Tommia's Tablet

I will admit to almost suffering writer’s block for today’s musical topic had I not stumbled on this gem of a post by WritingWildly. This gifted scribe is a great encourager and writer with a gift of finding something enjoyable to laugh about, reminding me a bit of Andy Rooney.

Rereading that post, I decided to see how many exercise recordings existed in the iTunes store to see if I could find any motivating music to get me moving (aside from the daily walks that is). Little did I know that typing in ‘exercise music’ would result in 300+ recordings to choose from. These are some of the highlights:

• Aqua aerobics
• Bootcamp
• Cardio
• Dance – broken down to: ballet, club, disco, Latin, Tango and Top 40
• Extreme
• Pilates
• Running
• Spinning
• Walking
• Weightlifting  and
• Yoga

I know I have my reasons for avoiding a gym – mainly due to factors such as too many people, too many choices, too many machines that can help me pull a muscle or maybe dislocate a joint. Looking at all of these options just from one store – and that doesn’t include ‘exercise remixes’ of pop radio, techno, Christian, hip hop, Christian hip hop, classic rock, oldies or reggae songs –  I think I feel a headache coming on, one that won’t be cured by ‘music to meditate, study or sleep to.

No, I think I’ll just keep my current playlist in place: Walk This Way, Walk Right In, I’m Walkin’, Walk Like an Egyptian, Walk On, Walkin’, Walk Like a Man, Walk, Don’t Run, I Walk the Line,  Walking on Sunshine, Walkin’ After Midnight,  These Boots are Made for Walking,  Walk the Dinosaur, Walking on Broken Glass, Walking on the Moon and then take a nap Under the Boardwalk.

It has occurred to me that finding anything practical to watch on television is almost as unsuccessful as finding a decent song on the radio despite eighteen pre-set buttons. In attempting to find a movie trailer to watch that might give me hope in a movie worth adding to the wish list for later viewing, it dawned on me how misleading music can be in enticing the sought-after viewer.

There is a benefit to such misdirection sometimes. I would not have known about the band Creed if it wasn’t for their song, “Higher” used in the trailer for Titan AE. Great film, nice song and no, the two weren’t used together since the teaser. I will admit to buying two of Creed’s recordings since.

Then there were the foolish high hopes pinned on the idea of Star Trek: Enterprise.  The series brought about two new musical discoveries. The first was The Calling’s song, “Wherever You Will Go.” The song coupled with images of a promising series, it took less than half a dozen of them for me to decide I was done following the Star Trek franchise.

The idea of a Star Trek theme having words seemed, to quote Spock, highly illogical. While I gave up on the series, I did discover Russell Watson – singer conned to croon about the ‘long road’ retitled “Where My Heart Will Take Me.” Never mind Rod Stewart sang it first as “Faith of the Heart” for the film Patch Adams where it was a perfect fit of song to film.

How many other films have teased with tunes never to be found in the films promoted? I do not know since I gave up paying attention to trailers and tunes, finding comfort in simple combinations like “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Purlie.”

Earworm, a loan translation of the German Ohrwurm,^[1] is a portion of a song or other music that repeats compulsively within one’s mind, put colloquially as “music being stuck in one’s head.” (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

I thought today’s focus was going to be on a silly melody stuck in my head that was fun and encouraging like “Quiet Town” or “Manana Iguana” or even “Happy Ending.” I would have been quite content with Tommy Dorsey’s “Precious Lord” to pass the time!

No, there is some popcorn, air bubble, prickly-like-barbed-wire song stuck in my head that played repeatedly on the ‘current hits’ radio station I started my day with and ended my day.

I don’t know 90 percent of the musicians on the radio today that are deemed popular on pop, rock, country or easy listening.  And yet Murphy’s Law is against me in dooming me to hear the most irritating songs more times than I should have to. In regards to the last hearing of said irritating song today, it is the cost of being held captive as passenger in someone else’s car.

In my last place of work, if anyone suffered from an earworm, it could almost always be countered with a Weird Al song for two reasons: 1) we were weird enough and 2) who didn’t know Al Yankovic? Now if we suffer the misfortune of an earworm, it takes a bit more cunning, some internet radio playing, website surfing and frantic humming (we don’t dare sing) to force the offending tune out.

If only we could have an internal ‘mute’ button to protect us from such intrusions, to dismiss other mosquito-like buzzings such as cell phones ringing in restrooms, yelling in restaurants (and no, this is not always to be credited to a child or infant), booming bass blaring from the BMW beside you or the latest ‘isn’t this funny’ commercial at full volume on the television.

Hmm, I think Dory’s wise words turned sing-along is coming to mind….”Just keep swimming,  just keep swimming, just keep….”

Finally discovered the group – The Flying Karamozov Brothers. Very comical, very talented and worth the chance of seeing their show in its entirety.

As they juggled various items, tossing in an assortment of jokes for good measure, there was a bit of singing and dancing and a ‘serious polka’ to note. Whether they were making music with the use of bouncing balls atop and under a table or stomping their feet in a ‘long forgotten’ dance, the rhythm was the key.

Then I thought of other comedic geniuses of music and chances are, they are already familiar to the reader: Danny Kaye, Victor Borge, Carol Burnett. What happened to the lost art of making music fun?

The Court Jester best illustrates Kaye’s comedic timing with song. If one is lucky and the PBS station is holding a fund-raiser, Borge’s performances are shown. Of course a sure source of finding recordings of his performances is at the local library if one were fortunate. And then there’s Burnett’s collection of comedy skits that could take any time period from present day to Civil War calamity and put a quirky twist to it.

Spending some time perusing through the television guide in the paper, it was sad to see that nothing comes close to those collections of frivolous fun for a Friday night. Well, not unless there was consideration to revive the Gong Show where one never knew what they were going to get.

Just something to toss about – who is left out there that makes music so much fun?

After considering a bit of the Wednesday post – The Andy Griffith Theme – I reflected on other iconic themes or introductions to well known characters:

• The Pink Panther, courtesy of Henry Mancini
• James Bond, courtesy of many different composers
• Indiana Jones, courtesy of John Williams
• Superman, again courtesy of John Williams
• Top Cat
• Mary Tyler Moore, courtesy of Sonny Curtis
• Lucy Ricardo, courtesy of Adamson and Daniel
• Jed Clampett, courtesy of Flatt and Scruggs
• Barney Miller, courtesy of Ferguson and Elliot
• MacGyver, courtesy of Randy Eldelman and
• Jim Rockford, courtesy of Mike Post and Peter Carpenter

What theme songs stand out for memorable characters now? I confess, given what little television I watch now, I haven’t a clue.

Listening to various birds singing while on the daily hike, I couldn’t help but ponder the lost art of whistling.

Granted, my ability to whistle on key is about as poorly matched as is my singing, but I found myself whistling the theme to the Andy Griffith Show, then Pinocchio’s Whistle While You Work. After enjoying an Alec Guinness film, I remembered the tune whistled in The Bridge over the River Kwai.

During the drive to complete errands, Otis Redding’s Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay played, a simple ending to a simple song. That reminded me of Bobby McFerrin’s Don’t Worry, Be Happy and The Bangel’s Walk Like an Egyptian.

Of course, when all else fails and one finds themselves forgetting the lyrics to a tune, whistling helps.

Curious now as to how long it will take to identify the various bird songs during the next walk.

Due to whatever technical difficulty that existed on WordPress yesterday, finally posting this today – pardoning this blogger’s two-day two-step.

Fine, to be fair, I found the music for Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. I will admit to enjoying these films, but not on the same level as the ‘original trilogy’ for different reasons. As for the music – this is John Williams’ creation, so there’s no need for second-guessing or worrying.

With the Phantom Menace, there is the watery entrance to Otuh Gungah, the trips to the Naboo Temple and Palace, and the ‘new again’ arrival to Tatooine have a regal feeling to them as we meet the leaders who guide them. The death Qui-Gon brings a bittersweet ending to the first film.

With Attack of the Clones,  Coruscant is featured a great deal, along with detours to the Arena, the Tusken Camp. Williams creates the necessary tones to indicate the Chosen One’s descent into darkness. There aren’t as many songs with this second installment, but they continue the narrative of Anakin’s saga including the brief happiness of a secret marriage.

Revenge of the Sith takes to more places, each seeming to be darker than the last. Remeniscent of the shocking loss of Alderaan, Williams’ weaving of melodies takes us through the challenges faced by Padame, Obi Wan, Yoda and others as losses continue and the Dark Force emerges – for now. As the twins make their entrance into their world, the first tunes of a New Hope sounding.

If one had the time, it only requires seventeen hours to listen to all of the songs from the six-film epic directed by Lucas and more importantly brought to life by Williams. Are there other dynamic director/composer combinations at this time (aside from Spielberg and Williams)? Who knows.

(*Aimed for a proper Monday post after an exhibit)

Had a chance to take in the Star Wars Exhibit at the Pacific Science Center and it was impressive to take in the miniatures, the costumes and the intricate details of the props ranging from Luke’s prosthetic hand in comparison to his father, Anakin’s, robotic one. Whether one wanted to interpret the change in materials used with thirty years difference in creation – Luke’s being the older hand while Anakin’s was ‘made first’ – one thing that wasn’t featured during the exhibit was the wealth of John Williams’ music to the collection.

Yes, various themes and songs were played at the different stations, be it Princess Leia’s costume or Han Solo’s outfit, complete with blaster. Yet afterwards, I couldn’t help but feel the need to indulge in the music from the six films.

Whether the movie viewer watches Lucas’ collection as he intended – Parts 1-6 in order, or the traditionalist who sees it as 4-6, then 1-3 and seeing Luke and Leia’s story isn’t the part of post collection – yet. John Williams’ music is as much a part of this epic tale as were his scores for Jaws, Jurassic Park or Harry Potter.

How wonderfully Williams takes us from the Deserts of Tatooine, through C3PO’s wanderings to Luke’s observation of the double-sunset, to the Death Star in the first film, weaving in distinct themes for each of the main characters.

The second film brings us to a cold beginning on the planet, Hoth, the Battle in the Snow, the twists and turns of navigating an asteroid field, arrival at the Dagobah Swamp, and Lando’s Palace in Cloud City. before watching a departing Millennium Falcon go in pursuit of an abducted friend.

The solo tuba representing Jabba’s girth, the dinginess of the court and dungeon of Jabba’s place, the Forest of Endor’s moon, the final battle on the Death Star, and the celebration that follows conclude the galactic travels of this epic story.

Each piece in these six films (admittedly, only half were looked at this time) take us to so many colorful places in this galaxy far, far away and bring the viewer there. The worlds brought to life in Williams’ compositions and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra with more than its 100 instruments has no comparison whatsoever to the different movie scores existing today.