Here’s another cover, this time of “Thieves in the Temple”

Again, for Jim & Jeri, Prince isn’t singing, so you shouldn’t mind listening.

In contrast to yesterday’s post about sex, the other thing Prince is known for is songs about G-d.

Probably the biggest juxtaposition of sex and G-d comes on the album Around the World in a Day. Temptation goes from an almost graphic description of sexual temptation, to someone (presumably G-d of the Torah) putting the smack-down on Prince, and after lots of tortured screaming (which I admittedly do NOT like) ends thus:

I’m sorry
I’ll be good
This time I promise
Love is more important than sex
Now I understand
I have 2 go now
I don’t know when I’ll return
Goodbye

Way too Old Testament and Leviticus for me.

The other song on that album dealing with the issue of G-d is The Ladder.

Everybody’s looking 4 that ladder
Everybody wants salvation of the soul
The steps U take are no easy road
But the reward is great
4 those who want 2 go

This is done as a parable, and I’m not sure it’s the most coherent of his songs, but it’s very singable and one I enjoy listening to.

The one song I don’t particularly like and almost always skip is The Cross on Sign O’ the Times. I know some people who like it, but the lyrics are entirely too heavy-handed for my tastes.

The last song I want to mention however, is one of my favorites, and one I think that gets the tone just right.

I’m not a woman
I’m not a man
I am something that you’ll never understand

I’ll never beat u
I’ll never lie
And if you’re evil I’ll forgive u by and by

First of all, it’s got the best beat of any song on the album, and Purple Rain has a lot of strong songs.

Second, although it’s implicitly about G-d, it’s not explicitly about Christianity they way the song The Cross is. More importantly, the song is about living what is important. Unlike the lecturing tone of Temptation and The Cross, this is saying that G-d is love. That G-d is forgiveness.

Plus, like I said, it’s got a fabulous beat.

Today, Eric is talking about Prince’s musical talents, specifically his skill on the guitar.

No embedding, so you’ll have to click to see this video of Prince covering Radiohead.

The point (for Jim & Jeri) is to note the guitar. And here is Eric’s addition to day two of Prince week.

However, while I’ve got this platform, I’m going to expound a bit.

First things first, I’m hard pressed to understand why someone would despise Prince. I can understand not liking an artist’s voice–I cannot stand Bob Dylan’s voice. nails on a blackboard–but I like many of his song when they have been recorded by other artists. I can get not liking an artists style of music, except that Prince has written songs in so many musical genres that seems a rather ridiculous statement as well.

So I’m going to take a shot in the dark about what I’m guessing bothers at least some people: sex.

Prince really likes to write and sing about sex. A lot. Hell, his 3rd and 4th albums were “Dirty Mind” and “Controversy” so it’s not like he’s hiding his themes.

But here’s the thing: Rock & Roll and R&B have a history of misogyny. But here’s the thing about Prince’s music: for the most part he doesn’t write about women, he writes to women. And to be honest, I often find it disconcerting, since I tend towards prudishness. But if you listen, what he’s pretty much saying is that he loves women, and let him tell you all about what he wants to do to you (assuming you are a woman).

But there’s something else to note as well.

Consider Little Red Corvette released in 1982. Did you ever notice that he blithely throws out the use of condoms as an expected occurrence? Or Sign O’ the Times from 1987, which implicitly mentions AIDS, and male to female transmission (via needle sharing, but still). And I love I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man: “Wouldn’t be satisfied, with a one night stand, and I could never take the place of your man.”

And he has had women in his bands–not just token females there to look good or female back-up singers or female lead singers with a male band but female musicians. It’s a more common occurrence, but still far more rare than one would expect.

So despite the sex–or perhaps because of it–Prince has always given off an attitude of respecting women, which is something that certainly wasn’t common when he was starting out.

I’m going to take a slightly different tack from Eric, who is also celebrating Prince week.

For those of you who are not on Twitter, Eric and I were taken to task by Jim & Jeri for our love of Prince. And this is the song that started the whole thing off. Except, of course, that I was listening to the Prince version.

And here’s Eric addition to Prince week: Medical advice by the Purple One.

If you remember back, a couple weeks ago I received a “gift” from John the Scientist: tentacles.

Luckily, my friend MWT is a marine biologist and volunteered to take the tentacles from me, and put them to good use.

Here is the result!

Hooray!

My thoughts right now are with my friend Shawn Powers, whose house just burned down.

All his family is OK, but they lost all their pets.

If you know Shawn, please lend him your support, even if it’s only in kind thoughts and words.

ADDENDUM the First:
Linux Journal has put together a page so donations can be made to the Powers family.

Additionally, if you would prefer to make a donation through Shawn’s pastor, I can pass that information along to you as well.

It’s right there!

Thank you Anne! You ROCK!

If you are offended by strong language, don’t click.
(more…)

See! Proof I went to Washington DC and met Wendy!

Unfortunately, Wendy was eaten by a shark while we were in the Museum of Natural History. Sorry Dr. Phil.

These are from the beginning of the week when we went to The Garden of the Gods in Colorado. I took a lot of pictures, so you’ll need to click through to my Flickr set to see most of them.

Some pics from Denver Trollopolloza 2009

(more…)

So I have to say that I had a fabulous time in Denver hanging out with Anne and Janiece and Jeri. What I enjoyed the most was the opportunity to talk and laugh and relax and be silly. It allowed me to come back to work today feeling far more capable and personable than I have in weeks.

The only down side was we had issues with out flights coming and going, both of which had us spending more time in Charlotte NC than we had any desire to do so. I mean, it’s a nice enough airport and all, but not where we wanted to be.

OK, also Michael’s phone seems to have broken himself. So now he has to decide what he wants to do. I’m recommending sending the thing back (it’s still under warranty) and getting a new phone, and selling whatever they send him as a replacement. Personally, I may try and talk him into a Blackberry, since I think it’s the best phone for what he does.

But we’ll see what happens.

Meanwhile, I’m still getting my photos from the Denver trip together–probably finish sorting through them this weekend, since I’m still a little sleepy from the flight back on Tuesday/Wednesday.

So thank you again to Janiece and Anne for hosting us. Can’t wait till we can all get together again!

I discovered some time ago that I am somewhat of an outlier among the UCF Trollops–I do not have an obsession with footwear. Yes, I find it important, and I am willing to spend money on shoes, but that’s because I want shoes that are comfortable, and because many shoes hurt my feet, I will put down money for shoes that are comfortable when I’m walking around all day long.

But as footwear is important to the other members of the Trollop Brigade, I tried to get into the spirit of things. Here are the results:

Ah Timberland! I wore the “WVU pair” home on the plane. So comfortable!

And most importantly, cotton socks! In black and gray! Awesome!