"Spider-Man"

Spider-Man, Spider-Man
I did a guest blog about Spider-Man
It's not short, It's not long
Check it out if you have the time--
Hey man:
guest post about Spider-Man


So a friend of mine from High School has written a new book featuring a new Superhero of her own creation. Shadow on the Wall is the first book in a planned series featuring a Turkish, Muslim hero named The SandStorm that I'm really looking forward to reading. To celebrate she asked a bunch of cool people to write guest posts on who they thought the greatest superhero was and why. I still don't know why she asked me, but I chose Spider-Man. He's not my favorite, but damned if he isn't Great.  There are giveaways a plenty, so go check it out. Now for your listening pleasure I give you, the Ramones:

"100 Days, 100 Nights"

One hundred days worth of posts over at 1001 Days of Music.

Technically 102 posts, but two of those are just "upkeep" posts. So...

Go Me! I'm 1/10th of the way there!

"Because the Night"

Virgin Free Fest was last weekend and it was awesome, just like last year. I didn't get to go to as many concerts this summer as I did last summer, but I'm in a better place this summer, so you get details.

Once again, tickets were free (you could pay $50 to get a bag, with a poster, cups and other stuff; plus early entry) on the web or you could volunteer your time to get them. Kevin and I went last year, so we got first dibs on tickets this year and took advantage. Once again, like last year, no one wanted to go with us bad enough to volunteer, so we went just the two of us. The entry line was long, but once they opened it up it moved quickly. I had a pretty good sized bag with me because it was hot and sunny, but it had rained 3 days prior, and it was supposed to rain later that day; so I had extra shoes, rain gear, a jacket, a hat, water bottles etc. I was an Eagle Scout. When I got to the front of the line, bag open and ready to take 5 minutes with some gruff security guy checking every little zipper pocket, I was surprised to find a 18 year old kid checking us in on my row. No pat down and a glance towards my bag was all I got. I could have snuck in my half my weight in Turkish hash if I wanted to.

We walked the whole venue first off, noticing that the dance pavilion had moved since last time, and the the second stage smelled unmistakably of manure. We walked back to the main stage and sat down under the pavilion just in time to see Bombay Bicycle Club hit the stage. They are a four piece modern British guitar driven indie rock band. They were who we thought they were to steal a phrase, and after half way though their set, we walked back to the second stage to see Two Door Cinema Club. They are a three piece Irish guitar driven indie rock band. After joking with each other that they insisted upon being very upbeat we decided the stage area smelled really bad and so we went back to the pavilion stage. We decided to get under the actual pavilion and take a break from the sun. We sat down for Okkervil River with no expectations.

Holy crap they really hit a home run. "River" is a indie/alt-country band out of Austin Texas. They were a six piece band I think, and had a trumpet of all things. Really good sound out of all members, but special mention has to go to their guitar player. That woman can shred. Plus she whipped out a little slide guitar action on stage in a skirt no less. After their set, we were about ready to stand up and head for the other stage to hear Big Sean, but something awesome happened. Merriweather post pavilion began to live cast the other stage on the big screen TVs. We stayed put, listened to a few tracks, and realized we were better off staying where we were. That changed our whole concert experience. We moved to good seats with a clear view of the stage and didn't move for the rest of the day.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are not a Wizard Rock band despite the fact that they sound like cousins of Harry and the Potters. Okkervil River were such a huge success in my head, the bar was set very high. Well Grace Potter leapt over that bar and turned a somersault over it just for fun. The band is hard to nail down completely. They have country influences, and real classic rock influences as well. Sometimes they sound like The Band, and sometimes they sound like Led Zepplin, but they always sound like they are fronted by Janis Joplin. They were rockin', they were funky, they were sweet, and everyone fell a little bit in love with them. After a straight up blistering set I looked at Kevin and told him I would pay good money for a Janis Joplin bio pic staring Grace, and The Nocturnals as Big Brother and the Holding Company. The big hits off the most recent albums have videos on YouTube. Do not watch them. They suck. they make her out to be the only member of the band (Gwen Stefani anyone?) and so vanilla. Like a county tinged Jessica Simpson or something. Just barely any hint of the awesome that this band is. check out Sugar, Goodbye Kiss, Medicine or anything they play live.

Patti Smith is a legend, and she had a lot of fans at the show. She is still a proud punk/social justice/spiritual person, and she can rile a crowd of teenagers-grandparents up like very few 60 somethings can. After Patti Smith, the venue put Cee-Lo Green on the TVs and he was not in any kind of costume, so once again, I feel like we made a good decision staying at the main pavilion.

Kevin had tried to introduce me to TV On The Radio for a few years and every time I liked them, but not enough to rush out and declare for them. This concert changed all of that. There were like 6 guys on stage, and they kept mentioning that the bass player was playing his first night with the band (their bass player died of lung cancer in April) but he sounded tight to me. The waves of sound were enough to push me back into my chair. And not like My Bloody Valentine or other shoegaze bands, but real depth with a lot going on. The crowd stood all concert long and the band filled us all with energy. The rocked hard and left everyone excited for closing act The Black Keys.

One of the best "moments" of the show was while waiting for The Black Keys to start they were playing old soul and blues over the pavilion sound system; they started playing The Beatles: I Want You. The entire pavilion, and I'm sure most of the lawn seats began to sing along. We were polite but clear. They should come out right now.

The Black Keys were amazing. They played like six songs from the as yet unreleased album due out near the end of the year. They played their biggest hits. Thy played a few covers. [Side note, more bands should play covers in concert. It makes everyone in the audience happy. That is all.] All in all, they were the hand-clappingist kick ass part of a great day.

We left without going to checkout Deadmou5 because we were rocked out, and because we are a little old. Judge us not too harshly, it was a long long day of awesome.

"1001"

As mentioned before in this space, I've been working on some new projects. I'm ready to share one of them today. So I started a new blog a month ago. I didn't say anything because I wanted to make sure that I was actually going to do it. So far, looking good.

1001 Days of Music is me taking a crack at the door-stopper 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die. At my current rate of one song reviewed every day it will take me 3 years give or take. I might not make it. I could die. The world could end and we could all die. I might start hating music. I might get depressed and not do anything for a while.

But for the time being, I have hope.

I started with the first five songs in the book chronologically. After listening to the advice of friends and family, I switched it up and now I am pulling songs basically randomly-ish. I have known most of the songs and most of the artists, but not all of them. I have liked most of the songs, but not quite all of them. I am leaving comments on for all previous posts for now, because I honestly expect very few readers, but I'm proud of something, so I'm sharing. I hope that I will have something else to share in another month.

"Muppet Show Theme Song"

So I've begun to work on a couple of projects, none of which are really ready to come out of the box yet, but one of which involves reviewing music. It's in a very specific vein though, so when I decided to talk about this new album I decided to do it here.

A new collection of covers called "Muppets: The Green Album" is due out Aug 23rd and NPR is streaming it right now. I've listened to the whole thing, and just wanted to get some ideas out there.

Muppet Show Theme Song by OK Go. This is an amazing track. I never would have guessed it was OK Go (not that I'm the world's biggest fan) it's so very original and unlike any band I know. It's electronic without being obnoxious, had a GREAT beat, and some almost haunting opening vocals. Do not miss the great guitar solo that leads into a ?electric piano? doing a "tunetastic" run up into the huge ending.

Rainbow Connection by Weezer (featuring Hayley Williams) Fairly straightforward cover, with River doing his earnest best to sound emotionally vulnerable (he's so good at that). Then Hayley Williams comes in. Not that I hate Paramore, but she is not utilizing her voice on anything of theirs I have heard. Her voice is so warm and rich. They harmonize so well. Underneath the harmony is a really odd collection of sounds, I'd love to read producers notes. I think I'm hearing low electric brass, low electric stings, lots of crunchy reverb and muted feedback, a sighing angelic chorus, a sound I equate with an aboriginal "bullroarer", high electric piano, and a trumpet.

Mahna Mahna by The Fray Great production, the piano sounds great, the drums are tight and never quit. The "Doot Doot" part is great. The Mahna guy is not really up to snuff. He just doesn't sound free enough.

Movin' Right Along by Alkaline Trio Nothing wrong with this cover. But really, if you wanted a safe punk light version of a song, couldn't you have called Me First and the Gimme Gimmes? It's kind of their thing.

Our World by My Morning Jacket This one is from Emmit Otter's Jug Band Christmas. I like it. It's got some odd stereo choices. There was one line where every other word went back and forth in my headphones. I like the banjo, I like the lead singers voice, I like all the big harmonies. Near the end, the starkness of the drums and the lyrics kind of made me think of an 80s style relief song.

Mr. Bassman by Sondre Lerche More banjo. I don't really see the point in such a straight ahead cover. The singer sounds nice enough, and the Bass vocals are again, nice but not really special. I like the intro, it makes it sound like they are going a different direction. There's some discordant guitar halfway though that seems really tacked on, until you hear the space effects that follow it and you realize, oh no, that's really tacked on. Then a full on hoedown banjo with space effects outro. By the end, I guess I liked it well enough for a straight ahead cover.

Halfway Down the Stairs by Amy Lee This is electronic near it's annoying peak. Computer blips? Really? A poem written by A.A Milne and known to Muppet lovers as a Robin song and you felt the need to give it a hard hitting beat and electric buzzing? This is the worst song on the album bar none. Her voice is nice, I just think the producer did her no favors.

Wishing Song by The Airborne Toxic Event A downright poignant song that is almost ruined by over electronic drums and sound effects. The main singers voice and the chorus and the strings at the end are nice. This is kind of a heavy song, sort of a song for the depressed kid, and I think the singer gets it.

Night Life by Brandon Saller Yes, this is what I am talking about. Great cover that takes the original idea (70s funk inspired Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem) and goes in a different direction (80s hair band/metal) and doesn't cover up the idea of the song just in an attempt to do a "modern" take. Great guitar licks, amazing drum solo, and just in case you are wondering, no, I don't like Atreyu or 80s hair metal bands, I just think the song is really well done.

Bein' Green by Andrew Bird I love this song. This guy does a nice job with it. Very nice vocals. You don't often hear the song sung, more sing talked like Kermit did, but this guy does a nice job. From what I read about him, he's most likely the whistling, the violin, guitars, and possibly even the drums. The multi-instrumental bridge therefore is a little showing off, but it really adds something, making the song's happy underpinning more obvious.

I Hope That Something Better Comes Along by Matt Nathanson Good choice keeping it simple with just the piano and a little church organ. The harmony vocals are really nice as well. The singer has a good read on the song, it's a little melancholy but not too much, I mean the lyrics are intentionally punny. I would have liked a duet, but then it would have been an even more standard cover, and I've already knocked on that.

I'm Going to Go Back There Someday by Rachel Yamagata "There's not a word yet, for old friends that just met" Great lyric. The singer is my age, (and from close enough to my hometown to warrant a shout out) but her voice is so full of experience. The song has a really interesting intro featuring an acapella group. You know, the Muppets have more than a few poignant songs. The backing instrumentation is perfect through the whole song, uplifting where it needs to be, sorrowful in other places. There is a great flute solo after the bridge. The producer clearly remembers it from Muppets From Space rather than The Muppet Movie, as there is no hint of the campfire harmonica vibe, and there is a humming whistle thing that sounds like a 50s flying saucer. I think it's a beautiful version of the song.

So what have we learned? Davey doesn't really like the new music. I'm kinda sentimental for the Muppets. And ultimately, I love music and want to listen to more.

"Wicked as it Seems"

Just finished a Christmas present book. Life, which is the autobiography of Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. It was wonderful. I like the brutal honesty you can find in an 'ography; I'm a Studs Terkel fan. This is really cut down to the bone honest. Yes, it's got colored glasses on such that if you are not a Mick fan you really wont be by the end of it, but I got so much more out of it. The early discussion of how Little Richard would get ready to perform is worth the price of admission. Keith's take on Marianne Faithful, the tax exile years, receiving knighthoods, the death of Brain Jones, Altamont, and more just give you more reasons to read it.

The stuff with Mick seemed like it got blown up out of proportion to me. Yes, he says, they don't talk anymore, and even collaborating on new music is done thru a 3rd party, and he lays a lot of it on Mick, even when he's blaming his own part of the problem on drugs, and then Mick taking advantage of that. But throughout all of it, he points out time and time again, that while they might not exactly be friends anymore, they're mates; brothers. They are about to celebrate 50 years of being in a band together. A band that has taken some breaks, suffered some losses, and may not have the same relevancy on popular culture as it used to, but still a Rock and Roll band of the old school.

"Iran So Far"

Andy Samberg with Andy Levin of Maroon 5.

Anything else I say would take away from the genius.

"Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)"

First, I'm sorry it took song long to get these up here, but it sounds like most of you knew a lot of them anyway.

1. "American Pie" does mention characters that people have asserted are representative of Elvis, The Stones, etc. The song is about "The Day the Music Died" and is therefore about Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper. Dion of Dion and the Belmonts turned down the chance to get on the plane, and Waylon Jennings, who was playing in Buddy Holly's band, gave up his seat to the Big Bopper.

2. Marilyn Monroe is the answer, the song's opening line "Goodbye Norma Jean" references her real name.

3. Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, whose story was spread even farther when Denzel Washington starred in a movie about him.

4. Marvin Gaye is one, and Jackie Wilson is the other. This song was the first hit for the Commodores after Lionel Richie went solo.

5. Aisha Morris is indeed Stevie Wonder's "less than one minute old" daughter.

6. Andy Kaufman is also right, sort of a gimmie what with the movie and all.

7. Shots rang out... MLK Jr. is right again. Hemisphire is rolling.

8. Patrick got this one right, it is about Don Mclean.

9. Pattie Boyd, one of the most interesting love triangles in Classic Rock

10. Poor Tony Kanal, everyone knows you broke Gwen's heart, no one remembers your name.

11. Joan Baez is said to have wrote this song about her relationship with Bob Dylan. Think Mitch and Mickey.

12. This song is supposed to be a about Leonard Cohen.

13. "Ring of Fire" was written by June Carter, about Johnny Cash. Did nobody watch Walk the Line?

14. Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G,. a.k.a Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. Big Poppa, a.k.a. Frank White.

15. Jackie Onassis indeed.

Dave Coulier from Full House is indeed the leading candidate for "You Oughta Know" and the man wearing the apricot scarf in "You're So Vain" will always be Beatty in my head.

Congrats to Hemisphire for mopping up, Lykaon for getting in first, and Patrick for adding one of the missing ones. thank you all for playing.

"You're So Vain"

The above song is one of those music trivia nut Meccas. Tons of articles have been written on the subject of just who Carly Simon is singing about and annoying voiced Weasel must bring it up every time he plays the song. But there are lots of songs where we know exactly who the singer was talking about. Well, I do anyway. How about you? Name the person[s] the song is about.


1. Don Mcelan's "American Pie" (Three People)

2. The original version of Sir Elton John's "Candle in the Wind".

3. Bob Dylan's protest song "Hurricane".

4. The Commodores hit song "The Nightshift" (Two People).

5. Stevie Wonder's jazz/pop fusion song "Isn't She Lovely".

6. R.E.M. hit "Man on the Moon"

7. "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by U2 (just the last verse really)

8. Roberta Flack and later the Fugees had big hits, but originally Lori Lieberman sang "Killing me Softly With his Song" based on a poem she wrote about this performer.

9. Derek and the Dominoes "Layla".

10. "Don't Speak" by No Doubt.

11. Joan Baez "Diamonds and Rust".

12. "A Case of You" by Joni Mitchel.

13. Anita Carter first sang "Ring of Fire" but you probably know the Johnny Cash version. (OK, this one is tricky and may not count)

14. Puff Daddy had a lot of help putting together the song "I'll be Missing You".

15. Tori Amos' song "Jackie's Strength"

Bonus : Alaniss Morissette and Carly Simon have both written songs about someone and not publicly revealed the name of the person the song is about. "You Oughta Know" and of course the title of this post. So who are some of the front runners for these mystery men?

"You Never Give Me Your Money"

Hey!, I got the Video thing working. I'm sure all of you have done this, and I am lame, but look...I have 18 videos in one post! Previously I had gone to Youtube and told it to post to my blog and them I had to go to my blog and write the post around it. And I could only have the one video. So here are answers to the quiz. Hemisphire rocked the house on this one, with Maren picking up the pieces he missed. Together they left only one blank, and had only one wrong answer.

1. One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do. And as you'll hear, two can be as bad as one.


Three Dog Night-"One"

2. You're going to cry 96 tears.


?uestion Mark and the Mysterians-"96 Tears"

3. 8



The Beatles-"Eight Days a Week"

4. You don't have to guess, when its 3


School House Rock-"Three is a magic number"

5. She was just 17, you know what I mean.


The Beatles-"I Saw Her Standing There"

6. I'm 22 now but I won't be for long. This is a live version. I really love his early stuff.



Billy Bragg-"A New England"

7.When I was 35, it was a very good year. Shatner has a very scary version, but I'm not going to subject you to that.

Frank Sinatra-"It Was A Very Good Year"

8. Track 29! Boy you can give me a shine.

The is Dorothy Dandridge backed up by the The Nicholas Brothers and the Glenn Miller Orchestra-"Chattanooga Choo Choo"

9. 110 Cornets indeed.

From the Music Man-"Seventy-Six Trombones"

10. It's quarter to 3. The only mistake in the bunch. I love Frank's version, and Dean's, and Cab's, but I couldn't pass up this killer rendition.

Billie Holiday-"One for my Baby (and One More For the Road)"

11. The Number 13 tattooed on my neck. Glen Danzig of the Misfits wrote it and Johnny Cash sang it. I can't find a single version I like. So no video.

12. There must be 50. Paul Simon wrote it, and his version is a master piece. This is funny.
The Electric Mayhem-"50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"

13. Seven Sundays, gotta love that alliteration.

Extreme-"Seven Sundays"

14. 19 breakdowns is a lot. Seriously, you should look into some therapy.

The Rolling Stones- "19th Nervous Breakdown"

15. 150 cents. They will charge you a dollar and a half just to see the tree museum.

Joni Mitchell- "Big Yellow Taxi"

16. A 39 and a half foot pole is very long. Over 12 meters.

Thurl Ravenscroft- "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch"

17. 55 mph. This video is lame. So why bother.
Sammy Hagar-"I Can't Drive 55"

18. 92. This is the version of this song. Sure, Tony is great, and Mel wrote it, but this is the real deal.

Nat King Cole-"The Christmas Song"

19. '69. He bought it at the five and dime. Which isn't really likely in 1969, but, whatever.

Bryan Adams-"Summer of '69"

20. 99 problems. This one has many curse words. It is not the original version, but a mash-up between Jay-Z, and The Beatles. I really really really recommend The Grey Album.


DJ Dangermouse-"99 Problems"


Stupid DJ Dangermouse video not working. I'll post it later. All the others should work.

"The Roof is on Fire"

So two weekends ago I was supposed to be driving down to Richmond for a birthday party, and then spending Sunday at an amusement park with my girlfriend and her company. I did go to the party, but I was very doped up. Wednesday I threw out my back. Thursday I struggled to work, was sent home, went to the doctor and was given lots of painkillers. I spent most of Friday and Saturday, trying to find a comfortable place to lie down. Saturday evening my good friend Mark drove himself, his wife, my girlfriend and me down to Richmond. We went to dinner for the first half of the party. I don't really remember much of it. Later we went back to the birthday boy's place and had the rest of the party. I know at some point I was watching D.O.A. the movie without the sound on and everyone was filling in their own dialogue. Most of the party I spent upstairs in a guest room passed out on the floor. I woke up later that morning and found that my girlfriend had passed the night with bad stomach cramps. As we left in the morning, I with my bad back, and she with an upset stomach, we both decided not to go to 6 flags, and so my first "exciting" weekend of eight in a row not at home, came to a pitiful end. Still, it was better than the first weekend; at a hotel doing a training for work.

So the third weekend of eight, and the second "exciting" one was a trip to Philly. My girlfriend and I left a little later than we expected Friday night after her bosses pulled last minute work out of their butts at 5:01 PM. Jerks. We made great time up to Pennsylvania, and I had just called my friend we were visiting to make sure of directions when suddenly we came to a full stop. I know, I know, I jinxed us. We were stick in construction traffic. I looked at the same billboards for 20 minutes, no exaggeration. It took us two hours to travel 5 miles. Then we drove through the city, picked up my friend and her boyfriend and drove them home. We parked on the street and I set my alarm for early b/c the meter went into effect at 8:00 AM.
We fell asleep less than 20 minutes after walking in the front door.

I woke up early, dropped two bucks in the meter for two hours and went back to start some coffee. The house is really cool. It's a row house built in the 1860s. The main floor is the living room, down stairs is the kitchen, powder room, and entrance to the back patio. One flight up she has a guest bedroom/TV room, with its own full bath; and at the top floor she has her master suite. Great views, beautifully done, and my only complaint is that the master bedroom has no door. But living by herself, its not really a big deal.

After everyone was awake, we headed to the car to move it and start our walking tour of the city. Instead, the car wouldn't start. So we called AAA and got some breakfast instead. We ate on some body's front stoop, got the car jumped, and decided to drive around to give the battery a chance to recharge. We drove all over the center city neighborhood, passing Rittenhouse Square, Franklin Square, the old docks where the city was founded, Market Street market, Washington Square, and all the Liberty Bell historic stuff. We headed back to pick up her boy at Curtis (he's an instructor and the orchestra manager) and parked at Rittenhouse Square. The car did not start again, so he jumped us, and we headed straight for a new battery. By 1:00 or so, we were back on our way and hungry, so we headed for cheese steaks at Pat's. I got mine "whiz wit" and was happy with the results. We hit up a market on the way back to my friend's house and picked up some burgers, sausages and other sundry cookout essentials.

We grilled out, and had a little fire going late into the night. There were about 20 people all told at the little shindig, and most of them were either part of the Philadelphia Symphony, or Curtis Institute. I felt sort of out of place, and I know my girlfriend really did, but we had a good time and stayed late into the night.

The next morning, we woke up early and walked to get breakfast, then went for a long walk around the city. We walked part of the Schuylkill trail, walked the business district around Market Street, saw City Hall, The Franklin Institute, some really cool old monuments, and a fountain called the Swann Memorial Fountain. It looks really cool, and old fashioned and was built in 1920 to memorialize the founder of the Philadelphia Fountain Society, making it a very "meta" experience.

We grabbed a very brief second breakfast around 1:30 and headed back home to change in order to arive only minutes late for a concert. The Philadelphia Symphony was performing two pieces, and we watched the first one on the monitors of the Kimmel Center. It was all good though, I didn't really know anybody in that piece. The second piece was Rite of Spring and my friend was playing. She was awesome, the piece was great, we walked around backstage, and then got in the car and headed for home.

Great trip, and the only real regret was we didn't take pictures. Guess we'll have to go back. I seriously wish I could go to tons of the shows. This season they are doing Brahms- Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn; Berlioz-Roman Carnival, Debussy- La Mer; Beetoven's 5th, Ravel's Bolero, Handel's Messiah, Tchaikovsky- Romeo and Juliet, and Mahler's 8th. I seriously need to live there. I'm sure the NSO is doing some great stuff this season as well, but I don't know anyone there who can get me in for free.

In Music Trivia News: Hemisphire is a freakin' mathmagician, and Maren makes a respectable cleanup hitter. Only one blank left out there. Oh yeah, and one mistake too. Full details and answer post once I get off of my lazy butt and work on the add video portion.

"Be a Clown"

Today you get two quarters, heck, maybe only two sixths of a post. I'm swamped at work. But Pop Candy linked me to something so scary I had to share. But first...

"Be a Clown" was written by Cole Porter, an absolute genius as far as musicals go. He wrote "I Get a Kick Out of You" and "I've Got You Under My Skin" and hundreds of others. He wrote "Be a Clown" for a 1948 film called The Pirate that I've never heard of. Gene Kelly and Judy Garland sang it. But you've probably heard "Be a Clown" It just wasn't called that. In the 1952 classic Singin' in the Rain, Donald Conner sings "Make 'Em Laugh". It is virtually the same song. I had never heard "Be a Clown" until I saw De-Lovely a few years ago. I immediately knew something was up. So after a little snooping around, it turns out that Cole Porter certainly knew he had been plagiarized, but the common belief is that Cole Porter was so thankful to the producer Arthur Freed for giving him the chance to do The Pirate, that he didn't complain when Freed and his partner did "Make 'Em Laugh" a few years later.

So here is the link from Pop Candy. I think you will see why the post is the way it is. Oh yeah, Kate, if you read this, you should not click the link. I shouldn't have.


[Yeah, so the picture is from "Moses Supposes" not "Make 'Em Laugh", sue me. You try finding a picture from Make 'Em Laugh where Donald Conner is larger than a postage stamp.]

"Satisfaction"

Oh my goodness. Now I know you have all "Google'd" yourself. Go ahead, admit it. Some of my readers are more googleable than others, particularly lately, but we've all tried to see what we could find.

But have you ever Youtube'd yourself? I knew there was a Anti-flag song called Davey Destroyed the Punk Scene. So I went looking for it, found it, and found that lots of the comments were about someone named Davey Havok. I wiki'd him and found that he fronts the band AFI. Whatever, don't really care, but then when I close the tab, I'm still on Youtube. So I just type in Davey.

There are a lot of people on Youtube who like or hate Davey Havok. So I scrolled down and found a video of a man named Davey dancing in front of Notre Dame in Paris to Baby's Got Back. And he has a entire series. This is my favorite.

I know.

I'm going out now. NOW Gotta Dance...!

"Birdhouse in Your Soul"

indietits is back!

Yea!

For those of you who don't read Questionable Content (you really should by the way) indietits is a very funny webcomic created by the man who does QC. It is very irreverent and sometimes more than a little filthy. But Ye gods does it make me laugh. I can't even link to all the ones I think are funny. It would take me too long.

In addition to being funny and filthy, those little birds will also help you reference obscure indie music like a true scenster. Just a little added bonus for you.

"Camptown Races"

Answers to 99 Bottles of Beer.

First of all, Disco Mom's Mom is correct; most of these are folk songs, and not strictly camp songs. But camp songs are mainly just repetitive rounds and involve very little trivia opportunities, so I went with songs I thought people would know. Plus, I sang a lot of these at various camps.

So let's start at the very beginning ( a very good place to start)

1.
Oh I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee,
I'm going to Louisiana, my true love for to see...
Oh! Susanna don't you cry for me.

2.
In the Big Rock Candy Mountain
the cops have wooden legs
the bulldogs all have rubber teeth
and the hens lay soft boiled eggs.
[so many different versions of this song exist. I heard it first in a children's version. No cigarette trees or lakes of alcohol. BTW the version on the O! Brother soundtrack is by Harry McClintock; the man credited with writing the piece.]

3.
... for to carry my Mother away.
[ I learned Will the Circle Be Unbroken from my father. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band version played in my house regularly. Great parts for those of us who sing in the lower Baritone and Bass parts of the vocal spectrum.]

4.
The stars at night are big and bright {clap clap clap clap}
Deep in the Heart of Texas
[You didn't know this? But it's one of my favorite scenes from this movie!]

5.
With a knife dear Henry...
[There's a Hole in the Bucket is my favorite of the so called infinite loop songs including John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt; Found a Peanut; The Song that Never Ends etc.]

6.
He's gone to be a Soldier in the Army of the Lord...
[First one that nobody knew. Sung to the tune of The Battle Hymn of the Republic. I think I learned this one due to being a Boy Scout that lived near enough to Harper's Ferry to warrant a camp out. ]

7.
Oh you can't get to Heaven
On Roller Skates
'Cause you'd roll right by
Those Pearly Gates.
[I like ain't got no brakes, but that's not how mom taught me. My favorite lyrics from later in the song are: You can't get to Heaven in a Limousine:'cause the Lord don't sell no gasoline; and You can't get to Heaven with a bottle of Gin: 'cause the Lord don't let those spirits in.]

8.
Daisy, Daisy give me your answer true...
A Bicycle built for Two [ You might know Daisy Bell, as Melissa pointed out, from 2001 as the song HAL 9000 sings at it "dies". You might also know it as the song playing over the drunken tricycle races from Revenge of the Nerds. I know it because my Papa sings it.]

9.
On top of Spaghetti! All covered in cheese! I lost my poor Meatball! When Somebody Sneezed! [Great song. Must be sung at full volume and with as little musicality as possible. Truly a great story as well. After rolling out the door and into the garden, it is planted and grows into a spaghetti tree.]

10.
...Poor boy you're gonna' die.
[Kari's answer is best, he is indeed going to be hung, for his involvement in the death of a woman. Most interesting Trivia I found, was that the real Tom was named Tom Dula. The pronunciation of his name was akin to Dooley and so recordings of the song used that spelling.]

11.
Oh we'll all have chicken and dumplings when she comes...
[made from the old red rooster presumably. ]

12.
The Grand Old Duke of York, he had ten thousand men...
[It was the son of King George actually Maren. He invaded Flanders in April of 1794 (he marched them up the hill) and was recalled to England the next month (and marched them down again).]

13.
...At the Quartermaster's Store.
[I'm totally going to accept at the store for this one. I learned Quartermaster's store because I learned it at scout camp.]

14.
Green Grow the Rushes O!
[The Wikipedia entry has some interesting interpretations on the full verses of this song.]

15.
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?
[What is a billy you might ask? A kettle. I remember the closing ceremony to the 2000 summer Olympics included a large group of Aussie Celebs singing this song. The Camera caught many people forgetting the words. My favorite version is by Tom Waits. Of course my favorite version of many songs are by Mr. Waits. The man could sing the ABC song and I'd listen enraptured.]

16.
...down streets broad and narrow, crying cockles and mussels alive alive-0.
[Somehow I don't think that was all sweet Molly was selling]

17.
Whack for the daddy 'ol
There's Whiskey in the Jar
[Nobody huh? Either I made it a little to obscure, or I need to learn to write for my audience a bit better. It's actually a really well known Irish folk standard. It's about a criminal who is betrayed by his woman. Thin Lizzy and Metallica have both done rock versions, but my favorite remains an odd duet by the traditional folk group the Dubliners and the Punk/Folk group The Pogues.]

18.
The Cat came back the very next day.
[I thought he was a goner too Rob. I totally remember this one at summer camp. Easy to get the chorus, everyone has a good time, plus, as an added bonus, it is a song about killing a cat. I hate cats. Thus, as G-d is a humorous creator, I am living with one now, and my girlfriend has one. Oh yeah, and my best friend has three, and, and, and...]

19.
...Earl-eye in the Mornin'
[here is a link to a long list of possibilities. My favorites have always been toss him in a sinking ship and make him bail it; shave his belly (sure, we'll say belly) with a rusty razor, and throw him in with the Captain's daughter. It wasn't until long after first hearing this song that I learned the sailors term "Captain's Daughter" meant the lash.]

20.
A beautiful bunch of ripe bananas
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Hide the Deadly Black Tarantula
[Shame for not knowing this one.]

Alright, thank you all for playing, hope you enjoyed it. By the way. Anybody with a little movie trivia knowledge want to explain to the class why the picture of Mr. Chopin graces this post?

"Teardrops on My Guitar"

Answers to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

1. Lute, but after looking up the Oud I have got to give credit to Maren. Remarkably similar instruments. Important things to recognize a lute include the peg box bent at a 90 degree angle back from the fretboard, and the soundhole being covered by a grill. Real difference between the Lute and the Oud is the Lute has frets and the Oud does not.

2. Dulcimer is correct. Why do you all know this? I thought this one was kinda hard.

3. Banjo! You can do all kinds of things with a Banjo, but all of them involve the Banjo on your knee; not the other way around. Remember that, and all is right with the world.

4. Lyre, guess we all passed art history. I liked the star of David on this one.

5. Gusle. One of the very hard ones. A Slavic double or single string instrument. I thought it was Arab in origin, but I was wrong. Mainly I included it because it looked cool.

6. Sitar. Was it the Rolling Stones or The Beatles who helped popularize this instrument in America? Good arguments for both I think.

7. Ah, the one with the most good guesses. Zither, Hammered Dulcimer, Auto Harp. Technically the picture is of an Auto Harp. It's the buttons that make it so.

8. Gaohu. A member of the huqin family of instruments. It's like a Chinese violin. There are lots of variants. I couldn't help but put this in. There is a guy who plays one at the Rosslyn Metro station like once a week.

9. Akonting. A Banjo precursor of Western Africa.

10. Washtub Bass. I like how whoever bought this one decided to put a bass clef on it. In case with thought it was a Washtub Treble.

"99 Bottles of Beer"

Another day another quiz. This one sprung right from the the last. All those folk instruments got me thinking about camp songs and folk songs and what not. So here is a little quiz that should be fun and full of good memories. Answers to the instrument quiz on Thursday and this quiz Friday. No looking these up!


1. The singer who came from Alabama with a Banjo on his knee was traveling. What was his destination?

2. What do the hens lay in the Big Rock Candy mountains?

3. Who has died in Will the Circle be Unbroken?

4. Describe the stars in the heart of Texas.

5. With what shall I cut the straw that is too long?

6. We all know that John Brown's body lies a mouldering in the grave, and that his soul is marching on. What is next for our intrepid soldier?

7. Why can't you get to Heaven on roller skates?

8. Daisy and her beau will not have a stylish marriage. He can't afford a carriage. What mode of transportation does he suggest she will look sweet on?

9. Describe what happened when somebody sneezed on top of spaghetti.

10. Why does that poor boy Tom Dooley hang down his head and cry?

11. She'll be coming round the mountain sure enough, but what are we going to feed her?

12. How many men were marched up a hill and down again, and by who?

13. Where would one find snakes big as garden rakes?

14. What color grow the rushes?

15. A jolly swagman camped by a billabong under a coolibah tree. He passed the time by singing Waltzing Matilda. What was he watching and waiting for?

16. What did Molly Malone cry as she wheeled her wheel barrow down the streets of Dublin?

17. I'm getting mighty parched writing all these questions. So where would I look for Whiskey?

18. When did the Cat come back?

19. Name three things to do with a drunken sailor.

20. What is hiding in a beautiful bunch of ripe bananas?

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

I started a post with this title last week. I was going to talk about this song and how it is my favorite song on my favorite Beatles album. But I realized that beyond the rather well known trivia that God played the guitar solo, I had very little else to fill out the post. So the title floated around in my head for a while. Bolstered by a conversation with Dave about Balloons and a Decision Tree, I decided to do a bit of a trivia quiz. Enjoy.

All you have to do is name the instrument. A little bit of trivia on the instrument wouldn't be out of order, but that's just bonus points. I decided on all string instruments this time. I may do another one later.



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10.

"Rehab"

More later on the weekend I had, but for now, check out this song. It's a few months old, but I think it sounds (other than lyrics) like it could have come out in the '60s. I admit that the reason I found it was a remix with Jay-z (you can find it online, but no video) but this is a great song.

"Thou Shalt Always Kill"

Watch this. Watch it now.

You should probably watch it again to make sure you got it all. For those of you not hooked on Brit-coms, the accent might take a little time. Go ahead, we'll wait.





Okay. Sure, some of you have seen this before and I hate you for not sharing it with me. Those of you who watched it for the first time and didn't quite get it, don't feel bad. It's mocking Brit youth culture, but I think most of it works for US youth culture as well. Here is the link to the lyrics. And here is a link to the Wikipedia article that doesn't really have to much new to add.

My favorite parts are the reminder that no matter how much I love the Beatles, they are, as the man says, "Just a Band" (Plus wicked sweet Dylan reference in the video) And the reminder that guns bitches and bling were never part of the four elements.

Oh yeah, anone who can, without looking it up, tell me who all the people "thou shalt not take the names of _____ in vain" are wins a cookie.

And anyone who can name me a song by each of the artists mentioned in the "Just a Band" section wins a place in my heart I was saving for marriage.

;-)