Sunday, December 23, 2007

Tony Randall

Tony Randall is probably best known for playing the role of neat freak Felix Unger on the sitcom The Odd Couple. If I really tried I could probably use that fact as an intro to a discussion of something 'heavy' like theoretical physics or something. Think about it: Felix was ultra-orderly, his roommate Oscar was a slob. Order vs. Chaos, anyone? But that won't happen here. I don't wanna talk about Tony Randall the actor. I'm gonna talk about Tony Randall the song.

Tony Randall is a song by west coast riot grrrl legends Bikini Kill. It is somewhat atypical - more sing-songy than a guitar-driven bombast. Thematically it fits in well with other more aggresive tracks.

I see two major themes running through this song. (Your mileage may vary. Part of the fun of this sort of thing. Don't tell me I'm wrong - PROVE IT. Won't hurt my feelings. Promise:) )

First theme: popular culture often gives a skewed view of the way things are. Or in the words of the lyrics: "false history". Ironically, this skew can be enlightening. The lies we tell often say as much about us as the truths.

Second theme: (and this is totally complimentary to the first) a mismatch betweeen the intention of certain situations and the intentions of some that would take advantage of those situations.

I'm referring to the couplet "this is a punk club/Not a strip bar". We came here for music (cribbing from Comsolidaed there :) ), not to provide eye candy.

And, this being my blog, I have examples from my own life. Examples are good. We like examples.

I'll spare you the example involving Arch Enemy's We Will Rise. I tried writing that but couldn't get it to come out right. So you just get the second, more self-effacing example. Or as I affectionatly think of it, "why Dave is an absolute failure at picking women up at bars/shows/whatever".

This is a long standing phenomenon with me. If I go out to listen to a band (and I rarely go out for any other non-work reason), I'm there to LISTEN TO A BAND. I'm more likely to ask someone to leave me alone than I am to get to know them. Doesn't really do much for my social life.

But at least I always have a REALLY good answer for "how was the show?"

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Phone fun

I'm actually starting to have fun with my phone.

It was really just a matter of reorienting my expectations. I was getting so frustrated at difficulty doing what I wanted to do a certain way that I was losing track of the bigger goal - using the phone in a way that improves my day-to-day existence. I don't have trouble getting things from my phone to my computer at all, so ...

I've added on an unlimited data plan and mostly worked the kinks out. During downtime at work or whatever I've been keeping up with some mp3 blogs I just don't have time to otherwise. If I hear something I like I save it to a storage card for easy transfer to my desktop. Makes it a lot easier to get a feel for what is out there when the majority of the download happens while I am doing something else.

If anyone still thinks mp3 blogs are evil, don't forget ... I TOOK A DAY OFF WORK to buy the US release of We Are The Pipettes, even though I already had mp3 copies of 13 or 14 of the 16 tracks on it. Make something I want, and it is very likely I'll go to some length to support the artist, even a little bit.

As usual, surfing the net leads to some unexpected places. The other day I ended up reading about various 'flavors' of feminism. Didn't set out to ... was just following links. Helped me make some stuff kicking around my mind more concrete, though. I've been toying with a critical/social theory of disability (it's the sort of thing us over educated liberals think is fun). Why? Why not. Helps me articulate my experiences to put them in a more formal framework.

Speaking of concrete experience, got a little more than I would like this past week. My left leg decided that moving in a useable manner just wasn't something it wanted to do. My legs are usually a bit stiff, but this was that exponentially. The very definition of "stiff as a board". Identified what was possibly going on, dealt with it, but still. Missed 2 days of work. Hard to go to work when you can't walk down the hallway to your desk.

Ah, the stuff I have to put up with sometimes.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Because I Can

This post being done from my phone.

My PHONE!!!