Ok, so I have to thank the music thread denizens for bringing the Klymaxx special onto my tv radar because it was the most excellent thing on my screen in a looong while. A full on bitchy drama-fest from start to finish. But the absolute most totally awesome moment came when the smarmy host, Amir (Smarmir), went looking for the keyboard girl. He found her at her job in a generic downtown LA office building, but the security guards would not let Smarmir and the camera peeps inside, which was ridiculous because who really wants to watch Boney-T make the mail rounds at the bp offices anyway? Whatev. So then, Smarmir called keyboard girl's boss and the boss let him know that he could catch up with keyboard girl when she came downstairs to take her cigarette break. And if I'm keyboard girl, I would have ripped my boss a new one for giving out information about my personal habits to a total stranger over the phone. For all he knew, Smarmir could have been some psychopath Klymaxx stalker who planned to chop keyboard girl's head off and use it in some hideous sacrifice to the gods of cheesy 80's music. But I digress. So anyway, Smarmir catches up with keyboard girl smokin' outside, and then it happened. Keyboard girl tells Smarmir that she can't talk to him because, and I quote, "I've got a meeting." And of course I yell, "Is it in the ladies room?" and cackle like a mad thing. But it got even better because like five minutes later she said it again, "I've got a meeting" to which I replied, "Yeah you do. In the ladies room!" It was awesome. I can't believe Smarmir didn't give the shout out that all Klymaxx fans were waiting for, although keyboard girl might have taken offense and refused to play the reunion gig, which was the ultimate goal. And that's probably why Smarmir is a VH1 host and I'm not.

So the rest of the show was good, but that was the high water mark. And I promise not to post anything elsa about Klymaxx for the next couple of days.

Mostly done with the mix, but I haven't quite gotten a couple of good transitional parts together yet for sufficient flow. Do we have to go in order?

Do we have to go in order?

That was the general consensus.

Mine is not done. I am a deadline driven gal and I'm sure I won't be done til I have to be. But, I already know I have one frighteningly abrupt transition that I can do nothing about.

"Go in order" -- meaning, put the songs in the msbelle-dictated order?

If so, yes.

That was the general consensus.

Well, shoot. Maybe I'll use some of my policy wonk logical magic to make it seem like one topic is another.

I finished my mix and liner notes last night, and I'm pleased with the results, even if I had to chop off the last couple of categories due to length, and the flow isn't quite what I'd hoped. But what can you do when you're going according to guidelines? There are only so many songs I can use off the first album I bought, and only so many songs I have with a name. ;-)

I'm swapping out the book/movie-related song, because, while I love "Venus in Furs," it doesn't go with the rest of the CD *at all.* Bummer. But my replacement song is really good, and also funny.

I kind of decided flow didn't matter. I hope this does not cause the person who gets my mix to break down in tears.

I had to cheat the "cover I thought was an original or vice versa" category, because the songs I like that would legitimately fit that category are by performers I wanted to use in other slots on the CD. (I'm sure there are other covers I thought were originals in my CD collection, but I lacked the patience to check writing credits on every CD I own to find one.) But it does fit the category for most people who are not obsessive readers of rock history.

Also not entirely happy with the "artist I hate, song I love" category. Is this supposed to be another "guilty pleasures" slot, or should it be a song by a performer who we find morally/politically/aesthetically repulsive, even if we concede they have talent? The word "hate" to me suggests the latter, but the only song I have a decent copy of in that category is waaaay too long.

I don't know if there's a consensus on this, but for me "artist I hate, song I love" will be someone whose music I don't generally like but who has a song I really like. Some of my favorite artists are loathsome people (yeah, i'm talking about you, Miles). So that isn't the criterion I'm using. If that's why you hate so and so, but s/he has a song you love, then use that.

"Guilty pleasures" I think has more to do with perception: I like it, but I'd be sorta embarassed for someone else to know I like it. Many of us here aren't easily embarassed & in fact are eager to stick up for generally frowned upon genres and/or artists on the general principle that it's the execution, not the chosen mode of expression that matters. Still, maybe you dig disco/country/Abba/John Denver/boy bands/fill-in-your-choice-here but wouldn't want that to get around. That's what my take on that category is.

for me "artist I hate, song I love" will be someone whose music I don't generally like but who has a song I really like.

That's how I defined it. Of course, I don't own anything by someone I don't like, so I had to root around for something.