Pastor of Muppets

  When I was in high school, I used to fall asleep with my earphones on blasting Metallica.  I deliberately did that because it would give me the most wicked dreams.  It is from those dreams that a lot of my writing comes.  I couldn't tell you how many scenes from the Nocent are just straight transcriptions of nightmares of mine.  That's how I know it's good shit cuz it scared the shit out of me.
  During high school, music was my stability.  I was an Army brat as you might know.  That, coupled with the fact that I'm bipolar gave me a deep-rooted desire to have any semblance of stability in my life.  That came in the form of my Star Wars toys, which always moved around with me anywhere my father was stationed.  Later in life, movies, books and music became foundations of stability for me.  No matter where I went, they were a constant.  Also as important, they were reliable, dependable, trustworthy and they never yelled at me or made me feel stupid.  They never told me, "It's easy!" when I couldn't do something.
  One of my favorite albums of all time is Blind Melon's eponymous first album.  I think Blind Melon is one of the most under-appreciated bands ever.  Most people would only be able to name 'No Rain' by them.  That is a good song, but it is one of my least favorite simply because the rest of their body of work is so strong.  Probably my favorite song of all time by anyone is 'Change'.  It has the same message of encouragement echoed by such bands as Hatebreed, Pearl Jam and Soulfly and preceded by Buddha and the Christ: "When life is hard, you have to change."  You can't change what the world is gonna do to you, you can only strengthen yourself so that you can overcome it.

Yes and Noh

  One time I was at a book store in Tucson.  One of the TVs had a sample video game that someone was playing.  There were people in Kabuki masks as characters in the game.  I went to the counter and asked what game that was.  The clerk said it was a Kabuki video game (no shit, Sherlock).  As you may know, Kabuki is a form of Japanese theatre.  Another form of Japanese theatre is Noh, so I asked him, "Do you have any Noh games?"  He said, "Huh?"  I repeated, "Do you have any Noh games?"  He said, "What is that?"  I said, "What part of Noh do you not understand?"  Boy, I'm a mean video game shopper!
  Speaking of lost in translation, you know that scene in The Mask with Jim Carrey where Stanley Ipkis is in jail and he's trying to get his dog to retrieve the keys to his cell?  The dog mishears him and brings him a slice of cheese from a nearby sandwich.  Stanley has to correct him by saying, "Not the cheese, the keys!"  It occurs to me that people in Spain wouldn't get that joke if it was translated into Spanish.  It would be something along the lines of, "No el queso, la llaves!"  They'd be all thinking, "What kind of estupido perro is that?"  That's another of those things that occupies far too much of my mind capacity.
  I'll leave you with this story.  Once my wife and I were driving across country.  I threw on a Blind Melon CD cuz they're one of my favorite bands of all time.  She told me that the lead singer, Shannon Hoon (R.I.P.) sounded to her like the lead singer of the band, Yes.  She later put on some of their music and I have to say, she was right.  Tell me what you think.

B-Sides and Hidden Tracks

  Now I know both of these terms are outdated because there is no b-side of itunes and no hidden tracks for that matter.  When I was in high school, it was a hobby of mine to search for hidden tracks on CDs.  That was the band's chance to let their hair down and just be themselves.  Sometimes, it was my favorite track on the album.  I have a playlist on my MP3 player that is comprised entirely of hidden tracks.
  Bands often had a lot of fun with their hidden tracks.  Tool had some sort of poem recited at the end of their Undertow album.  Nirvana had their Endless Nameless, in which Kurt smashes his guitar audibly. Aaron of Staind performed an unnamed song at the end of their Dysfunction album which was just him and a guitar.  Before he starts the song, you can hear him set up a chair, take a drink and light up a cigarette.  At the end of MateFeedKillRepeat, Slipknot perform an unnamed live song that sounds like it was recorded in a bar or a restaurant.  Mushroomhead did a cover of Crazy by Seal on a hidden track on their album, XIII.  Strangely enough, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes also did a cover of Crazy that year.
  Speaking of Me First, here's a funny thing I noticed.  This takes some setting up.  At the end of NOFX's album, Punk In Drublic, there was a track where the singer was having trouble finding the note that starts the chorus of the song "Perfect Government".  As you may know, Fat Mike is in both NOFX and Me First.  He decided it would be funny to mock that hidden track as an intro to "Blowing In The Wind" as covered by Me First on their Blowin' In The Wind album.  It's hilarious!
  In the past, many bands would put out an album or b-sides, rarities and previously unreleased tracks.  One thing I've noticed is that that was often my favorite album of theirs.  Here's a list of what I mean:
-Pearl Jam: Lost Dogs
-Nirvana: Incesticide
-Blind Melon: Nico
-Smashing Pumpkins: Pisces Iscariot
  That's just to name a few.  I think that often, bands put out the songs that are the most polished and catchy for their albums.  It's the songs they only do live or weren't deemed to be good enough to include on an album that often show you a more personal side of them.  That's what I love about them.  I like to know that a band I admire, who has made it huge, is really just like me behind the curtains.  It makes me feel as if I can achieve my dreams.
  On a related note, just not about music, my favorite Far Side compilation is where Gary Larson reveals some of the inspirations for his cartoons, his humble beginnings, some rejected ideas, as well as some sketches that never got developed into cartoons.  It gives me a glimpse into his head.  I guess that's kinda what I'm doing with this blog.  It's as much for me as it is for anyone else.  I'm trying to get out what's in my head to attempt to make sense of my rambling thoughts.  If I can set things in order, maybe my writing can be more cohesive and concise.
  I don't even know what I'm doing on a day to day basis, but when I go back and read my blogs, I can recognize patterns in my thought processes.  I have cycles rolling around in my head, alternating between cynical, philosophical, spiritual, thoughtful, mean, happy, angry, depressed, whiny and so forth.  I'm sure you can point out which mood I've been in when I was writing which blog.  Writing really is like therapy for me. My only hope is that people out there can see a bit of themselves in my incoherent ramblings.