Music and Mammals

We have thoughts on things.

I’ve had The Police song Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic  in my head for two days. Why? I was never a fan. Sure they had some catchy tunes but, to my mind, they lacked éclat, substantiality, vigor. They weren’t talentless or unlistenable—no, they were just meh. Also, a little creepy with that song Every Breath You Take.

Every move you make
And every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I'll be watching you
Every move you make
Every step you take
I'll be watching you

Oh, can't you see you belong to me?
How my poor heart aches
With every step you take?

HELL-O—stalker alert.

Having said this, the Magic ditty is fun.

Things I didn’t know:

1) Emus are birds not mammals and, while BIG, they're not particularly attractive. All this time I thought they were like llamas or alpacas.

1a) Llamas are South America’s version of camels AND…

Like dogs, llamas can be trained as therapy animals to work in hospitals and schools. Many say llamas have a "soothing aura.”

Also, we’re coming up on National Llama Day (December 9). Am I supposed to put up a llama tree? Color llama eggs? Decorate the house with a zillion little Blade Runner-esque llama origami figures? Oh wait, that was a unicorn. Nevermind. Also too, I don’t believe llamas come from eggs. Considering that I didn’t know that emus are birds, I could be very wrong on this llama/egg thing.

Back to 1) emus though, they’re large flightless birds (average height 5’7”—that’s a full three inches taller than yurs truly and YES, I’m jealous) who only live (in the wild) in Australia (otherwise they’re stuck in zoos). Apparently there’s some TikTok-famous hobby farmer in South Florida whose birds all came down with avian flu. Most died but her emu survived. The farmer is seen in her vids cuddling and kissing her pet emu WHILE it's illin'. Ummmm…eww.

FYI, not too bright of the farmer. Though not common, people CAN catch bird flu

"Being face to face with a bird w avian flu is a bad idea – this is how zoonotic transmissions occur, this is why entire farms cull sick birds. We live with the threat of pandemic flu," Dr. Boghuma Kabisen Titanji, a global health and infectious disease researcher at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, tweeted in response to Blake's thread. (source)

2) Pogues frontman, Shane MacGowan and I are the same age AND we’re both still alive and taking nourishment! I know, weird huh?

He’s in a wheel chair now after a pelvis breaking fall. HEY, I was in a wheelchair (but only for a year or so) too!

AND he’s showing his drawings and paintings in a London gallery—unlike me.  Also unlike me, he's a devout Catholic. I left the church when I was 13 and have only darkened its doors to view art whilst in Italy and to attend my mother's funeral. Me and Shane were nearly twins there for a moment.

3) Why did I not know Mike Garson’s name until just last night? He's a piano god like Richard Tee! Garson’s worked with with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails and The Smashing Pumpkins, amongst others. I’m primarily familiar with his incredible awesomeness from his collaborations with Bowie. Jesus Jazzman Christ—the piano intro on Aladdin Sane changed my life.

Another thing about Richard Tee—his playing on Bridge Over Troubled Waters knocked my socks clean off. If I’m remembering accurately, this version, from the concert in Central Park, had a wondrous reggae inflection. I was never a huge fan of the tune before. The big orchestral backing just turned me off—felt overdone, cloying and mawkish, robbing the lyrics of their strength.

Yes, we have strong opinions here in Valhalla.