Some good news today on the Al Jazeera network; a report that South Korea plans to make the farming of “bile bears” illegal, starting in 2026. The Asian black bear – also known as a moon bear or white-chested bear – is traditionally characterized as “mountain man” (yamaotoko). Being a largely solitary creature, the moonContinue reading “Mooon Bears”
Category Archives: Music
A Topical Song
This morning, I woke up and flipped on the BBC Radio News feed, as is my routine. You know, just to make sure the planet hadn’t exploded during the night. The announcer recited the phrase “coup in Waga-doo-goo,” and I said to myself, “there’s gotta be a song there.” So, here it is, “A TopicalContinue reading “A Topical Song”
Lesson Plan
Some generous thoughts on songwriting, courtesy of Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly (find the complete Americana UK interview here): “A song can start from really odd beginnings. Most songwriting is random. I think of it being closer to fishing: you go out fishing for three or four or five days and nothing much happens, then someContinue reading “Lesson Plan”
The Pub Quiz
For some reason, trivia games played with strangers in bars was a pastime that never really engaged me while working and living in the U.S. For the last four years, however, retired and living in Thailand, I’ve come to relish participation in a friendly “pub quiz” every month, typically, played in a bar or restaurant,Continue reading “The Pub Quiz”
2022, Whatchagot?
A kind of Mooonmemory Year-end reflections and new year predictions are flowing freely across the mediums we have now come to call “home.” A quarter century ago, the coming benefits and banes of the Internet were largely unknown and unimaginable to most humans, and today, the slightest ripple in its 24/7 “service” – like anyContinue reading “2022, Whatchagot?”
Lesson Plan: Music Charts
To be honest, I get my weekly dose of mainstream pop music and gossip from a syndicated radio show, Asia Pop 40, hosted by an affable young DJ by the name of Joey Chou. Naturally, the chart is comprised of the most downloaded and streamed songs across the continent, including charts in the Philippines, Vietnam,Continue reading “Lesson Plan: Music Charts”
Ah, Ms. Safka
Stopped at one of those mindless memes on Faceboook (we spell everything with three Os now) that promised to predict the course of someone’s life in the coming year, 2020. Turns out the secret is kept in the title of “the #1 song” on an individual’s 18th birthday. OK, let’s play. First of all, thisContinue reading “Ah, Ms. Safka”
Mooonmemories
Holiday Music TBH, this elder member of Josephmooon is a bit burned out on holiday music. And to think I was at one time introduced on a MAJOR Chicago radio show as, “the guy who loves Christmas music.” I’d been “hired” to produce holiday music segments for the show – finding interesting songs, telling theContinue reading “Mooonmemories”
Good writing habits
Recording sessions have started for a new “album” of songs by Josephmooon, but their completion and release schedule in 2022 remains unknown. Working on three songs at a time, producer Ian Nice recently asked if the next triad was ready to go. I had to confess that while Ronan had sent in some new lyrics,Continue reading “Good writing habits”
Movie Trailers Go ‘Boom!'(er)
If you seek evidence that Baby Boomers continue to influence the soundtrack of popular culture, look no further than the trailers for two upcoming blockbuster movies, The Matrix Resurrections and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Both are set to songs written and popularized between the years 1966 and 1968, “White Rabbit,” by the Jefferson Airplane,Continue reading “Movie Trailers Go ‘Boom!'(er)”