Accidental Love Song on the Finally Friday Freakout

I am going to start with a song cuz this guy has nothing to do with the current cultural angst about getting married. He is a singer. It is his job to sing songs of love, love lost and found again. It is a love song of a young man.

A song that continues the tradition of a line of people crooning you are the one and only with the added kicker of "I'm not about to let you go." This is Andy Kong with Accidental Love Song.

"Accidental Love Song" by Andy Kong from Eugenia Loli-Queru on Vimeo.

Love doesn't seem to have much to do with marriage anymore. Maybe it never did. There is a never ending bar room argument about settling for the kinda sorta man of your not quiet dreams. It is the new imperative of old school thinking of "hold your nose and marry something." Not a person. Not a companion.

A person that meet 77.5% of your marital requirements? Too ambitious. 55% should be enough. Forsake the idea seeking the person with a spirit or soul that resonates with your being. It is being spun to get hitched to an icon cuz you want to be not single.

Oh, yeah. It would help if you knew what I was talking about. There is this book called: Marry Him: The Case for Settling for "Mr. Good Enough." It is based on an Atlantic article from 2008 by the same author, Lori Gottleib.

I feel like the person on the hill trying to talk to the lemmings before they head off the cliff. I should know better. I've been a lemming a time or two.

Here is my short version. Don't marry out of fear. Don't marry because you want to have a child. To marry means to join and if you truly don't care about the person you are about to join with I can't imagine a greater hell.

Really, don't.

I have a story. Once upon a time an older woman met with a few friends to go out and socialize. Kiki met this guy. He seemed ok. They went out a few times. Did the Sealy shimmy, it was assumed, with modest but acceptable performance.

Kiki wanted companionship. She was willing to settle. Kiki fested up that she liked him but did not love him. Few months into Sunday dinners they decided to marry.

Turned out the dude liked having dinner, TV and well, more TV. And not much else. Yep. Kiki married a couch potato. Spuds, in this case spousal duds are not known to be good conversationalists.

That is what you get when you play the percentages. Hurt. You take the good with the bad and the bitter with the sweet. A great song lyric. I can't remember which song it goes to? Wait, I got it, Jackie Moore's Precious, Precious.

Kiki wanted a warm body. He wanted a hot pot roast dinner and some beer. They both got what they wanted. They were miserable. To do extra laundry without any additional benefit other than to keep the stench level down?

Gee, I don't think it is a good idea.

I'm back on the hill. I see the next wave of lemmings coming. Well, you live and hopefully you learn. The lemmings? Let them be. Might make it easier to find the good folks.

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Colors After the Rain In Pasadena

I miss recording and shooting video. I miss taking photos too so this past Saturday I did something about it. I had cabin fever so I needed to go outside.



What I noticed was that it was very bright and clean, the buildings, the colors and I wanted to take a moment to really look at the colors that were popping out. I used my trusty Kodak Zi6 with the intention of shooting video but it just so happens that photos did a better job of showing the colors. I love this camcorder. I love almost any camcorder but I do have high affection for my Zi6.

The photos were not tweaked or color adjusted. The music is called SunSpark and is it from Dan-O at DanoSongs.com I'm working on a tutorial screencast to explain the process.

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Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller Speaking for Themselves

I have been thinking about invisible mentors lately and these two women are certainly included in my memories. I was stunned when I saw this video. I had no idea this film existed. My memories of these women were shaped by the movies about Helen's early life.

This is a brief clip of Anne Sullivan talking about Helen and how communication was established between the two of them.



Maybe that is why I feel strongly that women need to record and document their own lives. The reality of these women are so much more than the motion picture interpretation.

I know that the movies were and are important to help a large number of people understand a person or a situation. For historical figures before photography and motion pictures there is no other way. It is just that the actual persons life is compressed. Enhanced. Airbrushed.

But when you can speak for yourself or have your authentic image carried into the future that is just remarkable.

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Walk With A Winner on the Finally Friday Freakout

For the record, this ain't about anything that might have happened in Boston politically this week. I very clear what that election was about; if you want keep saying that this man is the hope of the GOP go on and shout yourself ragged.

Cuz I looked at that chunk of hope in a cosmopolitan kinda way. I am not deceived. The fact that the Supreme Court cleared the way for full corporate funding of political campaigns is just freaking nuts.

Perhaps those in Boston saw an opportunity to send a message. Or maybe it was the first crack of an amplified lash. All I know is appearances can be deceiving. If you voted style over substance you will live with the consequences. They will come much sooner than you think.

On to more soothing matters. I was just a wee lass when Shindig and Hulabaloo was on the telly. I missed a lot of good folks and this is an example of two of them. Gene McDaniels and Dee Dee Warwick.



I knew of Dee Dee from her classic Foolish Fool but I never go to hear Mr. McDaniels that I know of so there is no time like the present.

Ok, yeah I'm upset about the Supreme Court thing. Seriously don't y'all get it? I'm just discusticated with this country right now. I think I'm going to continue to soak up podcasts to remind me that there are creative people in the world willing to see beyond their or other people's Full Monty.

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Brain and Cognitive Science Podcasts

I have been known to drift to sleep with my media player filled with episodes of science and speculative fiction podcasts. I do confess that in between the twilight and the snoozing I’m picky about what I put into my brain. You’d think I’d seek out boring speakers to help me sleep but my mind does not like the idea of forced ennui.

Not to say that science is boring. People are boring, not the topic. I have some art lectures that are natural sleep aids. Still, I should make more of an effort to keep up on the science news not filters by sound bites. So I’m waving the metaphorical finger at myself to at least make an effort to find science podcasts that are informative and accessible.

A few months back I wrote about Dr. Ginger Campbell and her podcast Brain Science. Dr. Campbell and other like minded science folks now have a centralized meeting point called quite sensibly Science Podcasters.

If you have a thing for viruses and parasites this could be your kinda place. Science Podcasters has links to all kinds of shows ranging from space, nature and psychology.

Brain and Cognition Sciences

Kerri Smith hosts Neuropod that looks at the brain from the cell up and the chemicals, transmitters and genes that can affect our behavior. At NeuroScene there is an interview with Dr. Judith Lauter who talks about how hormonal balances in the brain develops during gestation may predispose certain brain types.

Natasha Mitchell at All in the Mind looks at the relationship of the mind to topics such as psychology, artificial intelligence and pop culture. The program originates from Australia’s ABC Radio and there is a blog to support the podcast.

Other Science Podcast of Interest

Not all of the discussions about the brain take place in academia. Sometimes they are as close as your public library. In this case, the Los Angeles Public Libraries Aloud series are public gatherings of discussions about engaging topics such as George Lakoff’s The Political Mind: A Cognitive Scientist’s Guide to Your Mind and Its Politics.

Explo.TV is the video and podcast channel of the Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception in San Francisco. There are many great audios and videos and I can’t pick just one but under the Cognitive Science section I would take a listen to musician Laurie Anderson or Julie Yu on her explanation on what is a stem cell.

Are We Alone looks at science issues with a critical, as in analytical, point of view. In the episode Eureka, the program takes a look at what it takes to be innovative thinker like Archimedes.

Leaning Opportunity

If you really want to dive deeper into what make a brain function and you don’t have the time or money to attend a university class might I suggest a visit to the MIT Open Courseware on Brain and Cognition. MIT has free class material and audio recording of lectures and classes on psychology, neuroscience and behavior and brain structures and their origin.

All of these podcasts and recordings leaves me in a state of panic. I think I’m gonna have to get a larger media player.

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Teddy Pendergrass on the Finally Friday Freakout

The tribute videos are all over the joint so what could I share? Well, yeah...most of the videos are from his performances on Soul Train and they (rightfully so - it is their property) have a tendency to DMCA yank a video at a high rate of speed.

This video is from his appearance at the 1993 Apollo Hall of Fame Concert.

Teddy is rocking the chair with Close the Door.



He was the conductor and emissary for a lot of people delivered on the planet. Fellas knew it was harder to say no with Teddy on the FM band backing you up.

I remember when folks heard about the accident. The hospital had to double up the security because women, married women, single women, heck a lot of women came to the hospital. It was that strong.

He has transitioned but he is not gone. We hold in heart much love and respect for his talent and the man he became. This is an interview with Art Fennel talking about 25 years after the accident:



I'll leave you with a taste of When Somebody Loves You Back



If you want more you will have to get out of your comfort zone and go beyond what you know to live a full life.

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Imagine It Video on the Importance of Imagination

I'm working on a post for BlogHer that is giving me fits. Not because I can't find the information but that there is so much beyond writing about education, it is about how we can visualize a better world. Instead of attempting to manifest a apocalypse what if we instead attempted to manifest something a bit more inclusive:



This video is from the Imagine it Project. Mainly I just wanted to share this as an bit of a reminder that it is important to be inspired. To see beyond what is visible.

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How Do You Mend A Broken Heart on the Finally Friday Freakout

This song was played up and down the neighborhood if you think of the entire east coast as the neighborhood. Al Green put a hurting on folks or maybe it was a balm of understanding.

This was a powerful song. Not to be mess with or messed up by AutoTune.



And yes, I know that the Bee Gees did it first. I mean no disrespect. I'm just saying this was the one played on porches and stoops in the summertime around the way. From the Jools Holland program, this is Al Green and How Do You Mend A Broken Heart.

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Birds on A Wire by Jarbas Agnelli

It has been done before. Anyone who has seen PBS non-commercial commercials will recognize the idea.



This time the birds do the composing and the author really does transcribe their work note for note. For more videos by Jarbas Agnelli check out his Vimeo channel.

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Damien Jurado's Abilene on the Finally Friday Freakout

It is a new year and a new decade. I think. Zero to nine but there is no year zero and yet we place a zero at the end to show the beginning of future time.

Then a bunch of people will argue about the start of the decade for three years. Well, it is a non-toxic thing to blovate about. I've seen comments threads hi-jacked with people on both sides trying to prove that they are right.

Some people will attempt to validate their intellectual self-worth by explaining how this decade thing works and expect the other person to believe it. Others will take pride in showing just how ignorant they are and will fight to the bone to prove it.

Mud will be flung but not around here.

Anyway, I wanted to find not just old classics but new to me artists as well. If it has a good beat or story that is pretty much all I need. This is a performer named Damien Jurado. He has story songs and can sing with his pants up. That goes a long way with me.

The name of this song is Abilene.



This is What I Know:

• I found him at Daytrotter.
  
• He has a blog that he post occasionally to called I Am Caught In The Trees.
• Damien has a MySpace page and you can check out stuff there as well.

You should know I'm going to diving into Daytrotter and similar sites to find more musicians I don't know about. That is a might interesting neck of the woods. Daytrotter finds artists and invite them to record in a studio. You can download the music free and get exposed to music the radio stations are willfully ignoring for syntho-spuds.

Now be kind. I did say that some of the folks I'll find are new to me but you might have know about them for eight years.

What can I tell you? I've been busy. There was a time I knew what was happening in contemporary music. Not my fault radio tried and succeeded to kill off innovation. Radio drove me away because I aged out of the demographic pool.

I've been a podcast girl for a long time now. Will continue to be one but I need to mix more music along with the words. Time to try new again. Find musical kin folks. Allow more than I know in the door.

Well, it is another day in the life. Breath deep and step forward.

There is no turning back.

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