The Blog

Back when people used to read my blog, I could put up a short post of, say two sentences, pose a question, and get 28 comments.

I’m not complaining or anything about my status as Completely Anonymous Blogger. I think I’m probably in pretty good company, so I don’t need your damned sympathy. But because my blog emails me whenever someone does leave a comment, I am occasionally haunted by something I wrote in the past.

Today, for example, I received Comment #28 on a post I wrote in January of 2007. First, here’s the post, in its entirety:

Has any singer, anytime, anywhere, ever owned a song the way Bobby Darin still owns “Mack the Knife”? I mean, sure, other singers can sing it, but it takes a lot of damned nerve, and it is always compared to his version.

It led to a good discussion of music, something I always enjoy, and over the years it has kept bringing in the comments, presumably from fans who Google *Scarlet Billows” or “Bobby Darin” and land on that post. A lot of folks had a lot of ideas about songs that may or may not be “owned” by one singer or another, and the most recent comment (by Lil Doozcoop) nails it perfectly, as did many of the earlier ones:

February 11th, 2009 at 4:42 am

This is 2 years late but, Patsy Cline owns Crazy (written by Willie Nelson) and Peggy Lee owns Fever.

I have to admit, it’s hard to think of either of those two songs without hearing Patsy or Peggy, once you’ve heard those versions.

If you’re desperate for something to do, check out the original post. While you’re there you’ll be able to listen to Bobby Darin’s definitive recording of “Mack the Knife.” Do you agree or disagree with me or the commenters? Do you know of another song that has become the complete “property” of one performer?

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PS: Here’s my version of the song, posted because I have a lot of damned nerve. If you have already complimented me on my singing, don’t feel you must do so again. Please step back and let someone else have a chance.

Live blogging.

8:00 PM PST: U2 opens the show. Kind of Elvis Costello meets Subterranean Homesick Blues. Hey! “Recorded Earlier?” All day they’ve been saying this would be live. WTF?

8:03 PM: Whitney looks very relaxed. Wow, she’s really sucking up to Clive Davis. Is Jennifer Hudson wearing a bib? At least there’s no lobster on it.

8:06 PM: The Rock tries out his standup. He’s really got great teeth.

8:08 PM: This is not fair. Justin Timberlake gets to sing with Al Geen? Fucking Mousketeer. Al, please say you’re not seriously passing the torch to this little schmoe.

8:20 PM: I’m not crazy about Coldplay, but I wouldn’t blame Chris Martin if he got up from his piano and kicked that rapper off the stage. Right in the middle of a song! How rude!

8:26 PM: Carrie Underwood hoo ha ain’t she some bad rockin’ mama? Oh wait. This is country music.

8:31 PM: Sheryl Crow has a nice tan. I hope she’s not spending too much time in that old sun over Santa Monica Boulevard.

8:39 PM: I’m having a hard time paying attention to this “show.” I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish watching. They introduced Al Green and Duffy as “two winners already tonight,” but I don’t know what they won. Did I hear that right?

8:42 PM: Kid Rock, keeping alive the legacy of Alice Cooper.

8:47 PM: They keep teasing “Taylor Swift and Mylie Cyrus sing together for the first time.” Does that mean they plan to sing together more times in the future? Should we care about this?

8:48 PM: OK, Mylie, you are way out of your league. That older woman singing with you is much more professional.

8:50 PM: Robert Plant and Allison Krause. She didn’t hug him back when they won. What’s up with that?

8:58 PM: I wonder what those earrings are made out of that Jennifer Hudson is wearing? They seem like they would hurt. She did seem to be crying a little at the end there.

9:01 PM: Seems like a lot of commercial breaks. CBS must think a lot of people will watch this mess. I wonder why?

9:02 PM: OK, good spot about Guitar Hero, with the hot blonde doing a Tom Cruise to the old Seger song. But they blew it. She should have been somebody’s mom, and the family should have appeared at the end of the spot, looking at her like she was crazy for rockin’ so hard all by herself like that. That would have made me go out and buy whatever that thing is they’re selling.

9:07 PM: The Jonas Brothers have a new keyboard player. It’s Stevie Wonder! Bet he wouldn’t have passed their audition. Not up to their standards. What a bitter old man I have become!

9:12 PM: OMG! Blink 182 is back together! Music is saved! But the guy with the broken arm shouldn’t have had to open the envelope. That’s just cruel.

9:20 PM: Katie Perry. She’s cute, but you can tell when an act has no real content or substance by the HUGE production surrounding it. Remember Ricky Martin on the Grammy’s ten years ago? What spectacle! The costumes! The dancers! The percussionists! The brass section! The vacuousness!

9:25 PM: Kanye West. Silver lame jacket. Still complaining about not winning Best New Artist. Ooh, he is so outspoken and controversial! Whoever won it that year ought to just give it to him, so he’ll shut up.

9:29 PM: It kind of spoils the “live show” illusion when they show clips of upcoming performances.

9:40 PM: Record of the Year. Allison gave Robert a little pat on the arm this time. He gets back at her by not letting her speak.

9:42 PM: More commercials. I’m getting sleepy. Apparently they think McCartney is enough of a draw to keep us watching to the end. I have to clean the cat litter box. Hope I don’t miss the finale.

9:49 PM: Highlight of the night has got to be M.I.A. nine months preggers in a polka-dot bikini performing with the “rap pack.” She’s due TODAY, so we might have had an even better show than we did. What a trooper. Hope the baby isn’t injured.

9:54 PM: Macca kicks ass. He can still hit the high note in “I Saw Her Standing There,” and sing lead while playing eight to the bar on the bass.

10:12 PM: Hey, wait a minute. This thing is still on? I thought it was over at ten o’clock! Holy shit, that Adele has a powerful voice, and she belts it out seemingly with no effort. She’ll be around for a long time, i predict. Not like that Katie Perry or Ricky Martin.

10:18 PM: Radiohead with the USC marching band. Weird, but effective. Gwyneth — call me.

10:56 PM: I guess I’m too old for this. The only part of the show that moved me in the past half hour was the list of dead people. Somebody please leave a comment here about what a great show this was, and how exciting the current crop of new musicians and singers is, so I will know once and for all that I’m totally out of it. Otherwise, it seems to me that we are in a music recession, as well as an economic one.

I’m going to bed. Let me know how it ends.

I know it’s only been one day, and I’m not one to have stars in my eyes, but it actually does feel like we may be entering an all-new era of politics and governance.

I don’t have the words to say how impressed I am with this new President. He’s obviously intelligent and competent, but at the same time he doesn’t seem full of himself, nor has he been trying to suggest that he has all the answers, or that he will be able to solve our problems for us. On the contrary, he has said many times that all of us will have to pull together to work our way out of the various messes we find ourselves in, and he says it in such a way that I actually want to do just that.

His natural political enemies, the ultraconservative hard core Christian right, seem to be a little scarce these days, and they are reduced to rolling their eyes, making fun of the concepts of “hope” and “change,” and predicting that President Obama will simply take everybody’s money and throw it down the nearest liberal rat hole. Rush Limbaugh chortles “This guy is in so far over his head…” but his words ring false, maybe even to Rush himself.

Anyone who reads this blog or knows me even a little knows that I am skeptical of public figures almost to the point of cynicism. They always have ulterior motives, and I don’t trust them. I’ve said here before that you have to have an inflated ego even to run for president. So by (my) definition, presidents must be a somewhat unsavory bunch.

And yet.

During my life a few presidents have looked realistically into the face of daunting adversity and called the nation to service. Some, like Jimmy Carter, were kind of earnest bummers. Others, most notably JFK, spoke eloquently and inspired a generation. I find myself inspired by this president, and wanting to give him a little extra slack. I catch myself choking up at the unfolding of this particular bit of history. I’m open to the call for responsibility. I’m suspending my disbelief. The nation — the world — is in big trouble, yet I’m feeling hopeful. I’m thinking OK, what role can I play?

Who knows? Maybe we really can save the world.

In the best tradition of American democracy, I am trying to rig an election.

Unlike some evildoers, however, I am trying to fix it so the best candidate wins the 2008 Weblog Award for Best Diarist.

The best candidate is, of course, my friend Blue Girl in a Red State, and you should click here to read some stuff that she’s written. No doubt you will never be back to read this boring blog, but that’s a chance I’m gladly taking.

Anyway, it doesn’t matter. You know I would do this for you, so please do it for me.

Click the image above or click here to cast your vote for Blue Girl in A Red State. You can vote every 24 hours until next Tuesday, one time per day from each computer that you use. So if you have a computer at home and one at work or school, vote once a day from each one.

Oh, and would it encourage you to do this for me if I told you that each time you vote for Blue Girl, a lonely, starving puppy with no prospects and no hope is adopted by a happy family and showered with love and delicious, meaty bones, and allowed to sleep in the bed sometimes?

Well, it’s true.

Click the puppy to save him, and remember,
Blue Girl In A Red State ROCKS!!

Is it the saddest day of the year?

It’s only January 4th, so maybe it’s too early to say, but today is the day that all the Christmas lights and holiday displays come down off everyone’s houses and out of their front yards. My neighbors do a fine job each year. We go for walks around the neighborhood most evenings all year round, so in December we get an eyeful of everybody’s handiwork with the decorations.

I didn’t do a scientific survey, but I think there were more displays this year than the year before. In fact, I’ve noticed a gradual decline in the exuberance of the Christmas decorating over the past five years or so, until this year. I don’t know why such a thing would happen. During The Decline, I figured it was probably because of the general malaise abroad in the land, with salaries stagnating, the environment slowly unraveling and the village idiot in the White House callously sacrificing more and more lives to assuage his ego, with nobody apparently able to stop him.

But a lot of my neighbors seem to have perked up this year. Maybe they are thinking that at least they can have their Festival of Lights, even if so much else has been taken from them, and bless them for that, as it brings me cheer during the time of the solstice. And really, what is an extra ten or fifteen bucks for electricity when your house has lost a hundred thousand dollars of value?

So the neighborhood was lit like Las Vegas for the past month with colored lights, white lights, bluish LED’s, flashing lights, inflatable Santas and snowmen, wire-frame illuminated reindeer, animated toy trains, red and white candy canes — our walks were breathtaking sightseeing tours. Most of all I was touched by whatever that need is that we seem to have, to light things and show our warmth to the world. Glad tidings!

But no self respecting homeowner can leave their lights up past this weekend, and so they were all out on New Year’s Day, and yesterday and finally today, pulling down all the strings of lights and wreaths and baubles and bringing to a close once and for all this beautiful holiday season.

I didn’t put up any lights or anything out front this year, or any year, because I can’t bear to take them down. But a few weeks ago I got a couple of strings of “icicles,” those tiny white lights that hang down from your eaves or rain gutters and try to look like the real thing. Mine are plain-Jane. They don’t flash and they’re not sequenced to music. They just shine, like hope. I put them up on the garage, facing my back yard. You can’t can see them from the street, and I’m not taking them down, ever. Their message, and mine, is “Peace on earth, and good will to everyone.”

I can hardly wait for next December.

We may be in for a rough ride in the coming year, but I feel hopeful instead of resentful for the first time in, oh, eight years. Jesus, that was a long administration wasn’t it? In retrospect, Al Gore should never have given up in 2000, and if he couldn’t win the election in court (after winning in the voting process) he should have challenged Bush to a duel — pistols at sunrise — and if Bush (or more likely Cheney) had shot him, we should have risen up as a nation and rejected his ass right then and there. We didn’t do any of that, so in a way we got what was coming to us.

Anyway, I feel good about the immediate future, in the way you feel good about not hitting yourself on the head with a hammer, after doing so for fifteen minutes.

Which is to say I love you all and I hope more of you will stop by and comment during 2009. Whether you do or not, may you enjoy peace, love and beauty for one year. You can come back next December to have that renewed.