A Father's Day post, post-Father's Day . . .
This was our first, special, get-away trip, since she'd become a big sister.
A brother had arrived the previous April, and our formerly one-and-only child had been sharing the spotlight with a new brother.
She'd done surprisingly well. Better than I'd expected. Jealously and weirdness was fairly minimal.
And we'd reached a point where we felt comfortable enough to leave him with my parents for an overnight, so that Mom, Dad and daughter could have a little adventure.
The hotel had a pool. My daughter had never taken a swimming lesson, but did like to splash around in a kiddie pool.
My wife had the idea to buy a pair of "Floaties" for her arms. They had Nemo on them, and my daughter thought they looked kind of cool.
But nothing prepared her for how cool things were about to get.
My wife carried her into the pool, as she had in other pools on other occasions. But then she put her down, holding just her hands. Then she let go of her hands.
My daughter was shocked to find that she was floating by herself, without any help from us.
"I'M SWIMMING! EVERYBODY! I'M SWIMMING!" She waved to the nonplussed pool-goers, who were unaware of the monumental occasion happening before their eyes.
"LOOK EVERYBODY! I'M SWIMMING!!!"
She simply couldn't contain herself, or her pride.
And I thought to myself, "That's my daughter in the water." I could barely contain myself either.
Hear the song on Youtube.
Showing posts with label loudon wainwright. Show all posts
Showing posts with label loudon wainwright. Show all posts
Monday, June 18, 2012
Monday, July 12, 2010
Loudon Wainwright "Talking New Bob Dylan"
I love being inspired by just listening.
Heard this song today, and I got inspired for a Hot Seat.
We have this show called "The Hot Seat" and each week a different DJ or guest hosts the show, and goes free-form for an hour, usually on a theme. I think it will be a pretty entertaining hour to do 60 minutes of Talking Blues.
Sure, it'll be several Dylan songs, but there are a bunch of fun "Talking" tunes in the Dylan style, from folks like Todd Snider, and Loudon, who had me howling in the car as I drove to work.
So look for that show down the road. And if you have any Talking Blues suggestions, let me know.
Heard this song today, and I got inspired for a Hot Seat.
We have this show called "The Hot Seat" and each week a different DJ or guest hosts the show, and goes free-form for an hour, usually on a theme. I think it will be a pretty entertaining hour to do 60 minutes of Talking Blues.
Sure, it'll be several Dylan songs, but there are a bunch of fun "Talking" tunes in the Dylan style, from folks like Todd Snider, and Loudon, who had me howling in the car as I drove to work.
So look for that show down the road. And if you have any Talking Blues suggestions, let me know.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Big Star “Motel Blues”
All Time Top Five Songs About Motel Rooms . . .
From time to time on Every Day I Write The Blog, I do a week’s worth of my five favorite songs on theme. For the All Time Top Five rules, see this previous post.
This track is from a live, Big Star CD. Which means I am compelled to say two things:
First, I’ll point out that I think this is the first time where I am repeating an album. I wrote about the song “In The Street” a while back, when a listener told me that it was the worst song he’d ever heard.
Secondly, any mention of Big Star comes with a requisite background explanation.
Big Star was a band formed in Memphis in the early 70s. Despite critical acclaim, their records were poorly promoted, and subsequently sold few copies. They broke up, but became an influential cult favorite to artists like R.E.M., Matthew Sweet, The Gin Blossoms, Wilco and more. This Cult Cred culminated this past year, with a huge boxed set, issued by Rhino Records.
Part of the first Big Star renaissance, when Rykodisc records reissued their 3 proper albums in the early nineties, included the album simply titled “Live,” a long lost live-on-the-radio appearance by the band.
Big Star was led by Alex Chilton, who, at the time of the recording, was already an industry vet. As a 16-year-old, he became the lead singer of The Box Tops, and recorded the vocals for one of the all-time great Rock N Roll songs, “The Letter.” Unfortunately, the exploitation of his talent, at the hands of The Biz, left the now 22-year-old Chilton pretty jaded. When asked by the WLIR radio host on this live recording, what the music business was like back when he recorded “The Letter,” Chilton responded, “Kinda scummy. Like now.”
So it seems only fitting that the band would take on another famously blunt, occasionally cranky songwriter’s tune. Loudon Wainwright The Third’s song “Motel Blues” had only been released a year earlier at this point, but the attitude was right for Chilton.
It’s only a few lines, but, like so many good songwriters, clean strokes paint the images clearly and quickly. World weary, deglamorized and just a little desperate, Big Star makes this song fit nicely alongside similar tracks penned by themselves like “Thirteen” and “I’m In Love With A Girl.”
Hear clips of all the songs mentioned in this post:
Hear the song, set to some rare, random Big Star footage, and hear Loudon Wainwright sing it 30-plus years after he wrote it.
And read a recent interview, where Loudon suggests how he might update the lyrics (at the bottom of the article).
Buy Big Star “Live” or buy ”Keep An Eye On The Sky” boxed set.
From time to time on Every Day I Write The Blog, I do a week’s worth of my five favorite songs on theme. For the All Time Top Five rules, see this previous post.
This track is from a live, Big Star CD. Which means I am compelled to say two things:
First, I’ll point out that I think this is the first time where I am repeating an album. I wrote about the song “In The Street” a while back, when a listener told me that it was the worst song he’d ever heard.
Secondly, any mention of Big Star comes with a requisite background explanation.
Big Star was a band formed in Memphis in the early 70s. Despite critical acclaim, their records were poorly promoted, and subsequently sold few copies. They broke up, but became an influential cult favorite to artists like R.E.M., Matthew Sweet, The Gin Blossoms, Wilco and more. This Cult Cred culminated this past year, with a huge boxed set, issued by Rhino Records.
Part of the first Big Star renaissance, when Rykodisc records reissued their 3 proper albums in the early nineties, included the album simply titled “Live,” a long lost live-on-the-radio appearance by the band.
Big Star was led by Alex Chilton, who, at the time of the recording, was already an industry vet. As a 16-year-old, he became the lead singer of The Box Tops, and recorded the vocals for one of the all-time great Rock N Roll songs, “The Letter.” Unfortunately, the exploitation of his talent, at the hands of The Biz, left the now 22-year-old Chilton pretty jaded. When asked by the WLIR radio host on this live recording, what the music business was like back when he recorded “The Letter,” Chilton responded, “Kinda scummy. Like now.”
So it seems only fitting that the band would take on another famously blunt, occasionally cranky songwriter’s tune. Loudon Wainwright The Third’s song “Motel Blues” had only been released a year earlier at this point, but the attitude was right for Chilton.
It’s only a few lines, but, like so many good songwriters, clean strokes paint the images clearly and quickly. World weary, deglamorized and just a little desperate, Big Star makes this song fit nicely alongside similar tracks penned by themselves like “Thirteen” and “I’m In Love With A Girl.”
Hear clips of all the songs mentioned in this post:
Hear the song, set to some rare, random Big Star footage, and hear Loudon Wainwright sing it 30-plus years after he wrote it.
And read a recent interview, where Loudon suggests how he might update the lyrics (at the bottom of the article).
Buy Big Star “Live” or buy ”Keep An Eye On The Sky” boxed set.
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