Last night, Bill Clinton gave a 48 minute speech that so far is the most memorable of the convention season. Well, the most memorable for it's own merit, and not a failed gimmick.

President Clinton has a gift. Not just a gift for public speaking--that would be an understatement. What Clinton does is talk, and demand listening. He breaks conventional political rhetoric laws by stretching the boundaries of what will work in the context of a national speech. When Obama, or Romney, or Clint Eastwood ramble, it's a slow going stumble of ums and ahs and nonsense. When Bill Clinton rambles, he deconstructs complex arguments about Medicare.


Hopefully by now everyone has seen The Dark Knight Rises. With its two prequels, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, it completes what is arguably the best movie trilogy of the last decade. Now that Christopher Nolan's trilogy is finished,  it is a perfect time to go back and read some of Batman's best stories in print.


Peter Gabriel during his tenure as Genesis' frontman.
In the evolution of rock music, there is a fascinating branch of eclectic work from the late sixties through the seventies that quickly became a source of mockery and parody. When serious, classically trained musicians started to cash in on the rock scene, progressive rock began to dominate record stores and radio waves. Bands like Yes, Pink Floyd, and Genesis focused their chops on long, album centered music and tossed the traditional three minute rock song out the window. Throw in a little psychedelia, and you have a musical movement that stretched the boundaries of pop art to its very bizarre and eccentric edges.



I thought about weighing in on the "5 Greatest Albums" debate going on between Cody and JJ, but then I thought that I already talk about that kind of thing enough on my personal blog (shameless plug) and really, I'm not any sort of a music/film buff. I collect them both like I collect candy and movie tickets, and I love them, but I don't have very complicated thoughts about them. I just like to enjoy them.



Kelly Clarkson



Recently, JJ Feinauer posted a blog where he claimed to hold the secret to the 'greatest albums of all time' and listed them by album artwork. It's a good list, and my all time favorite album was on there. But he declared it to be objective, and dared the reader to disagree. I'm challenging his list based on his futile attempt at objectivity.
Listing the greatest of all time anythings is a bold undertaking to begin with. I like to deal in more specific, but vague enough terms to limit contention. For instance, instead of listing the greatest albums of all time, I'm more likely to list the greatest albums to listen to while taking a bath after your dog runs away. Not very many people have an opinion on that kind of list.