Intellectual...maybe

I have decided to follow the lead of my very best friend (who I look up to more than I will ever let him know) and contrive a reading list. I, however, am not going to read 50 books this year...not consciously. I came about my list in a very different way than my friend however. I am fairly certain that he sat down and carefully planned his. I was not so lucky. I went to Half Priced Books today with a thought to get my hands on one book: 1001 Arabian Nights. I didn't find it...not at Half Priced Books anyway...but, since I am a nerd, I cannot leave a book store empty handed. I went in for Arabian Nights and came out with others. Then promptly went to Barnes and Noble to continue my search for Arabian Nights...I found it and another. Some of the books are ones that I have read before. Others are ones that I know about from plays that I have done or movies that I have seen.
**While I was looking for books in Half Priced Books I couldn't find a few. When I was in Barnes and Noble I realized that I couldn't find that book because I was looking under the wrong author name...so I went back to Half Priced Books to find that book and ended up getting a three when I went in for one.

THE BOOK LIST

1. The Count of Monte Cristo (Complete and Unabridged) Alexandre Dumas
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
3. The Arabian Nights Barnes and Noble Classics Edition
4. Wicked Gregory Maguire
5. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister Gregory Maguire
6. Mansfield Park Jane Austen
7. Emma Jane Austen
8. Mirror Mirror Gregory Maguire
9. Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
10. The Devil Wears Prada Lauren Weisberger
11. P.S. I Love You Cecelia Ahern
12. In Her Shoes Jennifer Weiner
13. Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen
14. Northanger Abbey Jane Austen
15. Persuasion Jane Austen
16. Lady Susan Jane Austen
17. Les Miserables Victor Hugo
18. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe Douglas Adams
19. Life, the Universe and Everything Douglas Adams
20. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish Douglas Adams
21. Mostly Harmless Douglas Adams
22. Young Zaphod Plays It Safe Douglas Adams
23. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone J. K. Rowling
24. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets J. K. Rowling
25. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkahban J. K. Rowling
26. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J. K. Rowling
27. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J. K. Rowling
28. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince J. K. Rowling
    -though not until after I see the movie
29. Turning Tables Heather & Rose MacDowell
30. Shoots to Kill Kate Collins
31. Sinister Sudoku Kaye Morgan
32. An Abundance of Katherines John Green
33. Dead Witch Walking Kim Harrison
34. Guilty Pleasures Laurell K. Hamilton

I am about to discover it what I always believed is true: The book is always better. As a lot of my books have movie adaptations.

HA! I knew it!

I have been an avid radio listener for almost a decade now and just last night I solved a mystery that I have been wondering about for about have that time. Well, not solved it so much as officially discovered. I have not ever been keen on listening to radio commercials. Especially when I am keyed up and I am using the radio to wind down. For me, radio commercials only cause more agitation. So I have ten radio stations that I listen to and about five that are favorites. Then on top of all of that there are at least four of the stations that play the same genre of another one of my favorites.



So now that we have all of the background information, here's my point.



106.1 Kiss FM has always bugged the crap out of me by playing their songs just a half beat faster than they were recorded. I used to notice this and ask people if they heard it as well. The answer was usually no. I am the type of person who sings along as closely as I can get to the artist. I like to know the phrasing, breathe when they breathe, and hold the note for exactly the same amount of time with the same level of power. So, if I have "trained" myself up on a song on a different station and then I listen to the same song on Kiss FM I immediately feel the difference.



When I first started to listen to Kiss FM I was also heavily into R&B. That was when I first noticed the modified speed on all of the songs with black artist. I even went so far as to think that it was a racial issue. Well, last night I found out that I was wrong.

I am a fan of P!nk. I have been since she busted on the scene with "Get the Party Started." It appealed to my immature taste at that point of my musical fanhood. Recently I acquired her newest CD, Funhouse, and fell in love with it. Everything about it plays on my interest: the way the music paints the image of her being in a Funhouse (on that track anyway), the double meanings in her lyrics, the stories that she tells. It's a fantastic CD. P!nk just released her second single off of her Funhouse CD, one of my favorites "Sober." It came on the Kiss FM and I felt almost immediately that the timing is off. Of course, then I realize that it is the station speeding up songs again. But as usual there was no one around to listen for this flaw with me, so I decided to see for myself if I am imagining it or if this is actually happening. I went to get my iPod and found the song and listened. I was trying to see if the timing would be noticeable if it was played side by side with the original speed. I couldn't get it directly aligned, so I settled for being a little ahead of the radio. While I was still trying to discern the difference of the lengths of pauses and held notes the radio answered my question. As I was listening the radio caught up with my iPod, ran about three beats in sync, then continued on ahead.

EUREKA!!!! Now I want to get in touch with the station and know why it is that they play the songs faster. That is my next mission.