I'm loaded with
tumors darling, and I don't even know it.
June 3, 2008
A Rather
Half-Assed Effort
--Every few years something weird happens to me, where I see
flashing lights in my peripheral vision for a while, then it stops and
I feel really tired.I can
remember it happening when I had a paper route, so it’s been going
on for decades.Very
infrequently, however…
But it happened today, and it’s a little scary.I laid down on the couch, and wondered if that’s where
they’d find the carcass.Because
that’s the way my mind works, even when it’s flickering and
flashing and whatnot.
I went to see a doctor about it years ago, and he didn’t have
anything to tell me.He had a
few guesses (something to do with blood pressure, I think), but
didn’t believe it was serious enough to send me for tests.
And since it only occurs every three or four years, I don’t give it
much thought, either.Until,
you know, it happens again.Then
I start thinking about Bob Marley, and his Bob Marley-sized brain
tumor, and that sort of thing.
Pass the beer nuts.
--If I have time, I’m going
to swing by CircuitCity
today, and pick up the new Weezer CD.They’re selling it
for $5.99, a price I used to pay for albums in the 1970s.And man, I love the power-pop; can’t get enough of it.So, at that price point, there’s but one thing to do...
If record companies would start selling CDs for less then ten dollars
each, I’d gladly buy them.Downloading
just doesn’t do it for me, I want to have something I can hold and
put on a shelf.
But I usually wait until I can get a good deal on a used copy, or buy
a promo off someone. When it comes to music I’m a very patient man,
and almost never pay more than ten bucks for a compact disc.So, if the labels want my money directly, they’ll have to
compete with my schemes.
In fact, if they’d done it ten years ago, they might not be on the
verge of extinction today.I
tried to tell them, but they just kept calling the security guards...
And who’s laughing now, hmm? Certainly not me, but probably
somebody.
--Speaking of music, Brad sent
me this link a few days ago.It’s
from NPR where, as Phil Hendrie says, “thousands work so hundreds
can listen.”They’re
talking about album cover cliches that foretell uninspired music, and
also provide a pretty good list of examples.
This is something I touched on in Rules of Thumb several years ago,
but would like to throw it out to you guys today.What elements of CD artwork tell you the music is probably
going to suck?
And while we’re at it, let’s do DVD covers, as well.
--I saw a teenage girl at the
park on Sunday with a head the size of John Kerry’s, but with all
her facial features confined to the top half.It was most unfortunate.I
don’t think I’d ever seen so much undeveloped facial real estate
in my life.There was enough
room for another complete face on that head!
--Surf Reporter Kelly sends
along this sign, for me to post in my yard.It’s so I can stop mowing the grass, and be a victim of high
gas prices, all at the same time.I
might give it a try!
--This is an entertaining
site, for old farts such as myself.Can
you think of other obsolete skills?
--I took yesterday off, so I
could attend the oldest Secret’s “strings concert.”He plays stand-up bass, like the one they use in the Stray
Cats. And all 100 or so kids who play stringed instruments at his
school put on a springtime concert every year.
I’ve missed several of the kids’ special events, because of the
hours I work, and decided I wasn’t going to skip this one.The only problem?I was
off for the weekend, worked until 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, stepped back into the
real world on Monday, and am going back to the vampire shift tonight.
Way too much switching back and forth…Perhaps that’s why strobe lights were going off in my brain a
little while ago?I just
don’t know.
.