iPod Discovery

Shameless Plug

I'm sure that you'll all be excited to hear that I've started another blog over here.  No iPod, less babbling, more updates, more links.

Six Degrees of Hoople

Sorry it's been a while since the last post.  I've been busy with other stuff lately.  You know those little things like work, home, friends, etc.

Regardless, the iPod's been serving up lots of Mott the Hoople recently.  In particular I think I've heard Half Moon Bay about three times this past week.  This raises an interesting question about actually how random songs are selected, but I digress.

A mentor of mine gave me a MTH album some years back as he was a big fan but, I'll admit, I never listened to it.  Thankfully the random experiment has opened my ears and it seems like I've been missing out.  Once you get past the fact that the MTH lead singer sounds like Bob Dylan, there's a lot of interesting stuff going on - metal, glam rock, cynicism, homoerotic imagery, etc.

Speaking of interesting and homoerotic, GCCT recently sent me this link.  Who would have thought that there are only six degrees of separation between MTH and Megadeth or eight degrees between Kansas and Joy Division?

Only Phish

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a big Phish fan.  And given the amount of their music I have in my collection (2.3 gigs or 1.7 days worth) it's no surprise that I usually hear at least one Phish tune per day, usually more.

Some of you not familiar with Phish may wonder how (or why) I can have so much music by a single band.  Several reasons: 1) Phish allowed taping of their concerts; 2) Phish played a lot of concerts (1,183); 3) Phish played a lot of songs at their concerts (19); and 4) Phish had a huge repertoire (647 songs).

Today I heard the last song Phish ever played together, The Curtain With.  I was lucky enough to be in attendance for this performance, along with my long time phriend and road trip buddy, Chris K.  Of the 50 or so shows I attended over the years, Chris was there for many -  a better brother one could not have.

Another buddy of mine, David T., recently forwarded me this great link.  The set up is basically that a prankster sent a bunch of letters to a variety of bands (The Rolling Stones, Janes Addiction, among others) under the guise of being a rabid fan who "accidentally" downloaded a copy of a song.  Along with the letters were checks representing payments for the songs.

I don't want to ruin the prank for you but let's just say that the boys from Burlington showed another reason why they are one of the best bands of all time and will always be one of my favorites.

F*cking TypePad!!!

So I just spent the better part of two hours composing a long, thoughtful, humorous post bursting with interesting links and goddamn TypePad craps out on me.  Yeah, thanks for the error message, jackasses.  A lot of good that does me after I've lost everything!  I cannot begin to describe how frustrating this is.  And it's not the first time it's happened.

I'm too drained to rewrite the post right now - I need a drink.

Note to any TypePad employee who sees this:  How about a "save draft" button plainly visible in the toolbar instead of the "draft" option in the posting status dropdown that's not even above the fold?

Madonna and the Apocalypse

Way back when, commenter Finnious Maximus expressed his hope that as few top 40 songs would make their way into this blog.  Well, it was bound to happen and today the random train dropped off Madonna's Ray of Light on my doorstep.  No, I don't know how it made its way into my collection but I handled it pretty well.  I actually even enjoyed it a little.

Hearing Madonna's crooning got me to thinking about top 40 radio.  This in turn got me to thinking about radio in general.  Radio in general then landed me here.  Something tells me it's not top 40 but it's definitely a radio station, not a ray of light, and possibly this week's sign that the apocalypse is upon us.

(Thanks, I think, Moo.)

You Weren't Watching?

"I think this is the best Grammy Awards we've ever seen," U2's Bono said Sunday night.  Too bad he was one of the few who actually watched it.

I know this is going to come as a real shock but, according to Nielsen, the Grammys drew their lowest total viewership in a decade and fell sharply among advertisers' coveted 18 to 49 year old demographic.  I guess I shouldn't feel too badly after all.

As for Bono's comment, not everyone quite agrees with his take.  (Yeah, yeah.  I know its from the National Review.  But hey, I'm being opportunistic here.)

:UPDATE:  Even liberals thought the show stunk.  See, there is something in common on the opposite sides of the aisle.

The Grammy Train

I'm sure that none of you will read this post until later because you're all excitedly doing anything else but watching Queen Latifah host the Grammy Awards on CBS.  Myself, I would have completely forgotten about them except for the fact that the iPod served up what I recalled as a previous winner, Christopher Cross' 1981 song of the year, Sailing, during a quick jaunt to the store.

I couldn't care less about the Grammys and a quick peek at the official website revealed that I do not own a single album, record, or song by any of the artists up for awards this year (I only looked at the "general field" awards - not specific categories like best metal performanc, etc.) nor anything by nominees for best new artist.  I'd like to think that I have fairly well-rounded musical tastes but I got to wondering how far out of step I may be with the Academy.

I thought I'd see how many best new artists or song, record, or album winners from the past 20 years I count in my collection.  (What exactly is the difference between a record and an album?  Seriously, help me out here.)  Here's the cross-over:

Songs of the Year

1. Beautiful Day, U2 - 2001
2. Streets of Philadelphia, Bruce Springsteen - 1995

Records of the Year

1. Clocks, Coldplay - 2004

Albums of the Year

1. O Brother Where Art Thou?, soundtrack - 2002
2. Faith, George Michael - 1989

Best New Artist

None (I do have some songs by a few of these artists, but nothing for which they won awards.)

(Believe me, I didn't expect to have to disclose that George Michael thing when I started this post but what can I say?)

Anyway, there you have it.  Not much overlap.  In looking at the previous winners list I did see a few things that I should have but, all in all, I'm not going to stress about Celine, Alanis, Whitney, or Phil missing from my collection.

19th Century Rip-Off Artist?

Today, as I listened to Jerome Rose perform Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 1 in C minor, I was reminded of an email I recently received from my buddy, Big Baller, one of the LA Bachelor Boys.

Big Baller said that he had just been listening to some classical radio program and that this guy came on saying that he'd figured out that the main theme underlying Strauss' Blue Danube is totally derivative of Mozart's Concerto No. 1 in G minor.  In Big Baller's words*:

Strauss: What a f*ckin' dick!!!!

I bet if Wolfgang Amadeus had still been alive when Strauss wrote that shit, he totally would have f*cking kicked him in his Austro-Hungarian nuts.  Or at least demanded some f*ckin’ props.  Strauss is like the f*cking hip-hop sampling ripper-offer of the 19th century.

I always knew I hated that bohemian cockbag.

I don't know what's funnier - the phrase "bohemian cockbag" or that I received an email concerning classical music from a guy whose nom de plume is "Big Baller".  In any event, I'm on the case trying to verify this for myself.  Stay tuned.

*Big Baller okayed me quoting his email.

Freedom for Baggy Pants!

In follow up to yesterday's post, the infamous "droopy pants bill" has been unanimously killed in a Virginia state senate committe.   Republican Sen. Kenneth Stolle, the committee chairman, called the bill "a distraction."  No shit, Sherlock.

Why is it that at every level of government in this country the house chambers of legislative bodies (the one in this case that passed the bill) are filled with idealogues and nutjobs?

Beware of Baggy Pants

Today the random train delivered Eminem's Lose Yourself from the 8 Mile soundtrack to my door.  Interesting genre selection given what I've been reading about a ridiculous bill making its way through the Virginia state legislature.

You've heard about this, right?  Virginia is seeking to make it a crime for having your underwear showing above your pants.  Yep, wearing droopy drawers can now get you a fine of $50.

First of all, it's obvious that this bill isn't directed at plumbers and the like.  Secondly, I'm willing to wager that there isn't even a law on the books in Virginia that makes it a crime to walk around in nothing but my boxers if I so desire, period.  However, that's not the real point.  The real point is WTF?!

What kind of sick, twisted, holier-than-thou country is this where some dingus politician can tell me how to dress?  Believe me, I'm not a fan of the pants below the ass look (on men - gals, you have my solid support).  But what in the world gives the Virginia legislature the right to dictate fashion policy?  As long as "the boys" are safely tucked away, what's the problem?

The problem is that this is just another example of the moral minority trying to stifle our liberties.  Jeff Jarvis takes this topic on all the time at his blog, BuzzMachine, and continually points out how a few moralistic nutjobs (remember/beware Brent Bozell of the Parents Television Council) are attempting to force their belief systems on the rest of us by trying to influence government policy.

Hey, VA legislators, do us all a favor and start tackling some real issues like affordable prescription drugs, health insurance, or even spam for god's sake, and leave the fashion policing to the pros.