Everything Hits At Once

* I was born a unicorn. I missed the ark but I could have sworn. You said you'd wait for me.

* I continue to have a problem finding anything interesting about new music. I'm not sure if the music has gone down hill over the past eighteen months or if I've reached that magical point in life (somewhere between 28 and 32) where everyone loses touch with what's cool and suddenly they just want stuff to sound like it used to sound back in the day. Or worst, they cling to only their old bands. Or worse, they are so desperate to find something cool that they tout something that's not cool, like American Analog Set or obscure seventies talents who weren't that talented.

Or maybe I just don't have the time. But I don't think that's it at all. I hate to sound like any of those lame people from my past who might have said that all music was derivative and unoriginal, so I won't say that. I just think it's boring. I'm not sure when this trend started, but I think it took full effect around the middle of 2005, which is sad considering that 2003 and 2004 were the best years for music since the mid-nineties. But now it seems like hip-hop and indie rock and everything else are having their own post-grunge phase, where they churn out such mediocre, uninspiring music that leaves us so hungry for something--anything--that we'll confuse and okay album with a great album and we'll laud a band who is just better than average as if they are the saviors of all things RAWK.

Think about it: at this point, one of the best releases of the year came from Phoenix. Not the town, the band. France's 21st century answer to Hall & Oates. And I like Phoenix. I have for quite some time. But when they are a serious contender for Best in Class, you have to figure they're competing against a bunch of mutts and 3-legged dogs. And if you go back to 2005 and take your favorite albums, I can't think of a single All Time Classic That You Must Own. The best efforts--Wolf Parade, Sufjan, Clap Your Hands--your throwback albums that will be dated and forgotten in a few years. There's not a single album in the bunch that will inspire writers in 2010 to say "This new band is very Bloc Party-like." Where as you can look back over the last ten years and see plenty of bands who have inspired followers (Modest Mouse, Neutral Milk Hotel, Spoon, Belle & Sebastian, etc).

* At some point recently, someone inferred I must spend a lot of time watching TV. I assured them I didn't. Then they asked what I did with my free time. Honestly, I couldn't answer. I have no idea what I do with my free time. Where does it all go? Someone suggested the internet, but that can't be true. I hardly have time to read/write any more (nobody gives me encouragement any more). I might watch 2 movies a week, that used to be more like 4 or 5. I couldn't honestly tell you what I do with my time. Reading? Sudoku? Crime fighting? I have no idea. But I probably watch less than 3 hours a week of scripted television programs. Honestly, I think the time probably goes to reading or running my pyramid scheme.

* The World Cup is coming. I'm excited, though I'm not really a soccer fan. I can't name more than a handful of world club teams, and don't know the first thing about MLS. But I think the World Cup is a pretty cool thing, much like the Olympics. Of course (much like the Olympics), my enthusiasm will fade over the next few days as I realize that the games are mostly during the day and I'll spend that time at work and will hardly see any coverage, so it will be hard to actually enjoy the thing. Then it will be gone. I don't know why we can't treat it like a big deal and skip work like in other countries. Then it might be as fun to watch as it was in 1994 (when it was in the US) or 1998 (when I was in college).

The best part of the World Cup is not supporting Team USA (which is usually boring), it's picking out a few underdogs and following them. I like African teams, who never seem to get enough respect, especially from super-racist soccer fans in super-racist Europe. In 1998 I got behind an African team that had a change to win it all (I think it was Nigeria), annoying my Soccer Friends who, like typical Soccer Guys, are obsessed with European teams. When I do cheer on European teams, it is never a team like France, Germany, Italy, or England--the favorites.

I also had a theory way back in '98 that the US team would become a real force when they had more black kids playing soccer, and thus joining the national team and dominating it. This theory pissed off my soccer friends. I think soccer people are inherently racist, for some reason, because they also had a big report on TV the other day on how the French/Germans/Spaniards/Italians shout racist remarks at African players. Any way, the US team got better in 2002, and look at the roster--they had more players of African origin than before.

While I'm at it, let's throw Brazil into the bad guys bracket, too. Though nobody cares and will read or remember this, here are my favorites from each group (not my picks, just the teams I like):

Group A: Poland (the mother land)
Group B: Sweden (though it's hard to pull against Trinidad and Tobago, but Sweden seems like heaven)
Group C: Netherlands (I don't know why, but I always like Holland)
Group D: Mexico (yay, North America)
Group E: USA (yay, North America)
Group F: Croatia (yay, Eastern Europe)
Group G: Togo (why not?)
Group H: Ukraine (yay, Eastern Europe)

* The NBA finals are coming. I'm excited about this, too, because Dallas is involved. Not that I'm a big Dallas fan, or any thing, but I have started following them since I've attended games, and I do have tickets to game 1 and game 6 of the finals. Of course, if Atlanta were involved, I would cheer for them. But they aren't. And even though I would enjoy seeing Shaq win and hate seeing Cuban win, I will probably cheer Dallas on. Maybe some other Dallas sports teams should be good and I could cheer for them, too. Except the Cowboys. Never with the Cowboys. (Or any of the college football teams except maybe the Frogs).