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There's a meme (sorry, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pompe; do you have an alternative name?) running around involving looking up the top 100 songs for the year you graduated from high school. I've taken a look at the list, and I don't really want to carry out the details, but I do have a few comments.
The seventies have something of a bad reputation musically, especially among fogies of my generation, but I'm not entirely sure how much it's deserved. The early seventies produced quite a bit of good music. There were holdovers from the sixties still doing good work, like Simon & Garfunkel and Carole King, and a number of new groups also did well - the Eagles, America, Three Dog Night, Chicago... By the middle of the decade, the slough of disco began to emerge, but even then there were people like Elton John and - late in the decade - Sheena Easton. (Do I need to specify that all aesthetic judgements in this post are mine alone, and that I realize that mileage varies?)
It was in the early seventies that I began to pay attention to popular music. Nonetheless, my taste seems to have been formed more by the sixties; I still regard Motown as one of the pinnacles of USAn popular music. Looking at the list of songs, then, I note the following.
Anyway. My knowledge of sixties music is fairly extensive, and I thought I was almost as well-versed in the seventies; but it appears that I was mistaken.
pompe; do you have an alternative name?) running around involving looking up the top 100 songs for the year you graduated from high school. I've taken a look at the list, and I don't really want to carry out the details, but I do have a few comments.The seventies have something of a bad reputation musically, especially among fogies of my generation, but I'm not entirely sure how much it's deserved. The early seventies produced quite a bit of good music. There were holdovers from the sixties still doing good work, like Simon & Garfunkel and Carole King, and a number of new groups also did well - the Eagles, America, Three Dog Night, Chicago... By the middle of the decade, the slough of disco began to emerge, but even then there were people like Elton John and - late in the decade - Sheena Easton. (Do I need to specify that all aesthetic judgements in this post are mine alone, and that I realize that mileage varies?)
It was in the early seventies that I began to pay attention to popular music. Nonetheless, my taste seems to have been formed more by the sixties; I still regard Motown as one of the pinnacles of USAn popular music. Looking at the list of songs, then, I note the following.
- Of the top 100 songs of 1975, there are only ten or eleven in my collection - two each by Elton John, the Eagles, and America, and one each by the Doobie Brothers, Barry White, Gladys Knight, Joe Cocker (maybe), and Al Green. Several of these - "Sister Golden Hair", "One of These Nights", "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" - I particularly like.
- There aren't very many other songs on the list that I'd really be interested in adding to my collection. There's some artsy stuff - Phoebe Snow's "Poetry Man", Janis Ian's "At Seventeen", Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle" - that might be worth it (although those singers tend to be depressing). I rather like "The Hustle" (sue me); I don't have Elton's version of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds"; and, for some reason, "Please Mr Please" was going through my head a couple of days ago (before I looked up this list). There are a couple of songs by Linda Ronstadt that I wouldn't mind having, but I prefer her earlier work - Blue Bayou and, even more, the stuff she did with the Stone Poneys. Maybe Bachman-Turner Overdrive deserves a look...
- There are a number of songs and singers that I liked at the time, but cringe at the memory today: Neil Sedaka, Barry Manilow, Olivia Newton-John (the previous paragraph notwithstanding), Michael Murphy's "Wildfire". But I've never liked James Taylor (with the single exception of "Fire and Rain"), and don't get me started on KC and the Sunshine Band.
- Beyond that, there are startlingly many songs that I simply don't recognize. Some, perhaps, I would know if I heard them; others are by singers whom I simply avoided, like Alice Cooper and Queen. (In retrospect, I realize that both of those actually did some very good work, but something about them still repels me.)
Anyway. My knowledge of sixties music is fairly extensive, and I thought I was almost as well-versed in the seventies; but it appears that I was mistaken.
"Jim is..."
Aug. 3rd, 2005 08:55 pmGacked from autographedcat.
Directions: Type "(your name) is" , (with the quotes) into a Google search, cut-and-paste the first 10 responses that work. Just pull the answers right out of the excerpt google shows you, don't click the link and search around. The only rule is that each one has to start with "(your name) is".
Jim is beyond flawed
Jim is subtle brilliance
Jim is Miss Watson’s property
Jim is thrilled to see Huck alive
Jim is the "Mike Wallace" of meteorology
Jim is wholly consistent with this conception
Jim is engaged with the development of so-called "top level" media sharing
Jim is an active contributor to the content of AskDrSears.com
Jim is a graduate of the University of North Alabama
Jim is Tender
Okayyy...
autographedcat.Directions: Type "(your name) is" , (with the quotes) into a Google search, cut-and-paste the first 10 responses that work. Just pull the answers right out of the excerpt google shows you, don't click the link and search around. The only rule is that each one has to start with "(your name) is".
Jim is beyond flawed
Jim is subtle brilliance
Jim is Miss Watson’s property
Jim is thrilled to see Huck alive
Jim is the "Mike Wallace" of meteorology
Jim is wholly consistent with this conception
Jim is engaged with the development of so-called "top level" media sharing
Jim is an active contributor to the content of AskDrSears.com
Jim is a graduate of the University of North Alabama
Jim is Tender
Okayyy...
Geek Rating
Aug. 1st, 2005 01:21 pmWotthehell, I can't resist a challenge.
( The SF/F Opening Lines Test )
( The SF/F Opening Lines Test )
neonnurse asks for a list of sensory pleasures. Mine's a mix of repeatable pleasures and one-shots, I guess.Sight: Coming around a corner of a museum in - was it Rome? - and seeing Raphael's "Assumption", which had just been restored. Late afternoon August sunlight on the southern walls of the University of Chicago. Elizabeth Rohm's eyes. Mt. Rainier in the distance. A roe buck, from a distance of a few yards, on a trail in the Sierra; hydras and waterstriders, from a distance of a few inches, in a pool of water in the Sierra. Monet's "Waterlilies". The way the appearance of the cathedral in Milan changes in the course of the day. Otters, meerkats, and prairie dogs.
Hearing: Mockingbird song. Claudia Black's voice. Thunderstorms. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, especially the second and last movements. Ben and Murphy, when I provoke them into howling.
Touch: "Happiness is a warm puppy" - even a twelve-year-old arthritic puppy with bad teeth and cataracts. A warm and indolent bath. Comfortable and soft clothing.
Taste: There is, or was, a small restaurant in Hyde Park, near the University of Chicago, called the Medici Coffeehouse. They had a dessert called "Vaguely Reminiscent" that just evaporated on the tongue - was it the taste of coffee? caramel? vanilla? I could never tell... Dulce de Leche ice cream. Pistachios. Pad thai. My mother's teriyaki chicken, and her sweet'n'sour. Ripe peaches. Fresh shortbread.
Smell: Coffee. (The promise always exceeds the reality...) [Hmmm. I can't seem to come up with much in this category; but then, my sense of smell has been on the fritz for years.]
Ten Things
Feb. 23rd, 2005 10:41 amTen things I've done that you may not have:
1. Been interviewed by the local paper on the occasion of the proof of Fermat's Last.
2. Lived through a hurricane - in the state of Washington.
3. Spent the night sleeping on the grass in front of the train station in Naples, Italy.
4. Given a subcutaneous drip to a sick dog.
5. Hiked sixty-plus miles in eight days in the Sierra.
6. Belly-crawled through a narrow muddy passageway in a cave in Tennessee.
7. Read Purgatorio and Paradiso (instead of stopping with Inferno).
8. Sat on the reef that encloses Pearl Harbor.
9. Voted for Barry Commoner for President. (It was 1980, and I was disgusted with everybody.)
10. Represented my high school in a wrestling match and in a Math Fair.
1. Been interviewed by the local paper on the occasion of the proof of Fermat's Last.
2. Lived through a hurricane - in the state of Washington.
3. Spent the night sleeping on the grass in front of the train station in Naples, Italy.
4. Given a subcutaneous drip to a sick dog.
5. Hiked sixty-plus miles in eight days in the Sierra.
6. Belly-crawled through a narrow muddy passageway in a cave in Tennessee.
7. Read Purgatorio and Paradiso (instead of stopping with Inferno).
8. Sat on the reef that encloses Pearl Harbor.
9. Voted for Barry Commoner for President. (It was 1980, and I was disgusted with everybody.)
10. Represented my high school in a wrestling match and in a Math Fair.
Err... Okay...
Dec. 8th, 2004 05:57 pm| My LiveJournal Sitcom |
|---|
| Living With stoutfellow's father (TNN, 1:00): stoutfellow (Jude Law) misinterprets an email from p_o_u_n_c_e_r (Bill Murray) and tries to get into a deserted mansion for free. Meanwhile, thebluerose (Michael Jordan) marries pmat (Brandon Lee)'s brother. Upstairs, calnhobbes (David Duchovny) makes fun of puppybreak (Clark Gable) for enjoying circadian rhythms. Afterwards, trolleypup (Melanie Griffith) paints 47:adamek (Vanna White)'s hairbrush orange. In the next town over, oilhistorian (Sir Ian McKellen) takes tygerr (Chloe Sevigny) bowling. TV-14. |
| What's Your LiveJournal Sitcom? (by rfreebern) |
Bill Murray? (waves to
p_o_u_n_c_e_r)Questions? Comments?
Nov. 12th, 2004 12:26 pmStolen from several friends:
The problem with LJ: we all think we are so close, but really we know nothing about each other.
I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about.
Ask away. Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don't know about you.
The problem with LJ: we all think we are so close, but really we know nothing about each other.
I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about.
Ask away. Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don't know about you.
Songs: Answers
Aug. 12th, 2004 04:22 pmJust in case anyone cares, here are the songs whose first lines I quoted a couple of days ago:
( Songs )
( Songs )Songs meme
Aug. 10th, 2004 09:26 amGacked from daveamongus.
The rules:
--Put your media player of choice on random.
--Record the first line of each song that comes up, for about twenty songs.
--Disregard the song if it's an instrumental.
--Disregard the song if the words are unintelligible.
--Disregard the song if you've already used the artist once.
--Disregard the song if the song title appears in the first line.
--Disregard the song if it kills your reputation. PSYCH! (Oh I heart early 90s lingo) You gotta use it.
--Then, let your Live Journal friends guess what songs they're from.
--Your Live Journal friends aren't allowed to use Google (or any other search engine, but who really uses other ones?) to guess the song.
1. It's comin' any day now, said the captain
2. If today was not an endless highway
3. Wait a minute before you walk away
4. Look on yonder misty mountain
5. Now if you feel that you can't go on
6. Like a fool I went and stayed too long
7. I don't wanna let another minute get by
8. Well I've got dreams enough for one
9. You're the only one to make me tremble
10. When you set a match to your heart
11. I need love, love, love
12. Whenever I'm with him, something inside
13. As I walk this land of broken dreams
14. Nothing you can say can tear me away
15. Now if there's a smile on my face
16. Lazy old day, rolling away
17. Baby, it's your life
18. Mother, mother, there's too many of you crying
19. It's sad to think we're not gonna make it
20. I got sunshine on a cloudy day
"Let's see what happens..."
daveamongus.The rules:
--Put your media player of choice on random.
--Record the first line of each song that comes up, for about twenty songs.
--Disregard the song if it's an instrumental.
--Disregard the song if the words are unintelligible.
--Disregard the song if you've already used the artist once.
--Disregard the song if the song title appears in the first line.
--Disregard the song if it kills your reputation. PSYCH! (Oh I heart early 90s lingo) You gotta use it.
--Then, let your Live Journal friends guess what songs they're from.
--Your Live Journal friends aren't allowed to use Google (or any other search engine, but who really uses other ones?) to guess the song.
1. It's comin' any day now, said the captain
2. If today was not an endless highway
3. Wait a minute before you walk away
4. Look on yonder misty mountain
5. Now if you feel that you can't go on
6. Like a fool I went and stayed too long
7. I don't wanna let another minute get by
8. Well I've got dreams enough for one
9. You're the only one to make me tremble
10. When you set a match to your heart
11. I need love, love, love
12. Whenever I'm with him, something inside
13. As I walk this land of broken dreams
14. Nothing you can say can tear me away
15. Now if there's a smile on my face
16. Lazy old day, rolling away
17. Baby, it's your life
18. Mother, mother, there's too many of you crying
19. It's sad to think we're not gonna make it
20. I got sunshine on a cloudy day
"Let's see what happens..."
About what I expected:
I am a member of 7 cliques of size 14
( cliques )All of these cliques have a common core, consisting of 11 people:
stoutfellow, fairestcat, sraun, neonnurse, nlbarber, laffwv, kd5mdk, khavrinen, profitne, p_o_u_n_c_e_r, sarudyBest Friends meme
Jun. 22nd, 2004 05:13 pmAfter extending my interests list, I finally got an overlap of more than four topics. So:
| My Best Friend is toraks |
| Our 11 common interests are: books, buffy the vampire slayer, bujold, everwood, georgette heyer, gilmore girls, heyer, lois bujold, lois mcmaster bujold, pratchett, science fiction |
| Who is your best friend? |
| Created by macoto |
Another "friends" meme
Jun. 22nd, 2004 08:06 amI borrowed this one from kd5mdk. A lot of you know me from the Bujold list; I've been on that list for quite a few years, and though I don't talk about myself a lot (I think), I've said a fair bit from time to time. On lj, I've been rather more open than that. But, just in case anybody's curious, I thought I'd post this.
I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. I promise, I will not make fun of you, or say who asked what.
I then invite you to do the same. Remember, seriously basic stupid questions, don't be embarrassed, you would be really shocked what I don't know about you. So, ummmm.. what do you want to know?
If you want to post anonymously, that's all right too!
kd5mdk. A lot of you know me from the Bujold list; I've been on that list for quite a few years, and though I don't talk about myself a lot (I think), I've said a fair bit from time to time. On lj, I've been rather more open than that. But, just in case anybody's curious, I thought I'd post this.I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. I promise, I will not make fun of you, or say who asked what.
I then invite you to do the same. Remember, seriously basic stupid questions, don't be embarrassed, you would be really shocked what I don't know about you. So, ummmm.. what do you want to know?
If you want to post anonymously, that's all right too!
Gacked from hornedhopper.
Paul
Which Beatle are you??
brought to you by Quizilla
I don't think I believe in Quizilla.
hornedhopper.Paul
Which Beatle are you??
brought to you by Quizilla
I don't think I believe in Quizilla.
