Photo courtesy: Dr. Jamie Long I had no idea it had been this long since I\’d stopped by to leave a trail of words on this page. If you\’ve been on the journey with me, you\’ve likely seen the various deserts I\’ve come back from — writing deserts, that is, where nothing beyond the occasional academic piece were developed. This last desert has been one of a different kind — I have been writing, and more than academics. More on that one day, maybe. Well, here\’s a hint: Beyond all that, I also moved cross-country at the end of July.…

Remove the beam from your own eye … Matthew 7:5 Oh, yes: the Creator of the Universe has a sense of humor. There is no need for sitcoms or daytime talk shows in the heavenly realms because, well … … we exist. We — humans, that is — spend an extraordinary amount of time, pointing fingers at what other people are doing and have the gall to tell them what is right and true for them. Really, now. I wasn\’t going to get into the choice conversation, but I read something yesterday about the experience of a woman who had…

Jerry had been excited about traveling from the created moon out behind Titan, where his family had lived since his great-grandmother had been a baby. He’d never been away from there, not even outside the atmospheric dome to visit Titan or one of the floating cities high in Saturn’s atmosphere. To have been hired on at Europa Incorporated was a dream come true. Perry, the younger twin, didn’t work but spent his days carefully tending to their great-grandmother, since their parents, grandparents, and other family elders worked many hours to pay for their shared and tight quarters. Keep on eavesdroppin…

He snorted with disgust as he wiped crumbs from his lower jaw. His robes fluttered and clung below what pushed forward like a middle-aged paunch. He looked into his own eyes, a reflection in the hallway mirror of one more house, one more appointment to take the hand of someone on their way to eternity. He used to admire that profile but instead of a hero, now all he saw was an old spirit, weary from so much death, growing fat and slow from too many snacks left to welcome him. It\’s amazing how a song can pull out visceral…

It’s the 20th day and alas, we’ve reached the end of the road. For now. We’ve done jazz, gospel, industrial, instrumental, and more, which makes it difficult to come to the penultimate of such a journey. However, I think I have to give it to two of the greatest musicians of this or any other time to close out with a two-fer. Stevie Wonder, one of the most prolific writers in my lifetime, has to make it on my list. There are so many songs that come to mind, but there are three of his that mean the most. I…

I’ll have to stick with the ‘80s for today and yes, I’m doing it … It’s the 19th day of the series, so what better day to talk about Paul Hardcastle and his runaway hit, ‘19’? Please note that the video might not play, depending on your settings, because it comes with a viewing warning. I have to say that while I also played the grooves off the 12-inch version of ‘19’, it wasn’t my most favorite song by Mr. Hardcastle. It is likely ‘Rainforest’. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTQyyOYRCxY&w=560&h=315]

Figured I’d take it down a notch since we’re fast approaching the end of this 20-day musical journey. There was a late-70s(?) band called Japan, who were part of the UK androgynous New Romantic era sound. Lead singer David Sylvian went on to his own solo career and in the early 1980s, had several albums. In my radio station days, any cash I received that wasn’t earmarked for school-related things like bus fare (eventually gasoline for my car) or parking went to music. I went into extreme debt, shopping at Cheap Thrills Record Store (shout out to 382 George Street,…

Another group emerging from the industrial landscape of music is Laibach. They weren’t just identified as an industrial band, but were also labeled as neo-classical and were part of the then-emergent New Slovenian Art, a political-cultural movement. Two of the founding members of Laibach were in the Yugoslavian Army; their works have been said to be fascist, but they were poking at the totalitarian regime of their era by presenting themselves as even more so. Their songs such as Life is Life and Geburt einer Nation are likely best-known, Geburt specifically, because it is a Queen cover song (One Nation,…

Speaking of the 1980s, one can’t leave out industrial music. I don’t know what it was about the sound, but it grabbed me hard in my radio station days. I started my shows with Antagonism by Skinny Puppy nearly every week as I recall. What it was about them, specifically, I can’t tell you. I have a ton of their music on cassette and vinyl. The main guy, cEvin Key, seemed interesting to say the least … I chose this bit of art, since the cover of the album containing the song linked above may not be appropriate for some…

One name that emerged from Yellow Magic Orchestra in my musical archive is Ryuichi Sakamoto. I think of him like an Andy Warhol of music; he has many songs with one-word titles that sweep across the acoustic canvas like Mr. Warhol’s works — unique, quirky, and at times creepy — sweep across the painted canvas. For film buffs, Mr. Sakamoto might be familiar as the soundtrack composer for the film The Last Emperor. (photo: mydramalist.com) Mr. Sakamoto starred in the film as well. The soundtrack was amazing, of course.