Some comedian, I think it was Richard Jeni had a bit about playing that song when you want to clear out a party. I do like it though, the Dandy Warhols cover is good.
I applaud your knowledge of Canadian history! They don't even teach that here (on Planet Canada) in our history classes; we only listen to the same song by our "legend" Gordon Lightfoot as you do. At least in Quebec, which doesn't want to know much about the Rest of Canada.
Hi from Isolation btw. My husband and I tested positive for C19 on Sunday (we're newbies, it's our first time!!). At least we got to enjoy our vacation.
Rest assured that my husband and I both feel fine. I'm grateful to be able to work, and knowing that I might not have full capacity at any time is quite the motivator to get as much work done while I can (but it's been a steady upturn in symptoms).
PS I like "If you could read my mind" (also Lightfoot) better
I just got over something. I rarely get sick. Last time I got sick I was working 12 hour shifts in a cigar wrapper factory and I was a slitter. I just started so I was blowing my nose every 5 minutes for 2 weeks and my weighted dropped to 117 lbs. (I'm 5 5) and then the world shut down Thank God. I got paid to sit at home for 2 months and I'm pretty sure it was COVID.
Basically every possible symptom could be it. The only way to know is that ephemeral positive rapid antigen test (PCR is too expensive here and unavailable) captured at a precise moment.
My husband and I had the deep voice effect too. Great time for throat singing! :)
I found cold meds helped before bed, and coffee/tea in the morning. Feel better soon!
Ha @ impossible to dance to. Got a question for you on the pathos/bathos thing you mentioned in a comment to me a while ago. I’m working on a really emotional moment with my protagonist where he’s pretty devastated, life is absolutely destroyed, etc. I’m putting his feelings into physical actions for the most part and trying my best to avoid ambiguous emotional words. That said, I’m still not sure if it’s too heavy and needs to have a quick cut to something humorous or if I did that it would actually undercut the seriousness of the moment?
Tyler Durden saying “Cool” to a nasty fight scene with a guy’s face getting pummeled is serious, and it works great to sort of parody the craziness/tension of that part. But it’s not a heavy emotional moment. I keep going back to what I hate about Marvel movies (besides them being the same plot every time), which is that in something like Spider-Man or whatever they will have a serious moment and then cut to a joke and all the sudden, for me at least, it feels like I can’t take the character seriously. Thoughts?
If there is a humor moment, is he laughing in the face of adversity and about to come out stronger? Gallows humor as he's giving up? Maybe its a "Joker" moment where he's crossed a line and has become someone else, with a different investment in the situation?
Good questions! To give some perspective... He won’t be turning evil or losing his shit. Basically he’s trying to figure out how to move forward with interacting with a former serious girlfriend that he was recently reunited with after she mysteriously disappeared. The problem is she now has “amnesia” (not exactly, but that’s what we’ll call it) and has no recollection of him. He had expected a happy ending, but instead it’s left him in a state of disarray that he couldn’t have predicted or prepared for.
OK, cool. You don't have to give away the ending, but I'd ask where are they going next? Where are they going ultimately? The action would have to hint at that.
One other thought - since its a serious girlfriend, is there some shared object, place, or activity that his going to/interacting with would send a message to the reader? For example, dropping a photo frame that cracks (cliche but we know what it means), an unfinished puzzle but he goes back and solves something new, or the two always loved joyriding on a coast road and he goes for a ride alone.
The direction it’s going is that although this has broken him, part of him still wants to hang on and hope somehow she’ll remember. While he can’t do anything to talk with her about the past (she remains oblivious to the past), he can’t abandon her. He is going to form a business venture with her.
Yes, there is a shared object that she gave him that I’m using throughout the story. I’m for sure considering having him do something with it, possibly destroy it or maybe donate it to a thrift store or something of that nature. Or maybe have the reader *think* it’s gone/thrown out, only for it to show back up. Maybe thrown in a dumpster, but it resurfaces ... actually yup doing that! Maybe his former gf recovers it from the dumpster because she thought it looked ‘cute’...
Years ago in workshop a student brought a story about a harried middle-aged woman who'd been caring for her elderly father. He was convinced of conspiracies and ranted to her about them. On his death bed, after years of ranting, he gave her a cassette tape which he said would explain all the conspiracies. Then he died. As she left the hospital, while stepping into a cab, the woman deliberately dropped the tape into the grate of a storm sewer. The end.
It was a stunning demonstration of how she was rejecting her dad's paranoia. Just the one gesture. Ending with dialog always lessens the pathos. So can you end with an action?
Ok, great. Thanks. That’s awesome feedback! I’ll think of an action/gesture that he can take to cope, cut away from his Big Voice, and physically illustrate how he will move forward. So far all of the chapter has been in Big Voice, but it’s only the beginning as it’s a few hundred words. This actually helps solve two problems by helping me cut the tension, further demonstrate heartache via physical gesture, and also letting me switch out of Big Voice, which was another concern I meant to mention. I gotta think of something good now. I really wanna rip the reader’s heart out.
I am forgetting the movie, but a character is in as parade and I think he makes eye contact with the Kevin Bacon character who points his hand as a gun and slowly fires. Very effective.
Not any time soon. Believe Ive got the Covid and the ghost of Johnny Cash has possessed my vocal chords. I hummed 432hz directly at a bridge truss and the whole thing vibrated apart.
It’s not dancing, but rather, dramatic re-enactment which is required.
My MC in the novel I am writing has a penchant for playing opera when he is in a bad mood and then signing along (to lyrics he does not know, in a language he does not know) ...at the top of his lungs and re-enactmenting what he thinks it could be about / making poor life choices.
I’m not sure of those scenes will make it very far, there are far too many of them to include them all, but just the joy of writing about singing and performing ballads with the lack of knowledge of the whole thing is enjoyable.
There is always a song in my head. I feel like when I'm writing it's like playing the piano. I was taught to play by Grace Drysdale, an entertainer that toured with Bob Hope and had been super-famous. She never ever let fame or success change her.
Other than my Mom and some teachers, she was the only one who said I was talented and it meant the world to me.
You get to pick your confirmation name. Of course I picked Karie Grace, who was a shining example of the kind of person I want to be.
That sucks. I think hearing music is the same as hearing voices because I hear the actual entire song including songs which sometimes if Im relaxed I can slow down and figure out.....lol. how I figuring out what's in my memory.
Chuck, I contacted Karyn at Hindsight to get the dates and I'm planning to come in December but haven't decided on the dates yet. Will be nice to see you again and I promise no crying this time and no AIRBNBs either....like ever.
The Punch Brothers just released their version of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald on their Church Street Blues album and it is amazing. I got to hear it played live at The Moore Theater it was such a surprise to hear it since I grew up listening to the Gordon Lightfoot version as a kid. Being a sailor I am a sucker for maritime songs. The Punch Brothers version of Another New World is amazing and it tells such a good story. I would say it is even better than The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Give a listen to it here: https://youtu.be/87OXw7r44zQ
My first ECCC in 2018. I went to a panel on storytelling. Just because Johnathan Coulton was on the panel and they each gave their version of a story that inspired them to be better storytellers and the only musician on the 4 person panel gave this song. She said the story in the song was always slightly different in meaning to her everytime she heard it. I hope someday to write a story as good as the story in the song Another New World.
Ballads and fast paced punk, there must be a balance somewhere, I guess. But looking at today, with the influence of video games, tiktok, trap music, the short attention spans, I feel people respond more to fiction paced on 300km per hour.
So, when I realized it was Kurts 100th birthday, I looked at the Vonnegut museums website to see if they were having an event. They are, its a supafancy charity gala in a mansion. Tickets are $500, theyre auctioning off signed first editions, et cetera. So I decided to email the director to ask if theyd let me attend at a steep discount. And ill be damned if she didnt get right back to me with an invitation. So a valet will be parking my ancient, beat up Toyota at a mansion tomorrow night. This is going to be an experience.
Chuck, I wanted to share one of my favorite ballads. I’m really big on song lyrics, I assume you are too. It’s “Name” by Goo Goo Dolls. Some people may like or hate that song as it’s very mainstream.
But I read an interview from the lead singer about what the song was about. He grew up in a family with an abusive alcoholic father. The guy was horrible from what I understand. A lot of people had misunderstood that the song was about an ex girlfriend or something. But it was actually about his sister and how growing up he did everything he could to protect her from him. The trauma that their dad imposed on him and her really destroyed her emotionally. I want to say that she ended up committing suicide, but I could be wrong on that. Anyway, the lyrics themselves tell a great story and I love how they are very personal, yet very open to interpretation.
Hahahahaha yeah. Admitting to being touched by ballads is a really hard thing to do, even for me. I grew up in a house of women who were all strangely super comfortable with anger, but not vulnerability. Vulnerability, and dare I say... (gag)... a few tears... that shit'd get you the biggest shame-basting around. So ballads... the soft music of the heart... I remember my punk rock Mom hearing me listen to some of it once, and she called me a "queer-do" (rhymes with weirdo). This was before "queer" was claimed by the LGBTQ community, so she meant it in the way of just being odd and corny. Lol. The best days. I'm coming out and saying I have always been, and always will be, influenced by ballads. Thank you for bringing this to me.
I prefer the title "Liar" or "Professional Liar." Looks good on a resume.
“Professional Imaginer”.
That's nice
Pathological Liar?
Some comedian, I think it was Richard Jeni had a bit about playing that song when you want to clear out a party. I do like it though, the Dandy Warhols cover is good.
I applaud your knowledge of Canadian history! They don't even teach that here (on Planet Canada) in our history classes; we only listen to the same song by our "legend" Gordon Lightfoot as you do. At least in Quebec, which doesn't want to know much about the Rest of Canada.
Hi from Isolation btw. My husband and I tested positive for C19 on Sunday (we're newbies, it's our first time!!). At least we got to enjoy our vacation.
Rest assured that my husband and I both feel fine. I'm grateful to be able to work, and knowing that I might not have full capacity at any time is quite the motivator to get as much work done while I can (but it's been a steady upturn in symptoms).
PS I like "If you could read my mind" (also Lightfoot) better
Feel better soon!
Greetings from the county where Gordon Lightfoot is from.
And to think I thought I was the only Canadian on here.
I'm French Canadian by injection, or used to be. Both my ex husbands are 100%.
There's a few of us around, eh? :)
And I swear, I heard the story about Edmund Fitzgerald on CBC for the first time. Serendipity!
Believe Ive got it too. Mostly just a sore throat that has turned my voice very deep. Feel fine except in the morning and before bed.
I just got over something. I rarely get sick. Last time I got sick I was working 12 hour shifts in a cigar wrapper factory and I was a slitter. I just started so I was blowing my nose every 5 minutes for 2 weeks and my weighted dropped to 117 lbs. (I'm 5 5) and then the world shut down Thank God. I got paid to sit at home for 2 months and I'm pretty sure it was COVID.
I hadnt been sick in 4 years until I got Covid twice in February, and now again.
Basically every possible symptom could be it. The only way to know is that ephemeral positive rapid antigen test (PCR is too expensive here and unavailable) captured at a precise moment.
My husband and I had the deep voice effect too. Great time for throat singing! :)
I found cold meds helped before bed, and coffee/tea in the morning. Feel better soon!
Ha @ impossible to dance to. Got a question for you on the pathos/bathos thing you mentioned in a comment to me a while ago. I’m working on a really emotional moment with my protagonist where he’s pretty devastated, life is absolutely destroyed, etc. I’m putting his feelings into physical actions for the most part and trying my best to avoid ambiguous emotional words. That said, I’m still not sure if it’s too heavy and needs to have a quick cut to something humorous or if I did that it would actually undercut the seriousness of the moment?
Tyler Durden saying “Cool” to a nasty fight scene with a guy’s face getting pummeled is serious, and it works great to sort of parody the craziness/tension of that part. But it’s not a heavy emotional moment. I keep going back to what I hate about Marvel movies (besides them being the same plot every time), which is that in something like Spider-Man or whatever they will have a serious moment and then cut to a joke and all the sudden, for me at least, it feels like I can’t take the character seriously. Thoughts?
If there is a humor moment, is he laughing in the face of adversity and about to come out stronger? Gallows humor as he's giving up? Maybe its a "Joker" moment where he's crossed a line and has become someone else, with a different investment in the situation?
Good questions! To give some perspective... He won’t be turning evil or losing his shit. Basically he’s trying to figure out how to move forward with interacting with a former serious girlfriend that he was recently reunited with after she mysteriously disappeared. The problem is she now has “amnesia” (not exactly, but that’s what we’ll call it) and has no recollection of him. He had expected a happy ending, but instead it’s left him in a state of disarray that he couldn’t have predicted or prepared for.
OK, cool. You don't have to give away the ending, but I'd ask where are they going next? Where are they going ultimately? The action would have to hint at that.
One other thought - since its a serious girlfriend, is there some shared object, place, or activity that his going to/interacting with would send a message to the reader? For example, dropping a photo frame that cracks (cliche but we know what it means), an unfinished puzzle but he goes back and solves something new, or the two always loved joyriding on a coast road and he goes for a ride alone.
The direction it’s going is that although this has broken him, part of him still wants to hang on and hope somehow she’ll remember. While he can’t do anything to talk with her about the past (she remains oblivious to the past), he can’t abandon her. He is going to form a business venture with her.
Yes, there is a shared object that she gave him that I’m using throughout the story. I’m for sure considering having him do something with it, possibly destroy it or maybe donate it to a thrift store or something of that nature. Or maybe have the reader *think* it’s gone/thrown out, only for it to show back up. Maybe thrown in a dumpster, but it resurfaces ... actually yup doing that! Maybe his former gf recovers it from the dumpster because she thought it looked ‘cute’...
Thoughts. Can you end with an action?
Years ago in workshop a student brought a story about a harried middle-aged woman who'd been caring for her elderly father. He was convinced of conspiracies and ranted to her about them. On his death bed, after years of ranting, he gave her a cassette tape which he said would explain all the conspiracies. Then he died. As she left the hospital, while stepping into a cab, the woman deliberately dropped the tape into the grate of a storm sewer. The end.
It was a stunning demonstration of how she was rejecting her dad's paranoia. Just the one gesture. Ending with dialog always lessens the pathos. So can you end with an action?
Ok, great. Thanks. That’s awesome feedback! I’ll think of an action/gesture that he can take to cope, cut away from his Big Voice, and physically illustrate how he will move forward. So far all of the chapter has been in Big Voice, but it’s only the beginning as it’s a few hundred words. This actually helps solve two problems by helping me cut the tension, further demonstrate heartache via physical gesture, and also letting me switch out of Big Voice, which was another concern I meant to mention. I gotta think of something good now. I really wanna rip the reader’s heart out.
Atta boy. Rip out that heart!
I am forgetting the movie, but a character is in as parade and I think he makes eye contact with the Kevin Bacon character who points his hand as a gun and slowly fires. Very effective.
Love me a good story song, and unintentionally wrote a lot of them.
Delete Deep!!!!
You’ll have to sing one some time
Not any time soon. Believe Ive got the Covid and the ghost of Johnny Cash has possessed my vocal chords. I hummed 432hz directly at a bridge truss and the whole thing vibrated apart.
It’s not dancing, but rather, dramatic re-enactment which is required.
My MC in the novel I am writing has a penchant for playing opera when he is in a bad mood and then signing along (to lyrics he does not know, in a language he does not know) ...at the top of his lungs and re-enactmenting what he thinks it could be about / making poor life choices.
I’m not sure of those scenes will make it very far, there are far too many of them to include them all, but just the joy of writing about singing and performing ballads with the lack of knowledge of the whole thing is enjoyable.
There is always a song in my head. I feel like when I'm writing it's like playing the piano. I was taught to play by Grace Drysdale, an entertainer that toured with Bob Hope and had been super-famous. She never ever let fame or success change her.
Other than my Mom and some teachers, she was the only one who said I was talented and it meant the world to me.
You get to pick your confirmation name. Of course I picked Karie Grace, who was a shining example of the kind of person I want to be.
I got 13 wonderful years with her.
Karie Grace
That sucks. I think hearing music is the same as hearing voices because I hear the actual entire song including songs which sometimes if Im relaxed I can slow down and figure out.....lol. how I figuring out what's in my memory.
I'm like rainman for music is all it's like
Could be a new type of music you heard somewhere somehow and you can't get it out? It's not music to you, because its not definited yet.
You could have a symphony in your head.
Chuck, I contacted Karyn at Hindsight to get the dates and I'm planning to come in December but haven't decided on the dates yet. Will be nice to see you again and I promise no crying this time and no AIRBNBs either....like ever.
I don't think I will survive a 4th AIRBNB.
I dunno Chuck, I could really dig dancing to Alice’s Restaurant
The Punch Brothers just released their version of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald on their Church Street Blues album and it is amazing. I got to hear it played live at The Moore Theater it was such a surprise to hear it since I grew up listening to the Gordon Lightfoot version as a kid. Being a sailor I am a sucker for maritime songs. The Punch Brothers version of Another New World is amazing and it tells such a good story. I would say it is even better than The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Give a listen to it here: https://youtu.be/87OXw7r44zQ
My first ECCC in 2018. I went to a panel on storytelling. Just because Johnathan Coulton was on the panel and they each gave their version of a story that inspired them to be better storytellers and the only musician on the 4 person panel gave this song. She said the story in the song was always slightly different in meaning to her everytime she heard it. I hope someday to write a story as good as the story in the song Another New World.
Ballads and fast paced punk, there must be a balance somewhere, I guess. But looking at today, with the influence of video games, tiktok, trap music, the short attention spans, I feel people respond more to fiction paced on 300km per hour.
Its Kurt Vonneguts 100th birthday. 11/11/22
So, when I realized it was Kurts 100th birthday, I looked at the Vonnegut museums website to see if they were having an event. They are, its a supafancy charity gala in a mansion. Tickets are $500, theyre auctioning off signed first editions, et cetera. So I decided to email the director to ask if theyd let me attend at a steep discount. And ill be damned if she didnt get right back to me with an invitation. So a valet will be parking my ancient, beat up Toyota at a mansion tomorrow night. This is going to be an experience.
Chuck, I wanted to share one of my favorite ballads. I’m really big on song lyrics, I assume you are too. It’s “Name” by Goo Goo Dolls. Some people may like or hate that song as it’s very mainstream.
But I read an interview from the lead singer about what the song was about. He grew up in a family with an abusive alcoholic father. The guy was horrible from what I understand. A lot of people had misunderstood that the song was about an ex girlfriend or something. But it was actually about his sister and how growing up he did everything he could to protect her from him. The trauma that their dad imposed on him and her really destroyed her emotionally. I want to say that she ended up committing suicide, but I could be wrong on that. Anyway, the lyrics themselves tell a great story and I love how they are very personal, yet very open to interpretation.
https://genius.com/The-goo-goo-dolls-name-lyrics
Is anyone over on Mastodon?
Here is my handle! @DNDElise@mstdn.social
https://mstdn.social/@DNDElise
Hahahahaha yeah. Admitting to being touched by ballads is a really hard thing to do, even for me. I grew up in a house of women who were all strangely super comfortable with anger, but not vulnerability. Vulnerability, and dare I say... (gag)... a few tears... that shit'd get you the biggest shame-basting around. So ballads... the soft music of the heart... I remember my punk rock Mom hearing me listen to some of it once, and she called me a "queer-do" (rhymes with weirdo). This was before "queer" was claimed by the LGBTQ community, so she meant it in the way of just being odd and corny. Lol. The best days. I'm coming out and saying I have always been, and always will be, influenced by ballads. Thank you for bringing this to me.