3 More Underrated 90's Albums

We live in the first quarter of the 21st century and as a consumer of pop culture, it's a little overwhelming with all the choices that we face. There are simply too many great books, films and albums that you will be bound to miss given the sheer amount of stuff out there and the limits of a human being. 

So on this little blog, I've created a little series about some of my favorite alt/indie albums that were underrated, or little-known 90's albums. Maybe I can introduce you to a gem you will enjoy. 

Old 97's - Fight Songs (1999) 

I didn't discover this album until well after 1999.....more like in the summer of 2022. After an 8 week obsession this summer,  I can easily state this is a stone-cold indie classic from the 90s and I know I will be coming back to it in the future. 

2001's Satellite Rides was the first Old 97's album I listened to and it was probably my favorite album of 2001, so why I didn't check out the back half of the Old 97's discography is beyond me. I chalk it up to just being overwhelmed with so much music to listen to. I have been exploring and discovering 90's music for decades and there's always one more indie song or band I haven't heard of (or forgotten about) and it blows me away!   

The Old 97's are considered alt-country and I guess that's a good description but if you enjoy quality pop songwriting, this is for you. They have a unique sound that straddles power-pop and alt-country. Most songs are about being lovesick, heartbroken and a fatalistic acceptance of what has been and what will be. Despite the lyrics, the album will just make you feel happy and most songs on this album are ear-worms. Whatever song your listening session ended on in your head for the next hour. It's great song after great song.  

I could see a listener thinking this album is a little too "samey". But honestly, you could say that about 98.5% of albums in creation. This is a perfect album to wistfully sing along to in the car or happily sing along with as you run errands, fold the laundry, etc. This album would also be great background music to listen to as you talk with some friends at a picnic table with a few beers on a summer evening. I don't know, just listen to it and you decide what it's perfect for. 

Standout Tracks: "Jagged", "Lonely Holiday", "Indefinitely", "What We Talk About", "Murder (Or a Heart Attack)", "Busted Afternoon", "19". 

Matthew Sweet - 100% Fun (1995)

100% Fun is one of those albums I had read about in music magazines, saw in the discount bins but just never picked it up in the 90s...and for that,  I am sorry. I should have spread the Matthew Sweet gospel in the 90s. 100% Fun feels like the 90s distilled in a bottle of fizzy, sweet soda pop. 

Like Fight Songs,  I just discovered this album quite late, in fact this past fall and I fell in love with it. If you're looking for another stroll towards the goodness of power pop from the 90s, you'll find a lot to like here. You might want to check your pulse if you aren't bobbing your head up and down to this album. Of course this album features the alt-classic, "Sick of Myself", the Beach Boy harmonies at the end of "Not When I Need It" to the R.E.M.-like verses of "We're the Same".....and that's all in the first three tracks!! 

If you're looking for a rock and roll album that will make you want to forget about your problems and make you feel good about life, check this album out. 

Standout Tracks: "Sick of Myself", "Not When I Need It", "We're the Same", "Everything Changes", "Come to Love", "Walk Out" 

Travis - The Man Who (1999) 

Unlike the other two albums, I discovered this album, somewhat near it's original release date.  I had discovered 2001's Invisible Band in 2001, so I picked up The Man Who shortly thereafter. 

The Man Who is a Brit-pop album and you'll know what I mean as soon as you hear the first track. A lot of people think Travis is a lesser version of the 90s incarnations of Oasis & Radiohead and yeah, well....that pretty much nails it. They are less talented, less sophisticated and less ambitious but is that necessarily a bad thing? It's catchy Brit pop, so what, can't I just enjoy a simple cheese burger sometimes? 

This album is great for cloudy, cold days.  Sure, maybe the album cover is hinting at this but there's something definitely something sad and wistful on this album that makes you feel like staying inside all day, away from the cold. It's not the best album you'll ever hear, but these posts are all about under-rated albums, check it out if you need a dose of Brit-pop.  

Standout Tracks: "Writing to Reach You", "Driftwood", "Turn" "Why Does it Always Rain on Me?

Fragments of the Fall

I haven't posted since late June cause mainly I don't care and..... you guessed it....I'm busy. I have a job, I am a parent...blah, blah, blah. 

Here's some stuff that's been going on or happened: 

I painted a lot until August/early September and ran out of supplies and just recently started back up again.  I buying some more stuff and painting more during the holidays. Here is maybe one of my favorites from September. Cuz, why not?

Have a cool project at work that has happened and now I can't share much about it because I don't wanna dox myself. It has taken up a lot of my time and changed some of my duties at work. It's cool, trust me. 

Media Fragments

Read Kafka's The Trail at some point. Loved it, might be in my top ten books. Re-reading Catch-22 now first time since high school and it hasn't held up thus far. Also, just get tired at night, look at it and I am not inspired. 

Watched the new The Mole on Netflix with the fam back in October. I missed that show so much. The only reality show I ever loved and it's back in 2022. Cool, I recommend it. 

Watched The Rings of Power and I liked it. I need to re-watch to set in. Did it hit a home run? No, sometimes it was kinda boring in a Tolkien way. Sometimes the series could even be sublime, but in other ways it feel flat. However, overall I liked it. I am not a purist....so, I was okay with most of the changes but whatever floats you're boat. If you're a racist, I hope it made you infuriated, ya snowflake. 

The Fam

Our oldest C is now a high school junior, it's all sinking in. She's almost done with school and I don't know where all that time went. All the clichés are true. She switched schools, is still in the marching band and now she's doing fantastic in debate. She's grown quite a bit intellectually this year and that's been neat to see. She's making all A's and making me proud of her character as well. I can't believe we're months away from making college decisions. Yikes.

Our middle child E is doing well in 8th grade. She's been loving choir this year even more and I think really finding her niche in doing so. Some injuries have set her back in ballet and in some ways, it's made choir more of a focus....we'll see.... We've been watching Gilmore Girls when we're hanging out together and that's been fun, we also slowly working our way through Lord of the Rings as well. She can drive me little nuts as she is a true 8th grader but yah, know, that's expected. She's an amazing person. 

The youngest H is in 5th grade of course, doing exceedingly well. He scored in the top 10% of 5th graders in the nation on his math scores but he's a strong reader as well. This year has been weird as he is starting to act a little more like a middle schooler and....well, that's always cool. He has loved playing flag football with his buddies and if you give him all day to play outside with the neighborhood kids, you won't even see him all day. 

K is working more this year and that has led to less of me cooking. I gotta plan better in the weeks ahead. Overall, life is pretty good. We recently talked with an older couple who mentioned we are going to miss these busy days one day and I don't doubt it for a second. 

Other Stuff

I got some sweet old 80s comics a few months back. Love me the 80s Marvel....they are becoming more and more rare to find in "the wild". So when I do happen to find them, it makes me even more happy than it used to. It's the little things in life that make it that much sweeter.  

I find out if we get a huge grant in December for a cool project at work and I am on the edge of my seat. If this project happens, it will definitely be a highlight of my career. 

Bummed about Josh Primo and the Spurs. It's weird to feel so disappointed in the organization, but I was.....I was not impressed how it was initially handled but the case has been settled. Anyway, I hope they continue to lose and get in on the sweepstakes for Weby. That guy is an amazing prospect. 

One of our cats never came back, it's been a month and a half so, pretty much all hope is lost. I am so bummed. I never thought I would connect with another pet again...not in a real way and yet, Kirby loved me so much, he made me care about him. I am really sad about and it still hasn't sunk in. 

That's it, the semester is pretty much over and I'm glad. 

I should post again soon, as I have another post more than halfway done from October. That will tie me for the lowest total for a year, so maybe I will post twice just for the sake of feeling more productive...I dunno, that's the way my brain works. 

However you have stumbled upon this little tiny sector of the internet, I hope you are doing okay. Don't forget to write down you dreams and hum a little song as you walk. 

45 Things I Experienced

Tomorrow I turn 45. 

Here's a list of some of the things I have experienced over that time. Not in chronological or any order at all! 

1. Joined the choir in my senior year in high school and loved it, it changed my life forever.

2. Created an imaginary band for MySpace, which had hundreds of followers. My tracks were post-modern sound collage nonsense. It lasted for about 2-3 years. 

3. I earned a score of over 300 K on Galaga after weeks of trying (arcade port, on one of those plug-and-plays).

4. I once caught a falling plate of huevos rancheros at a restaurant as a teenager. Spider-Man-like reflexes on that one.

5. Acted in a bunch of community plays in the last few years, including singing an entire song all by myself. Yeah, I'm proud of it. I have many fans, ya know. ;)

6. I accidentally mixed Benadryl with alcohol at our one and only keg party in college. My roommate left to hook up with his ex. A police officer arrived due to a noise complaint. I got a noise ticket, came back into the living room, and said, "We got a ticket" and fell on my face (I do not remember this exact moment).

7. I worked at K-Mart for two long years in high school and college. 

8. When I was 17, I stole a cardboard cut-out of Worf promoting a Star Trek movie from Jack in a Box and called the restaurant to tell them, "We have your Worf". 

9. I played basketball in the YMCA for 7 years, one time I got like twenty rebounds in one game but now that I think about it, the teams shot probably under 22% so there were a lot of rebounds to go around. 

10. Gregg Popovich grabbed some rebounds for me when I was a kid at a Spurs contest. 

11. I ran for Student Body President at Texas A&M as a protest candidate. It was so much fun.

12. I fell in love for the first time when I was 19. I was so happy to finally give and receive love. 

13. I watched two of my babies being born and met my other child for the first time as he slept so peacefully. What a trip. 

14. Sang all three of my babies to sleep, rocking them in my arms, placing them ever so gently down into their crib, and hoping they didn't wake. I treasure these moments in my heart. 

15. Played a million hours of video games and basketball with my best friend Eric, who accepted me for me and made other people love me too. 

16. Lost one of the most amazing people I have ever met when I was 21. 

17. Won a Dr. Pepper drinking contest. My friend Adam who lost the contest threw up in the parking lot on the way out. 

18. I transferred from UTSA to Texas A&M and it changed the course of my life forever. 

19. I finally learned to love to cook in my 40s during the pandemic.

20. I voted for Bob Dole in 96, then Ralph Nader in 2000, and I've been a "leftist" (for lack of a better term) ever since. 

21. I fell in love with my wife, started a new life and she's the greatest person I've ever met.

22. When I was 17, I created my own "show" with the family camcorder for all my buddies with my old toys. Made 10 episodes over two summers. We would have little episode premieres at Eric's house. Just hanging at Eric and Mikey's house in the summers was a home away from home for me.   

23. I earned my BA and MA, I learned so much and I still have so much more to learn. 

24. I created a huge fantasy world and told stories to my kids at bedtime for years, I drew huge maps and recorded stories with music and in various voices when I went out of town, including a fifteen-part story that took me weeks and weeks to record. 

25. My wife and I chaperoned a bunch of middle school kids to NYC and DC. It was great.

26. I lost two books in 7th grade. I saved all my lunch money for 6 weeks to pay for them because I was to scared to tell my parents. I ate off my friend's lunches or sneaked a sandwich from home. I had six bucks left over and went to the store after school and bought some baseball cards and grape soda.

27. I co-led a study abroad to Peru. One night after dinner at our hotel (which was an old monastery), we took our wine in the back, had a bonfire, and looked up at the Milky Way in awe and wonder. An incredible moment. 

28. My wife and I taught in China together for three weeks, we learned so much about each other and the world.

29. I have almost died twice (at least), I had skin cancer at 26 and flipped my truck six times when I was 23. 

30. My wife and I along with a bunch of other people sang the national anthem at a Spurs game. Yeah, I am not a real patriotic person but it was still pretty cool. I also performed a Chinese dance for a Chinese cultural association pre-game at a Spurs game too. At that same game, I briefly spoke with Craig Sager and saw Lebron up close. 

31. Went to various Spurs playoffs and one Finals game. Sports dreams do come true! I have also taken my kids to games, just like my dad took me when I was a kid (I went to David Robinson's first regular-season game).  One time, my dad scored us front-row tickets and the ball came right into my lap on one play!

32. I took more graduate classes and my capstone class was in Northern Ireland. I was in Northern Ireland/Ireland and the UK for three weeks. Beautiful locale to learn! 

33. I have painted and created art on and off for years, from birthday posters for the kids (and nephews) to random paintings just for me, it's part of who I am. 

34. I was a college radio DJ for two years. It was pretty sweet. 

35. I have seen almost all my favorite bands in concert, including my favorite concert that will never be topped....Weezer in Austin in 1996. 

36. We created a program at work to take students around the US in 2019 from scratch. No one had done that before. It was amazing and we made so many memories. 

37. I have made and had so many amazing friends. Played basketball and would talk for hours, egged a car of my friend's ex just for him in high school, drank and talked until the wee hours, danced at clubs and got tacos late at night, hosted Christmas parties, and talked forever with friends at work but got not work done! So many moments, large and small that I have shared with some amazing people. Thankful for all the past, present and future friends. 

38. Went to Ethiopia to meet our son. Amazing culture and country. I love being a dad!! 

39. Reading Carl Barks' Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics to my kids at bedtime, introducing my favorite songs and bands to my kids in the car, and sharing my love and passions with them is such a lovely thing. 

40. I don't want to dox myself so I will keep this vague. I was able to stand up to a local, powerful political figure and led an effort to change things.....it worked! One of the best and most important things I have done as a professional.

41. Attended protests and rallies with my kids but also on a less serious note, took them to Free Comic Book Day too! 

42. So many lovely memories with my wife, weekend getaways, driving in the hills of Ireland,  raising our kids, laughing, crying, being in shows together, singing in the car together, never being able to completely finish whistling Pachelbel's Canon together without laughing. 

43. We had a proper, legendary, and disastrous summer family vacation last year. Colorado, Moab, Grand Canyon, and back home. So many crazy things happened but definitely worth it. 

44. My kids are amazing, there are too many moments to mention but of late, teaching my oldest to drive, watching Sound of Music with the middle child, late into the night, and taking my son to the Pokémon card shop. 

45. My wife and I host an annual Christmas party and I love it. We only canceled when our son first came home and for the pandemic. I hope we never have to cancel another one, even though it's tough to do sometimes. 

I have so many more memories I could have shared. I am so grateful for all that I have received, accomplished, and experienced. I love my life, my family, and my friends so much.  I am halfway to 90 and with a lot of luck, I hope to think I can get there.  

Art Post: Layers and Layers

So, I've continued my artistic output over the last few weeks and have a few more to share. As always, take it for what it's worth (which isn't much). 

"Electronics" - Acrylic and mixed media. 

"Electronics" started as an older painting of mine that I had hanging in my garage. I was never quite satisfied with it though, it just seemed a bit drab (you can see the original pink in the top half of the piece). I used old dictionary pages, a page from an animated Hobbit book, and additional pour techniques to get towards its final permutation.  As I was working on the piece it seemed like I was (it was?) trying to capture the idea of spreading energy. I wanted to continue to make it bright, loud and explosive....at least that's what came out in the process. The final addition was the word art at the center of the piece. It was from a comic book made by Radio Shack in the 1970s that I recently purchased. It seemed to fit perfectly for this loud piece, I loved the font too...so 70s and cool. 

Untitled - Acrylic, Oil Pastels, mixed media 

This untitled piece was also an evolution of sorts. The first iteration a few weeks ago was garish and too much of a try-hard. It relied on huge chunks of newsprint and comic books glued on the surface like snowflakes. I found it distasteful but I didn't know what else to do, so I just sidelined it for a few weeks. When I was quarantined because of my COVID case this past week (yay),  I pulled it back out. I ripped off the little snowflake papers, I used a ton of oil pastel, as well as added texture by use of cross-hatching. Now, it feels better. This piece had layer after layer of paper, paint, oil pastels, more paint, more pastels, more crosshatching, etc. it made me realize how much I enjoy the building of layers. I am eager to replicate the process soon and see what develops. 

"Circus" - Acrylic and Oil Pastels on cardboard. 

This one is just okay. It reminds me of something from the mid-20th century, I just added layers on cardboard because I ran out of canvases to touch up. It doesn't feel particularly interesting but it's pleasant to look at. The bright, primary colors reminded me of a circus. So, the title stuck. 

Untitled - Acrylic and Oil Pastels on cardboard.

This one might have the most layers of anything I have done thus far. It felt swamp-like and it evolved from being primarily green to this mix of green, purple, and yellow (with a bit of orange). At some point, the painting felt organic and I imagined it as moss or mold that you might find growing on a cave wall.  Again, I am eager to try this technique on a larger canvas. 

That's it for now, stay cool out there, and don't forget to not catch COVID. 

Pic Dumping - Spring 2022

I save the best from Twitter to send to my friend and now you get to see 'em. That's called pic dumping on this ol' blog. 

Yeah, I'm not watching the new series. Gross.

I actually did this at Target. No, there was no "u". 

It might be stuck in your head now, too!!! 

I hate to say I am "black pilled" but man, I'm not far off. 

This was actually posted at my school in the hallway.  Yeah, a "Jewish" psychic sets up in the hallway to read palms. I am pretty sure they just meant to use a pentagram, but I enjoy thinking the person is Jewish instead. 

This meme might justify the entire internet's existence. 

It's crude but it made me laugh. 

Currently my phone wallpaper. So dignified and cool. Just. Like. Me. 

I would love this on a t-shirt

This is very dark and very funny. 

Superman freakin HATES trees.

I was at a concert this weekend and this sticker was on the urinal. 

The human condition. 

tee-hee.

That's it, ya heathens. Have a great day/night/morning/mid-afternoon/ tea time/ snack time/ nap time or whatever. This blog sucks but come back anyway!!!

The Beauty in Chance Events

Life is full of cycles. 

You can get in a rhythm and you end up in a re-run of habits, hobbies, and activities. Lately, I have been finding myself just watching YouTube on my bed until I was exhausted enough to stop fighting sleep. The old days of my prodigious reading habits faded into an inconsistent bedtime routine. After I finished taking graduate classes in the fall of 2020, my reading fell to almost non-existent. I read a bit but I have struggled to get motivated to read anything in particular. Sure, I would read a few comic books and I did manage to finish an actual book or two but I just wasn't feeling it. 

For the last few years, my creative energy was geared towards writing but art has always been in the background, waiting for me, ever so patiently to come back home. Of course, I have done a few birthday posters for the kids but nothing on my own for years beyond some fun doodling with watercolor markers. With the encouragement of a friend, I started painting again last week. As I painted I realized how much I missed it and how much fun I had been missing out on. I also had forgotten what a gift there is in embracing chance events. 

April, acrylic & paper - April 2022

The above photo was my first effort and I have to admit, I like it. 

I had started fiddling with my watercolor paint pens, drawing branches or roots (a common motif of mine) but it just felt drab and boring. Then I changed my plan and began to paint in an abstract style. Pushing and stretching the paint with my little paint tool.  I purposely didn't put much thought into it. I let my mind and tool unconsciously find their way together, weaving this way, then the other. I selected bright, primary colors (as those make me feel warm and fuzzy).  I added countless layers of paint to give the piece texture and needed depth.  Finally, on the second to last layer, I tore out random bits of paper from old books to add a bit more depth and otherworldliness to the piece. 

----

A few days later I decided to paint again. This time, I painted two pieces at once but only one is good enough to share. The more "experimental" piece (well, trash piece) is kinda a hot mess bordering on disaster overload. 

However, the "good" piece was a much more successful experiment.  I started by building an acrylic base of texture but I also integrated a little bit of the pour technique that's so popular on YouTube with more overt use of collage. Thankfully over the years of art-making, I have collected old books, comic books, and other ephemera like some of my dad's old college papers. I also have a random assortment of things already cut out that weren't used at the time or just plain forgotten about.

I had brought in a huge stack of random stuff and just started grabbing whatever my grubby little hands could find, by chance. I would grab a page, tear it out and drop it anywhere on the canvas or impulsively find a place for it and go with my gut instinct.  I tried to keep in sync with my primal, spontaneous mind so it could find connections and patterns that my conscious mind could never find on its own. I even managed to escape my over-analyzing, over-thinking consciousness for a while and that's always a nice vacation too.  

After about a half-hour I stopped. I didn't like what I was seeing so I decided to come back to later that evening.  When I returned to the piece I added a bit more but still....something was off but I didn't know what. However, it was getting late, so I started putting my art supplies away and cleaning up. As I picked up my huge stack of old books, notebooks, and junk, a perfectly cut-out photo of a baby ostrich fell out of the stack and onto the floor. I instantly picked it up and plopped it right on the wet green blob in the center of the canvas and I and went back to cleaning up. 

After I finished cleaning up, I looked down at the piece and it seemed the baby ostrich made me look at the piece in a whole different light. It now seemed complete and confident. It gave the viewer's eyes a shared starting place to the canvas. Also, baby birds are cute, so there's that too. 

This random baby ostrich, falling from my stack of junk changed everything. I didn't like the painting before but I didn't know what it was missing. This small chance event changed everything. Now, I can't imagine this piece being any other way.  How many random events have happened like this to you and now you can't imagine your life any other way? Some of my most favorite people, events and ideas stem from the extraordinary origin of chance.  

Missed An Issue???, acrylic and paper, April 2022.

I had forgotten the wisdom of creating art. Of course, it's fun and it's an escape for the soul but more importantly, there are lessons to be had if we open to the opportunities presented by the beauty of chance events. 

Things I Miss and I Can Never Get Back (an incomplete list)

I miss playing basketball for hours and then talking to my friends for a couple more hours. 

I miss driving around and getting lost with friends.

I miss wondering what I'll be someday.

I miss holding my babies and rocking them to sleep.

I miss my friend Mikey.

I miss reading the comics on Sunday mornings. 

I miss feeling like everything was so important. 

I miss telling bedtime stories. 

I miss buying an album and hoping that it would be better than just the two songs you knew from the radio. 

I miss not living by my old favorite taco place where our first apartment was. 

I miss when my kids went to bed at a reasonable hour. 

I miss building forts with my kids and having sock battles. 

I miss meeting friends at a bar and not knowing if they were actually there. 

There's still so much to miss and I still have so much still here. 

I am happy to remember and so full of gratitude for my current life and situation.