Music Meme

Got this from Jennie at Biblio File. The original meme is... "So here’s my challenge: Name the five guiltiest, most embarrassing pleasures on your iPod–the songs you secretly, shamefully enjoy when no
one’s around. It should almost hurt revealing to the world that they’re in your collection."

I'm not going to do the Jennie version, however, simply because the shuffle elements never work to my advantage. I've got too many sermons, audio books, and such to make them legitimate. That and I have a history of them popping up to Christmas songs and such that I'd never really have on an iPod if I had one that is.

But I'll add my own twist and make it ten of the guiltiest pleasures.

Partridge Family. For the record, I wasn't even alive when the show was on the air. I do seem to remember it aired in reruns for a bit in my preschool years. But I didn't watch it. Not then. Not now. But for some reason or other I have a *weakness* for Partridge Family/David Cassidy CDs of the era. I have ten albums total, but one of them is a Christmas album. Of course, *some* people might consider two songs relatively okay and shame-free. Maybe. Those would be "I Think I Love You"  and "I Woke Up In Love this Morning." Those are their two most famous songs. But what would be the true shame of loving those two? Especially I Think I Love You? So I'll confess to

"I'll Meet You Halfway" from the Up To Date album,
"Last Night" from Shopping Bag,
"Storybook Love" from "Family Notebook

Of course most of the songs on most of the albums I've listened to enough that I can sing along with.

John Denver. I have a friend who can't even bear to hear anyone utter the name "John Denver." It's got to be his initials or a code name of some sort if you need to mention him at all. The back story to my guilty love? I had a Fisher Price record player. I had a few kids records that were my own that I could play. But mom also donated a few to the cause. One of the records from her was the single Annie's Song. The B side was Cool an Green an Shady. I must confess that as much as I loved Annie's Song, my true devotion lay with the B side.

Annie's Song
Cool and Green and Shady

The Carpenters. Continuing the theme of Seventies. Another from mom's collection was Only Yesterday and Happy. I can't remember if each was a single on their own. (Perhaps with instrumental and harmony vocals on the B sides.) Or if they were both on the same single...one being A and one being B. I just can't remember that clearly. Anyway add to the list:

Only Yesterday from the album Only Yesterday
Happy from the album Only Yesterday

This next song shouldn't make me so happy. But here it is. Andy Kim's Rock Me Gently. This was another one of Mom's singles. I *know* this one had the song on one side, and the instrumental/backing vocals on the B side. I know because I used to listen to both. I wonder what is more shameful? The fact that I listened to this song at all (and loved it) or the fact that I would use the instrumental track and sing the song on my own? Probably the latter.

Rock Me Gently

Okay, here's another one for you. This one is just fun in my opinion.

Hernando's Hideaway by Archie Bleyer.

And this last one just dates me a bit.

Barbie Girl by Aqua.

I think what makes this last one fit in...is that while it was the "it" song of the moment way back when (1997???) most people have gotten rid of it since then. Not me.

I don't routinely listen to any of these necessarily. But they're happily sitting in iTunes.

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Have you Dr. Horribled yet?!

If you've got a spare hour this weekend, you should try to sit down and watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog. It's in three acts, and each act is about 14 minutes long. It will only be available for a limited time. So don't delay! (How limited is limited? Sunday, July 20th at midnight.) Of course, it will be available to buy after that date in some form or another. But if you want to see it free, time is of the essence :)

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Weekly Geeks #12

Dewey. Weekly Geeks 12 Assignment:

How to:

1. In your blog, list any books you’ve read but haven’t reviewed yet. If you’re all caught up on reviews, maybe you could try this with whatever book(s) you finish this week.

2. Ask your readers to ask you questions about any of the books they want. In your comments, not in their blogs. Most likely, people who will ask you questions will be people who have read one of the books or know something about it because they want to read it.

3. Later, take whichever questions you like from your comments and use them in a post about each book. I’ll probably turn mine into a sort of interview-review. Link to each blogger next to that blogger’s question(s).

4. Visit other Weekly Geeks and ask them some questions!

Note: There will be no Weekly Geeks post on July 26th (next week) because she's moving.

Already read by Saturday, July 19, 2008.

Yum: Your Ultimate Manual for Good Nutrution by Daina Kalnins, MSC, RD
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-Blind Pioneer by Sally Hobart Alexander and Robert Alexander
Paper Towns by John Green
Safe in the Arms of God by John MacArthur
The Light of the World by Katherine Paterson

Ask away! Leave comments! I'll be happy to answer questions. (You'll see them in a separate post.)

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Savannah

Price, Eugenia. 1983. Savannah.

First sentence: Hands gripping the rail of the plunging schooner Eliza, young Mark Browning, his well-tailored clothes wet and rumpled, stood on deck alone, determined not to be sick.

Eugenia Price, along with Margaret Mitchell, was one of the primary reasons I first fell in love with historical fiction. (Or perhaps I should say historical fiction with more than a couple of splashes of romance added into the mix.) (I honestly can't remember if this series "found" me in eighth or ninth grades. But definitely back when I was in high school.)

What is Savannah about? To make it short and sweet it is a story of a young man coming-of-age in the city of Savannah in the early nineteenth century. (Think the war of 1812). Mark Browning. Just twenty or so when we meet him. Wise in some ways, naive in others. But without a doubt, the best day of young Mark's life was when he met Robert Mackay, family man and merchant.

Mackay is the owner of Eliza, a vessel named after his wife. He takes pity on the young man and cares for him when he falls sick on the ship. He also takes him into his own home back in Savannah. There he is welcomed by Eliza Mackay, the ever-faithful and near-perfect wife, and the couples' children: Jack, William, Eliza Anne, and Kate. (Though I can't quite remember if Kate had been born yet.) There he is welcomed, and there he remains until the day--some dozen or so years later--when his own house is completed and he begins keeping house with his own wife and child.

Mark, an orphan with no known family, comes to a new city, a strange city and finds refuge. His mother had been born, so he was told, in the city of Savannah. And it was in Savannah that his mother had met his father, Mark Browning, Sr. He has now come to that city to see if it holds some power over him. If perhaps he will find something he's been looking for his entire life--a place to belong, a place to call home. The minute he sets foot in Savannah, his love affair begins. He begins working alongside Robert Mackay. And soon he is made partner in Robert's business. But this arrangement isn't just good for his career. No, Mark genuinely becomes part of this family. The couple loves him. Sees him as a son. And the children idolize him. They cherish him. Cling to him almost.

This illustration of Southern hospitality seems strange in some ways to the modern reader. (I certainly can't imagine a modern family taking in a complete stranger for any amount of time let alone letting him--urging him--to become part of the family itself forever and ever and ever.) But if it is strange, it is strange in a mostly good way I think.

Savannah has more than its fair share of secrets. It is an emotional journey with unfolding mysteries and romances. Secrets. Lies. Blackmails. Murder. Passion. Jealousies. A little bit of everything really. It spans the years 1812 through 1825. It is rich in historical detail. It is really just a thoroughly satisfying read.

595 pages

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Poetry Friday: Tracie Vaughn Zimmer

Today's poem comes from 42 Miles by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, a book published earlier this year, 2008. Roundup is at Writing and Ruminating.

The Poems I Like Best

The poems I like best
wear classic black
with vintage accessories
and smell like a new book,
the spine just cracked.
They're the chitchat overheard on a city bus
or nonsense
volleyed between toddlers
on swings at the park.

My favorite poems
squeeze your hand
on a crowded street and say:
Look.

The poems I like best
wear blue jeans
and smell
like the tack room of a barn:
worn leather and horse.
They're the varied verses
of a mockingbird's song
or syllables traded between brothers
scratching scruffy chins
over the dark mysteries of an engine.

My favorite poems
hold a wooden spoon of words
and whisper:
Taste.

Isn't that a wonderful poem? I just read it and fell in love!!! You should definitely make a point of reading 42 Miles.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews