For those who don't think abortion is an important issue when voting for a president

I realize that the website providing this information has a right-leaning bias (to put it mildly), but the information provided in this article appears to be correct.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=356962

Guitarist rankings

I created my own guitarist ranking system. I chose 30 guitarists that are often listed on guitarist rankings (Rolling Stone, etc.). I tried to be as objective as I could, but no rankings are actually objective. Many of the guitarists on this list are what I would consider mediocre or even poor guitarists (i.e. Keith Richards, James Hetfield, Prince and Kurt Cobain), but I still put them on the list because some people think they are good, and they were/are popular.

My methodology included five categories: virtuosity, precision, pioneering, quality, and popularity. I rated each guitarist in each category from one to ten (ten being the best). I gave some categories more weight than others (100% for virtuosity and quality; 90% for precision; 60% for pioneering, and 30% for popularity). Then, I added the totals. Here's what I came up with in descending order of "greatness."

1) David Gilmour
2) Steve Vai
3) Eric Clapton
4) Stevie Ray Vaughn
5) Jimi Hendrix
6) Eddie VanHalen
7) Robert Fripp
8) Joe Satriani
9) John McLaughlin
10) Chuck Berry
11) Brian May
12) Jimmy Page
13) Duane Allman
14) Carlos Santana
15) Jeff Beck
16) Alex Lifeson
17) Eric Johnson
18) Adrian Belew
19) Frank Zappa
20) BB King
21) Billy Corgan
22) Pete Townsend
23) Kurt Cobain
24) Slash
25) Joe Perry
26) James Hetfield
27) Bo Didley
28) Robert Johnson
29) Keith Richards
30) Prince

I was surprised by some of the rankings. My system was more objective than I anticipated because a few of my favorite guitarists were not in the top ten (i.e. Jimmy Page, Brian May and Frank Zappa). At least Keith Richards and Prince received their proper spot in this order.

For the 7 or 8 other Smashing Pumpkins and King Crimson Fans in the World

While listening to "Mayonaise" by the Smashing Pumpkins, I noticed that the song contains a guitar riff that is almost identical to a bass riff in "Red" by King Crimson. I did a quick google search and could not find anything noting the obvious similarity. Maybe this is because I am the only fan of both the Smashing Pumpkins and King Crimson. Or...maybe this is because the names of the songs are so dissimilar. Perhaps someone would have noted the similarity earlier if the Smashing Pumpkins had named their song "Ketchup" or if King Crimson had named their song "Lemon Chiffon." Just a thought.

Mayonaise (listen to the riff at 1:02 and 1:15)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-swlx9z2O0

Red (studio version is not online--live version below, listen at 1:09 and 1:19, but hard to hear in live version)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=313252524631448666&ei=buBCSY-dDYL8rAKama3uDA&q=king+crimson+red&hl=en&emb=1

Top 10 one hit wonders of my lifetime

I heard a song on the radio the other day that I hadn't heard in quite some time: Silent Lucidity by Queensryche. I've always liked that song. In my opinion, it's probably the only hair band song ever made that is worth 3-4 minutes of attention. It is also one of the few songs by a one hit wonder worthy of any attention. So...here's my top ten list of songs by one hit wonders--that have come out in my lifetime--that will usually keep me from changing the station on my car radio.

1) Silent Lucidity by Queensryche;
2) In the Meantime by Spacehog;
3) Space Lord by Monster Magnet;
4) No Rain by Blind Melon;
5) Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed (he has lots of other songs but none of note);
6) Song 2 by Blur;
7) Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger;
8) She Blinded Me With Science by Thomas Dolby;
9) Our House by Madness; and
10) Come on Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners.