coffee pot rises

got a replacement coffee pot, for $6 at WalMart.  If it breaks down in two months and the one year warranty doesn't pan out, it's still a fairly OK deal...

I'm eating bread again...not like I went that long w/o it...but...I was thinking I would stay away from it...don't think that's gonna work...

so...I ordered Cartel's CHROMA (the original Militia Records version) a few days ago.  It might arrive today, not sure why or if I care...I've owned that album, like, 5(?) times...at least three anyway...I guess I bought it 'cause i was thinking I loved it when I first heard it so it must be worth owning...which may or may not be true depending on what version of the future turns out to be THE future...as well as what ideology one were to go by...I'm starting to think owning albums I seldom listen to is a total waste of time/money...I should re-join eMusic...maybe not...I mean, I already bought most of the albums I like/love; once I do that what does it matter if I own it?  Sure it decreases the value if I don't keep it, but why does it even matter?  If CDs are truly on their way out, then MP3 downloads, which can't be legally redistributed, should take care of that issue, if it really is one.  Of course, it really comes down to the fact that people don't have enough money to have everything they want.  People can't accept that so they take instead of buy.  I'd say "FBI - fire away!" but I think the root of the problem is so widespread, it would be like Vietnam - a war one can't win.  I'm not immune to it, I've downloaded quite a bit in my time, although I got caught and was given a warning, so I don't do it anymore...it's just a matter of greed and selfishness.  Rich people of course don't have any price to pay for being greedy or selfish, but the middle class and poor have no choice but to either join a convent or commit a crime...or, ya know, try to rise above temptation in a world where everyone else is giving in without even questioning their actions...

"gotta problem with plumbing (gotta problem with plumbing...}"

I think I have two favorite songs - "Losing Your Memory" by Ryan Star and "Obscurity Knocks" by The Trashcan Sinatras.

Ok.  Well, coffee pot is broken.  The accompanying carafe is cracked and there might be some other (mechanical) problem...looks like me and/or Mom will need to buy a new one...thankfully we got FIVE Complete Savings checks a couple days ago in the mail...(that's $50 for those of you - whoever the heck you are - who aren't in the know...).

After budgeting how much food we'll need, I came to the conclusion that my mom must have been putting her neck out big time.  We've been going - I think - at least $30 over budget on food, maybe $50, although we have some misc. cash in the "household fund", I don't think we have THAT much, probably no more than $20...so that means my mom has been paying at least apprx $20 out of her own pocket to feed me and her (mostly me; she doesn't eat very much...).

So I'm gonna pay for the food in Sept.  I might do that again in October.  At some point hopefully we can split it evenly, or at least arrange it so I'm paying no more than 3/4 (maybe 2/3...I'd hope...) of the excess food budget.  Hopefully that'll happen sooner than later...but anyway...

I signed up to NetFlix for the first time in what feels like AGES on the 3rd of Sept.  By Friday I should have my FIFTH movie from them.  It'd be GREAT if I got a sixth one before the membership renews, but I'm not counting on it...well, maybe I am but I'm trying to be modest about it, idk...

I think it might make more sense to get computer speakers of a higher caliber, or hi-fi headphones rather than a receiver and speakers etc....I mean, how many CDs do I actually own?  Right now I have five, and I plan/hope to get maybe 2 or 3 more...there's some music items I think I might want to buy, but I doubt I'd keep them...most of the music I listen to is "indie" music, which isn't recorded with the kind of concern that "major" label music is.  So I'm not sure my listening gear needs to be so strict...I like how receivers and CD players look.  I don't know what it is, I guess I have fond memories of that kind of stuff...my father had a lot of high end audio gear.  He's been gone since I turned 7, I last saw him in person when I was like 12 or so...but I probably remember a bit more from my pre-K-garden days than most people do...I remember how impressed I was by seeing the CD tray open and hearing the creaking guitar sound of Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters" (my dad used to have the soundtrack).  It's been a LONG time since I felt that kind of deep excitement by hearing that sound.  Most of the time I barely notice it, except after the opening scene in GHOSTBUSTERS II, where I think they slightly modified it to have a bit more of a creepiness to it.  I swear, it sounded like a ghost was laughing in a really demonic way when Dana was picking up her baby and that white swoosh that pieced together to form the GB2 no-ghost insignia was appearing...of course, a lot of you (and by "you" I mean everybody in the planet in general, which I guess means "nobody") probably don't know what I'm talking about b/c you just saw it one time in theaters back in 1989 and don't even remember 20 minutes of the movie...which I guess is understandable.  GB2 probably isn't worth the number of viewings I gave it when I was younger and got older...it's got a hold of me though; the feelings it inspired in me have not been duplicated by any other film.  It had a unique combination of good intentions and a surreal kind of 2am-half-awake-why-is-everything-glowing kind of creepiness to it.  I remember being about 6 years old and watching that scene with the Statue Of Liberty walking through the ocean with only the crown sticking above water, and Bill Murray referenced some advertising icon from the time period that was used to sell vegetables (I don't think "The Jolly Green Giant" appears in the ads anymore, does he?) and the water was all lit up by the New York nightlife and New Year's festivities.  MAN life used to be intense!  That scene was especially cool when viewed in the dark.

dumpweed redux

There's this piece of Blink 182's "Dumpweed" (opening track from ENEMA OF THE STATE) that kinda sounds (IMO.?) like circus music sped up...it seems like someone at some point made a song that focuses mainly on that portion and did it with synths but I can't for the life of me remember/figure out what song that was or how to find it...maybe I dreamt it...sux b/c I don't know how to play the synthesizer (although if I tried I'd probably fair better at that than the guitar...) and I don't know anyone who does play synth...if I did, I could maybe relay my dreams and get them to come true...oh well...

madness! MA-HA-HA-HAAAAAAAA-DNESS!!!!!

This editor who writes articles for Fandago's website was bashing the UNDERWORLD franchise.  I swear, all the idiots crawled out from under their couches to rebuke his attitude.  Most of them just spewed out meaningless insults, but at least a couple tried to say something other than "you're mean; you hurt my feelings".  One guy tried to justify UNDERWORLD being a piece of garbage b/c he "doesn't need to be any smarter having watched it".  Actually, good movies don't make you smart.  It's just a stupid thing to watch bad movies b/c the definition of a "bad movie" is one that does not involve any use of brain cells whatsoever, either on the filmmakers' part or the part of the audience.  A bad movie can also fall under a myriad of other categories...Another guy, I think, was TRYING to say that the editor couldn't handle the imaginative aspect of the film.  That's ALSO b.s. b/c a smart person, or even someone who isn't that smart, is capable of imagining most of what happens in the UNDERWORLD films before seeing four+ sequels, and, maybe, before seeing the 1st one. 
If you "want to be entertained" and don't want to eat half baked popcorn, here's some examples of well crafted, well thought-out cinema that isn't "some drama":

STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE
STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI
GHOSTBUSTERS
JURASSIC PARK
THE TERMINATOR
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY
DIE HARD
END OF DAYS
TRUE LIES

the return of the miniature DVD player & throwing it all away...

Yeah, um...

I finally have a DVD player - again, for the Nth++(?HU?) time...man, I wish I'd kept that Denon 1940CI DVD etc. player...it was probably more than I needed, but something of that build quality isn't easy to come by...I guess maybe the $50 Sony player would be pretty close...neither are region free, so...I guess what I SHOULD HAVE done is used the $70 or so I got from the 1940CI was buy the Sony DVD player...now I have this cheapppp DVD player that doesn't even playback the first half second of most songs (it plays DVDS just fine so far...).

Today is the 12th day of ownership if you count Aug 1, the purchase date.

Sorry I've been silent all these years...thank you Tori Amos...

Spent 5 hours out and about total, plus 3 hours in between waiting for Mom to get out of the torture chamber...SHE'S been out for 8 hours today.  I stayed home while she was at Dr. Phibb's laboratory b/c misery may prefer company but mercy says no...(?)

Anyway; listening to Katy Perry's TEENAGE DREAM.  It's got good melody and sweet sounds, the lyrics are kinda retarded...so far the only weak song is "Peacock", which seems more of a novelty, rather tongue and cheek.

I rented YOUR HIGHNESS this morning.  I heard about it on what apparently was a rerun of ES.TV (not sure what that stands for...they interview celebrities about their current movies etc.).  They showed clips of it on ES.TV, looked pretty funny.  I should be shot for wasting money on it, I STILL haven't looked at the average verdict per the Amazon shoppers, hopefully I'll remember to do that when I finish this rambling...

Not sure what else was missed in the last however the heKK long it's been since I looked at this site...I hope to update more frequently....

OH!  I have 12 CDs!  And I don't actually own all the CDs I've bought...I had like 15 or so, would have more if I hadn't sold any of 'em, maybe 20...usually I think "GET THIS SH!T AWAY FROM ME!!!" and end up leaving myself with zilch, but this time I thought "why????".

I bought 6 DVDs at Big Lots the day I got a DVD player, returned two of 'em and tried to sell two of them, failed at one of those, so I still have that one, so I still have three out of four of the ones I paid for for good.

And keeping in step with my lifestyle, my DVD collection isn't as vast as my CD collection, since I don't watch movies very often.  I also have like 5 books, one of them I started reading quite some time ago and haven't resumed at all since I bought it...I don't like to ruin dust jackets, so I'm afraid to touch it...I keep thinking I should buy it in softcover and then donate that or sell it somewhere, but lately I'm just not interested in doing that...I snagged SHUTTER ISLAND by Dennis Lehane from my mom who received it from her friend.  I kinda look forward to seeing how much better it is than MYSTIC RIVER, which although entertaining was monumentally depressing, to the point it was almost laughable.  He makes EVERYTHING look grim and bleak.  That's not life.

Right now I'm writing this blog post, listening to TEENAGE DREAM and I NEED to watch YOUR HIGHNESS and would LIKE to read SHUTTER ISLAND.  Can't do all four!!!

an emotional episode - Vol. 1-12

These are the twelve (twelve!!!!) CDs I think, based on their emotional resonance, are ones to keep:

American Football - s/t
Bayside - s/t
Bayside - Shudder
Bayside - Sirens And Condolences
Bayside - The Walking Wounded
Best Coast - Crazy For You
Genesis - Invisible Touch
Hidden In Plain View - Resolution
Hootie & The Blowfish - Cracked Rear View
Matchbox 20 - Yourself Or Someone Like You
Oingo Boingo - Skeletons In The Closet: The Best Of
PrimeSTH - Underneath The Surface

I chose these based on a combination of factors: the # of times I can listen to them in a short period of time w/o getting sick of it/them, their personal value (i.e.: nostalgia, where they fit in in my past, and the history of pop culture in general, and weather or not they say something about me...), and also how good they are (of course!).  I might add Trespassers William's DIFFERENT STARS and HAVING to the list.  It's been a loong time since I've been able to enjoy the entirety of DIFFERENT STARS and it's been probably just as long with HAVING.  I used to be pretty big on The Cranberries and Third Eye Blind, I think Trespassers William are one of those bands that just get left behind in the fields of time.  TPW's HAVING is better than DIFFERENT STARS, imo, but the production is so dang dense, the melodies, some of which are just classic, just don't resonate after 50 or so listens.  I'll revisit them from time to time, on occasion, probably on Pandora Radio, but I doubt I'll relish owning any CDs by them should I ever re-buy HAVING or DIFFERENT STARS.
  BTW, I think I prefer Third Eye Blind's newer music, from 2003 onward, but they've yet to make an entire album of good++ music.  I hope the consistency of their first two albums will someday (soon?!) merge with the passion of their current-er work.  As for The Cranberries, I think my tastes have changed a bit and they no longer fit in with how I feel about things...BURY THE HATCHET was their only really good album, imo.

almost brushed my teeth...

I (finally) took a shower yesterday, after a week of not doing that.  Aaah!  I thought about the fact that I was too tired to brush my teeth and knew I was gonna pay for that...I did brush them this morning, but I'm about due for another shower - HOOOOOMID!
 Been listening to Bayside quite a bit the last 2 or 3 days.  Mainly SHUDDER (2008) and THE WALKING WOUNDED (2006).  I finally bought SIRENS AND CONDOLENCES (2004) a couple months ago, don't know what kept me from doing so way sooner.  I did buy their 2011 release KILLING TIME a couple weeks after its release date, even though I don't like it as much as their Victory Records output.  Hopefully they'll go back to the raw emotion of their "older" recordings.  Or maybe I just need to open up more, idk...pop-punk is nice, but it gets old really fast.  Panic! At The Disco's VICES AND VIRTUES was amazing on the first several listens, but, just like All Time Low's NOTHING PERSONAL and every other loud and shiny album of the last few years, it gets to be rather hard on the nerves.  In the case of VICES AND VIRTUES, I can't help but get the feeling that I'm hearing someone making noises with a rusty saw in the background of the music.  The production just reeks of an old house on its last leg.  All Time Low's NOTHING PERSONAL is perfect in the production dept, but the music is a bit shallow.  KILLING TIME on the other hand just doesn't have any songs that stand tall on their own, which is important when judging pop-punk.  VICES AND VIRTUES probably would have some standout tracks (apprx half the album), but the production just soils them.
  But I probably will order Bayside's THE WALKING WOUNDED and SHUDDER.  I've been listening to Silverstein's DISCOVERING THE WATERFRONT a bit since yesterday.  It's a pretty good CD too, but not as good as the work of Bayside.

the audience

People always say the airwaves are polluted with junk.  Sometimes they are right, but people go way overboard in that notion.  I swear, every genre of popular music has been accused of being 'generic' - hair metal, folk-pop, modern (post-1999) emo, new wave, etc....
  I think a lot of these accusations come from people who are A) jaded and stone-hearted and B) people who are out of touch with their emotions and just want to hear sound rather than feel anything significant.
  What's really annoying is people saying "every song could be a hit" when they comment on a CD.  Cartel's CHROMA (2005) was a very energetic and emotional journey, but there's a good portion of that CD that either doesn't click when heard at random and/or just doesn't compare to a solid-gold pop song.  Even the two 'hits' on the album - "Honestly" and "Say Anything (Else)" were not highly successful.  Then there's people who review 80's albums written by a band who had some name recognition after having a hit or two but didn't want to or couldn't keep the fire burning.  Mr. Mister had an album in 1985 called "Welcome To The Real World" that had a couple songs that made them a household name - those two songs are still played on the radio to this day.  "Kyrie" and "Broken Wings" (especially the latter) are classic pop.  For whatever reason their follow up "Go On" (1986) had nothing half as good as the aforementioned hits.  And if it did, the songs would have been on the radio then fizzed out.  People don't want mediocrity on the radio.  At least back then they didn't.  Five year olds used to be treated like five year olds - that is, they've got a lot to learn.  I'm pretty sure the average request for "Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely" by the Backstreet Boys was made by an overprivilidged grade schooler.  Your average five year old is apt to think PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE is genius.  They are the culprit for mediocrity on the radio.  It's not the "general public" that was/is DYING to hear some awkward example of shallow songwriting - it's the general public in the making forcing the general public to put up with it b/c not doing so is a waste of time in their eyes.
  Johny Hates Jazz also had a classic 80's song - "Shattered Dreams".  Very smooth, slick while also managing to be very melodious and heartfelt.  Your average review on Amazon will ignore TURN BACK THE CLOCK (1987)'s shortcomings, ie the fact that "Shattered Dreams" is the only song they're likely to remember a few+++ days after listening to it and that the only reason they'll ever put the album back in their CD player is b/c they paid $10++ for it and by golly they might as well use it.  After all, they can't remember the album being BAD.  Of course not.  They can't remember ANYTHING about the album - the word for the opposite would be "memorable".  If it's not memorable, why bother?  B/c you made the mistake of buying an album just for one song?
  Men At Work isn't really an example of mediocrity.  However, their music is a matter of taste, which varies from person to person.  I personally think the opening track from CARGO (1983) is a nicely wicked groove with some nice melodious moments, but it's not the kind of song that you run out to your local record store and buy.  It's more of the kind of song that you find at WalMart while you're buying groceries and you're just passing by the music department browsing idly; you find it for a good price and figure "why not?  I've got nothing better to do with my money" and you add it to your cart and keep moving.  Chances are you won't even listen to it when you get home.  It may very well sit there for weeks or maybe months.
  It seems a lot of people can't tell the difference between a solid gold pop song and album filler and songs that are awesome but don't appeal to most airwave listeners.  I don't know how to explain the difference.  All I know is Genesis' "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" was a very good song before it got cut in half, but nonetheless it WAS cut in half, and in that form it became a Top 10 hit.  My tastes are kind of quirky, so naturally I like the 9 minute freeform expressionistic version, and I also like the 12" remix of "Land of Confusion" that it seems most people don't even know exist.  Those who bought INVISIBLE TOUCH (1986) didn't mind hearing a 10 minute suite with cryptic lyrics ("Domino"), but it is a select few who actually LIKE or LOVE that song.  I think the former attitude is where these four and five star customer reviews of albums like Mr. Mister's GO ON and Johny Hates Jazz's TURN BACK ON THE CLOCK come from.
  If people had to put up with whatever the DJ played on the radio, it probably wouldn't bother too many people.  It would bother the artists though - they expose their passions and work hard at getting the job done right and some random music snob gets to decide if they pulled it off?  That doesn't mean anything to them.  To know that a song is on the radio because millions of people across the country are taking the time out of their day to call up the radio station and tell the DJ that it must be heard I'm sure is a rewarding experience to the artists.  It lets the artists know that their passion is mutual and that the universal language of music has been translated well.

pa-pa-pandora!

Been listening to Pandora a bit.  I figure(d) I can buy songs I hear from Pandora while listening to them.  That way Pandora, the artist and the great folks at Amazon get their $$.  If you don't already know, I am highly opposed to the iTunes brand.  So far I've bought...3?  Or was it two...idk...I think it was two today, then I got like one yesterday, eye, I don't know...

Anyway...I almost indebted myself to the bank for a prolonged amount of time by placing an order for a wi-fi enabled blu ray player from Panasonic.  Then I figured "I already have a computer; why this?"  so I then tried to order a DVD player and some DVDs; my debit card was declined.  Thank God!  My impatience makes me laugh sometimes.

I just don't know if I'll be able to get my "Tax Assistance" check in 2012.  The news announced that Missouri is in need of budget cut(s).  I'm hoping they don't all out eliminate the program.  I can take half!  Heck, even 1/5 would be great!

cruel and unusual consequence

I guess a punishment is unwarranted whereas a "consequence" is justified?  But I guess if the "consequence" doesn't fit the crime, then it becomes cruel and/or unusual, thus also becoming a punishment, since a punishment is unwarranted...not sure how that would play out in a US Court...