The Music of the 90s

Man, the 90s were great. I'm watching Top 100 Songs of the 90s, and it always makes me nostalgic for the 90s music scene. I'm sure in a decade, I'll miss Beyonce and Eminem and Jay-Z and Green Day---wait.

Just kidding. They were around in the 90s and are still around today. But seriously, that was a unique decade for music. The emergence of hip hop (yes, I know it was around before 1990, but it wasn't as mainstream) and grunge, and the new direction of pop music was a really experimental time which allowed for individuality.

I don't think the same thing can be said today. There are some gems, of course, but I feel that is more segregated. Or maybe that's just because I watched a lot of MTV and VH1 in the 90s, and had a grungy older brother, so I was exposed to a wider variety of music. And since I was a kid, how could I say I didn't like something? Besides that song "You're still the one," which annoyed me. I didn't like that song. The rest I liked. (I like it now, but then, you couldn't get me to stay in the same room as that song)

Maybe I'm just too laid back to have tastes. And by laid back, I mean that I'm uptight, but easygoing. I thrive in stressful situations, but I roll with the punches. In any case, I rarely dislike music. It's a form of art, and self-expression. Even if it doesn't move me as much as other songs, how can I dislike someone's inner soul? Or even if they just write it for money, how can I hate something that moves someone else? Even if it physically moves people (try not dancing to Baby Got Back)

There are exceptions, of course. I dislike music on the basis of lyrics. "Fix You" by Coldplay made me hate Coldplay, for example. Arrogant bastards. Also, I like Rage Against the Machine, but only 1 song at a time.

I hate country western. I like country, and bluegrass, and folk, and most pop country. I guess I like bluegrass, folk and female country stars. Dolly Parton, Shania Twain, Reba McEntire, Jewel, even Taylor Swift. I have a lot of respect for women in such a sexist and male-dominated industry. Especially those who mean what they sing, wrote what they sing and/or play their music while they're singing it. Most country western songs involve this cowboy losing his little lady because he drank too much and it made him sad, so he's drinking more. Yeah, can't empathize or sympathize with you, deadbeat alkie. Get some help and face the consequences.

Granted, most mainstream rap isn't much better. Drugs, bitches, guns and cars. I could care less. I love meaningful rap that isn't bragging about how they're so G, and so real because they disrespect women, do a lot of crack, and shoot people. Can't stand it. Grow up. Even angsty emo kids singing about how they hate their dad are more real than they are. It's all a front, imo. They aren't impenetrable macho gods. They're just as experiential as the rest of us.

Anyway, this was probably enough topics for like 10 posts. Ah well. I don't have many opinions about music, and yet, I have as many as anybody else, I guess.

Jetlag!

Wow. It's 9:20pm. I am just nodding off at this point. I have been on a 9-to-9 sleep schedule. It's really really weird. I suppose it'll get better a few days out, but I have been unable to sleep past 9, and unable to stay awake past 9. This is unusual for me. So much so that I am not making sense. Well, I am making sense, but I am being redundant. Goody.

Anyway, watching the Grammys at the moment. I think pop music is finally back. Mainstream music sucked this past decade, imo. I mean, there were good bands and good albums obviously, but there were a lot of bad bands and bad albums too. I think the bad ones are finally weeded out. That nasty spell of pop-punk is mostly over, and the ultra-patriotic cowboy country is pretty much over and now the music industry has improved. Now we have good dance music with the new gay icon Lady Gaga. Granted there are a lot of bad popular songs still out (Miley Cyrus, for example) but no more Hillary Duff or Fall Out Boy.

Anyway, my uninformed, half-thought out music rant is over. I assume people disagree, but ah well. It's my blog. I can post all the half-formed illogical opinions I want! So there!

I just want you to know that I am really excited for Tuesday. Not only can I caucus quickly, but it's the premiere of season 6 of LOST! Also, I get my new boxes of contacts so I don't have to wear glasses all the time. Kick ass! Yea! Whoo! Tuesday will rock!

I think I'm going to bed. It's 9:40pm/4:40am so........ I'm tired. I will close with a short list of things I missed while in Europe:

Bitter MN cold
Sweatpants
Rice
Microwaves
Getting mail
Reading the newspaper
Meals that don't cost $30
friends and family

Things I will most about Europe:
Music channels that actually play music videos
Humanely-raised meat
Tasty and cheap fruit
Integrated diversity
Long relaxed meals

A Hot Topic

I was thinking/reading about abortion today.

While I am personally pro-life, I think abortion is and should be a legal option for women who have no other options (politically pro-choice, I suppose). I don't really know anyone who thinks abortion is a good thing, but making it illegal isn't going to reduce the number of abortions. It will just cause more people to die from abortions because they are unable to do it safely.

Proportionally, more women die carrying a child to term in this country than do women who have abortions. Right now, it is a safe medical procedure. Yes, the baby's life ends, but women do not get abortions without taking this into account. The mother and the people who support her have decided that this is the only viable option. I don't think anyone has the right to tell her/them otherwise.

The best way to prevent abortion is to prevent unwanted pregnancy. To me, this is a no-brainer. I think abstinence-only sex education is stupid. It doesn't work in prevent pregnancy or STDs. Yes, abstinence works 100% of the time, but far from 100% of people are abstinence. Comprehensive sex education is a life-long education. Abstinence works until you decide to stop being abstinent. Say you get married, but don't want to have kids right away, or want to know how to have sex in the first place!

They should have basic sex-ed in high school, and then have optional sex ed II either as an elective in school or as a community education course. People should learn how to have sex safely, make dental dams out of condoms (or even know what a dental dam is), what kind of lube to use for what activity, etc.

Just my two cents, anyway. Feel free to disagree.

Chuck Norris doesn't get old...

He roundhouse kicks time in the face!

I just read "Black Belt Patriotism" by Chuck Norris.

I was pleasantly surprised! It was a really decent book. While his sources, for the most part, are not exactly dependable, and his opinions far from supported by the general population, his writing, overall, is very clear and persuasive. I was even agreeing with his extremely capitalist viewpoints. But I'm the polar opposite of an economics expert, so I have no idea what works and what doesn't. He could be right, he could be wrong.

Black Belt Patriotism is Chuck Norris' critique of today's America, particularly "what is destroying our country" as well as the solutions he believes would fix the problems. Basically, we Americans are enslaved by greed, overrun by illegal immigrants, immoral godless drones, murdering apathetic obese liberals who have lost our roots.

While I obviously didn't agree with most of what he said (I am part of the problem, in his opinion, being liberal, queer, atheist, pro-choice and of the "transgender sexuality"), I agree with a few of his main points.

While I agree that we have become too greedy and materialistic, 2/3 of Americans are fat and it's their fault and they'll suffer the consequences if they don't bother to exercise and eat right, and some illegal immigrants are bad (while others are hardworking decent folk, though he mostly focuses on the drug cartels and gangs), and we need to reconnect with our history and foundations of our country, I disagree that teaching the Bible in schools and making everyone a Christian will do the trick. I disagree that non-religious folk are immoral, and that Christian folk are automatically more moral than the rest. There are many moral non Christians, and many immoral Christians. I think that homosexuality, bisexuality and the "transgender sexuality" (which, by the way, Mr. Norris, isn't a sexual orientation. It's a gender identity) as well as non-nuclear families, are not part of the problem. There are many decent, moral people who have come from alternative families and "broken homes." And parents who choose to work can also be good, active parents. The Bible is not the answer for everyone. Kudos to you if it's your answer, but the Bible isn't the Law. I, for one, am glad the Bible isn't taught in public schools, and I think that students should be able to worship individually, but no religion should be institutionalized into school curriculum. The country isn't made up of just Christians.

Oh, and the kid who got an F on the evolution paper didn't follow the instructions. If the teacher wanted a paper on each students believes in evolution vs. creationism, she would have asked for it. She asked for a paper on evolution. The kid, who doesn't believe in evolution, wrote it on creationism instead. Great that a 10 year old kid knows what he was taught at church, but if a teacher asked for a paper on Islam, would you write about Christianity instead? You always stand to benefit from learning about something different from your own beliefs. You can learn about something and not believe it. I agree with the scientific community that evolution is the likely answer to how we came to be, and I do not think we are made in God's image. We are more than glorified apes because we have developed the power to be, not because someone made us better than apes.

Also, eat right and exercise. Chuck Norris says so. It's not that hard.

Anyway, a good read, even if you disagree with a lot of it, like I do. It's always fun to stretch your comfort zone, and it's a pretty easy read too.

I see him there and I feel pity

Today I watched Hamlet 2. It was pretty funny, but mostly I just felt bad for the guy. (I give it 3 out of 5 stars. Not great, but far from bad). It just reminded me how shitty some lives and places can be.

Granted, I don't like when people say things like 'oh, your life is so tragic. It must suck to be you," (they say it much more tactfully, but you know what they mean). One person once told me that they were glad they weren't me. I wanted to punch him. Granted we were only 9 and he wasn't me nor was I him, but that was a blow. Pity is the worst feeling in the world.

My opinion: if you feel pity for someone, keep it to yourself. Give them sympathy and support, but don't tell them that you pity them. It's like someone saying there is no possible way they'd ever want to be you. And no one's life sucks that much.

The guy in the movie had a really shitty time during the movie, but his life could have been a lot worse. Life is always worth living unless you are no longer willing or able to try to live it. We are all extremely fortunate to have life and to have as good of a life as we have.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox, now. : )

Another tattoo post

I love tattoos. I love looking at other peoples, and thinking about them and poorly drawing them and imagining them.

I always wonder the inspiration behind people's tattoos. I am always sorely disappointed when they just got them because all their friends got stars together or they just wanted a tattoo and picked it out of the book. I guess I feel something so permanent should have meaning to the person it's joined with. Kate from Jon and Kate Plus 8 regrets getting her tattoos. She got two stupid tattoos though. I kind of doubt that Winnie the Pooh is a huge part of her life, or that it ever was. I think she just wanted a tattoo and picked the Winnie the Pooh flash.

That's not to say that the standard tattoo from the book can't be meaningful, and sometimes looking through the book is helpful. I looked at all the suns trying to find the right rays that I wanted. I ended up combining a few different suns to get mine.

When I see really unique tattoos that are just ugly or disturbing or ridiculous, I always want to ask them why they got that one. Like the legs around the armpit hair, or the various crazy genital tattoos or the cat butt/belly button tattoo. Wtf, people? I mean, why do you want your armpit to look like a woman's pubes? Why do you want a six pack of beer cans tattooed on your beer belly?

But then there are really cool ones. I really like tree tattoos. I hope to get a large oak tree on my side one day. I like the cherry blossom tattoos, but they're not for me. Amazingly beautiful though. I also like characters and tribal tattoos, though I probably will not get them. I was watching Craig Fergson, and some celebrity was on there who thought her tattoo said "Determined Love" or something like that but translated to "Rough Sex" colloquially. And while tribals look cool, I don't personally take any meaning in them. Tramps stamps can be so sexy, but then again, they are called 'tramp stamps' and there is a lot of notions about them. That and it's not a discreet enough place for me.

On another tattoo note, why do wolves/dragons/tigers/carnivores always have to be snarling fearsomely in tattoos? Why can't they just be hanging out, looking alert?