altad jeepsta 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53baYQPcC4s

The other day the art director of the 1968 film, Yellow Submarine, Heinz Edelmann, died in Stuttgart, Germany. Edelmann was 75. My first experience watching "Yellow Submarine" would come from watching the movie on Saturday or Sunday afternoon matinees on our local UHF station, channel 19 in the 1970's. It was always worth watching, of course, because it was a cartoon. And the music was good.

I liked the Beatle's music, but didn't know a whole lot. I had 45's from Uncle Tim. He bought them new when he was a teen. By the time I was buying 45's it was just Paul McCartney. We had to sing some Beatle's songs in music class and school choir: Eleanor Rigby, Penny Lane, etc. But my experience with rock music was always second hand.

Our neighbors next door in my hometown had four sons. One was my age and the rest were older. So I learned something about rock music from the older brothers, who were their hair long and played around with motorcycles. One of the older brothers, Mark, had painted a large mural copy of the cover of the self-titled debut album by the New Riders of the Purple Sage on his wall. I thought that was pretty neat, but I had no idea what that music sounded like. Later when I would listen to WEBN I finally heard music from that album. Even later I would listen to the Grateful Dead. They had that song 'Friend of the Devil' which today I learned was written by a guy who died yesterday, John Dawson of the New Riders of the Purple Sage.

NOTE: Photo from the Dennie Oxley homepage.

If you haven't been following the Indiana reality television experience of former state legislator and lieutenant governor candidate Dennie Oxley II, then here is an update. Oxley's troubles started with a February DUI charge, but has considerably escalated with the recent incident where he used legislative immunity to evade an arrest. d a 21-year-old female legislative intern drunk at a gas station early Friday morning. Last weekend the police found Mr. Oxley and a 21 year old woman drunk at a downtown gas station. The woman, an Indiana House intern, was lying on the ground and Oxley was walking away from the gas station and toward an alley, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case. Mr. Oxley was carrying the young woman's shoes.

Besides being charged with impersonating a public servant and public intoxication, Oxley should be charged with being a total heel.


http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/jul/02/arrest-warrant-issued-former-rep-oxley/

This morning I sat at the computer and via You Tube played several Michael Jackson songs and felt a strange void and sadness as the bright pop songs filled the house. His songs were such a staple in my life for the first twenty years. I watched the Jackson 5 cartoon as a little girl and loved the songs “ABC” and “Ben”. Made me think of summer heat in the back room of the old house, Peter Max posters on the wall, the old black dial phone, and dust motes in the sun. The next time he was part of my life was 1979 with Off the Wall album. My friend Sydney and I would listen to “I Wanna Rock with You” over and over in her bedroom- she would listen and mourn the breakup of a young boyfriend; I would listen and swoon with the potential of actually having a boy in my life. At the school discos I would dance to “Don’t Stop til You Get Enough” wearing sparkling eye shadow and gloppy lip-gloss, huge comb strategically parked in the back pocket of my faux designer jeans. It was magical music, so catchy yet fleshed out enough to bite into. When I was a senior, Thriller was a constant. I did not need to own the album; it was simply always on the radio or friends’ stereos, everywhere. I don’t know how many school newspapers I worked on with “Billy Jean” playing somewhere in the background. By then I was listening to more new wave and Brit Pop, my tastes so “painfully sophisticated” that I rose above the pedestrian bleating of Mika Jackson…But what I surrounded myself with then does not register now, it does not matter- the song “Thriller” recalls my life then, not XTC’s “Ball and Chain” or Adam Ant’s “Goody Two Shoes”.
This morning those bright pop songs sounded so fresh yet heavy with the innocent anticipation of having my whole life ahead of me. They look forward, they imagine things which would never happen, but at the time I could not know that. That is the magic of pop music when done well- it makes a person full of desire and makes them wistful for what they don’t have but could have. Rest in peace, Michael Jackson, crazy prince of pop music

 
 
 
 

Another fine Hippie Thanksgiving was had last night at the Cook Ranch. The prairie was burned and smoke rose up in columns as flames cackled. Small children ran near the fires, delighted with the danger as parents kept an eye out. Ronnie fried up the turkey and John Stoelting and I carved it up. Jeep wore his hippie get up and took Polaroids of everyone. Dave Gillie had some placemats that were made for the event from 1997. This is the 19th or 20th year for Hippie Thanksgiving...No end in sight.

My sister griped that I have not been blogging. I whined, yes I have, until she pointed out that I have not written anything since July. Well. Tis true.
Lately I have been enjoying a couple of very mediocre yet pleasant songs which have been handy autumn soundtrack tunes. The first is Sea Wolfs'"Get of This Town" which is fun to sing along with. The second is Beat Happening's "Indian Summer" which is such a charmer, with lots of sweet love and food references. I saw Luna do a cover of this once in Cincinnati and never forgot the song. Beat Happening also wrote "Cast a Shadow in My Direction" which was wonderfully covered by Yo La Tengo and was my favorite song back in the very early 90's. Pitchfork and other "authorities" of indie music always list Beat Happening as a seminal band. They are so simple and rough as to be an acquired taste. They remind me of bands at art openings back in Muncie in the eighties, but instead of singing about cough syrup they sing about picnics and baking apple pie. WFMU is now playing my all time favorite fall song, "Autumn Sweater" by Yo La Tengo. That organ/drum combo,and Ira's simmering suggestive voice...holy cow. Gorgeous. I keep looking for that special sweater which screams this song, alas I have never found it at Target on the racks. I look each year...Sigh. Maybe next year.