
I am going in a new direction in my life. This blog will reflect the change in my life that I need. It just occurred to me that my life is sad. All I do really is shop in thrift stores and other places that sell used junk. No I don't just wonder in these places. What I do is look for old records and tapes. Not just any old records and tapes. They are records and tapes that no one has probably heard of and no one probably wants, from records consisting entirely of car noises to off-the-wall atonal 20th century chamber music. Usually I just grab whatever junk is there even if they're beat to hell since they're dirt cheap and I'll have money left over to buy food and car insurance. What's even sadder is that I post these things on a blog such as this one. I cannot believe where my life has gone. I don't think I even have a life. Good lord, did you see my post yesterday? It's a tape of some woman repeating phrases over and over and they're really intended for people to play to their pet parrots. I buy stuff like that, digitize this stuff then post this stuff. I can't believe it.
I should make an attempt to be a part of the mainstream. From now on, I will quit looking for moldy old recordings. Besides, if they were any good, they would be out on CD and fully stocked at Wal Mart or Target and remastered so I don't have to hear those ugly clicks and pops that vinyl records make. Apparently most of them aren't any good which is why they just sit in junk shops and collect dust. Anyway there is so much good new music out there that I don't need to bother with old stuff especially weird old stuff that no one even listened to back in the day. From now on, I'm watching American Idol. It's amazing that there is so much talent in the world. I'm liking listening to the young people on the show sing and perform. I even like the way some of them look. It's great that there is no one over 30 performing as pop stars tend to be washed up at 30 anyway, right. I like the Logan's Run rule. Sure there is some British guy on the show that can be overly critical at times, but I know his heart is in the right place. He believes in good music. Millions of people believe in good music as they're tuned in every week. After the show is over, everyone is talking about it even the mainstream news media. So I am now joining the masses. Hopefully I can find some new friends since it shouldn't be too hard to find other people who enjoy American Idol. I'm watching with anticipation to see who will be the next American Idol.
I am resetting my stations on my radio to the top-40 stations along with some classic rock and country stations. Have to have a little variety and those genres are also good. I'm especially enjoying country music. I mean the new kind not that sad whiny genuinely moving cry-in-your-beer stuff. I like me some Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney and Taylor Swift. Toby Keith is now one of my favorite artists. I'm trying to sell my crap (i.e. weird records and tapes) in order to have money to buy all of Toby Keith's CDs as well as all of Kenny Chesney's and Taylor Swift's CDs and all of the CDs by everyone who won American Idol such as David Cook and Ruben Studdard. Then I'll look next to buying CDs from whoever is popular. I am also watching popular TV shows such as Gray's Anatomy, Desparate Housewives, and Survivor. I'm watching every reality show on the air because they're great and all about real life. That's why they get high ratings. I am also planning on reading popular books. Wait, hardly anyone reads. Never mind. I guess I don't need books now.
Now that I am listening to mainstream pop music and watching the TV shows that everyone else watches, I am able to be a part of mainstream life. I want to shop at stores that sell new stuff and consume. I want the newest car and all that stuff that's on the commercials. I want to fit in. I want to make money, have a big house, live in the newest gated subdivision, and make friends with other people like me preferablly the ones that are successful in life of course.

Speaking of successful people, I am now a devoted reader of The Pioneer Woman. It may sound odd at first that I am a man who reads a blog everyday aimed at women especially mothers. It's not really that aspect that draws me to The Pioneer Woman although her tales with her children (or "punks" as she refers to them) are delightful. I just like reading about her wonderful life and checking out her delicious recipes and viewing her lovely produced photographs. The Pioneer Woman has a blog that is widely read by millions all over the world. Her posts receive an average of approximately 500 comments while I am lucky to get a comment at all on my small insignificant obscure blog. Yes, I am a fan of The Pioneer Woman because she is a hugely successful blogger plus she is so amazingly talented in so many areas (such as cooking, photography, and home schooling). Meanwhile all I do is post recordings of old crap created by other people. She has also published a cookbook. She is definitely not posting parrot training or elk hunting cassettes.
Her blog has won many real awards. Her blog won Weblog of the Year at the Weblog Awards. Not only that, her blog also won in two other categories: Best Photography and Best-Designed Weblog. Wait there's more. The Pioneer Woman was also named one of the best 25 blogs by Time magazine. It's on the same list as other popular blogs such as The Huffington Post, BoingBoing, Lifehacker, and others although The Pioneer Woman is superior to all of them.
Not only does The Pioneer Woman has the greatest blog of all time, she has a great life story. She was raised in the slums of some country club golf course in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, which the town is inhabited by wealthy oil barons and home of the annual Mozart Festival by the way. Then she moved to Los Angeles, California and got a degree at the University of Southern California, a private school. Then she lived a life of being a fashionable spoiled city girl just like on that show Sex and the City. Then she met some cowboy from you guessed it, Oklahoma. She fell in love with this cowboy whom she named Marlboro Man. She married him and moved to his ranch back in Oklahoma. Now she is roughing it on the ranch with Marlboro Man who happens to be in one of the richest families in the area and is probably amazingly handsome and rugged in a suave way. The Pioneer Woman's depictions of her life on the luxurious estate on the ranch are riveting. Now the news has come that Reece Witherspoon is going to play her in a movie based on her life. Wow! I do not dare to think who would play me in a movie.
I am just a smalltime blogger who is now another devoted follower of The Pioneer Woman. Did I mention that she is the greatest blogger ever? Anyway, I plan on writing blog posts on things people care about such as anecdotes from my life, American Idol, recipes, tips on success, tips on how to use Photoshop to make pictures look professionally done, celebrity and pop culture news along with posting pictures of celebrities and cats. That's what's coming on this blog from now on. I strive to be a successful blogger like The Pioneer Woman and go on national TV, publish real books, win awards for blogging, and make lots of money. Yes, I strive for success. That should be my focus and ambition. That is all for today. If memory serves, there is a holiday today although I can't quite recall which one it is.
You really had me going for the first two paragraphs -- then I caught on. But what a shock it was for a minute.
ReplyDeleteHappy April Fool's Day to you, too.
(I just saw the bird training tape. Thanks.)
best post I've read today !
ReplyDeletethanks.
Well, she is a pretty awesome lady. Her photos are nice. Her blog looks like Better Homes & Gardens on ecstasy. And she's been close enough to James Garner and Gary Coleman to kiss them and/or spill hot beverage in their laps. Which is to say: She sees famous people, and they likely see her back.
ReplyDeleteStill, I never heard of her blog before (what day is it again?), well, today, just now. Her cow pics are really the only thing I can say "glad I caught that". Otherwise, if her blog vanished tomorrow, for a good totally non-tragic reason, we'll say the Rapture, I'd be: um, uh, really? Meh.
Whereas in the ridiculously long time it took me to read your post and think "yeah, definitely, April Fools", I was quickly trying to imagine life without A Basement of Curiosities.
Thrift store vinyl & sonic marginalia in general are as much a part of civilization as mom, apple strudel and suspiciously Barbara Cartland-esque life stories.
Thanks for blogging, posting cool stuff.
Hey Calx!
ReplyDeleteI read all the way through, then had to reconsider it in the vein of humor, given the date.
Yep, us weirdos don't really buy into the April 1st thing, either.
Not that I was totally fooled, but thought it was full of gallows humor at being fed up with being a goofball weirdo music collector (solidarity!).
It's a lonely calling, and the embracing mainstream thing is something I think about, like how no doubt a fish might want to be a bird, etc. Most of my friends are weirdo record collector types who have to be told who Lady Gaga is and that American Idol is still on TV every week. I've often thought that it would be funny to make a reality TV show where a bunch of people like us have to embrace mainstream culture for a whole month, right down to our clothes, the music we'd have to listen to (shudder!) food and movies (shriek!). Starbucks every day, for the lobotomizing agents therein..
Are you up for it?
Gotta say, I sure dig your shares! How you suffer for us!
Happy April Fools!
Why do people consider collecting unusual recordings a "geek" thing? Isn't it more akin to archeology or historical research, with the exception that no one gives out grants for it (yet)? And that would make The Basement an interactive museum of sorts, wouldn't it?
ReplyDeleteJust because the mainstream has not yet recognized the importance of saving historical documents like "Advanced Elk Calling" and "Train You Parakeet To Talk" doesn't mean that Basement visitors are weird.
We're just ahead of our time.
thanks for all your great posts good sir
ReplyDeleteThis blog changed my life.
ReplyDeleteI love you, loser....I'm in the same leaky boat as you.
ReplyDeleteyou had me going... and i am one of those people who loves getting others on this day... GOOD ONE... and thank god you'll continue posting these masterpieces.
ReplyDelete:)
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ReplyDeleteThe first post reminded me of the rant from the guy in the documentary Vinyl.
ReplyDeleteIn 40 years there will be folks digging through abandoned internet caches and squishing their lips in kitsch at the pioneer woman blog.
ReplyDeleteI check your blog almost daily to see what strange and wonderful oddity you have unearthed. Your pathetic life feeds my pathetic life. Don't ever change.
ReplyDeletei bet that pioneer lady doesnt know Riga is in Latvia...
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to posts from your new 'mainstream' lifestyle. I've always wondered what it is like on the inside of the dream. This pioneer woman sounds fascinating also!
ReplyDeleteyour blog has always been a dark place, a black hole devouring all human potential. as of today however, it is my inspiration! do you know what channel is american idol on?
ReplyDeleteMmmm. Those are the sexiest paragraphs i've read in a long time ;3
ReplyDeleteNew post, too soon.
ReplyDeleteYou still had another few dozen people to shock (and they probably would've forgotten about April Fools Day when they checked -- really easy targets).
Oh, well.
Thanks for the comments everyone. I hope that you all enjoyed my April Fool's Day prank and I hope that I didn't cause anyone to go into cardiac shock. I'll see if I can top myself next year if there is a next year.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, after you're done soaking in the excellence that is this blog, make sure to read The Pioneer Woman. It's the greatest blog ever. It's even better than sliced bread. I'm sure you already knew that though. ;)
that pioneer chick's blog makes me wanna vomit. i hate it.
ReplyDelete;-)
ReplyDeleteLove your blog
Ah, yes, from Belgium everything looks so ahead of it's time, that's why I discover in August a post from April. And you know what? That's my father's birtday, yeah, and he is a joke too! Anyways...
ReplyDeleteThis post is so, how shall I say, it sound like a Daniel Clowes's comic Character. You're so Nostalgia.