Erin O'Riordan writes smart, whimsical erotica. Her erotic romance novel trilogy, Pagan Spirits, is now available. With her husband, she also writes crime novels. Visit her home page at ko-fi.com.
From the March 21, 1926 Washington, D.C. Evening Star
Bummer March 24th
March 24, 1918: Scottish-American stage magician William Ellsworth Robinson, who pretended to be Chinese and performed under the stage name Chung Ling Soo, dies of a bullet wound to his lung, the result of a failed bullet catch trick he’d performed the night before. Ellsworth pretended not to speak English as part of his act, but when the bullet struck him, the audience heard him say, "Oh my God. Something's happened. Lower the curtain."
March 24, 1999: A transport truck carrying margarine and flour enters the Mont Blanc tunnel between France and Italy. The truck driver notices white smoke coming from the cabin of his truck and exits the vehicle to extinguish the fire. The fire explodes out of control, and he exits the tunnel. Two minutes later, authorities are called to fight the fire.
Drivers who had entered on the French side of the tunnel weren’t able to turn around their vehicles to exit the tunnel and were forced to wait in their vehicles for rescue. By the time firefighting vehicles arrived, the wiring for the lighting inside the tunnel had melted, so the tunnel was not only completely dark but also filling with toxic smoke. The margarine inside the truck acted as fuel for the fire. Nine people died while attempting to escape on foot; 29 people died inside their vehicles.
March 24, 2015: Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashes Germanwings Flight 9525 into the French Alps, killing himself, five other crew members, and all 144 passengers aboard the flight. Lubitz had locked the other pilot out of the cockpit when the other pilot got up to use the restroom.
March 24, 2019: The Dar-ul-Arqam mosque in Escondido, California, is set on fire in an Islamophobic arson attack. Although seven people are inside the mosque when it’s set on fire, no one is injured.
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And now, for something completely different, an affiliate link to a Gumroad creative product you may enjoy: The Abandoned Realm Audiobook
14. "Joke's On You" Charlotte Lawrence - this is on the soundtrack of the Birds of Prey movie and therefore somewhat Joker-related, and therefore included on my Folie à Deux playlist
13. "Want You Bad" Bite Me Bambi - ska cover of the Offspring song from the year 2000
12. "I Want a Little Sugar In My Bowl" Nina Simone
11. "1979" The Smashing Pumpkins - probably my 2nd favorite SP song, lyrics-wise. It genuinely captures, impressionistically, the feeling set of teen years fading into dawning adulthood
10. "Malibu" Hole
9. "Pink Pony Club" Chappell Roan
8. "Already Gone" Kelly Clarkson - I very specifically associate this song with fictional Vicky in "A Broken Man & the Dawn."
7. "Drunk In Love" The Dan Band - this tongue-in-cheek Beyoncé cover slotted nicely into the Destiel playlist
6. "Poet" Bastille - I know I've been listening to this writing-themed song at least since September, when I shared in this Linda Pastan post.
5. "Spider Pig" Hans Zimmer
4. "Cruel Summer" Taylor Swift. I came late to this song, but I was hung over from watching Good Omens season 2 and the line "Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes" pulled me in. (The Aziracrow of it all, yes, but also Gabriel and Beelzebub. I thought Gabe and Bub made a nice celestial couple.)
Taylor Swift really is a very talented lyricist. The more lyrics I learned, the more I liked this.
3. "Crazy For You" New Found Glory - Madonna Louise Ciccone was coming up in too many of my playlists, so I banished her and made a playlist exclusively of Madonna covers. This happens to work for Destiel playlist too
2. "Ava Adore" The Smashing Pumpkins - these are my favorite Billy Corgan lyrics; there’s a lovely symmetry to them. I love the guitar parts, and I love Ms. D’Arcy Elizabeth Wretzky’s bass part at the end.
Happy Spotify Wrapped release day 2024! What was your top song of the year? Mine was "Joyride" by Kesha, surprising no one, since I already wrote a blog post about my obsession with this fun pop song.
Is 128 times a lot of times to stream one song? My top song last year was one that I listened to 49 times.
Rounding out my other top songs are tracks from ZZ Ward, New Found Glory, and Taylor Swift. But I'm not just a music girlie: I'm also a podcast girlie. These were my Top 5, including of course Disaster Area.
Now let's dive into my Top 100, which I'll divide into several posts over the next few days for easier readability.
100. "Headless Horseman" Kid Kasino, Shea - an electroswing version of the Bing Crosby-Disney tune with a female vocalist; Halloween playlist
Of course, I was in Sleepy Hollow, New York in October. Here's my photo of the Headless Horseman Bridge.
Does the mention of oysters make you think of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, specifically "The Walrus and the Carpenter?" Coincidentally, the next-most listened song is...
You may recall from yesterday's post that I was eagerly, not-so-patiently awaiting the Hamilton performance on last night's Grammys telecast, as well as Lady Gaga's tribute to the recently deceased David Bowie. I wasn't disappointed by either of those musical moments! Here are some of my other favorites.
'Hamilton' genius creator/performer Lin-Manuel Miranda
Creative Commons image by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Taylor Swift started off the program with a performance of her "Out of the Woods," the latest single from her 1989 album. Meh. Personally I think the singles peaked at "Blank Space" and have been getting steadily less interesting ever since. "Style?" Pretty good song. I like the reference to James Dean and that Vampire Academy hottie Dominic Sherwood appears in the video. "Bad Blood?" Frankly, I think the song's a little cheesy. The "Band-Aids don't fix bullet holes" line is my favorite thing about the lyrics. "Out of the Woods" - I can barely even think of any of the lyrics other than:
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet?...
...You get the idea. Swift looked AMAZING, though, both in her daring two-piece red carpet ballgown and in the starlit bodysuit she performed in. (It did remind me a little of Beyonce's dark blue bodysuit on an awards show of several years ago.)
A performance I liked a lot better was Little Big Town's haunting live rendition of "Girl Crush." The song itself won 2 Grammys.
One thing I wasn't expecting to see during the Grammys was the trailer for the third Divergent Series movie, Allegiant. I found myself unexpectedly choked up by the sight of Shailene Woodley as Tris Prior.
Commercials give me feelings. I also choked up just a little bit when I saw the trailer for Tim Burton's Through the Looking Glass. Alice was following a blue butterfly, and when the butterfly spoke, it was in the voice of Alan Rickman, also recently deceased. The movie actually looks interesting - even though I don't love Johnny Depp's over-the-top Mad Hatter performance - but it's always bittersweet to see a beloved, late actor in one of their last roles. (See Also: Robin Williams in the surprisingly-good Night at the Museum 3.)
Shortly after the Through the Looking Glass spot, the Hamilton cast performed, and it was an exquisite pleasure. Equally moving, though? When the Hamilton cast recording won its Grammy, Lin-Manuel Miranda whipped out his acceptance speech and proceeded to perform it as a rap. This guy's a bona fide musical genius - to live at this moment is like being alive when George Gershwin put out Rhapsody in Blue.
Then, after I got Tit Elingtin hooked up on his dialysis machine, we could relax and enjoy Lady Gaga's David Bowie tribute. Which was amazing. The only thing I wished she'd have done differently was spend a little more time on "Rebel Rebel."
The part I really didn't think I would like, but that I ended up liking, was the tribute to Lionel Ritchie. Ritchie's music reminds me of my childhood- '80s kid here - but I can't exactly say I'm a fan. And, when I was a kid, "Hello" used to make me cry. It's not even a sad song, per say--more about longing than actual sadness. But I have some funny brain chemistry and slow-paced songs will sometimes affect me with mood contagion in a way that doesn't feel too good.
And yet! When Demi Lovato performed a fragment of "Hello," I genuinely enjoyed it.
But then, I like Demi Lovato. Maybe because she's a feminist. Maybe because she sang "Cool For the Summer," in which the heterosexual performer sounded decidedly heteroflexible for another girl*. Great, very catchy song, and she looks incredibly sexy in the video.
My girl crush on Demi Lovato is not platonic.
Some parts of the Grammys show I really didn't care for. I didn't like the song Adele performed, which she co-wrote with Bruno Mars. I haven't been enjoying Adele's latest album much at all. None of the singles have been upbeat rockers like "Rolling in the Deep." But even if she hadn't had technical difficulties with the microphone on the piano, I still wouldn't have enjoyed the overly-sentimental song with lyrics that didn't make much sense.
I also didn't like the duet between Tori Kelly and James Bay much. (Both of them lost Best New Artist to Meghan Trainor, who was adorably flustered and tearful when she won.) Kelly's half of the performance was good, but Bay seemed like he was whispering, tentative, or not trying as hard as Kelly. He may be very talented, but I wouldn't have known it based on the Grammys.
We turned off the TV and went to sleep during the Vampires of Hollywood performance. Overall, it was a Grammys telecast well worth watching.
*At that time, Lovato publicly identified as a woman. This was prior to their coming out as nonbinary.
