iPod Shuffle Train of Thought - Pirates! And a Confession!

Was out exercising with the random shuffle. It's great to hear Juan Diego Florez and then the Beatles. It's not so great to get a track that's an entire act of an opera, or else a track from a CD of an opera that's all recit. At least the recit tracks are usually under 30 seconds.

But that "entire act" track got me thinking about recordings of operas, and the idea of piracy.

I have never recorded an opera from the audience. Even if I wanted to, I don't have the equipment. But I don't want to deal with the hassle, nor do I wish to break the law and risk getting kicked out, just to have a (cough-ridden) recording of an opera I've attended. I just want to enjoy the moment. However, there are people out there who not only record but willingly share those recordings with other opera fans. Share, as in, free. I want to point out that I'm not including radio broadcasts in this. To me, if it's broadcast on the radio, anyone can record it to listen to again later. Not to sell, but to listen and share. But these pirated recordings... I do wonder sometimes what the artists themselves think. Of course each person is different. If it's taking money out of their pockets, I imagine they wouldn't be too pleased. On the other hand, isn't it sort of flattering to think that there are these unofficial recordings out there, passed around among fans? Perhaps creating new fans, even? Now, I have heard some singers profess that pirated recordings send a bad message. Not sure what/how/why... perhaps I'm naive... Does it send a message (to whom?) that it's ok to record live performances? I doubt it. I'm pretty sure most adults are aware of the legal stuff surrounding it. Does it prevent people from buying tickets? "I've heard this crappy audience recording, so why go see it live?" Does it prevent people from buying CDs? "I've heard this crappy audience recording, so why buy a totally unrelated CD of the artist I heard on the crappy recording?" I doubt it. If anything, it's just the opposite.

Confession: I have come across some pirated recordings, mostly of Nathan Gunn because people would just give them to me, but also of some others. So I guess I've broken the law by accepting and occasionally sharing these recordings. I did once make a video that I was asked to remove... and I did, immediately, with tons of apologies and promises not to do it again, etc. I wasn't trying to be sneaky - I honestly thought at the time that I was doing a nice thing. Yes, I am naive about the music business. And no, don't ask me for a copy of it - it's gone.

But now you all know ... It's true... I'm a scofflaw! A rebel! I confess!!

POWER Walk Leads to Revelation re: Men in Eyeliner

Went for a walk all by myself today. On my way out the door Alex said he wanted to come because... "I follow you everywhere." That's right. That's why I'm going ALONE!!!

Set the iPhone iPod to shuffle and off I went.

Very first song is some Mozart thing. Oh yeah, it was Nathan Gunn singing something from Cosi. Don't remember what cuz the truth is (Major Confession Coming) I'm not that familiar with it. So here I go on my Power Walk and there's like 5 minutes of recit. Yep. And I resolved before I started to accept whatever the shuffle gave me. Never thought I'd go out for a brisk walk to the sound of men sing-speaking to each other in Italian. So glad I can check that off my list. So eventually the singing part came along, Mozart, wonderful, blah blah, Nathan Gunn, great voice, blah blah blah... It doesn't need to be said, right?

Next up: Some sort of funky electronic thing. "What is this?" I asked myself, wondering how I could have something on my iPod and not know what it is. It was Duran Duran, "Electric Barbarella." Only some sort of extended dance mix. Now that was more like it.

Then... Adam and the Ants. Antmusic. Sigh. I still remember how crushed I was when I learned that they had broken up before I got to see them. Of course to make up for it I saw Adam solo 6 times and met him once. AND I got snarky with him, after he insulted me. He started it! I'll write about it if anyone asks. I'm still bitter, ha ha. Actually, that's not true. I'm not bitter. I'm proud. I'm proud that I've been snarky with Adam Ant. Yeah, I know I have a problem.

Ok Beatles after that... I honestly don't remember what song because I've been listening to them pretty much non-stop the past few days. Then Queen - Bicycle Race. **link leads to YouTube video that has glimpses and peeks of naked women on bikes, don't click if you're under 18 (You know who you are) or are somewhere that you don't want that showing up on your screen. Click to see this instead. ** When I was a kid and my brothers were teenagers, they saw Queen in concert and I remember them telling me about the topless women riding bikes back and forth across the stage. One brother had a poster too...

At this point I was really wishing I could sing out loud. It was hard not to. How weird would I have seemed - I mean, I had just passed by two women who were out walking with ski-poles. It's 80 degrees Fahrenheit, they were not on their way to the slopes. Seriously, after that I could have done anything, right?

Next was what we here in the I'd Rather Be Sleeping household call The Umbrella Song.

Then, Juan Diego Florez, something from Arias from Rubini. Something I sing along to in the car even though I don't know the words. C'mon, admit it, you do it too.

Still with me? Two more songs.

The Waitresses!!! I Know What Boys Like. I might have started sashaying at this point. Uphill. Cuz I do know what boys like. Is there a special name for an uphill sashay?

And finally, for the final stretch and approach to the front door, good old Harry! Harry Belafonte - Jump in the Line! Couldn't find a real video of it, so I'm linking to the bit at the end of Beetlejuice, even though it's not the "real" version of the song. But it's one of my favorite movies, so deal with it.

Just watched that JDF Rubini video - He still does it for me. Just like Adam Ant did in the 80s. Ok I don't really mean that.

So in the 80s for me it was lots of men in eyeliner. Then I reverted back to opera, which has... lots of men in eyeliner. What was it I just said? Oh I remember -Yeah, I know I have a problem.

My other problem: grammar extremist. "Reverted back." Is that redundant?