from Home Soon to Hopelessly Devoted

Day 672, Session 124:
When/Where: Tuesday April 22nd - Mopping the kitchen floor - ah glamorous life (someone please give me a job!)
First song: Home Soon by Oh Susanna
Last full song: Hopelessly Devoted To You by Clem Snide
Progress: 1983-1996 of 5889
Total Songs Heard: 1588

Three versions of Homeward Bound today, two proper Simon and Garfunkel versions and one off the cuff concert version from Fruvous. Hearing these songs got me to realizing that this particular musical treasure has absolutely no application to my life whatsoever.

When I was growing up, my Dad (at approximately the same age I am now) was going out of town all the time for work. He spent days upon days working and driving around Nowhere, West Virginia and Middle Of, Kentucky. Actually I believe he used to go to Hazard. Every time he got back from Hazard I asked him if he saw the Dukes. He never did (probably because the Dukes were in Hazzard, Georgia, not Hazard, Kentucky.)

Back when she was an engineer, the wife spent a lot of time on the road, mostly in Florida.

Even my professional student friends take extended trips away from home to exotic places like Antarctica and Rwanda.

I have been on exactly one business trip in my life. I went to Portland, Oregon and wasn't gone long enough to start thinking about Homeward Bound. I know everyone who does travel for business eventually tires of it, but there's a part of me that is really excited by the idea. So, yeah, if you've got a job to offer me, don't hold back just because it involves travel. I'd even be willing to get a passport.



Two other things I head today that I wanted to share. Being a nerd, I'm a big Weird Al fan, and one of my favorite things he does are his mash-up polkas, so here's one I heard today:

Hooked On Polkas - Weird Al

And being a theater nerd, I suppose I'm contractually obligated to be a fan of "Grease." The movie is ridiculous and I hold a grudge against the stage version based on the time I was on the crew and I almost had my ankle crushed while moving a piece of scenery, but I do like the music well enough. I especially like this cover by Eef Barzelay. He takes all of Olivia Newton John's manufactured Australian-playing-1950's angst and completely blows it out.



One more thing about "Grease." At the end of the movie when Sandy goes from good-girl to bad-ass-leather-girl... am I the only one who finds the transformation totally unattractive? I mean, completely ignoring the "you have to change yourself to get your man" message that it sends, I just find her hotter when she's playing the good girl. Am I the only one? Please use the poll over on the right to tell me whether I'm right, or whether I'm crazy.

Falling Slowly Oscar Update

The academy did the right thing. Falling Slowly won. We can call off the investigation. (It's been tough staying ahead of the innernecks censors who don't want this video to be available, this it the third version I've posted. If it says video not available, just head over to YouTube and do a search there, I'm sure someone will how found a way to keep this performance alive.)

The long version with Colin Farrell intro


Just the song from another site that hopefully won't back down to the Academy:

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Although I'm annoyed that they 1) cut the song by about a minute (in the second verse a line or two are cut and the outro was hacked,) 2) over-orchestrated it (the original recording doesn't add strings until the last 1/2 of the song,) and 3) then spent too much of the time focusing on the orchestra instead of, you know, the folks who were nominated and actually performing the song. Also, those 3 women in the front row who were didn't applaud at the end... punches in the nose all around.

Ok, I got a little obsessive here. This is probably why I should not break my own rules.

from Hard Headed to Haywire

Day 612, Session 113:
When/Where: Friday February 22th - In the living room, playing through Nottingham Forest's 1st Premier League season.
First song: Hard Headed Woman by Cat Stevens
Last full song: Haywire by The Jayhawks
Progress: 1803-1830 of 5784
Total Songs Heard: 1446

Ok, so I know I made up a set of rules for this project and one of those rules was no going backwards but...

The Oscars are this weekend. I know, I know, you probably don't really care. Honestly, for the most part I don't really care either. I've seen two of the best picture nominees, "Juno," which I liked it, but I hardly think of it as a Best Picture type of movie, and "No Country For Old Men," which I liked better, but again, didn't make me think best. movie. ever.

There is one category I care a lot about this year. Best song. The nominees include 3 songs from the movie "Enchanted" (which I'll probably never see,) 1 from the movie "August Rush" (which I certainly will never see,) and 1 from my favorite movie of last year, "Once."

So good is that song, that I'm breaking the rules and going back to highlight the Oscar nominated tune Falling Slowly. I'm not going to go into all the details of the movie, I know at least 4 of my 11 (this is a guess) loyal readers have already seen it. All you need to know is a guy and a girl (awesomely, their character names in the movie are Guy and Girl) meet and make beautiful music together. Falling Slowly is the first time they work together.



To make sure you understand how I feel, I'm going to use words that aren't normally part of my vocabulary. This song is lovely. It brings tears to my eyes every single time I hear it. The movie is charming and full of joy. Amazingly, "Once" was not nominated for Best Picture. The very least they can do is make sure this song is recognized.

I feel so strongly about this that I'm filing this entry on Saturday night even though I know practically no one will see it until Monday when it may be too late. So if you're reading this Monday, and Falling Slowly did not win the Oscar for Best Song please call your congressperson and demand a federal investigation.

Right after Arlen Specter finishes investigating the New England Patriots.

Falling Slowly - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova

from Explanation to Ezekiel

Day 433, Session 89:
When/Where: Wednesday August 29th - Cursing the L for being too slow on the way home.
First song: Explanation by SNMNMNM
Last full song: Ezekiel 25-17 by Samuel L. Jackson
Progress: 1248-1255 of 5296
Total Songs Heard: 1022

The end of the E's comes not with a song, but with the clip of Jules Winnfield giving last rites to poor dumb Brett. Pulp Fiction was a phenomena of a movie for me. It was the last movie I've seen in a theater more than once. We actually saw Pulp Fiction in the theater 3 times. This actually said much more about the movie than you would think at first blush. (Is that even a phrase? Screw it, I'm keeping it.)

It was 1st semester freshman year of college and freshman weren't technically allowed to have cars on campus. The closest movie theater was out at the Dayton Mall which was a 25 minute bus ride from campus. Lucky for us, we were the type of freshmen who weren't getting into a lot of parties in the Ghetto (*cough* losers? *cough*) so we ended up on the bus (90 cents each way) out to the mall on multiple occasions the first few weeks of the year. It's strange for me to think back on it now and realize that I went with three different groups of people to see the movie, but I can't for the life of me think of who all those people were. At the time though it was a huge deal. Those first few weeks of school were so strange and I was so out of sorts... the fact that I had already made enough friends to go to see the movie three different times was somewhat of a relief.

If I had to guess, I would say that by the end of sophomore year I was only hanging out with one trip's worth of people. But by that time, that was ok. Routine had been established... that all important core group (the group I still talk to today) had been found. I didn't need to make a run with three different crowds.

These days that core group is scattered all over the place, but we're still in touch. The only problem is, I don't think I'm really friends with enough people here to justify taking 3 different trips. So I guess that's sad? I don't know. How many friends do you need as you get older? Hopefully not too many.

I have recently started taking the bus again. It's $2 a trip now.

from Drum Trip to Dust Mites

Day 217, Session 77:
When/Where: Thursday January 25th - On a late train home.
First song: Drum Trip by Rusted Root
Last full song: Dust Mites by Heywood Banks
Progress: 1041-1050 of 4801
Total Songs Heard: 899

"I will now sell four copies of "The Three EPs" by The Beta Band." - Rob Gordon, High Fidelity

Dry The Rain by The Beta Band came up in this set. It's the only song by The Beta Band I've heard. I did not buy "The Three EPs" even though I should have. High Fidelity is one of my favorite movies of the last 10 years. In the spirit of the movie, here are my Top 5 reasons that High Fidelity is so great.

5. I loved the book by Nick Hornby. Usually, I get very nervous when books I like are turned into movies. In this case, it worked out very well.
4. It inspired my other (now dead) internet project - BOX5 lists. Over the course of 47 lists my friends and I voted for the top 5 in a variety of topics, ranging from Top 5 Original 13 Colonies (Pennsylvania) to Top 5 Presidents Not Named Washington or Lincoln (William Howard Taft (because he was fat.)) Even though boxleft.com is gone now, I still have almost every list archived. At some point I'll start posting them again.
3. It was filmed in Chicago, where I currently live. Now every time I watch High Fidelity on DVD I can point out all the places I've been.
2. I hosted the Dayton premier of the movie. It was one of the first times in my radio career that I was out from behind the mic and out in front of a crowd. I was surprised by the nice reception I received and more surprised by the fact that some people were actually excited to meet me.
1. It's about guys and relationships and music. Those things kind of resonate with me.

Seriously, name me a better movie about music. I wonder how Rob and Laura are doing these days.

Thursday December 7th

Day 168, Session 61:
Location: On the way to the salt mines for another day
First song: Dancing in the Sunshine of the Dark by Fury In The Slaughterhouse
Last full song: Darkest Hour by Glen Phillips
Progress: 820-827 of 4630
Total Songs Heard: 721

I guess I'm not much of a Fury in the Slaughterhouse fan (who'd have guessed?) because DitSotD was deleted.

I first heard the song Danke Schoen in the same way I'm sure most people my age heard it: during the parade scene of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I am not at all ashamed to admit that for years afterward, I was pretty sure it was a woman singing. I can't be the only one who thought that, right?

Now that I live in Chicago, I watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off with a whole new appreciation. There's no way all the things in that movie can be done in one day. Except by Ferris. He was a righteous dude.