Listen to a Christmas song by the Harmoniguys to sooth your jangled holiday nerves!
I wanna icarta June 15, 2006
iPods are such useful little music players. The beauty of having an iPod is you can listen to your music privately so no one can make fun of your tastes in Olivia Newton-John or The Dead Kennedys. You can hook up attachments to take photos, use the iPod as a voice recorder and even hook up an iPod to your sneakers. But now you can even use your iPod in the bathroom.
Ladies and Gentlemen: May I introduce you to the icarta?
It’s a docking station, it’s a toilet roll holder and it has speakers.
Life just doesn’t get any better than this.
Fred is Dead October 12, 2005
Mom called me at work this past Monday to ask if I remembered who did the song called “Freddie’s Dead.” Of course I immediately knew what song she was referring to because it was from the SuperFly soundtrack back in the 70′s. She and my dad were big fans of the movie back in their day.
I happily told her that I had the CD and she asked if I could bring it up to her because she wanted to have someone at the nursing home listen to this particular song. I shouldn’t have asked her why.
Turns out one of the residents has this goldfish named Fred and well…Fred Is Dead.
Mom thought it would be real funny to have this lady listen to the song from the Superfly movie soundtrack. Never mind that this song is about a drug user named Fred and in no way related to a goldfish or this person’s grief over the loss of her pet. In the mind of my mother, it’s just a funny coincidence that she knows a song called Fred Is Dead and also knows someone
who had a fish named Fred.
I can’t find the CD. I’ve looked through my collection and know it’s there somewhere, but I can’t lay my hands on it. I hate it when that happens. My Mom has this infuriating skill of remembering things from a long time ago with stunning clarity, but her illness doesn’t allow for her to recall if she asked me to bring up a bag of potato chips or a box of Equal on Tuesday
night.
Finding the Superfly soundtrack is just another task added to the list of things that my mother needs or wants, but sometimes it’s how she comes up with the need that’s pretty funny. Dead goldfish = dead druggie song from the 70′s. Go figure.
Can’t Get Enough Of… October 8, 2005
I go through these periods where I’ll discover something and I become obsessed about it. I have to learn all that there is to know about it. If it’s an actor, I’ve got watch every single movie they’ve ever been in. Example: my infamous Mel Gibson obsession. If it’s an object, I start collecting everything related to that object. Example: Rubber Ducks. If it’s a taste, I have to try every version of it. Example: French Onion Soup and Black Licorice.
Television shows are also a classic example. My dad watched The X-Files when it premiered and I had no interest whatsoever. Then about half way into the season I actually gave the show a cursory glance while my dad was watching it and then WHAM–Hello David Duchovny and the proposed sexual tension between Mulder and Scully…and the aliens, of course. Can’t forget about the aliens. I became obsessed with all things X-Files. I started out slow by taping each show on Friday night and then started surfing the net hoping for spoilers for the next episode. It ruined the surprises sometimes but who cared? I was on a mission to know before everyone else what was going to happen next. I was so desperate in my obsession for this show that I began reading fan fiction just to get anything related to the X-Files.
But the weird thing is how I handle music obsessions. Most of the times I’ll know either the artist or the band in some backward sort of way. I might have heard a few of their songs and thought they were average, but then one song will just POP for me and it sets me off. It happened with Gwen Stefani recently. Sure I enjoyed the success of No Doubt, but when I heard her solo CD I just became a huge fan. Jack Johnson is another example. I heard one song in passing, spoke to a guy that I work with who loved him and then it began.
Sometimes the obsession slowly builds. I started watching LOST mid-season last year soley on the recommendation of a cube-mate at work and really got into the show. I knew that I had seen Matthew Fox somewhere on TV before, but couldn’t place it. So I did a search online and found out he was one of the stars of Party of Five. Yup. You guessed it. I had to rent the first season of Party of Five to see Matthew Fox play Charlie.
It’s a happy sickness these obsessions.
So what’s my lastest obsession? What is it that I can’t get enough of right now? OK, I’ll tell you.
The White Stripes. Spencer borrowed their latest CD from the library called “Get Behind Me Satan” and so it began. I gave a listen to it once and it sounded ok. I downloaded the CD onto my iPod figuring that I would listen to it when I had more time. Eventually I got around to it and then it happened. I touched upon one of their songs, Little Ghost and I was hooked. I began to listen to the CD over and over and over again. Then I remembered that I had copied their last CD Elephant so I pulled that one out and threw it in the car to really give it a good listen to. Once again, pure excellence.
Why The White Stripes? I love Jack White’s voice and I love the fact that all their music is simply and purely vocals, drum and guitar. I listen to their songs and cannot believe they can make such amazing music with so little instruments. Jack White’s voice reminds me of early Robert Plant from Led Zepplin and Meg White’s attempts to sing are just hilarious. But she belts it out with such gusto and how can you not love someone who doesn’t care how she sounds?
I started researching the band a little bit. Their last two CD’s were recorded in the span of two weeks. Then there is the whole controversy about how Jack and Meg claim they are brother and sister, but really they’re ex husband and wife (married 1996 and divorced in 2000). It’s like an in-joke that nobody really cares about. I love it. And recently Jack White got married to some model in the Amazon with Meg White serving as bride’s maid. How funny.
Their videos are really cool, too. Brilliant to serve up a video created with Leggo’s and they’re latest video My Doorbell shows them playing to a whole bunch of children in a vaudeville-type stage.
I just love everything about The White Stripes. They are my latest obsession and I love that they POPPED for me.
Yet Another Dunkin Donuts Story September 24, 2005
I love Dunkin Donuts coffee. Chris Rock refers to Krispy Kreme as having the appeal of crack cocaine to donut lovers across America. I simply love their inventive nature because they are always coming up with some new concoction of deliciousness for me to try out and thus get hooked. The latest is their Turtle Nut Latte. It’s one of their Limited Time Only drinks and alas, it’s time has come and apparently….gone.
I stopped by the old Caldor Plaza DD hoping to buy Mom and I a Turtle Nut Latte this past Friday night. As I was walking in the door, this old dude who looked more like a resident drunk than self-proclaimed war veteran held the door open for me. He was tall with a lanky frame wearing a string of plastic Mardi Gras beads and a baseball cap with many, many military pins all over the front of it. His beard was greasy looking and he had a gold front tooth. I thanked him for holding the door open for me because drunk or not, you just don’t get that kind of chivalry anymore.
I turned around to tell him that he should go before me because I was going to be buying two specialty drinks and it may take a while. (Can you tell I’m an old Dunkin Donuts pro?)
“Oh, don’t you worry about me little girl. I’ve been in the army for 33 years and I’ve got all the time in the world ’cause now I work for the government.”
“OK, are you sure?” I asked still wanting to repay him for his gentlemanly kindness with the whole holding-the-door business.
“No problem. I work for the Department of Defense. Like I said, I can wait.”
I approach the counter and confidently request two Turtle Nut Lattes with whipped cream.
“What’s that?” asks the white girl with the pony tail and braces. I sigh heavily. “Forget it. If you have to ask then you don’t have it anymore. Just give me two small lattes with a shot of caramel and some whip creme.”
So as I was standing there, the old military dude decides to just walk in the back room. He goes behind the counter and enters their bakery area. I hear everyone calling out pleasantly to him and think to myself that this guy must be one of those old regulars. Somehow he’s one of those fortunate individuals who has seen their backroom and knows their well-kept secrets of donut making.
He comes out about two minutes later and starts calling out to this young Puerto Rican kid who appears to be the night manager who is overseeing the drive-thru window. “¿Hey, como esta?” he happily calls out to the old man. They start chatting back and forth and I stand amazed to see that this kid really likes this old guy. The man proudly shows the kid his Mard Gras beads and tells him that he’s hip ’cause he’s wearing his BLING BLING.
If I had coffee in my mouth, it would have been one of those picture perfect moments to do the ‘ole spit-the-coffee-out-of-my-mouth routines because it was just that funny. “What kinda music are ya listening to tonight?” The kid hands him a few cds and I hear him say knowingly, “Oh, yea, Fidel Castro’s got some good music. I used to know him.”
Now I’m doing an incredulous double-take as I’m over-hearing this crazy person claim to know the Fidel Castro. He must have seen me flinch or make some sort of body language move that indicated I didn’t believe him. So he walks a short distance over to me and hands me the kids three cd’s.
But he got it wrong. The CD in question wasn’t Fidel Castro but rather Fidel Cash Flow…
Well, I just started to laugh out loud. In fact, I made a spectacle of myself standing there waiting for my two small cups of heaven because it’s these little experiences that make life worth living. They really do. I love the random craziness of these Dunkin Donut encounters. And trust me, I’ve had some really good ones.
I have had so many poor customer experiences at Dunkin Donuts, but yet I still return just like a crack addict. I really should compile them and write a book about the people that patronize Dunkin Donuts regularly. Where else can you find moments of old war veterans trying to appear cool wearing plastic purple Mardi Gras beads and getting down with a rapper named Fidel Cash Flow?
Long Live Ant Music June 25, 2005
My friend Michelle and I went to see Duran Duran on April 1st. Just before the concert began, we noticed they were playing an Adam Ant song over the loudspeakers. We both kind of looked at each other and had one of those recognizable “Ah Ha” moments. I had totally forgotten all about Adam Ant and I really, really loved him back in the 80′s. I remember buying his Strip album from one of those record clubs and thinking how he was all sexy looking lying in a pile of hay with some wheat sticking out of his mouth.
Spencer was able to snag The Essential Adam Ant cd from our local library and let me tell you…it rocks! I listened to it at work about five times in a row and just couldn’t get enough of it. I don’t know much about Adam Ant. I do recall recently hearing he had a nervous breakdown, but after having newly rediscovered him…I’ve got to Google him to find out his story.
Any man who can sing these lyrics from the song “Prince Charming” is a master in my book:
Don’t you ever…
Don’t you ever…
Stop being dandy…
Showing me your handsome.
Here’s just a snippet of the liner notes from the cd: He was the King of the Wild Frontier, the first truly videogenic star of MTV era. He was Prince Charming, the swashbuckling dandy who heralded a Second British Invasion of the American Pop Charts. He was Adam Ant, and he helped alter the rules of pop.
I don’t recall Adam Ant being a mainstay on MTV over the likes of say a Billy Idol or Cyndi Lauper, but what I do remember about him is all that warpaint he wore, the tribal drums and his wicked cool costumes he wore in his videos.
I’m quite pleased with myself for reaching back to 1981. Now I’m off to find out how many Ant fans are still left….
