File this under: Finding Humor In Every Day
As I’m walking out of the vet, a gal is coming in with her poodle under her arm and an ENORMOUS freezer bag of what had to be stool samples (plural emphasized).
I have to assume she misunderstood “bring in a stool sample” as a sample of EVERYTHING she could scour from the back yard….and the neighbor’s yard….and the park….
Disco? Yes.
Music of my youth? Yes.
Feather back your hair, grab your roller skates and get ready to dance, dance, dance:
1987, the band Heart had a huge #1 hit covering a song titled Alone. Whenever I hear it, I squirm a bit because I don’t care for their cover version.
But there’s a story here.
First a little history about this song. It was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. Billy wrote a lot of hits such as Like A Virgin, True Colors and Eternal Flame. The song Alone was released on Billy and Tom’s pet project I-Ten in 1983. It was coproduced by Steve Lukather from Toto and features several of the Toto boys.
When I was in high school in 1983, I spent some time doing some very strategic dumpster diving at the Columbia Records office building downtown. This became one of my early entrepreneurial ventures. Needless to say, I had some very cool posters on my bedroom walls! I also built a record collection of over 1,000 records from bartering the Columbia trash to a local used record shop who was thrilled to get a lot of the promo materials Columbia tossed out.
InAmong the many varied treasures I found was a cassette tape master recording of Billy and Tom’s project: I-Ten.
The night I found the cassette, I saw Lukather’s name on it. I was a big Toto fan, so I knew it would be good. I remember popping that tape into my Dad’s station wagon cassette deck and listening to it for the first time on the way home. This trash did not disappoint.
Often, when you hear a song for the very first time, it makes its biggest impact. Such was the first listening to Alone by I-Ten.
Although I traded the majority of my dumpster diving treasures for vinyl records which wore down many a diamond stylus, I held onto the I-Ten tape. In fact, I still have it in a box of keepsakes.
About three years later, I was in my junior year of college when I heard that familiar piano introduction and then Anne Wilson’s voice sing, “I hear the ticking of the clock. I’m lying here, the room’s pitch dark.”
“I know this song!!!”
I love Anne Wilson’t voice. But from the first time I heard Heart’s cover version to the 1,671st time, it has never been as good as I-Ten.
Here is the entire album:
Dear Super Chatty Pilot,
Thanks for going on and on AND ON about how severely bumpy its going to get and wind gusts are going to top 100 mph and blah blah blah….
More difficulties and extreme challenges ahead and more blah…
Oh yeah, segue into short story about plane maneuverability and worst case scenarios….
Don’t forget to throw in some additional ramblings about the Herculean aeronautical effort forthcoming….
Ok, WAY too much info including, of course, Hell freezing over before any peanuts or pretzels are offered on this “fright” (whoops, Freudian slip, “flight”)…
Did I mention more useless ramblings, airplane jargon and skillset explanation to keep plane from a nose dive….
And finally, just when we’re all finished chomping on our eleventh Tums and we’re ready to meet Jesus, lets be sure not to forget to throw in a few more mind-numbing, ridiculously detailed bits of information that nobody needs.
Ok, Super Chatty Pilot who loves the sound of his own voice, thanks so much for the award winning, extremely thorough update but can I calmly suggest LESS talking and MORE flying of the plane.
Thanks so much.
Love,
Doug
P.S. Is this in the script for Airplane 3?
In my blog reading, I’ve come across some fellow bloggers who’ve taken the time to list the 10 albums they would want with them on a desert island. It’s a ridiculous notion, really, to contemplate not only landing on a desert island, but remembering to bring your 10 favorite albums.
With my smartypants on, I decided right away that I would pick my 10 favorite box sets, but then decided to make it hard and exclude all box sets and greatest hit compilations. There goes my beloved copy of Slim Whitman’s Greatest Hits.
So if I’m stuck on a desert island, I’m hoping it’s not a deserted desert island. If so, I’d be sitting around playing euchre with Gilligan, John Locke and Brooke Shields (all whom forgot to bring their 10 favorite CDs) and jamming to these classic albums.
What are your 10 desert island discs?
| The Age Of Plastic – The Buggles |  |
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| 90125 – Yes |  |
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| II – Chicago |  |
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| Out Of The Blue – ELO |  |
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| 2112 – Rush |  |
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| Dark Side Of The Moon – Pink Floyd |  |
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| A Night At The Opera – Queen |  |
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| The Sweet – Sweet |  |
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| Toto – Toto |  |
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| Asia – Asia |  |
Honorable mention:
| Difford & Tilbrook – Difford & Tilbrook |  |
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| War – U2 |  |
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| Can You Still Feel? – Jason Falkner |  |
Start by playing the song all the way through. If anyone interrupts the song, start it over. This purges the system.
Then, you must immediately play any* song by J. Geils Band three times in a row. Again, no interruptions or you should start over.
This is also the cure for hiccups and is being tested on monkeys with brain cancer.
* Please note this does not work with the song “No Anchovies Please” off of the Love Stinks record.
To say parenting isn’t easy would be putting it lightly. I think it’s normal to have times of doubt about how you’re doing as a parent. Just like our kids, parenting is also a work in progress.
I had my Dad through my difficult teen years. I realize that was a blessing when I hear a song like My Father’s Chair about a boy that perhaps never fully recovered from losing his Dad when he was young. At first he avoids his Dad’s chair, but over the years he starts to draw comfort in it.
I want to be the kind of Dad that, if I was taken away, my kids would find a reassurance and comfort in knowing I’m still with them.
My Father’s Chair still standing there
All alone since the long night
Now it’s three years on and I still feel
He’ll come home, we’ll be alright
So where’s this healing time brings?
I was told the pain would ease
But it still hurts like the first night
That night my brother, my mother and I
We’re looking up at a distant star
And wishing we could reach that far
And back in the house
And alone for the first time
We told each other we cared
We avoided My Father’s Chair
I watch my family, we hold on
We are strong and we’ll be alright
The clock continues counting down, all the while
And every child will share the long night
But do the spirits meet again
Why am I still so filled with doubt
Is my soul everlasting?
And the far distant future
When I knew you’d be gone
Came too fast and stays too long
Why do they leave the weak of spirit
And take the strong?
When the world turns sour
And I get sick from the smell
And I can’t find no comfort there
I climb into My Father’s Chair
(R. Springfield)
I was talking with a friend today who was frustrated after trying to use a Groupon right before it expired — and was treated poorly once the business knew he had a Groupon.
I’ve noticed this as well. We bought a weekend at a bed and breakfast near Atwood Lake, OH. Here’s how the phone call went when we called to set up a reservation:
“Hello, we’d like to see if there is any availability for the last weekend in October.”
“Do you have a Groupon?”
“Yes, in fact we do.”
“The only availability we have is Thanksgiving weekend.”
“We can’t come then. Do you have any other availability?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t talk right now. Can you call back? I’m making pancakes.”
I’m sure there a lot of ways to ruin a good song, however near the top of the list for me is making a Christian version of the song especially by changing the lyrics altogether. This was a pet peave of mine for a long time and part of what turned a lot of people off to Christian radio in the mid 80’s.
If you want to sing these original songs to God and you feel they are appropriate, then please just do it. If you have to change the lyrics, then maybe you shouldn’t cover the song at all?
I can’t say this without also thanking musicians that have become Christians and have not gone back into their past and changed or re-rerecorded their songs. Among these: MC Hammer and Lou Gramm (Foreigner)
A friend and I have started a list of songs that (in our opinion) should never have been “Christianized”. Here is the beginning of this list:
1. Some Kind Of Wonderful by Grand Funk – Mark Farner
2. Lonely People by America – Dan Seals
3. Broken Wings by Mr. Mister – I can’t remember the band, but trust me, it was not good
4. My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion – The Joshua Band
5. Jesus Just Left Chicago by ZZ Top – Just kidding, but imagine how bad this would be?
Are there others I’m missing?
Why do TV news people say things like:
“Next up….Hillary Clinton….In her own words”.
What other words would she have?
Do people regularly talk using other people’s words and I just haven’t picked up on that?