LJ In General meme

- yoinked from emmabovary:

1. What is your LiveJournal username? How did you come up with it?

http://ltmurnau.livejournal.com/21097.html#cutid1

2. Have you renamed before? If so, what were your old names? If you haven't renamed, what names would you want to rename to?

Never renamed. I don't know if I would want to rename.

3. How much does your userinfo say about you?

Enough, I think. Anyone with enough patience to trudge through the rest of the LJ itself (823 entries now, counting this one) could build up a portrait.

4. How long have you been on LiveJournal?

First entry was May 26, 2003.

5. What is the longest amount of time you've gone without posting?

Probably several weeks.

6. On average, how many entries do you post per day?

I seem to end up posting something at least once a week, sometimes several times a week.

7. What are your posts normally about?

To go by my tag usage counts, I do a lot of memes (167), but also write about game design (34), movies politics and music (27 each), and the War on Terror books and art (24 each). Normally I post when I find something that amuses me, in the news or otherwise, and present it with some more or less snarky comment. But I also post a lot of "commemoratives": for example, when I publish something, or my birthday, etc..

8. Is your LiveJournal friends only? Why or why not?

Some of my posts are friends only, but only if they are really personal (infrequent) or nasty (almost never).

9. How long do you see yourself staying on LiveJournal?

As long as Livejournal is around, and working properly, I plan to be posting. I don't care if there are "better" or more popular blog sites; this one does what I want it to, I am connected with a lot of people I like (and where the connection has failed, usually it was because they stopped blogging, not because they moved someplace else), and I've put a lot of whinging and effort into this one. I do the LJBook backup thing every so often.

ABOUT YOUR FRIENDSLIST

1. How many people are on your friendslist?

56 friends, 47 of them mutual, 22 "also friend of". Most of the last category are inactive; I usually purge from the flist for this reason.

2. Why do you choose to add a person to your friendslist?

If I see someone make a good comment on someone else's LJ, and they have a number of common interests with me, I will probably friend them. I used to troll around looking for people with large numbers of common interests or common obscure interests, but that was not a reliable indicator of whether they were actually interesting or had anything to say. Also, people I meet and like in real life would be friended (though there aren't many of these on my list who still post a lot).

3. Is your friendslist an actual list of people you consider friends, or more of a reading list?

I have met about 20 of the people on my flist in person, though as I said few of them post much anymore (at least on LJ). I think I could be very good friends with the other people on my list whom I haven't met. Some of them are excellent writers too, so it's a good reading list as well. I also belong to about 50 communities, but many of them are quiet or almost completely inactive.

4. How often do you read your friendslist?

Every day, several times.

5. Do you use filters when viewing your friendslist?

No.

6. How much do you talk to people on your friendslist off of LiveJournal?

I talk to flist people in real life, as opposed to private emails. But there aren't many of them.

I'm not sure where this fits, but I have an abiding belief that the people on my friendslist look like their userID photos. So if I ever meet you in real life, I will be disappointed to find out that you are not actually a living cartoon or movie still.

It's Sister Jinny's Turn To Throw The Bomb, and other hit tunes....

At lunch today I was shuffling through the stack of 45s every thrift store still seems to have, and came away with two interesting items:

The Glencoves, "Hootenanny" b/w "It's Sister Jinny's Turn To Throw The Bomb" (JOY J 724) - from 1963; and

Johnny and the Hurricanes, "Beatnik Fly" b/w "Reveille Rock" (Barry BAGT-556X) - from 1959. Instrumental versions of old tunes ("Blue Tail Fly" and the Army bugle call), featuring the then-new Hammond organ. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_and_the_Hurricanes

Haven't heard either yet (still have to haul the record player out of storage), but I did find the lyrics to the first one:

It's Sister Jinny's Turn To Throw The Bomb

In an old chemist's attic, so dreary and so mean,
Oh smell the fearful odors of nitroglycerine
They're busy building bombs, and filling cans with nails
And little starving kiddies set up this tearful wail:

[chorus:] Oh, it's sister Ginny's turn to throw the bomb
The last one it was thrown by brother John (brother John)
Mother's aim is bad and the coppers all know Dad
So it's sister Ginny's turn to throw the bomb

In a dark and dreary attic, all filled with nitro fumes
They spend each waking hour planning others' dooms
They build bombs every morning, so not a day goes by
That from some smoking building goes up this mournful cry:

[chorus]

They're taught bomb-building from the day they're born
And peace is something they all learn to scorn
They can hardly wait to see the blast and hear the noise
And watch the heads go flying off little girls and boys

[chorus]

She was maiming little children one fine day
When her older brother swore she'd have to pay
Grit his teeth and pulled the pin
The whole darn house caved in
And I'll bet she's building bombs below this day

[chorus]

What they used to call "sick humour" in 1963, I suppose. The flip side (actually, it was their big hit) is just stupid:

Hootenanny

There's gonna be a big
Hootenanny, hootenanny
Everybody's gonna come along
All join in at the
Hootenanny, hootenanny
Sing a hooting, hollering song

Put on your hat
Put out the cat
Bring a little money
Cause you might need that

Throw out the blues
Kick off your shoes
Sing a little, sing a little
Make a little love a little

Bring a little honey to
The hootenanny, hootenanny
Everybody's gonna have a date
Hurry hurry, hurry to
The hootenanny, hootenanny
We don't wanna be late

You get the girls
I'll get the car
Bring a banjo and an old guitar
Get out the spoons
You know the tunes
Hey diddle diddle with
A fiddle in the middle

If you can't fiddle
At the hootenanny, hootenanny
Play a little paper and comb
Once you get to the
Hootenanny, hootenanny
You'll never wanna go home

You get the girls
I'll get the car
Bring a banjo and an old guitar
Get out the spoons
You know the tunes
Hey diddle diddle with
A fiddle in the middle

If you can't fiddle at the
Hootenanny, hootenanny
Play a little paper and comb
Once you get to the
Hootenanny, hootenanny
You'll never wanna go home
You'll never wanna go home
You'll never want to go home