"Shoes' Blues..."

Once upon a time... 

in my younger days...

I wanted to be a disc jockey...

A WHAT?!?!?!?!

I didn't stutter...

or whatever the typing/blogging equivalent of stuttering would be.

Maybe it would be like your keys on the keyboard got stuck...

and it looked something like...

"S-S-S-s-o-o-o-o t-t-h-i-i-s-i-s-s-s m-o-r-n-i-n-gigning..."

I think you get the drift...

Anyhoo...

Disc jockeys were called that because in order to play music "on air," they had to actually handle the vinyl discs on which music was recorded...

There were LPs...

'LP' stood for 'long play'... and your turntable had to be able to be adjusted to a speed of 33 1/3 revolutions per minute (rpm).  

There were 45s...

... not to be confused with this kind of 45...

(not THIS kind of 45...)

45s were referred to as such because the turntable speed had to be set to 45 rpm.

...and if you played 45s, you had to have these...

These are adapters... sometimes, your record player came with a small spindle that fit the LP just right... but you obviously couldn't play the 45s with the larger center without the adapter. It just snapped inside the record.

There were even EPs (extended play)... these recordings would have a couple of songs on each side, but not enough for the record to qualify as an LP...

So... this was long before Sony Walkmans, iPods, and iPhones, etc... where we could store tons of music onto a microchip, and then call it up by clicking on a link or an icon...

Anyway, if I were a disc jockey, these are the songs I would play for you today...

Why these three?  Well, they are blues songs... and the common thread that the videos have is that they are 'performance' videos... where they either appear to be playing the song (the first two videos), or they ARE playing the song (the last video).

The first song is 'Roll With It'...

This was recorded by Steve Winwood, who originally was a 17 year old singer with a band by the name of 'The Spencer Davis Group' way back in  the day.

I like the honky~tonk kind of feel that is portrayed in this video... it looks hot... sweltering... and music that is so funky you can smell it.  I love watching people dance in these videos... oh, and the bass players... they are always fun to watch.



I also love this Tracy Chapman video, 'Give Me One Reason'... I could watch that guy that is standing off to the right dance for the entire video!!!   This has been the only Tracy Chapman song that I have REALLY liked...   

Of all of these videos, this next one is possibly my mostest favoritest...  I think it was back in the mid - 90s, the Stones did a tour where they included a bunch of small club dates... and a great CD came from it...

'Stripped'

The Rolling Stones

This is an update version of an early single, 'The Spider and the Fly,'  that they had recorded back in the 60s...



There are several things I like about this video...  one, Chuck Leavell is in it... I first became aware of Chuck Leavell back in the 70s when he became a member of the re-organized Allman Brothers Band.  Duane Allman and Berry Oakley had been killed in separate motorcycle accidents... in the re-organization, Leavell and Lamar Williams (bass guitar) joined the band. If my memory is correct, after this version of the ABB dissolved, Leavell and Williams went on to start a band called 'Sea Level'...

Leavell is an official unofficial member of the Stones now... 

Another thing I like about this video would be the two guitars that Ron Woods and Keith Richards are playing... AUGH... I love guitars...

The third thing... and the neatest... is that in the original version of the song, the gal he meets at the bar 'looks about thirty...'  When this version was recorded, they changed the lyrics to keep pace with their advanced age... and the gal at the bar 'looked about fifty...'

HAH!!!

I love music so... 

~shoes~

"It Was The Best Of Times..."

"It Was The Worst Of Times..."

'The Scream'

Edvard Munch

1893

Or...

"What doesn't kill us just makes us stronger..."

I'm sure that there are shit loads of other comments designed to lessen the pain... the hurt... the angst... of whatever it is that is bothering us at any point in time..

'Inner Strength'

Down through the years, I have written about the times that I have felt my position at Alluvial Flood Plain State University was in peril... always seemed to be something that was amiss around here, that left me thinking that I was going out with the next load of trash...

... and I haven't felt well... for quite a while...

Last week, on Tuesday... I was told by my division chair that I needed to be free for a meeting the next day... I asked with whom... and I was told it would include  the dean, the provost, and him.

... anyway...

I arrive at the meeting... they are smiling... shaking hands with me...

It's good to see you... why aren't you wearing your red shoes today???

I told that sawed off bastard him that I didn't expect this meeting to be good news for me... that I didn't think I was going to like the outcome.

They proceeded to tell me...

...that I am no longer needed.  As is par for a university setting, I will receive a terminal contract for one more year... and after that year, I am gone.

but...

... the way I feel at this time, I imagine this is my last year.

I will let them do... decide what to do with the remaining students in the program.


There was...

No 'thank you for twenty-six years of service to the university...'

No 'we are sorry this is happening to you...'

Over the past six years, I have received the College of Business Outstanding Professor Award twice, and the University Outstanding Professor Award.

... and then this.

My feelings are hurt because of the manner in which this was handled.  I would never do someone like this.

My greatest fear is that I would be told that I was losing my job that morning... and that later that afternoon, my doctor would tell me that I was dying...

I have a medical issue that is going to require some attention... and in itself may require that I come back for that one remaining year just for insurance.

I will know more on this topic soon...

Blah.....

~shoes~