If you have a thousand minerals, ten Mutalisks you should build

This is all very funny, highly inconsequential, and as such is probably not worthy of a post. But it's a nice reflection on this day, which was a funky day in its own right.

S was definitely surprised (to say the least) when I admitted that I hadn't yet listened to The Queen Is Dead, so much so that I began to wonder why I've left it lying peacefully on my shelf (pun on the album cover?) for so long in the first place. I'm guessing he didn't believe me when I said I hadn't listened to anything in the past few months. Heck, I pretty much had to leave the room when it came up, because I had no idea what I could say. I think I nervously smiled and mumbled something about liking to preserve things, but it sounded quite funny at the time. It's always amusing when things like this happen, because "people say it's a sin", etc.* Didn't something like this happen before? Hmm, yes, with Rumours some three years ago I think. But that turned out rather strangely, with him actually forcing me to listen to it then and there. Thankfully no similar fate befell me this time, and I got away with a "The hell's wrong with you?". Haha, indeed!

I guess it's cutesy and all that to try and "preserve" things for just the right occasion, but it also places an unfair burden. I suspect that The Good Son suffered a little in this regard, because by the time I first listened to it, it was already deeply cooked inside my head. I pictured what "The Weeping Song" would be countless times over, and so the first time I actually listened to it...well, it was nice and all, but where were those fantastic drums I had imagined? Or that bit about the desert's back? I seemed to focus more on what was not there, which is precisely the kind of thing you'd like to avoid. Granted, subsequent listenings cleared this up, and I began to really appreciate it, but the whole thing bothered me a little. I far prefer the out of the blue miracle from nowhere, the sort that so perfectly manifested itself with Ram.

One of the things I've tried is cutting down on the time spent at GS's site reading reviews for things I haven't listened to. Really, the whole thing is just doomed to failure, because of the completely unrealistic image that a review can place in your head (I think I've talked about how The Fall are unfortunate victims of this, although GS hasn't reviewed them as yet). Clearly it's good to read a review to get the general idea of something, but I seem to take it further than is really necessary. What really gets to me is when I try to convince myself of why something is worth the rating GS gives it - until I heard Morrissey chide me**. Case in point, I really liked The Notorious Byrd Brothers the first couple of times I heard it, but then I started to think of reasons why it only got an 11. At one stage, I started believing that I was way off with my initial reactions, and that it really was rather lightweight. I remember reading JM's review too, where he said something to the effect of "The other songs are sort of just there". I nodded knowingly to myself, but then suddenly snapped out of it and said "Wha? Everything is just there, the heck am I agreeing to!?!". Then of course I read the Capn's review, and peace was restored.

I don't know when this preservation tactic started, though; used to be that around these parts I would feel tired by the end of the day from too much listening. Granted, those were the days when everything I heard was totally new to me, and as such I couldn't get enough of it (let it be known that those Zeppelin boys were at the forefront of this those days, so that no matter how snobbish I may seem today, these are my musical roots). It's probably another over-compensation on my part, but it is one I am rather keen to change soon. It almost seems like the thrill is more in finding and buying things than actually listening to them, which is strange enough for me to resolve to try and stop this in future.

Having a buffer of fresh albums is something else I think I ought to stop completely, because it also causes all sorts of nonsense. Primarily when any new addition immediately goes into this list, the reasoning being "Oh look! Now I have more stuff that I can listen to!". It reminds me (wait for it) of my StarCraft strategy of old, wherein I would hoarde minerals just so they were there to be used. What for? Building units, I guess. So can I build a unit now? What are you, crazy!?! We've got so many now, let's see how far we can go! Needless to say, this time around I've paid scant attention to my available resources, and as a result have managed to come up with far more interesting gameplay (whereas before it would be "Bring me 12 of your best [most powerful flying unit]", which is more or less a sure-win strategy for the single-player campaign).

So, the new plan is as follows - don't buy anything. No, hang on, maybe it's "As ye buy, so shall ye listen"***. Actually, meaningless statements aside, the only sensible thing really is to not hoard, and consume without fear of reducing some imaginary listening buffer. I'd probably do well to consume a little less per year too, since most of the CDs aren't going anywhere.

* I've become the master of including quotes that cannot be completed. In addition to being the master of tying in video games and music. Not to mention footnotes.

** Dereference that

*** I'm just blathering now. But I'm hungry, so I don't think I can make much sense.