top 10

i heard about some facebook thing where you list the top ten music albums that shaped your life/listening choices. i thought it sounded pretty cool, but since i don't like posting notes on facebook, i'm writing them here. something to keep in mind is that i didn't buy a cd until i was about 17, so there isn't a whole lot representing my earlier years.

enjoy and feel free to make fun of me or agree that some of these would maybe be on your list too.

in autobiographical order-of course:

1-wayne's world soundtrack
first cd i ever owned. it began my taste of "modern" music. plus it gave me a taste of several generations of music from jimi hendrix to cinderella... great stuff for a sampler.

2-collective soul (blue album)
first cd i bought and listened to over and over again. i made a tape of it since my car didn't have a cd player. this influence was direct from erick banks. i ended up buying almost every album by this band. the world i know is one of the best music videos ever.

3-nirvana (nevermind)

i'd heard nirvana before but hadn't known what to think at first listen. after a second listen or two i was sold and this began my grunge/alternative music phase, of which i still am a part of.

4-everclear (sparkle and fade)

this is another cd that rocked my world. while most of the guitar licks are very similar or basically the same but in a different key, i still to this day love this album. every time i listen to santa monica i think of cruising around in my 1980 subaru hatchback. and when i listen to you make me feel like a whore, i chuckle at the thought of the video we were going to make senior year highlighting various girls in our school.

5-weezer (blue album)

great album even though i discovered it only once pinkerton came out. i was pretty much behind the power curve here, but this album and the buddy holly music video are both fantastic not to mention it's one of those albums you can listen to front to back loving it the whole time.

6-soundgarden (superunkown)

while i discovered this later, it is still one of my favorite albums of all time. i started listening to this and down on the upside my senior year. a bunch of us went to the concert at the salem armory in 1996 or so with the announcement coming that next spring (1997) that they were disbanding. it was a sad day.

7-led zeppelin (physical graffiti)

kashmir began my love affair with this english band, which has since become my favorite band of all time. i have yet to find a zeppelin song i don't like... short of the overplayed stairway to heaven... still good just overplayed. every album is like an orchestrated score that i just love.

8-radiohead (the bends)

i got to know of radiohead first through their song creep off pablo honey, but the bends was the first album i got to know how much staying power radiohead would have and how much i would grow to love them. minus thom yorke's weirdness and how he looks like clay aiken's 'special' brother, radiohead is pure genius. while the bends at first seemed like a downer cd i still love popping in this cd rain or shine.

9-wilco (yankee hotel foxtrot)

this was the album that go me listening to what's referred to as indie music. it lead to so many other band discoveries that have since shaped my musical taste. great album.

10-derby (this is the new you)

they're local and even though i'm biased because i went to high school with some of the band members, this cd is my latest love and i have to say it's the album andrea and i listened to quite a bit while we dated and eventually fell in love to. pretty much a lot of bias going on here but who cares it's my list.

runner ups or cds i thought about putting up there but decided against it for one reason or another (not in any particular order):

no doubt (tragic kingdom)

foo fighters (the color and the shape)

beck (odelay)

dandy warhols (13 tales from urban bohemia)

snow patrol (final straw)

the cars (the cars greatest hits)

aerosmith (greatest hits)

stone temple pilots (purple)

pearl jam (ten)

beatles (sgt pepper's lonely hearts club band)

death cab for cutie (plans)

cake (fashion nugget)

Easter

here it is another Easter and i find myself thinking about all the other Easters that have come and gone. as i think about them, i have to categorize my top 3.

autobiographical of course...

1-my 21st birthday fell on Easter sunday in 2000.
while i wasn't a Christian at the time... i still didn't feel it was a good idea to get blasted on Easter sunday. plus, where do you go on a sunday in salem after 6pm for something like that. come to think of it, make that any night of the week. i should also mention i shipped off to army basic training the next day.

2-spain with paul in good old 2006.
we had communion on the roof top of our villa/hostel within eyesight of morocco in the small town of tarifa. after reading from the book of John and doing our Easter "service" abroad, we finished our bottle of communion wine and went to the market for two more bottle of communion wine. we then walked/stumbled about the small town discussing where we wanted to be and do with our lives only to collapse in our room before 9pm when the locals began their celebration. we felt good, but also felt like losers since we passed out way before the real party began.

3-coming home from iraq for leave in 2008.
andrea, scott, my parents, and my in-laws took a weekend of my r&r to go to bend/sunriver and hang. after a year in the sand-box it was great to spend Easter with family and hit the reset button on life. we spent Easter in a church that met at a local high school.

this Easter was great as well. it's still far too soon to know if it will make a larger top 5 list one day, but great nonetheless. church was fantastic, especially since my dad came with us. and the night was topped off with a much needed guy-time with mr. banks as we shared a bottle of wine and a long awaited cigar. i even tried to not slobber too much on the cigar. thanks banks for a great night.

happy Easter ya'll!

for kix

saw this and had to post it. enjoy.

math doesn't add up

i know this has been complained about many times over... but here i go.

is it really that hard to get the sausage and hot dog folks together at a negotiation table with the buns people?

why do i have to buy hot dogs in packs of 10 or 6 (if sausages) while the buns come in packs of 8?

it's frustrating and my money is on the conspiracy theory that they have gotten together and hatched a plan to market these items deliberately this way so we the consumer would have to buy more than one or two packs in order for things to "even" out.

bottom line... they owe us an apology for frustrating me enough to write this blog and subjecting you "all" to reading it.