Liberal media

A term that implies that news reporting has a bias towards "left" or politically liberal ideas, but in reality is an illusion created when highly opinionated people inevitably use selective hearing to filter out and pick up on topics they don't like, forgetting the rest.

You can find some on-line conservative newspapers that claim to be "the real news, not the liberal media kind!" as well as some on-line liberal papers that claim to be "the real news, not the conservative-bias kind!"

by Bill M. August 27, 2004

sellout

A vague but derogatory term blindly used by music "fans" to describe bands who make (or have managers who make) a new lucrative and/or artistically experimental decision (for example: accepting a product endorsement, a change in the band's expected composition style, switching to a larger record label, dressing with more class, speaking out against mass mp3 piracy, etc.) The word is sometimes also applied to bands who simply get more commercial success through no additional effort.

The anger comes from the false belief that fans "own" their favorite entertainers, that these entertainers are thus not real humans with free will, and the feeling of grief when some CD that the listener previously enjoyed alone is now enjoyed by millions of more people.

(Note that "sellout" ONLY applies to those who make a living in the fine arts. For example, a software engineer who accepts a job promotion and higher salary is never branded as a "sellout". Nor is a professional athlete who appears on a box of Wheaties.)

Actual quotes from an old friend:

(1993) "Damnit, Smashing Pumpkins is such an underrated band. They never get played on the radio!"
(1994) "Damnit, Smashing Pumpkins are always on Mtv and the radio now! They're such sellouts."

by Bill M. July 28, 2004

Walmart

A store where you can buy a shot gun, ammunition, a ski mask, a baseball bat, a meat cleaver and a chainsaw, but you can't buy a CD that has a "Parental Advisory" sticker.

The local 3-generation mom & pop store was run out of town by Walmart.

by Bill M. July 28, 2004

jehovahs witness

"Jehovah's Witness" without an apostrophe

Somebody else here added a definition for "jehovahs witness", thus creating this new page, instead of adding to the already existing "Jehovah's Witness" or "Jehovah's Witnesses" definitions.

by Bill M. August 27, 2004

acoustic

1) A musical instrument that is not electric
2) A musical performance that uses no electric instruments (aside from microphones and similar amplification)

1) Jimi Hendrix played an electric guitar on the song "Purple Haze", but Paul Simon played an acoustic guitar on Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson". Techno and dance music uses electric drums, but rock music typically sticks to acoustic drums.

2) Eric Clapton's band did an acoustic show on "Mtv Unplugged".

by Bill M. August 27, 2004

reverb

A special effect applied to an audio signal to make it sound as if you're now hearing that sound in a tunnel or some other different room, with some depth and a bit of echo.

Many guitar amplifiers have a "reverb" knob.

by Bill M. August 27, 2004

fretboard

The long area of the guitar under the strings where the player applies pressure with his or her non-strumming in order to produce different notes; the long, flat area on the front of a guitar neck

Wow, that guitar player is fast! His fingers were really flying up and down the fretboard.

by Bill M. July 27, 2004