My mom and sis are off to see the wiz. They left me behind in the sun to die!
I feel a strong communication going on here...am i wrong? I think I'm wrong...no, seriously, I have THREE Swagstakes I'm vying for. I GOTTA WIN AT LEAST ONE OF 'EM FOR CYRING OUT LOUD! All together I've invested at least real close to 1,000 Swagbucks on these stupid Swagstakes. And for what? Nuthin'! SPHITZ! You hear that? SPHITZ! that's a pellet gun spat-spat-spat, kirk yer in the err.
grrraaaa...
godde, I gotta take my pills. My teeth are trying to escape. WEEEOOOOYAHAHA! O gosh, and my voice...
bwahahaha!
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
It was NOTHING LIKE THAT, P. Bread!
Had a wonderful morning so far. Downstairs, alone, basking in the afterglow of it, as I type this. My computer isn't getting the hang of streaming my music 2 meee, but it's a nice morning. My sis arrived Saturday evening, this day we went to Starbucks and got a drink for her myself and Mumsy, and on the way back dropped by Panera Bread and got each of ourselves a soufle. Came back, and talked a bit. Just found out my cousin Barbie is 1 month pregnant. I hope its childhood is better than Barbie's was. Barbie seemed to be in disgust of her mother up until she died of liver failure, and for whatever reason doesn't feel the need to keep from making the bad choices that led to her mother's demise. I know things happen, but how is this child going to stay alive? I guess it'll be an accumulative effort. Our grandmother, Barbie's would-be mother in-law, and Barbie's long-term(?) boyfriend hopefully will collectively be able to afford to feed clothe and shelter it and maybe even buy it some nicities (toys or whatever). I'm sure Barbie will apply for food stamps for the child, which isn't a huge deal from what I can tell. A life on welfare is no picknik and I hope it doesn't come to that. My home state - Missouri - is on good financial track, so welfare or no welfare, we got it covered. The state of California does need to gets its shitt together, 'cause the fed gov' has no business bailing all the individual states out of their bull on top of paying for its own b.s.
But anyway.
Sun is shining, cold as all hellk, but all in all, so far, (only 10:09 AM, so there's still time to kill and/or be killed), a very nice day.
But anyway.
Sun is shining, cold as all hellk, but all in all, so far, (only 10:09 AM, so there's still time to kill and/or be killed), a very nice day.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Music & Me: A Legacy Of Self Involvement
& here's my music "shelf":
- All Time Low - Put Up Or Shut Up
- American Football - s/t
- Blink 182 - s/t
- Jackson Browne - The Next Voice You Hear: The Best Of
- Phil Collins - Both Sides
- The Cranberries - No Need To Argue
- Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet
- The Cure - Pornography
- Dashboard Confessional - The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most
- The Fray - How To Save A Life
- Peter Gabriel - Security
- Genesis - s/t
- Genesis - Invisible Touch
- The Get Up Kids - Something To Write Home About
- Goo Goo Dolls - A Boy Named Goo
- Hidden In Plain View - Resolution
- Idlewild - The Remote Part
- Michael Jackson - Bad
- Last Winter - The Heart And The Broken Compass
- Avril Lavigne - Let Go
- Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm
- A Moment's Worth - Start Where You Are
- Number One Fan - Compromises
- Oingo Boingo - Dark At The End Of The Tunnel
- Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear
- Oingo Boingo - Skeletons In The Closet: The Best Of
- R.E.M. - Murmur
- Saves The Day - Stay What You Are
- The Starting Line - Say It Like You Mean It
- Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends
- Toto - Toto IV
- Trespassers William - Having
- We Are The In Crowd - Guaranteed To Disagree
If my bookshelf were 6" tall x wide, it'd be full!
- God - The Holy Bible
- J.G. Ballard - Crash
- Raymond Carver - Where I'm Calling From: Selected Stories
- J.M. Coetzee - Disgrace
- Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park
- Cormac McCarthy - The Road
- Patrick McGrath - Dr. Haggard's Disease
- Elliot Perlman - Seven Types Of Ambiguity
- Don Shay - Making of Ghostbusters
- Benjamin Weissman - Dear Dead Person
Haven't read most of these, and there's probably a bunch of others I may add if I ever finish these...
A few that come to mind are MAY WE BE FORGIVEN (A.M. Homes) (currently reading, sorta; it's the last thing i picked up, almost a week ago), COWS (Matthew Stokoe) (out of print and ludicriously expensive...)
My movie shelf, on the other hand:
- A.I.: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
- BEING THERE
- BRINGING OUT THE DEAD
- CANDYMAN
- CARRIE (1976)
- CLOCKERS
- A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
- THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY
- END OF DAYS
- (500) DAYS OF SUMMER
- FORREST GUMP
- FROM HELL (2000)
- GHOSTBUSTERS
- GHOSTBUSTERS II
- THE GOLDEN CHILD
- THE GREEN MILE
- GROUNDHOG DAY
- HEATHERS
- HELLRAISER
- HELLRAISER II (HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II)
- THE LAST UNICORN
- NOWHERE
- PANIC
- QUILLS
- REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
- SHORT CIRCUIT
- SINGLES (1992)
- TAXI DRIVER (1976)
- THE TERMINATOR
- TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY
- THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974)
- THREE TO TANGO
- 12 ANGRY MEN (1957)
- WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE?
Yep. I's illiterate.
Headlines of Headliners
THE BEST OF THE UNTITLED DECADE (2000-2009)
TAKING BACK SUNDAY - TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS
DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL - THE PLACES YOU HAVE COME TO FEAR THE MOST
AVRIL LAVIGNE - LET GO
AIMEE MANN - THE FORGOTTEN ARM
THE FRAY - HOW TO SAVE A LIFE
PARAMORE - RIOT!
OWL CITY - OCEAN EYES
Boo-yah!
THE BEST OF THE CURRENT ONE (SO FAR)
Um...? I'm drawing a blank...don't know if that's b/c this decade is so spread out between so many fragments or b/c all the "big names" in music are all new incarnations of Madonna/NKOTB...my mom was channel surfing and I heard some talk show people saying something about Lorde having a questionably large qty of nominations, and I don't think too much of the song "Tennis Court", which opens up her PURE HEROINE album. Lana Del Ray BORN TO DIE seems to be a staple of the current decade, and the first two songs in the album's presented sequence are so-so, the 3rd song just kinda drolls on, while its lyrics strike me as being a re-hash of track 2. Guess the modern music scene is just too flowery for my ear-buds. Mumford & Sons, who are pretty big these days, are basically folk-rock and I don't like folk music, although some folk-rock bands/artists have had an appealing [imo] song or two here and there (i.e.: Suzanne Vega's "Luka", although the album that song came off of was kinda synth heavy if the other two songs I've heard from it are any indication [never listened to, or tried to listen to, the whole thing]). I've kinda given up on today's pop music. Miley Cyrus' BANGERZ has too many dull moments, the new Avril Lavigne CD is probably the most refreshing thing she's done since 2004's UNDER MY SKIN, but the emotional substance of her debut, and to a lesser extent her aforementioned follow-up (2004's UNDER MY SKIN), is almost vanished. It feels more like a synth-heavy version of 2007's THE BEST DAMN THING, which is cool, since i prefer synth(s) over guitar(s), but the "airhead" factor is still problematic. I did enjoy THE BONES OF WHAT YOU BELIEVE by alt-synthpop band CHVRCHES, albeit briefly...COM TRUISE made/makes similar music, without the discernable structure that makes such sweetly-toned music stick out in the listener's consciousness. A lot of music that came out in 2009 and shortly after is still being found by me. I just found out that metalcore band We Came As Romans are not all demonic-vocals and repetitive guitar-chunks. Their 2011 album (follow-up to 2009's TO PLANT A SEED) UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE'VE GROWN TO BE is filled with actual singing, and little splashes of synth. I guess you could count that as "current decade" music, but you know if I put that on a list of modern-day "best", 99/100 people will be like "wtf?". And 999/1000 will just nod their head to say "I don't know how you came to that conclusion, but I hear you and there's no point in arguing", while the other 1/1000 people will either pump their fists in virtual victory or tell me I'm nuts for having closed my mind off to the possibilities of music. And for what it's worth, I did not fully enjoy UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE'VE GROWN TO BE; the last 4 or 5 songs had my mind wandering to the point where i would check in every 5-10 minutes, and I still don't remember anything about over half the album. The only songs I remember are the opening track, #2 and "Cast The First Stone". Beyond that, the album was little more than white noise. I do remember track #3 being sorta similar to the one that came before it.
I came across We Came As Romans 'cause I somehow found out of A Skylit Drive before they had released a full string of albums, and was hoping to find a band, or at least a good long string of songs, that captured the feeling of hearing A Skylit Drive back when they were a fairly new band with 2008's WIRES...AND THE CONCEPT OF BREATHING, which i find to be a very tedious listen most of the time lately. I don't know what to make of A Day To Remember. I liked HOMESICK and WHAT SEPARATES ME FROM YOU, I haven't had enough time with their current release (and Grooveshark has the songs uploaded all wonky) to make a decision regarding it. But their first two albums from almost a decade ago sound like almost a different band. What the heck?!
Here's my best attempt for the time being:
EMAROSA - EMAROSA
WE CAME AS ROMANS - UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE'VE GROWN TO BE
A SKYLIT DRIVE - IDENTITY ON FIRE
A DAY TO REMEMBER - WHAT SEPARATES ME FROM YOU
CHVRCHES - THE BONES OF WHAT YOU BELIEVE
Please be advised that not a single album on this "current decade" list means anything to me personally, which I cannot say of the 1990's or the decade that came after it.
BEST OF THE 1990'S (IMO)
R.E.M. - AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE
LIVE - THROWING COPPER
MARILYN MANSON - ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR
PHIL COLLINS - BOTH SIDES
THE CRANBERRIES - NO NEED TO ARGUE
BEST OF THE BEST
TAKING BACK SUNDAY - TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS
DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL - THE PLACES YOU HAVE COME TO FEAR THE MOST
AVRIL LAVIGNE - LET GO
AIMEE MANN - THE FORGOTTEN ARM
THE FRAY - HOW TO SAVE A LIFE
PARAMORE - RIOT!
OWL CITY - OCEAN EYES
Boo-yah!
THE BEST OF THE CURRENT ONE (SO FAR)
Um...? I'm drawing a blank...don't know if that's b/c this decade is so spread out between so many fragments or b/c all the "big names" in music are all new incarnations of Madonna/NKOTB...my mom was channel surfing and I heard some talk show people saying something about Lorde having a questionably large qty of nominations, and I don't think too much of the song "Tennis Court", which opens up her PURE HEROINE album. Lana Del Ray BORN TO DIE seems to be a staple of the current decade, and the first two songs in the album's presented sequence are so-so, the 3rd song just kinda drolls on, while its lyrics strike me as being a re-hash of track 2. Guess the modern music scene is just too flowery for my ear-buds. Mumford & Sons, who are pretty big these days, are basically folk-rock and I don't like folk music, although some folk-rock bands/artists have had an appealing [imo] song or two here and there (i.e.: Suzanne Vega's "Luka", although the album that song came off of was kinda synth heavy if the other two songs I've heard from it are any indication [never listened to, or tried to listen to, the whole thing]). I've kinda given up on today's pop music. Miley Cyrus' BANGERZ has too many dull moments, the new Avril Lavigne CD is probably the most refreshing thing she's done since 2004's UNDER MY SKIN, but the emotional substance of her debut, and to a lesser extent her aforementioned follow-up (2004's UNDER MY SKIN), is almost vanished. It feels more like a synth-heavy version of 2007's THE BEST DAMN THING, which is cool, since i prefer synth(s) over guitar(s), but the "airhead" factor is still problematic. I did enjoy THE BONES OF WHAT YOU BELIEVE by alt-synthpop band CHVRCHES, albeit briefly...COM TRUISE made/makes similar music, without the discernable structure that makes such sweetly-toned music stick out in the listener's consciousness. A lot of music that came out in 2009 and shortly after is still being found by me. I just found out that metalcore band We Came As Romans are not all demonic-vocals and repetitive guitar-chunks. Their 2011 album (follow-up to 2009's TO PLANT A SEED) UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE'VE GROWN TO BE is filled with actual singing, and little splashes of synth. I guess you could count that as "current decade" music, but you know if I put that on a list of modern-day "best", 99/100 people will be like "wtf?". And 999/1000 will just nod their head to say "I don't know how you came to that conclusion, but I hear you and there's no point in arguing", while the other 1/1000 people will either pump their fists in virtual victory or tell me I'm nuts for having closed my mind off to the possibilities of music. And for what it's worth, I did not fully enjoy UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE'VE GROWN TO BE; the last 4 or 5 songs had my mind wandering to the point where i would check in every 5-10 minutes, and I still don't remember anything about over half the album. The only songs I remember are the opening track, #2 and "Cast The First Stone". Beyond that, the album was little more than white noise. I do remember track #3 being sorta similar to the one that came before it.
I came across We Came As Romans 'cause I somehow found out of A Skylit Drive before they had released a full string of albums, and was hoping to find a band, or at least a good long string of songs, that captured the feeling of hearing A Skylit Drive back when they were a fairly new band with 2008's WIRES...AND THE CONCEPT OF BREATHING, which i find to be a very tedious listen most of the time lately. I don't know what to make of A Day To Remember. I liked HOMESICK and WHAT SEPARATES ME FROM YOU, I haven't had enough time with their current release (and Grooveshark has the songs uploaded all wonky) to make a decision regarding it. But their first two albums from almost a decade ago sound like almost a different band. What the heck?!
Here's my best attempt for the time being:
EMAROSA - EMAROSA
WE CAME AS ROMANS - UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE'VE GROWN TO BE
A SKYLIT DRIVE - IDENTITY ON FIRE
A DAY TO REMEMBER - WHAT SEPARATES ME FROM YOU
CHVRCHES - THE BONES OF WHAT YOU BELIEVE
Please be advised that not a single album on this "current decade" list means anything to me personally, which I cannot say of the 1990's or the decade that came after it.
BEST OF THE 1990'S (IMO)
R.E.M. - AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE
LIVE - THROWING COPPER
MARILYN MANSON - ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR
PHIL COLLINS - BOTH SIDES
THE CRANBERRIES - NO NEED TO ARGUE
BEST OF THE BEST
- American Football - American Football
- Phil Collins - Both Sides
- The Cranberries - No Need To Argue
- Dashboard Confessional - The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most
- The Fray - How To Save A Life
- Patty Griffin - 1,000 Kisses
- Hidden In Plain View - Resolution
- Avril Lavigne - Let Go
- Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear
- Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends
- Trespassers William - Having
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
woa's bark
It's the 11th, and my sister will be leaving to visit for the 5th(?) time this year in 9 days. Tomorrow my mother gets food stamps, which is good news considering the cubboards have little in them.
My Inbox Dollars check totalling $31.27 is to be mailed today or soon. I finally completed the post-sign up portion of their iBid2Save offer, by winning a $20 Amazon gift card that totals $13.08 w/ S&H + auction fee. The gift card itself should be shipping soon too, but there's not much telling. They say it could take 14 days to ship, but there could be delays (how is taking 14 days to get something into the hands of the postal service not a delay N&of itself??? I'd REALLY LIKE TO KNOW!!! Out of curiosity, if nothing else...trying to get "behind the scenes" information from these people is like pulling teeth a lot of the time...)
But if they both arrive at or around the same 2 business day span (my gramma, who I rely on for transportation most of the time, volunteers her time mostly on Mon-Fri), then I will have a mini-shop'n spree on my hands. As if $51.27 isn't awesome enough to die from excitement over (?), I just got a $5 Amazon gift card from OpinionSquare less than 1hr ago. It's the 3rd one I got from them and I **THINK** I signed up to their site less than a year ago.
I'm hoping I'll get all this while the Philips Fidelio DS7550 remains at its current price of $50 @ Amazon. My bank lets me OD my acct by up to $3 before they block a charge, and without any OD fee(s), and I currently owe them $2.88, which means the $31.27 IDB check will amount to a net spendable total of $28.39, which, when combined with the $20 Amazon GC from iBid2save, totals $48.39, and then you add the $5 from OpinionSquare, I still will have $3.39 cash(!!!!!!). The downside to this is I owe my gramma $10. Thankfully I haven't had the patience and enough of her undivided attn to feel comfortable explaining how I'm rolling in dough, so I don't need permission to repay her later...she's almost 70 years old and never felt comfortable around computers. She has a hard enough time using cordless landline telephones. So the idea of some internet based company offering incentives for being me might seem like "whaa?" I've told her about Swagbucks and MyPoints, but I don't know if she really gets what I'm saying. And I myself am no authority on the logistics of the thing. I looked up Swagbucks on wikipedia and I'm still confused as to how the dang thing makes me $10 in Amazon GC funds richer almost every month. Granted, I didn't read the whole article 'cause it basically just described the different methods of winning points, which I can find out first hand by taking a gander at the site, which I have, several times a day on most days, although granted I don't investigate the different "doors" of each site that carefully when I visit 99.9% of the time...
I wrote a flaming-red email to my mom a few days ago, and she was flaming-red more so than I was, almost killed herself, although she may have been mostly bluffing, it's hard to say. But we (mostly I) talked, and then she laid down, cried, slept, cried some more, woke up and faced up to the facts, to me, and agreed that Danielle & we need to work on a st8 forward budget that shan't be tampered with.
So I'm not sure how much money I'll have to spend on obligatorily unnecessary spurts of lalahappy, but hopefully it'll be **AT LEAST** the same amount I've been getting or very close to it. Assuming this is the case, the Philips Fidelio thing **COULD** go up by $20 and still be within reach. But I'm not sure I want to do that. I would like to get the PCA-1 mini-amplifier and see if that works with my speakers, since my speakers are currently just bookending my DVD and book collection, which each sit on either side of my CD rack, which is holding 20 CDs, with room for 10 more (?), and getting a pair of "Real" bookends would cost more, or AT LEAST as much, as I spent on the speakers (got 'em at a yardsale for $5!). The PCA-1 is on sale @ Amazon too, but it usually retails for no more than $10 beyond its current sale price, which is $20.
But I just assume the Fidelio will have better sound quality and for $30 more -- $30 that I can, for now, actually afford (almost) -- I figure why not? I just really hope I actually ***CAN*** acquire it for that price.
But if the price does go up, there will probably still be sellers offering refurbs for the same amount or less than the current price of a brand new 1 from Amazon.
My Inbox Dollars check totalling $31.27 is to be mailed today or soon. I finally completed the post-sign up portion of their iBid2Save offer, by winning a $20 Amazon gift card that totals $13.08 w/ S&H + auction fee. The gift card itself should be shipping soon too, but there's not much telling. They say it could take 14 days to ship, but there could be delays (how is taking 14 days to get something into the hands of the postal service not a delay N&of itself??? I'd REALLY LIKE TO KNOW!!! Out of curiosity, if nothing else...trying to get "behind the scenes" information from these people is like pulling teeth a lot of the time...)
But if they both arrive at or around the same 2 business day span (my gramma, who I rely on for transportation most of the time, volunteers her time mostly on Mon-Fri), then I will have a mini-shop'n spree on my hands. As if $51.27 isn't awesome enough to die from excitement over (?), I just got a $5 Amazon gift card from OpinionSquare less than 1hr ago. It's the 3rd one I got from them and I **THINK** I signed up to their site less than a year ago.
I'm hoping I'll get all this while the Philips Fidelio DS7550 remains at its current price of $50 @ Amazon. My bank lets me OD my acct by up to $3 before they block a charge, and without any OD fee(s), and I currently owe them $2.88, which means the $31.27 IDB check will amount to a net spendable total of $28.39, which, when combined with the $20 Amazon GC from iBid2save, totals $48.39, and then you add the $5 from OpinionSquare, I still will have $3.39 cash(!!!!!!). The downside to this is I owe my gramma $10. Thankfully I haven't had the patience and enough of her undivided attn to feel comfortable explaining how I'm rolling in dough, so I don't need permission to repay her later...she's almost 70 years old and never felt comfortable around computers. She has a hard enough time using cordless landline telephones. So the idea of some internet based company offering incentives for being me might seem like "whaa?" I've told her about Swagbucks and MyPoints, but I don't know if she really gets what I'm saying. And I myself am no authority on the logistics of the thing. I looked up Swagbucks on wikipedia and I'm still confused as to how the dang thing makes me $10 in Amazon GC funds richer almost every month. Granted, I didn't read the whole article 'cause it basically just described the different methods of winning points, which I can find out first hand by taking a gander at the site, which I have, several times a day on most days, although granted I don't investigate the different "doors" of each site that carefully when I visit 99.9% of the time...
I wrote a flaming-red email to my mom a few days ago, and she was flaming-red more so than I was, almost killed herself, although she may have been mostly bluffing, it's hard to say. But we (mostly I) talked, and then she laid down, cried, slept, cried some more, woke up and faced up to the facts, to me, and agreed that Danielle & we need to work on a st8 forward budget that shan't be tampered with.
So I'm not sure how much money I'll have to spend on obligatorily unnecessary spurts of lalahappy, but hopefully it'll be **AT LEAST** the same amount I've been getting or very close to it. Assuming this is the case, the Philips Fidelio thing **COULD** go up by $20 and still be within reach. But I'm not sure I want to do that. I would like to get the PCA-1 mini-amplifier and see if that works with my speakers, since my speakers are currently just bookending my DVD and book collection, which each sit on either side of my CD rack, which is holding 20 CDs, with room for 10 more (?), and getting a pair of "Real" bookends would cost more, or AT LEAST as much, as I spent on the speakers (got 'em at a yardsale for $5!). The PCA-1 is on sale @ Amazon too, but it usually retails for no more than $10 beyond its current sale price, which is $20.
But I just assume the Fidelio will have better sound quality and for $30 more -- $30 that I can, for now, actually afford (almost) -- I figure why not? I just really hope I actually ***CAN*** acquire it for that price.
But if the price does go up, there will probably still be sellers offering refurbs for the same amount or less than the current price of a brand new 1 from Amazon.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Ok, just burn me - at the STEAK!
Oops...I did it again. I played with your heart...I know better than to ask for forgiveness...it's too blatantly hypocritical...I'll just do it again...and again...
Ok, so what's new? Uh...thanksgiving? I went to church the Sunday b4 today. It was boring. Really boring. I didn't learn anything, except little details pertaining to individual people's gratitude. Not sure why the pastor wanted everyone to tell the congregation what they were thankful for. I guess the congregation was curious?
My mom gave me a Bible for my birthday. I'm so buried in my habits, I've barely even opened it. I was planning on being bored on T-day, so I brought it with me, thinking my uncle Eddie wasn't going to be there to give me a ride. My other uncle, John, had two movies for us to select, and somehow it was concluded that WE'RE THE MILLERS was more worth watching than THE HEAT. Maybe it was, idk...it would have been distracting. Eddie wasn't supposed to leave until later that day or the next, so he showed up and gave me a ride home on his way home; he's kind of anti-social, kind of like me...heh...
So, um...what else?...Hmm...can't think of anything.
toodles?
Friday, November 15, 2013
I didn't mean to be gone so long...
yoyoyo, wazzup! J-dog in da HOUUUUUE!
Went to the doc on Nov 4th for asthma (SPELL asthma!), doc says I use my inhaler too much. See? I was sitting on my bootay thinking I didn't need to go to the doktor (just give me my meds and get out of my face! And by face I do NOT mean the tops of my legs!!! Uh...I mean...what?) and, I was wrong. (Note to my mom: TWICE this week!)
So she (nurse practitioner, may as well be a doctor) prescribed (generic) single air (due to copyright laws, I am mispelling the word thou which dare not speakkk!!!!)
I was weighed in at 221 lbs.
Oct 12th, my weight changed to 216. Is there something strange in YOUR neighborhood? Mine neither. Just a freakin' inconsistency between scales. And they're both digital. Don't MAKE me take off my sunglasses!
And wouldn't you know it; the season of the witch, I Mean, egg Noooogg, (nnooooooooo...), my triglycerides and cholesterol have risen. Ha! They should quit testing me in the winter. I'd probably look much better a few weeks after I have my farewell egg nogg as opposed to a few days...
I am hearing about bee pollen from my (oh...) "therapist"...she says it's awesome and everything! WebMD says there's no "evidence" to back up 90% of claims made for it, while Fox News says allergic reactions are more common than officially-collected data would have you believe. My mom is allergic to bees, so I might be too. My sister isn't. So maybe...I'M NEXT!(gasps!!). Eh...yeah, so, hopefully I won't die if -- ***IF*** - I buy it, which i very well might not. My mom got her food stamps cut almost in half. She wasn't notified of this weirdness in advance, so maybe the rest will come in later?? Or maybe the sequestration rules are kickin' in in ways not forseen or publicized.......I hope mine aren't cut in half, but I'll see. I don't think I'll be able to pay for bee pollen w/ food stamps.; maybe household money can cover it, I'll see...I can maybe pay for half of it w/ my "play" $...I hope it's not $15+...if it is, I'll probably need some help paying for it...
Anyhow...
I got the impression somehow. probably from a cursory listen of TO PLANT A SEED (2007?), that I did not like, DID NOT like, metalcore band We Came As Romans. I don't like that CD a whole lot. UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE'VE GROWN TO BE is just flat out amazing. I bought it from goHastings, it's not in nearly as bad'a condition as I would have expected, not perfect, but it's a digipak casing, which, for a better or worse, is thus more prone to bruising. The spine was a little crooked, but they often get sold like that factory wrapped in the store, so...
I also bought HELLRAISER 20th Anniversary Edition..the best freakin' horror movie ever freakin' made, maaan! On DVD dlx edition, yooooo..... I paid all of $2.34 for it INCLUDING S&H. It would have been a great deal (goHastings) w/o the 30% off coupon ($2.89), but yoyoyo! It was listed as used, b/c it wasn't direct from the manufacturer, but the joblo who sold it to Hastings for a few cents had not opened it. IT WAS FACTORY SEALED!!!! Yeeeeah.
Went to the doc on Nov 4th for asthma (SPELL asthma!), doc says I use my inhaler too much. See? I was sitting on my bootay thinking I didn't need to go to the doktor (just give me my meds and get out of my face! And by face I do NOT mean the tops of my legs!!! Uh...I mean...what?) and, I was wrong. (Note to my mom: TWICE this week!)
So she (nurse practitioner, may as well be a doctor) prescribed (generic) single air (due to copyright laws, I am mispelling the word thou which dare not speakkk!!!!)
I was weighed in at 221 lbs.
Oct 12th, my weight changed to 216. Is there something strange in YOUR neighborhood? Mine neither. Just a freakin' inconsistency between scales. And they're both digital. Don't MAKE me take off my sunglasses!
And wouldn't you know it; the season of the witch, I Mean, egg Noooogg, (nnooooooooo...), my triglycerides and cholesterol have risen. Ha! They should quit testing me in the winter. I'd probably look much better a few weeks after I have my farewell egg nogg as opposed to a few days...
I am hearing about bee pollen from my (oh...) "therapist"...she says it's awesome and everything! WebMD says there's no "evidence" to back up 90% of claims made for it, while Fox News says allergic reactions are more common than officially-collected data would have you believe. My mom is allergic to bees, so I might be too. My sister isn't. So maybe...I'M NEXT!(gasps!!). Eh...yeah, so, hopefully I won't die if -- ***IF*** - I buy it, which i very well might not. My mom got her food stamps cut almost in half. She wasn't notified of this weirdness in advance, so maybe the rest will come in later?? Or maybe the sequestration rules are kickin' in in ways not forseen or publicized.......I hope mine aren't cut in half, but I'll see. I don't think I'll be able to pay for bee pollen w/ food stamps.; maybe household money can cover it, I'll see...I can maybe pay for half of it w/ my "play" $...I hope it's not $15+...if it is, I'll probably need some help paying for it...
Anyhow...
I got the impression somehow. probably from a cursory listen of TO PLANT A SEED (2007?), that I did not like, DID NOT like, metalcore band We Came As Romans. I don't like that CD a whole lot. UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE'VE GROWN TO BE is just flat out amazing. I bought it from goHastings, it's not in nearly as bad'a condition as I would have expected, not perfect, but it's a digipak casing, which, for a better or worse, is thus more prone to bruising. The spine was a little crooked, but they often get sold like that factory wrapped in the store, so...
I also bought HELLRAISER 20th Anniversary Edition..the best freakin' horror movie ever freakin' made, maaan! On DVD dlx edition, yooooo..... I paid all of $2.34 for it INCLUDING S&H. It would have been a great deal (goHastings) w/o the 30% off coupon ($2.89), but yoyoyo! It was listed as used, b/c it wasn't direct from the manufacturer, but the joblo who sold it to Hastings for a few cents had not opened it. IT WAS FACTORY SEALED!!!! Yeeeeah.
Monday, October 28, 2013
My valued opinions
So far I've accumulated $8.75 in my Valued Opinions account. I just got done receiving payment from ABC Gift Cards for a Macy's gift card I redeemed with my Valued Opinions acct balance. Was a slow and painful experience. Yet until I realized how ridiculous this whole thing is, I was feeling optimistic about the future...I guess the more I have now, provided I don't squander it in a flurry of haste like I often do, the more well off I'll be when the gov't shuts the lights on me. I really need to consider my purchases more carefully. Dang it. I just realized something else. Avril Lavigne's upcoming self titled CD is not worth buying! "Rock n' Roll" is the only song of hers I've heard so far from that CD that's beyond mediocre good. I'll need to sample it b4 I buy it, if I do. Phew, that's one down and I Just need to buy Xmas gifts. I'm not getting anyone very much, but it still cuts a lot from my budget. It doesn't really matter though; if it wren't for Xmas shopping, there'd be none at all. I'd just give it all to my sister or waste it...
I might buy the STAR WAS trilogy on VHS, the un-"special" edition...other than that, my CD and DVD collection is complete...I have all my life-changing favs; BRINGING OUT THE DEAD, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, GHOSTBUSTERS, THE LAST UNICORN and Gregg Araki's nOWHERE. There's other really really good movies, but those are the ones I watch repeatedly, that is not to say "all the time", since I still do get tired of all of those movies if I see them more than once or twice a year. I have E.T. and THE EXORCIST on VHS, and a few other movies on VHS and DVD, and I have probably more CDs than I need, and some books, and, for now, a gigantic selection of books to choose from @ the library, including DISGRACE by Coetze, which I'm re-starting b/c I had read 30 or so pages of it several months ago and forgot where I left off, and to some extent what I've read within those pages. I'll probably keep reading Perlman's SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY sporadically, until when/if the library burns down and the townsfolk nor gov't have the money to re-build it and replenish the shelves.
I might buy the STAR WAS trilogy on VHS, the un-"special" edition...other than that, my CD and DVD collection is complete...I have all my life-changing favs; BRINGING OUT THE DEAD, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, GHOSTBUSTERS, THE LAST UNICORN and Gregg Araki's nOWHERE. There's other really really good movies, but those are the ones I watch repeatedly, that is not to say "all the time", since I still do get tired of all of those movies if I see them more than once or twice a year. I have E.T. and THE EXORCIST on VHS, and a few other movies on VHS and DVD, and I have probably more CDs than I need, and some books, and, for now, a gigantic selection of books to choose from @ the library, including DISGRACE by Coetze, which I'm re-starting b/c I had read 30 or so pages of it several months ago and forgot where I left off, and to some extent what I've read within those pages. I'll probably keep reading Perlman's SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY sporadically, until when/if the library burns down and the townsfolk nor gov't have the money to re-build it and replenish the shelves.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
SON OF MAGUS
Un debauche de profession est rarement un homme pitoyable
That should have been a dead giveaway that the author is full of schit.
But then I read part of the introduction to the revised edition before I looked online and found the revised edition is Evil. I stopped before finishing page two, b/c it was keeping me from walking successfully (success = not getting ran over by a car).
Then I posted a Q on Y! to find out where the NON revised edition could be bought and someone took the time to answer a very detailed answer, seemingly w/o much prior knowledge of the matter. He said most readers like both the revised edition & the original text. So I took it upon myself to look up other opinions (reviews) of THE MAGUS Revised. And someone was kind enough to give it 4/5 stars despite serious flaws. One of them is hinted at in the quote above, which is from a novel by the Marque De Sade, titled in its native language Les Infortunes de la Vertu. The English translation of whatever that says is irrelevant, the point is that people in general have never been bi, tri & quad+ lingual. I myself am probably one of the lesser educated people in my community, but I do have a fairly good mind, although it gets stuck sometimes...tedium is something I am very sensitive to and dislike very much, to the point I get sick to my stomach in the face of it. I could have advanced my math and reading skills from day 1, but my impression of school, from that day until it was too late for me to catch up, was "What the heck is this place and why am I here?!" I felt like I was being tied up and held down. Resistance was my rebellion. Do I strike you as a rebel? Hmm...Anyway, the school found something abnormal in my thinking patterns so instead of branding me as lazy and a traditional failure, they put me in a class with a bunch of other similarly misfitting children and didn't ask very much of me. So heck, no: I do not speak French. Most U.S. citizens don't learn French because The USA is the top dog and everyone who knows anything will learn English so they can speak effectively when in its presence. The USA is lucky in this regard; we certainly did not earn this ability, although we have done a lot to make it look like we did, i.e: the Civil War, The Civil Rights Bill, etc...I still think the Vietnam war was just gov't sanctioned mass murder. There was no goal in invading their land. There was no strategy. And the police here stateside often were almost as brutal. I can't believe Ronald Reagan ever became president, after reading the liner notes of George Carlin's CLASSIC GOLD.
It seems like we never really had a free country until the decade I was born into, the 1980's.
But anyway; I wouldn't expect a Frenchman to learn English. I think the French have a culture and a country just as worthy as any. If THE MAGUS were written by John Folwes primarily for the French to read, I'd probably missed out on reading the original text. Many an English speaking person missed out on Matthew Ward's translation of Albert Camus' THE STRANGER and thus had to settle with Stuart Gilbert's, inferior from what I can tell (although THE STRANGER, as beloved as it is, is a rather boring meandering pile of nothing, IMO).
I guess John Fowles expects the non-uber-educated folk to steer clear of him and not get his silk suit rife with mud. Sorry I bought your book, Mr. Fowles. I don't mean to intrude on your insular circle.
That should have been a dead giveaway that the author is full of schit.
But then I read part of the introduction to the revised edition before I looked online and found the revised edition is Evil. I stopped before finishing page two, b/c it was keeping me from walking successfully (success = not getting ran over by a car).
Then I posted a Q on Y! to find out where the NON revised edition could be bought and someone took the time to answer a very detailed answer, seemingly w/o much prior knowledge of the matter. He said most readers like both the revised edition & the original text. So I took it upon myself to look up other opinions (reviews) of THE MAGUS Revised. And someone was kind enough to give it 4/5 stars despite serious flaws. One of them is hinted at in the quote above, which is from a novel by the Marque De Sade, titled in its native language Les Infortunes de la Vertu. The English translation of whatever that says is irrelevant, the point is that people in general have never been bi, tri & quad+ lingual. I myself am probably one of the lesser educated people in my community, but I do have a fairly good mind, although it gets stuck sometimes...tedium is something I am very sensitive to and dislike very much, to the point I get sick to my stomach in the face of it. I could have advanced my math and reading skills from day 1, but my impression of school, from that day until it was too late for me to catch up, was "What the heck is this place and why am I here?!" I felt like I was being tied up and held down. Resistance was my rebellion. Do I strike you as a rebel? Hmm...Anyway, the school found something abnormal in my thinking patterns so instead of branding me as lazy and a traditional failure, they put me in a class with a bunch of other similarly misfitting children and didn't ask very much of me. So heck, no: I do not speak French. Most U.S. citizens don't learn French because The USA is the top dog and everyone who knows anything will learn English so they can speak effectively when in its presence. The USA is lucky in this regard; we certainly did not earn this ability, although we have done a lot to make it look like we did, i.e: the Civil War, The Civil Rights Bill, etc...I still think the Vietnam war was just gov't sanctioned mass murder. There was no goal in invading their land. There was no strategy. And the police here stateside often were almost as brutal. I can't believe Ronald Reagan ever became president, after reading the liner notes of George Carlin's CLASSIC GOLD.
It seems like we never really had a free country until the decade I was born into, the 1980's.
But anyway; I wouldn't expect a Frenchman to learn English. I think the French have a culture and a country just as worthy as any. If THE MAGUS were written by John Folwes primarily for the French to read, I'd probably missed out on reading the original text. Many an English speaking person missed out on Matthew Ward's translation of Albert Camus' THE STRANGER and thus had to settle with Stuart Gilbert's, inferior from what I can tell (although THE STRANGER, as beloved as it is, is a rather boring meandering pile of nothing, IMO).
I guess John Fowles expects the non-uber-educated folk to steer clear of him and not get his silk suit rife with mud. Sorry I bought your book, Mr. Fowles. I don't mean to intrude on your insular circle.
freshly stale - classic - songs (slices of 1980's nostalgia/happiness)
- The Boys Of Summer - D. Henley
- The End Of The Innocence - D. Henley
- Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough - Patty Smyth ft. Don Henley
- The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby & The Range
- Mandolin Rain - Bruce H & The R
- The Living Years - Mike + The Mechanics
- Silent Running - Mike + The Mechanics
- We Built This City - Starship
- Sara - Starship
- The Heart Of Rock 'n' Roll - Huey Lewis & The News
- Heart And Soul - Huey Lewis & The News
- If This Is It - Huey Lewis & The News
- The Power Of Love - Huey Lewis The News
- Hold On Loosely - .38 Special
- Caught Up In You - .38 Special
Where mid-80's dance-pop and Ronald Reagan's groupies converge.
Everyone seems to agree that H. Lewis/News music is positively Happy music. "We Built This City" is celebratory life-music. "Sara" is a sad song, but it's got that soothing and twinkling 80's feel to it. That imitation harmonica brings tingles through me when I'm in just the right frame of mind. The 2 .38 Special songs go hand in hand w/ Huey Lewis et al. The first 7 songs are kinda sad songs, but they have that certain something or other that sets them apart from the competition. There may be similar songs, better even, but these are the ones that I find myself searching for after having them rolling in my head day after day. Yep, I'm brainwashed :p
Thursday, October 24, 2013
The Best Of Spirits...
A dumb idea, I know; I mean, my definition of "The best" seems to change from day to day, from hour to hour......feel free to pretend this doesn't exist...
- American Football - s/t
- Kate Bush - The Whole Story
- Chicago - Greatest Hits 1982-1989
- Phil Collins - Both Sides
- Phil Collins - No Jacket Required
- Dashboard Confessional - The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most
- Genesis - s/t
- Genesis - Genesis Live
- Genesis - Invisible Touch
- Genesis - Live Over Europe
- Genesis - Live/The Way We Walk Vol. Two: The Longs
- Patty Griffin - 1000 Kisses
- Hidden In Plain View - Resolution
- Idlewild - The Remote Part
- Last Winter - The Heart And The Broken Compass
- Avril Lavigne - Let Go
- Oingo Boingo - Dark At The End Of The Tunnel
- Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear
- Oingo Boingo - Skeletons In The Closet: The Best Of
- Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends
- Toto - Toto IV
- Trespassers William - Having
- Virginwool - Open Heart Surgery
Monday, October 21, 2013
THE MAGUS
John Fowles' 1966 masterpiece THE MAGUS was revised, and not for the better according to Sean Rogan on May 12, 2002 at Amazon. I haven't verified his testimony by reading the mammoth book and comparing it to the original, but if he's not hallucinating or deliberately telling a lie, I must say I agree with his assessment.
Aside from the typical "oh no it's out of print" scavenger hunt I'm now on, what really ticks me off is everybody seems to be ignorant of this revision. From what I can gather, it's the only version in print. I have no reason to believe otherwise. Wikipedia mentions something about THE MAGUS being awarded a place on the Modern Library 100 Best Novels. Who is the Modern Library? Heck if I know. But this honor took place in 1999. That was 20+ years after Mr. Fowles decided to ruin his classic. And AbeBooks has sellers selling a 1998 printing labeled "Modern Library", which, like all other books, has an ISBN, which, if you click on that # @ AbeBooks, you get detailed book information. Unfortunately, that detail is very slim in this case. It cites critical reviews from the 1960's when the book first came out. If you think watching Brian de Palma's CARRIE is the same as watching Kimberly Pierce's recent remake, then I guess you're confused as to what the problem with that is. But it is my firm opinion that the specific details used to get the story told - setting, dialogue, the tone of the author's prose etc/cinematography etc - are a lot more important than the story itself. A story can be found out in the span of less than 5 minutes by reading a synopsis. The details are what make it a classic or a "nice try" or "utter junk" So the fact that a 1998 pressing of a book that contains text (presumably) revised, in 1976, has critical responses from 1966 associated with the ISBN b/c AbeBooks doesn't seem to think there's anything else worth saying about the book other than a brief synopsis is just downright appalling.
I'd send them an email, but they probably wouldn't read half of it. I'm going to ask the Y! community about this, see if there's been any non-revised editions in print over the past 15 years. A 20+ year old hardcover that doesn't look like junk is probably $20++. I can get a reading copy for under $7 and I'll probably do that as soon as I'm able, but if I enjoy the book, I'm going to want it in hardcover and I'll probably buy it in hardcover if it's not going to cost me my entire disposable income to acquire it. Technically, I shouldn't even be buying such frivileous(sp???!) nonsense, since my income will come to a screeching halt probably sometime in this upcoming decade and my sister's going to be taking care of me if she can, which means $0 rent, PROBABLY very few groceries, MAYBE some electricity if the economy manages to avoid a collapse centered around the government's inability to pay off its debt or get new loans, like some economists are predicting.
Aside from the typical "oh no it's out of print" scavenger hunt I'm now on, what really ticks me off is everybody seems to be ignorant of this revision. From what I can gather, it's the only version in print. I have no reason to believe otherwise. Wikipedia mentions something about THE MAGUS being awarded a place on the Modern Library 100 Best Novels. Who is the Modern Library? Heck if I know. But this honor took place in 1999. That was 20+ years after Mr. Fowles decided to ruin his classic. And AbeBooks has sellers selling a 1998 printing labeled "Modern Library", which, like all other books, has an ISBN, which, if you click on that # @ AbeBooks, you get detailed book information. Unfortunately, that detail is very slim in this case. It cites critical reviews from the 1960's when the book first came out. If you think watching Brian de Palma's CARRIE is the same as watching Kimberly Pierce's recent remake, then I guess you're confused as to what the problem with that is. But it is my firm opinion that the specific details used to get the story told - setting, dialogue, the tone of the author's prose etc/cinematography etc - are a lot more important than the story itself. A story can be found out in the span of less than 5 minutes by reading a synopsis. The details are what make it a classic or a "nice try" or "utter junk" So the fact that a 1998 pressing of a book that contains text (presumably) revised, in 1976, has critical responses from 1966 associated with the ISBN b/c AbeBooks doesn't seem to think there's anything else worth saying about the book other than a brief synopsis is just downright appalling.
I'd send them an email, but they probably wouldn't read half of it. I'm going to ask the Y! community about this, see if there's been any non-revised editions in print over the past 15 years. A 20+ year old hardcover that doesn't look like junk is probably $20++. I can get a reading copy for under $7 and I'll probably do that as soon as I'm able, but if I enjoy the book, I'm going to want it in hardcover and I'll probably buy it in hardcover if it's not going to cost me my entire disposable income to acquire it. Technically, I shouldn't even be buying such frivileous(sp???!) nonsense, since my income will come to a screeching halt probably sometime in this upcoming decade and my sister's going to be taking care of me if she can, which means $0 rent, PROBABLY very few groceries, MAYBE some electricity if the economy manages to avoid a collapse centered around the government's inability to pay off its debt or get new loans, like some economists are predicting.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
spirits of the material world [or, ways to justify obsessive materialism...]
this is old news; feel free to look away. Just me being my same old obsessive imaginary self
these aren't albums I LOVE, just ones I have been known to listen to actively and have highly enjoyed on numerous occasions....I probably won't ever buy these, at least not in the future, I mean...I've owned most of these at one point or another in the past, but not all at once. If I had money falling into my pockets like some [a lot of] people do, I could snatch these up in one swoop...
also, I'm almost certain there's stuff missing from this list; it's hard to recollect every high point in a almost 20 year span of music listening. [technically I've listened to music all my life, since I got out of the hospital after birth, maybe even before then b/c I had a skin infection and had to stay a few days after my birth but there may have been some right-sided brain stimulation as a result of whatever elevator music was playing in the hallways of the hospital that treated my skin infection]
Plus, there's the usual discrimination factor; do I put some album I listened to a lot when I was 14 and found myself enjoying at some point in my early-mid 20's on here? These are not albums I used to enjoy, these are albums I still have room in my heart and mind for and thus wish I could buy. I actually probably could buy these later, piece by piece as the months by months go on and on, and turn into years, and then I could keep 'em on display in my house that no one visits, but due to financial constraints, I'd probably be better off not buying [again]. Also, I probably WILL NOT buy Manson's ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR, because the guy's already gotten rich by denouncing God, I do not feel comfortable letting that kind of stuff into my heart and mind. I'm not for censorship, but that doesn't mean I need to approve of blasphemy on steroids. Nevertheless, there's times I feel tempted to abandon all notions of spirituality and religion/theology and just embrace the dark side. For a super-dark album that's more melancholy than depressing, pull up ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR. Or if you like being scared by horror movies and aren't too detached from your own spirituality yet aren't too serious about it, you may find time on Halloween night to listen to it.
On to the list:
these aren't albums I LOVE, just ones I have been known to listen to actively and have highly enjoyed on numerous occasions....I probably won't ever buy these, at least not in the future, I mean...I've owned most of these at one point or another in the past, but not all at once. If I had money falling into my pockets like some [a lot of] people do, I could snatch these up in one swoop...
also, I'm almost certain there's stuff missing from this list; it's hard to recollect every high point in a almost 20 year span of music listening. [technically I've listened to music all my life, since I got out of the hospital after birth, maybe even before then b/c I had a skin infection and had to stay a few days after my birth but there may have been some right-sided brain stimulation as a result of whatever elevator music was playing in the hallways of the hospital that treated my skin infection]
Plus, there's the usual discrimination factor; do I put some album I listened to a lot when I was 14 and found myself enjoying at some point in my early-mid 20's on here? These are not albums I used to enjoy, these are albums I still have room in my heart and mind for and thus wish I could buy. I actually probably could buy these later, piece by piece as the months by months go on and on, and turn into years, and then I could keep 'em on display in my house that no one visits, but due to financial constraints, I'd probably be better off not buying [again]. Also, I probably WILL NOT buy Manson's ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR, because the guy's already gotten rich by denouncing God, I do not feel comfortable letting that kind of stuff into my heart and mind. I'm not for censorship, but that doesn't mean I need to approve of blasphemy on steroids. Nevertheless, there's times I feel tempted to abandon all notions of spirituality and religion/theology and just embrace the dark side. For a super-dark album that's more melancholy than depressing, pull up ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR. Or if you like being scared by horror movies and aren't too detached from your own spirituality yet aren't too serious about it, you may find time on Halloween night to listen to it.
On to the list:
- American Football - s/t
- Anberlin - Cities
- Armor For Sleep - Dream To Make Believe
- Blink 182 - s/t
- Brand New - Deja Entendu
- Kate Bush - The Whole Story
- The Cars - Candy-O
- Cartel - Chroma
- The Chameleons - Script Of The Bridge
- Chicago - Greatest Hits 1982-1989
- Phil Collins - Both Sides
- Phil Collins - No Jacket Required
- The Cranberries - Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?
- Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet
- The Cure - Staring At The Sea: The Singles
- Dashboard Confessional - The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most
- Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
- Depeche Mode - A Broken Frame
- The Fray - How To Save A Life
- Frou Frou - Details
- Peter Gabriel - s/t #3
- Peter Gabriel - Up
- Genesis - s/t
- Genesis - Invisible Touch
- Genesis - Live Over Europe
- Genesis - Live/The Way We Walk Vol. 1: The Shorts
- Genesis - Live/The Way We Walk Vol. 2: The Longs
- The Get Up Kids - Something To Write Home About
- The Goo Goo Dolls - A Boy Named Goo
- David Gray - White Ladder
- Patty Griffin - 1000 Kisses
- George Harrison - Cloud 9
- Hidden In Plain View - Resolution
- Hootie & The Blowfish - Cracked Rear View
- Idlewild - The Remote Part
- Michael Jackson - Bad
- Michael Jackson - Dangerous
- Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
- Jimmy Eat World - Futures
- Last Winter - The Heart And The Broken Compass
- Last Winter - Under The Silver Of Machines
- Avril Lavigne - Let Go
- Live - Throwing Copper
- Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm
- Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar
- Matchbox 20 - Yourself Or Someone Like You
- Metallica - Master Of Puppets
- Mineral - The Power Of Failing
- A Moment's Worth - Start Where You Are
- New Radicals - Maybe You've Been Brainwashed, Too
- Nickelback - The Best Of, Volume 1
- Number One Fan - Compromises
- Oingo Boingo - Dark At The End Of The Tunnel
- Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear
- Oingo Boingo - Skeletons In The Closet: The Best Of
- Owl City - Ocean Eyes
- Paramore - Riot
- The Psychedelic Furs - World Outside
- R.E.M. - Fables Of The Reconstruction
- R.E.M. - Murmur
- Rush - Power Windows
- Saves The Day - Stay What You Are
- Senses Fail - Life Is Not A Waiting Room
- Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends
- Rick Springfield - Working Class Dog
- Starship - Knee Deep In The Hoopla
- The Starting Line - Say It Like You Mean It
- Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends
- Tears For Fears - Shout: The Very Best Of
- Third Eye Blind - s/t
- Toad The Wet Sprocket - Pale
- Toto - Toto IV
- Trespassers William - Having
- Various - Teaching Mrs. Tingle soundtrack
- Virginwool - Open Heart Surgery
- Waking Ashland - Composure
- The Wallflowers - Bringing Down The Horse
- "Weird Al" Yankovic - Even Worse
- The Who - Who's Next
- Steve Winwood - Back In The High Life
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
I can hear it...in the air...
There's something exciting about knowing that good/great music is being instilled on the general public. I heard someone caddy corner of my house listening to "Fireflies" by Owl City while waiting for their car to warm up a couple winters ago. I caught a whiff of someone listening to one of the 10 gems from WHAT SEPARATES ME FROM YOU by A Day To Remember (don't remember which one) while walking by their house, don't remember where...and you know a song is making an impression on folks when you keep hearing it on TV ads - "How To Save A Life" by The Fray. "Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon is still one of the greatest songs ever and it was all over radio and TV etc. for at least a year. Of course, The Fray and Vertical Horizon are both history. And A Day To Remember and Owl City are recent, but not new. As for 2013, nothing is coming to mind. I'm sure there's good music that's making waves, but I'm totally clueless as I am now freed from annoying 5 minute car advertisements inserted between 15 minutes of music (much of which is varying degrees of pretty good but is rendered useless after 20 plays daily times however many days the song(s) have been recent enough to be considered "new"). [This radio slam courtesy of the good vibes coming from my computer courtesy of Pandora Internet Radio]
So...uh...hmm...I think I'm finished here...not sure what I'm talking about...idk...
Albums That Are Freakin' Awesome+++ and some that I don't disagree with their status as uber-definitive
So...uh...hmm...I think I'm finished here...not sure what I'm talking about...idk...
Albums That Are Freakin' Awesome+++ and some that I don't disagree with their status as uber-definitive
- American Football - s/t
- Boston - s/t
- Chicago - Greatest Hits 1982-1989
- Collins, Phil - Both Sides
- Genesis - Invisible Touch
- Hidden In Plain View - Resolution
- Last Winter - The Heart And The Broken Compass
- Lavigne, Avril - Let Go
- Oingo Boingo - Skeletons In The Closet: The Best Of
- Duncan Sheik - s/t
- Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends
- Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends
- Toto - Toto IV
- The Who - Who's Next
Songs You Might Have Almost Forgotten but probably would be better off not cutting yourself off entirely...
- Everything You Want - Vertical Horizon
- If You Could Only See - Tonic
- The Freshmen - The Verve Pipe
- Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots
- Crazy - Aerosmith
- Everlong - Foo Fighters
- The Sound Of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel
- Hold On Loosely - .38 Special
- Caught Up In You - .38 Special
- Rikki Don't Lose My Number - Steely Dan
- These Eyes - The Guess Who
- Don't Stop Believing - Journey
I Think I'll Disappear Now...my thoughts on RIVER'S EDGE (1986)
I saw the first 17 minutes or so.
It was touted as a highly disturbing film. It wasn't. The premise was bone chilling and full of promise. As it turned out, the setting was drab, the cinematography was equally so, the script was equal parts slow and plodding and rushed. I saw slow and plodding because it isn't concise in its presentation. The parts of the screenplay that were key to the story only lasted like 2 seconds apiece. Aside from the possibility of telling the story in a way that would look and feel compelling on a screen, there's the issue of character development; granted, this is a movie and if the characters and their relationship to each other were well established, as well as their mentality, I'd still find this film to be better suited for the page than wasting thousands upon thousands of dollars and man hours trying to film it for illiterates.
Keanu Reeves appears to have a conscience early on in the film, but you don't see why he hangs out with the creeps he hangs out with. You don't see why he's friends with the guy who killed his girlfriend for no good reason. Perhaps the stone cold killer was more sane early on in his life? You don't see or hear any of that. Crispen Glover is also shown to be a little off his rocker, talking about how "exciting" it'll be to have to keep his knowledge of the dead girl's murderer's identity a secret and how loyalty is the reason it will remain secret. It appears that Keanu Reeves and his cohorts are only connected by their love of illegal drugs. Maybe I'm just too picky in my choice of relationships to have any sympathy for a guy who picks such screwed up friends. But then again, maybe the murderer and his loyal friend weren't Keanu Reeve's character's friends? Maybe the fact that Keanu Reeves was into the druggie lifestyle forced them to cross paths and he, like me, was too easy to get along with and therefore Crispen Glover and the murderer just thought they were friends with him b/c "well, we're not enemies..."
I probably could have watched the entire film. But gosh, I was expecting something so much more than this swamp fest.
Friday, October 11, 2013
PALMS - PALMS (2013)
PALMS by the band Palms features the vocalist for Deftones and doesn't star a jagged lineup of smashed guitars. Yet it has almost 5/5 stars on Amazon. Wow. You'd think in a world where mainstream rock listeners are all blaring their mp3 players in a pursuit to show off their lack of wussiness and pop listeners (and most mainstream rock) gets spat on by "indie" music lovers and then mainstream and alternative rock gets weird looks from pop music listeners that you'd see a bunch of posts on Amazon saying "Palms is lame, not what I would expect from Chino" or "Palms are a bunch of wussies" or "Palms isn't real rock, it's just lightweight pop fluff".
It's good to see a bunch of open minded folk, but at the same time, it's kind of creepy...
It's good to see a bunch of open minded folk, but at the same time, it's kind of creepy...
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Monthly Money Mega-ness
I finally bought AMERICAN FOOTBALL on CD, for what I hope is the last time. It's not graced with the most striking cover-art (although it fits the music quite well), and it's not something I Need to have, given how rarely I listen to it and the fact that I have it on mp3, but having CDs seems rather silly without this in my collection...it's one of the best albums ever, and it's not there for all to see. Not like anyone ever comes into the space where I keep my CDs, but, ya know, ***IF*** they did, they'd get an erroneous impression of my musical tastebuds...not that they'd give a damn, but, ya know ****IF**** they did.....uh....
I also bought THE HEART AND THE BROKEN COMPASS on CD, a very good album, I did already buy half the album on mp3 @ Amazon, but, again, if someone were to visit me in my abode.......
I was at Target yesterday and saw they re-issued 1976's CARRIE on DVD and Blu ray with the most kick-asst cover-art! I can't get to Target to buy it, but Amazon has their primary listing of CARRIE for $4.99. The listing doesn't give any indication that I will receive the revamped cover-art DVD, but if I don't, I'll just return it and leave it at that. I now have $8 and some change to spare for what may come for the rest of the month. If I return the DVD, that'll bring it down to $6apprx. As indicated, I don't know if I'll need to do that, but, ya know...
The weather has been miserable since Sept 30th. I've taken at least three showers so far this week, I don't remember if I took one Monday, I know I didn't take one on Sunday, but today yesterday and the day before I was absolutely drenched in sweat and couldn't help but want to take a shower. It hasn't been very hot, but the humidity is relentless.
Last time I went for a walk was Monday. I had a chocolate muffin yesterday and like 5 or 6 slices of "deluxe" pizza from Sam's Club. What is that, 2K calories in one fell swoop? I've consumed 1,600 calories today, maybe 100 less, it's hard to keep track of how many glasses of hot chocolate I drink. It's 6pm where I live, so that's not ***too*** bad. I probably would have done myself a big favor by not having 600 of those calories...
Over the past couple weeks, I've missed apprx 10 hours of sleep. Today I made up for 3 of those hours and I'm still tired. WTTT!?
I also bought THE HEART AND THE BROKEN COMPASS on CD, a very good album, I did already buy half the album on mp3 @ Amazon, but, again, if someone were to visit me in my abode.......
I was at Target yesterday and saw they re-issued 1976's CARRIE on DVD and Blu ray with the most kick-asst cover-art! I can't get to Target to buy it, but Amazon has their primary listing of CARRIE for $4.99. The listing doesn't give any indication that I will receive the revamped cover-art DVD, but if I don't, I'll just return it and leave it at that. I now have $8 and some change to spare for what may come for the rest of the month. If I return the DVD, that'll bring it down to $6apprx. As indicated, I don't know if I'll need to do that, but, ya know...
The weather has been miserable since Sept 30th. I've taken at least three showers so far this week, I don't remember if I took one Monday, I know I didn't take one on Sunday, but today yesterday and the day before I was absolutely drenched in sweat and couldn't help but want to take a shower. It hasn't been very hot, but the humidity is relentless.
Last time I went for a walk was Monday. I had a chocolate muffin yesterday and like 5 or 6 slices of "deluxe" pizza from Sam's Club. What is that, 2K calories in one fell swoop? I've consumed 1,600 calories today, maybe 100 less, it's hard to keep track of how many glasses of hot chocolate I drink. It's 6pm where I live, so that's not ***too*** bad. I probably would have done myself a big favor by not having 600 of those calories...
Over the past couple weeks, I've missed apprx 10 hours of sleep. Today I made up for 3 of those hours and I'm still tired. WTTT!?
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Paste and go - DV62si
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006JPDI/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=8LLBKRGJ8M9S&coliid=I1NFB4P6K8J9K
I want these speakers. But I can't imagine anything good from coming out of $150 that is meant to enhance the sound of music - music I get bored with so easily. Then onto the next CD. I would get those Sennheiser HD 202 II headphones, but I don't know squat about the quality of my computer's sound card. WOULD it make the music any more enjoyable? It's hard for me to say. Someone said don't bother trying out pop music on an audiophile set up b/c pop sounds good on anything. I have a TV with only one audio jack, meaning one channel, which means one half of the sound comes through. I don't know if most major label recordings put most of the sound in both channels or if my TV just does a good+ job at simulating stereo, but either way, I'm able to hear over half of what I normally hear on Oingo Boingo's SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET: THE BEST OF and aside from some muffling and lack of punch, Genesis' INVISIBLE TOUCH sounds very good too, probably 85% of the stereo recording comes through my "standard" definition oldskool style TV (a hammedown from my gramma). I'm sure there's room for growth given my pathetic listening set-up, but I can live without it. I'll be at the mercy of my sis to keep from being homeless circa 2025 unless the gov't actually does something to keep welfare from running itself dry, and the deficit problem, if not taken care of, will result in countries ceasing to loan us $, and the taxpayers are going to have to deal with it. According to what I've read, electricity and groceries will become almost impossible to afford unless you're in the upper-lower class or higher, and even those in the upper-lower class will still have a difficult time paying their bills. My sis is making a modest sum of $ right now, which will probably grow into a modestly high sum of $, and since the economy is in a rut right now, it looks like she probably won't see very much increase in her salary after she gets her first salary increase demanded by her college graduate status, which is still about a year away. I mean, I could be wrong. If she maintains what she's earning when the economy hits the fan, and she's working in St. Louis instead of Georgia, she might find herself appreciated and needed enough to keep her job. Weather they'll cut her pay is another story, but the cost of living in Georgia is higher anyway, but I don't know what I'm talking about b/c I don't really know the specifics of how everything will pan out. It probably depends on what kind of company my sis is working for. While in Cape Gr., she was working for this recently launched employer-screening assistant, and I don't even know if that company is still around. Last I heard, he was really struggling. This was around 2008 or 2009, before the gov't declared we were no longer in a recession.
I got my $ today. I spent $11 of it all at once, out of $90, $32 of which I owe my sister for, so I could have these shoes I'm currently wearing. I bought two pairs during Payless' BOGO1/2OFF sale. $32 was the cost of a gift card valued at $40 via the great ABCGiftCards.com. Beyond the $40 GC, my mom put in $3.76 or something like that (I never can be sure of the exact amount...). And having never shopped at Payless.com (I used the ship to store option, free!), Payless offered a 20% off coupon, and between the gift card's discounted price & the 20% off, I saved my ass $22, bringing the cost from $56 to $34. Yeah, you were thinking "oh, $22, so what" Sounds a bit different when it takes the price of two pairs of shoes already discounted into a whole 'nother price range doesn't it? FOOAH!
Anyway.
I also owe my mom $11 in groceries, and I owe my bank $2.25 and I owe Amazon $1.44. I do still have $16+ to spend on other stupid stuff. The $11 I already spent was really stupid. I bought a grilled cheese and two chocolate covered rice-crispy treats. I also bought a bottle of Starbucks. If I'd have not gotten the Starbucks and left it at ONE CCRCT, I'd have spent $5 less. The cashier tried explaining I'd have a $0.50 surcharge for buying less than $5, but I didn't know what he was saying b/c I wasn't listening carefully enough. And after I bought a 2nd rice chocolate crispy whatchcallit, to avoid the inability to buy the 1st one, I was then informed of a grilled cheese sandwich. I could have saved myself $5.50, if I'd known that was on the inventory/menu since that would have brought the total to over $5 and circumvented the need to spend $2.50apprx to avoid a stupid $0.50 surcharge. I thought he was saying there was a $0.50 surcharge ON TOP of the $5. Frrr. Of course, by the time I figured that out, I'd already made up my mind. Brrg!!
Ok, happy thoughts...: I still have $16. I plan to send at least $8 of that to my sister on top of the $32 debt paid. that will be used to buy groceries or whatever higher need might come when I'm at her mercy. Hopefully I'll be able to settle into one meal a day. I sure as hell won't be able to be gazing at the pantry whenever I get bored and making myself cream of what or sandwiches at a whim's notice.
I want these speakers. But I can't imagine anything good from coming out of $150 that is meant to enhance the sound of music - music I get bored with so easily. Then onto the next CD. I would get those Sennheiser HD 202 II headphones, but I don't know squat about the quality of my computer's sound card. WOULD it make the music any more enjoyable? It's hard for me to say. Someone said don't bother trying out pop music on an audiophile set up b/c pop sounds good on anything. I have a TV with only one audio jack, meaning one channel, which means one half of the sound comes through. I don't know if most major label recordings put most of the sound in both channels or if my TV just does a good+ job at simulating stereo, but either way, I'm able to hear over half of what I normally hear on Oingo Boingo's SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET: THE BEST OF and aside from some muffling and lack of punch, Genesis' INVISIBLE TOUCH sounds very good too, probably 85% of the stereo recording comes through my "standard" definition oldskool style TV (a hammedown from my gramma). I'm sure there's room for growth given my pathetic listening set-up, but I can live without it. I'll be at the mercy of my sis to keep from being homeless circa 2025 unless the gov't actually does something to keep welfare from running itself dry, and the deficit problem, if not taken care of, will result in countries ceasing to loan us $, and the taxpayers are going to have to deal with it. According to what I've read, electricity and groceries will become almost impossible to afford unless you're in the upper-lower class or higher, and even those in the upper-lower class will still have a difficult time paying their bills. My sis is making a modest sum of $ right now, which will probably grow into a modestly high sum of $, and since the economy is in a rut right now, it looks like she probably won't see very much increase in her salary after she gets her first salary increase demanded by her college graduate status, which is still about a year away. I mean, I could be wrong. If she maintains what she's earning when the economy hits the fan, and she's working in St. Louis instead of Georgia, she might find herself appreciated and needed enough to keep her job. Weather they'll cut her pay is another story, but the cost of living in Georgia is higher anyway, but I don't know what I'm talking about b/c I don't really know the specifics of how everything will pan out. It probably depends on what kind of company my sis is working for. While in Cape Gr., she was working for this recently launched employer-screening assistant, and I don't even know if that company is still around. Last I heard, he was really struggling. This was around 2008 or 2009, before the gov't declared we were no longer in a recession.
I got my $ today. I spent $11 of it all at once, out of $90, $32 of which I owe my sister for, so I could have these shoes I'm currently wearing. I bought two pairs during Payless' BOGO1/2OFF sale. $32 was the cost of a gift card valued at $40 via the great ABCGiftCards.com. Beyond the $40 GC, my mom put in $3.76 or something like that (I never can be sure of the exact amount...). And having never shopped at Payless.com (I used the ship to store option, free!), Payless offered a 20% off coupon, and between the gift card's discounted price & the 20% off, I saved my ass $22, bringing the cost from $56 to $34. Yeah, you were thinking "oh, $22, so what" Sounds a bit different when it takes the price of two pairs of shoes already discounted into a whole 'nother price range doesn't it? FOOAH!
Anyway.
I also owe my mom $11 in groceries, and I owe my bank $2.25 and I owe Amazon $1.44. I do still have $16+ to spend on other stupid stuff. The $11 I already spent was really stupid. I bought a grilled cheese and two chocolate covered rice-crispy treats. I also bought a bottle of Starbucks. If I'd have not gotten the Starbucks and left it at ONE CCRCT, I'd have spent $5 less. The cashier tried explaining I'd have a $0.50 surcharge for buying less than $5, but I didn't know what he was saying b/c I wasn't listening carefully enough. And after I bought a 2nd rice chocolate crispy whatchcallit, to avoid the inability to buy the 1st one, I was then informed of a grilled cheese sandwich. I could have saved myself $5.50, if I'd known that was on the inventory/menu since that would have brought the total to over $5 and circumvented the need to spend $2.50apprx to avoid a stupid $0.50 surcharge. I thought he was saying there was a $0.50 surcharge ON TOP of the $5. Frrr. Of course, by the time I figured that out, I'd already made up my mind. Brrg!!
Ok, happy thoughts...: I still have $16. I plan to send at least $8 of that to my sister on top of the $32 debt paid. that will be used to buy groceries or whatever higher need might come when I'm at her mercy. Hopefully I'll be able to settle into one meal a day. I sure as hell won't be able to be gazing at the pantry whenever I get bored and making myself cream of what or sandwiches at a whim's notice.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
It's HLV because it can't be HIV
Swagbucks made me enter a code before granting me 29 whopping Swagbucks at once. The code was "HLV". They do this to ensure it's me searching and not some software I hired to do it for me. They think they were being sensitive making me enter h L v instead of h I v, but really, how dumb do they think I am? I mean, what if I DID have HIV? How would this make me feel? "Oh, I'm not REMINDED that I have HIV b/c it doesn't SAY HIV, it says HLV, so no biggie". My gosh. Insensitive bactards.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Giant
Giants among us, subtly towering over all of me, with their thick skin and thicker heads
Giants get their way, whatever they want, all is well
Giants stomp their feet and keep Mother Earth turning properly
They leave me here to bleed until I grow in size
I die before the ambulance can get here
Giants get their way, whatever they want, all is well
Giants stomp their feet and keep Mother Earth turning properly
They leave me here to bleed until I grow in size
I die before the ambulance can get here
Friday, September 20, 2013
Nothing compares 2 It
Listening to "Hold On Loosely" by .38 Special; that and "Caught Up In You" are like two of the best songs ever written. I'm not big on 89% of THE BEST OF .38 SPECIAL, of course I do also like "Second Chance"...trying to summon a compilation of knockout songs akin to those, but I can't think of anything. Most of the songs that were coming to mind were also seminal songs of their era that are still on radio, but they didn't have the effect that those do. For awhile I was wondering why you never heard "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey on the radio, like back in the late '90's I think...I think there was a scene in BIG DADDY (1999) where Adam Sandler's character was playing it to his girlfriend-hopeful. Maybe I'm getting the songs confused. Idk...anyway. Then a couple years or less later, radio started playing it more regularly and now I'm sick of it. Just doesn't stimulate my brain the way it did. I remember I had similar feelings toward Bryan Adams' "Heaven". That song just seems so boring to me nowadays. I just got done listening to it while typing "all" of this and it had no impact whatsoever. And it's been like a loong time since I even heard it on the radio. I hadn't sought it out for a year? or longer? Now "Second Chance" is playing, great song as I expected and it's been almost as long since I've heard that one. Not as good as "Caught Up In You" and "Hold On Loosely"...
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
To Wish For Impossible Things
I wish I could shop at the mall and not feel like I just wasted everything I have and everything I am buying junk...
I wish I could just be happy with:
1. INVISIBLE TOUCH
2. OINGO BOINGO SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET: THE BEST OF
3. GHOSTBUSTERS & GHOSTBUSTERS II COLLECTOR'S EDITION (VHS)
1a I wish I could plaster the cover-art for INVISIBLE TOUCH onto my wall.
1b I wish the slightest lift of a finger didn't cost $50
2a I wish I could put to words why I LOVE the cover-art for SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET
2b 2a is a stupid wish, but if I could own a t-shirt with the design on it, maybe I could gather my own cult following of like-minded people...uh...
3a.I wish I could own a worthwhile copy of GHOSTBUSTERS & its' sequel in widescreen, but since cover-art for movies has taken a steep dive into mediocrity, I would need a VCR and to forgo widescreen (Ghostbusters IS available in widescreen on VHS, but the cover-art is extremely disrespectful to all the things that made Ghostbusters such a great movie, same as the 1999 DVD, which is also the only DVD copy worth owning on DVD since the only other edition was severely tampered with for some weird reason...), and VCRs are practically extinct, save for ones that break down within 6 months or cost $200 to obtain......
I wish a hot woman wearing a GHOSTBUSTERS t-shirt would lay back on her car and say "Do you want this body?"
I wish I understood better where I stand in the world. I used to think "who doesn't have a car?", now I feel like it's ridiculous how many DO have cars, knowing that I'm not the only one living in poverty...
I wish I loved God. I wish I knew that just believing could keep me from going to - and staying in - Hell.
I wish I could just be happy with:
1. INVISIBLE TOUCH
2. OINGO BOINGO SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET: THE BEST OF
3. GHOSTBUSTERS & GHOSTBUSTERS II COLLECTOR'S EDITION (VHS)
1a I wish I could plaster the cover-art for INVISIBLE TOUCH onto my wall.
1b I wish the slightest lift of a finger didn't cost $50
2a I wish I could put to words why I LOVE the cover-art for SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET
2b 2a is a stupid wish, but if I could own a t-shirt with the design on it, maybe I could gather my own cult following of like-minded people...uh...
3a.I wish I could own a worthwhile copy of GHOSTBUSTERS & its' sequel in widescreen, but since cover-art for movies has taken a steep dive into mediocrity, I would need a VCR and to forgo widescreen (Ghostbusters IS available in widescreen on VHS, but the cover-art is extremely disrespectful to all the things that made Ghostbusters such a great movie, same as the 1999 DVD, which is also the only DVD copy worth owning on DVD since the only other edition was severely tampered with for some weird reason...), and VCRs are practically extinct, save for ones that break down within 6 months or cost $200 to obtain......
I wish a hot woman wearing a GHOSTBUSTERS t-shirt would lay back on her car and say "Do you want this body?"
I wish I understood better where I stand in the world. I used to think "who doesn't have a car?", now I feel like it's ridiculous how many DO have cars, knowing that I'm not the only one living in poverty...
I wish I loved God. I wish I knew that just believing could keep me from going to - and staying in - Hell.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Far Beyond Driven..
...to page 348 on SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY by Elliot Perlman; now on "part 5" out of 7. Just read 22 pages of it today. Hadn't picked up in gosh I don't know how long...probably a month? At least...
Internet's been f'ing up since yesterday, per my personal observations. My mom was experiencing problems the day before then as well as yesterday. Hmm...
Beautiful weather. I took a walk to Hastings and found they have GEORGE WASHINGTON after all. I guess it was rented out to someone else last time I looked for it. I didn't care much for it. Kinda meandering. I figured I'd get THE JOY LUCK CLUB watched, I've checked it out from the library like 5 times...now I'm done with it - FIN-A-LLLLY!!! I can return it w/ no late fees and no nagging in my conscience. I'll return GEORGE WASHINGTON later today and get $0.50 store credit. The reason I walked to Hastings was I had a Barnes & Noble $10 Gift Card that I "won" at MyPoints primarily for clicking on paid emails and taking/attempting to take surveys. It took over a year to acquire enough points to get a gift card, but it finally happened. I sold the B/N GC to a gift card exchange website called ABC Gift Cards for an $8.19 Amazon gift card b/c I don't trust BN and unless you have to have your merchandise in brandspankin'new condition, your dollar goes farther at Amazon; they have a bigger variety of offers on used merchandise and the prices are better. There's a boatload of CDs and DVDs you can find for $0.01 + $3.99 S&H. B&N's typical minimum used price is $1.99 + $2.99 S&H. So anyway; with that $8.19 Amazon e-code, I had bought ECHOES: THE BEST OF PINK FLOYD for $5.96 w/ S&H. I had bought it a month or so before then, b/c I had checked it out from the library several times and by the time it arrived in the mail I started noticing how pointless the whole compilation was; half of disc 1 are interludes and the songs themselves are droning and repetitive, especially the title track. The classic-rock radio staple "Money" is typical anti-capitalist b.s., and there are several famous Pink Floyd cuts absent, mainly "Have A Cigar" and "The Dogs Of War". I can't remember for sure if "Welcome To The Machine" was present or not...I don't think it was...but anyway...I had decided to sell it before it arrived and Hastings gave me $7+ for it. So, this past week, I wasn't feeling any throbbing desire to own anything, but I knew I was at least going to want to rent THE CONJURING when it comes out October 22nd, and I figured I could get AT LEAST $4 cash if I sold Hastings another copy of ECHOES: TBSo'PinkFloyd, and if I chose to get store credit, they'd give me $5+. So I bought it again, this time for $5.96, as I said - cheaper than the last copy I had bought - and sold it for the same amount they gave me last time (wowow!!). Being myself in a biggyish ("midsize") town with the typical music offerings you'd expect people who don't know the world beyond radio to be fed, I couldn't find anything worth buying that I haven't already owned at least twice, except for things that were beyond the $7.49 mark.. Beats the helk out of me why the anthemic emo of Last Winter is so obscure. But it is. So Hastings doesn't have 'em. They have the latest Joy Division and The Smiths best-of collections, but nothing else by those bands. So, I was left with nothing to use my store credit on except the rental of GEORGE WASHINGTON. So I wasted $1.79 on a Jones brand green apple - flavored soda. I still have $5.17 or something like that left. I'll have $1.25 left after I rent THE CONJURING, provided I don't get stupid and buy some dumb CD before THE CONJURING comes out over a month from now.
My sister bought me a Payless gift card after I discovered they are one of the few if not the only chain stores with a decent selection of wide-width shoes w/ halfway decent price tags. The last pair of $12 shoes I bought at WalMart lasted me apprx 5 months. These L.A. Gear shoes I have were bought at Nearly Perfect Shoes, a shoe store for functional shoes that don't meet manufacturer standards. They cost almost $30 w/ tax and are already half way broken down. They were acquired in mid-late November. They'd lasted I'd say about 6 months before starting the break down process, which they are still going through. The cool thing about the Payless gift card is it's a $40 value, but she bought it at ABC Gift Cards, so it only cost'd her $31.60. If it gets here by Sunday (the end of Saturday, whatever), I can apply it to my newly-created PayLess.com account and utilize a 20% coupon which takes two pairs of Champion shoes (during their BOGO 1/2off sale) and reduces their cost by a whopping $14. I think both pairs of the Champion shoes should last about a year, maybe 1.5 years if I wear them until they can't be worn any longer, based on what I've read from customers who use them frequently. But with the coupon and the GC discount, that means what once was a $25 pair of shoes (give or take a couple dollars...) becomes a $17 pair of shoes, which when compared to the ever-shrinking usability of the shoes I'd been been getting at WalMart, means I'm at least breaking even.
I had looked for PRIMER (indie styled sci-fi) at Hastings, Amazon doesn't even have a brand new copy of it. Used ones last I checked about a week ago were $17++. So someone probably took it from Hastings and sold it. Idk...anyway; I managed to find a good time in the middle of the night while awake to watch it on Netflix via my mother's Wii. It wasn't the greatness everyone had proclaimed it to be. I tried watching UPSTREAM COLOR, too, and while more enjoyable and intelligible, still not together enough to keep my attention. I found some other thing I'd been wanting to see on NetFlix, added it to my Q, 'cause it was so out of line with what I was looking for at that moment; I guess it was a horror film or something, idk...but I wasn't in the mood for it. So I figured I'd come back for it sometime...not much telling when though. I like that show NEW GIRL, Zooey is absolutely gorgeous and the show is mostly about her, and the guyz are funny too. I don't really like the idea of stopping everything for a freakin' TV show. The only alternative I have though is to buy season one for $22.99 @ Amazon. I don't think I can even afford that though, not in October, I mean (definitely not right now). Maybe in November...if I get some birthday $. I think I need to buy a new DVD player, the one I have is starting to fall apart. I listed it on Amazon, it's very old, still working, but when you can hear its wheels turning, that's not a good sign. It makes noises while loading discs that are in less than perfect condition, the more horrid the condition of the disc is, the more noise it makes. And then it fails to playback the disc in its entirety without error if it's scratched just so...plus the thing is almost 10 years old. It's like a ticking time bomb...
Internet's been f'ing up since yesterday, per my personal observations. My mom was experiencing problems the day before then as well as yesterday. Hmm...
Beautiful weather. I took a walk to Hastings and found they have GEORGE WASHINGTON after all. I guess it was rented out to someone else last time I looked for it. I didn't care much for it. Kinda meandering. I figured I'd get THE JOY LUCK CLUB watched, I've checked it out from the library like 5 times...now I'm done with it - FIN-A-LLLLY!!! I can return it w/ no late fees and no nagging in my conscience. I'll return GEORGE WASHINGTON later today and get $0.50 store credit. The reason I walked to Hastings was I had a Barnes & Noble $10 Gift Card that I "won" at MyPoints primarily for clicking on paid emails and taking/attempting to take surveys. It took over a year to acquire enough points to get a gift card, but it finally happened. I sold the B/N GC to a gift card exchange website called ABC Gift Cards for an $8.19 Amazon gift card b/c I don't trust BN and unless you have to have your merchandise in brandspankin'new condition, your dollar goes farther at Amazon; they have a bigger variety of offers on used merchandise and the prices are better. There's a boatload of CDs and DVDs you can find for $0.01 + $3.99 S&H. B&N's typical minimum used price is $1.99 + $2.99 S&H. So anyway; with that $8.19 Amazon e-code, I had bought ECHOES: THE BEST OF PINK FLOYD for $5.96 w/ S&H. I had bought it a month or so before then, b/c I had checked it out from the library several times and by the time it arrived in the mail I started noticing how pointless the whole compilation was; half of disc 1 are interludes and the songs themselves are droning and repetitive, especially the title track. The classic-rock radio staple "Money" is typical anti-capitalist b.s., and there are several famous Pink Floyd cuts absent, mainly "Have A Cigar" and "The Dogs Of War". I can't remember for sure if "Welcome To The Machine" was present or not...I don't think it was...but anyway...I had decided to sell it before it arrived and Hastings gave me $7+ for it. So, this past week, I wasn't feeling any throbbing desire to own anything, but I knew I was at least going to want to rent THE CONJURING when it comes out October 22nd, and I figured I could get AT LEAST $4 cash if I sold Hastings another copy of ECHOES: TBSo'PinkFloyd, and if I chose to get store credit, they'd give me $5+. So I bought it again, this time for $5.96, as I said - cheaper than the last copy I had bought - and sold it for the same amount they gave me last time (wowow!!). Being myself in a biggyish ("midsize") town with the typical music offerings you'd expect people who don't know the world beyond radio to be fed, I couldn't find anything worth buying that I haven't already owned at least twice, except for things that were beyond the $7.49 mark.. Beats the helk out of me why the anthemic emo of Last Winter is so obscure. But it is. So Hastings doesn't have 'em. They have the latest Joy Division and The Smiths best-of collections, but nothing else by those bands. So, I was left with nothing to use my store credit on except the rental of GEORGE WASHINGTON. So I wasted $1.79 on a Jones brand green apple - flavored soda. I still have $5.17 or something like that left. I'll have $1.25 left after I rent THE CONJURING, provided I don't get stupid and buy some dumb CD before THE CONJURING comes out over a month from now.
My sister bought me a Payless gift card after I discovered they are one of the few if not the only chain stores with a decent selection of wide-width shoes w/ halfway decent price tags. The last pair of $12 shoes I bought at WalMart lasted me apprx 5 months. These L.A. Gear shoes I have were bought at Nearly Perfect Shoes, a shoe store for functional shoes that don't meet manufacturer standards. They cost almost $30 w/ tax and are already half way broken down. They were acquired in mid-late November. They'd lasted I'd say about 6 months before starting the break down process, which they are still going through. The cool thing about the Payless gift card is it's a $40 value, but she bought it at ABC Gift Cards, so it only cost'd her $31.60. If it gets here by Sunday (the end of Saturday, whatever), I can apply it to my newly-created PayLess.com account and utilize a 20% coupon which takes two pairs of Champion shoes (during their BOGO 1/2off sale) and reduces their cost by a whopping $14. I think both pairs of the Champion shoes should last about a year, maybe 1.5 years if I wear them until they can't be worn any longer, based on what I've read from customers who use them frequently. But with the coupon and the GC discount, that means what once was a $25 pair of shoes (give or take a couple dollars...) becomes a $17 pair of shoes, which when compared to the ever-shrinking usability of the shoes I'd been been getting at WalMart, means I'm at least breaking even.
I had looked for PRIMER (indie styled sci-fi) at Hastings, Amazon doesn't even have a brand new copy of it. Used ones last I checked about a week ago were $17++. So someone probably took it from Hastings and sold it. Idk...anyway; I managed to find a good time in the middle of the night while awake to watch it on Netflix via my mother's Wii. It wasn't the greatness everyone had proclaimed it to be. I tried watching UPSTREAM COLOR, too, and while more enjoyable and intelligible, still not together enough to keep my attention. I found some other thing I'd been wanting to see on NetFlix, added it to my Q, 'cause it was so out of line with what I was looking for at that moment; I guess it was a horror film or something, idk...but I wasn't in the mood for it. So I figured I'd come back for it sometime...not much telling when though. I like that show NEW GIRL, Zooey is absolutely gorgeous and the show is mostly about her, and the guyz are funny too. I don't really like the idea of stopping everything for a freakin' TV show. The only alternative I have though is to buy season one for $22.99 @ Amazon. I don't think I can even afford that though, not in October, I mean (definitely not right now). Maybe in November...if I get some birthday $. I think I need to buy a new DVD player, the one I have is starting to fall apart. I listed it on Amazon, it's very old, still working, but when you can hear its wheels turning, that's not a good sign. It makes noises while loading discs that are in less than perfect condition, the more horrid the condition of the disc is, the more noise it makes. And then it fails to playback the disc in its entirety without error if it's scratched just so...plus the thing is almost 10 years old. It's like a ticking time bomb...
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Under The Silver Of Machines...
Been listening to anthemic emo by way of Last Winter. Their 2nd CD doesn't have the palpable romantic pop-rockers, but it's like WAY better. It's just amazing. Listening to Weird Al's GREATEST HITS (1989). Not really digging it, I just remember thinking about it on the walk back from Kidd's which I went to get a cappuccino. I guess there's some artists that I like to think about, 'cause I imagine talking about them to someone as if anyone cared, and I always amaze myself how deeply immersed I am in some bands' history. I'm almost a scholar on Genesis. I probably know Aerosmith's discography and biography better than I ought to, given how little I listen to them, although I used to listen to them constantly as a tween.
Ok, so I ended playback. Now I'm listening to SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET: THE BEST OF OINGO BOINGO (1989 as well). I subscribed to Rhapsody 8/30. Nice to be able to LEGALLY listen to pretty much whatever I want to listen to. Grooveshark isn't illegal, but the music industry sure wishes it were. Rhapsody now has a $4.99 plan. I was wondering how they were able to compete with Rdio and MOG. Of course, Spotify is $9.99, or was last time I was subscribed, but they're like a Facebook thing, so people who love Facebook can have it. Plus, it's noteworthy for being kickstarted in part by Peter Gabriel (wooooah...woooah...)
Anyway.
I'm being very slothy. I have not exercised regularly aside from leisurely paced walking in the past two weeks. I did 15 squats today and two or three hand release pushups. I need to sit the fruuk up!
My CPRC worker (or is it CRPC? !!!) had to interview me for pt 1 of 2 of my annual assessment where everyone gets down to figure out why I'm in the CPRC?? program and where I'm going to be in the program. It's really not essential. I should probably say to heck w/ it and just let myself be discharged, but I have a real hard time making friends. I can socialize with a variety of people, but I don't connect with people easily. I know Ashley isn't a friend, but she's someone who comes by and talks with me every once or twice a week. It's one small step above ground, but still...
My official goal I guess is weight loss. I'm gonna aim for 5 lbs and see how that goes. Idk. I might be optimistic and change it to 10. I doubt I'll achieve 10 lbs...not at this rate and then in winter I'm likely to gain weight...rrrg...
I'm already out of $. I have $5 left. Until Oct 1. Yeesh. I got a CD coming in the mail though. Yay. Oh, I also got $18 worth of Amazon gift cards pending receipt. One of them is in limbo ("processing") [$8] and two more [$5 each] are awaiting approval, should have them in a few days...and then I got $20 in rewards from a survey site called Valued Opinions. I am $2.25 shy of what I need to redeem my reward dollars, and if it weren't for the whole "pending" situation, they'd be here - and gone already, probably. They say it could take 6 weeks to end pend'n. It's only been less than two weeks and I'm already feelin' like a cigarette withdrawy...eeh! But anyway; once all this gets added up, that comes to $38. WOWWOWOW...not so fast...
Ok, so I ended playback. Now I'm listening to SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET: THE BEST OF OINGO BOINGO (1989 as well). I subscribed to Rhapsody 8/30. Nice to be able to LEGALLY listen to pretty much whatever I want to listen to. Grooveshark isn't illegal, but the music industry sure wishes it were. Rhapsody now has a $4.99 plan. I was wondering how they were able to compete with Rdio and MOG. Of course, Spotify is $9.99, or was last time I was subscribed, but they're like a Facebook thing, so people who love Facebook can have it. Plus, it's noteworthy for being kickstarted in part by Peter Gabriel (wooooah...woooah...)
Anyway.
I'm being very slothy. I have not exercised regularly aside from leisurely paced walking in the past two weeks. I did 15 squats today and two or three hand release pushups. I need to sit the fruuk up!
My CPRC worker (or is it CRPC? !!!) had to interview me for pt 1 of 2 of my annual assessment where everyone gets down to figure out why I'm in the CPRC?? program and where I'm going to be in the program. It's really not essential. I should probably say to heck w/ it and just let myself be discharged, but I have a real hard time making friends. I can socialize with a variety of people, but I don't connect with people easily. I know Ashley isn't a friend, but she's someone who comes by and talks with me every once or twice a week. It's one small step above ground, but still...
My official goal I guess is weight loss. I'm gonna aim for 5 lbs and see how that goes. Idk. I might be optimistic and change it to 10. I doubt I'll achieve 10 lbs...not at this rate and then in winter I'm likely to gain weight...rrrg...
I'm already out of $. I have $5 left. Until Oct 1. Yeesh. I got a CD coming in the mail though. Yay. Oh, I also got $18 worth of Amazon gift cards pending receipt. One of them is in limbo ("processing") [$8] and two more [$5 each] are awaiting approval, should have them in a few days...and then I got $20 in rewards from a survey site called Valued Opinions. I am $2.25 shy of what I need to redeem my reward dollars, and if it weren't for the whole "pending" situation, they'd be here - and gone already, probably. They say it could take 6 weeks to end pend'n. It's only been less than two weeks and I'm already feelin' like a cigarette withdrawy...eeh! But anyway; once all this gets added up, that comes to $38. WOWWOWOW...not so fast...
Sunday, August 25, 2013
another boring day on R.I.T.
(don't ask what the R.I.T. is...this blog-post title is a spoof of a movie called JUST ANOTHER GIRL ON THE R.I.T., which I have not seen.....)
Hmm...I walked to the library. I took a shower a couple hours beforehand. Now I'm online, after a 3hr (woohoo!) break. It's cloudy like all rain + maybe storms outside...ugh...
Started out pretty OK. Woke up too friggin' early, but I ate breakfast at 5am, lunch at 11:30, with some imitation cheese slices around 9am. Mom brought home some hot dogs and cake and cookies. Yum. Ain't feelin' very yum. Surprise, surprise. I'm not an addict! ...Morning was nice. Played ball with my mom's dogs, while she sat with her ciggys and conversed w/ me a bit. We had coffee. I listened to Genesis LIVE/THE WAY WE WALK VOL. II: THE LONGS on her stereo while she was at church and my computer was scanning for viruses (none detected despite two day lull - [yay])
I watched 25 mins of a movie called BEGINNERS with Ewen McGreggor and Christopher Plummer. It was OK. I laughed a bit a few times. I could tell by the 26th minute into the film that it was just going on without any sense of purpose, starting to get bogged down in tedium, details rehashed just in case any portion(s) of the audience is too stupid to figure out what's going on......
I returned that. I still need to watch LES MISERABLE (the new one). It's due tomorrow. I checked out ORANGES AND SUNSHINE w/ Emily Watson. I was going to check out KING OF DEVIL'S ISLAND and THE JOY LUCK CLUB for the 3rd and 4th time respectively, but I figured I've have a hard enough time getting O&S watched not to mention L.M...
I also was going to check out Neil Gaiman's NEVERWHERE. It would be the 3rd time at least that I tried reading that book. It's not boring, it just feels kinda limp...idk...
Still hopeful to finish Elliot Perlaman's SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY despite, um, like, 2? weeks of not having touched it. It's not insanely uncommon that I get 50-100 pages through a book, if it's even halfway decent. But 300 out of 600? That's something.
I probably should read The Holy Bible more though. A church sign once stated SATAN NEVER FEARS A DUSTY BIBLE. Well, my copy of The Holy Bible would probably be dusty regardless of how often I read it (I don't dust), but, still....
Hmm...I walked to the library. I took a shower a couple hours beforehand. Now I'm online, after a 3hr (woohoo!) break. It's cloudy like all rain + maybe storms outside...ugh...
Started out pretty OK. Woke up too friggin' early, but I ate breakfast at 5am, lunch at 11:30, with some imitation cheese slices around 9am. Mom brought home some hot dogs and cake and cookies. Yum. Ain't feelin' very yum. Surprise, surprise. I'm not an addict! ...Morning was nice. Played ball with my mom's dogs, while she sat with her ciggys and conversed w/ me a bit. We had coffee. I listened to Genesis LIVE/THE WAY WE WALK VOL. II: THE LONGS on her stereo while she was at church and my computer was scanning for viruses (none detected despite two day lull - [yay])
I watched 25 mins of a movie called BEGINNERS with Ewen McGreggor and Christopher Plummer. It was OK. I laughed a bit a few times. I could tell by the 26th minute into the film that it was just going on without any sense of purpose, starting to get bogged down in tedium, details rehashed just in case any portion(s) of the audience is too stupid to figure out what's going on......
I returned that. I still need to watch LES MISERABLE (the new one). It's due tomorrow. I checked out ORANGES AND SUNSHINE w/ Emily Watson. I was going to check out KING OF DEVIL'S ISLAND and THE JOY LUCK CLUB for the 3rd and 4th time respectively, but I figured I've have a hard enough time getting O&S watched not to mention L.M...
I also was going to check out Neil Gaiman's NEVERWHERE. It would be the 3rd time at least that I tried reading that book. It's not boring, it just feels kinda limp...idk...
Still hopeful to finish Elliot Perlaman's SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY despite, um, like, 2? weeks of not having touched it. It's not insanely uncommon that I get 50-100 pages through a book, if it's even halfway decent. But 300 out of 600? That's something.
I probably should read The Holy Bible more though. A church sign once stated SATAN NEVER FEARS A DUSTY BIBLE. Well, my copy of The Holy Bible would probably be dusty regardless of how often I read it (I don't dust), but, still....
Thursday, August 22, 2013
stuff and more...stuff...
Did 75 squats yesterday. That beats my best by 20 at least, I think...eh...I think I might have done CLOSE to 60 at one point in time...don't feel like looking through my notebook...
my old-best-ist cat Napoleon laid on my notebook last night and now there's what appear to be blood stains.
them fleas are eating my cats alive aaaahh!
One of my cats is consistently warm in the face/head. Me and my mom are trying to give him kid's benadrill, but between me not being upstairs 24hrs a day and my mom being almost immobile, it is rather difficult. The cat doesn't take it without a fight. And my lack of I/hand coordination is almost epic.
I'm getting a $20 Amazon gift card from Valued Opinions, once the pending "rewards" for two surveys I took a couple days ago finally POST. I also have two Swagbucks rewards - $5 Amazon gift cards - coming within the next week, and MyPoints supposedly mailed me a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card a few days ago, and using ABC Gift Cards' service, I can sell the B&N GC and get an $8.19 Amazon gift card, so once I tally it all up, I'll have plenty of ability to do some serious small time shopping. That's $38.19 !!!! If I bought a bunch of old used CDs from the Amazon Marketplace, that could be 8 CDs - !!
Or I could spend it all at once and have a blu ray player...which would be useless to me as I do not have an HDTV...I already got all stupid and jumped down a seller's throat for saying a used 2 CD set was "obviously" never played - I took that to mean that the seller assumed a perfect LOOKING CD was an obvious sign of un-use, which some people probably think is true...like people who throw their CDs into the CD player and then slam them into the jewel case and then play Frisbe with 'em during sunset. The seller them replied - rather politely - that the CDs were accumulated from some crazy rich dude who bought CDs and never used them except to make pizza boxes or something...idk...I have a copy of their email as a reminder not to break my promise, which I know I shouldn't have made, but, even if I don't like The Doors, you gotta hand it to them for being so wildly popular; it's not easy to become a 60 year old cult hero with no signs of slowing down. And Rhino supposedly outdid all previous attempts to make a "best of" collection of The Doors by the CD - it's titled LEGACY: THE ABSOLUTE BEST OF THE DOORS. It's $11.94 from that seller once S&H is factored in. I personally don't like The Doors well enough to say how much of an improvement LEGACY is over the other Best Of Doors, The CDs out there, I haven't even gotten past track 6, if I ever got that far even...
speaking of wildly famous, The Kinks are better than The Beatles. The Beatles got all kinds of rabid wonder from people for sounding middle-eastern/exotic on "Norweigion Wood" (sp?), but "See My Friends" from KINDA KINKS (their second album from 1965) pre-dated "Norwegion Wood" (sp?) by at least a year. And The Beach Boys' PET SOUNDS was a huge inspiration to The Beatles when recroding SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HARTS CLUB BAND, which IS NOT a concept album and does not have any TRAITS OF a concept album and to SAY that IT IS a concept album is to relish in evil. If you don't know what you're talking about, SHUT UP! If you do know what you're talking, then quit saying SGT. PEPPERS' is a concept album. Either that or find some proof that it is. I surely can't find any. Unless you wanna create your own definition of concept album out of thin air...or maybe I should say "thick and smelly" air?
BTW, I acknowledge that some of the things I said in my last post were probably inspired by paranoia rather than the truth. My feelings are what they are though. They were what they were and the past is what it is. (sorry)
my old-best-ist cat Napoleon laid on my notebook last night and now there's what appear to be blood stains.
them fleas are eating my cats alive aaaahh!
One of my cats is consistently warm in the face/head. Me and my mom are trying to give him kid's benadrill, but between me not being upstairs 24hrs a day and my mom being almost immobile, it is rather difficult. The cat doesn't take it without a fight. And my lack of I/hand coordination is almost epic.
I'm getting a $20 Amazon gift card from Valued Opinions, once the pending "rewards" for two surveys I took a couple days ago finally POST. I also have two Swagbucks rewards - $5 Amazon gift cards - coming within the next week, and MyPoints supposedly mailed me a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card a few days ago, and using ABC Gift Cards' service, I can sell the B&N GC and get an $8.19 Amazon gift card, so once I tally it all up, I'll have plenty of ability to do some serious small time shopping. That's $38.19 !!!! If I bought a bunch of old used CDs from the Amazon Marketplace, that could be 8 CDs - !!
Or I could spend it all at once and have a blu ray player...which would be useless to me as I do not have an HDTV...I already got all stupid and jumped down a seller's throat for saying a used 2 CD set was "obviously" never played - I took that to mean that the seller assumed a perfect LOOKING CD was an obvious sign of un-use, which some people probably think is true...like people who throw their CDs into the CD player and then slam them into the jewel case and then play Frisbe with 'em during sunset. The seller them replied - rather politely - that the CDs were accumulated from some crazy rich dude who bought CDs and never used them except to make pizza boxes or something...idk...I have a copy of their email as a reminder not to break my promise, which I know I shouldn't have made, but, even if I don't like The Doors, you gotta hand it to them for being so wildly popular; it's not easy to become a 60 year old cult hero with no signs of slowing down. And Rhino supposedly outdid all previous attempts to make a "best of" collection of The Doors by the CD - it's titled LEGACY: THE ABSOLUTE BEST OF THE DOORS. It's $11.94 from that seller once S&H is factored in. I personally don't like The Doors well enough to say how much of an improvement LEGACY is over the other Best Of Doors, The CDs out there, I haven't even gotten past track 6, if I ever got that far even...
speaking of wildly famous, The Kinks are better than The Beatles. The Beatles got all kinds of rabid wonder from people for sounding middle-eastern/exotic on "Norweigion Wood" (sp?), but "See My Friends" from KINDA KINKS (their second album from 1965) pre-dated "Norwegion Wood" (sp?) by at least a year. And The Beach Boys' PET SOUNDS was a huge inspiration to The Beatles when recroding SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HARTS CLUB BAND, which IS NOT a concept album and does not have any TRAITS OF a concept album and to SAY that IT IS a concept album is to relish in evil. If you don't know what you're talking about, SHUT UP! If you do know what you're talking, then quit saying SGT. PEPPERS' is a concept album. Either that or find some proof that it is. I surely can't find any. Unless you wanna create your own definition of concept album out of thin air...or maybe I should say "thick and smelly" air?
BTW, I acknowledge that some of the things I said in my last post were probably inspired by paranoia rather than the truth. My feelings are what they are though. They were what they were and the past is what it is. (sorry)
Monday, August 19, 2013
demons...a lack of depth...
People can so easily slip into thinking "What's wrong with that?"
You can apply that question to every wrong thing a human being can do. With God more prevelent in the world, it was more obvious what the answer was. People didn't feel the need to ask. People just knew. I know that doing right feels good. I can't explain to anyone why or how. People know this sensation somewhere inside of them, like a woman who has a child and instinctively devotes her life to it, the instinct to feel glory upon the face of good is buried somewhere deep in mankind.
The more people rhetorically ask "What's wrong with that?", the more theft and murder will become commonplace.
We have a pretty bleak future ahead of us. Social Security/welfare & Medicare/Medicaid is slated to be depleted by 2025, give or take a couple years, and Republicans are too spiteful of the poor and under-priveledged be trusted with making any changes to the programs, and Democrats are too self centered to risk losing an election by worrying the elderly and disabled with what might happen to them over any changes that might be made.
Also, the federal deficit is way too freakin' high. When it all crashes down, it'll be unlikely that public opinion would approve of a person such as myself living off of welfare, considering that I'm not bound to a wheelchair or blind or anything obvious like that. And I am lazy, so in a court of law, it'd be hard to make the case that I need the tax payers to pay for me to live.
Also, there's a disturbing trend in banking. I was reading somewhere that hundres of thousands of people have been unable to open a new checking account because of occasional overdrafts and minor things like that. The more burdend the gov't becomes with doing as little as possible with the least amount of money, the less oversight will be given to things like banks being "too" greedy. So I'd be the perfect target for a burglar wanting to steal money from, since there's no encryption, no FDIC, no safeguards at all. Anyone who can pick a lock can come inside, shoot me dead, and figure out where my money is, take it, and if somebody calls 911, the police will probably be unable to locate the thief, having had to deal with 3 other similar calls prior to stopping by my place. And that's if the police even give a darn. The gov't might beef up the police forces, or they might slim 'em down.
My sister is depressed as all get out and she refuses to do anything about it. Pisses me off. My uncle bought a Orchid and put it in front of his fan. My mom told him he needs to move it if there's any chance of it surviving b/c drafts = dead orchids. And then he just left it sitting there. Granted, my uncle wasting money is nothing new, but my sister is practically bleeding and she knows there's solutions and she refuses. I don't get it. Perhaps she's against the entire medical profession? She keeps referring to the word "pill" like it's some evil thing. If she ever gets her foot sawed off while chopping vegitables or doing whatever around the house, and she can be convinced to have surgery to re-connect the foot... maybe she'll forgo anesthesia?
I tried talking to her about it and she just wrote it off as "preaching". I told her I'm done trying to keep her from drowning in her own urine. Hope she hasn't jumped off a bridge or some stupid thing. She drifted away from her husband b/c her husband is an apathetic/self-centered POS and she feels guilty as all get out b/c she's doing what's best for her instead of keeping herself chained to him. I guess she wouldn't 86 herself over something I said, since I'm not God. There's no passage about medicine in The Bible, so she's not beating herself up over having excessively morose thoughts and feelings. She uses plastic and poisons the air with her KIA Soul so she can have a comfy place to live and an assortment of food of her choosing, food and housing which was not entirely made by God, all of which she does without God's help, save for the nightly prayer maybe. But PILLS, o no! I guess she's afraid she'll fit in too well with me and Mom. She and my mom both act like I'm some abomination of the species, trying very patiently to treat me with respect, which has become more like a habit, but sometimes still requires effort. I'm constantly accused of asking too many questions and talking nonstop. I suppose that's something I should work on. I think my mom has pretty much outgrown her disdain of me, which is probably b/c I'm no longer a teenager or a hyper-active 5 year old, but she said one time she was proud that she medicated me in my younger years, which I don't quite get, since she did propose the idea that my lack of emotion is probably due to my many years of taking my medicine. So I'm numb, but that's OK b/c I got through high school. I'm not even sure the gov't would allow me to live on SSI if I weren't taking medication for my illness, so it works out, but I still think it's sort of a catch-22. I spent much of my teen years with the feeling that my mom and my sister were orderlies at a mental institution ready to hire orderlies at a mental institution to take me in if I got out of step, which was sorta true; my sister always sided with her. My sister says that's why my mom is angry with me all the time; b/c I don't agree with every little thing my mom says. My sister was always either saying stuff that was outright stupid like she was competing for The Darwin Awards, or she would say something downright evil in response to something I said. One time she told me "all you care about is yourself" - word for word quote from something my mom said more than a couple times - and I had no defense except to give her a list of my good deeds, which she would say proves her right anyway. And since I was like 14 at the time, what was my list of good deeds? I didn't spend 7 hours at school so I could come home and fill the ice trays, help mom put on her socks, and do random things like that. I did what any teenager does - sit in my room and listen to music. Another time my sister spewed off some long frustrated nonsense about how pairing 2 or 3 commonly accepted truths alongside some total b.s. should be enough to convince me that said total b.s. is True. She said the fact that I wasn't convinced by that tactic was strong evidence of me being crazy or stupid or something absurd and insulting like that. But if I had bashed her head in...well, that would be punishable by death, but a damhard suckerpunch would still have landed me in a mental institution for several years. Never would my mom have conceded that the bitch had it coming. And of course I still don't have eloquent speech prowess necessary to confront the whimsy of a snotnose brat like the one my sister used to be. It's no wonder either. The eloquent sound minds of this world wouldn't be caught dead around me and my fellow hillbillies.
I probably wasn't fair to my sister though. She eventually did become an "actual" teenager, but she was only 12 when we were relieved of the living situation we were in back in California. She wasn't a "real" teenager until 2.5 years later, and I guess I was ahead of myself even when I was 14. I don't remember being 14 and being happily doped on stupid pills. I remember I had an unrealistic view of sex. I was under the impression I was capable and worthy of having an attractive girlfriend, primarily. I was always thought the only thing standing in my way was the fact that I couldn't sneak out at night b/c my mom would hear me and send me away to a grouphome as a runaway. I know now that for a crazy mumbling redneck like myself I am deceptively good looking, and that there's more to a strong relationship than how long a daydream about a particular girl lasts, a truth I spent most, if not all, of my teen years in absence of.
idk. I think my sister did smarten up quite a bit around the age of 15. Of course, by then I was well into my teen years and wasn't considering how young either of us really were. I still can't believe in 9th grade I parroted my mom on her statement regarding Bill Clinton's purged testimony; "He's a guy! Guys lie about their sex lives!" Maybe I was doped on stupid pills. Nobody ever called me on it at the time...
You can apply that question to every wrong thing a human being can do. With God more prevelent in the world, it was more obvious what the answer was. People didn't feel the need to ask. People just knew. I know that doing right feels good. I can't explain to anyone why or how. People know this sensation somewhere inside of them, like a woman who has a child and instinctively devotes her life to it, the instinct to feel glory upon the face of good is buried somewhere deep in mankind.
The more people rhetorically ask "What's wrong with that?", the more theft and murder will become commonplace.
We have a pretty bleak future ahead of us. Social Security/welfare & Medicare/Medicaid is slated to be depleted by 2025, give or take a couple years, and Republicans are too spiteful of the poor and under-priveledged be trusted with making any changes to the programs, and Democrats are too self centered to risk losing an election by worrying the elderly and disabled with what might happen to them over any changes that might be made.
Also, the federal deficit is way too freakin' high. When it all crashes down, it'll be unlikely that public opinion would approve of a person such as myself living off of welfare, considering that I'm not bound to a wheelchair or blind or anything obvious like that. And I am lazy, so in a court of law, it'd be hard to make the case that I need the tax payers to pay for me to live.
Also, there's a disturbing trend in banking. I was reading somewhere that hundres of thousands of people have been unable to open a new checking account because of occasional overdrafts and minor things like that. The more burdend the gov't becomes with doing as little as possible with the least amount of money, the less oversight will be given to things like banks being "too" greedy. So I'd be the perfect target for a burglar wanting to steal money from, since there's no encryption, no FDIC, no safeguards at all. Anyone who can pick a lock can come inside, shoot me dead, and figure out where my money is, take it, and if somebody calls 911, the police will probably be unable to locate the thief, having had to deal with 3 other similar calls prior to stopping by my place. And that's if the police even give a darn. The gov't might beef up the police forces, or they might slim 'em down.
My sister is depressed as all get out and she refuses to do anything about it. Pisses me off. My uncle bought a Orchid and put it in front of his fan. My mom told him he needs to move it if there's any chance of it surviving b/c drafts = dead orchids. And then he just left it sitting there. Granted, my uncle wasting money is nothing new, but my sister is practically bleeding and she knows there's solutions and she refuses. I don't get it. Perhaps she's against the entire medical profession? She keeps referring to the word "pill" like it's some evil thing. If she ever gets her foot sawed off while chopping vegitables or doing whatever around the house, and she can be convinced to have surgery to re-connect the foot... maybe she'll forgo anesthesia?
I tried talking to her about it and she just wrote it off as "preaching". I told her I'm done trying to keep her from drowning in her own urine. Hope she hasn't jumped off a bridge or some stupid thing. She drifted away from her husband b/c her husband is an apathetic/self-centered POS and she feels guilty as all get out b/c she's doing what's best for her instead of keeping herself chained to him. I guess she wouldn't 86 herself over something I said, since I'm not God. There's no passage about medicine in The Bible, so she's not beating herself up over having excessively morose thoughts and feelings. She uses plastic and poisons the air with her KIA Soul so she can have a comfy place to live and an assortment of food of her choosing, food and housing which was not entirely made by God, all of which she does without God's help, save for the nightly prayer maybe. But PILLS, o no! I guess she's afraid she'll fit in too well with me and Mom. She and my mom both act like I'm some abomination of the species, trying very patiently to treat me with respect, which has become more like a habit, but sometimes still requires effort. I'm constantly accused of asking too many questions and talking nonstop. I suppose that's something I should work on. I think my mom has pretty much outgrown her disdain of me, which is probably b/c I'm no longer a teenager or a hyper-active 5 year old, but she said one time she was proud that she medicated me in my younger years, which I don't quite get, since she did propose the idea that my lack of emotion is probably due to my many years of taking my medicine. So I'm numb, but that's OK b/c I got through high school. I'm not even sure the gov't would allow me to live on SSI if I weren't taking medication for my illness, so it works out, but I still think it's sort of a catch-22. I spent much of my teen years with the feeling that my mom and my sister were orderlies at a mental institution ready to hire orderlies at a mental institution to take me in if I got out of step, which was sorta true; my sister always sided with her. My sister says that's why my mom is angry with me all the time; b/c I don't agree with every little thing my mom says. My sister was always either saying stuff that was outright stupid like she was competing for The Darwin Awards, or she would say something downright evil in response to something I said. One time she told me "all you care about is yourself" - word for word quote from something my mom said more than a couple times - and I had no defense except to give her a list of my good deeds, which she would say proves her right anyway. And since I was like 14 at the time, what was my list of good deeds? I didn't spend 7 hours at school so I could come home and fill the ice trays, help mom put on her socks, and do random things like that. I did what any teenager does - sit in my room and listen to music. Another time my sister spewed off some long frustrated nonsense about how pairing 2 or 3 commonly accepted truths alongside some total b.s. should be enough to convince me that said total b.s. is True. She said the fact that I wasn't convinced by that tactic was strong evidence of me being crazy or stupid or something absurd and insulting like that. But if I had bashed her head in...well, that would be punishable by death, but a damhard suckerpunch would still have landed me in a mental institution for several years. Never would my mom have conceded that the bitch had it coming. And of course I still don't have eloquent speech prowess necessary to confront the whimsy of a snotnose brat like the one my sister used to be. It's no wonder either. The eloquent sound minds of this world wouldn't be caught dead around me and my fellow hillbillies.
I probably wasn't fair to my sister though. She eventually did become an "actual" teenager, but she was only 12 when we were relieved of the living situation we were in back in California. She wasn't a "real" teenager until 2.5 years later, and I guess I was ahead of myself even when I was 14. I don't remember being 14 and being happily doped on stupid pills. I remember I had an unrealistic view of sex. I was under the impression I was capable and worthy of having an attractive girlfriend, primarily. I was always thought the only thing standing in my way was the fact that I couldn't sneak out at night b/c my mom would hear me and send me away to a grouphome as a runaway. I know now that for a crazy mumbling redneck like myself I am deceptively good looking, and that there's more to a strong relationship than how long a daydream about a particular girl lasts, a truth I spent most, if not all, of my teen years in absence of.
idk. I think my sister did smarten up quite a bit around the age of 15. Of course, by then I was well into my teen years and wasn't considering how young either of us really were. I still can't believe in 9th grade I parroted my mom on her statement regarding Bill Clinton's purged testimony; "He's a guy! Guys lie about their sex lives!" Maybe I was doped on stupid pills. Nobody ever called me on it at the time...
Saturday, August 10, 2013
THE 1980'S - IN PICTURES [selected]
Is it me or did the sky in 1987 look different?
Maybe it's because I no longer live in California, near the ocean...
Maybe it's just me...all grown up and feeling rather bitter about my current set of circumstances, much like I did back in 1998, 1996, 1994, and 1992......
In the immortal words of Cinderella, "You don't know what you got 'til it's gone"
I saw a preview for STARMAN (1985) at the very very end of a cable-TV recording of GHOSTBUSTERS (after the credits ended) that my Grampa Bill (R.I.P. circa 1996) gave to me as a Xmas/New Year's gift along with GHOSTBUSTERS II (also ripped from cable, although half the credits for that one were missing 'cause he cut the recording too soon!!). For some reason, I didn't see this, or the other previews included on the tape, until I was living with my mom's boyfriend circa 1995-1996. At this time, my nostalgia for all things '80's was in full bloom and I would always savor the chance to spend time looking at the video cover-art for movies, primarily at a local video store called Video To Go. I didn't actually see STARMAN until around 1999 or 2000, and I was thoroughly entertained by it. I was watching it on Netflix streaming a couple or so years ago on my mom's Wii and found myself breathless over the saturation of 80's-ness. It's almost like the '80's was more than fashion and trend, like it was a momentary celebration of life through vibrant colors and sound. I really never understood fashion or trends. For all I know, the fashionable trend WAS to celebrate life and people generally understood that vibrancy was the way to go? I guess I'd have to travel back in time and ask Gena Davis or maybe Michael J. Fox...I'm not sure if they or any other mall rat of days past so long ago could give me a straight answer in the present day...
I also remember drooling over the different cover-art designs of 'yore', while at the mall or The Wherehouse.
IDK why this cover fascinated me so much. But I could spend hours looking at.
Maybe it's because I no longer live in California, near the ocean...
Maybe it's just me...all grown up and feeling rather bitter about my current set of circumstances, much like I did back in 1998, 1996, 1994, and 1992......
In the immortal words of Cinderella, "You don't know what you got 'til it's gone"
IDK why this cover fascinated me so much. But I could spend hours looking at.
And this one here is probably the freakiest Aerosmith cover-art ever. It's like it's trying to make a statement that can be interpreted in a multitude of ways...It reminds me a lot of the Peter Gabriel era Genesis cover-art designs, which I also looked upon with freaky wonder.
No need to pick a freakiest Genesis cover - art. They all had this freaky Mad Hatter design on the vinyl editions.
The middle of nowhere is freaky enough as it is without magnifying it and putting dancing turtles in the midst of it.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
spoke too soon...
Spent 4 days patting myself on the back over the 53 squats I did on July 31. As of yesterday - I am back. Did 20 squats. Today I did 40. Yee. Ya.
Oh, Sony; let me count the ways...
All 698 of them...
I cannot believe people bought this thing and they can't even use it because it's not compatatible with any of Sony's TVs, 4K or otherwise. But you MUST have a SONY TV, not just any 4K TV, in order to have even a shot at using this thing. When I say "a shot", I mean if Sony gets their stuff together and follows through with delivering the service that inspired this gadget - 4K streaming?...not sure what exactly this thing does.....one reviewer on Amazon compared this to BETAMAX, a format Sony put out to compete with VHS that was actually better quality than DVD but because Sony put it out and let it fall randomly, i.e.: with very little advertising or promotion, VHS won the format war.
Now THIS is an intriguing - to say the least - little gagdget. It's $800. Fug! You can't even watch a full length movie without denting your forehead. Standing up requires 10 minute breaks every half hour, and laying down you can cut that into two breaks equally disbursed over a two hour film. What the frag?
Feel free to browse Amazon.com's extensive range of items made by Sony that cost a boatload of money and aren't even fully developed.
I cannot believe people bought this thing and they can't even use it because it's not compatatible with any of Sony's TVs, 4K or otherwise. But you MUST have a SONY TV, not just any 4K TV, in order to have even a shot at using this thing. When I say "a shot", I mean if Sony gets their stuff together and follows through with delivering the service that inspired this gadget - 4K streaming?...not sure what exactly this thing does.....one reviewer on Amazon compared this to BETAMAX, a format Sony put out to compete with VHS that was actually better quality than DVD but because Sony put it out and let it fall randomly, i.e.: with very little advertising or promotion, VHS won the format war.
Now THIS is an intriguing - to say the least - little gagdget. It's $800. Fug! You can't even watch a full length movie without denting your forehead. Standing up requires 10 minute breaks every half hour, and laying down you can cut that into two breaks equally disbursed over a two hour film. What the frag?
Feel free to browse Amazon.com's extensive range of items made by Sony that cost a boatload of money and aren't even fully developed.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
53; been waiting for this moment...
Did 53 "air squats". I'd been working toward this for the past few or so days. One day I came close to 50. Then I went back down to 20 or so the next day. And I did like 30 the day after that; I have a notebook documenting all of this, I'm too stuck to my music & the chair I'm sitting in to take off my headphones and go look. rrg...
My house-call therapist (she's actually called a "CRPC" worker, and I have no idea what CRPC stands for; it might actually be CPRC, can't ever keep it straight in my head) was advising me that I've become a master of walking and that I'm probably not losing any more weight b/c I'm not challenging myself. I've been taking her up on her advise to do squats, but I kinda suddenly realized over the last couple or so days that I'm STILL not challening myself; 53 squats is really not that much. I know this b/c I've done 48 squats in the past not too long ago and I wasn't sore the next day. I need to push myself. I should probably do 20 more squats later tonight supposing I don't flop on the bed and fall asleep in the next hour or so.
I get $ tomorrow. The household cleaning supplies are all low; trash bags, toilet paper, dish soap...and a # of other things...all totalling apprx $150. We only have about $50 budgeted each month for household cleaning supplies. I'm chipping in some of my $125 that I allotted myself for stuff I don't need to be buying. $40 of that I'm voluntarily paying toward my sister's mortgage, so that the house will have a lesser chance of being forclosed when the economy bottoms out. I should probably be paying closer to $60 or $70, but I'm not sure even $125 extra would keep it from happening. Me, my mom and sis might be stuck in a 2 bedroom apartment with whatever husband or boyfriend my sister has at that time. My sister seems confident that she can hold down a job in any economy because she's highly skilled AND she's not too lazy or stuck up to pick apples or whatever...I'm almost as sure as she is that she can find something to do. The hard thing will be going without the ability to eat whenever I feel like it; that's after my medication withdrawl occurs; here's hoping I don't drive everybody to Bellvue and back hahaha...
My house-call therapist (she's actually called a "CRPC" worker, and I have no idea what CRPC stands for; it might actually be CPRC, can't ever keep it straight in my head) was advising me that I've become a master of walking and that I'm probably not losing any more weight b/c I'm not challenging myself. I've been taking her up on her advise to do squats, but I kinda suddenly realized over the last couple or so days that I'm STILL not challening myself; 53 squats is really not that much. I know this b/c I've done 48 squats in the past not too long ago and I wasn't sore the next day. I need to push myself. I should probably do 20 more squats later tonight supposing I don't flop on the bed and fall asleep in the next hour or so.
I get $ tomorrow. The household cleaning supplies are all low; trash bags, toilet paper, dish soap...and a # of other things...all totalling apprx $150. We only have about $50 budgeted each month for household cleaning supplies. I'm chipping in some of my $125 that I allotted myself for stuff I don't need to be buying. $40 of that I'm voluntarily paying toward my sister's mortgage, so that the house will have a lesser chance of being forclosed when the economy bottoms out. I should probably be paying closer to $60 or $70, but I'm not sure even $125 extra would keep it from happening. Me, my mom and sis might be stuck in a 2 bedroom apartment with whatever husband or boyfriend my sister has at that time. My sister seems confident that she can hold down a job in any economy because she's highly skilled AND she's not too lazy or stuck up to pick apples or whatever...I'm almost as sure as she is that she can find something to do. The hard thing will be going without the ability to eat whenever I feel like it; that's after my medication withdrawl occurs; here's hoping I don't drive everybody to Bellvue and back hahaha...
Friday, July 26, 2013
This Is Animal Music
This guy on Amazon was saying that 80% of the music buying public might need to listen to Look Mexico's THIS IS ANIMAL MUSIC half a dozen times before they "get" it. I was thinking he was directing that to all who read his post, but then I realized even though I'm not exactly an "indie" music lover, I'm still not the aforementioned "casual" listener; I always actually LISTEN to music when I have it around me. Look Mexico's off-kilter rythms don't shock me as I've been listening to Oingo Boingo since my dad bought SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET a year or so before he left his family behind in late 1990, although it wasn't until around 1994 when he mailed me his 'Boingo CD for me to have that I started listening to it constantly and on my own time (I loved the cover-art and couldn't afford to pay what it was going for at music stores at that time). I also grew up listening to INVISIBLE TOUCH by Genesis, which 70's prog-rock enthusiasts often consider generic or whatever, but compared to most other pop music, then & now, it's actually quite off-kilter and unorthodox in structure, although pop music prior to 1987 when NKOTB, Bobbie Brown, Debbie Gibson and Tiffany started dominating the charts was quite often playful and quirky ("Take On Me" by A-Ha and "Down Under" by Men At Work come to mind). The only time I ever needed to listen to something half a dozen+ times to appreciate/get it is if the music is unpleasant, i.e.: the intro to "Bendy" from Hidden In Plain View's RESOLUTION and the first 20 or so seconds of "Darkness" from UP by Peter Gabriel. I still don't like Sunny Day Real Estate's DIARY despite having it on as background music while I type out my budget and browse for items I think I might buy etc....There were a few times I thoroughly enjoyed The Get Up Kids' SOMETHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT, but the last time that happened was like three years ago...and I've always taken issue with the singer's voice. I think the only times I ever warmed up to an album was when I was discovering pop-punk and emo, most notably TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS by Taking Back Sunday; I'd heard "Great Romances Of The 20th Century", and loved it and was kind of put off by the rest of the album, but there were bits and pieces that I remembered even after my initial sour impression of the album.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
SHIPMENT ACCEPTED - ESTIMATED DELIVERY 7/29
'bout freakin' time. (see post immediately below for context).
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Ghostbusters Chain wallet
I bought the Ghostbusters chain wallet that I was whining about in my last post...the seller, goHastings (dot coooomme!), notified me on Sunday, the 21st, at 4:40am that the item had shipped, and USPS finally, on the 22nd, updated the tracking to reflect that the tracking # is valid, but not that they've received the package or where the package is, if anywhere. When I contacted goHastings, they said the item shipped on the 19th, which was the purchase date and preceeds the shipment-notification email by over 1.5 days and the USPS' acknowledgment of the package by 2+ days. They also said at the very latest I should expect the package to arrive by August 2nd. Hopefully they'll refund the entire payment not just the "item" price (the money I put toward the "item" is actually money that goes to their employees, the manufacturer of the item, and the various other costs associated with goHastings' retail outfit; the shipping cost I paid, while tradionally differentiated from the other expenses a business has to consider, is not any different than the money they pay their employees; if I quality for a refund, do they take money out of their employees checks? No. Does the manufacturer get penalized whenever a refund is issued? No. And the USPS states on all their receipts that no refunds are given for uninsured postage. So why do sellers provide refunds for items and keep the s&h money? The World May Never Know). But if they don't, I'll be sure to let Amazon know if they try to pull that BS; I'm sure glad I bought it from Amazon instead of goHastings directly via their website. Amazon has my back. They've come through for me so many times its almost insane.
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