19 Degrees of Separation

Today I was looking through my college computer files and came across this treasure from spring semester of freshman year. John and I were DJs at 88.7 WXJM Harrisonburg in a Thursday morning 8am-10am timeslot that semester. It was one of the more fun things I think I’ve ever done. Each week we mostly played my favorite songs and his favorite songs. We begged our friends to listen. Mostly I think just my dad tuned in each week. We got one call in over the course of the entire semester.

On one Thursday, we decided to try to link each song with the previous one, either through artists, producers, sound engineers, etc. Today I re-discovered the set list from that morning. It doesn’t have the songs listed unfortunately, but I wanted to commit this to the collective memory of the interwebs for posterity. What follows is the actual artist set list I typed up about five years ago for that radio program.

A Call to Action: Please Participate!

As an experiment, let’s ask for some response and see what we get.

According to the stat tracker on WordPress, the RoH blog has gotten 18 views since I posted my last entry! Woohoo! That pales in comparison to the entry I wrote pairing Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin'” with the Declaration of Independence (354 page views in 1 day!). It has been a trying year for this space intellectually, but whatever. I’m trying to rectify that.

If you’re reading this, go ahead a post a comment and share with us what your FAVORITE time period/event/person in history was when you were in school. I’m interested in seeing if there is a diversity in topics. I myself am in a Civil War rut right now, thanks in large part to PBS re-airing Ken Burns’ The Civil War as well as regularly hiking at a Civil War battlefield right around the corner from my new home in Kennesaw, GA. It’s hard to escape the Civil War when you keep seeing the memories. I’m not complaining, but I’d like to do something new.

So, if you have the guts to participate, please do. I’d like to see if I can do something fun here and start fresh. If you haven’t read any of the old entries, start from the beginning and check them out. I think they are a fun little diversion from the normal routine. Thanks!

The Oversoul of Traditional Music

I am intrigued by the concept of the evolution of ideas and thoughts and words in history. Wait. That was an example of a sentence in which I tried to make some pedestrian statement into something enlightening. That’s okay, I think, because I’m pretty sure these kinds of things are the whole purpose blogs exist. Let me get to my point before I do it again.

Coming Soon: More Records, More History.

Be aware. Records of History will be making a comeback. I just needed some time to listen to more music and learn more about history.

Also I am about to be unemployed again (hopefully only briefly during the summer between school years), so this will allow more time to put towards educatin’ y’all’s lives.

Take this opportunity to peruse the archives of this blog and get an idea of what sorts of things we’ve done here in the past.

I am open to suggestions, comments, and insulting notions.

it appears a mix swap is in order

and that this thing didn’t take off quite like i had hoped. my revamping it = bust. i know all contributers are very busy doing new things in life, who can be expected to write on the records of history?

well, i am, but for a different purpose, and that is to extend an inviation to anyone reading this for the opportunity to get down with a mix swap. you get a mix from me before i leave for zambia & i get the opportunity to get a mix from you to take with me! as inspired by my own past music swap history via lifejournal; a giant mix swap which included riebs, the d, misty, dre, elk epicness on tape, many more.

even if i don’t know you, i’ll put something out, just respond with a mailing address and i’ll get it to you as soon as i can. some may make more sense to be hand delivered, if, for instance, i know i will see you before leaving, so consider that before mailing anything to:

me
1654 Jefferson Dr.
Florence, SC 29501

sorry for using this blog for personal gains with no historic value in advance, elk, and therefore ruining any street cred accrued. though, i would say a mix is an entire snapshot of an emotion, feeling, moment, a sort of reflection of a relationship’s history between those swapping. talk about a personal record of history i mentioned in other entries- what better than the mix, especially if you’re not someone who makes music yourself? i could go on about the greatness of mixes, but i think they are obvious and we all know them. am i right? see, all isn’t ruined.

don’t think twice. swap. just do it, yos!

The [Lost] Records of [Personal] History

Obvious statement: we all have musical tastes. For most of us, those tastes vary and change and adapt through a number of different channels, affected by what is probably a million things: what our friends listen to, what’s popular, what’s easy to get our hands on, what is a challenge to find, what our parents listen(ed) to, what sounds pleasing, what sounds we grew up with, and on and on and on.

 But, it’s not very often that I think back about some of those lost records and albums that have, more or less, dropped by the wayside. And as I find myself scanning through my music library, I see some albums I’ve never listened to and, maybe worse, some that I’ve abandoned.

On this day…

One of my favorite websites I regularly check in with is the Wikipedia homepage. I jokingly made a comment this week that the “Did you know?” pane continuously sucks while the “On this day…” pane is usually always phenomenal. I want to be the person at Wikipedia paid to select which of the important anniversaries ought to be displayed on the home page. I would be awesome at that job. I’d even do the “Did you know?” section better, too. All this is to get to the point that I love reading the “on this day” section because I’m consistently surprised by shared anniversaries.

The Bard and the Beatles

Dap to j5 for the kick in the pants to get this thing blooming in springtime.

Before I even got to school this morning, I had already heard twice (once on the Today Show and then on NPR) that April 23 is William Shakespeare’s birthday. When I sat down in the computer lab during an off period thinking of something to do, I realized I could get back into the swing of things right here on RofH. Pondering what song to pick in honor of Bill’s b-day, I wondered what artist could be so blandly ubiquitous yet sharply poignant and relevant all at once.

And of course, there is only one answer: The Beatles. (This is also convenient as a crutch for me to get back into things on the blog to use the most well-known poet/playwright/frilly-clothe-wearer ever and the most famous band of all time. Believe that).

six random no.3 — oh, and we’re back.

That’s right, believe it: after a five month break, it’s time for us to make a comeback. It’s been a nice, dark, silent winter and early spring and all, but we need some more entries, right? After all, what’s history without the soundtrack? And I promise up front that there’s at least one more off in the wings from me (but with all my waiting time, I’m hoping regular updates), so be on the lookout. Hopefully the other writers here will get on board, too, as I’m sure you’re all looking for the remaining two (er, well, three) years in Kev’s Post Flow series, and I know I’m not alone wanting some more sick nasty imagination from Shaun and uh can the people get some more of Benvo’s soul? Well, without further ado, here’s a brand new six random for your ear buds:

#3: 1789

As evidenced by the lack of entries, I have completely hit a wall with finding a song suitable for the Constitution. I was looking for a song that broke rules and set new rules in place. Since I used Bob Dylan for the last one (and he’s basically the starting point for all of these ideas, I could probably replace every song used so far with a Bob Dylan one) I can’t use him again – a self-imposed rule.

So I’m opening it up to the modest trickle of 1 to 2 views this blog gets each week. Ideas? Help me out. What song encapsulates the composition/ratification of the US Constitution?