The Daily Bowie #15 - "Thursday's Child"

The Daily Bowie #15 - "Thursday's Child"

I did not know that this song was originally written for a computer game.

But it's Thursday.

So, here you go.

"Nothing prepared me for your smile

Lighting the darkness of my soul"

DAVID BOWIE

"Thursday's Child"

'HOURS...' - 1999


"Thursday's Child"
Live in Madrid, Spain, 1999

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"Thursday's Child"

All of my life I've tried so hard

Doing my best with what I had

Nothing much happened all the same

Something about me stood apart

A whisper of hope that seemed to fail

Maybe I'm born right out of my time

Breaking my life in two

Now that I really got a chance

(Throw me tomorrow, oh oh )

Everything's falling into place

(Throw me tomorrow, oh oh)

Seeing my past to let it go

(Throw me tomorrow, oh oh)

Only for you I don't regret

And I was Thursday's child

(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, born I was)

(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, born I was)

Sometimes I cry my heart to sleep

Shuffling days and lonesome nights

Sometimes my courage fell to my feet

Lucky old son is in my sky

Nothing prepared me for your smile

Lighting the darkness of my soul

Innocence in your arms

Now that I really got a chance

(Throw me tomorrow, oh oh )

Oh ho, everything's falling into place

(Throw me tomorrow, oh oh)

Seeing my past to let it go

(Throw me tomorrow, oh oh)

Only for you I don't regret

And I was Thursday's child

Thursday's child

(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, born I was)

Thursday's child

(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, born I was)

(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, born I was)

(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, born I was)

(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, born I was)

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1602.04 - 8:13

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #211 - Overwhelmed

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #211 - Overwhelmed

Hi Mom,

I have felt on the verge of crying all week. In part, I felt the swell of grief and the feeling of loss as I still grapple with a world without you physically in it. But my tearful verge was also brought on by feeling like I am drowning, being truly overwhelmed. I continue to think I have taken on too much this semester, and I do not possibly have time to do it all and succeed. The second part of that previous phrase is key, so I will repeat it: AND SUCCEED. I continually doubt I have enough time to simply DO all the things I am committed to do (let alone would like to do) and even more dubious about my ability to succeed in doing these things. I am on the verge of crying now just thinking and writing about all of this.

I had started an item back in early January called "what's ahead," in which I had planned to discuss what I was facing for Winter term 2016, and I never wrote the entry. Now it's February 3rd (posting date, though later in actual writing date), and I am just now addressing this issue now that I am in the thick of the maelstrom.

I type these words on Sunday for a blog dated four days ago (Wednesday), which shows how I am behind. I have bought myself some extra time on some of my projects, and yet I am facing a terrible week ahead with three tests, a project, final grades at one school and regular grades at the other schools.

What is all of it? I am teaching six classes at four schools. Four of those classes have HEAVY grading loads every week. The other two have lighter loads and are easily adjusted as they are under my control. I am also taking two very demanding classes: Java 2 and Calculus. In Calculus, I am struggling to find study time, and I still have to pass the test of the pre-requisite material let alone prepare to pass a test on the Calculus material. I am finding more time to devote to Java as I consider it more of a priority, and yet time is still a factor with the heavy grading load along with the daily work and classes and things in my life eating away at my free time.

I am drowning.

And yet what can I do?

I go forward. I do my best. I do not mean for this blog entry to be a pity party. I am just unloading. Because it's like the LIMITATIONS demotivator sign here says. Until I spread my wings (shoot for the stars), I have no idea how far I can walk (actually how much I can accomplish with one step at a time).

And so, as I am swallowing water and going down, as I try to get to the air, I have to learn to swim. What can I do to stay afloat? How did I get into this deep water? How can I stay in the shallow end of the pool more often? Is there a life raft?

Thanks for listening.

Reflect and connect.

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

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- Days ago = 213 days ago

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1602.03 -  10:10

The Daily Bowie #14 - "Young Americans"

The Daily Bowie #14 - "Young Americans"

I considered choosing another song from this album, but this song has been such an anthem in my life, I will save other selections for another time. After all, I am starting to put more thought into these selections as I choose one song from each album for the first 27 entries (and I am halfway there). For example, had I been thinking, I would have chosen "Sense of Doubt" for Heroes as that's the song I used for the name of this blog!

The lyrics for this song always spoke to me.

"Ain't there one damn song that can make me break down and cry?"

SOME LINKS

DAVID BOWIE WIKI

YOUNG AMERICAN WIKI

DAVID BOWIE DISCOGRAPHY

PUSHING AHEAD OF THE DAME ON YOUNG AMERICANS


"YOUNG AMERICANS" - FROM YOUNG AMERICANS (1975)

LIVE on the Dick Cavett Show (1974)




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"Young Americans"

They pulled in just behind the bridge

He lays her down, he frowns

"Gee my life's a funny thing, am I

still too young?"

He kissed her then and there

She took his ring, took his babies

It took him minutes, took her nowhere

Heaven knows, she'd have taken anything, but

All night

She wants the young American

Young American, young American, she wants the young American

All right

She wants the young American

Scanning life through the picture

window

She finds the slinky vagabond

He coughs as he passes her Ford

Mustang, but

Heaven forbid, she'll take anything

But the freak, and his type, all for

nothing

He misses a step and cuts his hand, but

Showing nothing, he swoops like a song

She cries "Where have all Papa's heroes gone?"

All the way from Washington

Her bread-winner begs off the bathroom floor

We live for just these twenty years

Do we have to die for the fifty more?"

All night

He wants the young American

Young American, young American,

he wants the young American

All right

He wants the young American

Do you remember, your President Nixon?

Do you remember, the bills you have to pay?

Or even yesterday?

Have been the un-American?

Just you and your idol sing falsetto

'bout Leather, leather everywhere, and

Not a myth left from the ghetto

Well, well, well, would you carry a razor

In case, just in case of depression?

Sit on your hands on a bus of survivors

Blushing at all the afro-Sheeners

Ain't that close to love?

Well, ain't that poster love?

Well, it ain't that Barbie doll

Her hearts have been broken just like you

All night

You want the young American

Young American, young American, you want the young American

All right

You want the young American

You ain't a pimp and you ain't a hustler

A pimp's got a Cadi and a lady got a Chrysler

Black's got respect, and white's got his soul train

Mama's got cramps, and look at your hands ache

(I heard the news today, oh boy)

I got a suite and you got defeat

Ain't there a man who can say no more?

And, ain't there a woman I can

sock on the jaw?

And, ain't there a child I can hold without judging?

Ain't there a pen that will write before they die?

Ain't you proud that you've still got faces?

Ain't there one damn song that can make me

break down and cry?

All night

I want the young American

Young American, young American, I want the young American

All right

I want the young American

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1602.03 - 8:36

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #210 - Dickens

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #210 - Dickens

Hi Mom,

As I type these words, it's Friday (2/5), and this is the blog scheduled for Tuesday (2/2), I have fallen a bit behind because of work and school. So much going on, I barely know what's going on one day to the next. And it's not going to get better for a while. But that's another subject for another time.

Today's subject comes about as I recently finished reading the biography Charles Dickens - a life by Claire Tomalin.

In short, it's wonderful, and it's even better, I assert, as an audio book with a delightful British narrator -- Alex Jennings -- from Tantor Audio.

I am not sure why the book made me think of this photo, but here it is. The photo shows me at work in a hotel room in Detroit back in 2013. I guess I was thinking that a book like this about Charles Dickens inspires me to work.

I strongly recommend this excellent biography. It's deftly written, full of pathos, and representative of Dickens life -- as far as I can discern -- though mindful and respectful of the biographies that have preceded it.

I have not read that many biographies lately, though as a young boy I was mad for biographies and read many. I own several biographies of presidents that number among my favorite books from that era.

I recently proposed reading a Dickens book after my annual foray into his holiday offerings, this year with Simon Vance's audio version of "A Christmas Carol" and Audible's free offering "The Chimes." I put out a message to social media wondering what Dickens I should tackle as I had a mind to re-read David Copperfield  or Great Expectations, but I was also intrigued by Bleak House, which I have never read. A dear friend immediately advocated for Bleak House, and I decided to tackle it, but first, I wanted to plow through this biography of Dickens that had been on my shelf since 2014's consumption of Dickens' holiday treats.

I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I had read several Dickens books, but I was woefully ignorant of the details of his life. I did not know of his championing of the welfare of the poor outside of his fiction (Dickens ran a Home for Homeless Women charity for many years), his interest and involvement in theatre, and the size of his family (ten children). There were many of his books that I did not even know existed nor did I know that he died at a relatively young age.

Some of the reviews on the Amazon page give it low marks, though as you can see not many. One review I read accused the book of being superficial. Posh. Scrooge. The author of that review claims to have read many of the Dickens biographies, but the review reads like a rant and seems to have an unvoiced agenda. I am going to cheat and increase my content by reprinting a short review I like very much, giving credit to the author, whom one could trace using Amazon if one wanted. This review reflects my own feelings so closely, I could have written it.

Charles Dickens has created thousand of unforgettable characters, and he was also known as a hard-working journalist and as a writer of essays. He was buried-against his wishes-in Westminster Abbey.

His life was short. He died at the age of 58. But one can really doubt whether other writers who lived-or would live-longer-could achieve what Dickens had managed in such a short time. In 1862 the Russian novelist Dostoevsky, an ardent admirer of Dickens who read The Pickwick Papers and David Copperfield in prison, visited Dickens in London. Dickens told the Russian that there "were two people in him: one who feels as he ought to feel and one who feels the opposite. From the one who feels the opposite I make my evil characters, from the one who feels as a man ought to feel I try to live my life. Only two people, I asked?" added Dostoevsky.

In fact, he was right: Dickens had many personalities in him and Claire Tomalin did a wonderful job in trying to describe the many faces of this titan of literature. She writes about his successes and failures. Dickens was extremely successful everywhere and his tour to the United States only proved this. But there were also those, among them his daughter Katey, who despised him and regarded him as an evil man.

Another Russian writer, Tolstoy, confessed that all of Dickens' characters were his friends, adding that he kept a portrait of the novelist in his room and considered Dickens to be the greatest novelist of the nineteenth century.

This book is splendid, with many new revelations about Dickens' family. The very qualities which made Dickens would eventually destroy him. A gem of a book and highly recommended! - on AMAZON as review by Paul Gelman

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Reflect and connect.

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.


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- Days ago = 212 days ago


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1602.02 - 10:10

The Daily Bowie #13 - "The Loneliest Guy"

The Daily Bowie #13 - "The Loneliest Guy"

"All the pages that have turned
All the errors left unlearned..."


Link to Wikipedia - REALITY, the 2003 album

Link to Wiki on "The Loneliest Guy"

Margaret Cho also wrote in her compilation of essays and prose I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight (2005) that she likes many Bowie songs, "and the new songs from the Reality album, a new favorite being 'The Loneliest Guy.' It's almost too much to ask for, the ageless, timeless, faultless, flawless Bowie in a vocal storm of versatility [...]"

The Loneliest Guy · David Bowie

from Reality

℗ Under exclusive license to Parlophone Records Limited, ℗ 2003 Jones/Tintoretto Entertainment Company LLC

Vocals: David Bowie

Acoustic Piano: Bill Jenkins

Additional Engineer: Brandon Mason

Backing Vocals: Catherine Russell

Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion, Synthesizer: David Bowie

Producer: David Bowie

Baritone Saxophone: David Bowie

Stylophone Synthesizer: David Bowie

Backing Vocals: David Bowie

Guitar: David Torn

Guitar: Earl Slick

Mastering Engineer: Emily Lazar

Backing Vocals: Gail Ann Dorsey

Guitar: Gerry Leonard

Additional Engineer: Mario McNulty

Bass, Guitar: Mark Plati

Piano: Mike Garson

Drums: Sterling Campbell

Bass, Guitar, Keyboards: Tony Visconti

Engineer, Mixer, Producer: Tony Visconti

Backing Vocals: Tony Visconti

Writer: David Bowie

Auto-generated by YouTube.

David Bowie - The Loneliest Guy (Live On Parkinson) [Official Video]

David Bowie performs 'The Loneliest Guy' live on Michael Parkinson's BBC chat show in 2003 in support of his twenty-fourth studio album 'Reality'. Bowie is accompanied on piano by longtime collaborator Mike Garson, and on guitar by Gerry Leonard, who both played on the studio recording.

"The Loneliest Guy"

Streets damp and warm

Empty smell metal

Weeds between buildings

Pictures on my hard drive

But I'm the luckiest guy

Not the loneliest guy

Steam under floor

Shards by the mirrors frame

Clouds green and low

No sign, no nothing now

But I'm the luckiest guy

Not the loneliest guy

All the pages that have turned

All the errors left unlearned, oh

Well I'm the luckiest guy

Not the loneliest guy

In the world

Not me

Not me

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1602.02 - 7:12

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #209 - I Biked to Class Today & Assorted

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #209 - I Biked to Class Today & Assorted

Hi Mom,

So, at the time I snapped this photo (above), my bike was the only one chained up, but when I came out of the class room building, there was a second bike, and when I rode to Sangren, there were MANY bikes, but I suspect that several of these bikes belong to people who have left them chained in place for weeks or months and may not represent today's actual riders.

I am very out of shape. This two mile ride (one mile each way) really took it out of me.

It's currently 40 degrees and partially sunny outside. The snow and ice have almost melted, except for the largest snow piles. Temperatures approached 50 degrees yesterday. Cold weather will return later this week with lows in the 20s at night, but the winter is relatively mild so far. I am not sure this is the right thing for people as they think Spring is here and it's just he first day of February.

This is not going to be super exciting stuff. This entry will not feature thoughtful insights on gender, slash fiction, or OCD. But it is very much like our actual conversations, Mom.

Yes, this is cleaned up, Dammit!
there was another two rows of boxes and stacks of comics
IN FRONT of the book shelf

I didn't have an entry planned today, and I have some time before class to write, and so I thought I would work on an entry that mirrors most of our actual conversations.

Prepare for a series of random statements that are about what's been happening, what I have been eating (among your favorite subjects), how I am, what I am doing, what I am going to do, and stuff like that. I may even add some pictures.

For instance, I had something in mind for yesterday's entry as it fit well with obsessing, but I forgot to add it. Seems wise to add it here.

Comics going to the basement

I sorted and cleared away comics that had piled up in the bedroom. I did not take a before picture to go with these after pictures, so the impact is lost on everyone who did not see the bed room before.

I have been slamming through work. I had to stop yesterday as I had worked too much. I am still trying to figure out how to organize my week for maximum productivity.

Saturday night I was so exhausted I was asleep before 9 p.m. This may happen again tonight, though I am not quite as exhausted.

Liesel and I went to breakfast yesterday (Sunday) at Cosmos. I had a farmer's scramble with tomato and onion and mozzarella cheese as well as cinnamon and raisin toast.

I played D&D yesterday (Pathfinder actually but most people do not know the difference) with some friends and we had homemade pizzas by my friend Randall who may open his own pizza business. Really good stuff.

Liesel and I went to Food Dance for dinner Friday night and had the special dinner for Restaurant week. First up was a cocktail flight, which included small portions of sangria, a garden shrub cocktail with beets and gin, an old fashioned, and a ginger beer to cleanse the palate in between drinks. Then we supped on bruschetta, an endive salad (with a drizzle of vinaigrette so light that we did not notice it at all), and a salmon with a dill creme sauce. Very delicious food.


Though I am not reading The Disappearing Floor, it is my all time favorite Hardy Boys book.

I tried to get Liesel hooked on Lost, so far it's uncertain as to whether I succeeded.

Dad and I are going to a production of Streetcar Named Desire Friday night as I have to review it.

I am reading The Girl With All the Gifts  by Mike Carey as my audio book, and Personal by Lee Child for nightly traditional reading, a book I borrowed from Dad. I read comic books, too, so "nightly" reading of an actual book is not accurate. For instance, last night I read Warren Ellis' weekly newsletter, one comic book (current issue of Daredevil), and one chapter of Personal as well as a few web sites about binary trees in Java but only briefly with that content.

This is where I stopped when I had to go to class.

Dinner was waiting for me: reuben sandwiches, pasta in tomato sauce, cucumber salad. I am very privileged. I was just telling my students that my wife is awesome because she is.

I did the first part of the gender spiel today: sexual identity, LBGT, the book Sex on the Brain.

I have to get back to work.

I will leave you with a comic. More tomorrow, Mom.

And from XKCD

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Reflect and connect.

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.


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- Days ago = 211 days ago


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1602.01 - 18:29

The Daily Bowie #12 - "Loving the Alien"

The Daily Bowie #12 - "Loving the Alien"

Bowie has said that Philip Glass' Einstein on the Beach and Laurie Anderson's "O Superman" were influences on "Loving the Alien."

I remember a longer, extended video debuting on MTV in 1984 with an extra long fictional prologue but I can't mention of it anywhere.

Bowie's 1980s albums are not my favorites, but of the three 1980s albums, this song "Loving the Alien" is by far my favorite. It is closer as a return to what I loved about Bowie that I feel he got away from in Let's Dance.



"Loving the Alien" link

Tonight

More about LOVING THE ALIEN AT PUSHING AHEAD OF THE DAME BLOG

"Believing the strangest things..."

"LOVING THE ALIEN" from TONIGHT - 1984

"Loving The Alien"

Watching them come and go

The Templars and the Saracens

They're travelling the holy land

Opening telegrams

Torture comes and torture goes

Knights who'd give you anything

They bear the cross of Coeur de Leon

Salvation for the mirror blind

But if you pray 

all your sins are hooked upon the sky

Pray and the heathen lie will disappear

Prayers they hide

the saddest view

(Believing the strangest things,

loving the alien)

And your prayers they break the sky in two

(Believing the strangest things, loving the alien)

You pray til the break of dawn

(Believing the strangest things, loving the alien)

And you'll believe you're loving the alien

(Believing the strangest things, loving the alien)

Thinking of a different time

Palestine a modern problem

Bounty and your wealth in land

Terror in a best laid plan

Watching them come and go

Tomorrows and the yesterdays

Christians and the unbelievers

Hanging by the cross and nail

THE DAILY BOWIE LIST
The Daily Bowie #0 - "Space Oddity" - SPACE ODDITY - 1969
The Daily Bowie #1 - "Ashes to Ashes" - SCARY MONSTERS - 1980
The Daily Bowie #2 - "Cat People" - LET'S DANCE - 1983
The Daily Bowie #3 - "Sons of the Silent Age" - HEROES - 1977
The Daily Bowie #4 - "Running Gun Blues" - THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD - 1970
The Daily Bowie #5 - "Sound and Vision" - LOW - 1977
The Daily Bowie #6 - "Fill Your Heart" - HUNKY DORY -1971
The Daily Bowie #7 - "We Are The Dead" - DIAMOND DOGS - 1974
The Daily Bowie #8 - "Yassassin" - LODGER - 1979
The Daily Bowie #9 - "Time" - ALADDIN SANE - 1973
The Daily Bowie #10 - "Where Are We Now?" - THE NEXT DAY -2013
The Daily Bowie #11 - "Sunday" - HEATHEN - 2002
The Daily Bowie #12 - "Loving the Alien" - TONIGHT - 1984



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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1602.01 - 12:52