4 More Underrated 90's Albums

Last summer I wrote a post about six underrated albums from the 90's and I'm back with four more underrated 90's gems.  I suppose this is a series now, so look for another few of these underrated 90's album blog posts in the future. 

The point is, I love 90's music and so should you. 

Sloan - Twice Removed (1994)

Sloan made my list of underrated albums last summer with its masterpiece, One Chord To Another. While Twice Removed is less well-known than OCTA, it should be considered an indie classic. If you enjoy 90's rock n' roll with beautiful melodies that will stay stuck in your head for the rest of your life, then I recommend this album.  There's a neat degree of diversity on this album, from fun rockers, "Penpals", "I Hate My Generation" and "Deeper than your Beauty", to mid-tempo rockers, "People of the Sky" and "Worried Now"; along with forlorn love songs that still take me back to my own heartaches and longings ("Bells On" and "Loosens"). For many years, this album was my therapy. The song I proposed to my wife is no other than "I Can Feel It". This album is so underrated, even I underrate it when I haven't listened to it in a while. From back to front, it's a great album. I love it, please give this album a shot. 

Standout Tracks for the Lazy: "I Can Feel It", "I Hate My Generation", "Loosens", "Bells On" 

Frank Black & The Catholics - S/T (1998)

 

There's something wonderfully weird when Frank Black isn't writing with the Pixies. It doesn't always mean success either, for every gem on Teenager of the Year, there are two more clunkers (although I do love "Speedy Marie" more than I can put into words). In my next "Underrated 90's Albums" blog series, I may get into The Cult of Ray, which is also good...but this self-titled album of Frank Black and the Catholics is just the bee's knees. It's rollicking and rolling and you will be sure to have your head bopping to every track. It's an all-time great cathartic sing-along album in the car on a warm summer night.

Famously, the band had sent a demo tape to a producer and the producer said, "you're already done...there's no need to record this in the studio"...and boom, just like that the album came into existence. There's is definitely a live feel for this album, it's a little messy but it makes for an endearing experience. It's one rocker after another (with "Dog Gone" being the exception) often the lyrics blend mythical creatures, biblical imagery and a mishmash of world geography and history. For all the uptempo rockers here, there's an underlying sadness and quiet anger in the songs. 

Standout Tracks for the Lazy: "All My Ghosts", "Do You Feel Bad About It", "Dog Gone" "I Gotta Move"

For Squirrels - Example (1995)

 

 

If you're not familiar with the story of For Squirrels, it's a sad tale of tragedy and unfulfilled promise.  Two of the four band members died in an accident while on tour for their first major-label debut album. I just can't divorce my mind from this tragedy when I listen to this album. Ironically, their single "Mighty K.C." exemplifies the album. The song was about the death of Kurt Cobain. It's got this classic 90's alt-rock verse (that are frankly nothing to write home about), builds to an okay pre-chorus and then....it hits you will this sugary pop chorus that is amazing. Given what happened to the band, I think it's best you listen to the chorus for yourself, but it might very well bring tears to your eyes.  The album has a classic (one might say "typical") 90's alternative rock album sound and I don't mean that in a bad way. Some songs haven't aged as well ("Superstar" and "Stark Pretty") but many songs have only gotten better with age, especially the more REM-influenced tracks like "Smithville" and "Orangeworker". It's a solid all-around album. This album won't crack your top 30 albums of all-time but it's a solid album. If you like 90's rock with a dash of REM, go for it. 

Standout Tracks for the Lazy: "Smithville", "Mighty K.C.", "8:02 AM", "Orangeworker"

Fig Dish - That's What Love Songs Often Do (1995)

   

 Just search for the full YT playlist, this is only "Lemonader".

 If you're looking for that classic, loud-soft-loud 90's power-pop sound, then I've got an album for you. I was first introduced to this album from my radio show in college. We regularly played "Seeds" and "Chew Toy" off the album but in the years that followed, I admit I forgot this band existed. Sometime in the mid-aughts I was reflecting on the old show and I remembered this album and purchased it online. It's a bit like if Jawbreaker and Fountains of Wayne had a baby - it's heavy, catchy and an all-around great rock album that delivers sardonic delivery and romantic lyrics. The Chicago-based band only released two albums but I found the other album didn't capture my attention quite like this one. If you're a fan of "power pop" in the truest sense of the term, check it out. 

Standout Tracks: "Weak and Mean", "Seeds", "Chew Toy" "Quiet Storm King", "Lemonader" 

I'll be back in a few months with EVEN MORE underrated albums from the 90's. Until then, stay safe, stay cool and next time you're at the store get yourself an ice cream treat.

Thought of the Day

 You're better than a masterpiece, because you are capable of change.  An art object is forever frozen in a  static existence. You're capable to growth, change and transformation so make the most of it. 

Time Travel Blues (poem)

I have written on and off for the past few years and yet when I review my document, I have barely kept anything from the last 5 months. Lately, I have felt creatively bankrupt. I have started writing blog posts only to give up in disgust or boredom. 

When I review my old poems from the last two years, I can see themes that come in waves, sometimes subconsciously. There was a motif of pirates on the high seas (often ending in disasters or being eaten by sharks), clouds, dreams and stars. But I have also have a theme of wrestling with the past. Of course there are heavy doses of nostalgia but more importantly, themes of the futility of living by the past, in the past, or the folly of living the answers of our past history. Anyway, here's one that I don't hate. 

Time Travel Blues 

You tell me you can travel back in time.

I'm telling you you might get yellow fever and die.

You're fumbling around in a dusty library

that never used the Dewey decimal system.

I’m sorry I can’t join you on your mission to the past.

You're traveling but your die is already cast.

Stop wondering about the history that never came about 

And start thinking about your future scars.

It's the Summer of 2020 and it Sucks Fragments.

I don't have many words to say about the murder of George Floyd that hasn't' said before but I'll start and end with:

Black Lives Matter

and 

Defund the Police.

Also, we're living in a pandemic, that sucks. I am convinced Donald Trump's leadership has cost the US tens of thousands of lives. What a disaster. I am predicting at least 200,000 dead by the end of the fall and depending on developments/treatments/a vaccine possibly 250,000 by the end of the winter. I might be low-balling it too and this would not include the tens of thousands that we will likely never count in the official numbers. I still feel like we hit an alternate universe in 2016. Sigh.....well on that uplifting note:

Here's some fragments on life: 

I am back in grad school for promotion purposes. I had an opportunity to write about Carl Barks in a big long paper and I have learned a hard lesson. By taking something you love and turning it into a research paper can drain some of the fun of it away.  I still think it's fun but ya know, there was one night that I didn't want to read a Barks' story that I had never read before....that was weird. I am quite proud of my work but I don't want to reveal too much here (also I may get feedback that it sucks and then, never mind, I won't be proud of it anymore). 

I don't even want to take another grad class right away but given my schedule, I will start another in August, with one week off. Blah. 

My wife gave me a haircut. It was fun. Overall, given her inexperience, I have to give her an A for effort and C for the job. I'm wearing caps a lot when I go out. :) 

I watched the Watchmen HBO series...was really great but I wasn't crazy about the ending. (SPOILER ALERT). I really wanted her to just throw the egg in the woods. 

Also watched The Orville.....and not too shabby. I went in with low expectations. I would recommend if you know it's a homage to TNG and you know it's going to be just "okay"....you'll like it. It's not groundbreaking but I would be lying if I didn't laugh a few times and I am looking forward to the next season (apparently, they had to stop filming but they are done with at least seven episodes...maybe they can release what they have in the fall??).

One of my best friends might be moving out of state. I am really bummed and now I realize even though we were both busy raising families, doing life, we never spent as much time together as we should have. I am having major regrets as I figured they would live here for the long haul. That's life for ya....you don't appreciate people or opportunities until they're gone. 

Kids responded as well as kids could respond to the pandemic/school at home. It's been tough and yet, we're survived in large part due to the efforts of my lovely wife. 

I hate Zoom. 

My birthday is coming up, yipee, According to my calculations, I will be 43. I still feel like a young 36. I am not sure I am all wiser than I used to be. I am still fumbling, bumbling my way through life with usually a smile and a sarcastic remark. My goal this year is to be kinder, more forgiving, less prone to yell at the kids and more thoughtful. Lofty goals, I admit....time will tell if I can do it. 

I have been in contact with two people from work via texts/phone calls since the pandemic broke. Also, another one by email (occasionally) and everyone else just dropped off the planet. I kinda was hoping one friend would reach out (we exchanged emails in April, when I emailed her)...but now I am playing the whole, "it's your turn to contact me"...and finding out she probably doesn't care...lol.  Kinda a bummer but it is what it is. 

I am supposed to be grading papers or I could be working on my big paper due next week...and I just don't have it in me tonight. Sigh. 

That's it. Stay safe out there, kids. Wear your mask, wash your hands and after that don't forget to give your cat a good pet down once in a while. 

Confucius Didn't Say That: Find the Right Focus

There's not a person who wonders what life would be like if they were wealthy. Who hasn't dreamed of winning the lottery? Why couldn't have life just turned out a little bit differently?

Well, buckle up, my fellow Confucius Fanatics, on this post of "Confucius Didn't Say That", I enter unprecedented, new territory... a quote that isn't quite by Confucius, but it's the closest we've ever come on the series.

You'll see, I don't want to spoil it just yet.

Here's today's gem:


"Death and life have their determined appointments; riches and honors depend upon heaven." - Confucius 


Unlike most quotes on the series, which are largely pulled out a black hole of Google ignorance and idiocy, this quote is ACTUALLY IN THE ANALECTS.

Tim & Eric to the rescue. This .gif has aged like fine wine. It's a classic. 

Yeah, it shocked me too. It's as if the top ten Google quotes have been getting better of late..so yes, we have our first quote on the series that is actually in the Analects and yet I still scratched out Confucius in the quote above because.....wait for it.... he didn't actually say it.

This is as close as we've come on this blog series to an actual quote from Confucius but let's make this absolutely clear,  the quote actually comes from Zi Xia, one of Confucius' disciples, not Confucius himself.  Zi Xia was a pretty big deal too, it seems after Confucius' death, he opened up his own Confucian school and was quite successful....but the truth is even more complicated than that because once you see the quote in context, the quote really isn't even from Zi Xia! 

Zi Xia is actually quoting a (traditional) proverb. There's no evidence to suggest one or way or the other if Confucius would agree with this proverb (although I have a few guesses below). 

So, while it's as close to having a "real" Confucius quote on this blog series....as far as I am concerned it's just as bad as the others. Not only is it not from Confucius, but the quote is also completely and utterly out of context. So much so, it renders the actual passage to mean something nearing the approximate opposite of its intention.

Here's the full context, again from my favorite online translation, AC Muller, it's from 12:5:

"Sima Niu, upset, said: “Everyone has brothers, I alone have none.”

Zi Xia said, “I have heard this proverb: "Life and death are up to Fate. Wealth and honor are held by Heaven."

“If the noble man is reverent without lapse, and courteous to everyone within the frame of propriety, everything within the four seas will be his brother. Why should a noble man be concerned about not having brothers?”

The quote taken out of context seems to be saying that your birth and death are fated but your wealth is a blessing from Heaven. To Western ears, the idea of Heaven would likely be associated with God.  One might get the impression that Confucius had similar ideas about God/Heaven that many Westerners have. One might think Confucius is like the ancient Joel Osteen, health and wealth, baby!

Look, I have nothing clever to say here, just that Joel Osteen is an idiot.

Even if this quote was 100% true, I find it neither insightful nor helpful. It's the worst kind of advice or "wisdom" proverbs.  It reinforces the idea that you have no control over your life. Life and death? Fated. You're not rich? Too bad, God doesn't want you to be rich, you greedy butt-hole. You play the role of a victim in a game where you didn't set the rules and can't even control your own game piece.

I disagree with the quote on the merit of its claims as well. I don't think your life or death is fated, I don't think God wills people to be wealthy or poor. While free will is limited, it's also a fact that we do have at least some free will. And before you get technical on me, even if it turns out we don't have free will in any meaningful way, it's certainly better to believe it.

Let's unpack the analect selection a little further but I should point out I am only an amateur Chinese philosopher fan (I bet you haven't heard that very often). I freely admit I don't have a firm grasp of the Chinese language used here nor am I an expert on the concepts or historical background. On one hand, I am not sure if it's "fate" or "Fate" (I've seen this translated differently) and I am honestly not sure what the difference between my death being ordained by Fate (or fate) and my wealth determined by Heaven might be, given that they are both out of my hands. Although I could explain Confucius' conception of Heaven better than his idea of "Fate", I don't need to bother because it neither help us really understand the meaning and message of the passage.


Okay, so that's just getting the theoretical stuff out the way, hopefully, this next part won't be so boring. 
Now we gotta talk about Sima Niu.  Trust me, it's important, just bear with me.

Sima Niu is described as being "upset" when he pathetically states, "Everyone has brothers, I alone have none.” You might be thinking this is an exaggeration for effect because, after all, we all have felt alone in the world at one time or another. However, it turns out he really did "lose" his brothers (at least in some sense).

According to Edward Slingerland (his translation of the Analects is clear and his additional notes indispensable), one of Sima Niu's older brothers had caused trouble for Confucius previously and had planned a revolt against his sovereign, while his other older brother had already carried out an unsuccessful revolt earlier in his life.

As Slingerland states, "The comment 'He alone has no brothers' is not meant literally; the point is either that he has no brothers truly worthy of being considered brothers, or that all of (his) brothers are in exile...and therefore as good as dead" (Slingerland 127). Meaning, Sima Niu is feeling lost and without a center. He is in need of good advice.

Zi Xia's first response to Sima Niu's suffering is that traditional proverb we've already read... but he immediately follows it up with the wisdom of his own. This immediate response might be read as a slight rebuke of the proverb. It implies the old proverb is at least not applicable in this case and at worse it implies the proverb to not be useful at all.

The advice that Zi Xia does give focuses on what the upset Sima Niu can do. And the advice is really good:  

“If the noble man is reverent without lapse, and courteous to everyone within the frame of propriety, everything within the four seas will be his brother. Why should a noble man be concerned about not having brothers?”


In other words, we shouldn't focus on the past or things you can't control, we should focus on what we can control. We have to realize that life, death and riches are largely out of our control. All we have are our choices. The advice is almost existential. 

Of course, Zi Xia isn't an existentialist at all and he proves it with a VERY Confucian claim that if you are good, good things will surely follow. It's a hopeful and quite naive point that Confucius and his followers constantly make. It's possibly seen most clearly in 4:25:

"The Master said: “If you are virtuous, you will not be lonely. You will always have friends.”

Confucius had an almost unhealthy faith in the power of a good example or righteous character. When the right things were being done (by the right people)....things would fall into place for everyone.

 It was almost as close as the usual grounded Confucius gets to magical or religious thinking.  This quote is  from 16:2:

"The Master said: “When the Way (just government) prevails in the realm, then ritual, music and military campaigns are all initiated by the emperor. When the Way declines in the realm, then ritual, music and military campaigns are initiated by the nobles. When these things are initiated by the nobles, the ruling house will usually lose its power within ten generations. When these things are initiated by the high ministers, the ruling house will usually lose its power within five generations. When they are initiated by the lower officers, the ruling house will lose its power within three generations. When the Way prevails in the realm, the common people do not debate politics among themselves.”

All in all, I think Zi Xia gives good advice but I wouldn't go as far as Confucius in my faith that my good examples and choices will be rewarded. I do agree with the sentiment that if we focus on our choices and we work on building character, we will find more doors opening for us than if we don't.

Humans have always excelled when we focus on what we can do, not what we can't do. We need to follow Anna's advice from Frozen 2. Anna had it right, all we can do when things get tough is to "do the next right thing".

To be clear the movie is pretty okay but this song "Do the Next Right Thing" is amazing.

Yeah, I did it, I wedged a Frozen 2 and a The Fiddler on the Roof reference in a single blog post about Confucius. Life achievement unlocked!! Thank you Good Night!!!

Cute Things My Kids Said A Long Time Ago

I've been going though my drafts of blog posts I never finished so here's one I polished up today.

Here's a short list from my memory banks that my kids mispronounced. We still say them around the house sometimes. I am writing this because I don't want these to escape into the ether of memory. So, here ya go.

My oldest daughter called granola bars,"Gorilla Bars"

My oldest daughter called hand sanitizer, "hanaitizer"..which I think is pretty ingenious. 

My middle daughter called coyotes, "COY - otes".

My middle daughter told us the toilet was "flooding up" and used that term several times, again, I think it really describes what was happening quite well. 

My son called the Ninja Turtles as "Engine Turtles". I think one of the only words he did not pronounce correctly, so we let him mispronounce this longer than we would have usually. 

My son started calling Parmesan cheese, "Parmish".  I think he could say it but he couldn't remember the word for it...so he got "Parmish"...we think it's perfect.  

Thought of the Day

Comparison is usually a terrible means of evaluation.