Open this in a separate window and play it while you read: John Lennon
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
You've probably heard that. You may have even heard it's by John Lennon. But do you know what song? Do you know the line that comes right before it?
It is from John's "Beautiful Boy", a song about his then five year old son. It's from John's final album, Double Fantasy. The line always seemed out of context to me. It is, alone, such a great line that I always assumed he shoehorned it in at the end of one of his latest songs at random because, you know, it's such a great line and it had to make the album even if he didn't have a complete song worthy of it. Turns out I was wrong.
Last year the Double Fantasy album was released in a "stripped down" mix supervised by Yoko Ono and original DF producer Jack Douglas. I finally got to the top of the queue for it at Hennepin County Library. It is really, really good. Way better. Way clearer. I always liked DF but the kinda '80s production was a barrier to totally loving the thing and really hearing the souls behind it.
So what is the little known line that sets up this better known line so beautifully?
"Before you cross the street take my hand."
When I listened to it in this new mix suddenly the connection was obvious. "Other plans" = crossing the street, going where you need to go. "Life" = holding hands. What you're going to do across the street - going to some office or something - matters not in the long run. Holding hands? Especially with your child? That's what it's all about. It's not about what you do. It's about how you do it and how you treat the people you're doing it with. This is a lesson I have to remind myself of over and over. I think it's part of what some people call wisdom.
I am now right about at the age John was when he wrote these two lines that so clearly belong together. Maybe I just had to get to where I am now to understand the song.
So check out the stripped down version of Double Fantasy. And pray with me that Yoko Ono somehow gets jurisdiction over Empire Burlesque!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
From Memphis With Love
You know, I'm seeing some ads for "From Paris With Love" on DVD or Blue-Ray or something and I just want to tell everyone I can - don't see that movie. The woman turns out to be a terrorist and Jonathan Rhys Meyers shoots her while she's wearing a suicide vest. There, now I've ruined it for you.
That misogynist climax is the least of this movie's problems. Don't see it. If I can stop even one person from wasting their time with that movie then I've done something good today.
Yes, I like John Travolta and Johnathan Rhys Meyers. Yes, I like action movies, buddy movies, and spy movies. Still, that movie sucked. It wasted the movie portion of a date night. It was horrible without being so horrible it's good. Don't see it. Sincerely. You're welcome.
That misogynist climax is the least of this movie's problems. Don't see it. If I can stop even one person from wasting their time with that movie then I've done something good today.
Yes, I like John Travolta and Johnathan Rhys Meyers. Yes, I like action movies, buddy movies, and spy movies. Still, that movie sucked. It wasted the movie portion of a date night. It was horrible without being so horrible it's good. Don't see it. Sincerely. You're welcome.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Help Me Fellow Songwriters and/or French Speakers
I think some of my friends speak French. Anyway, here is my idea. I have this song that I truly love called "Echo Some Tune" that I wrote in 2005 or so. It's a spooky ballad in 6/8 about the narrator staying in the Midwest while someone they love goes to California to follow a nebulous idea. Think Angel season four, Hitchcock's Vertigo, vampires, Free Fallin', Mullholland Drive, etc. I love the song but have never been 100% satisfied with it. I can't think of a first line that REALLY satisfies me. Here's where it's at right now:
Listen/download: Echo Some Tune
Why should you fight fair?
There's no cause to fight there
There's no one to turn to at all
Palm trees and loneliness
Sunshine and coke I guess
that's how far you had to fall
I wish that the courtyard apartment house life in L.A.
made you want to come back or at least maybe call - call
I listen for the sound's sweet sound
I listen for the time gone by
I listen to the bells' sweet toll
They're ringin' out the souls of men
Up in the tower
toll four times an hour
and twice a day Echo Some Tune
but the range of the mission's
been called into question
most people want naps after noon
The crosses and shadows on stucco and canyons are pretty
but sometimes the sun shines less bright than the moon - Oooh
We listen to the sound's sweet sound
We listen for the time gone by
We listen to the bells' sweet toll
They're ringin' out the souls of men
(instrumental)
Cordelia Mota
came from Some Dakota
but the West Coast was there on line two
My Vertigo Angel
whose feet somehow tangled
in the sand and the beautiful blue
At night you think that you're hearing the creatures who walk in the moon
try to talk but it's just me, the darkness, and you – you
You listen to the sound's sweet sound
You listen for the time gone by
You listen to the bells' sweet toll
You're wringin' out the souls of men
Yeah listen to the sound's sweet sound
Yeah listen for the time gone by
Yeah listen to the bells' sweet toll
They're ringin' out the soul of man
So what can you do? Give me a good first line. (And maybe a second line, if you must change it.) Why French? Because "la guerre" rhymes with "fight there" and I don't know enough French to get a line that says something like "Why are you fighting a meaningless/unwinnable/Pyrrhic war?". But it doesn't have to be French. It does, however, need roughly five syllables. I welcome all of your thoughts and ideas.
Listen/download: Echo Some Tune
Why should you fight fair?
There's no cause to fight there
There's no one to turn to at all
Palm trees and loneliness
Sunshine and coke I guess
that's how far you had to fall
I wish that the courtyard apartment house life in L.A.
made you want to come back or at least maybe call - call
I listen for the sound's sweet sound
I listen for the time gone by
I listen to the bells' sweet toll
They're ringin' out the souls of men
Up in the tower
toll four times an hour
and twice a day Echo Some Tune
but the range of the mission's
been called into question
most people want naps after noon
The crosses and shadows on stucco and canyons are pretty
but sometimes the sun shines less bright than the moon - Oooh
We listen to the sound's sweet sound
We listen for the time gone by
We listen to the bells' sweet toll
They're ringin' out the souls of men
(instrumental)
Cordelia Mota
came from Some Dakota
but the West Coast was there on line two
My Vertigo Angel
whose feet somehow tangled
in the sand and the beautiful blue
At night you think that you're hearing the creatures who walk in the moon
try to talk but it's just me, the darkness, and you – you
You listen to the sound's sweet sound
You listen for the time gone by
You listen to the bells' sweet toll
You're wringin' out the souls of men
Yeah listen to the sound's sweet sound
Yeah listen for the time gone by
Yeah listen to the bells' sweet toll
They're ringin' out the soul of man
So what can you do? Give me a good first line. (And maybe a second line, if you must change it.) Why French? Because "la guerre" rhymes with "fight there" and I don't know enough French to get a line that says something like "Why are you fighting a meaningless/unwinnable/Pyrrhic war?". But it doesn't have to be French. It does, however, need roughly five syllables. I welcome all of your thoughts and ideas.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Twelve Very Sad Musician Deaths
Elvis. His last album, Moody Blue, still sounds fresh, new, emotional, and fascinating. It pointed the way for much of what I remember of the next five years or so of music, especially early '80s country, which all sounds derived from "For The Heart" and "Moody Blue" and "He'll Have To Go". He was still active and creative and innovative and I'd love to know what he would have done for the last thirty years or so.
John Lennon. Possibly the saddest, most shocking, senseless, unfair rock star death ever. He wasn't effed up on drugs. He had a five year old son he loved, a smart, loving wife and collaborator, a new album (Double Fantasy) that was the best thing he'd done in almost ten years, and a public ready and waiting to welcome him back from his self-imposed exile. And he was only 40!
George Harrison. The last album (Brainwashed) is brilliant, the equal of anything he'd ever done. I would love for him to have gotten another twenty or thirty years; both for his own music and so he could hear the excellent music his son is now making (Fistful of Mercy) and tell him in person how proud he was.
Kirsty MacColl. Again the fantastic creative leap of the last album (Tropical Brainstorm) pointing the way to what else she might have done. She also never got the widespread, A-list acclaim she deserved for her outstanding songwriting.
Kurt Cobain. Nirvana is still the most interesting thing on modern rock radio, despite the familiarity of all the tunes. I never switch stations when "Lithium" or even "Smells Like Teen Spirit" comes on. I started teaching guitar the year he died and I always felt like the kids really learned something musically important by playing his songs.
Jimi Hendrix. What would he have done next? What would he be doing now? I can't even imagine it and neither can anyone else. That's what's so frustrating about a lot of the people on this list. A sense of an unfulfilled mission, the continuation of which would have benefitted the entire world. Perhaps most especially...
John Coltrane. His last recordings were the most extreme, intense, intelligent thing anyone had ever done and no one has ever matched him. Would he have topped himself somehow and showed us something even more new and revolutionary? The frustrating answer is that only he had the mind, the technique, the feeling, and the soul to do whatever it is he would have done next. You could make a case that an entire genre died with him.
Janis Joplin. Wouldn't it be cool to have some late '70s Janis albums? They would sound so soulful and rockin' and mellow by turns and probably sometimes all at once.
John Stenseth. My favorite regular performer at St. Olaf's Larson Coffeehouse by a wide margin and the only one to whom I willingly, enthusiastically surrendered the open mic night stage back in the day. His 12-string was a marvelous machine of melody and rhythm and his voice was a fountain of soul. It makes me question the very nature of existence that he, of all people, died so young.
Sandy Denny. I only recently discovered for myself the true glory and power of this British singer/songwriter, a giant of folk, and I look forward to hearing everything else she ever did and I'm sure I'll get to the point where I am knowledgeable enough to wish there was another thirty years of it.
Chris Bell. His post-Big Star recordings (I Am The Cosmos) are really excellent and I'd love to see where he would have gone. Plus, Like John L. above, his band's inevitable reunion would have been a lot more interesting and authentic.
Alex Chilton. He seems to have been pretty much done with studio recordings but his shows were still great, be they with Big Star, The Box Tops, or solo. I would've liked to have seen him another time or two.
Ars longa, vita brevis.
R.I.P.
Wish You Were Here.
John Lennon. Possibly the saddest, most shocking, senseless, unfair rock star death ever. He wasn't effed up on drugs. He had a five year old son he loved, a smart, loving wife and collaborator, a new album (Double Fantasy) that was the best thing he'd done in almost ten years, and a public ready and waiting to welcome him back from his self-imposed exile. And he was only 40!
George Harrison. The last album (Brainwashed) is brilliant, the equal of anything he'd ever done. I would love for him to have gotten another twenty or thirty years; both for his own music and so he could hear the excellent music his son is now making (Fistful of Mercy) and tell him in person how proud he was.
Kirsty MacColl. Again the fantastic creative leap of the last album (Tropical Brainstorm) pointing the way to what else she might have done. She also never got the widespread, A-list acclaim she deserved for her outstanding songwriting.
Kurt Cobain. Nirvana is still the most interesting thing on modern rock radio, despite the familiarity of all the tunes. I never switch stations when "Lithium" or even "Smells Like Teen Spirit" comes on. I started teaching guitar the year he died and I always felt like the kids really learned something musically important by playing his songs.
Jimi Hendrix. What would he have done next? What would he be doing now? I can't even imagine it and neither can anyone else. That's what's so frustrating about a lot of the people on this list. A sense of an unfulfilled mission, the continuation of which would have benefitted the entire world. Perhaps most especially...
John Coltrane. His last recordings were the most extreme, intense, intelligent thing anyone had ever done and no one has ever matched him. Would he have topped himself somehow and showed us something even more new and revolutionary? The frustrating answer is that only he had the mind, the technique, the feeling, and the soul to do whatever it is he would have done next. You could make a case that an entire genre died with him.
Janis Joplin. Wouldn't it be cool to have some late '70s Janis albums? They would sound so soulful and rockin' and mellow by turns and probably sometimes all at once.
John Stenseth. My favorite regular performer at St. Olaf's Larson Coffeehouse by a wide margin and the only one to whom I willingly, enthusiastically surrendered the open mic night stage back in the day. His 12-string was a marvelous machine of melody and rhythm and his voice was a fountain of soul. It makes me question the very nature of existence that he, of all people, died so young.
Sandy Denny. I only recently discovered for myself the true glory and power of this British singer/songwriter, a giant of folk, and I look forward to hearing everything else she ever did and I'm sure I'll get to the point where I am knowledgeable enough to wish there was another thirty years of it.
Chris Bell. His post-Big Star recordings (I Am The Cosmos) are really excellent and I'd love to see where he would have gone. Plus, Like John L. above, his band's inevitable reunion would have been a lot more interesting and authentic.
Alex Chilton. He seems to have been pretty much done with studio recordings but his shows were still great, be they with Big Star, The Box Tops, or solo. I would've liked to have seen him another time or two.
Ars longa, vita brevis.
R.I.P.
Wish You Were Here.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
I Forgot How Good It Was
Recently something possessed me to pull out Tracy Chapman's eponymous 1988 debut album. I used to play some of those songs in one of my bands in college and I remembered liking the album throughout high school and college. I listened to it this week and it was absolutely amazing. Why?
-Unlike some 95 percent of albums recorded in the 1980s it hasn't aged a day. The instrumentation, the production, the lyrics, the style - all of it could have been done at any time in the last forty years. It sounds great.
-The words are clear and have not become trite or meaningless. If anything, the words are even more relevant and meaningful now than when they were written in Reagan's '80s. The very first time we listened to it the kids were asking questions about what the singer was saying and we had some good conversations about it. (Child: "Why did he say it would do no good to call the police?" Yes, I remember not being sure if the singer was a man or a woman the first time I heard Fast Car on the radio. So right there it's expanding their consciousness and possibilities by introducing a woman who doesn't look or sound like a Disney princess. And we learn that different people have different experiences with government services.)
-Like the other contemporary Elektra label albums by Billy Bragg (Worker's Playtime) and They Might Be Giants (Flood) I hear and notice new things revealed every time I listen to it. (Good gracious, was Elektra on a super hot streak from 1988-1990 or what?)
-It has never been remastered for modern radio so it is not horribly compressed. There are truly quiet and loud parts, but not to the extent that you have to keep turning it up and down.
-The songs are catchy and I literally dreamed about them last night. Chapman is a brilliant writer of words and music and the production focuses perfectly on the hooks and the meanings and the melodies. It's basically just one of those rare, perfect albums like Ziggy Stardust or Abbey Road where everyone involved got everything just right.
Seeing as how it sold six million in the US alone, several used copies of it are available at amazon for under a dollar. What's stopping you? Be inspired.
-Unlike some 95 percent of albums recorded in the 1980s it hasn't aged a day. The instrumentation, the production, the lyrics, the style - all of it could have been done at any time in the last forty years. It sounds great.
-The words are clear and have not become trite or meaningless. If anything, the words are even more relevant and meaningful now than when they were written in Reagan's '80s. The very first time we listened to it the kids were asking questions about what the singer was saying and we had some good conversations about it. (Child: "Why did he say it would do no good to call the police?" Yes, I remember not being sure if the singer was a man or a woman the first time I heard Fast Car on the radio. So right there it's expanding their consciousness and possibilities by introducing a woman who doesn't look or sound like a Disney princess. And we learn that different people have different experiences with government services.)
-Like the other contemporary Elektra label albums by Billy Bragg (Worker's Playtime) and They Might Be Giants (Flood) I hear and notice new things revealed every time I listen to it. (Good gracious, was Elektra on a super hot streak from 1988-1990 or what?)
-It has never been remastered for modern radio so it is not horribly compressed. There are truly quiet and loud parts, but not to the extent that you have to keep turning it up and down.
-The songs are catchy and I literally dreamed about them last night. Chapman is a brilliant writer of words and music and the production focuses perfectly on the hooks and the meanings and the melodies. It's basically just one of those rare, perfect albums like Ziggy Stardust or Abbey Road where everyone involved got everything just right.
Seeing as how it sold six million in the US alone, several used copies of it are available at amazon for under a dollar. What's stopping you? Be inspired.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Great GUH Show
The first Great Uncle Helmer show of the 2010 Toys For Tots drive was a big success. Thanks to everyone who came out and enjoyed it. I certainly did. (Complete set list) Highlights?
Like most songwriters and musicians in general, I most love playing new stuff that I'm really excited about. Karl's new song "Great Big Decisions" is really terrific to the extent that I'm going to set up a whole new page of greatunclehlemer.com just to give you the demo he sent me here for free. It was a bit sloppy but it WAS the first time we'd tried it.
Pete and Carrie Rivard were there and played on opposite sides of the room toward the back, something I'd discussed with Pete on the phone. The small room made the surround sound a very appealing option, with instruments not really requiring amplification. It was a pretty cool effect, even from where I was standing. They played Kansas City, Nebraska, Katherine's Wasteland, and Total Peace with us.
We did the prequest Ron Cey, in which I succumbed to my traditional stumble over my favorite line, the most crucial of the entire song: "Took this long to learn it's okay that the seasons turn".
Another new song was "The Wicklund Rose", one of two songs I've written recently about stuff in my backyard. I really got into it and was glad the room became quiet and seemed to pay attention. (I say seemed only because I don't know for sure. I had my eyes shut.) Karl played a great harmonica solo and some nice answer phrases on the final verse.
The official, colon-heavy "Great Uncle Helmer: Toys For Tots 2010: New Song Showcase: Memphis: I Am The Devil" featuring the debut of that song felt really great to me. I just wrote that song this week about the lies the devil tells us and it still feels immensely powerful to me.
That was one of three fairly new Memphis songs (Wicklund Rose, I Am The Devil, and Hey, Where Mah Shed Done Gone) that were influenced heavily by the Sandy Denny album Where The Time Goes and its pure, beautiful, acoustic, English folk music. Man, that is a beautiful album. I think the last album that inspired me to write three whole songs so quickly and easily was way back in 1999 with Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs. They just make it seem so easy and meaningful. (Those were One More Day, Swqeatshirt, and Please Applaud, incidentally.)
In addition to the new songs, we also resurrected The Road Goes Ever On and Palindromes. It was fun to reconnect with these songs we hadn't played in a while. Julio made its live debut as a two verse song. That was satisfying to me. And I loved having the room stomp and clap along on Car of Jonas (where the only instrument was Karl's ukelele) and Total Peace, with Bill there bootlegging it.
Was the haiku joke too subtle? We'll try it again Wednesday.
Karl pulled out his notebook and threw something out that might be called "They Were Talkin' Eva Braun" and I really enjoyed that. His official "Great Uncle Helmer: Toys For Tots 2010: New Song Showcase: Karl: I Ran My Car For President" had a lot of potential as well.
We closed with Powerful Statement, Behind the Curtain, and Illusions of Banjeur and headed out into the night. GUH enjoyed talking to $2 Bill in the freezing cold and I particularly loved the opportunity to tell the self-deprecating story of the time I called the police on a mysterious beeping. It was a great night. Thanks to everyone who came and to Fireroast Mountain Coffee. We hope to see you again Wednesday at the Grand Avenue Dunn Bros. Facebook event.
Like most songwriters and musicians in general, I most love playing new stuff that I'm really excited about. Karl's new song "Great Big Decisions" is really terrific to the extent that I'm going to set up a whole new page of greatunclehlemer.com just to give you the demo he sent me here for free. It was a bit sloppy but it WAS the first time we'd tried it.
Pete and Carrie Rivard were there and played on opposite sides of the room toward the back, something I'd discussed with Pete on the phone. The small room made the surround sound a very appealing option, with instruments not really requiring amplification. It was a pretty cool effect, even from where I was standing. They played Kansas City, Nebraska, Katherine's Wasteland, and Total Peace with us.
We did the prequest Ron Cey, in which I succumbed to my traditional stumble over my favorite line, the most crucial of the entire song: "Took this long to learn it's okay that the seasons turn".
Another new song was "The Wicklund Rose", one of two songs I've written recently about stuff in my backyard. I really got into it and was glad the room became quiet and seemed to pay attention. (I say seemed only because I don't know for sure. I had my eyes shut.) Karl played a great harmonica solo and some nice answer phrases on the final verse.
The official, colon-heavy "Great Uncle Helmer: Toys For Tots 2010: New Song Showcase: Memphis: I Am The Devil" featuring the debut of that song felt really great to me. I just wrote that song this week about the lies the devil tells us and it still feels immensely powerful to me.
That was one of three fairly new Memphis songs (Wicklund Rose, I Am The Devil, and Hey, Where Mah Shed Done Gone) that were influenced heavily by the Sandy Denny album Where The Time Goes and its pure, beautiful, acoustic, English folk music. Man, that is a beautiful album. I think the last album that inspired me to write three whole songs so quickly and easily was way back in 1999 with Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs. They just make it seem so easy and meaningful. (Those were One More Day, Swqeatshirt, and Please Applaud, incidentally.)
In addition to the new songs, we also resurrected The Road Goes Ever On and Palindromes. It was fun to reconnect with these songs we hadn't played in a while. Julio made its live debut as a two verse song. That was satisfying to me. And I loved having the room stomp and clap along on Car of Jonas (where the only instrument was Karl's ukelele) and Total Peace, with Bill there bootlegging it.
Was the haiku joke too subtle? We'll try it again Wednesday.
Karl pulled out his notebook and threw something out that might be called "They Were Talkin' Eva Braun" and I really enjoyed that. His official "Great Uncle Helmer: Toys For Tots 2010: New Song Showcase: Karl: I Ran My Car For President" had a lot of potential as well.
We closed with Powerful Statement, Behind the Curtain, and Illusions of Banjeur and headed out into the night. GUH enjoyed talking to $2 Bill in the freezing cold and I particularly loved the opportunity to tell the self-deprecating story of the time I called the police on a mysterious beeping. It was a great night. Thanks to everyone who came and to Fireroast Mountain Coffee. We hope to see you again Wednesday at the Grand Avenue Dunn Bros. Facebook event.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Parallel Lives
On August 4, 1982, Major League Baseball player Joel Youngblood became the only player in history to get hits for two different teams in two different cities on the same day. He got a single for the Mets at Shea Stadium then was taken out of the game and traded to the Cubs. The Cubs were playing the Phillies in Philadelphia and Youngblood raced to Philly and got a single there as well. (Thanks, vague childhood memory of a commemorative baseball card and modern day Wikipedia!)
On October 22, I made a similar kind of history. It had been a while since I had taken the clipper to my head and my hair was (for me) somewhat wild. In the morning when I went out in public I used the Totally Transparent Vain Hair Dodge For Men of wearing a baseball cap because I had not taken a shower.
Later that day, as I prepared for a show with Skittish, I got around to shaving my hair down to as close to nothing as I can get with an electric trimmer. (I've tried shaving my head once with a blade and it's...bad.) That night, when I again went out in public, I used the Totally Transparent Vain Hair Dodge For Men of going as bald as possible to disguise male pattern baldness and gray.
I'm just a busy guy trying to live his life with only the slightest nod in the direction of societal mores regarding hair care. I don't care to make time for it anymore like I used to when I had a long, luxurious ponytail. Does that make me a hero? I don't know. You decide.
On October 22, I made a similar kind of history. It had been a while since I had taken the clipper to my head and my hair was (for me) somewhat wild. In the morning when I went out in public I used the Totally Transparent Vain Hair Dodge For Men of wearing a baseball cap because I had not taken a shower.
Later that day, as I prepared for a show with Skittish, I got around to shaving my hair down to as close to nothing as I can get with an electric trimmer. (I've tried shaving my head once with a blade and it's...bad.) That night, when I again went out in public, I used the Totally Transparent Vain Hair Dodge For Men of going as bald as possible to disguise male pattern baldness and gray.
I'm just a busy guy trying to live his life with only the slightest nod in the direction of societal mores regarding hair care. I don't care to make time for it anymore like I used to when I had a long, luxurious ponytail. Does that make me a hero? I don't know. You decide.
Friday, November 05, 2010
Well Done, Library
When there is something I want to read, I look for it at the library because I am cheap and I don't want to fill my house up with books any more than it is already so. When a book is not at the library I get the necessary information from amazon and fill out the "suggest a title" form from hclib.org. Then, back on amazon, I add the book to my private "recommended to library" wish list.
Periodically, especially when I am between books with nothing in mind to read next, as I was recently, I check on whether any of my recommendations have been purchased. I'd say this whole system works less than 10% of the time.
However!
The library recently purchased no fewer than thirteen Star Wars novels from the '90s chronicling the adventures of Luke, Han, Leia, etc. and their kids. Thirteen! Several of these were books in trilogies of which they had a maddening one or two. With a sense of a job well done, I moved them to my "purchased by library" list. Fellow nerds of Hennepin County, you're welcome. Enjoy. (Please note the "On Order" status of most of these books.)
Tales From The Mos Eisley Cantina
Tales from Jabba's Palace
Shadows of the Empire
Star Wars: The Hand of Thrawn: Specter of the Past (Book 1)
Star Wars: The Corellian Trilogy: Assault at Selonia (Book 2)
Star Wars: The Corellian Trilogy: Showdown at Centerpoint (Book 3)
Star Wars: The Han Solo Trilogy: The Paradise Snare (Book 1)
The New Rebellion
Star Wars: The Black Fleet Crisis: Before the Storm (Book 1)
Star Wars: The Black Fleet Crisis: Shield of Lies (Book 2)
The Crystal Star
Children of the Jedi
Star Wars: Republic Commando: True Colors (Book 3)
In the wake of this week's elections, this qualifies as activism. It's what I can do for our community.
Still waiting for them to get "The Lando Calrissian Adventures" Omnibus...
Periodically, especially when I am between books with nothing in mind to read next, as I was recently, I check on whether any of my recommendations have been purchased. I'd say this whole system works less than 10% of the time.
However!
The library recently purchased no fewer than thirteen Star Wars novels from the '90s chronicling the adventures of Luke, Han, Leia, etc. and their kids. Thirteen! Several of these were books in trilogies of which they had a maddening one or two. With a sense of a job well done, I moved them to my "purchased by library" list. Fellow nerds of Hennepin County, you're welcome. Enjoy. (Please note the "On Order" status of most of these books.)
Tales From The Mos Eisley Cantina
Tales from Jabba's Palace
Shadows of the Empire
Star Wars: The Hand of Thrawn: Specter of the Past (Book 1)
Star Wars: The Corellian Trilogy: Assault at Selonia (Book 2)
Star Wars: The Corellian Trilogy: Showdown at Centerpoint (Book 3)
Star Wars: The Han Solo Trilogy: The Paradise Snare (Book 1)
The New Rebellion
Star Wars: The Black Fleet Crisis: Before the Storm (Book 1)
Star Wars: The Black Fleet Crisis: Shield of Lies (Book 2)
The Crystal Star
Children of the Jedi
Star Wars: Republic Commando: True Colors (Book 3)
In the wake of this week's elections, this qualifies as activism. It's what I can do for our community.
Still waiting for them to get "The Lando Calrissian Adventures" Omnibus...
Friday, October 22, 2010
The Electorate With A Pearl Earring
My last detour into the political in this blog turned out well, with thoughtful, encouraging comments. Here is another.
A lot of Democrats or even just intelligent people are concerned about this upcoming election. Those of us with long enough memories might realize that 2010 is just 1994 all over again, only a touch crazier. Let's remember together. (Please wave your hands in front of your face Wayne's World style and say "doodle-oodle-oo, doodle-oodle-oo!")
A charismatic Democrat has taken over for an inarticulate guy named Bush who ruined the economy, tried unsuccessfully to make Iraq the 51st state, and made that middle ten percent of voters swing solidly Democrat. The Democrat won a decisive presidential election victory. Young people especially loved him.
In his first two years in office the Democrat has not completely fixed everything and voters are angry. The Democrat has even had to compromise on some of his campaign initiatives, for example those involving the health care system and allowing gay people to serve openly into the military. Republicans are capitalizing on this voter anger with their traditionally effective appeals to ignorance, fear, greed, racism, etc.
Newt Gingrich appears on the scene. The Democrats lose their majorities in Congress. Eventually the battles between the legislature and the executive become so pronounced that the government has to shut down for a few days. In the election two years later voters realize it wasn't all the Democratic president's fault. The Republican candidate implodes under pressure and the Democrat wins a second term in office. The Democrat basically does a good job, the economy recovers, and America doesn't start any protracted, misguided wars.
Now back to now. It's 2010 again (Why am I suddenly 20 pounds heavier? Dammit!) and we can all hope that 2010-2016 will go so well as 1994-2000, even if I do not run the Twin Cities Marathon again.
Which memory leads to two personal memories regarding that 1994 election:
I remember playing a Great Uncle Helmer show at the old location of Hogan Brothers in Northfield a day or two after the 1994 election and we played our original song "Richard Nixon" as a protest. Democrats, including both members of GUH, were disappointed and worried. Gingrich's Contract On America seemed to be a death knell for the beloved country we had known. But the system of checks and balances and the constant swaying back and forth of that fickle, easily angered, middle ten percent of voters with short memories did its magical work.
As I remember it, the biggest thing that happened as a result of the battles between the Republican legislature and the Democratic executive was that they had to shut down the government entirely for a few days because they couldn't agree on how to spend our money. I happened to be in D.C. at the time and the only thing that was open on The (rather glorious, highly recommended) Mall downtown was an exhibit by the artist Vermeer. A friend and I put on our thickest winter coats and waited in an incredibly long (outdoor) line of remarkably good spirited fellow Americans. We saw the legendary, beautiful "Girl With A Pearl Earring" and, I think, one where a woman is sitting looking out a bright window to the left of the viewer.
So if, in a year or so, the only thing of which the government is capable for a few days is putting on an exhibit of luminous, elevating paintings, so be it.
Finally, remember to go see the band for which I am playing bass tonight at Station Four in St. Paul. It's the Skittish CD release party! How does that tie in? Hmmm. I think most of my bandmates in Skittish were still young children in 1994. Does that work?
A lot of Democrats or even just intelligent people are concerned about this upcoming election. Those of us with long enough memories might realize that 2010 is just 1994 all over again, only a touch crazier. Let's remember together. (Please wave your hands in front of your face Wayne's World style and say "doodle-oodle-oo, doodle-oodle-oo!")
A charismatic Democrat has taken over for an inarticulate guy named Bush who ruined the economy, tried unsuccessfully to make Iraq the 51st state, and made that middle ten percent of voters swing solidly Democrat. The Democrat won a decisive presidential election victory. Young people especially loved him.
In his first two years in office the Democrat has not completely fixed everything and voters are angry. The Democrat has even had to compromise on some of his campaign initiatives, for example those involving the health care system and allowing gay people to serve openly into the military. Republicans are capitalizing on this voter anger with their traditionally effective appeals to ignorance, fear, greed, racism, etc.
Newt Gingrich appears on the scene. The Democrats lose their majorities in Congress. Eventually the battles between the legislature and the executive become so pronounced that the government has to shut down for a few days. In the election two years later voters realize it wasn't all the Democratic president's fault. The Republican candidate implodes under pressure and the Democrat wins a second term in office. The Democrat basically does a good job, the economy recovers, and America doesn't start any protracted, misguided wars.
Now back to now. It's 2010 again (Why am I suddenly 20 pounds heavier? Dammit!) and we can all hope that 2010-2016 will go so well as 1994-2000, even if I do not run the Twin Cities Marathon again.
Which memory leads to two personal memories regarding that 1994 election:
I remember playing a Great Uncle Helmer show at the old location of Hogan Brothers in Northfield a day or two after the 1994 election and we played our original song "Richard Nixon" as a protest. Democrats, including both members of GUH, were disappointed and worried. Gingrich's Contract On America seemed to be a death knell for the beloved country we had known. But the system of checks and balances and the constant swaying back and forth of that fickle, easily angered, middle ten percent of voters with short memories did its magical work.
As I remember it, the biggest thing that happened as a result of the battles between the Republican legislature and the Democratic executive was that they had to shut down the government entirely for a few days because they couldn't agree on how to spend our money. I happened to be in D.C. at the time and the only thing that was open on The (rather glorious, highly recommended) Mall downtown was an exhibit by the artist Vermeer. A friend and I put on our thickest winter coats and waited in an incredibly long (outdoor) line of remarkably good spirited fellow Americans. We saw the legendary, beautiful "Girl With A Pearl Earring" and, I think, one where a woman is sitting looking out a bright window to the left of the viewer.
So if, in a year or so, the only thing of which the government is capable for a few days is putting on an exhibit of luminous, elevating paintings, so be it.
Finally, remember to go see the band for which I am playing bass tonight at Station Four in St. Paul. It's the Skittish CD release party! How does that tie in? Hmmm. I think most of my bandmates in Skittish were still young children in 1994. Does that work?
Monday, October 04, 2010
Helden
You could swim do gives can win are us you like dolphins dolphins it no one a chance yet we for always and
always and we then heros for a day
I I am unbeatably seem are then king and you you queen although it becoming we heros for a day we then we this
day
I I believe was tear kiss to dream that the wall in the back coldly the shots the air yet we as if does
nothing happen and that shamed fell on its side oh, we can it strike for all times then are we heros only this
day then are we heros then are we heros then are we heros only this day
Then we are heros
always and we then heros for a day
I I am unbeatably seem are then king and you you queen although it becoming we heros for a day we then we this
day
I I believe was tear kiss to dream that the wall in the back coldly the shots the air yet we as if does
nothing happen and that shamed fell on its side oh, we can it strike for all times then are we heros only this
day then are we heros then are we heros then are we heros only this day
Then we are heros
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Political Nonsense
Billy Bragg is a hero of mine and at least half his facebook posts are enlightening comments on issues of the day. I've enjoyed some spirited political conversations with people whose views are on either side of mine lately. So, you know, this occurred to me:
I am beginning to think that a person who has the following characteristics:
1. Doesn't spend more money than he has and has largely avoided credit card debt and overdraft fees
2. Has obtained health insurance and makes some effort to stay well
3. Cares for his children and likes to see them more in summer and take them on vacations
4. Believes gay marriage is a basic civil right
5. Is not a major corporation and/or bank that the free market has left an abject failure
6. Favors lower taxes, including property taxes and estate taxes
7. Is against more death in unwinnable wars
has no further reason to support Barack Obama. Longer school years? RUFing kidding me? More Afghanistan? Throw another bad idea out there. Forget it. I am unsubscribing from your twitter feed and facebook page. I am barfing up the kool-aid.
The longer school years was just the last straw:
"That (extra) month makes a difference," the president said. "It means that kids are losing a lot of what they learn during the school year during the summer. It's especially severe for poorer kids who may not see as many books in the house during the summers, aren't getting as many educational opportunities." (full article)
Is there not already summer school for the kids to whom this applies? Schools and teachers are already under enough stress. I am young enough to remember school in June and how pointless and empty it seemed by then. I can't imagine what it would be like in July. What useless facts I lost over the summer I more than gained in relaxation, social interaction, and vacations. I can't believe I'm siding with Kansans:
"It's been tried," (Kansas state education commissioner Diane DeBacker) said, describing one instance of a Topeka-area elementary school that scrapped year-round schooling after just one year. "The community was just not ready for kids to be in school all summer long. Kids wanted to go swimming. Their families wanted to go on vacation." (ibid.)
Duh! I thought I was too cynical to be bitterly disappointed. Turns out I was wrong. FAIL! DISAPPROVE!
Still, I'll probably vote for Obama in 2012 just because the Republican option will be so incredibly much more totally repulsive. Palin? As if. Pawlenty? Ick. Minnesotans know firsthand the damage he would do to cops, schools, homeowners, cities, bridges, etc.
The sad thing is, I think Obama is trying and I share many of his goals. However, as with any ideologue, there are too many unintended consequences to everything he's trying to legislate.
If you limit the fees banks can charge to delinquent customers, banks do not just say, "Aw, shucks. I guess we'll make less money now." They start charging fees and higher interest rates to responsible customers. News flash: I worked at a bank. Banks are not your rich friend who loves you and wants to help you out. Banks are an entirely profit-driven business who encourage their employees to project the illusion of caring. Especially when it means getting more of your money. If this were a speech I would say, "Let me repeat that" and repeat the sentence before that last one, so read it again.
Like banks, health insurers will also not simply shrug their shoulders and accept their new, more charitable and less profitable role as envisioned by Obama. I have paid thousands for (mostly) private health insurance over the years and have barely broken even on the gamble and then only because my appendix burst. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when Obama's ideological health care bill kicks in I'm betting my premiums will eventually go up without any corresponding increase in coverage. I get the sense from reading the articles that I will be financing the care of those less fortunate and those who do not take particularly good care of themselves to an even larger degree than I already have been.
I hate the hundreds of trillions of dollars in bailouts for failing companies and their overpaid CEOs. Like the wars, they began with Bush and I had hoped Obama would end them. Fuck! How cynical do I have to become about government and politicians before I am never again disappointed? Answer: Extremely. No. Extremely was not enough. Answer: Completely. Tell me why I'm wrong. Please. Someone. Anyone.
I am beginning to think that a person who has the following characteristics:
1. Doesn't spend more money than he has and has largely avoided credit card debt and overdraft fees
2. Has obtained health insurance and makes some effort to stay well
3. Cares for his children and likes to see them more in summer and take them on vacations
4. Believes gay marriage is a basic civil right
5. Is not a major corporation and/or bank that the free market has left an abject failure
6. Favors lower taxes, including property taxes and estate taxes
7. Is against more death in unwinnable wars
has no further reason to support Barack Obama. Longer school years? RUFing kidding me? More Afghanistan? Throw another bad idea out there. Forget it. I am unsubscribing from your twitter feed and facebook page. I am barfing up the kool-aid.
The longer school years was just the last straw:
"That (extra) month makes a difference," the president said. "It means that kids are losing a lot of what they learn during the school year during the summer. It's especially severe for poorer kids who may not see as many books in the house during the summers, aren't getting as many educational opportunities." (full article)
Is there not already summer school for the kids to whom this applies? Schools and teachers are already under enough stress. I am young enough to remember school in June and how pointless and empty it seemed by then. I can't imagine what it would be like in July. What useless facts I lost over the summer I more than gained in relaxation, social interaction, and vacations. I can't believe I'm siding with Kansans:
"It's been tried," (Kansas state education commissioner Diane DeBacker) said, describing one instance of a Topeka-area elementary school that scrapped year-round schooling after just one year. "The community was just not ready for kids to be in school all summer long. Kids wanted to go swimming. Their families wanted to go on vacation." (ibid.)
Duh! I thought I was too cynical to be bitterly disappointed. Turns out I was wrong. FAIL! DISAPPROVE!
Still, I'll probably vote for Obama in 2012 just because the Republican option will be so incredibly much more totally repulsive. Palin? As if. Pawlenty? Ick. Minnesotans know firsthand the damage he would do to cops, schools, homeowners, cities, bridges, etc.
The sad thing is, I think Obama is trying and I share many of his goals. However, as with any ideologue, there are too many unintended consequences to everything he's trying to legislate.
If you limit the fees banks can charge to delinquent customers, banks do not just say, "Aw, shucks. I guess we'll make less money now." They start charging fees and higher interest rates to responsible customers. News flash: I worked at a bank. Banks are not your rich friend who loves you and wants to help you out. Banks are an entirely profit-driven business who encourage their employees to project the illusion of caring. Especially when it means getting more of your money. If this were a speech I would say, "Let me repeat that" and repeat the sentence before that last one, so read it again.
Like banks, health insurers will also not simply shrug their shoulders and accept their new, more charitable and less profitable role as envisioned by Obama. I have paid thousands for (mostly) private health insurance over the years and have barely broken even on the gamble and then only because my appendix burst. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when Obama's ideological health care bill kicks in I'm betting my premiums will eventually go up without any corresponding increase in coverage. I get the sense from reading the articles that I will be financing the care of those less fortunate and those who do not take particularly good care of themselves to an even larger degree than I already have been.
I hate the hundreds of trillions of dollars in bailouts for failing companies and their overpaid CEOs. Like the wars, they began with Bush and I had hoped Obama would end them. Fuck! How cynical do I have to become about government and politicians before I am never again disappointed? Answer: Extremely. No. Extremely was not enough. Answer: Completely. Tell me why I'm wrong. Please. Someone. Anyone.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The Onion: News Before It Happens, part 2
About two years ago I spotlighted the ability of The Onion, America's Finest Source for being Number One in News, to publish stories that at the time seem fictional, but later come true. (Old post).
It has happened again. Here are the links:
August 18: The Onion
Almost two weeks later, August 31: Yahoo! News Story
Seriously, The Onion IS the best newspaper to read if you really want to understand what is happening in the world.
It has happened again. Here are the links:
August 18: The Onion
Almost two weeks later, August 31: Yahoo! News Story
Seriously, The Onion IS the best newspaper to read if you really want to understand what is happening in the world.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Reconstructing Country Proud
So there was this cassette we had when I was a kid. I didn't know there were thousands upon thousands of albums and artists and K-Tel made budget priced compilations and so on. I just knew there was the Beatles and Jesus Christ Superstar on records and there was this tape that we played incessantly in the car on family road trips and I liked it most of the time.
It is available at amazon in its original cassette form, but only used, and only from people who are interested in gouging you for your memories. Minimum price for a 26 year old cassette is currently $24.95. Yeah, ouch. Plus it only has 12 songs where ours had 16. Mysterious.
So anyway, I thought I would reconstruct it from iTunes. As you can see, this plan only really fell at the final hurdle.
Country Proud at the iTunes store:
Gary Morris: Wind Beneath My Wings (Rhino Hi-Five)
Crystal Gayle: The Sound of Goodbye (Crystal Gayle: The Hits)
Alabama: Lady Down On Love (several options)
John Conlee: Common Man (only a live version is available)
Deborah Allen: I've Been Wrong Before (several options)
Lee Greenwood: I.O.U. (several options)
Janie Fricke: It Ain't Easy Bein' Easy (several options)
Gary Morris & Lynn Anderson: You're Welcome To Tonight (Greatest Hits, Vol. 2)
Willie Nelson: Angel Flyin' Too Close To The Ground (live?) (several options)
Ricky Skaggs: Heartbroke (several options)
Sylvia: I Never Quite Got Back (From Loving You) (RCA Country Legends: Sylvia)
Ronnie Milsap: Show Her (The Essential...)
George Strait: You Look So Good In Love (several options)
Don Williams: Stay Young (several options)
Earl Thomas Conley: Don't Make It Easy For Me (several options)
Jim Glaser: If I Could Only Dance With You (not available. Rats!)
Good thing we still have the original tape plus a copy of the tape from when it stopped working quite right. I hope it works.
Oh, and by the way I don't recommend searching for the phrase Country Proud. The contrast between what that meant in 1983 and what it seems to mean in 2010 is disappointing. Naidr find: An album called God & Guns by a ripoff band that has appropriated the once proud name of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
It is available at amazon in its original cassette form, but only used, and only from people who are interested in gouging you for your memories. Minimum price for a 26 year old cassette is currently $24.95. Yeah, ouch. Plus it only has 12 songs where ours had 16. Mysterious.
So anyway, I thought I would reconstruct it from iTunes. As you can see, this plan only really fell at the final hurdle.
Country Proud at the iTunes store:
Gary Morris: Wind Beneath My Wings (Rhino Hi-Five)
Crystal Gayle: The Sound of Goodbye (Crystal Gayle: The Hits)
Alabama: Lady Down On Love (several options)
John Conlee: Common Man (only a live version is available)
Deborah Allen: I've Been Wrong Before (several options)
Lee Greenwood: I.O.U. (several options)
Janie Fricke: It Ain't Easy Bein' Easy (several options)
Gary Morris & Lynn Anderson: You're Welcome To Tonight (Greatest Hits, Vol. 2)
Willie Nelson: Angel Flyin' Too Close To The Ground (live?) (several options)
Ricky Skaggs: Heartbroke (several options)
Sylvia: I Never Quite Got Back (From Loving You) (RCA Country Legends: Sylvia)
Ronnie Milsap: Show Her (The Essential...)
George Strait: You Look So Good In Love (several options)
Don Williams: Stay Young (several options)
Earl Thomas Conley: Don't Make It Easy For Me (several options)
Jim Glaser: If I Could Only Dance With You (not available. Rats!)
Good thing we still have the original tape plus a copy of the tape from when it stopped working quite right. I hope it works.
Oh, and by the way I don't recommend searching for the phrase Country Proud. The contrast between what that meant in 1983 and what it seems to mean in 2010 is disappointing. Naidr find: An album called God & Guns by a ripoff band that has appropriated the once proud name of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Nostradamic Twins Prediction
Relax, fellow Twins fans. The Twins will win the American League Central in 2010. The Tigers put on a run there, but they mainly did that because they had 6 consecutive home serieses against last place teams. That has to be some kind of a record for ease of schedule and yet all they could do was pull roughly even with the Twins. Now the Tigers have lost six straight (which the Twins will not do this year) and the Twins will play Detroit a bunch of times in the remainder of the season, winning the season series handily.
What of the White Sox? Well, they were 8 games back once. They have played their best baseball of the season and are only 2 and a half up, even though the Twins just suffered through the worst month they will have all year. Peavy is injured and the Sox will fall away. It might be close, but the Twins won't even need game 163. Also, Duensing, Roy Oswalt, or Dan Haren will be in the rotation by the end of the season.
Sadly, they will go to New York, sneak in a single win at Yankeeish Stadium behind a revitalized Kevin Slowey, then blow it at "home" at Target Field, losing the ALDS 3-1.
Incidentally, my baseball predictions are never wrong.
What of the White Sox? Well, they were 8 games back once. They have played their best baseball of the season and are only 2 and a half up, even though the Twins just suffered through the worst month they will have all year. Peavy is injured and the Sox will fall away. It might be close, but the Twins won't even need game 163. Also, Duensing, Roy Oswalt, or Dan Haren will be in the rotation by the end of the season.
Sadly, they will go to New York, sneak in a single win at Yankeeish Stadium behind a revitalized Kevin Slowey, then blow it at "home" at Target Field, losing the ALDS 3-1.
Incidentally, my baseball predictions are never wrong.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
The Long and Winding Road
Today, we answer the question "How many sites do you have songs posted at?"
Many years ago I put up some songs at mp3.com. That site was cool then, and at different times I had "hit" songs on their download chart. "New Christmas Song" was among the leaders in the admittedly small category "traditional holiday song" and "Wave 61" was the #1 "surf instrumental" for a while. Then that site started using a different business model and it was all Eminem and Pink. It doesn't look especially appealing to me now either.
One of the cooler things about mp3.com was hearing C2, a one-man band from Italy that I really like.
Scot was nice enough to put up some of the songs after mp3.com stopped being free and that page is still up, which I've always appreciated. Six Songs at Scot's.
I tried just putting them at my geocities (now Yahoo! Small Business) site, but then a person had to right-click and choose "download linked file" because I don't know how to program that to happen in html. Not a super option.
I used a site called band-mates.com for a while that did free hosting and tried to make money selling reviews. It was pretty cool but short-lived. That is totally gone.
garageband.com is really cool, but sadly it ends Thursday. I heard a lot of great music that way - stuff I still listen to a lot. I reviewed tons of songs by other people, many of which were very inspiring.
Something called iLike is apparently associated with garageband.com, and that has the most Memphis available for free at the moment. That's where Amanda Cey heard my song about her dad Ron, so that's cool. I'll leave it there, but I never really do anything with it.
If this reverbnation.com thing is as cool as two other guys say it is (Cody Weathers and Kevin Higdon, similarly independent guys to whom music is very important) I will put a lot of stuff there. I twittered William Shatner to tell him to record "The End of the Skies" on his new album he's making. Wouldn't he be the ultimate person to sing that? So the new, definitive, actively managed place to get my music online is reverbnation.com.
Someday I should just make a CD like other, more motivated bands do.
Many years ago I put up some songs at mp3.com. That site was cool then, and at different times I had "hit" songs on their download chart. "New Christmas Song" was among the leaders in the admittedly small category "traditional holiday song" and "Wave 61" was the #1 "surf instrumental" for a while. Then that site started using a different business model and it was all Eminem and Pink. It doesn't look especially appealing to me now either.
One of the cooler things about mp3.com was hearing C2, a one-man band from Italy that I really like.
Scot was nice enough to put up some of the songs after mp3.com stopped being free and that page is still up, which I've always appreciated. Six Songs at Scot's.
I tried just putting them at my geocities (now Yahoo! Small Business) site, but then a person had to right-click and choose "download linked file" because I don't know how to program that to happen in html. Not a super option.
I used a site called band-mates.com for a while that did free hosting and tried to make money selling reviews. It was pretty cool but short-lived. That is totally gone.
garageband.com is really cool, but sadly it ends Thursday. I heard a lot of great music that way - stuff I still listen to a lot. I reviewed tons of songs by other people, many of which were very inspiring.
Something called iLike is apparently associated with garageband.com, and that has the most Memphis available for free at the moment. That's where Amanda Cey heard my song about her dad Ron, so that's cool. I'll leave it there, but I never really do anything with it.
If this reverbnation.com thing is as cool as two other guys say it is (Cody Weathers and Kevin Higdon, similarly independent guys to whom music is very important) I will put a lot of stuff there. I twittered William Shatner to tell him to record "The End of the Skies" on his new album he's making. Wouldn't he be the ultimate person to sing that? So the new, definitive, actively managed place to get my music online is reverbnation.com.
Someday I should just make a CD like other, more motivated bands do.
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Congratulations Jim Thome!
Heartiest memphisevans.com congratulations to Jim Thome, who passed Harmon Killebrew on the all time home run list today, taking over sole posession of sixth place. Also to Harmon Killebrew, whose secondary message was perfectly clear when he spoke in his congratulatory video of Thome being a credit to major league baseball. For anyone paying attention, the list now looks like this:
1. Henry Aaron 755
2. Babe Ruth 714
3. Willie Mays 660
4. Ken Griffey, Jr. 630
5. Frank Robinson 586
6. Jim Thome 574
7. Harmon Killebrew 573
8. Reggie Jackson 563
9. Mike Schmidt 548
10. Mickey Mantle 536
Major league baseball, with its long and noble history of not paying attention, still includes the following notable cheaters: Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodrguez, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez. memphisevans.com does not include these men's numbers, so I am now your superior source for actual major league baseball information. Also, I do not use flash and will not cause your web browser to "unexpectedly shut down".
Congratulations, Jim Thome!
1. Henry Aaron 755
2. Babe Ruth 714
3. Willie Mays 660
4. Ken Griffey, Jr. 630
5. Frank Robinson 586
6. Jim Thome 574
7. Harmon Killebrew 573
8. Reggie Jackson 563
9. Mike Schmidt 548
10. Mickey Mantle 536
Major league baseball, with its long and noble history of not paying attention, still includes the following notable cheaters: Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodrguez, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez. memphisevans.com does not include these men's numbers, so I am now your superior source for actual major league baseball information. Also, I do not use flash and will not cause your web browser to "unexpectedly shut down".
Congratulations, Jim Thome!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Top 10 Paul McCartney Backup Singers
10. Michael Jackson
9. Bowie (Live Aid)
8. Abe, Brian, Rusty, & Wix
7. Paul
6. Ringo
5. Hamish
4. Denny
3. Linda
2. George
1. John
Discuss.
9. Bowie (Live Aid)
8. Abe, Brian, Rusty, & Wix
7. Paul
6. Ringo
5. Hamish
4. Denny
3. Linda
2. George
1. John
Discuss.
Friday, June 11, 2010
David Bowie Ruuuuuulez and Other Less Important Things
I know I've mentioned it before but I just must say again how very, very much I have been enjoying the work of David Bowie in the last year or so. With the purchase of this remarkably inexpensive (used) and fairly comprehensive box set of his five most recent studio albums I now have all of his currently available studio and live albums.
The cover is not immediately appealing and it's not the place to start if you've never really heard anything by him, but man it is just so good. Very inspiring. I don't know why I never got into him when I was a kid.
----------------------------------------
Do you have World Cup Fever? No, neither do I. If America was going to enjoy soccer as a spectator sport it would have happened by now. Yahoo should give it up and its headlines should remind us exclusively that there has been an oil spill.
----------------------------------------
So the oil spill was bad enough and everything no doubt, but another bad thing about it was it was the final nail in the coffin of any Americans giving a darn about Haiti. Remember when Haiti was all over the Super Bowl? Remember when Haiti got $10 just by having Americans text? It worked because we didn't even have to get up off our couches. Remember...wait, what was I talking about? Sorry. Nevermind. OIL SPIIIIILLLLLLL!
----------------------------------------
Remember the '80s? We were all watching The A-Team and Karate Kid and the Celtics were playing the Lakers in the NBA Finals. Those sure were the good old...hey, wait a minute. Our mass culture is a vomiting dog. Nostalgia is the dog going back and eating it.
----------------------------------------
David Bowie played Andy Warhol in the interesting movie Basquiat. Jean-Michel Basquiat is listed as a Haitian artist on Haiti's wikipedia page. This is not just one of those totally random things. It all ties together. With soccer. 'Night.
The cover is not immediately appealing and it's not the place to start if you've never really heard anything by him, but man it is just so good. Very inspiring. I don't know why I never got into him when I was a kid.
----------------------------------------
Do you have World Cup Fever? No, neither do I. If America was going to enjoy soccer as a spectator sport it would have happened by now. Yahoo should give it up and its headlines should remind us exclusively that there has been an oil spill.
----------------------------------------
So the oil spill was bad enough and everything no doubt, but another bad thing about it was it was the final nail in the coffin of any Americans giving a darn about Haiti. Remember when Haiti was all over the Super Bowl? Remember when Haiti got $10 just by having Americans text? It worked because we didn't even have to get up off our couches. Remember...wait, what was I talking about? Sorry. Nevermind. OIL SPIIIIILLLLLLL!
----------------------------------------
Remember the '80s? We were all watching The A-Team and Karate Kid and the Celtics were playing the Lakers in the NBA Finals. Those sure were the good old...hey, wait a minute. Our mass culture is a vomiting dog. Nostalgia is the dog going back and eating it.
----------------------------------------
David Bowie played Andy Warhol in the interesting movie Basquiat. Jean-Michel Basquiat is listed as a Haitian artist on Haiti's wikipedia page. This is not just one of those totally random things. It all ties together. With soccer. 'Night.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Or Am I Just Too Old?
You know how sometimes you watch a movie or tv show you used to really love and you're just like, "Why did I like this? This is crap!" I recently invested four and a half hours of my time in watching Dances With Wolves. And guess what? That is still a great freaking movie. And it made me realize something I like about old movies.
In the past, if creators of films wanted something to be in a movie, they had to create that thing or a very near facsimile of that thing in real life, then point a camera at it. Movies that are made this way are fundamentally different than movies now. Even movies that could have been made this way in the past are given superfluous special effects, usually by Industrial Light & Magic and a staff of hundreds, all of whom get their names in the overlong credits.
I remember watching the otherwise excellent movie Primary Colors about the election of a pseudonymous Bill Clinton. There's one scene where a character is driving in a car. The reflections on the car window jumped off the screen, took me out of the story, and screamed, "Look! I'm a computer! We added scenery reflections after we shot this scene. We did it for the same reason dogs lick their butts - BECAUSE WE CAN! I'm a computer! This is a movie! These are actors! La la la la la!"
I'm so used to this happening now that I was dreading the moment in Dances With Wolves when I'd see the special effect and go, "Oh yeah, it's that part of the movie where something totally obviously fake intrudes." Never happened. I watched the making of feature (also old-school, btw) and when the script called for a buffalo hunt they actually got real-world buffalo sculptures, covered them in real-looking fur, smashed them into the ground using various ramps and ropes, and pointed cameras at them while they were smashing into the ground. They got real Native Americans who rode horses in a herd of stampeding buffalo and pointed cameras at them while they did that. They trained a real wolf and pointed a camera at it. Sure it was hard. But it's so very much more effective at drawing me into the world of the movie and making it feel real.
It seems like no one will ever make a movie like this again. I liked Up, which was fully a cartoon, and I liked Moon, which was modern sci-fi with seriously batty, mind-blowing special effects. But I would love to see a new movie that creates its reality by making things in the real world and pointing cameras at them as they do their thing. What is the most recent great movie that has no intrusive special effects? It can't possibly be Dances With Wolves, can it?
There's this whole era of late 1990s/early 2000s movies where they used computer effects when they wouldn't have had to. And the effects weren't that good yet and so the worlds of the movies are kind of emotionally uninhabitable. Unfortunately the Star Wars prequels fall right in the middle and serve as cautionary tales of this era.
There's an interesting, contemporaneous parallel in the world of baseball, with a whole era of superstars who will never be taken seriously as Hall of Fame candidates. Would Rafael Palmero have hit 500 homers without the drugs? We'll never know and he'll always live under a cloud of shame and he'll never be in the Hall.
So please, someone make a movie by creating real things and pointing cameras at them. And if you're going to play baseball, stay off the drugs and high on life.
Oh, and don't even talk to me about the 1980 Yoda puppet or 1983 Jabba puppet versus their fake incarnations in the prequels. Blech.
In the past, if creators of films wanted something to be in a movie, they had to create that thing or a very near facsimile of that thing in real life, then point a camera at it. Movies that are made this way are fundamentally different than movies now. Even movies that could have been made this way in the past are given superfluous special effects, usually by Industrial Light & Magic and a staff of hundreds, all of whom get their names in the overlong credits.
I remember watching the otherwise excellent movie Primary Colors about the election of a pseudonymous Bill Clinton. There's one scene where a character is driving in a car. The reflections on the car window jumped off the screen, took me out of the story, and screamed, "Look! I'm a computer! We added scenery reflections after we shot this scene. We did it for the same reason dogs lick their butts - BECAUSE WE CAN! I'm a computer! This is a movie! These are actors! La la la la la!"
I'm so used to this happening now that I was dreading the moment in Dances With Wolves when I'd see the special effect and go, "Oh yeah, it's that part of the movie where something totally obviously fake intrudes." Never happened. I watched the making of feature (also old-school, btw) and when the script called for a buffalo hunt they actually got real-world buffalo sculptures, covered them in real-looking fur, smashed them into the ground using various ramps and ropes, and pointed cameras at them while they were smashing into the ground. They got real Native Americans who rode horses in a herd of stampeding buffalo and pointed cameras at them while they did that. They trained a real wolf and pointed a camera at it. Sure it was hard. But it's so very much more effective at drawing me into the world of the movie and making it feel real.
It seems like no one will ever make a movie like this again. I liked Up, which was fully a cartoon, and I liked Moon, which was modern sci-fi with seriously batty, mind-blowing special effects. But I would love to see a new movie that creates its reality by making things in the real world and pointing cameras at them as they do their thing. What is the most recent great movie that has no intrusive special effects? It can't possibly be Dances With Wolves, can it?
There's this whole era of late 1990s/early 2000s movies where they used computer effects when they wouldn't have had to. And the effects weren't that good yet and so the worlds of the movies are kind of emotionally uninhabitable. Unfortunately the Star Wars prequels fall right in the middle and serve as cautionary tales of this era.
There's an interesting, contemporaneous parallel in the world of baseball, with a whole era of superstars who will never be taken seriously as Hall of Fame candidates. Would Rafael Palmero have hit 500 homers without the drugs? We'll never know and he'll always live under a cloud of shame and he'll never be in the Hall.
So please, someone make a movie by creating real things and pointing cameras at them. And if you're going to play baseball, stay off the drugs and high on life.
Oh, and don't even talk to me about the 1980 Yoda puppet or 1983 Jabba puppet versus their fake incarnations in the prequels. Blech.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Internet Flotsam
This is what happens when I pay attention to the news...
Gordon Brown. A politician in trouble for speaking his mind and probably being right. Everyone knows someone who parrots bigoted garbage about immigrants. Sounds like that's what GB had just been forced to endure with a straight face. Nothing makes people angry like being told the truth, so this actually costs him votes in England's PM race. The story.
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If, like me, you love to observe the contrast between a person with a truly unique talent for communicating through the arts and a run-of-the-mill technician, you simply must watch this. Shatner!.
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While you're there you should watch this unreal, terrifying mascot dunk. Where are Bango's parents? Where is OHSA?
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As one of the billions of victims of the 2000 elections, I admit to a grudge against Florida. I was heartened to learn that Florida may lose some or at least not gain as many congressional seats based on current census results. Ohio, maybe you could lose a few censi as well. Y Floriduh cant reed. If they trickle down to Minnesota, as the article suggests they might, so much the better.
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"This is Alabama. We speak English. If you wanna live here, learn it." May I introduce to you Alabama's next governor, Tim James? A master of the zeitgeist. Still, why does he keep stopping the tape, moving away from the camera and then walking towards it?
And...I'm done paying attention to the news for the day.
Gordon Brown. A politician in trouble for speaking his mind and probably being right. Everyone knows someone who parrots bigoted garbage about immigrants. Sounds like that's what GB had just been forced to endure with a straight face. Nothing makes people angry like being told the truth, so this actually costs him votes in England's PM race. The story.
----------------------
If, like me, you love to observe the contrast between a person with a truly unique talent for communicating through the arts and a run-of-the-mill technician, you simply must watch this. Shatner!.
----------------------
While you're there you should watch this unreal, terrifying mascot dunk. Where are Bango's parents? Where is OHSA?
----------------------
As one of the billions of victims of the 2000 elections, I admit to a grudge against Florida. I was heartened to learn that Florida may lose some or at least not gain as many congressional seats based on current census results. Ohio, maybe you could lose a few censi as well. Y Floriduh cant reed. If they trickle down to Minnesota, as the article suggests they might, so much the better.
----------------------
"This is Alabama. We speak English. If you wanna live here, learn it." May I introduce to you Alabama's next governor, Tim James? A master of the zeitgeist. Still, why does he keep stopping the tape, moving away from the camera and then walking towards it?
And...I'm done paying attention to the news for the day.
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