Some of my favorite bloggers have me thinking of nothing but CD mixes. Music's always somewhere near the forefront of my mind, but lately it's occupying the entire space (whatever isn't filled with Raymond Chandler quotes and Greek mythology) thanks to some great writing by my pals AmyHCAlum, Wiccachicky, JennJr, and Irishred. While Mr. Red brought me back to freshman year with "No Myth" by Michael Penn, the troika of ladies have been discussing mixed cds. AmyHCAlum and JennJr listed a couple a great mixes that got me thinking about how I love really disparate and expansive mixes. Wiccachicky's road trip mix reminded me of my desire to make mixes that are highly focused. I made a mix a few years back called "Starry-Eyed 60s" that all my friends are still crazy about. In my car are "Driving Across LA at Twilight" and "Sleepy Melody". In short, I'm a total mix-tape geek.

Well, a cover band I play with (Radio Star, as in "Video Killed The...") is playing at Chad's Place in Big Bear this weekend. We play a bunch of 80s stuff and some punk rock and people get drunk, dance, make out, and fight. It's a great time. Anyway, the drive from LA on Friday afternoon takes about three hours, which is a little more than the length of two 80-minute cds. So, to get me in the mood for our gig, I've just put together the first one, entitled "Happy Dancey Synth Stuff Circa The 80s". Not all tracks are technically from the 80s, and not all heavily feature synth, but they all sure as hell are melodic. It plays as follows:

1. The Hardest Walk - The Jesus & Mary Chain

2. Walking on Sunshine - Katrina & The Waves

3. Inbetween Days - The Cure

4. I Melt With You - Modern English

5. I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones

6. Sounds From The Street - The Jam

7. I Just Can't Get Enough - Depeche Mode

8. If You Leave - OMD

9. Everyday I Write The Book - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

10. Johnny, Are You Queer? - Josie Cotton

11. Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles

12. When You Were My Baby - The Magnetic Fields

13.Whenever You're On My Mind - Marshall Crenshaw

14. Space Age Love Song - A Flock of Seagulls

15. My Best Friend's Girl - The Cars

16. Blue Kiss - Jane Wiedlin

17. Bad Reputation - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

18. Here Comes Your Man - The Pixies

19. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da - The Police

20. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order

There it is. Let's hear suggestions for my next one. I'd love to hear some thoughts on mixes and music in general.

Why in the hell do so many people take themselves SO seriously? I work with an astounding number of people who routinely make prolix statements beginning with, "In my opinion..." or "While there's no doubt that...", and so forth. These are people who just got a B.A. from some WAC state school (nothing against that conference or the lovely area of our nation where its schools are to be found), and are now laboring under the delusion that they have apotheosized into erudite gurus of pedagogy.

No smiles, no pleasantries, not even nods. Were the majority of them not so unattractive, I could attribute their superciliousness to the Darwinian advantages enjoyed by pulchritudinous women. As it stands, I can only blame their ways on the sort of insecurity that plagues, I assume, those of inescapable mediocrity. Though it inspires in me a great self-loathing, I have taken to employing phrases and words which I am certain they will not understand when our district mandates that we collaborate. I have also, and this is even more deplorable, ended my silence in regard to the fact that I know two of the women of which I speak biblically. Over drinks, I even elaborated on one of the trysts, the account of which could not possibly be altered enough to make the woman involved appear as anything other than a depraved masochist with very little self-esteem (too many requests involving hair-pulling and bukake). I haven't listened to Power, Corruption & Lies by New Order since that night. It sounds dirty. That's what really bothers me, that I can't listen to one of the best albums of 1983.

Well, if anyone at work ever acts uppity, and you happen to have exchanged bodily fluids with them, you may just be able to (wrong as it may be) respond with some inappropriateness of your own. I admit that I have taken advantage of a horrible double-Standard in my vengeance. But in my defense, I never coined derogatory terms for this woman or coLored my language with charged adjectives. It was jUst the facts, and most people who are rouTinely snubbed at work would do the same, provided they had sufficient amunition. Oh, and skewed sense of justice.

So, Kim was alerted to the existence of my LA vs SF blog in which I touched upon the fact that she is not well-read. She feels misrepresented, though I am paraphrasing the diatribe she employed to inform me of this fact.

Short of rescinding my previous statements, none of which were spurious, I will say that Kim is much brighter than my blog may have indicated. Also, she's a lot of fun because she's small enough to pick up and have wall-sex with. On occasion, however, she climaxes fairly quickly and asks to stop, opting at that point to solicit her partner's orgasm manually or orally. The Amy Tan - Kim's family connection spawned from her statement, not my insensitivity. Amy Tan really is the ONLY good author from San Francisco, and Kim really did say that The Joy Luck Club reminded her of her family. Besides, Kim's Korean-American, and the characters in Tan's book are Chinese-American. Who's being insensitive here?

Anyway, I just wanted to clarify a few things. That's better.

I think 1965 was, if not the absolute best, one of the very best years in recorded music. The albums released that year were done so by a who's who of great bands, solo and jazz artists, and soul singers. In honor of that amazing year, here are my thoughts on the Top 5 Albums of 1965.

1) The Beach Boys Today! March 1965. Tracks of note: Do You Wanna Dance; When I Grow Up (To Be a Man); Dance, Dance, Dance; Please Let Me Wonder; Kiss Me Baby.

2) Rubber Soul - The Beatles. December 1965. Tracks of note: Drive My Car; Norwegian Wood (though it is overrated); You Won't See Me; I'm Looking Through You; In My Life.

3) Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan. August 1965. Tracks of note: Like A Rolling Stone; Queen Jane Approximately; Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues; Desolation Row.

4) A Love Supreme - John Coltrane. May 1965. Tracks of note: Entire album.

5) Mr. Tambourine Man - The Byrds. June 1965. Tracks of note: Mr. Tambourine Man; I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better; All I Really Want To Do; Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe; Chimes of Freedom.

Other great albums: Otis Blue - Oris Redding; Maiden Voyage - Herbie Hancock; Out of Our Heads - The Rolling Stones; The Who Sings My Generation.

Yes, Today! is better than Rubber Soul. Today! was the catalyst for the production/songwriting war in which Brian Wilson single-handedly took on Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Martin. The chord changes are adventurous, the vocals breathtaking and melifluous, and the melodies are beatific. Some of the song structures and backing tracks are so advanced, in fact, that were they not coupled with heavenly melodies, they would be unidentifiable as pop records (not necessarily a bad thing).

Someone told me the other day that Jack Johnson is the new Bob Dylan. I went to college with Jack Johnson. We lived in the same dorm. I've spoken with him. I've partaken in illicit substances with him. Jack Johnson is not the new Bob Dylan. Even if the generation he's part of is even more self-absorbed and smug than Dylan's, Jack's just nowhere close.

A girl i used to date from the bay area was constantly pontificating on the superiority of her beloved San Francisco. "There's so much culture, " she'd say. "People are smarter there," she'd spout.

Meanwhile, she remained unable to name one great author who called "The City by the Bay" (yuck) home. I had to remind her that Amy Tan was from San Fancisco. Amy Tan? Ok. She's not bad. But compared to (take your pick) Charles Bukowski, John Fante, or my L.A. laureate Raymond Chandler, Amy Tan is Danielle Steele. The discussion always devolved into something about how "The Joy Luck Club" reminded her of her family. Yeah, people are WAY smarter in the Bay Area.

No offense, Kim. I hope that thing with the dentist or whatever is working out. Koreatown is doing just fine without you.

McFly is gonna play the Garage (Santa Monica Boulevard between Vermont and Virgil/Hillhurst) again! Curtain  (haha) goes up at 10pm on April 8th. It's been awhile, and I realize there's probably no one from L.A. reading this, but what the hell?

The Ramones were better than the Sex Pistols. Malcolm McClaren only conceived of the idea for the Sex Pistols after seeing The Ramones in London in 1976. That fact alone provides the guys from NYC with a decided edge. Throw in the fact that the Sex Pistols were, Steve Jones being the exception, a bunch of clowns that hung around McClaren's shop ("Sex") who he enlisted to "play in a punk band", and more of the picture is revealed. Seeing that they were formed by a producer eager to exploit an image and a burgeoning trend, and composed of guys who "looked the part" but were not well-versed, or even adequate, musically, the case can be made that the Sex Pistols were, in a way, the first boy band.

Comparing the groups in any way results in the conclusion that the Ramones played better, had better songs, and made better albums. For every "God Save The Queen" and "Anarchy in The U.K.", the Ramones had "Sheena is a Punk Rocker", "I Wanna Be Sedated", "Rockaway Beach", and "The KKK Took My Baby Away". Album by album comparison leaves the Ramones atop once again, with Ramones, Leave Home, and Rocket to Russia all at least equaling Never Mind the Bullocks, and these are only the Ramones' first three albums. Member by member comparison? Johnny Ramone created the all-downstroke "buzzsaw" guitar sound that Steve Jones often attempted to mimick. Joey wrote the bulk of his band's songs and was the original subversive frontman, while John Lydon became synonymous with punk because he parodied exactly what he was supposed to represent. Paul Cook was solid, but Tommy revolutionized punk rock drums, using eighth-notes across on the high-hat, kick drum on the "1" and snare on the "3". This style of drums was then perfected by Marky Ramone, referred to by Jerry Only of the Misfits as "the best drummer in the world." As for the bassists, DeeDee was the original heroin-shooting, backup vocal-shouting bass player, while the Pistols thought Glenn Matlock was too nice and replaced him with Sid Vicious. The latter bassist was described on more than one occasion as "trying to be DeeDee" by members of the New York City new-wave scene.

Stack it "Any Way You Want It", the Ramones were better. A more in-depth examination of songs is to follow.

tattoos

books

cds

shirts

guitars

more to follow....

I'm finally off-track. I declined intersession. I'm subbing for the librarian for a couple of days this week and that's it. My girl and I just moved into a place overlooking the river and plenty of gorgeous city lights. Things are looking pretty sweet. But...

Is there something nefarious lurking out there in the storm (I can't remember what the sky looks like when not blanketed by myriad cumulous clouds)? Could things really be nice and serene for awhile? Is this borderline-bliss just an ephemeral thing? I'm going to answer no, yes, no, respectively.

This Christmas ranks as one of the best in memory. We also ushered in the New Year nicely, and both bode well for the future. I'm going to shed the pessimism that seemed to envelope me last semester. Things really are OK!

Speaking of rankings...

Top Side-1s, Track-1s of all time (in honor of High Fidelity):

1) "Wouldn't It Be Nice", The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds (1966). 2) "Blitzkrieg Bop", The Ramones, Ramones (1976). 3) "Let's Get It On", Marvin Gaye, Let's Get It On (1971). 4) "Like A Rolling Stone", Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited (1965). 5) "Debaser", The Pixies, Doolittle (1989).

This is my list in its current incarnation. It changes from time to time, particularly the #5 slot.

"They say I got brains, but they ain't doin' me no good...."

The end of November used to be fall semester's death knell. I rejoiced in the advent of the holidays in years past. They trumpeted the proximity of vacation, of Fun, Fun, Fun.

Now, they tell me, I've been elected in some "unofficial" student poll as one of the 3 teachers students most want for their intersession and Saturday school teacher. I'm quite flattered. However, the news came intertwined with a request from my principal that I simply teach Saturday school and every intersession from now until the kids decide they like someone else more. For the past three vacations I've been teaching Special-Education intersession, which is four weeks long. From now on, it'll be six weeks with the general-ed population. I can feel myself deflating as the semesters roll by. I fear that all the ebullience and equanimity they somehow see in me is melting away.

I'm going to someday use my brains to determine an opportune time to say no.

Well, Dr. Weiner, I took your assignment of a couple weekends past and ran with it. Christine and I ran away to San Diego and stayed on Coronado Island in a neat old place. Apparently Marilyn Monroe's ghost hangs out there sometimes. We spent all day Saturday at the zoo. I'm not quite sure why, but I can watch any species of ape do anything and not tire of it. We ate at a french (normally not my favorite) restaurant over a pretty good bottle of chardonnay. We were the only people upstairs.

The escape was good for my soul.

I'm warming up to my new students. However, a good indicator of how much I miss last year's eighth graders is the fact that I'm taking a few of them to lunch on an upcoming Saturday. Another former teacher of theirs and I are going to take four of them out for a burger or something, maybe to The Grove. Some of our kids rarely leave an area just a few blocks in radius. I want to show them some neat stuff that's not all that far away.

We're leaving town this weekend. Christine's been teetering on that precipice that is a work/CSUN propagated breakdown. I myself am not. However, there's always the specter of it. Maybe the small trip is a proactive measure for me. It will be fun, regardless of the impetus. "Let's go away for awhile...."

I've already contracted my first flu of the school year. After deciding not to get sick this year (a resolution based on my horrid experience with some equatorial strain of what felt like a plague), I quickly succumbed to illness again. Without fail, and regardless of the time of year, at least one of my students is coughing and spraying phlegm about the classroom. It is invariably one who loves high-fives and holding hands, and who prefers the sneak-attack version of both aforementioned forms of contact. Ever felt a hot, slimy something creep into your hand as you knelt to assist a student? One's intial reaction is shock. This is followed by revulsion and the gradual realization that it is a hand, that it is HIS hand. HE being the kid who's coughed himself silly all week, the kid who needs x-rays to check for broken ribs. Don't touch your face, don't touch your face.

Okay, let's finish up Friday (it's homeroom now, and I don't have one this year!) and hit the road.

"Don't worry, baby. Everything will turn out allright."

Me and the guys had a gig the night we heard about Joey. We got tickets to see Dee Dee at the Key Club 2 days before he died. When I heard about Johnny I was coming home from class. On Saturday (10/2), Erich and I are gonna play a couple Ramones songs, "Oh Oh, I Love Her So" and "My My Kind of a Girl", at Zen Sushi in Silverlake.

At first it didn't seem a bombastic enough tribute, but I think they'd appreciate two lifelong fans playing guitars and singing together just fine.

The weather is finally making it feel like autumn. This time of year always reminds me of overcast afternoons, pumpkins, and walking around Miracle Mile. I guess the first two are almost archetypal, while the first is just part of my upbringing. This weekend may bring them all together. I think Christine and I will go to LACMA, and maybe hunt for pumpkins.

We've both hit a bit of a wall already this semester. Four of my students were in a B-Track classroom during the summer. It's a class notorious for its laisse faire attitude in regard to discipline. I don't yell at my students, nor does their behavior normally necessitate many reminders or consequences, but this is due to the fact that I teach them what acceptable behavior is for our class. I realize every class is different, but the students I've inherited are accustomed to getting up and roaming when they feel the need, yelling out questions and statements regardless of who happens to be speaking, and teasing one another a great deal. We have lost countless hours already this semester retraining (I use this word without the slightest pejorative implications) them to behave like young adults. My students know they receive frequent breaks and opportunities to stand and move about, but they need structure when we are not on break. It has been an incredibly arduous semester due to the influx of the new students. I don't blame them, for the precedent was set in their previous class.

Things are improving with the new kids. Maybe by November we'll be running along smoothly. Hey Christine! It's "time to get alone"....