Family members know that I leave the room during ultra-violent movie scenes. Ditto torture. While I had read that Brosnan’s singing was not the high point of the film, I was not prepared for the depth and breadth of badness.

Having been a fan since Remington Steele days, I was willing to throw him some slack. But after enduring his first number, I did indeed leave and put up the supper dishes and leftovers, and wiped down counters, etc. during the second. Little did I know he was to be brought back again and again.

And to think that Meryl Streep gazed upon him with adoration during his singing. Such a great actress.

If you missed the movie, you can catch my drift during the first minutes of this video.

I was there to find a fish or two for photographing, preferably with eyes that were not sunken or otherwise separated from their sockets. Stopping to check out the veggies, I was startled by the plump woman next to me who burst into song. Whatever was playing over the store’s sound system touched a nerve in her, and she was lost in a world of her own.

Unfortunately, this struck me as being terribly funny, and I moved away toward the peaches. She came up behind me, and launched into another verse, as heartfelt and unselfconscious as the first. The produce section was packed, but no one else seemed to be even smiling.

By this time, I was in grave danger of embarrassing this happy soul or myself. Hurrying to the fish section, I played with the live spotted prawns ($16.99/lb), bought three Dungeness crabs and two striped bass.

Life can be a musical sometimes.

Homemade burgers, no sides (give me a break, it’s been a long and tough week). ‘Deja Vu’ was going to be saved for when other family members show up, but it won out over the film pulled out of our vast vault of old movies, ‘The Horse Whisperer’, which I’ve still not seen.

If expectations are low, enjoyment is usually high, so ‘Deja Vu’ was very, very entertaining. I had to erupt with a ‘WHAT?’ when the physics part was introduced, not having been clued in to what to expect, which is also a good thing. And part of my brain kept saying ‘WHAT?’ for a large portion of the last half of the film, because one usually does not connect Denzel Washington with that sort of thing, which I won’t give away if you haven’t seen it. And definitely don’t go, ‘Now wait a minute, how. . .’, because you’ll ruin it.

The burger was oversized and fell apart. Must have happened during the chase scene with all those drums on the soundtrack. Gotta get the soundtrack.

By the end of the evening, we had upwards of 20 kids, which we didn’t expect, it being a school night. By 8:30, there was some concern that we might run out of candy, especially since our kids no longer have stashes of unopened gum and other such in their rooms.

The Halloween enthusiast down the street had great success with his maniacal laughter recordings and mechanical wonders, because every few minutes we’d hear kids screaming.

I didn’t get to play the Das Parfum soundtrack and other music as planned. For the full effect, doors must be kept open, and it was cold. At some point after dinner, I realized I was coming down with something awful, and was dealing with chills of my own. But next year.

Up till now it’s been pretty much business as usual around here, getting the day job done, keeping the yard irrigated, which takes twice as long as usual, and of course, not sleeping at night. Is this day 10? Can anyone count anymore?

Today my brain shut down. Around 10:30, when the sun beats down on a flat-roofed house, before lunch, before I noted that the tomato plants were all droopy again, and right about when the laptop started glowing.

Some are working in bikinis. My neighbor in back believes that the louder the music, the cooler she feels. I wonder if she’s heard any Slayer recently.

Some stayed at hotels over the weekend. Frankly I think the military should issue those cooling vests for all of us.

Leftover roast chicken, cold asparagus and some of the macaroni salad made ahead for the weekend. Listening to Johnny Yuma, Johnny Cash. Reading the Mercury News review of X-Men, The Last Stand, which the guys are going to see this afternoon.

In the Netflix queue, The Cars That Ate Paris, Blow Up and Brokeback Mountain.

When the kids were little, naptime meant a few books, then they’d settle down while I left some music on. Sometimes this meant Johnny Cash.

Sunday when we went to fetch a very tired grad, he fell asleep in the car to some of the same songs, which seem awfully lively to sleep to. But he did.

The two Australian miners trapped for two weeks in the rubble of a Tasmanian gold mine kept their spirits up by singing the Kenny Rogers song, The Gambler.

That’s the one with the line about ‘. . . the best you can hope for is to die in your sleep.’

The rescued miners can no doubt sleep better now that they have sold their story for approximately $1 million.

Users noted with some alarm that the Russian music site seemed to be down for much longer than usual. Rumors began to circulate of its possible takedown by no less than Putin in his new concern for intellectual property.

The site now seems to be operational, enjoying double the visitors it had before all the fuss.

Because for some inexplicable reason, Dueling Banjos is looping in my brain. Out! Out!

Hey Girl, Ray Charles and Michael McDonald
Thief of Hearts, Tina Turner
Battle in the Forest, House of Flying Daggers soundtrack
I Knew You Were Waiting, George Michael, Aretha Franklin
Graceland, Paul Simon
Feeling Good, Michael Buble
Don’t You Worry Bout a Thing, Stevie Wonder
Nothing Can Come Between Us, Sade
You Promised Me, Ingrid
One Step at a Time, George Strait

Actually, it’s more like her top ten picks. It includes classical pieces as you might expect, but there are surprises.

It’s lonely out in space on such a timeless flight.

Perhaps those chillout playlists of yours could include some periods of . . . no music.

The memory pathways of a musician are quite different from those of a non-musician.

What do ‘Maria’ from West Side Story, the Simpson’s theme melody, and Wagner’s Gotterdammerung have in common?

Some would say the music of the devil, or Diabolus in Musica, or tritones. Fans of Slayer and other metal bands are quite familiar with it. Much more, including samples, here.

Wichita Lineman, Skylark and Only a Dream in Rio.

These days, I have a normal purse, but back in the day, when the boys were little, it was a magical vessel of wondrous things.

Besides the usual bandages, tissues, wet wipes, there had to be Things to Amuse While Waiting in Line. At any given time, I had dinosaurs, small jets, small cars, and a sizable wad of homemade play clay in the depths.

In addition to the lines, there were recitals to sit through. Their piano teacher also taught several thousand (or so it seemed) very young violin students, whose performances were always first.

Once, when my older son was 5, there was a recital with more advanced students. I somehow missed this one, but sent along a fresh batch of play clay with his dad. As it turned out, the instructor completely forgot that he was on the program, which dragged on for almost two hours. He performed last. I should have had that batch of clay bronzed.

My younger son, who will graduate from college next month, was playing with my Hoberman key ring just the other day.

Michael Buble’s version. He was influenced from an early age by his grandfather’s record collection.

Blame it On My Youth, I Only Have Eyes For You, and It Ain’t Necessarily So.

From Briefing.com: Google is set to launch its music downloading store.

There are several versions of this in my music library, I’m listening to Al Jarreau/Oleta Adams at the moment.

Locally, the waters of March are causing some flooding in places.

Out of My Head.’ To get my heart started back up again (see previous post).

At least my eyeball didn’t pop out of my head.

I was until one station inexplicably played a Christmas song, which wrecked my concentration and disturbed me so much I had to get up and wash the dishes. Back to Michael Buble and Put Your Head on My Shoulder.

He has been seen with those earbuds as he makes his rounds in the Vatican.

Now wouldn’t that make a great ad?

With rain coming down in buckets and washtubs this morning, Van is a bit depressing, what with ‘wanting to be alone like Greta’.

The Bach Trumpet, Ludwig Guttler on trumpet.

I should have a whole category of ‘Music to do your taxes by’.

Tehillim, not sure it’s a good choice for this hour. But it’s interesting.

‘Fun’ products coming out next Tuesday. What could they be? Not too many rumors out this time.

One of my sons said to keep eyes peeled for the prizes to be awarded to the 1 billionth buyer of iTunes. Too late for me to win. The milestone has been reached.

Theme for Malcolm.

Every Breath You Take, or what my kids call ‘the stalker song’.

We love the movie around here, having seen it 874 times. At least.

Why is it so hot in here? It’s all about the information.

Soma.

The Concerto for Orchestra.

Best to erase all your music before selling that old iPod, or else the RIAA might be after you.

For a change. Magnatune Classical, currently playing the St. Eliyah Childrens Choir.

Did you drop it? Sit on it? Drop it in the tub? Expose it to freezing temps? Drop it again?

There are many ways to protect your iPod from mishaps. And many places that offer repair services.

The man in front in the checkout bought a giant cherry pie, among other things, and the clerk was singing ‘Till’ to him. As he was paying, I asked what the occasion was. He was somewhat embarrassed, but grinning. ‘She’s got good taste,’ was all he said.

Of course I had to ask the clerk, who was still singing. ‘It’s his name,’ she explained. ‘Mr. Till.’

She knew all the words.

With Art Porter, a fine version of the Jobim classic from the Twist of Jobim CD.

She lives a life she didn’t choose.

The Pause Bed by Design Mobel includes a docking station, Bose speakers, and an LCD TV.

Or, you could save a lot of money just by staying in the living room (where you already have stuff like this) until you get sleepy.

They’ll be appearing at the Super Bowl halftime show. Also Stevie Wonder, Joss Stone, and John Legend.

It has to do with reverb and bass boost.

To the tune of a $1 billion - iPod belts, iPod skins, iPod speakers, iPod docking stations, iPod-friendly strollers and furniture.

Inspired in part by gibbons calling to one another at the zoo, and by the call-answer interplay between Italian bell towers, Nic Mcgowan hatched a plan.

At Island Bay, NZ this summer, he and fellow musicians will set up theremins and giant speakers on hilltops. Residents will hear the concert beginning at sunrise.

I wish I could be there. But then the performance is being filmed.

Lush Life.

When someone is in a mad rush, those who aren’t in such a hurry can be a source of supreme irritation.

Or, in this case, supreme beauty.

Their wool goes for 357 times the usual price, being much, much finer than the usual wool produced by sheep who do not listen to opera.

Vodaphone and Sony will offer a new customizable streaming music service that lets the user select from 500,000 tracks. It’s called Radio DJ, and will be available in Europe in the spring.

Did you figure out how to use your iPod pretty quickly? Maybe checked the manual once or twice to figure how to recharge the battery? Or did you, as one in-law did, turn it over to a youngster along with your music collection, and say, ‘Put this in there’.

If you have no idea, Selfridges in London will be happy to assist you. Put down your money, and they will instruct in in every aspect of your new toy.

Or, as this article points out, go to the Apple Store where the staff will help you for free.

She may be weary, women do get weary. . .

How smart do we want our devices to be? Would you like one that would sense your mood, then play the appropriate music? You and this device would be expected to have a training period in which it will learn your preferences and emotional states.

In November 2006, a paper will be presented at the Proceedings of the International Conference on Mobile Technology, Applications and Systems, in which more information will be revealed.