Soul Thumping

Five for Friday - Disco One-hit Wonders

Today's Five for Friday list is musically inspired because I was listening to "Ring My Bell," Anita Ward's only hit.  I then started thinking about other disco one-hit wonders, and these are my picks.  Shake your groove thing y'all, it's Friday.

  "The Hustle" by Van McCoy - of course I had to include "The Hustle!"  Follow along with the video, kids, if you don't know how to do the hustle.

  "Ring My Bell" Anita Ward - this started things off for me today and I'm still singing it in my head.  My bell, ring my bell (inspired from my bicycle post yesterday).

  "A Fifth of Beethoven" Walter Murphy - this song brings back an awkward memory for me.  In the 5th grade, a group of us did a choreographed dance to this song for a school talent show or something and a boy I couldn't stand was in the group and I had to hold his hand during part of the dance.  His name was Anthony Anderson.  I also did something mean to him in the sixth grade.  I put thumbtacks in his chair and he sat on them.  I got in big trouble for that, as I should have.  I wonder where Anthony is today.  I'm sorry about the thumbtacks.

  "Kung Fu Fighting" Carl Douglas - those cats were fast as lightening.  As a kid, I thought he was saying, "Those cops were fast as lightening."  Also, check out the two male "dancers" on the left side of the stage.  Classic (in a scary kind of way).

  "I Can't Stand the Rain" Eruption - I like the hell out of this song today.

  "Emotion"  Samantha Sang - I had to throw in at least one cheesy white girl song.

 

--Fortuitous Observer

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Is it Rude to Use a Bike Bell? Oh, and Here is My New Awesome Bike Bell

Is it rude to use a bicycle bell when biking on busy trails?

When Poseidon and I bike the trails in our city, I usually say, "Coming up on your left" or "Coming up on your right (for those dolts who don't know the basic etiquette of keeping to the right)" to alert walkers, runners, moms/dads with strollers, other bikers, etc., that I'm behind them.  I always feel like I'm being rude, especially because I'm saying it in a louder voice than normal--so they can actually hear me--but I want to alert folks so they don't step out in front of me, causing either one of us injury, death, or worse, general annoyance.

I was told by a friend who used to live in Japan that the Japanese consider ringing a bike bell to be rude.  They tend not to say anything either, they just speed by, which seems awfully dangerous to me.  Personally, I would rather be presumed a bad-mannered meanie than risk plowing someone over.

So, the Pylones bike bell in orchid.  I ordered it a few weeks ago.  Will I actually use the bike bell though, that is the question?  The dinging sound it makes is lovely, and seems promisingly less offensive than my voice.

Honestly, I'm usually too anxious and concerned about hooking someone with the handlebars of my bike, dragging them around the lake until they fall off in a swarm of angry geese only to have their eyes pecked out, to be concerned that they think me an abrasive boor. Ding-ding.

 

Pylones bike bell in orchid

 

--Fortuitous Observer

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Thinking I'm Responsible for the Space Shuttle Disasters

With the passing away of Neil Armstrong last month, and Space Shuttle Endeavour heading for retirement, it is with considerable trepidation that I face my self-diagnosed "NASA anxiety."  Born exactly 6 months (to the day) before the first landing on the moon (or, if you are a conspiracy theorist, the theatrical production of the first landing on the moon), this Gen Xer takes our space program seriously, sometimes, and this is why I'm now confessing that I hold myself responsible for the space shuttle disasters.  

I hold myself responsible because I insisted on watching them live.  January 28, 1986, in high school, I voted "YES" (along with the majority of my classmates) to watching the live take off of Space Shuttle Challenger during a Social Studies class.  Our teacher was excited because Sharon Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher to fly in space, was a crew member.  History in the making folks.

Just over one minute into the flight, we saw the infamous blast of bright light, and we watched in horror as the space shuttle disintegrated, fiery pieces falling from the sky.  LIVE.  The reporters were at a loss for words.  For the first time all year, that classroom full of high school students went completely silent.

Fast forward to February 1, 2003.  I got up early that morning to watch the landing of Space Shuttle Columbia.  I sat on the sofa with my bowl of cereal and a blanket, watching the television screen like a cat watching a mouse.  A few minutes before 9am, the shuttle is nearing the coast of California.  A play-by-play announcer on television made the whole thing that much more exciting.  But then, something went wrong, because Columbia wasn't appearing where it should be, over Texas, at least that is when I remember feeling anxious.  "Roger, uh, bu --" was the last contact.  I won't go through all the details because those are readily available all over the internet, but I spent the entire day engulfed in the drama.  I watched all the NASA press conferences, eyewitness accounts, conjecture from engineers, scientists, meteorologists, laypersons, family of the crew, etc.

I was sad but mostly stunned.  Then, because I'm neurotic, I thought, "Damn, I did it again!"  It was at that moment I decided my watching the space shuttle landings and take-offs was the cause of these freak disasters and I would watch no more.

As curious as I was, I chose not to watch the Endeavour make its way to California last week.  As much as I wanted to watch it pass over the Golden Gate Bridge, I wanted more for it to make it safely.

It still has some road traveling to do before it arrives at its final home, the California Science Center, so someone let me know when it's all over and I can turn on the television again.

Challenger Flight Crew - By NASA [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

 

 

--Fortuitous Observer

Five for Friday - My Sad Little Neck

 

Thanks to my C3, C4, and C5 vertebral issues, I have a Five for Friday topic:  My neck and what about it is annoying me today.

  While driving, my left side blind spot...well, let's just say, everything to my left is a blind spot and it's best if no one is on the roadways but me.  My lane changes begin with a prayer and end with, "Oh dear God, no one got hurt."

  I'm holding my head in mid-Egyptian wiggle, without trying (cue The Bangles).

  Having to answer, "Why do you have an ice pack on your neck?" more than 3 times every day is wearing thin, my very last little nerve.  My latest response is, "Because I'm having structural problems."

  The response from my chiropractor when I asked him on Monday when I can start running again (note:  his reply was preceded by floundering silence):  "Well, running isn't the end-all-be-all."

  Having to sleep on my back (I'm a side sleeper) with my special pillow, which seems to be an invitation to Kwinn to sleep on my chest, and when I stop petting him because I'm, you know, sleeping, he bites my face to let me know he is waiting.

 

--Fortuitous Observer

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A Little Lost Soul - Found the Singles Ad I Placed in 1997 - LOLing for Days

Well, now this is funny, mostly because I'm 43 and happily married, and the person I was in 1997 is sitting in the back seat, seen only from my rear view mirror on occasion.

I mentioned a few posts back (finding my list of goals from 1996) about finding the singles ad I posted in the Philadelphia Weekly, so I found again, read it, made fun of it, scanned it, and here it is.  It isn't nearly as bad as I thought, meaning, I didn't cringe until my neck hurt while reading it over.

My thoughts:
1.  I'm mostly posting it because this is how it was done 'back in the day' by Generation Xers before Match.com.
2.  After scanning, I noticed my scribbling above the post (I cut it out of the paper and taped into my journal)...something about no slackers or yuppies!
3.  I think I hit rather close to my target with Poseidon : )

 

 

 

--Fortuitous Observer

Five for Friday - Words for Bands, Indie or Otherwise, to Retire From Their Names

This contribution is from Poseidon, and he actually gave me 10 items, so today's Five for Friday will be Ten for Friday, and because he is quite adamant about bands no longer using the following words in their band names, I will honor the overage.

So, here they are, Poseidon's "ten words for bands, indie or otherwise, to retire, right now:"

Super - I know Poseidon is right on this, but I can only think of Superchunk at the moment.

Black

Psychic

Islands

Japan

Stereo

White

Bear

Tiger

Deer - OK, I have to agree.  Deerhunter, Deer Tick, Deerhoof, etc.  I love deer as much as the next, but can we try another animal?  What about the pangolin?  Poseidon would agree.  He has a strange fondness for the pangolin and he has yet to meet one up close and personal.

I'm also adding my own to this list:  girl(s), neon, and star. 

 

--Fortuitous Observer

Autumn Inspiration with a Side of Nathaniel Hawthorne

Early fall in North Carolina.  Gorgeous.  We have had 3 nearly perfect days in a row, and I'm skipping with delight, literally.  I skipped this morning to see my boss when I resolved an issue we were having with a faculty system program.  Massive.monkey.has.jumped.off.back.

Recharge, recharge, recharge.  My autumnal plan is to recharge!  We have been on the go for several weeks, and though I have enjoyed our whirlwind of activities, I need a healthy respite from the motion.  This past weekend was a 3-day music festival here in Raleigh, and the weekend before, we flew to Nashville (God, I miss living in that city) for a concert, and the weekend before that we attacked Lake Murray in South Carolina with gusto, hanging on the boat with my siblings and my aunt and uncle.  Oh, I almost forgot, Kwinn and Kat have been riddled with fleas (indoor cats for the love of Pete), and Kat was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism...which apparently is extremely rare in cats.  Go figure.  I'm mad exhausted, but feeling alive, thanks to the newly arrived comfy fall weather (and a beach trip coming up).

The creative juicer is on the fritz today, so I'll just leave this instead of trying too hard:

 

"I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house.  So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air."
Nathaniel Hawthorne

Image from img.wallpaperstock.net

 

--Fortuitous Observer

Do You Have Imaginary Conversations While Driving?

I do, and the conversations are rarely pleasant.

Terrible drivers are the catalyst (usually) for my heated imaginary conversations.  It is true.  For example, below is the imaginary conversation from my commute this very morning.  Before I start the dialog, I will set the scene for you.

I was driving to work, listening to a song I have not heard in a while, one I sortofkindof like, Texico Bitches by Broken Social Scene.  Anyway, I'm in a shiny happy mood, driving along in the middle lane on I-540.

I want to pass the person in front of me who is traveling, oh, I don't know, maybe 7 freaking miles per hour (the speed limit is 65).  There is a car in the left lane who just passed me, and there is not another car behind him for a great distance, so I signal, and move into the left lane.  Done...errrr, not done.  The woman who was waaaayyyyy back there, sped up and started tailgating me just so she could blow her stupid horn at me.  She seriously did this...just to be a bitch warty dragon.  So, then I imagined her actually hitting my car, and we would pull over to the side of the highway and verbally have it out, and this is the conversation I imagined:

ME:  "What in Pluto do you think you were doing Broom Hilda, nice lady, speeding up on purpose JUST so you could blow your horn at me and instigate a road rage incident?"

SHREW:  "How dare you get in front of me.  My time is so much more valuable than yours?"

ME:  "If I were you, I would consider making an appointment with your colorist, because that shade of b.s. isn't going to fly."

SHREW:  "Huh?"

ME:  "What is wrong with you you half-witted petticoat lady?  There was no need to do what you did!"

SHREW:  "I'm calling my husband right now, you...you...wahhh, wahhh, wahhh (that is her crying by the way), how...dare...you...<sniffle>...talk...<sniffle>...to...me...<sniffle>...that...way."

ME:  "Oh, wow, should I call my husband too?  I don't know the protocol for helpless woman!"
(Poseidon would so be on her side anyway, but she didn't need to know that)

This is where the imaginary conversation ended.  I usually get bored with these imaginary conversations before an actual maiming or scratching out of eyes occurs.

I mentioned to Poseidon a few weeks ago that I sometimes have imaginary conversations while driving (not sure what I was expecting him to say or do, but I took a chance because one cannot have someone committed against their will, at least in this state), and he told me he does the same thing!  Two peas hanging in the same dang pod.  The coolest thing about this?  Poseidon's revelation that he has imagined conversations while driving makes me feel less alien.  Still neurotic, but less alien.

 

--Fortuitous Observer