Let's Dance To Joy Division

I should be writing a paper but instead I thought that I would talk at ether. How is everyone? Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? I did. There was a chance of Hippy-inflected tofurkey but I dodged the bullet and made it through Thursday full and soy-free. I got to sit next to my aunt's nephew (which would be me but its the other side of the family). He's a philosophy doctoral student at City College in New York. I was enthralled/babbling to him most of the night. He was nice to me, when I misspoke about analytic philosophy he didn't correct me. I thought that was decent of him.

Anyway, Friday I went down to Salisbury to visit the Grandparents an the horde of people I'm technically related to. It was surprisingly painless. I actually had a good time. My cousins are all in their teens now, mostly in high school. I'm able to carry on conversations with them. Like I had an hour conversation with on about the merits of California weed versus East Coast. With another I got to talk Second wave Ska, which wierded me out. He even had the Two-Tone comp, which I thought would impress him. More proof that I was inherently lame in high school. I thought people got cool once the went off the college. Eh... Then I had a thirty minute lecture from the eldest cousin, now going to school in New York, about absurdist theater and the benefit one can derive from reading Becket while tripping. They are all a lot more interesting than I am.

There was also Guitar Hero III. More on that in a moment. We wet to see the Mist at about 10:30, which I thought was a little late, and only served as more proof that I'm a geezer. The movie was good. I thought Thank-You-For-Smoking-guy and Mystic-River-lady did great jobs. The ending was a little predictable and the monsters all looked like 3D Jim Henson puppets from The Dark Crystal but all in all I would recommend it to Stephen King fans. We left a day early and got back in the early evening on Saturday. I got to hang with Nando for a bit that night and watch his favorite show-- Dexter, a Showtime (I think) series on a serial killer. Its honestly one of the more interesting shows on T.V. I've seen this season (even if I am watching last season's episodes). The protagonist is a serial killer, and you manage to empathize with him. Its sort of a bizarre felling to root for the homicidal maniac but it works. Another "Greg-recommended" production.

I bought Guitar Hero 3 a little while back. I have been playing less routinely that when I purchased the others, mainly because of papers and whatnot at school, but it is a great game. I have a few complaints about the changes in look but on the whole its a solid release from the Guitar Hero franchise. The characters you can choose from are a bit of a let down. My favorite, Pandora, a white belt-wearing, leather jumpsuit clad, hardcore indie chick was dropped from the game. And Johnny Napalm, the punk guitarist, now looks like a Casualties casualty. Not that he didn't before but it’s accentuated by the lack of shirt and Mohawk-to-body ratio that exceeds the bonding properties of even the toughest mouse. Aside from a few graphic missteps the songs are top notch. Getting to play "Bulls On Parade" by Rage Against The Machine, "My Name Is Jonas" by Weezer, "Anarchy In The U.K." as re-recorded by the remaining Sex Pistols (since the master tape has been lost) are only a few of the highlights. I could go on and on but I'll shift gears a little now.

Not a lot mind you... I need to get an XBox 360, or barring that a PS3. I don't really want either of these systems, they aren't bad but I have lots of friends who have the XBox and from everything I've heard the PS3 is not a great console, but I still need to buy one. "Why," you ask? Because of a little game called Rock Band. The makers of the original Guitar Hero teamed up with MTV to create a full band experience, with drums, bass and guitar and karaoke vocals. It comes out for PS2, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't get released for my console of choice until December 11th or something. I can wait. Don't think I'm that childish. My main reason for wanting the XBox 360 version is the downloadable content. You can actually download full albums to play in the game. The two that kick off the Rock Band release are Nevermind by Nirvana and The Who's Next by the Who. I love Nirvana but being able to play every track of The Who's Next would be... well, to put it plainly, kick ass.

Since my last post I've had a one year anniversary. Elizabeth and I are great, for those who dot know. I think she, Shah and Nando are the only ones who read this, its really only you Shah, since she knows and Nando gets told most everything important. While assembling her anniversary mix-tape (mix-CD, whatever, tape sounds better) I happened upon a couple of new bands worth checking out. Cut Off Your Hands, The Wombats and The Moths! top my list of new favorites. The Wombats, in particular, are in heavy rotation. I'll cut this short, since I really do have to get this paper done but I want to leave you with what might be the greatest summation of what I fell like every time I think my life is going horribly awry. Or at least once someone stops me from hyperventilating and cracks a joke about how silly I'm being. At that point this is the song that should be playing in the movie version of my life:

I'm back in Liverpool
and everything seems the same
but I worked something out last night
that changed this little boy's brain
a small piece of advice that took 22 years in the make
and i will break it for you now
please learn from my mistakes
please learn from my mistakes

let's dance to joy division
and celebrate the irony
everything is going wrong
but we're so happy

let's dance to joy division
and raise our glass to the ceiling
'cos this could all go so wrong
but we're just so happy
yeah, we're so happy

so if you're ever feeling down
grab your purse and take a taxi
to the darkest side of town
that's where we'll be
and we will wait for you
and lead you through the dancefloor
up to the dj booth
you know what to ask for
you know what to ask for

go ask for joy division
and celebrate the irony
everything is going wrong
but we're so happy

go ask for joy divison
and raise your glass to the ceiling
cos this could all go so wrong
but we're so happy
so happy

so let the love tear us apart
I found the cure for a broken heart
let it tear us apart

let it tear us apart

let's dance to joy division
and raise our glass to the ceiling
cos this could all go so wrong
but we're so happy
yeah, we're so happy

so happy, yeah, we're so happy
so happy, yeah, we're so happy
- "Let's Dance To Joy Division"
by The Wombats