Shuffle away -- You won't find it.

If you were to find my iPod, you'd notice over 17,000 songs on there from 1200+ complete albums.
I love music, all types of music, and while people are always amazed by what they find IN the iPod, some people are more amazed by the albums they DON'T find.
Look all you want through it (it will take you a while), but you won't EVER find a single album by certain artists. Notably absent are the Beatles, Elvis, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, NKOTB, Michael Jackson, Gaga, and Katy Perry. A lot of "One hit wonders" aren't there either. But for every one of those listed above, there's a specific reason, or in a couple cases a person, they will never be in my music collection. And why I don't listen to them if they come up on the radio, either. For the LAST three, it's because I just don't get them, plain don't like them, and, in Gaga's case, can't stand her voice. Oh, and they're all batshit nuts. ;)
Zep, Dead, and Floyd were faves of a few people I could never stand when i was younger, and that held over (old habits and all). The Beatles, much the same. A person I truly loathed (scratch that, thinking back, TWO people) played nothing BUT the Beatles on their home stereo or car. Again, ingrained response.

Elvis.....yeah, sorry. The man basically ripped off another whole culture's music and was hailed for it. Fuck that.

NKOTB.....two words. High School. Got WAY too over-exposed to them and just got sick of hearing them all the time. Don't HATE them, just don't need to hear them, lmao.

What about you guys, my blogstalkers? Any musical artists you choose to ignore?

I'm such a brat......

Having a great conversation with some fellow brats online tonight.

You kinda have to BE a brat to understand brats. We're....different. One of the only civilians I ever met that got close to getting it was Ben Mattix, and, not meant as an insult, brother, but he didn't fit in real well either.

A quick rundown on why Brats are so unique in this world, and why people often have a hard time understanding us: None of us understand the big hoopla about race/color/religion. We're outside the whole race/class issue. We "don't know any better".

One of the worst days of my life was the first day back at an American Public School seeing how little I fit in, since I didn't know there was a difference between white people, hispanic people, black people, gay people, female people, male people, smart people, athletic people, ect ect. My "ethnic" friends had it much worse, i know. At least when I moved back Stateside, it was to Nebraska. If I had moved straight to FL.....I'd probably have killed someone. Whole different level of ignorance around here.



As a brat, you don't have the time for that bullshit. Back when we were growing up, at the tail end of the Cold War, you moved every 18mo-2 years. You left your friends or they left you every other month it seemed.

You either learned how to adapt....or you went batshit nuts.

I think a few of us toed that line anyway.

I know a lot of people SAY their friends are like family.....Brats mean it.

We didn't have a choice, Dad (and in some cases mom) was always deployed and the other parent had to work, 'cause, let's face it, the military pays dogshit. So you met these other brats, instantly became close, and had the kind of friendships in a few months to a couple years that last lifetimes. Even now, if I run into another Brat, one I had never met before, we'll start talking like old friends.

And when I run into people I was stationed with (Make no mistake about it, Brats are in the military just as much as servicemen and their spouses, we just don't get the guns...most of the time ;) ), it's like nothing has changed.

(The town I lived in while stationed in Germany)

Moving back TO The USA was the biggest culture shock in my life......and I've wanted to leave every day since. I've yet to meet someone that was stationed overseas that doesn't feel the same. Hell, a couple of my CIVILIAN friends that have vacationed overseas even know what I'm talking about.

I'm often ashamed to call myself an American when I see the hatred, pettiness, and unfounded superiority complex displayed by so many in the American public today.



This, mind you, by a populace that, in all honestly, has less flexibility and useful education than almost any country on earth.

I mean, you all know the old joke "What do you call a person that speaks 3 languages? Trilingual. Two languages? Bilingual. Just one? American".



Truth hurts, and, for the "Greatest Country On Earth"....I just wish some days we'd (as a country) act it.

Instead of like a bunch of backwoods racist uneducated morons.....as we see in person and on the news all too often.



Sigh....I miss Europe. Rant over.

Class Act

Though I never got the chance to meet him when he played, Shannon Sharpe has always been one of the all-time great Broncos players, right up there with Elway, Smith, McCaffrey, Bailey, Atwater, Plummer, TD, and Elam, in my book. And last night, my respect for the man grew even more. If you didn't see Sharpe's HoF induction speech, here's the link for you: Shannon Sharpe's moving speech. I almost felt bad for Deion Sanders and Faulk for having to follow him. Mostly Deion. Faulk fell on his face on his own, if you ask me. Great player.....noooot so great a speaker. Also, WTH was up with Faulk and Deion being introduced by their AGENTS? I'm sorry, but to me, that's tacky and gives off the wrong message. So, to introduce you and speak of your virtues as a person and a player, you have....someone you PAY to talk about you. Um, what?

What did everyone else think of the Hall of Fame ceremonies last night?