My great uncle Blase was recently on MSNBC with Chris Hayes discussing the new Pope and Catholicism in Latin America. As a former Maryknoll priest who served in South America who has left the church, he is uniquely equipped to comment. He also happens to be one of the smartest, coolest guys I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing and I get to be related to him.
Not bad.
Check out the video here or by clicking the photo above.
This video really reinforced my decision to wait with Sarah. Until later today. Did you see some of these dweebs? Who wants them as friends? Pfft.
Idiots.
A little bit ago, I was listening to the stream for Defeated Sanity’s Passage Into Deformity and reading the accompanying article. I had a thought which I expressed in a comment on the post.
Nevermind the typo, the point is totally true. How many times have I sat there chatting with my brother or a friend or whoever and said things like, “I think The Bleeding is the pinnacle of Chris Barnes-era Cannibal Corpse. ‘Stripped Raped and Strangled’ is an amazing song.”
Or, “Braindrill’s ‘Forcefed Human Shit’, for all its brevity, is a masterful piece of death metal.”
Or, “When it comes to old school proto-grind, you can’t argue that General Surgery is basically just a very competent Carcass-clone.”
I’ve said things like this thousands of times over the 20 years I’ve been listening to metal, and I don’t foresee it stopping. As metalheads, we are so accustomed to absurd song/band/album titles that it becomes a total nonissue for us. We can talk about Once Upon the Cross by Deicide, or a band called Torture Killer, or whether or not you think Goatwhore is a solid example of the New Wave of American Black Metal without thinking twice about the actual words you are using. I am sure that an intrepid explorer of old blog posts could find tons of examples on this very site.
We can say absolutely vile things unfazed because we’re used to them. Quickly scanning my Spotify death metal playlist reveals the following song titles as perfect examples.
That list took me about 1 minute to compile. Consider it a random sampling of bands that start with the letters A through D. A THROUGH D. THAT IS AS FAR AS I GOT THROUGH THE LIST. And I didn’t even dig into me black metal or grindcore playlists.
No one whose idea of heavy metal ends at Metallica could say the song titles above without being acutely aware that the words they’re uttering are just not normal. But metalheads? Nope. No problem. And there are lots more where those came from.
And I will say this in closing, I’ve only ever really listened to Broken Hope’s The Bowels of Repugnance, but recently gave Grotesque Blessings a listen and, man, that is a good record.
Metal for life.
This is great.
If you are alone this Valentine’s Day, that’s a bummer. Make yourself a chocolate ocarina and play some “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”. If you do have someone, you’re probably not reading this right now. Good job!
I might have listened to this album about 100 million times in college. It was (and is) perfect music for writing: lyricless, not too obtrusive, but still forward enough to block out other sounds, distractions, and thoughts. And the video is amazing. Stylish. Fitting. Unique (and I don’t use that word lightly). I seem to recall having a tiny 320×240 quicktime of it on an old 18gb hard drive. Ah, halcyon days.
Do you live in 10023, 10069, 10014, or 10013?
Do you love farm fresh food, but you are too damn busy (or, admit it, lazy) to get yourself to the farmers’ market?
Do you struggle with trying new things because you are overwhelmed with all the choices?
Then, my dear reader, Quinciple might be your jam. What is Quinciple, you ask? A tremendous question, friend! Let me quote them at you.
Ok, well that doesn’t really tell us how it works, does it?
Quinciple works in three, easy steps.
You are no doubt wondering why I am using my time here on The Black Laser to shill for something that seems totally unrelated to my usual topics of (one-sided) discussion. Full disclosure: Kate, one of the cofounders, is a friend and Sarah, my prewife, is working with them as outreach director promoting the hell out of the fledgling company.
Honestly, I think that leaves me in a perfect place to recommend the company to people. I believe in Quinciple, not just as a business, but as a concept and a set of values. Because that’s what it is, deep down. Ostensibly, it is a service akin to a CSA, but delivered and curated. Really though, Quinciple is an extension of what Kate and Markus value about food: getting high quality products from people they trust and sharing the food with customers in an environmentally responsible fashion. It is, in a lot of ways, diametrically opposed to the Monsanto-style, anonymous megafarm that has dominated US agriculture and food production since after the second World War. And I think that’s great. Besides, Kate has impeccable taste; there are few people I would trust as much to surprise me with some incredible food thingie as her.
And that’s what you get with a curated box: surprises! Who doesn’t like good surprises? No one. Well, maybe someone, but screw that guy, right?
I think people were excited about the samples at the launch party.
If you care about how and what you eat, and if you care about how your food is made and where it comes from, then check out Quinciple. I think you’ll be pleased.
And if you are outside their currently limited delivery range, have faith. They will be expanding over the next year to deliver to folks all over this fine city. Which means you. And me. Since I don’t live in 10023, 10069, 10014, or 10013.
We are getting a box this week. Look forward to a write up and some photos of us enjoying the hell out of it.
The home of Joe Dillingham—pugilist, raconteur, dragonslayer.
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