Have you checked out channel 14 lately? What was once a clearing house for infomercials and Blazer replays is slowly morphing into a breeding ground for weird local programming. Mixed in among creepy live feeds of the Lars Larson Show and local wrestling events is Hard Times, a self-proclaimed "Home of the Best Rock Videos on Television." If memory serves, the show was once a staple of KPDX's late night programming.

In its new home, Hard Times rolls out a steady stream of hard rock videos on Saturday and Sunday nights. Last night I caught a fairly hilarious Rammstein video for "Amerika."

I don't know much about Rammstein beyond that "DU HAST!" song and their tendency to set themselves on fire during live shows. Nevertheless, I never took them for the type to delve into broad political commentary. In the video, the band, dressed in space suits, stomps around the moon while chanting "We all live in Amerika! Coca Cola! Wonderbra!" While the Rammstein performs zero gravity guitar solos and struggles to set up an American flag, the camera cuts away to shots of various foreign locales embracing US culture. In one, a motley Santa Claus reads to Swahili children. In another, a middle eastern man lights up a cigarette from a pack of Lucky Strikes.

A tongue-in-cheek German metal song with shout-outs to Mickey Mouse and the White House may not be your cup of tea but it's definitely going on my iPod. After Rammstein finished mock-praising the US, Hard Times cut to a live video for Korn's cover of "Another Brick in the Wall part 2." I sat through the entire thing just to be sure. Yes, indeed, Korn's cover of the Pink Floyd song officially takes the title of Worst Cover Song Ever. The previous champ? Fred Durst's rendition of "Behind Blue Eyes."

Thanks, CNW 14!