Momma's Girls

You know those people who say things like, "my mom is so great, she is my best friend?"

Well, I hate those people. Are they really serious? Or too lame to have real friends?

That is why this NY Times article almost made me throw up. Am I sensitive or is there something really wrong with calling your mother 4 times a day. . . when you're 30 years old?

Yes, I'm sure there's something to be said for open communication, but do you get the feeling that our generation (those of us in our 20's and early 30's) refuse to grow up and there's someting inherently unhealthy about that? I mean, how many people do you know who've lived at their parents house (sometimes on numerous occasions) after their college years, or use their parent's credit card for groceries every once in a while? Okay, maybe that's just me. But do you think Mom and Dad were fucking around thinking about going to grad school on their parent's dime when they were 26? Hell no, they were taking care of their three kids and putting money into their 401K.

I think those of us who have a ton of support from the parents into our early adulthood are lucky, and I'm happy to have a lot more opportunities available to me than my mother had. But I can't escape the feeling that I'm getting away with something I shouldn't. And it certainly doesn't keep me from hating those losers that call up their mom every time they produce a successful bowel movement.

Spiders, Pumpkins, Whatever. Titles are Stupid.

On my way home from yesterday's shopping spree, I heard the new Smashing Pumpkins single, 'Tarantula' on the radio. Apparently the band's back together (no brooding James Iha, though), have a new album (Zeitgeist, out July 10), and are touring it this summer. Not just touring it, maybe beating a dead horse with it? Turns out the Smashing Pumpkins are playing eleven (sold out) shows at the Fillmore in July. Incredible.

I listened to the song ('Tarantula,' remember? We are talking about 'Tarantula') with no particular expectations; I've always been fairly indifferent to this band. Yeah, I'll admit they were pretty decent, good even, but I was never bowled over by them. Jake was, and perhaps he can explain why. I was pretty much too into Oasis in the 90's to notice anything that wasn't regularly covered in the British music magazines.

That might explain my first reaction to 'Tarantula,' which was, "It's like an Oasis song, but in 2007." Now, I know Oasis are still making music in 2007 (actually, I don't know that, but I assume they are), but does anyone care? I'm not going to say their stuff is bad, not at all, I still listen to "Definitely Maybe" every once in a while. But it's the 21st century now. Shouldn't things in the music world have progressed beyond a guy with a whiny voice (read: Billy and Liam) intoning lame lyrics (Billy: "I wanna be there when you're happy/ I wanna love you when you're sad;" Liam: "Maybe you're gonna be the one that saves me/ 'cos after all, you're my Wonderwall." Uhuh) with a really predictable music structure? Where's the music revolution I've been waiting for? Because this stuff is boring. Not necessarily bad, but boring to be sure.

Not only that, but guitar solos embarrass me if they aren't in heavy metal songs, and 'Tarantula' is rife with them.

Jake?

Harry Potter Hype

I am thinking about going to see Harry and the Potters this weekend. Not just because they are cool, and brothers, and dress like Harry Potter and sing songs like Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock and This Book is so Awesome, and you get to see little kids rocking out. It's also because the final Harry Potter book comes out in a few weeks (July 21) and I don't want to waste it by not being appropriately hyped up. It helps that Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix comes out on the 11th, too.

Here's a question, though. Do you think there's something wrong with all these adults reading kid's books? Do they make us stupider? Are we burying our heads in childhood fantasy because we're no good at being grownups?

Personally I will defend the reading of Harry Potter books, though I was initially skeptical. I'm generally pretty picky about writing style and less interested in plot. I was pleasantly surprised that these books manage to balance the two well enough for me to enjoy them. So I'm not going to feel guilty for a little indulgence. Plus books that can freak kids out enough to get them standing in line to read are awesome.

Never Too Late

Just in time for the, er, week after Pride Week, this touching story about the world's oldest tenor celebrating his 105th birthday and getting hitched to a partner of two decades.

Lovely story, but can you believe a) the usually progressive Swiss just got around to legalizing civil unions or b) anyone could contemplate sending this sweet old guy to the devil?

"Most people were happy for us," he said, "though a few promised us 15,000 years in hell."

Thoughts, MCW?

Fear and Trembling

I've had a hell of a time trying to post these past few days, so thank you, Alice, for picking up the slack, and apologies to the rest of you for having to endure her. I'll try not to let it happen again.

I know this is meant to be a music blog, or at least I'm meant to be writing about music (Alice does as she likes), but I'd like to ask more broadly - does anyone else consume art with a sort of desperate, joyless fervor because you feel you can't produce something yourself?

If so, I feel your pain - and would love to hear how you've struggled to make the transition from consumer to producer. The intention here, with this short, lazy post is to make a start - usually the hardest part for me.

Here's hoping I'll be back soon with some thoughts on music. Meantime, thanks for your patience.

World's Scariest Man Snagged at Arby's After Shooting a CO

I only wanted to post this to show his photo. Is this guy nightmare-worthy or what? This article says Curtis Allgier was out of prison on a medical visit, stole the gun from a corrections officer and proceeded to fatally shoot him. He then stole a car and raced to Arby's (possibly the trashiest eatery ever) where he bailed out at the drive-thru and was finally subdued by a customer who "did not want to be identified." Next sentence says "KUTV says the customer was Eric Fullerton." Eric to the media: "Thanks, assholes." Okay, he didn't actually say that, but I would have.

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Now that I broke down and started posting I figure I will write something banal since I can't sleep at all, despite taking a whole bunch of opiates for my migraine.

Today I went shopping for my godson's (okay, is it creepy that I can find photos of him online? Technology. He is the one in the blue sweatshirt who keeps showing up in these photos, probably because he's the cutest) 6th birthday. The birthday shopping is fun for so many reasons. I can't really lose because everything that's made in America is really expensive in Australia (where he lives) and not only that, just the fact that some stupid toy is from America makes it cool (until the kid hits teenagehood and begins to despise everything that has to do with the U.S. because we are stupid and loud and are trying to take over their culture. As if we think about Australia enough to actually try to do something like that. As if lawn bowls and Vegemite would really be missed. As if that stuff didn't come from England in the first place). But anyway, whenever I go to buy kid's stuff I am incredibly impressed with how cheap it all is. I'm not sure if this is because $10 isn't like a whole year's allowance anymore or if things are cheaper now, or if my parents were total cheapskates and didn't buy us anything that didn't come from a garage sale. I mean, come on. Hungry Hungry Hippos? I spent years coveting that game. And you know how much it costs? $15. Fifteen bucks! Seriously, I would have gotten a lot more than $15 worth of enjoyment out of that beautiful plastic contraption, even though there's always one hippo that works best and it only takes about 5 minutes to figure out which one it is. You know those Nerf basketball hoops you hang on your door and the net disappears in a couple days but the orange hoop stays there for years? $3.90. Is anyone else impressed by this or was I just a deprived child? Should I be feeling sorry for myself right now? Because I kind of do.

With adulthood comes the knowledge that with $50 I can choose whatever I want in a toy store and get like 5 of them. It's awesome. If you know any kids and want to buy their love, head over to Target or something. It's fairly painless and you'll probably get like 2 friendship bracelets in return.