Ten 80s videos I like - #4 It's Raining Again

Some of the best music videos tell a story.  It's Raining Again tells a story that offers no surprises but is fun to watch because of the little details.  All five members of the band make a cameo.  Before the young man boards the bus to L.A. a tumbleweed blows by.  He wears the same clothes the whole video and has one bad break after another.  It all moves along at a nice pace until the end where he receives a charmed red umbrella and then dances with the beautiful woman in the same movie that he was watching at the drive-in. 

This is not as impressive as some of the others in this list of ten.  As the title goes, it's just a video that I like.

Ten 80s videos I like - #5 Under Pressure

Under Pressure was very original in two senses.  The artists did not appear in the video and they used various old footage to accompany the song.  This has always seemed underrated to me as a song and a video.  It is alternatively depressing, exciting, scary, and overwhelming.  The images match the words of the song up until the end with the call for hope at the end.

Popayan, day two

Monday was the day that setup the rest of the trip.  Often a traveler arrives to their destination tired, does a quick whirlwind tour, sleeps soundly for 10 to 12 hours, and quickly becomes restless.  I fought the inclination to be restless and take things as they came.  I was awakened at 7am by the telephone.  It was my hostess Elsa setting up a time to pick me up and start showing me around. 

We saw the town between some errands she had to run.  We took in the center of town again, and moved on to the Hotel Dann Monasterio (see below) and the Law School.  Popayan experienced a strong earthquake in 1983 and you can still see some of its effects.  There is a cracked wall or window here or there, or more likely yet another parking area.  Many of the beautiful homes were not rebuilt and became parking lots. 

After a delicious lunch we went to walk around a modern mall whose land was until recently owned by the Catholic Church.  Elsa made a couple of references during the day of how the Catholic Church holds much money, land, and power in Popayan.  Finally we stopped by their house on the tony north side to visit with Jose again and see some unimproved land he bought in the area.

Most importantly in the morning after much effort on Elsa's part we connected with a tour guide who would be able to take me on a climb of Volcan (Volcano) Purace or a trip through the Purace National Park with various sights and experiences.  Thankfully I opted for the latter.  Cristian, my indigenous guide, would be picking me up at the Hotel La Plazuela at 7am the next morning.

Ten 80s videos I like - #6 Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody

There was a time in the mid-80s when it became almost necessary that every video must have some sort of twist or intro before the song.  This was fun for a time but then eventually led to one-upmanship and eventually diminishing returns.  At the forefront of this trend was David Lee Roth.  For him it started with Van Halen's Hot for Teacher and ran its course finally with Goin' Crazy.

One of his better efforts was Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody.  This came from his original solo album Crazy from the Heat, a 14 minute album comprised of four cover tunes.  It was released in January 1985 and within months Van Halen and Roth parted ways.  Roth used his popularity and artistic license to create some entertaining videos but inferior music when compared to his Van Halen efforts.

The reason this makes the list is the opening sequence and all the wacky sight gags and video spoofs throughout.  Some examples are Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, and Billy Idol.  There's also Dave dancing in front of a Censorship Bored that is a gem.

Now watch this video you can't help but love.

Not for your dime

Last week I was waiting in line to buy four items at the company store of my employer.  There was a lady getting on in years that was buying an inordinate amount of items in front of me.  I decided to apply my new techniques to improve my patience.  Luckily the transaction didn't take as long as I feared.  When the lady received her change she unknowingly dropped one of the dimes and it landed near her foot.  Normally I would have bent over and given the dime to the lady.  It's fair to say if she were young and attractive I probably would have without hesitation. 

As you may guess I decided not to pick up the dime, for her or for me.  I think I've come to a point in my life where things like that just don't matter to me.  Whatever thanks I would have received would have been minimal at best.  I wouldn't have felt better for it.  The act would have been quickly forgotten by all witnesses.  And what is a dime really worth in this day and age? 

A similar example of something that doesn't matter to me anymore is littering.  I was driving last week on I-95 in Maine and was initially impressed by the heather and grass that  was in the ditch between north and southbound traffic.  As I returned my gaze periodically I started to notice some trash, then some more, and then realized Maine and Michigan aren't all that different.  About ten years ago I volunteered to clean up a company sponsored section of highway.  Ah, youth.  Now with more years under my belt I realize littering won't end, and people will always drop change, but that doesn't mean I'm going to pick it up.

Ten 80s videos I like - #7 19

First of all I must express my disappointment that I cannot share the 1985 version of 19 that was shown in the US on MTV.  When I pull it up on YouTube I get the following message: 

This video contains content from EMI, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds. 

The show must go on.  It would be easier to omit this video from the list.  However this is one of the best ever regardless of decade as it was educational and entertaining.  By 1985 a group of kids like me was growing up with little real knowledge of Vietnam.  Maybe some saw movies like The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, Uncommon Valor, Platoon, and Good Morning Vietnam.  While some of those movies had qualities, it could not carry the more realistic impact of a short music video like 19.  Later when I read more about Vietnam I came to appreciate this effort even more.  I oppose the US's empire building foreign policy, the military industrial complex, and useless, wasteful wars like Vietnam, Iraq, and now Afghanistan.  If my 12 year-old son ever asked me about Vietnam  I would show him the video.  Just a minute, this just in, I found the video on Dailymotion via a search on Yahoo!

Since Blogger (Google) won't allow anything but a YouTube video you'll have to click on the link I had shortened on bit.ly.

http://yhoo.it/RhQY9L

 

Popayan, day one, part two

Here's a description of the places I visited on my first day in Popayan.  The first was called the Museo Guillermo Valencia.  The museum was the former Spanish-style residence of poet and translator Guillermo Valencia.  He married into a well-to-do family which owned the house.  It was a large two story house with about 20 or so rooms and a courthouse in the middle.  Valencia also ran for president twice and lost.  His son realized his father's ambitions (a la Kennedy) and was president from 1962 to 1966.
The Pueblito Payanesa (or Patojo) is a small scale open air version of a typical small town in the Popayan area.  I saw a pueblito paisa when I was in Medellin so I was familiar with the concept.  This one was much smaller and not as interesting.
The Morro Del Tulcan is an overgrown Indian pyramid on the edge of downtown.  It requires a strenuous effort to reach the top.  It was abandoned when the Spanish conquered the area.  In 1937 a large statue of the conquistador Sebastian Del Balalcazar was erected on the top.  In a state where many identify more with their indigenous ancestors than with Spain, it is said to be a somewhat controversial statue.

Upon descending the morro I was petered out and asked my host to return me to the Hotel La Plazuela.  I fell asleep promptly at 9pm and had what would come to pass as the easily the quietest and most restful night of my stay.
I was looking forward to waking up to learn more about an area I knew nothing about and had no idea what to expect.

Ten 80s videos I like - #8 Tonight I'm Yours

Tonight I'm Yours was a surreal video that blew this 8 year old boy away.  I remember it always seeming like it was going too fast and that it was over before I'd even settled into watching it.  Could there possibly be a more happening place than that L.A. hotel?  And did grown women really act way?  Sadly I found the answer in my life to the latter was 'no'.  I suppose there are places in Las Vegas or L.A. where rock stars, rappers, or pro athletes could create a similar scene, but to me, this video will always be the high water mark for unabashed hedonism.  If I had a chance to meet Rod or the director I would ask them to tell me how it was created and pulled together, how much was planned versus spontaneous, and whether any of the ladies were paid to appear in the video.  Kudos to Rod.

Popayan, day one, part one

  I arrived to Popayan in the early afternoon on July 15.  On the descent I didn't see anything impressive.  The pilot parked the plane and we walked from the landing area to a small baggage claim area.  I had hosts whom I'll call Jose and Elsa that I hadn't emailed with in days.  I didn't know if they'd be there but I kept telling myself not to worry, fighting the uptight American impulse to have every detail in place.

After I gathered my suitcases and exited I saw Jose waiting there for me.  Of course he was there!  He drove me to the hotel and waited while I checked in, showed me some points of interest downtown, a museum, brought me to lunch, and then showed me more after lunch.  A person he had met once in a business setting in Bogota nearly two years before had just arrived to his hometown and he spent the whole afternoon with him.  That's hospitality.

In the next post I'll describe some of the places I saw on this first day:  downtown streets, Museo Guillermo Leon, Morro del Tulcan, and the Pueblito Payanesa.

Ten 80s Videos I like - #9 Let's Work

This is a song and video you've probably forgotten.  If you went on vacation or stopped watching MTV briefly in 1987 you might have never seen it.  As I recall this video was only on heavy rotation briefly.  It's also probably the last time Mick Jagger had creative freedom as a solo artist and MTV would play whatever he produced.  In light of all this you'd think the song was a failure, but I'd like to argue otherwise.  First of all it's Mick Jagger in all his glory, high energy and shimmying around.  Second, the song has a good message.  Third, I don't think there's ever been another video like this.  It seems they're running around Manhattan on FDR Drive.  There's so much to see here if you try not to watch Mick the whole time.  Take a look!

Ten 80s Videos I like - #10 One Night in Bangkok

I am going to do a series of ten posts with each dedicated to a different 80s video I enjoyed watching as a 6 to 16 year old (in no particular order).  Some are familiar, most are forgotten.  Many videos from this decade were creative and fun to watch and have passed the test of time on some level.

One Night in Bangkok by Murray Head was a song that originated from the musical Chess.  It struck me as an exotic video that flowed well with the spoken lyrics.  Here are some favorite lyrics:

"What do you mean?  You've seen one crowded polluted stinking town"
"I get my kicks above the waistline sunshine"
"This grips me more than would a muddy old river or a reclining Buddha"

Enjoy!

Spaz - why I like a spaz

This evening I was out shopping at five different stores looking for shoes and shorts.  On the fourth stop I was at the Shoe Carnival.  There was a boy, about 12 years old, that I noticed twice but did not pay much mind to.  Upon leaving the store I saw him acting out just as he was in the store.  I wished I had paid a little more attention to get some detail, but I saw enough to know that the boy was what years ago we would call a 'spaz'.  (I believe word was coined by Bill Murray in Meatballs).  When I saw how his father reacted to him I was certain.   A spaz is a hyperactive, intelligent, and funny kid that elicits polar reactions from others.  Some people are repulsed by them, others, like me, alternatively tolerate and admire them.  They constantly are acting out verbally and physically to get reactions out of people with little to no forethought.  They often make you cringe but laugh at the same time.  One thing I've noticed about spazzes is that they usually carry no malice, and that their humor comes not from making fun of others but bringing attention to themselves.  This is why I admire them often and tolerate them when they go too far.

attempting another 24 fast - complete

4 hours ago I completed my second 24 hours fast in 8 days.  I still don't know if there is a benefit to doing this but I have an open mind.  I weighed in once this past week and had dropped 3.5 lbs.  During the afternoon I felt low on energy but didn't struggle to complete the time.  After dinner I had a BM and will be turning in soon with no hunger.

I spent the afternoon at Binder Park Zoo.   I'm often struck by the number of obese people in Michigan.  I am one of them according to my BMI so I'm working my way to just being overweight.  I am hoping fasting can help me change my overall eating habits so that I can reach the goal.

attempting another 24 hour fast - 16.5 hrs complete

I've made it to 10 am the following morning and feel much the same way I did last week.  My stomach is telling me to eat something.  I read a free online book in pdf form called quickfast.pdf.  It says that the symptoms that you experience in fasting are actually the body starting to rid itself of toxins.  Telling myself that I'm not actually hungry but getting cleaner is a technique I'm just starting to use.  Most of the day I'll be spending at Binder Park Zoo which is 90 minutes away.  I'm trying to keep my mind occcupied.  I'll report later, hopefully to be successful and see what worked.

Patience

Regardless of whether patience is a virtue, I have never had much of it.  I recently spent three weeks away from my family, and in that time resolved to improve my patience, among other things, for my own good and for those around me.  I'm so naturally impatient even when I thing I'm being easygoing people sense it and try to diffuse it by saying, "Sir, I'll be with you in a moment."  Two common triggers of impatience are grocery stores and driving.  If any of the following makes you think of yourself, you may want to work on this as well. 

1) Grocery stores - Profiling people in checkout lines and the cashier to gauge which will be the fastest; having a near heart attack when the lady in front of you fumbles through her purse, pulls out a wad of coupons, or uses a checkbook; mortification when you see other lines moving faster than yours.
Advice for checkout lines is to distract yourself:  read People magazine, compare candy bar prices, do calculations in your head, count, breath deeply, people watch.  Basically anything but watch the cashier or customer before you.  Before you know it you'll be choosing paper or plastic.

2) Driving -  Speeding up when a light turns yellow, passing on the right, making a turn that is out of the way just to avoid stopping, profiling drivers by the make and model of their vehicle, knowing all the traffic light patterns in your city, etc.
Overcoming impatience is tricky because of the safety issues.  Talking on the phone, texting, and looking for the right song on the radio are all potentially dangerous remedies to boredom, or in my case impatience.  I've found two techniques to be effective.  One is deep breathing.  Impatience can impair judgement  and performance by causing your muscles to tense and breath to shorten.  Taking in a long, deep breath will reduce some of the mental and physical tension you are creating.  Second is giving a wide berth to cars around you.  This entails not getting near the car in front of you at any time, and yielding the front runners position to a car moving in the same direction in an adjacent lane.  Often the "idiot"  I've cursed at is actually a safer, more efficient, and saner drive than me who will always move through traffic more quickly.

I wish you the best with improving your patience!

Popayan, pre-trip

In July I spent a week on vacation in Colombia.  Most of that time was spent in or near a city (pop. 200K) called Popayan.  Prior to the trip whenever I informed Colombians (mostly from Bogota) about the destination they uniformly asked incredulously, "Why?”

It's common for Latin Americans to invite a new friend to visit them wherever they may live.  It's genuine but also understood that it will likely never happen.  Two years ago I met a couple that invited me there.  They referred to Popayan with a smirk, suggesting a slight inferiority complex but also perhaps some pride.  As time passed I got to see more of Colombia and was looking for somewhere new to go.  From what I could see it looked like an ideal place;  Spanish colonial architecture, history, museums, food, a national park and other attractions nearby.  Curiously most of the people I spoke with about Popayan had never been there.

My friends were surprised but pleased when I informed them in May of my upcoming visit.  And I was just starting to learn what hospitality, Colombian-style was all about.

another 24 hour fast - mission aborted

I decided to pull the plug on this fast after just over 6 hours.  I took a nap after work and woke up feeling weak.  Of course this is expected with a fast.  But for a novice like me to be in that place after 6 hours did not bode well for the next 18.  I had a lunch-size meal and am now feeling better.  So I'm starting anew as of 7:20pm and will go through the night and then see how I do tomorrow.  This was my first attempt during the work week.  I'm not going to draw any conclusions except that today wasn't the day.

another 24 hour fast - others' experiences

I've never been very good for keeping secrets.  If I try something bold, I usually tell people about it.  As with fasting, the conventional wisdom about telling others your goals is mixed.  Some say it's best to tell people so you'll be accountable.  Others say just telling people about a goal creates a false sense of fulfillment that prevents them from carrying it out.  I've spoken to friends and others that are for, against, and indifferent about fasting.  The people that are indifferent haven't done one.  But that doesn't stop non-faster from having an opinion.  A Colombian co-worker always criticizes fasting when I bring it up.  In fact, today she told me I was attracting free radicals.  A friend from California by way of Mexico is a huge champion, and says the body needs to take inventory through fasting.  Opinions are as varied as people, so I think if you're curious about it you should try it for yourself.  If you don't want to go to 24 hours, at least try 12 and see if you get hungry.  I have a co-worker friend that's trying it too.  Maybe trying something with another will help.

Starting another 24 hour fast

I've decided to do it again.  Getting back to work brought back to my old eating habits.  Cereal for breakfast, banana, peanut butter toast, carrots with peanut butter.  After eating Chinese lunch (salt and pepper shrimp) and downing two large diet Pepsi's I felt this would be another good occasion to fast.  I'll do periodic updates throughout the next two days.

24 hour fast - hour 24

I finished the fast over an hour ago!  I felt weak as the last two hours dragged on but knew the end was near.

I'd like to say that it was a positive experience overall and I recommend it to anyone without any kind of medical condition that prohibits fasting.  I believe 24 hours is a reasonable amount of time for a beginner.  I also strongly believe (but almost never practice) that humans eat much more than is necessary.  In the USA we are bombarded with advertising of food, and also eat three meals a day and snack too.  Fasting may be a way to fight back against this culture of eating and the habits we've developed for years.  I plan to do another fast soon.

24 hour fast - hour 21

At about 6pm I'll be eating some delicious shrimp poblano tacos with beans.  That's about the only solace I have for my growing hunger.  I have no reported physical benefits of fasting at this time but a small measure of satisfaction for not giving up.  It would be easy to quit now and say 21 hours is enough.  By the way, who decided the 24 hours was the magic number?!  My stomach is growling.  Shortly we'll be going out to an outdoor yoga fest/concert where a friend is performing.  I hope that will keep my mind off food.

24 hour fast - hour 20

After a slow 15 minute swim I went to the grocery store.  When checking out the cashier asked me how I was doing.  I said it was a tough day because I was fasting.  We got to talking and she has done three day fasts on various occasions.  She said she takes vitamins to help her get the nutrients she needs and is either working or cleaning to keep her busy during the fast.  When I asked how whether she felt better at the end, she said yes because her body needed those nutrients.  Based on how she looked I have a feeling she normally eats a poor diet which leads to dietary deficiencies.  Her fast allows her body to spend less time digesting food and more absorbing nutrients.  Only about 4 hours to go!

24 hour fast - hour 19

My wife made some pancakes for the boys this morning.  There are a few leftover sitting on the kitchen counter.  Oh how I would love to eat them.  Hunger plus sights and smells tasty food creates moments of discomfort.  My new tactic is not to even look at them.  This hour I'm going to take a risk.  I'm going to leave the house and go for a swim of not more than 10 or 15 minutes.  I'll report back in an hour.

24 hour fast - hour 18

I've now reached 75% of my goal, which is coincidentally when I've faltered during past attempts at fasting.  I think those times will help me finish these last six hours.  Perhaps out of foolish pride I'm starting to question whether 24 hours is enough time to get the benefits of fasting that I've read about online.  Maybe next week I'll try doing 36 hours.  If you're reading this and have any experience with this please post a comment.

24 hour fast - hour 17

Sleeping from midnight to 11am did wonders for moving through this fast.  Upon waking I felt some hunger.  At one point this morning I woke up and had some gas from yesterday's food so I know there are still some digestive-type processes going on.  Onward ho!

24 hour fast - hour five

11pm, The Kitchen is Closed.  On hundreds of other nights during the year this is when I'd go for that late night snack.  I don't need to read journals or articles about how late night snacking leads to weight gain.  I'm living proof!  Maybe one more post tonight, if not then after waking.

24 hour fast - hour four

4 down, 20 to go.  I've never run a marathon but I imagine I feel similar to the novice marathoner that just finished his or her fourth mile.  They're moving along, confident in their training and preparation, and not anticipating the rough seas ahead.  I've run enough half marathons and 25K races to know that tomorrow will be difficult.  Today at work I learned of a concept called "attitude regardless of circumstances".  I know  I've created circumstances with years of poor eating habits.  Tomorrow my attitude will be paramount.

24 hour fast - hour three

After that nap I decided to go out for a walk with the family.  I no longer feel bloated and now am in the state of being neither hungry nor completely full.  This usually a danger period for me because my mind thinks about food before I do.  What snacks and drinks am I going to have later?  A rum and coke with chips?  Or a healthier choice of a bowl of cereal?  Tonight it will be neither.  Getting to the state of hunger is what I think is the key to losing weight.  When I force myself to feel hunger I only eat two meals a day, which is theoretically cutting my caloric intake by 33%.

24 hour fast - hour two

I spent the better part of this hour napping.  The big dinner is still being digested.  One of the reasons I'm doing this is to experience fasting firsthand .  Possibly like you, fasting is just something I've investigated on the internet.  There is no shortage of stated benefits and dangers of fasting online.  I'll tell it to you straight.  I'm 39 years old and am 50 lbs. away from a "normal" BMI.  I am very active physically but do not lose weight because of my eating habits, which I'm convinced is predictive of so many of our health factors.  I'm occasionally sluggish and have trouble concentrating at work.  There more posts to come.

24 hour fast - hour one

It's just past 7pm and I've completed the first hour of a 24 hour fast.  It was quite easy to do as I ate spaghetti and meatballs for dinner before 6 o'clock.  I have some experience fasting in the past year.  Occasionally on a Saturday I'll see how far I can go.  Usually at about the 16 to 18 hour mark I succumb to hunger.  This time I'm going to blog about the experience as a way to crash through that mythical wall.  More to come soon.