In my lifetime I must have owned more than thirty different Sony Walkmans. Just cleaning my basement last month, I found my collection of over three hundred cassettes. Like most teenagers, I lived music. From 80’s style pop music, to Chicago House dance music, to heavy metal guitar bands, I listened to it all. But as you get older, music becomes less important in your life, and you just do not have the time to sit back and lose yourself as much. Sure I have an iPod, but it somehow isn’t the same. On some weekends, I drive the pickup truck, which still has a tape deck (haven’t had the time to make a new car stereo a priority), and usually listen to an old mix tape.

Of late I have started to buy music again. The Lynyrd Skynyrd’s All Time Greatest Hits is a good collection of southern rock hits to listen to while driving. Last week I picked up The Very Best of Kiss, which I haven’t yet listened to, and I’m still not sure why exactly I got my first KISS album, other than I watch a lot of Family Guy and Halloween and KISS, kind of go together. Regardless, one big reason I bought these albums, was the $9.99 sale price. Most newer music releases nowadays are overpriced (not to mention over-hyped) and simply not worth buying. Online downloads have only made it worse, because they have made the album worthless, if you can get only the two or three singles you want at a fraction, why even bother with the CD? The Register has an interesting interview with music insider Petter Jenner in which he implicates the record industry of destroying their own retail CD sales:

The record companies have increased their margin on downloads, because the costs have been ripped out. So they’ve cut the artists royalties and raised their margin. But because they’ve replaced an album with a single they’ve helped destroy the retail industry, they’re now in a position where they’re completely fucked.

As for decent rock music, I’d have to say that Pearl Jam and U2 are the definitive rock bands. They have outlasted the critics and their peers, and while I’m a bit skeptical of U2’s recent work, Pearl Jam is as solid as AC/DC.

I’m in a battle of late with my body. It has fallen prey to the usual Fall cold season and I am suffering with chills, fever, a really awful pain in my throat, and as my girlfriend reminds me every now and then, I can’t stand: “The Agony, The Agony!” However sickness is part of life. When I’m dying of the flu, I usually remind myself how great it will be to lose six pounds and feel trimmer afterwards. Then there is God. The essential part of the Hebrew religion is that to the Israelites, their relationship with God was personal. Unlike those uncaring and prankster Greek Gods, the Hebrew God was always by your side, so instead of getting a text message from Zeus, God would actually stop by your house and see how you are doing. Faith is especially important when you are sick, because when illness befalls you, you are never more alone! Your pain and suffering is exactly that, yours! And no one in this world will be able to completely understand it, except you. Many people seem to shout and curse the world out when they get sick, in an effort to get some empathy or just to complain, but having faith means more than just caring about your own predicament.

I know this sounds especially harsh if you feel like I do now, with a sore throat that almost makes you believe you will never speak ever again, cause it hurts so much! However ill you may be, a person of faith still maintains a distinct level of composure, of dignity. This is not just the Christian belief, but a universal one. To face one’s own pain and not complain about it, that is what faith demands of you.

On the other hand, there is not anything wrong in asking your loved ones to get you plenty of ibuprofen and cold medicine. I’m faithful, but not crazy.