Saturday, March 11, 2006

Blondies Induction Gives Me a Super Cramp!

Once a year I get myself all worked up when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame lists their new inductees. It is not so much of who they let in these days, it's who they let in, in comparison to who is not in.
The first few years of inductions it is real hard to argue about any of them. I don't think we are going to have any discussions about whether The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who or if even Pink Floyd should be in. But the last few years some interesting artists and groups of admittingly "good" quality and have been inducted, including the recent (or forthcoming)induction of Blondie (?!?), while other "great" groups like Supertramp and Yes are on the outside looking in.
Granted all of this is mostly a matter of personal taste, but let's go to the map here shall we and compare some of the more recent additions.
Start with Blondie, and then we go with Black Sabbath, ZZ Top, Bob Seger, Jackson Browne(????),Talking Heads, Tom Petty (with his Heartbreakers) and Elvis Costello.
Like I said these are good groups, but are they "Hall of Famers"?
ZZ Top is in, but doesn't that mean The Doobie Brothers should be in.
Black Sabbath and AC/DC being in opens the door for Van Halen (with either lead singer)doesn't it?
Jackson Browne is a great songwriter, but so is Barry Manilow.
A huge insult, Herb Alpert is in, but not as a performer, only as a collaborator with Jerry Moss in creating A&M records.
And does anybody other than music critics really like The Band?
I'm not really interested in debating these issues, just with the comparisons and the evidence presented, next year induct Supertramp into the hall or it will be the "Crime of the Century"!
Have a great weekend!

Sunday, March 05, 2006

10 Questions

Questions?
Things I've pondered to help explain why I haven’t posted in over two and a half months.

1. What do Tiger Woods and Andre Agassi have in common?
They have both recently played in major tournaments in their sport in the “Terror” nation of The United Arab Emirates. Do you see players of that stature playing in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, etc.

2. Why is my cat crazy?
He must think the likes of Galileo, Newton and Einstein are full of #$%&. He is constantly experimenting the laws of gravity, and those experiments vary from my razor, to my keys, my cell phone, right up to the antique floral vase. And what about his love for Q-Tips?!? It would one thing if he would tip over the box and play with them, but he plays with the used ones! (icky!)

3. Is it mathematically possible that all snowflakes are of different shapes?
Granted no two humans are the same, but there are races, colors and things called genes to help distinguish.

4. Did I leave the oven on?
I don’t have an iron, so I have to fret about something. (Don’t I?)

5. Let’s say some people get their wish, and gay marriage in most states is banned. To help this hold up constitutionally and even things up those states pass laws that take away benefits of “straight” married couples(no tax breaks, health benefits, etc.). As a “straight” couple would you still want to get married, basically on love alone?
You would still be in the favor of most churches, and basically get God’s hall pass for knooky.

6. Should Brett Favre retire?
I’m naming my first six kids(if I ever have any!) Brett, so hanging around and possibly breaking a few more records won’t hurt much. But if the Packers had not won their last game of the season, it would have been their worst season since 1957, and if you can’t beat either the Bears or the Vikings at least once in a season, maybe it’s time to hang it up. Or maybe the coaching change (the guy with no coaching experience to replace the guy with no coaching experience) will make the difference.

7. Should I apologize?
I’ve noticed a lot of bloggers apologize when they haven’t posted in a while. I haven’t quite figured that out yet. My idea of how blogs got started and became popular, was that a person wrote down his/her thoughts as they and when they wanted. I didn’t think many people signed contracts to their readers promising that they would write something everyday, and that others would hold them to that. I find hard to believe that there is somebody out there saying, “I wish that creep Pete Clay would write something! It’s been two and a half months!” and I certainly haven’t gotten any e-mail or comments saying that either. But if there is anybody out there that has missed me or The Radioaffliction, I apologize for taking so long to write something.
I do want to apologize to Jon who wrote me a very nice e-mail waaay back in December, and has a very nice site of his own, Anxiety, Addiction and Depression Treatments.
Thank you Jon for your comments, and I apologize again for taking so long to respond!

8. What day is it?
With more attempts to separate God from our lives (and to be honest I’m undecided on whether that is good or bad), with “In God We Trust” and “One nation Under God” being put into question. Could the calendar be next? Certainly that has religious implications doesn’t it? Especially since the whole B.C. (but now B.C.E.) A.D. change over, and wasn’t it the Pope who first set the calendar into motion? And do we really want months of the year named after Roman emperors? Why not just start over with day 1. No months, years, decades, etc. We just count the days ahead and move forward. No worrying about Monday coming, and that pointless day Tuesday(it’s not as bad as Monday, but still too far from Friday). Just move on. Think about it when you ask your boss for vacation time. "I’ll be taking days 2567 to 2574 off, and don’t give me any lip, and I haven’t had a vacation since day 2381." And would you be so anxious about your age, “Hey you don’t look so bad for someone who is 13,173 days old!”

9. Are we living in the Past?
Continuing on from the last question a little bit. I’ve noticed that in retail they base improvement, and what plans and goals to make in the future based solely (or mostly) on what the company did this time in previous years. In some cases, managers and employees are held or their wages based on that formula. I can’t help but think. Are you freaking nuts!!!!!!
I don’t want to get into a philosophical discussion on determinism or how the past influences or indicates the future, I just don’t think you have to always look back first before you move forward. To me that formula only works when all the factors from the previous year are in place this year, and that is never the case. There are different managers, employees, CEO’s, etc., different economical factors (recession one year vs. recovery), the month last year started on a Tuesday, this year it started on a Wednesday, sounds stupid but it makes a difference.
Look at your own life, could you base things on what you did last year. I can’t. I had a smaller apartment, I had a different job (that I hated), my cell phone battery held a charge longer, I didn’t have a girlfriend (wait, still don’t, skip this example), I spent less time with my friends (because of the job I hated), and so on.
Start with day 1, and move forward.

10. Want to be on The Radioaffliction?
Starting next week I’ll be interested in interviewing people who write blogs or run their own business for the show. I’m also looking for a co-host(s) for the show, so that hopefully it doesn’t take months between shows and posts!
If you are interested e-mail me at radioaffliction@gmail.com

Thanks for you time, and have a wonderful day(1).

Radioaffliction Classics with The Bummin Cousins: Delightfully Weird Streaming!

The Bummin Cousins Peter A. Clay and Jim Reid are back with a wonderful podcast about the things found in Thrift Stores and Flea Markets. Cl...