This is an interactive video for “Keep Your Head Up” by singer-songwriter and fellow Binghamton University alumn Andy Grammer. (I’m not sure what Grammer studied and SUNY Binghamton, but according to this bio he was there two years active in the theater program. I did my PhD there.) At various points in the video you will have an opportunity to change the scenario by selecting options. And if you do the whole thing again, you’ll get different choices.
This guy knows how to load a song with melodic hooks and they do their job. The song snagged in the netting of my muddled brain the first time I heard it and it’s been stuck there since. Usually at least one or two songs from the beginning of summer crop has such a hook, but usually it drives me crazy. That’s because I usually don’t even like the song, but the hook is effective, so it snags and won’t pull lose. And because the artists is often backed by the full marketing budget of a giant record label, the single is ubiquitous. You hear it on the radio, in the mall, in your favorite tv shows and movies, over television commercials, as a Starbucks Download of the Week, etc. The artists appears on daytime and late night talk shows, as a guest performer or mentor on reality competition shows, in cameos on episodic television, on radio talk shows, in public service announcements… So every time the song fades from memory, its planted again. I’ll find myself singing it in the car, the shower, on the street, deliberately preventing myself from learning the whole thing, annoyed at the banality of the lyrics, the derivative nature of the music, or some other aspect of the song.
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Tag Archives: Boston
A Bird in Winter
Up to 21 inches expected, from Boston.com
I have never so much wanted weather forecasters to be wrong. Forecasts are for as much as 18″ of snow between what started this morning and tomorrow! This, added to the more than 60 inches we’ve already had this winter, are significantly above average, according to Boston.com:
Bay State residents have at least 60.3 reasons to be sick of the snow. After last week’s storm, a total of 60.3 inches of snow for the season had been recorded at Logan International Airport, including 38.3 in January alone.
The season total so far is more than the season average of 41.8 and the total last year of 35.7. The record is 102.8 inches, in 1995-1996. January 2011 has been Boston’s third-snowiest January and the sixth snowiest month ever, just behind March 1993.
Closing Night at Laurel Grill and Bar
Laurel Grill and Bar, one of my favorite places in Boston, has been sold and officially closed its doors tonight. Time to find a new watering hole, probably just wherever our favorite bartender Eryl goes!
It was a pretty impressive crowd that showed up to say good-bye tonight, especially since nobody knew it was going to happen until a day or two ago. The Facebook event page helped, but mostly I think it was word of mouth. People love that place and they love the staff. Here’s a few pictures from tonight. They’re not great, taken with my iPhone, but they do document a special night.
Tom Goss on "The Politics of Love"
Tom Goss is set to release a new EP, The Politics of Love and a DVD Live at Terry’s the first week in April, and the first stop on the tour to promote the disk is in Cambridge, MA on April 6. He’ll be joined by Jeremiah Clark and special guest Stewart Lewis. It starts at 9 pm at All Asia Cuisine and Cocktail Bar and promises to be a great show!
Recently I had the opportunity to interview Tom about the new releases, and the results are below. Through a technical glitch (Ok, I admit, I forgot to set the software to detect my mic as well as Tom’s) I only have his audio, so I’ve edited it together with voice over and some really awkward edits. But it will give you a sense of Tom’s music in advance of the show. It’s pretty good stuff, so check it out. Advance tickets only $5 at www.tomgossmusic/tickets
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Singer/Songwriter Tom Goss discusses his a new EP “The Politics of Love,” which deals with the issue of Marriage Equality in the United States.
Concert Ticketing Fees
Can someone tell me what “ticketing fees” cover? Or “processing fees”? What, precisely, are the costs involved involved in each and every ticket purchased online that warrant them? Why do we pay “convenience fees” at all? It’s not as if you have a choice between that and a less convenient option for many events. Perhaps you can purchase by phone, but there are charges for that, too.
It used to be the case that music stores and other retailers were outlets for concert ticket vendors, but I wouldn’t even know where to find one now. The only place I’m sure you can always buy tickets in person is the actual venue.
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Why People Don't Use Mass Transit
MBTA Routing
To avoid a transfer, I had to leave at Wellesley Square 12:33, take the Framingham/Worcester Line to South Station, and walk for what the MBTA estimates would have been 15 minutes to my appointment. If that’s correct, the train would get it at 1:15 pm, with a 15 minute walk, that’s 1:30. Then I suppose I could have lunch or something to kill the 2 hours before my appointment. The cost of this option, $5.25 and time in transit, 66 minutes.
The faster route, but 6 minutes, involved less walking and allowed me to leave later, but cost more. I would have once again taken the Framingham/Worcester line, but this time to Back Bay, were I would have transfered to the Orange Line, getting to my stop at 3:10 for the brief walk. This route cost $7.25.
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Sharp Contrast
I’ve been going to a lot of concerts recently. The last two I’ve been to couldn’t be more different from one another in style, though. I’ll not provide bios and explanations of style. I’m sure I’ve talked about these artists before, anyway. Just listen to them.
This is Mika, and the video is actually from this tour, four nights ago. It’s on my favorites among his songs. The sound kind of sucks, but you will get a sense of his music, at least. The concert was tonight at the Orpheum Theater in Boston. He puts on a great show, even if he did rip his pants and nearly lose them on the first song! That’s a risk you take being such an energetic showman.
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So what do you think? Pretty different, huh?
What Beer Will Be Served at the White House Tomorrow
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The Global and the Local: Climate Control and Boston's T
Watching the news this morning and reading my local paper, two items were juxtaposed in stark contrast. On TV5 Monde I heard coverage of the summit in Aquila, Italy on climate change and the imperative to keep any increase in global CO2 emissions below 2%. (Click here for an English report on the summit). In the Boston Globe I read about a proposed 20% fare hike for riders of the T, Boston’s Mass transit system. The T is massively in debt and it has alread received a massive bailout. But it is still in the red and this plan is intended to help.
The proposal includes a broad array of increases that would bring in an estimated $69 million a year and affect everyone who uses public transportation, from the suburban resident who takes commuter rail once a month to the city resident who depends on a monthly bus or subway pass for all local travel.
Advocates have warned that higher prices will drive people away from public transit when the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is struggling to retain riders who turned to the T when gas prices spiked last summer.
This is very true. According to the rate chart published in the Globe, within the city discounted Charlie Card fares for bus and subway riders will still not be too bad, as long as you don’t want to get there fast on an express bus. But the commuter rail price, already expensive, becomes nearly absurd.
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Because I don’t work in Boston, when I drive in it is in off hours and it is seldom a problem to find parking at a free space of meter where I will have to pay at most a couple of dollars.
A one way commuter rail ticket into Boston is already $5.25 and under the proposed plan it will be 6.00, ONE WAY! It is much more economical for me to drive. Add to that the fact that the commuter trains are infrequent and you begin to see that perhaps the T needs a different business plan. Perhaps it doesn’t need to boost fares. Perhaps it needs to boost ridership. So perhaps it needs more frequent, less expensive trains.
How does this relate to the summit in Italy? I am sure you have figured it out. Reducing emissions means getting cars off the road and getting cars off the road requires reliable transit options. Boston’s options need work.