Thursday, August 31, 2006

I know it's cliché, but...

...what else can you say about this except:

"The shareef don't like it
Rock the Casbah
Rock the Casbah"

And we will. We will rock you.

College football starts today

...as noted by our resident (completely non-illustrious) color commentator Aaron Coyner. What will this year have in store for us? So often (particularly in college sports) it seems like most games are decided before they even begin. And yet so often teams surprise you. Who foresaw Penn State's sudden resurgence? Who predicted Vince Young's stellar performance in a Rose Bowl plagued by USC hype?

As for my alma maters, Rice may win a game, but Magic 8-Balls would likely read, "Outlook not so good." And the Dores? Could this be the year they make a bowl game, even without Jay Cutler? Collazzi seems to think so (based on IM conversations - he hasn't updated his blog in well over a year, a fact mocked beautifully and mercilessly by Banecker in a hopefully soon-to-be-published Slant story... but I digress). I can assure you that, were such to occur, I would be first in line to witness it.

And what do I say about Vanderbilt's chances? Well, frankly, there's only one thing to say:

Song lyric of the day:
"Vanderbilt! Vanderbilt!
Ba-da bum BUM bum BUM
Ba-da bum bum bum Vanderbilt!
Ba-da bum bum bum bum"
- Dynamite, Vanderbilt fight song (alternate lyrics)

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Upcoming music

Borrowing (stealing?) from the illustrious Mr. Coyner, I have added another section to the sidebar called, "What I Will Be Listening To". This contains a list of CDs that are coming out in the near future that I intend to explore further.

The list's purpose is twofold: first, it serves to inform my loyal readership of upcoming music they might not otherwise be aware of; second, it serves as a reminder to myself. Granted, this requires a little white lie (on All Consuming, I have to mark that I am consuming these CDs, which is not, technically speaking, true), but hopefully I can be forgiven for that. Besides, it gives me the excuse to write utterly irrelevant posts such as this one while I search (and will these fruitless searches have a resolution?) for more meaningful things to say.

Today's song lyric is dedicated to the former planet Pluto, which astronomers have declared is now merely a big rock floating in space. (This also marks the only time I will ever quote 2 Skinnee J's, as my experience with them is limited to the time they opened for Cowboy Mouth at Vanderbilt.)

Song lyric of the day:
"Do it for the children
If not for yourselves
Pluto is a planet"
- 2 Skinnee J's, Pluto!

Monday, August 21, 2006

Snakes on a Plane

Finally, a movie that delivers exactly what it promises. There are snakes. And a plane. And the snakes are on the plane. A more suitably titled film you will not find.

Believe it or not, this is a movie for people who love movies. Whether intentionally or not, it has characters that fit just about every disaster movie archetype. The token celebrity. The woman with the baby. The children travelling alone. The guy who's afraid of flying. The newlyweds. The stewardess one day away from retirement. The obnoxious guy you just know is gonna die a gruesome death and, frankly, you can't wait. The hordes of people that the writers couldn't come up with storylines for, so they just included them in quick snippets where they have crazy deaths.

And of course, there's the hard-boiled federal agent, played by Samuel L. Jackson, and I hope I'm not giving anything away when I say that, eventually, he gets to a point where he's had enough of those motherfucking snakes on that motherfucking plane. And then proceeds to get rid of them in one of the most deliciously stupid ways imagineable, by doing the one thing you never, ever do on a plane in mid-flight. It's glorious.

When I first heard of this movie from Jacob, I thought to myself, "That's the stupidest idea for a movie ever and there's no way in hell I'm going to see it." Somewhere along the line, the thought process transitioned to, "That's the stupidest idea for a movie ever and I'll be there opening night."

This movie is simply ridiculously entertaining. It's a great one to go see with friends in a crowded theater, making sarcastic comments loudly and applauding along with the rest of the crowd whenever a snake sinks its fangs into another protuberance, or Samuel does something badass. If you go into it expecting the pure camp that will ensue, you will not be disappointed.

Song lyric of the day:
"Speaking of tomorrow, how will it ever come?
All my lies are only wishes
I know I would die if I could come back new"
- Wilco, Ashes of American Flags

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Love songs

Alright folks, weddings always put me in a romantic mood, and since Ben's wedding last weekend, I've been listening to love songs (of both the romantic and unrequited varieties). So here's the question I want to pose to the gallery: what are the best romantic love songs you can think of that wouldn't ordinarily appear on most people's lists? I've been thinking on this a little bit, and I've got a short list compiled:



That's my little list for now. I'm sure there are plenty I'm missing. What's everyone else got?

Thursday, August 10, 2006

I must have misread this license plate

I'm pretty sure, and yet I seriously doubt, that the license plate on one car in front of me said, "Commit Wounded Veterans". Which has me a tad confused as to a) how anyone would have the gall to put something like that on their license plate, and b) how anyone who has that on their license plate is still alive, especially considering that they also tend to drive 5 mph below the speed limit.

Oh well. I'm sure I misread it. Still, it's always nice to have a moment of surreality to start the day.

Today's song lyric is dedicated to Ben, who will soon become the second of our merry group to surrender his bachelorhood, in the city where we toiled to reach these heights that now afford us such an amazing view, discovered parts of ourselves we never knew were there, sought love, lost it, and (with one notable exception) found it again:

"Underneath it all, you yourself are free
Forevermore is the love that you need to believe
And you yourself are there
Floating high above the Nashville skyline"
- Dishwalla, Nashville Skyline

Thursday, August 03, 2006

I'm retiring

I just wanted everybody to know that I'm retiring from the workforce. It's been a pleasant half-year or so since I graduated with my master's degree, and I'm grateful for the time I've had and pleased with the work I've accomplished.

But yesterday I received a wake-up call, in the form of an application for membership from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). Obviously, if they think I'm of the correct age to retire, they must be right.

So many benefits! So many opportunities available for the over-50 crowd!

(Um, Mike, you're only 25.)

Shut up brain, this doesn't concern you. You're probably going senile with old age anyway.

But anyway, as I said, I'm retiring, paying the $21 two-year membership fee, and bringing down America's most powerful political lobby from the inside. I hope you will all wish me luck in this endeavor.

Song lyric of the day:
"Its really no problem, you see
When the sky ignites and your days crash quietly
Let this one fly
Off on a merry way"
- Grandaddy, Lost on Yer Merry Way

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Sad 10th Anniversary, MTV

This week, there's a lot of talk about the 25th anniversary of Music Television, more commonly known as MTV. Yes, 25 years ago today, the premier of the aptly titled music video "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles (and wow, did they go on to an impressive career) launched a television channel and, many would argue, a generation.

But by my approximation, we are also approaching another, sadder anniversary. For you see, it's been about 10 years since Music Television more or less stopped playing music.

Am I imagining this? I seem to remember music videos being in constant rotation on MTV back when I was 13 or 14 years old. Even the original programming, such as the classic "Beavis and Butthead", featured interludes where the two idiotic teenagers watched music videos and cracked jokes. They were kind of like us in that respect (and hopefully only in that respect). Because whenever we needed a little escape, we turned to our MTV, which provided us with music on television, sometimes the popular overplayed stuff, occasionally the more obscure stuff you couldn't find on the radio. Remember when MTV's heavy rotation of a little song the radio wouldn't touch called Man in the Box launched the career of a band you may have heard of called Alice in Chains?

Somewhere along the line all that went away. Though it's hard to pinpoint exactly the day the music died, you can't deny that MTV has replaced a lot of the music with dating shows, celebrity reality shows, and other drivel. Even what little music is shown seems to reflect what's on the radio rather than anticipate it. And even then it's not the kind of radio I listen to.

Oh well. I guess I'm just getting old.

Song lyric of the day (how could I choose anything else?):
"Look at them yo-yos
That's the way to do it
You play the guitar on the MTV
Naw, that ain't working
That's the way you do it
Get your money for nothing and your chicks for free"
- Dire Straits, Money for Nothing