recent visitors

you were on my mind

dear project leader:

i have a lot of favorite songs from when i was very young, even pre-school aged. my older sisters started my appreciation in pop music when i'd watch them ironing their hair in their bedroom, with 45 RPM records providing the soundtrack.

i always thought the lead singer on this record was a man. now i find out it's a man and a woman, singing in unison? hmmm. also, the lyrics have been interpreted to be about everything from a romantic breakup, to an effort to get off heroin.

i guess one hears whatever one relates to, huh? i'm going to go play this record loud, now.


you were on my mind, we five

amazon link: There Stands The Door - The Best Of We Five


When I woke up this morning
You were on my mind
You were on my mind
I got troubles, whoa-oh
I got worries, whoa-oh
I got wounds to bind

So I went to the corner
Just to ease my pain
Yeah, just to ease my pain
I got troubles, whoa-oh
I got worries, whoa-oh
I came home again

When I woke up this morning
You were on my mind
You were on my mind
I got troubles, whoa-oh
I got worries, whoa-oh
I got wounds to bind

And I got a feelin'
Down in my shoes, said
Way down in my shoes
Yeah, I got to ramble, whoa-oh
I got to move on, whoa-oh
I got to walk away my blues

When I woke up this morning
You were on my mind
You were on my mind
I got troubles, whoa-oh
I got worries, whoa-oh
I got wounds to bind

When I woke up this morning
You were on my mind

let's go surfing

dear project leader:

this song has been playing on my player fairly often the past few weeks.

music is no fun

music is no fun anymore.

you wouldn't know it today, but just 10 or 15 years ago, collecting music -- specifically records -- was fun. it was a hobby, and it took a significant amount of effort and funding.

now music...well, they can't give it away.

it's not because music is no good anymore. i'd argue that pop music has never been as good as it is today. there's seemingly no limit to what can be released, no limit to the number of artists or tracks that can get heard, and any genre can attain a respectable following, thanks to social networking being integrated into publishing and retail outlets.

but all that might cause the no-fun, too.

because it used to be that we'd learn of a new band or a new song in one of three ways: on the radio, on tv, or a chance overhearing at a record store. we tended to hear a lot of the same thing from radio and tv (whoever was popular in one, would be in another), and so coming across something a little outside mainstream pop or rock was pretty thrilling.

finding that something often took some research: if the radio didn't announce after the track played, you ended up asking around, humming or singing what you remember of the song to your friends and associates. then you'd scribble down the artist or title, and run to the record store before you lost the scrap of paper. the clerk would have no idea who you were asking about, so you'd go searching the tracks and not find it. off to the newsstand to read billboard charts, or browse a music or record collector's magazine, hoping to find an article that mentioned your new discovery.

take an example: pet shop boys' "euroboy". the track was rumored to exist for several months, but you probably didn't really know anybody who heard it directly, let alone had a copy....so the track remained just out of reach, until PSB released it on a B-side CD collection. and you were thrilled to finally have it, own it, ready to play whenever you wanted.



if by chance you could locate the physical record of an unreleased song, you handed over your wad of crumpled bills to the not-helpful clerk and drove home at 80 miles an hour eagerly anticipating the moments...

...the moments of slicing the cellophane wrap off the album cover...

...carefully bowing the sleeve just a bit so there was no chance of the virgin vinyl from getting scratched by microscopic dust particles inside the packaging...

...gently-oh-so-gently lining up the record with the turntable spindle, keeping the record in a perfectly horizontal position so no edge would hit the turntable before the other...

...bringing the arm and stylus over the record and slowly lowering it into position just off the first groove...

...waiting for that dull PLOP when the needle found the groove, which was also a signal for how high the volume was...

...and finally hearing the opening chords or whatever of the song you've worked so hard to find.

rapture.

that was owning music. you had a physical property in your hands that you could read, listen to, stare at, and display proudly to your friends.

today, holy-moly, music is being marketed everywhere by everyone: radio, tv, blogs, phone carriers, GAP, rev fred phelps...everyone! finding a song of which you only heard a snippet can be pretty easy: google the lyrics, hold your shazam-enabled iphone next to the speaker, etc.

and then instantly download it. nobody will ever know you have it; the artwork won't catch your eye as you walk past your hi-fi; and technically, you can't share it with anyone without the threat of a lawsuit, even though there's nothing THERE.

where's the fun in that?

but old habits die hard. when i used to spend weekend nights (and paychecks) combing record store racks, i now scan music blogs instead. youtube has become my best friend with whom i can reminisce over long-gone tv appearances of my favorite bands. i join fan clubs for a few weeks or years (or a few minutes) just to feel like i know everything i need to know about my latest obsession. and i'll be content for a few days...but the obsession generally doesn't last, because it was too effortless. i haven't earned it. so the hunt begins again the next week when i resume scanning to find my new latest obsession.

still...i share with you what i find most obsessive from one week to the next. i hope it thrills you for at least the 3 and a half minutes it thrilled me.

news

dear project leader:

this alien feels that he's seen this report before...

jaws baloney

dear project leader:

i received the groupon ad above in my mailbox today:

The Midwest is known for being the setting for all three Jaws movies and a bevy of delicious culinary creations.

what? the midwest is certainly not known for being the setting for "all three Jaws movies", of which there were actually four. so far.

the location of the first two movies was "amity island" (IRL martha's vineyard), in new england. the third, Jaws 3-d, was at the seaworld park in florida; the fourth, Jaws: the Revenge, on "amity island" and in the bahamas.

funny story: i actually saw 3-D and Revenge...what stoopid messes those were. Jaws 2 was actually almost decent. not decent, but almost. what it had going for it was a new score by john williams, who is/was most awesome.

funny wikipedia note:

No reference is made to the character development or events depicted in Jaws 3-D. In its predecessor, Michael is an engineer for SeaWorld, whereas here he is a marine research scientist.[1] Sean is not associated with the police force in Jaws 3-D, and there is no mention of their respective partners. Even one of the Universal Studios press releases for Jaws: The Revenge omits Jaws 3-D by referring to Jaws: The Revenge as the "third film of the remarkable Jaws trilogy."

http://www.groupon.com/san-diego/

brody misunderstood, john williams

blondie update - mark needham

dear project leader:

a couple of new photos have been posted of the band, as they record their new album. (the photo is a link to their source -- thanks to deborah-harrydotcom for the links.)

also, mark needham is now being listed as working on the new album. who is he? one who has worked with the following artists, among others:

fleetwood mac

chris isaak

the killers

metro station

and young love

i mean, seriously: i LOVED the killers album he worked on. metro station are very good, too. and young love's album was TERRIFIC.

the lovely bones

dear project leader:

the husband and i went to see peter jackson's interpretation of the lovely bones today. without a doubt, this is the worst movie ever made.

first, let's discuss the good aspects of this movie.

(blank)

okay, that's that. now the rest of it: mark wahlberg still sounds like your whiney little brother hyperventilating on helium, so buying into him as a 14 year old's dad just doesn't happen.

and susan sarandon as the saucy (literally) grandma is just an embarrassment. at one point, she has to take over mom duties of the bereaved family because mom ran off to california to pick apples in an orchard (of course, how else does one deal with grief). mind you, grandma's had kids of her own (hence, "grandma"), yet somehow, she has no idea how to run a 1970's washing machine.

and when your bad guy is made up in a bad wig and blue contact lenses, well, that's just distracting.

good fucking grief.

you know those sidewalk spray-can paintings of planets and galaxies that you can buy in vegas, or resort towns in mexico? that's what the dead girl's "heaven" images looked like. and still, the director, peter jackson, had the audacity to hitchcock himself into the movie (camera shop patron), when he well should have alan smithee'd himself out of it.

good fucking grief.

tagalongs?

tagalongs!

jealousy

dear project leader:

let's talk pet shop boys. the track, "jealousy" is a fine third single from their finest album, behaviour. lyrics that tell the story of crazystalkerobsession love, in an arrangement ending with an appropriately huge orchestral meltdown. 

the track also served as the anchor of an end-of-album trilogy: "nervously", "end of the world", and "jealousy". really, the whole album is a fine piece; but taking the last three tracks in one listen is the experience that sells.

i remember the drive home from the record store after purchasing the CD single, i popped it into the player with the volume way up, and the freeway melted away. i still feel that, almost 20 years later.

i wish i'd never met you

or that i could bear 

to let you go

jealousy, pet shop boys

livescribe pulse smartpen II

dear project leader:

remember how ecstatic i was regarding the pulse smartpen i got for xmas? WELL...i was just about to rant up a DO NOT BUY post, because of the battery that is not able to hold a charge more than 15 minutes.

suddenly i heard back from livescribe's customer "service" group (after over a week of non-response to my second inquiry)...telling me that "it sounds like" i have a defective battery. (ohreally?) livescribe offered (and delivered) to swap me a new pen.

the new pen is now charging up. more later. but for now...i's excited.

rediscovered track - girls

dear project leader:

i love it when i come across a track i downloaded several weeks ago and think, "oooh, what's that?" today's adorable is just that sort of song. who is this artist or group, girls? i don't know. but i know i love the song...all jangly-strummy guitar with rough-coarse vocals and the eff word all over the place. the vid, which i am not posting is pretty racy and worth checking out if you like that sort of thing.

please be advised that the following is not recommended for young ears.

but you dig it, right?


lust for life, girls

natalie portman's eyebrows II

dear project leader:

remember when i posted the comment about natalie portman's eyebrows a few weeks ago? here's what i was talking about:

the keywords "natalie portman's eyebrows" are the keywords that have driven the most traffic to this blog, just so you know.

they're the cheesiest

">

dvd / on-demand weekend

the mist: interesting combination of the fog, cloverfield, lord of the flies, and whatever else. the alien invaders were mysteriously obscure when they needed to be, and creepily real at other times. the pessimistic ending was fairly poignant, in that these movies rarely have such an outcome.
observe and report: it must be known that i really like seth rogen. that being the case, even a probably-not-so-good movie like this one was still entertaining. though anne faris played that goofy blonde role (again) perfectly (again); and seth knows how to rock 90's sweater-and-gold-chain outfits rather well; this movie was so, SO, not politically correct that it was...funny.
defiance: to be truthful, i was only watching this from the corner of my eye, so i can't really comment on it. interesting enough; like a very earnest (and thus, less entertaining) version of glorious basterds.
the god who wasn't there: (documentary) private (christian) high school graduate goes on a research binge to prove his high school wrong in their attempts to convert children into a fundamentalist christian POV. comes off a bit too self-centered by the end of the movie.