It's been awhile since Brandon and I talked about music. Last night, on our way back from dinner at Moody's, we discussed his theory that music experiences renewal on a Chinese calendar -- every 12 years, a new sound or aesthetic emerges. Which means we're about due.
Think about it. The last big new movement occurred in 1990 with the rise of "alternative," marked by the release of Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten. Twelve years back from there was 1978, the year after the birth of punk, and 1965/66 was the beginning of the British Invasion. Going back to 1954, was the year Alan Freed moved his rock'n'roll show to New York.
So what's the next wave, the analogy to grunge in the year 2002? I'm not sure, but an early leader would have to be low-fi rock. Barebones bands like the Strokes, the White Stripes, etc. seem to be part of something, but who's to say? That might burn out quickly. What other styles do you see trending toward significance?
I just found my journal from when I went to France in 5th Grade as part of an exchange program; coincidentally, April 29 was the day we flew home. Here's some excerpts, all sic:
10-4-86
Last night for dessert we had a chocolate chicken with candy eggs under it. I got the head and a side. So far my stay has been "très bien." I have played G.I. Joe a lot with Nöel-Alexandre.
16-4-86I was sleeping until 11:47 A.M. After lunch we went to Louvre and Sacre Coeur. I can't describe them because we didn't stay long at either place. But I did see Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. Also, I saw Montmartre.
I got to school a little early because we were going to VERSAILLES today. When we got there it started to drizzle....It was hard to understand our quide because of his French accent and he talked English not American. Lunch was terrible. We ate standing up and in the rain. After lunch we went to Marie Antoinette's Trainon and hameau. It was a fun trip.
As we were coming in at O'Hare airport, it seemed like the pilot wa splaying chicken with the 7-47. I nearly threw up....It was amazing!! Everyone was there! We had a Welcome home get-together. Then afterwords Pete, Danny, Mom and I went to the McDonald's oasis. I had 9 chicken McNuggets, fries and a Coke®.
Every so often, Brandon asks me to go camping with him. On these occasions, I think back to my past camping experiences, and generally say no.
The last time I went camping, I was on a canoe trip on the Wisconsin River with a group from Northwestern. We camped on a sand dune, and just after we pitched our tents a thunderstorm whipped up. Most of us huddled in the tents, while another group ran from tent to tent pushing spikes back into the sand and generally keeping the tents standing against the fierce winds. After it blew over, we made a fire with damp logs and cooked dinner, watching the storm from over a tree bank. The lightening was amazing. We went to sleep, and I woke up in a puddle. It took forever to warm up.
The second-to-last time I went camping, it was in a little state park that happened to be a protected breeding ground of a type of black locust. My friend Mike and I camped in a dirt-floor site about 50 feet from a lake. The mosquitos were really bad, so Mike sprayed our tent with Off!, not realizing that the repellant would break the waterproof seal on the tent. Naturally, it rained, and we woke up with our heads in puddles. Our campground was a mudpit, so I got dressed standing on one of my shoes. Our dinner for the second night was stolen by raccoons, so we stole some pig corn from a farm next to a gas station. It tasted terrible, like pesticide.
Most of the times I went camping as a kid, it rained, and we ended up sleeping in puddles. The next time I go, I'll be sure to bring a towel, so I can dry off from the puddle that will surely be there. I'll also bring warm clothes, kept in a freezer bag until needed, and a lockable cooler to protect my food.
Then again, it'll probably still be several years before Bran convinces me to go camping again. I'll have plenty of time to prepare.
I need to get up earlier. I've been getting to work even later than usual, and it's starting to cramp my style.
I'm discovering I might be allergic to pollen -- on the nice, dry days, my head feels pressurized and my eyes are itchy and I can't concentrate; on the wet, rainy days, I feel clear and alert. I know it's time to visit a doctor, but apathy keeps me from making an appointment. With the dentist, too. The bond on my front tooth whose back is chipped off is slowly coming apart, and it feels weird and thick to my tongue. The divet in my back molar feels bigger. My bones ache when it's cold. And my knees ache when I walk up stairs. And I think I'm hypoglycemic. And my skin is too dry. And I don't sleep well so I wake up tired and late. And I still get zits sometimes.
And I'm falling apart at the seems.
The last of the good-time boys. The only one I've ever loved. The killer instinct. The heartbreak of psoriasis. The best little whorehouse. The crack of dawn. The agony of defeat. The man you all know and love. The face of evil. The turning of the screw. The name remains the same. The mission, should you choose to accept it. The play by play. The sweet smell of success. The stuff of dreams. The look you want, when you want it. The time is right. The little things. The way it ought to be. The feel of cotton. The rest of the world. The season of risk. The terms of the agreement. The handful of dissenters. The reason we're here. The firm's commitment. The feeling I get. The stakes are high. The long goodbye. The corrections. The crosswords. The credits. The words you live by.
OK, this is it. This is the new me3dia.com. Look any different? Probably not, for the most part. There's something new on the right: ...(aside)..., where I'll be posting the tidbits I come across throughout the day. We'll see how it goes.
Actually, for some, this page looks extremely different -- it'll explode all over the page and they won't be able to read it. But hopefully those are just the people using Netscape 4.7, which isn't advisable anyway. Anyone else having trouble with the new layout, please comment or email me and let me know what's wrong (and how to fix it, if you know how).
Thank you.
For the time being, I'm starting from scratch -- no pre-Movable Type entries here. If you're interested in seeing the old stuff, visit the Blogger archives.
Note: the proprietor of this website is an idiot. in his last Blogger post, he claimed the post was number 300. This was not true. In actuality, it was somewhere closer to 400. Therefore, this entry, formerly listed as threehundredone, is now fourhundredone. Synchronize your watches accordingly.