New Music Initiative 048: The Golden Boys/Sir John Wesley Coleman III

I have one more band to throw your way.

The Golden Boys share a name with a song by the Germs/Pat Smear, and covered by No FX. I am not sure if the band took their name from any of those reference points, but it would not be surprising. They have a love for punk.

That said, this band from Austin, Texas probably gets their biggest influence from their Texas-based garage rock forefathers. They are as good as any punk band, but they have a love for the 13th Floor Elevators and Sir Douglas Quintent that informs their music. They also bring a certain folk rock vibe (the kind that seem to be perfected usually by Australian bands), and on top of all of that, they are championed by Thurston Moore.

That means they are right down my alley, and possibly yours.

Here's a song that is on the shortlist for 2012's best. "Dirty Finggernails".

Lead singer John Wesley Coleman III was actually on my radar a couple of years ago with his solo effort Steal My MInd. If you find the Golden Boys too polished (which is barely), maybe you will like his solo output.

Adventures of a Swing-state Voter- "Don't Sing. Don't Ever Sing" edition

It, of course, is starting to get deep in the way of political ads.

The ads are mostly negative, and the basis of the majority of them is that 'the other guy' shipped job overseas.

Obama accuses Romney of sending jobs overseas at Bain, and if not that (since it appears to be in dispute) , then he also sent call center jobs to india, when he was Governor of Massachusetts.

The Romney camp accuses Obama of using stimulus money as incentive to Chinese companies.

Romney is putting Obama on blast with his ad which features three news leaders giving negative comments about Obama. Prominently featured is Bob Scheiffer.

"When the President was elected, he talked about hope and change. Whatever happened to hope and change? Now, it seems he is just coming right out of the box with these old-fashioned negative ads." is the bomb dropped by Scheiffer (As many right-wingers will say, Schieffer is a flaming liberal, working for the CBS- Communist Broadcasting System- home of Dan Rather and other pinkos.)

Scheiffer isn't particularly happy about being used to attack Obama.

I didn't think you could top that ad, but Obama isn't your typical Democrat and he's giving it back with footage that is even more embarrassing.

There is an unspoken rule that you must follow. Although it is an honor, never throw out the first pitch and never sing in public.

Where do I start?

Carl Lewis?

Ozzy?

Eli Young?

Roseanne?

If you pull it off, no one remembers. If you aren't anything but perfect, then you are a YouTube legend.

Mitt missed that memo.

Don't sing. Ever.

Romney isn't anything but an average guy, but it provides a perfect soundtrack if you want to slam the guy for his Cayman Islands accounts.

Bam!

Per the internets, Willard's online team wanted to strike back using Obama's recent attempts at singing (including Al Green's "Let's Stay Together".)  Copyright problems apparently closed those attempts down.

Things to do in Des Moines when you're Dead- Whole Foods (with Bonus Traffic Light content)

Des Moines gets its first Whole Foods this week.

This may be old news for some.  Whole Foods really seemed to hit mainstream success about a decade ago, along with Trader Joe's (which came only here in 2010)

For those not familiar with Whole Foods, I won't spend much time on it, but they are known for their organic food selection, attitude towards social responsibility and a pro-environment agenda.

The Register featured the store on Sunday.

WFM feaatures free-range meat, fresh seafood delivered daily, a bulk section, a machine that turns peanuts or almonds into a creamy spread on the spot, local produce from 34 Iowa businesses, free wifi, 200 varieties of cheese, and 200 types of produce.

They also have the Art-O-Mat.




Art-O-Mats are retired cigarette vending machines that sell small pieces of art.  For $5, customers can get a small painting, keychain, jewelry, or other art.

There are maybe 90 across the country and they can be found in art museums, colleges, grocery stores, restaurants, and coffee shops.

Also appearing in the same neighborhood are the flashing Yellow Stop Lights.

These have been here for a few months now, but the Register did a feature on these this Sunday as well.

The idea of the flashing yellow isn't so much that it works like a yellow, but it tells you if there is no one coming, you can go ahead and make that left turn at the stop section.



A friend of mine said she saw three accidents or near-accidents because of these.  I, myself, in the early days, though I was familiar with them, found myself caught in an intersection.

I think it has helped traffic congestion, and we'll all get used to it in a short while.  Hopefully, it doesn't give people too many fender benders getting there.