Good Luck America

I was talking to a friend about banking and stocks and how the entire economy is as fallacious as a ghost story told by a drunk hooker. I'd read that each dollar you have in savings is loaned out 7 times by the bank. You deposit $100 and the bank loans $700. So where did the other $600 come from? Magic. It came from the $600 in debt the bank is owed from lending out the $700. Wha??
                                                                                                              

Here's a video that will have you scratching your head too. The lesson is this: you get what you deserve.

When The Harvest Moon is Shining

When The Harvest Moon is Shining
1920 MCMXX
Music by Harry Von Tilzer
Lyrics Andrew B. Sterling
Key: Bb
Time: 3/4

Now we are getting into the deep tracks of American Pop. Harry Von Tilzer is sometimes referred to as the father of American pop music but that's only by people who have never heard of Stephen Foster. Tilzer does get credit for not selling all the rights to his songs for beer money, so he could be considered the first professional song-smith who figured out how to make a living and not get screwed over. Foster actually worked out the math for any future royalties he would receive for songs like Camptown Races and Oh Susanna while living and sold the rights to them for one lump sum that amounted to a few hundred dollars. Maybe he knew he'd be dead by 37 so money destined for his benefactors did him no good. Foster had the misfortune of writing popular songs prior to and during the American Civil War when plagiarism and copyright infringement was rampant and Foster's business sense was outmatched by a general and total disregard for intellectual property rights. Imagine going into a store, buying some sheet music, then paying a printer to print you off hundreds of copies and selling them all for a profit you didn't share with anyone. And for good measure you put your own name as the composer. "Gentle Annie: Words and Music by Oggy Bleacher." That's what the publishing world was like in 1850.

I've Heard That Song Before

1942
Words and Music by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn

Even though most of the music in the dusty box is from this 1942 era, I don't want to overemphasize that period. I will probably pick one more pure war propaganda tune and move on. My current selection was based on the suspicion that the lyrics are a nod to the "Play it again, Sam" nostalgia that Casablanca created. But Casablanca was released in November 1942...so that doesn't add up. Youth on Parade, the musical film I've Heard That Song Before was introduced in was released in October 1942. So this is an example of a romantic ideal revolving around the memories we assign to music appearing consecutively and independently. Both Casablanca and the songs used in Youth on Parade were evolving at the same time and the fact Rick is reminded of his affair with Ilsa by the 1931 song As Time Goes By is probably unrelated to the line in this Styne and Cahn song "Please have them play it again...". In fact, am I being crazy to suggest this is why people historically get the quote wrong? Casablana was in the theaters only a few weeks after Youth on Parade was in theaters. So the same people who heard Ilsa say, "Play it, Sam." also heard Margaret Whiting sing a very similar line in a song that would soon be nominated for an Academy Award. I think over time the two scenarios got mixed up in people's minds. I'm sure this factoid revelation is super illuminating in the era of Ebola.

Maybe it's also no coincidence that Vera Lynn also recorded I've Heard That Song Before since she was the top recording singer in England at that time.

We'll Meet Again

Words and Music by Ross Parker, Hughie Charles

I've carried this ancient box of sheet music from an Upstate New York flea market to central Mexico with one goal: record all the songs in it. The oldest song in the box is 110 years old. The majority are copyrighted around 1940 and Bing Crosby's career is heavily represented. I'm trying to expand my own musical boundaries and maybe resurrect a few songs or at least prove why they should be forgotten. It's not fair to say this box of music represents music of an era because only select songs even qualified for publishing. The real lost gems were forgettable in 1936 also, so they weren't published. I'd have to return to the rare 1936 recording itself and transcribe those songs...which is beyond my ability. I want to take the music I have collected, biased though it may be having survived two World Wars to be sold for $10 by a junk dealer in NY who was also probably happy to get rid of it, and present it in trademark Oggy fashion to the world.

Man buys pants and you won't believe what happens next...

Authentic Catholic Church in Tianguismanalco

Saturday Mass had come and gone so the Iglesia was quiet. The doors magically shut when I approached like my soul was too poisoned to allow to enter.

Original Wedding Flowers in Atlixco

But they come with a "Full 1 Year Warranty" So I trust them.

I couldn't resist the ultimate Mexican knockoff. These are pure stretch polyester but the tag says "Heavy Duty Denim" Denim is cotton. It's odd because the manufacturer was successfully imitating a polyester Wrangler Wranch jean. I guess if Wrangler can spell Ranch wrong then Wangbler can spell Wrangler wrong. This is the world we live in. I wear Wangbler brand pants.