The case of the shocking electric guitar

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In between photo sessions, Sergio has taken up playing guitar. He's gotten quite good over the past few weeks and can strum his way through most popular songs.

His friend Julian brought over his electric guitar and poor excuse for a drum kit so we now have a shabby band set up in the garage. It's fun.

After dinner yesterday, Sergio went into the garage to practice guitar and left Amanda and I to chat. Just moments later we heard a genuine yell from his direction.

Sergio stormed into our room with a concerned look.

"Dude, I just got f$!?ing shocked by the guitar!" he said. "My whole body is shaking. I'm really freaked the f$!? out! You have to see what's going on."

Amanda and I put on our slippers and followed Sergio into the garage to investigate.

Sergio refused to pick the guitar back up, so I timidly picked up the guitar and turned on the amp. I played the guitar with no shake, rattle or roll of electricity. Amanda touched the guitar. Nothing.

"Dude, I think it's fine," I said. "Try again."

Sergio stepped up to touch the guitar stings again and jumped back in sincere shock. I busted into laughter while skillfully playing a "Twist and Shout" chord progression, subconsciously inspired by Sergio's reaction.

"You are some kind of mutant freak, dude!" I said in between gasps for air. "You have some electric superpower or something! Ha!"

Humor had escaped Sergio, who insisted he was having muscle spasms in his legs. He had begun sweating, nervous about his unwanted powers. Practically panting, he said, "I might have to go to the hospital. I need to look up what the f$!? this is all about on the Internet. What the f$!?, man!"

With the energy of John Lennon's wail "Well shake it a baby now!" Sergio fled to his trusty computer.

The scientist she is, Amanda noticed a dissimilarity between the three of us. She said that she and I were wearing shoes while Sergio was barefoot. From this we determined that the outlet wasn't grounded and neither was Sergio, which was why he felt the shock that we hadn't. We went back inside to explain the hypothesis to Sergio.

By this time, he was absolutely frantic and likely envisioning all of the little pieces he'd be chopped into at some lab to determine the source of his super-human electric energy. Amanda explained to him the "Rubber Sole" hypothesis and he bought into it as it might save him from life in a test tube.

Sergio put on some shoes and proceeded back to the garage. He picked up the guitar and turned on the amp. He strummed the guitar. No shock, just a G chord followed by a sigh of relief signifying that he once again felt normal.

He celebrated with a Shins song.

Hoping for the best

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Yesterday I ironically wrote a post titled, "Preparing for the worst."

Just hours later we had "redundancies" at my office.

I was fortunately spared from the storm of layoffs, but many of my friends were not.

What's bittersweet is that I can call these people friends, not just colleagues.

So, I'm hoping the best for them and whatever their futures hold.

Preparing for the worst

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"Paranoia, paranoia. Everybody's trying to get me..." sung Harvey Danger in 1998. I was ending my freshman year of high school and I was pissed. Someone had just stolen my cell phone. Earlier in the school year someone had stolen my Nike gym shoes. Those punks weren't just jackin' my stuff, they were jackin' my swagger.

Fast-forward to today. I (fortunately) haven't had much else stolen since then except for that time when Wesley and I were robbed on a night train somewhere in Slovakia. Still, the same song plays in my head... "Paranoia, paranoia..." That's what being a homeowner does to you, I guess. It makes you I-need-pills paranoid.

When I was in high school, even in college, I didn't care much about the security of my possessions. That's probably because I didn't own much and what I owned was inexpensive and easily replaceable. How much could a Walkman cost? More importantly, I wasn't entirely responsible for my possessions. My parents were. They'd make sure the windows were shut and the doors were locked. They would make sure the garage door would close all the way. They would spot me the cash to replace what was lost or stolen. In college, I was sure that my possessions (like my health) were covered under my parents' insurance. I was carefree.

Now I'm in charge of/own just about everything, and that means I have to worry about everything. Are the cameras insured? Are the windows locked? Did the garage door shut?

My concerns were only reaffirmed by The Stranger's "Burglary Boom" article. If burglaries are up 49 percent year over year in West Seattle, Tacoma's got to be in the triple digits.

Lucky for me I have two Crime Stoppers for roommates. Amanda can hear sonar, I swear. Sergio undermines that whole scenario of "getting robbed while you're at work" because he only works out of the house about every two weeks.

Until we break the budget for an alarm system, we're about as safe as we can get, and I know that. I actually expect that we'll deal with some kind of theft no matter where we live because it happens to everyone and the state of the economy lends to increased crime.

For now, I'll just float in my paranoia and keep the doors locked.

The WIB summer mixtape

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A lot of people have been asking me what I've been listening to lately. It's a valid question. Unless you're listening to Pandora or KEXP to find new music, you're probably in the dark. The commercial music industry has failed you and you're not alone. Until the industry figures out this whole Internet thing, it will keep recycling hit makers of a generation past until Green Day, Weezer and their kin fold due to collective arthritis. And you will be left singing"When I Come Around" and "Buddy Holly" via Rock Band.

So, back to the point, what's worth hearing today?

Jaydiohead: "Mash-ups" are taking the music of two or more artists and mixing them into new compositions (usually illegally). Before his Gnarls Barkley fame, DJ Danger Mouse famously mixed Jay Z's "Black Album" with The Beatles' classic "White Album" and turned out the classic mash-up "The Grey Album." Since then, DJ Minty Fresh Beats authored this fresh mash-up of Jay-Z over Radiohead. It rocks, and better yet it's free. Click that link and download!

Cloud Cult: Amanda and I saw this group in Coachella and they rock in that anthemic, we-have-strings-horns-and-an-interpretive-painter style. The closest band I can compare them to is The Arcade Fire. Cloud Cult is the love-child of folk music, classical and pop. It's fantastic.

Fences: I caught this band randomly at the Ballard Sonic Boom when they were playing an in-store show. The lead singer is all tatted up and you'd figure his music would be hardcore screamo. Quite the opposite. This is sublte, melancholy music that's picking up national attention.

The Jackson 5: "Who's Lovin' You" and "I'll Be There" are vocal masterpieces. If you're feeling nostalgic or just guilty that you never paid as much attention to MJ as you should have, this is where to start and end. Also, to see the real genius, check out on YouTube "Who's Lovin' You" live in 1968, "Dancin' Machine" on Merv Griffin in 1974, and a later version of "The Love You Save" live in 1977.

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix: I'm going mainstream here because this band played SNL recently. The band, usually referred to as Phoenix, rocks that hipster music that you either love or hate. So give it a listen and I guarantee this pop rock with either make you cringe or smile. "Lisztomania" is the cut.

Common Market: You know I got to plug the family. But here I recommend listening to the eclectic hiphop that is their least-known and most recent, The Winter's End EP. It's a departure in many ways musically, but also contains the hallmark track "Escaping Arkham," which is only second to The Black Patch War's "Bonanza" with regard to classic Ra Scion + Sabzi.

What do you think is worth adding to the list? Any recommendations? Everyone needs summer music, so let's help each other out!