Hey babe, it's the 4th of July

Happy Fourth of July.

$486,026- Dollar value of exports of U.S. flags in 2010. Mexico was the leading customer, purchasing $256,407 worth.

Thought that was an interesting fact.

I'm re-reading some Douglas Coupland. I read Microserfs every year, sort of a ritual now. I've been doing it for six years now, and my torn and tattered paperback has multiple bookmarks, spine is a little bent from photo-copying passages and sending them. It's like, a very war-torn book. I'm re-reading Shampoo Planet right now, which is probably the second best out of his work. I put Girlfriend in A Coma at 3rd best, but you know people loooove that book.

Fourth of July- and I plan on drinking coffee and staying in to work on some of my short stories. It's been a solid year since I've had something published ( http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/we-live-for-blood-and-glory/12089946 ) so I should get cracking.

Hey there!

So now the 30 Day song challenge is over!

Yes- please- thank you for reading and following and putting up with me weird fondness for pop 80's music and left of the dial indie rock. Thank you thank you thank you.

I'm going to thank you SO much that I'm going to blog about how I met all 4 of you people that are following me. Yes, this is a tribute blog.

Whereismyrobot- Ha! Well, I think we met once or twice in Denton (maybe through Andrew Hime, dunno) but we REALLY didn't meet until I knew that you were here in NYC at Barcade and I had to confirm that we had met. I'm still really happy that we met that time, and it fueled my love for the game Tapper. Still love that fucking Tapper game.

John- We met at the Yellow House back in Denton, you took a lot of good photos. You studied photography, and you were an awesome photographer. Now, you study law up in Boston and you always visit NYC, and of course we have too good a time. One time I on vacation in Cape Cod and you drove all the way out just to spend a few hours with me. We both love Wu-Tang and often have to use Wu-Tang lyrics in conversation. Thanks, because of your sweaty Maverick's ballcap and your southern drawl, you remind me that I can still should be a gentleman no matter where I am.

Julian- Fountain House was a special place- and we were left for 8 hours a day to deal with being social workers without degrees in Social Work, so we winged it. Thanks for all the free coffee, Vegan info and listening to Too $hort at work days.

Crashtopher- I hope you still read this. We had too good a time together back in Denton. You and your Vespa and me the friend of the guy with the Vespa. We spent a lot of good nights at Lou's and that was all we needed.


Thanks to you 4 for sticking with this blog. Much appreciated.

Day 30 – your favorite song at this time last year

uhm. hm.

Having to actually research this...

Probably this:

But more likely this:

I remember playing a lot of Billy Idol at Josie Woods Pub:

And I'm finished!

day 29 – a song from your childhood

Whoa.

I haven't listened to this song in a long long long time. But I would get up every morning to watch this show.

I don't know if a theme song from a TV show counts, but c'mon. I still love the Muppets.

http://www.hensonfoundation.org/- It's in Long Island City!

http://www.filmfestivaltoday.com/reel-fast/jim-henson-show-headed-to-queens-film-museum

Day 28 – a song that makes you feel guilty

I'm not sure I understand this one.

A song that makes me feel guilty?

Hm.

Here's some shitty SoCal Ska from the late 90's:

Ok, I feel guilt for owning that album.

Day 27- A song you wish you could play

This one is going to touch upon my metal roots, well, sorta metal.

I still secretly want to learn how to play guitar like Randy Rhoads.

Day 26 – a song that you can play on an instrument

I love playing cover songs. I mean, naturally, most musicians my age started learning cover songs anyway, tabbed out in the back of Guitar Player or Guitar World (had subscription to both!)

So, I'm going to post one of my favorite songs that I always run through when I'm practicing at home.

I would force Camella and Jacob, and later Brian and Albert and Cam to learn to play this song with me, so I could have my few moments as a frontman again.

Beautiful, beautiful, SIMPLE song to play.

Molly Hatchet and my Dad

In my Father's Day post the other day (I didn't think I'd get to post today- Punk Island ended relatively early- thx punx) I thought of a funny story on the way home.

When I was in 3rd Grade I wore this t-shirt to school with this album cover above on it. My 3rd Grade teacher thought it was inappropriate and didn't send me home immediately, but made me promise to give my parents a note when I got home.

I gave the note to my Mom when I she picked me up and she shook her head and agreed the shirt was awful. When we got home I showed my Dad the note (they both had to sign it).

All I remember was that my Dad said that Molly Hatchet was his favorite band in the 70's and he loved that shirt. And I still love this shirt too.





Happy Father's Day. Again.

Day 25 – a song that makes you laugh

Gets me EVERY TIME.

Thursday- 3 days away from Father's Day

Not really privvy to updating twice, but after reading this post on YumSugar, I felt like I had to say a little something.

http://www.geeksugar.com/Favorite-Sci-Fi-Dads-17887787

My Dad- yes, is a Sci-Fi Dad. Not the flashy kind, or the uber- nerdy kind, but a Sci-Fi Dad.

He always new the answer to things (difference between Cumulus clouds and Stratus clouds) and knew how take apart a calculator and put it back together. He studied Chemistry and went to Texas Tech, but he just quit after he felt he learned enough about it. He went on to be a Field Chemist who made his own maps, because the part of Texas and Mexico he had to travel through didn't have any. They still use his mapping system at Champion Technologies today.

My dad bought us a Nintendo when we were young, and played our games with us until we apparently became to annoying to play with, then he just got his own Nintendo. Then, he started buying all the cool games and would let us only "borrow" them! As a child, not a good move, as an adult, yeah, you tell those kids they can't play Castlevania IV (which I borrowed, and beat, so eat it). And then he went out and bought his own Super Nintendo, then eventually weeks later we got to play it. He hated Sega. Never played Sega.

He always kept bottles of chemicals that were just labeled "Don't Open" or "Don't Touch" around the house, and then forgot what they were, so the bottles just got moved to the garage, where I'm sure they still are today.

He didn't say much about anything, unless you wanted to ask about the Universe or his favorite subject about different dimensions:

"Right now, there's someone out there just like us, driving down the same highway, but instead of a gray shirt that I'm wearing, is wearing a purple shirt. That's the only difference. And there are millions of those dimensions out there."

My dad liked to drink, he doesn't do it anymore, and he was crazy about Keystone. That was my first beer, and my last Keystone. I will never drink Keystone anymore.

Now, when I call him he's watching the Discovery Channel, or playing Black Ops, or just really chilling. He will say chilling. He tells my Mom to chill. He also has an iphone and constantly asks me why I got a Droid.

So, to you and your Geeky Dads, remind them on Sunday what a Geek they are.

Day 24 – a song that you want to play at your funeral

The topic of this post always brings up a big pet peeve of mine. I don't know when it started, or how it came about, but it just irks me.

When people talk about their funerals:

"I want a big party, I want people to like, you know smoke out and drink, and it'l be like a big party."- Everybody from ages 14-now.

Growing up, funerals were sad, you sat through the service, then you ate potato salad, and then you drove home. We just sorta mourned in our own way. But my Mom does call me and remind me how many years it's been since someone has passed, which show's she has a killer mind at remembering things, and likes to freak me out.

Yup. Absolutely. And if someone could get Bone Thugs N Harmony back together, I'd appreciate that too.

Day 23 – a song that you want to play at your wedding

Ha! This was probably the most difficult. Unlike most young boys or girls, I didn't grow up thinking of marriage, or being married, or recognized what it all meant. My parents marriage (31 years strong!) is more like this uneasy alliance, sorta like when Venom has to team-up with Spider-Man to defeat Carnage (Amazing Spider-Man #361-363). They just sort of... existed in the same area. They applied that to child rearing as well I suppose, we all sort of just existed and someone said "hey you guys are all related, you have to stay in the same house" so that's pretty much how I saw things. So nevertheless, marraige was just this thing that people did, or didn't do, it didn't matter as long as you love that person.

So this song I grew up with, and I always thought it meant a lot, and being married means a lot to those people who do get married, so here goes:

day 22 – a song that you listen to when you’re sad

This song always gets me when I'm sad. And for personal reasons, listen to it very rarely.

On a lighter note, I think I may have made my girlfriend the best "R&B but not R&B" mix tape this morning before work. I'm really proud of it.

Oh yeah, Rapture

So In light of tomorrow's impending doom, these things I need to get out there.

- Ok, maybe I SHOULD'VE majored in Physics.

- Sorry Jenny Lewis. Rilo Kiley put on a hell of a show that night, and I'll never bother you again, nor will I probably have the chance.

- Sorry for not paying my gas bill Denton. I will leave a marked envelope with the $23 I owe you on my porch, if you do so choose to come all the way up here.

- Yes, I've snuck onto the subway platform via Emergency door, and yes, sometimes I feel that the rising cost of Metrocards is because of people like me who have all done it once, and then it adds up.

- Sorry for never really "defending" you BNL. I still listen to you guys.

- Alright, I wasn't that into GBV.

- And I was way into Everclear.

- I didn't FORGET to vote, I got lost.

- And I didn't know it was election night, but I was watching that HBO special on John Adams.

- I don't know what happened to my brother's painting he made me of Van Gogh's Cafe Terrace at Night. Sorry, I left it somewhere.

- Getting paid in pizza from J&J's is now way to get paid for writing articles for a magazine.

- I don't like Elliott Smith.

day 21 –A song that you listen to when you’re happy

I recently read a great article on Twee pop and Twee culture. For all my love of Heaven 17, Dear Nora, the Moshi Moshi compilation that I JUST found on AMAZON and have yet to purchase (priority) I present the song that makes me the happiest still (from a band that I consider VERY Twee):

Day 20- A song that you listen to when you're angry

If you know me, I have the longest fuse around. I don't get angry. It's bad for the blood.

But when I do get perturbed, I'm the first to let anyone know, because I'm the kind of guy that'd rather fix something right then and there than let it linger.

Or I simply don't care about it/that.

But when I do get perturbed:

day 19 – a song from your favorite album

No lie that I love the Magnetic Fields.

And yeah: 69 Love Songs is my favorite album.

Day 18 – a song that you wish you heard on the radio

Sometimes you want to listen to music alone, and sometimes you like to feel that connectivity with other people.

My first year of college at SWCID, I worked part-time for a radio station, KBST. It had 3 formats: New Country, Talk Radio/Big Band and Classic Rock. My job was to come in every night and build playlists based on listener count across the nation and rotation during the week. Needless to say, I had a lot of power and influence of what was played on the radio during the day. I always thought it was funny when I'd slip in Wings' Monkberry Moon Delight right in the middle of some Classic Rock Power Hour, or Waylon Jennings in the Top 7 at 7 Fan Favorite.

So I had tons of music to sort through, and tons of albums that I would just throw on and sit on the old leather couch they had in the booth and go through my linguistics homework.

This song always came up in the Library but we never played it. And now no one cares about Freur because they became Underworld and sold 1,000,000 copies of their albums as Underworld and they were on Trainspotting.

Day 17- A Song that you hear on the Radio

Since I don't have a radio outside of Last.fm and Pandora (If I chose Pandora, I would pick Float On- it comes up on every damn station) so I went with what I hear on the radios of every car that passes by with their windows down.

Yes, New Yorkers still love this song, and it's played constantly anywhere you go. Duane Reade, Key Foods, the DMV, countless Buy 3 shirts for $10 stores- EVERYWHERE. I wonder if Jay-Z and Alicia Keys know the monster they've created.

Day 16 – a song that you used to love but now hate

Day 16, how did you come so quick?

I only have 14 more days left, but by then I'll look at things to bombard with you.

This is a big one. I was explaining to my girlfriend recently how much this song now irritates me to no end.

Here is a fact:
It was the highest single in New Zealand ever to date in the world.




It's getting to the point where I nearly have to leave the room every time it comes on.