May 19, 2005

I Were Wrong---Maybe
Everett

Ireland has high personal income taxes? I was rather under the impression that, at least compared to Western Europe, Ireland had a low level of taxation. Of course, the Soviet Union had a fairly low level of taxation compared to Western Europe.* Anyway, fewer tax brackets, top rate lower than 36% and the lack of a capital gains tax would all make the Irish tax code superior to the American one.

Also, in my list of genres of music I like, I had one glaring omission: Gregorian Chant. I would also have to include folk music from anywhere in Europe, as well as over on our side of The Pond.

Moving on, let's see if I can give you guys a more detailed sample of what sort of music I like.

Blues: John Lee Hooker, Elmore James, Lightning Hopkins, Stevie Ray Vaughan (perhaps the greatest guitar player ever), Booker T and the Mg's, George Thorogood, Johnny Winter, Chris Thomas King, B B King

Bluegrass: Bill Monroe, Ricky Skaggs, Flatt & Scruggs, Nickelcreek, The Stanley Brothers, Allison Kraus and Union Station

Classic Rock: Elvis Pressley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Led Zepplin, Black Sabbath, The Who, The Doors, Jimmy Buffet, Lynard Skynard, ZZ Top, Ram Jam, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Dire Straits, Deep Purple, Foghat, Thin Lizzy, Steppenwolf, The Steve Miller Band, Tom Petty, Molly Hatchet, Van Halen, Blue Oyster Cult, Santana, The Police, Joe Cocker, Credence Clearwater Revival, Grand Funk Railroad, Queen

Classical: Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Handel, Haydn, Vivaldi, Chopin, Sousa, Rachmaninoff, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Ennio Morricone, Wagner, Brahms, Strauss, Bizet, Rossini, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Mussorgsky

Country: Johnny Cash, Lyle Lovett, Jimmy Dean, Walter Brennan, C. W. McCall, Hank Williams Sr.

Gregorian Chant: (these will be songs, not artists) Victimae Paschali Laudes, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei, Pange Lingua, Improperium, Gloria, Ave Maria Dei Genitrix, Ave Mundi Spes Maria, Kyrie Fons Bonitatis, Kyrie, Nato Conunt Omnia, O Redentor Sume Carnen, Te Deum Laudamus, Tantum Ergo

Jazz: Django Rheinhardt, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Leon Redbone, Seatbelts, Cab Calloway

Oldies: Jerry Lee Lewis, Otis Day and the Knights, Aretha Franklin, The Four Tops, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Roy Orbison, James Brown

Pop: Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, Sammy Davis Jr., Cole Porter, Nat King Cole

Rap/Hip Hop/Whatever it's called: MC Chris, MC Hawking, Jurassic 5, Outkast

Modern stuff: Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews Band, Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal, The French Kicks, Muse, Rusted Root, Cake, Soul Coughing, Rammstein, Cornershop, Geggy Tah, Cowboy Mouth, Presidents of the United States of America, Sublime, Cypress Hill

Well, that should be a fairly representative sample. A little eclectic, I'll admit, but there's no accounting for taste, especially mine.

*Did the Soviet Union actually have a tax code? The state owned all of the means of production and distribution, not to mention all of the goods and services actually produced. What use would a tax code have been?