Tag Archives: The Alan Parsons Project

My iPod Has Issues – Stuck in the House

21 Jul

Because of a medical procedure, I am sort of stuck in the house. I went out this morning but found that being inside feels a lot better. Of course, that gives me time to watch television, and some big things have happened.

O.J. was paroled.

Red West, a member of Elvis’s Memphis Mafia, passed away. He was also in one of my favorite Magnum, P.I. episodes.

Hugh Freeze was fired as head football coach at Ole Miss, which makes this post more relevant.

Oh yeah, two of my favorite events are finishing up. The Tour de France is in its last stages, and the World Series of Poker Main Event is down to the last table.

However, one can only watch so much television. That is why I am cranking up the iPod to see what is going on in there.

“Hard Times” by Ray Charles

“That’s the Way I Wanna Rock n’ Roll” by AC/DC

“Walk on By” by Isaac Hayes

“Mississippi” by Bob Dylan

“Cover of the Rolling Stone” by Dr. Hook

“Session Blues” by Big Mama Thornton

“Mumblin’ Guitar” by Bo Diddley

“Boom Boom” by The Animals

“Cry Me a River” by Diana Krall

“Crying in the Chapel” by Elvis Presley

“Long Hard Times to Come” by Gangstagrass

“Stereotomy” by The Alan Parsons Project

“Mother” by Danzig

“That’s What They Always Say” by Chris Rea

“I Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles

“Kern River” by Merle Haggard

“The Chicken and the Hawk” by Big Joe Turner

“Crying in the Rain” by Whitesnake

“The Legend of Shenandoah” by James Stewart

“Tin Man” by America

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My iPod Has Issues – Too Early For Bed

16 Jun

The summer class that I am teaching is halfway finished.

The meetings I had today did not last long.

The dinner we had at the local pizzeria was quite good.

Everyone else is in bed, but I cannot go to bed before 10 pm. Going to bed before 10 pm means I have reached a time in life that I am not ready to admit. When I was a kid, I would beg my parents to let me stay up until the local news was over. I usually made it through Johnny Carson’s monologue or through the beginning of a John Wayne movie on the late show. Nope, I will not go to bed earlier than that.

Instead, I will delve into the mind of my psychotic iPod and see what is going on.

“Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival

“Search for Vulcan” by Leroy Holmes

“Heaven is a Place on Earth” by Belinda Carlisle

“Carolyn” by Merle Haggard

“Stereotomy” by The Alan Parsons Project

“Ebo Walker” by The Dillards

“Dance to the Music” by Sly and the Family Stone

“She’s Got You” by Loretta Lynn

“Got My Mojo Working” by Muddy Waters

“Memphis Exorcism” by Squirrel Nut Zippers

“Garden Party” by Ricky Nelson

“6 Underground” by Sneaker Pimps

“Free Ride” by Edgar Winter

“Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” by Led Zeppelin

“Lazy River” by Pete Fountain

“Hallelujah I Love Her So” by Ray Charles

“God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys

“More Than You Know” by Mel Torme

“O Death” by Ralph Stanley

“Down Together” by The Refreshments

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Devil of a Post

17 Jul

When my last post was published, I realized that a milestone had been reached. Yep, it was post number 666. Most people know what that means to Christians around the world. It shows up in the Book of Revelation and has become associated with the Antichrist.Dice

To mark this auspicious occasion, I decided to look into this number and see what else is out there. A recent project of mine would be a good place to start.

I read the Bible from cover to cover. At church, they always take out verses and talk about them. It seemed to me that the Bible is a book, and books are meant to be read. In other words, I felt that I would understand it better by reading the verses within the context of the overall work. I will not go into detail about all of that, but I will say this. The number 666 turns up a few times before the Book of Revelation.

Every year, Solomon collected 666 talents of gold.

It is also the number of Adonikam’s descendants who return from Babylonian exile.

Outside the realm of Christianity, the number does some other things.

The numbers of the roulette wheel add up to 666. That is a good reason for me to stick to Blackjack.

The Chinese consider it to be a lucky number.

In Lafayette, Tennessee, which I wrote about a few posts ago, it was the telephone prefix. Growing up, I was always intrigued by that fact.

Despite the luck of the Chinese and the telephones of a small Tennessee town, 666 dominates as a number of evil. With that in mind, we will delve into the dark reaches of my iPod and see what devilish tunes lurk within its bounds.

“The Devil Went Down To Georgia” by The Charlie Daniels Band

“Dark Night” by The Blasters

“Lucifer” by The Alan Parsons Project

“Living Dead Girl” by Rob Zombie

“Fallen Angel” by Robbie Robertson

“The Road To Hell” by Chris Rea

“The Devil Made Me Do It” by Golden Earring

“War Pigs” by Black Sabbath

“Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach

“The Voice And The Snake” by Enigma

“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult

“The House Of The Rising Sun” by The Animals

“Werewolves Of London” by Warren Zevon

“Season In Hell” by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band

“O Fortuna” by Carl Orff

“The Witch Queen Of New Orleans” by Redbone

“Witchy Woman” by The Eagles

“Satan Is Her Name” by Steve King

“Bad To The Bone” by George Thorogood

“(You’re The) Devil In Disguise” by Elvis Presley

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My iPod Has Issues – Back Porch Blogging

13 Jun

I am sitting on the back porch with the laptop in my lap. Is that not where it is supposed to be? The sun is shining, and the birds are chirping. I can hear a lawnmower somewhere in the distance. They say that storms will be overhead later in the day. That is typical for a June afternoon in Tennessee.

Unused firewood is taking up one corner of the deck. It is beside some chairs that are fading in the sun. I can see the strand of a spiderweb attached to one of them as the sunlight glistens off of it. I suppose that I should knock it down, but the spider has spent a lot of time working on it.

It is a relaxing time, and nothing much is going through my mind. There are no clever ideas for a post. There are no psychoses that need to be addressed. It is simply a normal porch-sitting experience.image-38

With nothing to write about, I could end the post, but it does not seem right to stop at 177 words. At least, that is how many words WordPress said I had typed when I typed 177. Instead of stopping, I will turn on the iPod and see what it going on. After that, I will go back to staring at the trees. There is a dead one out there that needs to be dealt with.

“Tetragon” by Woody Shaw

“Save My Soul” by Blues Saraceno

“Fly Away” by John Denver

“Let The Good Times Roll” by Ray Charles

“You Got That Right” by Lynyrd Skynyrd

“The Day Begins” by The Moody Blues

“Loving Her Was Easier” by Kris Kristofferson

“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” by The Righteous Brothers

“Come Fly With Me” by Frank Sinatra

“Tulsa Time” by Don Williams

“Thunderstruck” by AC/DC

“Sweet Georgia Brown” by The California Ramblers

“Lucifer” by The Alan Parson Project

“Slip Away” by Clarence Carter

“Rollin'” by Big and Rich

“She Loves You” by The Beatles

“Amie” by Pure Prairie League

“I Wanna Be Sedated” by The Ramones

“The Beat” by Lou Johnson

“Drops of Jupiter” by Train

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My iPod Has Issues: Five Dollar Words

14 Jan

Last week, we had faculty meetings in preparation of the upcoming semester. As people talked and presentations were made, I realized something. We academicians use a lot of five dollar words.Five

I mean words like:

Pedagogy

Colloquium

Convocation

Socratic

Syllabus

Magna Cum Laude

Rubric

Vitae

You have to admit that those are not words used in everyday language.

Then, I wondered why we use five dollar words. Is it to show everyone how smart we are? Is is to prove that our profession is important? Is it to separate ourselves intellectually?

As those ideas raced through my mind, I realized that most professions have their own languages. We my family was involved in manufacturing, we used terms that many people would not recognize and not be able to define.

I reckon that is the way it is for the world’s numerous professions. They all have their own languages that set them apart from those who are not involved in that line of work.

It is strange phenomenon, but I imagine that it started a long time ago.

To honor the five dollar words of my profession and others, we will explore the selections of my iPod. However, these songs all have something in common. Their titles include words that are worth at least $4.99.

“Christo Redemptor” by Charlie Musselwhite

“Spybreak” by Propellerheads

“Contempt – Theme De Camille” by Georges Delerue

“Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” by Crosby, Stills and Nash

“Nocturne” by Daft Punk

“Also Sprach Zarathustra” by Deodato

“Toccato and Fugue in D Minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach

“A Private Interlude” by Groove Armada

“Balfa Waltz” by David Doucet

“Pyramania” by The Alan Parsons Project

“Dengue Woman Blues” by Jimmie Vaughan

“De Guello” by Nelson Riddle

“John Barleycorn” by Traffic

“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen

“Stranglehold” by Ted Nugent

“Gracefully” by Vintage Trouble

“Anarchy in the U.K.” by The Sex Pistols

“Guitar Improvisation” by John Rubinstein and Tim McIntire

“Principles of Lust: Sadeness” by Enigma

“Torquay” by The Leftovers

Now, I have to figure out where I am going to spend the extra penny.

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My iPod Has Issues – Heading to Hilton Head

16 Oct

It has been a busy week, and I have not been able to spend as much time blogging as I would like. The posts have been few and far between. That trend is going to continue because we are heading to Hilton Head, South Carolina over the weekend. Certainly, there will be some good stuff to write about when we return.Hilton Head

In the meantime, here are some selections from the old iPod.

“Ole Slewfoot” by BR-549

“I Won’t Mention It Again” by Ray Price

“Hello Darlin'” by Conway Twitty

“Good Times” by Chic

“In the Still of the Night” by The Five Satins

“Sweet Sixteen” by Big Joe Turner

“Miss You” by The Rolling Stones

“Baby Get Lost” by B.B. King

“You Left a Long, Long Time Ago” by Willie Nelson

“Heartbeat” by Red 7

“Children Go Where I Send Thee” by The Fairfield Four

“Steamroller Blues” by Elvis Presley

“Jezzebella” by Vintage Trouble

“I Ain’t the One” by Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter

“Baby Let’s Play House” by Arthur Gunter

“Tears in Heaven” by Eric Clapton

“Too Close” by Clair Marlo

“Sirius” by The Alan Parsons Project

“Fat Albert Theme” by Dig

“Enter Sandman” by Metallica

As a famous general once said, “I shall return.”

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My iPod Has Issues – The Semester Begins

30 Aug

Another semester has begun, and it is time to get into the swing of things. As usual, the first few days was all about going over the syllabi and explaining to the students the plan for the next couple of months. That means talking about assignments, class rules and all sorts of things.

This time I am teaching a couple of survey classes, which students have to take as part of the General Education Core. I am also teaching a class on Middle Eastern history. However, I am really looking forward to the new class on the History of American Music. With that kind of title, the course could go in many directions, but I am focusing on the 20th Century. There are some performers that college students need to know about.Rock

In honor of that class and because I need to be working on classes instead of blogging, we are going into my iPod to see what is happening. The music class is going to hear a lot of stuff that is crammed in there. Let us warm it up and get it ready for the semester.

“I’m a Man” by Bo Diddley

“Silver Wings” by Merle Haggard

“Fanfare for the Common Man” by Aaron Copland

“Cover of the Rolling Stone” by Dr. Hook

“The Lonely Man” by Tennessee Ernie Ford

“Rocky Top” by The Osborne Brothers

“Outlands” by Daft Punk

“Hound Dog” by Elvis Presley

“Comin’ Home Baby” by Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis

“Passing Zone Blues” by Coleman Wilson

“Voyager” by The Alan Parsons Project

“We Gotta Get Out Of This Place” by The Animals

“The Wanderer” by Dion

“My Heavy Load” by Big Mama Thornton

“Opening Mandelbrot” by Blue Man Group

“Volare” by Gipsy Kings

“All I Have to Do is Dream” by The Everly Brothers

“If You Don’t Know Me By Now” by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes

“Look What You’ve Done to Me” by Boz Scaggs

“L&N Special” by Christine Kittrell

In a few days, I will be introducing students to some great artists. Hopefully, it will lead them to like some good music.

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,