It's all peepee dicky!

We might die alone but only a narcissisit would think we are born into the world alone, unless you somehow manage to do it without a mother, or a lab assistant or something.

Don't worry too much about what's in style…
Cause it'll only be there for a little while!

Shit, ZMF, class of '97 ain't old. I'm class of '88, which does not rule, but we were the only class that got to hear Axl sing "Where do we go now?" on the radio (top 40 radio!) the day after graduation while suffering an acid hangover. Sure, later classes got to hear it but he was singing it to us!

Charles, not Anton
Perhaps you meant to invoke Robert Charles Wilson, hard sf author of 'Axis', 'Spin' and 'Darwinia', rather than Robert Anton Wilson, speculative philosophical esotercist author of 'The Illuminatus! Trilogy'.

Vote Robot in '08!
Forget these flops! Let's hear more about this robot running for president?

Ghost vs. Vampire
How about Quasi's "Ghost vs. Vampire" from R& Transmogrification. The singer takes the perspective of the ghost, always the loser:

So if you're going to get that upset about prepostions, perhaps you could also be more careful in the proper use of the term "Nazi". Unless, of course, as a grammar nazi, you believe that poor grammarians have stabbed our noble society in the back, that their poor grammar is a result of their membership in an…

Buck Fush!
Now that's comedy gold!

Henson was a hero to most…
Too cool. I can't wait for the Fisher-Price theater version of "She Hate Me".

All hail Tom Peloso, Master of Bass!
With all this attention on Johnny Marr, the addition of Tom Peloso to MM has been sadly overlooked. Tom is a monster of bass, although MM doesn't always show off his chops. Check out King Sour, one of his former bands, for some mind-blowing instrumental post-rock. I saw them in…

Museum of Rock and Roll
My favorite Melman moment (melmoment?) is his appearance in Run-DMC's "King of Rock" video. He appears as the guard at the "Museum of Rock and Roll", and tells our dynamic duo that they don't belong. Needless to say, he is shown the errors of his ways through song.

More, please
Thanks for this review. I'm going to read it anyway as an obsessive Cornwell fan, but it's nice to get another viewpoint. Can we get more such reviews, please?

Movies in movies
Hey Joe1, that scene where they were watching "Deerhunter" was in the book, and sounded pretty believable. Swofford talks about how they would watch war movies as if they were porn to get psyched up for actual war. The book goes farther in the killing/fucking parallel, with Swoff's whole tour as an…

Waiting for War
Another excellent post. I agree with your analysis. I would add that there is additional tension/frustration of Swoff/Jake being trained for war and remaining in a constant state of readiness, yet he never actually shoots his gun in combat. His Marines unit is fighting the old war, while airstrikes…

Death March Hot Doggy Dogs!
Every really good death march ends with a free hot dog! That's how you can differentiate it from just an ordinary march. Regular march = no hot dog. Death march = hot dogs!

Now you know the scene, your skin starts turning green…
Nice to hear a shout-out to Bill Ward, who managed to be a phenomenal drummer AND out-party Ozzy. He was one of the first generation of heavy rock drummers, making it up as he went along, kicking ass with heavy boots of lead.

Lukewarm Water
So no one's going to point out that the picture that accompanies this piece is of James Hetfield, Metallica's rhythm guitar player? He may take the occasional solo, but Metallica's solos are performed by the personification of lukewarm water himself, Kirk Hammett.

Mutual Masturbation makes the world go round
George V is right. This discussion is talking at cross purposes. This may be one issue where having some musical experience might come in handy. Solos are often not improvised. Tony Iommi is a case in point. His solos are arranged, dare I say composed, and stay…

To fight for a land fit for heroes (1916)
Don't forget "1916", the title track from Motorhead's 1991 album. This is another installment in Lemmy's military history fixation, this time with no Nazis! The tune is suprising moving and the lyrics poignantly tell the tale of a 16 year old boy who lied about his age. …