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We got a cat fountain! And other news items
mood:    fine
Today is January 22. Yesterday at Petsmart I got C-po one of those cat fountains for his drinking water. So far I think he likes it. Also over the past couple days I've been doing some picking up and putting away. As a result there is much less "stuff" on the floor. So he has to sit on what little random things there are left. In this case, a videotape I have to take back to work. I really want to get him a cat tree or something but I don't think we have room for it here.

Tonight after work I went to a b-ball game of Louie's. He was playing at DSM Christian in Urbandale so it was a quick jaunt over there. They played a good game, and NP won =)

Here is something random for you guys. Do you remember that ad for the Discovery Channel that had meteors burning up, and shouting "THE ATMOSPHERE!!!"? I think it must have ran back in 01. I can remember my friend Katie and I saying that at work. So anytime the phrase "the atmosphere" comes up, I feel the need to yell that in my mind.

So yeah, I am bound and determined to get through my songs of 06. In June, I decided to be cool and download the Gnarls Barkley album. Honestly "Crazy" is the standout track, but the rest of it also has good beats and is fun to listen to. Got a killer Yacht Rock track from the power duo of Steve Perry and Kenny Loggins! In terms of "how awesome a song I had never ever heard of turned out to be," this is the clear winner. I also bought "Cheap Sunglasses" because I think it is fairly badass. At some point previous, I had pirated some CDs from the library (which is dope) and ended up with some cool Paul McCartney/Wings stuff. My favs of the bunch being Junior's Farm and Hi Hi Hi. Hix3 is especially great in the car. YES I have Peanut Butter Jelly Time in my iTunes. Because i am super l33t. Also super l33t? Ames, IA native Leslie Hall. My pal Jill gave me her album during the fancy month of June. The month wound up with my tracking down a couple great Men at Work tunes, and then adding some things that I had on CDs for my "Tight Pants" playlist. It was a project.


Iowa got snowned
mood:    awake
Today is January 16. The other day I picked up this TPB of Kevin Smith-related comics. It's really cool because there are many different styles of art and stories. Plus, I hadn't bought any comics in awhile, so I was maybe due. Reading it made me want to watch Mallrats again, since I've only seen it once, and that was back in the day. Not, as some might claim, because I work in a mall meself. Skinny Jason Lee looks kind of like my cousin Eric (who has always been skinny, and when I saw him the other day, somehow looked even skinnier after a couple years in Florida). Also TV's Brenda has really pretty hair.

In the month of May, my friend Jill sent me a bunch of Tori Amos stuff, so I had Tori on the brain. This led to my discovery that she had covered The Dan's "Do It Again," and so had the group Smashmouth. Oh, and fun fact, The Everly Brothers were the first to sing "Love Hurts," before Nazareth. Their version is neat, but it's nothing you'd want to chug cookie dough to.


It's kind of cold around here
mood:    confused
Today is January 13. Happy Birfday to my dad. He is 57 today. We talked on the phone a little bit today, and I think we are going to get together for lunch/dinner tomorrow. Right now I'm watching SNL. For some reason it bothers me when they parody Steve Jobs doing his keynote. Not sure why. Fred Armisen is a good performer, and the impression is coming from love, but I just don't enjoy those bits. Now Maya R. as Whitney Houston, that makes me laugh. She's so silly.

April was another month where I only added one song. At least it was a good 'un. Heart completely rules. At least there are no confusing animals of unknown species in this one.

So I was gonna talk about this skit they just showed where Amy P. was playing an acting teacher, instructing her class on how to audition for Law and Order. (And Law and Order SVU, and "the other Law and Order"). I wanted to follow this up with a link to Will Arnett doing the air guitar to the Law and Order theme. But UNFORTUNATELY the internets have failed me and it is not to be found. So just imagine a handsome dude playing air bass and air clarinet and air other stuff to that song. And be happy.

SIDEBAR why don't they get some Rock and Roll Bands on SNL. This indie music is putting me the heck to sleep.


They say we gotta hold on to what we got
mood:    irritated
Today is January 10. I'm watching A Scanner Darkly. Here I was set to write an entire blog entry about how things are going good and any other people "out there" are pretty much inferior. BUT then I just got yelled at again because someone didn't wake up on time. Last time I checked, it's not my responsibility to wake anybody up in the morning but my own damn self. Guess what? Cell phones have alarm clocks.

Robert Downey Jr. I think is angling to be another Walken. Cultivating a disctinctive manner of speaking, appearing as the weirdo in many films.

How hilarious would it be if I got dumped for not setting an alarm for someone? He couldn't *tell* anybody. They'd be all "So basically, you dumped her because she wasn't your mom???"

later Almost forgot to keep up with commentary on 2006 songs. Although, this should be easy. In March, I only added one song to my library. I imagine I learned that LTJ had covered one of my all-time-favorite songs, and then simply had to have it. In this case, I still like the original better.


SNL first season in the house
mood:    tired
Today is January 3. It is still pretty busy at work. Today I got to work on a data transfer from this homebuilt PC in a really shiny red case. They had a lot of dataz crammed in there.

Now I'd like to share some more "added in 06" song excitement. I notice that I added some funk early in Feb 06. I believe this is due to watching Parliament Funkadelic: One Nation Under A Groove on PBS. Also there were some songs that I found on a random CD I burned back in my intern days. Next I purchased Mike Birbiglia's comedy album since I had seen him on Comedy Central and thought he was pretty cool. The next batch of stuff is from the almighty 1981 Song Project! Also I guess I needed the best of Foreigner. And some kick-ass Black Sab songs. The Cars tracks were from Just What I Needed, a CD whose cover is so goddam sparkly you can barely look at it. So yeah, some 1981-goodness. Then after I saw NIN I purchased their live album "And All That Could Have Been." (P.S. don't forget Kablamo!)


2006: A tuneful look back
mood:    nostalgic
Today is January 1. You always see these year-end roundups of the best in music, movies, books, etc. I thought I would do my part, on the music side at least. Rather than pick my Best Albums of 06 (or something equally ridiculous for a dyed-in-the-wool classic rocker), I used my smart playlist skills to bring you:
MUSIC I ADDED TO ITUNES IN 2006
January got off to a potpourri-like start. We had the "Hello It's Me" remix on our store music, so I bought that from iTMS. "Boogie Man," "Hush" and the Molly Hatchet tune were from this random CD-R Jonathan must have burned back in HS that I discovered when I was at home for Christmas. "Even the Losers" and "Ain't Misbehavin" were both instances of "I have this song in my head so I now must download it." The Michael Jackson track was an exercise in converting from LP. "Push It" I indeed purchased because of that cell phone commercial with the dancing office guys. The cavalcade of Rolling Stones was also secured during my Xmas visit to Mackey. Dylan's Greatest Hits, drew's Dog Traders CD, and Close to the Edge I actually re-imported because I had previously done them as mp3s for some reason. Next you'll see two rockin' Dream Theater covers I heard about from Jess, a few power ballads and a couple good cover songs from movies. The group "Morningwood" were supposed to be the next big thing, but "Nth Degree" is their only track that really caught on with me. Speaking of 'caught on,' next we have "Turn it on Again," a song I listened to obsessively in the first part of 06, cranking it up in the car whenever I got the chance. The Bowie GH was imported when I realized it wasn't already! (ditto the Flashdance song.....I actually got *angry* that it wasn't in my library) January's final additions included an underrated Yes track I was surprised to find in a live version, an embarassing throwback to my HS dance days, and a taste of things to come with.....TOTO!

Well unless I get bored of it, I will give a little summary on what I imported over other 11 months of 2006.


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