Peace on Earth - The Fixx

 

"Live by the sword, die by the sword..."

Cagey's listening to

Japan tribute

Cagey's listening to

...synth goodness. Jan Hammer (Dadrian Wilson) - The Great McCarthy - - (1983-1987) Jan Hammer - Gina - - (1983-1987) Jan Hammer - Rain - - (1983-1987) Jan Hammer - The Talk - - (1983-1987) Jan Hammer - Marina - - (1983-1987) Jan Hammer (Dadrian Wilson) - - The Great McCarthy (1983-1987) From the Miami Vice television series.

Cagey's listening to

Tears for Fears - Fish Out of Water (1993)




China Crisis - Feel To Be Driven (1983)





Love and Rockets - So Alive (1989)


Air - Lost Message (2009)


The Church - Fading Away (1990)



Duran Duran - Midnight Sun (1997)

Neither here nor there

A hill rises to a brilliant sky burning out in Mudville during early winter. 

Happy 2013!

My fresh new Reagan calendar is live and five in the kitchen to motivate and inspire all who shall see it.

At the beginning of the new year, I'm reminded of a radio opener by host Rusty Humphries a few years back, which was extremely important: to reflect on the meaning of dignity, to carry ourselves with dignity, and to not give quarter to those who would denigrate it. 



SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Attention employees of and shoppers at Whole Foods:  I am not a threat to you nor your way of life.  Do not let my short bad haircut or good posture alarm you.  I merely want to buy my juniper berries and depart. 

NEWS

   Mass media outlets and obamatrons renewed their edict that guns and their owners were evil after the tragic Newton, CT shootings.  While people talked about installing armed guards in school and removing classes of weapons from responsible owners, one feature of modern society rose far beyond any others: the absence of God from anywhere near education.  News sources reported in 2012 Americans who say they are “religious” dropped from 73 percent in 2005 (LINK) to 60 percent. 
   These kinds of slayings are not necessarily new.  Despite that, I do think you can give some of the credit to the God-hating libs for the emergence of this type of behavior. Don't like or too smart for what you're taught in school or church, or at home? Rebel. Nothing's true unless it fits your definition, except that man knows everything and the Ten Commandments aren't the basis for our canon of laws, nor was Christianity responsible for any prior success of the American experiment.
   On the heels of that, a newspaper saw fit to express its not-so-subtle antagonism toward gun owners in Putnam Co., New York, with an interactive map showing the owners' addresses. (LINK) In response, a blogger published the home addresses of the Journal News.  In a master stroke of hypocrisy, the Journal News in turn hired armed security guards for its facility.  Not that the status of American journalism isn't decrepit enough to turn its back on its ideals of fairness - it is - but what is the point of "naming and shaming" those with firearms permits, and how would it be in the public interest? 

SPORTS

Super Bowl 2013 prediction:  Houston v. Falcons would be a great game.  Cagey on UFC: There's a difference between violence, or training to do that, and barbarism.  The UFC is a joke.

PERSONAL:

Thought for the day: I don't have a scrapbook; I have a scrapbox.  I used to keep that scrapBOX in order loosely by time, but it got impossible and is all mixed together - which is great for someone like me who looks for symbolism too much.

ADVICE:

"I'm glad you're sensitive, but don't be too sensitive."  Keep your thick skin, keep your armor on in the new year.
  I'm going to do my part to help uplift others this year and let people know who have suffered tragedies that they're in my thoughts, which maybe can do some good.  Even a small gesture can be magnified a thousand-fold. JN

PETS:

"If you have a dog, you will most likely outlive it; to get a dog is to open yourself to profound joy and, prospectively, to equally profound sadness."
― Marjorie Garber

TASTE:
Chocolate ice cream drips on my hand and Gold Bond do not combine well.

http://www.whiskyforeveryone.com/whisky_basics/influence_of_peat.html
Dippin 'Dots was supposed to be the ice cream of the future and I could never afford it in college. I envied the people with $5 to spend on that stuff. Well, now that the future is here...? Then what? Was not entirely impressed by these things.
Has this been done before?  Cliche joke?  Well, I'm not joking.  I just got a bottle of ginseng, and another of gingko biloba.  When is the FDA ever going to get around from "evaluating these statements" that "haven't been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration?"  What the hell are they doing over there? Especially on some of the more well-known products like Ginseng, from which people have enjoyed its health benefits for thousands of years.
Finally, the best emergency frozen pizza ever: DiGiorno's Tuscan Pizza.

ENTERTAINMENT/CINEMA: 

• TRON 3 a definite possibility - yaaaa squitches!!!
• Satire has great promise in exposing American reality programs (LINK)

The show desperately needs a big name, so it approaches Vasquez, a Queens-born singer known for outrageous outfits, dating a gun-toting rapper and starring with her then-fiance in a universally panned movie (titled “Jinky” instead of “Gigli”).
She agrees to appear on the show, with a whopping caveat: They must adhere to a 78-page contract rider, which includes:
“Artist’s body to be insured with $1 billion dollar policy in case of injury. (Breasts, buttocks to be valued at $100 million each.)
“Crew to be forbidden to make eye contact with Artist at all times.
“Artist to be provided with chauffeur-driven limo . . . Limo to be a Rolls-Royce Phantom, white. Artist to select driver (male, under 25) from head/torso shots.”

• 2013 shall be the year during which I defend the honor of Christian Slater, one of the greatest actors of all time.

Finally, so much deconstruction going on w.r.t. Django Unchained.  Racist?  Appropriate material?  Who is "allowed" to explore the radioactive topic of slavery?  Should it be done with any humor?  I'm staying on the periphery.
STYLE:

Confirmed today it is still o.k. to wear cargoes.  The military still wears them too.  Scroll to the comments and witness the author receiving his beating:

http://chicago.barstoolsports.com/random-thoughts/if-you-wear-cargo-shortspants-everyone-around-you-thinks-youre-a-fool/

How to dress for the weekend:
http://www.esquire.com/style/tips/casual-clothes-for-men

Good guide to different fabrics, and some great arcane (Pan-Am era) vocab in there too:
http://thesharpsuit.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/a-visual-guide-to-matching-shirt-tie-and-suit-patterns/

LOGOPHILIA:
My three words banned for 2013: foodie, hoodie, smoothie, and most anything with the stupid diminutive -ie suffix. Phrases: "In the wake of" (annual resubmission #5).

  TRAVEL:

Found this solitary tree on the grounds of Fort Monroe, a fortification for coastal batteries
 dating from the 1830s,  which was recently turned over to the National Parks System.

MUSIC

the GCAS Spotlight for winter 2012: Steve Roach - Ambient

... and the 2012 GCAS song of the year: (LINK)

Something Ahead of you - The Fixx (2012)

... the 2012 GCAS Rad New Wave song of the year:

The Riddle - Nik Kershaw (1984) The songwriter had claimed that the lyrics were "bollocks", and I am cautious not to overanalyze, but the words, the syntax, the linguistic whole had to arise from somewhere, and I wouldn't completely dismiss the importance of the autre from playing a role in its composition.

Cagey's listening to

Soft Cell - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (1981)


Elefante - Young and Innocent (1985)

Note: Here's a great write-up on the song from Pop Dose: http://popdose.com/death-by-power-ballad-elefante-young-and-innocent/
"A bunch of world-weary recent college graduates are not worthy of the glory of this power ballad."

Cagey's listening to

Underworld, Plimsouls, Green Day

Cagey's listening to

The Smiths - There is a Light that Never Goes Out - The Queen is Dead (1986)

Photo purge II

Cagey's listening to

...given/surnamed new wave acts and some of their contemporary music




Mick Karn. Titles. The Sound of Waves



Gary Numan. Magic. Sacrifice (1994)



Thomas Dolby. Simone. Oceanea (2011)



Howard Jones. What is Love? Human's Lib (1983)



David Sylvian. Scent of Magnolia. Everything and Nothing (2000)

Cagey's listening to

AIRWOLF TRIBUTE! Judas Priest...

I love any and all things that have to do with turbo. "Gimme turbos, Dom!" the catchphrase that resonated with millions of worldwide fans in the '80s and today.

For more information on turbos and this blog, check here: (LINK)

Cagey's listening to

Shanghai - On Video

Cagey's listening to

...Cagey's ROCKING OUT to:



Foreigner - 4 - 'Juke Box Hero' (1982)

Cagey's listening to

The Smiths - 'There is a Light that Never Goes Out' - The Queen is Dead (1986)



Morrissey - 'I'm Not Sorry' - You are the Quarry (2004)

Cagey sing-a-long

There is only.... one chance for us all

And we must surely.... make sense of it all

Try to bring peace on earth

Not to bury your enemy

Try to bring peace on earth

Or we aren’t worth anything

Try to bring peace on earth

For piece of mind

There is only.... one time for us all

And we must surely.... stand to the call

No peace on earth and the blame lies at our feet

There’s no peace on earth, no virtue, I see only pride

Do what you can

When you see a wrong try to mend it

A little is a lot

Show them what it means to be human

Show them how it feels to care

There is only.... one chance for us all

And we must surely.... make sense of the call

An effort for peace is it not worth buying?

An effort for peace for future life

An effort for peace just to say goodnight

Do what you can

When you see a wrong try to mend it

A little is a lot

Show that what it means to be human

Show them how it feels to care

Do what you can

Do it

Its not what we are Its what we do

By what we do we shall remembered

Live by the sword die by the sword

We take the word around the world

We’re all to blame we’re all the same

In fact, false truths, in mirrored lives

You see through me I see through you

But underneath you’re just like me

"Do What You Can" - The Fixx - Walkabout (1986)

Cagey's listening to

...My three favorite Robert Plant songs...



Robert Plant - Heaven Knows (1988)



Robert Plant - Ship of Fools (1988)



Robert Plant - Big Log (1983)

Cagey's listening to

RUSH - Manhattan Project, Force Ten, Time Stand Still - Chronicles (1990)

Rush is a Canadian band I didn't come into until later along the way. I love the crystalline, perfect sound of synth they incorporate into their music, like in the first 15 seconds of Manhattan Project through the three chimes, creating an expectant mood. Is this New Wave, or does it just borrow elements?

Cagey's listening to

Lesser known bands who contributed to Karate Kid III (1989)




In a Trance - Money Talks



Listen to your Heart - The Little River Band



Walls That Bend - Jude Cole
(His "First Impression" from the KKIII soundtrack unavailable)

Rad '80s spotlight - China Crisis

   "They composed some subtle masterpieces during the 80's, and were just one of a number of brilliant bands that were on the edge of the radar screen like so many others playing second fiddle to the smash hit stars such as Duran Duran, Wham! and Madonna." ~inthe00s.com

   China Crisis attracts because its simplicity defies easy explanation. For me, one of them thar' metaphysical fellers, the more I spun my wheels, the more I got stuck in the mud. Over time, I came to own their five main releases from the 1980s, less reluctantly each time. The personal appeal - something with feeling light and airy - is apropos for the confident time period, and for one aspiring to "openness".



   This new(?) C.C. song was just revealed to me by poking around on the largely defunct MySpace - "Watching Over Burning Fields."  As an instrumental, it stands on its own, is solemn, not quite sentimental, evocative of the era's mood maybe a layer or two beneath the surface.  Like the rest of the best of New Wave, it came from the U.K.





   C.C. isn't even one of my top ten favorite bands, it's their light and airy uniqueness and RELATIVE obscurity that makes me want to know more. (Don't worry, I'm not a frigg'n hipster.) Ambitious name, had heard of them before, why not. I don't want to make them into something they're not or come off like they've moved me into thinking they're the best "quieter" band ever. What I like is that they didn't run around with hubris after their successes but rather continued enjoying making music. In fact, my entire fascination of late with C.C. is about curiosity - background on them has been hard to find. They have been quite a puzzle: first, why their musical style?

   At first, I did not care for their blend (I hate to say it, but "elevator muzak" from a different age is what I was thinking), but now my happy realization is that what typifies all I've seen to date on them is subtle yet powerful. From there, why the name? There is a certain starkness they create.

   The purport/tenor of their name & music: Is it their interest in the unknown, other hemisphere? Is it political?  Sociological?  What influenced this?

   Finally, now that they've grown on me (kind of like the kid in class or person you never thought you would end up liking, but did), what is thematic to them?

   Is there any unity of theme among their covers?
   Among their songs?
  
   I see them pair the perspective of large and looming artifacts of the new age with atmospheric music on Fire and Steel,  as well as tension of scaled simplicity against the vulnerability of wide-open landscapes.  In addition, clear evidence of theme is seen on the album art for 'Shapes', of Minimalist/Modernist nature.  "Minimalism argued that extreme simplicity could capture all of the sublime representation needed in art," says that ubiquitous online encyclopedia, and I celebrate in a realization that this whole thing takes flight from these uniting structures.

   Found this trivia page recently: http://web.archive.org/web/20090804143406/http://geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Towers/3059/trivia.htm
Take a look!  This guy is obviously a huge fan by the amount of memorabilia he collected.

  All in all, I feel they were just of the mind to make music, I've seen written up as borrowing from blues, reggae, among other styles and, of course, new romanticism/new wave. They rejected "African and White" being interpreted as a political statement; others say this was blatantly political.  Finally, a different review concluded layering was their strength and trademark: flute over trombone over keyboards among other innovations.  Since there is little info on this subject, I wanted to offer some general thoughts of my own.  I hope this doesn't come across as a bunch of haughty b.s. from a dabbler in symbolism; but you don't just reduce art to equations. However, there is an analytical process, you get some subjectivity, discussion and scrutiny, and finally some general conclusions - temporary or enduring, which can aid our appreciation.

My favorite C.C songs:

10.Red Letter Day
9.Blue Sea
8.Good Again
7.No More Blue Horizons
6.Wishful Thinking
5.African and White
4.Watching over Burning Fields
3.Arizona Sky
2.Here Come a Raincloud
1.Soul Awakening

Cagey's listening to

OMD - 'Of All the Things We've Made' - 1983