Has MoveOn gone too far?

This story on NPR's Morning Edition today discusses MoveOn.org's controversial media campaign to end U.S. military presence in Iraq. Their recent ads on TV and in newspapers accuse Junior Bush, his would-be successor Rudy Giuliani (R) and Gen. David Petraeus of "the B-word"—betrayal: of the American people (who in theory made clear with last year's Congressional election results their wish to have our troops brought home NOW and the occupation ended); of the troops themselves, who are being shot at, maimed and killed daily to what a growing number of Americans see as no worthy purpose; and of the Iraqi people, who expected true freedom would be theirs with the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Republicans and conservatives argue that the organization, whatever the validity or lack thereof in its policy proposals, has crossed the line in unfairly attacking the character of good and decent men out of frustration with the lack of progress in ending the "endless war." (At least two editorial cartoonists have depicted the group as living in the sewer following the now-notorious "General Betray-Us" ad in the New York Times.)  Are they right? Should I reconsider my involvement in an organization whose goals may be honorable, but whose means are questionable? Or is it, as MoveOn's head Eli Pariser asserts, past time to take the gloves off and confront both GOP and Democrat leaders who refuse to bring the troops home at once?

Today's Meme (Original): 10 Songs That Make You Feel GOOD!

Was listening to one on my iPod shuffle just now and found myself trying to come up with nine more to go with it. (Can you tell I've been doing LJ memes too long?) These are feel-good songs to me, ones that fill me with the urge not just to dance, but start a musical-movie production number in the halls and lead everyone out into the street for the big finish. These are songs that uplift me with their sheer exuberance and convince me life just might be worth living for one more day. In no particular order, here they are, and why. Post your own set on your LJ page.

( Gods, I hope Stevie sings #1 when he comes to Atlanta next month... )

How not to sell your software

Was going to give Band In A Box a try, based on recommendations from my f-list and elsewhere. Then I found out the cheapest current version the publisher offers is priced at almost $100 for new users, and their trial version is both crippleware AND time-limited (I could live with one or the other, but using both at once seems to bespeak a basic distrust of one's users). It doesn't even let you try out any of the key notation and composition features; it's a "play only" demo, which basically makes it a glorified WinAmp.

I'm not sure I want to deal with these people, even on a 30-day-money-back-guarantee basis, if they're going to insist that I fork over the full price in advance just to test the very features that make the program desirable. Am I being unreasonable? And can anyone recommend a cheaper and/or less obnoxiously marketed alternative, for Windows or Mac, that is comparable in features and performance?

(Memo to PGMusic and all similarly-minded software developers, for all platforms: If freakin' Adobe and Microsoft can lose billions more in profits than you ever dreamed of to piracy and still offer full-featured, time-limited demos, why in Gordon Moore's sainted name can't you? Crippleware demos do NOT endear you to potential new users.)

Writing music or lyrics: Which is harder?

As I look back over my 2.5 decades and more of musical output, I see a heck of a lot more swiping parodies of other people's music than fully original stuff. I think this stems from my being way better as a lyricist than as a composer of innovative melodies. "A Simple Country Doctor" and "The Singer's Secret" are the only two full originals of mine that seem to have caught fire with listeners at all. (It is true that very few artists, in filk or any other genre, are gifted both in musical and lyrical composition; cadhla,filkertom and jecklar leap to mind as examples—I would give any one of several significant body parts to have such sheer talent.)

(I'm reminded of an anecdote musical satirist Mark Russell tells about the late, great Tin Pan Alley composer Sammy Cahn, who was asked, when he wrote a song, which came first: the music or the lyrics. Cahn's response? "The phone call.")

What's harder for you to write: really kick-ass melodies or meaningful lyrics? Or do you have an equal amount of difficulty (or none at all) with both? And which comes first for you?