BEST SPANISH SONG EVER

THE STORY OF MY FATHER: CAT'S IN THE CRADLE - HARRY CHAPIN

I first heard this song on the radio in 1975. It totally reminded me of how my father (if you can call him that) treated me all of my life: I only actually got to meet him around ten times. He never paid child support. And my last "meeting" with him was during my late teens in which he took me to a bunch of bars and pool halls (where he liked to hustle people for money), and had no problem at all telling me my new shoes and long hair made me look like a faggot. Nice.

I decided right then and there that I no longer wanted to try and get to know this monstrosity of a man that had no business bringing children into this world ( because he was so good looking, he forever used women as a meal ticket). He couldn't care less about any of the many children he brought into this world.

Much later, I was astonished to receive a phone call from the latest woman he was involved with asking me to come and live with them to help take care of my dying father. I was polite to the woman, but when my "father" picked up the phone, I told him if he really wanted to know my feelings on the subject - then listen to this great Harry Chapin song. He didn't even know who Harry Chapin was. That speaks volumes alone. (My so-called father was a musician).

P.S. BTW, I am NOT saying Harry Chapin was related to me in any way. I am merely saying that his great song reminded me of my abusive relationship with my own father big time. Harry Chapin was a true artist. My father was a total bastard.

Music Copyright 1974 by Harry Chapin

THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY! (MY TRIBUTE TO DONNA SUMMER)

1978? Damn - I really am getting old big time! I first experienced THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY waaaaay back in the day with my younger brother at a movie house in Chicago. A ticket was only a dollar on Tuesdays, so we decided to give it a shot. I was not disappointed.

However, my brother hated both the movie and the music big time (he wanted to be Superman when he grew up - I wanted to be a poet). I agree that disco was an appalling mistake (thank God most of us have figured this out in the end). But what about Donna Summer? Listen to THAT voice! Even disco could not diminish her great gift. And that's really saying something...

I just wish more people would focus on her exceptional voice, and stop calling her the quintessential Disco Queen: She was so much more than that, but the music industry marketed her as such. And it's a pity. A lot of money was made as a result, and Donna Summer got less than she deserved (in more ways than one).

You can tell she's not comfortable on the stage belting out this Academy Award winning tune. It all really was beneath her big time. But she made a very lonely boy want to smile and dance a wickedly wild dance in the dangerous streets of Chicago fortysomething years ago: I'll always love her for that alone. May her great voice live on. May the beautiful singer rest in peace.

1948 - 2012

Essay Copyright 2018 by Dylan Mitchell

SMARTPHONES ARE NOT FOR SMART PEOPLE: I NEED HOT STUFF!

Dear God!

Hot stuff!

Toys for the lazy
I still have my red landline:
The world has not stopped

Haiku Copyright 2018 by Dylan Mitchell

DUMP TRUMP: BILLY JACK THEME SONG (VOTE!)

I remember hearing this song as a young child during the early 1970s.  I liked it a lot, even though I had no idea what the lyrics meant. Plus I never saw the movie, so I was at a huge disadvantage.

Today, most people consider the movie and song utter trash. I don't agree. Yes, it's a bit simplistic and sentimental at best - but compared to the insane hatred Herr Trump posts on Twitter every single day - this song is a masterpiece big time.

P.S. As to why I no longer allow comments on my blog? Because suffering fools gladly is not my idea of having a serious debate. Plus I started this blog as a personal diary, and so that is what it shall now remain.

Peace to those that mean
most to me: There are one or
two or three - or thee?

Dylan

CAT WATCHING GEESE & DUCKS

Observe the world now
For it is not meant to last
An image on film

Haiku Copyright 2018 by Dylan Mitchell
Photo Copyright RoyP

LOVE STORY...

Okay, I still don't know what this means? And I first saw this film 40 years ago. I just wanted to express myself before Valentine's Day is long lost to history in 2018.

My guess is this: If you truly love somebody, then there is no need for an apology - even when you have done something wrong?  Forgiveness is all? Or perhaps it is silent? As long as the love is mutual.

What are your thoughts on the subject?  I'd really like to know...

P.S. This post is inspired by Jon @ Lone Wolf Concerto.  His blog is one of the best to be found. Give it a very long peek :-)

THE ROSE (DEDICATED TO THE ONES THAT KNOW)

Mr. Roy, Jon, Helga, Geo, Charles, Don, James, Karen, The Bald Vegan, Bruce, Virginia, Rob  - This is a special shout out to you. You really do keep me going...

Dylan

JANIS JOPLIN (UNPLUGGED)

                             

January 19, 1943 - October 4, 1970

ONE OF THE BEST SONGS EVER WRITTEN...

THROWBACK THURSDAY: MACARTHUR PARK

I never really cared for disco music, but Donna Summer had a sublime voice that was impossible to ignore. She's no longer with us, but her music lives on.

Interesting fact: She did not live very far from the World Trade Center when that tragedy took place. She ended up with cancer, and believed all the fallout dust was the cause of her terminal illness. If  this is true, then we can add another person to the list of people that lost their lives to the single most horrible event which took place during my lifetime.

Rest in peace, sweet lady.

SPLENDOR IN THE SNOW

I'd like to take a moment and say something about a dog. Because I did actually meet and know a really good one. So please don't think that I dislike ALL dogs. Because I don't. I just think cats are more of a challenge. And I really do like a good challenge. Anyway, we used to have this wonderful little mutt (her name was Tina) when I was growing up in Chicago. Tina was a genius. I'm being serious here. That dog was ten times more intelligent than the rest of the people I lived with in our house. I used to look at her sometimes, and I swear she could tell exactly what I was thinking. If I was about to say: Wanna go for a walk? Her long floppy ears would prick up a bit, and she would tilt her fuzzy little head all of a sudden. And then when I finally said the words she already knew I was going to say - she would dash to the front hall, grab her leash off the table, and in a flash - she was motioning for me to slip it on her collar so we could get the hell out of there, and go on one of our great adventures together outside.

She loved to spend hours in the snow, and so did I. We both liked winter better than summer. And when we went to the park on a late winter afternoon: it seemed like we were the only living souls there, and all that white wide open space belonged to us alone. Later, after we finally decided to go back home - if I was feeling especially sad or depressed about something and hiding all day in bed under the covers - Tina would suddenly appear out of nowhere, and start making these really pitiful little whining noises at me. I'm pretty sure she was letting me know that she was on my side, and I didn't have to suffer alone anymore. And then after I patted the bed a couple of times, she would let out a little yip of joy, and hop in with me. Then she'd lick my face twice (never more than that), and we'd settle down to take a little nap together. And a lot of the sadness really did seem to go away for awhile.

Another amazing thing about Tina: She was wild about Shakespeare (mostly the tragedies). I'm not making this up. She loved it when I read long passages of Hamlet or Romeo And Juliet to her out loud. She would just look at me with those big brown intelligent eyes of hers, and give me her absolute attention as Shakespeare's poetry rolled off of my tongue. So you see why I say she was a genius now? And there will never be another dog like her. At least I haven't met one yet. Because one day in late December, after she somehow escaped from our fenced in front yard and failed to come right back home - I spent close to six hours out in the freezing Chicago snow, desperately calling out her name as I searched for her in our favorite park. But she was gone forever. Just like that.

And after my hands and feet were so numb that I couldn't feel them anymore, I made my uncertain way back home, and somehow just knew that I'd never see her intelligent big brown eyes again. And her leash on the table in the hall made me so very sad, that I threw it in the trash the very next day. But her memory was not as easy to let go of. Because no other dog I have ever met has managed to replace her in my heart. And no dog ever could. So maybe that's why I decided to just be happy with cats? Because I got tired of always looking for another Tina, when there is not another dog like her in all the wide world. So it was time to let go. No more long walks in the snow.

Essay © 2016 by Dylan Mitchell

YOU

     

Photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe

                                  
Why does love
hurt so
much?

Parting, parting
is such sweet
torture.

Tongue-tied and
in sterling
silver

chains
I do a wobbly
waltz

and play with
the best of
Shakespeare

for only you:
my love,
my mirror,

my special
friend
from

Romeo and Juliet's
high balcony as
photographed

by Mapplethorpe in
stark, disturbing
black and white.

Sir, will you come again?

Poem © 2016 by Dylan Mitchell

JOHN DENVER: SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDERS

It's way too cold in Portland. Give us some of that heat and sunshine!

SPEAKING OF VINCENT...

MY ALL TIME FAVORITE TV COMMERCIAL!

MY INTRODUCTION TO CLASSICAL MUSIC (1972!)

THREE DOG NIGHT: ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER

Favorite song until I was twelve. Then I Heard Janis Ian's "At Seventeen" when I was thirteen. The rest is history...

A CHARLIE BROWN THANKSGIVING

Snoopy made the feast
The children were not happy
Popcorn and toast? No!


Haiku © 2015 by Dylan Mitchell

JANIS JOPLIN: MERCEDES BENZ (AS LIVE AS IT'S GONNA GET!)

Click on image to make it larger!