Domestic Psychology

Gleekified music

// April 26th, 2011 // No Comments » // people

I walked in the customerless business to two employees singing along with the store’s background music. I don’t know if the music was set for a room filled with chattering customers or the employees were taking a rare moment of down time to have fun with the music cranked up, but the volume made it easy to identify Gwyneth Paltrow singing a Cee-Lo song.

Clerk: “Don’t you just love this song?”
Me: “I enjoy the original version.”
Clerk: “Oh. Well, I love her voice. I think Glee makes music better.”
What I thought: Auto-tune mutilates music.
What I said: “Oh.”

before they pull it down

// January 22nd, 2010 // No Comments » // music, people

swim

// November 20th, 2009 // No Comments » // music, video

Doug says:

// June 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // movies, music

Doug: “What are you watching?”
Me: “Fame.”
Doug: “I guess this was our generation’s High School Musical.”
Me: “Are you seriously comparing Sir Alan Parker‘s work to a sugar cube dipped in fake chocolate?”

Let’s compare. Is this the same style, maturity or quality as this?

Concerts I missed

// June 12th, 2009 // 5 Comments » // music

Several years ago, I posted a list of some of the concerts in my past just so that people could call me old. All the Bonnaroo chatter makes me think about the concerts that I wish I could have attended. So, alphabetically, I wish I could have been in the audience for:
Aerosmith
Beatles
David Byrne
Eric Clapton (with any of his many bands)
Leonard Cohen
Meatloaf
Willie Nelson
NIN
Peter Gabriel
Queen
Rolling Stones
Todd Rundgren
Sly & The Family Stone
Tears for Fears
U2
Neil Young

Astley rhymes with ghastly

// April 4th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // music, youtube

I love Nick Lowe.

new OS for Noah

// March 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // parenting, scouts, teenagers

As I drove Noah to his middle school band concert, he talked about the songs he was going to be playing. No. That’s not an accurate description of our conversation. It would be more accurate to say that Noah spoke sheet music slang and I nodded my head while saying “mmhmm.”

“So then, during the spy song, I get to use all the fun stuff. Like, I use the whack thing and go clack-clack when the band goes boom-boom-boom and then I shake the things that are like maracas but aren’t and I go sha-shoo-sha-shoo while the band goes mwa-mwa and then . . . ”

After three song descriptions, I asked Noah if he was nervous about the concert. “Well, no, I mean, uh, not really, but maybe I guess I am.” I told him he would do just fine and to relax and enjoy the music.

“You just jinxed me! I’ll mess up now and everyone will hear me miss my note! Why did you do that?!?”

Sigh. Noah will not be 13 until May and I did not see the paperwork requesting early entry to teenage melodrama. This development was not pre-approved. I think I’ll just ship Mr. Adolescent off to camp with the Boy Scouts for Spring Break. They’ll love having an extra personality or three.

Valentine’s Day – senior style

// February 15th, 2009 // 7 Comments » // holidays, music, relatives, sandwich generation

Friday afternoon, my father called and asked me if I could fill one of those “music players you put in your pocket” with romantic songs. After telling him it’s called an ipod, I told him it wouldn’t be a problem. Then he clarified that by romantic music, he meant “good stuff like Andy Williams or Perry Como.” I could have easily supplied him with love songs from any decade, all the way back to the 70′s but 1950′s music? Eek! I scoured itunes and sampled song after song. You know, today’s musicians may be debaucherous, but there sure were a lot of male singers with soprano voices in the 50′s. They were doing strange things back then too. Eventually I combined two songs from the “Running with Scissors” soundtrack and one from the “Rushmore” soundtrack with half a dozen songs from artists who are extremely dead. What’s that? One of them still performs in Vegas? Seriously? Wow. Anyway, the ipod was emptied of everything except the requested music. One hour before the scheduled ipod pickup my father called me again. “Did you put “Love Me Tender” on there? I want that song.” Mmkay. The requested song was acquired and added.

My father walked in the house, took the pouch concealing the ipod and refused any directions from me. Then, he wandered off to talk to Tommy for a bit. Ten minutes later, my father rushed out the door to his “Valentine’s dinner” date. Did I mention that it was 10 in the morning? Please don’t let me ever start referring to 11 a.m. meals as dinner. A little while later, Tommy came upstairs to inhale the contents of the fridge. I asked him what his grandfather wanted to talk about. “He asked me how you turn an ipod on and where the volume switch is on it.”

An hour later my mother called. “Your father just stood up in Olive Garden and sang an Elvis song to me.” I feel like I helped perpetrate a crime against every person having “dinner” at the Olive Garden on Valentine’s Day morning.

saying goodbye to President Bush

// January 16th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // music, politics

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Noah says

// January 8th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // kid quotes, music

Me: “This is Jethro Tull. They’re a rock band that uses a flute in their music, just like your friend P plays.”
Noah: “Awesome! I wonder if P can get an electric flute?”
Me: blink-blink