Friday, June 13, 2008

This Is Not 'Nam, Dude, There Are Rules

In the beginning of listening to all my songs alphabetically, I assumed it would be a straightforward thing. But it has been brought up by several parties that people are confused as to how this will work, so here's a quick primer:

Rule 1. Whenever I'm listening to music alone, I'll continue listening in the alphabetical order. If other people around me are ok with it, I'll continue in their presence. If not, we switch to the standby of iTunes shuffle. This is more preferable to me, because it will force me to actively listen, as opposed to being distracted by conversation/games/grilling. Also, it will spare my wife and friends the horror of listening to 3 hours of Phillip Glass in a row. Not that Phillip Glass is awful, I'd argue the contrary, but it isn't exactly party music.

Rule 2. I will continue to import music into my library, but I will only listen to it if it falls ahead of me in the list. If I happen to import another ABBA album, as an example, I won't go back and listen to it until I finish with this challenge. I don't anticipate this being a problem until I'm ready for this to be over.

Rule 3. I'll only listen to music in this challenge when I'm in the room and listening. No turning it on and going outside or downstairs and coming back hours later. I'll actually listen to everything in my playlist. Exceptions for quick trips, like taking out the trash, which takes less than 20 seconds.

I think that should about do it. Let me know if I'm missing some important detail, or you think I'm leaving myself a huge loophole. I don't think I am. Right now AC/DC's Back in Black is on its last track. I think I'll be on AC/DC for awhile, and I don't mind. I'm glad that Back in Black came first, because it got me in the mood for more. I'll have 4 more albums from them before I move on.

OK, now its back off to work.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good luck, Ben. I hope you enjoy every minute of it.

Three things:

1. Philip Glass could be appropriate... depends on the party. My wake, for example.

2. I remember, years ago, Z100 did something like this, and it sucked. It seemed like they deliberately picked the worst items from each artist's catalog to play on the air. Those dogs.

3. Please to skip through any DJ Thirsty items that date prior to 2008. You have my permission, and my beseechery.

Go Ben!