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