How sweet it is to be loved by...who?

1. I don't have a fear of heights; I just have a fear of splattering.

2. In order to counteract Conlan's idealistic vow to not buy or steal any music until the new year, I have decided to buy more music than I can realistically afford. Today I got the following albums:

Common, Be
James Taylor, Live
Bloodhound Gang, Hefty Fine
Jamie Cullum, Catching Tales
Kanye West, College Dropout

...and a few random b-sides by Coldplay, "Gong" by Sigur Ros, and Queen's "Play the Game" covered by Jon Brion.

But I somehow feel like I must clarify my Bloodhound Gang purchase. I will admit that I own their first two albums, One Fierce Beer Coaster and, yes, the artistically brilliant Hooray For Boobies. Their lyrics are juvenile, petty, crude, insulting and ridiculous. But they are clever. And seriously, how could you not love a band whose song titles include "Lift Your Head Up High and Blow Your Brains Out", "Diahrea Runs in the Family" and "A Lap Dance is So Much Better When The Stripper Is Crying"? Their musical motives aren't to be taken seriously, as their music is for the most part crap, but they're a niche band, and the niche is clever potty humor. Really, the music sucks. But nobody listens to BHG because of their complicated chord progressions or musical originality. "Farting with a Walkman On" sounds like a Blink-182 fan bought a used drum machine at Salvation Army and had fun on a Saturday afternoon. Is it least common denominator? Yes. But will it make me laugh because I can never pass up a good poop joke? Yes. Yes, it will.

I've really been getting into James Taylor lately. As a guitarist I've always felt I should know some JT, but mostly saw him as the undisputed king of elevator music. Recently, however, through the recommendation of a friend, I picked up James Taylor's Greatest Hits and have been slowly becoming a fan. His guitar playing is clean and his melodies are wonderfully catchy. Plus, he just has that voice. You know, the easily recognizable James Taylor voice that makes your shopping pleasure at Longs and Mervyn's much more enjoyable. Listen to the 7:29 long "How Sweet It Is" and the quasi-country "Something in the Way She Moves"; consider it musical medicine.

Common is along the same lines as The Roots and for some reason I've been getting into an urban hip-hop kick lately, so this CD has quickly made its way on to my "Cool, Jazzy, Soulful Hip-Hop" iTunes playlist. I particularly like it because it has a classic R&B vibe with heavy keys and funky bass lines, kind of like a modern Stevie Wonder or Al Green. He includes subdued but interesting string arrangements much like Jon Brion's on the new Kanye, minus the excessive samples. The whole album has a very relaxed, cohesive feel. Try "Real People" and "They Say" featuring Kanye. It's good "chillout" music, whatever the hell that even means.

Jamie Cullum: get "I Only Have Eyes For You" or try "Get Your Way", which feels like a funky Brazilian jazz standard from the 50s. It's his current single. "I Only Have Eyes For You" is trip-hop jazz at its most interesting. It doesn't touch Ella Fitzgerald's version but it's still a cool cover.

3. I didn't intend to make this a long music review, but if you don't like it, you can cram it.

4. This week I've learned that the little things really do matter.

1. The Burger King mascot scares the shit out of me.

2. People need to smile at each other more. I've noticed that while walking around in public places I don't get smiled at too much. There could be a few possible reasons for this: 1) I'm ugly and people would rather look away, 2) people are assholes and don't care to smile, 3) it's a geographically specific thing and Fresnans are anti-social, or 4) they're too busy to smile or notice people walking past them. Perhaps it's my retail background or I just like to smile at people, but it's always a nice, reassuring feeling to get a smile from a stranger. Try it.

3. I'm not done, but I don't have any more time. I'm sure you're at the edge of your seat for the continuation.

The Sun That Didn't Shine

1. Writing on here is a really good thing for me for a couple different reasons. First and most obvious: it's practice. Writing is enjoyable. Regardless if it's about new wallets, Loozas, or life-changing decisions, my thoughts put into words is having a positive effect on my overall quality of writing. I guess you can disagree with that but I'll kick you in the knees if you do. Secondly, it's therapeutic. In the past I've calmed myself down in ways ranging from punching walls and playing guitar to driving aimlessly and listening to Talk Talk. Of course I still do those things more or less--minus the punching walls, but that's directly related to me not having a girlfriend--but writing involves a level of creativity and active imagination that those other ways don't necessarily provide. Even rambling on about the stupidest of shit makes me convert free-floating thoughts into tangible sentences, which in turn makes me feel like I've been productive to some degree, which then makes me feel satisfied, which makes me feel reassured about myself, which finally relaxes or calms me down. Lastly but most interesting, is that once I turn those thoughts into words and I put some effort into making my ideas clear, those sentences I write are also etched into my long-term memory. So when I talk in person about the things I write about, my brain will somehow deafult to what I wrote and I'll speak my written sentences. This will make me end up sounding more cohesive and logical because instead of spouting off stuff from my stream-of-consciousness I'll actually be reciting from memory things I already thought about well enough to put them down into words, which is great because I can manage to sound like a dumbass quite a bit.

2. I had Chef Boyardee ravioli today for lunch because I only had a buck. I don't think I've eaten Chef Boyardee since I was seven or eight, and after eating the ravioli I knew exactly why it's been so long since I've eaten them.

3. After I came home from work today I was super hungry; Boyardee is completely unsatisfying in addition to being incredibly gross. So I went to heat up some pizza and found a sponge in the microwave. I didn't get it. I still don't. But I took the sponge out, nuked my pizza, and put the sponge back. Whoever wanted the sponge in the microwave had to have wanted it there purposely, because they would've for sure taken it out if they didn't. Seriously, how could you forget you put a sponge in the microwave? You can't. It's neurologically impossible to forget you microwaved a kitchen sponge. So I'm assuming it was deliberately put there to confuse me, or because it's part of a huge Russian conspiracy. I'm hoping for the latter.

4. I've been listening to Stevie Wonder's Talking Book the past two days. Download "Blame It On the Sun". The chorus melody is magical.

Wallets, propaganda and Pinot for everyone.

1. I bought a new wallet today because my old one was a cheap piece of imitation leather crap I got at Longs for $4.35. The clear plastic part was ripped up because I had to take out my ID so much. I either need to stop drinking or start looking a lot older; the constant need to buy alcohol is brutal on my wallets. Anyway, this new wallet is highly compartmentalized and has a whole lot more room for extra stuff. It has a total of twelve spaces for stuff: six for credit cards (which are all visible), two for ID's, two for my business cards (if I had any), and two non-visible slots for miscellaneous items. It's bi-fold, which is much cooler than the junior high-ish tri-fold wallets, and has three spaces for cards on BOTH--that's right, both--sides of the bi-fold. All my previous wallets have only had one side with three spaces, so this isn't an upgrade to be reckoned with. The detachable ID mini-wallet goes in horizontally instead of vertically; it slides in from the side instead of on top like all other wallets I've owned. I haven't had it long enough to determine if it's functionally superior to the vertical slide-in but I'll keep you guys updated. I'm sure you're all dying to know. And if it wasn't awesome enough; it has the split bill holder. My wallet prior to the cheap Longs one had the split and I liked it because I could organize things a little easier; e.g., first part for bills and the other for recent receipts, or any other convenient combination. Lastly, it's a lighter shade of brown. Black is cool but I needed a change. Please refer to the picture below to get a better understanding of the sweetness I call my new wallet.



2. I accidentally typed in rcjones41.blogpsot.com and it came up with the Mega site of Bible studies and information. I tried a couple other known blog sites with the same typo and it did the same thing. So it looks like a bunch of born-again Christians are buying the "blogpsot" domain, loading it up with fundamentalist propaganda, and preying on the poor typing habits of bloggers and their readers. Hmmm...imagine that...

3a. This week I bought more movies than I can afford. In order to compensate for my lack of money and excess of movies I've been knocking out a film or two every couple days to make myself believe I actually needed the movies now, and that my movie splurge was properly justified. Yesterday I watched Sideways and 25th Hour, and I liked Sideways quite a bit more than I expected; 25th Hour not so much, but that will be discussed in 3b. I thought Sideways was going to be a slow, plotless graze through a field of wine-snob humor and lame upper class jokes but I found myself laughing throughout the whole movie. Of course there was some elitism but it was in an blue-collar, middle-class kind of way with Paul Giamatti's character, Miles, as a wine connoisseur in the guise of an unsuccessful junior high English teacher. He was also a depressed writer and alcoholic--as if there is any other kind of writer. But Thomas Haden Church played "Jack" and provided the film with the perfect dose of unsophistication to balance out Miles' highfalutin snobbery for wine. He was the happy-go-lucky horndog who didn't know the first thing about wine, but smiled and nodded as Miles poopooed bad cabernets. Ryan's grade for Sideways: A-

3b. 25th Hour was disappointing, even with Edward Norton. It would've been a lot better if Spike Lee didn't throw in the issue of racism without needing to. But then again it is Spike Lee and that's what he's supposed to do. Here's the plot in a well-subordinated sentence: Edward Norton (Monty) gets busted for drug posession because someone rats on him and gets sentenced for seven years to prison, so the day before he goes in he reminisces on his life and hangs out with old buddies, his Dad, and his ladyfriend who he at one point thinks narced on him, but ultimately didn't. No racism whatsoever, but then out of nowhere Lee throws in a ten minute "fuck you" tirade on how everyone sucks, and I really mean everyone. After watching the scene I was thought to myself "what the eff was that shit?". So I put the movie on pause, got some Wheat Thins and beef jerky, and returned to my seat on the couch disappointed that racism ruined yet another good thing. Today I read some reviews on how all these artsy film hardasses thought the scene was "one of the most powerful scenes in cinematic history" and other pointless drivel. People think that something is powerful just because it's controversial, and I think those people are ignorant. Ryan's grade for 25th Hour: C

I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast.

1. I saw the trailer for the movie Jarhead with Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx, and while I'm not particularly fond of overdone war movies, two things caught my attention while watching the preview: 1) the high contrast cinematography for some war scenes, and 2)the haunting death march entitled "Jesus Walks" by Kanye West.

In my own photography I love increasing the contrast on just about every picture; it gives the photos a vivid feel and enhances the colors to an almost surrealism. So I'm kind of perceptive to people who photograph or film in a similar style.


Anyway, there were a few shots that looked really cool with gunfire, explosions, and strangely colored skies. I liked American Beauty, and Sam Mendes was the director of both that and Jarhead so we'll see if it's any good or not, at least on a cinematography level. But as for the Kanye song: it's super cool. Before Late Registration came out I only heard of Kanye West but never listened to any of his music due to my preconceived notion that was he was just another crappy rapper talking about hoes and bitches. But hearing "Jesus Walks" on the trailer was the first time I heard that song and I was intrigued by both the content and the creepy, dark quality it provokes. I've listened to it probably twenty times today and every time I do I feel like I want to go pray...really violently, or something. I'm on my fourth week of listening to Late Registration and it's getting better every time I listen to it. It's original. Although I still think he's an uneloquent moron because of the George Bush comment, I have a lot more respect for him as a musician. Or rather, to be more precise, I have more respect for him as a hip-hop artist; I'm not sure how involved he is with the musical aspect with his music (which is funny that's even an issue).

2. I've psychoanalyzed all day and it's incredibly tiring. This is why:

3. I'm going to sleep.