Monday, April 01, 2024
60 Years of Music • April, 1964 • The Rolling Stones Debut
Monday, March 25, 2024
#NewMusicMonday • March, 2024 • Failing Forward
Hey, make this t-shirt, I know a gal! |
At some point in the 2010's, the tipping point was happening. From teachers having one desktop computer in their class, it evolved into teachers having a whole locking cart of classroom laptops, to each individual student having their own laptop assigned to them like a textbook, that they could take home.
As teachers, we keep pushing forward, stumbling and falling with slow-moving leaders, but always advocating for the integration of technology across the K-12 curriculum. Attending the conference this year, I realized many of the teacher's present were actually the school children growing up in a digital world where "digital access" became well... expected.
Fomcore - Rock'n Roller @ CUE |
D&D Learning Spaces to push that same envelope with mobile and modular furniture (and technology) for the classroom. As a reader, you may be unaware that the same furniture that young students used in the 80's and 90's, are now grown tax paying adults, and their own children are still using that same crappy furniture. So today, we have 21st technology in classrooms with school furniture purchased when Ronald Reagan was President. A bit of a disconnect from the world of work, and the concept of project-based learning. And, that tipping point in public school classrooms is probably another good 5 -10 years out. Hey, but teachers can dream, and they can act.
So, I'm in my exhibitor space, talking with teachers who say, "I guess I could dream about getting this cool furniture in my class someday." Then, I see a teacher in his 30's walk by with a black t-shirt with the phrase, "Failing Forward" in white letters on the front. I just smile. Here's a teacher coming to this conference to learn new things, make mistakes, and change young people's lives for the better.
My motto in life is a line taken from The Beatles song, Hey Jude,
"Take a sad song and make it better."
Now think of yourself. How will you fail this month and year to ultimately achieve a series of steps to success?
As JD Souther says in his wonderful song, Little Victories,
I know it hurt sometimes to look around
The sameness of it beats you down
And the best seems all behind
Before you start
I know you need one
Little victories
Now the playlist this week has nothing to do with my post above, and that's kind of my way in life these days. I bounce around with different passions and often conflate things like school furniture and rock 'n' roll together.
Whistle while you work my friends. Enjoy the playlist.
Monday, March 18, 2024
#BestSongIHeardToday • Volume 29 • Suffering WTF (With Trump Fatigue)
Portrait by court sketch artist, Isabelle Brourman |
- 🖇 Blog References
- 🖊 Blog Notes
- ♬ Playlist Notes
- Cohen, Luc. "Trump to Court Sketch Artist: ‘I Gotta Lose Some Weight." Yahoo News, 7 Dec. 2023, malaysia.news.yahoo.com
- My wife, Mary Kit walks into the kitchen this past week with the TV droning about another Trump court case delayed and says to me, "I got Trump fatigue." We started our vacation from cable news together that day. Don't tell her, but I did sneak a news peak after she went to bed, instantly regretted it, and flipped the channel.
- This past Saturday, the San Diego State Aztecs basketball team lost in the Mountain West Tournament Finals to New Mexico 68-61. Expect more madness when they enter the NCAA Tournament. Last year, they had a spectacular over-achieving run all the way to a loss in the NCAA Finals. This year, nah (he's just so pessimistic).
- This past Saturday, the Warriors beat the Lakers 128-121. The Lakers center, Anthony Davis caught an elbow to the eye in the first quarter and had to leave the game. Lucky break for the Warriors as Davis would have blocked the paint, prevented all the easy scores, and the Lakers probably would have beat the Warriors easily (he's just so so pessimistic).
- The paragraph about the TV shows is an embellishment. Nothing like watching great a series or movie in the Lazy Boy with the gas fireplace on. Last night I watched Nyad (Netflix). Tense, but wonderful! I highly recommend all the shows I've shared this week.
- I'm doing a run and Tension by Todd Snider comes on, and another blog post is born.
- I wake up Saturday singing, I've Got a Feeling in my head and it's suddenly song two.
- Seven Bridges Road was the natural lead-in song for the playlist and stayed there for a month until Todd's song came along and bumped it to number 3. Now Seven Bridges Road is probably saying to itself, "WTF man, I'm always the first song in any Eagles concert."
Monday, March 11, 2024
60 Years of Music • February-March, 1964 • The Times They Are A-Changin'
- fascism back in the 1930 and 40's;
- disability and death by viruses back in the 50's;
- racial hate back in the 60's;
- Roe vs Wade back in the 70's;
- evangelicals working to destroy the separation of church and state back in the 80's;
- a cad, running again for President without a moral center, like another cad President back in the 90's;
- and, authoritarians bombing and invading their neighbors land, like well... forever.
The next is, Only a Pawn in their Game. Dylan sings truth to power about America in his pure clarity of racism and political manipulation of the powerful to the isolated, poor, and uneducated. The song is as relevant today, maybe substitute a George Floyd-like killing mixed with our current political divide, and we surely can dust off this song for a fresh listen.
- The Times They Are A-Changin' and A Change is gonna Come, represent social change and the emergence of the "protest song" or statement songs with a clear message about our society.
- Glad All Over (The Dave Clark Five), and Fun, Fun, Fun (The Beach Boys), represent fun simple rock 'n' roll love songs. (The Beach Boys also needed to start putting teens in cars because only so many people could geographically get to the beach.)
- Anyone Who Had a Heart (matching Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick), and The Girl From Ipanema (matching American saxophonist Stan Getz and Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, featuring the vocals of Astrud Gilberto.) These two songs represent the transition from 50's popular standards songs mostly sung by males, to 60's pop songs influenced by R&B, soul, jazz, rock 'n' roll, women singers, and even world culture like the bossa nova.
References and Resources
1964 in music - Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_in_music#February, Last accessed 11th March 2024
The Times They Are a-Changin' (Bob Dylan album) - Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Times_They_Are_a-Changin%27_(Bob_Dylan_album), Last accessed 11th March 2024
Monday, March 04, 2024
Fifty Years of Music • February-March 1974 • Goodbye the 60's, hello the 70's
Musically, the 1960's died in 1971, okay let's stretch it to 1972. In 1969 I entered high school, and by 1973 when I graduated from high school, a new iteration of rock 'n' roll was well underway. In 1974 as I started college, many of the bands that I call, "Tier 1 bands" were either gone (e.g. The Beatles, Cream, Jimi Hendrix), or bands still going like The Rolling Stones and The Who, were sharing radio time with a whole slew of new bands that I call "Tier 2 and 3 bands."
Music is such a personal preference, even akin to a religious experience. Like religion or faith, I would never get into anybody's grill about their "taste" in music. The popular music of one's time in middle school and high school will often be the defining years that shapes one's taste in music for a lifetime.
For example, my brother and sister are twins and just 2-1/2 years younger than me, and my other sister is 10 years younger than me. My whole musical experience of being a 6th-12th grader in the 60's-early 70's I feel was much different than my siblings.
I'm certainly not going to knock them if they like Aerosmith, Kansas or Rush, it was simply the music more in their grade school years, than mine.
Believe me, there were tons of crappy bands and artists in the 1960's, but I found my groove with folk and "jingle-jangle" bands like The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield that really shaped my musical tastes.
By 1974, there's slicker and smoother versions of rock 'n' roll being produced in my opinion, and in looking through Wikipedia's 1974 in Music for February and March, you may see the transition too. (Note- I have pasted these Wikipedia lists at the bottom of this post.)
I want to also mention a couple of other events that shaped how I looked at artist's as once heroes, to now-not so much, or not at all. The first example actually happens in February, 1974 with the release of Seals and Crofts, Unborn Child. This is where Seals and Crofts crosses that line between their religious beliefs and telling others how to live their lives as they think you should. Unborn Child is a song told from the perspective of an aborted fetus, really? Here's the 1974 album cover of I guess, a sad embryo? Well they not only lost me as a fan, but I guess a whole generation of Roe v. Wade young people. The duo never recovered from this song and this album, and their future albums would never put them back in the limelight.The singer, who adopted the name Yusuf Islam when he converted to Islam, made the remark during a panel discussion of British reactions to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's call for Mr. Rushdie to be killed for allegedly blaspheming Islam in his best-selling novel ''The Satanic Verses.'' He also said that if Mr. Rushdie turned up at his doorstep looking for help, ''I might ring somebody who might do more damage to him than he would like.''
''I'd try to phone the Ayatollah Khomeini and tell him exactly where this man is,'' said Mr. Islam, who watched a preview of the program today and said in an interview that he stood by his comments. Craig R. Whitney, May 23, 1989, New York Times.
- #1 Record (Ardent/Stax, 1972)
- Radio City (Ardent/Stax, 1974)
- Third/Sister Lovers (PVC, 1978)
Enjoy the playlist my friends, and I didn't even mention the Eagles and Steely Dan, touring together 50 years later on the Eagles, The Long Goodbye Final Tour.
Monday, February 26, 2024
#NewMusicMonday • February, 2024 • John Leventhal
Monday, February 19, 2024
Fifty Years of Running • The Ramble
50 years later, with a lot of miles down the road. January 31, 2024 |
This post takes me back to the spring semester of 1974 with my buddy and long-time part-time running mate, Paul Hobbs. Actually, I'll let Paul kick this thing off with several thoughts I asked him to jot down.
Doug and I first crossed paths at the Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department Junior Olympics. We were pitted against one another in the standing broad jump event. Though I was a 4th grader and Doug was a year behind, he kicked my ass and I’ve never forgiven him, end of story.
No, just kidding. Doug’s family, as mine had done, moved from the west side of town to the east side, and wound up living next door to my friend Ron Zieman. We became dear friends and spent a lot of time together.
We ended up, eventually, attending Hancock College and signing up for a jogging class. It was very loose. We met in the morning and ran for an hour or so, showered up and moved on to our next class. Our only responsibility was to map out a course, measure the distance, and submit it for a book of courses to be provided to future classes, as ours was the maiden voyage of Jogging 101. Great idea.
The class instilled a running discipline in Doug and I that we’ve somehow maintained for about 50 years. We were running buddies for that brief time but over the years rarely ran together. We have remained friends and running enthusiasts and have shared information regarding treatment of injuries, running shoes, events, and love of the sport. Now, we get together a few times a year for a glorious run on the beach, lunch, and a couple of beers. What a grand way for a pair of old friends to spend some time. –Paul Hobbs
“Most of us have enough areas of our lives where we have to meet others’ expectations. Let your running be about your own hopes and dreams.”
– Meb Keflezighi
My first running partner was my early childhood friend, Bill DeVoe. In high school, Bill would put his German Shepherd, Leroy on a leash, and we would all run together from his house to the very same Allan Hancock Jr. College. We'd would run around the exterior of the school and then head back to his house without Leroy missing a beat.
Beach walk on Vashon Island, 2021 |
50 Years later, Bill is still running, and runs with a small group of guys on Vashon Island in Washington. Recently, Bill told me that the group of 60+ year old guys had to insert a new rule into their run routine overlooking the beautiful Puget Sound. New Rule - If anyone brings up their current aches and pains, they have to 1), quickly explain their ailment, and then 2), cannot talk about it the rest of the run. Sounds like a plan. Like Paul, Bill has been a long-time part-time running and walking partner based on our distance from one another.
“I always loved running… it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs.” – Jesse Owens
For most runners who are consistent with it over the years, it's a solitary event, where your mind goes inward while your body gets expressive.
“Running is alone time that lets my brain unspool the tangles
that build up over days.” – Rob Hanisen
A tired Mark and Doug after leading campers with disabilities on a two day hike and camp @ Camp-A-Lot, Palomar Mountain 1977 (a shout out to my trusty Wolverine boots) |
Nothing unattainable.” – Kara Goucher
Pictured left to right - Susan's husband Rick, Susan, Stephanie and me. |
just never give up.” – Dean Karnazes
Solving the world's problems on a walk in Santa Monica with Ken Forman, Paul Hobbs, & Ron Zieman |
a walk around the neighborhood, while her soon to be dead husband was home on the couch. Today, millions of people have reserved that walk as that "me time" to stay healthy. Doesn't matter if you're solo or with a friend, or dog or two, walking will save your life. Taking a walk is the most accessible aerobic activity that is going to keep a person young in spirit, because if you give up on your body, that spirit will follow.
– Arthur Blank
TeamTortoise.org |
Hey my editor did find one of me running! Crystal Pier Pacific Beach, California |
Monday, February 12, 2024
Beatles Tribute Bands • The Analogues • Rain • The Fab Four
In my tribute to 60 years of The Beatles in recent posts including last weeks, Sixty Years of Music • The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show • February 9, 16, and 23, 1964, I thought I'd focus on three Beatles tribute bands that I think are the toppermost of Beatles tribute bands.
But first, let's talk about the cultural phenomenon The Beatles created after their first visit to the United States as a band in February, 1964. What follows for millions of young people across the globe is talking mom and dad into buying them, an acoustic or electric guitar, bass, or drum set.
Suddenly, the family piano became a friend and if your piano teacher was cool enough, they were starting to buy pop band sheet music and introducing it their students. My only experience in this area was convincing my 80 year old piano teacher to let me learn how to play, Windy by The Association a #1 hit in 1967.
In the months and years following Beatlemania and the British Invasion, kids started forming garage bands and started learning rock 'n' roll songs, together. Any musician and band that was ever born, started in someone's garage, basement, or bedroom, playing cover songs of their favorites. From 1964, Beatles songs were the bread and butter go to songs for such bands and their dreams.
Today, it's still so amazing that a band basically known to most Americans from 1964-1970 could still have such a hold on us today, from that 6 years and the body of work created by the best band of all time.
The Beatles not only launched thousands of bands world wide, but in the decades following 1970, launched hundreds of professional Beatles tribute bands. Most of us never saw The Beatles live. But, you can recapture that live magic again by going to a Beatles tribute bands concert worthy of their namesake heroes. Here are three tribute bands worth talking about, even though I've only seen two of them live.
My top Beatles tribute band, and one I have never seen live other than through the wonders of YouTube, are The Analogues. I might even postulate that they are the "ultimate" Beatles tribute band. And, for what it's worth, I cried while listening to their live performance of the entire The Beatles (White Album).
The Analogues are a Dutch tribute act to The Beatles. Founded in 2014, the Analogues' ambition has been to perform live the Beatles' music from their later studio years, using analogue and period-accurate instrumentation. The Analogues distinguished themselves by performing songs and whole albums live, which the Beatles never played live. While the band does not attempt to look like the Beatles, they have been noted for accurately recreating and reproducing their music and sound. WikipediaMonday, February 05, 2024
Sixty Years of Music • The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show • February 9, 16, and 23, 1964
Ed with the lads February 8, 1964 Note- George would be confined to his hotel room most of that day with a sore throat. |
Sullivan began the show by telling the audience that Elvis Presley and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, had sent the Beatles a telegram wishing them success in America (though it was reported later that Parker sent the telegram without Presley's knowledge). Sullivan then introduced the Beatles, who opened by performing "All My Loving"; "Till There Was You", which featured the names of the group members superimposed on closeup shots, including the famous "SORRY GIRLS, HE'S MARRIED" caption on John Lennon; and "She Loves You" The act that followed the Beatles in the broadcast, magician Fred Kaps, was pre-recorded in order to allow time for an elaborate set change. The group returned later in the program to perform "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand". Wikipedia
–Tom Petty
"This was different, shifted the lay of the land. Four guys, playing and singing, writing their own material ... Rock 'n' roll came to my house where there seemed to be no way out ... and opened up a whole world of possibilities."
–Bruce Springsteen
"I remember exactly where I was sitting. It was amazing. It was like the axis shifted ... It was kind of like an alien invasion."
–Chrissie Hynde
"That one performance changed my life ... Up to that moment I'd never considered playing rock as a career. And when I saw four guys who didn't look like they'd come out of the Hollywood star mill, who played their own songs and instruments, and especially because you could see this look in John Lennon's face -- and he looked like he was always saying: 'F--- you!' -- I said: 'I know these guys, I can relate to these guys, I am these guys.' This is what I'm going to do -- play in a rock band'."
–Billy Joel
"The lightning bolt came out of the heavens and struck Ann and me the first time we saw the Beatles on 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' ... There'd been so much anticipation and hype about the Beatles that it was a huge event, like the lunar landing: that was the moment Ann and I heard the call to become rock musicians. I was seven or eight at the time. ... Right away, we started doing air guitar shows in the living room, faking English accents, and studying all the fanzines."
–Nancy Wilson
On the evening of the television show, a crush of people nearly prevented the band from making it onstage. A wedge of policemen were needed and the band began playing "She Loves You" only seconds after reaching their instruments. They continued with "This Boy" and "All My Loving", then returned later to close the show with "I Saw Her Standing There", "From Me to You", and "I Want to Hold Your Hand". The audience for this show was about 70 million, nearly equaling the prior week's performance. Wikipedia
Monday, January 29, 2024
#NewMusicMonday • January, 2024 • Women Rule 'n' Roll
Over the course of the last several years I have noticed a trend in my #NewMusicMonday posts, women are ruling the Americana genre of music. Even as I explore Indie or Alternative genres, they are now either led by a woman or one or more members of a band now consist of women.
You don't have to look deep in any field and realize that women are qualitatively front and center. One stat that I recently read was that nearly 60% of women attend a college or university, whereas men are at just over 40%. But, as usual, the flip side of that statistic is that it's also harder for women to get accepted into these same colleges, as admissions offices are aggressively looking for more men.
I'm not here to make this about bashing men. I've always had a large musical preference towards women musical artists that all started with Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmy Lou Harris in the 1970's. And, even though I'm not a big Beyoncé and Taylor Swift fan, They are currently at the very top of the music business.
All my big male rock 'n' roll heroes, like most of my friends, are over 70, or "almost 70" as my buddy Paul has been told.
For me, popular music in the 20th century was about making hits. As the young artists of the 70's, 80's and 90's grew older, their hits started dropping off at some point, but I didn't stop listening to them. As a maturing music listener, my music tastes have expanded to other genres, but more importantly, it's discovering the deep cuts, the one's that never get played on the radio, or late night television shows.
Several years ago, I found Sarah Jarosz and Madison Cunningham on YouTube. These two young women for me represent the best of 21st century music, women of heart and mind.Recently, Rosanne Cash celebrated her 30th anniversary of the album, The Wheel as she and husband and collaborator John Leventhal remastered and released the album on their own new label, Rumble Strip. I think of Rosanne Cash as sort of a new pioneer who took her daddy's music with elements of folk and rock 'n' roll back to its roots, and moved it forward to the future.
I hear those roots and future in Sarah Jarosz and Madison Cunningham, and in new music by Brandy Clark and Dori Freeman this month. Not to fear, I have a new Mark Knopfler song, a couple of Real Estate and Bleachers songs, and new song from The Black Keys to create a little 80/20 women to men ratio here in the playlist this week. But whose counting?
Enjoy the playlist my friends.
Monday, January 22, 2024
Back in the PNW
On January 5th, shortly after takeoff from Portland Oregon, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 blew out its sealed "Door Plug" causing an uncontrolled decompression of the plane. The plane managed to land safely with all the passengers and crew still all seated and buckled in. On January 6th, Alaska Airlines grounded all its 737 Max 9's which make up 20% of their fleet, causing a cascading effect of cancellations and rescheduling for many flights.
Portland Physics Teacher, Bob Sauer with the Boeing 737 Max 9 "Door Plug" found in his backyard. |
Meanwhile...
In a much needed change of scenery, my wife Mary Kit and I had planned several months ago a Thursday, January 11th flight from San Diego to Seattle and the great Pacific Northwest. We were going back to see our PNW families, including a three-day trip to Cannon Beach in Oregon. I was also back to see my life-long buddy Bill and continue our tradition of meeting and spending a couple of office days together in downtown Seattle.
On January 10th, we got an email from Alaska Airlines telling us our flight had been cancelled and they would write us back. They did write back about an hour later and said they had rescheduled our flight to the next day at 2:20pm. So, we Lyft to the airport, get checked-in and wait for two hours to catch our flight. About 30 minutes before we board, an agent announces that the inbound flight that came from Mexico "had some maintenance issues" and there was going to be a 15 minute delay before boarding. Then the next bulletin, a one hour delay. At the two hour mark, Mike the mechanic rolls out from under the plane and says, "She ain't goin' nowhere today pilgrims." We're then told, "Please proceed back down to Baggage Claim and pick up your luggage, and thank you for flying Alaska Airlines."
We go down get our luggage, and everyone's on their phones calling Alaska Airlines reservations and getting the same message, "Please hold, there is currently a four-hour wait time before an agent can assist you." Mary Kit says to me, "You sit with the luggage and I'll go back to the Alaska Airlines ticket counter and see when we can get another flight." Actually, that's not exactly what she said, but just go with it. Anyway, she goes to the counter, and sees about 150 people in line. Then she notices, only two people in line for First Class/Priority Customers. She goes to that line.
She approaches the ticket agent, and in her sweetest Grandma voice tells the agent she has to get to Seattle ASAP, the agent tells her to "go to other line" when she fails to produce the Priority Customer number. "But sir, I have to get to Seattle before my family leaves for Oregon on Saturday." The agent looks at the other line, now growing to 200, and says, "Let's see what we can do." He spends about an hour with her trying to find multiple connecting flights scenarios, etc. when a coworker tells him, "Try John Wayne" (in Orange County). He then miraculously finds the last two seats on a 7am Friday flight out of John Wayne to Seattle. She takes it, and works out a free voucher (hour and a half) Lyft ride and hotel stay near the airport. The next morning, we actually take off, seated in separate middle seats a row back from each other. She's Chatty Cathy with her seat mate having a good conversation. My row mates are already fast asleep and sprawled out while I'm in a zen-like state, body straight with my arms tucked in for 2 hours and fifty minutes. I'm delusional, sitting in the middle seat with strangers and thinking this must be just as difficult as the yoga "crane pose."
We land, it's f!!!ing 23 degrees and this San Diego wuss is grumpy. However once in the elements, the change of environment is spectacular and worth all the time spent on various planes, buses, ferries, and automobiles! My mind needs and welcomes this change in the days ahead.
I'm back to my see my three step-children, their spouses and six grandchildren. I'm back to see my childhood friend, Bill who I have known since we've been five years old. Yeah, we go way back.
I'm back in Tacoma, and back in Cannon Beach Oregon on a sunny day with frozen sand at Haystack Rock. I'm back in West Seattle, and back in downtown Seattle, eating at Matt's in the Market and then Serious Pie the next day. I'm back in Edmonds, and back in the beautiful PNW were I have been welcomed and loved by the wonderful people we keep coming back to.
Now, I'm writing this on the following Friday night before I wake up at 3:00am to catch a 6:45am flight back to San Diego... on Alaska Airlines. Okay Mike, your mechanics better make this my last sentence here talking about dreadful flights... We land safely and on time. That afternoon it actually rains in San Diego and the Pickleball players at the tennis courts next to my house scatter. Serenity now!
Enjoy the Playlist my friends, with all the videos from artists and bands from yes, the Pacific Northwest!
Happy Birthday Shawna and Abby!