The Mountains and the Trees, Are They Just What You Need?

Hey, what can I say? Life has been good lately. Of course, that usually means that life is trying to catch me being complacent before it kicks me square in the rear end again, but for now I’m enjoying it. I’ve been at the new job for two months now and that is still going really well. It’s not the miracle cure for monotonous boredom as I had hoped, but it is definitely WAY better than the old job, that’s for sure. Just the difference of how I’m treated as an employee makes the whole change worth it. I guess that’s the advantage of working for a local, mid-sized municipality versus working for a super large Fortune 500 company that treats labor solely as a resource instead of an asset worth investing in. And man, I sure as heck don’t miss that commute to Denver every morning.

Not much to complain about on a more personal level, either. My allergies have been kicking up the past few weeks, which I only bring up because as faithful Inaction readers may remember, I had nasal surgery last summer to help correct a lot of sinus structural problems that I had been suffering from since, well, birth. And while suffering from seasonal allergies is certainly no picnic, I have to say that it is a completely different experience now that everything has been fixed. First of all, things drain as they are supposed to, as opposed to not draining, building up and blocking my sinus passages, then turning into a lingering infection. I’m aware that mucous is not exactly a subject most bloggers would like to read about, but hey, I think the ability to breathe is something most people take for granted, and trust me, if you finally could after 30 years or so of not being able to, you’d be as ecstatic about allergy drainage as I am.

Ok, maybe not.

In other news, I am going away for Memorial Day weekend, and I am totally pumped. You see, I love summer, I love road trips, and I absolutely love Colorado. This trip will be a combination of all three. A triumvirate if you will. We are going to drive down to Gunnison, CO, this weekend to visit the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. I’ve wanted to visit the Black Canyon for a long time now, and I am very excited at the prospect of finally getting to go there. I have heard it is absolutely gorgeous plus it will give me an opportunity to cross off another NP from my list. You see, I have this odd goal of wanting to visit every national park in the US. I’m not even close to the 56 or so NPs in the US, but after this weekend I’ll be one closer… Plus, I will have finally visited all four Colorado NPs (Rocky Mountain, Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, & Black Canyon of the Gunnison). It only took me 11 years or so of living here, but hey, I’ll have done it, right? I’m sure that there are many CO natives that haven’t been to any of them. How could anyone take for granted the paradise in which we Coloradoans are lucky to live???

Did I mention that I love Colorado?

Even more, I love Colorado during the summer. Some people are here for the winter skiing, but to me nothing beats a Colorado summer. I think that probably tops my long list of reasons of why I love to live here. And since Memorial Day is the unofficial kick-off to summer, I say “bring it on!” I can’t wait. I’ll be sure to post plenty of pictures so you all can understand the reasoning behind this big gushfest. Even better, you all should visit here at some point during your lifetime. You won’t regret it. You may even end up moving here because of it. I did.

Was Always Tangled Up in Knots to Keep Myself from Speaking Up, But No One’s Listening Anyway…

I’ve decided to come out of the closet. I can’t live with the secrecy and shame any more. No, it’s not what you are probably thinking. I’m talking about popular music. That is, music that is so popular, or has such a hardcore fan base that something is assumed to be wrong with you if you don’t immediately drop to your knees and prostrate yourself the second a name is mentioned. And I’m not talking about the sheer numbers teenybopper stuff like Britney Spears. I’m talking about the stuff that the general “in-the-know” listening public has deemed to be the “no denying it”, quintessential cream of the music crops. And while the general consensus of millions of these in-the-know listeners speaks otherwise, I don’t really care for these artists. Up until now, I have been cautious about speaking out against most of these bands on this blog out of fear that I would lose my vast throngs of readership (yeah, right). But I shall live in fear no more. Here is a non-exclusive list of artist/artists that despite their huge popularity and critical acclaim, I just really couldn’t care less about:

Radiohead. Ok, I know they are the darlings of musical hipsters everywhere, but I really can’t stand them. And no, it’s not that I “just haven’t given them a chance” or “haven’t heard any of the best stuff they don’t play on the radio.” Trust me. I have listened to Radiohead ad nauseam (and in this case, literally nausea…). As soon as you tell a Radiohead fan that you don’t like Radiohead they instantly try to convert you, or treat you as if you have some kind of illness that must be cured by unlimited exposure to more Radiohead. Look everybody; I am really happy that this band makes you really happy. Seriously, I am. But give up. You aren’t going to win me over. Ever since the first time I heard that “I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo” song on the radio (and my buddy and I fully trashed it), I have thought they sucked. And that super whiney “Karma Police” song makes my ears bleed. Not that I don’t listen to other whiney, depressing music, but Radiohead just doesn’t do it for me at all. There, I said it. Let the public stoning begin.

The Righteous Brothers. I know. You are thinking, “What???? The Righteous Brothers? Who could hate them?” But, I’m telling you, like several others on this list, I would rather crash my car trying to turn the radio station fast enough to avoid even the first opening notes of one of their songs. I don’t know if it’s the connection with that horribly terrible movie Ghost or what, but I just can’t tolerate “Unchained Melody” even in the very slightest. And “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling”? That song was bad before Top Gun turned it into a cliché. I know the ladies like ‘em, but you know what? The ladies also like Al Green, Marvin Gaye, and lots of other more talented soul singers. I’ll stick with them, thank you.

Madonna. This one should be self-explanatory, however, my brain cannot fathom why so many individuals who have otherwise decent tastes in music hold her in such high regard. I realize that nothing I say here will ever change the minds of her hundreds of millions of worshipers, but consider this: what makes Madonna a more popular figure, her talent or her knack of constantly staying “controversial” in the public eye? I’d argue that at this point in her career she is more like a follower and amplifier of the trends than a trend-setter, but even if she was the leading boundary-pusher, does that make her a good musician? Or does she just know how to play the showbiz game? Hmmm… I have a hunch it’s the latter. Plus, I blame her for making Guy Ritchie’s movies suck. He was cool. Then he married Madonna and his movies began to suck. Correlation? You be the judge.

The Cure. The reaction to this one is similar to the one I get from Radiohead, though not as vehement. How could I DARE not like The Cure? Well, honestly, I just don’t get into Goth music that much and they are like the kings of Goth. Again, the vocals are whiney and the music depressing. Plus Robert Smith is kind of a wuss. I prefer the Robert Smith that used to play running back for the Vikings. Of course, that last statement probably just explained to every single Cure fan why I don’t “get” the Cure. You know, because I’m just a dumb, meathead jock and stuff.

Motley Crue, Poison, Def Leopard, Bon Jovi, and every other 80s hair band. Didn’t like them in the 80s, don’t like them now. They are the epitome of cheese and superficiality. Or maybe I just said that to counter my meathead jock image…

U2. It’s not that I hate U2. I can respect them and admit to their talent, but I’m not a fan. They have some ok songs, but I think the total radio saturation has gotten to me. Seriously, how many stations can these guys be played on? I can hear the same 25-year old song on the classic rock channel, the alternative channel, the modern rock channel, the lite-rock channel, the top-40 channel and just about every other channel out there. All they need is to have a rap-remix of one of their songs and they would have all of the formats covered. Let’s just get it over with and introduce an all-U2 radio station format. I’m sure it will work. A handful of the Denver stations are pretty much already there…

Prince. At this point I think I’ve pretty much lost SLG’s readership forever, but I’m going to venture on and discuss the Great Purple One. Like U2, I don’t hate Prince. I just don’t understand why he is so highly regarded as this great talented musician. I actually lived in the same town in Minnesota as Prince (funny, I never saw him in sweat pants at the local Target or in line at McDonald’s…) and people, including good friends, would swear up and down that Prince was one of the most amazing guitarists ever and that he kept endless reels of his guitar-playing virtuosity locked in his studio vault. I’ve heard this from many unrelated sources. However, if this is true, why is it being locked up? Why is none of this virtuosity ever featured on any of his songs? Sure, he can crank out a catchy pop dance tune, but other than a couple solos on Purple Rain, I can’t think of any times I’ve witnessed Prince really grind his axe (I mean, seriously, he didn’t even bother to plug it in during the Super Bowl). Can he play it or not? Prove it to me, Mr. Prince, and I’ll rescind all I’ve ever said against you. Until then, you get categorized with all of the other cheesy top-40 hip-hop dance “artists.”

I’m sure there are plenty more that I need to come clean on, but I think I am going to stop for now. If I deeply offended you by putting your favorite band on this list, then I’m sorry but that’s just how it is. I can’t argue with my ears. I can neither pretend nor keep silent any longer. Judge me as you will. I'm ready for the backlash.