Song of the Week: March of the Pigs

You gotta love Trent Reznor.  He goes his own way, refusing to kowtow to the corrupt music industry, and manages to keep a large fan base happy while winning an Academy Award for the soundtrack to The Social Network.  I have previously used one of the pieces from that soundtrack as SOTW, so I won’t belabour the biographical details,

Here’s a very old song, off of The Downward Spiral.  Marchof the Pigs comes off as a fairly standard thrash/industrial number, with the requisite screaming and distortion, and 29/8 time signature.  But what distinguishes it is the jazzy, Joe Jacksonesque ending, which is more creepy than the main part of the song.  The pigs have won indeed.

Here’s a video:

"It's the Faculty, Stupid"

Here's a thought-provoking piece on higher education trends.  (Warning:  Al Jazeera link, in case you're worried about the NSA.)

Song of the Week: Copperhead Road

There's no particular agenda with this song; I just like it.

I am big admirer of Steve Earle.  He is a strong performer, a true scholar of music, and he wears his politics on his sleeve with no apologies to anyone.  He has also been married seven times, and had his share of legal problems due to substance abuse.  Overall he is a flawed but impressive human being.

Hi debut album, GuitarTown, was hugely successful, especially with the critics.  However, his third effort, Copperhead Road, also did very well, and spawned a couple of minor hits, including the title song.  This piece, about a backwoods scion of a family of moonshiners who takes up pot farming, is a real foot-stomper.  I have seen him perform it solo with an acoustic guitar, and it is still a rousing number that gets the crowd fired up.

Here’s the official music video:

Cleaning House

Indira should maybe start worrying.  She may come back from China to a locked office and boxed up possessions.

More Turnover at NSERC

New opening advertised.  Given her implementation of a number of ill-conceived policies, I would welcome Isabelle's departure, except that I am sure NSERC will replace her with someone who will move aggressively to dismantle the DG program.  Why?  Because NSERC always finds a way to take a bad situation and make it worse.

Where Are the Alumni

As this PSE funding shit show has unfolded, one question that has haunted me is why Alberta's extensive alumni community is not working to reverse some or all of the cuts.  As they watch programs being cancelled, staff layoffs, and who knows what next, they should be concerned about the degradation of the UofA brand, and hence the value of their degrees.

And yet, when one goes to the Alumni Council website, is there even one word about the devastation?  No, just the usual PR happy talk, and the ubiquitous money grubbing.  Not to mention this nonsense.  It's embarrassing.  I would like to see some leadership from this group, to mount a campaign to protect the University from the inept mismanagement by this government.  Or do they even care, once they have their degrees and jobs?  Well, if they ever plan to seek employment based on their degrees, they should.  If they have kids they want to educate, they should.  If they want to see a sustainable, diverse economy in this province, they should.

Will they?  Because once it's gone, once we're gone, it will never come back.

Song of the Week: Angry Chair

Angry Chair was a minor hit for Alice in Chains in 1992, off their excellent album Dirt.  It has the distinction of having been written entirely by Layne Staley, rather than the usual Staley/Jerry Cantrell collaboration.  Like many songs on that album, it is filled with hostility, disgust and rage.  Somehow, as the semester starts up under the looming clouds of disastrous budget cuts, lay-offs, program cancellations, etc., I find this song nicely captures my mood.

Here's a live, unplugged version:

This song also makes me think of the hilarious "Angry Dome" throw-away line from Futurama:

Fantasy

Saw this video on a number of blogs in celebration of Labour Day (a Canadian innovation), and I felt a pang.  What would it be like to belong to an actual union?  We'll never know.