Day Nine--"Just Dance"

So I think I should not listen to the radio for a day...a whole day...just so I can get a song in my head that is not on America's Top 40. A la Lady Gaga's "Just Dance"--this morning's jam. (Also, I think Lady Gaga would approve of the color change for her name and her song. She just can't fit in like normal black type, now could she?)



On an unrelated, but very related note, today is 9.9.09. Threadless.com is having t-shirts on sale for $9. Beatles' Rock Band has just been released, as well as the film Nine. Yet, none of these phenomena compare to the fact that this is Day Nine of my little experiment. Fate, destiny, coincidence, accident, and/or none/all of the above? Whatever the case, I think it is pretty neat.

So besides Lady Gaga being EVERYWHERE, this particular song of hers ending up in my head makes complete sense. Why?

On Sunday, whilst hanging out with Andrew & Manbat (AKA-Mandy) at the wonderful establishment that is Chili's, the topic of Lady Gaga's gender came up. Mandy had heard she was both male and female and I quickly came to the defense of Miss Gaga and said it was just a rumor. Mandy protested, but then quickly moved on to say "Well, whatever she's working with doesn't change the fact that she references the scatological in 'Just Dance' so I don't like her." My response: "WHAT?!?" (Verbatim.) She said "You know...(She begins singing) 'Just dance, gonna be okay..gotta doo-doo." I laughed out loud and said "Wrong again Mandy." I will admit that it sounds like that, BUT it isn't. And she is in fact, just scatting, jazz-style. (But now, looking back on the situation, scatological vs. scatting--eerily similar--discuss.)

So, long story short, I am Lady Gaga's Protector and Mandy is always wrong. Also, I'm convinced this is why I wound up with this song in my head today.

As far as prophecy goes, I feel like "Just Dance" sums up everyday of my life. Because, after all, it is gonna be okay, if i just dance. So, today, I shall make a point of dancing when something doesn't go my way. Let's just hope for everybody's sake that I'm in the privacy of my own bedroom. Don't want to shock the public with what I'm twerkin' with.

Day Six--"Money"

Money by Pink Floyd
Lyrics Obtained from this Website

Money, get away.
Get a good job with good pay and you're okay.
Money, it's a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think I'll buy me a football team.

Money, get back.
I'm all right Jack keep your hands off of my stack.
Money, it's a hit.
Don't give me that do goody good bullshit.
I'm in the high-fidelity first class traveling set
And I think I need a Lear jet.

Money, it's a crime.
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise that they're
giving none away.

(Didn't know that this was muttered at the end, but it is. Trust me.)
"HuHuh! I was in the right!"
"Yes, absolutely in the right!"
"I certainly was in the right!"
"You was definitely in the right. That geezer was cruising for a
bruising!"
"Yeah!"
"Why does anyone do anything?"
"I don't know, I was really drunk at the time!"
"I was just telling him, he couldn't get into number 2. He was asking
why he wasn't coming up on freely, after I was yelling and
screaming and telling him why he wasn't coming up on freely.
It came as a heavy blow, but we sorted the matter out."

I am happy to report that I feel somewhat redeemed for having something non-pop/hip-hop wake me up this morning. AND not only is Pink Floyd a slightly more respectable musical artist, BUT this song also makes sense for more reasons than something like "Pass the Courvoisier."

Here goes:

1. Money just so happens to be on my mind because the lovely establishment, that is Stony Brook University, has yet to give me my loan reimbursement. SO! Although it may be the root of all evil, I would like to get paid!

2. Also, as a slight foreshadowing, the wonderful Mandy Bates, a dear friend that obtained her Master's in art history last May from SB, required $2 today when visiting P.S.1. Contemporary Art Center with Andrew and I and neither Andrew or I were quick to give it up. Now, this does not put Andrew OR I in a positive light, but it is the truth nontheless. AND I think it is exactly the point of this popular Pink Floyd song. Everyone has money (especially a measly $2), but no one wants to share...Sad, but mostly true. (NOTE: I did end up sharing the $2, which she promptly repaid me for at dinner. Share it fairly, but don't take a slice of my pie.)

3. As usual, this particular example of foreshadowing is quite a stretch. BUT, this stretch allows my theory to continue AND it allows me to post the following video, which I think is amazing. As anyone who has listened to "Money" can attest--the song is full of interesting and appropriate sounds. You know what else produces interesting, yet appropriate, sounds?!? BEAT-BOXING. Cue Video:

Note: Found this video because I follow Danny Masterson (from "That 70's Show) on Twitter and he said this girl would be his next ex-wife. My curiosity was tapped.

So, much more exciting than Today's Tune is what I did today! Andrew, Mandy and I went to Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, Queens, NY, as well as P.S.1. which I mentioned above. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day:

The three pictures above are from Socrates Sculpture Park. Most of the items (excluding the sculpture in image numero uno) are just being installed so names of artists/works was not yet provided. The second sculpture was great.
Rat + pigeon + poop= brilliant. And the 3rd sculpture was interesting to say the least. The most interesting part was the license plates. Both from NH (so they said Live Free or Die), the back saying "FREEFALL" and the front saying "FREE4ALL." A dollar for anyone who can explain what that means.



Like I said, most works were "in progress"--which includes the silver fire pit. I just thought this one was silly...and silly can be good. The image that follows--of the caution tape--was more to represent how "in progress" everything really was. Oh how artistic I can be...



My favorite sculpture by far. I could go on for far too long about why this was the smartest piece there, and, thus, the best, but I'll spare you. Just know that I love it and there is good reason!

I have many more photos of this adventure, and to spare those of you that don't care, and to spare myself the trouble of adding them all here, I have decided to start a Picasa account.That's right...one more social networking account...YIPPEE!!! (And yes I know, Flickr is better...but Picasa allows more space initially. So deal with it!) If you want to see more of the sculpture park and P.S.1, feel free to check out the Picasa.


Well, I've been writing most of this post during a Scrabble game with the roomies, so I'm going to concentrate on that now so I can whoop Daniel who is in the lead. That geezer was cruising for a bruising.

Day Two--"My Girl"

I bet you're wondering...

Did she in fact participate in a large sing-and-dance? Did a greasy-haired man sweep her off her feet in a fun house? Or, better yet, did she have a pregnancy scare and decide to tell the father she wasn't preggers while riding on a ferris wheel?!

Alas, my life is much more boring. "You're the One that I Want" did not really foreshadow my day at all. However, there were some items it could, with the stretch of the imagination, pertain to:

1. Chipotle. This is where the reader says "Huh?" Well, as I'm sure time will tell, I LOVE Chipotle Mexican Grill established in Denver, Colorado in 1993, more than a lot of more

important things. And yesterday it was the one (and only) thing I wanted for dinner. Again, I repeat, stretch that imagination!

2. I had my first class of the semester. Semester 1 of Year 2 of the Master's program in Art History at Stony Brook University (for those of you that don't know). The class I had yesterday was "Imagination in Art", a philosophy class, which I take at the Manhattan Campus. Granted, it was only the first day and we haven't really gotten into the throws of it, but this is the type of class I've been waiting and praying for! It is the class "I neeeeed, oh yesss indeeeed." No joke.

3. I bought a frozen product from an ice cream truck yesterday. That's right. An ice cream truck just waiting for me down the street from my class. I walked past and convinced myself I did not need what they were offering--but then I quickly realized I in fact did WANT something. I pointed to the picture, and without today's (now yesterday's) song in mind at all, I said "that's the one that I want." What did I want you might ask? Well here it is.

And yes, there is a picture on my phone of me trying to eat this phallic-shaped Popsicle. (PS--My spellcheck just wanted me to capitalize Popsicle. I do as it says.) I am sparing you all of this picture.


So, after the Popsicle, my friend Miles and I (Here's Miles...)
ventured to meet some visitors she had. We had a drink or two and then returned to her abode where I fell asleep on, by far, the most comfortable air mattress I've ever had the pleasure of sleeping on...which brings us to...

Day 2: Operation Why-That-Tune
Song: "My Girl"--The Temptations

"I've got sunshine
On a cloudy day.
When it's cold outside,
I've got the month of May.

Well, I guess you'll say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl. (My girl, my girl)
Talkin' 'bout my girl. (My girl)

I've got so much honey
The bees envy me.
I've got a sweeter song
Than the birds in the trees."

Some lyrics for those of you that don't know them by heart. The words in blue are just highlighting on of my favorite lines in any song ever...clever, sweet (no pun intended), and effective--can't go wrong.

So why did I wake up with this song in my head? The only reason I can possibly think of to connect my brain with this song is that a couple days ago my roommate, Andrew, our friend Eboni and I went to John Harvard's Brewhouse and Restaurant where Eboni randomly asked "Either of you want to watch "My Girl" with me?" Let me paint a picture...

Eboni and Not Andrew, but since he does not have any
pictures online and I have zero, I Google-image-
searched his name and Voila! Andrew.

Me:"So how's your food guys?"
Andrew: "Good."
Eboni: [Raises knife in air to bring down, tomahawk-style, on her gargantuan size piece of battered fish]
Me: "Wow. That's intense."
Andrew: [Moves away slowly in fear]
Eboni: "Either of you want to watch 'My Girl' with me?"


See how random? I haven't even thought of "My Girl", the film, in years until she mentioned it. Then, a flood of memories...Vada (and how much I love the name Vada), curling up in a ball on a woven rug, an RV, an allergy to bees, Macauley Culkin at his best, his glasses.

Naturally, I said:

"HELLZ NO! I NEVER WANT TO SEE THAT HEARTBREAKING MOVIE EVER AGAIN!"

She understood.

And that my friends is the ONLY reason I can think of why that song would be in my head this very morning...days after it was first mentioned.

And did it predict my day at all? Since this is already a ridiculously long post, the answer is simply no. But it did put me in a good mood on a day with gorgeous weather so, moral of the story:

All is well that begins well.