If you haven’t heard already, Erasure has a new album out called Other People’s Songs.

Yes, you guessed it — I’m an Erasure fan.  They’re actually my favorite group.  No matter how I’m feeling, there’s always something in my Erasure CD collection to match my mood.

Just released, Other People’s Songs is as explanatory a title as one could think of.  The CD is a collection of songs, remade by Erasure, originally released and performed by other people.

This is by no means a collection of resampled pieces, but is, in fact, a tremendous example of Erasure at their best.  They’ve taken a wide variety of songs from the last 40 or 50 years (from Peter Gabriel to Buddy Holly!) and “Erasured” them.

For instance, Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill” is fully recognizable.  That having been said, however, you’ll also find it to be indisputably Erasure-esque (not too blatant a play on Abba-esque, I hope).  The release of Buddy Holly’s “Everyday” is also very well done in true Erasure style.  To ensure no one takes them too seriously (something Erasure has never worked towards), the incontestably flaming rendition of Ronette’s “Walking in the Rain” will have you chuckling to yourself in a knowing way.

Amazingly, from Peter Gabriel to Buddy Holly to The Righteous Brothers to Cockney Rebel to Elvis Presley, Erasure was able to take instantly recognizable pop songs from the latter half of the 20th century and turn them into original Erasure classics.

If you’re an Erasure fan, Other People’s Songs is a must have.  If you’re not an Erasure fan but have enjoyed a variety of sounds and styles over the last 40 or so years, I believe you’ll find this album worth the price as well.

In light of its now internet-centric business model, it’s difficult to remember a time when Microsoft viewed the internet as a passing fad and would not embrace it.  Seven years ago to the day, Microsoft finally woke up and realized they were already behind the ball with the internet craze.  This realization forced a company-wide reorganization within Microsoft — and thoroughly entertained those of us in the industry who believed Bill Gates to be insane for not diving in sooner.

I’ve answered several pending FAQ submissions and am working on answering some of the others that have been submitted.

Read on for details.  The updates are in the following sections.

      Website
      Politics
      Tattoos
      Piercings

If you have a question that isn’t already here, be sure to submit it.  If I think it’s something others might ask, I’ll add it to the FAQ.

How quickly we evolve (basically meaning how quickly I change my mind about things).  Below is the original intro page to this site (viewable while I was putting the finishing touches on this version of the site engine).

Makes you wonder what the hell I was thinking, huh?  Needless to say, I decided to merge my idea for [my .net domain] with the idea for this site, greatly simplifying my initial web design work and allowing me to go live more expeditiously.

I also decided to drop the Egyptian religion idea since I couldn’t possibly have much to say about it that hasn’t already been said in a thousand other places.

Finally, I also lost interest in the attitude I originally attempted to portray. Rather than affecting it, I decided to just be myself and let my natural sense of superiority shine through.

.::Navigation::.	.::Welcome::.
Home [my .net site] Jay Strange slackercentral.com	Hey, hello and howdy! I’m Jason, and this is one of my spots on the web.  It’s intended to give me an outlet for my personal interests and endeavors (as opposed to my professional side). If you’re wondering what in the hell I’m talking about, let me ‘splain you.  Here’s what this site is for… working out/weightlifting and getting buff (well, getting a better body and hoping buff is the end result) tattoos (I already have six and am working on ideas for more, but all things in moderation) body piercing (I have six of these as well and have a few more ideas) personal politics (you’ll learn I’m quite outspoken and expect people to use common sense [meaning I’m always disappointed], so my politics normally end up being pleas to stop the general stupidity that drives America’s political machinery) news (whatever I find interesting) my cats (you’ll come to know them as my kids) ancient Egyptian religion (something I’m entirely fascinated with) For those of you who lurk about trying to find your next fix of eye candy, yes, you can expect a gallery with pictures of my tattoos, my pierced body parts, my cats, and my workout progress, to name a few subjects.  I’m looking at digital cameras now and hope to have one in the next weeks. You should also expect to see anything else of interest that might pop up from time to time.  Yep, that’ll likely include a blog (in some manner of speaking, although it may just be my rants about whatever). You can bet your ass I’ll be exercising my First Amendment rights.  If I insult you from time to time, don’t expect an apology, as I strongly believe I should be able to speak my mind without worrying about the stupid politically correct establishment taking me to court for bruising someone’s ego or offending some idiot’s sensibilities.  As I always say, I may not agree with (or may entirely abhor) what you’re saying, but I’ll absolutely defend your right to say it (just remember that I’m always right). Basically, expect the unexpected as well as the expected.  I am adaptive and evolving and always learning, so expect this site to be the same (except for the learning part, I suppose). If you’re interested in my more professional persona (yes, I do have a professional side), take a trip on over to [my .net site] (the site’s not up right now, but it will be once I get my act together).  There you’ll find news and information concerning my professional endeavors, including technology and computers, science, the Internet, development, national security, terrorism, and anything else that seems at least somewhat related. I’m working diligently on getting this site rolled out as quickly as possible.  This is my first web development endeavor, so it should be an interesting journey if nothing else.  It’ll always be under construction, so check back often. – Jason
The obligatory fine print:   · Best viewed with a browser.   · Optimized for 1024×768 or higher resolutions and 32 bit color.   · Looks good in IE 5 and above.   · Probably looks good in Netscape.   · Who the hell cares if it looks good in Opera?   · Did someone say Godzilla?  Oh, you said Mozilla.  Whatever…   · Same for AOL.   · Copyright © 2002-2003 Jason