1. I cleaned my bedroom. Since I live with 4 dudes, my bedroom is my safe-haven. I spend a great deal of time here, and as a result, I accumulate a lot of SHIT. Here are some things I found:
a) A wig, 2 joker hats, and numerous wristbands
b) A stamped envelope filled with a credit card bill and a check, signed by me, from February. This must have gotten buried and never sent. When I found things like this I kept thinking of Naked Gun when he’s cleaning out his desk, and he’s like, “The missing evidence from the Kelsey case; I’ll be damned, he WAS innocent.” Then the other guy tells him he got the electric chair years ago. Sorry if the quote wasn’t exact, but the sentiment of me losing important shit rings true.c) Enough change to buy a summer home sompeplace, and in a related matter, I foresee a trip to a Coinstar real soon. Don’t you love those things? We pay money for a machine to count our money and give us another form of money . . . But the change IS money. ‘Well, yes, but it’s so cumbersome . . . ‘
2. I watched 3 of the 4 episodes in the History of Metal series on VH1. Just when I’m ready to write that channel off as shit, and think that they might as well go back to just showing adult contemporary videos like Gloria Estefan and Phil Collins all day, they come out with something really kick ass like this. The part of the show that really made my day was seeing my second favorite clip from Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years in which guitarist Chris Holmes from W.A.S.P. (rumored to be an acronym for We Are Sexual Perverts) attempts to drink himself to death in his pool while his mother sits pool-side. He’s everything I want to be. In case you're wondering, odds are you're not, but just in case, my favorite clip from that film is when the girl wins the Miss Sunset Strip contest, or whatever they call it, and when asked what is next for Miss Sunset Strip, she says she is going to work on her ACTRESSING.3. I finalized my Summer: Fuck Yeah disc (The title of the disc is an homage to a song from Team America). It was my roommate Neil’s idea for the two of us to each make 80 minutes of music which embodies summertime in Chicago, and we’ll debut them this weekend with some cocktails and friends. Here is the track listing for my disc:
1. Baby, Now That I've Found You 2:34 The Foundations (Great oldie here, and you’ll see lots of oldies on the list cause any other time of year they can annoy me, but they rock in the summer. When I searched for a photo just now I noticed that they were an interracial band, about half and half no less. I always like to see that for some reason. I suppose there is something about me being two parts social worker and one part rock and roller which equates to the idea of a good interracial band being likely to give me a warm, fuzzy feeling, which it did.)
2. Lively Up Yourself 5:11 Bob Marley & The Wailers
(I needed a Bob song, and I always liked this one. How it’s not on the Legend disc I have no idea.
3. I Gotta Feeling (Just Nineteen) 3:30 Eagles Of Death Metal
(I just saw these guys live and they’re a lot of fun. No real reason for this song to be on here, except that I wanted a couple of friends to hear this track.
4. Just Like Heaven 3:32 The Cure (This song makes me want to frolic around an open field like a nymph. No, not the type that sleeps with everything that everything that moves, the type from mythology full of whimsy and carefree fun.)
5. Brandy (You're A Fine Girl) 2:55 Looking Glass
(This is a tale of a lonely bar maid on a pier in love with sailors who will never be able to marry her, due to their devotion to “the sea.” The nautical theme is kind of summery I suppose, but again, I think all oldies qualify for summertime songs in my book.)
6. Shake Your Rump 3:19 Beastie Boys
(This is booty shaking good time)
7. Bananas And Blow 3:34 Ween
(I had to get Ween on the list, and this song qualifies for summer with that cabana flavor)
8. I Saw Her Again Last Night 3:14 Mamas And The Papas (Another good oldie)
9. Me and Julio down by the schoolyard - Simon & Garfunkel (live)
(I like this live version a lot better than the recorded one. Fun song.
10. Werewolves of London 3:20 Warren Zevon
(Does anyone else picture Tom Cruise wielding a pool cue in Color of Money when they hear this song?)
11. Stay A Little Longer 3:25 Willie Nelson (live)
(This song sums up the summer lifestyle and friends being bad influences upon someone).
12. Fantastic Voyage 5:34 Coolio (Who can forget that video when Coolio puts a gazillion people in his trunk and takes all their asses to Da Beach for one big ass party?)
13. Lake Shore Drive 3:49 Aliotta, Haynes, Jeremiah
(This is the perfect song to play when you’re riding down the highway for which the song was named. I could not believe a band that made such a cool song could possibly suck, but I played their greatest hits once, and sure enough, they sucked.)
14. Train in Vain (Stand by Me) 3:11 The Clash
(Fun song for a band that’s supposed to be all about Punk and fuck everybody sentiments.)
15. Panama 3:32 Van Halen (I wanted to put Jump on here for the Chicago Cubbies, but when I played the start of this one, it just seems more about the summertime cruising and rocking, etc.)
16. Thank God I'm A Country Boy 3:24 John Denver
(This is a VERY guilty pleasure, but try to tell me it’s not infectious.)
17. Its A Beautiful Morning 2:31 Young Rascals
(It is not an exaggeration to say that this song is beautiful. Who actually says, “It’s a beautiful morning. I think I’ll go outside for a while and just smile?” When that’s the extent of your plans, it truly is a beautiful morning.
18. I Get Around 4:19 2 Pac Shakur
(There’s a lot of, to quote Wedding Crashers, “strange ass” floating around in the summer, and I had to have a song to cover that element; this one delivers in spades.
19. My Sweet One 2:07 Phish
(Phish is a summer band for me. I always revisit them this time of year.)
20. Glad Girls 3:49 Guided By Voices
(Great pick-me-up song on a disc and at one of their live shows. Every show I saw GBV live this song would kick in after 12 b-sides nobody knew, and everyone would jump up and down in unison.
21. Sweet Freedom 4:07 Michael McDonald
(What a dorky song, but it makes me think of Running Scared (a not so great Chicago movie) and the Cubbies (who were not so great in 1986). I guess it just reminds me of a summer in my childhood and gives me a chance to entertain people with my dead-on Michael McDonald impression.
22. Summer Babe [Winter Version] 3:16 Pavement
(Beyond the simple fact that this song title has summer in it and it’s by one of the best bands ever, it also is a song that makes me happy.
Well, what started as a quick blog turned into an entirely too huge blog. If you’ve made it this far, or were nice enough to skim this far, I hope you enjoyed a little taste of what it’s like to be the type of guy who sets out to write about what he did on his day off, but ends up with an entry with track list descriptions being longer than the actual subject matter. Good day.
10 comments:
As your most dedicated commenter, I would like to be the first to say that your summer track list is excellent and a genius idea. I have begun to develop my own list and will share it you at a later date. All flattery aside, regarding your room cleanout treasure hunt, I would suggest that you go to "Dennis, the place for games" or Dave and Busters in an ensemble consisting of items listed in 1a and 1c and proceed to the Dance Dance Revolution staging area.
I must admit, that when I saw one comment, I was hoping it was you. I'd love to see what you come up with for your summer tracks. My disc went over smashingly, of course.
Of course it went over smashingly. Although I feel the Michael McDonald was a stretch. I mean, you are going to annoy a whole room-full of people with a Michael McDonald song just on the off-chance someone will want you to do an impression? Risky, at best.
I loved this post; it's so.... you I guess.
Thanks, anon. Well worth annyoing people to bust a Michael McDonald impression. I might even throw in a Mark Slaughter vocal.
Hey, anon, thanks for the fucking advertisement, and I'm sorry you didn't find what you were looking for. You're wrong though. My site DOES offer you ways to earn money. In fact, I'm going to offer you a way in which you can do that right now. GO ADVERTISE YOUR BULLSHIT SOMEWHERE IN WHICH MORE THAN 5 PEOPLE HIT THE SITE. Hope that helps, bitch. Oh yeah, if you're going to advertise on here, at least have the common courtesy to post some dirty porn adds or something else USEFUL.
Sorry about that, everyone. I think that just came from me getting excited about 4 new comments and they turned out to be all the same advertiser. : (
I too am pissed off about the comments of the anons. First, one rips on good ol' Michael McDonald and then the other one gives you false hope with some bs ads. My anger has prompted me to come up with a real comment entitled, "In Defense of Michael McDonald: An Argument In Four Parts". 1)Mr.McDonald is a premier example of the blue eyed soul genre, a genre based on breaking boundaries and on talent alone, not image. 2)He has rocked the same look for the last thirty years and looks good doing it. Hell, I wouldn't doubt that he was born with that beard and luxurious mop of hair. 3)Sweet Freedom conjures up visions of Billy Crystal in white short shorts and a Bears jersey dancing(I'm pretty sure he was wearing one, but maybe it was Gregory Hines)and you don't have to be gay to have that image put a smile on your face. 4)His command and frequent use of the falsetto, 'nuff said.
Jenny, thanks for coming to the defense of Michael McDonald. He has one of those names that makes me laugh every time I see it or even see it in print. Other names in this category: Steve Guttenberg, Dick Van Patton, Eric Estrada, and George W. Bush.
Dirk- I'm afraid you misread my post. I said that I was about to write VH1 off as being shit THEN they showed something kickass like the History of Metal. Me thinks you were skimming, but I wouldn't blame you, given the length of this entry.
Thats quite an awesome compilation you've got going there. The cyre, Zevon, Beastie and smooth rockateer Michael McDonald. I like it.
Respect to your wide taste in music.
cure**
Thanks much, Dave.
You must have come across this list quite a while after the fact, but you know, I STILL think this list kicks ass. It makes me want it to be summer now.
December in Chicago is no picnic.
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