from Inflatable Amy to Into The Mystic

Day 919, Session 151:
When/Where: Thursday January 1st - 36,000 feet over somewhere (the return.)
First song: Inflatable Amy by The Argument
Last full song: Into The Mystic by Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová
Progress: 2113-2139 of 6078
Total Songs Heard: 1964

Vegas travels, part 2:

First things first (and this won't mean anything to you unless you fly Southwest Airlines) we checked into our flight at the very moment that check-in opened up, and we ended up with B11. That means in the 15 seconds (at most) between when check-in opened and when we checked in, 55 people checked in before us. I should have realized this was an omen.

Because we got on the plane much later than we usually do, The Wife and I took the 1st available pair of seats we can find. In row 7 we find our seats (did you know that rows 7 & 8 on planes without a first class section often have more leg room?) and after looking around to assure there are no kids near us we say hello to the nice older lady by the window and take our seats. Immediately upon sitting down the nice old lady proceeds to cough hard enough and long enough to make me absolutely certain she's a lunger. So this is going to be a pleasant 4 hours. AND THEN...

Just before take off, The Wife stands up to make some pre-flight adjustments and her face goes pale. "I don't believe it," she says. I follow her eyes and GODSDAMNIT! It's the kid! and his worthless mother! AGAIN! This time they are on the other side of the aisle and one row behind us. They must have gotten on the plane after we took our seats, because there's no way in hell we would have missed them on intial inspection. 30 seconds after the plane has left the ground, the screaming begins again. I CAN NOT believe it.

So again, I didn't get to do a whole lot of reflecting during this segment as the music was turned up really loud so as to drown out the coughing on the right and the screaming from the left.

I decided to stop after Into The Mystic even though we had 90 minutes left in the flight because if I can't enjoy Into The Mystic (and at this point I couldn't) then there was no point in going on.

Here is how Into The Mystic should be listened to: Get yourself a glass of something (I recommend bourbon on the rocks,) turn down the lights, turn up the music (but not blasting into your ears up,) and let your soul and spirit fly.

Into The Mystic - Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová

I also heartily recommend the original Van Morrison version of the song, but I don't have that one in my collection for some reason. Oh, all right, here it is:

After we got off the plane, we overheard the conversation from the people sitting directly in front of the kid. They couldn't believe no one would stop this kid from crying and kicking the chair for 4 consecutive hours. I told them it could have been worse. It could have been 5. We all laughed, but I don't think any of us felt any better.

According to my sister (who was seated across the aisle and behind the kid for the flight out) the bad mother did not sleep for the entire flight out (which is what we thought she was doing. The Wife and I assumed she was sick.) Nope, apparently she was awake long enough to have several drinks on the flight. Unbelievable.

As a public service, using my new camera phone, I took a picture of the woman as we waited at baggage claim. Please be aware that if you see this woman and her kid on a plane you are also on, you should immediately rebook your flight and possibly change your travel plans to go to an entirely different city. (I realize the picture isn't very clear, but it's not like I could go up to her and ask her to pose for it.)

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 Here Comes The Brides to Hernando's Hideaway

Day 633, Session 117:
When/Where: Friday March 14th - Back and forth to the post office.
First song: Here Comes The Brides by Various Artists
Last full song: Hernando's Hideaway by Billy May's Rico Mamba Orchestra
Progress: 1871-1879 of 5807
Total Songs Heard: 1504

As I believed I've mentioned, space on the ole iPod is somewhat at a premium at this point. Depending on the podcast situation I'm often finding myself under 100 mbs of space left. As such, I am going to go ahead and delete Here Comes The Brides. I feel safe doing so because I've already been to a wedding in Seattle (thanks Becky & Rich.) If I hadn't ever been to a wedding in Seattle, then I suppose it would be important to keep a song about women getting married there... you know in case I ended up dj-ing or officiating the ceremony.

Apparently, this song was the theme for a show about women who were imported into the roughest wild west town of them all (Seattle) after the civil war left the east coast devoid of men. Sounds a little too much like human trafficking too me, but apparently it was a big hit for one season before getting canceled after its second season. This theme song was added in the second season. I can't understand how it didn't work out. How could anyone turn off a show after this rousing opening?

Here Comes The Brides - The New Establishment and Hugo Montenegro

Deleted (but saved here for posterity.)

The Seattle wedding I attended was great. It took place on a boat that had been converted into a... well... a boat, but a boat that stayed docked and instead of going out on the water, you just have parties on the edge of the water.

It was a touching ceremony. At various points several different people were holding back tears. The bride held back tears during her vows. The groom held back tears when he saw the bride getting worked up. Joey and I held back tears when, in the middle of the ceremony, a shirtless guy in a motorboat came puttering by to see why all the fancy dressed folks were standing on the deck of a boat that wasn't going anywhere. Truly a fun time. Plus, any time I'm holding a beer in one hand and a bubble gun in the other during the ceremony, I'm calling it a successful wedding.

from Ghost to Giving It All To You

Day 568, Session 105:
When/Where: Wednesday January 9th - Round and about the streets of Chicago.
First song: Ghost by Neutral Milk Hotel
Last full song: Giving It All To You by Oval Opus
Progress: 1568-1594 of 5624
Total Songs Heard: 1269

So much to write about. 2008 started out right as I've upgraded my headphone situation. Thanks to my friend Liv, I'm now doing all my listening with Bose in-ear headphones. I'm not exactly an audiophile, but these headphones are awesome. They provide a much richer sound. (can sound be rich? sure, why not?) The ear buds are also designed to go further into your earhole without being uncomfortable. The result? I can actually listen to things with the volume turned down lower. Anywho, the moral of this story is if you do a lot of headphone listening, you should definitely look into some fine Bose products. They're worth it.

Now to the music. Neutral Milk Hotel's 1998 cd "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" is all sorts of fantastic (and another one of those music groups that is actually only one guy.) I bought the cd in 2005 while on my honeymoon in San Francisco. Every time I hear a NMH song I flash back to that trip and how great a time it was. For one, it was great because the wedding went off with out a hitch. If you've never been married, let me tell you, a big part of that great honeymoon feeling is relief that the months and months of pre-wedding stress are over. For two, the wife and I had never been to San Francisco before (together anyway,) so it was great to start our "new life" with a trip where everything we were experiencing was new for both of us.

The only downside of the memories... any prolonged thoughts of San Francisco cause ghost soreness in my calves. That town is hilly, and we did a lot of walking. My legs were pissed for days. Ghost is my second favorite song off the cd (and the new headphones really do the buzzing bass justice.)

Ghost - Neutral Milk Hotel

Once I was done my acid trip honeymoon flashbacks my attention turned to the three different versions of Gin And Juice. Three completely different versions of the same song? It's time for a breakdown.

Gin And Juice (original rap) vs. Gin And Juice (country) vs. Gin And Juice (spoken word)

Most street cred:
Original rap version is the winner here since I live in a city. I suppose this sort of depends on your locale. If you live on a farm, you may get more cred with the country version blasting from the speakers of your John Deere. (Tractors have speakers right?)

Most fun to sing along with:
Country version. Country wins by default here. It's really hard to sing along with a spoken word song, and I don't think you rap a duet with Snoop unless Snoop asks you too.

Best chance to understand the lyrics:
Spoken word version. It's not that either of the other versions are particularly hard to understand, but the slow steady delivery of the spoken word version clears up an issues you may have had with the lyrics.

Best at getting to the point:
Snoop doesn't have time for extended banjo breaks or long dramatic pauses. He's got hos to get to.

Best use of extended banjo break outs:
Country version. I know I just awarded Snoop points for the lack of banjo breaks, but the banjo breaks in the country version are fantastic. One more reason I may take banjo lessons in 2008.

Most fun:
Country version. Sipping on Gin And Juice should be a fun time for everyone. Snoop just doesn't seem like he's having as much fun as The Gourds. And sure the spoken word guy is funny, but he doesn't sound like the sort of person I'd enjoy getting my drink on with.

Winner:
Gin And Juice (country version) by The Gourds. In the end, the original is a classic and the spoken word version is funny, but the country version of Gin And Juice is both awesome musically and funny.

Feel free to judge for yourself:
Gin And Juice - Snoop Doggy Dogg
Gin And Juice - The Gourds
Gin And Juice - Beautiful music version (artist unknown)

There were even more stories in this set of songs, including a performance of Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon by the 4 South Five and the night I got whip creamed in the face by the lead singer during a performance of Mink's Girl 17, but I'll save those for the book.

Edited to add - Check it out over on the right ---> I've added a poll so you can vote on your favorite version of Gin And Juice. Feel free to defend your vote in the comments section.

from Easy to El Fin

Day 221, Session 79:
When/Where: Monday January 29th - In the air between Nashville and Chicago.
First song: Easy by Barenaked Ladies
Last full song: El Fin de la Infancia (Live KCRW 1996) by Cafe Tacuba
Progress: 1060-1075 of 4791
Total Songs Heard: 922

***Updated 7/6***

What happened to June? Apologies for the absence... a short vacation and work and the general feeling that I needed to pull my brain out of my skull and scrub it off have kept me away. And when I was so close to finally being caught up again... anywho, this doesn't really count as a post or anything, just wanted you to know I wasn't gone. More to come.
_______

Ok. Good riddance to you June. The topper to a real winner of a month? Flooding. 3-inches of water in our basement. Goodbye 2 mattresses, a bunch of books, a PS2, a box full of letters from college (ouch,) most of my Dayton radio career (double ouch,) probably a couch, and possibly a rug that we just dropped a good chunk of money on less than a year ago (not to mention the super thick carpet padding that made the carpet so awesome, but that ended up being around 350 pounds of soaking wet grossness.)

So yeah, June was shit.

The good news is, with this post. I am now officially caught up on everything. What does that mean? I haven't listened to any new music in order since January 29th. What have I been listening to in the meantime? Podcasts, lots of podcasts.

Allow me to recommend the following:
Slate's Explainer and Story of the Day podcasts
NPR's Story of the Day and Unger Report
The Onion Radio News
This American Life
and
The News from Lake Wobegon from A Prairie Home Companion (that's right, I recently turned 60)

So the next time I go a month without updating, try listening to some of those and reading this.

What's next? First, another vacation (hooray for the Jersey shore!) Then, the return of "regular" updates written the same day as the listening (what a novel idea!) And if we're reaching... the hope is to have a lot more actual music linked through the blog.

Thanks to everyone (all 5 of you) who kept stopping by during my absence. Things will fire up again around July 13th.

In the meantime, here is the final song heard during the first stage of this project. The title means "Childhood's End." Usually I'm against that sort of thing, but in this case (since I don't understand the words) the end of childhood sounds like a rollicking good time.

Cafe Tacuba - El Fin de la Infancia

from Dissing to Dog

Day 190, Session 68:
When/Where: Friday December 29th - On the beach, 100 feet from the ocean.
First song: Dissing Marilyn Manson by Barenaked Ladies
Last full song: Dog by Ben Folds
Progress: 943-960 of 4785 (3 podcasts skipped)
Total Songs Heard: 816

Dissing Marilyn Manson - Barenaked Ladies
Dit It All For Love - Phenomena II
DNA - Jonathan Coulton
Do As De La Does - De La Soul
Do Miss America - Ryan Adams
Do The Circulation - Joshie Armstead, Mary Sue Berry, & Maeretha Stewart
Do They Know It's Christmas? - Barenaked Ladies
Do What You Have To Do - Sarah McLachlan
Do You - Jewel
Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans - Louis Armstrong
Do You Love Me? - Fiidler On The Roof (Original Broadway Cast)
Do You Realize - The Flaming Lips
Does anybody really fall in love anymore? - Kane Roberts
Does Cindy Lou Really Ruin Christmas? - James Horner
Dog - Ben Folds

First things first. Despite the fact that it sounds like it could have been a featured song on the "Revenge of the Nerds part 6 - Booger's Revenge (of the Nerds)" soundtrack, I must say goodbye to Dit It All For Love. I don't know why you dit what you dit, but you sure ditn't do it very well.

I'd be remiss if I didn't include the link to DNA. It's available here. Not only is it a catchy tune... you may even learn something.

I was listening to this set about 100 feet from the Atlantic Ocean. I love the ocean (this includes Billy Ocean, who I usually refer to as "The Ocean") and most of the time the ocean loves me (not talking about Billy this time, I don't think he's aware of my existence.) Except for this one time last summer...

The Wife and I were at the beach for a few days after my sister's wedding (where I performed the ceremony. That's right, I've been the Reverend Matt DiMarco for almost a year now. Seriously. I'll show you my ID card.) I usually spend my ocean time body surfing (I'm not nearly coordinated enough for real surfing) and this day was no exception. I had caught some really good waves and was having a great time until one big wave snuck up on me. I got caught in between trying to ride it and trying to duck under it. My feet ended up on top of the wave. The left side of my face and my left shoulder and collar bone ended planted on the ocean floor. Then it got bad.

As my face planted the wave crashed over top of me and my feet came with it. As far as I could tell, the next thing that happened was my feet touched the ocean floor right next to my head (which was still stuck on the ground) and I heard two loud cracking sounds. At this point I finally began to roll with the wave and I also began to wonder if I would be able to get up when the rolling was done. Luckily I was able stagger to my feet. I ended up a little (ok, a lot) woozy, but otherwise unharmed. I never did figure out what those cracking sounds were.

What does this have to do with the music of the day? Whenever I hear the song Do You Realize? I think about the fact that everyone I know some day will die... and the last time I thought I was going to die was during those ridiculous two seconds in the ocean.