everything I learned about relationships came from MTV

I blame beatnikside and twilight for the fact that I'm watching 80s music videos on Youtube at 8 in the morning when I should be eating breakfast and getting ready for work. But, you know, I know all these videos by heart from the amount of time I spent watching MTV at a friend's house in the late 80s and early 90s. (I remember this because they didn't really have a remote for the cable box. There was a little slide, with numbers up to 60 on the box, and MTV was 20 and VH1 was 21.) It is a little weird how much of these videos I remember, and strange that my brain decided this as more worthy than other things for storage space.

Now the ones I really loved were Guns N' Roses. Somewhere in my belongings is a VHS collection about the making of Axl's epic video trilogy. Don't Cry was first, and perhaps the best. (Shannon Hoon is in this video, weirdly.) Then there was November Rain. I would stay up until the top video countdown on MTV at night to see this day after day after day. The last chapter was done when GNR was well on their way to imploding, and I seem to remember they spent a crazy amount of money on this thing. Especially for the parts with the dolphins and the ship. He really did jump off that thing. Estranged frequently made me late to middle school, because I couldn't stop watching the sheer weirdness. You can't deny these guys were grandiose on a scale that nobody does anymore. I mean, I haven't seen anyone make a nine minute music video lately.

I still remember all the weird drama with Stephanie Seymour, and how they were such the rock star/supermodel couple. I think this is where I got the idea that relationships were all about crazy behavior, excess, violence, drinking, driving your car off a cliff, picnics in graveyards, jet planes, drug problems, rehab, playing guitar and suicides. Damn you guys. I suppose I should be glad I'm not living the rock star life I imagined when I was twelve.

(The other video I remember from those countdowns was Shakespeare's Sisters "Stay")

On a lighter note, I give you Nelson, memorable mostly for that long blonde hair. This song is really bad, but the video makes me laugh. Here is After The Rain. I think this was the only song they had. Next up we have one of my personal favorites, Warrant. Uncle Tom's Cabin was always on in the afternoons, as was the even more memorable Cherry Pie. But their real power ballad was I Saw Red. I always loved the conceit of rock boys playing piano.

I should stop watching videos before I make myself late for work. Oops. I intended to go in early too.

czech stuffs

I wonder if it would be unethical to skip work next week to go down to the university. Paul Wilson is giving lectures on Havel's new book and The Plastic People of the Universe. Damn it. I miss school some days. I get this ache in my throat when I look at pictures of Prague and I want to be back there.

cakes and ipods

It is amazing the difference pain medication makes. I could tell this afternoon when it was starting to wear off. Creepy agony is better than full on agony, but none at all is preferable. I'm still a little wary of chewing too much.

I have now managed to get chocolate all over myself, so I need to shower before dinner. But I made a cake, a similar chocolate cherry concoction. This time though I used the cherry juice instead of water in the cake batter. With the glaze, I mixed in the actual cherries. So they cake has a funny lumpy profile, but I think it will be even more delicious than the last one. Exciting! We're having roast beef and potatoes for dinner, so I felt like cake was in order also. I stuck the bottle of wine in the fridge because damn it, I'm finally going to drink that.

In other news, Gene's ipod arrived! I smiled when I saw the accent mark over my last name on the box. It totally made my day. Also, I don't have to buy lots of things now because Gene already owns them. He has pretty good taste in music. Now I can listen to music while I work.