from Indonesian Wine to Infinite Tamboura

Day 913, Session 150:
When/Where: Friday December 26th - 36,000 feet over somewhere.
First song: Indonesian Wine by SNMNMNM
Last full song: Infinite Tamboura by Rusted Root
Progress: 2111-2112 of 6078
Total Songs Heard: 1937

"Why on earth are you writing an entry on only two songs?" you may ask.

I didn't want 2008 to end without squeezing out one more entry, and I wanted to tell the story of my flight to Vegas and then you can judge whether it's a metaphor for anything else (like my entire year.)

The annual post-Christmas pilgrimage to Las Vegas started off not so great. Our 2:45 flight became a 6:30 flight due to weather problems in sweet home Chicago. Once we got on the plane however, things were looking up. The Wife and I were able to snag seats in the exit row which of course meant greatly enhanced leg room for the duration of the now 5.5 hour (usually about 4.5, but again, the weather) flight. I realize I'm not particularly tall and so taking the exit row seats when there was an entire basketball team getting on the plane after us (go Ohio Northern Fighting Northerners!) seems like something of a dick move, but my knee tends to go a bit wacky when I'm forced into cramped seating for an extended period and I have to constantly get up to stretch it. With the exit row, there's no need for getting up. (Plus, it's not like the entire basketball team could have fit in the exit row anyhow and if they really wanted that row, they should have checked in exactly 24 hours before the flight like we did.)

As the rest of the passengers filed on, I noticed a kid (probably 2 or 3 years old) getting into the row behind us.

"Uh, oh." I whispered to The Wife, but she assured me that she had seen this kid in the waiting area and that he had quiet, if a little rambunctious. (I found out later from my mom that he had been trying to tip over one of the big airport trashcans.)

4 hours later I wanted to strangle the kid and both of his adult "guardians." The child in the row behind us began wailing approximately 8 seconds after take off. He continued to scream without stop for the entire duration of the flight. I think it might have been a world record. As an added bonus, I was sitting directly in front of him and he was keeping the beat to his cry-fest by drumming what I was assuming were his feet against the back of my seat.

I assumed it was his feet, but for all I know it could have been his head. Unlike everyone else around me, I refused to turn around and look at the sorry group of adults who were responsible for this child. I was so filled with loathing for their existence that I feared if I turned around and stared them down the power of my furious glare would reduce them all to ash. I didn't want the death of 3 more people on my conscience.

I attempted to self medicate my way out of this sonic filabuster with enough drink to put me to sleep (free as a peace offering for the lateness of our flight, thanks Southwest!) but the screaming was too much. I attempted to drown it out by finding the loudest music on my iPod and playing it at full blast. This worked to an extent, but I'm not a person who really enjoys blasting music directly into my brain via headphone, so it was not an ideal solution.

Then... I took out a pen to put the memories of this experience down on paper. I wrote exactly one sentence before discovering that the pen couldn't take the screaming anymore and decided to end it all in the most dramatic way a pen can... by exploding. Black pen blood coated my hand. Adjusting the pen to see where the fatal wound was only made things worse. So now I've got a screaming, kicking kid and blood... er, ink on my hands. I'm seriously considering throttling the kid, the kid's parents, and myself at this point, so I have to wash the ink off so as to leave less evidence.

I headed to the plane bathroom, and since I had had a couple of drinks, I decided to kill a second bird while washing my hands. I'm siting there returning a portion of my rented drinks (sitting because of a previous plane/turbulence/restroom experience) and I decide I'll wash my hands at the same time. Yeah, that was a mistake. It turns out those airplane sinks pack a surprising amount of water pressure. So now I'm covered in water, and ink (and luckily that's all.)

I get back to my seat and decide that I might as well spend the remaining tortuous time of the flight working on this here project and of course, just as I get through the second song they make the announcement that we're making our final approach. Five minutes after that the kid's mother finally wakes up (she somehow has been sleeping almost the entire flight!) and holds the kid, at which point the kid finally stops crying.

This is not the kind of luck you want on your side as you begin a trip to Vegas.

I promise you this, if two years from now my 18-month kid (codename: Gummy) is causing that sort of misery to my fellow passengers, you can bet that we'll be solving that problem with children's Benadryl and airplane bottle sized doses of liquor.

So that's it for 2008. It was a bad year for one reason (no job) outweighed by the many reasons it was a good year: Phillies' World Series Title, Obama victory, success for the wife at her job, financial stability, continued good health for me and my family, and, last but certainly not least, the news of impending Gummy.

Of course there's no reason 2009 can't be even better. I hope it is for you too.

Happy New Year.

from Incident On 57th Street to Indian War Whoop

Day 907, Session 149:
When/Where: Saturday December 20th - Pre-travel cleaning and laundry.
First song: Incident On 57th Street by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Last full song: Indian War Whoop by John Hartford
Progress: 2108-2115 of 6090
Total Songs Heard: 1935

Actual writing to come, but in case I don't finish before then (which I probably won't seeing as how Christmas Eve starts in earnest momentarily:)

Merry Christmas!

If you're not a Christmas person, well then:

Happy Hanukkah!

Even if you don't necessarily celebrate these particular holidays I offer you:

Good Health and Happiness on this nondescript Thursday!

That should cover it.

from In The Days... to Inbetweener

Day 903, Session 148:
When/Where: Tuesday December 16th - Music to shovel snow by.
First song: In The Days Of The Caveman by Crash Test Dummies
Last full song: Inbetweener by Sleeper
Progress: 2090-2103 of 6082
Total Songs Heard: 1927

There's a reason the tag i got nothin' exists. Good songs today, but nothing that jarred loose a particularly strong sentiment to write on.

I heard this particular group while shoveling the first substantial snowfall of the season. It was the perfect snow. About 5 inches of dry light powder. It brushed easily off the car and really wasn't much of a big deal to shovel. It probably took me all of 15 minutes to shovel. Sure it wouldn't have made very good snowballs, but it was exactly the sort of snow that is wonderful to look at assuming you don't hate everything winter. We're supposed to be getting the first 'big one' of the season tonight from the same storm that left 3 inches of snow in Vegas (hope the snow's still there when I get to Vegas next week.)

I like snowfall because it means I finally get to be a contributing member of our "condo association." It gets quotes because there's only three units in our association, so all of the grounds maintenance is the responsibility of everyone who lives here. The upstairs neighbors do all of the planting and gardening, the back yard neighbor did most of the lawn mowing, and I generally avoid outside all spring/summer/fall so I don't feel guilty seeing them work. Once winter rolls around it's a different story! I like the cold! I like shoveling! I contribute!

The bad news: despite the ease with which the shoveling went, I woke up the next morning to the unpleasant surprise of a sore lower back. Like, really sore. Sore to the point where I actually broke out the heating pad to try to get the damned thing to loosen up. I am 1000 years old. (<-- hidden song lyric.) So yeah, I've got nothing here, outside of the standard "my body is breaking down at an alarming rate" complaints. Instead of dragging us both through my lack of creative process I instead leave you with this flashback to 1995. If you were around college age and listened to the station in your town that was called "The Edge" or "The X" surely you'll be magically transported. If you're like me, you'll also wonder... Whatever happened to Spacehog?

In The Meantime - Spacehog

from In A Future Age to In the Curve

Day 895, Session 147:
When/Where: Monday December 8th - Hanging around the house
First song: In A Future Age by Wilco
Last full song: In the Curve by The Avett Brothers
Progress: 2053-2072 of 6037
Total Songs Heard: 1913

Haven't deleted anything in a while, so let's do that now. Goodbye, In Deux Time by Deux Process. I just couldn't get over their constant pronunciation of the world deux like it was the word dew. It was one of those iTunes free singles of the week, so it's not like I had any real attachment to the thing.

The Wife has recently given up the coaching of the basketball dance team at her high school to concentrate full-time (well, you know, full-time after her day full of teaching) on the school flag team. For those of you who weren't nerds in high school and thus didn't spend much time around the marching band, in the fall, the flag team performs with the band at football games, but apparently in the winter, the flag team performs on their own at competitions. (I would like to note here that The Wife's school didn't even have a winter flag team until last year when she started the program by volunteering to coach it. The Wife is pretty awesome.)

Since there's no band playing with the winter team, they have to choose a piece of music to perform with. Monday night The Wife asked if I had any suggestions for songs they could use. Asking me for a musical suggestion is no simple feat. What I'm sure she was hoping would be a 10-minute conversation became a 2-hour effort to find the perfect song.

There were 2 primary criteria, the song had to be 3-4 minutes long and not too slow, and one secondary, it helped if the song told a story. Here was my tertiary criteria, the song should be pretty awesome.

After much deliberation, here are the two suggestions I came up with:
In The Aeroplane Over The Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
When I heard this song earlier in the day I just took note of how much I love it. When the flag team discussion came up I immediately thought of it. It's fast AND I'm pretty sure it's in 6/8 time. How many other flag teams are going to be performing in 6/8? Musically it's a great jumble of buzzing bass, trumpet, AND people playing SAWS! It tells an interpretive version of the journey of life. It weighs in nicely at 3:22.

Underground - Ben Folds Five
Tempo-rific, plus there are shifts that could be used to break up different sections of the routine. The song itself is about the alienation of high school and finding a place where that alienated feeling goes away. What could be more perfect for a high school flag team?!? Just slightly long at 4:11, but the last 15 seconds or so are vampy piano bits which could be faded on.

Here is what the girls decided to go with:
Uptown Girl - Billy Joel
Don't get me wrong, I love Billy Joel and while this particular song isn't a favorite of mine, it did help him score Christy Brinkley, so it can't be all bad. But really? This is the song they wanted to go with over the other two? Bah, kids today! I just don't understand them. (Confession time: Part of the reason this picks disturbs me is because I think high schoolers today would pick this song because they find it campy and amusing. Granted, this particular song probably is, but campy and amusing aren't two words I use to describe Billy Joel in general. I fear Billy Joel is to kids today what my enjoyment of say, ELO or Styx is to me. Yeah, I like them, but I kind of view them as relics of a bygone era (as opposed to say The Beatles whose music is timeless.) Just another sign of how out of touch I am with the young.)

There's a chance I'm wrong about this, but I don't think so. Please consider all three songs and vote for which one would be best for a high school flag routine. If you've got something that will work even better, leave it in the comments.

In The Curve from The Avett Brothers was also in the ears today. This is currently my favorite sing-along-with-really-loudly-every-time-I-hear-it song. It's one of those songs that makes me think, "If I could just figure out how to play guitar, I could actually perform this one." It also speaks to the self destructive streak that runs through me. Sure I haven't finished a bottle of bourbon and then gone out for a drive, but I have finished a bottle of bourbon, which is a terrible idea by itself. I do stupid things. I make bad decisions (*cough*quitting my job with nothing else lined up*cough*) but I will walk away. Sure, right now it feels like I've been hitchhiking along the road forever, but I'm sure I'll make it Concord. Hope to see you there.

This. This is why I love the internets.

Proper post coming later, but this needed posting immediately. One of the perks of this project is occasionally hearing from folks who enjoy the same music that I do. I've gotten a couple of e-mails from people who read about my acquisition of Projector Head, one of the two (I thought) early Josh Joplin Band cds. Since Josh himself (I always like mentioning that part) told me that the best way to acquire his old stuff was to try to find it through file sharing, I had no problem sharing the songs in mp3 form.

Well last night, I had the sharing repaid to me twice over. I got an e-mail from Ryan who just happened to find all three Josh Joplin Band cds at a reasonable price (as opposed to the $40+ each they usually go for.) Three Josh Joplin Band cds? I didn't even know there were three! From Ryan's awesome e-mail:

You obviously know about Projector Head and Boxing Nostalgic, but what you may not know is that Useful Music was originally released as a Josh Joplin Band album. It was then re-released under the Josh Joplin Group name. Surprisingly, this fact isn't well documented on the internet. If you already knew this, then please feel free to ignore the following wall o' text and skip to the end.

Here is a quick list of the differences in the JJB release of Useful Music vs. the later JJG version:
-It does not contain Camera One or I've Changed [Alternate].
-It has the song Far Away.
-Matter is radically different.
-Phil Ochs is somewhat different.
-Superstar is mainly spoken word rather than singing.
-Gravity, Here I Am, and Trailways have subtle, but noticeable differences.

As far as I can tell, Undone, I've Changed, Who's Afraid of Thomas Wolfe?, Human, and Dutch Wonderland are the same on both releases, or the differences are extremely minor...

...Okay, enough of my rambling. I ripped the Boxing Nostalgic and original Useful Music albums to mp3 format and uploaded them here:http://www.sendspace.com/file/chuifj

Enjoy!

-Ryan

Holy carp! The elusive Boxing Nostalgic and the heretofore unknown earlier version of Useful Music just dropped into my lap! The Internets is awesome. Thanks so much Ryan!

If you are a Josh Joplin fan, or would like to be, here are links to the collected (and no longer commercially available) Josh Joplin Band cds:

Boxing Nostalgic (1998) and Useful Music (1999)
Projector Head (1998) (This file also includes a few songs from Boxing Nostalgic, which, thanks to Ryan, you'll no longer need to squirrel away.)

If you'd like to know more about Josh Joplin music you can check out, his personal site, or the website for his new project (with Garrison Starr) Among The Oak & Ash.

Finally, if you'd like to purchase any of the Josh Joplin Group or Josh Joplin solo cds that are still available, you can click here.

from If I Never See Your Face Again to Impossible Germany

Day 881, Session 146:
When/Where: Monday November 24th - car/Target/car/Best Buy/home
First song: If I Never See Your Face Again by Maroon 5
Last full song: Impossible Germany by Wilco
Progress: 2172-2196 of 6108
Total Songs Heard: 1893

It was busy afternoon of choring. For the first time, the wife and I are hosting a major family holiday. Both of our immediate families (Us, 4 parents, 2 sisters, 1 brother, 1 brother-in-law, 1 sister's +1, and a nephew in a pear tree (plus 2 dogs)) are coming to town for Thanksgiving dinner at our house. We bought the turkey and most of the dinner supplies Sunday afternoon. Since we were shopping together, I went iPod-less, which saved the good folks at Jewel another shot at hearing me sing as I walked through the aisles.

The Wife's birthday is on Thanksgiving (She claims it's on Thursday and Thursday just happens to be Thanksgiving, but I know for a fact her birthday is on Thanksgiving every year,) so I had to go out shopping again Monday to do some birthday shopping as well as final family prep. What Jewel got to avoid became Target's cross to bear, and what a cross it was.

Not too far along into my Target search for a baby gate (in order to nephew proof our basement stairs) came one of those songs that stops me in my tracks every time I hear it. I think I've mentioned before, I don't have a very complicated romantic history. I've had enough serious long-term relationships to count on both hands... as long as you limit yourself to not using fingers and only counting the entire hand as one. I did some sporadic dating in between the two relationships (sporadic in this case being code for "not much") but other than the high school girlfriend and The Wife, nothing really progressed beyond 'dating.'

Since I've ended half my long term relationships by getting married, I don't have a lot of relationship related regret. That's the weird thing about If It's The Beaches by The Avett Brothers. The song is so good, that it makes me wish I could apply it to my life. The longing lyrics and plaintive music hit hard, even at the start where it's just one voice and a guitar. And the way it builds... voice and guitar, then violin/cello/second guitar, then finally at 2:35... piano. The piano isn't playing power chords either, but it fills the space in the song in such way that it sounds like Seth Avett has spent the whole song building up this alternate relationship history and if you, the other end of this lost relationship, could just hear it... Hear the words, hear the music, hear how the whole world will be full again if only you could go back.

Like I said, I can't really relate, and yet, apparently I can.

If It's The Beaches - The Avett Brothers (highly recommended as a headphone song, the build of the song through headphones fills my entire head.)

As an added bonus, here's a high quality video (you are watching all your youtube in high quality right?) from a show I went to in Newport, Kentucky earlier this year. I can't be seen in the video, I was slightly behind the throng on the left.



But wait there's more: I also don't understand working on a farm with my family and some migrant workers, but that doesn't change the fact that this song will be my official morning wake up once I do go back to work. I hate the morning, but I think if I'm waking up to the Sunparlour Players I won't hate it quite as much. (As long as the creeks don't actually rise.)

If The Creeks Don't Rise - Sunparlour Players (also headphone recommended)

Now for something I do understand: Swedish furniture. In my little section of the living I am surrounded by Ikea. My computer desk is Ikea and we have three Billy-the-bookcases ("Hello.") I was living in Philly when the first U.S.-based Ikea opened in New Jersey. I never understood why it was such a big deal until I needed to buy my own furniture (as opposed to stealing it from my parents basement.) Now I totally understand why New Jersey has a "God-damned Swedish parade." The only downside of this song is once you hear it a few times, you'll never be able to go to Ikea again without humming the song to yourself. Ah the genius of Coulton.

Ikea - Jonathan Coulton

Happy Thanksgiving everybody. If we manage to survive the family visit, I'll see you next week.

from If I Had $1,000,000 to If I Had...

Day 874, Session 145:
When/Where: Monday November 17th - Afternoon chorefest: car/Jewel/home
First song: If I Had $1,000,000 by Barenaked Ladies
Last full song: If I Had A Rocket Launcher by Bruce Cockburn
Progress: 2133-2141 of 6069
Total Songs Heard: 1868

First of all, once again, F you iTunes. I won't bore you with the details of exactly why it happened, but when I started iTunes this morning, I had to rebuild my iTunes library. Just like the last time, after the initial rebuild, I had to re-rebuild the library because iTunes couldn't find over 1000 songs. I can understand why it would miss those songs since they were hidden away... in the iTunes folder. It's not a huge deal, except for the part where a big part of doing this project right means being able to track stats. Now all the stats are f-ed.

Anyway...
9 tracks, but only 4 different songs today. Started with 3 versions of If I Had $1,000,000. This is the song that launched my fandom of BNL. I had never heard of Barenaked Ladies (despite my affinity for scantily clad women) before my freshman year in college. 2nd semester Joey and I got a radio show and BNL showed up on our playlist. We were hooked immediately.

That started a whirlwind affair with BNL that saw me attend something like 8 shows in the space of 18 months. Of course this was also pre-One Week which meant you could go to a BNL show and actually get to be close to the band and do fun things like throw mac and cheese at the stage when they sang the "we wouldn't have to eat Kraft Dinner" line. I still love the guys today, but it hasn't been the same since their shows moved from mid-sized clubs into full-sized arenas.

If I Had $1,000,000 is also my "go to" karaoke song. The down side is you need someone to sing it with you, so I've occasionally ended up singing it with complete randoms. The upside is when you have someone who knows the song as well as you do, it's always a crowd pleaser. Kaylor and I have gotten compliments from strangers after our rendition.

If I had $1,000,000 I'd buy something nice for the wife, then we'd take a fun vacation. I'd bank the rest and attempt to live off the interest. After building up a few years of interest I'd probably buy a new place to live. I like where I live now, but if I could buy a really nice new condo or single family place that'd be even better. The new place would have a game room and I would buy an Addam's Family pinball machine and a pool table for that room.

I'm guessing everyone here is familiar with the song, so instead of the Gordon version here is live version from a 2004 Philly concert:

If I Had $1,000,00 - Barenaked Ladies

The 2nd song (actually the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th) heard was If I Had A Boat. It's a Lyle Lovett song, but the Lyle Lovett version is the last one I actually heard. I first found the Dave Matthews Band thanks to Napster in 2000, then the Eddie From Ohio and Jimmy Buffett covers. It's one of those songs that speaks to me for some reason. I think it's my chronic urge to get away from things.

If I really had a boat, I'm sure I'd have no idea what to actually do with it. I'm don't think I would take it out onto the ocean. Knowing me I'd sink the thing 1st time out. If I'm going to sink a boat I'd rather do it in a nice recreational lake. So I guess that means I don't really want to get away from things, I just want to be somewhere I can float and drink a beer. The pony would be a nice though. I could rent it out for kids parties and finally have a source of income. That is assuming of course that you make more money renting a pony out than you spend on the costs of pony upkeep. This may be a losing proposition all around.

If I Had A Boat - Lyle Lovett
If I Had A Boat - Eddie From Ohio
If I Had A Boat - Jimmy Buffett
If I Had A Boat - Dave Matthews Band

So if you had $1,000,000 and/or a boat (and pony,) what would you do?

from I Wish to If I Ever Feel Better

Day 870, Session 144:
When/Where: Thursday November 13th - Car/Post Office/Best Buy/Car
First song: I Wish by Skee Lo
Last full song: If I Ever Feel Better by Phoenix
Progress: 2175-2192 of 6109
Total Songs Heard: 1859

I Wish - Skee Lo
Despite the fact that I'm almost exactly the average height for a white male I think, like Mr. Lo, I will always wish I were a little bit taller. 6 foot even would be awesome, but unless I'm having the world's most delayed growth spurt I don't think that's going to happen.

I'm still bitter that I was ripped off by puberty. Other guys I knew went through growth spurts, adding 5 or 6 inches of height in the course of a few months. I never spurted (and yes, let's all take a moment to giggle at the fact that I just typed that.) I think I was something like 4' 10" when I was 12. 6 years later I had topped out around 5' 9" but at no point during that time did I grow more than 2 or 3 inches in a year. I had one friend who grew 6 inches between the end of one school year and the start of the next. One minute we were approximately the same height, next thing I knew he turned out 6' 6".

Maybe it's a little harder for tall guys to find clothes that fit but that's about the only disadvantage I see. I'm a firm believer that at general admission concerts, there should be a line on the floor that separates the crowd into those under six foot (the front) and those over (the back.) Ladies if your 4-inch heels put you over, it's behind the line for you. (You deserve the back anyway. Who wears 4-inch heels to concert?)

(I became reacquainted with Skee thanks to the flashback inducing "It Came From The Nineties" feature at Can You See The Sunset... If you'd like to share in the time travel, I suggest checking it out.)

I Wish I Could Go Back To College - Avenue Q
It has occurred to me during my period of unemployment that I could go back to college. Unfortunately going back to college would not solve the fundamental question: "What do I want to do with my life?" At this point, people go back to college with a specific goal in mind. Until I have a better idea of what that is, going back to college would be a lot like unemployment only with a lot more textbooks and a tuition bill where there currently isn't one.

If I Could've Been - Working
In case you didn't notice, I'm featuring back to back songs from musicals. You probably didn't notice because if you haven't been in the musical Working, you probably haven't heard of it. It's based on a book of conversations about people's jobs by Studs Terkel (R.I.P.)

As tempting as it is to take this song as another opportunity to complain about the current state of things and what I could've been*, instead I'd like to point out two things:
1) The end of the first verse "A tower of strength, a center of power, for TEN BUCKS AN HOUR." This musical was developed in the '70s. Many of the people featured had jobs at the lower end of the job scale and yet they were still making (and rolling their eyes) at ten bucks an hour! Ten dollars an hour in 1970's money is something like $47.69 an hour now and yet many of the jobs I see everyday in my search for work are still offering $10 an hour**! (and I live in a big city!) I guess what I'm saying is... Where the hell did the economy go completely off the rails (I'm blaming trickle-down Reagan when executive pay started expanding greatly while base employee pay didn't move much) and what the hell is it going to take to get a real living (minimum) wage bill passed in this country??
2) We did this song in my college production with different folks soloing each verse. If you want to try to imagine me on stage pay attention to the second verse. (From "If I could've done..." to "Paid all my bills.) I enter slowly from stage left in my meter reader costume. It sounds just like this except an octave lower***, without any vibrato, and without any of the vocal flourishes. Once my solo is done, I'm going to find a seat and sing the chorus parts as more folks come on stage and we rebuild to the tableau that we started the show with. I loved this show and will surely be mentioning it again in the J's.

*If you've read the whole post you know that if I could've been something different, it would've been taller.
**Which isn't to say that there shouldn't be some $10 jobs. Temporary seasonal employment, fast food, dog walker...sure. It's when I see jobs with titles like "Marketing Associate" and "Executive Assistant" that want a college degree and experience offering $10-12/hr that I shake my head.
***Despite not getting the growth spurt part of puberty I did get one overnight adjustment. I went from pre-pubescent alto to pubescent baritone overnight. Which in retrospect was kind of great. I avoided the whole voice cracking a lot stage, and the juxtaposition of my size vs. my voice's pitch was quite a surprise in the school choruses I performed in back in the day.

from I Was Hoping to I Wish

Day 862, Session 143:
When/Where: Wednesday November 5th - The aisles of Jewel (I never realized before my unemployed stretch how much time one spends in the supermarket.)
First song: I Was Hoping by Alanis Morissette
Last full song: I Wish by King Missile
Progress: 2161-2172 of 6110
Total Songs Heard: 1841

Rambles...

I Was Hoping to get a job with Chicago Public Radio. A friend got my resume looked at, and I ended up with an interview which I thought I nailed. Found out Wednesday I was no longer under consideration for the job. Rats. Believe it or not, this was the first time I've gotten as far as an in person interview where I did not end up getting the job. I was holding that fact as my ace in the hole during this whole employment drought. I figured if I could just get an interview, I'd be back to work shortly. Now I don't even have that going for me.

I Was Only Kidding is one of my favorite Weird Al originals. The gospel choir style opening into the maniacal ranting is exactly the way I would assume the mind of someone who would sing that song would work. And make no mistake, I believe there are guys out there for whom this song is real. There was a time when I considered trying to be one of those guys, just to see what it would be like. I couldn't pull it off. It still makes me mad knowing those guys probably got laid more than I did in college.

I Will - Coulton + Beatles = Good. About halfway through this one I realized I was singing along quite loudly in the pasta aisle.

I Will Be The One - Third Wish was my favorite college band for two reasons: 1) They put on a great show. The music was genuinely good and fun to listen (especially while enjoying a few under-age beers.) 2) Tara Marie O'Malley. I (along with probably every other male in the audience) had a bit of a thing for the band's female singer. They toured the Great Lakes region extensively in the mid-90s, even being named Cleveland's Band of the Year one year, but have since disappeared. Attempting to Google them has taught me one thing: Third Wish is apparently a very popular band name.

I Will Hold On - My favorite song from the last Fruvous cd, although I'm still not quite sure if it's being sung from the point of view of a stalker.

I Will Survive - Cake This may be the greatest cover song ever recorded. It would also probably make a kick ass track on Rock Band. It came on as I reached my car. I transitioned the iPod over to the car stereo, downed the windows and turned it up real loud. (Don't worry, the version I have backmasks the F-word so I wasn't going to offend any of the folks out trying to enjoy the last nice day of the year.) I don't have the Gloria Gaynor version of this song, but I believe it may be THE WORST karaoke song in the history of karaoke. Every time you go, you're guaranteed to see a lady attempt to perform this. 97 of 100 times it is awful.

I Wish - King Missile. I also wish for everything he mentions in this song, especially the part about the tractor of innocence.

Yes We Did!

YES WE DID!

Seriously, music next time.

from I Want To Be Alone to I Was Born Yesterday - Election Day Special

Day 853, Session 142:
When/Where: Monday October 27th - Music to do housework by.
First song: I Want To Be Alone by Green Day
Last full song: I Was Born Yesterday by The Divine Comedy
Progress: 2155-2164 of 6112
Total Songs Heard: 1829

Look, I don't like politics, and you don't like politics (What? You do kinda like politics? Oh, well, I still like you.) We're all a little tired of how long this particular election cycle has gone on. (We can all agree there I think.) But I didn't want to be the only person in the entire blogosphere to not give his opinion. There are two things I will be voting on today and one I wish I could:

1) I will be voting for Barack Obama for President. I feel he offers this country the best opportunity to start heading in a new, more positive, direction. After the last 8 years of Republican "leadership" I believe we need a change at the top and that you can't get change with a candidate from the same party who has seemingly altered many of his previous beliefs in order to manuver himself into the "best" position to become president.
2) I will be voting against the Proposed Call For A Constitional Convention in Illinois. I don't think we really need to rewrite the entire Illinois State Constitution. A Constitutional Convention would end up being a large expenditure of both time and resources that would result in a document that would end up looking awfully similar to what we already have.

If I lived in California I would also be voting like this:
3) I would vote NO on Proposition 8. The official title: "Eliminates Right of Same–Sex Couples to Marry." I like my rights equal. Imagine how absurd it would be if they were trying to vote for a bill that said "Eliminates Right of Opposite-Sex Couples to Marry." That would seem assinine right? So why does it make a difference what kind of business is being done between consenting adults in the bedroom?

/tacky stand-up comedian
And listen, if homosexual people want to tie themselves to the anchor that is marriage, who are we to stop them? Why should they be prohibited from being unhappy?
/rimshot
/end tacky stand-up

(Hooray for marriage!)

Listen, you may not agree with anything I've written above, and that's ok. We can still be friendly. The important thing is that you take today to exercise your right to disagree with me by going out and standing in a line for two hours before punching out random choices on an absurdly long list of judges that you know nothing about. I suggest bringing an iPod and/or a book.

I'm heading out now. See you there.

p.s. I promise, we'll be back to music next time.

***Updated*** If you're in my neighborhood that iPod may not be necessary, I had exactly zero wait to vote at my local fire station. USA! USA!

Redefining nothing to do with music

I'm from Philadelphia. I'm 32-years old. The last time a team (in one of the four major sports) from Philadelphia won a championship I was 7.

I don't really remember it. I remember some moments from that team, but I don't really remember the moment when the buzzer went off right after Maurice Cheeks dunked the ball to seal the Sixers sweep of the Lakers.

What I do remember are the losses that have come since...

1983 - Phillies lose the World Series 4-1 to Baltimore. Game 5 ends as I'm in the back of the family station wagon driving past (now-defunct) Manoa Lanes.
1987 - I was in bed listening to the game on the radio as the Flyers lost game 7 to Edmonton.
1993 - I was in my friend Pete's basement by myself (Pete had left for college and I was babysitting his little brother) when Mitch Williams gave up the Joe Carter homer.
1997 - I lived at 58 Woodland and watched the Flyers get swept by that team from Detroit by myself in the comfort of Ken's living room chair. I woke up the day after game 3 still in that chair surrounded by the remains from a Bud Light 12-pack. After the sweep was done, I wore all black (in mourning) for the next 3 days.
2001- In Chicago I watched the 76ers lose 4-1 to the Lakers. This wasn't actually that disappointing because it was not unexpected.
2005 - Super Bowl XXXIX. It was my freaking birthday (ok fine, 2 days after) and both my sisters came to town to visit and watch the game and STILL, that wasn't enough to prevent another crushing Philadelphia loss.

For the purpose of brevity I'm skipping 1988-90 & 2001-2003 (Eagles), 1995, 96, 2000, or 2004 (Flyers), 2005-2007 (Phillies) or 1984, 85 (Sixers)... all teams that had the talent to get there, but didn't even reach the finals of their respective sports.

This has nothing to do with the music. So why write it? It has something to do with me, and at the heart of it, that is what this whole project is about... the music taking me back to where I was "then."

All those lines of lamentation above? They're about where I was then. Each of every one of those disappointments stayed with me... and that's what makes where I am now all the more special.

Tonight, at long last, Philadelphia (still my home town even if I'm not there anymore) has a championship team again. 25 years have passed since the Sixers win. 100 seasons since the last time Philadelphia was the champion. And now, October 29th, 2008, the Phillies have won the World Series and finally (Phinally!) I know and can appreciate the feeling of victory.

If sports aren't your thing, I understand why this might not mean anything to you. But sports are my thing... have been as long as I can remember. So tonight, to finally win... was fantastic.

It got a little dusty here. I didn't weap (even though I half expected to) but there were some happy tears. It was a great feeling. GREAT! To be on the winning end after so long... felt like it meant something. So tonight, I'd like to thank all those teams who didn't quite make it, for making me appreciate this all the more. Thanks to The Wife for sticking with me through all the post-loss grumpiness and to my sister for being here to watch the game with me (the Alicia curse is over!) I'd also like to thank all the folks who reached out to send a congrats my way. I think everyone who did understands what joy and relief this night was for me.

I knew how big a moment it was when I got my very first post-game call. It was Kristin, my high school girlfriend. (We're still friends now, so this wasn't total out of the bluesville) The fact that she was on the phone 3 minutes after the game was over to share the cheers with me reminded me of how long it had been since this particular team (the 1993 Phils (we were still dating in 1993!)) had last had a chance. No matter how long it is, the people you share(d) the moments with will always be there with you. So I share this little moment with all of you.

We did it!

2008 Philadelphia Phillies - World Series Champions!!!!

from I Saw Three Ships to I Want to be a Hulkamaniac

Day 853, Session 142:
When/Where: Monday October 20th - Driving back from the burbs after attending The Wife's school's homecoming game.
First song: I Saw Three Ships by Barenaked Ladies
Last full song: I Want to be a Hulkamaniac by Hulk Hogan and The Wrestling Boot Band
Progress: 2141-2162 of 6137
Total Songs Heard: 1819

"Why?" you may ask. "Why on earth do you have a song by Hulk Hogan in your collection?"

"First of all," I reply, "Let's not forget The Wrestling Boot Band. Second, I like professional wrestling and grew up at least a little bit of a Hulkamaniac."

That being said, I find this particular song terrifying. Between The Hulkster's faux-rap and the mindless drone of the background singers, I feel like the point of this song is to indoctrinate me into the cult of Hulk. On the plus side, I hear membership privileges include your very own tear away yellow muscle shirt. On the minus, at this point Hulk Hogan is frightening. The fact that I believe Hulk Hogan to be the type of guy who would try to lead a cult only scares me more. (This fear did not stop me from watching the first episode of Hulk Hogan's celebrity wrestling reality show. It was awful. (Also, I was disappointed Tiffany (yes the 80's pop star) was eliminated and I'll probably watch it again.))

Give this a listen if for no other reason than to have a good laugh:
I Want to be a Hulkamaniac - Hulk Hogan and the Wrestling Boot Band

(If that doesn't succeed in inducting you into the cult of Hulk, try this to the Batman theme: "nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, Hulk-ster.")

Now from the better music department I bring you this song from friend of the blog Josh Joplin:
I Shall See - Josh Joplin

I feature this particular song for 3 reasons:
1) I love that it sounds like something that would have been recorded in the 1960's.
II) Josh and Garrison Starr (you may remember them from this) have announced that they will now be performing together as Among The Oak & Ash. This is great news for fans of both singers as they're great individual musicians and when I saw them in Chicago they showed a fantastic chemistry when they shared the stage. A new album is in the works and I'm sure I mention it here once I have more information. For now, you can hear streaming versions of 4 songs on their new web page.
C) The heretofore unheard from Australian contingent has checked in. Emma is another big Josh Joplin fan who, like me, has spent a lot of time trying to track down the first two Josh Joplin Band cds. Per her request I've made my early Josh stuff available for a limited time here. I also encourage you to check out Emma's site, Imaginary Dinosaur. I learned quite a lot about crabs there.

Have good weekends everybody. If you get a chance, please send some good thoughts the way of the Philadelphia Phillies. My hometown has gone 100 consecutive seasons in the 4 major sports without getting to celebrate a title. In the words of Marty from Delaware, "Boston did it. The White Sox did it. Why can't us? Why can't us?!?"

Why Can't Us?

from I Love Rocky Road to I Saw Mommy...

Day 844, Session 141:
When/Where: Saturday October 11th - Driving back from the burbs after attending The Wife's school's homecoming game.
First song: I Love Rocky Road by "Weird Al" Yankovic
Last full song: I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus by Jimmy McGriff
Progress: 2121-2140 of 6137
Total Songs Heard: 1797

It's been a while, but a song had to be deleted. While I enjoy Sarah McLachlan I find I Love You to be over wrought in its emotionality. I don't hate the song, but what I do hate is techno music... and what I especially hate is a 9-minute techno remix of a song that I already found kind of grating to listen to. I Love You (Techno Remix) - deleted! (Sorry Kerstin, I know there was a very specific reason you included it in that mix cd you gave me that one time, but I was never going to listen to it again.)

For posterity's sake, I'm linking the song here. I couldn't even make it through the whole thing. Can you?

I Love You (Remix) - Sarah McLachlan

I just don't understand techno remixes, but as we drove back from the game my sister and I figured out where they must have come from. Here's our theory... club djs used to spin music much like radio djs. I mean sure they worked some transitions between songs, but otherwise every 2.5 to 4 minutes they had to change the record. Then one time, some dj was playing a song when the needle skipped right in the middle of an instrumental section. The dj was busy hitting on someone when the skipping started so it took him two minutes to even notice the song was skipping. When he did notice, he discovered that the people in the club simply didn't care that the same 8 second clip of music had been playing over and over again for the last 2 minutes, they were still dancing. Eureka! Why be forced to switch songs every 3 minutes when, with a few strategically applied record scratches, you can stretch that 3 minute song out to 10 minutes?

From that day forward bars that also feature dancing became awesome for people who like dancing but absolute hell for people who like music. And that, my friends, is why I will never go 'clubbing.' I don't like my dance music techno-y, I like my dance music funky. (The idea of me dancing to this song is actually terrifying, but the song is still great.)

I Need More Love - Robert Randolph & The Family Band

Finally, thanks a lot Robot Chicken. Now I can't hear I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus without thinking of this:

from I Lost On Jeopardy to I Love Paris

Day 835, Session 140:
When/Where: Thursday October 2nd - Driving home from a job interview.
First song: I Lost On Jeopardy by "Weird Al" Yankovic
Last full song: I Love Paris by Jack Constanzo
Progress: 2162-2168 of 6112
Total Songs Heard: 1777

First of all: Hooray! Job Interview! I think it went well and the place with which I interviewed would be a good fit. I'm keeping my fingers crossed (well, not now so much, typing with crossed fingers = hard.)

The other good news is that it's only a 7 song drive. Of course I probably wouldn't drive much, parking around Chicago is expensive.

I Love N.Y.E. - Badly Drawn Boy

Great little instrumental from a great little movie, "About A Boy," which is based on the Nick Hornby book. If you haven't seen the movie or read the book, I recommend you do both.

New Year's Eve isn't really a big deal for me, so I was pretty surprised when I sat here thinking about it to realize that I can remember what I was doing each New Year's Eve since 1997 (not coincidentally the first one with The Wife.)

1997/8 - Celebrate back in Philly with Mike, Kristin, and Kerstin. The Wife and I had been dating for a little over 2 months. Meeting my high school friends and Philly family on the trip was a pretty big deal. She passed with flying colors. I have photos from this N.Y.E. that, if I ever bought a scanner, would be sure to amuse the people who were there.
1998/9 - Just me and The Wife in her parents basement in C-bus. We watched a movie, I fell asleep before the ball dropped.
1999/2000 - The big millennium! The Wife and I went out to dinner, and then joined an in progress party at the BOX (my college house.) A loud and fun way to say goodbye to the good ole 1900s.
2000/1 - In Chicago at The Wife's apartment. Just me, her, and her roommate hanging out watching Dick Clark. Kinda lame, er... I mean, quiet.
2002/3 - The Wife and I threw a party at our favorite apartment in Chicago. The Wife made a ton of lasagna and it was delicious. After 'celebrating' (here being code for drinking) all night, Kaylor joined me at 6am as I ran out into the streets of Chicago and berated the sun for 2002 being such a shitty year. This was probably a great start to the year for some of my neighbors as they were awoken at 6 in the morning by the lunatic yellings of a crazy person. Probably the last year in which I was able to actually party all the way through to 6 the next morning.
2003/4 - The Wife and I threw another party at another, not as good apartment. Kaylor (middle,) Jay & Mel, Liz & John (right,) Kate & Ryno, Chip, and Mace were all there. For some reason, my hair was blondish and Jon, John, and I thought it best to welcome 2004 with grimaces on our faces.
2004/5 - The party was at Kaylor's this time. We had dinner and played board games and watched various balls drop.
2005/6 - Maybe this year was at Kaylor's place. Either way I guess I was lying about remembering every year since either 04/05 or 05/06 escapes me.
2006/7 - The Wife and I celebrated alone at our new home. She had a glass of champagne and fell asleep. I finished the rest of the bottle and watched Garrison Keilor's Central Time Zone New Year's show. This may be the N.Y.E. where I officially became old. I do remember having a great champagne buzz.
2007/8 - The Wife and I were in Vegas with the family. We rung in Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zone New Years at the same blackjack table at our local Lake Las Vegas casino. I drank champagne from a fountain and actually won some money.

Now if I can just get back to work soon, I won't have to spend N.Y.E. 2008/9 yelling at the sun again.

(You may have noticed that I skipped N.Y.E. 2001/2... there's a story there for another day.)

from I Know to I Live With It Every Day

Day 828, Session 139:
When/Where: Thursday September 25th (Happy birthday sister!) - Driving around.
First song: I Know by Fiona Apple
Last full song: I Live With It Every Day by Barenaked Ladies
Progress: 2155-2158 of 6100
Total Songs Heard: 1770

Only heard 4 songs as I took the iPod on my afternoon chores run but neglected to bring headphones so I could only listen in the car. I know, I'm dumb.

I was pleased to find the version of I Like It, I Love It I have is not based on the craptacular country song that ruined football highlights for an football season a few years ago.

I Like It, I Love It - Lyrics Born

As a result of my cop story, I forgot to mention two other great songs that should have been mentioned in the last post. It's actually 2 versions of one great song.

I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You is what I imagine my life would be like were I not already married. Lots of nights spent out at bars, falling in love from across the room, and then not doing anything about it. The bonus goodness here is it was the 10,000 Maniacs version of the song, which was on a tribute cd, that first introduced me to the music of Tom Waits.

If you've never listened to Tom Waits, I can't recommend his early stuff strongly enough. I'd start with Closing Time, a bottle of your spirit of choice, and a dimly lit room. I know it might sound like a depressing set up but it's actually that comforting sort of melancholy; the kind that gives you chance to sit back and let old, tired, pent up badness seep out.

I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You - 10,000 Maniacs
I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You - Tom Waits

from I Guess He'd Rather... to I Know

Day 825, Session 138:
When/Where: Monday September 22nd - Walking around Jewel singing along and drawing strange looks.
First song: I Guess He'd Rather Be In Colorado by John Denver
Last full song: I Know by Barenaked Ladies
Progress: 2132-2148 of 6088
Total Songs Heard: 1766

Warning: The following post contains (more) adult language (than you'll usually find here).

Opening statement: Although the song and story featured today may indicate a dislike for the police, that is not the case. Except for the two mentioned below, I have no problem with the real police (I don't count dayton campus security as the real police.) The jerks that give you parking tickets in Chicago are not the police, but the Department of Revenue. If there were a song about how much I hated the Department of Revenue, I'd agree with it. Back to the cops... I generally like them. I've been on an improv team with a cop. I performed a cop's wedding. So 99% of the time me and cops get along great. But this one time...

A little research on the web tells me that it was November 2nd, 2001. It was a Friday night. It had been a long day at work, so while Kaylor (my roommate) and The Girlfriend and a few others had already headed out for the evenings festivities, I decided to stay home for a while and rest up. I probably wouldn't have gone out at all, but we were heading over to IO to catch a midnight show featuring one of the The Girlfriend's friends from high school.

I changed into the most expensive piece of clothing I owned: a shirt from Tank's Bar in Dayton. (The shirt was so expensive because it was your reward for drinking your way around the world of their imported beer selection. 45 beers at around $4.50 a pop... you're right around $200 (I didn't own a suit.)) The shirt featured flags of various countries from around the world running down the sleeves. Around 11 I headed out the door.

It was a cool-ish night so I stuck my hands in my pockets to keep warm and walked with a bit of pace. I was about half a block from my apartment when a car came roaring up behind me and screeched to a stop half up on the curb. I turned around to look as a guy jumped out of the car and yelled, "Hey you, get the fuck over here!"

I decided I most certainly was not going to go join that gentleman and turned around to continue walking. At this point a second guy jumped out of the passenger side and yelled, "Where the fuck do you think you're going?"

At this point I turned around again and noticed that both guys who had jumped out of the car were pointing guns at me.

These are the thoughts that go through your head when you have two guns pointed at you:

"Should I yell for help? Wait, I read somewhere that people don't pay attention if you yell help. I think maybe I'm supposed to yell 'fire!'"
"If I run, I at least have a chance to get away. If I go to the car they can grab me and throw me in."
"Should I run straight down the street because that would be the fastest way to get to a more populated street or attempt to cut between houses because that would provide more cover?"
"While I run, is there a way I can make one part of my body an easier target? I've heard getting shot in the shoulder or the butt isn't too bad. How can I run in a way that makes my shoulder look like an inviting target?"
"Thank goodness my health insurance went into effect immediately, getting shot will involve a lot of medical bills."

As all these thoughts go through my head, I continue standing there facing these two guys with my hands in my pockets. Meanwhile, the two guys continue to scream every obscenity in the book at me. In fact, they are screaming over each other so much that it takes me several more seconds to figure out that they're instructing me to, "Take your fucking hands out of your fucking pockets and put them on the fucking car asshole!"

Finally, it occurs to me that these guys must be cops. Plain clothes cops. In an unmarked car. Who didn't actually identify themselves as the police before they pulled their guns. Who, come to think of it, still haven't clearly identified themselves.

Now I'm mad. The adrenaline that was released when I saw the guns has turned that anger into something closer to rage. If I hadn't managed to keep my head long enough to pull my hands out of my pockets slowly, I might not be here today to type up this story. As soon as my hands were out of my pockets though, I decided it was time to yell back.

"Show me a motherfucking badge!" I yell as loudly as I can. I continue to yell this as loudly as I can, over and over, as I work my way slowly over to their car. They never do show me a badge, but at this point I'm sure if they were going to rob me they'd be quicker about it. They still have their guns on me.

I put my hands on the car. At this point the fat one (in my mind he immediately becomes Sipowicz) asks me, "Why did you have your hands in your motherfucking pockets? Where do you live?"

"Right over there," I answered. "I'd point at it, but that would require me taking my hands off the car."

"Do you have anything stupid in your pockets?" the other one asks as he prepares to frisk me.

"That depends on your feelings about Altoids." I reply.

As skinnier cop pulls out all the stupid stuff in my pockets (keys, wallet, and yes Altoids) Sipowicz asks, "Why didn't you come over when we told you? You could have got shot."

"Why didn't you identify yourselves as police?" I reply. He doesn't answer.

Non-Sipowicz gets on the radio, "We've got a Caucasian male in a long sleeve shirt with writings on the sleeve around the area of that home invasion."

Radio: "We're looking for a hispanic male in a plain green sweatshirt."

Cops: *silence*

Me: "Well that doesn't sound like me."

Sipowicz: "You can go. Next time don't walk with your hands in your pockets."

Me: "Next time identify yourselves before you pull your guns. I want your names and your badge numbers."

Sipowicz (heading back to the car:) "You're not going to get that."

Me: "Well how about a motherfucking apology you assholes!"

I didn't get that either.

I Hate Cops - Wally Pleasant

from I Feel Like Myself to I Got You

Day 815, Session 137:
When/Where: Friday September 12th - Wandering around Chicago
First song: I Feel Like Myself by Tom Waits
Last full song: I Got You (with Andrew Bird) by Wilco
Progress: 2132-2144 of 6088
Total Songs Heard: 1749

First of all: Happy birthday Mike.

And now to your irregularly scheduled post.

When it comes to music, The Wife and I agree on almost everything. When it comes to everything else we hardly agree on anything at all. It's a wonder we're still married.

I keed.

When our musical opinions differ, we can usually tolerate the taste of the other. I tolerate her Rush, she tolerates my... well, I don't know what she has to tolerate seeing as how my taste in music is awesome. There are two things in my music collection that she absolutely CAN NOT STAND.

I Gaer - Sigur Ros

I was introduced to Sigur Ros by my (now) brother-in-law. I will admit that they can be a difficult band to wrap your brain around. They sing many of their songs (including this one) in the non-existent language of Vonlenska. I find it all atmospheric, entrancing, and sometimes moving. The Wife finds it long, incomprehensible, and always pointless. This is not my favorite Sigur Ros song in my collection but once I heard the next song I knew writing about Wife hate would be the topic du jour.

I Get Wet - Andrew W.K.

Maybe the only thing in my collection she hates more than Sigur Ros is Andrew W.K. She can't stand the stupidity (I choose to think of it as simplicity) of the lyrics, the way every song features an insistent driving beat, and she especially can't stand the yelling. I disagree with her on every point. The driving lyrics and the yelling fire me up. To me, the simple lyrics show a guy who isn't trying to do too much. If I had to decipher anything out of all the noise it'd be too much trouble instead I can just bang my head along to the beat (and later hold my neck and curse because I was banging my head too hard.

These are not the two best songs that Andrew W.K. and Sigur Ros have to offer, but they are a representative sample. Take a listen and then vote in the poll over on the side there as to who in this case is right: Is it me (who thinks these artists are cool) or The Wife (who thinks these artists suck)?

Finally today, thanks to whoever set the new standard by which all future weird search results for this blog will be measured. If you Google: Romantic relationships with "step siblings" -japanese, -anime. You too can end up here. I cringe at the idea of what they were looking for, and assume they didn't find it here.

from I Can't Wait... to I Feel Like Home

Day 807, Session 136:
When/Where: Thursday September 4th - Afternoon chorefest
First song: I Can't Wait To Get Off Work by Tom Waits
Last full song: I Feel Like Home by O.A.R.
Progress: 2076-2099 of 6031
Total Songs Heard: 1736

Some days the brain just doesn't agree with the whole writing thing. This is one of those days. So instead of dragging this out here are two quick hit thoughts on the 24 songs heard:

I Crush Everything - Jonathan Coulton: I think we've all been the giant squid. Wanting something so badly that all your attempts to achieve it end up smashing everything all to hell. Just off the top of my head I can think of 3 terribly overwrought attempts to explain myself to ladies whose company I desired that ended up with me alone and realizing that my own (over-)efforts had helped contribute to sinking my chances.

I Don't Wanna Grow Up - Tom Waits: I've mentioned before that making the cd that played during dinner at the reception was one of my few contributions to the overall excellence that was my wedding. What I don't think I've mentioned is that the cd did include what was originally my last (and at that point in the evening totally belated) protest against getting married. Getting married was one more step in the ongoing process of Growing Up. I've never been much of a fan of that process. I thought about removing the song from the cd lest I seem like an immature jerk, but I had earlier realized that one of the reasons I loved The Wife was that she wasn't asking me to grow up. She already knew exactly how grown up I was (or wasn't) and she liked me just the same.

One completely non-related to me note. If you're a Ben Folds fan you should head on over to Fuel Friends. Heather is featuring the first single off of Ben's upcoming cd "Way To Normal."