"Jump" was the first ever rock song that I really, really, really loved. But that's not why it shows up here. Not exactly, anyway. And unfortunately, I'm unable to elaborate for the time being. I'll be spending the remainder of the evening geeking out with my fantasy football draft. This is serious business. I have a title to defend.
What I noticed, from both my experiences in NYC and DC, is that people are significantly smaller than people around here in Virginia (the "south"). I saw no overweight/obese people in NYC or in DC---and if I did see any, they were tourists. And I realize that it's because the people in those two cities walk everywhere. There's no need to drive in NYC or in DC because you can walk or take the metro----either way, you're stuck walking. Unlike here in VA, where there is no metro or train, so you're stuck to using your own car, you're stuck to driving everywhere---even for just five minutes to the store!
In effort to staying healthy by eating right (cough, cough), I made a promise to myself. I promise to walk more. If it takes 15 minutes or less to DRIVE to wherever I need to go, I will walk instead. Which means when I decide to go to the arts & craft store, Starbucks, & grocery stores---I will WALK.
Cheers.
That thing I do where I pop in for a few minutes and then disappear for days. I told myself I'd make more of an effort to be around on Vox but my projects (work and personal) are taking up a good chunk of time lately.
Anyway, a few things... I still have to finish cleaning out my closet and add to the "random finds" list. I've been holding on to too many things that NEED TO GO.
I'd like to post photos from the NIN concert I went to a couple of weeks ago but I still haven't gotten around to downloading the images. I really should invest in one of those Eye-Fi wireless SD cards for my camera. Sure would make the whole process easier.
I think my dog is a tick. I've noticed that she's been unusually clingy, and it scares me. I keep thinking she senses I'm sick or something. Or, maybe we're just spending too much time together!
Oh, I played Unreal Tournament with the guys over the weekend. I think I may have blinked once or twice during each match. LOL, I love that game.
Well, the Democratic National Convention is on the tube...guess I'll watch/listen while I work.
g'nite all!
The punk rock movement was a reaction to two decades of increasingly bloated excess. The objective was strip away all the superfluous bullshit and recapture the vitality and essence of rock and roll in a way was still forward-thinking. If we accept as a given that the basic story of rock music is the appropriation by white dudes of music typically made by black dudes, then this early Clash song succeeded spectacularly - adding progressive reggae beats to standard blues-based rock. So you could say that "(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais" is a seminal punk rock song. And you'd be right.
But the more salient issue here is the faddish nature of the rock and roll milieu. Trends - from beach music in the late 1950's to the grunge of the early 1990's - are fleeting and the Clash were one of many bands who recognized a developing trend and managed to hop on board the bandwagon at just the right time. That lyric about turning rebellion into money couldn't have been more apt. By the early eighties, the Clash were the biggest rock band in the world - the only band that mattered, as it were - and they paved the way for sanctimonious arena rockers such as Radiohead and U2. Somewhere, Joe Strummer looks down on Bono and smiles.