The Mind Wobbles

So many things to absorb, think about, deal with and put up with - it simply makes the mind wobble...

Friday, January 28, 2011

Pandora Pandemonium - The "I'm Blue - But Not the Pretty Melancholy Blue - the Pissed Off Bitchy Blue" Edition

  1. Night Ride Home - Joni Mitchell - I had never heard this song, it's lovely.
  2. Sweet Dreams - Beyonce - Great song...I challenge you to listen to this and not bop your head. Go ahead, try. It's impossible.
  3. Fernando - ABBA - Love this song! I love how they pronounce "Fernando" correctly and don't roll their Rs where they don't have to. ABBA just rocks. So, this is about the Mexican Revolution, right? BAH! This is a live version - I'm not usually a fan of live versions, like right now I don't need to hear some random audience singing. Just sayin' .
  4. My First Kiss - 3Oh!3 *featuring Ke$ha*- Ha! Ke$ha sings it with them - so you know it's quality! I've never heard this but they're the ones who sang the demented "Helen Keller" song which I was mildly obsessed with a while ago. I looked up the lyrics, they're surprisingly not offensive, much.
  5. La Unica - Juanes - I love this guy's voice, and he's often got that whole scrawny needs a sandwich and a shower thing going for him...
  6. Como La Cigarra - Mercedes Sosa- Oooh Mercedes Sosa! I hadn't heard her in forever...such an amazing voice. One of the few well known indigenous looking Argentinians. She had enormous influence in Latin America - a much missed voice. I think I'll pull her CD out tonight,she's good for my head.
  7. Can't Take My Eyes Off You - Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons - What can I say? A classic, beautifully sung, never gets old.
  8. Duele el Amor - Aleks Syntek - See, here's why Pandora is all kinds of awesome. I have no idea who this is but I like it. It's in Spanish. The girl sounds like the girl that used to be with La Oreja de Van Gogh. Wait here while I do a quick Google. OK I'm back. Here's the scoop - he's Mexican, and the girls he's singing with is Ana Torroja from Spanish group Mecano, not the one I thought. Good song.
  9. Dynamite - Taio Cruz - ohmygod I love this song! I mean come on! When a song starts "I came to dance-dance-dance-dance. I hit the floor cause that's my plans plans plans plans. I'm wearing all my favorite brands brands brands brands. Give me some space for both my hands hands hands hands." He repeats the important parts FOUR times, that's how you know it's important. And then of course the life lesson of the song: "Cause it goes on and on and on, and it goes on and on and on. Yeah. I throw my hands up in the air sometimes, saying ay-oh, gotta let go." Ay-oh indeed Taio, ay-oh indeed.
  10. Money's Too Tight to Mention - Simply Red - Meh. This is from the album "Simply Red: Greatest Hits". I didn't know they had greatest hitS, I thought they only had one hit - singular. You know the one, that one...wait while I Google again...ok right "Holding Back the Years". So while Googling I read that this song is a cover of a soul standard. I'm not feeling it with them - although a dig at Reagonomics is always appreciated :)

That's it for Pandora this week, next week Lola will be back - I think I'll alternate them to keep it fresh.

Have a great weekend and as Taio says, "Light it up like it's dynamite!" Ay-oh.

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Thursday, January 20, 2011

It was 50 years ago today...


Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens, we observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom--symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning--signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty. This much we pledge--and more.

To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do--for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.

To those new States whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom--and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.

To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required--not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge--to convert our good words into good deeds--in a new alliance for progress--to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.

To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support--to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective--to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak--and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.

Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course--both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.

So let us begin anew--remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms--and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.

Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah--to "undo the heavy burdens ... and to let the oppressed go free."

And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.

All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.
In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.

Now the trumpet summons us again--not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are--but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"--a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it--and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.


John F. Kennedy, January 20 1961


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Friday, January 14, 2011

The Lola Shuffle - The Chilly Lola Edition

Lola is chilly! Are there i-Pod Snuggies? I can totally see Lola in leopard print. Anyway, it's been an age since Lola shuffled publically...let's see what she has for us:
  1. I'm a Woman - Peggy Lee - woooo you go Lola! Way to warm things up! Peggy Lee is smokin' in this rendition.

  2. Check on It - Beyoncé and Slim Thug - Pretty hot..."Dip it, pop it, work it, stop it" indeed...

  3. It's Oh So Quiet - Björk - Could be chilly, but her voice is so awesome, it heats it right up...

  4. Every Little Thing She Does is Magic - The Police - Speaking of hot...hello Sting! Plus don't you ladies want your SO to say that about you? "Every little thing she does is magic. Everything she does just turns me on."

  5. Calypso - John Denver - Ahhh sailing...warm breezes...tropical drinks. This is one of my favorite John Denver songs :)

  6. Grace Kelly - Mika - Hahaha this song alweays makes me smile! It is so insidiously dark while sounding so upbeat and peppy. And Mika totally channels Freddy Mercury in this song...

  7. You Belong To Me - Dean Martin - Smoldering heat in that deep smiling voice. And how handsome was he in his hey-day? Also a fabulous standard.

  8. Head Over Feet - Alanis Morissette - The happy Alannis song! But she still sounds pissed - hahaha! "And don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are I couldn't help it It's all your fault". That's right Alanis you give him the whatfor! Damn him for making you happy!

  9. Over My Head - Fleetwood Mac - Nothing like a good dysfunctional love song to say romance..."I think, I'm looking on the dark side But everyday you hurt my pride I'm over my head Oh, but it sure feels nice". 'Atta girl Christine...that's healthy! But it's a hell of a song though, 'cause we've all kinda been there.

  10. Breaking The Habit - Linkin Park - YAY, early 2000s angtsy white boys! I love this song! They're all upset but don't know why but they just wanna scream..."I don’t know what’s worth fighting for, or why I have to scream. I don’t know why I instigate, and say what I don’t mean. I don’t know how I got this way, I know it’s not alright - so I’m breaking the habit tonight". Brilliant! I blame the video games - but that's just me :)

OK Peeps...go forth and weekendate! Stay warm, have fun, be safe and all that stuff like that there.

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Thursday, January 13, 2011

Hello, it's me


Remember me? I'm the lying liar who lies. (Hanging head in shame - and even now I'm shamelessly using a picture of a cute little monkey to garner sympathy!)

I know, I know, you have no reason to believe me this time - I'm not sure I believe me! But at this very moment I truly believe I will Blog with some semblance of regularityish.

So...Happy New Year!

What should I start with...oh I know...vacation!

Some of you may know that Hubby and I took a long trip up North (eek!) for Christmas to visit my in-laws in the Philadelphia area, which was lovely except that...IT SNOWED!!! Needless to say, I wasn't happy. I don't really "do" cold weather, much less snow. I do it wrong...I don't know how.

For example clothes. We don't "layer" in Miami, so that entire concept is lost on me. So then I wind up wearing a sweater, because the TV weather person is telling me it 24F outside. That's "sweater" weather", right? Hence...the sweater. Fine. But then I get where I'm going and they have the heater set to 75F which is NOT sweater weather. So now I'm hot and sweaty and yuck.

OK, next time I go out I put on a regular t-shirt and take a cardigan. And the never-ending "put on-take off ballet" begins. Getting ready to walk out of the house, put on the cardigan. Get into the car, take off the cardigan. Sit in the car just long enough for the temperature to get comfy then at our destination. Put on the cardigan, walk 10 feet to the restaurant - BOOM! 75 degrees - take off the cardigan. Now what do I do with it? Drape it over the back of the chair so that it trails on the floor and picks up restaurant floor ick? Put it on my lap so that I can't put my napkin there? Request an extra chair that it can be the purse and coat chair?

See? Complicated. In Miami you put on what you're going to wear and you're set. Magic! (sigh)

That's all for today. For mañana...maybe more. The intention is there. Really. No, seriously, I mean it.

Oooh! Tomorrow is Friday maybe we'll have a Lola shuffle or a Pandora shuffle. Excitement!

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