~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
.
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Monday, December 22, 2014
'IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE' COMES TO LIFE!
The following true story is my entry in the 'MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MEMORY' Bloghop being hosted by CHERDO and JANIE JUNEBUG. If you click on their names you will be magically transported to a place where you will find links to ALL of the Bloghop participants posting their stories.
The idea is to write a blog bit about your most memorable Christmas experience. Every Christmas I've had was wonderful, but four in particular were in contention for my attention:
"Jim West (my grandfather) passed away in October of 1990 and as it was, I was already 'off the chain' and headed for serious problems. I was 17 at the time and I remember clearly standing at the wake, shaking hands with too many people, dressed in a suit with combat boots (my punk rocker days), stoned out of mind and reason. My best friend Katy... was with me and though she and I were no longer intimate, I was more interested in getting away from that dreadful funeral to be with her and my friends.
"Anyhow, Christmas of 1990 was miserable. I lasted about an hour and finally took off in a rage, unable to cope with all of my aunts, my mom and grandmom, and other family members' tears and emotional misery. Looking back I realize they were dealing with his death as best they knew how and it is healthy to grieve and not stuff feelings. My solution was to get wasted.
"Christmas 1991 was even worse for me. I had recently had my first major run in with the law and was out on bond. I was living with my mom and step-dad at the time because my grandmother was too afraid of me. Mom and Rob are both alcoholics and drug abusers and though one might think this would make us compatable [sic], it actually only complicated matters.
"That Christmas Eve, they came home from a party in quite a state and my step-dad in a drunken rage picked a fight with me and threw me out. It was ugly. He smashed my T.V. through the window and threw me a bag of dog-food saying I might need it when I got hungry. I had my own car and left with the few things I could grab.
I went to my grandma's and although she was reluctant to let me stay, she let me spend the night. The next morning she went to Mom's for X-mas and though she tried to convince me to go with her, pride over the night before would not allow me to do it. I ended up doing my usual: drinking like a madman and smoking out. I was driving around town, drunk and out of my mind, swimming in self-pity and decided I was going to end it all, take my own life. I hit the interstate and headed for the big bridge I would jump from.
.
.
"Then the miracle happened. On the other side of the bridge is a rest area where I intended to park my car and as I pulled in, parked, and drank some more, I noticed one other car in the rest area and I noticed someone slumped over the wheel of the car. Curiosity filled me, and a sense of urgency and I got out and walked to the car. Slumped over the wheel was a very old woman who I could tell was crying. She cracked her window as I motioned to her and I asked her if she was okay and could I help her somehow.
"She looked frightened (no wonder in the state I was in) but began to explain to me that she was from Tallahassee... and had driven over to be with her daughter for Christmas. She had been lost for hours and was confused and at wits end and not even knowing where she was now or what direction to go. She told me where her daughter lived and I happened to know where it was. I offered to show her the way and she followed me. When we passed her daughter's apartment complex, she did not pull in but flashed me and we pulled into a small nearby store.
"At this point, she tried to offer me twenty dollars. I refused. She told me that when she was a little girl the world was a kind place but in her 70 years it had become ugly and she had believed there were no miracles left. She told me I changed her mind, the world was still full of miracles. She hugged me. She wished me a Merry Christmas. She got in her car and drove away. I sat down on the curb and bawled like a baby.
"I don't know if you believe in angels but I do. She was an angel, whether an angel in humanity or an actual celestial being, but the real miracle was that whether she knew it or not, she saved my life. The miracle was hers and she gave it to me.
"I decided at that point to go to my other grandmother's house. I ended up having a Christmas I will never forget. Oh, as I was driving to Granny's for Christmas, there was a $100. bill in my pocket that was not there before. I guess the old woman stuck it in there when she hugged me. God bless her wherever she is! Just an aside... I noticed that you mentioned It's A Wonderful Life in your last letter. I love that movie. Do you see any similarity in it and my story?
["Even after all these years, I remember that blessed woman so well and on occasion when my moods become dark enough, I'll relive that experience and it always has such a theraputic [sic] effect. By far, that Christmas is always the best loved and remembered.]
"...Merry Christmas and may the Light of Christ shine on you always.
Romans 8:28.
– Brother Fred”
I think that Fred's experience is one of the most "wonderful" true Christmas stories I have ever heard. I hope you liked it, too.
BLESS AND BE BLESSED!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uEIu2GJ8Qw
'IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE'
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.
The idea is to write a blog bit about your most memorable Christmas experience. Every Christmas I've had was wonderful, but four in particular were in contention for my attention:
A)
'The Christmas Eve Of Irony', when I was a tot and received from my
Aunt Jane a big book of Bible stories for children. Unbeknownst to
anyone, I went off alone and cried because it wasn't a toy. The irony
being that today, I have probably read The Holy Bible more times than anyone I
personally know.
B)
'The Christmas Day Of Joy', when I was a little kid and received the
Charlie McCarthy ventriloquist dummy I'd wanted so badly, and didn't
bother opening up another present until urged by my parents to do so
about 45 minutes later.
C) 'The
Christmas Day Of Mercy', when my Aunt Helen decided at the very last
moment to join us for Christmas dinner rather than stay home alone,
and it was her last Christmas on this earth.
Or, D)
'The Christmas Day Appearance Of My Dead Friend', when my Sister
surprised me with a videotape she'd coincidentally stumbled on while
teaching a children's Sunday school class at church. The tape, 'PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS: An Advent Program For The Family',
contained a professional acting performance I'd never seen before by
my friend Marty who'd been killed by a car thief 6 or 7 years
earlier.
However,
I'm that boy on Santa's 'Naughty' list you've heard so much about,
because I'm not exactly playing by the rules. As much as I like my
own Christmas stories, I have one in mind that could top them all.
Only thing is, it didn't happen to me, but happened to a person I got
to know pretty well and who related his fascinating story to me. As
"miraculous" as his story sounds, I have no doubt that he
was telling me the truth.
'IT'S
A WONDERFUL LIFE' Comes To Life:
.
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SvrNULp-_A
.
For a couple of years I worked as a volunteer correspondent for a spiritual organization's "Prison Outreach Program." It put me in contact with many people incarcerated around the country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SvrNULp-_A
.
For a couple of years I worked as a volunteer correspondent for a spiritual organization's "Prison Outreach Program." It put me in contact with many people incarcerated around the country.
The
strongest relationship that I developed was with a young man (I will
call him "Fred") who was in a Florida prison. I happened to
mention in a letter that 'IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE'
was one of my favorite movies. He answered that the movie has a great
emotional impact on him because of an incident that had actually
taken place some years earlier.
I
fully support the incarceration (and hopefully the rehabilitation) of
serious lawbreakers. Although I won't say here what my pen pal was in
the pen for, in case you suspect his "circumstances" might
infringe on your ability to appreciate his story, I can tell you that
it had nothing whatsoever to do with arson, assault, burglary,
drunken driving, extortion, robbery, theft, or rape. In fact, in my
opinion, his incarceration was an example of the injustice of our
legal system. But that's irrelevant to his amazing Christmas story
which follows.
I've
changed all of the names because it was personal correspondence, and
I never requested permission to reveal his identity, but here is an
excerpt from his 1999, December 4th letter relating the details to me:
"Jim West (my grandfather) passed away in October of 1990 and as it was, I was already 'off the chain' and headed for serious problems. I was 17 at the time and I remember clearly standing at the wake, shaking hands with too many people, dressed in a suit with combat boots (my punk rocker days), stoned out of mind and reason. My best friend Katy... was with me and though she and I were no longer intimate, I was more interested in getting away from that dreadful funeral to be with her and my friends.
"Anyhow, Christmas of 1990 was miserable. I lasted about an hour and finally took off in a rage, unable to cope with all of my aunts, my mom and grandmom, and other family members' tears and emotional misery. Looking back I realize they were dealing with his death as best they knew how and it is healthy to grieve and not stuff feelings. My solution was to get wasted.
"Christmas 1991 was even worse for me. I had recently had my first major run in with the law and was out on bond. I was living with my mom and step-dad at the time because my grandmother was too afraid of me. Mom and Rob are both alcoholics and drug abusers and though one might think this would make us compatable [sic], it actually only complicated matters.
"That Christmas Eve, they came home from a party in quite a state and my step-dad in a drunken rage picked a fight with me and threw me out. It was ugly. He smashed my T.V. through the window and threw me a bag of dog-food saying I might need it when I got hungry. I had my own car and left with the few things I could grab.
I went to my grandma's and although she was reluctant to let me stay, she let me spend the night. The next morning she went to Mom's for X-mas and though she tried to convince me to go with her, pride over the night before would not allow me to do it. I ended up doing my usual: drinking like a madman and smoking out. I was driving around town, drunk and out of my mind, swimming in self-pity and decided I was going to end it all, take my own life. I hit the interstate and headed for the big bridge I would jump from.
.
"Then the miracle happened. On the other side of the bridge is a rest area where I intended to park my car and as I pulled in, parked, and drank some more, I noticed one other car in the rest area and I noticed someone slumped over the wheel of the car. Curiosity filled me, and a sense of urgency and I got out and walked to the car. Slumped over the wheel was a very old woman who I could tell was crying. She cracked her window as I motioned to her and I asked her if she was okay and could I help her somehow.
"She looked frightened (no wonder in the state I was in) but began to explain to me that she was from Tallahassee... and had driven over to be with her daughter for Christmas. She had been lost for hours and was confused and at wits end and not even knowing where she was now or what direction to go. She told me where her daughter lived and I happened to know where it was. I offered to show her the way and she followed me. When we passed her daughter's apartment complex, she did not pull in but flashed me and we pulled into a small nearby store.
"At this point, she tried to offer me twenty dollars. I refused. She told me that when she was a little girl the world was a kind place but in her 70 years it had become ugly and she had believed there were no miracles left. She told me I changed her mind, the world was still full of miracles. She hugged me. She wished me a Merry Christmas. She got in her car and drove away. I sat down on the curb and bawled like a baby.
"I don't know if you believe in angels but I do. She was an angel, whether an angel in humanity or an actual celestial being, but the real miracle was that whether she knew it or not, she saved my life. The miracle was hers and she gave it to me.
"I decided at that point to go to my other grandmother's house. I ended up having a Christmas I will never forget. Oh, as I was driving to Granny's for Christmas, there was a $100. bill in my pocket that was not there before. I guess the old woman stuck it in there when she hugged me. God bless her wherever she is! Just an aside... I noticed that you mentioned It's A Wonderful Life in your last letter. I love that movie. Do you see any similarity in it and my story?
["Even after all these years, I remember that blessed woman so well and on occasion when my moods become dark enough, I'll relive that experience and it always has such a theraputic [sic] effect. By far, that Christmas is always the best loved and remembered.]
"...Merry Christmas and may the Light of Christ shine on you always.
Romans 8:28.
– Brother Fred”
I think that Fred's experience is one of the most "wonderful" true Christmas stories I have ever heard. I hope you liked it, too.
BLESS AND BE BLESSED!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uEIu2GJ8Qw
'IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE'
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.
Monday, December 15, 2014
'BATTLE OF THE BANDS: 2014, DEC. 15' (Or, 'THE CANADIAN TENORS VS. SPIRITUS CHAMBER CHOIR')
.
Republican
Vs. Democrat, Male Vs. Female, War Vs. Peace, Light Vs. Dark, Good
Vs. Evil, Man Vs. Machine, Love Vs. Hate, Dog Vs. Cat, Sun Vs. Moon,
Brain Vs. Brawn, Oscar Vs. Grammy, Angel Vs. Demon, Laurel Vs. Hardy,
Beer Vs. Wine, TV Vs. Radio, Pitcher Vs. Batter, Paper Vs. Plastic,
Reality Vs. Fantasy, Yeshua Vs. Beelzebub, Conservative Vs. Liberal,
You Vs. Me, House Vs. Senate, Offense Vs. Defense, Kramer Vs. Kramer,
Spy Vs. Spy, Fischer Vs. Spassky, W.C. Fields Vs. Sobriety, Harold
Gimpy, Jr. Vs. Sheldon J. Pismire, Rock Vs. Paper Vs. Scissors, Islam
Vs. Everything, Singer Vs. Singer, Band Vs. Band...
.
THE
BATTLE OF THE BANDS! (‘BOTB’)
.
Shoop-Shooby
–
Shooby-duh-Dooby-Doop-Dooby-Dooby-Doo-Wah
–
Buh-Doo-Wah!
.
Yes,
it’s time once again for ‘Battle Of The Bands’
(‘BOTB’)
.
Alright,
let’s get on it...
.
.jpg) |
| EUGENE MARTONE VS. JACK BUTLER |
...but first:
So far, I've not had a lot of good luck with my Christmas-themed BOTBs, and it's all FAE's fault! I have always been mad about Christmas music, both the Sacred and the Secular. My BOTB plans, going back to last year, were to present a Secular Christmas song on December 1sts and a Sacred Song on December 15ths, when we're closer to Christmas Day.
Last year, my Sacred song was going to be 'O Holy Night', until I saw that FAE grabbed it up for her 12/01 BOTB. I switched gears, going with the planned Frank Sinatra Vs. Karen Carpenter ('Santa Claus Is Coming To Town') on 12/01 and then using a second Secular song ('Frosty The Snowman' - Jimmy Durante Vs. The Conniff Singers) on 12/15.
This year I planned to use 'MARY, DID YOU KNOW?' on 12/15, but FAE grabbed it up for her 12/01 BOTB. I swear that woman is either psychically reading my mind or reading my mail, but somehow she always manages to beat me to the punch.
 |
| 'THE FAMILY CHRISTMAS TREASURY' - 1986 Videocassette |
So-ooo-o... thanks to FAE, I've switched my 12/15 BOTB (again this year) to a beautiful Christmas carol that is so little-known I will eat a toxic mistletoe plant and die of the poison if anyone else has also selected it for today's 'Battle Of The Bands' installments! This one's MINE, damn-it! (Bah!) When you can't beat 'em, outrun 'em! In other words, go so far, Far, FAR outside of the mainstream that they can't even follow you there without dropping bread crumbs to retrace their steps back home again, jigiddy-jig.
[FAE, next year I am going to Email my December BOTB song selections to you in November and if you steal one of 'em, Santa-With-A-Chainsaw is gonna come down your chimney cHOp-cHOp-cHOpping and stuff you into 12-Days-Of-Stockings!]
.
.jpeg) |
| GODZILLA VS. KING KONG |
In 1987 or '88, I was really in the Christmas Spirit and purchased 5 or 6 professionally produced videocassettes that played Christmas songs accompanied by Winter scenes and whatnot (you know, like those 'Fireplace On Your TV Screen' kind of tapes... only I didn't buy one of those).
Over the next few years I came to realize that I only liked two of the tapes I'd purchased, so I discarded the others but have watched the two I like every single year from Then to Now.
My very favorite one is 'THE FAMILY CHRISTMAS TREASURY' from 1986. ["FUN FACT" (as 6-B of the 'A Beer For The Shower' blog likes to say)... my theme song, "Shoop-Shooby – Shooby-duh-Dooby-Doop-Dooby-Dooby-Doo-Wah – Buh-Doo-Wah!", which I have used to lead off every single one of my past BOTB installments is actually my written impersonation of the musical intro leading into the song 'Winter Wonderland' on 'The Family Christmas Treasury' tape I have.]
The second tape that I like almost as much, but not quite, is 1987's 'THE CHRISTMAS CAROL VIDEO' produced by Twin Tower Enterprises in Studio City, California, "Featuring the Choristers & Cathedral Singers of the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine." I purchased it at the Wherehouse Records store that used to be on Lincoln Boulevard in Venice (which was vandalized during “the Rodney King riots”), about a 5-minute drive from my house.
.
 |
| 'THE CHRISTMAS CAROL VIDEO' - 1987 |
Amidst all the standards, I heard the singers performing a carol that I wasn't familiar with. By about year 3 or 4 it had eventually dawned on me how beautiful the melody was and so I finally decided to look at the back of the box to see what it was called:
.
'THE HURON CAROL' - Here's what I've found out about it:
"Jean
de Brebeuf was one of the "North American Martyrs" - a
French Catholic priest who devised these lyrics to teach the Catholic
Faith to the Indian population in North America and Canada in the mid
1600s. His lyric sheet can be seen at the Auriesville Shrine in New
York along with some of his relics. Brebeuf suffered a violent
and torturous martyrdom at the hands of the Iroquois."
"Father Jean de Brebeuf, a Jesuit Catholic Priest, who spent over 20 years serving his Huron flock not only wrote this beautiful carol but wrote a dictionary of the Huron Language [which] was not a written language. Yes, he used the tune from an old French song."
I was hoping to find the version by the Choristers & Cathedral Singers of the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine at YouTube. It includes the tall doofus who decided to start growing a full beard 3 days before the scheduled filming of the video. Brother Nappy and I make fun of him every single December - it's become a genuine part of our Christmas traditions:
.
.
Unfortunately, no one has posted this (really nice) rendition at YouTube, so I'm going with two others that I also like quite well. Alright, NOW let's get on it:
.
And now their competition:
"Father Jean de Brebeuf, a Jesuit Catholic Priest, who spent over 20 years serving his Huron flock not only wrote this beautiful carol but wrote a dictionary of the Huron Language [which] was not a written language. Yes, he used the tune from an old French song."
I was hoping to find the version by the Choristers & Cathedral Singers of the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine at YouTube. It includes the tall doofus who decided to start growing a full beard 3 days before the scheduled filming of the video. Brother Nappy and I make fun of him every single December - it's become a genuine part of our Christmas traditions:
.
Unfortunately, no one has posted this (really nice) rendition at YouTube, so I'm going with two others that I also like quite well. Alright, NOW let's get on it:
'THE
HURON CAROL' sung by The Canadian Tenors
And now their competition:
'THE HURON CAROL' - Spiritus
Chamber Choir (arr. Bevan)
.
.jpg) |
| RIDDLER VS. BATMAN |
.
After voting here, I suggest - actually I insist - you pop over to the blogs of the other 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS' participants to see which songs they have chosen and vote there also. (If their ‘BOTB’ blog bits aren’t posted yet, pour yourself two shots of ‘Grand Marnier’ over ice – do it twice – and then return to their blogs to
.
Voice Your Vote @ ‘FAR AWAY SERIES’ by clicking HERE.
@ ‘TOSSING IT OUT’ by clicking HERE.
@ ‘YOUR DAILY DOSE’ by clicking HERE.
@ ‘DISCCONNECTED’ by clicking HERE.
@ 'BOOK LOVER' by clicking HERE.
@ ‘CREATIVE OUTLET OF STRATPLAYER’ by clicking HERE.
@ 'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS' by clicking HERE.
@ 'CURIOUS AS A CATHY' by clicking HERE.
@ 'THE SOUND OF ONE HAND TYPING' by clicking HERE.
@ 'ALEX CAVANAUGH' (when BOTB falls on a Mon., Wed., or Fri.) by clicking HERE.
.
As I've done in the past, I will continue to return to my 'BOTB' blog bits on the 7th and 21st of each month to post my own votes and announce the winners in the comment sections.
.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
.
YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
'SOUND SYSTEM SHOWING-OFF SONGS' (Or, 'TUNES TO TURN UP TO ELEVEN')
In 1978, after my first year of
working in Hollyweird, I spent my first tax return refund check on a
pretty impressive stereo system to play my hundreds of LPs ("Licorice
Pizzas") on. Up to that point, I was just using some cheap,
little, portable record player.
I purchased a nice receiver and turntable and speakers that stood about three feet high. Truth be told, this was far too much power for my modest living quarters, but I was a young man addicted to fast, loud Rock 'N' Roll, and I wanted to have that capability to turn it up to eleven and blow my roof into the next county! And that I could do.
Back in those late-1970s/early-'80s years, whenever a friend came over and I wanted to show him or her how great my stereo sounded, I would invariably put on my 'MOONFLOWER' album by Santana and play the song 'SHE'S NOT THERE'.
I felt the song 'She's Not There' had a great range of sonic textures and then really seemed impressive when Carlos Santana would make that electric guitar scream like a wildcat through my 3-feet high speakers.
In 1987 or '88, I made the switch to compact discs and gradually sold off my LPs, replacing some (but not all) of them on CD.
At first, I just played my CDs on a very small, portable, nonimpressive-sounding player. Eventually I purchased one or more "boombox" type CD players and these sufficed for quite a long time, as I was no longer the 15-year-old who needed to hear everything cranked up to eleven.
Then in 2002, I took the plunge and bought a Bose CD player / radio. I thought it sounded fantastic. In fact, I thought it sounded as good as my old stereo system ever did, except for the fact that the speakers couldn't be separated into opposite ends of the room by long wires.
In 2007, I had a handyman working at my house for a couple weeks, doing some painting, cabinet refurbishing, etc. One day he noticed my Bose unit sitting on a shelf. He said he'd often thought of looking into getting one and asked me what I thought of the sound. So I told Mr. Handyman I would play something for him so he could decide on the sound quality for himself.
Well, I no longer owned Santana's 'Moonflower' album (nor was I interested in owning it again). But I did have a copy of the 'ENDLESS SUMMER II' movie soundtrack by Gary Hoey on compact disc. (Hoey? Who he?) By the way, it's a super-cool movie, too!
I put the Gary Hoey soundtrack album into the player. Although I truly dig every track on that disc, my very favorite is 'SURFDOGGIN'' because of the tremendous dexterity and cleanness of Hoey's playing, and the hybrid musical concoction he had created. To this day I don't know exactly how to describe 'Surfdoggin'', other than to say it strikes me as a sort of cross between Bluegrass and Surf Guitar. It's fabulous!
However, wanting to give Mr. Handyman a good taste of how loud the Bose can play without degrading into music-destroying distortion, and wanting him to hear the crispness of the slicin' 'n' dicin' guitar and the inescapable brain-pounding drums throughout, I put on the first track, 'RIPTIDE', and turned it up toeleven eighty.
Cats died, babies cried, women screamed, and manly men ducked for cover!
I'm pretty sure Mr. Handyman purchased a Bose CD player of his own shortly afterwards, because while 'RIPTIDE' was playing he just looked at me wide-eyed with his mouth hanging open.
Sadly, I did not feel I got my money's worth out of the Bose player because after owning it for only 5 to 6 years, the CD player stopped working, and I just don't listen to radio much.
I was not inclined to purchase another Bose player again, despite the excellent sound from such a small desktop unit. But last month I learned that Bose was offering new CD players for a little over half-price on a trade-in of an older unit, working or not. So I decided to give Bose one more chance, and I have a silver front-loading model sitting atop one of my bookcases now.
I am a huge fan of Western films. In fact, I've seen well over 200 of them, and as you might guess, the Western is my very favorite of all movie genres.
Without question, amongst my Top Ten Favorite Western Movies Of All Time is the sprawling Sergio Leone classic 'ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST', the best "Spaghetti" Western ever made, and I don't give a Hoot Gibson who says differently. In my opinion, even the music was the best that Ennio Morricone ever composed for a Western (even though this movie is more of an American-made "Spaghetti" Western).
'ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST' ('OUATITW') includes that fantabulous crane shot early in the film - a shot that you may have seen parodied a number of times in a number of places, even if you were not aware of the original. I seem to recall seeing it mimicked in cartoon format once on an episode of 'The Simpsons'. But the real deal can be seen HERE.
I own the 'OUATITW' soundtrack also and play it far more often than one might expect. It's loaded with highly interesting musical compositions and snippets of soundscapes that really evoke a sense of the dusty, dangerous, wild West.
I recall one particular road trip I made to Las Vegas when I had the 'OUATITW' soundtrack playing in my car and glancing to my left, I saw a train rumbling through the dusty, desolate Arizona desert. It was the perfect music for that image; a flawless example of what I call "Congrutiating".
A few days after acquiring my new Bose compact disc player, I got the idea to find out how one of my very favorite instrumentals from the 'ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST' soundtrack would sound through the Bose "Wave" sound system. So I put the disc in, forwarded it to Track #2, 'AS A JUDGMENT', and cranked that bad boy up to about 63. HOKEY-SMOKE & HOO-WEE! You wanna yak about "Heavy Metal"? This is IT!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbrHzKyFQ-E
If you're looking for a great Western movie, you could do a lot worse - I mean, a LOT worse! - than 'ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST'. And if you're looking for a truly memorable music-listening experience, you couldn't do much better than 'AS A JUDGMENT' as heard through one of the new Bose CD players!
By the way, this was definitely NOT an advertisement - paid or otherwise - for Bose products. I'm waiting to see how long this new unit lasts before I recommend Bose again to anyone else. But I just wanted to inform ya about a cool movie and its cool soundtrack, and to let you know why I seem to be suffering from hearing loss.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.
I purchased a nice receiver and turntable and speakers that stood about three feet high. Truth be told, this was far too much power for my modest living quarters, but I was a young man addicted to fast, loud Rock 'N' Roll, and I wanted to have that capability to turn it up to eleven and blow my roof into the next county! And that I could do.
Back in those late-1970s/early-'80s years, whenever a friend came over and I wanted to show him or her how great my stereo sounded, I would invariably put on my 'MOONFLOWER' album by Santana and play the song 'SHE'S NOT THERE'.
I felt the song 'She's Not There' had a great range of sonic textures and then really seemed impressive when Carlos Santana would make that electric guitar scream like a wildcat through my 3-feet high speakers.
In 1987 or '88, I made the switch to compact discs and gradually sold off my LPs, replacing some (but not all) of them on CD.
At first, I just played my CDs on a very small, portable, nonimpressive-sounding player. Eventually I purchased one or more "boombox" type CD players and these sufficed for quite a long time, as I was no longer the 15-year-old who needed to hear everything cranked up to eleven.
Then in 2002, I took the plunge and bought a Bose CD player / radio. I thought it sounded fantastic. In fact, I thought it sounded as good as my old stereo system ever did, except for the fact that the speakers couldn't be separated into opposite ends of the room by long wires.
In 2007, I had a handyman working at my house for a couple weeks, doing some painting, cabinet refurbishing, etc. One day he noticed my Bose unit sitting on a shelf. He said he'd often thought of looking into getting one and asked me what I thought of the sound. So I told Mr. Handyman I would play something for him so he could decide on the sound quality for himself.
Well, I no longer owned Santana's 'Moonflower' album (nor was I interested in owning it again). But I did have a copy of the 'ENDLESS SUMMER II' movie soundtrack by Gary Hoey on compact disc. (Hoey? Who he?) By the way, it's a super-cool movie, too!
I put the Gary Hoey soundtrack album into the player. Although I truly dig every track on that disc, my very favorite is 'SURFDOGGIN'' because of the tremendous dexterity and cleanness of Hoey's playing, and the hybrid musical concoction he had created. To this day I don't know exactly how to describe 'Surfdoggin'', other than to say it strikes me as a sort of cross between Bluegrass and Surf Guitar. It's fabulous!
However, wanting to give Mr. Handyman a good taste of how loud the Bose can play without degrading into music-destroying distortion, and wanting him to hear the crispness of the slicin' 'n' dicin' guitar and the inescapable brain-pounding drums throughout, I put on the first track, 'RIPTIDE', and turned it up to
Cats died, babies cried, women screamed, and manly men ducked for cover!
I'm pretty sure Mr. Handyman purchased a Bose CD player of his own shortly afterwards, because while 'RIPTIDE' was playing he just looked at me wide-eyed with his mouth hanging open.
Sadly, I did not feel I got my money's worth out of the Bose player because after owning it for only 5 to 6 years, the CD player stopped working, and I just don't listen to radio much.
I was not inclined to purchase another Bose player again, despite the excellent sound from such a small desktop unit. But last month I learned that Bose was offering new CD players for a little over half-price on a trade-in of an older unit, working or not. So I decided to give Bose one more chance, and I have a silver front-loading model sitting atop one of my bookcases now.
I am a huge fan of Western films. In fact, I've seen well over 200 of them, and as you might guess, the Western is my very favorite of all movie genres.
Without question, amongst my Top Ten Favorite Western Movies Of All Time is the sprawling Sergio Leone classic 'ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST', the best "Spaghetti" Western ever made, and I don't give a Hoot Gibson who says differently. In my opinion, even the music was the best that Ennio Morricone ever composed for a Western (even though this movie is more of an American-made "Spaghetti" Western).
'ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST' ('OUATITW') includes that fantabulous crane shot early in the film - a shot that you may have seen parodied a number of times in a number of places, even if you were not aware of the original. I seem to recall seeing it mimicked in cartoon format once on an episode of 'The Simpsons'. But the real deal can be seen HERE.
I own the 'OUATITW' soundtrack also and play it far more often than one might expect. It's loaded with highly interesting musical compositions and snippets of soundscapes that really evoke a sense of the dusty, dangerous, wild West.
I recall one particular road trip I made to Las Vegas when I had the 'OUATITW' soundtrack playing in my car and glancing to my left, I saw a train rumbling through the dusty, desolate Arizona desert. It was the perfect music for that image; a flawless example of what I call "Congrutiating".
A few days after acquiring my new Bose compact disc player, I got the idea to find out how one of my very favorite instrumentals from the 'ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST' soundtrack would sound through the Bose "Wave" sound system. So I put the disc in, forwarded it to Track #2, 'AS A JUDGMENT', and cranked that bad boy up to about 63. HOKEY-SMOKE & HOO-WEE! You wanna yak about "Heavy Metal"? This is IT!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbrHzKyFQ-E
If you're looking for a great Western movie, you could do a lot worse - I mean, a LOT worse! - than 'ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST'. And if you're looking for a truly memorable music-listening experience, you couldn't do much better than 'AS A JUDGMENT' as heard through one of the new Bose CD players!
By the way, this was definitely NOT an advertisement - paid or otherwise - for Bose products. I'm waiting to see how long this new unit lasts before I recommend Bose again to anyone else. But I just wanted to inform ya about a cool movie and its cool soundtrack, and to let you know why I seem to be suffering from hearing loss.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.
Monday, December 1, 2014
'BATTLE OF THE BANDS: 2014, DECEMBER 1' (Or, 'LEROY ANDERSON VS. GLENN MILLER ORCHESTRA')
.
Republican
Vs. Democrat, Male Vs. Female, War Vs. Peace, Light Vs. Dark, Good
Vs. Evil, Man Vs. Machine, Love Vs. Hate, Dog Vs. Cat, Sun Vs. Moon,
Brain Vs. Brawn, Oscar Vs. Grammy, Angel Vs. Demon, Laurel Vs. Hardy,
Beer Vs. Wine, TV Vs. Radio, Pitcher Vs. Batter, Paper Vs. Plastic,
Reality Vs. Fantasy, Yeshua Vs. Beelzebub, Conservative Vs. Liberal,
You Vs. Me, House Vs. Senate, Offense Vs. Defense, Kramer Vs. Kramer,
Spy Vs. Spy, Fischer Vs. Spassky, W.C. Fields Vs. Sobriety, Harold
Gimpy, Jr. Vs. Sheldon J. Pismire, Rock Vs. Paper Vs. Scissors, Islam
Vs. Everything, Singer Vs. Singer, Band Vs. Band...
.
THE
BATTLE OF THE BANDS! (‘BOTB’)
.
Shoop-Shooby
–
Shooby-duh-Dooby-Doop-Dooby-Dooby-Doo-Wah
–
Buh-Doo-Wah!
.
Yes,
it’s time once again for ‘Battle Of The Bands’
(‘BOTB’)
.
Alright,
let’s get on it...
.
.jpg) |
| EUGENE MARTONE VS. JACK BUTLER |
"Many
of [LEROY
ANDERSON'S musical compositions] have
become part of the musical fabric of American life. Most everyone
knows one or more of his tunes, though they may not know the name of
the composer
[*It's Leroy Anderson, remember?*] or
even the title of the composition."
For instance, there's BLUE TANGO, the first instrumental piece ever
to sell over one million copies. And THE SYNCOPATED CLOCK, used as
the theme for "The Late Show" on WCBS-TV in New York for
over 25 years.
Anderson
was incredibly imaginative and he composed each piece almost
completely in his head. He stated, "When
I'm making something up I never play a melody on the piano, because
your fingers are used to falling into familiar patterns. You don't
give your imagination free rein that way. In other words, your
fingers are holding you back."
I
find his brief musical pieces to be very evocative. For instance,
when I hear 'SUMMER SKIES', in my mind I seem to see images of Lee
Remick romping in a bathing suit at the beach as if in a black and
white montage from some classic movie of the 1950s. Or when I hear
'THE WALTZING CAT', I always seem to imagine a cat waltzing in my
mind. 'THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING' always makes me think of the first
day of Spring and 'FORGOTTEN DREAMS' always reminds me of... hmmm...
I forget. But anyway, 'SLEIGH RIDE' takes me for a ride in a sleigh
in my wintry mind.
And
just how imaginative WAS
Leroy Anderson? Get this! He composed 'Sleigh Ride' (originally an
instrumental) during a 1948 July heat wave in Woodbury, Connecticut!
OK? Uh-huh. That's what I'M talkin' 'bout! So, what else ya wanna
know?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrUNdPT9yUo
.jpeg) |
| GODZILLA VS. KING KONG |
And now for the competition...
The
Glenn Miller Orchestra is a jazz big band originally formed by Glenn
Miller. It was arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing
melody, while three other saxophones played the harmony. Miller had
already formed one band before this in 1936, but dissolved it as he
considered it too similar to other bands of the era. …
After
the disappearance (and presumed death) of Miller in 1944, the band
was reconstituted under the direction of Tex Beneke, its lead tenor
saxophonist, singer, and one of Miller's longtime close friends. A
few years later, the Miller estate, having parted ways with Beneke,
hired Ray McKinley, principal drummer in Miller's Army Air Force
band, to organize a new "ghost band" in 1956.
Hollywood
contributed to the band's popularity and that of its founder and
original members with the 1953 release of 'The Glenn Miller Story' on
the big screen. The band garnered award nominations and box office
success, as well as top hit status for its soundtrack album in 1954.
The Glenn Miller Orchestra has recorded and performed under various
leaders, from 1956 to this day.
'SLEIGH RIDE' – THE GLENN MILLER ORCHESTRA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u4NttRRfxo
.jpg) |
| RIDDLER VS. BATMAN |
.
After voting here, I suggest - actually I insist - you pop over to the blogs of the other 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS' participants to see which songs they have chosen and vote there also. (If their ‘BOTB’ blog bits aren’t posted yet, pour yourself two shots of ‘Grand Marnier’ over ice – do it twice – and then return to their blogs to
.
Voice Your Vote @ ‘FAR AWAY SERIES’ by clicking HERE.
@ ‘TOSSING IT OUT’ by clicking HERE.
@ ‘YOUR DAILY DOSE’ by clicking HERE.
@ ‘DISCCONNECTED’ by clicking HERE.
@ 'BOOK LOVER' by clicking HERE.
@ ‘CREATIVE OUTLET OF STRATPLAYER’ by clicking HERE.
@ 'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS' by clicking HERE.
@ 'CURIOUS AS A CATHY' by clicking HERE.
@ 'THE SOUND OF ONE HAND TYPING' by clicking HERE.
@ 'ALEX CAVANAUGH' by clicking HERE.
.
As I've done in the past, I will continue to return to my 'BOTB' blog bits on the 7th and 21st of each month to post my own votes and announce the winners in the comment sections.
.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
.
YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.
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