Time Control Headquarters

I live in a rather large metropolitan city, not the biggest, but certainly not the smallest.  And I live in a somewhat suburban to urban interface area. Does that make sense to everyone?  We have light rail to everywhere, reliable bus systems, and lots of rich white folks that buy enormous SUVs for their teenager drivers.  Why then, are all the shiny faced, hip dressed, poser snowboarder/skater punk teenagers congregating at Whole Foods on a Friday night?

I have become a guerrilla shopper at Whole Foods, I don't make enough money (or wear enough fleece) to shop there for all my groceries. I would if I could but I can't.   I have a quick system of getting in, finding deals, and getting the hell out of there.  So, imagine my sudden surprise as I pass the fresh meat counter to see a large group of teens standing around in a large bunch texting.  They are not sitting at the food counters or the little restaurant areas. They are milling through the aisles (not shopping), chatting about hair dye and 3rd period in front of the cheese counter,   discussing the relationships of people with names like Kyle and Brittney while blocking anyone form shopping the all natural digestive health vitamin aisle, or  texting (at least one in each group is always texting) some other group in the store about: "OMG Sophia iza bitch" while keeping me from getting to the bulk falafal mix. 

Why?  Why are you there?  There is a mall across the street,  you could be downtown in 10 minutes with the train.   Why are you in the grocery store? Is suburban life so bad that all there is to do on a Friday night is hang out at the Organic grocery store?  
           

Hope everyone is having a good Holiday Season.

Hope you enjoy at least one of the songs I have posted, there is a little something (hopefully) for everyone.

04 Fireball Rock

Jackie Mittoo

Nice Smooth Dub Ska, from the Organ Master

12 Bat Macumba

Os Mutantes

Brazilian fun from the last century.

07 Enfilade

At the Drive-In

Very articulate angry men

15 Fuentes

Missle Command

  A good old song from an obscure label sampler.  Punk Rock.  YEA !!

04 DJ Guy-

Schneider TM

Trippy little song from a guy who does not make enough music in my opinion.

04 Good People Check

Themselves

Atmospheric and calming, with a very angry message.  ENJOY!

Oh Oh, ME, ME, ME, ME

07 Triptych, Pt. 1

Blockhead

04 Chagrin

Mouse on Mars

04 Aht Uh Mi Hed

Shuggie Otis

02 Read, Eat, Sleep

The Books

I posted some odd photos few weeks ago and they have just been sitting there.  And now everyone thinks I am either a woman from Africa with an obviously fake passport or a creepy guy who is publicly stalking a woman From Africa with an obviously fake passport.

These were sent to me by a woman who wants to send me some-odd million dollars while she lives with me and goes to medical school. All she needed was my bank account number.  I convinced her to send me some documentation and this is what I got. 

I was unaware that you can use glamor shots for your passport photo. And I was also unaware that the nation of the Ivory Coast gets all their stationary from Office Depot. I have been writing back hoping to get more stuff out these people, hopefully I can waste enough of their time they lose money on it.  Stand by for updates!

Reports, field work, more reports, being away from home, family shit.  What else have you got?  Pile it on I can take it.

17 Keep on

Various Artists

Im in another hotel room in California thinking about my traveling experiences and about the interesting discovery and idea I had Sunday night. I fly late, its a new habit I am taking up. The planes are often less crowded as are most airports, and of course a few more hours with my family is always good. But weird and good things happen to me at night on the road, its great.

Anyway, I picked up my rental SUV for my work. Now I ask for the least offensive, most modest vehicle I can get with 4 wheel drive. I work in very remote places quite often and a Ford Fusion just doesn't cut it. They give me a 2008 Buick SUV with heated seats, sun and moon roof, leather interior, automatic rear door, and a 6 CD changer. I am mildly annoyed by all this since I don't need any of that stuff but because its the only 4 wheel drive vehicle they could get on such short notice I have to pay about $500 dollars extra a week.  SUPER!! (wait wait I'm getting to the sharing part)

I jump in this metallic beast, turn it on, and find the 6 CD changer is completely full. Someone left two Led Zeppelin Cd's, two Melissa Ethridge Cd's, a Stevie Ray Vaughn best of CD and a really really bad Hip Hop mix CD. And it got me thinking. I was peering ever so slightly into this vehicles last users life. I can imagine they may be in their late 40s mid 50s. They may have kids or at least one young teenage daughter (it was a VERY bad hip hop mix). They may have been on a vacation to somewhere and ran the CD player on random. Or these 6 Cd's were left by one guy/girl who is supremely pissed that they just lost HALF their CD collection when they jumped out of their rental vehicle. WHO KNOWS. Its cool.

Now this got me thinking. People who travel alone, me included, are often frustrated because the local music selection is less then good, and they may be sick of their personal music library. I love finding new music, like here on Vox, and I really like sharing it, which I sadly can't do to much on Vox.

SO travelers! Lets start a new music sharing community. If you rent a car, make a mix CD and leave it in the player when you leave. Share your favorite stuff, something good or what got you going while you were driving the car. Its like making a mix tape for a stranger you want to be friends with but you may never meet...ever.  Most rental car businesses never check the car stereo and almost never return lost items left in cars. So you can be anonymous and artistic (if thats your thing) or write your name and website down.  Put your bands music in the player, see if you get noticed by someone.  You never know, you could singlehandedly open someone up to a whole new sound.     

Here is what I have been listening to the last couple of days to break me out of this lonely funk I am in. Hope it makes ya groove the way it does me. This sort of thing redeems the world in my eyes....even California.  

07 AKA the Slow Train

Lemon Jelly

This track is not the Slow train. The album I got has a weird screw-up on its numbering. It is called Stay With You.

Well Im back,

Back to the place I told myself I would never return. Home... well not home... a step down from home...Bakersfield.  Now no offense meant to the kind people of Bakersfield who may read this, but you know what I am talking about.

My job has inexplicably dropped me on some field work in the Central Valley, and with really no warning at all I am working back were I was trying so hard to get away from.  I am looking at a 12 day trip here sitting in a hotel room trying to keep myself busy.  I have so far bought two new CDs (that I found here on VOX, thanks neighborhood) and a new book on post-apocolyptic short stories. Is it wrong that I get more ideas for my own post apocolyptic stories when I come home. 

California disgusts me.  I was born and raised here, 6th generation and I can't stand the place. Why? Because its all changed for the worse.  I grew up rural ,now I go home and its suburbia. Well, actually thanks to sub-prime morgages its a state of the art ghost town. The trees and waterways are choked, lined with concrete, and stunted.  The air smells and is opaque. I am in the center of a huge valley and I can't see any Mountains... 

People are obssesed with themselves here.  That used to be a distincly LA yuppie thing, now its everybody.  Even the old hippes I grew up around are obssesed with having the right fucking eco-friendly over priced crap.  I wish I could write something funny and witty about it all. But I can't. It's too sad seeing the world paved over in front of your eyes.

Had a rough day yesterday. Got mad and ranted and raved on a number of topics and posts that I probably should have kept my mouth shut on, mostly to prevent the further spread of foot in mouth disorder.  Anyway, wanted to make it official and tell everybody who may have been put off by my comments or mis-use of facts, Sorry.

Thanks for reading.