CD Giveaway, also an earth-shattering announcement which will shatter nary an earth

 

Michele was kind enough to include me in her spreading of a kinda-sorta viral CD meme that's going around.  I'm more than happy to participate, because I enjoy infecting others.

The problem is, it's hard to narrow down.  I like a lot of songs, in a lot of different genres.  I even like some country (old country) songs nowadays, and that kind of music used to affect me like a vampire junkie accidentally shooting up with holy water.  I don't really have a favorite song - well, I do, but it tends to shift around on a daily basis, get me?  And lately I have been listening to what some of you might consider to be some eye-rolling cringe-inducing tunes (think 1970s AM Radio compilations, and fuck you Tie a Yellow Ribbon is a great song).  So, I played it safe, and went with some perennial favorites from my favorite genre(s) - Jazz/Big Band/Vocal Standards.  I tried to pick some unique songs you might not have heard before, and some clever variations on songs you might have heard a hundred times before.  There are songs I listen to when I am sad, some songs I listen to when I am feeling silly, some songs I listen to and sing along with when I pretend to be a 1930s Crooner in the shower, some songs I listen to when the memory ghosts are keeping me company. I wanted the mix to blend well, so that the people I picked would be more prone to listening to it all the way through.  If not - well, at least it was free, right?

Here's the meme (no one I send a CD to is obligated to continue it, really):

1. choose 19 of the songs you like best, regardless of artist or genre.
2. put them all together in a CD.
3. make 5 other copies.
4. post your playlist on your blog.
5. choose 5 people and send them a copy of your CD each. send the first copy you made to the one who tagged you.

So, that's six CDs all together.  I chose 21 songs, because I am an indecisive fellow who can't follow rules to save his ass.  You should stick to the rules, because you're a good person.

Here is my playlist:

1. I've Got You Under My Skin by Dinah Washington
2. Straighten Up and Fly Right by Nat King Cole
3. Lookie, Lookie, Lookie (Here Comes Cookie) by Cleo Brown
4. 'Tain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It) by Jimmie Lunceford
5. Sway by Cab Calloway
6. The Bare Necessities by Phil Harris
7. You Rascal, You by Louis Armstrong and Louis Jordan
8. A Kiss to Build a Dream On by Louis Armstrong
9. Blue Skies by Ella Fitzgerald
10. I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song) by Louis Prima with Phil Harris
11. It's Only a Paper Moon by The Nat King Cole Trio
12. Jeepers, Creepers by Leo Watson
13. My Bucket's Got a Hole In It by Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden
14. There Will Never Be Another You by Nat King Cole
15. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down (And Write Myself a Letter) by Scatman Crothers
16. I'll See You In My Dreams by Jimmy Durante (yes, really)
17. Hey, Pete! Let's Eat More Meat by Dizzy Gillespie
18. Ain't That A Kick in the Head by Dean Martin
19. I Could Write a Book by Dinah Washington
20. Night Time (Is The Right Time) by Ray Charles
21. Swinging On a Star by Frank Sinatra

You will note, by looking to the right, that I have added some folks to my blogroll, or bloglink, or link list, or whatever the fuck Blogger calls it.  I have been meaning to do that for some time, but I am known around these parts as Procrastinatin' Parrott, so there it is.  They are included in the selection process.  You should check them out. 

The six people I picked - can't follow rules, remember - to force my musical tastes on are (links in blue):

1. Genni McMahon, because she has always been really cool and supportive of me even though I am a shitty e-friend.
2. Peter MacDonald, a nice guy whom I have known since my messageboard trolling days, and who also does his own streaming radio show filled with cool music
3. Wendy, who is a neat chick with eclectic tastes as out-there as mine
4. Keith, who is an old blogfriend from way back in the dazes
5. Craig, another old blogpal from the old-timey politickin' days
6. and Sean, who I just think is cool and posts weird news

And Michele gets a copy for picking me, also because she rules.  I woulda picked Jim Treacher for this, but then I just would have gotten an email with the title WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SEND ME AND BY THE WAY HAHA LOCKE IS DEAD

I'll be emailing, burning, and realmailing this weekend, provided I get addresses.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT NO ONE WILL GIVE A SHIT ABOUT

I'm outta this joint until July 22nd.  I have some things I need to attend to, stuff I have started and need to finish because if I don't do it now I never will.  I don't want to feel guilty about not posting to this blog which 90% of the time only gets hits from people googling for naked pictures of the Survivor: Amazon girls from 2003 (hint:  I DON'T HAVE ANY).  So, other than research for my solo project (hahahaiamsuchadouche), and reading blogs from my roll/linklist/whatever (I really do intend to correct my shitty e-friendness), I am going internet dark for the next month and a half.

Plus, to be honest, I've been kind of half-assing it for a while, anyway.  I feel like I have lost my fire. I can't stop writing cheesy shit like the previous sentence. 

But mostly, I want to finish my project, which I think will be cool and has the potential to make me some scratch on the side - and attend to those personal matters, which are of the utmost importance if I ever want to do anything with my life which doesn't involve zipping up a tyvek jumpsuit and wearing a spray respirator.

My friend Jackie gets married on July 19th, so I'm sure I'll at least have that story to tell when I get back.  Hurray for my personal-diary-type-bullshit no one will ever google, not even by accident!

So, July 22nd.  Save the date!  Or, don't.

I had a really awful dream last night, by the way.  Like I have written before, I don't remember dreams often, but when I do they are never good.  You know the kind of dream that you fight awake from by kicking at the covers, and then you can feel your heart slamming against your ribcage like a rioting convict slams against the cell bars, and you're all sweaty and disoriented but you finally catch your breath and think to yourself Man am I ever glad that was just a dream and not real life, but then you realize that parts of the dream are your real life, so you just end up lying on your side wide-eyed and staring at nothing until it's time to get up and go to work?

Yeah.