What I love about using shuffle to do my Friday playlist is that I really don’t have to think very hard to get the playlist out the door. Sure I throw my $.02 in there about each track and/or band, but the natural flow of shuffle makes it much easier for me to maintain my mindless zombie status. Especially on a crappy Friday morning that really should just give up and end.

Again, I’m giving you the list just as my iPod pops them out at me. There may be comedy (and comedy gold depending on what lovely bits this infernal contraption decides to embarrass me with) and potentially even some audiobook snippets.  I think I may even have some old MIDI samples on this thing.  Let’s find out.

1. Danger Doom – Bada Bing
Danger Doom is a great combination. Danger Mouse and Doctor Doom on their own aren’t especially the best on their own, but combined and mixed together with Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim makes for a damn good record. I guess Adult Swim is a lot like bacon: there’s nothing it can’t make good.

2. The Adolescents – Losing Battle
“Losing Battle” is angry. Released six years after the infamous “blue” album, this song off of  Brats in Battalions  is a good summation of that angsty skatepunk sound that only Southern California could put together. “Losing Battle” isn’t my favorite song by The Adolescents; in fact, I find it a bit whiny, but it’s instantly recognizable.

3. Minutemen – You Need the Glory
This isn’t a song normally recognized as Minutemen gold. Pretty much consisting of random bongo, piano and what can only be described as either scatting or just plain ‘ol jibber-jabber, this song has no point. No slight to the wonder that is the Minutemen, but I’ve got less use for this than a diet soda.

4. Lil Wayne – Nothin’ On Me
While I really wish he’d pull up his damn pants, I’m a big fan of Lil Wayne. Maybe it’s because he claims Nirvana as an influence or maybe it’s because he’s the most functional person on cough syrup I’ve ever seen, but I think he’s pretty fun. Actually, it’s probably because he sounds like what I would imagine Gollum would sound like if he rapped.

5. Cub – Exit
Oh how I love Cub. This track is off of Mauler (not their best album), but it’s Cub and very typical of their “cuddlecore” sound. If you have never heard these lovely ladies from Vancouver before, find some Cub. Back in the mid-90s some buddies and I followed them around on their tour for a while. They had a fill-in drummer at the time who you might be familiar with: Neko Case. There’s a good story about the death of Jerry Garcia, a case of Keystone tallboys, some “special” brownies, skee-ball winnings and Cub in Fort Worth, but I’ll save that for another day.

6. Smashing Pumpkins – Dross
By the time that the Machina album(s) came out, I was pretty much done with the Pumpkins. Dross is exactly indicative of what I didn’t like about what they had become. At this point in the musicography of Billy Corrigan, I saw almost no difference between Billy (or is it B0lly?) and Marilyn Manson except that Manson had a way better theatrical presence. This phase of SP totally threw out all of the subtlety of their musicianship and replaced it with the crunchy guitars that so many bands dropped on records during this time.

7. They Might Be Giants – Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head
This song has been pretty much stuck inside my head off and on since it was released in 1986. If examined, the lyrics are quite creepy yet horribly catchy. I guess that’s true of many TMBG songs. The thing from this song that stuck with me the most was the line “Memo to myself, do the dumb things I gotta do.” That’s pretty much a credo for my entire life.

8. Reverend Horton Heat – Cowboy Love
I’ve already explained my devotion to the good Reverend. For some reason, this song (while surprisingly one of the “newer” ones) cracks me up to no end. In typical Rev. style, it’s beautifully played and has some of the best steel guitar out there. Leave it to Jim Heat to make a Brokeback Mountain ballad you could two-step to.

9. The Real McKenzies – Raise the Banner
Damn it’s hard to listen to the McKenzies sober. We found these guys accidentally a couple of years ago and haven’t looked back since. Scottish-Canadian, the McKenzies are one of the most amazing bands to watch live. At one point during the show, the piper was so drunk that he could barely stand up yet he didn’t miss a single note. With all the songs about footie, drinkin’ and carrying on, the only real difference between the McKenzies and my family get-togethers is that the McKenzies have better singing voices.

10. [DARYL] – The Informant vs. The World
I make no effort to hide that I am seriously biased towards [DARYL]. While I started out as a wary fan, several of the guys in this Dallas ex-band are really good friends of mine. It’s actually quite interesting to go back and listen to some of the older stuff to see where they are now (mostly Les Americains and The Crash That Took Me, respectively). [DARYL] still holds up.

11. The Ramones – I Don’t Wanna Grow Up
The Ramones doing a cover of Tom Waits. This song (unsurprisingly) has pretty much been my anthem since I realized that I was, in fact, growing up. In typical Ramones fashion, the song is sped up from the Tom Waits version and definitely given the Joey Ramone twist.

12. AFI – Now The World
Before they became the poster-band for the emo-gothy, Hot Topic masses, I listened to a lot of AFI. I think I have Tony Hawk 2 on Xbox to blame for that. I can’t hate all over AFI; they just went a different direction than I would prefer.

13. KMFDM – Power
Unsurprisingly, one of my favorite bands of all time. For some reason, KMFDM and their techno-industrial mess melded right into my punk leanings back in the 80′s and have always just been there. It’s very scary to think that I’ve been listening to these guys for over twenty years. By far, my KMFDM music collection (LP, tape, CD) is larger than any other given artist. KMFDM was definitely the gateway drug for my years in industrial music.

14. KMFDM – Godlike (Doglike Mix)
Another KMFDM song. I’m not surprised. Now, of course, I’ll probably be listening to them all day.  “Godlike” is an excellent song of theirs to help explain my attraction to them. With my background in Political Science I am often attracted to political-leaning bands. KMFDM has a few tracks that, over the years, have had a political slant, but “Godlike” is the only one that I was able to open one of my bigger papers for a political economic policy seminar I took while in grad school. The prof though the line “Pray every day that your country undergoes recovery” was quite profound (and I got my “A”), but was more than a little scared when I brought him a copy of the song. Old people, huh?

15. Johnny Cash – Train of Love
The Man in Black. Like many people growing up in the past fifty years, I feel that Johnny Cash was damn near a part of my family. While my folks weren’t really “country music” fans per-say, there are just a few artists that transcend all genres and are required listening to anyone living in America; the South/Southwest at the very least. Johnny Cash pretty much tops that list. Thankfully, not many people don’t recognize his music (unlike Marty Robbins, unfortunately), so I don’t have to administer beatdowns on a regular basis.

Well, that’s another Friday Playlist.  Maybe next week I’ll try out the “Genius” function and see what happens there.

I’m a slow learner. Rather, I’m a stubborn learner who doesn’t pay any attention nor know any better when it comes to certain topics that “blind” me. First and foremost of these is Star Wars.

I have quite the different perspective on that “Galaxy far far away” than most typical casual fans. Over the past twenty years, I’ve read almost all Star Wars related comic books and definitely all Star Wars novels (there are a lot more than you’d think). Over this time, I have developed a much larger appreciation for what is known as the Expanded Universe than just the handful of films that were made.

I found it delightful that George Lucas created this incredible base of worlds and characters and then had the foresight to establish continuity ground rules related to stretching out beyond film; causing all the various Star Wars-related novels to fall into a singular timeline.

Different authors, writing to their different strengths, have developed fantastic characters outside of the major six or seven and really developed a broad variety of cultures and even, to some extent, language.

Now George has stepped in and changed some things that I see as pretty damn important.

For those not nearly as geeky as myself, I refer to the recent retconning of the Mandalorian culture in the Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon.

Here’s a two minute primer into the Mandalorians. Everyone familiar with Star Wars knows Boba Fett and Jango Fett. Both of them were Mandalorians. What a lot may not know is that the Mandalorians are a nomadic group of beings made up of multiple species organized in clans who often fill the role of mercenaries or bounty hunters. The commonality amongst them being honor and pride in the community and rabid devotion to their clan. Think of them as the Star Wars equivalent to Viking or Celtic tribes.

This has been beautifully developed in novels (Karen Traviss’ works especially) and comic books.

Now, however, it appears that George has turned the Mandalorians into a peaceful race with a militant faction called “Death Watch” (not unheard of in both comics and novels previously) that is seeking to overthrow the peaceful Mandalorian leaders.

I call shabla osik! It seems that the worst thing George Lucas has done since releasing his first three movies is staying involved creatively in the property. I’ll agree that the Clone Wars as a concept were a pretty good development from the second three batch of movies, but that is about it for those.

C’mon George, take some time off and enjoy your billions of dollars and leave the storytelling to those talented people who actually give a damn about the fans.

Ahh, the wonders of Friday. Survive today and, more than likely, you’ll have two free days of mirth and merriment that just don’t last long enough.

OK, enough of the palaver, down to the tunes.  I thought I’d take things up a level this week and leave the selection of the Friday playlist to the hands of fate, or, at the very least, the algorithms involved in the “shuffle” function of my trusty iPod.

First and foremost, I make no apologies for what could potentially come up in the shuffle. I will, in no way, skip over tracks just because they suck and/or are embarrassing. I stand by what I have on my trusty device.

Second, this may be a tad of a departure from the normal playlist because I’ve got a good deal of comedy and even a few audiobooks on this particular iPod. Typically I mark the audiobooks to not appear in the shuffle mix, but you never know.

OK, let’s get this show on the road.

1. The Pretenders – Brass in Pocket
Right off the bat and I get one of those “This is on my iPod?!?!?!” tracks. I’m not the biggest fan of the Pretenders, but this song always played on the AM radio station we would listen to in my Dad’s Chevy Vega when we’d take loads of trash to the dump out in rural New Mexico. That’s right, I have happy memories stemmed by a catchy pop song and the stench of garbage. Damn I miss the dead animal pit.

2. N.W.A. – If It Ain’t Ruff
Such an odd track off of the Straight Outta Compton album to pick. There is this sort of bug wing vibration that cycles back and forth between the left and right channel during this song that makes it very hard for me to listen with headphones. Back when I thumped some serious bass in my ’81 Olds, this song would rattle the side mirrors out of position. That being said, I love this song because it’s one of N.W.A.’s simpler tracks and really showcases MC Ren’s talents.

3. The Sex Pistols – C’mon Everybody
Ahh, The Great Rock’n'roll Swindle. This Eddie Cochran song has the distinction of being performed by Sid Vicious rather than Johnny Rotten for this track from the Sex Pistols’ infamous movie. Despite general opinion to the contrary, I actually though Sid had a pretty good singing voice.

4. Sigur Ros – Intro
Sigur Ros is one of those bands that I put on when I need to get stuff done. The back-masking and flowing aspects of it get all my brainwaves going the right direction. I’ve always believed that the Icelandic people were all elves or fairies or gnomes or something and still wielded magical powers over the rest of us mundy folk. Listen to Intro and I dare you to prove me wrong.

5. Balzac – Wall
I’ve talked about my love of Balzac before, and this song doesn’t disappoint at all. I’m almost positive this one is in Japanese, but I can almost never tell with Balzac. This particular track from their 15 Years of Unhold Darkness  “best of” album is a more cut down version of the song that focuses more on the guitars and really scales back on the vocals. In fact, the typical backing vocal track for Wall isn’t present at all. I think I just noticed that for the first time.

6. John Denver – Shanghai Breezes
That’s right, I listen to John freakin’ Denver. Deal with it. John Denver was always a Thursday afternoon listen when I was growing up along with the Bee Gees and Gordon Lightfoot. What I find interesting about this particular song is that it is a complete departure from John’s normal type of track. While there is still the nature element to the song, there ain’t a mountain in sight.  Hell, he’s even left Colorado for China. I guess those Communist tendencies should have been a little more apparent after this one.

7. Sun Kil Moon – Ocean Breathes Salty
Mark Kozelek is a genius. Sure, I hated Red House Painters when I first heard them but his haunting voice really grows on you. It actually works really well that this track follows John Denver and it’s quite odd to me that this is a Modest Mouse song. Mark owns this one like he does almost every song he covers.

8. Synical – Burn
This is a cover of the Nine Inch Nails song Burn for the Recovered in Nails tribute record. One thing I noticed right off the bat is that these guys are trying just way too hard. Then I remember, that’s what the majority of those goth/industrial bands from the late-90′s were all about. You’d almost never know that Synical is a pseudo-solo project from an art school student in Georgia. It’s almost poetic justice that he’s covering a song written by a band nerd from Cleveland.

9. Irving – The Guns From Here
It is an amazing case of serendipity that led me to discover Irving. My brother’s former band, Astroblast, was performing a show at a warehouse in Austin and squeezle and I decided to go down and see them play. One of the bands to play that night was Irving. Amongst the early 2000′s Austin indie rock was this band that had more similarities to the Beatles than anything else being played that night. Plus, they were really great people to talk to and were some pretty fun drunks. I’ve followed them ever since.

10. Pixies – Where is My Mind
Yup, that Fight Club song. While this has been one of my favorite songs for a very long time, thanks to the end of that epic movie, I always see burning buildings when I hear this song. Plus, it’s got one of the greatest guitar breakdowns in all of rockdom. Seeing this song performed live is haunting as hell with everyone in the venue doing the “wooooo-ooooooo” part. I want you to hit me as hard as you can.

11. Joy Division – New Dawn Fades
Boy, let’s just dive right down into the psychosis. I’m not sure it’s ever safe to follow “Where is my Mind” with Joy Division of any flavor. Either way, I have always liked this song because it has such a different guitar sound than most other Joy Division songs. It’s also one of the few songs where Ian Curtis really throws himself in and thrashes about a bit. Moby redid this song with New Order at some point, but I’ve always wanted TheThe to do a cover. Crazy people make the best music.

12. Misfits – The Haunting
I think this can really only be called the Misfits thanks to legal settlement. This is Michale Graves-era Misfits, so there isn’t much expectation. For what it is, it’s pretty decent. I definitely prefer this to the tragedy that was the three-piece Misfits I saw a couple of years ago live.

13. Mogwai – Like Herod
For me, Mogwai is a lot like Sigur Ros. I don’t fully understand it, but I really really appreciate that its been done and that I can get my paws on it. “Like Herod” is from the Young Team album which I consider just about the best of Mogwai’s efforts. There must be something about the edges of the Arctic Circle that really inspire instrument-heavy music that flows right through you. Sure, Mogwai can hit like a brick wall, especially in “Like Herod,” but it’s the whole ride that makes it incredible.

14. Pixies – Crackity Jones
Well, another Pixies track. I tried forever and ever to understand this song before deciding that it really meant nothing at all. You just gotta love that. What I love most about this song is that it’s freakishly short and has Black Francis barking like a damn dog. Yeah, I’m easily amused. This song should be an ADD anthem.

15. Kinks – Ev’rybody’s Gonna Be Happy
Ray Davies was way ahead of his time. This song was released in 1965 and is still seriously relevant today stylistically. While not as successful as a lot of their other songs, I, particularly, appreciate the arrangement of this track. It’s got zippy guitars and it’s got hand claps. That shit is just catchy.

There, that wasn’t so bad. Only a couple of skeletons out of my vast closet and the world didn’t even end. Perhaps I’ll pull another random fifteen tracks next week since this playlist wasn’t as Earth shattering as I was afraid it could be.

A terribly sad thing happened on my way in to work this fine morning: I finally finished Jim Butcher’s Turn Coat. At 7:18AM CST I caught up with the rest of the world and now have to wait until April until I can get another Harry Dresden fix.

In explaining the “Dresden Files” books to many of my friends, however, I came across an interesting conundrum related to our now ever-connected, always-on-the-move society that drastically affects storytelling and the written word: what is “reading” a book?

You see, I have a thirty minute commute to and from work each day. For the past several years I’ve spent most of those drives listening to audio books. In fact, that’s how I “read” nine of the eleven current Dresden books.

This has brought up quite the discussion with acquaintances about whether listening to an audiobook constitutes actually “reading” that book?

First things first, I want to eliminate a glaring variable from the argument: abridged audiobooks are right out. In my opinion, abridged audiobooks should be all shot into the sun and the creators shamed. If I want and abridged version of the story, I’ll wait for the damn movie. Problem settled? Back to main discussion.

It is my belief that the concept of “reading” a book needs a fundamental change in definition. “Reading” alone, in these “New Media” times is insufficient to describe the intake of a story or defined knowledge. I propose that “reading” become a subset of a more standard term of “consumption” of a written work. I understand that it is mostly an argument of semiotics, but defining the “consumption” of a book as either reading or listening (or whatever other method you take in knowledge) provides a broader allowance for the user experience.

At any given time, I am almost always listening to a book and reading at least one book. That doesn’t even take into account the five to ten comic books I read each day. All of these efforts I consider “reading.” If I learned braille and figured out a way to taste the written word, I’d have just about all bases covered.

Join me next time when I take up Hemingway as interpretive dance.

My general email address has been public for well over a dozen years, so I get a lot of spam. I’ve got some pretty good filters nowadays, but the amount that piles up in that trash folder can be pretty staggering.

This really didn’t bother me until I started writing this blog. I am amazed at how many spam blog comments pop up each day. I’m fortunate to have the controls of WordPress in place to hold back the swarm of this shite from you “real” readers, but it honestly makes me wonder about the logic behind the development of these “bot monsters.”

I’ve been down the automated spam road before. As admin of the forum over at Forkers Central, I’ve had to deal with my share of automated and people-based spammers over the past couple of years.

It used to be that you could easily baffle the non-human spammer with simple captcha. When Skynet figured out how to read captcha, developers were forced to put logic into the registration process in order to comment on a forum or blog. It looks like even that isn’t working these days.

For some odd reason, I have always envisioned spammers akin to the Cavity Creeps of Crest toothpaste commercials of yore.

Yup, that’s just how my twisted brain works. It makes sense that, since they’ve been out of work for years, the Cavity Creeps would naturally gravitate to online mayhem. Isn’t that what all ailing villians eventually do? It’s not like the convention circuit is all that great for these denziens of tooth decay.

I know, I know. How could animated baddies send out comments about real estate scams and penis pills? Hey, it’s the internet. If you’ve thought of it, it’s probably already out there. Don’t even get me started on cereal fetishists.

Every couple of weeks my email inbox gets bombarded by offers of contract employment in strange and far off cities. I just about always check out where the job is in case I know someone that direction who might be interested (referral cash is as good as free money), but I generally just click the delete button and send these offers off into the ether to be recycled as ads for penis enlargement or lap band surgery.

Today, however, I got a contract offer for the one place I never thought I’d see in a contract employment email: Sunnydale, California. For the uninitiated, Sunnydale is the “town” where Buffy the Vampire Slayer takes place. Sunnydale is renowned for being a Hellmouth: a location of increased supernatural energies and basically serves as a portal between Earth and Hell.

Imagine my surprise to get a job offer there. For the seven seasons Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran on television (not to mention all the Buffy comic books I’ve read), Sunnydale as spit out baddie after baddie to terrorize the general populace and generally cause much mirth and mayhem.

Now the big question. Would I want to work there?  Even though the contract is only for a couple of months doing UI development (User Interface for you non-technical types), the thought of being smack dab (not sand dabs. Look it up) near the Hellmouth has some serious potential. At the very least I could team up with the local Scoobies (you know they exist) and hang out picking on weird homeless people after beers (or whatever they served) at the Bronze.

Wait a minute, that job was in Sunnyvale, CA and not Sunnydale, CA? Screw that.

Well, it’s Friday again, and that means more freakin’ music from me. I know I’ve been extra slacky this week, but that is, indeed, my prerogative (and I don’t mean the Bobby Brown kind).

This week’s offering leans a little more towards the fast and dirty. I’ve basically been cooped up all week, so that almost always gets reflected in the music I listen to. There are some real gems this week and maybe even some surprises from bands you thought you knew.

1. Stiff Little Fingers – Wasted Life
It often seems the case that with punk; older is better. Stiff Little Fingers is the perfect case and “Wasted Life” is the perfect song. This tune just oozes 1977 UK youth revolt.

2. Strike Anywhere – The Promise
Let’s jump almost 30 years into the future and more into the modern political realm of bands like Anti-Flag. While still throwing down some good “smack-yourself-against-your-friends” tunes, Strike Anywhere actually has something to say. And, in my opinion, they do it quite well.

3. Supersuckers – Born With a Tail
Damn I love me some Supersuckers. It is always hard as hell for me to pick out my favorite tracks when it comes to this band of Arizona transplant miscreants, but “Born With a Tail” is just about as good as it comes. Besides, who really doesn’t want a prehensile tail?

4. Manic Hispanic – Tijuana Must Fall
I first saw Manic Hispanic on one of the tiny side stages at Warped Tour about six or seven years ago. My first thought is that they had a seriously genius idea and some really good musical chops to pull it off. Any band capable of consistently pulling off “Chicano” conversions of well known punk songs without sounding like a sped up El Vez clone deserves some attention.

5. Whole Weat Bread – Old Man Samson
Another band I stumbled upon, I first saw Whole Wheat Bread open for Big D & the Kids Table at a tiny, odd little BYOB place in Lewisville, TX. Having learned that they described themselves as “Dirty South Punk Rock,” I was quite curious to see this moderate combo of rap and punk and was pretty damn happy with the outcome. “Old Man Samson” is more like a Dropkick Murphys song; not at all what you’d expect from a predominantly African-American band.

6. The Germs – Lexicon Devil
Probably one of the most iconic songs from an iconic band, Lexicon Devil is one of the first punk songs I got my hands on as a youngster. Even after 30 years, it’s still good. Here’s some trivia, for the single recording of this song, Pat Smear didn’t have an amp, so he plugged directly into the mixing board. Who knew?

7. Millions of Dead Cops – Chicken Squawk
MDC is proof that Texas was in on the American punk movement as early as those East and West coasters. Rather than pick an obvious tune like “I Remember” or “John Wayne Was a Nazi,” I opted for “Chicken Squawk.” No slight to the other songs, but Chicken Squawk is damn funny and really shows off the Austin roots.

8. Balzac – Break Fuckin’ Yourself
I can blame Balzac for a lot of things. It’s Balzac’s fault I spend too much damn money on imported toys, it’s Balzac’s fault that I still pay attention to the Misfits and it’s Balzac’s fault that I get a kick out of hilariously bad Japanese theme bands. For the uninitiated, Balzac are pretty much the Japanese analog of the Misfits (though probably better than the Misfits ever were). Many of their songs are sung in English (like this one), but one would never know from listening.

9. Rocket From the Crypt – Savoir Faire
Rocket From the Crypt is one of the greatest rock bands of all time. During their tenure they always brought new and exciting energy to each release and put on some of the sickest live shows I’ve ever seen. I am always surprised at the number of closet RFTC fans I run into who have one story or another about a live show or other RFTC experience. I’ve got a couple of my own, but you’ll have to buy me beers to get them out of me.

10. The Vandals – N.I.M.B.Y.
Despite all the legal hubbub surrounding the Vandals, I still love these goofballs. Who else would write a song condemning G.E. Smith from moving into their neighborhood?

11. Really Red – I Was A Teenage Fuckup
Ahh, more old-school fun, and another Texas band to boot! Really Red ran their course from the late 70′s until 1985, dropped just a couple of records and toured with a crapload of influential bands, but their pinnacle is really bringing the punk scene to Houston and probably a lot more of Texas. For this, they should always be remembered

12 Peter & the Test Tube Babies – Banned From The Pubs
Not much to say about this one other than it’s core UK punk and has probably influenced many a young tosser. “Banned from the Pubs” has the distinction of being one of the most normal Peter & the Test Tube Babies titles ever.

13. Nina Hagen – Zero Zero U.F.O.
Nina Hagen is German and scary. Despite listening to a lot of her stuff, I really don’t get it. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like it, but I put it up there with Diamanda Galas and Yoko Ono. It’s art and to be appreciated, but it may give the dog diarrhea.

14. Fear – Let’s Have A War
Ahh, good ol’ Fear. Listen to this song and think about how most of you know Fear front man: Lee Ving. Give up? He was Mr. Boddy in the old Clue movie. Sure, he was also the stripclub owner in Flashdance, but what’s the fun in remembering that?

OK, that’s it for the week. My brain hurts and I’m tired of writing. Suck it up.

I think often about getting out of the Information Technology business. As I sit here typing this out today, my left hand is, once again, trussed up like a Victorian strumpet thanks to mysterious wrist pain.

Too many video games? Too much masturbation? No, I think this actually came from working; and by work I mean typing out hundreds of lines of code.

I think I’d much rather do something more creative. I’ve expressed a wee tiny bit of creative talent that, with proper nurturing and education, could develop into something “real.” I get all jazzed up and try doing my little illustration projects that take tons of effort with minimal result and then I get the proverbial “smack in the face” by looking at other people’s creative work. Work that looks beautiful and effortless and comes with that incredible natural talent that, seemingly, cannot be taught.

Joby Cummings is just the latest artist to make me feel this way. I first was drawn to Joby’s work in tattooing (he’s out at Freak Chic in Los Angeles for those in the area), but then found his design and illustration work.

Holy crap he makes me ill. Take the image I stole from him for this post (available as both a printand a kickass shirt on his website). Have you figured it out yet? Those filigreed ribbons don’t just make a skull, they also spell out the classic seven deadly sins. How sick is that? You know you have to have one of those.

Joby’s even got a hotshot solo show at EM & Costarting up this week. I’d love to go to the opening reception on Thursday night, but my Learjet is in the shop. Plus, I think the Pope may swing by my place on Thursday to get his ass kicked at Wii.

I’ll just take my crayons and go cry in the corner.

I’m a hoarder. I’ve mentioned it before and I totally own up to the fact that I probably have a pathological problem.

The thing is, I don’t give a rat’s ass. I enjoy my behavior. In fact, I can’t even bring myself to watch the crazy Hoarders show on A&E because it depresses me that packrat behavior is the new disease of the week.

Part of my natural cycle as a hoarder is occasional periods of purging. I get tired of the piles of crap around me and want new piles of crap. Over the years I’ve attempted to steer these periods of pseudo-asceticism towards a definable goal: be it the digitization of my massive music collection (an effort in grand fail) or, my current purge, “redefinition” of my toy collection.

I’ve got a metric crapload of toys. More importantly, I’ve got a metric crapload of toys from a company that has pissed me off with their practices and quality (read this; it almost mirrors my feelings). Therefore, I am dumping Western vinyl like crazy.

This is a good thing. I’m sure I’ll fill up just about the same amount of space with Eastern counterparts, but at least (I hope) I’ll be able to make a transition.

It’s actually a fun exercise. It’s like going into your house and saying, “Everything blue has got to go!”

Change is good.

So I’ve been a little lax this week.  Truth be told, it’s been the week from hell and I really didn’t feel like venting via blog. It’s much easier to punch people in the face than spout invective about them online. That’s the power of action, people.  Remember that.

So, here we are with the second installment of a weekly playlist. I’d like to say I spent the week pouring over my archives looking for wonderful music to share with you, laugh about, cry about, etc.. That just isn’t the truth.

In my fury of hatred-laced annoyance, I spent my week switching back and forth between the Jay-Z disc of my Presenting DJ Hero Renegade Edition double CD set and the Original Cast Recording of Wicked.  No lie. Don’t judge.

Being that I’ve been on the verge of either depression or anxiety (maybe it’s just gas) all week, this little playlist should be a doozie. I think I even might just write a blurb with every song (even though I said I wasn’t going to do that) just because I fucking feel like it.

1. The Avett Brothers – The Perfect Space
Looks like I can’t start one of these without an Avett Brothers song. Despite the really really hokey middle part, this song really touches in a non-dirty way.

2. Red House Painters – Song for a Blue Guitar
Despite being on one of the happiest RHP albums released, this song, for some reason, breaks me up. I’ve seen this song played live eight times and have cried every time. If that’s not proof I’m not an android, I’m not sure what is.

3. Shallow – The Strangest Thing
This song reminds me of my old grad-school roommate. He introduced me to shallow when we were undergrads and I can always imagine him awkwardly bobbing and squeaking to this song.

4. Pleasant Grove – Only A Mountain
Probably the best song to ever come out of a Dallas band. Ever! Disagreements with that statement will be met with fists of fury. It still takes me back to the first time I saw PG live opening for the Old 97′s at Trees.

5. Jay-Z – Brooklyn Go Hard
See, I wasn’t lying. I can’t say exactly why, but this song just strikes me as very divergent of Jay-Z’s typical rhythm and cadence. It pays homage to a lot of classic styles and even makes a pasty white kid like me feel a bit gangsta (did I seriously just fucking write “gangsta?”).

6. The Weird Sisters – This Is the Night
Best song by a fictional band made up of some of the best bands the UK has offered us. This is the Pulp song that I always waited for in response to just about all of the content of Common People, but never happened.

7. Aimee Mann – Ballantines
Ever since Magnolia I can’t see or hear Aimee Mann without thinking about a rain of frogs. Hell, I was even listening to one of Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden books that had a rain of frogs and I thought “Gee, an Aimee Mann song would be appropriate here.” This “chippy” tune wraps up her Smilers album and is probably the best track on the album.

8. Arcade Fire – Intervention
I swear these guys must have gone to college with me. This song sums up the way I felt about a lot of people I had to share the Baylor University campus with. I swear the only reason I ended up in Political Science was that I was afraid of all of the other people around me ending up running the world.

9. The Cherry Cokes – Bullet For Vapid Beer
OK, how awesome is this for a band concept: Japanese Irish Folk. No shits, these guys are Japanese and sing Irish folky-punk on par with the Flogging Molly. With most songs I can’t tell if they are singing in Japanese or English, but that sure as hell wouldn’t stop me from throwing back an Asahi Stout (do they even make that?) with these bastard-sans.

10. Wilco – Box Full of Letters
When Wilco first got going, I actually managed to insult Jeff Tweedy at a post-live show interview by saying both that this new incarnation wasn’t as good as Uncle Tupelo and that it sounded a lot like Cracker. Box Full of Letters summed that up for me, despite still being one of my favorite Wilco songs. I’m not saying I had any influence, but notice just how different Being There is from A.M.. I’m just sayin’.

11. 25%Toby – Skin Cancer
If you haven’t seen 25%Toby play live then you have truly missed out on one of the best treats to ever come out of Dallas. Toby Halbrooks is so insane on stage that they pretty much can’t play at many venues in Dallas anymore: due to equipment damage. I saw 25%Toby before I knew Toby really well and was seriously shocked by what transpired on stage. After getting to know Toby, I’m surprised anyone let him on stage in the first place.

12. The Germs – Richie Dagger’s Crime
This song always makes me want to hit things. Not people, mind you, just things. Actually, I’d really like to wreak havoc all over the produce department of a supermarket while this song blares over the P.A. system. I’m not sure why, but it sounds like a good idea.

13. The Warlocks – It’s Just Like Surgery
This is one of the ultimate mysteries of my music collection. Last week I see this band name on my iPod that I didn’t recognize, so I pop it on to see what it’s like. Out of the ether comes a band that is 85% Jesus and Mary Chain, 15% Placebo. Want it to be weirder? Apparently, I saw this band open for The Sisters of Mercy a couple of years ago. I own this CD and have no idea where it came from, but now I’m pissed that I haven’t been listening to them for the past couple of years. Hard living will do that to you.

14. Helium – Superball
Helium was one of those ultra-cool bands from my undergrad that made me and my friends give each other high-fives for knowing about. We were underground and cool because we thought Mary Timony was hot and sang edgy stuff and played with those guys who used to play with Mary Lou Lord after she got all acoustic-purist and would play the street corners along 6th Street in Austin during SXSW. Yeah, we were proto-hipster.

15. Transplants – Diamonds and Guns
Aside from reminding me of shampoo commercials, this song makes me feel way more hardcore than any old-school punk ever does. I think it’s the fact that it’s basically Rancid over some samples and crunchy guitars topped off with Skinhead Rob yelling about stuff. It’s like punk Gorillaz and a damn fine way to end a mix.