Visual evidence..

that I don't suffer from second sock syndrome. Both socks are here, and I like them alot.

Hopefully their recipient will, too.



I'm feeling kind of cultural today. I want to enjoy the arts, I want to hear music, I want to look at something stimulating, I want to read something inspirational. Fortunately for me, my cultural tastes are decidedly lowbrow. Those artworks that have most touched my life, and live in my soul forever, their shaping powers working my personality like putty, they are all of the popular culture variety. I don't think I'm alone in this. Don't get me wrong, I have a definate appreciation for more highbrow forms of expression, but only popular culture really lights my fire.
I'd like to mention, though, that I don't like the distinction between high- and low culture, and I don't believe in it. But it is a customary and widely used concept that in many ways facilitates categorization and clarity when it comes to these matters, so I'll make use of it for now.
I recently wrote about how I love the album Steve McQueen by Prefab Sprout. I'm listening to it right now, and am still continually amazed by what a perfect piece of music it is. All the songs are beautiful and touching, and they flow effortlessly. It is by far Prefab Sprout's finest work, even though I also really like From Langley Park to Memphis. I have a silly love for the intellectual pop of the eighties, I honestly really don't know why. Some more of my favorite bands are The Waterboys and Big Country.
I also have an irrational love for Steve Albini. Mostly for the music he has made himself with his bands, Big Black, Rapeman and Shellac. My special favorite is Rapeman (I'm not a big fan of the band's name, though). I don't know why, this music just speaks to me somehow. I remember the first time I heard their music, it felt so weird, almost like someone had taken my inner being and turned it into music. And called the band Rapeman. Ridiculous, but true.
I also love television, and have severe problems with how most people see it as a waste of time. I don't watch everything that's on TV, far from it, I am a hugely selective viewer. But I think that the medium itself is both very important and very mysterious. Why is it so enticing? Why is it such a thing of beauty? Why does it rot our brains? I could spend all of my time thinking about television (and fortunately, I practically do!). The global television industry is probably more inspirational to me than anything else in the world, in all of its manifold aspects. Go TV! One of my big dreams in life is to one day make it to the United States, just so I can familiarize myself with how it it to be a viewer of the network and affiliates system. Also, I want to experience the flow of watching TV in the U.S., with all of the commericals. I imagine it must be a very annoying, but exhilarating experience. No public service principles, just pure commercialism. It's something I really want to experience, and I think it's so funny that it's such a mundane thing for millions and millions of people. For me it's the holy grail.
I am a gigantic dork.