Posted 10:03 PM by RedSox
The Experiment continues…

Just sitting around listening to songs Boogieshoes and I have downloaded over the last year or so from a variety of sources. I’m just in that kind of mood. Right now I have Blues Traveller – Runaround booming through my tiny little PC speakers. Songs are a great source of associating memories for me. So it is always interesting when I get in this type of mood. Big change. Now we go to Buddy Holly – Everyday. Again just a mood. I love doing this every so often. Just picking out some songs and chilling out. So I have no idea where this blog will go this evening. I guess I’ll just follow the music. This could be an interesting experiment or a disaser. Let's see which way it goes, shall we?

Buddy Holly was absolutely amazing. I had to listen to Everyday again. I just had to.

Next up is Elton John – Harmony. Fairly obscure. I wonder how many of you have heard it. Special meaning to me – it was the B side of the first 45 I ever owned. Benny and the Jets was the A side. I got it from my best friend’s (at the time) older brother. I think I paid $1 for it. And I got ripped off for the time. But that was my friend’s older brother for you. I played both sides of that record out. Actually I think the 45 still exists at my mom’s house. I’m not sure it would still play, but I’d like to find out. Actually, it is a terrific song.

Dilemma! Eagles or Elvis next? Ok, I choose Eagles. But which song? I only have three in this directory but a couple of others in another. Hmm. I went to another directory for Desperado. It’s a song that I used to identify with. But more than that, it’s just a great song. “Now, it seems me some fine things have laid upon your table. But you only want the one that you can’t get.”

We can’t completely ignore the King though. Don’t Be Cruel. My karaoke song. Gotta love the King.

Well, we more than doubled the amount of kids we had come by for Trick or Treat his year from last year. That isn’t saying all that much since we only had 7 last year. We had 17 tonight. We have a boatload of candy left over.

George Harrison – What is Life is up next. Why? You might ask. My answer: I dunno. Just felt like it. The song has a good hook and is fun to sing. It was a song that I quite forgot about until he passed away and they began playing the tributes to him on the radio. It was like, “Oh my god!!! I forgot about that song!!! That’s a good song!”. So I downloaded it the next day.

“Tell me what is my life without your love,
Tell me who am I without you
By my side”

Barenaked Ladies – Break Your heart is next. The live version of this song or hearing them do it in concert is awesome. At one point you swear Steve Page is going to burst a blood vessel. I really got into BNL last year. I saw them in concert without knowing too much more than One Week. Damn! Do they put on a great show. They are hysterically funny. They are also good at playing live. I went to see them again a few months later with Boogieshoes, Lord Baltimore, and Sock Momma. By then I was hooked.

John Denver, yes John Denver – Take Me Home Country Roads. Ok, so a secret is out. I like John Denver. Lord Baltimore knows. He, Sock Momma and I went out while Boogieshoes was in Canada last winter at the Playwright and they had a guy in there singing and he played this and I sang along with every word. He made a comment but I noticed he knew all the words too.

So it seems like I am in a decidedly mellow mood tonight. Based on what I’ve picked so far. Believe me, I like a good rock tune as much as he next guy.

Oh baby, I forgot I downloaded this Gary Wright – Dreamweaver. One reason and one reason only. The on-campus beer bar at UConn had this on the jukebox and there was no way you could get through a night there without some drunk playing it. It just couldn’t happen. So, now I hear it and think fondly of being packed in like a sardine with my feet stuck to the floor from all the spilled beer casually sipping a delicious Busch draft. Ah, memories. Pardon me while I wipe away a tear.

Ok, I’m better now.

Ah, Margaritaville. The song everyone knows. Well almost everyone. I can still remember my favorite moment from Cans’ wedding. A drunken group of us serenading the bride with this tune. As I recall they met because she was singing Margaritaville for karaoke and Cans HAD to meet her. The funny part was at the wedding , of the drunken group of us, Krent, Boogieshoes, and I were the only ones that really seemed to know the words. Tempest, were you at Cans’ wedding, I don’t remember?

The Saw Doctors – Claire Island will be my last selection of this evening. I really like this song. It is one of my favorites that the Rovers cover. I honestly think that they do a better version that the Saw Doctors.

I enjoyed this. I may do it again sometime. I doubt if anyone else reading this would give a damn about my stream of conciousness during some good and some lame songs but I promised a self indulgent experience here and this was about as self indulgent as I can think of.

Until next time…

Posted 1:29 PM by RedSox
No real reason for this except I heard this song on the radio last night and it has been stuck in my head since.

Celluloid Heroes – The Kinks

Everybody's a dreamer and everybody's a star,
And everybody's in movies, it doesn't matter who you are.
There are stars in every city,
In every house and on every street,
And if you walk down Hollywood Boulevard
Their names are written in concrete!

Don't step on Greta Garbo as you walk down the Boulevard,
She looks so weak and fragile that's why she tried to be so hard
But they turned her into a princess
And they sat her on a throne,
But she turned her back on stardom,
Because she wanted to be alone.

You can see all the stars as you walk down Hollywood Boulevard,
Some that you recognise, some that you've hardly even heard of,
People who worked and suffered and struggled for fame,
Some who succeeded and some who suffered in vain.
Rudolph Valentino, looks very much alive,
And he looks up ladies' dresses as they sadly pass him by.
Avoid stepping on Bela Lugosi
'Cos he's liable to turn and bite,
But stand close by Bette Davis
Because hers was such a lonely life.
If you covered him with garbage,
George Sanders would still have style,
And if you stamped on Mickey Rooney
He would still turn round and smile,
But please don't tread on dearest Marilyn
'Cos she's not very tough,
She should have been made of iron or steel,
But she was only made of flesh and blood.

You can see all the stars as you walk down Hollywood Boulevard,
Some that you recognise, some that you've hardly even heard of.
People who worked and suffered and struggled for fame,
Some who succeeded and some who suffered in vain.

Everybody's a dreamer and everybody's a star
And everybody's in show biz, it doesn't matter who you are.

And those who are successful,
Be always on your guard,
Success walks hand in hand with failure
Along Hollywood Boulevard.

I wish my life was a non-stop Hollywood movie show,
A fantasy world of celluloid villains and heroes,
Because celluloid heroes never feel any pain
And celluloid heroes never really die.

You can see all the stars as you walk along Hollywood Boulevard,
Some that you recognise, some that you've hardly even heard of,
People who worked and suffered and struggled for fame,

Posted 9:50 PM by RedSox
The Experiment continues…

Not much going on. Baseball is finally over. It becomes a very long sport once your team has been eliminated. Congratulations to the Anahiem Angels. I’m sure Gene Autry is smiling up there somewhere. I had a really hard time caring about this World Series. I am almost always a straight hard line American League guy. The only exception is when the Yankees are the AL team. I just couldn’t get into this Angel team, however. The Giants didn’t thrill me either. So I watched here and there but I didn’t see a whole game the whole series.

Now comes the fun stuff. Hot Stove is right around the corner. The speculation and trades and free agent signings begin. Coaching changes happen. I get to watch helplessly as the Red Sox sign useless high priced free agents that contribute nothing to next year’s team. But I’ll be happy when they sign. I don’t know what they need next year. More pitching is the obvious answer but I wonder if there will be anyone out there who would make a difference. I mean the Sox did win 93 games last year. Not bad. Not good enough though.

I bowled another 200 game yesterday. That makes a 197 two weeks ago, 223 two weeks ago, and a 212 yesterday. By far and away the best three high games in a row I have ever had. I’ve never had two 200 games even in the same season before. The weird part about yesterday was I couldn’t get out of my own way in the first two games. My ball and shoes were locked in my car, which was locked at in the local Chevy dealership for repairs. So I had alley shoes for the first time in probably 6 years. And I used an alley ball. The heel of the alley shoes stuck. The finger holes of the alley balls were either just too big or just too small. And it showed in the first two games. Then out of nowhere it all came together in the last game.

So my car was in the shop. First off, let me preface this with the simple statement that I don’t know shit about cars. Never wanted to or had the opportunity to learn. But I was having trouble with the temperature gauge hitting the red and then eventually easing back down to normal levels. People told me that there wasn’t enough coolant but every time I looked, the overflow well was full. So what did I know? As far as I’m concerned, it’s got coolant. Well as it turns out the coolant got all gunk in it and it wasn’t getting into the radiator. And the radiator got rust in it. Oops. So I had to have the thing chemical flushed. $343 later, my car is working fine again.

And now for something completely different…

LAUNCELOT:
We have the Holy Hand Grenade.
ARTHUR:
Yes, of course! The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch! 'Tis one of the sacred relics Brother Maynard carries with him. Brother Maynard! Bring up the Holy Hand Grenade!
MONKS: [chanting]
Pie Iesu domine, dona eis requiem.
Pie Iesu domine, dona eis requiem. Pie Iesu domine, dona eis requiem. Pie Iesu domine, dona eis requiem.
ARTHUR:
How does it, um-- how does it work?
LAUNCELOT:
I know not, my liege.
ARTHUR:
Consult the Book of Armaments!
BROTHER MAYNARD:
Armaments, chapter two, verses nine to twenty-one.
SECOND BROTHER:
And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, 'O Lord, bless this Thy hand grenade that, with it, Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits in Thy mercy.'

And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals and fruit bats and large chu--
MAYNARD:
Skip a bit, Brother.
SECOND BROTHER:
And the Lord spake, saying, 'First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three. No more. No less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then, lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.'
MAYNARD:
Amen.
KNIGHTS:
Amen.
ARTHUR:
Right!

Until next time…