The Black Friday Rule

Having listened to the Dropkick Murphy's in my punk phase, I thought for a very long time that Black Friday was some obscure Irish thing I just knew nothing about. Then I figured out the Thanksgiving weekend version, where a lot of crazies skip lots of sleeping in an attempt to go save money by spending lots of money. The logic behind it seemed absolutely contrary to anything rational. And then I tried it.

My first Black Friday experience was last year, at Toys R Us. I wanted to get Guitar Hero for cheap, and I did. The whole ordeal was relatively painless- no huge crowds, just an orderly line with people who were friendly enough to one another. No mad rush for any one item, no one getting trampled, and no fist fights. In short, it was a disappointment. Kidding.

This year, I had a more desirable item in mind- the very computer with which I am sharing this story with you. The original target was a $200 Best Buy promotion. I decided to be one of the crazies, and got to Best Buy around 3:30 for its 5:00 opening. Failure. A full parking lot, and a line around the building. No way in hell I was sticking around for that, so I went to option 2- the Office Depot by my place, which about 23 total people know exists.

This was a much better scene. Two cars in the parking lot, including mine. After a nice little nap in my car, I got in line around 4:15. The beauty of this line is that it was 6 people long; the British would have been ashamed in the lack of a queue. It was so short that I was able to drag my dad out of bed to come get a computer for himself as well, at a remarkably good price.

The best part of the whole experience- the Office Depot manager came out around 4:30 with coffee for everyone. So, it can pay to be a crazy. You get cheap goods, and free coffee. And is that worth a lack of sleep? It wasn't then. It is, now that I've slept again.

Happy post-Thanksgiving, and thanks for reading.

Dis

Stealing Riha's Spotlight

Allow the title to be a shameless plug for my friend Riha, over at Riha Reviews, found here. He focuses mostly on pop music, which isn't quite my forte. But check it out.

Instead, I wanted to talk about the Band of Skulls album, entitled 'Baby Darling Dollface Honey,' which is also one of the highlight tracks. While the band sounds great, and explores a variety of sounds utilizing both male and female vocals, what has impressed me so much throughout listening to their album is the track ordering. The album begins upbeat, and slowly winds down as you approach the end.

The album gets in to the good stuff quickly, as track 3, 'I Know What I Am' has been featured as the iTunes single of the week, and is on the New Moon soundtrack. Death by Diamonds and Pearls, the preceding track, also has seen some radio play, and it is followed by Fires, another great track. The album is solid throughout, without any dull track of the 11 laid down on the album.

For fans of bands like Manchester Orchestra, The Black Keys, Glasvegas, The Kooks, even Granz Ferdinand or The Dead Weather, Band of Skulls is definitely worth a listen.

TFR,

Dis

I hope I wasn't this dumb....

A snippet from a real conversation on the shuttle this morning:

The scene: Guy 1 is holding a copy of Bridget Jones Diary (the book). It has a picture of Renee Zellweger's face on it. Guy 2 is oblivious to anything, ever. Guy 2 is asking Guy 1 about his morning classes.

Guy 1: ...yeah, I have British literature at 11:15. I have to go read the book, though.

Guy 2: What book?

Guy 1 (gesturing with his book): Bridget Jones' Diary. I've read all the books in the class so far, except this one. I couldn't do it.

Guy 2 (not joking): Yeah. Is that Victorian?

This just had to be shared.

Per usual, TFR.

Dis