Friday, November 26, 2004

Hot tips and broken pick-ups.

Okay, so I guess I will give a little hint about the song you are supposed to guess. But it appears that really, no one is interested in winning a great CD with all kinds of great songs on it. And it's so easy. I mean of course I would prefer if you actually knew, but it's okay to google the lyrics and find out that way. So the band we're looking for is one that I'm almost positive everybody knows. So I deliberately chose a song off an older, less popular album. And still fans claim that it is their best album ever made. While I don't disagree with that, some of my favorite songs are on a different album. But altogether this album stands out. Anyway, the band has recently followed the footsteps of Johnny Cash in one of their videos.
That's enough for now. Just have a guess!
And just because I feel like it, here is another song by a different band:

"Some of those that want forces
are the same that burn crosses"

Please don't disappoint me again. It's Christmas time.

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Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Everything is coming our way.

Hey, what's that on your shirt? Ha, you fell for it. So again, I don't have much to say. Well, that's not quite right, but the stuff that did happen I don't wanna talk about yet. Maybe Christina will update you all. I'm just busy with school, preparing for different presentations and projects. I'm listening to the 3rd Santana album right now. Needless to say, it is awesome. Besides Abraxas it's the only of his works I really know. And I'm not even interested in the new stuff. Let me tell you about Abraxas. My dad is a big Santana fan and all he had was one tape - Abraxas. And he would always point out that with Santana you don't go for any particular songs or anything, but you listen to it, merely because of the beautiful guitar playing. And in a way he's right, but I think it doesn't completely do him justice. Plus he has weaker songwriting moments as well, not that I really know too much of his stuff. Anyway, I think the songs on Abraxas are awesome, just for themselves, and his guitar makes them to die for, or some other, more effective exaggeration. I don't think I need to tell anyone about Black Magic Woman. Anyway, my dad had it on tape and as a kid i might have listened to it while playing Lego, who knows. But a few years ago, I was browsing through some records in a store, or maybe it was at the university in Bielefeld, and saw Abraxas, on vinyl and in good condition. So of course I didn't say No. And I remember that when listening to it, some of the songs were strangely familiar. I thought that was cool. I was just excited by how great that music really is. At that time I was really getting into 'classic rock' a lot more, partly thanks to a certain Ms. Miller. Probably in large parts thanks to.
Okay, now comes the big thing. My pathetic attempt at making sense out of this verbal diarrhea. The BIIIIG revelation. Last night we were listening to the radio in the car because I left the CDs in our apartment, and they were playing 80s rock. Sad, I know. I didn't know who the band was or what the song was called, but yet it was strangely familiar. You can just see the storm a-brewing can't you? So I realized, that probably I knew the song from hearing it on the radio as a kid, cause this happens a lot with 80s songs and me. And now that everybody loves that decade, and the songs get a lot of airplay, it happens more and more. I hear songs that I know, but don't have a clue how or who. And it made me think about how many songs there are out there, that my subconcessicity knows, that I am not aware of. That's probably why Abraxas was somewhat familiar to me as well. Alright, I understand you need a minute to digest this deep insight into the inner workings of humankind.
Alright, that's enough of a break. I just wanted to tell you how great Santana is, that besides Abraxas on vinyl, I own III on CD, and that you shouldn't ask me anything, cause I will, given the chance, ramble you head off.
Have you looked at the '500 greatest songs' that Rolling Stone published? Pretty interesting I thought. Especially since a lot of people like to point out that Bob Dylan's main contribution was as a lyricist. After seeing him play live I know those people must also think that, you know, stuff and so on, with cherries on top. Yeah, well I can't come up with anything. But what I had planned to come up with was really funny. And smart of course. As much as such lists will always suck, they are cool to check what other people think is great music, and how much of it you know yourself.
And now to one more thing, our beloved contest. Here's the quote:

Dream the same thing every night,
I see our freedom in my sight,
no locked doors, no windows barred,
no things to make my brain seem scarred

A little harder this time, but if you don't know this song, you better get to know it, and like it. Why? Cause I said so.

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Monday, November 22, 2004

Ginger: 3 points.

"And as we wind on down the road,
Our shadows taller than our souls,
there walks a lady we all know,
who shines white light and wants to show,
how everything still turns to gold"

Yes, Ginger was right. It was Led Zeppelin of course, Stairway to Heaven. Shame on anyone who never heard this song. And thus round 1 of our fabulicious song-guessing contest is over. We only had one player, but that will not stop me from dragging this thing out to the bitter end. Oh, and technically the album is not "IV", it just doesn't have a name. At least that's how I understand it. But since the first three of their albums all got a number, I guess it makes it easier to just call it 4. Or you can verbalize those 4 sings that represent the band members or something. Anyway, I had some stuff I thought would be worth blogging this week, but I forgot. Big surprise. It just wasn't that important. I don't have a new song right now, but maybe tomorrow.

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Saturday, November 13, 2004

Fly, little butterfly, fly!

Man, what a relief. I passed my exam on Friday and everything is going as planned. I'm so glad I made it, I actually still feel psyched and in a good mood. Unfortunately I still have a whole load of things to do this semester for my classes, but the biggest things is behind me for now. Until I have to go into my final exams of course and write the thesis. So first of all, let me thank all the people who have supported me: Christina of course, who had to listen to me whine about how I won't make it and didn't get to spend any time with me (I guess that wasn't that hard to deal with). Then Hedwig who provided me with great articles and saved me a lot of research on my own. And finally Alice, who spent time with Christina while I was studying. Oh, and everyone else too. Like I said before, I love you all. Okay, I'm making this a bigger deal than it actually is, but hey, if your life is not that exciting, you have to dwell on the little things. Like finding change on the street. Didn't happen though.
I do have a little story to tell though. My left rear tire is losing some air. I'm getting it fixed on Monday, but for now I have to go to the gas station and check it every other day. So on Thursday, I think, after university, I went to the gas station up there. They have a little carport type thing where you can vacuum your car and do the air and water thing. So of course when I pull in to the gas station, the car in front of me also turns and goes straight for the air. It never fails. So I park my car on one the parking spots they have there right by the carport, waiting for this dude to get done. And let me tell you he was taking forever. I'm not even kidding, I'm surprised I'm not still waiting there. But hey, I figured he would have to get done some time. Turns out I was right. So while he was doing his thing I sat in my car, avoiding the cold, and this other car pulls up behind him, making it impossible for him to get out once he was done. Guy #2, let's call him Dick, no that's too obvious, his name was Rod, gets out and Mr. Slow says something to him about not being able to get out I assume. So Rod moves his car a little so Mr. Slow can get out later. And I'm already seeing where this is going, but I was like, nah, I have been waiting there, and Rod saw me and it will no problem. WRONG! Slow pulls out and Rod moves right in. I walk over there, waiting for the air thing to fill up with air again (we have portable little pressure tanks for the cars here in Germany) and ask Rod "So you wanting to get air too?" Rod's kinda like Yeah, couldn't really hear him though. Turns out Rod is so full of crap, some of it had gotten into Rod's mouth. So the air thing fills up, Rod had his hand on it while it was doing that cause, as I thought, it was making a funny noise. Turns out Rod is the offspring of dogs, marking his territory. Then Rod just grabs it and proceeds to his car. I say "Well you know I have been waiting here since before you got here". Rod says:"Pech" (that means "bad luck"). So after a long day at the university, and waiting for Mr. Slow to get done, this was not what I needed. So I told Rod. Asked Rod if Rod thought that was cool, how nice that was of Rod, how nice it is to still see people that respect one another. All that kind of stuff. Rod, assumably knowing just how big of a dick Rod is, doesn't even answer, so I'm going on, Oh you're not answering, it's embarrassing ain't it, blah-blah-blah. I figured I had to wait on Rod anyway, might as well give Rod a hard time (you pervert). And all of you who know me, know I'm one tough son-of-a-gun (I would use a different word, but you know, PG13). Okay maybe not so tough, but I was really annoyed. And I could tell Rod was getting annoyed too. Good. I went on and on and on, asked Rod if he had kids, Rod:I don't think that's any of your business Mr. Toughguy:Well I just hope we won't have another generation like you. Rod is trying to tell me that I can let go now, but the crap was still bothering his mouth. The one thing Rod did utter clearly was that the carport was the service station, and Rod was in it so Rod gets the air. I say, Well this is not kindergarten, and I told you I had been waiting, in a nice way, but you didn't care. Of course Rod didn't reply. I told Rod, well you know I could take my car and block you in here too and fill up my air and you'd have to wait, Rod: Well why don't you, Mr. Tough: Cause I'm better than you in that aspect. And on I went about how nice of a guy Rod is. Finally Rod's done, and since he is so witty, Rod tells me to have a nice day, I say Well I'm not wishing you one, Rod says Well that's nice and I tell him that as Rod did to me so do I to Rod. Got the last word in. Okay so probably Rod doesn't even give a shit, but I couldn't just let it go I guess and I consider myself the moral superior and winner. If nothing else, I did annoy the hell out of Rod and kindly drew Rod's attention to Rod's misbehavior.
So why on earth can't people like Rod be a bit more communicative and nice. I just don't get it. I have to assume that Rod thinks he is part of an experiment, surveying him, and that we are all just puppets or robots to create an environment around Rod, so Rod doesn't even bother to lift his head and look around. I could say that this is somewhat of a general tendency in Germany, to have a narrow view of your surroundings, but Rod was such a dong, it bears no comparison. It would be unfair to all the rest. Also, I would like to apologize to the dogs. You are much more compassionate than Rod will ever be.
Alright, enough of that. Let's get to something more cheerful. As my last attempt at an interactive blog feature was a complete failure (all you had to do was name the post: Carol, Sue, Herbert would all have worked) I decided to try again. We will have a full-blown song-guessing contest. This is how it will work. In this post and future posts, I will quote a song (this will be marked clearly, not hidden) and you have to guess which song it is, i.e. Artist, Title, Album. I promise I won't make it too hard, or at least there will be a mix of easy and tough ones. The person who gets it right first, either in an e-mail to me or in a comment, will win that round, earning three points. First and second runner-up will still receive one point. There might be extra points for 'Worst answer' or 'Most creative' or something. That will be my judgment. The lines will vary in length and if I don't receive a correct answer within 48 hours or so, I will give a hint. I would like for everyone to register to enter the contest by e-mailing me but you don't have to. It would just make it easier for me. Make sure to use "sing song sing-along" in the subject line every time you write with regards to the contest though. That way it can all be filtered correctly. So please everybody, sign up. Why you ask, well it's simple. It's fun fun fun galore AND you can WIN SOMETHING!!! Awesome, right? The winner of this contest will receive one compilation CD with all the songs that have appeared in the contest. But I might add some or not use the other, but mostly it will be contest-songs. So what are you waiting on? Sign up now and guess what song this line is from:

"There's a feeling I get
when I look to the West
And my spirit is crying for leaving"

Not that hard I know, but let's start things off slowly. Also, feel free to share your feelings about any of the songs or artists with me. And finally, I would like to have a little disclaimer: If any part of the contest is in violation of any copyright laws (and I will provide the creator of each song) I am unaware of it and will be thankful for anyone who will point out legal issues.
I just assume there won't be any, cause after all it's just an innocent game that no one will profit from financially.
Okay, that's it folks, start guessing. I think I will post about 2-3 songs a week. Depending on how I feel or what songs are in my head at certain times. You may register at any time during the contest and I will announce when it will end. I'm assuming before Christmas. Enjoy!

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Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Quirky Title

Since it was starting to look like this was just "Christoph's blog for rambling" I decided to finally post something so you all know I am still alive and well. Well, I guess I could talk about our weekend, but there is not too much to report. We went to Christoph's parents from Friday until Monday afternoon (this week is a short week because Monday was a holiday here). It was kinda good for me though, because I got my birthday presents from his parents and Grandma and his mom also made me a cake. It is called Cefrisch Torte and tastes really good. It is made with an orange powder sorta like Tang, mixed with cream and tangerines. Yummy. We also played the Game of Life with his parents and pretty much hung around and did nothing all weekend. It was nice. Anyway, enough for now. Anyone have any thoughts about the election?? I figure that will be the topic of most conversations for a while, so why not join in. I could tell you who I want to win, but if you know me I think you know the answer to that anyway. Bush, of course.... :)...........NOT!!!

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