Going through my morning routine at work, I couldn't help but be struck by the unintended irony of the Us magazine reporter doing a remote feed for Good Day Live. He had just seen The Passion of the Christ, and was commenting on it's intensity and excessive gore and violence. He described the scenes of whipping and crucifiction as leaving little to the imagination, bearing bones and pouring blood for the world to see. He felt this made the movie difficult to watch for any but the most devout. I then watched in awe as he seemlessly transitioned in one breath from discussing the painful crucifiction of Jesus Christ, complete with clips from the movie, to the cover story of Us magazine this week, Botox Beauties. I feel vaguely ill...

New little featurette, for all three of you that regularly read my blog. I find myself constantly posting random lyrics, without much in the way of background or information. I imagine it makes a rather boring read. So, I announce "Song of the Week". This will enable me to keep you somewhat intellectually engaged while feeding my voyeuristic addiction to music at the same time. This is not to say I will not post mood-defining lyrics from time to time, but I'm going to attempt to keep it in check.

Song of the Week - F.N.T. by Semisonic

"F.N.T." (short for fascinating new thing) comes from the freshman album offering of Semisonic, Great Divide. Semisonic is a product of Trip Shakespeare's breakup, and best known for their pop underground, post-grunge style of rock n' roll with a twist. It wasn't until their second album, Feeling Strangely Fine, that Semisonic hit it big with "Closing Time" and "Secret Smile".

While originally produced on Great Divide, "F.N.T." is probably best known for being the second hit off of the Ten Things I Hate About You soundtrack. Arguably one of the best modern sound tracks, rivaled only by such musicly oriented movies as Hi Fidelity, Ten Things I Hate About You is headlined by Letters to Cleo's cover of "I Want You To Want Me". "F.N.T." is the second big hit off this album. Ten Things I Hate About You peaked on the Billboard 200 at position No. 52 in 1999.

Aided by a plethra of catchy hooks, funky electronica and the whimsically thin voices of Dan Wilson and John Munson, "F.N.T." is the anthem of hopeful infatuation. The love is new and fresh and wobbly as a lamb on his first gallivant around the pasture, but there is every reason to believe it's going somewhere. It is the giddy sugar-high of mutual "love at first sight" coupled with half an eye for the sober and promising realities of a long term relational commitment. But he's going to live in the moment with his fascinating new thing...

Semisonic - F. N. T.

Fascinating new thing
You delight me
And I know you're speaking of me

Fascinating new thing
Get beside me
I want you to love me

I'm surprised that you've never been told before
That you're lovely and you're perfect
And that somebody wants you

Fascinating new thing
The scene makin'
Want a temporary savior

Fascinating new thing
Don't betray them
By becoming familiar

I'm surprised that you've never been told before
That you're lovely and you're perfect
And that somebody wants you

I'm surprised that you've never been told before
That you're priceless and you're precious
Even when you are not new

Espresso Revelation

Is it the extra shot of espresso
Or do I feel the absent wind stirring
The torrential rains burning
Away crusted salt dried in my eyes

I see the seeds of hope
Dancing their west coast salsa
Under the plow pan
They lick their lips in desperate anticipation

So I'm going to say it's for real
It's a deal
It's feeling like my soul's first meal
In a long, long time

Maybe I'll shed my precious
My cocoon of hibernation
My blanket of doubt and cynicism
That muffled the light
Bled me of the life
I thought I was preserving

But it feels good to lick the simple rain off my lips
I forgot how sweet it tastes

Listening to...

Oasis- Wonderwall

Today is gonna be the day
That they're gonna throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realised what you gotta do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now

Backbeat the word was on the street
That the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody feels
The way I do about you now

How did I lose sight of the things that matter, the things that last?

I've slept into the road more traveled, the rut of the intangible tangibles. I've given up pursuit of the extraordinary for the immediacy of the common. But I'm weary of seeing things that fade, of tasting what makes me cry, of holding on to that which falls apart, of believing in things that promise what they can never give.

So I want to hold the tangible intangibles, the simple things that resonate the tone of my heart as it was formed, things that are beautiful in their plainness, breath taking in lasting reality. I want to buy a house and rent rooms to the thoughts that make my soul skip a beat and my heart to dance. Clothe me with those simple things and feed me the thoughts of such impossibly plausible fulfillment.

Anxiously awaiting tickets for Dido's freshly announced American concert tour to go on sale. Swingin' at the Snitz...

Also anxiously awaiting winning Powerball numbers to pay for tickets to Dido's freshly announced American concert tour.

Listening to...

Tonic - Mr. Golden Deal

Swallow your pride
Make way for the new bride
Holding your tongue
When they call another winner
Oh there is more to this life
Hey Mr. Golden Deal
Tell me how does she feel
She's like the wind
That boy couldn't sail
He says I've washed these decks for years
I've carried those pails
And oh there is more to this life

round

Yeah, so I'm come'n round it feels like, come'n round to the things I know. Weepin' amidst that garden, that garden of thorny delights. It's funny how those things that burn ya are those things that you embrace.

So, but I'm tired, and alone and it feels like the phone hasn't rung in years. It just sings that silence, that silence thats the echos of my fears.

But I'm gonna open up and shake it down and shatter those things that stumble. I'm just gonna let it ride and sing the songs and yawn the yawns that make it all worth the wait. Quit lookin for the keys and find some gasonline. Turn those inward eyes outward and upward and find my way amidst the light.

Listening to...

Tonic - Lemon Parade

I wish I'd seen you as a little girl
Without your armor to fend off the world
I would have kept you underneath my wing
I would protect you from everything

Tears and Fears

Here I am with
A handfull of tears
Squeezed from my world-sick soul;

Here I am with
A heartfull of fear
Trembling from self-inflicted doubt;

There you are with
Gentle kisses forged
Deep in the hot summer sky
Shimmering salvation beacons
In endless inky blackness;

They dry my fears
And shatter my tears
And bathe me in
honeyed hope.

Overheard at the Governor's Cup this afternoon...

"I heard David from The Widgets was giving out kisses last night for a dollar a piece. He made $12. He is so beautiful, why wasn't I there?!"

Listening to...

Kasey Chambers - If I Were You

If I was good
I'd tell everyone I know
If I was free
I wouldn't be so keen to go

If I was wrong
I would take it like a man
If I was smart
I would get out while I can

If I was broken
I would probably let it be
If I was dying
I wouldn't go out quietly

If I was lost
Well my heart would feel the same
If I was honest
I would probably be ashamed

But if I were you
I would notice me
If I were you
I would wait for me

If I were you
I would easily hold me and say
It's all gonna be OK

If I was rich
I would spend it on my own
If I was dignified
I'd only smoke at home

If I was dark
I would only dress in black
If I was chosen
I would gladly give it back

It's not for you to judge
From all this kind of stuff
I'm only half of what you see

In Zimbabwe, nurses at Harare's Parirenyatwa public hospital, the city's biggest, say that since November there have been no H.I.V. test kits - in a nation where one in four people is H.I.V.-positive. Two physicians said in separate interviews recently that in the space of six months last year, half of Harare's kidney-dialysis patients died, all because the government did not spend its scarce foreign currency to buy catheters for blood-cleansing equipment.

Listening to...

Five for Fighting - Easy Tonight
You were wrong
You were right
You are gone
Tonight
You were free

in'

yeah, so i'm runnin' down
runnin' away
from the things i held on to
from the things that held on to me

so what's your wait?
open the gate
come play in the jungles
of my mind

but don't flee the scene, baby
take your double-dosed visine
open your eyes to the
darkness i'm livin' in

come on now, you know i'm hurtin'
you see me flirtin'
with the pain i've made inside
makin' love with the tears that I hide behind

so don't flee the scene, baby
take your cotton-coated beam
unstop your ears to the
screams that say

i'm alive