Author: Matthew Groff

  • Personal History: Radiohead and Mellowing Out

    I had talked recently about the sociological research which had showed that as a person ages, they become more conservative in their thinking. I wanted to also add to that, and I’m not breaking new ground here, but some people also mellow out, and don’t get as worked up as they used to. For me, music is one of those subjects.

    So, from about 14 to 28, I was pretty aggressive, and can fully admit, arrogant in my music opinions. (My Beatles fanaticism is unshakable; Do not challenge it.) In that vein, the year was 1996, and I fully believed and could conclusively prove that Radiohead was a one-hit wonder with “Creep,” and though a good song, a great band it did not make.

    And then my good friend John would not shut up about Radiohead’s last album, The Bends, which had come out in the spring of 1995. So, for over a year, every time I got in John’s car, I heard The Bends. At John’s place, he would play The Bends. I even remember one time coming back from a party, and John was driving someone else’s car, and he put on The Bends. I remember this clearly, because I started yelling at him to “turn off that lullaby music!” But it worked. His bombardment of that album on me, constantly, consistently, caused me to come over to the fandom of Radiohead, which lasts to this day.

    Though there was one rough patch, when Radiohead released KID A, which I didn’t get, and I didn’t like, and what I wanted was more songs like the one’s off of OK Computer, and the accompanying EP’s. But you know, they released more albums and Amnesiac was ok, and Hail to the Thief was an improvement, but In Rainbows was great, though King of Limbs was like going back to KID A, and then there was Moon Shaped Pool, which was cool.

    Anyway, KID A was the sore thumb for me, and to be honest, I hadn’t tried to listen to that album in maybe fifteen years. So, I got on a Radiohead kick last week, and started listening to all the stuff I liked, ignoring KID A. But I started thinking about the “mellowing” aspect of my life, and maybe it was time to give KID A another try. I mean, I have become very forgiving to 311, so KID A needs another shot.

    And I still don’t like it. Tried again to listen to KID A, and it’s just not my jam. I think I have to just chalk it up to one of those things I will never like in my life. Right up there with fennel, and the US version of The Office. I just don’t like them.

  • Short Story Review: “Not Here You Don’t” by Thomas McGuane

    (The short story “Not Here You Don’t” by Thomas McGuane, was featured in the October 18th, 2021 issue of The New Yorker.)

    The American west is a strange place. I keep thinking that the histories, tragedies and pioneer attitudes of the late 19th century have faded away into our collective American past. Like in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” where they contemplated that the “west” was over and the country was becoming modern. But the reality is that those western histories, tragedies and attitudes still affect people to this day.

    I had to read “Not Here You Don’t” by Thomas McGuane twice. Not that I didn’t understand it, but to verify that I hadn’t missed something. The story is compact, but not lacking in detail. The main character, Gary, is traveling to Montana to bury his father’s ashes on the homestead where his father grew up. Gary deals with the new land owner, and the people in the local town.

    This makes the story sound simple, and perhaps it is, but the story is also playing with the western architype hero, and the changing west. Gary is duty bound to follow his father’s wishes. Gary also displays an honesty of his father’s legacy; he was a good man, though not perfect. Gray knows his family history with the land, and also displays a knowledge that the new landowner lacks, showing that owning it does not make you master of your land. Gary has regrets over a failed love, and he also has feeling of being out of step when he returns home in the East.

    I found myself contemplating that even if we do roam and live far from home, how much of home stays with you? Are we instilled with attitudes from regions of this country that we never truly shake off? Do we identify with places that we really have the thinnest of connections to?

    Hence why I read it again.  Just making sure I got it.

  • Another IKEA Blog

    I think I do have a problem when it comes to IKEA. But in my defense, I wrote a blog back in July 2020 about IKEA’s Algot line that got discontinued, and man, that’s the little blog that could! I keep getting hits on that thing weekly if not daily. So, there is a demand out there for people to hear stories about IKEA.

    That having been said, we had another IKEA weekend, sort of. We are trying to finish off our daughter’s room before Christmas, which we will clearly achieve. This weekend, we had to flip the ladder from the left to the right side of the bed. I then had to take all the shelves down, and patch up all those holes, because we are going to repaint her room. Also, we moved her wardrobe from the corner of the room to be closer to her bed. Basically, that was my job.

    The wife’s mission was to run out to the Paramus IKEA to pick up the ELVARLI shelving unit. (Also, ELVARLI might be an elvish language Tolkien created.) The IKEA website said there were a few left in stock, and what that really meant was that none were in stock. The advice she was given was the check online for the availability, as they aren’t sure when things will be back in stock. (Supply Chain.)

    There are few corporations that have this much pull in my life, and IKEA is one of them. There is the bank my money is in, the media company that controls my internet, and then there is my furniture supplier, who keeps feeding my desire to put all of my life in neat tiny boxes, which will make my small space feel larger?

    I think I am admitting more about myself than I was expecting…

  • ODDS and ENDS: Free Parking, Online Footprint, and DUNE

    “ODDS and ENDS” is my continuing series of random thoughts and follow ups…

    I had a thought this morning; that I have become that old guy who keeps talking about parking all the time… And then I thought, I do pay for parking in this City. If I average out monthly what I have paid in parking tickets, it works out to $35 a month. It’s not free parking, I pay for my spot. Now, get off my lawn! And turn down your music while you’re at it!

    I’m think about changing up my online footprint. That sounds cool and I’m not sure what I mean, but I think the blog does need a redesign. I have said this before, and I really need to make the time for it, but really, the bigger question, which I still haven’t answered, is what do I want to get out of it? Bigger following? Earn money? Use as a marketing tool for other projects? On some days, updating my online footprint just feels like something to do, like reorganizing the pantry.

    DUNE is just an albatross of a story to put on film. And I’m saying this while enjoying the new DUNE, and having enjoyed all the other DUNE films. It’s just clunky as hell on film, and such a slow burn. Watching the new one, I can see how they tried to address these issues compared with the older versions, but there isn’t much you can do with the narrative. Again, I’m enjoying it, and this one does look amazing, but still in the back of my mind, I keep thinking this is a story that is just too difficult to make a movie out of.

  • Everything’s a Scam

    When I was in college, I took an Intro to Sociology class, which when I think back on it, was one of the better classes I ever took. Anyway, one of the many things that was taught in there was that, on the whole, as people age, their world view becomes more conservative. That doesn’t mean that if you are the hardest left liberal in your twenties, you will then become the hardest right conservative in your sixties. It’s more akin to, a hard-left liberal is more likely to become a centrist by their sixties. There are many factors as to why this might happen to someone, but the research showed that odds are you will be more conservative as you get older.

    That’s one of those pieces of knowledge that hangs out in the back of my head, and flares up every now and then when I find myself doing something, well, old man-ish.

    Such as thinking everything is a scam. This seems to have become my new “go to” on, just about everything. Like;

    Pumpkin patches? Scam

    Disney on Ice? Scam

    Pediatric Dentistry? Scam

    None of my scam beliefs are based on any facts. Just a feeling that I get when things aren’t adding up, and someone is out there trying to get my money. Also, I think this way when a product being delivered is of low quality. (Looking at you, corporate children’s live entertainment…) I can’t put my finger on when this started with me, but this thought happens more often than not.

    I just hope I don’t start watching OAN.