Music lovers,
There's a nice "hook" in this song. The sound quality isn't the best for the version that is embedded below. You can find better versions on YouTube, however, embedding has been "disabled by request" for those. I'll post a direct link below if you want to view one with better sound quality but you will be spirited away to YouTube, and away from this blog (I'll miss you...).
Better version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Oec8RuwVVs
Lyrics:
On the corner of main street
Just tryin' to keep it in line.
You say you wanna move on and
You say I'm falling behind.
Can you read my mind?
Can you read my mind?
I never really gave up on
Breakin' out of this two-star town.
I got the green light,
I got a little fight.
I'm gonna turn this thing around.
Can you read my mind?
Can you read my mind?
The good old days, the honest man;
The restless heart, the Promised Land,
A subtle kiss that no one sees;
A broken wrist and a big trapeze.
Oh well I don't mind, if you don't mind.
'Cause I don't shine if you don't shine
Before you go, can you read my mind?
It’s funny how you just break down,
Waitin' on some sign
I pull up to the front of your driveway
With magic soakin' my spine.
Can you read my mind?
Can you read my mind?
The teenage queen, the loaded gun;
The drop dead dream, the Chosen One,
A southern drawl, a world unseen;
A city wall and a trampoline.
Oh well I don't mind, if you don't mind
'Cause I don't shine if you don't shine
Before you jump,
tell me what you find
when you read my mind.
Slippin’ in my faith until I fall.
You never returned that call.
Woman, open the door, don't let it sting
I wanna breathe that fire again.
She said I don't mind, if you don't mind
'Cause I don't shine if you don't shine.
Put your back on me,
Put your back on me,
Put your back on me.
The stars are blazing like rebel diamonds cut out of the sun.
Can you read my mind?
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Eulogy for Shane
My friend Shane Ahmet died recently from sarcoma (bad cancer). I wrote down some thoughts about him and want to preserve them for posterity so here they are. I didn't deliver the eulogy at his funeral, I did a religious reading instead. This was somewhat amusing since I am about as non-religious as you can get.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I was around 7 years old when Shane and I met and became friends while at school at St. Francesca Cabrini primary school.
One of my first memories of Shane was when we in the school playground.
He directed my attention to the young teacher on playground duty and said "let's go and chat her up".
I thought at the time that "chatting someone up" meant just talking to
them for a while. So we stood awkwardly talking to her for a few minutes until she
finally got suspicious and asked what we were up to. "We're chatting you up, Miss", was my reply.
Some other memories from that period include Shane and I dressed in our grey school shorts shivering
in the middle of winter trying to avoid footballs being
blasted at us by the older children. Another is Shane getting the idea to pass the time by
telling one boy on the playground that another boy on the other side of the playground had called
him a name. Then he kindly offered "and what should I tell him from you?". Intelligence and
a good sense of humor were two of Shane's qualities from the very beginning.
At St. Thomas the Apostle Secondary school in Nunhead Shane and I spent most of our time together.
We had similar interests in maths and science and also shared a healthy disinterest in sports, with
an exception being made for patball in the school playground. When it came time to
run around Peckham Rye Park Shane and I could usually be found at the very back of the line.
Once in science class I sat next to Shane as he conducted an interesting
plastic-pen-in-a-bunsen burner experiment. This was while the teacher
(I think it was Mr. Kajangu) stepped out of the classroom for a few minutes.
Unfortunately Shane was still busy with the experiment when he returned, and his timing was doubly
bad because corporal punishment was allowed back then. I remember that Shane proudly kept the melted pen
as a souvenir for some time afterwards.
At about that time Shane and I were good enough friends that we spent time visiting
each other's houses and staying overnight. A trip to his house in New Cross was a big adventure to me
and sometimes a bit of a headache for Shane's Mum who was the one who
came upstairs to tell us to be quiet and go to sleep.
I recall that Shane introduced me to his parent's whisky once - but don't worry, we both secretly
thought the taste was terrible so neither one of us took much more than a pretend sip or two.
Shane came with my family on holiday to Essex one summer. Shane impressed my Mum and my Great-aunt with
his polite, friendly and good-natured ways, as he did with everyone he met. Some time later we went
travelling around Europe with Jan and we successfully navigated several countries while listening to
Shane's Beatles tapes. Back home, Shane and I also spent quite a few enjoyable days out fishing at various
places.
Shane and I shared notes as we both went through University and stayed in touch as we
entered the working world. At first I received funny letters and later funny emails about Shane's life as a
sixth-form college teacher. They were often filled with the frustrations of everyday life
but it was also clear that Shane was making a positive difference in the lives of many young people.
When I got married, moved to the US and then came back to London for a visit with three young children,
Shane kindly offered to let us stay at his house. He introduced the children
to the Wallace and Grommit series and when the time came to leave he sent them home with
Wallace and Grommit toys. As I write this, coincidentally, my 5 year-old boy is watching
one of those shows and I cannot help but compare the gentle, slightly eccentric Wallace with Shane.
Except Shane wasn't as much a fan of cheese as he was of curry and he leaned more towards cats than dogs.
Despite his illness, Shane never seemed sad or depressed. Amazingly, he remained
positive every time I talked to him on the phone. When I called he would always be the first to ask
how I was doing, which was amazing to me considering what he was going through.
Shane's final email to me that he sent a few months ago on December 12 2008 begins as follows:
"Hi Lou, how are you doing? looking forward to Christmas? Have you fallen foul to the
evils of games consoles or will the boys be getting an old tyre and a stick?"
The ability to crack a joke and see the funny side of things was typical Shane.
It is a privilege and and an honor to have had him as a friend.
-BT
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I was around 7 years old when Shane and I met and became friends while at school at St. Francesca Cabrini primary school.
One of my first memories of Shane was when we in the school playground.
He directed my attention to the young teacher on playground duty and said "let's go and chat her up".
I thought at the time that "chatting someone up" meant just talking to
them for a while. So we stood awkwardly talking to her for a few minutes until she
finally got suspicious and asked what we were up to. "We're chatting you up, Miss", was my reply.
Some other memories from that period include Shane and I dressed in our grey school shorts shivering
in the middle of winter trying to avoid footballs being
blasted at us by the older children. Another is Shane getting the idea to pass the time by
telling one boy on the playground that another boy on the other side of the playground had called
him a name. Then he kindly offered "and what should I tell him from you?". Intelligence and
a good sense of humor were two of Shane's qualities from the very beginning.
At St. Thomas the Apostle Secondary school in Nunhead Shane and I spent most of our time together.
We had similar interests in maths and science and also shared a healthy disinterest in sports, with
an exception being made for patball in the school playground. When it came time to
run around Peckham Rye Park Shane and I could usually be found at the very back of the line.
Once in science class I sat next to Shane as he conducted an interesting
plastic-pen-in-a-bunsen burner experiment. This was while the teacher
(I think it was Mr. Kajangu) stepped out of the classroom for a few minutes.
Unfortunately Shane was still busy with the experiment when he returned, and his timing was doubly
bad because corporal punishment was allowed back then. I remember that Shane proudly kept the melted pen
as a souvenir for some time afterwards.
At about that time Shane and I were good enough friends that we spent time visiting
each other's houses and staying overnight. A trip to his house in New Cross was a big adventure to me
and sometimes a bit of a headache for Shane's Mum who was the one who
came upstairs to tell us to be quiet and go to sleep.
I recall that Shane introduced me to his parent's whisky once - but don't worry, we both secretly
thought the taste was terrible so neither one of us took much more than a pretend sip or two.
Shane came with my family on holiday to Essex one summer. Shane impressed my Mum and my Great-aunt with
his polite, friendly and good-natured ways, as he did with everyone he met. Some time later we went
travelling around Europe with Jan and we successfully navigated several countries while listening to
Shane's Beatles tapes. Back home, Shane and I also spent quite a few enjoyable days out fishing at various
places.
Shane and I shared notes as we both went through University and stayed in touch as we
entered the working world. At first I received funny letters and later funny emails about Shane's life as a
sixth-form college teacher. They were often filled with the frustrations of everyday life
but it was also clear that Shane was making a positive difference in the lives of many young people.
When I got married, moved to the US and then came back to London for a visit with three young children,
Shane kindly offered to let us stay at his house. He introduced the children
to the Wallace and Grommit series and when the time came to leave he sent them home with
Wallace and Grommit toys. As I write this, coincidentally, my 5 year-old boy is watching
one of those shows and I cannot help but compare the gentle, slightly eccentric Wallace with Shane.
Except Shane wasn't as much a fan of cheese as he was of curry and he leaned more towards cats than dogs.
Despite his illness, Shane never seemed sad or depressed. Amazingly, he remained
positive every time I talked to him on the phone. When I called he would always be the first to ask
how I was doing, which was amazing to me considering what he was going through.
Shane's final email to me that he sent a few months ago on December 12 2008 begins as follows:
"Hi Lou, how are you doing? looking forward to Christmas? Have you fallen foul to the
evils of games consoles or will the boys be getting an old tyre and a stick?"
The ability to crack a joke and see the funny side of things was typical Shane.
It is a privilege and and an honor to have had him as a friend.
-BT
Saturday, April 11, 2009
I hope Aubrey De Grey is right, but somehow...
My body is slowly decaying. It is losing its ability to fight disease. I don't have any particularly nasty type of illness (that I know of) - I am talking about natural age-related decline, the type that we all must deal with sooner or later. Even today, I spent some quality time over at the emergency room - being prodded, probed (ouch!) and medicated.
This video of a Ted talk by Aubrey De Grey gives me some hope that perhaps some of us could be spared the unpleasantness of aging and dying. Is Mr. De Grey a crackpot, or a genius? At the very least, he's intelligent, funny and provocative.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/aubrey_de_grey_says_we_can_avoid_aging.html
-BT
This video of a Ted talk by Aubrey De Grey gives me some hope that perhaps some of us could be spared the unpleasantness of aging and dying. Is Mr. De Grey a crackpot, or a genius? At the very least, he's intelligent, funny and provocative.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/aubrey_de_grey_says_we_can_avoid_aging.html
-BT
Friday, April 3, 2009
Song of the Day: Ian Dury, Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3
I know, I know, the economy sucks, our retirement money is gone and many of us have lost our jobs. Never mind, turn up the volume and sing along with Ian Dury who provides a nice list of "reasons to be cheerful"....! The lyrics are also posted below for those who like to sing along ("days when I ain't spotty, Sitting on the potty...")
Lyrics:
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
1 2 3
Summer, Buddy Holly, the working folly
Good golly Miss Molly and boats
Hammersmith Palais, the Bolshoi Ballet
Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
18-wheeler Scammels, Domenecker camels
All other mammals plus equal votes
Seeing Piccadilly, Fanny Smith and Willy
Being rather silly, and porridge oats
A bit of grin and bear it, a bit of come and share it
You're welcome, we can spare it - yellow socks
Too short to be haughty, too nutty to be naughty
Going on 40 - no electric shocks
The juice of the carrot, the smile of the parrot
A little drop of claret - anything that rocks
Elvis and Scotty, days when I ain't spotty,
Sitting on the potty - curing smallpox
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
1 2 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Health service glasses
Gigolos and brasses
round or skinny bottoms
Take your mum to paris
lighting up the chalice
wee willy harris
Bantu Stephen Biko, listening to Rico
Harpo, Groucho, Chico
Cheddar cheese and pickle, the Vincent motorsickle
Slap and tickle
Woody Allen, Dali, Dimitri and Pasquale
balabalabala and Volare
Something nice to study, phoning up a buddy
Being in my nuddy
Saying hokey-dokey, singalonga Smokey
Coming out of chokey
John Coltrane's soprano, Adi Celentano
Bonar Colleano
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
1 2 3
Yes yes
dear dear
perhaps next year
or maybe even never
in which case
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
1 2 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
1 2 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
repeat to fade...
Lyrics:
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Why don't you get back into bed
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
1 2 3
Summer, Buddy Holly, the working folly
Good golly Miss Molly and boats
Hammersmith Palais, the Bolshoi Ballet
Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
18-wheeler Scammels, Domenecker camels
All other mammals plus equal votes
Seeing Piccadilly, Fanny Smith and Willy
Being rather silly, and porridge oats
A bit of grin and bear it, a bit of come and share it
You're welcome, we can spare it - yellow socks
Too short to be haughty, too nutty to be naughty
Going on 40 - no electric shocks
The juice of the carrot, the smile of the parrot
A little drop of claret - anything that rocks
Elvis and Scotty, days when I ain't spotty,
Sitting on the potty - curing smallpox
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
1 2 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Health service glasses
Gigolos and brasses
round or skinny bottoms
Take your mum to paris
lighting up the chalice
wee willy harris
Bantu Stephen Biko, listening to Rico
Harpo, Groucho, Chico
Cheddar cheese and pickle, the Vincent motorsickle
Slap and tickle
Woody Allen, Dali, Dimitri and Pasquale
balabalabala and Volare
Something nice to study, phoning up a buddy
Being in my nuddy
Saying hokey-dokey, singalonga Smokey
Coming out of chokey
John Coltrane's soprano, Adi Celentano
Bonar Colleano
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
1 2 3
Yes yes
dear dear
perhaps next year
or maybe even never
in which case
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
1 2 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
1 2 3
Reasons to be cheerful part 3
repeat to fade...
Song of the Day: Weezer, Buddy Holly
Nice "Happy Days" video spoof and some pretty good guitar 'n' drums to boot. The lyrics reveal some dark undercurrents that you probably wouldn't pick up by just listening to this song.
Lyrics:
What's with these homies, dissing my girl?
Why do they gotta front?
What did we ever do to these guys
That made them so violent?
Woo-hoo, but you know I'm yours
Woo-hoo, and I know you're mine
Woo-hoo, and that's for all time
Oo-ee-oo I look just like Buddy Holly
Oh-oh, and you're Mary Tyler Moore
I don't care what they say about us anyway
I don't care bout that
Don't you ever fear, I'm always near
I know that you need help
Your tongue is twisted, your eyes are slit
You need a guardian
Woo-hoo, and you know I'm yours
Woo-hoo, and I know you're mine
Woo-hoo, and that's for all time
Oo-ee-oo I look just like Buddy Holly
Oh-oh, and you're Mary Tyler Moore
I don't care what they say about us anyway
I don't care bout that
I don't care bout that
Bang, bang a knock on the door
Another big bang and you're down on the floor
Oh no! What do we do?
Don't look now but I lost my shoe
I can't run and I can't kick
What's a matter babe are you feeling sick?
what's a matter, what's a matter, what's a matter you?
What's a matter babe, are you feeling blue? oh-oh!
And that's for all time
And that's for all time
Oo-ee-oo I look just like Buddy Holly
Oh-oh, and you're Mary Tyler Moore
I don't care what they say about us anyway
I don't care bout that
I don't care bout that
I don't care bout that
I don't care bout that
Lyrics:
What's with these homies, dissing my girl?
Why do they gotta front?
What did we ever do to these guys
That made them so violent?
Woo-hoo, but you know I'm yours
Woo-hoo, and I know you're mine
Woo-hoo, and that's for all time
Oo-ee-oo I look just like Buddy Holly
Oh-oh, and you're Mary Tyler Moore
I don't care what they say about us anyway
I don't care bout that
Don't you ever fear, I'm always near
I know that you need help
Your tongue is twisted, your eyes are slit
You need a guardian
Woo-hoo, and you know I'm yours
Woo-hoo, and I know you're mine
Woo-hoo, and that's for all time
Oo-ee-oo I look just like Buddy Holly
Oh-oh, and you're Mary Tyler Moore
I don't care what they say about us anyway
I don't care bout that
I don't care bout that
Bang, bang a knock on the door
Another big bang and you're down on the floor
Oh no! What do we do?
Don't look now but I lost my shoe
I can't run and I can't kick
What's a matter babe are you feeling sick?
what's a matter, what's a matter, what's a matter you?
What's a matter babe, are you feeling blue? oh-oh!
And that's for all time
And that's for all time
Oo-ee-oo I look just like Buddy Holly
Oh-oh, and you're Mary Tyler Moore
I don't care what they say about us anyway
I don't care bout that
I don't care bout that
I don't care bout that
I don't care bout that
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