A few thoughts by me, Erica Ann Watson.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Super Awesome: It's time to bring this ship into the shore. And t...
Super Awesome: It's time to bring this ship into the shore. And t...: In 9th grade I hung out with a friend who loved music as much as I did. Yes, we are still friends, though I don't see her much. You know...
It's time to bring this ship into the shore. And throw away the oars, forever...
In 9th grade I hung out with a friend who loved music as much as I did. Yes, we are still friends, though I don't see her much. You know, time, kids, distance, work, and all the rest of that kind of crap.
Anyway!
I would often stay at her house on Saturday nights. There was a youth group at her mom's church and I would go with her to events. I think I "went out," with someone from it too. Rodney? Sorry, I am not a hundred percent sure that was his name. I probably saw him 4 times and talked to him on the phone.
ANYWAY!
One time my friend and I memorized the song "Can't Fight this Feeling," by REO Speedwagon and "performed," it for the group. I mock played piano (with a real piano) and my friend lip-synced into microphone. It was quite something, I am sure. At the climax of the song I even stood up and joined her for the repeats of the final chorus. It is no wonder I caught the eye of a young man at the group.
We also on another occasion did the "I lost my contact lens," prank to see how many people outside a movie theater would help us look for it.
Yep, crazy junior high nights.
I remembered this because I am really into REO's lyrics right now.
That guy was bumming out over relationships. A lot.
Also, what is up with the record "You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can't Tuna Fish?"
It was released in 1978 and was definitely before the band opted for the softer side of rock, because some of the tracks are smokin'. Yes, smokin'.
Anyway!
I would often stay at her house on Saturday nights. There was a youth group at her mom's church and I would go with her to events. I think I "went out," with someone from it too. Rodney? Sorry, I am not a hundred percent sure that was his name. I probably saw him 4 times and talked to him on the phone.
ANYWAY!
One time my friend and I memorized the song "Can't Fight this Feeling," by REO Speedwagon and "performed," it for the group. I mock played piano (with a real piano) and my friend lip-synced into microphone. It was quite something, I am sure. At the climax of the song I even stood up and joined her for the repeats of the final chorus. It is no wonder I caught the eye of a young man at the group.
We also on another occasion did the "I lost my contact lens," prank to see how many people outside a movie theater would help us look for it.
Yep, crazy junior high nights.
I remembered this because I am really into REO's lyrics right now.
That guy was bumming out over relationships. A lot.
Also, what is up with the record "You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can't Tuna Fish?"
It was released in 1978 and was definitely before the band opted for the softer side of rock, because some of the tracks are smokin'. Yes, smokin'.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
The wheels on the bus go round and round.
I have been riding the bus since I was a kid. My grandmother used to take me all over on the RTD.
I remember it took 3 buses to get to Burbank (her friend Betty lived there) and it was no big deal.
Public transportation can be full of characters. On the current line I use to go to work there has been a homeless woman who ba'd us (I saw a little bit of her vajay too), a crazy guy pee all over the back row of the bus, a fist fight, and a dude negotiating how much he should pay to ride "2 blocks."
Did I mention these events all happened before 8am?
There is always a little bit of crazy on public transportation and I am totally okay with it. Except...
M likes riding the bus. I think she feels liberated because she doesn't have to strapped in a car seat. She is usually a great rider. She likes to look out the windows and tell me about the vehicles, have some Goldfish crackers, and on rare occasions she will talk to the bus drivers.
Yesterday was not a good bus day. Apparently, the schedules had changed, which made us late. Strike one.
I walked with M on my shoulders to a different stop to pass the time. Strike two.
On the second bus (when I take M to school, we ride two buses and then I catch a third to go to work) a dude was talking into his cell phone like a reality t.v. star about "fucking up the bitch," and beating some guy's ass and M got scared. He was practically yelling into the phone and since he was a large fellow, no one, including the driver said anything. Strike three.
When we got off the bus M told me that she did not want to take that bus anymore. Poor thing.
I have the luxury of borrowing my mom's car from time to time, so when we go to school tomorrow she will not have to ride the bus.
I want to make sure that the next bus experience we have will be positive. Weekends are a little quieter, so maybe we will go somewhere on Saturday.
I guess I can be lucky that I don't have to take the 22 Fillmore everyday. Right?
I remember it took 3 buses to get to Burbank (her friend Betty lived there) and it was no big deal.
Public transportation can be full of characters. On the current line I use to go to work there has been a homeless woman who ba'd us (I saw a little bit of her vajay too), a crazy guy pee all over the back row of the bus, a fist fight, and a dude negotiating how much he should pay to ride "2 blocks."
Did I mention these events all happened before 8am?
There is always a little bit of crazy on public transportation and I am totally okay with it. Except...
M likes riding the bus. I think she feels liberated because she doesn't have to strapped in a car seat. She is usually a great rider. She likes to look out the windows and tell me about the vehicles, have some Goldfish crackers, and on rare occasions she will talk to the bus drivers.
Yesterday was not a good bus day. Apparently, the schedules had changed, which made us late. Strike one.
I walked with M on my shoulders to a different stop to pass the time. Strike two.
On the second bus (when I take M to school, we ride two buses and then I catch a third to go to work) a dude was talking into his cell phone like a reality t.v. star about "fucking up the bitch," and beating some guy's ass and M got scared. He was practically yelling into the phone and since he was a large fellow, no one, including the driver said anything. Strike three.
When we got off the bus M told me that she did not want to take that bus anymore. Poor thing.
I have the luxury of borrowing my mom's car from time to time, so when we go to school tomorrow she will not have to ride the bus.
I want to make sure that the next bus experience we have will be positive. Weekends are a little quieter, so maybe we will go somewhere on Saturday.
I guess I can be lucky that I don't have to take the 22 Fillmore everyday. Right?
Monday, January 27, 2014
Time has told me, you’re a rare, rare find a troubled cure, for a troubled mind...
I have rediscovered Nick Drake. Though I did not jump on the N-Drake bandwagon when the Volkswagen commercial came out (it was about 3 months earlier when I got into Jeff Buckley) I did go through a definite "malaise faze," whilst listening to him.
I think that downtown Long Beach is kind of like a Nick Drake song. There is an under current of complexity and a celebration of being flawed. I like downtown LB in the morning. I ride my bike to work and I like the view I get of it waking up. There is the food line at the Baptist church, people walking their dogs, folks changing into work clothes at the bike station (oops, that is me), and the clean Long Beach people power washing the sidewalks on Promenade. Ol' Drakey makes for a nice soundtrack.
On a completely different note, I think that I have been out of grad school long enough. I am going to read a book every other week. I will make sure that they are all NOT non-fiction, or library related.
Any suggestions for good fiction? Mysteries in particular.
I think that downtown Long Beach is kind of like a Nick Drake song. There is an under current of complexity and a celebration of being flawed. I like downtown LB in the morning. I ride my bike to work and I like the view I get of it waking up. There is the food line at the Baptist church, people walking their dogs, folks changing into work clothes at the bike station (oops, that is me), and the clean Long Beach people power washing the sidewalks on Promenade. Ol' Drakey makes for a nice soundtrack.
On a completely different note, I think that I have been out of grad school long enough. I am going to read a book every other week. I will make sure that they are all NOT non-fiction, or library related.
Any suggestions for good fiction? Mysteries in particular.
Monday, January 13, 2014
There is no vacancy when you're empty...
I found out yesterday that Tom Mallon died. For those of you who do not know who he was besides being a great musician, he was also a sound engineer, and producer in San Francisco who offered professional services at affordable prices. This is how I met him.
I have been lucky enough to have worked with some really great engineers in the Bay Area: Kevin Army, Andy Ernst, Ryan Massey, and Greg Freeman. However, Tom Mallon is the one, I believe, who showed me how to record. He always had the band play together in the same room, when the take was not-so-great he would just tell us to try it again, and after every take he would say into the headphones, "tune."
It had been years since I had seen him (ran into him randomly at a Peet's Coffee like 10 years ago) and it was not much more then hi, how are you?
The band mates that I worked with during the Tom Mallon recording sessions understand how important he was to not only the SF music scene, but to the us personally. The first time I came into his studio to record a 7'inch, I admit I was a little cocky, but after working with him on a full album, I was humbled and a much better player. The band was silly, but professional and I am glad to say that we made him laugh. Granted it was probably at our expense.
A friend of mine told me that he was sick a few months ago. My thoughts and sympathies go out to his family and friends.
I have been lucky enough to have worked with some really great engineers in the Bay Area: Kevin Army, Andy Ernst, Ryan Massey, and Greg Freeman. However, Tom Mallon is the one, I believe, who showed me how to record. He always had the band play together in the same room, when the take was not-so-great he would just tell us to try it again, and after every take he would say into the headphones, "tune."
It had been years since I had seen him (ran into him randomly at a Peet's Coffee like 10 years ago) and it was not much more then hi, how are you?
The band mates that I worked with during the Tom Mallon recording sessions understand how important he was to not only the SF music scene, but to the us personally. The first time I came into his studio to record a 7'inch, I admit I was a little cocky, but after working with him on a full album, I was humbled and a much better player. The band was silly, but professional and I am glad to say that we made him laugh. Granted it was probably at our expense.
A friend of mine told me that he was sick a few months ago. My thoughts and sympathies go out to his family and friends.
Now that we've perfected the art of love
Now all the lights shine on me and misery
My good friend misery
Now all the lights shine on me and misery
My good friend misery
You can
be cured by a single touch
You can get up and walk away
Anything that you say
You can get up and walk away
Anything that you say
The drive
of the road again
'cause I'll be your only friend
Right before we touch the ground
The night asleep, loving sound
Sweet loving sound
'cause I'll be your only friend
Right before we touch the ground
The night asleep, loving sound
Sweet loving sound
"Asleep" of the album "Engine," American Music Club, 1987.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Nothing changes on New Year's Day
It is New Year's Eve. Who cares.
I have never been a fan and usually I am so exhausted from Christmas that I don't want to do anything anyway.
So far I have received positive feedback from the podcast. Many thanks to the folks who contributed. I am inspired to make another one...I cannot decide if it should be summer or sport themed. Hmmmm. I have been toying with the idea of recording a version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Some of the interesting things I have noticed about the submissions that I got were that most were originals.
I was not sure if folks were going to do covers or write their own Christmas song. I am glad that they chose the latter. Their offerings to the nostalgia that are Christmas tunes, I think were fresh and interesting.
Most of the arrangements were light on the Christmassy orchestrations, but the lyrics were solid in that they were obviously about Yuletide times. I appreciate the different avenues people explored. Christmas imagery was challenged with the southern hemisphere, sexy Santa, and Santa's evil counterpart, Krampus. Ego Sensation created a psychedelic-electro vibe with "Merry X-Mas Liar," and Doug and the DBLF crew reminisced about grandma being drunk. The covers were "non-traditional" as well. I like my take on "Rudolph" and there is a video that goes with it. The live performances were meant to be rockin' and or rolling and I thought that Dominick needed props and who doesn't love a kazoo? But JT's "O Holy Night," is amazing! It is so emotional and paints a sublime picture. The songs makes me think of the Masons of the 17th century looking out of their windows and longing for the pastoral memories of their youth.
2014 is the year of this gal FINISHING projects.
I have never been a fan and usually I am so exhausted from Christmas that I don't want to do anything anyway.
So far I have received positive feedback from the podcast. Many thanks to the folks who contributed. I am inspired to make another one...I cannot decide if it should be summer or sport themed. Hmmmm. I have been toying with the idea of recording a version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Some of the interesting things I have noticed about the submissions that I got were that most were originals.
I was not sure if folks were going to do covers or write their own Christmas song. I am glad that they chose the latter. Their offerings to the nostalgia that are Christmas tunes, I think were fresh and interesting.
Most of the arrangements were light on the Christmassy orchestrations, but the lyrics were solid in that they were obviously about Yuletide times. I appreciate the different avenues people explored. Christmas imagery was challenged with the southern hemisphere, sexy Santa, and Santa's evil counterpart, Krampus. Ego Sensation created a psychedelic-electro vibe with "Merry X-Mas Liar," and Doug and the DBLF crew reminisced about grandma being drunk. The covers were "non-traditional" as well. I like my take on "Rudolph" and there is a video that goes with it. The live performances were meant to be rockin' and or rolling and I thought that Dominick needed props and who doesn't love a kazoo? But JT's "O Holy Night," is amazing! It is so emotional and paints a sublime picture. The songs makes me think of the Masons of the 17th century looking out of their windows and longing for the pastoral memories of their youth.
2014 is the year of this gal FINISHING projects.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Have yourself a merry little Christmas...
Holy crap! I finally finished my Christmas podcast.
Track list
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere
Santa Won't You Come Down My Chimney
Dominick the Donkey
Krampus
Merry X-Mas Liar
O'Holy Night
Drunken Grandma Christmas
White Christmas
More to follow. Just listen!
https://archive.org/details/XmasPodcastMp3
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