These are the Days it Never Rains But it Pours

Friday. Yeah! Ok, I know yesterday I wrote that Thursday was my favorite day of my workweek, but yesterday just completely sucked. After the issue in which I detailed in yesterday's post, my problems only tripled trying to get the data to upload and I ended up having to stay late watching that little blue progress bar to make sure everything went through ok. That's the short version of the story. The longer version has a lot more swear words in it.

I woke up today with Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie in my head. I attribute this to two reasons: first, because I was under a lot of pressure yesterday and my brain was playing it subconsciously, and also because I heard a cover of this song on the radio last night (which was probably the more likely case). I don't know who was doing the cover but it was on the so-called "alternative" station, so I am sure it was Cold Blink Charlotte Bizkit or someone like that. The music actually wasn't that bad, but whoever was doing the vocals is no Freddie Mercury, that's for sure.

Anyway, this song was locked in my head so I knew I had to play it, but the only Queen I had was on my iPod, which faithful readers know has been rendered inactive due to a broken radio transmitter. Well, the radio transmitter is still broken so I had to buck up and do what I had to do: use the ear buds. I don't like using the ear buds for two reasons. First, I think it is unsafe to use headphones while driving (and you know I am all about safety as I'm barreling down the interstate every morning), and second they don't fit in my ears. I don't know if I have some kind of deformed, misshapen ears or something but they won't stay in. I see these commercials with people dancing and jumping all over the place with them in, but I can't even keep my head perfectly straight for two minutes without them falling out. And even if they do stay in, I can't hear the music. I lose the complete bottom level. I get no bass at all. I am convinced whoever designed these things actually hates listening to music. Sure they look hip and cool, but I am all about function over form. I don't care how slick they look. If they don't serve their purpose I have no use for them.

Wow. Sorry about that. Anyway, I listened to Queen today. Sure, We Will Rock You and Bohemian Rhapsody have been horrendously overplayed, but there are still many other good tunes to dig. Stone Cold Crazy is a seriously rockin' number. I mean Metallica covered it, so you know it ain't Kumbiya. Fat Bottom Girls is a classic party tune if I ever heard one, and Keep Yourself Alive is just what I needed on a Friday morning to turn my mood around. Bicycle Race is another good one, even if he does explicitly say he doesn't like Star Wars. I am just hoping he meant the Strategic Defense Initiative, not the greatest movie of all time. I can go on, but this post is running seriously long. I thank all of you who made it this far. I'm going to stop now, I have spreadsheets to do.

Yeah, So Roses are Red, I Made Up the Rest...

Thursday. Today is website day. Faithful readers of this blog know that Thursday is my favorite day of the workweek because uploading to the web keeps me busy most of the day. Today will be no exception because I have already run into a problem trying to extract payables data in order to upload the site. About a month ago my employer implemented an automatic virus scan that checks external websites for malware prior to granting access (I personally think this is just a thinly disguised Big Brother program to monitor what sites we're visiting, but that's a different topic all together). Now when I'm trying to get to our customer's payables page it is scanning the page, which causes the page to reload, which triggers another scan, which causes the page to reload, and on and on in a loop. Without this information I cannot proceed with my upload. So, I am trying to work with IT user support to get this taken care of, but I think my definition of "high priority" is a little different to theirs. Mine relates to getting a 8-figure receivables report out to our largest customer (I'm not mentioning names, but let's just say they drive tanks) and theirs relates to getting another bag of Andy Capp Hot Fries and a 'Dew before reading up on more Warcraft cheats. But I pulled in a couple of big dogs to help out, so we'll see how that goes.

I didn't wake up with any songs in my head today, so I tried to think of what I should listen to while I was getting ready. Coincidently (or perhaps not) while I was standing in the shower thinking, I thought of Standing in the Shower Thinking. So, I grabbed Jane's Addiction's Nothing Shocking. I think that J.A. is one of the greatest bands ever, no exaggeration. I mean, when you think about what other music and stuff was coming out in the mid-Eighties to early Nineties, there is no comparison. Jane's was way ahead of its time. Nothing's Shocking from start to finish is a masterpiece. Idiots Rule, Ted Just Admit It, Had a Dad, the radio-friendly Jane Says, and the list goes on and on. Not to mention that living in Colorado provides ample opportunity to play Mountain Song while actually coming down a mountain.

I once read an article that made the claim that all true J.A. fans would say that Three Days (on Ritual De Lo Habitual) is their favorite song, as if this was some sort of litmus test. Well, I feel that I am a pretty big J.A. fan, and Three Days isn't my favorite song. Don't get me wrong, Three Days is mind-meltingly phenomenal, but I prefer Pigs in Zen. I don't know why, but that song just really hits me right every time, especially when it gets to the good part (and those of you who know, know what part I mean...)

Not Too Old to Begin the Training

Wednesday. Today I will be making adjustments to the spreadsheet I sent out yesterday. I have already had one person ask me to manually insert 75 more lines of financial data. That's fine, it at least gives me something to do. The rest of the time I will be adding to the vendor database I am creating and doing a lot of zoning out.

I woke up today with Modest Mouse in my head (they must have crawled in through my ear). I know I have reviewed MM several times on this blog, but why should I deny my subconscious if it is telling me I need to listen to Good News for People Who Love Bad News immediately? I mean, my brain is telling me a message, and I figure I best heed it or face some kind of crazy brain-rebellion as the consequence.

So, to avoid repetition (like discussing spreadsheets every day isn't repetitious...) instead of discussing the brilliance of MM today I am going to broach another subject: Star Wars. As many of you might suspect due to my name, yes, I am a SW fan. However, despite my moniker I have curiously never mentioned SW on this site. So... here we go.

I love Star Wars. While certainly not my pick for the greatest cinematic masterpiece of all time (that goes to Chairman of the Board), it is by far my favorite movie. My first exposure to SW was when my parents took my sister and I to see the original Star Wars (later re-named A New Hope) in the theater when I was 2 or 3 years old. While I really have no cognizant memories of this excursion, I do remember getting my first SW toys shortly after. I got Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and an X-Wing. My sister got Princess Leia, a stormtrooper, and a TIE fighter. Ahhh... those were the days. I remember vividly seeing every movie in the theater after that from Empire to Revenge of the Sith. I have a picture of a young darthjohn42 in my Darth Vader pajamas holding a brand new Millennium Falcon with a smile that could only say that I had achieved a 5-year old's nirvana and perfect contentment. I remember on Halloween when I was 8 I dressed in black pants, a white shirt and a vest. I think every single house we went to asked who I was supposed to be. Hello? I'm Han Solo, duh... Many people wonder why now as a grown adult I still love these movies so much. First, I'm a complete nerd, but that is already evident. I think one of the big reasons is that when I watch these movies I get transported back to a more innocent time in my life when I believed that good would always triumph over evil, that all things were possible, and that if I closed my eyes and concentrated hard enough that the toy I dropped down in the storm sewer drain would actually levitate back up into my hand. Personally, I'm relieved to know that after dealing with the real world news, politics, economy, personal problems, etc., I can pop in one of these movies and for at least a couple of hours I can recapture a time in my childhood when I had no idea of such terrible things. That and seeing Boba Fett. He's one bad mutha.

Scattered Like Lost Words

Tuesday. Yet another spreadsheet day. There's a big surprise. At least I'll know that when I go completely near-sighted I will have sacrificed my vision (and sanity) in the name of accurate data.

Today I woke up with a strong hankering to hear some Built to Spill. However, since I still haven't replaced the broken radio transmitter for my iPod and I don't have any BTS burnt on CD, I could not fulfill this desire. So instead I grabbed another Dead disc, Without A Net. There was no reasoning behind this. I was running late and it was still sitting out from when my wife took it to her work to listen to the other day. I really like this live disc. This version of Eyes of the World with Branford Marsalis on saxophone is simply phenomenal. This collection also has two of my favorite Dead songs included as well, Cassidy and Althea.

My wife and I named our first daughter Cassidy. We are both big Grateful Dead fans and we really liked what this song has to say about the cycle of life. I am also a big fan of Beat literature, so the whole Neal Cassady element played a part as well. We have well-begun indoctrinating her on the ways of the Dead. She saw Phil Lesh & Friends at Red Rocks with us at the tender age of 3, and can recognize various arrangements of her namesake after the first few notes. Anyway, at Cassidy's preschool there is a big bulletin board in which all of the little munchkins' various art projects, drawings, paintings, etc. are proudly displayed. On one particular creation the name "Althea" is written in the corner. Who are this girl's parents? We need to arrange a meeting between our daughters. I know that as soon as they get together they will realize the Dead bond between them and run off hand-in-hand to go twirl and spaghetti dance with their other friends Delilah, Katie Mae and Stella Blue...

Eh, who am I kidding? That's probably her great-great-grandma's name or something. I mean what kind of freak names their kid after a Grateful Dead song? Oh, wait... never mind...

Let the words be yours, I am done with mine...

Born in a Desert, Raised in a Lion's Den

Monday. Another work week. I'm super pumped. Can't ya just feel the excitement? Ok, maybe not. I am working on a project today that I started on Friday. The receivables totals that I am compiling and posting out on the website each week do not match our accounting ledgers. Sometimes this is for legitimate reasons, such as ORO billings and deductions, but sometimes there is just a data error that needs to be identified and fixed. So, I am going through account-by-account, line-by-line, looking for discrepancies then resolving them. I am like the Sherlock Holmes of the spreadsheet world. Just call me darthjohn42 the data detective. All right, now I think the boredom has finally made me insane.

Today I listened to Dead Set by The Grateful Dead on the way in to work. I am a pretty big Grateful Dead fan. Notice how I said "fan," not "deadhead." You see, when I was maybe a freshman or sophomore in college I made the fatal mistake of telling a group of people at a house party that I was a "deadhead." I was immediately jumped on by several individuals who told me that being a deadhead is a way of life, not just a taste in music and what did I know about it anyway? I don't have thousands of hours of bootlegged concerts taped, I never spent a summer touring with the band, and I have never sold veggie burritos out of the back of a Volkswagen. Even if I had seen them in concert before, I only saw them in Chicago and everyone knows that Chicago shows are weak, blah blah blah. So, having been told off I went away, head hung low, a sorry sack of music aficionado wannabe poseurness.

Since I was going to school in Wisconsin, the closest the Dead ever came during that time was Chicago. So the next summer I took the six-hour drive down and caught them again at Soldier Field. This was in the summer of 1995. Now every deadhead (and many Dead fans) knows the significance of the Chicago '95 show. While these elitist deadheads that I ran into before were probably patting themselves on the back for scoring tickets to a Deer Creek show that was eventually canceled due to riots that summer, my friends and I witnessed the very last Dead show that Jerry Garcia ever performed. Yeah, having tickets to a Chicago show sure sucked.

Well, despite this nice bit of ironic justice, these hippie jerks (an odd trait for a hippie...) were correct in the fact that I should not consider myself a deadhead. I have/had friends who fit this mold, and even though I have two dozen or so CDs and seen them in concert several times, I know now that I am nowhere close to their level of fandom. However, I do get a lot of enjoyment listening to the music, so even if I have been relegated to a lower caste of Dead-hood, at least I have that going for me.

Prophet of Rage

Friday. Yeah! A decently busy day. I already had one spreadsheet project scheduled for Fridays, and as of last week I have a new project to work on Fridays and Mondays. It's more spreadsheet work, of course, but for this one I get to research ledger discrepancies so I am happy to have a little change up there.

Like most workplaces, our break room has coffee brewing daily. Each day I go in the break room, there is a little sign hanging over the coffee maker advising us what is on tap for the day. Although the signs say something like "French Roast" or "Vienna Blend" it always tastes the same to me. I asked one of my co-workers if maybe my taste buds could not detect the subtle variations of these strains of coffee beans, but she concurred that it always tastes the same. We think that the signs are there to try to trick us into thinking we are drinking something of higher quality than we really are. Kind of like when you see those little packets of "Fancy Ketchup." If it was so fancy, why am I squeezing it out of a little packet?

Today I listened to Public Enemy on the drive in. I chose this selection for two reasons: one, it's Friday and I needed something bouncy to get me going. Two, I noticed an absence of rap music reviews on this site and thought this would be an excellent opportunity to address an issue that I've had with rap for several years now. First, I want to say that I like rap music as a genre. I enjoy the music itself and enamored by its strong rhythm and beats. However, I have grown bored of the "gangsta" sub-genre of rap. Like many an impressionable youth, I bought N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton back in the late 1980's. It exposed a culture and way of life unknown to a vast majority of Americans. However, in the 17 years or so since this album came out the freshness has well worn off. There is no originality to this style, and the lyrics have gone completely banal. They just keep re-making the same album over and over. Think about it. Hatred of police (F___ tha Police). Misogyny (I Ain't the One). Dealing illegal substances (Dopeman). Giving props to the 'hood (Straight Outta Compton). Sampling an already popular song and singing new lyrics (Express Yourself). See what I mean? I'm bored. Gangsta rap has gone so commercial it is just a parody of itself. It doesn't have to be squeaky-clean pop-stuff like Will Smith. Take for example the Jurassic 5. They can produce quality music and positive lyrics without reverting to the gangsta style. And who has stepped up to take Public Enemy's place? Who is pushing the social message? Please, if someone knows leave a comment with some referrals.

I think perhaps I have changed my tastes because I am now the father of two girls. Do I really want them to see their father listening to music that completely negates and denigrates every message about empowerment that I am trying to teach them? Maybe I'm getting old. The older I get, the more I feel like Michael Bolton in Office Space on the way to work.

(Note: darthjohn42 once saw The Sugar Hill Gang in concert. Yes, he did his best to "up jump the boogie.")

Oh and I Guess That I Just Don't Know...

Thursday. While Arthur Dent never could quite get the hang of Thursdays, I consider Thursday to be the best day of my workweek. This is due to the simple fact that it is website upload day which provides me with a full shift of something to do. Busy is good.

Today's musical selection was The Velvet Underground. These guys are super awesome. Lou Reed, whom I consider to be one of the greatest songwriters around, fronted the VU. This guy is way underrated. Most people will never know how good he is simply due to the fact that he gets extremely minimal radio airplay. His career spans 40 years with probably around 30 albums but tragically only one of his songs gets put on regular rotation (Walk on the Wild Side). I am guessing this is because, sadly, the lack of huge commercial success for both VU and Lou Reed's solo career. VU got their start as Andy Warhol’s house band, with Mr. Warhol producing their first album and cover art. Despite making some mighty fine music, they never really took off as far as sales go, eventually breaking up to go their own ways. Regardless, their contribution to the music world has been widely influential. As Brian Eno once said "only a few thousand people bought a Velvet Underground record, (but) almost every single one of them was inspired to start a band." But you don't have to just listen to my opinion, according to VH1.com, "by the 1980s, (The Velvet Underground) were acknowledged not just as one of the most important rock bands of the '60s, but one of the best of all time, and one whose immense significance cannot be measured by their relatively modest sales."

This influence can be seen everywhere you look. A line from one of VU's most powerful and best songs, H______ (sorry, letters omitted to keep site safe for work), inspired the title of the book and movie Jesus' Son (I have read and seen both, respectively). The same song is also on the soundtrack to The Doors. White Light/White Heat gets a mention and track play in High Fidelity. Social Distortion has an album humorously titled White Light/White Heat/White Trash. A cover of Sweet Jane by The Cowboy Junkies can be heard in Natural Born Killers. Perry Farrell did a cover of Satellite of Love. David Bowie has recorded many VU songs, including Waiting for the Man. I even have a live cover somewhere of Fiona Apple and Adam Duritz performing the beautiful Pale Blue Eyes. I can keep going, but the point is that even if you have never explicitly listened to VU, chances are you still have been exposed to and influenced by them. So, now's the time to give them the props they deserve.

Oh, and speaking of Fiona Apple, I did find out that enterprising, computer-savvy individuals can find the unreleased album discussed yesterday (Extraordinary Machine) if one looks in the right places on the internet. Of course I would never encourage such behavior on this site, I'm just doing a follow-up from yesterday for full disclosure. Expect a full review sometime in the near future...

Bruised Apple

Wednesday. This is my most boring day of the week. I have nothing scheduled to do on this day. I wait for feedback on my spreadsheets and make requested revisions when applicable. In the meantime I look up and log financial information in a vendor file database I am compiling. Trust me, this is all as interesting as it sounds. At least the servers are running today. Apparently a transformer blew up near one of the main HQ buildings. Since smoke was detected, they evacuated the building for about an hour and a half before they sent everyone home for the day. Since the big boss lady and all of my co-workers on this project work in this building they got a free day off. Did I get to go home? That answer would be no. Since I work out of a remote, undisclosed location hundreds of miles away I got the pleasure of waiting out the downtime. On the plus side, my desk sure looks clean.

An observation was made to me privately that I never discuss female musicians on this site. So, since I am always open to feedback and eager to please, today I grabbed Fiona Apple (and then she slapped me). No, no, no, I mean I selected a mix CD of Fiona Apple songs to hear on my way in to work. As you may notice, I have been listening to a lot of old mix CDs lately. That is because the radio transmitter for my iPod broke and has rendered this marvelous invention useless in my vehicle. So, I am reverting back to compact discs until a new transmitter can be requisitioned (If you would all like to start up a collection for me just leave a comment and I will forward you my shipping address). Anyway, back to Ms. Apple. Fiona Apple hit it big in the late 1990's with hits such as Criminal, Sleep to Dream, and Paper Bag. She has a deep, sultry voice and usually accompanies her vocals with her piano-playing abilities. The music is good and the lyrics are smart and well written. When you contrast this to the other popular female artists of the late 1990's (and today), there is just no comparison. Those over-produced puppets have nothing on Fiona.

But where is Ms. Apple now? She has been curiously absent from the music world lately. To provide you, faithful reader, with that answer (and to further avoid real work) I decided to see if I could find that answer. First stop, the official Fiona Apple website. Hmmm... some pictures, discography, standard stuff... ok here we go, "news." The last news update announces the release of her latest album When the Pawn... This album was put out in 1999! There hasn't been any news in six years? Ok, obviously I was going to have to go outside the traditional mainstream sources. Next stop, a website entitled "Free Fiona." Has Fiona been jailed? Maybe she really is a Criminal. I'm definitely intrigued so I clicked on the link. Now, here's what I have been looking for. According to this website, Sony has held up an album Ms. Apple completed back in 2002 because they didn't feel that it would be profitable enough to justify production and marketing costs (despite the fact that her two previous albums went platinum). Sony changed CEOs a few years back and the new guy wanted to take Sony in a different direction, one that apparently did not include Fiona Apple. Again, the "news" link on this site is out of date, with the most recent update being in late 2004. Finally, I checked the Wikipedia entry for Ms. Apple. This goes into a little bit more detail regarding the Sony problem and also announces that she is working on a fourth album. However, according to this site, she is working with a producer with a background in electronica, and Ms. Apple plans to take her music in "a new direction." The word "electronica" alone makes me cringe with thoughts of some kind of techno-Fiona-robot sound, but I will withhold judgment until I hear a final cut. That is if they decide to release it...

Server down, Baby Down

Tuesday. I am at work and the server is down. There was a power failure at HQ and they are running on a back-up generator. In order to save power they turned off the SAP server. So, here I am with no access to the information I need in order to do my spreadsheets. Ahh... the bitter irony of wish fulfillment. I am completely bored with having to compile spreadsheets, yet when the circumstances arise where I can't do them I only face greater boredom.

Today I listened to The Big Wu. It's funny how certain songs or albums trigger memories. For example, for both of our daughters we played certain albums when putting them to sleep. To this day I can't listen to the Grateful Dead's Reckoning without thinking of swaying my oldest daughter back and forth to (coincidently) To Lay Me Down. My youngest daughter was different. Instead of wanting to be gently rocked side-to-side, she liked to be bounced. She didn't like just gentle bounces, mind you, but big, springy bounces. To help facilitate this (we'd do anything to get the baby to sleep, hey if it worked, we did it), we would sit on the edge of our bed, hold her tight to us and literally bounce up and down on the mattress until she passed out. During this procedure, I would play a CD mix of Big Wu songs. The first track, Kangaroo, provided excellent bouncing music. The next one was another happy number, Gimme a Raise. By the third song, however, I had slowed the tempo down a little with Red Sky. By that time she was hopefully lulled asleep to the point we could finally put her down. Anyway, I pulled out that Big Wu mix today to listen to, and even though that little infant is now over 3 and a half years old, as soon as I heard those first few notes on the disc I was instantly taken back to that moment in time.

In other news, this blog is now searchable on Google, Yahoo, and Metacrawler. Like Navin R. Johnson, I am somebody!

Revisions and Revisitations

Monday. Another beginning to another wonderful week of work. The big boss lady is here today, so that is always good. Some people hate when their boss comes around, but I like it because it means I get stuff to do. After an hour and a half long meeting with her this morning, it appears I will have stuff to do for a while now. She said she didn't want me to get bored. Has she been reading this blog? (If so, welcome and please leave a comment)

In other news, I have requested that my website be listed in a couple of blog search engines. I realize that it is kind of egotistical to think that complete strangers would have any interest in my day-to-day boredom, but I am curious to see, one, if I can increase traffic, and two, what kinds of comments this increased traffic would generate. So we'll see. Also, in order to track this onslaught of new traffic I added counters in the side bar. See, it's these kinds of revolutionary technological innovations and improvements you can only come to expect more of in the future of this blog. Doesn't that sound enticing?

I woke up today in a Modest Mouse Monday mood (look, ma, an alliteration!). I listened to Moon & Antarctica (the merits of which previously discussed in another post) as my MM selection. Next time you are all listening to your Moon album (since I know you all went out immediately and bought it after my last MM post), pay particular attention to the song Lives. This song is amazing. Those of you wondering why I like Modest Mouse so much should please refer to this song as my answer.

Bad Taste

Friday. Yeah! More spreadsheets to do on the schedule today. Fun times. Every month my benevolent employer provides its employees with cake in order to simultaneously recognize the respective birthdays and employment anniversaries of the branch staff. While I am certainly not knocking this gesture, I do have one particular issue regarding this that I would like to discuss today. You see, each month it's the same thing. They order a cake with cream cheese frosting and cream cheese filling. The cake changes from chocolate, to white cake, to yellow cake, etc., but the filling is always cream cheese. Now I realize that most people out there right now are thinking, “Man, that sounds good. I wish I had a piece!” I know this, because every month when cake day rolls around that is the general reaction of my co-workers. People hang up on customers, stiff-arm suppliers, and trample over each other just to get a good place in line to enjoy the confectory goodness of the cream cheese cake. Then I get to listen to everyone moan in delight while I sit at my desk dessertless. You see I have a strong aversion to all things white and creamy (I know I'm setting myself up for a joke here, so get your mind out of the gutter!). I don't eat sour cream, ranch dressing, mayonnaise, bleu cheese, cottage cheese, and definitely not cream cheese (this list is definitely not all-inclusive). This is not a matter of a slight disliking of the taste. There are lots of things that my body can eat, but I choose not to due to personal preference. In the case of things white and creamy, my body immediately rejects the nasty substance inadvertently digested. The mere smell of some of these substances (mayonnaise) can send me into dry heaves. I can go on here with the gross details, but I think you all get the picture. Trust me, I wish it were otherwise. It would make living in a world where everyone assumes you love the white stuff a whole lot easier. The simple task of ordering a hamburger becomes a major production every time. I couldn't even enjoy my own respective birthday and anniversary cakes here at work (I know you are shedding a tear for me). So, once again today while everyone gets a free break from work to stand around, enjoy their cake, and tell me all about how good it is and how much I'm missing out I am internalizing my anger and smiling. On the plus side, at least it gives me a subject to write about today.

I listened to Beck's new album, Guero, on the way in to work. I know, I said yesterday it would be The Misfits, but I woke up thinking I needed happy Friday music instead (I guess I should have grabbed the Misfits disc to deal with my cake issues). If you are a Beck fan you will like this album. Of course, if you were a Beck fan you would like all of his albums, so that was a dumb thing to say. Ok, how about this: If you are a casual fan who likes some of Beck's old stuff but unsure about the stuff he has been putting out lately, then you will really enjoy this album. Of course, I put my self in the former category, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is that this album is good, it's upbeat, and I can dance to it (not that anyone really wants to see that, although it might cause a reaction that could help you empathize with my cream cheese aversion). Bottom line, this is a fun album with good tunes on it. I recommend it.

In other music news, I heard a great song on the local college radio station the other day, Alive and Amplified by The Mooney Suzuki. I really dig this song. I found a free download of this tune on the internet as a sampler, but have yet to hear the rest of the album. I will fill you all in more on this story as it develops...

Pumped by Punk

Thursday. Today is the day I update our receivables website, so I am geared up for an action-packed morning (yeah, right). Nothing really to rant about today. Maybe I've just moved into the acceptance stage of my predicament. Today I listened to Bad Religion on the drive in to work. After mentioning them yesterday in my Sublime discussion, I decided to do a "battle of the bands" contest to see which group put out the best version of We're Only Gonna Die. Now even though Bad Religion seriously rocks and they wrote the original, I am going to have to go with the Sublime interpretation as the better version. Yes, you heard it hear folks. I chose the cover over the original. But I'm not knocking the original at all, because it is pretty darn good, too.

Bad Religion is pretty sweet. They are a punk rock band that have been around for probably about 25 years or so and are still making good music. They had an album out about a year or so ago with some good cuts on it you may have heard: The Defense and Sorrow. They got radio play here, but I don't know if they were able to permeate other, more commercial markets. I was just listening to a mix I burned today, though. After listening to an hour of Bad Religion coupled with a mug full of fresh coffee I was pretty amped by the time I got to work, let me tell ya.

Anyway, Bad Religion's music is not only of superb quality, but their lyrics are extremely intelligent. I don't just mean clever, I mean intelligent. The lead singer has a doctorate in evolutionary biology, so I guess you can say he is one smart dude for a punk rocker. I guess it's always good to have a back up plan. Can you imagine this guy's parents, though? "We're so proud of you, son, for getting your Ph.D. in Biology. Now you can go and change the world with your research." "Um, sorry mom and dad, I'm going to go front a punk rock band instead. I'll see you when I get back from our Midwest dingy bar tour..."

(I've been listening to a lot of punk lately. Hmmm... I wonder what that says about me. Maybe I'm dealing with some internal anger issues. I should listen to something more mellow tomorrow like Cat Stevens. Nah... who am I kidding? It's gonna be The Misfits!)

Sublime post about Sublime

Wednesday. Not too much going on today to talk about. Work as usual. On the way in today I listened to what I consider to be one of the best albums of all time: Sublime's 40oz. to Freedom. I'm serious; I thinkthis one is right up there with the greats like Sgt. Pepper's, Dark Side of the Moon, and Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em. This album is an eclectic mix of all kinds of styles, containing elements of punk, rock, rap, reggae and ska. There's even a nice little acoustical cover of Rivers of Babylon included as a hidden track. There are some other great covers, too, like a version of Bad Religion's We're Only Gonna Die that may be better than the original, and a very interesting take on the Dead's Scarlet Begonias. But there are great originals on this album, too, like Don't Push, Badfish, and the ironic and darkly satirical DateR__ (title partly omitted by author). I have heard that Sublime sold the first 30,000 copies of this album out of the trunk of their car after gigs. That number sounds a little high to me, but I would love to get a copy of one of these discs. Apparently there were some significant changes between the original album cut and the corporate-released version. One change was the omission of the song Get Out! which sampled ACDC without permission. This song was later remixed and released on Second HandSmoke, but I would really like to hear the original. The lyrics to GetOut! still appear on the album sleeve of the corporate release, though, only adding to the mystery behind the track's disappearance.

I would have loved to see Sublime live back in the day. Can youimagine hanging out at some beach party in Southern California with Sublime booked as the band? Man... I guess that will never happen, though, since the lead singer died of an overdose making the lyrics to Pool Shark (not on 40oz.) eerily portentous…

It ain't a mystery, it's Jistoray and here's how it goes...

Tuesday. Another spreadsheet day. Is my life really this repetitious? No wonder I'm so freaking bored all of the time. The good news is that I spoke with the big boss lady and hopefully I will have some new stuff to work on coming up here. So hopefully that will give me a little more challenge around here. Other than that, there isn't too much else exciting to report today. I found an awesome website out there that you should all check out: http://repunzelgirl.blogspot.com. Apparently a 5-year-old girl runs it to feature her artwork. It is just started, but I can't wait to see some future posts to find out what she will come up with next...

Today I listened to that hot new sensation out of the Land of 10,000 Lakes: Jistoray. These up-and-comers are the biggest thing to come out of Minnesota since Tonka Trucks... or Red Wing Shoes... or Scotch Tape... or I-94... or Grain Belt Premium... or, um, any other suggestions?

(for more on Jistoray, check out www.jistoray.com or http://lampsidebriefcase.blogspot.com)

Ramonamania

Monday. Man I have been busy today, especially for a Monday. No complaints here, though. Busy is good. Definitely makes the day go by faster. I have been on teleconferences all day as well. Since all my co-workers reside in St. Louis, every time we hold a meeting I link on via telephone. That's usually no problem, but after a couple of hours of holding the phone receiver to my ear, it starts to melt onto my head. The plus side to that, I guess, is that it is easier to type with both hands free.

Today I listened to the Ramones on the way in to work. These guys are great. Although I disagree with Spin magazine naming them the number one most influential band of all time a while back, I cannot deny that they have had a very strong influence on the music scene. In fact all of these so-called "punk" bands that are on the scene now (I'm talking to you Good Charlotte and Blink 182) should have to give up 10% of all of their earnings to the Ramones because without them they wouldn't even be around. Even Green Day's new song American Idiot was so derivative I actually thought it was the Ramones on the radio when I first heard it. However, I knew it couldn't be them due to the mysterious curse that has plagued the band and has caused the untimely death of 3 of the band's members. Creepy...

Picture this

This is a picture that my daughter drew for me for father's day. I am going to start using it for my profile picture. Doesn't it look just like a darthjohn42? Unfortunately, the face didn't come out too clear in the scan so you can just pretend that I blurred it out to protect my true identity...

You should sleep late it's much easier on your constitution...

Friday. Well, so far today hasn't been exactly a spectacular day. First off, I woke up late (which I am lucky I woke up at all because my alarm wasn't set). I was able to make up some of the time by expediting my morning routine; however, my problems were only exacerbated more by the need to put gas in my car, which put me even more behind schedule. I knew I was going to need something good to listen to if I was going to turn this trend around, so I pulled out the heavy guns and chose Paul's Boutique by the Beastie Boys. In my opinion this is easily their best album and never fails to lift my spirits. A friend of mine in college once said that if you are at a lame party and need to get it going play either Low Rider by War or Paul's Boutique and you will instantly get it hopping. I don't know if there is any scientific data to back up this assertion, but from my own personal experiences, I would have to concur. There are a lot of good songs on this album, and when I first procured this disc I was enamored by such cuts as Egg Man, Sounds of Science and Shake Your Rump. However, on subsequent listens I began to appreciate some of the other lesser-known tracks. One in particular is a tune by the name of Car Thief. I read somewhere once that this was the first song the B-Boys wrote after the release of License to Ill. I find this odd since both lyrically and musically this song is nothing like anything on Licensed to Ill. Of course, that's the theory of why the B-Boy's best album is the least commercially successful. People wanted the funny irreverence of Licensed to Ill, not actual well-produced music (the Dust Brothers did Paul's Boutique long before hooking up with Beck).

Anyway, the power of the B-Boys and a lot of luck with traffic allowed me to make it to work with minutes to spare. Whew. Would darthjohn42's day get any better now? Well, it hasn't gotten significantly worse, but I haven't exactly won the lotto, either. I got slammed with a project right away on top of my other project I have to run every Friday, but considering my sheer amount of boredom around here I was actually happy to do something new, despite the level of suckness that came with it. Plus, there's still half the day left (is it half over, or half-begun?) so who knows what will happen. One thing for sure, though, is the good luck I had driving in will definitely pay me back kharmically on the way home. Friday traffic is always terrible since everyone is heading out of the city to go commune in the mountains or something. I need to buy a helicopter and then I could avoid all this hassle. Anyone want to help me out with that?

Just a punk taking about Punk

Thursday. Today is website day, my least boring day of the week. Yeah! So far things have gone well today. I did catch one mistake I made while doing the website database, so that was lame since I have to redo it, but at least I caught it before it went out on the web for the client to see. That is one thing about this website project. Whenever I make a mistake or it doesn't load right I certainly find out about it the next day when I am greeted by a bunch of emails and voice mails letting me know. Of course, no one calls when things go right. How about a phone message that says "hello, darthjohn42, I just wanted to call you to let you know how awesome the website looks today. Thanks for all of your hard work in putting it together. We appreciate it so much we are going to send you a new Nissan 350Z and a lifetime supply of Fat Tire beer." Ok, that last part for sure isn't going to happen, but I figured, hey, as long as I'm fantasizing about things that will never happen I might as well make it good.

Today on the way to work I listened to one of my favorite bands, Social Distortion. I think I could seriously rave all day about Social D. They combine a raw punk sound with lyrics that are intelligent yet unpretentious (that last sentence sounded pretentious, though, but I will just move on...). They are not the heavy thrash punk that one might immediately think of, nor that poppy stuff that they play on the top 40 radio nowadays that they call (swallowing deep and flinching) "punk." They are a different kind of sound all together, and one that my ears enjoy immensely. Their lyrics are also pretty good. In fact, I find sometimes the lyrics hit home so well that I think they are written just for me. Which I highly doubt because writing a whole album for just one person isn't exactly a smart marketing move. I mean having a niche demographic or small loyal following is one thing, but just one person is ridiculous not to mention unprofitable. Oh, and I've never met anyone in the band either, so that could also play a small factor. I would like to meet the band, though, if I ever had the chance, so if someone out there can hook something like that up, please let me know. In fact, at this point I would be happy just to see them play live. They have come to town a couple of times, but unfortunately a punk rock concert is not exactly Mrs. darthjohn42's idea of a romantic evening on the town. What could be more romantic than loud ear-splitting punk music, hanging out with people in blue mohawks, and body slamming with a bunch of sweaty drunks? I guess there are just some things I'll never understand...

Musings...

Wednesday. I am a little more rested today, but still not totally recharged. Luckily for me, I don't need to have my brain running at full capacity to perform my job function. Actually, it falls somewhere between subconscious actions performed from rote memorization and "yup, he's still breathing." Today I listened to Muse on the way in to work. Faithful readers of this blog may remember several posts ago that one of Mrs. darthjohn42's co-workers let her borrow several CD's for her to check out. This was one of them. Having no familiarity with this band, I looked them up and had read several comparisons between them and Radiohead. Although I am not a big fan of Radiohead, I promised that Muse would still get their fair shot. Well, guess what? Today was their big day. Let's see how they did:

Well, first off, they weren't bad. There is certainly a lot worse out there (and getting duplicated, in the case of Alanis Morrisette's remake of Jagged Little Pill). They did not sound like Radiohead clones, though I could certainly see the comparison. Those that recall my previous post may remember that I had questioned what this mysterious co-worker was like and I mused (no pun intended. Ok, it was intended, you caught me) that based on her music preferences that she must be a goth chick. Well, I consulted Mrs. darthjohn42 to see if I could find out the answer. I didn't ask her straight out, I tried to discern this information from my own subtle questioning, such as "what does she usually wear?" The answer was "hooded sweatshirts, mostly." When I asked if she wore dog collars and black lipstick, then the questions were turned back onto me which was not the intended purpose of this line of inquiry so I gave in and asked if she was a goth chick, in which I received a very strange look and the answer "no" (don't worry faithful readers, I accustomed myself to receiving strange looks long ago since that tends to be the standard reaction I get from people when I start talking). I did find out, however, that her favorite band is Tool (complete with tattoo), so there is an obvious trend of dark and moody music here. And Muse is no exception (how's that for bringing it back around again?). If you are into the dark and moody genre of music, then they are pretty good. However, that's not really my main source of music appreciation so I can't really give them rave reviews. How about good, but not my style? You know, like watching Masterpiece Theater or something...

Tue. Tired

Tuesday. Man I'm tired today. I was up late celebrating the holiday and I am feeling it today. That's ok, no regrets. It will just give me a good excuse to drink more coffee. Mmmmm... Anyway, I had an excellent holiday weekend and I hope everyone else did as well. I listened to Modest Mouse on the way in this morning. I was pretty groggy in my head and didn't want to have to make any big decisions, so I just went with the easy choice. I have nothing more really to expound on at this time that hasn't already been stated in earlier posts. Well, besides the obligatory "Modest Mouse Rules!" but that's it.

Well, this is turning out to be a lame post today. I apologize. Perhaps my brain is still a little too sleepy to contemplate life's little inanities today. Please come back tomorrow when I will hopefully have something more exiting to post. In the meantime more coffee, please...

Half Days and Holidays

Friday. Yeah! Today I am only working a half-day, so I am pretty excited about that. Of course, that means I will have to really crank it out to get my spreadsheets done in time, but a sacrifice I am more than willing to make to leave here early. This morning I listed to Built to Spill's Ancient Melodies of the Future. I woke up this morning with a song from that album in my head and so I saw it as a sign to choose that one for my morning listening enjoyment. I have three albums by Built to Spill and this one is my favorite. I like them all, but I would recommend getting this one first though most people seem to think Keep it Like a Secret is their best one. I guess it's all subjective.

This weekend we will be celebrating America's birthday. No, not the 70's rock band that sang Horse With No Name, but the nation in which we live. I think everyone should take some time this weekend to reflect on the rights and privileges we have that makes this country great. Namely grilling out, drinking beer and watching things explode. Have a good Independence Day everybody!

(Do they have a fourth of July in Great Britain?)