I respectfully offer a disclaimer. There may be some very good movies of the decade I haven't seen yet. This may be why they aren't on my list. Or, alternately, you may have gotten a lot more out of a film that I did. So there, nyahh... wow, that was cathartic. On with the show....
STIWMDSSEHHIWGTABOFOTD (read part 1 for explanation), movie list:
7) Letters From Iwo Jima - I remember when this movie was supposed to be the sideline curiosity to Flags of Our Fathers, the little vanity project that Clint Eastwood just "had to" put together. Okay, after it got nominated for a Best Picture Oscar I decided to check it out, and was very glad I did. Allegedly, it's the Japanese point of view of the Battle of Iwo Jima, though it's been criticized for making characters with exposure to the United States overly sympathetic to the "enemy" in this movie (hey, that's us, and darned unpatriotic! Er, darned patriotic?) Anyway, probably the movie on my list that's been seen by the fewest people. This is a shame, even if I'm not in love with Eastwood as a director. At least he didn't cast an orangutan as a co-lead...
6) Batman Begins - And this movie is probably the one that's been seen by the most. No, The Dark Knight will not be showing up later, because I believe the first film was better, even without Heath Ledger and even with Katie Holmes. Weird, I know. The reintroduction of the Batman franchise had a far better story line to my way of thinking, and while maybe the villains were a little less showy, I think Tom Wilkinson, Liam Neeson, and especially Cillian Murphy were fantastic doing the voodoo they did (yeah, ruins the internal rhyme, moving on...). If Christian Bale had just learned to talk more loudly while constructing the menacing verbal mannerisms of the Caped Crusader, my one big complaint about this movie would be resolved. Oh, and you know, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman just around, doing Caine/Freeman things, no big deal, you know. There might be some of you who criticize the overuse of "hero movies" in this day and age, and you might be right. Doesn't mean the best ones don't stand up to anything else out there. All the Oscar quality movies can't be "chick flicks" can they....
5) The Incredibles - No, I take it back, this one's been seen by more than anyone on the list, but most of them weren't of an age to also read blog entries about movies yet when it came out. There might still be some of you out there who criticize the quality of a movie because it's animated, and see my previous movie comment about superheros, but this has both, and it's that good anyway. I wouldn't have been disappointed to see this one nominated for Best Picture. The redemptive nature of the film, surrounded some pretty dark subject matter for your summer kiddie flick, was impressive enough to get an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. That's the words, not the pictures. I could irritate some people I know and say it's the best Samuel L. Jackson movie from that time period, because he was also doing Star Wars things (*sigh*), but let's move on. Ice to see you, too...
4) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - I bet this movie would have been breathtaking to see on the big screen, but even on video, it was awesome. Not many Westerners, myself included, had been exposed to much of the wuxia style, but considering it became the highest-grossing foreign film in U.S. history, a lot of people did not make the same mistake I did. The character of Li Mu-bai has the warrior/philosopher ethic that 21st Century Jedi only wish they could have. Sigh. Moving on, the movie also led to the opening to the west of other very good films, like Hero, Curse of the Golden Flower, and House of Flying Daggers. Further, it introduced the West to Zhang Ziyi, and as part of the West I am gratified for this introduction. Everybody say "YES!" Sorry, out of practice, there....
3) O Brother, Where Art Thou - so I recently was convinced to watch No Country For Old Men, and the person was bothered on some level that I said it was "good, not great". He said "you must not be a Coen Brothers fan". Au contraire, and to wit, besides... I'm not sure I buy their claim that they had never read The Odyssey at all before making the film, but if so other interpretations gave them a hell of a lot to work with. Not that Homer was this funny. Love the blues tie-in (Tommy Johnson, the crossroads, etc.), fanciful integration on a limited scale during the Depression, and the quotability of this film (Oh, George... not the livestock!). The film is definitely bonafide, and it's a suitor, besides. By the way, we thought... you was... a TOAD!
2) The Departed - I admit, I haven't seen the film Internal Affairs (Hong Kong) upon which this film was based, but it had been a while since I read The Odyssey too. Anyway, don't know any anyone can't be interested in a film with Nicholson, Sheen, Damon, DiCaprio, et al in it, all playing tough guys on one side of the law or the other. A little bit Scarface (the old version), a little bit Goodfellas (I mean, it is a Scorsese film, so hopefully you become inured to the F-word after an f@#&*!% while, but come on, he makes the best f@#&*!% films) and a little bit suspense. Then with the point in the film where you go "holy crap! What the f*#$!"? Oh, very rewatchable, even if you know what's coming. I understand, it's not as much Sixth Sense as a less surprising Usual Suspects or Seven, but that's a fine comparison as far as I'm concerned.
1) High Fidelity - What came first, the music or the misery? Music, misery, melancholy, misanthropy, melodrama, a hint of misogyny, and "the musical moron twins"... that's at least seven m's, magnificent number, and lot's of mmmmmmms. Good enough for me. Okay, seriously, always been a big John Cusack fan. I think Jack Black works a lot better as a supporting character with the room to stretch and be insane, rather than when that's the primary deal to the movie. And it's a movie that focuses a lot on music, of course, but not just the performances, but also as a vehicle for at least theorizing that what you like is as important as what you like. Okay, it's not as important, but why else do we spend so much time find out what people we associate with and are interested in read, watch, and listen to? Just passing time, I don't think so. Also, this is my #1 because when I first saw this in the theater, and John Cusack said to the audience "there's an art to making a tape" some smart-ass I know (take a bow, Jennie) looked right at me and said "yep, that's you." I said then, and believe it still, that it's a slightly more polished version of whatever amalgam you can put together between me, Wendell, and Richard. For those of you in the know, ponder that and shudder. And if you *really* wanted to screw me up, you should've gotten to me earlier.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Decade End Humble Opinions - Part I...
assuming I stop being such a Grade A slack-ass and post more often than once every 6 months or so. Anyway, I am planning to do three of these (songs, movies, albums) to reflect the end of the current decade, which still hasn't been "named" (the zeros? the aughts? the ohs? anyway...)
So, the "best songs" of the decade? I dunno. "Favorite"? Probably. "Songs that I would make damn sure someone else has heard if we're gonna talk about best or favorites of the decade"? That sounds about right, so:
The STIWMDSSEHHIWGTABOFOTD, songs list -
7) Seven Nation Army - White Stripes: Anyone who is reading this now knows it already, but to anyone who wanders this way should know now that I'm into the White Stripes. Most important band of the decade as I see it, and it's not even close. Pretty good for a band with two members, one of whom was only really learning to drum at the beginning of this decade, huh? Anyway, I hear that this song helped clue people in to the Stripes, because it was off of their biggest album to date (more on this in a later post, to be sure), Elephant. Yeah, I was already there. Other lists I have seen also talk about this guitar riff being one of the "new classics". Okay, that works.
6) Clocks - Coldplay: Okay, go ahead and abuse me for picking one of the most overplayed songs of the decade. However, one, it was several years ago and some of you might not have immediately screamed when you read this. Two, if I still leave it on every time it comes on, that's gotta be a good sign, right? Honestly, I didn't get as inundated at the time because I think it was right around then that I discovered the crack candy that was iTunes. At any rate, it holds up very nicely, since I'm listening to it right now. I promise to get a little more esoteric later.
5) Steady, As She Goes - The Raconteurs: Yeah, this might get turned into a big love letter for Jack White. Don't care. So this was the first notable side project for White that involved something other than acting or producing Loretta Lynn. This song was a collaborative effort between White and Brendan Benson, which led to an album that is pretty darned good in its own right (Broken Boy Soldiers). Further, if the band hadn't formed off of this song, I wouldn't get treated to the Youtube video of them playing Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" at Lollapalooza.
4) Lion Thief - The Beta Band: I haven't really managed to get anyone to embrace TBB as a group, or any whole album of theirs, but they seem to get positive responses when I play a couple of songs of theirs. "Dry The Rain" sparks the memory of those who then get told about that part in High Fidelity where John Cusack says he's gonna sell 5 albums by The Beta Band. 2000 movie including a 90's song, so that song can't go here. This one can, off of the last album this group made (Heroes To Zeros) before they broke up. Pity. Would like to have seen where they went from here.
3) Seven Times Closer Than Fire - T Bone Burnett: Burnett, producer extraordinaire (O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack, et al) released his first album in 14 years in 2006 and this song justified the wait all by itself. When I first heard it, I tried to get lots of people around me to listen to it and tell me what it sounded like, and I got different stuff from every person. It's an interesting song to try and swing dance to, as well. Actually, if you're me, nearly any song I try to swing dance to becomes an "interesting" experience, but I digress. It appeals on a visceral level.
2) Fell In Love With A Girl - The White Stripes: Probably the only surprise here was that it wasn't number one. That crazy Lego video from 2001 set the whole thing in motion for me. I've gone on ad nauseum in an earlier post (about karaoke) about how much I love to sing this song, with his garage rock sensibilities and short but powerful strokes. Doesn't need to be any longer to do its job perfectly. One of my all-time favorite songs, though so is....
1) Pink Bullets - The Shins: Yeah, Natalie Portman was right in Garden State though I am perversely happy to say this song wasn't in that movie. Found it on my own on a mixed CD a woman at work loaned me back in around 2003 or so, and it was interesting to me from the get-go. But it was one of those things like Nick Drake was for me, the kind of thing I kept coming back to and listening. And listening. And you get the idea.
Honestly either of the last two songs could have been #1, and then there was a huge fall down to #3. The rest of this list was kind of bunched up there, and in fact I might consider Seven Nation Army as high as #5 (big surprise, I know). However, here are the "honorable mention" songs that I just didn't have room for, and at different points of the decade would have probably been somewhere on this list:
Falling Slowly - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
Lose Yourself - Eminem
Somebody Told Me - The Killers
Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz
Flame - Bell X1
Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car - Iron & Wine
Heavy Soul - The Black Keys
American Idiot - Green Day
Indian Ocean - Yusuf Islam
Rehab - Amy Winehouse
So, the "best songs" of the decade? I dunno. "Favorite"? Probably. "Songs that I would make damn sure someone else has heard if we're gonna talk about best or favorites of the decade"? That sounds about right, so:
The STIWMDSSEHHIWGTABOFOTD, songs list -
7) Seven Nation Army - White Stripes: Anyone who is reading this now knows it already, but to anyone who wanders this way should know now that I'm into the White Stripes. Most important band of the decade as I see it, and it's not even close. Pretty good for a band with two members, one of whom was only really learning to drum at the beginning of this decade, huh? Anyway, I hear that this song helped clue people in to the Stripes, because it was off of their biggest album to date (more on this in a later post, to be sure), Elephant. Yeah, I was already there. Other lists I have seen also talk about this guitar riff being one of the "new classics". Okay, that works.
6) Clocks - Coldplay: Okay, go ahead and abuse me for picking one of the most overplayed songs of the decade. However, one, it was several years ago and some of you might not have immediately screamed when you read this. Two, if I still leave it on every time it comes on, that's gotta be a good sign, right? Honestly, I didn't get as inundated at the time because I think it was right around then that I discovered the crack candy that was iTunes. At any rate, it holds up very nicely, since I'm listening to it right now. I promise to get a little more esoteric later.
5) Steady, As She Goes - The Raconteurs: Yeah, this might get turned into a big love letter for Jack White. Don't care. So this was the first notable side project for White that involved something other than acting or producing Loretta Lynn. This song was a collaborative effort between White and Brendan Benson, which led to an album that is pretty darned good in its own right (Broken Boy Soldiers). Further, if the band hadn't formed off of this song, I wouldn't get treated to the Youtube video of them playing Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" at Lollapalooza.
4) Lion Thief - The Beta Band: I haven't really managed to get anyone to embrace TBB as a group, or any whole album of theirs, but they seem to get positive responses when I play a couple of songs of theirs. "Dry The Rain" sparks the memory of those who then get told about that part in High Fidelity where John Cusack says he's gonna sell 5 albums by The Beta Band. 2000 movie including a 90's song, so that song can't go here. This one can, off of the last album this group made (Heroes To Zeros) before they broke up. Pity. Would like to have seen where they went from here.
3) Seven Times Closer Than Fire - T Bone Burnett: Burnett, producer extraordinaire (O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack, et al) released his first album in 14 years in 2006 and this song justified the wait all by itself. When I first heard it, I tried to get lots of people around me to listen to it and tell me what it sounded like, and I got different stuff from every person. It's an interesting song to try and swing dance to, as well. Actually, if you're me, nearly any song I try to swing dance to becomes an "interesting" experience, but I digress. It appeals on a visceral level.
2) Fell In Love With A Girl - The White Stripes: Probably the only surprise here was that it wasn't number one. That crazy Lego video from 2001 set the whole thing in motion for me. I've gone on ad nauseum in an earlier post (about karaoke) about how much I love to sing this song, with his garage rock sensibilities and short but powerful strokes. Doesn't need to be any longer to do its job perfectly. One of my all-time favorite songs, though so is....
1) Pink Bullets - The Shins: Yeah, Natalie Portman was right in Garden State though I am perversely happy to say this song wasn't in that movie. Found it on my own on a mixed CD a woman at work loaned me back in around 2003 or so, and it was interesting to me from the get-go. But it was one of those things like Nick Drake was for me, the kind of thing I kept coming back to and listening. And listening. And you get the idea.
Honestly either of the last two songs could have been #1, and then there was a huge fall down to #3. The rest of this list was kind of bunched up there, and in fact I might consider Seven Nation Army as high as #5 (big surprise, I know). However, here are the "honorable mention" songs that I just didn't have room for, and at different points of the decade would have probably been somewhere on this list:
Falling Slowly - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
Lose Yourself - Eminem
Somebody Told Me - The Killers
Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz
Flame - Bell X1
Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car - Iron & Wine
Heavy Soul - The Black Keys
American Idiot - Green Day
Indian Ocean - Yusuf Islam
Rehab - Amy Winehouse
Sunday, July 26, 2009
After Midnight
So I was in Roanoke this weekend. Without a set base of operations, these trips have taken on certain stream-of-consciousness aspects of late, particularly when dealing with my sleeping arrangements. Essentially, I tend to crash wherever I end up last. Good thing I'm not bar-hopping and falling asleep in the gutter on Church Avenue, huh?
Anyway, Saturday night I found myself at a poker game in Boones Mill, about 20 minutes south of Roanoke. Will was gracious enough to let me stay with Suzanne and him the night before, and was at the game, and said I could stay with them again. However, he called it a night around 11:30 and I was still going strong. Stuart said I could crash on the couch there at the game as well. However, when I effectively ended the game a little bit after 2:00 by busting Anthony (and there are those of you that know how much fun I had doing that) I was wide friggin' awake. No chance I was sleeping anytime soon.
So, what rational decision did I make? Around 2:30, I was starting out for my drive home. To Richmond. It made sense when I made the decision, but when I was screaming along with the CD that was playing and shaking about in my seat somewhere past Charlottesville in an effort to not fall asleep, I had to wonder. Not that I exactly needed the reminder, but one of the things about driving when no one else is on the road is that there's a reason why that is.
I'm a little tired today, and I can barely imagine why. *chuckle*
Anyway, Saturday night I found myself at a poker game in Boones Mill, about 20 minutes south of Roanoke. Will was gracious enough to let me stay with Suzanne and him the night before, and was at the game, and said I could stay with them again. However, he called it a night around 11:30 and I was still going strong. Stuart said I could crash on the couch there at the game as well. However, when I effectively ended the game a little bit after 2:00 by busting Anthony (and there are those of you that know how much fun I had doing that) I was wide friggin' awake. No chance I was sleeping anytime soon.
So, what rational decision did I make? Around 2:30, I was starting out for my drive home. To Richmond. It made sense when I made the decision, but when I was screaming along with the CD that was playing and shaking about in my seat somewhere past Charlottesville in an effort to not fall asleep, I had to wonder. Not that I exactly needed the reminder, but one of the things about driving when no one else is on the road is that there's a reason why that is.
I'm a little tired today, and I can barely imagine why. *chuckle*
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
When the Night Comes...
you might find me singing karaoke.
As I was walking back from the local bar (did I mention that I can walk to the local bar? And I haven't yet been so nasty drunk where this would be truly beneficial) tonight, I was trying to figure out what was it about this activity that appeals to me, and to others, so much.
First of all, the bars I have frequented enough to notice certainly draw more people when music is playing, even if it is being warbled off key (what's a "key" again?). Second, I think it helps draws regulars to a particular place. You know you can go, have a little fun, not be abused too much when you think you can crank out your best Michael Jackson (no, I haven't tried, but I've been tempted). Third, I think it feeds some tiny, or maybe not-so-tiny little performance craving. People, to varying degrees, like to be noticed. Some people go up there and play the fool, but enjoy the howls and catcalls. Some people channel their inner rock star and let it loose. Some people (particularly people either new to the experience or the bar) sway a little, and give you hints about what they might do given half a chance. Some people just want to make sure they get the song more-or-less "right" (words, melody, pace, whatever part you want to focus on) to make themselves happy. Some people have been imbibing a teensy bit more than they should and/or are dragged up by so-called friends to sing some piece-of-crap song you don't even want to hear on the radio.
Where do I fit into the above list? All of the above, at one time or another. My somewhat outgoing nature for all of you unfortunate enough to know me well and have experienced it at times aside, I am an introvert. I do not make an effort to randomly talk to people I don't know, and without some structured event, my time spent in bars without a sizeable support group would be minimal. I love music (file this under "no duh, Chris") and love to sing. Did this a few times in college, and for the most part wasn't very good. Fast forward ten or so years, and it's me sitting uncomfortably with my nose in the song book for 45 minutes, singing one song, and leaving the bar in a rush. Eventually, I met a couple of people in the bar who knew, well, every other damn person in the bar, and the walls came tumbling down. I stayed long enough to sing two songs, and sing with other people, and sing a song just for the hell of it without caring (too much) about the end result. At one point some months later, I look around and the bar is kicking us out at closing time, and I know I'll be dead at work the next day, but it's a very satisfied kind of tired.
When I sing songs, it's not unlike how I listen to music. I'll cycle back to time-tested stuff, but I'll try damn near anything under the right circumstances. In the 5 years I've been out there I've probably sung over 200 different songs, many of them only once. Some of them very badly. A lot of them okay, but nothing to write home about. A decent number where I could finish, sit down, and go, "I'd be willing to sing that again; that wasn't awful, but I could do better". And then there's that moment... I do something right, and the thing comes out sounding like I want it to, and there is more than polite applause somewhere in the bar, or a pat on the back, or a sincere compliment. That's the drug, uncut, right there. Those are the handful of songs I keep coming back to, and the ones that I try and make others sound like. I don't just restrict myself to them, but they're like a good friend that you know you can count on. The songs I can sing to my satisfaction, I tend to like more and listen to more. Then with the ones I screw up, it's almost like I punish them (as though it's their fault I couldn't get my voice to cooperate).
So, as you know, I moved back to Richmond a few months ago. It wasn't surprising that I sought out a location where I could try and at least put a crack in the new walls I had to deal with. And I've tried several places, on several different nights of the week, always leading off with something right at the top of my comfort zone. I currently do my thing (such as it is) at The Beach House around the corner from work and home. When I first went, a new friend from work went with me, but he soon tired of the routine, and I had to go solo. It took a few hard weeks where I could recognize the regulars and smile and nod and make small talk, but the time between songs was fighting a small urge pushing me in the back to get up and walk out, and a voice saying "you don't belong here, this is not your place, why don't you just go home and listen to music on your computer, or call one of your friends on the phone?" Never mind that some of these friends were likely out somewhere, especially the ones I made through hours of spent time at Green Dolphin Grille or Martin's back in the Noke. Eventually, however, a couple of people invited me to sit with them, and the waitress flirts with me, and the DJ calls me one of the regulars, and it's starting to feel like a good place to be.
So what does my twisted little mind believe I can actually sing with something resembling effectiveness? *ahem* in list form:
7) If I Had $1,000,000 - Barenaked Ladies: It requires a partner, and I had a good one at Martin's. Had fun substituting "Tim's a bitch" for the last line "I'd be rich" and all the regular poker players who stayed around to sing/hang out would laugh at old Two-Hand. Not likely to do this one again unless I find a new partner, and don't even know if I should, because it won't be easy to replicate the feeling in the new town without the old friends. But, moving on...
6) Jump Around - House Of Pain: Yeah, you wouldn't think it, would ya? But one night I got the itch, and when I gave it to the DJ, he said "really?" Nothing like a confidence booster. But there was much dancing, and jumping around, and rowdy raucousness, and raucous rowdyness. And the DJ said "yeah, I was wrong". And we know how I like to prove people wrong...
5) Right Place, Wrong Time - Dr. John: Did this one night at a Mardi-Gras themed party at the Grille, and it sounded pretty good. Did it around Mardi Gras the next year. Then I figured something out and it's one of the ones I can pull out wherever I go, and don't even need the jester's hat, though green and purple and gold look good on me. Or maybe the hat does for reasons we need not elaborate on.
4) London Calling - The Clash: Honestly, this could easily have been Should I Stay or Should I Go. Rock The Casbah and Train In Vain are also good, but this one was the breakthrough Clash song for me, the first one where I got that feeling, and that pat on the back, literally.
3) Tangled Up In Blue - Bob Dylan: It being my all-time favorite song helps here, but Dylan is hard to really screw up because his singing style isn't exactly traditional. All you non-Dylan fans feel free to shut up right about here. But it's not the easiest thing to feel comfortable singing, either. I knew I had something right one night when Celtic John said he had someone open the door so he could hear the song while he was outside. I hope he was sincere, because that was the best compliment just about ever....
2) Paradise By The Dashboard Lights - Meatloaf: Not only do I have the nostalgia of remembering APO parties when I sing this, but I also have a truly unique thing with this song. I had sung it a couple of times with various people but this girl I had seen once or twice asks a friend of mine at the Grille if anyone can sing this song. He points me out immediately, and we sing it, and it was pretty good (mostly because she can really sing), and a bit of fun. She hangs out with us at the bar for a few weeks and then about disappears. Year goes by, and the Grille is gone, and the karaoke DJ tells me she's coming down to Martin's that night. We talk a bit, and one of us mentions a duet. We do the song, and she's letting loose. I knew she could sing, but holy crap I didn't remember her as dynamic as this. I'm just trying not to screw up. But it goes over like gangbusters. So we bond, if you will, over this song, and over the next few months do the song a few more times, and in a couple of other places. We get more playful, and the "routine" if you will really starts to pick up speed. I get to the point when I'm not hindering things, and then it seems like I'm helping things along. Very well aware that I'm still nowhere near her league as a singer, and never will be. But for those 8 minutes, I don't have to be, because I'm actually a performer as much as I'm singing, and it has helped me as much to feel like I should be singing whenever I feel like it, because I know what I can do under optimal circumstances. Ah, no hubris here, really... but I know if nothing else when I visit Roanoke I can call this young lady and at least if she's free meet her at one of a couple of places, and totally rip through this song.
1) Fell In Love With A Girl - White Stripes: One minutes and fifty seconds of perfect sonic mayhem. It doesn't rate with other things I felt were more sincere, but a perfect stranger asked me if I was in a real band once after I finished this song. Friends have told other people who have never been out with us that this is my song. One even said that he thinks it sounds a little weird hearing the White Stripes version, but I think that's just because he's been subjected to me many times, and doesn't hear it that often on the radio. Several people have at various times asked me to do this song. It's a great fucking song, too. Just saying... I said it once before, but it bears repeating, now.
As I was walking back from the local bar (did I mention that I can walk to the local bar? And I haven't yet been so nasty drunk where this would be truly beneficial) tonight, I was trying to figure out what was it about this activity that appeals to me, and to others, so much.
First of all, the bars I have frequented enough to notice certainly draw more people when music is playing, even if it is being warbled off key (what's a "key" again?). Second, I think it helps draws regulars to a particular place. You know you can go, have a little fun, not be abused too much when you think you can crank out your best Michael Jackson (no, I haven't tried, but I've been tempted). Third, I think it feeds some tiny, or maybe not-so-tiny little performance craving. People, to varying degrees, like to be noticed. Some people go up there and play the fool, but enjoy the howls and catcalls. Some people channel their inner rock star and let it loose. Some people (particularly people either new to the experience or the bar) sway a little, and give you hints about what they might do given half a chance. Some people just want to make sure they get the song more-or-less "right" (words, melody, pace, whatever part you want to focus on) to make themselves happy. Some people have been imbibing a teensy bit more than they should and/or are dragged up by so-called friends to sing some piece-of-crap song you don't even want to hear on the radio.
Where do I fit into the above list? All of the above, at one time or another. My somewhat outgoing nature for all of you unfortunate enough to know me well and have experienced it at times aside, I am an introvert. I do not make an effort to randomly talk to people I don't know, and without some structured event, my time spent in bars without a sizeable support group would be minimal. I love music (file this under "no duh, Chris") and love to sing. Did this a few times in college, and for the most part wasn't very good. Fast forward ten or so years, and it's me sitting uncomfortably with my nose in the song book for 45 minutes, singing one song, and leaving the bar in a rush. Eventually, I met a couple of people in the bar who knew, well, every other damn person in the bar, and the walls came tumbling down. I stayed long enough to sing two songs, and sing with other people, and sing a song just for the hell of it without caring (too much) about the end result. At one point some months later, I look around and the bar is kicking us out at closing time, and I know I'll be dead at work the next day, but it's a very satisfied kind of tired.
When I sing songs, it's not unlike how I listen to music. I'll cycle back to time-tested stuff, but I'll try damn near anything under the right circumstances. In the 5 years I've been out there I've probably sung over 200 different songs, many of them only once. Some of them very badly. A lot of them okay, but nothing to write home about. A decent number where I could finish, sit down, and go, "I'd be willing to sing that again; that wasn't awful, but I could do better". And then there's that moment... I do something right, and the thing comes out sounding like I want it to, and there is more than polite applause somewhere in the bar, or a pat on the back, or a sincere compliment. That's the drug, uncut, right there. Those are the handful of songs I keep coming back to, and the ones that I try and make others sound like. I don't just restrict myself to them, but they're like a good friend that you know you can count on. The songs I can sing to my satisfaction, I tend to like more and listen to more. Then with the ones I screw up, it's almost like I punish them (as though it's their fault I couldn't get my voice to cooperate).
So, as you know, I moved back to Richmond a few months ago. It wasn't surprising that I sought out a location where I could try and at least put a crack in the new walls I had to deal with. And I've tried several places, on several different nights of the week, always leading off with something right at the top of my comfort zone. I currently do my thing (such as it is) at The Beach House around the corner from work and home. When I first went, a new friend from work went with me, but he soon tired of the routine, and I had to go solo. It took a few hard weeks where I could recognize the regulars and smile and nod and make small talk, but the time between songs was fighting a small urge pushing me in the back to get up and walk out, and a voice saying "you don't belong here, this is not your place, why don't you just go home and listen to music on your computer, or call one of your friends on the phone?" Never mind that some of these friends were likely out somewhere, especially the ones I made through hours of spent time at Green Dolphin Grille or Martin's back in the Noke. Eventually, however, a couple of people invited me to sit with them, and the waitress flirts with me, and the DJ calls me one of the regulars, and it's starting to feel like a good place to be.
So what does my twisted little mind believe I can actually sing with something resembling effectiveness? *ahem* in list form:
7) If I Had $1,000,000 - Barenaked Ladies: It requires a partner, and I had a good one at Martin's. Had fun substituting "Tim's a bitch" for the last line "I'd be rich" and all the regular poker players who stayed around to sing/hang out would laugh at old Two-Hand. Not likely to do this one again unless I find a new partner, and don't even know if I should, because it won't be easy to replicate the feeling in the new town without the old friends. But, moving on...
6) Jump Around - House Of Pain: Yeah, you wouldn't think it, would ya? But one night I got the itch, and when I gave it to the DJ, he said "really?" Nothing like a confidence booster. But there was much dancing, and jumping around, and rowdy raucousness, and raucous rowdyness. And the DJ said "yeah, I was wrong". And we know how I like to prove people wrong...
5) Right Place, Wrong Time - Dr. John: Did this one night at a Mardi-Gras themed party at the Grille, and it sounded pretty good. Did it around Mardi Gras the next year. Then I figured something out and it's one of the ones I can pull out wherever I go, and don't even need the jester's hat, though green and purple and gold look good on me. Or maybe the hat does for reasons we need not elaborate on.
4) London Calling - The Clash: Honestly, this could easily have been Should I Stay or Should I Go. Rock The Casbah and Train In Vain are also good, but this one was the breakthrough Clash song for me, the first one where I got that feeling, and that pat on the back, literally.
3) Tangled Up In Blue - Bob Dylan: It being my all-time favorite song helps here, but Dylan is hard to really screw up because his singing style isn't exactly traditional. All you non-Dylan fans feel free to shut up right about here. But it's not the easiest thing to feel comfortable singing, either. I knew I had something right one night when Celtic John said he had someone open the door so he could hear the song while he was outside. I hope he was sincere, because that was the best compliment just about ever....
2) Paradise By The Dashboard Lights - Meatloaf: Not only do I have the nostalgia of remembering APO parties when I sing this, but I also have a truly unique thing with this song. I had sung it a couple of times with various people but this girl I had seen once or twice asks a friend of mine at the Grille if anyone can sing this song. He points me out immediately, and we sing it, and it was pretty good (mostly because she can really sing), and a bit of fun. She hangs out with us at the bar for a few weeks and then about disappears. Year goes by, and the Grille is gone, and the karaoke DJ tells me she's coming down to Martin's that night. We talk a bit, and one of us mentions a duet. We do the song, and she's letting loose. I knew she could sing, but holy crap I didn't remember her as dynamic as this. I'm just trying not to screw up. But it goes over like gangbusters. So we bond, if you will, over this song, and over the next few months do the song a few more times, and in a couple of other places. We get more playful, and the "routine" if you will really starts to pick up speed. I get to the point when I'm not hindering things, and then it seems like I'm helping things along. Very well aware that I'm still nowhere near her league as a singer, and never will be. But for those 8 minutes, I don't have to be, because I'm actually a performer as much as I'm singing, and it has helped me as much to feel like I should be singing whenever I feel like it, because I know what I can do under optimal circumstances. Ah, no hubris here, really... but I know if nothing else when I visit Roanoke I can call this young lady and at least if she's free meet her at one of a couple of places, and totally rip through this song.
1) Fell In Love With A Girl - White Stripes: One minutes and fifty seconds of perfect sonic mayhem. It doesn't rate with other things I felt were more sincere, but a perfect stranger asked me if I was in a real band once after I finished this song. Friends have told other people who have never been out with us that this is my song. One even said that he thinks it sounds a little weird hearing the White Stripes version, but I think that's just because he's been subjected to me many times, and doesn't hear it that often on the radio. Several people have at various times asked me to do this song. It's a great fucking song, too. Just saying... I said it once before, but it bears repeating, now.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Children and All That Jazz
So I'm going to Chicago in a few days. The main attraction will be the opportunity to see my little niece for the first time. For those of you who haven't heard, Abigail Sofia was due somewhere in March. My sister told me her original due date was the 7th, then bumped back to the 21st, then they were going to induce on the 18th. So several weeks out, I predicted the birth of my niece on St. Patrick's Day, and that the happy parents should acknowledge that by throwing some Irish name in there. I like the name Abigail, but either a replacement middle name or two middle names wouldn't be the worst idea, I thought.
To show how much we listen to Uncle Chris, the baby was born on March 17, as predicted, and the planned name didn't change at all. Was Siobahn, Nuala, Moira or Brianne such a bad idea? *sighs* Whatever, then. Of course, I've been told something on the line of "when you have your own child, you can stick whatever name you feel like on him/her/them."
When I have my own child... you know, even from those people who I know were under familial pressure to reproduce, I tend not to take this commentary very well. I will give my family credit and say that it was never a point of contention. Therefore, in the early years of my marriage, it was easy to respond to the inevitable question of "when are you going to have kids?" with "well, I'm practicing as diligently as I can!" Needless to say, said marriage didn't exactly proceed according to plan, so most of me thinks it's a good thing there were no children. Spoken like a true product of a divorced childhood.
Nevertheless, somehow there's a pattern that the stereotypical life is supposed to favor. Go to school, get a job, get married, have 2.5 children, have a house with a white picket fence and a dog (please not a cat!), grow old together, watch your children repeat this process, spoil your grandchildren, die peacefully in a contented old age. Somehow, failing to complete this journey brings forth some doubts as to whether "a full life" has been led.
Now, as of this writing, I am as far as I know without progeny. Again, I'm usually pretty damn sure that this is a good idea. I'm nothing if not practical, cynical (why do I sound like I'm heading towards singing Supertramp?) and rational. Overpopulation, lack of faith in this world being a better place than the one I came into, the thought that I'm a little overly concerned with myself to believe that I'd be a good father, lack of interest in ever seriously saying the words "baby mama" and I could think of a few others. "But you'll have no one to watch over you when you get old" has actually been given to me as a reason to procreate, and I think "do I want to have kids just to make them do that?" If that's the best reason to come up with, I'll pass, thanks.
It's not inconceivable (all puns are intended) that this could happen in the future. People are living longer, and I'm rather young for my age (immature could probably be used just as easily), and in decent shape. Starting a family at 40 is hardly unusual. Hey, 40 is the new 30! But you know, the fact is that some people in every generation just don't have children, for any one of a variety of reasons. In my group of friends, it seems to be an almost 50-50 split. The ones who are currently unmarried make up the majority of the childless, but there are couples that seem to be perfectly content not bringing rugrats into this plane of existence.
As with the kind of questions I ask my classes when I try and foster debate, there is no truly correct answer (though most of you reading will at least be able to understand what I mean if I threw out the term "anthropomorphic" but that's a rant for the future, perhaps). My existential musing is winding down, and circling back to the start of the post, I expect to have pictures of Abigail Sofia to share at some point. But when I'm conned into changing my first diaper, I don't promise that the thought "at least I don't have to do this regularly" won't run through my head like a bullet train. Auf Wiedersehen!
To show how much we listen to Uncle Chris, the baby was born on March 17, as predicted, and the planned name didn't change at all. Was Siobahn, Nuala, Moira or Brianne such a bad idea? *sighs* Whatever, then. Of course, I've been told something on the line of "when you have your own child, you can stick whatever name you feel like on him/her/them."
When I have my own child... you know, even from those people who I know were under familial pressure to reproduce, I tend not to take this commentary very well. I will give my family credit and say that it was never a point of contention. Therefore, in the early years of my marriage, it was easy to respond to the inevitable question of "when are you going to have kids?" with "well, I'm practicing as diligently as I can!" Needless to say, said marriage didn't exactly proceed according to plan, so most of me thinks it's a good thing there were no children. Spoken like a true product of a divorced childhood.
Nevertheless, somehow there's a pattern that the stereotypical life is supposed to favor. Go to school, get a job, get married, have 2.5 children, have a house with a white picket fence and a dog (please not a cat!), grow old together, watch your children repeat this process, spoil your grandchildren, die peacefully in a contented old age. Somehow, failing to complete this journey brings forth some doubts as to whether "a full life" has been led.
Now, as of this writing, I am as far as I know without progeny. Again, I'm usually pretty damn sure that this is a good idea. I'm nothing if not practical, cynical (why do I sound like I'm heading towards singing Supertramp?) and rational. Overpopulation, lack of faith in this world being a better place than the one I came into, the thought that I'm a little overly concerned with myself to believe that I'd be a good father, lack of interest in ever seriously saying the words "baby mama" and I could think of a few others. "But you'll have no one to watch over you when you get old" has actually been given to me as a reason to procreate, and I think "do I want to have kids just to make them do that?" If that's the best reason to come up with, I'll pass, thanks.
It's not inconceivable (all puns are intended) that this could happen in the future. People are living longer, and I'm rather young for my age (immature could probably be used just as easily), and in decent shape. Starting a family at 40 is hardly unusual. Hey, 40 is the new 30! But you know, the fact is that some people in every generation just don't have children, for any one of a variety of reasons. In my group of friends, it seems to be an almost 50-50 split. The ones who are currently unmarried make up the majority of the childless, but there are couples that seem to be perfectly content not bringing rugrats into this plane of existence.
As with the kind of questions I ask my classes when I try and foster debate, there is no truly correct answer (though most of you reading will at least be able to understand what I mean if I threw out the term "anthropomorphic" but that's a rant for the future, perhaps). My existential musing is winding down, and circling back to the start of the post, I expect to have pictures of Abigail Sofia to share at some point. But when I'm conned into changing my first diaper, I don't promise that the thought "at least I don't have to do this regularly" won't run through my head like a bullet train. Auf Wiedersehen!
Friday, June 12, 2009
"I guess sometimes you need the place where you belong"
So I've been playing a lot on this trivia site (http://www.funtrivia.com/?ref=triviapoet for those of you who missed that posted link on Facebook) and the music categories often talk about how this album or this song in that year, and how 5, 10, 20, 50 or however many round years ago something happened. And some of my favorites never make it on to that list. So I started thinking that it was 10 years ago about this time of year that I fell in love with the album Central Reservation by Beth Orton.
With BMG and no end of used CD stores, and a lack of music stores memberships to give me discounts (which I am in no short supply of these days), I didn't often walk into a store and walk out with a $15 dollar CD. I did the day I heard snippets of this album. I knew her work from her previous album Trailer Park (thanks little sis!) but while some people who shall remain nameless always favored that album, I was completely hooked on this neat little nugget from the jump.
The lead single, Stolen Car, gives this particular post it's title, and will show up again on its own when and if I do some of the list/opinion posts promised in my previous post of all of about 20 minutes ago. But it goes beyond that. Stars All Seem To Weep is a very good song that totally captures a unique reflective electronic pose that I don't hear many other places, Sweetest Decline is a soft melody backed by what I think is her strongest vocal performance on the album, and the title track in both its original and remixed forms nicely finish off the two sides of the record (assuming of course it was an album and not the CD). It's one of those albums you can put on, and despite having clear strong favorites, listen to the whole thing without impatience.
For several years, I was prone to say this was the best album I had heard in the last however many years it had been up to that point. I have heard somewhere between a couple and a few albums in the last 10 years I might definitely say are better than this one, but that's about it. Where I've made mixes for who knows how many people with Stolen Car or Stars All Seem To Weep on it, I don't often make copies of whole albums for people unless they are looking for something specific. If you read this, and you ask, I will happily comply. And I doubt you will regret asking.
With BMG and no end of used CD stores, and a lack of music stores memberships to give me discounts (which I am in no short supply of these days), I didn't often walk into a store and walk out with a $15 dollar CD. I did the day I heard snippets of this album. I knew her work from her previous album Trailer Park (thanks little sis!) but while some people who shall remain nameless always favored that album, I was completely hooked on this neat little nugget from the jump.
The lead single, Stolen Car, gives this particular post it's title, and will show up again on its own when and if I do some of the list/opinion posts promised in my previous post of all of about 20 minutes ago. But it goes beyond that. Stars All Seem To Weep is a very good song that totally captures a unique reflective electronic pose that I don't hear many other places, Sweetest Decline is a soft melody backed by what I think is her strongest vocal performance on the album, and the title track in both its original and remixed forms nicely finish off the two sides of the record (assuming of course it was an album and not the CD). It's one of those albums you can put on, and despite having clear strong favorites, listen to the whole thing without impatience.
For several years, I was prone to say this was the best album I had heard in the last however many years it had been up to that point. I have heard somewhere between a couple and a few albums in the last 10 years I might definitely say are better than this one, but that's about it. Where I've made mixes for who knows how many people with Stolen Car or Stars All Seem To Weep on it, I don't often make copies of whole albums for people unless they are looking for something specific. If you read this, and you ask, I will happily comply. And I doubt you will regret asking.
Oops, I didn't do it again... some more
Hmm, late February was a while ago, wasn't it? And we have just hit upon the crux on why I never have felt like I should be doing a blog. I never kept up with a diary for very long. I couldn't name you the last year when I wrote more than 1 poem. I seem to be the person to have an immediate, visceral reaction to something, and call or e-mail someone, and then it passes. It might be a good thing that nothing has made me indignant enough to put it down, or it might be a sad thing that nothing poignant enough has inspired me.
Let's see, to catch up...
Turned 35 -- Perhaps because it's not a full "round number" kind of thing, it didn't carry a ton of weight. Perhaps because it's just another year. Perhaps because with a small circle of relatively new friends here in Richmond, several of whom didn't know it was my birthday, I was able to keep it very low key. Perhaps it was because, by comparison with the last birthday of note (this would be the big 3-0) life around me wasn't leaving me beset by all of what I called the "M squad" - melancholy, morose, melodramatic, miasmatic, macabre, miserable and maladjusted, and I think you get the point now - and I could keep things in some kind of perspective.
Back into teaching - got two weekend seminars teaching with my boss/sometimes partner Elisabeth at U of R, one which took place in May and one which will occur in July, giving lectures on Virginia history and babysitting youngish adults on field trips around the city. You know, St. John's Church, The Capitol, Historical Society and such. The fact that the students are all au pairs has amused more than one person, including my boss, who said I needed to join her on this particular job to give the students someone other than an old lady to look at. *shakes head with grin on face*
Also will be leading an independent study for three students taking a liberal arts senior seminar class in the second six weeks of summer. So those combined should about equal what I gave up in Roanoke if we assume I'd have gotten a summer class to go with the spring class I forfeited to move. And I'm already lined up with a class for the fall, and maybe yet another weekend seminar. No word if it will be 20 or so students, 90-95% of whom will be women aged 19-26 from foreign places. Yes, I was probably looking at some of them as much as they might have been inclined to look at me.
Sin City - I entered the cheapest World Series of Poker event there has been since the explosion in the "sport" (and I use the term dubiously). It still wasn't cheap, and I didn't cash. But I lasted several hours, and not for one second did I think I did not belong. This, I needed to know. I didn't tell anyone, but if I had gone and felt hopelessly outclassed, I might have, well, not quit playing altogether, but stopped working seriously to make myself a good player. This also means when Jason inevitably gets heads up with me and has a worse hand and inevitably sucks out (those of you who haven't heard this don't even want to get me started on bad beat stories about this guy, I promise), I will still want to go into a Phil Hellmuth-style rant. That's kind of a pity, because I like Daniel Negreanu so much better.
Inspiration to write - El Chuxter has discussed reawakening the pop culture website idea I had several years ago (under the title mag-seven.com for those of you who might remember hearing about it), and I have actually considered posting once or twice on subjects, making lists again, and All That Jazz (that one was for Karaoke Girl). So, probably even less touchy-feely shit in the future, barring that kind of inspiration. But, debate worthy opinions will likely be posted more regularly. *cracks knuckles* Look for one very soon.
Peace out, peeps!
Let's see, to catch up...
Turned 35 -- Perhaps because it's not a full "round number" kind of thing, it didn't carry a ton of weight. Perhaps because it's just another year. Perhaps because with a small circle of relatively new friends here in Richmond, several of whom didn't know it was my birthday, I was able to keep it very low key. Perhaps it was because, by comparison with the last birthday of note (this would be the big 3-0) life around me wasn't leaving me beset by all of what I called the "M squad" - melancholy, morose, melodramatic, miasmatic, macabre, miserable and maladjusted, and I think you get the point now - and I could keep things in some kind of perspective.
Back into teaching - got two weekend seminars teaching with my boss/sometimes partner Elisabeth at U of R, one which took place in May and one which will occur in July, giving lectures on Virginia history and babysitting youngish adults on field trips around the city. You know, St. John's Church, The Capitol, Historical Society and such. The fact that the students are all au pairs has amused more than one person, including my boss, who said I needed to join her on this particular job to give the students someone other than an old lady to look at. *shakes head with grin on face*
Also will be leading an independent study for three students taking a liberal arts senior seminar class in the second six weeks of summer. So those combined should about equal what I gave up in Roanoke if we assume I'd have gotten a summer class to go with the spring class I forfeited to move. And I'm already lined up with a class for the fall, and maybe yet another weekend seminar. No word if it will be 20 or so students, 90-95% of whom will be women aged 19-26 from foreign places. Yes, I was probably looking at some of them as much as they might have been inclined to look at me.
Sin City - I entered the cheapest World Series of Poker event there has been since the explosion in the "sport" (and I use the term dubiously). It still wasn't cheap, and I didn't cash. But I lasted several hours, and not for one second did I think I did not belong. This, I needed to know. I didn't tell anyone, but if I had gone and felt hopelessly outclassed, I might have, well, not quit playing altogether, but stopped working seriously to make myself a good player. This also means when Jason inevitably gets heads up with me and has a worse hand and inevitably sucks out (those of you who haven't heard this don't even want to get me started on bad beat stories about this guy, I promise), I will still want to go into a Phil Hellmuth-style rant. That's kind of a pity, because I like Daniel Negreanu so much better.
Inspiration to write - El Chuxter has discussed reawakening the pop culture website idea I had several years ago (under the title mag-seven.com for those of you who might remember hearing about it), and I have actually considered posting once or twice on subjects, making lists again, and All That Jazz (that one was for Karaoke Girl). So, probably even less touchy-feely shit in the future, barring that kind of inspiration. But, debate worthy opinions will likely be posted more regularly. *cracks knuckles* Look for one very soon.
Peace out, peeps!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg)