More of the Same from the NRA: “Saturday Night Special”

Marchers against gun violence outside the state capitol in Denver. 1MM4GC.org

The boys from Lynyrd Skynyrd--who just may have seen a problem or two with guns—lay it out in the song “Saturday Night Special.”

“Hand guns are made for killin’/Ain’t no good for nothing else..
And if you like your whiskey/ You might even shoot yourself.”

Here Colorado, lawmakers have some grand ideas. The first was to let teachers take their guns to school. That got quashed yesterday.

The second was to require businesses either to let people carry guns on their property or to have an armed security guard.

If you think the solution to gun violence is more guns, take a look at this article in Time. Your Brain in a Shootout: Guns, Fear, and Flawed Instincts

Even trained officers only hit their target 18% of the time. When police fired at an armed man outside the Empire State Building in New York City, they hit the suspect 10 times and hit nine bystanders.

The shooter in Aurora was able to kill or wound 68 people in 90 seconds. Now imagine 10 people taking out their guns and shooting at him. (They’d have to be pretty good to start shooting soon enough.) Would they hit ninety bystanders?

Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time have a good version of “Saturday Night Special” on Freegal. And it tells what is more likely to happen with more guns: more lethal crimes of passion.

NRA Gags Science: “The Sound of Silence”



Children hold signs "Gun violence is a public safety issue" at rally in Denver of One Million Moms for Gun Control.

 Before 1996, the CDC was systematically studying gun violence as a public health problem, according to this article from Business Insider.

When the CDC started reporting that the prevalence of guns led to an increase in gun violence, the Republicans cut off any funding that had to do with studying gun violence.

Kind of like the kid who thinks you can’t see him when he covers his eyes.

It may seem weird to study gun violence as a public health issue. Doesn’t it just happen when a bad guy shoots a gun?

The thing is, good practices and laws can reduce injuries and death,

That’s what happened with drunk driving.

For decades, Americans just shrugged at the deaths caused by drunk drivers. What were you going to do if the bad guy tanks up then gets behind the wheel of a car?

You can do quite a bit, it turns out. Cracking down on people with DWI’s and DUI’s was certainly part of it. But you can also look at things like raising the drinking age, sobriety checkpoints, making cars safer...in other words, you study the problem as a whole system of things going wrong.

We should be studying and talking about what goes wrong with gun violence. We should get scientists and law enforcement and—yes—gun owners into a national conversation about what can help minimize our gun injuries and deaths.

But, the NRA prefers the sound of silence.

“Hello darkness, my old friend.”

If you want to remember how the story goes, the Simon & Garfunkel song is on Freegal. 

Fallacies, Sudafed, and the NRA: “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around”



At a rally at the Colorado state capitol. Million Moms for Gun Control

 I live halfway between Columbine and Aurora, scenes of the some of the biggest mass shootings in our country—both of them places I have been to in the course of day-to-day life.

I finally decided it was time to do something besides shake my head at the terribleness of it all and joined this rally at the state capitol, organized by Million Moms for Gun Control.

One argument that the “no restrictions on guns” side uses that drives me crazy goes like this. “If we outlaw assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, only the bad guys will have them.”

They’re pretending that they don’t know what laws do. Very few laws can actually reach out and stop the hand of a “bad guy,” whether he wants to get in a car intoxicated, write a forged check, or cook up a batch of meth in his basement.

Yet, we don’t throw up our hands and say, “No use making a law. They’re going to do it anyway.”

It seems to me we make laws to outline what is and isn’t permissible in our society. And to provide law enforcement with a way to trace, track, predict, and perhaps prevent some of these things from happening.

Take Sudafed. A perfectly lawful thing, if used correctly. A little red pill you take if your head feels stuffy.

It’s also a major ingredient in meth. When meth started to cause dangers to the community, congress rolled the following restrictions on Sudafed into the Patriot Act. Here are the provisions, from the FDA website:

The Act allows for the sale of pseudoephedrine only from locked cabinets or behind the counter.  The law:

·         limits the monthly amount any individual could purchase

·         requires individuals to present photo identification to purchase such medications

·         requires retailers to keep personal information about these customers for at least two years after the purchase of these medicines.

If I am so tracked when I buy an allergy and cold remedy, why can’t people who buy big ammunition magazines be similarly tracked? And why can’t we have background checks for all sales, no matter who the seller and the buyer are?

After the Sandy Hook massacre, people seem newly invigorated to put reasonable limits on guns. But, we have to keep pushing because the NRA is sure enough going to push back.

That’s why I think of the song “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around.” Freegal has a wonderful version by Sweet Honey in the Rock.  It’s worth taking a listen to all the songs on the album.

The Final Speech: “We Shall Overcome”



Martin Luther King, Jr. leaning on a lectern. Library of Congress. photo credit


The folk song “We Shall Overcome” encapsulated the civil rights movement and was the theme of Martin Luther King Jr.’s last speech in 1968, before he was assassinated.

Its roots were in African-American hymns of the early 20^th century. Its themes were echoed by both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Lyndon Johnson.

It has been sung all across the globe in protests, from the US to Beijing to South Africa.

Interestingly, it was brought to prominence by folk singers of the 1960’s, most notably Pete Seeger and Joan Baez.

You can find both of their versions on Freegal, along with dozens of others, including Bruce Springsteen.

“Selma March” by Grant Green

The civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965, Library of Congress, Peter Pettus

This upbeat jazz piece celebrates the completion of the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, according to this NPR story.

It’s available, along with other tracks on Green’s album Introducing G. G., through Freegal.

To learn more about the Selma March, check out the History Channel’s site.

“I wish I could break all the chains holding me”: “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” by Nina Simone

School integration, Barnard School, Washington, D.C., 1955. Thomas J. O'Halloran

I learned of Nina Simone’s song through an NPR story Songs of the Civil Rights Movement.

I looked up “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” on Freegal, and there it was.

 Born Eunice Waymon in 1933, Simone recounts, “Everything that happened to me as a child involved music…we learned to play the same way we learned to walk. It was that natural.”

Her mother’s employer thought she had a special talent and paid for her music lessons. By her senior year of high school, Simone had her sights set on being a concert pianist, and had won a one-year scholarship to the prestigious Julliard School of Music.

She intended to go on to the Curtis Institute, but they rejected her saying that her playing wasn’t good enough. She resolved to work harder and take the examination a second time, but then she began to suspect that they had refused her because she was African-American.

She settled in Philadelphia and started giving piano lessons. One day, she learned that one of her students (who wasn’t very good at piano) was earning more than she was playing at local bars.

She wanted to get more income, but knew that her staunchly religious mother would object to her even going into a bar, much less working at one.

So she took a stage name. She had liked a term of endearment, nina, (Spanish for little girl) which her boyfriend had used. And she like Simone Signoret, a French actress.

And so, Nina Simone was born. Her first album was called Little Girl Blue.
 

Suit & Tie, But No Class “Suit & Tie” by Justin Timberlake

I had just been reading about Justin Timberlake’s new single in Entertainment Weekly, and all of a sudden, it popped up at #14 onFreegal’s list. According to Hollywood Reporter, the song has smashed records, including Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.”

Many times, I include the lyrics in my title, but seeing as how Mr. Timberlake uses a word not suitable for a family publication..oh…about 8 times in the intro, I’ll have to leave you to Google them if you want.

Being old enough to be—well, older than Justin Timberlake—I don’t get all of his lyrics, but references to a “fatty” leave me a little uncomfortable, too.

Timberlake has put on his suit & tie, but he seems a little irritable about it—and not about to clean up his language.

Disco, The Full Monty, and the Jingle Channel: “Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer

What to write about today?

A couple of nights ago, our family watched The Full Monty, one of those shows with the odd premise that if you are hurting for money, you should simply put on a show. The kind of show in which you take off all your clothes. (See also Calendar Girls and Mrs. Henderson Presents.)

Oddly enough, they were all quirky good-hearted films with less nudity than your average R-rated flick.

In the scene above, the fellows from The Full Monty are standing in an unemployment line, and when Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff” comes on the radio, they can’t resist tapping out a few subtle dance steps. Trust me, it’s pretty funny. Especially in context of the movie.

The next day, when I got in my car, the oldies station was playing—“Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer.  So, I knew I had to feature the song.

For one thing, it seemed like kismet. For another, it’s playing ‘round and ‘round in my head. A friend of mine calls it the “Jingle Channel,” that phenomenon when a song gets stuck in your brain.

And so I present Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff.” Free and legal. No viruses. No kidding. From Freegal.

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by the Children of Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT with Ingrid Michaelson

Usually I talk about music you can download for free, but this is one to buy. It's a buck and 29 cents.

Support the children of Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown. Help them raise funds. And get a sweet version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

If you're thinking about ways we can lower the death toll of 31,000 people killed by firearms in this country every year, take a look at this article.


 Gun violence: A threat to the public's health

The NRA has successfully blocked funding to even study how we can minimize gun deaths in this country.
Let's take an open and honest look at what has worked--in this country, and in others--to take steps to lower our death count.

A public health approach has been successful in minimizing deaths from drunk driving or childhood diseases.

Don't let extremists hijack our country and prevent funding for even looking at a problem. Let's figure out what works. Then, let's do it.

Cupcakes and Cookies and Treats, Oh My! : Wizard of Oz Party

Easy Treats for a Wizard of Oz Party

I’m squidging off topic just a little bit here. With the new movie Oz: The Great and Powerful coming out, I’m putting together sites with party ideas.

I just finished pulling together all kinds of cute ideas for treats—cupcakes, cakes, cookies, candy, and—of course—a rainbow fruit salad. (I like something to be a little healthy.)

They’re all super simple, because I know no one has the patience to make a complicated treat when they’re trying to get the rest of the party together.

And what does this all have to do with Freegal? It turns out Glee covered “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

If you remember Katharine McPhee’s performance on American Idol, her version is here, too.

“My, my, my, my, my boogie shoes”: “Boogie Shoes” by K.C. and the Sunshine Band

Dancing in Boogie Shoes    Photo: RyanStecker

I wish I had met Henry Wayne Casey (K.C) back in the day. I think I could have been a good lyricist for them.

If I counted correctly, “Boogie Shoes” uses just 29 different words, the majority of them being “my,” “boogie,” and “shoes.”

The Cat in the Hat uses 10 times as many. (I will admit that Dr. Seuss is a little harder to boogie to.)

Looking at their other songs, I also feel pretty confident that I could have come up with a chorus as good as “That’s the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh.”

Still, I have to say that “Boogie Shoes” always makes me want to get up and dance.

And…the words are easy to learn.

Lots of the band’s hits are available on Freegal. For some reason, you need to search for “KC” under artist, rather than the name of the whole band.

“So you better treat her right”; “She Works Hard for the Money” by Donna Summer

Workin' Hard for the Money     Photo: Merzperson 

In the mid-80’s I was working my husband through graduate school. When the school had a talent show, I joined the other wives in doing a rendition of “She Works Hard for the Money.”


Most of us had what I call a “just-a-job.” They weren’t particularly interesting or fulfilling; they were just a way to keep food on the table. I worked selling stamps at a little dry goods store. Others were secretaries downtown or managers at McDonald’s. The hours were bad but the pay was lousy.

But we had Donna Summer, the Queen of Disco.

You can get lots of her songs on Freegal.

Born LaDonna Andrea Gaines, she found her name in an unexpected place. Back in 1966, she got a part in the musical Hair and moved to Europe to perform in Germany & Austria. She married her fellow performer Helmut Sommer—and took the name Donna Summer.

Too bad she never recorded a disco song in German. That would have been interesting.

RIP, Donna Summer. May 17, 2012.

Queen Meets Simon & Garfunkel: “Some Nights” by Glee Cast Members

It’s those drums. I could listen to them all day.

 “Some Nights,” by fun. is the most addictive song to come out in a long time.

Unfortunately, the drums were all you could get from Freegal for a while. After I listened to the 30-second sample track, I downloaded the song only to find out that it was just the accompaniment version, sort of like a karaoke track. Much as I like the beat, I wanted someone to start singing eventually.

Fortunately, Glee decided to cover the track, so now there is a decent version to download from Freegal.

fun. is being compared to Queen, with its anthemic music and close harmonies.  And the beat in this song is being compared to Simon & Garfunkel’s Cecilia. It’s also being compared to Nena’s 99 luftballoons.  It has something for everyone.

Now if I could just figure out why they chose the opening lyrics:

“Some nights I wish that my lips could build a castle
Some nights I wish they’d just fall off.”