Well whadda ya know?

$20,000 later and I am able to "get" a reference they make in Ray. Shmelly and I finally got around to watching this awesome movie on Monday night and when one of the characters (I think he was supposed to be Quincy Jones) commented to Ray that "I'll never go down [South] to be no Jim Crow performer," I just short of sprang to my feet out of excitement, simply because I knew what he meant. All thanks to my "Popular American Music" course, I knew what a Jim Crow performer was and why Quincy Jones didn't want to go down South to be one. Yay, knowledge! My morsel of knowledge did little to enrich the watching experience of the movie, but still, it was nice to know that my tuition fees were not going to waste.

Speaking of academia, for those of you who think it's no fun to read scholarly articles, I would like to direct your attention to the following. I'm going to call this one my Quote of the Moment:

Therefore one is wary of setting into the notion that one has a handle on the historical situation, since that certainty will without a doubt soon be rescinded. Nor is one likely to believe in unequivocally using history for positive social change, which in many cases might be like using a baseball bat to put out a poor stranger in flames.

I had to do a doubletake on this one. "...might be like using a baseball bat to put out a poor stranger in flames"?! That's a great line. C'mon, you've got to give respect to a Ph.D who can write a line like that and get it published in a scholarly journal. When I grow up and finish spending my life-savings on my ed-ju-ma-ca-tion, I want to be able to do that too.

Also, while kind-of, sort-of, not-really on the topic of music, there's something about the scratchiness of songs played from a record that's vintagely-romantic (yet another word to enter into my uniquely personal vocabulary). I was listening to a compilation CD I acquired from that abovementioned course and when I could hear the pops and crackles of the record player over the song, I would be thrown into my own mental time warp. There, I pictured myself in some old-style parlour where there were heavy drapes plunging from ceiling to floor and I was surrounded by such things called "divans" and "settees" and "gramophones" and the one guy to cross my path (and of course ask me to dance) was dressed in vest, tie, and tails. Nothing beats a dance for no reason. (*sigh* --Thoughts of Kate & Leopold. Where is gentlemanly wooing when you need it?)

Song of the Moment: "Till I Get Over You" - Michelle Branch

Every time I feel alone
I can blame it on you
And I do
Oh you got me like a loaded gun
Golden sun
And the sky's so blue
Oh we both know
That we want it
But we both know
You left me no choice

Chaque fois que tu t'en vas
You just bring me down
Je pretends que tout va bien
So I count my tears
Till I get over you

Sometimes I watch the world go by
I wonder what it is like
Oh…To wake up every single day
Smile on your face
You never try

We both know
We can't change it
But we both now
We'll just have to face it

Chaque fois que tu t'en vas
You just bring me down
Je pretends que tout va bien
So I'm counting my tears
Till I get over you

If only I
Could give you up
Would I want to let you out?
From this soulbuzz baby

We both know
That we want it
But we both know
You left me no choice
Chaque fois que tu t'en vas
You just bring me down
Je pretends que tout va bien
Oh so I'm counting my tears
Till I get over you.... oh
Chaque fois que tu t'en vas
Je pretends que tout va bien
Oh we both know
That I'm not over you

I'm not over you