I have a new favourite song! I giggle uncontrollably when I hear it! It's IWIWAL by Loudon Wainwright the Third. ("I wish I was a lesbian and not a hetero....") The song is about 12 years old, but I just heard it the other day on my LAUNCHcast station. I think it's reduced to initials for the sake of political correctness, being, after all, a straight guy's interpretation of a straight gal's motivations for being lesbian, but I'm straight too, so I think it's funny. Maybe some of the gay and lesbian community giggle at this too?
I was introduced to LAUNCHcast by the library tech at elder daughter's school about 5 years ago. The idea is, you gradually design your own radio station, first by choosing favourite artists, albums, and songs, then by rating the songs your player sends to you. You rate something high, it goes into a kind of high rotation. You can also block songs, albums, artists and genres. I like to hear different kinds of music so I try to use the ban button sparingly. (Rap and hip-hop are exceptions to this rule.) I love the idea that music I hate gets played occasionally; it reminds me why I love the music I do. (I think this applies to all kinds of art: exposure to rotten stuff is necessary for perspective.) Over the past five years, I've grown to love Warren Zevon, Dar Williams, Great Big Sea, and appreciate many other artists and groups. I even get a dose of classical from time to time. Every time I hear a song I like on the radio, TV, or in a waiting room, I look it up on LAUNCHcast when I get home and rate. LAUNCHcast doesn't play songs on demand, but if you like surprises and hearing different and new (to you) music, this is the way to go, I think. Doesn't work with some browsers, like Mozilla, though.
Anyway, I went looking for a video of Loudon singing this gem on YouTube, but although there are scores of his songs up there, the only versions of IWIWAL are those set to various anime. I'm not sure why anime aficionados would take to this song; this is due, no doubt, to my lack of knowledge about the anime form. I think this song is far funnier without visuals, but let's see if I can link to the cleverest of the anime tributes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLnicHqPh4A
When They Go High, You Go Logo
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I love a good hand-piped logo wreck. It says, "YAY TEAM!" without all that
pretentious "artistry" and/or "talent."
For instance, bakers, you *know* that ...
8 hours ago
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2 comments:
Launchcast is awesome. I had the upgraded version for a couple of years before I switched to Rhapsody. It's the best for discovering new music.
I'll have to check Rhapsody out, Blair; although I've become rather attached to my Launchcast station. I don't pay for it, but I seem to have acquired the upgraded version over time. Maybe Yahoo rewards faithful listeners?
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