Quote of the Day: “Learning and Teaching”
“He who learns, teaches” — Ethiopian Proverb
Listening to Every Song I Own (Songs #4081 – #4422 out of 14,314)
The latest update to my loopy project to listen to all 14,314 songs in my iTunes library straight through, no skipping (called Abba Zappa Zoo, thank you to Mike Gluck for the name) takes us from…
“Hot Thing” by Prince (Song #4081) to “I Know you got Soul” by Bobby Byrd (Song #4422)
The Math:
Songs: 341
Completion Percentage: %30.8
Cold Facts:
We are past the letter “H” and on to the letter “I”
The most common words in this block are “How”, “House” and many varieties of “I” in front of a word like “am” “love” or “know>
Strange Bedfellows: (Same name, different songs)
The covers edition: I own at least 5 versions of the song “I can see Clearly Now” including the original which was by….any guesses?
Buried Treasure: (i.e. a song you haven’t heard of by an artist you have heard of):
“I Don’t Wanna Know” by Fleetwood Mac is a lesser known song on perhaps the most overstudied album in pop music history ( “Rumors”). I’m including it here because, when I heard it for this exercise, I was seated in a coffee shop in my hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan trying to escape the early fall heat. While listening, I started idly raising my right arm, cheerleader style, in time to the music. I looked up and a girl of about four stood across the room, mimicking me doing so. O the spot, I did the same with my left arm, then both legs, then shook my head side to side, then nodded, then twisted as if swatting mosquitoes the whole way.
The little girl mirror-imaged me perfectly the whole time. When we were done, her parents and brother applauded and she bowed.
Made my week.
Your new favorite song:
Our closer “I Know You Got Soul” (1971) by Bobby Byrd, with the iconic refrain “I know you got soul. If ya didn’t, the music wouldn’t grove ya” has been sampled, as of this writing in 187 hip-hop songs, most famously the Eric B & Rakim song of the same name and in “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy (the refrain “you got it!” is from here).
Thought of the Day: “Our Minds”
“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” — Stephen Biko
Quote of the Day:The Myth of “Retirement”
“Many indeed, who enjoy retreat only in imagination, content themselves with believing that another year will transport them to rural tranquility, and die while they talk of doing, what if they had lived longer they never would have done.” — Samuel Johnson
Photo of the Day: “Red Lion Lantern”
San Francisco, Thursday, 9:52 PM, March 6, 2026.
QUOTE OF THE DAY “HARAKA BARAKA”
“Movement is a Blessing” — Egyptian Proverb, translated from the Arabic “Haraka Baraka” (via Rob Long’s Martinti Shot Podcast).
QUOTE OF THE DAY: TRIUMPHS AND DANGERS OF A COUNTERCULTURE
“The counterculture is always a mixture of ecstasy and depravity. “If you’re going to have a Ken Kesey, you are going to have a Charles Manson“
As seen in the book Season of the Witch by David Talbot) a great history of the 1960s and 70s in San Francisco I am currently reading. Has so many implications for how we study subcultures. Read it weeks ago am still thinking about it.
Thought of the Day: “Do Not Waste Time”
"Draw, Antonio, draw. And do not waste time"
— from a sketch/reminder Michaelangelo made to himself. Found in the draw of his desk after he died.
Photo of the Day: “Civil Disobedience of Feet”
San Francisco, 3:10 PM, July 1, 2019
Photo of the Day: “Toothpaste Curbs”
7.6.2019. 2:45 PM. San Francisco's Mission District