that ol' black magic

 

The movie Green Book, currently available to stream on Netflix, is based on a true story.

        The movie opens outside the Copacabana nightclub in New York City - cars pulling up, people hurrying across the street to go in.

        Inside, an orchestra plays and an actor portraying Bobby Rydell sings an upbeat rendition of a song called "That Old Black Magic," which was a hit for Frank Sinatra. 

 

(Written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, in 1942, "That Old Black Magic" has been recorded by other artists, including Bob Dylan.)

        ([Harold Arlen also wrote the songs for The Wizard Of Oz, along with lyricist Yip Harburg.])

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On You Tube, there are two different videos with the Green Book version of "That Old Black Magic."

Green Book Movie Clip - Opening Scene (2019)

uploader / channel:  Fandango at Home

        8 minutes, 41 seconds

        you hear part of the song, then some scenes with people talking, then back to the song - then going forward into the movie with scenes after the nightclub part

 Green Book Soundtrack - "Old Black Magic" - Green Book Copacabana Orchestra

uploader / channel:  Milan Records USA

        2 minutes, 13 seconds

        you just hear the song, straight through

    

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some road trip

 

Green Book, now available to stream on Netflix, is a good movie.

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couldn't make it do what I wanted

 Last night I tried to type two blog posts, one for Tuesday, May 5, and one for Wednesday, May 6.

I typed the May 6 one after midnight, so it should have been dated May 6th, but instead Blogspot put only one date at the top, May 5th, and then put both titles under that date:  "one of these days" and "wake up in the morning."

        I'm not getting mad about small frustrating things like this anymore, so it is only an inexplicable frustrating detail.

        The Relationship between Technology and Me is sometimes a tad dysfunctional.

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn with a giant 1950s computer behind them, in the movie Desk Set

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"wake up in the morning"...

         In the film on Netflix called "The Wrecking Crew" they talk about recording "These Boots Are Made For Walking."  Carol Kaye played bass on that.

        I wanted to look up the info on when Buckingham and Nicks went to L.A. - 1971, they moved there together.

1973 - their album Buckingham Nicks came out.

1975 - they joined Fleetwood Mac.

        (The Mac was looking for a guitar player and contacted Lindsey.  When they invited him to join, he told them he and Stevie were "a package deal" and the band agreed to have both of them join.)

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On You Tube,

video titled:

RARE: Stevie Nicks Bob Welch Gold Dust Woman Mick Fleetwood Christine McVie 1981 HQ Version

uploader / channel:  LaVidaLocaHomie

        - play and enjoy -

-- viewer comment:

Damn.  I feel I've been elevated to a new level of rock wisdom now.

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one of these days, these boots...

 On Netflix right now is a documentary titled, The Wrecking Crew - it's about all these L.A. musicians who played on many hit records in the 1960s.

They discuss Phil Spector and his Wall Of Sound.

They have a lot of good interview footage with bass player Carol Kaye.

Cher is interviewed in this film, as well.

 ...And others - all kinds of musicians.

Dick Clark.

        They discuss the music business center of action kind of changing location - evolving, from New York to Los Angeles.

That part made me think of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, who left a band called Fritz in the San Francisco area and went to L.A. to try to make it as a duo:  Buckingham Nicks.

        Their producer was from Minnesota.  Stevie cleaned his house right at first, to make money because they weren't making money with their music yet.

The producer said she would show up at his door with her equipment and products, dressed for grubby work, and she would say, "All right, I'm gonna clean it."

On You Tube,

video titled 

These Boots Are Made for Walkin'

uploader / channel:  Nancy Sinatra

        ...and PLAY!

Frank Sinatra

Nancy Sinatra (Frank's daughter)

the band, Fritz.    Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks are in the middle.

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"I'd rather..." and "the dozens"

I was thinking about those sayings - those exaggerated expressions people sometimes use to emphasize how much they don't want to do something. - They say, "I'd rather..." [do some ridiculous thing that you would never really want to do] than to do [some other thing].

It came into my mind because I was listening to a You Tuber telling advice, or wisdom, and someone typed in the Comments, "I'd rather lick a freshly-tarred road than live by this advice."

        Now there was one I had never heard before.

        It reminded me of the time the Municipal League lobbyist told me cheerfully, "I'd rather chew barbed wire than listen to country music."

OK.

        And gathering my thoughts for this little essay, I remembered sitting with a couple of school superintendents after dinner one night in the state capital - these guys were cousins, and they kind of teased each other by saying the other one's school wasn't very good, & making exaggerated, silly statements - to challenge each other.

        It took me a minute to realize they were joking around, when they started that.

        It was like "doing the dozens," which is an inner-city competition where two guys trade insults in front of an audience - it's sort of a contest of wit.

The one superintendent said an "I'd rather" - "I'd rather [do something-or-other] than work at your school."

        And the other one came back with, "I'd rather sell used cars door-to-door than work at your school!"

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The Internet calls this type of expression 

        "I'd rather" jokes

or

        "I'd rather" sayings

...and states that they are "a form of hyperbole, an intentional exaggeration which is used to emphasize an extreme dislike for a particular situation or activity."

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Sam Waterston is back.

 The seasons of Law & Order currently available to watch on Netflix get better as they go along.

The writers, producers, and directors are hitting their groove.

 

        There are still words and phrases and action dynamics that get repeated a lot.

        It's as if the writers are new to it, and they're partly trying to be like the original Law & Order, and partly trying to add new things.

In just about every episode, the person in charge at the precinct, played by actress Camryn Manheim, refers to the crime victim as "the vick."

In many episodes, when the two main detectives go to interview someone, the person runs like hell to escape them and they have to chase the person.  

---------------- Their suit jackets flap and fly out as they "pound the pavement."

        And in several episodes where someone is referring to a murder victim, they say, "He is - eh - was..."

Maybe just have the people sometimes say, "He's such-and-such..." and others in other episodes say "He was - this-and-that..."

Sometimes present tense, and sometimes past tense, and not make such an emphasis on the speaker remembering in the moment that the person he's talking about is now dead.

Oh - just as I type this, one of the detectives says somebody-or-other "can kiss my ass."

Get some alternative phrases and expressions, folks!

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