My last new cds for a long, long time.

We are bad parents. Ruby did not get into the kindergartens of our choice, public or private. This because we are bad people, quite horrible really, and the school admissions people picked up on it.

Maybe I should have taken the toothpick out of my mouth during the interview. Maybe Paula should have not snapped her garters. Maybe I should have not snapped her garters, or mine, during the interview with the kind principal of the desirable and well respected Catholic school, the one with the sane tuition that is not five minutes from our house. (We applied late, you see. My daughter is a fucking GENIUS and I don't appreciate you thinking otherwise.)

Perhaps carving “A N G U” (there was no room for the S) into my right hand the night before WAS NOT THE FUCKING WAY TO GO. Maybe enthusing over shooting rats with a .22 down at the corporation yard was a STUPID GAMBIT. Maybe pointing at the photo of JP II and laughing DID NOT BREAK THE ICE AS INTENDED. Farting, as it turns out, was right out. So was wafting it comically.

So, instead Ruby got into a very good school, a great school in fact, but it’s not close to our house and more expensive. But we don’t have to pretend to like God, and there is a Philly Cheese Steak shop right down the street. So it’s not a loss. (Just so you understand: I am not a total yuppie asshole. I own a shitty car that has a “Tennis is My Racket” license plate frame. The public schools where I live stink on ice.)

The LOSS here is that, in order to save money, I am going on strict CD lent for a long, long time. But I’m in a good place. I have what I need for my purposes. I could use a couple zydeco CDs, just for flavor, but those I can wait for.

Excessive music consumption (CDs and MP3 purchases) is pretty much my only vice, beside poisoning neighborhood dogs and being an obese person with bad hygiene.

In anticipation, over the past month I went a little crazy. It was my Mardi Gras before the long deprivation. So sue me.

These are my final CDs (all bought used, just so you don’t think I’m taking food out of my children’s mouths):
Tegan & Sara “So Jealous” (Good, but I can understand if you hated it. Those girls can whine.)

Hafler Trio (“A Eg Ad Halda Afram?” and “Being a Firefighter Isn’t Just About Squirting Water” Two EPs of droning. I like it, but then I sort of like pointless things. )

Adam Green “Gemstones” (Ahhh, feh. Funny, surreal folk songs. I always think I’ll like this kind of stuff, but just end up being irritated and angry. (See also: Architecture in Helsinki and Br. Danielson. Ho-hum.)

Anthony and the Johnsons “I am a bird now” (ROCKS. Make me feel sad for gay men. My sister once had a moth fly in her ear. Her keening at the fluttering sensation of the moth against the tiny hairs in her ear has the same quality as Anthony’s. Which is good.)

Japancakes “If I Could See Dallas” (More droning, although melodic and sunny. Lots of pedal steel and sitar. Nice.)

Os Mutantes “Everything is Possible” (The best purchase by far. Brazil weirdo psychedelic from the sixties. But really well made, with good musicianship.)

Elliot Smith “Figure 8” (I figured I needed some Elliot Smith. Now I have some.)

Sigur Ros “Takk…” (Nice packaging.)

Popul Vuh “Nostferatu: Original Soundtrack” (Very creepy. I shouldn’t have played it for the Principal.)

Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah. (Ahh, sure. Good. I dunno. What do I know? I CAN NEVER BUY A CD AGAIN AS LONG AS I LIVE.)

Arctic Monkeys “A long title I can’t be bothered to remember.” (I was unsure about this as it has had the shit written out of it in the British music press, who thought Oasis was good. But this is the real deal.)

Gravenhurst. “Fuck the title. Who cares. No one is reading this anyway.” (Aggressively dull sub-spaceman 3 stuff. Couple of goodish tunes.)

Stuff I’m waiting on:

David Lindley “El Rayo-X” (Hippy music I can tolerate.)

The KLF “Chill Out” (Good one. KLF once burnt 1,000,000 pounds on live TV or something. And this CD is actually good.)

NRBQ “Stay With We” (I’m pretty sure this might be dull bar rock. All I know is people rave about NRBQ. Not that that indicates quality. It’s sort of the Meters syndrome. There are people in this world who LOVE the Meters. Usually folks that have lived in New Orleans and have seen them live. I kind of don’t get the Meters. I don’t hate them. But they might be too mathematically funky for my simple, uncomplicated mind.)

Beegees “1st” (Back when they were still Australian.)


Fuck. That’s a lot of CDs. I’m a bad father.