Girls, Comedy, Sports, Music: Maxim Radio is the Best Thing to Happen to Men . . . Since Women Used to Kick You in the Crotch

Random thoughts:

On the Suns: At the game last night, I was worried. And from the tension in the arena for the first three quarters, so was everyone else. I think the Suns were even worried, like they psyched themselves out during the first half. Even though the Suns finally pulled out the victory, they trailed at the end of each of the first three quarters.

Somewhere along the line (during the second half), I began thinking the ultimate in NBA conspiracy theories: that Steve Nash, despite a $60 million contract from the Suns, was still on Mark Cuban’s payroll and was being paid to throw the series. Despite his triple-double, some of his decisions were suspect and he finished the game with five turnovers. I think most of the turnovers came near the end of the third quarter, when the game was tight, and ended up in some fast-point baskets for the Mavs. On one hand, I could see some logic to this — after all, this was Steve Nash’s old team and Dallas surely knew his moves. However, I think if anyone in the NBA has the balls to let his best player leave the team uncompensated, sign with a conference rival and pay him to throw a possible playoff series — it's Mark Cuban.

We’ll see. There’s still two games left, and I think both can go either way. One thing I do know is that based on his last two games, Nash definitely deserved the MVP award.


On new music: Lately I’ve been listening to a wide range of music, thanks to Sirius and my iPod. The new Beck CD is great, and I rediscovered some older albums by Sonic Youth, Harvey Danger, Ben Kweller and the Smashing Pumpkins that are outstanding — especially “Pisces Iscariot” by the Pumpkins. Recent CD purchases include the new Beck, the new Weezer, Tegan and Sara, Louis XIV, the Zutons and the Kings of Leon. With the exception of the Kings of Leon, I haven’t been disappointed. I’ve also been granted access to a coworker’s server with about 120 gigs of music, though our tastes don’t directly overlap (in addition to early rips of the as-of-now-not-released Gorillaz CD, he has some Siouxsie and the Banshees and a stash of gothic porn).

There is so much music out there right now that I’m continually adding to my wish list. I generally maintain a three song rule; that is, if I like three songs on the CD (that I’ve heard on the radio or downloaded or something like that) I buy the CD to support the artist. So, for absolutely no reason at all, here’s a list of what I’m listening to right now (generally via satellite radio as I haven’t purchased anything yet):

CDs that meet my three-song rule that I want to buy:
Sage Francis
!!!
LCD Soundsystem
Dub Pistols

CDs close to my three-song rule:
Sondre Lerche
Emeliana Torrini
The Roots – Phrenology (an older one)
Dresdon Dolls
Interpol
N.E.R.D. – In Search of (the first one) and Clones (with the song Frontin’ with Jay-Z. By the way, if anyone likes this song, I strongly recommend Jamie Cullum, a twentysomething British jazz singer who does a great version of this)


Other bands I’m listing to on my iPod:
The Mars Volta
Thievery Corporation
Atmosphere
Led Zeppelin (my iPod is called Zeppelin, after all)
Ryan Adams
The Clash
Deltron 3030 and Quannum Spectrum
DJ Shadow
Pretty Girls Make Graves
The Postal Service

If anyone has some recommendations for other music, please let me know and leave a comment. I just purchased an external hard drive and am looking to fill it up. I still don’t understand why radio stations can’t figure out that people listen to a huge mix of music. Is it just me, or who can stand listening to the same station all the time. David Byrne figured it out — this is one of the coolest playlists I have ever seen.


On why Maxim Radio sucks: There is a station on Sirius called Maxim Radio, and it is supposed to bring magazine to life. For example, last night they had a feature called “Bad Places to Barf” that included people calling in and talking about vomiting at work or on a cop’s feet. Tonight, they are asking people to call in if they have ever broken something during sex (meaning a body part, not something in the room). The DJs/hosts (Evan and Brian, Covino and Rich) are horrible – they are obviously early-30s tools who weren’t cool enough to hang out with their older brothers when they were growing up. Topics and conversations are easily the SHALLOWIST that I have ever heard — and I used to hang out on a sorority floor. Then, every once in a while, they need a break so they play a song, some horrible, easily forgettable piece of manly guitar pop crap that sounds like everything else – Hoobastank, Nickelback, 3 Doors Down and (this is the kicker) Limp Bizkit. I don’t know anyone who listened to Limp Bizkit when they were relevant (where they ever?) and I sure as hell don’t know anyone who cares about the Nookie now. Please take a second to read some of Fred Durst’s semi-intelligent ramblings on his blog. Sadly, he doesn’t post photos of the Hollywood sluts he’s banged.