Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #185 - Happy Birthday David Bowie

Bowie's birthday party Madison Square Garden - 1997

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #185 - Happy Birthday David Bowie

Hi Mom,

Again, I know that you, Mom, are listening patiently as I talk about David Bowie. You bought me my first David Bowie album, Mom, in 1980, Scary Monsters, as a gift, which I hated when I first heard it, but something in me was intrigued and later David Bowie became one of my most cherished touchstones for art, inspiration, passion, contemplation, reflection, and growth.

And today, January 8th, is his birthday.

Happy Birthday David Bowie!

I am breaking my own new rule. I have been trying to work a day ahead, and I already have a post mostly finished, but then I realized it is David Bowie's birthday. He is 69 years old today.

So rule break number one is creating a new post today after working on one for much of yesterday and getting it ready to go. Rule break number two is another music post, the day after my previous music post.

But what the Hell. It's Bowie's birthday. Using an online reminder service, I set a reminder annually for Bowie's birthday. I could just reset my Google calendar to do this for me, but I have used birthday alarms for over ten years now, and I am partial to it.

Back in December, I indulged in some furthering of the Bowie gospel by presenting my power point about Bowie to my current LS 1040 before their own team presentations at the exam period. I delivered an abbreviated version of the presentation. I made the presentation during my years teaching media criticism for the Gender and Women's Studies department at WMU. Above is a picture of me in the big class room with four screens, you can see two of them in the picture. I could project two different things as the switch box ran the screens in pairs, so one screen set (the paired screen is to the left of the podium and out of the shot) displays the power point and the other the document camera on which I have one of Bowie's CDs.

Heathen concert

Bowie has been a connection with so many cherished individuals in my life. Many of my close friends and I bonded over love of David Bowie. He has been a fixture in my life since 1980. And though I do not listen to his music every day, or even every week, not too much time passes between treating myself to some Bowie. Though Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) is by far my favorite album, and though I might argue that The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is his best, I find I listen to Low most often.

David Bowie has given me so much. I have learned so much from his music and lyrics. I have studied Bowie more so than any other artist, musical or otherwise, and I feel that he is my friend. Surely, we would be mates if we knew each other and spent time with one another. I do not feel that way about very many creators or people outside my own friend circle.

During my year of writing the T-shirts blog, I created the idea of THE DINNER PARTY based loosely on the art piece by Judy Chicago. Though I added some fictional characters to the dinner party, I can ignore that advocacy. The one rule was simple: the dinner party would consist of guests to whom I felt some connection and wanted to share time and conversation, and they had to be still alive, so not Shakespeare or Einstein.

Though I never created a finished and formal list (as the list kept evolving), the last version of the list included Suzanne Vega, Ani DiFranco, Margaret Atwood, Laurie Anderson, Bjork, Erykah Badu, David Bowie, Warren Ellis, John Scalzi, Joss Whedon, and George Perez. (Ron Santo, Ernie Harwell, and Lou Reed if I allowed dead people.) As you can see, the list consists of mostly women. But David Bowie is one of the few men on the list.

It's a fantasy. I will never manage to get the dinner party together, even if I had millions of dollars and could pay everyone and arrange it. But it's nice to think about.

this is a quote by Bowie

Here's some videos to celebrate Bowie's birthday and the release of his new album Blackstar, which comes out tomorrow, January 9th.




From the new album...

DAVID BOWIE - LAZARUS

DAVID BOWIE - BLACKSTAR

and my favorite from the previous album...

DAVID BOWIE - THE STARS (are out tonight)

Bowie as the Thin White Duke

Here's text that I already wrote but I feel it should be re-presented on this blog today in honor of Bowie's birthday. Originally presented as part of HEY MOM #122.

Anyone who has ever spent some time with me knows how huge a David Bowie fan I am,
I have written about David Bowie a lot on my blogs, though not as much yet on this one.

Here's my biggest and main tribute to BOWIE:

T-shirt #269.

However, when I searched the T-shirts blog, I found several posts with Bowie content, and this one jumped out at me:

T-shirt #312.

I don't know if you can check out links where you are, Mom. Actually, you probably see all time and space at once, so links are not real to you. But to other readers they may be. Check those links. You will be glad you did.

Last two things, I am grateful for the person who brought David Bowie into my life. I may not spell her name right, but as best I can remember, it's Janiki Kuppuru.

Here's the details. I first remember encountering David Bowie during a cast party following a show my senior year of High School. He was on SNL, and I remember criticizing him because what he was doing was so weird. Now, it's strange that I would criticize him because I liked weird (I still do). However, I was trying to fit in and so I was keying into the vibe in the room, which was judgy and dismissive. Later that same year, on a whim, I bought David Bowie's latest album, Scary Monsters, and I hated it. It was too weird, which again was strange because I liked weird. But mind was not yet fully open and willing to accept difference.

Then I met Janiki Kuppuru in my first quarter at K. She was British, she had been born in Sri Lanka, but she was most recently from California. We stayed up all night one time, and when I told her that I did not like David Bowie, she insisted that I sit and listen to his album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars in its entirety and without speaking. I loved it. (Incidentally, I really liked her, too. She refused to wear shoes and was a free spirit.) She knew I would love it since I liked science fiction and aliens and creative, cool things. I went back and listened again to Scary Monsters, and this time I had a new attitude: I loved it. Though Low has eclipsed it as the Bowie album I find that I listen to most often, Scary Monsters may be my favorite album by David Bowie. I closed my senior theatre project show, Raw, with a singalong by the entire cast and audience of David Bowie's "It's no Game, Part Two," which closes that album. It remains a shining and culminating moment in my memory.

Wherever you are Janiki Kuppuru... Thank you.

Happy Birthday David Bowie. Thanks for all the good times and the memories.

Reflect and connect.

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

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Days ago = 187 days ago


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1601.08 - 12:11

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #184 - New Music

isn't this a beautiful painting?

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #184 - New Music

Hi Mom,

I have been on a new music kick lately. Liesel and the kids gave me new music for Christmas, Namely Searching for the Young Soul Rebels  by Dexy's Midnight Runners and Generation Terrorists  by Manic Street Preachers. Also, I splurged and chose a few gifts to wrap for myself that were symbolically from you, Mom. You gave me Adele's album 25, the 2015 Fantastic Four movie on DVD, a floppy fur-lined plaid hat with ear warmers that I use to take the dog for a walk, and a kid-sized Detroit Lions hat that I bought by mistake and replaced with a t-shirt SEDUCED BY THE DARK SIDE (picture forthcoming in another entry.)

But then, I received a gift certificate, and so I have been buying music to fill my music coffers with new stuff. I have splurged a bit. Most of my purchases have been of the kind of ambient or instrumental music I like best: Robin Guthrie, Harold Budd, and a few other artists all via Amazon and MP3. I bought the entire catalogue via Bandcamp the other day for Ian Holloway and his most recent incarnation: the British Space group. I also am buying a few CDs, including an M.I.A. album that I do not own, Joe Jackson's 2015 release, a Vangelis I lack, another by Dexy's Midnight Runners, and Parklife by Blur.

I wrote about my discovery of more British pop music that I had yet access here at

Hey Mom #59 - Phonogram and Traverse City 2015 pt. three,

which is the one blog entry that I had in my best twenty HEY MOM blogs of 2015, but I dropped it to make room for another one (and keep to 20) that I thought was stronger. Still, I do love that entry, if only for the Jamie McKelvie art that I photographed with my phone while in vacation. The Neahtawanta bed spread makes a nice back drop.  I didn't actually include a Dexy's song in that post, so I may include one here.

I am keen to explore the pop music written about in Phonogram more depth as I missed a great deal of good stuff and tend to like small, British bands with more play there than here (such as the Jam and Style Council).

Harold Budd came to my attention with the second ambient release by Brian Eno, Ambient Two: The Plateaux of Mirror.  I continued to explore, finding many more Harold Budd albums, especially his collaborations with Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins, one of my all time favorite bands. Plus, Guthrie is SCOTTISH, so that's an automatic plus in my book. I first learned of Guthrie/Budd collaborating on a project tangential to the Cocteau Twins released in 1986 called The Moon and The Melodies, which is one of my all-time favorite records.

As for one of the releases here, Winter Garden, which I have been listening to for over a year on You Tube, here's what WIKI offers: In November 2011, Eraldo Bernocchi's RareNoiseRecords released a CD album by Eraldo Bernocchi, Harold Budd, Robin Guthrie entitled Winter Garden, recorded in the summer of 2010 in Tuscany, Italy and mixed in Guthrie's studio, in Rennes, France.

I had never heard of Eraldo Bernocchi, but now I plan to explore more.

You were never a huge music fan, Mom, by which I mean that you did not have music playing in the house even some of the time, let alone most of the time. You did not object to music (well not always) and generally seemed to like it, but you did not always like what I was into. With this music here, especially the quite, ambient stuff, I think you would either like it or at least not object to it.

Here's a gift to readers. If you find some music here that inspires you, all the better.

And yes, ADELE. I know. But I needed to check it out. It's a big deal, apparently.

I needed some new music in my life, so this feasting on music has served my purposes well.

ALBUM COVER GALLERY

SOME VIDEOS OF SOME OF THE MUSIC

Harold Budd & Akira Rabelais - As Long As I Can Hold My Breath : By Night

Robin Guthrie - Kings Will Be Falling

Eraldo Bernocchi, Harold Budd, Robin Guthrie - Winter Garden

Dexys Midnight Runners - Burn It Down

Robin Guthrie - White Bear In Honolulu

Reflect and connect.

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

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Days ago = 186 days ago


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1601.07 - 10:10

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #183 - 366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #183 - 366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson

SUBTITLE: Day 1: Every day means the turn of a page / Yesterday’s papers are such bad news
-"Yesterday's Papers" - The Rolling Stones

Hi Mom, And we're back to comics. A bit of a cheat today as I am just going to repost the first day of this Massachusetts based blogger's blog and a few of the recent, great, throwback pages of the great, iconic J. Jonah Lameson.... oops, that's a funny typo!! I mean, J. Jonah Jameson.

I am not sure how I found this guy's blog

BULLY SAYS COMICS OUGHTA BE FUN!

But I did find it, and I have subscribed as a follower. I have the new blog entries appear on my own Blogger overview page, which then lists me as an official follower.

I thought I had written about Bully Says before (BTW, Bully is a stuffed bull) on this blog, but it was another comic book blog I found that I featured in
COMICS FOR 1408.27, in which I shared one of my favourite comics GIANT SIZE DEFENDERS #3. One can obtain the entire issue at that link.

Anyway, I was captivated by Bully's post as he begins a year of the inimitable J. Jonah Jameson. Do you know who else described himself as "inimitable"? Charles Dickens.

Anyway (again), I was inspired to share the launch post for 366 days of J. Jonah Jameson, when I realized that 2016 will provide us with 366 days, meaning that given that I also h ave to post on February 29th, my blog is REALLY 366 days, which gives us a midway point of today without a fraction.

I hope that if BitterAndrew or Bully stumble upon my re-posting of his Jameson daily that I will be forgiven as I am giving due credit and links back to BullysComics and specifically the first JJJ post of 2016: HERE.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 01, 2016

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 1: Every day means the turn of a page / Yesterday’s papers are such bad news

Welcome to brand-spankin'-new 2016, and a fresh-off-the-press366 Days with...! Yes, it's the year that gives you an extra year bonus, almost as if it knew we were a little strapped for dimes even tho' we'd been saving them up to buy that Giant-Size Foggy Nelson #4 back issue we've had our beady little black button eyes on.

This year, all year: 366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson! (Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.) Yes, one of Marvel's most dynamic and entertaining supporting characters — he's been around since the very early days of the Marvel Age, appearing in Spider-Man's second appearance and bedeviling our web-slinging pal (and his amazing friends) for years and years! Yes, J. Jonah Jameson, your friendly neighborhood newspaper editor-in-chief (and occasional Hizzoner of New York City) with the flattop and the Hitler 'stache! i honestly believe that there is no other supporting character who has made as many appearances in Marvel comics, so if this really gets rolling, we may be running into 2017 and beyond with no end in sight. Plus: looks like we'll get lots of appearances along the way by Daily Bugle stalwarts Robbie Robertson, Betty Brant, Glory Grant, the occasional Earth-7840 J. Jonah Jackass, and plenty of examples of that ever-popular trope, Newspapers Don't Look Like That!

Let's kick off a year and a day hangin' with Mister J. by recapping his very first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #1. The one, the only, the original...J. Jonah Jameson!





Panels from Amazing Spider-Man (1963 series) #1 (March 1963), script by Stan Lee, pencils and inks by Steve Ditko, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Jon D'Agostino
Special clip-n-save New Year's Day bonus panel: a Spider-Man wanted poster! Make dozens of copies and pin 'em to your friendly neighborhood telephone poles! Who knows — you might be the one to bring in the dangerous threat and/or menace!


Tomorrow: more JJJ! (repeat 365 times) 

Some other recent JJJ posts follow.

Panels from Amazing Spider-Man (1963 series) #142 (March 1975), script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Frank Giacoia and Dave Hunt, colors by Linda Lessmann, letters by Joe Rosen

Panel from X-Factor #219 (July 2011), script by Peter David, pencils by Emanuela Lupacchino, inks by Guillermo Ortego, colors by Matt Milla, letters by Joe Sabino

Panels from Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #2 (January 1977), script by Gerry Conway, breakdowns by Sal Buscema, finishes by Mike Esposito, background inks by Dave Hunt, colors by Don Warfield, letters by Gaspar Irving Watanabe

Panels from Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #2 (January 1977), script by Gerry Conway, breakdowns by Sal Buscema, finishes by Mike Esposito, background inks by Dave Hunt, colors by Don Warfield, letters by Gaspar Irving Watanabe

Reflect and connect.

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

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Days ago = 185 days ago


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1601.06 - 10:10

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #182 - Happy Perihelion Day!

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #182 - Happy Perihelion Day!

Hi Mom,

Depending on how we slice the pie, this is the halfway mark. 365 days divided by two is 182.5 days.

Yeah, I know. perihelion was a few days ago. But these blogs are rarely prompt. They are as I am, late to the party, and two dollars short or whatever they say.

Quick post today, Mom, so as to catch up and get ahead. Plus, it's a bit of a cheat. Here's text copied from Ray Kurzweil site verbatim and with the original  format.

FROM Kurzweilai.net

That may be because they are: Earth is rushing along right now at about 30 kilometers per second (almost 19 miles per second) — moving about a kilometer per second faster than when Earth will be farthest from the Sun on July 4, notes Bruce McClure of EarthSky Tonight.*

Or maybe it’s the accelerating pace of new developments? Tech predictions for 2016 are ranging from “Intelligent agents that will talk to you actively, reminding you of things that are happening and giving you a unique form of augmented reality” (TechCrunch) and “3-D printing’s inflection point: 3-D printed guns, 3-D printed vital organs” (Inc.) to “The Hyperloop will become fully operational” (Computerworld).

What are your predictions?

Head on over to our Forums — where folks are making predictions for 2016 ranging from “Amazon and Walmart will begin experimental delivery of parcels using drones” (Wiccidor) to “Low cost, bendable hi-def displays will make significant inroads in consumer electronics” (beachmike) — and make yours!

We’ll do a reality check on Jan. 2, 2017.

* The reason: today (January 2) our planet Earth reached its closest point to the Sun for this year — Earth’s perihelion. Earth is now about 5 million kilometers (3 million miles) closer to the Sun than it will be on July 4 at aphelion. “Though not responsible for the seasons, Earth’s closest and farthest points to the sun do affect seasonal lengths,” McClure explains.

Topics: Singularity/Futures | Space

And because I flipped open a book and there it was and it seemed significant for today, a day that reminded me to read more poetry.

The World Is Too Much With Us- William Wordsworth - 1807

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. -- Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathéd horn.

Reflect and connect.

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

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Days ago = 184 days ago


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1601.-5 - 14:16

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #181 - No Resolutions; Constant Resolutions

1975? - update pending

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #181 - No Resolutions; Constant Resolutions

Hi Mom,

I wrote about new year's resolutions in Hey Mom #153, and I want to revisit the subject today.

I have never been too keen on making new year's resolutions. Part of my reticence has to do with herd mentality. I tend to be averse to any kind of mass movement or band wagon sort of parading about gleefully doing what we're supposed to do and doing what is expected of us. I tend to go the other way. So, if everyone's making new year's resolutions, then I am not going to do that as to do so would be falling in with herd mentality, and I don't like that.

Hence my identification with what Warren Ellis wrote back in early December:




And yet, friends like Mallory Dowd, write wonderful lists like this one at her blog

a country incident, which is named after a poem by May Sarton featured in POETRY magazine.

Lunch with Lori and Dad 1512.23

I am inspired by Mallory's list, and yet, I not inclined to make my own list. To each her own. We all march to the beat of the drummer we hear.

Though read over Mallory's list. She has some fine items, such as reading more poetry and her mandala practice, which I asked her about because Jung maintained a daily mandala practice as well. I am curious if she pursues something similar.

More than just my natural reaction to common practice, I have shied away from new year's resolutions because I do not need to make them. I make resolutions all the time. Even Mallory equivocates with calling them goals and hopes and not resolutions.

I find the new year sort of arbitrary and unremarkable. My times of reflection come following a semester, which also ends shortly before the new year, but any resolutions are more due to that ending than the new year beginning.

1995?

For instance, during my journey through serious maths, PreCalculus, last term, I identified what I need to do to be successful this term in Calculus. I need to maintain a steady pace of math work every day. I need to dedicate time away from home to isolate myself and immerse myself within the study of Calculus to best prepare for each test. I must begin my studies for each test right after the previous test and watch for time wasters, such as online homework. I am hopeful that this course will NOT have online homework and only limited homework to submit for grading.

I just completed a round of PT, and so I am supposedly resolved to do my exercises, though I neglected this enterprise over the holidays, although I have been walking the dog regularly.

I had set my determination on this blog, previously, and will continue to finish out my 365 days of dedicated writing, a tribute to you, Mom.

I am inclined toward my fiction writing again, as I am during every work break. At the very least, I am thinking about my novel projects again and gearing up to at least read over my previous work and spend some time each week (as each day may be too ambitious) immersed in my writing work.

As always, I try to keep everything in balance. I try to spend time with my family, both my Dad and sister, and my wife and kids. I have household duties every day. I have long term projects for the house and myself. Plus I have MORE work than the usual full time job plus classes I am taking. All of this must be balanced well and wisely.

All these "resolutions" are ones I have made already, long before the new year.

Another friend wrote the following on my Facebook wall recently. She has given me a new mantra and a theme for this blog work: reflect and connect. This should be added to my closing as a constant reminder of what I am doing.

That's my resolution.



Reflect and connect.

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

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Days ago = 183 days ago


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1601.04 - 10:10

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #180 - Books read 2015

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #180 - Books read 2015

Hi Mom, As you know, as you made me, I am an avid reader. Pictured here are the books I read this year, though at the bottom of the second image the graphic dips into books from 2014.

I consume many books via audio, and so the majority of these are ones that I listened to. I keep a paper copy handy and I keep my place in the paper copy, which I also review from time to time, so I feel the reading experience is just as vivid and memorable, and in some cases, more so.

All of the comic books, of course, are read in traditional sense (not audio). And though these images above show the graphic novels read, it does not show the individual comic book issues I read in the year, which is MANY MANY MANY. If not for all that comic book reading, I would make it through more books.

Of the listings above, I read read, in the traditional sense, only The Girl in the Road, What Remains, Ancillary Justice, The White Tower, and Accelerando.

There's a few other cheats as well, such as I gave up on Rama Revealed after about 50 pages as its SO AWFUL. I tried to read The Peripheral and resorted to audio.

And though I read parts of the several nonfiction books shown (not counting The Singularity is Near), I did not read any of them in their entirety.

The list also does not take into account newsletters (such as Warren Ellis' weekly), Sports Weekly, Entertainment Weekly, Locus, and other magazines I read regularly. It does not take into account text books and some other Kindle books that I have not entered into my good reads. It also does not take into account the vast amount of Internet content I read all the time.

But it's a decent showing if you account for several hundred comic books. Of the dozen books pictures above, shown as next to read books, I managed six of them so far. The current next to read group is MUCH BIGGER. Maybe pictures of that later in the year.

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

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Days ago = 182 days ago


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1601.03 - 10:10