Techno Robot Pudding

yo.

figured i’d start out with something different for a change.

anyway, there are rumors flying about. rumors concerning chris cornell leaving audioslave. more importantly, rumors concerning a soundgarden reunion. yes, a soundgarden reunion- something that has been talked about for some odd ten years now.

likelyhood? tiny.
feasibility? tiny.
relevance? little.

soundgarden, back in their day, was a vastly influential band instrumental (no pun intended) in establishing the grunge movement. they can also be credited with adding steam to what would be called the “alternative rock” scene, though the term “alternative” would undergo a variety of reinterperetations.

were they a great band that put out great music? well, duh. but several things have changed in ten years.

firstly, every band member is off and busy with something. well, almost. cornell’s been around audioslave (his deteriorating voice becoming more apparent every album), matt cameron is drumming for pearl jam, kim’s producing, ben is… i have no idea.

second, could they be relevant again? i think any reincarnation could still produce quality music, but the landscape of rock has changed. the wave of grunge has fallen to the wave of post-grunge and pop-rock-alternative, among others. soundgarden would not be able to recapture their previous highs. they’d fall into the same category as their cohorts in pearl jam; a venerable part of rock history, playing shows and making albums basically for the same old fanbase. change in sound? not much. in other words, not influential in the current context.

is this a bad thing? not necessarily. bands like the rolling stones, depeche mode, the cure, and ac/dc have all lived on past their peak moments. they’ve continued to make good music, but have had less of a current impact on the style en vogue.

would i consider giving a listen to new soundgarden? yes. would i look into concert tickets? yes, even though they’d be ludicrous.

but the bottom line is that soundgarden is likely not getting back together, probably due to the simple reasons i listed above. a reunion would be great, but great only for the sake of seeing them together again for a little while. that’s what a reunion after a long hiatus is about.

sorry, sports fans. reality sets in.

well, it has finally rained. i like rain. shut up, fools.

alright, go get the album by Matt Mays and El Torpedo. also the new Alien Ant Farm release. methinks it’s more dynamic than truANT. alas, no ANT gimmick this time. shedding label influence? perhaps.

i’ve forgotten how much i enjoy around the horn. woody paige rocks. chalkboard slogans for life!

clerks 2. will i go see it? eventually. am i concerned about joel siegel’s ruckous about it? no. do i think the whole thing is hilarious? yes. is kevin smith playing around with this for publicity? yes. can i blame him? no. c’mon, why would you take this shit seriously? it’s just a goddamn movie.

it’s not like he’s out murdering people. though there is a movie about that too….

people are often astounded by how quiet i can become. it’s not so much that i’m depressed or withdrawn, it’s just that i have nothing to say.

sometimes you’re on a roll. sometimes you aren’t.

why are you sitting there quietly? because i’m relaxing. just because i’ve got a neutral expression doesn’t mean i’m not alright. sometimes sitting in silence is the best exercise. i’ve found that when you’re most exhausted, it often helps to just sit down and zone out for a short time.

i’m off to stare at the wall now.

so today i told someone to leave in a rather angry manner. i’m tired of making excuses to myself for letting these people walk all over me. i’ve smiled for far too long. thing is, it began with me treating them with the usual respect and courtesy i treat everyone with. it degraded into argument after a serious gap in communication occurred. this person decided to be rude and take an argumentative tone. i’m tired of people treating me like i’m shit, which is what helped me find my tongue. i became fed up with the bullshit song and dance. rather than let it degrade into me telling this person what i truly felt about them (something even i might hesitate to print), i told them several times to just leave because i didn’t want to hear it. they did.

coming down from the confrontation felt wonderful. it was invigorating. for the rest of the day, i actually didn’t mind some of the more usually annoying people. and if the person i yelled at comes back, i refuse to apologize. we’ve been letting this bullshit happen for far too long. we are not a corporation. we should not behave like one, and let the public shit all over us for a few measly bucks. we treat our customers very well. we try to help them the best we can. the only thing we ask for in return is respect.

i could tell this person had never worked behind a counter before. i’ve never had problems with anyone that has worked behind a counter before. in fact, we all get along better than most. coincidence?

He had slammed the breaks on fairly hard. In fact, if the pedal were jerked down any quicker it would probably have broken off into the floor. No matter, the meeting between the two large bodies was inevitable. Sure, the truck driver swerved enough that the point of impact was feet behind the driver’s door, but on a road such as this it didn’t matter. The car’s destiny wasn’t in the front grille of a Mack, it was over the curb and into the Redwood.

The truck driver had long since been gone. It didn’t look like the car was slipping off, after all. Or at least that’s what is easier to believe. Looking up through the clouds, the rain had stopped. It was actually becoming a clear night, or rather morning; though the sun was still hours away. The sound of metal crunching against wood had silenced the crickets. It took them a few minutes to compose themselves and continue.

She wouldn’t compose herself. In between the screaming and tears he actually looked over. There she was, hunched onto where the airbag should’ve opened. He couldn’t help but thinking about how much it would cost to clean the upholstery, until he realized that the stains were far too much. It was a moment where he forgot where he was. He forgot about the broken bones. He forgot about the corpse next to him. She hadn’t really screamed so much as sighed. Perhaps it was the case that when death was imminent, those who saw it became oddly serene. He had to convince himself that this was true, so he wouldn’t feel guilty.

It wasn’t his fault. He wasn’t speeding. The music wasn’t too loud. He didn’t doze off. More self-convincing. He’d have plenty of time for that, since the nearest town was about twenty miles away. His cell phone had become one with the engine block. His legs were intact, but the bones weren’t quite aligned right.

Yelling for help had become futile. Thank goodness he could still move his arms, though. His fingers also worked. They worked well enough to find a few more of the cheaply made pills. Funny how they got him into the situation, and how they’d get him out of it.