Butrfly's Wonderings

Out in right field here, pounding mitt, ready to do battle with the gauntlet tossed my way by Tracy.


5/21/1919 political cartoon originally from the Brooklyn Eagle.


Music Survey

1. Total amount of music files on your computer:

Not much, probably less then 50mgs. Most of my music is still on cassette tape and I have yet to figure out how to transfer it to CD or my PC. Heck, I only learned how to transfer CDs to my PC a few months ago! Still haven't figured out how to transfer them back to another CD. Don't tell me though! I want to figure it out for myself. It's alright to give hints though. :p

2. The last CD you bought was:

The Very Best of Sheryl Crow. I usually wait for the "best ofs" from artists so I get full value for the money I pay for a CD. I hate paying for a whole album and disliking all but a couple of songs. (Yes, I'm cheap! and picky!)

3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?

I'm listening to the 25th anniversary collection of the original Woodstock Festival. The song currently playing is White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane. Did I already say that I'm a dinosaur also?

4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you:

One: Phoebe Snow. It is a three-way tie between her recordings of Going Down for the Third Time, Harpo's Blues, and Good Times.

I enjoy her style and whimsey and can listen with ease to her songs repeatedly. You might be familiar with her song "Poetry Man."

Two: Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

I usually listen to this one in the car while driving long distances. Cranking up the volume, and keeping the windows shut allows me to croak along in my very out-of-tune voice without too much embarrassment from fellow travelers on the road.

Three: Tres Gymnopedies - Erik Satie

I have many versions that I listen to, depending on the mood, including those of Herbie Mann, Blood Sweat and Tears, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Bill Quist and a few others; one notable piece being the one that is combined with the sounds of breaking surf on a beach.

Listening to this music makes me feel like I'm being serenaded at sunset while floating along on a puffy cloud. Anytime I need to relax or have trouble sleeping, I put this on and am off to dreamland. I first heard the music back in the early 70's at a touchy-feely seminar as my feet were bathed in warm, orange scented water while wrapped in smoky incense and candle light. I was instantly intoxicated with the music and caught a stolen glimpse of the album cover. Been searching for that exact piece ever since, but have yet to find it. But, I've surely enjoyed the journey while hunting for it.

There are three "Gymnopedies". People often compare Satie with Debussy, whose compositions I also find irresistable. Apparently, I've been attracted to things Greek for a long time, which explains my former addiction to Alliance of Heroes. I read on Amazon.com that

"the term Gymnopædia was an Apollonic celebration in ancient Sparta where men of all ages danced, not naked, but unarmed. It's not known exactly where Satie found his inspiration to these piano pieces. The works consist of a thin, ascetic, "naked" piano structure in which lonesome and singularly expressive melodies circle like falling autumn leaves; a monotonous, low bass line accompaniment, and against it softly dissonant chords in the middle register, constantly repeating the same iambic rhythm-pattern. Together this creates an atmosphere of vague melancholy, of mysticism and exoticism. Perhaps there is also a fin-de-siècle feeling, even some salon nostalgia."

Four: The original cast recordings from Phantom of the Opera

I like both the music and lyrics. Everytime I listen to these tapes I get flashbacks of the scenes from the play I got to see in San Francisco a few years ago.

Five: Michael Franks - Popsicle Toes


His website/blog has some interesting tales and gorgeous photos from his tours in Cape Town, South Africa, Republic of Georgia and Japan. I wish I could paint better then I do. I'd love to paint that photo of Cape Town's beach.

Anyway, I love his jazzy style, and listen to his music when I need to be inspired or cheered up. The clever lyrics always make me smile and the inuendo often inspires me when I have writer's block. Always being told I have icebergs for feet, makes Popsicle Toes even more endearing to me.


Michael Franks
Popsicle Toes

And when God gave out rhythm
He sure was good to you
You can add, subtract, multiply.
And divide by two

I know today's your birthday
And I did not buy no rose
But I wrote this song instead and I call it:

Popsicle Toes
Popsicle Toes,
Popsicle Toes are always froze
Popsicle Toes,

You're so brave to expose all those
Popsicle Toes
You must have been Miss Pennsylvania
With all this pulchritude,
How come you always load your Pentax
When I'm in the nude?

We ought to have a birthday party
And you can wear your birthday clothes,
Then we can hit the floor and go explore those
Popsicle Toes

You got the nicest
North America
This sailor ever saw-
I like to feel your warm Brazil
And touch your Panama

But your Tierra del Fuegos
Are nearly always froze-
We gotta see-saw until we unthaw those
Popsicle Toes

What three people am I passing this baton to and why?

Melissa because she needs another excuse to post in her blog.
Chris because the election is over and she needs an excuse to shovel the dust off her blog.
and Rob because anyone who likes locksmithing, sheep and owl chicks has got to have awesome taste in music!