Gooble Gobble, Gooble Gobble - One of Us

Well, it was always probably going to turn out this way, and frankly, not too much will come of it.

The Democratic Caucus in the Senate voted to keep Lieberman within thier ranks.  We NYU College Democrats support this decision.  There would have been no point in alienating a pro-life, pro-gay marriage, environmentally conscious Democrat all for the sake of punishment.  If anything, discarding Lieberman would have been completely oppsoite of President Obama’s message.  The President’s message over this past campaign cylce has been on of redemption, of unity, of bringing those outliers of his party and his nation back into the fold ( if you want to really understand this redemptive nature Obama has projected, read this remarkable piece by Charles Pierece from Esquire this summer).  That means crotechty old white men as much as it means underprivleged young black men.

And frankly, if Obama can sit down with Senator McCain after some of the statements the old guy said about our new Commander-in-Chief, no one should be left in the cold.

But this acceptance of Liebarman back into the ranks of the Majority Party should not be the end of this incident.  While Lieberman has been allowed to keep his Homeland Security Chairmanship (Let’s hope likely Secretary Appointee Richard Clark is able to take as much power from Lieberman as possible) there should be no misunderstanding between Joe and the Dems: we shall forgive, but we shall never forget. This means no support from the party if he chooses to run for reelection (doubtful), attempts to sell a biography after his time in Congress is over, or if he chooses to have a center or institution built in honor of him at UConn or Yale. Lieberman is in, but he won’t get the benefits of the party.

So for now, let us celebrate that we as a party family have come together and reconciled our differences. During the holiday season, it’s the best possible thing that could happen.  But Joe, be forewarned: you may want a foodtaster before biting into that cranberry sauce.

- Luke Pattan

Новият процесор на Intel, чиято световна премиера е днес, дебютира и на българския пазар.

Intel Core i7 е от следващото поколение 45 nm процесори на технологичния гигант с кодово име “Нехелем” и с радикално нов дизайн.

За първи път се произвежда процесор, на който всичките  четири ядра са на едно парче силикон и който притежава 8 нишки, 8 MB L3 кеш и вграден DDR3-1066/1333 контролер за паметта.

При Core 2 Quad и Extreme процесорите Intel използваха две отделни парчета силикон, за да направят четириядрен чип.

Core i7 процесорите са по-големи от Core 2 Duo, което налага нов дизайн на сокета, а оттам и нови дънни платки, с 1366 пинов сокет.

Следващото поколение процесори на Intel, в комбинация с новите дънни платки, носи на потребителя по-висока  производителност и в приложенията, и в игрите.

“Нехелем” процесорите имат и Level 3 cache, което за пръв път се появи при Xeon процесорите. Level 3 cache достига до 8 MB и е споделено между всичките четири ядра на процесора. Всяко от четирите ядра на “Нехелем” има по 256KB нисколатентна Level 2 cache.

Процесорът се предлага в три модела - Core i7 Extreme Edition 965, Core i7 920 и Core i7 940, и има вграден контролер за паметта - триканален достъп до паметта за огромен трансфер.

Intel отново въвежда Хипертрейдинг технологията, благодарение на която четириядреният процесор се вижда от операционната система като 8 ядрен.

Новият чип на Intel за първи път се вгражда в конфигурации, предлагани у нас от “Перси” ООД. Те са съобразени с всички изисквания на процесора за охлаждането и за големината на захранването.

Перси ООД е производител на български маркови компютри. Фирмата присъства на пазара повече от 18 години и непрекъснато внедрява нови идеи и технологии в производството на компютри с регистрирана търговска марка. Сертифицирана е по международните стандарти за организация на търговския, производствен и сервизен процеси. 

actualno.com

I officially begin my campaign for the next governor of Maryland!

Today many Marylanders have lost their jobs, their suffering to provide for their family,  unemployment has gone up, drop-out rates in schools have risen, and the economy in turmoil. So I ask the people of Maryland are you better off than you were four-years ago? Obviously no, Maryland has suffered at the hands of Gov. O’ Malley.  Maryland needs a new direction. Maryland is better than this and we need new leadership, we need a Governor that the people can trust, that the people can believe in, and That is Why I am running to become the next Governor of Maryland!

Bio: I first became interested in politics in high school, I was always fascinated with government and it’s function & purpose.

Una cancion de hace muchisimo tiempo y que actualmente su remix esta sonando por todo el mundo !

ILLUMINATI PROJECT part 137

Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu 47. Bölüm - 20 Kasım Perşembe

Güray’ı ele geçiren Polat Alemdar, istediği bilgileri alabilecek mi?

Polat Alemdar’ın İskender Büyük‘e ulaşmak için yaptığı plan nasıl sonuçlanacak?

Polat’ı İskender’e götürecek sürpriz isim kim olacak?

Sadi Paşa suikasti üzerine kalan Muro, etrafını saran devlet ve örgüt çemberinden kurtulmak için nasıl bir plan yapacak?

Kaynak: Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu 47. Bölüm izle

      Corny Stuff

When corny stuff is suitable

I write it.

When sentiment is right

I give it light.

It is my nature.

Poem for graduation,

The retiring professor,

Friends with birthdays

Valuable to them.

It is so easy,

Scaring me

To see that I may be

An ambulating greeting card.

Scared

That that’s the real me.

Even that the easy

And the superficial have to be

The subject of suspicion.

© Corny Stuff 9.9.2008

A Sense Of The Ridiculous; The Processes:Creative,Thinking, Meditative;

Arlene Corwin

     Meat-aholics

My name is arlene-corwin-carnivore:

Meat-aholic.

I shall take it one day at a time -

No hamburger.

I wish to eat no longer:

Sheep and lamb, pig and cow

In forms disguised and undisguised.

I like my meat, I must admit. But now

I eat my vegetables and beans and tofu:

Life that doesn’t run from me.

We meat-aholics are advised

To take it one day at a time.

You know that we are never cured.

We take it one day at a time.

©One Day At A Time; 6.7.2008

A Sense Of The Ridiculous;

Arlene Corwin

Muy buenas de nuevo a todos!!! Despues de las vacaciones que me han dado los amos de mi blog (jeje), vuelvo con ganas de contaros como me fue en el Rally de Llanes. Con algo de retraso, lo sé, pero espero que no por eso nos deje de entrener. Por todo este retraso, prometo poneros más fotos que texto, que en el fondo es lo que más gusta, ¿verdad?

Bueno, pues comenzaba el rally para mí el viernes, que sin poder asistir al shakedown, sí que nos plantamos en Llanes para ver la presentación del mismo, en el podio, para más tarde salir a cenar por la preciosa villa y hospedarnos en el Hotel Montemar. La compañía… los que nunca me fallan, mis padres y mi primo Manuel, que a punto estubimos de hacer una escapadita por la noche a conocer los entresijos asturianos, jaja.

El rally se planteaba con la incognita de que zonas sustituirían a las típicas de este rally, que no sé porque razón, la organización nos quitaba… Sin el paso por el pueblo de Noriega por la mañana, y sin la meta de Torre por la tarde, la cuestión estaba en que zonas elegir para las fotos, ya que la cuestión es dar con lo más poblado por aficionados y curvas, claro está!!!

Con esto elegimos el cruce de Colombres, que sin tener nada del otro mundo, la gente iba en masa al mismo, ya que tampoco se realizaban las últimas curvas del pueblo. Con un sol de justicia para las fotos, (contraluz a muerte), pasamos del cruce y nos fuimos a una curvita rápida justo antes del mismo. En ella nos sorprendió el paso de Vallejo y Vinyes sobre todo, aunque el scratch lo marcaba Ojeda, el cual parecía que salía a “pecho descubierto”, para acortar distancias con Vallejo en el Campeonato. En la curva nos encontramos con mucha gente de la tierruca, y de lo que no es la tierruca, como Kike, Oscar o Chancha. Ya por allí no vimos a Miguel Fuster, que se le había roto el motor del Punto, y decía adios a toda opción de campeonato, decantándose el equipo por no salir en ninguna otra prueba.

Con esto finalizaba la única pasada por este tramo, y nos desplazamos por el tramo de Siejo, hasta dar con la curva deseada para las dos próximas pasadas. Aparcamos el coche muy cerquita de las mismas y nos pusimos a comer unos bocatas tremendos que había preparado mi maravillosa madre. Observando, se veía casi 1 km de tramo, y todo con enlazadas y barrancos que si no es por el guardarrail, el pobre Opel Corsa que venía el último hubiera bajado al rio Boquerizo. Se acercaba la hora, y yo no paraba de darle vueltas a la cabeza de donde me podría colocar, para no sacar una sombra venenosa que había en medio de la curva… al final, detras del guardarrail y apoyando los pies en 10 cm de hormigón conseguí lo que quería.

Espectacular, arriesgado y precioso… gran conducción de todos y cada uno de los pilotos, pero destaco la cruzada de Burgo, Vinyes, Ferreiro, y el piloto de Santibañez, Koyote. Para la segunda pasada por el tramo de Siejo, y para cambiar un poco de tipo de fotografía, me coloque en mitad de un prado, a unos 200 m de la carretera, para hacer unos barridos con los coches al corte acercándose por la recta de Noriega. Menudo sonido el del Porsche, parecía un caza a lo lejos, pero cuando apareció por delante nuestro, más impresión todavía nos dió, porque casi, casi y no lo cuadro en la Nikon, jeje. En este punto nos dábamos cuenta de la ligera ventaja de los GTs en carreteras rápidas, ya que Ojeda venía cortando casi 20 segundos antes que Vallejo.

Para la última nos vamos al Fito, para llegar a una paella despues del alto, que me pareció preciosa. unas vistas increibles, gran cantidad de gente y un sol reluciente, aunque no hacía como para estar en manga corta, nosotros disfrutamos de lo lindo. Aquí se jugaban el rally Ojeda y Vallejo, pero el gallego le echó unas pelotas como nadie y Ojeda, aunque cerquita, no puedo con él. Gran carrera la de Hevia con el Evo, y Arias, que buenos conocedores del terreno, cuajaron una carrera impecable. Tambien Marcos Diego, que logró la victoria entre los autonómicos.

Con esto se despedía el Rally, y dejaba a Vallejo un poco más líder todavía, para jugársela en Cordoba, Cataluña y Madrid. Nosotros volvíamos para Ampuero con cansancio, pero contentos por el día de rally tan bonito que se disfrutó, aunque no esta de más decir, que espero que para el próximo año, la organización mire un poquito más por el aficionado, y si no es posible configurar los tramos de diferente manera, estaría muy bien la idea de un tramo espectáculo por las calles de esa preciosa Villa costera, llamada Llanes.

Un saludo y hasta las próxima…

© 2008 International Robot Olympiad 2008 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Itulah bala yang akan menimpa aku 18/12/2008 ni.
Cikgu Siti Marhamah,cikgu yang baik.Sponsor aku rm400 untuk pertandingan ni,dan memang aku berterima kasih banyak banyak sama itu guru.

Masa mula² cikgu tanya aku nak masuk ke tak,aku tanya kat dia
“Ni ade mission ke ape ke ni cikgu??“
Cikgu pula berkata,
“Ini open,buat je ape² lepas tu demonstrate dekat sana“

Lepas je aku dengar cikgu cakap macam tuh,aku macam tak percaya pun ade…
Betul ke tak ade task or guideline dalam pertandingan tuh nanti??

Lama lama aku pun percaya je la bulat-bulat tanpa usul periksa,
dan dengan semangat yang berkobar kobar aku dah dekorate satu robot dalam pale otak aku,
yang fungsinya memberi ikan peliharaan makan secara otomatik.
Aku dah design macam macam,semangat nih! bukan senang nak masuk,entry fee saje dah RM400 tuh!

Today-18/11/2008
Aku pergi ke rumah cikgu Marhamah untuk membincangkan tentang robot dengan anak perempuannya,sebab cikgu register nama aku dgn anak dia. *anak dia comell,sama baya lak tuh!*
Aku pun terangkan apa yang aku nak buat,
dari apa yang aku faham tentang pertandingan tuh. *hasil penerangan lisan cikgu*

Nasib baik anak perempuan dia online,bukak web page and belek belek…
Rupanya ada rule,peraturan and mission! Not open like cikgu tell me! Damn heavy!

Aku masuk Carrier Machinedalan league Challenge,dan nak buat robot tuh memang susah!
Bukan nak cakap yang aku ni kalah sebelum perang,tapi untuk buat robot yang complicated macam tu,
28 hari tak cukup! Lagi pulak aku boleh meet anak cikgu hari selasa and khamis,wtf?!
Masa mana aku nak siapkan semua ni? Damn!
Cikgu pulak suruh aku ajar anak dia programming,memang boleh aku ajar tetapi not now!

Dah masuk internasional punya competition baru nak blaja? Aku taknak sia siakan duit yang cikgu labur tu!
Tapi cikgu pun dah cakap,
“Ala aizat,masuk je…janji dapat sijil,beharga tuh…kalah menang belakang kira“
Memang la kalah menang belakang kira,tapi yang malu nanti aku jugak!

Anyway,i’m dead! I feel totally useless boy right now.

Kenapa aku nak mati?? Baca rules dia
Click Here

Dia nak aku buat 2 robot! Bukan satu!!
Robot tu perlukan sekurang kurangnya 3 bulan untuk perfect!

Download Video Last Year Competition Here

ps : Download guna Internet Download Manager,cepat dan pantas!

I KNOW google is NASA is Project Paper Clip, is Hitler Germany, is NAZI’s.

PICK IT THE FUCK UP!

Setelah di teliti dengan seksama dan dalam tempo sesingkat – singkatnya, ga ada satupun universitas dari Indonesia masuk dalam daftar tersebut. Trus, Indonesia urutan ke berapa dunk???? Kalo kita urutin nih ya. Universitas Indonesia (UI) dapet peringkat 200-an. Lalu, ITB ama UGM dapet peringkat 300-an. Buset dahh… jauh amat yaa?!? Tapi ga apa-apa lah. Daripada ga kedaftar. Hehe..

Kayaknya fosfaterz bakalan banting setir deh yang awalnya masuk UI atau ITB atau UGM malah pada daftar ke Harvard University atau Yale University atau University of Cambridge atawa juga University of Oxford. Ada nyank mau ngikut???

A lista é variada, desde o Tesla passando a máquinas fotográficas para cegos ou mesmo fatos invisíveis.

A lista encontra-se originalmente no site da Times, mas deixo-a também aqui no blog:

• 1. The Retail DNA Test

THE OTHER 49 BEST INVENTIONS

• 2. The Tesla Roadster
• 3. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
• 4. Hulu.com
• 5. The Large Hadron Collider
• 6. The Global Seed Vault
• 7. The Chevy Volt
• 8. Bullets That Shoot Bullets
• 9. The Orbital Internet
• 10. The World’s Fastest Computer
• 11. Green Crude
• 12. Housing Funds
• 13. The Memristor
• 14. The Bionic Hand
• 15. The Direct-to-Web Supervillain Musical
• 16. The Dynamic Tower
• 17. The Mobile, Dexterous, Social Robot
• 18. The New Mars Rover
• 19. Montreal’s Public Bike System
• 20. The Everything Game
• 21. The Synthetic Organism
• 22. The Shadowless Skyscraper
• 23. The Branded Candidate
• 24. Bionic Contacts
• 25. Thin-Film Solar Panels
• 26. The Speedo LZR Racer
• 27. Bubble Photography
• 28. The Invisibility Cloak
• 29. The 46th Mersenne Prime
• 30. The Internet Of Things
• 31. Einstein’s Fridge
• 32. Facebook for Spies
• 33. Biomechanical Energy Harvester
• 34. Made-in-Transit Packaging
• 35. Airborne Wind Power
• 36. The New Ping-Pong Serve
• 37. Smog-Eating Cement
• 38. The Baseball Instant Replay
• 39. Enhanced Fingerprints
• 40. The Seven New Deadly Sins
• 41. The Peraves MonoTracer
• 42. Disemvoweling
• 43. High-Tech Running Shoes
• 44. Sunscreen for Plants
• 45. The Short Refinance
• 46. Aptera Electric Car
• 47. Google’s Floating Data Center
• 48. The Time Eater Clock
• 49. Sound-Enhanced Food
• 50. A Camera For the Blind

O que chamo à atenção é para o número 26, que aparentemente e segundo o público, é uma invenção Portuguesa. Aparentemente, o fato é fabricado em Paços de Ferreira e já serviu para vestir o Michael Phelps nos últimos Olímpicos.

    Continuing The Birthday Dance

The one and only June

When you were seven-

ty

We

Celebrated for a week,

Not only duty bound

But more because you are our friend,

And we have found

That seventy is special.

Flying on your birthday wings

The real deal

Lies somewhere where the music swings,

The wine is perfect,

And the things

That stamp us old

Turn into gold,

Continuing the birthday dance.

© Continuing The Birthday Dance 6.27.2008

Birthday Book; Special People, Special Occasions; (Barbro)

Arlene Corwin

Cu ocazia acestei postari , vreau sa-i urez un calduros “La multi ani!” ei , Aleha una dintre cele mai dragi persoane din viata mea . ;x Merci ca imi esti alaturi ,  nu o sa te uit never. :* Sa fii sanatoasa , mumoasa si fie ca toate dorintele sa ti se indeplineasca.

    Connected and Interrelated

Connected and interrelated:

Never re-stated too often, too much.

No crutch and no gene bank can keep us in touch

With the past of the past of the past,

Cause and effect with the last laugh of all.

I read somewhere recently,

One single pee in a coral rich sea

Can initiate grief, crumbling reef,

Change the balance of lichen and snail.

Coral (which grows at the rate of your nail)

Becomes pale - then sand -

From the pee of a swimmer too lazy to land.

I read that a flock coming north in the spring

-By the flap of a wing - can initiate hale,

The swing of a feather, the sting of the weather

Distorting by changing some groove.

What then astrology (so hard to prove)

Whose movement of planets is said to steer fate,

Temper, temperament, sending your mate?

Breath, decision; they interrelate

With the movements of atoms and rays-hard-to-measure,

Affecting the work of the whole in their leisure,

Floating, colliding and God-alone-knows…

The trick is to come out of this thing like a rose.

What if my doing and thinking has ways

Which touch all of the planet, all hours, all days?

The game is so layered.

Everything mine, yours, its, theirs, hers and his

Affected by history, wizardry, fate. –

One has no choice but to yield, act, wait.

(Here is the chain grammar free):

I hit my kids kick the cat

Eats the mouse starts the fire in the house

Where the fireworks are stored

Blows my neighbor toward

Heaven the street’s set aflame I’m to blame

Go to jail get no mail

Lose all hope ‘cause the kids now take dope

‘Cause corruption is rife so my son takes the life

Of the one who blamed me leaves a family

Teenagers, wife, baby: Globally augmented,

THERE’S WORLD WAR III!

Connected and interrelated.

You never can say it too often, too much.

©Arlene Corwin Connected and Interrelated 7.25.1994/tinkered with 5.25.2008

Definitely Didactic; Nature Of & In Reality;

ILLUMINATI PROJECT part 136

Vacancies available...

Now that Senators Obama, Biden & Clinton are going to the White House, who will replace them in the Senate?

Illinois:

Barack Obama has already resigned his seat; his replacement will be named by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who is up for re-election in 2010 and–despite his myriad ethical problems–is hoping to get re-elected.

Governor Blagojevich is unpredictable. Nobody really has a good grasp on who he will appoint or why–he could use the appointment to curry favor with a key group necessary to his re-election, he could use the appointment to boost a key ally, or he could use it to neutralize one of his likely primary opponents.

Some names that have been floated are Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Rep. Danny Davis, Rep. Melissa Bean, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Illinois State Senate President Emil Jones, and Illinois’ Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth.

Delaware:

Depending on when he resigns his seat, Joe Biden’s replacement will either be named by outgoing Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner (D) or incoming Governor Jack Markell (D).

It’s widely assumed that Biden wants his son, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, to replace him. But the younger Biden is a JAG who has been deployed to Iraq for about a year, making it impossible for him to fill the vacancy now.

Therefore, rumor has it that Biden is looking for a caretaker to hold the seat until a special election can be held in 2010, which would allow the younger Biden to run.

One name that has been floated is outgoing Lieutenant Governor Jack Carney, who lost to Markell in the Gubernatorial primary. But there’s a chance Carney might not want to leave in 2010, making him a risky choice if Biden just wants a caretaker.

Secretary of State Harriet Smith Windsor has also been mentioned; she might be more favorable to the elder Biden considering that:

She’s in her late 60s, a loyal ally of Gov. Minner, and unlikely to want a long career in the US Senate.

New York:

If Clinton becomes Secretary of State (which is likely) her seat will also open up. Governor David Paterson–up for re-election in 2010–will replace her, and he will have an embarrassment of riches to choose from.

The current front-runner appears to be Rep. Nydia Velazquez; Rep. Brian Higgins and Rep. Steve Israel have also been mentioned, along with Rep. Nita Lowey (who was widely considered the front-runner for the seat before Clinton jumped into the race in 2000). Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Louise Slaughter and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo have also been mentioned.

Take down your opponents with the new weapons: The Flamethrower, Chain Gun, Railgun, Chain Saw, Laser Sword, and Tesla Helmet and play one of thу greatest stickman game - Stick Arena.

Stick Arena

Or kick it old school with the original weapons: Katana, AK-47, Sledgehammer, Shotgun, Baseball Bat, or Glock.

Battle it out the new all-new Space Lab, or the original Offices, Construction Yards and Sewers. Use the powerful new Map Editor to create your own vicious arenas of death, save your creations and use them to duke it out with your friends!

Tracy Chapman
Our Bright Future ••½
Elektra

Hear Tracy Chapman once and you know she is a songwriter before anything else. A cross between Bob Schneider and Bob Marley, with lyrics that compress between folksy strumming and rivers of piano, her songs fit with her chosen genre of folk-rock with intros that are memorable in their conformity. Our Bright Future, her eighth studio album, sees an increasingly wearying Chapman continuing to skirt away from poetic sensations like ‘Fast Car’ and ‘Talkin’ ‘Bout A Revolution’. Although her more sterling songwriting remains crisp and lovely, in this century Chapman has given us too many soft albums riding on endorphins and perhaps a moral baseline.

First single ‘Sing For You’ opens Our Bright Future with a perfect example of the non-complexity of Chapman’s renaissance. “A simple tune that you can hum along to / I remember / there was a time / when I used to sing for you. / Doo doo doo doo doo doo…” She even narrates when the simple cadence stomps into the bridge: “Forget the chorus / you are the bridge / the words are music to every day I’ve lived.” Like an elementary literature teacher she provides for us a transition into the begged question – is a Tracy Chapman album ever not completely autobiographical?

What Chapman does in Our Bright Future is turn face and confront the silly satire that is page six scandal, making it all the more ridiculous to laugh at. Like seeing the demon tattoo on the lower back of your religion professor, once you have seen it there is no longer doubt, only more questions. Nabokov once wrote that curiosity is the greatest form of subversion, but whom do we subvert? In ‘I Did It All’, Chapman admits over and over that she “did it all / for the love and the laughter.” She asks, defiant and half-humorous, “What kind of life is not an exhibition?” Her own admittedly private life of conscientious subversion is subversive even more by its refusal to be ashamed. But when the entirety of the album seems to be an apology, of the most platonic kind, one wonders who cares more about the whispers, Chapman or the tabloids?

Although the tune of ‘Save Us All’ gives the impression of a Sunday school lesson – “My god’s got a lot of rules” – the simplest of listeners realises this melody is not so naive. “I heard your god’s older…/ I assume your god must love you / I know Jesus loves me… / I hope someone’s god will save us all / save us all and love the sinners too.” Chapman’s implications, if there are any, trickle down between the words. When “my god” could be different than yours the message is in the salvation, not the cause. Chapman succeeds in keeping her tone blissful while the titular words, beneath veils of harmonica and lullaby dreams, are undeniably altar-speak, and we would miss the true time of day if we rushed past the next song, which states, “Our bright future / is in our past.” The hammock drifts both ways, though, and Chapman does end the song with “Lead on / clear the path … so our bright future / may come to pass.” Those who haven’t lost hope and switched the stereo off by this point are eventually thrown a lifeline of cynical idealism, begging a “father” to leave us alone so we can follow our “true nature”.

Finally, Chapman gifts us a pretty peculiar Christmas song (how appropriate) with the unsavoury dispensation of a Brothers Grimm fairytale. “For Christmas and for New Year I wish and I resolve / but I’m disappointed by myself / Jesus, and Santa Claus, I want to believe / she’s been saved and he’s been redeemed / and it’s alright, it’s alright for a dream.” Gee, thanks Tracy. At least she’s honest, adding her stapled complaints and well wishes to the hundreds of banners waving in the midst of “change” and sugarplums dancing in everyone’s heads.

Paige Taylor
UK release date: 10/11/08

Tracy talks about the album

Marnie Stern
This Is It & I Am It & You Are It & So Is That
& He Is It & She Is It & It Is It & That Is That •••½
Kill Rock Stars

The Alan Watts-inspired title of Marnie Stern’s newest record, like the album as a whole, is a strange mixture of intensity, profundity and a meticulous attention to detail that most people only discover on an Adderall binge. The biggest change between This Is It… and last year’s In Advance Of The Broken Arm, her debut for Seattle’s legendary Kill Rock Stars label, is tunefulness. While her last album proved that she could nonchalantly play beside the likes of Ed Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen, it hinted at melody but that hinting was never fully realised. This album proves to the world that she can work as an actual songwriter. For every song on this album that shows itself to be an obvious shred-fest, there is another song that takes her sound in – and I use this term very loosely – melodic new directions.

The album starts off misleadingly enough, with Stern utilising a woodblock and her voice to give the intro the feeling of a beat poem. About 40 seconds of the woodblock treatment eventually gives way to a tidal wave of a guitar riff that is all at once disorienting and brilliant. First single ‘Transformer’ starts out with a guitar solo rivalling anything Van Halen ever recorded, but about 30 seconds in this solo somehow turns into the riff the song is built around.

The first sign of a melodic outbreak bursts through with second single ‘Ruler’, which is dominated by frenzied tapping, while ‘The Crippled Jazzer’ sounds like the most aggressive song Deerhoof forgot to write. The mortar between the bricks on This Is It… – that is, the thing that keeps it together and not just a jumbled mess of high-pitched tapping – is Zach Hill of Hella’s spot-on drumming, while Stern’s shrill, Yoko Ono-style vocals ironically enough complement the music perfectly. Her unique finger-tap style is the thread that runs throughout the album, but it’s the way she knows how to vary that style across the 12 songs that elicits repeated listens.

This Is It… is indeed a pop album, but don’t confuse pop for easy listening. This is pop in the vein of Deerhoof’s Apple O’: wildly experimental and uncompromisingly technical. The guitars are just colourful enough to be playful and not intimidating, and while it’s obvious that she graduated from the Don Caballero Academy of Finger Tapping and Guitar Wizardry, nothing here feels remotely ripped off. Whether this album goes down in the history books as a hit or a miss, Stern has already achieved what so many artists strive for and never achieve: originality.

Trey Cregan
UK release date: 07/10/08 [digital only]

‘Ruler’

‘Transformer’