Record-breaking Meme

1. How old do you wish you were?
25… there just seemed to be more time to do all the nothing I wanted to do back then.

2. Where were you when 9/11 happened?
In bed.

3. What do you do when vending machines steal your money?
The last place I was that had a pilferous vending machine also has a sign on the machine stating that if you allowed it to take YOUR money without a fight, soon it would have no fear of man at all and would soon start stealing babies out of cribs. As a result every tasty transaction was bordered on all sides with the promise of violence.

4. Do you consider yourself kind?
I try to be, despite what the Cosmos thinks.

5. If you had to get a tattoo, where and what would it be?
hmm… perhaps ‘WP’… you know, to go under my lightning bolt!

6. If you could be fluent in any other language what would it be?
Latin, hands down.

7. Do you know your neighbors?
I do not although we know that the old lady next door is super-punctual with her garbage bins and whenever we see them at the curb for longer than a day we fear for her life.

8. What do you consider a vacation?
Any time out of the norm that allows me to recharge and reconnect with myself or my loved ones.

9. Do you follow your horoscope?
Nope.

10. Would you move for the person you loved?
I’ve done it many times and will probably do it many more.

11. Are you touchy feely?
I am.

12. Do you believe that opposites attract?
I do.

13. Dream job?
Cushy analyst… it’s the idea of being paid to be judgmental.

14. Favorite channels?
Hmmm… G4, why not?

15. Favorite place to go on a weekend?
Out… even if it’s just for a couple hours: to the movies, to the pub, to my friends’ couch.

16. Showers or bath?
Showers. It’s been a good, long time since I’ve run across a comfortable bathtub with adequate hot water.

17. Do you paint your nails?
Nope.

18. Do you trust people easily?
Yes, but there is a dark part of me that doesn’t trust anyone very far.

19. What are your phobias?
Flying. Spiders. Solitude. Loss. Helplessness. Meeting new people.

20. Do you want kids?
Yup, got two now… We occasionally think about adding another with the hope that it’ll be a girl this time, but, the fever usually breaks rather quickly.

21. Do you keep a handwritten journal?
No.

22. Where would you rather be right now?
ATM? hmmm.

23. What makes you feel warm and safe?
Control.

24. Heavy or light sleep?
I am a heavy sleeper.

25. Are you paranoid?
/thinking hmmm… what do they mean by paranoid? Just answer ‘no’. No.

26. Are you impatient?
I am told that I am. Next question!

27. Who can you relate to?
I’m lucky enough to have cultivated several relationships around me that I can relate to.

28. How do you feel about interracial couples?
I’m a big fan of connections, interracial or otherwise.

29. Have you been burned by love?
No, but I have burned myself several times in this manner.

30. What's your life motto?
”When the clowns all arrive, I’ll be standing over by the fishtank.”

31. What's your main ringtone on your mobile?
Absolutely Cuckoo for when my beebe calls me, Battlestar Galactica for everyone else.

32. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Listening to music.

33. Who was your last text message from?
My darling friend Shel.

34. Whose bed did you sleep in last night?
Mine.

35. What color shirt are you wearing?
Grey.

36. Most recent movie you watched?
Superman II, The Richard Donner Cut.

37. Name five things you have on you at all times?
When I leave the house? Wallet, watch, keys, music and my phone.

38. What color are your bed sheets?
Tan checkers.

39. How much cash do you have on you right now?
Zero.

40. What is your favorite part of chicken?
It’s innocence.

41. What's your favorite town / city?
San Jose, CA. but it’s rapidly losing out to Heutchenhausen, GE.

42. I cant wait ‘til...
July, next year.

43. What did you have for dinner last night?
My world famous potato chowda’.

44. How tall are you barefoot?
5’9”

45. Have you ever smoked crack?
No.

46. Do you own a gun?
Not at present.

47. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Water.

48. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
Honesty.

49. Do you have A.D.D.?
I don’t think so but I want to add something about a previous question here if I may. I also like to drink juice in the mornings=)

50. What time did you wake up today?
9-ish?.

51. Current worry?
Hmm. Aint tellin’.

52. Current hate?
Nah, I don’t hate anything... there are lots of things I would change if given the chance but nothing I hate.

53. Favorite place to be?
atm? Under covers=)

54. Where would you like to travel?
Back to europe, for a start... I’ll likely be heading someplace hotter.

55. Where do you think you'll be in 10 years?
If all goes well, someplace similar to where I am now.

56. Last thing you ate?
Waffles and bacon.

57. What songs do you sing in the shower?
Whatever song is running through my head atm, lately its been a bit of country tho I honestly couldn’t tell you why.

58. Last person that made you laugh?
My darling wife.

59. Worst injury you've ever had?
Pass.

60. Does someone have a crush on you?
I think so=)

61. What is your favorite candy?
Right now I’m digging on these Almond Rocas, yowza are they decadent.

Music Memes

Tell me a song that reminds you of the following tastes (one song for each taste):

Sweet
Frente’s cover of “Let The Sunshine In” from The Flintstones. It must be the lead singer’s exaggerated little-girl lisp.

Sour
“Santa Monica” by Everclear.

Salty
“I’m Alright” by Jo Dee Messina. Lately for me ‘salty’ has come to mean an exciting, unusual good time and I cannot help but smile and sing along when I hear this one.

Bitter
“The Blower’s Daughter” by Damien Rice. Soulful and pathetically sad, it tells a story of unrequited love… I think we’ve all been in that place.

Bland
“Don’t Cha” by some corporate band. When I’m in the mood for slutty, anonymous porn from a generic source I can’t help but think of these women. And Ann Coulter.

Spicy
“Oops! Oh My” by Tweet. The unadulterated version of this song is simplistic, provocative and very sexy.

The Things We Choose To Care About

This morning I had decided to get up on here and give substance to my thoughts on the subject of respect, or, “respek” as my good chum Ali G would put it. (silly Ali G, everyone knows that ‘respek’ is something you do when you ding lvl 40, in order to not get pwned in RvR, lol) I was going to try to segue from there into a self-important rant about how sometimes it is painfully clear how little respect we have for some of the people in our lives and how I, as a gentleman, am literally above all that and how when I do f-up its only because I’m human and therefore its okay. Blah blah blah. (just as an aside here, when I come across as an arrogant ass, please just lemme know… don’t get me wrong: I’ll prolly still rationalize my behavior but it may give us both something to think about)

I would then promenade to the political left and into a faux-intellectual screed about injustice and an art teacher in Texas who was fired because she, my hand to God, exposed her students to art. Absurd, you say? Pah, click the link, you know you want to.

After that I would then doe-see-doe back to the centrist view and poke a little fun at a Florida politico who, in his own turn, had expressed a desire to do a lil’ poking of his own with an under-aged volunteer.

But these things suck and talking about them makes me weary.

Worry not, my hypothetical chum, as you have stayed with me this far into my ramble, you are to be rewarded=) In my searching for song covers I have found some beauties. Its wonderful and refreshing how a piece of music can lift you outta your narcissistic self-indulgence while simultaneously lifting your spirits. Sometimes it’s like a slap in the face, but a gentle one and with a friend’s hand.

I ran across this piece last week and everyday since it has been growing on me more and more. (no melanoma jokes, please.) It’s a cover of Steve Winwood’s “Back in the Highlife Again” by Warren Zevon. Now, my only exposure to this person’s original music was “The Werewolves of London” but to be honest I never bothered to find out who sang it. Additionally, I never really cared for Steve Winwood’s music with this song almost being an exception . You see, I always liked it, but at the same time, I didn’t, if you can dig it. To my ear, it was a great message but Winwood’s delivery was all wrong; too pop-ish, too commercialized. I remember wondering then, “When was this guy ever IN the highlife before so he could come BACK again?" I couldn’t put my finger on it back then but in retrospect I’d say the sentiment just didn’t feel genuine.

"...the sentiment just didn’t feel genuine..."

Now, flash forward with me to the now and my discovery of this 2000 cover. Simple, austere and heartfelt, this is precisely how this song should have been performed in the first place. After hearing this song I went looking for more of his music and found that he had died shortly after releasing it. Obviously, I only add this for effect, as it would seem to reinforce the suggestion of genuine sentiment.

In any case, give it a shot… you never know, it may be enough to brighten your day.

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And so it is...

Its that time of year again in the Taylor household. Birthdays all clustered up, expensive holidays on the way and the grand-daddy most expensive holiday of all looming, X-mas. So Monday before school I went about dropping my resume off at various places in random and unrequited fashion. Bleh.

All that time in the car inspired me to create a new mp3 compilation disk, but what was gonna be the theme? (These things don’t always need a theme, but, when the concept enters the equation, the compiler will deny it at his peril.) I then remembered I had been meaning to make an entire 700MB mp3 disk out of nothing but covers. Difficult you say? Well, yeah, in the sense that it’s difficult to find good covers.

"it's difficult to find good covers..."

I mean, if they were any good, we would have heard about them by now, ja? Naw, besides the many that I had in my own ill-gotten collection, the vast majority of covers floating around are tinny-sounding live pieces or they are from the ska/punk world, which, while viable for this compilation are to my mind in a category unto themselves.

Being an acoustic guitar fan, the little ditty at the bottom here quickly became the vanguard for me, so much so that I decided to refine the various OCD-required categories that all music can be filed into. I call this the “Covering Artist Changes The Tone (And Thereby The Genre) Of A Ho-Hum Song And The World Is Enriched Because Of It” category. I’m, uh… having trouble thinking of another example though I was fairly sure there are others=) This is where you (hypothetical reader) can help me (soaking-wet ninja) by telling me your favorite covers. Just drop me an e-mail at the asshat addy or my home addy or leave em in the comments. Thanks for the help=)

Grrr… Argh…

There’s no doubt about it, the zombie genre rocks. I love that the entertainment industry has rediscovered what you and I already knew: that zombies and those that fight against their ravenous, decomposing asses are cooooool. Movies, comics, video games, board games, cartoons and even music have all been infected. Right now, I’m waiting for a low-rent 3D remake of Night of the Living Dead, even if it falls squarely into the ‘crappy movie’ category… at least according to The Formula that is.
In any case, instances of the living dead seem to be on the rise… and for my money, that’s just fine=) I recently, er, aquired a copy of The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks and the little bit I’ve read so far is awesome, like something the Ministry of Homeland Security would print up, lol! Oh sure, you scoff now, but when legions of the undead start roaming the streets of YOUR neighborhood, you guys will be like, “Uh, what was the name of that author again? C’mon Bittorrent!”


Btw, iffn’ you haven’t given Shaun of the Dead a chance yet, you should! It’s just a wonderfully witty indie bit from those great folks that brought us “Spaced”. Filled with humor, genre references and just the right amount of gore, this one is not to be missed.




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