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Patsy Cline – "Walkin' After Midnight" (1957)

2010/03/11

I would like to understand how Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight" is the song stuck in my head first thing in the morning? Seriously random brain activity I think.

I do wonder if I was radio DJing real time would I be a good DJ following each song with a perfectly contrasting or complementing song? Or would I just be all over the place? Sometimes I think I should give it a whirl and try to get into one of the local radio stations, probably in the 2 to 4 AM slot given my experience. I'm guessing though I will never actually put in the time to find out and even if I did the station would constrain me far more than I would like.

There is one radio station I listen to on occasion named "Fickle 93.3 – We Play Everything". They are telling the truth. They are all over the place, which I appreciate. It is nice because if you're not in the mood for the current song, the next one is sure to be totally different. However there is no artistry to it. I might as well just put all my music on shuffle. I like a little "this leads to this" or "this is different than that but yet they still go together back to back" on my radio, just like on my mixes. (Heh… I almost wrote "mix tape". What is this? 1991?)

Because an entire day separates most of my posts it comes as no surprise to me that I am all over the place. Following Pony Pony Run Run with Patsy Cline. Sure! Why not?! It is only natural.

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Click here for more info on Patsy Cline – "Walkin' After Midnight".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

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Pony Pony Run Run – "Hey You" (2009)

2010/03/10

My cousins are home from college on Spring Break. A couple of my coworkers are taking several days off this month. I haven't had a real vacation since October and that was only a couple days off. (Thanksgiving and Christmas totally don't count. Too many family obligations!) I watch this video by Pony Pony Run Run and I can feel it. I need a vacation AND I have vacation envy. I don't need to travel, just some time off would suffice. I'll take anything. Alas no vacation for me until May at the soonest! My big project is due in early April which means nothing but work work work.

Speaking of work, I should be headed there now. I don't want to go. You can't make me!

PS: Pony Pony Run Run is a French band. You can tell by the almost silent H in when they sing "Hey You" in the chorus. Sounds like "Ay You"! Je l'adore!

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Click here for more info on Pony Pony Run Run – You Need Pony Pony Run Run – "Hey You".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

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Tennessee Ernie Ford – "Sixteen Tons" (1955)

2010/03/09

I am tired of my job, in case it wasn't obvious enough. I take little breaks and write little poems like this one to help get me through the day…

My give a shit has left the building
It is in search of other lands
Packed up my energy and fled
Took my wallet and cash in hand

I'm perhaps a little more snotty and less professional than I use to be? I would say my entire team is too. My coworker has a "Demotivational Calendar" in his cube. For this month, March 2010 it says:

Marketing
Because making it look good now is more important than providing adequate support later.

(You can buy the calendar and others like it here:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/posters/cbfb/)

I decided to "lighten the mood" I'd tweak it an write it on one of my white boards. So I wrote…

Because getting it done as fast as possible is more important than the quality of the code.

(I'm in software if you haven't figured it out.) My boss, who usually would laugh at such things and then have us erase them, instead was apparently not happy about it, erased it and wrote in its place:

NOT OK!

I was absent at the time. I then wrote down under it:

The truth hurts.

Then I erased my addition before anyone saw it. I know my boss is in a tough spot. His job sucks. No need to jab the wound.

But stress levels are high and I was speaking the truth. With a deadline barreling down on us, our only options are 1. Write quality code and be late with the project. 2. Cut a few corners to just make it work, and worry about quality later (if ever). It is NOT OK that we allow deadlines to dictate the quality of what we do. However meeting the deadline is the priority so #2 it is. Some corners have and will be cut. I only speak the truth (and try to get a chuckle out of it at the same time).

Perhaps I should tow the line? At least I have a job, right? I do have debts to pay, and currently no where else to go too. Reminds me of the chorus…

You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;
I owe my soul to the company store.

PS: This song was written in 1946 by Merle Travis. Ernie Ford's recording made it famous though.

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Click here for more info on Tennessee Ernie Ford – "Sixteen Tons".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

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Lemon Jelly – "'95 – Make Things Right" (2005)

2010/03/08

I hate the realization of the work week coming back. The weekends lately just serve to recharge my batteries enough to make it until the next weekend. Perhaps a little downtempo will help set the pace in my mind? I bet my boss will be none too happy when I refuse to take my headphones off though!

By the way, this song, and all the other songs on the "'64-'95" album by Lemon Jelly, have a sample from the year in the title. This song uses a sample from Monica's 1995 R&B song "Before You Walk Out of My Life", and from it creates what I think is a better song.

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Click here for more info on Lemon Jelly – '64–'95 – "'95 – Make Things Right".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

4 Comments | Posted in Music, Song of the Day | Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

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Peter Cetera – "Glory of Love" (1986)

2010/03/07

I'm in a bit of a cheesy 80s mood lately, if there is such a thing. (If posting Bryan Adams didn't prove it, maybe this one will?!) The Karate Kid Part 2 was on TV while I was waiting for the Gold Medal Men's Hockey game to start in the Olympics a week ago. This horribly and wonderfully corny song has been stuck in my head on and off all week as a result! Out of my head Mr. Miyagi!

I do have an outstanding question though. Daniel, the main character in The Karate Kid series, has a different love interest in each of the movies. That isn't a bad thing per se, but it does kind of lead you to wonder about Daniel. Is a bad kisser or something? Perhaps his boyish looks only go so far? Maybe he is a player and just in it for the glory of love? Love 'em and leave 'em. Where is the honor in that Daniel-san? Watch out ladies!

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Click here for more info on Peter Cetera – Solitude/Solitaire – "Glory of Love".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

4 Comments | Posted in Music, Song of the Day | Tagged , , , , , ,

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Buena Vista Social Club – "Chan Chan" (1997)

2010/03/06

As I said to my friend who passed this song on to me yesterday, this song is fascinating because it is both happy and sad at the same time. I had compared it to tequila, but perhaps the mojito, a Cuban drink, is a better analogy for something joyful with a touch of sorrow mixed in?

Listening to this you might think this sort of music, known as "Son Cubano", the norm in Cuba for the past 50 years, but no. The Buena Vista Social Club, which was an actual club where these musicians played, was closed along with most others after the Cuban Revolution. Cuban music like this was essentially put on ice in the 1950s until the late 1980s and 90s when a revival provided the conditions for this song and the album it is on to be. My message to the dictators and communists of the present and future, state run art is never a good idea. Censorship is one thing, but to essentially squelch entire genres of music is just unnecessary.

PS: Although the song was written in 1987, and many of the songs on the album are much older than that, the album was released in 1997. I've been posting the "release date" of the "album" of each song as close as possible, hence the 1997 date. Really it might as well be 60 years old, don't you think!?

Song Recommendations

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Click here for more info on Buena Vista Social Club – Buena Vista Social Club – "Chan Chan".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

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Marco Polo (feat. Masta Ace) – "Nostalgia" (2007)

2010/03/05

Today being Friday,
a chill rap seems the way
to go.
I don't know.

Rap today is so serious
or maybe I'm delirious.
For party hop you need to go back.
Anyway here's one before you hit the sack.

Hip hop used to be so thick in the air
When it was there you ain't even needed to kick in a snare
It could have been finger snaps and hand claps
But nowadays it feels a little different when a man raps

Song Recommendations

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Click here for more info on Marco Polo (feat. Masta Ace) – Port Authority – "Nostalgia".

The MP3 may be purchased here…

2 Comments | Posted in Music, Song of the Day | Tagged , , , , ,

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