My Favorite Mondegreen

Googling something the other day, I came upon the word "mondegreen," and it rang a bell. Looking it up, I remembered why: it's the term for "misheard" song lyrics.

That reminded me instantly of the Bernard Farrell play I produced at the Laguna Playhouse a few years ago called Lovers at Versailles, the title for which (one learns in the play) is a mondegreen of the Frank Sinatra lyrics "lovers at first sight" in the song Strangers in the Night.

A local donor to the Playhouse, Nina Brice, sent that in to the LA Times daily columnist who displays errors in signage and other such gaffes, and he wrote about it.

However, it makes me think of a dispute I had with Alison the first time we heard together the Joni Mitchell song In France They Kiss on Main Street, from her 1975 album, The Hissing of Summer Lawns. Here are the lyrics from the stanza in question:

Downtown
The dance halls and cafes
Feel so wild you could break
somebody's heart
Just doing the latest dance craze
Gail and Louise
In those push-up brassieres
Tight dresses and rhinestone rings
Drinking up the band's beers
Young love was kissing under bridges
Kissing in cars kissing in cafes
And we were walking down Main Street
Kisses like bright flags hung on holidays
In France they kiss on Main Street
Amour, mama, not cheap display
And we were rolling, rolling, rock 'n' rolling

Alison heard me singing aloud the following lyrics:

Feeling the breeze
In those push-up brassieres

Hey, it made perfect sense to me--so I had never bothered to check the printed lyrics on the album jacket!

Anyway, mondegreen has an official entry in Wikipedia (well, as "official" as you can call anything on that site!), and there is another website I discovered called Am I Right - Making Fun of Music, One Song at a Time.
Both provide additional examples of mondegreens.

Feel free to share your own in comments to this post. I'd be interested to know what you've misheard! (And don't tell me there haven't been any!)

Until next time...

Rick

Comments on Yesterday's "Blowup" Post

Alison pointed out that one of the comments posted on Errol Morris' NY Times piece was a .gif file flashing on and off the two photos for easier comparison. Click here to view.

She pointed out to me that not only are cannonballs missing from the On photo, but some rocks as well.

My brother, Bob, wrote me from a business trip in Alaska:

"Funny you should write about it. I was captivated by Morris's piece as well and thought about it intermittently throughout the day. I loved the mystery of whether Sontag herself overblew the issue of the photographer commandeering the locals to move the rocks. With digital photography becoming ubiquitous, in a few years no one will ever believe in the authenticity of a photography."

Comments to this and my other blog posts are always welcome. Just click on the Comments link at the bottom of each post.

Until next time...

Rick

"Blowup" (Redux)

Who can forget the recently-late Michaelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blowup?

It starred David Hemmings as a photographer during the heyday of London swings (like a pendulum do) who comes to believe that an innocuous photo he shot reveals something more sinister, and seeks to uncover the mystery. The story came from the pen of Julio Cortazar, a highly regarded for his book Hopscotch. (In 1981, Brian DePalma made a film called Blowout that was loosely based on the concept of the original Blowup.)

Today's New York Times carries a piece by filmmaker Errol Morris about a truly fascinating Blowup-like mystery surrounding two photographs taken in 1855 during the Crimean War by a historically-important photographer, Roger Fenton. Though it's a bit lengthy, I highly recommend it.

The gist is that Fenton shot two photos of a road in what soldiers referred to as The Valley of the Shadow of Death--a place where the Russians routinely rained cannon fire. One photo shows this lonely road littered with cannonballs, the other shows only shells in the gulleys alongside the road. Writer Susan Sontag suggested in a book that Fenton faked the photo with the cannonballs in the road, and cited expert opinion on that in order to address the inauthenticity of artists who seek to alter photos for greater dramatic effect.

Errol Morris isn't quite so certain, and investigates further, uncovering more questions along the way.

It's a sort of brain-teaser worth taking the time to read.

Until next time...

Rick

Fuhrer/Furor at My Alma Mater: Jihad on Ahmadinejad

Raucous times have returned to my alma mater at last!

It only took 30+ years for everyone to get really riled up on what had once been renowned as the most politically outspoken of the Ivy campuses during the Vietnam War era.

And what was the catalyst? That pipsqueak from Iran who used this opportunity to verify that women are full citizens there, that his country has no homosexuals (neglecting to say why: they've executed them all), that they love Jews but the Holocaust was just a big figment of everyone's imagination to justify creating Israel on Palestinian land, that he is not interested in developing any nuclear weapons and has no intention of attacking America--even though it's evil incarnate.

I'm glad he got to speak because it only strips away any illusions people might have about whether what is being reported is what this guy really thinks. Ironically, he isn't the real power in Iran: that belongs to the Ayatollah--which is why so many of Ahmadinejad's election promises and post-election statements have never come to fruition. The ultraconservative clergy are determined to keep Iran an Islamastan, but they let their president perform their clerical duties.

Ah, well, free speech is a great thing, and detest him as I might, Ahmadinejad was humilated and derided during his appearance and in the introduction by Columbia University president Lee Bollinger. It only goes to show how stupid the Iranian president is that he didn't anticipate he was actually being "framed."

Bring on Hu Jin Tao of China to speak about the Olympics--and then nail him. And there are plenty of other despots out there who should be put on the dais at Columbia to reveal their true colors.

Until next time....

Rick

Angels Win AL West Division Title

Not having attended many of the games this year due to work and travel and lethargy, we've nonetheless kept close tabs on the Angels season and watched many of the games at home.

Yesterday was the final home game of the regular season, and the Angels had lost two straight games to Seattle, failing to wrap up their Division title as neatly as everyone seemed to expect.

They were just waiting for us to be in the stands when they did that, I'm convinced!

It was an exciting game, too. Even though there were no lead changes, the Mariners threatened several times, but we kept adding "insurance" runs.

The mood was ecstatic at the end, but now comes the tough part--playing against the 3 best American League teams in the playoffs--Boston, Cleveland and New York.

You can bet we'll be at those home playoff games!

Until next time...

Rick

Today's Addendum: "Scarcity"

Very mixed reviews for Lucy Thurber's Scarcity, and while I appreciate some of the criticisms, I find myself resenting their antagonism to what is an intelligent, visceral and highly entertaining piece. Here are links to the major reviews.

Flat Bunz

Whoever has directed Carl's Jr.'s advertising in recent years has been having his cake & eating it too, especially with the latest TV commecial for their patty melt.

It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission, as they say, and that's Carl's Jr.'s motto.

They opted to go forth with a sexy teacher in a high school class room, wearing a tight skirt that proves that she has, well, flat buns, which is then celebrated in a hip hop musical number by her (seemingly all male) class.

It was funny, clever and the tune was catchy--just what you want your TV commercial to be to get attention.

They got some unwanted attention when educators and parents objected to the depiction of the teacher.

What did Carl's Jr. do?

They edited out that part of the commerical--in fact, conveniently located at the top of the spot, it almost seemed like they had planned it all from the beginning, that is, anticipated the uproar, but moved forward anyway because the controversy would only get them more attention. Then they swooped in like heroes by eliminating the offending images in the blink of an eye, demonstrating how responsive they are to parental authority.

Their website Carlsjr.com has the edited version along with interviews with the artists.

However if you wish to see the unedited version, watch it here on YouTube.

Until next time...

Rick