Tag Archives: BCPF

Oh, Thank You or: Much To Be Thankful For

27 Thursday Nov 2014

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Salutations™!!

Today is Thanksgiving. I’m not one to go on Facebook and post that daily stuff.  I am thankful everyday for a lot of things, I wouldn’t want to dedicate one day to one thing.

I’m going to do a blanket thing for the sake of the blog, but I’m reiterating, I’m always thankful.

I am thankful for my son, 3B. No matter how much the boy gets on and tests my nerves, I love him more than anything in the world.  It’s tough being a dad, but I’m glad I’m his.

I’m thankful for my wife, The BCPF.  She is my rock and shows me love like I’ve never known.  We’ve been through a lot together, including but exclusive to my triple bypass heart surgery; there’s so much more.

I’m thankful for my parents.  They shaped me into who I am; much to their chagrin.  Even though I am much different than what they thought I’d be, and much like me with 3B, they’re proud of who I am because I made me me. Thanks to them both for all they do.

I’m thankful for my sister, her husband and my nephews. Sometimes I think Sis was put on this world to harass and annoy me.  I am kidding about that, really. I do, however, feel that she enjoys it when she does.  She’s been my #1 fan in so many ways all these years and although we do legitimately argue like cats and mice, sometimes.  I love her. She’s a good mom to the boys.

I’m thankful for my brother for and beyond the reasons I mentioned in the post on Saturday.

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Like this says…

I’m thankful for my business partners, Brian and Eugene.  Without them, I’d never have The Less Desirables or any of the Network shows to be as successful as they are.  They, too, went through my heart problem with me.  I can always count on them.  And, to some of my other collaborators, JL, PJ3, Chad Nance, Tommy Priest, Ty Collins, Brian Neal, Nikki Miller-Ka; I thank you all for what we do, and will do, together!

I’m thankful for all my friends.  Every one of you.  I’m not going to attempt to name any names as that wouldn’t be fair to any of you or me.  I love you all, and through my ups and downs, you’ve been there for me.

I’m thankful for this blog and NaBloPoMo.  I get to express myself to you, somewhat anonymously, Dear Reader, by rants, music reviews, talking about my honeymoon and my bands and my interests. I’ve been doing it for several years, now, even before I moved to WordPress. I’ve gotten great feedback and some new followers, I dig it! Thank you for letting me do it.  So therefore, I am thankful to you, Dear Reader.

I am thankful.  I am thankful for being thankful.

Until tomorrow, I hope you’re all thankful for many things. Oh, and same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” – Oprah Winfrey

I’m the One or: How is That Album So High on the List!? (RS pt 9)

25 Tuesday Nov 2014

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Salutations™!!

We’re going back into the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums of All Time!  When we last left off, there was some good stuff in that section.  Let’s see how this one stands up:

#420 – The “Chirping” Crickets by Buddy Holly & the Crickets. The debut of Buddy Holly & The Crickets, this is pretty rad production for the age.  1954 was still in recording infancy for this new-fangled Rock and Roll stuff.  Holly staples “Oh Boy” and “That’ll Be the Day” are here as well as a plethora of classic sweetness.  Is it something I could listen to for hours? Nope.  But, I could listen to it for the 29 minutes that I did and enjoy it.  So I dug it!

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“Dummy” by Portishead

#419 – Dummy by Portishead. Oh. My. Gawsh! I’m a sucker for chill music and this is chill on, well, I guess it’s stoned.  I don’t know, but I do know it was moving.  It’s a genre known as trip hop and it is trippy. I’ve never done an illegal substance in my life (and yes, I know some of you don’t believe that) but listening to this, I feel like I’m on some trip.  I was swimmy afterwards.  Entrancing, yet solidly heavy at times, it’s something that I could, would and should listen to often.  Beth Gibbons isn’t the greatest singer in the world but she’s the greatest thing that Portishead could have.  Her voice leaves the listener mesmerized in the sea of electronica that is laid before your ears. “Mysterons,” “Pedestal” and “It Could Be Sweet” are just SOME of the wonderfulness oozing from this album. I’m going to say I LOVE this.

#418 – Band on the Run by Paul McCartney & Wings. Um, what can I say about this? I’m never gonna touch the professional critics that have talked about this album for years upon years. The fact that it’s #418 out of 500 is very confusing to me.  Especially, peeking through some of the other albums on ahead.  Anywhat!  The title track is, to me, one of the greatest songs in Rockdom.  “Jet” is classic McCartney. Who doesn’t love the palm mute guitars? “Chick. Chick-chick. Chick. Chick-chick.”  CLASSIC!  “Let Me Roll It” always reminds me of local legend Doug Davis because he has performed it (with me on the stage) with his cover band The Mystery Dates for years.  “1985” or, I’m sorry, “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five” (sic) is an urgent little ditty that is awesome.  The version of this album that I have at home and the version I listened to in The Less Desirables Studio are a bit different as my CD version (American version) has “Helen Wheels” where the original (British) didn’t.  But, I really, really dig this album.  One of my faves, for sure!

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“Boy” by U2

#417 – Boy by U2. The first U2 album is also the first one we encounter on this countdown.  Produced by Steve Lillywhite after the original producer backed out shortly after the death of Joy Division singer, Ian Curtis.  That original producer was Martin Hannett who was known for his work with JD and was too distraught to work at the time.  Bono still was singing with heart and emotion with much younger vocal cords and zeal, not the predictable, yet still liked, way he sings today.  Edge hadn’t added 20 racks worth of effects, yet.  There was plenty of reverb as was par for the course in the early 80s first wave bands.  But, as stated about Bono, the whole band seemed hungry, in lyrics, in music, in all.  I love the live version of “Out of Control” on the Live from Slane Castle where Bono tells the story of asking all their families for money to record an album and get a record deal.  You can still hear that hunger in this version of the song.  “I Will Follow” is a staple U2 live song and it’s energetic and in your face.  The young’uns rocked it hard back then.  This album, while not the best U2 album, is still great and fun to listen to.  Especially when you imagine the time it was released.  DUG!!!

#416 – Mule Variations by Tom Waits.  I’ll admit it (I’ve done that a lot since I started this list, and will continue, I’m sure), I only knew three things about Tom Waits before this.  1) He was pretty bad a-double-s in Mystery Men, 2) He sings like he swallowed 3 tons of #78 stone (pea gravel) and 3) I didn’t like it.  So, with this, I can erase #3.  Not saying I love it, by any means, but I don’t not like it. Straight away, “Big in Japan” made me turn toward the screen with a most confused, yet, impressed look on my face. There is sass on that track.  Sass is putting it lightly, too.  Then move to “Lowside of the Road” and it gives that Delta blues feel that I could see/hear Robert Johnson tapping his foot to and singing and playing into a can way back in the day, while the devil waited on his appointment at the crossroads, wondering why he was late.  There is something about this album.  Sexy.  Sexy?  Sexy. Don’t know if it’s intentional or not, but it’s there.  Lots of dirty record sounds on this platter that makes it even more “dated” and, yes, more sexy.  There’s a creepiness to “Chocolate Jesus” that really trips my trigger, too.  Did I mention that this album is sexy?  Dug!

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Self-Titled by Van Halen

#415 – Van Halen by Van Halen.  FOUR HUNDRED FIFTEEN!?!?  Are you (blankety-blank- blank) kidding me!?  THIS album is the one that changed the face of modern guitar. It may not be the favorite to many VH fans (that usually goes to VH2) but I think this is the better album.  Not a bad song on it and Eddie’s work was fresh.  New.  Not at all shiny, either.  It was rough, crude. It was Van Halen.  The siren to over-driven bass in “Running with the Devil” set a precedence in which you knew you were going to get punched in the ears with a unrelenting onslaught of sound.  “Eruption” was the guitar solo to end all guitar solos; the new king of I want to learn that shite right now; the requisite training for getting your Local Guitar God license.  “I’m the One” slapped you while holding up and prepping you for another.  Tone-Loc even took “Jamie’s Crying” and made it into one of the best-selling rap songs of the ’80s.  That whine, that sass, that… that… ARGH! How in the ach-eee-elle-elle can this be this high of a number in this countdown?! Face palm! I LOVE this album.

#414 – Beauty and the Beat by The Go-Gos.  American New-Wave punk with CHICKS!!  Belinda Carlisle’s vocals weren’t punk but the words coming out of her mouth were.  Jane Wiedlin and Charlotte Caffey are beasts (or beauties) of songwriters.  These girls didn’t play around. But, you wanted to play around with them. They were hot and they were rockers!  “We Got the Beat” and it’s heavy revolving bass line from Kathy Valentine is noticeable as soon as you hear the first note. “Automatic” is a slow rocker that also showcases Valentine’s work and kind of grooves you at the same time. And, let’s not forget “Our Lips are Sealed.”  That song was the first hint we get of Belinda’s vocals.  Both on the album and it was their first single.  The album, by the way was unseated from the #1 position by Vangelis’ soundtrack for Chariots of Fire.  Just found that interesting. Dug!!

#413 – Double Nickels on the Dime by Minutemen.  Before, I mentioned how I only know something of this or that and blah blah blah. Well, I’m giving you yet another: I had never heard of Minutemen before.  Nothing.  The high school I attended back in the mountains of West Virginia had the Minutemen as their mascot, but this is different.  Much different.  The BCPF hadn’t heard of them either, although this is more in her league than mine.  It’s part Talking Heads, part punk, part straight rock.  It’s steady, let’s say that. It’s a double album in which the actual vinyl version had unique names for the sides: “Side D” (side 1), “Side Mike” (2), “Side George” (3), “Side Chaff” (4).  The band was a trio and there was no Chaff.  I don’t get it, but truthfully I don’t get a lot of this album.  45 songs.  The beauty of that is, only 1/4 or so are over 2 minutes long, the longest 3:05.  I’m not saying I don’t like it, but it’s definitely one that makes me wonder how in the honey-baked Hades this is higher in a list than Van Halen I?!?!?!?!  Neither here nor there on this one.

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“Pink Flag” by Wire

#412 – Pink Flag by Wire.  This album was NOT on Rhapsody, so I had to go to YouTube and listen to the whole album.  Some post-punk stuffs from this English band from 1977.  Again, don’t know a thing about this band other than what I looked up.  As I’m finding with a lot of punk albums, the songs aren’t very long. This works out quite well when it’s something that I wish would be over soon.  Again, as with Minutemen, not saying I don’t like it, just don’t want to hear it again.  Meh.

#411 – 461 Ocean Boulevard by Eric Clapton.  Typical Eric Clapton drivel. And did he not write his own stuff?  Jeez. 10 songs on this album and he has credit on only 3 songs not counting the first which is just arranged by him.  I roll my eyes because I think Clapton is one of the most over rated guitar players in recording history.  He does what he does okay, but what he does isn’t that great.  I’ve never made any qualms about my disfavor of “blues.”  Again, I’m not talking about bluesy riffs or stuff that’s anchored in the blues traditions and scales.  That’s fine, it’s blues music itself.  Especially the 12 bar kind.  The only stuff on here that I could even tolerate is “Get Ready” with Yvonne Elliman, “Please Be With Me,”  and Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff.” People, get off the Clapton train, please!! Again, I give a meh.

After a great, strong start the segment went downhill at the end of the stretch.  Fell off at the end, really.  So I’m almost caught up with where I’m actually listening.  That will be the next ten, so I’m on my way.  The next will probably lead to an analysis of the first 100 that I’ve gone through. Stay tuned, Dear Reader.  Thank you for reading!

So until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I live my life like there’s no tomorrow, and all I’ve got I had to steal. Least I don’t need to beg or borrow. Yes, I’m living at a pace that kills” – “Runnin’ with the Devil” by Van Halen

Girl Power or: No Danged Oxford Commas! (RS pt 8)

11 Tuesday Nov 2014

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Salutations™!!

One good thing about these RS lists is that it gives me fodder for the NaBloPoMo.  And it’s fun to do, so they go hand in hand.

Let’s move on to the next dealio…

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Vampire Weekend (self titled)

#430 – Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend.  I love the cool drum pop/Brit feel that I sense from this album.  Some cool vocal tricks and groovy rhythms make for a delicious aural experience; especially “Oxford Comma.” The BCPF, along with other grammar freakos, and myself have debated the Oxford Comma’s legitimacy and its negligibility.  And so you know, the Oxford Comma is that comma that comes in a list and is placed before the final conjunction.  Such as: one, two, three, and four.  That comma in front of “and” and after “three” is really unnecessary, yet, some “scholars” and grammarians think it should be there.  Wow, how did this become a whole entry about that silly comma?  Oh yeah, the song.  It’s a cool song.  It’s a cool album.  Dug!

#429 – Another Green World by Brian Eno.  Oh, Brian Eno.  It was but a few entries back (#432) that I got to know you and your weirdness.  This is still weird but more palatable to me.  It’s more instrumental than lyric-based.  Out of the 14 songs, only 4 have lyrics.  It’s groovy and I don’t mean in just some hip kind of way, I mean it’s got some groove.  Not funk groove mind you but some very interesting things.  “St. Elmo’s Fire” is one (many years before the movie).  It’s some great piano and keyboard work, too.  I dug it.

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“Outlandos d’Amour” by The Police

#428 – Outlandos d’Amour by The Police.  Okay, I know I’ve professed my love of The Police before.  Further, I think I have a man-crush on Sting and I’m not afraid to admit it.  So this was the one that broke it open; the debut.  Hit songs like “Roxanne,” “Next to You,” “So Lonely” and “Can’t Stand Losing You” are, of course the staples but there are other gems on here like “Born in the 50s,” “Hole in My Life” and “Truth Hits Everybody.”  The one thing that I find myself singing to The BCPF is the opening part of “Be My Girl/Sally.”  This whole album should be on everyone’s list to at least hear if not own.  I own it, well, I have Message in a Box which is all The Police albums in one collection, but I do “own” it.  DIG LOVE!!!!

#427 – Sleepless by Peter Wolf. The former singer of J. Giles Band comes on with some oldish boogie-woogie and country mash vibes.  Jangly and with some good musicians but overall, not something that I’d just sit and listen to.  “Run Silent, Run Deep” is kind of chilling. “Oh Marianne” has some Spanish overtones.  Still, most of Wolf’s singing is some amalgamation of talking and singing.  And, the album is from 2002.  It has an older sound, and it just seems it’s out of place.  I won’t say I don’t like it, but why is it on this list?  That’s been the biggest puzzler to me for the whole thing: why is that even here?  Meh, didn’t not dig it but didn’t knock me out. Again, meh.

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“Cheap Trick at Budokan” by Cheap Trick

#426 – Cheap Trick at Budokan by Cheap Trick.  Return engagements.  That will become a theme here as we start digging into the list, I’m sure.  We’ve had my favorite Cheap Trick album, In Color on the list and now, a live album that I can actually get behind from that band.  I’ve never been a fan of live albums.  Yes, there’s the energy of the live shows and yes there’s dynamic, but I don’t really (or generally) care about that.  I am all about production.  I’d rather hear a producer’s vision and how they can convey that.  All that being said, this album kicks boot-ay!  I especially like the extended version, or “The Complete Concert” that showed up in 1998.  The impact that this disc had on live albums, to me, is comparable to KISS Alive!  It’s one that has stood the test of time, was well put together and doggone, people like it.  To do something different, my least favorite track on the album, “I Want You to Want Me.”  Not (only) because it was played out, but because I really like the studio version 10x more. If you only listen to one live album, in my opinion, it should be KISS Alive!, but if you listen to two, then the second one should be Cheap Trick at Budokan (both versions). DUG!

#425 – Grievous Angels by Gram Parsons. I didn’t know much about Gram Parsons, really anything.  I know he was in the Byrds and I know he was part of The Flying Burrito Brothers.  The album is nestled in one of the coolest named genres in popular music, “Cosmic American Music” (which is a term he coined), a combination of country (alt country?) and rock and roll.  And, I’ll admit it’s not really my thing, but he pulls it off beautifully.  One thing I’m not sure of is why they didn’t call it Grievous Angels by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris.  There is only one song on the entire album that she isn’t prominent on, and on that she’s not on it at all.  Anywhat!  This album was released but a few months after Gram Parsons passed away from a mix of alcohol and morphine and I have to say: the album cover sucks.  It really, really sucks.  But, the contents are really good.  Some boogie rock with Tom T. Hall’s “I Can’t Dance” and some laid back ballad action in “$1000 Wedding” and my favorite line (“I’d even like to see her mean ol’ Mama.”).  But, to me, the highlight is the first track, “Return of Grievous Angel.”  It sets the pace as any opening track should and makes everything alright.  I could listen to that song over and over and truthfully, I could listen to most of it over and over, even though, as I stated, it’s not my thing.  I think it become, at least partially, “my thing.”  DUG!

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“The Rising” by Bruce Springsteen

#424 – The Rising by Bruce Springsteen.  More Bruce. Not only is that a statement, I think it’s a request, too.  I’ve not hidden my mixed feelings about Bruce, but as time goes on, I can’t help but admit that I’m liking it more and more.  Especially after I’ve seen him live.  The rest of the band was kind of boring but he was on fire.  Anywhat! I’m off track.  The power of this album is the honesty and emotion of a country recovering from its darkest day and most devastating blow, ever, September 11, 2001.  It’s hard to pick any particular part that stands out as the emotion is prevalent throughout.  My faves are the title track and “My City of Ruins.” DUG

#423 – Anthology by Diana Ross and the Supremes. Anthology, greatest hits, compilation = nope.

#422 – Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes featuring Veronica by The Ronettes. The debut album with some lovely, big haired ladies. Ronnie’s voice is one-of-a-kind and awesome.  Probably their biggest hit “Be My Baby” is on this disc and the rest of the album is laced with girl-power.  Phil Spector’s work is, well, Phil Spector.  Hard to beat that.  Doing some reading on it (admittedly on Wikipedia), it seems to have a decent list of guests including Sonny & Cher.  A pretty good album but don’t know that I’d listen to it again; at least not all the way through. It’s ok.

#421 – Best of Girl Groups by Various Artists.  Ok, I get girl groups. Girl singers and musicians in general, especially at this time in musical history, laid the road for pop divas, punk chicks and rock goddesses. No doubt they rocked when they did.  I did listen to the album, but I’m not reviewing any compilations.  In my opinion, they don’t belong on this list.

I really hate that we ended this section of the list with that bad vibe.  However, there’s good stuff coming.  Give these a listen and make your own reviews of the albums that I’ve talked about.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel at SOME blog time…
Scorp out!

—
“Would you be my girl, would you be my girl, would you be my, be my, be my girl?” – The Police (Sting/Andy Summers) from Outlandos d’Amour  

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Less Desirables or: A Fantastic Way to Waste Your Time

10 Monday Nov 2014

Posted by in Life as We Know It, Podcasting

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Salutations™!!

I spouted a few days ago about something that I’m not doing any longer.  But, when’s the last time that I talked about what it is that I do do?  Since I have some new readers and I have switched platforms over the last year, let’s highlight what it is that I am about and how we got here.

Over FIVE years ago, I decided I wanted to do radio but didn’t want to actually be on radio. I recruited a friend of mine, Brian, and we decided to do a newfangled thing called a podcast.  Podcasts are what I describe as “Radio on the Go.”  It’s radio on demand or in more technical terms it’s an embedded file inside an RSS (real simple syndication) feed, also known as an XML file.  So enough with that technical mumbo-jumbo.

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The Less Desirables

So, in this podcast we decided we wanted to do something that was a hybrid of a morning radio show mixed with aspects of sports talk and talk radio.  The subject was to be pop culture.  Pop culture is what I breathe: movies, music, sports.  That was the premise in the beginning of the life of this podcast.  The bottom line is we wanted it to be entertaining. Ideally, it was going to be about 20 minutes long – the average time of a commute here in the Piedmont Triad area.  Thinking of a name, I figured if I said this was the best podcast ever, no one would have taken that seriously.  I felt self-deprecation was the answer, so it was called The Less Desirables. How bad can it be, right?

We sat behind the mics, staring at each other, and wondering what in the honeybaked Hades we were going to talk about.  I hit record on the transport control and we talked.  38 minutes later, we had our first show done. The following week we wondered how we’d match that; how we’d do it again.  42 minutes later, #2 is in the can.  Over the next few weeks we started talking about things that we liked in common like the latest technology and, of course, BEER!!  So we were NC’s first pop culture podcast.  We’re still the only full-fledged pop culture news magazine-type podcast in NC that I know of.  We started having guests after about a month, the first being C. Jay Platt, The Beer Guru.  He would inform our listeners to different aspects, and some history, of various genres of our favorite beverages once a quarter.  That moved into having a cast of characters, like The BCPF, Chigger, Schlimme, The Right Click, etc. Musical guests and community guests, as well.

In September of 2011, my best buddy in the whole world, Eugene B Sims came on to add some TV to our lineup of topics.  It was meant as a recurring role that he would fill about once a quarter, kind of like the Beer Guru that we had (although he had moved to monthly).  We have an open door policy to former guests that they can come anytime they want.  We informed Eug of this policy and he said, “How about I just tell you when I’m not going to be here?” and that was it.  He’s missed all of about 3 shows since he arrived on the scene.  A little disclosure here, Eug was my inspiration to be a podcaster.  He has been in radio for many, many years.  I wanted to be in radio and didn’t want to go through the hassle of auditioning for any stations.  Plus, I didn’t know if I had “what it takes” to be on the radio.  I think I could do it now, but then, I didn’t know.  What if I mess up?  Well, with podcasting, I can just stop, rerecord or edit and then post it when I wanted, not when it was “live.”  Here’s to you, Eug.

We’ve had a lot of guests.  In the beginning it was more of what we call “round table” shows, where it’s just the two-then-three of us talking our stuff. We’d have guests scattered through.  The last time we had anything that looked like a “round table” show was in January of this year when snow threatened to cancel a show.  We got together at 7am to record the show so we wouldn’t miss. But, yes, we’ve had a lot of guests.  Some high profile such as WXII’s Cameron Kent and Nicole Ducouer, Rock 92s Chris Demm and Weather Dave Aiken, WFDDs Keri Brown and former ‘FDD on-air: Audrey Fannin, Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines and even an off-site interview with Chef Brian Duffy from SpikeTV’s “Bar Rescue.” These are but a skimming.  But, we really focus on local businesses, local movers-n-shakers, creators, artists and especially musicians.  Some of those type guests have been Cary Clifford of Camino Bakery, Lawren Desai of a/perture Cinema (one of TLD’s sponsors), Doug Davis, Jerry Chapman, Gulley, Fade the Moon, Vel Indica and many, many others.

We record shows on Wednesdays.  Wednesdays are the day because it’s smack dab in the middle of everything.  We can review the week that happened and preview the week that is coming.  The next Wednesday will be #249.  If you do the math (and I hate math) then you’ll find that 249 Wednesdays is almost 5 years (4 years 9 mos or so).  We’ve only missed one week in all those weeks.  I was in Costa Rica and there was a computer glitch.  Truthfully, I’m the only one who knows how this cockamamie setup is, um… er… well, set up, so it was havoc on Eug, who had to captain the helm.  Sorry, Eug.  Anywhat.  We have a lot of things on the way: some changes and improvements, guests that rock (and not just the musician ones) and shenanigans, who doesn’t love shenanigans?

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The Less Desirables Podcast Network

Over time, we have added a network of shows.  We call this The Less Desirables Podcast Network.  Clever, huh?  Eh, whatever, it gets the job done.  Through the next few weeks I’ll be touching on the other shows, but this week it’s all the flagship show’s turn.  Tune in to hear more about The Less Desirables, the network shows and future shows and ideas.  You can hear us on the website, iTunes, Stitcher, Podcast Pickle and Podfeed.  You can find us on just about any podcast app you have access to and you can subscribe to the RSS feed.  Subscribing gets you the updates automatically  without worry about missing any.  But, don’t worry, they’re not serial, meaning you don’t have to listen to previous to know what is going on, although, I wouldn’t want to miss any.   Stay tuned!

So until tomorrow, same blog channel at SOME blog time…
Scorp out!

—

“I think that with podcasts, a lot of things are about fostering and having a direct connection with the community.” – Chelsea Peretti, Comedian

It’s a World of Laughter, a World of Tears or: The Not-So-Magical Kingdom (The Honeymoon Chronicles pt 5)

09 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by in Honeymoon, Travel

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Salutations™!!

Bonjour, mes amis. This is Day 3 in Paris! Oui, oh oui!

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Beautiful older couple on Paris sidewalk

When we last left the blogosphere of The Honeymoon Chronicles, The BCPF and I were wandering through the streets of Paris seeing the Eiffel Tower and watching some dude water the ivy on the garden wall.  One thing I did forget to say was in our street touring we ended up behind an older/elderly couple that were walking through the streets holding hands.  They seemed to be natives and looked happy and content. I told The BCPF that that would be us in about 30 years.  I had her take a picture with her digi-obscura and you can see the result here.

This day was something that I had been waiting on. We missed the opportunity last year and this year, we weren’t going to miss it. I’ve touted myself as a Disney guy over and over and over, and I’ve been to Walt Disney World fifteen times! So, it just seems natural that I’d visit other Disney theme parks. And, that’s what we did on this, the third Parisian day.

The way to Disneyland Paris is to find the RER A Train. RER means Réseau Express Régional or Regional Express Network. This train serves from the city proper into the outlying suburbs. This particular train was going to the Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy. That station is right at the gates of Disneyland Paris. So we took our tickets that we pre-purchased and walked up to the main gates of Paris’ “Happiest Place on Earth.” Disneyland Paris is made up of two theme parks in one: the “Magic Kingdom” part and Walt Disney Studios, which is DLP’s version of WDW’s Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

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Scorp really excited about Disneyland Paris

When we arrived, there was a giddiness that had already taken me over. When we got to the turnstiles I was about to hop them before they took the tickets. But, I didn’t. I held it together. Once through, though, I had settled down a bit. It looks a lot like the Magic Kingdom: firehouse, confectionery shops, outlet-like shops, and even a Casey’s Hot Dog shop. Casey’s doesn’t open until 11a there and we were about 10 minutes early. The BCPF and I have a tradition of going to Casey’s as the first thing-to-do on every trip to WDW so why not carry that tradition on to DLP? A couple of things that are different was that the dogs – all of which are foot longs – came prepackaged and there was no “fixin’s” bar. They came how they came, either with melted cheddar and bacon or without, and that’s pretty much how it is. Paris apparently doesn’t know what yellow mustard is, only Dijon mustard. While I love me some Dijon mustard, I want yellow mustard on my hot dog. So, a couple of dogs (mine with cheese and bacon, hers without) with fries and bottled sparkling water and we’re ready to move on.

Once you move off of Main Street U.S.A. (yes, that’s its name) the similarities to Magic Kingdom get a bit weird. Not dissimilar mind you, just weird. Did I mention it’s weird? Anyway, just like its Anaheim counterpart, this Disneyland’s castle is called Le Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant or Sleeping Beauty Castle (WDW has Cinderella Castle). As you can see the castle is pink. The inside of the castle has a few shops – glass and crystal making shop and a Christmas shop. The upstairs features stained glass windows and a spinning wheel, like the story. Underneath it there is an animatronic dragon in a grotto that is supposed to represent Maleficent. It’s actually pretty cool. You can then step out to the side and be under the bridge that connects the castle to the “land” and that covers the “moat.” A pretty and relaxing waterfall is present here as well. Not as spacious as Cinderella Castle, but appealing and interesting nonetheless.

Surrounding the castle, as is the case in both Disneyland California (DLC) and WDW, is a collection of “lands” that represent various themes. In WDW (the one I’m familiar with) there is, clockwise, Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. In DLP the lands are (in the same order): Frontierland, Adventureland, Fantasyland and Discoveryland. There’s no equivalent for Liberty Square, which is the counterpart of New Orleans Square in DLC. Confused, yet? It’s not rocket surgery, but more info than you’d probably ever want to know. Some other oddities to me are that the haunted house ride is called the Phantom Manor instead of Haunted Mansion, the storyline is entirely in French, and sits right next to Big Thunder Mountain; and this after you pass the Legends of the Wild West which looks like the fort on Tom Sawyer Island in WDW. Those sit in Frontierland. Then we moved to Adventureland where we saw the DLC version of Swiss Family Tree House called Le Cabane des Robinson. The Pirates of the Caribbean ride was closed.

Moving on to Fantasyland there were some familiar rides like Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Peter Pan’s Flight, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, a carousel called “Lancelot’s Carousel” and Mad Hatter’s Tea Party (Cups, in DLP). But something we don’t have, which to me seems redundantly similar to Snow White, is Les

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It’s a Small World Ride – Disneyland Paris

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Scorp and The BCPF on It’s a Small World in Disneyland Paris

Voyages de Pinocchio. I don’t know, it just seemed like it was rehashing her ride. Also, there’s Le Pays des Contes de Fées (Land of Fairy Tales), a mostly useless boat ride around a loop that shows models that represent various fairy tales. I know that sounds kind of harsh, but really, it seemed like they just needed to stuff something in a space and this was it. The theming was nice, but really, meh. The main attraction in this land, though, was It’s a Small World. The queue is actually outside and there’s an open court that, I’m sure, lends to queue management during the busy months. The DLP version actually has some American theming that you don’t see in the American version (at least not at WDW). Overall, there were several things that matched the WDW, but overall it kind of fell flat.

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Space Mountain: Mission 2 in Disneyland Paris

We moved on, then to the Tomorrowland equivalent: Discoveryland. There was Space Mountain: Mission 2 and Star Tours, Orbitron – Machines Volantes (Astro Orbitor) and touching on some Epcot action, Captain Eo starring Michael Jackson. There was also a very strange 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea thingy called Les Mystères du Nautilus that was basically a “life-size” model of The Nautilus that Capt. Nemo sailed in the story/film. It was a cool, shady distraction but really I don’t get why it was there.

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Les Tapis Volants – Flying Carpets over Agrabah Disneyland paris

So we decided to head over to the other park, “Walt Disney Studios,” which is kind of like a misnomer because there aren’t any studios there; not working studios, anyway. There we did ride the Studio Tram Backlot Tour which is very similar to the now-defunct ride of the same theme in WDW. We skipped around inside looking at some of the rides and comparing/contrasting with WDW. We also rode the Les Tapis Volants – Flying Carpets over Agrabah that are also in WDW. There’s a Twilight Zone Tower of Terror there. I’ve never ridden the one in WDW and wasn’t about to this time, either. Some of the other rides were Ratatouille: The Adventure (which we didn’t know anything about it so we didn’t get in line for it), Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop (like a drop zone/Tower of Terror-type ride), Rockin’ Roller Coaster featuring Aerosmith (just like in WDW), Crush’s Coaster (not riding roller coasters) and Cars Quatre Roues Rallye (bumper cars). Interesting things, yes, but nothing I wanted to ride.

I’ll be honest here, I was just going through the motions mostly at this point. We’re not really “thrill ride riders” as much as we are “experiencers.” There was something of a letdown when it came to the whole “Magic Kingdom” and Studios aspect. Parts of my problems were as such: The park opened in April, 1992. It seems that most of the park was still stuck there. In Disneyland Paris you can see ceiling tiles, a/c units, cobwebs where they shouldn’t be, etc. There was no attention to detail and “keeping the magic alive” happening. They were fleecing money from the consumers and tourists only. I’m not naïve enough to believe that’s not what is happening in WDW but when I’m there, I get that air of mystery; mystique. Unless you’re really looking for it, you’re not going to find many things out of place. Notice I don’t say all, that’s virtually impossible, except Disney does a darn fine job of it. The ceiling tiles in It’s a Small World are painted black with other decorations giving the perception of depth and infinity. DLP there were tiles missing and you could see the a/c above holes in the drop-tile. I know I’m repeating but the illusion is lost there. The paint jobs on the attractions are old and tired. I’m thinking there should be a push in the Disney Company to capitalize on the fact that DLP is finally profitable. You’d think they’d want to do what WDW and DLC are doing, updating, renovating, refreshing their parks.

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Bride and Groom at Disneyland Paris

Now, all that being said I’m glad I saw it. Truly, even knowing what I know, I’d really hate to have missed seeing it. If my son wants to see it, I’ll definitely take him, in a heartbeat. However, as I said, I’ve seen it. I don’t ever have to go back. Been there/done that. I was so done with DLP that we didn’t even eat anything else there. In WDW, food is the main highlight of my trip. So that’s saying something.  But, hey! I was with my new bride, so that’s awesome, too.

One thing that I found cool outside of the parks proper was the inclusion of benchmarks of the other Disney parks in a “compass” and I’ve included them here.

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Walt Disney World Benchmark

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Disneyland (California) Benchmark

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Hong Kong Disneyland Benchmark

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Tokyo Disney Benchmark

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to go back to Paris to see what we could find and where we could explore. That’s part of the next blog. This is already long, as it is. Next up in The Honeymoon Chronicles, it’s the most bizarre experience I’ve ever had at a restaurant.

 

 

 

So until tomorrow, same blog channel at SOME blog time (yeah, I know it doesn’t really apply when I do them every day, but hey!)…
Scorp out!!

—
“I’m a big Disneyland nut.” – John Lasseter

Great Mary, Queen of Scots or: All That and a Bag of Ham & Mustard Crisps (The Honeymoon Chronicles Pt. 3)

30 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Honeymoon, Travel

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Salutations™!!

This took a while longer than I thought it would to get this edition to you, but here I am (Damien, here’s hoping you weren’t getting too impatient!).

So still in London, we took a hop-on/hop-off tour of London and we saw almost ALL there was to see of London, both what we call London, also known as Greater London and Old London (which is actually not that large). We sat on the top deck of the double decker tour bus and went through all the major boroughs. Back past Big Ben, past Westminster Abbey, past Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, as well as many of the theaters where shows like Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Billy Elliot, and Pajama Time. We saw many merchants who service the Royal Family, and both the London Bridge and Tower Bridge; usually mistaken as “London Bridge.” This is not the original London Bridge. Actually, it’s not the second one, either. The first several versions were made of wood and timber and was constructed by the Romans. Then there was another that lasted around 600 years. It was in disrepair and in dire need of reparation. Instead of doing the repairs, the London Council decided to try and sell it. And sell it they did. They sold it to an American oil tycoon for a little over $2.4M. He had it deconstructed and reconstructed in Lake Havasu, in Arizona. The tour also included a boat ride on the Thames River past the London Eye and the Shard, the tallest building in Europe. But, the thing that was most interesting on this outing, at least to me, was the Jack the Ripper Tour. Our tour guide took us around Old London (at least to the parts still standing after the bombings of WWII), following the documented path of events that happened over a three year period in the late 1880s. It was creepier than the ghost tour in Edinburgh because even though that was based on history, the “ghost” part was questionable. This was factually based on police and newspaper reports. It was well worth the time.

The following morning, we had a day excursion to the medieval towns of Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath. Due to scheduling “conflicts” with the tour company, the tour had to be rearranged. Usually, they would start in Bath then go to Stonehenge and then to Salisbury. We actually did the trip backwards. The conflicts will be spelled out a little better as we go. So first, by bus, Salisbury.

Salisbury Cathedral, England

Salisbury Cathedral, England

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The Cathedral Clock, Salisbury Cathedral, England

Salisbury is a small country town that is home to Salisbury Cathedral, an Early English Gothic style cathedral which dates back to the year 1258. This cathedral was the subject of many paintings by John Constable and also the setting of William Golding’s novel The Spire. Another odd fixture is the Cathedral Clock (dating back to 1386) which really doesn’t look anything like a clock. It’s more of a time piece, or mechanism, than a clock. But, the prized “possession” of the church is one of only 4 remaining original copies of the Magna Carta, which, basically, laid out the foundation as to what most modern day democracies were based. We were given a guided tour, shown the tombs and crypts, and then allowed to peruse the Magna Carta. Of course, none of us, as far as I could tell, could read Latin so we didn’t know exactly what it said, but there were translations available. We got to walk freely about the grounds and it was very interesting to see the structures and architecture. We then made our way back to the bus. We had to go there first because they were closing the cathedral early that day to have the funeral for a bishop that served there for 11 years in 1982-1993. So, then we moved on to Stonehenge.

Stonehenge

Scorp and The BCPF at Stonehenge, England

There’s no explanation needed to describe what Stonehenge is. It’s a circle of mysterious stones. What can’t be explained, however, is how they got there. There is still, after centuries (millennia?), no explanation as to what it is, exactly, where it came from and why. We were driven to this country town and then had to walk down to a staging area where they drove you, via small buses or rover trams, about ¾ of a mile to the actual monuments. We had carry-along personal guided recordings that were listened to like a phone. You punch in the code and then hit play and it tells you something about that particular part. Yes, there are parts. It’s some about the soil, the theoretical history, documented facts, etc. There’s a good bit of stuff to hear. But, just like Salisbury we were rushed out of the park early because of an event. The event, we were told, was  NATO coming to tour. What we didn’t know is that President Obama was with them. So 45 minutes after we left, he took the picture of him standing in the middle of the monument, something that is reserved only for important people. That’s not us, obviously. So ok, we moved on to Bath.

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Honeymooners in Bath, England

Chips

Ham & English Mustard Crisps?

This Bath isn’t  a tub with a detachable massaging head, a “10% More Free” bottle of Mr. Bubble and a loufa. In fact, you certainly don’t want to be in this bath, at all; at least not any longer. Bath is a city of just under 90,000 with green rolling hills and 2 universities. But, the name itself come from the fact that it was once a Roman Spa once a natural hot spring was discovered and used as a shrine to Minerva. After the collapse of the Roman Empire the place fell into disarray, really ruin, until rediscovery. The roof collapsed over time, but the structures near the hot spring were long preserved. You don’t really want to touch the water in the pool because it’s just full of bird poo and other animal “stuff.” You can drink some water from the spring (through a tap, not the pool) and I will say, it isn’t very good; warm and kind of gross. Bath is also known for its ice cream and The BCPF had her some. Of course, we were still in England so I had to have some beer. There was a pub near the bus meeting point and I had some beer. I didn’t get the name of it, but it was pretty good. The remarkable thing here was a bag of potato chips (or crisps in UK) in the flavor of ham & English mustard. Surprisingly, it was good. Weird, but good. Also, something we definitely remembered about Bath was the busker in the Bath Abbey Square playing an acoustic version of “Creep” from Radiohead in front of the grandmas and grandpas and other on-lookers that seemed not too perplexed.

Seeing all those old memorials, shrines, structure, architecture varieties and country side that surrounds them, really makes you realize how young the country we live in is. These are things that are older than most things we know and we’re part of a baby when you put the years in perspective. Most of Europe is like late teens to our still infancy. The 2 ½ hour bus ride back was quiet and serene allowing us to look at more of that gorgeous country.

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The BCPF outside of Westminster Abbey

The next day, back in London, we visited Westminster Abbey. Westminster Abbey is more than just a church and cathedral, it’s a burial place of many and a memorial to even more historical figures in religion, the arts, philosophy and British politics and sovereign notables. We really went in wanting to see one “wing,” the South Transept, commonly known as “Poet’s Corner.” What we got was so much more. The BCPF has always had a slight fascination with Mary, Queen of Scots and somehow we didn’t realize that she was buried here. She’s actually buried directly across the cathedral from her arch rival, Queen Elizabeth I. I think the interesting part of that is, while she was made to look bad by Elizabeth, Mary, QoS’s tomb is more elaborately and, in my words, cooler than Liz’s tomb. Other notables buried here, and of whom we gawked at their tombs, are: (Monarchs and/or consorts) Henry III, Edward I, Edward III, Richard II, Henry V, Edward V, Anne Neville (wife of Richard III), Mary I of England, Anne of Cleves (wife of Henry VIII) – she kept her head, James VI of Scotland and I of England (and son of Mary, QoS). Some of the notables in the Nave are Charles Darwin, Sir Charles Barry, Sir Isaac Newton and Dr. David Livingstone – yes, of “Dr. Livingstone, I presume,” fame – although his heart is buried in Zambia. There are several other noteworthy areas with important historic people. But, as I said we wanted to see “Poet’s Corner.” In this transept the following people are either represented or buried there: Robert Browning, Thomas Campbell, Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Michael Drayton, George Frederick Handel, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, Laurence (Baron) Olivier, and Alfred Tennyson. The bad thing about that was there was so much awesomeness to see and no photographs were allowed. Sad face. Aww.

Plough

Sign for The Plough Pub, England

The last thing (I know I’m long winded tonight) I will talk about is the fish and chips that I ate at a place called The Plough. The Plough was notable because it was in a place where Darwin and Dickens both frequented. The place has obviously gone through several changes in ownership but the same place hosted them. Anywhat, I had to have fish and chips and I must say, (and I don’t say this because they’re friends of mine, or sponsors of The Less Desirables) I believe the f&C at Finnigan’s Wake Irish Pub & Kitchen in Winston-Salem made this British version look like poppycock.  And, The BCPF actually drank a whole pear cider from Strongbow and I think she liked it. Jeez, I love that woman! That was all for London; at least for this writing.

London, I’ll say was a wonderful city; HUGE. The Underground makes for easy movement about the city. There’s lots of history in England to sink our American teeth into. The whole UK was kind to us and now we must depart it in our story. Up next, we ride the Eurostar through the “Chunnel” (tunnel under the English Channel, under the water) into our favorite European city – the City of Light – and more magical stories.

So until next time, dear reader, same blog channel at some blog time (hopefully, not too long, eh Damien?!?)…
Scorp is out!

“London is a bad habit one hates to lose.” – Anonymous (quoted by William Sansom in Blue Skies, Brown Studies)

3.11 is the New Black or: How I Lived to Survive My Last 5k

21 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by in Life as We Know It

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Salutations™!! Ouch…

If you could hear me write this, I’m grunting and whining.  What’s new you may ask?  Well, not much other than this past weekend, Saturday, May 17 to be exact, I ran, er… walked in my first ever and what I vowed to be my last ever 5k.  That’s 3.10686 miles for us non-metrics out there; let’s round it to 3.11.

This started as a gimmick.  Truly, I had no real intention to run, dang it!, walk the whole 5k.  This was something that Chad Nance of Camel City Dispatch and myself were doing to promote the 5k that the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County was putting on called, Arts Move My Sole. We wanted to put together a campaign to get more people to run/walk/participate in the event.  We made videos showing our training, or better yet, what we weren’t doing for training.  You can see the videos here:

 

Tim Mile 1

Tim Mile 1

Tim Mile 2

Tim Mile 2

Tim Finish Line

Tim Finishes the Race!

Anywhat!  My intention was to just show up, do a little PR for The Less Desirables brand, make out like I’m doing this thing and then just fall out and be done.  Well, that didn’t quite work out the way I planned.

Once I got started, the competitor in me said, “let’s go a little longer,” and then you get to a point where there’s really no turning back.  You have to get back to the place you began, right?  Well, I wasn’t about to be the one they had to come get on a golf cart and take back.  No way!  My back and legs were the worst during the actual event (I don’t want to call it a race).  All this weight that I’ve gained has been heck on my body and it wasn’t ready for this, but again, I dragged on.  I really do mean dragged, too.  Luckily, I had my awesome girl with me!  She was my coach, my entertainment, my motivation. Later she was my leaning pole.

When it was all over, I finished in the VERY last spot.  In fact, they were actually removing the ropes and taking up the cones by the time I arrived.  So 5k or 3.11 miles I walked, or trudged in just over an hour, one hour, three minutes, I think.  Not glamorous, by any means, but hey! as someone that was in one of the little cheering spots said, I lapped everyone sitting on the couch!  So for that I am proud.

After 5k Beer

Oliva Abby Belgium Quad with Plums from Sierra Nevada Brewing

I say it was my last 5k.  I can’t honestly say that, but in my mind, that 3.11 miles was some of the most awful physical torture I have ever been through and remember, dear readers, I had triple-bypass heart surgery.  Again, I’m sure that is an exaggeration, but it was still grueling.  As a matter of fact, I’m writing this on Wednesday, May 21 – FOUR days since the race – and my feet are still making it hard to get around comfortably.

I don’t know when, or if, I’ll do another one, but I can proudly say that I did finish this one.  Then I went to Mellow Mushroom, had a Thai Dye Pizza and a 10.2% beer… oh and PLENTY of water!  It was good, then it hurt.

So until next time, dear readers, same blog channel at SOME blog time…

Scorp’s out!

The Journey Within a Journey (RS Part 3) or: Damn a Bunch of Merle

28 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by in Music Review

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Salutations™!!

My updates were actually on track to be regular and something happened on the way to the forum…

That would be Merle Haggard.  Damn you Merle!!!  This is part 3 of a darn many chapters in my epic journey through the 500 Albums of All Time according to Rolling Stone Magazine.

A lot has happened; let me get going from where I left off:

#485 – Vitalogy by Pearl Jam. I have never been a fan of Pearl Jam, mainly because of Eddie Vedder.  The music is generally good and the musicality is generally spot on.  He’s just annoying.  BUT… this album was actually good.  I wouldn’t say great, but I won’t kick it out.  I don’t own it, but I would.  “Better Man” was a great song and truly, there wasn’t any real weak links that I remember. I dig it!

#484 – All the Young Dudes by Mott the Hoople. I’ve not had a lot of context of Ian Hunter other than he wrote “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” and sang on Freddie Mercury’s tribute show.  I knew he was with Mott the Hoople.  I was neither looking forward to nor dreading this album.  I said to myself, “Self (sometimes I really do call myself that), this is a classic album and people talk about it all the time, let’s see what happens.”  I won’t say that I was overly impressed, but did find it quite interesting.  I have never been a fan of Lou Reed which will come later in the list but the version of “Sweet Jane” is quite vanilla compared to the Velvet Underground version.  I’m a fan of Bowie so I was intrigued on his production and yes, he penned the title track after they turned down “Suffragette City.”  Not a bad album at all.  I’d listen to it again, but I’d not rush to do so.  I dug it, but eh…

#483 – Entertainment by Gang of Four. THIS is punk I can get behind.  It’s just fun.  Is that the intention?  I don’t think so, but it certainly is.  To me, and this is only MY opinion, most punk is scattered and disjointed, which I get, is the point; nonconformity at its best!  It is however, usually not for me.  I do feel on this album they wanted to be that way and it just wouldn’t happen.  Fun. I’d own it! I don’t know why things are now based on owning and listening again, but it’s worked its way into my blog, lol.  My rules as I come up with them, I guess, lol. Oh, and I DIG it.

#482 – Guitar Town by Steve Earle.  Ok, Eugene, I am sure you’re wanting to know about this one. The ONLY exposure to Mr. Earle I’d ever had was, of course, “Copperhead Road.”  I was delighted that there was no inclusion of that song on this album as I want to put my face through a plate glass window every time I hear it.  This album did not make me feel that way.  Did I think it was wonderful?  No. Did I find it entertaining?  Yes.  It’s good 70/80s Country Rock that was well above my expectations.  I wouldn’t turn it off, but not interested in owning it.  Dug.

#481 – Voodoo by D’Angelo.  Boring. Slow jams are great, usually, and while the musicality is entertaining, they were in abundance.  I never got what was supposed to be happening.  It was like music was just… there.  I didn’t get a lot of substance from it.  Did not dig.

#480 – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx by Raekwon.  My mother always said if I couldn’t say anything nice, I shouldn’t say anything at all.  Done, “son.”

#479 – Maggot Brain by Funkadelic. Eddie Hazel is a genius!  George Clinton is a genius! This album was right on and far out from note #1.  The Parliament vocal work is wonderful.  Hit me more Billy Bass! LSD laced lyrics, open head ideas and execution. Yummy! SO… yeah I dig it.  I would own it.  I want to own it.  I want to hear it on vinyl.  DUG!

#478 – All Time Greatest Hits by Loretta Lynn.  Ok.  I have to say this.  I believe live albums and greatest hits albums should be excluded from this list.  No exceptions, no matter how much I like them.  Greatest hits are someone else’s idea of what the best songs were.  And, yes, being in the record industry (artist) in the past, I know that the producer will generally take the collection of best songs recorded to put into a collection or “album.” This should not be here, but that being said, it wasn’t bad.  I’ve never really cared one way or another about country music and this IS country music.  Georgia Florida Line or whatever they call it and those like it are “settling pop wannabes.” No offense is intended to fans of those artists, just my opinion.  It did take me back a bit to my childhood when my father would listen to nothing but.  Well written, mostly clean fun and the not-so-hidden feminism that exudes from this Matriarch of C&W is worth a good listen. Dug.

#477 – Down Every Road by Merle Haggard.  Oh, the bane of my existence.  Not really.  The fact that it was back-to-back with the other classic country (see #478) was a bit to take at one time.  On top of that fact, this was a 4-disc (100 songs) collection, which as I said earlier, should NOT be here.  Rhapsody, the music service I subscribe to and which makes it possible for me to listen to full albums at a time, did not have this available.  So I had to go to Amazon and find the disc’s track listing and manually insert all 100 songs (actually only about 96, I had to go to YouTube for 4 songs that couldn’t be found on Rhapsody) into my playlist.  So what I did was split it into 4 different listens – one for each disc.  I listen in about 4 different places so while one computer had this lined up, I continued the listening journey on other computers.  This did hold me up since I wanted to do a full review.  Ok, to make a short story longer, this, too, was reminiscent of my childhood; not necessarily in a good way, but definitely not in a bad way.  I recognized, as I did with Loretta, many of the songs.  Catchy, if not sometimes depressing, little ditties which lend to the all-encompassing moniker and genre called, “Tear in my Beer” music.  “Okie from Muskogee,” “The Fightin’ Side of Me,” and “I Wonder If They Think of Me” are just a few gems in this long trek of an album that I really remember.  At times, I’ll admit I wanted to just skip and I had several people who know me come into the office to stare confused at why this was coming from speakers that were close to my ears. I personally know someone named Irma Jackson, too. Weird.  Overall, I liked it, but again, it shouldn’t have been on here.  Dug.

#476 – Life After Death by Notorious B.I.G.  I put that it’s by Biggie, but is it really?  I can find that Biggie is only on about half of this record.  The other half is someone else doing all the work and him taking credit for it.  But really, what is he taking credit for? Many… MANY of the songs “feature” this person or that person. Almost a shame to call it his. There’s 24 tracks on this record and I don’t think there was one single track without the “N” word in it.  Look, I know I’m white.  I may have said the word before, but DAMN! I can’t stand to hear it, especially repeatedly and abundantly.  It made it difficult to listen to and I certainly didn’t enjoy it.  Artistic or creative license and what have you, I don’t care.  It was horrible and disgusting to listen to.  Hated it. F-

#475 – Armed Forces by Elvis Costello & The Attractions.  After the audible debacle that was #476, it was good to get back to music that didn’t make me want to lose my lunch.  He born Declan MacManus, which I think is a much more impressive and cool name, has always been in my ears as one who changes his sound often and that includes vocal styles.  He can sound like Elvis Costello in one instance and a whole different Elvis Costello in the next.  I’ll never consider myself a connoisseur of his music or claim to really know much about him.  I have three EC albums, one being a greatest hits – and that doesn’t count, remember? – and am happy with two of them.  So to compare this to other things he’s done and where he stood in his life and career at the time would be pointless and lying.  I will say, however, that “Accidents Will Happen” and “(What’s So Funny ’bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” are two of my faves from EC.  I’d add this to my EC collection and I really dug it!

#474 –Próxima Estación: Esperanza by Manu Chao.  Um… I don’t get it.  I’m not knocking it, I just didn’t get it.  I heard some good musicianship but I just couldn’t feel it.  Sorry.

#473 – The Smiths by The Smiths.  I have always poked at The Smiths and especially Morrissey, mainly to aggravate the Near Mrs (get it).  She told me as a caveat, “this isn’t their best album.”  To this I replied, “there’s a good one?”  And then, I’m smacked hard, upon my face and torso with extreme prejudice.  Not really.  This wasn’t bad.  I didn’t hate it.  It’s Morrissey in his usual moaning mood that is what makes him unique and, I’ll admit, somewhat cool.  Even if that’s not what he wanted.  Life in Manchester really took its toll on him and the band, or so it seems.  His tongue-in-cheek disdain for just about everything is offset by awesome music by Johnny Marr and pals.  And if you didn’t know, some of the keyboards were played by Paul Carrack.  I enjoyed listening to it and would own it.  Shhh, don’t tell The BCPF.


 #472 – Faith by George Michael.  No matter what you think/feel about his personal life, stance, views, etc., the man can write! His first full-length foray after the break up of Wham!, Faith is an album that I certainly already had, loved, and fell in love with, again.  “I Want Your Sex,” “Father Figure,” “One More Try,” “Faith,” and “Monkey” were all chart toppers. The songs that didn’t make it on the charts were quite listenable as well and my favorite song on the whole album, “Kissing a Fool,” is one that at the time I just thought cool, then others did covers, notably Michael Buble, and the coolness went through the roof.  I love standard jazz-style songs like this.  One of my top 30 albums of all time, this is just good stuff start to finish.  DUG in every way.


 #471 – I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight by Richard & Linda Thompson. Whoa! This is some haunting stuff.  Not saying it is my favorite, but I can see where some of this would lead to stuff that BCPF started digging years later.  Someone refers to it as wrist-slitting music in one review I read.  That’s what I refer to a lot of stuff that BCPF listens to. I can hear some similarities.  I have to get her to listen to it, now.  Richard is renown in the spectrum of folk/alt-folk world.  I don’t know how long they stayed married but I don’t think it was long.  What little time they did make music, was decent stuff.  I get chills listening to “The Great Valerio.” Some of it is quite Celtic in nature, at least in my ears.  Dug.

I’m sorry this is so long and I’m also sorry it took so long.  But don’t blame me, blame it on the Okie!

Until next time, same blog channel at SOME blog time…  Scorp out!!

 

A List is Just a List or: Careful with that Axe, Eugene

28 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by in Music Review

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Salutations™!!

So in searching for something to write in this blog (I never think my life is exciting enough to talk about), someone (Paul Jones III) suggested that maybe I could blog about my latest personal enhancement endeavor.  So why not!?

As I’ve mentioned before, I did the 1997 list as well as the 2007 list of the AFI’s Top 100 Movies of All Time.  Not only that, but I’m only 54 films away from seeing all FOUR HUNDRED (400) of the nominations that went into get the top 100.  So being I’ve been a lover of music – some would debate that (*cough*Ed Bumgardner*cough*) at times – all my life, and after watching my friend, Doug Davis, talk about it, I decided to take on the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums of All Time.

Why would I do this?  Well, the aforementioned Messieurs Bumgardner and Davis and I have had many discussions about music over the past few years.  I say conversations when in all actuality they are usually Doug posing a question and me spewing forth some erroneous (and sometime deliberate) baloney that maybe I do or don’t know anything about and Ed then reprimanding me (read: ripping me a new one).  OR as another friend, Mitchell Snow, told me yesterday… “you make a habit of joyfully taking a dump on my Pantheon.”  And I emphasized joyfully.

Anywhat… back to the why.  After being EDucated over the years, I felt this list was SOMEONE’s attempt at a best of list and since my men crushes (yeah I said it) are talking about it, I could probably learn something from this list.  I’m going in with as open a mind as I can have; what Ed calls “feeling, not listening.” I want to discover things that I wouldn’t know existed or things that I have overlooked for whatever reason. I want to see what the big deal is about.

I started this thingy on Halloween, 2013.  I write this on Friday, November 8.  I know this is going to be a long, sometimes arduous, journey.  It will take time and I’m trying to launch into the next as soon as I can while not forgetting to “chew my food” or absorb what it is I’ve just finished listening to.  I have just finished #492, Touch from Eurythmics.  I’m not going to give an account of everything that I listen to, but I will try to blog about certain ones as we go.  I’ll catch you up at least on what’s happened so far and if there is anything I need to talk about that I haven’t talked about on my Facebook page.  Let’s start here:

#500 – Outkast, Aquemini; #499 – B.B. King, Live at Cook County Jail; #498 – The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses; #497 – The White Stripes, White Blood Cells… stop.  The White Stripes I’ve never been a huge fan of outside of the innovation it seems that Jack makes with his “I don’t care” approach (I know he does) to songwriting.  This was the first on the list that I will say that I “enjoyed” to the point of making a note about it.  Outkast, B.B. just didn’t move me, but weren’t horrible.  Stone Roses had its moments, but nothing that I want to elaborate on.

#496 – Boz Scaggs, Boz Scaggs; #495 – Bonnie Raitt, Give It Up; #494 – MGMT, Oracular Spectacular… STOP!  Holy Moley!  This was the first album on the list that left my mouth and eyes competing as to which could be wider.  I love electronic music and this was a beautiful thing to behold.  A true OM(enter entity/deity here) moment for me!  You can look at the Facebook archives for my review, but it was delicious!


#493 – Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot  Not a bad album, I’ve heard it before and it’s a fave of BCPF.  I’ll always have a place in my heart for “Heavy Metal Drummer” and not just because the Mediocre Bad Guys do it.  It was on a mixtape made by my sweetie before we were even dating.  “Jesus, Etc.,” “I am Trying to Break Your Heart,” and especially “Poor Places” were all great additions as well.
#492 – Eurythmics, Touch  This is a pure delight to listen to and I’ve only heard a few songs as I’m writing this.  I love Annie Lennox, though, so I’d probably love it anyway, I just never had the pleasure of doing it. **And now I’ve listened through it.  This was a great album.  Great rhythms (hence the name), great textures and layers, and Annie’s voice is amazing; such power.  Great quality song writing.  Chilling at times, to tell the truth.  This, along with MGMT have been the true highlights so far with me.
I’ll write more reviews as the list winds down.

My bestest buddy, Eugene B Sims asked me the other day, “What the hell is with you and these lists!?!?”  I truly didn’t have a real answer but I thought about it today and I have that answer, but I must preface it with this…

My fiancee, the BCPF, is a list maker and doer, as well.  She fancies the Top 100 of Some Old Scholars That Made Lists (I’m making that up) and all kinds of things about books.  “Booksbooksbooksbooks I love books. Booksbooksbooksbooksbooks….”  She has a coffee can with slips of paper in which the most famous (and some not famous but equally as important) and she picks randomly. She said it best when she said: “there is so much out there to read and if I left it to my own devices, I may never read some of the best books ever written.”

So I say in the same vein that there are many movies and much music that I know I miss out on and some I don’t know I’m missing.  When I am left to my own devices, I’ll pick the same stuff over and over again and be prejudiced towards the things that I only believe to be what I don’t like.  These lists (especially AFI’s) are compiled by industry people and “experts” at least to the point of some importance, even in their own minds (that was for Rolling Stone).  There are other lists that I will take up in these areas, too, as I get time.  Point of fact, my friend Keith Wilson just emailed me the 2003 list so I’ll have to match them up. 🙂   A side note… when I went through my heart surgery last year, my sweetie bought me the actual magazine with this list in it.  Thank you, Baby!

Bare with me as I make this journey (and continue my movie one).  This may be the fodder I need for the spewing forth I bring to the teeming masses.

Until next time, same blog channel at SOME blog time…  Scorp out!

A Whole New World

28 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by in Honeymoon, Life as We Know It, Travel

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(Originally posted 8/15/11)

Salutations, all! SO… I said I wasn’t going to wait to update and it looks like I failed that. BUT! I feel I have good reason this time, however, my excuses are gone now, too. Let’s talk about it, shall we!?

I have talked about this school thing for three years now. THREE years! Well, I FINALLY have finished my Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Kaplan University Online – or, how I like to say, I have my BS in BS! 🙂 Started in August of 2008 and now in August 2011, I have finished. It was grueling at times, I will say. Other times, not so bad. This last term: my capstone and one other humanities class, has been a ball. My Capstone project is something I’ve been working on for the last 10 weeks and finally turned it in. Hopefully, one day the procedures I put in there will come to fruition. I’ll not discuss any of that because it’s a) a secret, 2)no relevant right now and III) none of your beeswax! I’m kidding on that last part, yo. Anywhat! I’m kind of at a loss right now. I can’t figure out what to do next. I feel I want to continue my “learnin'” but don’t know, just yet. Oh well, the student loans don’t kick in for another 6 months, maybe I’ll figure it out then, lol.

Well, speaking of school, you’ll remember that my sweet BCPF has been looking for a teaching job and she found one! She is going to be a first-year, fourth grade teacher at the same school that 3B goes to, and yes, he is going to be in the 4th grade and, no, he will not be in her class. She’s excited, a bit scared and will do awesome. Why do I know this? Well, other than the fact that I know everything, she is just that amazing. She rocks and rolls, everything she does and I know that this team that we have can accomplish anything, especially when she’s the strong one on the team! So to say I’m proud of her… can we say understatement!!!

Now, let’s focus a bit on something I talked about last time: the trip to “The World.” That’s Walt Disney World for you non-cool, non-geeks out there. I scheduled our trip, sans 3B this time, for the celebration of me finishing my degree, I mean after all, you don’t graduate from higher learning every day, right? Anywhat! So, BCPF and I got up and went soaring through the big blue sky via the ATL to get to a magic bus to take us to WDW. That first day was absolutely perfect (minus the heat).

We checked in at The Wilderness Lodge and it was as beautiful as ever. Took a boat to Magic Kingdom (don’t put the “the” in there) and had lunch at Casey’s Corner, which means some of the dangedest hot dogs you’ll ever put in your gullet. MMmmmmm. I proceeded to show her why this is my favorite place ever, with details like “Swiss Family Robinson’s Treehouse” and then the “Jungle Cruise.” Of course, we went to “Pirates of the Caribbean” next. Lovely (and cool; both in coolness and temperature)!!! A stop at the Hall of Presidents to see the new changes and then made our way to Epcot (my favorite park) via the monorail.

That meant we stopped at “Spaceship Earth” and I must say, as much as I love Dame Judi Dench, I do not like her doing the voice for SE. I liked Jeremy Irons much, much better. The new platform is a bit weird, too. Doesn’t seem to fit really. I think it was rushed, but don’t let that deter you from the story at hand. Then we made our way through a few exhibits to pass some time. Oh! “Living with the Land,” “Journey into Imagination” and “Captain EO” were on ticket. “EO” was there when I was there in ’89. “Honey I Shrunk the Audience” was better I think. More involved, but with MJ’s passing a few years ago, they had to pay tribute, I get it. So we finish those and make our way to World Showcase, which is the place I want to spend all my time when I’m there. Rode the boat ride that took the place of “El Rio del Tiempo” in the Mexico Pavilion (boo, the old was better). Rode the awesome “Maelstrom” in Norway Pavilion and then watched the “Reflections of China” film in China Pavilion. Time for dinner! Tutto Italia took the place of L’Original Alfredo’s Ristorante last year and it wasn’t the same but still, I’m eating with the BCPF, nothing was bad. After dinner we walked the promenade a bit and headed for Disney’s Beach and Yacht Clubs’ marina where we caught a boat tour.

This tour took us through the lagoon that connects the “Clubs” with Disney’s Boardwalk Inn then on to Walt Disney Swan and Dolphin, two oddly themed hotels that aren’t part of Disney but have some of the perks. From there we learned trivia about the waterway to Disney’s Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios). Once that was finished it was time for the coup de grace, which was sitting the boat in The World Showcase Lagoon for Illuminations, the nightly fireworks extravaganza. The tour guide said they spend $55,000 a night on this fireworks show. WHEW!!

We tethered up to the other 4 tours for that evening and watched the fireworks from the water they were shot from. That was exciting. BCPF mentioned how the day had been perfect right before the show and the show was almost the perfect finish. I say almost because I saved the best for last. As the announcer started his “Thank you for…” I told her that there was only one thing that could make the day more perfect. I proceeded to drop to my knee and asked this beautiful woman to marry me. She welled up and finally said yes as I stood in the boat and yelled to the top of my lungs that “she said yes!!!!!!!!” So the trip was more than just a celebration of my finishing school, it was to celebrate her, as well. Dang! I love that woman! (here’s a pic of the ring)

Lastly, I want to discuss The Less Desirables. The show has grown substantially since we last talked. We’ve had our first live session of musicians, now have wine gurus and the list in only growing. This past Saturday, Aug 13, my esteemed colleague and co-host, Brian Attridge along with The Official Beer Guru attended the Twin City Taps First Annual Beer Festival and tasted a lot of great NC beer and made a lot of good contacts. It was delicious and wonderful and hopefully we’ll have a few great things come from it. Stand by!

 

Well, the title was more than just an homage to one of my favorite Disney films (Aladdin), but also a brief description for the direction my personal life is going and I really couldn’t be happier. I’m healthy, I have a great son to my right and now I officially have the most wonderful woman in the world by my left and it truly is a Whole New World!

Until next time… Same blog place at SOME blog time…  Scorp out!