Musings in Search of a Muse

That cryptic title describes the settings used to create the visualization pictured in the iTunes screencap below.



The Help file in iTunes clued me into the idea that new visualizations could be downloaded. Well, apparently not -- scouring of the Web turned up none. But I did find a few pages (like this one) that talked about modifying the applet. An hour or so of playing around and I came up with a few combinations I was really pleased with. I should have thought of this because I remembered doing the same thing in another jukebox a few years ago. It looks like my effort to transition from Geek to User is going well.

The tune in the pic is "Psyché Rock (Fatboy Slim Malpaso Mix)" from The Fatboy Slim/Norman Cook Collection (by Fatboy Slim, Norman Cook & Pierre Henry). It languished in my Wish List since before I bought the new laptop. The 30-second sample was quite intriguing, especially the striking "ear"-semblance to the opening of the Matt Groening TV series Futurama (particularly the bells at around 55 seconds into the piece). I know that Mr. Cook has put out some rather -- umm -- unusual tracks that I wouldn't play in mixed company and other tracks are just weird.

But to get his real genius, listen to "Praise You" from the EP of the same name. It's fabulous. Not sure if it was intended to be a praise & worship song for the Lord, but I treat it that way. Now if I could get a hold of "Weapon of Choice." iTunes doesn't have it. And the supposedly full-length video at MTV's site isn't full length.

Oddly enough, I keep confusing Mr. Cook with Everlast. Not sure why, but I've long coveted the track "Ends" from the latter's Whitey Ford Sings the Blues album, but I still keep thinking that Cook did it. It's such a great tune that I took some tentative steps to turn it into a lesson plan for a Character First education program where I teach. The lyrics (below), like those in most of his songs, are probably too gamey for high school kids, but with care and discretion they could be the basis for a great lesson.

Ends
"Everything must change . . "

[Chorus:]
Ends, some people will rob their mother
For the ends, rats snitch on one another
For the ends, sometimes kids get murdered
For the ends, so before we go any further
I want my ends

I knew this cat named Darrell, he didn't have a dollar
He was Harvard material, Ivy League scholar
Had a Ph.D., had an M.B.A.
But now he's waiting tables cause there's rent to pay
Companies downsizing, inflation's rising
Can't find a job, he's feeling kind of stressed
Doesn't even feel the effects when he says
Forgot to count how many times he been blessed
So he falls off track, starts smoking the crack
And once it hits his brain, starts a chain react
Sells the shirt off his back, shoes off his feet
He's losing all his teeth, now he's out in the street
And all of sudden he's like, Jesse James
Trying to stick up kids for their watches and chains
But he's from business school, and he's nervous with the tool
So he ends up on his back in a bloody pool

[Chorus]

I knew this chick named Sally, she had a nice strut
Knew what I wanted, she was up in the cut
Swinging that butt, like race you out here
Only rapped the benz, and rocked the fly gear
Brand name wearing, champagne waving
Jewels around the neck, live style she's craving
Ain't no saving, she's doing enough spending
If you do the lending, she'll do the bending
Straight machine vending, it's money for take
Shopping sprees get her on her knees
And if you hit her with keys of your crib, you acting funny
Come home one day, find her counting out your money
From the Wetlands, all the way to the Apollo
If you're broke she'll spit, and if you're rich she might swallow

[Chorus]

I knew these two homeboys, who made a lot of noise
Making money on the block, kids was on they jock
They was tougher than leather like Reverend Run
DMC, they was toting guns
And holdin' weight, goin' out of state
Stackin' mad chips, and pushin' phat whips
Fly jewels and golds, and got no job
And then one did some kid, and one got robbed

[Chorus (2x)]

They could be easily balanced by a follow up lesson that I did create using Superchick's song "Hero." Here are it's lyrics:

Hero
No one sits with him, he doesn't fit in
But we feel like we do when we make fun of him
Cause you want to belong do you go along
Cause his pain is the price paid for you to belong
It's not like we hate him or want him to die
But maybe he goes home and thinks suicide
Or he comes back to school with a gun at his side
And a kindness from you might have saved his life

[Chorus:]
Heroes are made when you make a choice
You could be a hero
Heroes do what's right
You could be a hero
You might save a life
You could be a hero, You could join the fight
For what's right for what's right for what's right

No one talks to her, she feels so alone
She's in too much pain to survive on her own
The hurt she can't handle overflows to a knife
She writes on her arm, wants to give up her life
Each day she goes on is a day that she is brave,
Fighting the lie that giving up is the way,
Each moment of courage her own life she saves
When she throws out the pills a hero is made

[Chorus]

No one talks to him about how he lives
He thinks that the choices he makes are just his
Doesn't know he's a leader with the way he behaves
And others will follow the choices he's made
He lives on the edge, he's old enough to decide
His brother who wants to be him is just nine
He can do what he wants because it's his right
The choices he makes change a nine year old's life
[Chorus]

If I can get some more "free tracks" caps from the Pepsi-iTunes contest, I'd download more of the tracks that have been sitting in Wish List and see if I have as much luck as I did with "Psyché Rock." So far my luck is 6 bottles = 1 download cap + 1 buy-one-get-one-free cap.