Talking about a song in my collection

Steve Burns - Mighty Little Man
Album: Songs for Dustmites

A tired man in his chair
Doesn't move he only stares
At the machine across the room
There's nothing there; it's not getting through
He shakes his head, finally stands up
Throws his hands up in the air
A blinding flash across the room
A sudden crash, a sonic boom
Changes everything he knew
It's everything he's never seen
The biggest deal there's ever been
Described in light upon the screen
(It said)
Nobody else is stronger than I am
Yesterday I moved a mountain
I bet I could be your hero
I am a mighty little man

From way up here you can't look down
As of now there is no ground
The microscope is turned around
Don't be alarmed, don't make a fuss
He's still like you; he's one of us
And he'll come back before too long
He takes a breath and clears his mind
Grabs his coat and steps outside
An empty street, there's no one there
He lifts himself into the air
A billion thoughts expressed as one
Etched in words across the sun
(It said)
Nobody else is stronger than I am
Yesterday I moved a mountain
I bet I could be your hero
I am a mighty little man

This was one of my favourite songs for as long as I can remember having favourite songs*.
Yes, this is the Steve Burns of "Blue's Clues" fame. Yes, when Mum got the CD when it came out, she was like, this has nothing to do with Blue's Clues. I said, "Okay." Or, at least I thought about saying "okay." I was never much of a talker.

The thing I like the /most/ about this song is the syncopated rhythm of the chorus. I do not really know what the song is about - what it all means and stuff - I just always took my own little meaning out of it. I was a new fencer back then, and winning bouts against much bigger people than myself. It was a time when I was really struggling with my disposition on life, the universe and everything. I internalized everything - to a fault - and left little indication of anything that I liked or did not like. More so even than now. I was a hollow, empty shell of myself trying to refill me with an identity I could believe in. Although I wanted this song to help me believe in myself, it did not do that. But it does have musical awesomeness.

Take Care
LQ

*Well, not really. I was ten when it came out, but it was one of the early ones. Before The Short List, some songs were just more fun to sing along with or listen to than others. Notable other faves on The Short List back then were like a-ha: Sycamore Leaves, Talking Heads: Stay Up Late, Information Society: Still Here, Tones on Tail: Slender Fungus, White Zombie: More Human than Human and pretty much the entire Young Einstein soundtrack. (Clearly influenced by a substantial exposure to Eighties music.) This was in my pre-SKA phase - the SKA phase came very shortly after from playing DoB: XBV for hours on end just to listen to Reel Big Fish.

Well, I saw the film Repo: The Genetic Opera

Well, I saw the film Repo: The Genetic Opera

I was with a group of friends at one of their's house and they were like, Hey, have you seen this? Just in general, not to me specifically.
I confided in Claire that I had reservations, but everyone else, seen it or not, seemed keen on watching it.

So, I took my typical spot in the corner and just played along nicely.

It's a musical. Hey, that is cool.

It has Anthony Stewart Head. That is cool too. His brother Murry plays the American in the performance of Chess that I have.

Sarah Brightman too. Hey, she is an incredible singer. How did she get stuck with this? Did she loose a bet?

There is Alexa Vega playing the role of me. No, I mean Shilo. I did not realize she could sing - or is it overdubbed. I will have to look into that.

And Bill Moseley, no less, of House of 1000 Corps franchise fame. I mean, grindhouse/gore flicks are not exactly my thing, but hey.

Okay, so the film. The music is pretty good, the singing is (mostly) good.

The plot was as thin as the stage blood, but, I mean, operas are not exactly known for complex plots. Yeah, there are some back stories worked out for the characters. It is not completely see through - there are some twists, but again, the point is the music which is what really makes this all work.

It is the Faustian counter plot to the Ishiguro Kazuo, Philip K Dick, et al dystopia fictions that started coming out post-WWII. If you saw the film The Island? Imagine if that... insurance... was financed - And you could not pay your bill after having put the policy into effect.

Best songs (In my opinion, and in no particular order that I will admit):
Things You See in a Graveyard
Come Back
Chase the Morning / Everyone's a Composer
Seventeen / What Chance Has a 17 Year Old Girl? (Oh-Kay... this is probably because I am me)
At the Opera Tonight
Zydrate Anatomy
Infected (Again, because I am me)
Let the Monster Rise
Genetic Emancipation
Chromaggia
Depraved Heart Murder at Sanitarium Square
I Didn't Know I'd Love You So Much
21st Century Cure

Notable mentions:
Can't Get it Up if the Girl's Breathing (Mostly for the music. Okay, and for the title.)
Genetic Repo Man

And, there are plenty more good/amusing songs

Well, that is about all I am going to blog about this thing... publicly.
Take Care
LQ

Happy gnu deer.

Okay, real quick:

[74/11308] Katy Perry - California Gurls (Passion Pit Remix) (05:12)
[75/13143] Level 42 - Lessons In Love (04:02)
[76/9530] Information Society - Strength (05:10)
[77/14324] Yaz - Sweet Thing (03:42)
[78/14343] Yelle - 85A (02:28)
[79/9541] Information Society - Hard Currency (02:34)
[80/10172] Lords Of Acid - Marijuana In Your Brain (03:56)
[81/7779] Lily Allen - Alfie (02:45)
[82/9866] Junkie XL - No Way (feat Lauren Rocket) (03:28)
[83/9863] Junkie XL - Cities In Dust (feat Lauren Rocket) (04:19)
[84/11202] Orgy - Opticon (02:57)
[85/10175] Lords Of Acid - Take Control (04:42)
[86/10808] New Order - Confusion (04:43)
[87/8857] Elvis Presley ft. Junkie XL - A little less conversation (03:33)
->[88/14342] Yelle - Mon meillur ami (03:57)

I am giving a test read to my next "installment" of the J&J series I am writing on DeviantArt.

Not so much a true and proper proof read. I will probably post tomorrow.

If you have not read any of them yet, click on my DA link over there on the right and have at it. The girls are 16 in the next segment. Maybe the next three, actually.

Take care and Happy New Year

LQ

To The City

Getting ready for my last trip to "the big city" before winter hits in earnest.  Just the usual stuff

Yeah, I go every few months, but that is not the same as when I was moving between Dad's and Mom's every summer.

I never really collected "stuff" in general, but especially not the past seven or eight years.  However, I still have ended up accumulating more in the past couple years than I had the other 6 put together.

I blame having a best friend (other than Dad.)  Not blame in a bad way, but just kinda... explain it that way.  Looking around (other than the fencing, cycling and computer paraphernalia) most of what is around are things Clare related.  I find this odd.  It is not so much that is it bothering me.  I am not having to struggle with weird emotions or anything - like I have to burn it all, or break/cut everything into little pieces.  I (hope I) am past that. But it would be more stuff to pack if I moved.  Well, not so much if I just moved back to Mom's... I'd leave it here for the spell.

On the other hand, I have a good number of books out on loan to Claire.  Which is fine.  I'll probably take them to a book shop upon their return.

Mom has promised no surprise events this trip.  It is (mostly) utilitarian.  But it is not like have that much faith in her promises when it comes to the kind of surprises she has dealt in the past.  Most things, sure, but...

On the other hand, she is understanding more that things that she thinks are "no big deal" can really freak me out, so maybe she really will keep her promise.

Again, it is not like she makes a promise knowing she will not keep it, it is just that she has not considered these parties, weddings, whatnot to be inclusive in the "No surprises" category.

But enough about all this.  I still need to get ready.  I have a lot of house cleaning and stuff to do before I travel.

Sigh.  And I have to plan what music to take with me.  Here is what I've got so far:

Kon Kan                 Peter Schilling
3 Doors Down            Pet Shop Boys
Alice In Chains         Lily Allen
Stone Temple Pilots     Camouflage               
Maroon 5                Matchbox Twenty              
The Killers             The Stone Roses                    
Third Eye Blind         Yaz  
Indecent Obsession      Orgy                         
Yelle

And I will be adding Tones on Tail and OMD at the least.

Take Care-
LQ

Saturday is almost Friday

Last weekend was okay.

Now I know where "The cake is a lie" comes from.  How come no one ever told me about this before? Maybe because I am not a "gamer" but is that really an excuse?  I mean, it is a puzzle game.  And it is so funny.  I was caught smiling at one point.  What they don't know is that I almost laughed.

But I never thought I'd ever have to really explain my youtube phobia.  

So, the guys were playing Portal and when it got to the song at the end, I was like oh, hey, I really like this song.

They were like, "Yeah? You want it?"  And I was like, "sure, where can I get it?"  And they were all, "Here" and hit google, and the next thing I knew, it was playing on youtube.  I left the room.  It was that or freak out, you know?  So there was a lot of confusion. They stopped it and got it off the screen.  I came back into the room all trembling and stuff.

It really messes me up, you know?  I have to be so careful about what links I click on and stuff.  

Yes, I really am really lame.

Still Alive Lyrics
This was a triumph.
I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.
It's hard to overstate my satisfaction.
Aperture Science
We do what we must
because we can.
For the good of all of us.
Except the ones who are dead.
But there's no sense crying over every mistake.
You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.
And the Science gets done.
And you make a neat gun.
For the people who are still alive.
I'm not even angry.
I'm being so sincere right now.
Even though you broke my heart.
And killed me.
And tore me to pieces.
And threw every piece into a fire.
As they burned it hurt because I was so happy for you!
Now these points of data make a beautiful line.
And we're out of beta.
We're releasing on time.
So I'm GLaD. I got burned.
Think of all the things we learned
for the people who are still alive.
Go ahead and leave me.
I think I prefer to stay inside.
Maybe you'll find someone else to help you.
Maybe Black Mesa
THAT WAS A JOKE.
HAHA. FAT CHANCE.
Anyway, this cake is great.
It's so delicious and moist.
Look at me still talking
when there's Science to do.
When I look out there, it makes me GLaD I'm not you.
I've experiments to run.
There is research to be done.
On the people who are still alive.
And believe me I am still alive.
I'm doing Science and I'm still alive.
I feel FANTASTIC and I'm still alive.
While you're dying I'll be still alive.
And when you're dead I will be still alive.
STILL ALIVE (x2)

RIP Peter Steele

Birth name Petrus T. Ratajczyk
Also known as Peter Steele; Pete Steele; Lord Petrus Steele
Born January 4, 1962(1962-01-04), Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died April 14, 2010 (aged 48)

Not too sure what to say, but I ran across the news this morning and I was like... Whoa.

Heart Attack at 48.

Maybe shock is keeping me from being able to express exactly what I feel?  I was never like a "ZOMG I am SUCH a Type O Negative Fan!!!!" but they were always there.  I put them on (really loud at times) when there was just nothing else that would fix it.  I mean, sure... there are a few artists that I put on (really loud at times) when there was just nothing else that would fix it, but they seemed to fix different things.  And there were somethings that I really needed Peter's voice for.  I am listening to Bloody Kisses now and...

I really hope I can get over this, and, in time, get what I used to out of their music, but now - Right this moment, I feel like I will never be able to listen to them the same again... and it will never be able to fix what it used to.

But, I guess that is _really_ selfish of me.
Oh, wait... this is _my_ blog.

So, that is the news... and I have not figured out how I feel yet.

Sadness....

Lady Quindecim.

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 15/15

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 15/15 (in no particular order that I will admit to):
15) "More Human Than Human"

I am cheating on this one.

See, Blade Runner - in the film the Tyrell corp produces the Nexus replicants (androids).  Their motto is "More human than human."  Their product has an expiration date.  In the film, the current product generation is "Nexus 6"

And White Zombie - the song has the line, "I am the Nexus One, I want more life [censored] I ain't done."  And so on.  So, the two are inseparable in my mind.

Okay, now, for the rest, well, I can imagine a replicant thinking of himself like the zombie described in the song.

The replicants were made to do the things that humans did not want to do, or were too dangerous to do.  Mostly described in the film, they were pleasure androids and wariers.  They were also used as assassins and other things like that and they had become so human-like, that they were made illegal to have on earth.
So, Tyrell corp experimented with giving them a "past" - a collection of fictitious human histories by which they can develop an empathy for the human perspective.  This, as the replicants began to approach their own expiration date, caused much introspection as they also developed a stronger, living-organism-like, sense of self preservation.  This is also described in the lyrics:
"Yeah, I am the jigsaw man
I turn the world around with a skeleton hand - say
I am electric head,
A cannibal core,
A television said - yeah
.
.
.
Into a psychic war,
I tear my soul apart and I eat it some more"

"jigsaw man" - their parts are synthetic, vat grown, and then assembled.
"I turn the world around with a skeleton hand" - describes that thier super-human qualities put them outside the natural world, able to control it; but (skeleton hand) still not human, not "living", and not in control of their own, ultimate destiny.
"electric head" - android
"cannibal core" - self expiring - time limit.
"television said" - not quite sure, but I have my thought on this... maybe referring to their "invented past"
Then
"Into a psychic war" - refers to the point at which they suffer an internal struggle driven by psychological motivators.
"I tear my soul apart and I eat it some more" - the introspection they go through during the "psychic war"

So, the film was awesome.  It is iconic of the "dystopian future."  It helped define a genre.  There is a lot missing from the book, but the film stands well enough on its own.  I have seen it with and without the narration, but I saw it with, first, so memory kept filling it in, so I do not know that I can form a proper opinion of the director's cut.

Take Care-
LQ

(p.s. Spell check does not know dystopian, but it know utopian?  How wrong is that?)

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 14/15

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 14/15 (in no particular order that I will admit to):
14) "Some Enchanted Evening"

Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Film: American Graffiti (1973)

["Some Enchanted Evening"?]
{Yeah}
[Really?]
{Yeah}
[Of all the great songs in the film... Really?]
{Yeah.  Hush. I'll explain.}

I remember it well; the first I saw the film.  I was about 10 or 11.  I was in the hospital and feeling really down and drugged.  Mum was like, "Hey, LQ," except she never calls me 'LQ', "Do you want to watch such and such," and, "Blah blah is coming on later."  And I was like, "Whatever, Mum, I don't really care... mumble mumble zzzzz."

Then I had like stired, like, "Han Solo never said that, mumble mumble... zzzzzz."

Then I heard Harrison Ford singing "Some Enchanted Evening" and I started laughing.  I just started laughing so hard I started crying.  I was still laughing when the nurse Mom called came in.  Nurse was like, "Okay, she's laughing?  So?"  Mom said, "I haven't heard her laugh in 4 years."  That was sobering.  (She called Dad later when she thought I was asleep... just to tell him that I laughed.) But anyway, I think Falfa was great.  I idolized Milner.  It was such a fun and heart-felt story.

I really like the song "Green Onions", "You're Sixteen", "Do You Wanna Dance"... the list goes on...
I really like the way the story was told - through the night, bouncing back and forth through the plot lines - then the little wrap up at the end.
... the thing about deciding where your heart belongs, even when it is not the easy thing to do.
... the thing about following your dreams, but knowing your limits.

"Some Enchanted Evening" was so out of place; completely random and nonsequiter.  This big ol' cowboy breaking out into opera to break the silence.

So, there you have it.  #14 of my top fifteen songs-from-films list.  This one was more late from the "getting-round-to-it" than from any indecision.  This has always been a special film for me, and mostly because if this song.

Take Care-
LQ

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 13/15

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 13/15 (in no particular order that I will admit to):
13)"People Are Strange"
Written by The Doors
Performed by Echo & The Bunnymen (as Echo and The Bunnymen)
Produced by Ray Manzarek
Courtesy of WEA Records
Film: The Lost Boys (1987)

This was the first... "shared"... music I had ever received.  The girl that gave me the CD also introduced me to Echo & The Bunnymen.  This was some time ago... like a few years.  We had been talking about bands we liked and she said that she had this soundtrack with these really cool bands and she gave me a copy.  She was like the first "goth" I knew.  She copied her older sister with like, everything.  Thought it was cool to wear her hand-be-downs because it was like being all "indi" and shopping the second-hand stores, but it was free, and she knew who had it last. 
I was listening to it and Dad had thought I was watching the file, until he came into the room-proper.  I was like, no, someone gave me a copy of the soundtrack.  Later, we watched the film.  It was cool.  I don't think too much of some of the tracks out of the context of the film, but I was like... wait, this one band sounds familiar.  Dad was like, Yeah, that's E&tB.  He went out with a girl that was really into them.  She gave him a tape of the soundtrack because it had E&tB on it.  Then he named some other E&tB songs, showed me his 12" of "Paint it Black".  So, Monday at school, I went back to my friend and was like "Wow, I really like E&tB" and said I saw the film and she was like "Yeah, ain't it great?" and I was like comparing them to Love and Rockets and her "boyfriend" was like "Yeah, they are great" and started trying to talk to me about L&R a lot... a lot... and creeping me out and my friend thought I was trying to steal her boyfriend, or didn't want him to be around me because she felt threatened or something.  Then it was Summer Break and she had new friends in the fall.
Boyfriend was in quotes because we were pretty young.  It was like, this is the boy, that is her friend, and the one that she let hold her hand and buy her desert at lunch.  (Due to research I had conducted trying to figure things out about me, I paid a lot of attention to any of my friends relationships with "boyfriends"... I was already terrified of boys.)

So, back to the film.  After Dad and I watched it, he asked me what I thought because I looked pensive, he said.  So I curled up in his lap and explained: If I was a vampire, it would cure me and I wouldn't die.
He said that the trade-off would be that I had to kill people.
I said that in some of the stories, they don't have to kill.
We went on then talking about a number of books and films about living forever, and miracle cures.  That was when he gave me Virtual Light.  See, in Andromeda Strain, they explain that for a virus to be successful, it could not kill its host.  So it mutates to a non fatal strain by the time it is unleashed on the world.  In Virtual Light, this happens to HIV - a non-fatal, dominant strain is identified and vaccine is made.  I love the book, but I was also pissed because I didn't want to die.  I wanted it to be real.  I was kinda torn because I both loved and hated the book.  So he gave me Neuromancer to read and I got over the hate and read the rest of the Sprawl trilogy, then re-read Virtual Light and moved on to Iduro and All Tomorrow's Parties, then backed up to the Burning Chrome collection of short stories, and I read The Difference Engine.... and I have really wandered away from The Lost Boys, haven't I.

In short, I was introduced to my favourite author because of a conversation about vampires and "cure-alls" and whatnot.

The title of the film is a reference to the companions of Peter Pan, who remained forever young.

This film invented the phrase "vamp out", which has passed into common usage on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"

In the cave of the Lost Boys you can see a poster of Jim Morrison who recorded the original version of "People are Strange" with The Doors. And when Star and Laddie are being carried into Sam’s room, you can see a poster of Echo & the Bunnymen who recorded the version used in the film.

Notable contenders:
"Cry Little Sister (Theme From The Lost Boys)"
Written by Mike Mainieri (as Michael Mainieri) and Gerard McMahon (as Gerard McMann)
Performed by Gerard McMahon (as Gerard McMann)
Produced by Mike Mainieri (as Michael Mainieri)
Co-Produced by Gerard McMahon (as Gerard McMann) and Bruce Martin

"To The Shock Of Miss Louise"
(uncredited)
Music by Thomas Newman

Sorry about getting a little off topics there, but I had recently read Welcome Chaos, by Kate Wilhelm where there is an enzyme that kills about 50% of the people that come in contact with it (transmitted sexually, but it also goes out as a "vaccine"), but the survivors live for ever, immune to all disease, even old age.  It had brought that old conversation back to mind.  It was a Regan Era "Cold War" story.

Anywho,
Take Care-
LQ

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 12/15

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 12/15 (in no particular order that I will admit to):
12)"Navarre And Isabeau's Dual Transformation"
Well, this is almost another "The whole flippin soundtrack" one... and another "just put it on for the music" films.  Oh, yeah.  I am talking about the Ladyhawke soundtrack, which is effectively by The Alan Parson's Project... almost.  Here is the Wikipedia entry on that:
[quote]The film's score was composed by Andrew Powell. Richard Donner stated that he was listening to The Alan Parsons Project (on which Powell collaborated) while scouting for locations, and became unable to separate his visual ideas from the music.[/quote]
So, being familiar with Alan Pardons Project, then seeing this film, I was like, "Dad, this sounds like Alan Parsons" and he was like, "I think they did do the soundtrack."  So we looked.  The Wiki entry was not there and so tracing it back, we were initially lead to believe that The Alan Parsons Project was to be credited.  Then we found that it was more Powell than Parsons, but neverthemind.
The music is awesome.  The film is funny, cute, fanciful... just _really_ good.

• Matthew Broderick as Philippe Gaston
• Rutger Hauer as Captain Etienne Navarre
• Michelle Pfeiffer as Isabeau d'Anjou
• Leo McKern as Father Imperius
• John Wood as Bishop of Aquila
• Ken Hutchison as Marquet
• Alfred Molina as Cezar
• Giancarlo Prete as Fornac

Well, Broderick seemed a bit out of place, but I got used to the character and he does pull it off.  Everyone else is spot on.
The film was filmed in Italy, primarily in a (and around) a real little medieval town call L'Aquila. The tune that Isabeau and Phillipe dance to in the stable is a genuine Italian 14th Century dance named "Trotto".  The breed of horse that Navarre rides is a Friesian, popular among medieval knights.  There was so much put into the production to give it such an authentic feel.

So, why go with such anachronistic soundtrack?  I feel that it serves to bring us, the contemporary audience, back to another world of magic and fantasy - a bridge to transport us there.

I like to listen to Alan Parson while doing school work, and sometimes while cooking.  Sometimes, I will put some on and curl up with Dad on the sofa while he reads.

So, this one part of the film, we see the two, Navarre and Isabeau, transform together, almost touching, and all the pain, and all the love, and the sum of their cursed existence.   The song is instrumental, so there is not much to say about it, but watching, and listening, it just all comes together to take its place at number twelve.

Take Care-
LQ

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 11/15

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 11/15 (in no particular order that I will admit to):

11)"Wouldn't It Be Good"
Written and Performed by Nik Kershaw
Performed by Danny Hutton Hitters
Film Pretty in Pink (1986)  - Yeah, like a lot of these, well before I was born.

It was surprisingly difficult to come up with ONE song for the representative for the list.

[quote]I got it bad, you don't know how bad I got it
You got it easy, you don't know when you've got it good
It's getting harder just keeping life and soul together
I'm sick of fighting even though I know I should

The cold is biting through each and every nerve and fibre
My broken spirit is frozen to the core
I don't wanna be here no more
...[/quote]

Yeah, I think about this one a lot.  Sometime more than others, and at times it has different meanings for me.

As for the film, it is (possibly) my fave of its ilk.  I take that back... I love the book.  The film was good.  If the film had the same ending as the book, then it would be my fave of its ilk.  So, I pretend.

Here were the runner ups for which song from this film:
"If You Leave"
Written by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (as OMD)
Performed by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Courtesy of Virgin Records, Ltd.
By Arrangement with A&M Records, Inc.
Because... well, it's OMD
Funny thing about that, actually.  I read in an interview that their record company was like "You have not had a hit in a long time and you need a hit."  And they were like "We don't care about having hits, we care about writing our music."  and the company was like "hello?  Paycheck?" and they were like, "Fine." and they did and it was and then they were like "Now we can go back to writing our stuff."

"Bring On The Dancing Horses"
by Will Sergeant, Ian McCulloch, Les Pattinson, Pete DeFreitas
Performed by Echo & The Bunnymen
Courtesy of WEA Records / Sire Records
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products
Just because.

"Shell-Shock"
by New Order & John Robie
Performed by New Order
Courtesy of Factory Records / Qwest Records
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products
My fave New Order song.  _WAY_ better than Blue Monday.  :ack:

So, if these 15 were in some kind of normal, ranked order, this one would have more... prime... position.  But these are in no particular order/ranking that I will admit to, so here it is at number (what number are we at? [what kind of grammar is that?]{oh, hush}) eleven.

So, anywho, yeah, coming to a thing on this entry was really holding things up.  I thought about moving on to the next one, but for reasons I won't [Can't]{Won't}[Whatever] explain, I just had to hold off until I got here.

Take care-
LQ

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 10/15

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 10/15 (in no particular order that I will admit to): 
10) Amadeus - the whole thin - What can I say, it's Mozart.
I mean, the film leaves some to be desired, but as a piece of cinema fiction with good tunes - there you have it.

On another note...
When I originally posted this on another blog last summer, in this spot, I talked about Linux Mint being... heavier than my computer was really happy with, and that I was thinking about giving something really thin like Zenwalk or Slackware a try.


I did, but still went back to Mint.  I have, with more RAM, found more happiness with Mint, yet, due mostly to restlessness, gave Slackware another go.


See next post for more how all that went (is going.)

Anywho,
Take Care-
LQ

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 9/15

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 9/15 (in no particular order that I will admit to):
09) "Ça plane pour moi" by Plastic Bertrand

"Ça plane pour moi"
Single by Plastic Bertrand
A-side	"Ça plane pour moi"
B-side	"Pogo Pogo"
Released	December 1977
Format	7"
Genre	Punk
Length	3:00
Label	AMC
Writer(s)	Yvan Lacomblez
Producer	Francis 'Lou' Deprijck

Film - National Lampoon's European Vacation - but this is not the one I am blogging about.

Film - Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Film -... Yeah, this one gets used a bit, actually, and I don't know what all in.

It has been covered a number of times by a number of artists - including The Presidents of the United States of America.  (For those of you playing along at home, The Presidents of the United States of America is one of the bands I listen to sometimes.  My favourite song of theirs being "Kitty" - but nevermind that right now.  And I just think that "nevermind" _should_ be one word.  I mean really.  With all the words and phrases that got slammed together (coupled?) to make one word out of them, how did "nevermind" get missed?  I guess it would have been something like "nevertheemind" or "whatforsoothdoththoumeantsbythinkingsuchthings" but I digress.

There was a lot of good music in Ferris Buler's Day Off, but this one takes the cake.  Sputnik's Love Missile F-111 is great, Oh Yeah by Yellow, and many others, but this one, in its silliness, takes the cake.  It is a silly song.  It is one of those songs where it is not supposed to make sense - just lots of silliness strung together.  And the scene is the delinquent trio in silly shots strung together.

Um... Short one today.  I mean, yeah, I could talk more about the film, but "Ça plane pour moi" really is a bunch of random phrases and whatnot put together for fun and whatnot.  The song is not really _about_ anything, eh?

Take Care-
LQ

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 8/15

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 8/15 (in no particular order that I will admit to):
08) "I HEAR MOTION"
Composed by Sean Kelly, Andrew Duffield, James Freud and Barton Price
Performed by Models
Film: Young Einstein

Again, one of my all-time fave films; one of my all-time fave songs.  Duh, right?  Hello - on the list.
Yahoo Serious is an amazing human.  This film was fun and silly and all his.  His friends and family helped him make it.
This song has a great beat, and you can dance to it.  This may not be completely - blatantly - obvious, but I like music.

"
Now let it out
    Shout to the night
And so it goes
    I hear motion
Just count it out
    Shout in your sleep
You'll say the word
    I hear motion

When it is Christmas for every one else
    I feel I'm missing the point. 
Sing Happy Birthday
    Sing Happy New Year
Whisper the words we all want to hear
"

So.... yeah.

Again, I do not have a whole lot to say about this without just going into the film plot and whatnot.  I mean, either you saw the film and were like "that was weird" or you saw it and were like, "Okay, that was funny" or you never heard of it and I don't want to just ruin it for you.

This script was like - SO - anachronistic.  In this scene, Albert Einstein invents rock and roll music, inspired by the rhythm of children playing hopscotch, and converts a violin to an electric guitar.  It went something like "...A scientific musical theory based on the human heartbeat.  4 bars, 4 beats to the bar... with a back beat.  In that state, the gravity will 'roll' to the down beat. Therefore, the body motion must 'rock' to the up beat.  A new musical theory; 'Roll & Rock'" or some such monologue.

So... yeah.  Yahoo Serious.  One of my favourite people in the world.  This was his (first) film, and my favourite (of many very good) songs from it.

Take Care-
LQ

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 7/15

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 7/15 (in no particular order that I will admit to): 

07) "Shine"
Written and Performed by Martin Ansell
Courtesy of Island Records
Film: Better off Dead

First off, this is a very, very funny film.  It has a cool car, cute guys, cute girls and that uniquely '80 teen film lack of sensible film making.  Now, there are some really good songs in here that are hilarious because of their part of the movie.  "Everybody Wants Some" for example, with the clay-mation burgers dancing, Elizabeth Daily singing "A Little Luck", that whole break-up montage on the radio.  And there are other songs in here (original and not) that I really like at well, like "Arrested By You" and "Like To Get To Know You Well."

This one won out because it is happy and sunny and the scene is where the _foreign_ girl shown the local boy all the things he has been missing around him and taking for granted.  And '80 ski film.

I guess this is kind of a short one.  Not a lot to say about it, but it is one of my favourite films, and it is a great part of the film and it would not be the same without this song.

Take Care-
LQ

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 6/15

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 6/15 (in no particular order that I will admit to): 

06) "AS THE WORLD FALLS DOWN"
Written by David Bowie
Produced by David Bowie and Arif Mardin
Performed by David Bowie
Film: Labyrinth (1986)

There were a few from this great movie; Underground, Magic Dance, Thirteen O'clock; but this one talks to me on a different level.  Again, the scene and the song together create that powerful image.  For me, this is where she realises she is insane, so I can relate.  No, I'm kidding there.  It is like she realises that everything before then has been like a dream - a non-reality and she has to break through the illusion within and fight her back to reality... when she accepts the realisation that she is in control of her reality - that her fears, fantasies, delusions and perceptions cannot control her unless she lets them - sort of thing.

It is a good David Bowie song. It is a good song in the film and in the story.  It is just plain a good song.

It's not that I relate to "Sarah": No step mum, no baby "half" brother (no brother of any kind), and I think (unfortunately) I *do* feel like I am the centre of my daddy's world.
:However:
There is that whole thirteenth hour - things not as they are - can't take anything for granted sort of vibe.

It is just way cool!

Take Care-
LQ

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 5/15

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 5/15 (in no particular order that I will admit to): 

05) "Dare To Be Stupid"
Performed by 'Weird Al' Yankovic
Film: Transformers: The Movie - the first one.

If you've seen the movie, you know this is on the junk world.  I can't imagine a better song for the scene... but I am not sure that part wasn't spawned from listening to the song.  I mean, I like Weird Al.  I was already familiar with several of his songs.  I am "too young" for the original Transformers series, so my introduction to the Transformer's universe was with this film.  I wanted to see it before I saw the new movie (the first new movie) so Dad put it on.  He had it on VHS from, like, back when.  Goodness only knows.

I always liked bumblebee and I was kinda torn on the not-being-a-vdub-in-the-new-release, but I digress.

So, "Dare to be Stupid" is not an actual song parody, but this is one of Weird Al's early attempts at writing a parody of a band's distinctive style.  It really worked well.  Mark Mothersbaugh said when asked about it, "This is the kind of song I would like to write.  It sounds more Devo than Devo."  Or something like that.  I forget.  But still, the gist of it being that he captured the Devo sound, people were convinced it was a Devo song parody, but they could not figure out which.  He has since written original songs in the styles of NIN, Dead Milkmen, that band with those guys in it, and more.

Now time for a little odd connection:

[quote=wikipedia] 

[Neuromancer] Video game

In 1988, a video game adaptation [of the novel], designed by Bruce J. Balfour, Brian Fargo, Troy A. Miles, and Michael A. Stackpole, was published by Interplay. The game, also titled Neuromancer, had many of the same locations and themes as the novel, but a different protagonist and plot. It also featured, as a soundtrack, a computer adaptation of the Devo song "Some Things Never Change." It was available for a variety of platforms, including the Amiga, the Apple II, the Commodore 64, and for DOS-based computers.

[/quote]

For those of you who have been following along, Neuromancer was written by William Gibson. (see song number 2/15 on this "list")

I think that is it for this one.
So, Put all your eggs in one basket and squeeze all the Charmin you can.
Take Care-
LQ

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 4/15

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 4/15 (in no particular order that I will admit to): 

04) "Camelot Song (Knights of the Round Table)"
Words by Graham Chapman and John Cleese
Music by Neil Innes
Film: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Liked so much, it was done in Lego(tm).  It just gets into your head and stays there.  What else can I really say about it? 
I had seen some Monty Python before seeing Holy Grail (Penguin on the telly, Spanish inquisition, confuse-a-cat, funniest joke) (and many more since then) but was not really prepared for the hilarity.  And the little guy in the dungeon... he was so funny... I picture myself there so often.

Brave Sir Robin bit is good and funny, and the guy who wants to sing, but all these other songs and stuff are like, part of the story.  This one is ... "On second thought, let's not go there.  It's a silly place."  It just makes me laugh.  I am almost laughing now.

Oh, I guess this is turning out to be kinda short.

I am not quite sure about some of the songs in "The Meaning of Life" - if they will make the list.  I am kink of making this up as I go.  Of course, it is my list, so I suppose I am entitled.

Anywho,
Take Care-
LQ

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 3/15

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 3/15 (in no particular order that I will admit to): 
03) -Dual of the Fatesby John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra
Film: Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
This... this alone right here, that make the film watchable.  I mean, I like SW EP1. 
There are a number of "okay" things about it, but This song, in This scene - were they not what they are, the film would... not be good - would instead be a gratuitous collection of fan candy.  (Ooh... I like that.  I need to remember it.)

The piece has a contemporary, modern relevance, and a classic, timeless structure that makes it one of the most powerful pieces in modern theatre.  The scene, while seemingly meaningless to the one film's primary plot thread (it does not help win the Battle of Naboo), it is the groundwork for the ultimate struggle that is unresolved until Vader kills the emperor in episode six - the first of many Jedi to be killed by the Sith and the good within triumphing over evil. 
Now, I'm not saying that Vader off-ing the emperor makes up for all the stuff he did bad - just that, well, I think he finally saw the weakness in the dark side.  Now, if only Tom Riddle could have learned the same lesson, his cool snake would not have had to loose it's head.

The song does not hold anything really personal or anything like that, I just really, really like it and it belongs on this list.
Take Care-
LQ

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 2/15

Top Fifteen Movie Songs 2/15 (in no particular order that I will admit to):
02) "I SEE THROUGH"
Performed by Rollins Band
Written by Henry Rollins, Melvin Gibbs, Sim Cain, Chris Haskett
Published by Sony Songs, Inc. / Men-O-Rok / Archetext Music / Imago Music, Inc. (BMI)
Produced by Theo Van Rock
Engineered by Peter Rave
Recorded at Echo Creek Ranch; Myers, CA
Rollins Band appears courtesy of The Imago Recording Company
Film: Johnny Mnemonic

Yeah, I go on a lot about this film, but with very good reason:
Based on the short story of the same name by my favourite author, William Gibson
William Gibson also wrote the screenplay.
Henry Rollins is in it.  (Hot body - just wish there was more in the film.)
It has a great soundtrack.

Okay, Raise you hand if you actually say thin one.
Now, Raise you hand if you actually read the short story... before seeing the film.

There is an interesting story here...
Gibson, in the late 80's, sold the movie rights to Neuromancer.  It got as far as getting Devo to do some soundtrack work for it, but alas, the project was never finished. 
Johnny Mnemonic was the precursor to the Sprawl trilogy - Neuromancer, Count Zero and Monalisa Overdrive - and the first time we see Molly Millions  (also known as Sally Shears in Monalisa Overdrive, and "the Steppin' Razor" to the residents of Zion.)
Molly is in the Sprawl tril, so, not having the rights to the character, could not be included in Johnny Mnemonic.  In comes Jane.  Jane is not just a re-naming of Molly, but more on that in a minute.
Gibson was working on the Bridge trilogy - Virtual Light (1993), Iduro (1996) and All Tomorrow's Parties (1999) - when working on the screenplay of JM (released 1995).
Gibson went on tour with the band U2 (the Zeuropa tour) while working on Iduro (for inspiration).
On the soundtrack, we have:
"ALEX DESCENDS INTO HE[ck] FOR A BOTTLE OF MILK/KOROVA 1"
Performed by Bono and The Edge
Written by Bono and The Edge
(There is some mutual fandom between Gibson and members of the band.)

So, having the film of Neuromancer fall short of ever getting finished, Gibson figured on this being his one big chance.  He incorporated elements of the Sprawl and Bridge trilogies into the screenplay.  Among the most prevalent are:
"Heaven" - the bridge is largely right out of the trillogy.
Jayne (the Molly replacement) is strongly influenced by the character Chevette Washinton.
Ratz from Neuromancer becomes Hookie.

So... well, that was a lot on the film, but what about the song!?

I am a major fan of Henry Rollins.  There are a lot of really good songs on the soundtrack (by Stabbing Westward, KMFDM, Orbital, the afore mentioned Bono and The Edge...) but "I See Through" ... the sound of the music, the sound of his voice... Ah... what a song.  It is (basically) (to me) about facing your fear and staring it down until you "see through" - the fear, the darkness, etc.

Anywho, there you have it.
Take Care-
LQ