Many people probably don't realize that I'm actually a music enthusiast, a musician, and an overall "music buff". Well, this post will disprove all of it.

There are certain albums that have been completely devastating to me. I'm talking about music that was nearly psychologically shattering. Interestingly, very few of these totally consuming albums is held in the same high esteem by the general music-loving public. I can't explain it, but let me briefly explain a little bit about a few albums that wrecked me over the years. I'm a terrible writer about music, so I'll just give a quick rundown.

Rubber Soul (The Beatles): The first Beatles album that I was completely enthralled by. And it was the US release, so it had songs from the UK "Help!" album like "I've Just Seen A Face". I was 10 years old, in 5th grade, when I borrowed the album from the library. Key Song: "I'm Looking Through You"


Tug Of War (Paul McCartney): I got this when I was 11 and listened to it everyday for weeks. I listened to the album while reading about the Kennedy assassination. Now the two are linked. I still listen to this album at least once a month. Key Song: "Somebody Who Cares"


Manassas (Stephen Stills): A double album that I first thought was a single album. I only had the second disc so I listened to sides 2 and 3 for weeks before I got sides 1 and 4. Talk about a knockout. This album defined my life during November/December 1987, 11th grade. I don't know what else was big then, but it was all about this album for me. Key Song: "It Doesn't Matter"

Wind On The Water (Crosby & Nash): I got this album a little after the Manassas album, and its impact on me was similar. These made a relentless album. It just keeps pushing and pushing all the way until the end. Key Song: "Naked In The Rain"


For The Roses (Joni Mitchell): While I already owned "Blue", and a couple others, "For The Roses" was the Joni album that consumed me the most. I found it to be immensely moving and deep. I listened to this mostly in February 1989. Key Song: "Judgement Of The Moon And Stars (Ludwig's Tune)"


Late For The Sky (Jackson Browne): All confessional/analytic singer/songwriter types should have stopped after this album was made and looked for jobs in banks. They didn't, but they should have. This album says it all. No one has written better lyrics and music about relationships. Its all subpar after this, and this came out in 1974. I got it in 1989. Key Song: "The Late Show"

Motherload (Loggins & Messina): The best album that few realize is a fucking masterpiece. I got it in December 1989 and listened to it in alternation with "Late For The Sky". "Motherload" so succinctly captured my frame of mind back then that its difficult to listen to now, almost 16 years later. Key Song: "Move On"


Doggystyle (Snoop Doggy Dogg): The first rap album to completely knock me out. I listened to this thing multiple times a day for three weeks. I had never heard anything like it. I couldn't get enough. Even though I went on to buy about nearly 200 rap albums, nothing hit me as hard as this one. Key Song: "Tha Shiznit"

Hawaii (The High Llamas): This was the first non-rap album to really hit me after 4 solid years of listening to nothing but rap. At first, I thought it was an entire album of variations of The Beach Boys' "Lets Go Away For Awhile". Eventually, I realized it was much more. At 76 minutes plus a 30 minute bonus cd, this album was like going to another world. Key Song: "Literature Is Fluff"

Painted From Memory (Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach): A very engrossing album, and a total surprise. Elvis Costello was born to sing Bacharach. This has to be one of the most depressing albums ever. God, I wish they'd do another album. Key Song: "In The Darkest Place".


Zoom (ELO): This really came out of nowhere. I bought it on a whim and then I couldn't stop listening to it. Key Song: "Stranger On A Quiet Street".




There are certainly other albums I love as much. These are hardly all of my favorites, but these are the ones that resonated with me to such a degree that I was at least briefly unable to listen to other music. I don't know what causes something like that to happen.

No this isn't going to be about how the media only reports missing pretty white girls and never any ugly green ones

Its true that the media reports "missing" cases only when the person is a girl, and white, and pretty. But this is not my concern. Its being dealt with elsewhere. This little story has me typically frustrated for other reasons.

And here they are.

Honestly, WHY is this news? People are dying all over the world. Genocide is taking place in Darfur. American troops are dying in Iraq everyday. And many more Iraqis are dying than Americans. That shit isn't getting better. And how about the proposed Energy bill? And what else? The stagnation of wages for the middle class, rising oil prices, environmental damage, solvency of Social Security, and that crazy tax code! I'm not even advocating a position on any of those issues. But Jesus Christ, could a little attention be paid to them? Why not educate the people a little?!

Too boring? Too bad. Learn something. Read a book. Or better yet, have it force fed to you by the various media outlets in this country. Thats their job. Okay, maybe it isn't. Maybe their job is to sell soap. Still, I don't care about missing people. It isn't national news. It might be local news. That would make sense. A missing person in Aruba would be new in Aruba where the person might be found. However, it isn't news in Pittsburgh.

On another note, if we're going to wallow in this squalid story, then how come no one has dared to question why "high school graduates" have to go on a stupid trip to Aruba anyway(?) What kind of fucking insult is that to poor people? Not only do these rich assholes go on a vacation to a tropical paradise in celebration of something that is EXPECTED of them, but then when harm comes to one of them, its national news.

Listen, graduating high school is not cause for celebration. Anyone can do it. Its not significant. Besides, aren't there other things to spend money on? Like college books, or dorm costs? Fuck that! Lets go off to Aruba and party with the locals. Sure, everyone does it. Its MTV Spring Break for 124 graduates of Bum Fuck High in Alabama. Totally normal.

Oh, I get it. If one is reporting on a missing case, it has to be done with all of the sense of reverance and tragedy that goes along with it. No one questions it. Katie Couric would lose her job if she even dared. Wait, didn't she interview that runaway bride? Talk about a career in the ascendant. At least Tom Cruise is around to provide us some sanity.

One of the reasons for my infrequent postings lately is that there are so many things that make me angry. I'm going to catch up on a few right now!

Terri Shiavo: The tragedy happened when she first collapsed and all of the brain damage took place. THAT is when "Terri Shiavo" died. Its a fluke of science that we can keep people alive even if they have little or no brain activity. So fuck everyone on this issue. Fuck Rick Santorum, Tom Delay, George Bush, Jeb Bush and Bill Frist. May they all find themselves, or preferably a loved-one in a persistant vegatative state (otherwise known as Texas).

The Shindler's: A terrible thing happened to their daughter, Terri Shiavo, 15 YEARS AGO. They'll NEVER get over the loss of their daughter. But they lost her 15 YEARS AGO. Instead of dignified private grief, they have humiliated yourselves. They allowed themselves to get sucked up by people and interests who DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THEM. Its time for therapy.

Deep Throat: I'm not particularly happy about "Watergate". First of all, it introduced that annoying "-gate" word for any half-assed scandal. Everythingate. Beyond that, it made everyone even more cynical and distrustful of our government. And who would've thought THAT was possible after Vietnam? I could do without it. Unless someone is bold enough to expose any of Bush's lies and bullshit.

Michael Jackson: I don't care if he has molested little kittens, I still love "Off The Wall". For that one album, the man can do no wrong. True, he is barely the same guy as the one that made the aforementioned album, or "Thriller". Who care? I'm glad he's free. And for the record, I don't think he did anything more than have really terrible judgement.

Coldplay: A weak-ass crossbreed of Radiohead, U2, and Oasis. These guys blow. I don't get it. And the singer is married to Gwyneth Paltrow. Ech...

Mariah Carey: Honestly, someone is actually buying her albums. But who?! She's probably the worst "entertainer" around these days. Or at least the worst entertainer who's ass we've seen.

Blogs: Its over. Whatever was good about blogs is fucking finished. The whole "blog" phenomenon is crap. Famous people have them. Actual writers who get published in real magazines have them. Presidential candidates have them. People with various single-issue agendas have them. Lindsey Lohan has one. Can she even read? Its over. God, at least 2/3's of them have so many ads that you can't find the content. And those ads! Do they make 20 cents a year from Google's sponsored links? Yuck.

Fergie: The chick in the Black-Eyed Peas. Man, what a talentless piece of junk. She makes me want to throw up my lunch. Just awful. I think this group didn't used to be entirely worthless, but then they found this washed up hag and put her in the group. Now shake that stinkin' ass for Best Buy.