balmofgilead

Oh, neat. Little Peggy March's I Will Follow Him was a translation of a song Petula Clark recorded in French.

I love little things like that, covers that are fairly different from the original in some way.  I like how Blondie's Denis is a version of Randy & the Rainbows' Denise. Blondie also covered The Paragon's 1967 song The Tide Is High. I like how April March's Chick Habit is a translation of the old France Gall's Laisse Tomber les Filles. I like how The Toys' Lovers' Concerto is based on Bach's Minuet in G major.  And yes, I like how Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah is based on Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours.

I have to take a brief cab ride again today.  (Maybe it'll be the last time, please God, given my stepped-up car search.).

If the cab driver flirts with me or hits on me like the last one did, I am not going to give him a tip, and I'm going to tell him that's why I'm not giving a tip as I'm leaving the cab. 

It's not that I expect it to happen, but...I didn't expect it last time, and I ended up not thinking and giving a tip anyway, and y'know what?  If I'm unhappy with the service and it was entirely the driver's fault, I'm not going to. We're talking a buck or two here. It's the principle of the thing, and it might teach 'em something. 

I'm not an angry feminist, I swear. Well, maybe a little. 

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And I've finally discovered the single good things about MySpace, which is...not so good.  Apparently it is THE way for a lot of up-and-coming musicians to connect with their fans.  I mean, dude, the idea that you can send the person an email and they'll actually see it themselves?  Pretty neat.  So now I'm mildly hooked on the terrible page designs and the instantaneously-loading backround music and all that.  I'm so ashamed.

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Last night my mom was speaking to my grandmother on the phone, and among the things I overheard was "I have high expectations" and "All I can do is love her." I'm grateful for some of my mother's attitudes/styles/perspectives. She has a driving student right now who has practiced ballet for 6 hours every day since she turned 5...and quite possibly as a fulfillment of her very type-A mother's dream.

You know what? Artists who stream entire albums from their websites are awesome. It means you can listen to the entire thing before deciding if you want to buy it. I respect that--so much so that it makes me really want to buy albums.

For anyone playing along at home, a followup to my previous post about flash mp3 players.

I decided to buy this-- Creative Labs Zen Nano Plus 1GB. No expansion slot, but possibly better sound than the Sansa.

For anyone who doesn't know me well--it's totally unlike me to get an idea in my head (like buying a flash mp3 player) and then act on it within days, especially when it involves buying something. But as the quote goes, "I'm trying to be a little less me, lately, " and this is a pretty good deal. And besides, portable music! Wish I'd bought one earlier so I coulda used it on all those bus rides to and from work over the past three months. Oops.