The Dealbreaker

Things are going great, we're having a simple conversation about school and teaching children (how human), but then comes the inevitable question:

"So what kind of music do you like?"

Now, to the normal person from southern Indiana this is not a particularly difficult question. It is usually followed by "Well I like 99.7 (the local 'current' music station playing the same 'hits' 4 times an hour) and country and classic rock. Whatever is fine with me."
Now take me (please) for instance, I am not the typical person from southern Indiana. This question proves rather difficult for me to put into an answer that someone from 'round these parts can comprehend. Whatever answer I may give is often followed by, "Oh, I've never heard of them." That is fine with most people, but for some reason it makes me cringe. I know it may be shallow to be like this, but c'mon, really? Can't there be someone from this area who knows what the fuck I'm talking about? It's so difficult past that point to talk to a person. Something in the back of my mind makes me think "ok, we can no longer get along from this point forward". I don't want to be like this, it just is. Why is it so important to me that I really don't like The Eagles or Aerosmith? Is that really a demeaning quality that I look for in a person? Yes, yes it is.
I just don't know what it is that I don't see in people. I've completely lost my faith in the progression humanity. Or maybe it's only lost in this geographic location? I think Google should have a new view on their map that highlights intellect. Then when I search for directions from my home to anywhere but here, I start out in a big black void, kind of like real life. I can plan a route to go to a blue highlighted area, that's a moderate rate of intellect per capita filter. Dare I go to the lime green locations?!?! What adventures may await there? An independently owned restaurant?!?! Possibly a place to have lunch that doesn't have 20 other locations to choose from?! I must find this magical map!

(nice dream)

I wrote this to my friend April after she told me she got a job with MTV:

I had a crazy dream that I woke up and turned on the TV and it was on MTV and had my name on the screen as a contest winner to spend a week in NYC. What?! But it said I already lived in New York, but I know it was for me because the census said I'm the only Joey Flispart in the world (well, 1 or fewer). So I get there and it's all weird and everything, and I'm in this guys house/apartment and it's all like a big open 3-story porch. I don't have my phone, my wallet, but I have my car keys and my old phone I haven't had in 4 years, but it doesn't work. I am walking through the "porch" and I see this thing that looks like a cross between a toilet augur and a keytar. It is labeled as Radiohead above the keys, and the toilet augur part come from the long spring-like metal tubing coming out of it, plus it has like a metal gun handle. I have no idea what this thing is, but I assumed it made weird "Radiohead sounds". So I think I walk around some more, and when I come back to that room, the cast of the Kill Bill movies are there. They are all playing music, so what do I do? I go get that damned Radiohead machine I saw earlier! I played the keytar parts while using the gun-type action handle to point the metal springs into a speaker. The sound was awesome! Well, I thought it was awesome, and so did Michael Madsen, but Darryl Hannah (I think that's her name) didn't like it. Said I put too much into it. So then we all left and we each had a Jaguar XJ220. I climbed into mine through the sunroof :D

There is a time and a place for everything. 3:00 a.m. on a Tuesday is not one of those times for anything. So I can't sleep. What do I do? Well, what else would I do! Write letters to people I haven't talked to in ages!!!!
The first one is an apology for something I did, but I can't remember too well. I was in the wrong, I guess. I must have been:
I realize that 3:00 a.m. on a Monday (technically Tuesday) isn't the best time to write this, but I've been up for hours because I can't sleep. I've been thinking of all the shitty things I've done and all of the shitty things that have happened to me, a bit of self loathing if you will, and I wanted to have the chance to tell you that I'm sorry for the things I said to you. You didn't deserve what I said and I was wrong. I hope you've been doing well with the CD101 thing, I even listened to it last time I was up there. I also hope Stella and Archie are fine.

Goodbye,
Joey

The second one is one I haven't written yet. I'm not sure who it'll go to, but I think it will go a little something like this:
Hey, how have you been? I haven't talked to you in forever, just wanted to take a second to catch up with you. Starting school soon I guess? Not too much more left it seems, only a few semesters. Well, hope all is well!
Take care,
Joey

Now, I could send that one to any single person on the planet and it would seem like nothing. I'd probably get a similar shitty response kind of like what I wrote to them. I usually don't care when I pass someone and say "how are you?". When I write it though, I seem to care enough to move my fingers without hitting delete. That's what counts. There's your thought for the day.

I need to fucking sleep!

Life is precious

I had to get into my car via the passenger side door because the SUV parked next to me had a couple making out on it, blocking the entry to my driver side car door.

Life is precious, get a room.

We are accidents waiting to happen

Getting there was half the battle. Let me explain that the Verizon Wireless Music Center sucks. First, you have to find it. It is right in the heart of Indiana. By the heart of Indiana, I mean it’s surrounded by farms. Truly the middle of nowhere. There is a highway sign to exit for it, and signs to turn on to 146th street for it. However, there is not a 146th street. There are signs that say “146th St. Ahead”, but no, no no no. There is a road, but it isn’t 146th street. You have to turn on it too, but it’s not the right one.
Secondly on my rant, once you get past the parking lot, it still sucks. There are about 10 entrances. Two of them are reserved for special needs people. By special needs people I mean Verizon cell phone owners. If you own a Verizon cell phone, and show it to the person working in line, you get in about 15 minutes earlier than everyone. Not a problem at all if everyone has a ticket for an assigned seat. I see a problem with the GA crew, crew like me. I was pissed at the exact moment I knew that was happening. The first thing I thought was, “I must tell Radiohead the corporate shenanigans that are happening!” Right when I thought that, I saw a guy dressed as Captain Morgan walk across the inside of the venue. This was bullshit. What a sell-out venue. I expect that for someone like Aerosmith or Bon Jovi, but Raiohead?! They must not have known about it. I still think I need to personally tell them about it. Maybe next time I will. Sit down, stand up, have a nice chat with Thom about the way things are.

Oh, I also saw a show. It wasn’t all about complaining about a shitty venue. The seating is actually decent. I guess it’s decent; I was in the pit. No seating there, only standing. The way things ought to be.
As you can see by my pictures in the last post, the lighting was amazing. The high point was during The Gloaming- It should be raining, it should be raining – the lights poured down with green “rain”. Well of course everyone cheered at this. Why cheering? Shit, it was frickin’ awesome! Yeah, I cheered too.
The sound was incredible. I wondered how it sounded in the back for all the people on the lawn. I only wondered that for a second, I stopped caring about that very quickly when Climbing Up The Walls was played. I think that may have been the best thing I’ll ever see in my life. Jonny playing with the radiobox-thingy was outstanding. There is a video on Youtube of it, but it does not do any justice to seeing it in person. I got the same feeling I did when I hear The Imperfect List and everything turns red. That good. As soon as they started playing I got the feeling of “oh shit, this is going to be fucking amazing” Oh, and it was, to the full extent of the definition of the word ‘amazing’. Also look up ‘fucking amazing’, because it was that too.

Keeping this short as not to ramble on too much. Snap, too late for that. Truly though, it was possibly the best show I’ve ever seen.

Also, leaving was the other half of that battle I mentioned earlier.

But the war isn’t over. Not even close.

Piqutures|
| Radiohead |







Best show I've ever seen.