Magic Jewball

This is an actual sign up on a door down the hallway from me at my office. The sign above it, which you can’t see, simply tells people to close the door behind them, ostensibly to keep the Domestic riff-raff from stealing CD’s and Jiffy envelopes from the International department. But it seems that wasn’t enough and now YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

But honestly, every time I see the closed door with this sign, I think in my head, “Prince Edward? Are you in there?”

You mean there’s more than one chapter?
R. Kelly – Trapped In The Closet Chapter 1

Once upon a time, when I used to hold my transistor AM radio to my ear as I fell asleep at night, this was my favorite song. It sounded so good! It still does. It always will.

Edited to add the video. I remember seeing this on TV pre-MTV, I wish I could remember where. But it’s useful just to say that the joy you see in Michael’s face in the video is pretty much the same expression I have when I hear the song. I think this is the way I’ll remember him.

http://www.dailymotion.com/videox8q5z

You know, I wasn’t so into the new Depeche Mode album when I first heard it but it’s grown on me. And the second single is one of the tracks I like the best, called Peace. I’ve always sort of considered it a rehash of Clean, the last track on Violator, just stated a slightly different way.

So lyrics like these (from Peace):

I’m leaving anger in the past
With all the shadows that it casts
There is a radar in my heart
I should have trusted from the start

remind me of lyrics like these (from Clean):

I don’t understand
What destiny’s planned
I’m starting to grasp
What is in my own hands
I don’t claim to know
Where my holiness goes
I just know that I like
What is starting to show

But now that I’ve seen the powerful video for Peace, I think I got it wrong. Because I had disregarded the difference in the choruses. In Clean, the constantly repeated line is “now I’m clean.” Whereas in Peace it’s “peace will come to me.” Sort of a desire, rather than a given… especially for the woman in the video.

I really like this video although I’m not sure I will ever watch it again. It wasn’t so much disturbing, just sad. But it helped me to understand that the song is a statement of hope.

I know “Billboard magazines of the past” was last week’s theme, but I couldn’t help myself with this one. This is an actual snippet of the Modern Rock chart from a week in September 1999. No, it doesn’t take a lot to amuse me.

PS, no, I have no idea what happened to Splender. Godsmack are still chugging along.

Godsmack – Whatever

They learn the truth so young! This is my 19 year old cousin’s Facebook status message as of this writing:

[Redacted] never relized how depressing it is to get fired. i really hope i can find another job. and i really hope i can find some way to be friendly to people that are ass wholes, its hard for me to be nice to those people but i ghuess to hold a job you have to.

It’s hard to find this out, it really is. But seriously, if I had to sum up how to keep a job, this would indeed be it. And she didn’t even have to sit through a graduation speech to find out!

Steely Dan – Dirty Work