"Play The Clash! [blup blup blup]"

Call us crazy, but our little fish tank dwellers tell us when they like albums we play.

The small six gallon tank is right next to the turntable so they have a bird's eye view (fish eye view?) of all the action. Certain records clearly insight a playful curiosity and fanciful swimming. The main residents of the aquarium are guppies. Their phonic tastes are a bit hard to decipher though. They are almost always in a state of bopping around with their fluffy colorful tails... but if I were to guess, they mostly like early hip hop (read Kurtis Blow, Fat Boys, Run DMC). Water carries sound waves incredibly well so with enough bass the little guppers are bouncing up and down as if they were at a night club.

The king of the tank however, is an algae eater, named Giuseppe, who lives in a castle. Being vastly larger than the guppies, he has a more refined and developed taste in music. He speaks Italian, enjoys playing chess in his castle, and absolutely digs The Clash. His favorite Clash album from the collection is definitely Combat Rock. He actually requested we buy it for him! Weird right? Play this one and he comes out of his castle and cleans the entire tank, has a starring contest with the nearest VVer, or relentlessly chases the guppies around. He's a good fish. I'm pretty sure he was excited when we walked in a few weeks ago with a copy of The Ramones - Leave Home. GIUSEPPE IS A PUNK ROCKER NOW!

P.S. - We have a little white foofy dog next door that cries for hours when his parents leave him home alone. Guess what happens on our side of the wall? VERY LOUD Black Sabbath. In fact, we hope the little foofer likes any type of VERY LOUD music. We always make sure to really crank it when he's at home by himself. One would think that the pooch would learn by now that his parents will return; they always do. My theory is that the dog now secretly likes to howl to the sound of blaring Sabbath early on a Saturday morning. This is why he keeps up his whining as a prompt to "PLAY MASTER OF REALITY!(AROOO-ROOO)". Smart dog, at least I like to think so.