Drug bands

I don't do drugs. I don't like them, I don't like the fact that you lose control when on them. I hate the smell of pot, it smells like ass (don't ask me how I know what ass smells like, I'm making a non-literal comparison). I drink, but never to the point of stumbling. And not that often either. So I found it extremely odd that when I actually thought about it, I listen to a lot of drug music. To wit:
The Black Crowes: The poster boys for legalizing pot, at one time they smoked on stage and were high for most of their performances (they're very tight now so I don't think they're high on stage anymore). In fact Spin magazine once listed 10 things that stoners think, #2 was "The Black Crowes Amorica album is one of the best albums of all time". I don't think it's the best album of all time, but it's one of their best, so it's in my top 100.
Phish: This band is somewhat in the mold of The Greatful Dead. They had Deadheads, Phish has Phishheads. I've seen them three times, very smelly crowd, both B.O. and pot. They do 25 minute jams that just go, and they're great! They've broken up, but I did manage to buy three shirts, one of which is made of hemp of all things.
The Mars Volta-I think normal people would have to be on acid to enjoy this. I just like it.
Oasis-serious drug users in their day
The Beatles-I'm of the opinion that when The Beatles started, they were simply a pop band, then they discover drugs and got really, really good. That happened right around A Hard Days Night/No Reply era. I love the story from Paul that while filming Help! the scene was for him and Ringo to run from the bomb, they kept running, long after they were supposed to stop, then smoked a doob.
Pink Floyd-musical acid, at least in the early days
Then there's the bands/artists that are just known for doing lots of drugs-Tom Petty, Neil Young, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones (Keith Richards says don't do drugs, Don't do drugs?, Keith, we can't do any more drugs, you did them all, we have to wait until you're creamated then we'll smoke your ashes-Denis Leary), and on and on
I guess for me, music is my drug. At least with pot, I don't like it, I won't do it, but I don't have a major problem if those around me do it, just keep me downwind. I suppose that my experience with music has led to that attitude, because all other drugs I hate the mere existence of them.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Can't think of anything to post-post

So I can't think of anything to post here, and since it's been a couple of days (ok, a week) I thought I'd post some lyrics.
A band that I really like that I've discovered recently is Wilco. They're out of Chicago and are theoretically in the genre of alt-country. I don't know what that means, their first album (which I don't have) is very country sounding, at least the clips I've heard. The next four move further and further away, they're like a folk-rock-pop-electronic-acid jazz kind of band.
I discovered them when they opened for, surprise, surprise, R.E.M. in 2003. I heard a couple of their songs on a webcast of an R.E.M. show, right before I went to go see them.
This song is from their 1999 album Summerteeth. It's called How to Fight Loneliness, I like the words and the melody and thought I'd share the lyrics. If you see me, and there's a guitar around, ask me and I'll play it (and sing too!).

How to Fight Loneliness

How to fight loneliness?
Smile all the time

Shine you teeth 'til meaningless
And sharpen them with lies

And whatever's going down
Will follow you around
That's how you fight loneliness

You laugh at every joke

Drag your blanket blindly
And fill your heart with smoke

And the first thing that you want
Will be the last thing you ever need
That's how you fight it

Just smile all the time
Just smile all the time
Just smile all the time
Just smile all the time

Flying Solo

This has come up a few times recently for me: Going on vacation, or just to an event, by yourself. A lot of people seem to see that as weird, or even sad, but recently someone at work said how much she enjoys it and Sassy B has expressed a desire to go on vacation by herself.
It's something that I've done quite a bit. This is what happens when most of your friends are married, or, in the case of one, live on the other side of the country. I've done, vacations, movies, concerts, even dinner by myself (I don't go to a bar alone though, that's kind of boring seeing as how I'm anti-social). Usually when someone asks about a vacation I may have mentioned, or a concert, or whatever, and then asks who I'm going with, to which I reply, just me (sometimes I'll say three of us, me, myself, and I), they'll give me a strange look, or in a couple of cases say "awww, that's sad." Why's that sad? It's something that I want to do, my friends are either unavailable, or broke, so I'm not going to miss it just because I have to fly solo.
Recently, the aforementioned person at work asked about my upcoming vacation (going to catch a concert, baseball game and visit one of my favorite places, Six Flags Magic Mountain). When I replied that I'll be going by myself, instead of the wierd look, she said "Isn't it great to go on vacation alone, no one to worry about, you just go and do what you want to do!" I was kind of taken aback since I'd never received this response before, but it was very refreshing. It also reminded me of a time that I went to Vegas for the Super Bowl with a bunch of guys. The Rams (my favorite football team) had just lost, so I wasn't in the best mood, and we're all standing around trying to decide what to do, two wanted to eat, two wanted to go back to their room, 3 wanted to gamble, but 1 at the casino we were at, 2 at the other places, and 2 wanted to go to the strip club (I had like $40 so this wasn't an option). That drove me nuts.
And not every time I'm completely alone. On the trip that I mentioned, I'm going to be staying with my cousin in California. The events I'm doing by myself, but I'll have someone to talk to at times.
I don't consider myself a very confident person, but I guess, in a way, I am since I can go out and do things on my own and not really worry about being alone.

A sign??

So last week I decided that I'd start a physical fitness plan in earnest. I pulled out the bike, got a new tube for the flat front tire and headed out. First ride last Sunday was to a friends house 3 miles away, then up and around the 101 on 35th, to the hill on 47th and Beardsley (I made it halfway up), then down 51st to Grovers, and back home. In all, it worked out to about 12 miles. Not a bad ride for the first time out. Nearly got heat stroke because I did it in the middle of the day, but I made it. Hockey on Monday night, rode again on Tuesday and Thursday, about 8 miles each, then went to do another 10+ on Saturday, and it was going fine, until about a mile and a half from home the chain snapped on me. It was a POS Wal-Mart bike my mom bought, but it worked, until then. Then came the joy of walking, with a busted bike, the mile and a half, at 3:00 in the heat and (for Arizona) humidity to get home. So now I'm without pretty much my only form of exercise other than hockey (that's only once a week and the season ends this month with a two month break). I can fix this bike, the back wheel is all bent up from who knows what, the sprocket teeth are chipped and bent, and it never shifted right. So what to do. Fix it, then wait for something else to break. Umm, no. Do nothing and get fat(ter). Get a new bike. That will be the plan I'll do, except, I have expensive taste, not carbon fiber triathlon Lance Armstrong $5000 bike expensive, but something along the lines of a $400 Trek hybrid. Definitely not doing a Huffy. Time to do some research and shopping.

Hostility

So after a somber post, how about some complaining...

What's with the hostility? I mean a specific kind of hostility such as...





Or those who say they want to harm certain elected officials (didn't want the FBI to come arrest me if I type it a certain way, even though I don't mean it that way), or the "poet" I saw at an open mic night spew about how he loved peace then declared how he wanted to maim and or kill a republican if he met one on the street. Or a comment like this: "I've noticed that too! I always want to rearend cars with the Bush/Cheney stickers on 'em. I mean, they're asking for it...:P (I guess the smiley sticking it's tongue out makes it all OK). It just seems very bizarre to me that so called peace loving people, usually left wingers, have all this hostility against people that don't agree with them.
Granted, there's some (theoretically) right-wing, teeth-missin', gun-totin', southern residin', sheet-wearin' jack-holes that deserve to be shown their still beating souless hearts, but that's because they're stupid. Stupid people don't get to have opinions, they just pick up trash and clean port-a-pottys. Other than that, last time I checked, we still have the freedom to have an opinion. You have the freedom to not like that opinion.
I'm basically a conservative, registered republican. But I don't like Dubya. I don't harbor any hostility towards him. I didn't vote for him, nor John Kerry. I voted none of the above (another topic for the next election). Had Kerry made it in office, I wouldn't want to open a can o' whupass on his supporters. Insults are the way to go. They can be very entertaining, and no one gets hurt!
So in the words of that great philosopher Rodney King: "Can't we all just get along?"

Not a good day...

Today is not a good day. It marks 1 year since my dad passed away. He was 55. That's pretty young, especially considering the advancements in medicine lately. Unfortunately, the various familial ailments were too much. In fact, his own father died at 49 or 50 (consequently, I never met him).
I'd never had any person close to me die before that. The closest thing was my dog, Remy, in 2003. Actually, August 7th, 2003. I don't know why, but I had an odd feeling at that time that it was meant to prepare me for something. But you know, nothing ever really prepares you. My dad had a triple bypass in 2001, then his kidneys failed (from being diabetic) and he had to go on dialysis. That, along with the multiple trips to the doctor or hospital, made him sick and tired of being sick and tired.
In an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy's mom died suddenly from a clot in her brain, the episode, which I saw prior to this happening, I felt was very good at capturing what it was like to have someone die. Little did I know how close it was, what a surreal experience it all would be. In that episode, Buffy speaks with one of her friends who talks about how her mom died who had been sick for a long time. Buffy asked if it was sudden, and the friend replied, "No, and yes, it's always sudden." Having watched my dad, not really waste away, but not able to do what he once was able to, and his frustration with it, made me know that my time with him was limited. But it was sudden. I never knew it would only be for a couple more years.
He's on a hillside in Orange County, CA, overlooking a ravine. It's a nice area, also where quite a bit of our family is. He's just a couple of rows and spaces over from his mom, and in the section across from his dad (Frank Romero also, btw). Obviously, I still miss him. You always hear the stories of when someone says "not a day goes by I don't think of him/her" which at one I thought was kind of difficult to think of someone that's passed everyday, but now I understand.