Cryin' by Aerosmith

Like most in my generation, I am sure the first thing that comes to mind when you hear this song is the video with Alicia Silverstone bungy jumping off a bridge while flipping the bird.  That does come to mind when I hear it and there is actually a funny story there.  This song hit it big in 1993 when I was in Germany and I watched the video frequently on MTV.  Upon returning to US, I saw a Wayne's World sketch on SNL and it was something about looking behind the censor and instead of her finger, it was a leprechaun that freaked Garth out.  I remember wondering why they censored it for SNL and what the big mystery was.  I realized that the video was always censored for my US friends, however it was NOT censored on MTV Europe so I saw that oh so scandolous finger every single time.  

That is only one of my memories associated with that song.  

Flash to early January 1994, we are going to another outstanding party at Niels H's house.  It was my first party there and it did not disappoint.  I had finally figured out french kissing and boy did I put in a lot of practice with my new (first!) boyfriend during that party.  Maybe I was naive or possibly weird, but the first couple times I'd been french kissed I honestly thought it was kind of slimy and gross.  Don't worry, I quickly changed my mind about the experience!  It was a rocking house party with good friends and plenty of alcohol.  There may have even been an embarrassing knocking over and breaking of a sekt glass.  Maybe.  At some point I noticed that I was the only girl left at the party.  This became a common thing after I started dated Bastian and subsequently, my German began to resemble that of a 16 year old boy with a lot of inappropriate jokes and way too much slang.  I wonder if I still sound that way speaking German?  The party continued into the wee hours, in fact, I spent the night.  Aside from the aforementioned kissing, it was an innocent overnight.  

How does Cryin' fit into the evening?  I remember being just delighted that after talking to Uli G about music, he offered to loan me his Aerosmith Get a Grip CD.  It must be noted that Uli was later crowned the Cutest Boy in the Class in the class superlatives and furthermore, someone the prior Turlock iteration of myself would have been way too shy and embarrassed to even approach, let alone talk to and borrow a CD.  Let's just say it was a big deal for my self esteem and nothing to cry about!

Ricemix by Joe Helgeson

It was the middle of the summer of '00, a truly epic summer.  I had received an email (or call) from my Barcelona roommate Jordi.  He said he was flying into LAX at the end of the month and could I pick him up at the airport?  I was living in San Francisco at the time, a mere 8 hour drive from Los Angeles.  So I made a trip out of it.  I had 2 dear friends living in So Cal at the time and one of them had actually stayed with Jordi while she was visiting me in Barcelona.  I booked a flight to LA and Pam picked me up in her red Mustang.  It was a totally LA kind of trip, if I do say so.  Trip to the beach?  Check!  Laying out by the pool?  Check!  A trip to Hollywood and Venice Beach?  Check! Pink Floyd Laser Light Show at the Griffith Observatory? Check!  We also visited the Getty, the Huntington Botanical Gardens, and Japantown, where Jordi got to try sushi for the first time.

There are so many fun memories and we jammed an insane amount of good times into Jordi's and my visit.  I suppose I should just expand on a few, including of course, the impetus for today's post. You've got to be curious about Ricemix, right?  

• Alex only had a car with a manual transmission and some kind of funky engine, if I remember right.  I did not drive a stick.  In fact, I had scant driving experience at that point.  I was nowhere close to confident enough to brave the 405 and the 5 and the 10 to Cahuenga (don't correct me as I am definitely poking fun).  Alex's boyfriend Joe had a car that we later borrowed and Jordi, yes, the Spaniard, drove all over LA.  But in the meantime, we decided to take the bus and train to Hollywood.  There we were, sitting at the bus stop in fancy pants San Marino.  The cops pull over and start grilling us.  Where are you going?  Why are you here?  Can we see some ID?  I finally asked them what the problem was and I don't remember what they said, but obviously, it was highly unusual to be taking the bus in that neighborhood.  We made it the rest of the way to Hollywood with no incident! 
• We had a little dinner party on Jordi's last night.  Jordi did the cooking and we all enjoyed the food, the drink, and possibly even some other refreshment, if memory serves.  Alex's parent's house has this great interior patio. It was very pleasant.  We later got to listening to music in the living room.  Joe is a composer of electronic music and Alex played some of his stuff.  Ricemix is amazing.  I was amazed that he created it, thrilled to be hearing it.  I love how it starts off  naked, just drums, until a very 90s techno beat kicks in, and then it keeps building up with awesome crescendos and phrasing, and finally just kind of explodes!  I still listen to it on occasion today.  It is by far my favorite of his creations, but track #2 is a close second.  There may have been some teasing, as Track #2 has a section where it sounds like you can almost hear the clubgoers cheering for the DJ up there, spinning away, like Joe giving himself a little credit.  Ok, there was a lot of teasing.  But honestly, I kind of dug that he was owning it, owning the awesome that is his music. 

If there is a place to stream Ricemix, I will post it here for you.  It's a must hear.  

Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger

It was Moms Night Out, specifically my last Moms Night Out in Fresno.  I was about to move back to the Bay Area and quite frankly, a bit torn about it.  I had made some wonderful friends in Fresno and I was going to miss them desperately.  In fact, as I sit here today, I do!

I planned the perfect night at the perfect venue.  Englemann Cellars hosted a Friday night event with live music, 21 and over.  It sounded perfect - no "scene", wine, music?  Yes, Please!  Logan T, Heather R, Allyson S, Kristin J, Cassandra W, and Sarah W were in attendance and we all brought an impressive array of sweets and savories.  Heather even brought a tiny princess folding table.  We were all in fantastic spirits, as we were away from the kiddos, enjoying the wine and the company.  The band was excellent, playing a mix of 70s, 80s, and 90s.  After about a half an hour, they announced that the lead singer had gone home with heatstroke.  We found this odd, as the band is native to Fresno and we figured he should've known better, but regardless, the show must go on.  The band continued and they still sounded great to our ears.

Later still, the band announced that they were just making do and if anyone cared to sing, they would welcome it.  Well I am hardly one to turn down an opportunity to be onstage, so I asked to peruse the set list.  Cassandra and Heather joined me for the first number.  We had a blast and the band was ever so grateful.  They welcomed us to sing more. So we did.  By then I was hooked on the energy and adrenaline of a live audience.  It was so much different than karaoke, I found out, as I started singing the chorus and realized I had backup singers!  I was really starting to get my groove on and requested to sing Flagpole Sitta.  It's a one-hit number from the late 90's and a good one.  It's not the easiest song to sing as it is pretty quick-paced, but I had the lyrics up on my phone and I totally pulled it off, if I do say so myself.  Heather said that I might not be the best singer (I wholeheartedly agree), but I have a ton of stage presence and energy.  There was jumping.  There was gesturing.  There was grabbing of the mic.  And I even got to yell "a 1, 2, 3, 4!" which is always fun to do.  This is totally my new karaoke song, by the way, although how can I go back now?  Afterwards my friends were blown away, which I found funny because anyone else wouldn't be surprised by my performance at all.  My Fresno friends only knew me as a stay-at-home mom and our kids usually steal the show.  It was fun to show them the real me before I left and now we have a song to remind us of that epic night.

Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin

I can't very well write about Ramble On without following up with Immigrant Song.  Remember that friend I told you about who clued me in to the awesome LOTR reference in the third verse?  Kevin agreed with me that Ramble On is a great song.  He then shared with me that Immigrant Song is even better.  And you know?  He was right.  This wasn't the first time he had done that...taken something I liked and professed to know something even better....and was right, dammit!  He had this maddening way of usually being right!  And then once I got hooked on whatever he recommended, such as Dawson's Creek, Sex and the City (getting him back a little, clearly), Dave Matthews Band, etc....he would no longer be into that particular thing and on to the next coolest greatest thing like the Sopranos or Ben Folds Five.  I wonder what he is into now?

Kevin and I met in the dorms freshman year and we had a lot in common. He had been in the band in high school, but was over it (of course) by college.  We hung out a lot in the dorms and stayed friends throughout and into the first few years after college.  We attended a lot of concerts together, talked late into the night, drank a lot of beers, shared a lot of laughs, frustrations, and stories.  I always appreciated Kevin because he is genuine and known for keeping things real.  He always gave me the straight story on how guys think and act.  I will never forget the weekend I found out that all guys are totally content to spend an entire Sunday in their sweats on the couch.  I couldn't believe that someone would be content to do so very little, but he assured me that this is what guys do.  And sure enough, I have yet to find an exception to this.  Right again, Kevin, right again.

Ramble On by Led Zeppelin

Remember that 1998 Basses Bus heading down to the U$C game that I spoke about?  No?  That's ok. Turns out I don't remember much of it either! Regardless, once it got to LA, we performed the Led Zeppelin show.  I have to admit, I hadn't listened to much Zeppelin prior to playing this show, but I was an insta-convert.  The show was pretty amazing, if I do say so.  It started out with a couple bars from Heartbreaker and then went right into Good Times Bad Times.  Followed by Kashmir, Dancing Days, Ramble On, and finally Stairway.  Stairway started off as a solo by Shuichi, joined by 4 more trumpets, and finally the rest of the band joined in.  The show concluded by fading out to just Shuichi again...and she's buying a stairway to heaven.  I thought it was brilliant.  I was super excited to perform against U$C and I thought we would bring the house down.  I was wrong.

It was received badly.  Really badly.  There was some booing.  There was some really nasty talk by their band.  It's not like we stunk up the joint, but that's just kind of how it goes when you are in U$C's house. It left such an impression on me I may have even brought up their treatment of us to some random dad at Dexter's school who was wearing a U$C shirt this weekend at the pumpkin patch.  Maybe.  But those U$C folks really do kind of suck!

Luckily we reprised the show at home against fUCLA later that month.  I had to look it up, but it seems that we had an away game to UDub between U$C and fUCLA and I don't really remember why we repeated a show.  I think it was the only time we had done so in my 4 years in the band. However, it gave us a chance to perform for a receptive, appreciative audience.

Ramble On is one of my favorite Zeppelin songs now.  I still picture it, when we switched from....and I am totally drawing a blank here....but from one style of marching to another that totally worked with the music, right as the chorus kicked in. It was awesome. Years later still, a friend told me to listen carefully, as the third verse has a reference to the Lord of the Rings.  Fond memories and a LOTR reference in one song?  Can't beat that.  What can and should be beat? Both U$C and fUCLA, this month, one right after the other!

....Baby One More Time by Britney Spears

At the risk of embarrassing him, and although he is very comfortable in his skin, I'm just going to say it.  Vince used to really like this song!  To be honest, I think he probably saw the video, which let's face it, schoolgirl outfit, sultry voice, that's hot stuff.  In any case, it seemed more than appropriate to make sure this song factored into their wedding party somehow.

Vince and Tammy were married in a very small ceremony (I believe) at the court.  They later hosted a gathering in their apartment in Fremont.  It was nothing fancy, just their close friends and family together celebrating the two of them.  It was actually pretty great.  My wedding was beautiful, but I don't remember a lot of it, I definitely didn't get a chance to talk to everyone there, and in spite of careful planning, the DJ STILL played a couple songs off of my DO NOT PLAY list.  Simple and do-it-yourself has its merits! But I digress.  Back to Fremont.  After realizing that Mitch was not in attendance, I took it upon myself to step into the Best Man role.  I was not necessarily assigned to the role or asked to do it.  I just did it.  I took it very seriously and decided that there should be some wedding-y stuff, whether they wanted it or not!  I think I remember we had them recreate a wedding march down the hallway into the apartment. I recruited Vince's sister and brother-in-law and we organized speeches, toasts, and even a getaway car. Let's not forget, Vince and Tammy weren't getting away to anywhere.  They lived there.  But we thought it would be fun to decorate their car with shaving cream, tin cans, etc.  And boy was Vince mad when he found out I used (up) his shaving cream.  Sorry Vince!

To be honest, I am not sure if we really played Britney Spears, but the song reminds me of Vince and it was a good reason to share this story.  I am still honored to have been included in the celebration and looking forward to celebrating many more occasions with the two of them!

Smooth Operator by Sade

This is the story about misheard lyrics.  I don't think that we ever even listened to the song in our teeny tiny dorm room.  Somehow it came up in conversation that Sara's little sister (I think) used to sing the following lyric:  "Smoooooooth Operator!  In Chi-Cago! (big emphasis on the Chi, pronounced with a hard ch-)  I thought that was pretty funny and to this day, that's what comes to mind if I hear the phrase or the song.  And of course, I think of sweet Sarah.

Sarah and I actually didn't have a ton in common, but we somehow made great roommates.  I remember being super jealous because she was clever and picked a super cool email address (a play on her last name), whereas I went with the boring first initial + last name combination.  She had hair so long she could just about sit on it.  She was tiny and cute, soft spoken, sweet natured.  At the same time, she did not hesitate to speak her mind.  I seem to remember some incident with her throwing a chip or something at someone.  The point being that the projectile did not fly well whatsoever and the end result being hilarious.  Maybe Kat can help me out on this!  Sarah didn't often come out with me, the party animal of our room.  It was a huge accomplishment when we finally convinced her to come out with us to a fraternity party.  I want to say it wasn't until Spring semester when this happened, but it was an epic party.  The fraternity had somehow flooded its basement and lined it with stepping stones to the bar. Copious drinking, dancing, and of course someone flirted with Sarah, because of course they did. Like I said, she was adorable.  And not at all a smooth operator in Chicago or Berkeley or anywhere else!