SIXinternational.txt

Not a whole lot to comment on here in terms of current events, so this will be more of a primary postmortem - though that term may cut a little close to the bone with Senator McCain (get it, he’s old). Where the Democratic race was exciting and interesting for almost everyone, the Republican race was bizarre but provided a clear look at the status of the Republican party as it stands today.

Each of the factions that had been built into a coalition by Reagan and sustained through 2004 by George W. Bush/Karl Rove - hawks, evangelicals, big business, xenophobe nuts, libertarians - had one person representing their main interests and no one else’s. Each facet of this former coalition had produced their own candidate. John “Walnuts” McCain was the strong hawk who was for finance reform and against immigration, Mitt Romney had big business cred with a history of liberal positions and MORMON, Mike Huckabee was evangelical as they get but was pro-lower class, Ron Paul had the libertarians, Tom Tancredo was the xenophobe nut, Fred Thompson represented the “old actor” segment of the party, and Duncan Hunter represented the “Duncan Hunter” wing. My favorite metaphor for this is the Reign of the Supermen comic arc. After Superman was killed by Doomsday, four different “Supermen” representing different facets of the original Superman tried to claim that each was the real Superman here to defend Metropolis. And since Republicans think of Reagan as the closest thing to a real live superhero, I think it’s even more fitting.

Of course this means Reagan’s going to return with long, wavy hair, even stronger than he was before, and reclaim his throne like Odysseus. This additionally seems likely because Reagan’s powers were naturally enhanced by Earth’s yellow sun.

If only they could have completed the creature only known as the Huckamitt…

Anyways, so McCain won, and that left about 1/5th of the party very happy and the other 4/5ths feeling completely screwed over and ignored - this was bound to happen with whoever was chosen due to the candidates being as described above. This split would have only been reconciled quickly if Hillary Clinton had been the Democratic nominee - there would be nothing better to unite the Republicans than fear of her. Now that it looks increasingly like Obama will be the nominee, someone who most Republicans don’t inherently have a problem with, they are at a loss as to how to unify their party. This utter switch from four years ago is really amazing to behold - the Democrats are very happy with their candidates (though Hillary is doing her very best to wound Obama right now) while the Republicans are subject to bickering and infighting from talk radio to cable pundits to actual party leaders… the whole thing is a mess for them and I get quite a bit of schadenfreude from watching it happen to the other guys for once.

And although I’ve said I like John McCain in the past, and there’s things about him I do like, ever since the infamous “HUG” in 2004 on stage stumping with Bush, I cannot take him seriously (google image search “mccain bush hug”). What kind of “straight talkin’ maverick” hugs let alone supports the guy who slandered him so famously in 2000? It was an act of cowardice and essentially kissing the ring so he could be considered heir to the Presidency. Thankfully he has managed to tie himself tightly to Bush policies which will be his downfall.

The wonders of breaking ties with major music labels.

Last night, Nine Inch Nails released a new double album of instrumentals without any warning - Ghosts I-IV. Part I is available for free download on the site and officially sanctioned torrents on The Pirate Bay and other sites. For $5, you can get the entire album in your choice of 320kbps MP3 or lossless FLAC (or whatever Apple’s thing is) download from their site.For $10, you get the download and a physical copy mailed to you (+$7 S/H) on April 8th when it’s released. There’s also a $75 deluxe edition with DVD multitracks of all the files ready to be remixed and a Blu-Ray disc featuring a high-def 96/24 stereo mix and accompanying slideshow. Then there’s a $300 mega uberdeluxe limited version including prints and LP copies of the album hand signed by Trent.

I’m done reading off the bullet points though, but as a huge NIN fan and digital distribution fan, this hits me in all the right ways. Radiohead’s In Rainbows was the first major player to try it, while Saul Williams’ Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust, produced by Trent, was the second. I think the model has gotten better with each release. Offering 1/4 of the thing for free is smarter than giving the entire album away for free and hoping they choose to give you money out of guilt (think of ’90s shareware like Wolf3d/Doom - give them one episode for free, pay if you want the rest). Also $10 for a download and physical double album is a phe-fucking-nomenal price. Again, it’s the beauty of keeping the major labels hands to themselves - music should not cost what FYE charges.

Aside from the business aspect… the album is great. It’s got something for all moods - from sad piano to happy xylophone and even a bit of ethnic flair. I can listen to it safely at work without worrying about Trent screaming “FIST FUCK”, which is nice. I can see myself listening to it wandering around the city at night, laying down and daydreaming in the spring, coding, anything. It features some guitar work by prog king Adrian Belew and some guesting from other people, but at it’s soul it’s still very distinctly NIN. I haven’t had time to fully digest, but regardless, this is yet another step in the right direction for the band, with the past few years bringing With Teeth (which I like despite what anyone says), Year Zero, Niggy Tardust, Ghosts, and the supposedly ’soon’ Year Zero 2. This coming from a man who released only four full albums between 1989 and 2005. I’m living in a bizarre, happy world right now.

I’m also digging back into comics after a long lapse. I started into the Earth X TPB last night - first few pages are great so far, I love the art style and it looks to put an interesting spin on the Marvel Universe. I need to finish Watchmen too, which unfortunately may necessitate restarting the damn thing from the beginning. I hate you, Alan Moore.