Saturday next is the 204th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s birth so this week’s posts will be focusing on Mr Poe, the person who first opened my eyes to the wonderful darkness within.

Today, animations.

First up, ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’, narrated by James Mason, released in 1953.

Next is the trailer for a stop-motion animation of ‘The Pit and Pendulum.’ The full film can be purchased here .

An animation of the Alan Parson’s Project song ‘The Raven’, which uses some of the poem as its lyrics.

Another Alan Parson’s Project song. This one is for ‘The Cask of Amontillado.’ (It’s a little annoying that they mispronounce ‘ Amontillado ,’ but the song is still good and the animation is nice.)

This is ‘The Raven’ read by James Earl Jones, set to ‘Moonlight Sonata’ and includes evocative photography as a slideshow.

Tim Burton’s ‘Vincent’, which references several of Poe’s works and is narrated by Vincent Price, who was an enormous fan of Poe.

And finally, this clever animation of Poe, attempting to shoot the introduction to his show ‘Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination.’

Showreel of Gustav Hoegen’s Animatronics

And to think, Herbie Hancock’s ‘Rockit’ used to give me the screaming fantods.

A Tumblr of gifs from the advert .

And the very geeky parody:

Wrapping up the series of posts about tea and biscuits, I present Professor Elemental and ‘Cup of Brown Joy’.

Bonus!

Most of the time the local World Market stocks my favourite biscuit, McVitie’s Rich Tea, but occasionally they run out.

Then I break into the factory and sweep armfuls into bags and run like mad

They then carry something called Balacha Marie Cookie, which I thought may work in a pinch.

I was mistaken.

They taste very much of vanilla, which is fine, but not what I’m looking for in a biscuit. They’re very light and delicate, which is also fine but see previous statement. It’s like trying to eat paper. Tissue paper.

Here is a side-by-side comparison:

Rich Tea on the left, Marie on the right

The nearest thing I can compare the Marie biscuits to are Nilla wafers. Eating them only made me want banana pudding.

Thanks for tuning in for this series on tea and biscuits for Americans. Have a cuppa for me.

Nostalgia about nostalgia about nostalgia.

I was fiddling around on my computer and “We Didn’t Start the Fire” comes on my mp3 player and I’m instantly thirteen. Smell is supposed to be most closely linked to memory but when I hear certain songs I may as well jump in a time machine, so much do some songs put me right back in the frame of mind I was in when said song was ubiquitous.

It’s fitting that the song that set me off this time was Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, a list song he wrote about the key world events occurring in his lifetime. I was born nearly thirty years after Mr Joel (him = May 09, 1949 me = June 09 1978) but his song about his childhood defines my childhood. I ‘came of age’ when his song of coming of age was popular. I know every word of the song even though the vast majority of the events happened before I was born.

I’ve always prided myself on differing from my peers by not caring about age difference but recently it has occurred to me just how important certain events can be to people. One day I will meet a person who wasn’t born when 9/11 happened and I will be baffled; just as people who were alive when JFK was assassinated feel when they talk to people my age. When that happens I’ll feel as I do now about JFK people: that it’s such a defining moment I can’t believe I don’t have a memory of it. It doesn’t matter that I wasn’t a sentient being then–I should remember something like that. I’ll feel that way about future pro-9/11 kids. Nostalgia is like a supremely bizarre LSD trip.

This whole thing has been exacerbated by a project I was working on for one of my bosses where I needed to find sites with lists of things people in their sixties had seen invented as well as things people in their 20s had never lived without. I discovered The People History which lists useful info for each year in U.S. history, as well as Wikipedia’s Years in Literature which has lists of popular books for any given year. They also have music. It’s fascinating, addictive stuff. And normally I believe in connection across generational differences. but after poking around on some of these sites I can see how some people would only want to be with those they could identify with chronologically. In twenty years I don’t know if I could be interested (emotionally/intimately) in a person who had no concept of 9/11, even though I’m no patriot. The whole project has made me think, which I appreciate.

Songwriters: BYRNE, DAVID / FRANTZ, CHRIS / WEYMOUTH, TINA

I can’t seem to face up to the facts
I’m tense and nervous and I
Can’t relax
I can’t sleep ’cause my bed’s on fire
Don’t touch me I’m a real live wire

Psycho Killer
Qu’est Que C’est
Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better
Run run run run run run run away
Psycho Killer
Qu’est Que C’est
Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better
Run run run run run run run away

You start a conversation you can’t even finish it.
You’re talkin’ a lot, but you’re not sayin’ anything.
When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed.
Say something once, why say it again?

Psycho Killer,
Qu’est Que C’est
Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better
Run run run run run run run away
Psycho Killer
Qu’est Que C’est
Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better
Run run run run run run run away

Ce que j’ai fais, ce soir la
Ce qu’elle a dit, ce soir la
Realisant mon espoir
Je me lance, vers la gloire … OK
We are vain and we are blind
I hate people when they’re not polite

Psycho Killer,
Qu’est Que C’est
Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better
Run run run run run run run away
Psycho Killer,
Qu’est Que C’est
Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better
Run run run run run run run away

Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh….
Psycho Killer lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Songwriters: JOURGENSEN, ALIEN

Well I live with snakes and lizards
And other things that go bump in the night
Cos to me everyday is halloween
I have given up hiding and started to fight
I have started to fight

Well any time, any place, anywhere that I go
All the people seem to stop and stare
They say ‘why are you dressed like it’s halloween?
You look so absurd, you look so obscene’

O, why can’t I live a life for me?
Why should I take the abuse that’s served?
Why can’t they see they’re just like me
It’s the same, it’s the same in the whole wide world
Well I let their teeny minds think
That they’re dealing with someone who is over the brink
And I dress this way just to keep them at bay
Cos halloween is everyday
It’s everyday

O, why can’t I live a life for me?
Why should I take the abuse that’s served?
Why can’t they see they’re just like me
It’s the same, it’s the same in the whole wide world

O, why can’t I live a life for me?
Why should I take the abuse that’s served?
Why can’t they see they’re just like me
I’m not the one that’s so absurd

Why hide it?
Why fight it?
Hurt feelings
Best to stop feeling hurt
From denials, reprisals
It’s the same it’s the same in the whole wide world

© Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

**I’ve changed the name of the song in the title, because the correct wording is ‘every day’, meaning each day, rather than the actual title of the song, which is ‘everyday’ meaning commonplace.

by Don Henley, John Corey, Paul Gurian, Stanley Lynch

It was a pretty big year for fashion
A lousy year for rock and roll
The people gave their blessings to crimes of passion
It was a dark, dark night of the collective soul
I was somewhere out on riverside
By the El Royale Hotel
When a stranger appeared in a cloud of smoke
I thought I knew him all too well

He said “Now that I have your attention
I got somethin’ I wanna say
You may not want to hear it
I’m gonna tell it to you anyway
You know, I’ve always liked you, boy
‘Cause you were not afraid of me
But things are gonna get mighty rough
Here in Gomorrah-By-The-Sea”

He said “It’s just like home
It’s so damned hot, I can’t stand it
My fine seersucker suit is all soakin’ wet”

And all the hills are burning
The wind is raging
And the clock strikes midnight
In the Garden of Allah

“Nice car………
I love those Bavarians………so meticulous
Y’know, I remember a time when things were a lot more
Fun around here
When good was good, and evil was evil
Before things got so………fuzzy
Yeah, I was once a golden boy like you
I was summoned to the halls of power in the heavenly court
And I dined with the deities who looked upon me with favor
For my talents; my creativity
We sat beneath the palms in the warm afternoons
And drank the wine with Fitzgerald and Huxley
They pawned a biting phrase
From tongues hot with blood
And drained their pens of bitter ink
Vainly reaching for the bottle full of empty Edens
Branded special for the ones
Who had come with great expectations
To the perfumed halls of Allah
For their time in the sun

We were stokin’ the fires
And oilin’ up the machinery
Until the gods found out we had ideas of our own”

And the war was coming
The earth was shaking
And there was no more room
In the Garden of Allah

“Today I made an appearance downtown
I am an expert witness, because I say I am
And I said, ‘Gentleman….and I use that word loosely….
I will testify for you
I’m a gun for hire, I’m a saint, I’m a liar
Because there are no facts, there is no truth
Just a data to be manipulated
I can get any result you like
What’s it worth to ya?
Because there is no wrong, there is no right
And I sleep very well at night
No shame, no solution
No remorse, no retribution
Just people selling T-shirts
Just opportunity to participate in the pathetic little circus
And winning, winning, winning’”

It was a pretty big year for predators
The marketplace was on a roll
And the land of opportunity
Spawned a whole new breed of men without souls
This year, notoriety got all confused with fame
And the devil is downhearted
Because there’s nothing left for him to claim

He said “It’s just like home
It’s so low-down, I can’t stand it
I guess my work around here has all been done”

And the fruit is rotten
The serpent’s eyes shine
As he wraps around the vine
In the Garden of Allah
The Garden Of Allah lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Don Henly/Glenn Frey/Eagles

This one didn’t fit with the other films, so it gets its own. The full length video for Michael Jackson’s Thriller is an excellent spooky.

And my favourite thing to watch every Halloween (or whenever) was the Making Of special for Thriller.

This series is most of the ‘Making of’ video. It’s chopped up because YouTube wouldn’t allow the poster to put up the music videos shown before and after the interview bits.

Photos from the Making of Thriller

Bonus: This isn’t scary, just awesome:

Put your iPod (or any mp3 player) on shuffle, type the first 25 artists, no skipping because you don’t want them there. Answer the questions.

1. Wings

2. Sia

3. Daft Punk

4. Dave Matthews Band

5. Medeski, Martin and Wood

6. Johann Sebastien Bach

7. Nicholas Hooper: HP & the Half-Blood Prince

8. Billy Joel

9. Jill Sobule

10. Marilyn Manson

11. Nine Inch Nails

12. (Debris) Various Artists: Arctic Circles 3

13. Michael Jackson

14. Two Steps From Hell

15. Mighty Mighty Bosstones

16. Baxter

17. A. Tchort

18. Moloko

19. Bette Midler

20. Air

21. Luscious Jackson

22. John Williams: HP and the Philosopher’s Stone

23. Sophie B. Hawkins

24. The Cranberries

25. Kid Rock

What was the first song you ever heard by 6? I have no idea.

What is your favorite album by 2? Lady Croissant or Colour the Small One

What is your favourite lyric that 1 has sung? “But if this ever-changing world in which we live in/Makes you give in and cry/Say live and let die”

How many times have you seen 11 live? Never

What is a good memory you have involving 20? One of their songs was the first song on the first compilation CD my (now) husband gave me.

Is there a song by 3 that makes you sad? I don’t think Daft Punk is capable of making a song that makes anyone sad.

What is your favorite lyric that 14 has sung? Two Steps From Hell songs only have lyrics in Latin and being chanted by entire choirs.

What is your favorite song by 19? That’s an impossible question to answer. Perhaps You Can’t Always Get What You Want/I Shall Be Released.

Who got you into 22? … I saw the first HP film and wanted the soundtrack, so… whomever chose John Williams to do the soundtrack, I suppose.

What was the first song you heard by 21? Naked Eye

What is your favorite song by 4? Again with the impossible questions… Halloween, perhaps.

What is a good memory you have involving 13? Dancing in my room to Smooth Criminal when I was a kid.

Is there a song by 23 that makes you sad? The only song I know by her is Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover, so, no.

What is your favorite album of 15? Let’s Face It

What is your favorite song by 8? Pressure

How many times have you seen 5 live? Never

What is a good memory you have involving 25? I don’t have any. It’s just a song.

What was the first song you heard by 18? Fun For Me

What is your favorite song by 17? I don’t have one–his work is dark ambient and is all very similar sounding.

Bill Bailey

American versus British News Themes

Hats Off to the Zebras

Kraftwerk

Magic Roundabout

(As Portishead) Covers Zippity Do-Dah

Snooker Song

Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra

Louis C.K.

I’m Prejudiced Against 20 Year Olds

Louis C.K. Saved His Dumb Dog’s Life

Louis C.K. Quotes
001. I’d happily trade your life for knowledge of my powers.

Dylan Moran

What It Is Live

Entire show in 8 parts here .

Dylan Moran Quotes:
001. I hate you so much it gives me energy!

Tim Minchin

“The Good Book”

Human Logic

“If I Didn’t Have You”

“Prejudice”

“Only a ginger can call another ginger ginger.”

Religion

“The Song for Phil Daoust”

I like dubstep. And I’m not ashamed.

My fav Skrillex:

Notes, Lyrics, Videos of Songs/Bands/Albums I like to have to hand

The video is impressive, but I rather dig the song, as well. It’s God and Machines by the Legendary Pink Dots.

Synaesthesia: a sensation produced in one modality when a stimulus is applied to another modality, as when the hearing of a certain sound induces the visualization of a certain color.

I don’t experience it all the time, but sometimes it’s really strong. For example, Portishead songs often feel like a texture, and each of the songs on Nine Inch Nails’ instrumental album Ghosts I-IV has it’s own colour palette.

The songs that I experience on more than one level are my favourite ones to listen to.

After listening to the album all the way through, I checked out the website for the album and saw that Trent Reznor said:

This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective – dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture…

From that site I’ve downloaded a 40 page PDF that goes with the Ghosts album, which has one photo for each song. The colours and images are usually very similar to how the song ‘looks’ and ‘feels’ to me. That’s very cool. The colours are also connected to seasons. The first two songs are winter. The third is an early evening near the end of autumn.

Here are the first three songs:

Another song that has texture for me is ‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries. It feels like a grey-blue wool sweater. The same goes for several songs on Portishead’s self-titled album, as well as many of the songs on Ghosts I-IV.

Compare:

I have to go put on my fav wool sweater now.