Barricades and Brickwalls (2002) – Kasey Chambers

Posted on December 10, 2019 by observationblogger — 6 Comments
Barricades_&_Brickwalls

Barricades and brickwalls
Won’t keep me from you
You can tie me down on a railroad track
You can let that freight train loose
Iron bars and big old cars
Won’t run me out of town
Well I’ll be damned if your not my man
Before the sun goes down

Barricades and Brickwalls is the title track of Kasey’s second album. It is the second song from this fantastic Australian country artist to feature in this music project and most likely the second I ever heard from her after her commercial radio protest song – (Am I) Not Pretty Enough. I mentioned in that post that the album Barricades and Brickwalls was one of favourite Australian albums. So good was this album that today’s title track song wasn’t even released as a single.

Wikipedia states: The album would end up going platinum in 2002, becoming the highest selling album by an Australian artist in that year, along with the highest selling single. Chambers, because of the success of this album, won “Best Country Artist,” “Best Female Artist,” and “Album of the Year” at the 2002 ARIA awards. In October 2010, the album was listed in the top 40 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.

The origin of Barricades and Brickwalls (song): Kasey recalled in this concert at Ann Arbor Michigan (08.11.15) that her roadie and lifelong best friend Worm Werchon had come up with half of the song and asked her to help him finish the second half.  He said, ‘Then you are going to record it and put it on your next album.’ Kasey, Worm and her father (who is also her lead guitarist) sat down and finished it. And the album went onto go 7 times platinum. She said she may only be the only music artist in the whole world who owes her whole career to her roadie.

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Posted in Music

3/12 – 9/12/19 Deontay Wilder, The Visitor and Order and Entropy

Posted on December 9, 2019 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

news on the march

Welcome to Monday’s News on the March – The week that was in my digital world.

Video clip at JRE Clips:

There are some topics Joe Rogan can talk with some expertise. Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts are two of them.

His description of heavyweight boxer’s Deontay Wilder’s record of knockouts was a lot of fun to watch. His expressions and catch phrases made me chuckle.

“That guy has 4 aces and he puts them right in your face….BOOM!!”    ..….… (Watch entire clip).

Travel blog article by Sheree at View from the back:

As my beloved and I conducted our holiday port-mortem, it inevitably threw up our vacation highlights. We then attempted to whittle these down to five – easier said than done on such a great trip. So here we go!…..…Read Entire Article

Book Article by Scéal Milis at Sceal Milis wordpress:

About halfway through Maeve Brennan’s novella The Visitor, the author comments on the two worlds that exist within the landscape of a city. She distinguishes these two worlds by describing them as, the one with walls around it, meaning the private interior world of the home, and the one with people around it, which is the public exterior world of the city. The exterior world of the city is rife with anxiety and isolation. Dominated by an intrusive, overbearing presence, referred to as ‘the crowd’, this world is always threatening to overwhelm the individuals within its borders...… (Read entire article).

Poem by Manuel at MacalderBlog:

MY LIFE IS YOU.

Despite living in skies separated
by the wrinkles of time unable to fly,
I will wait for your loneliness to crack
and you can reach me following in the footsteps of my silence.
Do not be afraid if there are no days under your eyes.
The night will descend breathing its brightness…..…..…. (Read entire poem)

Science documentary at Real Truth Science Documentaries:

Professor Jim Al-Khalili discovers the intriguing story of how we discovered the rules that drive the universe. Energy is vital to us all, but what exactly is energy? In attempting to answer this question Jim investigates a strange set of laws that link together everything from engines to humans to stars. It turns out that energy, so critical to daily existence, actually helps us make sense of the entire universe..….(Watch entire episode)

news on the march the end

Posted in News, Reading, Science, Sport and Adventure

Barbara Ann (1965)- the Beach Boys

Posted on December 7, 2019 by observationblogger — 5 Comments
BeachBoysParty.album.cover

Barbara Ann is the first song by the Beach Boys to appear in the music library project and it is also one of the first songs I can ever remember hearing.  I am still in awe of it, mainly because of the wonderful harmonies and catchy tune which never seems to grow old. Nearly all of the Beach Boys songs remind me of my cousins growing up who went surfing a lot, but ironically only one of the ‘Beach Boys’ surfed, namely Dennis Wilson who tragically drowned in 1983.

Just prior to Barbara Ann being covered by the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson was working on Pet Sounds. But it was taking him so long. The record company kept pestering Brian ‘when’s it coming’? And Brian decided he wasn’t that close to finishing it. But he had this idea of doing a Party record and completing it in a few days and giving that to the record company as a way of getting them off his back for a few months.

Dean Torence from the American rock duo ‘Jan and Dean‘ (who were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles popularized by the Beach Boys) recalled how he was recording in a studio alongside the Beach Boys. Dean had a few minutes spare and thought he’d pay a visit to his friends The Beach Boys and they asked which song they could all sing in the time he had allotted away from his studio. He suggested Barbara Ann which Jan and Dean had recorded a few years earlier. So after a few takes and change in key, this is how the iconic Barbara Ann version by the Beach Boys (and Dean Torrece) was conceived. You can listen to the full interview with Dean Torrence here. He mentioned they were having so much fun doing the takes that they felt compelled to get it down. The rare extended version below of Barbara Ann demonstrates just how much fun they were having!

According to wikipedia: Barbara Ann was a song written by Fred Fassert and was first recorded by the Regents as “Barbara-Ann” in 1961. Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys was the most famous cover version and was issued as a single from their album Beach Boys’ Party! with the B-side “Girl Don’t Tell Me”. 

The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week ending January 1, 1966. The week ending January 29, the song leaped from No. 15 to No. 2 and was in position to replace “We Can Work It Out” by The Beatles as the next No. 1 song. However, “My Love” by Petula Clark unexpectedly vaulted into the No. 1 position the week ending February 5, 1966. Consequently, “Barbara Ann” peaked at No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (No. 1 in Cash Box and Record World) and at No. 3 in the UK in January 1966.

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I Origins (2014) – Mike Cahill (Friday’s Finest)

Posted on December 6, 2019 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

I_Origins_poster

This week on Friday’s Finest we showcase another recent low budget – independent Sci-Fi movie called I-Origins. Like last week’s movie The Man From Earth, this movie probes profound questions about the human existence. I-Origins is a highly original movie about how discoveries in science and technology challenge us to look at ourselves differently and rethink our place in the world. It is about this tug of war between Science and Religion and how and if the two can be reconciled. Once again the less known about the plot going into it – the better, but I couldn’t leave you hanging without knowing the gist:

IMDB Storyline: I Origins begins when graduate student, Ian Gray, is researching the evolution of human eyes with Karen and Kenny, in order to prove that eyes have evolved instead of “appeared” as creationists claim. His fascination with eyes takes him into areas that have profound personal and cultural consequences.

I Origins begins rather unassumingly about two young people falling in love, and its a rich love story until something occurs which will leave the viewer in shock, it certainly did me. From then on, a feeling of insecurity pervades the movie where you don’t know what will happen next. Hollywood does not seem make films like this. They can do a lot of things, but they can’t seem to write scenes, scenarios, and certainly not dialog like in I Origins which so closely resemble real life.

From Steven Leibson’s review of I Origins:

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. – Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio

Actually, we know that Shakespeare did get it right. Science adds new discoveries and corrects old theories constantly as it progresses. What’s this have to do with “I, Origins”? It’s one of the main themes of the movie: What if there’s more to the universe than what we can perceive with our senses. Ask any real scientist and you’ll find out that the concept is hardly new or controversial. We can’t directly perceive radio waves or x-rays yet we make use of them every day. Nevertheless, this movie approaches the topic in a way that makes this question, perhaps, easier to approach for non-scientists.

I recommend another Mike Cahill Sci Fi called Another Earth which I analysed in a post here.

I Origins Movie Trivia:

  • The famous National Geographic cover of the Afghan girl whose eyes mesmerized the world and who was found years later makes a cameo in the film.
  • Resurrection is a big theme throughout the movie, as Ian doesn’t believe in it and Sofi does. The eye necklace Sofi wears is the eye of Horus, an Egyptian symbol for healing and resurrection.
  • The book Ian is reading in the cafeteria is called The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins.
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Posted in Movies and TV, Science

Bapa (2008) – Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu

Posted on December 5, 2019 by observationblogger — 5 Comments

Gurrumul_album

Geoffrey Gurrumul wrote and performed some of the most beautiful world music of this millennium so far. Geoffrey was an Australian blind aboriginal singer who played the guitar upside down. After the release of his debut album –  (pictured above) he caught the attention of Elton John and Sting who wanted to perform on stage with him. Many of the songs from this album will appear in this music library project starting today with Bapa. Gurrumul remains one of my favourite Australian albums. The album reached 3x Platinum sales in excess of 210,000. Geoffrey Gurrumul was the most commercially successful Aboriginal Australian musician at the time of his death.

Wikipedia states: Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (22 January 1971 – 25 July 2017), also referred to since his death as Dr G Yunupingu, was an Indigenous Australian musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he played drums, keyboards, guitar and didgeridoo, but it was the clarity of his singing voice that attracted rave reviews. He sang stories of his land both in Yolŋu languages such as Gaalpu, Gumatj or Djambarrpuynu, a dialect related to Gumatj, and in English. Although his solo career brought him wider acclaim, he was also formerly a member of Yothu Yindi, and later Saltwater Band.

Today’s song Bapa is a song of loss; a great loss of someone very close most likely his father. This is how we feel when we lose someone so very important in our lives, you can feel the pain, his soul is crying out for one more moment. A truly beautiful song.

Additional information about Geoffrey Gurrumul will appear in subsequent music posts which feature his music. Please enjoy Bapa.

Warwuyu ŋarranha mulkana
ŋaraku bapawu
ŋurununa gunipunharayu
ya..a, bäpa marrkapmirri

ŋathina wilawilayurruna
ŋuruŋuna djarrawalyurruna
liya-wayma Bekulŋura
ya..a bäpa marrkapmirri
m..m m..m m..m

[english translation]
Grief have taken hold of me
for my father
when the sun sets
o..h, beloved father

Crying and crying
when the sun goes down
my mind there at Bekulnura
o..h, beloved father
m..m m..m m..m

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‘Walk Star Shares His Successes’ – Hawkesbury Gazette

Posted on December 4, 2019 by observationblogger — 4 Comments

I mentioned in the recent post Wet Ghost that I received a lot of memorabilia from Australia. One such item was a newspaper clipping from my youth when I won and broke the record at the Australian National All-Schools Athletic championship. I recalled in another post called The Telegram how a school friend sent me a humorous telegram congratulating me on the victory.

Today I present to you the ‘actual’ newspaper clipping which highlighted the back-page sports section of the Hawkesbury Gazette. Also because you all seem like nice folk I’ll add another clipping from another local rag where I used to Holiday with my grandmother. They were similarly impressed…  I have few claims to fame, but as Charles Bukowski  put it, ‘Hey baby, when I write, I’m the hero of my shit’.

Walk Star

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Posted in Reading, Reflections, Sport and Adventure

Bajo el Agua (2015) – Manuel Medrano

Posted on December 3, 2019 by observationblogger — 4 Comments
Manuel Medrano
Manuel Medrano

Bajo el Agua (underwater) is the first song to appear from a Colombian music artist. I was shopping in ‘Exito’ (a large supermarket store) here in Bogota on the 53 (Calle / street) and I heard the song come on the loud speakers. I asked one of the shop assistants if she knew of the song. It was reminiscent of how I became familiar with the Mexican Christian singer Marcela Gandara who’s music I heard in a fragrance shop a few years back. I was captivated with Manuel Medrano’s ‘Bajo el Agua‘ and soon thereafter I noticed it saturated the radio airwaves.

Wikipedia: Manuel Medrano was born on the 29th of October 1987 in Cartagena, Colombia.  He is the winner of two Latin Grammy Awards. For several years he played in bars in Bogota while composing his songs, which, years later, made him popular. In the year 2016 he won two Latin Grammy Awards: Best New Artist and Best Songwriting Album.

Bajo el Agua (2015) has accumulated more than 350 million views on YouTube at the time of writing this post.  It is an unrequited love song but it is atypical in the latin pop song sense because Medrano’s voice is so distinctive and penetrative and the melody likewise. It’s difficult not to want to hear it again. He hit a goldmine with this amazing song. The video below is tailored for adolescent audiences, but there is some beautiful cinematography of an indoor swimming pool. I hope this song charms you like it did me.

I want to fly with you, very high somewhere
I would like to be with you watching the stars over the sea
I want to find another way and get dressed and go for a walk with you
I want to tell the world that we are not friends, tell them with sadness
That you don’t cross my path

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Posted in Music

26/11 – 2/12/19 Movie Stars, Little Books, The Moon, The Buddha and Jazz

Posted on December 2, 2019 by observationblogger — 5 Comments

news on the march

Welcome to Monday’s News on the March – The week that was in my digital world.

Roundtable video discussion at Collider Videos:

With the launch of Disney+ looming large over Netflix and Hollywood at large, Collider used deepfake technology to bring together five living legends to discuss the streaming wars and the future of cinema.

Enjoy this lively conversation between Robert Downey, Jr. (Avengers: Endgame, Dolittle), George Lucas (Star Wars, Indiana Jones), Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible, Edge of Tomorrow), Ewan McGregor (Doctor Sleep, Obi-Wan), and Jeff Goldblum (The World According to Jeff Goldblum, Jurassic World 3), moderated by Mark Ellis (Dog Stepfather)..….… (Watch roundtable).

Article by Annika Perry at Annika Perry’s Writing Blog:

In silenced awe, I wandered around the rooms in which they lived, worked, wrote. I gasped at the exhibits, incredible to believe these were their actual writings. The rooms used by the Brontë family are largely unchanged and filled with a collection of furniture, clothes and personal possessions. One display particularly held me in reverential hush … the little books! Absolutely tiny – each the size of a small matchbox! How could they fit so much in these!…..…Read Entire Article

Article at The Hofflebrock:

I’ve been setting daily goals for myself. For an entire week now. I didn’t achieve everything I set out to do, but I did about 743.94% (give or take) more than I usually do. I have seven consecutive days of winning under my belt. I even managed to snag a trophy for a surprise 5k I found myself running (walking) on Saturday. It’s crazy how that shit sneaks up on you.

It’s time for longer term goals. It’s time for a weekly goal. A goal of the month. Something to shoot for by the end of the season. Something target to hit by my next birthday.

And as all of this is happening, I’m having regular, prolonged chats with the moon. It’s up there right this minute, opening up to its fullest as I type this. It’s just about full. I can tell you this without looking at a lunar calendar. I’m in tune with that goddess. She’s been encouraging me to be a Sun for the last seven days...… (View Original Post).

Article at Light Traveller Kate:

This stone Buddha, hewn from the surrounding mountain, is the tallest stone Buddha in the world. It took over seventy years or the span of three generations (between the year 713 to 803 BCE) to construct him. He stands 71 metres tall.

Impressive is a feeble word to describe this wonder.

I joined other awestruck tourists making the graduated climb up to the head of the Buddha before descending in single file down the sheer cliff to the feet of the mighty statue. It was hot, rainy and steamy, I needed to be alert and conscious of where I put my feet. Like anywhere else in the world, the tourists and visitors came for a variety of reasons; some were reverential, others came for more mundane reasons. Perhaps mine were a mixture of both.…..…. (Read entire post)

Post by Pam at All Things Thriller:

We’ve trained and employed many DJs. We’ve worked the Bonnaroo music festival, the victory party for Vice President Al Gore, the CMTV Music Awards after parties and Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton’s engagement party to name a few of the high profile gigs.

But mostly we’ve DJ’d weddings. Literally hundreds of weddings.

My husband and I no longer gig. We manage our collective of DJ’s and cater to an increasingly demanding clientele. As such we are music directors, marketing campaigners and event planners.….(Read entire post)

news on the march the end

Posted in Movies and TV, Music, News, Reading

Bad as Me (2011) – Tom Waits

Posted on November 30, 2019 by observationblogger — 27 Comments

Tom Waits Bad as Me

You’re the head on the spear
You’re the nail on the cross
You’re the fly in my beer
You’re the key that got lost
You’re the letter from Jesus on the bathroom wall
You’re mother superior in only a bra
You’re the same kind of bad as me

Tom Waits BAd as Me 1Tom Waits’ Bad as Me was released on his critically acclaimed 16th album of the same name in 2011. It was also nominated for a grammy award for best alternative music album. The title track featured today was digitally released as a single on Itunes and he netted his first top 10 album.

The lyrics of Bad as Me are lean and mean, but in typical Tom Waits fashion he presents it with a feeling of loose joy and abandon. The press release at the time of it’s release stated: This pivotal work refines the music that has come before and signals a new direction. Waits, in possibly the finest voice of his career, worked with a veteran team of gifted musicians and longtime co-writer/producer Kathleen Brennan.

I like this song a lot. He presents it in an debauched theatrical manner and he even cackles after he says:
‘No good you say
Well that’s good enough for me!’
I like the pounding percussion and brash guitars. It’s a self affirming song, that’s resolved in the character he has constructed although he’s still keeping himself fresh.
Someone described in the you tube comments below: ‘He’s like a stray cat who was transformed into a man by a genie or a shaman’.

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The Man From Earth (2007) – Richard Schenkman (Friday’s Finest)

Posted on November 29, 2019 by observationblogger — 4 Comments

The_Man_from_Earth

Imagine you are at an impromptu farewell party for a work colleague and it becomes a mysterious interrogation and the retiring scholar whom you are fare-welling reveals he has a longer and stranger past than you could possibly imagine. The Man From Earth contains one of the most original movie concepts I have ever seen. The screenplay was conceived by Jerome Bixby in 1946 and completed on his deathbed in April 1998. After Jerome Bixby’s death, the script was given to Richard Schenkman to direct on a $200,000 budget. The film was shot in 8 days after a week of rehearsals. The whole movie was shot using 2 Panasonic DVX100 camcorders, which probably explains the overall grainy look of the film.

The problem with reviewing this movie is that I cannot reveal the big mystery and the less said about the plot – the better. The good news is – the movie is available free on you tube (see below). Watch the first 10 minutes and I am confident you’ll be glued to the screen for the rest. There are two other recent low budget independent movies which I admire for their originality much the same way as I do The Man From Earth, namely Another Earth and I-Origins. They all have a science fiction bent, but are not slotted easily into that genre. You could class them as humanist-evolutionary in their exploration of ideas. This trilogy above all else challenge conventional ideas of religion and make us rethink our place in the world.

According to wikipedia: The Man From Earth gained recognition in part for being widely distributed through Internet peer-to-peer networks, which raised its profile. The film was later adapted by Schenkman into a stage play of the same name. The producer Eric D. Wilkinson publicly thanked users of BitTorrent who distributed the film without express permission, saying that it lifted the profile of the film far beyond the financier’s expectations; he encouraged fans to purchase the DVD or donate.

The Man From Earth is one of the most unusual movies I have ever seen. I have watched it countless times and I am already in the mood to see it again. The story always pulls me in like a Black Hole and I find myself wanting more and more.

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Posted in Movies and TV, Science

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