It should come as no surprise that I’m on a major Stones kick at the moment (get used to it...it’s going to be going on for over a month), so I’ve been posting a Stones song on Facebook once in a while. The other day, I posted “Paint It, Black,” and said that was my second favorite Stones song. My friend Holly said that her favorite is “Shattered” (that is my third favorite Stones song, for the record) and it brings out her “inner lizard.” That phrase spoke to me. It somehow perfectly describes that sort of down and dirty, raunchy, hip-swivelin’ Stones style. When the Inner Lizard comes out, shit gets real. You know those ‘would you rather’ questions? Like “Ginger or Mary Ann?” One of the classics is “Beatles or Stones?” Of course I love the Beatles. Who doesn’t? They were my first taste of pop music, when I was maybe 5 or 6, and my Beatlemaniac sister played her records for me. But for me, it was always about the Stones. They always had a darker edge, a more dangerous, bad boy sex appeal. I was listening to their latest greatest hits CD, “Grrr!” while I was working out today, and it struck me just how many of their songs unleash my inner lizard. There is something about Mick’s voice that reaches right into the dark corners of my psyche. It ranges from a deep baritone to a raspy growl to a bedroom whisper that “it’s only rock and roll but I liiiiike it.” He’s really not even subtle about it. What part of “Let’s spend the night together” needs clarification? Anyway, make all the jokes you want about the Stones being older than dirt, but these songs still totally trip my trigger. Young Mick Jagger was a beautiful, angelic devil (Anne Rice’s phrase for Lestat springs to mind: Brat Prince.), one who could seduce, incite, and inflame. The songs will continue to do that long after he is gone. Of course, the Stones don’t have the market cornered on rock and roll sexyfuntimes. Remember how John Lithgow told his town that there would be no dancing because it would lead to sexyfuntimes, and Kevin Bacon was all like “Yo, dick move, bro, and I’m bangin’ your daughter” and danced all crazy around a barn and rode a tractor and then everyone made up and wore ugly tuxedos and danced all crazy some more? Anyway, John Lithgow and all those other preachermen who said that rock and roll led to “other things” weren’t so far off the mark. Because the lyrics make you think about a lot of things. Not just sexyfuntimes, but things like inequality and revolution. Deeper concepts of the human condition. Life outside your small town. “Imagine no religion.” Experimentation, broadening your horizons, walking a mile in someone’s shoes, seeing beyond the narrow borders of your early existence. There are some people who don’t want these questions asked, and they certainly don’t want to have to answer them. How you gonna keep ‘em down on the farm, right? Rock and roll IS dangerous. Dangerous to the status quo, dangerous to those who have a vested interest in keeping you in line, dangerous to the powers-that-be. Once that Inner Lizard is unleashed, it’s hard to get it back under control.
I just ordered some stuff from Amazon. Shane told me last night that he heard the Dandy Warhols had a 2008 release, which I had not heard! *gasp* I checked it out, and sure enough, it's called "Earth to the Dandy Warhols." I also ordered the new AC/DC, "Black Ice," which I'm hearing is supposed to be a Walmart exclusive, but I found it through an independent dealer. I have a long standing policy of not buying CDs at Walmart, ever since I bought a Local H CD (the one with "High-Fiving MF" on it) there and it had been censored by Walmart. I was appalled. Don't you censor my music, Walmart! You aren't the boss of me! I also ordered the latest Repairman Jack novel by F. Paul Wilson. Repairman Jack is probably my favorite character in fiction right now--I'll write more about him when I finish the book.
Speaking of Walmart, that was our first stop today. Got a couple of things for dinner, and we always make a stop by their $5 movie bin. We found some great ones today! "Thinner" (from the Stephen King book), "Desperation" (ditto), "Bull Durham" (one of my favorite sports movies of all time), "Airplane!" ("Don't call me Shirley."), and another one (I'll tell you in a moment).
On the subject of sports movies, apparently when Sarah Palin was in Noblesville, Indiana (down by Indianapolis) yesterday, she told the crowd that her favorite movie is "Hoosiers." Not her favorite sports movie, not her favorite sports movie about basketball, not even her favorite movie set in Indiana (I'm not sure all that many are). Nope, she said that "Hoosiers" is her favorite movie. My ass.
But I digress. (She's supposed to be on SNL tonight, by the way. I'm looking forward to it.)
After Walmart, we went to Lowe's and enjoyed a little home improvement shopping. It had been a while, and it was kind of fun! We got more insulation for the garage, which Ken is installing now, and a few odds and ends like new doorknobs for the bedroom doors (one broke).
So the fifth movie we got...we were digging through the bin, finding the aforementioned good ones, and Ken held one out to me and said, "Do you have this?" My reply was a gasp followed by, "Footloose!! NO!" "Footloose" is right up there with those other guilty pleasure movies of the 80's, "Dirty Dancing" and "Road House" ("Road House" is still tops for me, though.) Who can forget a young Kevin Bacon as the big city kid in a small town. A town that has banned dancing! O, the humanity! The warehouse scene where he is filled with teen angst and dances to shake off the oppression he feels from the people in the town is a classic. This is modern day cheese at its best!
I'm putting up the high school dance scene rather than the warehouse scene, because I think the high school dance is just like Kraft--it's the cheesiest! I won't put up the lyrics, because pretty much all you need to know is "Now I gotta cut loose, footloose, kick off your Sunday shoes." There's other nonsense like "Please, Louise, pull me offa my knees." You get the idea.
Oh my God, I can remember being at a wedding party when everyone formed two lines, and we went down the middle of the two lines, doing our little dance to this song. My ex-brother-in-law and I went down the middle doing that little kick-step dance, and we thought we were so cool and so good. Hahaha! It's on the verge of embarrassing to remember some of that, and some of the clothes we all wore, but it was all in fun and it was a good time back then. It sure makes me laugh to think back on it!
It should come as no surprise that I’m on a major Stones kick at the moment (get used to it...it’s going to be going on for over a month), so I’ve been posting a Stones song on Facebook once in a while. The other day, I posted “Paint It, Black,” and said that was my second favorite Stones song. My friend Holly said that her favorite is “Shattered” (that is my third favorite Stones song, for the record) and it brings out her “inner lizard.” 
