My favorite part is “BYU Cougar, made with real fruit.” Hahaha. So good.

For whatever reason, there was a huge Ska scene in SLC during the early 90′s. I mean, 3 out of 4 local bands that regularly played gigs were Ska groups. Some of my favs were Swim Herschel Swim, Stretch Armstrong (from Provo), and Model Citizen (from Logan). After seeing so many local Ska shows, I started to become a huge fan of the genre. At first I really thought that all of the horns and stuff were kinda corny. I mean, I would totally get down to it in the pit, during a show, but for some reason it was weird listening to Ska music in my bedroom at home. It just isn’t the type of music that you would ever want to blast with the windows down while dragging State St. Hahahahah.

I soon became very keen on some of the larger names in the Ska Scene like the Specials, and the English Beat. My friends and I started to learn all of the rude boy terminology, etc.. Although, we never went as far as forming a Vespa gang or wearing checkered Chuck Taylors with skinny ties. I did at one point own a fedora, though. Okay, several fedoras. Once No Doubt came through town, on their “Trapped in a Box” tour. This was long before “Tragic Kingdom,” When ND really did play Ska music. I had one of my two run-ins with Gwen Stefani that night at their show. It was performed in a Racquetball court, at some Lo-bo sports club in Orem UT. I’m trying to remember who went with me. I don’t think that I could even drive yet. Taylor or Tadd, did you go to that one? I’m pretty sure that Gavin and Kim were there. I was wearing combat boots, 2 sizes too big. I was up on top of the pit, and they tossed me on stage. I stumbled to get my balance and knocked Gwen right onto her booty. Whoops, hahaha.

Back to the point: I’m sharing one of my favorite English Beat Songs, “Too nice to talk to.” I had the pleasure of seeing them perform this diddy live a couple of times, even before they merged with the Specials, to become Special Beat. It is an amazing track, full of Ska flavor. Give it a listen.

Note: The .M3U link will only work in Windows Explorer. I have still been too lazy to build a little pop-up player. I’ll try to work it out by the time I write the next music post.

Last time, I mentioned that in my Jr. high days, one of the bands I discovered on KJQ was the Cure. To be honest, they were kind of a guilty pleasure. I felt uncomfortable every time I saw a picture of Robert Smith, the band’s front man. He was as dedicated to his stage makeup as Gene Simmons, only, with a Richard Simmons flare. As this picture shows, he wasn’t always so wrapped up in the whole Gothic persona that prevailed in the early 90′s. The Cure actually got started in 1976, in Sussex England. The early tracks that the band produced actually resembled prevalent punk sound, like that of Johnny Rotten. Even Smith’s voice had not yet developed that over the top whiny melancholic quality.

You can hear what I mean in the track that I’m sharing today. It was a studio demo of a song that I’m not sure ever made it onto a proper album. I don’t really know much about the date it was written or recorded. I really like this song though. In fact, I think that it is probably my favorite song by the Cure. It’s called, “I want to be old”. Check it out.

I’m not quite sure what the appropriate way to begin this post would be. I probably should have made an outline or something beforehand. Since I didn’t, I apologize in advance for the scattered, and most likely disconnected manner in which this post will turn out.

Now that the preface is out of the way, here is the meat. I am a bit of an audiophile. I have been since I was pretty young. When I was very young (kindergartenesque) I used to fall asleep listening to the radio. Back then I was listening to Power 99 and KISN 97. These two stations played pop/rock music in Salt Lake City in the 80′s. I was into Madonna, Debbie Gibson, Michael Jackson, Christopher Cross, you get the idea. I collected 8 tracks, vynil, cassette tapes, CDS and now .mp3s.

My taste in music has, of course, changed over the years. When I was in 6th or 7th grade, much to my parents’ chagrin, I was introduced to the 90′s “alternative” genre. It started when I discovered a radio station called KJQN or “KJQ.” When I first started listening, the station didn’t come in very clearly in south Salt Lake valley, where I was living at the time. So it was always a little bit staticky. For me putting up with the static was well worth being able to hear songs like Gary Neuman’s “Cars,” and “Our house in the middle of the street,” by Madness. Not to mention, all of my favorite Depeche Mode, Cure and English Beat songs. Later KJQ became X-96, “alternative” became mainstream, and hip hop came into vogue. I never really got into the hair bands. I think mostly it was because of this one fat kid that I hated in elementary school, who always wore a Warrant, “cherry pie” shirt. That, coupled with the unspoken standing dispute (90′s version of a “beef”) that existed between Kurt Cobain, who I idolized, and Axl Rose, who I despised. What kind of name is Axl, anyway? Axel, ok. But Axl? Wannabe toughguy with an ego the size of the arenas he played in, that was Axl.

Back to the subject… Over the years I have broadened out quite a bit in taste (although I still can’t stand the hairband arena stuff), and have amassed a fairly eclectic stack of tracks. From time to time, people inquire about some of the tunes in my collection. I don’t consider myself an expert or uberknowledgable in obscure music, by any means. But I do have a passion for for the stuff. So, in the off chance that one, or even possibly some reader(s) of my ramblings has/have dovetailing, or even slightly overlapping taste in music, with me, I had this idea. “What is the idea?”, you may be wondering (if you are still reading). Well, I thought that I would occasionally write a “La Musica Coolica” post (the name is lacking, I know), in which I will link to a streaming track of my choice that I felt inspired to share. I had this idea today while straphanging on the A line, with someone’s handbag constantly jabbing me in the leg. As the annoy-o-meter was rising and rising, “Personal Space Invader” started playing in my headphones. It was like poetry. It is like the anthem of the rush hour subway rider. So I decided that I would make my first Musica Coolica post about that song.

You may remember Sugar Ray. Although they have all but fallen off of the map, front man Mark McGrath still shows up now and then. The song “Personal Space Invader” is a track off of their album 14:59. The title of this album was commentary on all of the critics claims that “Fly,” a song from their previous album, which had received heavy rotation would render the band a one-hit wonder. “14:59″ was to say that the 15 minutes of fame had not yet expired. Clever. The song, “Personal Space Invader” is not completely characteristic of the normal Sugar Ray sound. In fact, it is reminiscent of Modernized DEVO. Speaking of DEVO, I want to say a little more about them in a minute. Even though the hook is a lot like DEVO, especially how they kind of get all fake computery, the chorus has plenty of heavy guitar and good melody. For these reasons, I dig it. Here is the link to Sugar Ray’s “Personal Space Invader.” It is encoded as a streaming .m3u file, in hopes to preempt any sort of proprietary issues. I’m not sure that it will work in Safari, or on a Mac at all (let me know if it does). Give it a listen.

As an almost completely off-topic side note: A couple of weekends ago, when we were at the MOMA for the VanGogh exhibit. We wandered through a couple of other exhibits. One of them dealt with music in the 6o’s and early 70′s. They had this DEVO video playing that cracked me up. It is a cover of “Secret Agent Man,” filmed in 1975. The best part is the keyboard player’s dancing. He is wearing a baby mask, and at 1:38 he does the most hilarious moves with his arms. I embedded it below if you want to check it.

People predicted that there would be a huge turnout this morning. If my polling location is any indication, those people predicted correctly. The poll opened at 6 A.M. Statewide. I arrived at 6:30 thinking that I would miss the initial crowd, and beat the crowd that would try to vote right before going into work. There was a line down the block, around the corner and down the next block. For those of you who are familiar with my neighborhood, my polling station is PS 182 on Cabrini Blvd. The line wrapped around the corner at 190th all the way to Ft. Washington. It’s going to be a banger!

One thing that has been lacking for the last year and a half in MotoGP is bad blood. There have been and are some riders that don’t get along this season, but nothing crazy. Hayden and Pedrosa don’t talk much. So what. They don’t try to elbow each other off of the track. They haven’t made promises guaranteeing the other’s failure. This is the type of drama that has been absent. Rossi and Stoner, the two dominant riders for the past couple of seasons, get along swimmingly. All of this may change again, starting next season. Don’t look now, but Sete Gibernau is making his return to GP in 2009. Gibernau, the GP veteran wet condition favorite, does not like Rossi, at all. Rossi returns the sentiments. In the season of 2004 at the inaugural running of the Losail circuit in Qatar, Rossi’s crew was clearing some sand from the starting grid before the race. Apparently this is not allowed. According to Rossi’s camp, Gibernau or his crew ratted out Rossi’s team, which ended up in Rossi being penalized by having to start at the back of the grid. Rossi, being angry and determined, ended up crashing out, as he tried to make his way through the field of riders. Gibernau went on to win the race. Rossi was so pissed off about it, that he swore that Gibernau would never win another GP race, as long as Rossi was racing. So far, he has been able to make good on it. With Gibernau returning to MotoGP, I predict a Max Biaggi-scale rivalry to come about, as the season unfolds next year. Rossi is a stubborn man. I think that he will continue to do everything in his power to keep Gibernau from winning a race. It should make for some interesting drama next season.

update, 8:45- Tokyo Police are pretty cool. They don’t really have a unique sound though. It was your basic run of the mill indie Death Cab sound. Angels and Airwaves were warm up band #2. They are total rubbish. First of all, they take themselves way too seriously. They were playing at full volume with lights and everything. It was almost like they didn’t get the memo, about being warm up band. Also, why would you have a band name that shares its initials with a roadside repair service? Ps, not only is their sound unoriginal, but it is downright tiresome. Sorry if I’m offending any triple A fans. The fact that I am bored enough during their set to pass the time blogging, should say something though.

As a result of the tough economic times that we are currently experiencing, I have been discouraged from carrying over, or cashing in any vacation this year. As a result, I have implemented a plan to start burning off my vacation days before the end of the year. I started by taking today off. Reagan and I got up early and do laundry, so that we could come visit Piper early. She was asleep when we arrived an hour ago, and is still sawing toothpicks. I guess she didn't get the memo, that I was taking the day off to come visit, hahahah.

Nothing says “fall is here” like doing some pull ups in the woods, wearing only boxer briefs. I think that, in this ad, Perry Ellis was aiming for a composition that all guys can relate to. Because honestly, what guy can’t say that in all of those times they found themselves wandering through the woods alone in their underwear, they didn’t stop a few times for a quick round of chin-ups on a tree branch?

This picture was taken earlier this week of our new little Avocado tree. It is now almost as tall as the other plant in the pot. See how much it has grown in one week!

It looks like of the anxiety surrounding the start up of the CERN Hadron Collider was all for naught. However, just because they are spinning protons, doesn’t mean that they have smashed anything yet. I think that is what people are nervous about. I seem to recall reading earlier this year that they won’t actually accelerate to full speed, or start smashing atoms, until the spring. So I guess the world may still suffer death by man-made black hole, in the spring.

It’s autumn! When I was riding my bike this morning, not only was I cold, I got a freaking ice cream headache. As soon as I got into work, I had to throw on a cardigan and drink some tea.

One weekend left until the Philadelphia Distance Run. Reagan has run almost 100 miles in the last 2 weeks. She has seriously been detonating. I have had a pinched nerve in my neck (lame excuse, I know), so I haven’t really run for about a week and a half. I’m feeling great now though. So I still plan to try to sneak in a few more training sessions next week.

2 more weekends until Weezer. If you read Reagan’s blob (and I’m sure you do, because hers is about 1000 times more entertaining than mine), you probably saw that Weezer is playing the Garden this month. Reagan picked up some tickets for us on Monday. We are getting more excited by the day. In fact, last night we watched “Nirvana, live tonight, sold out” to get us pumped for live rock shows.