April23, 1999. Friday
I was just reading what Gus had to say about the Colorado shooting thing. I was especially interested to see what he had to say in light of his problems with skinheads. I agreed with most of what he said. In fact, i think he what he said was what I was trying to say the other day, but less eloquently. My mind tends to let me ramble in the morning.
Anyway, something else he talked about was the Foo Fighters, and what a guilty pleasure they were to him. I'm inclined to agree on this point also. I've thought that for a long time, actually. Sure, Dave Grohl would probably be working in a grocery store if he weren't in Nirvana. But he does wrote some pretty catchy tunes. I've never even thought of buying a Foo Fighters cd, but I can't think of one song that i've heard that i didn't like. The music has a fresh quality to it that endearing and enduring. It's mostly just guitar driven power pop, but it's done really well. Of all the post-grunge/alternative music out there, I'd say Foo Fighters is near the top. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm gonna run out and buy The Colour and the Shape. But if someone bought it for me, i'd probably listen to it all the time. By the way, they get bonus points for spelling "Colour" with the "u." As much as I can't stand the Limeys at times, they have nifty ways of spelling things, like theatre and centre.
Speaking of pop music, i bought my first cd online last week. Actually, it was my first online purchase ever, i think. I never really trusted the "secure" server that you can supposedly put your credit card hnumber in risk-free. But if my parents, always wary of a tricky scheme or who's watching, can trust it, I suppose I can. It was the new Fountains of Wayne cd, Utopia Parkway. They're on Scratchie Records, the label started by James Iha and D'arcy of Smashing Pumpkins fame. that's how i heard of 'em. They opened for the pumpkins when i saw them in Charlotte, NC. Their first cd was pretty good, if nothing more than mindless power pop. I wouldn't exactly call it "mindless," but that term almost always seems to fit in front of "power pop." Anyway, that first cd had a lot tunes on it. A perfect summertime driving record. I'm sure you've heard "Radiation Vibe" at least once, even if you didn't know it. One of the guys in the band also wrote the theme song to "That Thing You Do." The song is a lot like the movie. It's catchy and trendy and enjoyable, but there's not a whole lot there. But for some reason, you don't get bothered by repeated viewings/listenings. Of course, that may just be me. I seem to recall my roommate Aaron, of the Shittiest House On Earth fame, having a violent reaction to the movie. Anyway, the new record is pretty good. It's a lot of songs about growing up around New York and New Jersey. In a lot of the songs, they take the persona of dumb-ass Jersey kids, and the songs fit the style of whatever persona they're in. "Laser Show" isn't one of my favorite songs, but the style that it's played is pretty amusing. It's about those cheesy laser shows that they put on to Dark Side of the Moon or something. The Valley of Malls is a pretty good, kinda dark song done in a sixties pop stylee. I can actually hear some "That Thing You Do" style percussion in it. And the first two songs, Utopia Parkway and Red Dragon Tatoo, are probably the catchiest songs on the record.
Speaking of power pop, I just have to tell you that the new Jellybricks album is also pretty good. It's truer power-pop than the Fountains of Wayne record. More straight-up rock and roll. It tends to be a little formulaic at times, but that's what i expect from a power-pop record. It's when they try to stray from that path that they stumble at times. But even when they do, they recover very nicely, even within the same song. I'd pick it up if I were you.Anyhow, I spoke with Doug yesterday for the first time in a while. I love that guy. Apparently, after his girlfriend broke up with him, he quit both his jobs and drove outta town into the Texas nowhere, then to Houston, and spent the night in a shitty motel. I of course would never do such a thing. But that's probably why I admire it so. He's recently checked out my webpage. I got an email from him last night saying he was disappointed with me crowing jed with the titlt "undisputed king of wit," and he informed me that "the guanlet has been thrown." hmmmmm... But i'm still hoping to get out to Texas this summer. I haven't seen him in two and a half years now, you know. He's still trying the stand up comic thing, and recently competed in the Funniest Person in Austin contest. He didn't win. But of all the people that i know in Austin, i can honestly say that he's the funniest. He was particularly excited about the open mic that he was going to last night, because there was a chance that the women who played the large female coach on the show "Coach" would be there. hmmmm.... Anyway, he also told me something like he was worried about me or thought I was weird, citing that he'e never known somebody with such a love for the mundane. I can always count on Doug to sum it all up for me. He's back with his girlfriend now, by the way.
I had a another weird dream last night. It was nowhere as near as disturbing as my Tea Leoni dismemberment dream from the other night, but it still kinda creeped me out. The floors and walls in my apartment building are so thin, that if I'm in my room and people are walking in their living room upstairs, it sounds a lot like they're in my living room. Well, last night in my dream, they were. It probably had something to do with Berry telling me how she's always scared of someone breaking into our pad at night. In the dream, she woke me up and said that there had been this gang that was breaking into people's houses while they slept. I hate dreams where the setting and situation is so reality based. It was synchronized with reality. The time, place, and situation were all the same in dream and reality. I was in my bed asleep in the middle of the night. So it made it seem all the more real. I shoulda just let berry handle whoever she thought was out there, but that cursed chivalrous male gene I have way deep down picked an awful time to show up. so i went to "check out the funny noise." I've seen enough movies that i knwo that anyone who goes to check out a noise get whacked. Of course, there was someong in the house, like in Berry's closet or something. So we hid for a while, while the robbers took their loot. I don't really remember what happened next. Maybe i tried to club one of them. Or maybe i switched to another dream where I was eating a roast beef sandwhich. Whatever the case, these sure seems like a waste of a really long paragraph.
Amazingly, I woke up this morning without my headache, a real treat after the last 2 or 3 days. but I still took all my pills, and two precautionary Advil that i really didn't need. I just didn't wanna spen 70 cents buying two at the coffe shop downstairs, since i'd bought about 8 of those this week. Traffic was also very light this morning, due to everyone being at home since they had the day off for the NATO summit. everyone except me, that is. I think yesterday's traffic home was the equivalent of the weekend rush out of the city, since most people have a long weekend. So hopefully it'll make my drive outta town easier. we'll see.
I'm a little disappointed that Mimi is in Baltimore, seeing as now I have one less person to email. Plus, Rodzilla's off campus all day, so no mail from her. How am I supposed to get through the day now?
DA&R
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