These are the things that don't seem totally unrealistic to think I might someday own...the unrealistic thing is thinking I might be able to use them three years from now, with all the fiscal cliff & debt default predictions going around...
1)
2)
3)
4) I would put speakers here, but I already have some...
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Life is hard...
I seriously can't believe people defend music and movies by saying "it's hard". So freakin' what? That ought to be where the movie studio comes in and says "you failed, we're not going to show this to movie goers". People pay $10 for a movie ticket, and then get duped into paying at least $10 more for additional accessories once they get through the door, i.e.: popcorn and soda, and people go on sites like Amazon and IMDB and give these movies a perfect 5 star rating b/c it's just too much to expect someone to realize their weaknesses and thus not mess with a profoundly epic idea like PROMETHEUS. You cannot tell me that there's NOBODY in this planet who could have made that film a little more interesting. Forgot the similarities or differences between 1979's ALIEN and PROMETHEUS; forget the fact that the movie's first half hour was either confusing or illogical. The simple fact that said first half hour had very little of any value to the audience is just a classic example of a screenwriter with no talent. Obviously they had to set-up the story, explain what was going on etc, but the fact that it was all so freakin' boring is just theft. It's theft from whoever could have taken that idea and made something bold and unique with it. Because even if whoever owns the copyright for PROMETHEUS were to give x person/people his/her permission to re-make it, the audience has "been there, done that" and is also feeling a little jaded b/c not only did PROMETHEUS fail to deliver, but sooo many other films have suffered the same fate. Ultimately it's theft of the audience, their time, their money, and their good will toward men, perhaps even their will to bother getting out of bed.
Friday, December 7, 2012
The language of the left...with feeling...
I think society has more leeches than it used to. I think everybody has grown to expect way more than they ought to. But the Republican idea that rich people should pay LESS taxes than people who teach our young, collect the garbage, keep tabs on the cash registers, keep the peace, serve our food...is just plain rediculous. They act like it's "punishing" success to think the opposite and that is totally warped. I think expecting everyone to either get rich or pay taxes is just savage. What's really mind boggling is when people like Neil Bortz push the idea that the rich pay MORE in taxes than the poor & middle class. Huh? If only the tax code were that cut and dry. "Oh, I make $250,000 each year, so I pay 25% of that to Uncle Sam? Great! I'll just mail in the check" Of course, everybody has deductions they either do or can qualify for. But WalMart remodels their stores every 6 months or so, even though their customers are always cranky about having to re-locate everything. Why do they do that? Because even though it may cost a few hundred dollars x however many stores they remodel in a 12 month period, WalMart's 25% tax rate is dropped down to maybe 1%. I'm probably exaggerating and I don't know if $250K = 25%, it may be 55% before these virtual handouts are factored into the equation. But the fact that Neil Bortz doesn't even mention this in his radio show when he's ranting out the rich and how they DO pay their fare share is beyond poor journalism, although The Neil Bortz Show probably isn't technically journalism...I don't even know if most of the people that listen to his show take him seriously. Anyone who isn't living the dream wouldn't help but want to punch him in the face for talking down to the little people, expecting them to believe the bull he says when they see he's wrong every sixth month they shop at Wal-Mart.
But it ceases to be stupid fun and annoying games when The Lies Of Neil become The Death Of Democracy The American People voted for Barack Obama - TWICE! The American People have been surveyed - NEVER have they supported the idea that the rich be rewarded by the gov't for being so awesome. If you're going to insist that taxes are "legalized theft", then maybe we should just remove the gov't altogether, forget police protection, military service, forget welfare, forget the whole thing b/c without taxes, who the heck has the time, decency and intellect to operate The U.S. gov't without a paycheck? Maybe 70 years ago, back when people had a better understanding of what it meant to have a community, and a family...and don't give me that b.s. logic that says racism and the violence that often resulted from it takes away from the love that people DID have. The fact that divorce is so common, even among so-called "religious folk" ought to tell people SOMETHING ISN'T RIGHT HERE! Yeah, we have less racial violence; we've traded one evil for another. Now we don't even know our neighbors a lot of the time. What difference would it make if their black white chinese or mexican? The closest one could come to knowing their neighbors is a casual "hi" every now and again. Back in the 'day, people looked out for each other. Some strange vehicle prowling by would likely draw attention and the sicko would be arrested or be on the run to another neighborhood or town, or maybe another state...
Man, I've gotten sooooo off topic, haven't I? The MAIN point, of this article at least, is that the rich do not pay their fare share and I don't get why it needs to stay that way. It may not be a "capitalist" concept, but neither is welfare. So freakin' what? Just b/c the Democrats, or at least Obama, have adopted most of the Republican ideology...why not throw in the towel and just make it a 0 party system? B/c when you get right down to it, no two candidates are exactly alike and the current division between Republicans and Democrats is basically a matter of Ebinezer Scrooge BEFORE vs. AFTER the ghost of Christmas future visited him.
Monday, December 3, 2012
The Oracle Speaks!
For the last month apprx my computer has had serious trouble streaming on demand music from the 'net. I kept wondering "is it just these freebie sites" [such as Grooveshark and MySpace]? I wondered "would these problems exist if I paid for Rdio?"
Today I found my answer. I took a gamble and it has paid off. I am now listening to Emerson Lake And Palmer's "Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends, Ladies and Gentleman" (a double live album, formerly a triple live album before the rise of compact digital audio discs).
So far it's been just that and New Order's "Low-Life", the 2008 remastered version. I was surfing through Big Crumbs' list of stores in the music/books/etc. dept and noticed CD Connection on there, who, I thought, had MP3s as part of their offering. What really sealed me buying from them was A) I had not bought from there before and B) the cash back rate was comparatively higher than other BC offerings - 5.6% - !!! The suky thing is the version of "Low-Life" I ended up downloading was not the 2008 remastered edition, which means it's kinda flat sounding, the opening song doesn't have the drum-boom-kick that the remaster has. And now I'm left with $1.60 for the rest of the month. I already got most of my Xmas shopping done. I am expecting an Amazon gift card in the amount of $19.68 and another in the amount of $5 and I'll use that to buy my mom's xmas gift. With Rdio and the public library just down the street from where I live, I really don't need anything else...$1.60 is fine by me. I also ended up with a $3.85 refund from a CD that arrived in not-as-described condition, although I had hacked my account down to $1.60 before I knew to expect the refund. Mail didn't arrive 'til after 3pm. It was a substitute mailman, not sure what's going on with the one that normally delivers to my address. I noticed the same thing would happen at my old apt, but I figured that was b/c he was approaching retirement age and they were giving him an easier time with hours. Now that I think of it, they probably don't want their mail carriers to be working even 4 days a week, since their shift sometimes ends after 3pm and they clock in before 7am normally. I think it's actually closer to 5am, so that's 10 hours a day x 6 which is a lot of over time for the USPS to be putting in considering they're in debt anywayz...they'd probably give him 3-4 days off a week if they had enough employees to go around. Last I heard, which was about 5 years ago and may no longer apply, but, last I heard, the USPS has/had a serious shortage of mail carriers, at least in this area, southeast MO.
I would stop tying now, but for the sake of sounding less crazy, I'll instead stop typing - now.
Today I found my answer. I took a gamble and it has paid off. I am now listening to Emerson Lake And Palmer's "Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends, Ladies and Gentleman" (a double live album, formerly a triple live album before the rise of compact digital audio discs).
So far it's been just that and New Order's "Low-Life", the 2008 remastered version. I was surfing through Big Crumbs' list of stores in the music/books/etc. dept and noticed CD Connection on there, who, I thought, had MP3s as part of their offering. What really sealed me buying from them was A) I had not bought from there before and B) the cash back rate was comparatively higher than other BC offerings - 5.6% - !!! The suky thing is the version of "Low-Life" I ended up downloading was not the 2008 remastered edition, which means it's kinda flat sounding, the opening song doesn't have the drum-boom-kick that the remaster has. And now I'm left with $1.60 for the rest of the month. I already got most of my Xmas shopping done. I am expecting an Amazon gift card in the amount of $19.68 and another in the amount of $5 and I'll use that to buy my mom's xmas gift. With Rdio and the public library just down the street from where I live, I really don't need anything else...$1.60 is fine by me. I also ended up with a $3.85 refund from a CD that arrived in not-as-described condition, although I had hacked my account down to $1.60 before I knew to expect the refund. Mail didn't arrive 'til after 3pm. It was a substitute mailman, not sure what's going on with the one that normally delivers to my address. I noticed the same thing would happen at my old apt, but I figured that was b/c he was approaching retirement age and they were giving him an easier time with hours. Now that I think of it, they probably don't want their mail carriers to be working even 4 days a week, since their shift sometimes ends after 3pm and they clock in before 7am normally. I think it's actually closer to 5am, so that's 10 hours a day x 6 which is a lot of over time for the USPS to be putting in considering they're in debt anywayz...they'd probably give him 3-4 days off a week if they had enough employees to go around. Last I heard, which was about 5 years ago and may no longer apply, but, last I heard, the USPS has/had a serious shortage of mail carriers, at least in this area, southeast MO.
I would stop tying now, but for the sake of sounding less crazy, I'll instead stop typing - now.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Happy Birthday...to myself...and others...
Wow.
My uncle Eddie gave me $20 for my birthday. The crazy-cool thing is his birthday was a couple weeks before mine and he didn't seem the least bit fazed that I didn't get him anything.
My mother got me some shoes. It's week #2 and they seem to be doing well. I'm hard on shoes, so my mother says, and so week 2 is a start...they feel sturdy though, honestly...it's hard to tell though, my $15 WalMart shoes lasted only 6 months and might have felt this same way...
My gramma took me and my two uncles out to eat at a Casino buffet. The food was Ok in general, I seem to be the only person there who didn't care for the steak. I pretty much pigged out on egg rolls, which were amazing.
My sister gave me $29 in Amazon funds, which I spent on E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and a movie I had been wanting to see but am too much of a wuss to rent as a new release and am too impatient to wait for it to go into the old release section, neither of which matters b/c it was on super-sale, $8.99 + $2 S&H ($11), and I can probably/maybe get $7 or $8 from it after I'm done w/ it, since the sale won't last forever, you know. Plus I don't have to worry about late fees 'cause I OWN this thing, beach! I also used $9 of it to buy an mp3 album that I wasn't able to listen to entirely for free online b/c my internet seems unfit for streaming music as of late. It can do OK for like a minute or maybe two. Different websites I visit have different settings and such, so it may be OK if I subscribe to Rdio again...dunno. Oh, and I also bought two songs by Deftones.
The money Eddie gave me is in my mom's possession until she actually HAS the $...in other words, she owes me about half of it b/c the household funds somehow ran out too quickly for all the RX needed to be had w/o any glitches...the rest of it I spent at Hastings on a CD that I SWEAR (for the 5th? time) that I won't re-sell (for the 15th time) and a movie rental?....or...ugh...what was that? OH! Yeah, I bought a movie that was on clearance, it might be an old release by now, bought & paid for price was $2.13 w/ tax ($1.99 w/o). Still hoping someone buys it from me via Amazon eventually, since I watched all I care to see of it already. Plus I bought a portable bottle opener, which was intended I guess to act as a keychain. I had to take the keychain part of it off though so I could affix the bottle opener part to my existing - and absolutely fantastic! - GHOSTBUSTERS: THE VIDEO GAME keychain that I got at Hastings as a freebie/promo...thank goodness my sister noticed it, b/c I just walked right past it...they had a pile of 'em sitting beside the door...it made it so much easier to live down the fact that I paid almost $17 just to have a cool looking thingie to put my money & state issued photo ID in, that cool looking thingie, for those not in the know, being a GHOSTBUSTERS wallet that I had bought at GameStop during the GHOSTBUSTERS: THE VIDEO GAME fever of 2009. And THANK YOU PROTONCHARGING (R.I.P.) for letting me know it was there(!)
I bought something on eBid so that I could get some feedback added to my profile. I originally came to eBid so I could buy A CLOCKWORK ORANGE for the best price I could find at the time. I now have been trying w/ no success to make some money from selling on eBid. I think my lack of feedback might look suspicious to a lot of people. But I'll probably end up selling what I bought, thankfully it was only $3.75. Could have been bought for $0.76 cheaper on Amazon, but who cares and if so, whatever...i don't...that $0.76 would have just been wasted on another item. Or it would add a tiny bit to my so-far-nonexistent savings fund for the TV I mentioned in my justnow prior post.
My uncle Eddie gave me $20 for my birthday. The crazy-cool thing is his birthday was a couple weeks before mine and he didn't seem the least bit fazed that I didn't get him anything.
My mother got me some shoes. It's week #2 and they seem to be doing well. I'm hard on shoes, so my mother says, and so week 2 is a start...they feel sturdy though, honestly...it's hard to tell though, my $15 WalMart shoes lasted only 6 months and might have felt this same way...
My gramma took me and my two uncles out to eat at a Casino buffet. The food was Ok in general, I seem to be the only person there who didn't care for the steak. I pretty much pigged out on egg rolls, which were amazing.
My sister gave me $29 in Amazon funds, which I spent on E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and a movie I had been wanting to see but am too much of a wuss to rent as a new release and am too impatient to wait for it to go into the old release section, neither of which matters b/c it was on super-sale, $8.99 + $2 S&H ($11), and I can probably/maybe get $7 or $8 from it after I'm done w/ it, since the sale won't last forever, you know. Plus I don't have to worry about late fees 'cause I OWN this thing, beach! I also used $9 of it to buy an mp3 album that I wasn't able to listen to entirely for free online b/c my internet seems unfit for streaming music as of late. It can do OK for like a minute or maybe two. Different websites I visit have different settings and such, so it may be OK if I subscribe to Rdio again...dunno. Oh, and I also bought two songs by Deftones.
The money Eddie gave me is in my mom's possession until she actually HAS the $...in other words, she owes me about half of it b/c the household funds somehow ran out too quickly for all the RX needed to be had w/o any glitches...the rest of it I spent at Hastings on a CD that I SWEAR (for the 5th? time) that I won't re-sell (for the 15th time) and a movie rental?....or...ugh...what was that? OH! Yeah, I bought a movie that was on clearance, it might be an old release by now, bought & paid for price was $2.13 w/ tax ($1.99 w/o). Still hoping someone buys it from me via Amazon eventually, since I watched all I care to see of it already. Plus I bought a portable bottle opener, which was intended I guess to act as a keychain. I had to take the keychain part of it off though so I could affix the bottle opener part to my existing - and absolutely fantastic! - GHOSTBUSTERS: THE VIDEO GAME keychain that I got at Hastings as a freebie/promo...thank goodness my sister noticed it, b/c I just walked right past it...they had a pile of 'em sitting beside the door...it made it so much easier to live down the fact that I paid almost $17 just to have a cool looking thingie to put my money & state issued photo ID in, that cool looking thingie, for those not in the know, being a GHOSTBUSTERS wallet that I had bought at GameStop during the GHOSTBUSTERS: THE VIDEO GAME fever of 2009. And THANK YOU PROTONCHARGING (R.I.P.) for letting me know it was there(!)
I bought something on eBid so that I could get some feedback added to my profile. I originally came to eBid so I could buy A CLOCKWORK ORANGE for the best price I could find at the time. I now have been trying w/ no success to make some money from selling on eBid. I think my lack of feedback might look suspicious to a lot of people. But I'll probably end up selling what I bought, thankfully it was only $3.75. Could have been bought for $0.76 cheaper on Amazon, but who cares and if so, whatever...i don't...that $0.76 would have just been wasted on another item. Or it would add a tiny bit to my so-far-nonexistent savings fund for the TV I mentioned in my justnow prior post.
The Joy Of Welfare Christmas
Me and my sister have been talking since yesterday about how I want a TV and she might or might not buy me one. Somehow the concept of me saving up came to up, I guess I was writing to her down what had already been on my mind for a few weeks...I mean, $178, which is what Amazon charges for a 24" Vizio, is really not hard to save up. I only have $75 after bills and needs of other sorts are paid, but the fact is I should already own a TV of some kind other than the 14" "standard" definition TV my Gramma has loaned/given me...$178 is actually only $22 less than several other 24" TVs, although Vizio seems to make good quality merch and from what I've read seems to have good warranty service as well. So for what I'm hoping to get, it's a steal at $178. And 24" isn't all that big, but my room is tiny. It probably seems smaller b/c my TV and DVD player etc. are sitting on this humongous table...my mom offered to buy me a double bed and I was like "It wouldn't fit!" and was like "uh...ok".
Anyway; it's frustrating b/c I'll have to wait 'til at least February to start putting this plan in motion. I figure I can save AT LEAST $25 a month, and maybe even $50. That leaves me with $25-$50 for spending on whatever. But, as I was telling my sister, I pretty much wasted $700 through the course of this year. And that's only if you count the money I initially get on the 1st of the month. If you count the money I got from the stuff I sold, that's probably closer to $1000.
I need to stop this.
I need to appreciate what I have, and if I can't appreciate what I have I need to turn what I have into something else, either someone else's money or savings.
Man up, I say to myself.
Hopefully I can live it out and keep on doing so until I have a frekin' TV.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
WHAT DOES ANYTHING MEAN? Basically
I bought a deluxe (2CD) edition of an obscure yet beloved-by-those-in-the-know band from the 80's on Saturday (?or was it Sunday?) for $1.00 + $2.98 S&H. I figured that was an error - the CD usually goes for at least 10x that $ amount. Seller cancelled the order today. I wouldn't have been able to buy it in the first place if my Mom hadn't loaned me the $3.98 needed 4 it. IF - a big if - the seller had shipped it, and I had opened it and used it, I could still get 115% or more of what I paid for it back at me. If I had decided NOT to open it and use it I could have almost certainly get at least 135% back.
But probably is now a certainty. Seller cancelled.
Now I have $3.98 to spend on whatever. There's a 2 disc edition of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, probably a Canadian release, idk, being sold for $5.25 apprx w/ S&H - BRAND NEW(!!!) on the Amazon Marketplace. I think that movie is awesome like no other movie. As to weather or not I would pay $10++ for that movie, it would depend on what I felt like doing at the time in which I were able to afford it, because I don't really forsee myself watching it again anytime soon. I've seen that movie like 10 times at least since I first saw it as a teenager, 16 or 17, can't remember for sure. I'm 28 now. I might see it again in like 2 or 3 years, but $10 is a big chunk of $ out of my sub$100 disposable income for something that could most certainly wait 'til at least January. I'll probably start buying Christmas presents in November after all anyway.
Friday, October 12, 2012
No, But Seriously...It's gonna be bigger than a microchip...
I bought SERIOUS HITS...LIVE! by Phil Collins (it's called that b/c the album is taken from a concert performed during the ...BUT SERIOUSLY tour)about a month ago...give or take a week...idk...I've been listening to it ever so willfully whenever my computer is off for the last few days; a lot of music I put on and don't really "feel" it, it's just there for noise, perhaps providing a very mild stimulation. And this was one of those CDs. But I'm glad I have it at the moment...then I'll forget how sweet it was to own this and sell it...baewhg!
I kinda feel dumb having bought FACE VALUE
earlier this week, with my B&N gift card (reward from MyPoints). I have $3.26 left on the card, once I get a stamp I will mail it to a gift card exchange service known as ABC gift cards, for $2.50 cash. I have owed my bank $3.09 for the last few days, b/c I bought some diet A&W root beer at a convenience store for probably $1.50 more than it would have cost to get it from a grocery store not too terribly farther away...I don't like to go to the grocery store in question, Schnucks, by foot b/c there's a busy street in between it and the shopping center where Hastings is located. Plus I would have had to carry the soda on that street, and on the rest of the way home. It was 12pk of cans, BTW, they stay fresher longer and taste better, IMO.
But anyway - yep. I've been racking my brain trying to figure out how to repay my bank. I walked to Hastings this evening; finally have all that is needed to repay my bank, buy a stamp AND repay The Book Rack for the $0.4someodd tax I didn't pay for a book I bought with store credit. Except...buying a stamp is not necessary, just would like to do that since I honestly cannot think of any good way to spend money at BN.com or their brick & mortar stores. BN.com has numerous reports of ghastly customer dissatisfaction on sites like Reseller Ratings, although they seem to respond appropriately to complaints submitted through the Better Business Bureau, which is more than can be said for some sites, such as the exclusive distributors of the Genesis "Encore Series"-- TheMusic.com (TheMusic.com has a grade of "F" [the lowest] for 2 complaints that went completely ignored by TheMusic).
Speaking of which, I'm dealing with the BBB trying to get a payment refunded for something that was inappropriately solicited to me. Saveology.com - who is BBB accredited, which gives me some hope - offered me a Papa John's Pizza gift card at 50% off, which I had to call to redeem, so it could be mailed to me, and during the phone call, without any prompting, the person on the phone asked me if I would like to receive a $100 reward card for $4.95. She did not explain the nature of this reward card, so I just thought it was like a prepaid Visa card given as a reward for signing up for Magazine subscriptions, which I was told about after I asked her what the catch was, which I did when I was in the midst of walking toward my wallet to whip out my debit card. When I tried to get my money back, the person (a different one, i think) tried and tried and tried to make me want to pay for magazines that I didn't ever want, and didn't seem to get that I wanted my freakin' $4.95 back until after she got the hint that I didn't want to pay ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR THE FREAKIN' PAPA JOHNS GIFT CARD THAT I WAS OFFERED VIA EMAIL, WITHOUT ANY WARNING OF THERE BEING ANY STRINGS ATTACHED! Of course, it was my choice to pay the freakin' $4.95, and I probably should have known better, but what world would we have if everyone assumed the worst?
Anyway...sigh...seems like there might have been something else to write about...I'm sick and tired, mostly tired...I might go to bed....bzzzzzz...shouldn't be so tired at 9pm. Fudd...
I kinda feel dumb having bought FACE VALUE
earlier this week, with my B&N gift card (reward from MyPoints). I have $3.26 left on the card, once I get a stamp I will mail it to a gift card exchange service known as ABC gift cards, for $2.50 cash. I have owed my bank $3.09 for the last few days, b/c I bought some diet A&W root beer at a convenience store for probably $1.50 more than it would have cost to get it from a grocery store not too terribly farther away...I don't like to go to the grocery store in question, Schnucks, by foot b/c there's a busy street in between it and the shopping center where Hastings is located. Plus I would have had to carry the soda on that street, and on the rest of the way home. It was 12pk of cans, BTW, they stay fresher longer and taste better, IMO.
But anyway - yep. I've been racking my brain trying to figure out how to repay my bank. I walked to Hastings this evening; finally have all that is needed to repay my bank, buy a stamp AND repay The Book Rack for the $0.4someodd tax I didn't pay for a book I bought with store credit. Except...buying a stamp is not necessary, just would like to do that since I honestly cannot think of any good way to spend money at BN.com or their brick & mortar stores. BN.com has numerous reports of ghastly customer dissatisfaction on sites like Reseller Ratings, although they seem to respond appropriately to complaints submitted through the Better Business Bureau, which is more than can be said for some sites, such as the exclusive distributors of the Genesis "Encore Series"-- TheMusic.com (TheMusic.com has a grade of "F" [the lowest] for 2 complaints that went completely ignored by TheMusic).
Speaking of which, I'm dealing with the BBB trying to get a payment refunded for something that was inappropriately solicited to me. Saveology.com - who is BBB accredited, which gives me some hope - offered me a Papa John's Pizza gift card at 50% off, which I had to call to redeem, so it could be mailed to me, and during the phone call, without any prompting, the person on the phone asked me if I would like to receive a $100 reward card for $4.95. She did not explain the nature of this reward card, so I just thought it was like a prepaid Visa card given as a reward for signing up for Magazine subscriptions, which I was told about after I asked her what the catch was, which I did when I was in the midst of walking toward my wallet to whip out my debit card. When I tried to get my money back, the person (a different one, i think) tried and tried and tried to make me want to pay for magazines that I didn't ever want, and didn't seem to get that I wanted my freakin' $4.95 back until after she got the hint that I didn't want to pay ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR THE FREAKIN' PAPA JOHNS GIFT CARD THAT I WAS OFFERED VIA EMAIL, WITHOUT ANY WARNING OF THERE BEING ANY STRINGS ATTACHED! Of course, it was my choice to pay the freakin' $4.95, and I probably should have known better, but what world would we have if everyone assumed the worst?
Anyway...sigh...seems like there might have been something else to write about...I'm sick and tired, mostly tired...I might go to bed....bzzzzzz...shouldn't be so tired at 9pm. Fudd...
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Curled Up Deep Down In A Hole
Do you love yourself? If not, you can't love another.
I do not love myself.
I do not know what love is.
How did I get so heartless?
No.
I have heart
It's just not standing up straight
It's curled up like a baby
The thought of unwinding it sickens me
It scares me
The sky is hovering above me, it goes unnoticed 99.9% of the time
There's a voice in it though, I hear it in me
It keeps waiting for the rain in my head to let up
It keeps wishing I were someone else
Someone less sick
Or is that just my own mind working against me?
I do not love myself.
I do not know what love is.
How did I get so heartless?
No.
I have heart
It's just not standing up straight
It's curled up like a baby
The thought of unwinding it sickens me
It scares me
The sky is hovering above me, it goes unnoticed 99.9% of the time
There's a voice in it though, I hear it in me
It keeps waiting for the rain in my head to let up
It keeps wishing I were someone else
Someone less sick
Or is that just my own mind working against me?
food vs. music
FOOD
Pros:
It makes your brain able to appreciate music
It makes your heart function better
It makes you better able to appreciate God
Cons:
Too much can make you fat, f*** your brain and heart up, and in turn do the same to the rest of you and eventually kill you, or make you wish you were dead
MUSIC
Pros:
It makes one (such as me) feel more aware of their emotions/mental state
Cons:
Too much can make you think too much of mankind, and get you wrapped up in your own mind.
SUMMARY
I'm crazy, so it makes sense that I would not follow through with the logical conclusion (??)
Damn.
Pros:
It makes your brain able to appreciate music
It makes your heart function better
It makes you better able to appreciate God
Cons:
Too much can make you fat, f*** your brain and heart up, and in turn do the same to the rest of you and eventually kill you, or make you wish you were dead
MUSIC
Pros:
It makes one (such as me) feel more aware of their emotions/mental state
Cons:
Too much can make you think too much of mankind, and get you wrapped up in your own mind.
SUMMARY
I'm crazy, so it makes sense that I would not follow through with the logical conclusion (??)
Damn.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
almost not noteworthy things that happened this past Friday
I took a dump FOUR times from 12PM-12AM.
I went to bed at 1:45am
I had the most awesome time listening to SLEEPLESS NIGHTS by Rediscover.
I had the most gawdawful time trying to install AVG AntiVirus Free 2013, and never did get it going...
I felt a strong yearning for a decked out Christmas house, with candles, sweaters, and hot chocolate that doesn't come in a plain Hershey's baking cocoa container.
Today I hope to listen to SLEEPLESS NIGHTS again, and yearn some more for a decked out Xmas house.
~JWC
I went to bed at 1:45am
I had the most awesome time listening to SLEEPLESS NIGHTS by Rediscover.
I had the most gawdawful time trying to install AVG AntiVirus Free 2013, and never did get it going...
I felt a strong yearning for a decked out Christmas house, with candles, sweaters, and hot chocolate that doesn't come in a plain Hershey's baking cocoa container.
Today I hope to listen to SLEEPLESS NIGHTS again, and yearn some more for a decked out Xmas house.
~JWC
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Yeah...that'd be much too vulgar display of power...
My computer has been giving me a mountainous hard-time. I've spent the last 2-3 hours trying to listen to U218 Singles by U2 on MySpace. Actually, the last 40 minutes I've been feeding the cats, eating dinner and chit-chatting with my mother. Meanwhile my MalWare scanner turned up nothing. Grrg.
Monday, September 17, 2012
gaining on it...um....
The belt stabbing-accessory (whatever it's actually called) won't go through all the holes in my belt - unless I've lost weight since yesterday. I haven't tested it today. I had 2 1/3 servings of Oreo cookies PLUS a serving of pancake mix and my usual helping of sandwiches...total fat gram intake was probably about 30. Carbs? Probably about 200...maybe closer to 150...I walked to the library, took apprx 20 minutes...
I blew off brushing my teeth yesterday. I did brush the day before yesterday. The day before that I didn't. The day before that I brushed twice...ughmm...
On the plus side I washed clothes yesterday. I didn't finish my whites. I had to start the washing machine on them twice, b/c I think I forgot to put soap/bleach in that load the first time around. I started it again this morning a couple hours ago, should be done by now, I'll have to put them in the dryer whenever the heck I get around to it...although my Gramma should be coming over to clean the upstairs living space for my mom, since I'm good for nothing...
I revised what was five pages of a screenplay I've been working on sporadically for over a decade. It's now four pages. I need to add 86 more pages. If I don't, submitting it to an agent would be almost pointless, and submitting to Richard Walter, a prestigious screenwriting professor at UCLA, which would be much easier, since I already have a vague idea of how to get in contact with him, would be even more pointless. If I go the agent route, I'll have to figure out which agent to submit the screenplay to, and if I did that, it's possible they may read it regardless of length, and if it's not good enough, someone else can maybe flesh it out more. But I'm not even sure that's possible. This isn't a story based screenplay, it's more like a collection of dreams. If it had a worthwhile story, I could write it as a book and at least get something done with it, since a book would make it easier to write. A screenplay HAS to be clear, with minimal to no typos, and what I say has to be concise and clear in order for someone to take what's on the page and put it on film. A book doesn't even have to have logical sentences. You can take what may or may not be a coherent/logical sentence and stretch it out to three pages if it's good enough, like poetry or something. You can go off on theological tangents that have nothing to do with "the plot" and yet it still ties in with it and so what if nobody cares? It's a book, so it's a lot less expensive than a movie along these lines would be, and the market for that kind of stuff is big enough for the publisher and myself to make at least a bit of pocket change. But I'm so ill-versed on books, I may very well be ripping off NAKED LUNCH and not even know it. I've read like almost 30 pages of J.G. Ballard's CONCRETE ISLAND, not sure if I'll finish it, and I've been immensely enjoying the time I've spent with Elliot Perlman's SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY, but it's taking me half an eternity to finish it. I might be done with it when I'm like 32 (I'm sorta-almost 29 as I write this). I've been reading it for...a year? At least...
I should quit going on about all this and write some more of it. It's been awhile since I posted anything here though and this is a blog, not a quarterly magazine, so anything that goes on in my daily life should be posted here. I always wonder with these quarterly magazines, such as the now-defunct and short lived WICKED - what are they doing??? You know why I never knew what they were doing that was taking so much time? Because I didn't read their blog!!!
So here's my half-arred attempt to catch you all up to speed. Not that anyone's reading this...or...? Idk...every month I get almost 100 views, don't know if those are accidents or what...
Saturday, August 18, 2012
hole in head disease
She wrote my soul on her lips
Adapted from the words of someone else
I tried to resist the temptation, to stab those words, to bludgeon them to sleep
I demanded pardon for the slander
She tied my hands to my back
And walked away, safe in her freedom
To twist the truth, and put her trust in lies
And rub them in my face
Maybe there's a hole in her head
That makes the light pour
Straight down into darkness
I guess it makes sense
What would a cat scan show
if they examined her head?
Where it will land
Nobody knows
Adapted from the words of someone else
I tried to resist the temptation, to stab those words, to bludgeon them to sleep
I demanded pardon for the slander
She tied my hands to my back
And walked away, safe in her freedom
To twist the truth, and put her trust in lies
And rub them in my face
Maybe there's a hole in her head
That makes the light pour
Straight down into darkness
I guess it makes sense
What would a cat scan show
if they examined her head?
Where it will land
Nobody knows
Saturday, August 11, 2012
ooooh noo
The image here is of the front cover; the back cover, for those who are 3rd generation Aerosmith lovers or who don't know jack about hard rock, prominently features a couple of sumo wrestlers getting ready to fight. The sad thing is I just now figured out why that image was chosen.
Nonetheless, I still maintain my stance that the front & back cover-art, AND the graphics on the disc, are very in tune with the mid 90s. I don't know if it's b/c they're ingrained in my mind from having listened to this CD quite heavily during 1996-1999 or if there's some link that I'm not sure how to explain...the back cover I always thought represented the wackiness of the 90's, which is evident without knowing anything about fashion or contemporary lingo/slang, or prevalent thoughts of the time. All one needs to do is look at the music charts. What other time could a serious song like "Mmm Mmm Mmm" by the Crash Test Dummies become a pop song on the basis of the singer's unusually deep baritone? It's almost like CTD became household names as a comedy act - people turn on the radio and they be like "what the...?" but they keep listening...with a mix of "I know what you mean dude" and "Is it weird to feel weird listening to this song"/"No, man. It's like Father Time is singing us a song"/"Yeah, that's what I thought. I can kinda dig the lyrics though. Is that weird?"/"Uh...did you get teased a lot in high school or something?"/Uh, no man...I just...uh...nevermind"
I get a kick out of reading reviews for CDs on Amazon, by bands like Chumbawamba ("Tubthumping"), OMC ("How Bizarre"), Natalie Imbruglia ("Torn") and Joan Osborne ("One Of Us"), and seeing how they don't get the artists'/bands' one hit wonder status. People are always like "this artist is much more than just one song" and I'm always like "Get a clue: nobody cares". Someone was defending Sarah McLachlan's follow up to the mega-hit album SURFACING, titled AFTERGLOW, saying that people are unjustly raising their expectations through the roof and that she's only human. My eyes rolled back soooo far. People have every right to expect a follow up album to be an improvement over the current/previous one. For better or worse, it's a dog-eat-dog world. If you don't have something people want, you're a useless shell waiting to die. Sarah McLachlan's music seems to have an addictive quality to it though, thankfully for her. I personally don't like the electronic approach she took with LAWS OF ILLUSION and I found the song structures to be a little too weak as well. AFTERGLOW seemed like a half-baked attempt to cash in on the success of SURFACING, which is odd considering it took 7 years to get released...The Fray will probably have the same thing going for them. HOW TO SAVE A LIFE was a masterpiece and even though they seem unwilling or unable to replicate that album's awesomeness, people will continue buying their music.
Anyway; I was talking about the 90's....yeah, I don't know what I was thinking in regards to WHY the back cover-art for BIG ONES was chosen. I mean, it's not like Aerosmith or anyone working with Aerosmith would have any reason to take a come-back era recap and make it look like Aerosmith was/is the definition of the 90's. I mean, I guess as far as bands who were doing hits CDs in 1994 and around there, Aerosmith was probably the closest thing to the definition of the 90's. The forefathers of the grunge movement that almost eclipsed the possibility of Aerosmith's GET A GRIP's success were too new to the music biz to have enough hits to make a hits CD with, and most of the other bands who were popular at that time were short-lived or one hit wonders. In 1997, Gin Blossoms' record company, for some reason that I don't quite get, decided to make a compilation of their music when they only had two CDs and a song from EMPIRE RECORDS to their credit (that last one of which wasn't even written by them). Some bands, by the '96/'97 time frame probably COULD have had enough songs to build a hits collection with if they hadn't taken 2-4 year breaks between records. The Goo Goo Dolls released A BOY NAMED GOO in '95 and followed that up in '98. Counting Crows took just as long to follow up their debut. So did Tori Amos. Bjork actually did pretty well in terms of a steady output. But she didn't put a hits CD out until 2001 or somewhere around there, probably b/c 99% of her music was too out there for most people to find on the radio or MTV even. Oh, and Alanis Morrissette took 3 years to follow up JAGGED LITTLE PILL. If these artists had done one album every year like Aerosmith and every other rock band from the '60's and 70's did when they first got into the business, and had 2 or 3 songs average on each record that people at least heard once or twice on the radio (even if the songs weren't bonafide Top 40 HITS, they could still appear on a hits CD), then every one of those bands could have had a hits CD no later than 1999. In the case of Tori Amos and Counting Crows, I'd say more like 1995 for Tori Amos and 1997 for Counting Crows AT MOST. Aerosmith really didn't have that many hits in the '70's, although they did have a huge number of "fan favorites" - probably 95% of their output from 1974-1976 was/is well regarded by people who bought GET YOUR WINGS, TOYS IN THE ATTIC and ROCKS. It took 7 years for Aerosmith to get a hits CD out, there was only 10 songs on it and two of those songs weren't really "hits". Well, idk - maybe "Remember (Walking In The Sand)" did get a fair share of airplay back in its time, I don't think I've EVER heard it on the radio...and they also did not write that song, nor did they write "Come Together", which was part of a soundtrack for a movie that had something to do with The Beatles, I think...
But anyway..........I guess if nothing else, the cover-art for BIG ONES reminds me of how crazy a time it was for ME - I was in a group home, trying to sort out anger issues that I had, and when I came out of the group home, I was living with my mom's boyfriend and his 16 year old daughter who was the most obnoxious and trendy punk you're likely to meet. If the 90's were to be defined by her, it'd probably be a rollercoaster kaleidoscope of sex and drugs to a soundtrack of Guns N' Roses & Nirvana, with soundbites from Beavis & Butthead thrown in. And I kind of got the feeling she wasn't alone when I was watching MTV YEAR IN ROCK 1994. And I can remember my face must have looked like this more times than I care to remember during those days
Nonetheless, I still maintain my stance that the front & back cover-art, AND the graphics on the disc, are very in tune with the mid 90s. I don't know if it's b/c they're ingrained in my mind from having listened to this CD quite heavily during 1996-1999 or if there's some link that I'm not sure how to explain...the back cover I always thought represented the wackiness of the 90's, which is evident without knowing anything about fashion or contemporary lingo/slang, or prevalent thoughts of the time. All one needs to do is look at the music charts. What other time could a serious song like "Mmm Mmm Mmm" by the Crash Test Dummies become a pop song on the basis of the singer's unusually deep baritone? It's almost like CTD became household names as a comedy act - people turn on the radio and they be like "what the...?" but they keep listening...with a mix of "I know what you mean dude" and "Is it weird to feel weird listening to this song"/"No, man. It's like Father Time is singing us a song"/"Yeah, that's what I thought. I can kinda dig the lyrics though. Is that weird?"/"Uh...did you get teased a lot in high school or something?"/Uh, no man...I just...uh...nevermind"
I get a kick out of reading reviews for CDs on Amazon, by bands like Chumbawamba ("Tubthumping"), OMC ("How Bizarre"), Natalie Imbruglia ("Torn") and Joan Osborne ("One Of Us"), and seeing how they don't get the artists'/bands' one hit wonder status. People are always like "this artist is much more than just one song" and I'm always like "Get a clue: nobody cares". Someone was defending Sarah McLachlan's follow up to the mega-hit album SURFACING, titled AFTERGLOW, saying that people are unjustly raising their expectations through the roof and that she's only human. My eyes rolled back soooo far. People have every right to expect a follow up album to be an improvement over the current/previous one. For better or worse, it's a dog-eat-dog world. If you don't have something people want, you're a useless shell waiting to die. Sarah McLachlan's music seems to have an addictive quality to it though, thankfully for her. I personally don't like the electronic approach she took with LAWS OF ILLUSION and I found the song structures to be a little too weak as well. AFTERGLOW seemed like a half-baked attempt to cash in on the success of SURFACING, which is odd considering it took 7 years to get released...The Fray will probably have the same thing going for them. HOW TO SAVE A LIFE was a masterpiece and even though they seem unwilling or unable to replicate that album's awesomeness, people will continue buying their music.
Anyway; I was talking about the 90's....yeah, I don't know what I was thinking in regards to WHY the back cover-art for BIG ONES was chosen. I mean, it's not like Aerosmith or anyone working with Aerosmith would have any reason to take a come-back era recap and make it look like Aerosmith was/is the definition of the 90's. I mean, I guess as far as bands who were doing hits CDs in 1994 and around there, Aerosmith was probably the closest thing to the definition of the 90's. The forefathers of the grunge movement that almost eclipsed the possibility of Aerosmith's GET A GRIP's success were too new to the music biz to have enough hits to make a hits CD with, and most of the other bands who were popular at that time were short-lived or one hit wonders. In 1997, Gin Blossoms' record company, for some reason that I don't quite get, decided to make a compilation of their music when they only had two CDs and a song from EMPIRE RECORDS to their credit (that last one of which wasn't even written by them). Some bands, by the '96/'97 time frame probably COULD have had enough songs to build a hits collection with if they hadn't taken 2-4 year breaks between records. The Goo Goo Dolls released A BOY NAMED GOO in '95 and followed that up in '98. Counting Crows took just as long to follow up their debut. So did Tori Amos. Bjork actually did pretty well in terms of a steady output. But she didn't put a hits CD out until 2001 or somewhere around there, probably b/c 99% of her music was too out there for most people to find on the radio or MTV even. Oh, and Alanis Morrissette took 3 years to follow up JAGGED LITTLE PILL. If these artists had done one album every year like Aerosmith and every other rock band from the '60's and 70's did when they first got into the business, and had 2 or 3 songs average on each record that people at least heard once or twice on the radio (even if the songs weren't bonafide Top 40 HITS, they could still appear on a hits CD), then every one of those bands could have had a hits CD no later than 1999. In the case of Tori Amos and Counting Crows, I'd say more like 1995 for Tori Amos and 1997 for Counting Crows AT MOST. Aerosmith really didn't have that many hits in the '70's, although they did have a huge number of "fan favorites" - probably 95% of their output from 1974-1976 was/is well regarded by people who bought GET YOUR WINGS, TOYS IN THE ATTIC and ROCKS. It took 7 years for Aerosmith to get a hits CD out, there was only 10 songs on it and two of those songs weren't really "hits". Well, idk - maybe "Remember (Walking In The Sand)" did get a fair share of airplay back in its time, I don't think I've EVER heard it on the radio...and they also did not write that song, nor did they write "Come Together", which was part of a soundtrack for a movie that had something to do with The Beatles, I think...
But anyway..........I guess if nothing else, the cover-art for BIG ONES reminds me of how crazy a time it was for ME - I was in a group home, trying to sort out anger issues that I had, and when I came out of the group home, I was living with my mom's boyfriend and his 16 year old daughter who was the most obnoxious and trendy punk you're likely to meet. If the 90's were to be defined by her, it'd probably be a rollercoaster kaleidoscope of sex and drugs to a soundtrack of Guns N' Roses & Nirvana, with soundbites from Beavis & Butthead thrown in. And I kind of got the feeling she wasn't alone when I was watching MTV YEAR IN ROCK 1994. And I can remember my face must have looked like this more times than I care to remember during those days
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
I have a dream
It's just...too...hard...to reach...Uhg! But seriously, I never realized Sony TVs - Sony BRAVIA TVs no less - were so low priced these days. Granted, this is an LCD, not the better quality LED, but supposedly Sony knows their stuff when it comes to making TVs - and they should, since they also make movies (viewed on a TV more often than not).
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Great (or very good) books I almost finished...
I'm hoping to finish this someday. I'd been checking it out from the public library and ended up about halfway through...
I got about halfway through this with every intention of finishing. the author started out the chapter I was on with some group of words that didn't make sense in a linear way (i.e.: bad grammar).
I'm actually still reading this one. I bought it in hardcover, then was afraid to touch it out of fear of ruining the dust jacket. Now I own it in softcover and still I rarely touch it. It's so tempting to read one of the two other (small) books I own. On the plus side I'm 1/3 of the way finished and it's a 600+ page book.
It would have been nice if I hadn't lost my place in this book during the break I took from it that lasted about two(?) months...I don't read fast enough to trudge through 800 pages that I've already read...yes, it's interesting. But there's so much to read before I die and that's not even including The Holy Bible, which I probably should delve into more so I can have some idea of weather I'll go to Hell or be granted entry into Heaven.
If I were to finish ONE book by the end of 2013...I'd feel stupid if it were anything written by America's most legendary pulp author - Stephen King. The first 40 pages were indeed enjoyable. If I miraculously make it through the books I already own AND finish this, maybe I'll get halfway through 11/22/63 before I croak...
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Might as well party like it's 2029
Because it's not 1999; back then Hotmail was a relatively new thing (to me anyway). The operating system of choice back then has changed like 3 times already (would have been 4 if Windows Vista wasn't such an abomination to technology).
And not only is Windows '98 officially outdated by well over the 5 year mark, but Hotmail is on its way with it. Microsoft is now transitioning to Outlook.com, which is almost identical to Hotmail, but somehow is aimed at Windows 8 (a tablet OS, I think) users.
Weird.
And not only is Windows '98 officially outdated by well over the 5 year mark, but Hotmail is on its way with it. Microsoft is now transitioning to Outlook.com, which is almost identical to Hotmail, but somehow is aimed at Windows 8 (a tablet OS, I think) users.
Weird.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
The End
Kate Bush - The Whole Story
Genesis - Live/The Way We Walk Vol. 2: The Longs
Oingo Boingo - Skeletons In The Closet: The Best Of
Starship - Knee Deep In The Hoopla
Various - Ghostbusters OST
Every time I thought about saying goodbye, it didn't feel right. I always discarded these things, after all, why would it be wrong to keep a CD that I don't listen to? I think I figured out the answer a few days ago - the CD format itself is useless. I don't need it. I like it b/c it brings me back to the warm comfort of my early childhood (age 0-5). I remember being mesmerized by the tray sliding out of my father's CD player and seeing the GHOSTBUSTERS soundtrack inside it.
I'm used to listening to songs in an album format. I think part of that is because of habit, but a lot of that has more to do with me being lazy. Creating a playlist that I only listen to once seems like a lot of work for nothing. Lately I've been trying to envision how a play list would flow, and to aid in that endeavor, I click "play" on a song in my Amazon Cloud player, intending to click "play" on another song that I think would flow easily into that one. But the more I don't get to the "ideal" following song's "play" button in time to avoid hearing some other song (they're laid out in alphabetical order by song title), the more I realize I don't need a playlist. Hearing random songs is just as orderly as hearing songs on the radio. I used to think the radio station song choosers (which are now computers) had a very meticulous way of choosing songs, based on the weather and an uncanny knack for knowing which songs flow into each other. I think I got it all wrong though. The only way two songs wouldn't flow into one another is if one sucks and one doesn't.
I'll keep the 5 CDs mentioned above, but I don't see the point in buying anything on CD unless it's A) REALLY good B) cheaper than the MP3 version. And if A) outdoes B) I might buy the mp3 version anyway, simply b/c I know I don't need a bunch of CDs laying around and will get rid of the CD on those grounds, which will put me in the position of not having the music I want when I want it.
Naturally the next logical step would be buying an mp3 player. I don't think I need one. Even if I DID have a job, I don't see where the mp3 player would service me. "May I take your order? Wait, let me take off my earbuds...". A USB stick will probably do just fine.
Genesis - Live/The Way We Walk Vol. 2: The Longs
Oingo Boingo - Skeletons In The Closet: The Best Of
Starship - Knee Deep In The Hoopla
Various - Ghostbusters OST
Every time I thought about saying goodbye, it didn't feel right. I always discarded these things, after all, why would it be wrong to keep a CD that I don't listen to? I think I figured out the answer a few days ago - the CD format itself is useless. I don't need it. I like it b/c it brings me back to the warm comfort of my early childhood (age 0-5). I remember being mesmerized by the tray sliding out of my father's CD player and seeing the GHOSTBUSTERS soundtrack inside it.
I'm used to listening to songs in an album format. I think part of that is because of habit, but a lot of that has more to do with me being lazy. Creating a playlist that I only listen to once seems like a lot of work for nothing. Lately I've been trying to envision how a play list would flow, and to aid in that endeavor, I click "play" on a song in my Amazon Cloud player, intending to click "play" on another song that I think would flow easily into that one. But the more I don't get to the "ideal" following song's "play" button in time to avoid hearing some other song (they're laid out in alphabetical order by song title), the more I realize I don't need a playlist. Hearing random songs is just as orderly as hearing songs on the radio. I used to think the radio station song choosers (which are now computers) had a very meticulous way of choosing songs, based on the weather and an uncanny knack for knowing which songs flow into each other. I think I got it all wrong though. The only way two songs wouldn't flow into one another is if one sucks and one doesn't.
I'll keep the 5 CDs mentioned above, but I don't see the point in buying anything on CD unless it's A) REALLY good B) cheaper than the MP3 version. And if A) outdoes B) I might buy the mp3 version anyway, simply b/c I know I don't need a bunch of CDs laying around and will get rid of the CD on those grounds, which will put me in the position of not having the music I want when I want it.
Naturally the next logical step would be buying an mp3 player. I don't think I need one. Even if I DID have a job, I don't see where the mp3 player would service me. "May I take your order? Wait, let me take off my earbuds...". A USB stick will probably do just fine.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Purchases wanted
If it weren't for my poor dental health - I owe the dentist $39 and I have an upcoming appointment that's gonna cost me $51 - I would be totally devoid of any reason to have $ next month & the month after. Luckily in October, E.T. comes out on home video for the first time in 10 years WITHOUT all the "enhancements"...and the gov't (welfare) forbids it, but I'm probably going to be buying Xmas gifts for my peeps anyway, 'cause theyze close to my hart & they should know I appreciate them. WORd!
Hopefully in January, I'll think of SOMETHING to spend my $ on that the gov't doesn't frown upon....
Hopefully in January, I'll think of SOMETHING to spend my $ on that the gov't doesn't frown upon....
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
pests of a different feather
Democrats and Republicans seem to agree on something: killing is OK.
The specifics get a little fuzzy though. Democrats say Republicans have no respect for human life b/c Republicans support the death penalty. Republicans say that Democrats have no respect for life because Democrats insist it's OK to kill babies.
I think Republicans have a valid point on the abortion issue. When abortion became legal, Democrats' arguments may have held more weight, but there comes a point when "interpretation" of scientific data verges on religious fanaticism, which can't POSSIBLY be what pro-choice supporters are doing, since there's no written text that specifies what a Democrat should or shouldn't think...However, I think pro-choicers' whacked interpretation of the scientific evidence that suggests pro-lifers are in the right has less to do with the data itself than it does with the possibility that said data could be grounds for the courts to make abortion illegal. The pro-choice attitude, from what I can see, says that a fetus is not finalized until it comes out of the womb. Even though it may for all practical purposes be the exact same thing as as a newborn baby, it doesn't count. And I can sorta see the Dems' point on that one; after all, there is certainly a difference between a grandparent visiting their fetus and visiting their grandchild. Visiting a fetus means visiting the keeper of the fetus, and for all anyone knows, there could be no fetus in that woman's womb. Or, if she keeps a secret, there's still no knowledge, at least not in the first 1-4 months.
Which brings me to my other point: Republicans always bring God into the equation on matters like the death penalty and abortion. I can totally see a DA, if Republicans got their way, saying that x grandparents should have had a chance to meet their grandchild because that's what God would have wanted. ERROR: God WANTS all kinds of things that have not happened. Did he WANT Adam & Eve to disobey him and get kicked out of Eden? Did he WANT the world to suffer and endure for all these thousands of years? NOBODY KNOWS what God wants. For all anyone knows, the act of abortion of something God DOES want and even went out of his way to make happen. Why, you ask? Hell if I know. You wanna bring "why" into the equation, you may as well get prepared for a book full of questions to answer on WHY God does what he does and doesn't do what he doesn't do.
And as far as I know, The Bible does not talk about abortion. It DOES however talk about the death penalty and one thing most Republicans overlook is that the death penalty is not approved by God if the accused is not caught in the act.
Personally, I think Democrats are worthless. People always talk about "getting things done", and Democrats sure do have a ton of ideas on that front. None of them are for improving the country. The only reason we ever need to "get things done" is because Democrats keep coming along and screwing things up. Aside from acquiring a huge deficit and some bad choices in foreign policy, what did George W. Bush do that screwed up this country? I can't think of anything, really. Now what did Obama do to IMPROVE this country? He quadrupled the already shockingly high deficit, and vows to keep adding to it, and I guess his heartwarming speeches helped boost the economy a slight bit for several months, even though it's pretty much stuck the last 2 or 3 months...
I agree that Obama's healthcare plan is a good thing. But the fact of the matter is it would require raising taxes, and the rich by themselves should not pay for all of that. The middle class is going to have to pitch in at least 10% of the tax raise, and for that and all the other things Obama wants to do, we would probably need to double taxes on every front and charge back-taxes on Wall Street gurus who make a living off of investments but have only been paying half the taxes on them for all these years.
Would that be bad for the economy? Probably. And I certainly don't think making a bad economy worse is a good idea, but most importantly: Obama isn't demanding double taxes and he's still pushing his healthcare reform and who knows what else he has up his sleeve. We are eventually going to head into trouble if we keep spending money that don't have.
The specifics get a little fuzzy though. Democrats say Republicans have no respect for human life b/c Republicans support the death penalty. Republicans say that Democrats have no respect for life because Democrats insist it's OK to kill babies.
I think Republicans have a valid point on the abortion issue. When abortion became legal, Democrats' arguments may have held more weight, but there comes a point when "interpretation" of scientific data verges on religious fanaticism, which can't POSSIBLY be what pro-choice supporters are doing, since there's no written text that specifies what a Democrat should or shouldn't think...However, I think pro-choicers' whacked interpretation of the scientific evidence that suggests pro-lifers are in the right has less to do with the data itself than it does with the possibility that said data could be grounds for the courts to make abortion illegal. The pro-choice attitude, from what I can see, says that a fetus is not finalized until it comes out of the womb. Even though it may for all practical purposes be the exact same thing as as a newborn baby, it doesn't count. And I can sorta see the Dems' point on that one; after all, there is certainly a difference between a grandparent visiting their fetus and visiting their grandchild. Visiting a fetus means visiting the keeper of the fetus, and for all anyone knows, there could be no fetus in that woman's womb. Or, if she keeps a secret, there's still no knowledge, at least not in the first 1-4 months.
Which brings me to my other point: Republicans always bring God into the equation on matters like the death penalty and abortion. I can totally see a DA, if Republicans got their way, saying that x grandparents should have had a chance to meet their grandchild because that's what God would have wanted. ERROR: God WANTS all kinds of things that have not happened. Did he WANT Adam & Eve to disobey him and get kicked out of Eden? Did he WANT the world to suffer and endure for all these thousands of years? NOBODY KNOWS what God wants. For all anyone knows, the act of abortion of something God DOES want and even went out of his way to make happen. Why, you ask? Hell if I know. You wanna bring "why" into the equation, you may as well get prepared for a book full of questions to answer on WHY God does what he does and doesn't do what he doesn't do.
And as far as I know, The Bible does not talk about abortion. It DOES however talk about the death penalty and one thing most Republicans overlook is that the death penalty is not approved by God if the accused is not caught in the act.
Personally, I think Democrats are worthless. People always talk about "getting things done", and Democrats sure do have a ton of ideas on that front. None of them are for improving the country. The only reason we ever need to "get things done" is because Democrats keep coming along and screwing things up. Aside from acquiring a huge deficit and some bad choices in foreign policy, what did George W. Bush do that screwed up this country? I can't think of anything, really. Now what did Obama do to IMPROVE this country? He quadrupled the already shockingly high deficit, and vows to keep adding to it, and I guess his heartwarming speeches helped boost the economy a slight bit for several months, even though it's pretty much stuck the last 2 or 3 months...
I agree that Obama's healthcare plan is a good thing. But the fact of the matter is it would require raising taxes, and the rich by themselves should not pay for all of that. The middle class is going to have to pitch in at least 10% of the tax raise, and for that and all the other things Obama wants to do, we would probably need to double taxes on every front and charge back-taxes on Wall Street gurus who make a living off of investments but have only been paying half the taxes on them for all these years.
Would that be bad for the economy? Probably. And I certainly don't think making a bad economy worse is a good idea, but most importantly: Obama isn't demanding double taxes and he's still pushing his healthcare reform and who knows what else he has up his sleeve. We are eventually going to head into trouble if we keep spending money that don't have.
Monday, July 16, 2012
I remember seeing Camel Joe ads at the mall in the late 80s/early 90s. I liked those ads; they were all neon and prrrty. The ones that weren't had a nice beachy-earthy tone to 'em. I don't really like those ones as much, but they're kinda cool... Something about the animation on the cover of FAR SIDE pt II has intrigued me. I guess b/c it's reminiscent of SCHOOL HOUSE ROCK. which aired during the apprx time slot that THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS aired.
It's weird, I remember SLIMER & THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS better than THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS. I TOTALLY do not remember the Slimer spinoff. I remember seeing the DiC Productions logo, with that little kid sleeping and the angle of the image zooming outside his(?) window with kind of a glowy nightime sky.
Which reminds me... This cover-art reminds me of...something I don't remember. I tried watching the movie and it didn't help.
I remember this CD. I remember seeing it and noticing it didn't have Michael Jackson on the cover. I remember hearing the song "Lasagna" and thinking of a popcorn commercial that I really shouldn't remember as well as I do, since it really wasn't very memorable.
And I remember passing by this CD, back when CDs came in longboxes, in a music store when me and the rest of my family (incl. my father) and damn near creaming myself over how awesome it looked. They had this, NOTHING TO FEAR and DEAD MAN'S PARTY. I swear, I don't know what I saw in the cover for DEAD MAN'S PARTY. I look at the cover now, and I can barely make out the image(s). But at the time, I was in awe of all three of 'em, the hiearchy being the same as it is now, although spaced apart differently, as indicated already...
For some weird reason, I think of this RGB toy when I hear the song "Nothing Bad Ever Happens", from the SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET cd.
Although I think it was Fearsome Flush I remember walking out of the back way of the Salinas, CA mall with, wrapped for me in a KB Toys bag. Where the song "Nothing Bad Ever Happens" ties into that memory, I do not know. The Super Fright Features Winston was a New Years present, although my mom had to cut the top part of the packaging off so I wouldn't guess what it was. I think I remember seeing her buy it, seems like it was at a sewing store, or some discount/dollar store...it wasn't the mall...or maybe it was...idk...maybe Fearsome Flush was my "today" item and Winston was for later...sounds more plausible...
I remember I was scared to walk by the bathroom, imagining a zombie/corpse-thingy waiting to scare the cripes out of me...so I walked up to my mom and told her she should not have let me see all the video covers for all those horror movies. Thankfully she didn't put too much stalk in that talkin' to.....
I feel groovy when I see these things. I guess it beats the LOTR/Harry Potter/Dark Knight mania of late - although I actually like THE DARK KNIGHT movies, I just can't imagine a child growing up in such a dark world...where's the color? Where's the happiness? Between it being way more awesome than the dreary "kid's" movies of late, and the fact that I, for better or worse, grew up with this stuff, it's just...weird to think that I must have had the most sorry asT look on my face when I opened my New Years gifts and it was mostly Beetlejuice toys (no GHOSTBUSTERS). (My mom was kinda upset about it, which is how I conclude - not exactly a memory - that I had a dulled reaction to the gifts).
I still can't believe I used to have one of these. But then again, I've never understood the appeal of the POLICE ACADEMY movies. But those worthless 80's comedies did have some memorable cover-art, even though they all looked mostly the same.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
What the helk happened?
I started out with an $82.75 balance, which was $5 more than what I was depending on. A few days later that balance went up to $90.88 after a couple items in my Amazon inventory sold. One of the items I sold was an item I had acquired through my mom re-paying me for a $15 purchase I made with my debit card on her behalf, the same day as the deposit that brought my account balance to $82.75. From $90.88, the $15 purchase brings me down to $85, and I also bought a $16 book, which, I resold for $10, so, cutting the filler etc. out of the equation, that's $85 - $6 =ing $79. My mom's b-day gifts cost'd me $27 =ing $52 from $79 and I also bought $11.75 worth of lattes from Cup & Cork and a $9 CD from Amazon, bring me down to $31. As far as the rest of the money spent goes, here's what my bank account statement tells me:
$2.66 Redbox
$2.55 Hastings
$2.33 Hastings (again!)
$3.19 Starbucks
$0.83 Kidd's
$0.99 Amazon
------
$12.52
You'd think this means I should have a balance of $18.50 apprx, but, seriously, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED???
In any case, my plans for August, since I have a $41 doctor bill (mostly for dentistry, which Medicaid doesn't cover), are as follows:
NO $2.66 redbox
NO $5+ Hastings purchases
NO $3+ Starbucks stuff
Between this and cutting back on the even smaller purchases ($0.83 for Kidd's, for example), I should be A-OK.
$2.66 Redbox
$2.55 Hastings
$2.33 Hastings (again!)
$3.19 Starbucks
$0.83 Kidd's
$0.99 Amazon
------
$12.52
You'd think this means I should have a balance of $18.50 apprx, but, seriously, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED???
In any case, my plans for August, since I have a $41 doctor bill (mostly for dentistry, which Medicaid doesn't cover), are as follows:
NO $2.66 redbox
NO $5+ Hastings purchases
NO $3+ Starbucks stuff
Between this and cutting back on the even smaller purchases ($0.83 for Kidd's, for example), I should be A-OK.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
The good guy robs a convenience store...
Supposedly the producer of Tonight Alive's WHAT ARE YOU SO SCARED OF went out of his way to make Tonight Alive a star, which you'd think would be an indication that this band is at least good, if not legendary. This guy produced the breakthrough albums of bands like Blink 182, Jimmy Eat World, The Starting Line......
Simply put: this band isn't close to being as good as any of those 3 I mentioned, although I'm not really into TSL and Blink 182 anymore, I consider them to be the reason pop-punk is as good as it is today, although each successive band has outdone its predecessors and it only makes sense that by now The Starting Line and Blink 182 would seem primitive in comparison.
But Tonight Alive's WHAT ARE YOU SO SCARED OF? is definitely NOT The Starting Line - and just to be clear, The Starting Line aren't music I listen to often, or even "once in a while", but I am much more likely to listen to their music with open arms sometime in the future than this album. The band was so stoked, thinking they must be better than they realized after finding the guy who produced The Starting Line/Jimmy Eat World/Blink 182's breakthrough albums trying to worm his way into their careers. And if he were simply producing their album, I'd be like "OK, a producer can't exclude less than iconic musicians from his body of work" [they'd be out of a job for most of their life if they did!]. But he didn't simply agree to have his name on their CD, he CALLED THEM, he OFFERED them a production job. And I can't see why. The guitars are muffled sounding, as if the producer were trying to hide the fact that they can't play, and the vocalist so obviously cannot switch from one note to the other without them sticking together. There's a few occasions on the CD you can almost hear her clearing her throat so the previous note will go away. The worst part is the songwriting - obviously trying to be "epic" & sugar-poppy, but the whole thing just seems to meander without a clear purpose or destination.
Just kinda irritating. Especially when all these 12 year olds on Amazon are raving about how great they are & I'm always looking for pop-punk music to listen to, and seem unable to find it. I guess pop-punk on the same par as The Starting Line and Cartel has never been an everyday thing...
Simply put: this band isn't close to being as good as any of those 3 I mentioned, although I'm not really into TSL and Blink 182 anymore, I consider them to be the reason pop-punk is as good as it is today, although each successive band has outdone its predecessors and it only makes sense that by now The Starting Line and Blink 182 would seem primitive in comparison.
But Tonight Alive's WHAT ARE YOU SO SCARED OF? is definitely NOT The Starting Line - and just to be clear, The Starting Line aren't music I listen to often, or even "once in a while", but I am much more likely to listen to their music with open arms sometime in the future than this album. The band was so stoked, thinking they must be better than they realized after finding the guy who produced The Starting Line/Jimmy Eat World/Blink 182's breakthrough albums trying to worm his way into their careers. And if he were simply producing their album, I'd be like "OK, a producer can't exclude less than iconic musicians from his body of work" [they'd be out of a job for most of their life if they did!]. But he didn't simply agree to have his name on their CD, he CALLED THEM, he OFFERED them a production job. And I can't see why. The guitars are muffled sounding, as if the producer were trying to hide the fact that they can't play, and the vocalist so obviously cannot switch from one note to the other without them sticking together. There's a few occasions on the CD you can almost hear her clearing her throat so the previous note will go away. The worst part is the songwriting - obviously trying to be "epic" & sugar-poppy, but the whole thing just seems to meander without a clear purpose or destination.
Just kinda irritating. Especially when all these 12 year olds on Amazon are raving about how great they are & I'm always looking for pop-punk music to listen to, and seem unable to find it. I guess pop-punk on the same par as The Starting Line and Cartel has never been an everyday thing...
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Down To The Bone
A good quality "off" brand TV and a good (give or take however much emphasis, depending on what the word means to you) quality allinone stereo costs apprx $300, which still sounds like a boatload of $. That's 1/3 of the cost of a super-good++ stereo set-up (Polk TSi200 speakers & a Yamaha receiver) & a good size LED internet-TV that isn't an "off" brand.
Monday, July 2, 2012
This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.
NECA should give him back his dignity. I know, I know; you all think this is a big joke - Well, think how HE feels! GROW UP - Think about someone other than yourself for a change! Uhg...ye, I'm done.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
TV DESTINO
I'm using my Gramma's 15"(?) Durabrand SD TV. It gets the job done. My mouth waters when I see what else TVs have to offer - LED-lit, internet apps and this Samsung I just added to my Amazon wish list even has a web browser(!).
It's weird though, b/c even though I've thought about it a few times lately, I haven't watched GHOSTBUSTERS in, like, at least a month, and the last time I spent time with it I only watched less than half of it. I have THE LAST UNICORN on Blu, b/c it's the only legal format to own it in that isn't bleached out or censored. The most recent DVD experience I've enjoyed was Genesis - Live At Wembley Stadium (July 1-4, 1987 fka The Invisible Touch Tour, released on VHS in 1988). I watched about 17 minutes of Alfred Hitchcock's VERTIGO, and was mildly interested in it. I'm not sure I'll go back and see the rest.
The TV I'm using now is mainly just a way to listen to my CDs. If I kept my computer on all day, I could probably make do w/o that feature, too...but as much time as I spent as a wee lad with GHOSTBUSTERS, and as much as it spends in my head from time to time, I can't bear the thought of NOT HAVING a TV of SOME kind! And if I didn't have speakers of some kind, thus nullifying the purpose of a Blu-ray and/or CD player, I would probably want an MP3 player...lately my computer's been having trouble streaming...Windows Media Player burned a CD a couple days ago, w/o issue thankfully. I used to use Media Monkey, which I thought was cool & all, but even after un-installing & re-installing, CD burning hadn't been going well. The CD-Rs would have cracks & pops throughout. It happened first right after I bought some Maxell "Pro" CD-Rs, with a scratch-resistant(er) coating and some other feature that isn't coming to mind, or that I can't remember...I got those from J&R, and called them to see how much it would cost to return them, if anything. They refunded me straight up, w/o a return needed...I thought about that earlier tonight and came to the conclusion that I should probably buy more CD-Rs from them, preferably the same kind...Anyway...If I had the Samsung, it would detract from the time it takes to have the computer on, since I can browse the web from there & most of what I do online is check email. No need to have the computer on just for that...oh, and shopping on Amazon and price comparing via Google Shopping would be nice too...I think the only things you can't do with a TV's web-browser is use streaming music sites like Rdio or Mog, and watch movies on Amazon or Netflix. I tried using Amazon VOD on my Mom's Wii and it wouldn't let me. I don't know WHY, but that's the way it goes, I guess...so if stuff like that isn't available in the App-package, then it isn't usable on it.
The Samsung TV I'm oggling is $500, but I figure $60 of that is saved by not needing a Roku and $100 is also saved by not needing a wi-fi antenna, which would have come in handy with my Roku LT that I bought earlier this year or late in Dec. 2011; music and movies would cut & stutter, and if it was about to rain it would get worse. A powerline wall plug in adapter (or whatever they're called) would have presumably improved that. Someone on Amazon said Blu ray players are not generally good at online streaming & that TVs w/ built-in apps tend to work better for that. BTW, my blu ray player has 'net apps, but it needs to be plugged in to a router, which, in my household, is upstairs...which I suppose could be changed, but between the fact that neither me nor my mom know jack about how to set-up wi-fi or anything like that, and the fact that I hardly ever used Netflix back when I had my Roku (I know, right?!), AND the fact that users generally don't find anything positive to say about my Panasonic BD75's streaming capabilities...I just ain't doin' it.
So anyway...it's still a boatload of $. My sister might (or might not) give me some $ in 2013, or let me get my Circuit Breaker check like I had been doing (she asked me & my mom not to file for it b/c she spends $800 in income tax b/c she has to claim our rent as income, I guess b/c she's paying property tax and isn't living in her property, and her regular income doesn't support apt rent AND a mortgage, and if the gov't put 2&2 together they would figure out: someone's paying her to live in her house & they should get their cut!). I don't know what's going to happen as far as that goes; the typical $ I get doesn't lend itself to the idea of saving. There's probably a few months out of the year that I'm scot free to save at least half of my $75/mo, but that's only $40(ish) and the rest of the year I'm either buying gift(s) and I don't have an easy time with the concept of saving $.
But like I said, I don't really watch movies that much. A cheap TV would only cost $100 if I need to buy one either b/c my gramma wants her TV back or it dies out while in my care. My sister probably could do that or me when/if that happens....and then I can just add some computer speakers to it (via a 3.5mm jack) for better sound quality if the TV I buy can't satisfy me requirements for listening to music. I'm not really too terribly picky about sound quality, but there are limits of course.....if I end up with god-awful speakers in the TV & no headphone jack, that TV will probably need to go back to the seller & replaced with a (slightly?) more expensive TV......but if Heaven landed on earth, it would look a lot like the Samsung TV in my wish list. I figure it's time to stop dreaming small.
It's weird though, b/c even though I've thought about it a few times lately, I haven't watched GHOSTBUSTERS in, like, at least a month, and the last time I spent time with it I only watched less than half of it. I have THE LAST UNICORN on Blu, b/c it's the only legal format to own it in that isn't bleached out or censored. The most recent DVD experience I've enjoyed was Genesis - Live At Wembley Stadium (July 1-4, 1987 fka The Invisible Touch Tour, released on VHS in 1988). I watched about 17 minutes of Alfred Hitchcock's VERTIGO, and was mildly interested in it. I'm not sure I'll go back and see the rest.
The TV I'm using now is mainly just a way to listen to my CDs. If I kept my computer on all day, I could probably make do w/o that feature, too...but as much time as I spent as a wee lad with GHOSTBUSTERS, and as much as it spends in my head from time to time, I can't bear the thought of NOT HAVING a TV of SOME kind! And if I didn't have speakers of some kind, thus nullifying the purpose of a Blu-ray and/or CD player, I would probably want an MP3 player...lately my computer's been having trouble streaming...Windows Media Player burned a CD a couple days ago, w/o issue thankfully. I used to use Media Monkey, which I thought was cool & all, but even after un-installing & re-installing, CD burning hadn't been going well. The CD-Rs would have cracks & pops throughout. It happened first right after I bought some Maxell "Pro" CD-Rs, with a scratch-resistant(er) coating and some other feature that isn't coming to mind, or that I can't remember...I got those from J&R, and called them to see how much it would cost to return them, if anything. They refunded me straight up, w/o a return needed...I thought about that earlier tonight and came to the conclusion that I should probably buy more CD-Rs from them, preferably the same kind...Anyway...If I had the Samsung, it would detract from the time it takes to have the computer on, since I can browse the web from there & most of what I do online is check email. No need to have the computer on just for that...oh, and shopping on Amazon and price comparing via Google Shopping would be nice too...I think the only things you can't do with a TV's web-browser is use streaming music sites like Rdio or Mog, and watch movies on Amazon or Netflix. I tried using Amazon VOD on my Mom's Wii and it wouldn't let me. I don't know WHY, but that's the way it goes, I guess...so if stuff like that isn't available in the App-package, then it isn't usable on it.
The Samsung TV I'm oggling is $500, but I figure $60 of that is saved by not needing a Roku and $100 is also saved by not needing a wi-fi antenna, which would have come in handy with my Roku LT that I bought earlier this year or late in Dec. 2011; music and movies would cut & stutter, and if it was about to rain it would get worse. A powerline wall plug in adapter (or whatever they're called) would have presumably improved that. Someone on Amazon said Blu ray players are not generally good at online streaming & that TVs w/ built-in apps tend to work better for that. BTW, my blu ray player has 'net apps, but it needs to be plugged in to a router, which, in my household, is upstairs...which I suppose could be changed, but between the fact that neither me nor my mom know jack about how to set-up wi-fi or anything like that, and the fact that I hardly ever used Netflix back when I had my Roku (I know, right?!), AND the fact that users generally don't find anything positive to say about my Panasonic BD75's streaming capabilities...I just ain't doin' it.
So anyway...it's still a boatload of $. My sister might (or might not) give me some $ in 2013, or let me get my Circuit Breaker check like I had been doing (she asked me & my mom not to file for it b/c she spends $800 in income tax b/c she has to claim our rent as income, I guess b/c she's paying property tax and isn't living in her property, and her regular income doesn't support apt rent AND a mortgage, and if the gov't put 2&2 together they would figure out: someone's paying her to live in her house & they should get their cut!). I don't know what's going to happen as far as that goes; the typical $ I get doesn't lend itself to the idea of saving. There's probably a few months out of the year that I'm scot free to save at least half of my $75/mo, but that's only $40(ish) and the rest of the year I'm either buying gift(s) and I don't have an easy time with the concept of saving $.
But like I said, I don't really watch movies that much. A cheap TV would only cost $100 if I need to buy one either b/c my gramma wants her TV back or it dies out while in my care. My sister probably could do that or me when/if that happens....and then I can just add some computer speakers to it (via a 3.5mm jack) for better sound quality if the TV I buy can't satisfy me requirements for listening to music. I'm not really too terribly picky about sound quality, but there are limits of course.....if I end up with god-awful speakers in the TV & no headphone jack, that TV will probably need to go back to the seller & replaced with a (slightly?) more expensive TV......but if Heaven landed on earth, it would look a lot like the Samsung TV in my wish list. I figure it's time to stop dreaming small.
Friday, June 22, 2012
THE DAY MY WORLD STOOD STILL...
http://protoncharging.com/2012/06/19/of-corinthians-and-carpathians/#comments
Sad day, indeed...although I missed its arrival...I haven't been checking PC as often b/c the news has been kinda flickering out (store shelves kinda say it all; PC's lack of news kinda confirms the flame is dying; as to why, it could be any number of reasons...).
Sad day, indeed...although I missed its arrival...I haven't been checking PC as often b/c the news has been kinda flickering out (store shelves kinda say it all; PC's lack of news kinda confirms the flame is dying; as to why, it could be any number of reasons...).
Sunday, June 3, 2012
my lies...
My self esteem is clinging to my teeth
Trying not to fall through the cracks as I talk
And all I do is talk
And think
About how much I talk
My time is often a huge fucin waste
Filled up by things that perhaps even God doesn't understand
SHOUT: THE VERY BEST OF TEARS FOR FEARS - epic, intellectual pop music
But what is it I achieve by listening? Do I feel elated that my Ego has risen to such great heights?
TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS - TAKING BACK SUNDAY - Emotional as heck, very noisy. If it were not for the hype surrounding it and the time in which it was released and the emotional whirlwind I was going on during that time, I probably would not care at all.
NO JACKET REQUIRED - PHIL COLLINS - Interesting drum/synth combinations and patterns. Is it worth almost an hour of my time? If so, WHY???
INVISIBLE TOUCH - GENESIS - Soothing, very occasionally. It's like a lullaby. But I am not a child. Or am I?
The list could probably go on...
Life will go on.
It's best not to try so hard.
Do what may.
The only crime is (knowingly) passing up an opportunity to do something more worthwhile.
Sad thing is I've been guilty of that, too.
Trying not to fall through the cracks as I talk
And all I do is talk
And think
About how much I talk
My time is often a huge fucin waste
Filled up by things that perhaps even God doesn't understand
SHOUT: THE VERY BEST OF TEARS FOR FEARS - epic, intellectual pop music
But what is it I achieve by listening? Do I feel elated that my Ego has risen to such great heights?
TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS - TAKING BACK SUNDAY - Emotional as heck, very noisy. If it were not for the hype surrounding it and the time in which it was released and the emotional whirlwind I was going on during that time, I probably would not care at all.
NO JACKET REQUIRED - PHIL COLLINS - Interesting drum/synth combinations and patterns. Is it worth almost an hour of my time? If so, WHY???
INVISIBLE TOUCH - GENESIS - Soothing, very occasionally. It's like a lullaby. But I am not a child. Or am I?
The list could probably go on...
Life will go on.
It's best not to try so hard.
Do what may.
The only crime is (knowingly) passing up an opportunity to do something more worthwhile.
Sad thing is I've been guilty of that, too.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Uhm...
I guess it's an alternate universe where Mr. Potato Head is Spider-Man, and Peter Parker never got bit by that special spider. Peter Parker makes a much more convincing superhero (IMO).
Saturday, May 26, 2012
The Hell I Do
Time is ticking out, it's all gonna end
The good news is that life will go on, in a different way
What way? I need to understand
No, I don't. I need to prepare
How?
Obey. What am I doing wrong?
Love. How? What is love??
I guess if I waste all my days away, the drain leads to the same place anyway.....
The good news is that life will go on, in a different way
What way? I need to understand
No, I don't. I need to prepare
How?
Obey. What am I doing wrong?
Love. How? What is love??
I guess if I waste all my days away, the drain leads to the same place anyway.....
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Lists of goodness - out of order...
Chicago - GREATEST HITS 1982-1989
A truly one of a kind CD. Ultra-nostalgic, not just for its 80's values, but also its reminder of my final years in California, (1995-1997) when I became more like a man and less like a boy...And the music is top notch, a must have for any fan of sappy love songs. The thing is nobody pulled those off quite like Chicago. They were tender and moving, unabashedly romantic, yet also had a "rock" edge, thunderous guitars and drums, as well as what some might call "avant-garde" - i.e.: the horn section; apparently some DID consider that to be too "artsy" b/c after Columbia Records fired them and before they got another contract with Warner Bros., they were offered a contract on the grounds that they ditch the horn section, which thankfully Chicago refused.
OINGO BOINGO - SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET: THE BEST OF OINGO BOINGO
I LOVE EVERYTHING about this CD. The music is awesome, but the print on the disc, the color of the disc surface - which many might mistake for a simple "clear", but it's actually a...um..."Off-clear"? I don't know if there's a word that specifically describes it. But the cover-art is a no-brainer - freakin' classic - scary, cheesy, classy...my word!! Even the copyright info looks just...perfect...
Sometimes I think of this CD and the first time I saw this album cover, around the time it came out, me and my father & Mom (and I think Danielle, my sister, was there too), were walking through this music store in the mall and they still sold CDs in long boxes back then, and I saw that and NOTHING TO FEAR, which was almost as awesome as the SKELETONS... CD cover, but not quite...I also noticed DEAD MAN'S PARTY, which I was ga-ga over at the time but now I think it just looks cheesy (DEAD MAN'S PARTY, along with BOI-NGO, are my least favorite OB CDs BTW, although I like BOI-NGO a little more, just wish Elfman could get off his high horse and quit bashing Christianity - i.e.: "New Generation").
But as I was saying - I think of the time I first saw this album cover and a whirlwind of other images come into mind, like the cover-art for movies like MONKEY SHINES (1988), EVIL DEAD 2 (1987), FRIDAY THE 13TH, FRIDAY THE 13TH Part 2, 3 & 4, as well as 7 & 8 (JASON GOES TO HELL was not around at this timeframe & Pt V & 6 are kinda bland looking, although at the time I embraced them as well).
I have the GHOSTBUSTERS: ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK ALBUM Audio CD, the original release, b/c I like the cover-art; the basic imagery for it is the same as the 2006 re-issue, but the "Compact Digital Audio Disc" logo has been removed, the no-ghost insignia is not as "thick" looking anymore, the red is a different shade, and the back cover art now has a bunch of clutter surrounding it.
I would just have GHOSTBUSTERS on VHS, the cover-art is just as good, and you get the movie, which is much better than "just" The soundtrack, but VHS, like it or not, is dead. It was never destined for great things, there was SOOO much room for improvement - thanks DVD! - that most people never thought about. DVDs/Blu rays are much better - i.e.: with VHS, you have a constant countdown in deterioration, that gradually builds to a climax. You can literally see the destruction take place with each viewing. With DVDs/BDs, if the disc wears out, it'll do so ONCE - there will be a day when you wake up to play your favorite movie and the disc won't play. Most people don't face this problem b/c DVDs/CDs/BDs... are designed to play a certain number of times - it's a huge #, and look at the time! DVDs had only been around 10 years and they already rolled out a new format for us to get excited about! By the time my DVD of THE GOLDEN CHILD would be set to wear out, it'll be impossible, because DVD players will be non-existent and I will have already upgraded to Blu ray or some future format...of course, humans only live to be 85 years on avg, that number will probably go up 5 or 10 years by the time I reach what is currently considered the "average life span" and even so, I seriously doubt my DVD copy of THE GOLDEN CHILD, supposing DVD players still existed, would be in any danger of wearing out, b/c I simply don't watch the same movie that many times.
But as I was saying - it just seems weird to think of all the kickass eye candy out there that I could buy but w/o reason. If I had some kind of display stand to put some of my favorite images (VHS covers, CD covers for albums that I don't really like, vinyl etc....) then that would be cool, but so far I haven't even bought a book shelf to put my DVDs and books on - I finally got a CD rack (at a yard sale for a buck!), so those are sitting on the table that my BD player & my Gramma's TV (on loan) are on, but I have nowhere to put my DVDs. My 1988 VHS copy of E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL is on a high up shelf in my closet where my books and DVDs are currently at. That shelf space is very minimal though and half of it is not visible with the closet door all wanky - the latches of it are broken so you have to grab it and move it (thankfully the other door is a total goner, or else I'd have absolutely nowhere to put my DVDs...or would I?.........).
I never watched THE JETSONS that I can recall, at least not in large qtys. I think one of my babysitters had that playing on her TV and I watched, mildly entertained. But sometimes when I think of 1981-1983 - the years that immediately preceded my birth, i.e.: the year my parents got married until the time of my inevitable birth - I think of the cover-art for Crosby Stills & Nash's DAYLIGHT AGAIN (1982) and then I imagine the inside of those saucers and I think Look! The Jetsons! You'd think STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION would have more to do with my idea of the would-bes of the saucer inhabitants, but that was AFTER I was born. I mean, I literally remember (however vaguely) watching that repeatedly with my mother and it has a definite 80's metallic look to it, but The Jetsons is a thing of the SCHOOL HOUSE ROCK variety, and although The Jetsons may not have actually been around in the '70's, it's more '70's-like than 80's (I'd say the same about THE SMURFS, too. I guess that explains why THE LAST UNICORN (1982) feels so much like a memory from a hypnosis session, since it's kind of a merging of the 70's and 80's animation styles; that on top of the fact that it's a deliberately "weird" film, almost "not a kid's film"....).
A truly one of a kind CD. Ultra-nostalgic, not just for its 80's values, but also its reminder of my final years in California, (1995-1997) when I became more like a man and less like a boy...And the music is top notch, a must have for any fan of sappy love songs. The thing is nobody pulled those off quite like Chicago. They were tender and moving, unabashedly romantic, yet also had a "rock" edge, thunderous guitars and drums, as well as what some might call "avant-garde" - i.e.: the horn section; apparently some DID consider that to be too "artsy" b/c after Columbia Records fired them and before they got another contract with Warner Bros., they were offered a contract on the grounds that they ditch the horn section, which thankfully Chicago refused.
OINGO BOINGO - SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET: THE BEST OF OINGO BOINGO
I LOVE EVERYTHING about this CD. The music is awesome, but the print on the disc, the color of the disc surface - which many might mistake for a simple "clear", but it's actually a...um..."Off-clear"? I don't know if there's a word that specifically describes it. But the cover-art is a no-brainer - freakin' classic - scary, cheesy, classy...my word!! Even the copyright info looks just...perfect...
Sometimes I think of this CD and the first time I saw this album cover, around the time it came out, me and my father & Mom (and I think Danielle, my sister, was there too), were walking through this music store in the mall and they still sold CDs in long boxes back then, and I saw that and NOTHING TO FEAR, which was almost as awesome as the SKELETONS... CD cover, but not quite...I also noticed DEAD MAN'S PARTY, which I was ga-ga over at the time but now I think it just looks cheesy (DEAD MAN'S PARTY, along with BOI-NGO, are my least favorite OB CDs BTW, although I like BOI-NGO a little more, just wish Elfman could get off his high horse and quit bashing Christianity - i.e.: "New Generation").
But as I was saying - I think of the time I first saw this album cover and a whirlwind of other images come into mind, like the cover-art for movies like MONKEY SHINES (1988), EVIL DEAD 2 (1987), FRIDAY THE 13TH, FRIDAY THE 13TH Part 2, 3 & 4, as well as 7 & 8 (JASON GOES TO HELL was not around at this timeframe & Pt V & 6 are kinda bland looking, although at the time I embraced them as well).
I have the GHOSTBUSTERS: ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK ALBUM Audio CD, the original release, b/c I like the cover-art; the basic imagery for it is the same as the 2006 re-issue, but the "Compact Digital Audio Disc" logo has been removed, the no-ghost insignia is not as "thick" looking anymore, the red is a different shade, and the back cover art now has a bunch of clutter surrounding it.
I would just have GHOSTBUSTERS on VHS, the cover-art is just as good, and you get the movie, which is much better than "just" The soundtrack, but VHS, like it or not, is dead. It was never destined for great things, there was SOOO much room for improvement - thanks DVD! - that most people never thought about. DVDs/Blu rays are much better - i.e.: with VHS, you have a constant countdown in deterioration, that gradually builds to a climax. You can literally see the destruction take place with each viewing. With DVDs/BDs, if the disc wears out, it'll do so ONCE - there will be a day when you wake up to play your favorite movie and the disc won't play. Most people don't face this problem b/c DVDs/CDs/BDs... are designed to play a certain number of times - it's a huge #, and look at the time! DVDs had only been around 10 years and they already rolled out a new format for us to get excited about! By the time my DVD of THE GOLDEN CHILD would be set to wear out, it'll be impossible, because DVD players will be non-existent and I will have already upgraded to Blu ray or some future format...of course, humans only live to be 85 years on avg, that number will probably go up 5 or 10 years by the time I reach what is currently considered the "average life span" and even so, I seriously doubt my DVD copy of THE GOLDEN CHILD, supposing DVD players still existed, would be in any danger of wearing out, b/c I simply don't watch the same movie that many times.
But as I was saying - it just seems weird to think of all the kickass eye candy out there that I could buy but w/o reason. If I had some kind of display stand to put some of my favorite images (VHS covers, CD covers for albums that I don't really like, vinyl etc....) then that would be cool, but so far I haven't even bought a book shelf to put my DVDs and books on - I finally got a CD rack (at a yard sale for a buck!), so those are sitting on the table that my BD player & my Gramma's TV (on loan) are on, but I have nowhere to put my DVDs. My 1988 VHS copy of E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL is on a high up shelf in my closet where my books and DVDs are currently at. That shelf space is very minimal though and half of it is not visible with the closet door all wanky - the latches of it are broken so you have to grab it and move it (thankfully the other door is a total goner, or else I'd have absolutely nowhere to put my DVDs...or would I?.........).
I never watched THE JETSONS that I can recall, at least not in large qtys. I think one of my babysitters had that playing on her TV and I watched, mildly entertained. But sometimes when I think of 1981-1983 - the years that immediately preceded my birth, i.e.: the year my parents got married until the time of my inevitable birth - I think of the cover-art for Crosby Stills & Nash's DAYLIGHT AGAIN (1982) and then I imagine the inside of those saucers and I think Look! The Jetsons! You'd think STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION would have more to do with my idea of the would-bes of the saucer inhabitants, but that was AFTER I was born. I mean, I literally remember (however vaguely) watching that repeatedly with my mother and it has a definite 80's metallic look to it, but The Jetsons is a thing of the SCHOOL HOUSE ROCK variety, and although The Jetsons may not have actually been around in the '70's, it's more '70's-like than 80's (I'd say the same about THE SMURFS, too. I guess that explains why THE LAST UNICORN (1982) feels so much like a memory from a hypnosis session, since it's kind of a merging of the 70's and 80's animation styles; that on top of the fact that it's a deliberately "weird" film, almost "not a kid's film"....).
...a terrible pain in the leg...
I need to watch STRANGER THAN PARADISE
I need to watch STRANGER THAN PARADISE
I need to watch STRANGER THAN PARADISE
Maybe I should get off of this chair and go watch it? Ok, let me see...AH, CRAMP - my leg!....
I need to take a shower
I need to take a shower
It's the leg, I tell you!
Nope. I just don't want to...well, I have a stronger desire to see STRANGER THAN PARADISE than I do of taking a shower, but...how can someone be compelled to watch any movie (that they haven't seen before) when all the movies they've seen just don't do any good for them? Most people don't have this problem, so of course when I say "they" I mean "me"....ugh...so much to do, so much time...so much malicious intent...
I need to watch STRANGER THAN PARADISE
I need to watch STRANGER THAN PARADISE
Maybe I should get off of this chair and go watch it? Ok, let me see...AH, CRAMP - my leg!....
I need to take a shower
I need to take a shower
It's the leg, I tell you!
Nope. I just don't want to...well, I have a stronger desire to see STRANGER THAN PARADISE than I do of taking a shower, but...how can someone be compelled to watch any movie (that they haven't seen before) when all the movies they've seen just don't do any good for them? Most people don't have this problem, so of course when I say "they" I mean "me"....ugh...so much to do, so much time...so much malicious intent...
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
navigating the future
January ?, 2013
chromebook arrives in mail
TV arrives in mail
Unpack/set-up chromebook
go to Rdio for playlists etc... - no need to save them to hard disk, maybe buy some of the songs I hear from Amazon's MP3 store.
Listen to music until ???
check email sporadically
Come evening:
watch GHOSTBUSTERS or whatever I want to watch via my TV/BD player
DAY TWO
repeat.
ACCESSORIES (maybe) NEEDED:
headphones
um....I guess that's it.
The only difference between this and yesterday is I won't have a bunch of pretentious b.s. CDs & "superior" sound quality...
My receiver turned off in the midst of playback earlier today. It's not worth the trouble. The sound being better is nice, but the device is almost useless. I hardly ever use it for anything - I mean, I use it, but I have no reason to. My life has not been "enriched" with it. As long as the TV I get has a headphone jack, I will be AOK. I can get a fairly good-quality TV @ Tiger Direct for $140 total, although come January 2013, that price will probably increase to close(r) to $200...
~JWC
chromebook arrives in mail
TV arrives in mail
Unpack/set-up chromebook
go to Rdio for playlists etc... - no need to save them to hard disk, maybe buy some of the songs I hear from Amazon's MP3 store.
Listen to music until ???
check email sporadically
Come evening:
watch GHOSTBUSTERS or whatever I want to watch via my TV/BD player
DAY TWO
repeat.
ACCESSORIES (maybe) NEEDED:
headphones
um....I guess that's it.
The only difference between this and yesterday is I won't have a bunch of pretentious b.s. CDs & "superior" sound quality...
My receiver turned off in the midst of playback earlier today. It's not worth the trouble. The sound being better is nice, but the device is almost useless. I hardly ever use it for anything - I mean, I use it, but I have no reason to. My life has not been "enriched" with it. As long as the TV I get has a headphone jack, I will be AOK. I can get a fairly good-quality TV @ Tiger Direct for $140 total, although come January 2013, that price will probably increase to close(r) to $200...
~JWC
Friday, May 4, 2012
and then it occurs to me - I'm never gonna leave this bed
I went to bed around 10:30pm last night - woke up before 6am today. The spell is broken! Nice morning, too(!). Not really looking forward to anything, listening to Maroon 5's HANDS ALL OVER. I can't believe it's already 2 years old (ish). They have an even newer one coming out! I heard "Never Gonna Leave This Bed" like 3 times (at least) on Pandora before I realized how good it was...the CD is OK, I still prefer "Never Gonna Leave This Bed"...idk...track 3 and 4 are kinda weak...the first one is pretty good+...I can't remember how good track 2 is. I don't get any new mail until the 7th at the soonest. I have $10 in Amazon credit, don't have any worthwhile ideas for how to spend it...guess I can get something for my mom's birthday coming in a couple months...that actually makes sense, I'm probably going to need to reschedule my hygenist appt for the 2nd or 3rd time...I have a 2nd Dentist appt in June, that's gonna be $39, I'll probably need to go back in Jan/Feb '13 if I get another Circuit Breaker check at that time b/c I just can't seem to get in the habit of brushing my teeth. I did it yesterday, but there was like a 3 day break before then. Maybe it's just a phase, I haven't been taking showers as frequently as I should either, took one...yesterday? It might have been the day before that...and my cholesterol is too high - go figure! I don't know what I could do differently to change all this - I'm eating plenty of fiber & protein, not too many calories...I might be going over my 25(?) limit of fat grams...well...I am not exorcising as much as I should...the day before yesterday I walked to a convenience store that was located practically a block away from my house...probably took 40 mins tops to walk to and from...and no, I didn't buy a big gulp at the store, I was buying a money order for my sister since she used her x payment method to pay for our mom's Mother's Day gift and since we live in different states and wiring money costs five-whopping-dollars, a money order made the most sense. I am NOT paying $20 for ANY number of checks. I probably haven't even bought $20 worth of money orders since I started buying them almost 10 years ago and that's counting the numerous non-PayPal transactions on eBay...I mean, it MIGHT have gone past $20, but that's just it - I pay by mail so infrequently a box of checks is a total waste of money. And I don't know why people write checks still - it's a waste of time and resources. All the industrialism of recent times probably wouldn't have such harmful effects if 75% of the world's trees hadn't been wiped off the face of the Earth.
Um...anyway...
So...I'm not going "GREAT[!]", but I'm not doing too bad either...glad you asked!
Um...anyway...
So...I'm not going "GREAT[!]", but I'm not doing too bad either...glad you asked!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
PLUS'N ME OFF
Uh...wuuh...looks different here...am I dead?..............
Freakin' hekk, it's been a long time since my last post. Have I neglected to share any real information here? Uh...no. Nothing's changed...well, a couple days ago my cholesterol doctor discovered I need more "umph" to my cholesterol medicine, so she added Trilipix. Guess that's a shroom-extract...idk...sounds like a wicked hallucinogenic...weather has brought HEAT (1995)...ugh...um...today it's the fan, tomorrow it's the A/C...maybe, idk...I went to bed really late sometime...a week ago? Maybe less...or not...so I woke up late the next day and it's been escalating since...today I woke up at noon and still didn't quite get enough sleep...I had an appt with my case worker, she turned water into.. err...she was on time - and I slept through it!! I usually wake up way earlier than necessary when I have appt(s)...my subconscious weaponry was no match for my enormous load of irresponsibility...
I've already spent over $75 and I don't even know how I did it. $32 of that was for a couple book club purchases, which will probably be reduced to $18 after the club rec's the book I intend to return. I thought I was going to sell it and get over half of the total I paid back, but after doing the math, I found even with the money I'd get back from the introductory purchase, I still would be losing $5. And the club has some books I would like to buy. I don't think I gave Neil Gaiman's THE SANDMAN a real chance. I've been wanting to re-buy it, but just haven't got around to it...it's usually almost $10 or more and books just aren't something I spend a lot of time with...I read a little over 10 pages of Jim Crace's QUARANTINE and it was a nice read, but I haven't picked it up again in like...2 weeks? It's due back at the library on the 8th...well, it was, I renewed it earlier today...
So...in case you're wondering why I joined a book club if I don't give a rat's ass about books, here's the reason: I was promised $10USD spendable via Amazon in the form of Swagbucks points (book club>Swagbucks>Amazon gift card>shopping(!))
Wow...I've talked so much just about the last two days! See how much of your time I waste? Aren't you GLAD I post this infrequently?
Freakin' hekk, it's been a long time since my last post. Have I neglected to share any real information here? Uh...no. Nothing's changed...well, a couple days ago my cholesterol doctor discovered I need more "umph" to my cholesterol medicine, so she added Trilipix. Guess that's a shroom-extract...idk...sounds like a wicked hallucinogenic...weather has brought HEAT (1995)...ugh...um...today it's the fan, tomorrow it's the A/C...maybe, idk...I went to bed really late sometime...a week ago? Maybe less...or not...so I woke up late the next day and it's been escalating since...today I woke up at noon and still didn't quite get enough sleep...I had an appt with my case worker, she turned water into.. err...she was on time - and I slept through it!! I usually wake up way earlier than necessary when I have appt(s)...my subconscious weaponry was no match for my enormous load of irresponsibility...
I've already spent over $75 and I don't even know how I did it. $32 of that was for a couple book club purchases, which will probably be reduced to $18 after the club rec's the book I intend to return. I thought I was going to sell it and get over half of the total I paid back, but after doing the math, I found even with the money I'd get back from the introductory purchase, I still would be losing $5. And the club has some books I would like to buy. I don't think I gave Neil Gaiman's THE SANDMAN a real chance. I've been wanting to re-buy it, but just haven't got around to it...it's usually almost $10 or more and books just aren't something I spend a lot of time with...I read a little over 10 pages of Jim Crace's QUARANTINE and it was a nice read, but I haven't picked it up again in like...2 weeks? It's due back at the library on the 8th...well, it was, I renewed it earlier today...
So...in case you're wondering why I joined a book club if I don't give a rat's ass about books, here's the reason: I was promised $10USD spendable via Amazon in the form of Swagbucks points (book club>Swagbucks>Amazon gift card>shopping(!))
Wow...I've talked so much just about the last two days! See how much of your time I waste? Aren't you GLAD I post this infrequently?
Thursday, March 29, 2012
What does it really mean?
This is my list of CDs that I would be looking at in awe...awe of what?
MUSIC
--albums--
American Football - s/t
The Appleseed Cast - Sagarmatha
Armor For Sleep - Dream To Make Believe
Brand New - Deja Entendu
Jackson Browne - The Next Voice You Hear: The Best Of
Kate Bush - The Whole Story
Phil Collins - Both Sides
Phil Collins - No Jacket Required
Counting Crows - Recovering The Satellites
Counting Crows - This Desert Life
The Cranberries - Bury The Hatchet
Crosby Stills & Nash - Daylight Again
The Cure - Paris
Dashboard Confessional - The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most
Deep Blue Something - Home
Genesis - s/t
Genesis - Invisible Touch
Gentle Giant - Octopus
Goo Goo Dolls - A Boy Named Goo
Green Day - Dookie
Green Day - Insomniac
George Harrison - Cloud 9
Hidden In Plain View - Resolution
Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
Avril Lavigne - Let Go
Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm
Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
Nirvana - Incesticide
Nirvana - In Utero
Nirvana - Nevermind
The Offspring - Smash
Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear
Our Lady Peace - Burn Burn
Our Lady Peace - Happiness…Is Not A Fish That You Can Catch
Our Lady Peace - Healthy In Paranoid Times
Rush - Power Windows
Silverchair- Freak Show
Silverchair- Frogstomp
Steely Dan - Aja
Tears For Fears - Shout: The Very Best Of
Toto - Toto IV
Various - Drowning Mona OST
Various - Ghostbusters OST
Various - Teaching Mrs. Tingle OST
The Wallflowers - Bringing Down The Horse
“Weird Al” Yankovic - Dare To Be Stupid
“Weird Al” Yankovic - Even Worse
“Weird Al” Yankovic - Off The Deep End
Steve Winwood - Back In The High Life
I have at some point in time owned all of these. I don't have the kind of income to buy them all again at once. To begin the quest would be pointless because I could very well die any minute/day...
So...I guess I'll just listen to Grooveshark and let my money sit until I see a dire need to do otherwise...yeah right! No, no...it could happen (right? YEAH, RIGHT! QUIT SAYING THAT...)
MUSIC
--albums--
American Football - s/t
The Appleseed Cast - Sagarmatha
Armor For Sleep - Dream To Make Believe
Brand New - Deja Entendu
Jackson Browne - The Next Voice You Hear: The Best Of
Kate Bush - The Whole Story
Phil Collins - Both Sides
Phil Collins - No Jacket Required
Counting Crows - Recovering The Satellites
Counting Crows - This Desert Life
The Cranberries - Bury The Hatchet
Crosby Stills & Nash - Daylight Again
The Cure - Paris
Dashboard Confessional - The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most
Deep Blue Something - Home
Genesis - s/t
Genesis - Invisible Touch
Gentle Giant - Octopus
Goo Goo Dolls - A Boy Named Goo
Green Day - Dookie
Green Day - Insomniac
George Harrison - Cloud 9
Hidden In Plain View - Resolution
Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
Avril Lavigne - Let Go
Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm
Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
Nirvana - Incesticide
Nirvana - In Utero
Nirvana - Nevermind
The Offspring - Smash
Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear
Our Lady Peace - Burn Burn
Our Lady Peace - Happiness…Is Not A Fish That You Can Catch
Our Lady Peace - Healthy In Paranoid Times
Rush - Power Windows
Silverchair- Freak Show
Silverchair- Frogstomp
Steely Dan - Aja
Tears For Fears - Shout: The Very Best Of
Toto - Toto IV
Various - Drowning Mona OST
Various - Ghostbusters OST
Various - Teaching Mrs. Tingle OST
The Wallflowers - Bringing Down The Horse
“Weird Al” Yankovic - Dare To Be Stupid
“Weird Al” Yankovic - Even Worse
“Weird Al” Yankovic - Off The Deep End
Steve Winwood - Back In The High Life
I have at some point in time owned all of these. I don't have the kind of income to buy them all again at once. To begin the quest would be pointless because I could very well die any minute/day...
So...I guess I'll just listen to Grooveshark and let my money sit until I see a dire need to do otherwise...yeah right! No, no...it could happen (right? YEAH, RIGHT! QUIT SAYING THAT...)
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
deja view
Huh...so...I guess I like DEJA ENTENDU (2003, Razor & Tie) by Brand New. Weird, b/c I could have sworn I hated that CD...I used to think it reeked of mediocrity at best...I guess A. I wasn't familiarized enough with the "emo" genre to realize that anything too outside of the realm of primal/punk-type rock would just be too "weird" for most people and B. my expectations for music in general circa 2005 were way off the charts. I'm listening to it now via Grooveshark and I swear most of these songs were played on my local alt rock station, although truth be told they were most likely in heavy rotation on my LastFM station(s) so it just sorta seems like that. I mean, it's just amazing, this CD is like the soundtrack for an emo-arthouse film circa 2003 (what is emo-arthouse you ask? Heck if I know...).
I listened to Armor For Sleep's DREAM TO MAKE BELIEVE - and enjoyed it - for the first time in...3 years? 4? It's sure been awhile. I used to think it was my FAVORITE CD, and I asked my sister to buy it for me on iTunes b/c my computer at the time was a total piece of garbage...$10 was spent on that and not too long afterward I threw the CD-R away. WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH ME!!!!???
I bought Genesis - Live/The Way We Walk Volume Two: The Longs for the 15th time (apprx?). It was only a buck and six cents and I had $0.75 in Hastings credit, and enough cash to cover the rest...
It's kinda scary to think I'll be living all these/those years, with buildings and electricity, and shopping...and then one day NONE of it will matter. The kind of music I like, what I've decided to eat, my dreams...all of it will be dust. Almost as scary, if not more so, is the idea that civilization is an ocean away from collapse. So many nations are populated by folks living in fear, many of them are on the run for their lives. Genocide occurs contantly in Africa, human rights violations of every kind imaginable & worse occur just about every day in Iran and China...and China practically owns us. Iran most likely has the ability to destroy us, while the reverse is not true. And even if it were true, we wouldn't dare blow them up b/c they would go down knowing they got an even trade.
I keep making lists of CDs I want to own. I'm not sure why; I can get just about everything I want and more for free. And the gov't apparantly thinks I shouldn't have anything more than food clothing & shelter...oh, and medical care as needed. I'm surprised they pay for my cholesterol medicine. They could stop paying for my Abilify AND the cholesterol medicine, since my physician seems fairly certain that the Abilify is causing my spike in cholesterol, although the food I eat probably doesn't help either...I mean, they don't pay for diabetes assistance or dental care, which I agree is a waste of gov't funds. I mean, I have poor dental health and although it's difficult, I would not expect Medicaid to pay for my $300 dental bill. If I had taken the advice of everyone around me and brushed my dang teeth, I wouldn't be in this situation. So, why do they pay for the latest anti-psychotics? I mean, I guess they can't exclude much of anything since anti-psychotics wear off and for some patients the medicine doesn't work to begin with, so they need to keep trying different things. Idk...the MSRP of Cymbalta is $600 - YIKES! I'm not even sure why I'm taking it, I should probably ask my psychiatrist...
It's frightening to keep reminding myself of how pointless everything is. At worst, I could save my money until I can afford a TV of some kind (19" minimum unless my gramma wants her TV back eventually...not sure what her long term expectations are on that front...hers is apprx 15", which is almost big enough, but still a bit too small, IMO.). And yeah, TVs are a pain to replace, they cost more than their worth, or it seems like they do to me b/c I get so little to spend every month, but at least they've gone down in price quite a bit over the last 15 years...and they function a lot better than they used to. A 15" TV of today actually is more useful than a 15" TV of 20 years ago b/c you don't have reflection and you don't lose 1/8th of the screen when watching an anamorphic widescreen movie (although not all anamorphic widescreen movies fill the entire screen, regardless of what TV you have; I don't know why but different movies have different aspect ratios and the black bars only disappear if the film was made with a certain aspect ratio, there may be more than one aspect ratio this can be said about, I really don't know...I'm not even sure what an aspect ratio is...).
Heck, even my Blu ray player was $25 more than it should have been. And in my opinion it should have never been needed. All Lions Gate had to do to make everyone happy was ask the MPAA to give THE LAST UNICORN a PG rating instead of a G rating and then the prunefaced WalMart shoppers would have no business complaining about a few "dams" and a barely noticeable few seconds of private part exposure here and there...but no. Instead they use this controversey surrounding the censorship of that movie to force THE LAST UNICORN fans into buying a blu ray player. And I'm well aware that this is Hollywood's world and I'm just living in it, so I did the sensible thing and just bought one. Thankfully it has analog connectability, so my gramma's 14" TV (NOT widescreen, NOR Hi-def) can work with it. I noticed one brand selling a blu ray player fairly cheap at WalMart.com about a year ago, maybe 7 or 8 months ago, and it did NOT have analog connectiosn and I just knew that wasn't smart. Maybe I had an actual reason for thinking that, but I don't think it had anything to do with me borrowing someone's spare TV. I didn't even know my gramma had a TV lying around...but anyway, I'm sure glad the one I did pick has analog. That was actually a key factor in buying that particular one, since I bought that and a stereo receiver, since I have little to no use for a home theater receiver and home theater receivers cost more money than stereo receivers, and I was trying to get all I "needed" for as little money as possible. And I don't have room in my music listening area for 5.1 speakers. I MIGHT have room for a 3.1 CH system, and the features you get with a HT rec'r are almost drool-inducing to read about, but for hi-fidelity audio in a HT format you'd need to spend probably AT LEAST $300. Budget HT rec'ers are OK, or so I've heard, but a cheap Sony stereo receiver and a equivelantly priced home theater rec'er from home audio legends Onkyo, powering SSB1000 bookshelf speakers by Sony, sounds pretty much the same to my ears. The Onkyo rec'rs MSRP was about $100 more than the Sony and I paid about $200 total for that thing, whereas the Sony was about $130. I'm not even sure I could have gotten a decent HT rec'r with my dental appt - $80 - and knowing that I would NEED to buy speakers that cost AT LEAST $100...eh...I could have done it, I know dang well I could have...that's under $500 with the BD player, but I just wasn't thinking. I bought a boat load of CDs and I don't even have most of them, if any, anymore. Oh well...here's hoping next year brings better...
I listened to Armor For Sleep's DREAM TO MAKE BELIEVE - and enjoyed it - for the first time in...3 years? 4? It's sure been awhile. I used to think it was my FAVORITE CD, and I asked my sister to buy it for me on iTunes b/c my computer at the time was a total piece of garbage...$10 was spent on that and not too long afterward I threw the CD-R away. WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH ME!!!!???
I bought Genesis - Live/The Way We Walk Volume Two: The Longs for the 15th time (apprx?). It was only a buck and six cents and I had $0.75 in Hastings credit, and enough cash to cover the rest...
It's kinda scary to think I'll be living all these/those years, with buildings and electricity, and shopping...and then one day NONE of it will matter. The kind of music I like, what I've decided to eat, my dreams...all of it will be dust. Almost as scary, if not more so, is the idea that civilization is an ocean away from collapse. So many nations are populated by folks living in fear, many of them are on the run for their lives. Genocide occurs contantly in Africa, human rights violations of every kind imaginable & worse occur just about every day in Iran and China...and China practically owns us. Iran most likely has the ability to destroy us, while the reverse is not true. And even if it were true, we wouldn't dare blow them up b/c they would go down knowing they got an even trade.
I keep making lists of CDs I want to own. I'm not sure why; I can get just about everything I want and more for free. And the gov't apparantly thinks I shouldn't have anything more than food clothing & shelter...oh, and medical care as needed. I'm surprised they pay for my cholesterol medicine. They could stop paying for my Abilify AND the cholesterol medicine, since my physician seems fairly certain that the Abilify is causing my spike in cholesterol, although the food I eat probably doesn't help either...I mean, they don't pay for diabetes assistance or dental care, which I agree is a waste of gov't funds. I mean, I have poor dental health and although it's difficult, I would not expect Medicaid to pay for my $300 dental bill. If I had taken the advice of everyone around me and brushed my dang teeth, I wouldn't be in this situation. So, why do they pay for the latest anti-psychotics? I mean, I guess they can't exclude much of anything since anti-psychotics wear off and for some patients the medicine doesn't work to begin with, so they need to keep trying different things. Idk...the MSRP of Cymbalta is $600 - YIKES! I'm not even sure why I'm taking it, I should probably ask my psychiatrist...
It's frightening to keep reminding myself of how pointless everything is. At worst, I could save my money until I can afford a TV of some kind (19" minimum unless my gramma wants her TV back eventually...not sure what her long term expectations are on that front...hers is apprx 15", which is almost big enough, but still a bit too small, IMO.). And yeah, TVs are a pain to replace, they cost more than their worth, or it seems like they do to me b/c I get so little to spend every month, but at least they've gone down in price quite a bit over the last 15 years...and they function a lot better than they used to. A 15" TV of today actually is more useful than a 15" TV of 20 years ago b/c you don't have reflection and you don't lose 1/8th of the screen when watching an anamorphic widescreen movie (although not all anamorphic widescreen movies fill the entire screen, regardless of what TV you have; I don't know why but different movies have different aspect ratios and the black bars only disappear if the film was made with a certain aspect ratio, there may be more than one aspect ratio this can be said about, I really don't know...I'm not even sure what an aspect ratio is...).
Heck, even my Blu ray player was $25 more than it should have been. And in my opinion it should have never been needed. All Lions Gate had to do to make everyone happy was ask the MPAA to give THE LAST UNICORN a PG rating instead of a G rating and then the prunefaced WalMart shoppers would have no business complaining about a few "dams" and a barely noticeable few seconds of private part exposure here and there...but no. Instead they use this controversey surrounding the censorship of that movie to force THE LAST UNICORN fans into buying a blu ray player. And I'm well aware that this is Hollywood's world and I'm just living in it, so I did the sensible thing and just bought one. Thankfully it has analog connectability, so my gramma's 14" TV (NOT widescreen, NOR Hi-def) can work with it. I noticed one brand selling a blu ray player fairly cheap at WalMart.com about a year ago, maybe 7 or 8 months ago, and it did NOT have analog connectiosn and I just knew that wasn't smart. Maybe I had an actual reason for thinking that, but I don't think it had anything to do with me borrowing someone's spare TV. I didn't even know my gramma had a TV lying around...but anyway, I'm sure glad the one I did pick has analog. That was actually a key factor in buying that particular one, since I bought that and a stereo receiver, since I have little to no use for a home theater receiver and home theater receivers cost more money than stereo receivers, and I was trying to get all I "needed" for as little money as possible. And I don't have room in my music listening area for 5.1 speakers. I MIGHT have room for a 3.1 CH system, and the features you get with a HT rec'r are almost drool-inducing to read about, but for hi-fidelity audio in a HT format you'd need to spend probably AT LEAST $300. Budget HT rec'ers are OK, or so I've heard, but a cheap Sony stereo receiver and a equivelantly priced home theater rec'er from home audio legends Onkyo, powering SSB1000 bookshelf speakers by Sony, sounds pretty much the same to my ears. The Onkyo rec'rs MSRP was about $100 more than the Sony and I paid about $200 total for that thing, whereas the Sony was about $130. I'm not even sure I could have gotten a decent HT rec'r with my dental appt - $80 - and knowing that I would NEED to buy speakers that cost AT LEAST $100...eh...I could have done it, I know dang well I could have...that's under $500 with the BD player, but I just wasn't thinking. I bought a boat load of CDs and I don't even have most of them, if any, anymore. Oh well...here's hoping next year brings better...
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