Non-Sequiturs

SBJ.

Hey Daddy.

Yummy beard and furry chest.

Damn, that ass.

Ginger belly.

UNF.

Grrrrr.

Beautiful chest.

Lean and tatted.

Woof.

Grab it for me.

Sexy rugger.

Based on the metrics I am getting, there really seems to be no point in me having a Twitter account.

You can tell someone's emotional and mental maturity level from the content of their Facebook comments.

Andrew and our friends had a blast this past weekend at Purple Party in Dallas. Great people and amazing events made for a wonderful time. Here are some musings about the weekend:

* The Purple Foundation, led by Blake Baker, is a top-notch organization. It was amazing how seamless everything was all weekend.

* DJ Danny Verde who spun the closing party, perhaps threw down the best DJ set I have ever heard.

* Alyson Calagna was a very close second, spinning a monstrous set at the Sunday Tea Dance that had us all sweating.

* Andrew and I have some kickass, fun friends.

* We actually got some sleep and ate enough all weekend to keep us going.

* Everyone is so darn friendly.

* It was great to see our out-of-town friends as well as making some new ones.

* The pool party is always fun.

* The Sunday parties were by far the highlight.

* At the closing party, in one of the restrooms there was a mirrored wall that no one was expecting to be there. Half of us either walked right into the wall or, like me, was so confused seeing my twin in there, I just stared at myself for about 5 minutes.

* Although it is unlikely we will do Purple Party next year (going to try some other new things) we will definitely be back.  And who knows, it is a very inexpensive weekend, we might just slip it in.

* On a related note, at 44 I do not bounce back quickly from a long weekend like that.

I've been trying to put down some thoughts for the vows I am going to say to Andrew at our wedding. I'm not sure I am going to be able to say anything at the ceremony without being a blubbering idiot.

Sounds like EBM is the new influence for EDM.

Political ads make me want to crawl in a hole and hide.

I loved this past week's episode of Mad Men. Looks like Don is finally getting his mojo back.

Kitten thinks of murder all day long.

I think my office nemesis is wearing Garanimals.

The trend of wearing big clunky hightops is starting to reach over-saturation.

Although I have been guilty of saying it too, I really don't like the phrase "it will happen if it is meant to be."  It goes back to me disdain for anything attributed to fate.

I truly dislike it when someone tries to place me in the middle of their drama. And trust me, I walk away from that as quickly as possible.

Caution, Xenomorph Crossing.

Having a cold when the weather is icky just makes my cold seem that much worse.

I am waiting for one weekend where Andrew and I have nothing to do.

Back surgery seems to be trending among my friends lately. God, it sucks getting older.

That face!

It's sad to see friends move to another city.

Why does pizza taste so good? Because it's shaped like a triangle.

Sometimes there is nothing better than an egg mcmuffin from McDonald's in the morning.

I had a really cool dream last night that I was in a band of gay super spies. We were total badasses.

The week after Purple Party is always slightly surreal.

Your intensely cute for the day.

Lyrics Rattling Through My Brain

"From a late night train
Reflected in the water
When all the rainy pavements
Lead to you
It's over now
I know it's over
But I can't let go
The cigarettes, the magazines
All stacked up in the rain
There doesn't seem to be a funny side
It's over now
I know it's over
But I can't let go
From a late night train
The little towns go rolling by
And people in the station
Going home
It's over now
I know it's over
But I love you so."

The Blue Nile
"From A Late Nite Train"

"Your eyes, they did flutter again
And your mouth it did hang wide
When you told me every little thing is going to be alright

But we were younger then,
And now we're not
And if there was a plan made
Then we forgot about it
And if there was time
I could figure it out now
But life is short
And I don't care for most of it
I don't care for most of it
Because you're all that, all that I want
Because you're all that, all that I want
Because you're all that, all that I want
Because you're all that, all that I want

Well, I know I'm hard to take
And my bones are calling out your name
While I beat your cold windows
Break the locks on the gate
While I try to forget
I used to be something gate!

Because you're all that, all that I want
Because you're all that, all that I want
Because you're all that, all that I want
Because you're all that, all that I want."

Dawn Golden
"All I Want"

Appealing Things

Purple Party
DJ Danny Verde
Warwick Melrose
Seeing Todd and Rick
The proximity of Love Field to downtown Dallas
Uber car service

Annoying Things

Straight people at the hotel complaining about gay people being in the hotel
Coming back to work after a fun weekend
People who respond yes to an invite and then don't show up, or people who never respond to invites
Regional commuter jets

Album Review - Kindness: World, You Need A Change Of Mind

Kindness
World, You Need A Change Of Mind
Rating: Grrrr

Kindness, the solo project of UK/Berlin based auteur Adam Bainbridge, obviously has a penchant for 80s funk pop and slick R&B, tossing in equal amounts Prince and Janet Jackson along with other 80s pop acts that utilized R&B shadings, such as China Crisis, The Blue Nile, Scritti Politti, and even Bryan Ferry. He has been causing a slight Internet buzz with his MySpace page, releasing random singles, from the odd cover of The Replacements' "Swingin' Party," an almost monumentally epic Krautrock cover of Cerrone's disco classic "Supernature," and tracks from Neil Young and The Byrds. World, You Need A Change Of Mind, Kindness' debut album, gets a jump from this buzz, offering many tracks that get under your skin with their retro funk and smooth grooves, and only falters when the archness of the concept gets a little too close to irony for comfort.

Lead single "Swingin' Party" trades the alt-country sweep of the original with a plaintive beat, subtle keyboards, and a hauntingly morose vocal.



"SEOD" could be from a lost Boys & Girls demo from Bryan Ferry,beginning with a lengthy intro of cavernous drums, treated guitars, and a lovely bed of icy cold synths, before evolving into a sultry synth pop number.



"Gee Up" is a slick 2 minute slice of white boy funk.



"That's Alright" builds on dense drum programming, rising synths, funk guitar swirls, and ecstatic vocal samples that is equal measure Chic and LCD Soundsystem.



"Cyan" is slick, futuristic R&B, floating on a twinkling beat and pillows of soft keyboards.



And goes all out disco-funk on final track "Doigsong" punishing a slap bass and killer beat.



Thankfully these high points overshadow the two glaring mistakes on the album. A cover of the theme song to Eastenders, "Anyone Can Fall In Love," is the height of treacly banality, while "Bombastic" reads as an embarrassing lounge lizard karaoke act.



Based on his output prior to releasing this album, plus the sequencing of the album itself, it can, at times, come across a bit scattered. Bainbridge appears to be fairly restless in his musical interests which, while keeping things quite interesting, can make for a less than cohesive listen. Despite this small flaw, World, You Need A Change Of Mind is a wonderful pop album that recalls the best of 80s and 90s styles, yet makes it fully modern and his own.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day Twenty Two - A Song That You Listen To When You Are Sad

Day Twenty Two - A Song That You Listen To When You Are Sad
The Blue Nile
"From A Late Night Train"

First off, the person who uploaded the song to YouTube titled it wrong, the song is "From A Late Night Train" and not "It's Over Now," which is actually a lyric from the song. Secondly, when I am sad, the best thing to get over it quickly is to wallow in it for a short period and get all the crying a stuff out of my system. I even have a playlist on my iPod for such occasions, stocked full of really gut-wrenching songs that are always guaranteed to make me shed a tear or two, or a bucket. This song has always been a good post-breakup song to get the waterworks flowing.