More of the purple Yoda

Less than 24 hours til Prince.

Yesterday I listed 10 things that Prince taught me. I guess I forgot the most obvious--he taught me what great music is. I think only Kate Bush taught me as much. I don't mean only their music is great music; I mean, listening to their music educated me. Not just the lyrics, but really the music. Like reading a great book makes me think, and strains my brain a bit, and stays with me, and changes me a little, and makes me seek out more great authors; Prince's music had the same effect. And of course, made me dance and sing get up and do my thing.

So tonight I'll continue to indulge myself, as I prepare for this Most Sacred Event  !!:-)!!  by posting some of the few Princey videos presently on the youtubes. Not the ones everyone knows, but some of the really good songs he's put out in the last 10 years. His albums aren't as consistently good, but each one contains gems.

"Guitar"
I love you baby
But not like I love this guitar!


"Colonized Mind" - this'll knock your sox off


"Dreamer"  - there's only a short clip of it


And something new I hadn't heard! "Laydown." Zowee. He calls himself purple Yoda!


This was his real comeback - "Musicology." I think Prince had all these rock fans with 1999 and Purple Rain, and then lost a bunch of them when he moved into funk and soul territory. Well... yes he was weaned on Zeppelin and Hendrix, but James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic too! Not to mention Santana, Joni Mitchell, Duke Ellington... the only genre of music he's not likely to try is country.


"The Word." This song is straight up proselytizing, but it's lovely. All that's missing is the sex!


"Te Amo Corazón" & "Call My Name"
Prince hit his 40s and started writing the best love ballads of his career.  I don't think alpha males fall deeply in love until at least they reach that age at least.



Heartbreak songs, on the other hand, he's mastered since "When Doves Cry" and before. This is "I Love You But I Don't Trust You Anymore." I hope he plays it! It's jazzy and he's played it this year, so he might.


Something a little odder, from Camille (Prince's voice sped up, since the Sign O the Times album.) "Dance 4 Me." 


And some covers?
Joni's "A Case of You"


"Crimson and Clover"


Fun - Prince's vocal range.


Unrelated side point... if anyone needs proof that wearing heels all your life is bad for your feet, people are noticing that Prince often changes into flatter shoes these days. ;-)

     

10 Lessons I Learned from Prince

I got my first Prince album from my brother. I was too young to see Purple Rain in the theatre, he saw it with my mum, and he had the cassette. I listened to it so much, he finally let me keep it. I was in grade 6.

So I spent my formative years listening to Prince. I think he's one of the reasons I continued to find the chutzpah each day to keep dressing and acting how I wanted to, though it drew a lot of sh*t from my peers.

Therefore, in honor of our upcoming Fated Meeting, here are my Life Lessons from Prince.


#1 Sex, love, and spiritual matters should all be held in reverence ...usually within the same verse.

Lovesexy: Prince's most religious album... pre-JW that is ;-)

#2 Don't be afraid to express yourself, even if you'll stand out from the crowd. Even if people will make fun of you because you're a straight guy in chick's clothes.

For the best jokes on this, see the video at the end of the post.

#3 No matter how physically different you are... OWN IT.

"Y'all is taller 'n me, but how many a you can carry off a pimp cane?"

#4 Partying is funner when you include everyone. (His JW-ness these days is surely less inclusive, but growing up it was all about the gender bending and bicuriosity and "black white Puerto Rican everybody justa freakin'".)

 

#5 Follow your heart, including your artist's heart, even if people don't understand where you're going. I was 12 when Prince followed up Purple Rain with Around the World in a Day, and I think that's when I learned what integrity meant. (...Not the actual word. Aretha Franklin had a B-side called "Integrity" and I didn't know what the f--- the word meant.)


 

#6 Eccentrics are good for society. (John Stuart Mill thought so too.)

 

 

  

Not only are they occasionally geniuses, but sometimes while making fools out of themselves they raise important questions like...

? Do artists have to be available at all times for the public (such as for interviews)? Or is it enough that they, you know, produce art?

? How far do we let corporations go in the exchange of labor and pay? Prince got fed up with Warner owning his music and since the general public didn't understand the full extent of the f**ckwaddery of the music industry, and since he went about it in his usual oddball manner, peeples made fun of him. But there are other crapitudinous companies in retail and in service... and not always a Prince to use an unpronounceable name for them.

#7 When the old ways don't work anymore, you have to experiment with new ones. Even if you fail a few times.

#8 Even geniuses fail a few times.

 
 

#9 A good swear word is a balm to the soul. He'd be sad to know I learned this from him now that he's got religion. But no one delivered a motherf***er or a "Good God!" like he did. Sigh.

And finally...

#10 Don't let the boys hog all the fun toys. 

Wendy Melvoin

Sheila E.

Candy Dulfer

New bassist Ida Nielsen

Rhonda Smith

DJ Rashida

Now if you really want a treat, this is from the Chappelle Show, where Eddie Murphy's brother told these crazy stories from the 80s when he would hang out with Eddie in Hollywood. (This is where "I'm Rick James bitch!" comes from.) They're SO funny. In this one Prince challenges Eddie and Charlie and their gang to a game of basketball. Prince really did play basketball in high school, all 5'2'' of him. 

"I dare you to challenge Prince to a game of ball one on one! ...After it was all over he took us in the house and served us pancakes."

Weekend Post: Evil Cats, Graphic Novels, Books on Writing, AND PRINCE PRINCE PRINCE PRINCE PRINCE!!!!!!

CATS (or Teh Evil Ones)

* Apparently our good friend and wee elf Urthalun DOES have A Fault! Hard to believe, I know. But she hates cats. Well maybe it's not a fault--I can understand cat hatred. Cats, after all, are trying to take over the planet and we tend to hate that which we fear. Living with cats is like living with cylons, you always feel condescended to.

This week poor Urthalun, who watches almost no TV, sat down to watch a program on snakes (her fave) and it turned out to be a cat show! I told her it was most likely a curse sent by my witch-cat, Haley--she of the dark heart and the dark arts.

- "I don't care for your new associate, La Mahmmy. I will send her a message."

- "As long as you don't leave a severed dog head in her bed."

- "You mistake me for the feline mafia. We dark artists are much more subtle, Mahmmy."

 * This picture is to show you how it's not always my fault that my closet gets messy. (See top right of picture. I used to wonder why my piles of pajamas never stayed upright.)

* This picture is to show you the eventual role humans will play on Planet Cat: A sort of warming plate, with hands for petting. (I was half reclined, trying to use my laptop.)

* Minion so likes her kong toy, I thought she'd like this kong teether cause there's more skinny parts to chew. Classic anthropological mistake, where I went in as the outsider, thinking I understood The Other without actually studying her. She doesn't use the teether at all because she can't hold onto it right. As you can see, she likes the kong because she holds onto the fat part with her feet, and then chews the skinny part. O arrogant hu-mahn that I am!

BOOKS

I don't seem to be making headway through French novels, but am very much in the mood for French graphic novels, so I've switched gears. My review of the second Paul is here, and now I'm reading a gentle love story (Les Années douces) adapted from a Japanese novel. Graphic novels are taken so seriously in the francophone world (France, Belgium, Quebec, etc.) that it's a nice place to poke around if I'm going to practice my French. This Japanese translation, for example, doesn't appear to exist in English. Possibly not the other one I took out either. And, unlike Debbie Travis, I don't judge my literary experience by the sheer # of words.* I'll just end up reading more books in the same period of time, is all. Maybe more, since it's what I'm in the mood for.


WRITING

click on pic for my review of this one

You may also have noticed I keep posting reviews for writing books. I can go years without reading books on the craft, it just depends on what stage I'm at. If I'm at a "sit your ass down and WRITE" stage then I stop reading about writing. Completely. Like a teetotaler. Same with blogs by agents and editors--I only read them when I'm gearing up to submit, and then I stop cold and take a break, otherwise I think it can mess with creativity.

I don't think it's good to have other people's voices about writing in your head all the time. No matter how much I respect the source, I will not listen to writing advice, or submission advice, all year round. For example, I follow Jennifer Crusie's blog all year, but when I'm not in Think About Craft mode I skip her stuff on writing. I just read about her lost purse and her funny dogs.

But I'm about to re-write a book, so it's a good time to immerse myself. Everyone else's voice is allowed inside my head right now, and then it's SOLITUDE TIME. When I'm ready for critiques, then I'll be interested in the voices of people who've read my actual book, but it's unlikely I'll return to the craft books, unless it's for a very specific question. Cause at that point they can make you doubt yourself too much. It's already confusing when you let your readers into Your World, let alone Generic Authors of Writing Books. Writing's a fragile business, yo. A delicate balance between having faith in yourself and your beliefs and your vision, and being open to, and recognizing, valid criticism.

I've read some good, some bad, and some entertaining craft books this month. Today I read the first two chapters of The Forest for the Trees, and so far it's the best one. I'll continue to post my reviews on Goodreads, facebook and here. My latest review is of the Donald Maass one--he's a huuuuuge agent. Click on the picture of the book, should take you to my review.


PRINCE IN SIX DAYS!!!!

Apparently the last time he came to the Jazz Fest a lot of people were all "wtf he's not a jazz musician". So for the first 80 minutes he played a big-ass long set of jazz-funk-fusion with the lights turned down, including a 20 minute solo by his bassist during which one critique surmised he went to have a foot rub. The same critique said "some suckers left during intermission," after which Prince let loose with his hits and knocked everyone off their feet.

The party had jumped instantly into full swing, Prince had not lost his mind, he was still the one and only Sexy Motherfunker, and he had come to do what he does best, and what he does better than pretty much anyone on the planet.
It's nice to see that, with all his success, the stardom, the post-stardom, - amid the arrogance, the eccentricity, the weirdness and the cool - he hasn't lost his sense of humour. [Mtl Gazette]

Prince may be as crazy as Kevin Smith says, but when you see him on stage, he's not that shy, religious kook--he's sooo entertaining from every video I've seen, or live set I've heard. And he's funny. He specifically requested a small venue, and that it be stripped of all but 300 VIP tables. (The club has room for 2000 seats--Swiss Girl and I went there to see an Abba cover band. Did I say this already? I'm so delirious. "IIII get Delirious, when I'm gonna see Priiince...") I assume that if he's turning the club into one big dance floor... there's going to be dance music involved.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm freaking out just a tiny bit.
 And I'm not the freaking out type.