Whats the deal with music?

I have been an active consumer of music since about 1993. My interest in music goes back much further. I can still remember when I was sitting in the back seat of the car when my parents gave me my first tape without a book. It was The "Chipmunks." Although, I listened to music and bought tapes after that, the album Dookie by Greenday is what I can pin down to what made me start to love music. From 7th to 9th grade was a very exciting time for me as far as music was concerned. I expanded my tastes into many varied categories. Today, I believe I have a very eclectic taste in music. To put that into perspective, a couple of years ago I owned the albums that won Grammys for best rap album and best bluegrass album. When people ask me what type of music I like I generally just answer, "Good music."

For me, I think the way a certain guitar riff sounds or a harmony in a song makes me feel helps prove that I (and therefore other humans) have a soul. It is not a biological response; its not a memory response. I get a near euphoric feeling from the guitar solo in the Who's "Pure and Easy" and I know I had not heard it until I heard it the first time. I had that response the first time I heard it.

I bring this up now over some reflection during the Thanksgiving Holiday. I spent all of Thanksgiving Day around a baby. Every time music played, that baby danced. I got me to thinking that all off the babies I have ever seen do the same thing. Babies dance, seemingly unconsciously to music, like a knee jerk reaction. And its the same dance every time. Knees bend, hips swing, and arms flap.

I don't know what it is or why, but it is obvious to me that music occupies a very special place in the human experience. Whether it speaks directly to our souls or some kind of collective human memory (see Carl Jung), it causes a near automatic response for us when we are children and creates special feelings in us as adults.

So, if you think you don't really like music, I, respectfully, think you are wrong. You just need to listen to more music and find something you like. Whether its Wagner, Brittany Spears, Steel Pier, or Hank Williams does not matter as long as you like it, and as long as it makes you feel like part of our shared experience (and I don't have to listen to it if you are listening to Brittany or Steel Pier, sorry Nicole on the Steel Pier).

-J

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

I know all of you who read web-land probably thought I was striking to show my solidarity with the Writers Guild. Well lucky for you that is not the case. So rest assured, when your favorite shows soon go to reruns, you may still read new posts on web-land.

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. I know Nicole and I did. Here is one beef I have with Thanksgiving... the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. First of all, I must, in the interest of full disclosure, state I hate parades. I consider parades an excuse to wait in a line to see nothing. Parades on TV however make ESPN Poker look as exciting as the Superbowl with chainsaws (seriously, how crazy would that be). But, the thing that really gets me about this particular parade is all the fake performances. Every few floats the parade stops, Matt Lauer says some canned lines and then a teeny bopper lip syncs a verse from one of their popular songs. Who enjoys this? It is obviously as fake as Rudy Giuliani's conservative credentials. And frankly, their performances make Milli Vanilli look legit. I have to stop writing about this before I flip out.

How about the Mississippi Coaching Carousel? One would think USM would learn from UM's mistake. My old Driver's Ed instructor had a sticker in his office that said "I was there when we tied the Bear." Before Bower, USM major accomplishment was tying Alabama. He made USM into the best program in the state the last 20 years. He has had 14 consecutive winning seasons. It makes me just wonder if in 3 years USM fans are gonna have their heads in their hands like everyone in Oxford does today. BTW, previously those who were very defensive about/ supportive of Coach O are rabidly against him now. I have actually heard someone sing, "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead." I saw Dustin Mouzon at the video game store. He was quoted in the paper as saying he was disappointed in the firing, however, I heard him say that many of the players on the football team were unhappy with the decision. Go ahead and mark it down. I predict Callahan will be the next coach at Ole Miss.

Finally, in the realm of election coverage. Trent Lott has stated he would resign before January 1. This decision is tactically brilliant and shows why the Republican Party is gaining so much ground over the Democrats in MS. First of all Lott gets out and can start making some real money in a year where as new legislation would extend that time period. Secondly, now Haley can appoint someone to take his place. This will probably be Pickering, but even if it isn't, when a Democrat does finally get to challenge for the Senate seat, he will now have to run against an incumbent Republican. Brilliant. Lott has made sure to set the GOP up pretty sweetly in the state for years to come and to also make sure Republicans will be able to count on MS Senators being Republican at least for the foreseeable future.

That's all for now.

-J