For the past year or so I've been recording VH1's weekly music video countdown and watching it on Saturdays while I clean. It's one of my favorite parts of the weekend.

As I watched the countdown today, I have a few comments:

• WHY oh why must everyone keep spelling out shit in their songs? Yes, you can spell (sort of). What's the point? Have we become so used to crappy lyrics that we accept THE SPELLING OF WORDS instead of an actual song?
• I haven't ever listened to much of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but I really like their last two songs.
• This countdown seems a little flip-flopped - Nora Jones is the toast of the music community right now, the top of all the charts I know of, and everyone is talking about her. Her video did not make the countdown. Blue October, on the other hand, has the #1 video and I rarely hear the mass media talking about them. I know which I prefer, but it just seems strange.
• It's driving me crazy that the host is now wandering all over NYC. It just reminds me how much I want to go back there.
• I love Fall Out Boy's new video. It's always cool when celebrities/bands/etc. make fun of themselves, and they do an excellent job in the video. Plus, it's just the kind of song that I love, very peppy.
• Regina Spektor annoys the shit out of me.
• Amy Lee is absolutely beautiful, and has a voice to match. She may be the poster child of the goth-girl revival, but I love her anyway.
  
• The recent trend of laid-back boy group rock is ridiculous. Nickelback/Augustana/The Fray/Daughtry/Dashboard Confessional all sound the same to me, and I fast foward through all of their videos. Booooring. I left the Goo Goo Dolls out because they were one of the first cds I played when I started driving, and they will always have a special place in my heart. And don't even get me started on John Mayer/James Blunt/Daniel Powter/Mat Kearney whiny "sensitive" boys. I do also do not include Snow Patrol in either category, because I love them and they kick ass.
  
• Timbaland is sexxxy, and seems almost guaranteed to make a song a hit.
• Because I have been a Blue October fan for so long, to watch them come from the crappiest video EVER ("Calling You" - astronauts? A space ship? Bad CGI? A stupid concept AND no sign that the band members are actually a band that play instruments? Bad idea + bad execution = crappy video) to "Hate Me" and then "Into the Ocean" is wonderful. I think they did a great job with "Hate Me," especially by including Justin's mom, but I love the whole look and feel of "Into the Ocean." Literary allusions aside (Moby Dick anyone?), the costumes, the makeup, and the cinematography all work very well together, especially with Justin's stage persona.

I think that just about concludes the wrap-up of this week's show. Off to bury my nose in a book. Okay, I might eat lunch first, who knows.