Oatmeal Packet Trivia #2
Today's Answers:
Zurich
420
Holly Hunter
Tennis
"Every 4 years"
Strawberries & Cream
The Song Diary Project: An Overblown Introduction
This is a repost of an article I wrote very shortly after starting up this website. I've gone back through and made some changes and clarifications, and thought it deserved a spot back at the top of the pile. :)
Click here to browse the weeklies.
Conceived and launched at the age of twelve, the Song Diary project has been around in various incarnations since 1991. It’s a record of my weekly listening habits and a timeline to reference particular points in my life as they correlate to the music I was listening to. The songs chosen may be new discoveries of mine or songs I'm already acquainted with that are significant for that particular week.
WHAT'S THE POINT?
There really isn't a point to it all. But there is a madness behind it! My personality is such that I feel compelled to chronicle items and events for later reference. Fortunately, I tend to be practical enough in deciding what should merit such time and energy, in my own opinion at least. Now, add to this a nostalgic obsession, and there you have it!
This is my excuse.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY "VARIOUS INCARNATIONS"?
Well, I haven't always approached the task the way I do now. Since about 2001, I have been keeping a record of songs on a weekly basis, but prior to that it was really more of a monthly, or seasonal thing. The change really came about when I made the switch from analog tapes to CDs. As any practiced mixtaper can tell you, making a mixtape is—in comparison to a mix CD—difficult business, requiring (among other things) a great deal of time. Back when I was using tapes, I simply didn't have the time or patience to invest on a weekly basis.
WHAT HAPPENED IN 1991 TO BRING ABOUT THIS ABERRANT BEHAVIOR?
That seems so long ago, being eleven years old. The details are hazy to say the least. I can't say for certain why it was that I began doing this, but I suspect that I was inspired by seeing various countdown-type segments on MTV. This was also around the same time that my interest in music really started to escalate. I was graduating from the role of 'passive listener' to 'active listener' – actively seeking out stuff to listen to whether it was newly released, top 40 radio fodder or not. It was also becoming clear at this point in my life that I was destined to a future of compulsive list-making, as evidenced by my well-preserved, top-left-corner stapled, multiple-page digest of any-and-all toll-free telephone numbers I could get my hands on. If you don't believe me, it's okay. While most preteen boys were out doing whatever it is that most preteen boys do, I was back at home jotting down phone numbers from TV and radio commercials, leaflets, pamphlets, brochures, food boxes, et al. Maybe someday I'll get around to providing actual examples. Maybe.
My memory of the project's inception is fuzzy to say the least, so I shall relate to you the contents of a handful of documents that I have kept all these years, and which are now sitting on the table in front of me. Since I have only a faint recollection for most of the details of these papers, there is an awkward detachment present, as I feel as though I should be able to confidently and succinctly explain this to you, but cannot meet that expectation without "filling in the blanks" to some degree.
Take, for example, the first page, which says:
Johnee Pitdylidhink
** Music Countdown **
for the MONTH of:
NOVEMBER
It should pain me to confess to you that I can offer no insight as to where I came up with the name Johnee Pitdylidhink or, moreover, why I felt the need to take such frivolous liberty in the spelling of the name. My previous stint as "Resident Poetry Analyst" for local radio station D-102 at the ripe age of ten might offer some clues, as I was consistently known to use the alias of Joe Stevenz during those broadcasts, and was, therefore, no stranger to the use of assumed names. I will detail these events in a separate post at some later date. Promise, promise.
That being said, I have flipped the page over, and will now share with you what is, by all accounts, the very first entry in the annals of the Songdiary. As a sidenote, I remember special ordering #3 and #4 from a local record shop when I was still living in Illinois, the name of which I can't recall at the moment.
J.Pitdylidhink Countdown:
Week of 11/03/91
Top 10 CASSETTE SINGLES
1. Color Me Badd - "All 4 Love"
2. EMF - "Lies"
3. R.E.M. - "Losing My Religion"
4. Dire Straits - "Money For Nothing"
5. R.E.M. - "Radio Song"
6. Guns 'N' Roses - "Don't Cry"
7. Scorpions - "Send Me An Angel"
8. Simply Red - "Something Got Me Started"
9. Jesus Jones - "Real Real Real"
10. Chesney Hawkes - "The One & Only"
my top five favorite cocteau twins songs referenced by alternative titles derived from dubious lyrical approximations
5. Diana Ross
4. All Alone, A Lone Shadow
3. Your Livin' Without A Head
2. Son of Summer Survival
1. Pokin' Doe Meet Camel Gag
Honorable Mentions— "Applebee's," "Heaven or Las Vegas"
Top 10 of 2007
I should be hard at work packing for my imminent move to my new apartment, but instead I decided to create a ~50-minute sound file of ten, back-to-back songs, representative of my top ten favorite releases of 2007. The ten songs play in order, starting with #10 and counting down to #1. I'll get around to posting the tracklist eventually.
Author's Top 10 of 2007
from "10" to "1"added 5/12/08
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
FIVE WORDS, FIVE BANDS
Can you spare five words for five of your favorite artists/bands? I'm using the top five from my Most Played Artists list courtesy of last.fm, but I suppose you could come up with a Top 5 of your own.
Post yours as a comment? Or as a link to your list on your own page? Maybe? Yes?
Kate Bush
Nothing quite like The Dreaming
Sigur Rós
My wondrous, private frozen utopia
The Sleepy Jackson
Soundtrack to teenage photo album
R.E.M.
Walkman saved me from somnolence
The Chameleons
Lifelong despair teeters on vindictiveness
NEW LIST OF SONG DIARY WEEKLIES SPANS 10+ YEARS!
No shit. And it resides hereOpens in new tab/window. I am also adding a permalink to the Pages / Sections area of the sidebar for anyone who might be interested in tracking my progress.
It feels good that I am finally devoting time to this aspect of the project. The list started in 1992, but the first eleven years were not entered into or maintained on a computer. In fact: my family never had a computer in the house while I was growing up, and I didn't purchase my first computer until 2002.
The formula is simple enough:
Poring over mounds of lists + Fervid data entry = Progress!!
mixes, there have been several
Additional information is forthcoming, but for now I am posting the names of all known mixes (tapes, CDs) that I've ever made. This list is, of course, quite incomplete and lacking, though my goal is to make it as complete as possible (eventually). Among the difficulties I've encountered so far, is that some mixes have no discernible title about them: I'm still not sure how to deal with this one, as it seems only proper that they be represented and identified somehow. DEAR READERS— perhaps you have been the recipient of a Shawn C mix at some point over the years, and would like to remind me if you see one missing from the list.
Big Stripey Survey
The first time I filled this one out was back in October of 2004.
Those results are here.
|
Created by BourdiezFreak and taken 13232 times on bzoink! |
|
| Choose a band/or artist and answer only in song TITLES by that band: | Kate Bush |
| Are you female or male: | "Houdini" |
| Describe yourself: | "The Morning Fog" |
| How do some people feel about you: | "In Search of Peter Pan" |
| How do you feel about yourself: | "The Man With the Child in His Eyes" |
| Describe your ex girlfriend/boyfriend: | "Kashka From Baghdad" |
| Describe your current girlfriend/boyfriend: | "You're the One" |
| Describe where you want to be: | "Sat In Your Lap" |
| Describe what you want to be: | "Oh, To Be in Love" |
| Describe how you live: | "Suspended in Gaffa" |
| Describe how you love: | "Reaching Out" |
| Share a few words of wisdom: | "Be Kind to My Mistakes" |
My Top 10 albums of 2004
10. Ratatat self-titled
9. Julian Fane Special Forces
8. Frog Eyes The Folded Palm
7. Interpol Antics
6. The Organ Grab That Gun
5. Lansing-Dreiden The Incomplete Triangle
4. Antony and the Johnsons self-titled
3. Electrelane Power Out
2. Gary Wilson Mary Had Brown Hair
1. Destroyer Your Blues
-
SUBSCRIBE
