Music

We all know how important it is to hear the music that moves us. That puts us back where we want to be. I haven't had my music for about five months and it was beginning to take its toll. Made that up. But I would have certainly liked to hear Mason Jennings or Sean Hayes or some other familiar voice crooning in my ear at various times during this journey. The best I could do was pull them up on Myspace and hope the connection was fast enough and that the headphones were decent enough.

Last night was the final straw. I went to a bar I was not inclined to go to and saw some live music. The Filipino cover band was shockingly good. And so were the waitresses in their belly shirts, but that's another story. There was hardly a hint of any accent and they brought me back. To the 80's, 90's and the present. I don't know if it's just because I've been subjected to too much karoake over the past few months or if they were actually as good as I thought. Maybe it was because I was drinking. Regardless, it made me want to feel good more often and one way to do that is to get my hands on some familiar, comforting music.

There are a lot of counterfeit goods here in Asia. If you want something, but can't afford it, don't worry! More than likely, if you look, you will find the illegitimate twin of the product you initially wanted. Nike, Crocs, North Face, Polo shirts, Lacoste shirts, beauty products, photocopied books, iPods, phones, motorbikes and naturally cds and dvds. Oh, piracy is a good thing sometimes. I mean if you think about it, anyone who has been pirated has probably already made it big time. And think of all the potential new exposure to people who could have never afforded to buy the real thing in the first place.

I had no idea what kind of music was available until I just looked. Naturally. There has been no need to buy cds until now. But I was pleasantly surprised. Tons of cds for 10,000 dong a piece. That's 62.5 cents! And dvds are a whopping 13,000 dong, which amounts to 81.25 cents. Cheaper than a rental.

I started off with three cds: Jack Johnson, Elliott Smith and the Arctic Monkeys. I can't say I'm too impressed with my choices, but they are a nicer alternative to the music samples that came with this computer. And I can't say I'm impressed with the way this post is turning out. I'm done. I have nothing more to say other than I'm sorry. I've let you down.