Tag: Music

  • Earworm Wednesday: I Bought the Album Because of this Song

    I mean, I’m not ashamed to say that, but yeah. I saw Wilco on SNL playing this song, and I was like sure, I’ll buy this album.

    It’s the jangly piano at the start. That’s the part that gets stuck.

  • That Guy in That Thing

    When I moved to New York City nineteen years ago, with the help of a friend, I got a job working at a theatrical rehearsal studio. It wasn’t a bad job; helped me get a financial foothold in the City. Made some pretty good friends while doing it, as well. But the most interesting aspect of that job was always having this “deja vu” feeling while watching tv, especially when seeing commercials.

    Follow me on this…

    Working at a rehearsal studio meant that I was in contact with hundreds if not thousands of actors. Not only were actors coming in and out for rehearsals, but lots of castings were held in the studios; plays, musicals, tv shows, reality tv shows, movies, and tons upon tons of tv commercials.

    On the whole, actors are a pretty out going and friendly group. Some can be strange, and others can be “chip on the shoulder assholes” but by and large, good people. Chatty people, too. Everyone had a story to tell, or a show that they were in that they wanted you to come and see. Hell, I would try to talk them in to seeing one of my puppet shows, and they would try to get me to go to their staged reading – it’s how the industry works. And it was fun talking to people.

    Then I would go home, turn the tv on to watch something, and there in the Raymore & Flannagan commercial was the guy who was telling be about the reading he was in. Or I would see the woman who was at the second call back for a new musical playing a dead body on Law and Order. Or, I would see a TD Bank ad and wonder to myself, “Don’t I know that guy at the teller widow?” Or “Isn’t that the gal who was warming up in the hallway today in the Jeep commercial?”

    Then a couple of days or weeks would go by, and that actor would walk into the studio for an audition or rehearsal, and my mind would trigger back to that commercial, and I’d say to them, “Saw in that Ben and Jerry’s ad.”

    Other times, I wouldn’t see them again to tell them good job, because they started to work their way up the ladder. Slowly, ad after ad, no lines, then one line. Then featured in an ad, then a background character for some show. Then an under five, leading to a featured role.

    Still to this day, when I’m watching a show or a movie, I’ll still get this feeling when an actors comes on in a small role, that I met them before, a long time ago. I can never prove it, but I do wonder.

  • ODDS and ENDS: In the car with the Dog, Talking The Beatles, and Tottenham Update

    (Must be the clouds in my eyes…)

    Not a bad Autumn morning. Took this while doing the Alt Side Parking dance.

    I brought the dog with me. Everyone loves dog pictures, right?

    Had fun talking and playing Beatle songs with the kid last night. Right now, she’s have fun with “I Am the Walrus” and the lyrics “Coo Coo Ca Choo,” as she’s heard them referenced in other songs, TV shows, and movies. I think for her, it’s like decoding a mystery from the long ago past. She also finds the “Paul is Dead” stuff really weird and funny as well. She wanted me to play my favorite songs, and tell her why I liked them so much. When I got to “Your Mother Should Know” I was struck with how melancholy it made me. Part of it was thinking about my mother, and the music that was popular before she was born, and then thinking how The Beatles are now music that was around before my kid’s mother was born. I felt like I was grasping for a moment that had already passed me.

    How do I feel about the state of Tottenham’s season so far? That’s a good question, that I’m still not sure how to answer. They are doing better than last season. BUT… they are having trouble winning at home. And the Champions League matches haven’t been awful, but it does feel like they can’t get out of their own way. Like, they are playing better, but not smarter. I do believe that if Maddison was out there, then it would be a different story, and they would be top of the table. Yes, I might be delusional.

  • Ahhh… Ran Outta Time, So Here’s Some Videos

    I was working on a review but I didn’t get it done in time. Sorry…

    So, here are two of my favorite fake bands.

  • Earworm Wednesday: I Made My Peace with this Band

    I was a music snob, and it would be fair to say that I still am a music snob. Either way, I didn’t like 311 when they came out, or more accurately, when the “Down” single came out in ’96. And this song was everywhere, and it drove me nuts. I wasn’t opposed to the rap/metal genera when it was happening, just you know, some bands were better at it than others. But, as I have gotten older, and mellowed, I can say that my animosity toward 311 has subsided. They’re not my thing, but that’s not to say that they make bad music and make their fans happy. So, in that regard, I have come to respect “Down” as a song.

    The “earworm” of this song is the “chill” at the very start, which I still find very funny and plays over and over. The other one is the chorus, though I cannot tell you what the lyrics of it are, it’s the melody of the chorus that gets stuck in my head.

    Enjoy and CHILL!