River: Ask me Anything

[mdlbear]

I've been around here for a while, for various values of "here" that predate Dreamwidth, LJ, the Web, and even Usenet. But a lot of you reading this are relatively new, so to borrow words from chanter_greenie et. al.,

I would like you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Ask away.

As Sooj's song says, Ask Me Anything.

Comments

[pocketnaomi]

Who was your first 'best friend' when you were a kid? What were they like? What did you like about them? What eventually happened to your friendship with them?

[mdlbear]

Goodness! I haven't thought about John Rothschild in ages -- I vaguely remember playing Tinkertoys with him when we were living in Shanks Village, when we were about three years old. That was before we moved to Connecticut, and before his sister and my brother were born.

Our parents kept in touch; they lived a fairly short drive away, so we would see each other on family visits. I don't remember a whole lot about him; we didn't go to the same schools, and as I recall we ended up having different interests and didn't keep in close touch. It's been well over a decade since I saw him; I think he was at Dad's memorial service back in '99.

[we_are_spc]

What was the first instrument you ever put hand to? Or mouth as the case might be...if said instrument was the voice. :d

Who is/are your musical inspiration(s)?

-Fallon~

[mdlbear]

Hmm. Apart from voice and the kind of percussion instruments kids play in preschool, my first "real" instrument was a recorder, acquired at a day camp when I was in elementary school. Black plastic -- probably bakelite. I'm not sure where it's got to; still in a box in the garage, I expect. The book they were using was written by the Trapp family (as in The Sound of Music).

After that I learned piano, then flute in junior high and my first year of high school, then took up guitar.

My main musical inspiration as a singer/songwriter is Bob Dylan. I love his songs (ask me for Desolation Row some time), and here's the thing: despite having a voice that people like to make fun of, there is nobody who sings his songs with as much passion and sincerity as he does. (Joan Baez, another of my favorites, comes close.)

[we_are_spc]

We know Desolation Row; it's where another one of the systems we know got part of their name they used for a long time (DSuper Human Crew) they no longer use it, but it was theirs for a long time.

...

I have to be in the mood for mr. Dylan; sometimes the frequency of his voice makes me want to cringe. I will agree with you though.

-Fallon~

Bob Dylan

[markc1957]

The man was good at what he did, and it's surprising how relevant some of his songs are today. 'The times, they are a-changin'.'

[johnpalmer]

What would you recommend as Dylan and Baez for someone who'd like to hear what you love?

I have a "greatest hits" from Baez, and it's good, and it wowed me - she wanted to record a live "Amazing Grace" and her crowd handling plus the song itself was pretty (pauses to look up rule book - okay, it *is* required) amazingly graceful.

[mdlbear]

There's a "Baez Sings Dylan" album that I think has almost all of her Dylan covers. Her first all-Dylan album was "Farewell Angelina", which I still haul out and listen to occasionally.

Baez has an amazing cover of "Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts" on "From Every Stage"; a lot of other good stuff there as well.

Dylan's album "Highway 61 Revisited" is worth getting just for "Desolation Row", but there's a lot of other good stuff.