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October 23, 2002
Nothing Important Happened Yesterday
Well, I got the dreads done at Hair Is, because they desperately needed it. The former owner, and my old stylist, has transcended the actual "working with hair" plane and gone on to teach others, so poor Belinda had to work with the rat's nest. I don't think I left her a big enough tip.
Didn't get to the Minnesota Children's Museum, or rather didn't try very hard. Which is good, since they close at 5 most days, except Thursdays and Mondays. It's open until 9 on the former, and not at all on the latter. Except Memorial Day through Labor Day, when. . . as you can see, this was all much to complex to bother with.
The good thing is, the Sesame Street exhibit, which looks interesting, will be around until mid-January of next year.
The bad thing is, Elmo is featured, probably in a prominent way.
Can't abide by characters they added after I stopped watching the show. I'm still not thrilled with anyone other than Big Bird knowing that Mister Snuffleupagus isn't imaginary.
Oh, and apparently my mutant band-killing powers have increased to effect blogs as well.
This must be to balance the mutant annoying-people ability, which has narrowed down to just VASpider lately. Weird.
I take no responsibility for the Queer Theory stuff, though. I know nothing of the subject, and think the Butlerian Jihad was something in one of the Dune novels.
Right, clothes and dishes to wash and pack, kick-ass Aretha to listen to, and probably a lack of updates today again.
Er, except this update. From the Pop Matters review of The Queen in Waiting: The Columbia Years (1960-1965):
Franklin led a rather schizophrenic artistic career during her days at Columbia, in large part, because the label and her various producers weren't quite sure what to do with her gifts. This was particularly the case in an era when black and women artists were so easily pigeonholed. Franklin's producers literally struggled to see if Franklin was going to be the next Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington or even Bessie Smith, while also being conscious of some of her contemporaries like Nancy Wilson and Dionne Warwick. None of these concerns ever translated into real commercial success while Franklin was with the label, though the work she did with Clyde Otis towards the end of her tenure consistently churned out "turntable hits" -- those songs that rarely charted high, but where known to rock a house party from time to time. Tracks like "Runnin' out of Fools" (Franklin's biggest hit for the label), "Cry Like a Baby" (penned by a young Ashford and Simpson) and her covers of "Walk on By" (Dionne Warwick), "Mockingbird" (Inez Fox), and "You'll Lose a Good Thing (Barbara Lynn) are examples of such songs.
Though Franklin has often been referred to as a "great" singer, much of her reputation has been generated by the power that she exudes as a singer. Though she has recorded some striking ballads and mid-temp tracks ("Natural Woman" and "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" come immediately to mind), Franklin rarely gets credit for her stunning interpretations of ballads. The real highlights of The Queen in Waiting are Franklin's ballads, songs that likely got lost in the initial shuffle to get Franklin some hit records at Columbia. Franklin is simply stunning on tracks like "Just for a Thrill," "Skylark" (the Otis produced alternative version is simply brilliant), "God Bless the Child", and "Blue Holiday". The same can be said for Franklin's version of Otis's "Take a Look" (inexplicably left off the earlier collection Jazz to Soul, which The Queen in Waiting replaces) that remains one of Franklin's best performances.
I'm washing the dishes very quietly.
Posted by Aaron at October 23, 2002 10:28 AM
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