Magic Jewball

And now, a bleed from my other blog, the video one with all the 80′s songs. I barely remember this song from back in the day and I absolutely never saw the video because I’m fairly sure I’d remember it. But I heard it the other day on Radio Nigel and instantly realized I’d missed out, because it’s such a great track. Then I added the video and ladies and gents, I have to admit to you that I watch this video every day. Every day. I don’t know why I find it so riveting, and so I’m going to attempt to explain it to myself through blog.

My favorite song by Talk Talk is not the one everyone knows, It’s My Life, but actually, Life’s What You Make It, which is certainly one of the most played songs on my iPod. And I do know that video fairly well, I think because of all the bugs. It’s not even my favorite video with bugs in it, that would be Matthew Sweet’s Time Capsule. But I digress. Here’s a still from Life’s What You Make It:

Hope you weren’t eating lunch. Here’s another frame.

The first one’s a bit more memorable, no? Even if there weren’t lots of creepy-crawly insects to distract me, I don’t think I could pick the lead singer of Talk Talk, pictured above, out of a line-up. He’s not exactly in the limelight here, so to speak.

This other video actually came first but having seen Life’s What You Make It, as well as It’s My Life (that was the one with all the nature documentary footage) and Talk Talk (that’s actually one of the first videos I ever saw on MTV and is, I believe, next to “early 80′s video” in the dictionary), for years and years, I wasn’t really prepared for this one which consists mostly of Mark Hollis, the lead singer with the, er, hobbit-like appearance, having nearly the whole video focused on his face. And, not only is he unusual looking, but I think he gives the word expressive new meaning. I’ve read that he did this exaggerated version as a sort of protest against the record company’s demand for lip-synching but who knows.

And who cares, really, because either way, I am utterly fixated on this guy’s face as I watch this video, which is a feat in itself given my short attention span. Maybe it’s the intercutting of scarf Mark with open-collar Mark and various other Marks to form a sort of one-man play. Maybe it’s the impish look of mischief and humor. Maybe it’s because this is the way we all used to sing into our hairbrushes half-seriously, half-cracking up, as kids. I don’t know. I think he just has the kavorka, as they say on Seinfeld.

But so, without further ado, the video I view every day in utter fascination, Such A Shame. You get down with your bad self, Mark Hollis!

Title is the second line from Talk Talk – Such A Shame

Oh hey, were you aware? There are diseases out there. You should be! Because the folks who are trying to cure them want you to be aware that they exist. Now, I do the Komen Race For the Cure every year and my mother died of breast cancer, but seriously, is there anyone on the planet who isn’t aware of breast cancer? I really don’t understand this “awareness” thing. I say this because I have a disease and it recently had its day, May 19th. Did you know that May 19th was World IBD Day? I hope you were aware because your awareness of it has totally changed my IBD experience.

Yes, I’m cynical. I’m glad we get a day. But if you were wondering why I haven’t mentioned it before or at least not in any detail it’s not because it’s a secret but rather because I simply don’t identify myself as a Person With A Disease. It simply is. I also can’t fly and I’m bad with learning languages. Both are limitations. Not being able to fly, for example, has lengthened my commute time and makes it hard to get to higher floors of buildings without taking the elevator or stairs. But, you see, I am more than a Person Who Can’t Fly. And I don’t need to Tweet about it or make my Facebook statuses about it because it’s an every day thing and I’ve been aeronautically challenged long enough to not really think about it very much, except when I am especially grounded or when I have to make that yearly appointment to have my damaged wings checked out via an invasive wingoscopy.

Ha ha, you say. Yes, it’s more than that and it makes life hard, but seriously, doesn’t everyone have something? It feels weird and limiting to run around with a disease telling everyone about it and relating your every online utterance to that obstacle. It’s one thing to keep a blog for others who have that illness or to talk about your experience and share. It also seems OK to me to advocate for someone else’s illness. But to become a tooting horn for your disease feels almost… narcissistic. But more than that, it reduces your life to your body’s abnormality. You’re more than that, I promise you. It’s OK to talk about something else. And yes, I’m thinking about certain people I see in my travels online in particular and am really too lameass to comment to them directly. I suck like that. But at least I’m aware of it. A cure for Lameass in our lifetimes!

Depeche Mode – Shake The Disease