I've just encountered yet another article in the October 2010 issue of Astronomy magazine regarding the ongoing debate of whether Pluto is or is not a planet. Some states (most notably Illinois where Clyde Tombaugh, Pluto's discoverer back in 1930 was born) have even passed laws that state when Pluto is directly overhead in the skies of these states, that Pluto regains its planetary status. How ridiculous.
For the record, I like Pluto. I think like most people who have even a passing interest in astronomy, Pluto is a world near and dear to many a heart. Maybe it's its underdog status: this tiny speck of ice and rock occurring after a string of gigantic gas giants. It's practically ghetto in the bourgeoisie establishment of the outer Solar System. I look forward to the New Horizons probe encountering Pluto in the still far off year of 2015. It'll be a brief encounter, but it will finally show us what this world looks like and if the probe is fortunate, it may survive long enough to encounter other objects in what is now known as the Kuiper Belt. It is the fact that this belt of icy objects akin to the more familiar Asteroid Belt exists that I have come to accept Pluto's reduced status. A little history:
Back in 1801, a new object was discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi between Mars and Jupiter. It was named Ceres and for almost a half-century, it was considered the eighth planet (Neptune would not be discovered until 1846). In fact; Pallas (1802), Juno (1804), and Vesta (1807) were also considered planets. That means, for a time, the Solar System had eleven planets. However, as more and more objects were discovered in that region of the Solar System, it became clear that Ceres was not a planet; but rather, the first of a new class of objects that we now know as asteroids. All these new planets were summarily demoted and the Solar System was now back to its familiar eight worlds (Neptune had since been discovered). I wonder if there was an outcry then to save those "planets" or if the reclassification in light of an increasing number of discoveries rendered the argument moot.
A key difference between the Asteroid Belt and the Kuiper Belt is the amount of sunlight. Sunlight is much denser per square inch in the Asteroid Belt than in the far reaches of the Solar System. This makes the detection of even small, dim objects easier than at the greater distances where Pluto can be found. Therefore, when Pluto was discovered, it seemed like it was alone -- the last object that would be found out there. The region was simply too dim (as well as enormous in area compared to the Asteroid Belt) to find even Pluto-sized objects let alone the many likely smaller objects out there. Long exposures times and limited time at the large telescopes to take such images makes such a search prohibitive. It wasn't until 1992 that new objects began turning up in that region. Technology had made searches for new objects easier and once the search began, objects began turning up relatively quickly. They have been given a mix of familiar-sounding and exotic names such as Eris, Sedna, Makemake, and Quaoar (asteroids bear a similar mix of names as the discoverer gets to name the object - subject to approval by the IAU). Simply put, Pluto was no longer alone but merely one of many. It is currently the largest Kuiper Belt Object discovered but that title may one day be stripped.
Like Ceres, Pluto is merely the first of a new class of objects in the Solar System. Unlike Ceres though, these objects have been named after the former planet and are called Plutoids. So while I was at first a bit miffed at Pluto's demotion, through an understanding of an analogous history, I am at peace with the world no longer being the ninth planet of our Solar System...and so should you.
As a side note, a spacecraft called Dawn (NASA really comes up with some shitty names for spacecraft these days) will visit Vesta in 2011 and Ceres in 2015 so we'll be able to see them up close as well for the first time in the near future.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
MY ROOMMATE HAS SCORCHED POCKETS
My roommate has been unemployed since March of this year, happily sucking off New Jersey's ample unemployment insurance teat, and only as of this month actually (barely) seeking employment. It's been a really frustrating experience considering how brutally hot this Summer has been. Had he been working, I could've been enjoying the relative coolness of the living room but no, I've been confined to my fucking hot room with a fan blowing hot air on me.
In desperation, he has posted an ad on Craig's List as a "masseur"...we all know what that means. He's actually gotten responses and has been happy as fuck (so to speak) that he has been able to earn money in this manner. He ecstatically points out that he will now have no problem covering next month's rent...hooray! (what about the other eight months?)
Now, if you were chronically broke because you've had difficulty holding down a job for whatever reason, what do you do once you are again employed? Do you vigorously save your cash because your next bout of unemployment may be merely months away or do you decide to celebrate by taking you and your not-quite boyfriend out to dinner? He's been living paycheck-to-paycheck (unemployment check-to-unemployment check) for a long time now not because he's been terribly unlucky in the job market but basically because he's terminally stupid when it comes to money matters. He had a decent job for an entire year earning slightly more than me. He has no savings from this job to draw on, even before he was fired. He pissed it all away fiddling away like some Aesopian grasshopper rather than taking on the role of the ant. I've even found out that he owes his best friend thousands of dollars -- for years now -- of which he has paid back exactly nothing...but he's got the money to take his fuckbuddy out to dinner, to buy expensive gifts for his now ex-boyfriend...what an asshole to treat his friend like that. Not even token repayments to show that he intends to do the right thing. It's like he's waiting for a windfall rather than be responsible about it.
I'm also getting wind that he is thinking of moving out in January like he can just walk away from a lease without consequences. I really don't want to sue one of my friends for money owed but he clearly has no idea how a legal contract works and seeing as how he has made no effort to repay his other friend over the years, trusting him to an oral contract would be an act of utter stupidity on my part. How retarded do you have to be to think you can renege on a contract like it's no big deal? Holy fuck... I really don't want to sue him but he really needs to grow the fuck up and if me doing that causes him to do so, then maybe that will make me a good friend to him after all.
In desperation, he has posted an ad on Craig's List as a "masseur"...we all know what that means. He's actually gotten responses and has been happy as fuck (so to speak) that he has been able to earn money in this manner. He ecstatically points out that he will now have no problem covering next month's rent...hooray! (what about the other eight months?)
Now, if you were chronically broke because you've had difficulty holding down a job for whatever reason, what do you do once you are again employed? Do you vigorously save your cash because your next bout of unemployment may be merely months away or do you decide to celebrate by taking you and your not-quite boyfriend out to dinner? He's been living paycheck-to-paycheck (unemployment check-to-unemployment check) for a long time now not because he's been terribly unlucky in the job market but basically because he's terminally stupid when it comes to money matters. He had a decent job for an entire year earning slightly more than me. He has no savings from this job to draw on, even before he was fired. He pissed it all away fiddling away like some Aesopian grasshopper rather than taking on the role of the ant. I've even found out that he owes his best friend thousands of dollars -- for years now -- of which he has paid back exactly nothing...but he's got the money to take his fuckbuddy out to dinner, to buy expensive gifts for his now ex-boyfriend...what an asshole to treat his friend like that. Not even token repayments to show that he intends to do the right thing. It's like he's waiting for a windfall rather than be responsible about it.
I'm also getting wind that he is thinking of moving out in January like he can just walk away from a lease without consequences. I really don't want to sue one of my friends for money owed but he clearly has no idea how a legal contract works and seeing as how he has made no effort to repay his other friend over the years, trusting him to an oral contract would be an act of utter stupidity on my part. How retarded do you have to be to think you can renege on a contract like it's no big deal? Holy fuck... I really don't want to sue him but he really needs to grow the fuck up and if me doing that causes him to do so, then maybe that will make me a good friend to him after all.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
THOUGHTS I NORMALLY KEEP IN MY HEAD, part II
Walking everywhere I go is tedious. I don't mind it for the most part, but sometimes I wish I could simply flow from point-to-point like I were made of liquid or vapors or shadows. I feel it especially when turning corners in hallways or just when I need to turn around. How wonderful it would be if I could simply flow, alter my shape to face the opposite direction instead of reorienting my body. I want to feel bigger than my body...like a presence either benign or sinister depending on my mood. I want to see around the corner before my real eyes do. I want to feel the movements of others around me; be immersed in their presence. I want to be able to touch things without actually having to touch them; extend my reach to grasp something; surround my environment in a ghostly embrace. And sometimes, I simply wish to be terrifying...to have my delicate, finger-like tendrils of inky shadow stiffen to penetrate or otherwise rend the objects of my cardinal sins...to swallow the world in shadows...to be a reminder that there is more to this world than what meets the eye...that there is a price to pay for my turning out this way.....
--- Feel my shoggoth eyes upon you and Black Hole Sun video smile ---
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
BEING FRUGAL AND BEING CHEAP ARE DIFFERENT THINGS...
I was reading this article in the New York Times the other day regarding the unsexy word "frugal" in the world of online dating. It was suggested to mask the term with "bargain hunter". I could do another rant entirely on deception, but that's not the point of this piece.
Somehow the word "frugal" has become synonymous with "cheap". I don't see how this is necessarily so. Not being a spendthrift is not the same as being cheap; but then, I'll admit my own interpretation of this word may be clouding the debate.
While I don't believe in being wasteful with my money, that doesn't make me cheap and my basic defense of this point is that I am not particularly concerned with how I spend my discretionary cash. I figure as long as my income exceeds my outgo, I'm fine. If you can find a way to trim a cost without it being a bother, that's frugality. That's good know-how. If my monthly income minus expenses and contributions toward savings leaves me with an extra $200, then I have $200 to spend or not spend as I wish. I don't like eating out but I will not object to spending any of that available $200 should my friends wish to eat out one night. That's the point of discretionary cash.
The people whom I think are "cheap" are the "bargain hunters." Articles on frugality inevitably bring up the coupon queens and other people who will only buy things if they are on sale and have a coupon for it to boot. How annoying are those people? Did you ever have the misfortune of knowing or dealing with one of them? Those ones who are never satisfied at a store looking for any defect on the product so they can haggle out another few bucks? The ones who pester the sales clerks about any additional "secret sales"? Those ones who not only have a backpack full of coupons but have them organized to an extent that makes you wary? The ones who mark their calendars for upcoming sales events and whatnot? The ones who can't part with a dollar for ANYTHING unless it's been marked down. That's what cheap is.
Frugality is more like this. I like Product 19 cereal. I really do. But it comes in these small 12 oz. boxes that never ever go on sale so it's pricey (like $4.49 a box). I don't pay that much for cereal in my regular shopping but I will buy it with my discretionary cash when the mood strikes me. There's no way a bargain-hunter could do that...ever.
Somehow the word "frugal" has become synonymous with "cheap". I don't see how this is necessarily so. Not being a spendthrift is not the same as being cheap; but then, I'll admit my own interpretation of this word may be clouding the debate.
While I don't believe in being wasteful with my money, that doesn't make me cheap and my basic defense of this point is that I am not particularly concerned with how I spend my discretionary cash. I figure as long as my income exceeds my outgo, I'm fine. If you can find a way to trim a cost without it being a bother, that's frugality. That's good know-how. If my monthly income minus expenses and contributions toward savings leaves me with an extra $200, then I have $200 to spend or not spend as I wish. I don't like eating out but I will not object to spending any of that available $200 should my friends wish to eat out one night. That's the point of discretionary cash.
The people whom I think are "cheap" are the "bargain hunters." Articles on frugality inevitably bring up the coupon queens and other people who will only buy things if they are on sale and have a coupon for it to boot. How annoying are those people? Did you ever have the misfortune of knowing or dealing with one of them? Those ones who are never satisfied at a store looking for any defect on the product so they can haggle out another few bucks? The ones who pester the sales clerks about any additional "secret sales"? Those ones who not only have a backpack full of coupons but have them organized to an extent that makes you wary? The ones who mark their calendars for upcoming sales events and whatnot? The ones who can't part with a dollar for ANYTHING unless it's been marked down. That's what cheap is.
Frugality is more like this. I like Product 19 cereal. I really do. But it comes in these small 12 oz. boxes that never ever go on sale so it's pricey (like $4.49 a box). I don't pay that much for cereal in my regular shopping but I will buy it with my discretionary cash when the mood strikes me. There's no way a bargain-hunter could do that...ever.
Monday, August 23, 2010
IT'S LIKE THEY WANT ME TO STEAL MUSIC...
I'm finally doing well enough financially in this apartment to afford myself some luxuries. In addition to funding an old hobby, I've also begun purchasing music online. My first purchase was the song "Greeting Committee" by The Pillbugs. I had heard this psychedelic rock song over my store's MUZAK station (FM1 for the win!) for a while and was not able to find it in any online searches despite having nearly all the lyrics to the song. Eventually after going back to the MUZAK site and checking their now-playing list throughout the day, I found it (score another victory for the brute-force method). With the title and artist in hand, I did another Google search and it yielded fruit. Without hesitation I signed up for LaLa.com and bought the song. No hassles. Just gave them my business e-mail address and my credit card information and 99¢ later, the song was mine.
A few months goes by and I decide that I want to start purchasing songs. It turns out that LaLa had gone out of business since then but I was recommended iLike.com on the out-of-business page. I signed up for them and promptly bought ten songs that day. Again, no muss, no fuss. Just 99¢ a song and that was it. However, iLike doesn't have every song I'm looking for but it will direct me to iTunes since they have it. I didn't want to sign up for another site but I wanted the song so I decided iTunes could be my alternate.
And that's when I ran into trouble...
For some reason, it is not enough to simply sign up for iTunes. I must also download some program first. WHY?! Neither LaLa nor iLike requires that I download a program to get their music. It's a simple transfer of data after my purchase is completed. But no, iTunes has to be fucking difficult. Now I'm sure there's no problem with the thing they want to download, but it's the principle of it all. I don't want to download it and it's already been shown that it is entirely unnecessary to have such a program on my computer in the first place. I want to buy the music I want legally. I really do. I'm one of those guys who believes in paying for the music I own. I don't like giving it away either. At best, I'm like a drug dealer who will give you a sample, but you'll have to buy the rest on your own if you really like it. :-)
In the end, I opted out. I refused to download the service and now I'm wanting for certain songs. It turns out that I lost most of my Paul McCartney singles. I was gonna make a better version (in my opinion) of his All The Best compilation. I put songs I ripped from CDs that I then discarded into that folder. Later, my computer became so unstable that I had to reset it to factory settings. I ditched that folder in my frenzied back-up thinking it was just the songs from the All The Best album. Oops!
I first tried getting them illegally (I once owned the albums, that was my justification) but it seems I can't even do that right. I got the .rar for his Flaming Pie album but I couldn't unRAR it, because I didn't have the password. What the fuck?! So I ended up paying for the two songs I wanted off that album. The songs I couldn't get off of iLike are available on iTunes which just sucks... Anyone who has "Too Many People", "My Brave Face", and "Put It There"...I'd be much obliged.
iTunes, seriously, the trick to making it so that people don't steal the product you're offering is to both offer a consistently high-quality sound file and to do so WITHOUT UNNECESSARY HURDLES, but no...you've decided to go the asshole route...
A few months goes by and I decide that I want to start purchasing songs. It turns out that LaLa had gone out of business since then but I was recommended iLike.com on the out-of-business page. I signed up for them and promptly bought ten songs that day. Again, no muss, no fuss. Just 99¢ a song and that was it. However, iLike doesn't have every song I'm looking for but it will direct me to iTunes since they have it. I didn't want to sign up for another site but I wanted the song so I decided iTunes could be my alternate.
And that's when I ran into trouble...
For some reason, it is not enough to simply sign up for iTunes. I must also download some program first. WHY?! Neither LaLa nor iLike requires that I download a program to get their music. It's a simple transfer of data after my purchase is completed. But no, iTunes has to be fucking difficult. Now I'm sure there's no problem with the thing they want to download, but it's the principle of it all. I don't want to download it and it's already been shown that it is entirely unnecessary to have such a program on my computer in the first place. I want to buy the music I want legally. I really do. I'm one of those guys who believes in paying for the music I own. I don't like giving it away either. At best, I'm like a drug dealer who will give you a sample, but you'll have to buy the rest on your own if you really like it. :-)
In the end, I opted out. I refused to download the service and now I'm wanting for certain songs. It turns out that I lost most of my Paul McCartney singles. I was gonna make a better version (in my opinion) of his All The Best compilation. I put songs I ripped from CDs that I then discarded into that folder. Later, my computer became so unstable that I had to reset it to factory settings. I ditched that folder in my frenzied back-up thinking it was just the songs from the All The Best album. Oops!
I first tried getting them illegally (I once owned the albums, that was my justification) but it seems I can't even do that right. I got the .rar for his Flaming Pie album but I couldn't unRAR it, because I didn't have the password. What the fuck?! So I ended up paying for the two songs I wanted off that album. The songs I couldn't get off of iLike are available on iTunes which just sucks... Anyone who has "Too Many People", "My Brave Face", and "Put It There"...I'd be much obliged.
iTunes, seriously, the trick to making it so that people don't steal the product you're offering is to both offer a consistently high-quality sound file and to do so WITHOUT UNNECESSARY HURDLES, but no...you've decided to go the asshole route...
Friday, August 20, 2010
THOUGHTS I NORMALLY KEEP IN MY HEAD, part I
I feel bad for my friends, especially those who are so kind and genuine when trying to cheer me up. I love them dearly and it bothers me so that their efforts feel so wasted on me. Try as they do, I have great difficulty looking on the bright side of life - as least when it comes to myself. I want desperately to believe that if they just don't give up on me, that their efforts will not be in vain...but my shell is a tough one to crack. How black is the ink in the well of my soul? No matter how many white drops of optimism are added to it, I fail to notice any greying...even after all these years. Is there any hope for me? I fear I'll lose everyone before I figure it out...
Thursday, August 19, 2010
LAZINESS
I like KT Tunstall's song "Black Horse and Cherry Tree". However, every time I hear the song I am distracted by the "woo-hoo"s throughout it and not because they're bad or shouldn't be there; but rather, because they're the SAME "woo-hoo"s throughout the ENTIRE song and it is so obvious that they are. They couldn't record a whole bunch of those while they had her in studio? It's just so lazy and it's sad. This isn't exactly a difficult thing to do but because they didn't put that little extra piece of effort into it, what should be a really cool song becomes simply aggravating.
The video to this song has stupidly disabled embedding cuz why would EMI make it easy for others to hear their artists' songs... Here's the YouTube link: Black Horse and the Cherry Tree and listen for yourself.
The video to this song has stupidly disabled embedding cuz why would EMI make it easy for others to hear their artists' songs... Here's the YouTube link: Black Horse and the Cherry Tree and listen for yourself.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
I NEED A POSITIVE ENTRY FOR THIS BLOG
It's hardly controversial for one to say they like The Beatles. Liking The Beatles goes hand-in-hand with liking music in general. I don't even name them when listing my favorite musicians because, in my mind, it is simply understood that you do. I don't even think I could be with someone who doesn't thoroughly enjoy their music. :-)
Top 10 lists are always a popular way to waste time. I was recently asked what my Top 10 Beatles songs were. It's surprisingly difficult to come up with one. A Top 20 list would prove to be no problem whatsoever, but the culling necessary to generate a Top 10 has proven frustrating. What do I include? What do I exclude and why?
I'm not interested in being "too cool for the room" nor do I feel compelled to honor consensus and select those songs which have had much critical acclaim over the years. I am simply selecting those songs which, if they were the only ten songs by The Beatles I would ever hear again, I would not feel left wanting.
However, what I have not been able to do is order these songs. I could try, but I'm not sure what it would accomplish. I like songs for different reasons so they don't necessarily compare. This doesn't stop me from saying that "You Won't See Me" is my favorite Beatles song, but the rest of the list isn't about that. So, after the aforementioned song, the nine songs which follow will be listed simply in alphabetical order rather than in any kind of order of superiority that is generally implied in Top 10 listings.
"You Won't See Me" is my favorite of them all. It's just one of those perfectly composed songs. It's simple, easy to learn, and adds complexity over the verses. How enjoyable is it when those "la la"s start kicking in? The music feels like it was written for the lyrics rather than the other way around. Like "Road to Nowhere" by Talking Heads, this song feels like it needed to be written and that the world is a better place for having this song in it. The only thing I've found wrong with the song over the years is that it fades out too quickly. A victim of its time I imagine. The song already runs long (almost 3½ minutes in an era of 2-2½ minute songs) so that may be the reason. I imagine a fan-edit could solve this problem since the music and singing has become deliberately repetitive by that point in the song.
I love the way the piano kicks in during the chorus of "For No One". It totally makes the song. It's also another one of those songs that makes me wonder what happened to Paul McCartney. He wrote these awesome songs with The Beatles and then totally lost it in his solo career putting out just so much dreck. I can't help but wonder how much John and George kept him in check. How he went from "Yesterday", "For No One", and "Oh! Darling" to "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey", "Silly Love Songs", and "Temporary Secretary" is just beyond me...
"I Feel Fine" is one of those songs that's immediately awesome with its deliberate guitar feedback. It is perhaps foreshadowing of the kinds of musical experimentation that the band would explore throughout their career. The song is simple but what makes it powerful is its unbridled joy. This song simply makes me feel happy to hear and to sing.
"I've Just Seen a Face" - How awesome is this song! The joy and anticipation inherent in the pacing and tempo of the lyrics is amazing. I can't wait until I've reached a point in my life where I could feel this song in my heart. For while I have definitely seen a few faces that have made my heart flutter, the endings to these sightings have yet to prove happy. However, despite that, my heart remains at the ready with this song in mind.
"I Will" - I remember this song from childhood. Dad made a mix tape for my brother and me of songs from The Beatles first five albums. This one was the anomalous later album inclusion that ended the tape although it got cut off during the final bongo taps. This song is beautiful for its simplicity. It's short and sweet and to the point. Paul McCartney's songs from The Beatles make me look so forward to being in love.
"In My Life" I think is one of, if not the, greatest song ever written. It's a rare song whose lyrics are so beautiful and well-crafted. There is no one for whom this song could not describe. There's no mention of gender, sexual orientation, race, time period, nothing to make it so that the song could not be applied to you. The song is perfectly general. There aren't any obsolete slang words like "groovy" to take you out of it. It's truly an anthem to nostalgia applicable to all. This song, not "Imagine", should be the one for which John Lennon is known (although "Cold Turkey" is just as awesome. If you listen to it, as the song goes into its long ending sequence, I'll remind you of a story my stepfather told me. He said he had a neighbor who would play music that he absolutely hated so he would put this song into his stereo and crank it up to full volume in protest to this neighbor's shitty tastes. Knowing that story makes "Cold Turkey" tremendously enjoyable)
"Only a Northern Song" - In what may be considered by some to be my "too cool for the room" entry on this list, I have included George Harrison's "Only a Northern Song". This song intrigues me. I've never known what to make of it. While "Revolution 9" is probably their most unusual track, I think "Only a Northern Song" to be The Beatles' most unusual song that was meant to be a song. Its complex arrangement; Harrison's strange, yet thoughtful lyrics; unusual instrumentation; and the fact that the whole song sounds out-of-tune, yet triumphing despite that makes it a favorite of mine that I look forward to every time I put in my version of the Yellow Submarine album (I deleted the repeat songs and instrumental tracks and then added the completed, unreleased tracks from their Anthology albums).
"Something" - This song alone makes me wish John and Paul didn't hold George back so much during their years together in The Beatles. Right away from George's first contribution "Don't Bother Me", you knew that he had some major talent that would unfortunately have to wait for his solo career. It's also another glorious contribution to the love songs of the English language. Who hasn't felt what he is singing about?
"Things We Said Today" - Another example of a song that, while simple in its instrumentation, is powerful lyrically. I can't explain precisely what it is to me that makes this song so awesome, it just simply is. :-)
"We Can Work It Out" - The opposite of the previous song. This one is simple in its lyrics but powerful in its instrumentation. How many of you still feel that tingle as the song slows down a bit and Ringo pounds away on the cymbals? I also admire this song because it was "just a single". You never see this anymore where artists simply release songs because they can. This particular 45 had "We Can Work It Out" as its A-side and "Day Tripper" as the B-side. Two perfectly album-worthy songs released simply for the fuck of it. The Beatles were writing so many songs that rather than do the lazy thing and include them on a future album so that they could take some time off now, they simply released the songs to an eager public. In today's MP3-heavy culture, you would think we would be seeing a renaissance of digital 45s but instead artists are still trying to release full albums.
Thanks for reading! - or simply scrolling on through :-P
Top 10 lists are always a popular way to waste time. I was recently asked what my Top 10 Beatles songs were. It's surprisingly difficult to come up with one. A Top 20 list would prove to be no problem whatsoever, but the culling necessary to generate a Top 10 has proven frustrating. What do I include? What do I exclude and why?
I'm not interested in being "too cool for the room" nor do I feel compelled to honor consensus and select those songs which have had much critical acclaim over the years. I am simply selecting those songs which, if they were the only ten songs by The Beatles I would ever hear again, I would not feel left wanting.
However, what I have not been able to do is order these songs. I could try, but I'm not sure what it would accomplish. I like songs for different reasons so they don't necessarily compare. This doesn't stop me from saying that "You Won't See Me" is my favorite Beatles song, but the rest of the list isn't about that. So, after the aforementioned song, the nine songs which follow will be listed simply in alphabetical order rather than in any kind of order of superiority that is generally implied in Top 10 listings.
--- MY TOP 10 BEATLES SONGS ---
You Won't See Me (Rubber Soul)
For No One (Revolver)
I Feel Fine (non-album single)
I've Just Seen a Face (Help!)
I Will ("White Album")
In My Life (Rubber Soul)
Only A Northern Song (Yellow Submarine)
Something (Abbey Road)
Things We Said Today (A Hard Day's Night)
We Can Work It Out (non-album single)
"You Won't See Me" is my favorite of them all. It's just one of those perfectly composed songs. It's simple, easy to learn, and adds complexity over the verses. How enjoyable is it when those "la la"s start kicking in? The music feels like it was written for the lyrics rather than the other way around. Like "Road to Nowhere" by Talking Heads, this song feels like it needed to be written and that the world is a better place for having this song in it. The only thing I've found wrong with the song over the years is that it fades out too quickly. A victim of its time I imagine. The song already runs long (almost 3½ minutes in an era of 2-2½ minute songs) so that may be the reason. I imagine a fan-edit could solve this problem since the music and singing has become deliberately repetitive by that point in the song.
I love the way the piano kicks in during the chorus of "For No One". It totally makes the song. It's also another one of those songs that makes me wonder what happened to Paul McCartney. He wrote these awesome songs with The Beatles and then totally lost it in his solo career putting out just so much dreck. I can't help but wonder how much John and George kept him in check. How he went from "Yesterday", "For No One", and "Oh! Darling" to "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey", "Silly Love Songs", and "Temporary Secretary" is just beyond me...
"I Feel Fine" is one of those songs that's immediately awesome with its deliberate guitar feedback. It is perhaps foreshadowing of the kinds of musical experimentation that the band would explore throughout their career. The song is simple but what makes it powerful is its unbridled joy. This song simply makes me feel happy to hear and to sing.
"I've Just Seen a Face" - How awesome is this song! The joy and anticipation inherent in the pacing and tempo of the lyrics is amazing. I can't wait until I've reached a point in my life where I could feel this song in my heart. For while I have definitely seen a few faces that have made my heart flutter, the endings to these sightings have yet to prove happy. However, despite that, my heart remains at the ready with this song in mind.
"I Will" - I remember this song from childhood. Dad made a mix tape for my brother and me of songs from The Beatles first five albums. This one was the anomalous later album inclusion that ended the tape although it got cut off during the final bongo taps. This song is beautiful for its simplicity. It's short and sweet and to the point. Paul McCartney's songs from The Beatles make me look so forward to being in love.
"In My Life" I think is one of, if not the, greatest song ever written. It's a rare song whose lyrics are so beautiful and well-crafted. There is no one for whom this song could not describe. There's no mention of gender, sexual orientation, race, time period, nothing to make it so that the song could not be applied to you. The song is perfectly general. There aren't any obsolete slang words like "groovy" to take you out of it. It's truly an anthem to nostalgia applicable to all. This song, not "Imagine", should be the one for which John Lennon is known (although "Cold Turkey" is just as awesome. If you listen to it, as the song goes into its long ending sequence, I'll remind you of a story my stepfather told me. He said he had a neighbor who would play music that he absolutely hated so he would put this song into his stereo and crank it up to full volume in protest to this neighbor's shitty tastes. Knowing that story makes "Cold Turkey" tremendously enjoyable)
"Only a Northern Song" - In what may be considered by some to be my "too cool for the room" entry on this list, I have included George Harrison's "Only a Northern Song". This song intrigues me. I've never known what to make of it. While "Revolution 9" is probably their most unusual track, I think "Only a Northern Song" to be The Beatles' most unusual song that was meant to be a song. Its complex arrangement; Harrison's strange, yet thoughtful lyrics; unusual instrumentation; and the fact that the whole song sounds out-of-tune, yet triumphing despite that makes it a favorite of mine that I look forward to every time I put in my version of the Yellow Submarine album (I deleted the repeat songs and instrumental tracks and then added the completed, unreleased tracks from their Anthology albums).
"Something" - This song alone makes me wish John and Paul didn't hold George back so much during their years together in The Beatles. Right away from George's first contribution "Don't Bother Me", you knew that he had some major talent that would unfortunately have to wait for his solo career. It's also another glorious contribution to the love songs of the English language. Who hasn't felt what he is singing about?
"Things We Said Today" - Another example of a song that, while simple in its instrumentation, is powerful lyrically. I can't explain precisely what it is to me that makes this song so awesome, it just simply is. :-)
"We Can Work It Out" - The opposite of the previous song. This one is simple in its lyrics but powerful in its instrumentation. How many of you still feel that tingle as the song slows down a bit and Ringo pounds away on the cymbals? I also admire this song because it was "just a single". You never see this anymore where artists simply release songs because they can. This particular 45 had "We Can Work It Out" as its A-side and "Day Tripper" as the B-side. Two perfectly album-worthy songs released simply for the fuck of it. The Beatles were writing so many songs that rather than do the lazy thing and include them on a future album so that they could take some time off now, they simply released the songs to an eager public. In today's MP3-heavy culture, you would think we would be seeing a renaissance of digital 45s but instead artists are still trying to release full albums.
Thanks for reading! - or simply scrolling on through :-P
AND SO I KEEP GOING 'ROUND IN CIRCLES...
It's always weird for me to see couples. I've never had a girlfriend. I can't even imagine having one: it's such a foreign concept. I can't picture a woman choosing me when she has the choice of everyone else on this planet. I can't envision her arms going around mine because she wanted to do so. The thought of her wanting to kiss me, hold me, touch me is the equivalent of a syntax error to my mind...does not compute. It's lonely and leaves me despairing more often than not.
It's been suggested to me that I use those internet dating sites. I don't see the problem with that eventually. It's the initially thing that kills me inside. I know the stigma of internet dating has more-or-less been removed in recent years but I don't think the stigma of using it for your first date has been. And it doesn't matter to me if such a concept is a social stigma or not. It's a personal one for me. I already feel like such a loser. The lack of attention/interest I have received over the years from girls has left me feeling ugly. The need to be able to do this, even if only just once, in real life is extremely important. And all my combined deficiencies do nothing to make me believe that I have any way out of this hole that I've dug...
I'm gonna be thirty-two soon. What a horrible thing to realize that, for all intents and purposes, I am in the same boat I was in since I've been twelve - the age when I first started liking girls. I'm a twenty year old twelve year old.
I just can't picture who would want someone like me, or rather...who would want to invest in someone like me. I'm a piece of work. Why be with me when there are plenty of pre-fab boyfriends out there for women? Be with a guy with experience or without? Be with a guy who can drive or one who can't? Be with a guy who likes to go out or be with one who prefers staying home? Be with a guy who believes in God or with one who has no need for such superstitions? Be with a guy who makes decent money or with one who's barely getting by? Be with a guy who you can be superficially proud of or with one who needs to be constantly justified to friends and family? Be with a guy who has weekends off or with one who hasn't had a weekend off since 1999? Be with a guy who has confidence in himself or with one who is broken inside?
The natural world operates on the path of least resistance. Atoms settle naturally into the lowest possible energy state. The low-hanging fruit gets picked first. Predators seek out prey which is old, very young, sick, and injured. I am quite the wall to surmount. I wouldn't even date me so why would anyone else? I wouldn't know what to do with a girl even if I could have one...
And the depression merely mounts. The oldest I wanted to be when I had my first child was thirty-two. I wanted to be married starting when I was twenty-four. I'm nowhere near any of this and so I feel old, I feel unwanted, I feel ugly, I feel despised, I feel like a monster, I feel like a failure regardless of whether it is true or not.
I am a failure.
It's been suggested to me that I use those internet dating sites. I don't see the problem with that eventually. It's the initially thing that kills me inside. I know the stigma of internet dating has more-or-less been removed in recent years but I don't think the stigma of using it for your first date has been. And it doesn't matter to me if such a concept is a social stigma or not. It's a personal one for me. I already feel like such a loser. The lack of attention/interest I have received over the years from girls has left me feeling ugly. The need to be able to do this, even if only just once, in real life is extremely important. And all my combined deficiencies do nothing to make me believe that I have any way out of this hole that I've dug...
I'm gonna be thirty-two soon. What a horrible thing to realize that, for all intents and purposes, I am in the same boat I was in since I've been twelve - the age when I first started liking girls. I'm a twenty year old twelve year old.
I just can't picture who would want someone like me, or rather...who would want to invest in someone like me. I'm a piece of work. Why be with me when there are plenty of pre-fab boyfriends out there for women? Be with a guy with experience or without? Be with a guy who can drive or one who can't? Be with a guy who likes to go out or be with one who prefers staying home? Be with a guy who believes in God or with one who has no need for such superstitions? Be with a guy who makes decent money or with one who's barely getting by? Be with a guy who you can be superficially proud of or with one who needs to be constantly justified to friends and family? Be with a guy who has weekends off or with one who hasn't had a weekend off since 1999? Be with a guy who has confidence in himself or with one who is broken inside?
The natural world operates on the path of least resistance. Atoms settle naturally into the lowest possible energy state. The low-hanging fruit gets picked first. Predators seek out prey which is old, very young, sick, and injured. I am quite the wall to surmount. I wouldn't even date me so why would anyone else? I wouldn't know what to do with a girl even if I could have one...
And the depression merely mounts. The oldest I wanted to be when I had my first child was thirty-two. I wanted to be married starting when I was twenty-four. I'm nowhere near any of this and so I feel old, I feel unwanted, I feel ugly, I feel despised, I feel like a monster, I feel like a failure regardless of whether it is true or not.
I am a failure.
AND NOW FOR THE SINGLES...
My previous post listed my albums in an attempt to discover my favorite music period (un)scientifically. I left out my compilation CDs and other assorted singles. Now I've gone through the remainder of my collection.
I tallied up my collection of singles. Since compilation CDs tend to include some songs that you don't like, I have only chosen to note those singles which I like. In total, I have collected 875 singles that I like ranging from 1935 to 2009. The very oldest ones tend to be Christmas songs (like "Silent Night" by Bing Crosby [1935]) and some old swing-era tunes (like "In the Mood" by Glenn Miller [1939]) and the newest ones represent MP3s that I have recently begun downloading (like "40 Day Dream" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes and the subject of my months-long search "Greeting Committee" by The Pillbugs).
1935 - 3 1957 - 21 1972 - 20 1987 - 11 2004 - 2
1937 - 1 1958 - 23 1973 - 19 1988 - 5 2005 - 1
1939 - 4 1959 - 13 1974 - 16 1989 - 12 2006 - 4
1940 - 2 1960 - 6 1975 - 18 1990 - 3 2007 - 3
1941 - 1 1961 - 17 1976 - 27 1991 - 5 2008 - 2
1942 - 3 1962 - 11 1977 - 32 1993 - 3 2009 - 4
1944 - 2 1963 - 33 1978 - 25 1994 - 2
1945 - 1 1964 - 42 1979 - 27 1995 - 3
1947 - 1 1965 - 50 1980 - 20 1996 - 6
1948 - 1 1966 - 54 1981 - 27 1997 - 1
1949 - 1 1967 - 39 1982 - 26 1998 - 2
1953 - 1 1968 - 32 1983 - 27 2000 - 1
1954 - 2 1969 - 33 1984 - 30 2001 - 1
1955 - 4 1970 - 16 1985 - 19 2002 - 4
1956 - 7 1971 - 20 1986 - 22 2003 - 1
1966 is the clear winner with 54 songs (I'm not listing them).
1963-1969 is clearly my favorite period on the basis of singles with 1976-1986 being the second most popular period. Songs I intend to buy come not only from those periods as well but from recent times as well. The music I've been hearing today hasn't lent itself to me wanting to get their albums although I've been impressed by Little Joy and Sara Bareilles.
I wonder how this list might change as I add to it over the years?
And let me take a moment to thank the advancement of technology. I can't imagine lugging around the massive collection of 45s, EPs, and LPs that a collection such as this would require. Album art issues aside, that shit got real heavy real fast. Viva las CDs y MP3s!
(originally posted in That Other Journal on August 18, 2010)
I tallied up my collection of singles. Since compilation CDs tend to include some songs that you don't like, I have only chosen to note those singles which I like. In total, I have collected 875 singles that I like ranging from 1935 to 2009. The very oldest ones tend to be Christmas songs (like "Silent Night" by Bing Crosby [1935]) and some old swing-era tunes (like "In the Mood" by Glenn Miller [1939]) and the newest ones represent MP3s that I have recently begun downloading (like "40 Day Dream" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes and the subject of my months-long search "Greeting Committee" by The Pillbugs).
1935 - 3 1957 - 21 1972 - 20 1987 - 11 2004 - 2
1937 - 1 1958 - 23 1973 - 19 1988 - 5 2005 - 1
1939 - 4 1959 - 13 1974 - 16 1989 - 12 2006 - 4
1940 - 2 1960 - 6 1975 - 18 1990 - 3 2007 - 3
1941 - 1 1961 - 17 1976 - 27 1991 - 5 2008 - 2
1942 - 3 1962 - 11 1977 - 32 1993 - 3 2009 - 4
1944 - 2 1963 - 33 1978 - 25 1994 - 2
1945 - 1 1964 - 42 1979 - 27 1995 - 3
1947 - 1 1965 - 50 1980 - 20 1996 - 6
1948 - 1 1966 - 54 1981 - 27 1997 - 1
1949 - 1 1967 - 39 1982 - 26 1998 - 2
1953 - 1 1968 - 32 1983 - 27 2000 - 1
1954 - 2 1969 - 33 1984 - 30 2001 - 1
1955 - 4 1970 - 16 1985 - 19 2002 - 4
1956 - 7 1971 - 20 1986 - 22 2003 - 1
1966 is the clear winner with 54 songs (I'm not listing them).
1963-1969 is clearly my favorite period on the basis of singles with 1976-1986 being the second most popular period. Songs I intend to buy come not only from those periods as well but from recent times as well. The music I've been hearing today hasn't lent itself to me wanting to get their albums although I've been impressed by Little Joy and Sara Bareilles.
I wonder how this list might change as I add to it over the years?
And let me take a moment to thank the advancement of technology. I can't imagine lugging around the massive collection of 45s, EPs, and LPs that a collection such as this would require. Album art issues aside, that shit got real heavy real fast. Viva las CDs y MP3s!
(originally posted in That Other Journal on August 18, 2010)
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
MY NEW THEME SONG
It pleases me to no end that there exists a song called "Cynical Girl". It's a song by Marshall Crenshaw (of "Someday, Someway" fame) that came out in 1982 [good to know I've been paying attention all these years!]. It was playing on my store's MUZAK program channel "7890" [70s, 80s, 90s, and today]. I was delighted to hear it but couldn't believe that that's what I was hearing. There was no way it could be "I'm looking for a cynical girl..." It had to be "simple" right?
How delightful to be so wrong! I have to go out and buy this album stat.
How delightful to be so wrong! I have to go out and buy this album stat.
CYNICAL GIRL
(lyrics by Marshall Crenshaw)
Well I'm goin' out
I'm goin' out lookin' for a cynical girl
Who's got no use for the real world
I'm lookin' for a cynical girl
Well I hate TV
There's gotta be somebody other than me
Who's ready to write it off immediately
I'm lookin' for a cynical girl
Well I'll know right away by the look in her eye
She harbors no illusions and she's worldly-wise
And I'll know when I give her a listen that she
She's what I've been missin'
What I've been missin'
I'll be lost in love
And havin' some fun with my cynical girl
Who'll have no use for the real world
I'm lookin' for a cynical girl
Well I'm goin' out
I'm goin' out lookin' for a cynical girl
Who's got no use for the real world
I'm lookin' for a cynical girl
Yeah I'll know right away by the look in her eye
She harbors no illusions and she's worldly-wise
And I'll know when I give her a listen that she
She's what I've been missin'
What I've been missin'
I'll be lost in love
And havin' some fun with my cynical girl
Who'll have no use for the real world
I'm lookin' for a cynical girl
Monday, August 16, 2010
BORED BEFORE THE BANK...
We have all been asked what our favorite music period is. My general
answer is 1957-2000 with some stuff from before (it goes back as far as
1939) and some stuff later (it takes a while for new stuff to catch on
with me) with the main period being the mid-1970s to mid-1980s and then
the late-1950s to mid-1960s as my second favorite.
Based loosely on a conversation I had the other day, I decided to find out if this holds water. I did an (admittedly) unscientific survey of all the albums I own. Now, these are albums, not compilations. Those will have to wait for another survey.
I own a total of 198 albums. I have every year from 1963-2009 represented at least once with the exception of 2007 and two albums from 1959. My oldest album is "An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer" and my most recent is "Raditude" by Weezer.
The results show five or more albums for the years 1967-1971 (1970 peeks with 7. That was the year the now ex-Beatles released their first solo albums) and another period of five or more albums for the years 1976-1986 (with the exception of 1984 which has 3 so 1976-1983 if you wanna get technical). There's also a third period from 1991-1997 (with the exception of 1992 having only 3). 1998-2001 are all tied at 4 each.
The only 21st century artist I have three or more albums for is John Mayer. Every one else got their start in the 20th century.
1959 - 2 1971 - 5 1981 - 8 1991 - 7 2001 - 4
1972 - 2 1982 - 8 1992 - 3 2002 - 3
1963 - 2 1973 - 5 1983 - 6 1993 - 5 2003 - 2
1964 - 2 1974 - 4 1984 - 3 1994 - 5 2004 - 2
1965 - 4 1975 - 2 1985 - 5 1995 - 6 2005 - 2
1966 - 1 1976 - 7 1986 - 6 1996 - 5 2006 - 1
1967 - 6 1977 - 6 1987 - 3 1997 - 5
1968 - 5 1978 - 9 1988 - 3 1998 - 4 2008 - 1
1969 - 5 1979 - 6 1989 - 5 1999 - 4 2009 - 1
1970 - 7 1980 - 6 1990 - 1 2000 - 4
The year 1978 is the clear winner. The albums I have from that year are as follows:
1978:
52nd Street - Billy Joel (singles: Big Shot, My Life, Honesty)
U.K. Squeeze - Squeeze (single: Take Me I'm Yours)
And Then There Were Three - Genesis (single: Follow You Follow Me)
Peter Gabriel II - Peter Gabriel (single: D.I.Y.)
Octave - The Moody Blues (single: Steppin' in a Slide Zone)
More Songs About Buildings and Food - Talking Heads (single: Take Me to the River)
The Cars - The Cars (singles: Let the Good Times Roll, My Best Friend's Girl, Just What I Needed, etc.)
Parallel Lines - Blondie (singles: Hanging on the Telephone, One Way or Another, Heart of Glass, etc.)
But Seriously Folks - John Walsh (single: Life's Been Good)
1981: (tied for third)
Argybargy - Squeeze (singles: Pulling Mussels, Another Nail for My Heart, If I Didn't Love You)
East Side Story - Squeeze (singles: Tempted, Is That Love)
Abacab - Genesis (singles: Abacab, No Reply at All, Man on the Corner)
Face Value - Phil Collins (singles: In the Air Tonight, I Missed Again)
Long Distance Voyager - The Moody Blues (singles: Gemini Dream; 22,000 Days)
Shake It Up - The Cars (singles: Shake It Up, Since You're Gone, I'm Not the One)
Somewhere in England - George Harrison (singles: All Those Years Ago, Life Itself)
Time - Electric Light Orchestra (singles: Hold on Tight, Twilight, The Lights Go Down)
1982: (tied for third)
The Nylon Curtain - Billy Joel (singles: Allentown, Pressure)
Sweets from a Stranger - Squeeze (single: Black Coffee in Bed)
Security - Peter Gabriel (single: Shock the Monkey)
Hello, I Must Be Going - Phil Collins (singles: I Don't Care Anymore, Can't Hurry Love)
Beatitude - Ric Ocasek (single: Jimmy Jimmy)
Gone Troppo - George Harrison (singles: Wake Up My Love, That's the Way It Goes, Gone Troppo)
Abracadabra - Steve Miller (single: Abracadabra)
Business As Usual - Men at Work (singles: Who Can It Be Now?, Down Under, Underground, etc.)
Make of this information as you wish. When I get bored again, I'll see how my collection of singles adds up.
(originally posted in That Other Journal on August 16, 2010)
Based loosely on a conversation I had the other day, I decided to find out if this holds water. I did an (admittedly) unscientific survey of all the albums I own. Now, these are albums, not compilations. Those will have to wait for another survey.
I own a total of 198 albums. I have every year from 1963-2009 represented at least once with the exception of 2007 and two albums from 1959. My oldest album is "An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer" and my most recent is "Raditude" by Weezer.
The results show five or more albums for the years 1967-1971 (1970 peeks with 7. That was the year the now ex-Beatles released their first solo albums) and another period of five or more albums for the years 1976-1986 (with the exception of 1984 which has 3 so 1976-1983 if you wanna get technical). There's also a third period from 1991-1997 (with the exception of 1992 having only 3). 1998-2001 are all tied at 4 each.
The only 21st century artist I have three or more albums for is John Mayer. Every one else got their start in the 20th century.
1959 - 2 1971 - 5 1981 - 8 1991 - 7 2001 - 4
1972 - 2 1982 - 8 1992 - 3 2002 - 3
1963 - 2 1973 - 5 1983 - 6 1993 - 5 2003 - 2
1964 - 2 1974 - 4 1984 - 3 1994 - 5 2004 - 2
1965 - 4 1975 - 2 1985 - 5 1995 - 6 2005 - 2
1966 - 1 1976 - 7 1986 - 6 1996 - 5 2006 - 1
1967 - 6 1977 - 6 1987 - 3 1997 - 5
1968 - 5 1978 - 9 1988 - 3 1998 - 4 2008 - 1
1969 - 5 1979 - 6 1989 - 5 1999 - 4 2009 - 1
1970 - 7 1980 - 6 1990 - 1 2000 - 4
The year 1978 is the clear winner. The albums I have from that year are as follows:
1978:
52nd Street - Billy Joel (singles: Big Shot, My Life, Honesty)
U.K. Squeeze - Squeeze (single: Take Me I'm Yours)
And Then There Were Three - Genesis (single: Follow You Follow Me)
Peter Gabriel II - Peter Gabriel (single: D.I.Y.)
Octave - The Moody Blues (single: Steppin' in a Slide Zone)
More Songs About Buildings and Food - Talking Heads (single: Take Me to the River)
The Cars - The Cars (singles: Let the Good Times Roll, My Best Friend's Girl, Just What I Needed, etc.)
Parallel Lines - Blondie (singles: Hanging on the Telephone, One Way or Another, Heart of Glass, etc.)
But Seriously Folks - John Walsh (single: Life's Been Good)
1981: (tied for third)
Argybargy - Squeeze (singles: Pulling Mussels, Another Nail for My Heart, If I Didn't Love You)
East Side Story - Squeeze (singles: Tempted, Is That Love)
Abacab - Genesis (singles: Abacab, No Reply at All, Man on the Corner)
Face Value - Phil Collins (singles: In the Air Tonight, I Missed Again)
Long Distance Voyager - The Moody Blues (singles: Gemini Dream; 22,000 Days)
Shake It Up - The Cars (singles: Shake It Up, Since You're Gone, I'm Not the One)
Somewhere in England - George Harrison (singles: All Those Years Ago, Life Itself)
Time - Electric Light Orchestra (singles: Hold on Tight, Twilight, The Lights Go Down)
1982: (tied for third)
The Nylon Curtain - Billy Joel (singles: Allentown, Pressure)
Sweets from a Stranger - Squeeze (single: Black Coffee in Bed)
Security - Peter Gabriel (single: Shock the Monkey)
Hello, I Must Be Going - Phil Collins (singles: I Don't Care Anymore, Can't Hurry Love)
Beatitude - Ric Ocasek (single: Jimmy Jimmy)
Gone Troppo - George Harrison (singles: Wake Up My Love, That's the Way It Goes, Gone Troppo)
Abracadabra - Steve Miller (single: Abracadabra)
Business As Usual - Men at Work (singles: Who Can It Be Now?, Down Under, Underground, etc.)
Make of this information as you wish. When I get bored again, I'll see how my collection of singles adds up.
(originally posted in That Other Journal on August 16, 2010)
Saturday, August 14, 2010
INIMANDVS
The other night while walking to work I saw a lone firefly flashing his bioluminescent abdomen in a field where no female would ever see him. He was the last one to rise, the last of his brethren having perished in the week or two before after doing what they had been born to do. He was late to the party. His life will go unfulfilled.
I can sympathize with that insect...
I can sympathize with that insect...
Friday, August 13, 2010
A "SNEIZURE" IS WHEN YOU SNEEZE THREE OR MORE TIMES IN A ROW...
I have this bizarre allergy. I don't even know if it's correct to call it an allergy.
I've been to an allergist before. I have had the scratch test. The only thing I react to is cat dander. Now before you conclude that this must be the answer, cats don't make me sneeze nor do they make my eyes water. I've lived with cats and can be around them without any problems. It's only if I am scratched by them that I get a reaction. The area of the scratch wells up rather noticeably and becomes itchy but it ends there.
However, I do get days where my eyes are pouring forth tears (which generally don't drain out my eyes but rather out my nose) and I'm sneezing multiple times in a row (like three to seven times) all the while accompanied by this unending itch in only my left (or occasionally only my right) nostril. That itch is the start of the cycle.
The itch causes my nasal lining to swell which in turn creates tears which in turn drain itchily out my nose which in turn prompts sniffling which in turn results in multiple sneezes which calms me down for a few minutes until the next inevitable itch which restarts the cycle. Avoiding sniffling results in tears dripping out my nose and that itself also itches. There's no way to win and the longer I go without sneezing, the more powerful they are when it happens again anyway. In other words, the typical allergic response.
The weird thing is my nose is actually clear during these periods. Usually I have a slight, constant stuffiness. When the sneezing gets bad, it feels as though air is touching a part of my nasal lining that normally does not get touched by air. Once I get that feeling, I know I'm doomed. I've noticed that the medicine aisles of pharmacies sell DEcongestants...I really wish they would sell CONgestants because that's what I really need because pinching my nose shut does nothing. :-)
The trouble is, I have no idea what it is in response to, yet I know how to cause it. I don't do it on purpose, but if I don't get enough rest for three or more days in a row, it happens...always. It starts with a lot of yawning (duh), which results in me tearing up. Those tears drain and I sniffle without incident for a while but then after that first sneeze, it just builds to its peak. A good night of rest is all it takes to end it but I'm usually hours away from that option when it happens. It's the weirdest thing. Either I'm allergic to a protein/salt in my own tears or I'm allergic to not getting enough sleep. It's ridiculous. Maybe I should scratch myself with a sterilized needle dipped in my tears to find out :-)
The sneezing is the worst. I don't know why, but my body insists on hurricane-force, LOUD, spraying sneezes. I've always envied those girls who had those cute choo! sneezes... You'd think after the 1,017th sneeze, that the body would kinda get that it's not working but no... All I wanna do is score the delicate lining of my nose when I get this way. What is it about allergies that gets me thinking so medievally?
I've been to an allergist before. I have had the scratch test. The only thing I react to is cat dander. Now before you conclude that this must be the answer, cats don't make me sneeze nor do they make my eyes water. I've lived with cats and can be around them without any problems. It's only if I am scratched by them that I get a reaction. The area of the scratch wells up rather noticeably and becomes itchy but it ends there.
However, I do get days where my eyes are pouring forth tears (which generally don't drain out my eyes but rather out my nose) and I'm sneezing multiple times in a row (like three to seven times) all the while accompanied by this unending itch in only my left (or occasionally only my right) nostril. That itch is the start of the cycle.
The itch causes my nasal lining to swell which in turn creates tears which in turn drain itchily out my nose which in turn prompts sniffling which in turn results in multiple sneezes which calms me down for a few minutes until the next inevitable itch which restarts the cycle. Avoiding sniffling results in tears dripping out my nose and that itself also itches. There's no way to win and the longer I go without sneezing, the more powerful they are when it happens again anyway. In other words, the typical allergic response.
The weird thing is my nose is actually clear during these periods. Usually I have a slight, constant stuffiness. When the sneezing gets bad, it feels as though air is touching a part of my nasal lining that normally does not get touched by air. Once I get that feeling, I know I'm doomed. I've noticed that the medicine aisles of pharmacies sell DEcongestants...I really wish they would sell CONgestants because that's what I really need because pinching my nose shut does nothing. :-)
The trouble is, I have no idea what it is in response to, yet I know how to cause it. I don't do it on purpose, but if I don't get enough rest for three or more days in a row, it happens...always. It starts with a lot of yawning (duh), which results in me tearing up. Those tears drain and I sniffle without incident for a while but then after that first sneeze, it just builds to its peak. A good night of rest is all it takes to end it but I'm usually hours away from that option when it happens. It's the weirdest thing. Either I'm allergic to a protein/salt in my own tears or I'm allergic to not getting enough sleep. It's ridiculous. Maybe I should scratch myself with a sterilized needle dipped in my tears to find out :-)
The sneezing is the worst. I don't know why, but my body insists on hurricane-force, LOUD, spraying sneezes. I've always envied those girls who had those cute choo! sneezes... You'd think after the 1,017th sneeze, that the body would kinda get that it's not working but no... All I wanna do is score the delicate lining of my nose when I get this way. What is it about allergies that gets me thinking so medievally?
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
BANGING MY HEAD AGAINST MY DESK...
My roommate is my friend and while he is a good friend, he is a lousy roommate. I'm not sure if this thus makes him a lousy friend. Does it carry over?
If your friend takes advantage of you, s/he is considered a bad friend so if my roommate is "allowing" me to do like 95-98% of the work around the apartment, is he not taking advantage of me and if so, does that make him a bad friend? Emotionally I feel that connection while logically, I separate them. I mean, I won't lend even my best friends money if I believe that I won't be paid back but that doesn't mean I think them a bad friend, just bad when it comes to money. I'm torn.
Maybe it has to do with the fact that he has been unemployed since March and for nearly five months, did NOTHING to look for new work. Like a douchebag, I actually brought home an advertisement for Census work...y'know, a GOVERNMENT job...jobs which are practically synonymous with excessive pay. He would've been let go by now, it's temporary work...but it would've been temporary work at $20/hr. Instead, no...he's looking (or so he says) for work only now.
The point being that he has basically been home all day doing NOTHING around the apartment. He actually had the gall to tell me when first fired that "now that he has all this extra free time, that he should really start doing more around the apartment since I'm doing it all the time." How fucking offensive is that? When you include travel time, I'm working over 40 hours a week, I still have to sleep and eat, and yet somehow, I have all this free time to do EVERYTHING around this apartment. I wanna believe that it's the "night shift fallacy" but I'm really having trouble with that.
The "Night Shift Fallacy" is an assumption made by non-night shift workers. They believe that because we are home all day that we have more time to do stuff than they who have to work during more normal hours. Those who make this assumption, of course, have failed to take into account that WE HAVE TO SLEEP TOO. It's just we have to sleep during the day. When working the night shift, you have two options: you either have the morning or the afternoon, but not both. I personally choose to have the morning (going to sleep around noon). I've done the afternoon (going to sleep at about 7 a.m. and getting up at 3 p.m.) but without something to do, it's hard to get up on time. The temptation to sleep in is tremendous. WORK-LEISURE-SLEEP is the way I prefer to do it. WORK-SLEEP-LEISURE all too often becomes WORK-SLEEP-SLEEP SOME MORE :-)
Anyways... I am completely convinced that he is not only perfectly content with the situation as is, but that he honestly believes that I am being an awesome roommate by doing it all for him rather than he is being a fucking lousy roommate by not doing his share. I would have never described him as narcissistic before, but I'm coming to that conclusion now. Even if it's not narcissism, it's definitely a parasitic relationship and it speaks poorly of him as a friend to allow this situation to continue.
Should I say something? You would think so. He really offended me with his "all this free time/more around the apartment" comment. First of all, in order to do "more", you must first do SOMETHING. Maybe once a month, he will wash the dishes. And even then, I still have to do the dishes because he (for some reason) never washes the pots still on the stove. So even when he does the dishes, I have to do the dishes. Vacuum? Ha! Dust? What's that? Sweep the kitchen floor? Eh...the bugs'll get it. Wipe off the hair catch in the bathtub after a shower? Of course not! I think I've handled his pubic hair more than all his boyfriends/flings combined. Clean any room in the apartment? I must be insane... Clean his own room? Not even once...not that it matters seeing as how he has turned the living room into his de facto bedroom. Nah, I didn't wanna watch some television today. Put more cans of soda in the 'fridge when there's only one or two left (and especially when you've taken the last one)? Nah, I don't get thirsty... Once in a blue moon, he will take the garbage and recyclables out. And I would bet good money that he honestly believes he is contributing when he does so.
Even when I'm cleaning the bathroom practically right in front of him, you would think that that alone might inspire him to maybe clean the living room or kitchen, but no. Why would he deprive me of my apparent purpose in life? He's such a thoughtful friend. He doesn't want me to think I am unneeded around here so he leaves it all for me to do.
This apartment has a shitty circuit set-up so we can only have one air-conditioner and that A/C is not in my room, it's in his bedroom...I mean living room. If he were employed, this would not be a problem. On those really hot days this Summer has been sadistically throwing at us this year, I may have actually been able to rest comfortably in the living room but no, Mr. Deliberately-Unemployed gets to enjoy it while I try to sleep in a room that regularly topped 92+° for a lot of days this past July. While I've gotten used to it, at 92° it is almost impossible to sleep. I would open the door, but there's only so much noise I can sleep with and even then, the A/C can't cool my room. But he gets to relax comfortably. Fucking A! I even bought curtains to seal off the living room so the A/C doesn't have to work so hard and he just leaves them open. Thanks asshole. And does he even buy a fan so that the A/C doesn't have to run NON-STOP for a month? No. Even those few days when it was actually seasonably cool and I opened the windows. He would close them as soon as I would go to my room and turn the A/C on. Fucker. He says he can't afford a fan and yet he managed, like a drunk who's chronically broke yet never without a drink, to find the $35 necessary to buy a book of artwork for The Last Airbender cartoon. The fan I use cost less than that and it's rather effective.
I am effectively being shut out of an apartment I co-rent because he won't get a fucking job. It's not as though the economy is the worst it's been since the early 1980s right? Oh wait, it is. Nah, it's easy to find work that pays $12+/hr. when unemployment is cresting 10%. And yet, because I am good at hiding my emotions, he actually believes that I am not bothered at all by this. Then he drops another bomb on me.
He actually had the gall to tell me that if he couldn't find a job, that I might have to find a new roommate. Oh really? I'm just gonna room with a total stranger in an apartment where I can't lock my bedroom door? I'm out of friends who will live with me (though if you can afford $650/mo. plus half utilities (about $100-$150/mo.) I'm listening). You can't just dump a roommate on me. I have to have approval of it. And quite frankly, I won't. I simply don't trust anyone else that much (or at least don't trust anyone that much who is currently available and wanting the small bedroom in a 2BR apartment). Go ahead and leave me. Break the lease you signed and that I have an extensive paper trail of you paying half-rent for. Breaking contracts isn't illegal...no! Judge Judy would totally award me a judgement whereby you still pay what you owe. Yes, you've pissed me off to the point where I would have no qualms about suing you for what you owe. Congratulations.
Believe it or not, I would take the loss of money and pay for this apartment by myself for a few months had he put in his part around here, had he honestly been looking for work the WHOLE time he was unemployed, had he actually done MORE (or even all) the work around this apartment while unemployed (y'know, to make up for the fact that he's not bringing in income). Yes, he has unemployment so while he has made his bills on time, he pisses me off by being such a willing recipient of the aid. Am I the only one who would actually be EMBARRASSED that I was collecting unemployment? Something tells me that if he qualified for foodstamps that he'd be happy as a pig in shit. But no, that's not how it's been happening. He's a leech to the system and a parasite of a friend.
So why don't I say anything? The fact is, I am in no rush to start fighting with a friend I've known both for over a decade and with whom I have never actually fought with. That first one is always a doozy. The other fact is that he is a grown man and more importantly, that I am not his parent. No one told me to clean the bathroom, kitchen, living room, and my room. No one told me to sweep the floor, take out the garbage, vacuum, and dust. I just do it. Why? Because it's fucking dirty. That's why. And it's not like I clean totally at random. I do the dishes first thing upon getting home from work (I'm still in "work mode" so I get it out of the way before I settle down for my leisure period). He has from noon to when I get home if he were to do them practically every fucking day, but no and if by chance yes, I still have to wash the pots for some fucking reason. I understand not wanting to vacuum while I'm sleeping but I get up at eight and noise restrictions don't begin until ten. That's two fucking hours to do some noisy cleaning and all fucking day to do the quiet cleaning but no...and no, there has never been a yes to this. If he even knows how to work a vacuum, I would be surprised. His mattress, after a year, still lies on the floor like he's a squatter. He never bought a bedframe during the time he was working preferring to buy DVDs instead and waiting four months to finally buy a fucking couch for the living room (which I now practically regret as the couch has become his bed) cuz he didn't want to borrow money from me to do so. I hesitate to wonder what might be growing/living under that mattress since he has never changed the sheets on it.
The other thing I don't get is he brought with him an old desktop computer. He got a laptop shortly thereafter. He ALWAYS works on the laptop, never the desktop yet the desktop is still in his room and it's on 24/7. Why? That one still baffles me. He has a desk he could be doing his work at yet instead he's in the living room so he leaves his virtually abandoned desktop to run constantly in his room. Did you ever just want to bang your head against a desk until it bled just because it all doesn't make any sense? How did I get stuck with this shit?
If your friend takes advantage of you, s/he is considered a bad friend so if my roommate is "allowing" me to do like 95-98% of the work around the apartment, is he not taking advantage of me and if so, does that make him a bad friend? Emotionally I feel that connection while logically, I separate them. I mean, I won't lend even my best friends money if I believe that I won't be paid back but that doesn't mean I think them a bad friend, just bad when it comes to money. I'm torn.
Maybe it has to do with the fact that he has been unemployed since March and for nearly five months, did NOTHING to look for new work. Like a douchebag, I actually brought home an advertisement for Census work...y'know, a GOVERNMENT job...jobs which are practically synonymous with excessive pay. He would've been let go by now, it's temporary work...but it would've been temporary work at $20/hr. Instead, no...he's looking (or so he says) for work only now.
The point being that he has basically been home all day doing NOTHING around the apartment. He actually had the gall to tell me when first fired that "now that he has all this extra free time, that he should really start doing more around the apartment since I'm doing it all the time." How fucking offensive is that? When you include travel time, I'm working over 40 hours a week, I still have to sleep and eat, and yet somehow, I have all this free time to do EVERYTHING around this apartment. I wanna believe that it's the "night shift fallacy" but I'm really having trouble with that.
The "Night Shift Fallacy" is an assumption made by non-night shift workers. They believe that because we are home all day that we have more time to do stuff than they who have to work during more normal hours. Those who make this assumption, of course, have failed to take into account that WE HAVE TO SLEEP TOO. It's just we have to sleep during the day. When working the night shift, you have two options: you either have the morning or the afternoon, but not both. I personally choose to have the morning (going to sleep around noon). I've done the afternoon (going to sleep at about 7 a.m. and getting up at 3 p.m.) but without something to do, it's hard to get up on time. The temptation to sleep in is tremendous. WORK-LEISURE-SLEEP is the way I prefer to do it. WORK-SLEEP-LEISURE all too often becomes WORK-SLEEP-SLEEP SOME MORE :-)
Anyways... I am completely convinced that he is not only perfectly content with the situation as is, but that he honestly believes that I am being an awesome roommate by doing it all for him rather than he is being a fucking lousy roommate by not doing his share. I would have never described him as narcissistic before, but I'm coming to that conclusion now. Even if it's not narcissism, it's definitely a parasitic relationship and it speaks poorly of him as a friend to allow this situation to continue.
Should I say something? You would think so. He really offended me with his "all this free time/more around the apartment" comment. First of all, in order to do "more", you must first do SOMETHING. Maybe once a month, he will wash the dishes. And even then, I still have to do the dishes because he (for some reason) never washes the pots still on the stove. So even when he does the dishes, I have to do the dishes. Vacuum? Ha! Dust? What's that? Sweep the kitchen floor? Eh...the bugs'll get it. Wipe off the hair catch in the bathtub after a shower? Of course not! I think I've handled his pubic hair more than all his boyfriends/flings combined. Clean any room in the apartment? I must be insane... Clean his own room? Not even once...not that it matters seeing as how he has turned the living room into his de facto bedroom. Nah, I didn't wanna watch some television today. Put more cans of soda in the 'fridge when there's only one or two left (and especially when you've taken the last one)? Nah, I don't get thirsty... Once in a blue moon, he will take the garbage and recyclables out. And I would bet good money that he honestly believes he is contributing when he does so.
Even when I'm cleaning the bathroom practically right in front of him, you would think that that alone might inspire him to maybe clean the living room or kitchen, but no. Why would he deprive me of my apparent purpose in life? He's such a thoughtful friend. He doesn't want me to think I am unneeded around here so he leaves it all for me to do.
This apartment has a shitty circuit set-up so we can only have one air-conditioner and that A/C is not in my room, it's in his bedroom...I mean living room. If he were employed, this would not be a problem. On those really hot days this Summer has been sadistically throwing at us this year, I may have actually been able to rest comfortably in the living room but no, Mr. Deliberately-Unemployed gets to enjoy it while I try to sleep in a room that regularly topped 92+° for a lot of days this past July. While I've gotten used to it, at 92° it is almost impossible to sleep. I would open the door, but there's only so much noise I can sleep with and even then, the A/C can't cool my room. But he gets to relax comfortably. Fucking A! I even bought curtains to seal off the living room so the A/C doesn't have to work so hard and he just leaves them open. Thanks asshole. And does he even buy a fan so that the A/C doesn't have to run NON-STOP for a month? No. Even those few days when it was actually seasonably cool and I opened the windows. He would close them as soon as I would go to my room and turn the A/C on. Fucker. He says he can't afford a fan and yet he managed, like a drunk who's chronically broke yet never without a drink, to find the $35 necessary to buy a book of artwork for The Last Airbender cartoon. The fan I use cost less than that and it's rather effective.
I am effectively being shut out of an apartment I co-rent because he won't get a fucking job. It's not as though the economy is the worst it's been since the early 1980s right? Oh wait, it is. Nah, it's easy to find work that pays $12+/hr. when unemployment is cresting 10%. And yet, because I am good at hiding my emotions, he actually believes that I am not bothered at all by this. Then he drops another bomb on me.
He actually had the gall to tell me that if he couldn't find a job, that I might have to find a new roommate. Oh really? I'm just gonna room with a total stranger in an apartment where I can't lock my bedroom door? I'm out of friends who will live with me (though if you can afford $650/mo. plus half utilities (about $100-$150/mo.) I'm listening). You can't just dump a roommate on me. I have to have approval of it. And quite frankly, I won't. I simply don't trust anyone else that much (or at least don't trust anyone that much who is currently available and wanting the small bedroom in a 2BR apartment). Go ahead and leave me. Break the lease you signed and that I have an extensive paper trail of you paying half-rent for. Breaking contracts isn't illegal...no! Judge Judy would totally award me a judgement whereby you still pay what you owe. Yes, you've pissed me off to the point where I would have no qualms about suing you for what you owe. Congratulations.
Believe it or not, I would take the loss of money and pay for this apartment by myself for a few months had he put in his part around here, had he honestly been looking for work the WHOLE time he was unemployed, had he actually done MORE (or even all) the work around this apartment while unemployed (y'know, to make up for the fact that he's not bringing in income). Yes, he has unemployment so while he has made his bills on time, he pisses me off by being such a willing recipient of the aid. Am I the only one who would actually be EMBARRASSED that I was collecting unemployment? Something tells me that if he qualified for foodstamps that he'd be happy as a pig in shit. But no, that's not how it's been happening. He's a leech to the system and a parasite of a friend.
So why don't I say anything? The fact is, I am in no rush to start fighting with a friend I've known both for over a decade and with whom I have never actually fought with. That first one is always a doozy. The other fact is that he is a grown man and more importantly, that I am not his parent. No one told me to clean the bathroom, kitchen, living room, and my room. No one told me to sweep the floor, take out the garbage, vacuum, and dust. I just do it. Why? Because it's fucking dirty. That's why. And it's not like I clean totally at random. I do the dishes first thing upon getting home from work (I'm still in "work mode" so I get it out of the way before I settle down for my leisure period). He has from noon to when I get home if he were to do them practically every fucking day, but no and if by chance yes, I still have to wash the pots for some fucking reason. I understand not wanting to vacuum while I'm sleeping but I get up at eight and noise restrictions don't begin until ten. That's two fucking hours to do some noisy cleaning and all fucking day to do the quiet cleaning but no...and no, there has never been a yes to this. If he even knows how to work a vacuum, I would be surprised. His mattress, after a year, still lies on the floor like he's a squatter. He never bought a bedframe during the time he was working preferring to buy DVDs instead and waiting four months to finally buy a fucking couch for the living room (which I now practically regret as the couch has become his bed) cuz he didn't want to borrow money from me to do so. I hesitate to wonder what might be growing/living under that mattress since he has never changed the sheets on it.
The other thing I don't get is he brought with him an old desktop computer. He got a laptop shortly thereafter. He ALWAYS works on the laptop, never the desktop yet the desktop is still in his room and it's on 24/7. Why? That one still baffles me. He has a desk he could be doing his work at yet instead he's in the living room so he leaves his virtually abandoned desktop to run constantly in his room. Did you ever just want to bang your head against a desk until it bled just because it all doesn't make any sense? How did I get stuck with this shit?
Thursday, August 5, 2010
WHAT THE FUCK GOOGLE?
How many goddamned sites do I have to be a member of these days? Everything's an impedence to communication all the sudden.
Want to send a message? Just sign up for "Friend Connect" and then you'll be able to post one right away! Fuck that! How about a link and I can send a message? I'm getting real tired of this shit.
I know the days of the "Wild West Internet" are waning. Soon we'll likely have to pay for all our content like we do for our cellphones and our cable. It won't be so bad, really. Remember when cable was still fairly new and the idea of paying for television was deemed absurd because you could get it for free over the air? Now people look at you funny if you don't pay for cable. The internet will be the same. It'll mark our age to future generations when we talk about how it used to be a free-for-all.
I'm just really hoping against hope that this multi-signup thing isn't part of the deal. I know there's this new trend to have a single log-in site now (I imagine it is a furious competition that Google will likely win). I have to admit I'm suspicious of it. It reminds of the old TV/VCR combo-sets they used to offer. The only problem with that is if one broke down, the whole thing became worthless. The analogue to that is why I'm leery of single log-in sites. If that log-in gets compromised, the EVERYTHING gets compromised. But I have digressed...
Seriously, stupid internet sites. Cut it out. I'm a member of Blogger.com. Allow me to send messages to those who have actually decided to follow me without having to sign up for a whole new service. My password load is already quite heavy.
I still wonder what it would feel like to come home to find all the dishes had been washed... That'd be nice...
Want to send a message? Just sign up for "Friend Connect" and then you'll be able to post one right away! Fuck that! How about a link and I can send a message? I'm getting real tired of this shit.
I know the days of the "Wild West Internet" are waning. Soon we'll likely have to pay for all our content like we do for our cellphones and our cable. It won't be so bad, really. Remember when cable was still fairly new and the idea of paying for television was deemed absurd because you could get it for free over the air? Now people look at you funny if you don't pay for cable. The internet will be the same. It'll mark our age to future generations when we talk about how it used to be a free-for-all.
I'm just really hoping against hope that this multi-signup thing isn't part of the deal. I know there's this new trend to have a single log-in site now (I imagine it is a furious competition that Google will likely win). I have to admit I'm suspicious of it. It reminds of the old TV/VCR combo-sets they used to offer. The only problem with that is if one broke down, the whole thing became worthless. The analogue to that is why I'm leery of single log-in sites. If that log-in gets compromised, the EVERYTHING gets compromised. But I have digressed...
Seriously, stupid internet sites. Cut it out. I'm a member of Blogger.com. Allow me to send messages to those who have actually decided to follow me without having to sign up for a whole new service. My password load is already quite heavy.
I still wonder what it would feel like to come home to find all the dishes had been washed... That'd be nice...
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
MIXED MESSAGES IN MODERN SONGS
At work, we get to hear various channels on the MUZAK service the store subscribes to. We recently got a new box so we were finally able to get it off of FM1, a good LiteFM-like channel, but three years in a row of it got exhausting. When it's on HITLINE, I get to get a taste of the current popular songs.
I don't listen to music radio much anymore. It's not a hatred of music or anything. I just spend too much of my time listening to the Opie & Anthony Show on Sirius/XM and have little time to expand my musical horizons. That's what work is for now. MUZAK, despite its association with elevator music (which it does play), actually plays a decent variety of songs for its dozens of provided stations. It really puts any radio station to shame.
Of the modern songs, though, several catch my attention negatively for various reasons. It's not an "I hate all new music 'cuz it's new" type thing. I find Katy Perry's "Hot N Cold" to be catchy as I do with Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA". Several Lady Gaga songs have grown on me as well. Since I have a lot of down-time at my job, I can listen to these songs both musically and for their lyrics.
Currently I hate "According to Him" by Orianthi. It's just one of those songs that at first sounds very girl-powery. I'm fine with that. That's cool. It was only after I started listening to it that it struck me just how anti-girlpower this song actually is.
First of all, she's singing to the wrong person. She sings that, "According to you, I'm stupid, I'm useless, I can't do anything right" and continues on in that vein until the chorus which changes from the 2nd person object to the third: "But according to him, I'm beautiful, incredible, he can't get me out of his head." She names numerous other qualities before concluding the chorus with "He's into me for everything I'm not...according to you."
Okay, so far the song comes across as a "fuck you to my ex" type variety. That's fine. We've all heard our share of revenge songs but this one strikes me as particularly stupid. Why is she singing to her ex? More importantly, why does she feel the need to sing to her ex in the first place because that's who she's talking to. It's not the new guy. If it were, the you's and he's would be switched.
There's also this nagging sense throughout the song that Orianthi has no value for herself instead relying upon the opinions of and seeking validation from others, specifically her current lover and her ex. But she makes up for it because by the end of the song we learn that "According to me, you're stupid, you're useless, you can't do anything right". That'll show him! Yeah! She's turning his words against him now. Wordplay! BOO-yah! Orianthi does have thoughts of her own... Awesome!
Orianthi is not out of the woods as just a verse or two earlier, she again reveals that she is clearly not over her ex when singing, "Why can't you see me through his eyes? It's too bad you're making me decide." What the fuck? She wants her ex to have these qualities rather than have a new boyfriend who has them. It's sickening.
And to top it all off, the music of the song is this over-the-top heavy metal sound which doesn't jibe with the way she's singing. The music is more powerful than her voice so there's this disconnect. Plus it feels forced. Rather than making her lyrics sound even more powerful, the music makes them sound more like a bad joke. The whole song is a joke as far as I'm concerned and I'm embarrassed that I will be linking it here offering Orianthi another page view from my reader.
Orianthi's "According to Him" is simply a bad song that makes a mockery of the notion of girl-power. If that was her plan all along, then BRA-vo.
I don't listen to music radio much anymore. It's not a hatred of music or anything. I just spend too much of my time listening to the Opie & Anthony Show on Sirius/XM and have little time to expand my musical horizons. That's what work is for now. MUZAK, despite its association with elevator music (which it does play), actually plays a decent variety of songs for its dozens of provided stations. It really puts any radio station to shame.
Of the modern songs, though, several catch my attention negatively for various reasons. It's not an "I hate all new music 'cuz it's new" type thing. I find Katy Perry's "Hot N Cold" to be catchy as I do with Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA". Several Lady Gaga songs have grown on me as well. Since I have a lot of down-time at my job, I can listen to these songs both musically and for their lyrics.
Currently I hate "According to Him" by Orianthi. It's just one of those songs that at first sounds very girl-powery. I'm fine with that. That's cool. It was only after I started listening to it that it struck me just how anti-girlpower this song actually is.
First of all, she's singing to the wrong person. She sings that, "According to you, I'm stupid, I'm useless, I can't do anything right" and continues on in that vein until the chorus which changes from the 2nd person object to the third: "But according to him, I'm beautiful, incredible, he can't get me out of his head." She names numerous other qualities before concluding the chorus with "He's into me for everything I'm not...according to you."
Okay, so far the song comes across as a "fuck you to my ex" type variety. That's fine. We've all heard our share of revenge songs but this one strikes me as particularly stupid. Why is she singing to her ex? More importantly, why does she feel the need to sing to her ex in the first place because that's who she's talking to. It's not the new guy. If it were, the you's and he's would be switched.
There's also this nagging sense throughout the song that Orianthi has no value for herself instead relying upon the opinions of and seeking validation from others, specifically her current lover and her ex. But she makes up for it because by the end of the song we learn that "According to me, you're stupid, you're useless, you can't do anything right". That'll show him! Yeah! She's turning his words against him now. Wordplay! BOO-yah! Orianthi does have thoughts of her own... Awesome!
Orianthi is not out of the woods as just a verse or two earlier, she again reveals that she is clearly not over her ex when singing, "Why can't you see me through his eyes? It's too bad you're making me decide." What the fuck? She wants her ex to have these qualities rather than have a new boyfriend who has them. It's sickening.
And to top it all off, the music of the song is this over-the-top heavy metal sound which doesn't jibe with the way she's singing. The music is more powerful than her voice so there's this disconnect. Plus it feels forced. Rather than making her lyrics sound even more powerful, the music makes them sound more like a bad joke. The whole song is a joke as far as I'm concerned and I'm embarrassed that I will be linking it here offering Orianthi another page view from my reader.
Orianthi's "According to Him" is simply a bad song that makes a mockery of the notion of girl-power. If that was her plan all along, then BRA-vo.
Monday, August 2, 2010
And So It Begins...
Wow, another online blog/social networky site for me to waste my time on. At least I have a thematic element in mind so that this is not merely a site of duplicated posts from my other fora (that is the plural of forum, right?).
Assuming I keep true to this blog, my intent is to use it to showcase any commentary I have in pop-culture, politics, or otherwise stupid shit that I come into contact with that (most likely) pisses me off in some way, shape, or form. And given that my rate of culture consumption tends to be somewhat on the passive side of the scale, odds are it will already be "so yesterday" by the time I get around to it. :-)
Assuming I keep true to this blog, my intent is to use it to showcase any commentary I have in pop-culture, politics, or otherwise stupid shit that I come into contact with that (most likely) pisses me off in some way, shape, or form. And given that my rate of culture consumption tends to be somewhat on the passive side of the scale, odds are it will already be "so yesterday" by the time I get around to it. :-)