric points out in the comments, Diamond is a strong and substantial Kerry supporter. So, I like him now. It was completely artificial to compare the Cat Stevens' hits with Diamonds'. Unlike Georgiou/Stevens/Islam, Diamond is kind of an 'icon' - he decided sometime in the 70s-80s to go the 'Icon Route' (that's what it's called in showbiz) - the scarves, the sequins, the gigantic, 'Armageddon-Beat' ballads, etc. etc.. Eric also points out that Diamond is sometimes so bad he's good - the kitch factor. I guess so. ]