Fun with Words

I realize it has been a long time since I have written anything on here.  I apologize to anyone who missed my ramblings, but I have been rather busy for the last couple months.

Considering it is such a nice day and has been a nice couple weeks out here in Hunterdon county I have been feeling pretty inspired, but at the same time finals are coming and homework doesn’t stop for creativity, so needless to say I have been focused on the goal at hand, an English degree.  HA, what to do with such a thing, I don’t know yet.  I’ll keep you informed.

Anyway, in my creative writing class we were given a list of prompts/exercises.  Many of them sounded fun, but only one really caught my attention, because of the challenge it posed. I love a good challenge, so i chose the prompt that required me to write a story using only one syllable words, and it had to start with “On the night of the full moon…..”  So, this is what I came up with (hope you like it):

On the night of the full moon, the man from cave three, spoke to a girl from a cave.  He did not say much, but the words he said were true and strong, full of gall, crazed with blind love, and a wish, drenched in joy, and left to be wet for a long time.  He spoke with ease and grace, warm and proud, though a smidge long in the breath with a bend to lug on for a long time, he ‘ment not to, its just his way of owning his love for her.   He was bound and set in his mind that he would be wed to this girl by the next full moon.

This girl was not so sure she would be wed to him.  Not that the man from cave three was not very nice to speak to and even look at, it would just seem that the girl from a cave did not feel she called a cave her home, there for the man from cave three or any man from any other cave in the whole cave hood should not be who she must wed. She would find that the times she was most glad, and felt so full of life and energy came when she was solo in a field, to laugh at the grass and smile at the sky as the rich sun beamed down on her face and arms and legs.  She did not need a man.  All men feel it is their job as a man to keep her safe, glad, fed, or warm.  She does not feel this is true.  She can work the field, for her self, she can hunt for her self, she can strike the fire by her self, and she can make her own bed full of warmth for her self.   All she had, she got by her own hard work.  She was strong, full of life and a mean shot with a sling and rocks.

This type of life did not suit the men from caves.  They were scared that this girl from a cave would fail and die in the cold night by the paws and claws of the Great Beast.  For the Great Beast was a strong foe to the men from caves, that has killed a lot of men, so they were sure that a small girl would be no match for the Great Beast.  This is why the man from cave three did want to be wed to the girl from a cave.  He was in quite a fear for the girl, he was quiet fond of the girl and did not want a thing to harm her or kill her.  So he felt that he must guard her and guide her through life, as to ease her mind, and her soul, to live slow, and have time for any thing.  To hunt and fish, find wood and brush to burn for heat, make a bed out of warm moss and tall grass, and to build a fine hut is no life for a girl from a cave.  She must take his plea to wed him to heart.

As luck would have it, the girl from a cave still turned down the man from cave three’s plans to be wed by the next full moon.  The man did start to beg on his knees, but she still said no to his grave pleas.  No sum of pleas could change the way her heart felt solo in a field.  Even as she spoke with man from cave three, her thoughts trailed to that field full of sun and grass and blue sky.  Her lips grin with joy at the thought, but she knows she must not let the man cave three see, for he would be crushed more so than he is now.
So when the men from the cave hood heard the un sound news of the girl from a cave’s choice to stay un wed they got as one near a fire and made a plan to rid her from their cave hood.  For no girl could live in their cave hood with out a man to be wed to.  Their board speech went like so:
“She must go,” said man from cave two with rage in his voice, “She has no place here if she does not wed!”
“Yes, he speaks the truth.”  Man from cave one was more calm in his speech, but it was not calm to the full sum of man from cave three to be with out fear.

“But, where will she go?”

“That is not our fear any more,” Man from cave two was more loud now, “She has sealed her own fate here!  She does not want to live by our rules; she will not live at all in this cave hood!  She must be gone!!”

Man from cave one looks to man from cave three with a hint of fear, but with his look he hopes he can soothe man from cave three’s rage to the man from cave two.  “He makes a good point, she has been set to wed, she did not take this set law, so she has sealed her own fate.  This is her choice, and no more our fear.  She must go.”
“I grasp it with a sad and low type mood.  But, if she must go, I will be the one to tell her.”  The man from cave three sighs, his words are sad and he wished it did not have to be so, but as they came as one, the law was made and the girl from a cave made her choice, she must be cast from the cave hood.  So, he made the trip to her place that she loved in the field to find her in the grass with her pipe lit.

The girl from a cave did look as though joy was in her life as she sat there in that field with her pipe lit.  Man from cave three smiled from a far at her joy.  He now saw that she did not look as though she should live in a cave.  The joy beams from her skin and gives her a look with more love than he could still give her.  She had a fire and a wild beast on a stick that cooked over coals.  Her lean form was not bare to the cold, and her bed lay under a hut made of logs.  She was in fact fine, free of a man.  With a shrug, a smirk and a smile the man from cave three took a step to the girl to tell her she had been cast from the cave hood, but on the edge of the field the man from cave three saw a tall, fuzzed mass. he stood froze in the face of fear for the girl from a cave.

He could not think, for that mass could be the Great Beast on the hunt for his sweet girl from a cave.  His nerves were in a twitch and his throat was hoarse and dry for he could not yell to her aid, but in his shock the beast would not yield and the man from cave three knew it must be stopped.  So, he grabbed a stick to fend off the Great Beast, his feet moved quick and quiet.  He thought he would cut the beast off at the rear of the hut.  He would then smack the Great Beast’s face to break the stick to draft a point.  With the point of the stick he would plunge it in the Great Beast’s throat to cease its breath and cause sure death to save the girl.

The Great Beast picked up a pace in the way of the girl.  So he knew the time to act was now.  He jumped to a run straight for the rear of the hut to cut the beast off and save the girl from sure death.  In the time he took to get to the hut his thoughts beamed with hope that the girl, in the wake of him a hero, she would be his to wed.  She would grasp that a man in her life is a good thing, and that the man from cave three, would be the best man for her to wed.  He was in a day-dream about their day when they would hold hands and look in the eyes of one and kiss to seal their fate as one.  As he was done with his run to the hut, his thoughts gained heart of the task at hand once more.  He reached for a stick that was thick but not strong so that it would break on the Great Beast’s head.  He peered around the hut to see the Great Beast in a run, but the girl sat calm with her pipe lit.  She did not know what her fate held.

As the man from cave three came to the front of the hut at arms with a stick he grasped a new sight.  The girl and the Great Beast were one with each other.  They were friends, if not to own each other.  The man from cave three fell to his hind in shock and awe at the sight in front of his eyes.  He could do not a thing but laugh at the scene he now grasped, as the girl reached her fight hand out to stroke the Great Beast’s fur head and held her left hand out to feed the Great Beast a hunk of meat from her hunt.  Then the Great Beast lay at her feet, calm.

No words still just shock for the man from cave three, but he stood to walk to the girl and the beast, but it would be a gaffe as the Great Beast was not kind to the strange man.  By no time for the man to speak, the Great Beast was on his feet with jaw wide and teeth to bite.  The life of man from cave three flashed in front of his eyes as he was sure to breath his last breath at this very time.

“BEAST!!!  HALT, he is no threat to us!”  The girl from a cave that was soon to be the girl from the field for all time had saved man from cave three’s life.  This came as a sure shock to the man, for just a time back, it was he that was to save her.  The wit was too much for him to bear, he snapped the stick and plunged the sharp end into his gut, to bleed out slow and with pain.

That night when the man from cave three had died, the girl from a field and the Great Beast fed on his meat, and slept sound as any phase in time at all.

 

P.S.  I may have accidentally cheated a couple times.  Don’t judge me until you try it your self.
CHEERS!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Man in Black

Live at Folsom Prison, to me is one of the best live albums out there.  Listening to it, paints the perfect picture of an artist.  Johnny’s iconic voice and rascally demeanor are depicted so well.  As a teenager, my mom and my step-dad really got me hooked on that old country music, and Live at Folsom Prison, put country music into perspective for me.  I remember listening to it, and without ever seeing his face I knew exactly what he looked like.Johnny

It showed me that the music formerly known as country, was actually the blues, with a waltz beat.  The lyrics spoke of lonely men and women down on their luck trying to catch a break, or dying somewhere before serenity is reached.  To me, no one did this style justice like Johnny Cash, and Live at Folsom Prison is the best of the best in the category.

Johnny 2

The genius of playing songs portraying characters swallowed up by the blues to a bunch of in-mates is so perfect and poetic.  As I listen to it, I can hear the real joy in his voice as he gives back a bit of happiness to a crowd of people that have lost their privilege to enjoy the world.  He doesn’t sympathize for them or belittle them.  He’s honest and helpful as he jokes with them and the men in that prison love every minute of it.

I think there is a political debate to come out of this, but I’ll leave it alone.  All I will say is I believe everyone is entitled to happiness, and everyone deserves another chance, and I think it’s safe to say, so did Johnny.

Johnny 3

This performance above all else, is quite possibly the best performance Johnny Cash has ever had.  I have heard other live performances, and seen various footage of TV spots, but nothing touches Live at Folsom Prison.  The guitar is crisp, his voice is deep and rich, the band sounds tight, and the banter is highly entertaining.  Johnny really outdid himself on this masterpiece.

This album for me sparked a whole live album phase, and shortly after hearing Live at Folsom Prison I went to my first concert, well first unchaperoned concert.  I won’t divulge the details of my first concert, but let’s just say I had a crush on a certain teen pop star that may or may not like to be Hit…..That is your only hint.  My fascination for live music grew and grew and the live performance CD pile went higher and higher on my dresser.  I have to thank Johnny Cash for showing me the way.

With that said, Happy Birthday to the Man in Black.  Today would have been his 81st birthday.  He lived a full life and I’m sure it’s safe to say he didn’t regret a minute of it.

JohnnyCashAtFolsomPrison600

Cheers!!!

 

Cross-Over

evo_of_music

I over heard a discussion the other day that sparked an idea to write this post.  I bartend on the weekends and often times listen to (and/or jump into conversations) customers at the bar.  I heard a couple fellows talking about music.  They were middle aged, normal guys, but some of things they were saying, were catching me off-guard.  For example:
“I just can’t listen to country music.”  Said man number one, let’s call him Moe.

“Why?” asked man number two, his name shall be Ron.  HAHA See what I did there?  Moe and Ron, MoeRon, MORON…..haha.

“I just think the crap they are calling Country Music these days is a bunch of poppy B.S.”  Moe said with a grimace. “I mean Taylor Swift, and Carrie Underwood being at the top of the charts really sucked the country out of the music, and now everyone is trying to jump into their sound.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean, but I think this whole pop — country cross over happened long before Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood hit the scene.  I mean you have to think about how country used to be so easily called rock n roll back in the late 50′s.”  Ron nailed it.  I totally agreed, but still I stayed out of the conversation.  Anyway it went on for a few more minutes, then they turned their attention to the college basketball game on the TV.

So, I just had to write something about this, because I believe the cross-over moment is the single greatest thing about music.  When an artist or band or whatever breaks out of their shell to do something completely off the wall.  Even if it is a single song in a 5, 000, 000 song catalogue that moment when they shine a different color, or emit a different emotion proves the artist really enjoyed music as a whole.

Some artists do/did it all the time.  As Ron was saying, the 50s and 60s was the time music really started changing.  With Rock n Roll emerging, like a small child that grows into an adult, it went through phases and got bumps, bruises, scars, lost teeth, popped pimples, and shaved it’s face for the same time.  Still to this day, what is so casually called Rock n Roll has taken on so many sub genres that it’s not even possible to give a single genre to any given artist.

So, in honor of “Moe and Ron’s epiphany,” I have prepared a playlist of my favorite songs that blur the lines of genres and or show an artist crossing-over to a different genre for the love of music.  I hope you all enjoy it.  Cheers!!!

1. Say Please – Monsters of Folk
2. Your Cheatin’ Heart – Beck
3. Suburban Dream – The Stepkids
4. Cecilia – Simon & Garfunkel
5. Spain – Chick Corea
6. Parchman Farm – John Mayall
7. Take Me With You When You Go – Jack White
8. Life in Eleven – Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
9. Snake Hill – Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band
10. Hats Off to (Roy) Harper – Led Zeppelin
11. Coconut Harry Nilsson
12. The Guns of Brixton – The Clash
13. White Winter Hymnal – Fleet Foxes
14. There is a Mountain – Donovan
15. Sweet Thing – Van Morrison
16. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes – Crosby, Stills & Nash
17. Just Like A Woman – Bob Dylan
18. Restless Sinner – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
19. Side With the Seeds – Wilco
20. Blister in the Sun – Violent Femmes

Take care of your selves, and feel free to let me know your favorite songs.  I’m always on the search for new music.

Remembering Kurt Cobain…

Kurt Cobain

Considering today would have been Kurt Cobain’s 47th birthday, I thought I would write a little something about him.

I remember when I was maybe 13 or 14….in the early stages of my teen years……I was sifting through some of my mom’s CDs.  I can’t remember exactly what I was looking for,  but if I had to guess, there was a song about the three little pigs.  It was pretty heavy and extremely entertaining.  For the life of me I can’t seem to remember who sang the song, but let’s stay on the point here — Kurt Cobain. I guess as I was looking for the mystery three little pigs song, I saw the Nirvana’s Unplugged CD.  I roughly knew who they were, but Kurt had been dead for 6 or more years at that point, so I guess you could say I jumped on board late.  I remember listening to the CD and really liking it.  It sparked a curiosity in finding more music like what I had heard on that album.

I can distinctly remember hearing a couple songs and listening to them over and over and over to the point that I’m surprised the disc didn’t get scratched to hell.  The two songs became my favorite Nirvana songs: Lake of Fire and The Man Who Sold the World.  For at least a month I went around telling people my favorite song was Lake of Fire by Nirvana.

A pride swept over me to reveal my favorite song was something that couldn’t be heard on any radio station at the time.  As a 13 or 14 year old the radio airplay was dedicated to N sync and Backstreet Boys and Eminem and Britney Spears.  I will admit, though I don’t know why I’m admitting or why I owned N sync’s No Strings Attached album.  I can’t tell you a single time I listened to it.  I’m pretty sure it was just a young boy buying something to impress a girl then deciding he didn’t actually like the girl like that.  Whatever the case may be, I’m getting off topic again.  I apologize.

So….where was I?  Right! Lake of Fire by N sync…..er…..Nirvana.  Ok, so again the memory is a little fuzzy, but someone informed me that Nirvana did not write Lake of Fire or Man Who Sold the World.

My whole world was shattered.  I felt shamed.  Was it really true?  Did musicians actually re-use songs from other musicians?  The thought of it destroyed me a little bit.  How could I have been so dumb.  I mean for a month or more I had been telling people false information.  The song I loved so much, just turned out to be a song Nirvana really loved, but not a song they wrote.  The Nerve.

So, I said goodbye to Nirvana, and sought out the original songs.  Which in retrospect turned out to be pretty awesome.  With saying goodbye to Nirvana I said hello to David Bowie and The Meat Puppets, well let’s face it, I only said hello to the Meat Puppet’s greatest hits CD which contained Lake of Fire and Plateau, another song on the Nirvana Unplugged album. As for the rest of the Meat Puppets so called “greatest hits”  they sounded like some deranged hillbilly music.

I did rekindle my relationship with Nirvana, but again it was short lived.  Shortly after Nirvana came Sublime, then Dave Matthews Band, which fun fact about me; the first CD I ever bought was Dave Matthews Band Live at Red Rocks 1995.  Again I jumped on board a little late, but better late than never.  I cycled through a lot of the old 90′s stuff, and my fascination came and went.  As I started branching out more and more in my music taste I found plenty of gems in the 2000′s, and I was pretty savvy with my knowledge of lyrics from the classic rock station.  ”The Wall” was by far my favorite. What 13 or 14 year old kid can’t love a song that glorifies talking back to your teacher?

I have to say, all in all, Nirvana is a band that had their moment in my hypothetical “I like that band” sun, but those days have turned to night.  But maybe in honor of Kurt’s birthday I’ll dust off my old copy of Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged album.

Happy Birthday Kurt Cobain, say hello to Jim, Jimi, Janis, Amy, Brad, Brian and Robert for me, and if you wouldn’t mind….play one more epic version of Lake of Fire with them.

Cheers!!!!

Valentine’s Day

Remember the days when Valentine’s Day was as simple as making a mailbox out of old shoe boxes and craft paper?  Then you would gorge yourself with hard candy hearts with loving messages on them, drop your little love cards in the boxes placed on the edge of everyone’s desk and go home with extra cupcakes and snack sized bags of candy.  What a wonderfully simply life.

Then, you grow up get a significant other and stress for two weeks trying to get reservations, plan deliveries of exotic bouquets, find the right words to say to make  his or her day more special than any other day, and about the money you have spent  in the process.  In simplified form:  IT GOT DIFFICULT.

But why?  Why is there an over whelming demand to make one single day out of the year so special?  Why is this thoughtful and loving way of life not a common practice for all days?  I’m sure for several people doing something special for your loved one is a daily ritual.  To those of you that are extra loving everyday, Good For You!

Love should not be framed by one day of spending loads of money, stressing over reservations, and eating sweets all day long.  Love is something that exists because you know with out the other person you would not feel whole.  To go a day without their presence would throw your entire week out of whack.  To spend every minute of the day that goes by without them by your side, thinking about what they are doing and wishing that the moment you can hold them tight and kiss them again would hurry up and arrive.  Love is a feeling deep inside of all of us.  Love is not a 7 o’ clock reservation at the nicest restaurant in town, or a bouquet of prickly stemmed flowers, or a box of heart shaped sugar.

I love my girlfriend very much.  She means a lot to me, and there is very little I wouldn’t do for her, and there is less that I would do without her.  She warms my heart, makes me laugh, forces me to think, and pushes me to be the best man I can be.  I love to hold her in my arms every night before we go to sleep, and in the morning I love waking up to her beautiful face.  She is a wonderful woman and she deserves to feel the love in my soul and not the love that I can purchase, and she deserves to feel this love all the time, everyday.

I digress.  Valentine’s Day can evoke a lot of different emotions out of people.  For some it can cause an extra sentimental mindset that wants to go all out and spend a lot of money to make someone know they are loved.  That is fine, I say different strokes for different folks.  Others think of it as just another day to wake up, kiss their loved one, go to work, come home kiss again and go to bed.  That is fine too.  But there is another group of people who hate the holiday.  Like legitimately hate everything the holiday is about.  Maybe they are bitter, maybe they are just hateful people, or maybe they are recently single. What ever the case may be, that’s fine by me too, just don’t get your hate vibes too close to me.

For today, I have made two playlists.  One for both extremes of the spectrum.  One playlist for the extra lovey-dovey types, and one that says “Be gone love!”  For the people in the middle, I’m sure you can find pleasure in all of the songs as long as you are a fan of music.

So, no matter how you feel, just try and enjoy your day, I’m sure there is some good you can find, or at the very least, make for yourself.  It’s February, spring is almost here.For the Lovers

1. Some Kind of Wonderful – Grand Funk
2. All My Love – Led Zeppelin
3. Through My Prayers – The Avett Brothers
4. Head Over Feet – Alanis Morissette
5. The Object of My Affection – Emmy Rossum
6. Embraceable You – Chet Baker
7. Something – The Beatles
8. Make a Plan To Love Me – Bright Eyes
9. Everyday – Buddy Holly & The Crickets
10.You’re The One – The Black Keys
11. I Will Sing You Songs – My Morning Jacket
12. These Old Shoes – Deer Tick
13. ABC – Jackson 5
14. All I have to Do is Dream- Everly Brothers
15. A New Life – Jim James
16. Love Her Madly – The Doors
17. God Only Knows – The Beach Boys
18. Marry Song – Band of Horses
19. So Much Love – Dusty Springfield
20. Crazy Love – Van Morrison
21. Without You – Harry Nilsson

For the Anti-Lovers

1. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right – Bob Dylan
2. Somebody That I Used to Know – Gotye
3. Tennessee Waltz – Les Paul & Mary Ford
4. I’m Looking Through You – The Beatles
5. Remnants and Pictures – Mimicking Birds
6. Red House – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
7. Land Locked Blues – Bright Eyes
8. 4 Chords of the Apocalypse – Julian Casablancas
9. Go Your Own Way – Fleetwood Mac
10. Since I’ve Been Loving You – Led Zeppelin
11. Slow Night, So Long – Kings of Leon
12. Baltimore Blues, No. 1 – Deer Tick
13. I’m Not the One – The Black Keys
14. Next Door Neighbor Blues – Gary Clark Jr.
15. I and Love And You – Avett Brothers
16. Lover, You Should’ve Come Over – Jeff Buckley
17.Play Crack the Sky – Brand New
18. Should I Stay or Should I Go – The Clash

Cheers!  Hope you enjoy your day, no matter who or what you may love.

The Winner of Best Album Goes to…….

GrammyThe football season has ended, leaving me drooling for next season.  My Kansas City Chiefs have a lot of work to do in the offseason, and I will be happy to see how Andy Reid fits into the mix.  He needs to find a franchise quarterback worth a damn and a few defensive players that can put the heat on the opposing quarterback.  OH, and it would be nice to find a way to keep Dwayne Bowe on the roster.  Anyway, my sunday nights have officially become vacant in the way of television watching.  In the weeks to come I am eager to see how much more domestic drama those crazy Gallaghers from Shameless can stir up, and I’m sure Hank Moody from Californication is sure to cause more trouble himself, so that should be fun.  But when it comes to single serving entertainment, the Oscars are in a few weeks and the Grammys are tomorrow.  Now since music is my thing, the Grammys are always a sure fire way to entertain me.  Whether it is the performances, the antics the celebrities invoke  or the notorious wardrobe malfunctions I always get a kick out of the Grammys.  So in honor of the spectacle that is the Grammys I have prepared a playlist for your enjoyment.  I will say this was a rather hard playlist to pull off.  It took me about 12 hours to get the order to flow and the artists that span the decades to fit in a one hour time-slot.  I hope this makes you realize the love and over the top effort I put into these playlists.

Now before I really unleash this playlist, let me just say, there are a few repeat artists, which if you have followed the previous playlists I have posted you will know this is out of character for me.  The reason for the encore performances is because they have won best album more than once.  Of course Stevie Wonder has won three times but I only have one his gems on here.  No offense to Stevie, but I just so happen to like my boys Paul Simon and Frank Sinatra better.  So, sorry if you are a fan of Stevie Wonder and feel jipped, but maybe you can find your new favorite song within this masterpiece.

Now without further ado I am proud to present the winners of Best Album from the years past:
1. Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes – Paul Simon
2. You’ve Made Me So Very Happy – Blood, Sweat & Tears
3. Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night in the Week) – Frank Sinatra
4. Have a Talk with God – Stevie Wonder
5. I Feel the Earth Move – Carole King
6. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds – The Beatles
7. The Chain – Fleetwood Mac
8. Faith – George Michael
9. You Oughta Know – Alanis Morissette
10. Billie Jean – Michael Jackson
11. I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow – The Soggy Bottom Boys
12. Softly As I Leave You – Frank Sinatra
13. Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
14. Modern Man – Arcade Fire
15. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover – Paul Simon
16. Take It All – Adele
17. Zanzibar – Billy Joel
18. Come Away With Me – Norah Jones
19. Why Don’t You Write Me – Simon & Garfunkel
20. It Was A Very Good Year – Frank Sinatra

And there it is folks.  Now remember all of these songs came off of albums that won best album at one time or another.  I tried to be fair and just, but in doing so, I think my taste got in the way a little bit.  I am a fan of all kinds of music for lots of reasons and I think this playlist embodies that spirit more than some others that I have made.  I think this playlist also says I enjoy popular music as much as the next person,but If you think I’m tainted in my taste strictly from seeing this playlist, I urge you to go back in my posts and view my other more Indie-ish playlists.  So, with that being said…..CHEERS!!! Hope you enjoy.

Heroic Struggles with Math

Imagine I am an academic super hero, soaring above and beyond my class mates with flying colors for the better good of humanity.  If it helps you don’t have to picture me with underwear on over my tights, instead I have a cool kevlar material that makes me look extra buff and protects me from flying leaded pencils.  I have a cape to pull in front of my papers to ensure no one cheats off of my paper, and my mask merely keeps my nerdy persona separate from my rock star life.  Do you have the image?  Pretty cool right?

For every good super hero, there is an equal nemesis.  Someone or thing that can destroy the hero or cause his emotions to get the best of him and crush him under the weight of evil.  For 4.0 man (my alter super hero ego), it’s Math.  Math can crush me just by existing.  Math to 4.0 man is like Sabertooth to Wolverine, Green Goblin to Spiderman, Dr. Claw to Inspector Gadget, Darth Vader to Obi Wan Kenobi, Kryptonite to Superman, or Bain to Batman.  I can hear the algorithms with a strangely loud and creepy voice say, “Your punishment must be more severe than simply failing my class.”

Luckily for me this semester’s go at math I will have a sidekick.  Someone to swoop in and save me in that clutch moment when hope is all but lost.  It’s not a calculator by the way.  I will be receiving some lessons from Debbie’s father, who has tutored several kids in all levels of math.  Let’s give it up for my Robin, my R2-D2, my Brain the dog, my Justice league or X-Men.  Yeah you get the picture.

Anyway, in honor or my constant struggle with Math, I have prepared a list of songs that involve math, either in title or material.  I’ll tell you it was hard to find these songs.  Several hours of listening to music hoping to find something about math was fun, challenging, and creative.  So, Cheers to Math…..I guess.

1. 2+2=5 – Radiohead
2. Fine + 2 PTS – Minus the Bear
3. Add It Up – Violent Femmes
4. Come Together – The Beatles
5. 4 + 20 – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
6. 3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds – Jefferson Airplane
7. One – Harry Nilsson
8. Seventy Times 7 – Brand New
9. The Calculation – Regina Spektor
10. Fractions – Emery
11. Bargain – The Who
12. 10 Percent – Mimicking Birds.

ENJOY!!