Friday Random 11

It’s one more random than 10!

I would like to take a moment to profess my love for Lost. I know there are h8rs out there who say the show makes no sense, that the writers may not know what they are doing, that it’s a bigger tease than a Miley Cyrus photo shoot.

Me, I love that there’s a show out there that has no problem flying its sci-fi/fantasy geek flag. Time travel, mysticism, giant wheels that make islands disappear, a monster that seems both supernatural and mechanical, and gratuitous shots of Evangeline Lilly in tight-fitting tops? Sign. Me. Up. I’ll take a heaping helping of savvy WTF plots over Kiefer Sutherland yelling at yet another mole that the CTU HR department failed to screen properly.

In this sixth and final season, Lost seems to have saved its best WTF for last. Parallel timelines, an existential battle between good and evil, resurrection/reanimation, and a bad-ass Asian dude channeling Mr. Miyagi playing a shogun warrior…It’s like I’ve filled my plate at a geek buffet only to find there’s another trough filled with nerd goodies.

It may all fall apart in the end the way Battlestar Galactica did, but I’m enjoying the ride. In fact, I’m kind of hoping they don’t explain a lot, that they keep the tricks up their sleeves, because the debate, the not knowing what’s really happening, is half the fun of the show.

Although if I was writing it, I’d end with Bob Newhart waking up and going, “Wow, that was some crazy dream.”

1) “All or Nothing,” Au Revoir Simone. I don’t know if it’s a case of all the good names being taken or that I am old and out of touch, but lately band names are really bugging me, even those of bands I like. Take this pretty little bit of quiet synth pop. Great vocals, cool keyboards, nice beat. But I really dislike the name because it sounds both pretentious and uncatchy. We Were Promised Jetpacks, Sunset Rubdown, The Gaslight Anthem…just three of quite a few new bands that I like a lot but can’t stand their names. So, indie bands looking to name yourselves, do less.

2) “Electric Feel,” MGMT. A certain pork-snorkeler and his uncanny companion hate MGMT. It’s one of those cases where, even though I completely understand the source of their unending bile for this group and even feel I should agree with them that this is fake hipster doofus indie schlock, I really like this record. It grooves and gets my feet tapping. Sometimes that’s all it takes.

3) “Battery,” Metallica. And now for something completely different…. This is my favorite opening of any Metallica song. I love the little classical guitar beginning that fools you into feeling all warm and tingly and safe, before the electric guitars kick in and smash the opening like John Belushi at a Delta House toga party.

4) “Tonight, Tonight,” Smashing Pumpkins. Tonight, tonight is the start of the U.P. 200, the annual Iditarod (that’s dogsled race for you non-polar types). This dogsled race kicks off just a few blocks from my house, which illustrates my tip of the day: never live someplace where they can kick off a dogsled race a few blocks from your house.

5) “5 Minutes Alone,” Pantera. I’m not nearly tattooed enough for this. Also, regarding the title, TLB would make the joke, “What are we going to do for the other four minutes and thirty seconds?” That’s what’s awesome about being married for a while: you can predict exactly how your spouse will make fun of you.

6) “Masterswarm,” Andrew Bird. Wow, I am all over the place this morning. This is a gentle, mellow, acoustic tune from Andrew Bird. Of course, in my head, the title makes me think of killer bees. Weren’t we all supposed to be stung to death by now? And where have all the killer insect movies gone? It’s all vampires talking about their vampire problems these days. Pfft, give me a fleet of U.S. Army gunships getting brought down by a billion angry insect stings. Or William Shatner fighting spiders. Now that’s a horror film.

7) “Muzzle of Bees,” Wilco. Creepy coincidence…or evidence of the growing self-awareness of my music collection? We have to shut Sky Net down! The calls are coming from inside iTunes!

8) “Louie, Louie,” Black Flag. Man, this takes me back, senior year in high school when I had just gotten into punk. I had this on a tape my friend who got me into punk gave me. Tapes were so much more punk than CDs and mp3s.

9) “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want,” The Smiths. Libby was reaching for her juice the other day, raising her arms up and whining for me to hand it to her, and I started singing this. I should probably start a therapy fund in addition to a college one.

10) “Captain Jack,” Billy Joel. Funny this came up in the same list as Black Flag. The friend who gave me the Black Flag stuff also really dug Billy Joel and let me tape his copy of Greatest Hits Vols 1 & 2. Even funnier: now that I’m soft and old-ish and more domesticated, I would much rather listen to Black Flag. I’m either keeping it real or deluding myself. Oh, who am I kidding? I’m obviously keeping it real.

And wouldn't you know it, somebody made a Lost-themed video to this song. Thank you, Internets.

11) “Tornado of Souls,” Megadeth. Very McBLT playlist today, with the hot side hot and the cool side cool and Billy Joel serving as the slightly melted slice of cheese. I am not a big Megadeth fan, but Rust in Peace is a killer record. Dave Mustaine’s voice rivals early Geddy Lee for love/hate reactions, but the extreme riffage throughout this entire album tickles my inner air guitarist.

May your weekend not involve someone cracking a whip and yelling, "Mush" at you. Unless you both consent to that, in which case, I hope you remember your safe word.