Separated at birth?

Is it just me?

UPDATE (10/5/09): I guess it's just me!

Looking for the Coen Brothers

I was asked by a commenter to keep them posted on my current, primary Internet "presence" (ha, ha) via the Texas Escapes magazine/website. My Eagle Pass post of around a year ago is the current issue's cover story. They gave it a really great title (I wish I'd thought of!):

"Eagle Pass: No Country for Young Men Either
or Looking for the Coen Brothers"

"If I Didn't Care"

Information from Wikipedia:

"If I Didn't Care" is a song written by Jack Lawrence that was originally sung and recorded by The Ink Spots in 1939. According to Lawrence he mailed the song before showing it to some of his friends. His friends' reaction to the song was almost universally negative, but he remained positive on it and later it became one of his biggest successes. The song in its original form sold over 19 million copies on the Decca record label, becoming one of the biggest-selling singles of all time.

In the 1950s both The Hilltoppers and Connie Francis charted with the song and in 1974 a version was recorded by David Cassidy. Another notable cover came from The Platters. The song was also covered by Madness for their 1999 album Wonderful.

The song appeared in the film Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, sung by the actors Amy Adams and Lee Pace. The Ink Spots' recording was used on the soundtracks of the films Radio Days, The Shawshank Redemption and the television series The Wonder Years. It has also appeared in the video game Bioshock, and the teaser trailer for The Strangers.

It was named to the Grammy Hall of Fame and was number 271 on the Songs of the Century list.

The song is often sung by Fred G. Sanford (go to 7:45) (Redd Foxx) on the 1970s television series Sanford and Son and was his character's favorite song.



From an early '50s "soundie":

I should have known better

So, I finally got The Beatles Rock Band. Having never played one of these Rock Band/Guitar Hero games before, I see that what I've heard about actual musicians having a hard time with them is true. So far, I'm either really bored or completely overwhelmed by it, depending on the difficulty level. It's a very weird experience to play songs I've played on actual guitars for twenty-something years on that sucker you see pictured above. With the little I've played of it, I currently am feeling like Randy Marsh. I hope it's getting better (it can't get no worse). I guess if I'd never actually played music in the real world, I might like games like this more. And I'm still hopeful I'll end up liking it, but as far as playing video games is concerned, I'd rather be shooting things and blowing stuff up.

Photoshopped??

At least Obibama Kenobi isn't wielding a red one....
Gawker via Buzzfeed

"We'll Meet Again"

In honor of 92-year-old Dame Vera Lynn getting back to the top of the British charts, I repost the follwing. According to the linked article in the previous sentence, she has even beaten out Britain's own Beatles for the top spot. Coincidentally, "We'll Meet Again" is used very effectively and poignantly near the beginning of episode one of The Beatles Anthology (04:04).

Wikipedia entry:

"We'll Meet Again" is a 1939 song made famous by British singer Vera Lynn with music written by Ross Parker and words by Hughie Charles.

The song is one of the most famous songs of the Second World War era, and resonated with soldiers going off to fight and their families and sweethearts. The assertion that "we'll meet again" is optimistic, as many soldiers did not survive to see their loved ones again. Indeed, the meeting place at some unspecified time in the future would have been seen by many who lost loved ones to be heaven.


Vera Lynn performance from 1942
The song gave its name to the 1943 musical film We'll Meet Again in which Vera Lynn played the lead role. Lynn's recording is featured in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 movie Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.



Pink Floyd makes reference to this song and the performer in "Vera," a song from the Pink Floyd album The Wall: "Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn?/Remember how she said that we would meet again some sunny day?". A short clip of "We'll Meet Again" can be heard at the beginning of the first track on the Pink Floyd album Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81.

"Peach"

From the Wikipedia entry:
"Peach" is a song by Prince from his 1993 compilations, The Hits 2 and The Hits/The B-Sides.

The B-side was the live version of "Nothing Compares 2 U" in the U.S., while the UK backed the song with an edit of "My Name Is Prince." In addition, the UK issued two CD singles for "Peach", each backed by hits not on the collection. The first disc contained "Peach," "Mountains*," "Partyman," and "Money Don't Matter 2 Night." The second disc contained "Peach", along with "I Wish U Heaven," "Girls & Boys," and "My Name Is Prince". The first disc was sold in a special fold-out collector's case with a place holder for the second disc, which was sold separately.

"Peach" was a failure stateside. It peaked at #7 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which roughly equals #107, however, it did peak at #14 in the UK, its b-side "Nothing Compares 2 U" charted at #62 on the U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop chart.

My generation's Hendrix:

His name is Prince, and he is funky.
*favorite Prince song