HD

I guess I haven't told you all (whoever "you all" is, if anyone...) that for the last week or more I've been seriously delving into various websites, trying to figure out what the best HDTV available to buy is - within my budget, that is. I went to Amazon, looked around at WalMart, Sam's Club (my mom's a member and she brings me with her sometimes, although I don't buy a lot there...), and some other stores, but just a couple days ago I found the ULTIMATE deal at - get this - BestBuy dot com! It's a Dynex 26" and the only thing bad about it is it requires an "HD antenna" (??) to receive broadcast television...idk, I guess they're all like that, so maybe that isn't a "bad thing"...idk...but it looks good, it's not all bulky and cadywampus (sp?) shaped like the old fashioned TVs (don't get me started on how DUMB just about everything pertaining to the old fashioned TVs was; the shape of the screen, the shape of the back, the SIZE of the back...need I say more?...) AND it's "HD", which really doesn't mean a whole lot to me, maybe it will when/ifI ever get a Blu-Ray player...GHOSTBUSTERS actually looks noticeaby worse on this new TV I have, whereas it looked like a film from the late 90's on my old TV...but I really don't need all my movies to look all glossy; if you ask me, that's what's wrong with 99% of horror films these days...at least partly; the MAIN problem with today's horror movies is they don't TRY to be scary, except to those who are easily scared. They try to be funny, hip, conventional, ANYTHING but nightmare inducing shreikfests that people under 17 ACTUALLY SHOULD NOT see...most "R rated" films aren't really that bad for viewers under 17, unless they're like 6 years old or whatever; by the time a child gets to be 13 or thereabout, most "kids" are able to watch R rated movies, provided parents are there to guide their children through them...the MPAA stamps the "R" rating on movies that Christian fanatics don't even believe should be legal. The children are just used as an excuse to bypass the "freedom of speech" aspect of the constitution...
But anyway...I feel much better now...well, I still feel the same, but in a different way...idk...I haven't posted any reviews of my purchase, because I haven't even had it for a day! What if it breaks down in 4 months or so? Or 3 days? Or 1 month? Na, I'm gonna write an INFORMATIVE review...this blog is where I shall bask in the glow of having my VERY FIRST HDTV, something I've been wanting to achieve for about 5+ years now...

my inner bookshelf...

I failed to take my pills yesterday. I just kept putting it off and I was gone for half the day, asleep for most of the other half. I took them around 8am today, and I felt weird for a few hours afterward. I know the fact that I've been doing much better at remembering to take them makes not taking them show the "may cause"s more evident, but I've been doing better for over a year now, and this doesn't happen, at least not very often. So I wonder if the fact that yesterday was the last day of the week and today is the beginning of a new one has some impact on the impact of the medicine side effect(s). I mean, I don't know much about why days are how long they are and why a week has the amount of days it has and so on and so forth...but at least part of it is astrological, and astrology is very important to how the Earth functions and how the Earth functions (i.e.: weather) seems to have quite a lot of impact on a human's brain. It's intriguing to think about, 'cause I'm usually not very interested in astrology...

NOT ANOTHER LIST!

this is my Genesis "Anthology" track list; I'd hurry up and make it a CD-R, but my CD/DVD drive on my computer is messed up.

DISC 1
Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
Land of Confusion
Mama
Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea (Live from THE WAY WE WALK)
Hold On My Heart (Live from THE WAY WE WALK)
Dodo (Live from THREE SIDES LIVE)
Abacab (Live from THREE SIDES LIVE)
Man On The Corner
Turn It On Again
Duke’s Travels
Never A Time

DISC 2
Robbery, Assault & Battery (Live from SECONDS OUT)
Firth of Fifth (Live from SECONDS OUT)
Supper’s Ready (Live from SECONDS OUT)
The Cinema Show (Live from SECONDS OUT)
No Son of Mine
Throwing It All Away (Live from LIVE OVER EUROPE)
Taking It All Too Hard
Follow You, Follow Me

WHEN WAYNE & GARTH WERE COOL

My mom had a "boyfriend", who she, as well as me and my sister, lived with for a couple of years and he had a daughter (from before he even knew my mom) named Monica, who, believe it or not, seemed to think she was the epitome of "cool"; she was stuck in the days of hair metal and was also "hip" on the new stuff, which at the time was stuff like Collective Soul, Bush, Green Day etc.;...
But it is strange how people talk like grunge music replaced hair metal overnight, when, really, there were a couple of years there where bands like Slaughter, Guns N' Roses and KISS were still kings of the mountain(s), selling records and doing fairly well on the charts. I'd say this phase of pop culture lasted until about 1993, maybe '92.

Here's a playlist for those days from 1984, when Van Halen introduced rock to the world and 1992, when KISS, Bill & Ted sang farewell to the old and hello to...a million Nirvana copycats...

Walk of Life - Dire Straits
Animal - Def Leppard
I’ll Wait - Van Halen
Don’t Come Around Here No More - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Janie’s Got A Gun - Aerosmith
Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) - Motley Crue
Monkey Business - Skid Row
You Could Be Mine - Guns N’ Roses
Cats In The Cradle - Ugly Kid Joe
Under The Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Jane Says - Jane’s Addiction
Feed My Frankenstein - Alice Cooper
God Gave Rock N’ Roll To You II - KISS
Wild Wild West - The Escape Club
Stand - R.E.M.

B&N SUX

I hate Barnes & Noble. There's this dude that works at the music department who I never liked a whole lot anyway, and I called B&N (the one in Cape Girardeau, for those of you possibly reading this who don't know where I live...) to find out if R.E.M. 1983 classic MURMUR was the same price as their website was selling it for. The front desk clerk was obviously exasperated with me 'cause she either didn't know what I was talking about or what I was saying, except when I said "it's a CD", then she transferred me to Mr. A-Dole who, after me stating my inquiry, said "just a minute" then hung up on me.
This dude has worked at Barnes & Noble for at least a few months, about as long as they've been open in their new location, and if B&N thinks he's that good, then F*** Barnes & Noble and their high prices and stuck up self/selves. I was going to buy a $25 membership in January, when I got enough money to do that, but this kind of behavior is just intolerable. I HAVE HAD ENOUGH. I'm not even going to use their "10% off coupon" that I got via email; I can get AT LEAST 10% off just about everything Amazon.com sells and if that wasn't enough reason to shop at Amazon, they also have great customer service.

always something

Man, I've written a lot of lists. I've written a few at least while I was unable to connect to the internet for a day and a half, but I don't see the point of posting them here; any list is incomplete by nature, unless you're dead already, since the future is ongoing and everchanging. New CDs come out every Tuesday, and I don't forsee becoming some old fart who complains about "today's music" anytime soon. Music has always been comprised of some good, a lot of b.s., and a small handful of truly special gifts. Of course, unlike a lot of people, I happen to have an actual opinion of music and a basis for it. It's not based on nostalgia or some ideological standpoint or what my friends think of it. If it moves me, it's good. A lot of people treat artists such as Bjork and Radiohead like they deserve some sort of award for being different, when their music does nothing for me, with the exception of a very small handful of songs. Artists like Nickelback and Fall Out Boy get awards and tons of sales (neither of which impress me or encourage me to buy their music, BTW) and they don't deserve it, although there's probably a bigger handful of their music that moves me, but that can be said of just about any pop-punk/anthem-making artist/band; their music may be good, but it's not GREAT(++).
My lists are mostly based on a mood or a theme anyway. It's difficult to think of even 5 CDS that I feel like I can't live w/o. If I put 1 or 2 on a list, then what's the point? I can't listen to both ALL THE TIME, I'd get bored and then I'd end up even more bitter than I already am. I can definitely think of at least 5 CDs that strongly moved me, but those are the kinds of CDS that moved me more b/c of my current circumstances at the time they happened to be there for me to listen to than the music it/them-selves.
And really, what's the point of having a "CD collection"? It's nothing more than a hobby. If I want music, there's always the radio, even though it offers a highly narrowed selection of music, especially in this town I'm living in. And, of course, INTERNET radio is free and highly available, unless I have my computer off for some reason...

20 is the new 11

My CD collection is now almost 20. I think I have like 16 or 17 in my entertainment center, and I have 2 more that should be arriving in the mail either today, tomorrow, or...sometime soon (hopefully!). I'm gonna wait until my entertainment center can't hold them anymore, then get a media tower-thingy, or a media shelf or whatever...I have a book shelf, but I'm thinking I should get rid of it. I'm not real into books, and I don't know where I would put the media shelf/tower/rack/whatever with that big ol' book shelf taking up the space it takes.

It's probably gonna be AT LEAST another month before I have that many CDs though. The first shelf of my entertainment center is a little over halfway full. I still have a 2nd shelf vacant. And, of course, I can put CDs behind other CDs, 'cause the shelves are even deeper than they are wide.

u-reak-uh!

("speak for yourself", you say. "I am", I say...anyway...).

Columbus Day, to some, is a celebration of this society's/country's origins. To others it is a condoning of many atrocities, including the rape of the Native American culture and its people. I'm one of the later, being of a bit of a cynic and non-conformist...

The holiday wouldn't bother me so much if it weren't a "national holiday", observed by our gov't and enforced by its offices and business partners (i.e.: the bank, health centers that receive gov't funding...).

But there lies the irony; the government (i.e.: Christopher Columbus) is not always right. The government makes mistakes, and, if we let them, they intentionally harm us, the general population.
Is that a good thing? Hell no. But it is a reality, which is why we have laws and which is why those laws are enforced. Bad people, or people who do bad things, will always exist. It is the government's job to, as best as possible, shield the public from these things, or at least condemn them by enforcing these laws with sometimes seemingly vengeance-like consequences.

THIS government is "of the people, by the people, and for the people". I've always argued that if the people of the U.S.A. want communism, they should have it. Likewise, if they want to let the Muslin Extremists take over this country, so be it. However, I don't think the MAJORITY (even half, really) of this country would stand for Muslin Extremists taking over our culture. However, one could argue, that's exactly what the Native Americans did. However, such an argument would be rather weak by itself, since much of the fall of the Native American people was due to deceit (i.e.: spreading diseases...), which can be hard to detect...

The sad fact is we put so much trust and respect in our government, when most of us don't even know much of anything about our leaders. Most vote based on the candidate's Republican vs. Democrat status/label, in most cases w/o even listening to other side's case/plea. If one were running as a Democrat and wanted to lower taxes and better enforce the laws against sex offenders and murderers, the Republican-voter wouldn't even be aware of the aformentioned Democrat's stance.
And, I must admit, I don't know a whole lot about our candidates either, except 99% (or almost) are not running for the good of the country and they, more or less, have some shady business going on behind the public eye.
Even worse, despite how much trust we put in our government, most of us don't vote. I do, but most don't even bother. I heard one guy I used to go to high school with, saying he didn't/doesn't vote b/c there's too many things going on behind closed doors. I agree that is the truth, the little I know about the Bush presidents, J.F.K. (the president, not the film), and that justice who died a few years ago (was it Burger? I think this was around 2004 or 2005...) just reeks CONSPIRACY! And the L.A.P.D. practically brags about their corrupt existence.
BUT WHAT DOES ANYBODY DO ABOUT IT? We just let it happen. Many of us are too busy trying to rake in as many latest-and-greatest video games and toys for our children and the newest chic clothing for ourselves and all the up to date technology to look up the potential fate of this country. Being noble just isn't as important as being rich is it? But then again, I'm poor, so maybe I'm just jealous (I'm not really, I know I don't deserve a penny that you haven't already given me - I live 0n "welfare", FYI).

Anyway. I guess all I'm saying is that Columbus day IS important, b/c it gives us a "reason" (as if we need one anyway...) to reflect on the past and use its lessons to determine our future. Isn't that what every Holiday is about?

LET'S PUT THE "S" IN LIST!

CDs

1. Aerosmith - Big Ones
   
2. Aerosmith - Aerosmith's Greatest Hits
   
3. American Football - s/t
4. Armor For Sleep - Dream To Make Believe
5. Armor For Sleep - What To Do When You Are Dead
   
6. Blink 182 - s/t
7. Cold - Year of The Spider
   
8. Phil Collins - Both Sides
9. Phil Collins - ...But Seriously
   
10. Phil Collins - No Jacket Required
    
11. The Cure - Pornography
12. Finch - What It Is To Burn
13. The Fray - How To Save A Life
14. Genesis - s/t
15. Genesis - Abacab
16. Genesis - Duke
    
17. Genesis - Invisible Touch
18. Genesis - Live/The Way We Walk Volume One: The Shorts
19. Genesis - Live/The Way We Walk Volume Two: The Longs
20. Genesis - Seconds Out
21. Genesis - We Can't Dance
22. Gentle Giant - Acquiring The Taste
23. Gentle Giant - In A Glass House
24. Gentle Giant - Octopus
    
25. The Get Up Kids - Something To Write Home About
26. The Grateful Dead - American Beauty
27. Hidden In Plain View - Resolution
28. Whitney Houston - Whitney
29. Michael Jackson - Dangerous
30. Michael Jackson - Thriller
31. Judas Priest - Stained Class
32. Avril Lavigne - Let Go
33. Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm
34. Metallica - s/t
    
35. Metallica - ...And Justice For All
36. Metallica - Kill 'Em All
37. Metallica - Master of Puppets
38. Metallica - S&M
39. Nirvana - Incesticide
40. Nirvana - In Utero
41. Nirvana - Nevermind
    
42. Number One Fan - Compromises
43. Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear
44. Oingo Boingo - Skeletons In The Closet: The Best Of
45. R.E.M. - Murmur
46. R.E.M. - Reckoning
47. Saves The Day - Stay What You Are
48. Senses Fail - Let It Enfold You
    
49. Silverstein - When Broken Is Easily Fixed
50. Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends
51. Trespassers William - Different Stars
52. Trespassers William - Having
53. Trespassers William - The Natural Order of Things
54. Trespassers William - The Noble House Sessions
55. Virginwool- - Open Heart Surgery
56. "Weird Al" Yankovic - Even Worse
57. Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue
    

DVD/movies

1. Bringing Out The Dead
2. A Clockwork Orange
3. Eraserhead
   
4. Forrest Gump
5. Ghostbusters
6. Ghostbusters II
7. Henry: Portrait of A Serial Killer
   
8. Heathers
9. Heavenly Creatures
   
10. The Last Unicorn
11. L.I.E.
12. Lost Highway
    
13. Mysterious Skin
    
14. nowhere
    
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey
    

BOOKS

1. Dennis Cooper - Guide
2. Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park
3. Justin Evans - A Good And Happy Child
4. John Fowles - The Collector
   
5. Harper Lee - To Kill A Mockingbird
6. Don Shay - The Making of Ghostbusters
7. Various - Batman: Bloodstorm

MP3s/SONGS

CD-R#1: TEEN SPIRIT/GROWING UP

1. Thank U - Alanis Morissette
2. Torn - Natalie Imbruglia
3. Angel - Sarah McLachlan
4. Get What You Give - New Radicals
5. Flagpole Sitta - Harvey Danger
6. Real World - Matchbox 20
7. Eyes Wide Open - Goo Goo Dolls
8. Letting The Cables Sleep - Bush
9. 6 Underground - Sneaker Pimps
10. Everyday Is A Winding Road - Sheryl Crow
11. No Such Thing - John Mayer
12. The Game of Love - Santana Ft. Michelle Branch
13. Fat Lip - Sum 41
14. My First Trip To Mars - Atticus Fault
15. Life On A Chain - Pete Yorn
16. Last Defense - Year of The Rabbit
17. I Miss You - Blink 182

OOOH!

man, I'm so digging this Armor For Sleep WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARE DEAD (2005) CD. I've been listening to it all late morning and this afternoon thus far.

so, yeah, like I need anything that I don't already have...here's to shopping!

1. American Football - s/t
2. Armor For Sleep - Dream To Make Believe
3. Armor For Sleep - What To Do When You Are Dead
4. Peter Gabriel - Up
   
5. Genesis - Duke
6. Genesis - Invisible Touch
7. Genesis - Live/The Way We Walk Volume One: The Shorts
8. Genesis - Live/The Way We Walk Volume Two: The Longs
9. Genesis - We Can't Dance
10. Gentle Giant - Octopus
    
11. The Get Up Kids - Something To Write Home About
12. The Grateful Dead - Europe '72
    
13. The Grateful Dead - Two From The Vault
    
14. Hidden In Plain View - Resolution
15. Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm
16. Number One Fan - Compromises
17. Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear
18. Oingo Boingo - Skeletons In The Closet: The Best Of
19. Silverstein - When Broken Is Easily Fixed
    
20. A Skylit Drive - Wires & The Concept of Breathing
21. Trespassers William - Different Stars
22. Trespassers William - Having
23. Trespassers William - The Natural Order of Things E.P.
    
24. Trespassers William - The Noble House E.P./Sessions
25. Virginwool - Open Heart Surgery

PLAN D

well...my Deep Discount order was canceled.

so...idk...NOT HAPPY...don't feel like shopping...

ten CDS is plenty anyway...it's kinda nice to be back to having some $ again...but...I feel flat...calm...to the ground...ummmmmmmmmmmmmm....rgg...

(sigh)

TOTAL! TOTAL! TOTAL!

wow, I am now the coolest stuck-in-the-'70's dude in the town!

I just bought almost $50 worth of Grateful Dead CDs from Deep Discount (dot cooooom!) and signed up to some shopper discount thingy so I could $10 cash back on my NEXT order from DpDscnt.cooooooom! and then I ordered $18 MORE worth of stuff from them. I probably would steer clear of them, based on their poor-fair feedback on the Amazon Marketplace, except Microsoft has this cash back thing that gives 4% back on top of their already lower-than-Amazon prices...

so then I ordered the "next" order and got ANOTHER "cash back" offer (from a different company...), except I can't use it 'cause I don't have any more $...

at least I got 4 CDs (8 discs, one's a 4-CD set and ones a 2-CD set) of Grateful Dead comin' to me...well, at least I dang well hope...last I heard from Amazon, my card was having "difficulty" being processed, which usually means the $ that my sister transferred to it hasn't posted yet (she initiated the transfer from her bank acct to the card on the 30th)...hopefully they won't cancel everything...oh, yeah, my Microsoft cashback is over $2.50! cannot believe this!! of course, that won't be usable until probably March 'cause a) i have to have $5 to even ACCESS the cash-back and then b) it takes 60 days for each transaction to go from pending to non-pending (and i don't have the ability to buy double what I've already bought thus far...as I said b4...).

oh, and unless you count each individual disc as its own album/CD, I have/will-have, once the 4 albums ship and I rec' them, FOURTEEN CDs! I know, seems like I should have almost 20 by now, right? So much excitement!!

in a song...

SONGS

1. Thank U - Alanis Morissette
2. Torn - Natalie Imbruglia
3. Angel - Sarah McLachlan
4. Everyday Is A Winding Road - Sheryl Crow
5. Eyes Wide Open - Goo Goo Dolls
6. Real World - Matchbox 20
7. You Get What You Give - New Radicals
8. Letting the Cables Sleep - Bush
9. Until She Comes - The Psychedelic Furs
10. No Such Thing - John Mayer
11. The Game of Love - Santana Ft. Michelle Branch
12. My First Trip To Mars - Atticus Fault
13. Fat Lip - Sum 41
14. Life On A Chain - Pete Yorn
15. I Miss You - Blink 182

NEW

I just bought 4 CDs from Hastings

Armor For Sleep "what to do when you are dead"
Genesis "we can't dance"
Nirvana "Incesticide"
Silverstein "When Broken Is Easily Fixed"

the Silverstein one is HORRIDLY scratched, huge scratch running down...ugh...man...anyway...the Nirvana one was BRAND NEW, on sale for $5.99 (same price as Amazon!) although I ended up stacking a bag of groceries on top of it so the case is now cracked. The Genesis CD was only $1.99 and the Armor For Sleep CD was used at $7.49 which I think is a reasonable price for a CD as good as that one.

all together, it was less than $24, although I do intend to return the Silverstein one; which really sux 'cause I really looking forward to listening to it when I got home.

oh, yeah; dear mother also got me a couple CDs online over the weekend. Genesis DUKE and Judas Priest's STAINED CLASS (I'll be paying her back, not like she "gave" them to me or anything...).

so all together, I now have TEN CDs (counting the ones coming in the mail...). Would be 11, but dang it! My DVD/CD player MIGHT be capable of reading the Silverstein CD, but what about if I ever get a better sounding stereo system? Will the component(s) read the disc? Somewhere along the line I'm gonna be at least mildly annoyed by its (lack of?) presence and I don't really feel like ATTEMPTING to listen to a CD so obviously scratched when time and time again I have tried selling CDs to Hastings and they rejected them b/c of scratches way less noticable than this/that...

hopefully they won't give me any hassle over it...they have lousy customer service (see their feedback on Amazon under "gohastings").