My Ears Are Bleeding! Whoops, Those Darn Rose Colored Glasses Are At It Again

Yup, it's the return of the ungodly and unwieldy post title. I'm still recovering from the events of last week, so this post will be light on the snarkiness and heavy on whatever zero tolerance that we all go through on a daily basis in our lives that can often manifest itself, at least in my case, with run-on sentences and a short fuse.

Trust me gang, a bald 46 year old guy with a short fuse and an empty computer screen is something that you do not want to experience if you're in a tolerable mood.

Okay, now that we got that pesky little whatever out of the way, let's get on to the purpose of this post.

Writing.

Or rather, the complete lack of writing.

It's Wednesday, which means a post about writing is in order. However, the real world made its presence known and felt not only this past week, but this week as well. Since I'm really in a pissed off mood about my lack of writing and lack of submissions and I don't want to turn this post into one big fat ginormous whine, let's move on to a lighter subject.

Music.

Last week, in order to take my mind off of the current issue at hand, I decided to do a little online shopping and use the Amazon gift cards that I got for my b'day. So the first thing that I'd did when I got to the website was to log in. So I clicked on "new customer" and immediately got an error message once I popped in my e-mail addy. Seems that all of the Amazon websites both here and abroad co-ordinate their info, so when I'd used the UK version some two+ years ago to buy a Jack Martin book, it kept my e-mail addy.

So after fixing that particular issue (creating a new password because I completely forgot what the old one was), I did my shopping. When I'd finished, I had 9 C.D.'s, mixing the used with the new, so of course I had to use my C/C for the shipping. The 9 got whittled down to 8 when Amazon sent me an updated e-mail saying one of the CD's was no longer available so it was being eliminated from my order.

In no particular order of importance, here is what I'd ordered for music, along with a factoid or two as to why I chose that particular c.d.

1} Aurora Gory Alice by Letters To Cleo: This is replacement for a cassette that I'd played to death. I originally bought the tape for the song "Here And Now" (theme song to some type of late 90's nighttime soap), but the entire album rocks. One of Conan O'Briens favorite cult bands out of Boston.

2} Presidents of the United States by Presidents of the United States of America: funky not flash in the pan novelty rock band who had a monster hit with "Lump" (which was covered by Weird Al, so when that happens, you know that you've made the big time). Still around making good rock music.

3} Centerfield by Jon Fogerty: Again, this is a replacement for a cassette I'd played to death. Originally bought for the song "Centerfield", I got this used because quite frankly, I couldn't see myself spending $30 for a re-mastered anniversary edition.

4} Eric Gales Band by Eric Gales: Again, this is a replacement for a cassette that I'd played to death. Hot debut (1991) of a good blues artist, the one song that got any airplay on rock radio was "Sign of the Storm". Eric was 15 when this album originally came out.

5} Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits by various artists: Again, this is a replacement for a cassette that I'd played to death. Lest you think that this tape features a bunch of nobodies, it features artists as diverse as Mary Lou Lord, Liz Phair, The Ramones and the Reverend Horton Heat. One of the few kiddie oriented compilations that I listen to with any kind of regularity.

6} Powertrip by Monster Magnet: Not a replacement for anything, but the song "Space Lord" is what got me hooked. The casino where this video was shot in Las Vegas took some offense to the content, because they thought it was very inappropriate. Judge for yourself.

7} High-Low by Nada Surf: A decent rock band, the main reason as to why I'm purchasing this c.d. is exactly the same as the previous one. The song "Popular" is what hooked me. The high school where this video was shot took serious issue with the content afterwards as they thought it put their school in a bad light. The band is still around, recording and releasing their music on their own private label.

8} Backatown by Trombone Shorty: I first found out about this New Orleans based jazz/funk band through a 30 second promo clip on the only MTV channel that still plays videos called MTVU (college/university). They had this thing called "Ahead Of The Curve" which showcased new and upcoming bands. Anyways, I thought the clip was pretty cool, but didn't think much of it until I heard some of his music on a local college radio station. Click on the title for an idea on who Trombone Shorty is.

And that my friends, is what I did for an hour or so to take my mind of the events of the past week.