Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
Oh Lord, yesterday was just one of those days my friends. My Wednesday ended up being saved by a wicked band practice and copious amounts of Regular Coors (the Banquet Beer and by copious I mean 3 or 4) but it was close man, it was real close. I almost lost it there for a while. The work just kept piling up and my boss told me that Friday we have to dress business casual because his boss is coming in ( as an example of why this is such a problem for me today i am wearing a Mets tshirt, jeans and my red torn up converse. I usually wear something similar everyday). The morons that inhabit the cubes around me would not stop talking about their kids and their diseases and their vacations and what they had for breakfast and what they were going to have for dinner and i didnt get to eat any lunch because i had to pick up a bag that i thought would fit my bands keyboard on my lunch break and the key board ended up not fitting in the bag and i was late getting back from lunch because people dont know how to drive any more and i got stuck behind a school bus and car drives funny, it makes funny noises and it feels like it is being ripped apart in a nuclear explosion when i hit pot holes, etc. etc. insert your own daily horror stories here…
I needed an outlet as i do four out of five business days. I needed a friend and a confidant and someone that would not only understand what i was going through but would stand up for my rights as some one who wants to jump out the window because the bottom rung of society will not stop laughing its hideous maniacal laugh in regards to something that isnt funny. Let me ask you a question, how long should a debate about how much you would be willing to pay for a double disc edition of Aeon Flux staring Charlize Theron last? The answer is not an hour which is how long that exact conversation lasted over my head between the person that sits opposite me and their boy friend.
I needed to commune with a person or rather a being who could commiserate with my misery. So i reached into my pocket pulled out my ipod and found the person who is always there for me…Bill Hicks. I loaded up Rant in E-Minor and set my soul to relax.
I was really mad though people and i needed something else besides Mr. Hicks. I needed an extra jolt of fury in my putrid office kitchen coffee-ish sludge. So, went through the entire Bill Hicks catalog made a mix of favorites and then made of mix of some appropriatly chaotic and angry and sometimes but not always loud music. I finished my mix around 5pm. My shift ended at 6 so i spent the rest of the afternoon floating down the soothing river and mutual angst and cultural indigestion.
The music mix looks like this:
The Fox - Sleater Kinney
New Wave - Against Me!
If White America Told the Truth for One Day Its World Would Fall Apart - Manic Street Preachers
Careening With Conviction - Mission of Burma
World Wide Suicide - Pearl Jam
Waiting Room - Fugazi
Working Class Hero - John Lennon
Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) - Jimi Hendrix
I think everyone probably has a ‘One of those days’ mix.
Posted in music, whatever | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
This is my first official post but I need to back track and comment on a few events before I start dealing with current issues.
- Barack Obama – There is a primary in Wisconsin today and Barack absolutely needs to win it. He can not afford to let Hilary gain even a shred of momentum going into March 4th. I am not politically intelligent as you will see going forward, but if I know anything its that Barack needs to put his foot on the gas here and keep on rolling. I wouldn’t say that im a fervent supporter of Senator Obamas. I haven’t been to any of his rallies and I haven’t donated any real money. I have a bumper sticker on the back of my car and a cardboard sign in the living room window of my house that’s hard to see from the street if the sun hits it just right which it usually does but I am excited about the prospect of this man being our next president. I think issues in Presidential elections are almost secondary. I know that probably sounds crazy but I just feel like once you are in office your reality changes and your issues and beliefs have to adapt accordingly. However I will say that he has been the most realistic candidate this year. He is aware of the divide between Republicans and Democrats and has structured his plans, programs and ideas in a way that will appeal to members of both parties in an effort to do some real work for the good of the country. I haven’t heard him say once, regarding his use of the House and the Senate, that it is, effectively, his way or the highway. I think he believes that when all is said and done we will be able to find OUR way and that’s why Im supporting him for president. If he doesn’t win the nomination I will admit that I will be a little sad about it, but I definitely think that Hilary Clinton will make a fine president. I just think Barack Obama would make a better one.
- The Grammys – Dear God in heaven what a freaking sham this whole event is. If I thought that swearing on my blog would be a good idea I would be swearing all over the place right now. I am just so disgusted with the state of the music industry. I know that no one except the previously mentioned music industry puts very much stock into these things but I personally, as a musician and a card carrying member of the “Not an Idiot Club,” find it just so insulting they someone somewhere actually believes that Amy Winehouse should win any kind of award. I dont feel this way because shes a drug addict, I feel this way because shes terrible. At the end of this post I will list 10 records that came out this year that are better than almost every record that got nominated for any award at this years Grammys. And do I think that Herbie Hancock won Album of the year because the Grammy voters actually thought that it was the best record of the year. No I do not. I think they gave it to him because hes nice and he makes nice music and because he plays the piano nicely and because he has Norah Jones on that record and shes nice. The fools that hand out the Grammys love to reward music that you don’t have to think about, that has a good beat or that you can listen to if youre having trouble falling asleep. Im glad my parents had the foresight to teach me the word Travesty. Try falling asleep to these records(in no particular order):
Against Me – New Wave
Espers – II
Wilco – Sky Blue Bky
PJ Harvey – White Chalk
Dinosaur Jr – Beyond
Miles Davis – The Complete on the Corner Sessions
Grinderman – Grinderman
Neil Young – Chrome Dreams II
Okkervil River – Stage Names
Ted Leo – Living with the Living
Posted in Politics, music | No Comments »
