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hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands…

for my second installment of taking a band and listening to and dissecting their discography to come up with a top 20 list i went with zeppelin.  what i think i’ve discovered through this process is that i’m not as big of a zeppelin fan as i once thought i was or at least once thought i was supposed to be.  not that i’m not a fan, i am… but this process was pretty painless and easy because i was able to quickly eliminate many songs.  i’m not really that into blues, which of course zep takes a huge influence from.  i also am not a big fan of robert plant’s vocal or lyrical talents.  not to say he isn’t talented, just not my favorite cup of tea.  i do think that john paul jones is the unsung hero of the band and doesn’t typically get the credit he deserves for his role in what many might argue was one of the greatest bands ever.

20.    Carouselambra
In Through the Out Door

it’s really hard for me to hear synthesizer and not jump instantly to 80’s cheese… and more often than not i am not gonna like it, but this synth-fest transcends that for me and it works.  this song doesn’t feel like the over 10 minute length it is because it takes you for a ride and changes it up along the way.  not necessarily a bad thing, but plant is at perhaps his most indiscernible, i don’t think i actually know a single lyric… except the ahh-ahhhs… which i like.

19.    What is and What Shall Never Be
Led Zeppelin II

i like the mellow, sing-songy verses followed up with the catchy, heavier chorus.  plant’s mystical vibe with the lyrics, against the sounds of the guitar washing from your left ear… through your brain and to the right… like waves, is kind of a dreamy experience.

18.    Hey Hey What Can I do
Led Zeppelin III
(not on album, but released as b-side to immigrant song)

love the acoustic with the mandolin overlay… gives it a really pleasant, mellow vibe.  i’ve mentioned that robert plant is not a favorite singer of mine, but i do like his vocals here.

17.    Dancing Days
Houses of the Holy

if there’s one thing zeppelin knows how to do it’s how to establish a riff that engrains in your brain.  this is another example.  you can’t listen and not want to move.

16.    Trampled Under Foot
Physical Graffiti

that riff is relentless and impossible not to groove to.  jpj rocks the keyboards.  i think the lyrics are kinda silly… a bit too heavy-handed on the car/sex metaphor for my taste, but fortunately i normally can’t tell what the hell plant is saying anyway, so it’s not that big an issue.

15.    Houses of the Holy
Physical Graffiti

one of their catchiest, it works all the way around.  one of my favorite things about this song is how the last line of each verse seems to add a little bit more and kinda keeps building.  taking a rather simple lyrical 4 line structure and adding a lot of interest.

14.    Poor Tom
Coda

kind of a different little song… a more folksy story ballad sung behind bonham’s prominent and driving drums.

13.    Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin III

with fantastic acoustic playing from page and the foot-stomping percussion antics provided by bonham…  i have no idea why this song isn’t more popular.

12.    Over the Hills and Far Away
Houses of the Holy

i love the acoustic beginning… i love the beautiful, wistful ending… and the middle is a cool, harder diversion that separates the two.

11.    Misty Mountain Hop
(Untitled) (Led Zeppelin IV) etc.

i actually think plant is the star on this one.  i really like the vocal harmonies.  i like the phrasing and  i also like the whole hippie, high, love-in retro vibe the lyrics give off.  a perfect fit for him.  this is a song that evokes a specific time and aura that i feel a part of, despite never having been there.

10.    Fool in the Rain
In Through the Out Door

this song to me has a lot going on…in a good way because i feel like i could hear it another hundred times and still hear new things. there are parts where i can’t determine what exactly is making what sound in my ears.

what i can distinguish are the drums… which i love in this song.  and of course, the whistle… which ushers in the part that always has and always will remind me of “peanuts” (as in schroeder, not the food or the packing materials)

9.    That’s the Way
Led Zeppelin III

the guitar work is gorgeous.  i love how it feels like it’s flowing along sweetly and then builds up into the chorus that has a haunting feel to it.

8.    Stairway to Heaven
(Untitled) (Led Zeppelin IV) etc.

it’s really kind of impossible to effectively rank this song objectively due to the over saturation of it.  it would be generous to say i’d be fine hearing it maybe once a decade.  i do still think it’s a great song, but i don’t believe it to be their best… i think ultimately, number 8 is a fair place to put it.

7.    When the Levee Breaks
(Untitled) (Led Zeppelin IV) etc.

here’s a song that back in the day, when i first listened to the album, i didn’t dislike, but never really liked either… it was just there sort of.  but in re-listening to it for this project it floored me.  sludgy and heavy… kind of a grungy feel, and of course, the drums. just…wow.

6.    The Rain Song
Houses of the Holy

in addition to being a beautiful song and lyrically one of their best (with that perfect last line) this one also has significant sentimental value.  our first xmas, mr. j and i were still living in different states and saving money for his relocation, so we decided to only give presents that didn’t cost anything.  he sent me a recording of him doing this song.  one of the best presents i’ve ever gotten.

5.    The Song Remains the Same
Houses of the Holy

i think this one being this high on the list is a bit surprising… i wouldn’t have called it before this exercise.  but it feels very layered and textured and it twists and turns and changes itself up… and nice bass too.

i get a dream theater-ish vibe from it… and not just because they covered it in their zep medley on “change of seasons”. of course i’ve been told by a huge zeppelin fan (mr. j) and a huge dream theater fan (son, branden) that i’m crazy…

4.    Going to California
(Untitled) (Led Zeppelin IV) etc.

the most beautiful of their softer, acoustic stuff… what’s not to like here.  with an understated and simple feel… dreamy mandolin and something about how plant inhales at the beginning that immediately puts you in the right headspace to drift along in the music…

3.    Achilles Last Stand
Presence

this is truly an epic song.  i purposely have refrained from talking too much about bonham’s drumming… because i wanted to make sure i didn’t get too redundant when i got to this point.  i don’t know how to articulate it in a profound way… but he just absolutely rocks.  then you have that dukkita, dukkita driving bass line.  and then the end which brings us back full circle to the beginning.  yeah, epic.

2.    Kashmir
Physical Graffiti

technically, i think this is their most perfect song.  hypnotic, dramatic, brooding, atmospheric, sexy, transcendental.  (ok, i’m not positive i know what that exactly means… lol… but it sounds right) the point is… it’s grand and everybody individually doing what they do best, cohesively as a single unit.

what it comes down to is when i think led zeppelin, this is what comes to mind… to me, this song defines them.

1.    Ten Years Gone
Physical Graffiti

yeah, how do i possibly top #2… well, really… i don’t.  if i’m being completely honest, i think zeppelin’s best song is my number 2… however, this one tops the list for me personally because it’s the total package… love the lyrics… love the music… i love how the lyrics fit and compliment the music perfectly.  ultimately, this song is the one zeppelin song that has the strongest emotional resonance… and making us feel something… that’s what music is all about.

if the rain song has the best closing line, this one has the best opening line.
then as it was, then again it will be.

just for fun… this was mr. j’s list

20    The Wanton Song
19    Poor Tom
18    What is and What Should Never Be
17    The Crunge
16    That’s The Way
15    Misty Mountain Hop
14    Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp
13    Custard Pie
12    When the Levee Breaks
11    No Quarter
10    Whole Lotta Love
9    Ramble On
8    Four Sticks
7    Tea For One
6    Stairway to Heaven
5    Immigrant Song
4    Trampled Underfoot
3    Kashmir
2    Achilles Last Stand
1    Black Dog

and now it gets difficult… i’ve already begun the next band in this life-long project and it is one of my absolute favorites… right now i can’t possibly fathom how on earth i’m going to compile my list.  just when i think i’ve got a song figured out… i change my mind.

There’s been an email chain shooting through one of the expat communities we’re attached to about a ‘cornhole tournament’ happening this weekend. Apparently everyone is invited for a little Pot Luck and then a spot of cornholing in the backyard.

Now I’m sure to you, dear readers, this is some sort of time honored, old-money tradition played by Harvard alums with names like Kip & Tennyson & Teddy. But for an unschooled social malcontent such as myself, it calls to mind something entirely different.

To me cornholing sounds like the kind of activity that makes sitting difficult-to-impossible the following day. I mean, are we talking the tiny little corns you get in Chinese takeaway here? Or the entire homegrown, freshly shucked cob? My poor cornhole is puckering just thinking about it.

As for the whole ‘tournament’ aspect, does this mean by the end of the night someone will be crowned cornhole king & cornhole queen? Will there be a cornhole runner up (we can call him/her ‘Number 2’ for short)? Are there trophies involved? If so, what, exactly, do they look like?

And how about a little finesse before going straight for ye olde cornhole? You know: buy me dinner first, tell me I’m pretty, maybe start with my pie hole and work your way down…

Finally, how do I get in on this whole double-entendre naming/gaming action? Because I want to come up with a little something of my own. We’ll call it: Cock-N-Box. It involves hitting a shuttlecock into a regulation-sized 10×10 box from 20 paces.

Take that, cornholers…

Jim’s father lost his battle with lung cancer this past Saturday– roughly 5 months after diagnosis. He was 70 years old. He died in his own bed on his own terms, with the people he loved most in the world surrounding him. I guess you can’t really ask for more than that.

He loved Elvis and RC Cola and vintage cars, and he knew all the words to Roger Miller’s ‘King of the Road’ by heart.  He was a great father and a sweet man and he will be sorely missed.

Cancer sucks.

For now we’re back in Dresden after leaving London early to fly to Pennsylvania. We made it just in time. Leaving again on Thursday for the funeral, back next Tuesday and school for the girls starts Wednesday. Oy. So very jet lagged and just… bone-weary. Back to posting again in a few weeks (once I’ve caught up on my sleep).

B.

hey b,
didn’t know when you’ll see it and didn’t want it to get lost in a sea of twitter… but i wanted to make sure and wish you a happy birthday… been thinking of you all and hope all is ok. wishing for good news…nothing but the best for you always.
love ya

edit:
this is my mom, aug. 5th… out at a restaurant for her birthday… just six weeks or so from when she was given days to live.   i don’t have a before picture of her on her “deathbed”… but the transformation is astounding.

for years… the list of my mom’s prescription medication continued to grow to ridiculous proportions.  she would actually have to allocate a chunk of time to organizing her pill case each week… at the height i believe she was taking around 15 different medications.

when she was declared hospice stage 2 several weeks ago and they gave her a week to live they took her off all her meds.   since then she has all but completely recovered.  every report i get now is about how well she’s doing… and she is only taking the very basic of meds now… she also this week is now off her oxygen tank, which she had been on for the past 18 months.

now, she is in kentucky, so all my family, her doctors and random drive-thru window workers will tell you this is the work of jesus christ performing another miracle.  but i believe this prescription detox is what saved her life.  well, that and my bedside vigil (sorry, lord).

there is no doubt in my mind she spent years over-medicated… i don’t think our bodies naturally want foreign substances coursing through it and fortunately her death sentence allowed her body the chance to cleanse itself and reboot.

(side note:  it’s impossible of course to fully wash in the joy of how great she’s doing without that little piece in the back of my mind that in the name of self-protection won’t allow myself to let go of the nagging thoughts about what could still happen at any given point… but i’m trying to stay focused on the good.)

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on the other hand…

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i definitely think in general doctors tend to take the lazy way out and throw medication instantly at every problem before exhausting other, natural solutions…  especially in the case of mental health.  i think our country and especially our children are over-medicated.   however, i’m not radically anti-prescription drugs… i’ve also been witness to the good side.  most recently… my son is on a suboxone program to treat his addiction and in the past couple of weeks i feel like i’ve been given my son back…

it had been so long and so gradual and i thought he was just getting older and naturally not as into being around his family… that i didn’t realize until recently exactly how much he had changed.

now he is constantly making me laugh with his  jokey, light-hearted antics, he has initiated crunch time (our name for family game time) and i see the sweetness and charm in him every day.   it’s not that the suboxone is altering his personality… it’s allowing his real personality back.   i didn’t even realize how much i have missed him until this reminder of who he used to be… it’s quite it’s own miracle really.

don’t know why…. but for some reason i was thinking the other day about people from my on-line past.  i’m talking back in the day when we used to have to pay for our internet by the hour and you had a cap number of hours allotted.  it wasn’t long before many of us had to have a second and third account.  talk was not cheap.

like pavlov’s dog, it didn’t take long to become trained when you’d hear what would come to be those very familiar dialing, hissing, buzzing & honking noises.  agony and frustration when they failed and such a rush when completed.

speaking of agony, it of course literally took me hours to come up with that first screen name.   an issue i still fight with to this day.

i’m a shy person.  even online.  it took me awhile to work up the nerve to enter a chat room.  took much longer before i ever “spoke”.   but eventually i found my cheers spot, where everybody knew my name and were oh so glad i came.

i look back really fondly of those many days and nights in prodigy chat.  i came across some pretty cool people, and despite that it was never my intention to find a relationship, i even married one.  i guess after this much time has passed i no longer have to be embarrassed to say that’s how mr. j and i met.  back then people would most definitely judge you or worse even… feel sorry for you, so i decided for a long time not to tell people we met that way.

mostly i remember laughing a lot with these people… there was of course drama never too far off… but mostly the laughing.

• voodoochile (rex) - we thought we came up with the perfect get-rich-quick sceme by selling his frequent flyer miles…. i designed the website and we called it… flymart!  lol… that still makes me laugh.  he even got a customer too, which is when he learned you couldn’t do that.

• duchess - equal parts cool and funny.  my west coast friend who likened spending new years eve online with all the time zones to being the last girl to get your period.

• sparky - heh, because he was an electrician.    i said i wanted to keep him in a cage in my room as a pet. mostly because he was one of the funniest people i’ve ever met.  but also a little bit because it was impossible not to have a slight crush on him.  i really wish i would have kept the hysterical series of poems we sent back and forth.  i don’t recall the content now, but i remember they were very clever and very funny.

• the pod people - despite the fact i blame them partially for the demise of the room… some of you were cool (dino), except that one girl i hated.  i wish i could remember your name so i could hate you properly…bitch.

• at your cervix - winner of the cleverest name… he was a mystery.  he would randomly pop in once in a while… be incredibly funny and leave just as quickly.  he was always really nice to me too.  i always loved those brief appearances.

• froggiestyle - another one that would appear sporadically.  weird, but i can’t remember specifics,  i just remember having good talks and him being special to me.

• bj - a transcript i’d love to read is the night he went off on hearing a song one too many times and turned the entire night into a parody of “burden in my hand” which became “burden in my cunt”.

• cyboy-  definitely funny, which made me enjoy his company… and then we discovered we had music in common and began the practice of “synching”…where we would put the same cd on at the same time and listen together…  then to find out he’s a real musician… well, that always helps in getting the girl.

flirtybaby, prez, nicole, the fonz, winsome, and those only due to my deteriorating mind have been relegated to maryann and professor status… the rest.

wherever they all may have roamed and whatever life they ended up living, i hope they’ve been able to think back and remember fondly what was once the 20’s & 30’s room that eventually got renamed the love cafe.  and maybe even fondly remember gigglerokk (and all the various forms of my “rokk” names)

oh, and hey… now my email address makes total sense, doesn’t it.

This Friday we head to the UK for our 5th visit and second extended stay in London. The first time we were there we fit in tons of sightseeing, but hey, this is London we’re talking about… there’s still lots more to see & do. On our hit list this time:

• Tower of London
• Thorpe park
• Museum of London/Museum of London Docklands
• Westminster Abbey
• Warwick Castle
• Buckingham Palace tour (last time we were they they weren’t giving tours)
• London Aquarium
• Parliament
• St. Paul’s Cathedral
• Showing of ‘Wicked’ at the Apollo Victoria Theatre
• Duck tour (at Sydney’s request)
• Big Ben (seen only from afar on our last visit)
• Westfield Shopping Centre
• London Eye
• Beaulieu Estates/Abbey/National Motor Museum/’World of Top Gear’ Exhibit

Add to this what we saw the the first time:

• Stonehenge
• Changing of the Guard @ Buckingham Palace
• British Museum
• Dali Universe
• Kensington Palace
• Somerset House
• Tate Modern
• Science Museum
• Hampton Court
• Leeds Castle
• Victoria & Albert Museum
• Natural History Museum

Put it all together and I think we’ll have covered most of what this amazing city has to offer. That said, if anyone has a last minute tip on something we should not miss, I’m all ears. I’ve got a lot on our agenda but there’s always room for more. The way I see it there are two schools of thought when it comes to vacationing:

(1) See a few things with plenty of relaxation in between and make sure to save some sightseeing for your next visit. Sleep in, eat well in nice restaurants, and end the evening with a relaxing glass of wine while watching the sunset from a famous landmark. The whole: ‘a vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in’ school of thought.

(2) You may never be here again, so cram in as much as you possibly can. Take lots of pictures. Grab take away meals on the run when & where you find them. You can sleep when you’re back home; if you don’t come away from vacation exhausted, you did something wrong. Screw the booze - you need to be sharp and hit the ground running when the alarm goes off at 6:00 a.m.

Personally, I’m all about number two. (<– hey look! a poop joke!)

This trip will be a little different because Jim and Robbie won’t be there most of the time. Robbie is going to Spain with a group of friends and Jim will fly back to Dresden to work next mon-thu. (joining us on weekends only). That, and we’re not leasing a car this time… only using public transit. Did I mention I’m terrible with directions? Following them…. asking for them…. remembering to write them down in the first place…. I pretty much suck at it all. So I’m filled with horrible visions of me lost in London with Sydney and no one to call for help. Should be fun.

So here’s to carpeing the diem, opening myself up to all that London has to offer, and improving my map-reading skills!

first came:
installment one
followed by:
the sequel

and now, once again… actual phrases uttered during conversations around the house… some i’d love to try and explain… but that takes all the fun out of it.

bozo is my hitler
oh god, i feel like i snorted a smartie
my dragon fell in love with a jelly fish, but he didn’t care.
i can make bacon out of k’nex
stop trying to shove me into the clown face
you wanna taste something weird?
i want to sit here and suck on a pancake
i don’t want you smelling my airheads
(overheard in my dream) it has the right blend of pasta and paperclips
FAIL… fail like a white baby (which then became…) fail like a white baby listening to godsmack
everybody knows i don’t have on pants
i inverted the cross and stuck it under the pentagram

my level of anticipation for this is so unnaturally high that it’s almost inevitable that there is no way it can live up to the expectations.    but i can’t stop myself from squeeing like a middle school girl with twilight tickets over the idea of playing this game.   the original alice game remains one of my all-time favorites and is the game i’ve replayed more times than any other.

The long-awaited sequel picks up 10 years after the previous game with Alice having just been released from an insane asylum and journeying to uncover the mystery behind her family’s death. The game jumps between “gloomy and stark London” and the “rich and provocative Wonderland,” and, as McGee explained in a statement to the press, “takes this colorful world and reinvents it with psychotic personalities and pervasive insanity.”

no release date yet, but when it gets closer i’ll definitely be playing the original again to get ready for it …i just hope that it doesn’t try and do too much to update it and sticks really close to the original…

I love all the shopping sites in America. From Mighty Goods to Outblush to Think Geek to We Covet, I read ‘em all. Unfortunately I don’t think such sites exist in Germany (fellow expats– hook me up with links if I’m wrong). But I still want to drool over & occasionally buy cool stuff.

Anyway, here are some things I’ve found in my searches through German websites. And yes, there really are a lot of cool things to buy in Germany. America hasn’t cornered the online shopping market yet, just polished it to a high gleam & aimed a mega-watt spotlight at it.

1. Market Bags from Butlers:

As any expat living in Germany will tell you, shopping bags are important! They’re not provided and the ones you can buy in grocery stores are lame. So why not have something pretty? While my favorites will always be the canvas bags we bought state-side at Whole Foods, these are cool too. And at only €3,99 per bag, why not stock up?

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2. Storage crates from Impressionen:

Who couldn’t use more storage? And with these awesome wooden crates stamped ‘Art du Cinéma’ you’ll be storing in style. (I’m so over rubbermaidy type plastic storage containers). €29,95

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3. Zen it up with Heine’s wooden Buddha:

(ok, I know I’ve been here too long when I don’t even snicker while typing Heine’s) The €69,90 price tag may not lead to Nirvana, but all seven of your Chakras will no doubt vibrate with positive energy when this guy’s in the room.

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4. Greenwich wall clock from Maisons du Monde:

Perfect for a home office. Or just figuring out what time it is in Portland before you end up calling your friends at 3:00 a.m. (oops!). €69,90

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5. ‘Mystic Africa’ Pan Am prints from Maisons du Monde:

This set of two, based on an old Pan Am ad campaign, would grace any wall. €79,90

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6. Room divider/shoji screen from Heine:

Love the negative image on the screen… and at €99,00 it’s a perfect large, functional piece of  art for the boudoir.

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7. Salvadoran armchair from Maisons du Monde (can you tell I love this site?):

Stripey fun in an armchair! And at 129,00€ I think it’s a good deal for something that’s eye-catching AND functional.

♦

8. Set of steamer trunks from Impressionen:

Stackable steamer trunks make a perfect coffee table/end table/nightstand. We could all use a little old world charm, amiright? €189,00

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And now for the interactive ‘game’ part: of the 8 things I’ve listed, one I bought a few weeks ago (when I first started writing this - I’ve gotten so lazy about blogging lately), one I plan to order tonight and one I really don’t like at all. The rest I’ll just have to covet for the time being.

Can you guess which is which?

p.s. You can click on any of the photos to go directly to the item listing. Some of the stretched images (stupid blogging format) look much better on their original site.