...on the NY Transit Line. Okay this isn't a Black Sheep tribute page, but it's close. I'll give you podcasted DJ mixes, weird observations, musings on being Indian, and the occasional biased views of a L.A Lakers & Kings fan.
Monday, July 27, 2009
at Fenway...
Oakland vs. Boston, @ Fenway
The best part of the game?...it wasn't the fact that the Red Sox trounced the A's (you gotta support the home team when you're at a new stadium), no no no that was second to the Boston fan's rendition of "Sweet Caroline" towards the end of the game. The crowd continued to sing and finish the song after the P.A. cut the music when the game was ready to resume.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about THIS should help...and one of the comments says it all "I hate the Sox...but I think this is awesome."
And so there's the money shot...but let's see how we got there and go backwards like Tarantino.. Sitting in line outside Croke Park, only 6 hours before showtime
Sweet Jesus we barely made the cut-off to get the orange wristbands that will get us into the middle of the arena circle on the floor. Also orange complements my brown skin quite nicely. Quite.
Ruby! Ruby! Ruby! Ruby!! Kaiser Chiefs were fantabulous as openers (and even Republic of Loose before them were okay)
Slappin' The Bass since 1976. Adam Clayton my favorite member
Who would've thunk that heaven was located in a crowd of weird people, smelly foreigners, and underneath an epic block of speakers next to a video screen?
After planning this about 5 months ago the trip to Dublin to see U2 is finally underway...
The fun part of the plane ride is that invariably people on the flight start talking about which show they're seeing (Saturday) and thoughts on the new album (great) and how many shows they've been to (6) and their favorite song (Bad) and their favorite album (Achtung).
The key of course is to seem slightly aloof on the outside and giddy like a school kid on the inside. When I did the Dublin show trip in 2005 (Vertigo tour) it was all new to me and I didn't pull off the cool facade very well.
There's only one thing in the world that I hate more than racism and that's Jane Austen. Jane Austen is the worst. All her books are the exact same. There are three girls who live in the olden days, an elder girl eligible to marry, a more attractive middle girl, and the mischievous younger sister.
As it always turns out the middle sister meets a boy first...someone originally slated for the eldest girl and after confusion and several chapters of introspection the eldest girls meets a curious gentlemen and all ends well.
How lovely. It's one thing if Jane had one book like that but I mean every book is like that. Geez. I mean she should've branched out or something, written about magical closets that lead to animal worlds, or perhaps a screenplay for Diehard like movie that was set in the early 1800s.
All of this would've been good stuff and more than welcome.
odd notes and ends (flying to Richmond for the weekend)
Quote of the day: "In heaven, the police are British, the engineers are German, and the cooks are Italian... In Hell, the police are German, the engineers are Italian, and the cooks are British..."
- I spotted a non-brown person wearing Bata slippers in the security line!
... And yes I sneaked the picture without her noticing.
PODCAST: DJ Shakes_2009-07-09 (Sitting on the Porch)
PODCAST ME: Simply drag the orange podcast icon on the top left of this page into your iTunes. Or:
1. goto iTunes 2. click on Advanced 3. click on Subscribe to Podcast: 4. paste this URL http://feeds.feedburner.com/EngineEngine9
T R A C K L IS T I N G (approx 47 minutes) http://hbshakes.blogspot.com theme: Sitting on the Porch in Summer
[0:00] Intro - Me [0:56] Paul McCartney & Wings - Mrs. Vanderbilt [4:43] Canned Heat - Going up the Country [7:27] Elvis Presley - That's All Right [9:18] The Bellamy Brothers - Let Your Love Flow [12:28] Slim Smith - Out of Love [15:00] Bob Marley & The Wailers - Duppy Conqueror [18:40] Van Morrison - Sweet Thing [22:39] Simon & Garfunkel - The Only Living Boy in New York [26:26] Donovan - Catch The Wind [29:15] Janis Joplin - Me and Bobby McGee [31:57] The Allman Brothers - Ramblin' Man [36:31] Carole King - Smackwater Jack [40:10] The Soggy-Bottom Boys - I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow [44:15] Dennis Brown - Things In Life . Okay so it's summer, you're hot and you just like sitting around, drinking a cold one (my fave drink by a country mile is Coke), and listening to music. Well hopefully this podcast is the kinda music you'd wanna be listening to. Laid back, old rock, reggae, and folk. What more do you want?
I kept the mixing to a minimum because I just liked letting the songs be....and by the way, how awesome is the song "Catch The Wind" by Donovan?
There are only 4 things I like in this world, they are in no particular order: 1) Cheap but good food 2) Good music 3) Bicameral legislatures 4) Boats
The Frying Pan has 3 out 4, which isn't too shabby. The best part is that they weren't resigned to playing just clubby songs or hip hop...they went deep, so deep I put her a## to sleep...I mean...uhh...they played a healthy dose of early '90s freestyle.
NY rocks and why my latest sighting hasn't been on like every street sign is beyond me.
If you look really closely (blown up in the bottom right) someone put black tape over parts of the "Don't Walk" red hand....so that when it lights up it gives you the finger.
This is just fantastic.
It's like street safety in the wrappings of NY grit. It's like the sigh is saying "Hey, fuck you, stop walking muthahfuckah. Also get me a sandwich. Muthahfuckah. "
One of the coolest things about last weekend in New York is that almost everywhere I went I could hear people playing Michael Jackson loudly. Every bar had a small MJ tribute, stores were playing him, cars were blaring him (myself included), and I say this without exaggeration.... his music seemed like it was everywhere. It's one of things where you feel kinda cool about where you live.
In the days that have passed since Michael Jackson died I have found myself listening to a lot of his music. I definitely liked his songs and had a lot of his music, but honestly I would rarely ever walk around with my iPod actively looking for Billy Jean.
Well like I said in the past few days I've been listening to his songs a lot and really really listening to the lyrics. I've gotta say that as much as I heard his music, I didn't spend a ton of time thinking about what he was saying because it just sounded good
BUT I've started really thinking about the actual lyrics are....and I've gotta say, half the time I'm like - uh - what the hell is going on here?
Let's take a the epic classic "Wanna be starting something." Almost nothing makes sense in this song. Nothing. And yet it's a classic. Let's run through a snibbit of the song and look at my inner thoughts:
Lyrics
My Inner Thoughts
I Said You Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
this part I know well we all know it well…
You Got To Be Startin' Somethin'
…singing along…
I Said You Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
…still singing…
You Got To Be Startin' Somethin'
…well this is just good…
It's Too High To Get Over (Yeah, Yeah)
Wait, what’s too high to get over?
Too Low To Get Under (Yeah, Yeah)
What am I trying to get under?
You're Stuck In The Middle (Yeah, Yeah)
I’m lost here, where am I stuck?
And The Pain Is Thunder (Yeah, Yeah)
Hmm, pain IS thunder. Speak the gospel Rev
It's Too High To Get Over (Yeah, Yeah)
Okay we’ve established this…
Too Low To Get Under (Yeah, Yeah)
…and I still don’t know what “IT” is
You're Stuck In The Middle (Yeah, Yeah)
I hate being in the middle. Like Jan Brady.
And The Pain Is Thunder (Yeah, Yeah)
You're A Vegetable, You're A Vegetable
Wait what?
Still They Hate You, You're A Vegetable
Back-up for a second, I’m a vegetable?
You're Just A Buffet, You're A Vegetable
Why do they hate me? I’m a buffet?
They Eat Off Of You, You're A Vegetable
What the fuck Michael!?!? What just happened here?
If You Cant Feed Your Baby (Yeah, Yeah)
Then Don't Have A Baby (Yeah, Yeah)
And Don't Think Maybe (Yeah, Yeah)
If You Can't Feed Your Baby (Yeah, Yeah)
You'll Be Always Tryin'
To Stop That Child From Cryin'
Hustlin', Stealin', Lyin'
Now Baby's Slowly Dyin'
Jokey joke aside, this verse is borderline brilliant. I never thought about the social commentary that was goin’ on here. Children. Poverty. Hopes. Dreams. Aspirations. It’s all right here.
Interlude of other choruses repeated
Help Me Sing It, Ma Ma Se,
Ma Ma Sa, Ma Ma Coo Sa
Ma Ma Se, Ma Ma Sa,
Ma Ma Coo Sa
..whew…man that was a trip. This part wit the African chanting may be the most normal part of the song….and that’s saying something.
Can you imagine what the record label must have said when they heard the lyrics? I'm sure at some point a curious record executive MUST have said the following:
Um Michael, yeah HI, hi....um soo I don't want to infringe on your artistic rights or anything, but we were sorta just wondering about some of the things in this song. Now I'm not even gonna go into the whole 'what's too high to get over, too love to get under' business because I get it... I GET IT...you're stuck. I've been stuck. You've been stuck. You have a monkey. Bubbles. I'm not gonna ask about that. But when you said the line...um...how do you say...eh..."you're a vegetable" was that like a...what was the thinking here. Was this some sorta metaphor? Because if it was you say in the next line "you're a buffet." So that seems pretty literally. I mean is this a buffet composed of only vegetables, or perhaps are you a vegetable in the human development lack of control over bodily functions way? Just throw me a bone MJ, I need a litle guidance...
...on the NY Transit Line. Okay this isn't a Black Sheep tribute page, but it's close. I'll give you podcasted DJ mixes, weird observations, musings on being Indian, and the occasional biased views of a L.A Lakers & Kings fan.
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About Me
Name: Shakes
Location: United States
Hey there, this is my little blog. You won't find anything of real interest besides good music, random observations, and occasional snibbits of stupidity.
Oakland vs. Boston, @ Fenway
