It's raining hard again, which means I'll probaly have to go turn all
the fans on and hope that the damn water don't seep in like it did last
week but my faith in Mother Nature and all thngs good is gone.
This month has been total hell. Last night going home, my right rear
tire fell apart about a mile out of Viola which I drove home on rims.
Figured what the hell, if nothing else I can always use another rim.
Good thing we didn't go to Wisconsin after all.
I was listening to the end of the new Asia record Phoenix to which
the tire blew after the end of An Extraordinary Life to which I was
trying to comment on the album before the car shooks an shakes disturbed
my thoughts. Anyway, I am a Asia fan in some way, I bought all their
Geffen albums, took a listen to the John Payne led band of the late 80s
and early 90s and thought he was jive and dismissed most of their albums
beforehand. I'm sure John Payne is a great guy and very reliable
person to have in your band but his singing and songwriting are more
hair metal than prog rock. I did check out Aqua when it came out and
although the harmonies were there and though Carl Palmer and Steve Howe
did play on some songs, Payne's OTT singing pretty much render that
album a laughingstock among certain music stores at that time. Aura was
better, in fact I gave it a B plus way back then, but a second listen
made me question my reasoning and I docked it a letter grade and donated
it to the bitchings of the halfwits at Goodwill Industries. More about
them later.
Asia, has only had four studio albums proper with John Wetton and
company but later editions (Featuring Pat Thrall, Greg Lake in a 1985
showcase, and then the reform 90s band with the aforementioned John
Payne made about the same but about forty live shows and double of the
retrospectives and best ofs comps. In fact I think there are twice as
many Geffen/Universal Asia best of albums then studio albums.
All
Music gives Phoenix a generous four star rating. Problem is it's a
three star album at best. There's simply too many slow tempo ballads
that kill the mood of the album towards the end. In the CD era we've
seen too much of that, hour cds that overstay their welcome. And
although Asia has members from King Crimson and ELP and Yes, there tends
to be a bit too much lush ballardry that would have sounded better at
around 1988. Twenty years later this sounds a bit dated and out of its
time. But I'll give them props and it does sound like John Wetton
sounds he's happy to be alive. I just wish they would have rocked out a
little bit more than the sappy stuff of I Will Remember You which
sounds like The Smile Has Left Your Eyes Part Two, only with less bitter
lyrics.
I like to bargain hunt but sometimes what I buy at Goodwill turned
out to be records that were too scratchy for me to keep them and
although I do my best to check them, the old 20/20 vision doesn't see
the vertical scratches that make the needle disco dance all around the
record. So they go back. Sometimes I donate CDs that I can't sell and
bascially in this day and era even the shipping the CDs overexceeds what
I bought for them. You can't sell them to CD's Plus, the bastards
don't get you much for them so what's left is to take them to the local
Goodwill or Salvation Army.
I'm sure the good people at Goodwill are good hardworking people but
they seem to keep the pricks and brainless at the donation center
doors. Last year I dropped off about 75 CDs at the Iowa City store and
the black dood there didn't thank me or anything. Neither did the
dumbblone at the marion store. I tried talking to her but she seemed to
be in la la land and probaly was only up there to do community
service. Ever tried to unload two big crates of LPs? They are heavy
and real cumbersome to get out of the car. Missy didn't bother to help,
she just rushed out one of those carts that was already full. Didn't
bother to say Thank You for Donating or Have a Nice Day or Piss Off.
After she shut the door, I made she heard me when I hissed at the door
*Your Welcome. I'm sure she'll be moving .. community service to go
back to strip dancing at Woody's or the Lumberyard number 2. As they
say, dumb as a box of rocks, betcha she wants to be the next Britney.
And so here I am, writing this while hearing the damn sound of
another monsoon rain from another stalled front that will flood
everything all over again and just mad as hell at The Powers That Be
about this goddamn rain. And rest assured that I'll be running fans all
over again all weekend and hoping for some miracle that it don't seep
in but my miracles are all used up, with this and 3.50 gallon gas,
endless bad news of things going up and having to postpone Madison since
I have to work this weekend. Hell I have to, gotta make the money so
we can fill the damn car to get to work.
Mission accomplished Bush. Idiot.
BTW, it rained so much we got water in the basement second week in a
row. Goes well with the tire blowout and pants blowout as well.
