Brian doesn't appear to be home today. Yayz!

There's an article in the newspaper about those ugly-ass Croc shoes. Ugh. I'll take barefoot over shoes anyday, but I'll take those pointy stab-a-hole-in-a-tire ugly sandals that they've been selling over those ugly Croc shoes. HIDEOOOOOUS! And, note, I'm not even all that INTO fashion; I wear what basically amounts to pajamas in public, brush my hair once a day, and never wear any kind of makeup. I'm not a preppychick here, folks. But even I think those Croc shoes need to GO.

I agree with Rodger Mullen (a local newspaper columnist). Country music needs personality. I used to quite like country music, before I discovered the glory and wonder of classic rock, but now it's sorely lacking in personality. What it is now is: Blah blah blah AMERICA IS WONDERFUL AND IF YOU DON'T AGREE WITH THE WAR YOU'RE A TERRORIST blah blah blah JESUS IS AWESOME AND IF YOU DON'T AGREE WITH HIM YOU'RE A TERRORIST blah blah blah REDNECKS blah blah blah TRUCKS blah blah blah ALCOHOL. It's lost a lot of the pizazz it used to have. I rarely listen to the country stations nowadays.

There are some country songs I still like, though. Not many, but a few.

Most music needs personality, in fact. It used to be, every band had a distinction that made it stand out from the others. The Beatles had John Lennon and his peace efforts (as well as the Yoko Ono Fandom-Wank), George Harrison and his Hinduism obsession, Ringo and his cute dorkability, and Paul McCartney's crusade for vegetarianism and "what-the-fuck-was-THAT?" songs. The Who had Roger's ever-awesome voice, Pete's fabulously diverse songs, John's general weirdness, and Keith's lunacy to make them stand out. Twisted Sister, Queen, and company all had silly costumes and distinctive sounds to make them look different from everybody else.

But nowadays, looking at music: Gangsta rapper who's been shot. Gangsta rapper who's been shot more. Gangsta rapper who should be dead by now. Gangsta rapper. Gangsta rapper. Skanky woman with an annoying wail of a voice. Skanky woman singing in orgasm. Skanky woman who's just there to decorate the set while she writhes around. Whiny teenage boys who make Pete look like Donovan and wear eyeliner. Whiny teenage boys who make Pete look like Donovan, wear eyeliner, and never smile.

That's the entire music scene these days.

And everything is done by machines, too. Fuck machines. I wanna hear someone who plays from his freaking HEART on his own instruments! I don't wanna listen to music where you just punch a few buttons, film a shitty music video, and call it a hit. That's not music. That's laziness. Music is an art, which must be defined over time by individual people coming together to form a whole. But about 95% of today's scene is the same three songs, sung by different people with slightly different music videos. "Lady Cut My Bleeding Heart Soul Angst" by Further Than Infinite Sorrows. "I'm Totally Not a Slut but I'm Writhing Around and Dressing Like a Porn Star," by Asslicious. "I Figured Out How to Play with a Drum Machine and I Learned to Talk Along with it, Too, Aren't I Just Fucking Special?" by Gangsta Whatizzle the Fuckizzle.

People talk about 1960s and 1970s music being disposable and "the same." It wasn't. I defy anybody to tell me that "All You Need is Love" is the same as "War Pigs", or that "Sunshine Superman" is the same as "Iron Man." They're all radically different. Bands back then seemed to have their own style, while still belonging to an overall genre (well, except perhaps the Who; I'm still having trouble classifying them). For example: Queen and T-Rex. Both glam-rock bands of sorts. Queen, however, had a much more operatic and thoughtful approach than Bolan and the gang. T-Rex was MEANT to be disposable, but people still like it. It's playful and sillier than Queen. But it's still so ostentatious; it's glam nonetheless.

Nobody plays their instruments or sings in a different voice these days.

And people wonder why I collect old music!

I'm a fairly decent singer, and I've got a bit of a different voice. (For a girl, my voice is a bit rough and deeper than several other women's voices.) Maybe I should try my hand at singing and trying to bring something different to the music today?