Stumbling on the Legends

Today I stumbled across another legend - Billy Joel. I heard a song on the radio that had caught my attention before. That's pretty significant itself, since few songs catch my attention accidentally. So, I googled the lyrics / most likely title... and discovered "Piano Man". 

It was his first hit, based on his experience playing at a piano lounge on Wilshire. "Son, can you play me a memory? I'm not really sure how it goes. But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete, when I wore a younger man's clothes."

Then I youtubed other songs of his, and discovered several were familiar: She's Always a Woman, For the Longest Time. It was strange, I thought he reminded me of Elton John, then I discovered they tour together, even today. (I have no idea what category of music that is...). Anyway, I think that would be a pretty cool thing to see... I still haven't been to a concert and think I should rectify that some day. 

On a side note, it gives me a thrill when I discover a musician is still alive. I mean, to find a great or famous person, then to discover they died 5 yrs ago... there's a sense of mourning and loss. Partly, that sense of loss includes a rebuke toward myself for not discovering them sooner. If they died before I was born, there's nothing for it... but if they died in my lifetime, especially recently, it's like I berate myself for not having the chance to... meet them? see them? I don't know. It really doesn't matter, but there is a sense of loss knowing a cultural icon is gone, even if it's been a long time.

That's Very Hot

Been thinking about this blog. Yeah, I know it's been a year - but it actually served its purpose. I now pay (some) attention to pop culture and I even listen to new music. It's steps in the right direction.

But since the last posting, I've actually moved to Korea. And there's a ton of crazy cultural things here. I'm still not really into it, but once in a while I feel like blogging it. So, here we go with a few posts to see where they lead.

I'd like to introduce the Choco Boys. I find this... disturbing. So disturbing that I had to share. Which just shows how far I've come in my views on pop culture.

Apparently they're on a kind of Korean variety comedy show, like SNL. This skit has become popular, as you can see from the audience.

Norse Myth, Nazis, and Scientology

On the plane over to Thailand recently, I watched Valkyrie (film, 2008).

First, "valkyrie" was a vaguely familiar word, so I looked it up. Norse mythology depicted warrior-angel-like women who gathered the souls of the worthy fallen, took them to heaven, and served them. This is the origin of the word.

The movie, based on a true story, is about a Nazi plot to assassinate Hilter in 1944. "Valkyrie" was the code name for the operation. It highlights sincere anti-Hitler sentiment during WWII German, which is often neglected in modern portrayals focusing on the holocaust.

Tom Cruise played the lead, a Colonel von Stauffenburg. Cruise's Scientology involvement created strong opposition to the film in Germany, where Scientology is considered a dangerous cult.

Overall, I thought the film was good. Having my own scale, I'd rate it around a 4 out off 5. This means it's definitely worth watching. It made me stop and think, put me in a reflective mood, but was ultimately not much different from other such movies. I'll probably never see it again and will forget it within a few weeks. I particularly liked the conclusion: you knew where it was headed, but the artistry with which they portrayed it was compelling.

Top of the Week: Beyonce

Beyonce is an R&B singer from Houston. She became known first as a member of Destiny's Child, the best selling girl group ever. They were created in 1990 (when they were all pre-teen), took the name Destiny's Child in 1993, signed with Columbia Records in '97, and hit it big in the late 90's.

Beyonce started working solo, releasing her first album, Dangerously in Love, in 2003. She became successful and has released 3 albums. The most recent album, 2008's I am ... Sasha Fierce, includes 6 single hits (so far).

Today's song is "Halo", which reached Billboard's #5 and has stayed on the charts for 18 weeks. This song's success also makes her the top female artist of the decade, with 12 top 10 hits so far.

Re-Activating... Now.

Man, I've realized how effective this blog was! In the past month of silence, I've been surprised at how often I finally got a pop culture reference (Yoko Ono), or was able to answer a question (Lady Gaga), all because of the research I did for this blog.

So, I'm trying it out again for another month. And this time, I'm going to share the info I research. So, together we'll find out history, statistics, and interesting facts about artists, songs, movies, and whatever else pops up.

Whether you're interested or not, I'm doing it for me!

Out of Service

My apologies for vanishing to anyone who might be reading.

I threw out my back the same weekend I intended to move; this blog was ignored. I'm up and about, but preparing to move abroad for awhile...

So, this blog is out of service until further notice. Hopefully, I'll be able to resume postings in June.

See you then!

Twilight

Confession: I'm reading the Twilight series.

Several friends have recommended it, much like Harry Potter in the early days. I've got free time, so I finished the first two books in 3 days. Scarily - that's not unusual for me. Which means, finishing them so fast doesn't mean I especially like them.

My thoughts on the first book: Meyer spends far too much time developing a relationship, then crams an action story into the latter half of the book. She's dealing with two genres, attempting to integrate them, but succeeding only in a flimsy segue between them. On the other hand, Twilight reads easily, mastering the art of cliff-hanging and driving the novel through plot. Overall, easy to understand the popularity, but far from lasting literature.

On a personal note - this is a lot of vampire for me (along with Buffy). Kind of getting tired of it; need a break. But I will have to see the movie for a comparison:

Celeb Sighting: Bruce Willis

Leaving a popular local cafe recently, I held the door for Bruce Willis.

The most remarkable part? That I recognized him!

A few basic facts I picked up about him:

1. Die Hard (1988) was his first major success
2. Married to Demi Moore for 13 yrs, has 3 kids
3. New wife is Emma Heming (March, 2009)
4. Owns Planet Hollywood, along with our dear governator.

Oh, and he sings!

Britian's Got Talent

A friend finally clued me in to the Susan Boyle phenomena. As usual with YouTube, I ended up exploring the "Britain's Got Talent" clips. I found it fascinating.

It seems like many of the acts followed Susan's "key" to success: They want the crowd to underestimate them. I saw it in a couple of other acts and it got old real fast.

Some of the other acts were just bizarre. Seriously, why does a man do a handstand on knives and pretend to slip and cut his own throat? I mean, it was impressive, but why do it?

Anyway, today's clip is a group I thought was pretty awesome. Judge for yourself:

Britain's Got Talent "Diversity"

Top of the Week: Songs stuck in my Head

I never used to understand how people could not know the words to a song - either you know it or you don't. But since I've been learning a song a day, I can't actually learn all the words. It's just the chorus running in circles in my head. It's so annoying to have a chorus in my head and no verses!

Also, I'm noticing a trend here. It's the pop songs that get stuck: "Sexy Back" and "Poker Face" especially, also "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". They're the songs that hammer one line into into your head, until it pierces deep in your brain and is triggered by every little synapse.

But it's only one sentence! So then I need to hear the rest of the song, I desperately seek out the song, and listen with the relief of an addict overdue for a dose.

Here's another catchy one....
Flo Rida's Right Round

A Little Neurology

Listening to NPR, there was a neuro-musicologist or musico-neurologist or musically neurotic ologist or something. Whatever he was, he wrote some book on the brain and music.

One caller said she has lyme disease, which affects the brain. Since developing it three years before, she can't stand music. She used to love music and be really into it. But now, she said it annoys her and she wants it turned off. She still recognizes the songs and music, but has no emotional connection / reaction.

That perfectly discribes me! Not that I think I have lyme disease... but the expert whatever said that there is a certain part of the brain that "appreciates" music. I guess this is different from the part that "recognizes" it or even "hears" it. Anyway, I'm just gonna guess that part of my brain isn't so well developed...

So, today's music is....
Mozart's Symphony 40



I chose this because Mozart is associated with improved neural development.

I Tried... Once

Kevin was shocked to her me listening to 3 Doors Down in my car. He thought I'd consider that too noisy. Truth is, the last time I tried to discover music (about 10 yrs ago), I found a few bands I liked:

• Vertical Horizon
• Goo Goo Dolls
• 3 Doors Down
• Third Eye Blind
• Matchbox 20

I've had these cd's since the 90's. I realize I still like this category / genre, including their more recent music. But they sound so similar, I needed more variety and got bored by them. BTW - what would you call this category? What genre do they all fall in?

Today's song is . . .
Goo Goo Doll's Iris

Music as Poetry

I always say lyrics make the song for me. I was an English major who specialized in poetry. Shock of the day...

The most poetic form of music is rap.

I decided to figure out the difference between rap and hip hop, but instead discovered the beauty of rap. Rap is somewhere between poetry, spoken word, and singing.

Reading the wikipedia article, it talked about rhyme schemes, diction, double entendres, and prosody. Light bulbs going off! Rap is quite an art form, one which I can appreciate. So, I decided to try my first rap song.

Today's song is . . .
Tupac's Keep Ya Head Up

How to Name a Band

I've often wondered where bands got their names. Here are a few interesting ones . . .

Black Eyed Peas - copies the Red Hot Chili Peppers name out of respect and because "Black Eyed Peas are food for the soul" (ie, their music is too...according to will.i.am)

Grateful Dead - chosen at random from a dictionary (possibly while playing a game, definitely while high)

Led Zeppelin - when forming the band, some drummer refused to join, saying it would fail like a "lead zeppelin" = a blimp made of lead (spelt "led" so people don't mis-pronounce lead as "leed", which would mean the #1 zeppelin)

3 Doors Down - a broken sign in an alley said "doors down", the 3 represents the 3 original members.

Nine Inch Nails - it abbreviated nicely

AC/DC - from the back of a sewing machine, old label for electrical wiring (Hey, I remember when things had this label!)

Green Day - "is Bay-area slang for a day with lots of green bud where you just sit around taking bong hits, hanging around" (according to their site)

One thing stands out to me: the total randomness of it all. I'm sure there are a slew of fascinating other examples, these are just ones I've stumbled across while reading for this blog.

Today's song is . . .

Vertical Horizon's Go

Top of the Week: A Rising Star

Announcing . . . Top of the Week. In an attempt to keep up with the current music, I'm going to post one song from Billboard Top 10 each week, on Mondays.

Checked out the wikipedia entry, Lady Gaga is very talented and quite the rising star. Poker Face became her second single to hit the number one spot - very impressive.

Lady Gaga's Poker Face

They're pretty tight on the copyright thing, so I can't embed the video (had one, but it was blocked). So, click the title above to see the official video on YouTube. Also, this is the zipper song - the song she sang on American Idol while wearing a zipper on her eye... and a star for a dress... not sure I get the fashion, but guess she's really into it.

Box of Evil

Ted mentioned Pandora in the comments awhile back. So, I've actually had a Pandora account for more than 3 years; I figured it would help me learn music.

Problem is, just like the radio, I had no idea how to "seed" a station, no starting point. Also, the Music Genome project focuses on the sound of music, choosing songs that sound similar to the seed song. But I don't get the connection between sounds, either I like the words or I don't... the sound doesn't make much difference to me except to accent the lyrics.

I haven't opened my Pandora account in more than 2 years: Wow! It's changed!! It's sleek, professional, and actually has ads now (I remember wondering why it didn't before).

Awesome thing: Pandora now has info on the songs playing. So, it's easy to find out about the artist or song. So, now that I have starting points, I might use Pandora to pick up leads in new directions. Today's song comes from one of my original Pandora channels (based on the Eagles).

Today's song is . . .
Tom Petty's I Won't Back Down (1989)



I think I like him. It helps if I respect the musician: His band has been together for more than 30 years, he takes a strong stand on artists' rights, etc. This song was played at a benefit for 9/11 victims.

A Weak Moment

Is children's literature acceptable as pop culture on this blog?

Probably not, but I guess I get to decide the rules. So, just for today, I'm blogging books.

I was at the library to tutor and decided to pick up a few books for the week. I went with casual fiction, most of which I've been meaning to read for years.

• Salman Rushdie's Shalimar the Clown
• Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club
• Toni Morrison's Jazz
• John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men
• Brian Selznick's The Invention of Huge Cabret

So, it was on the children's literature award winning books (mostly Newbery winners). I was intrigued because it was twice as thick as any other book. So I opened it and discovered a most unique approach to literature! The author calls it "A Novel in Words and Pictures". Think literature meets comics (er, pardon me, "graphic novels").

Today's book is . . .
Brian Selznick's The Invention of Huge Cabret (2007)

Just started, but enjoyed it. A radical concept that forces the reader to slow down. The images give more detail, the sketches have fine nuances. He even gives a strong sense of motion by zooming in from one page to the next. Then, there's the pages of words . . . well-written and engaging.

Scented Thoughts

Walking through San Marino late tonight, I passed a lovely scented tree. It made me think of jasmine, but I'd never seen a jasmine tree. I picked a leaf and flower, to research at home: Lakeview Jasmine. It's lovely.

As I returned home, inhaling the scent, a remnant of a song came to my mind. By the time I'd arrived, I remembered nearly all the words. It seemed so suitable for my mood:

There are times when all the world's asleep,
The questions run too deep
For such a simple man.
Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned,
I know it sounds absurd
But please tell me who I am.

Today's song is . . .
Supertramp's The Logical Song

Stepping Outside Rock / Pop

I'm using this blog to follow up on random references I hear, especially about music. I want to explore different genres, but when you know nothing, you got nowhere to start.

I heard a song that made me think "Ella Fitzgerald". I have absolutely no recollection about the song, and no idea why I thought it might be her. But I decided to look her up anyway.

Turns out, she started recording about the time my grandmother was born and died in 1996. She recorded for 59 years. That's an impressive career. She sings blues and has an amazing voice. This site plays a nice sampling of song clips (it's selling a "best of" CD).

Today's song is . . .
Ella Fitzgerald's Blue Moon

So, as I was checking YouTube, the songs started to spark a memory. I think my favorite gelateria in Busan plays Ella a lot; they have an awesome atmosphere. I'll have to check it out this summer and see if I'm right.

Let the Beat Rock

I kept hearing this distinctive song on the radio, but couldn't figure out the lyrics. So, I decided to combine this radio thing with this internet thing. Result is: I found out the "boom boom boom" song is actually Black Eyed Peas' new release Boom Boom Pow and the current number one according to Billboard.

Also, this song is from a cd that hasn't been released yet. What's up with that? Is this a common thing? I guess it's a good marketing device.

Back to the song... So apparently sounds count as words, as in "hear the spaceship *zoom*". Also, there are allusions / slang I didn't get, such as 808 (disturbing the peace), and the clean version cuts out a lot of ****, making it hard to understand. Now I read the lyrics, I'm happy enough.

Black Eyed Peas' Boom Boom Pow



So, anyone have any idea why this is top right now?