Uncle Salty told me stories of the lonely

Took care of a couple of financial concerns today, which doesn't take care of it all, but goes a ways to making me feel a little more secure. I need to make more money. I think a part time job, at least in the short term, will be the way to go. When things start looking up in the job market, I will look for another full time one in earnest. Sure, being poor all the time and living paycheck to paycheck is sexy and thrilling--gratifying, even -- but I'd like to see what having money is like. And, you know, if I find I don't like it, I can always go back to being a fucking bum.

I hope to finish up some lyrics tonight. I don't expect I will, but you never know. I wish writing lyrics was as easy as writing music. It would make things so much easier. Now that Luke Warm has decided playing music with me is not up his alley, I'm starting to rethink what I want for accompaniment. So far, the people who have expressed interest have made themselves scarce. Hell, I'm fine playing with myself.... uh, I mean.... oh, forget it.

Watching as much Dexter as I can, trying to catch up to Mara, who just finished Season 2. I'm just about finished with the first. Unless she takes a break, I won't be catching up with her. I'll have fun trying, though. Such a great show!

Observations while listening to the River at work today:

1. The new Green Day song they play all the time has a chorus that steals out-right from All The Young Dudes. This had to have been intentional, obviously. How could it not be? I refuse to believe Billy Joe, or whatever the fuck his name is, had no inkling what he was doing. And, even if he didn't, someone -- one of his band mates, their engineer, or road manager -- would have pointed it out. That got me to thinking. It's considered acceptable, maybe even cool, to rip off a song that's hugely popular, like All The Young Dudes, but if you cop from some mid-level songwriter or struggling band, you're considered a thief and you will be sued. In one instance, you're paying homage, ostensibly, and in the other, you're stealing. I don't care that much either way, but it does make me cringe a little knowing that a ton of people listening to the new Green Day song will love the hook in the chorus and not realize its origins. "Dude, Billy Joe can write a fucking hook!"

2. Speaking of copping from other songs, every time I hear the beginning of U2's I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight, I think I'm in for some Journey. Nope. And, in the first verse, when Bono breaks into falsetto on ...if I don't go crazy tonight, I laugh almost every time. Now, in all fairness, and before Craig breaks my neck, I will say, upon listening to the song on a better system, the falsetto sounds less comical, and, even though at first I thought this was one of the weakest U2 songs I've heard in a while, it's actually quite good. Yeah, some parts are weak, but the difference maker is Bono and some subtle changes that separate it from the usual safe as milk fodder that the River caters to.

While I'm on the subject of U2 and The River, I'd like to flesh out my Duck Soup theory, which applies here. The Duck Soup theory goes like this: The Marx Brothers were amazing comedians on numerous levels, but when you watch a movie like Duck Soup, their masterpiece, you've seen it all before, because it's been raped so much over the last several decades that it's hard to appreciate the innovation, timing, delivery, etc. Same goes for U2, and nowhere else is it as apparent than on a station like The River -- they've been been picked apart so much over the years that when you hear them sounding like themselves, you're like "Damn, U2 is starting to sound like everyone else". Nope, other way around, son. One more thing: I'm listening to their new record as I type this. I'm enjoying it quite a bit, more than I did initially, and am surprised that it sounds good as a long player, meaning it works as a cohesive whole, not just a collection of songs. Didn't expect that. Ok, Craig, as you can see, I redeemed myself. In the interest of full disclosure, though, I will probably still chuckle when Bono does his falsetto on that song.

3. There's something redeeming about The Bare Naked Ladies-- just barely, though, and I don't know exactly what it is-- that prevents me from seeking them out and doing the world a favor and ending their lives in an extremely unpleasant way. The impulse is inevitable because they're so geeked out and corny, but at the same time I bet you could have a pretty cool conversation with them about the Beatles. Fuck it, they should die just because of that "If I Had a Million Dollars" travesty.

4. I've been hearing a song for weeks now that has annoyed me to no end, but until today, I couldn't figure out who it was by. To my surprise, I discovered it was a new Pearl Jam song. There's more than a handful of Pearl Jam songs I haven't liked, but this is the first time I've been annoyed. Does this mean grunge is dead?

Just finished Abraham's An Autumn War last night. Really, really good. I was very impressed. Before I move on to the final novel in the series, I'll try to put a dent in Pillars Of The Earth, which found itself on the back burner, or The Warded Man, which found itself in the same predicament.

Ok, on to Dexter.