hey emailers, yes i know the instapundit fucked up

and i know that he’s still linking to an inaccurate CNN “transcript” that claims that ucsb alumn joe wilson said that his wife “was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity”.

and even though im still up to my elbows in alligators trying to get this podcast nonesense together, and i know that Kos, MediaMatters, and Metafilter were all over this earlier in the day,

and i know that AP via Yahoo have fixed the error that’s still in USA Today,

he obviously doesnt see his error. maybe he doesnt read any of those sites – or hasnt all afternoon. maybe it was pretty on campus and he was taking pics, or he was with his family. some people have lives you know.

but i agree it’s not cool that when CNN fixed their version they didnt add any comment saying that they goofed the first time. particularily since it was their fuckup that started the domino effect.

but why are you telling me?

shouldnt you be telling the blogfather?

he’s the one who still hasnt done an Update on his post, hes the one who’s still linking to the archived f’ed up transcript, and maybe he’ll write a big rant about how dishonest cnn was today in changing something that made everyone who linked to it look bad. he bitched about the BBC on tuesday for “airbrushing”, im sure he’ll give this equal time. and maybe while he’s at it he’ll ask wtf is up with their transcript archives.

i havent said shit about Rove today and not because i dont have anything to say, hell ive got plenty. including a response to some questions by a commentor from my rove roundup post of a few days ago.

i havent written hardly anything today because i’m trying to do my stupid ass podcast which i may think twice about because not only is the RSS bullshit a pain in the ass but this ebay-ed recorder might be a POS after all.

anyways, thanks for the heads up, but the professor has an email box too.

tell him.

if what you were doing was playing Gotcha so that id go off on some rant about how the good professor aint so good, thats not how we do it here. bro is finally doing what we as his loyal readers have been waiting for him to do: talk about Rove. yes he flipped it around to talk about Wilson, but baby steps, friends, baby steps.

i do not think that he is intentionally trying to mislead his gazillion readers. i do noth think that he is intentionally waiting for the end of the day to correct his error, i do not think that he would sit on his hands and intentionally try to keep a lie alive.

he and i might disagree with how to do things on blogs but i sincerely do not think that he would resort to flat out cheating to discredit joe wilson. if anyone knows that wilson does a fine job of discrediting himself its glenn. my question is, if we all agree that what comes out of wilsons mouth is suspect, why would the instapundit jump on that false line? the worlds most popular blogger established last summer that wilson’s words are curious at best, so why would glenn cherry-pick yesterdays alleged line? thats the only thing i have problems with.

but please, if you see that a blogger has linked an inaccurate article, or a story that ended up being changed, tell him, not me. i know it would be easier if he had comments, but not everyone wants to put up with commentors.

ten bucks says glenn will go through his email at some point tonight and see the correction that is due to his readers and he will fix it.

just because he’s dishonest about not being a republican doesnt mean that hes a dishonest blogger. everyone has funky lil quirks.

and by the way, if you want me to pat you on the head for something, stick to porn recommendations, tips on texas hold em, or find me a solution to my podcasting/RSS issue.

currently i have MP3s and im trying to figure out how to turn that into a podcast. my email addy is dumbfuck at tonypierce.com

gracias

[Update: a reader informs me that Drudge still has the innacurate headline, but its linked to a corrected Newsday AP story. but friends, i implore you, why are you emailing me tell drudge and insty!]

[Midnight Update: Drudge has taken down the inaccurate link and wording, Reynolds has not. Developing…]

[Final Update – 3pm PT: The instapundit updated his post, after we exchanged a few friendly emails and calls it a “non-error” correction. i suppose we will agree to disagree as context is everything and Wilson, obviously has been saying all along that his wife was covert… and what he meant was *once* Novak wrote his piece, Plame instantly stopped being covert. I cannot get into the head of Prof. Reynolds, but I imagine that the reason that he put the link and quote up there originally wasnt because he thought that Wilson was slamming Novak, but because Glenn though that Wilson was admitting that his wife wasnt covert at the time of the article. Kudos for Glenn for acknowledging Wilson’s context. see… told ya he wasnt so bad.]

maybe this is a job for the buzzmachine + sex and hockey + ciavarro + fc bearded

if theres one thing that ive learned about technology

it’s dont make promises about deadlines.

yes i promised that today id have a podcast for your asses. in fact i promised an interview with miss karisa j. hotshot.

i did get that interview and the sound quality was no good. so now i am using Audacity to try to clean it up because i know many of you have not heard a podcast before and i wouldnt want to give you the wrong impression that podcasts sound like podshit.

so all yesterday i was trying to polish the turd to no avail.

so what i did was i just spoke into my digital recorder and did a little 5-minute segment which i followed up with two 20+ minute jobbers.

and of course now im having technical difficulties beyond my control.

as radiohead said, this is what you get.

i dont mind deadlines when it comes to writing shit down because im in complete control of something that i know about. but this podcasting crap is new to me too.

so what i did because i like to be a man of my word, was i made a new blog just for my podcasting rants and interviews

its called tonyspodcasts.blogspot.com

you can right click > save the mp3s and listen to it on your various mp3-listening devices.

i realize that this is not how one typically listens to podcasts, but it’s a temporary work-around so that 1) those of you who want a taste of what this podcast show is going to be like will be satisfied 2) i can wipe a little egg off my face 3) you can laugh at me for being a fool and not a liar.

i know that nothing in here is true, but we’ve come this far i dont think its fair to go back on promises because of “technical difficulties”.

so hopefully next week or sooner this problem can be resolved and i can get on to what ive been so excited about this last week.

a thousand apologies.

the quick fix

the anticipated Tsar roundup

tsar band girls money Billboard

Masterfully mixing glam showmanship with gritty Sunset Strip attitude, Tsar’s “Band Girls Money” is one of the best rock albums so far this year.

Full of glossy vocals, playful lyrics and infectious guitar riffs, it delivers one power-pop punch after another on such songs as “Superdeformed,” and “Conquerer Worm.”

The title track/lead single is featured in a national Napster/Nestle Crunch ad campaign; that could give Tsar enough exposure to grab the brass ring. – Katy Kroll

Glide Magazine

Reeking with a combination of the rebellion of The Stooges and the glam-pop swagger of T-Rex, TSAR resurrects the seventies underground with “fuck you” arrogance. Formed in Los Angeles, TSAR released their critical acclaimed self-titled debut on Hollywood Records in 2000. After moving to TVT Records founding members, vocalist Jeff Whalen and guitarist Daniel Kern commissioned a new drummer, Check Byler and bass player Derrick Forget. The change in rhythm section revitalized and altered the make-up of the band.

Unlike the Weezer-esque timbre of the first record, this sophomore set is in your face with very little over-the-top production; just straight rock and roll. The songs on Band-Girls-Money are short, sweet, and tight with a poppy sashay reminiscent of Dream Police-era Cheap Trick. Front man Jeff Whalen struts through each track backed by raunchy guitar riffs and torrential drumming. If TSAR has a message it would clearly be one of defiance as they lyrically rail against the “system.” However, this LA quartet is not nearly as political as they are campy and fun.

In the age of cookie cutter garage rock bands, TSAR stand alone as totally unique by revitalizing a sub-genre of rock-n-roll that time had almost forgotten. – Tony Engelhart

Miami New Times

“We’re a hall of mirrors,” says Tsar’s candy-voiced singer Jeff Whalen. He must mean vanity mirrors — Tsar is one of a few rock bands wearing makeup these days for something other than gothic effect — because this retro-glam LA quartet can be a tricky beast to identify. With one foot in the Bay City Rollers’ toy shop and the other in the Dead Boys’ gutter, the new Band-Girls-Money is harder than the band’s 2000 self-titled debut, but the tunes are still top-down driving music, acutely infectious and liable to drive up the demand among men for platform boots and lip gloss. – Andrew Marcus

Music Emmissions

Glam is back indeed. I was really into Tsar’s self-titled debut album from back in 2000 and was kinda curious what happened to them. While it may be unfair to completely call Tsar “Glam”, they do take many influences from past artists. Regardless, Tsar is back with the dreaded sophomore album and succeed quite easily. The band rocks out hard on the title track, ushering you into the album. It’s along the lines of something The (International) Noise Conspiracy would do, with just as much energy. They follow it up with “Wanna Get Dead”, a fantastic power-pop track with the chugga-chugga guitars and a very melodic chorus. It’s tracks like “Wrong” that give the Tsar boys the glam feel. A very polished and poppy track that glimmers like nobodies business. Band-Girls-Money is a great album, maybe not quite as polished and complete as their debut but a fine album as well. Call Tsar glam, call them power-pop, whatever, bottom-line is that Tsar does rock hard and deserve some airplay and some attention. You can never go wrong with good, raunchy guitars and slick vocals. Four Stars – Dennis Scanland

LA Weekly Spaceland 7/8/05

No power ballads! We like that. Instead, a lotta very, very tuff yet heart-tugging true-rock glitter & grime, showing no mercy and steeding swift like the clock does tick. Tsar — Great Rock Hopes five years ago/lost their major-label deal/didn’t puss out/etc. — are now pumped ’n’ primed to be the Genuine Rock Stars they were born to be. Witness this Comeback Special, where they came on All Young Dudes/Banana Splits/sassy funny fun rock smack in the middle of saggy Silver Lake, a Tsar of wild, wild youth and unchained melody. Fun, yet Tsar have a lot at stake — you can hear it in the dark depth of their tunes and the wry passion of their performance.

So, runny mascara, big puffy lips, hands on hips, billowing fog and a Kiss-my-cheese flashing logo: Tsar mainman Jeff Whalen enters the stage draped in American flag like a cape, nice snotty bit of symbolism for this, yes, great rock unit brimming with actual triffic melodic (no BS) songs and a mind-blowing technical facility (tight!) for bringing the real goods back for a generation in true need, like a rocket fulla glammy-punky Captain Americas high on pop clichés and smart enough to have alchemized the juice.

As Whalen puffs his cigs and twitches and roars and preens and cajoles and tears his hair and rips his lungs & heart out, and his comparatively stoic lead-guitar buddy Daniel Kern applies the sonic sizzle (along with the warhorse-not-drayhorse new rhythm section of Chuck Byler, drums, and Derrick Forget, bass & vocals & pouts), the band just plain blows through a nonstop, hi-hi-NRG set of things mostly taken from the ace new Band–Girls–Money, and it’s — okay, it’s like the Archies meet the Ramones, or ELO humping BTO, and a grand finale of Buzzcocks briefing BOC. Whalen’s songcraft is such seriously persuasive stuff, each song’s an overture ensconcing every classic pop-punk experience you ever had, and fooling you into figuring you never heard it before.

They think ambitious, yet they aren’t pretench-ish. Watching them smoke these tunes onstage was exhilarating, inspiring and, most important, very, very funny. – John Payne

Alternative Addiction

Tsar’s 2000 debut was an excellent yet poorly marketed album. Combining elements of bubblegum pop with a harder edge it wildly underachieved. As a consequence the label dropped the band-a bitter irony when you consider the lack of effort put in by Hollywood records- a decision compounded by the fact that they were none too impressed with the follow up.

Apparently its lack of radio friendly attributes sent Tsar packing into the great corporate dustbin. TVT records had the common sense to ransack the bin to release this worthy second effort.

Whereas the debut was as smooth as a baby’s backside with Rob Cavallo’s production dominating, “Band Girls Money” is as rough as wiping the same baby’s backside with sandpaper.

Taking their lead from anyone from the New York Dolls, Cheap Trick and Brit glam rockers The Sweet through to Red Kross, Tsar cook up a tasty pot of trashy hard rock. The smooth pomp of the debut is wrenched aside and in its place comes a raging lip stick wearing pit-bull with a sweet tooth. Songs like the revved up title track, the catchy trash pop of “The Love Explosion” and the T-Rex influenced
“Superdeformed” exemplify rock in its lowest denominator. The faint hearted should step aside now and leave Tsar to swagger on down the sunset strip, with sweat, honesty and a touch of eyeliner. three and a half stars – Mike

Not Lame

2005 release from this band that totally POPPED Not Lamers back in 1998…and then the major dropped. Old Story, New Ending. This is not the power pop style that many may be hoping for, but this smoking gun of pop slinger kicks out the jams with explosively raw riffs, shiny hooks and jackhammer choruses. One of the best, hard rocking, kick ass rock-via-pop albums of 2005. Yes, not for folks quesy about volume, but if you do like it loud is glam pop of the finest sort. “A trash-glam masterpiece. `Band-Girls-Money` is made to be played at the Rainbow Room while…Slash sprawls unconscious across the bar.” – Boulder Weekly. “Think punk, glam and British Invasion–Cheap Trick, New York Dolls, Sweet and the Beatles.” -Knight-Ridder Newspapers. “TSAR pounds and swings the boogie harder and sweeter than ever.”-Village Voice. It`s not the old Tsar, but the new one is *still* Extremely Highly Recommended! (site includes 4 downloadable mp3s)

ModernRock.com

How odd that a rock band can be an anachronism in this day and age.

In the case of Tsar, TVT Records’ newest family member, they’re emerging onto the national scene in an era of Mancunian moping and Gang of Four idolatry.

Somehow, tried-and-true rock ‘n’ roll fundamentals have been fallen by the wayside. Tsar is that rare band that isn’t easily categorized, or easily swayed by trends.

“My brothers are all proud rockers,” sings frontman Jeff Whalen in the blistering “Startime,” one of ten songs on Tsar’s debut, Band-Girls-Money. Part glam sex-pose, part punk sneer, part pop craftsmanship, Band-Girls-Money synthesizes decades of music history and combines with contemporary zeal to create three-minute bursts of energy.

The savvy listener will hear traces of power pop legends Cheap Trick and Sweet, as well as the three-chord attack of the Dead Boys, the glam appeal of T-Rex and the Dolls, and the showmanship of Alive-era KISS. Whalen, the band’s primary songwriter, has a pure bubblegum past – and you can hear that, too. His favorite bands are The Monkees, The Archies and Tommy James. “I have a belief that all really great bands are not the genre the people associate them with. They’re actually pop bands. It’s always the bands with good songs that outlast any trends or styles.”

Combine Whalen’s countless hours with such a record collection with Tsar’s here-and-now sound and you’ve got music that’s utterly contemporary, completely free of stereotype and above all pure rock. “With us, it’s kind of impossible to say what kind of music we are other than rock and roll,” he says.

Seeing them play live is the best way to appreciate this well-oiled sonic machine. In their native city of LA, crowds have grown to appreciate the band’s energetic gigs. A “Tsar” sign straight out of a Vegas chorus line’s dressing room flashes behind the four members’ sweaty performance. The PA system strains under the force of dual guitar distortion and a pummeled bass. It’s rock showmanship. Short songs and long on emotion.

“You wanna get that rock and roll desire,” explains Whalen of performing on stage. “It’s really powerful. It involves embracing the ludicrousness of what’s happening. I’m going to stand up here and dance around and everybody’s gonna look at me. The times you really enjoy the show are the times you really don’t know what you’re doing and nothing is planned. When it’s working, it’s a great symbiosis.”

so the question is, why havent you gotten band girls money yet?

buzznet will make a book of yr buzznet pics + did zulieka deliver? + fook the people