Well, the fun has to come to a stop at some point and the 2010 Olympics are almost near an end. And what a finish it will be with the US taking on Canada in the Gold medal Hockey final tomorrow!!! Wow

For me, the Winter Olympics are right up there with the Superbowl for excitement. And it goes on for better than two weeks. This year even the commercials seemed to rise to Superbowl status. My favorite was the surreal AT&T commercial featuring Gretchen Bleiler shooting off the half-pipe into space. Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" plays in the background. Awesome!

Can anyone guess what "Perfect Day" is written about?

Happy Final Days
Corey

The lyrical subtext could be displaying Reed's romanticised attitude towards the period of his own addiction to heroin.

On a simpler note, the song's lyrics probably suggest simple romantic devotion to his then girlfriend, Bettye Kronstadt.

Lou Reed frequently wrote songs on several levels so I'm not really sure what the real meaning is.

I've really enjoyed the Olympics as well. I prefer the winter over the summer.

Bill G

Alright Bill! Kewpie doll to you.

I know there's some controversy over this, but most people seem to agree that Heroin is the subject, or more specifically the song is about a day under the influence of it. Some say Sangria is code for addicts pulling blood into the mixture before re injecting.

You almost have to hear the music and words togehter to get the real power of this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYEC4TZsy-Y

Lou Reed
Transformer (1972)
Perfect Day

Just a perfect day,
Drink Sangria in the park,
And then later, when it gets dark,
We go home.
Just a perfect day,
Feed animals in the zoo
Then later, a movie, too,
And then home.

Oh it's such a perfect day,
I'm glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on.

Just a perfect day,
Problems all left alone,
Weekenders on our own.
It's such fun.
Just a perfect day,
You made me forget myself.
I thought I was someone else,
Someone good.

Oh it's such a perfect day,
I'm glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on.

You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow...

On You Tube, Reed looks & sounds like a druggy, but his lyrics, as written, seem no more than a nostalgic recollection of a "Perfect Day," spent with his love, drinking Sangria wine. As he performs the song, though, the repeated final verse "You're gonna reap just what you sow," does appear to turn it into a lament for a life, and love wasted on drugs.

There are more "You Tubes," of "Perfect Day," one with Reed, Pavorotti & full orchestra, another from the BBC with Reed & a dozen other performers contributing a verse, or two.

Unfortunately, I'm too old to grasp the social significance of this dreary song that captured so much attention of mainstream performers, & also worked for an AT&T commercial.

Another song of the early '70s, "A Horse With No Name," really sounds like a heroin trip, & indeed was initially banned by some radio stations because "horse," is period slang for heroin. The composer, however, stoutly maintains it was composed on a rainy day in England, recalling pleasant memories of childhood trips to the Arizona desert.

In spite of, or perhaps because of, the attempted bans, this also dreary song went to number one in the U.S., & stayed for quite awhile. I remember several other songs from that era that qualified as what one of my son's girlfriends called, "downer" music.

Those days there was constant speculation about veiled references to drugs in pop songs. The Beatles, "Lucy in The Sky With Diamonds," was another one. Google has 10 pages of references to discussion of the meaning of this song.

Of course, those were the days of a newly- drugged America, & most popular music groups then, spent a lot of time stoned.

Hey, this is Barthmobile.com. How did we get on the druggy music of the '70s?

quote:

Hey, this is Barthmobile.com. How did we get on the druggy music of the '70s?

That's the strength of Barthmobile and Barth owners in general, a wide variety of intelligent advice and conversation.

I can tell you it's the only social network I belong to!

Good thought. Never looked at it quite that way. Other than the fact we have a couple renaissance men, & lots of smart techies here, I always wondered why I continued to hang around, even though the Barth is long gone (sigh).

And we love havin ya!!!

Seriously, I could legitimately join half a dozen serious aficionado led groups like BMW bike and M3 car groups, but they're full of "drama". Here I find a quiet, respectful, and thoughtful group who think before they type. I will admit I sometimes have to edit later when I see what I wrote though. Nobody is perfect, eh?


An since I love changing threads, How bout that hockey game yesterday? Amazing, but a little painful!

quote:

Originally posted by noble97monarch:
...How bout that hockey game yesterday? Amazing, but a little painful!

Congratulations to our Canadian friends, great game!!! Team USA tied up with a few seconds left and Team Canada won it in O.T.!!!

What a way to end it.

I can't help wondering if that was a compassionate loss designed to avert mass suicides in Canadian streets, & lynch mobs forming for the Canadian team.

quote:

I can't help wondering if that was a compassionate loss designed to avert mass suicides in Canadian streets, & lynch mobs forming for the Canadian team

I know you weren't TOO serious, but our boys didn't give them anything. An incredible game, with one of the best in the game winning it for Canada. Big fun, best wishes to all, see you in 4 years. Now send our Lightning players back here so we can get back to hockey!!

I tried not to get upset about what I saw but have failed. I can't see anything Olympic about a game that is not and can never be a "Miracle on Ice". Played by professionals on a rink built to NHL dimensions, using rules of the NHL and officials who represetn the competitors! How come the International rules of Kockey, adopted by all the countries as the rules of amateur sport applied to the other ten countries who came but not the USA or Canada? It used to be that young men (and now women) grew up with the dream of competing for their love of sport and their country. Now they must achieve the top of professional sport before they can even be considered. This destroys any opportunity for the young and talented to be Olympians, and then professionals. It is sad that as one who saw the eyes of those boys in 1980 could not begin to see the same joy and pride of representation of great nations on the faces of the NHL stars who now go bck to their "real jobs". This rant isn't about the score, it is about the spectacle and commercialism - I should be overjoyed but I'm just not, I'm just a Canadian who loves amatuer sport, once every four years.

The true "amateur" in the Olympics began to disappear in the 1930s when fascist governments, for propaganda purposes, sponsored national teams whose athletes practiced their sports as essentially full time government employees. That tradition was raised to a fine art by the Communist bloc, post WWII, & it became apparent to the West that the true part-time amateur athlete had neither time nor financial support to compete with government-sponsored professionals who were amateurs in name only.

Eventually the West realized that if we couldn't lick 'em, we had to join 'em, so the Olympics were opened to professional athletes.

As in most things, them with the most people & the most money, tend to dominate. Nevertheless, some relatively small nations dominate in certain sports, because they are national passions; notably Canada with hockey, the Nordic nations & Northern Europe in the individual ice & snow sports. It's the way life is.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom K:
This rant isn't about the score, it is about the spectacle and commercialism.

College foot ball is the same way. They recruit street thugs with no hope of graduating a legitimate program, and coddle, comp and perk them so their athletic department can generate revenue and drunken alum can enjoy their tailgating parties in their SUVs.

Bah Humbug!

quote:

Originally posted by olroy:
The true "amateur" in the Olympics began to disappear in the 1930s when fascist governments, for propaganda purposes, sponsored national teams whose athletes practiced their sports as essentially full time government employees. That tradition was raised to a fine art by the Communist bloc, post WWII, & it became apparent to the West that the true part-time amateur athlete had neither time nor financial support to compete with government-sponsored professionals who were amateurs in name only.

So true. I was a helper at the International Six Days Trial in the early '70s, and all the riders from Communist countries were army officers, and each had a small army of mechanics, masseurs, etc, who were military. This was before drug testing, but we had our suspicions.

I agree - but ain't it a shame! Now we get two NHL All Star Games! BTW I know a two time Olympian who represented Costa Rica in a rowing event. He was trained in the USA and when the IOC found out he had Costa Rican citizenship they asked him to sign up so they could have enough countries to meet the minimum number of competitors to have the event - they paid for his training at the US Olympic Training Center, paid his living and travel expenses and flew him to meet his President so he actually went home - once. Ain't it a shame! Maybe we need a Barth Olympics.

Well, there's no doubt almost all the Olympic sports are now dominated by full-time professionals. The only exceptions are the not so popular sports or competitors from obscure countries. What does make them unique is that, unlike the all-star games, they are for the most part a product of that country. That adds a unique element of bragging rights.