Gorillaz's DARE

A day spent in bureaucracy has left me ill-prepared with writing for today. I intended for them to only be small chores, but apparently going through the tax office line *twice* and being at the DMV for nearly three hours was sufficient to eat up almost my entire day. The part of Michigan I hail from isn't very densely populated, so the stereotype of crowded DMVs always struck me as weird since my local offices always had a forty minute wait or less. Here, however, the stereotype holds true full force. Whatever: As far as I'm concerned I'm now a legal Texan.

Anyhow, I'll take my lack of preparation as an opportunity for another rare music post. I have mixed feelings about Gorillaz as a band in whole, but I am very fond of this piece. I love female vocalists, and thoroughly enjoy the "jump around and be happy" vibe that permeates the entire song:



The video, of course, is quite weird, but then again aren't most? I don't understand the intention behind such imagery, but it's all nonessential to the enjoyment of the piece.

To update on my music tastes, it seems that my self-improvement venture has been successful. "Forcing" myself to listen to Pandora.com's stations has succeeded in developing my tastes, as my value of music has increased, causing me to learn band and song names more easily and gain explicit favorites. This is a much better contrast to my old self, who cared none about music and could hardly remember any pieces or musicians he liked. Now having added the value of music to my life, I feel that much richer.

From here I'm thinking about moving onto the medium of movies, for they are another potential value I have trouble with. Oh, I do value movies -- I LOVE Who Framed Roger Rabbit -- but having grown up seeing so many bad ones has made me resistant to wanting to see them, and my piddly movie collection reflects that lack of interest. Developing my taste and cultivating this value would serve to enrich my life, so I'd like to gain a deeper appreciation. If "forcing" myself to listen to music has caused me to take it seriously and develop explicit tastes, then surely the same should happen if I "force" myself to watch movies. Alfred Hitchcock has been in my sights lately, so I think I'll start with him, particularly given a friend's recommendation. I think I'm now eligible for a library card, so within the next week or so I'll apply and rent a few DVDs.

(And don't think I've forgotten about the Roger Rabbit sequel in the works. I hope to commemorate it they put the original back in theaters. I've always wanted to see it on the big screen.)