Alright, never before would I have believed that music could go any further with its ability to keep itself alive; then it happened. I was given an iPod. With over twenty GB and complete fulfillment of quality in sound I am more than gratified; I am in a rocking euphoria.
The first day of owning this bad boy, was filled with reading about the mechanics and then setting it up on the house computer. With a quick run through the program (if you have a Mac, especially the G5, then this part is even more simplified) you�re set and ready to go. Quickly I uploaded my entire CD collection and my roommates collection (in actuality I had every piece of music in the house) and it was now available at the touch of a button. So it begins. This is where you truly realize your taste in music, your friends taste in music and what you really want to hear while you�re in the world of iPod (Because it truly is its own world). I say to myself �This process may have been a bit tedious but well worth it�.
After all the uploading I realized that there was a complete lack of food in my belly, I hadn't bathed, I had deprived myself of sleep, my eyes were blurred, I had gone into starved madness and came out a new visionary of beat. There is light at the end of the tunnel. I step outside of the house and breathe in fresh air, because it�s good to know that the world is still there. My body aches but that�s okay. I bathed, ate, and organized everything back into its place. My iPod is now on, light, out of the way, definitive, the soundtrack to my life has begun.
I throw my jacket on, place the play-list to start and walk out the front door. My plan is to walk as far as I can (first experiment in progress) until I have had enough. I walk out of my neighborhood; to the Stones, Sinatra, Coltrane, Pavement, Iggy Pop, Trex, Zappa, Janes Addiction, Pearl Jam, Hendrix, Cash, Kraftwerk, Zeppelin, Mogwia, Nick Drake, and Floyd among many, many others.
There are people walking dogs, teenagers making out, kids chasing each other, neighbors doing yard work, and even a cat darting across the street; all fitting with David Greys �Babylon�. I make it to the Mercedes Benz dealership just outside of my neighborhood, �Today Was A Good Day� by Ice Cube comes on, I laugh. I am pleased to be reassured by this master lyricist. Cars roll by as I dart across the busy street, Modest Mouse rocks its mad horns, with Isaac Brock Yelling some insanity in my ear; good stuff. Walking up Guadeloupe towards the drag suddenly Joy Division comes on with �A Love Lost�, which sets a rock steady step in my feet. I rock to Joy Division for awhile, with a few songs in-between; the soundtrack to Donnie Darko. I have stepped over a quarter of this city making it to the hip strip of the Drag; central from north. It was nothing but a step outside the front door and a breath of fresh air.
I go into one of the local vintage shops and start digging around, when �New Sensation� by INXS come on. I think aloud �that it is a new sensation�. This experiment ends at the local coffee shop; that lovely joint of my toking. Oh how I do enjoy the Spiderhouse, DJ Krush comes on giving me some funky acid jazz/drum and bass. All I can say is, if you don't have it, get it, steal it, raid the piggy bank, mom�s purse, beat up kids at school for their lunch money or one better work. But somehow, someway get it.
This is the new wave of technology, "The Body Electric" in the palm of your hand and sometimes your back pocket. My music for you ends with Bob Dylan crying out "The Times Are A Changing", indeed they are, once again as they inevitably will and then he sings "...go out and rob a bank, tell em Bob sent you...", tell em I sent you. Tell them, Hail, Hail Rock and Roll.
By Favian Rodriguez
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