Belligerent fast food customer loudly demands a cheeseburger; counterforce is employed; God bless America. This gets particularly good around 1:58.

(Via Encyclopedia Dramatica)

 
Wonderfully raw clips from The Ernest Tubb Show circa mid-60’s via my pal Jeff Copas, music aficionado and bassist of Sixteen Deluxe

...but my family has some deep country roots - I’m distantly related to Cowboy Copas (a Grand Ol Opry vet, who died in the plane crash with Patsy Cline), and my grandparents were Dust Bowl refugees, transplanted Texans who lived in the not-yet Silicon Valley, and country music was always playing in their house, a double-wide mobile home on the edge of some fruit orchards in San Jose, which seemed mostly rural then.

They had “Sunday Morning Coming Down” painted on the tire cover on the back of their Econoline van, in tribute to Johnny Cash, who they considered to be a Great American (he was). For relatively successful and somewhat urbane ex-hillbillies like them, Ernest Tubb was like a crazy old uncle that you love but are slightly embarrassed by, because he was just a little *too* country, and reminded them a little too much of the hard life they worked so hard to escape.

I’m embarrassed to say that I’d never heard of Leon Rhodes before tonight, because it’s obvious he’s one of the greatest guitarists to ever draw breath, but I’d say these two clips make a persuasive argument that the Texas Troubadours, at least around this era, were far more in line with the sophisticated Bob Wills/Western swing branch of country (jazz for honkies, essentially) than the humorous, podunk novelty tunes Tubb is more commonly associated with (rightly or wrongly). Rhodes’ delayed guitar effects, combined with his jazzy runs, makes me imagine Jerry Garcia, zonked on Owsley somewhere circa ‘66, catching this on television and exclaiming “oh, wow, man!”. And those green hats? Decidedly psychedelic.

 
I gasped out loud when the background singers first appeared in the below clip. Not to mention Willie Nelson. Copas again : “Ah, the casual elegance of a thirty-something Willie Nelson: wardrobe by J.C. Penney, hair by Brylcreem, and talent bursting at the seams.” Great stuff !
 

 
Apparently—I have no direct knowledge of this myself—there is a growing trend in conservative Christian marriages called Christian Domestic Discipline (CDD). While many of its adherents say it’s got nothing to do with fetish. to the outsider looking in, that claim seems absolutely ludicrous. In fact a Christian version of BDSM is exactly what it looks like to me. How could they claim otherwise?!?!

The justification in their minds seems to be of a theological nature, an ass-slapping triad of master. slave and heavenly father! Take out the Christian references to a supernatural power and what is being described here is no different from a bog standard BDSM website.

A husband who enters a DD relationship must be willing to talk to his wife not just about discipline, but about her need to be spanked, what spanking does for her and how she needs it to occur to feel safe, secure, cherished and led. He also needs to be prepared to talk about the sexual aspects of spanking. This is often a touchy subject for Christian couples in DD, because the eroticism of spanking may make them feel kinky and sinful. But a woman’s bottom, I believe, was created not only as an enticement to men but as a target for his hand when she disobeys. God did not separate the two, and neither can we husbands and wives.

Notice how often the word lifestyle is employed in the writing. The fan fiction is a dead giveaway:

Beautiful: A Spanking Romance Collection by Rebeckah Markham

Beautiful is a collection of short stories about married women who have anxiety or concerns about their looks, just like every woman does at one time or another. In “The Plan” Mia convinces her husband, Chris, to use their domestic discipline relationship to help her stick to a diet and exercise plan. In “The Pills” a husband discovers his wife’s secret stash of diet pills. And in “The Haircut” Laura makes a decision to cut her hair very short, without asking permission from her husband. She is encouraged by her friend, Ellie, whose own husband isn’t very happy with her involvement. Beautiful is about women coping with their own insecurities, and about the men who love them anyway. Warning: this collection contains the spanking of adult women.

God’s Design by Lydia Russell

Nikki Russell is sure she has met the man of her dreams in Mason Hart, but Mason isn’t so sure. Nikki’s temper tantrums force him to take action to see if there is a future for them. Will a dose of good old-fashioned discipline fix things for this couple or will insecurities and stubbornness rob them of the mate of God’s design?

If it’s not a zany form of Christian BDSM, then the alternate explanation of CDD must be that it’s a justification for domestic abuse invoking a higher authority. That’s where it transitions from kooky to sinister. One website tells husbands when it’s appropriate to spank their wives in front of the children! The “you’d better keep yourself up, or else” and the “look what you made me do” bullying aspect of this is simply appalling.

Thank you Steven Otero!

 
Sometimes you just have to express what it is you are feeling inside. No matter what.

(via PCL and Nerdcore)

 
Robert Fripp doing what he does best—tearing it the fuck up—with his “punk” combo, The League of Gentlemen. The Disinformation logo was inspired by this album cover (which was done by Danielle Dax).
 

 
He’s back! The black Glenn Beck himself, the “Hon” James David Manning, PhD, self-appointed… something or other. And now he’s got a brand new Obama conspiracy theory:

“Hon. James David Manning says Barack Hussein “The Long Legged Mack Daddy” Obama was a C.I.A operative who used Columbia University as a cover to go to Pakistan in 1981 when the CIA and the Mujahideen worked together against the Soviet Invasion. Obama supplied arms, logistics, and money using his Muslim background.”

I still can’t help thinking of Uncle Ruckus from The Boondocks when I watch this character.

 
And to prove it he stomps on a vibrator that he already owns while his collection of My Little Pony toys looks on.

 
Jonathan Bell, AKA Screaming Boy, first came to my attention via a VHS tape given to me in the mid-90s of the only two episodes of his Dallas, TX-based cable access evangelical program. He screamed a lot, talked (yelled) about Jesus, abortions, gays and how you were going to GO TO HELL! His favorite topics seemed to be abused children and how you were going to GO TO HELL. Twisted, twisted stuff. Picture a nelly blond Sam Kinison-type in a tux—and totally and deliriously insane—and you’ve got Jonathan Bell. Eventually The Daily Show caught up to Bell and did a memorable segment about him, but before that, the only information I was able to dig up about him, pre-Internet came from a “Kooky Kontemporary Kristian Kulture” zine called Snake Oil that is now online:

Upstart TV preachers flock to Dallas like young starlets drawn to Hollywood. So begins the story of Jonathan Bell who arrived in Dallas from Kingston, Ontario in early 1992 with a vision from God to start a television ministry. Accompanying Jonathan were Carrie Hart, a 71-year-old invalid and her 35-year-old retarded son. With the $1400 per month that the Harts received in government checks, the three got set up in a one bedroom apartment in the predominately gay Oak Lawn section of Dallas, and Jonathan Bell Ministries was on its way.

That first Texas summer, however, took its toll on the trio of transplanted Canadians. Their living arrangement had deteriorated to the point that on the night of July 28th, police were called to the scene of a domestic disturbance at the ministry apartment, whereupon Jonathan was hauled in on aggravated assault of an invalid.

The police incident report reveals a sorry state of affairs: Jonathan typically sent the Harts out early each morning on ministry errands, and they were expected back promptly at 9 PM. Being late, or not following instructions exactly resulted in a beating. Neighbors told police that they had seen the Harts with bruises and black eyes, and Harry Hart, the son, claimed that earlier in the summer Jonathan had tried to drown him at an area lake by holding him underwater by his hair. The Harts were given just a few dollars a month, and Jonathan got the only bed while they slept on the floor with no bedding.

Within a few days of Jonathan’s arrest, the Harts went back to Canada, and the charges were dropped.

This sordid little tale would not be worth telling if shortly thereafter Jonathan had not gone on to produce two of the most psychotic, disturbing religious programs ever made.

 
Continue reading Screaming Boy (Snake Oil)