Author: stevenology

The Book I Read: It By Stephen King

Yes, he’s the master of horror.

I’ve read over a dozen of his books now, and while some are better than others I enjoyed them all. This is one of the better ones. At 1100 or so pages, it took a while to finish, but even at that length I didn’t find much filler. There was one scene that I didn’t really like but overall I liked it a lot and really got to know and care about the characters. I liked the way he switched back and forth between them as kids and as adults. Sometimes you had to read a bit to know which was which. Clever. And Mr. King was very descriptive with being too long-winded. He really does know how to write.


The Wisdom Of John Lennon


Lots Of Video On My YouTube Channel

I go to concerts. Sometimes I record some of the songs on video. Check it out, maybe even subscribe!

https://www.youtube.com/user/mystevenology/videos


The Book I Read: Here, There And Everywhere – My Life Recording The Music Of The Beatles By Geoff Emerick And Howard Massey

Geoff Emerick was actually THERE. We’ve heard a million times about what happened when the Beatles were recording, from the early days until the bitter end. But he was actually there to see and work on a lot of the music. His accounts of the Beatles pushing the limits of the studio again and again offer a world of insights into their music process. He sometimes seems to brag a bit about his record prowess, but then again you can’t argue with the results. His accountings of the Revolver and Sgt Peppers sessions alone make the book worth buying. But there’s much more than that.


The Book I Read: Complicated Game – Inside The Songs Of XTC By Andy Partridge And Todd Bernhardt

So many great songs. Andy wrote most of XTC’s songs and they are one of the best bands ever. This book takes about 30 of his XTC songs ands discusses them at length. In doing so, it provides a wealth of insight into his creative songwriting process.

“I like accidents. I like to put myself in the way of musical harm. I like being at the wheel of that musical car, and aiming it at the wall, just to see what shape the car’s going to come out. It might come out an interesting shape that would have taken me forever to decide on otherwise. – Andy Partridge”

And don’t just believe me, here’s what Amazon has to say:


Our Latest 45 Music Items

Here is the latest music update. Some of these were new, some were used, most were cheap. The CDs are first, the vinyl after, click the “more” link. Do you love any of these? Hate any of them? Or are you just confused?

Read all the way to the end and then leave me a comment!

ARTIST – TITLE – FMT – SIZE – CTRY – COMMENTS
Michaelson, Ingrid – It Doesn’t Have To Make Sense – CD – 5 – US –
McMahon, Andrew In The Wildeness – Zombies On Broadway – CD – 5 – US –
Prince – Prince4Ever – CD – 5 – US –
Prince – The Symbol And The Girl – CD – 5 – US – Bootleg
Chvrches – Every Open Eye – CD – 5 – US –
Garbage – Strange Little Birds – CD – 5 – US –
Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface – CD – 5 – US – CD-R
Eisley – I’m Only Dreaming – CD – 5 – US –
Spektor, Regina – Remember Us To Life – CD – 5 – US –
Bowie, David – Stage – CD – 5 – US –
Bowie, David – PNE Live Rehearsal 1976 – CD – 5 – US – Bootleg
Bowie, David – The Year Of The Spiders – CD – 5 – US – Bootleg
Sia – This Is Acting – CD – 5 – US – Seven bonus tracks
Hart, Beth – Fire On The Floor – CD – 5 – US –
Stirling, Lindsey – Shatter Me – CD – 5 – US – CD-R
Stone, Allen – Radius – CD – 5 – US – Seven bonus tracks
Lennon, John – Your Daddy’s Here – CD – 5 – US – Bootleg
Beatles, The – Strawberry Fields Forever – CD – 5 – US – Bootleg
Beatles, The – Alternate Sgt. Peppers – CD – 5 – US – Bootleg
Oingo Boingo – Forbidden Boingo Volume One – CD – 5 – US – Bootleg
Oingo Boingo – Forbidden Boingo Volume Two – CD – 5 – US – Bootleg
Soundtrack – Lazarus – CD – 5 – US –
Cure, The – Disintegration – CD – 5 – US – 3-CD deluxe version


Terrific Tunes For Tuesday – Take 67

One of my favorite bands is XTC, as some of you know. They did a couple side projects back in the day, masquerading as the psychedelic band “The Dukes Of Stratosphear”. The alter-ego band was comprised of Sir John Johns, The Red Curtain, Lord Cornelious Plum, and E.I.E.I. Owen…

Here’s what Andy Partridge, leader of XTC, had to say about this tune, a sort-of homage to The Beatles “I Am The Walrus”:

We dressed up in the gear, and we had a dummy piano painted in psychedelic swirls, and just made every pop promotional film from 1967 all together in one film. Including this cod Pathe News voiceover at the start which said (plummy newsreel voice) “Here we see Chittingfold House, home of the Frobisher-Harrises since 1667. Some three hundred years later, the English pop group The Dukes of Stratosphear have decided to perform their latest pop recording, ‘The Mole From The Ministry’.” And then it went into this piece of cod. And we were so happy with it, cause it was the only video to that date where we’d had total input and we’d been listed to instead of, oh no, we’re gonna do it my way instead. Cause that always happened on our videos, we just had to shut up and do as we were told. But that one came out great. And then Virgin Records said no, we’re not going to spend any money on it. We said, look, it already exists! You just pay two thousand pounds to the BBC and you can buy it from them! And they wouldn’t do it. So there is a video in existence — it’s quite long, it’s about five minutes long. . .

 

Get the music: Dukes Of Stratosphear | XTC | Andy Partridge

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TERRIFIC TUNES FOR TUESDAY – TAKE 66

It’s called “Is This Tainted Love?” This mash-up is the classic Soft Cell song mixed with some Bob Marley. No, really. Check it out. There’s not really a video but the mash-up is fun.

 

Other music by Bob Marley | Soft Cell

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Love Trumps Hate

Just saying’…

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Terrific Tunes For Tuesday – Take 65

Yes, 2016 was a rough year. Bowie, Prince, Gene Wilder, and all the other deaths. Not to mention the massive challenge of life itself. Holy crap, I need some novocaine for my soul. Here’s Mark Everett, aka “E”, from the first Eels album. Still cool today, as far as I know… 😉

 

Other music by Eels

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RIP John

John Lennon

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Our Latest 31 Music Items

Here is the latest music update. Some of these were new, some were used, most were cheap. Do you love any of these? Hate any of them? Or are you just confused?

Read all the way to the end and then leave me a comment!

ARTIST – TITLE – FORMAT – SIZE – COUNTRY – COMMENTS
Pretenders, The – Alone CD 5 US
Martinez, Melanie – Cry Baby CD 5 US
Beatles, The – Live At The Hollywood Bowl CD 5 US
Death Cab For Cutie – Kintsugi CD 5 US
XTC – Skylarking CD 5 US CD + Blu-Ray box
Stone, Joss – Water For your Soul CD 5 US
X Ambassadors – VHS CD 5 US
XTC – Dave Gregory – Remoulds 2 CD 5 US Bootleg
Parker, Graham – Blue Highway CD 5 UK
Parker, Graham – Carp Fishing On Valium – The Songs CD 5 US
Bay, James – Chaos And The Calm CD 5 US


Happy Halloween!

 

Let me know what you think, leave me a comment.

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Terrific Tunes For Tuesday – Take 64

It’s been a while, but today’s Terrific Tune For Tuesday is Melanie Martinez video for “Pity Party”. Old-timers like me will recognize the piece of Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party”, but don’t worry, credit is given and Melanie takes it into a whole new area. Actually, I’d recommend the whole “Cry Baby” CD by Melanie, but here’s a bit of it. Enjoy this Pity Party.

 

Let me know what you think, leave me a comment.

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The 2016 Stevenology Voter Guide Makes Voting Easy!

voteleftAre you wondering how to vote in this election? Well, wonder no more. Here at stevenology we make it easy. No need to think for yourself, we’ll do that for you! It’s simple, just vote like this:

President – Hillary Clinton

US Senate – Kamala Harris

US Rep, District 6 – Doris Matsui

US Rep, District 7 – Ami Bera

State Assembly, District 7 – Kevin McCarty

Prop 55 – Tax Extension For Education and Healthcare – VOTE YES

Prop 56 – Cigarette Tax – VOTE YES

Prop 59 – Corporations and Political Spending – VOTE YES

Prop 61 – Drug Prices – VOTE YES

Prop 62 – Death Penalty Repeal – VOTE YES

Prop 63 – Firearms Control – VOTE YES

Prop 64 – Marijuana Legalization – VOTE YES

Prop 65 – Carry Out Bags – VOTE NO

Prop 66 – Death Penalty Procedures – VOTE NO

Prop 67 – Plastic Bag Ban – VOTE YES

I left some items off, vote however you want on those 😉

Now see, wasn’t that easy? Feel free to argue with me or (better yet) praise my wisdom by leaving a comment below!

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