Daily Smile

Mmm... I wonder what my buddies over at the Korean Central News Agency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are up to these days (from April 24)...

Ahh, apparently some South Koreans like America: "It is a disgrace and tragedy that there are such traitors within the nation who hit upon the abominable idea, after licking the boots of the aggressors, running the whole gamut of flattery."

On whether or not US sanctions against North Korea are linked to resumption of the six-party talks: "The hypocritical nature of the U.S. oft-repeated assertion has thus been fully revealed by its self-contradictory statements."

The headline says DPRK Will Never Allow U.S. to Dare Provoke It:"They are grossly mistaken if they calculate they can wrest any concession and compromise from the DPRK by whiling away the time through sanctions and pressure."

Take that, America!!: "If they ignite a new war despite our repeated warnings, the army and people of the DPRK will mobilize all potentials to wipe out them to the last one so that they may not be able to go back home safe."

Drive-By Truckers

As if my simple recommendation weren't enough to bestow greatness upon them, my friend Pierre over at Loser's Guide has asked me what it is that I like about the music of Drive-By Truckers...
Umm, well, they have a cool name, don't you think? And they're from the South (Alabama, I think), and boys from down there have always made some good shit-kickin' rock 'n' roll. These guys make some damn good rock 'n' roll, too, but there's a little more going on than simple shit-kickin', Old Glory-waving southern rock. It took me a few listens over a few years to realize it (actually I had an epiphany a couple of weeks ago while listening to the album Decoration Day after drinking about 10 beers), but Drive-By Truckers have a lot of interesting things to say about being from and living in the South and about life in general. I don't usually pay too much attention to song lyrics unless they're really good or really bad. These guys have very good, intelligent and thoughtful lyrics. They sing about, for example, the "duality of the 'southern thing'" (pride and shame), economic hardship and the divide between rich and poor, and personal relationships. Their lyrics, I think, are always life-affirming and heavy with themes of reconciliation and redemption. (Note to self: don't mention Faulkner or readers will think you're showing off...) Musically, Drive-By Truckers sound like a hybrid of Neil Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd spiced with some Stones and a bit of punk.
As a young guy growing up in a small town in Nova Scotia, me and my buddies listened to a lot of southern rock bands. The Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd saw us through many a drunken evening. We paid for our beer with hard-earned unemployment cheques. The Atlantic provinces are the 'poor' part of Canada. But it wasn't always like that. The Maritimes used to be the 'civilized' part of Canada. I wouldn't go so far as to make a direct comparison to the American South (for many obvious reasons), but it's no mystery to me if the songs of some good southern rock bands somehow resonate within me.

PSA

Please go buy any and all albums by Drive-By Truckers.