Friday, May 8, 2009

Next week's topic: Letters



Yes, it's songs about letters. And by 'about' I mean any song with a letter in the title or lyric. The letter can be in a word or on its own. Acronyms and dipthongs welcome.

Coming up: Keyboard characters
.

51 comments:

DarceysDad said...

OK. I think I've got around forty thousand recommendations for that one ...

gordonimmel said...

Sarcasm....wit...etc

(But probably true!)

The theme does seem to swing violently from 'Too Hard' to 'Too Easy' doesn't it?

Luke-sensei said...

Hit the nail on the head there, i'm going to opt out of RR for this week, I wouldn't know where to start with "numbers"

Abahachi said...

Next week: songs with music in them.

tincanman said...

omg abahachi, i am so so so sorry to do this but I just can't resist and will have to pray you have a big enough sense of humour to forgive me for saying....oh, so no free jazz then?

I'll get me mukluks and parka

Abahachi said...

I think we can also exclude Coldplay.

No offence taken at all; very very funny, and I walked straight into it.

tincanman said...

whew

GarethI said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
GarethI said...

The thing is, it could work if the titles were numbers without words (156, 1234, 2:1, that sort of thing). It would at least thin the field down…

tincanman said...

oh yeah - same with most topics these days. Why not 10 different number-related topics over the course of the year instead of one that generates so many noms no one can possibly go through them all in a way that does them any kind of respect. This feels more like an auction than a music blog.

WhadoIhearforthisweek?
three
three
three
who'llgimmeafour?
three
three
three
four?
four?
four!
gimmeafive
fi
fi
fi

.... said...

I also got a sense of deja vu. But it must be getting harder as time goes by. Think I'll see if I can't think up any themes....

richardrj said...

Honestly, you lot sound like a roomful of bored teachers in a class that's being given, in some bizarre inversion of the norm, by a nervous sixth-former.

tincanman said...

alas, we can't all be you richie

DsD said...

EXCELLENT analogy, Richard, but your point is ... ?

Oh, and I won't be being rude if you reply and I don't respond, I'm off to bed.

G'night all.

richardrj said...

The point, I fear, is that some of the good folks here are in danger of sounding somewhat superior – as if they don't like the way that "their" blog is now being run.

ToffeeBoy said...

I don't think it's superiority, richard - I certainly hope it isn't on my part - it's just that it's such a huge open topic that it's almost impossible to get any sort of focus. I didn't get a chance to log on until late this afternoon and a combination of the topic itself and the by-then-400 + posts didn't exactly inspire me to join in.

I think a really good theme needs some sort of base camp to work from and this one is just all over the place.

Anyway, I'm far too perfect to feel superior about anything ...

richardrj said...

But it's not, though – the topic is perfectly clear and actually very narrow. It's songs about numbers as entities, not just songs with numbers in the title. Rather challenging, I would've thought...

ToffeeBoy said...

'Fraid not richard. Rob says: "This week I'm after songs about numbers. In fact, to narrow it down, only songs with numbers in their titles or lyrics that directly refer to a number – or set of numbers – will be allowed. Phone numbers, birth dates, anniversaries and memorials are allowed."

richardrj said...

Yeah but you're ignoring the first bit. It says "songs about numbers". The bit you have emboldened is meant to narrow it down, not open it up.

Blimpy said...

@richardrj - this blog has run for 1,600+ posts and nearly a year and a half without any trolling. Just to let you know.

steenbeck said...

I love you all, you know I do. I think it's a good topic. I think it would be nearly impossible to come up with a topic everyone was happy with, and Rob FItzpatrick got shafted for picking one too narrow recently. It requires that we show a little restraint and um, what's that word, that's like discerning? I don't know. I'm not a person that shows restraint ever, no matter what the topic. But give the fellow a break. As they used to say here in the USA, maybe in the 80s. If you're overwhelmed by the topic--limit yourself. I remember before BLimpy stopped RRing he made himself pick ONE song per week. I was in awe of his self-control. But I miss everyone (ahem, Tincanman, I'm looking at you) suggesting songs. And I have to say some of my favorite songs ever fit (don't yours?). ANd as somebody (Fredflinstone, maybe?) said, this is a good topic for including songs that might not otherwise be included. So come on back, one and all. We didn't all arrange a walk-out strike when Maddie did colors and that was at least as big. SOme topics suit your mood and taste, some don't, it's all part of the journey, maaaaaan......

richardrj said...

@Blimpy: right-oh. See you then.

tincanman said...

awww, it's sweet to be missed.

But there's no boycott or walkout.

I'm just not into it - it feels like pages and pages of numbers staring back at me. I've got to listen to some cool stuff that's been building up dying to be heard, so its all good.

Shoey said...

Rob would help the cause if he joined in the thread a little more. Otherwise it starts to feel like we are all cannon fodder for him to bang out some articles in the paper. Perhaps he's a little shy or perhaps I'm just missing Maddy's hand on the wheel? Wish I could take part a little more, but can't post on the mobile over there since the infamous "upgrade"; but buggered if I'm going to be chained to a PC, just because Guardian IT sucks balls. Not sure us all getting snotty helps much (except for Aba of course, as he does it so well), unless we want to prove the point of whoever called us wankers the other week - a great post, shame it got deleted.

Chris said...

Shoey's absolutely right: Rob would help the cause if he joined in the thread a little more.

Maddy's interventions, as well as being familial (is that what I mean?) did help. Rob hasn't poked his nose in once this week and didn't bother with the Spotify thing either.
Perhaps Maddy was exercising her maternal skills by playing with her children but I much prefer it to this stand-off approach.

Luke-sensei said...

Just for the record, I personally wasn't boycotting, and I don't think it's a "bad" topic (we all know "good" and "bad" are subjective constructs) I just couldn't start to get my head around it amid the jet lag and catching up with other stuff.
I'll definitely be dipping into Dropbox as some great tunes always get thrown up.

ToffeeBoy said...

I'm with Japanther - it's not a boycott, I'm just not inspired by the theme. And I've got no axe to grind with Rob - I don't feel that he has any obligation whatsoever to keep me entertained (and by the way, that's not a euphemism)...

Abahachi said...

I didn't mean to be snotty, honestly; my comments were very much more in sorrow than in anger, because normally RR is the highlight of my week, and this week I really don't fancy getting involved.

Selecting the right theme is clearly the key to the success of RR in any given week, and it's clearly a difficult and unpredictable task - we can all remember themes that seemed promising and then didn't amount to anything much, and themes that unexpectedly mushroomed. My problem with Numbers is partly that it was predictably problematic: overlaps with three other themes we've already had (but newcomers aren't going to know anything about that), and either much too narrow (if we all take the "songs about numbers" rubric literally - but hardly anyone's actually doing that) or far too vast. The ideal theme is wide enough that lots of people can join in but also gives people a few restrictions; this one might have worked very well if it had excluded dates, times and 1-10 from the beginning, or focused on numbers in mathematics, or focused just on very large numbers, or something like that.

And, yes, I do miss the way that both Dorian and Maddy used to drop in now and again, especially when the blog seemed to need a bit of direction.

But this isn't a boycott, or a huff, or snottiness.

AliMunday said...

I try to limit myself to songs I have or know, rather than lists - this is all I usually have time for anyway. I like the chat as much as the theme but I guess the Grauniad isn't really in the business of letting us have a free-for all, they're trying to encourage newcomers too. I loved Maddy's homely approach but I guess Rob is "just doing his job". At least we have the wonderful 'Spill. And have you seen Goneforeign's wonderful photos on Dropbox?

tincanman said...

No conspiracy at work - I haven't suggested to anyone that they boycott and I doubt anyone else either. I guess we're similar enough that some topics won't appeal to bunches of us. (I hardly participated last week because I get too angry thinking about the downtrodden and whatnot and didn't feel like spending my weekend angry. But there was no boycott; we all participate if we feel like and this week lots of people don't. And lots of people like it, so its all good)

What we probably should do if we are going to complain is do that proactive, constructive etc thingee and suggest some topics.

If we each post 5 here, I'll copy, collate and paste into an RR post in a neutral way.

steenbeck said...

Ah, this is why I always tell myself not to comment, cause I always regret it. Didn't mean to imply there was some kind of organized boycott. Obviously I knew there wasn't. Sorry.

tincanman said...

not at all steen
no worries

steenbeck said...

Oh, and some I've thought of...

Judges/lawyers/courts

Water (we've already had rain & the ocean, so that would narrow it down a bit)

Self-deprecating songs

this is probably too large, but have we had songs about dancing? I guess it would be disco-heavy, eh?

songs about beauty/ugliness (not in people, necessarily, and I guess you'd want to do one at a time)

Not sure if any of these have been done before...

Chris said...

If that's the route, it makes sense to check Marconius7's site first: http://rrindex.com/aztopic.htm, where you will see, for example, dancing has been done already. Gambling and Performing are quite rich veins I think, and neither have been done yet.

Chris said...

But I'm not convinced Rob will take any notice of our suggestions....

steenbeck said...

Of course we would have had dancing. How about songs about euphemisms? Or parts of the body? (I have a large cache of songs about booties, need I remind you?)

Tincanman, does the dipthong remain the same, too?

tincanman said...

@ steenbeck
yeth

nilpferd said...

Apropos the friction upthread I always hoped there'd be a theme about talking and listening, or perhaps negotiation. We've had consolation and life lessons, but I think a theme covering songs about working things out through discussion might offer the opportunity to heal a few wounds..

tincanman said...

re marconius
I wonder if it makes sense to ask him about putting a suggestion box on his web page. It'd have to have a disclaimer than suggestions would get passed on to Rob but all responsibiility ends there.

debbym said...

Anyone care for my tuppence? I think we were (are!) very lucky that Maddy took over from Dorian: RR is obviously dear to her heart AND fun for her, as well as helping pay the mortgage. I don't think it can be easy stepping into those shoes, especially not for a longer period, as Rob has done. How much time and energy can a freelancer bring to each project, how are priorities decided?
I wonder how long Rob has committed himself to RR for (has the proposed length of Maddy's maternity leave ever been disclosed?), how many other important projects he's covering at the same time and how free a hand he has in deciding the themes.
I would love to have a theme soon that isn't *about* anything, something like the *sexy songs* Dorian did, i.e. songs suggesting a certain mood where we all have to have a think and then *out* ourselves!

AliMunday said...

Fish
Allotments
Biscuits
Socks
Cheese

(Sorry, I'm not feeling helpful today)

tincanman said...

it all helps Ali

Carole said...

I couldn't be bothered with this week.

Numbers really didn't cut it for me. Far too many songs and no thought required.

Anyway, all the songs I'd have wanted to nom were already there by the time I looked at around 8:30 on Friday morning.

tincanman said...

Marconius has said he'll ask Maddy/Rob about the suggestion box idea, and whether they would want to hear them.

Ejay said...

One of the things Dorian was good at was the opening blog and giving us guidelines. He knew how to make his job easier while keeping it enjoyable for us too. Maybe Maddy didn't master it, but made up for it by interacting much more, and guiding us along.
It's unfair to say Rob is "just doing his job" in my opinion, I believe he enjoys it, as his opening paragraphs usually attest. I would say, like Debby, and this is pure speculation, that Rob has a job apart from RR, and maybe can't devote 100% of his time to it, which is understandable.

steenbeck said...

Well, I wasn't go to add anything to my already regretted post, but...It's mother's day and I spent 8 lovely hours cleaning up after other people going out for mother's day lunch, and when I got home I was enormously pleased to see that David had procured two lovely bottles of wine....So I'm a bit impaired, in the fatigued sense.

I'm glad somebody else that remembered the Dorian days responded, because I think that anybody that started with Maddy might have a...what's the word...rarefied sense of how gurus respond. I loved Maddy's contributions, but they were uniquely personal, frequent and, sigh, what's the word? Elucidating. I feel like w/Dorian, he commented when something struck him--funny, offensive, what have you. And I think Rob started out that way, but maybe he was scared off by crankiness and hightened expectations. Sigh. Very tired, hope I don't regret this...

tincanman said...

Forgot about mothers day

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY ALL YOU U.S. & CANADIAN MOTHERS!

Chris said...

I'm sorry, but Rob is not doing the job I think we have a right to expect. The numbers blog has been closed before the published deadline with no comment at at from him all weekend.
I do think that Maddy put in effort and care above and beyond the call of duty but, when people are asking for clarification because there are so many nominations, Rob should provide it. Other blog-initiators do, all over the Guardian site.
He obviously approaches the task in a different way from Maddy, maybe for the contractual situation others have suggested, but that is no reason to ignore all the people who are, after all, providing him with material for a column he gets paid to write.

Chris said...

'at at' is the new way of saying 'at all'.

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