Checking out.....

Today a sad occurrence: I started to loathe Frank Zappa.

Thanks a lot!

Daily pondering

IS Sevendust able to put albums almost yearly because they're doing the EXACT SAME THING EVERY TIME?


Discuss.

You Oughta Know

So I wish society would indoctrinate the population on retail etiquette. The dos and don'ts of shopping. We behind the counter are taught certain rules, such as don't insult the customer, smile, be courteous, and don't invade their space. All generally simple guidelines. What we aren't really taught, is how to deal with customers who wander into the area I like to refer to as the inappropriate zone. You know, where customers start to engage in behaviour that is uncomfortable for those of us who have rules to follow.

Today, towards the end of the shift a customer came in who looked like one of the guys from Myth Busters. He was fairly inoffensive for the beginning of his stay, but as he lingered his smarmy factor grew. I have developed a trick of tuning customers out if they are not directly speaking to me, or if they don't have a certain angry/peeved tone in their voice. It saves me a lot of mental anguish to be honest. With the creep in question, I had already answered some general music queries he had, and had left him to his lonesome. He had made some banal comment about needing to find non-depressing music to listen to (after looking at Smashing Pumpkins, which we happened to have in the player), but I made nothing of it.

Later on, I had gone in to the back to deal with some other work-related business, but returned to the store front where my younger co-worker was ringing this guy's purchase up. They were talking about art, and the likes. My co-worker looked a little awkward, but this can be a regular occurrence for all of us at the store because some of our customers make us feel horribly uncomfortable. Part of the nature of our job catering to all sorts. I figured she had the situation under control and would have him out of the store momentarily. Oh I was wrong.

As she went into the back to clean his stuff, he came up to me at the other end of the counter where I was doing something on the computer and asked if it would be appropriate if he asked her to share art some time. Now, I thought he was sincere in the art objective as I had heard their previous conversation, but I know my co-worker well enough not to encourage creapazoids such as him from making such propositions. I politely answered "No, not particularly. You are welcome to try though", in the attempt to be polite. I didn't want to be rude, but I also didn't want to give him the go-ahead. I hoped he would take my answer to heart

So my co-worker returns from the back, and I go wandering off to find some DVDs, and apparently this idiot, despite my comments, proceeds to ask her if she wants to meet in the park to share art. She does her best to politely turn him down, but he seemed intent on his objective. After being shot down, he then asks her what her name is, as he as forgotten (faux pas much?). He also apologizes for making her uncomfortable, which seemed like an attempt to endear himself to her, which failed miserably.

Needless to say after he left we proceeded to ridicule him. Partially because this guy was 27-28 trying to pick up a younger girl, and partially because of his overall demeanor and approach. I could not stop laughing at the guy, and hoped for the co-worker's sake he wasn't waiting outside the store for us to close (this has in fact happened before)


Here's what I really have a problem with the whole thing:

1. You never ask an employee out while they are working. It puts us in a very uncomfortable position. We are required to seem friendly, which I understand is a little confusing to those looking for love. What we deem as merely part of our job is seen as a thumbs up for those looking to find a date. So word of advice.... save it for after our shift.
   
2. You don't tell a girl you don't know that you like her because she looks young. This screams "pedophile", which as I'm sure you know, endears females to you ever so much.
3. Apologizing for making someone uncomfortable is admirable, but then to continue on doing it is stupid. Grow up dude.
   

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Look ma, no hands!

So normally I could care less about the rap/hop-hop world, so long as it doesn't tread where my musical interests lie. You know what I mean, when Puff Daddy covers a Led Zeppelin song, or when Puff Daddy covers a Sting song (err I mean Police song). Now that I think about it, Puff Daddy is kind of the main culprit. In my mind rap and rock are just things that should not mix like kittens and microwaves. To each their own.

Recently rapper Ice-T publicly criticized some of the modern "rappers". Let's take a gander at what T had to say, shall we?

“Fuck Soulja Boy! Eat a dick! This nigga single handedly killed Hip Hop.”

“That shit is such garbage man,” Ice-T continues to snarl. "We came all the way from Rakim, we came all the way from Das EFX, we came all the way from motherfuckers flowing like Big Daddy Kane and Ice Cube, and you come with that Superman shit? That shit is garbage.”

(note: I completely agree with Ice-T.... that song is garbage and utterly degrading to women. That's right, let's promote a sexual deviant act why don't we?)

It doesn't stop with SJB either....

“Hurricane (Chris) take them fucking beads out of your hair nigga! Man up. You niggas is making me feel real fucking mad about this shit.”

Oh T, you so crazy. But I have to hand it to him, I likes the cut of his jib.

**quotes taken from Hip Hop News

Dude, you're getting a Zune!

So because of the fine people at Matchstick Word of Mouth advertising, I will be getting me a new Zune free of charge, which just came on the market a few days ago.

Having lived with two ipods of varying sizes and capabilities for the last year and a half, I'm somewhat excited to see what Microsoft has to offer.

I will be doing a comparison of all three players in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!!

If you want to try and get in on this promotion, just go here.

Have a good weekend all!!

Buy my medicine

Please watch this..... I swear I laughed.

Schwaaa?

Am I the only one who thinks that Dierks Bentley performing at Lollapalooza is just a tad, you know... out of place? Performing before Explosions in the Sky, Broken SOocial Scene, and Wilco.


I'll never understand festivals.

On my video you see I'm really a cracker

Imitation is the highest form of flatery, or so I have been told. Whether it be fashion, diction, ideals, or even hair style, imitation is all around us. Originality it would seem is not popular culture's strong point. From the knock-off Crocs (I know I'm not the only person out there who thinks anyone over the age of 10 should be prohibited from wearing these) I am subjected to daily, to the scruffy, ill-bathed pseudo-intellectuals in the umpteen philosophy classes around the world who think that by pretending to be Heidegger they can attain some sort of elitist identity, imitation is seemingly an integral part of modern identity. This also goes for music as well. For decades, bands and artists alike have emulated and imitated those talented forefathers of music. They take from them inspiration, and without fail list them as influences on their own style. In nearly every genre of music you can play this handy little game of " Where would __________ be without ____________". Where would The Killers be without Duran Duran? Where would the melodic death metal scene be without the Gothenberg trio? Or better yet, where would the grunge movement be without Neil Young (grandaddy of grunge, hello?)? The line between emulation and imitation is fine and frustratingly blurry.

When it comes to imitation in music, nothing speaks louder than the cover song. Cover song-- handy little fallbacks for live shows, or half-assed attempt at flattery? I've always been wary of cover songs. Maybe I'm a purist at heart, and believe that only the original artist is the definitive benchmark for how a song should sound, but I firmly believe that cover songs should be few and far between. I'm of the firm belief that if you cannot add a new dimension to an already worthy song, why cover it? Is it really that hard to write your own music? I direct this question at Scarlet Johansson, who for whatever reason decided to butcher Tom Waits on her recently released Anywhere I Lay My Head album. That's right, just because you're Woody Allen's newest ingenue, does not give you the right to put out such a poor showing of cover songs. For shame.

Cover songs when done right can provide an even deeper love of the song and sometimes original artist. When I think of cover songs done well my thoughts always run straight to Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah", which is technically a second-hand cover, as his version was influenced by John Cale's version from 1991 (listen to Fragments of a Rainy Season to really hear the beauty of Cale's version". The song, originally performed by Leonard Cohen, has been reworked countless times, and personally I have found greater affinity for later versions, Cale's in particular. To each their own.

Do you have any favourite cover songs? Or even songs you wish had never been covered? Or do you secretely adore Alien Ant Farm's cover of Smooth Criminal, and are just afraid to admit it?

If all else fails though, we can just make mockery of songs, like this.