Because Everything Comes from Something

For the past, oh, it must be two months now, I have been going through my iTunes library to discover and rediscover the myriad tracks therein. Through the course of that, one of the things I noted was the similarity between the piano in Ingrid Michaelson's "Corner of Your Heart" and Adele's "Someone Like You". Maybe it just arose independently, and maybe they don't sound as similar as I think, but my brain says they do. But with brains bombarded by so much information and noise these days, it can be hell determining from where it is all derived. Take right now. I am listening to a track—one I will make note of later—with ESPN on (as I wait to cue up my next episode of Gossip Girl) and, oh, right, here I am typing.

And speaking of Gossip Girl, it's just always scooping me on music, just the like the mothertruckin' OC back in the day. If I'm not outright discovering a song through the show, I seem to only be a week or two ahead. Not that it matters, but it's sort of frightening the way it's tuned into a specific brainwave to which I adhere. Is it any wonder I keep tuning into the show, even when it gets worse and worse? At the close of a recent episode I caught Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know", which was not even credited. And not long before that it was Lana Del Rey's "Video Games."

It's amazing that, with the sheer volume of music, video, journalism, blog posts, and so on being created and the sheer number of outlets for them that there are a specific and small number of them that reach the great masses. There is a name for this phenomenon I am certain, somebody or other's law.

And oh my god Gossip Girl is killing me with the never-ending back and forth of these relationships and everyone is in love with everyone but not sure if they're really in love and somehow everyone is super conniving and crafty even the characters most peripherally pulled in. I get the concept of them all being tainted by the toxicity of the life but how are they so crafty so quickly and okay, alright, it's fiction. And they just quoted Camus?

I read this nifty little piece in The Paris Review where a high schooler in the 60s asked a bunch of contemporary authors about symbolism. It's pretty much what a lot of teenagers struggle through in high school English and some of the responses are excellent (they only show a few, but I'd like to read them all).

Google has released a new ad, as of about two weeks ago for Google +. I found it...depressing...So it goes.

At any rate that seems enough sort of information and information of sorts at the moment.

Cold November

Not rain, though that is a supremely awesome song, just cold. And actually, it's not that cold. My memory never even seems to go back a year when it comes to weather, so I can't say whether this weather is cooler than last year at this time or not. But when it comes on suddenly like last night and today, it tends to be more of a shock.

There's a time and place for the chilly weather though, at least for me, and that place is the middle of nowhere. No, honestly, I like it to be chilly for a little while. Sweaters, winter jackets, sweatpants, seeing your breath when you step outside...These things are nice. There are also fires and hot cocoa. But add in the short days and it ends up lasting too long. When the clocks fall back this Sunday, good lord, it's going to be dark before 5pm.

I didn't really do any of those things aside from sitting in sweats (I suppose I was wearing a sweater earlier) and was a bit antithetical in eating ice cream, but did at least sit in front of the boob tube as I attempted to remedy the health of my body. Viewing the latest two episodes of Gossip Girl may not have been quite the proper prescription, but they really brought it home in the closing minutes. I wish I could embed this video for you, but trust me that it is worth the click. They may have gone over budget and, as a result, had to use a toddler to do the final editing. Now hey, I am not saying I could do a better job, but it really depends on whether or not you want to induce seizures.

Anyway, I think I shall retire for the moment. Welcome to November, a few days late. Where has the year gone?

There's No Such Thing as Free Advertising?

Product placement cracks me up, always has. The other night I was watching the late late show with Fallon and he's got a Macbook on his desk in clear view at the edge of the frame. Why? Is Jimmy checking his email during the show? I don't think he actually used it or anything it was just...there. So, right, why?

On perhaps the very same evening, or at least a similar one, I was tucked into bed, laptop screen creepily illuminating face as I caught up on Gossip Girl. At the end of episode 20 of this season (spoiler alert), Jenny uses Bing! to do a search on cancer. Bing! That's the sound of producers cashing in on ad dollars. Not to be outdone, in the very next episode Blair is seen sleuthing on her Macbook. But Apple doesn't even really do search, so Microsoft should be looking to make Bing! a Mac thing too. And here I am talking about Bing! on blogger, owned by search giant Google. What's a boy to do?

Now I'm fairly certain I've raised this issue before, but stepping back to Gossip Girl, why don’t they actually drink from coffee mugs on the show? Anything in a mug, I promise you, empty. It’s a minor detail, but it just looks silly so why not make it minor and realistic. I don't get it. One more reason I will never make it to Hollywood.

As I was sitting sipping coffee just two days ago, I reached into my pocket to answer a phone call, only to discover what seemed to be sand all up in my phone. Know what I'm sayin? But really, there was. A bit baffled, I investigated said pocket in said shorts (as yet unsaid it seems) to find a sand-like substance in there. This, I admit, was the first wearing of now said shorts and I do not wash my clothes before wearing. I don't even wash them after wearing if I can avoid it. A Marshall's purchase, they were probably stripped from a man who died on the beach. Hey, whatever they have do to keep my designer clothes (including designers I've never heard of) cheap...Oh and, like, TJ Maxx owns them, right? That was rhetorical. So why is there little crossover? That's rhetorical too. It's so it's so much damned fun every time you walk in.

In fact, I might head there after this England match on my way to work. I hear they've got discounted NBA, MLB, and World Cup officials. There are some irregularities, sure, but you can't beat the price!

Who in the Hell are the Oklahoma City Thunder?

One thing I've been trying to do, as I've mentioned before, is get caught up with sports once again. Though the internet makes it easy to see scores, and video highlights and, heck, even full games, I don't like to spend that long in front of a computer if I can (girlfriend shakes head) because I am in front of one, like many people, all day at work. So, this morning I was checking NBA scores and the headline Pacers beat Thunder despite Durant's 37 really caught my eye. My train of thought was: Thunder, who are they? Kevin Durant, I thought he was the top pick by the Sonics last year? Yes, I was literally that slow in putting it together. I knew that the awful shitheads in charge had decided to pass the Sonics franchise over to Oklahoma City, but somehow it had slipped my mind in the months between its announcement and the start of the season. Man, Frasier went to Sonics games...what the fuck?!?

Anyway, Gossip Girl. For a long time I had avoided watching it because I generally, well, don't watch TV. I'm not sure it's always been on Monday nights at 8pm but, if it has, that also proves an inconvenient viewing time for yours truly. I decided, however, to get ahold of the first 26 episodes (everything prior to the last two weeks) and I have no shame (although, maybe I should?) in saying I watched them all in a two-week period. Now sure, I'd watch them on my train commute, but I'd also be viewing them full-size on my laptop. So really, if that's not no shame, I don't know what is. But, as quickly as I was hooked, I already fear the shows demise.

First of all, Dan and Serena (this will make no sense if you don't watch the show) get together on pretty much the first episode. I think the writers have links to the OC so they should know that while interest can be stirred early, the relationship can't happen that early on if they are planning to keep the show running. But, unlike the OC, GG is based on a series of books, so perhaps this follows the book timeline.

Anyway, I'll spare you the total synopses details and just say that a lot of characters on this show are violently annoying, including Dan and Serena. The most reprehensible, however is Jenny Humphrey. When she decided to leave home (spoiler alert) I was really rooting for her to be murdered while hitchhiking. Sadly that hasn't happened...yet! And if you think that's fucked up, just remember, this is TV and she is not a real person. Also on the deplorable character list is Agnes who is recycled, surprise surprise, from her shitty role as the youngest Cooper on The OC. I will only mention that Serena's new love interest sucks (and is physically unattractive to boot) and is far inferior to Marissa's post-Ryan replacement from the OC, Volchok. Volchok gets style points since Cam Gigandet knows Krav Maga.

The most redeeming characteristic to the show is Chuck Bass, who is undoubtedly everyone's favorite character. He is meant to be sort of sleazy and evil, with a heart beneath it all, and a bit of a damaged background to maybe justify and explain it all away. But the real reason he works, along with Blair Waldorf and Nate Archibald, is that they are the most complete characters on the show. Everyone else is, for the most part, pretty much a puppeted (not a word, but you know what I mean) caricature lacking realism. Yeah, I know it's a TV show, but I want some glimpses of humanity. That's why I struggle to keep up with Grey's Anatomy these days...everyone on the show seems to be the same character.

But shit, that is a lot of talk about Gossip Girl, and my tongue (keyboard) has been pretty loose with the profanity these past few posts; I've got to clean that up.

In closing, I long ago was a fairly religious reader and fan of perhaps the original internet blogger Maddox. He's been writing less frequently over the years, and his grumpiness can only be alluring for so long (to me). I did, however, come across this recent gem on puns, courtesy of the gf. The reason it kicks so much ass? I certainly fall under the umbrella of targeted hatred in that post.

Rock over London, rock on Chicago...

Hallowmean

It seems I fell off the map there for a while on the whole blogging thing so, welcome back me. I've had plenty of retarded thoughts as usual just not quite the energy and/or time to put them down I guess. Anyway, I figured on this sacred holiday I would have to take the opportunity and put at least a little something together.

Corny bastard that I am, all day I have been thinking they should have a separate (or concurrent) holiday called "Hallowmean" on which people will deliver formulaic put-downs to those around them that they do or do not like, via sarcasm and "pretend" sarcasm. Example jokes include, "Hey, is that your costume? What are you supposed to be an ocular feces detector." Admittedly that one sucks, but after eating four donuts and some other halloween candy at the office, not to mention my cart food lunch, I am feeling a little warm in the face and slow in the mind. Also factor in that I woke up at 5:40am did some sit ups and push ups, went for a five mile run and watched the most recent episode of Gossip Girl on the train commute. And since this had my brain reaching for any recent information, the prevalence of the denunciator "shiteyes" in the Hunter S. Thompson book I'm reading was the first thing that popped into my gourd. But you get the idea. Unfortunately, this idea sucks. How about instead "Hallowmean" defines the average Halloween. Eh, eh? Yep, I'm extra fucking retarded today.

Another thing bothering me a lot recently is something I probably already wrote about in here. But since I can't be sure (I could be, by looking, but that would be logical), I'll talk about it anyway, and pose it in classic Seinfeld style. So really, what's the deal with doctors? I have to give them 24 hours or more of notice to cancel or I get charged, but they can cancel on me whenever they want? Shouldn't they be paying me? Or give me a voucher for a free visit or something? And what's the deal with public transportation? If it comes early I'm screwed. If I come early, I just have to wait. Same goes for if it's late. If I miss the train, the train doesn't miss me...There seemed like more to complain about when I was discussing this on not the internet.

Anyway, that's more than enough. I'm gonna try to get my ass back to blogging a bit more regularly. Oh, and Happy Halloween mmmmmmmuuthhhhaaaaafuuuuccckkkkkkkaaaaaaasssss.