Two things, then I’ll leave you alone:
One, I was doing some freelance video work for my producer/writer friend last night (internal, top secret-y stuff for a large online corporation which will remain nameless), and the first line of the script she’d written read “from the beginning.” She asked me if it sounded “too Genesis-y,” to which my obvious response was, “not at all, it was actually Emerson, Lake and Palmer who did “From the Beginning.” It took me about 15 minutes to realize that she was referring to the
opening section of the Old Testament, and therefore not confusing two pioneering prog super-groups from the early 1970s. This, not surprisingly, revealed my essential nerdiness when it comes to all things prog, but also gave me cause to blow the dust off ELP’s 1972 opus (is there
any prog record that’s
not an opus?)
Trilogy and reapproach my favorite song of theirs, “
From the Beginning” (
mp3). It essentially follows the same format as earlier hit “Lucky Man”–beginning with the subdued, folky Greg Lake before giving way to the sublime synth wanky-ness of Keith Emerson, which I’ve imitated countless times on my dashbord while driving with my knee. And you need to look at the
album cover, because it’s just, well, I don’t know.
Two, although I’m currently in the eye of a storm composed of two simultaneously concluding semesters at two different colleges, I take comfort in some advice I photographed on a men’s bathroom wall a few months ago, which I recently revisited while clearing space on my cell phone:
It’s a simple sentiment, yet profound and inspirational at the same time. It begins by greeting its reader, who at the time is urinating at a bar restroom, with the universal opening salvo “what up people,” thereby establishing a friendly rapport before launching into its message, “enjoy whats happen.” No one forced this mysterious person to write this (I hope), which makes it all the more effective. Stop what you’re doing, take a deep breath and a step back, and just, for a moment, enjoy whats happen. Just make sure to wash your hands when you’re done.
It’s a simple sentiment, yet profound and inspirational at the same time. It begins by greeting its reader, who at the time is urinating at a bar restroom, with the universal opening salvo “what up people,” thereby establishing a friendly rapport before launching into its message, “enjoy whats happen.” No one forced this mysterious person to write this (I hope), which makes it all the more effective. Stop what you’re doing, take a deep breath and a step back, and just, for a moment, enjoy whats happen. Just make sure to wash your hands when you’re done.
my new band is called what up people enjoy whats happen, and all we cover is ELP.
Um… Old Testament?
I guess that shows that I’ve never cracked the book! Fixed.
this made me laugh out loud. something similar happened to me but the person was talking about a cheese or a beer or something. . .when i told them that “they kind of suck, I dunno” my companion was quite confused.
the perfect post for my morning.
Trilogy is one of my favorite all-time albums. So underrated. Good from beginning to end.
i kinda want to get back into tmbg but that is another post altogether. i don’t know why point #1 made me laugh so hard but it did. its nice when you have those echo effect realizations.
From Genesis to ELP to Yes…let the prog nerd’s unite!
OK. THAT is funny. I love the fact that you take pictures of men’s room graffiti, discuss the literary ramifications of said graffiti, and do it all straight-faced. You rock, that’s my kind of humor. Thanks.
I’ll try to enjoy whats happen today.