Battle of the Bands ~ This Woman's Work

I just noticed that this will be my 900th post (according to my blogger dashboard). How about that?

One of my favorite movies in college was She's Having A Baby. My college roommate and I rented it from the video store so often we really would have come way ahead just to buy the thing. We trekked down there almost every weekend and ended up leaving with either that one or Better Off Dead (sometimes both) darn near every weekend. Don't ask me why. Teenagers do stupid things. Let's just say we weren't financial planners. I loved the movie so much that I bought the soundtrack to the movie on cassette tape. Yes, still talking about She's Having A Baby. I don't know if Better Off Dead had a soundtrack... If it did, I didn't buy it.

I tell you all of this to tell you how I found my song for this installment of Battle of the Bands. I've been seriously infatuated with Greg Laswell's song Dodged A Bullet. Quite honestly, I can't remember how or when I heard it, but now I can't stop listening to it. I'm a song junkie who just discovered a new form of crack. It's sad really. So, picture this: I'm listening to Dodged A Bullet for the fifteenth or so time on YouTube (yeah, I know... junkie) when I see in the videos below the one I'm listening to other songs by Greg Laswell. And there it is... Battle of the Bands Gold. Or, in this case, a song I happen to know is a cover because I know the original. The song is This Woman's Work. The reason I know it is because it was on the She's Having A Baby Soundtrack. See how all of my stories circle back perfectly? It's a freakin' gift.

And thus begins the work of sifting through the many covers (yes, there are many) of This Woman's Work. I still think the original by Kate Bush is the definitive word on this song. Of course, some of you are scratching your heads and muttering, "Never heard it." I know who you are, and I still love ya! Point of fact, I had to take that into consideration as a reason to allow Kate Bush's original be used in this battle. After all, what do I know about who will beat whom? I picked The Tractors for the last match up and I couldn't have been more wrong.

However, I think Kate Bush has an unfair advantage. If you want to hear her version, you can click on the link "the original by Kate Bush" highlighted above.

The most famous cover of this song is by Maxwell. Let's give him a listen.



And then the man who started the insanity in the first place... Mr. Dodged A Bullet Himself... Mr. Greg Laswell.



Please vote for the version of this song you prefer. If you want to get into the Ins and Outs of why you like one better than the other... I LOVE long comments!

For more Battle of the Bands fun, check out the other BOTB bloggers to vote on their battles. I've stopped trying to keep up with who is running a battle and who isn't. To see who is participating, go here: Stephen T. McCarthy's Battle of the Bands Blog.

How A Thursday Post Comes Together (or not)

Over the years, many of you have addressed in the comments my "process" regarding the HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY posts.  When those posts do come together, it is *magic.*

Let me give you a few examples of how it has been this week.  This week has not been magic, but only because YouTube has not been working for me.  Ironically, in terms of what you guys have been writing, it has been *magic.*

For instance, klahanie wrote a tongue-in-cheek post offering up his services as a Sex Coach.  This sparked my mind to immediately go to a scene from the amazing John Hughes film She's Having A Baby.  This is another 80s wonder, and I have seen it about 50 times give or take.  In college, it was on Play on our VCR All Of The Time.  I think I know most of the lines by heart.  Yes, this film is about having a baby, but mostly it is about adjusting to being married.  Towards the end of the film, they do decide to have a baby, and hence the name.  Anyway, even that doesn't come easy and it involves doctor visits.  The husband, Jake, is very upset about the whole thing.  They are lying in bed and his wife makes the mistake of saying, "I talked to my mom about it..." And he just blows.  (this is me guessing at the lines more or less)

"You talked to your mom. Did you talk to the neighbors?  Who didn't you talk to?  Geez."  Then he goes into one of his fantasy sequences.  He pictures her parents at the end of the bed with flashlights on their heads giving them... Sex Lessons.  Her dad is saying things like, "Jake get your butt a little higher."

And now we have come full circle to how She's Having A Baby just tied in to klahanie's post on Sex Coaching.  Voila.  Only problem:  they don't have that clip on YouTube.  They have lots of other great clips from the movie, but NOT that one.  Sorry klahanie.  I did think of you.  This sort of thing happens a lot.

Jay Noel posted on his blog about purposefully changing the words to certain songs.  He had an entire list of songs that he lyric-changes on purpose.  He gave his version of the lyrics above and then the actual lyrics below.  Soooo funny.  Well, that made me think of this scene from the movie Bull Durham.  Yeah, another darn 80s movie.  Crash and the boys were on the bus and Meat starts to sing a song, but he is getting the lyrics wrong.  Not on purpose, though.  It is driving Crash crazy.  He finally starts correcting him.  H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S.  Is it on YouTube?  Nope.  Other funny scenes from Bull Durham are there, but not that one.  Drat that YouTube.  It is killing my process.

Red Shoes wrote a rather naughty post giving the nod to No Panties Day.  Shoes, Shoes, Shoes.  We are going to have a talk someday.  LOLOL.  The post was fairly harmless and a typical Naughty Shoes post.  They are always labeled, so you know what you're getting.  Moving on... That immediately made me think of this specific episode of the long-defunct TV show Felicity.  That was the first brain-child of JJ Abrams.  I took several tours through that show since I have it on DVD.  The first time I watched it on TV, the second time I was desperately trying to understand Felicity's choices, and the third time I just enjoyed it (again).  JJ Abrams writes really amazing characters.  Now, how did this episode relate to the Shoes post?  Well, let me tell you.

Sean and Meghan were secondary characters on that show.  Meghan was rather wild, but gave up that side of herself when she got together with Sean.  She was beginning to feel the strain, and was clamoring to go out to this Underground Party.  Sean was wanting to get in touch with his Jewish roots and that was his Holy Night, so he didn't want to go.  They were clashing Big-Time.  In the end, she ended up ditching the party for church and he went looking for her at this party in asslass chaps.  And we have now circled back to No Panties Day.  She is waiting for him at home and he walks in all decked out in leather.  He is ticked.  He has been looking for her all over NYC.  When he turns to go upstairs is when you see the lack of ass in the chaps.  Hahahahaha.  Happy No Panties Day, Shoes.  I know it wasn't what you had in mind, but that is what made it so perfect.

Unfortunately, that has been what this entire week of reading has been like... Thursday is not looking promising:(

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