12 Days of Vietnamese Christmas (a parody Christmas carol)

This is a polite parody of the 12 Days of Christmas carol. The song is in the video below, if you need a reminder. I have chosen the version with John Denver and the Muppets because I am quite fond of it.

The small difference is to that version and my lyrics that you sing my version with the 5th and 10th days being diva moments, not just the fifth (Miss Piggy in the video about the “golden rings”). You’re supposed to sing it with two diva moments so I’m not sure why Porky Diva herself didn’t take advantage of that.

Also, in being a little more creative than the original with the lyrics for the 6th to 12th days, make sure you don’t sing them too fast cause you’d probably find it a might tough tongue twister!

My other Christmas carol parody lyrics:

On the (x) day of Christmas,

My true love gave to me…

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Twelve Viet Cong Commies

Eleven Buddha statues

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Ten – ao, dai, xanh!!! *

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Nine knock off Polos

Eight egg rolls rolling

Seven cups of fish sauce

Six pairs of chopsticks

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Five – bowls, of, rice!!!! (ba dum yum yum)

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Four incense sticks

Three moon cakes

Two growing pills

And a free trip home to Viet Nam!

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* Read ow, yai, sanh (nasal sound). Ao dai xanh means green long dress, which is a Vietnamese traditional outfit mostly worn by girls and women.

Bad Christmas (parody lyrics for White Christmas)

These are parody or spoof lyrics for the well-known Christmas carol, White Christmas. The classic version of this is by Bing Crosby with Marjorie Reynolds from the movie Holiday Inn in 1942. The video is shown below, from which you can learn the parody lyrics below that. Just imagine the two of them dressed like gangstas or something singing the lyrics below, heheheh!

My other Christmas carol parody lyrics:

I’m dreaming of a bad Christmas

Just like the ones I used to know

Smoking marijuana

Beating up Santa

Peeing my name in the snow

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I’m dreaming of a bad Christmas

With every Christmas gift I steal

Leaving young, and old folks, quite sad

Making all, their Christmases quite bad

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(repeat verse with your partner in crime, then add the line below)

I make all your Christmases quite bad!

Listen to Judy Collins Singing a Bob Dylan Gem, Dark Eyes

JudyCollins BobDylan

Judy Collins and Bob Dylan

I am making my way through the Dylan discography to learn more about his music. I have to go slowly because like Emily Dickinson’s poetry, you can only take so much at a time before you either go numb or it hurts your head too much to take any more given the power of all the meanings contained within it. The beauty of good poetry is that it’s like being able to tell many stories in many languages all at once. The beauty of a song with good lyrics is that it adds one more language, the universal language of music, to the power of poetry.

Not long ago, I came across this hidden gem of a song by Bob Dylan, Dark Eyes. Bob Dylan has written many songs amazing to an extent I don’t have words to describe them, but not all are well known. That’s why I called it a hidden gem.

(Courtesy of Wikipedia)
From the 1985 album Empire Burlesque, Dark Eyes was written virtually on demand when Arthur Baker suggested something simpler for the album’s final track. Dylan liked the idea of closing the album with a stark, acoustic track, particularly when the rest of the album was so heavily produced. However, Dylan didn’t have an appropriate song. He returned to his hotel in Manhattan after midnight, and according to Dylan:

“As I stepped out of the elevator, a call girl was coming toward me in the hallway – pale yellow hair wearing a fox coat – high heeled shoes that could pierce your heart. She had blue circles around her eyes, black eyeliner, dark eyes. She looked like she’d been beaten up and was afraid that she’d get beat up again. In her hand, crimson purple wine in a glass. ‘I’m just dying for a drink,’ she said as she passed me in the hall. She had a beautifulness, but not for this kind of world.”

The brief, chance encounter inspired Dylan to write “Dark Eyes,” which was quickly recorded without any studio embellishment. Structured like a children’s song, with very rudimentary guitar work and very simple notes, it’s often quoted for its last chorus: “A million faces at my feet, but all I see are dark eyes.”

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As for what I think of Dark Eyes, I would put its lyrics, following the fan video below, on the same level as any other of Dylan’s songs. That’s a general ranking, though, rather than one for purposes like war songs or love songs, etc. I especially like how the “chorus” is just one simple line at the end of the verse, as simple as the musical structure of the song. This version I heard, though, was magnificently performed by Judy Collins who not only had a beautiful voice, but a beautiful one to properly treat this song in performance. Everything all taken into account, Dark Eyes has already become a favourite Dylan song, and Judy’s version a favourite Dylan cover.

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Oh, the gentlemen are talking and the midnight moon is on the riverside,
They’re drinking up and walking and it is time for me to slide.
I live in another world where life and death are memorized,
Where the earth is strung with lovers’ pearls and all I see are dark eyes.

A cock is crowing far away and another soldier’s deep in prayer,
Some mother’s child has gone astray, she can’t find him anywhere.
But I can hear another drum beating for the dead that rise,
Whom nature’s beast fears as they come and all I see are dark eyes.

They tell me to be discreet for all intended purposes,
They tell me revenge is sweet and from where they stand, I’m sure it is.
But I feel nothing for their game where beauty goes unrecognized,
All I feel is heat and flame and all I see are dark eyes.

Oh, the French girl, she’s in paradise and a drunken man is at the wheel,
Hunger pays a heavy price to the falling gods of speed and steel.
Oh, time is short and the days are sweet and passion rules the arrow that flies,
A million faces at my feet but all I see are dark eyes.

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Tagging 12 or 20 of your Friends as Most Annoying Facebookers

CNN had a great feature article back on August 25th called the 12 most annoying types of Facebookers.

I’ve listed all 12 of them in full description below the tagging picture, but I also had the thought of how great an idea that would be for a Facebook tagging meme! Furthermore, I could add a few other types – not the least being the Facebook Tagger who does way too many of these Facebook tagging memes!

The meme is 1440 x 960 pixels in size so those of you with that monitor can use it as your wallpaper, if you like and have the monitor of that size. CNN only had 6 graphics of their annoying Facebookers, which I screen captured from the video, so I had to come up with my own for the rest.

Warning: Make sure you know your true friends before tagging. Not everybody takes well to being called annoying, even if it were clear it were in jest! There may be real life consequences to this!

Here’s how to get this Facebook picture meme:

  • Click on the picture to get it at full size.
  • Right click on that picture and save to your computer.
  • Upload it to your Facebook profile.
  • Tag your friends!
  • Click the Back button on your browser to return to this post.

Please click here for a complete list of over 100 Facebook picture tagging memes on this site with which you can use for fun with your friends.

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From left to right, top row down…

The Town Crier
“Michael Jackson is dead!!!” You heard it from me first! Me, and the 213,000 other people who all saw it on TMZ. These Matt Drudge wannabes are the reason many of us learn of breaking news not from TV or news sites but from online social networks. In their rush to trumpet the news, these people also spread rumors, half-truths and innuendo. No, Jeff Goldblum did not plunge to his death from a New Zealand cliff.

The Fonz (my creation)
These are the people who who click the “Like” button on a lot of things, including your status. Where they become annoying is where you get a notification only to find out they like it, time, after time, after time. Say something, for goodness’ sake! Even the Fonz said something when he gave the thumbs up, eeehhhhhh!!???

The Self-promoter
OK, so we’ve probably all posted at least once about some achievement. And sure, maybe your friends really do want to read the fascinating article you wrote about beet farming. But when almost EVERY update is a link to your blog, your poetry reading, your 10k results or your art show, you sound like a bragger or a self-centered careerist.

The Obscurist
“If not now then when?” “You’ll see…” “Grist for the mill.” “John is, small world.” “Dave thought he was immune, but no. No, he is not.” [Actual status updates, all.] Sorry, but you’re not being mysterious – just nonsensical.

The Friend Padder
The average Facebook user has 120 friends on the site. Schmoozers and social butterflies — you know, the ones who make lifelong pals on the subway — might reasonably have 300 or 400. But 1,000 “friends?” Unless you’re George Clooney or just won the lottery, no one has that many. That’s just showing off.

The cant Spelur (aka Bad Grammarian)
“So sad about Fara Fauset but Im so gladd its friday yippe”. Yes, I know the punctuation rules are different in the digital world. And, no, no one likes a spelling-Nazi schoolmarm. But you sound like a moron.

The Sympathy-Baiter
“Barbara is feeling sad today.” “Man, am I glad that’s over.” “Jim could really use some good news about now.” Like anglers hunting for fish, these sad sacks cast out their hooks — baited with vague tales of woe — in the hopes of landing concerned responses. Genuine bad news is one thing, but these manipulative posts are just pleas for attention.

The Facebook Tagger (my creation)
These are the people who tag way more than it’s their business to be tagging. Never mind just the Facebook tagging memes that they tag people on, but also in Facebook notes, and especially people in pictures put up by others where some people aren’t looking their most flattering. Some even retag people after people untag less than glamorous pictures of themselves not to draw attention to the pictures! But the worst ones are the ones who tag themselves in the hundreds or literally thousands of pictures they have. This brings on another set of notifications o the newsfeed after a first notification would have gone out that they posted the untagged pictures, of course! They don’t realize Facebook is not a library or government ID system.

The Poker King (my creation)
These are the worst Facebook pokers out there. The picture shows a hand poking someone’s head off. They know where they can poke themselves!

The Monk (my creation)
Got nothing to say about yourself or your life? Then shut the hell up and don’t put a lame “is” for your status unless you’re a real monk. Otherwise, people just read it as the person is nothing… cause there ain’t nothing after the is!

The Pollster (my creation)
Should you go out dancing? What to eat for supper tonight? Wear red or black to the office party? Do these people think they’re going to get some great insight or statistically significant sampling or what? If you’re going to let a handful of people run your life like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, dice, Tarot cards and other means serve just as well to give you much faster solutions.

The Instigator (my creation)
There are debate clubs for the serious ones among this group who want a debate, but most of them are just Rush Limbaugh wannabes. Wow, that’s pretty low when you can’t even achieve Limbaugh. They just don’t dare to share their controversial opinion in some place where they need to have a spine to hold themselves up, rather than their own Facebook profile. They probably didn’t get enough attention as a child, either. As for my choice of Don Cherry to represent this annoying Facebooker type, I actually respect him cause often, he’s a classy instigator.

The Personalizer (my creation)
Jermaine, why didn’t you show up today? Sophia, how did your exam go? Dawn, you are wrong! (Reference “Don Cherry” and the remark to the left of this annoying Facebooker representation). Hey, dude. This is Facebook and notifications go to everybody. There’s email, the phone and the Facebook Wall if you want to just talk to one person, K?

The Chronic Inviter
“Support my cause. Sign my petition. Play Mafia Wars with me. Which ‘Star Trek’ character are you? Here are the ‘Top 5 cars I have personally owned.’ Here are ’25 Things About Me.’ Here’s a drink. What drink are you? We’re related! I took the ‘What President Are You?’ quiz and found out I’m Millard Fillmore! What president are you?” You probably mean well, but stop. Just stop. I don’t care what president I am – can’t we simply be friends?

The Crank
These curmudgeons, like the trolls who spew hate in blog comments, never met something they couldn’t complain about. “Carl isn’t really that impressed with idiots who don’t realize how idiotic they are.” [Actual status update.] Keep spreading the love.

The TMIer
“Brad is heading to Walgreens to buy something for these pesky hemorrhoids.” Boundaries of privacy and decorum don’t seem to exist for these too-much-information updaters, who unabashedly offer up details about their personal lives, marital troubles and bodily functions. Thanks for sharing.

The Paparazzo
Ever visit your Facebook page and discover that someone’s posted a photo of you from last weekend’s party – a photo you didn’t authorize and haven’t even seen? You’d really rather not have to explain to your mom why you were leering like a drunken hyena and French-kissing a bottle of Jagermeister.

The Detailer (aka Let-Me-Tell-You-Every-Detail-of-My-Day Bore)
“I’m waking up.” “I had Wheaties for breakfast.” “I’m bored at work.” “I’m stuck in traffic.” You’re kidding! How fascinating! No moment is too mundane for some people to broadcast unsolicited to the world. Just because you have 432 Facebook friends doesn’t mean we all want to know when you’re waiting for the bus.

The Lovers (my creation)
MJ just sent Joanne a rose. Joanne replies with a “loves her sweetie, MJ” status. MJ tags Joanne as the Flirt in the Harry Potter Facebook tagging meme. All right! Enough already! Why don’t you try expressing that in real life? Go kiss in public if you have to show off! At least I won’t have to see it. Besides, do you really need to show people on Facebook how much in love you are like you need to prove something? Or are you trying to prove something?

The Lurker (my creation)
Shhh!

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Reading Level: 5.9

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Testing SoundCloud for WordPress.com with My Own Music

This is my own song, uploaded for the purposes of testing out the SoundCloud music player features newly integrated into WordPress.com blogs. Please do have a listen while reading some general descriptions of the SoundCloud platform following to see those features in action. I wrote the song, but it was beautifully sung by Lis Soderberg, with background parts, recording and mixing all done by the very talented Allister Bradley in the summer of 2008 at Humber College. I just strummed on a guitar. Lyrics are at the bottom. 🙂

Please click here for the guitar and ukulele tabs PDF containing lyrics,  chords and notes for The Comparison Song

Up till Aug 2009, there wasn’t a music player, and not one with social media features, on WordPress.com blogs. If you wanted to share audio files with such features, your best bet was probably to make a “static video”. You know, those “videos” with just one image and sound? Either that or get a space upgrade to be able to upload MP3 files, but there wasn’t a real music player with it

SoundCloud logo (I like it!)

Well, I’m so happy to see WordPress.com finally has a system to integrate sound media files into its blogs the way video was been integrated for a while! They chose SoundCloud.com as their platform, the way they had chosen VodPod for videos.

“[SoundCloud is] …a really useful service that is part Flickr for music, part professional music collaboration hub. Artists such as Beck, Moby and Sonic Youth now use the service to distribute tracks through their blogs and connect with their fans.
WordPress.com blog, Aug 13 2009

More than just another free music player, though, SoundCloud has some quite awesome features.

  • You can leave comments at specific points in the track so you don’t have to go find the time, or try to describe it awkwardly, etc.
  • You can just click a share button to share it on Facebook and various other social media or social bookmarking sites! That’s very nice!
  • The sharing of music otherwise among members is similar to the combination of notification on Facebook, and Inbox notifications, on your account via SoundCloud’s side. You can “follow” people like on Twitter to get the info via newsfeed, or get notice similar to a tag or email sent to you and/or your email off the site.
  • There is even code provided for people to embed it into their blogs and websites, with the player included! That’s really cool!
  • Their music player is like “fab five” man! You can also control lots of privacy features, and you get your own URL for your account on their site that the public may also visit like how MySpace works.
  • A free account can be had with 10 tracks for sharing, an Inbox, detailed statistics, viewing, privacy and other features of popular music and video sites at least as good as most of those other sites.

The WordPress folks really picked a fantastic platform in SoundCloud! Well done!

Of course, you should not be uploading copyrighted material that isn’t yours to SoundCloud. That was to be expected. But how nice, was it then, that I just happened to have a song I had written and recorded in the past to use? I don’t devote enough time to my singing/songwriting, and I don’t exactly go pimping my music a lot, even to many of my friends. So here’s hoping there’s something new here for some of them, and you, to enjoy, aside from the tech review.

I will be further checking out SoundCloud’s features in the upcoming weeks and months. It’s given me a whole new set of motivation to write more songs and record more. In the meanwhile, if you want to know more, you can take the tour on their site.

I would highly recommend it!

LYRICS

I could compare you to a summer’s day,
Or, if you prefer, a winter’s night.
I could compare you to the moon unphased,
Or the sun at dawn, noon or in twilight.
All lovely things I can compare you to,
But there’s not one that can compare to you.

I could compare you to the sweetest tune,
Or, if you prefer, the sweetest kiss.
I could compare you to a sacred rune,
Or the lores, that tell of eternal bliss.
All lovely things I can compare you to,
But there’s not one that can compare to you.

Choose any flower that blooms in the spring,
Or any leaf that turns in the fall.
Choose stars, or rainbows, angels, songs birds sing,
Or the sky, or sea – any thing at all!
All lovely things I can compare you to,
But there’s not one that can compare to you.

No, there’s not one that can compare to you.

07.?.2003 – 07.31.04