It’s Tuesday, y’all. Here’s episode 12.
Boy meets boy. Boy falls in love. And then boy records a song about it.
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I’ve written before about my love for the streaming music service Spotify. Well I’ve just found another reason to love it; you can send songs to your Facebook friends, and I’ve sent meta messages to my Facebook acquaintances. Well some of the messages are pretty obvious, I guess. Perhaps this is funnier to me than it is to anyone else, but here’s what I’ve sent so far:
I seriously love sending these. If you’re a Facebook friend, you might be getting a delivery soon.
After catching the new Lady GaGa video for Marry The Night I couldn’t help but see the parallel between the monologue in the beginning of the video and the title of this blog. She basically says that the past, to her, is like an unfinished canvas and the way she finishes the work of art is by telling the story in the way she remembers it – which may or may not be factual.
Yep. GaGa tells what some would call lies:
It’s cool that I’ve received three messages that pointed out that beginning of this video reminded them of me and my blog. There are worse people to be compared to.
I love Spotify.
LOVE.
Like…if it were legal to marry a music streaming service I totally would.
If you’re not on Spotify, a quick explanation: You can browse music (by artist, album, record label, genre or playlist) and stream the music to your computer or mobile device. There’s also a social element where you can browse the playlists of your Facebook friends.
My play lists are detailed (much like my iTunes library) and I’m excited to grow into more playlists. My favorite personal playlists so far are:
Bitch, Please
And I have this strange thing about cowbells…they just put me in a good mood. So I have a cowbell mix (all songs with cowbells):
If you’re on Spotify, add me as a friend (username: 12802306). I’ll share some tunes with you.
I can now say that I know what that teacher from Freedom Writers felt like.
Today I was in the grocery store and ran into a parent that has three children that go to the Boys & Girls Club that I used to work at. Our conversation went something like this,
“Hey Gabe…good to see you.”
“Mike! Man my kids miss you.”
“I miss the kids a lot too. How is everything?”
[EDIT OUT SMALL TALK]
“Hey good to see you, tell your kids I said ‘hello.’”
“Okay. You know every time Katy Perry’s California Gurls comes on the radio in the car they all sing it and talk about how much they miss you.”
“California Gurls? Not sure if I even know that song.”
“Really? They do this dance that they said you did every time it came on.”
I’ve read some hate on the Twitter & Facebook about Glee and the loss of plot in the past ten(ish) episodes. And although this might not sound like I’m defending it, hear me out…The writing on Glee has never been good. And frankly, looking for a solid story and a captivating plot in an episode of Glee is like trying to find a tube of lipstick in a female softball player’s purse. You’re the fool if you’re looking.
Take one step back, idiots. It’s a show where the actors break out into song and dance. Since episode two, FOX has provided sneak peaks of the SONGS, not the stories. There are multiple storylines about homosexuals.
This show is about musical theatre (with the gay “e” at the end) not about the play upon its stage.
Maybe Season One fooled you into thinking that this show would somehow fill the I-Got-Picked-On-As-A-Teen-And-I’ve-Got-The-Issues-To-Prove-It-sized hole in your high school experience, but clearly the road to regionals didn’t satisfy you. Why don’t you just leave me my Glee…and go shit talk about the lack of story in Grey’s Anatomy or some other serious show that has actually promised you good writing and failed to deliver.
Okay…do you have a blog? If so, why don’t you do this.
Open up your iTunes library and click on the “TOP 25 MOST PLAYED” smart playlist. Take a screen-capture. Then blog it. Don’t forget to throw a link up in my comments. I’m super-curious.
Here’s mine. How embarrassing.
I’m like a song-parody writing genius. Well, maybe I’m not good at actually writing the song parodies…but I’m really good at coming up with ideas for song parodies.
Here’s a list of song parodies I’ve come up with. If you want to write any of these songs, go for it…just send me a small check for a “creative consulting fee.”
* [sung to the tune of Bonnie Rait's Let's Give Them Something To Talk About] Let’s Give Them Something To Blog About
* [sung to the tune of Sheryl Crow's The First Cut Is The Deepest] The Last Hour’s the Longest – a song about how the last hour of work is dreeeaaaadful!
* [sung to the tune of Lady GaGa's Pokerface] Butterface
* [sung to the tune of Britney Spears' Hold it Against Me] Buy my Ten-Speed
* [sung to the tune of Rihanna featuring Drake's What's My Name] We Look The Same – Oh Na Na! We Look The Same (a song about identical twins)
* [sung to the tune of Pink's Raise Your Glass] Wipe Your Ass
* [sung to the tune of Bruno Mars' Just The Way You Are] Just The Way You Were
* [ sung to the tune of Willow Smith's I Whip My Hair Back And Forth] I Dip My Chip Back and Forth – a song about someone who double-dips at parties.
Again…you’re welcome to steal any of these ideas. I don’t want any credit. Just cash.
Do you do this?
First, I should explain that my iTunes library is really freaking organized. Like every song has album artwork and all the tags are complete. And just about every song has a rating. My rating system is as follows:
So when I download new music, I usually make sure all the tags are complete (artist, album name, etc). And if the music is new to me I’ll let it stew for a while before I rate it. But here’s the problem: I am the one that created the rating system; I am the one that rated the songs; why then can’t I drop the music I don’t want?
Right now I have about a dozen songs in my iTunes library that are rated “*” and should go now. But I’m worried that I maybe didn’t give them enough of a chance. What if they are like one of those songs that you didn’t know you loved until you heard it twenty times?
I just need to let go…but…well
One major advantage of being extremely anal about your music rating is that you can create a smart playlist that will automatically add anything that you rate “****” or higher. Which on my ipod includes 62 songs.
And my organization has made it easier to listen to songs that I want to listen to with a simple click of the ipod click-wheel ®.
In order of the number of plays, here is my list of top 25 songs played on my iPod (Don’t make fun):
25. Where Did My Baby Go – John Legend
24. Maxine – John Legend
23. I’m A Good Man – Philip Ray
22. To Sir With Love - The Cast of Glee
21. Dinner At Eight - Rufus Wainwright
20. Green Light – John Legend [Featuring Andre 3000]
19. Beautiful – Carole King
18. One Man Guy – Rufus Wainwright
17. If You’re Out There – John Legend
16. Lean On Me – The Cast of Glee
15. Smile – The Cast of Glee [Charlie Chaplin Version]
14. Smile – The Cast of Glee [Lily Allen Version]
13. What it Feels Like For A Girl – Madonna
12. Surviving Twin – Loudon Wainwright III
11. Wake Up Everybody – John Legend [Featuring Common]
10. Good Morning – John Legend
9. I Feel The Earth Move – Carole King
8. Pokerface – Lady Gaga
7. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free – John Legend
6. Don’t Rain On My Parade – The Cast of Glee
5. Love Profusion – Madonna
4. Living Alone - Loudon Wainwright III
3. Moon Safari – Air
2. Maybe This Time – The Cast of Glee
1. Speechless – Lady Gaga
I wasn’t shocked that Speechless was my most played song. It’s one of the handful of songs that I’ve rated “*****” so I knew it’d be up there. I was kind of surprised that Maybe This Time was second. I’ve played the fuck out of that song in the last year [Everybody loves a winner...so nobody loves me] but I didn’t know that it’s out played Air. It’s also interesting to see how much John Legend made the list.
Anyway. Gotta go listen to some tunes.
With a few edits, here is a Facebook message I received from an ex-boyfriend last week:
Hey. I know it’s been awhile, but just wanted to say hi. I thought of you this morning as I purchased tickets to the midnight screening of Rocky Horror for tomorrow night. You popped my Rocky Horror cherry on your living room floor many Octobers ago. I think of you every time I watch it. I remember thinking it was ‘alright’ after that initial viewing, but it’s definitely become a favorite over the years. And now I’m popping my boyfriend’s Rocky Horror cheery tomorrow night! Hope you’ve been well. I check out your blog occasionally. Maybe one day we’ll hang out if you’re ever in LA or if I ever find myself out in Arizona.
First up, if you’re reading…Hi David.
What joy this gives me. You know, as my late husband, Ephraim Levi, used to say, “Knowledge of kitschy musicals, pardon the expression, is a lot like manure. It’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around encouraging young things to grow.”
This was a LONG time ago. He’s talking about the fall of 2000. And I was such a different guy then. But the fact remains that I’m the kind of person that likes to expose people to classics. In the last few months I’ve forced…well, encouraged Drew to watch Waiting for Guffman and Hello Dolly both of which he said he enjoyed. Meanwhile, Drew forced…encouraged me to watch The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and some Zombie movie and I fell asleep during both! I’m a jerk, right?
But it is Rocky Horror season. I’ve googled around and I can’t seem to find anywhere in the PHX area that screens it. Unfortunately. At least I have the Rocky episode of Glee in a couple of weeks.
Are any of you time-warpers?
