Jack Black karaokes for UNICEF

He played a rocker wannabe in Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny. He played a rocker wannabe in The School of Rock. He played rocker wannabe Paul McCartney in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

Yes, I am talking about Jack Black. It should not be a surprise that he sang a little karaoke for the recent UNICEF benefit. The pic is of him singing War Pigs from Black Sabbath.

Karaoke Suicide - the play

I missed this play: Karaoke Suicide is Painless. I kick myself. But, I was busy that night. Or maybe I wasn't in Seattle? I don't remember. April was sooooo long ago.

The play is described as "A multimedia karaoke comedy that explores the correlation between air guitar and personal choice." That sounds like my kinda stuff. Intellectual and stupid at the same time.

This is a pic of the actress, Teri Wegant.  It really looks like I missed out. I understand that she was in Cider House Rules (I loved the book and was disappointed by the movie.) and also in The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe.  My daughter did a reading from this Lily Tomlin book when she was in high school, so I have a deep personal connection.

The judge at the forensics meet did not give her the grade that my daughter deserved, by the way. My theory is that crazy people make judges uncomfortable. Like, it's too close to their own inner outer-limits?  I have no clue what that means, but I thought I would throw it in just in case someone thinks I'm brilliant.

Terri Wegant is holding a Shure SM58 mic, BTW. Oh, and she got a great review for the one woman show.

You know... I may have come off sounding a bit sarcastic about the play? Seriously... I do wanna see it. Someone bring it to Milwaukee, ok? Or Madison. I'd drive to Madison to see it. Meet me there. We'll go to Karaoke Kid after and have a good time on State Street, having gyros and way too much beer.


Sigh... just before I posted this blog I heard about yet another karaoke play that I missed, this one in Bloomfield, NJ. This one is a murder mystery, entitled "Karaoke Kills".

Various Paradises

It all started with Bach's Prelude #2 in C minor.



At least, that's what Wikipedia has to say about Stevie Wonder's song: "[Pastime Paradise] drew on the first eight notes and four chords of J.S. Bach's Prelude No. 2 in C minor (BWV 847)"



I had to listen to both songs many times to finally get it. It's there, though. Same chords. But I dunno. Did Stevie Wonder about Johann Sebastian's Box? It seems a bit of a stretch.

Pastime Paradise is track 8 on his Songs in the Key of Life album, which was released in 1976. Rolling Stone ranked this album 56 on their list of 500 greatest albums of all time. I have that album. The song caught me the first time I heard it.

What does the song mean? Back in those days (I should explain), songs had to mean something. ABBA came out with Dancing Queen in that year, and, speaking of Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody came out that year as well. I tell ya, songs meant something back when I was in high school.

Here is what Rolling Stone magazine had to say about the meaning of the song -

"Pastime Paradise sounds like a parody of a well-meaning protest song with its meaningless shuffle of words ("Consolation/Integration/Verification/of Revelations ... Though the words to "Pastime Paradise" may make you want to run from the room, the music will keep you there."

Nice. Remember, these were the guys who put the album at #56?

Rolling Stone may not have thought much of the lyrics, but I find meaning in them.
"We've been spending too much of our lives
Living in a pastime paradise
Let's start living our lives
Living for the future paradise"

In 1995, Coolio did a rap remake of the song. In his version, the words are less hopeful. And it comes along with an admonition for young black men.



I know it may be hard, but try to see past the silly hairdo and listen to the depth of the words:
"Tell me why are we, so blind to see
That the ones we hurt, are you and me"

When this version came out, I instantly recognized it. Of course, in 1995, our electric toothbrushes and sandals didn't come with Google search apps installed. Back in those days, we had our internet delivered to our doorstep every morning.

So it took me a while to track it down. But when I did, I dusted off the turntable and played it for my daughters. If you can say nothing more of my fathering skills, I took my kids' music education seriously. From the way they rolled their eyes, I could tell that they were very proud to have a father who was practically a professor of musicology. Or, maybe they just saw me as a fat old man trying to convince them that the 70's were cool?

Then, of course, Weird Al made a parody called Amish Paradise. This continues to be a popular karaoke song. In some circles, anyway.

What brought this all up? A good friend of mine, Steve, sent me this video. He knew that I would enjoy the song, since I am also a bearded, singing scientist who is just a bit nutty. Steve did not know my rich history with previous versions of the song.



You may not recognize the rapper in the video. He is IBM Fellow Dr. John Cohn. He is actually a very good speaker and a champion of the cause for getting kids interested in being engineers. If this video can reach just one aspiring rapper and inspire him or her to take a serious look at MIT...

Penelope Cruz - Karaoke junkie

Who woulda believed it?  Penelope Cruz? Karaoke?!?!?!

Here is a quote from her:
"I've gone to karaoke bars in almost every city I have been to. Every time I am on a movie location, we find a karaoke bar and take the crew out."

And another:
"I have a karaoke machine at home. I'm one of those people who do it by themselves when they are alone and I'm not embarrassed to say it."

Her go-to artist? Eminem.

But can she sing? Her singing voice was dubbed in the movie "Volver", but here is a clip of here singing in Nine.


But can she sing? I'm having trouble paying attention to the music.

More Charlie today than yesterday

Tonight, my wife was watching an old episode of Ally McBeal. A song was performed that caught my attention. It's called More Today Than Yesterday. It was released in 1969 as a one hit wonder for the one hit wonder group Spiral Starecase. (Tell the spell checker to shut up, cuz this is the proper misspelling of the group's name.)

Anyway, I like the song. I liked it so much that I dug up the karaoke version, thinking, "I can make that song sound good!" My intuition about this sort of thing isn't always the best. Especially when it comes to trying to sound like guys with really really good very high ranges.

After I decided that this was a song that I could not possibly make sound good, I inexplicably started humming a song from a commercial from way back. A catchy tune... upbeat, jazzy. Sung by Bobby Short. It was from a perfume commercial. How catchy was it? It was released as a 45.Yes, a song from a commercial became a 45!  No, I am not talking about I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing, but that's a good guess.

How catchy was the song? I have not heard it since 1976 (back when they still sold 45's), but I still wake up whistling it every morning. Talk about an ear worm!

By now, I am sure I have everyone whistling the song from the Charlie commercial by Revlon.

But was the Charlie song a parody of  More Today Than Yesterday? You be the judge.Try singing  "Every day's a new day." and then sing "... and they call it ... Charlie." I dunno. Call me meshuga, but I think the songs fit together.

In 1993, Revlon came out with another music video perfume commercial for Charlie fragrance. This time they picked the inimitable Little Richard (who I like to imitate, by the way), and paired him up with the gorgeous Cindy Crawford. This time they end in a parody of Little Richard's hit "Good Golly... Charlie... Good Golly .. Charlie."

Gosh darn it, that was fun.

Put down that duckie!!!

I was reminded today of a music video that I saw years ago. The music video might well be my favorite music video of all time. At any rate, it is my favorite music video of today. It features one of my all-time favorite Muppets, Ernie.

And it also features an incredible cast walk-ons, including: Itzhak Perlman, Rhea Perlman, PeeWee Herman, Jane Curtain, John Candy, Winton Marsalais, Joe Williams, Paul Simon, Woodie Guthrie, Dannie DeVito, Jeremy Irons, Ralph Nader, and last but certainly not in any way least, Madeline Kahn.

Here is the video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did today.

Oh... and not only that, there is an Israeli version of the song under the title "Sim Et Barvazi". The DVD version is bound to be a big hit for Christmas, so order from Walmart early!

Just in case you were wondering, Celia Cruz sings this in Spanish: "suelta el paquito".

Sheep thrills and the tele-osculation device

The Gypsy Songstress and I have a little  running joke about sheep. They're so cute -- they serve as a symbol of our cuddly relationship. When I go on a business trip without her, my wife will hide a stuffed sheep in my luggage to remind me of her. 

The last time we sang "Embraceable Ewe" in a performance, my loved one brought out a little stuffed sheep during my solo part. Silly. When I get email from this delightfully playful woman, she will sometimes sign off with "Love, Ewe". She is my cuddly ewe.

Those of you who have Google mail will know that Google quite thoughtfully provides you with context sensitive ads. That's a polite way of saying that it enhances its ad revenue by displaying ads that are likely to have a higher click-through ratio. It does so by skimming through your emails for keywords that suggest you could have an interest in a certain product.

[Let me point out... The folks at Google are not reading your emails. There is no fellow in the email room at the Google office sniggering over your repeated mispelling of the word "mispelling". Or being titillated by your description of making a peanut butter sandwich. It's all done by a sniggering computer.]

So naturally, when I email my buddy that I just bought a 2 terabyte drive from Tiger Direct, gmail will show me an ad for the 2 terabyte drive that I just bought from Tiger Direct, knowing full well that I will click on the ad to buy another one for my buddy. Gmail knows that I am just that kind of guy.

But Google doesn't always get it right. Somehow it always misses the comma in the last phrase of the email from my wife: "love, ewe". It is intended to mean, of course, "I love you, and I am your cuddly female sheep". Google regularly places an ad for the Love Ewe on my gmail page. "We fully intend that the Love Ewe be used solely as a gag gift or home adornment." Such cute eyes.

Somehow, a little Gershwin tune keeps going through my head: "Embrace me, you sweet inflatable ewe..."

Let me point out... this has nothing to do with inflatable guitars. And nothing at all to do with a recent post on my other blog. Inflatable stuff is just not on my brain, ok?  This is not an obsession of mine. Really. I don't spend all day playing one of the inflatable guitars from my large collection. Or my inflatable saxophones. The inflatable maracas are kinda cool. And I don't even own an inflatable love sheep. At least not yet.

SO... today's topic is "How to use technology to keep the fires burning when you are on a business trip". You can sneak a stuffed lamb into your loved one's luggage to remind him of your undying love. You can (as I have often done) pick up a little stuffed sheep as a gift to remind her that the undying love is reciprocated. You can of course, make economical use of the limited space in a suitcase and pack a Love Ewe. And of course, in the interim, email is a good way to let the other know you are thinking of them.

Technology is so cool when it comes to helping requite long distance love.

Skype is of course another great way to keep in contact. Skype was indispensable on my recent trips to Berlin and Liverpool where my cell phone didn't work. (Us applied mathematician karaoke DJs really do get around!)

Skype also improves on the cell phone experience by adding video. Now, I have not tried one particular thing on Skype video, but I understand from a friend who knew someone who had this cousin... that video Skyping can be used in much the same way that the Love Ewe has not been recommended to be used. I do not endorse this activity, since it is probably regulated by the FCC. In much the same way that the FCC prevents the internet from sharing certain types of images that would have made your grandmother blush.

And that brings me around to the news item that got me going on this topic: the invention of a tele-osculating device. As you can see by the picture below, this very romantic device will allow you to share that ultimate intimacy, a kiss, with your loved one over the internet.

I'll take a set of those, and one of them there blow up sheep. I have another trip to Berlin planned for this fall.