Bridge Tournament

At our bridge club today, there was an all-day tournament. My partner and I won in our grade. Both of us are extremely junior players and I suspect that we were the only people in our grade so this win is probably equivalent to coming home from kindergarten on sef-esteem day. But that is ok, it still felt nice. If you see TRH, give him a pat. He actually had competition and did not get a prize, which made him sad.

Access (UPDATED) (AND AGAIN)

A short political observation: I note that Obama has delayed his VP pick for so long that he is driving all the pundits and press people mad. They don't have the access they have come to expect!! Gnashing of teeth!! Crankiness!!! It is delightful to read. This impresses me as possibly quite clever. Is there a meta-message to all of these preening leeches that they will die from a lack of inside access if they don't start playing a little nicer--and by nicer I mean evenhandedly?

In more important news, the dog has stopped shaking and I have been giving him a good stripping. If all goes according to plan I should have some adorable before (shaggy) and after (sleek and ready to roll!) pictures at some point soon.

UPDATE Now that it appears that Biden is it, all the headfaking or whatever you want to call it just seems dumb. For THIS you made us tremble with anticipation?! Such an uninspired choice it seems to me. Maybe I will be proven wrong and I will be thrilled if I am. He (you know who) has announced he will NOT vote when our ballots arrive. He is crushed and surprised at the choice. I am about there too, but plan to vote if only so I can complain for the next four years, if the worst happens.

UPDATE THE SECOND: There is such abrasivness and orations ex tempore and in extenso on the subject of THE choice around here, that it is clear to me that Obama did not consider ME in making this choice. Now it's personal AND my comments above about canny meta stuff seem increasingly beside any point that matters to me or as any sort of analysis that might have any claim toward incisiveness. Utterly down in flames in so many ways....um...How many days until the election?

[It is past time, WAY past time, for adorable dog pictures. Claro.]

Shaking Dog

We had some pretty loud thunder (but not much by Eastern US standards) and a bunch of hail the other night. The dog got spooked. Then last night we had some wind that was a little noisy and the dog was spooked all over again. He just shakes and shakes and instead of all being all cuddly and warm you find him at 4:00 AM sitting in a rooom where he normally never goes shaking. He looks so pathetic, like someone hit him. He is not doing much sleeping now. He will get over it I know but it is bummer to see his sunny disposition go away and be replaced by anxiety. Wellington is noisy and the noise never seemed to bother him before--- he will HAVE to deal.

Some of the Things I Wind up Listening to as I Write (Part Two)

I have a couple more things to share.

The first up is... what? ... is it, I hear you guessing as you listen... like Human League? Except it's not!... which becomes quite evident when the vocals come in... so what is it? Well, it's nothing so common as the New Wavishness of Human League's Don't You Want Me (a good song actually). It's Sad Italo-Disco! Everyone's favorite subgenre (if you are from my neck of the woods). It's Runaway by One Two Three. The year is like 1981? 1982? And this song was a total playa on the floor of That Hot Troc for like a year and half and it would come on at like 6:00 AM--and the light man would opt for sad darkness with baleful and not plentiful red lights. Those WERE the days:



The next item is happy happy happy and it's One Two Three by the Peter Jacques Band. About 1980. It is Mark's bubblegum addiction showing up again. Catchy and fast, I loved it from the start. Orchestration is superb:



The last item is Magnifique by Magnifique. It may impress you as silly at first but it in fact is one of the most magnificent of all the disco songs (that one would hear only in the clubs). It may sound frivolous like I say but it actually is earnestly sinister in a way that is fun when you are doing some serious clubbing. Magnifique was to be heard in the heart of the evening at 3:00 AM usually. I first heard it like in 1979 and I can recall it still turning up in the clubs in 1984 AND we of course still thought it was awesome. This particular remix creates a sense of architecture that is only present in the original in nuce and by doing so it maximizes all the potential that this song possesses:



"Oh! That feels good. It's really hot stuff. C'est magnifique!"

Some of the Things I Wind Up Hearing as I Write (Part One)

If you don't like teh disco, then you need to move on quam celerrime. Go see teh boss? Yeah go there now. Or here.

Ok! Now that those rockin' scolds are all gone, we can have some fun.

It is now no doubt a worn-out obervation that youtube is full of fun stuff. Worn-out but true true true!

There are youtubes of dance numbers that I loved back around 1980 there. I will start with two of these and share some others later. These two and the others show up on my various CDs and on mixed CDs from some big parties that have been happening recently at the club (the Trocadeo Transfer) we all used to go to way back in the day. I own the vinyl for these two myself and may mix them for you in the future once my research is in better shape.

The first is Lisa's Jump Shout. This is an extraordinarily odd song. It is a little country with a whole-lot-a bubblegum--- a whole lot. It features the irrepressible Lisa, who possesses a memorable voice not unlike a powerful rubberband. But she does have presence, steadiness, and sass. I thought the world of this song and I guess it was my favorite--- though it does have competition from Nightlife Unlimited's Just Be Yourself. I am not apologizing for the inexplicable love I have for this song but if you feel I should, chalk it up to the mysteries of one's youthful passions. What can one say? ANYWAY, I saw her live in July of 1982 (in Oakland!) and I so looked forward to it. She was great and I wrote her a fan letter afterwards (like the only one I have ever written). She sent me back her picture, signed. It is framed on the wall in the record room. Anyway, the song is a young gay man's dream from around 1981. She is singing about the various gay clubs in North America (Trocadero Transfer "That Hot Troc", The Saint, The Probe, Badlands, Dreamland, The Lost and Found, etc.):



This next number, the friendly guy on the youtube introduces but I will tell you that it is We've Gotta Dance by Sylvia Mason. As you listen to the song, note the nice orchestration--- the horns! the strings! it is all very very tight--- and this Sylvia is not lacking in presence and indeed possesses a nice top and a fetching slight lisp at times. The "dance" in "we've gotta dance" is deliciously put under the pitch. She knows what she is doing. Her back-ups are guys (like a Rossini Opera). AND, and and and and, AND DON'T YOU MISS the break on this song. It is ICONIC (also check out Sylvia's reentrance after the break-- she is not mailing this in) :



That is all for now. More later.