LET’S HATE THE FRENCH. AGAIN.

The typhoon is going very well, thanks. Neoguri swung closer to Hong Kong than we thought (within 140 km) but lost enough steam by the time it made landfall that damage was limited to a few trees and signs. Other than that, it’s been gusty here in Disco Bay, and a ton of rainfall.

Meanwhile, the big news is that attempts by Tibetan activists to put out the Olympic torch has sparked a wave of nationalism among Chinese mainlanders – and for reasons I’m not clear on, they’re taking it out on a French supermarket chain. And Louis Vitton.

Evidently, someone’s taken the Paris Incident where Tibetan protesters disrupted the torch run, and taken that to mean that France supports Tibetan independence, because if they didn’t support it, they wouldn’t have let the protesters get so close. Or they’d have executed them on live TV or something.

It doesn’t make much sense. But chest-beating patriotism rarely does to me. The same goes for making the French a scapegoat for everything. Still, I haven’t heard anyone in China demand that French fries be renamed “The People’s Fries” or something equally inane.

Anyway, I don’t want to dwell on it too much. The whole China/Tibet thing is way too complicated to get into here – certainly more so that either the Western or Chinese media is making it look (except the BBC, probably). And I learned at least two Iraq wars ago that there's no talking sense with nationalists. You might as well try to teach evolution to a Creationist. Or vice versa, if you like. I have better things to do with my time. Like make fun of everybody.

Meanwhile, the torch arrives here in a couple of weeks. I won’t go see it – I’m not very big on the Olympics as a sporting event. Still, it’s a drag to see this one bring out the worst in people instead of their best. Not that I blame the Tibet protesters for trying to call attention to their cause. But I don’t see how constantly trying to put out the torch is supposed to win them any sympathy, either.

And for the record, I don’t support a boycott, either, if only because I think it’s an empty gesture that won’t make Tibet any more independent than it is now.

Here comes the rain again,

This is dF

BAD COVER VERSION 010: A FUNNY KIND OF YELLOW

Continuing our weekly coverage of cover songs through the ages, this week’s entry is a classic piece of bubblegum psychedelica from a band not really known for psychedelic music. Either way, it was their first single, and while they would go on to be institutions in the British pub-rock scene, it would end up being their only hit in the US.

THE SONG: “Pictures of Matchstick Men”

THE ORIGINAL: Status Quo

COMMENTS: It’s decent pop-psychedelic rock, but I’ve never gotten much out of the SQ version – I think it’s that lead guitar riff. It just sounds off to me.

THE COVER: Camper Van Beethoven

COMMENTS: Replace the wonky guitar riff with a violin, and it’s a big improvement. It’s an interesting choice of cover for CVB, and even more interesting that they play it relatively straight instead of turning it into a ska or polka number as they used to do to punk songs in their live shows.

WINNER: Camper  Van Beethoven by a mile. UK music fans might disagree, but I think CVB successfully pwned the song for themselves.

PRODUCTION NOTE: I was going to pit CVB against the Ozzy Osbourne/Type O Negative version of the song, but I didn’t want to waste yr time or yr bandwidth.

Next week: The Tubes vs Nina Hagen!

You make men cry,

This is dF

52 RATS (#11 0F 52): WHO’S LAUGHING NOW?

This week’s rat ... likes to be tickled.

Yes. Scientific evidence that rats laugh when you tickle them. Which is good to know.

Good for a laugh,

This is dF