A conversation with my sister:
Me: Btw, yesterday in the shower I solved the whole "elected senate" issue.
Sarah: ... I DON'T THINK I WANT TO KNOW
Me: Make appointments require ratification by the House. It introduces accountability (and an investigative process to root out the riffraff) but doesn't require actual elections, which would be huge disasters since, well, nobody actually cares about the senate candidates. People are pissed that the process is unaccountable, not that it's not an election. After all, look at the disastrously low amount of people that voted for the nonbinding senate election in the last election.
Sarah: True. and look at how few people vote in elections at ALL.
Me: Exactly. Making this kind of stuff accountable (I would also suggest it be done for supreme court judges) but not elected defuses the entire issue immediately. You have to admit, this is actually a pretty good idea.
Sarah: Oddly enough, it is. Usually dudes do other things than thinking this stuff up when they're in the shower.
Me: I did this first.
Sarah: *sigh*
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Monday, February 04, 2008
About time
It wouldn't be February (or March, that one time) if I didn't publish my list of my favourite albums of the previous year. I've actually had it prepared since the beginning of January, but what can I say? I'm a slave to tradition. Hell, last year I didn't even post one, I just alluded to it. That's dedication.
1. The National - Boxer
2. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
3. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
4. Radiohead - In Rainbows
5. St. Vincent - Marry Me
6. Basia Bulat - Oh, My Darling
7. Low - Drums and Guns
8. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
9. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
10. Feist - The Reminder
Last year was a great year for new music; I discovered new artists (Basia Bulat, St. Vincent, Rebekah Higgs, Menomena) and fell into deeper appreciation of ones I already knew. Ultimately, the year had to go to The National, who topped a phenomenal breakout album (2005's Alligator) with an even better one, Boxer. I hate to call it a grower, as so many have, because it suggests that you won't like it at first. It's probably more accurate to say that my opinion of it shifted; songs that I moderately enjoyed when I first listened to them became my favourites by the end of the year. It's rare for me that an album gives this many new impressions so long after its release. I hope that if you give it a chance, you have a similar experience. This is an album that I'll be returning to for years.
1. The National - Boxer
2. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
3. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
4. Radiohead - In Rainbows
5. St. Vincent - Marry Me
6. Basia Bulat - Oh, My Darling
7. Low - Drums and Guns
8. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
9. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
10. Feist - The Reminder
Last year was a great year for new music; I discovered new artists (Basia Bulat, St. Vincent, Rebekah Higgs, Menomena) and fell into deeper appreciation of ones I already knew. Ultimately, the year had to go to The National, who topped a phenomenal breakout album (2005's Alligator) with an even better one, Boxer. I hate to call it a grower, as so many have, because it suggests that you won't like it at first. It's probably more accurate to say that my opinion of it shifted; songs that I moderately enjoyed when I first listened to them became my favourites by the end of the year. It's rare for me that an album gives this many new impressions so long after its release. I hope that if you give it a chance, you have a similar experience. This is an album that I'll be returning to for years.
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