Halloween 2008, Part 4

A photo of my long-gone Dell, either last year or the year before. I used to get so mad at the thing, but its main problem was lack of RAM, lack of hard drive space--in short, lack of computing power. I had my MAGIX and some other programs on the thing, which kept driving it into "Your virtual memory is low, etc." mode.

I miss it. No, I don't.

Anyhow, we have more Halloween gems to savor. I'd Halloween-pun-ize that, but the puns aren't coming. To the sounds:

Click here to reach zip file: Halloween 2008, Part 4.

SLAYLIST

THEME FROM THE BAT (L. Forbes)--The Ventures, 1964.
FEAR (MAIN THEME FROM ONE STEP BEYOND) (Lubin)--The Ventures, 1964.
THE MUMMY (Rod McKuen)--Bob McFadden and Dor, 1959.
FUNERAL MARCH OF A MARIONETTE (Gounod) Russian Symphony Orch., 1912.
IT'S A MONSTERS' HOLIDAY--Buck Owens, 1974.
GREENWICH WITCH (Confrey)--Zez Confrey, piano, 1922.
IT'S WITCHERY (Tobias)--Charle Spivak O., v: Tommy Mercer, 1947.
DESERTED BALLROOM (Gould)--Elliot Everette Orch.
MARCH OF THE LUNATICS (Pennario)--Leonard Pennario X 2, pianos, 1960.
BLUE GHOST--Tommy Roe, Jordanaires, 1962.
HAUNTED MERRY-GO-ROUND--Lee Hartsfeld (who?), 2008.
IN THE HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING (Grieg)--Victor Symphony O., 1926.
MOUNTAIN KING (Grieg)--Lawrence Welk and His Orch., 1961.


Lee

Wow.

I was expecting Barack Obama to do a decent job in tonight's debate, but he didn't. He did a superb job. The man was fabulous.

Of course, he still has to win this thing, but his A+ performance of tonight has me feeling better than I have in a long time, party-chances-wise.

The less said about his opponent's performance, the kinder.


Lee

My computer is having "issues." (Update added)

UPDATE:

Our neighbors on the hill behind our house (you should see their spread) are reporting "up and down" DSL service, so it may very well be Windstream, after all. As in, most probably. Why Bev's computer is running more smoothly, I don't know--but she has far fewer programs on her PC, which may have something to do with it. I've got tons more "stuff" on mine. Kind of like the Media Room itself--tons of stuff all over the place.

So, we can go back to assuming it's a DSL issue. In which case, we can hope it will be fixed after a reasonable spell. All is not lost.

All is never lost. Until it is.

So, if we keep our chin up and think positively and try 110 percent, everything will come out in the wash. On to my original, panicked post:

I don't know why I put quotes around "issues." Maybe because it's always done. In all probability, nobody knows why. The practice may have even originated as a typo.

Anyway, something is causing my computer to not function on the Internet. It's weird--things will be moving alone just fine, and then, suddenly, nothing will connect and/or open. This has been going on for about a week, and I assumed it was due to phone line damage following our Category One visit by Hurricane Ike. But here I am on Bev's computer, which is connected to the same DSL service, and nothing of the kind is happening here.

My best guess is that it's a result of software wars--something on my PC isn't allowing something else to function, and this is resulting in the sudden hold-ups. It could even be a collision of wills between my Mozilla browser and my spyware-killer thing-of-a-ma-program. (Stop me if I'm getting too technical.) I have a list of likely suspects in my mind as we speak.

Of course, I'm taking all of this in a very calm, adult way. (Yeah, right.) Well, I'm trying to, anyway. I deserve points for effort, anyway.

Hopefully, I can get my computer acting like a computer again. If not, we'll have to call our friendly visiting computer tech, Steve. In the meanwhile, I'll remain calm.

And sane, too. (Hee, hee! Ha, ha!) Who said that?


Lee

Halloween 2008, Part 3--Sci-Fi

CHORUS: "Way out in the Twilight Zone, the wild, wild women live all alone. We got no man and we're nervous wrecks--we're the screamin' meemies from Planet X." Wow.

If that's not enough, we have The Fall of the Planet Earth and The 'Lectronic Brain, both by the world-famous Moonbillies. And Jesse Lee Turner's Little Space Girl and Jeff Barry's (yes, the Barry-Greenwich guy) The Face from Outer Space. Oh, and Dinah Shore's gender-reversed version of Bill Haley's Thirteen Women.

Plus seven more. In all, thirteen sci-fi-themed classics! What is this, Halloween???

Oh. Yeah, it is. Come to think of it. That would explain the rows and rows of Halloween stuff at Big Lots.

Gotta love the Sandpiper Singers' Superman--which does not, by the way, use the TV show's theme music.

Gotta love that intro: "Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it... (SPLAT!) No, it's a bird."

No, that's not on there. To the slaylist: Halloween 2008, Part 3.

SLAYLIST

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN--Ray Anthony and His Orch., 1957.
THE BLACK HOLE--END TITLE (Barry)--Andre Kostelanetz, 1980.
LITTLE SPACE GIRL--Jesse Lee Turner, 1958.
THE FACE FROM OUTER SPACE--Jeff Barry w. Billy Mure O., 1960.
THE SCREAMIN' MEEMIES FROM PLANET X--Merv Griffin, 1961.
MONKEY BUSINESS (Billy Sherrill)--Eddie Hill and Group, 1959.
THIRTEEN MEN--Dinah Shore, 1958.
FALL OF THE PLANET EARTH--The Moonbillies, 1960.
THE 'LECTRONIC BRAIN--The Moonbillies, 1960.
SUPERMAN--The Sandpiper Singers, 1959.
ROCKETSHIP X-M (MAIN TITLE) (Grofe)--movie soundtrack, 1950.
COUNTDOWN: LAUNCH; INTO ORBIT (Grofe)--Same.
JOURNEY INTO SPACE (Phillips)--Frank Weir and His Orch., 1955.


Lee

Wow--looks like Obama will be voting for Palin/McCain

Steve Waldman, Editor-in-Chief at Beliefnet (featured at Huff-Po):

"I wrote earlier that Christians will not abandon Palin no matter what comes out because they've defined criticism as being ant-Christian."

I guess this means that Obama, a Christian, won't be voting for himself. Dang. Pulling the lever for the other side is gonna be hard to do, I'll bet, especially after he's campaigned against them for all this time.

Wait a minute--I'm a Christian, too! Double dang. Another vote for Palin/McCain. And I had my heart set on the other pair.

Thanks, Beliefnet and Huff-Po, for ruining my day. And my November.


Lee

Halloween at MY(P)WHAE, Part 2--Halloween Humour

Why the British spelling of humor (humour)? Because seven of our ten tracks are by British artists, that's why. Those artists being John Tilley, Douglas Byng, Stanley Holloway, Cyril Scott, Alec Templeton, and Sharkey Todd and His Monsters. Where else are you going to encounter a playlist like this?

John Tilley's track, The Loch Ness Monster, is a comic monologue from 1934, one year after the (alleged) first modern sighting of the creature in Inverness, Scotland--and the same year as the famous, faked "surgeon's photo" of Nessie. To give you a taste of what's in store, Tilley has the monster speaking in Morse code with an American accent. Very strange--and, in spots, very funny.

Tilley is followed by Stanley Holloway, from 1956, with Sweeney Todd the Barber. This is the third go-round for this piece of razor-sharp musical hall comedy.

Next, Cyril Scott, who gives us a 1949 rendition of With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm, recorded for the Castle label. This is not the 1937 Rudy Vallee version we're used to, though it's not very different from same.

The Cool Gool and The Horror Show, from 1959, are making their third appearances, too. So is cabaret comic Douglas Byng's I'm a Mummy, which is never a drag (Byng's stage get-up being another story). Alec Templeton's Ghost Rhapsody, however, is new to the blog. Templeton sure knew how to sound like Debussy. Or Ravel. Maybe both. The blind Templeton was a brilliant, witty mimic.

Three terrific repeats fill out the playlist: The Original Piano Quartet's arrangement of In the Hall of the Mountain King, Prince's Band's Spooky Spooks, and the Club Royal Orchestra's The Sneak. The last two are shellac titles in new and improved rips. Enjoy!

Click here to reach zip file: Halloween 2008, Part 2.

SLAYLIST

THE LOCH NESS MONSTER, PTS. 1 & 2--John Tilley, 1934. From Columbia 78.
SWEENEY TODD THE BARBER--Stanley Holloway, 1956.
WITH HER HEAD TUCKED UNDER HER ARM--Cyril Scott, 1949. From Castle 78.
THE COOL GOOL--Sharkey Todd and His Monsters, 1959.
THE HORROR SHOW--Sharkey Tood and His Monsters, 1959.
I'M A MUMMY--Douglas Byng, 1963.
GHOST RHAPSODY (Templeton)--Alec Templeton, 1938.
IN THE HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING (Grieg)--Orig. Piano Quartet, 1964.
SPOOKY SPOOKS (Claypoole)--Prince's Band, 1916.
THE SNEAK--(Herb Nacio Brown)--Club Royal Orch., 1922.


Stay tombed--more to come!!


Lee

Does the left's hysteria Palin....

See the rest of the awful title word play at MYPWHAE Text.

I haven't written about religion in a while, and I'm sure (ahem) everyone's been looking forward to my next installment with eagerness. So, here it is.

At one point, I was doing a series called "Talking the F-word (Faith)," but that title's a little too caustic, so I dropped it. It gets its point across too well, maybe. Granted, the Internet, by tradition, is a place where style (read: effect for its own sake) rules over, say, content and substance, but we can always try to get it pointed in another direction. (Just a second--an email came in. "So, Lee, are you saying you're too good for the Internet?") Yeah, sure. That's why I'm on it all the time. Please.

Why is it that anyone who challenges the norm is considered to be full of himself? And I am, but it has nothing to do with my critical views about Internet style, or lack thereof.

Anyway, you might enjoy my essay. And... have a good Sunday. My sinuses aren't, but they're never in a good mood.


Lee

Sunday morning gospel--The Coffey Family

I'm afraid that today's LP came into my collection without a jacket, meaning that I have no photos or biographical info to share. (Wait a minute... wait a minute....)

eBay to the rescue! Looks like this was part of a three-record set called The Family Who Prays. The family consists of James, Claudia, Claude, and Arthona Coffey. Give me a moment to swipe the eBay photo....

Looks very Seventies, doesn't it? A very professional-sounding group of singers here, with the sort of crisp, expert accompaniment we've come to expect from these little gospel labels. Moral: never mistake lack of budget for absence of quality.

Country gospel in the Sego Bros. and Naomi mode, with an especially lively version of Charles H. Gabriel's Higher Ground. (And it should go without saying that I've always wanted to type "an especially lively version of....") The 1898 Higher Ground might be the staple of popular gospel songbooks of the early 20th century, if my collection is any indication. Like so many Gabriel tunes, it's simple as can be, and yet it makes a strong and memorable musical statement. And, more than a century later, it sounds like it was written last week.

But not to take attention away from the very fine Coffey Family quartet--these performances will make your Sunday. Trust me.

Click here to reach zip file: Coffey Family--What's in Store for Me.zip

PLAYLIST

WHAT'S IN STORE FOR ME (Coffey)
OH, WHAT A HAPPY DAY (Campbell)
HIGHER GROUND (Gabriel-Oatman, Jr.)
I'M GOING TO LEAVE HERE SHOUTING (Rambo-Davis)
DOWN BY THE RIVER SIDE
SWING DOWN SWEET CHARIOT
LONG LONG JOURNEY (Davis-Rambo)
LONESOME VALLEY
THERE IS A LIGHT GUIDING ME
YOUR CHILD AND MINE

(Mission Records SF-286)


Lee