Long Post runnin'

First week of work is complete, and aside from the early wakeups, it was most definitely a success. I've already learned a lot, and I've adjusted well to my new environment. Things really get into full swing for me next week, however, and I'm up to the challenge.

So much has been on my mind lately, and for one reason or another I haven't been able to get it down on this or any other medium. Guess I'll have to salvage what I can remember.

1) I've managed to find only one decent radio station around Denver, and I say decent because it sadly could be a whole lot better. 93.3 is a "modern rock station", which I originally thought to be something similar to Baltimore's 98 rock, minus the classic stuff. And at first this seemed to be the case, when they played a string of fine songs one afternoon. Listening to it during the remainder of the week showed me that first impressions can be dreadfully wrong. The station plays a few songs I would consider "modern rock", like Green Day and The Offspring, but they mostly feature such bands as Dashboard Confessional, Jimmy Eat World and several indie bands from Colorado that sound a lot like other, more successful bands. I've never considered emo and the like to be any form of rock, and neither should this radio station. Maybe if they had some Disturbed, Shiendown or hell, even Nickelback (much as I don't like them), then they would have an argument. As it stants, this is more "modern soft" than "modern rock".

Second, you can tell this is just another focus group-produced station cobbled together by some radio suits, because it is just as bad as the pop stations (or perhaps even worse) when it comes to playing the same five to ten songs time and again. I'm not joking when I say that I've heard three songs be played on five consecutive drives to work or home. Apparently there's a time of the day when they take requests, but I don't believe it.
I'll try putting up with it a little longer, but if I hear Panic at the Disco one more time in the next few days, I'm not sure if I'll last.

Oh, and the endless replaying goes for commercials as well. Stop telling me to buy pearls for a girlfriend I don't have If this was a true rock station I'd be hearing commercials for beers and bars, but I guess you
can't do that when your actual demographic might not even be old enough to drive.

Edit: Apparently the station does have good modern rock, because it was playing this afternoon for their top 540 requests. They all played in the 500's/upper 400's, meaning they won't get airtime during the regular days. Guess there are different tastes on the West coast. Also, I found a better, actual rock station, so no more worries.

2) Speaking of Panic at the Disco, I wonder if you've heard of them. They're an up and coming pop/emo band (which I'm fairly sure hails from around this area), and they get more playtime than any other group. They sound like a poor man's Fall Out Boy, both in the way their lead man sings, and in what their lyrics are like. If you can imagine that then you can probably understand my dilemma. Actually, this describes several of the smaller groups that play on this station; they all sound like poor imitations of better and more successfull bands, and I don't think it is mere coincidence. This band's other problem is the lyrics. Why do so many of these kids try to cram so much conversational dialogue into their songs? Why are you telling me that "this may require a proper introduction?" or letting me know "they should have closed the damn door?" It sounds like you're talking to someone rather than singing, and they often have to sing real damn fast to cram all of those syllables into the refrain. It just sounds silly if you ask me. So many modern groups seem to be intent on showing how smart/sophisticated/clever/gentlemanly? they can be, but it does not translate into good rock, much less good music. The fact that their song is entitled "The only differene between martydom and suicide is press coverage" will tell how just how pretentious these guys can get. My response? Fuck you. I can think of few classic rock songs with amazingly complex or confusing lyrics, because they focus on making something that sounds cool, baddass, or just plain good sounding. Maybe that's why most of it is still popular today.


3) American Idol is over, and by some miracle, the honest and soul infused old guy beat the trained, auto-smiling princess whose name even sounds fake. Still, if the popularity of successive Idol winners continues to decrease at a near quadratic rate (which seems to be the case every year), then Taylor Hicks won't last on the radio for more than a week. Sorry fella, but at least you got that new car...

You know what else is sad? How much I know about what happened on the show. I guess that is to be expected when your hear about it on every media outlet there is. A radio ad actually claimed it was the "showdown of the century", because apparently hte next 94 years won't bring about anything interesting. I don't understand how this show gets more popular in the ratings every year, while each winner drops off the radar faster than the last. The title of the show may have been appropriate in the first season, but it seems almost an insult that anyone would consider these people music idols of any kind. Just goes to show you how easy it is to make or destroy a pop music star, and how idiotic most of these fans are (I know that sounds assholish,
but I really think it is true).

On another Idol note, I read a CNN article in which the runner up, whatever her name is, is responding to the adoration of one of her fans (15 years old of course, since anyone older could see through all her smoke and mirrors). The singer's response had something to do with the progression of women and how this is a man's
world? W...T...F. How does any of that relate to music and the show? Even her responses to questions were canned.

4) This is a good, and bad, few weeks for gaming. We've got Bumpy Trot, Half Life 2: Aftermath and the new Hitman game all landing by the end of next wee, and halfway through June we'll be seeing the Street Fighter Alpha Anthology. Did I mention there's a new uncut DVD version of Boondock Saints? And here I am
hoping I'll have enough money for food and gas until either my first work check or my bloody tax return come in. Waiting is the hardest part.

5) My Guitar Hero skills are not quite up to snuff. My brother has already beaten medium, and a college buddy who's had it a bit over two weeks has cleared all of hard, something which I still can't quite do. I'm not sure if I need more practice, or if I'm just not that good, or if is as simple as having the wrong playing conditions. I can definitely tell that I don't play as well when I am even just a little tired, or if my basement abode is too cold for my fingers to move quickly. I'll have to try bringing it upstairs and seeing if I do better. Otherwise its going to be a lot of practice to get better. GH is a harsh mistress; its all fun and games at first, but once everyone has had a taste it becomes a bitter competition for surpemecy.

...That sounds a lot more sexist/ridiculous than I intended it to be. Stupid analogies (or is it technically a simile? I'm already in bad standing with the grammar Nazis. I don't want to add the Semantics SS to the list either).


6) On some newsradio station, I heard the Lt. Governor of Maryland, who is vying for a Senate seat, discuss how all of this stupid shit with illegal immigration is an important issue in Maryland. He even tried to guess how many illegals are in his state. I'm really, really sad to see how out of tune these people are with the common man. No one I know gives a shit about immigration law, and if they do, it is very obvious to them that the current proposals are not the right way to do it. But the pols' continue to tell themselves that we all really care, and that this will work just fine. I'm getting flashbacks of the last election, when the biggest issues of the day seemed to be evolution in textbooks and gay marriage. Why did this immigration stuff even come to light in the last month? I hate the conspiracy theorist sound of this, but I get this bad feeling that there is another reason for all of this that we don't know about.