Happ Record Store Day!

In honor of Record Store Day, I am posting about music I own. Again. This time it will be several lists. Yay!

The "things I own that people say are worth a lot, but I refuse to believe that because I bought them for dirt cheap" list:

Spoon - The 'Nefarious' EP

Released in 1994, this 7" was the first official Spoon release. I got it for $7. According to auctions I've seen on eBay, people are willing to spend $100 on this. I enjoy it, and the sleeve makes me happy, so I don't want to sell it even though I'd be making a $93 profit.

Drake Tungsten - Six Pence for the Sauces EP

Drake Tungsten (better known as Britt Daniel, lead singer of Spoon) only had two releases: this 7", and a cassette called Clocking Out is for Suckers. Released in 1996, Six Pence for the Sauces is not pre-Spoon, though it is pre-solo-Britt-Daniel-calling-himself-Britt-Daniel. I got it for $10. I've seen it go on eBay for $25 and more.

Spoon - 'Anticipation' white 7" with silk-screened sleeve

I really don't have much information about this. I am told there were only ever 24 of these made with silk-screened sleeves (making the sleeve, not the actual 7" the valuable thing). If that is true, the $6 I paid for this was a steal. Because I have yet to see another one, I don't know how much this actually goes for. Spoon fans are known to be obsessive hoarders, so I believe it would be more than $6.
UPDATE: Just got an e-mail from the record label that released this. "I put some of the 3rd pressing [the white vinyl] in leftover silkscreened sleeves, so yeah there is only like 24 or so on white in SS'd sleeves," he says. So, yeah... It's kinda rare, but I still don't know what anyone else would pay for it.

Voxtrot - Voxtrot CD-R


Rumor has it that Voxtrot has been around since 2003 (they released their first single in 2004, their first official EP in 2005, and their first full-length in 2006). Back in the long-forgotten year of 2003, they would play shows and burn their music on CD-Rs that were sold in local record stores. Apparently, one of these CD-Rs had the title Just Can't Wait Any Longer, and if you have $50+ to spare to can get it on eBay every now and then. This CD-R that I have (which cost me a whopping $5 at a local record store last year) has one less track than Just Can't Wait Any Longer, and has the song "Long Haul" titled as "Untitled (Demo)", which leads me (and other fans who are cooler than me) to believe it pre-dates Just Can't Wait Any Longer. I may never know the real story behind this, or what any other fan would be willing to pay for it, but I wouldn't have paid more than $10 for it.

Voxtrot - 'Raised By Wolves' 7"

This gets no love [except on eBay where people spend $60 on it]-- Voxtrot's official website doesn't admit the existence of it. (It's okay, because I don't admit the actual existence of Voxtot: they are just a figment of my imagination, just like the town of Cedar Park and the continent of Australia. In fact, Voxtot is made-up band from the made-up town of Cedar Park, which is located on the made-up continent of Australia.) Getting back to the 7": It cost me $3. I don't even known when it was released. I just know that Magic Marker Records released it, and when you buy something from them they include a really nice hand-written thank-you note on an actual page of an old children's book. That makes me happy.


The "things I own that people used to be willing to pay a lot for, but no longer are because of re-releases" list:

Spoon - Telephono (CD)

Spoon's first full-length album from 1996. I paid $8 for this CD. From 2001-ish until mid-2006, people were willing to spend $100-$200 for this CD. I thought about selling it, realized it meant too much to me (really, in 2004, I believed this album to be a reflection of my existence), and didn't. On July 25, 2006, Spoon re-released Telephono and the Soft Effects EP as a "remastered" (which just means "we turned the volume up louder") boxset, and now you can go to used record stores and get the first edition of Telephono on CD for $8 again.

Spoon - Soft Effects EP (CD)

This was released in 1997. It went out-of-print sometime, and people were paying upwards of $75 for it on eBay. I got it as a Christmas gift in high school from my parents, along with the first Kissinger CD (which means that it was 2000 or 2001), because they knew I liked "cool local bands." (I'd like to think that they called Andy Langer and asked him what they should buy for me.) I know good and well my parents didn't spend more than $7 on a CD with only five tracks.


The "things I own that other people wouldn't pay much for but I cherish dearly" list:

Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (LP), signed

This makes me happy every time I look at it. I've heard a few people (online) say that Britt Daniel is a douchbag "IRL," but all of the [3? 4?] times I've talked with him in person, he has been a really cool, nice guy. The last time I talked with him in person, he (and the rest of the band) signed my Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga LP. I like how he signed it: "Heather, you rule." It's because I was dancing, and he likes it when people dance to his music.

Uh, I guess that's more of a single item than a list...

In which TastyPrawn uses a magazine article to reflect upon herself and probably reavels a little too much in the process.

Recently (Sunday evening) I was reading an article in WIRED magazine about Jill Price, a woman who (supposedly) cannot forget anything... She has a perfect memory.

Here's a link to the article online: Total Recall: The Woman Who Can't Forget

By the end of the article, it becomes apparent that this woman does not possess a perfect memory. It describes how she only excels in recalling dates of television shows, disasters, and things relating to her own life. It suggests that she remembers her events and dates in her own life so well because she keeps extensive journals. The woman also mentions that she once had a scan of her brain done, and the only abnormal thing the doctor noted about it was that there was some resemblance between her brain and the brain of a person who suffers from OCD.

By now, you are probably asking yourself, "Why is TastyPrawn typing about this? I just want another funny story about Heath and Erik!" Hold on... I'm getting to my point.

This article resonated with me. You see, I often remember dates a little too well... And I used to have the tendency to get really peeved when someone didn't remember something I could recall so well. (It wasn't actually pointed out to me that my memory was in anyway abnormal until just two years ago. Up until then I genuinely thought that everyone-- or at least most everyone-- remembered as I did.)

In fact, here I was reading this article on the eve of the day that five years ago I... Well, what happened is pretty dull or unimportant, but I realized that it was about to be five years ago to that date.

The following sentence from the article hit home:

"Price has spent her whole life ruminating on the past, constructing timelines and lists, and contemplating the connections between one February 19 and the next."

Well, shit, that's pretty much me. Do you want to hear about how, excluding 2008's, the past five May 26ths have been similar? How about how the second Saturday in December was eerily similar, event-wise, in 2004 and 2005? No, no you don't. But if you did, I could tell you (if I feel like it).

Another part of this article struck a chord in me: Jill Price's extensive journals. I used to do this. I was mad journaling from 2004 until Friday, June 8, 2007 at 3:11 pm. I just suddenly stopped there. It's not even a good stopping point-- there is no closure. The entry begins with "I hate memories," and ends with "And that, right now, is my biggest regret."

The funny thing is I don't actually remember writing what I did, but I do remember coming home from work, taking some pills, turning on some Voxtrot (their self-titled LP, though I was only listening to the tracks "Kid Gloves," "Firecracker," and "Easy," over and over...), and crying that day, around that time.

So, why the hell did I stop journaling? And does that have anything to do with the lack of coincidence in my life these days? (There still are some, but no where near as many as there were during the goddamned years 2004 through 2006, and the coincidences that happen now are certainly not big enough to convince me of the existence of the supernatural anymore.)

I'm going to go ahead and blame all the craziness of my life during 2004-2006 on obsessive journaling. The normal* life I lead now is a result of me giving up the obsessive journaling. At least I can forget now. And, quite frankly, I enjoy forgetting.

*Some would say I now lead a dull life. I say so be it. At least my Saturday nights no longer consist of me going emo-crazy in a dirty stall in a live music joint with a broken A/C system downtown and/or getting drunk out of my mind, puking everywhere, crawling into a shower, lying down, and praying to god for "a sign."

A work of fiction: PEOPLE AS PLACES AS PEOPLE

(I actually wrote this while bored at work some time in 2007, but I'm posting it now because I figure it's still relevant.)

This is a story of two sisters. The eldest was named Leander, the younger Cedar Park. Retarded names, but whatever, the two sisters were really close to one another. At the beginning, neither were that popular, though Leander out-shone Cedar Park exponentially. If someone were to refer to Cedar Park, they had to add "Leander's litter sister" at the end, otherwise no one would understand who they were talking about.

The future didn't look that bright for Cedar Park. Her grades in her classes were never that good, especially compared to Leander's. She also had less friends than Leander. But this didn't seem to bother her at all. She just went on her merry way, proud to be Leander's younger sister.

Some years ago, things unexpectedly began to change. Suddenly, Cedar Park was the popular sister. "Leander," people would ask, "Who's that?"

"Cedar Park's older sister."

"Oh... She has a sister?"

Cedar Park enjoyed the popularity. Maybe a little too much, because she began to let it go to her head. She began to brag and boast about how special she was, how everyone now wanted to be close to her (this included CapMetro, who she dumped years ago, but who recently began hanging around her again), how everything she did and owned was better than that of anyone else.

Leander was bothered by all of this. Why had she been forgotten? What was so fucking special about Cedar Park, anyway? Especially with this attitude, why were people still flocking to her? It saddened Leander that she and Cedar Park were no longer as close as they used to be. It was like they were no longer sisters, but rivals.

Leander tried her hardest not to let her disappointment show. "If I just hang in there," she told herself, "everything will straighten out. Cedar Park's boisterous attitude will backfire on her, and surely someday people will pay attention to me again."

"Someday."

Bands/artists that I have complete discographies for

I'm a completest. For the sake of this list, "complete discography" means all officially released studio albums... But for many (most) of these artists, I have even more than that.

The Action Is/hotwheels jr.
Beirut
Belaire
The Boy Least Likely To
David Byrne
Dewato
The Duckhills
Franz Ferdinand
Ghostland Observatory
Gorillaz
The Handsome Charlies
Household Names
Kissinger
Ben Kweller
Led Zeppelin
ok city ok
Pink Floyd
The Real Heroes
The Shins
Spoon/Drake Tungsten/Britt Daniel
Stone Temple Pilots
Talking Heads
Toadies
John Vanderslice/mk Ultra
Voxtrot
Zero 7

Uhhh... I'm probably leaving some off.

I've pretty much given up on getting all of Brian Eno's stuff. He has too much, and a lot of it is out of print.... But I do have a very sizable chunk of his stuff.

Don't ask me why I do it, because I don't know. I'm pretty sure this is a sign of something bad.

A work of fiction: WEDNESDAY MORNING

It was a colder than usual morning. And it was raining. Heath arrived to work before 8:00 am, as he usually did. He often wonder just why he does this; he could just as easily get an extra hour or so of sleep in and come in a bit later. But, no, Heath felt the need to be one of the first people to work.

Unfortunately, Erik was also always one of the first people to work and Erik loved to bother Heath. Every morning, Erik would walk into Heath's room and tell him some stupid story which would always make Heath very uncomfortable. Heath often wondered just what he did to deserve such punishment. Today was no exception.

Heath was just trying to get some god damn work done when Erik showed up. "So..." Erik started, "I need to make a major decision by today."

"Mmm..." Heath responded.

"Yeah, last night my fiancée informed me that she was offered a job in the Green Zone in Iraq or Baghdad or whatever as an EMT."

"Mmm..." Heath responded.

"It would be for six months and she would be making $400,000. I could come along with her and work as an administrative assistant in a gym. I'd be making $300,000 for those six months of work. However, I don't want to go because I'm afraid I'll get blown up"

Heath realized $300,000 was a shit load of money, especially for only six months of work and that outweighed the risk of getting blown up. Still, a quite "Mmm..." was his only response.

"I need to make my decision today."

Heath wanted to scream "GO! Go and leave me alone so I can do my god damn work," but his response was actually a very unenthusiastic "Yeah. $300,000 is a lot of money."

Erik stopped and thought for a moment. "When I cam back I'd by my F-250 I want and then give you guys a call and get my old job here back. But I don't want to go... It seems so dangerous in the Green Zone! My fiancée says that I have just as much of a chance of getting shot staying here, what with Obama as president and all. But I told her, 'Well, his people are all over there!' Plus, I don't speak Islam."

Heath wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. It took all of his self control not to. So, he just sat there at his desk staring at the rain coming down outside. What did he ever do to deserve this?

Oh, yeah.

I forgot to post this:

Lat Tuesday (March 3), I got a new car. It is a "blazing blue" "3-door" Yaris.