Posts Tagged ‘Music’
Weird Al Sings Pac-Man
Here’s a Weird Al Yankovic tune I’ve never heard before — Pac-Man, a parody of the Beatles’ Taxman. Read more »
What Dad Did Today 5-26-11
Once again proving that I do not sit around all day eating bon bons, here is What Dad Did Today. Read more »
Is Ke$ha Lying About Not Knowing Who Her Father Is?
Ke$ha annoys me for several reasons. Guess what? I’ve found another one. According to published reports, Ke$ha may be lying about not knowing who her father is.
Ke$ha is one of the pop stars that make me glad I don’t have daughters. I’m not a fan of her music (and I use the term loosely), and I find her image inappropriate. Do I sound like a cranky old man? Sure. But (a) I sort of am (cranky, although not THAT old yet) and (b) I’m right. Her song (again, using the term loosely) “Tik Tok” begins with her explaining that she “brushes her teeth with a bottle of Jack.” As in Daniels. Charming.
Anyway, to the matter at hand. According to the blog Allie Is Wired, Ke$ha told Rolling Stone magazine that she doesn’t know who her father is. She says that her mother “went through the necessary ways of having a child” and “didn’t want a man telling her what and what not to do. She just wanted a baby. It’s an interesting topic of conversation to other people more so than it is to myself. I don’t obsess about it.”
It could be that Ke$ha’s doesn’t obsess about not knowing who her father is because it isn’t true. (Note: this is all according to published reports, but they are from sources that most people consider reliable in terms of celebrity news.) Star Magazine interviewed Bob Chamberlain, who claims that he is spelling challenged pop tart’s father, and that both she and her mom are quite aware of his identity. Chamberlain tells Star: “I was in her life from the time she was born until she was 19 years old… [then] The contact ended, and I have no idea why.” The articles describes the dad as “devastated” by the whole she-bang, and quotes him thusly: “Maybe someone around her thought it would be better to perpetuate those myths; I don’t know.”
Gee, ya think? A manufactured image is one thing. I’m not a fan of that sort of thing, but I get it. For example, the “Avril Lavigne is a punk rocker” routine was a big pile of poop from the first time it was mentioned. Annoying, but whatever. But why would someone tell Ke$ha to pretend that she doesn’t know who her father is? Is that supposed to make her seem “edgier”, like brushing her teeth with Jack Daniels thing? Whatever the reason, it’s stupid.
Here’s an idea. Write and record good songs. Then you won’t have to worry so much about your image.
Ke$ha’s Father… Denied! | Allie is Wired.
Nina Simone Makes Me Feel Better
At the moment I’m cranky about something. I opened iTunes and planned to listen to something appropriate to my bad mood. When I saw The Best of Nina Simone, I clicked it, and realized that listening to Nina Simone makes me feel better.
Why? In the past it would have been Black Flag or something similarly loud. Now that I’m old(er) that’s not where I go. Between work and kids, I can’t afford to get my anger out my increasing the volume and releasing the emotion. I need to calm down.
Nina Simone for some reason does that. It also puts things in perspective. How? Listening to Mississippi Goddam is a good reminder that people have had, and still do have, more serious problems than the nonsense that I’m irritated by at the moment. She also has one of those genuinely unique voices and a musical style that cuts through bullshit like a hot knife through a cliché. It’s sort of punk rock without the punk rock. There’s attitude, but not the same kind of attitude. Her piano playing isn’t perfect, but that’s not important. When she sings “Oh Yeah” in Sinnerman, it’s eerie.
The Best of Nina Simone may not be the best Nina Simone album/collection of digital files; that’s just a caveat in case anyone who reads this is, in fact, a more informed fan that I am. If so, please enlighten me. I’ll probably buy that album/collection of digital files as well. The only reason I have this to listen to is because it was on sale at Amazon for $5, and I’m enough of a cheapskate that the word “sale” motivates me.
Going even further back, if I recall correctly, Nina Simone had just died and I asked my mother about her. She said I should listen to her music, specifically Mississippi Goddam. This was way back in the bad old days of file sharing, so I downloaded some random stuff and put it on a CD. The quality ranged from acceptable to crappy but it was good enough that I got the idea that this was good stuff. A few years after that, I got the album/collection of digital files on sale, and here we are.
Two things:
- my intro to Nina Simone came in part from my mother, even though I was fully gone from living under her roof at the time.
- the other day my son told me that he liked music videos more than listening to music, because it was “better.” I was surprised to hear that, and asked, “what about when you just want to listen to something?” He agreed. I don’t think that was a fully formed opinion (my opinions change constantly and I’m almost -ahem- 40), but I felt the need to nip it in the bud somewhat. Heck, he’s not even growing up with MTV. Something to think about.
The Best of Nina Simone at Amazon (no longer on sale, but still worth buying)
Annoying Kiddie Music On Sale [Deals]
Hey parents! Guess what? You can buy some annoying kiddie music on sale!
That’s right, mom and dad! (Uncles and aunts too! And don’t leave out the cousins!)
Get a digital copy of the Best Of Countdown Kids Sampler for only 99 cents! That’s right! All your favorites — The Itsy-Bitsy Spider, The Alphabet Song, Do Your Ears Hang Low? and much, much more! (OK, seven more. 10 songs total. 99 cents. Good deal if you for some reason need this sort of thing.)
Amazon.com: Best Of Countdown Kids Sampler: Countdown Kids: MP3 Downloads
Five Year Old Sings Folsom Prison Blues
I discovered Johnny Cash somewhat late in my life. Not that my life is over, mind you. But I only started sampling the Man in Black around the time that he came out with his brilliant cover of the Nine Inch Nails song “Hurt.”
This kid, however, appears to have been exposed to Cash much earlier. Like five years old. Not only is he familiar with the music, he can sing Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.”
Do we really believe the little guy when he sings, “I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die”? No. But that’s OK. As Hannah points out over at Strollerderby, “After you check out little Wesley singing the Folsom Prison Blues at a coffee shop in Seattle, I think you’ll agree that this is far too awesome to be inappropriate.”
Here’s Cash doing the song himself. Watch both videos, then give me 500 words comparing and contrasting the two styles.
DaddyTips Show and Tell for July 22, 2009
- The New York Times shows us what was happening in 1969 — Joe Namath, Led Zeppelin I, and other things that are cooler than what happened this year. (NYTimes.com)
- Darth Vader meets Hello Kitty. Hello Vader? (Zombie Panda)
- Kirk Hammett stinks at Guitar Hero. He’s the lead guitarist for Metallica. Funny. (Onion AV Club)
