Halloween Countdown: October 9 - spreading the disease

Sorry, bats and ghouls, but Unca Andrew is feeling a little under the weather today. I have contracted a delightful little virus. It's symptoms are mild enough by day, but turn into uncontrollable shakes and a high fever once the sun goes down. As I have no way to tell if this night will be any different than the previous two, I'm going to make the most of my daylight hours while I can (by napping and playing videogames, naturally).

setting things right

I have to confess that Myron's comment on this post made me feel a little guilty about the (unintentional) bait-and-switch nature of post's title. See, the title was a reference to the multi-dynastic Canadian teen drama Degrassi (Jr. High, High, The Next Generation), or more specifically, to the name of a song played by Zit Remedy, the show's token "lets form a band" subplot device, back in 1989.

While I'm on the subject of Degrassi, what the hell has happened to the current incarnation of the show? I accept that I am not the intended target audience, but the transition over the past couple seasons from a thoughful examination of all things teen to a grainy Canuck photostat of The OC has been downright depressing. The ongoing process of Sassy-fication has led Maura to give up on the show -- and this is a woman who watched Melrose Place, The X-Files, and Charmed to the bitter end.

Back to the matter at hand, to make good on Myron's or any other readers' dashed expectations, here's a shiny, new, straight-from-the-series capture of the song in question. There are other versions circulating out on the 'net, but the quality of the rips is universally dismal and lack that special bitterandrew touch.

Zit Remedy - Everybody Wants Something

...and while I'm here, I might as well throw this completely unrelated celebration of youthful hijinx at you:

Fast Cars - The Kids Just Wanna Dance (from a 1979 single; collected on Coming...Ready or Not!, 2001) - Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to see a proper CD release of this band's material. Not that I'm complaining; the band's occasional appearances on various bootleg punk and power pop compilations usually justified the purchase in and of themselves. The otherwise reliable Manda and the Marbles recorded a disappointing cover of this track on 2005's Angels with Dirty Faces which made the grevious sin of reducing the song to a repeated chorus.

it's the worst excuse in the world

It's sad, but it's true; the above individual, despite being roguishly handsome and oh-so clever, has certain recurring personality flaws that have landed him upon a certain person's...

L7 - Shitlist (from Bricks Are Heavy, 1992)

...and while said individual believes there were marginally valid reasons behind his actions, he also realizes...

Dr. Raju - It Doesn't Make It Alright (from Spare Shells: A Tribute to The Specials, 2000)

...and he really, truly is...

Hüsker Dü - Sorry Somehow (from Candy Apple Grey, 1986)

...even if any assurances he makes about avoiding such actions in the future ring hollow. Regardless how effective this public act of contrition is, he would like the offended party to know that...

The Cars - You're All I've Got Tonight (from The Cars, 1978)

we are now experiencing technical difficulties

My webhost provider is currently doing maintenance on one of their server rooms, so the mp3 links on this site are currenly nonfunctional. Hopefully things will be up and running shortly. I'm going to use this as an excuse to kick back and relax for a day. In the meantime, here is some pure love in music video form:



Tune in tomorrow for my obligatory Civil War #7 post.

Update: Everything's up and running again. I'm still taking the day off.

where it’s going no one knows

I’m going to go out on a limb today and do something that could possibly a mistake. (Let me rephrase that: I know it’s going to be a mistake.) Between Kevin’s and Laura’s and Mike’s notes on the subject of blogging, I’ve been in a meta state of mind about what it is exactly I’m doing here.

This whole operation has been an extended experiment in seat-of-my-pants flying from the get-go, with nothing really ever being planned past the frontiers of whatever whim or metaphorical shiny object that has grabbed my attention at any given moment. The site’s design – a stock blogger template with some minor tweaks -- reflects my “live in the moment” ethos, despite the nagging feeling that I could, and should, be doing something more than settling for the least effort-intensive course of action. (It’s a moot point for now, since I made the hasty decision to upgrade to the latest version of Blogger, which is an evolutionary dead end as far as radical design changes or jumps to Wordpress go.)

And yet I’ve seemed to (modestly) succeed in spite of all this. If the logs aren’t lying to me, Armagideon Time has a fair number of regular visitors amidst the crowds of folks swooping in for the music files. Various AT posts have been referenced and linked to by the likes of the blogging arms of The Providence Journal, VH1's Best Week Ever (twice), and USAToday. I’ve had the surreal sensations of seeing myself quoted in the print edition of the Boston Globe and having my write up on the Anemic Boyfriends cited as if I was some voice of authority. Not bad for an insecure basket case who instinctively recoils at the idea of aggressive-self promotion I suppose, but I’m notoriously ambivalent about these things.

While I always welcome feedback and comments on what I post here, I don’t go out of my way to elicit them because, again, it’s not in my nature to be that “forward.” (I admit that I’m sparing with my comments on other people’s sites, preferring to observe Honest Abe’s dictum, “’Tis better to keep one’s mouth closed and be thought a fool, that to open it and remove all doubt.” I have AT to display my foolishness to the world; there is no need to spread the contamination to other folks’ sites.) If I really wanted to, I could direct some more criticisms at The Smiths and/or Joy Division to generate responses. That’s one lesson I’ve learned during my time here.

However, getting back to that “fair number of regular visitors” I mentioned above, I thought I’d use this opportunity to pop my head out my shell and invite any and all of said regular visitors to speak up and introduce yourselves, and tell me what I’m doing right or wrong in your eyes. I meant to ask this during National De-Lurking Week and/or for my 200th post, but my plans got shelved in the midst of my extended illness and the monkey theme week.

I’m painfully aware that this reeks of “LOVE ME!” brand desperation, which, honestly isn’t the point at all. The truth is that I’m curious about the type of person who would come back for repeat helpings of my patented awkward mix of autobiographical, confessional, and obsession-of-the-moment meanderings. Afterwards, we can get forget it ever happened and return to more typical fare, with some minor adjustments and course corrections based on whatever feedback you may provide.

MC5 – I Can Only Give You Everything (from a 1967 single, collected on Big Bang: The Best of the MC5, 2000) – Except the first twelve issues of American Flagg! Or my copy of Valkyrie Profile for the PS1. Or my Wall of Voodoo Dark Continent LP. The rest is up for grabs, though.

Nick Lowe – And So It Goes (from Jesus of Cool, 1978) – One of my all-time favorite songs, it came damn near close to being spoiled for me forever. A few years ago, I was helping a friend move some stuff from a storage unit in Revere to his apartment in Boston, and during the ride back to his place this track came up on my driving music mix CD. My friend began to sing along to it rather loudly in a rushed, nasally sing-song voice that compressed the chorus into “sew-weet-gooze”. The aural experience was akin to undergoing a lumbar puncture procedure performed by a meth-addict with a meat skewer. (To be fair, this was shortly after I purchased Super Lumina, and hadn’t yet figured out the intricacies of her automatic seat adjustment controls.)

I’ve since managed put the horror behind me, but my wife still feels compelled to sing the revised chorus whenever she hears the song.

How can we say goodbye if you don’t leave?

Ah, crap.

I was all set to switch off the lights and lock this place up for good, but no sooner did I post my goodbye and clear the files off the server than two wise friends of mine made me reconsider my decision. I wish they spoke to me before I started breaking shit down.

Speaking to my friends and explaining my reasons for wanting to call it quits made me realize how fond I’ve gotten of this place. It’s a hassle at times. It burns up too much of my free time. I hate having to expend the effort to block assholes who hotlink to my files.

But I didn’t realize how much I’d miss doing this.

I’ll restore the music files for December later, but for now here’s something to tide you over. It’s a mission statement and tribute to Joe Strummer, dead four years tomorrow, all in one.

The Clash – Capital Radio Two (from 1979’s The Cost of Living EP, collected on Super Black Market Clash, 1994) - That new box set of The Clash's singles looks fantastic, although the one single per CD gimmick is a little impractical for casual listening. I'd pick it up for the "Justice Tonight/Kick It Over" 12" dub mixes of "Armagideon Time" alone.

no more mister nice guy

It has been brought to my attention that there’s a Vincent Furnier fan amongst my readers who did not appreciate my mockery of the man in the October 31 post. I’m a reflective sort who is willing to admit to his mistakes, so maybe I was a little harsh on poor Alice. I was raised to respect to elderly, after all. It's just that I prefer listening to Shampoo.

My use of “dragged off” was not indicative of my wife’s attitude, but of my usual, surly disposition when it comes to being left holding the (candy) bag. She enjoyed the experience, based on what registered on my consciousness before I entered one of my fugue states.

As a gesture of reconciliation, please enjoy these two delightful covers of Alice Cooper songs.

Eater – Fifteen (from The Compleat Eater, 1999) – Teenaged ’77 punk rockers go to town on “Seventeen”

The Epoxies – Clones (We’re All) (from the "Synthesized" single, 2002) – A killer synthpunk rendition of the “forgotten” Alice Cooper song. He performed it on an episode of Pink Lady and Jeff while wearing a very Numanesque outfit. Only in 1980, I tell you….