Tag: Los Angeles

Summer Playlists on the Torg Stories Podcast

Summer Music Playlists Discussion on this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!

Last week we did our favorite things to do on a nice day in Los Angeles and Boone, NC and this week we’ll go over the music we’d listen to on these beautiful days. We talk about how we got to these lists of songs, and we listen to an excerpt from each of our ten songs.

BOONE, NC (Bill): It’s a beautiful day in Boone, what songs am I listening to? 

  1. “Motorcycle Drive By” by Zach Bryan
  • 2022 release. Born in Japan. Parents in Navy. Moved to Oklahoma. In the Navy for 8 years. 
  • Lyrics “I will be in Richmond by tonight” and “I think it’s about time we headed home”
  • It has a motorcycle that propels you and they are going somewhere like me in my car on the beautiful day. 
  1. “In a Big Country” by Big Country
  • 1983 release. Scottish rock band. Participated in “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” song. This song came out in 1983.
  • Lyrics: they say “Ha!” or is it “Shock!” to open and “Shout!” in one sentence lines. 
  • Think it’s guitars to sound like bagpipes 
  1. “Motion Sickness” by Phoebe Bridges
  • 2017 release. From Pasadena, CA. About her relationship with Ryan Adams.
  • Lyrics: Somebody roll the windows down. There are no words in the English language I could scream to drown you out. 
  1. “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man” by Bob Seeger
  • 1969 release. 80 years old. From Detroit. This song was on his debut album in 1969. 
  • Lyrics: ‘Cause I was born lonely down by the riverside. Learned to spin fortune wheels, and throw dice. I was just thirteen when I had to leave home. Knew I couldn’t stick around, I had to roam
  1. “Just Drive” by Erin Kinsey
  • 2022 release. From Texas. 24 years old. 
  • Lyrics pretty much what we are doing here: You and me, this white Toyota. Paramore on the radio Going 90, down 40
  1. “Castle on the Hill” by Ed Sheeran
  • 2017 release. A love letter to Suffolk. NE of London. It’s the Framlingham Castle mentioned in the song. He wanted to make a song like Bruce Springsteen’s “The River.” 
  • Lyrics: I’m on my way. Driving at 90 down those country lanes Singing to “Tiny Dancer”
  • More lyrics: He writes, “but I can’t wait to go home.” Does this exist for us? 
  1. “See You In the Afterlife” by Foster The People
  • 2024 release. Formed in LA in 2009. They sang “Pumped up Kicks.” Singer Mark Foster is married to Ozark actress Julia Garner. 
  • Most interesting song lyrically on my list? Today I woke up crying, so I went into a church to pray. They said, “Excuse me, but you’ll have to leave or we’re calling security”
  1. “And We Danced” by The Hooters
  • 1985 Release. Philly origins. Wrote it in the Poconos.
  • They took their name from a nickname for the melodica, a type of keyboard harmonica.
  • Lyrics: I met my be-bop baby at the Union Hall. She could dance all night and shake the paint off the wall
  1. “Space Age Love Song” by A Flock of Seagulls
  • 1982 Release. Liverpool origins. A singer from The Stranglers yelled at them, “A Flock of Seagulls.” They decided that would be their new name. 
  • Not a lyrically interesting song other than maybe a minimalist approach. 
  1. “Takin’ It to the Streets” by The Doobie Brothers
  • 1976 Release. First to feature Michael McDonald on lead vocals. 

LOS ANGELES (Anne): It’s a beautiful day in LA, what songs is Anne listening to?  

  1. “Close To You”by Dayglow
    • 1/20/21, Day glow is Sloan Christian Struble, Texan.
    • Lyrics, “I’m only overthinking when I’m close to you”
  2. “What a Fool Believes” by Self
    • Remake of Doobie Brothers song, played entirely with toy instruments. Did an entire album being played with toy instruments.
    • Original song written by Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins released in 1978.
  3. “Fever”, by Inner Wave
    • 2021. Inner Wave is from LA.
    • Lead singer says song has “driving up the coast vibes” 
  4. “All My Happiness is Gone”, by Purple Mountains
    • 2019. David Berman, a poet and musician.
    • Sadly committed suicide a month after release. He was 52 and in rehearsals for tour. First album after 10 years. Known for lyrics.
    • All the lyrics in this song are great, “Mounting mileage on the dash, Double darkness falling fast, I keep stressing pressing on”
    • By A song that sounds uplifting but lyrics hit hard. I listened to another song about his mom from this album, made me get teary eyed at work.
  5. “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”, by Radiohead
    • 2007
    • A song that ends in a great climax, great guitar ending.
    • Lyrics “Everybody leaves, if they get the chance, and this is my chance” “I hit the bottom, hit the bottom and escape”
    • Great backing vocal, eerie vocals.
  6. “Escapism”, by RAYE, 070 Shake
    • 2022. 
    • Its about partying to forget your pain, in a bad place. Lyrics: “Just a heart broke b****, high heels, six inch, in the back of a nightclub, sippin’ champagne
  7. “Wait a Minute”, by Willow, 2019 became a hit from TikTok trend
    • 2015, she was 15 years old
    • Willow is daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinket.
    • First heard this on a youtube of Coachella performance
    • Lyrics: “Wait a minute. I left my consciousness in the sixth dimension”
    • Pronounces things as tings in song to good effect
  8. “Fire”, by Waxahatchee. Jump in
    • 2020.
    • Katie Crutchfield, named after a creek in Alabama. 
    • She is a twin
    • I saw her open for someone at Hollywood Bowl, maybe Haim, this song stuck with me.
  9. “Never Too Much”, by Luther Vandross
    • 1981. Debut song written/composed/produced by him alone
    • I of course know Luther Vandross, but only recently have listened to this song a lot because I heard on TikTok
    • Great vibe song, a happy song

10. “Where She Goes”, by Bad Bunny

  • 2023. Coachella really brought me to Bad Bunny and he released this shortly after that with a great desert video filmed near there.
  • I don’t know Spanish, but the opening lyric is easy “Baby, dime la verdad” (Baby, tell me the truth) I also like singing “Quisiera volverte a ver” (I would like to see you again). Also in English he says “I go where she goes”

We’d love to hear what’s on your summer playlist!

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!

A Funny Bacon Video, Likeable Media, and Life in Los Angeles

My sister Anne and I talk about her move to LA, looking for work, and Dave Kerpen’s book, Likeable Social Media. Anne will also meet up with me next week in Shreveport, Louisiana for the Phenom Film Festival.  We talk pitching projects in Hollywood, and we consider Dave Kerpen’s book, Likeable Social Media.   Oh yeah, there’s a funny bacon video from one of my favorite comedians.

function fbs_click() {u=location.href;t=document.title;window.open(‘http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=’+encodeURIComponent(u)+’&t=’+encodeURIComponent(t),’sharer’,’toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436′);return false;} html .fb_share_link { padding:2px 0 0 20px; height:16px; background:url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top left; }Share on Facebook

Likeable Social Media William Torgerson Dave Kerpen good book, great read

When Anne tells me she’s not sure her personality is suited to the pitch projects in L.A., I remember the time when I completed an Outdoor Wilderness course through Outward Bound and they talked about people’s comfort zone, stretch zone, and panic zone. The idea was that if you could live in your stretch zone and make it your comfort zone, you could gradually face situations which cause you to be fearful.  Back then, we were talking about sleeping outside without a tent and scaling rock walls, but I think it’s a notion that can be applied to public speaking and trying to meet new people.  My sister is a lady who has jumped out of airplanes. I think she can meet people interested in projects such as Love on the Big Screen.

Listen to the podcast by clicking on the play button below:

http://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/2048745/height/325/width/325/autoplay/no/autonext/no/direction/forward/thumbnail/yes

 

You can also listen to the podcast through iTunes. Go to the store and type in “Prof. Torg Read, Write, and Teach Digital Book Club.”  It would help us if you’d rate the podcast or even leave a comment.

Relevant Links:

Questions for you, oh wise reader:

  • Do you ever consult social media to make purchasing decisions?
  • What sorts of pages have you “liked”?
  • Do you use Four Square, Yelp, or other kinds of social media beyond Facebook?
Love to hear your answers via a comment.
And now for your funny “bacon” themed video:


function fbs_click() {u=location.href;t=document.title;window.open(‘http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=’+encodeURIComponent(u)+’&t=’+encodeURIComponent(t),’sharer’,’toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436′);return false;} html .fb_share_link { padding:2px 0 0 20px; height:16px; background:url(http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?6:26981) no-repeat top left; }Share on Facebook

IRL, Storify, and Girltalk: First Day at Blogworld

Like just about everyone, I know what the letters LOL mean (although I think I might not type them anymore) but I encountered a new one I hadn’t heard:  IRL.  Do you want to hazard a guess?

I’m at a conference this week in Los Angeles called the Blogworld New Media Expo, and on the first day I was introduced to a website called Storify during a presentation by Kate Brodock and Jeff Cutler.  Although I only saw Storify in action for about a minute, it seems to be something I could use to not only capture an online Twitter conversation, it would also give me the rhetorical space to offer my take on the conversation.  For example, I participate sometimes in a Wed. night Twitter chat by using the hashtag #FYCCHAT.  The letters stand for First Year Composition.  Using Storify, it looks like I could pull tweets from one of our conversations into a page that would allow me to tell my version of what happened during that nights’ chat.

Lots to Do near L.A. Convention Center

I’ve been thinking about audio essays where you’d hear the writer’s voice cruising along the same as if they were reading a paper they’d written, but instead of quoting folks, they’d integrate audio clips. The essay I have in mind would be an audio version of something you might read in the op-ed section of the newspaper (as if people still read newspapers) or in a journal about teaching or writing, except for that in the audio essay, you’d hear not only the voice of the writer, you’d also hear the voices of the writers being quoted.   So if I were to write this kind of essay about my time here at the Blogworld New Media Expo, you’d hear an audio recording of my voice telling you about what I was up to, until I went to a clip from something I’d recorded or otherwise gathered online.

Malibu hiking Blogworld Los Angeles
Sis Got Me Out Hiking Near Malibu

As for the letters “IRL,” they were spoken to me yesterday when I was talking with some folks including someone named Marlo who has a radio project she calls “Girltalk With Marlo.”  Her card describes it as “relevant, intelligent talk radio.  Women’s issues.  Women’s Voices.”  Sounded cool and so if you’re a woman, you might want to check it out.  Marlo was telling me about a meet up, and I thought she was talking about a virtual one, but she corrected me by saying, “IRL.”  I was baffled.  The Indy Racing League?  (yep, I’m a transplanted Indiana Hoosier).

“No,” Marlo said, “In Real Life.”

Mmmm, I’m getting old.