VIDEO VAULT THURSDAY!

This week’s video is from the music video equivalent of the Stone Age! Predating MTV by many years, I came across this while looking around for something to do with another post. What’s interesting is how the video itself is an example of the first baby steps marketing executives, records companies and artists themselves were taking towards the form of marrying music to pictures.

One of the treats about the thing (aside from being shot on film) is looking at the hairstyles and clothing that were current at the time the video was shot (around 1972)



The song is often mistakenly attributed to Bob Dylan, likely because Rafferty’s distinctive voice is similar to Dylan’s, as well as the acoustic folk/rock style the song employs.

“Stuck in the Middle with You” (also, in early references, “Stuck in the Middle”) is a song written and performed by Stealers Wheel which was composed of Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty, and an ever-changing cast of other musicians. The song was released on their 1972 self-titled debut album Stealers Wheel. The single sold over one million copies, climbing up to eventually the top 10 on both the US (in 1973) and UK pop charts.

The book I never got.



Oh, how life would have been different! (LOL)

Sorting and tossing a bunch of old magazines I came across this ad, pure 70s!

Best line of the ad: A discotheque where the girls are so liberated you can often sleep with them the same night you meet them!

Priceless!

A fading power?

I was talking to someone the other day and during the conversation I speculated the following:

If the 19th Century was Great Britain’s century, and the 20th Century was the century of the U.S., will the 21st Century be China’s century?

How will it affect our world and what will the world look like when it is through?

At least once.

...And, most important of all: “Wouldn’t it be nice if all those people who roam the streets of New York, talking to themselves, were paired off so that they could walk around in couples and look like they’re having a conversation?”

Lily Tomlin used that line in her act back in 1975, little did she know three decades later cell phones would be so ubiquitous pairing off people would be an unnecessary bother.

I have the cell phone but I try to use it sparingly, especially in public places. Others don’t seem to be restrained by good manners and having wonderfully quiet moments on the train or just around the city seem to be something relegated to the past.

So, when I came across this compilation of clips (some of which I had seen), I just had to share:

Video Vault Thursday!
(Because the exclamation point makes all the difference)

So, last week I obsessed over Shirley Manson. Not only is she incredible but, some of those Garbage tunes are just awesome. This week we’re going in a different direction.

This week’s video is fairly recent as videos go. Although it looks deceptively simple, it does have quite a bit going on if you look closely. Once again, it’s a great song that softens any problems a person might have with the video itself but it is an interesting marriage of music and image.



The track “E-Pro” was remixed by Paza Rahm and released on the Hell Yes EP as “Bad Cartridge.” The EP was released on vinyl, as an iTunes Music Store download, and in CD format for college radio. “E-Pro” was Beck’s first number 1 since his debut single “Loser.”

---

“E-Pro” is the opening track on Beck’s 2005 album Guero. It was released as the lead single from the album in March 2005. The underlying drum beat throughout most of the song is a sample from the Beastie Boys' 1992 smash hit “So What’cha Want.” The song was Beck’s second #1 on the Modern Rock chart and his first in eleven years.

The video for the song was created by Shynola. It is set in a computer-animated environment, where Beck rises from a grave, digs up a dog, and climbs buildings, among other things. It was nominated for “Best Music Video” in the 2005 Arias Awards.

Get this nation an enema.

So, I make no secret about the fact that I am a registered Republican. Most of the reason I aligned myself with the Republican party is because of their stance on foreign policy where I have always been a bit more hawkish than most. Sure, negotiation is a fine thing but, there are times when military might is a necessary component of foreign policy. Of course, I am presupposing that any application of military force is used judiciously - let’s just leave it at that without going into the actions of the current administration.

I read something earlier this evening though that got me to thinking...

It got me thinking about what I would like to see happen, going forward in our country. I find that I haven’t been happy with the choices offered up in the last few presidential elections. I don’t know when it happened, I think around 1980, but the nation seemed to have changed how it picked chief executives. Presidential races became more of a beauty contest than anything else.

I always remark to friends how men like Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry Truman could never get elected in a this day of television. They’re just not ‘pretty’ enough. Whenever we start talking about how telegenic candidates are, it’s a sure sign that as a nation we’ve lost our way.

So, back to the whole direction of the country thing...

I wonder if any of the three people who are currently in the running to become our nation’s leader have (to use some foreign slang) the ‘stones’ to really change the heading we’re on.

I looked back a little and I found something that I think should be a rough blueprint of the kind of change I am thinking we need. However, it is so far a field from anything I am hearing from the current candidates, I wonder if it is just wishful thinking on my part.

Gross National Product rose 10% in the first year of the tax cut, and economic growth averaged a rate of 4.5% from 1961 to 1968. Disposable personal income rose 15% in 1966 alone. Despite the drop in tax rates, federal revenues increased dramatically from $94 billion in 1961 to $150 billion in 1967. As the Baby Boom generation aged, two and a half times more Americans would enter the labor force between 1965 and 1980 than had between 1950 and 1965.

So, it sounds like all I’m talking about is a further cut in taxes but, it’s more than that, much more:

I have come today from the turmoil of your Capital to the tranquility of your campus to speak about the future of your country.

The purpose of protecting the life of our Nation and preserving the liberty of our citizens is to pursue the happiness of our people. Our success in that pursuit is the test of our success as a Nation.

For a century we labored to settle and to subdue a continent. For half a century we called upon unbounded invention and untiring industry to create an order of plenty for all of our people.

The challenge of the next half-century is whether we have the wisdom to use that wealth to enrich and elevate our national life, and to advance the quality of our American civilization.

Your imagination, your initiative, and your indignation will determine whether we build a society where progress is the servant of our needs, or a society where old values and new visions are buried under unbridled growth. For in your time we have the opportunity to move not only toward the rich society and the powerful society, but upward to the Great Society.

The Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for all. It demands an end to poverty and racial injustice, to which we are totally committed in our time. But that is just the beginning.

Thing is, even if it’s wishful thinking on my part, am I alone in this?

I find this strangely appealing.


So much so that it makes me want to take a trip as a pilgrimage of sorts because there are certain things in life you just have to see.

The in-joke.

I got this emailed to me awhile back by the very talented Gerry Acerno. I came across it as I was cleaning files off the computer and though I may as well post it. It’s a bit of an in-joke but, still an entertaining drawing:

Playin’ in the potty?

Back in 2000, BBC News ran the following article:

The shocking secrets of the life of grime beneath your fingers have been revealed. Computer keyboards are accumulating up to two grams of dirt every month, research conducted on behalf of AOL UK shows. The crumbs and dirt collect beneath the keys because users eat breakfast, snacks, and lunch over their computer terminals.

Today though, it gets even better by comparison due to a recent study:

Some computer keyboards harbour more harmful bacteria than a toilet seat, research has suggested. Consumer group Which? said tests at its London offices found equipment carrying bugs that could cause food poisoning. Out of 33 keyboards swabbed, four were regarded as a potential health hazard and one harboured five times more germs than one of the office’s toilet seats.

Time to stock up on finger cots?

Don’t %@#$ with Sue!

I love when stuff like this happens:

Just sayin’

You can put a rubber band around your stomach but it still won’t do anything for your fat head.

I think she would be happy.

So, there is a neighborhood cat here.

She’s an outdoor cat and I’ll see her roaming about from time to time. She’s not wild, she’s just someone’s cat who lives outdoors.

Living in the outer burbs it’s amazing just how much wildlife there is. It’s not rare to see deer in the field across the street from the house and you also sometimes have evidence of other varmints around the trashcans too.

Getting back to this cat though – she stands out a bit because she’s an all white cat.

I’ll see her across the street in the field, sometimes she seems nested up in the high grass and because she’s white you can see her from far away. She roams through the neighborhood and in the past I have managed to coax her over for a prolonged stroking and petting session.

My neighbor arrived home once and was amazed I was able to get the cat to come over to me; apparently he couldn’t get her to do that.

So, yesterday I though I saw a white shape in the neighbor’s driveway and then today when I got up I looked out the front window and noticed a small figure making it’s way hastily up the sidewalk across the street, I knew who it was.

I went downstairs and opened the front door and starting making those sounds cat owners know far to well. The little creature came quickly in response (to even my surprise) and it was in fact the same small friend from almost two years ago. Although I say small, she’s almost two times the size of my departed Anna but, I know it was the same cat as before because she has one green eye and one blue eye.

She cried and offered the side of her face up for stroking. She arched her back asking to be scratched and I could do nothing but oblige. I quickly ducked into the house and opened a can of food and bought it down to watch as my feline acquaintance happily chowed down on the surprise repast purring mightily throughout. A little skittish of her surroundings, I soothed her the way I would soothe Anna by talking to her throughout lauding her for her appetite.

Afterward, there was more stroking and petting until I went in to have my morning coffee. I thought about Anna and was a little sad but I was happy to have done something nice for another creature and felt rewarded if only by the grateful purring I received in response, I think Anna would have been happy (although if she was still around I think she would have been extremely jealous).

I guess I’ve officially become one of those people now but I don’t care and it will have to suffice until I’m over Anna.

VIDEO VAULT THURSDAY RETURNS!

Okay, so I’ve been incredibly lax.

It’s been a long time since Video Vault Thursdays has made an appearance around these parts. However, the advent of really, really nice weather has me listening to music again. The great thing is that I am having terrific fun doing it! I always enjoy getting back to that point where I listen to music more frequently because it always is a voyage of rediscovery.

This week, I was so jazzed about listening to this one particular band, I started to write a post about them, when I decided I might as well fold the entry into a Video Vault Thursday post. I don’t know if these videos really rank up there to warrant a Video Vault Thursday but, the thing is that the songs themselves are just so kick-ass I can’t resist.

This entry provides an overview of the band’s videos - you’ll see they get markedly better with each video:

I’m Only Happy When I Rains
(early video and it shows)


Stupid Girl
(looks like a thousand other videos you’ve seen but it’s saved by the song)


The World Is Not Enough.
(and now things start getting interesting)


Cherry Lips.
(look closely at the video, it’s actually pretty good)


Push It.
(shades of Grant Morrison and the Doom Patrol)


Finally, this is a life performance. It doesn’t really qualify as a Video Bault entry but I couldn’t resist including it because it is such a great song! Also, anyone who says life ends at 40, take a look at Shirley Manson because she’s 41 and hot as hell!

Temptation Waits


Since Garbage hasn’t done anything in recent years and is supposedly getting ready to release another album in the near future (or a Shirley Manson solo album). I throw this video in as an indication of what the beautiful SM has been up to in the ensuing period:

These Things.

Speaking of cleaning.

I use a webmail client.

Why?

Well, let’s just say I’ve had the misfortune to have OSX crap out on me a bunch of times. Every time it’s crapped out, it usually has meant going in and reinstalling everything. Suffice to say it’s a gigantic pain in the ass and the ancillary treat is that a lot of files are just lost in the process. I lost a ton of emails that way and to combat that, I’ve been using the web client for email.

So, over the last five days or so, I’ve taken it upon myself to get the thing straightened out.

Every time I send out an email, the thing is saving a copy of the email I sent out. So, the queue had gotten up to somewhere around 1200 emails. The incoming queue was up to somewhere around 600+.

Some of the stuff is important and then there’s a lot that isn’t.

Well, right now the sent queue is down around just over 400 and the incoming queue is at 370. I’m not there yet but, the end is in sight.

Oh, and why does OSX keep crapping out? Well, each time it’s happened, it was because I tried installing one of Apple’s stupid upgrades.

Phew!

A big part of how I spend my time when I’m not working is spent sorting things out (that and finding amazing ways to waste time). Right now I find myself ‘in-between’ gigs, which is a little worrisome although something is due to, come up in a week.

So, we have this great weather and I manage to find wonderful ways to idle away the day.

Monday, it was digging up an old stump and then filling in the resulting hole. Also, I was in the process of digging up some space curbside and then putting down stone. Some things I manage to do better than I did years ago, some things I don’t do as well.

Now, when I work, I’m much better about putting things back in their proper place. It’s mainly because I’m spending so much time cleaning up the thought of making more of a mess is anathema. I’m much worse at spending prolonged periods working. What I do now, I go out and work for a while, take a break. Go out and work some more, take a break. Go and keep plugging away, take a break.

Today, I put down the stone after finishing digging up the space along the curb and laying down the weed block. I know, I’m mister excitement. Still, I moved about 500 lbs. of stone over to the area and put it in and it still wasn’t enough. So, sometime over the next few days I have to go back and get more stone.

I also managed to cut up a branch the other day that had come down awhile back during a bad storm. I chopped it up into manageable small pieces that the wonderful garbage men would take away. Considering the branch in question would take three men to lift, I figure it was a good days work.

Thing is, I like doing this kind of stuff... a lot.

Little by little I start to see areas clear up and I start to see projects getting crossed off my list and I feel an incredible amount of satisfaction.

But it won’t pay my bills.

Too bad.

Just so you’re aware.

To make up for a profound lack of writing of late I am going to go through all the frigging drafts I have and clear them out. Hence some entries may not seem as topical as they might be. Nonetheless the page will still be full of incredible bloggy goodness.

Damnit!

So I missed the last three days of work and the week before I had missed two days. Basically, it turned the ten week assignment into a nine week assignment when you count the two days I lost that last week.

Damnit!

The funny thing though, I needed that time off. When I wrote this (early on Friday evening 4/11), I felt markedly better. While not 100% - more like 80% - it was far and away light years better than I had been the previous Wednesday.

My head felt almost clear, the running nose had stopped (though I was subject to blowing out a nice gob of something every now and again), I didn’t hear all kinds of internal noises whenever I swallow. I only took aspirin, some nasal decongestant, sucrets and the occasional gulp of cough syrup. It sounds like a lot more than it is, just various medications when the need arise and the symptoms are particularly acute.

It still took awhile to totally lick the thing. I had a bit of congestion still in the chest and some nasal stuff going on for at least two weeks afterward but I felt lucky the thing ran its course and I was able to see a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of getting through it. There had been a bunch of times over those days when I found myself crawling into bed and sleeping a bunch of hours. Even with all the wonderfully nice weather, aside from pulling the mail out of the box, I couldn’t tell you about it because I missed it all sleeping the hours away.

This all got me to thinking about something though...

See, money came right out of my pocket because I missed those days but, I get the sense come round the next Monday I’d be just about right again.

Now, if absolutely forced I probably could’ve gone into work. Honestly, I could’ve soldiered through if I had to. I would’ve been working a lot slower than I normally do, gotten a lot less done, felt generally crappy for the entirety of the day and been a bear to be around. Also, I would’ve exposed everybody I work with to whatever bug this is I’ve picked up.

But, the sleep really made all the difference in the world in giving my body the chance it needed to do the work of fighting this thing off.

And I was thinking how we just don’t do that much anymore.

I mean, given the pace of life and the demands of our jobs and everything else, we just don’t take the time off to be sick and get better.

It’s become so much of a problem they have actually started PSA campaigns about it:


I think it just says something about our society that we need a PSA to remind us of what in fact should be a matter of common sense.

A bit premature?

I’m not a big fan of Bill Clinton, I’m just not.

People look back at the Clinton years and paint this rosy picture of a guy who could do no wrong as president. They attribute all the glorious economic growth of the 90’s to Clinton’s stewardship of the executive office well forgetting the facts that there was a spanking new democracy in what had formerly been the USSR, a new premier in China and the explosive growth of this brand new thing called the World Wide Web.

Still, awhile back New York magazine had run this image on their cover and I’ll be damned if I thought it was a bit disrespectful for a person who had once been the nation’s president.

Now, it’s looking like it might have been a bit premature as well.

Life is good, but...

So, the past few days have been fine. What I mean to say is that there has been enough to focus on to take my mind off the events of last week.

Still, I have to catch myself now and again.

What do I mean?

Well, I’ll put it to you this way; Last night I was sitting at my computer and thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye and turned half expecting to see kitty there stoically staring me down or, today I caught that odd rectangle of sunlight as the afternoon sun peeked out from behind the clouds and half expected to see kitty stretched out in all her glory just basking in the warmth of those golden rays. I looked at some pictures of her the other day thankfully I have a lot.

She was a good girl.

I’ve pulled out of all those cat-centered groups I was part of on Flickr. I’ve started putting away all the things around here that were specifically for her. I’m shelving all that stuff if only for a little while.

See, I kind of have made up my mind I’m going to get another kitty at some point (maybe two) but for now if only out of respect to her memory I’m going to let the wound heal over.

I had wanted to put this up sooner.

Last week before NYCC, I had gotten this via email from pal Gerry Acerno and it’s a really beautiful piece I wanted to share:



The week kind of got away from me though.