Pictured here, apparently on its birthday.
In a strange sort of way though, it's been...well, not fun, but "fun in a reminiscing sort of way". You see, I've been going through old pictures, memory boxes, and scrap books and just plain ol' remembering stuff from my past. That's been the fun part. My family has spent hours drinking wine and laughing as we told ancient, repeated stories and played with the newest generation of the Jacklich clan. Old, dear friends have contacted me while new friends have bought me surprisingly few drinks (ahem). The reasons for trips down memory lane are sometimes terrible, but the road itself is often paved with smiles.
And yes, that was my attempt to write the worst/cheesiest line possible as a segue from the bummers of my life to today's fun topic: tunes.
See, after the U2 concert, I've revisited some older and sentimental favorites. I've listened to albums I haven't listed to in years. To this day, there are certain songs or albums that can transport me back in time to the very moment I became attached to them; I don't think I'm alone with this power. For instance: I can still smell my old bedroom and tell you exactly what level of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 I was playing the 1st time I cranked "It Smells like Teen Spirit". I can describe to you my sister Peggy's ceiling and exactly how the post-it notes were arranged on her mirror whenever I hear the chime of the clocks in "Time" by Pink Floyd. I can smell the fallen leaves in my back yard and feel the crisp snap of a late October wind whenever "Hey Jealousy" pops on WXRT.
Music is funny like that.
But this has also given me an opportunity to question some of my more, um, questionable tastes in music over the years. About a year ago, I bought a new computer which enabled me to digitize my entire music collection. And just a few days ago, I moved that entire library over to my iPhone. As of now, I carry every CD I own in the single coolest piece of technology I've ever encountered. In his wildest dreams, 12 year-old Mike Jacklich could never have pictured a device that would hold 200 CDs, 5 phone numbers and could conjure photos of girls boobs whenever he wished.
Because I made the command decision to put everything I own onto the iPhone, I can now play Def Leopard's Adrenalize whenever I never want. Def Leopard, as many of you know, isn't just the best punch line of any joke, ever ("What has 9 arms and sucks?"): they're also the worst band in the history of the world, non-Metallica division.
I can also play the other 14 songs off of "Steppenwolf's 16 Greatest Hits". I can crank all of REM's questionable albums since Monster. Whenever I feel the itch, I can play the B-52's "Hot Pants Explosion".
It was a real thing.
Look, I never claimed to be cool. In fact, I know I'm not. Hell, my 1st concert ever was New Kids on the Block at the Rosemont Horizon (my second concert, however, was the U2 Zoo TV Tour which was the lie I used to tell people whenever I was asked my what my 1st concert was. This was before I realized how hilarious it was that I heard "Please Don't Go Girl" before I heard any other live stadium music).
Indeed, Donnie; Drugs do suck. Was I on any?
I did get one or two things right. I took most of my early rock n' roll influence from my older brother Don. Donny introduced me to the Beatles at a very early age and I can still remember the violent arguments I would have at the 7th grade lunch table over who was better, The Beatles or Poison?
I win, John Schmadeke.
