Todd Is.....

...my new favorite artist of all time. Seriously.

Thanks to Rogert Ebert's tweet about a friend's article,
resurrection of the renaissance man, an homage to Todd Rundgren, I fell down a rabbit hole and my summer has been transformed, both musically and mentally. I think I have a bit of a crush now, truth be told.

I started clicking the video links and remembered how much I loved Todd ages ago, and realized I didn't know a damn thing about the man or his music now. So I learned, I read, I listened. I am in awe. He puts so much of himself into his music, and he's just a great guy, brilliant, wickedly articulate, refreshingly honest, funny, a good husband and father, and a fascinating artist, one who never sold out, never stopped learning and growing. An all around amazing guy.

I learned, among other things that on his Something/Anything album (It Wouldn't Have Made any Difference, Hello it's Me) he wrote, performed, sang, recorded and produced the album himself, even figured out how to fit more tracks on the vinyl. He is the total package. How many artists can match that? His music video Time Heals was among the first ever shown on MTV and he made it himself, because in addition to musician, he's one seriously smart guy and a complete computer geek. Oh, and he also produced some monster albums like Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell, and a list of who's who bands from the 70's and 80's like the Band, Grand Funk, the Cars, the Tubes, the Psychedelic Furs, Hall and Oats, Patti Smith and many others. While I wasn't listening to Todd, I was listening to almost everything he had a hand in producing, I just didn't realize it at the time.

On his recent album, Arena, which he recorded at 60, on a Mac all by his lonesome at home in Hawaii, he channels AC/DC, Robin Trower and some ZZ Top type vibes to express his outrage at the Bush administration and his wish for us to collectively man up as a nation. I wish I had it to listen to when I was awash in my own outrage. I've listened to it dozens of times and it keeps getting better. I'm especially hooked on the song Afraid. His current album Todd Rundgren's Johnson is a cover of Eric Clapton covering Robert Johnson's blues and is very well done. Coming out next is ReProduction, Todd's dance covers of hit songs he produced for other bands, including Love My Way, Dear God, Walk Like a Man, Out of My Mind - I can hardly wait. There aren't many genres or ideas he hasn't explored. Say what you will about Todd, but he is never boring, always interesting, always chasing his inner muse. I have had a blast catching up with his work since the 80's, and although I'm sorry I missed those decades since, I've really enjoyed plugging into the matrix of his music and his life in one massive upload.

Here are a few wonderful youtube clips showing just a little of Todd's amazing vocal and musical range. In his 60's he still has it going on.

For the Want of a Nail - a soul fest with Daryll Hall - which got me hooked on the Live from Daryl's House series. Amazing stuff - you should play it while you do the dishes. You'll be dancing and singing in no time - don't hold back, don't hold back, Heyyyy!



Pretending to Care - a song so powerful that about three minutes in, brought tears to my eyes. Originally recorded on his A Capella album, which used no instruments, just multiple tracks of Todd's voice. In this live performance he is accompanied by Ethel, a fabulous string quartet.



Can We Still Be Friends - my first favorite Todd song:


For a flash-back fix, try the funky Unloved Children, recorded live in Japan. Note the lovely blonde backup singer in the middle, the one and only Michelle Rundgren, an amazing person and performer in her own right.



Musically, his amazing voice, his sense of melody and harmony, coupled with his interesting chord progressions are fascinating me. Not to mention his lyrics. How can I change the world when I can't change myself? Try again tomorrow... I have so many of his songs stuck in my head, and I've found that some of his music takes a listen or two to seep in. I liken the experience to learning to enjoy different types of wine. I read an interview where Todd tried to explain why he doesn't enjoy playing his hits, as they don't interest him musically. To paraphrase, he asked if you tried a dish that was wonderful, would you want the chef to only make that for your, or would you let him cook you something else to try? I'm so very glad I let Todd expand my palate and take me on this very cool musical adventure. I wish I'd seen him on tour before now, but he'll be in Milwaukee for Summerfest and going to hear him live is at the top of my wish list.

Until then, I'm going to have be sampling his immense catalog, watching the hundreds of videos on youtube, and rewatching his guest spots on Live from Daryl's House. And I will wait for my book A Wizard A True Star: Todd Rundgren in the Studio to arrive in the mail, plus DVD's of his live performances. I've already bought dozens of mp3 downloads and a couple of cd's. Like I said, I think I have a little crush thing going on. It's been refreshing and exactly what this old soul needed.

Happy listening to whatever makes your soul sing...

On Father's Day

I'm grateful for the father who raised me, who I miss very much.

And I'm grateful for the man I married, who is an amazing Dad.

Thanks to both of these men for the smiles, for the love, for showing up and working hard and caring, 

and for being such good role models for their children 

XO

Lovely things

Sorry so long and lame between posts. Things have been crazy busy with end of school and life in general. Our daughter's 8th grade class had their graduation ceremony this week. Isn't that odd, really, graduating from middle school? Maybe it makes sense since this is one of three feeder schools that consolidate into two giant high schools, and some of these kids will likely never see each other again.

I have trouble wrapping my brain around a high school with more students and teachers in it than the town I grew up in. Here's a picture of the procession, the ceremony and the proud parents of a lovely and very tall young lady who looks much older than an 8th grade student:

This weekend, we went for a bike ride with our daughter to two lovely parks and a River festival. It was a great day, so full of green, and so much scenery and cool air rushing past. The mosquitoes couldn't get us, and I felt as if I could ride all day. Maybe next time.

Here's a few pictures of a few more of my favorite things from this week.

In camera news, I did all my research, decided which one I wanted and wouldn't you know it, they are sold out. Business at Canon is good. I'm kindof stuck on Canon, since my old school camera - the kind that uses film, that we bought ourselves as a wedding gift 25 years ago - has a lovely assortment of expensive lenses I'd like to use again. Oh well. Until then, I'll suffer with spotty focus and an annoying gray spot on my pictures. Worse fates could befall me. And I'm getting pretty good at aligning the pictures before I take them so I hide the spot. The Monet focus of most of my flower photos, that's another problem. On the bright side, the flowers are cycling through their blooms so quickly that there's not that much left to catch. Daylillies and sedum are mostly what's left. Sigh. It all happens so quickly, doesn't it?

I leave you with a fuzzy picture of my roses and daisies. I wish you could smell the roses, they are lovely. I don't think they've invented that camera yet.

And the winner is...

OK. Maybe I'm hormonal or going through a phase, but NASA's winning video for Earth Day made me cry.

You should watch it, because Fiona made a lovely tribute to our little planet and just her voice alone merits a listen. She did a great job trying to articulate the importance of respecting our home. Hope you like it too.



And this one made me laugh and feel happy on the inside. Thumbs up for Rock and Roll!!


I'm going to watch this one anytime I need to feel happy of myself!

Flower Flies

They're also called Hover Flies or  syrphid flies and this is a good year for them. They are teeny, about the size of a grain of rice, and I'm just about obsessed with them this year. Their patterns are lovely and the iridescent wings mesmerize me. They don't sit still long, so I've spent countless hours bending over my shrubs and iris waiting for one to chill out long enough to snap a photo. They're the reason I'm going out shopping for a new camera because my little Canon point and shoot is just about done. I've rolled the counter on the poor thing over three times so it deserves to retire. I need some more macro mojo, some more pixels and a battery that lasts more than half an hour. Anyway, here's a few of dozens I took that were almost in focus. 

I caught a few having a romantic moment. I'm not sure how long it lasts, but they flew around attached like this while I watched.

Speaking of bee-like creatures, I found a site called beetracker through a twitter science link, and they're asking people to send in photos of bees they see in Illinois, as there appears to be a significant decline this year. I've been looking for the last three days, and I'm hoping the wind and recent monsoon rains are the reason I've only seen three. In past years, my siberian iris were bumble bee favorites, and I loved to watch them crawl inside for the pollen. This year I have seen one bumblebee, struggling in the May March weather we enjoyed this Spring. This rollercoaster has flung us from ridiculously late frost warnings to 90 degree muggy hell within days. It's now a June August windfest, so I should pull out the kites and make the best of it, and just be glad the mosquitoes are getting blown around too much to bite. They're going to be insufferable after the last wet spell.

Cue the Monty Python song:

Always look on the bright side of life.....

The plants keep growing no matter what insane weather we have, and maybe the honey bees are missing, but the little flower flies are pollinating and mating in droves. And - my lovely neighbors put up a bluebird house, and the proud parents are frequent visitors to my yard. Bluebirds are a first for me here, and I smile inside everytime I see them. Maybe when I get that new camera I can even take a picture worth posting. That's all for now, I have to go play outside, maybe even go fly a kite.