I can kill hours in any bookstore, particularly if there's music. Now Borders and Barnes and Noble are both fine places, but they are different. At Borders you can only listen to a few CD's, but at least you get the whole song. It's always cool browsing through the different sections and seeing if they've changed any of the CD's around from week to week. Three days ago, I'm in there, and I listened to a new George Jones record of cover songs and it was actually quite good. "Funny How Time Slips Away" was excellent. I guess I like songs where the guy tells the girl off in a calm way.
I also listened to a little of Ray Charles "Genius Loves Company." I only played 2 or 3 songs, but I made sure to give "You Don't Know Me" a spin. He does this one with Diana Krall. On a sidenote, I once went to a Diana Krall concert in Chicago at the request of my mother. I'm not one who notices or looks for these types of things, but that was the absolute most gay place I have ever been. And the price was about 75 dollars and it was worth maybe 20 or 30. Nothing against Diana or her talent, but that kind of relaxed concert was way overpriced. Anyway, "You Don't Know Me" is one of my favorite songs, no matter who does it. The modern country version by Mickey Gilley, the live version on the Ray movie soundtrack with just Ray's voice and the piano that will absolutely break you down, Eddy Arnold's original. I'm not saying it was the best version, but this was certainly the most sophisticated version I've ever heard. Sounded like I was chilling in a jazz club. Ray's and Diana's voices weaved in and out real well. But I still think hearing this song as a duet was a little unusual. With the lyrics, I think it needs one singer. With two voices doing it, that can almost sound like mutual stalking. Hmm. Mutual Stalking. I should write a novel with that title!
Anyway at B&N, you can listen to any CD, but you only get 30 seconds of a song. That's kind of like going to Sal & Carvao and only getting one cut of meat. Sorry Dad, but hey, that was a good toss-in!
But I will say this about Borders. They have the absolute worst Chai tea in history. Since I don't touch coffee, I know a thing or two about tea. And I will gladly pay the extra dollar or two at Starbuck's for a good product. The chai at Borders tastes like dark powder, coffee creamer, and hot water mixed.
Have you been in Best Buy lately? I seriously think this is the place the US government trains spies. I appreciate hospitality, but this is crazy. I walk in, immediately a guy asks how I'm doing and shoves a book of discounts in my face. What does he want, to valet park my car? Give him a tip? Actually, he probably does, but anyway. This isn't a hotel or a restaurant. It's gotten to the point, when I walk in, I actually take out my cell phone and hold it up to my ear. Not that I'm talking to anyone, I just want it to look like I'm preoccupied. Every time I go in, I seriously feel ten employees in the store are watching me. You cannot be in Best Buy for more than 3 minutes without an employee asking how you're doing. And when I'm looking through the merchandise, I'm always being asked questions. It doesn't matter, I have my phone out, I'm reading a book. "How to Overcome Your Hatred of In-Store Salespeople." They come up and try to get me in a conversation. You like this artist? Looking for anything in particular? Hey, you know, that's one fine movie. I'm just thinking can I have a minute alone? If I need your help, I'll ask.
And then checkout time. Uggh. You know, it's like the opposite of a door-to-door salesman. Instead of them going to each customer in a different house, the customer goes to a register and gets a barrage of questions, most of which I don't see the point of. Did you find everything okay? (That's fine to ask) You know, you may need batteries. Would you like a Best Buy credit card? Did you know with another 20 dollars of purchase, you can get a 1 year subscription to any of these magazines? You must like sports. You know you could get Sports Illustrated? OK, how about a 6 month subscription? We can deliver it to your home? Would you like the hardcover edition? What's your zip code? (I guess for demographics) Sorry, this DVD is rated TV-14. I have to ask you your blood type? Your driver's license number? Your criminal background? Your shoe size? Your SAT score? Any aliases? Yeah, they call me the Cashier Strangler.
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