Blogocentric Formulations (Book)

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I am SoCalScribe. This is my InkSpot.

Blogocentric Formulations

Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).

Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:

"The Soundtrackers Group"

"Blogging Circle of Friends "

"Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise"

"JAFBG"

"Take up Your Cross"

Thanks for stopping by!

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Aiva Raine

Nov 6, 2024 at 4:49pm
In response to "October Watch List"

Grin. I loved Psych! I rewatched White Collar approx a month ago. Having issues finding good new shows so I've resorted to rewatching my favorites from old.

Currently rewatching Castle, Supernatural, and Buffy/Angel.

Enjoyed The Great and Lady Jane Grey, sad they both got cancelled. The "I made a teddy bear" episode on The Great was so funny hubby and I had to rewatch that scene 4 times before we could finally stop laughing hysterically at it.

Thanks for your recaps of shows- it's given me some new items to add to our lists.

Jeff

Nov 6, 2024 at 3:20am
In response to "October Watch List"

Aiva Raine

- I've actually watched all three! PERSON OF INTEREST was a really good show, but WHITE COLLAR and BURN NOTICE (along with another great USA Network show called PSYCH) are some of my favorite television shows of all time. I actually just started rewatching WHITE COLLAR a few weeks ago!

Aiva Raine

Nov 5, 2024 at 3:08pm
In response to "October Watch List"

Wasn't aware that there was a movie for "What we do in the shadows"- thought it was just a TV show on Hulu. Thanks for sharing that tidbit- will find the movie and add it to our watch list. The TV show is quite humorous.

I also enjoyed the Lincoln Lawyer- need to watch the newest season.

Have you ever checked out Person of Interest, White Collar, or Burn Notice? If so, did you enjoy them?

1 Like

Aiva Raine

Aug 3, 2024 at 11:10pm
In response to "Man on the Moon"

Just missed seeing the moon landing by a few years and as one of those "old people", I will admit to being depressed at our lack of space progress. Sure, we've got great new telescopes that are letting us see wonderful things way out in space, but we still haven't even put a man back on the moon again after all this time. Putting someone on Mars looked promising for a while, until Elon Musk went all nutso and can't stop mucking up everything. Yeah, he's got reusable rockets, but we aren't really progressing much beyond that.

I truly hope I can live long enough to see humans do some real space exploration. Because even though I didn't see the original moon landing in person- watching it on TV after the fact still was pretty freaking cool. Although watching the Challenger blow up from our desks at school sucked. Here's hoping we get to bring the astronauts stuck in space home soon. Maybe NASA can work with someone besides Boeing for that!

Aiva Raine

Aug 3, 2024 at 11:01pm
In response to "July 2024 Watch List"

Only seen the Fall Guy and Deadpool & Wolverine. Both fell a bit flat for me. I think because the first Deadpool was just so awesome. This last one felt a bit Disneyfied. Yes, I know- tons of gore and the occasional sex joke, but it just, meh. There wasn't any real "bite" to it.

The first one had a real plot. It made you belly laugh hard. And you cared a bit about the characters. This last one, I didn't really care at all. About anyone. I laughed, but most were the "oh wow- that's so over the top it's funny" laughs, not "that's freaking hysterical and I'm still gonna be laughing about that on the way home".

Fall guy- it was more cheesy than funny or entertaining. It wasn't that memorable at all. So not memorable that I'm trying to remember anything I hated or liked about it and well, I can't. I do remember at the end going, well, not sure that was worth the 2 or so hours it took to watch.

There really hasn't been a movie lately that's wowed me. Everything seems to be trying to follow the whole Marvel action movie formula and they just don't do it for me. There's only so many explosions, fart jokes, and over the top gore scenes all done special effecty that you can do before you've completely lost me. I quit watching Marvel or Superhero movies a while ago, but went to Deadpool because- it was Deadpool and my son asked me to go for a Mom/Son outing.

I've tried watching many of the newer shows that get all the hype and they fall flat. I've gone back to watching reruns of shows I actually enjoyed- like Leverage, or White Collar. I'm on rewatch # 3 of Supernatural, rewatch 2 of Vampire Diaries, got about half-way through rewatch 2 of Originals before I gave up.

I did enjoy "The Great" and was bummed they killed it after 3 seasons. That was funny!

I loved the Bridgerton series, but this last season left me a bit unimpressed.

I'm currently rewatching Warehouse 13 with hubby who has never seen it. We watched Eureka before then. Somehow- all these older shows are much better than 99% of the newer shows and I honestly want to know why.

Why do most of the newer shows suck? Lazy writing? AI writing? What's the story? I'm really curious?

Kåre เลียม Enga

Aug 3, 2024 at 4:46pm
In response to "July 2024 Watch List"

I don't go out or have a television. I would watch more on-line but the internet has been wonky recently.

Two Thai BLs:

"1000 Year Old Vampire"

So... uneven. Some of the premise makes sense in a supernatural way. A vampire can't die even though he's bored of living. He's old... very old... and keeps meeting the same human/alien again and again. That 'love story' has some merit. The final scene is moving.

12 episodes could've been condensed to 4 or 6 (so... 160 - 240 minutes total; even a 90 minute western movie would've been better). I could take the final words "Wave goodbye, Master Yoh" and rewrite it as a prequel, having it placed in 1940 (not necessarily in Bangkok), ending in 2000... with it being 'reborn' in 2020. I like the idea, not just how it's done.

"Love Sea"

Good acting, great chemistry, edgy at times. It tackles sex-for-pay, family abuse/neglect, criminality, and the age old "what happens when we fall in love". I love a romance when there are layers of other genres and when it takes me to a time and/or place. Episode 2 is steamy and geo-restricted but it's fitting to get past the 'sex' because that's not the story.

Both main actors are top-shelf and work well together. The niece Meena is adorable. The father is chilling (evil wrapped up in normality). It hasn't finished yet. There are 10 episodes. #9 airs August 4th.

"1000YO" gets about a 6.5 rating at MyDramaList ... and that's about right imho for PG silliness. "Love Sea" is rated 8.0 and that's a tad low. The story may be a bit too 'real' for some audiences as it's 18+ and serious.

These are the opening episodes to save time looking for them! IMHO, it's getting harder to find some things on-line.

1000YO: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8sq35e
LoveSea: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9037r4

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Kåre เลียม Enga

Jul 29, 2024 at 12:01am
In response to "Hiding behind humor"

"I was just joking" can trigger my traumas and make me distrust someone. I want to respond, "I'm not laughing" ... without an apology or smile. It's too akin to bullying.

1 Like

Kåre เลียม Enga

Jul 28, 2024 at 11:55pm
In response to "Man on the Moon"

The original Star Trek was 1966-1969. And let's not forget the Jetsons. Both forecast new technologies... as people looked to the future.

The future seems more dystopian now. And since the Moon has little commercial value, money has gone elsewhere. NASA has a $25 billion budget; Pentagon ... $825 billion.

When there's a military base on the Moon... or when it's found to be made of gold instead of cheese... then it will become a priority.

Sumojo

Jul 16, 2024 at 2:16am
In response to "Memorable Places"

Hi, Jeff, I’m reviewing this interesting blog post as next in line for I Write in 24.

I’ll comment on each of your memorable places in turn.

Flathead Lake (Polson, Montana
I could feel the connection you had to this place, but also to the memories of your grandparents. I couldn’t quite envisage the boathouse though. To me a boathouse is a shelter for a boat! But obviously it wasn’t just that.
I could also feel the sadness when you returned there, even if it was just on line. It’s distressing really to see the new owners had messed with a place you held so dear.

Zuma Beach (Malibu, California)
Now here you showed your true romanticism. What a beautiful plan you devised to recreate the table setting of your wedding day. Your wife would have been so happy.

Gare du Nord (Paris, France).
I understand that feeling when you become the foreigner when you first land in a country whose language is not yours. I felt it when we were in Vietnam, even the street signs weren’t in English and finding one’s way around was daunting.
I believe though that the French people are willing to speak English if one makes at least an attempt at French.

Edmund D. Edelman Children's Courthouse (Los Angeles, California).

A different feeling and experience here. I was a little taken aback when I saw a courthouse as a place you had strong memories about until I read the rest of the post. Yes, a location can leave a person traumatised. Your experiences at that particular courthouse are mixed. The applications and endless paperwork involved in the process which allowed you to adopt your precious children would certainly have left you with mixed feelings of that location.

The Walt Disney Studios Lot (Burbank, California)

Now this location isn’t one where many people can put as their workplace. You certainly have an interesting job.I would have loved to hear more about your experiences in the movie business.

Overall I throughly enjoyed the blog post. Thank you so much for sharing.
Sue.

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Wordsmitty ✍️

Jul 15, 2024 at 12:12am
In response to "Memorable Places"

A nice time capsule of your life as well. Thanks for sharing.

1 Like

December 19, 2014 at 5:53pm

#836671

I'll think of you wherever you go

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"2000 Miles"
by The Pretenders

Even though it was originally recorded in 1983, I'm choosing to include a live version of this song that was recorded in 1995 because I love the addition of the classical stringed instruments to the melody. Like so many songs on my list, this is an original rather than a cover of a popular song that's been around for decades. It was originally thought to be about the distance between two long-distance lovers who miss one another during the holidays, Chrissie Hynde has actually said that the song was written for James Honeyman-Scott, the original guitar player for The Pretenders, who died the year before this song was recorded.

Over the years, the song has been covered by some pretty influential musicians, including Coldplay, KT Tunstall, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Natalie Imbruglia, and Chrissie Hynde herself as a remake just a few weeks ago.

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December 19, 2014 at 4:01pm

#836664

Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the Joy Divine

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"Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee"
by David Stillson

This is actually one of my favorite holiday songs, even though it's not really specifically about the holidays at all. They just happen to play it a lot in churches this time of year, and it's one I look forward to every year. I actually like the upbeat rock version my church plays, but I couldn't find a video or a recording to include for this challenge, so I'm instead including a version by a very talented musician that has the same general tempo to the song and remarkably plays all the instruments and does the vocals entirely by himself.

One of the reasons it's so hard to find a good (IMO) version of this song is because a lot of people perform a version that's very slow. It's actually based on a hymn, so I think there's a tendency for people to take the song seriously and make it contemplative... which in my opinion is a mistake because it's supposed to be an uplifting song that's joyful and exciting. I think the pop/rock versions of the song do a better job of capturing the essence of the song than a traditional choir or breathy vocalist.

If this song sounds familiar, it's because the chords are based on Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" which is one of the most famous classical compositions ever (it's the final movement of Beethoven's final Symphony No. 9). And the lyrics are taken from " The Hymn of Joy ," written in 1907 by Henry van Dyke, which has been suggested as being one of the best expressions of joy in all English language hymnals. Over the years, performers have rearranged the poem, substituted some words and phrases for others, and even introduced entirely new lyrics like one David Stillson (and many other church bands) adopted, which starts the song with:

We sing in jubilation, adoration, to our joyful king
You are spinning, you are singing, zealous love over all your children.

I know it's not strictly a holiday song, but if there's a song out there that can get me into the Christmas spirit in the blink of an eye, it's this one. Or Mariah Carey.

Casting Crowns also does a decent version of this song although they replace "Three" with "You" to give it a more modern sound. And a band called Go Fish did a pretty decent version but substitutes a lot of the lyrics for simpler ones because they wrote the song to reach an audience of younger children. Personally, I prefer the versions that are a little closer to the original hymn so van Dyke's contribution isn't totally mangled... but any rock/pop/upbeat version of this song is an improvement over the stuffy slow hymn.

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December 19, 2014 at 2:46pm

#836660

Voices singing let's be jolly

** Image ID #2014892 Unavailable **

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"
by Chicago

I know Brenda Lee's original is a classic, but this is one of those upbeat holiday songs that I really enjoy listening to cover versions of because everyone likes to lend their own little twist to it. Over the years, this song has been covered by Bill Haley & His Comets, The Partridge Family, Alvin & The Chipmunks with Patti Loveless, Hanson, Cyndi Lauper, Alabama, Green Day, Jessica Simpson with Rosie O'Donnell, LeAnn Rimes, no fewer than three Disney Channel and/or Nickelodeon child stars, and my other two personal favorites (beyond Brenda Lee's original): {xlink:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLP5806ZpUUthis one by Darlene Love and Ronnie Spector (the latter is famous as the backup vocals in the Eddie Money classic "Take Me Home Tonight"), and the one from {xlink:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gCd23Jrc0M}She & Him (actress Zooey Deschanel's duo).

Surprising given the maturity of her voice, the original was actually recorded by Brenda Lee when she was only thirteen.

An instrumental version of the song appeared in the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV special from 1964, and it was also featured prominently during a scene in the 90's hit holiday film, Home Alone. According to a December 2011 Nielsen SoundScan estimate, the original (not including all the covers) is the fourth all-time best-selling Christmas holiday single in history, owing largely to the fact that even with so many covers, Brenda Lee's version is still prominently played on radio stations and listed on musical charts each year.

The video version of this song also features cameos from Joe Mantegna and Kyle Mooney. Although you only see Joe briefly at the beginning of the video linked below, there's actually a much longer video production of the song with a lead-in that I didn't link because I wanted to get right to the sweet, sweet sounds of aging musicians rocking out.

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