The Misspent Life

Some More Music

I purchased a CD this weekend with a gift certificate I had on the suggestion of a much esteemed source, thinking that if his music criticism were as good as his art criticism, it was a sure thing.

I had not been familiar with Teenage Fan Club before, hearing their name maybe once or twice in conversation with some friends much more knowledgeable with music and I am but never often enough to merit investigation. After purchasing their greatest hits compilation, Four Thousand Seven Hundred & Sixty Six Seconds,. I listened to it over the past few days. The songs at first had a very eclectic sound, a bit of folk, a bit of grunge, a bit of rock, but on closer listening you could hear that they all had a similar sound in common. I tried to come up with some bands they sounded like and came up with a few: The Thorns, The Byrds, The Traveling Wilburys, etc. I was upset at thinking of The Thorns because I hate them, finding them trite and hackneyed. But this sound is much more enthusiastic and positive.

I am happy.

I also got the Death Cab for Cutie CD and a Sarah McLachlan CD, just because I was feeling too masculine.

I'm Talentless and Witless, I Can Be on VH1

Because I tend to have a strange and campy side, I often find myself watching those “X Greatest…Ever” and “Remember the…”shows on VH1. As time goes by they are more and more unbearable. These shows are cheap to produce, so I understand why they are on so much. The formula is as follows: B-list TV star to host, B-list comics (ethnic or homosexual), B-list TV stars, queeny “stylists”, washed up musicians, funky graphics, chair, backdrop, and video clips.

The latest, “50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever” was the straw, however. Not only were not all the songs all that bad, but VH1 and MTV had promoted those songs to no end when they were released. The worst part was that this show was a joint venture between VH1 and Blender magazine so you had crappy “entertainment” people along with glossy magazine editors. Ugh. The commenters are supposed to be funny, but they come across catty and clichéd. You can even see a smug look in their eyes when they say something they find witty like a fat kid who just did a push up. They couldn’t even get any relatively famous people to sit for them for this one; we’re talking D-list. I could count on one hand how many names or faces I recognized. These shows are written, produced, and designed for women in their early 30s and gay men. I’m done with them.

Here’s what would get me to watch them again. I do enjoy nostalgia, after all. Just show the damn clips and have a voiceover, “Do you remember rolling up your jeans?,” “Wasn’t that Blind Melon bee girl a trip?,” and “Timmy T, what was he about?” Listen up VH1, we can insert our own commentary, and I’m sure we’d find it wittier than anything coming out of the mouths of all the celebrities-we’ve-never-heard-of who had nothing else to do on a Thursday afternoon and who needed $5,000.

Better Than I Deserve

Who knew that someone as grumpy and petulant as I could have friends so dear? When I returned to my urban compound this week I found that I had a package in the mail room. I had made a purchase on Amazon so I figured this was it. It was, but I had an unexpected surprise waiting for me. Dear SOS had sent me a gift on my birthday, Some Are More Human Than Others, a collection of the poetess Stevie Smith’s sketches. It was extremely thoughtful. I had considered sending her something on her birthday, as she had mentioned a few things she was saving up for, but in the end I didn’t since she was in Paris. Mr. B and Miss B were also kind enough to give me a gift. I have done little to deserve such thoughtful friends.

Hey Ya!

This site is the number one result for a Google search of "Aww right." What do I think about that? It's aww right, aww right, aww right, aww right, aww right, aww right...

Updates Coming...

This weekend will bring some minor updates. We've got some new Misspent Friends to add to the link list. For some reason some rather intelligent people are linking to this thing and it makes my young heart swoon. Someday I'll be as smart as them, dammit!

I'll give you a tid bit of what to expect: angry and dismissive thoughts (with some praise mixed in) on VH1 nostalgia shows; some lists of things, people, and places; a RAPPS update!

Preachy

I saw Phenom today. He was feeling sick, as per the usual. He thinks it might be mono, which means that we won't be playing tonsil hackey-sack this weekend. Damn. Aaaaanyway, he said that the site has been too preachy lately. I tend to agree, but then this site is basically at the mercy of my mood and availability so if I'm feeling preachy, y'all are gonna get preached at.

Paradoxically, a commenter left a message on my Al Gore rant (which was übermoody) saying that I should, "Grow up you little winer." Not being one to enjoy criticism, I re-read the post to see if his chastisement was true, but I didn't find it all that whiney. There were a lot of question marks, sure, but I found the post to be more exasperated and accusatory (a kind of rudimentary "J'Accuse" to Mr. Gore's own Zola-esque outburst) than whiney. Hell, an hour after I wrote it I felt that the post was too violent and angry, hence my apologetics in the Update. I don't usually conflate whining with violence.

Generally, I hold the rule that when you don't like someone's website and it is as admittedly amateurish and shoddy as mine it is best to just close your browser without leaving nasty notes. It's not like I'm some big blogger with a huge audience and influence. It isn't even that I am taking a particularly partisan view. Should Maureen Dowd grow up (OK, bad example), should The Boston Herald grow up? They found Gore's speech to be just as insane. John Kerry probably didn’t find it all too great, and I can only imagine good old Joe Lieberman (back in his good-guy camp after his trip off the moderate reservation in 2000) was thanking G-d that David Boies wasn’t as good a lawyer as Ted Olsen.

I understand that right wing nut jobs post mean things to left wing sites and vice versa, but just because other people do it does not make it right. This, after all, is why I try to convince my parents that Ann Coulter and Michael Savage are bastards even though Paul Begala and Al Franken are, too.

If people want to disagree, please do so in a manner more suitable to a debate, rather than a playground fight.

Good Read

Read Lileks today. Scroll down to the bit about China, Russia, France, and Germany. Ouch.

American Idol

I watched the American Idol final on Tivo this evening. It was anti-climactic since every gosh-darn place around had Fantasia all over the place. Anyway. I was glad with the outcome. I was very glad to hear "Don't Cry Out Loud," but bad to hear Diana flub it.

Side note: My American Idol surprise was ruined and I almost ruined my Enterprise surprise at Inklings. Luckily I caught myself before I read too much.

Fire Update

Things are progressing. It looks good! Yay!

A Picture for You

Here it is. My room. Don't be fooled by the appearance of a wall. If you can see behind it you would find open space. It seems that part of the roof collapsed into the roof and blocked out the corner by the sliding door. The rest of the room is burnt out. I'll try to get a view from the other side next week.