Favorites of the 20th Century

A few weeks ago I set out to make a list of my 100 favorite songs of the 20th century. It sorta blew up in my face because I couldn't keep it at 100. It's now at 139.
This link should take you to the Google Doc so that you can see all 139. Oh blast. 140. I forgot that Cher song. Long live mesh clothing.

My love for Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Staples Singers, Marvin Gay, Van Morrison, Smokey Robinson and Aretha Franklin has already been expressed.
I do need to add in Jackson Browne right here.

So can you recognize what Ralph Vaughn Williams' Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus doubles as in Mormondom?

And how about those cameos in Walking on Broken Glass. I think Annie Lennox chose poorly.
You've gotta love Biz Markie.
I can still remember my 5th grade teacher complaining about Bonnie Raitt winning the grammy for this song. He's crazy. Do you know her Angel From Montgomery?

If you're not familiar with the Estonian Arvo Pärt, you need to listen to his music. Wow.

How does one narrow down a list of Beatles songs? Well, one rotates through favorites.

And I've already mentioned Tears For Fears on my blog before. Shout and Sowing the Seeds of Love have no odd ties to my childhood, but the songs rock.

I went a bit Sondheim crazy and sorta broke my own rule of no more than 5, but I'm justifying it because they come from different musicals. Children Will Listen, No One Is Alone, Finishing the Hat, Beautiful, Pretty Lady, Children and Art, Move On and Johanna are works of genius.
Double Blast: 141. Not a Day Goes By.

Kashmir is almost universally loved.

So, yes, I'm admitting that Will Smith's Miami and Deee-Lite's Groove is in the Heart both make the list. This may change if I ever completely mature out of high school. Whitney Houston's It's Not Right But It's OK will likely never leave. I've been a closet Whitney fan for over 20 years. Rupaul's Supermodel and Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy were oh so close, but in the end, there wasn't enough mustard. But I'm sure you're VERY glad that I linked those two fairly awkward videos.



I'll leave it right there for now. I'm sure I'll be coming back to the list on my blog, adding more links to good songs, etc. etc. Did you make it to this sentence? Wow.

Piano Phase

I find Steve Reich to be a fascinating composer. I don't know how to fully describe Piano Phase. It's harmonious and cacophonous, sometimes at the same time. How does he pull that off? It's usually performed by two pianists. I mean, it makes sense that it would be right?

Then you stumble onto crazy talented pianists like Peter Aidu.


I love it.

And, for good marching-band, pit-playing measure, here's Reich's Six Marimbas. Wow.


And for those of you who like The Gipsy Kings, here's some Clapping Music.

Pondering *the* moments that I've watched

{The following is a sports indulgence. But at least there are short video clips!}

After watching and thinking about and reliving Donovan's goal today, I started thinking about the moments when my favorite team pulled off the amazing.
The 1986 baseball season was the first time that I paid attention to any sport. I was seven and completely enamored with the Mets. I picked a great year to love them.
I still remember when this happened and how I felt:

I had a poster of the ball going between Buckner's legs and Mookie Wilson about to round first on my wall for about 6 years.

I branched out from baseball, loved the Redskins who won the 1988 Super Bowl, and fell in love with the Utah Jazz.
In 1997, Stockton made the most important 3-pointer in the history of the Jazz, sending them to the Finals:


I was on my mission for One Last Miracle for Lavell, but this play still might have beaten that out:

(I absolutely hate that this rivalry is going to die. It was by far one of the best in the nation.)

Donovan's goal today joins the list:

Christian Crayon Color Compendium

This blog post was requested by Emily. Oh, and inspired by the picture below.

Here are some possible color options. I recognize that my Mormonity influenced some of the names.

Please add your ideas in the comments area. A box of 64 crayons would be ideal. You can use this link to find inspiration. I'll add your colors to our list. Kim already said that she wanted in as an investor.
(if you're in Google Reader, you may need to click on the blog post link to see the colors properly, and too see any additions, apparently)

Outer Blackness
Templar Taupe
Cardinal
Celestial Cerulean
Pharisaical Fuchsia 
Telestial Teal
Primary 1 2 3 (a Red, Yellow and Blue swirl)
Premortal Purple (shout-out: EM!)
Lydia's Purple (although the Acts 16:14 reference might be too weird)
Choice Chamoisee
Accountable Azure
Dove White

**
Virgin Violet
Temptation Apple
Olive Tree
Manna
Wine
Apocryphal Apricot
Ecclesiastical Ecru
Terrestrial Tan
Irreantum Blue
Methuselah Grey
Fine-Twined Linen
Burning Bush
Goliath Green
Hellishly Hot Pink
Money Changer's Gold
Galilee Green
Scatter Sunshine
Iron Rod
Noah's Ark Auburn
Zarahemla Zaffre
Purity Puce
Spiritual Sangria
Trinity Tangerine
Garden of Eden
Senum Silver
Brass Plate
Righteous Red
Choral
Zion Canyon Coquelicot
Jello Jade
Bishop's Byzantium
Paradise Peridot
Urim and Thummim Umber
Moroni Maroon
Lust (I'm stealing this from someone else in the Ether, though)
Relief Society Rose
Laser Lemon Liahona
Virtuous Vermilion
Milk and Honey
Tabernacle Turquoise
Amen Amethyst
Deseret Dandelion
Rahab Drab
Desert Sands #40 (Although I do love "Desert Wanderings")
Waters of Mormon Blue
Sunbeam Yellow
Rectitude Rainbow
Miracle Mauve

The Nexus of Knowledge for the Day

AKA, This led to that which led to yonder thing which brings us to this thingie here
subsubtitled things that might only interest me

I think I might do this more as a chronological rundown of the Nexus of Knowledge that Scottie and I learned in the last 10 minutes:

1-I'm reading book 5 of Harry Potter in Italian (shout-out: Wendy!) right now. There's a spot in chapter two where "April Fool's!" is written. In Italian it's written as Pesce d'aprile! I'd looked it up in my French (poisson d'avril!) and Portuguese (primeiro de abril!) books as this phrase is a linguistic essential.

2-So we searched on Word Reference in Spanish: Día de los Inocentes!, which is what is written in my HP5 ebook in Spanish.

3-I tell Scottie that Día de los Inocentes is actually on December 28th and that I think that it probably comes from the slaughter of the innocents by a wussy Herod who wanted to keep his throne. So we Wikipedia-ed it. Low and behold.

4-Scottie and I become curious about the roots of April Fool's Day. Hello Wikipedia again. Chaucer: HEEEE-EEEYYY.

5-A part of the Wikipedia article mentions the Feast of Fools which was held on December 28th (shout-out to #3!).

6-Suddenly 2 songs from the somewhat skanky French musical Notre Dame de Paris pop (phonetic pun intended) into my head: Le Pape des Fous & La Fête des Fous. These songs link to this part of the Feast of Fools Wikipedia article.

7-I start singing the lyrics to both songs which makes Scottie look at me like I'm slightly crazy. All the while I'm learning about the intrinsic relation that the Feast of Fools has around the Cathedral Notre Dame. I explain this Nexus of Knowledge to Scottie.

8-Scottie says that the Nexus of Knowledge always does come back to French Musicals.


addenda to today's Nexus of Knowledge:
9-It seems to me that Día de los Inocentes was yet another religious holiday that the Catholic church imposed over a pagan holiday to try to draw attention away from the ultra-fun reveling.

10-The mythological history behind Saturnalia "tomfoolery" and "buffoonery," the Titans & the Roman gods makes so much more sense to me as I just finished the Percy Jackson series.




ça, c'est fini, quoi!

A day late, but with a good excuse: Happy Rebirthday to Me!!

As has been previously mentioned on this here blog, I like to celebrate my rebirthday. This year marks my 23rd as a baptized member of the LDS Church.
In celebration, Andy, David and I went to church in Vegas because the day before we'd been scampering around Red Rock just outside of the city. The ward (whichever one it was, because we just crashed a 9am meeting) was extremely excellent, which only added to the great weekend.

So to continue my rebirthday churchy posting tradition:

Yesterday in Relief Society* they were discussing the Holy Ghost, as I imagine a lot of wards were. The teacher brought up Gifts of the Spirit (10-33) during the discussion and I was reminded of what Elder McConkie said about the Gifts of the Spirit. He said that the faithful are expected to seek the gifts of the Spirit with all their hearts**.
So this got me thinking about how sometimes we pigeon-hole ourselves, thinking that these are the talents that we've been given, and we shouldn't bury them or anything, because that's not good, but forget that we should not only develop these talents, but righteously desire and pray for that which we don't have.
That got me thinking about why we've been commanded to do so. A few of the many possible answers came into my head:

1. God answers prayers of the honest and contrite heart, and immediately begins preparing an answer that will best help us return to Him (2nd part via a great comment from Lily Huntington nearly-Mott during a Sacrament Meeting talk in the illustrious 73rd Ward [the talk given the same Sunday that Kathy had borrowed her Ensign to give her own talk]).
2. If we have prayed for something, or have been praying for something, our hearts and minds will be more willing to recognize and accept the help given (and be more grateful).
   
3. When we've prayed for something, essentially a miracle, and our hearts are in the right spot, this influence from the Spirit of God will strengthen our testimonies, and perhaps those around us.
   

So those are my thoughts on my rebirthday and the day after.


*In Portuguese it's nicknamed "Soc Soc" said SOH-kee SOH-kee where the ee is barely voiced. It's short for Sociedade de Socorro.
**Mormon Doctrine, under "Gifts of the Spirit"

Jazz and Blues

I do not claim to be any form of expert in Jazz or the Blues, but there are some songs that I love listening to. Sometimes it's hard to figure out where Jazz and Blues music hits you. Some of the chord progressions are so amazing; and then when I listen to what the musicians do with the notes of the chords, I can't help but be in awe. But there's another part of Jazz and the Blues that's so much more visceral and inexplicable and I think that is the root of the power of the two musical styles.

So here are a few very incomplete lists:

My Jazz instrumental list is dominated by just a few artists. But they're by far my favorites. If you would like to help me expand my horizons, please tell me everything I've missed.

My all time favorite Jazz song is
Autumn Leaves by Miles Davis


Along with that we've got in no real order, but Take Five might be my #2
Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman
Nutcracker Suite by Duke Ellington
Take Five by Dave Brubeck Quartet
Blue Rondo a la Turk by Dave Brubeck Quartet
Take the Coltrane by John Coltrane & Duke Ellington
Body and Soul by John Coltrane
Somethin' Else by Miles Davis & Cannonball Adderley
So What by Miles Davis (another)
'Round Midnight by Miles Davis & John Coltrane
Dear Old Stockholm by Miles Davis & John Coltrane
Blue in Green by Miles Davis & John Coltrane
Straight, No Chaser by Thelonious Monk
Well, You Needn't by Thelonious Monk
[Apparently, I only really like Thelonious Monk songs that follow this pattern: WORD COMMA WORD WORD]

Here's my list of vocal Jazz favorites. Some of these songs have been covered so many times, that it's the song that transcends--well, unless you're Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald. Those two transcend the songs.:
Body and Soul by Billie Holiday (pretty much anything)
's Wonderful by Diana Krall
Popsicle Toes by Diana Krall (did you know she's married to Elvis Costello? huh.)
I'll String Along With You by Diana Krall
I've Got you Under my Skin by Ella Fitzgerald (again, pretty much anything by her)
The Nearness of You by Ellis & Louis
Cheek to Cheek by Ella & Louis
Let's Fall in Love (tons have covered this. Even this version. And ick.)
Little Drummer Boy by Nat King Cole (Can't find a version)
Embraceable You by Nat King Cole/Billie Holiday/et al
Unforgettable by Nat King Cole/Plus this (granted there are times that I'm not completely enamored with this song. I go back and forth)
Sarah Vaughan

The Blues is a harder one to categorize. But the first musician listed, Robert Johnson, who sold his soul to the devil, is the most important in Blues, and perhaps the most important predecessor to Rock music. You listen to his songs and you think, okay, impressive. But then you realize that he's the first one to really play the Blues style that we know with incredible skill, flair and nuance. He died at 27, probably poisoned, and left only a few recording sessions. But his music is awesome.
Cross Road Blues, Walking Blues, Sweet Home Chicago, Terraplane Blues by Robert Johnson
You've got to include B.B. King, too. And the best song of them all is The Thrill Is Gone.
Then there's Bessie Smith, maybe the most influential Blues singer. (As a linguistic aside, you can hear the English Creole grammar in the lyrics. Sweet.)
Eric Clapton plays a great Blues guitar. Here's Before You Accuse Me plugged in (& in a terrible pink jacket), and here it is unplugged. mmhmmm
I can't stand John Mayer's popular Rock stuff, but he's an incredible Blues guitarist with great feel. Here's another clip. When he's on Austin City Limits, he tends to do great Blues stuff.
Blues music is sometimes so hard to peg, because it has influenced every subsequent American music style. There's a song that Bonnie Raitt did in the 70s that I can listen to over and over, Angel From Montgomery.
I know that there are more Blues songs that I could post. And what do you do with Jimi Hendrix? Anyway, the roots of the Blues go back to Africa and are the basis of pretty well every song you hear on the radio.

There, I'm presently done with this list. I hold the right to subsequent updates.