Royals (#BOTB) & A Question

         My Question of the Month answer can be found after this current Battle of the Bands post.  I hope you'll enjoy the song picks first and vote on your favorite version before continuing on to this month's Question.

         It's the first of August which means it's time for Battle of the Bands.  This is an event that takes place on the 1st and 15th of each month.  Far Away Eyes at Far Away Series gets the credit for first conceiving this study in song version comparison. Stephen T McCarthy maintains the participant list and answers your questions about the event--you can find his blog with a list of participants at  StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands.   This is not at all complicated:  Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it.  Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battles to vote on.

Royals

        It's the silly season of summer so I've decided to get a bit silly with Battle of the Bands.  You may have seen one or both of these videos since they've been making rounds on Facebook and elsewhere.  Each has over ten million hits--not too shabby I'd say.  

        The song "Royals" (click link to hear original version) was written and first recorded by New Zealand artist Lorde and producer Joel Little.  After its release in 2013 the song went on to achieve worldwide acclaim and chart hit status with millions in sales.   The song has been covered several times by many artists.

         There are numerous interesting covers to be found on YouTube.  The ones I've chosen are particularly visually interesting which might influence some voters.  However, listen to the actual music in order to make your judgement as to which performance is best.  Vote on the following and not the original:

 Walk off the Earth "Royals"    (2013)

          Walk off the Earth is a Canadian band known for its quirky YouTube videos of cover songs.





Puddles Pity Party "Royals"  (2013)

      The 6' 8" Puddles the Clown and his band work out of Atlanta, Georgia. Their viral YouTube videos have gained them international fame which has lead to touring as an opening act for alt rock band Eels as well as other featured performances.







Time to Vote!

          Now it's your turn!  Which song version do you like the best?   Surely you think one is better than the other even if you don't like the song that much.  Just judge what you hear.  Which version do you prefer?    It's up to you to help determine the winner.   

        Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose (or which one was the least objectionable to your ears).  Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around.   And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours.

Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts:

‘FAR AWAY SERIES’ 

 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands

 ‘YOUR DAILY DOSE’ 

  'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS'

'Curious as a Cathy'

Sound of One Hand Typing

DC Relief Battle of the Bands

Shady Dell Music and Memories   

The Doglady's Den 

Angel's Bark  

Cherdo on the Flipside  

Jingle, Jangle, Jungle 

Women:  We Shall Overcome  

Alex J. Cavanaugh 

Book Lover

J. A. Scott  

Results on Wednesday August 5th

         There's a short window of opportunity to cast your vote for this Battle, but I don't think that should be too much of a problem since most voting usually happens during the first couple days.  Also since this Battle post falls on a Saturday I'm going to forego my Monday post to allow more visitors to find the post on Monday and Tuesday to vote on those days.   I'll tally up votes on Tuesday evening and announce them in my #ISWG post that will appear on Wednesday August 5th.  Please vote!   Battle of the Bands works better when I have votes to count.

         Had you seen either of these videos before?    Have you watched any other of the videos on the Postmodern Jukebox YouTube channel?   Do you think the lifestyles of music stars and other pop icons are obscenely self-indulgent and egocentric?  

The Question of the Month is hosted by Michael G D'Agostino from A Life Examined.  The first Monday of each month I'll be answering a question posed by Michael prior to event day.  Click on the link to his blog for more participants.   

      Here is this month's question:

"If your parent or child committed a major crime, would you turn them in?"

       This is one of those "it depends" questions.   In other words what is meant by "major crime"?  If the crime had to do with drugs or some other crime with political implications, I would not turn anyone in.  I don't consider those types of things major crimes.

       However if we are talking about a evil against another person such as robbery, rape, brutal assault, or murder, yes, I would turn them in.  For one thing I would not want to be considered an accessory to such a crime.  But perhaps more importantly a crime of this nature might be repeated if the perpetrator were not stopped and I would not want to see such a thing happen again.  

      There is somewhat of an ambiguity to this question when you start thinking about it extensively.  Perhaps it would be better to replace "major" with "heinous" or "evil" and even using those terms the meaning of the crime might be up for debate.  A crime that frightens and/or appalls me would be one that should be punished no matter who has committed it

       

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Do You Make an Effort to be Annoying?

       Some people tend to annoy me.  Maybe not always, but there are times when I get annoyed by certain people.   I'm not sure if they are specifically going out of their way to annoy me or if it's just a matter of relational conflict or rivalry or maybe something else.  I suppose I come across in a similar way to certain people.

        My recent visit with my sisters in Tennessee seems to bear this out.  I know they were peeved by some of my actions and I was certainly irritated with them at times.  My brother doesn't usually annoy me, but still we come from a family of teasers and he has his moments.  And don't get me wrong about this--I love my brothers and sisters dearly.

        I tend to be a patient and forgiving person so I usually forget the annoyances rather quickly and rarely hold a grudge against people or stay angry for long.  On the other hand I've known people who don't seem to let go of bad feelings and if they have it out for someone else they can get downright mean and rude at times.

          People should try to work out misunderstandings and disagreements.  The world is enough of a mess without any of us adding more ugliness to it all.  The blogosphere is usually a pretty safe place where most people are either always nice or just avoid conflict.  Yet sometimes we do see some annoying sides of bloggers flare up.  I wish this weren't so, but then again I wish the world in general could be a nicer place.

         I'll admit that sometimes I apparently come across as very annoying, especially to my sisters, but I guess it's all part of the family dynamics at play.  I'm more careful with friends and acquaintances.  If I come across as annoying to other bloggers then it's probably just a matter of the opinions I hold or the way I say things.  I don't mean to be annoying if that's the perception that anyone ever has of me.

        So what's your excuse--why are you annoying?   Do you think you are annoying?  Has anyone ever indicated to you that you annoyed them?   Do you feel there is any merit or justification in annoying others, being opinionated in a harsh way, or holding lasting grudges?  Do I ever annoy you and if so, in what way?

Coming this Saturday August 1st!

       I don't want to think about how quickly time goes by.  What a cliche!  But I guess it's so commonly said because it's true for all of us and becomes truer the older we get.  The fact remains that August is almost here and the first of that month will arrive this coming Saturday.

        So why do I bring this up?    Well, as most of you know by now it's because the first of the month means it's time for Battle of the Bands.  This Saturday post will take the place of my Monday post which also means my Question of the Month post will come early and coincide with Battle of the Bands.  Be here for both.   I've got a kind of nutty Battle of the Bands match scheduled, but I like it.  I hope you will like it too.

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Did the U.S. Really Land on the Moon? (BOTB results)

December 7–19: Apollo 17, the last manned Moon mission (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

      Since I'm in no position to get into any involved posts at the present, I'll just pose a question for you:

Do you think the U.S. lunar missions were real or faked?

     Apparently the Russians have some doubt as expressed in an article in The Daily Mail.  Check out the blog post by Battle of the Bands host Stephen T. McCarthy where he poses the same question of doubt.    Did the U.S. go to the moon or not?  What do you think?

Battle of the Bands Results

       One thing that was not faked is the guaranteed status of a classic song standard in my most recent Battle of the Bands post featuring the song "How High the Moon".   The featured performances were by Mitchell Ayres and Mary Ann Mercer who and were up against the classic hit version by Les Paul and Mary Ford.

        I had anticipated a possible blowout with all votes going to the Paul/Ford version. I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was not what happened.  Actually what surprised me most was that some voters indicated that they were not familiar with the famous Paul/Ford rendition and in some cases not even the song itself.  Maybe it was that lack of bias that helped Ayres get votes, but more likely it was the classic smooth big band sound.   The Ayres recording fared far better than I had expected.

        As for my own vote, I've always liked the Les Paul and Mary Ford version. There's no doubt as to the significance in musical history regarding this version.  However my own personal musical taste draws me to the orchestrated version of Ayres.    I prefer the melodic vocals of Mercer and the sweeping sounds of the big band.  So my vote goes to Mitchell Ayres and Mary Ann Mercer.

Final Tally

Les Paul/Mary Ford              16 Votes

Mitchell Ayres/Mary Ann Mercer    14 Votes

       
     Watch for my next very strange Battle of the Bands post on August 1st.  If you're afraid of clowns this one might disturb you.  Then again it might surprise you.  It will prove to be a royal battle.





   

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