This was a really interesting series I caught on youtube that was originally done by the BBC (the standard of good TV documentaries, IMO). It's on three of Continental Philosophy's most important philosophers from the 19th into the 20th century.
Note: Unfortunately pretty much all of these videos are in mono. So hopefully you'll be able to still listen.
Here is some very old-school 1990 pretty decently recorded live Napalm Death. One of the band's better line-ups back then, but they've struck an almostly equally great run lately with albums like The Code Is Red... Long Live The Code, Smear Campaign, and their latest and sure fired top 20 of the year album Time Waits For No Slave.
Meddle is one of the more over-looked Pink Floyd albums. It came out right before Dark Side of the Moon in 1971 and none of its songs have gotten much radio play at all (which could be said of most early Floyd).
Meddle (along with Animals), came to attention a bit more it seems in the metal community ever since Blake from Nachtmystium mentioned it as one of his favorite albums. This can be best seen (heard) in Nachtmystium's song One of These Nights, which thematically and musically plays upon the Floyd's One of these Days.
With that in mind I thought I would link a few vids for those not familiar with this side of Floyd.
Here is One of These Days (subtitled: I'm Going to Cut You into Little Pieces)
Next is the song Echoes, which is possibly one of Floyd's best songs ever. It comes in at more than 23 minutes. There have been two video presentations of this song that have in particular touched me. One is the Live in Pompeii version which has a unique sound to it since it's live and they're playing behind a literal wall of amps (out in the ruins of Pompeii, quite cool, huh?). The second is the pairing of the song with the last scene from Stanley Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey". There are a lot of rumors as to why it fits so perfectly, but I won't touch upon that besides the fact that they work together SO GOD DAMN PERFECTLY.
Anyway here, in all 23+ minute form:
(note: It is best to watch this in a very dark room, with the screen blown all the way out and the volume very, very high.... which you might want to get as well)
I don't want to post the Pompeii version because you should all go out and buy it, but if you want to see it now just go on youtube you'll find it easily enough.
The National Review recently released a list, based on votes from subscribers and apparently some editorial/crtic based editing, of what they claimed were the top 25 Conservative films of the past 25 years.
My general conclusion after looking at both lists is that they both have quite a bit of bullshit in them. However, the Daily Kos' list is filled with the most bulllshit.
First off a documentary really shouldn't be placed on a list of "great" films unless you're just talking about documentaries alone. It's like putting a book on tape in a list of greatest albums. It just doesn't work. So Daily Kos really fucks it up by including, by my count (I don't know all the movies they posted), 6 docs and 4 of them are from Michael Moore. I'm sorry but that's really bullshit. But even more bullshit is that they gave #1 to An Inconvenient Truth. I don't know if I should laugh or cry. At its best it can be called informative and thought provoking, however that doesn't make it great film making, rather it was very dull film making because it was only filming a god damn lecture. Oh, and to have included Thank You for Smoking... that's really fucking ironic.
Anyway... as for NR's list, some of it seems fitting and some of it seems to be rather bizzare. The Incredibles I would say is fitting though I have to laugh to myself about it because after seeing the film I called it the most blatant anti-communist propaganda I had ever seen (note: I still enjoyed the movie). The Life of Others seems very odd, but I guess the ethics of spying can be overshadowed if the ultimate result is showing how fucked up Soviet style Communism was.
One funny bit is how both lists have Brazil, which in reflection doesn't suprise me. It's a highly Orwellian like story and that's the real root of why both the left and right love it. Orwell's works pointed out the failings/horror of totalitarianism, as seen in the Soviet Union, yet he was a staunch socialist. Anyway, I would certainly rank Brazil as one of my favorite movies of all time (gotta love Criterion).
Here's a new segment I want to try out where I'll post some clips and links to a musical group/project that I think deserves more attention. For the first attempt of this hopefully weekly occurrence I'll begin with Woven Hand, the brainchild of former 16 Horsepower lead singer David Eugene Edwards.
Woven Hand has been described as a mix of "alternative country, post-rock, punk, industrial music, folk rock, old-time music and native American music, among others". Along with Allmusic describing their music as "dark, gloomy, dreamy, organic and atmospheric".
Perhaps the most shocking and interesting facet of this group (at least for me) has been all the attention they have been getting from Death Metal and Black Metal musicians/fans when considering Edwards' has been quite vocal about his Christian faith (he was raised by a Nazarene preacher). Still I suppose the fascination stemming from many non-christian fans is that with the music and lyrics, Edwards creates a world of doom and gloom. It's a Christianity that doesn't seem to proclaim set lines between the divine and the heathens. Rather it pits all of humanity as damned and wretched before a wrathful God. Something that's not all that foreign from bands like Black Sabbath or Trouble nor from indie rock heroes Nick Cave or Tom Waits.
For an example of the group's wide audience check this interesting snip from an interview (here's the full text) with guitarist Morgan Steinmeyer Håkansson from Black Metal band Marduk:
CoC: So what's spinning in your CD player right now?
MSH: I listen to what I regard as the best black and death metal, for example right now I'm listening to a lot of early Morbid Angel stuff. _Altars of Madness_ and _Domination_ still remain very powerful and very heavy. I also like dark and powerful industrial music, I like classical music -- I like everything that I can find that has a soul. For example, I like two bands who are actually very Christian, but are still a lot darker than many so-called black metal bands: Sixteen Horsepower and Woven Hand.
CoC: Never heard them.
MSH: Oh my God, you should really check them out -- they're really dark and really Christian, but still extremely fascinating. I'm going to see them live on Sunday; it's really bizarre music. I like anything that can really paint pictures in my mind.
As a way to kick start back into the groove, here's Bill Maher giving his "New Rules" on the most recent episdoe of Real Time. Hope you enjoy.
Also, I would like to add this video featuring Philosopher Cornel West visting Maher's show, before the election. West is quite possible one of the most accessible and profound philosophers that's still alive. Again, enjoy.
