Men Without Hats - Safety Dance

Music Appreciation (A Retrospect)

This is another music video I remember watching on TBS Night Tracks.  I was about seven years old.  While my parents would host parties at the house, I would stay up late watching music videos.

Safety Dance quickly became a favorite of mine.  Perhaps it was the repetitive melody and groovy electronic sound.

I do have to admit, however,  that I was a bit creeped out with the medieval little person.  At the same time, at an early age, I had this strange attraction for the dancing blonde. Was this the seed that led me to my wife?  Dress my wife bohemian and you get the Safety Dance girl.  Gez, I've got to watch it again.

The question I have after watching this music video is who's idea was it to make an "S" shape.  Perhaps it was cool to make letters using your body, but today I think it's cheesy.

Speaking of cheesy, the song has recently been peformed on Fox's hit TV series, GLEE, where the high school geek who is wheelchair-bound, Artie Abrams, starts a dance mob at a shopping mall.  Okay, I admit, I like it.

Live Austin Music

Music Appreciation (A Retrospect)

After a school trip to Dallas, three of us guys decided to stay in Austin for a couple of nights.  What I recall from that experience was hanging out with my good old friend, driving around town, listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan--God bless his soul--and visiting the numerous strip joints nightclubs.

I was in my early twenties and months from graduating from college.  I had visited many places that I fell in love with such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and D.C.  I was searching for a place I could find a future and develop as a person while enjoying the surrounding.  Austin became that place for me.

I can't say I came to Austin solely for the music.  The music came to me a few years later.  Actually, it came a bit too late, I think. 

Although, I did know who Stevie Ray Vaughan was before I got to Austin.  As many others, he became my favorite.  While driving around town with my maltese dog, we would listen to Pride and Joy and Crossfire.  Soon enough, we found a local alternative rock station, 101X, who introduced us to local bands such as Fastball, Vallejo, and David Garza.

A few years later, my wife (then girlfriend) introduced me to her favorite, Bob Schneider's Lonelyland album.  Bob Schneider which was synonymous to Austin Live Music, soon became my favorite.  Yes, I said it, I enjoy Bob Schneider.

But what I was missing was the roots of Austin music.  Bob Willis?  Okay, that's a bit too far down the root.  I was thinking more like Willie Nelson, Asleep at the Wheel and Lyle Lovett. 

Within the following years living in Ausitn, I began listening to the Austin greats.  But besides these fantastic music artists, there is another genre that I have since witnessed over the past few years.  They are those music artists who play a major role in defining Austin Live Music and making it the Live Music Capital of the World. 

I met a guy at work who introduced me to his music selection--Tejano with a blend of Texas Country, instrumental rock, bluegrass, and true-Austin music.  Soon we became friends and I was fortunate to be invited to a reunion party he hosted at his backyard where bands that were once under his record label performed... free.

Below are some photos I took of the bands that performed at what I have called "BruceFest 2010." 

The Highwaymen (Loose Diamonds)

Ivan Brown and the Low Brow

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean - Music Appreciation (A Retrospect)

Perhaps one of the most memorable music video I watched when I was young was Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. 

I recall staying up on Friday nights and watching Night Tracks on TBS with my parents.  Sometimes I would watch the music videos while my parents hosted parties.

It was the early 1980s and I remember my excitement watching rock stars perform their songs on Night Tracks.  From then on, as others did, I associated songs I heard on the radio with the music video I watched either on TBS or MTV. 

So what caught my attention about Billie Jean?  I think it was the sidewalk tiles that would light up as Michael Jackson walked over them.  For years I thought sidewalks would light up only for MJ, and that he could magically make himself disappear.  When I was young, almost every boy wanted to be like MJ. 

Do expect more commentary on MJ music videos on future blogs.

Attention Channel Surfers!

Okay Mountain, a collaboration of 10 artists, presents a comical video installation titled "Water, Water Everywhere, So Let's All Have a Drink," which depicts life as a Channel Surfer and the influence of mass media.



Water Water Everywhere from Okay Mountain on Vimeo.

Their exhibit can be seen at the Austin Museum of Art on Congress Avenue.  You can read more about Okay Mountain here.

Jean-Léon Gérôme

French painter and sculptor, Jean-Léon Gérôme, was considered a controversial with his "politically incorrect" artwork.  Below are some examples of his work.  

Read more about Gérôme and his art here.

The Cockfight (1846)

The Virgin, the Infant Jesus and St John (1848)

The Serpent Charmer

Sources: Wikipedia; http://www.jeanleongerome.org/

Aerosmith F.I.N.E. -Music Appreciation (A Retrospect)

I thought I would start a commentary of some sort of my experience in music appreciation.  No, this isn't the boring class of Classical Music Appreciation 101.  This is more of a reminiscence of my youth listening to music.  Okay, stop the yawning.

I'll start with Aerosmith, since that was a rock group I fell in love with at an early age.  Yes, I liked Rag Doll and Dude Looks Like a Lady.  Perhaps I'll comment on those and its effect as a kid taking an interest in girls on a later blog.  But then again, my mother-in-law does read this blog. 

Anyhoo, I thought I would start with Aerosmith's F.I.N.E.  I couldn't find the music video of F.I.N.E. but I did find their performance at Woodstock 1994--which will somewhat help make my first commentary easier.

First of all, what was I doing in 1994?  I had graduated from High School and thought I knew it all.  I felt freedom at my fingertips, only to later realize that it wasn't real but a figure of my imagination.  The Woodstock 1994 album was probably one of my favorite albums I got.  In fact, I played Aerosmith's performance several times over and over again, because the transition from Draw the Line to F.I.N.E to me was simply awesome.

Why did I choose to comment on F.I.N.E?  Clearly for the lyrics.  Did I know what an EMHO woody or a Whip crackin' floozy was when I was a teen?  No.  But now I do.  Of course, there is the obvious acroynm for F.I.N.E. which is "F**ked Up, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional."

Wow, the lyrics that were playing on pop radio and on MTV at the day were pretty risque.  No wonder my mom use to make me turn off my music or change the channel.

Paolo Ventura's Winter Stories

New York City based artist, Paolo Ventura, presents Winter Stories. Fueled by his memories as a youth growing up in Milan, Paolo's director-like art, which he refers to as "invented worlds," include sketches, model building, and photography.

You can read more about his work here and here.  Below is an amazing video of Mr. Venturas creations.

Paolo Ventura on Winter Stories from Aperture Foundation on Vimeo.

Paolo Ventura: Winter Stories