This ain't no love song

"I just felt like gettin' my guitar on and singin' a tune, singin' about you. Yeah, feeling good and tappin' my shoes."

As much as I love songs about breakups, lost loves, being a redneck and having big pickup trucks, it's always nice to hear a new theme to a country tune. Songs have always been used to express emotions or ideas, but rarely do you hear a popular song written about music.

At first listen, I hear a guy who needs to sing because he just has the itch to tap his toe and feel those chord progressions resonate down to his soul. The verses tell about how he's singing to her because he needs a subject, not because he's falling for her. My girlfriend thought the way he presented it was quite insulting, but then again, intentions are usually misunderstood and the guy usually ends up in trouble.

Unfortunately, my interpretation of this song was cracked by the music video. Trace spends the whole song singing to her as she seduces him from the bed. I thought, well maybe he's resisting her temptations by just writing this song about singing for the sake of music. But then I saw an interview with Trace on CMT where he explains how the song was actually a tongue-in-cheek love song similar to George Strait's "Ocean Front Property"

So, for me at least, this song transformed from an innovative, fresh take on country to just another pretty good song for the radio. I still like it, but it doesn't hold the same epic place in my music library that it initially did. However, the chord progressions in Dierks Bentley's "Up on the Ridge" are still incredible. That one is still holding its ground.

Spin Recovery

Throttle - Idle

Controls - Neutral

Stick - Abruptly full aft and hold

Rudder - Abruptly apply full rudder opposite spin direction

Stick - Abruptly full forward one turn after applying rudder

Controls - Neutral after spinning stops and recover from dive

Apply to Life.

Feline Monologue

So I'm sitting on the couch in my girlfriend's new apartment surrounded by half empty boxes and half decorated walls. In one corner there is a six foot kitty tree with Zoe, my girlfriend's cat, elegantly gazing out the window from the top perch. She has the grace of a dancer and the poise of a regent as she surveys her new domain.

At the other end of the room is my orange tabby, Rousseau, flopped on the kitchen counter. Throughout the moving and unpacking, he remains remarkably unconcerned about anything, save the stray millipede scuttling across the floor.

It is at this point I wonder what is going through each of their minds as they watch me going about my business, whether it be unpacking and rearranging Kelly's new apartment, or lying in a semi-comatose state on the couch with the History Channel droning in the background. Throughout the day we have thousands of things going through our mind, even excluding the subconscious decisions we make just to function.

What's for dinner? Do I have a test next week? Is it raining outside? Who is running for Senate?

Cats have none of these things to worry about. All they do all day is sleep and watch you. They know every corner of their world and do their best to manipulate it to maximize their comfort.

But anyways, back to my cats...

Zoe turns her head so slowly you expect it to creak. She stares you down as if asking you to come over and skritch her chin. Running through her mind is an analysis of your behavior since you walked through the front door, the time since she was last fed, the presence of other people in the house, and the weather outside. She is taking all this into account to predict her chances of getting food and attention at a given point in time. This is what her life revolves around, all the while she acts as though the world revolves around her.

I stand up and walk into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. The sound of the cupboard opening shocks Rousseau to life and he is immediately focused on every one of your movements. There is a key difference though in the observations of Rousseau and Zoe. Whereas Zoe seems to be trying to analyze patterns and predict movements, Rousseau is simply gauging his excitement based on your proximity to him and the food bag. In fact, I rather picture his thought process as being similar to the vuvuzela symphony from the World Cup in South Africa. His blank stare betrays his total inability to plot and scheme, which in my opinion makes him the perfect cat, much like a hound dog actually.

So, in summary, Zoe and Rousseau are a lot like Pinky and the Brain:

Zoe: "Fuzzles, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"

Rousseau: "Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz."

Zoe: "Ugh."

Barefoot Running

So, in an effort to work out some on my day off, I decided to take a little jog around the apartment complex. I also decided that I would do it barefoot, for the sake of experimentation after reading quite a few articles about the benefits of it.

Skip ahead twenty minutes.

I am now back on my couch with my feet on wet washcloths remembering the summers of skipping across the parking lot to the pool because pavement reaches a sultry 125 degrees when left out in the Florida sun. This experience once again revived my desire to get a pair of the Vibram's Five Finger shoes. Call me a wimp, sure, but unfortunately my school required us to wear shoes so we were unable to develop our own leather soles on our feet.

I guess for now I'll just stick with the shoes, or maybe find a nice patch of grass to go barefoot on for a while. I can probably deal with the allergies better than the blistering heat.

Berlin Philharmonic

This is one of my favorite songs ever for horn ensemble, "Farewell to Red Castle" by Kerry Turner as performed by the Berlin Philharmonic horn choir.