Thursday’s Theme Music

Lyrics once again drive this song.

I began streaming it in my mind yesterday when I was walking and saw a yellow cab. Song fragments took turns with the connection for a bit before I settled into Harry Chapin’s “Taxi”. A bit maudlin, the reflective song addresses our aspirations and shortcomings, and what we become instead of the people we want — or expected — to be in the rush of youth.

It also encompasses a bit of Sylvia Plath poetry in the middle. What the hell is he saying there, I used to ask myself, listening. Eventually, the intertubes revealed the Sylvia Plath connection, once again providing proof of the web’s usefulness.

I don’t think “Taxi” was ever as popular or well-known as “Cat’s in the Cradle”. From way, way back in 1972, here’s the late Harry Chapin and “Taxi”.

 

 

Tuesday’s Theme Music

Ah, a little Tuesday Weezer. “Say It Ain’t So.” It’s a relationship song.

Somebody’s Heine’
Is crowdin’ my icebox
Somebody’s cold one
Is givin’ me chills
Guess I’ll just close my eyes

Oh yeah
Alright
Feels good
Inside

Flip on the tele
Wrestle with Jimmy
Something is bubbling
Behind my back
The bottle is ready to blow

h/t azlyrics.com

1995. Fun video. Terrific album.

(The formatting issue is a WordPress matter. Looks fine on the draft, doesn’t work on the published version.)

My Amended Dirty List

I saw that Pitch Black was available on HBO last night. I was like, I gotta watch it! And did.

Thinking about that, I decided to add it to my dirty list, along with others that mentioned in comments.

Here we go, round two.

Original list:

Unforgiven (1992) – “It’s a hell of a thing, killing a man. Take away all he’s got and all he’s ever gonna have.”

Fail Safe (1964) – “You learned too well, Professor. You learned so well that now there’s no difference between you and what you want to kill.”

This Is Spinal Tap (1984) – “I believe virtually everything I read, and I think that is what makes me more of a selective human than someone who doesn’t believe anything.”

A Christmas Story (1983) – “Oh, fudge. Except I didn’t say fudge.”

The Great Escape (1963) – “Cooler.”

Tropic Thunder (2008) – “I know who I am. I’m the dude playin’ the dude, disguised as another dude!”

Being There (1979) – “It’s for sure a white man’s world in America. Look here: I raised that boy since he was the size of a piss-ant. And I’ll say right now, he never learned to read and write. No, sir. Had no brains at all. Was stuffed with rice pudding between th’ ears. Shortchanged by the Lord, and dumb as a jackass. Look at him now! Yes, sir, all you’ve gotta be is white in America, to get whatever you want. Gobbledy-gook!”

No Country for Old Men (1997) – “What you got ain’t nothin’ new. This country’s hard on people. You can’t stop what’s coming. It ain’t all waiting on you. That’s vanity.”

On The Beach (1959) – “The trouble with you is you want a simple answer. There isn’t any. The war started when people accepted the idiotic principle that peace could be maintained – – by arranging to defend themselves with weapons they couldn’t possibly use – – without committing suicide. Everybody had an atomic bomb, and counter-bombs, and counter-counter bombs. The devices outgrew us; we couldn’t control them.”

Fifty First Dates (2004) – “Sharks are like dogs, they only bite when you touch their private parts.”

Bladerunner (1982) – “Time…to die.”

Bridge Over the River Kwai (1957) – “Are they both mad? Or am I going mad? Or is it the sun?”

Love Actually (2003) – “A tiny, insignificant detail.”

Men In Black (1997) – “No, ma’am. We at the FBI do not have a sense of humor we’re aware of. May we come in?”

The Dirty Dozen (1967) – “I reckon the folks’d be a sight happier if I died like a soldier. Can’t say I would.”

Doctor Strangelove (1964) – “Well, boys, we got three engines out, we got more holes in us than a horse trader’s mule, the radio is gone and we’re leaking fuel and if we was flying any lower why we’d need sleigh bells on this thing… but we got one little budge on them Rooskies. At this height why they might harpoon us but they dang sure ain’t gonna spot us on no radar screen!”

Added:

Pitch Black (2000) – There are a lot of goofs in it, which is part of the fun. “They kept calling it ‘murder’ when I did it.”

Silverado (1985) – “The world is what you make of it, friend. If it doesn’t fit, you make alterations.”

Kelly’s Heroes (1970) – “Definitely an antisocial type. Woof, woof, woof! That’s my other dog imitation.”

Secondhand Lions (2003) – “WE’RE OLD, DAMN IT! LEAVE US ALONE!”

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) – “You never had a rope around your neck. Well, I’m going to tell you something. When that rope starts to pull tight, you can feel the Devil bite your ass.”

Hang them High (1968) – “Some people call this hell, but you’re still in Oklahoma.”

A Few Dollars More (1965) – “I was worried about you – all alone, with so many problems to solve…”

High Plains Drifter (1973) – “What makes you think I care?”

What of you? Andy dirty secrets about the movies you watch again and again?

Monday’s Theme Music

I know exactly when I started streaming this song. After completing some yard-work, I went for a walk. As I did, I wondered about the number of Priuses in Ashland. It seems like the number one car. Subaru is well represented, too, followed by BMW models. More Teslas are showing up, but they have a long way to go before they catch the Prius.

As I thought this, I thought about counting cards and remembered, “We count only blue cars, skip the cracks in the street and asked many questions, like children often do.”

Yes, it was Dishwalla and “Counting Blue Cars” from 1995.

Sunday’s Theme Music

It’s a fun song in a fun time streaming through my memory. We’re talking about the final stages of a long party, when few lights are on and only a few close friends remain. UB40 with “Red, Red Wine” begins. Smiling, we all sway and sing wherever we were sitting or standing. Yes, I know Marley did it first, but this was 1983 on Okinawa, and that’s what song plays in memory.

Good way to end a party.

Saturday’s Theme Music

Today’s theme music is a personal favorite from the seventies. I thought Elton John’s song, “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” (co-written with Bernie Taupin) was a rocking song. Featuring a rocking edge with pleasurable guitar work by Davey Johnstone, I considered it perfect for going out and throwing down some drinks with friends.

Still do, I think. “Saturday! Saturday, Saturday! Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Saturday’s alright for fighting.”

 

Friday’s Theme Music

Let’s pop back to 1997.

The scene is San Jose, California. The group is Smash Mouth. They were the summer’s rising flavor. One song that caught on was a little ditty called “Walkin on the Sun”.

It ain’t no joke I’d like to buy the world a toke
And teach the world to sing in perfect harmony
And teach the world to snuff the fires and the liars
Hey I know it’s just a song but it’s spice for the recipe
This is a love attack I know it went out but it’s back.
It’s just like any fad it retracts before impact
And just like fashion it’s a passion for the with it and hip
If you got the goods they’ll come and buy it just to stay in the clique

h/t to azlyrics.com

It’s just a song, but it something to help you think. Cheers

“Once”

Once is a production being performed at the Oregon Cabaret.

Now, I admit, I’m ambivalent about the Oregon Cabaret venue. It’s very tight quarters and the viewing angles aren’t impressive. It’s so tight, you can imagine that you’re traveling on a train, if you have a vivid imagination. But, it has a charming intimacy and they put on some excellent entertainment.

We heard about Once when we were in Denver. See, our United flight was delayed, and wasn’t expected to take off for three hours. We’d been traveling all day. Now we were hungry and had time to burn, so we found a restaurant and ordered food and drink.

Ha, ha, it was so cheap, it was amazing! Just fifty dollars for a margarita, beer, three tacos, and a quesadilla!

Being nosy people, we overheard the people at the next table tell the server that they were going to Medford. Why, that’s where we were going. Where are they from?

The other couple were revealed to live within half a mile of us in Ashland.

What an amazing, small world. We began chatting and mentioned that we’d seen Million Dollar Quarter at the Oregon Cabaret. Had they seen?

Yes, and it was wonderful, they agreed, but better was the more recent production they’d seen, Once.

Once? Well, we’d better check it out.

We did so last night. The Denver couple from Ashland were right: Once is better than Million Dollar Quartet. That’s not to diminish Million Dollar Quarter. Once was sensational, which shouldn’t be overly surprising, since the beautiful song, “Falling Slowly”, won an Academy Award in 2008. Bonus surprise: Christopher Fordinal played Elvis Presley in Million, and Guy in Once.

Olivia Nice as Girl had people crying with her as she sang her last song. The entire cast of Once was impressive, enthralling us with their skills and talents, leaving us to wonder why we’re aren’t so blessed with such skills, and demanding a do-over to our lives. An engaging production, I recommend it.

Check it out.

Thursday’s Theme Music

I always enjoy the sense of being lost and finding yourself. Maybe I enjoy that sense because I do it often, and I do it often because I like the feeling of reward I get from finding myself after being lost. It can be a pretty damning web.

I was thinking of all that today as I walked, recalling “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” by KT Tunstall. Her song always imparts that sense that, out of all being presented in our minds, there are pieces we must pick out and fit together to solve part of the puzzles that we are. The thing about solving the puzzles that we are is, we’re never finished. As dynamic as southern Oregon weather, we as people change as frequently.

I don’t know what you think about the song, or the search for yourself, but it’s a good tool for furthering exploration of my infinite existence. The song came out just fourteen years ago, though. Before it, I often used Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” for the same purpose. You might realize that “Comfortably Numb” only came out in 1980, and ask (if you’ve read this far), “What song did you use before that?”

Well, that would be “The Real Me” by The Who. And before then?

Hell, who knows?

 

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