It's Gonna Be One of Those Days...Livin' in a Cardboard Box...

Are you familiar with those days that you just wake up knowing that all Hell is going to break loose and not yet knowing quite how it's going to happen?  I think we all are... 


I took off yesterday to run some errands and finish a cleaning and remixing job... My errands

went without incident aside from my falling backwards into a bush while I was pulling a sprinkler across a yard and then I returned to Metropolis, grabbed a cheeseburger at McDonald's (sorry SKT) and took off for the cleaning and remixing gig.

My Most Traumatizing Valentine's Day Evah ...

The year was 1990... I was a Sophomore at Massac High School and I was in a rather serious 2 month and 9 day relationship with a certain fabulous looking young man who was (and still is, haha) exactly 6 months to the day older than me.

During this two months we did what most kids in their middle teens did...  he taught me how to drive a stick shift.. or tried until I almost ran his Escort off into "that deep ditch in the Round Knob curve" and we parked and made out down by the train track because there was no Harrah's Casino here then and you could do that... we spoke of our undying love for one another and the possibility of marriage and children...

These plans were all short lived though when I didn't hear from him on the night before Valentine's Day... I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that I never wanted to feel again.  Little did I know I was to feel that same terrible feeling approximately 4,583 more times before my 35th birthday...

At school on Valentine's Day, this fellow ignored any opportunity for us to talk without people around to the best of his ability and told me he would stop by my house after school so we could talk... Little did I know that years later I would find a spouse with this same 'charming', evasive quality...

I rushed home from school to freshen up and prepare myself for our chat.  I didn't have a good feeling, but with all of my teenage "moon-pie-eyed-ness" I thought maybe this feeling was nothing, everything would be fine and I would go on to marry this boy and live happily ever after...

That was not to be...  In a bit this fellow arrived at my folks' house with a chocolate Valentine's bear in hand.  He stood in the middle of my parents' living room, pitched the chocolate bear on the coffee table and said, "My mom said I needed to bring you that...  let's go outside and talk...."

I was now officially feeling more gut-wrenched than I ever had.  I'd "went with" a few boys for a week or so here and there... but this relationship had gone on for over two months!!  I couldn't believe I was witnessing it's demise... the next 45 minutes to an hour and a half is a blur of crying and throwing up in my parents' yard...

That day remains one of my most memorable Valentine's Days...  and all of these years later, that fellow and I have continued our friendship.  I messaged him on Facebook this morning to tell him "Happy 21st Anniversary of breaking up with me in my folks' yard..." and he reminded me quickly that it happened in 1990 and it's actually been 22 years... isn't it something how time flies...

As I was writing and pondering this morning I began to wonder what I wrote on Valentine's day of last year... and then I recalled I had written in the Ocho-rific Song o' the Day that day.  In addition to bringing you the link to that blog below, I want to let you know that I'm very close to having some time to focus on bringing the Ocho-rific Song o' the Day back to daily, Monday thru Friday.

Until then, I hope you'll enjoy this little diddy from this day last year....
Have a Grand and Groovy Day!
If You Liked It ~ Share It!

Please and Thanks!

The Ocho-rific Song o' the Day has relocated!!

The Ocho-rific Songs 'o the Day that have already been posted here will remain here,
but I've set up a new blogspot from which to post the Ocho-rific Song 'o the Day.

Journey to the Nucleus of my Noggin will, of course remain in tact and continue to bring you favorites such as Have I Ever Told You About the Time I was Arrested?, A Big Ole Rambly Blog about Colby and his Controlling Mother, and Manifesting Spa Accoutrements - 101.

Be sure to "follow" or "subscribe" before you leave here and when you get there ...!!

Please and thanks!!

the Ocho-rific Song 'o the Day

The Ocho-riffic Song o' the Day - 8/17/2010 - A La Tears for Fears

((Well it doesn't feel very Ocho-riffic to me now because it's four days late.  I intended for this to be the Ocho-riffic song of the day on Friday the 13th.  Needless to say, the morning got away from me and by the end of the night, the LAST thing on earth I felt was Ocho-riffic.  And so, I'll take another run at making this a daily feature ... to challenge myself, if nothing else ...))

Everybody Wants to Rule the World
Tears for Fears -

It was the first Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit for Tears for Fears on June 8, 1985.




Welcome to your life

There's no turning back

Even while sleep

We will find you


Acting on your best behavior

Turn your back on mother nature


Everybody wants to rule the world


It's my own design

It's my own remorse

Help me to decide

Help make the most
Of freedom and of pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever

Everybody wants to rule the world


There's a room where the light won't find you

Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down

When they do I'll be right behind you

So glad we've almost made it
So sad they had fade it
Everybody wants to rule the world

I can't stand this indecision

Married with a lack of vision

Everybody wants to rule the world


Say that you'll never never never need it

One headline why believe it ?

Everybody wants to rule the world


All for freedom and for pleasure

Nothing ever lasts forever

Everybody wants to rule the world



When asked how he feels about singing "Rule the World" after all these years; Curt Smith said, "I don't have a problem with that song. It was the perfect recording of that song. So it's actually kind of gratifying. I have no issues with it. Once you hit the beginning bars and that little guitar break, it's quite joyous. I still get a buzz from it. There are issues I have with other songs like Shout, because I'm not an angry 22-year-old anymore. So that, we've changed the arrangement. Basically, if you have an issue with something, you just try and change it and update so that emotionally it works for you now. But Rule the World doesn't need changing." ((read the entire article in the Toronto Sun!!))

Have a grand and groovy day ....
If you liked it, share it!!

Please and Thanks!

August 16th, 1977 - A memory from the nucleus of my noggin...

As I read my mom's blog this morning, she recalled her memories of this day in 1977.  As I read her words, they tickled something in the back of my brain and I realized that I too had a memory of this day in 1977; though I was only three.



Picture it ... Massac County ... 1977 ... Fidget Comer was grilling on the patio, no doubt in her apron and I was close at hand; as I usually was ... assisting :)   Just inside the screen door, the phone jingled.  ((By the way, do y'all remember what a jingling phone sounds like?  Such a pleasant sound in comparison to the beepers, buzzers and songs that we have on our phones now...anywho, I digress...)) Mom sent me in to answer the phone and on the other end was my aunt insisting that I get Mom immediately and tell her Elvis was dead.  I started for the screen door as Mom finished flipping whatever was on the grill and came inside. I handed her the phone and told her Elvis had died. 


The only thing I remember after that is the ensuing confusion when my Auntie directed Mom to find the station currently playing Mr. Bojangles, as that's the one she'd heard the shocking news on.  Mom's never been up to speed on current music ... and I guess this must have also been true in 1977.  ((Bob Dylan, my apologies....:) ))



As a kid... I was a pretty huge Elvis fan for a phase. I was from the "camp" ((...although I never went to camp :) )) in the late 80's who believed Elvis faked his death in 1977 and was still alive.  I never really bought into Kalamazoo, but I felt then and still do that enough intriguing points have been raised over the years to suggest that it was a very strong possibility.



As a side note, it was on this date in 1962 that Ringo Starr took over for Pete Best as drummer of the Beatles ... which brings me to this; it must be quite a statement of this "neck of the woods" that I can remember the death of Elvis Presley in 1977; but can't remember the death of John Lennon in 1980.



Ahhh .... Life in the Heartland ....

________________________________________________________
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-A Snack for your Noggin-
-Other things that have happened on August 16th-

2005 –
West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crashes near Machiques, Venezuela, killing the 160 aboard.

1987 –
A McDonnell Douglas MD-82 carrying Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes on take-off from Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, Michigan (Detroit), killing 155 passengers and crew. The sole survivor is four-year-old Cecelia Cichan.


1960 –
Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three records that still stand today: High-altitude jump, free-fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft.

1954 –
The first edition of Sports Illustrated is published.


1930 –
The first color sound cartoon, called Fiddlesticks, is made by Ub Iwerks.


1920 –
Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians is hit on the head by a fastball thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees, and dies early the next day. To date, Chapman is the second player to die from injuries sustained in a Major League Baseball game, the first being Doc Powers in 1909.


1868 –
Arica, Peru (now Chile) is devastated by a tsunami that follows a magnitude 8.5 earthquake in the Peru-Chile Trench off the coast. The earthquake and tsunami kill an estimated 25,000 people in Arica and perhaps 70,000 people in all.

The Ocho-riffic Song o' the Day - 8/12/2010 -"...Just take your best shot and don't blow it..."

Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)

The Grand Illusion-1978

Styx

Quite possibly my favorite Styx song EVAH! It's also quite possible that I'll say that approximately fifteen more times throughout the course of this blog. 

Styx is, I believe .. beyond a shadow of a doubt my favorite band of all time. 

From the WIKI regarding the origin of the lyrics::

"The song was written by guitarist, Tommy Shaw. Shaw has said many times in interviews that "Fooling Yourself" was originally based on Shaw's initial perception of Styx keyboardist Dennis DeYoung — an "angry young man" who viewed the group's successes with a wary eye and grew angry or depressed with every setback. It was only in later years, Shaw noted, that he began to see himself in the lyrics, and the song took on a more personal meaning to him." [citation needed]

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You see the world through your cynical eyes

You're a troubled young man I can tell

You've got it all in the palm of your hand

But your hand's wet with sweat and your head needs a rest

And you're fooling yourself if you don't believe it

You're kidding yourself if you don't believe it

Why must you be such an angry young man

When your future looks quite bright to me

How can there be such a sinister plan

That could hide such a lamb, such a caring young man

You're fooling yourself if you don't believe it

You're kidding yourself if you don't believe it

Get up, get back on your feet

You're the one they can't beat and you know it

Come on, let's see what you've got

Just take your best shot and don't blow it

You're fooling yourself if you don't believe it

You're killing yourself if you don't believe it

Get up, get back on your feet

You're the one they can't beat and you know it

Come on, let's see what you've got

Just take your best shot and don't blow it
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Weeeeell, if Tommy Shaw can admit it ... so can I. 

At one time, this song made me think of my ex-hub...

and now it reaches me on a more personal level;

hence the enlargement of the lyrics "don't blow it". 

:)

Have a grand and groovy day ....
If you liked it, share it!!

Please and Thanks!

The Ocho-riffic Song o' the Day, Here Comes the Sun - 8/11/2010

Here Comes the Sun appeared on the 1969 Beatles album Abby Road.

I can't imagine a person whose soul does not frolic upon hearing this song. 

George Harrison wrote this while wandering through Eric Clapton's garden after blowing off a meeting with Apple records in 1969.  At the time he was trying to find his upswing from a particularly craptacular year ... an arrest for possession of cannabis, the removal of his tonsils and a temporary leave from the band.

Harrison sang lead vocals, played acoustic guitar and used his newly acquired Moog synthesizer on this.
It was one of the first Pop songs to feature a Moog synthesizer.

Here Comes the Sun has been covered many, many, many, many times.

For more WIKI on Here Comes the Sun, click here.

To read more about this song at Songfacts.com, click here.

As I poked around online in search of interesting tidbits about this song ....
I DID happen to run across a cover of it that I'd never heard before, done by Bon Jovi!!

..... So today, you get two songs for the price of one!!
((Which as you know, is free!!))
Enjoy!!  

 

The Ocho-riffic Song o' the Day, A La Peter Gabriel - 7/30/2010

At one time I made a pretty good run of posting an Upbeat hit of the day on Myspace. 

Myspace seems so vintage now.  I still log on once every week or two ... and honestly, still prefer the format of myspace where creative tweaks such as page design and music are concerned...but everyone's on the doggone FB now ... so I spend most of my social networking time there.

::Todays Ocho-riffic Song o' the Day::

Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel

This was Gabriel's first solo release (1977) after leaving Genesis in 1975

::LYRICS::

Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night
 was something to observe
Came in close I heard a voice
Standing stretching every nerve
I had to listen had no choice
I did not believe the information
Just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom-boom-boom
Son, he said, grab your things I've come to take you home

To keep in silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Oh, my life was in a rut
'Til I thought of what I'd say
Which connection I should cut
I was feeling part of the scenery
I'd walk right out of the machinery
My heart going boom-boom-boom
Son, he said, grab your things I've come to take you home
When illusion spin her net
I'm never where I want to be
And liberty, she'd pirhouette
When I think that I am free
Watched by empty silhouettes
Who close their eyes but still can see
No one taught them etiquette
I will show another me
Today I don't need a replacement
I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom-boom-boom
Hey, I said, you can keep my things They've come to take me home
 
    The performance below is abso-smurfin'-lutely my favorite performance of the song, EVAH and I can easily get misty-eyed watching it.  The imagery of a shimmery headed, distinguished fellow riding a bicycle around a stadium while tens of thousands of fans fill the air with their love for him ... as he sings a song about his overwhelming need to venture on to a new path...it gives me goose bumps on my goose bumps... 

Many of us grumble about our job on a daily basis and follow it up with things like, "Well I've got a lot of years in here...." or "Gosh, the benefits are good...."  I can't imagine having to ponder, "Weeeeell, it IS Genesis...."  I'm a fan of Genesis, but a much larger fan of Peter Gabriel as a solo artist.

Enjoy!!
...and don't forget to poke around at the links below!!

 
  http://petergabriel.com/
http://petergabriel.com/login_add.php  
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=393
http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/71511/#

I hate to have to remind myself why I'm exhausted and feel craptacular. 

It's amazing the path we can take when we sit down to get online.  Just as I was off to bed last night, I logged onto youtube to hear a song that'd been stuck in my head all day.  It all began as I was brushing my teeth around 8:40 central time.  It would've been fine for me to still be brushing my teeth at 8:40 if I worked in the same time zone.  My workplace time clock is ten minutes ahead of the central time zone, therefore it was actually 8:50 "workplace time" and my estimated travel time to work is eight minutes.

Anywho, back to the song ... I was listening to WQQR as I do most mornings while getting ready for work.  I'd left the bathroom as I walked around my apartment brushing my teeth with one hand and moving things to my loading zone on the couch with the other.  I ventured down the hallway and into the bathroom.

Now let me just stop right there ... I think everyone has a list of their 10 favorite songs of all time.  I've never officially put one together, but on it would absolutely ... positively ... beyond a shadow of a doubt be; Overkill by Men at Work.

I'm not particularly a large fan of Men at Work.  I like them ... I'm mostly familiar with their mainstream radio stuff and probably couldn't name five of their songs if you had a gun to my head.  Anywho,  I literally turned up the radio in the bathroom as loud as it could possibly go and closed the door as I finished getting ready for work.  As the song reached it's end and I tapped out my ciggie in my favorite ash tray on earth .... the DJ mentioned that this song was used in the tv series Scrubs.  "You are SO right, local radio DJ!" 

Colin Hay's voice swirled in my head ... what an amazing song.  The melody of Overkill was never far from my brain as the day progressed on.  Several times I thought of hitting youtube to hear it,
but it wasn't that important.  Throughout Thursday evening, a time or two ... when things were silent ... BAM ... out of nowhere, "It's just overkill...."

As bed time neared, I realized I really needed to hear the song in it's entirety ... afterall, I had missed the beginning of it that morning as I was setting up the loading dock on the west end of the Ocho.  =)

After playing through it a few times I realized I also needed to see some clips from the Scrubs episode it aired on ... I can't remember anything about the episode aside from the fact that Overkill was featured .... and that Dr. Cox broke Colin Hay's guitar against the wall. 

Luckily for you I've found clips of both ... you're welcome!! :)

Click Here to see Overkill on Scrubs

Do you have a song stuck in your head today? 

If so, what is it?