Shawn Colvin and Alison Krauss: "The Boxer" (a Simon & Garfunkel cover)

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Here's a really great cover of a really great song by a couple of really great singers/musicians:


But it can't quite match this:

The Pineapple Thief: "Money" (a Pink Floyd cover)

By Michael J.W. Stickings

As you may know, I love Pink Floyd. Like, a lot. More than anything else in music. But what I don't like, probably because I love Pink Floyd so much, are covers of Pink Floyd songs. As a general rule, I loathe them.

Mostly it's because I'm an originalist, a purist. If I want to hear Pink Floyd, I'll listen to Pink Floyd doing a Pink Floyd song. Period. But it's also because most of the people who do Pink Floyd covers just don't seem to get Pink Floyd. And for someone like me for whom each and every Pink Floyd song is loaded with intense meaning, for someone like me who respects Pink Floyd so much, that's just not acceptable.

But there are exceptions. Not many of them, but a few. And one of them is by a band I like a lot, The Pineapple Thief, one of Kscope's awesome roster of post-prog acts along with the likes of Porcupine Tree, Anathema, and Gazpacho, three bands that for me are in that next tier after Pink Floyd (along with The Beatles). And I think this works, this respectful but also distinctive cover of "Money" (admittedly, not one of my favourite Pink Floyd songs, not even close), because the guys in The Pineapple Thief also love and admire Pink Floyd, because, yes, they get Pink Floyd. And I like them even more for that.

(If you don't know The Pineapple Thief, you're really missing out. I highly recommend you check them out, including their new album, Magnolia, set to be released on September 15.)

So here it is, Pink Floyd's "Money" as covered by The Pineapple Thief, from a Mojo magazine cover version of Dark Side of the Moon. Enjoy!

WaPo editorial board to stop using term "Redskins"

By Richard K. Barry

As reported by The Washington Post:

The Washington Post editorial board said Friday it will stop using the word “Redskins” when referring to Washington’s football team, joining a growing list of other commentators who have renounced the term because they believe it disparages Native Americans.

In a statement, the board said, “While we wait for the NFL to catch up with public opinion and common decency we have decided not to use the slur ourselves except when it is essential for clarity or effect.”

The editorial board is separate from the news-gathering side of the organization, which executive editor Marty Baron said will continue to use the team’s moniker.

Someone needs to explain to team owner Dan Snyder that there is no future in being on the wrong side of history.

This is not going away, nor should it.

(Cross-posted at Culturolio.)

Romney criticizes Obama. World gasps.

By Richard K. Barry

There is some bullshit making the rounds that Mitt Romney might just make another run for the White House. It seems to be based on the amount of stumping he's doing for other candidates and his general visibility.

Oh, please God, let it be true.  We should love to have Mittens to kick around one more time.

In any case, the right-wing media is breathlessly reporting that Romney is oh-so-disappointed in Obama's performance of late. For example, there is this from coverage of a Romney speech in West Virginia:

Insisting repeatedly that he has no intention of making another bid for the White House, Romney spoke candidly about the man who defeated him two years ago, saying President Obama was doing “a good deal worse than even I expected.” As examples, he mentioned the still-struggling U.S. economy and troubles overseas in such hot spots as Iraq, Syria and Russia. “I was not a big fan of the president’s policies, as you know, either domestically or internationally,” Romney said, “but the results of his mistakes and errors, in my opinion, have been more severe than even I would have predicted.”

You see, I'm shocked. What I expected Romney to say is "sure, Obama kicked my ass, but he's doing a fine job running the country, better than I could ever have done, and I'm proud to call him my president." Now that would have been something.

In journalism, "dog bites man" stories are not news, unless you are part of the conservative media echo chamber, in which case any source will do, no matter how lame.

Thank you Mitt. Thank you for your objective assessment of the facts.

Sarah Palin - still delusional after all these years

By Richard K. Barry

The Hollywood Reporter ran an excerpt recently from a new book about Saturday Night Live. It's actually an update of an old book. Live From New York is by James Andrew Miller and Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post television critic Tom Shales (due out in September). It adds a couple hundred pages of original material to an earlier history of the show, which came out in 2002, in order to bring things more or less up to date.

If you like this kind of stuff, enjoy. Entertainment industry navel-gazing doesn't really do it for me.

I did find a couple of comments by that half-term mayor somewhat amusing.

These were attributed to Sarah Palin: 

I think SNL is egotistical if they believe that it was truly an effect on maybe the public debate about who should lead the country in the next four years.

And:

I know that they portrayed me as an idiot, and I hated that, and I wanted to come on the show and counter some of that.

Well, who can say if a very popular nationally broadcast program that constantly pokes fun at the intellectual capacity of a given politician really has an impact. I've got to think it's probably not helpful to said politician.

As for the second comment, I didn't think she did all that badly on the show. Dumb as she obviously is, I gave her points for her appearance. I am, however, pretty sure she didn't counter anything.

All of which is really just an excuse to post a collection of Tina Fey's best Palin bits. Outstanding.