Category Archives: MUSIC

Eduardo Soliz, MUSIC, Video

My Favorite Christmas Songs #6

“Christmas Vacation,” Mavis Staples, 1989

Featured in the opening credits of “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” this song captures the spirit of today’s Christmas by delving into the preparations we all go through in preparing for the holiday: hanging up lights, putting up the tree, shopping for gifts, and even cleaning up the house.

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Eduardo Soliz, MUSIC, Video

My Favorite Christmas Songs #5

“Baby Its Cold Outside,” Dean Martin, 1959

For all the cock and bull about this classic being (to borrow a friend’s term) ‘rapey,’ this duet was written by Frank Loesser in 1944 and originally performed by he and his wife, Lynn Garland.  Lynn was furious when Frank sold the rights to MGM; she considered it to be ‘their’ song.  Curiously enough, the ‘mouse’ part is sung by a chorus in Dean’s rendition.

It bears mentioning that the part sung by Dean is marked as the ‘wolf’ in the sheet music. /shrug

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Eduardo Soliz, MUSIC, Video

My Favorite Christmas Songs #4

“If It Doesn’t Snow on Christmas,” Gene Autry, 1949

Singing cowboy Gene Autry is very well known for Christmas music, in addition to recording several standards, he wrote “Here Comes Santa Claus.”  A B-side for the more well-known “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “If It Doesn’t Snow on Christmas” is interesting because for whatever reason, it seems to ignore the fact that Santa’s reindeer can fly.

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Eduardo Soliz, MUSIC, Video

My Favorite Christmas Songs #3

“Little Saint Nick,” The Beach Boys, 1963

I hail from South Texas, so it is a little bit harder for me to relate to songs about snow and ice and roaring fires.  The only fires I experience in December are those started inside of a barbeque grill.  The Beach Boys set Santa’s reindeer aside in favor of “a little bobsled called Little Saint Nick.”  Appropriately enough, the song’s structure comes from “Little Deuce Coupe.”

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Eduardo Soliz, MUSIC, Video

My Favorite Christmas Songs #1

“Please Come Home for Christmas,” The Eagles, 1978

In the interest of keeping my spirits (and yours) up, I’ve decided to post a different Christmas song here every day.  I love Christmas, I enjoy music and so it seems appropriate to celebrate the ‘sounds of the season.’  In addition to the standards, I hope to drop in a few oddballs here and there.  Enjoy!

I’ll start out with my all-time favorite: “Please Come Home for Christmas.”  Originally recorded by Charles Brown in 1960, the version most folks will be familiar with is this 1978 Eagles cover.  To this day, those first four piano notes still make my eyes misty whenever I hear them.  I find it odd that I like the song so much because the lyrics are a bit on the depressing side, because nearly all of my Christmases have been joyous affairs. Then again, it is The Eagles, and who doesn’t like The Eagles?

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BUSINESS, CREATIVE, JUST SAYING, MUSIC, RANDOMIZER9.COM, TECH, WHATS GOING ON, Writing

Lights Out, Lights On

The blackout is over and it’s back to unusual here on RANDOMIZER9.COM.  While SOPA may be down for the count, it certainly hasn’t gone away and so we must stay on our guard to make sure it or some other misguided attempt to regulate the Internet never ever rears its ugly head again.  Stay informed, everybody, and a big ‘way to go’ to everyone that participated!

For the entirety of January 18, 2012, I am shutting down RANDOMIZER9.COM in protest against the Protect-IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). These are bills that are currently making their way through the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America.

While my blog is but one of millions that are fighting for your attention on the wild kingdom that is the Internet, I feel that if I can make my few visitors aware of what is going on, then I will have done my part.

My blog is currently a labor of love more than anything else, but I do hope to one day make a living from my other creative endeavors and so the topic of piracy is important to me. While the intentions behind those two proposed laws may have been good, their language is so broad and their methods are so draconian that they cannot be allowed to become law.

I don’t expect everyone reading this message to support this effort, but I hope that you will take the time to read up on the subject and decide for yourself whether we should let control of this crazy new wonderful thing called the Internet fall into the hands of corporations and the government.

Thanks for reading

–Eduardo “Randomizer9” Soliz

www.sopastrike.com

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ANIME, CONS, IKKICON, JUST SAYING, MUSIC, MY LITTLE PONY, NeRiMa, RANDOMIZER9.COM, STEAMPUNK, WHATS GOING ON

20 Things I Noticed During Ikkicon VI

Since the last Ikkicon, I actually have helped run an event (two even, the Mezasu mini-cons) so my checklist of “things I have done at a con” is pretty darn close to complete.  This time, the band I drum for, named NeRiMa ねりま, was scheduled to play Saturday night, so Friday was pretty much a ‘free day.’  Because of my involvement with the event, I don’t feel right ‘reviewing’ it so without further ado, here’s another list of things I noticed:

  1. I am not going to bring up the drum thing. I am not going to bring up the drum thing. I am not going to bring up the drum thing.  I think the drum thing was our fault, anyway.
  2. Okay, the drum thing: I need to invest in an acoustic drum set…once I’m sure there is space for it in my apartment, I’m sure it’ll fit in my car, and I won’t get thrown out of my apartment from the noise…so yeah.
  3. So Band 1 plays before Band 2, but Band 2 does their sound check after Band 1 does theirs and immediately before Band 1 performs…granted, I’m fairly new to the whole “rock band” thing, but am I the only one that finds that weird?
  4. I’d heard there were three versions of the schedule floating around, which probably why nobody minded that we started playing late.
  5. I was a little distressed at seeing such a small crowd at first, but it turns out Safety was checking bags for alcohol at the door, so we waited and it slowly grew.
  6. I think I like playing on Friday better, because we can practice the night before and having the show constantly on my mind for most of the con took a little bit of the fun out of it.
  7. I had a fun time at the concert itself, it was also nice of them to remember the fog machines were there about 2/3 of the way through. :/
  8. I totally forgot to check out the game room, perhaps the memories of last year are way too fresh.
  9. I’m guessing a lot of folks got the Nintendo 3DS for Christmas.  Either that or System Settings is much more engaging than I remember.
  10. I finished 4 Streetpass panels during the event and almost finished Find Mii a second time, w00t!
  11. According to my 3DS’ pedometer, I averaged 6,000+ steps a day, and my legs feel like it today.
  12. Once again, no microwave in the room.  I guess if you can afford to stay at a place like the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center you aren’t going to be nuking popcorn and noodles for sustenance.
  13. Luckily, the venue was near the University of Texas, so there was plenty of pizza and burger jonts within walking distance.
  14. I love how the layout was prioritized: artists and dealers in the mezzanine, panels and some artists on the first floor, and con alley in steerage, er, I mean, the basement.  They aren’t the only ones to do this, BTW.
  15. The AT&T Executive yadda yadda is split in two between the hotel and the conference center, which is probably why there weren’t too many insane elevator wait times.  That, and it only has seven floors.
  16. I was afraid of that the venue was going to be too small for the number of attendees, but it didn’t seem to get too packed.
  17. I attended the My Little Pony panel to see if I could somehow finish the blog entry I’d been working on for the last two WEEKS. Mission Accomplished.
  18. In spite of my friend Chris’ best efforts, I was not tied down to a chair and forced to watch My Little Pony like the guy in “A Clockwork Orange.”  Jerk.
  19. What is it with badges?  Guest badges, even??  Once again I got a temp badge to start off, but they found the band’s real ones halfway through.
  20. I can’t claim this one (credit goes to my friend Justin of Nine Tails) but I have to include it: while looking at the Sunday schedule, a friend wondered “How come they never have Steampunk 102?”

For me, at least, Ikkicon VI was fun: a good-sized crowd showed up, the location was better in quite a few aspects, and our concert went well.  While there were a few wrinkles here and there, the problems that did come up got taken care of and a good time was had by all.

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