Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to Episode 595 of the podcast that paved the way for dredging.
This week: insistency; light my hair; language duel; primered for reading; electric torches; Dunn and done; kid detectives; a teen again; recycled henchmen; hot leverage; the word is the bird; white bred; cultural inappropriation; old tech hands; porn free; unlimited filth; quatrons and blinknoks; probe oh no; sandwich artist; dressing up; tomato family; roast beef beef; all sorts of licorice; Enid Blyton writes; puncture wounds; horrified by Jesus of Nazareth; let’s get this show on the road; snailed it; foundered footage; village of the damaged; perception problems; working for pirates; Eyre head; corporate fuckery; soccer to me; horse lovers; town and country; Etta kicks; and, finally, sit on it.
Question of the Week: Is there a food you didn’t like as a child, but do now?
Sub-question of the Week: Have you ever had a person come into your life for a moment, have a huge impact, and then leave – likely never to be seen again?
Thanks for listening.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
1. Mushrooms. Did not like as a child – more a texture thing, I think. Now they’re fine.
2. I had a few teachers who would maybe fit the bill about making a huge impact and then disappearing but I think that’s also in their job description so I will not include them. However, there was this one guy, a riding coach who I never took lessons from but I knew him as he was the coach of many people I competed against growing up. There was a big international competition, kind of like the Junior Olympics, and I had not fulfilled most of the qualifying criteria because I was in university and felt I would not be able to tick all the boxes. Anyway, this coach got up and made an impassioned speech and then had a big argument with many people and got me on the team. Just because he felt I should be there. And it was one of the best experiences of my life. Then he moved to Guatamala.
I’m in high demand this week, so I’ll write what I can!
I hated meatloaf as a kid, absolutely would not eat it. Maybe because it was my Mom’s meatloaf and eating it now prepared by Susan makes all the difference, but I love it now. I think if I couldn’t eat it I’d find a way to snort it like cocaine I love it so much. I also wasn’t a fan of pecans, maybe because of an allergy I had a kid and grew out of but I can eat them like candy now. I love a good pecan pie which is a southern specialty but the sugar content is way too high for me to enjoy that. All other foods are pretty much fair game, I was never a fussy eater except for cottage cheese, I still hate it to this day. Bleeeech!
The first designer I professionally worked for in the summer of 1988 had a profound impact on me. His name was Ron Bristol. In one summer he taught me all the stuff I wasn’t learning in college and was the first person I knew who used an Apple computer for real work. When I had any down time, Ron would encourage me to use his computer and familiarize myself with it. Ron would tell me, “Get used to this thing, because this is where it’s all going.” man, was he right. We designed signage for a number of buildings that were in the architectural design stage, so we’l have the blueprints to reference. Ron and I would design his all the signs in the building, the sizes, the fonts, how high they were on the wall, everything…it was a very precise project. If I remember right we did signage for both a Women’s Hospital in Houston, Texas and a Hotel in Sarasota, Florida. I learned so much from him and without having to compete for a college internship that summer. Then Ron disappeared and even though I’d heard he moved to Austin, I’ve not been able to find him since 1988.
Back to the grind! We’re on the last of five children’s books we’ve had to illustrate and the deadline is TODAY!!
Love to all my fellow Sneakers,
Sincerely, Dead Head Ed
If you could read my mind, you’d know that I didn’t like broccoli as a kid but I like it now. You’d also know that I’m going to ask you what your favourite Gordon Lightfoot song is in honour of his recent passing. I was curious about the story behind “If You Could Read My Mind” and was surprised to read he once filed a lawsuit against the composer of Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love” alleging he copied the bridge. It’s the part that goes: “I never thought I could act this way and I got to say that I just don’t get it.” It does sound exactly like Michael Masser’s tune for “I decided long ago never to walk in anyone’s shadow.” Lightfoot he said he didn’t want people to think HE stole Masser’s tune, but to avoid negative publicity for Whitney, he dropped the lawsuit and Masser issued a public apology. Veteran songwriters wouldn’t deliberately rip off someone else’s melody so maybe it was a case of independent creation or subconscious borrowing. I’ve heard both songs dozens of times but never made the connection.
It’s like when I wrote a parody of Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” for an awards show and I listened to it over and over. It didn’t even occur to me that it sounded like “Let’s Get It On.” So it made sense to me that Sheeran successfully defended himself in that copyright infringement lawsuit this week. The only thing the songs had in common was a 4-chord progression and a rhythmic groove. His defense found 80 other songs written before “Thinking Out Loud” that used the same progression, 33 of which were released before “Let’s Get It On.” I found it funny that the defense’s expert used “Georgy Girl” as one example of an earlier song that uses the same chords. The music is so sweet and poppy compared to the funkier hit. I wouldn’t have minded being on the jury. By all accounts it was an entertaining trial.