My brother came over on Friday. Like before, I showed him a variety of DVDs, including more Mr. Show. I also played some of The Residents DVDs, to show him what it looked like when I saw them live in 2001 and 2002. Then I showed him what other Residents stuff I've collected recently (the live box set, the vinyl re-release of the debut album), and giving the little stories associated with all that.

My brother is one of several people who saw me go from years of being devout to Alice Cooper and the like, and in recent years suddenly having a brand new favorite band. He knew that that hardly ever happens with me. And my brother asked something along the lines of "So what is it that attracts you so much to them"?

"Well, for starters, I just think their music is so far removed from ANYTHING I've heard. It's not even a different genre, it's just...some whole other family. I know that most people will hear some of their stuff and think it's all noise, but there are some underlying melodies to that, and it just really grips me. Even years before I started buying the albums, the first song I ever heard [Hello Skinny] really gripped me. I thought some of Alice Cooper's stuff was the creepiest I'd ever heard, and this was on par with that."

There was more I'd like to have added. "The Residents made the rest of my music collection sound frighteningly contrived and predictable for weeks. Some music tries to be non-conformist or whatever, but it still sticks to some kind of convention; for example, the same instruments of guitar, bass, drums."

"Also, like a lot of my favorite bands, they have over 30 years worth of music in their catalog. But because of their facelessness, they don't have a fan base divided between favorite line-ups, or jumping to conclusions that the band 'lost' something after changing some personnel or after some personal event."

He also asked what kind of people were in the audience. "I'd have to say that when I first saw them, that the audience there was easily the most diverse audience I ever saw at a show. There was some of the geeky crowd as I suspected, but others too. The ages ranged from 10 to people in their 60s, and the genders seemed to be balanced. Mostly white, but some blacks and asians. Some guys had mohawks, some were well-dressed."