It must have been Dumps
Full disclosure, it’s Good Friday. I considered doing a Good Friday themed title, but I ran the risk of upsetting some of my readers, so I’ll leave you to come up with any Good Friday related titles on your own. Instead, I’ll tell you how I came to this title. A month ago, my friend Matt suggested I watch “Long Shot” and described it as “pretty damn funny.” In the nightly “what should we watch” discussion, Leen used her veto power on my suggestion to watch the film frequently. Last night, she caved and we watched it. There is a pivotal dance scene between the two leads where Seth Rogan puts on a song called “It Must Have Been Love,” and I said: I have never heard this song. Leen was stunned. “You don’t know who Roxette is? (I was confused; I thought maybe Roxette was spelled Rock Set, like Dip Set. ) This scene really required you to know who Roxette was and why that song “works.” I didn’t. So this morning I got on Limewire and downloaded some of Roxette’s greatest hits. In case you were wondering, “It Must Have Been Love” was initially released as a Christmas song in 1987 (I was 10 months old) And that’s how we got where we are. Anyway, Long Shot is in fact “pretty damn funny” so Matt nailed it. Last thing before we get to the dumps, I was reading Random Good Friday facts this morning (in case I went that route) and here are two that are relevant to our situation. 1) If you get a haircut today, superstition says it prevents headaches for the rest of the year. So what I am saying is we’re all going to have headaches unless you’re doing it yourself. 2) In Germany, it’s illegal to dance on Good Friday.
The Dumps:
Let’s think back to fonder times. Sometime in the spring of 2018, I spent many an afternoon emailing DJs for our wedding. There was Mike who promised to bring over 500 CDs(!), and “the Susie Show.” We passed on both of those options and ultimately settled on a company called A Personal Touch, a company co-founded by the husband of former Real World Austin cast member Melinda. A Personal Touch had a great interface that allowed to me mark 50 “Must-Plays” 25 “if you have time” and 25 “do not plays.” One of the first songs I put on the Do Not Play list, right after the Chicken Dance, the Cha Cha Slide and the Macarena was “Brown Eyed Girl.” I’ve no problem with Van Morrison. (Bonus points if you know what his real name is) but boy do I not like this song. Today in my research, I came across this little news piece (disregard the date) that reported that Morrison’s banger originally was titled Brown Skinned Girl by Morrison changed it while recording. Anyway, due to some sort of contract shenanigans by Bang Records, Morrison NEVER RECEIVED ANY ROYALTIES for this song. Morrison says that this was a “throwaway song” and that he has at least “300 songs that are better.” (If you’ve never seen the Last Waltz, Morrison’s performance of Caravan is an all-timer. ) So anyway, I feel justified in not liking Brown Eyed Girl, because neither does Van the Man. Story here.
In my class last week, I asked the students to identify a silver lining of the recent Social Distancing measures we hopefully all our following, as directed by our governments. Some of my students have gotten back into drawing, or have caught up on much needed sleep, or finally finished the Irishman. For me, it’s obviously spending time watching Eliot grow and explore and do shit that 6-month old babies do. Leen and I talked today about when we need to stop swearing in front of him. Verdict: Not fucking today. The moral to this part of the dump is that one of the silver lining’s to this whole terrible-world-shutting-down-not-having-left-my-apartment-building-in-a-month situation is that animal shelters are emptying during the quarantine with more and more people turning to creature comforts (here here and here.) This news led me to discovering a video featuring a woman from the Westminster Kennel Club explaining EVERY TYPE OF DOG BREED. Due to parenting duties and curiosity, it took me like two hours to watch this 24 minute video. Whenever Leen, Eliot and I get back to America, I plan on getting a dog. This video was helpful, if only for identifying which ones were too ugly for me to get (Afghan Hound) and which ones I found adorable (Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen). If you’re stuck inside and have a curiosity to learn why certain dogs walk the way they do and to learn which dogs like to chill inside (spoiler alert: It’s greyhounds; weird, right?) watch this.
Here’s a pairing I bet you never thought would mix: Country music and the Middle East. I started to trying to introduce the genre to my youth way back in 2012. My logic was they had a lot of similar interests and themes: family, community, God, big trucks, hanging out with friends, overly-wrought emotional pleas, love, objectifying women, patriarchal hierarchies. Some of my students were into the classics, but found modern day country music off-putting. My goal from 2012-2014 while I spent time playing ping pong with Qatari and Saudis was to incept them and laying the ground work for liking the genre. Well that plan is finalyl coming to fruition and there is more cross-over than you would’ve ever thought. With the release of Sam Hunt’s much awaited sophomore album (that seems to feature three of his most famous tracks all of which came out like four years ago), I thought this was a good time to update you about the links between Middle Eastern Culture and music and American country music. There are two stories here you can find. a) a review of Sam Hunt and his new album b) the aforementioned story from GQ Middle East about the rise of Middle Eastern Country music. *(Fans of this season’s The Bachelor will be pumped to know that Chase Rice is up for doing a collaboration with an Arabic artist, according to this story.)
Sometimes I can’t help myself, and I talk to Leen about the things I am going to dump before I dump them. This story got a “Wow, incredibly nerdy shit” response (Eliot was napping at the time, so don’t worry about her language usage), so you know it’s quality. In the time of quarantine, some of you may be are getting into puzzling. Leen and I have been avid puzzlers since before our marriage, completing a series of famous books, famous paintings, landscapes, animals, and cityscapes. We unfortunately do not have a lot of time for puzzling now, but I think we have a few in boxes around here and in other locations around the globe that are waiting for us when we do have time, in say… 23 years? If you’re just getting into puzzles, or have ever wondered: How did that get made? Well I have the answer for you. Puzzle shapes are a bit like snow flakes in that no two pieces are alike, to prevent you from accidentally putting that piece in the wrong spot and not realizing it. Every spot has it’s one location and that’s it. There are some other interesting nuggets in here. Take a gander. Let me know if you’re a puzzle head and we can exchange war stories. Read it here.
Sometimes you read a profile that makes you like a celebrity more (last week: Reese Witherspoon), other times, you read profiles that make you go… yeah that checks out. This week’s foray into celebrity profiling takes us into Chris Evans’ life as he tries to roll out a new political website and a new TV show. The profile portrays Evans as very defensive about his career choices and struggling with approaching 40. As a 33-year old, I am not sure when one starts to grapple with “approaching 40” but this author claims that Evans, 38, is grappling with the big age milestone now which “explains” his aloofness. Evans is featured wearing some great leather jackets and weird floral print shirts that he, as Captain America, can pull off, but me as “Dad Bod Sam” probably would struggle with. The big nugget in the piece is that Evans is rumored to be the sadistic dentist in an upcoming Little Shop of Horrors remake (Sam edit: never seen it). Evans is salty that the journalist would even ask him about it. This back and forth goes on for most of the profile, and the profile ends with Evans looking at his dog, sitting on a lawn, saying: Evans turns to face me. “They say in Buddhism you need the boat to cross the river, but once you cross the river, you don’t need the boat,” he says. “This guy right here is a perfect being. Look at him. He’s not asking, What does this have to do with me? He’s just sitting there, experiencing what life has to offer. I’m trying to be the same.” That should give you a pretty good understanding of the profile you’d be getting if you decide to read here.
Sam and Eliot watch dog video.
We limit screen time to like one puppy video per day, plus a lot of stand up comedy and late night shows because those are just like FaceTiming with friends and family.
Just a little heads up, for the next 48 hours, you’ll be able to stream Jesus Christ Superstar, the broadway version, via Andrew Lloyd Webber’s YouTube Channel. He’s doing one musical a week for who knows how long. Stream it here: Superstar
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (1973)
