Teddy Bear, how long you been out there?

Yesterday I decided that in-the-oven Nova needed to be properly exposed to all things Meat Loaf, so I loaded Bat II and later Bat I to sing along to while I iced my hands (that's another post). Then I went looking for any Meat Loaf tour dates, just for the heck of it (Why is he spending the first half of August, Sept & October in Blackpool UK??): that took me from the official Meat Loaf fan site to the *real* Meat Loaf Facebook page, which featured two songs from his latest album HANG COOL TEDDY BEAR which came out last May.

Wait, whattt? Meat's got a new album out? Where was I?

Oh. I was doing my Malaysia/Singapore trip, nursing a sprained ankle, etc etc.
Not a real excuse, but I'll take it.

I have since "liked" the real Meat Loaf on FB, so I should be on top of things, yay!

And I'm now debating getting my hands on the album. Well, the CD, anyway. I'm old-ish school, can't imagine just buying the MP3s... there's something about a complete album: not just the individual songs, but how they are arranged and the larger story they tell...

Anyways, so Los Angeloser is the song that got me all anguished over having missed out on Mr Loaf's latest album. Today I looked for/found the official music video for it. Umm... I don't quite get it... lots of eye candy if you're a guy, I guess. Still a great and funny song tho.

(the type of car he drives? A *shit* car. just fyi)

And now I'm leveraging YouTube for songs from Teddy Bear to give me an idea of whether I really do want to Hang Cool with it or not. And just because, here's a list of links for you, dear reader, in case you too are interested (most of the "vids" are just the album artwork with the track playing).

1. Peace On Earth
2. Living On The Outside
3. Los Angeloser
4. If I Can't Have You
5. Love Is Not Real/Next Time You Stab Me in the Back
6. Like A Rose (feat. Jack Black) (starts off sounding like You Gotta Fight for your Right to Party)
7. Did You Ever Love Somebody
8. Song Of Madness
9. Running Away From Me
10. Let's Be In Love
11. If It Rains
12. Elvis In Vegas

(NOTE: The import / special edition / explicit albums have an additional track: California Isn't Big Enough ... imo it's so NOT worth shelling out the extra dough for the one song... esp when it kinda riles up my prudishness :p "I can barely fit my dick in my pants"? Really?)

So, about the overall story of the album... Meh... Right now I'll say it starts off just okay, picks up once you hit Los Angeloser, but a few songs later it flounders a LOT before starting to pick back up in the last two songs. The jury is still out about whether i *really* want to own this album, or actually go the cherry picking route.

What about you?

Music Monday #22 (my #2): Meat Loaf

I've been knocked out by a nasty cold since last Wednesday, resulting in this blog being just a wee bit neglected. I did participate in the third World Blog Surf Day with my take on Holidays & Festivals over at a malaysian abroad, you are invited to drop by and surf around the world :) I've only made my way through half the entries myself, no worries!

Today marks my second entry in Music Monday (#22), and this time around it's my pleasure to introduce perhaps my favouritest singer EVAH, Meat Loaf!

Depending on your age and/or exposure, you may have first heard of him due to Paradise by the Dashboard Light (from Bat out of Hell), or from the mid-90s I would do Anything for Love (But I won't do That) (from Bat out of Hell II). Today's featured song is the title track of the 2003 album Couldn't Have Said it Better, a very special album to me in so many ways. Ironically, this album might have totally escaped my attention if I hadn't stumbled across this particular song/music video while accessing Malaysia Airlines' inflight entertainment channels on a flight to Switzerland.

I could barely recognise Meat Loaf: he had aged, lost weight too, but there was no mistaking that voice!!

Once I got back to KL, I went a-hunting for the album... finally found it, put it in my car's CD player, and o.m.g. I had goosebumps and shivers all throughout the first few songs, that's how much they resonated with me.

I hope it does something for you, too :)

If you liked this post, please consider subscribing to my feed or subscribing via email. I'm on Twitter too!

Gawd but do I lurve the internets!

So I'd stumbled upon this concept of "literal music videos" a few months ago when the version for A-Ha's Take On Me made its rounds through the internet. ... Then thanks to a tweet by @redeyechicago today I was pointed to The Huffington Post's article on The 7 Best Literal Music Videos of All Time, which contained not only the A-Ha vid but six others, some of which were absolutely hi.la.rious.

If you're not sure what I'm talking about... "literal music videos" are essentially voiced-over music videos, where the song now describes what's going on in the video.

Still confused? No worries! I'd like to feature three vids (only one of which is in The Huff's list, so don't worry, you can enjoy all those AND these too!) which I think are hella awesome :)

[There's a pop quiz question at the end, so pay attention!]

First, Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart:


Second, Meat Loaf's I Would Do Anything For Love:

Pay special attention to what's said at 6:55-7:10ish :D

Third, Air Supply's Making Love (Out of Nothing at All)


.. and now the question: what do these three songs have in common?

Submit your guesses in the comments :)

.. and have a great weekend everybody!

If you liked this post, please consider subscribing to my feed or subscribing via email. I'm on Twitter too!

#991: Meat Loaf rules :)

Have a good weekend!


see more Funny Graphs

the interview meme, part deux!

As you may recall, I answered Kevin's interview questions earlier,,, now, here are Jeff's:

1. You have a gazillion blogs on your blogroll. Do really read them all and how much time do you spend daily reading blogs?
   Referring only to "my" [as opposed to the Lost Bloggers] blogroll: Yes, I read them all! Or try to, anyway. Certainly not on a daily basis though! I probably go through them all at least once a month. I know I've a few inactives, just haven't gotten around to doing any Spring Cleaning yet :p
   
   I'm thinking I should *really* get with the program and start using Bloglines or something, so I'll know when someone's published new stuff [blogroll's being really crappy about the "recently updated" feature lately!].
   
   Time estimate? That's tough - I can get sucked in for hours and hours and hours of blog-surfing and -reading, whether by visiting my blogroll, or using a link exchange directory thingy like Blog Explosion or Little Neo... I'd say AT LEAST 3 hours a day. And that's a VERY conservative estimate :-) I'm sure I've gone over 8 hours before:-) I'm a jobless bum, tho, so I've got loads of time to spare :-)
   
   
2. I've seen every episode of Xena: Warrior Princess. What would you think of a guy who admitted that?
   I'd certainly be amused, and perhaps tease the guy about it a little, but hey, I know I certainly preferred Xena to Hercules myself [See #23 here], and I've seen every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer *and* know the musical soundtrack by heart, so I don't see why I should judge someone for *their* taste! :-)
   
   
3. Have you become a US citizen yet? If not, do you plan on it?
   No, I'm not a US citizen - yet? - I have about 3 years before I'm eligible to even begin to apply for it, so I've got loads of time to decide. Frankly, it wouldn't be an issue at all if Malaysia recognized dual citizenship! Despite all its social and political problems, I feel the US resonates with me more than any other country I've been to / lived in. But Malaysia has such a skewed view on loyalty and nationalism that she'll disown me if I take up US citizenship... and I'd lose all those "rights" I have courtesy of an accident of birth that made me a member of the preferred race & religion [on paper, at least!]. Not that those things are that important to me. Meh. Bottom line: still undecided, check back in 3 years or so, LoL!
   
   
4. I counted at least 17 different posts where you mentioned Meat Loaf (and I'm sure there are more). Are you OK?
   Oh wow, you get A for effort, considering I haven't even gone back to label my old posts, LoL! Anyways... yeah, me and Mr Loaf.... Well, I do have an ever so slightly addictive personality :-) And more importantly, Meat Loaf / Steinman songs have played very important roles in my life: Paradise by the Dashboard Light totally blew my mind during college, both for the message of "be careful what you promise in the heat of the moment" as well as the whole mini-opera-in-a-song concept. It Just Won't Quit was my reluctant love song during college. And so many songs from the Couldn't Have Said It Better album seemed to outline Kosh's and my feelings & situations. What more can I say? :-)
   
   
5. I drive through Chicago about twice a year. Where should I stop for lunch next time?
   Good question! I'm not the solo-adventurous type, and with Kosh busy at work, I haven't done much exploring of Chicago, whether sight-seeing-wise or culinary-wise. But what pops into my mind right now is Greek Islands over in Greektown: excellent food PLUS free valet parking [you just needs a few bucks for the tip], which is always a plus in my eyes!

= = = = = = = = =
This is a surprisingly fun meme, and while I'm happy to be on the receiving end of the questions, I *would* like to be challenged to come up with 5 questions for *you*! So, want in on the fun? Here are the rules:

1. Leave me a comment with your email addy, or email me at azlynne1972[at]yahoo[dot]com, saying "Interview me."
2. I will respond by e-mailing you five questions. I get to pick them, and you have to answer them all.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

So, any takers?

Wednesday Whinings

Meat Loaf Tour Dates 2007

2/23/07 ... Pala, CA : Pala Casino
3/22/07 ... Syracuse, NY : On Center
3/24/07 ... Upper Darby, PA : Tower Theater
3/26/07 ... Poughkeepsie, NY : Mid Hudson Civic Ctr.
3/28/07 ... Binghamton, NY : Broome County Arena
3/30/07 ... Hershey, PA : Giant Center
4/01/07 ... Washington, DC : DAR Constitution Hall
4/03/07 ... Clearwater, FL : Ruth Eckerd Hall
4/05/07 ... Boca Raton, FL : Mizner Amphitheater
4/07/07 ... Orlando, FL : Hard Rock
4/10/07 ... Wallingford, CT : Chevrolet Theatre
4/12/07 ... New York, NY : Theater @ MSG
[May & June '07: various locations in UK, Ireland, Germany]

Meh. Wonder if this is just the first leg of a longer US tour, or if he really isn't going to venture beyond the east coast this time around [at least last year he made it all the way out to Ohio, which is where we caught him]. Not that Kosh would have the time to go anyway. And not that we were *that* impressed with the whole gig anyway :-( Oh well.

= = = = =
Last night I started the sneezing and the blowing of nose again. Might have been a delayed reaction to walking the streets at 6am in friggin cold weather to look for Kosh's lost IDs... unfortunately, didn't find them, so unless some good but procrastinative samaritan hands them in today, poor Kosh is going to have to go through the hassle of getting the various IDs re-issued. I gag at the thought of the administrative procedures that will cut into his already crappy schedule. :-(

= = = = =
I've never quite "got" the term "honky": I know its use as a derogatory reference to whites,,, but WHY? Is it linked to "honky tonk music", or something else? While I don't have the end-all answer, I now have access to a pretty comprehensive database of racial slurs with useful explanations and commentary. Someone certainly had a lot of time on their hands: check out the Racial Slur Database. You can submit your own too.

= = = = =
Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time
- Alan Moore
Wired magazine featured [very short] 6-word Sci-Fi stories by various people, inspired by what Hemingway called his best work: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." There are some excellent ones in there.

= = = = =
Have plenty more to share, but my stuffy nose/head is gonna have me curl up and sleep instead.

Laters!

November's Bits & Pieces

Hi!! Missed me?? :-)

Here's a Bit:
So I went on the treadmill again today, this time hitting it at 3pm, which is a first - usually if I don't drag myself there in the morning I just ain't going... but today seeing as I *was* too lazy this morning then ended up not doing anything while waiitng Kosh to get back from rounds by noon [it's 4pm he's still not back yet] figured my having finished a pack of Golden Oreos *required* some effort on my part to make up for it. So i did the treadmill.

And funny thing - I'd swing my arms while walking on the 'mill, and occasionally I'd brush my hand/arm against the side/handle every so slightly, and yet it would hurt.

a tingly type hurt.

Kinda like I'd been.

Awww crap.

I was getting ZAPPED!!

Even worse was despite my figuring out I was building up static on that dang machine, I'd keep forgetting, so when I brushed against the sides, or, even better, when I gripped the handle prior to adjusting my speed/incline, I'd get one nice [read: nasty] zap.

I don't recall getting zapped the other times I've been treadmilling.

The new/different factor for today? I used my beloved Nikes instead of the cheapo Power pair. Hmmm. Of course, my ever-curious mind will dictate that on my next gym trips, I'll try to figure out if my Nikes indeed cause static build-up.

Here's another Bit:
Yes, I generate/build-up static very easily. Tis the season for me to dread getting out of the car and then closing the door, because, well, ZAPPPPPP! It HURTS, okay?? :-(

Here's a Piece:
Corny lyrics alert:

We know what to say
If you stand in our way:
"Don't stand in our way"

brought to you by Meat Loaf's In the Land of the Pig, the Butcher is King, written by Jim Steinman, and, cool beans, featuring Steve Vai on guitar :-)

And another piece:
Remember the mystery that was what song from BatIII did Meat sing at last year's concert? I don't know how much of this is "reconstructive memory" or whatever, but I'm pretty sure it's the song "Cry Over Me": after listening to the album numerous times [that's an understatement, btw] I can pretty much visualise the sight & sound of that particular song onstage. As far as I'm concerned, mystery solved. But I would like to know if the lyrics got changed between concert & actual album, because I *swear* the song did include "it only hurts when you feel"!

Oooh, another piece!:
Haven't blogged in quite a while. Why? Meat Loaf. Really. All I've wanted to do these past few days has been to curl up and immerse myself in the album. And by immerse that means not only having the album play over and over and over while I pretend to do other stuff, but also while I study the CD booklet and sing along with the songs, trying to set into memory some of the more memorable songs & lyrics.

Speaking about memorable songs: Have I mentioned that they have pretty much grown on me, such that even It's all Coming Back to me Now is extremely listenable, and Marion Raven's voice which earlier I'd thought was just plain flat and mismatched in that song now seems strangely complementary to Meat's own voice. It helps that I've always liked that song [and always thought it a pity that it was Ms Dion who'd sung it,, even well before I knew it was a Steinman creation]

What a difference a few spins of the CD make!

And one of my many favourites [I think every day a different song speaks to me more] is "Alive", such a large self-affirming song... at one point I listened to it like 4x in a row, and at the end, I'd sing out loud at the top of my lungs, with arms outstretched, head thrown back: Let the end of the world come tumbling down; I'll be the last man standing on the ground; And if my shadow's all that survives, I'm still A L IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII VE!

I may return to regular programming in a day or two.

Till then -

And I know that I'm gonna be like this forever
I'm never going to be what I should
And you think that I'll be bad for just a little while
But I know I'll be bad for good"

If it ain't broke...

... break it!

Whoohoo I've found my workout anthem :-)

Song #10 on BatIII sets just the right pace for me to work it work it work it on the treadmill without activating my shins, enabling me to totally immerse myself in the music and emerge unscathed from the workout 45 mins later [not that I listened to that one song for 45mins lah, but it came on as I was hitting my peak and that totally helped me go beyond what I would normally do, especially considering it was the treadmill {of which I am NOT a fan!} and not the elliptical thingy!]

btw - BatIII is definitely growing on me :-) Heck, even The Monster's Loose isn't that bad now that I've heard it like 10 times.. maybe it *was* a good choice for an opening track after all?

BUT: I have yet to identify the song from the concert. That's because I don't remember it or the lyrics while I'm actually listening to BatIII. Nvm, today I will get to the bottom of that mystery.

I leave you with some awesome lyrics from Song #2: Blind As A Bat

And I wish I could give you
Something in return
For the precious time you wasted
On the tears I never earned
For reaching out to help me
'Cross the bridges I have burned

On a humourous aside: part of the song also goes

Your love is blind
Blind as a bat
The way that you're leading me
Home like that

... but me being me, expecting a "you gone done me wrong" type song, I keep filling in my own lyrics, and laughing at myself everytime I catch myself. This is what I tend to sing instead:

Your love is blind
Blind as a bat
The way that you're lea*V*ing me
*COLD* like that

Okay so it's funny to me. :p I freely admit and acknowledge I'm a freak when it comes to Meat Loaf, k? :-)

P/S> Song #4 Bad For Good, apart from being a true-blue Steinman song, also sounded suspiciously like a Queen song in some places... and whaddaya know, that's Brian May on guitar!

[My previous post with first rxns to BatIII here]

More Meaty Updates!

... but first: did you hear about this important pice of news?

A British company is developing computer chips which store music, to be implanted in women's breasts.

This is viewed as a major breakthrough as, up until now, women have complained that men were staring at their breasts and not listening to them.

Okay, that's not for real lah... but on a related note... guess what I'm listening to while typing?
BAT OUT OF HELL III!
[thanx Kosh hunny!]
So far is ok lah: I *am* just at song #4 right now... it's titled "Bad for Good", it's one of the Jim Steinman songs, and, well, it's obviously a Steinman song - very recognisable typical style *and* unfortunately it has whispers of other, better, Steinman songs from Bat II. We'll see how the rest of the album goes. Right now all I can say is it's not resonating like CHSIB did: heck, that resonated with me on so many levels that my hair was standing on end at my first listen-to!

Anyways.

I am gong to surf aimlessly while letting the music wash over me.

Cheers!

= = = =
UPDATE: decided to do a sort of "live blogging" thing while listening... here are my first rxns to the songs.

Track #1: The Monster is Loose = eh. NOT a song that hooks you, not the best thing to start the album [esp compared to BatI, even BatII]

Track #2: Blind as a Bat = definitely singalongable... but some lyrics seem totally lifted from older songs!

Track #3: It's All Coming Back To Me Now = yes, that song by Celine Dion is a Steinman creation, here sung as a duet with Marion Raven. I hate to say it, but this doesn't seem as stirring as the Celine Dion version. Bummer. I had such high hopes for this one!

Track #4: Bad for Good = reminds me of that song from Dead Ringer [I think] that goes how do you do it let me count the ways, how many hours baby how many days. Also reminds me of springsteen's baby we were born to run at one point! Actually *SO* many whispers of songs here! I'll have to reserve judgement on this one.

Track #5: Cry for Me = singalongable. Kinda sappy and slow :p

Track #6: In the Land of the Pig, The Butcher is King = wow that reminds me of an Iron Maiden like song, LOL! pretty cool :-)

Track #7: Monstro = a short little pseudo-instrumental orchestral blurb. eh. better than some of those interludes on Neighbourhood.

Track #8: Alive = a-ha! this sounds more like a track I'd play over and over :-) "I'm a runaway train on a broken track i'm the ticker on the bomb that you can't turn back..."

Track #9: If God Could Talk = also another that definitely clicks with me, melody-wise. Lyrics too.

Track #10: If it ain't Broke Break It = reminds me of a song or two from BatII, but y'know what, I don't care, this is one of them fun anti-establishment type songs, great beat rhythm guitar riffs too :-)

Track #11: What About Love = heh this sounds like a typical commercial pop type song. Oh okay nvm, it picks up @ 2:50 or so. Not too bad. Having Patti Russo as a counter-voice is nice too.

Track #12: Seize the Night = a-hah! This sounds like the operatic [?] song I've come to expect from Mr Loaf. of course, the guitar riff is totally lifted from BatII

Track #13: The Future Ain't What It Used To Be = another singalongable that's right up my alley. But the voice supplied by Jennifer Hudson doesn't complement Meat's like Patti Russo's does.

Track #14: Cry to Heaven = mega-slow, perhaps it's supposed to be inspirational, but it set me laughing my a** off "cry like heaven,, if it doesn't do it for you, go ahead and cry like hell!" Okay maybe I'm weird :-)

Just an observation: BatIII doesn't have any of them fun mono-/dia-logues like the "blood of the guitar was Chuck Berry red" thingy in BatII, "i bet you say that to all the boys" in Bat I, and there's something similar in Dead Ringer too. Pity - that's something I really enjoy on those albums.

And it's kinda disappointing that the artwork isn't by Michael Whelan like it was for BatII. The cover sure looks like it - at first glance only. The inside pix are rather disappointing.

So: the bottom line? Definitely worth replaying many times over just to really familiarise myself with its contents. however, only time will determine where BatIII will rank against the BatI, BatII & CHSIB albums.

Cheers!

P/S> I "owe" Kosh a game or two of Magic now. Urgh.

P/S#2> According to this playlist of the Concert we attended last year, it looks like "Only When I Feel" was the song from BatIII that Meat Played for us. However, that particular title doesn't exist on the album. I'll have to listen again to figure out which one it was, and what the title got changed to... or whether that song ultimately got dropped from the final song selection. omg am I a freak! :-)

signing out @ 6pm

Meat Loaf Update

Bat out of Hell III was released yesterday [on Halloween, how appropriate!]. The song titles are already extremely intriguing, and I can't wait to get my hands on this album.

No, I don't have it yet [surprise, surprise!]: am holding off getting it for myself so that it will be an easy gift at the end of the year for whoever wants to give that to me :-) [Ditto for the Animaniacs Vol 2 that's coming out Dec 5th 2006, teehee!]

But, back to Mr Loaf: I can't believe he's being overlooked/ignored YET AGAIN for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!

This year's nominees [based on this Yahoo! article]:

• Van Halen
• R.E.M.
• Chic
• Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
  
• Patti Smith
• Dave Clark Five
• The Ronettes
  
• Joe Tex
  
• The Stooges

I have only heard of like four of the above. Ugh. None as great as Meat, IMO.
[If you are curious who has made the cut before, you can click HERE for past inductees]

"To be eligible, artists must have issued a first single or album at least 25 years prior to nomination."

Hellooooo, Bat I was released in 1977!
[Okay, so technically his debut was a duet with Stoney in 1971; either way, he is definitely eligible from that perspective!]

And looking beyond the release date: Bat I alone has sold over 35 million copies worldwide; Bat I is one of only two albums that have never exited the Top 200 in the UK charts; and Bat I is also the biggest-selling Australian album of all time.

Sure, he's had more misses than hits since Bat I, but he's certainly got staying power :-) And hey, Bat II was a huge commercial success *and* considered one of the best comeback albums evah!

And his fan base is NOT just aging bikers, okay?

Anyways - I discovered a fascinating writeup on Meat over at wikipedia, so anyone who wants to read more about him just click on over there. I am reminded that I do want to pick up a copy of his autobiography one day.. preferably at another concert and get it autographed by the man himself?? Oh, on a related note: it seems that his health insurance refuses to let Meat perform more than 1hr 45m as a result of his on-stage collapse 3 years ago... gee if I'd known that before going to the concert last year, might have helped me not feel the whole thing was too short! :p

Anyways..

I've been awake since about 430am; it's now almost 8am. Will be hitting the gym soon. Followed by meditation. Then cleaning out the kitty litter box. Shower. Food. and *then* start catching up with some errands and tasks that have been on my to do list for a week :p

[one of them: a thank you email to HW in London for the excellently hilarious wedding gifts - thanx gal!]

a quick catching up! (Part 3)

(Cleveland, continued. Friday 9th September 2005)

A large, many-legged insect spotted on bed - hit it with pillow (took off some legs), but the main part of the body disappeared so it probably was maimed, not killed. Fun. I had urge to empty all bags and repack carefully to make sure it or its family were not gonna stow away in our stuff!!

ugh.

checked out (plus complained... ugh... the staff were apologetic but kinda insisted on awarding 1000 points to Kosh's newly set-up "loyalty card program", but they didn't provide a good explanation of the significance of the amount... I mean... is it worth a free night's stay, for example. I will be composing a *nice* letter to them over the entire incident!!)

made our way to the Erie waterfront...

on the way, got accosted by a scary-looking woman who took a look at our t-shirts (we were both wearing our newly-bought Meat tees), and said loudly while pointing to us "Look! Two bats out of hell!" teeheee!

close to the waterfront, next to what turned out to be the City Hall building, we saw a huge stamp out by the road:

(will insert picture... hopefully soon...)
(*someone* needs to e-mail me pix taken from the phone!!)

In the City Hall building was a "branch" of the Cleveland Museum of Art: our eyes were caught by the exhibit on Tibet, and went in to see. But of course, it being an official administrative building, we had to go thru "security" first (just sign in... but that took a while to be established!).

the guard looks at our tees and says "hey, I think meat loaf is going to be in town tonight, are you going to see him?" - we smile politely and say that he was here LAST night and yes, that's why we're in town...

The Tibet exhibit is actually a "live" exhibit - a Tibetan monk working on a mandala. reminded me immediately of the creations made for Thaipusam (or was it Deepavali? ugh, sorry, my mind is drawing a blank!!). It's an immense work, and I can immediately say that the act of creating such a mandala is an act of worship and meditation all by itself.

(I took some pix... if they look ok, will post 'em here... later..)

Made our way to the Science Center, where Body Worlds 2 was on display. We had been told that people usually go thru it in about 2 hrs. We were there from 12:45 - 4pm! With only about 45mins max of lunch break. Well, when one goes to such an exhibit with a medical student who happens to LOVE anatomy... ah... lecture mode... teehee! Sure, it dragged the trip out a bit, but I think it helped me understand much more of what I was seeing.

My fave was "The Swordsman" : The body had been cut into 3, and kinda fanned out... giving an excellent view into the all the internal organs in addition to the "usual" detail on all the muscles...

What was VERY sad; to see the plasticised body of a woman and her 5-month fetus. I admire the person for donating her body(ies) to the exhibit upon knowing that both she and the baby were unlikely to survive whatever it was that she was suffering.

What pissed me off: a group of young (18 y.o.?) nurses, being very noisy, brazenly touching (PETTING!) the exhibits. Even taking pictures. When there was ample signage about NOT touching and NO photos allowed. Worse, to me it signified total lack of respect for the bodies in the exhibit. yes, the people are now dead, what we're looking at is just the shell... but still...

.. and WHAT A SHELL we have ... it's just amazing... if you haven't seen it, so check it out.. hopefully it will be coming to a museum near you...

~~~
After the exhibit, took a another break to rest our weary feet at the waterfront... and had a couple ask us about whether meat was in town, cos they saw our t-shirts... had a brief chat with them about the "quality" of the concert :p Funny - THREE instances of Meat enabling interaction among strangers, teehee!!

We had purchased a combo ticket for the Body Worlds AND Rock & Roll hall of Fame... so despite being really tired, we went over to the neighbouring building.

Ugh. It's essentially a Hard Rock Cafe but you have to pay admission.

okay okay i supposeit's a bit more than that. But still... overall I was *not* impressed... the "main" part of the Hall was downstairs, and all it was was a showcase of mostly clothes from all these artists. So what. There were some interactive booths, but really, nothing earth-shattering. The only thing that caught my attention was they had John Lennon's report cards from school, that had teachers' comments on his attitude. There was also a postcard to Julian Lennon I wanted to read, curious if it was from John or Paul, but some other visitor was oblivious to me and was totally blocking. Ugh.

Then we made our way up to the other floors. They had a special exhibit on TOMMY (The Who) on the uppermost floors. The other floors included THE SIGNATURES, oooh ahhh.. yeah, the signatures of the inductees to the Hall of Fame itself (of which Meat Loaf is NOT a member, shame on them!!!). I know. *so* exciting.

In the end, the place we spent most time was at the merchandise store (and boy do they have a LARGE store! lots of crap on sale!!), and got an inductees tshirt for Kosh (listing all inductees since it started in 1986), and another baby-tee for me.

The building was closed by then.. and we did a fast hike back to the hotel to get the car out of the parking lot before 6pm... then made our way outta there to a town south of cleveland (or north of Akron), where we had dinner and spent the night at Kosh's friends from med school, who were doing their residency there.

Saturday, 10th September: drive back Akron - Urbana. Ohio -> Indiana -> Illinois. around 5 hours' drive. nuff said.

... psycho lonely cat waiting for us.

and less than 24hrs later, we gotta leave for St Louis!

Why? you'll find out in the next post!

'laters!!

a quick catching up! (Part 2)

(Cleveland, continued: 8th September 2005, 5:30pm)

We were a little late getting out for dinner: walked to the Hard Rock Cafe - proceeded to over-order, cos we didn't know just how BIG a portion the Jumbo Combo was! Good thing we were splitting that and an entree, as opposed to that and TWO entrees! Plus drinks ;)

Saw many people whom we knew were also going to see Meat... most of them looking like hog-people (the Harley Davidson crowd), and wearing different Meat t-shirts. I want one of those!! (t-shirts, not hogs :p)

After the meal, was thinking of getting HRC t-shirts, but the guy at the merchandise counter just didn't seem approachable... combine that with the fact that the concert officially started 5 mins ago... so I grabbed my minimum purchase at any HRC - a pin. Chose a colorful rainbow-guitar... found out later it was a gay pride pin, teehee!

Anyway... so off we go then to find the Tower City Amphitheatre... from the map we know it's across the road from the HRC but down by the river. We try to walk towards where all the traffic seems to be accumulating... some were going down a ramp for parking, but the traffic police said we couldn't go that way... Turns out we shoulda taken the lift down to the parking lot of the building where the HRC was, and follow signs from there to the amphitheatre... geeeez, woulda been nice to have even ONE sign indicating that on the ground floor as we exited the HRC!!

aaaaaanyway.... yeah, so we finally make our way there... fashionably late, but well in time for the concert itself... whoever was the opening act, I pity them... noone was paying them any attention :D

Immediately checked out the merchandise booth - overpriced t-shirts, and not the best of selections, but heck, gotta have one. So I got a baby-tee with a bat on the front, and the words "I'd do anything for love" on the back. Kosh got the concert tour t-shirt, with the image from Bat 1 in front and Bat 2 at the back. They were also selling SIGNED copies of his autobiography To Hell and Back, which I do wanna get, but it was selling for USD40?! A plain one costs up to USD25 only at amazon.com... hmmm, maybe next time...

Got ourselves something to drink... emptied bladder... made our way to our seats... and just as we sat down, the *real* concert started! Whoohoooo, talk about perfect timing!!!

(A slightly incoherent account of the concert HERE)

The concert was around 1hr 40mins ... it's a pretty decent length... but I felt kinda gypped cos the encore was only one friggin' song! :-( And there were *so* many songs that should hv been sung!!!!

Around 10:45pm we made our way back to the hotel... and loaded up on the Meat songs we *didn't* get to hear by using the CD player in the room. Including CHSIB (aka *our* song). The song that Meat didn't sing at the concert. The song during which Kosh was planning to propose. So that night in the hotel room, with CHSIB playing, he whipped a ring from outta nowhere and asked me to be his wife. My immediate reaction? I chuckled, and looked around, trying to figure out "where were you hiding that? where did that come from?" LOL ! A little while later, I said yes :-D

The sneaky guy had had it all planned out... and I had actually been oblivious to it all!! Good for him! Don't ask about the actual tying of the knot, though... I cringe at the thought of all the paperwork that's gonna have to be done, including figuring out how to reconcile two different countries' different requirements :p yeeeeehaww!!

In the meantime, I'm not yet done with the running around the mid-west states story... next post: walking in memphis cleveland 9th Sept 2005... laters!!

Post-meat!

Meat Loaf rocked & rolled the Tower City amphitheater, and me & Kosh were there to *finally* see him *live*...

... of course, with both of us not the most vertically endowed (I'm 5', he's 5' 4"), it was a bit of a challenge to actually *see* him cos our seats were halfway across the amphitheater, but we got to see above some people's shoulders, plus I must thank whoever had the idea to have live video feeds of the stage projected onto two larger screens on either side of the stage,,, of course sometimes the cameramen seemed more inclined to focus on the gals rather than Meat, but hey, overall I saw more onscreen than onstage, so I can't complain!

I *can* complain about the show itself... cos he didn't play *our* song!!!! The title track from his most recent album: Couldn't Have Said It Better.... :-( apart from THAT let-down... wow, what a show!!! Yeah, so his voice occasionally got swallowed by the noise, and one of the songs he sang so differently than the album version, I didn't recognise it till he got to the chorus.... and he could have launched into "Why Isn't That Enough" immediately after "Two out of Three Ain't Bad" to give the "part 1 & 2" of the tale... and "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights" could have easily been followed by CHSIB... grrrrr!!! but overall,... maaaaan, he is certainly a big man with a big voice who sings big songs and has big hits!

btw; there was a HUGE complication to Meat not playing "our" song: will tell ya about it later, teehee!

Anyways.... so I've attended my first ever Meat concert.... and will be looking forward to more!! I may even sign up for the Fan Club, so that I can get backstage passes next time... meet Meat in person, that would be AWESOME!!

... oh, and out of the horse's (Meat's?) mouth itself : Bat 3 will be out in Sept 2006! Mark your calendars!!! He sang a song from that upcoming album ("it only hurts when you feel"?) which was kinda hard to gauge.. seemed to be a mix of slow and hard rock... guess I'll study it further next year *G*R*I*N*!*

we'll see when I wake up whether my voice even exists anymore.....

btw, since we are all the way in Cleveland, we'll be visiting the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, *and* the Body Worlds exhibition too!! so gotta be up relatively early...!!

so... g'nite!!!!

thirty-three

yeah, I turn(ed) 33 today... happy birthday to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :)

I'm not one to make a big deal out of my birthday, it's just another day, not a big deal, but I do appreciate birthday greetings, I take it as a sign that people actually have paid attention and took note somewhere/somewhen of the date; I'm actually surprised at who actually knows my b-day; got e-mails & sms'es from ex-colleagues I'd never have expected! So, thanx, y'all!! hugzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! I'll be replying the emails and sms'es in a day or two, ok?

Ended up on a unplanned weekend visit up north, hence the blog-silence... will be responding to the comments etc by fellow bloggers in a day or two, once I'm back in urbania (as opposed to suburbia, teehee!).

geee, just think.... at this time about a year ago I was calling up my bank on an almost daily basis waiting for the company's annual bonus to have been banked into my account before printing out my resignation letter! Aaaaaah, how time flies.... btw, a little bird told me that *this* year, due to a huge amount of resignations expected once the bonus is paid out, the company is delaying bonus payment till OCTOBER??!! If that is true... oh my... as petty as ever.... I am *so* glad I don't have to deal with that crap anymore!

Oh, guess what I got for my birthday? Tickets to see MEAT LOAF in concert in Cleveland Ohio on September 8th 2005. Whoooohoooooo!! It's sort of a 'delayed' gift, but it's fine with me :) Next is to *ugh* plan the trip: what else to see when we're up there (apart from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame... and my obligatory visit to the local Hard Rock Cafe [i *assume* there is one there??!!]). What else is out there??? Cornfields? have those here, teehee!

Okey dokey... catch y'all later!!

… a big man with a big voice who sings big songs and has big hits …

The man (and group with the same name) with the most profound influence on me, whose songs have stuck a chord deep within me that no other singer or group can achieve…

No it’s not The Beatles’ Paul McCartney…

Keep guessing:

My first ever exposure to him was when Tini visited me in Dec ’90 in Oklahoma, bringing a tape of assorted songs, including one I immediately loved: “Two out of Three Ain’t Bad.” I didn’t remember the artist’s name then, but the song stayed with me…

It was a ballad about what goes around comes around… about having something done to you, and being totally devastated by it, and yet later finding yourself doing the same to another person. Perpetuating a harmful pattern… profound…

“I want you, I need you,
but there ain’t no way I’m ever going to love you;
don’t be sad, cos two out of three ain’t bad”

aduuuuuh…. Sedihnyeeeeeee!! : ( (

Fast forward to Fall ’91, my freshman year in college, pledging a professional chemistry fraternity, whose ‘unofficial house song’ was “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.” Me being me, I threw myself into the thick of things, and borrowed the album “Bat out of Hell” to ‘study’ the song, but got hooked on so many of the other songs on there. They were not songs as much as ‘rock operas’… whole stories were told in one song, which may last between 6 to 10 minutes (as opposed to the usual 3 – 4 minutes).

And the play of words and innuendos: *so* totally up my alley, as those who have had exposure to my work will know…

“…you took the words right outta my mouth; musta been while you were kissing me…”

“…for crying out loud, you know I love you…”

“… I bet you say that to *all* the boys…”

“… can’t you see my faded Levi’s bursting apart…”

So much that can’t be captured in one line, you’d need to listen to the entire song to appreciate it… for example Bat out of Hell itself, and Heaven Can Wait, and Crying Out Loud, and omg just about every song on that album!!

Of course, Meat Loaf (just Meat to his fans) didn’t write these songs: that credit goes to one Jim Steinman. Consider songs like Air Supply’s “Making Love out of Nothing At All”, Bonnie Tyler’s “Looking Out For A Hero”, and Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now”: these are some commercial hits you may know that stem from Steinman. However, despite low commercial acclaim, IMHO the Meat & Steinman combo is the best.

After all, to be honest, Meat has had more misses than hits, but his 2 (out of 3 so far) hits are albums produced with Steinman: Bat out of Hell and Bat out of Hell II.

Most people may have first heard of Meat by the hit on BatII: “I’d do anything for love (but I won’t do that)” with everyone having their own opinion on what “that” was! It was okay (if nothing else it was OVERPLAYED!): I was keen on many other songs in there, no matter that they did not get any airtime:

My absolute fave was a reluctant love song, that once again was *so* up my alley:

Is this a blessing? Or is it a curse?
Does it get any better? Can it get any worse?
Will it go on forever? Or is it over tonight?
Does it come with the darkness? Does it bring out the light?
Is it richer than diamonds?
Or just a little cheaper than spit?
I don’t know what it is but it just won’t quit

Another songs starts off with words that will always haunt me:

You can’t run away forever
But there’s nothing wrong with getting a good head start
You want to shut out the night
You want to shut down the sun
You want to shut away the pieces of a broken heart

I can’t do justice to the “guitar monologue” even if I reproduce the entire thing: imagine it having “… a heart of chrome and a voice like a horny angel…” and “...the blood of the guitar was Chuck Berry red…”

Other noteworthy lyrics:

“… Life is a lemon and I want my money back…”

“Somedays I pray for silence, somedays I pray for soul
Somedays I just pray to the gods of sex and drums and rock n roll”

“… can you colorize my life I’m so sick of black and white?”

“… who am I, why am I here?
Forget the question someone gimmie another beer!”

“… Don’t worry about the future – sooner or later it’s the past
If the thrill is gone then it’s time to take it back…”

“... they’ll never let a night like tonight go to waste
and let me tell you neither will you…”

This album was also cool for me because it featured artwork by Michael Whelan, some of which I recognized from the covers of Piers Anthony’s On A Pale Horse, and many of Melanie Rawn’s Dragon Prince & Dragon Star series (fantasy books, in case you're not familiar with these authors)

Meat’s latest album, Couldn’t Have Said It Better (CHSIB), was released in 2003… it was not a Meat/Steinman collaboration, but oh my, what an album!! I stumbled across the music video of the title track on the plane in Sept 2003 and liked what I heard, and finally found an expensive (SACD) CD a month later… but hey it was worth it! Listening to it for the first time sent shivers up my spine, and I got goosebumps all over! No kidding!!

And strangely enough, my life around that time took a sudden turn, and in certain aspects seemed mirrored in many of the songs on that album!

Some noteworthy lyrics, tho, as I said before, you would need to listen to the whole song to truly appreciate its beauty:

“… I’ll get the lights; you get that smile…”

“… And you say nothing at all; Well I couldn’t have said it better myself…”

“… the truth is hard to swallow when you’re choking on your pride …”

“… wish I could love you out loud, but I’ll just keep it to myself …”

“… this is big time, this is larger than life …”

It also includes a heartwrenching sequel of sorts to BatI’s “Two out of three Ain’t Bad”:

You know that I want you
You know that I need you baby
You know that I love you
So why isn’t that enough?

So, dear reader, if you feel that the current pop scene is just too ‘fluffy,’ or you just don’t relate to the hip-hop/R&B/whatever crap that seems to be on the air nowadays, why not check out Meat? I truly believe that you will not regret it.

Cheers!

btw: one huge disappointment I had was was finding out that Meat would be in Australia a month after I would be there for the Oz Tennis Openin Jan '04, and that that was his "Asian" leg of his world tour... sob sob!

However, it looks like he is touring this summer!! In the U.S.!! Kosh, make sure u r free, we are G O I N G !!!!!!!!! Malapetaka: he's gonna be at YOUR place on July 20th!

For those who wanna surf more, here's the Meat Fan Site.

(note: lyrics are shared here for educational purposes; any infringement of any copyright is unintentional. Please contact me if there is an issue. The email address is provided on the top of the page)