Ten Things They Hate About Me

I've been snooping around trying to find things that are post-worthy. I believe that my other two blogs will eventually run their course and I'd like to have some of that stuff up here. This is from my real life journal and was an exercise I did back when I was a freshman in college many years ago. The answers are from the present day me however.

original title: Ten Things They Hate About You
new title : Ten Things You Don't Want Those Elitist Music Snobs To Know

1- I love REO Speedwagon, in fact, that's all I've been listening to in the car for the past three days. Wheels Are Turning is one of my favorite albums of all time. Yeah it's cheesy, but there's a certain nostalgic feeling that comes over me when listening to it. Can't Fight This Feeling was me and my first girlfriend's song. I can feel you all shudder even as I type this. That album will always be special to me, plus Gary Richrath was a heckuva guitar player.

2- I do not like Kid A by Radiohead. I know, I know, I know....I must really suck. I should be banned from the internet... I've heard them all. Sorry, I just don't like it. Yeah, it's better than most of the stuff being played on radio, but so is cyanide and I'm not digesting that either.

3- I've actually read the Left Behind books. I plead boredom on this one.

4- I love Chicago, the band, not the movie. Chicago 17 is also one of my favorites, much in the same was REO is. The songs were Top Forty pablum when they came out, but I was young, I was in love and quite honestly, I didn't know any better. I like it now because I've always liked it. Call me a sentimental fool.

5- This one's actually on the original. I do not like Jimi Hendrix. Yeah, go ahead and throw stones. I respect what he did, I understand what he did, I just don't like what he did. I don't ever remember reading that I had to like all of those influential artists anyway, as long as I appreciate what they contributed. Jimi is in the category.

6- I like 80s hair metal, especially Def Leppard and Whitesnake. I don't know that I have a reason for this, it's just a fact. I guess I can chalk it up to being in junior high when all that stuff started and being in high school when it hit full stride. I hadn't yet developed an appreciation for "alternative", back when it really was. By the time I graduated though, REM and U2 had replaced that stuff, along with Rush and King's X. BUT, Def Leppard and Whitesnake still sound good to me.

7- I like FFH. I could spend the next seventeen years trying to figure out exactly what it is about them that I like, but I'm not. Maybe it's because my wife plays them and they have unknowingly taken over my good taste. Hey, that might be why I hate Kid A too. Hmmm....

8- I can only play eight "real" chords on the guitar, everything else is power chords. That's why I don't bother going into guitar-oriented threads, my weaknesses would be revealed and all of my power stripped from me.

9- I like the Newsboys. I've always been a fan of stupid pop music and they definitely fit that category. I became a fan when Steve Taylor began producing them and have stuck around. Although, I actually prefer the synthpop stuff they did on Not Ashamed and Going Public better than the stuff they do now. I guess it's the Howard Jones fan in me trying to get out.

10- I don't get the whole Lord Of The Rings thing. I read the book, once, that's all I could take. I've seen the movies, even the animated ones, but I don't think that it is the greatest literary or filmatic event ever. If anything, I blame Tolkein for conceited, pretentious wanna-be literary rockers, like Led Zeppelin and Rush. I like them, but I didn't need to hear Robert Plant moan about Mordor or hear Geddy Lee sing (or whatever that is he does) about Rivendell. I want my rock to be about cars and girls and stuff....