moorglade

It's not you, it's me.
Or more specifically, it's tumblr.  And writing - do you remember writing, we used to be really close? - has come back into my life in a big way.  I just don't have the time for both of you.

But I'll never forget the times we've shared.  We've had fun, right?  Let's remember the good times.

I'll be away.  I'm not going to lie for you, it might be for a while.  But someday I'll return, and then - who knows?  When I've got this writing fling out of my system I'll look you up again.

But for the time being, you know where to find me.

Yours sincerely,

moorglade

MP3 meme stolen from ShadowSquishy.  I ran across theirs using random deviation, and it is HILARIOUS, so I thought I'd have a go too

I used shuffle on my iPod, with the small caveat that I skipped anything where:
- the title wasn't in English
- it wouldn't display (row of squares, anyone?)
- or was complete gibberish ... like Japanese characters rendered across as something like __A<{fnf<ffq,i__JYT (actual album title...not)!


1. How does the world see me?:
"A Ray Of Sunshine (Instrumental Remix)" - Wham!
Ok, I'm happy to be a ray of sunshine   
But... instrumental remix??? Is this some sort of comment about how much I talk??

2. Will I have a happy life?:
"Eye Catch 1" - Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha
Erm.... yes?

3. What do my friends really think of me?:
"The Heat Goes On" - Asia
While I'm happy to be an Asia song - any Asia song - I really don't think my friends think of me this way!  To be honest, I'd say I was really more My Own Time (I'll Do What I Want), or even Midnight Sun (on actual song content).  
I think my friends might put me down as Open Your Eyes (I, er, sleep a LOT) if we're going on titles alone

4. Do people secretly lust after me?:
"Dreamer" - Supertramp
'You're nothing but a dreamer... can you put your hands in your head? Oh no!'
(I guess that's a no.)

5. How can I make myself happy?:
"Frosty The Snowman" - Gene Autry
I guess winter IS on its way...?  
Maybe zany adventures with an anthropomorphic snowman IS JUST WHAT I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR.

6. What should I do with my life?:
"Journey Into Space: Operation Luna (Episode 10)" - Charles Chilton
Wow!  I get to go the Moon and have thriling adventures with Jet, Doc, Mitch and Lemmy!!!  
Mind you, this is the episode where, stuck on the Earth many thousands of years in the past, they get closer to meeting time-travelling aliens... towards whom they then unfortunately display rather prejudiced 1950s attitudes.  Luckily, by (my beloved) World In Peril, they've got all that nonsense out of their systems and can deal with invasion-minded Martians on equal terms, as one sentient to another.
(Seriously, I can't be the only person who loves this series... right?)

7. Will I ever have children?:
"Many Meetings" - Howard Shore (The Fellowship Of The Ring Soundtrack)
This sounds... ominous?!

8. What is some good advice for me?:
"ETERNAL BLAZE" - Mizuki Nana
No, no, that's really not good advice.  It's not really ADVICE at all - unless I should start a large fire?  I guess I did just get told that The Heat Goes On... future Secret Pyromaniac FTW

9. How will I be remembered?:
"Leave A Tender Moment Alone" - Billy Joel
Well, thanks, Billy Joel.  Clearly I'll be remembered solely for badly-timed social awkwardnesses.  Classy.

10. What is my signature dancing song?:
"In High Places" - Mike Oldfield
Hey, not bad (Jon Anderson singing!), even if it's, erm, not exactly his grooviest (Shine would've been better).  
Maybe it's about how I totally will dance anywhere there's music playing?

11.What do I think my current theme song is?:
"euphoric field (Japanese)" - ELISA
Well, I DO normally go walking in a field at lunchtime, and I hadn't been for months, and yesterday I got to go again... and it WAS quite a nice thing to do?  
(I love the specification that my theme song HAS to be the one with the Japanese lyrics, lol.)

12. What does everyone else think my current theme song is?:
"Magentalane (It Feels So Good)" - Klaatu
'It FEELS so GOOD to BE at HOME...'
(Lol, I am not really this antisocial.)

13. What song will play at my funeral?:
"The Boxer" - Simon & Garfunkel
'I have squandered my resistance
for a pocket full of mumbles such are promises
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest...'
CHEERY.  
(Though my brother will be laughing, as for years we heard this as 'all eyes and chest'.  Oops.  Hey, it KINDA makes sense: it goes on to talk about prostitues, not that I knew what the whores on Seventh Avenue were at the time.  I thought he meant like, wars!  Honestly, he pronounces it really weird, and if you've not seen it written down...)

14. What type of man do you like?:
"Guild Wars Theme" - Jeremy Soule
WORD.

15. What is your day going to be like?:
"Dizzy Miss Lizzy" - The Beatles
Today could be...interesting!?

16. What will your motto be in 10 years?:
"The Deadwood Stage (Whip Crack Away)" - Doris Day
'When I get home
I'm fixing to stay..'
(Lol, I could see this being true.  Hopefully my life will be as witty and rhymingly pun-full?)

17. What do I like to dream about?:
"High Hopes" - Pink Floyd
Regrets and bittersweet nostalgia, evidently!  What, not John Wetton Stars Nightly In Wacky Adventures??

18. What do I really think about myself?:
"Journey Into Space: Red Planet (Episode 11)" - Charles Chilton
Noooo, not Red Planet!  It's SCARY!  (And this is the bit where Freighter no. 2 crashes!)

19. What do I look forward to each day?:
"I Feel Fine (live)" - The Beatles
I guess I set my sights quite low, right?

20. What kind of person do my friends see me as?:
"I Can't Help Myself" - The Four Tops
LOL!  It's not my fault, see!  I can't help it!

21. What will be my future successes?:
"Track 9" - Steeleye Span
Um... unmemorable?  
It's really 'Female Drummer' (which is ironic as I have NO SENSE OF TIMING WHATSOEVER) but my computer's not great with the whole preserving track info thing when it copies CDs.

22. What will I name my next pet?:
"Water Is Wide" - The Seekers
Maybe I'll call it Water for short?  Cause WIW sounds unpronounceable!

23. What pet name will my significant other give me?:
"A Taste Of Honey" - The Beatles
Ok, this is at least possible, even plausible...

24. What pet name will I give my significant other?:
"Ibiza Bar" - Pink Floyd
...while this totally isn't.  What would I do, call them Ibiza??!

25. What am I going to do this weekend?:
"Nothin' Shakin" - The Beatles
Honestly, I'm not sure, but I can reassure you there will not be ANYTHING shaking.

Ok, that was... a bit less hilarious than I expected   But hey!  I'm a ray of sunshine!

John Wetton in leather trousers, with pretty fluffy hair.   

That moment when he throws his head back - ahh, but he's lovely

_{or, Chapter 7, in which the dear Reader is given a detailed Discussion on the Contents of Moorglade's Head
Also, why are journal titles so annoyingly short?}


How could I ever have muddled up John Wetton and Greg Lake?

John sings beautifully crafted power-pop, mainly about his aching, breaking heart (and that sort of thing gets me every time: every time I hear 'Hold Me Now' or 'I Can't Lie Anymore', or even 'The Last To Know' it's a stab right in the heart... in a good way!).  Sometimes he strays into Trevor Rabin-like territory of just yelling out rather banal lyrics (I may mean bellowing, but that's not quite the right word either.  What I'm imagining here is Dave Gilmour singing 'Young Lust' - that sort of thing!), but when he does soft and tender/heartbroken it's as light as snow.  He's got this way of starting out a line really strongly and then just letting his voice soften and die away at the end.  I don't really know how to describe it, but it always sounds like he's about to start crying in the studio.  

Now I know it's his job to make records that move people, and it's a technique I dare say he's worked at, but it works on me every time.  I just want to reach through my headphones and give the poor man a hug!  If you believe all of his songs are autobiographical (and everything I've read in interviews suggests most if not all of them are) he's always being cheated on and having his heart broken.  (At least, unless they're all about one person/event, in which case, I think he should move on: he's made his point by now!)  

And how could you not be moved by that?  On a shallower note, he has these beautiful sad blue eyes - and although I know you cannot judge people based on physical features which have no link to their personality, I've never met anyone with those wistfully downward tilted eyes who wasn't a lovely individual.

I like his style of lyricism, and on the whole I would say we have similar attitudes and beliefs (which helps.  I don't know about you, but I find it much easier to like someone if I agree with them!)  Also (and I will admit this is an utterly subjective point), we have almost identical vocal ranges.  Sure, I can sing higher, and he can sing lower, but the fact is that most of his songs are in just the right place for me to sing along to.  _{Unlike the Beatles, and also Queen, which is just annoying! (I have to keep dropping off at the low bits and coming in an octave up, then dropping back down again.)  I can just about stretch my voice upwards to cover most of Jon Anderson, but I can't do it quietly.  I guess my neighbours have accustomed themselves by now to the fact that there WILL be loud prog sing-a-longs at odd moments through the day!}


Greg on the other hand is the smuggest and most annoying man in rock.  (I was quite tempted to just finish there!)  I know I'm not the only person who doesn't find him attractive, but to be honest I mostly just find him annoying.  Sure, sure, I know he's a good bassist and a good singer.  I will admit he was pretty; I'd even go so far as to say he was one of those rare people I could call beautiful.  And yet I find him completely unappealing: visually, aurally and in any other way you care to mention.  

_{~~~A Digression, in which the Reader learns about the Content of my Imagination on the Subject of Musicians~~~}
In my idle imaginings, whenever a bunch of prog people are hanging out / saving the world / going camping / mysteriously at high school / rescuing each other from dire situations / whatever,  Greg spends all of his time admiring himself and checking his hair in this little bit of mirror he always has tucked away in a pocket.  (Yeah, I guess I am going to give in and draw this at some point, if I can bring myself to learn how to draw Greg.)  And yes, I know this is an extremely biased characterisation of him.  I'm not saying the real Greg is like this - that would be most unfair; I don't know him!  But it's funnier more entertaining to make him that way in my imagination, in the same way that in real life I'm sure Chris Squire is capable of holding a conversation which isn't entirely about himself.

It's all Asia's fault, really.  Since I started playing with them in my head, no sooner do they end up in deadly peril (which happens with astonishing frequency) than Carl looks round a corner, bumps into Keith Emerson (as you do), and they start moaning about Greg.  (As you do.)  John's usually been bashed over the head or fallen down a well by this point, and he's bravely struggling on - after all, if he can't have a broken heart I feel I need to give him something to be mournful about.  Geoff's being a loyal friend, but he's never inventive enough  to do anything useful about the situation.  He's mainly just there to give John someone to be brave in front of (though of course we all know just how difficult it is for him to carry on).  And by we I mean the inhabitants of my imagination.  Stevie's either throwing major hissy-fits about the danger to his guitarist's fingers / the general stupidity of the situation / lack of creature comforts / lack of consideration, or he's found some way of praticing his guitar anyway, and is lost in guitar world, so he's never particularly helpful.  It's generally up to Carl to save the day, because the others are all either ineffectual or incapable.  (Besides, Action!Carl is awesome.)

To be honest, in my head it's a bit like a bunch of the Sims left to run riot.  I wind them up and set them going, then sit back and watch what happens.  Sometimes it's deeply moving, often it's deeply boring, sometimes they have stupid arguments that leave me annoyed or baffled.  (Which is most unfair.  Sometimes all I'm trying to do is have a nice daydream on the way to falling asleep, and they wake me up by having flaming rows!)  If I could write it down I would, but to be honest to anyone who doesn't live inside my skull I think it would be incomprehensible, a little worrying, and deeply dull!  Still, they do occasionally give me art ideas coughAsia Go To Hogwartscough.
_{~~~End of digression~~~}


Back to the perpetually-irritating Mr Lake.  Maybe it's not fair to judge based on what I imagine he might do in various unlikely situations.  You can like him if you want: I don't.  And it's not like the real Greg cares either way what I think of him!  We all imagine these people in various fictional circumstances, and yes, they'd probably be somewhere between horrified and deeply embarrassed if they knew, but there you go.  That's fame for you.

So (if you've read to the end, wow!  I'm impressed!  I seem to have been writing this all evening, lol), can you convince me that Greg is a wonderful, delightful person?  Got any interviews that will make me tear my heart out over his noble, gentle ways?  Any songs I should listen to where he isn't being utterly generic?  Go on, convince me!  There aren't enough old-time prog-people, and I'd really rather love them all


_{Oooookay, now it's almost 23:00 in my part of the world: I have to stop writing unplanned essays about old proggers and go and wash up!}

Did you know Carl Palmer was in the Crazy World of Arthur Brown?  You know, Arthur 'I am the god of Hellfire!' Brown, the chap who used to set his head on fire?  Music connections are _CRACK

Also, it turns out John 'King Crimson, Asia' Wetton and Greg 'King Crimson, (temporarily) Asia' Lake are actually separate people, who just happen to look similar, and played bass and sang in two of the same bands, among many others they've both been in.  Who knew!


_{ANSWER: Not me!}




In other news I have a cough