Rx Bandits - Never Slept So Soundly
Tonight at the Anaheim House of Blues with Dredg! This is one of the few bands that I liked in high school that I’m not completely embarrassed about.
As a huge fan of wordplay and clever use of language in humor, I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to be alive to see this day. For those unfamiliar with the famous punchline and joke (and seriously, how is that possible?):
Why was 6 afraid of 7?
Because 7 ate 9.
Granted, the joke is really dumb. But, to the 1st grade version of me, it was absolutely brilliant. I ended up telling all my friends in school, and got frustrated when I’d have to explain that it was funny because eight and ate are homonyms. And then, got even more frustrated when they thought the word ‘homonym’ was funnier than the joke.
But, looking back on it, this joke may have sparked my love for the art of wordplay. Which eventually led to my appreciation for wit in general. Which somehow morphed into double entendres, and the horrible things that I find funny today.
So, happy 7-ate-9 day! Let’s live it up, because it’ll be another thousand years before we can celebrate cannibalistic numbers again.
Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear on the way downloading songs has changed the way we listen to music.
Getting a new album was such a big deal to me as a kid, and the magic of discovering the music and then having your opinions of it evolve after repeated listens is something I never want to lose. It’s definitely gotten harder to maintain focus on one album at a time because, like Droste mentions, it’s so easy to download a new album or some random tracks and get sidetracked to the point that you forget what you were listening to in the first place.
To this day, I’m still a fan of buying CDs. I’d miss the excitement of opening the seal, the anxiety attack of popping out the CD while fearing that you might break it in half, or the smell of the liner notes as you search for the lyrics to your favorite song. The technology may be outdated, and the hassle of storing and possibly losing/damaging the discs is frustrating, but I can’t see myself going completely digital any time soon.
In a time where everything is getting faster and easier to do, and we’re inundated with every form of media, constantly waiting at our fingertips to distract us, I appreciate being forced into investing my time and focus on a single album for at least a little while.
(quote via interview on Pitchfork)
This morning’s shower singalong setlist was a medley of late 90’s-early 00’s R&B. So, while I was getting myself clean and good-smelling, I was belting out everything from Ginuwine to 112 to Nelly. Aside from annoying the hell out of my neighbors, revisiting these tunes reminded me of a few things.
And this is why I’m not going to watch Youtube videos of ridiculous music from my early teenage years past 9PM ever again.
Edit: Thanks to Kate for providing the video that set all of this madness in motion.
July 4th - LAX
Look, I enjoy fireworks. And I appreciate that I was able to catch a firework show despite being stuck at LAX. But, I can’t think of anything more unsettling than watching giant, exploding fireballs in the sky about an hour before my parent’s flight took off.
Ooooh, wait. That one was really pretty. Forget what I just said…oooh, colors. SO MANY COLORS.
This is the third year that I’ve done this, but I always forget that driving down the freeway on July 4th is one of the more surreal experiences I’ve had on the road. It’s like driving through a gauntlet of colorful explosions. It’s even more fun if you make believe that it’s not July 4th, and everyone around is just so thrilled to see you that they spontaneously started shooting fireworks upon your arrival.
The only drawback is that staring at pyrotechnics in the sky isn’t exactly safe from behind the wheel of a car going full speed down a freeway. Either way, this is going on my list of accidentally found favorite things, right next to late night infomercials and guacamole.
With all the hot dogs and hamburgers we’re eating today, let’s remember to double check that the ketchup/mustard bottles are tightly sealed before we start shaking them. Otherwise, you’ll end up baptizing everyone around you with condiments, much like my brother just did to me.
My white shirt is now half red. On the bright side, my clothes now go quite well with french fries.
Dodger Stadium Jumbotron - Juan Pierre
Have you ever seen a guy more sad to be making $10 million a year to play baseball?
Cheer up, Juan.
