Bookstore Fiasco

So I went into a book store recently, and although I didn't find the book I was looking for, I did leave with a quick story that I'd like to share. Perhaps you will be as mortified as I was...

The book store in question is a small, mom-and-pop shop that sells used books. There is a general organizational scheme, but it basically resembles a flea market in the sense that there are several places that you might find any one particular thing. I took advantage of the semi-sloppy organization to approach a fairly cute girl that worked there and ask her if she could help me locate the book I was looking for (God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, by Kurt Vonnegut). Typically, I have a thing for girls that work in book stores (I’ve dated a couple), but after I asked her about locating Vonnegut within the mayhem of their store, she gave me a baffled look and asked "Who's Kurt Vonnegut?", and I was instantly turned off. I think she noticed that a part of me recoiled in horror when she asked who Vonnegut was, and she tried to cover with “Well, I’ve heard the name, I just don’t know what he wrote." But it was too late - the damage was done. I instantly cited irreconcilable differences and said, “Never mind, I’ll just keep browsing”.

How can you work at a book store and not know who Kurt Vonnegut is?

The Future Is Unwritten

I just recently watched "Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten", and I must say that I heartily recommend it to anyone who has any interest in music or even culture in general. The man was simply incredible, and this documentary is both extremely entertaining and highly fascinating. (For any of my readers who weren't sure, the name of my blog is directly borrowed from the Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros song of the same name.)

As has been stated many times before, The Clash was "the only band that mattered", and Joe Strummer was the only front man that mattered. If you haven't already, I urge you to do yourself a favor and buy every Clash album ever released, as well as every Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros album. You won't regret it.

On a totally different note, I am recently becoming a big fan of Dilbert comics, and I'm currently reading "The Dilbert Principle" by Scott Adams. I always thought Dilbert was okay, but now that I am firmly entrenched as another insignificant cog in the corporate machine, I have found that Dilbert is absolutely hilarious. Unfortunately, every hearty laugh at his witty, satirical observances of life in an office dominated by corporate motivation and management techniques is followed by tear shed at the horrifying realization that the "jokes" are so true that you might as well be reading your own company's new-hire orientation manual and associate handbook.

Chicken Wings

It's Tuesday. That means cheap chicken wings at BW3's! Mmmmmmmm...... I'm heading out to get some in a few minutes.

I just picked up a ticket to the Dropkick Murphys show at the Fillmore Detroit in a couple of weeks. Supposedly, the Tossers and the Briggs are opening, so it has the potential to be a pretty stellar night. I currently have The Meanest of Times by DKM and Agony by the Tossers on heavy rotation.

Also: I recently discovered for myself a band called Slightly Stoopid. It turns out they've been around for a while. As such, I can't help but feel saddened that I didn't stumble across them sooner. I picked up their latest album, and I'm impressed. Good stuff!

In cinematic news, I saw The Fantastic Four: the Rise of the Silver Surfer last weekend. It sucked ass, to say the least. After completely ruining the character of Dr. Doom in the first movie, they brought him back only to do him even worse justice the second time around. Pitiful.

Now, there's a rumbly in my tumbly, and the cure is hot wings and beer...

Number Five

All-time top five albums... all that's left is 5 of 5. You'd think that the drum roll would've been saved for number one, and yet I've opted to roll the red carpet out for the final cut. And of course by "opted", I mean that I became overwhelmed by a tsunami of indecisiveness and had to reevaluate the remaining contenders and single one out as The Best of What's Left. There were a healthy handful of nominations, including Weezer's Blue Album, AC/DC's "Back In Black", Cake's "Fashion Nugget", self titled efforts from Beautiful Creatures, Soulfly, and Rage Against the Machine, Paul Simon's "Graceland", Marilyn Manson's "Antichrist Superstar", and by far the hardest one to veto, The Refreshments' "Fizzy Fuzzy Big and Buzzy". But in the end, I had to go with White Zombie's "Astro-Creep: 2000 (Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head)".
This album is simply too enjoyable, too much of a personal favorite to leave off. As far as I'm concerned, it's an absolute masterpiece from one of the most creative forces in pop culture, Rob Zombie. From the eerie movie reel to creepy synthetic organ to roller coaster-ish clickity-clack intro that slams you into a brick wall of drums and power riffs, all the way to the slow and simple yet powerful final track ("Blood, Milk, and Sky"), there isn't a single dull moment on the entire album. In retrospect, I don't know how I questioned the Top-5 status of this perfectly crafted work of art in the first place.

Top 5 Albums

In the first of many High Fidelity-inspired "Top 5" lists, I will detail what I consider to be the five greatest musical albums of all time. The criteria is simple: the five that I like the most. I am not taking into account lasting influence, historical impact of any sort, album sales, musical coherence, creative originality, or anything else that would typically be considered to qualify an album as an objective "best ever". In fact, the intent is belligerent subjectivity. In other words, this is a list of my five favorite albums of all time. In random order:

London Calling, The Clash
Not only is there not a bad song on the entire track list, but from the time I bought this album, I believe only 3 months had passed before I owned all five Clash studio releases. The Clash didn't leave rotation in my car for at least 6 months, save for the occasional break for Joe Strummer and the Masceleros. And in all that time, I don't think there were ever two consecutive days in which LC didn't find its way into the CD player at some point. From the first not of the title track until the last note of "Train In Vain", there is not a dull moment here. Catchy tunes, great lyrics, diversity of style, and generally an album that is difficult to get tired of hearing. Plus, it's hip to like the Clash. And who doesn't want to be hip?

The Red-Headed Stranger, Willie Nelson
I don't think that there is any album that I have purchased more times than this one. I have owned it on cassette, vinyl, and CD, and have replaced it multiple times on each medium (and by "each" I mean cassette and CD, since the vinyl version was basically only bought so that I could frame it). It is the first album that I have vivid memories of listening to when I was a small child, and not just in a toe-tapping, "pleasant sound" kind of way that a 5-year-old might, but rather in the sense that I actually followed along with the story line as it progressed from one song to the next. As of this post, the album has been in my Top 5 for at least 20 years, and I don't even like country music! That's how good it is!

Wildflowers, Tom Petty
Maybe it's just because this record came into my possession at a crucial moment of my cultural and social growth and stuck with me ever since, but I truly feel that the track list has at least one song that can speak to your soul for any mood that you will ever find yourself in... especially if that mood is directly related to a relationship. Unless the mood in question is one of maniacally raging aggression. In that case, something a little more Soulfly-ish might be up your ally...

Sing Proud, Sing Loud!, Dropkick Murphys
This album has probably had a more profound affect on my musical tastes than any other individual album I've ever heard. I didn't think that there was really any punk that I liked until I started listening to DKM. Granted, the first song that I ever heard of theirs ("Boys on the Docks") isn't on this album, but while BOTD lured me in, Sing Loud hooked me. From here, I began exploring tons of other stuff that Hell-Cat Records had to offer, and even eventually led me into the aural streams of The Clash (which I admit I was very, very slow in discovering for myself, despite the constant praise and good word of Marc VL).

That's 4 of 5. I'm going to have to think more about my pick for number five. Since it's the last spot, I feel I have to make it count. There are several candidates, including White Zombie's Astro-Creep 2000, The Refreshments' Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy, and several more. I'm going to need to think about this one for a bit more, then return. Stand by.

Burnin' Streets

Hello, and welcome to my blog. I'll spare the personal introduction, since if you're reading this, I assume that you either already know me, or you are too remote to have anything to gain from feigning interest in the meticulous details of my personal life. I was born. I grew up. I registered a blog. I hope to be here for a while, so I'm confident that the details of my personality and personal interests will become evident as blog after blog of senseless rambling pours forth from my fingertips. However, if you simply can't resist the urge to learn more about me, I do, like any modern red-blooded American between the ages of 15 and 35, have a Myspace page.

I never thought I'd have a blog. In fact, the word itself is something I find mildly obnoxious. Yet here I am, blogging. Is it because I have something politically provocative to say? Not likely. Is it because I feel I have some wisdom to impart on my would-be readers? As a middle class white boy from the Midwest, even less likely. I have no agendas, hidden or otherwise, and I honestly sat down to write this out of a combination of boredom and curiosity. I don't expect to have any particular theme or coherent connection from one entry to another, save for the fact that each entry will reflect whatever is on my mind at that moment. If a theme develops, so be it. Chalk it up to fate. I like to ramble, to divulge my thoughts and opinions, and now I've decided to put pen to paper (or at least the 21st century equivalent - fingers to keyboard) and write them down. If nothing else, maybe this will assist in curbing my tendency to flap my jaw so damn much when I drink.

Well, with that, I think I'll wrap up my inaugural foray into the world of blogging. Next time, maybe I'll have something on my mind worth elaborating on...

-Steely