Tag: Talking Heads

The first e-mail I ever wrote

I sent some e-mail to a few people, including my colleague who was sitting in his desk perhaps three meters away. The adviser thought this was daft.

email-1005x1024Something I had forgotten:

When our work office was first going to get electronic mail, sometime c. 1995, it was all a bit mysterious as to what we would use it for. We all went to some computer lab, where it was explained what it was and how to send it. We were instructed to create messages. One of my colleagues wrote to me, “How did I get here?”, which is the first e-mail I ever received. I replied, “Same as it ever was.”

These, of course, are references to the Talking Heads song Once In A Lifetime, which was then stuck in my head, and now I’m going to stick in YOUR head. (If that link doesn’t work, try this one.)

Some things I remember:

I know we could NOT have gotten to the World Wide Web before January 1995 because our director at the time gave a talk about the Kobe, Japan earthquake, showing what was available on the web. I was annoyed that other offices in our building had email and web access before we did since we had what I felt was a more direct need.

Long before the e-mail etiquette has been codified – no SHOUTING, e.g. – there would be some unpleasantness about the “tone” of a message. There was a real learning curve, with some hurt feelings.

One of the business advisers from one of our outreach centers came to visit us in the central office, c. 1997. Their office did not yet have e-mail; given how ubiquitous it is now, I know that’s hard to believe, but was nevertheless true. I sent some e-mail to a few people, including my colleague who was sitting at his desk perhaps three meters away. The adviser thought this was daft. “He’s right here! Why don’t you just tell him?”
***
I had a dream the night after the “forgotten” info was revealed to me, and it featured a song giving the days of the week:

It’s Sunday
Monday Tuesday
It’s Wednesday Thursday Friday
Saturday

I realized the tune was What You See Is What You Get by the Dramatics. Here’s the Soul Train rendition, which cuts off too soon, but is more fun to watch. I’m a sucker for the rolled tongue effect.

Not to be confused with WYSIWYG.

T is for Talking Heads

The album Speaking in Tongues had come out only a couple months before the SPAC concert, featuring their only American Top 10 hit, Burning Down the House.

Frantz, Weymouth, Harrison, Byrne
Frantz, Weymouth, Harrison, Byrne

One of the two greatest concerts I ever saw was the August 1983 performance of Talking Heads at the Saratoga Performance Arts Center, which someone put online; actually, here’s another recording. It starts with David Byrne by himself on guitar and percussion. He’s joined by Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, who were married in 1977, on drums and bass, respectively, for a song or two, before Jerry Harrison joins on guitar. That was the core band, but then the additional players are added in; the process was so organic.

This is the same tour from which the classic Jonathan Demme film Stop Making Sense was taken, but this is the complete concert, not just a truncated show.

The album Speaking in Tongues had come out only a couple of months earlier, featuring their only American Top 10 hit, Burning Down the House. LISTEN to the whole album. I always associated that album, along with a few others of that period, as forerunners of the compact disc, for the versions of several songs on the CD, which I got a number of years later, were longer than the versions on the LP, which I had purchased soon after it came out.

The new wave band Tom Tom Club was founded in 1981 by Frantz and Weymouth as a side project. Their big hit Genius of Love [LISTEN], which is in the Talking Heads concert, has been sampled by several artists , including Mariah Carey on her hit single Fantasy.

LISTEN to Psycho Killer from Talking Heads ’77, and the parody Psycho Chicken by The Fools.

 

ABC Wednesday – Round 14

Rock ‘n’ Roll Fridays: Talking Heads

I mean there are so many types of love.


“Welcome to Rock ‘n Roll Fridays. We are like other memes in that we will ask you thirteen questions each and every Friday. But our little ‘twist’ is that each week we will pick a singer, band, era or category and pick thirteen of their songs. Each of our questions will be based on the lyrics… Today we picked Talking Heads.”

1. Psycho Killer “I can’t seem to face up to the facts, I’m tense and nervous and I can’t relax. I can’t sleep cuz my bed’s on fire. Don’t touch me I’m a real live wire…”
What has kept you from a restful night’s sleep recently?

Actually, the Daughter has had a few nightmares recently. The first time, she and I were awake from 3 a.m. trough the school/work day. Another time, she woke me from an especially sound sleep.

2. Life During Wartime “This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco…this ain’t no foolin around. No time for dancing or lovey dovey. I ain’t got time for that now…”
Where was the last nightclub or disco you went to?

It’s been years. I think it was in Schenectady in the early 1980s. I remember with whom I went.

3. Take Me To The River “Take me to the river. Dip me in the ocean. Take me to the river washing me down…”
When was the last time you took a dip in the water?

Probably Fred Hembeck’s pool three years ago.

4. Found A Job “Their show gets high ratings, they think they have a hit. There might be a spin-off, but they’re not sure ‘bout that”
What is your favorite TV spin-off show of all time?

It might be Lou Grant, a very EARNEST spinoff of the Mary Tyler Moore show. And my favorite theme song has to be the Jeffersons, a spinoff of All in the Family. I also have great affection for the first season of Mork & Mindy, a spinoff of Happy Days.

5. Once In A Lifetime “And you may ask yourself How do I work this? And you may ask yourself Where is that large automobile? And you may tell yourself This is not my beautiful house! And you may tell yourself This is not my beautiful wife!”
Are you happy with your choices of car, house, and spouse/no spouse?

Our car is non-descript silver/gray; I can only find it in a parking lot by the license number. Strange, but I never had that trouble with our white Ford Taurus.
Being a homeowner is a pain.
My wife is pretty swell.

6. This Must Be The Place “Out of all those kinds of people, you got a face with a view. I’m just an animal looking for a home, share the same space for a minute or two…”
Who has a face with a view?

George Clooney. And I have no idea what the question is asking.

7. Girlfriend Is Better “I got a girlfriend that’s better than this, and you don’t remember at all. As we get older and stop making sense, You won’t find her waiting long…”
What is the shortest date or relationship you have ever had?

Actually, there was this friend of my now-wife’s, who I went out with, solely for the purpose of making Carol jealous; we were broken up at the time. And it worked, or at least it helped. But the date itself was over by 7:30 p.m.; we had nothing to say to each other.

8. Swamp “Everyone wants to explode. And when your hands get dirty, nobody knows you at all. Don’t have a window to slip out of . Lights on, nobody home”
Where was the last homeless person you saw and what was he/she doing?

Corner of Lark Street and Washington Avenue, asking for money for bus fare. I gave him 75 cents, and he did in fact get on the bus.

9. Road To Nowhere “We’re on the road to paradise. Here we go. We’re on a road to nowhere, come on inside. Takin that ride to nowhere, we’ll take that ride”
When was the last time you took a day trip or a road trip?

Probably to Vermont last year.

10. And She Was “The word was movin and she was right there with it and she was”
Are you keeping up with the world? What piece of modern technology do you still need to own/use?

I don’t NEED any piece of technology. I have no iPad or Kindle or Nook, and someday I’ll get one. Or not.

11. Wild Wild Life Sleepin on the interstate oh oh oh…getting wild wild life. Checkin in and checkin out oh oh oh, I got a wild wild life”

When was the last time you stayed at a motel/hotel and what town were you in?

In Charlotte, NC in February. Before that, a work conference in Syracuse last May.

12. Nothing But Flowers “Once there were parking lots, now it’s a peaceful oasis, you got it you got it. Once it was a pizza Hut, now it’s all covered with daisies. I miss the honky tonks, Dairy Queens, and 7-11 s…”
What would you miss if nature grew back over malls and concrete?

Goodness, I wouldn’t miss a thing.

13. Building On Fire “When my love stands next to your love, I can’t define love, when it’s not love…”
Define love.

Oh, that’s…not easy. I mean there are so many types of love. I do like the definition of love of St. Thomas Aquinas, who defined love as “to will the good of another,” or to desire for another to succeed. So as Lyle Lovett sang it: “I love everybody, especially you.”

Tagged, with a twist

When I was about 16, I was among a group of people somehow recruited to sing at a retirement dinner for some minister named Larry something-or-other who I barely knew, if at all.


LisaF at peripheral perceptions tagged me a couple of weeks ago. It’s a short meme, and I’ve got a bad cold, so this matches up well.

If you could have one superpower what would it be?

I think I’ve answered this before with the power to transport myself, a la Samantha Stevens in Bewitched. But I think I’ve changed my mind to flying at superspeed. Even going fast, I’d want the experience of moving. Not an apt comparison, but sometimes when I’m riding my bike downhill into Corporate Woods, I like to feel the wind in my hair – if I had hair and if I weren’t wearing a helmet.

Who is your style icon?

Jughead Jones of the Archie Comic strip. Actually, I have no icon. But I DO have a mantra. Form over function – never! (Unless required by the situation, such as wearing a tie to certain events.) If it looks good but feels awful, it generally isn’t worth it. I was thinking about this when I came across a post on ABC Wednesday about kinky boots.

What is your favorite quote?

“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” – Yogi Berra. Makes sense to me. I think I’ve experienced this at some points in my life. And you end up like David Byrne of the Talking Heads, saying And you may ask yourself, well, How did I get here?

What is the best compliment you ever received?

My wife said – in response to me helping someone who needed help when no one else was assisting – “You’re a good man, Roger Green.” Which reminded me of You’re a good man, Charlie Brown – same scansion and everything – but that’s OK.

And here’s a total sidebar:
When I was about 16, I was among a group of people somehow recruited to sing at a retirement dinner for some minister named Larry something-or-other who I barely knew, if at all. We never actually had a rehearsal together; I was just given these lyrics to memorize, swiped from the title song of the musical You’re a good man, Charlie Brown.

You’re a good man, Larry U
You’re the kind of reminder we need
You have humility, nobility, and a sense of duty
That is very rare indeed.

You’re a good man, Larry U
And we know you will go very far
Yes it’s hard to believe
Almost frightening to conceive
What a good man you are.

You are kind to all parishioners
And every little child
With a heart of gold
You believe what you’re told
Even if it is a little wild

You bravely face the Presbytery controversy
So they say
Your thought-provoking sermons
Have us thinking, every minute, every hour, every day.

I have NO idea what the heck the “Presbytery controversy” was. The kicker is that I got quite sick that Friday night and never DID sing the thing. Yet I have these 40-year-old lyrics that were obviously still buried in my brain.

What playlist/CD is in your CD player/playing right now?

It’s October so it’s heavy with October birthdays: Paul Simon (solo), Sting (solo), Tom Petty (solo and with the Heartbreakers, Mudcrutch, and Traveling Wilburys), John Lennon (solo and with The Beatles), plus whatever strikes my fancy.

Are you a night owl or morning person?

I used to be a night owl, but getting married, and especially since having the child, I’ve been forced to the a.m. side, unfortunately.

Do you prefer dogs or cats?

I’ve only had one dog when I was a kid, that bit me, which was OK BY MY PARENTS, but not with me. Then he (Lucky Stubbs, an Alaskan husky) bit the minister’s daughter, and he was given to a local farmer. I used to ride my bike down a dead-end street when I was a teenager, which would be a magnet for barking dogs, several of them at a time. So I was wary of dogs. I can think of two – one being a golden retriever (?) named Randle J. Dog who I actually loved.
And my daughter is VERY wary of dogs.

Whereas we had a lot of cats as a kid. My grandmother had several black cats in succession, all called Lucky. But I’ve had no pets since the mid-1980s. But I’d say cats.

What is the meaning behind your blog name?

There is, and was, these radio guys named John Gambling, three generation’s worth, and the moniker was/is Rambling with Gambling. Also, my name is Roger, so it created an almost alliteration, and I’m inclined to ramble about whatever strikes my fancy.

Hey, you who haven’t blogged in the last few months: consider yourself tagged.

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial