Really clever powerpoint from Jennifer Egan’s new book A Visit from the Goon Squad.
Archive for the ‘Music’ Category
Great Rock and Roll Pauses
Sunday, June 13th, 2010
Worth Checking Out: Bandslam
Saturday, April 10th, 2010“Everything I Own” – Vanessa Hudgens, from the movie Bandslam. Yes, I liked the movie very much. Don’t let the movie poster, or thoughts of High School Musical, scare you away. Got curious about this film after reading this. Glad I checked it out.
Steppin’ Out By Joe Jackson Is A Great Running Song
Thursday, April 8th, 2010This song is a rush, with a beat that pushes, but there’s also a very floaty, dreamy quality to the tune. Good for long strides on a sunny day.
“Ring of Fire” by Social Distortion is a Great Running Song
Friday, March 12th, 2010This song just flat out helps pick up the pace. The vocals surf a perfect ride on top of the music. Burns, Burns, Burns. That Ring of Fire.
“Holding Out For a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler Is a Great Running Song
Saturday, February 27th, 2010Because of the voice, of course. That scratchy, husky, fierceness. And also, because the song makes you think of tractor chicken, and how great it would have been to be Ren in high school, getting your shoelace caught, facing certain death by tractor, only to have that mishap make you the God damn hero in front of the conflicted good girl/bad girl hottie. Footloose indeed! Wait a second! It just occurred to me that Ren was saved by NOT being “footloose” in that tractor scene… This is just a total eclipse of the heart.
“Under Pressure” by David Bowie & Queen Is a Great Running Song
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010I think this is a pretty no-shit-Sherlock add to the running playlist. Who isn’t “under pressure”? What if you’re at that point where even the small, inconsequential stuff is getting stressful, like when you’re on the phone placing a sushi order for delivery, and you can’t quite remember EXACTLY what your significant other asked for. Of course you didn’t write it down. But instead of just saying you need to call back in a few minutes to make sure you place the right order, you mumble out what you think she wanted. And of course you get it wrong, so now there’s even more stress. Running helps with this stuff. It takes off some of the weight and creates a little more space to maneuver, or at least maneuver with a clearer state of mind. And running to “Under Pressure” by David Bowie & Queen helps even more. It has to be one of the greatest “dismiss the sore knees, break-through the exhaustion, take the hill” songs of all time. It can also help with the fallout from tuna rolls arriving at the apartment instead of SPICY tuna rolls.
“The Worst Day Since Yesterday” by Flogging Molly Is A Great Running Song
Sunday, February 7th, 2010It’s also a great song to listen to after midnight with a stiff drink filled to the brim of a perfect drinking glass. Unusual for a song to work in both circumstances, which makes it even more special. But in terms of running, it’s certainly not a pump you up and go faster when you’re feeling like you just want to fall over to the side and lie on the ground, even though it’s cold, muddy, and hard. The song’s music and lyrics do more to help get your mind to ease up on the thoughts that are making you feel like it really is the worst day since yesterday. It occurs to me that I don’t think through anything on my runs. I certainly don’t figure out any solutions or make any decisions with regard to things that are stressing me out. I just get out there and run, and run, and run, one foot in front of the other. The longer I go, and the faster my pace, the better I feel afterwords. Yes, all the worst day since yesterday thoughts cross my mind. Sometimes these thoughts pound harder than my feet on the cement. I’m thinking about this shit, but not forcing a thought process that pushes my mind to sort out exactly how to handle it all. I think what I am doing is sweating out the stress of the matters at hand. The result is that when the time comes to deal with the various issues that are causing the stress in the first place, my mind is in a place, or at least a better place, to sort it all out. Listening to a song like “The Worst Day Since Yesterday” while I’m trudging through some long and winding uphill path sets just the right tone and helps all of this make perfect sense without having to even think about it.
“The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough” Is A Great Running Song
Sunday, February 7th, 2010I don’t know, maybe it’s because the song just takes me back. But hey, The Goonies, that lovable band of never-give-up underdogs, they didn’t just save the girl… they saved the whole damn town! I say the song by Cyndi Lauper is more than good enough.
I Never Say Goodbye to “Goodbye To You” by Scandal
Sunday, January 31st, 2010I’ve been playing around with my Running playlist, and I never delete this song. I don’t ever get sick of it when it cycles through, even if I’ve gone on an especially long run and it’s the third time I am hearing the song. And this has nothing to do with the fact that the very first concert I ever attended was a Scandal show (at the time, “The Warrior” was the big hit — I think they played that song twice).
“Goodbye To You” by Scandal is just an all around great running song that does exactly what a tried and true running song should do — it makes you want to straighten up your back, kick up your knees, pick up your pace, and most of all, just enjoy the fuck out of a good, long, hard run. Getting to that place is pretty easy at mile 3, but at mile 9, or 12, or 15, it can feel downright impossible.
The lyrics can be taken literally given your quick paced, forward movement — you can see yourself pass by mental images of the things that are dragging you down and bugging the shit out of you. One by one you pick off these annoying elements carrying too much weight in your thoughts, and as you run by them, you can say, or sing, “Goodbye to you.” The combined lack of oxygen, sore muscles and back, and adrenaline rush you are experiencing as you put one step in front of the other leads to some rather ridiculous visualizations.
That cinnamon roll I ate for breakfast yesterday, the one with all that frosting — goodbye to you.
That shithead(s) co-worker at work who doesn’t know jackshit and has no problem wasting all my time — goodbye to you.
Those four slices of pizza I ate for lunch the other day — goodbye to you.
That fucking idiot runner who just spit without looking to see if anyone was coming up behind him and almost hit my leg — goodbye to you.
That minor, insignificant squabble that happened years ago but nonetheless pops into my head every once in a while and sidetracks my whole thought process — goodbye to you.
That project at work that is making me grind my teeth — goodbye to you.
Those five miles I have left to run — goodbye to you (I wish!)
That novel I’m supposedly writing that I haven’t done anything on — goodbye to you.
That rude person that just did that really rude thing and was so rude they thought I was the one being rude — goodbye to you.
That whole facebook thing — goodbye to you.
Those five (or seven?) beers I drank the other night — goodbye to you. (or perhaps, hello to you, after I finish the run).
“My Life Would Suck Without You” Is A Great Running Song
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010Discovered this song at Rakesh Satyal’s amazingly wonderful performance of amazingly wonderful Glee songs at Don’t Tell Mama cabaret bar. I must have missed the episode where the Glee cast sang it, because I would have definitely added it to my running playlist right after the show ended. Now this is one hell of a running song. Kelly Clarkson’s got some great people writing her pop candy music.
