Derek Coward’s Noise

If I have something to say that will take 140 characters or less, then I will use Twitter to say it. If I have something to say to a particular person (or persons) on Twitter, then I will use Twitter to say it to them. This second rule also applies to Friendfeed, Facebook or anything else I happen to be on.

However, if I have something to say and it doesn’t fall into any of the parameters of the first paragraph, then I will use my blog to say it. Twitter is a microblogging service and for a lot of people (including me), it has taken the place of actual blogging. I plan on changing my online behavior to the added benefit of my sites. I know I am not the first person to have this epiphany but we all get to where we end up at our own pace.

Not all of my new blog posts will be treatises or manifestos, some times they will just be what I am thinking about. Since this is what I am doing on Twitter as it is, I might as well expand my explanations and make them a little more understandable to others.

If anyone says they like either Amy Winehouse or Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, but not the other obviously hasn’t listened to the other one. Or they just holding Amy’s tabloid coverage and personal problems against her.

Amy Winehouse – Love Is A Losing Game:

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Inspiration Information:

I am currently reading ‘Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets’ by David Simon, which was the book that was the basis for the TV show ‘Homicide: Life On The Streets’. I started reading it back in the early 90s but I was moving around a lot and lost it (along with Tom Wolfe’s ‘A Man in Full‘). I recently bought it again and decided to get through it before I lose it again.

I am currently at the part where they are trying to find out if the Fish Man killed Latonya Wallace, which was changed to whether The Araber killed Adena Watson. On TV, this was a great storyline.  In real life, it is heartbreaking.

My favorite episode of H:LOTS is ‘Three Men and Adena’. It was an episode long interrogation with Bayliss and Pembleton trying to get a confession from The Araber. The three actors should have all gotten Emmys, Oscars, Tonys and whatever other awards there were.

This scene is ten minutes long, but it doesn’t feel like it. It is still haunting after all these years.

I have already decided that when I am done with Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets, I am reading David Simon’s The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood which he made into a miniseries for HBO called ‘The Corner‘, which was another great piece of television.

NOTE: All of the links in this post are Amazon sponsored links.

My favorite BBQ joint has gone out of business and their building has been taken over by a Coney Island restaurant.  It has been over a year now. I guess it is past time that I take their number out of my cell phone and get them off of speed dial.

This isn't from them, but this looks good doesn't it?

Image via Wikipedia

Stephen: Daddy, when you make my lunch can you make sure you put in a juice box or two?

Me: I forgot? Sorry, buddy. What did you drink?

Stephen: Nothing.

Me: Nothing? All day?

Stephen: No. I had some chocolate milk that I don’t like.

Me: You don’t like chocolate milk?

Stephen: No. I don’t like THIS chocolate milk?

Me: What’s wrong with it? Does it have a bad after-taste?

Stephen: No, it has a bad before-taste.

This morning, I found an email in one of my inboxes with the following offer:

“We do provide a unique article on your topics suggested relevant on your interest at no cost.
No duplication or copying of the article is done. we right contents exclusively for your site on demand. We also give Copy rights for articles to your site on security base. ”

There was more but this was the most relevant part. There was a side of me which wanted to correct their email and return it to them, but  instead I decided to “right” my own content. It may be a little rambly, but I know for a fact that it is mine and I don’t have to worry about the same type of poorly written article being on any other website.

BTW: The price for the magnanimity in the email was two text links to their site. For some reason that frightens me almost as much as having their authors write for my site.

I have a small stack of CDs on the night table next to my bed. I haven’t heard any of them in a while, but for some reason this morning, I looked over, saw the soundtrack to Romeo+Juliet and immediately got this song stuck in my head.

This video is from the album version of the song and not from the soundtrack. I think the difference is the R+J version has clips from the movie. I’m not sure because I have never seen either of them before today.

Also, in the YouTube comments (yes, I know I should avoid them like ball hungry Great Danes) someone mentioned “OMG justin bieber ruined this song!” I take the statement to mean he made a cover of the song. If that is the case, I don’t know what the big deal is. This isn’t 199-something, there are as many options to avoid hearing a song as there are to hear one. It’s not like back in the day when you had to listen to radio in order to hear new music. Subscribe to some cool music blogs and podcasts and avoid the FCC-neutered radio industry.

And now that my “You kids have it easy, why back in my time…” moment is over, everyone listen to the video and have a good day.

In the Music section of Comcast On Demand, there is a selection called Soul Train Playlist #1. Here is the description: A medley of great performances including The Staple Singers, Freda Payne, The Chi-Lites, Joe Tex, Wilson Pickett, War, Ike & Tina Turner, Joe Simon, The Stylistics and Lou Rawls.

I put my thoughts about it on Friendfeed as I was watching it, so I decided to also share it on my blog.

Respect Yourself by The Staple Singers. I don’t think a group headed by a senior citizen would be very popular nowadays. Nope, not at all.

Band Of Gold by Freda Payne. Her lip synching was really bad compared to the Staple Singers, but that’s OK because even with the huge hair, she is really cute. If they ever do a biopic of her in the next few years and don’t get Thandie Newton, the producers are dumb.

Have You Seen Her by The Chi-Lites. This song means early 70s to me. Sort of how California Dreaming means late 60s. The Afros bigger than the rest of the head is a bit distracting, even though I’m pretty sure I had one like that as a kid.

They were really smart and put a commercial for the Best of Soul Train DVD set on the show. They are talking directly to their audience.

I Gotcha by Joe Tex. I had never seen him before. He has the worst lip synching so far. The director has to rely on wide shots or with the camera behind him. The microphone isn’t anywhere near his mouth at times. This is wonderfully bad.

Fire and Water by Wilson Pickett. He has a full band behind him and I am almost positive they are playing live and he isn’t lip-synching. The dancers are going crazy during this song.

Slipping Into Darkness by War. Again, this is a full band and they are playing live. I wonder if the policy was bands get to play, while singers have to synch. Side note, the harmonica player is the first white person on the show so far.

Proud Mary by Ike & Tina Turner. This is definitely live. Damn, she was hot. And he may have been a drug-addled wife beater, but Ike had stage presence.

Power of Love by Joe Simon. I was never a big fan of this song. Joe is lip-synching and isn’t do much beyond that. He’s just standing there slowly swaying and singing. At least Joe Tex was jumping around and acting like a fool. Easily my least favorite part of the show so far.

From Now On by Lou Rawls. I’m not sure if he is lip synching or not but probably because the director isn’t going in tight on his face. He is ‘dancing’ only a little more than Joe Simon did in his segment, but this is Lou Rawls and he is making it work. This makes me even more disappointed in the Joe Simon segment.

You Make Me Feel Brand New by The Stylistics. I’m not sure why Comcast switched Lou Rawls and The Stylistics in their description, but I’m just glad we didn’t get rooked out of seeing them. I love this song and I’m pretty sure they are singing. The camera is spending a lot of time right on the faces of Airron Love and Russell Thompkins Jr. so if they are lip-synching, they are doing an excellent job.

Overall, it was a good way to spend 44 minutes on a slow Saturday afternoon.  9/10 is a great score. The only thing I would have gotten rid of would have been the Joe Simon section and replaced it with Barry White, but that’s just me.

Most people who know me know that I am a big Johnny Cash fan. I prefer his older more rockabilly stuff but it is all good to me. However, the song that made me a Johnny Cash fan is NOT one of his songs, but rather a song by a band from New York called The Dancing Hoods. The band never got the attention I think they deserved as they are known mostly for being the first band of Mark Linkous, who gained a lot more fame for the band Sparklehorse.

The first song from their debut album ‘12 Jealous Roses’ is called ‘Pleasure’. The first two times the chorus was sung, it included the phrase “I smash my own bones just to hear them crack…”, which I thought was a great line.  However, on the third go around, that part of the chorus changed to “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die…” This was definitely a bit of a departure and I had never heard that line before.

Years later I found out the “shot a man in Reno” line came from ’Folsom Prison Blues’, and was written by Johnny Cash. When he was writing the song, he was trying to think of the worst possible reason for one person to kill another and just to watch someone else die was pretty much it.

I sought out a copy of ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and I liked it. In fact, I liked it so much I bought the three CD set, ‘The Essential Johnny Cash (1955-1983)’, which quickly became one of my favorite collections of music. I compare all other country artists to Johnny Cash and if they don’t come close to his sound, then I don’t like them. Needless to say, I haven’t liked much country music that has come out since 1983 and I don’t feel bad about it at all.

While I am a huge fan of the earlier Johnny stuff, I respect what Rick Rubin brought to the table with the ‘American Recordings’. I know that ‘Hurt’ was the big hit of those sessions, but my favorite song of Older Johnny was ‘Ain’t No Grave’, which is Johnny Cash’s final studio recording and the music behind The Johnny Cash Project.

Here is Pleasure by The Dancing Hoods:

Here is Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash:

And here is Ain’t No Grave by Johnny Cash:

This is Mates of State covering “I Will Dare” by The Replacements. One of my favorite bands covering my favorite band. It rarely gets better than this for me.

Mates Of State cover The Replacements

I wasn’t that familiar with The AV Club before this, but I think I will spend some time on their website.