Confessions of a Pandoraholic.

It's spreadin' just like the flu, and it's an affliction everyone can and should have! Just visit Pandora if you don't believe me, or read on...

They say the first step to recovery is to acknowledge the problem. Here are my notes from the first Pandoraholics meeting I attended.

Let me know if these words help you. Feel free to share them, or tell your own story. We'll listen, and you'll feel better. ;-)

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"Hello (tap, tap, tap), is this thing on? Uh, well...

[Brief pause, fumbling noises]

"Good evening everyone, my name is Paul, and I'm an admitted Pandoraholic.

My life was on a terrible downward spiral, until I stumbled on Pandora.

It was a gloomy day, and I was surfing the net when I found Pandora. In minutes my head-ache was gone, and I was able to face my Suicidal Tendencies head-on. The Cramps were back, but I knew it wasn't time for me to wave the Black Flag, not just yet at least... I could not believe how good it was to be able to listen to all my favorite Jam and a be a part of something big. I was addicted. It was full of G. Love & Special Sauce.

I had seen others succumb to their addiction to Pandora, and those folks were Grateful Dead, even though I think it was the Phish that did them in.

I had a friend 3 Doors Down who was also searching for The Cure, but he moved to Linkin' Park and I haven't seen him since -- he left the Doors wide open, and just could not control his Rage Against the Machine. He was living with Warren Zevon, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Angelique Kidjo and The Wu-Tang Clan. I guess we were just bunch of Circle Jerks like so many other Misfits, PIXIES (4AD Records) or Butthole Surfers, out of control and all hopped-up on REEF, and Seven Dust...

His problem was Bad Brains -- he was a real Audioslave, you know, a Radiohead. I think it even affected his Offspring. After awhile, it all became a Blur, and nothing more than Garbage. I felt like just another TOOL going around and around in A Perfect Circle. It was all a real System of a Down, I felt Rancid -- even my Hoobastank, and I'm sure it even would have affected U2.

All my clothes were Staind after falling in a Puddle of Mudd I felt like a Twisted Sister, but I was able to get my Motörhead above those Muddy Waters, but I had Faith No More. Yep, it was pure Fear alright, a Minor Threat, and even putting on a Helmet or an Agnostic Front wouldn't help for more than a Dag Nasty 7 Seconds.

I was still driving my old Chevelle, and stuck in Traffic. In those days, the Cars were the only way to get to the Soundgarden to Groovasaurus on that Collective Soul. For years I wished I could buy one of those Fabulous Thunderbirds or a Fabulosos Cadillacs like my friends Lil' Kim, Lou Reed or Jimi Hendrix had. I didn't have the 50-cent for The Subways and no Cash for a Placebo so I would just let out a Primal Scream to try and feel like I was part of the Human League...

I would be Ash long before getting to an Oasis, never mind trying to reach Nirvana. I was on my way to Jimmie's Chicken Shack to buy some Vanilla Fudge and since I couldn't sleep I just kept Counting Crows (not only Black Crowes).

Who and what was it that made Boyz 2 Men anyway, I Stevie Wonder? Was I going to have to climb the Mountain? Maybe it was just Pieces of a Dream, or just another one of The Temptations, No Doubt?

Maybe my Moody Blues had gone to a Deep Purple? I wasn't like the Allman Brothers, The Righteous Brothers, the Everly Brothers, or even The Chemical Brothers who only ate Red Hot Chili Peppers -- to me that was for The Birds.

I was surely in Dire Straits. Stuck in The Velvet Underground with no way to ever reach ZZ Top. I was once a Prince dating Queen Latifah and now just another one of The Drifters like Marilyn Manson and so many other Animals. I found myself at a Creedence Clearwater Revival eating Meat Loaf when it hit me, Wham! I said A-ha, I'll just have a bowl of Black Eyed Peas, a heaping plate of KoRn, and a mug of Hot Chocolate and join the Culture Club.

That was the Genesis. I was no longer a Foreigner. It was the Rites of Spring and I knew The Clash was coming to an end -- no more Three Dog Night's for me. I had The the answer -- no more Tears for Fears or The Germs, I wasn't just another Supertramp listening to a bunch of Talking Heads. I was on a Journey beyond Kansas Toto with a bad case of Flaming Lips... I couldn't get a ticket on the Jefferson Airplane so I got the Kinks out and used my Wings to get back to Boston.

Once there, I figured I'd plug a few computer wires into the AC/DC outlet and call The Police. The Doobie Brothers showed-up instead, and together we loaded-up up Pandora and knew it wasn't just another Cheap Trick.

I hope my story has helped some of you folks out there to realize we're not just a bunch of Monkees and Pandoraholism is real -- it just isn't common enough -- but you need to know you're not alone. You have a chance, not like all those old Weezer's who didn't live here in America.

I'm probably listening right now. Someday we'll all be Free. Thanks for letting me tell my story.

Peace & love."

- paul, loyal fan and self-proclaimed Pandoraholic
  pandora.com/people/ptamaro

One People, Small Planet.

One of the things I still love about computers and the internet, is the connections you can foster and maintain which transcend time, proximity, and all that stuff. I'll deal with a few errant pop-up ads, a crappy system, the maintenance, the waiting... wow, I could go on, and on about the negative aspects of these at once burdensome yet amazing tools. But I'll choose instead to focus on the "creamy goodness" (had to use that one JS).

I've been looking-up a bunch of jams lately, and tonight I meandered back to 1991. I had somethin' in my head that set me back to Pop's Cool Love in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Spent the evening with my "brother from another mother" Jason, the band, and Pop. He's a cool dude for sure. He's bridged more gaps than the Army Core of Engineers. They got that "James Brown kinda soul". Deep, heartfelt, and human.

I'm hoping I still have the Pop's Cool Love, A Man cassette tape in the center console of my ride, and crossin' my fingers that it still plays. I'll check tomorrow morning.

UPDATE 03/27/07: The cassette did not play, or the Bose tape deck is no longer working. Looking into the problem...

I actually realized the other day that the only time I remember to turn on the CD player is when Yo-Yo and I drive to Hockey or need to get somewhere. Scary. On Friday, she reminded me that the easiest way to "fix the muffler problem, is to play a little 'JB'." It didn't take me long to pick-up on what she was puttin' down. :-)

Anyway, I stumbled across some of Dimitri Ehrlich's writing -- he's an old friend from back in the day, in the neighborhood. He's a really talented guy whose written piles of words for rags like Rolling Stone, Interview Magazine, Spin Magazine (and lot's more, the list goes on), songs, books, and done a bunch of other stuff. He's rubbed elbows with all the biggity bigs for years. It was Dimitri's interview with James Brown in Pulse Magazine that prompted me to call Mr. Brown at the Correctional Facility in Aiken, South Carolina. It turned out to be the day he had been released on early parole, and I missed him by just a few minutes. I did speak to Mr. George A. Anderson, one of Mr. Brown's Attorneys for a good ten minutes. That was pretty cool...

Like the energy that crosses a synapse, I'm finding all sorts of little nuggets like these. Slices of my life. A life entwined with many others. One people, small planet. We are all infinitely interconnected.

Peace.

Your Future is Just Behind You

Okay, things have been... well, tougher than usual as of late. But only the good stuff is worth the work. I've been reaching deeper than the regular stretch to grasp that goodness these last few days. No. Maybe it's actually been these last few months. No bother either way, and that's not the point.

Getting hit by a punch you see comin' is tough enough. But when you can't get outta the way from that one, and it's followed by several more you didn't see -- that's when you reach deeper.

Breathe deep. Try to catch your breath while you get up from the mat. Five... six... seven... You're standing upright, but you're not all there. Now it's a test of will-power, cunning, and heart.

These are troubled times. Not unlike the times that came before today. Such is the nature of the human condition. It's the manner in which you press-on, if you can -- that is what seeds the future.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

- Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love, 1963