Often Go Astray

The reason my motto (or one of the many mottos I live by) is "wing it" is because when I make plans, something tends to happen that derails said plans. This is unfortunate but it happens. The same idea of plans not coming to fruition can apply to just about everyone. What bothers me the most is not always the fact that the plans have been changed or derailed but that I am often powerless in changing the course of the derailing.

This is unfortunate but it happens. The best thing one can do is just march on. Kind of sad having to do so especially if one's plans were very elaborate and passionate (read: poured a lot of yourself into them).

This isn't to say that one shouldn't look forward to the future because you should. The future is often changing and it always brings new opportunities for things. New experiences, new challenges, new ideas, a never-ending supply of newness.

This isn't to say that one shouldn't do things passionately. No! You should always try to be fiercely passionate about your plans and goals and ideas and pursuits.

Often one just has to trust or believe that things will turn out as expected (or for the best) though this is not always be the case, or appear that way. It is difficult to do so but then again difficult things often yield the best rewards, right?

Hmm. I don't really know what else to write. I often say wing it because it's worked out pretty well for me but you aren't me, are you? What works for me might not work for you and vice versa. All I can really say to anyone whose plans don't work out, or whose plans take a very different turn is to keep going. I find that this approach works very well. Especially because it's one that has been handed down to me several times and it's something I would pass on to others.

Hmm.

You won't always be powerless.

Review: Genki Shock!

Genki Shock!
Shonen Knife
2006

In December of 2006, a friend and I strolled into a local Tower Records, which was going out of business. For those who may not remember, Tower Records was a very popular music store that went bankrupt that same year. Like many businesses that are folding/closing/ending/etc, they were having a "going out of business" sale in which all their merchandise: books, music, DVDs, posters, etc was being sold at ridiculous prices. The good kind of ridiculous, of course; by which I really mean: "the kind in which consumers win."

I sifted through bins and boxes for CDs and anything else I could get for super cheap. I couldn't find much except for a Sonic Youth single which I ended up giving to someone as a gift. I was about to grab a Streets CD but my friend had seen it first and claimed it for himself. As a consolation, he handed me Genki Shock! My first reaction was, "Dude, what the fuck?" because it was pink. He calmly responded, "Trust me, you'll like them." And this is where the review starts.

This was my first exposure to Shonen Knife, later reading that they'd been around for a while. My initial reaction was obviously of bewilderment. Surely, a pink album cover (the cover is only pink in the US; in the Japanese release, the cover is yellow) could only be indicative of girly music, right? What the hell had my friend easily convinced me to get? Not like I could really complain since I only paid about 2 bucks for it.

I was flabbergasted at how much I enjoyed the album because it defied every expectation I had. Granted, those expectations were ridiculous and had no substance but the more legitimate (though still stupid) expectations regarding the music itself were more: "this music will probably be very cutesy and more appropriate on a children's television program." Or very low.

The album itself is a collection of stuff that I would call a mix of various guitar-driven genres like pop, punk, hard rock, and faint echoes of metal (particularly that gnarly solo on "The Queen of Darkness") and jazz ("Broccoli Man") simply because of the lyrical content and delivery. Pop: Not necessarily saccharine-sweet stuff but nothing that (for example) Black Flag would sing about like giant kitties and glasses ("Giant Kitty" and "My Magic Glasses", respectively).

From the first track, the aptly-named "Introduction" which serves as a preview for a later track ("Giant Kitty"), I was intrigued and amused at how it lulls you into a false sense of security with the track being presented as if it was coming from a distant boombox as it explodes into "S*P*A*M" which is probably what grabbed me and never let me go since I first heard the album. The rest of the songs that followed maintained a similar energy though it did lull you into another false sense of security (or at the very least led you in one direction and then POW!) in which- "WHOA! This solo on 'The Queen of Darkness' is pretty sweet!"

Yes, it's like that. Not to say that the songs in between are filler but they don't grab you with the same cutesy shiny gleeful ferocity as the first few tracks and the closing track. So, don't dismiss "Broccoli Man" as run of the mill pseudo-jazz or anything of the sort. The guitar work is what stands out for me especially when the distorted guitars aren't strumming away but when you get to stuff like "Rock Society" and "Under my Pillow" which serve as perfect showcases for how varied their guitar playing abilities are. Very talented dames these dames.

My only beef would have to be with the obvious fact that Naoko Yamano singing in English is something you just have to get used to. It's not atrocious but it's not that easy getting used to it either but fuck it, the music's good. My only other beef is the fact that their guitar work left a deep chip in my shoulder that I haven't been able to heal. Well, that's not such a bad thing because it just motivated me to at the very least learn my scales.

8/10

Bits and Pieces

I've noticed that it seems like every time I post something that isn't fiction, it's usually something self-deprecating: something about how I can't write, or how I'm an awful writer, or how it sucks that I can't come up with anything substantial to present.

Basically, a lot of "woe is me".

Only because the necessary ingredients that make this a blog worth reading or following half-heartedly, are missing and thus all we really have are bits and pieces. But I suppose this foul condition reflects that of the world's own condition. The search for "the big picture" is as elusive as "perfection".

Everything we see and/or do really contributes more to the bits and pieces of a very large fragment. The same way that this entry will only be part of something bigger than in turn is only part of something even bigger.

So what I'm trying to say (perhaps to myself and to you, dear reader) is bits and pieces are cogs of a greater machine that you will see soon.

I rarely give advice but I suppose by my example I should say that if you've got bits and pieces of progress, display them. Doing so will help a lot. It may not seem like it now but if you follow this piece of advice that I received when I was younger, you should be fine:

Every day you don't write, the bastards win.