Morphed Monday and Musical Memories

Schwarzenegger's Travels Lead to Criticism
(Travelocity's "Roaming Gnome" stated, quote: "He's a lousy tipper and he trashed three hotel rooms in Toledo, Ohio in a weekend!")












Bush to Propose Guard Troops for Border
(Gee...does that mean he'll have to end the war in Iraq to have enough soldiers? Man...that's gonna screw up his plan to ruin our country in one way, but yet it will screw up our country in another way. Logical? Of COURSE not.)






John Edwards and Jack Kemp Launch Partnership to Promote a Saver's Society
(Does that mean they're the "deciders"?)












Spy Agency Watching Americans From Space
(Among the discoveries: too many people forget to close the drapes on their picture windows, and then pick at their navels with various sharp objects.)







Laura Bush doesn't believe bad polls
(She only believes barber poles, fishing poles, and telephone poles; they're good poles.)











Plane Carrying Kennedy Hit by Lightning
(God was quoted as saying, "Damn! I missed again." I went out on a free-speech limb here, so if you're going to get mad, blame the Constitution. It's my right to say what I want, your right to disagree...thus endeth the sermon.)







Out of Cash, Nepal Asks for Global Aid
(OK...how does this work, exactly? I mean, is Nepal quizzed like a teenager about where their money went? After that, do they get a lecture about saving their money and money doesn't grow on trees? Then, does Nepal say, "Gosh, dad, but all the other countries are doin' it!")






Man-Eaters of Madison Avenue
(OK...at worst, you'll think it's some sect of cannibals that are also day-traders during business hours. At worst, you'll think it's a highly-specialized brothel.)






Bush treats Australia to new trees
(Yeah, and what's Bush going to expect in return? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge?)
















Merapi volcano erupts with gas and ash
(OH, yesss...I have to say it...It made an "ash" of itself. Har har, hardy har har.)










Well, another week.

Yippie f'ing skippie

However, the highlight of my day is the "random play" function on my Winamp player. Why? Because it throws together Lee Evans (sigh - he's so cuddly-wuddly CUTE), the “Jonny Quest” theme (YEAH!), Sade (ah – lean back, listen to her sadness to forget about mine), and the Mills Brothers.

Huh?

Yeah, The Mills Brothers.

I have rather eclectic tastes in music, as you might know by now.

D took me to work this morning, and we were talking about music and how a song can take you back to a particular place and time.

With him, many pop songs from the ‘70s and ‘80s remind him of long trips he’d take in the summers with his mom and older brother. One song reminds him of Mount Rushmore. Another reminds him of Carlsbad Caverns.

Needless to say, I’m not as well traveled. He had the advantage of being a "teacher's kid" and taking a summer vacation that lasted all summer long. My parents spent many vacations at home and a few in other places.

I remember afternoons in my parents’ basement, on Saturdays or during the summer. I’d be playing with my Barbies, or just hanging around downstairs, and I’d have the radio playing.

Since I didn’t drive at the tender age of six or seven and had to entertain myself, I picked the radio during those times. Washington, Iowa had its own radio station, and I listened to it as much as possible. Of course, I took breaks for a couple of my favorite game shows, specific Saturday morning cartoons, or Looney Tunes on “Dr. Max" during the summer.

I got my own radio for my 9th birthday, and it rarely left my side except when I went to school. It was tuned to KCII FM all the time. They were pretty much light pop/country stuff with farm reports thrown in, but I listened to the songs.

I have odd memories revolving around when a song was popular “back in the day”. For example, when “You Light Up My Life” made it big, I remember Mom and Dad took Ruth and I to see a great white shark that was frozen. It was stored in a freezer truck or something, and people paid admission to see a frozen shark. Yes, it just shows that people will do ANYTHING for entertainment.

But when pop music finally hooked me, it got me good.

It was the summer between 4th and 5th grade, and I checked out a “disco dancing” instruction book from the library. Ruth had the Supertramp single of “The Logical Song”, and I would play it all the time, practicing my hot dance steps. Watch out Studio 54, here comes Sudiegirl.

After that, I really started keeping track of what songs were popular. I'd swipe Ruthie's record albums and listen to them. I followed her tastes, which drove her crazy. (This conflict should sound familiar to my two young nieces; its pretty much what her sister and I went through.)

(HISTORICAL NOTE: For you youngsters out there, songs used to be pressed on a petroleum by-product called “vinyl”. You could get them in various sizes, but the most used ones were 7 inch or 12 inch. The 7 inch ones were called “singles” and the 12 inch ones were called “albums”. This note has been provided so you can follow along with my reminiscence…thank you…the management.)

If I had disposable income of a sort, I would buy singles of the songs I heard on the radio. (Yeah, it was still KCII, but that would change soon enough.) As I got older, I bought my own albums and cassettes. I went through the deplorable Tiger Beat phase, but that died down by high school (Thank GOD). My walls were covered with posters and pin-ups of pop stars. Michael Jackson was the favorite, and Mom couldn't handle all the "eyes" staring at her.

As adolescence reared its ugly head, I tracked down the radio waves from Iowa City, Cedar Rapids and Davenport. More songs became associated in my mind with guys.

The song for my first kiss? “Too Good To Be True” by Michael and Jermaine Jackson (at least I think that’s the name of it).

My second kiss? “Hard Habit to Break” by Chicago.

Different guys, of course, had different songs. With one beau (who was 6’7”), it was “Suddenly” by Billy Ocean.

With another beau (the guy who gave me my first hickey, or “lust-infused bruise”), it was “Something About You” by Level 42.

The first time I almost got naked with a boy (underclothes were on, and not much else)? Oddly enough, the tune playing was “Rough Boy” by ZZ Top. I know there were more tunes playing, but “Rough Boy” was the only one I remember.

This next story is kind of funny, actually. When I was a senior, the guy I dated was a musician like me. My sister was living at home back then, and she had purchased Anita Baker’s cassette “Rapture”. I would swipe this cassette every weekend without fail and take it with me to the boyfriend’s house. We would neck to it all the time. Gradually, we got beyond the neck, but that’s another story altogether.

But one thing I found out a few years back? He bought another copy of that album (this time on CD), and it’s in his personal collection. I remember asking him if his wife understood the significance of this music in his history, and he didn’t really commit to an answer. Probably a good strategy, don’t you think? I'm just surprised I still had an effect on someone after all these years.

Other songs and other beaus? Yeah…I remember “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” in association with one boyfriend. With my first husband, I don’t really remember – I guess I blocked it out. One boyfriend was associated with “Kisses In the Moonlight”. And Ed (Hubby #2)? Well…mostly cartoon music, because that was one thing bonding us from the start.

Do I have a song with D now? Well, I guess it would have to be “Here Comes the Sun”. It took us a while to connect with each other, and now that we have, it’s like the sun shines on us all the time. Even thought that's a more sentimental statement than usual, it's still true.

Sudiegirl