Pork-barrel legislation is nothing new, but John McCain's comments on the current appropriations bill are awesome.
The day before a holiday is always makes for a loose work environment. It's a horribly nasty day out today, lots of frigid rain and 30-40 mph winds. My car was nearly blown off the road a few times this morning. It's all supposed to change over to an ice/snow mix early this afternoon, so I'm escaping work around noon, I think. Let the four day weekend begin.
I was listening to a bit of Beck's "Sea Change" on the way in to work, which prompted me to think of his performance on SNL around the time of the album's release. This got me thinking about my all-time favorite SNL musical guests & the appearances thereof. And I'm talking about shows I've seen live, not ones that years later popped up as reruns on Comedy Central or E! My top five, in no real order.
1. Paul Simon, 29 Sept. 2001 Stricly speaking, Simon wasn't the musical guest for this show, but this was the first SNL after 9/11 & the show opened somberly, without an opening sketch & instead featuring Simon playing The Boxer solo on an acoustic guitar. It was profoundly moving, I think of it to this day.
2. R.E.M., 12 Nov. 1994 I think this was actually the week "Monster" came out, I remember buying the album earlier that afternoon & then being treated to What's The Frequency Kenneth live that night. It was awesome to see Stipe decked out in glittery mascara and that green/orange star t-shirt he wore all the time in that era. Keep in mind I was an impressionable 14 year old at the time.
3. Beck, 15 Feb. 2003 I'm kind of off-on with Beck. I never got into him during the time he was insanely popular, around "Mellow Gold" and "Odelay". Although I really dug "Mutations", "Midnite Vultures" was fun & "Sea Change" was an interesting curveball that actually worked. Beck's performance on SNL in support of that album was spellbinding. You could tell, perhaps for the first time ever, Beck was sincere. These weren't smirking half-parodys of torch songs, they were actual, heartbroken torch songs. You could see the anguish on his face as he sang Guess I'm Doing Fine. He looked like he wasn't doing fine.
4. Green Day, 3 Dec. 1994 Another impressionable 14 year old moment. I remember that Saturday night began with me hanging out at a friend's house with a bunch of other guys. At one point they all decided it would be more fun to roam the streets of our little village and commit random acts of petty vandalism, such as bashing mailboxes and prying hubcaps off cars. I declined, came home & tuned in SNL just in time to see Billie Joe Armstrong spitting out When I Come Around and Basket Case. It was such an amped-up performance, and it instilled in me the thought (that persists to this day) that the band have an under-recognized, Who-esque live presence and energy. Still a great band 10 years later.
5. U2, 20 Nov. 2004 This was literally last week, but it makes the top five on sheer power & charisma. They played *three* songs, two new along with I Will Follow, and they had the audience (live & at home), as well as the show's cast, eating out their hands. Utterly masterful.
Honorable mentions -- Nirvana, 11 Jan. 1992. I'm not even much of a Nirvana fan, but their performance that night was harrowing & in a good way. Also Radiohead, 14 Oct. 2000. It was just so...otherworldly. This was just after "Kid A" came out, so Thom Yorke was out there spazzing & Johnny Greenwood spent the entire course of Idioteque 'playing' an instrument that looked like a early telphone operator's board. Brilliant.
Now it's time to finish up some things around here so I can leave before the ice age descends.
