Heroes get remembered, bloggers never die.
Earlier tonight, I was driving back from Best Buy defeated, having not found a single thing to purchase (seriously, how can there not be a single CD or DVD that's reasonably priced that I want to own? Come on, Best Buy, I'm trying to do my part to help the economy and you're cockblocking me!) when I was lucky enough to experience one of my favorite things not once but twice.
(No, not cheap gas, although petrol is currently a mere $2.68 in Clevo -- quite the change from $4.12 in Chicago over the weekend. If you want me to buy you some and mail it [which I actually think may be a federal offense, but what the fuck, I'm a tru punx], please send money via Paypal to heisel@altpress.com.)
Anyone, one of my favorite things twice. I absolutely am enamored with my iPod when I am driving to a location and the song currently playing comes to its conclusion right as I pull into my parking space and turn the engine off. This, to me, is one of the most beautiful examples of how music can inadvertently score life. Every time it happens, I feel like I'm in a John Cusack movie or something, and tonight, it not only happened when I got to Best Buy (with Sea Wolf's "Black Dirt"), the phenomenon again occurred when I pulled into my driveway (with Sea Wolf's "I'm A Wolf"). Granted, it's not like I had my iPod on shuffle (that would've been truly weird and coincidental), but still, it was a pretty neat experience -- one of those small things in life you never really think about often enough.
The only way to up this experience, in my opinion, is to reach your destination at an album's conclusion. I feel like that is the ultimate in terms of wrapping a journey up. It can psych you up even further if you get to [insert sporting event of choice] here with Andrew W.K.'s I Get Wet closing track "Don't Stop Living In The Red" blasting out your windows, or it can throw a big ol' wet blanket on top of your breakup-induced depression if you're spinning Weezer's Pinkerton on the way home and the last thing you hear as your headlights turn off is Rivers Cuomo crooning, "I'm sorry / I'm sorry / I'm sooooooooorry" in "Butterfly." Moments like this probably happen more often than you think, so I encourage you to keep your ears open and let me know about the next time something lines up for you.
In other news, both the All-American Rejects and Fall Out Boy pushed their new albums back from their respective November release dates to Dec. 16. This could be a pop-punk battle for the ages -- who do you think will sell more records in their first week?
(No, not cheap gas, although petrol is currently a mere $2.68 in Clevo -- quite the change from $4.12 in Chicago over the weekend. If you want me to buy you some and mail it [which I actually think may be a federal offense, but what the fuck, I'm a tru punx], please send money via Paypal to heisel@altpress.com.)
Anyone, one of my favorite things twice. I absolutely am enamored with my iPod when I am driving to a location and the song currently playing comes to its conclusion right as I pull into my parking space and turn the engine off. This, to me, is one of the most beautiful examples of how music can inadvertently score life. Every time it happens, I feel like I'm in a John Cusack movie or something, and tonight, it not only happened when I got to Best Buy (with Sea Wolf's "Black Dirt"), the phenomenon again occurred when I pulled into my driveway (with Sea Wolf's "I'm A Wolf"). Granted, it's not like I had my iPod on shuffle (that would've been truly weird and coincidental), but still, it was a pretty neat experience -- one of those small things in life you never really think about often enough.
The only way to up this experience, in my opinion, is to reach your destination at an album's conclusion. I feel like that is the ultimate in terms of wrapping a journey up. It can psych you up even further if you get to [insert sporting event of choice] here with Andrew W.K.'s I Get Wet closing track "Don't Stop Living In The Red" blasting out your windows, or it can throw a big ol' wet blanket on top of your breakup-induced depression if you're spinning Weezer's Pinkerton on the way home and the last thing you hear as your headlights turn off is Rivers Cuomo crooning, "I'm sorry / I'm sorry / I'm sooooooooorry" in "Butterfly." Moments like this probably happen more often than you think, so I encourage you to keep your ears open and let me know about the next time something lines up for you.
In other news, both the All-American Rejects and Fall Out Boy pushed their new albums back from their respective November release dates to Dec. 16. This could be a pop-punk battle for the ages -- who do you think will sell more records in their first week?
posted by Scott Heisel at
8:34 PM
4 Comments:
I like it when an epic song ends when I reach my destination. Like when Godspeed You Black Emperor's second track on Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven ends as I get to work or Television's "Marquee Moon" ends as I pull into my parking spot. Quite magical.
This never really happens to me much, I usually end up having to restart the song when I continue my journey. BUT one morning when I hadn't slept all night and had a 9:05 class, I put on Frank Turner's new record and the first song "I knew Purfrock before he got famous" had this sunrise effect musically, visually (I was walking early to see the sunrise) and emotionally (I had been in the dumps for a bit, but the song awakened me) helped me through that week. I thought like it was like a movie soundtrack and it has become one of my top ten favorite songs now.
P.S. I seem to be the only one who consistently comments on these blogs (except for Tim) I don't know why but I am. I still can't get over Jason's shout out a while back, that made me freak out for a good 2 minutes, until I realized it was actually because I spilled hot tea on me.
I sometimes end up leaving my computer on and playing random stuff from my iTunes so one day I woke up to the start of Phantom Planet's 'Lonely Day'. Also I don't think it counts when you're listening to a playlist but I remember listening to Minus The Bear's 'Pachuca Sunrise' at some lame party that went on till the morning and it played right when the clock struck 6:00. That's about it, I guess.
-- FOB, definitely.
Great blog topic Scott! I have a good one, but it's a story. This likely will be long...
Taking six grad classes while working 40 hours a week in a job I hated was no fun. Doing it as a single parent was self torture. I dropped out after a year. Back to the shitty job. (At this point, I might add that many emails with your BFF Karan about how much our lives whomped and what the fuck to do about it were exchanged.) I quit my law job to work at the local hipster coffee bar and take classes again. It was a huge risk and I was scared to death, but so what.
Fast forward a year. Thesis was done, review was done. I'm broke as hell but one exam away from completion of my MBA. This exam, however, was seven questions of accounting analysis and financial projections. FIVE hours long. (I'm a writer...what the hell was I doing here?) I hadn't slept in about two days, hadn't seen my son in about three, smelled strangely of espresso after just coming off an eight-hour shift... No surprise I choked and couldn't recall how to do the process for the last exam question. So I walked out. Prof chased me down and I fell apart like a blubbering fool. He told me my class grade was solid and I would pass the class regardless of that last exam question. Apparently I was graduating.
My heart racing, I got into my car to go home and collapse. iPod in dock, hit shuffle, and froze... The heartbeat start of "First Breath After Coma" by Explosions in the Sky filled my ears. I sat in the car, eyes closed and listened in a strange meditation of sorts. I think it was the first time I had truly been conscious of my breath in about a year, and I don't think there could have been a more perfect song for that moment, ever.
Hooray music
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