POTUS Votus – Results

The results were nearly unanimous.

I should have marketed the T-shirt.

 

Multimedia Enfranchisement: Results

Well, it was, predictably, another flop of a vote here, with only a handful of virtual ballots virtually cast and no consensus to speak of. I’m thankful to everyone who participated and am trying to be scornful to those who didn’t. As for you who failed to vote because you didn’t visit and have no idea of the existence of this blog, for you… I have nothing but unbridled indifference.

On to the results. Four votes were cast in Column A, each for a different selection. Forced to make a tie-breaking decision, I hereby deem “Hotel California” to be the winner, primarily because it was the only candidate that aroused passion (true, it was antipathy from CyWyGY, but even that counts for something). Column B garnered 5 votes (I have no idea why there was a participatory imbalance between the columns), one for “Eleanor Rigby” and two each for “96 Tears” and “Norwegian Wood.” Once again, I was compelled to intervene and determine a definitive winner. In this instance, I chose “Norwegian Wood,” primarily to counterbalance my actions vis à vis Column A. Pann giveth and Pann taketh away. I am the benevolent tyrant of Pannsylvania.

 

Vötterdämmerung

Kenny Burrell circa 1960s

This week’s edition of the multimedia insurrection is bittersweet for me. The song I wanted to share in recognition of Election Day, a jazz instrumental, has never been issued on CD, is unavailable as an mp3 download, and several websearches failed to uncover anyone’s uploaded personal copy. Just to prove I’m not (completely) crazy, I did find radio station playlists showing that the song has been broadcast, in recent times no less. I also have in front of me a copy of the LP anthology on which it appears. It’s Poll Tax (Columbia CS 8410, mx 65784) by the Elliott-Burrell Quintet: Don Elliott (vibes); Ray Bryant (piano); Kenny Burrell (electric guitar); Major Holley (bass); Mickey Roker (drums). Recorded in New York, Spring 1961). I include all of this information for authenticity and padding. This little gem is so elusive that I can’t even locate a picture of the double LP’s cover to insert in the post.

As consolation, I could share a different song from Burrell’s extensive discography, but I’m trying to stick with the theme. Which (finally) brings me to this week’s offering: Adjust the Truth, by a Washington, DC band called French Toast. It’s more of a cautionary political song (“People die / When leaders lie”- it was released after George W. Bush was re-elected, by the way) rather than a song about voting per se, but I’ve come across it only recently and am still in the throes of new infatuation. I realize that cautionary political songs are a dime a dozen, but this one’s pretty darn catchy, you betcha!

Due to my frustration with Poll Tax’s recalcitrance, I’m –you guessed it– including a bonus track this week. All giddy and patriotic, give Bill Frisell’s version of John Phillip Sousa’s Washington Post March a listen. It comes from his 1993 album Have a Little Faith, which altogether makes it apropos for today’s activities: patriotic for America, non-partisan, and hopeful.

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nb: Audio tracks will remain available for approximately 2 weeks after date of post; if you are interested in hearing something you have missed, please make a request in the comments.

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UPDATE: Thanks to expert assistance and know-how from Rambleicious, I can now offer you, my dear reader(s), Poll Tax, as longed for and all but lorn above. Enjoy!

 

Veni, Vedi, Vote

Running tally of “Other” write-ins (some by post-scriptum inference):

2 votes – S.L.O.B.S.
2 votes – Luke Skywalker
3 votes – [unknown]

 

With apologies to CurlyWurlyGurly…

[link]… for potential topic infringement.

nb: This post was extracted and expanded from an forthcoming ancillary “about me” type page of random facts. It soon grew too large to fit comfortably into a bulleted list, so I’m giving it a battlefield promotion to Full Post. Poor guy; it’s a suicide mission.

I have boycotted M&M’s since the “blue” vote fiasco of 1995. To recap: those sneaky Martian devils offered three choices (pink, blue, and purple) without making it explicit that the new color was to replace the best color of all: tan.

The least they could have done was include good old tan in the race! After the results were in and blue usurped tan, I took the drastic step of writing to the company suggesting that they do a tie-in with The Gap, who at the time had an ongoing khakis campaign: M&M’s Khakis. Imagine, Dear Reader(s), a packet consisting entirely of tan M&M’s!  What a beautiful thing that would have been!

Sadly, my entreaty fell on deaf ears. To make matters worse, they had another vote in 2002 for a limited-run additional color. This time the choices were pink, aqua, and purple. Aqua?!? No beige. It was simply beyond the pale.

Mind you, all this was before the days of the hyper-customized “My M&M’s,” introduced in 2006.

So, in conclusion, they won’t be not melting in my hand anytime soon; they can melt in Hell for all I care!

What about you? Any candy-related peeves? I hope you brought enough to share with everyone.