LEGS BACK MAN

Hello blogging world. I promised you your weekly inspirational music post today and *tada* here it is. I still got it all going on, but the world still goes round. I am still sleeping more than I am awake. I am pleased to report that The Powers That Be decided to remove the anvil from my head last night while I was sleeping. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We are back to our regularly scheduled migraine, and I couldn't be happier. That would be the one where I get a little bit of time every day where I can think straight. This would be that window.

I was really having trouble yesterday with my Inspirational To Me song. Otherwise, I would have gone ahead with the post. I did add some music I liked to an already extensive list of youtube action on my favorites. However, nothing really said this is the one. I usually know it when I find it. My warped sense of humor started out my search today by looking for Pat Boone's version of Ozzy's Crazy Train set to Buffy The Vampire Slayer clips. Yeah, that is kind of where I am living. That would have made me laugh... a lot. Surprisingly, no one has used that long with any clips. I am really shocked. I would have thought someone would have had a field day with it. Anyway, people surprise me all of the time, in good and bad ways. So...moving on...

I looked over ~ again ~ everything that I had and still remained unsatisfied. So, I sat and thought about it. I did have this one Tim McGraw song that is new. Tim is doing lots of movies lately. Have you noticed? Not just movies. But good movies. He was in The Blind Side. He is in Country Strong, which I want to see. There are some artists that make me think of other artists. Tim always makes me think of Kenny Chesney. They came out about the same time. Tim came out first. However, Kenny came out not long after, and they are good friends.

That made me think of the first time I saw Kenny Chesney in concert. It was at a fair in Michigan. I didn't even know who he was. He was the first guy on stage. The opener. I was going to a lot of fairs and concerts that summer and he was opening for Sawyer Brown or Alabama. Or maybe Sawyer Brown and Alabama were playing together and he was the opener for both. I just don't remember. It was the mid-90s. I had decent seats. Front row under the covered area. So, I wasn't right up on the stage, but I wasn't cooking in the sun, either. I remember Kenny coming out and playing a few songs and thinking that the kid had talent. He was shy as all get-out, but he had talent. Some woman yelled something off-color to him and he blushed so hard that I could see it from where I was sitting. He was so taken aback that he was completely at a loss for words. He started saying things like, "Well, I don't know about that ma'am." There were a lot of ma'ams thrown in and feet shuffling. His band saved him by starting the next song. I remember nudging my friend and saying, "That is the cutest thing I have ever seen." Yeah, Kenny Chesney was green on the concert circuit. He was still easily flustered and surprised by people. That wears off. Eventually, you become jaded. Nothing anyone does will surprise you. By now, I am sure that he has had so many panties thrown his way that he takes it in stride. Probably throws them to his panty collector and says, "Add them to the pile." I was glad I got to see him before that. When he had no show. No artifice. When he was just a kid hoping to make it doing something he loved.

Well, he made it big-time. He has been Entertainer of the Year so many times now that he is giving Garth Brooks a run for his money. Why? Because he puts on a damn good show. He feels like everyone paid for the ticket and they deserve 110% every time he goes out there. When he rolled through Columbia, SC, back in 2004, a decade later I got to see him again. He wasn't that same kid who blushed at off-color remarks and no one knew who he was. Instead, he was The Main Event. He filled an arena. He came up through the floor with fog and lights and lots of effects. And the race was on. 110%. "Looking back at the moments black and white. I wouldn't change a thing for the worse, for the better."



Kenny and I are a lot alike. I, too, am gone and I ain't back yet. It just isn't quite in the same way. I also wouldn't change any of the things in my past, because I think they all happened for a reason. They were teaching moments, and I needed to learn the lesson. I just needed to sing that song about being not back yet with a little more enthusiasm, and little less bitterness, and that helped. Yeah, I am gone and I ain't back yet. I suppose that maybe we never get back to where we started, and that is a good thing. The point is to move forward. There is no power in the past. Anyway, I will always have a soft spot for Kenny Chesney, and his song OLD BLUE CHAIR will always be one of my favorites. Love, love that song.

Well, now that we have satisfied that Inspirational To Me portion of this blog, let's move on to the 80s and what was rockin' MTV. So many bands in the 80s were pretty. Do you remember that? With that advent of video, prettiness was very important. Of course, Madonna notched up the sexy factor. However, even the boys were wearing make-up and big hair was totally in for everyone in the 80s. My own beloved John Taylor of Duran Duran was a pretty boy. So, what did you do if you weren't pretty? You had to have another hook.

ZZ Top had a car. A red car. With keys that were ZZs. They also had rad guitars and this signature move with their hands. And they disappeared. They also tended to always show up in times of need and be on the side of the underdog. Who doesn't love that? Oh, and there were always very hot girls popping out of the car. (That was the answer to the if you aren't a pretty boy question. People loved ZZ Top videos. The CAR and what might pop out of it any given time was FASCINATING!!!)





See what I mean? If you don't believe me. There are more ZZTop vids to watch. Gotta love that car. Those keys. The arm move. And the disappearing men. How do they get that many people in that car???? Awesome. Freaking awesome. This is the kind of thing that teenagers can think about for hours on end. Way to go guys!!!! I have said it before, but I will say it again. I miss my MTV.

LIVE CRAZY BERET

I am still doing rounds with the migraines and they are definitively winning. I still haven't gotten my site onto a host server, and I have yet to upload Microsoft Office to tell if any of the mumbo jumbo on my computer might be my book. I have also not checked my saved files on the flash drive or CD to see if The End was saved to know whether I should worry about this novel. In other words, I have been "doing something close to nothing." That translates to lying in bed and moaning about my migraine. To all of you who were worried about the axe: you can stop worrying about that. Even in my woebegone state of serious agony, I ruled out the axe. I could see no good way to get any kind of grip on the handle (it is too long), and be able to effectively use it to cut off my head. Logistically, it just wasn't possible. It took me about four hours to work that one out. I really tried to mentally work with the axe using every strategy my mind could conjure, and I got zip. So, the axe was rendered as useless as a device to separate my head from the rest of me. Unless someone else wanted to help me with the task. I took a poll of my family members, and all of them objected vehemently to using the axe to chop off my head. So... it has been set aside as an unworkable plan. In lieu of that, I lie in bed and... well, that is it. There is no end to that sentence. I watch the clock turn until I can take my next round of pain medication. I haven't even read your blogs. Sorry.

My parents are preparing to leave for a few days. Then they will be back for a few days. Then they will be gone for something like ten days. This is not a great time for them to be leaving. I am less than thrilled with this plan. If there were ever a time that I felt less than capable of cooking anything for myself, it would be now. I am trying hard not to dwell on the negatives of this at the moment. They leave tomorrow.

Turns out that Social Security must be seriously considering my disability case. I knew that it was in the final stages because I was informed by allsup (they are handling my claim). They called and said it was under doctor review, which is evidently one of the the last stages before a decision is rendered. I got something in the mail yesterday indicating that they wanted me to see a doctor. This doctor would file a report. This was about my mental fitness. I got another piece of mail today about another appointment with a different doctor for a physical. Apparently, they want two reports from independent sources gauging my overall mental and physical health. Well, I look and feel like crap, so I feel good about these appointments.... I guess.

Mom just came home from church. The ladies of the church had a dinner for the veterans (I think). The explanation from my stepdad was somewhat confusing and I didn't want to sound stupid by asking the same question over and over. But I think that was what was going down. Anyway, she called me into the kitchen to show me the take-out boxes she brought home. Apparently she was worried about my eating over the next few days, too, so I now have enough food to last me until they get home again. My mom is so awesome. And she knows me pretty well. I would probably eat pretzels for the next three days if not for her industriousness. Yeah, that is how I get when I have bad migraines. I would probably mix it up with granola bars. And a turkey sandwich for lunch. I know I am missing some food groups there, but I can eat just about all of those things in bed. This is just one of the reasons I am sleeping alone... Yeah, I do find crumbs from the granola bars. I once found a nut stuck in my hair. Migraines are not only painful, but they are nasty. I intend to share that with the doctors. Particularly the mental one. I think they should know just how low I have sunk. Hmmmm.

Well, this is is still magical song Saturday. It almost slipped to Sunday. But, I actually thought of an inspirational song to share today and there you go. My mom is going to be going to one of the local nursing homes to play the piano and sing songs with the residents every Tuesday afternoon. She was told that they will love it. Apparently singing is the last thing to go in elderly people, even those with dementia. They can lose the ability to talk, but they can still sing. I remember that when we visited my grandma. Her communication had deteriorated badly. Mom had brought lots of sheet music and the three of us were around the piano. Before each song, my mom would ask grandma if she remembered the song, and every time my grandma would say, "No." However, as soon as my mom started playing it and singing, my grandma joined right in. So, I know that what that person told my mom is true. Whatever part of the brain stores your musical memory is different than the part that communicates via talking. The last thing to go will be your ability to sing. However, beyond that, the last thing you will enjoy will be music. So, here for your musical enjoyment...




I love that video. I suppose it speaks to me double right now because it is hitting me right where I am living. I first heard it when my migraines were demolishing my life. In other words, back in 2005/2006 was when I first heard it. Migraines had taken control of my life and this song spoke to me. Well, for those of you have been reading this for a while know that I got dropkicked right back to that place and, and then some. I didn't think it was possible to be worse off than I was before, and I was WRONG. So, this song really speaks to me now. I hope that one day it will speak to a lot of people.

I feel like I spun the wheel for the 80s pick this week. Seriously. I really didn't even try. It was like pulling someone out of the hat. Maybe that is what I love so much about the 80s. There are so many people in the hat. It doesn't feel at all like work. The only hard part is finding good video. Youtube sometimes makes finding the video tough. That is infuriating. Prince's PURPLE RAIN record was a lot like Michael Jackson's THRILLER record, in the sense that there was so much incredible music in one place. It was the same concept that INXS used for KICK. Instead of putting only a couple of good songs on the record and then using filler, they went for it with every song. The idea was to make the entire record so good that people wanted to listen to the whole thing. You would think that this would be common sense. Actually, not so much. I remember having actual records and picking up the needle to skip over songs. You know, the bad ones. More and more artists were going for it with the entire record. PURPLE RAIN was another example of that.

Let me be really clear about something here. Prince is not Michael Jackson. Prince never tried to be Michael Jackson. Prince had his own style. Prince was always a little naughtier than Michael Jackson. I remember my first day of college very clearly. There was a frat house next to my dorm. The guys had a homemade sign posted in their front yard that said, "We're the guys your mom warned you about." I eyed the sign lasciviously and couldn't wait until my mom left. I spent a lot of time thinking about ways to get into that house to see if that was indeed true. It was. They were very bad boys. I loved it there. Shhhhh. That is a secret. Actually, there were naughtier frat boys at my college. I knew this because I went in search of them. Cuter and naughtier. So, that sign really didn't live up to it's rep. I know which house it SHOULD have been posted in front of, but I'll never tell.

Now where was I? Oh, yeah. Prince. I remember spending some time pondering the lyrics of LITTLE RED CORVETTE, and decided that was a very naughty song. I was in junior high at the time, so it took me some time to piece that one together. We didn't have lyrics.com, so I had to play it over and over. I also had no expertise in this area, so when I say a LONG time I am being totally serious. I finally wrote it all down and took it to my next door neighbor. It came down to, "Does this mean what I think it means?" She just gave me "the look." Oh yeah, that was a very naughty song. Prince was NOT Michael Jackson. And LITTLE RED CORVETTE always did funny things to my heart when it came on. I don't know what it is about naughty boys. I don't want to keep one, but they are thrilling to be around. Like I might learn something by observation or maybe the magic will just leap off of them and onto me. Of course, I would be much more covert with my naughtiness. As it is, I don't have any handle on the naughty at all. Someone once told me I had that hot schoolteacher look. Woo hoo. Thanks alot. I am not a teacher. But, I will take the "hot" reference. Now beat it. Ooops. Involuntary Michael Jackson reference.

This clip is mixing up live footage along with clips from his movie, PURPLE RAIN. Yes, there was a movie starring Prince and he also made the soundtrack. Do you see how this is working now? This is another case of what made what more money? MTV playing the video? Did that make the song more popular? Did that make the movie sell better? Did the movie success cause the soundtrack to sell better causing it to get more play on MTV? What came first? The chicken or the egg? This is another case of all of these riding the other to outstanding financial success. I WANT MY MTV.




I would say that the second pick is harder, except that it is tough to find original Prince video on Youtube. LITTLE RED CORVETTE is boring (except for the lyrics). The video itself is nothing special. I am partial to I WOULD DIE 4 YOU. Sadly, I can't find the original video for it. However, I also really like RASPBERRY BERET, and I was able to find it. So, that solved that. Like I said, Prince is just on this side of naughty. Makes me wonder what that symbol stood for that he changed his name to when he did that back in the day. Or maybe it still is that symbol. Whatever. I bet it's something just this side of naughty;-)