Monday, September 24, 2012

Recently Unearthed: John Fullbright

I downloaded John Fullbright's session from Daytrotter. I have some country tendencies from my upbringing and his sound is like mom's home cooking (I'm not counting the Hamburger Helper era of the late 80s). He's not country, but he's not Indie Folk like I typically go for now. I just find myself really liking his music...which I'd guess is about what any musician would want. Right?

If you're not into Daytrotter yet (although I may no longer speak to you), you can currently get one freebie song from Amazon. I see myself purchasing Live At the Blue Door and From the Ground Up soon. Baby Dinosaur is a little broke right now, so it's gotta stay on the wish list for now.

Recently Unearthed: Chelsey Scott

I caught The Faithful from Chelsey Scott on NoiseTrade just in the nick of time because it's no longer available there. It's awesome. She has a great sound; the perfect Indie Folk sound I like...not too Appalachian, with that touch of Brandi Carlisle twang in her voice.

If I had one less-positive comment, I would say her songs (at least those on The Faithful) sound a bit too similar to one another. I really like On the Table probably the best so far.

I need to do some more exploring, but so far I do not hesitate in recommending that you check her out. She has info on her own website, but I felt like the information on American Songspace gave me a little more background.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

What a mess!

Last night, I fixed a late supper: a bowl of chili. I am heading over to sit on the couch to watch some TV and eat and the bowl of chili went flying across the living room. Well, I wish it had landed on my couch because my couch has insurance on it for spills, but no... only a tiny bit landed on the couch, the entire rest of the bowl exploded all over my light tan carpet.

So here I am at 8:30 pm on a Saturday night, in my PJs (yes, dinosaurs wear PJs) with nothing in my house that will clean up such a horrendous mess. Plus, my pocketbook isn't exactly full of extra cash to purchase a bunch of equipment for carpet cleaning, not to mention my little condo is too small to have extra machines around that I'm not using on a regular basis.

My first instinct was to go to Kmart (I don't do Wal-Mart) and I have a Sears credit card with zero balance on it. I go there and wander around the store trying to find the department that sells vacuums. Turns out they hide that department behind a giant wall of electronics. Have you noticed that new Kmarts have a lot of dead-end isles and weird places that make them hard to navigate? I have.

Anyway, I get there and they have a few options, the cheapest being about $90. The only one of those in stock is in a box that looks like they delivered it by dropping it out of a plane. I figure, I'd better get home and start cleaning as soon as possible so I grab it. When I get to the checkout, I tell the cashier that when the receipt prints out, I want her to write on the receipt that the box is severely damaged. She won't do it. All I want her to do is note that the box was damaged when I bought it -- just in case I have to bring it back -- so they don't give me a hassle at the service desk. She refuses. She doesn't know "if she can do that". So, I tell her I'm not making the purchase. Then she decides she COULD ask her supervisor. Of course the supervisor says it's no problem to make a note on the receipt. She offers for us to open the box right then, which I decline. I didn't feel that it was necessary, it was just an extra precaution.

Well, as I'm driving home, I realize I just spent over $120 (including cleaning solution) on an item I didn't really need but (hopefully) this one time. I also remembered I had a coupon for Lowe's for $20 off $100 purchase and an also-empty credit account with them. By now, it's almost 9 p.m. so I headed to Lowe's. They have similar devices (in uncrushed boxes) but they are about $30 more expensive (not the same device -- similar). Well, that still won't be great, so I head out and see the display for those rental machines. My mom rented one once when I was a kid and it seemed like such a hassle, of course we lived about 30 miles from the town where you rented them, so there was the drive time to consider. This place is only 5 minutes from my house. So for what turned out to be $50ish dollars I rented the machine, got 2 bottles of cleaner (waaaaay more cleaner than I needed). So (sorry to my neighbors) I ended up cleaning my carpets from 10 pm until about 1 am last night/this morning.

It seems like they could make those things a little easier to steer. I'm not expecting "Dyson technology", but it was not easy to maneuver. Luckily, it looks like it did a pretty good job. I feel like I can see the spot a little, but it's probably just because I went over it so many times right there that the carpet is roughed up there a little more. I still hate dropping $50 on clean up, but there weren't really a lot of cheaper options. I was not really wanting to own that little spot cleaner machine I bought at Kmart since I've owned one before that was barely functional.

So, today, I have to return both machines. Hopefully Kmart does not give me a hassle, but I don't think they will since I didn't even open the box.

Next time I make chili, I think I will lay out a tarp or eat it over the kitchen sink. I never did eat supper last night!

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Endangered Species List: Amy Ray

I ended up with a bunch of tracks from Amy Ray from Daytrotter and NoiseTrade. The NoiseTrade sampler is definitely better than the Daytrotter session (I have deleted the entire Daytrotter session). I actually didn't delete every track, just most of them. I like More Pills, Give it a Go, Bus Bus, and a couple more. So this is kind of a mixed feelings type of review, so I created a new category of "Endangered Species List". Yes, I know dinosaurs were never on the endangered species list, but it was the closest thing I could think of.

I guess I need to start at the end of the alphabet soon so I can mix it up a bit. It's hard when you have 40GB of music to dig through.

Recently Unearthed: Allie Moss

I'm not sure how I ended up with the Late Bloomer album from Allie Moss. I think it must have been free on Amazon for awhile (one song from the album is currently free). She has a great sound... I often mistake for Ingrid Michaelson at first (no big surprise since she works with her). Late Bloomer, the title track, is not my favorite. Corner is probably one of her most popular songs right now and I can understand why since it is catchy.

Recently Extinct: Active Child

I downloaded Active Child's most recent Daytrotter session (there are two) and oh, wow, it is odd. Uh, yeah, it's just weird and so not my kind of music at all. I am definitely not a fan of electronic music.

I don't understand Facebook games

I still remember being introduced to Facebook games. I was visiting my friend at a Howard Johnson's and we were goofing around on Facebook. He says "You need to start playing this game, Mob Wars. I need friends to get me more _____ (credits/tokens/fake plants, etc.)" "Sure, okay" I thought I'll sign up and help him get his little fake machine guns. Over a year later, I had a full-blown addiction going. I would lose sleep, use my breaks at work, and just pretty much donate my life to clicking those little fake plants, making fake food, running a fake bakery for fairies, putting fake mob hits on strangers, raising fake zoo animals, feeding fake fish, digging for fake treasure, running a fake pawn shop... What the hell? I finally decided I had to pare down this addiction. First to go was Mob Wars; it had certainly lost its appeal. Farm___ whatever it was called also left. I still had a couple of fake restaurants and the fake digging for treasure to keep me busy. As things became buggier and buggier, I left one of the fake restaurants go. The other one closed itself down because even the company got tired of the game.

I still play the treasure game (Treasure Madness), but I don't get too caught up in it. I don't lose sleep over it. I like the little mini games while I'm digging and it's something I can poke at while I'm watching TV or whatever. There are little quests, etc. and I'm in the mindset that if I get the quests completed then good for me, but if not it's no big deal.

Once the last restaurant game went to heaven, they transferred a bunch of credits to a Sims game. I've never really played any of the Sims games, but a few of my friends had liked them (on game consoles). I figured I'd give it a try. I'm still not letting it control my life, but one night I did lose control and spend $20 on "credits" which I regret. I'm so annoyed at myself for doing that. What was I thinking?!!??!?!? I could have bought 1/3 tank of gas, a nice meal, some drinks... but no, I bought tokens for a virtual game that is virtually stupid. You can't really save your receipt and go back for a refund on that can you?

Why are we (or some of "we") entertained by screen clicks? I know I'm annoyed by the game posts filling up my feed. I miss seeing posts by real friends instead of the friends I've added just to have game buddies. These are people I'll never know; some of us don't even speak the same language. Some of the accounts are set up for people's dogs, babies, hamsters, etc. just so they can have more accounts to send themselves these virtual treats back and forth more often.

As a society that has become numb to movie plots, violence, and the basic suffering of others, why are we so amused by randomly clicking a screen in the same spot? I don't get it. I don't have a cure for it, but I'm trying to wean myself from it. Maybe if there was some kind of tangible result it would make more sense. Even if I win a t-shirt after my millionth click...I wonder how many t-shirts I would have by now?

Kind of Legal Mumbo Jumbo Stuff

Well, Baby Dinosaur isn't a lawyer, but knows it is necessary to post some of this stuff for the nitpickers out there. Basically, it's important to remember that opinions are Baby Dinosaur's and Baby Dinosaur's alone. Opinions will sometimes differ from your own. Especially for reviews, I'm not here to ruin anyone's career, just stating my feelings about likes & dislikes. Embracing different opinions is important. If you are not into that, you have free will to help you leave my Blog and go somewhere else.

Baby Dinosaur often speaks of finding free/discounted music downloads; however, wants to point out that these are not pirated/illegal downloads. There are many sources for LEGAL free downloads offered on the interwebs by bands, record labels, etc. to get you to listen to their music. Sometimes these sites offer the option to make a donation/leave a tip, at other times, they ask for an email address, etc. Make no mistake: just because money may not change hands, I am not stealing music. In fact, since Baby Dinosaur especially loves Indie music, there is a hope that reviews may help that band/musician.

To help generate a small amount of income over time, there will be some advertisements on my blog. I plan to keep the advertisements minimal and am hopeful the advertisers that choose to be displayed will actually coincide with the content.

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Based on a work at http://ramblingsofababydinosaur.blogspot.com/.

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Saturday, September 15, 2012

Recently Unearthed: The Last Bison

I ended up finding The Last Bison (previously known as Bison) on NoiseTrade where they touted their sound would fit those with a liking for Fleet Foxes, The Decemberists, Mumford & Sons, The Avett Brothers, and The Lumineers: a pretty perfect recipe, if you ask me. As of this writing, their album is still available on NoiseTrade (availability does change from time to time). Wikipedia says a new album is being prepared for 2013; I'll be curious to check it out. Quill is a great album, In Your Room and Setting Our Tables are my favorite tracks.

Their website is not fully functional, but perhaps it will improve over time.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Recently Unearthed: The Features

I downloaded Still Lost, Volume 1 from NoiseTrade sometime in the recent past. As a music hoarder, I don't always listen to new stuff right away, but as soon as Temporary Blues (UK Mix) came on my iPod, they had my attention and I was emailing my work buddy asking if she'd heard of them. Exciting enough, she emailed back and said they'll be playing at one of our favorite local spots soon! October 10 is now firmly planted on my calendar!

I spent the rest of today listening to the rest of the songs I have and I have not been disappointed at all so far.   I'm heading to do some more music shopping as soon as I finish this post to get their album "Wilderness". I hate to do "sounds like", but there are parts that sound like Young the Giant. I hope they are better live than Young the Giant... I saw them earlier this summer and was disappointed (happy that Apache Relay opened for them though!).

Well, new favorites: The Features, thanks for getting me jamming around the day job today. I can't wait to dig up some more! Plus, your album cover made me crave an ice cream cone, so I had to stop and get one on my way home from work today! I'm going to stop focusing on the fact that the one guy looks like my semi-creepy cousin Alan and their website jumps around too much while I'm trying to read it.

I love finding new music to love! rowR!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Recently Extinct: The Be Good Tanyas

The latest to leave my iPod collection is The Be Good Tanyas. Currently available on NoiseTrade... I typically enjoy Indie Folk, but the vocals on this are too screechy and mumbly for my taste. For someone with thousands of songs to choose from...there was no need to keep them around. A session recently became available on Daytrotter.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Recently Unearthed: Susanna Hoffs

You can hardly classify Susanna Hoffs as a recent discovery; I've loved her sound since The Bangles gained notariety oh so long ago. "Some Summer Days", currently available on NoiseTrade, has reminded me how much I love her sweet, clean vocals and fun sound. I'll definitely be downloading her new solo album "Someday" very soon.

Recently Unearthed: Bearcat

With the exception of "Clint Eastwood" from their recent Daytrotter session, I'm finding myself a new fan of Bearcat. Their tour with The Rocketboys is bringing them close, but not quite to the Kansas City area. I'm hopeful to catch them live eventually.

Leader, Renee Yohe, has the sound I like from a female vocalist: folky, but not screechy. Definitely on my "listen for more list" now.

Recently Extinct: Jane Marczewski

Jane Marczewski's Lines EP is currently available on NoiseTrade. Offered as sounding like The Civil Wars (not my favorite) and Ingrid Michaelson (I'm kind of over her); it's her voice that stops me in my tracks and causes me to run in the other direction. Just a little screechy for me.

Recently Extinct: French Miami

You can find their recent session on Daytrotter or view some of their stuff on their own site. Their music is a bit too noisy and sloppy for me. It's like "let's bang around on some of our equipment for a minute, slap on some lyrics, and call it a song." The long noisy intros make me extra crazy. Once you finally get to lyrics, it's drowned out by the music. Gah! No. I just don't like it.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

What to do with leftover wanton noodles

Do you always end up with a bunch of left over wanton noodles after ordering Chinese take out?

This is what I do...
Take the noodles, put them in a paper bag, bowl with lid, sandwich bag, or a baseball cap.
Add cinnamon & sugar
Shake
(the bag, not yourself, spaz)
Enjoy, rowR!



Monday, September 3, 2012

Recently Extinct: JJAMZ

Passed on this session download available at Daytrotter. Saw them open recently for Neon Trees... I had a sinking feeling during the soundcheck that they would be unbearable -- I was right. Actually, the band isn't unbearable, Z Berg is. I think she is trying too hard to look like an amateur porn star while she is performing and the videos they have posted on their website are embarassing.

Recently Extinct: Dengue Fever

Daytrotter has great stuff, but they also have some duds...Dengue Fever is one of them. Give'em a shot, but don't say I didn't warn you. Their session left me speechless, but not in a good way.

Recently Extinct: Red Wanting Blue

Another NoiseTrade download, currently available here. As it warns, "Live at City Winery" is live, so you get those annoying talky bits. I don't know anything about this band, it's not horrible, but Red Wanting Blue sounds more like classic rock/rockabilly than the Mumford & Sons, Dawes, & Wilco sound they claim in their profile... they also claim Counting Crows, which I can understand. Honestly, I'd probably enjoy them live, but not enough to keep them on my iPod.

Recently Extinct: Russell Howard

I downloaded "Too Soon, Too Late" from NoiseTrade, a recent offering by Russell Howard. Often NoiseTrade offerings are for a limited time, but at least for right now, he has a sampler available you can check out. Sampler

One thing about NoiseTrade, you have to be careful to watch the artist bio, which in this case suggests "For Fans of: David Gray, Mumford & Sons, Amos Lee, Josh Ritter, Mat Kearney" which fits me well. The music is fine, but his singing voice just doesn't cut it. I'm one of those people that can tell if I like a song in about 5 seconds, but he tricks me everytime. I think "Oh, this is a good song..." When he starts singing, I cringe.

Recently Extinct: The Two Man Gentlemen Band

This was a Daytrotter Session for The Two Man Gentlemen Band. Their swing style is not bad, but I strongly dislike songs with talking intros, which Daytrotter Sessions are prone to have. I don't want to listen to the same intro everytime I listen to a song...especially when the song isn't that good. Sorry fellas, you had to go.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Recently Unearthed: Male Bonding

Absolutely one of my best finds this year is Male Bonding. My favorite so far is "Bones". Below is an acoustic version, but the album version is great too. I originally got the song free from Amazon.com in "23 This Year: The Sub Pop Amazon Sampler" which I think was only available for a limited time.

I find a lot of great music free in samplers on Amazon. I also find a lot of not great music in samplers on Amazon, but it's FREE... so who cares if it sucks? I can just delete it.

You can also find Male Bonding on Daytrotter; I subscribe for $24 a year.


Music Archaeology

I've always been into music. Always. My mom & dad had one of those big cabinet stereos -- they still do. One of my chores was dusting it on Sunday afternoons. My dad refuses to part with it although it is huge and one of the legs broke off a few years ago when mom insisted it be moved to his man cave. Now it sits at about a 30 degree angle, balanced on its three good legs and whimpers when Dad promises to fix it and refuses to part with it. Mom and I threaten that one day it will be his eternal resting place, because we will bury him in it -- he'd fit with no problem.

Anyway, my music (& comedy) history started with their record collection: Sonny & Cher, America, The Smothers Brothers, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Englebert Humperdinck, Bill Cosby... included with that was the surge in popularity of country music in the late 70s. (Note: Just because it was music I had around me, didn't mean I liked all of it -- I never want to hear "A Horse with No Name" ever again.) We'd always tune into Hee Haw and one of the first records I chose on my own was Kenny Rogers Greatest Hits.

One Christmas -- I'd guess I was about 6 years old -- I received a little portable record player so I'd stop playing with and messing up the big stereo that was Dad's. We'd go to garage sales on Saturdays and it was common to find 45s being sold for 5¢ or less. Often, I didn't know what I was picking, but I'd just pick a few, sometimes with some hints from my mom. Some of the ones I remember listening to the most were "I Feel the Earth Move Under my Feet" by Carole King; "Here Comes the Judge" Pigmeat Markham; "Love the World Away" by Kenny Rogers; and "In the Navy" The Village People -- it was cracked, but would still play. These, mixed with my favorite Sesame Street records, (known to me simply as Bert & Ernie) and my mom & dad's collection, were my music foundation

I loved my little record player and my records. Somehow my mom didn't murder me for listening to them all day on Saturdays over and over and only occassionally with those huge, padded stereo headphones from the late 60s that weighed about five pounds and would give me headaches and neck pain from trying to hold my little head up while wearing them. Probably more annoying was me singing along with them, often at the wrong speed because I thought I got bonus "Fan Points" for being able to still keep up with the words by playing a 45 at 78 rpm.

About 2nd Grade, mom started working at Kmart in the department that sold electronics. She and dad finally purchased a cassette player/recorder. It wasn't one of those cool ones; it was the kind like FBI agents put on the table to record an interview. One time they were having a sale on cassette tapes; she'd found a few she liked, so took me to Kmart to pick out from those she'd narrowed down to which ones we'd get. We ended up with Pacman Fever and some compilations that I don't remember the name of now; they had Frankie Valli and some Beatles remakes on it.

As I progressed in my music exploration, I was often scolded for signing up for BMG Music Club or the others that advertised in TV Guide... all you had to do was tape a penny to a post card and you'd get all this "free" music. Mom's friend introduced me to Lionel Richey and Michael Jackson. Two of the first cassettes I would choose on my own were "Dancing on the Ceiling" and "The Best of Michael Jackson".

We lived in a rural area and only had three or four television stations, but once mom started working on Saturdays, I'd spend the day at the sitters and could watch American Bandstand. I still remember seeing my first music video on American Bandstand: "She Works Hard for the Money" by Donna Summer.

Eventually Kidd Video came out and I would eagerly anticipate Saturdays to get a glimpse of a new video. Friday Night Videos were great, once we got a VCR so I didn't have to stay up to watch it.

We'd often spend summers with my cousins in Florida -- they had cable and my uncle had a big 8 track collection. I would take tons of blank VHS tapes and tape all the MTV I could; sometimes individual videos, sometimes shows like Headbangers Ball. By this time I was listening to a-ha, John Cougar Mellencamp, and Madonna. I still had a mixed music taste as I'd borrow my uncles Eagles and George Jones 8-tracks, blend that with my older cousins' music taste for Lou Reed, Run DMC, The Fat Boys... it's no wonder I have Music ADD!

By 5th Grade, one of my friends told my about Motley Crue... I would have never considered what I had always been told was devil worship music... while in 2nd Grade I had become obsessed with Ozzy Osbourne, but was terribly afraid of my cousins' KISS posters, so had been concerned about acknowledging this obsession. I finally got Theatre of Pain, progressed to Poison, Guns N' Roses, David Lee Roth (real Van Halen was dead by then)... by Junior High I had every AC/DC album, my tiny bedroom was wallpapered with rock posters from the teen magazines -- even the ceiling. I started talking my mom into concerts, which became easier once she decided she liked David Lee Roth too. Sometimes I'd take music suggestions from the concert tees the band members were wearing.

I spent every moment and every dollar I could at our local music store. I had hundreds of cassettes by the time I was in high school.

Once I graduated, my new "city friends" explained to me that CDs were the new thing. That was ridiculous -- there was no way I was going to REPURCHASE all my music on a new format that was likely a passing fad, besides those cases were impossible to open. I was wrong. My first CD was purchased for me by my roommates: Radiohead, Pablo Honey. Then, I was back to Columbia House and the music clubs to start CD hoarding.

Now, nearly 20 years later, my music taste is even more confused and a I am a self-professed mp3 hoarder. It took me awhile to get into mp3s... I'm still not a fan of paying about $1 per song, but at least you don't have to buy whole albums anymore... I have a subscription to eMusic which has built up their catalog enough to cover most of my needs, although I still hit iTunes now and then to grab a song or two. Besides eMusic, I rarely pay for music...but I don't steal it...I am really into Indie music, so much of my music comes from NoiseTrade, Daytrotter or free downloads offered on band websites. (Some of these have a minimal or voluntary fee.)

I have an 80GB iPod classic that means the world to me. It's only about half-full, but I see that as an opportunity.

I don't often DELETE from my music hoard, unless it is something completely horrible, although I do not store every song I own on my iPod because there really are times you can have too much Ronnie Milsap.

I find new music on Pandora, from friends, from Daytrotter, poking around YouTube, etc. Through this blog, my intention is to introduce you to finds that I particulary enjoy and to warn you of finds that I particularly didn't enjoy. Everyone's music taste is different, so please remember that my recommendations are my opinion, which may differ from your opinion. If you do not share my opinion, you are welcome to visit other websites. Following the dinosaur theme, planned topics will include "Recently Unearthed" (new discoveries) and "Recently Extinct" (recently deleted).

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Past Rambling: August 2006


Don't play with the sex offender list. You're better off not knowing.

You know how Sundays are...  A little boring, but yet a welcome relief to the normally busy schedule.  So, today, after like 12 months I decided I really needed to clean out all my email folders because they are getting crazy full of stuff.

So, I'm Chillin like a Villain just filing my little emails & I found one from my mom.  My mom is a paranoid, old lady so usually her emails go in a mom file & I don't really look at them unless they say "Take some $ from my bank account and buy yourself something nice" unless she asks if I got her email then, I'll go dig it out and read it.

So, this email has a link to find the sex offenders near your house.  So I did a search... no surprises, cuz Shelly lives a couple blocks away & she already told me there were some.  So, that was no fun.  So, I start just typing in names of people I know/knew and OOOOPS, yikes.  So this guy I knew lives in a mental hospital up here now.   I would've been happier not knowing that.  He was always a fun guy -- yes inappropriate at times, but haven't we all been?

I feel bad, this dude that we used to party with, lives in a mental hospital.  That is a total buzz kill, ain't it?

Past Rambling: August 2006


I spent all my $ on booze & now I'm grounded

Sad. Do you know how bored I have been today?  I knew if I left the house I would go shopping & that is bad cuz NO TENGO MUCHO DINERO.  oooh, but there are sooo many things I want right now -- new toys.  I've got that itch.  Not the same itch as from that new shower gel I tried today.  That is a whole other unfortunate topic.  I knew I should've never showered today (ha).

I just wanna go to the mall.  I never wanna go to the mall.  There is that cute boy there, mmm Casey -- how I love thee.  It's 10 pm; it's closed.  Plus, my car hates me & is scary to drive & I don't want to spend money to get it worked on & besides that takes planning.  I wish Mat would just come steal it out of my driveway & fix it when I wasn't looking.  I would pay extra for that.  (HINT).  It doesn't even have to be Mat.  You don't even have to fix it.  Just come steal the fucker & put it somewhere that no one will ever find it & then I can get a pretty new one.

I ended up watching Sabado Gigante.  I don't speak Spanish.  I know you may be surprised since I seem so fluent, but when I say I WATCHED Sabado Gigante, that's what I mean. Then I realized it is 3 freakin hours long. Yeah, I'm not that bored.

So I cooked breakfast at noon.  Didn't like it.  Threw it away.  Then I cooked lunch at 3.  Didn't like it.  Threw it away.  Made a salad for supper like 20 minutes ago - don't want it.  Tastes funny.  Called for pizza but the telephone number is disconnected & I was too mad to look for another number.  Pizza costs $ anyway.  I spent too much $ last night.

I can't go outside cuz my neighbors are whack and bother me & earlier when I did go outside I accidentally ate a bug so that was no fun.  Now it is dark & dark is scary.  Besides, what would I do go sit in the dark & stare at the cars driving by?

So, I'm just sitting here *scratch*-*scratching* where the stupid Avon Cherry Shower Gel is making me all itchy.  I can't go to sleep.  I slept like 17 fucking hours already.

I need a sugar daddy.  Ew nah, I'll just be bored.  No sugar daddies.

My HOROSCOPE said this was a 5-star day.  Stupid piece of shit.

Past Rambling: September 2006


Snoogedy Boogedy Bam Bam Bam

It's been a weird week.  First, I woke up Chinese.  I know I've always had Chinese tendencies, but man it really stuck this time.  OK, I'm just kidding, I'm not Chinese, but you know it's kind of fun to be someone else sometimes.  Soon, I will have to leave the body/identity of Tiki Tiki Tembo and go back to being just plain me.

[Insert scratching record sound here.]

Well, we'll see who I turn out to be next anyway.  So, live it up T-to-the-3, cuz soon you will RIP.

I've been in sick-limbo this week.  I kinda feel like I'm getting sick, but not really sure if I'm getting sick or if it is allergies.  Sara & Erica have been sick & breathing my same air, so I may be sick because of them or maybe they have allergies too.  So I don't know.  Then my Dr. has been driving me crazy because I had to have about 2001 different tests & they all came back "unremarkable" which means she don't know what the fuck is up but there is definitely something up so she's just going to give me random medication for 3 months at a time until we figure something out or I croak.  Random medication is ok if it something fun, but so far it's nothing that makes for fun reactions with alcohol.  So, I went to pick up my random Rx tonight & waited for 20 minutes before the stupid fuckers even walked over to the window to wait on us - the huddled mass- & they said, oh we don't have that one done yet, so crap, I just wasted another 20 minutes of my life.  Thanks for that Walgreens.

As you may have noticed, I don't really have a topic this time, but there is nothing wrong with rambling is there?  You've made it this far.

So I got my new Fak-I-Pod this week.  I've been aching for an iPod-type device for ever so long & the opportunity came to use my dad's credit card without his knowledge & hell yeah I jumped on that like mint chocolate chip ice cream.  So this new device which must remain nameless, since I don't remember what it is, has been ever so fun.  The earbuds it came with were apparently designed for Sasquatch because they are gi-normous and kind give me a migraine or maybe the loudness is giving me motion sickness or maybe sara & erica passed the plague on to me, but anyway they make my ear holes hurt.  I know there are worse holes to have hurt, but still, are anyone's ear holes really that big?  But, I love it & although it was pretty cheap, it is 1GB & holds all the songs I have found a way to download without paying any $ for so far in my lifetime.  One unfortunate dilemma is that a lot of times I downloaded songs assuming that they were formatted so that media products could recognize the Title & Artist names and ta-daa, hell no they aren't so I have about 125 songs that I like but have no idea who sang them.

I have found some by Googling lyrics, but since so much of what I listen to is not mainstream that's not working for all of the songs.  The freaky little Libra in me is not liking having these songs that have no titles or artists, but I'm constantly battling with that OCD side of me that has to have everything a certain way or else it picks at me.  Maybe if they ever come get me for pirating, my subpeona will list some of the artists whose songs I've downloaded. Since most of them are one level above garage band, I seriously doubt it.

But the said device makes me happy because I realized when I brought it home that it comes with a magic cord.  This magic cord was the answer to my prayers & I didn't even know that it existed until I was opening the package (with a chainsaw, I might add).  Anyway, the cord plugs into the headphone jack of an audio device and plugs into my new toy & allows the new toy to record from the headphone jack & make MP3s.  This allowed me to finally get my Keely Zoo onto mp3 before Mother Nature dissolved the cassettes which has been my constant fear for years.  Robb had already provided mp3s of Flake, so I'm pretty much set for life.  So, if you ever see my convulsing somewhere and I have giant foam covered balls shoved in my ears, I'm prolly rockin' out to one of Larry's Flake riffs or I've got Keely Zoo cranked.  I will never, ever grow out of Tebo Creek (KZ), Anger, or Hanniken (both Flake).

It's not about being trapped in the past.  It's about recognizing that certain songs have been so good that you never grow weary of listening to them.  As someone who has loved music since I was old enough to slip a 45 onto my portable record player with fancy disco lights that I got for Christmas when I was about 4, my taste has changed 1000 times, there have been 100s of "flavor of the week" songs, but only a select handful are songs that no matter what, I would die without.  I had this friend when I was in high school...  Actually, it was my friend's sister in law, but she loved In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida so much that she owned over 50 of the exact same cassette and if we went to a store that had that cassette, even if it was a gas station, she would buy a new one every single time.  It was crazy.

So, if you've made it this far reading my ramblings, you should post a comment and include a song or a list of songs that you would die without.  I don't care if it is embarassing.  I grew up in the Tipper Gore/PMRC era, I don't allow hating on music.  If you don't know what I mean by the Tipper Gore/PMRC era, well kiss my ass because you are probably too young to know what an evil bitch she is.  [Fuck Tipper Gore!]  But I must digress, because you don't want me to get started on how The Gore's threaten to destroy Earth (my only political view that I've ever cared enough about to discuss in public).

So I will start.  If you blow Pepsi out your nose when you see some of the songs, well, that's your own fault:

Van Halen (the real VH) - Ice Cream Man
Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated (Jared Leto had a great version too & he's way hotter!)
Pretty Much Anybody - O Holy Night
Flake - Hanniken the Manniqen
Keely Zoo - Tebo Creek
Ricky Springfield - Jesse's Girl (although Nick always sang it better)
Phil Collins - Separate Lives
Megadeth - Hook in Mouth (I've actually written term papers about this song!)
Kenny Rogers - Love the World Away
a-ha - Take on Me
Eminem - Till I Collapse
John Lennon - Imagine
Godley & Cream - Cry (The video makes the song)
Lovehammers - Trees
Radiohead - Creep
The Glove & Ice T - Reckless (if you have an mp3 of this song I will prolly do about anything you want in trade - & if you think I'm joking about the anything part...try me.)
Weezer - Say it Ain't So (the whole Blue Album, actually)
Unknown Stuntman - Porno Attractive (The newest edition to my list --- go to their page on MySpace right fucking now & listen)
Barclay Martin - Ben Harper's Two Hands (He should pay you to record this Barclay, because you put him to shame with your version)
Eminem - Till I Collapse

OK, I have to stop.  Maybe next time we'll list the songs that if we hear them one more freakin' time we're going to take hostages and prolly kill half of them before being taken out by a sniper.  Yeah, Tears for Fears, I'm talking to you.

Word to your mutha...

Past Rambling: October 2006


An attempt to regain my charming personality
Originally posted on MySpace (yeah, you heard me)

Man, I've been in a bad mood lately.  There's nothing really wrong.  I got some new neighbors who are pissing me off, but I guess it kind of distracts from me being the black sheep of the neighborhood.  Work gets on my nerves sometimes, but not as bad as other times.  I dunno, I can't figure it out.  I haven't even had anything clever to say on MySpace lately (clever to me-- I don't care about you other people and what you think is clever).

Maybe it is this Spanish class I signed up for.  I forgot how much I don't like keeping up with homework.  It's not like I get a grade on the class, but why can't they make it where I pay $75 & they can just implant the knowledge in my head without me actually having to log in and study this stuff?  Besides, I'm just trying to learn Spanish, this guy is teaching me how to negotiate with a mechanic in Spanish.  Not exactly my top priority in a 6-week course.  So now I'm 3 lessons behind.  Oh joy.

Google's new changes are pissing me off.  I don't like when people get greedy & I think they are getting greedy.  Why do I have to be a google member to be able to open a search link in another window?  That just pisses me off & makes me search using something else.  My 50 searches a day weren't enough for you?  Now I have to search, click, go back, click, go back, click, go back.  Fuck you, go back, fuck you again, go back, you bastards.

See? That's what I'm talking about.  Who gets mad at a search engine?  Me.

Another thing, could they please hurry up and fix 31st Street?  I'm so tired of the orange barrels & cones.  Why did they wait for school to start & traffic to increase 500% to tear that street up?  I don't get it.  And, to the guy that pulls out in front of me at the red light EVERY DAY, I will hit you with my car next time.  I don't care anymore.  You are just really pissing me off.  EVERY SINGLE DAY.  Do you wait for me or something?

Well, I will let you go for now.  I have to hunt down and kill the 900 politicians and political groups who have called and left me a message begging me to vote for/with them in the upcoming election.  While I'm at it, if you are the Jehovah's Witness that stuck the shit in my door today... you're wrong, you're stupid, fuck yourself, go back, fuck yourself again, get the fuck out my yard, you freaky bastards.

Have a nice day!

Past Rambling: January 2007


Life Lessons from a Grocery Store

So, I learned some important stuff today while visiting my new favorite grocery store.

I thought I would share:

1.  Just because cheese is $17 per pound and they are giving away free samples of it at the grocery store, does not mean it tastes good*.

*When tasting really expensive cheese for the first time, you should have an evacuation procedure in place because vomiting in the middle of the deli department of an upscale grocery store is frowned upon.

2.  Pesto may be fancy and stuff, but it really doesn't taste that good.  In fact, I think chewed up cigarettes may taste better.  Even after eating other things and brushing your teeth several times, it is hard to get the nastiness out of your mouth.

But, on the positive side:

1.  Organic fruit may cost more than adopting a child from Namibia, but it is a hell of a lot better than the crap you buy at the Thriftway.

2.  Even though organic food from an overpriced grocery store costs more, you can fool yourself into thinking it is ok to eat it and pay that much for it because somehow it will make you healthier.

Past Rambling: September 2007

Originally posted on MySpace (yeah, really)...

[Sometimes Sara and I say we are going to start an advice column together, but today I need my own advice.]

Dear Abby:

I haven't been on MySpace a lot lately, partly because it kind of bores the shit out of me, but mostly because one of my friends has posted a new profile picture that is creeping me the hell out.

Abby, how can I tell this friend that the picture has GOT TO GO before I have to shorten my friends list?

Sincerely,

Scared of my Friend's Freakiness

Past Rambling: July 2008


I will be the first to admit that I do not stay in contact with people.  I usually have a good reason, sometimes it is because I may actually hate you and never told you that to your face, other times it may because I am broke and figure you are not willing to buy me booze so what is the point anyway....So I'm just going to post stuff here... if you were a good friend, you'd be BlogStalking me anyway.

Past Rambling: December 2008


Nothing's going on.  It should be.  I think I am a hermit.  I have a pretty good social life for a hermit, but for a real person not so much.  It all started when I stole that Age of Empires CD from the office...  Now, I play it all the time.  It's frustrating and not that exciting, but it's in my brain.  Now when I drive around and see a large clump of trees, I try to click them so the woodcutters chop them down.  When I watch TV and people are standing too close together, I try to click them and move them apart.

What is it about computer games that makes them get stuck in your head?  Like if you play Tetris, you dream of the little colored blocks.  

As it sounds like the little villager guy says on the game "oh zis iz bad."  I don't really know what he's saying.  I do like that when you click the priest it sounds like he says "what the fuck."  Jesus would so not approve.