"I never drink wine, and I do not smoke shit."
One of those statements is actually true; the other is mostly true. I just couldn't resist quoting from one of my favorite silly movies, which I trust Serge and/or Neil will identify for anyone who doesn't recognize it immediately. And thus it is perfectly logical that I was dancing wildly around the house caroling rapturously about drug use early on a Friday evening instead of loading sound equipment into the car.
I'm terrifically straight with regards to mind-altering substances. I don't even drink coffee, and my allergies inhibited any miniscule interest I might have had in experimenting with tobacco. Alcohol makes me do stupid and unsafe things, and I don't like the taste of it anyway. But I occasionally take some medicinally. (By "occasionally" I mean I've had some alcohol three or four times this century, when depressed or freaked out, and then I've generally done stupid things.) My only street drug experience has been under medical supervision as part of some biostudies research, during which I was given all sorts of interesting combinations of ketamine and other substances in the interest of science. I learned from those studies that overall I'm not interested in altering my mental state via anything but internally-manufactured endorphins. Okay, and also that:
- Glycine makes my nose itch ferociously.
- Double-blinding any study with mind-altering drugs is pointless; like you're not going to notice going from stone cold sober to, um, stoned in sixty seconds flat?
- Ketamine and methamphetamine (do NOT try this at home, boys and girls!) cancel each other out enough that I can read a novel to pass the time.
Yes, I was plied with drugs and found it so tedious that I couldn't wait to pick up a book. Does that put me in the "hopelessly nerdy" column or what? Though the drugs did slow down my reading speed; for some reason my concentration was not what it usually is. But overall? Boring. I get a better high from dancing, which brings me to why exactly was I was spinning madly around my guest room yesterday evening belting out lyrics about drugs. Inconsistent, me, much? I was getting ready for a gig, really! I just got a little distracted by finding two songs in a row in my iTunes library that were both highly danceable and both about drug use. So I had to dance and sing for a bit, which I guess counts as using drugs for inspiration without actually, y'know, using them. Conceptual drug use? Drug use once removed? Something like that.
The first song that got me dancing was "Cocaine Lil", adapted from the poem "Cocaine Lil and Morphine Sue" by W.H. Auden and recorded by multifaceted musician Ian Whitcomb, whose accomplishments range from being a one-hit-wonder in the British Invasion (#5 on the Billboard charts in 1965; great picture here and omigodvideo here, and they're dancing...) to repopularizing the ukelele to double Grammy nominations (one win) for an amazing CD on which he actually conducted the current White Star Orchestra in music from their Titanic-era repertoire (I cried just reading the liner notes).
But to the point: among many other wonderful songs on You Turn Me On: The Very Best of Ian Whitcomb, we have an excursion into the drug life:
She lived in Cocaine town on Cocaine hill,
She had a cocaine dog and a cocaine cat,
They fought all night with a cocaine rat.
"Cocaine Lil" would definitely fall into the category of warning songs, with Lil dying at the end. But in the meantime, an addictive beat and sparkly imagery to dance to:
Snakes and elephants silver and gray.
There are folkie musical versions of the poem. This is not one of them. Listen...
If that didn't make you at least want to tap your foot, there's something deeply wrong with you!
Slowing down the tempo in both senses, the other song takes a more, ah, balanced view, merely recommending being selective in your choice of substances:
But coffee and reefer makes you feel all right.
"Coffee and Reefer" by Ron Sunshine, off the album Deluxe: my favorite song from my Bluebird experience at this year's Swing Out New Hampshire. Slowish Lindy hop; I want to get my swivel on just thinking about it.
Whiskey make you love a girl you'd never touch at all
Mescaline will turn you into a little pink eraser
So try cappuccino with a mellow gauge chaser
Safer drug use: Sunshine includes an internal PSA about not driving or operating heavy machinery while under the influence. The song doesn't make me any more inclined to experiment with coffee or reefer, but I could dance all night to that beat. Who needs drugs when you have music? Listen...
Oh, yeah! Was it good for you? It was good for me. Now I have to go dance some more. I leave you with a well-deserved commercial plug:
Support the artists who make me happy! You too can dance and sing about drugs! Convenient shopping links:
"Cocaine Lil" - Ian Whitcomb
on You Turn Me On: The Very Best of Ian Whitcomb (purchase from Amazon or Amazon-UK)
"Coffee and Reefer" - Ron Sunshine
on Deluxe (purchase from CD Baby)
But wait, there's more! A bonus hat tip for drug-related poetry to Rixo commenter Kip W's poem "Rumplestiltstein," in which reefer infiltrates a fairy tale. Much less embarrassing than my teenage attempts at poetry, I assure you.
I'm embarassed to admit that I've only seen that film once and fell asleep, which I never do when watching films. I wasn't even drunk!
Either it's too late at night and I'm too dozy or none of my favourite drug inspired songs are on the internet, even as snippits. I'll try again tomorrow.
As for smoking shit, I did once build a fire of dried cowpats, and once was enough.
Posted by: Neil Willcox | November 16, 2008 at 08:56 PM
I don't know any of those, although I've read Kip's poem.
Posted by: Marilee J. Layman | November 16, 2008 at 09:00 PM
I am so clever that I made my own snippets so I could have Amazing Multimedia Bits in my post. I should have put in the picture and embedded the video as well for the Compleat Multimedia Experience, eh?
I am crushed that the movie bored you to sleep. I think I must have imprinted on the whole "go dancing with a guy in white tie" as a child and thus unknowingly affected the entire future course of my life. That music still gives me flashbacks (the real music, not the horrible thing they put on the DVD/VHS versions).
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | November 16, 2008 at 10:27 PM
I just couldn't resist quoting from one of my favorite silly movies, which I trust Serge and/or Neil will identify
I will confess that I had to google that one because I had never seen that movie. I did see Hamilton in Zorro the Gay Blade.
As for drugs and alcohol... I'm one of those people who went thru College in the early 1970s without ever smoking a joint or getting drunk. Yes, I was a Square. Not so much anymore, but booze also makes me sleepy (and makes me say if not do stupid things), which means I'd have to take more coffee to compensate. Coffee is the only mind-altering substance I allow myself.
Posted by: Serge | November 16, 2008 at 11:54 PM
The two Hamilton comedies ought to have been a double feature.
I consume chocolate, but nothing else with caffeine in it. I like the smell of coffee and go to coffee shops with enthusiasm, but I don't care for the taste of it unless it's heavily diluted, like in ice cream. You may recall that I drink hot chocolate when I go to such places.
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | November 17, 2008 at 06:22 AM
Susan... You may recall that I drink hot chocolate
I indeed remember that, from when we finally ran into each other at the 2006 worldcon and went to the hotel's Starbucks. It's a shame that we couldn't repeat the experience this year, but alas your masquerade entry proved to be very time-consuming. I think that this year's worldcon is the first where I spent so much time in a hotel's garage basement, but it was worth it.
Posted by: Serge | November 17, 2008 at 09:11 AM
Better than spending it backstage in the scary arena in New Orleans like we did in 1988! (I was helping Animal X with two costumes, one of which ended up crashing and going in 1989 instead.)
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | November 17, 2008 at 09:36 AM
(And let me just say it amazes me that you seem to want to do this AGAIN...)
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | November 17, 2008 at 09:36 AM
Well, Susan, it was indeed a lot of work, but it was worth it. True, it was a lot more work for you than for me. As for doing it again, sure, I'd love to. Now if I could find a way to have a Martian Tripod come on stage... Of course, since I'll be flying to the worldcon next year, I couldn't bring any prop with me. Still, I definitely am available, should you again catch the costuming fever (aka the Mode Fever on planet Vulcan).
(As for Animal X's costume crashing, dare I ask if it had to be rebooted?)
Posted by: Serge | November 17, 2008 at 12:39 PM
Serge:
You may be available but I think I am just going to have a nice, relaxing worldcon next year! So far my attempts to volunteer have been ignored, so I'm looking at maybe throwing a party or something, but otherwise, I will just hang out. Maybe do a little bit of tourist stuff, since I don't remember my only previous visit to Montreal.
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | November 17, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Making your own snippits, I'm impressed. Sadly I don't have that skill*.
I don't think I was bored by the film, or I'd have gone to bed. I think I was very tired and had found an unusually comfortable position on the sofa (generally when I fall asleep I stretch out and fall off sofas).
Serge:Now if I could find a way to have a Martian Tripod come on stage...
Does it have to come on stage? Could it be done with shadows?
Alternatively, a tripod is too tall to fit on the stage, so just three legs come on...
* "I don't have any useful skills, I just fiddle with numbers," was my catchphrase for a while.
Posted by: Neil Willcox | November 17, 2008 at 03:51 PM
I can make snippets (snippits? we have a spelling disagreement) if anyone needs any.
Now I'm having ideas for entire posts full of snippets. Hmm. Well, if I run out of things to talk about here...
Some of the less PC bits of the film (like the "black chicken" scene) are on YouTube, though not, alas, the funeral. The dance scene is there. Now if only I had the video editing skills to dub the correct song over the (better quality) commercially-available video!
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | November 17, 2008 at 03:57 PM
Snippets is right.
I've never liked the taste of alcohol, although when I was young, it was rude if you didn't drink, so I'd take a g&t and gradually add water to it through the evening. I've never personally used pot, but, again in my early 20s, I had a boyfriend who took me to rock orchestra-type concerts and it would have been impossible to breathe without getting some in your lungs. It didn't seem to affect me. On the other hand, I take a fair number of prescribed meds that would sell for a good amount on the street.
Posted by: Marilee J. Layman | November 17, 2008 at 04:46 PM
Susan... I'm looking at maybe throwing a party or something
May I help?
Posted by: Serge | November 17, 2008 at 07:12 PM
On Snippets vs Snippits, Google Fight thinks Snippets.
Thinking about Cocaine Lil, living in Cocaine Town on Cocaine Hill, she's almost certain to inhale some cocaine just by living there (especially when the cocaine dog and cat fight the cocaine rat). It's not like living in a gingerbread house, where, with sufficent willpower, you can not eat sweets.
Posted by: Neil Willcox | November 17, 2008 at 07:47 PM
Neil... Could it be done with shadows?
Hmm. That's an idea. One thing I learned from being in Susan's presentation is that a prop does not have to look real up close. What matters is what it looks like from the audience, which is how my raygun easily treansformed into a saxophone by simply have the whole thing be a large cutout with the gun on one side and the sax on the other.
Another tip I got from the masquerade was the velociraptor that came on stage. You could see the manipulator's black-clad legs sticking out from under the dino's belly, but the sight was awesome.
Final tip from the above two... People who go to the theater do not demand that its internal reality be an exact copy of Reality.
Posted by: Serge | November 17, 2008 at 08:01 PM
Neil:
It's not like living in a gingerbread house, where, with sufficent willpower, you can not eat sweets.
Um, do you have personal experience of this? I don't think there's enough willpower in the world for me not to nibble on the trim a bit.
Serge:
People who go to the theater do not demand that its internal reality be an exact copy of Reality.
Yep. Just like SF. The internal reality has to be consistent, but it doesn't have to be realistic. Good theater makes the lack of realism irrelevant. Go back and look at what I wrote about Passion Play. Giant fish! Queen Elizabeth with a rifle in Vietnam! But it all worked.
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | November 17, 2008 at 09:53 PM
The limits of what you can do in a live stage show are nowhere near as constricting as one would think. I offer for your consideration Matrix Ping Pong (YouTube Video under two minutes long), which boggles my mind real good.
Maybe I'll listen to some of my reefer song albums tonight. Good jive on 78s.
Thanks for the plug!
Posted by: Kip W | November 17, 2008 at 10:34 PM
Susan... The internal reality has to be consistent, but it doesn't have to be realistic.
Years ago, I used to work with another programmer who was totally unable to enjoy SF movies because, since they didn't look like Reality, the sets always remained sets, no matter how realistic they were. She could not fill in the blanks. This kind of reminds me of how I first saw Much Ado About Nothing as Branagh's film, then as the play: the latter had minimalist set elements to suggest what the movie showed in great details, but a suggestion was all that was needed for me to accept what its reality was supposed to be.
Posted by: Serge | November 17, 2008 at 11:55 PM
Kip:
Wow, that's well-done! I had to watch it a couple of times before I caught on to exactly how they were doing the players. Very nice! Thanks for the pointer. And yes, I'm tempted to steal it for a masquerade.
Do you have any idea what the background of the video is? Is it a contest or a game show of some sort? After watching a game show involving speed and skill in packing of grocery bags on Japanese television, I'd believe anything. That show forever changed how I pack my groceries!
Serge:
The gun/sax thing was done the way it was because I was consciously going for the two-dimensional cartoon look. But yes, the sax in particular was very effective. The original drawing for that was done by occasional Rixo commenter Keira, by the way, most recently seen on the Amateur Transplants thread. I brought her home a workmanship ribbon.
For excellent Shakespeare with conscious theatricality that really works, I recommend this RSC production
of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Oh, and yes, if I have a party of the correct sort at worldcon, you can help. A different room to have it in would be especially useful, since I don't think my roommates would go for it.
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | November 20, 2008 at 08:10 AM
Susan... Well, I'll have my own room and, should I seek someone to share it with, they'd be warned about that evening of wild revelry.
Posted by: Serge | November 20, 2008 at 09:50 AM
As for Midsummer Night's Dream and theatricality... I still have a videotape of a French film of Chrestien de Troyes's Perceval le Gallois that I had caught on TV 25 years ago. It's the story of Parsifal looking for the Grail, where everybody is dressed in beautiful Medieval costumes, but the sets are extremely stylized: for example, when Parsifal walks in a forest it is represented by a few pillars on top of which are four giant oak leaves.
Posted by: Serge | November 20, 2008 at 10:23 AM
Serge:
That sounds beautiful, sort of like Cocteau's La Belle Et La BĂȘte.
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | November 25, 2008 at 03:07 PM
Susan... The cinematography is pretty straightforward, and may have been videotapd, if I remember correctly. I'd lend you the tape, but you don't have a TV and so, no VCR. Still, if you find a way to take someone's VCR hostage just long enough to watch the tape, my offer stands.
Posted by: Serge | November 25, 2008 at 03:16 PM
Do so have a VCR! And a DVD player! I hooked 'em up to a vintage 1980s computer monitor so I can watch rental flicks.
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | November 25, 2008 at 03:30 PM
In that case, Susan... I'll send it to you, provided it didn't disappear when we moved to New Mexico. Stay tuned.
Posted by: Serge | November 25, 2008 at 03:49 PM
Susan... I found Perceval le Gallois. I'll send it to you this week. Be warned that the quality of its picture isn't the greatest. Then again I taped this when AJ was one year old. Soooooo...
Posted by: Serge | November 26, 2008 at 02:02 AM