Show a little faith, there's magic in the night, you ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright

I have no idea why, but I've never owned Led Zeppelin III, perhaps my favorite album of theirs, on CD. I've purchased so many inferior CD's over the years before finally, including ones from the same band. Yet it's one of my favorite albums. I guess sometimes the things or people we feel closest to are the ones we're most apt to place on the back burner. We take for granted that they'll always be there waiting, eager for you to once again give them our undivided attention. Today, I came to my senses and went out and bought the fucker.

Found within most of Led Zeppelin's albums are at least two or three songs I generally skip over when they come on. This is not to suggest they're bad -- after giving it a few seconds thought, I've arrived at the conclusion that they've never written a bad song, only some I'm inclined to listen to less than others. Led Zeppelin III doesn't have any songs I'd skip over, save perhaps Tangerine, which used to annoy me more than it does now, but I did play it at my first ever high school talent show, so it holds a special place in my heart. It's playing right now and it's really a pretty song.

Know who else loves this album? Cameron Crowe. One of the few to get permission from the band to use their songs in a movie, Crowe, allotted his choice of five or six for Almost Famous, culled mostly from Led Zeppelin III. The placement of That's The Way, a song that always makes me a little sad (but in a good way), in the film is sublime.

I'm glad this album is back in my collection.

At the Fresh Pond plaza this morning, I saw Mara. Or at least I thought it was Mara. She was getting out of a car that was pulled up to the curb. She had a little girl with her. I was about ten feet away and approaching, and I'm telling you this woman looked EXACTLY like Mara. Even the car she got out of looked familiar. It was a gray Corolla. Her friend Alana has a gray Corolla. And a little girl. I was close to a hundred percent it was Mara.

Even when I was about five feet away, I was convinced it was her. Same facial features, hair cut, glasses, build. We made eye contact and there was no sense of recognition from her. Well, our last meeting did end a little oddly, I thought. Maybe she's uncomfortable around me now. It wasn't until I heard her speak that I knew for sure it was someone else. The only differences I could discern were the voices and this woman was a little heavier. Still, pretty eerie. And what made it even that much more eerie, was the fact that I had just driven past Jessica, Mara's roommate.
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Watched The Hurt Locker last night. Very, very good. Lived up to the hype. Could have been done so much worse. I can only imagine what Michael Bay would have done with this movie. A ton more explosions, for one thing. Best not to think about it.

Play list for today:

Gris Gris, by Dr. John

Hunky Dory, by David Bowie

Rock Bottom, by Robert Wyatt

Permanent Waves, by Rush

The aforementioned Led Zeppelin III

The Ramones self-titled debut

Born To Run, by Bruce Springsteen

The C's are on this afternoon. Will have to catch some of that. In the meantime, I'll be working on songs. Cheers.