[demented] musings

12/27/02

Thoughts as I channel-surfed this morning:

--Good Charlotte ARE NOT PUNK ROCK! You might have some catchy songs, but c'mon-- you host a show on MTV!!!! Even if you were ever punk rock (which I doubt), you sold out a long time ago...
--It is so nice to be back in SoCal...
--"Purtty lady gon do dat dance" is maybe one of the best rap choruses EVER...I'm not really into the rest of the song, but I'll listen to it just for that line...Of course, it only works with that southern accent...Its not hip-hop, but I still like it...
--Yes Geno/Slinky/Youngusher, I do like the Dave Matthews Band, lack of melodies and all, but I'm not obsessed...The people on VH1 today, however, need some help...
--Whatever happened to Christopher Lloyd? There was a time when he was in every movie/tv special/etc...I'm not saying that we need anything from him other than Taxi and Back to the Future (one of my regressive guilty pleasures), but I was just wondering (and yes, the tribute site scares me, too)...
--Why does bad music have to be so catchy? (and what makes me even more irritated is the fact that I can't find any sites that are dedicated to the dislike of the Goo Goo Dolls to link this entry to--I can't be the only person who dislikes their music...Anyone? Anyone?)
--!?!?!?!? (you can also click on the guy with the megaphone to read this)
--(I then turned the TV off and went to listen to the New Order box-set that I just purchased to purge the awful "music" from my head--this is must-have addition to your music library...more about that later)

12/23/02

R.I.P. Joe Strummer...The last time I was this down about the death of a musician was when Sinatra passed away...Its one thing when one of the guys from Milli Vanilli dies, but its another when a musician who has had such a major impact on you and/or your cultural worldview passes away...I remember getting together with friends and riding our bikes as far away from any authority figures as we could get...We would then get out our boom-box, find a combination of 10 or so "D" batteries that could power it, and listen to tapes of the Sex Pistols, The Damned, The Surf Punks & The Clash that we had stolen from someone's older brother...We, at least, thought we were punk-rock...If you have been in some cultural vortex for the last 25 years and don't know whose loss I'm mourning, go to your local hip record store RIGHT NOW & get a CD of The Clash (or call me and I'll lend you one)...You've really no excuse to not know this music...

12/09/02

So, I've been really bitter lately (yeah, more than usual)...Maybe I do slightly suffer from S.A.D. (actually, I'm quite certain that I do), but, even with my general tendencies towards the melancholy (I am, afterall, the closet-goth of the bendies), I'm not usually as sullen as I have been recently...I'm sure that part of it stems from the general fact that the holidays are all about families and I'm quite single, but I think that part of it comes from the fact that I am so tired of the superficial society/culture that we must submerse ourselves in day after day, the majority of the crowd that I see at shows in LA...I'm tired of scenesters, the "GQ" crowd, who show up at shows and listen to bands because KROQ told them that this is the "next big thing," not because they are actually into music and actively listening and looking for new music...Personally, I want to feel something real--emotion that is not because I should be feeling it, or because I'm watching some terrible movie that was
orchestrated without any goals other than to draw that emotion from me, but something genuine, something intense, something passionate, something that does not inspire passiveness, something that is not manufactured, something that is not what you're feeling unless you're by my side, feeling it simultaneously with me...

11/25/02

So, I've been ridiculously busy lately, and, thus, I've not done many journal entires, but if you did not do it yet, follow this link to find out about the Datsuns....I guess that I've been putting in extra time working so that I could afford to take this week off and round up the few bits of sanity that I have left, but its not left me a lot of time for writing...That being said, there have been a few things that I have been thinking about:

--WHY WASN'T I INVITED TO THE COUPLES PARTY? Oh yeah--now I remember why: I'm not part of a couple, and I think that the whole concept of a "couples party" is beyond stupid (and not even deserving of a better adjective)...I've not been part of a couple for a little while, but, try as I might, I can't remember the moment that my former girlfriend and I transformed from lowly, pathetic, boring singles into a fun, exciting, raging couple that would have been allowed into such a party...Maybe Youngusher and I will throw a party exclusively for single people--The Ride will perform, and I'll work the door, making sure that none of those exciting wild'n'crazy couples try to sneak in and hang with us dull singles...Stay tuned...

--I was eating breakfast today, watching VH1 for some reason, and I saw the new Dixie Chicks video, in which they all stand in front of prog-rock-inspired computer-generated backdrops (a la Creed), singing a Fleetwood Mac cover, that Sheryl Crow has remixed...There are so many things wrong with this that I'm not even going to start to comment about it here...

11/15/02

Its 1AM, my ears are ringing, my muscles are burning, I'm sticky, and my hair and clothes reek of cigarettes & beer...This, kids, was rock'n'roll--dirty, grimey, bottle-throwin', drink-spillin', scare-your-parents & make-Ed-Sullivan-film-Elvis-from-the-waste-up rock'n'roll...Of course, none of this changes the fact that I hate the stench of beer, especially when I'm showered with it by over-enthusiastic drunks--I'm going to take a shower now...Explanations will follow later...

11/13/02

Say hello to Mort...You'll be glad you did...

11/04/02

I found a dozen messages on my voicemail when I arrived home, telling me to vote "yes" on one thing and "no" on another, including a call from George W himself! While I'm quite flattered, it seems rather pathetic that the major parties have to get our country's leaders to waste their time recording 30 second sound-bites and feel that the only way to make me care about the election is to take advantage of some telemarketing list. I mean, aren't their more important things that our President should be doing other than asking, "Did that one sound sincere enough, or should I record it again?"...If people believed in the candidates, or believed that the issues were more than favors to specific PACs, they would get out and vote (go here to get some valid and varried opinions on this), and if someone actually decides to go vote just because they received a voicemail that "W" recorded telling them to, then this country is further gone than I thought...Oh, and Stevelucky--yes, its too gay...

11/02/02

--I saw the Strokes again and they are still one of the best bands out there--period. More about that later...
--Whilst wandering semi-aimlessly through downtown Huntington Beach, I discovered that yet another independent music store is closing its doors...It frustrates me so much that downtown Huntington Beach really has no place for normal people to hang out and chill...No bookstores or cool bakeries, no good music stores (and now no music stores at all), etc...There just seem to be a lot of bars and other establishments that cater to wanna-be gangstas and girls who show a lot more than I want to see, as well as the general tourist traps that one has come to expect...Maybe we'll have to open a bendies store...
--It really does make me angry that this store is closing, but their loss is my gain--for $30, I was able to get obscure import releases from Cranes (if you have not heard Cranes, go here...Then, if you like that, be my friend) & Wire (who actually released an impressive new CD this year)as well as the import box-set from Ride...Yeah, today was a good day...

10/30/02

I finally saw the creator of Tropicalismo in concert tonight at UCLA--Caetano Veloso played on an amazing show and it was well worth the wait...For those who have not heard of him, the most similar popular musicians are probably David Byrne, Peter Gabriel, or Sting, but the impact that he has had on Brazillian culture is closer that that Elvis had on America...Check out some of his extensive catalog when you get a chance...

10/29/02

My Sigur Ros tickets just arrived in the mail--I'll be sitting at the front of the loge on 11/20/02, so come find me and we can can be lulled into Icelandic bliss together...

10/27/02

--The Angels just won the world series, and I actually care--GO HALOS!
--OK, kids, I know that I've been slacking at writing, but I have a good excuse--it was a really good week for shows, and I felt it my duty to go to as many as I could...In addition to the Bridge School Benefit on Saturday night (Neil Young, Thom Yorke, Foo Fighters, Ryan Adams, Jack Johnson, James Taylor, Vanessa Carlton, and Tenacious D), I saw Tegan & Sara twice, Underworld, Ryan Adams (headlining show), and Foo Fighters twice! Stay tuned for reviews...

10/19/02

I was sitting at the carwash today, reading the newspaper as I waited for my for the attendant to finish, and my horoscope (Pisces, if anyone cares) said that for the next few days I am supposed to, "treat and dote on another." Any takers?

10/18/02

Youngusher--Before Braille? Good writing, and I'm sure they're nice guys, but Before Braille? I'm even the other Bendie that enjoys some Emo (I'm listening to No Knife right now), but I could not get into that CD at all--it seemed really generic...The larger issue that I have with them, though, is their turning down a chance to eat at TK?!?!? Even if their music was inventive and not just Jimmy Eat World-lite, I would have to take issue with that...I'm no serious carnivore or anything, but it was TK...

10/16/02

So I just spoke with my younger sister, and she was telling me of a recent argument between her and her bestfriend, all because she stole that best friend's boyfriend...Its so bizarre to think that my little sister is going through stuff like that--I guess I'm getting older than I wish to admit...Not that I fear growing older or anything, but every once in a while I have those moments where I can't deny that, despite the ways that I will still make a fool of myself in front of an attractive girl, or the way that I perceive myself as I gaze into the mirror each day, I'm basically grown-up...

10/15/02

I've found that lately I've been seperating the aesthetics and the ethics of things? Example: I'm saddened by all of the problems that the dock worker strike has caused, including the loss of jobs and revenue, and the fact that when you look out into the ocean, all you see are man-made crafts, but I can't help but enjoy the surreal, even romantic, random bursts of lights floating out there in the liquid pitch...I feel that I should be more disturbed by this change than I am...


10/14/02

Why do people insist on thinking of relationships as a video-game? All that I can say after a conversation that I had with an acquaintance at a party tonight is: its not a competition, its not a do or die, and there are different levels of girls that you are trying to get with. Period. If someone is into you, then they are into you, and if you are into them, then you're good. If not, you're not...


10/09/02

Just got back from seeing Doves play live, and, honestly, it was one of the first concerts that I have been really into in a long time--I even lost my voice...Not that the other shows that I have been to have been bad or dull or boring, but there was something about the performances of the bands (My Morning Jacket played an amazing opening set), the vibe of the audience, the songs, and the friends that I was there with that made this show particularly cool...Thanks to those who were there with me (you know who you are...)...SEE THESE BANDS THE NEXT TIME THAT THEY COME OR LIVE LIFE PERPETUALLY WONDERING WHAT YOU'RE MISSING...