"The Muffin Man", Then & Now (Music & Lyrics)

Do you remember growing up with the old song "The Muffin Man"? My boss at work sent me his keitai email address in case of emergency the other day. I laughed because it is related to the Muffin Man. I figured his children probably played that song repeatedly until it drove him insane inside his own head. It IS rather catchy...

My other boss, and the person I work with didn't believe that such a song exists, and they thought I was just making it up, so I did a little search to show them that it really IS a children's song.

While I was searching for it so that I could play it for them, I happened upon another very catchy tune called "The Muffin Man Squat". This one made me snort!

Here are the lyrics for both, and a link for you to listen to each of them. I hope you enjoy them.

I love you!
Cam

********************

The Muffin Man
Music By: J. W. Elliott, Adapted By: Terry Kluytmans
Copyright ©1999 KIDiddles.com
http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/m027.html

Oh, do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Oh, do you know the muffin man,
Who lives in Drury Lane?

Second Verse:

Oh, yes, I know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Oh, yes, I know the muffin man,
Who lives in Drury Lane.

More Second Verse Responses:

Oh, two of us know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Oh, two of us know the muffin man,
Who lives in Drury Lane.

A few of us know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
A few of us know the muffin man,
Who lives in Drury Lane.

Now we all know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Now we all know the muffin man,
Who lives in Drury Lane.

*************************

Muffin Man Squat
http://www.muffinmanthemovie.com/Lyrics.htm

Listen up, America!  This song's about a threat.
It ain't anthrax, it ain't small pox,
and it ain't politically correct.
Ain't talking chubby, aint talking big-boned,
ain't talking corpulent, I'm talking FAT.
You can call your love handles anything you want to baby,
but they're still gonna cause a heart attack.

Do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man -
Do you know the muffin man, who lives on Drury lane?
Yes, I know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man -
Yes, I know the muffin man who lives on Drury lane.

Do you know him? Have you seen him?
Look in the mirror, you just might be him!

You say you wanna lose weight, but it just don't work.
The pills taste too good, health clubs are for jerks.
You've tried reduction, lipo-suction, but you still got a gut.
Blah Blah.
You wanna lose weight? Keep your mouth shut.

Chew it up, spit it out. Spit it out, shut your mouth.
You say you're large, you're overweight, but you ain't just fat.
You make a DC-10 look like a tic-tac.
You say your knees hurt. Well, how they supposed to feel?
You're like a Mac Truck - on roller blade wheels.

Got a big belly? Got a big butt?
Get on the floor and do the Muffin Man squat!

Blame the media, the government, your pituitary.
But the real problem is, you can't lay off the dairy.

Indians and Africans are all gettin thinner.
Chinese gonna invade us, and eat us all for dinner.
Cause we fat, and salty - just like a pork loin.
Gonna deep fry and eat us, leave nothin but the oink.

Gotta feed the baby, gotta feed the belly.
Gonna start a war, and watch it on the telly.
Fightin with the Arabs, to the winner go the spoils.
But we don't have to worry, where there's fat there's OIL.

You got a big belly, you got a big butt.
Get off the couch and do the Muffin Man squat!
You think your double chin is really, really hot?
Get out of the fridge and do the Muffin Man squat.

We drive gas guzzling cars for our big fat bodies,
while we preen, get surgeries, and pretend we're TV hotties.
Like a big public secret, we hide under our hat.
You can call someone a nigger, but you can't call them fat.

You used to have muscles, and work out, but have you lately?
Now you're chubby chubby cause You always clean your platey.
Don't care bout Africans starving every day,
as long as you have your truck - and whoppers done your way.

Got a big belly? Got a big butt?
Get on the floor and do the Muffin Man squat!

We all know tobacco gives you lung cancer, halitosis.
But what about French fries building up arthrosclerosis.

In our precious children, in our pets, there goes our future.
I know you hear me singing, do you see what we could lose here?
Achievement, generations, hell - we could kill the species
cause you don't give a damn and can't stop eatin all that good cheese.

Got a big belly? Got a big butt?
Get on the floor and do the Muffin Man squat!

Do you know where mankind's heading, do you know where we're going?
As we fight, and kill each other, eat ourselves into coma's?
I'd rather see a supernova of the galaxy
than hang around as we slide down the evolutionary tree.

(C) 2003 Pickle Tub Productions, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Words and Music by "Dr. Discipline"
Performed by Jessica Eisner and Johnny Bregar

"Christmas in Japan"

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15819148/Christmas%20in%20Japan%20dance%20remix.mp3
Want to know what Christmas in Japan is like?
Download this CC music and get a good idea.
It's a song by 3 Canucks, and 2 Japanese living in Nagoya.

Their skill is not so great, but if you listen to the lyrics (not their vocal ability)
you can learn a LOT about what Christmas is really like over here.

If you just click on the link, QuickTime will open in your browser.
If you prefer to download it, then right click and save.

Melly Kurisumasu!

Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night

Today I spent the day making video of ... the day.

"Wow!" you say... "Cam made (another) video of ... *yawn* his day..."

Well, it wasn't any ordinary day, actually. Today is the Edogawa Fireworks Festival, so I spent the day taking video. Now I need to edit... and edit... and edit so you don't end up falling asleep at the computer.

Anyway...

When I was skimming through Yahoo news this morning I happened to click on this link which took me to the Top 20 Downloaded (paid) Songs in digital history. I know some of these (Lady Gaga, Jason Mraz, etc.), but some of them I haven't heard. I have heard OF the Black Eyed Peas, but didn't know their music...

That is until I played the Number One Downloaded song on video ... about 20 times!

"1. The Black Eyed Peas, "I Gotta Feeling," 6,049,000. This ultra catchy song was #1 for 14 weeks, beginning in July 2009. It replaced "Boom Boom Pow" in the top spot, giving the Peas a record-setting 26-week run at #1. It won a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and was nominated for Record of the Year."

SIX MILLION DOWNLOADS!!!!!!

PAID DOWNLOADS!!!!

$1.29 X 6, 049,000 = $7.8 MILLION DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy Shit!

It looks like the digital download age is going strong! Wow!! Just Wow...

For only one song. Unbelievable.

If you want some amazing dance music, with gorgeous bodies everywhere, and a song that sticks in your head all day and all night, you simply MUST listen to this (and watch it) a few times.

It's worth the stick!

I gotta feeling
That tonight's gonna be a good night
Tonight's gonna be a good night
Tonight's gonna be a good good night.....

I love you!

Cam

P.S. I wonder if you have to be uber rich, or famous, or stunningly gorgeous to get invited to these kinds of parties... wow..... hawt!

 

We Are The World (for Haiti) - YouTube Version

Holy Fuck, this makes my skin go all goosebumpy! Wow!!

I prefer the YouTube version to the "official version", because it's made by ordinary people like you and me.

 

Lisa LaVie

I recently found Lisa LaVie on YouTube. I have few subscriptions, and I really don't use YouTube that often for entertainment.

But Lisa... I love listening to her voice. 

I don't know if you'll like her, but she just put this song up 14 hours ago:

"Wild Horses (Natasha Bedingfield)" by Lisa LaVie

I love you!

Cam

"One of the Boys" (Katy Perry)

Do you recall the hot video "I kissed a girl" by Katy Perry, that Jen posted a while back? It had everyone singing and dancing in front of their computers, that song did! 

Well I just happened upon this live version of a song by Katy Perry done last year for a music radio station KISS FM. The lack of "sex & gloss" may strike you as "unfinished" compared to "I kissed a girl", but listen to the lyrics of this song, "One of the Boys"; they are brilliant!

I love love LOVE irreverence!

And I love you!

Cam

Cool Invite

I just got an "invite" on Yahoo to be friends with a guy named Jeremy Amelin. I visited his page. He is a musician and I guess he's trying to increase his subscriber list.

Actually, if I was going to be out dancing, I would prefer to be rocking to this kind of music. The heat, the bodies, the movement, the sweat, the lights, and the humanity....

It's not for everyone, but from a nightclub dance perspective, tell me what you think. Could you move, sway and lose yourself to this music?

I know my condor arms would flap to the beat of a different drummer!

Always moving... always flowing... like a river.

I love you!

Cam

 

Where Colour Matters

Last night while Mayu and I were sitting in our hospital room at Saiseikai hospital after our day's battery of tests for the "ningen dock" or "human docking" were complete, there was a program on TV that Mayu was watching which showed some amazing commercials that did not use any CG SFX (Computer Graffic Special Effects). One of them was the Sony Bravia commercial entitled "Colour".

Imagine 250,000 coloured superballs being shot out of three cannons and let to bounce their way to life down the streets of San Francisco....

In the high tech world, colour really DOES matter!

I hope you enjoy this brief video. We certainly did.

 

I love you!

Live House Session in Kanazawa

As many of you know (because I have talked about this on a few occasions in the past), there are a group of extremely talented composer musicians who have their own companies, and do work as session musicians for the big names over here, little sessions at live houses in tours around the country and so forth, that Mayu "follows". These are all connected to Mitsuda Kenichi (piano/composer), that Mayu loves. There are guitarists, violinists, bass, percussion, piano, etc. The kind of musicians that would make up a quartet, or some such "jazz" kind of group.

Yesterday I went with Mayu to Kanazawa because Naoto (an amazing violinist) and three of his six member group, NaoTei, are on tour. Two days ago they had a live session in Tokyo, and yesterday it was here in Ishikawa (prefecture next to where I live, an hour from here on the expressway). Mayu goes when she can, but she doesn't follow Naoto devoutly. Yukiyo, Mayu's girlfriend, however, does. He is extremely talented. (Only three of the six members of this session group are on tour right now because the other three are too busy with other work).

Naoto plays the violin, and play it amazingly well he does! He does a lot of composing for movies, TV dramas, and plays for many of the big voices here.

Tetsuro is an amazing guitarist (and he is gorgeous! He wears shorts all the time and his calves melted me, along with his smile - Can you tell where MY attention was the entire night? heeee). He has a great voice, too. Tetsuro apparently went to a major music university in the USA (Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA - Pat Metheny, John Mayer, Billy Joel, Chaka Khan Quincy Jones, Bruce Hornsby, 2 members of Aerosmith, and more.). He plays for a lot of the major names in Japan (you won't know them). We heard a little bit of his voice when they were getting him to sing the "jazzy-like" "hey ho tadum dedumm dumm" that is not really singing, but more of an instrument in and of itself.

And then Teiho is the composer. He plays apparently over 80% of the instruments you find in a full orchestra. Yes, one of those guys. He was playing the piano and the accordion (the small boxy one, not the big "ukrainian" one I grew up with hearing).

The live session went from 7pm to 9.30. There was full capacity (50 people) in the live house bar. There were ... three men in the audience, and I was one of them. I will let you do the math to figure out which sex follows these kinds of musicians (it's pretty much the same for Mayu's Kenichi Mitsuda, also).

Mayu asked me to bring my IC recorder and pirate the concert so she could send the talking parts, etc. (i.e. the music) to her girlfriend Miyuki, from Osaka, who couldn't make it to this concert. So we did. The quality was pretty good considering we were sitting in the back half of the bar.

Here are two of the nine songs they played. Please click the file attachment at the bottom of this blog. You may like it if you are into "session" stuff, or you may not, depending upon your style of music. You won't find any screaming guitar riffs (Alan), nor any gravelly, marlboro voices (Jen), but if you like Jazz / easy-listening and especially are a fan of apparently very technically complicated music (I can't tell.. I can barely sing "Happy Birthday"), this may speak out to you.

The first song was written by Tetsuro, the guitarist (Song #5). The second song is the "call & response" style of music where they humm, then get the audience to respond in the same way (song #8). Mayu's Ken-chan does this in all of his live sessions.

I love you!

Cam

P.S. If anyone is currently using a teeny little app for playing music directly in a blog (like we insert YouTube coding for videos), please let me know. I'd rather put that directly in the blog than attach the files. Some people can't seem to get these mp3 files to work when I do it this way (and it doesn't use the latest blogging technology this way, either).

Attachment: NaoTei Live Kanazawa 5 081016.mp3
Attachment: NaoTei Live Kanazawa 8 081016.mp3

Dance Fever

I'm having big trouble with Multiply loading for me these days, so please bear with me if things go slowly... I don't know why but when I click a page, the entire browser freezes for 5-10 seconds and I never know if it is going to come back or not..... Enough of that...

Jenny posts great dance music that soothes the soul, makes us come alive with the desire to move our souls, to shake our souls... I love the stuff she posts because.. simply... I guess I never grew up with that kind of music. Mayu always teases me and says that in a former life I was probably black because the soul music has always "done something" to me. She has noted that every time I point out a song to her that really moves my soul, it's always that kind of music... so totally different from hers, so different from anything I have been exposed to here these past 20 years here in Japan and so absolutely nothing like the Country & Western that I grew up hearing all the time on Saturday mornings (thanks, Dad). So she wonders where I found my love for it, if not from a former life?

I liked Jen's latest music video she posted. The music didn't move me so much (the reggae style is not as powerful to me as soul stuff), but the story was cute, and I loved the watch the main character has! I want one of those!!! It's called Luv Me Luv Me and you can watch it at that link.

Stephanie posts fabulous Song of the Week music that I really enjoy (except her heavy metal and rock stuff which I never liked even from a young kid). She is always listening to music and has a big variety that she is fond of which never ceases to amaze me how different the stuff she loves can be. Her latest song is by that Jason Mraz guy who sings the "Geek in the Pink" song that her kids made into a dance tribute to me last summer (check that link if you never saw it last year). Her Song of the Week this week is called "I'm Yours" and it is a lot of fun. I tell you... I want to get as close to the edge as possible many times over... and then finally jump and enjoy the whole experience! Care to experience that with me? Hold my hand when we finally jump? You can scream all the way down if you like... but don't be surprised if my screams and laughter and whoops drown you out! (You'll see what I mean).

I really never was good at dancing or music, honestly I played the guitar and practiced it for about 10 years but quit because the music I wanted to play was only on radios and I could only play music I read off score. So, it went by the wayside, because my ear never picked it up well, and I didn't seem to have the rhythm to feel it either.

I remember that on more than one occasion I got seriously laughed at (scoffed at is more appropriately.. perhaps sneered at might even be better?) by one of my long-term girlfriends in my early 20s for looking like a fool on the dancefloor. I think it got hardwired into my brain (having learned about this concept recently, I do believe that is what has happened and why I have been so shy about dancing all these years).

I tried for a while to break that with another girlfriend who loved to go out drinking and dancing at clubs with me. Whew! memories of those wild times!!! That's when I ... I.... did the unthinkable and got my ear pierced *gasp*! Those were good times.

*smiling*

But after I came to Japan things changed and I never had a chance to dance in clubs and bars, at concerts, etc. (admission: I have never been to a real live big concert. ever!) Mayu goes to "lives" or concerts held by her "group" of musicians at live houses where about 100-150 (mostly women) are admitted to sit and listen, and enjoy. They clap their hands a lot, sing along, (make illegal recordings and post them on their fan blogs) but it's not a dance scene.

Then there is the Stardust Revue concert that I have been to with Mayu a few times when they came to Fukui over the years. Bunka Kaikan (Culture Hall) would fill up with a thousand people. Everyone would stand up and all "dance" but the dancing is entirely "choreographed" and everyone is doing the exact same moves with their arms at the exact same time... and I always felt a little weird in that environment because it was like everyone was in on the secret but me! Either that or they were all doing the same "speaking in hands" as some religious holy rolles do... It felt... unccomfortable for me.

Fukui doesn't really offer that kind of bar scene where you can go and dance. I know Tokyo does, but I don't live in Tokyo. The bars here are small, dark drinking and smoking establishments (for men) that have no music playing other than the music of the drunk businessman tossing his fish dinner up into the toilet and I don't really get so moved by that scene other than to move my ass out the door and home!

Soooo other than dancing with the wild boars... their legs are a little too short for me so it gives me a sore back, or the monkeys.. they keep trying to steal the thing they mistake for a banana (I don't understand why), or the bears... who just run when they see me...  I really haven't had an opportunity.

But I always wish I could, and I hope that when the next phase comes along I will be able to be in an environment with friends and loved ones who will love to be with me and drag me out on the dance floor and ENJOY the way I dance like a condor. I really really dooooo....

There is a group of dancers that I have loved all my life... ALL my life... ever since I was young; I think they are the coolest, the free-est, and the most happy go lucky dance troupe I know. I can only hope that one day i can dance like them... I really want to be them on the dancefloor... I think whenever I see them... "I want to be you...."

I wanted to share a dance video with you, but thanks to the big Music Moguls denying embedding, I wasn't able to put it in the videos for you to enjoy. Even going the "click youtube link" route, doesn't work for this one.

So, all I can do is share this link with you here, and hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed it all my life:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAI6UM4i3RU

I hope you enjoy it!

I love you!

Cam

Meet Jero, Enka Superstar from America

Foreigners are starting to take over a lot of the traditional spots in the Japanese "talento" circuit. From sumo wrestling to traditional Enka (Japanese folk music) singing, these days you can find perfect-speaking performers who have won the hearts of Japanese while bringing life back to many of the traditional arts that seem to be lost to the youth of the country.

While enka is commonly associated with more elderly listeners, these singers are blending the genre with their own countries' cultures, bringing enka to the attention of younger generations.

 

One such performer is Jerome White Jr., or Jero, as he is known Japan. In April, merely two months after his debut single was released in mid-February, more than 2,000 people gathered in front of JR Kyoto Station to catch a glimpse of the 26 year old enka singer, singing with passion and perfect pronunciation.
 
Since late May he has appeared every day on television advertising Kirin Beverage Co.'s Fire Cafe Zero - a black, sugar-free canned coffee launched on May 20. In the advertisement, Jero sings the popular enka song "Hisame" (Sleet) while holding the canned coffee, finishing by saying "Jero!" - a play on words with his name and the name of the product.

 

With his sideways baseball cap and baggy pants, he may look like a hip-hop artist, but Jero's performance is 100% old-school enka. Even the more elderly were won over by his debut song, "Umiyuki" (Ocean Snow). Here is a compilation of Jero singing Umiyuki with his own style.

 

 

His frequent television appearances and nation-wide promotional campaign have quickly made Jero a familiar face. This has made for a demanding schedule which, he said he does not mind because it is necessary "to create a fan base." To keep up his strength, he added, he eats rice, miso soup and grilled fish.

 

Born in Pittsburgh in the state of Pennsylvania, Jero is part Japanese, his maternal grandmother having moved to the U.S. from Japan after marrying an African-American soldier. His mother was also born in Japan. Owing to the influence of his family, Japanese culture and cuisine featured significantly in his upbringing.

 

You can watch some of his history through a Japanese/English interview here.

 

The first enka song he learned was a famous enka song which his grandmother often sang. He said his grandmother would be overjoyed when he sang the enka ballads he had picked up. Wanting to become an enka singer to please his grandmother, he came to Japan in 2003 to immerse himself in the genre.

 

While Jero is also a fan of American hip-hop music, he emphasizes that "singing enka is very natural to me." He laments that, "in Japan, enka is thought of as something for old people. It is sad that young people don't listen to it," adding, "I would be delighted if I could convey the appeal of enka to young people."

 

The majority of people who like enka are middle-aged or elderly, and few young people entertain the idea of becoming an enka performer. Indeed, no prominent young stars have emerged since Kiyoshi Hikawa broke onto the scene eight years ago.

 

Yet there is an enka following among young people in Japanese communities overseas. There are some places in South America where people like enka so much, they are said to be more Japanese than Japanese nationals themselves. Some professional enka singers in these communities find their way to Japan.

 

Italicized text taken from The Nikkei Weekly, June 9, 2008.

Do The Funky Christian!!

My best friend Darrell way over in Winnipeg has always been very involved in the church. Every time I visited him on weekends when we were young, to play AD&D, I would arrive and find him sitting in their rocking chair with ginormous headphones on, listening to music and ... rocking. He has been a part of his church band for as long as I can remember.

Today he sent me an email saying that the band he belongs to entered a local contest competing for "stuff" against several other Christian bands. The competition is based on voting and he sent out his PR asking his friends to vote.

"Stuff": The top band will pick up a THOUSAND DOLLARS worth of prizing from Quest Musique. The winning group's single will get some spins on CHVN and will be featured on CMC Distribution's "Sea to Sea" compilation – a cd shipped to Christian bookstores across Canada. And, they'll be the opening band for the Building 429 concert on June 20th at the Red River Exhibition!

The catch is, you have to log into this Manitoba Christian website and make an account there. They say they will send up to two newsletters a month. I'm hoping that I can unsubscribe when this is done because I'm not really all that interested in seeing what Manitoba Christians are up to. But I am interested in helping Darrell win that contest. And I can vote daily. And get my dose of God if I so wish. Yay.

Anyway, if any of you want to sign into this website (it was a bit tricky, but you'll figure it out, I think), register, listen to the songs, and then vote, be my guest. Be honest, and don't vote for anything you don't like.

Mayu was around when I did this and she started giving me comments from the other room about her impressions regarding the songs, so I jotted them down in an email I was writing to Darrell to let him know that I voted (for his band). They are very interesting (the comments).

The music Mayu listens to these past years (and goes to when she "groupies it around the country") is extremely technical (not techno), and requires a very high level musician to play. So this local church band stuff sounded a little bit "simple" to her technically-oriented ears. To me, some of it sounded very... Canadian Christian; you know, the kind of stuff you'd hear on Sunday morning AM radio when you accidentally hit upon the "Good Morning Christ!" channel? You know the kind where they want to get you boppin' to God as you vacuum the carpets?

Darrell's song is Hosanna and he does background vocals.

Site: www.manitobachristianonline.com
How to sign in: Hover over "Contests" on the top bar, then click on "Quest for the best" and follow instructions.

Or, sign in directly here: Sign in or Register here to vote

When you get to that page, you'll have to click the link that says "sign in" even though it says "create an account below" or something like that (I forget now - they automatically sign me in... yaaay). Anyway, once you figure that out, fill in the info, you'll get an email asking you to confirm the stuff. It went to my Spam folder so check there. I guess Christians are spammers, too!

Once you click on their link, you go back to their page and follow the sign in again. This is where it seemed a bit weird to me, but after clicking the only link available (sign in?), it actually took me to the page here (but I don't think it will work for you until you sign in...).

I'll leave it up to you as to whether you want to do this or not, but some of you out there may have a penchant for Christian amateur band music and it would be unfair of me to prejudge anyone. God forbid and Heavens to Mergatroid no!

Here are Mayu's comments...

• Rain Down - The kind of band that only friends can listen to.
• Give him Praise - Sounds like a poor expression of Ricky Martin.
• Love's the Revolution - Don't like it. Has too many bible words in it.
• Lord Most High - Nice vocalist, but typical amateur band sound. Her voice doesn't match with the arrangement and the background vocals. Therefore a good producer wouldn't put this voice into this music (i.e. bad producer).
• Fill Me Up - The vocalist is copying too much of somebody else's style. It's just a copy of stuff that's already out there. This kind of music already exists so why do it again?
• The Happy Song - Too simple. Sounds like a highschool band. (Cam thinks it sounds like a Winnipeg version of the Proclaimer's "500 miles". It's a sound you'd hear at the Festival du Voyageur as you were wandering around looking at the ice sculptures and eating deep fried frogs legs while complaining that your fingers and toes had fallen off from the cold.)
• ***Hosanna*** - She has a country music vocal voice. Her voice is too light to be singing solo, so the arrangement with other aspects of the song offset that which is good. The band arrangement is the best of all of these songs. Just had a flashback of being in the parking lot of Safeway. Very very North American sound.
• Mighty to Save - Very N.A. culture. All the female singers have the same voice in all these songs... maybe it's the "choral voice". This song is suitable for this kind of female voice, but it sounds like a "typical church band", something you'd hear on N.A. AM Christian radio.
• You are Worthy - Her voice is good. Best vocalist so far. Kind of "simple" in construction, but after all.. . typical church band.

Have a great day and may the gods bless! I'm off to the shower, and then to do some meditation to the Universal powers that be. I have something very important to order and need to get my order in soon, and make sure it is clearly understood.

I love you!

Cam

David Bowie & All the Presidential Candidates on Change

I'll let these folks tell you all about "change"...

$$ Kaching!! $$