Jan. 24: I miss everything… everything

San Francisco is one of my favorite cities on the planet. I know a lot of people who feel the same. There’s something about simply being in the city that makes me happy; I’ve been there a million times now, and I still get excited when I catch a glimpse of certain buildings or one of the bridges or other landmarks. Every time, it’s the same kind of excitement I felt on my very first visit in 1984.

When I got the newest Train album on iTunes last week, I fell in love with the first song immediately: “Save Me, San Francisco.” The chorus goes like this:

I’ve been high, I’ve been low

I’ve been yes and I’ve been oh, hell no

I’ve been rock ‘n roll and disco

Won’t you save me, San Francisco?

 
Download the “Save Me, San Francisco” MP3 - (Right Click)

 

Kinda fun, right?

I knew this was a song I needed to share with others. And then I started listening to the lyrics more closely. The guy (OK, specifically the lead singer, Pat Monahan, who lives in Seattle) sings “Oregon” as “OR-A-GONE”—granted, for what seems like rhyming purposes, but STILL. As a northwesterner, shouldn’t he know better? Is it not common knowledge that that pronunciation is unforgiveable?

But wait, there’s more! He also sings about meeting “some ladies from Marin” who leave him “with these blisters on my skin.” Well, If I know one thing about my friends, it’s that they love songs about catching STDs. Hm. Maybe never mind sharing this song.

I still love it, though. And I really, really am loving this band so much as I get to know their music better. For instance, the first song I paid any attention to was “Hey, Soul Sister.” My Sunshine girl quoted lyrics from that song on Facebook for days. And then Sherilee posted this fun video of it on her blog, and I love it even more than the official Train video, which is pretty good except for where the girl in the white looks like she has boxer shorts pantylines.

 

Enjoy this little taste of Train. I sure do. But I’m going to pronounce the band name “Try-ane” just to piss ‘em off.

June 19: Homing hamsters

Jan. 3: Just this side of Muzak (tm)

If you haven't seen this video for "Here it Goes Again" (OK Go), take three minutes and watch it now. I first saw it a few months ago and I'm not really surprised it's still big talk. These guys are talented and must have lots of time on their hands.

Watching this made me think of some of the really popular videos in the early age of MTV. Then this morning I heard a song on the radio that made me smile for a good half hour afterward. I love when that happens. This all got me to thinking about my own personal collection of important/memorable songs from over the years. If someone were to make a movie of my life (lord help us), this is the music that would probably have to be in it:

1. When I was really young, I pretty much liked whatever my big sister liked. Donny Osmond? You betcha. Bobby Sherman? Right on. The Jackson Five? Gotta love 'em. But the two songs that definitely stand out in my memory are "Puppy Love" (Donny) and "Jennifer" (Bobby). I've looked all over the 'net for an mp3 of "Jennifer" but I can't find it. Maybe if I help with the lyrics? "Jennifer... Jennifer... and now (something something something something)... Jennifer..."
   
2. We got hold of our mom's collection of 45s and played them on Kathy's paper denim record player. My favorite was "I Enjoy Being a Girl." Please don't ask who sang it, that stuff just wasn't important to me then.
   
3. Our mother sang in the car a lot (don't worry, Mom, I've forgiven you). I don't remember listening to the radio much, but we'd take one of those big cassette players and put it on the front seat between us and listen to tapes we'd made by putting that big cassette player on "record" right next to the stereo. What lives large in my memory are many soundtracks. Fiddler on the Roof, Brigadoon, The Sound of Music, Dr. Dolittle, and some Disney things. (I found out Vic's family listened to a lot of those same things. Poor Katie and Jack... they have no hope for a normal life with us as parents.)
   
4. In grade school I started listening to the Music Machine records: Sir Oliver's Song, The Birthday Party, Bullfrogs & Butterflies, etc. It's scary when something triggers a memory of those songs and I can still sing every word.
   
5. Middle school. Ah, middle school. The years of Air Supply, David Gates & Bread (the song they used in The Hardy Boys when Shaun Cassidy's girlfriend was killed still get me), the Grease soundtrack, Hall & Oates, Blondie. Yikes.
   
6. Finally, high school brought some musical interests that I need not be embarrassed by! The Footloose soundtrack, especially "Almost Paradise," of course--I was a teenage girl, after all. I listened to a lot of the top-40 stuff of Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, Van Halen (just 1984, really), Amy Grant and Lionel Richie. Deanna had more unusual tastes in alternative/new wave/obscure bands and I adopted some of those as my own. The Thompson Twins were my absolute favorite. Does anyone not get chills when they hear "If You Were Here" at the end of Sixteen Candles??? I don't hear it much anymore, but "Don't Mess with Doctor Dream" still reminds me of a trip to the beach in a school van, trading headphones back and forth to hear that first part: "oo oo oo oo ow, oo oo oo-ow" over and over and over. Depeche Mode's "Blasphemous Rumors" was my favorite single, among many good ones, on the Catching Up With Depeche Mode album. (Yes, as in record album.) And when I hear these, I turn the radio way up: "If You Leave" (O.M.D.), "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (Simple Minds), "Sunglasses at Night" (Corey Hart), "You Spin Me Round" (Dead or Alive), "No One is to Blame" (Howard Jones), "Beats So Lonely" (Charlie Sexton), "Take on Me" (a-ha), "Forever Young" (Alphaville), "Walk Away From Love" (Yaz), "Perfect Way" (Scritti Politti), "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)," "Two Divided By Zero" (Pet Shop Boys), "Obsession" (Animotion--the memories this song triggers are of five rather stupid stalker girls, and more than a little frightening).
   
7. In college I stepped away from a lot of the moody music and started listening to cheerier tunes. Sorta. I was still a big Howard Jones fan, still bought everything new by Depeche Mode and Thompson Twins. But the Walla Walla radio stations were a bit less progressive and more top-40 so we sometimes missed out on the NEW new wave stuff. I began to listen to jazz artists like Dave Grusin, David Benoit, Yellowjackets, Basia, etc. I also got interested in Michael W. Smith, Sandy Patty, Steven Curtis Chapman, Take 6 and Prism, some contemporary Christian artists. There aren't very many songs from this era that stand out as memorable (big surprise). However, George Michael's Faith album was pretty huge. Karen got it our sophomore year and everyone on our hall borrowed it to record for themselves. For months, it was just about the only music you could hear if you walked around third floor! I still love the whole CD. It reminds me of Vic and his friends throwing rocks at our windows to get us to come out and walk in the snow with them. It also makes me think of my roommate Marilee, who I've since lost touch with, and her huge bright yellow boombox.
   
8. After graduation from WWC I moved back to Portland and had access to decent radio stations again. Karen, Vic and I went to a few clubs, many concerts and collected a gazillion CDs. During this time I apparently lost all my senses, because I started listening to a LOT of country music. The songs that stand out when I think about this era are "Shut Up and Kiss Me" and "Passionate Kisses" (Mary Chapin Carpenter), "The Dance" (Garth Brooks), "That Was a River" (Collin Raye), "She's in Love With the Boy" and "The Song Remembers When" (Trisha Yearwood), "Whenever You Come Around" (Vince Gill) and "Don't Take the Girl" (Tim McGraw). Instead of pitying me for a lapse in good judgment, try admiring me for being so honest about my dark past, mmkay?
   
9. I got out of the country $#!+ phase easily, because suddenly Garth Brooks started singing like James Taylor, who I already liked anyway. It reminded me of normal music and I gladly transitioned to a lighter side of the Force. Late 90s = Billy Joel, Sting, James Taylor, Bette Midler, and lots of books on tape because I spent so much time in traffic on I-205.
   
10. At the beginning of the 21st century, we became parents and things changed yet again. Now if the kids are in the car we listen to Radio Disney or CDs of Disney music; I don't love it but I want to know the kind of stuff they're into. We also listen to a lot of Broadway musical soundtracks, and lately (now that Christmas music has been put away for a few months) not much else. A little Jack Johnson here and there. Some Josh Groban. Elvis. Barenaked Ladies. Five for Fighting. My secret shame is that new Justin Timberlake CD. He's just a li'l bit dreamy.
    

So, these are some of my favorite albums of all time, in no particular order:

• The Grease soundtrack
  
• The Footloose soundtrack
  
• Here's to Future Days (Thompson Twins)
  
• Catching Up With Depeche Mode (Depeche Mode)
  
• The Bridge (Billy Joel)
  
• New Moon Shine (James Taylor)
  
• Faith (George Michael)
  
• The Producers (2001 original Broadway cast)
  
• Wicked (2003 original Broadway cast)

Although my musical tastes could easily be described as "eclectic," I am under no illusions that they are "eclectic" in the fashionable sense. I know I'm a dork when it comes to music. But as for a list of possible songs for the soundtrack from a movie of my life, this is it.

--Jen
P.S. Here's a site that helps you create a list of your own personal theme music for everyday activities: Soundtrack to Your Life Survey

Oct. 25: X-ray vision, the sequel

I got my eyes fried again. My LASIK enhancement was last Friday, and I could see better almost immediately. Five days later, my vision is still great, even while reading. We'll see how things end up once it has all stabilized. Before my first surgery I was -9, and ultimately ended up a -3. Obviously there was a lot less correction to be done this time. Keep your fingers crossed! Mostly, I just really don't want to go through the surgery again. It's quick and completely painless but the smell of the laser burning through one's eyeballs is --shudders-- revolting.

Never been much of a Rush Limbaugh fan. I avoid stories with his name in the headline (although I greatly enjoyed the one about him being detained at an airport for being caught with a big stash of Viagra!). But this story, in which he makes fun of Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's disease, proves he has reached the same level of JACKASS-itude as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.

I think Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is a great show. I've never regularly watched one of Aaron Sorkin's productions, but I'm finally seeing why they've been so popular. Other season passes on our TiVo right now: The Office, My Name is Earl, The Simpsons, The New Adventures of Old Christine, CSI, CSI: Miami. Shows I'm not yet sold on: Six Degrees (I do enjoy seeing Campbell Scott every week), 30 Rock (love Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin is hilarious in this), The Class (trying awfully hard, and not quite there).

The last movie I saw in a theater was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. When it comes to the cinema, it's depressing to be me.

I added a few Simpsons quotes to the "Click here for chuckles" link on our home page. Check 'em out.

One of Katie's top front teeth fell out yesterday. I'm hoping the other one will start loosening soon, because right now she looks like she lost a boxing match. She is completely thrilled about it, though, and her little brother is trying not to show how jealous he is. Sorta cute.

Daryl and Sally went to a Doodlebops show. I think they took Presley too. I haven't heard how they liked it (possibly because they have not yet recovered), but Sally said she was pretty excited because she knows every word to every one of their songs. YES, I know she was kidding. She's not a nutjob. Anyway, if this doesn't get them the Mom & Dad of the Year award, I don't know what will. Hey guys, ya want the Aunt & Uncle of the Year award too? Cuz Katie and Jack would love to see the Doodlebops in concert, and we aren't ever going to take them.

We're having a Halloween party for the neighbors on Sunday. I've been putting together a playlist of Halloween music, and I just have to share it with y'all because it took me a very long time to find everything. The criteria: scary-sounding music or scary-sounding song title or dark theme or Halloween-y (costumes, candy, tricks and treats) or dark arts kind o' stuff, etc. Pretty much anything you would've been forced to throw into a bonfire if you went to an Adventist boarding academy in the 70's and early 80's (right, Lori & Kath & Martin?). Here ya go:

• Spooky (Dusty Springfield or Santana)
  
• You Can Do Magic (America)
  
• Love Song for a Vampire (Annie Lennox)
  
• Bad Moon Rising (CCR)
  
• Stayin' Alive (BeeGees)
  
• Bewitched TV show theme
  
• In the Midnight Hour (Billy Idol)
  
• Only the Good Die Young (Billy Joel)
  
• Wanted Dead or Alive (Bon Jovi)
  
• I Want Candy (Bow Wow Wow)
  
• The Devil Went Down to Georgia (Charlie Daniels Band or Johnny Cash)
  
• Freak Out (Le Chic)
  
• Ding Dong the Witch is Dead (from The Wizard of Oz)
  
• Do You Believe in Magic (Shaun Cassidy--heh heh--or The Lovin' Spoonful)
  
• She's Freaky (Pitbull)
  
• Spirit in the Sky (The Eagles or Norman Greenbaum or Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)
  
• Devil in Disguise (Elvis Presley)
  
• That Old Black Magic (Frank Sinatra)
  
• Midnight Train to Georgia (Gladys Knight & the Pips)
  
• I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor)
  
• Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)
  
• Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Guns 'n Roses)
  
• I'm Your Boogie Man (K.C. & the Sunshine Band)
  
• Beetlejuice theme (Danny Elfman)
  
• Munsters TV show theme
  
• Supernatural (Raven)
  
• The World is a Vampire (Smashing Pumpkins)
  
• Addams Family TV/movie theme
  
• One-Eyed, One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater (Dr. Demento)
  
• I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight (Cutting Crew)
  
• Jaws movie music
  
• Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin)
  
• Dead Man's Curve (Jan & Dean)
  
• Devil with a Blue Dress (Little Richard)
  
• Little Shop of Horrors theme
  
• Die Another Day (Madonna)
  
• Men in Black (Will Smith)
  
• Thriller (Michael Jackson)
  
• Sugar Sugar (The Archies)
  
• Love Potion #9 (The Drifters)
  
• Monster Mash (Big Bopper)
  
• I Put a Spell on You (Nina Simone or Ray Charles or CCR)
  
• Magic (Olivia Newton John)
  
• Friend of the Devil (Counting Crows)
  
• Ooogie Boogie Song (Danny Elfman, from Nightmare Before Christmas)
  
• Psycho movie music
  
• Vampire Heart (HIM--funniest drummer name: Gas Lipstick)
  
• Crazy (Patsy Cline)
  
• Live & Let Die (Paul McCartney & Wings)
  
• Candy Girl (Jackson 5)
  
• Toccata & Fugue in D (Bach, used in Phantom of the Opera and every creepy movie ever made)
  
• Let's Go Crazy (Prince)
  
• Some Call it Magic (Raven)
  
• Witch Doctor (Ray Stevens)
  
• Superfreak (Rick James)
  
• Somebody's Watchin' Me (Rockwell & Michael Jackson)
  
• This Magic Moment (Roy Orbison)
  
• The Candy Man (Sammy Davis, Jr.)
  
• King Tut (Steve Martin)
  
• Strangers in the Night (Frank Sinatra)
  
• Tainted Love (Soft Cell)
  
• Magic (The Cars)
  
• The X-Files TV show theme
  
• Ghostbusters (Ray Parker, Jr.)
  
• They're Coming to Take me Away, Ha Ha (Dr. Demento)
  
• Get Your Freak On (Missy Elliott)
  
• Very Superstitious (Stevie Wonder)
  
• Weird Science (Oingo Boingo)
  
• Go Away Little Girl (Donny Osmond)
  
• Witchy Woman (The Eagles)
  
• YMCA (The Village People--best costumes EVAR!)
  
• Nightmare on My Street (DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince)
  
• Halloween (Dave Matthews Band)
  
• Jeepers Creepers (Billie Holiday)
  
• Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley)
  

Yes, this is a very strange combination of music styles and no, some of these songs will not make it into the final playlist. And I may just set the mp3 player to play "random" because then no one can make fun of me. Right? No one will ever make fun of me...

Of course, a mention of the Smashing Pumpkins reminded me of one of my favorite Simpsons quotes. This is during Homerpalooza, or something like that, when Homer first meets them:

Billy Corgan: "Billy Corgan, 'Smashing Pumpkins'."
Homer Simpson: "Homer Simpson, smiling politely."

Gwen is coming for a visit! Aren't you jealous?

--Jen