Cunning Pam wanted to hear some They Might Be Giants, and I don’t know how to play the accordion, so I couldn’t do Particle Man. What I could do, however, is this one:
Like this article? Follow me on Twitter!
Posts By Crommunist
2 Blogathon songathon: You’re Not the Boss of Me
3 Blogathon songathon: Thanks, Bastards!
This request comes from John Horstman, who asks for Mischief Brew’s Thanks, Bastards!
0 Blogathon songathon: Somebody Will
This next request comes from reader Julia (who is on Twitter at @djhaplo) who asked me to play a song originally performed by her group Sassafrass. It’s a rather moving ballad about how we are all, in our own way, contributing to humanity’s ascension to something greater. This one was a particular challenge for me, simply because I was totally unfamiliar with the work beforehand and didn’t have a studio version to work from. Still, I think I managed to pull it off (with thanks to Julia for sending me the sheet music).
Like this article? Follow me on Twitter!
2 Blogathon songathon: 3 Small Words
The third request of the day comes courtesy of Frogmistress, who requests the timeless classic 3 Small Words by Josie and the Pussycats.
Compare this to the original here.
Like this article? Follow me on Twitter!
4 Blogathon songathon: Eye of the Tiger
The second request comes from msm16, who asks me to play Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger:
Compare it to the original here.
Like this article? Follow me on Twitter!
2 Blogathon songathon: The Ballad of Day Kitty
The first request comes courtesy of Karen, who (because apparently she thinks I have the capacity to be embarrassed) asks me to play Lou Barlow’s The Ballad of Day Kitty:
Compare it to the original here.
Thanks Karen!
Like this article? Follow me on Twitter!
12 Bonus movie Friday: Let me Rest in Peace
Hey Cromrades, my #SSAweek Blogathon contribution day is rapidly approaching. For those of you who don’t know, I’ve pledged to learn, record, and post songs that you request, for a minimum donation of $10. Here’s a recap of the requests I’ve received thus far:
- lorenprice pledges $15, and requests “Helter Skelter” by the Beatles
- Cunning Pam pledges $25, and requests something by They Might Be Giants
- jolo5309 pledges $10(? – didn’t specify), and requests one of three Canadian jazz(ish) tunes, to be chosen by me
- John Horstman pledges $50, and requests “Thanks, Bastards” by Mischief Brew
- Julia pledges $10(? – didn’t specify), and requests an original pro-science song her a capella group performs
- Frogmistress pledges $10, and requests “3 Small Words” by Josie and the Pussycats
- MSM16 pledges $50, and requests “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor
- Karen pledges $10, and requests “The Ballad of Day Kitty” by Lou Barlow
A total of 8 donors and $180! I’ve certainly got my work cut out for me. There’s still lots of time for you to pledge and submit your request. I’d love to get past the $500 mark. Remember if JT Eberhard and I combine for a total of more than $1000, we’ll face off in an epic song battle to the tune of “Under Pressure” by Queen. If we outraise him, I’ll make him sing the RikRok part to Shaggy’s timeless “It Wasn’t Me”. Trust me – you’ll enjoy my Shaggy impression.
To try and pry your wallets open just a little bit more, here’s a video I shot last night that exposes me as the Buffy fanboy I am: … Continue Reading
3 Movie Friday: Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos
Public Enemy was the very first rap group I ever heard (aside from Hammer, but even at age 6 I wasn’t particularly a fan). My own internal conversation about race was between me, my father, a nearly-monochromatic mountain town, and Messers D, Flav, and Griff. In light of the theme of ‘othering’ and black Americans’ experiences with the ‘justice’ system, I felt this song was appropriate (language obviously NSFW):
Lyrics below the fold … Continue Reading
9 Manufacturing the ‘other’
One of the frequent memes that emerges from racial discourse is that people of colour are expected to try extra hard to justify their existence and inclusion in American society. Nowhere was this more evident than when Congressman Peter King basically revived Joe McCarthy to investigate whether or not Muslims were ‘patriotic’ enough. It is not enough, according to Mr. King, to simply live in the United States – to be a real American, Muslims have to go above and beyond to prove that they’re not ‘too Muslimy’.
Of course, those kinds of obsessive intrusions often only serve to contribute to the general climate of xenophobia that leads to radicalization in the first place. Why on Earth would you be patriotic toward a country that uses the force of its government to peer into your personal life simply because you worship the wrong god? I alluded to this kind of self-fulfilling prophecy of exclusion earlier this week:
It’s not hard, therefore, to imagine why black Americans do not see themselves reflected in the priorities of their country. It is certainly not hard to imagine that they may be less patriotic than one might expect. They see a country that seeks to lie about what it cannot hide. They see a country that seeks to erase what it cannot destroy. They see this country, and they say “god damn America”.
I would be interested to see a study investigating the causal association I believe exists between feelings of exclusion and likelihood of antisocial behaviour. We know, for example, that racial profiling by police makes members of minority communities less likely to co-operate. It’s not exactly rocket science – if you don’t believe the police are on your side, why would you work with them? What I’m curious about is whether or not that refusal to comply with social norms (i.e., recognizing authority figures) translates into a generalized contempt for other types of normative behaviours, like compliance with the law.
Or put another way, are New York’s ‘Stop and Frisk’ policies making their problems worse: … Continue Reading
9 Thefte moste foule
There have been some great musical thieves in history. Elvis Presley stole blues and R&B music from greats like Chuck Berry and B.B. King. Led Zeppelin pretty much just stole indiscriminately from everyone. Kevin Federline was a thing for a while.
However, no musical theft has ever been so egregious as the one perpetrated against me by someone I thought was a friend and colleague. JT Eberhard has unapologetically stolen my idea to record and post songs as part of SSA’s Blogathon:
::UPDATE::Ian Cromwell is auctioning off songs. I think that’s brilliant! For $10 Ian will post himself playing a song of your choice. I’ll do the same (I sing a bit). For a $10 minimum donation to the SSA (because you can always donate more) I’ll record a song of your choice in the courtyard of the SSA office (the acoustics are great!). I prefer musicals. I’ll get to as many as I can and post them as a Blogathon entry on Monday.
This. Will. Not. Stand.
As a response, I hereby challenge JT to a ‘sing-off’. No idea-thief is going to out-fundraise me. So here’s the deal: if JT’s Blogathon and mine raise a combined $1000 (that’s only 100 pledges of $10 – I know there’s at least 50 of you out there with a tenner in your pockets), we will join forces and sing the epic Queen ballad Under Pressure, with JT holding down the Freddie Mercury part and yours truly doing David Bowie’s lines.
As an added bonus, if we outraise JT, I will make him be the RikRok to my Shaggy on It Wasn’t Me, and we will post that as well. My Shaggy impression is actually pretty decent (Boombastic used to be one of my go-to songs back when I hosted karaoke back in my undergrad days).
The gauntlet has been thrown down. Don’t disappoint me, Cromrades!
Like this article? Follow me on Twitter!
Crommunist 