from Figure It Out to Fiona

Day 449, Session 94:
When/Where: Friday September 14th - Home for the weekend, or at least for a few hours before hitting the road.
First song: Figure It Out by Maroon 5
Last full song: Fiona by the Argument
Progress: 1328-1341 of 5311 (1 skipped podcast)
Total Songs Heard: 1100

1100 songs! We haven't done this in a while, so let's take a look at some stats:

1100 songs in 449 days = 2.45 songs per day (a not unexpected down turn after a 4-month layoff)
5311-1341 = 3969 tracks to go
Of 1341 tracks so far, 241 (1341-1100) have been skipped/podcasts/added later/whatever = 17.9% skipped
3969-(3969*17.9%) = approximately 3259 songs to go accounting for skipped tracks
3259 songs/2.45 songs a day = 1330 days to go (3.6 years)
Estimated date of project completion = April 2011

More realistically we should be able to get the rate back up to around 5 songs a day (at least.) Which would make it more like:
3259 songs/5 songs a day = 652 days to go (1.8 years)
Estimated date of project completion = July 2009

Well folks, it looks like I'm in it for the long haul. Of course it's also possible that there are life changes coming soon that will allow me to devote a little more time to this project. At least we can hope.

I realize this was a pretty pointless post. For more interesting content, I point you toward more pictures of my nephew. That awesome remote control bouncy chair? From a pretty great aunt and uncle.

from February Stars to Figure Eight

Day 445, Session 93:
When/Where: Monday September 10th - Heading home after the start of another blah week.
First song: February Stars by Foo Fighters
Last full song: Figure Eight by Blossom Dearie (yes that is her real name)
Progress: 1303-1319 of 5303
Total Songs Heard: 1087

It's been a long and reasonably blah week round these parts. Still struggling with achieving a work/life balance that doesn't leave me mostly miserable most of the time. Here were the songs that were heard on this particular slog (train construction has made the average trip home (which used to be 30 minutes) take about 45, this one took an hour) of a trip home.

February Stars - Foo Fighters
Fee - Phish
Feeling Called Love - Pulp
Fell in Love - Moxy Früvous
Festive Overture - Dmitri Shostakovitch
Festive Road - The Divine Comedy
Fett's Vett - mc chris
Fever - Peggy Lee
Fewer Words - Badly Drawn Boy
fibber - dave matheson
Fiction - Garrison Keillor
Fifteen Keys - Uncle Tupelo
Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover - Simon & Garfunkel
Fight The Power - Barenaked Ladies
Fighting The Destroyer Droids - John Williams
Fighting The Guards - John Williams
Figure Eight - Blossom Dearie

My favorite tune from this group was Fett's Vett by mc chris. If you're an Aqua Teen Hunger Force fan, you may no may know mc chris better as MC Pee Pants/Sir Loin/Little Brittle. (If you're not an ATHF fan, then that last sentence probably made the least sense of anything I've written so far.) His first cd is available for download at his website. If you're into nerdcore rap, you should definitely pick it up. If you're not sure what the hell nerdcore rap is, take a listen:

Fett's Vett - mc chris

Lest I Eeyore this place up too much with my recent moping. I'd like to announce how happy I am to discover that this website is currently the #2 destination on the entire innerwebs if you Google the words: exploding hippos.

One more about the blog note: I've found a place online that will allow me to host mp3 files for free. I'm still not sure how exactly that site is supposed to make money or why it's free, so I also don't know what to expect as far as how dependable it is. If you try to play or download one of songs in a recent post and it's consistently unavailable let me know.

from Farewell to February

Day 440, Session 92:
When/Where: Wednesday September 5th - Post-work/Pre-bowling train ride home.
First song: Farewell And Goodnight by Smashing Pumpkins
Last full song: February by Dar Williams
Progress: 1289-1306 of 5321
Total Songs Heard: 1070

Just a few quick notes from what I heard yesterday:

Every time I hear it, I wish Farewell And Goodnight was a better song. With a title like that it seems like it would a great ending song to a mix tape/cd or, at the very least, would have been a good way to sign off the old Matt & Joey Show when our shift ended at 2am. Unfortunately, it's not that great. It's just kinda there. Attention musicians who read this blog, please record a better song with the title Farewell And Goodnight. Mix cds and late night college radio everywhere need it.

Father & Son by the artist formerly know as Cat Stevens contains one of my favorite ridiculous lines in all of musicdom:

You're still young, that's your fault...

Say what now?!? A father singing to his son is saying that it's the son's fault he's young? How is that possible? You are the age you are. At least until time travel comes along. I mean, if the father really wanted an older son, shouldn't he have gotten about the business of having said son earlier? That way the father could have been singing the same song at the same age, but the kid would be older. That seems like it's the father's fault, not the kid's!

If my Dad ever tried to give me advice and blamed me for the fact that I wouldn't get it because of my youth, I have trouble taking anything else he said seriously.

Oh shit. It just occurred to me that I may not understand that particular line of the song because I AM NOT OLD ENOUGH! Maybe in another 10 or 15 years it will make perfect sense. Remind me to revisit this entry in 2022.

February is one of the saddest songs I know. The lyrics are sad, the music is sad (especially the overriding cello,) the way the lyrics are sung (plaintive? I'm not good with words) sad. All the feelings of a relationship caught in a long slow death spiral equated to the month of my birth. Whether it be an actual romantic relationship, or your feelings towards your job, or a friendship that falls out of touch, eventually it all feels dark and cold and even when you try and dig out of the snow... the next day, it's snowing again.

And February was so long, that it lasted into March...

It really is a fantastic song. (As long as you like contemplative/sad/folky music.) It'll be linked up here later tonight. Here it is:

February - Dar Williams

from Fallin to Fare Thee Well

Day 435, Session 91:
When/Where: Friday August 31st - Heading home for the holiday weekend.
First song: Fallin by De La Soul Ft. Teenage Fanclub
Last full song: Fare Thee Well by Indigo Girls
Progress: 1268-1281 of 5288
Total Songs Heard: 1052

Passed the "Family" section of titles today, including the song Family Tree by Ben Kweller. I've actually been thinking quite a bit about the old family tree recently, what with my recently becoming an uncle and all. I've been lucky with my tree. It's been very straight forward and easy to understand. My parents have stayed together so there's no extra branching for step- or half- siblings. My grandparents were the same way, so there's only 4 of them to worry about. I grew up with all the parents and grandparents (along with a bunch of aunts, uncles, and cousins) involved in my life, so there's no tricky question marks along the way. Not that there's anything wrong with step-siblings or the occasional intriguing question mark, but my simple mind has enough trouble keeping track of the number of relatives I have.

4 grandparents (although I've had 6 grandparent figures in my life, the rest of the tree gets way complicated if I start down that road.)
2 parents
2 sisters
8 aunts & uncles related by blood (not counting their spouses)
13 1st cousins
and now 1 nephew.

Any theoretical kids of mine are going to have an even smaller tree than I do; the wife and I only combine for 3 siblings. I guess it's getting that way all over. As time goes on the family unit keeps shrinking. Don't need as many kids to mind the farm or to go to work to help pay the bills. I'm not doing anything to help the situation either. I wonder if somewhere down the line the ever shrinking American family will come back and bite us in the ass.

I suppose as long as we have die-hard Catholics and ineffective abstinence-only teaching in school we don't have much to worry about.

Family Tree - Ben Kweller