Tunes Questionnaire

I saw this out on the internet. Here goes:

1. Put your iTunes on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Pass it on.


IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
"Kamera" - Wilco

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
"The Setting Sun" - Switchfoot

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"McFearless" - Kings of Leon

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"The Bends" - Radiohead

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
"Across the Land" - Sondre Lerche

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"Narrative: Cinco de Mayo" - Brian Wilson

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"Strong Hand" - Emmylou Harris

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"Peace of Me" - Natasha Bedingfield

WHAT IS 2+2?
"Old Backstage" - Garrison Keillor

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"Say the Word" - The Beatles

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Under the Floor" - Switchfoot

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"You Don't Know Me" - Emmylou Harris

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"Symphony # 3 - Mvt 2" - Philip Glass

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"How to Disappear Completely" - Radiohead

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"Moonlight in Samosa" - Robert Plant

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"Only For You" - Garrison Keillor

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Angel in the Snow" - Elliott Smith

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
"Ten Years Gone" - Led Zeppelin

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"Big Weekend" - Tom Petty

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Unknown Legend" - Neil Young

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
"There Once Was a Shy Young Man" - Garrison Keillor

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
"Cymbal Rush" - Thom Yorke

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
"I Know There's An Answer" - The Beachboys

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
"Icky Thump" - The White Stripes

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
"Paranoid Android" - Radiohead

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
"I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" - Louis Armstrong

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
"Lion's Jaws" - Neko Case

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
"Setting Sail / Muineira de Frexido" - The Chieftains

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" - The Beatles

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
"Weird Fishes / Arpeggi" - Radiohead

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
"Hymn for a New Age" - Ray Davies

Some observations:

• Radiohead and the Beatles are probably actually underrepresented on that list.
• I only have one Garrison Keillor album, and iTunes' shuffle feature apparently sucks.
• I really need to get that Robert Plant album out of there.
• Notably missing (with multiple albums and no hits): Pink Floyd, Nickel Creek (and any of their side projects and solo albums), Arcade Fire, Beck, Bob Dylan, Glenn Gould, The Rolling Stones, The Who.

The end of all things

I have been reading and watching a lot of media about the end of the world and death lately.

A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller Jr. Rated PG-13 for violence. As promised, this was a story about the preservation of human knowledge by monks in the wake of a nuclear war. The war was blamed on intellectuals, politicians, and scientists, so a kind of pogrom was carried out against them, ushering in a new dark age. The story picks up centuries later, as humanity begins waking up from the nightmare. The book is bittersweet, as is any story of history repeating as tragedy and farce. A Hugo winner, a thinking person's book, a true classic. Highly recommended.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, by Tom Stoppard. Rated PG for adult themes. This is the play that focuses on two minor characters from Hamlet, staying with them when the action moves elsewhere. Hamlet is larger than life; this play is kind of the same size. I still remember the first time I saw this live, in 1997. I've read it and seen it many times since. I think it was just time again. It's about being lost, and about living without a sense of meaning. It's about what you lose by wandering around and doing as you're told. There are many possible interpretations, of course. It's witty and brilliant. Read it yesterday.

Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Rated R for nudity, language, violence, disturbing images, adult themes. This is the only comic ever to win a Hugo award, the only graphic novel on Time's list of the best 100 novels of the 20th century. It was trailblazing in many ways, and it's as epic a tale as you will ever read.

It's set in an alternative America where superheroism was briefly in vogue, but has since fallen out of fashion. The world's only real uber-man, Doctor Manhattan, was created in a nuclear accident. He has control over matter, time, and space, and allows himself to be pressed into service as America's Doomsday Device, Missile Shield, and Blitzkrieg all in one. He ends the Vietnam War victoriously, but the tensions of the Cold War, the specter of nuclear annihilation and the end of the world still hang over the story.

For all that, it's an unforgettably human story, with complex characters. And a metafictional extravaganza that embeds an entire pirate horror story in parallel with the action. And the best ending ever. It's heartwrenching, and so rereadable, even the writer said he had to read it several times to catch all the details the artist put in.

And then there's Six Feet Under, and I haven't really brought all this together yet... but I'll get there.