Everything I’ve Been Working for Was Only Worth Nickels and Dimes; But If I Had a Minute for Every Hour that I’ve Wasted, I’d Be Rich in Time

Tuesday. I've had a fairly busy day today. I worked on the website upload spreadsheet for most of the morning, and the rest of the time I've been working on odds and ends. I've also been on the phone with the Big Boss Lady trying to work on an arrangement in which I would fly out to Arkansas (of all places) to attend a series of internal financial seminars in which I would give a presentation on how to do summary billing in our computer system. The logistics of the trip didn't quite match up with what I could do, but I am willing to make it work since the CFO and the VP of Treasury will both be in attendance. It's not very often when a bottom-runger like me gets audience with the executive financial management of a Fortune 500 company.

This morning I listened to Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George by Jack Johnson. I know you might be wondering why I am listening to children's music (what's slated for tomorrow, Kidz Bop 9?!), but I think that a lot of people would be surprised to find out how adult-friendly this album actually is. In fact, I think that most of the tracks on this album could easily slip into some of Jack Johnson's other albums without even being noticed. Notable special guests the likes of G.Love and Ben Harper also add to the enjoyment of these tracks. There are a couple of tunes obviously geared for the younger-aged set that center on simple themes like sharing and friendship, but I don't think that's to the album's detriment. A lot of adults could do well by taking the time to revisit some of those themes as well.

Overall, I think that this is a pretty good album and one that can be enjoyed by all ages. I recommend it to the young, the young-at-heart, and the crusty curmudgeons out there in desperate need of learning how to share and make friends.

I’ve Been Traveling, But I Don’t Know Where; I’ve Been Wandering, But I Just Don’t Care

Monday. The start to another week of fun and adventure. I haven't had too much on my plate today, but I am staying busy. The Big Boss Lady called me up early this morning asking me to quickly whip up a spreadsheet report complete with graphs for a presentation she had to give today, but besides that I've just been doing odds and ends to get ready for the end of the month.

I spent most of the weekend working on a website project of mine. When I say "most of the weekend" I mean pretty much the majority of my waking hours. However, even after spending countless hours in front of a computer working on this stuff, I woke up this morning with new ideas and a strong desire to continue plodding away on it. Hmmm... in my whole illustrious career in accounts receivables I can't think of any time I sprung out of bed with a similar feeling (except maybe my first day at work). Perhaps I should have gone into web design instead.

One thing I have learned in my self-taught web-design experience is that Adobe/Macromedia applications (Illustrator, Flash, and Photoshop collectively), while all brilliant in their potential, are all incredibly un-user friendly. I think that this is a grand conspiracy by existing web designers to keep out wannabes like me from joining their ranks by putting up this technologically incomprehensible barrier to entry. I will not be deterred.

I listened to A Bigger Bang by the Rolling Stones on the way into work this morning. I was a bit hesitant on this one. Don't get me wrong. I'm a Stones fan, some of my favorite songs are Stones tunes, and I would never argue the Stones' significant place in music history. However, I think of the Stones much like the aging sports star who wants to give it "one more year." Yes, you were once the greatest, but now you are only a shadow of your former self. With every comeback, you only further erode the legacy you worked so hard to build. You had a good run, but it is time to let go.

Imagine my surprise that despite my trepidations A Bigger Bang turned out to be not that bad of an album. Despite their age, the Rolling Stones are musicians through and through. The song She Saw Me Coming could have been released by the Stones 25 years ago. Other notable tracks include This Place is Empty (sung by Keith Richards) and Rough Justice. Some have blasted Streets of Love as being an Alfie soundtrack throwaway, but I liked it. While this release isn't of the caliber of some of the Stones' greats of the past, I found it fairly enjoyable. I recommend it.

To the Landlord Living Inside My Head Never Paid my Rent ‘til the Lights Went Dead

Friday. Yeah! I will apologize in advance for the short post today. The Big Boss Lady is in town. The big news that she had to share today is that one of the financial managers is no longer with the company. I asked if she had turned in her resignation, and I was told no and all the Big Boss Lady could say was that she was no longer with the company and the details were confidential. I was pretty shocked since this was a friend of mine whom I talked with often. This was pretty sudden, so something serious must have been going on. I'm wondering if there was some book cookin'...

Anyway there is a vacancy now, but the Big Boss Lady has no current plans to fill it. Until further notice her accounts will be spread out among the existing managers and me. I let the Big Boss Lady know that I was definitely interested if any "opportunities" came up. I have a strong feeling, though, that the only "opportunity" that I'll get is the opportunity to do more work at the same title and level of pay.

I listened to Beck's Guero on the way into work today. I have been having a pretty crummy week and with the Big Boss Lady coming into town I knew I had to pick something fun to start my Friday out right. I have reviewed this album before here, so I'll spare you all the repeat. I have to go now. It is hard to be a slacker when the boss is around.

Maybe it’s a False Alarm and All the Answers Sound the Same; Just Colors Bleeding into One that Doesn’t Have a Name

Thursday. It has been a busy day here. Since it really is Thursday today, I uploaded the receivables website which took up most of the morning. The rest of the day has been dedicated to doing odds and ends like following up on collections and approving large orders.

This morning I listened to Eye to the Telescope by K.T. Tunstall. She currently has a single out Black Horse & the Cherry Tree that has been getting continual rotation on the radio lately. This whole album has been getting a lot of buzz lately so I wanted to find out if it lived up to all of its hype.

Well, I'll first say that I think it's a decent album. It was definitely listenable and I enjoyed it. However, for all of the word-of-mouth that's been going around I really expected something phenomenal. Personally, I didn't hear anything earth shattering that changed the way I listened to music or anything. I feel a bit let down. As I said, don't get me wrong, the album is good but it just isn't great. I'm sure a lot of folks out there would disagree with me, but that's just my first impression.

Notable tracks on the album include False Alarm and Suddenly I See. If you already have Let it Die by Feist, then go ahead and pick this one up. If not, I say go with Feist first.

There are Things We Can’t Recall, Blind as Night that Finds Us All

Wednesday. My already weak grip on sanity is slowly loosening. Until about 10:00 this morning I thought it was Thursday and I actually started uploading the receivables website and everything until I finally straightened myself out. Now this may sound funny, but this is incredibly unlike me. This incident has seriously shaken my confidence in my own mind. Sure, I've highly questioned my sanity in other areas of my brain lots of times, but at least I've been able to keep track of what day it is. I think I've over-taxed my brain lately. I feel bewildered and disoriented. I think I need a vacation. That's not going to happen any time soon. Good thing it's Friday, I could use a weekend.

As faithful readers know, I'm always out looking for new music to review. One of the ways I find new music is by looking at the "if you like this band, you'll like this band" recommendations on Amazon or playing around in Live Plasma (this site is pretty cool, check it out). That's how I came across today's band: Do you like The Shins? Yep. Death Cab for Cutie? Sure. Built to Spill? Most definitely. Modest Mouse? Darn tootin'! Well, then you'll like... Iron & Wine!

I've been familiar with Iron & Wine ever since they appeared on the Garden State soundtrack awhile back. I never really picked anything up by them for some reason or another until recently, though. I don't know why. Let's just say I was saving it to make today special. Anyway, I've probably already ticked off a bunch of I&W fans that are just itching to point out that this "band" is actually just one guy, Sam Beam. Well, you're right, but he did bring on session musicians for the album I listened to today, Our Endless Numbered Days, so I do have an argument back (however weak it may be).

This album is incredibly mellow and features mostly acoustical sounds and soft vocals by Mr. Beam. I really liked this album, but I could only picture myself listening it in certain situations. I would not, say, crank these tunes right before entering the final round of the Ultimate Fighting Championships. No, these tracks seem more suited for a quiet night at home when unobtrusive music is called for. You know, like laying in bed healing your broken bones after getting your behind whooped in the final round of the Ultimate Fighting Championships.

Recommended tracks: Each Coming Night, Passing Afternoon, and Naked as We Came

If this Sounds Phoney, Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn; This Place Suffocates and my Heart Yearns Me On

Tuesday. This day has been neither here nor there. I put together my pre-upload spreadsheet, which took up most of the morning, and now I am formatting yet another spreadsheet for the customer so it looks all pretty for them to pay the long list of open items presented on it. Other than that, not too much else is going on.

I listened to So Much for the City by the Thrills on the way into work this morning. I was originally attracted to this album for three reasons: first, I found the lead single from this album One Horse Town to be incredibly infectious. Second, I was intrigued by the fact that a band from Dublin could so easily adopt a folksy/Beach Boys sound (complete with lyrics about Hollywood and Santa Cruz) without giving one hint of their place of origin in sound or verse. Thirdly, one of their songs is named Big Sur, which is also the tile of a book by the prose master, Jack Kerouac. Am I so smitten with Monsieur Kerouac that I would pick up a rock album just because one of the tracks coincidently shares the name of one of his books? Um, apparently that would be a "yes."

While So Much for the City will never go down as one of the great albums of all time, it is a fun listen, especially on a cold February morning when the warm Southern California themes are particularly welcome. You won't find anything profoundly deep here, but for an indy pop-rock album it isn't that bad. Pick it up if you are into Irish bands pretending to be So-Cal beach bums or if you don't think twice about owning things that have only the slightest connection to Beat Generation authors.

I was Dressed for Success but Success it Never Comes

Monday. Well another week of fun. Today didn't start out too badly. I was able to finally apply a missing payment that took me three days to find. An accounting manager buddy of mine called me last week to elicit my help in finding out where to put some unidentified money. Apparently none of his bookkeepers could figure it out. I almost gave up myself on Friday, but I came in with fresh wheels this morning and finally figured out this conundrum. I guess that's one of my personality traits (or flaws, depending on how you look at it). I have trouble letting go sometimes. The more time and work I invest and the more frustration I experience, the more I "have" to resolve the situation. Sure I probably wasted far more in labor and resources than the payment was worth, but, hey, at least I can finally let my brain rest...

I listened to Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted on the way into work this morning. Now, I know I did a review on this one many months ago and this brings up an unforeseen issue with the recent URL change of this blog. It used to be that if I suspected that I was repeating a review, I could just search back and find it and link it. Or, hypothetically, if a reader of this blog was curious to see if I ever did a review of their favorite artist or band they could see either 20 reviews of Modest Mouse or zero reviews of the Escape Club, depending on the query. I am guessing it is because I lost all of my Google page imprints, because that functionality has now disappeared. Hopefully once this new URL has been around a month or two those pages will come back, but until then I guess I will have to manually scour the archives until I find the review I am looking for. Of course, you too, faithful reader, can dig back into the archives and read up on old reviews but honestly I wouldn't recommend that unless you are really into masochism or have a terrible battle of insomnia that you are trying to overcome.

Anyway, back to Pavement. I found that old link I was looking for, but it took me a little while. That's ok; it was like taking a time machine back into the life of inatorpor42. Ok, so it wasn't nearly that fun, but it was a whole lot better than doing work. Here's that link. My feelings haven't changed. I still like Brighten the Corners better. Slanted and Enchanted is good, but I would recommend picking up Corners first if you are a newcomer to the Pavement sound.

This is the Mystery of the Quotient: Upon Us All a Little Rain Must Fall

Friday. Yeah! Despite another long, crappy commute today has definitely gone better than yesterday. Not that today has been fantastically phenomenal or anything, it has just been far more relaxed after a week or so of some pretty busy workdays. I've actually gotten a few things accomplished today. I got my treasury reports taken care of (which were due early thanks to the short month), I finished my Friday account update for the Big Boss Lady, and now I am working on my post-upload spreadsheet. I know, that sounds unbelievably exciting. Not everyone can handle the wild ride popularly known as receivables accounting...

On billydwilson's suggestion the other day, I chose Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy to listen to on the way into work. Ok, I'll just come clean. I am a huge Led Zeppelin fan. I know for some people that this brings up connotations that I'm some kind of macrobrew-swillin' mullet-wearin' classic rock guy who has yet to realize that there has been quality music released beyond circa-1983. Well, I'll have you all know that I certainly DO NOT wear a mullet.

Anyway, I have been enamored with Zep since I was about 13. Unlike other bands, I have not lost any of this admiration as I've grown older. Sure, some songs like Stairway to Heaven are over-hyped and overplayed, but some of the deeper, lesser-known Zep tunes are unbelievably phenomenal. I think it was billy and I who used to argue back in the day which was the best Zep album: Led Zeppelin III or Houses of the Holy. I still waiver back and forth on this one. HotH is pretty darn good. I had another friend in college who contended that Over the Hills and Far Away exhibited the best lyrics of any song of all time. While I won't argue that Over the Hills is a good tune, I prefer the lyrics of The Rain Song (also appearing on HotH) a whole lot more. Not one of the tracks on this album disappoint, with the James Brown tribute The Crunge being a particularly fun number. Other wacky HotH trivia: the song Houses of the Holy doesn't actually appear on this album (it's on Physical Graffiti). The album title refers to the concert halls that fans dubbed "the houses of the holy" when Zep came to town. The "ocean" in The Ocean refers to those aforementioned fans. The coloring on the album cover was not intentional. It occurred as a result of a printing error. When I was 14 my mother made me return a T-shirt featuring said album cover because she found it scandalously offensive (why do you think I bought it, mom?).

To wrap up, I highly recommend Houses of the Holy although I suspect that a significant number of you are still hesitant to pick it up. Those of you who are hesitant, pick up Led Zeppelin I and Led Zeppelin II first and give them a good listen. I think that should be enough to convince you to forget about images and embrace the quintessence of rock and roll music.

We Can Deal with Rockets and Dreams, but Reality – What Does it Mean?

Thursday. This day started out completely crappy. First it has been snowing heavily here, so my already long commute turned into a 1 ½-hour excursion along the snow-blown front range of CO. Things didn't get much better as I ended up on an incredibly futile phone call with the government's payment center first thing this morning (I could spend 5 blogs writing about that excruciating experience). If you add on my usual frustrations plus a pretty nice paper cut I got when one of my Manila folders jumped up and bit me and you end up with one heckuva Thursday. However, I was just now rescued from my self-pity when the Big Boss Lady called to let me know that she just got $635K of my past due receivables confirmed for payment due to her little intervention yesterday. I have mixed feelings on this. On one hand, I'm ecstatic. $635K of aged receivables! That is really going to clean things up on an incredibly messy account. However, I was assigned this account last fall to specifically clean this mess up and although I have made significant strides, to have someone step in and get that much taken care of in a day pretty much makes me look like an incompetent fool. Basically she threw her weight around and spurred people who had previously been ignoring me into action. I think that this situation can be avoided in the future by promoting me to upper management, that way I can throw my weight around and spur people into action without her involvement. That sounds like a mutually beneficial solution to me. Are you listening Big Boss Lady???...

I listened to Superfly by Curtis Mayfield on the way in to work this morning. Maybe it was because the snow was super flying, who knows. This soundtrack to the movie of the same name was nominated for a Grammy and is considered one of the most influential albums of all time. Even if you think you haven't heard this record before, chance are fairly strong that you've been exposed to at least parts of it since every hip hop act from Snoop to the Beastie Boys have sampled from it (the song Superfly has even been featured in a few commercials, but we won't talk about that). Similar to the Marvin Gaye tracks I discussed a few days ago, Superfly exhibits a strong social message regarding life and options in the inner city. After you back those lyrics with some pretty sweet funk and soul grooves, you end up with a pretty decent record. I recommend Superfly for two reasons: first, it is a great funk/soul album with strong lyrics and second, an album as influential as this one is a must-have for any music lover to consider their collection complete.

Losing Your Mind for the Sake of Your Heart

Wednesday. I've had more exciting days around here. In fact, I've been so numbed by boredom that I can't even remember what I did today. I vaguely remember approving some large vendor orders, and working on cleaning up some misapplications. The Big Boss Lady has called me a couple of times to go over my biggest account. She wants to step in and use her muscle to get the account moving. I am ok with that because I think that her influence can get spur action, but I also don't want it to look like I am incapable of collecting on this account on my own. I've made a lot of progress on this one. However, I know that she is getting a lot of pressure from the VP of Treasury, so I think that is the key reason for her intervention.

No new music today. I didn't wake up with anything in mind and I was running too late to take the time to peruse my old CDs. So, instead I scrolled the iPod wheel until it hit on Feist, and I thought that would be a decent selection for another snowy drive into work. I've reviewed Feist before here, so I won't retread. However, I would like to point out that I'm fascinated by the fact that Feist used to front a punk rock band before almost permanently damaging her voice. The doctor told her she might never sing again, yet here she is. Her more mellow style is a compromise between the ability to sing and the minimalization of the strain that could prevent said ability to sing. I think she's doing a good job. I think I am going to sample some of her punk releases, though. I'm interested to hear the "before" Feist.

Love Can Conquer Hate Every Time, Give Out Some Love and You’ll Find Peace Sublime

Tuesday. It's been an ok day so far, I guess. I spent the morning finally cleaning up the year-and-a-half of mess that our faulty summary billing process caused on one of my accounts, and then I put together a spreadsheet of items ready to upload to the receivables website on Thursday. Other than that, there's not much going on here except hearing other people's plans for Valentine's Day. I'm just waiting for someone to tell the truth for once. When asked what a person is doing tonight, instead of a drawn-out answer involving romantic dinners and long walks in the moonlight, etc, I want someone to answer "oh, you know, the same old annual ritual: buy some chocolates, get drunk and fornicate." Now that would be some refreshing honesty around here.

I'm kidding of course, I know it is all about the romance and the lead up to that point, but really, what is so romantic about a forced holiday in which single women feel ostracized and spoken-for men are obligated to unspontaneously show their love by buying overpriced candies and floral arrangements? I know that this is a tired argument, but wouldn't a surprise reading of Robert Burns' poetry on any other day be far more romantic than a culturally mandated annual date night? If there are any attached men out there willing to test this theory by forgoing Valentine's Day this year please leave a comment below (it may be your last written words...).

However, since it is Valentine's Day, I decided to pick out some music to go along with today's theme. Whose sound signifies Valentines Day the most... Barry White? Al Green? Cannibal Corpse? I chose Marvin Gaye. I originally picked this artist for his famous tune Let's Get it On, which ties back to the line I wrote above. There is no discussion of preliminary hoops to jump through. Mr. Gaye makes his intentions clear and comes straight to the point. Sexual Healing spends no less time avoiding obfuscation. But, Marvin Gaye didn't just focus his work on the art of seduction. He actually released several records with deep social messages and calls for change. What's Going On, Mercy Mercy Me, and Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) are all excellent soul records with conscience. Gaye actually had to fight to get What's Going On released, and not from "the man," but curiously from Motown itself. Gaye would end up fighting the Motown label on several issues until the end of his life when his father tragically shot him to death.

Ok, that wasn't very romantic, but Marvin Gaye's music definitely is. I highly recommend his What's Going On album for anyone's collection. Good stuff.

Stuck in a World of Isolation While the Ivy Grows Over the Door

Monday. Not much happening today. I spent the morning working on my post-upload spreadsheet report. After that I had my monthly account review with the Big Boss Lady, which went pretty well. I am currently approving large vendor orders and fighting for consciousness.

I listened to The Division Bell by Pink Floyd on the way to work this morning. I know that's not exactly new and exciting music to review, but my brain was definitely telling me it was a Pink Floyd morning when I woke up. There are some dissenters of this album, since this is a David Gilmour-led Floyd, but I think it is pretty good. Sure, the band lost a lot of their edginess when Roger Waters left, but they still retained a deep, thematic sound and quality. This album centers on the theme of communication. When it came out, some contended that it was Gilmour's way of reaching out to Waters and asking him to bury the hatchet. Gilmour denied it (yeah, right. Listen to Lost for Words and tell me that's not what it's really about...), and Waters said that it didn't matter either way and that he still had some pretty ill feelings towards Mr. Gilmour. The silence between the two continued for another decade until just very recently they shared a stage together for Live Eight. Now that would have been something to see, for sure.

While The Division Bell is no Dark Side of the Moon, it is definitely a quality release in the Pink Floyd catalogue. For those who prefer the mellower, David Gilmour-era Pink Floyd, then this album is for you. It is thematic without being brazen and it is expressive while remaining still remaining assessable. Recommended tracks include: Lost for Words, Take it Back, and High Hopes.

I'm Lonely and I'm Tired and I Can't Take Any More Pain

Friday. For a Friday it sure feels Mondayish. It snowed here last night, which for some reason made the roads completely iced over by the time I had to drive into work this morning. Nothing like an hour and 45 minute commute to start your day. After that I've been doing credit analyses for the Big Boss Lady all day, which I really don't mind doing, except when they are short notice and I have a ton of stuff already to do. In fact, that's how she started her email, "I know you have a ton of stuff to do but I'm going to ask you anyway..."

I didn't get to review any new music today because I was white-knuckling it on the drive in to keep my car from joining all of the other vehicles that had skidded off into the ditch. I didn't want to have to mess with my iPod while trying to keep the wheel straight, so instead I just pulled an old stand-by CD out of my bag and listened to Social Distortion instead. I am a huge fan of Social D and I could probably write another five paragraphs on how much I dig them, but my work day is soon coming to a close and I've already reviewed them way back here.

Grab Hold of the Soul Where the Memory Lingers

Thursday. The day is flyin' by today, and that's ok with me. I've kept myself fairly busy today. I uploaded the website database, I approved some orders, and I did some other stuff that I'm sure was important but I can't think of it right now. The real entertainment here today is watching the branch flip out because they were just informed that the company was centralizing bookkeeping at HQ, but I've known this for months since I've got a contact on the inside. Plus, I work for corporate, not the branch, so I've already been sending my applications there anyway.

I related a little while back that I have been running an experiment on another blog of mine in which I wanted to design a site, put some ads on it, and market it just to see how lucrative an enterprise of this kind actually is. Well, as of two days ago I have earned in less than one month's time a remarkable 78 cents from this venture! I was discussing this amazing accomplishment with lampsidebriefcase, and he asked what the cumulative earnings would be over a ten-year period. I responded that at this rate, I would make a whopping $93.60 in today's dollars. However, lampside advised that I was neglecting to take into consideration my growth rate percentage. I agreed, so I calculated my percentage of growth to be 3%, and then used that to forecast my future revenues. I did this by taking my current earnings of .78 and set that as the total earnings for the first month (give or take a few days). Then I made the assumption that I would have the .78 from that first month, and then earn another .78 plus the 3% growth of those earnings. Or previous Month's Earnings + Previous Month's Earnings + 3% of the Previous Month's Earnings for 120 periods (12 months x 10 years). The formula looks like this: [PME+PME+(PME*.03)]^120. According to my calculations, assuming a constant rate of growth, in ten years I will have earned $3,048,759,133,329,920,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.00! Who said that the dot com boom went bust? Lampside said he liked the numbers and volunteered to fund the operation (I'll need your 78 cents now, sir). If anyone else wants in at the ground floor of this amazing opportunity, please leave a comment below.

A graduate degree in business and what am I using it for? To calculate the growth rate of 78 cents. Man, that was worth it. On the plus side, though, if this pans out I may actually be able to pay back all of those student loans...

Oh, I listened to Get Behind Me Satan by the White Stripes on the drive into work. At first I was like, "eh" because I found the few leadoff tracks to be unimpressive. Then I heard My Doorbell. I really liked this one. It was fun and funky. I liked the next few songs as well, especially Little Ghost. After a slow start I was really getting into this album. Then the disastrous happened. The batteries to my iPod radio transmitter started dying on me. I tried flipping them around to squeeze out a little extra juice, but to now avail. So now I don't know whether to get behind Get Behind Me Satan or not. I only heard 8 out of 13 songs. The beginning was weak, but it was on an up curve. Does the curve continue to progress skyward, or are the last few tracks an unimpressive bookend to the beginning? I hate to be anticlimactic, but I am going to have to suspend judgment for now until I hear more. I just can't justify a final opinion without hearing 5 songs on the album.

I’d Like to Think That All of This Constant Interaction is Just the Kind to Make You Drive Yourself Away

Wednesday. It's been another busy day around here, but yet still completely devoid of any excitement. The highlight of my day so far has been when I called a financial manager this morning and she immediately thanked me for speaking up during a teleconference a few days ago and basically telling the Big Boss Lady that one of her proposed changes for the financial department would not be wise decision. After she thanked me for saying what everybody else was thinking but didn't want to say, I realized that this was the second time in about 3 days that I have vocally countered the opinion of upper management. Although both times my stance has "won," I really don't like being in this position. I've been here before in past jobs, and I have found out that you don't often get rewarded for your insight and honesty. Instead, I have found out that telling the emperor that he (or in this case, she) wears no clothes is far more likely to get you disliked, left out, and unpromoted. Next time I'm just going to agree to whatever plans she presents. Sure, my day-to-day job will most likely get 5 times worse, but hey, at least she'll like me...

Since my post yesterday centered so heavily on the bass guitar, I thought it would be interesting (yeah, right. Who am I foolin'?) to do a review in the opposite direction and instead talk about a band with no bass. So, today I chose Elephant by The White Stripes. I was curious to see what the big deal was with this group. They tend to get a whole lot of hype. They certainly weren't the first to go bass-less. I mean The Doors didn't have a bass player (which always made me wonder what they did when they played Peace Frog in concert. Did they bring out a guy for just one tune?). There had to be a bigger reason for their popularity than the fact that Jack White was briefly married to Renee Zellweger. I decided to investigate closer and find out.

So, about three years after everyone else in the world, I secured a couple White Stripes albums with the intent to see if they were really as good as everyone says. After listening to Elephant on the way in, I have to admit I liked it. I don't know if it was mind-blowingly phenomenal, but it didn't make my ears bleed in the first few opening notes like some bands have done in the past. One of the main reasons I liked it was because there wasn't any catchy, poppy tunes or hooks, there wasn't any gimmicks (beyond the no-bass thing), no over-production or extraneous background electronica, no "hey we play mainstream pop songs but since we have purple hair and a nose ring we call ourselves 'punk.'" They played straight rock and roll but in a distinct style all their own. I don't know yet if they are deserving of all of the hype, but I would have to say that after only one listen I was impressed. I will definitely have to hear more though before I commit myself and jump on the bandwagon. I'll give the other White Stripes album a listen tomorrow and see what I think about that one. Until then, I hesitantly recommend Elephant unless you are an aspiring bass player who after listening to it might fear being phased out in rock's future.

Never Too Soon to be Through; Being Cool, Too Much Too Soon

Tuesday. Yikes, what a busy day. I spent the greater part of the morning trying to persuade the Big Boss Lady and the Director of Operations not to implement their inherently faulty plan to correct an already faulty process. Of course, I told them that this process was faulty last fall (seriously, how could we go YEARS without somebody else ever noticing that we were billing our customer incorrectly?) but nothing was done about it until I actually took the time to compile a spreadsheet proving that we were billing our customer incorrectly. So, their plan was to replace the current flawed process with another process which was not only as equally flawed but would double the work load for our sales and operations dept. So I personally went up to bat on behalf of my compatriots on the sales side, and actually convinced upper management that my way was better (they should have listened to me in the first place, but, hey, they don't pay the top dogs the big bucks to take the word of an insignificant peon like me). Do I expect to get any recognition for this? No. But I did get a big "thank you" from my account manager buddy out in CA and she’s the one I work with every day, so that’s what really matters to me.

So, in my quest to keep from repeating music reviews, I dusted off one of my old CDs I haven't heard in a long while: Mother's Milk by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I chose this one because I think that this album signifies a turning point in the RHCP's careers. Some might say that this album marked the culmination of all of their talent, the pinnacle in the history of their craft. More cynical people would probably say that this was the last good album before they started the long road to total suckness.

Back in the early 90s, there was another musical fad spreading besides grunge. It was the bass-driven funk/rock sound. This genre was pioneered by the Chilis, perfected by Primus, and bands like the Infectious Grooves hopped on for the ride. Bass was king, and those who could pop and slap suddenly came to the limelight after years of bass player obscurity. Flea replaced Geddy Lee as the face of the bass, and a huge underground fan base loved these crazy tattooed fools who played in nothing but well-placed socks. The songs were funky, punky and raw. The lyrics were obscene with the chance of mainstream airplay minimal. I saw the RHCP play to a crazy crowd of about 2,000 freaks (man, did they come out of the woodwork that night. Where were these people's day jobs???) and the energy was immeasurable. They blew away my 16-year old mind. Then came Under the Bridge and the whole mainstream, wuss out, ballad-singing phase of the RHCP's history. Like Metallica, the RHCP are now shunned by the fans of the very genre they helped create. It's a tight edge to walk if you are in the music biz. You work and work to get a hit record and make it big, but then you risk losing the support of those who knew you before you sold out. Honestly, I've tried to like the Chili Pepper's new stuff. I have the albums. I've tried listening to them. They're just simply not as good. They just don't measure up to the likes of Mother's Milk or Freaky Styley.

Well, here's another long post that I should wrap up pretty soon here. Mother's Milk=good. Recommended tracks: Johnny Kick a Hole in the Sky, Nobody Weird Like Me and Knock Me Down.

The Plan Means Nothing Stays the Same

Monday. Well everyone, the long-promised changes are finally here. Welcome to those of you who were magically transported from the old site. Welcome to those of you who stumbled in here on accident as well. Faithful readers will know that I had been promising change on the old site for like 3 months now but they had never become visibly evident. Well, I finally took some time over the weekend to redesign the format using some of the html skills I resolved on New Year's to learn. I don't think it turned out too badly for an amateur. I have to admit that I didn't write the code 100% from scratch, though. It is mostly my code, but I used one of the blogger templates as a basis for css structure. Otherwise, the layout is all mine. I was shooting for juxtaposition between the two major themes of the blog: work and music. What do you all think?
So, why the address change? Well, there were several reasons I decided to move the blog to a new URL. First, the title of the blog "Inaction in Action" didn't match the old URL. So, I changed it to correctly reflect the blog title to avoid any confusion. Also, I changed my user name. This was tough for me to do since I have been darthjohn42 or some variation thereof for about 10 years now, but I think it was time for a new name. Despite my love for Star Wars, this blog is rarely ever about that cinematic great. Also, I was told that it was hard to take a user name like "darthjohn" seriously. I am trying move forward, and I have to agree that "darthjohn" does sound a bit infantile. Finally, there was that whole imposter thing going on, so I wanted to re-brand myself with something more original. Coming up with a new name, however, was much harder than I expected. After going back and forth with about 3-4 different IDs, I finally settled on "inatorpor42." Basically, that means "in a torpor," with torpor being defined as "a state of mental and motor inactivity with partial or total insensibility: extreme sluggishness or stagnation of function." I think that pretty much describes me at work. If you don't know what 42 means, then you should definitely read this book.

Before I forget, congratulations to billydwilson's Pittsburgh Steelers, who won Super Bowl XL last night. The game was probably a let down after playing the mighty Denver Broncos in the AFC championship game, but they seemed to be coping ok.

That's about it. Oh, I have a couple of spreadsheets to do today and then I am going to work on some collections maybe. I listened to Built to Spill's Keep it Like a Secret on the way in this morning, but I've reviewed BtS lots of times so I am just going to stop now. Please comment on what you think of the changes!

I am a Proud Man Anyway

Friday. Ok, I've been in a slump lately and apparently it is starting to reflect in my posts because billydwilson called me on it. So, I promised him that today's post would be full of exuberance. That being said, let's start again...

Friday! Yee haw! Guess what?! Today I relished the amazing opportunity to work on my post-upload spreadsheet report! I also put together a fabulous summary bill and made some incredible supplier payments! In the meantime I fantastically approved orders from outstanding unapproved vendors! I don't know if this job could get any better! I would do this for free! Can I come in tomorrow?!

Ok, that's about enough of that. My exuberance over today's music selection, however, is quite genuine. Ritual de lo Habitual by Jane's Addiction is a phenomenally amazing album. I am a huge Jane's fan. Everything that Perry Ferrell does is pure genius. Have you ever seen this guy? In interviews he comes across as scrawny, effeminate, and squeaky-voiced yet somehow his music and vocals can be incredibly powerful. The song Three Days is an excellent example of this. Three days is a mind-blowing masterpiece of music. One of Jane's best tricks is in their build up. They start out slow and then build and build the energy until Perry and the band just explodes. Three Days also displays the masterful guitar work of a Mr. Dave Navarro, of whom a whole unfortunate generation lay unaware of his prowess prior to cheesing out on reality shows with Carmen Electra. All of the other songs on the album are great as well, including Been Caught Stealing, which despite all of its radio play never fails to please. I highly, highly recommend this album. Jane's Addiction were pioneers in alternative music long before alternative became the mainstream. This album is what rock and roll is all about, and is a must have for anyone who considers him or herself an aficionado of the genre.

You’ve Got a New Horizon, Its Ephemeral Style; A Melancholy Town Where We Never Smile

Thursday. Another thrilling day around here. I am yet again plagued with another round of ennui at this place. I don't know what it is lately, but I have just felt completely bored and apathetic about everything. Oh well, I am guessing that's the status quo around here. Anyway, I uploaded the website and now I am working on a summary bill. Yee haw.

Today is part 2 of my Gorillaz review. I'll tell you right off that I like Demon Days much better than Gorillaz. This album seemed more consistent than their first release and I simply preferred the songs better. I'm not a huge fan of industrial or electronic music (I prefer the real thing), so I must say I find it hard to embrace the never-ending drum machine. Beyond that, though, I thought that this album was pretty good. A few of the tracks I particularly enjoyed include Feels Good, Inc., All Alone, and Every Planet We Reach is Dead. While I wouldn't compare this album to some of the greats, I did think it was fun to listen to and would recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind having a computer handle the percussion for them.

Caught Up in the Conflict Between His Brain and His Tail

*Ok everybody, I need to make a correction to yesterday's review of G. Love and Special Sauce. I took a shot at G.Love for doing a bad Dr. Pepper commercial, when in fact, as billydwilson pointed out, it was a bad Coke commercial instead. Billy pointed out that the commercial would have been much better if they had played Cold Beverage, however, according to a little fact-checking research, the song G.Love sang was actually a re-tread of the "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" ditty that was in that popular hilltop commercial Coke did in the seventies. Did you just hear that clopping noise? I think that may be the sound of my respect for G. Love running away... *

Anyway, it's Wednesday and I am bored out of my mind once again. The only highlight of the day has been when the Big Boss Lady called to tell me that the VP of Treasury has selected two of my accounts for special auditing to find out why we are carrying such large overdue balances. My clearly insightful response: "I don't know, because the customer isn't paying?" I'm guessing profound analysis like that is why I've never been asked to join executive management.

I listened to the Gorillaz on the way into work this morning. I have been aware of their presence since they released their debut album and got a lot of airplay with Clint Eastwood. However, I never pursued a greater listening interest. They released a second album Demon Days last year, and again I never followed up on it. I was talking with my cousin a few months ago and he recommended that I give them a try. I said I would, but I didn't (sorry, cous'). Then earlier this week a co-worker of mine in CA asked if I listened to them. I said I didn't. She recommended them as well. Ok, I figure, I'll give them a try since I am always looking for new music to review and lately I have been seeking to avoid repeats. So, now I have both Gorillaz albums and today marks part 1 of a 2-part review of both Gorillaz and Demon Days.

I picked Gorillaz to start out with since it came first chronologically. As I said above, the big hit off of this album was Clint Eastwood, or as I call it "that sunshine-in-a-bag song." Like the Monkees, the Gorillaz are just a made up band with actual musicians backing up cartoonish fronts. In the case of the Gorillaz, that back up is provided by Blur's Damon Albarn. This could probably explain why several tracks sound like Blur songs. Coincidently, those were some of my favorite tracks. I don't know if that means I like the Gorillaz or Blur, but either way I thought this album was pretty decent. It didn't blow my mind out or anything, but maybe a deeper appreciation will come with subsequent listenings. I don't know if it lived up to all of the hype, but I'll give it a favorable judgment. Notable tracks include: 19-2000, Punk, and Rock the House.