The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach » aside

“Miles Away” — Marc Cohn

mongreldogs — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:11:49 +0000

I know there’s always something

We have to go through

That has some deeper meaning

Right now I just can’t say

I know there’s a lesson in here somewhere

I’m gonna think a lot about it later

Right now I’m miles away

This is one of those songs that’s good on the album and terrific in concert. There’s a lot more ominous percussion when it’s live. I’ve always liked this song because it thrums with energy and determination, and — even though it’s essentially about someone running away from his problems — it strikes me as having a hopeful note.

At the show in Bay Shore in 2006, Marc explained the backstory to this one. He had signed his record deal and was in LA working with someone the record company had sent over to produce. But they just didn’t share any vision of the album. Eventually, Marc just walked out. As a newly-signed, never-released quirky singer/songwriter, he crossed a rubicon that you just don’t cross in the music industry. He got on a plane for New York City thinking that his recording career was over. This song came to him and wouldn’t let him go.

Happily, smarter heads prevailed back at the record company, he was able to get a producer he could work with, and the breakthrough Marc Cohn was made and released. The rest, as they say, was history — a blistering torrent of four albums in sixteen years.

More on Guiliani-as-Kaiser

mongreldogs — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 15:49:50 +0000

Glen Greenwald continues to shine a welcome spotlight on the outright authoritarian — dare we say, totalitarian? — impulses of the Right’s new darling, Rudy Guiliani. Twice in the past few days, he’s made statements that, only a handful of years ago, would have been credible only coming from the mouth of some cartoonish caricature. Really, there is no Constitutional guarantee not under attack by the wingbats who have hijacked the Republican party…

2 out of 3 Republican candidates prefer dictatorship

mongreldogs — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 22:53:46 +0000

OK, so that’s not entirely fair. But Glenn Greenwald has a terrific piece on why it’s not entirely unfair, either. The short version: When asked if the President of the United States should have the power to detain indefinitely American citizens without any sort of review, Mitt Rommey said he couldn’t form an opinion without consulting some “smart lawyers” — despite the fact that it clearly violated the Contitution, the upholding of which is the sworn duty of anyone holding the office Rommey had decided to seek. But it gets better. Guiliani doesn’t need lawyers; he knows he supports this sort of power trip, although (hilariously) he hopes to exercise it only “infrequently”.

How far we have sunk, in only six years! Who could have guessed that the American habit of liberty would prove so fragile?

New Look, New Feature, Lots of New Newness

mongreldogs — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 23:58:05 +0000

So… I’ve wanted a three-column theme for a while and for whatever reason, tonight’s the night I decided to get one. Mostly I want something that uses the real estate of my monitor more efficiently. I went with Anaconda and it seems pretty good. I’m still figuring out how to make it look like what I want. Also, this post is an attempt to check out “asides” to see what they are. And I’ve added a couple of countdown timers just for show.