joshspace
If you haven't already done it...
Go see The Dark Knight. It’s worth the price of admission, my friends.
A few things I hate
I’m sure some of my coworkers have picked up on the fact that I am quite open about many of my extreme dislikes. In an effort to be funny, and whether this effort succeeds or not, I will list some of them below:
10) Carrots
9) Ayn Rand
8) Spiders
7) Computer problems that I can’t troubleshoot
6) Automobiles
5) Bad teeth (because I’m very self-conscious about my own)
4) M. Night Shyalaman
3) The state of Missouri
2) Obesity (my belly is getting bigger!)
1) Standardized exams.
-I’ve begun preparing for the GMAT but I’ve always had trouble studying for these kinds of exams. I’ve taken the GRE twice and only improved my score by 20 points the 2nd time. I didn’t take the LSAT because I never finished studying for it at all. And I am experiencing the same reactions to the math section questions of the GMAT that Pavlov’s dogs had when they got annoyed with their conditioning: anger, frustration, and violent urges to bite people. Geez, I can’t wait until July 19 comes and goes!
Josh the Ripper
I’ve told a few of you that I’ve been ripping a heck of a lot of music lately, much of it from Goodwood Library but some of it from friends and coworkers. Goodwood has a surprisingly good collection, I’ve found a few albums I’ve wanted to hear for a long time now, such as Can’s Tago Mago (I’m a big Krautrock fan). As things currently stand, I have music in my iTunes collection that I will not get around to listening to for days, if not weeks. The collection now stands at 56.04 gigs. It will continue to grow, however, as I make a few more trips to the library and as I continue buying music from the iTunes store. Yes, I do still buy music. In fact, I just bought two albums, a recording of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians (1978) and the album This Nations’s Saving Grace (1985) by the post-punk outfit The Fall.
I suspect that some of you may not be familiar with all or even any of these artists, so let me explain my primary musical interests. Although I am not a musician (I’ve dabbled with the guitar, drums, and piano, but never kept up with any of those instruments), I do consider myself something of an amateur musicologist. My particular areas of interest are 20th century classical music (the works of French composer Olivier Messiaen, for example); punk rock, especially post-punk; and electronica. The following, in no particular order, are a few of my favorite albums or works:
-Unknown Pleasures (1979) by Joy Division
-Disintegration (1989) by The Cure
-The Rite of Spring (1913) by Igor Stravinsky
-Revolver (1966) by The Beatles
-Kid A (2000) by Radiohead
-Ken Burns Jazz: Charlie Parker compilation
There are more, but these are a few that I can think of off the top of my head. I have been listening to some of these for many years now.
The new music I’ve been importing onto my laptop and listening to little by little is allowing me to explore new genres and artists, which is something I love to do. For example, I’ve been listening to some old-school hip-hop lately, such as Run D.M.C and Nas. I’ve been listening to so much new music lately, in fact, that I borrowed a good friend’s acoustic guitar with the intention to start playing a little again in my spare time. Now I haven’t really played anything in several years, but I’m still looking forward to trying my hand at an old interest. Only time will tell how things turn out!