Open thread for Sunday, June 7th: ‘Stockholm Syndrome’

  Here is the open thread for Sunday, June 7th. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.

 Last week we covered 8 stories, did you miss any of them? If so there is an easy way to make sure it does not happen again. I understand that all of you are busy and cannot always find the time to check the blog for updates so why not subscribe to America’s Watchtower and receive email updates whenever I write a new post? That is the easiest way to follow the blog to ensure you never miss another post.

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  Well, the final two spots in my countdown are going to be quite anticlimactic for those of you who have been following the open threads for quite some time, but coming in at number 2 is in my opinion the greatest and most talented rock band currently on the face of the earth–Muse.

  Muse is not pigeonholed into any one form of rock music; they have hard rocking songs, piano and synth songs, acoustic melodies, some electronic sounding music, and have even ventured into a little opera. My first Muse CD was The Resistance, which I purchased after becoming hooked on a song about revolution entitled “Uprising.” 

  At one point while I was playing this CD my wife asked me why we were listening to “Star Wars opera” but before long she was telling me how much she liked it. This is one of the rare occasions where my wife and I actually like the same band. Next I purchased the live concert DVD/CD called “HAARP” and from that point on I was hooked. Most of the videos I am going to post are from this concert and as you can see when you watch them lead singer Matt Bellamy puts every once of his body and his soul into his music.

  First up is a piano ballad entitled “Hoodoo.” I have included this song because I am always struck by the last line of the song–“I’ve had recurring nightmares that I was loved for who I am and missed the opportunity to be a better man.”  This always makes me think about not being complacent in life and always striving to be a better person no matter how good you might have it. I have been thinking about this line quite a bit lately…

  Here is the acoustic based “City of Delusion” where Matt sings about hiding from the “all-seeing eye.”

  Next up is “Thoughts of a Dying Atheist.”

  Here is “New Born.”

 Here is “Apocalypse Now” where Matt Bellamy appears to be singing about the Hegelian Dialectic with the lyrics “declare this an emergency, come on and spread a sense of urgency and pull us through.”

  And lastly, here is the kick-ass extended live version of “Stockholm Syndrome.”