Tag: Literature
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Thank You, Next
Scope &
Horror
Yeah, this one is pretty ugly too, so let’s slog through.
16. You Oughta Know -Alanis Morrissette (Jagged Little Pill, 1995, Maverick and Reprise)
I don’t like this song, though I suppose I did the first couple of times I heard it. Then it was several hundred more times, and several hundred more after that, and I do not like it. There are songs I dislike a whole lot more, but this one would never make any playlist I am making unless I have a lobotomy. Also, I have never forgiven her for writing a song about irony filled with non-ironic things, although in the end, I guess that kind of makes the song itself ironic, which was not what she was going for I don’t think.
Oh! And my favorite Alanis Morrissette-based trivia (no, not that one). She was on the straight-from-Canada-to-Nickelodeon kids’ sketch comedy show You Can’t Do That On Television as a tween. My sisters and I watched a lot of hours of that show. SLN did a spot-on parody of it a few weeks ago:
Final Verdict: No.
Replace with: Wild Thing – Liz Phair (Girly-Sound, 1991, self-released)
17. Are You Gonna Go My Way – Lenny Kravitz (Are You Gonna Go My Way, 1993, Virgin)
This is a good song. I will leave as is.
Are You Gonna Go My Way – Lenny Kravitz (Are You Gonna Go My Way, 1993, Virgin)
18. All the Small Things – Blink 182 (Enema of the State [witty], 1999, MCA Records)
There were five to ten of these bands in the late 90s that I would not be able to tell apart with a gun to my head and none of them are good. I listened to this whole playlist while I worked over the past few days just to be thorough, and I can confirm that this song is not good.
Final Verdict: No. I could be a smart ass and write it 182 times, but I think too highly of you to have you waste any more seconds of your life on this band.
Replace with: All Your Experiments – Elf Power (Vainly Clutching at Phantom Limbs, 1995, Arena Rock Recording)
19. Sabotage – Beastie Boys (Ill Communication, 1994, Capitol)
I have given up on the but-they-were-popular-in-the-80s argument. I mean they were, but whatever. I mean, they did form in 1981, and Licensed to Ill came out in 1986, but we will carry on. It’s a good song.
Final Verdict: Good song. It stays.
Sabotage – Beastie Boys (Ill Communication, 1994, Capitol)
20. Firestarter – The Prodigy (The Fat of the Land, 1997, Maverick)
I did not know what this song was until I played it, and of course, it is instantly recognizable. I was not a club kid by any stretch of the imagination, but on the times that I did (a handful of times when I lived in Portland, Maine and another handful of times when I lived in Philadelphia), this song was certainly played. I don’t don’t like it. I wouldn’t listen to it every day, but I am feeling generous, and the commenters on YouTube live for this song, so I will leave it.
Final Verdict: Staying, with a sort of ambivalence, but as you have probably noticed, when I don’t like something, I am pretty clear about it. For the record, I think the singer in the music video looks moronic, but maybe that was what he was going for. Also, I looked moronic a lot in the 90s too. And the aughts, and so on.
Firestarter – The Prodigy (The Fat of the Land, 1997, Maverick)
21. Glycerine – Bush (Sixteen Stone, 1994, Interscope)
No. I can’t get behind this band. I think they are at best meh. Kind of like Coldplay, like maybe you could catch yourself liking a song or two, but then just feel embarrassed about it. Their songs are boring, and there are far too many great ones out there to waste time on this horse shit.
Final Verdict: Horse shit.
Replace with: Holland, 1945 – Neutral Milk Hotel (In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, 1998, Merge)
22. Today – Smashing Pumpkins (Siamese Dream, 1993, Virgin)
No, this band is boring.
Final Verdict: No.
Replace with: Truly Great Thing – Sebadoh (III, 1991, Homestead)
23. Everlong – Foo Fighters (The Color and Shape, 1997, Roswell Records)
You already know from the first song that I don’t like the Foo Fighters, though I have not heard all of their songs. I do like the song Times Like These, but I don’t like this one.
Final Verdict: No, sadly. Really truly, I admire Dave Grohl quite a bit.
Replace with: Styrofoam Boots – Modest Mouse (The Lonesome Crowded West, 1997, Up)
24. My Own Worse Enemy – Lit (A Place in the Sun, 1999, RCA Records)
Another song and band I do not remember having heard of before, but I can see why this song hates itself.
Final Verdict: No.
Replace with: A Minor Place – Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billie (I See a Darkness, 1999, Palace)
25. Come as You Are – Nirvana
Yes, I don’t want to be too hard on this album. It deserves acclaim.
Final Verdict: Yes, good song.
Come as You Are – Nirvana (Nevermind, 1991, DCG)
Scope & Horror
dedicated to votaries of the absurd, beautiful, miserable, and suspicious
2022
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Your Weight on the Moon
There are so many more to go, but let’s wrap up this portion already.
I am just going to be out with it. I can’t stand Sublime. Have you ever seen the movie Clue? I hope so, and if not go watch it and come back. It’s worth it. Tim Curry is a national treasure (not ours, but whatever). So you know the scene when Madeline Kahn is describing how much she hates Yvette? That’s how I feel about Sublime.11. Losing My Religion – R.E.M.
JFC. We covered this with yesterday’s U2 entry, but why are these massively popular 80s bands on here??? I like R.E.M., they’re great – wait, did they sing Shiny Happy People? Because that song is surely played in hell. That song is terrible. But off the top of my head Orange Crush, It’s the End of the World, Pop Song 89, What’s the Frequency Kenneth, Drive, Stand. I like all of those songs. A lot even.
But they were not alternative music. Maybe they are included because they came out of Athens, GA
and clearly they are important in the history of the genre, but they had six albums in the 1980s and were with a major record label.
They were not an alternative to anything in the 1990s.
If you were wondering, I do not like this song, but I suppose you could have guessed that.
Replace: 50 Pieces – Andrew Bird (Thrills,1998, Ryko)
12. The Way – Fastball
I have never heard of this song or this band, but it is the late 90s hit apparently, and I was super busy in college, so you can understand. I did listen to it though as part of this review.
Final Verdict: Come on, is this a joke?
Replace: Destination Venus – Man or Astroman? (Your Weight on the Moon,1994, One Louder)
13. Sex & Candy – Marcy Playground
I genuinely like this song. So did my freshman college roommate, and I owe her this one (if you want to read the comments on the Colby College Radio post, you can see why). You’ll hear more about her later when we get to 311.
Final Verdict: It stays. Sex & Candy – Marcy Playground (Marcy Playground, 1997, Capital)
14. Santeria – Sublime
Final Verdict: No.
Replace: Room 429 – Cop Shoot Cop (Ask Questions Later, 1993, Big Cat & Interscope Records)
15. Wonderwall – Oasis
Get real.
Final Verdict: I think we know each other well enough by now that you know the answer to this.
Replace: Girls & Boys – Blur (Parklife, 1994, Food)
I didn’t like Blur in the 90s but my radio cohost Kristina did. I texted her in 2021 apologizing and admitting I was wrong. I will stand by my dislike of The Smiths. I know that is blasphemy in some circles, but it’s okay. Anything that makes Morrissey cry will just make him stronger.
I shall return soon.
Go in peace.
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On Chaos
The inside of my head is a chaotic, messy place. For example, for almost zero reasons, I have spent the last ten months learning Spanish and Japanese. I have two blogs here on WordPress, this one and scopeandhorror.com, and have not figured out a way to bring them together in one place cohesively (taking suggestions). I am going to move this URL to direct both blogs to scopeandhorror.com so if you would like to keep subscribing (and I very much hope you do), please sign up there too, pretty pleasest?
Look, I know I am currently posting two very different blogs, and all of my posts on this one lately are explicitly not on theme, but you will have to bear with me because I have had zero interest in running with the original premise of this one and I haven’t figured out a way to bring them together in one place cohesively (taking suggestions). Plus the Bitcoin BMI quiz I am working on but is not done is objectively amazing.
xoxo
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The Anatomy of Melancholy
tarot cards and mythological characters
New illustrations of a current project, pen, ink, & watercolor marker. Prints are available for purchase on Etsy.
Death (1), tarot & mythology card series, pen and ink, watercolor marker, 2022 
The Moon (1) tarot & mythology card series, pen and ink, watercolor marker, 2022 
The Moon (2) tarot & mythology card series, pen and ink, watercolor marker, 2022 
Medusa, tarot & mythology card series, pen and ink, watercolor marker, 2022 -
Somebody’s been eating my porridge, and it’s all gone
Summing Up:
October 10 has a strange list of holidays including the following feast days of Catholic Saints, Arbor Day in Poland, World National Mental Health Day, and World Porridge Day. The Old Farmer’s Almanac says that today is a good day to go camping or straighten hair. Today’s moon is waxing crescent, and the sun and mercury are in Libra. Oh shit, mercury is retrograde and I completely forgot to warn you. Instead of being articulate and understood, you will spend eight more days like the curse of Cassandra, doomed to a world where though given divine foresight, she could not warn others of what she saw coming, as they could neither understand nor believe her. But if it helps, mercury retrograde is only an optical illusion, it doesn’t matter I promise.
Sorry I have disappeared for a while. I have two 10-year-olds who recently started fourth grade, so I have also started fourth grade by default. It is just as tedious as I remember, except now there is also a new form of math that I don’t understand. I will try to keep up. Know that if I miss a day or two, it’s not because I stopped caring about your day, it’s because I am relearning the names of clouds, or solving problems with decimal points.
For tonight: Bela Lugosi’s Dead
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Ed Wood
Movie poster for Plan 9 from Outer Space directed by Ed Wood. I have seen this movie, but it has been more than 20 years, and I do not remember even a little bit what it is about. But I think I had this poster in my college dorm room. Or first apartment. Or both? Often cited as the worst director of all time, but still beloved for his campy sci-fi horror movies and his work with Bela Lugosi, Ed Wood was born on October 24, 1924. Friday. Leap year.
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Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti. Photo by Henri Cartier-BressonSculptor Alberto Giacometti was born on October 10, 1901. Thursday.
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Louise Mack
World War I journalist and the first woman war correspondent in Belgium, writer Louise Mack was born on October 10, 1870. Monday. Her book A Woman’s Experience in the Great War is available at that link on Project Gutenberg.
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Henry Cavendish
Philosopher, physicist, and chemist, Henry Cavendish was born on October 10, 1731. Wednesday. He is credited with the discovery of hydrogen gas, the most abundant element in our universe. Unless we ever find out what dark matter is.
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