’80’s Video-of-the-Week: Falcon Crest Theme & Opening Credits April 29, 2008

OK, this one may seem a bit weird, but I found it last week & decided to go in a different direction this week. When initially coming up with the idea for ’80’s Video-of-the-Week, I was really thinking only of music videos and specifically from two separate periods in my life: firstly, early MTV from when I was in high school (think Eurythmics, Duran Duran, the aforementioned A Flock of Seagulls & the Fixx & Bowie, plus Pretenders, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Squeeze, Men At Work, Men Without Hats, etc… you get the idea). I come from a family of early adopters of entertainment technology — we always had a big color TV & we had remote control long before most other people knew it existed; by the time MTV came around we had already had cable for years, including HBO when it was just movies and boxing; & we had MTV from the day of its debut; though I don’t recall watching the actual first video: The Buggles “Video Killed the Radio Star” or any others on that first day.

My second golden period of music video viewing is from when I lived in Washington, DC in the late ’80’s and frequently (okay, almost EVERY Saturday night) went to Traxx (alas no link as they seem to no longer exist) and danced either in the video room (the screen was an entire high-ceilinged wall next to the dancefloor) or, weather-permitting, as it usually was, on the outside deck dancefloor (which had the same music as the video room) — we frequently had to run from the deck to the inside video room if we really wanted to see the video (think lots of Depeche Mode, Eurythmics again, Pet Shop Boys, Sinead O’Connor, The Cure, Big Pig, etc…),

But when I found “Falcon Crest” last week I just knew I had to post it. I always loved the hunting horns in the beginning. And of course I loved the part in the credits were Lorenzo Lamas is getting out of the pool & showing his hairy chest. Other than the opening credits, I didn’t really watch “Falcon Crest” (or “Dallas” or “Dynasty” — both also had great themes — or any other ’80’s nighttime soaps for that matter). My Dad watched them all, sometimes falling asleep with a cigar in his mouth. But it was too annoying to watch TV with him, as he was (& still is?) a total channel surfer; every time a loud commercial came on, he’d wake up & switch shows, but then he wouldn’t necessarily switch back to the original show in time & you’d miss half of it. It was far too frustrating for me. Sometimes my mother would watch with him, often falling asleep herself. Or she’d be in her “library” (a tiny room really meant to be the mainfloor laundry, but she wanted the laundry in the basement) reading the evening paper or Reader’s Digest. Pretentious little faggot that I was, I was likely be upstairs, on my parents’ bed, watching “Brideshead Revisited” or other such PBS fodder, on our other big color TV.

Also, in searching this on youtube, I stubled across lots of posts of the Alexis/Krystle catfights from Dynasty, many of them in German — check it out!

Marathon Update - Recovery? April 29, 2008

This Sunday’s run was a flat & easy “recovery” run of “only” 7 miles. It’s funny that 7 miles actually seems sort of short now. Before starting the program, about the furthest I had run was a little over 10k (6.2 miles).

The amazing thing is that I managed to run at all on Sunday. D. & I went out on Saturday night to see Goldfrapp (see future post re: the show). M. was having a sleepover at a friend’s house, so we didn’t have to be home at any specific time to relieve a sitter. We just had to be on the last BART train (12:15am-ish). So after the show ended (about 10pm) we went to a couple of South of Market bars. We managed to catch our last train home. D. fell asleep on the train with his head on my shoulder (it was like that Pet Shop Boys song ‘Liberation,’ … “…All the way back home at midnight, you were sleeping on my shoulder…”). I got into bed at about 1:30pm, after saying to D. “Gee, I get to have five whole hours of sleep!” But getting up and getting going on Sunday wasn’t actually a problem. And the run was fine.

Speaking of recovery, I don’t remember anything hurting during (or immediately after) the run this Sunday, but something must have happened, because when I got home, my left shin, just above the ankle was sore and swollen. Stupidly I didn’t ice it right away. And even after I did (and after a short nap), I decided to go to San Francisco to meet Bud at the Eagle Sunday Beerbust (this week’s fundraiser was for Dykes on Bikes — and they were so damn cute, err, uhm i mean, butch & hot!). That of course meant standing around for several hours on my sore leg (but I didn’t really notice due to beers & boys, and um, the hot dykes). The long walk alone back to BART was when I realized that maybe I should have been kinder to my leg that day. At least I didn’t go dancing. It’s still sore, but I’ve been icing regularly (in fact I’m icing as I type this) and I hope that I’m able to do my “maintenance” run tomorrow.

On the fundraising front, we made it past our 1st hurdle ($1,000 by April 25). Now we just have to get our total requirement of $3,600 by May 9 (got pushed back a week due to AIDS Marathon website issues last week). The donations seem to be coming in at a regular clip now. To those of you who have already donated, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! To those of you who wish to contribute, our donation page on the website is back up & running. For more info you can click into the previous post titled “Please Contribute!” from April 15th, which privides details re: the training program & the fundraising recipients. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Song-of-the-Week: Goldfrapp - Happiness April 24, 2008

I’m so in L-O-V-E with Alison Goldfrapp. The new CD “Seventh Tree” is amazing. But then everything they’ve done has been amazing. It seems as though the critical consensus is that “Seventh Tree”, mellower than the last two full-length CDs, is a welcome return to the musical styles of “Felt Mountain” (still my favorite). But in this same vein, many of the critics & online reviewers seem to dismiss “Black Cherry” & “Supernature” (and the “We Are Glitter” re-mix CD) as steps in the wrong direction & too “disco” (as if anything can be! HMMPH!). Still others (a minority it seems) are baffled by “Seventh Tree” & only want the uber-disco-ness to continue. BUT I LOVE IT ALL! And really, “Felt Mountain” was far from just mellow. I mean “Human” is anything but mellow (and as far as the musical arrangement & horn charts go, bears resemblance to the work that Propellerheads did with Dame Shirley Bassey). And “Utopia” (and the remix) were definitely leading to the Moroder-inflected dancefloor of the later CDs. I see “Seventh Tree” as an Anglo-American psych-folk Pastorale whereas “Felt Mountain” is more of a spooky ’20’s-German-Mountain-movie (the kind that starred Leni Riefenstahl before she became a director/propagandist) Pastorale. I guess ultimately it’s this Teutonic-ness that reaches out to me in a primeval (genetic?) way; what with it’s yodelling,cuckoos, oompahs & grand Mahlerian orchestration. I mean the songs “Felt Mountain” and “Oompa Radar” together make for the Langsam and Landler movements, respectively, from a lost Mahler symphony. (Traditionally, I would say the 2nd & 3rd movements, but we’re talking about Mahler so the actual number & order of movements is anyone’s guess! I especially like how the quiet section of “Oompa Radar” fades away to a false ending, but sneaks back with a bombastic finish, much like the Landler of Mahler’s 1st Symphony.) [...and Jen, how do I get an "a" with an umlaut on wordpress?]

Even though it’s sold out, I got GREAT tickets (through craigslist) to see Goldfrapp @ the Warfield on Saturday night (fresh from a performance on Leno the other night; an appearance on LA’s famed KCRW “Morning Becomes Eclectic;” Coachella; then a date in NYC before resuming their mostly sold-out European Tour). I’M SO HAPPY!

Speaking of being happy, “Happiness,” while not my favorite song from “Seventh Tree” is the better of the two that currently have vids ( “A&E” is the other & the 1st single; I like “Happiness” better — both the song & vid). But don’t get me wrong — I love “A&E” too. In fact there isn’t a clunker in the whole bunch — every track on the CD is a gem. Current contenders for fave are: “Little Bird” (love how the vocal effects get all Liz-Fraser-”Treasure”-era-Cocteau-Twins towards the end) & “Cologne Cerrone Houdini” (which just sounds classic Goldfrapp in both vocals & arrangement). Call me crazy, but while the CD is 100% Goldfrapp, I’m also hearing lots of other influences (conscious or not): tons of Kate Bush (”Road To Somewhere” & in “Some People” after the chorus when it drops to just vocal & piano, I swear I hear “The Man with the Child in His Eyes” plus various Kate-like things on other tracks; and of course there’s always been tons o’ Kate all over Goldfrapp!); Liz Fraser (again; and throughout, not just in “Little Bird”); “Clowns” sounds like “Clouds”-era Joni Mitchell (about the highest compliment I can give!) even though it seems to really be a song about the ridiculousness of women having huge fake boobs (WTF?). And I hear early Joni in the multi-tracked vocals in the middle of “Eat Yourself,” whereas the beginning of “Eat Yourself” brings to mind the Lo-Fi stylings of AK-Momo or the Billie Holiday tinge of CocoRosie. I guess part of why I like “Cologne Cerrone Houdini” so much is that is sounds so Goldfrapp, but with the addition of an update on ’70’s Philly Soul Sound strings (not unlike those on the Honeycut CD).

Speaking of Honeycut, a funny story about buying the new Goldfrapp: I was @ ModLang in El Cerrito (which I love but unfortunately don’t get to much anymore since they moved from Berkeley). I had M. with me & he was showing the clerk his Transformer (Bumblebee) & trying to get behind the counter & into the backroom & generally creating his usual 6-year-old chaos. I couldn’t find the new Goldfrapp, but the clerk, who I don’t recall seeing @ ModLang, but who seemed otherwise familiar, steered me towards the Special Edition boxed set with poster, cards, special lyric book & DVD (which I have yet to watch — what’s up with that?). And that’s what I wanted anyway. Then I was a pest because I wanted the new Breeders but the only one left was the display copy that had a note about all the freebies that came with it (7-inch, poster, special bag & raffle for tickets next week — keep your fingers crossed). So Malcolm is running around; some other customers & the clerk & myself are talking about new music & recent shows we’ve seen; the clerk is filling out the manual (still!) inventory list & getting me all my freebies & I’m filling out the raffle tickets. When I’m all ready & leaving I feel like something is left out, but I don’t want to say anything ’cause I already feel like I got so much free stuff. When we’re about a block away in the car, I get a call on my cell, “Hi, uhm, this is Bart at ModLang.” Me: “Oh did I leave my card?” Bart: “No. I forgot to have you pay.” (Hopefully I’m not getting him in trouble with the owners by posting this. And luckily I put my cell # on the raffle tickets.) So of course I hightailed it back & whipped out the plastic. That’s when it dawned on me the Bart was, of course, Bart Davenport (of Honeycut &, uhm, Bart Davenport). I told him about seeing him play, most recently at the Etienne de Rocher (Bay Area) farewell show (where Bart was, as far as I’m concerned, the highlight of an all-around great evening). He’s soo cute (don’t mean to embarrass him; but hey it comes with the territory) — and I especially like the dichotomy of his suave almost-lothario stage persona vs. the cute geeky record store clerk. Kisses to Bart!

’80’s Video-of-the-Week: A Flock of Seagulls - “I Ran” (plus a story for Jen) April 22, 2008

As promised in yesterday’s “Marathon Update” post…

I actually saw A Flock of Seagulls (aka AFoS) live in the summer of ‘83, soon after high school graduation. They (along with The Fixx — loved “Saved By Zero” — possible future post) opened for The Police on the “Synchronicity” tour. It was outside in a soccer stadium (Holleder Memorial; torn down in ‘85 for an office park) in Rochester, NY. With all that fun hair & make-up, I really don’t think that AFoS were meant to be seen in the harsh sunlight of a midsummer afternoon, but if I remember correctly they were quite good live. I was with my goody-goody H.S. friends, but I think a few of us (myself included) had found an older kid to buy us beer & I was a little trashed.

Another show I saw around that time was Adam Ant (”Goody Two Shoes” era; after having left the Ants behind), with Scandal featuring Patty Smyth as the opener. WOW! That really takes ya back now doesn’t it?

But the concert I really just HAD to to go to that summer was David Bowie’s “Serious Moonlight” tour (supporting the “Let’s Dance” album — & I do mean album; this was pre-CD’s). My mom had taken me to the record store in the mall to buy me tickets. It was a birthday present, as the show was 3 days before my 18th birthday. My mom was surprised that this was what I wanted for my birthday, as I mostly listened to classical & show tunes. But David Bowie also fit right into my budding-faggot sensibilities. I think that if my mother had any familiarity with Bowie, it was probably his singing “The Little Drummer Boy” as a duet with Bing Crosby on the 1977 Crosby Family Christmas Special (Was Bing really an abusive spouse? I’ll have to do more research — perhaps for another post; but I digress). My mom probably also had a passing awareness of Bowie’s glam-rock, androgyne ‘Ziggy Stardust‘ persona. But that too fit right in with the aformentioned budding sensibilities, as I had spent the previous year going to several midnight showings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” complete with make-up, costumes and props!

I had my ticket to see his chameleonic greatness in Syracuse @ the Carrier Dome. It was to be the highlight of my post-High School summer. My best friend MaryBeth was going to drive (her acid-orange ‘66 Mustang, which I had christened “Hot Mango Breath”) & we were maybe even going to stay in Syracuse overnight in a motel! It was going to be Bowie’s first North American venue (after touring Europe) that was large enough for the full stage set (at that time the largest set for any touring show ever; they had used a smaller set in the prior, smaller N. American venues). But they couldn’t get the giant set shipped in time so they postponed until the fall — after I had already left for college in Ohio. And to this day, I’ve never seen Bowie live, but I did manage to get most of his back-catalogue on vinyl (since replaced with CDs) & became a huge early-to-mid Bowie afficionado when I was in college & have been since.

Marathon Update - HALFWAY THERE! April 21, 2008

This was Week 10 of our 24-week training program & yet we’re already more than halfway to our marathon goal of 26.2 miles! Yesterday we ran 14 miles (a new personal distance record)! And yesterday was our first training run with any appreciable elevation gain (& by appreciable I mean that there were some BIG-ASS hills).

We ran from our usual starting point @ the Berkeley Marina up into a residential neighborhood in the North Berkeley Hills area (around Codornices Park & the Rose Garden). It was a beautiful clear & crisp day without too much wind — perfect for running. The view of the Golden Gate was stunning from the top of the Berkeley Rose Garden. Everyone in our pace group did great & we finished strong together.

During the run, we were trying to choose a team song for our pace group (the “Cathy O’Brien’s”: 11-minute-milers; “GO, GO CATHY O’s!”) & I suggested “I Ran” by Flock of Seagulls. Don’t know if there was consensus on that, but @ least it gave me an idea for the next “’80’s Video-of the-Week” — check back tomorrow! (Even if we do settle on that song, I doubt we’ll all be sporting elaborate ’80’s-band hairdos for the actual marathon!)

After the run, the entire training group was heading to T-Rex in Berkeley for Bloody Mary’s & BBQ (with a portion of the restaurant’s take that day going to the SF AIDS Foundation). Unfortunately I couldn’t attend as we went to our niece’s Sweet 16 party in Placerville. I was dreading a two-hour car ride after the long run, thinking it would make me stiff as a board, but actually everything went well & I feel great today. I’m giving credit to the ice bath (OUCH!) that I took as soon as I got home from running yesterday.

The following pics are stolen from pace group member Karin Felderer’s blog (karingoesmarathon which has add’l pics, plus her take on the training program, in Deutsch, nonetheless, for all you Heissescheisse readers). In the last pic, I’m the one behind the gals, sitting on the ground, stretching. Sorry, Karin wasn’t quick enough with her camera to get a pic of me applying BodyGlide to my nipples beore the run. Perhaps next time…

Song-of-the-Week: The Bird and the Bee - “Fucking Boyfriend” April 17, 2008

This song is from 2007, but D. recently discovered it (either @ work and/or on Pandora). I know this may seem like overkill, but I love the song…: The 1st vid is the best live version I found on youtube. The 2nd is somebody’s anime vid to the original CD track. The 3rd is a fun dance remix. Finally, the 4th is some cheesy (Brasilian?) gay video that has a snippet of the Peaches remix of the song (which is awesome & which I will add as soon as I figure out how to add mp3’s to my blog…).

’80’s Video-of-the-Week: PSB(!) - “Domino Dancing” April 15, 2008

and as a bonus, I love the PSB tribute band West End Girls; here’s one of their versions of “Domino Dancing” (LOVE IT!)

New Weekly Features April 15, 2008

I feel like I got off to a good start & then the blog kinda fell to the wayside for several weeks — lots going on: Mother & Sister visiting from out-of-state for Easter; kid out of school on Spring Break; training for the Marathon; looking for a job (had several promising interviews); etc…

So in an attempt to keep blogging even when I don’t have time to write a decent post, I’m instituting 3 new weekly features: Monday - Marathon Update (starting next week); Tuesday - ’80’s Video-of-the-Week (see 1st post above); and Thursdays - Song-of-the-Week (with or without video) highlighting a new (or new-to-me) song that I love.

Please comment if you like the new features and/or have suggestions for posts.

Please contribute! April 15, 2008

Dear Friends

As mentioned in a previous post, D. & I will both be running the San Francisco Marathon on August 3, 2008. That’s right, 26.2 miles! During our six-month training program we are running a little farther each week. By the end of the program, we expect to have logged nearly 1,000 miles. It’s all part of the National AIDS Marathon Training Program, which raises money for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the leading provider of AIDS services in the Bay Area.

Although a lot of progress has been made, the AIDS epidemic is far from over. More than one million Americans, and 42 million others throughout the world, are now living with HIV and AIDS. The Bay Area has one of the highest rates of AIDS in the nation – one in fifty people here are living with HIV.

The money we raise will allow the San Francisco AIDS Foundation to continue to provide vital AIDS services and support programs throughout the Bay Area to help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Proceeds will also fund new initiatives to support vaccine preparedness and HIV Treatment access in the developing world.

This is why we are committed to raise at least $3,600 before April 25th, although we would like to raise even more. We’re asking for your support. Any donation you can make to help us meet our goal would be most appreciated! You can donate online by visiting our AIDS Marathon web page to make a donation on our behalf: http://www.aidsmarathon.com/ (Team # 9507 “Malcolm’s Dads”).

This program is certainly the most arduous physical challenge we’ve ever faced together. As you can imagine, we’ll be spending many evenings nursing sore knees with ice packs and ibuprofen. But we can’t think of a better way to do something to help the fight to end AIDS.

Thank you for supporting us in this big undertaking. When we hit the road on August 3rd to complete the marathon, we’ll know that you helped us and many others along the way.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!

PS. Many corporations have matching gift programs. Please check with your human resources department to see if your company has one. It’s an easy way to double your contribution to this important cause! Also, to our friends in Europe: whatever amount you’re donating, please consider donating that amount in Euros (vs. US$) — that way you can almost DOUBLE your donation! THANKS!

It’s always 4:20 somewhere March 14, 2008

I’ve been too busy to post, but I just checked in and saw that my number of hits was 420 — and though I’d like it to be higher, I thought that was an auspicious number.

I’ll be having what is probably my final skiing for the season this weekend. Hopefully that might provide fodder for posting.