Twist and Shout

STILL stuck in my mind: that great dance sequence from the movie 500 Days of Summer which makes more sense in context.
The song namechecks the song “Twist and Shout”.


Then there’s this new show on Nickelodeon the daughter is watching called The Fresh Beat Band. They were originally called the Jumparounds, plugged so often in the commercials as such that my daughter still refers them that way. (Also, she knows I think that their initial name was goofy, but the new moniker is boring – generic is what I actually said, but boring is a reasonable translation.) Think the Monkees aimed at four-year-olds. The Hispanic guitarist goes by Kiki and the red-haired percussionist is Marina. But it’s the guys’ names that I should note. The preternaturally tall guy is the beat boxer Twist, while the black keyboardist is named Shout. Twist and Shout? I expect that if this program catches on, the players will be replaced as though they were in Menudo. (None of them go by their real names.)

Which of course brings us to one of the great cover songs of all time, by the Beatles. Just saw this clip again on the Beatles Anthology, which I have on VHS. Don’t know why this song doesn’t get more respect in those “best covers” polls.
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Speaking of covers, I’ve really gotten into the new television show Glee, but I must admit there are some 21st century songs I couldn’t tell you the original artist without looking it up. One piece I did recognize instantly, was Queen’s Somebody to Love. Probably my favorite cover thus far on the show.

But I still prefer the original. I own only Queen album, a greatest hits collection, and that on vinyl. (And unlike my CDs, my LPs are in great disarray.) Any Queen album recommendations?

“If you think you’re too small to have an impact,
try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.”

— Johan Bruyneel
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VOTE

ROG

ROG

Big Hits of 1953

I have a couple friends who were born in 1966 who know the music of 1966 nearly as well as I do, and I was 13 that year. So I thought I’d find a list of 1953 songs to see how many I
O-Own, L-Like, H-Hate, R-Recognize (obviously, if I own, like, or hate, I recognize):

That’s Amore Dean Martin -(O, L)
Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes – Perry Como (R)
Your Cheatin’ Heart – Hank Williams (O,L)
The Doggie In The Window – Patti Page (O)
Rags To Riches – Tony Bennett (O,L)
Even Now – Eddie Fisher (R)
Have You Heard – Joni James (R)
Hound Dog – Big Mama Thornton (O,L)
I Believe – Frankie Laine (R)
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) – The Four Lads (O,L)
Oh! My Pa-Pa – Eddie Fisher (O)
Secret Love – Doris Day (R)
Three Coins In The Fountain – Frank Sinatra (O,L)
The Typewriter – Leroy Anderson & His Orchestra (O,L)
Young At Heart – Frank Sinatra (O,L)
Crying In The Chapel – The Orioles (O,L)
Mama (He Treats Your Daughter Mean) – Ruth Brown (O,L)
Mess Around – Ray Charles (O,L)
Your Cheatin’ Heart – Hank Williams (O,L)
You, You, You – the Ames Brothers (O,L)

The only album I have is Jazz at Massey Hall – The Quintet, though I have compilations of Frank Sinatra that cover this period.

I suspect that any of you younger bloggers that try this will have a far longer list than I.
ROG

ROG

NaBloPoMo

What’s the new public trend
That’s a sex turnoff to all the folks?
(NaBloPoMo!)
You’re damn right

What is the thing
That would risk one’s rep with the brother man?
(NaBloPoMo!)
Can ya dig it?

What’s the trend that won’t cop out
When there are deadlines all about?
(NaBloPoMo!)
Right on

You see this meme NaBloPoMo is a bad mother–
(Shut your mouth)
But I’m talkin’ about NaBloPoMo
(Then we can dig it)

It’s a complicated trend
And no one understands it, man or woman
(NaBloPoMo!)

A little 3 a.m. silliness about National Blog Posting Month.

Do I NEED NaBloPoMo? Well, not exactly. As of tomorrow, November 2, I’ll have blogged daily 4.5 years. I often say I’ll take a day off, but I don’t. It’s like my father’s cigarette habit; he never quit, just stopped smoking for a day, then another day until it was over 25 years. So actually, NaBloPoMo is more of a THREAT to blogging than just keeping my head down and just doing it.

I can’t help but to wonder if it’s all in response to National Novel Writing Month, which, perhaps not coincidentally, ALSO starts today.

Anyway, that’s 1 of 30.
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Oh, I’ll be here today, but probably mot until 1 p.m., in case anyone cares.

ROG

ROG

Sports Questions and Samhain

The World Series continues into November. In the Northeast, no less. This really bugs me. With two rounds before the Series, somethings gotta give. Maybe a 154-game season, which Major League baseball used to have until the 1960s, when it went to 162 games. And while they’re at it, couldn’t they starts some games earlier, so I kids could watch past the third inning?

I suppose this is sacrilege, but I wish the Yankees, and some minor league teams, and maybe others, would get rid of “God Bless America” during the 7th-inning stretch. It started after 9/11/2001, but now it’s become a “new tradition”. And at the last Hall of Fame game I attended, “honored America” with a scratchy and warped Kate Smith recording. And some people are now getting bent out of shape if television doesn’t cover the singing of same, even when TV doesn’t cover Take Me Out To The Ballgame, which follows.

In the NFL, I was really happy that Denver beat New England a few weeks ago, but I found it unfair that the Patriots never touched the ball offensively in overtime. There’s got to be a better way than a coin flip. In the college game, each team at least gets a chance to score, not a perfect model, but clearly fairer.

So what’s bugging you about sports? Maybe it’s the relatively new scoring system in figure skating; I happen to like it better than the 6.0 standard. I read that some are advocating for more instant reply in baseball; not sure how that would work. The example is a ball, not a home run ball, that was judged as foul by the umpire but fair in the replay. Where would the batter, and even trickier, the runners, end up? I’m not opposed out of hand, but I can’t see how it would work.


Swiped from Uthaclena: In Druid tradition, Samhain is the time of the dead, when the veil between the worlds thins and spirits walk the land of the living. It is the feast of death and rebirth, and the New Year of the Celtic calendar with the fall of the last leaves, the heart of the Autumn, the beginning of the Darkened Days, and the Quiet Time to listen to the Wisdom of the Crone. At this time we celebrate and commemorate our ancestors and elders who have passed into the Otherworld. But, fear naught, for the Sun will be born anew, and Light and Life will return to the world!

Solemn Blessings to you all; hold fast to the seed of Hope, and dream of Better days!


ROG

ROG

Vote Because, Well – Just Do It

Next Tuesday is Election Day, and I will vote. I always vote. I believe it is rooted in the fact that for many years in the history of this country, people were disenfranchised, largely because of their race and/or gender, and I just cannot help but take advantage of my right to participate in the democratic process.

And because it is an “off-year” election, fewer people will vote in November 2009 than in November 2008, even though the races that take this year arguably have more of a direct impact on people’s lives than the statewide or national races. This means that MY vote will mean more, proportionally.

Still, it’s difficult to muster much enthusiasm. For many races in Albany, NY, both citywide and countywide, the primary in September WAS the race. For those not in Albany, you need to know that this is a one-party town, and that one party is the Democratic party. Now since I am a registered Democrat – hey, I want to be where the action is – you might think I would be happy about that; I’m not, even though it advantages one of the candidates I’m supporting. I believe one-party rule, no matter the good intentions of that party, inevitably leads to complacency and arrogance.

This is why I will reveal my ballot in one race: I am voting for the Republican for county coroner. I don’t even know who the party candidates are, though there were stories in the paper recently, for it doesn’t matter. In fact, I have ALWAYS voted for the Republican candidate for coroner since I moved to Albany 30 years ago. And I believe that the Republican candidate for coroner has always lost. I fully expect that to happen again this year, but I don’t care. It’s my rage against the machine.

Incidentally, the last of the Albany County Board of Elections’ extended hours to accept absentee ballot applications take place Saturday morning, October 31, from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.
ROG

ROG
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