WHY I BLOG 365 DAYS A YEAR: POPTHOMOLOGY TURNS 3

Crazy? Cool? Meh? All? Another February 28th has arrived and with it for the third time I think, whoa, it’s my blog’s birthday. I would smash a piece of cake on my laptop screen in celebration and light three little candles on the keyboard, but this would likely mean difficulties in continuing to post, and we can’t have that. And by “we,” I mean “I,” because “I” for some reason set myself a goal quite some time ago: do/write/make something...

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DOGGEREL

(MissEight, on the drive home from school.) MissEight: Mom? Me: Yes. MissEight: Do dogs mate? Me: Yes. MissEight: Oh my god. Mishka the Husky -Hello Mishka the Husky - Bye Bye ...

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I MANGLE THE FRENCH LANGUAGE AND COVER "ET MOI ET MOI ET MOI"

Let me give you some advice, people who sing: think twice and then ONE MORE TIME before you decide to cover a song in a TOTALLY FOREIGN LANGUAGE. Well, OK..."Tequila" would be fine, and I really should have considered that before attempting a song with NOTHING BUT ZILLIONS OF FRENCH WORDS. I underestimated the impact that me totally not speaking French would be have upon my effort. Let's just say my vocal booth, or my bedroom closet as it's commonly...

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MISS EIGHT & I ATTEND THE "RALLY TO SAVE THE AMERICAN DREAM," OLYMPIA, WA

You know the whole thing about feeling a "good kind of tired?" Well, I'm feeling better and worse than that: I'm feeling a FANTASTIC kind of EXHAUSTED! But, man, am I glad I made the trip down to Olympia, Washington today to attend the pro-workers' rights "Rally To Save The American Dream," organized by MoveOn. "Glad" doesn't even cover it. "Honored" and "moved" would be more accurate. To stand with such a varied group of Americans -- babies in strollers...

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OLYMPIA, HERE I COME

I wasn't planning on giving up a nice Saturday morning sleep-in on a cold winter morning. Nope, not me. But here's what changed my plans. As I watched this horrible scene at the Wisconsin State Capitol take place, via the reports of the people there, I felt incredibly depressed. Governor Scott Walker's idea of democracy simply cannot be accepted. He and his cohorts are counting on using Big Biz money and muscle to push past any resistance...

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THE PIECE OF ICE

For MissEight, snow and ice is still a wondrous and novel thing. ...

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LIGHTING A FIRE: THE BEATLES’ “NORWEGIAN WOOD”

One of the gifts inherent in great music, or any kind of exceptional art, is that you can revisit it and see new things as the years pass. Taking in a creative work always has the subjective to it – there isn’t a right or wrong way, and so much depends upon your own experiences to date, and even your mood at the time. I like to think of it as just being able to access layers; you get the tools or keys to unlock them as you go along, maybe. Even if...

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VIDEO: VOICES FROM MADISON

This short video posted by Finn Ryan is so beautiful in its simplicity and reason that I felt I had to pass it on. These are some of the people who have been standing at the State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin protesting Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting legislation. There's no name-calling, no angry slurs, no asking for anything more than the right to be fairly heard. If you hear "union" and automatically think "corruption" or "entitlement"...

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SPAM POEMS 2

I'm still suffering over learning French garage rock, so once again I bring you the best of international writing -- more Spam Poems fashioned from my blog spam filter! Merci! 1.Wassup. I truly desire some ideal. I must receive some a new one. I really like interesting, horror, plus actions and exotic given that they're just decent. Hahah. Thanks a bunch. 2. I presume that I could perhaps look at this various different ways. Thanks much for...

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BUY A PIZZA FOR HUNGRY WI. PROTESTORS!

Standing up for your rights can be a rather exhausting process. In Wisconsin, it's the middle of winter, it's cold, and Gov. Scott Walker is blocking a pro-union internet site at the State Capitol. It's easy for those assembled to be discouraged and tired after days of protests. Gov. Walker is counting on people burning out and his agenda going through on default. This MUST not happen, and I sure do understand that it's much easier said than done. There...

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JE SUIS UN ROCK STAR OR, I WAS A MIDDLE-AGED HIPSTER MYNAH BIRD

Busy day today spent child wrangling and music recording, so no pithy or pissy words from me today.  Instead I will provide you with several rare and valuable YouTube videos of some of France's greatest pop music exports from the 1960s, or perhaps all of them. One of these songs is the cover I am working on now. You may notice that all of these songs are in French. I do not speak French. At all. This is not stopping me from covering a song sung...

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HEAVENLY HOT DOG HAVEN: SEATTLE'S PO DOG

Let me state upfront: I am from Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, because of the state's strong German heritage, we take our sausages seriously. No withered wiener shall pass by my lips, no boring bratwurst nor heinous hot dog...a substandard sausage is simply shameful. Therefore, it was with some reserve that I went to Seattle's Po Dog, a restaurant that specializes in the goofy and gourmet glorification of the humble hot dog. I will now stop my alliteration...

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