Calculate your chances...negative...negative...negative!

Friday, June 30, 2006

Note to the Thrift Stores...

Gaah, I know this is sounding like a thrift blog but, whatever. I mean, what else an I going to write about? Indie rock?

Anyway, if I could make one suggestion to the thrift stores of the world it would be this; either put your CDs at the front of the store in a case or expect them to be stolen. I can't count the number of empty CD cases I find thrifting. I fully understand that people probably donate empty CD cases the same as they donate broken Lexmark printers and hotel shampoo. But I have a hard time believing that every three out of four CDs donated are missing the discs.

And yeah, I've been thrifiting again. Let me just say this, if I found what I think I found this afternoon, I may have one of the coolest things I've ever found at a thrift on my hands.

UPDATE: the cool thing is cool, but not as cool as I'd hoped. Was it $15 worth of cool? Yes, I'd say it was, but I'm weird like that. I'll be cluing you in soon enough.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Luck O'the Thrift Score

Luck has an interesting way of factoring into life sometimes. For me, that occasionally manifests itself in thrifting. Granted, I'll go through long dry spells when I don't find anything interesting, but then I'll hit a patch where things that have entered my mind recently magically show up.

OK. I don't really believe any of that crap. If I do have summoning power, I wish someone would tell me how to fine tune it a little better.

If you've been following the story so far, I'm searching for a CED videodisc player, a creature I still haven't seen in all my years of thrifting despite often times finding discs. Why? Well, I got a few movies I want to play. That and it's a piece of vintage technology I've always wanted to own. I'm crazy like that.

Well, stop number one and what do I find?



Ahahaha! So close and yet so far. Now, I'm not complaining as this new laserdisc player is a much better player than the one I own. (It's a Laseractive, which gives me "I've got an obscure videogame console you'll probably never own" bragging rights, but it's actually a pretty mediocre movie player.) No remote, of course, but it appears to be working fine.

I don't know which of those CDs is more embarassing, the hippy jam fusion of Ozric Tentacles or the proto-grunge of Green River.

For my second stop, I actually found a few items, but I didn't feel like waiting in line to check out. Nothing too exciting, a late 70s McCoy Tyner LP and Neil Diamond's Silo album. Wasn't really worth the time. I'm a busy man, you know.

To represent this thrifting stop, I'd like to share with you one of the images returned on a Google search for "this space intentionally left blank."



Stop three (hey, said I was I busy man) netted me a few more odds and ends.



Yes, I found MORE BLASTED CED DISCS!!!!!!! Still no player! Gaaaaah!

Well, it's not like I haven't seen the original Godzilla a million times. I guess this purchase was like all the 8-tracks I own of favorite albums. Something cool about owning a beloved movie in a clunky obscure format like this, even if I can't play the damn thing.

On the CD side, I can't remember if I like the Mission UK or not and I've now finished my Kitchens of Disctincion collection, except the rarities disc that comes with the greatest hits album. Whoopie!

I Know You Care...


For those of you who have visited my mySpace page (man that sounds incorrect,) I finally have a copy of Killdozer on the way. I don't know what my obsession with this movie is, I guess it's like my thing with The Corpse Grinders. For years I'd heard about it and it just built up this image in my mind of what it was like.

Of course, I'm sure Killdozer is going to be like The Corpse Grinders in the sence that it's going to be nowhere near as good as I want it to be. There's just no way it could be.

And by good I mean so bad, it's good. Corpse Grinders had a great premise (cats start murdering owners after eating cat food made from people) but the magic just didn't happen. Killdozer promises possessed construction equipment, another good start. Of course, the 'dozer was made for TV, so it's already got that working against it.

Anyway, I should have my disc on the soon side and I'll get back to you all with a full report. I'm also very excited that I got a copy of Phase IV, which I didn't realize had ever come out on video. This is a stylish sci-fi flick about super intelligent ants and was directed by Saul Bass, who actually did title sequences for films. I've only ever seen Phase IV as featured in a very early Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode, so I'm looking forward to that one as well.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Thrift Score Some More.

Right on. Got some more thrifting in today, though I'm beginning to question my sanity. I mean, I've complained before about never having the time for all this stuff and here I go, adding to it and even throwing another and even more obscure media in the mix. Sigh. Sometimes, I swear I don't know what I'm doing.



At any rate, here's my first collection. Someone was into the late 70s fusion. Another John Klemmer album, hope this guy doesn't suck as I'm building up quite a collection of his work. The Ronnie Laws I have a bad feeling about and the Goodman/Hammer, I'm split on (never knew that one even existed. Dates from about where they left Mahavishnu.)

There's one more LP, other than the Bill Evans, which if I don't own already, I've heard at least. We'll get to that one in a moment. The Michael Jackson DVD was kind of a curious find. For $2, I figure it's worth a pick up.

Now, I wanted to give this last LP it's own picture. So please, soak in the glory of this album cover for a moment. Don't worry, I'll wait...



Here's my second stop:



Where did all those mid 60s Arthur Lyman albums come from? I've never seen any of those before and didn't even know of their existance. They're also in very nice shape, so color me pleased.

On the 45 side, we have a copy of Gary Wright's Love Is Alive, a mystery disc from Johnny Crawford (teen idol stuff?) and more bubblegum! Of course the Carnaby Street Runners record is the most beat up. Dang, I'm going to have a heck of a bubblegum comp going when I get all these 45s digitized.



OK, this wasn't a thrift stop, but the prices were bargin basement so what the shit? I was not unhappy to find a nice copy of that Voice of East Harlem LP, and the Ahmad Jamal is an upgrade for me. (It's the only album he cut for Epic. Probably my favorite of all his stuff.) Then we have a bunch of 5th Dimension stuff and Issac Hayes and Dionne Warwick from 1977. The Signs of the Zodiac is a Mort Garison thing. I have another sign around here somewhere.

Also got a couple of CDs and a DVD, but I won't bore you with those.



Finally, here is a testament to my weak will power. Remember last week when I mentioned always finding CED videodiscs but never a player. Well, I had to pick these up. First off, they're not on DVD, though I think the Mr. Magoo stuff is starting to come out. Mandingo I doubt has a chance in hell. Secondly, it's stuff I'll actually watch. Third, it was their week for 30% off. I really couldn't help myself. Honest.

The Picture Music disc is a great collection of early MTV stuff. Some of the usual suspects (Thomas Dolby, Talk Talk, Billy Squire) and a few you really would have had to have been there to remember (Red Rider, for one.) To quote the back cover: "Thirty years from now, when your grandchildren beg you to show them the music videos that started it all, this is the collection you'll put on."

Yeah, if you can find a damn CED player. (Any leads? Anyone?)

Customer Service

I know I blow off steam here from time to time about things that happen at work, but at the end of the day, I know customer service is part of my job. Even when I'm being asked the same question for the millionth time or someone is trying to trick me into installing software I know they aren't supposed to have, I try my hardest to always be polite. Maybe I don't always succeed, but I've yet to get a complaint, so I must be doing something right.

I also always try to approach any situation where I am a receiver of customer service as gentle as possible. I know what it's like to be on the other side of the counter. I've worked retail and I try to be as friendly and make things as easy as possible for anyone helping me out.

That's why it really makes me angry when I get poor service. It's not that I expect to be treated like king of the universe when I go out and I try my hardest not to make unreasonable demands. I'd just don't like being treated like I'm inconveniencing someone who is being paid to serve me, that's all.

This morning, for instance, I went to the post office. Now, I'll admit, I had a rather large stack of packages to send, but everything was ready to go, I just needed postage. And I tried to plan a time and a post office I knew wouldn't be busy. I honestly did everything in my power to make things as smooth as possible. It's just I had a lot of stuff that needed to go out today.

It seems though, I totally ruined the morning of the lady who assisted me. She grumbled, shook her head, slammed my packages around, gave me dagger eyes and was everything short of out right hostile to me. Yes, I had a lot of mail, but I'm not sure how helping me multiple times was that much different than helping numerous customers a single time. And when I asked her about on-line services that could potentially avoid a situation like this in the future, all she did was spit an "I don't know" at me, without even bothering to point me in the direction of someone or something that could answer my question.

During the course of my transaction, someone else came in wanting to buy a money order with a $100 bill. While another person was helping her, my lady hissed at her that she should be glad she wasn't in her line as she would have refused to take a $100 bill this early in the day. I'm no expert, but I'm not sure where in the postal code it says they have that as an option, seeing as how they did have change around (and the guy doing that transaction was completely pleasant about making change for her.) It was just a little inconvenient for the folks on the working side of the counter.

The whole thing just left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Gee, sorry lady, I inconvenienced you by making you do your job. I'm guessing they must not get much traffic at all early in the morning and I must have cut into her standing around, doing nothing time. Boo-hoo. Maybe if you'd answered my question about buying postage on-line (or even lifted a finger to find someone else who could,) we'd never have to see each other again and you could go back to staring out the window or whatever it was you were planning on doing when I showed up.

Sorry if your job sucks, but that's not my problem. You're getting paid to provide customer service and if you don't like it, maybe you should find a new job. There's only one post office. I don't have a choice about where I can go to buy first class postage. You do have a choice about where you can work.

Anyway, the only reason this even stuck out is, believe it or not, I usually have a pleasant experience at the post office. Not that it's my favorite place to go, but the people there are almost always friendly, helpful and efficient. I wasn't at my usual post office today, so maybe that's the problem. It seems like every time I'm in this branch someone behind the counter had a bad attitude.

I guess that's a lesson to me, don't take your mail to that post office. Really though, I wish the postal service just had a way to buy first class postage on-line. Pleasant or not, I'd rather avoid the post office altogether if I could.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Free Zone Playlist 6/25/2006

I said I'd ge this out here and here it is. Friday was a washout, but here's Saturday's list. As always, you can hear The Free Zone every Friday and Saturday midnight to 3am, when the transmitter is working, on 88.7 FM WICR.

Title Artist Album Label
Masters of War Bob Dylan No Direction Home 2005 Sony
Ta Det Lugnt Dungen Ta Det Lugnt 2005 Kemado
Secret Pint Mogwai Government Commissions 2005 Matador
Got Wrong Biffy Clyro Infinity Land 2004 Beggars
Kid Gloves Fountains of Wayne Out of State Plates 2005 Virgin
Veronica Fever The Raveonettes Whip It On 2002 Sony
Gimme Shelter Merry Clayton Gimme Shelter 1970 Ode
Wish Hammock Kenotic 2004 Hammock
The Wrong Hands Jens Lekman Oh You're So Silent Lens 2005 Secretly Canadian
Elegie Patti Smith Horses 2005 Sony
Wax and Wane Dorothy Ashby The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby 1970 Chess
Freddy's Ribs The Soul Providers Spike's Choice 1998 Desco

1 am

Call My Name Joe Bataan Call My Name 2005 Vampisoul
A Musical Sample JVC Force Force Field 1990 Warlock
Things I Wanna Do Killjoy Confetti The Fun Is 2005 Standard
Interspersed With Semi-Conscious Moments Kobi Dronesyndrome 2005
Arc-Lite (Sonar) Loop A Gilded Eternity 1990 Beggars
August Love Forever Changes 1968 Elekrta
California Low The Great Destroyer 2005 Sub Pop
De-Luxe Lush Gala 1990 4AD
Time Stops Explosions in the Sky How Strange, Innocence 2005 Temp. Residence
One for J.J. (Johnson) Sound Directions The Funky Side of Life 2005 Stones Throw
0))) Bow 1 Sunn 0))) Flight of the Behemoth 2002 Southern Lord

2 am

Yeah (Pretentious Version) LCD Sound System LCD Soundsystem 2004 EMI
Black Skinned Blue Eyed Boy Derick Harriott The Kings of Disco 2005 K7!
(Falin' Like) Dominoes Donald Byrd Mizell: The Mizell Brothers at Blue Note 2005 EMI
The Kid with the Replaceable Head Richard Hell and the Voidoids Spurts: The Richard Hell Story 2005 Rhino
Vem Menina (ParticipaĆ§Ć£o Especial- Lino Crizz) Curumin Achados e Perdidos 2005 Quannum
Return to Forever Airto Free 1975 CTI
Drilling Minus the Bear Menos El Oso 2005 Suicide Squeeze
Bad Cover Version Pulp Hits 2002 Island
Pick It Up, Lay It In the Cut Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings Dap Dippin' With... 2002 Dap Tone
Savage Republic Swords Metropolis 2005 ARRCO

Free Zone Charts 6/27

Again, here's the Free Zone CMJ Top 30 and adds. As always, the Free Zone can be heard Friday and Saturday nights midnight to 3AM on 88.7 FM WICR here in Indianapolis.

# ARTIST Recording
1 JUANA MOLINA Son
2 MELVINS Houdini Live 2005: A Live History Of Gluttony And Lust
3 PAIK Monster Of The Absolute
4 ECCENTRIC SOUL: THE BIG MACK LABEL Various Artists
5 MISSION OF BURMA The Obliterati
6 ASTRONAUTALIS The Mighty Ocean And Nine Dark Theaters
7 MONO You Are There
8 HERBERT Scale
9 ALIAS AND TARSIER Brookland/Oaklyn
10 MR. LIF Mo' Mega
11 ASOBI SEKSU Citrus
12 NINO MOSCHELLA The Fix
13 LANSING-DREIDEN The Dividing Island
14 NOMO New Tones
15 COUCH Figur 5
16 ZOMBI Surface To Air
17 REWIND! 5 Various Artists
18 FIRST NATION First Nation
19 ELVIS COSTELLO AND ALLEN TOUSSAINT The River In Reverse
20 MARKED MEN Fix My Brain
21 RHYS CHATHAM Rhys Chatham Sampler
22 WIRE Pink Flag
23 MOJAVE 3 Puzzles Like You
24 FRANK BLACK Fastman Raiderman
25 PEEPING TOM Peeping Tom
26 EVENING EPISODE The Physicist Has Known Sin
27 CHEEBACABRA Exile In The Woods
28 MORRISSEY Ringleader Of The Tormentors
29 AWESOME COLOR Awesome Color
30 PUFFY AMIYUMI Splurge

Adds:

# ARTIST Recording
1 CESCHI They Hate Francisco False
2 HUSBANDS There's Nothing I'd Like More Than To See You Dead
3 PRIMAL SCREAM Riot City Blues
4 ALAN SPARHAWK Solo Guitar
5 JOHNNY CASH American V: A Hundred Highways

Monday, June 26, 2006

Friday night's Free Zone

In case you were wondering, WICR was off-line Friday night. I was in the studio, watching In Living Color and waiting.

I'll have Saturday's list up soon.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Weekend Thrift Score-O-Rama

OK, I've got more thrift goodness for you, but I'm trying to type with a band-aid on my finger, so I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves for the most part. Also, I really don't feel like typing out a million titles of 45s again. I'm tired and you probably don't care anyway.

Friday night I stopped in to one of the few small charitable thrifts left. I happened to be in the area and they happened to be open. One of the nice things about thrifts like this is they often cut you a deal as I got all this goodness for $15. I didn't even ask!




So, the Night at Studio 54 album I grabbed strictly because they had a buy one, get one free deal and I didn't have a copy of this album. It's pretty much "I Will Survive" and "We Are Family" away from being any modern disco comp you might care to find. In other words, it's all bog standard mainstream stuff that the real Studio 54 would have been too hip to play.

The Dory Previn I know nothing about, John Klemmer I snagged for a reason I can't remember, the Wayne Cochran seemed like a safe bet and how could I not pick up Breakin' on laserdisc?

The Walt Dickerson set off my spider senses and when I flipped it over, I realized why. Buried in the liner notes was mention that Sun Ra was the keyboardist on this album. I haven't the foggiest idea where I picked up that kernel of knowledge, but I'm glad I remembered something was special about this album.



However, it wasn't just LPs and laserdiscs. Weird thing, I've been on this bubblegum kick lately (it's cyclical, happens about once every 2 years) and what shoudl I find but a nice batch of bubblegum 45s. Many of these are almost played to death, but I was just grabbing stuff, condition be damned! There's also a few light soul records in there. I never knew the Four Tops covered "Walk Away Rene."

Interestingly, there seemed to be two collections making up the bulk of the 45s I found. One had ID numbers stickered to the labels (fairly common for 45s) and the other someone had scratched DAVES in the run off wax. Both those people seemed to have good taste, so I just looked for their records and bought them.



Today's haul was even cheaper and bulkier at the least. The Ramsey Lewis album is from when he was funky, Hubert Laws on CTI is good and the Jellybean comp I bought strictly for his version of the B-Boy classic "The Mexican" (it's actually very good.)

The other collections, the Best of O Records and the Best of Personal Records are collections from the same company that compiled Enjoy and a ton of other labels. I really have no idea if I'll ever listen to these, but there they are.

In this picture, we also have a postal scale and these weird 8-track storage cubes. I can't figure these things out as they leave the back part of the tape exposed. It almost looks like these were part of a console stereo or something. Timely though, as I needed a better way to store all the tapes from my big 8-track score.



There's the last of today's haul (which I snagged for less than $8, btw.) Let's get the obvious out of the way first. Yes, I bought nine sealed copies of the Return of the Jedi book and record. (For those of you too young to know what a book and record was, it was a story book, loaded with pictures, and a record that would read the story too you. Great for learning how to read. "You will know it is time to turn the page when R2-D2 says...")

I also lowered my standards and dipped a toe in the book and tape pool. See, that was the big thing that seperated me and my sister. I was book and record, she was book and tape. Kids and their technology. I tell you.

The first one I found was 2010 which has completely altered my perception of reality. I'm sure there are canidates for weirder cross licensing for the book and record/tape thing, but this has got to be up there. I also couldn't pass up the Pac-Man and Asteroids sets. Amazingly, I found the tapes for all the books, as everything had been dumped in together.

The 45s are some garage rock, some old R&B and I don't even know what. I would like to point out the last record, a promo record for the film Time To Run. Apparently this was a Billy Graham joint, though it had some real actors in it as well. I thought I had something cool, maybe I do, but I have to admit, my enthusasm for that one is a little lower since visiting IMDB.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

King Midas' Stink Palm

Everything I touch is turning to crap this week. :/

If I haven't done something to anger you yet, please let me know as my work week officially ends at 5:00 tomorrow and my appointment book is rapidly filling up.

Please enjoy a random cat picture while I plan my next move to screw up.

Two words.

Today's rant involves the two most dreaded words I hear at work (CAUTION: have smelling salts handy):

"DOESN'T WORK"

(Alternately: "not working," "stopped working," "won't work," and the occasional "don't work" (although this is an institute of higher education, we are still in Indiana.))

Now, I have no problem with "doesn't work" when it's in some sort of context. Example:

"My computer doesn't work. There is gray smoke pouring out of the side and sparks are shooting out of the floppy drive. Please advise."

All too often, I hear this:

"My computer doesn't work. When can you fix it?"

As anyone who has ever had computer problems (meaning, anyone who has ever used a computer) can tell you, there's a whole world of problems that could be wrong. It could be anything from there's no icon on the desktop for a program to you melted the motherboard by aiming your space heater at the computer*. "Doesn't work" appears to be the trash bag into which the entire gamut of computer issues is stuffed.

Now, I fully understand that I'm here because I know more about computers than most people. That's what I'm paid for. I don't expect users to be able to diagnose problems themselves. If they could, I'd be out of a job.

However, well over half of the problems people report can easily and quickly be solved with just a little more information from the user. If I get email saying "my computer isn't working," the user is going to have to wait around until I get done with the dozen other people in line first before I can take care of them. But, if, for instance, I get an email saying "I can't open .jpg files," I can return an email with an instant solution to the problem and it makes everyone's life that much better.

So, while I don't expect our users to know what's wrong with their machines, a little more information as to the nature of the problem makes things a lot smoother for the tech support people and may get a solution to the problem much quicker than just saying "it's broken."

And that's one to grow on.

* both of these are actual issues I've dealt with.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Thrift Score Part VIIXCMXL


Gadzooks! It's more Thrift Score time! Whoopty do!

I didn't arrage my picture as neatly as I usually do, so I'll have to assume you can differentiate a PlayStation game from an LP.

Speaking of PlayStation games, there's Bushido Blade, the samurai game from Squaresoft. Ironically, just earlier this evening I was talking about how I never fire up the PlayStation any more. Here's one more game to collect dust.

In the background, Patti Austin's Body Language, a late in the day CTI release. I have very low expectations for this one, but I'm committed to collecting every CTI release I can find because I luv CTI so much. (BTW, I really need a copy of Dave Matthews' Dune LP. Anyone got a double they can spare me?)

On the 45 front, I know nothing about the Velvets except Roy Orbison wrote the side facing the camera. I do know La Grange and Tush is a winning combination that is going to kill in the jukebox. I also know I would have rather found the Criterion Life of Brian DVD than the old Anchor Bay edition, but for $1.81, I'll take it.

Saddly, I had to pass on a Sixto Rodriguez 45 because the damn thing had a nasty crack in it. Really broke my heart.

Monday, June 19, 2006

When I rule the world...

Sick co-workers will be required to stay home until they have a doctor's note allowing them to return to work. No proof you saw a doctor? No return to work.

You do no one any favors by coming to work coughing, sneezing and sniffling for five days.

That is all.

Free Zone Charts 6/19-20

Time once again for the weekly Free Zone CMJ Top 30 and adds. As always, the Free Zone can be heard Friday and Saturday nights midnight to 3AM on 88.7 FM WICR here in Indianapolis.

Top 200:

# ARTIST Recording
1 ECCENTRIC SOUL: THE BIG MACK LABEL Various Artists
2 JUANA MOLINA Son
3 MELVINS Houdini Live 2005: A Live History Of Gluttony And Lust
4 MONO You Are There
5 NOMO New Tones
6 MISSION OF BURMA The Obliterati
7 PAIK Monster Of The Absolute
8 ZOMBI Surface To Air
9 BLACK ANGELS Passover
10 ALIAS AND TARSIER Brookland/Oaklyn
11 THE COUP Pick A Bigger Weapon
12 NINO MOSCHELLA The Fix
13 KIERAN HEBDEN AND STEVE REID The Exchange Session: Vol. 2
14 ASTRONAUTALIS The Mighty Ocean And Nine Dark Theaters
15 COACHWHIPS Double Death
16 HERBERT Scale
17 REWIND! 5 Various Artists
18 MORRISSEY Ringleader Of The Tormentors
19 ASOBI SEKSU Citrus
20 LANSING-DREIDEN The Dividing Island
21 MR. LIF Mo' Mega
22 COUCH Figur 5
23 FIRST NATION First Nation
24 RHYS CHATHAM Rhys Chatham Sampler
25 ELVIS COSTELLO AND ALLEN TOUSSAINT The River In Reverse
26 MOJAVE 3 Puzzles Like You
27 GNARLS BARKLEY St. Elsewhere
28 PEEPING TOM Peeping Tom
29 MARKED MEN Fix My Brain
30 CHEEBACABRA Exile In The Woods

Adds:

# ARTIST Recording
1 WIRE Pink Flag
2 AWESOME COLOR Awesome color
3 TRIAD Various Artists
4 PUFFY AMIYUMI splurge
5 EVENING EPISODE The Physicist Has Known Sin

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Free Zone Playlist 6/17/2006

If you listened to the Free Zone, here's what I played on Saturday night. You'll have to ask Chandler if you want to know about Friday.



Title ArtistAlbum Label
Be Nice To People With Lice Alan Sparhawk See You On The Moon! Songs For Kids Of All Ages 2006
Crosses Zero 7 The Garden 2006
Challenger Zombi Surface To Air 2006 Relapse
Sleep The Year Of Slow Days 2006 Morr
Vagabond Wolfmother Wolfmother 2006 Interscope
Habit Of A Lifetime South Adventures in the Underground Journey to the Stars 2006
Multiply [Herbert's Hoedown Bump Instrumental] Jamie Lidell Multiply Additions 2006 Warp
Living In Sin In The USA Oakley Hall Gypsum Strings 2006
I Am United Nations Shooting At Unarmed Men Yes! Tinnitus! 2006 Too Pure
It's Beginning to Get Me Snow Patrol Eyes Open 2006 UMG
We're Not Alone Peepling Tom Peeping Tom 2006 Ipecac
Hag Me The Melvins Houdini Live 2005-a live history of gluttony and lust 2006 Ipecac
1 AM    
Quintero's Jam Ft. Hilton Ruiz Luisito Quintero Percussion Maddness 2006 BBE
Donna Sumeria Mission of Burma The Obliterati 2006 Matador
Manchman Immer Wieder Coach Figur 52006 Morr
Bump Spank Rock Yo Yo Yo 2006
Un Beso Llega Juana Molina Son 2006 Domino
Celibate Kaada Music For Moviebikes 2006 Ipecac
When the Catfish Is in Bloom Peter Case I Am the Resurrection- A Tribute to John Fahey 2006
The Sound of Failure? It's Dark...Is it always this dark? The Flaming Lips At War With The Mystics 2006 WB
Broken Promise Land Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint The River In Reverse 2006 Verve
2 AM     
I Like Cheese The Cheese Band The Cheese Band 2004 Comfort Stand
Formed A Band Art Brut Bang Bang Rock & Roll 2006
Crazy Gnarls Barkley St. Elsewhere 2006 Atlantic
Citi Of Lights Languis Other Desert Cities 2006
Just Once Herbert Scale 2006 !K7
Railroad Cancellation Don Caballero World Class Listening Problem 2006 Relapse
Red Sea Asobi Seksu Citrus 2006 Friendly Fire
Sarvodaya Nomo Nu Tones 2006 Ubiquity
Monster of the Absolute Paik Monster of the Absolute 2006
Emergency Trap MogawiMr. Beast 2006 Matador

This made me smile.

I, like many, if not most, other bloggers have a little dealie on the page here that counts visits and tells me how someone found my little bloggy home. While a depressing number of people are just looking to download current CMJ charting albums, someone reached me by searching for the following phrase:

i had to take a poop restroom unfortunately

So, anonymous unfortunate poop restroom taker, thanks for restoring a little of my faith in humanity.

Thrift/Garage Sale Scores.

I know you all have been fiending for some more sweet sweet thrift scores, so let's do this thing.

First off, Friday night I went to Art vs. Art. Fun times there. However, I found myself with a little time to kill before the event and, coincidentally, I was parked in front of the same thrift that I'd had the big 8-track score at the day before. Coincidence, or was it?

Normally, I'd never return to a thrift the day after I'd been there, but I really was killing time and I hadn't investigated the vinyl, so whatever. As luck would have it, I found a few things...



First off Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall. It's an OG mono copy, and I didn't own it. Not in the best of shape, but I'll take it. Next is a white label copy of Paul Williams' Here Comes Inspiration, an album I'm 99% sure I alreay own. Paul Williams is another of a long list of guilty pleasures for me. This copy is intersting though due to the huge "PROMOTION NOT FOR SALE" die cut into the cover and the fact that it came from my home base, WICR! W00T!

Then we have proof that I must be lowering my thrifting standards as back in the day I'd never snag an LP without a cover. Well, Jr. Walker and the All Stars, I actually have a cover for somewhere in this mess. The record isn't too pretty, but I'll suffer through with it. The copy of God Bless Tiny Tim next to it is in suprisingly good shape and really bums me out that it has no cover.

The 7" selections fare a little worse. Adding to my growing organ demonstration record collection is an example from Conn called Prelude is Fun. At least, I think that's what's going on with it. It's on the other side of the palatial Captain Wrong estate and I've given the help the rest of the day off so no one can fetch this record for me at the moment.

Mordido is a Jazz at the Philharmonic thing. Back in the day before Verve records existed, Norman Grantz released all his stuff through Mercury, who put a lot of it out on 45. Saddly, this isn't on red vinyl like the other examples I own, but you take what you get.

On Saturday, I found out a little late Fall Creek sales were going on. In reality, those houses are too new for anything really interesting to show up at garage sales, but hope springs eternal, so garage sailing we went. It was a day of replicating my high school cassette collection on CD.



First stop happened to be at a friend's sale. I can't believe I never owned a copy of the Sunflower Conspiracy/Airiel Project split CD considering I was friends with all those folks, but I got one now. Then there was Green Day 1,039/Smoothed Out blah blah blah from back when they weren't writing rock operas and I was too dumb to realize their schtick wasn't that great to begin with. As it turns out, I actually owned the other Lookout album back in the day (the one with "Dominated Love Slave" on it) but this will still probably be a nostalgic listen and then go on the shelf forever. The first Ocean Colour Scene album was a just for the hell of it pick up.

Next is another weird coincidence as I was thinking just the other day about how I wouldn't mind hearing Phenobarb Bambalam again. Then, out of the blue, it's damn near Chris Connelly's entire Wax Trax catalog. I'm soo looking forward to reliving my depressed teenage years again! Huzzah.

Oh, the last CD...I've got no idea. Shannon was adamant I take it, that it was cheesy stuff and on and on. We'll see...



Now this batch is a weird mix of what I was listening to in high school and some country stuff picked from a very interesting batch of discs. Let's put it this way, this was one of the more campy garage sales I'd been to in a while. While my fiancee debated on picking up a Heywood Wakefield dinette set, I sifted through a box of Judy, Liza, Babs, Bette and Lee Greenwood to find this batch.

Fishbone's Reality of My Surroundings wasn't my favorite of their albums, but it's good enough to be worth replacing a worn out cassette. I still love Jodeci and I'm not ashamed to admit it, so finding Forever My Lady was nice. The George Jones disc is nice, but it's one of those really lightweight discs. Ten songs, well under a half hour, I'm sure.

My friend Tony recently introduced me to k.d. lang, so here's a couple of her discs, Drag and Shadowland. Then Warren G with the G-Funk/yacht rock classic Regulate. IIRC, this is a classic one good track album. Or was that Domino's album?

Wrapping up, here's a couple CDs of stuff I have on vinly, the Talking Heads Remain in Light and Fear of Music and Life Is...Too $hort, which I just realized is the clean version. Damnit, I hate it when they don't make it easy to know what you got. I mean, it was a dollar, and I still have the dirty version on LP, but I'd prefer the dirty version, even if this does come from the time when rappers actually wrote different clean versions instead of just editing out the cuss words.

So that's it. More later, I'm tired.

Happy father's day.

Friday, June 16, 2006

TGIF

WHEE!!!!

You know a funny thing? When you have a group of four people serving 150-200 users and one of those people is on vacation and it's in the middle of an equipment rollout and you send in a request for service at lunchtime, don't be suprised if an hour and a half later no one's had a chance to get back with you yet.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Thrift Score with Sharity!!!

OMGWTFBBQ?!?!?!?!!!!?!?!One!>!>>??!

Alright, after all the taunting of folks looking at blogs just for the purpose of downloading music, I'm going to dip my toe in the exciting world of vinyl sharity!!!! WHOO HOO!!! CAN I SIT AT THE GROWNUP'S TABLE NOW MOM???

However, you're gonna have to suffer through yet another edition of THRIFT SCORE. This one is THRIFT SCORE WITH SHARITY though. It's better than fireworks with report or massage with release. (Well, maybe not better than the last one.)

Onward christian soldiers...



I had a small haul at my first stop, for reasons I'll graphically explain in a moment. However, there is one thing I really want to know. I don't get why I find a cache of CED Videodiscs from time to time but never ever ever a player? I mean, I know why I find them in the thrifts here. This is Indianapolis, home of the CED project. Hell, I knew folks growing up who worked on the damn things. Still, it seems the discs themselves have survived better than the players as discs aren't hard to come by but players are rare as hen's teeth.

(See, I feel it is my duty to own every format of dead media in existence. Since I got the laserdisc thing going on earlier this year, CED is my next mission. Elcassette, watch your back, yo.)

(My fiancee is rolling her eyes if she's reading this.)

OK. What was I talking about? Oh yeah. First off, we have the third most pornographic thing I've ever purchased in a thrift store. (Some actual porn on VHS is occupying slots one and two.)(I said slots. Heh.) The infamous Rodeo Song by Garry Lee and Showdown was the 2 Live Crew of my childhood (as opposed to the actual 2 Live Crew who were the 2 Live Crew of my teen years.)(Man, I need to quit with the parenthetical asides.)

How did I acquire this as I child? I swear to god, I taped it off Q95. I don't remember if it was bleeped, but I'm almost positive it wasn't. I find it hard to believe as a seven year old in a non-cursing family I could have filled in all those blanks on my own, though I still remember the lyrics curse for curse.

You'll notice the label says "FOR SALE TO JUKEBOXES ONLY". Guess I lucked out that the lady who rang me up wasn't paying too close attention to notice that I was, in fact, not a jukebox. There was no way I should be denied such exquisite filth.

Speaking of jukeboxes, the double sided greatness that is the Raspberries Go All The Way/Tonight is going to sound sweeeeeet coming out of that thing. Oh, if I haven't rubbed it in your face yet this post, I'm part owner of a jukebox. So neeyah!

Finally, we have Trillions for Sega Master System. Ahh, what an under rated piece of gaming technology ye be, SMS. I still wish I hadn't had to sell the oh so cool Sega 3D goggles and games, but it was that or kitty medical bills, so I'm back to plain old 2D Master System goodness. (True story, BTW.)

Speaking of medical things, I have a serious medical condition. It's rather embarrassing, but I think I've finally found the courage to talk about it, so that others may realize they are not alone.

It's called TSBS, Thrift Store Bowel Syndrome. The causes of TSBS are being in any location where under no circumstances you would want to sit on the toilet. Yet it is always these places where your digestive tract decides the time is right to do a complete lower GI flush.

Now, TSBS is not exclusive to thrift stores. Record stores, dive bars and ancient Marathon filling stations are all potential locations for a TSBS attack. The only remedy for a bout of TSBS is to seek a clean restroom immediately. Unfortunately, there is no known cure.

Ok, I'm sure by now you're thinking "shut up about your poop and give me the tunes!!!" Well, you're going to have to wait it out a little longer because after I started this entry, my lovely fiancee invited me to dinner with some friends of ours. On the way home, I hit up another thrift.

Wow. This is the kind of thing that makes you glad you turned off the gas on the stove before you went to bed...




(Aquatron shown for display purposes only. I wish I could claim that as a thrifted catch, but alas it came from a trendy antiques store.)

Let me tell you something about coincidence. A conicidence is when you finally see the 8-track movie So Wrong They're Right two days before you have what is the greatest 8-track score you've had in years and maybe in your entire life. Funny how no matter how many times I watch Brewster's Millions, I never find out some rich relative has willed me a ton of money a few days later. Oh well, you take what you can, I guess.

Anyway, someone really liked them some soul jazz. Eddie Harris in particular is well represented in this collection. Let's have a quick run down, shall we?

Cannonball Adderley - Sould of the Bible. Tape 2 only, but whatever.
Yusef Lateef - Outside Blues.
Eddie Harris & Les McCann - Second Movement. Good stuff, this.
Eddie Harris - Live At Newport.
Grover Washington Jr. - Soul Box Vol.2. I thought I was getting 1 & 2 but I got two 2s. Go fig.
Rufas Thomas - Crown Prince of Dance.
George Benson & Joe Farrell - Benson & Farrell
The Purple Fox - Tribute to Jimi Hendrix. This one is kinda famous. IIRC it was featured in the 365 Days project.
The Genious of Eddie Harris. Yes, that's the title. "Genious". Did someone say truck stop pirate?
Grover again.
Eddie Harris - Exodus to Jazz.
Eddie Harris - I Need Some Money.
Nina Simone - To Love Somebody.
Pharoah Sanders - Love In Us All.
Eddie Harris - The Reason Why I'm Talking S--t. Give it up. The man had a way with album titles.
Eddie Harris - E.H. in the U.K.
Funkadelic - Talkes of Kidd Funkadelic.
George Benson - Space.
George Benson - Good King Bad.
Charles Mingus Jazz King. I haven't a clue what this could be.
Pharoah Sanders - Black Unity.
Brother Jack McDuff - Moon Rappin'. I've had the sleeve for this for years. Now I finally get to hear it.
Billy Cobham - Total Eclipse.
Brother Jack McDuff - To Seek A New House.
Ipi 'n Tombia featuring Margaret Singana - The Warrior. I haven't the slightest what this could be other than it's on Stax and from 1974.

PROTIP: 26 carts will fit comfortably in a medium sized CDW box.

All this goodness for a quarter a toss, five for a dollar. THE WAY IT SHOULD BE!@!!!!@@$(*@$*%*)%&%#)*(&%)#(&^)&$^)*&^$#)&@_*$@

Alright, enough of this crazyness. I still have Free Zone mail to open.

Here's your sharity. Because I would never in a million years play this track on my radio show, even if I'm sure I originally taped it off Q95, here is The Rodeo Song in all it's filthy glory. Enjoy.

http://rapidshare.de/files/23163301/01_-____2_.mp3.html

More tech support fun.

Do not...I repeat...DO NOT try to trick your computer guy into installing software on your computer that you know and he knows you're not supposed to have.

Don't try the innocent request approach. It's not cute when he knows your department all got bitched out for abuse of this particular software.

Don't try the "oh, you didn't get the memo saying it was ok now" approach. This is insulting to the max when the IT guy still remembers how your boss was breathing down the IT department's neck to block this program from working.

The debating like a three year old when there really is no debate method is really demeaning to everyone involved. Just don't go there.

The empty threat method? Yeah, how'd you like your boss to know what you really do at work all day?

It's not that the computer guys are spiteful bastards who hate you (well, they may be.) It's just that we don't like having to explain to someone in a position to make our lives uncomfortable why Suzy Smith has AIM installed on her machine when it shouldn't be there and only an admin has the ability to put it there.

Oh, and when the computer guy tells you "have your boss email me telling me it's ok and I'll install it ASAP," debate has just been permanently closed and you have just been told (politely) to STFU. Continuing past this point is just going to get the IT person pissed at you and will probably result in any further service requests you make being put on a very low priority.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Break for some fine, fine art.

I was going to do a Family Circus like diagram to illustrate all my lunchtime mis-adventures, but that didn't work out so well. I did find a stunning painting on my journey that I'd like to share with you now.



I believe this would be a painting of St. Apollonia, the Patroness of Dentistry. iPaq camera can not adequately capture the rich tapestry of color and imagery contained within.

Let's have a closeup of the money shot, as it were:



St. Apollonia may be the Patroness of Dentistry, but it looks to me like Thor is about to give her a nasty titty twister with the old Craftsmen there. Like I said, the iPaq just can't capture all the detail, but it looks to me like he's eyeing her rack, not her teeth. I especially love how the artist managed to convey that "yep, I wet 'em" look on old Apollonia's face.

I don't know much about art, but I know this is one weird mamma jamma of a painting. I totally pitted out my shirt to get this picture for you, so you'd better appreciate it, damn it.

I like this blog.

Check it out.

(Thanks to Jon for the link.)

Free Zone Playlist 6/10/2006

More Free Zone playlist maddness!!!

Every Friday and Saturday night...midnight to 3am...WICR 88.7 FM...Indianapolis, IN.



6/10/06
TitleArtistAlbum Label
The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet The Mothers of Invention Freak Out! 1966 Verve
Boy Wonder, I Love You Burt Ward 7" 1966 MGM
Jitterbug Waltz Eric Dolphy Conversations 2001 Fresh Sounds
Meeting of the Spirits Mahavishnu Orchestra The Inner Mounting Flame 1971 CBS
I Got You Babe Tiny Tim You Are What You Eat 1968 CBS
Jungle Drums Variations Chanio African Percussion In Hi-Fi 1959 Omega
Ninja High School Peelander-Z P-Bone Steak 2003
Can-Nana Fever (Jet Version) Guitar Wolf Japan For Sale Vol. 4 2003 Tofu
MC Is My Ambition Diamond D B Sides and Bootlegs
Hold On I'm Comin' Spyder Turner Stand By Me 1966 MGM
How Can I Be Down The Yellow Balloon The Yellow Balloon 1967
Got To Get You Into My Life The Third Wave Here & Now 1971 BASF
1AM    
Love You From A Distance Garnet Silk Definitive Collection 2000 Atlantic
Good Day Sunshine Slowdive 5 EP 1994 Creation
Ostrich Man The Creation How Does It Feel To Feel 1982 Edsel
Blowing Away The 5th Dimension The Age of Aquarius 1969 Soul City
Like A Rolling Stone The Rascals The Young Rascals 1966 Atlantic
Needles In My Eye The Beta Band Three EPs 1998 EMI
Motel Bambi Luna Rendevous 2004 JetSet
Wham Bam Thank You Mam The Small Faces Best Of 1999 Castle
1969 (Alternate) The Stooges The Stooges 2004 Rhino
Draggin' the Line Tommy James & The Shondels Anthology 1989 Rhino
Motor Away Guided By Voices Bee Thousand 1993 Scat
I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night The Electric Prunes 7" 1967 Reprise
(Night Time) Is The Right Time Ray Charles Pure Genius 2005 Rhino
I'm Her Daddy Bill Withers Just As I Am 2005 Sony
2AM      
Jack & Jane The Velvet Underground Squeeze 1973 Polydor
Piano Concerto (Greig) Les Baxter Moog Rock 1970 GNP Crecendo
Roots Willie Bobo Masters at Work Presents... 2004 Verve
God Bless The Child Blood Sweat & Tears Greatest Hits 1972 CBS
Lettergo Adorable Fake 1994 Creation
Unknown Artist Bonus Track The Best Bootlegs In The World Ever... nudge nudge wink wink
I Get the Sweetest Feeling Jackie Wilson 7"1968 Brunswick
Out In The Street The Shangri-LasOne Kiss Can Lead To Another 2005 Rhino
Genius Rap Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde 12" 1983 Priority
Could It Be I'm Falling In Love Young-Holt Unlimited Superfly 1971 Paula
Tobacco Auctioneer Raymond Scott Reckless Nights And Turkish Twilights 1992 Sony
Cocaine Sly & The Revolutionaries Black Ash Dub 1980 Trojan
Let's Do It Today US Midwest Funk 2003 Jazzman


Musically I think this was one of the best shows I've ever done. Hope you caught it.

Free Zone Playlist 6/09/2006

OK, here's last Friday's playlist. Blogger is acting screwy today, so it may be a while before you get Saturday's.

As always, you can hear the Free Zone every Friday and Saturday night midnight to 3am at WICR 88.7 FM. Our site is www.thefreezone.org.

6/10/2006
Title Artist Album Label
The High Cost of Happy Faces Disaster Strikes Liberty Toast

2006 Alternative Tentacles

Workman's Comp Majhas Stepping Into Character 2003 Hawthorn St.
My Job At The Hive Coachwhips Double Death 2006 Narnack
We're Looking For People Lack of Knowledge The Gray CD

2006 Southern

Exotic Animal Paradise Asobi Seksu Citrus 2006 Friendly Fire
Rats Sonic Youth Rather Ripper 2006 Geffen
Black Widow Lalo Schifrin Black Widow 1976 CTI
Wild Horses The Sundays Blind 1992 DGC
White Rabbit Jefferson Airplane Worst of 2006 Sony
Malherido Juana Molina Son 2006 Domino
A Love Song For Gary Numan Astronautalis The Mighty Ocean & The Nine Dark Theaters 2006 Fighting
Blinde Zeicher Couch Figur 5 2006 Morr
This Is Not A Love Song (Thievery Corp. Remix)Nouvelle Vague Versions 2006 ESL
All Along The Watchtower P.O.S. Paupers, Peasants, Princes & Kings 2006 Doghouse
1 AM      
Four Beat Mambo Luisito Quintero Percussion Madness 2006 BBE
Nothingness Georgia Anne Muldrow Worth Nothings 2006 Stones Throw
International Echo Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint The River In Reverse 2006 Verve
Heard From Telegraph Lines Boards of Canada Trans Canada Highway 2006 Warp
Just A Man With A Job The Rakes Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited 2006 Verve
Your Neighborhood Spaceman Peeping Tom Peeping Tom 2006 Ipecac
Running With Your Eyes Closed Mojave 3 Puzzles Like You 2006 4AD
Monkey First Nation First Nation 2006 Paw Tracks
The Mosquito & The Abandoned Old Woman Kaada Music For Moviebikers2006 Ipecac
Birds of a Feather Herbert Scale 2006 !K7
No Trees Left: Every Blade Of Grass Is Screaming Rhys Chatham Sampler 2006 Radium
2 AM      
Decisions Nino Moschella The Fix 2006 Ubiquity
Atom Dub Smasher Future Pigeon The Echodelic Sounds of 2006 Record Collector
Nobody Ever Jon Autry Cutting Exercises 2006 Usonian
Brothaz Mr. Lif Mo'Mega 2006 Def Jux
DivisionsNomo Nu Tones 2006 Ubiquity
Once Upon A Time There Was An Ocean Paul Simon Surprise 2006 WB
Stiin' Duck Gene Harris and the Three Sounds Live at the It Club 1996 Blue Note
Dirty Love J*Davey Rewind 5 2006 Ubiquity
We Dream Free Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid The Exchange Session Vol. 2 2006 Domino
Space Jazz Sun Ra The Futuristic Sounds of 1961 Savoy

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

More Thrift Score!!!

Like every good, red blooded, not a terraist Amurkin, when I find myself in times of trouble, mindless consumerism comforts me. Fortunately for me and my wallet, I prefer the bottom feeding of sifting through other's discarded crap at bargain basement prices to the world of full price new merchandise that doesn't smell like bum piss. And because I love you all so much (you meaning those of you I haven't tricked into coming here by putting the word Rapidshare in every post dealing with music*,) I've made it my life's...err blog's work to obsessively document all my thrifting.

So, here we go. WhEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!@!!!!!!!

I'm going to start with last stop first, as that netted me the least amount of goods.



This was a 50 cent an album store and luckily for me, someone had dropped a collection of stuff in fairly decent shape. It was near closing time, so I had to be kind of swift. As always, from left to right, top to bottom:

Jeff Wayne's War of The Worlds. I remember hearing this one in a store back in the day and thinking it was pretty cool. Probably isn't, but hey, 50 cents! Whoo hoo.

Paul McCartney - Tug of War and Wings Greatest Hits. Did I need either of theses? Maybe the Wings record, but unless I get a burning urge to hear Ebony and Ivory, I doubt Tug of War is going to grace my turntable. But hey, 50 cents each!!! Hip hop hooray!

The Name of this Band is Talking Heads. I think this is the Talking Heads vinyl I needed. Yay completist!!! Yay 50 cents!!!!

Chick Corea - Mad Hatter and Friends. Oy! Should I admit I bought these? OK, the Chickster has some real crap in his catalog. If memory serves, Friends is among that. Still, you have Steve Gadd and Eddie Gomez as the rhythm section. How bad can that be? I'm asking, because I really don't know. Oh, and go Chick, it's your birthday. 50 cent. YEEEEEAHAH.

Wrapping up our package from the day's final thrift store adventure is a copy of Virtua Fighter Kids for Sega Saturn. Usually the Saturn games I find thrifting are shredded, cases are cracked, booklets have been used as toilet paper, etc. I like the Saturn, I like Virtua Fighter and who doesn't like superdeformed characters? This came out to $2.02 because the cashier overcharged me on something else and rather than canceling it out, charged me less on this one. Arrrrite!!!

Total (with tax) $5.83

Onwards, backwards, whatever. Here's load number two...



Alright, now we're starting to get serious. This is from a thrift that's always been hit or miss for me. It doesn't help matters that they have jumped on the ever-so-trendy random pricing of records bandwagon. Basically, this means if the person with the stickers and the grease pencil has heard of the artist, expect at least $1.98 on the price tag. The person who had priced this batch must have loved them some easy listening as Ray Conniff and Andy Williams were going for the premium prices (more on my own Andy William shame coming up.)

I stuck with all the non "as marked" discs, which meant I missed out on another Christmas disco record. This one was Mexican and had an unauthorized photo from Saturday Night Fever on the cover. Maybe I shoulda got that one, but I just couldn't come off the $2.98 for it.

Onward:

Lew Davies - Two Pianos and Twenty Voices. I have a problem. A serious problem. I'm obsessed with owning every record on the Command label. I think at last count I was about half way there. They look totally awesome on the shelf, all white spines with the same type.

Mostly this obsession has to do with the modern art covers and the liner notes, which are amazing. See, Command was aimed firmly at the budding audiophile market, so the liners are at least as concerned with selling the sound quality as the music. And, for the most part, these records are total ear candy. It's that awesome early stereo sound, where everything was still tube and the engineers all were burly men who smoked cigars and smelled like Brut.

Musically? Not so much. I dig the Persuasive/Provocative Percussion series. Those are lounge classics. Some of the Dick Hyman albums are good too. Other than that...not so much.

Pro Tip: The Ray Charles Singers have nothing to do with Jamie Foxx's character from the movie Ray.

Where was I?

Mary Wells - Greatest Hits. It's not in the best of shape and it's stereo (Motown stereo before about 1969 is bad news, IMHO) but the track list is fairly unfuckwithable. Is that a word? 50 cents!!!! WHOO HOOOOOOO!!!!

Rick Moraz - Out in the Sun. I have no idea what this is. It's on the Charisma label. I bought it mainly because it had the half price sticker on it and I was sick of seeing it in the store every time I went there.

Shock - Shock Talk. Man, you put "Special 12" Disco Mix" on a record and I'mma buy it. I'm dumb like that. I'm sure this record is total butt, but maybe it's not. Fantasy was putting out the Sylvester records about this time and those are pretty hot. The records, not Sylvester.

Newcleus - Jam On Revenge. Let me repeat that for you: Newcleus - Jam On Revenge!!! Man, I woulda traded my Payless fake Air Jordans for a copy of this back in the day. Don't hate me, but this is still only the second best dirt cheap hip hop find I've had. (Number one is still the mint Doug E. Fresh The Show/La-Di-Da-Di 12" I copped for a quarter. f33r my l33t digging!!!)

CDs? Yeah, here they are, not as interesting to me, but cheap-ish. Suprisingly, none of these look like they've been used like a puck in a game of street hockey. I do wish the store hadn't written the price on the disc in paint pen, but at least they had the sense to put 'em behind the counter.

Pro Tip: putting CDs anywhere in a thrift store other than behind the cash register is an open invitation for people to boost the discs and leave the case.

Cat Stevens - The Very Best of. Oh god, I suck. It's bad enough I admitted to buying a copy of the gheyest Chick Corea album, but now this? My street cred is totally gone. *sob*

Mayor Of The Sunset Strip soundtrack. WTF? Haven't seen the movie yet, but this is a pretty happening soundtrack. Even if Hole is on it. :/

Twista - Kamikaze. Still sealed!!! RARE!! L@@K!!!! (Guilty pleasure. No comment.)

Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack. I think I must be on the doorstep of total self-loathing. Why I'd want to relive this painful chapter of my life is beyond me. Sadly, I still know all the words to this movie as well as most of the audience participation lines. *sigh*

Star Wars soundtrack. Too bad it's not Empire Strikes Back. That was the bomb.

Freddie McGregor - Push On. I like McGregor. The album Big Ship is a total post-roots, pre-dancehall reggae classic. This could be sketchy as there's no dates listed. Steely and Clevie are on it, so that gives me an idea of what to expect. It also features the song Jogging, which always sounds to me like Big Ship Part 2.

I think I just lost every one of you that made it this far.

Neil Norman - Greatest Science Fiction Hits IV. God, this one reeks of cheese. Also, I wasn't aware James Bond films were sci-fi. Who knew?

Grand total: $19.60 and a slice of my dignity.

Alright, halfway marker. Grab a cup of coffee, or some caffeinated soap because we've still got a way to go.

My first destination of the day was a big chain thrift I'm normally not too big on visiting. Rarely do they have much of interested these days, as they seem more interested in competing with dollar stores. However, today was a little different.

First, let's look at the LPs I got:



The Hollies Greatest Hits. Rechanneled stereo (aka shit) but who cares? Some great British invasion pop and this is stuff my mom used to play for me when I was a youngin, so nostalgia trip to boot.

Performance soundtrack. Man, what is with all the soundtracks? Anyway, has Jagger on it (in it?) and I have nothing else to say.

Andy Williams - Love Theme from the Godfather. The horror! The horror!!! So, what possessed me to but this? It's quad, maaaahnnnn. As a quadraphonic sound enthusiast, I have to pick up everything and anything quad to play on my system. Which means, a ton of dreck. *sigh*

Pro Tip: it wasn't three competing systems that no one could really demo properly that killed quad, it was the fact that most of the quad records were MOR crap like Andy Williams and Jim Neighbors that killed quad.

Wake up. I'm losing you again.

Martin Mull - Days of Wine and Neurosis. Yes, that Martin Mull. I love the holiday single he had out, and I've heard nothing but good things about his albums. We'll see.

Normally I don't buy LPs sans jackets, but...these might have fallen into a sleeve with another record. Maybe. Who knows? It's a crazy world.

Shuggie Otis - Here Comes. This is a typical example of the thing about thrifting that breaks my heart: a totally desirable album with no jacket. It is better than a jacket with no album. I tore a store up once looking for a missing Astro Sounds From Beyond the Year 2000 record and like a dumbass I left the store without the jacket when I didn't find the record.

The Gentries - Keep On Dancing. I had no idea they spun their one hit into a whole album. I'm assuming this is going to rock, hard.

Now, brace yourself because here is the piece de resistance:



Check out that mess! I mean, just look at 'em! Normally I'd pass on 45s at this thrift as they charge 99 cents a toss. To some, that's fair, but when I started thrifting, 45s were a quarter or less. It's just difficult for me to pay the same as an album for a 45. These were in pretty good shape for the most part, which is suprising considering they were all thrown together in a big box.

I love 45s. Seriously, I think they are the only proper way to listen to classic rock and roll. They almost always sound better than any other version and they look so cool. I'm part owner of a jukebox, so I always have an excuse to buy these suckers, even though I think I have 3948 records I want to put in my half of a machine that holds twenty.

Anyway, here's another 33:

The Pack - Fire (or as the label calls it "Let me Stand Next to Your Fire"). The hip thing to say is: this is a contemporary to the MC5 and the Stooges doing a Hendrix cover. The not hip thing to say is: this is a precursor to Grand Funk Railroad doing a Hendrix cover.

Desmond Dekker - Israelites. RIP. I think I own a dozen copies of this already, but when the apocalypse comes, I'm going to be ready for all your Desmond Dekker needs.

Robert Preston - Chicken Fat. Apparently this was part of JFK's idea to get school kids in shape. This song was featured in the 365 Days project (Google it) and is ridiculous.

The Electric Prunes - Get Me To the World On Time. It's the Prunes. 'Nuff said.

Joyce Kennedy - The Hi-Fi Albums and I. I don't know about this but Andre Williams produced it so it's gotta be good.

Bobby Byrd - The Way I Feel. Anything after I Know You Got Soul is going to be a let down, but so what? It's still Byrd.

The Soul Survivors - Express To Your Heart. Early Gamble & Huff excellence.

Aretha Franklin - Baby I Love You. If you have to ask...

Les McCann - Bucket O'Grease. How can this be bad?

The Wishbone - Let The Good Times In. I got nothing.

The Crickets - The Sound Of The Crickets EP. Woah. Where did this come from? I'm going to be an eBay hundredaire!!!!!! No cover tho. :(

The Four Speeds - Four On The Floor. Surf from Usher and Christian.

"The" Cream - Sunshine Of Your Love. On 45? Why not?

Tommy Wills - Lost Dreams. Local cat. Second record of his I've found and still not the one I'm looking for.

(You getting tired yet? I am.)

The Impressions - Talking About My Baby. Awesome.

James & Bobby Purify - I'm Your Puppet. I love this song.

The Shirelles - Welcome Home Baby.

Aphrodites Child - Rain and Tears. Greek prog on 7". Featuring the artist currently known as Vangelis.

Ray Charles - The Brightest Smile in Town.

Jackie Wilson - I'll Be Satisfied. An early Berry Gordy composition.

Ray Charles - Crying Time. This is gonna sound great on the jukebox.

The Shangri-Las - Give Us Your Blessings.

Sammy Turner - Lavender Blue.

Dickie Goodman - Batman & His Grandmother. I used to love the Buchanan and Goodman Flying Saucer records when I was a sprout.

Beach Boys - Wild Honey. Although this is one of my favorite post-Smile tracks, I got this 45 as the flip is straight up Smile leftover. Wind Chimes. On a 45. Niiiiiice.

Chase - Get It On. It's like a pep band from hell!!!

The Zebra - Miss Anne (Ain't That Kind Of Man). I have a hunch this is going to suck mightily.

Travis & Bob - Tell Him No. I think this is rockabilly, but I'll bet I'm wrong.

The Impressions - I'm So Proud.

Are you still reading this?

Sir Douglas Quintet - Nuevo Laredo.

The Music Explosion - Little Bit O'Soul. Another duplicate (at least.) Oh well, good tune. I'll do a scratch routine with 'em.

Linda Gail Lewis - South Side Soul Society Chapter #1. Quote Han Solo: "I've got a baaad feeling about this."

Finally,

The Virginians - Limbo Baby. Because when I think limbo, I think Virginia.

So, the moral of the story here is I really need to start bringing my portable with me when I go thrifting. All I wanted for Xmas a few years ago was a portable turntable. Well, I got it, and the only time I actually remembered to bring it with me, the batteries were dead.

Speaking of dead, I'm dead tired. Get some sleep.

* just kidding. I love you guys too, you cheap music pirating bastards.

The Lament of the IT Geek.



One thing I will never understand for as long as I live is the assumption among users I service here at work (and people in general, for that matter,) that I would love nothing more than to fix their personal computer. Heck, they'll even bring it in to work for me. After all, I fix all these computers here at work all day so surely I can do theirs too.

Now, I would never go around expecting people to do what they're being paid to do for me for with no compensation for their time, so I find it curious and more than a little rude that there's this expectation that the tech guys are here for everyone's personal computing problems.

Well, let's get a few things straight. This is basic capitalism 101: money exchanged for goods or service. I'm here because they are giving me a paycheck and health benefits, not because I love fixing computers. Honestly, I can think of hundreds of things I'd rather do than be stuck on customer support calls with Dell or helping so-and-so fix her email, again.

Speaking of money, people generally get paid quite a bit more than what I'm pulling in per hour to work on personal machines. Hell, most people get paid more than I do to do what I do. (I'm not complaining, just stating a fact.)

And regarding what I do, nowhere in my job description is anything about fixing people's home computers.

Funny thing, I never hear anyone who offers to bring their computer to work so I can fix it for them mention anything about money. I'm sure they're aware people get paid good money to fix computers. Maybe that's why they are hoping the tech guy at work will fix it for them for free. In fact, I never hear them mention anything about anything other than what I can do for them.

And people get so shitty when I tell them no. I've tried to word this in the nicest way possible, but there's nothing I can say that won't get people in a huff. Let's see, you've just asked me to do something I get paid to do for you, who I barely know, for free and because I won't do it, you're going to get crappy with me? I just don't get where this sence of entitlement comes from.

See, this is the thing, I enjoy doing favors for those people who I have a relationship with versus some random person at work I only see when they want something. I will work on computers belonging to friends and relatives because they are friends and relatives. I also know they don't necessarly expect it and when I need a favor, the favor will be returned.

It's not even a money thing, as I've gladly exchanged computer tech services for food and beer. If somone said to me "I'll buy you lunch if you help me out with this problem" it'd go a long way towards making me actually consider helping them. Granted, it's going to take a little more than Taco Bell to get me to help you with a complete system recovery, but it's at least a step in the right direction.

So, this is the bottom line. IT folks aren't trying to be some gatekeepers of computer knowledge. Well, most of us aren't anyway. We're generally good, friendly and helpfull people. But, before you approach the IT guy or gal at work about fixing your computer, you need to understand the following things:

1) Knowing something about computers is seen by too many people as an open invitation for free tech support. It tends to make us a little gun shy to talk computers with people not in the know.
2) IT people's time and knowledge have value. They should be offered compensation should they choose to share these things with you.
3) Just because they fix computers for your company doesn't mean they have to fix your personal computer.
4) You are not entitled to free tech support from everyone who knows something you don't about computers.

(For the record, my going rate is $40/hour or you can clean my bathroom and/or kitchen.)

Monday, June 12, 2006

Ligeti

While I was busy composing my masterpiece, news of a real composer of masterpieces death has come across the wire.

http://www.salon.com/wire/ap/archive.html?wire=D8I6NF500.html

I'm not going to front like I'm some expert on modern classical. I'm not. I can tell you this, I really dig Ligeti though. Yes, alot of that has to do with his music being used in 2001. However, that actually got me to check out more of his stuff and while it's not something I could listen to everyday, when I'm in the mood, it's the kind of music that can totally entrance me.

Really, do yourself a favor and check some of his stuff out. I'm partial to this CD myself.

Earthlink + iTunes = $#)*!@#$!

At the risk of sounding like a bigot, I'd like to point out that having the guy at the call center introduce himself as "Jake" or "Jason" or some other All-American mom & Apple Pie sort of name doesn't change the fact that he's clearly Indian and has a little more than basic working knowledge of the English language. Not that I have a problem with him being Indian or not really understanding English. Hell, his English is better than my Sanskrit even on my best day. My problem is when someone who is in a call center can't seem to process a simple request.

Now, I'm assuming it was language that was the problem. For all I know, guy could have just been completely incompetent. However, I'm willing to give "Jeremy" the benefit of the doubt.

So, it went down like this: I signed up for Earthlink under a deal that netted me 20 iTunes downloads along with my cable internet service. The first bill has arrived and a light when on in my head that I still don't know what's up with the iTunes stuff (to say nothing of the fact that I had no idea what my Earthlink email address was, how to access my account, etc., etc. Earthlink apparently doesn't believe in giving you information like that unless you call.)

After navigating automated menu hell and being bounced from Comcast, the actual service provider who claimed to have nothing to do with that offer, to somewhere in India, I finally get to talk to a real person. Bear in mind, there are few things in life I hate more than talking on the phone and automated menus are among those things. Still, I'm a professional so I'm keeping it cool when "Joseph" gets on the phone.

In retrospect, I see exactly what happened. Remember that Far Side comic where Larson showed an owner talking to his dog. The first half, you see what the owner said then the second part you see what the dog heard which looked something like "Blah blah blah Rex blah blah blah Rex blah?" That's about how my conversation with "Jerry" went except instead of being a one panel gag, it was a half hour phone call straight to the bottom of hell itself.

I ask "Jebadiah" about the free iTunes downloads that I was supposed to get for signing up. I don't remember the exact sentence, it's not important. What is important is the one word "James" locked on to was download. And the fun begins...

After I explained to him that I could download things ok and that was the issue, he perked up and I figured we were in the home stretch. He had me go here and there and everywhere on the Earthlink site (in the process, I learned my Earthlink email address and password and all that other stuff they never told me, so I guess the call wasn't a total loss.) Finally, we stop at some download page and I'm downloading Earthlink's internet software, as per "Jared's" instructions.

At this point, I'm slowly starting to lose my cool. I'm on the phone, which I hate anyway, and I'm trying really really really hard not to be the smart ass "I work in IT and know more about this than you do" guy, even though it's becoming very apparent that is the case. Regardless I go through the process of installing this software I don't want on my computer in hopes that maybe, just maybe, it has something to do with the iTunes downloads I'm supposed to get.

Now the software is installed, I've restarted my machine and we're both just sitting there. In my head I'm going "is this it?" Finally, "Jasper" pipes up: "Is there anything else I can do for you today?" I resist the temptation to put my head through my monitor and explain I'm still waiting for my iTunes downloads.

At this point, we're at about the halfway mark in our program. While "Justin" struggles with the sentence I just laid on him (he was literally sounding out every word I just said like he was hooked on phonics) I had the first smart idea of the phone call. I'd check my old emails to see if I could find a link or order number or something that I could give old "Joe" here to look at and maybe that would make sense.

Of course, this was the point where that stupid Earthlink software he'd had me unnecessarily install starts giving my system fits.

Luckily, the Earthlink software removed easily and it gave me an opportunity to have a heart to heart with "Jimbo" about what I was asking. "You know, Apple iTunes music store? It's where you go to download music?" I was worried that I'd said download again and God only knows where that'd get me. Luckily, I found the email, but keep that quote above in mind as yes, there was a word in there "Jeremy" picked up on. Two, in fact.

I gave him the offer number and he said he'd get in touch with something in billing to get more info. At this point, I was getting hot, but I was still naive enough to assume he was actually contacting someone who knew what was going on. I'm convinced now that person was the Marlboro Man, as he left me on hold for about a smoke break's length and came back sounding more confident but knowing absolutely nothing more than he did five minutes ago.

"OK, sir, you're on an Apple?" (There was word number one he picked up on.) Now, I'm not and I know damn well it doesn't make any difference. I paused for a second to see where this was headed and how I should answer. Damned if I do, damned if I don't I said "sure. I'm a big old Volkswagen driving Mac lover." Apparently the second secret word is "music" as he leads me to Earthlink's Mac home page and has me try to click on what is clearly (to me anyway) an RSS feed for the iTunes Music Store top 10 charts.

I'm not even sure how to approach this one, as he can't seem to understand the concept of sending someone the free shit they're supposed to get, I know he's not going to get the idea of an RSS feel. I'm staring at the screen in disbelief when he asks "Is that link working for you? I can't get it to work." Through gritted teeth I merely respond that no, it's doing nothing for me either.

At this point, the light is slowly starting to fire up and it's becoming obvious to me this guy hasn't a clue. This is also the point where I think we cross over from language barrier to just plain and simple incompetence. However, old "Jesse" still has one trick up his sleeve and, after some seething silence, he laid it on me.

"OK. Do you see 'entertainment'? Click on that. See 'music'? Ok, go there. Ok, see 'free downloads'?" At this point, I could tell "Jefrey" was beaming with pride, thinking he'd finally figured out what this crazy American wanted. Well, I didn't even have to click the link to notice it was a link for a free trial of Rhapsody's subscription based music download service, an offer that had nothing whatsoever to do with my Earthlink service and that I couldn't use on my iPod even if I wanted.

The light was on and practically burning bright as the sun. All this guy was doing was surfing Earthlink's website and anytime he saw anything with music or Apple he was asking me "is that it?" Un-fricking-believable!

I'd officially reached the point where I'd become livid. Not only was this clown wasting my time, he was wasting a lot of my time. What I'd expected to be (and what should have been) a quick call I could get taken care of before I had to leave for something else has stretching out to nearly 45 minutes with no end in sight. If I'd had the time, I would have pulled the old "let me talk to your supervisor" bit, but I had someplace to be and honestly, I'm not sure it would have done any good.

So I bid my new friend goodbye with a hearty "I don't have anymore time to waste on this now. I'll call back later and hope I get someone who actually knows what the hell they're talking about." A while later, they emailed me a survey which I sent back looking like a turrets syndrome person filled it out.

I got bold enough to email customer service hoping they'd know where my iTunes downloads were. Their response? In broken English, "Jasper" told me to call customer service. I also tried the live customer service chat and my representative "Jay" also suggested I call customer service.

At this point, I think I've wasted over $100 of my life chasing down $20 worth of iTunes Music store credit. Honestly, I've got more music thank I know what to do with anyway and there isn't a whole lot of stuff on the iTunes music store I'm interested in. BUT IT'S THE PRINCIPAL OF THE THING DAMNIT!!! I'LL LEARN AN INDIAN LANGUAGE IF I HAVE TO, BUT I WANT MY iTUNES!!!

As a postscript to this story, I'd like to mention that the button just fell off my kakis. So, if you're working in my building this afternoon, watch out and give me a wide berth. I'm working without a net now.

Free Zone Charts 6/12

I'll have playlists up tomorrow.

Top 200:

# ARTIST Recording
1 MONO You Are There
2 NOMO New Tones
3 ZOMBI Surface To Air
4 MELVINS Houdini Live 2005: A Live History Of Gluttony And Lust
5 JUANA MOLINA Son
6 THE COUP Pick A Bigger Weapon
7 BLACK ANGELS Passover
8 ECCENTRIC SOUL: THE BIG MACK LABEL Various Artists
9 ALIAS AND TARSIER Brookland/Oaklyn
10 PAIK Monster Of The Absolute
11 MISSION OF BURMA The Obliterati
12 NINO MOSCHELLA The Fix
13 KIERAN HEBDEN AND STEVE REID The Exchange Session: Vol. 2
14 MORRISSEY Ringleader Of The Tormentors
15 COACHWHIPS Double Death
16 REWIND! 5 Various Artists
17 MOJAVE 3 Puzzles Like You
18 ASTRONAUTALIS The Mighty Ocean And Nine Dark Theaters
19 ASOBI SEKSU Citrus
20 PEEPING TOM Peeping Tom
21 HERBERT Scale
22 GNARLS BARKLEY St. Elsewhere
23 MR. LIF Mo' Mega
24 FIRST NATION First Nation
25 RHYS CHATHAM Rhys Chatham Sampler
26 ELVIS COSTELLO AND ALLEN TOUSSAINT The River In Reverse
27 COUCH Figur 5
28 DYSRHYTHMIA Barriers And Passages
29 LANSING-DREIDEN The Dividing Island
30 DANIELSON Ships

Adds:

Cheebacabra - Exile in the Woods
The Donkeys - The Donkeys
Marked Men - Fix my Brain
The Futureheads News and Tributes
Frank Black - Fastman Raiderman

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Free Zone Programming Note

I'll actually be live on Friday night. Tune in and give me a call @ 788-3314.

Saturday is canned, heavy on the 60s.

Just FYI.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Free Zone Charts 6/6

OK, time for the weekly Free Zone CMJ Top 30 and adds. As always, the Free Zone can be heard Friday and Saturday nights midnight to 3AM on 88.7 FM WICR here in Indianapolis. If you're looking for your own band name, here it is. I see you out there. Hi!

If you're looking for Rapidshare sharity music blog downloads, well, I totally just messed your Google search up as you won't find that here. Go buy the CD and support some artists, you skin flint. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!

*cough cough*


# ARTIST Recording
1 NOMO New Tones
2 MONO You Are There
3 ZOMBI Surface To Air
4 THE COUP Pick A Bigger Weapon
5 BLACK ANGELS Passover
6 MELVINS Houdini Live 2005: A Live History Of Gluttony And Lust
7 JUANA MOLINA Son
8 ECCENTRIC SOUL: THE BIG MACK LABEL Various Artists
9 REWIND! 5 Various Artists
10 MORRISSEY Ringleader Of The Tormentors
11 MISSION OF BURMA The Obliterati
12 NINO MOSCHELLA The Fix
13 PAIK Monster Of The Absolute
14 KIERAN HEBDEN AND STEVE REID The Exchange Session: Vol. 2
15 COACHWHIPS Double Death
16 ALIAS AND TARSIER Brookland/Oaklyn
17 MOJAVE 3 Puzzles Like You
18 ASTRONAUTALIS The Mighty Ocean And Nine Dark Theaters
19 ASOBI SEKSU Citrus
20 PEEPING TOM Peeping Tom
21 DANIELSON Ships
22 GNARLS BARKLEY St. Elsewhere
23 MURS AND 9TH WONDER Murray's Revenge
24 SOUL POSITION Things Go Better With RJ And AL
25 DYSRHYTHMIA Barriers And Passages
26 MCLUSKY Mcluskyism
27 MADLIB Beat Konducta Vol. 1-2: Movie Scenes
28 RHYS CHATHAM Rhys Chatham Sampler
29 LANSING-DREIDEN The Dividing Island
30 HERBERT Scale

Adds:

# ARTIST Recording
1 KAADA Music For Moviebikers
2 COUCH Figur 5
3 MR. LIF Mo' Mega
4 FIRST NATION First Nation
5 ELVIS COSTELLO AND ALLEN TOUSSAINT The River In Reverse