This is my blog.

New Mystery CD!

2008-09-08T23:19:00.002-03:00

And now for another exciting installment of...Other people's crap! I was at work today checking in a half ton truck when I found an unlabeled burnt cd inside. There was no way to trace the owner (it was delivered from another location after sitting around for awhile) so I grabbed 'er just so I could share it with you, dear readers. Or reader. Or . Anyway as before I have no listened to this yet and have no sweet clue what's on it.

Track 1: uhhh blank so far. Ok nevermind might want to turn up the volume. Ugh ewww. Lame 90s sounding Hootie and the Blowfish type puke. Engaging Google. Oh lame. Three Doors Down- "So I Need You". Knew I recognized the bleeting voice.
NEXT

Track 2: Oh could it possibly be more 3 Doors Down? Yup. I hope this isn't all 3 Doors Down or well this would be a rather anti-climatic post. If it's a mix shame on them. First rule of mixes: don't put two songs by the same artist at once. Duh. Amateur.

Track 3: Beck- "Loser". Hmm this could get interesting.

Track 4: What the fuck?? Oh Beck. Don't recognize this one. It's called "Timebomb" and while I usually like Beck I am not a fan of this. Not only are we putting artists back to back we are also putting them on the desk in alphabetical order wow...once again MIX FAIL.

Track 5: Uhh sounds like the Cars or something...or at least 80s or modern music pretending to be 80s. Oh I was right. The Cars - "Good Times Roll". Score.

Track 6: UGGGGGGGH Mr. Jones by The Counting Crows? Whhhhhhhy? Make it stop.

Track 7: The Killers- Mr Brightside. Almost wanted to call it Mr. Bright Eyes. Same thing. Well if this song is interpreted to be about Conor Oberst...which um maybe. Just go with it.

Track 8: AGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH I thought it couldn't get worse!!! CREED??? And here's where my computer self-destructs. No joke this cd is scratched to high heaven and it stopped this song :D

K. Looks like iTunes can no longer handle this...trying dvd player...
Oh I was wrong it's not Creed but Owen and Gerry and their parody. How...local.

Track 9: Snooze. Red Hot Chili Peppers- Californication. We really have no imagination eh?

Track 10: Sam Roberts. Snore.

Track 11: Bagpipes? Well I hope it isn't Korn. Oh nope. Definitely worse actually. Steve Earle- "Copperhead Road". Well...it's definitely pick-up truck music.

Track 12: What?? More 3 Doors Down? That Superman song this time. You suck unimaginative cd maker and apparent huge 3 Doors Down fan.

Track 13: Another radio type song? So...really why don't you just listen to the radio instead...seriously? Sounds like "Born on the Bayou" by CCR but I can't decipher the lyrics enough to Google it so we'll never know. Damn.

Track 14: NO NO not this horrible guy. I hear him on the radio and I hate him and dunno who he is. Ok apparently I hate David Wilcox and, among other songs, this song "Riverboat Fantasy". I especially hate his other one that goes "to satisfy that woooooooooman" God I hate that song. At least now I know where to direct my hate.

Track 15: Well, this sounds shitty. Are we surprised? No. Oh apparently it's Live with "Selling the Drama". Huh.

Track 16: Oh great. Pearl Jam.

Track 17: Oh wow I haven't heard this one in eons. "AM Radio" by Everclear. I didn't like it at the time. And well...it almost seems welcome amongst the rest of this...

Track 18: Something that's country. No clue what. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with "Fishin in the Dark" apparently. Charming.

Track 19: The man in the moon is a Newfie. I guess.

Track 20: Last song! Ok we're a little slow to start here...come on....ok dijeridoo (sp?)??? What the fuck is this? Still undetermined at press time.

Wow lame cd.

Fun with Mystery CDs

2008-07-06T20:07:00.002-03:00

So, I work at a Car Rental company part time. People leave a lot of things in cars that they never come and claim, especially CDs. Today it was my task to clean out the lost and found and throw out things we couldn't possibly trace or return to people. In the lost and found there were many many unclaimed burnt CDs. So I figured hey, this could be a fun blog entry/series so I took them home with me.

So instead of embarrassing myself, I will embarrass strangers by revealing what is on some of these mystery CDs. And who knows? Maybe I will find something good. It could happen.

I haven't listened to any of these CDs. Each one I analyze will mark my first listen. If I do not know a song I will do my best to figure out what it is (gotta love Google).

CD #1: Unlabeled Ridata(never heard of it) CD-R

Track 1: Umm no idea what this. Great start. Enlisting Google. Ok apparently it's Aly & AJ - "Potential Break Up Song" and it's terrible. Moving on.

2: Britney Spears - "Piece of Me"
I shamefully admit to sorta enjoying this song. Whoops. Anyway, so far I am guessing a girl made this cd...

3: No clue. Terrible sound quality. Google says this is Rooster - "Staring at the Sun". This is so generic. No idea who Rooster is but eww.

4: Yay more generic fun. Somebody covering "I Melt with You" very terribly. Oh appears to be Bowling For Soup. What a dumb name for a band.

5: Man this person is all over the generic map. Oh it's that apple bottom jeans song. I think it's called "Low" or something. if I was drunk I would probably dance my ass off because I know this one and when I am in that kind of mood that's all that is required.

6: Another generic rock song that sucks. Apparently it's more Bowling for Soup. A song called "Punk Rock 101". I am disgusted. I kinda want to cry.

7: Sappy crap. God I can't make out what this dude (?) is saying so I can google it...Oh ok so THIS is the Jonas Brothers. Appalling. I honestly thought it was Shania Twain at first hahah.

8: More sappy crap. Sounds kinda familiar though...Google says it is Elliott Yamin- "Wait For You". Thrilling.

9: Glockenspiel? Omg this person has the worst chipmunk voice ever! Apparently this is by someone called 1st Lady and it's called "Never Be Replaced" God this is SO BAD. If you want your ears to bleed listen to this.

10: Oh now we've got something with a little country flavour. It's called "Our Song" by Taylor Swift. It sucks.

11: Another slow jam? Geez. I know this one! Well I've heard it before anyway. Oh more Taylor Swift "Teardrops on my Guitar". She really needs to suck it up and stop wallowing. It's unattractive.

12:God I hope the next CD is better. Or more interesting even. This song is more of the same. Potentially more Taylor Swift? Let's find out. Yup I am right. "Come in With the Rain"

13: Oh god this sounds like soft rock from the 80s with a country voice. Oh this is such sap. I am gagging. "Good Morning Beautiful Day". Potentially by Keith Urban. Google isn't sure.

14: More slow jams? Good god. Rascal Flatts - "What Hurts the Most" Puke.

15: Last song! Yay! And as expected it sucks. More Rascal Flatts.

Well that was terrible. I think I was right in assuming a girl made that CD though. Or a very emotional man? I don't wanna know actually...

Burnt CD Vault Volume #4

2008-05-31T22:03:00.004-03:00

Once again I revisit the poorly thought out music of my youth for the entire internet to see. Not that the entire internet reads this. Not that anyone reads this. But every once in awhile (and I mean every once in awhile) I need a creative outlet for myself. So I turn here to my poorly read, rarely thought of blog.

This cd is pretty embarrassing but it will make for a good laugh. It's titled "10" and there is no date but I believe I made in 2001 and if not then it was definitely early 2002 as I know I must have been in grade 11 when this was made. Some of my choices are down right despicable but what can I do now? The cd is already made.

1. Atomic Kitten - "Whole Again"
Umm...? What was I thinking? This song is horrible! I bet Diane Warren is responsible.

2. Shakira - "Underneath Your Clothes"
This may make me the lamest person ever, but I still kinda like this song. Or last some deeply hidden romantic part of me does.

3. Joan Jett - "Bad Reputation"
This song always brings to mind that scene in 10 Things I Hate About You where Julia Stiles' character driving around to it and thinking she's badass. Call the cops!

4. Shannon - "Let the Music Play" (the cd's label also informs me that this song is cut off)
Some weird ass 80s shit that only lasts 1:53. Thank god.

5. Maren Ord - "All I Want"
First of all, who? And all I can say is I must have been nursing a serious crush when I made this cd. Because I used to be lame like that. Sappy crap!

6. Heart - "Crazy on You"
I do like this song still.

7. Dave Matthews Band - "Greystreet"
Apparently at one point I was a big enough DMB fan to download their unreleased shit (I know, SICK). I believe all these unreleased songs would become Busted Stuff which was so bad I didn't even like it when I was a fan of the band and pretty much knew all the songs on it before it was released.

8. Michelle Branch - "Everywhere"
What next? I'm seriously ODing on all the girlie on this cd.

9. Staind - "For You"
...STAIND?! EWWWWW

10. Tori Amos - "Landslide"
Boring cover of an already overly covered song.

11. Puddle of Mudd- "Blurry"
Jesus Christt

12. Fleetwood Mac - "Rhiannon"
Random but better than most of the other shit on this cd. And I don't even really like Fleetwood Mac.

13. System of a Down - "Chop Suey"
Honestly, System of a Down has held up better for me than I would have expected they would.

14. The Clash - "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
Very pedestrian choice there, Vanessa.

15. The Calling - "Wherever You Will Go"
Whyyy? Yup I was totally madly in love with some dude when I made this cd. I had to be. My judgement was totally clouded.

16. Air- "Sexy Boy"
I completely forgot about this song. I still quite enjoy this one. It's certainly better than Puddle of Mudd.

17. The Specials - "A Message to You Rudy"
I sure hope Rudy listened and thought of his future. The Specials liked cautionary tales.

18. Y Kant Tori Read (Tori Amos) - "Pirates"
Some ridiculous 80s shit Tori Amos released before she was famous that I somehow convinced myself was good. I remember I wanted to find this album so badly as it's highly coveted by Toriphiles since it has been out of print for a million years (with good reason). I have it all downloaded and burnt on cd though. Because you know, the music was so worth owning.
I'm kinda glad I don't really like Tori Amos that much anymore...

Well, that's it folks. Till the next time I get bored and inspired to write something useless...

Clearly I love blogging!

2008-03-04T19:09:00.005-04:00

Wow I last posted in this thing in like, August. And in my last post's wake is at least 10 abandoned drafts on various topics that I started writing and then got bored so that was the end of that. I guess it's a damn good thing I didn't pursue journalism in the end!

So I guess it's time to update for all my fans out there (all -2.4 of you).

About a year and a half ago I reviewed the always delightful MuchMusic countdown. Then about 6 months later I tried to do the same with Billboard and failed as a knew none of the songs. Well. We're in luck popular music fans! Because I get to listen to the utterly fantastic commercial radio stations in my city at work now, I know ALL KINDS of new songs! Aren't you excited to hear what I think about them. No? Too fucking bad. I am gonna tell you anyway.

BILLBOARD TOP 10 FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 03, 2008!!!!!

1. Flo Rida feat T-Pain - "Low"

Never heard it but if T-Pain is involved then it can only be an amazing work of art comparable to a hip-hop Beethoven symphony.

2. Chris Brown- "With You"

Damn, that kid can dance! Love him, his music not so much.

3. Rihanna- "Don't Stop the Music"

Catchy enough, I guess. Dunno what a "mumma say mumma sa muuuu mop po sop" is though.

4. Sara Bareilles- "Love Song"

No idea. I've probably heard it and it probably sucks.

5.Alicia Keys- "No One"

No one. No one. No oooooooonnne is as annoying as youuuuuu.

6. Timbaland Featuring OneRepublic - "Apologize"

I don't get why the song is credited like this. This is not how these things work. It's not "Bob Rock featuring Metallica- Enter Sandman" or 'Rick Rubin featuring Johnny Cash- Hurt" so what the fuck, man? Oh and by the way, this song sucks ass.

7.Snoop Dogg- "Sensual Seduction"

Snoop: when did you turn into Barry White?

8.Sean Kingston- "Take You There"

Gross. Oh and what is with you assuming I'm short? And where are you gonna take me, exactly?

9. Webbie, Lil' Phat & Lil' Boosie- "Independent"

The modern day Little Rascals. (P.S. no idea what this song is)

10. Buckcherry- Sorry

You better fuckin' be sorry.

The state of modern music scares me, I mean, IT'S AWESOME!!!!

Some of my favourite music videos of all time part 1

2007-08-22T21:00:00.000-03:00

I am going to start this by saying that to your average person I have very very strange taste. I'll warn the more conventional of you that this list will not include your "Thriller"s or your "Smells like Teen Spirit"s. No, I am not interested in creating a MuchMusic-esqe list of pieces of artistic achievement but rather just sharing my favourite videos of all time (in no particular order) with all you regular readers of my blog (Lora).

So yeah without further ado...

Devo- Jocko Homo

I love this video so much mainly because it is so effing weird. And vaguely creepy for some reason. It doesn't make one lick of sense but I love watching it. That's generally the reasoning for what makes most of my favourite videos my favourite as you will see.

Kraftwerk- Trans Europe Express

This video was my very first introduction to Kraftwerk. I was about 15-years-old and when I first saw this video it totally creeped me out but at the same time I found it oddly fascinating. It took a few years before I finally got around to exploring the rest of Kraftwerk's catalogue but I am glad I did. And it was all because MuchMoreMusic randomly decided to play this on that retro boogie dance party show they used to have.

Kraftwerk- The Robots

I know. I know. Another Kraftwerk video. But I couldn't chose. I seem to love videos that I find awesome and also at the same time are vaguely creepy.

The Smiths- How Soon Is Now?

My first intro to The Smiths. I was probably 12-13 the first time I saw this and it instantly pulled me in. And now 10 years or so later The Smiths are my favourite band ever. I love everything. The song and how the imagery captures it perfectly. They couldn't have done a better job with this.

Alright so that's my first installment. I need to think of some more/ I don't want to bog down an individual post with too many videos. Holla.

Legends? : U2

2007-08-10T19:45:00.000-03:00

Before I start today's tirade, let me say something. I don't dislike every U2 song. I like a few. They are as follows: "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "New Years Day", "Pride (In the Name of Love)" and "All I Want is You". The rest of it....well you'll see.

U2's first release was called U2 Three in 1979. Now I dunno if that was exciting for any one or not as I was still just an unfertilized egg in 1979. So yeah. But I do know that this particular release was never reissued on CD. So there's a a little fact for all you out there in internet land.

ANYWAY. It is unclear to me if U2 started out as a band with the intention to save the world. However I suspect they might have because even their early releases feature Bono screaming his guts out like he is the new messiah or something and dammit we better listen to his glorious message. In '85 he was at Live Aid pumping his fists in the air and displaying his proud and epic mullet. (If you have not seen u2's Live Aid performance, I suggest you seek it out. Watch on mute if you want but you have GOT to see his hair!)

Ok so what is my big problem with U2? After all they've managed to stay afloat for over 27 years and still have a wide fanbase and critically acclaimed work. What could possibly be wrong?

Well first of all, I can't stand Bono. You're a fucking rock star dude. Yes you have some powerful beliefs I guess and potentially good intentions. But it just seems so forced. Like those rich kids in university who don't wash, smoke a lot of weed and pretend that they've been oppressed their whole lives, Bono seems to be putting on a show because he feels guilty. Guilty to be making millions to make music when others are starving and living in war zones. So he gets on his soap box and lends his name to a cause or two so he can sleep better at night.

Next, I can't stand that ringing guitar sound they are famous for. It just gets so irritating after awhile. Once in awhile would be ok. But they overdo it and have for years and years. It's just so pompous to me as most their music is. It's like "Look at us! We are doing something important!" Gag me.

And strangely despite all their efforts to be important and epic, I find most of their music dreadfully boring. It just doesn't hook me in. I just kind of forget music is playing when it's on until it has been played so much that I want to shoot myself when I hear it. That's when it gets to the point where I wish whatever has to happen to just make them stop making music would just happen already and save us all from our misery.

Life Ruiners: Diane Warren

2007-08-07T02:31:00.000-03:00

Even if you think you have no idea who Diane Warren is or why she's a life ruiner, you do. She has found a way to sneak into our everyday lives and ensure that she will always be a part of the pop culture landscape. And there is nothing we can do to stop the apocalypse. Nothing.

For those of you who don't know, Diane Warren is a hit-making machine. She writes sappy love songs that have been performed by everyone from Aerosmith to Milli Vanilli (haha performed) to Celine Dion. Her songs are everywhere. And they almost always suck. There are 25 pages of listings on the All Music Guide of songs written by this woman. Ugh. Why? I have never been more inclined to vehemently wish writer's block on someone.

Not only are the songs formulaic, sappy, lame, over-produced and over-blown but the lyrics are appalling. Diane lives in a world where romantic love is everything. To have it takes over your life and to lose it takes over your life. Either way there is nothing else we should care about other than matters of the heart.

This is the woman responsible for probably just about every song played at weddings for the couple's first dance. It sickens me. The sentiments are so false and unrealistic. It's Diane Warren's fault that we all grow up with such unrealistic ideas about "love" and what it entails. Well Diane Warren and Disney. Disney gets us before we even know love exists and then Diane Warren finishes the job.

Think of all those sappy songs in your teen years that gave your 13-year-old self hope that you would finally meet your soulmate someday. Diane Warren wrote em. Think of the songs played at school dances that caused all the girls to cry in the bathroom. Diane Warren wrote em. Think of the song played as the last dance at your prom (if you stayed that long, I know I didn't). Diane Warren wrote it. Think of all those American and Canadian and god knows what else idols singing their hearts out to total shit. Diane Warren wrote and INSPIRED it.

In short, I don't think there is any disputing. Diane Warren is single-handedly responsible for all suffering on this earth.

Burnt CD Vault Volume #3

2007-08-02T02:35:00.000-03:00

So I've made my triumphant return to update the blog no one reads. Aren't you excited, oh blog audience of 0? I know I am.

Alright our next burnt CD comes straight to us from sometime in the summer of 2002 or maybe in the spring, I dunno but anyway...it's old. The CD is entitled "90% Ska" although judging by the track listing it's more like 79.6% Ska but whatever. And then there is the debate over whether half of that percentage is really considered ska. Hey, my 17-year-old small town self had to discover all non-top 40 music on my own relying on allmusic.com and Rolling Stone magazine, so cut me some slack. Anyway moving on to the tracks.

1. INXS- "Never Tear Us Apart"

Wow good move. Let's start a cd that is supposed to be mostly ska with a song that's not ska. Anyway this is a really good song. I always loved that line "If we could fly, cuz we all have wings but some of us dunno whyyyyyyyyy" I'm not sure why but at 17 it really spoke to me. Sweet sax solo. There's the ska connection. Just kidding.

2. Save Ferris- "I Know"
This song is pretty lame but it makes me wanna jump. "And I know. Know! Cuz you said so and I can't just let chu go" Wasn't this song in one of those late nineties teen movies?

3. Inner Circle- "Bad Boys"
COPS! Haha I remember when I was a kid I used to sing this to my brother and my mom got mad because she said it would confuse him because he would think he was being bad when he wasn't or something.

4. Fishbone-"Ugly"
I think I always skipped through this one for some reason because I don't remember this song at all. Oh well.

5. Nelly Furtado- "Hey Man"
I hated Ms. Furtado at the time. But did I ever love this song for some reason. It's still a pretty good song actually.

6. Less Than Jake- "Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sellouts"
I remember I used to think this song was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Mostly because of the title/chorus. Sweet song though.

7. Madness- "Baggy Trousers"
Ahh the classics. Weird song though. Reminds me of funhouse mirrors for some reason. Always has even though it has nothing to do with funhouses at all.

8. Madness- "Our House"
Madness's "big" song. And by big I mean some people outside of England knew it and it was in some commercials.

9. Pavement- "Fame Throwa"
For the longest time I thought this song was called "Flame Throwa" probably because I mislabeled it on this CD. Even though I've owned Slanted and Enchanted (the album it's on) since shortly after I made this cd I still thought this song was called that until a couple months ago. Sometimes I can't read. Or listen. Since he clearly says "FAME throwa" in the song. Regardless I have no sweet clue what this song is about. But then again, it's Pavement, you're not supposed to know what it means.

10. Reel Big Fish- "Thank You For Not Moshing"
My roomate and I have pretty different taste in music. While we have some things in common the rest of what she listens to I generally don't know and vice versa. Well one day she was randomly listening to this song and I started singing along from down the hall. She was like "How do YOU know this song?". Well because either allmusic suggested it as ska or WinMX (hahaha winmx!) brought it up under ska. I guess I'm just full of surprises.

11. Madness- "It Must Be Love"
This song is pretty lame. "Nothing more, nothing less. Love is the best." haha

12. No Doubt- "Move On"
I loved this song when they performed it on the MuchMusic 1997 Intimate and Interactive (see previous entry). I think it was the only song they did on that that wasn't on Tragic Kingdom.

13. Operation Ivy- "Knowledge"
A little bit of Socrates' wisdom summed up for us all in 1:42. Haha the first time I read Socrates I was like "Man it's like that Operation Ivy song"

14. Pavement- "Stop Breathin'"
Summer of 2002 was the summer of Pavement. I was obsessed. Hmm this is a good song. Might be time to dust off those Pavement albums. :)

15.Reel Big Fish- "Sell Out"
Man this music really makes me want to jump up and down. That would be ill-advised as it is 3:00 AM and I live in an apartment building.

16. Reel Big Fish- "Kids Don't Like It"
No. No they don't.

17. Shania Twain- "You've Got a Way"
SHANIA TWAIN!!?? This song reminds me of weddings since it seems to be every couples first dance. Not mine! Kinda makes me want to be in love though...haha. Was it written by Diane Warren? I bet it was.

18. Pavement- "Starlings of the Slipstream"
Oh Stephen Malkmus I want to marry you. Too bad you are taken.

19. Less Than Jake- "All My Best Friends are Metalheads"
Not a damn thing wrong with that.

20. The Specials- "Too Much Too Young"
You tell that slut Terry Hall!

21. The Specials- "Little Bitch"
Oh The Specials. I bet their live shows were sweet.

22. Sublime- "What I Got"
UGH UGH. This song has been forever ruined by my first year university. Everytime someone had a guitar out they played this and anyone within a 1 km radius started singing along to the whole thing and we all knew all the damn words. Sickening. Oh well at least it's not that terrible "The General" by Dispatch which I haven't heard since first year thank god.

23. Yaz - "Don't Go"
Fuck you Shawn Desman for sampling this synth-pop gem and making it a auditory weapon of mass destruction. In all seriousness I own the Yaz album this came from and it's pretty damn sweet.

24. Talking Heads- "Radio Head"
Allegedly the name sake for a famous band...

Wow that was fun. It made me want to listen to Pavement and Yaz and continue to stay as far from "The General" by Dispatch as I can.

Burnt CD Vault Volume #2

2007-05-15T02:11:00.000-03:00

Alright, in my last installment of the Burnt CD Vault I lied. I will not be looking back to a cd that features some Bon Jovi this time around. Upon listening to previously mentioned cd, I realized it was pretty boring and not worth talking about. Not that is an exciting feature. Or even an exciting blog. Ah well, makes me happy and that's all I give a shit about anyway.

Anyway shall we...

Today's CD from the vault is cryptically titled, "Paper Bag January 2004". Well the second you put the cd in the stereo it becomes much less cryptic, given the fact that the first song on the cd is titled, "Paper Bag". This CD comes to you straight from my first year of university. And what a time that was...

1.Fiona Apple- Paper Bag
At this time I was listening to a lot of Fiona. But rather than do what makes sense (ie put a bunch of her songs all on one cd) I put one song by her on each mix cd I made from about a year. So of course if I was ever in a Fiona mood I would just have to listen to one track on about 20 different cds. How convenient.

2. Foo Fighters- Breakout
Well it's a pretty alright song. Nothing extraordinary. So yeah that's about all I have concerning that

3. Three Doors Down- Here Without You
Whaaaaa...??? I disgust myself. Ok I mean nevermind the fact it was the only song by these guys I ever liked. Or that my very recently 19-year-old self was at the time being screwed around by a lame guy and unable to deal with it. Or that because of nutritionally deficient meal hall food I was depressed. This is still appalling.

4. Jefferson Airplane- White Rabbit
Ok it was my first year at hippie U. It had to rub off a bit in the beginning. Also I was smoking a lot of weed at the time. Not that this song was about weed. But I suppose this is still a sweet song now so....

5. Black Sabbath- Iron Man
Awesome.

6. David Bowie- Five Years
This is still a pretty good song. Kind of a random Bowie song to pick considering I've never been a huge fan really. I mean he's alright but I am not passionate like a lot of people. But yeah no idea why I decided on this one.

7.Jimi Hendrix- Voodoo Chile
Never again will I ever hear this song and not be reminded of this one time when I was working drive thru at KFC. I had a ridiculous line-up of cars, it was sweltering hot and the heat was broken again, and some guy was at my speaker was blasting this and it was screaming in my ears. I'll never like this song again.

8. Korn- A.D.I.D.A.S.
What was I nostalgic for junior high days gone by? Shit man. This is around the time two of my Korn cds went missing never to be heard from again. Which was weird since they were at my parents house, I never leant them out and no one in my house listened to Korn. My room must've ate them to prevent me from listening to shitty music ever again. Even in the event I felt nostalgic.

9. Liz Phair- Supernova
Who knows? I really tried to force myself to enjoy pre-sell out Liz Phair. Thank god I gave up on that.

10. Moby- Natural Blues
Huh?

11. Our Lady Peace- Superman's Dead
Man I was going through some nostalgia at that time. I guess. Why the hell else would this be on here?

12.Primus- My Name is Mud
Primus? Really?

13. Radiohead- Lucky
I was just talking to my friend the other day about how at some point in the last couple years we just stopped listening to Radiohead. It's like they just no longer existed one day. And I used to love them. I have no idea what happened

14. Red Hot Chili Peppers- Knock Me Down
Meh. I got nothin'

15. Sheryl Crow- Redemption Day
Good song, kinda random. Again ties into my nostalgic leanings at the time.

16. Soundgarden- Blow Up the Outside World
Man apparently I reeeaaaallly missed grade 6 in my second semester of first year.

17. Stone Temple Pilots- Plush (acoustic)
Man all we need is some Sublime and that stupid "The General" song by Dispatch and we have the makings of a cd designed for frosh everywhere.

18. The Cure- Lovesong
I really hated that cover of this song by 311.

19. The Pixies- Where is My Mind?
Ugh. Lame.

Yikes. That was interesting. If ever I get nostalgic for first year university I'll be sure to put this cd on and be like, "hmmm you know what...maybe not".

Burnt CD Vault Volume #1

2007-05-07T02:13:00.000-03:00

Welcome to the first installment of my new blog feature, the Burnt CD Vault. Basically what I will (hopefully) be doing with this series is finding random burnt CDs from random times and revisiting them. This could be interesting because a burnt CD is usually a hodge podge (at least for me) of random shit that is very indicative of the time it was created. So since I love music and nostalgia, this totally works. For me anyway. And since I basically create this blog purely to entertain myself, it works.

Our first burnt cd from the vault is labeled rather cryptically "July 28/05". This is around the time that I stopped coming up with titles for my burnt cds and simply titled them the date they were made. Hey, I can't be creative all the time.

July 05 was an interesting time. Lots of parties, lots of fun stuff going on interspersed with full time hours at the KFC. This CD in question inadvertently became the soundtrack to an epic weekend I will remember forever. But yeah what happens in Sluice Point, stays in Sluice Point. :P

1. Patti Smith - Because the Night

Love this song. And good ol' Brucie Springsteen had a hand in writing it, that's why it's so awesome.

2. 50 Cent- Just a Lil Bit

The theme song of summer 2005. Why? I am really not sure but for some reason we couldn't get enough. I even loved it and Fiddy usually ain't my cup of tea. It totally reminds me of driving around aimlessly blaring it out the speakers with the bass turned up as high as it could go. Wow, lame.

3. The Misfits- We Are 138

Just because.

4. Stone Temple Pilots- Interstate Love Song

Oh man I will never hear this song again and not think of you. Nope never.

5. Alice In Chains- Godsmack

At that point in time I was going through one of my many Dirt phases. Once every 6 months or so I rediscover that album. It will happen again. And again.

6. Beck- Sunday Sun

This song in particular will always remind me of said weekend and the night we slept together on the hardwood floor. It's just the perfect lazy vacation type tune.

7. Foo Fighters- Best of You

Great song. Captures the drama of the time perfectly

8. Umm I have no idea what the hell this is and why it is on the cd. But it sounds very 2005 with it's synthiness (not a word, I know). Might be that lame Bravery band. Not sure though.

9. Brian Jonestown Massacre- Cause I Love Her

This was around the time my dad was super obsessed with the Brian Jonestown Massacre. So that's probably why it ended up on my cd. Great song though.

10. The Misfits- Return of the Fly

The lyrics of this song are even more ridiculous than most Misfits songs because it is basically a movie trailer.

11. Ciara- Oh

WTF? Sometimes I don't understand my own choices. I suppose it serves as a nice bridge between The Misfits and Grapes of Wrath.

12. Grapes of Wrath- What Was Going Through My Head.

Why this song is on this cd I am not sure. I mean I love this song but really that's because my dad went through a huge GoW phase when I was like 4 and I grew up hearing it a lot at the time. But why I thought of it in 2005 I have no idea.

13. The Kinks- Lola

This song defined that weekend. Not sure why but it'll go down in history as the song of summer 2005 along with "Sultans of Swing" which I am surprised is not on here to be honest.

14. Rachael Yamagata- Worn Me Down

I was watching a lot of the O.C. at the time.

15. Also no idea, something about turning my camera on. Whatever it is it sucks.

16. Beck- Guess I'm Doing Fine

I was discovering the Sea Change album at this time. Because somehow it had slipped under my radar until that point. Shame. Such a great album.

17. The Dandy Warhols- We Used to Be Friends

Not a huge Dandy Warhols fan but this is a great song. (Dad was also mega into Dandy Warhols then).

18. The Misfits- Attitude

What can I say? It was a summer of the Misfits. I was just being a good Danzig cadet.

19. Stone Temple Pilots- Sex Type Thing

Good song. Not much else to say about its inclusion though.

20. Sleater Kinney- I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone

I've always loved this song. There are pieces of indie pretension in me as much as I try to fight it. That makes me sad.

21. The Pixies- Here Comes Your Man

I've always felt The Pixies were overrated. And trust me I tried to like them. But this song is good. Probably because it's catchy and less pretentious than some of their shit. Again its inclusion is a little random.

22. The Misfits- Mommy Can I Go and Kill Tonight

The answer to that would be no.

So that's it. Our first installment. I have plenty of fucked burnt cds to revisit. It should be good times. I am thinking the next one will be one from 2003. And it has a Bon Jovi song on it. WTF?

Man I suck at this blogging business...

2007-04-30T01:15:00.000-03:00

So I've had this blog for a year and I've posted in it 14 times. It's a good thing no one reads this or waits for it with bated breath because shit man they'd be disappointed. In my defence I was pretty busy up until the beginning of April. Since then I've had no excuse.

So without further ado this is my next blog entry. In this entry I am going to be creative and do something I've never done before. No actually I am gonna do something I've already done a couple times. Because well...I don't have any new ideas right now.
So let's go back in time shall we, to a simpler time. To 1992. The week of May 2nd to be exact. To the top ten songs on the Billboard Top 100.

#10. Richard Marx- Hazard
Oh Richard Marx. Where are you now? No doubt writing scores for animated movies that want to be Disney movies (Land Before Time 47?) or jingles for commercials. Because I think I saw on Pop-Up Video once that was what you did before you were famous(?). Might as well stick with what you know.

#9.Ugly Kid Joe- Everything About You
I remember Ugly Kid Joe was totally cool at my elementary school because they had that "Cats in the Cradle" song. All the little boys loved that for some reason. Well I guess someone had to love them.

#8. Joe Public- Live and Learn
That's what he (they?) said after he never saw the Billboard Top 100 again.

#7. Mariah Carey- Make It Happen
Here we have Mariah singing about he more modest days. When she had only one pair of shoes. And all her marbles.

#6. TLC- Ain't 2 Proud to Beg
Beg for what TLC?

#5. En Vogue- My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)
I never understood why some song titles have parentheses. Seems strange as lyrics are not generally sung as proper sentences. But anyway if they had to put a parentheses in the title of this song wouldn't "You're Never Gonna Get It (My Lovin')" make more sense going from the way the song goes. Maybe I am just thinking about this too much.

#4. Queen- Bohemian Rhapsody
Wha...? This song didn't come out in 1992. Right Wayne's World.

#3. Eric Clapton- Tears In Heaven
I feel bad joking about this song given the subject matter. So I won't

#2. Vanessa Williams- Save the Best for Last
2 things. Firstly, isn't it ironic this song is number 2? Secondly, "sometimes the snow comes down in June." Nuff said.

#1. Kriss Kross- Jump
Fuck yeah.

Maybe just maybe, next time I'll use a different chart as a source. Stick around to find out. Or actually don't. Since the next time I post will probably be in like, August.

Billboard is hot.

2007-01-16T21:22:00.000-04:00

Or not.

So this time around I am going to review the top 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week. Why not?

#10. The All-American Rejects- It Ends Tonight
I can't hear this song without seeing the douchebags from Laguna Beach season 3. Sunsets! Mansions! That ugly no-neck Cameron kid!
Well the song is ok. I guess.

#9. My Chemical Romance- Welcome to the Black Parade
Definately a good song. It awhile to grow on me but it has.

#8. Jim Jones- We Fly High
Don't even know what this is.

Ok fuck this. I'm bored. Let's see what was hot this week in 1992.

#10. MC Hammer- Addams Groove
Oy. Bad start. I don't even know this song. But it's MC Hammer I can't imagine it's good.

#9. Nirvana- Smells Like Teen Spirit
The "revolution" starts. I guess. Not my least favourite Nirvana song (that would be"Come As You Are") but I dunno it's hard to be excited by Nirvana anymore. I'll always love the Unplugged album and Bleach but the rest of it is just meh.

#8. Boyz II Men- It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday
Oh Boyz II Men. The garish matching outfits, the guy with the cane who does the spoken word parts, the hand gestures. What, they sing too?

#7. Shanice - I Love Your Smile
Thank you. :)

#6. Prince and the N.P.G.- Diamonds and Pearls
Isn't funny how some songs pass the test of time? And other well... don't.

#5. CeCe Peniston- Finally
If I remember correctly, I think she had a brother/sister named BeBe. Where's DeDe? FeFe?

#4. George Michael and Elton John- Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
Nobody realized at the time just how appropriate a match this was.

#3. Mariah Carey- Can't Let Go
Pre-crazy Mariah!

#2. Color Me Badd- All 4 Love
Oh the questions. Why two ds? Did people think they were straight? How did they get a record deal? Did anyone miss them when they disappeared off the face of the earth?

#1. Michael Jackson - Black or White
A video centered around children. Hmmmmm.

Misty Watercoloured Memories

2006-12-30T20:12:00.000-04:00

So my dad recently bought a DVD recorder and while I am home for the holidays I decided to take out some old videos and transfer them to DVD.

Anyway the best of these tapes is a tape I made in 1997. It starts with the Intimate and Interactive on Muchmusic featuring No Doubt from May 13 of that year.
I started to watch that today and let me tell you, Much has changed like 900% in the last ten years.
The show was hosted by Master T and they even still had the old logo. The second No Doubt appears it's clear that Muchmusic isn't the only thing that has changed since 1997. Gwen Stefani still seems cool here. I mean she may be wearing the weirdest, most unflattering yellow, shiny pants I have ever seen but hey...it was 1997. Her hair also looks ridiculous but in a charming way. Anyway, it's a far cry from today. Now I have not one shred of respect for the woman. Her music just plain sucks. Is No Doubt ever getting back together? I suppose it doesn't matter because even if they did they wold suck now anyway.

When I watched this show I remembered just how cool No Doubt was at that time (to me anyway). Granted I was 12 and in grade 6 when I taped this. But all the people at the show seem into it too.

Oh those 1997 people in their 1997 fashions, how cute.

Another hilarious thing about this show is what they call "high tech digital phone lines". Which is apparently a fancy way of saying really shitty-ass portable webcam-like thing. Muchmusic VJs were all around the world, they were in Austrailia, New York and Singapore. And they were all at HMVs. Basically they were with fans from these places who asked the band questions through this extremely bad quality video thing. Half the time the band couldn't even make out what they were asking. Anyway the whole thing was rather hilarious especially looking at it compared to the technology we have today. Guess that's another thing that's changed in the last ten years.

I have a feeling this entry will have a part two once I watch more of it and get to the commercials.
And there are still 5 more DVDs of music videos I felt it was necessary to tape back then (Kc and JoJo???)

Odes to Unrequited Love

2006-11-09T22:29:00.000-04:00

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. When you reunite it's always so much sweeter.

No I am not talking about a dude. I am talking about a song.

I just heard "1979" by the Smashing Pumpkins which was buried deep in my itunes library and a song I hadn't really listened to in ages. While it was never my favourite Smashing Pumpkins song ("Tonight, Tonight", "Thirty-three", "Mayonaise" win that title) it was one of the songs on a mixed tape I made in grade 5 that I listened to endlessly.

Other notable track on the tape included: more Smashing Pumpkins, "I'm Only Happy When It Rains" by Garbage, "Seether" by Veruca Salt (Oh man! Veruca Salt!) and unexplicably "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi (I have no idea). Anyway this was a tape I played only about a million times a day until it completely wore out. These songs are forever burned in my memory.

So anyway back to "1979". When I just heard it today, it was almost a deep emotional reaction. I can't even explain it, it was weird. It's funny how songs can take you right back and make you feel something you hadn't felt in a long time. It's like I was getting into music all over again and discovering things on my own for the first time rather then being influenced by what my parents listened to. I was 11 again.

It was like the feeling I get when I listen to Elliott Smith. As much as I love his music, it's pretty hard for me to sit down and listen to certain songs. My heart breaks. It takes me back to about a year ago when my heart was broken, and my life was hell for multiple other reasons, some bad shit happened. I listened to Elliott Smith a lot then. At the time I really only truly felt when I was alone at night. I hid my feelings all day and fell apart at night. As cheesy as it sounds, listening to Elliott Smith on my ipod alone in my room got me through it. So for that reason I can't listen to Elliott Smith on headphones without wanting to bawl my eyes out. I am over all that stuff now, barely even think of it anymore. But when I listen to "Twilight" or "Between the Bars" etc, it's November 05 again and my life's falling apart.
It sucks because I really like those songs but I'd rather not relive terrible memories.

So yeah, that was a tangent. Now I don't remember my orginal point. Damn.

Room Raiders!

2006-11-04T20:51:00.000-04:00

I was just thinking about what would happen if I ended up on one of MTV's stupid reality shows.

Like for instance, Room Raiders.
Room Raiders is a show where someone goes into 3 rooms of 3 people they don't know to snoop. They don't meet the people beforehand and all photos of the person in the room are covered. The person snooping then has to choose the person they would want to date based on their room. They then have come face to face with the three people and eliminate 2 of them based on their room (not knowing what room belongs to what person). Also the people are captured "spontaneously" so they don't get to clean their room before it is raided.

The snooper always makes the stupidest conclusions about the people based on the stuff in their rooms. It made me wonder what people would conclude about me based on my room.

It would obviously depend on what day of the week they chose to raid my room. My room is usually a disaster by Tuesday because my life gets crazy during the week. However it is much more tidy on the weekends when I have time to pick up my clothes.

So let's assume this guy decided to raid my room on Saturday.

Well I have a nicely organized cd tower so he would probably conclude good things from that, like she likes music that is good (The people on this show are not very smart). He'd probably pick one random cd of my rack that he likes and decide we like the same music and that is cool (most likely one of the like, 4 rap cds I have).

Next he would get to my dresser and conclude I am down to earth because I don't have too many products on my dresser (this is because I keep them in the bathroom). He would say he likes that because guys on these shows always like to pretend they like down to earth girls. Inevitably he would go for my underwear drawer next. That might be interesting. He will most likely be quite scandalized. I once saw a guy on this show freak over a C cup bra. I am a DD. I also own some pretty sexy underwear. And I have a, ahem, little friend...well not so little. So yeah they would most likely conclude that I am obviously some crazy sexpot. Just because a girl knows what she wants it doesn't make her easy, just saying.

There is not much of note in my closet. A bunch of clothes and shoes. He'd probably make something of the blonde wig I have from Halloween. On these shows they seem to forget that people celebrate Halloween and think that a crazy wig equals weird hobbies. My bed is also rather unexciting, it's decently comfortable and clean. He'd go through the whole bed test of course.

In my bookshelf I have a bizarre selection of books. I don't know what someone on this show would conclude from that, probably that I am intellectual and introspective because I own books and can read. I also have movies, laundry stuff, a scale and baskets with random shit in them on my shelf. They would conclude that I am obsessed with my weight because I have a scale visible nevermind the fact that I never ever use it. I don't know what they would think of my movies because I have a very eclectic collection. Like the cds he'd just pick one he liked and be like she likes movies that is cool.

Finally there's my desk which is kinda messy. They would probably conclude that I am disorganized which I am not, I am just unable to keep a neat desk.

So would he choose me? Probably not. I don't have any sports stuff in my room.

And now for something completely pointless...

2006-10-21T14:17:00.000-03:00

I used to love watching the Muchmusic countdown every week when I was younger. Back in '96 I'd wait with baited breath for Friday evening so I can see if my favourites were closer to number one (Smashing Pumpkins- Tonight, Tonight). I stopped caring sometime around the explosion of teen pop and never really got back into it. It's pretty useless anyway, like where do their statistics even come from? What are they measuring? Why should I care?

So anyway the point: I watched the Muchmusic Countdown last night because there was nothing else on tv and have decided to review the Top 1o.

#10. Evanescence- Call Me When You're Sober.
Damn I thought I was never going to have hear this vampire woman's voice ever again. This song sucks, it's lame, it sounds like it should have been released like 5 years ago and I can't stand her voice. Amy whatever-her-name-is has learned an age old lesson, don't fall for alcoholics. I also learned this lesson but I didn't write a stupid ass song about it. NEXT.

#9. Nelly Furtado- Maneater.
This is song is fun I must admit. However the video is lame. I couldn't even watch it, it was trying way to hard to be an 80s video. Sorry it is impossible to recreate the majesty of the cheesy 80s video. So don't bother.

#8. JoJo - Too Little, Too Late.
Oh Jesus. First of all this dude is way too old for little JoJo. He apologizes for some unknown indiscretion by giving her a ticket to his soccer game. Oh wow, good job there dude. She may only be 15 and easy to manipulate but a soccer ticket??? It all goes downhill from there, the dude plays soccer, JoJo is sad, she has a rain scene and throws some shit around. Note to creepy record execs: 15 is too young for a rain scene, you could get arrested for that shit.

#7. Hedley- Gunnin'
Blah. PeeWee Herman Junior's girlfriend has anorexia. I don't care.

#6. Alexisonfire- This Could Be Anywhere in the World.
I like this song. I like this video. Some good Canadian content for once.

#5. Hinder- Lips of an Angel.
What the hell is this shit? What an ugly man. Get off the damn phone! You're girlfriend can totally hear you.
How much do you wanna bet these guys are friends with Nickelback. Gross.

#4. City and Colour- Comin' Home.
This one is okay, pretty inoffensive. A little boring but the song is decent enough.

#3. The Killers- When You Were Young.
Another ok song, wow that's insane. The video makes absolutely no sense. Why are the Killers in a bar in Mexico? Why do they look like 70s porn stars? Who is the girl? I'm lost.

#2. George- Talk To Me.
Are you kidding me? Who is this douche? He's such a little worm. Plus his song REALLY sucks. If some guy ever sang shit like this to me I'd ask him where he left his balls. Also, nice stage name asshole.

#1. Billy Talent- Red Flag.
Not bad. An ok song for sure. I find I kinda zone out when it comes to the video but hey that means nothing as I zone out all the time.

So there you have it the top ten of... something.

So we met at the internet...

2006-10-12T23:23:00.000-03:00

I don't get why people get into simulated relationships with people they meet online. I don't understand how it happens, why you would look for it and why it would seem like a good idea.
I guess I understand why people did it in like 1996, because then the internet was novel and it seemed like a potential cool way to connect with people around the world (I guess). But then the general populace woke up and realized how creepy that was. Or at least anyone with half a brain did.

I honestly can't imagine being SO desperate that I would try to hook up with someone over the internet. I mean it's not like I get a lot of guys, in fact for all my efforts I barely get looked at twice and it sucks BUT come on, the internet? Jesus.

Internet relationships are fucking stupid for the following reasons:
1. What if when you meet the person they have really bad B.O. or emit some other weird smell. Are you going to be able to live with that after you declared your undying love to them before meeting them?
2. What if they have a really annoying laugh or some other weird tic that drives you nuts. Will you be able to ignore it?
3. How do you know there is real chemistry between the two of you if you have never met. I need more than just a picture and words on a screen to know I am attracted to someone. But maybe I am crazy.
4. Here's a big one, sex. Ok first of all, the main reason to get into a relationship is regular, guaranteed sex. Well at least in my mind. So with an internet relationship you are essentially getting all the shitty parts of a relationship: jealousy, fights etc but NO SEX. I'm sorry if I want to be sexually frustrated I will remain single and at least have the option of something possibly happening. Also what if you wait all this damn time and fall "in love" with the person and they are a terrible lay? What the hell are you gonna do then? No thanks.
5. Most likely the person you will meet lives in their mother's basement in like, Des Moines or something. Is that really the person you want to be in an oppressive, sexually frustrating "relationship" with?

But apparently some people have no other options. If anything, internet relationships can be given credit for populating our world with more ugly people. Think about it, half of these people wouldn't have procreated before the internet. Great.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Some people meet their soul mate on the internet and go on to have a real-life relationship. I know one couple like this, but they are a very major exception.

Random series of rants.

2006-09-21T21:10:00.000-03:00

Ugh.
Do you know what's lame??
Nerd wannabes.

Personally, I have absolutely nothing against full-fledged nerds. Sure you're super into Star Wars but you still have some social skills. That's cool with me. I ain't gonna watch it with ya but I can respect it. Or say you're really into philosophy. I can respect that too. Don't expect me to have any clue what the hell you are talking about, but I can smile and nod. I go to King's, I'm used to it.

What I CAN'T respect are those people who go on and on about how nerdy they are. Especially when they actually aren't nerdy, they are just idiots. Say, for example, someone is really into Weezer and thinks punctuation is cool. That's not especially nerdy just kinda sad. Wannabe nerds also tend to use unnecessarily big words in long successions for absolutely no reason. Wow, I am so impressed. Awesome, you own a dictionary. I also have one of those.

I also really can't stand mainstream "urban" fashion.

-Ok, first of all. Sideways hats are not cool. They make you look like you look like a complete and utter doofus. I will automatically think you don't know basic math or how to form a proper sentence. NO EXCEPTIONS.
-I also really hate when people wear clothing that makes them look like a brick wall. As in, they are covered in graffiti. I know if somebody came up to me with a can of spray paint I wouldn't just stand there, I'd kick them, then I would run away. I have no interest in being tagged, thanks.
-Men shouldn't wear pink. I love pink, but not on anything with a penis.
-And finally, if your pants are so big that your ass is completely exposed, buy a belt.

You know what else I hate? My fucking shower. It either decides to scald me or shoot incredibly freezing cold water on my back. Really depends on the day, I think my shower has a severe case of permanent PMS.

When the Children Cry

2006-06-22T17:07:00.000-03:00

So I realize it's been awhile. However, I've spent the last 2 months working at a KFC in a small town in Nova Scotia where the biggest issue has been the fact that we've discontinued Extra Crispy chicken. So yeah, not a lot to talk about.

Today that changed with a little purchase I made at my local mall. I indulged in the ultimate guilty pleasure for the serious music fan, I bought a value-priced two cd Power Ballads compilation. The only thing I can compare that to is ordering three scoops of ice cream when you're on a diet.

Anyway the cd is jam packed with 30 delicious power ballads, some of them I don't know by the titles but I am sure I will know when I hear them as I am frequent watcher of the MuchMoreRetro channel and they love to play that shit.

I used to be cool. I used to snort in disgust when I heard power ballads and laugh because everything I listened was far superior. Then I downloaded "More Than Words" by Extreme (included on this compilation) and openly admited I enjoyed it but no other power ballads, of course.

That is where the downward spiral began and I don't mean the Nine Inch Nails album.

Then I over time I downloaded "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", "Here I Go Again", "I Can't Fight This Feeling" and then most disgustingly "High Enough" by Damn Yankees.

Now here I am spending 14.99 on a two disc Power Ballad compilation. What the fuck happened?

Sure I could shrug it off by saying I enjoy these songs ironically because they are just SO ridiculous that they're enjoyable. But that would be too hipster of me and I am so not a hipster.
I could also bite the bullet and say I like power ballads because they appeal to some sappy part of my being that enjoys this kind of crap but I am not even sure if that is accurate either.

I guess I really don't know why I enjoy power ballads and I am ok with that.

So excuse me while I crank "When the Children Cry" by White Lion and enjoy a good laugh at the hilarious cliche lyrics and whiny vocals. I may no longer be cool but at least I am having a helluva lot more fun.

P is for Poser

2006-04-25T18:22:00.000-03:00

Yes, I am aware poser is an idiotic, elitist term. But I say if the shoe fits, wear it or I'll shove it on your foot either way it's a perfect fit.

My definition of poser (in regards to music taste) is hard to put into words but I think we'll all recognize the type I am talking about. To me it's the person who blindly follows the music trends outlined by the perfect poser publication: Spin Magazine and not only does this person follow the trends, they are incredibly elitist about their derivative and boring taste. They just make me want to scream "Jumping on the bandwagon does not make you cool...or special!" Oh wow, your favourite band is Weezer despite the fact that their last I dunno, 3 albums completely sucked but you love them anyway because you love them for the "real" reasons. Right, whatever. A poser to me is someone who hides their guilty pleasures or tries to justify them in someway so it's somehow ok. Oh. my. god. Stop it already! You aren't fooling anyone! Everyone has guilty pleasures, it's ok. For instance I really enjoy me some Kelly Clarkson and that "Africa" song by Toto. I freely admit it. To me people's musical quirks make their taste interesting. I don't want to talk about music with Spin magazine's ideal reader, I want to talk music with real people with individual tastes that makes it interesting. Sure, we'll tease each other for liking a silly song or we won't always see eye to eye about what is good but I respect that in a person, someone with their own eclectic individual taste. I think it's interesting finding out what quirky guilty pleasures a real music fan has. This is how you know someone TRULY loves music and isn't talking out of their ass.

It's also ok to have an individual taste apart from what is "cool" (what is cool anymore? The Arctic Monkeys? I'd rather be uncool) or what your friends like. A lot of my friends have different tastes then I do and I completely respect that as long as it's what they're truly into. I learn things from them and they learn things from me and we all learn to appreciate, respect and sometimes even like music we wouldn't have given a chance before. This wouldn't happen if we all liked the same thing. Variety is the spice of life, my friend. Morphing your tastes to resemble someone else's is never ever cool.

I really enjoy old episodes of Unsolved Mysteries.

2006-04-23T02:36:00.000-03:00

Oh man, I just found out Robert Stack died in 2003. That is so sad. He was such a great host and a great man. Or maybe he wasn't, I'm not really sure.

However, one thing I am sure of is the fact that I love old episodes of Unsolved Mysteries. Even if I do have to watch them during the day or with other people. Unless they are the ones about families with multiple children who got separated in the 1940s and reunited by TV. Those ones I can watch any time. I remember the one where the family was living in an old school bus and government heartlessly broke them apart but then some 40 years later some of the kids got reunited by Robert Stack and America . That one really pulled at the heartstrings.

The ones where people disappear are the ones that creep me out. I've always been freaked out by people disappearing which really I feel is a legitimate thing to be freaked out by. Well more legitimate then being afraid of butterflies, which I am also guilty of. In the episodes where people are missing they insist on showing their picture over and over again with creepy music. I do not like when they do that, it makes me sad. Although I suppose that is better then repeatedly showing mugshots. Mugshots give me nightmares.

One thing I love about Unsolved Mysteries is the reenactments. There was such great acting in those. I remember in one episode I saw a young Matthew McConaughey in a reenactment and he got shot or something, all I remember is he was wearing a purple shirt that was super 1992 probably because it was 1992. Sweet. I remember in another one a "tough" guy was wearing a REO Speedwagon t-shirt. What a badass.

Bottom line, Unsolved Mysteries was a great show. Now that I think of it, I'm not sure what made it so great. I think it was Robert Stack.

R.I.P. Robby.

Irrational Hate Files: Phil Collins

2006-04-21T15:17:00.000-03:00

I seriously can't stand Phil Collins.

I realize that he's kinda a dead issue at this point seeing as it's 2006 and his biggest album was released in 1985. However, it seems like society just can't let go of him even after all these years. His shitty songs are still all over the radio and I know all of them (thanks a lot CJLS). In fact as I write this I have that stupid fucking "Dance Into the Light" song stuck in my head. Grrrrr.

I get really annoyed when people try to make the argument that the second music videos became a popular phenomenon music became all about image. Sure there were some examples of that, Duran Duran for instance, but there was always an element of image in post-1940s popular music ( and even before that). Look at Elvis, he wouldn't have been half as popular as he was without his image. And Phil Collins's popularity in the 1980s is proof that you didn't have to be good or even interesting looking to make music videos. Dude made tons of them and he is the least interesting looking person ever. It's like the mailman all of a sudden got a record deal and became really popular.

Ah, his videos. Almost always shitty. When I first got the MuchMore Retro channel in 2004 I was so excited. I've always loved old music videos partly because I've always loved the 80s (way before it was cool to). Anyway, when the channel first aired they decided to dust off all their Phil Collins videos and play them ALL THE TIME. It seems like there is hundreds of them. I couldn't turn on that channel at any point in time without seeing his ugly face. There's the video where he's all over the world wearing that stupid hat and if I remember correctly the same outfit in every country...like dude change your clothes! Then there is the one where he walks into a dark room and sits down with a projector and watchs clips from himself in a movie (shudder) romancing some girl (double shudder) and when it's done he packs up his projector and off he goes. Then there's the one which starts mysteriously with an ominous mask that shows us the "key" scenes from that Against All Odds movie and I think at one point the mask starts singing and turns in Phil himself but that could have just been my brain melting. And finally there seems to be a bunch of them where he's wearing a suit and dancing. Phil Collins shouldn't dance. Ever.

Then there are his album covers. The last thing I want to see is a close up of Phil Collins's face, let alone 6 of them! Ugh and then on the one cover he's not staring into your eyes, he's dancing. What a douche.

I am not even gonna get started on his "music", my head may just explode.

*Come on and dance into the light. Wooooooooo-oh*

Another waste of internet space

2006-04-20T20:33:00.000-03:00

So this is my new blog. Livejournal just hasn't really been doing it for me lately. So since it is the dawn of a new era (or something), I figured it was time for a new blog. Also, I am bored. I'll probably still post my daily exploits on LJ but maybe not...we'll see.
Lately I have been so bored. I spend my days sleeping in ridiculously late and on the computer most of the time since the weather has been so bad. If the weather was nice I would go on lots of walks. Oh well, it's time to jump back into studying again. Which won't be so bad. I'll study for Modern American Culture by watching Pulp Fiction and glancing over my notes. That class was so fucking lame anyway, but I sure ain't complaining. Youth Culture will be fun to study for so yeah. Good times.
UGH this is so boring. Alright I'll find something to write about.
Well since I spend my days emersed in celebrity gossip blogs and Yarmouth related drama I will talk about that. Or attempt to and see how interesting it is.
So, Katie Holmes finally had her alien baby. Giving it a name like Suri really doesn't dispel the alien rumours, as (to me at least) it sounds kinda alien-like. Also, I know it probably means something pretty in some other culture but you guys are AMERICANS. Americans named Tom and Katie no less, why the hell does your baby need some exotic name that you had to research the meaning of. It's like that trend of North Americans getting tattoos in Chinese a few years back. Sure someone told you your tattoo means "serenity" or some shit but maybe it really means something completely different. I'd love to hear about someone actually going to China one of these days and getting laughed at randomly on the street because their tattoo they thought meant "serenity" actually means "shithead". That would totally make my day.
Another thing that annoys/disturbs me is the amount of teenage girls/ women in their twenties who worship Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. Sure, they are kinda fascinating in a fucked up way but more in a car crash sense. Paris is the biggest fucking moron on the planet. She's an idiot, she's ugly and despite having tons of money she can't even dress herself. I mean sure if I was famous for nothing I'd probably have a cocky attitude too but I would hope that I would at least have a basic high school knowledge of the world. Jesus. Nicole Richie is slightly better. At least she seems to have a bit of a brain. But she's gotten so skinny lately that it makes it difficult to look at her. She has cleaned up a bit since the first Simple Life. In some ways no longer being Paris's friend has really helped her. She no longer dresses like a hooker (I like colour but come the fuck on) and looks decent most of the time, aside from her weight. Regardless, this doesn't mean she should be your idol. I actually know women in their early 20s who idolize Nicole Richie. Why? What has she done? I've seen her on a reality show and in pictures on celebrity gossip blogs walking around and shopping day after day. I guess that's "the life"? I dunno I would be bored to tears. No wonder she's become so thin, she has nothing else to do.
Yup this is already way long and I hope it will get better with time. I promise not to create another blog where I update people on what I ate for supper that day (unless I ate something really fucking cool).