Monthly Archives: April 2008

Stalking 80’s Bands

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So my campaign to rattle the walls upstairs from me is not winning out. I didn’t exactly get the giant sub woofer I dreamed of (damned conscience). In truth I got pretty much the smallest speakers at the snooty stereo shop; you have to be enormously confident with yourself if you walk out of those places without spending at least a house down payment. I got a pair of B&W “baby” speakers (thanks for the boost of confidence =P ) that have no trouble filling out my TV room. These speakers have an artillery gun bore cut into the back to pump out very sufficient thump thump for upstairs. I could get a separate sub woofer but that’s going to be where I cross the line into petty spitefulness. I’m obviously not there already, right? Continue reading →

Good Grief

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I believe I can make a difference outside of my four walls; so much good within my reach. I’m on the mailing list for ONE.org to stop kicking poor nations while they’re down. I live 3 blocks away from the local Food & Care Coalition. I tip generously if they don’t scowl and mutilate voodoo dolls in front of me at restaurants. I refrain from flashing the international “You’re number .1.” hand signal on the freeway when just edging behind and clipping the corner of their bumper will do. I cheer up my neighbor dog because he obviously doesn’t get much love. And I’m now sharing just the thumping bass register of my new stereo with my upstairs neighbor. Continue reading →

Refrigerator Sized Subwoofer for My Neighbor

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It turns out my best writing comes from being spontaneous. Whenever I set out to follow an agenda I end up feeling like when the bright lights come up after last call. Now I weigh this against the entire reason why I pay webhosting fees and pull myself together for DIY writing therapy sessions. Certain compelling themes well up in my mind to the point that I want to rave like a lunatic in some public place, shouting about the about the apocalypse (as it relates to whiny fake punk emo bands). I have a lot more fun surprising myself with where I end up rather than boring myself with things like planning and rational thought. Continue reading →

“It’s All The Same Thing”

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If I were a kid today I’d probably be wearing bell bottoms and singing “Tom Sawyer”. The shameful truth is that’s what I did when I was about 13. Too bad I was about 5 years behind that trend, so I’m pretty much ruined to this day. There’s still the chance for me to be cool today if I step out on the streets of Provo confounding all the kids with dyed and ratted black hair, skinny jeans, and tickets to see Hannah Montana. One day I realized all we do in pop culture is rebel against whatever gets passed on to us. There are only so many (3 or 4) wild departures we can take, so in effect we cycle through a pretty limited set of variations: long hair, skinny ties, kempt, unkempt, smelly, hygienic. I hold my breath waiting for the foul trends to phase into the decent ones. Continue reading →

“A Heart That Works”

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Small. Slight. Dismissed. Imagine you’re a megaton bomb born to look like just a firecracker. Juliana Hatfield imagines that the world wrote her off as a riot grrl from the 90s and that she’s permanently afflicted with Lilith Fairitis. She plays guitar, writes songs about jerk boyfriends, comes from Boston, and has a naturally girly voice. She is so pissed off about that last detail that her throat gets unfairly abused and a lot of guitar amps regret being born. She’s tried chain smoking and thrashing her vocal chords to grind off the sweet sheen of her voice, but all she needs to do is hear herself for once and see what a big stick she carries. Continue reading →