Open Thread Friday

by publius

Works calls today.  Have at it.  To start -- why does everyone seem to think Kings of Leon is good?

Comments

[JanieM]

Reminder -- Obsidian Wings in the Boston area folks are meeting for dinner 10/28 (Weds.).

Write to ObwiBoston at gmail for details.

:)

[Eric]

I realize it can be a particularly annoying hipster shibboleth, but Kings of Leon definitely is an example of the "their older stuff was way better" phenomenon.

Seriously, I was (and still am, I suppose) a big fan of Youth and Young Manhood as well as Aha Shake Heartbreak, but their latest stuff makes me want to hit somebody.

[Sebastian]

People like the Kings of Leon because it has a groove that just hooks you in. I guess if it doesn't hook you in, you won't like it.

[rick]

I want to hit somebody too!!!!!

[rh]

They've drunken the KOL-Aid.

[von]

I am traumatized by the fact that Weezy F. Baby's going to Riker's on a BS gun possession charge. First, the DNA link seems bogus. Second, it should be lawful to carry a gun. Someone get Radley Balko on the case!

[russell]

I have no idea what the heck you whippersnappers are talking about.

[tgirsch]

I had to look up KOL to see if there were any songs I recognized. "Use Somebody" isn't a bad tune, but I'm not terribly familiar with the rest of their stuff. A quick browse of YouTube leaves me lukewarm on them.

Then again, I've always had unusual taste.

[Hogan]

von: Is that the "attempted criminal possession of a weapon" charge? I have no idea what that could possibly mean.

[Ian]

what eric said.

[cleek]

KOL, to me, sounds like the Americana version of Coldplay: anthemic, mid-tempo, serious, melodramatic. just replace the Coldplay's Radiohead influence with Ryan Adams.

[John Miller]

who or what the heck is King of Leon and those other people, places or things Eric mentioned?

russell, I always pictured you to be in your 20's. Apparently I was wrong.

[russell]

russell, I always pictured you to be in your 20's.

I turned 20 the year Jimmy Carter was elected President.

[BooThisMan]

I turn off the radio every time Kings of Leon are played. I really just can't stand the guy's voice.

[John Miller]

Fair enough. That means you are still a whippersnapper to me. Besides, russell, I always thought you were wise beyond your years. Still do.

[Brett Bellmore]

I don't believe I've ever heard anything by Kings of Leon. I take it they don't do http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqY0dCmAyNM>filk?

[chmood]

"russell, I always pictured you to be in your 20's."
"I turned 20 the year Jimmy Carter was elected President."

Still a baby, then: my brother is your age. Important to have a more youthful perspective... :)

[Charlieford]

If I was being stalked by the undead, I'd throw KOL first. (Coldplay, second.) It's the worst stuff I've ever heard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHzDSmav0NM

I've heard plenty of bad music in my time, but that's just plain stupid.

[hairshirthedonist]

Then again, I've always had unusual taste.

Posted by: tgirsch | October 23, 2009 at 02:21 PM

That's funny - King's X looking all grunge. Oh, the 90s.

[cleek]

BTW, i hate the "Share This" link thing. the automatic pop-up (but always fail to close) thing is hugely annoying. tomorrow i'm going to write Greasemonkey scripts to kill them wherever i find them.

[bedtimeforbonzo]

It's official. I am gullible. Balloon Boy was a hoax.

[JanieM]

cleek @10:57 --

Ever since the "Share This" thing came along, if I close IE before the thing is finished loading (and it's still loading after the page looks like it's finished), IE reopens itself like a zombie and opens tab after tab after tab, and won't close except via the Task Manager. I'll be the first customer in line for a script, and I wish I knew how to write them myself. ;)

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

Publius, one 'advantage' of your identity coming out is that we can now blame you for anything that happens in the State of Texas.

For example, those 39 drivers ticketed for being 'non-English speaking'.

[tgirsch]

hairshirthedonist:

Yeah, but not really any worse than their 80's look. :)

Charlieford:

Wow, that's comically bad.

[Larkspur]

What Russell said. That first thing he said, with the whippersnappers reference. Not the President Carter thing. That is another subject and/or era and/or generation.

But if we're talkin' Jimmy Carter era, we're talkin' Talking Heads. And buildings, and food.

FYI - and yes, I am dating myself, but someone has to do it - I was but a wee squalling infant when David Byrne was born. We probably lost our baby teeth around the same time. I didn't end up being so successful, but not all that many others in our wee squalling cohort have either, despite the fact that there are so darn many of us.

So this Share thing is an IE phenomenon? I ask because I use Firefox, so I don't think I've encountered it, although sometimes I miss stuff on account of being oldish.

[cleek]

So this Share thing is an IE phenomenon?

nope, it's right there at the bottom of every article, next to the comments link.

[Bernard Yomtov]

I have no idea what the heck you whippersnappers are talking about.

Codger rebellion!!! Let's go!!!

[Michael Cain]

BTW, i hate the "Share This" link thing. the automatic pop-up (but always fail to close) thing is hugely annoying. tomorrow i'm going to write Greasemonkey scripts to kill them wherever i find them.

One of the large but little-remarked social battles these days is the technology race between the Web content providers who are determined to put that image in front of your eyes whether you asked for it or not, and the content consumers who are determined that they will only have displayed the content they actually asked for.

I'm on the same side as cleek on this. At least in its present form, the "feature" is obnoxious and annoying. The pop-up window if the user clicks the Share This link would be fine; the broken mouse-over pop-up is not.