Down in the Park

We are not lovers, we are not romantics, we are here to serve you

I first heard Down in the Park by Gary Numan (one of my favorite songs ever) when I got the Urgh! soundtrack album. (The story behind Urgh! is interesting in itself, given that Miles Copeland filmed dozens of wonderful bands performing live back in the early 80's, but most of the film will potentially never see the light of day due to a terrible, stupid issue with contracts. However, a few of the songs made it to a 90-minute compilation movie that is played sporadically on HDNet and VH1, which includes -- yay! -- Gary Numan performing Down In the Park.)

I just love this song. I used to be part of a podcast, and when it was my turn to pick the music, my first choice was DITP (you can listen to that episode, including two cool Gary Numan songs here).

Anyhoo, I am not the only one who loves this song, the Foo Fighters and Marilyn Manson have both done great cover versions. I have on my iPod, at this very moment, 1) the original Gary Numan version 2) a live Gary Numan version 3) the Foo Fighters version, and 4) The Marilyn Manson version. And I love and listen to them all. It was also covered live by Christian Death, I need to find that version too. There can't be too many, dammit!

So I finally decided maybe I should try to figure out what the fuck this song is about. With lines like "Down in the park where the Machmen meet, the machines are playing Kill-by-numbers. Down in the park, with a friend called Five" I always thought it was just ol' Gary being poetic and symbolic and stuff, but apparently the album it's from (Replicas) had a dystopian science fiction theme, and DITP is meant to be taken literally.

According to the Wikipedia entry, the song "tells the chilling story of a futuristic park in which Machmen (androids with cloned human skin) and machines rape and kill human beings for the delight of spectators who, along with their numerically-named robotic "friends" view the carnage from a nearby club... In contrast to much contemporary post-punk music Numan's vocals were deliberately underplayed, leaving the slow and stately synthesizer work to evoke the song's melancholy atmosphere."

Gads. Well, the overall sound of the song was obviously pretty dark and bleak, but I was a little taken aback by the violence and horror.

I still love it though. Here are the lyrics for your reading pleasure:

Down in the park
Where the Machmen meet
The machines are playing Kill-by-numbers
Down in the park with a friend called Five

I was in a car crash
Or was it the war?
But I've never been quite the same
Little white lies like I was there

Come to Zom-Zom's, a place to eat
Like it was built in one day
You can watch the humans
Trying to run

Oh, look, there's a rape machine
I'd go outside if it looked the other way
You wouldn't believe
The things they do

Down in the park
Where the chant is death, death, death
Until the sun cries morning
Down in the park with friends of mine

We are not lovers
We are not romantics
We are here to serve you
A different face but the words never change

Wanna hear it?

You can stream the song or download it here

Selection of DITP YouTube clips:

Gary Numan live (not the Urgh! performance)

Foo Fighters video

Marilyn Manson live performance

Day One Without my Sweetie

Greg is out of town on business for the next two weeks. He left yesterday morning, 7/8, and won't be back until next Friday, 7/20. Gads.

I am really not one of those women who is afraid to be alone, I actually LIKE being alone. Before I met Greg I lived alone, and loved it. But now I'm used to having someone else give me a hug when I get home from work, and grab my butt when I walk across the living room, and sing the Entourage theme song with me, and yell "boobies!" when I am taking a shower, and fuss at me when I forget to eat breakfast.

Anyway. The house seems really empty with only lil' me and lil' Syndney.

That's okay, though, I have a lot of stuff to do. I am rereading the Harry Potter books in preparation for the last book release, and I'm only just at the very beginning of book 6. I am meeting Jen and Debe to record two episodes of Say Anything this week, one tomorrow and one on Friday. I have to go through our stuff to find things we can give to Jen to include in the big garage sale this weekend. I am still adjusting levels/color balance, cropping and resizing all the pics from Jacki's wedding... all 452 of them. I need to wash the dirty dishes and put away the laundry and clean the floors. I need to dye my hair, and get on the treadmill for at least 30 minutes a day. I am taking a Nikon class at Crealde this Saturday, and sometime next weekend I have to find time to see the new Harry Potter movie. I'm also working 10-hour shifts on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday of this week (and today), and Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week. Then next Friday I'm going to the big Harry Potter book release party at Barnes & Noble, then staying up all night to read the book.

I really hope Greg can come home early, next Thursday instead of next Friday, so he won't be too tired to go to the book release party with me. Today is just the first day, but he said things went really quickly, so it's possible they will be finished ahead of schedule.

*sigh*

Say Hello to My Little Friend

Meet my new best friend: Isn't she lovely? Nikon D40x, 10.2 megapixel SLR, 0.18 second startup, up to 3 frames per second, ISO of 100 to 1600 , 3-area autofocus, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II lens, 2 gig memory card... sigh. I love her. Anyone want their picture taken... show of hands? Anyone?

The new Say Anything podcast is up now here. I have really been sad this week (I swear, that's the last time I'll say that... probably) and I was surprised to end up laughing, a lot, during our podcast. Chicks rule!

I can't help thinking that it's weird to have never seen a porn movie. You know, not that there's anything wrong with that.

We actually own a few x-rated DVDs, and now that I think of it, I haven't seen them since we moved... a year ago. Huh. Well, you can see how important they are to me. But still, to have never even seen one.

I have considered signing up for a pay porn site. I haven't ever actually done it, though. I am curious to find out what they're like, I keep thinking one of these days I'll join for a month, just to see, and then cancel.

Me = porn positive :D

Busy!

It's exciting, I have a lot of things going on right now. I am too busy, but I guess I can rest when I'm dead, right?

1) We are recording our very first Say Anything podcast tomorrow, and it will be up on the site on Saturday by 5:00pm ET. I really enjoyed sitting in with The Syndicate last Sunday. You can listen to Debe (third hour), Jen (first hour) and me (second hour) here: listen. This is something I really never thought I would be interested in, or good at, but so far I really like it. W00t!

2) I am setting up a photography studio in our sun room. I have joined a local camera club, and am setting up a time to meet with a photography mentor to learn more about studio lighting.

3) I am hoping to have a new sideline job that will involve writing and will bring in a teeny bit of $. I don't have it yet, so I don't want to say too much... But I am hopeful things will work out!

4) Next week is Greg's birthday. Yay! In the Ellen tradition he will be celebrating his birthday for most of the week: We'll have a fancy steak dinner at a fancy steakhouse on his actual birthday (4/5), we'll have a Playdate (a Pop Culture Playground official outing) to see Grindhouse on Friday 4/6. I'm not sure yet what's going on on Saturday (other than the fact that I have a wedding to go to, which hopefully won't last too late). Sunday is Easter, which we'll spend having lunch/dinner with Greg's family in Lakeland.

5) In two weeks Greg and I are going to Miami for a few days. Greg'll be attending a convention/seminar/training session for part of each day (it's a work-y trip for him) but then we'll have some of each day to explore Miami. I've only been there once, to see an adults-only Halloween Genitorturers show... That was YEARS ago, and I really didn't see any of the actual city.

Wow, it's all good stuff, but it's a lot!