I'm Writin' My Will on a Three Dollar Bill in the Evening Time

Friday. Yeah! It hasn't been too bad a day, I guess. Which is strange, because if today's events occurred on another day, things may be different. I've got a sales rep who has a hot order coming through that has to get financial approval like yesterday in order to please his customer. Our contract with our customer requires that we bid each job twice between competing vendors so we can get "fair and reasonable pricing." So, the rep sends me over both quotes. Are we going with vendor #1 since they are already set up in the system, we have a valid liability insurance certificate on file and is a proven reliable supplier? No, of course not. We are going with previously unused vendor #2, which means that we have to get a copy of their insurance (naming us additionally insured, something vendors traditionally LOVE to do), set them up in our system, and then roll the dice on whether or not they can deliver or not. Sure, vendor #2 provided a little bit lower quote, but considering that this is a super rush emergency order (curiously quoted by the vendor March 6th...), doesn't it make sense to take the easiest path possible to ensure optimal expediency through the company bureaucracy and red tape? No, let's take the long road and bug the financial guy every five minutes to ask if everything has been secured and approved yet. That sounds like the way to go.

Seriously, though, I'm in a good mood. It's Friday, things are going well, and I've got a good vibe going. Perhaps it's because I got my weekend started right by jamming some Beck on the way into work today. I've said this before, and I'll say it again. I love Beck. Sure, he has the public persona of the funny, weird slacker guy, but dead honest, I think he is one of the songwriting greats up there with Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and Bob Rivers. Like a Zen riddle, Beck's lyrics on the surface can seem to be nonsensical non sequiturs, but can actually be deeply profound once truly considered. Or, sometimes they really are nonsensical non-sequiturs and that is a lot of fun as well.

With the possible exception of Sea Change, any Beck album is a good candidate for Friday music. Today's selection happened to be Odelay, which apparently is a way of saying hello in Southern California (circa 1996 or so when this album came out). I don't know, I've never actually heard this greeting in a real world situation, just on the cartoon PB&J Otter. But I don't take much credence in that. Let's just say that as far as cartoons go, PB&J Otter is no Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.

Ok, now that I've provided definitive proof of my arrested development (as if the Star Wars obsession wasn't proof enough), I'll get back to the music review. Where was I? Oh, yeah, Odelay. While Mellow Gold was Beck's breakthrough album, Odelay is what placed him firmly on the board. Produced by the Dust Brothers (who also produced one of the best albums of all times, Paul's Boutique by the Beastie Boys), this album was much more assessable than its predecessors. It was both a commercial and critical success, and proved that Beck was not just some slacker flash in the pan. Overall it's probably his "best" album, but not necessarily the one that exhibits what I consider to be the true Beck. Of course, since Beck changes it up from album to album, it's probably best to go out and buy all of his work to get a more comprehensive view of his talents. If you're shopping a la carte, definitely go with Puttin' it Down, still my favorite Beck tunes.

Odelay is fun album by one of the industry's greats. Even on a cold, rainy day when sales reps have been hassling me every two minutes (along with the same old crap I usually have to deal with) the good vibes from this disc have lasted well into the afternoon. Highly recommended.