Pumpkinous and Record

Level 1: 

'Grunge' doesn't describe this album very accurately

"Cause in your sad machines you'll forever stay burning up in speed, lost inside the dreams of teen machines" - Corgan, "here is no why"

Look at me...Don't look at me!

Yeah, I put Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness on to entertain us all. It doesn't make me a wuss. I like this double LP. It begins beautifully--no matter how many times "tonight, tonight" was played on the radio and MTV during my high school years, its effect is not lost on me. It just took 10 years for the monotony to wear off so I could enjoy it again.

While it is super easy to make fun of the Pumpkins, given Corgan's eccentricities in his personal, public, and musical lives, I've always been a fan. Right up until Machina: The Machines of God and Machina II: The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music, my personally favorite albums by the band.


My friend Joey and I used to sing "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" as screechy as possible. What was once a song of massive importe while young and impressionable is now trendily mocked by pretentious Seattlites who are somehow above the grunge movement and nineties culture.

I showed the Mellon Collie cd case to Lucy, asking her if she wanted to listen to it. She responded negatively--didn't even want to touch it or look at it. As if to say, "Dad, you know I don't like new things or any of your music." And also her reaction said, "I'm really not in the mood for this guessing game right now, I don't even know what that thing is you're shoving in my face!"

Reach! For the INSPIRATION!

As soon as the first notes of the first song played, the mood instantly calmed down. What a great album opener. You know what I'm talking about.

A couple weeks ago I put on Pearl Jam's Ten. That day, I was fully desiring music to 1.) take my mind off the monotony of daily life, 2.) take my kids' minds of the monotony of daily life, 3.) to take the household mood into a more rocking direction. The whole album played and we were comforted. Thank you, young Pearl Jam dudes working hard to establish their place in Rock with their debut album. And it's acceptable for kids--no swearing except for that one line in Jeremy.

When I'm having a tough time of the fatherhood deal, putting on some rockin tunes lifts me out of the funk trunk.

Perhaps all this jive is simply meant to relay advice. Here's the advice:
     Music is there. Utilize it.
          1. Shamelessly enjoy music that speaks to you
               A. Don't overthink others' opinions regarding the music you enjoy
          2. Enjoy said music frequently
               A. It helps you stay in a good mood
                    Aa. Everyone will find you more pleasant
          3. The wrong kind of music will upset the mood
               A. Choose something that is pleasing for the whole house
                    Aa. Kids don't really like (most) metal

Yes I grew up in the nineties. I find nostalgia for that period attractive.

Level 2: 

Trying to show a 2-yr-old how to play a record

After all the Pumpkins today, I put on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, cause Lucy loves it. It was her first choice of activity after I forced the tv off.

"Listen to music? On the record!"

Thought I'd give the little Beans some music more along her taste lines, just to be fair. If I can have my music, she can rightly have hers. But this time I decided to let her feel the sweat and pride of a job well done by trying to coach her through the process--putting the record on the player, moving it around so the metal thing comes through the hole in the middle, raising the needle, moving the needle SIDEWAYS! not DOWN!, and lowering the needle GENTLY! It would have been a headache if I weren't so calm and cool.


She gave up before the last few steps, discouraged by my saying 'no' more firmly than I intended. She'd scratch the needle on the record or push it too far over, and I was worrying the vintage record would become too scratched to play. There was a balance to strike between nice and soothing, and firm and authoritative. My strike veered more toward the later when she was scratching the record, and toward the former when she was calm and smooth.

So then that played and we all lived normally ever after until 1:46 which is the time right now.