Feeling Yourself Disintegrate ( #BOTB & #IWSG )

       Just the other day I celebrated another birthday.  Seventy-five years old seems so unreal in many ways.  But I can feel the effects:  I am disintegrating in one sense and yet I feel fantastic for the most part.  Much of the time I feel like I did in my twenties or thirties.  However, the reality exists that I am getting old.  I am in a process of deterioration.  I hope it keeps on feeling as good as it does now...

Battle of the Bands

 

        Battle of the Bands is the blogging event started by Far Away Series and  StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands.   I do this event  each month on the 15th and the 1st of the month.  The premise is simple:  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 Battle action.

  

Feeling Yourself Disintegrate

        A year ago I used this song in a Battle in which I used the original version by Flaming Lips against another relaxing dreamy song.  To me this is one of the most beautiful songs I've heard.  And it seems so relevant as I get older.  

       Here are two versions that I find particularly nice.  Take a listen and then tell us which one you like best.

Kathleen Edwards  "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate"  (2015)

The Bad Plus  "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate"   (2009)

Time to Vote!

       Don't disintegrate yet!   Vote now please.   Which song interpretation do you prefer?  Battles are no fun without you the reader participating.    Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind.  You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.

        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. 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. I don't know if anyone else will be doing a Battle this time around, but you can still check out these sites.

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

 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands
 
'Curious as a Cathy' 

Sound of One Hand Typing

Landmark Sounds (Diedre Knight)

BATTLE OF THE BANDS BY DEBBIE D

Trivial Music Silliness

Mike's Ramblings

Results on Monday February 9

       

      At least we'll say that for now.  It's probably when it will happen, but plans can change.

The Insecure Writer's Support Group

Join us on the first Wednesday of each month in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group--a forum of writers who gather to talk about writing and the writer's life. For a complete list of participants visit Alex's Blog. 
     The co-hosts for the February 4 posting of the IWSG are J Lenni Dorner, Victoria Marie Lees, and Sandra Cox.

February 4 question - Many writers have written about the experience of rereading their work years later. Have you reread any of your early works? What was that experience like for you?

    Through the years I have often looked back on old writing that I've done and often I have been somewhat surprised how well my writing seemed at that time.  Just the other day I was looking at a comment I had left on someone's blog post about ten years ago and thought to myself, "Did I really write that?  It seems so well expressed."   Same goes with writing from my college days fifty years ago.  I might find an old paper that I had turned in for an assignment or a short story that I had written and be quite surprised at how mature my writing had seemed back then.  

         Recently I pulled down from my closet a box of some of my old writing that I was planning to go through.  The writing goes back to my high school and college days and I think I'm going to find some writing that seems almost unrecognizable now as something I had written in the past.  Was I a better writer back then?   Am I starting to forget words and concepts as I grow older?  Maybe, but I'm not sure that this is the answer.  Probably I just haven't been writing enough lately.  

       I guess I need to start writing more again to hone my skills.  Couldn't hurt.  And maybe my mind will sharpen as well.  More writing would be good.  I need to do that.

      Did you seem to write better when you were younger?   Do you still care about writing as much as you did in another time of your life?

       

Relax and Dream Away Songs ( #BOTB )

   Now that I've got another birthday out of the way, it's time to just sit back and relax and dream away.  Guess it sounds like any other day.  Life is good...

 Battle of the Bands

 

        Battle of the Bands is the blogging event started by Far Away Series and now hosted by StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands.   This event happens each month on the 15th and on some there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month.  My blog is one of those with a second Battle excepting over these summer months.   The premise is simple:  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 Battle action.

Relax and Dream Songs

     When Neil Young's Harvest album came out in 1972, the highlight for me was the 7 minute song "Words (Between the Lines of Age).  I would listen to that song and wish it would last the entire side of the record.  A few months later the Young album Journey Through the Past came out with an extended 16 minute version of the song that covered a whole album side.  My wish for a longer version was granted and I was thrilled.

       I've long been a fan of long songs and especially long meandering pieces that elevate me to another plane of thought experience.  Those musical pieces, much like many classical works, give the music a chance to expand in my mind and stimulate my thinking--or just lull me into an ultra-relaxed state of peace and calm.  When something is good enough I sometimes don't want it to end.  At least not for a while.

       Here are two of my favorite long laid back tour de force pieces from two different decades.  I still love them both.  Take a listen and see how you respond to them and let us know which you like best...

Wally   "What To Do"  (1974)

      When I first heard the group Wally on the radio with their song "The Martyr," I knew I had to have their album.  After all, the instrumentation prominently featured a violin which is a favorite instrument of mine.  As soon as I could I made a trip over to Knoxville to get a copy of the album which was as good or even better than I had expected.  The song "What To Do" became a favorite.  I would listen to it repeatedly as I drifted and dreamed away.  At the time, I was 24 years old and wondering exactly what the song said in regard to my own life.  What was I going to do with my life?  Not long after that I got a pretty good idea where my life was going.  Kind of.  Here's the song...

Flaming Lips   "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate"  (1999)

      About 20 years ago I bought a CD copy of The Flaming Lips' album The Soft Bulletin. I enjoyed it okay, but never gave it a particularly intense listen. The CD languished on my shelves until just recently when I started playing it again. Playing it obsessively.  The dreamy extended song "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate" is the stand out for me and this one got extra plays as I relaxed in the evening before going to bed.  I find something incredibly relaxing and reassuring in this song.  Is it just me?  Please take a listen to see if you like it...      

Time to Vote!

          Before you totally drift away into Dreamland, how about casting a vote?  Hey, take time to relax a bit and enjoy music.   Which of these songs do you prefer?  Battles are no fun without you the reader participating.    Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind.  You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.

        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. 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. I don't know if anyone else will be doing a Battle this time around, but you can still check out these sites.


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

 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands
 
'Curious as a Cathy'

Sound of One Hand Typing

Jingle, Jangle, Jungle 

Landmark Sounds (Diedre Knight)

BATTLE OF THE BANDS BY DEBBIE D

Trivial Music Silliness

Results to come on Monday February 10

   

         I'm giving you some extra time since the songs are so long.  Not really.  Monday just seems better than Friday or the weekend.  There's also another post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group.  Another reason why my results post will be on the date that I've chosen.  Not that it's any big deal or anything.  

Somedays Sunday Is Monday ( #BOTB Results )

     Some days seem like Sunday while some Sundays seem like Monday.  Of course, what's one day to another when you're retired like me.  So I'm just gonna say it's Monday now and be done with it.

     Besides there's some kind of football game going on today and I'm feeling a bit under the weather so despite what I said in my earlier post I'm going to give you my Battle of the Band results today Sunday.  Everyone else is, so why not me?

Battle of the Bands Results

Drifting Dreamy Songs

     My most recent Battle featured two dreamy songs that I like quite a lot. "What to Do" is a lovely violin driven song by progressive rock group Wally. This song was a big part of my life in my mid-twenties when this song posed the question that I was asking myself at the time. The Flaming Lips song "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate" is a song that I've recently embraced as it sounds good to my ears and it expresses some of what I've been feeling recently.

      Both songs are absolute winners in my mind, but I'm going to cast my vote for Flaming Lips.  What a great song!

     As you can see by the results, both songs were favored by voters. Nice outcome!

Final Vote Tally

Wally                   5 votes

Flaming Lips       7 votes

Next Battle on Saturday February 15th

      Happy Valentines Day to those who care.  Happy Days to everyone as well.  I may not be the Terminator, but I'll be back...

Enjoying Our Summer in Winter ( #BOTB Results )

 We're still having moderate summerlike days here in Los Angeles.  Not heat spell summer, but near perfect summer.  It's the kind of weather to love...

Last weekend we headed on down to Yuma AZ for an overnighter.  The power company was doing upgrades in our neighborhood and had to shut off the electricity for a full night.  We figured we'd go away so we wouldn't have to be in the dark on an early Sunday evening.  

It was a great quick trip.  We drove via Palm Springs and down the western shore of the Salton Sea.  We spent a relaxing afternoon looking around Yuma--a nice town now, but maybe not so much in the heat of summer.  We returned home by way of San Diego where we had lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. It was a quick trip home with no traffic delays.  Smooth sailing on a Monday and no traffic back-ups.  Something I've rarely seen here.

Life is good.

Battle of the Bands Results

My previous Battle between Kathleen Edwards and The Bad Plus doing versions of the Flaming Lips song "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate" was not a bad one.  I love the percussive jazz sound of the piano centric The Bad Plus.  What a great group with a fantastic interpretation of this song.  That being said, I'm going with the more relaxing version which I think is more illustrative of what the song is about.

Final Vote Tally

Kathleen Edwards          5 votes

The Bad Plus                  7 votes