Friday, August 03, 2007

Ipod Therefore I am

The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, 'Is there a meaning to music?' My answer would be, 'Yes.' And 'Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?' My answer to that would be, 'No.'Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990)
Foolhardy then to try and write something about it well worry not, anyone foolish enough to fall into my little well will not learn the secret of music today . No, my ambitions are more, ‘which ‘, than ‘why’ . I have been prevailed upon by the young and frivolous Mrs. N to acquire an Ipod . Furthermore, and much to my surprise, I have managed to find out how it works .Browsing Itunes has been a revelation . To wander amongst forgotten lost and broken records and immediately be able to hear them again has been a thrill this week. So while I am reacquiring lost loves and lost memories I was having a think about my Desert Island Disks .
The following are mine , today .Some, like the Tchaikovsky, remind me of years ago . My father would play this emotional romantic piece at full blast as we drove into the Lake District on holiday . Some I just like .What are yours ?


1 Gigli singing E Lucean E Slelle. ( Tosca) or anything
2 All Or Nothing – Small Faces
3 My Boy Lollipop –Milli ..
4 Tchaikovsky Concerto No. 1 in B minor
5 American Trilogy- the King
6 Rock and Roll Suicide – Bowie
7 Smells Like Teen Sprit – Nirvana
8 I found a True Love( call her Magnolia ) Wilson Pickett


You could have a new list every day I know but one last thing , if you have never heard Gigli sing listen..He is the best singer of any kind there has ever been.. NO debate , NO opinions , just the best.

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. N -

When you start dancing about architecture, please may we have video?

Thank you in anticipation.

Newmania said...

When you start dancing about architecture

Is this an interpretive dance you men like Isadora Duncan ? The Greek mimetic dance ?Or just looking a twit in the street

Old BE said...

I need recommendations for pumped up jogging music now I am trying to get back into running.

Newmania said...

Me too ED which what the purchase was for . Start with Motorhead and have Nimrod for the final sprint .

Anonymous said...

When you start dancing about architecture...

Well, you see, that's what I get for trying to be clever by referencing a much-attributed witticism. It went over like a lead zeppelin.

Newmania said...

Crickey theres a whole world of reference isn`t there...oops I mean , well obviosuly I knew what you meant I was just playing with eight diferent levels of irony...cough cough

Anonymous said...

I am the Ipod, My lover is my Dock.

Anonymous said...

You shouldn't have mentioned music, n, you know what I'm like, can't hear the lyrics so I have to invent my own. The Eagles Yoo hoo song (brilliant for jogging round a desert island) and their Hotel California would be part of my choice. But how could I live without 'Take it to the limit', 'Tequilla Sunrise'


Hotel New Labour

On a dark crowded highway, hot wind in my hair
Warm smell of corruption, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night

There he stood in the doorway;
I heard the death knell
And I was thinking to myself,
'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell'

Welcome to the Hotel New Labour
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel New labour
Any time of year, you can find it here

So I called up the Captain,
'Please bring me some heaven'
He said,'We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen ninety seven'

And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...

Welcome to the Hotel New Labour
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
They're livin' it up at the New Labour
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne's on ice
And he said 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device'

And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can't kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before

'Relax,'said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
but you can never leave!

Auntie Flo'

Anonymous said...

And I've have to have the Eagles 'Take it Easy'

Well, I'm running down the road
Tryin' to loosen my load
I've got Gordon Brown on
my mind,
First he wants to own me,
Then he wants to stone me,
Then says he's a friend of mine

Take it easy, Gord, take it e-e-easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy

Auntie Flo'

Newmania said...

Flo I had forgotten aee you hard of hearing then ? I get terible tinnitus and it does make me very depressed sometimes.

Anonymous said...

I also got an iPod with the excuse of using it while exercising, and when the first one broke I had to pretend to myself that the next one was some sort of free upgrade.... but I couldn't live without it. Just be careful though, all those songs add up at £0.79 a pop. Says she, downloading another 3 songs....

Anonymous said...

Newmania said...

are you hard of hearing then ? I get terible tinnitus and it does make me very depressed sometimes.


Not so much hard of hearing as bloody deaf, newmania. Started losing my hearing at 16 - a good time to lose it, if you're going to, as you've got cognitive processes and basic education under your belt by then yet are still young enough to acquire good lip reading skills. It hasn't in any sense held me back, in fact quite the reverse, I run a company as you know and studied for a degree.

Sorry to hear about your tinnitus, I'm not surprised it gets you down at times, it can be very depressing. However if it's a long term problem you will get used to it as time goes on and it will fade into the background with an occasional blip when you're tired or stressed. You'll hopefully eventually barely notice it.

If it keeps you awake at night - and it's usually most noticeable then - you could perhaps try either 'white noise' piped through a pad under your pillow, or listening to your Ipod. Music or those relaxation tapes of waves and stuff will usually drown tinnitus. I believe there are also classes where tinnitus sufferers are taught to learn to block it out, though I can't vouch for those.

Auntie Flo'

Trubes said...

Newman darling: Bengamino Gigl is and was, the Finest Golden Tenor in the world!( In my humble opinion) His greatest friend Guiseppi da Luca (a fine baritone) immortalised the duet from Bizet` "Pearl Fishers "

Newmania said...

You exactly describe it Flo and I have got much better with it.How kind of you. I know very little about you really , you are not a person that talks about themselves much. It must have been hard being sixteen and losing your hearing.You seem to have such a can-do attitude but noone is like that all the time .

You would be a great person to have around in a crisis ..I flap ..sigh

Newmania said...

Guiseppi da Luca (a fine baritone) immortalised the duet from Bizet` "Pearl Fishers "


I have that TB I `m not an opera buff or anything but my father is and I`ve listened to a lot over the years. While we did not like the same music the place where we could compare was in pure vocal ability. Some would have other favourites Jussi Björling perhaps I like the vertigenous flight and warmth of Gigli myself. Old man Newmania always says that he ranks Pavototti up there though , he tells me that at his early performances the brightness and power were breathtaking

I listen to all sorts of things though rock , pop , dance and soul , loads of songwriters , shows and classical/romantic . I `ve played a fair bit as well...not all that well

Newmania said...

In fact True Blue I am going to get that one out and listen to it now ..of course in my head I am the tenor , adored by women and admired by men...what a life that must be

Trubes said...

I don`t think from all said ,I may not be quite as old as your Pa,(I hope ) but "Juissi Borling" I thought, was a baritone !
Just picked up on Aunty Flo, Hi from Trube xx
Newmania : Ask your Pa`s opinion of Placido Domingo(I loved his voice) I felt that Pavarotti reached great "Heights" But always shouted to reach the top note .
BTW I`m not an "opera buff" but do recognise "good music" and "decent people" too, when, I have the good fortune too meet on the "etherial space"

Newmania said...

Wik-

Jussi" Björling (help·info) (5 February 1911 – 9 September 1960) was a Swedish tenor and one of the most highly regarded opera singers of the 20th century. Björling was one of the few non-Latin tenors to rival the Italian dominance of the opera world at that time.



?

On age True Blue you might be suprised how hard it is to guess what someones age might be . I have noticed that without any visual cues you can go wildly wrong in all sorts of ways. Shows it isn`t as important as we sometimes think which strikes me as a good thing.

Newmania said...

I am the Ipod, My lover is my Dock.

YOu are the male part then if I am visualsing this correctly

Trubes said...

Newmania; I am here to eat humble pie ! Jussi Bjorling was indeed a fine tenor (as you so rightly said); Caruso and Giuseppe De Luca
(please note correction of my poor spelling) were great friends, can`t find a "great friendship connection" between Gigli and G.De Luca so I need to do a little research! Hmmm.......It`s amazing how a few drinkies on our ritual Friday night "dine`au deux" can impair a girl`s judgement! So my profound apologies xx.

P.S. I`ve also managed to put Hitch back in his box re his derogatory comments about Gerry Halliwell`s little girl.
Must say, I rather regret saying what I said but an innocent child really can`t help her parentage,(IMHO)!

Iain Dale said...

Paul, can you email me please

iain AT iaindale DOT com

Jenny! said...

I think I am the only human to NOT have an iPod!

Stan Bull said...

A spot of Wagner and Status Quo should fire up any aspiring jogger.
Ooh, I see Mr Dale has dropped by....
Jenny, I don't have one either. I also don't have a cell phone.

Newmania said...

It is a bit of an honour isn`t it IT.

Wagner and Status Quo.. that does show breadth IT

Newmania said...

dine`au deux" can impair a girl`s judgement! So my profound apologies xx.


Oh the enormous pleasure I get from being right ( just for once !!!) is a gift greedily accepted True Blue

flashgordonnz said...

Jenny, quite a few folk don't have ipods. I'm trying to be so square that I start my own afshion, of NOT having one.

It's also a religious thing: if the bass cannot kick me in the guts, then I am not moved.

Newmania said...

Another religion that won`t let me in

Jenny! said...

Flash and Istanbultory:
At least we won't go deaf! All the rest of the iPod addicts will loose their hearing by age 49!

Anonymous said...

newmania said:

It must have been hard being sixteen and losing your hearing.


I hadn't a clue it had happened until a friend of mine said she thought I was going deaf - and even then I just thought she being ridiculous, it didn't seem possible that I was going deaf at that age.

I told my mother what my friend had said and she said, 'don't be ridiculous, how can you deaf, no one's ever been deaf in our family.'

I subsequently spent a good ten years or more in denial, during which time I coped thanks to my lip reading. All manner of compensatory mechanisms kick in with acquired deafness which can mask it from the deafened person. Lip reading is automatically acquired, often at first without any awareness you're using it. The brain has an amazing capacity to fill in the gaps in words and sentences in a meaningful way too...just not with the correct words or sounds, which is why hard of hearing people tend to make daft comments during conversations.

Eventually the deafness reached a stage where I was forced to accept it and buckle down to hearing aids, amplifiers and all the other paraphernalia, plus learning BSL. That was quite depressing at first because I was still so young - in my twenties - but I knew to learn to overcome it, I had no choice. It was a case of sink or swim and I was bloody determined that I would swim - not least to spite my mother.

Auntie Flo'

Anonymous said...

True Blue said:

Just picked up on Aunty Flo, Hi from Trube xx

Hi, True Blue xx to you too.

Auntie Flo'

Newmania said...

Thanks for that Flo I read it with fascination. There must have been times when you had "Why me " attacks

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