I’ve been totally hooked and reeled in by Guided By Voices.  It’s pathetic how easily I crush on a band.  According to some early playcounts via my iScrobbler plug-in and my iTunes playcounts, I’ll be way over 400 plays in only 5 days.  Granted, GbV songs are short (routinely clocking in at under 3 minutes), but that’s insane.  And, yes, I’ve listened to  every one of them.  That doesn’t count the The Best Of Guided By Voices: Human Amusements At Hourly Rates CD I made for the car.

If you don’t already.  Get an Emusic account.  Don’t be silly.  DRM free music, gobs of indie  bands, and downloads you get to keep, no subscription crap.  I have the 90 songs per month deal.  $9.99.  How can you beat that?  That breaks down to $0.11 a song.

I’ll be back online a bit later with something else to babble about.  Enjoy your Sunday morning.  May it be joyous, complete with pancakes, bacon and your choice of coffee or tea. 

I just read the book mentioned in the blog entry below. It was excellent, and I really enjoyed it. Because of the last few chapters of the book, I felt compelled to give Guided By Voices a listen.

On a lark, I browsed through my iTunes library, and noticed that I had the Earthquake Glue album. How did I never listen to this? I checked the play counts for all the tracks, and it became apparent that I listened to the whole album, straight through, once. That’s it. And that was over a year ago. I guess I was enraptured by another band or another genre at the time, because it totally escapes me why I didn’t stop dead in my tracks and have my jaw drop to the floor upon listening. It is that good.

It’s got the energy of punk… short, catchy high tempo songs. Ramones without Joey’s droning. Lots of harmony. Guitar hooks out the wazoo. Each song is excellent, and there’s fifteen. FIFTEEN songs, and not one sucks. FIFTEEN songs, and each one is really good. Apparently, Robert Pollard really is a genius.

Someone really needs to explain to me why this always happens to me. This happened with Portishead, too. Maybe I just wasn’t ready. Maybe it rubbed me the wrong way during my first listen. Maybe I was binging on something so different that I couldn’t fully grasp this album the first time through.

All those indie-rock know-it-alls were 100% correct. GBV rocks. And not in a subtle way, either. So, chalk up another belated crush on a band. They say it’s never too late.

So, now I’m off to Emusic to kill my monthly download allowance on everything GBV I can get my grubby hands on.

I spent nearly 45 minutes scanning around our local B&N. Did I mention that it sucks, the stock is always low, and the staff usually has no clue what is on the shelves, or how to look things up on their computers? That being said, it isn’t hard to surmise that finding something to read can be a hassle. That shelf with “Staff Favorites” or “Staff Suggestions” is almost always empty, and if there’s something there, it’s a NY Times Bestseller, so why bother?

Somehow, I stumbled on a “Pop Culture” table with a ton of books strewn about. A few seemed semi-interesting. Then I noticed “Perfect From Now On” and realized that was a album title I was familiar with (Built to Spill, anyone?). So, obviously my curiosity was piqued. The subtitle of the book roped me in: “How Indie Rock Saved My Life”. How could I not buy this book?

After thumbing through, I realized this author was like my evil twin. Okay, maybe not evil, and certainly not a twin, but we shared a similar obsessive passion for music. So I took it to the counter and produced my shiny gift card.

One week later, I’m done. After reading, and in some cases rereading, I can honestly say that I’ve lead a parallel life of musical appreciation.

Anyone that reads this should immediately go online, to their local bookstore or library and get it… People who are obsessive about music will immediately identify with the narrative. People who aren’t obsessive about music will get a unique look into the mind and soul of a man who’s life is possessed by the sounds of his favorite artists.

Can you see why I loved it?

I haven’t updated this blog in an eternity. Mainly due to my weird work hours and excessive overtime, I hadn’t been able to do much outside of work, eat, sleep and spend the remaining time with my wife and son.

Well, that problem has been solved! I’m now unemployed, so I’ve got oodles of time to kill, and no money to use in the process. So, it works like this: work endlessly, have money you can’t spend; have no work, time to spend money, but no money to spend. Great stuff, isn’t it?

I’ll be adding content here more often, as time will allow. Enjoy.

60 % Nerd, 43% Geek, 17% Dork For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the “dork.” No-longer. Being smart isn’t as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

Congratulations!

Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you’re interested in any of the following:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Professional Wrestling

Love & Sexuality

America/Politics

Thanks Again! — THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on nerdiness You scored higher than 99% on geekosity You scored higher than 99% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

]]> http://www.callari.us/cranky/?feed=rss2&p=66 http://www.callari.us/cranky/?p=64 http://www.callari.us/cranky/?p=64#comments Wed, 12 Apr 2006 21:00:22 +0000 John http://www.callari.us/cranky/?p=64 Top twelve reasons homosexual marriage should not be legal:

1. Homosexuality is not natural, much like eyeglasses, polyester, and birth control.
2. Heterosexual marriages are valid because they produce children. Infertile couples and old people can’t legally get married because the world needs more children.
3. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
4. Straight marriage will be less meaningful, since Britney Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage was meaningful.
5. Heterosexual marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all; women are property, blacks can’t marry whites, and divorce is illegal.
6. Gay marriage should be decided by people not the courts, because the majority-elected legislatures, not courts, have historically protected the rights of the minorities.
7. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.
8. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
9. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
10. Children can never suceed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why single parents are forbidden to raise children.
11. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society. Heterosexual marriage has been around for a long time, and we could never adapt to new social norms because we haven’t adapted to cars or longer lifespans.
12. Civil unions, providing most of the same benefits as marriage with a different name are better, because a “seperate but equal” institution is always constitutional. Seperate schools for African-Americans worked just as well as seperate marriages for gays and lesbians will.

• Band of Horses – Laredo
• The Godfathers – Birth, School, Work, Death (extended remix)
• A Perfect Circle – 3 Libras
• God Is an Astronaut – Fire Flies and Empty Skies
• Bob Mould – See A Little Light
• Guided by Voices – My Son, My Secretary, My Country
• Fugazi – Waiting Room
• Joy Division – Shadowplay
• Carissa's Wierd – The Piano Song
• Carissa's Wierd – Ignorant Piece of Shit

Here we are!

Enjoy!

Me, Halloween 1994, resplendent in black eyeliner.

Stacy, being hung by lovely Diane, Halloween 1994.