Weekly Album of the Week II #2

There are few albums which are both lovely and, at the same time, heart-breaking. Lady In Satin by Billie Holiday is one such album. Some would say that, because of its lush orchestration, this classic album is a titch on the schmaltzy side. But this album couldn't have been done anyother way.

This album was made 17 months prior to Lady Day's death caused by a bad heart rattled from withdrawl from heroin. Her voice, though not at its most brilliant, is caught in its most beautiful fragile and pulls the heart-strings of this blogger.

My favorite track is The End of a Love Affair (stereo version). If you are not moved by her aching vocals than you are in sad need of an emotional transplant.

(update: The link to listen is now working)

I've Been Tagged!

1. Seven things to do before I die
Write a symphony.
Write an opera.
Visit Salzburg and Vienna to pay homage (that should count as one).
Visit Europe.
Learn a measure of self-control.
Motorcycle trip to the northern-most destination in Alaska reachable by road.
Finish School.

2. Seven things I cannot do
Trust the T.V.
Trust the news.
Trust the papers.
Learn to trust everyone.
Be comfortable at certain parties around certain people.
Pretend I am having fun when I am not and vice versa.
Be friends with someone I don't respect.

3. Seven things that attract me to (...)
My wife (also): Great sense of humor, simple beauty, hard working, strong sense of family, thoughtful, musically gifted, and honest.

4. Seven things I say most often
Put that down!
Go in timeout!
I love you.
Whatever happens happens.
Brian Wilson is awesome.
SUV's are for Stoors and Stiches.
Let me introduce you to your TURN SIGNAL!!!!

5. Seven books (or series) that I love
Farseer series.
Lord of the Rings
Wheel of Time Series
Pillars of the Earth
Observatory Mansions
Anne of Green Gables series.
Mozart by Maria Davenport

6. Seven movies I watch over and over again (or would if I had time)
Amadeus
Star Wars Saga
Lord of the Rings Extended Edition
Vanilla Sky
Beautiful Dreamer(the documentary about Brian Wilson and SMiLE)
Ken Burns' JAZZ
The Beatles Anthology

7. Seven people I want to join in, too.
Jocekins
cidity hat
Agrumentatron
Paul Bunyon
Malasado
Moronic Wade
eibborgo

The Metamorphisis of Peter Jackson

I would like to extend my heart-felt gratitude to Peter Jackson for shedding his weighty figure. It has inspired me to get my health back on track. Here is how he did it: http://www.ezinearticles.com/?Whats-the-Peter-Jackson-Weight-Loss-Secret?-Introducing-the-Skull-Island-Diet&id=86111

Look Ma! He really does have neck!

Weekly Album of the Week II #1

I'm Back! This weeks Weekly Album of the Week begins a-new with Volume II (Volume I preceding) and this weeks pick was not a difficuly one.

Rolling Stone Magazine wrote that the Flaming Lips album Clouds Taste Metallic" sounded like little kids high on Robitusen [sic] playing the Beatles and the Beach Boys on Mickey Mouse instruments. How could this line not quicken a little bit of warm curiosity in your hearts?

The album begins with a song about an alien hospital ship which has landed and is examined by Government experts and the existence of Aliens leaves the narrator with a feeling like: Altho I know I am not as unique as I once thought I was, at least now I know that we are not alone in the univers. (The Abandoned Hospital Ship)

Other tracks are love songs about 2 astronauts who fall in love while training for a mission that would take them both away from the planet Earth forever and when it comes to be time to leave, one of them is late and left on Earth forever without the one they love. (They Punctures My Yolk)

And my two favorites Evil Will Prevail and Bad Days. The former is about fatalistic people try to make everyone believe that the world is fatalistic and as a result the world is fatalistic. The latter is about a hope that we all have that, someday, we will just pack off and leave everyday problems like jobs and money and find alittle peace.

On a historical note: This albums marks the end of the Lips' time as a "traditional" 4-piece rock band (were they ever traditional?) since guitarist Ronald Jones was to leave the group after this album was completed.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002MYC/qid=1134762884/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-3163010-6616029?v=glance&s=music&n=507846

The Late, Great Johnny Ace! and Mr. Mojo Rising.

25 years have marked the passing of one of the most influential and imaginitive forces in Rock 'N' Roll. John Lennon was shot to death by He-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named in front of his upper westside apartment building in New York City.


Also today is Jim Morrison's 62nd birthday.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)

Today is the 214th anniversary of the death of the great Wolfgang Mozart. Not of being poisoned by a jealous rival or angry freemasons. The most likely cause of death was a chronic heart condition made worse by a nasty strain of rheumatic fever making its way through the poorer classes of Vienna at the time.

R.I.P. Wolfi...