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Posts Archived Under Events
Writers hold a "midnight write"
to kick off NaNoWriMo.
(Photo by Megan Myers) |
Writers, boot up your laptops! November is National Novel Writing Month, or "NaNoWriMo"
to the initiated. The idea is that with the right combination of drive and
discipline, anyone can crank out a 175-page novel over the course of a month.
A group of writers in San
Francisco organized the first NoWriMo in 1999, and since then the event
has snowballed into a national (if niche) phenomenon.
Interestingly, the project isn’t for pen and paper. To be an
official participant, you have to submit your manuscript electronically in order to
have the length verified by word-count
software. It should be noted that people were keeping tabs on words long before
machines made it easy to do so. Ernest Hemingway famously
wrote 500 words a day.
This marathon
of writing events begs the question: Can you really write a good novel in 30 days? Well, it doesn't
have to be Proust; it
just has to be 50,000 words. The event organizers are the first to admit that
writing done in this manner isn't the stuff of masterpieces. They say -- and I quote -- "You will be writing
a lot of crap." To them, it's more about the process. And like the marathon,
not everyone finishes. According to the site, last year 120,000 participants
signed on at the beginning of the month, but only 20,000 people completed their
pieces by midnight on November 30, the official deadline.
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Archived under: Arts, Authors, Books, Events, Fanatics, Literature, San Francisco, Writing |
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"Are we not one-hit wonders?"
(Anybody see another hit song?)
(Photo by Alterna2) |
What is it about "One Hit Wonders" that make them just so darn catchy? Most musicians rarely make it to the big time at all, and those that do are usually able to make careers out of it (or at least long enough to reach that elusive #2 hit). But One Hit Wonders are different. They're like the most ephemeral of stars: they shine brightly for a single moment of time, then burn out into oblivion. But if they're lucky, their songs remain for eternity.
Inspired by "One Hit Wonder Day" (last week, on September 25th), we asked our fellow Yahoos to share their favorite One Hit Wonder* of all time. (You can find Part One here and Part Two here.) On a side note, many of the below mentioned artists and bands are still recording and performing 10, 20, and in some cases, almost 30 years later -- so props to them for overcoming (or in some cases, embracing) their status as "One Hit Wonders."
Mike M.: Wow, there are a LOT of great one hit wonders, but the first one that comes to mind is "Centerfold" by J. Geils Band -- "Na, na, na-na-na-naaa, na, na, na, na-na-na-na-naaaa!"
Adam: Easy. "Falco 3" by Falco (it had "Rock Me Amadeus" on it). Wow. I just felt a shiver of embarrassment. Ick.
Corinne: The first song I ever loved and still love now is "Too Shy" by Kajagoogoo.
Adrienne: Peter Godwin's "Images of Heaven" was truly transportive for me in the early 1980s.
Brian: Favorite one hit wonder: "Whip It" by Devo. I was always angry my parents never bought me a Devo-hat!
JoAnne: "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and I'm not at all ashamed of it. One of the best '80s songs, and one I will bounce around to every time I hear it. Followed very closely by "867-5309 (Jenny)" from Tommy Tutone.
Helene L.: My favorite one hit wonder is "My Sharona" by The Knack. I like the guitar riff, the entertaining beat, and the profound philosophy of the lyrics. What bothers me now is the name of the band, "The Knack," because in my native region, a knack is a type of sausage. The parody by "Weird Al" Yankovic, called "My Bologna" is almost as addictive.
Dave S.: I was crazy for "Freeze Frame" by The J. Geils Band. It's decades younger than my favorite music of the 1920s, but there was something about that organ riff and their shouting "freeze frame!" that I loved. Sue me.
Sarah L.: "I Melt With You" by Modern English. It still gets so much radio airplay (not to mention covers ad nauseum) that few people realize they can't name another song recorded by the same band.
Adrianna: There's "The Macarena," does that count? (Editor's Note: Not only does it count, VH1 named "The Macarena" its #1 One Hit Wonder of all time!)
(*Please note that "One Hit Wonder" status is as much defined by perception as by actual radio charting status.)
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Those cats are fast as lightning!
(Photo by mK B.) |
What is it about "One Hit Wonders" that make them just so darn catchy? Most musicians rarely make it to the big time at all, and those that do are usually able to make careers out of it (or at least long enough to reach that elusive #2 hit). But One Hit Wonders are different. They're like the most ephemeral of stars: they shine brightly for a single moment of time, then burn out into oblivion. But if they're lucky, their songs remain for eternity.
Inspired by "One Hit Wonder Day" (last week, on September 25th), we asked our fellow Yahoos to share their favorite One Hit Wonder* of all time. (You can find Part One here.) On a side note, many of the below mentioned artists and bands are still recording and performing 10, 20, and in some cases, almost 30 years later -- so props to them for overcoming (or in some cases, embracing) their status as "One Hit Wonders."
Mitzi: I’ve always liked "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers. Not sure if they qualify as one hit wonders, but I don’t think any of their other songs ever hit the U.S. charts.
Cathleen: My favorite one hit wonder record (and sure to stay that way) was Color Me Badd's "C.M.B." Some may call "I Wanna Sex You Up" their only actual "hit," but "I Adore Mi Amor" and "All 4 Love" made it to the Top 10 in my heart. I'm pretty sure they pioneered the use of numerals instead of words in song titles, an innovative and important achievement in the history of pop music. Think of where texting would be today without these four musical geniuses.
Cliff: Hanson's "MMMBop."
Huw: I can't say I have a favorite one hit wonder, but I'm very entertained by "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" -- a delightfully ESL track by the Spanish duo Baccara.
Chris B.: I hope that both "Kung Fu Fighting" and "If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don’t Want To Be Right" make your compilation. (Editor's note: They have now!)
Jessica J.: My top one hit wonder: "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Deep Blue Something.
Dave T.: Although not my favorite one hit wonder per se, the one that has etched itself permanently into the album of my memory is Joe Dolce's "Shaddap You Face." It was a novelty record which consisted of an American-born Australian offering such times less lyrics as "Whassamatta you? (Hey!) Gotta no respect? Whaddaya think you do? Why you looka so sad? It's-a not so bad. It's-a nice-a place. Ah, shaddap you face!" All this in a seriously dodgy Italian accent to boot. This is largely memorable because it kept a genuine 80s classic (Ultravox's "Vienna") off of the #1 spot in the U.K. and forever tarnishing Midge Ure's reputation.
We'll have our final round of humiliating confessions tomorrow!
(*Please note that "One Hit Wonder" status is as much defined by perception as by actual radio charting status.)
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What is it about "One Hit Wonders" that make them just so darn catchy? Most musicians rarely make it to the big time at all, and those that do are usually able to make careers out of it (or at least long enough to reach that elusive #2 hit). But One Hit Wonders are different. They're like the most ephemeral of stars: they shine brightly for a single moment of time, then burn out into oblivion. But if they're lucky, their songs remain for eternity.
Inspired by "One Hit Wonder Day" (September 25th), we asked our fellow Yahoos to share their favorite One Hit Wonder* of all time. On a side note, many of the below mentioned artists and bands are still recording and performing 10, 20, and in some cases, almost 30 years later -– so props to them for overcoming (or in some cases, embracing) their status as "One Hit Wonders."
Andrea S.: The best one-hit wonder of all -– and I say this proudly and with oodles of swing to my hips -– is "The Hustle." When I was a little girl, my parents took disco dancing lessons, and there’s a famous (to our family, anyway) photo of my groove-challenged engineer father attempting to count out the Hustle steps while my three-year-old brother scoots around in his a pair of green feet pajamas. "Do the Hustle!"
Laura: My favorite one-hit wonder was Mr. Big's 1989 sentimental instrumental, "To Be With You." As an awkward, swoony, prepubescent 12-year-old, this song seemed to perfectly encapsulate all my cheesy romantic fantasies. Unrequited love! Passion! Heartache! Good times all around.
Helene K.: So here is my little French contribution ... can't miss our French one hit wonder (or should I say "le hit?"): "Born to be Alive" by Patrick Hernandez. It's still a number one for any party, wedding, or other events involving dancing, at least in France. Cheesy, easy and yet, it works!
Terri: My choices are both from the '80s: "99 Luftballons" by Nena and "Human" by The Human League.
More embarrassing revelations on Monday!
(*Please note that "One Hit Wonder" status is as much defined by perception as by actual radio charting status.)
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Punctuation fail -- unless they're talking
about smoking food and photographing
drinks
(Photo by Chris Chan)
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Who gives a **** about an "Oxford Comma?" And what exactly is an "Oxford comma," anyway? For those of you who knew that it's the final comma in a list of items before the conjunction, it probably comes as no surprise that Thursday is National Punctuation Day. Yes, it's an entire day devoted to celebrating the correct placement of apostrophes, semicolons, and quotation marks. In fact, those are only three of the fourteen different standard punctuation marks in the English language! (Bonus points to those who could list all fourteen before clicking on that link.)
However, if you're the kind of person who couldn't care less that "its" is possessive, but "it's" is not, perhaps you should reconsider the importance of those tiny symbols the next time you ask "Whats missing?" First, it's the hyphens that the careless let go, then it's the ellipses, and before you know it, nobody can end a sentence without it running into the next one. In fact, careless punctuation can literally cost you, as a Canadian company discovered in 2006. A single misplaced comma cost them $2 million dollars when their contract was erroneously terminated.
Of course, just as bad as being punctually illiterate is being a busybody know-it-all (cue Ross from "Friends"). Perhaps you've been lucky enough to avoid Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style" while learning your way around a school essay. The duo adeptly demonstrated how to use a possessive apostrophe correctly, while simultaneously confusing students every time they pondered whether it was "mantel" or "mantle" that referred to that thing above the fireplace (it's "mantel," in case you were wondering ...).
If you're still convinced that all punctuation is stuffy and boring, there's Victor Borge, the man who made semi-colons entertaining. Borge, a Danish comedian and musician well known for his comedy bit, "Phonetic Punctuation" (seen here with Dean Martin), could make punctuation pop. Or, if that sort of humor is too refined for you, there's the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks, The Truth About Grammar, and National Punctuation Day's gallery of gaffes.
Oh, and if you happen to have stumbled across any grammatical anomalies during the course of reading this article, give yourself a cookie ... and keep it to yourself.
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