Talking Songs

This is a clip off of Diana Deustch's CD Musical Illusions and Paradoxes.

"sometimes behave so strangely"

WNYC - Radio Lab

Sometimes I Forget Things

When I was in middle school I once came into class, sat down, took my hat off, and realized that I had forgotten to wash the shampoo out of my hair. I had to stick my head into the bathroom sink and wash it out as much as possible. That didn't work very well.

My Name

The boy's and girl's name James is pronounced jayms. It is of English origin. Variant of Jacob (Hebrew) "he who supplants." In the Bible, James is one of the 12 apostles of Jesus, who possibly was also a cousin of Jesus. The King James Bible is named in reference to James I of England (16th-17th century). Spanish pronunciation of Jaime: (HYE-may), Scottish: (JAY-mee). See also Kimo and Santiago.

James has 12 variant forms: Diego, Jacob, Jago, Jaime, Jamie, Jamison, Jayme, Jaymes, Jem, Jim, Jimmie and Jimmy.

Some related names are Giacomo, Hamish, Iago, Jacques, Jascha, Seamus and Shamus.

James is a very popular male first name, ranking 1 out of 1219 for males of all ages in the 1990 U.S. Census. James is a very popular surname, ranking 71 out of 88799 for people of all ages in the 1990 U.S. Census.

The Fourth Most Popular Folk Parody Group in New Zealand

If you have never heard of Flight of the Conchords, you are not alone. But because they are so hilarious I think you'll find them at the top of the Folk Parody charts very soon. This fan site has clips of one of their shows. I really like the ones about Albi and the Issues.

The Amazing Powers of Marketing

It's amazing how a company, an entire industry, can create a perception of their product that just isn't accurate, then bottle it, and sell it for 100,000 times more than the exact same stuff, but of better quality, you can get right out of your own home. Read this article.

Some of My Father's One-Liners

"I'd rather have a bottom in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."

"I feel a lot more like I do now than I did before."

Some Grade School Writing

Hot Dogs and Corny Dogs
Hot dogs and corny dogs are different and alike in a lot of ways. They both have a piece of meat in them and bread is on the outside of each one. You can also put catchup or other things on it, too.

Some differentses are that the corny dog is on a stick and the hot dog is not. The corny dog is also different because it has bread all around it. Now you can see that corny dogs and hot dogs have semelarities and differentses.

©Jamie Wilson 3-2-1993
Grade: 3-/4

My Dream House
A dream house, from my perspective, has to have a lot of diverting and stimulating activities stationed throughout the house. First of all, my dream house would consist of a four wheeler and dirt bike trail that travels all over the six billion three million four hundred and seventy two thousand acre backyard. With this to enjoy, I would never get lackadaisical and watch Beevis and Butt-head ever again. The second attribute my dream house must have, would be an Olympic size pool the shape of an artichoke. With this gracefully and lusciously shaped pool in walking distance, I can soak up those rays in style. The last and definately most important virtue my dream house must retain is a toaster-oven. With this noteworthy invention, I can toast my Pop-Tarts just the way I like them. As one may infer, my dream house is not a dream for me, it's a way of life.

©Jamie Wilson 10-23-1996
Grade: 94

Writing
On Friday at 8:00am I went up the mountain Poco Moonshine. The trail I went on was Craggy Ridge. I was about half way up when I saw eight Halks. There was a spring that tasted so good. This mountain smelled like pine. I saw three other hikers that day. When I reached the top the wind was blowing hard and it stung my face. On the way down I saw two eagles. That day was fun.

©Jamie Wilson 12-4-1992
Grade: 95

The Tree
The trunk of the tree
grew up to the branches high
to touch the green leaves

©Jamie Wilson 12-15-1993
Grade: Unknown

Dear Mrs. Hortin
Dear Mrs. Hortin,
I would like to have my dad come and speak about writing. He is the publisher of the Park Cities People. He could tell us what a publisher does. He could also tell us how a newspaper printer works. Most important of all he could give us tips on writing.
Sincerely,
Jamie Wilson

©Jamie Wilson 3-5-1993
Grade: 4/4

Listen to Less Music

Does it scare anyone else that people are now able to constantly listen to music? I started thinking about how much people are being cut off from the world by iPods. It seems so unnatural and unhealthy to have a constant input of information. When are these people relfecting on their experiences and their observations of the world around them?

I was driving to work this morning and decided to turn off the stereo. I realized, despite how much I love music and how much I think about music, I really don't listen to that much. As most of my friends know, I am a unitasker (you'll learn a lot about me from this link), so listening, really listening, to music takes up all the space in my brain. I can hardly speak or write a coherent sentence if music is playing or if someone is talking in the same room as me. This, as you can imagine, is an extremely difficult thing to live with. But it has forced me cherish peace and quiet, something I feel the world is in dire need of. I challenge you to spend an entire day without listening to somekind of entertainment. Let your mind wander. Dwell on those questions that pop up throughout the day.

I do realize that because other people are multitaskers they are able to force the music into the back of their minds and focus their attention on the other tasks at hand. But to me, this is just as bad because then you're not really listening to the music; music that, if it's any good, someone has spent their entire life building up to being able to communicate to you with their words and sounds. Yet most people just let it ring in the background without allowing themselves to be affected by it.

So, listen to less music, and really listen when you do.