Blargh....

Nothing to say...nothing to do...

I really wish I had a hobby that involved...well hobby like activities. Right now I am a half assed gamer. Started LA Noir...started Dead Rising 2. I'm a half assed reader. Started like three books and currently haven't finished one book in the last maybe...three months. Got a ton I would like to read if I had the patience and time to read! But, usually I will just check out the audio book. And by check out I mean obtain through other means than purchase (library if you were wondering)

I'm not artsy, I'm not crafty. I have no patience for models or things with little parts that take a long time to make. Essentially I have a limited window of opportunity to get involved in, well, something.

Does surfing the internet count as a hobby? Are there meetings for people to attend and discuss "surfing" stories? Can I join a club and pay a dues to pretend that I have a hobby?

I guess I could start stalking a celebrity on Twitter until they acknowledge I'm there...or until the block me. But, what fun would that be?

Honestly, I really don't want a hobby...because hobbies, like hookers, cost money.  Not sure I have ever strung those words together to form that sentence before!!

Oh well...I'll think of something. Maybe I can start a Justin Bieber fan fiction chat site? That should be good for a few million hits! Maybe I could take up crappy internet poetry...nah.  I guess I could take some online classes so I could feel like I was again wasting my time in college!! Those were fun years...and I seemed to always have something to do other than my homework!

Changes....

Well...things finally changed today. I was asked to pack my desk up and go home!!

The writing was on the wall. I pretty much saw it coming.

So here I am now....Working from home! Not in a make $1,000,000 in your spare time flipping homes...work from home. Instead I am doing my normal job, just much closer to my bed!

Here's an example of how my day has been altered: my usual day consists of a total of 90min between lunch and breaks...the rest, is work time.

On a normal day for lunch I will re-heat my lunch and watch some random TV show that I have brought in on a flash drive, then spend about 10-15minutes surfing the web. For my break I will surf the web or read a book. Not a lot else that you can get done at 10:30 at night.

Today though was a nice change of pace. I was able to run to Best Buy and return a Cat6 cable I didn't need. Drop a package off with my parents for delivery to the post office. Grab a bit of dinner at the Greek Pita and watch a little Hollywood Treasure over on Syfy.  For my break I fixed a bag of popcorn, watched some Criminal Minds, straightened up my office, started some laundry, and wrote this. All in about 30 min.

Maybe it isn't a big change. Or even a dramatic change. But, I feel like I will be getting more out of my day if ever day can be as packed as this. Maybe in the future I will mix in some video games and cooking just for fun!

Random Movie thoughts

Random thoughts while watching a few movies and tv shows this week along with reading a few articles on-line.

1. Geena Davis needs to get another good role! -- I really missed the bad ass Geena Davis. I don't care what the critics say, The Long Kiss Goodnight was a fun movie. Cutthroat Island....not so much. For fun though check out this look back from Den of Geek.

2. On Joan Jett's brief appearance in Repo! The Genetic Opera -- She looks pretty damn good for a 53 year old Rock Goddess!

3. Arthur's being remade!! -- This one both saddens me greatly and makes me really happy. Dudley Moore was a comic genius. The original Arthur, along with Arthur II on the rocks and Wholy Moses are some of my favorite comedies of all time. Russell Brand is an acquired taste. From what I have seen in the previews and interviews...this could be great. I loved him in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek. His stand up kinda does nothing for me. But, I will reserve judgement until I see the movie this weekend.

4. Sequel to Monster, Inc is coming in 2013 -- All I need to say about this is... HELL YES!! More Mike and Sully? Yes Please (plus any world where Billy Crystal is still making movies, animated or not, is a better world)

5. When Harry Met Sally 2 --  Just watch...then see above comment.

6. I now officially hate MTV  with every fiber of my soul...and it all has to do with this news release (I hate them so much...I'm not even going to type the words!)

7. Hop took in more in it's first weekend than Sucker Punch as to date...makes me kinda worried for Superman!

8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid has taken in almost $10 million more than Sucker Punch...makes me kinda worried for Superman!

9. Back for another Den Of Geek story that has me excited -- Taken 2 Finds is director, and Maggie Grace is back.

10. Bill & Ted 3?? -- Still undecided about this one. Keanu has stated that he thinks there is still a story there to be told. Me...I'm not too sure. One thing I know is that, San Dimas High Football Rules, the movie will not be the same without George Carlin.

$12...Really!!?

Nothing screams kickem' while their down like an offer of $12 to reimburse a person for their troubles. I don't think I'd be offended by that offer if I had to wait too long in line at a store or restaurant. I am fairly sure that the offer would piss me off something serious if it was to help ease the pain of my possible exposure to high levels of radiation!

That is what the people of Namie, Japan (and other town around the damaged Nuclear power plant) have been offered for their "troubles".

Seriously, what the hell!!  Too many dropped calls is trouble. A payment being misapplied is trouble. Growing a radioactive lump on your testicle or having a child born with half an arm is a little more severe.

According to a story over at CNN,  "The company (Tokyo Electric) called the initial offer "payment for their troubles," and would not detail how much money is being offered to each community. But Kousei Negishi, who is the manager of general affairs for Namie, said that it was 20 million yen -- about $12 for each of Namie's roughly 20,000 residents."

Talk about making a bad situation worse....We are so sorry for the inconvenience of you having to move out of your homes and your jobs. We understand that the stress of the situation, along with the possible effects of radiation leaks may cause a serious drop in your quality of life. So, for your troubles we would like to offer you this foot long sub, large Pepsi and a bag of sun chips....but wait there's more...free cookies!! 

The only way the $12 offer could have looked worse to me is if they had presented every person with a giant novelty check for the amount!

Seriously...get you act together and realize that just because the situation may call for an offer of money to the people doesn't mean you should make an offer with the first number that comes to mind!

Best and Worst of Zombies...

Just a few pro's and con's of dealing with, being, and watching the Undead!

Pro's

*No need for a job! -- Let's face it, you are not going to get hired to do a damn thing if you come back from the dead. I don't care how great your CV was prior

*There doesn't seem like there is going to be a big need for cash for anything. -- What with the running (or fast walking) around and eating of brains and all.

*You usually don't see a lot of Zombie on Zombie violence. -- Think about that one. When was the last time you watched a zombie movie that had one Zombie attack another, unprovoked.
*Life span, such as it is, seems to be pretty decent as long as you can get some brains!
*Pretty much everyone knows how to kill a zombie...so even the dummies among us shouldn't have a steep learning curve on how to battle their way to freedom (or at least help their smarter friends survive a little longer).
*Finally those fencing lessons, baseball swing coach sessions and redneck bow hunting sessions will come in handy.


Con's
*You're Fucking un-dead. -- enough said
*Communication skills seem to revert back to grunts and groans with no discernible vocal structure-- On the bright side --> I'll never have to hear a new Justin Beiber song on the radio!!!
*A ton of walking. -- Apparently zombies don't remember how to drive cars so there is a lot of walking and staggering from A to B.
*No sex...at least as far as we know.--  What's the point of living forever as a grumpy flesh eater if, you know, you can't get it on, or even rub one off, without the risk of vital parts just falling off?
*Let's face it, at a certain point we are going to run out of ammo.
Best and worst of the Zombie culture

Best:
World War Z -- Max Brooks
Zombie Survival Guide -- Max Brooks
Shaun of the Dead
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
The Walking Dead
Fido -- tragically under seen zombie movie in my opinion. It's a touching story about a boy...and his pet zombie (p.s. Billy Connelly is Awesome)
Everything George Romero

Worst:
Zombie Strippers
Zombies of Mass Destruction
Most TV zombies prior to The Walking Dead
Running Zombies -- as the motivational picture at the top says, Running Zombies -- Now we're fucked.

Too Close to call:
Internet Zombie Fan fiction-- now I'm not one to begrudge a growing writer...my own blog is no prize winner. But, there has a to be a point where someone says enough is enough. Some of these writers have to have at least one friend who can say "dude, maybe you should just keep that one for yourself." Really this extends out to the whole fan fiction sub genre.  Don't get me wrong. Some is actually really good. There are also some underground zombie fanfic graphic novels that are both well written and well drawn. And as zombie art goes...the Internet is filled with bad ass Zombie art. Take this guy for instance who has been tattooed to look like the undead. Over Kill? Yes. Bad Ass? Hell Yes!

While trying to think where my love of the living dead started I would have to say it was one of the many original Night of the Living Dead movies. Which transitioned me nicely into video games like Resident Evil and then back into movies like Shaun of the Dead, Resident Evil, Night/Dawn/Day of the dead.

(untitled)

I got a moment to ponder things last night at work. Seems people finally decided that late night wasn't the right time to be calling a customer service oriented job. Fingers crossed that the same goes for today with people getting drunk/lucky or both!!

What I got to thinking was the following...God I'm glad I have an unlimited data plan with my iPhone. While spending most of the day listening to Pandora Internet Radio, then most of the night watching episodes of Man-Vs-Food and Futurama on my phone I realized that if I was tied down to a set limit of 2gb I would be going broke pretty damn fast!

Which leads to to another problem for down the road...cell plans for while I am in Europe later this year.  I know that I can purchase international minutes and an international roaming plan. But, I live on the web with my phone. I text and play games, listen to music and watch movies. All using a data plan that I won't be able to use for the 10 days I am out of country.

So, I guess my options are try to curtail my data usage as we get closer to travel time. Or, and this may not be a smart idea, try to go cold turkey!  Once I'm out of the country I'm off the web with the exception of at the hotel or Wi-Fi hot spot!

While cold turkey can be fine. It can also cause more problems then it's worth. Case in point when I tried to stop drinking caffeine cold turkey (not that data usage and a substance dependency is the same) but I ended up sick for a few days and just gave in and chugged a Dew and drank some coffee. Falling off the cold turkey wagon in this case could lead to a cell phone bill that only teenagers have achieved before!

I know I don't want to leave my phone at home and just pick up a European burner! I can only imagine how much fun that would be!

Long story short...I love my unlimited data and if AT&T ever decides that I am no longer "grandfather" eligible and have pay for a data tier I'll probably bitch and moan and consider changing carriers (but probably won't). Until then I will enjoy my unlimited data during a month where I use close to 12gb of data!! Thanks in small part to MLB2011, Netflix, Pandora, Sirius and a host of games!

Random Quotes on/about Baseball...

I feel safe in saying that the MLB season has officially started. Pitchers and catchers have reported. Games have been played. My dad has tickets to the All-Star Game (and Weekly activities). So with that in mind I started to think about great quotes about Baseball, from baseball players, or just referencing baseball.

Here are my personal favorites.

"How did that conversation go from you talking about your vibrator, to him talking about baseball?" -- Yours truly (very proud of this one!)

"I'm too much speed in my mouth!" -- Ricky Henderson, on why he says the crazy things his does.

"The day I become a good loser, I'm quitting baseball. I always had a temper. I think it's nothing to be ashamed of. If you know how to use it, it can help. Temper is something the good Lord gave me and I can't just throw it out the window." - Billy Martin in the Sporting News (10/26/1968)

For the next few they are all the gems of a great man. Catcher and quote machine Yogi Berra:

"All pitchers are liars or crybabies."
"Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours."
"I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did."
"Baseball is ninety percent mental, the other half is physical."
"Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded."
"So I'm ugly. So What? I never saw anyone hit with his face."

Move quotes about baseball:

A good friend of mine used to say, 'This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.' Think about that for a while." -- Bull Durham

"There are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary. And there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I learned that, I gave Jesus a chance." -- Bull Durham


"The one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good, and what could be again" -- Field of Dreams

Serrano: "Ahh, Jesus, I like him very much, but He no help with curveball." .
Haris: "Are you trying to say Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball?"" -- Major League

Needless to say....I am so glad it's baseball season again!  Go Cubs!

Bowties are cool...

"plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" 

"the more it changes, the more it's the same thing"

--Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr

Why is it that the more we move forward...the more we tend to look back? As we tend to get new technology, better technology, the old will phase out and come back years later.
 
Case in point: Record stores are again selling vinyl records. Tapes (audio and video) have come and gone. 8-tracks = dead!. Even DVD has been replaced with HD-DVD (which died a swift death) and Bluray. So what's the fascination with something we were bitching about just a few years ago?
 
When VHS came out it was amazing. You could watch movies in your house! If you had a lot of money you could actually get a video cassette RECORDER allowing you to save your favorite TV shows to watch at a later date. After that amazing invention you had the hugely popular medium of Laser Disc.
 
Laser disc is what got me thinking about his topic. As I said recently I purchased a used Laser Disc player at the local Goodwill store and then went in search or movies to buy. I'm not going to go to crazy with purchases for this dead medium but I did get a few choice titles. 
 
Titles include: Under Siege, The Shadow, Naked Lunch, Flashback, Apollo 13, Star Wars: A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back.
 
While watching New Hope the other night I got thinking about how awesome it was to see in the original, kind of gritty, transfer. Plus, it wasn't messed with by George and the boys at Lucasfilm. At the same time I was enjoying the low fidelity transfer I found myself thinking, "I can't wait to see this in Bluray later this year!"
 
So we are brought back to my main question. What's with the obsession with the past? Especially the near past? I can understand wanting to revist a simpler time when men and women worked with their hands or when our lives weren't bogged down with technology. I even understand the people who want to look at a simpler time combined with the technology of today. (Read hear Steampunk is cool) Fashion makes sense to me. But technology has always been the exception.
 
Will we ever get to the point where watching TV on a smaller screen is cool? I think we already have hit that point. I watched an episode of Firefly on my iPhone today at lunch...doesn't get much smaller than that. Will we ever yearn for the days of dial-up Internet connections? How about getting our news from a sort of paper like object, I think people called it a newspaper? Just kidding! But, when more people get their news from TV, the Internet, and alternate media it's not really that far off to classify newsprint as a dead (or at least on life support) medium.
 
What I'm really trying to say is that as much as I like to think I am hip the the current state of things. I like to have the new and shiny toys. But, I can't help but be caught up in the past. I keep feeling more like that old man you see who still thinks back fondly on a time when his phone number was one digit or when all he had to do was call up the operator and ask to be connected to so-and-so (yes dad I am mocking you!). Oh well...time to dust off my cassette tape copy of the soundtrack to Twister, pop it in my Walkman and go sweat to the oldies.
 
Bonus points if you now realize that the title has nothing to do with the post but you kept reading to see if I was going to be talking about Dr. Who.

Another Year older...

Another year in the life of me has come and gone. I'm a year older and really none the wiser. I'm not making the same mistakes that I made in my youth...but still making mistakes!!

What fun would a mistake free life be? Lucky for me none of the mistakes that I am making now are "life changers" Most of my recent mistakes are of the money management type. But, with a new years come a renewed effort to change that....or at least alter it a bit.

The new year always brings resolutions give you something to strive for during the year....but over the last few weeks I've seen a ton of people update their "bucket list"....AKA things to do before you die!! Kinda like a new years resolution, but with more time to follow through than just a year *hopefully*

So not to be one to miss out on a current trend I too will throw in my 2cents and push forth a bucket list.

1. Travel abroad (hope to check this off this summer)
2. Go to a "ghost hunt" event at the Stanley Hotel
3. Get married and have kids
4. Go to a Superbowl/World Series game featuring the Bears/Cubs
5. Make/Win enough money to own a car that costs more than small house
6. See the Pyramids
7. Shoot under par for a round of golf at a major course
8. Kiss a girl on the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower
9. Fly in a private jet
10. Go to the baseball and football hall of Fame
11. New years in Time Square

Those are the major items...minor items to be filled along the way (in conjunction with above): Irish Pub crawl in Dublin, Jack the Ripper walking tour, visit the Great Wall of China, Fish and chips from a lunch van after a night of drinking in London...]

For right now I would say those are the main items on my list. I don't feel a great urge to swim with the dolphins, or write the great American novel. If either happen I won't be mad...I just won't be looking to actively check them off of my list.

Random thought....

Remember when there was a "National Switch off your TV" Day/Week?   Heck if memory serves even the networks would run PSA's about getting outside during the time or reading a book. Or, God forbid, talk to your family.

I've searched the Internet and can't find a major campaign that is still pushing this thought.The campaign nearest that I could find out there is the NFL Play 60.  Now, before you get too crazy, I'm not one for bringing this back. I'm a firm believer in the fact that good TV is a perfect babysitter (although I have no kids to test this theory out on!) and that the warm glow of the boob tube is a great way to wind down your day.

It seems that while companies would like to see you make the shift to a more family centric life...they have stopped reminding you what you should and shouldn't do. That, in my opinion is a good thing. Preachy commercials bug me to no end. The only time that a firm recommendation is handed out seems to be when a drug company is recommending you to "discuss" with your doctor what drugs you should be taking. Because nothing trumps a medical degree like remembering a catchy comerical It even seems like these companies are proud of the horrendous side effects: Explosive migraine, bleeding ulcer, sudden loss of vision, increased risk of TB, loss of bladder control and my personal favorites --- possible death and/or suicidal thoughts. Those last two usually with depression medications for some reason.

"Take drug X it will help cure your depression..." *medical disclaimer* thoughts of suicide and increased suicidal tendencies have been noted in some patients.  It may just be my warped, non-medical, mind. But, should a drug that is meant to be given to a person who is thinking about  or has attempted, suicide really have the side effect of increasing those thoughts and desires?

But, I digress....

Now, this thought crept up on me not in the sense of watching too much TV...but, when it comes to the monster that is Facebook. 

I'm pretty sure that between the time I get up and when I go to bed I mush check Facebook about 50times. That doesn't take into account when I get an alert on my phone that someone has mentioned me or replied to a post, or replied to a post I put a post on!! Seriously it's offensive how much time I spend looking at Facebook.

You want to know the real sad part? I only really stay connected to a handful of my 215 friends. From time to time I will pop in a comment, a like, or a birthday wish on an additional persons page. But, I would say about 10% of my "friends" are people I read their status' each and every day.

According to a 2007 Bloomberg story "US employers may lose $1.2BILLION in work productivity due to the NCAA tournament." That was in 2007 and I would guess that number has grown. I would say the yearly loss due to Facebook is close to doubling that!! That is not based in fact...just a personal thought.

Not sure why this jumped into my head but it fills the blog space that I'm not getting paid to fill. More importantly it will later update to my Facebook profile and give me one more thing to obsessively review and await responses!!

I'm done!! (AKA another one of those days)

So I think I am going to call it a day! I'm done interacting with people!

The day started off with a misunderstood post on Facebook...which is understandable. Context is big and the written word alone can be misconstrued. Hence the reason we are still debating the true meaning behind great old songs, book, poems, and even artwork out of context is open to interpretation. No worries...

But seriously I think every person, with the exception of my father, that I talked to today didn't know I was speaking the same language as them!

Case in point--when I went to see True Grit (great movie) with my dad the lady at the concession stand wouldn't take no for an answer when I said that I didn't need any candy with my drink. Now that could have been the fact that her job is to sell me things that I don't need. But, in the grand scheme of the day it was just the first (or second depending on when you start counting) of many miscommunications of the day...

I submit for your review my next example.... So I run to the gas station to drop a few bucks into the tank while I have cash and gas is under $3 a gallon. So I tell the cashier I want $10 on 2...he says okay $50 on 1! Where the hell did he get that? Say the two out loud to yourself. Even with a lisp I bet you can't make one sound like other! When I corrected him he gave me that, "don't pretend like you didn't just say $50 on 1" look to me. As I am standing there with a $10 bill in hand!

So I shake that off and head over to CVS Pharmacy to pick up my prescription that is ready. I walk up to the counter that is clearly marked Prescription pick-up...and state "I need to pick up a prescription for James" and the lady just stared at me like I was on fire or had asked her to sell me her first born child! Seriously people I realize I don't have perfect grammar and all but fuck me if I can't have a normal conversation!

I think it was at that point that I decided to document my day just in case someone points out to me later that I am actually a raving nutter. Now...with that done I am going to crawl into my bed and watch some TV and try not to talk to anyone for the rest of the day.

If you do talk/twitter/text/Facebook me and I seem aloof it's not my fault...I blame you! Just kidding *no really it's you* (shakes head no) *I'm serious it's you not me* (shakes head no) yes...no...yes..no........

Two...Two...we got Two?!!

Russell Peters...you are a funny man and you have ruined my life! (but in a good way)

Comedy has always played a big part in my life. Growing up I think I was the only kid I knew who would prefer to listen to a stand up comedy tape (that's right...CASSETTE tape) rather than music. Thanks to my father and grandfather I was raised on the likes of Bill Cosby, George Carlin, Don Rickles, Mel Brooks and many more.

I was transfixed by Cosby the stand up (and then the TV Dad) "Noah, Right!" "Buck Buck" and anything having to do with Fat Albert were my favorites. The bit where he talked about how until the age of 9 he thought his name was dammit and his brother Russell's name was Jesus Christ always got me. 

Carlin's "Class Clown" was, and still is, one of my all time favorite comedy albums. Al Sleet "the Hippy Dippy Weatherman" and the "7 words you can never say on television" are classics not to be outdone. Carlin's humor grew as I did...I got the underlying jokes as I got older...not just the silly stuff. And there was also some profound observations to be had.

I can still remember when I talked a high school teacher into letting me play "bad words", off his Parental Warning album, in class as a part of a speech about context. The routine goes that there are no bad words..just words used in bad context. Carlin then proceeds to list off about 50 racial slurs only to pronounce that the words aren't "bad" but rather it's the context of how they were being used! To this day my favorite class presentation.

As I grew older I picked up other comedic tastes: Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Richard Jeni, Dennis Miller, Denis Leary, Lewis Black, and so forth. To my parents credit they never censored what I listened to...as long as I didn't repeat the curse words in public. Hell as a young white boy growing up in central Illinois my first two CD's I ever owned were Ice-T's "Home Invasion" (listen to the first track titled Warning if you dare) and Wu-Tang Clans "Enter the 36 Chambers".

It was my junior or senior year of high school though that a comedian came to my attention that changed the way I would look at things. That man was Eddie Izzard.

Eddie has a brand of humor that is part story telling part observation and part off the cuff train of thought. He's the only stand-up that I've seen live more than once and he opened my comedic mind to realm of international comics.

I had always been a fan of Monty Python (yeah...I was that kid) and the comedy shows of England. But, I had never really paid attention to stand up from other countries. Once I started to look at Eddie I found other talented comics such as: Dylan Moran, Bill Bailey, Jimmy Carr, Omid Djalili and the aforementioned Russell Peters.

Basically I have a 24 hour comedy channel going on in my head at any given time! While this is entertaining it can cause problems. Laughing is fun...unless the situation calls for being serious. Then you drop into something that the BBC Comedy "coupling" described as the Giggle Loop

"You are surrounded by people for a moment of silence when the Giggle Loop begins... Suddenly out of nowhere this thought comes into your head: the worst thing I could possibly do during a minute's silence is laugh. And as soon as you think that you almost do laugh -- automatic reaction. But you don't, you control yourself, you're fine. Whew.

But then you think how terrible it would have been if you laughed out loud in the middle of a minutes silence. And so you nearly do again, only this time it's a bigger laugh. And then you think how awful this bigger laugh would have been. And so you nearly laugh again, only this time it's a very big laugh, it is an enormous laugh. Let this bastard out, and you get whiplash. And suddenly you are in the middle of this completely silent room and your shoulders are going like you are drilling the road. And what do you think of this situation? Oh dear Christ, you think it's funny!" Jeff -- Coupling - Series 1 - Episode 'Sex, Death & Nudity'

Wish I could say I have never been there...but that's not the case. While the giggle loop is reserved for somber situations there is the close relative that I like to call the "what the hell is that idiot laughing at" (granted it needs a new title). This is when a word or phrase that, out of context isn't funny, makes you laugh out loud like a bloody fool.

Take the word Speed (la Vitesse)...or the phrase we got two! The first is Eddie Izzard/s observation that the movie Speed in French isn't La Vitesse it's...Speed. and the second goes to Russell Peters who riffs on all things Indian and, well...I don't want to ruin that joke!

Basically what I'm saying is that I laugh for no reason and I blame my dad (who thought he was Cosby when I was growing up!)...and Cosby, Carlin, Brooks, Pryor, Leary, Izzard, Peters, Black, Carr and so many more that my brain hurts just now!

Also, a big shout out to Richard "Jeff" Coyle for playing one of the funniest characters ever to grace the small screen and bog up my mind with phrases like: Unflushable, The Zone, The Giggle Loop, Porn Buddies...etc.

The Song of life...

The music that you're drawn to can say a lot about who you are or what mood you're in at any given time.


Fact is, if you’re depressed you may chose to listen to a more somber tune. Hence the continued popularity of The Smiths! (not hating..just usually a go to for me when it been a bad day!)

When you're having a good day you may tend to listen to more up-beat tunes. Why bring down a good day with a depressing ditty about love lost and chances missed. That’s usually why I steer clear of country as a rule of thumb. With only a few exceptions.)

This topic hit me last night at the gym when I decided to hit shuffle instead of using the same old workout mix. A series of completely non-workout type songs came on and seemed to click for me.

It got me thinking, "if your mood can push you in a certain direction when choosing music...does it also change your outlook on the songs you hear that you didn't actively choose?

Or at least does it make you think differently about those songs?"

Case in point: Garth Brooks--Unanswered Prayers. Always been a favorite of mine. Catchy, tells a story and makes a pretty good point. Not really a workout song one that would usually get skipped at the gym...and given your personal mood sometimes downright un-listenable.

Last night while riding the stationary bike it got me thinking...not sure why really. Maybe I'm in a place right now that seems better than where I was last year. Maybe it was a moment of clarity when the song made sense. But in that moment I couldn't have chosen a better song.

It's like listening to a song that you've heard a 1000 times only to finally figure it out. Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young" springs o mind. I'd sung along with that one for years without seeing how truly dirty it was. You know Catholic girls growing up much to late and all!!

I guess sometimes you're just not in the right frame of mind to truly hear a song. Or maybe your mind isn't open enough to let the song speak to you.

To paraphrase the late comedian Richard Jeni...why is it that when your going through a rough breakup that every radio station on the dial is "All Love Songs All The Time"? Sappy crap that makes you want to stick your head in the oven!!!

It comes down to perception, plain and simple.

As a music lover it's amazing that a song you want nothing to do with one day, can speak to you a short time later. Kinda like how those around us draw us into the gravitational field of music likes and dislikes. If it wasn't for friends and loved ones I'd have missed out on the likes of: Gram Parsons, T.Rex, New Riders of thePurple Sage, Mumford and Sons, Tinie Tempah, Jenny Lewis, Rilo Kiley, Jack Johnson, Ryan (not Bryan) Adams....and a myriad of similar artists.

Granted I'd have found some on my own. But some would have remained unknown (Parsons) or disregarded (Johnson--even though he's in my iTunes library for a few songs and I've owned CDs in the past!). That's the joy of music. You may think you have a song or artist figured out until something changes in you or your life to open you up new possibilities and ways of thought.

Don't pigeon hole a song or artist because you hated it or didn't get it at some point. There's always the opportunity for a comeback...if you just give it a second chance.

To end I'll throw you a wise word from Jenny Lewis, off her album (with the Watson Twins) Rabbit Fur Coat..."you are what you love, not what loves you back." Sometimes those things that you love will rub off on those around you and change their perceptions of life. But only if they are open to a little change. So don't be ashamed of those things you love...be it music, art , literature. Share them! Be proud of that part of you that drew you to those things! Most importantly...be open to new things. You may surprise yourself!

Random thoughts...

I need to take more pictures so I can justify paying the cost to renew my flickr account!!

I guess that is what vacations and random trips to cool places are for!

Random Thought...

While reading an interview with Naveen Andrews (of the greatest show on TV..LOST) over at E!.com's Watch With Kristen section I got to thinking after this question....

Steve Jones, the former Sex Pistol, guided you to your first AA meeting. How did you get to know him?

I met him at a dinner party in L.A., and I was shocked to meet somebody who had been in that band who was not completely drugged out. I found that really intriguing, and it made me think, "If he's done it, then maybe I've got a chance."--Naveen Andrews

My thought is....what does that second "A" stand for in AA?