While driving to get a haircut with T2 yesterday, I was listening to the radio. The DJ on the stationtook off on a tangent about Jackson Browne and that, of course, led to him talking about the McCain ad over which Browne sued the campaign, the RNC and the Republican Party of Ohio.

First, the campaign didn’t make the ad, and neither did the RNC. Browne clearly needs to stick to songwriting because he’s no lawyer (and apparently, neither are his lawyers). Suing McCain and the RNC for an OH GOP ad is like suing McDonald’s because you got a bad cheeseburger at Wendy’s – based on the theory that they all make hamburgers and therefore share in the liability.

All three of these groups are separate legal entities. Suing one for the actions of the other is not legally supportable unless you can prove collusion, which is unlikely (and I’m not even sure that would support anything other than an FEC violation).

Second, Browne’s suit is clearly politically motivated. You don’t sue organizations that had nothing to do with the ad unless you’re trying to make a political point. Browne could have sued the Ohio GOP, but he knew that wouldn’t make news. So they named the RNC and McCain as well. This is about politics and the alleged infringement is BS.

Third, very telling about Browne’s suit is this passage:

The 59-year-old singer claims his reputation has already been damaged and is seeking more than $75,000 in damages.

Browne released “Running on Empty” ‚Äî the song and an album by the same name ‚Äî in 1977. According to the lawsuit, the album has sold more than 7 million copies.

So Browne is suing over a song that’s 31 years old. He’s claiming $75,000 in damages. It seems likely to me that Browne’s sales as a result of this little publicity ploy should result in more sales of the album/song than he has seen in years otherwise.

This isn’t about a musician who was grievously injured by the misuse of one of his songs by a politician he does not support. It is much more likely that Browne suing McCain was more about getting his name in the paper and moving some units of an old song that was likely to remain largely forgotten otherwise.

Need further evidence that Browne’s political activism has hampered his sales, leading to his latest publicity outing? Try this from Billboard.com

With his first four albums, Browne built a loyal following that helped him break into the mainstream with 1976’s The Pretender. During the late ’70s and early ’80s, he was at the height of his popularity, as each of his albums charted in the Top Ten. Midway through the ’80s, Browne made a series of political protest records that caused his audience to gradually shrink…

Browne hasn’t released a new album in six years, instead pursuing “intimate (read: small), acoustic shows around the globe”.

Unable to draw an audience, and unable to sell his unique brand of burned out hippy protest albums, Browne is left with only one option: strike out in a ridiculously frivolous lawsuit at a campaign that has nothing to do with your claim in a desperate attempt to get attention.

Well, Jackson, you’ve succeeded.

Jeff Simmermon, a blogger at And I Am Not Lying, and a fellow cable industry shill, links to what may now be my favorite stop action animation piece of all time. It’s a music video for Zombie Zombie’s Driving This Road Until Death Sets You Free. The video, features footage of the band performing interspersed with the action figure remake of The Thing. Check it out.

To answer the unasked question, my previous favorite stop action animation was Juke-Bar. You can view it at the National Film Board of Canada’s website.

If you’re into really good music, regardless of genre, you owe it to yourself to check out Rodrigo y Gabriela. As a couple of metal heads from Mexcio, Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero drifted to Dublin, Ireland and began playing high energy Spanish influenced guitar. They count among their inspirations everything from Salsa to Black Sabbath – their latest album even includes covers of Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven and Metallica’s One.

Check out the video for Diablo Rojo below.

A few weeks ago I launched a Twitter project called @MoviesIn120. The idea was to share movie reviews in 120 characters or less. I’ve been having a good time with that and it’s starting to build a good base of followers.

Today I decided to kick off @MusicIn120 or less for much the same reason – it’s a way to share good music, concert reviews, and artist info quickly.

As a huge fan of both music, I thought it would be a fun outlet to share some thoughts and hear from others about what they’re listening to. I hope you’ll check it out.

Finally, as a housekeeping note, the reason for “120″ is two-fold. First, I retweet reviews from others and the 20 characters between 120 and Twitter’s limit of 140 allow me space for a byline. Second, I’m in the process of developing a pseudo-SocNet at both MoviesIn120.com and MusicIn120.com that will allow people to upload two minute (or 120 second) video and audio clips to review (or recreate or reenact) the music/movie in question, search for and find short reviews for movie they’re interested in, or simply discuss the topics.

If you’re a fan of the Muppets and Rick Astley, you’ll love this.