Time certainly flies when you are completely swamped with life. It's been a whirlwind last couple months!
Here's a quick recap:
1) Remember all those soccer games I was pumped about? Well they all had neutral to terrible results. Arsenal got worked over by Chelsea in the FA Cup semis, and then got murdered by Manchester United in the Champions League Semis. Dark times! Now, two months later, the soccer season is officially over and my team is trophyless. On a positive note however, I think this team is going to crush skulls next year.
President of Skull Crushing Operations for Arsenal: Andrei Arshavin This mofo went totally batshit bonkers on Liverpool and scored FOUR goals. Insane.
2) I held my birthday celebration in NYC, and it was, as I anticipated, phenomenal.
3) The NFL draft went awesome for my Packers which helped offset some of the Arsenal losses. The Pack is going to be sick this year. Just wait.
4) I bought a subscription to the Economist. It has quickly become my favorite magazine but Jesus- it requires a hell of a time commitment to get through the whole thing every week. It pays off though because I end up feeling a little smarter and a little more in touch with the world.
5) In no particular order: I went sailing in Annapolis, attended a Prince vs MJ vs Madonna dance party, and spent a weekend in Michigan for a wedding.
Everybody look at me I'm on a motherfucking boat.Believe me when I say, I _____d a mermaid... Also, how many of you recognize my badass necklace?
MJ makes everybody act absolutely ridiculous.
6) I started a "diet." This inevitably will become its own post because trying to "eat right" is mindbogglingly frustrating and borderline impossible
7) I discovered a metric shit-ton of new music and have lined up several summer concerts.
More posts that will discuss all these things and more are coming for my two dear follower: Jack and Teats.
Patience is a virtue people, but let the blogging recommence... now.
There's so much good stuff to look forward to ladies and gentlemen!
4/18- Arsenal is going to destroy Chelsea in the FA Cup Semifinal- I plan to be at the bar for this event. I can't believe that I'm still actually following soccer! I'll admit, I wasn't all that serious about deciding to follow the sport when I made the decision to in the fall. BUT, I actually am borderline addicted to this team now! A post will eventually come that describes this...
4/21- Arsenal v. Liverpool- this game is HUGE! My roommate is a Liverpool fan and so our house will be so bitterly divided when watching this game. Arsenal better win. They haven't lost a match in at least the past 10.
4/25-2/26- NFL Draft baby! I am pumped about this because the Packers have a high pick and this draft is so loaded- I don't think they can screw this pick up. They will probably end up with some stud who will make an instant impact. Life will be good. Choirs of angels will sing from the heavens.
4/29- Next round of the Champion's League! Arsenal v. Manchester United. I haven't been following soccer long, but I HATE Manchester United. They are the Yankees of English Premier League Soccer. Wait, people won't understand this because nobody watches baseball. They are like the Cowboys! If you're not a Cowboys fan, you HATE the Cowboys! That's just how life works.
5/2- BIRTHDAY!
5/5- 2nd leg of Arsenal v. Manchester United! The only way I won't be excited about this is if we get punished the 1st leg...
... and all this brings us to the onset of summer- at least as far as it is concerned with the megalopolitan DC area. In May, we'll have 70 degree temperatures regularly, and everybody will be in better spirits for it.
Where did we leave off?Sometime around 6th/7th grade I believe...
As my last post indicated, I was slowly but surely transitioning into liking rock music (from shitty euro-pop). These are all albums that helped me make this transition:
7th grade-ish... Red Hot Chili Peppers - One Hot Minute (1995)
At the time I purchased this album, the only song I knew by the Chili Peppers was "Aeroplane." And I f*ing LOVED that song! In middle school ski club, a couple friends and I would scream this song at the top of our lungs from the chairlift- it was THAT awesome. I can't even explain how clearly I remember doing this haha... Interestingly enough, my college roommate was able to play this song on his bass (it has a sick bassline), and I think that was one of the first facts I learned about him- It made him cool in my book I suppose!
After I got over my obsession with "Aeroplane," I started discovering the other songs on the album like "Warped" (which was on the Twister soundtrack I believe), "Deep Kick," and my personal favorite: "Coffee Shop." If you have never heard "Coffee Shop," you need to get on iTunes and download it immediately- it is pure unfiltered ROCK.
Another very memorable moment I have that is related to this album is that the day after I bought it, I came into school into Mrs. March's english class and I was talking to my friend Jenny, and I said: "Dude, I just got 'One Hot Minute' by the Chili Peppers." WELL, it just so happened that another kid in my class (Chris) heard me, and said very loudly: "WHAT?! STEVE- YOU WANT ONE HOT MINUTE WITH JENNY?!"
These were very mature days.
Still 7th Grade-ish... Nine Inch Nails - Broken
Still in 7th grade, I recall having a birthday party towards the end of the school year. One of my friends asked me what I wanted and I said: "Get me a Nine Inch Nails CD!" I'm pretty sure I was just trying to be cool and sound all hip and rock star at the time, but that's beside the point! Long story short, she ended up getting me "Broken" and this instantly became the hardest record I owned! I owned this album LONG before I ever bought "The Downward Spiral."
My favorite songs on it are "Last, Wish," and "Physical." "Physical" is an Adam Ant cover and is hidden on the album as Track #98. If you've never heard it, you need to download that ASAFP!
Skipping ahead a little bit to 1996/1997 I remember going to Best Buy with one of my parents and begging them to pay for a couple CDs (at this stage in my life, I still had no income of my own... Alas...). On this particular occasion, I got them to buy me:
Radiohead - OK ComputerSublime - Sublime
This day was one of the most important days ever in my life I think. The amount that I love both of these albums to this day is a testament to how awesome they are...We'll start with Sublime. I first got into Sublime because I was at some friend's house watching MTV (back when they played music) and saw the video for the song "Wrong Way." I fell in love with this song and after hearing it, Sublime could do no wrong. Looking back, I find it interesting that it was this song that hooked me and not "What I Got" or "Santeria" as these songs are the ones that everybody remembers most easily these days. After all, I think every college band that I remember covered ONE of those two!
This album truly crushes the test of time though. There are so many good songs on it! Over the past 10 years, I think I must have changed my favorite song on the album at least 5 times.
At first, it was "Wrong Way." Then, "What I Got." Then, "Santeria." Then, "April 29,1992." THEN, "Jailhouse." THEN, "Burritos." And now, I think it's either "Burritos" or "Seed."
This isn't a real video of "Seed," but whatever... we make do with what we have:
The solos throughout this entire album are so sick. The one in "Seed" is AWESOME. Same with "Burritos." God. I could listen to this album whenever whereever.
On that note, here's a brief funny story: On spring break my senior year in high school a bunch of my friends and I went to Puerto Vallarta. While there, we became friends with a few dudes from Indiana. Anyway, one night they were all drinking out in this open lobby area, and they had a few Discmen and a few CDs laying on the table. All the CDs were "Ghetto D" by Master P. Apparently, they could listen to THAT album whenever whereever. I guess you had to be there.
Back to my train of thought, die-hard Sublime enthusiasts might believe that "40 oz to freedom" was a better album than the self-titled one, and that's a fair arguement to make. But for me, the self-titled one is infinitely better! Typically, the first album I hear from a band usually has some weirdly extreme sentimental value to it. This observation also applies to the first albums I heard from Red Hot Chili Peppers (One Hot Minute), Rage Against the Machine (Evil Empire), and Radiohead (OK Computer). For at least the Chili Peppers and Rage, those albums were not their most critically acclaimed, but I think they are the best material the bands ever put out- SOLELY because it was my introduction to them.
Returning to 7th grade, after I played "Wrong Way" a million times the day I got the Sublime CD, I threw in "OK Computer" by Radiohead. Talk about a switch up in music genres huh?!
I got into Radiohead again because of MTV. I was somewhere at sometime and I saw the video for "Paranoid Android." I found it to be totally awesome.
Watching it for the first time in several years, I have to say that the video is SO WEIRD. Anyway, like the Sublime album, my favorite song on "OK Computer" has changed multiple times. Obviously it started with "Paranoid Android." But I was always a huge fan of "Electioneering" which my alcohol-oriented college band covered sloppily! Today, I have a trio of favorites on the album: "Let Down, Climbing the Walls, and No Surprises"
Critics widely consider this one of the best alternative rock albums ever and I think this is one of the few times I would agree with them. I think this is Radiohead's best album ever, and one of the greatest albums of the past 20 years.
These days, I'd have to say that my current musical taste is a pretty eclectic mix of all of the artists and albums discussed in this post... There are still a few more superalbums that helped shape my interest in music though SO looks like we're going to have a Post #3 coming up in the near future!
FYI readers, "Nostalgiacize" is my invention. The patent is pending. So, I suppose you can use it now, but soon, when you say that word you'll have to pay me royalties.
Anyway. Recently my Sirius radio has been cranking out a lot of Gin Blossoms, and it always gets the same reaction out of me. I always think: "Damn... these guys were pretty legit." THEN, I nostalgiacize and remember all of the music that I got into in elementary, middle, and high school, and how it has turned me into the music lover that I am today. So, I thought it'd be cool to make a list of the albums that I consider as having huge impacts on me. Here they are along with any related stories that I have distinct memories of. This will be PART 1 of a multi-part blog entry. And by multi, I mean probably two total.
4th/5th Grade? Ace of Base- The Sign
OBVIOUSLY, this album would be on anybody's list.
I could pretend to be cool here and say: "Oh man, these were dark days for my musical taste," but fuck that. Fuck that because Ace of Base STILL is awesome. Well... at least the album "The Sign." This was the first CD I ever bought... EVER. And by "bought," I mean that my mom paid for it at the store. Interestingly enough, the same day we bought this CD was the day we got our first CD player for our house. The first time I listened to the album, I played "The Sign" approximately 100x in a row. For whatever reason, as a kid you can listen to a song on repeat like this and not get the least bit irritated. For a solid month I don't think I was aware that there were other songs on the album. But then I got adventurous and eventually discovered the other classics buried on the CD: "Don't Turn Around," "All that She Wants," and my personal favorite, "Wheel of Fortune."
My favorite member of the band was the male rapper because at this phase of my life, I think I thought he was cool. TODAY though, I look back and think: "Dude, he HAD to be joking... right?!" At one point, I'm pretty sure I knew all the words to the entire CD. I also recall hanging out at a friend's house, and belting out the lyrics to the songs as they played WHILE jumping on a trampoline. Wait... what? I mean... that never happened. Go away.
Still 4th Grade-ish I think... Gin Blossoms- New Miserable Experience
The Gin Blossoms have come full circle for me. I first got into them because of the song "Allison Road." I had a mild obsession with this song and I'm pretty sure that it was the only one I liked at the time (out of every other song on Earth).
As a sidenote, how many TVs does that damn house have?! And why are there dudes carrying them around randomly from room to room?!
Once I got over the hump of "Allison Road," I listened to the rest of the CD for a good couple months. Eventually though, the album was buried and I really never heard much from the Gin Blossoms again until they because ubiquitous on the Sirius 90s rock channel (Lithium 24). Now, I think I need to repurchase the album because there are so man good songs on it! The Gin Blossoms were/are a solid, high quality mainstream rock band! Compare that to what's mainstream now, and it's easy to observe a noiceable drop in musical talent over time. I would take the Gin Blossoms over Nickelback and 3 Doors Down and the other trashy bands today in a heartbeat.
The reason this album was important to me was because it opened the door to rock. I was gradually able to tear myself away from the Europop of Ace of Base and start getting into music that had guitar in it!
5th-6th Grade I think... Offspring- Smash
This album is so untouchable. It starts out with a soothing narrative in "Time to Relax." You think: "Hey, this is cool... There's this dude talking about how he just wants to chill out. That's fine." BUT THEN, "Nitro" starts and your heart starts going 100000000 bpm just to keep up with the drumming! From beginning to end, this album is so classic. I bought it for the single "Come out and play," but definitely didn't expect to be so into the rest of it! I specifically recall the song "Bad Habit" because of the line "You stupid dumbshit goddamn motherfucker!" followed by a heavy dose of power chords! As I was still under my parents' roof at the time, I could not swear as I like, and so by playing this song I felt like I was rebelling against the system... or something. Anyway, my friends and I loved that album at the time. This was THE perfect album to scream along to at the top of your lungs. "Gotta get away," "Self Esteem," and "Come out and play" were the hit singles, but the rest of the album was mindblowingly cool. Five stars. A+. Top of the line.
Offspring released maybe one more good album after that before essentially selling out and putting out some really trashy stuff...
Well, that about sums up Part 1. Just for kicks, I'll throw in a few radio singles that I was into during this 4th-6th grade phase:
John Mellencamp- Wild Night This was the cougar's cover of Van Morrison, EXCEPT they changed the bassline to make it LETHALLY awesome.
At the risk of being made fun of incessantly, Seal-Kiss from a rose
Hey... we all make mistakes.
Finally, Real McCoy- Another Night In the land of 6th grade middle school after-school dances, Real Mccoy was king.
This is a print (is this the right word? I don't know...) I found on there that is ULTRA AND INCREDIBLY BADASS. I am ordering 7 of them right now. Okay... not seven. But one. It combines my love for zombies with my fond memories of recess. God zombies are sweet.
Hell, while we're at it, check out this zombie video by the Handsome Furs, whose latest album FACE CONTROL gets my wholehearted approval and support:
*Special message to my mom if she's reading this one: You may want to skip it. I'm angry and I swear a lot. I don't have time to destress through Yoga like you. Hence, I swear.*
Okay- Long story short. I had plans in Grand Rapids, MI. and they fell through.
I was going to get to Grand Rapids by airplane. Specifically, I would fly from Washington, DC Reagan to Chicago O'Hare to Grand Rapids. I would leave Grand Rapids through Chicago as well. Anyway, I bought my ticket a while ago... When my plans fell through, I said:
"Fuck it, I'll go to Chicago. I can just NOT use the Chicago-Grand Rapids legs of my flight, and fly into and leave out of Chi-town. "
Easy enough, right? Wrong. When I called US Airways to inform them of my change in plans, I was remarkably told that for my NEW plan to work out, I would have to pay a $150.00 fee!
"UNFUCKINGBELIEVABLE!" was what I wanted to scream. Instead, I went on a search for answers:
Me: "Wait... what? That's ridiculous. Why would I have to pay money... I'm not changing anything. I'm just providing a notice that I'm not going to fly the second leg of the flight."
US Airways: "Well if you don't fly the second leg, we'll cancel the return."
That about did it with my patience so I just hung up on US Airways to think about my options.
They were: 1) Pay $150 to go to Chicago 2) Eat the cost of the whole trip and smile about my good luck. ... But then a roomie came in with another great idea... Bail on the Chicago-Grand Rapids leg of the trip, and then just book a cheaper 1-way return. AND, lo and behold, I found 1-ways for $130.00 on Kayak...
Ultimately though, I can't help feeling like I am being totally and completely fucked by karma and by US Airways right now. As far as I'm concerned, enduring this airline-fiasco-fucked up mess thing is going to be such a karma-rewarding experience for me, that I will have SO MUCH positive karma built up for the future! I will then hopefully be able to do something like orchestrate a Ponzi scheme to make millions to offset my original loss on the flight. But even after that, I'll probably be at a karma-neutral level which will be fine with me.
Anyway, this is what I wrote those idiots:
Hi,
I recently had a change in plans that has resulted in my not needing to go to Grand Rapids for my trip. However, I am still interested in flying into and out of Chicago.
I called to speak to a representative about this and was told that I would be charged AN ADDITIONAL $150.00 to ignore the Grand Rapids part of my trip. Please tell me that isn't true. That's absolutely ridiculous. My entire flight is paid for, and I don't see what difference it makes if one leg is eliminated. You (the airline)could easily put it back up for sale, and then resell it. And if nobody buys, the sale has already been made!
Additionally, WHY would I ever agree to pay a $150 "cancellation" fee?! I'm not cancelling the flight, I'm just not flying on it. Secondly, I can get a cheaper ONE-WAY TICKET BACK TO WASHINGTON! They are $130 on Kayak. But the thought of even having to do that to get around some unbelievably stupid fee in the first place is mind-blowing.
Please tell me that there is some way my Chicago to Grand Rapids (and GRR to ORD) legs can be eliminated WITHOUT a fee. It is criminal to charge somebody for MAKING NO CHANGE TO THEIR ITINERARY.
You have a chance to save a customer or make somebody irate with your airline for life!
He went from being an alt-rock GOD/lead singer of Soundgarden, to something that entirely defies description. THAT'S how bad it is.
Let's take a look:
Here's CC in his badass days, screaming out two facemelters: "Jesus Christ Pose," and "Rusty Cage"...
Jesus Christ Pose
Rusty Cage
Here's Chris today:
Holy shit. Everytime I hear that song, I want to projectile vomit everywhere. You know what's crazy? CC worked with Timbaland on that album! CC + Timbaland is as bad as Little Wayne trying to do a rock album. Anyway, back to the song: Who are those pathetic sidekicks on stage?!Did he hire an adult contemporary band to back him up? Why is this song so fucking weak? Look at the crowd! They couldn't be LESS into it!
Of course, just give it a few weeks for it to get onto the radio, and then I'll have to overhear conversations like:
"Hey dude, so I'm really into that Chris Cornell guy... He's a lot like Daughtry- He's got some pipes bra."
This to me wreaks of sellout. Sellout sellout sellout. And I'm not one to just go accusing bands and singers of selling out, but this is miserable!!!!!!!!!
I'm sticking to my OLD Soundgarden stash, Pearl Jam, and the handful of other bands that are out there that still bring it with originality.
LATE BREAKING UPDATE: I just watched another new CC video... It's even worse than the other one:
Everybody look at me I'm on a motherfucking boat.
Believe me when I say, I _____d a mermaid...
MJ makes everybody act absolutely ridiculous.
