Let's Go to a Party!

Rave crowd shot from NASA Rewind in NYC 04-03-04. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Are You a Party Goer?

        What if you went to a party where a lot of people--friends as well as people you didn't know--were present and everyone was busily mingling and socializing.    As someone would come up to say hello, you'd tell them something to which they would respond and then as you were responding to continue the conversation, they would walk away to talk to someone else.  That would happen with most of the people you encountered, though a few of them might actually listen to your response and counter with their own reaction.  But for the most part people would be just seeing how many other people they could visit briefly only to move on until they'd visited everyone.

         Now let's say that party happened every day, never ending.

         Does this sound like any party you've been to?




Battle of the Bands News!


      The results from my February 15th Battle of the Bands post are now in.  This round got a bit ugly.  For the greater part of readers the song "Slip Inside This House" was not a favorite and there was perhaps even more dislike for the two song combatants The Shamen and Primal Scream.  

       My having given a label to the music genres that the chosen groups typically play might have not been the best thing for me to do since many voters I think went into the contest with preconceived notions of what they expected from previous listening experiences with the genres rather than just judging each song version on the basis of what was presented.   No matter though, since most visitors to the post did vote albeit with mostly reluctant votes.

         However there were those voters who did appreciate what I'd presented.  A Beer For The Shower said "Unlike some of the others here, I love electronica. It's probably one of my favorite genres.." My choices were not ones that were among the favorite bands but at least I was in the right genre.  

     Sheboyganboy 6 commented:  "Arlee, I think you get a bad rap.... I think this is a really intriguing and fun contest. ... I really like ALL THREE versions."

      Mark Clough offered, "I'm voting for Primal Scream. Screamadelica is a favourite album."

     There were also others who were more receptive to this contest pairing. but generally speaking it was one of those Battles where voters were mostly choosing the version they disliked the least.  That being said, this was nevertheless a pretty darn successful contest thanks to my great readers.  There were a total of 31 votes including my own.

       My vote goes with the majority opinion in favor of Primal Scream.  This group recreated their original studio version of "Slip Inside This House" with what I felt was an outstanding live performance.  I did enjoy the version by The Shamen, but the musical instruments trump the electronics for me.

Final Tally:

The Shamen         11 votes

Primal Scream      20 votes

       Maybe I'll avoid labeling certain genres in the future, though I may use techno/electronica again one day without naming what music genre I'm using.  Not in the next Battle of the Bands contest though.  My next Battle will appear at Tossing It Out on Sunday March 1st.   I won't say what style the recordings will be in, but I will say that my song pick is a hugely well-known piece by one of the most famous composers of all time.   The song title refers to a woman's name.

       Not only should you visit for that Battle, but you will want to stay with Tossing It Out throughout that week as I inject some added value and excitement to the contest. During the week prior to my announcement of the winner of the Battle, I will have special posts featuring the contestants with an interview complete with photos on Monday March 2nd and a Wednesday March 4th Insecure Writer's Support Group post where I will be assisted by the other Battle contestant.  You won't want to miss these posts!

           Would you be interested in hearing more about artists featured in the Battle of the Bands posts?   Any idea about the song or composer I will be featuring next Battle?   Are you comfortable at parties?

Related articles

• Slip Inside This House (BOTB)
• Hello, Bye Bye (Not the Beatles Song)
• From the Cutout Bins: 13th Floor Elevators

The Autograph Book

Image courtesy of SWEET TEA

          In the summer before my senior year of high school I was invited to stay with a friend who lived in Cleveland, Tennessee, which is about an hour and a half away from my parents' house in Maryville, Tennessee, where I was living at the time.  My friend Dennis was about my age.  His father worked for the same company that my father worked for and we had gotten to know one another through various company functions.  He and his siblings had stayed at my family's house for a couple of weeks earlier that summer.  I guess my visit to his house was a sort of continuation of that visit.

           As it often is with young people who have much time on their hands during those long summer days in a small town, we were on a continual quest for something to do. One day we were at a shopping center and in the variety store I found a very inexpensive paper covered autograph book.  I'm not sure why I was so attracted to this book other than the fact that it was very cheap and I didn't have all that much spending money, but I bought it feeling that there was some sort of entertainment value to be derived from it.

          Since there were no celebrities to receive autographs from in Cleveland, Tennessee, I fell back on my practical joker side.  As a long time fan of Candid Camera, the television show where prank victims were caught by a hidden camera, I decided that it would be fun to just walk up to complete strangers and enthusiastically ask for an autograph.  My friend, who was just as much of a nerd as me, agreed that this would be jolly good fun and egged me on.

           At first I was hesitant.  Since I was rather shy back then, I was embarrassed about approaching strangers anyway.  The silliness of the idea drove me forward.  I started with other teenagers.  They giggled and readily complied.  Then I worked my way up to adults.  A handful suspiciously brushed me off, but most went along with my silliness and signed my book.  One older gentleman even playfully feigned great honor that I would be asking for his autograph.

          After a couple hours of autograph hounding, we tired of our little prank.  Asking strangers for autographs is something I never did after that day.  I kept the autograph book and I'm sure I still have it packed away somewhere.

           A few years later, when I was attending the University of Tennessee, I got another brilliant idea that didn't last very long, but I did think of it now and then during those years.  I decided that I was going to try to get to know every student and faculty member at the university--all twenty thousand plus of them.  I never got too far with that plan, especially since I lived off campus, but I did get to know some of the other students who commuted on the bus.

         I'll admit it was some weird thinking--autographs from strangers and trying to get to know thousands of people by name.   Perhaps it had something to do with small town thinking trying to break out into the big world.  Then again, what the heck is blogging all about?

        Are you good at approaching strangers?   What is your biggest fear when trying to meet new people?  Do you have an interesting or unusual story about trying to strike up friendships?