i am having a great day

my blog, my beautiful blog is working.

im putting the finishing touches on episode 104 of hear in LA

i wrote a piece i love on setlist

it’s about the most controversial classical piece in the world, 4’33” which i compared to the Beyonce “Mute Challenge”
https://www.setlist.fm/news/09-23/beyonce-mute-challenge-has-a-much-longer-predecessor-bd6a5ee

no one seems to love it as much as i do. ha!

i also spent way too much time on a lynyrd skynyrd setlist history about when they saved an atlanta theater that my mom actually went to
https://www.setlist.fm/news/09-23/setlist-history-lynyrd-skynyrd-saves-venue-and-records-live-lp-3d6a5ef

i have three things to write tonight so i gotta go

hi blog!!!

will i see you tonight

on a downtown train?

everythings free right now

you can literally ride around the city for a little while for no money down

it can be a bit smelly but you have to wear a mask anyways so.

i did laundry and listened to bob seger’s we’ve got tonight

very odd song when you listen to the lyrics.

not the most confident man trying to get laid.

sorta funny deep down but maybe thats why it connected to everyone.

then theres tom waits with his downtown train

i remember those days

schedule so precise youd often have train or bus buddies

people youd see all the time

and wondered what was going on with them IRL

one of the earliest busblog posts

19 1/2 years ago was about this girl id see every day in the subway.

shes probably so rich by now.

songs ive been enjoying lately

kurdt cobain said lists are good for us 

mr recordman – ugly kid joe

lana del rey – white dress

we’ve got tonight – bob seger

hey hey what can i do – led zeppelin

all my favorite songs – weezer

the grates – aw yeah

rancid – ghost band

the clash – career opportunities (sandinista version)

the cure – love song

bob dylan – on a night like this

drivers license – olivia rodrigo

MONTERO (call me by your name) – lil nas x

 

 

why you should never give one flying fuck

 

of all the musical geniuses that ever lived, many consider Beethoven to be THE ONE.

it came easy to Mozart. are you a genius if it was literally a gift from God?

Hell No.

you’re a genius if Despite the obstacles in your life or your surroundings you are able to overcome

and still create miracles.

above we see an image of Beethoven writing music. things are scratched out, corrections are being made, editing.

bro’s working. crafting. weeding out the riff raff. changing direction midstream.

heres Wolfgang Amadeus

everythings nice, tight, polite. very few notes. maybe a reminder to the conductor or musician, but basically it came from God’s heart and through Mozart’s fingers.

while I love both of their music, to me, Beethoven should be admired more because he shows that a strong work ethic and intention and commitment can create art that will last forever.

you might like Mozart more, fine. But most of us agree they were both giants in their field and life is so much better with them than without them.

enter Leo Tolstoy, a writer who dominated my higher education at the College of Creative Studies at UCSB. our college was supposed to be the cream of the crop. the most talented artists, musicians and writers. and who did the Lit professors fawn over? The Russians. and the top dog, by far was Count Lev Nikolayevich or Лев Николаевич Толстой if you’re nasty.

we read his short stories his long stories. we read his diaries and his newspaper columns. we read his letters and his poems. you could not get through CCS back when i did without a huge amount of knowledge and respect for the most famous man in Russia during the 19th century.

one day Tolstoy was chatting it up with the legendary Russian composer Tchaikovsky when Leo dropped a bomb: he didn’t think Ludwig Van was talented.

Pyotr Ilyich was shocked. And ran home and wrote down exactly how shocked he was and how he was suddenly struggling with how he felt about the writer.

So you can be the great Ludwig Van Beethoven. Toiling at your keyboard. Going deaf. Are deaf. And some asswipe says you aint got it.

But worse, this asswipe is the most important mind for generations. Professors across the sea a century after his death are going to be holding up his works as Untouchable Legend.

he’s the one who says you aint shit. to a peer of yours. to a rival. to a friend.

so, yes Virginia, someone is going to talk shit about your blog, or your boyfriend or your favorite band or about you.

let them.

as elvis costello said, let them talk let them talk let them all talk.

Jesus was nailed to a cross after he healed the sick and fed the hungry.

of course people are gonna misunderstand and mistrust you too.

keep your head down and never stop making that joyful noise.

not dark yet / time out of mind / 1998

Shadows are falling and I been here all day
It’s too hot to sleep and time is running away
Feel like my soul has turned into steel
I’ve still got the scars that the sun didn’t let me heal

There’s not even room enough to be anywhere
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

Well my sense of humanity is going down the drain
Behind every beautiful thing, there’s been some kind of pain
She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind
She put down in writin’ what was in her mind

I just don’t see why I should even care
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

Well I been to London and I been to gay Paree
I followed the river and I got to the sea
I’ve been down to the bottom of a whirlpool of lies
I ain’t lookin’ for nothin’ in anyone’s eyes

Sometimes my burden is more than I can bear
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

I was born here and I’ll die here, against my will
I know it looks like I’m movin’ but I’m standin’ still
Every nerve in my body is so naked and numb
I can’t even remember what it was I came here to get away from

Don’t even hear the murmur of a prayer
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

Dear Tony, Will you be wearing Cubs colors to Dodger Stadium?

Longtime reader Ralphy 999 says: It appears you are taking the Cubs thing serious. That’s OK, but please don’t wear your Cubs hat and shirt out in the parking lot at Chavez. It could get you seriously hurt. Some of the Dodgers fans are meaner than rattlesnakes. Especially those from the barrios. They take it just as serious as you do. As they have shown in the past.

Dear Ralphy,

Almost every day I wear my Cubs hat. When I don’t I wear a Cubs shirt. Tonight I might even wear Cubs condoms.

I appreciate the energy of Dodger fans, but if anyone understands respect it’s my amigos from the barrios.

Cub fans represent. We may not have tattoos, but we sport the colors. For over a century we have lost so that others may win.

If fans want to forget that very recent history, I will gladly remind them. If they want to throw down, well, I wouldn’t recommend them squaring off against a former XBI agent, especially during the playoffs.

But yes, of course I will be wearing my Cubs hat and my Carlos Zambrano jersey. How would anyone be able to positively I.D. me if something unforeseen goes down?

Speaking of, if someone gets a lucky shot in and that’s it, make sure they play this version of this song at my wake.

one of my favorite musicians is Kesha

tumblr_o2wwd1NzEH1v233sbo6_500 you might know her as Ke$ha

recently she changed her name back to Kesha as her real name is Kesha Rose.

i must say, i wasnt a huge fan of her until i saw her reality show on MTV and then i fell for her in a big way because i loved that her mom co-wrote songs with her

and her brother was the videoographer.

but it got me to listen to her songs, which were fun

and funny

and poppy

and contagious.

also, she can sing.

you may have seen her name in the news recently because she is trying to get out of her contract with Sony because she has accused her producer, Dr. Luke, of drugging and then raping her.

while some have given her a hard time for not immediately going to the police and forcing criminal charges,

victims often don’t contact police because the whole thing is just so emotional theyd rather not deal with it.

tumblr_o2wwd1NzEH1v233sbo9_500Kesha, who owes Sony 4 more records just wanted to be free of that commitment because clearly having to work for or around someone who youve accused of a heinous crime isnt really the best place to try to be vulnerable

and creative and happy

and fun

and all of the things that made the first two Kesha records smash hits.

but this month a NY judge said that it would be financially damaging to the giant record company if the court allowed Kesha to terminate her deal.

obviously that judgement ticked off a lot of fans and fellow artists because regardless of whether or not Kesha’s allegations are true,

the sad dark history of music is many young female musicians have been abused by men in the business. and the fact that Sony just didn’t settle the matter out of court or deal quietly with the singer,

tumblr_o2wwd1NzEH1v233sbo5_500who a few years ago went to rehab for an eating disorder, triggered an avalanche of support for Kesha. including from the likes of Lady Gaga, Lorde, Adriana Grande and Taylor Swift.

Swift this week gave Kesha a quarter million dollars to help her with her legal fees.

so what’s next for Kesha? some say her career is over now at 25 years old. they say this because they doubt that Sony will push any new record of hers as much as they would have before all this drama.

if an artist has one or two flops that could be terrible for a pop star,

but imagine four low-selling records in a row — not even the most talented artists could survive that in the record business.

it will be interesting to see how Kesha deals with this going forward. will she figure out a way to live up to her contractual obligations while staying away from Dr. Luke?

Will Sony quietly partner with another label and split the profits [recommended!]

or will Kesha be someone who we dont see again for a decade when she is released from the giant label and allowed to sing the songs she should have been singing all along with her choice of producers?

one way to keep up with her current struggle is to follow the hashtag #FreeKesha on Twitter.

 

todays music is trash and i feel bad for the kids

there are very few exceptions. this tune from Walk The Moon is one of them.

stupid name, stupid look, weird mix of The Edge and the Jackson 5 guitar riff

freaking synth solo near the end of the song

but ridiculously catchy.

the official video has over 160 million views, but none of their others come even close to that.

truly a one hit wonder, who could have easily come out with this and the video in the 80s

and had just as much success.

perhaps thats why this works so well: it’s an 80s song

todays music is doomed.