Well I've been tagged in one of these round-robin lists memes, which is an odd way to spend your time and I'm sure I'll distort it in my attempt to answer this list of four things, but like Mr. Silence who tagged me, I'll play along.
Though I would like to know why these things are called "memes". Seems a sort of high-tech-wistfulness to call a list a meme. I do remembering encountering the word for the first time in Neal Stepehenson's epic sci-fi comedy novel of the future "Snow Crash" a few years ago and his usage of it makes sense in a kind of "community-based virus of information sharing" way.
OK, fine here we go.
Four jobs you've had in your life: I've been a dishwasher, I've stacked books in a library, I once shoveled sand into a machine that mixed it with concrete and then came out a high pressure hose to form the shape of a waterslide which was in Jonesboro, and that was in summer for like 10 hours a day and I passed out the first day, so that would be Shoveler, I guess. And I've been paid cash money for writing plays and stories, which is a different kind of Shoveling. What I would really like to find is the Job that Wants To Stay WIth Me.
Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over: Oh I suck at this. I've never been able to give anyone a list of my Ten All Time Favorites, so Four is insane. Let me try this approach - I can name Four movies I've seen more than one hundred times (I could probably name a few dozen), and that list would include "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly", "Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb", James Whale's "Frankenstein", and, oh, why not admit it - "Star Wars", which I saw in theatres over one hundred times at least. Nerd Alert!!
Four Places You've Lived: Ha! While I have lived in many towns, like Morristown or Monterey or Nashville - I have only lived in Tennessee, so that's my final answer. Check with me in a few years on this question and see if anything new has happened.
Four TV Shows You Love To Watch: I once played a game with a friend who owned a satellite system and we used to try and see how many consecutive hours of reruns of "The Simpsons" we could watch, so there's one. I have been rather glued to the new show "Lost", but man, I have grown to hate commercials and so I seldom have the TV off a movie channel these days. Ok,. two more. Well, I did watch a heap of "Monty Python" on BBC America over the weekend and never tire of those shows and the only DVD sets of a TV show I own are "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," and I've shown my nerdy affection for that show on these pages here before. So there's four.
Four Places You've Been On Vacation: I love traveling, despite my single-state residency status. Some of the best trips I've had were to New York, Miami, Jasper, Tennessee (i loved all those trips to see my dad's family and listen to them all tell stories and laugh), and Washington, D.C.
Four Websites I Visit Daily: I am always entertained and educated going to MetaFilter, and rarely a day passes where I don't go to the IMDb, the Internet Movie Database, I always enjoy Crooks and Liars, and ... oh boy ... so many ... I do stop and read thru all kinds of writers and writing via the Rocky Top Brigade more than once a day.
Four of Your Favorite Foods: Any kind of pizza, and I can chow on roast Turkey whether it's a holiday or not, I love a fresh salad, and ... is coffee a food? No? A Beverage? Yeesh! These lists. I'll mention a recent addiction - gimme that Eel Roll Sushi, baby!! (Since I'm Southern, I suppose potatoes and cornbread are obviously included).
Four Places You'd Rather Be: Sounds ominous. The first is at a job!! Where I get paid!!!! I don't much care for winter, so where it's not winter. By the ocean. Or, conversely, deep in some mountains. (Of course, I'd also like to have my own spaceship or villa or something ritzy). Is that more than four?
Four Albums You Can't Live Without: I suppose you mean CDs, right? This is worse than the movies list. Well, just about anything by the Beatles, and I can't list some without omitting others and this isn't fair. I do like several compilations I have. Oh this is impossible - I want rock and jazz and blues and some bluegrass too and some rap too, even. Is this over yet???
Sorry.
Oh I'm supposed to tag four others to do this - how about ... 10,000 Monkeys and A Camera, and also have to tag Juliepatchouli, and one of the brains at Six-Meat Buffet, who claimed once only they were supposed to do "sarcasm" on their pages and perhaps this may annoy them. and um ... oh ... I've been enjoying the pain and suffering at Atomic Tumor, so them too. And if you are not on this ridiculously short list or have no blog, then add your "memes" in the comment section.
There is no reason a CD can't still be called an album. A vinyl LP was an album. 8 tracks, cassettes, all albums. If you have an audio medium with a group (more than two) of songs, it's an album, you know, like a "photo album" is a group of photos.
ReplyDeleteEver hear anybody refer to a "concept CD"? Wait, they don't even make those any more, do they?
Of course, with digital formats taking over, & music being downloaded piecemeal, the idea of an "album" will soon only be remembered by old coots like us.
Actually, the music industry no longer calls them albums. At least when referring to the charts. Back in the day and artist would hit the top 40 based on the number of albums sold and now it is based on the number of "units" sold. This, of course, begs the question, will the 2006 Grammys award a statue to the "Unit of The Year"? Because, that would be funny. He he he.
ReplyDeleteI say any collection of work/memories/concept that has a title is an album. Do they give gold and platinium cds for the producers wall of fame now?
ReplyDeleteWell, for the record (ha ha, a pun) it appears to me that usage of the term "album" for a recording is on the way out.
ReplyDeletea song used to be called a "single", but iPods and mp3s call them files.
and since "albums" or CDs cost so much these days, it looks like the industry is totally going into the "song" selling business.
when was the last time you or anyone you knew used a vinyl record player? (who wasn't scratching for a hip-hop beat)
and i think they still hand out "gold albums" but wonder how long that will last....
i don't know - is blog a personal album on the web???
Kelvis said "unit". Heh heh.
ReplyDeleteWasn't Ron Jeremy "Unit of the Year" ?
ReplyDeleteActually, the kids and I got AT a record player for Christmas. We'd had some nice LPs sitting in our closet, collecting dust.
ReplyDeleteAlbums like Led Zep iii, Ziggy Stardust, Woodstock soundtrack(?), Pink Moon and of course all of AT's old 7-inch (huh huh)punk albums sound best on a turntable.
And we're even under 30. ;)
Ok - I'm forced to admit it - some of the best music recordings are those on vinyl, they sound a lot "hotter" and the pops and scratches add to the experience.
ReplyDeleteI have a decent collection left of records, but keep them as collector's items and seldom play them.
And I remember so well my punk rock friends' place from college days - they had all these disco records melted and twisted into ashtrays. Good times.
Still, records and record players are simply fading away, though I'm sure they will still remain in use, unlike an 8-track player.
And no matter what happens some of the best memories I have are of cueing up records on a turntable working at the old radio station. Good times. And thank god you didn't get AT and iPod.