There’s a fantastic Ray Bradbury story called All Summer in a Day about a class of schoolchildren on Venus, where it rains all day every day, and the sun only shines for two hours once every seven years. Right now, I feel like one of the children in the story, as it’s been almost a nonstop downpour for the last two days and forecasted to only get worse. Tomorrow is a holiday because it’s the queen’s birthday, or some other such nonsense, and there was talk of doing something fun, like visiting a national park, but the weather has pretty much put the kibosh on all that.
So, instead, I’m cooped up in my apartment, thinking about my wedding in August, and getting cold feet. Not in the figurative sense, I don’t have any apprehension about the wedding. My feet are literally cold right now. Nothing can warm them up. I put on the thickest socks I own and they are still cold. I put them in front of the heater and turned it up so hot that it singed my leg hairs, and still they are cold. Maybe it’s the way I sit – with my feet up on the coffee table or maybe it’s just sitting too much period – it’s effecting my circulation. I’ll try moving around a bit more.
Actually, I’ve been trying to be less stagnant in general. I heard a piece on NPR about how bad prolonged stretches of sitting are for you, which is unfortunate, because I, like many others, basically spend all day sitting. I’m trying to move around more during the day, but it’s hard, when you work on a computer. Whenever they do bits like this on the radio, they always offer wildly unrealistic advice, “Try to get up and walk around for ten minutes every hour.” Right, I can afford to cut my production at work by 17%. No problem.
Anyway, last night I went over to my friend F’s condo. His cousin D came up from Sydney to visit for the long weekend, and she brought with her a guy whose name (and first initial) escape me at the moment. The guy is her cousin, but not F’s cousin, because it’s on the other side of the family. A few others came over, and we had ourselves a rockin’ little get-together. El vino did flow.
For some reason, we watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and by watched, I mean, somebody put it on in the background while we talked. I’d forgotten how terrible that movie is. I just don’t understand the attraction. Well, it does have a young hot Susan Sarandon running around in a bra for most of it, but other than that it’s just a bunch of inane madcap shite. When it ended, D’s cousin said, “You could have ended that movie at any point during the last hour, and it would have made just as much sense.”
Embarrassingly, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the longest-running continuous release in movie history. It literally hasn’t left the theaters since it opened in 1975. I say “embarrassingly”, because we, the movie-going public should all feel great shame in this. All the great movies in the last 40 years, and this piece of garbage is Cal Ripken? Of course, its run is due to its huge cult following.
Seeing Tim Curry reminded me of the movie Clue. I mentioned that last night, and nobody knew what I was talking about. I then explained that it was a movie based on the board game Clue, and still nobody knew what I was talking about. I then explained the board game and somebody said, “That’s called Cluedo, not Clue.” Apparently, outside of North America they call it Cluedo. On Wikipedia, it says that Cluedo is a portmanteau of “clue” and “ludo”, which means “I, play” in Latin. Also, in the non-North American version, he’s Reverend Green, not Mr. Green, and they call the wrench the spanner. Also, over here, they call French fries chips!
Wow! I just took a peek outside and it has temporarily stopped raining. Of course, it’s dark and cold and windy, and will probably start raining again in five minutes, but it’s something. Actually, there is one advantage to it raining all weekend -- it gives me less incentive to procrastinate on a seminar I have to prepare. I have a series of on-line interviews lined up next week with a company in the States, and as part of this, I have to give a remote seminar.
I have the slides mostly prepared. I just need to practice it and work out the kinks. I’ll probably go over it once tonight and a few times tomorrow. The real deal is on Wednesday, and due to the time difference, I’m starting at 11pm, my time. Good thing I’m more of a night person than a morning person.
So, I’m going to end this entry with a High Fidelity-esque list. The top ten rain-themed songs. Originally I was only going to do five, but there were too many good ones.
10. November Rain, Guns N’ Roses. This one I like ironically. In fact, that’s the only way I can enjoy Guns N’ Roses period. I can’t take them seriously as musicians, especially Axl. “Oh… everybody needs some time all al-o-o-ne…” So profound.
9. Blame It On the Rain, Milli Vanilli. Speaking of liking something ironically. I always preferred Girl, I’m Gonna Miss You, but that one doesn’t fit the theme.
8. I Can See Clearly Now, Johnny Nash. The second best singer with the first name Johnny and a last name that rhymes with dash. Still, he’s got a cool voice and an even cooler outfit. I think I know where Eddie Murphy got the idea for his suit in Delirious.
7. Here Comes That Rainbow Again, Johnny Cash. The best singer with the first name Johnny and a last name that rhymes with dash. His voice is otherworldly. He could sing about killing babies, while waiving a swastika flag, and I’d still enjoy it. I recent heard him do a fantastic version of Neil Diamond’s Solitary Man.
6. Box of Rain, The Grateful Dead. The opening song on the album American Beauty. I went to two Dead shows in high school (real Dead shows, not the fake post-Jerry Garcia ones). One of them was in Eugene, Oregon. It must have been June 18, 1994, because it was the day after the OJ-White-Bronco chase fiasco. Wow, 17 years ago. I’m getting old.
5. The Rainbow Connection, Kermit The Frog. If a song could make me cry (which it can’t), this one would do it. In second grade music class, we sang a bunch of songs from The Muppet Movie, and now I get really nostalgic whenever I hear them.
4. When the Levee Breaks, Led Zeppelin. Best song off Lep Zeppelin IV, hands down. I always thought IV was overrated. It might be the worst of the numbered albums. Actually, it might be their worst album period. But, it’s Zeppelin, so that’s still pretty damn good.
3. Fool In the Rain, Led Zeppelin. Speaking of Zeppelin. This is a great song of theirs that never got much radio play. I used to have a huge poster of Led Zeppelin in my room. I think it was on my ceiling.
2. Have You Ever Seen the Rain, Creedence Clearwater Revival. I used to rock CCR’s greatest hits with my friend JW in high school, so any song off that album reminds me of going over to his place back in the day. His mom ran a daycare, so his house often had all these snot-nosed kids running around. We didn’t hang out there much.
1. No Rain, Blind Melon. I wrestled in high school, and after practice I would frequently give a ride home to this black guy on our team. He used to always razz me about my music, because I listened to Nirvana and Jane’s Addiction, and he listened to Dre and Snoop. One time, I put on a mixed tape and No Rain came on. “I know this song,” he said. “This is that bee song – that chubby bee song… It’s alright.” Closest I ever came to approval. And so, I leave you with the greatest rained-themed song of all time – that chubby bee song.
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