Saturday, November 21, 2009

... there may be something to be said....

"His anger made him suddenly sober. His whole life had been a fight to attain the impossible. Son of a mother who deserted him when he was three. Father, an Irish prizefighter who dies from a lucky punch from a third-rate kid. A life growing up on his own in [1930's] South Philadelphia. Enlisting in the Air Force at seventeen because anything seemed better than the world he knew. Then the war... being in the midst of it... seeing guys you lived with and slept with catch a bullet at your side... wondering why they got it and not you. They had families who were waiting for them at home. Families and sweethearts who wrote long letters and sent food packages. And gradually the idea hits you that maybe they got your bullet because there was something back there, waiting to be done... by you. and it's your job to go back and do it. He fele he had been given luck - luck to accomplish the impossible. And he had to make good so that the the guy who got his bullet would undestand. he wasn't religious, but he believed in paying his dues. That had always been his philosophy, and it still was"
- "Once is Not Enough" by Jacqueline Sussann

... now don't get me wrong. I am against the continued presence of the military in the middle east. I would like to find a peaceful two-state solution in Israel... and I think George W Bush is a bumbling imbecile with the luckiest swing in American politics... but there may be something to armed service if men were taught to think liek this....

Yes, war is always a nightmare, reaching back to however far there has been a record of how man can brutalize his neighbour and probably further. But somewhere on a larger scale there was always a sense of boundary. created by technology, religion or morals, probably a mix of all three, it kept civility in the pursuit for power... somewhere in the 20th century that was obliviated... and now there is only fear, and dirty plays, and sucker punches...

not sure why this popped out at me today when i was reading, but it did... anyway... back to our regularily scheduled program of fluff,oddities, narcissim and good tunes... i promise

Friday, November 13, 2009

... the jukebox conundrum...


last friday I was faced witha jukebox... and I froze... it isn't that I don't love music, know music... but in the moment... I couldn't remember a SINGLE song that I liked... not one... so I ended up picking "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis Presley... the Oceans 11 remix.... Not that that isn't a fun song... I like it...

But if jukebox choices are to truly represent you... as Nick Hornby says... its what you like, not what you ARE like... than it isn't the song I would choose to communicate my self to the world....

And then I threw my back out... So I spent a lot of time on my back with a heating pad, staring at the ceiling with nothing to do but listen to Classic Rock on 181.fm The Eagle on my internet stereo thingamajig...

so I made a list of SONGS THAT ARE AWESOME... there was 1 rule. I had to hear the song played... If I heard it, and it was awesome... I wrote it down. For those who care to judge me by my musical taste but cannot decipher my upside down scrawl - Here's the list:

Don't Think Twice - Bob Dylan
Can I Get a Witness - Marvin Gaye
Do It Again - Steely Dan
Changes - David Bowie
Keep On Rocking Me Baby - Steve Miller Band
Tiny Dancer - Elton John
In The Air Tonight - Phil Collins
Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Pat Benatar
Sweet Melissa - Allman Bros
Everyday People - Sly and the family Stone
Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
Beast Of Burden - Rolling Stones
Any Way You Want it - Journey
Midnight Rambler - Rolling Stones
Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd
Saturday Night's Alright - Elton John (nearly disqualified for its recent high frequency repetitious presence in my life currently... but it still kinda kicks)
Copperhead Road - Steve Earle
The Break Up Song (They Don't Write 'Em) - Greg Kihn Band
Teenage Wasteland - The Who (Nearly disqualified for its relationship to CSI Miami and my nemesis David Caruso... but it kinda kicks)
Mother - Pink Floyd
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen