Weekly catch-up

The drugs did arrive, albeit in the afternoon.  I was promised they would be delivered in the morning, but perhaps because I had a prior delivery arriving in the afternoon, the dispatch team probably decided not to rock the boat and keep things in the way they'd been accustomed.

So afternoon it was, and yes I raced to the fridge to put the drugs in.  Order was restored and failure remedied.

Until the following morning, when I was stopped by the Police for speeding.

As one error is uncovered and accounted, another one swiftly arises to take its place.

Can't knock the officers who took me in.  Yes, I was driving too fast, around 90mph.  On average.  They showed me the data, I held up my hands in more than one gesture of acceptance, and duly accepted the £60 fine a 3 points.

The first 3 points on my licence.  Since 2004.  Only my third offence in 17 years of driving.

If there was a survey though, I'd have given the officers top marks.  They get more than enough stick for your Ian Tomlinson's and Birmingham 6's, so it's only fair they get credit for doing their job correctly for yahoo scumbag drivers like myself.

Lesson learned.  Getting caught was a fair warning, will drive responsibly in future.

Cracked didn't feature my email in the chat.  Hey ho, you ride the dream, you gotta take your licks.

I'm waiting for my man

Just without any dollars in my hand.

The drugs delivery is any time now (8am-1pm to be exact), then I can go to work.  And then immediately go home again to look after the poorly wife and "work from home".

Cracked After Hours - 4 Terrifying Psychology Lessons Behind Famous Movie Monsters

http://www.cracked.com/video_18311_4-terrifying-psychology-lessons-behind-famous-movie-monsters.html

This is what I sent in as a question for their live chat.

Is the psychology lessons behind horror movies more related to power, rather than fear or anger?

• Freddy gets you in your dreams, the place where the normal rules of reality cease to apply.  You falls asleep, you enter his world
• Jason Voorhees gets people when they're naked, in the woods, vulnerable.
• The Alien Xenomorph, yes is all about the rape.  But isn't the crime of rape more about the power of one individual over another, and the damage it brings, rather than a sexual act.
• Zombies/Vampires, yes they can read about the fear of the "other", but Vampires are stronger, sexier and longer-lasting than us.  Zombies entrap you, imprison you.

Isn't the idea of a monster in general, something you can't understand, explain, and more importantly process, something that has an edge over you?

I realise this is not a question, and more of a long-winded talking point.

NFL @ Wembley

The game was great, 30 seconds left and the result was still in doubt.  Bears eventually won it 24-18, and with the Bills in a bye week the timing was perfect.

But the journey home, even better. 

15 minutes out of the stadium, 15 minutes on the train (only a 2 minute wait) and an hour from London back to Northampton.

Back home before 11!  Real one for the record books.

Yes, I'm old now.

Giving blood

If you want a way to feel good about yourself, may I recommend giving blood?

You can legally get time off work to do it, takes no time at all, doesn’t hurt (I never look at the needles) and it might just save someone’s life.

Beats one of those Paul McKenna books anyhow.

So I'm in a pretty good routine with giving blood at the moment.  Every 4 months or so, 3 times a year, it takes an hour out of my day.

Did I mention free tea and crisps?

You have no excuse not to.

Or have been to some country, or have AIDS or something, but otherwise you’ve no excuse.

Unless you’ve received blood of course, in which case you can’t.

Though it did make me ponder (as events often do) that the more people who donate blood, means that more people can receive blood.  But as the number of those that receive blood rise, then that means the people who can’t give blood rises also. 

Which means that we need more people to give blood.

Trust me, you’ll feel good about yourself.

Contagion - after

See the film, then go home, lock every door and wash yourself thoroughly.

You'll never see door knobs in the same way again.

Contagion - before

Going to see Contagion tonight, will review afterwards.  I suspect I will not want to leave the house.  Ever.

Stone Roses, NFL & another eating challenge

"I'm zipping through the days at lightning speed" - Rolling Stones, Exile On Main Street.

We bought a TV for upstairs, getting a TIVO for downstairs and re-locating the existing V+ Box upstairs.  Buying a new boiler (if you don't own a house, this is a huge purchase), just picked up an opportunity for NFL tickets at Wembley on Sunday, and there a re-arranged eating challenge to come with my games night people.  One massive burger, chips and sides in under 15 minutes.

I feel I'm falling through space, got to hang on.  So much change, and there's New York for Xmas.

God Is Moving, apparently...

An FB friend posted this recently...

A teenage girl about 17 had gone to visit some friends one evening and time passed quickly as each shared their various experiences of the past year. She ended up staying longer than planned, and had to walk home… alone. She wasn’t afraid because it was a small town and she lived only a few blocks away. As she walked along under the tall elm trees, Diane asked God to keep her safe ...from harm and danger. When she reached the alley, which was a short cut to her house, she decided to take it. However, halfway down the alley she noticed a man standing at the end as though he was waiting for her. She became uneasy and began to pray, asking for God’s protection. Instantly a comforting feeling of quietness and security wrapped round her, she felt as though someone was walking with her. When she reached the end of the alley, she walked right past the man and arrived home safely. The following day, she read in the newspaper that a young girl had been raped in the same alley just twenty minutes after she had been there. Feeling overwhelmed by this tragedy and the fact that it could have been her, she began to weep. Thanking the Lord for her safety and to help this young woman, she decided to go to the police station. She felt she could recognize the man, so she told them her story. The police asked her if she would be willing to look at a lineup to see if she could identify him. She agreed and immediately pointed out the man she had seen in the alley the night before. When the man was told he had been identified, he immediately broke down and confessed. The officer thanked Diane for her bravery and asked if there was anything they could do for her. She asked if they would ask the man one question. Diane was curious as to why he had not attacked her. When the policeman asked him, he answered, “Because she wasn’t alone. She had two tall men walking on either side of her.” Amazingly, whether you believe or not, you’re never alone. Did you know that 98% of teenagers will not stand up for God? Repost this as Love vs. Sex if you truly believe in God. PS: God is always there in your heart and loves you no matter what and if you stand up for him he will stand up for you. I bet 93% of the people that read this wont repost it. I read this and reposted it. Well I bet you read this note because of the title, didn’t you. *GOD IS MOVING!* :) *Share it to everyone! feel free to copy-paste OR share this note. This is not a private note. Repost it even if you're not a teenager

So, is the moral of the story that if you don't believe in God you'll be raped? Or that rape victims deserved it because they didn't pray for protection. That's an absolutely disgusting message.

That's what I commented.  Should I have kept my mouth shut?  I don't think so.

Will it have made any difference?  Does it merely reinforce the differences between us?  No, and yes, respectively.

What I do to keep my brain active

My friend is appearing in a play called Dancing at Lughnasa (I had to go and look that up) and I can’t remember the name.

It’s a silly name anyhow, though I really hope the play is good.  So for humour’s sake I started deliberately mis-remembering the title, Dithering With Lamb Shank for instance.

Here are some more, I promised one per day until opening night.

Delivering with Louisa

Deputising at Leyland

Dignifying to Lindsey

Defending with La Bamba

Deciding to Limbo

Diffusing on a Lemsip

Defenestrating a Lampost

Dangling with Linda

Deepening a Leg injury

Denoting with Lulu

And then, the writer's block cleared...

Damn it, I am not not doing this, I am not going to let this blog slide like I have so many others.

You see, I’ve been stuck trying to think of something to write for a couple of days, with no success.

But now I’ve thought of a topic, and it’s perfect, and it made me happy and relaxed.

It’s about a serious error I made, so there is conflict there.

But it’s perfect, because it’s I fell out of the blocks.

About a week ago, I had to take delivery of a serious amount of drugs and needles.  Had to stay home and everything.

It was made very clear to me, being as it is related to our fertility treatment, that one of the treatments had to be kept in the fridge immediately upon delivery.

And somehow, despite being clearly labelled on the bottle, and in the bag it came in, I got confused by the instructions to remove the item from the travel bag and place in the fridge, so I placed in the fridge the container that was in what looked to me like a travel bag.

I still feel it could have been made ever clearer, but it’s done.  At our injection training this morning, I was told I’d have to pay for a replacement, £20-£30 which it is more than a pleasure to pay to get things back on track.

It’s funny, because when I was struggling to think of a name for the blog, it came to me that I was “falling out of the block” by even thinking of a name, but then all my posts after that were informational or obsessed with REM.  Now here I am justifying its existence and dragging myself out of a couple-day rut with a story that confirms right at the beginning of our fertility journey, I can still be relied upon to fail.

At least she’s still talking to me.

Aah :)

To Straight Edge or not?

OK, so I’ve decided to quit drinking.  Not because I have a problem, or anything.

No, really.  I don’t.

I don’t.

OK, I’ve had problems with other things.  I had to give up smoking, I could never be one of those part-time “social” smokers that everyone despises.  I used to smoke weed, and had to give that up too, realising if I had weed in the house, it would be gone just as quick.

So along with a self- centred nature and over-use of I, it would seem I have an addictive personality.  I’ve just substituted drink and smoke for food and exercise.  Less harmful addictions anyways.

Knowing this, albeit unconsciously for the most part, I never gamble.,  In my life I’ve bought one lottery ticket, and placed one bet on a horse.  I’ve never been to a casino.  These are all survival, management techniques.

But recently, giving up drinking, at least in the short-term, has been necessary.  Even if it gives us a 1% or 2% increased chance of fertility, it’s worth doing.

But it did get me thinking.

Knowing I was going to have to navigate several difficult social engagements; weddings, leaving parties and several official Pub visits and town nights out, means that I would have to develop a new kind of grammar for social interaction.

When you’re sober, and happy with the decision, you can hang around drinkers for several hours with no real difficulty.  It’s only when the drink really starts to kick in that you feel like the odd one out.  That’s when time for them starts passing by faster and faster, while for you it’s barely moving.

So I have to swear off the 4am drinking sessions.  OK, I can live with that.  It’s a money saver, plus I won’t miss the hangovers.

So will I miss going to a pub, and not having a beer or two?

No.

I don’t.  And I won’t.  I think I’ve learned to live inside my skin without the need for anything mind-altering.  It’s been coming a while, slowly easing off the partying and using my time more productively.  I can still go to the pub, without the need for beer, and trust myself to get the enjoyment I need.

So far it’s working, but I think I need a goal to work towards.

Straight Edge is that goal.

To live a clean life, without alcohol, tobacco or drugs, that’s the goal.  But it’s really the destination rather than the goal.  You shouldn’t get thrown off the train for one solitary lapse.  It’s something to aim for, rather.

According to AA, I think, you count as fully sober once you’ve been clean for a year.  That’s September 10^th 2012.  If I get there, when I get there, I think I’ll treat myself to something.

Watch me fail.

REM's Finest - Day 16

Album – Collapse Into Now (2011)

Highlight – Überlin

Reason – Accelerate showed that REM still had glimpses of life left in them, albeit the sound of a band pushing against the onward ravages of time, baldness and the paunch.  For ‘Collapse they expanded their sound, once again rehearsing and recording in different studios and taking breaks between live shows to write more songs,.

The result was an album of new songs, that called back to much of their earlier work.  Out Of Time, Monster, Green all got shouts, especially the Country Feedback-sounding Blue.   Überlin was classic Neo-REM, honed musically through all their years of experience an featuring some chirpy, pseudo-hip Stipe suggesting much depth.

It was, in hindsight, the sound of a band about to split.  They almost had during the Hi-Fi & Up days, lyrics hinted at a band pulling itself apart.  But this time at the end of their 5-album Warner Brothers deal; in a world where albums had ceased to become pre-eminent and videos made by 18 year-olds the dominant force, it was maybe the right decision to call it a day before their creative powers were spent any further.

Stipe Gayness Factor – 9.  Walk It Back, one of the warmer, sincere and grown-up songs from the post-closet Stipe days, provides an fascinating counterpoint to the confused, mumbly lush of his younger days.  Thank you Michael, it’s been great watching you grow up on record.

REM's Finest - Day 15

Album – Accelerate (2008)

Highlight – Supernatural Superserious

Reason – After the poorly-received and even poorly-charted and sold ‘Sun, REM did another world tour in 2005 and 2006 (including a rain-soaked Nottingham where, in spite of the band’s  best efforts, the crowd could not get engaged) and reflected on where to go next.  They decided to make an album (fearing it may be their last) the exact opposite of before, live and raw as quick as possible.

Debuting works in progress at Dublin’s Olympia, and listening to feedback, the band recorded the album in less time than almost any other, except perhaps for Fables back in 1985.

It’s hard to believe ‘Serious, the first single, was made by guys pushing 50.  Monster meeting Life’s Rich Pageant in an indie club, only the lyrics betray the paternal wisdom of letting go of teenage hang-ups.  After the storming three-track opening, the album settles down into more adult territory, and save for the excellent Accelerate, it’s all a little bit forgettable.  From their high-water mark of 10 great ‘Automatic tracks, down to 6, to 5, we’re now down to 3 or 4 solid tunes.

Stipe Gayness Factor – 9.  To be perfectly honest, there’s nothing overtly “swishy” on this album, but since I’ve painted myself into a corner with an ever ascending level of marks, I'm forced to twist facts in order to justify my “emerging gayness” theory.  So OK, Man-Sized Wreath is pretty fruity and open I guess.

REM's Finest - Day 14

Album – Around The Sun (2004)

Highlight – Leaving New York

Reason – You are about to read something some of you may find shocking.

I actually quite liked Around The Sun.  Pause for gasp.

OK, it’s no Automatic, or Reveal, or ‘Pageant, but it is by no means terrible.  It’s just not quite up to the standard of previous albums, which is sadly how bands tend to be judged.  The band had delayed recording to work on releasing the excellent Bad Day & Animal as part of their Greatest Hits package for Warner Brothers, which pushed back the release of ‘Sun to 2004.  When they returned to finish recording, the album ended up sounding over-produced, and frankly the band sound a bit bored and ever so slightly over the hill.

That said, even if the mark of top quality dropped from the 10+ of Automatic down to the 6 or so of later albums, there are still 4 very strong numbers on ‘Sun.  The best being lead single Leaving New York, but also Aftermath, Electron Blue & even Q-Tip’s largely pointless rap at the end of The Outsiders doesn’t take away too much.

Stipe Gayness Factor – 9.  Oh boy, he’s out!  He’s out!  Finally talking about “The Boyfriend” on Leaving New York gives some real sincerity to the lyrics.  “Easier to leave, than to be left behind” and “I love you forever” perfectly captures the angst, frustration and loss when leaving a loved one.  I'm genuinely happy for him.

REM's Finest - Day 13

Album – Reveal (2001)

Highlight – I’ll Take The Rain

Reason – After the difficult recording of Up and the transition to from 4-piece to 3-piece supported by backing band, not to mention departing from producer Scott Litt, REM returned after 3 years with a new album (note the ever-widening gaps between albums).  Fans had only the meta-tastic sunshine bliss of The Great Beyond (from the Man On The Moon soundtrack) to chew on, so this was a long-expected release and was hailed from the outset as one of their finest.

Certainly, in the lead single Imitation Of Life, and album opener The Lifting, REM had a vibrancy and passion not seen since Monster, but with a greater diversity of palette.  Beat A Drum, All The Way To Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star) and Disappear proved that REM could almost do anything and do it well.  It’s the sound of a band still at the top of its game after 20 years together.  And one might say, it was their last truly great album.

Stipe Gayness Factor – 7.  If Automatic was the Death album, Monster the Sex album, New Adventures the Travel album & Up the Electronic album; then Reveal would be the Space album.  Probably biding his time before the Gay album to follow...

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy - my film review and what happened when I watched it

I used to write film reviews for a variety of websites, but since I’ve started the blog it doesn’t seem quite right somehow, don’t know why.  But I did go and see Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy recently and people asked me what I thought, plus there is a story to tell so I thought I’d include it along with what would have been a review.  Hopefully this won’t be too much like that god-awful Ain’t It Cool News guy…

---

So I'm staying at a hotel in Birmingham on a job with work.  No matter how much I can eat at an All You Can Eat Breakfast, there is an all-pervading sense of loneliness away from the home comforts.  I decided to go the movies one night, armed only with money and the Navigation app on my phone directing me to turn right and keep walking for half a mile, until I got to the multiplex.  Didn’t stop me checking it every few seconds though.

It was the first time I’d queued up for a cinema ticket in years.  Terrified of my must-see flick being sold out or forced to sit in those seats in the front section that cause neck and spinal injuries from hunching the head upwards towards the screen, I’d always booked over the internet.

But this time I queued up with the everyone elses, aware of the special circle of loser hell reserved for those asking for one ticket to a movie.  No date, no life.

“One for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy please” I said, displaying my wedding ring as prominently and obviously as was decent.

“How many was that?” said the cashier.

Thanks.  Thanks for that, cashier lady.

“One please” I repeated, hoping to add, “I have a wife you know!”.

This temporary humiliation averted, I proceeded upstairs to the screen room.  Were this in my hometown, I’d have made it to the cinema with the exact amount of time to park the car, collect the tickets and make it to the screening room AFTER the previous patrons had left their earlier screening, but BEFORE the adverts of our screening begin; thereby avoiding any further awkwardness finding our designated row and seat in the dark, all the while tripping over outstretched legs and the general tutting of other cinema-goers as they half-heartedly move aside to let you pass.

Not so lucky.  In my efforts to be on time walking to a new location I’d arrived 15 minutes early, so as the film was still running, I had to hang around outside the screening room feeling like even more of a loser.

When it finished and the goers burst out there’s then the obligatory clean-up of popcorn and whatever else, so tack on another few minutes hopping from one foot to another. 

It was then that across the waiting area, the woman with quite possibly the loudest voice in the county, said to her two male companions

“So, was ACTOR’S NAME actually CRUCIAL PLOT INFORMATION NOT REVEALED UNTIL THE END DIVULGED BUT SUPPRESSED HERE then was he?”

Oh yes” said her male companion.  ACTOR’S NAME most definitely is MORE CRUCIAL PLOT INFORMATION DIVULGED BUT SUPPRESSED HERE.

This is what happens when you arrive too early for a film, by yourself.  It’s my fault, I know.  So anyway, here is my review.

---

In 1973, following a botched rendezvous in Budapest with a prospective defector during the cold war, senior members of MI6, George Smiley (Gary Oldman) & his boss “Control” (John Hurt) are moved along from their positions into retirement.  When an agent in the field comes to believe that there may be a mole working for the Russians deep inside MI6, something long suspected by Control, Smiley is recalled to sniff him (or her.  No, balls to that, it’s a him) out.

Adapted from the novel by John le Carré and originally a multi-part TV series starring Alec Guinness in the role now taken by Gary Oldman, TTSS is less about the plot; being as it is, fairly straight-forward to grasp, and more about the period detail and the comment on the workings of the intelligence service.  That is, trust no one.

It’s revealing that Oldman (in a career game-changing performance, inverting his typecast manic personality) does not speak a word in the first 10 minutes or so of the film, merely watching others and carrying on, as he would have done his entire professional life. 

This is a film about secrets, the men who keep them, and others that search for them.  Working at the “Circus” means not only leading a double life away from your friends and family as you’re unable to divulge the details of your work, but also from your own colleagues in case they're after your job, or helping the other side.

This is by no means an easy film to get into.  It’s slow, deliberately slow, as if the film-makers were making their anti-Spooks credentials as clear as possible, and consists of an ensemble cast (Harry Potter-levels of British acting talent) in turn making a case for being or not being the mole, which Smiley has to surgically pick apart.

In the background is the sense of a different time, where the gender roles were more rigid, and the declining place of Britain’s importance in world affairs wasn’t as obvious.  It’s the study of a world where the old values of loyalty, trust and honour are increasingly threatened by ambition, treachery and the ruthless pursuit of power. And it’s a threat that is never completely arrested.  By all means do go and see this film, but set your brain to study.

---

After the film was finished, the group of six or so people to my right (and blocking my path to the exit) stayed to talk about the film instead of doing what almost everyone else does and bolt for the exit, so I had a fun time squeezing past their non-existent efforts to move.

On the walk home I moved past increasingly drunker and drunker young people as they stood outside various pubs and clubs of Birmingham’s night life talking in very loud voices.  As I’ve recently stopped drinking it made me even more detached from the rest of society and even older than I would feel normally.  Did I miss their revelling, even as my other work colleagues were off out on the town that same night?  I can honestly say I didn’t.

REM's Finest - Day 12

Album – Up (1998)

Highlight – At My Most Beautiful

Reason – Maybe it was his brush with death on the world tour; or maybe (as he said at the time) he just didn’t want to do it anymore, but when Bill Berry formally left the band on the first day’s rehearsal no matter how amicably given and received, it left the band with a problem.  Stipe later said the band then “leapfrogged their next two albums” going past rock, country and straight towards electronica.  It made sense without a formal drummer to fill the gap with session players and drum machines, and it gave them the push to head into (yet) another musical direction.

Not that REM turned into Radiohead or something (thank goodness.  Look I'm as broad-minded as the next man, and it’s very worthy and honourable the ‘Head are being experimental and arty and whathaveyou, but the fact is Street Spirit, No Surprises, Creep et al will always be better than In Rainbows no matter how much you lie to yourself that they aren’t.  Old ‘Head is just better, OK?) even if they did give them the idea.  It’s still recognisably REM, just with Daysleeper, Lotus & Airportman adding (yet) more strings to their bow.  Sadly, it was never quite able to carry their audience with them and merely six months after release Stipe described it as “dead in the water”.  But with At My Most Beautiful heading the pack, one of the most perfect, tender love songs (apparently the lyrics took a year to complete) ever composed, the troubled waters suggested by Falls To Climb (gentleman mark your opponents, fire into your own ranks) were being traversed, more or less.

Stipe Gayness Factor - 7.  Having established himself as “Queer”, or “Bi” as the rest of the English speaking world would have it, this is one of the more personal albums Stipe put out, mentioning more of relationship and the dreaded human interaction.

REM's Finest - Day 11

Album – New Adventures In Hi-Fi (1996)

Highlight – The Wake Up Bomb

Reason – During their world tour of 1995, REM sent recordings to long-time producer Scott Lit to mix for what they planned to be an album of new songs played entirely live.  As it turned out, with various illnesses besetting each member of the band (the brain aneurysm of drummer Bill Berry easily the worst) the band booked some studio time to end up with roughly two-thirds concert songs and one-third recorded.  It’s the sound of an accomplished band  confidently playing through the different styles of music they’d picked up through their career, but more importantly it’s a band frazzled through constant touring and displaying the first signs of pulling apart.  It makes for fascinating, haggard music though, with How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us, Leave & Electrolite as good as anything the band produced.  But the fizzing, high-tempo rollercoaster of ‘Bomb (debuted on the MTV Music Awards) just takes it.  The aggressive sound of a band with just enough life left to carry on regardless.

Stipe Gayness Factor - 7.  New Test Leper, another stand-out, recounts the singer’s musings on the relationship between a TV studio audience and the guest with something to say but unable to convey it effectively.  Something you want to tell us?  In an interview Michael said he disliked being put into pigeon-holes and stereotypes on Gay, Straight or Bi, much less be a spokesperson for a civil rights movement.  “I'm an equal opportunity lech” he said.  He’s almost there.

REM's Finest - Day 10

Album – Monster (1994)

Highlight – What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?

Reason – Ahead of their first world tour in 5 years, REM ditched the mandolins, pianos and the orchestras of the previous two albums and went LOUD.  The opening track ‘Kenneth perfectly captured their new sound in a fresh and energetic single, referencing the bizarre phrase a bunch of muggers used when beating up US TV anchor Dan Rather.  It’s a shame the rest of the album isn’t quite as diverse, as the crunching queered guitar does get a little repetitive towards the end, but there are still a half dozen strong songs contained.

Stipe Gayness Factor - 7.  “We’re feeling sexy and loud” said Stipe in an interview.  Finally getting his dick out in the studio after a mere 14 years and 9 albums.  Track 10’s Let Me In was on the relationship between himself and Kurt Cobain, which contrasted nicely with Track 2’s Crush With Eyeliner on the singer’s relationship with Courtney Love.  Monster put him in the Bi zone.

REM's Finest - Day 9

Album – Automatic For The People (1992)

Highlight – Find The River

Reason – Just 3 months after the release of ‘Time, REM were back writing songs for the next album.  Having decided not to tour in support of ‘Time, the band were free to start recording for ‘Automatic across the USA.  If ‘Time could be described as the Love album, then Automatic would definitely be the Death album.  The end of a long life in Try Not To Breathe, the thoughts of prematurely ending a young one in Everybody Hurts. The spectre of AIDS hanging over Nightswimming.  But it was the timeless beauty of closing track Find The River, edging out Drive & Man On The Moon that made it to the top.  The wistful reflection of an uncertain future (the original demo made it to the album) could be played every day for 50 years and never get tired.

Stipe Gayness Factor - 7.  Stipe lost friends to the AIDS virus and it’s clear this was playing on his mind through the lyrics of the songs.  He’s almost there…