(no subject)

[ivyfic]

This morning in Starbucks, a guy gets in line in front of me wearing honest-to-god earplugs. As we approach the counter, he takes one out and asks me, "Where are we?"

uh...In line? At a Starbucks? What?

He must have noticed my confusion -- he said his driver just dropped him off and he just woke up so he has no idea what city he's in. So I tell him (and point to the Manhattan skyline visible out the window of the Starbucks). When I go outside, sure enough, there's a limo.

This is especially bizarre to me because this Starbucks is not exactly convenient to a highway -- it's on a little cul-de-sac. The only reason I can think of to be dropped off there is if it's your destination and if that were the case, he would have known where he was.

Anyway...

Philosophical question: Is it possible to listen to Nine Inch Nails at a volume that doesn't give me a headache and piss off the neighbors?

Comments

[miss-pryss.livejournal.com]

You should have abducted him and held him for ransom in your office. He was probably too groggy and disoriented to put up much of a fight.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I did try to check for a wedding ring, but his hand was in his pocket. Would have made the perfect start to a Meg Ryan film, no?

[miss-pryss.livejournal.com]

Totally! It'd be, like, this bizarre momentary impulse but soon enough our flustered heroine finds herself with a rock star/mogul's son/inventor tied up under her desk asking for another espresso, please. What to do with him?

Shenanegans!

Damn. Now *I* want another espresso.

[justcomeinalone.livejournal.com]

I think I would be more judgmental if there hadn't been a few instances in my youth where I woke up in a different city and had to piece together how I got there.

Still, you think he would've found out BEFORE he walked into Starbucks. Was his driver a mute or just not worth asking?

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I think I would be more judgmental if there hadn't been a few instances in my youth where I woke up in a different city and had to piece together how I got there.

There's a story there that I think needs to be elaborated on...

[justcomeinalone.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was sort of like MEMENTO. You look around and think "Okay, this is not my apartment ... Nor do I remember that building outside at all ... Is there any mail here that may have an address on it that lets me know where I am and ... Hmmm, do I know those two people sleeping over there? They do LOOK familiar."

Ah, youth.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

In cases such as that, the Handbook of Worst Case Scenarios recommends going into the bathroom and looking for perscription medicatioins in the cabinet (because these always have a name and address, not because the world will look better if you take a few).

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Hey, was he famous or just rich? More importantly, was he cute?

And, yes, it's easily possible to listen NIN at a reasonable volume. It just sounds better loud. Really, though, kidding aside, I love them to death, and I manage. There's this wonderful device called "headphones."

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

That is what leads to the headache. Cause you know there'll be this wonderful quiet moody section then out of nowhere screaming and topping out my levels. And if it's quiet enough for that, I can't hear the moody bits and if it's loud enough for those...you get the picture.

I have a new favorite song: The Wretched. For some reason, my brother only gave me disc 1 of The Fragile. *looks pleadingly*

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I've got you covered. You can have the right disc tonight.

I see I've gotten your problem backwards--I thought someone else was listening to NIN loudly in your apartment building. My bad, that's just my building, only they don't listen to awesome music loud; they listen to reggaeton or the girl practicing her showtunes.

There is a way to listen to it and that's just to listen to it loud the first time through, using a stereo if you can. Once you get a feel for the album, you'll know where to turn it down preemptively (the second disc starts off soft and builds, so it's gentler).

Kudos on listening to the best NIN album ever. Pretty Hate Machine is probably the most catchy, singy one, and The Downward Spiral has probably their most famous song(s) "Closer" (it also has "Piggy" and "March of the Pigs" which I would argue are pretty well known, too, though nowhere near as much as "Closer"), but The Fragile is the most beautiful. It, more than TDS, is the real album, in that it transitions and builds between songs so that, while you can listen to some on their own (the singles, obviously, are pretty well made for that reason--"We're in this Together" and "Into the Void"), it works better as a sit-down-and-love-the-whole-thing run through.

"The Wretched" is a great song. All the songs on there are great. Sorry for the minirant (for me, it's mini) cum lecture, I just really, really love that album. Like I said, I'll have the second disc to you today if you'd like.

[moonlightalice.livejournal.com]

Awwww! In high school I was obsessed with NIN. It makes me all warm and fuzzy to see you write that. I always thought The Fragile was amazing and beautiful and no one else liked it. :(

Also, the Broken EP is like the best workout CD ever. It's like exactly 40 minutes, and builds to the angriest shit ever, and then cools down. Haha.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I heard Trent Reznor was suicidal over the lack of sales of The Fragile, even though it got like the best reviews of any disc they put out ever. And anyone I knew who likes them knows that it's probably the best. Yay for NIN bonding!

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I did not listen to NIN at all in high school. In fact, given that I don't recognize any of it, I doubt I even heard it in highschool. Back then I was all about Alan Parsons Project, Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd.

This just goes on with the observation that I was anti-angst in highschool so that all that emo is emerging later in life. I only started listening to NIN recently and only because of a kick-ass Star Trek vid using "Closer."

[moonlightalice.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the club I used to be President of just posted it (http://community.livejournal.com/cusfs/4578.html) in its LJ community. :)