In the Loop: April 12, 2007 Archive

What did Vonnegut do for you?

Posted at 10:20 AM on April 12, 2007 by Sanden Totten (4 Comments)

Kurt Vonnegut JR. died today at age 84.

(Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images)

It's funny how a man who wrote about Tralfamadorians, Mercurian Harmoniums and chrono-synclastic infundibula could make so much sense. But as absurd as he was, reading Kurt Vonnegut's books always defogged my brain. This was a guy who knew how to break it down:

"Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”

He mixed up the real and the fantastical so well that by the end of a book you'd pick up a newspaper and just laugh. Sometimes that's the best we can do.

God Bless You, Mr Vonnegut.

Any wisdom you from this old writer that you still carry around in your head?

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Bush -- and the working man's -- musical laments

Posted at 5:16 PM on April 12, 2007 by Jeff Horwich

Good things take time.

Just as we're on the verge of our next show, we've got videos back from the last one. On your left, "That's Just My Job (That's Not Me!)," a plea from our commander in chief. And on your right, "Is This What You Expected?", a tribute to the working man from our house band, The Smarts.

Just click play.