Sunday, June 10, 2007

June 10, 2007 to June 16, 2007

Wherein nothing but good music this week

One thing all right thinking people can agree on is that Thriller is a vastly overrated album.

Lyrics below are for Van Morrison's You Make Me Feel So Free. I am not sure if I've ever heard Mr. Morrison sing it. I have the copy sung by Sinead O'Connor off the No Prima Donna album. Interesting, first of all, in that it's a Van Morrison produced album of artists covering Van Morrison. Interesting, second of all, in being mostly deadly boring. It's like Morrison set out to prove that only he could sing his songs. Or in the case of Liam Neeson, dramatically read his songs. Two standouts--Sinead and Elvis Costello with Full Force Gale. I'm not much of a Costello fan, it's not that I dislike him, just can't work up much emotion either way and I've never had the desire to spend any money on him. Still, he occasionally cranks out a tune that stops me and Full Force Gale is one.

You can listen to both at my vox: No Prima Donna.

You Make Me Feel So Free

Some people spend their time just runnin' round in circles
Always chasing some exotic bird
I prefer to spend some time just listening for that special something
That I've never ever heard
I like a new song to sing, another show or somewhere entirely different to be
But baby you make me feel so free

And so I yearn for mistress calling me
That's the muse, that's the muse
But we only burn up with that passion
When there's absolutely nothing left to lose
I make it to spring and there's no bed of roses
Just more hard work and bad company
But baby you make me feel so free

I heard them say that you can have your cake and eat it
But all I wanted was one free lunch
How can I eat it when the man that's next to me, he grabbed it
Lord, he beat me to the punch

How can I even talk about freedom
When you know it's sweet mystery
But baby I wanna say that you make me feel so free

I'm gonna lay my cards just right down on the table
And spin the wheel and roll the dice
And whatever way it comes out
And whatever way it turns out
Well you know that's the price
Well I'll order again there's no need to explain
I just need somewhere to dump all my negativity

But baby you make me feel so free

What ya say what you say
What you say what you say what you say
Say it say it say it say it again

You make me feel so free.

25 Comments:

Blogger bill said...

Just added two from Prudence Johnson:

Never Be
Nature Boy

6/10/2007 09:45:00 AM  
Blogger bill said...

Saw Surf's Up over the weekend. Thoroughly enjoyed it and the CGI waves were amazingly lifelike. I have further thoughts in comments at Reel Fanatic.

Since we're/I'm talking music this week, the movie had an excellent soundtrack. One disappointment, though, is the song Jeff Bridges sings during the credits isn't included. Gotta be a copy of that out there, somewhere.

6/11/2007 09:57:00 AM  
Blogger bill said...

In nonmusic postings, I give you one of the worst company names, ever: Eurotard. No, you're a 'tard.

6/11/2007 01:42:00 PM  
Blogger Icepick said...

One of the worst names ever? This has to be the bottom of the barrel. Or is there a brand called Shit Cola that I'm unaware of?

6/11/2007 02:16:00 PM  
Blogger bill said...

The Commitments, Roddy Doyle

Jimmy let the needle down and sat on the back of his legs between the speakers.

--I'm ready to get up and do my thang, said James Brown.

A chorus of men from the same part of the world as James Brown went: YEAH.

--I want to, James continued, --to get into it, you know. (--YEAH, said the lads in the studio with him.) --Like a, like a sex machine, man (--YEAH YEAH, GO AHEAD.) --movin', doin' it, you know (--YEAH.) --Can I count it all? (--YEAH YEAH YEAH, went the lads.) --One Two Three Four.

Then the horns started, the same note repeated (--DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH) seven times and then James Brown began to sing. He sang like he spoke, a great voice that seemed to be holding back, hanging onto because it was dangerous. The lads (in Jimmy's bedroom) smiled at each other. This was it.

--GET UP AH, sang James.

A guitar clicked, like a full stop.

--GET ON UP, someone else sang, no mean voice either.

Then the guitar again.

--GER RUP AH--

Guitar.

--GET ON UP--

--STAY ON THE SCENE, sang James.

----GET ON UP--

James had the good lines.

--LIKE A SEX MACHINE AH--

--GET ON UP--

The lads bounced gently on the bunks.

-YOU GOT TO HAVE THE FEELING----
SURE AS YOU'RE BORN AH----
GET IT TOGETHER----
RIGHT ON--
RIGHT ON----
GET UP AH, sang James.

--GET ON UP----

Then there was a paino break and at the end of it James went: --HUH. It was the best Huh they'd ever heard. Then the piano got going again.

--GER RUP AH----
--GET ON UP----

The guitar clicked away.

And the bass was busy too, padding along. You could actually make it out; notes. This worried Derek a bit. He'd chosen the bass because he'd thought there was nothing to it. There was something to this one. It was busier than all the other instruments.

The song went on. The lads bounced and grinned. Deco concentrated.

--Bobby, James Brown called. (Bobby must have been the man who kept singing GET ON UP.) --Bobby, said James.

--Shall I take them to the bridge?

--Go ahead, said Bobby.

--Take 'em all to the bridge.

--Take them to the bridge, said Bobby.

--Shall I take them to the bridge? James asked.

--YEAH, the lads in the studio, and Outspan and Derek, answered.

Then the guitar changed course a bit and stayed that way. James shouted and huh-huhhed a while longer and then it faded out.

Jimmy got up and lifted the needle.

6/11/2007 09:29:00 PM  
Blogger bill said...

The Girl Who Trod On A Loaf, Kathryn Davis (2 Bookslut interviews: 2003 and 2006.

The only practical use I'd found for the manual agility developed during my four unhappy years at Juilliard was shoplifting. Would it have made any difference if, as Helle once suggested, I'd studied clarinet rather than piano? The clarinet, that dark tube glistening with silver buttons and knobs, an instrument designed for the expression of love and passion, fury and parody. Just like you, Frances, she'd said. At the time she'd been busy reworking her melancholy Shoe Aria, in which a contralto voice and solo clarinet first articulate what will emerge as a central motif, the vooice ascending, the clarinet descending--on the edge of a bog.

6/11/2007 10:35:00 PM  
Blogger bill said...

Tuesday Trivia L

L is what I put on my forehead for one correct answer. Maybe two, if Prince is correct.

1. You know what I hate? Perfume. Clogs up the nose and I can't breath.
2. Denial. I learned that from watching All That Jazz.
3. Immediately guessed sodium and was dashed upon the rocks. Missed the most obvious one, helium, and the one I've never heard of, Ununoctium.
4. Marky Mark? No, don't think he has an Oscar. What about Prince? Though he really isn't an actor. Going by this list, it's probably Prince.
5. According to wiki, it this punter, not a quarterback.
6. Never would have guessed it.
7. ------

6/12/2007 11:47:00 AM  
Blogger XWL said...

Re: Kentrivia #5, maybe Mr. Jennings doesn't consider punters to be particularly "active".

I think the question is a bit flake-y if you ask me.

Maybe he'll do a "who's the last player to score a drop kick" question as a make up.

The question 7s are getting very tough and hard to reason out unless you already know the answer, and for once, folks who've partaken in some sweet Hoboken loving doesn't seem to fit.

6/13/2007 03:19:00 AM  
Blogger bill said...

The Onion AV Club discusses one of the great movies: Joe Vs. the Volcano. If we all inhabited a SoQuoted island, disliking this movie would probably be a greater offense than liking Family Guy.

6/13/2007 10:39:00 AM  
Blogger bill said...

Felt bad about not putting in the effort to work in Frank Sinatra.

The area code #7 was a decent question, but yeah, many of them just seem to be random coincidences he happened to notice. But maybe I'm just whining because I've gotten only one #7 correct.

6/13/2007 10:42:00 AM  
Blogger bill said...

Ooooh! must find song:

I have a country version of this song. It will be stuck in my head all day long now. Thanks a lot!

(Unholy Trio on Down to the Promised Land - 5 Years of Bloodshot Records, Great album!)


Looks like boingboing mentioned this over a year ago and I missed it.

6/13/2007 11:03:00 AM  
Blogger bill said...

Sorry, vegetarians. There is nothing better than pig fat.

Speaking of marinades, there's an LA Times link that includes a ymmuy sounding marinade that would work on all sorts of food stuffs.

6/13/2007 11:23:00 AM  
Blogger bill said...

blogging the $54 million pants lawsuit. Day 2 just started.

6/13/2007 12:50:00 PM  
Blogger bill said...

update on this week's #7. Checking in with the Tuesday Trivia thread at snopes.com, no consensus is emerging. Sounds like no one has a clue. Prince is emerging as the pick for #4.

6/13/2007 01:11:00 PM  
Blogger bill said...

Luckily, I watched all 7 games in bars so I never heard McCarver.

Watching game 1 of the 1987 World Series:


Tim McCarver is our colorman…and he’s already annoying.

Seriously…how can McCarver be THIS annoying already.

Needless to say, McCarver had nothing to do with that analysis.

Of course, McCarver backs up the ump, even as the replay shows he’s out.

I’m not sure if I can read lips that well…but I’m pretty sure he said “Fuck you Tim McCarver” on the way to first.

McCarver says “White on white belongs in shirts, not baseball”. I have no idea what that means, but assume he’s gotten into Willie’s stash

6/13/2007 02:38:00 PM  
Blogger bill said...

Is Microsoft sponsoring lame Zune parties?

6/14/2007 02:53:00 PM  
Blogger bill said...

Bruce Announces the Second Movie-Plot Threat Contest Winner.

And it's...Butterflies and beverages!

6/15/2007 09:36:00 AM  
Blogger bill said...

Thanks to Matt Welch for linking to Thanks...but no thanks!:

Please don’t take this personally – I think that all of you at Project Censored are sincere people that believe you are helping me and other independent journalists – but I must decline your 2007 award.

I must also insist that you not publish my words or reporting, not even in “synopsis” form, in any book by Seven Stories Press and its UDBCP (“Unethical Douche Bag of a Capitalist Publisher”), Dan Simon. I do not wish to be associated with that editorial house or its owner in any way.

6/15/2007 10:45:00 AM  
Blogger bill said...

Jaime Weinman links to Why Do MGM Cartoons Hate Black People?:

The MGM black caricatures were always just there, with those magical pigtails that come out of nowhere. They say, "Laugh at me because I look like a stupid negro!" I have a feeling somebody in the MGM story department loved those kinds of sight gags, because Avery rarely used them in his cartoons at Warners. The Tom & Jerry series probably holds the record for most black gags in classical animation history (which is why they are the most heavily censored).

6/15/2007 10:49:00 AM  
Blogger bill said...

Hee! Got a Neal Stephenson quote into buzz.mn.

6/15/2007 01:25:00 PM  
Blogger bill said...

The NY Times has a nice profile of the guy on Man Vs Wild (new episode tonight, in the everglades):

The closest he has come to calling for emergency help was in his own backyard. (The episode will be shown on July 20.) He was high in the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland when a storm rolled in. The temperature dropped to 30 degrees below zero, visibility was less than 50 feet, and the wind was so powerful that he could not stand up.

“I was on the edge of calling in help,” Mr. Grylls said. Then he found a dead deer, which he skinned, wrapping himself in the bloody coat to get through the night.


We were watching one episode where he fashioned a throwing stick and killed a rabbit. Before I could change the channel he skinned it, shoved it on a stick, and cooked it. I thought The Child might be disturbed by this until she asked if I could cook her some rabbit. Um, ok...I think Harry's Farmers Market sells fresh rabbit loins and I know I've seen frozen rabbit before. Though there isn't a lot of meat on a rabbit carcass and they're a pain to butcher, so I'll pay extra for the prepped loins. For The Child, probably just pan toss them in some butter. After she dips them in ketchup they'll taste just like chicken nuggets. This braise sounds tasty.

6/15/2007 01:58:00 PM  
Blogger bill said...

Oh my. I don't remember that episode at all.

6/15/2007 06:52:00 PM  
Blogger bill said...

Fisher King dance scene

6/15/2007 10:20:00 PM  
Blogger bill said...

Bruce Campbell, 21 minutes of Q&A:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

6/15/2007 10:45:00 PM  
Blogger reader_iam said...

Hope you had a Happy Father's Day!

6/17/2007 07:20:00 PM  

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