Sunday, January 25, 2009

Do The Shuffle.



It was a pleasant and multicultural Sunday at the Pink Ranch. I put my ipod on shuffle mode. A rather amusing selection came on. The Beatles followed by African Pop Music followed by Patsy Cline singing I Fall to Pieces. After 20 or so minutes I forgot about the ipod and thought I was listening to the radio. “What a great radio station, one good song after another”- said I. Then I realized it was my own ipod. I could be absentminded like that. I know the year of the Battle of Hastings (1066) but I do not know where I put the car keys. I should stop using so much Splenda. Someone told me it affects your memory. I remembered just now when I worked as a teacher. An early October morning I asked my students what day was America discovered. One kid shrugged his shoulders and said- “Tuesday?” I didn’t know if to cry or laugh. I looked at him sternly and said -“No, it was a Thursday.” Nobody got my joke. I digress. So anyways, I was in a shuffle mood. Then the great Celia Cruz from Cuba came on. I had to stand up and wiggle my body a little bit. There is something with us Caribbean people when we hear Salsa or Merengue music. We are possessed. You cannot control the paroxysms going about in your entire body. The rhythm overtakes you and you need to start moving. I’ve seen complete strangers in places like malls, public parks, schools and groceries stores start dancing as soon as Latin music starts playing. The transformation was amazing. I became a slave to the rhythm. I was by myself in the apartment so I had no qualms whatsoever about dancing a little bit. Here are the songs that came on my ipod in succession and the mood they “provoked on me.”


Trickle Trickle- Manhattan Transfer SASSY
I Will Survive- Gloria Gaynor DEFIANT
Lucille- Kenny Rogers LANGUID
Surf City- Jan and Dean CAWABANGUISH
Bad Connection- Yaz (Yazoo in the UK) ELECTRIC
Chinese Kung Fu- Banzai CORNY
I Have A Dream- ABBA ANGELIC
My Boyfriend’s Back- The Shirells SILLY
Don’t Let The Rain Come Down- The Serendipity Singers. BACK-IN-SUNDAY-SCHOOL-ISH
Hot Tamale Baby- Buckwheat Zydeco LAISSEZ-LE-BON-TEMPS-ROULEZ-Y


So, What’s in your Ipods cowboys and cowgirls?