If Stanley Were American...

...You wouldn't need to call him 'my Lord'.

Canada has let down the King once more and Lord Stanley's Cup remains in its proper place, The United States of America.  Justin Trudeau smiles. We actually caught most of the 3rd period. You're damn right we're mocking and taunting our Fellow North American this morning. USA! USA!

Ah... in the aftermath of our cat search and rescue, we felt like one of the blokes in a Victoria Bitter commercial. A hard-earned thirst indeed! In American that would be, this Bud's for you.

And Middle Daughter got stung by some kind of gnarly bug this morning. This is Gonna be a great summer.

A few thoughts on Gaza... The Gaza campaign is winding down and about to enter the 'third phase'. What's the third phase, Bibi? Also, where are the hostages, Bibi? Actually, this blog assumes the IDF knows the location of many hostages, but deems rescuing them to be too risky. There's some handwringing in the press about Hamas training 'thousands' of new recruits. Is the press serious? They think these 'new recruits' would be a threat to the IDF? Joe set redlines and Bibi crossed them, just like everyone else. The Gaza War is ending with a wimper.

A few thoughts on Israeli politics...The Times of Israel reports an alliance of rightwing dissidents who hate Netanyahu would get 25 seats in the Knesset. Another poll had this theoretical alliance getting 34 seats. This is a good thing. Also...the High Court just ruled that the government must draft Haredi Yeshiva Students. Also a good thing. Jesus, guys, be a medic or an ambulance driver or a military chaplain or something. 

A few thoughts on Hezbollah...War's a comin'. Everyone is warning so. Diplomats and civilians are leaving Lebanon. The Biden Regime has warned Hezbollah that it can't restrain the Jews. Lebanon will suffer. Israel Radar reports that the Israeli's will use 'new' weapons in the war. This most assuredly means Iron Beam. Also, today Defence Minister Gallant told Loyd Austin that 'time is running out' to stop Iranian nukes. 

Monday Metal, on Tuesday. Last week we listed our ten (well nine) favorite songs. Today we list our favorite albums. The criteria is the same, has the album stuck with us decade after decade? Does it still sound fresh? Do we own the cassette, the CD, the digital download?

Wolfmother, Wolfmother: In his debut Album, Andew Stcokdale invents what we call groove metal, kind of an even heavier Deep Purple. Watch for the bridge and lead in Apple Tree and don't forget Where Eagles Have Been and Colossal, kind of a harder edged Kashmir.  

Def Leppard, Hysteria: A shocker, we know. All killer, no filler, as the band said. Every song could have been a single. We listened to Hysteria on the way back from lunch with our father last week and still love it. Underrated song, Love and Affection at the end of the album. As Poor Some Sugar on me is our favorite song, Hysteria is our favorite album. Hysteria is also our second favorite song on the album. 

Tesla, Time's Makin' Changes: more of a hard rock band than a hair metal band, Tesla caught on in the late 80's. Best songs are Modern Day Cowboy, Love Song (live), and The way it is. Very often this album sounds like a revival meeting, 'What should be, should be....' We saw Tesla live in 1989, 2005, and 2011. We really need to do a Tesla week.

The Answer, Everyday Demons: another shocker, we know. Sounds like a 70s hard rock album, but knowing everything we know today, if one knows what we mean. This is another all killer, no filler album. We prefer Walkin Mat and every other damn song. See also Why'd You Change Your Mind?, about a suicide attempt, and Comfort Zone. This album is very bluesy. 

U2, Achtung Baby: we admit to not having listened to this for a while. Still, we've kept Achtung Baby handy for 30 + years. Another great album about dealing with life. The album was a dynamic revelation and a bit of a departure from U2's previous commercial success, The Joshua Tree. The dance-like Mysterious Ways was the first radio hit, then One. We've always loved the piano driven So Cruel, makes us think of a girl, and one of those songs which we can recall hearing for the first time. 

Queen, A Kind of Magic: call it the Iron Eagle and Highlander soundtrack if you like. One Vision is a call to action. Princes of the Universe is a heavy metal fantasy romp with an epic guitar solo. This album has kept us company through some bad times as a teenager and adult.