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Just that I didn't think this would happen again
by anna at 08:44 AM on March 19, 2005
On nights when either Lost, 24 or Desperate Housewives aren't on, I do a quaint thing: I go to the video stores and prowl the aisles. In choosing a movie, I must strike a delicate balance. For there to be a decent chance my wife will join me, it can't be anything with the words "sexy" or "erotic" on the box. It also can't center on high school kids or so-called "coming of age" stories.
On top of that I go through this process of automatically eliminating certain types of flicks: Nothing with a scantily clad babe holding a large handgun/phallic symbol. Nothing that involves a road trip or might smack of zany antics. Nothing based on comic book heroes. Nothing touching or moving. I don't want to be touched or moved. Nothing that I know never appeared in theaters. No deal where there's only 1-2 copies. Nothing foreign. Nothing overtly ethnic. No teen horror, Scream-style parody or otherwise. Nothing with Tom Green or Drew Barrymore or George Clooney or Bette Midler. No stepdaughter-banging Woody Allen. Nothing based on a TV show.
Surprisingly, I can usually find something suitable. But last night was a crushing first. I made two circuits around the store and still could nothing even remotely interesting. It's like flipping through the 500 channels and finding nothing but cooking shows, remodeling shows, NASCAR, college sports, local interest shows, foreign language shows, Congress shows and reruns of tired old sitcoms. Has this ever happened to you?
For my birthday I got an Ipod knockoff. It holds ten hours of music, give or take. I spent the better part of an hour trying to penetrate the vacuum-sealed packaging. The cryptic instructions in 6 languages, as always, remain in the box. My son quickly figured out how to put my CDs in the drive and click n drag the icons into the "F drive." I've been driving around listening to it. Now it is time to take the next step and actually go on Napster to download tunes. I have a membership and a card for like 50 tunes at a buck a pop.
The problem is, I really don't like much of the current music that garners airplay. It's either too strident or too mopey. I can't abide rap. Some country is okay. I like Gretchen Wilson and that chick who sings I'm a Bitch.
Here is what's on my DAP: The Wallflowers' dubut. Indigo Girls. Liz Phair, back when she was raw and nasty, before she got all corporate-sanitized. Don Henley's End of the Innocence and Lou Reed's New York. Warren Zevon (Send Lawyers, Guns and Money) and Counting Crows. Foo Fighters' At Times Like These. Green Day's Time of Your Life. Glam-rockers Mott the Hoople. Tom Petty and an all-star cast singing a medley of Bob Dylan classics including License to Kill and My Back Pages. Early Nirvana. Guns n Roses.
Does anyone have suggestions based on this admittedly eclectic taste?
comments (6)
Music suggestions never work out for me...I've lost friends doing that. However, when you get on Napster, run searches on artists you already like (the list you provided, for example...good list, by the way) and Napster will provide a list of other, similar artists you might like somewhere on the results page. I've picked up quite a few good tips, myself, this way.
by Dakota Bill at March 20, 2005 6:33 AM
So I type in MtH and get T Rex?
by anna at March 20, 2005 9:53 AM
At first glance your allowable movie list seemed so narrow I wondered why you weren't wandering the isles empty handed at the video store every night. But on second look, I guess there are a few sterile titles that pass the criteria.
Speaking of sterile, I love listening to Liz Phair sing, "Give me your hot white cum" on her last album. Does that count as squeaky corporate clean? She's been getting a lot of criticism lately, but I still like her.
As for DAPs, my iPod certainly changed my musical life. No more struggle of what to carry, what to listen to. WIth 50000 soings in your pocket, it's all there. Lately I've been converting my record albums (yes those giant round vinyl disks) to mp3. Even though there's software to remove the hiss and scratches, I actually leave the noise in, simply for the raw authenticity of the sound, or at least the sentimental value. I find amazon.com does a fair job of suggesting new artists to me when I buy CDs. Digital rights management is something of a pain however, so although I cruise iTunes a lot, I still buy CDs (even though I only need them for a minute and a half).
by Chris at March 20, 2005 1:58 PM
Well I did it. Turns out most of the tunes I chose were free. But I only have like 20% of the disc space left. I am going to conserve it in the hopes that someone has some suggestions.
Chris, it is surprising I ever find anything. But it doesn't have to be sterile, just not gratuitous. And that is a funny line about Ms. Phair. Guess she is still pretty nasty.
by anna at March 21, 2005 7:51 AM
Scissor Sisters (for the glam-rocker in you), The Arcade Fire (because they're awesome), and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (because they're awesomer).
by Nick at March 25, 2005 4:33 PM
Actually, when I typed in MtH I got "Small Faces" (not a bad suggestion...). For some reason, I think you'd appreciate Texas country/folk trubador, Robert Earl Keen, Jr. Sample "Wild Wind" or "Front Porch Song" on napster.
by Dakota Bill at March 26, 2005 12:37 PM