Greatest Hits
I’ve been going back through older blog posts because I am gradually adding to my myspace account (yes, I caved, but don’t worry, I am being cautious and it has gotten me back in touch with some old friends, so whatcha gonna do? Dress me up in a chicken suit and call me a hypocrite) But it has given me an opportunity to see how funny I actually am…in writing. It is curious to me, especially in my current doldrums, how these moments of humorous inspiration hit me. How are the ideas generated? Where do they come from? Why am I at the mercy of moods which affect my thinking and ability to be humorous? So in these days of monotony, callers with endless stupidity, and constant days of nonsensical jabbering only broken by cold silence let’s look back on some of the highlights (lowlights) of previous posts. Think of it like the “best of…” episodes run by sitcoms when they have run low on humorous stories or ideas and need a week (or month) off. At the end, remember to hum to yourself Green Day’s “Good Riddance”.
Shall I do this in chronological order or like a countdown of my favorites? Hmm…I think I will go with the latter which will force me to use some cognitive thinking, remember kids, it is not what you learn in school, but how you learneded it. What the F, that’s the second time in 4 hours that the Star Wars theme has come up on my iPod, what is wrong with this thing?? What is wrong with me for leaving it on here?? (See, random statements…not so funny) Should I admit to you that the next track on the iPod set to shuffle is Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House”. Yeah, I need to look into not putting every single song I have on it.
Now this may take some time to go through all of these so bare with me. I am a little scare to find how many typos and just plain misspellings I will find. Needless to say, it will be close to the triple digits…wow, I am finding it hard to even understand myself. That explains so much, you just don’t know. Now on with the hits:
Track 1:
I love to know where things have come from, where they’ve been, how they got there. And I mean everything, old buildings, people, a bolt, a Popsicle stick, this chair I’m sitting in. Where was it made? Who made it? Who’s sat in it? How many farts have passed through its mesh lining?
Track 2:
As you can tell by now…I tend to go off on tangents, bare with me, maybe this medium, and modern word processing technology, will help me fix that problem. (that hasn’t happened yet, has it?)
Track 3:
Oh, the classics…but that walk down nostalgia lane only shows how covertly the Televisions wooed our senses, brainwashed our thoughts, and made us long to be able to jump over tall fences, talk to really short people in robot costumes, and walk into a bar and have everyone know your name (first sign that you might be an alcoholic – seek treatment).
Track 4:
I actually went without cable for a year of my adult life, back to rabbit ears, and all that did was get me addicted to broadcast network TV shows. Don’t get me wrong, I certain wish I was lost on a freaky island with Kate, Claire, Shannon, and Libby…but I have a feeling that when the truth is revealed on that show, it will all have been one big giant commercial ad for Honda.
Track 5:
So that should give you some idea where this observation is coming from…but back to the topic at hand, which I have no idea what it is anymore…thanks for playing along.
Track 6:
what will happen when we get to a point where we are talking to people by cell-phone, or atom-phone, or implant-a-phone, to a person right next to us. Or when we don’t recognized our own children when we run into them that one day we just so happen to be in our house at the same time.
Track 7:
I recently got a Bluetooth hands-free headset for my cell phone and it totally kicks ass. Now I can blog, chat, e-mail, drive, look pompous, talk on my cell phone, talk to other people, talk to myself without looking crazy, all with this fashionable earpiece dangling from one ear.
Track 8:
Too much of anything is bad for you…water = drown, sun = dehydration, alcohol = alcohol poisoning, The Brady Bunch = an overwhelming feeling Marsha is always stealing your thunder that leads to a mental breakdown and intervention by Peter who seems to be the only person who noticed, at which point Alice comes in and discovers the dog is missing and blames you for not being responsible enough.
Track 9:
I need noises so abundant that my entire body vibrates with the voracity of a jet fighter flying at mach 2. I need my eyes spinning, jittering, bouncing 80 times a second that one day I will have to bob my head up and down like a bird just to see straight. Surround sound…how about surround vision? When’s that SV-TV going to be available to the consumer market? Imagine your TV viewing as if it were in an iMax theater
Track 10:
Although crazy Astronaut lady probably could have taken care of this all online, without having to drive non-stop along I-10 in diapers to meet the other woman at the airport….the AIRPORT, really? That one place in Orlando where the security personnel don’t look like Mickey Mouse and are probably more abundant than at the Magic Kingdom?
Track 11:
Now, we as men know that women express their affection in their own way, which usually involves (in no particular order) a lot of crying, sighing, gazing, giggling, and hysterics, often all in the span 20 seconds.
Track 12:
Now sit back in your comfy la-z-boy and watch the crumble of the western world right before your half-closed eyes…unless you are watching Fox News, then everything is fine.
Track 13:
If a camera was following me around, I doubt my family would even watch. They would use it to torture double-agent, MI-6, double oh, gentlemen spies right after they were told the highly elaborate global take-over plans by an obviously nicknamed villain.
Wow, good times, I hope you enjoyed reading some of the highlights from the past 6 months as much as I did. Look for more disc sets to follow…
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
It’s All Been Done Before
I know, I know. You are thinking, ‘Rick, where is my dose of humorous exposition on the human culture that has been so absent from my life?’ It has been some time since my last wispy and witty repartee of words, but I have found it difficult lately to bring myself to force good nature and musing on life, culture, and the world. With class, work (don’t get me started – Rick concentrate on happy thoughts – serenity now!), oh, and Iraq, dog mauling, and aging bridges, all make it difficult to pen perky prose. Secondly, what to write on? Work? No. Definitely no. Life? Not much happening right now, in the eye of the storm. Pop culture? Do we need another exposé on over-exposed ex-celebrities? Rehab? Again? If it didn’t work the first two times… Maybe prison will work – wait – isn’t Paris still a snobbish socialite? Anyway…boring same ol’
Speaking of which, I have been thinking of different topics to write on and I came up with the idea of balance, and how life and relationships are all about balance. Guess what? Been there done that. So now I am recycling ideas without even knowing it, that’s scary. Must mean I really believe in that idea. But it brings me back to ideas, makes me wonder how writers come up with shows, movies, stories, books, or….blogs. But more power too them. I am not one to reflect or ponder life’s mysteries or keep a running self-dialog, journal, or diary. And far too often my thoughts come and go like the sun where ideas surface then sink away to the under hemisphere of my brain. For some reason, my best ideas come as I am falling asleep, when I attempt to distract myself from life just so I can fall into unconsciousness. Last night I came up with the new season plot for ‘24’, it involves sending an inaudible signal pulse through cell phone towers that can cause death to anyone who is currently talking on a cell phone at that time – around 5:58pm, beep, beep, beep, beep, boop. Now that would take out a lot of people, but don’t worry, Jack Bower will save the day and catch the bad guys…maybe, you will have to watch and see – if I ever get a job writing for Fox, which is highly unlikely. But if any of you are writers for a big studio, please ignore all the above comments relating to lack of ideas, I have a plethora of creative and real situations that can be dramatic, comical, or world ending...or all the above. I'm available for freelance work.
But if you look at the ever-expanding exposition they call film and tv, books and magazines, music and, well, music, it can be argued that it, in fact, has all been done before. Look up Barenaked Ladies or the Ryan Montbleau Band, The Forgery, or the large library of volumes covering ways to avoid doing what has been done before. Evidence: the vast motion pictures that are remakes, updates, or regurgitated storylines. Not to mention the copycat films that try to ride the popularity of other successes. See Harry Potter – The Chronicle of Narnia – The Golden Compass, 300 – Beowulf – 10000 BC, Di Vinci Code – National Treasure, and I’m pretty sure every horror movie is based on the same story – like a horror story bible or something. It makes you wonder if we will reach the capacity of human creative thought. Fortunately that looks like it is well off in the future with the advances in technology providing a whole new plethora of inspiration. In fact that could be a movie idea right there. Maybe it can be called “10,000 BCE” – Earth at the year 10,000 where humans are joined by other species with audible communication that can be translated and spoken, the weather is controlled, and no one can come up with a unique idea for a movie, book, or song. One ice age has come and gone, humans survived by going subterranean and cities span below and above ground and discrimination is based on where you live. Of course current undertones and moral questions will arise within the futuristic setting like racism, war and peace, and greed. Done and done. That movie almost writes itself, consider that idea #2 all you Hollywood writers, copyright: me. Consider that a pitch, contact me for script writing employment.
Speaking of which, I have been thinking of different topics to write on and I came up with the idea of balance, and how life and relationships are all about balance. Guess what? Been there done that. So now I am recycling ideas without even knowing it, that’s scary. Must mean I really believe in that idea. But it brings me back to ideas, makes me wonder how writers come up with shows, movies, stories, books, or….blogs. But more power too them. I am not one to reflect or ponder life’s mysteries or keep a running self-dialog, journal, or diary. And far too often my thoughts come and go like the sun where ideas surface then sink away to the under hemisphere of my brain. For some reason, my best ideas come as I am falling asleep, when I attempt to distract myself from life just so I can fall into unconsciousness. Last night I came up with the new season plot for ‘24’, it involves sending an inaudible signal pulse through cell phone towers that can cause death to anyone who is currently talking on a cell phone at that time – around 5:58pm, beep, beep, beep, beep, boop. Now that would take out a lot of people, but don’t worry, Jack Bower will save the day and catch the bad guys…maybe, you will have to watch and see – if I ever get a job writing for Fox, which is highly unlikely. But if any of you are writers for a big studio, please ignore all the above comments relating to lack of ideas, I have a plethora of creative and real situations that can be dramatic, comical, or world ending...or all the above. I'm available for freelance work.
But if you look at the ever-expanding exposition they call film and tv, books and magazines, music and, well, music, it can be argued that it, in fact, has all been done before. Look up Barenaked Ladies or the Ryan Montbleau Band, The Forgery, or the large library of volumes covering ways to avoid doing what has been done before. Evidence: the vast motion pictures that are remakes, updates, or regurgitated storylines. Not to mention the copycat films that try to ride the popularity of other successes. See Harry Potter – The Chronicle of Narnia – The Golden Compass, 300 – Beowulf – 10000 BC, Di Vinci Code – National Treasure, and I’m pretty sure every horror movie is based on the same story – like a horror story bible or something. It makes you wonder if we will reach the capacity of human creative thought. Fortunately that looks like it is well off in the future with the advances in technology providing a whole new plethora of inspiration. In fact that could be a movie idea right there. Maybe it can be called “10,000 BCE” – Earth at the year 10,000 where humans are joined by other species with audible communication that can be translated and spoken, the weather is controlled, and no one can come up with a unique idea for a movie, book, or song. One ice age has come and gone, humans survived by going subterranean and cities span below and above ground and discrimination is based on where you live. Of course current undertones and moral questions will arise within the futuristic setting like racism, war and peace, and greed. Done and done. That movie almost writes itself, consider that idea #2 all you Hollywood writers, copyright: me. Consider that a pitch, contact me for script writing employment.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Expectations
Yet another relative term, expectations can change even the smallest of situations. Preconceived notions regarding an event in anticipation of what is to come can distort reality and leave a person unfulfilled. From a wedding, a start of something new, a new job, to something as simple as a movie or a book, if expectations are not achieved, we are disappointed. I say this on the eve of the newest, and last, Harry Potter installment (don’t spoil it for me – but my prediction is they both die). But you could say this about anything with high expectations, such as the latter Star Wars trilogy (complete blew). But even on a smaller scale to the individual, big events never seem to live up the expectations because we can never predict exactly how something will turn out (hmm, on this trip to San Francisco I think I will save the world, get the girl, receive universal praise and admiration, and blow them away with my powerpoint presentation at the share holders meeting). But how can we avoid expectations? Our mind creates expectations to prepare itself for a coming event (what do you mean the reception will be on a blimp?) What becomes dangerous is the constant distraction and brain power used to establish our expectations (I will be old and retired in forty years! What will I do in between sleeping and napping?!?)
Conversely, low expectations allow for pleasant surprises (oh, this mysterious, unpronounceable dish didn’t kill me…nice). How often have you entered a movie theater where Keanu Reeves is the star and expected to be blown away? (Enter the Matrix) We have low expectations in some cases for good reason, but give the Matrix credit for surprising a hella lot a people. (raise your hand if you saw a spoof of the roof top bullet scene) How many times do you watch a video, navigate to the website, read reviews, search on google, ask friends before going out on a date – I mean, see a movie? (Modern dating? I'm pretty sure it used to be considered stalking) That might be a good indication that you may have high expectations.
I have fallen into this despair on several occasions, and what I have learned, nothing ever turns out how you expect it – too many variables. (I was never good at math) But some expectations are unavoidable, my advice to you, keep an open mind, adapt to situations easily but to your advantage, and do not fret when expectations do not meet your high standards (that way when the event fails to reach your expectations you can skip out during the intermission and be home by the time Lost comes on) And that’s today’s word.
Conversely, low expectations allow for pleasant surprises (oh, this mysterious, unpronounceable dish didn’t kill me…nice). How often have you entered a movie theater where Keanu Reeves is the star and expected to be blown away? (Enter the Matrix) We have low expectations in some cases for good reason, but give the Matrix credit for surprising a hella lot a people. (raise your hand if you saw a spoof of the roof top bullet scene) How many times do you watch a video, navigate to the website, read reviews, search on google, ask friends before going out on a date – I mean, see a movie? (Modern dating? I'm pretty sure it used to be considered stalking) That might be a good indication that you may have high expectations.
I have fallen into this despair on several occasions, and what I have learned, nothing ever turns out how you expect it – too many variables. (I was never good at math) But some expectations are unavoidable, my advice to you, keep an open mind, adapt to situations easily but to your advantage, and do not fret when expectations do not meet your high standards (that way when the event fails to reach your expectations you can skip out during the intermission and be home by the time Lost comes on) And that’s today’s word.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Catch-up
Wow, I hadn’t really realized how long it has been, if anyone actually reads this blog I bet they would be pissed. Fortunately, it is only used for a squeezing of the cognitive sponge and I can return to my regular scheduled ranting knowing that no one really missed a drops. But let me catch you up on the happenings in the sundrenced world:
Golf Trip – It is truly amazing how the performance-to-inebriation ratio is conversely correlated, moving in opposite directions. But I blame it on sleep deprivation and exhaustion, hard to play well when you are tired from 3 rounds of golf previously. I’ll call it the time-performance diffusion half-life. Regardless, by all accounts good times were had, and keeping with a disturbing trend, only one person to the hospital this year to match last year's totals. For future note, golf is neither football nor nascar - it makes so much more sense sober. If only I had been sober enough to point out that fact in stead of laughing my ass off. Hey, at least I was sober enough to transport the patients to the emergency room. Must be getting wise in my elder age…speaking of which…
Birthday – That’s right, I turned another year older on the 23rd of June and my body is reminding me each time I finish a run. I may look younger than my age (as my middle school track team runners inquired if I was a senior in High School or I could pass for Prince William) but my mother insures that I was born on this day so many years ago and my joints concur. But I’m still young and nagging aches and pains come with running and I was fortunate enough to avoid major injuries in my running career so I can’t complain, at least I can still run and walk around without a limp, which is more than I can say for a few of my golf trip mates.
Boston – That ability to walk certainly helped for getting around the town of Boston. (These transitions make me feel like I am the emcee for the Price is Right’s showcase showdown). I was in Boston for my birthday and let me tell you, what a cool town. Probably helped that it was in the mid-70s and sunny, and a Saturday, and it was my birthday, and we weren’t rushed to do anything except wonder. We picked up the freedom trail around the city off and on, took a bunch of pictures, saw the façade of ‘Cheers’ and relaxed on the Charles River, which was bustling with runners, bikers, walkers, and pedestrians. I will have to hand it to Boston for incorporated large chain stores into the aesthetic of the city. A very historic city, like Richmond is to the Civil War, Boston is to the Revolutionary period. It felt familiar, although Richmond just can’t get the commercial foot traffic downtown, maybe we should get a “freedom trail” if we could only accept the fact that the south lost the war. Maybe we can call it the ‘walk of shame’ or to put a positive spin on it, ‘path of progress’ or something. Anyway, I will be curious to see how my opinion will change when I head up there anytime between November and April. See, we southern folk rarely see a river freeze over (a river!). As the cabbie told us, they have wagers on when the first person will fall through the ice trying to cross from Cambridge to Downtown over the Charles. Another talked about speed skating up river near Waltham. Umm…I think I’ll take the surface streets. Oh, and an additional word of caution for anyone moving for school up in that area (and there’s only about 100 of them, quite literally) watch out for the 10’ bridge clearance along the Memorial Drive – as our friendly local pointed out, don’t want to turn that moving truck into a convertible.
School – Well, I don’t have to move for school, I’ve been at it for some time already, but I see the light and I am closing in on completion, and the beginning of the end starts this summer. I am officially a graduate student (although I have taken a few grad school classes already). This next year will set the course for the next few years and shed some light on if this sacrifice was worth the time, money, and frustrations. To be honest, it hasn’t been that bad, school isn’t really all that difficult and there is no way I was going to keep doing what I was doing, too bad being a student doesn’t pay…can you believe you actually have to pay them? That’s crazy. So we’ll see how that turns out.
Work – Yes, I am reminded every day why I am changing my career. It is almost like they keep trying to make things more difficult when they think they are making it better. So, you remember that scene in Star Wars, the trash compacter walls squeezing in from both sides? Yeah, kind of like that except I don’t have R2-D2 to communicate with the computer system because our network is never working like it should be, firewalls up and down, passwords getting locked, - and R2 is down for maintenance anyway. So, I should get back to it, at least for about 5 minutes. That, too, has a time-performance decay half-life and is highly dependent on amount of sleep I get during the week. Hopefully I will get a chance to return to my regularly schedule updates over the next few weeks. Enjoy the 4th if I don’t post before then!
Golf Trip – It is truly amazing how the performance-to-inebriation ratio is conversely correlated, moving in opposite directions. But I blame it on sleep deprivation and exhaustion, hard to play well when you are tired from 3 rounds of golf previously. I’ll call it the time-performance diffusion half-life. Regardless, by all accounts good times were had, and keeping with a disturbing trend, only one person to the hospital this year to match last year's totals. For future note, golf is neither football nor nascar - it makes so much more sense sober. If only I had been sober enough to point out that fact in stead of laughing my ass off. Hey, at least I was sober enough to transport the patients to the emergency room. Must be getting wise in my elder age…speaking of which…
Birthday – That’s right, I turned another year older on the 23rd of June and my body is reminding me each time I finish a run. I may look younger than my age (as my middle school track team runners inquired if I was a senior in High School or I could pass for Prince William) but my mother insures that I was born on this day so many years ago and my joints concur. But I’m still young and nagging aches and pains come with running and I was fortunate enough to avoid major injuries in my running career so I can’t complain, at least I can still run and walk around without a limp, which is more than I can say for a few of my golf trip mates.
Boston – That ability to walk certainly helped for getting around the town of Boston. (These transitions make me feel like I am the emcee for the Price is Right’s showcase showdown). I was in Boston for my birthday and let me tell you, what a cool town. Probably helped that it was in the mid-70s and sunny, and a Saturday, and it was my birthday, and we weren’t rushed to do anything except wonder. We picked up the freedom trail around the city off and on, took a bunch of pictures, saw the façade of ‘Cheers’ and relaxed on the Charles River, which was bustling with runners, bikers, walkers, and pedestrians. I will have to hand it to Boston for incorporated large chain stores into the aesthetic of the city. A very historic city, like Richmond is to the Civil War, Boston is to the Revolutionary period. It felt familiar, although Richmond just can’t get the commercial foot traffic downtown, maybe we should get a “freedom trail” if we could only accept the fact that the south lost the war. Maybe we can call it the ‘walk of shame’ or to put a positive spin on it, ‘path of progress’ or something. Anyway, I will be curious to see how my opinion will change when I head up there anytime between November and April. See, we southern folk rarely see a river freeze over (a river!). As the cabbie told us, they have wagers on when the first person will fall through the ice trying to cross from Cambridge to Downtown over the Charles. Another talked about speed skating up river near Waltham. Umm…I think I’ll take the surface streets. Oh, and an additional word of caution for anyone moving for school up in that area (and there’s only about 100 of them, quite literally) watch out for the 10’ bridge clearance along the Memorial Drive – as our friendly local pointed out, don’t want to turn that moving truck into a convertible.
School – Well, I don’t have to move for school, I’ve been at it for some time already, but I see the light and I am closing in on completion, and the beginning of the end starts this summer. I am officially a graduate student (although I have taken a few grad school classes already). This next year will set the course for the next few years and shed some light on if this sacrifice was worth the time, money, and frustrations. To be honest, it hasn’t been that bad, school isn’t really all that difficult and there is no way I was going to keep doing what I was doing, too bad being a student doesn’t pay…can you believe you actually have to pay them? That’s crazy. So we’ll see how that turns out.
Work – Yes, I am reminded every day why I am changing my career. It is almost like they keep trying to make things more difficult when they think they are making it better. So, you remember that scene in Star Wars, the trash compacter walls squeezing in from both sides? Yeah, kind of like that except I don’t have R2-D2 to communicate with the computer system because our network is never working like it should be, firewalls up and down, passwords getting locked, - and R2 is down for maintenance anyway. So, I should get back to it, at least for about 5 minutes. That, too, has a time-performance decay half-life and is highly dependent on amount of sleep I get during the week. Hopefully I will get a chance to return to my regularly schedule updates over the next few weeks. Enjoy the 4th if I don’t post before then!
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Golf Weekend
Let me tell you a little something about golf, no other sport can a wider range of citizens partake, enjoy, compete, and/or succeed than golf. From the First Tee to retirement communities, golf is enjoyed by every race, ethnicity, or nationality across the globe without discrimination or prejudice. The only limiting factor of golf, although a very large limiting factor, is cost. Cost to play and cost for courses, clubs, accessories, etc. But, and myself being an example, golf can be access by anyone…even if it means playing a municipal, $3, sand greens course with no fairways or really anything except tee mats and a hole with a flag in it. Driving ranges must have been designed by overworked middle management employees who needed to deflect their frustrations.
Golf is almost therapeutic - if it weren’t for the endless confusion of how a little white ball could go in all directions except straight - yet somehow still fairly relaxing. Imagine a sunny, warm day sitting in a small electric powered cart, looking out upon a (hopefully) plush green fairway, waiting for your partner to play into an open green, sipping on a beer, no worries, no thoughts of work or other issues. Just playing golf. Just hitting a little ball hundreds of yards that equals the same amount as hitting it 4 inches.
I am not sure if it really can be put into words or described it to someone who does not play golf. It is like watching NASCAR or playing baseball, maybe fishing for some of you…or shopping for shoes I would have to guess. For years, spring and summer reminded me of playing soccer as a kid and fall reminds me (still) of running cross-country. But more and more, summer is becoming golf. I have only really been playing for about 3 years, at least on ‘real’ courses, but there is something about golf that is addictive, you can always improve, always work, and you see the benefits of your efforts, and that is addictive. And in those rare occasions when you can save up enough money, you get the opportunity to head down to Myrtle Beach, SC and hit the links with 23 of your closest friends and get out of work for a couple of days. Now if I could figure out a way to get out of work indefinitely, or maybe just tomorrow, then I would be set. Pictures will be forthcoming, until then, have a very enjoyable weekend, I will be.
Golf is almost therapeutic - if it weren’t for the endless confusion of how a little white ball could go in all directions except straight - yet somehow still fairly relaxing. Imagine a sunny, warm day sitting in a small electric powered cart, looking out upon a (hopefully) plush green fairway, waiting for your partner to play into an open green, sipping on a beer, no worries, no thoughts of work or other issues. Just playing golf. Just hitting a little ball hundreds of yards that equals the same amount as hitting it 4 inches.
I am not sure if it really can be put into words or described it to someone who does not play golf. It is like watching NASCAR or playing baseball, maybe fishing for some of you…or shopping for shoes I would have to guess. For years, spring and summer reminded me of playing soccer as a kid and fall reminds me (still) of running cross-country. But more and more, summer is becoming golf. I have only really been playing for about 3 years, at least on ‘real’ courses, but there is something about golf that is addictive, you can always improve, always work, and you see the benefits of your efforts, and that is addictive. And in those rare occasions when you can save up enough money, you get the opportunity to head down to Myrtle Beach, SC and hit the links with 23 of your closest friends and get out of work for a couple of days. Now if I could figure out a way to get out of work indefinitely, or maybe just tomorrow, then I would be set. Pictures will be forthcoming, until then, have a very enjoyable weekend, I will be.
Friday, June 1, 2007
MY LIST: June
June's artist: Ben Folds
Let me take a minute to describe the brilliance of Ben Folds. As mentioned before, Ben Folds and his former band, Ben Folds Five (consisting of 3 members, go figure), was discovered by yours truly via a Counting Crows lyric (back when CC was still artsy-pop) in a song called Monkey, “Got no where but home to go/ Got Ben Folds on my radio right now”, and with publicity like that, I am sure I am not alone. About that time, BFF had just released Whatever and Ever Amen, possible one of the Top 10 albums of all time…all time being my formative lifetime of music listening. However, not to be overlooked is BFF’s self-titled debut album, a masterpiece in its own right. I was recently listening to this album and got to thinking about how each song had a verse that blew my mind away. Later I will share them in list format - I can tell you are excited.
Out of the North Caroline and East Coast clubs, Ben Folds ventured into solo status after his third and final BFF release, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. Clearly Ben was the song writing juggernaut behind the band and the departure was much needed. Solo life allowed Ben Folds to spread his wings and control his creativity to avenues not limited by heavy bass or thumping drums. No longer was it necessary to mimic punk acts or bang on the piano with all day enthusiasm. Rockin’ the Suburbs retained many of Folds’ standards of rockin’ piano and personal storytelling, but included ballads of narratives and everyday sadness.
Folds’ live shows have always been sweat producing, awe inspiring, ad-libbed sets that allowed everyone to feel like they were just watching a friend jump on top of a piano, who hasn’t seen one of their friends do that? Stripped down stages, small clubs, and lack of pomp and circumstance that surround most modern day rock stars, a status Folds would rather not self-label, is the key to Folds’ popularity in the sub-pop culture. Ben took to touring solo and released Ben Folds Live, just a man and a piano, with a little audience assisting participation. The album is one of the best live shows you can find by any artist with or without backing.
In recent years, Ben Folds looks to release EP albums consisting of songs-as-he-goes that show his maturing as a musician. He is not afraid to take a risk, including collaboration with William Shatner or movie score composer or rap covers, but most times they pay off while remaining true to himself. So, if you have never checked out Ben Folds, do it now…go ahead…see that video below? Go watch it…now!
Song that will change your life: Best Imitation of Myself
Other tracks that you must listen to: Philosophy, Brick, The Last Polka, Kate, There’s Always Someone Cooler Than You, Bastard, Still Fighting It, Landed, The Luckiest
Hidden Tracks: In Between Days, Song for the Dumped, Battle of Who Could Care Less, Fred Jones, Not the Same, One Down
Lyrics that will blow your mind for Ben Folds Five self-titled debut album:
“Stop the bus/ I wanna be lonely/ when seconds pass slow/ and years go flying by”
“and I dragged you up the stairs/ and I told you to fly/ you were flapping your arms/ you started to cry, you were too high”
“do you think I should take a class to lose my southern accent / did I make me up or make a face till it stuck / I do the best imitation of myself”
“well, she crept back in the house at half past 3 / shook her head to see him snoring in his sleep/ ‘if you really loved me,’ she said / ‘I wouldn’t have to be so mean’”
Let me take a minute to describe the brilliance of Ben Folds. As mentioned before, Ben Folds and his former band, Ben Folds Five (consisting of 3 members, go figure), was discovered by yours truly via a Counting Crows lyric (back when CC was still artsy-pop) in a song called Monkey, “Got no where but home to go/ Got Ben Folds on my radio right now”, and with publicity like that, I am sure I am not alone. About that time, BFF had just released Whatever and Ever Amen, possible one of the Top 10 albums of all time…all time being my formative lifetime of music listening. However, not to be overlooked is BFF’s self-titled debut album, a masterpiece in its own right. I was recently listening to this album and got to thinking about how each song had a verse that blew my mind away. Later I will share them in list format - I can tell you are excited.
Out of the North Caroline and East Coast clubs, Ben Folds ventured into solo status after his third and final BFF release, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. Clearly Ben was the song writing juggernaut behind the band and the departure was much needed. Solo life allowed Ben Folds to spread his wings and control his creativity to avenues not limited by heavy bass or thumping drums. No longer was it necessary to mimic punk acts or bang on the piano with all day enthusiasm. Rockin’ the Suburbs retained many of Folds’ standards of rockin’ piano and personal storytelling, but included ballads of narratives and everyday sadness.
Folds’ live shows have always been sweat producing, awe inspiring, ad-libbed sets that allowed everyone to feel like they were just watching a friend jump on top of a piano, who hasn’t seen one of their friends do that? Stripped down stages, small clubs, and lack of pomp and circumstance that surround most modern day rock stars, a status Folds would rather not self-label, is the key to Folds’ popularity in the sub-pop culture. Ben took to touring solo and released Ben Folds Live, just a man and a piano, with a little audience assisting participation. The album is one of the best live shows you can find by any artist with or without backing.
In recent years, Ben Folds looks to release EP albums consisting of songs-as-he-goes that show his maturing as a musician. He is not afraid to take a risk, including collaboration with William Shatner or movie score composer or rap covers, but most times they pay off while remaining true to himself. So, if you have never checked out Ben Folds, do it now…go ahead…see that video below? Go watch it…now!
Song that will change your life: Best Imitation of Myself
Other tracks that you must listen to: Philosophy, Brick, The Last Polka, Kate, There’s Always Someone Cooler Than You, Bastard, Still Fighting It, Landed, The Luckiest
Hidden Tracks: In Between Days, Song for the Dumped, Battle of Who Could Care Less, Fred Jones, Not the Same, One Down
Lyrics that will blow your mind for Ben Folds Five self-titled debut album:
“Stop the bus/ I wanna be lonely/ when seconds pass slow/ and years go flying by”
“and I dragged you up the stairs/ and I told you to fly/ you were flapping your arms/ you started to cry, you were too high”
“do you think I should take a class to lose my southern accent / did I make me up or make a face till it stuck / I do the best imitation of myself”
“well, she crept back in the house at half past 3 / shook her head to see him snoring in his sleep/ ‘if you really loved me,’ she said / ‘I wouldn’t have to be so mean’”
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