Saturday 28 January 2017

2017: Where I am and where I’m going

I haven’t blogged much in the past year. What could I possibly say about anything?

Blogging
I’m bored with blogging. There, I said it. I have no idea why I’m sitting here by myself typing out these words. Who cares? I could say I’ve run out of things to say, but it’s more like I’ve gotten bored with my own opinion. Who gives a rat’s ass what I think? Heck, I don’t care what I think.

I look around on social media and it’s all about stating your opinion: your thoughts on politics, your view of the world, your take on latest headline. I’m tired of listening to my opinion. I can’t do it anymore. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say I can’t do it right now. Who knows? Tomorrow, I could go off on a five-thousand-word rant.

Retirement
I turn sixty-five on October 20, 2017. In June of 2016, I turned in a letter announcing my retirement on July 14, 2017: this corresponds with the anniversary of my original hiring at the company. That’s it. It’s over. My career comes to an end and I supposedly go off to enjoy life, as though I haven’t been enjoying it while I work.

The response I’ve gotten when announcing this has been for the most part, “Congratulations.” Congratulations for what? I know people mean well, but what exactly have I achieved? What have I done to merit this expression of praise? I can’t help making the comparison with birthday greetings for old people. “Congratulations!” Yeah, congratulations on still being alive.

I stop working and that means the bi-weekly direct deposit in my bank account stops. That means I have to figure out life not just personally, but financially. Yes, there’s the question of what am I going to do with the rest of my life, but there’s also the question of how am I going to pay for the rest of my life. Congratulations on entering a phase of your life when you’re supposedly free to pursue whatever you want but end up with one more thing to worry about. This is also the part of your life when you get hit with a health issue and see your savings wiped out. Doesn’t that sound like fun? However, I will continue to smile good-naturedly at the next person telling me “congratulations” and leave the fretting for all that free time I’m going to have.

I owe my ex-wife a debt of gratitude
My ex-wife and I were together for sixteen years, thirteen years married. Our divorce was not amicable and we’ve had no contact since, six and a half years as of this writing.

A colleague at my office recounted to me their ski vacation in B.C. I’ve skied. When I met my wife, divorced with two teenage daughters, she had started skiing with them as a family outing. I joined the fun. In other words, I took up skiing because of her. If I had never met her, I doubt I would have ever learned to ski.

It occurred to me that I owe her a great deal. If it wasn’t for her, I never would have had many wonderful life experiences: vacations, trips, cruises, camping, cottages, being married and all the little things that go into making a home as a family.

Will we ever meet again – amicably I mean – and discuss the good ol’ days? Never say never, but right now, there’s nothing on the horizon. I figured I should at least jot this thought down: “Thank you. You enriched my life.”

I wrote a book
I published a book. Ta-da! I did it. I check off another item on my bucket list. Technically, I’m an author, however, I won’t be jetting off to my mansion in the south of France anytime soon. Right now, according to my sales reports, I’ve sold 257 Kindle copies, eight CreateSpace paperbacks and one IngramSpark paperback. That works out to about $1,300 in royalties. That, by the way, is with little or no marketing, other than me posting on Facebook and Twitter. I didn’t start this project knowing anything about writing and I continue in phase II not knowing anything about marketing. How far can you get not knowing anything? I’m going to find out.

Sometime, I should write a separate blog posting about the experience. It’s been an interesting journey undertaking something I’ve never done before in my life. I should share the steps of my project to give other potential authors some ideas of what to do or better yet, serve as a warning of what not to do. Ha, ha.

Bed Bugs
Holy Mother of God, this was not something I wanted to add to my list of life experiences. This started at the end of September 2016 and is still on-going, having involved so far four professional exterminators, four sprayings of my apartment, a sniffer dog, and countless washing and drying on hot settings plus vacuuming. I’ve had dozens of itchy bites on me, some that persist in being itchy weeks after the original bite. I’ve had an allergic reaction to one set to bites that’s turned into a mysterious rash. My doctor took a photo to get a professional opinion of a dermatologist and I am now going through a ten-day treatment of steroid cream.

Just before Christmas, I got frustrated and I threw my bed out. After spending three weeks of sleeping on the floor on an exercise mat in the living room — I was scared to go back to the bedroom — I’ve bought a camping cot and have been sleeping in the bedroom, but using something called the Climbup Interceptor under each leg of the cot. Supposedly, this contraption prevents bed bugs from crawling up the legs of the cot to get to me. If this works, I will eventually buy another bed, however I’ll be using this interceptor.

I know more about bed bugs than I ever wanted to. My first inclination is to call them insidious little bastards, but like the cockroach, they’re remarkably resilient organisms and I joke they could probably survive a nuclear blast.

Until I know with any certitude that my infestation is gone, I’m not going to buy another bed; I’m going to continue to “camp” in my bedroom. Every night before I go to bed, I take all my bedding and put it in the dryer on the hottest setting for an hour. At least when I slip between the sheets, I know there are no hidden bugs waiting to crawl over me to suck out my blood. Okay, after writing that vampire description, I’m going back to calling them insidious little bastards.

FYI: Bed bugs only feed on blood. Their presence is in no way associated with filth. They’re agnostic. They will infest a rich house just as well as a poor one, a clean one as well as a dirty one. According to my research, bed bugs almost disappeared in the 50s and 60s during the era of DDT. However, they’ve been making a comeback.

Like writing a book, this experience deserves its own blog posting. Heck, I could write a book just about this!

Politics
In 2011 and 2012, I went nuts writing about American politics. This time, I vowed I’d stay out of it. And I did. Sort of. I didn’t blog, but I posted to Facebook a zillion times. I got caught up in the back and forth with other people of linking and commenting on various articles about the campaign and election. I’m not sure I ever appreciated how divisive politics can be. And I did not appreciate how crazy the Republicans were in losing in 2008 and 2012 until I saw how crazy the Democrats are in losing in 2016.

Of course, Donald Trump is a most unusual character. Is he the most unusual president? Ever? I have no doubt the next four years are going to be tumultuous. This too merits a blog posting. Just one. I find debating politics to be exhausting and fruitless. I think I find it exhausting because it is fruitless. Once somebody says “I believe”, the debate is over. You don’t argue belief, you just believe. There is no debate, rationale, or argumentation. With belief, you’re accepting something as true without proof. I believe for every drop of rain that falls a flower grows.

Donald Trump is about misdirection, the form of deception used by magicians. Donald Trump is also about gaslighting, a type of psychological abuse. While he is certainly wealthy, a larger than life character, I don’t know if his unorthodox approach to government will lead to the breaking of the ideological deadlock between Republicans and Democrats. While we praise or criticise the president, the leader is really the head of a group of people and therein lies the devil in the details. As with the butterfly theory, changes to policy can ripple throughout society and have larger and unintended consequences. I’m a strong proponent of the idea “If it was as easy as that, it would be done by now.” In other words, every politican gives us a slogan and gets us to rally behind them as the one true savior. Unfortunately, the situation is far more complicated than any of us including the politicans understand. For every person standing at the podium saying, “I have the right answer,” I would counter with how many others have said the same thing and been wrong.

Trump won. The United States is committed, for better or for worse. The world is committed whether they like it or not. Did we roll the dice with Obama? With Bush? With Clinton? Trump is a most unusual personality. That could be good. That could be bad. We have no idea. However, when I get up tomorrow morning and read the headlines, I have no doubt it won’t be boring.

Social Media
I have a love-hate relationship with it. On the one hand, it's interesting to see other people's postings, repost, post my own stuff, comment, like, etc. , that is, interact with like-minded people. On the other, it's a big time suck. I can waste an entire day looking at stuff instead of doing something productive. I joke about being easily distracted, however I think there's a lot of truth to that. Geesh, like my posting or my comment is going to change the course of history. Sometimes, I realise how much time I've spent on Facebook and I hate myself. What did I accomplish today? Nothing!

My Health
In April 2012, I suffered a sports injury and traumatised the upper left quadrant of my body, stopping short of tearing my left rotator cuff. I was in pain twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for five months straight. Every waking moment was about pain management: various medications, moving very carefully, and avoiding a number of body positions. I could only sleep on my right side for nine months curled up in the fetal position. It was hell on Earth: I was trapped in my own body. It made me think of people like Stephen Hawking or Christopher Reeve: you’re alive but have little or no control over your body.

Coming up to the fifth anniversary, I’ve established a new life style. Every day, I do five sets of thirty sit-ups with several isometric exercises. Once a day, I do a fifteen minute set of exercises using resistance bands connected to a door jam. Every two days, I go to a gym and do a two and a half hour routine on various weight machines. Once a month, I visit a kinesiologist for a “tune-up”, a check of the ol’ bod. In other words, I’m doing everything to ensure my 2012 accident never happens again in my lifetime. Finding yourself trapped in your own body, unable to move, feeling pain constantly, unable to function normally, is frightening. As a consequence, it’s also inspirational.

I’m at a ten. I have this incident and fall to three. Slowly, I work my way back up to nine. Nine isn’t ten, but nine is a lot better than three, so that’s a good thing. Later, I have another incident and drop to six. Six is bad. I remember how bad three was. I work my way back up to eight. Eight isn’t nine, but eight is a lot better than three. Ten, nine, eight ... I think you see where this is going.

I had an uncle recently die at the age of one hundred and one. While that’s amazing, he’d said several times not to live past eighty-five. It was then he began to suffer from a number of physical ailments which only accumulated and got worse with age. These past few years were not the best and after my own issue, I reflected on his quality of life. Yes, he was alive, but what was the quality of his life? Seizures, diapers due to incontinence, cataract in one eye, macular degeneration in the other, restricted mobility, use of a motorized scooter, pain from slow-growing cancer, and in the end, he couldn’t even go to the bathroom unassisted. Is that living?

Right now, I’m inspired to work out, however I realise I’m only staving off the inevitable slide into growing physical limitations and ill-health. I’m sure anybody would say I’m being overly pessisimistic, but I’d say I’m being realistic. Life: Nobody gets out alive. We all only get so much “quantity” of life, but we can work on the “quality” of life?

Ransomware
I manage the I.T. department of a small company. We got hit with ransomware, but I’m pleased to report we didn’t pay the ransom and escaped pretty much unscathed, other than some lost time while we restored the infected parts of our systems. I need to write about this to serve as a warning to everybody: what to do to protect yourself from the bad things in the world.

What’s next?
I don’t know. I have a lot to figure out. And I have a lot to accept: the end of my career, budgeting for financial self-sufficency, and discovering what to do with all this free time I’m going to have. Vacation in Tahiti? Write another book? Shave my head and become a monk in Tibet? The world is my oyster: I can do anything I want for this last and final part of my life.


References

Wikipedia: The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare
Act II, Scene II
Falstaff: I will not lend thee a penny.
Pistol: Why then the world's mine oyster, Which I with sword will open.
Falstaff: Not a penny.


my blog: 63 and Counting
I’m 63. More than likely, you’re not. More than likely, you’re younger than me. Consequently, how does your view of the world differ from mine? With age, do we tend to look back more often and with greater concern? What have I accomplished? What’s left for me?

Justin Trudeau, at the age of 43, has just been elected Prime Minister of Canada, with a majority government I should add. Where am I now? Where was I at age 43? The vast majority of us are average people. Not famous. Not rich. No Oscars, Nobels or Pulitzers sitting on our mantelpieces. And yet, I’ve met people over the years who have been interesting personalities in their own right, accomplished, and blessed with an array of life experiences. In light of that, would a trophy have made it any better? At the end of the day, the cameras have been turned off, the crowds have gone home, and all of us sit alone with our thoughts. How do we feel about ourselves? How confident do we feel? What sense of accomplishment do we have? How much do we love ourselves? If you’re 43, are you out there trying to set the world on fire while at 63 you’re reflecting on your attempt to set the world on fire and how much you succeeded or failed?

2017-01-28

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Sunday 22 January 2017

Pogo: Grow Fonder

A dance mix of Disney's Robin Hood (1973)



Pogo? Nick Bertke? I only recently discovered this remix artist from Perth, Australia. Good Lord, I find this stuff mesmerizing, hypnotic.

According to Wikipedia: A remix is a piece of media which has been altered from its original state by adding, removing, and/or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, or photograph can all be remixes. The only characteristic of a remix is that it appropriates and changes other materials to create something new.


References

Published on Jan 16, 2017 by Pogo

Wikipedia: Pogo (electronic musician)
Christopher Nicholas "Nick" Bertke (born 26 July 1988), better known by his stage name Pogo, is an Australian electronic music artist. His work consists of recording small sounds, quotes, and melodies from a film or TV programme, and sequencing the sounds together to form a new piece of music. In most of his works, the newly created piece of music consists solely of the sounds he samples from those films or scenes, without additional, 'external' music or sound effects.

official web site: PogoMix
Pogo (Nick Bertke) is a music producer and remix artist based in Perth, Western Australia. His music has garnered over 110 million plays on YouTube and integration with many major studios and agencies around the world. Pogo also takes his work on the road having performed at the Guggenheim Museum, The Highline Ballroom and in most major cities across North America.

YouTube channel: Pogo

Twitter: Pogo @NickBertke
Official Twitter of music producer and remix artist Pogo (Nick Bertke): Perth, Western Australia

my blog: Pogo: Data & Picard
Ya gotta see this. This remix of Star Trek is incredible!




2017-01-22

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Saturday 21 January 2017

Billie Holiday: Strange Fruit



Southern trees bear strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees

Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop


References

Uploaded on Nov 25, 2006 by MonsieurBaudelaire
Rare Live Footage of one of the first anti-rascism songs ever.

Wikipedia: Strange Fruit
"Strange Fruit" is a song performed most famously by Billie Holiday, who first sang and recorded it in 1939. Written by teacher Abel Meeropol as a poem and published in 1937, it protested American racism, particularly the lynching of African Americans. Such lynchings had reached a peak in the South at the turn of the century, but continued there and in other regions of the United States. The lyrics are an extended metaphor linking a tree’s fruit with lynching victims.[4] Meeropol set it to music and, with his wife and the singer Laura Duncan, performed it as a protest song in New York City venues in the late 1930s, including Madison Square Garden.

In popular culture: Politics
British Singer Rebecca Ferguson, publicly declined an invitation from president-elect Donald Trump to sing at his inauguration saying that she would perform only if she could sing Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit.” The inaugural team felt that it was inappropriate, in so much as there hasn't been a lynching in America in over 50 years, and the tune is out of place at an inauguration.


Wikipedia: Billie Holiday
Eleanora Fagan (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), professionally known as Billie Holiday, was an American jazz musician and singer-songwriter with a career spanning nearly thirty years. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. She was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills, which made up for her limited range and lack of formal music education. There were other jazz singers with equal talent, but Holiday had a voice that captured the attention of her audience.

YouTube: Billie Holiday-Strange fruit- HD - Uploaded on Dec 22, 2011 by prokoman1

2017-01-21

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Tuesday 10 January 2017

Barack Obama Singing Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson (ft. Bruno Mars)





References

Published on Jan 27, 2015 by baracksdubs

Wikipdia: Baracksdubs
Baracksdubs is a popular YouTube channel and series that uses Barack Obama speeches to create cover songs, generally of popular songs. The channel was created by Fadi Saleh as a then-freshman student of the University of Tennessee. The channel was a Maker Studios partner from 2012 to 2015, when Saleh formed his own company, Spare Time Entertainment.

Media coverage
The videos have been featured on Huffington Post, Gawker, Rolling Stone, NBC, Yahoo!, Mashable, and several other online news publications.


YouTube channel: baracksdubs
I put words in people's mouths. Baracksdubs mashes together people's words to the tune of popular music, based on fan requests. Have a suggestion for a dub? Tweet the suggestion with the hashtag #baracksdubs.

Twitter: @baracksdubs

Facebook: baracksdubs





2017-01-10

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Sunday 8 January 2017

Pomplamoose: Uptown Funk (Mark Ronson / Bruno Mars cover)



That ice cold
Michelle Pfeiffer
That white gold

This one, for them hood girls
Them good girls
Straight masterpieces
Stylin', while in
Livin' it up in the city
Got Chucks on with Saint Laurent
Got kiss myself I'm so pretty

I'm too hot (hot damn)
Called a police and a fireman
I'm too hot (hot damn)
Make a dragon wanna retire man
I'm too hot (hot damn)
Say my name you know who I am
I'm too hot (hot damn)
Am I bad 'bout that money
Break it down

Girls hit your hallelujah (whuoo)
Girls hit your hallelujah (whuoo)
Girls hit your hallelujah (whuoo)
‘Cause Uptown Funk gon' give it to you
‘Cause Uptown Funk gon' give it to you
‘Cause Uptown Funk gon' give it to you
Saturday night and we in the spot
Don't believe me just watch (come on)
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Hey, hey, hey, oh!

Stop
Wait a minute
Fill my cup put some liquor in it
Take a sip, sign a check
Julio! Get the stretch!
Ride to Harlem, Hollywood, Jackson, Mississippi
If we show up, we gon' show out
Smoother than a fresh jar of skippy

I'm too hot (hot damn)
Called a police and a fireman
I'm too hot (hot damn)
Make a dragon wanna retire man
I'm too hot (hot damn) (hot damn)
Bitch, say my name you know who I am
I'm too hot (hot damn)
Am I bad 'bout that money
Break it down

Girls hit your hallelujah (whuoo)
Girls hit your hallelujah (whuoo)
Girls hit your hallelujah (whuoo)
‘Cause Uptown Funk gon' give it to you
‘Cause Uptown Funk gon' give it to you
‘Cause Uptown Funk gon' give it to you
Saturday night and we in the spot
Don't believe me just watch (come on)
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Hey, hey, hey, oh!

Before we leave
Imma tell y'all a lil' something
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up
I said Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up

Come on, dance
Jump on it
If you sexy than flaunt it
If you freaky than own it
Don't brag about it, come show me
Come on, dance
Jump on it
If you sexy than flaunt it
Well it's Saturday night and we in the spot
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Hey, hey, hey, oh!

Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up (say whaa?!)
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up (say whaa?!)
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up (say whaa?!)
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up (say whaa?!)
Uptown Funk you up






References

Published on Apr 15, 2014 by PomplamooseMusic

Wikipedia: Pomplamoose
Pomplamoose is an American musical duo which feature Californian multi-instrumentalists, real life couple Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn. The duo formed in the summer of 2008 and sold approximately 100,000 songs online in 2009. They are known for their diverse music style which the band themselves refuses to put a label towards.

Etymology
The name of the band derives from the French word pamplemousse, meaning grapefruit. Pomplamoose is an English-spelling approximation of the French pronunciation.


official web site: Pomplamoose

YouTube channel: Pomplamoose

my blog: Pomplamoose: I Feel Good (James Brown cover) - Apr 20/2014

2017-01-08

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Friday 6 January 2017

Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk ft. Bruno Mars



Doh
Doh doh doh, doh doh doh, doh doh
Doh doh doh, doh doh doh, doh doh
Doh doh doh, doh doh doh, doh doh
Doh doh doh, doh duh (Aaaaaaow!)

This hit
That ice cold
Michelle Pfeiffer
That white gold
This one for them hood girls
Them good girls
Straight masterpieces
Stylin', wilin
Livin' in up in the city
Got chucks on with Saint Laurent
Gotta kiss myself I'm so pretty

I'm too hot (hot damn)
Call the po-lice and the fireman
I'm too hot (hot damn)
Make a dragon wanna retire, man
I'm too hot (hot damn)
Say my name you know who I am
I'm too hot (hot damn)
And my band 'bout that money
Break it down...

Girls hit your hallelujah (ooh)
Girls hit your hallelujah (ooh)
Girls hit your hallelujah (ooh)
'Cause Uptown Funk gon' give it to ya
'Cause Uptown Funk gon' give it to ya
'Cause Uptown Funk gon' give it to ya
Saturday night and we in the spot
Don't believe me just watch (Come on)

Doh
Doh doh doh, doh doh doh, doh doh (Hah!)

Don't believe me just watch

Doh
Doh doh doh, doh doh doh, doh doh (Hah!)

Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Hey, hey, hey, oh!

Stop
Wait a minute
Fill my cup put some liquor in it
Take a sip, sign a check
Julio, Get the stretch!
Ride to Harlem, Hollywood, Jackson, Mississippi
If we show up, we gon' show out
Smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy

I'm too hot (hot damn)
Call the po-lice and the fireman
I'm too hot (hot damn)
Make a dragon wanna retire, man
I'm too hot (hot damn) {hot damn}
Bitch, say my name you know who I am
I'm too hot (hot damn)
And my band 'bout that money
Break it down...

Girls hit your hallelujah (ooh)
Girls hit your hallelujah (ooh)
Girls hit your hallelujah (ooh)
'Cause Uptown Funk gon' give it to ya
'Cause Uptown Funk gon' give it to ya
'Cause Uptown Funk gon' give it to ya
Saturday night and we in the spot
Don't believe me just watch (come on)

Doh
Doh doh doh, doh doh doh, doh doh (Hah!)

Don't believe me just watch

Doh
Doh doh doh, doh doh doh, doh doh (Hah!)

Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Hey, hey, hey, oh!

Before we leave
Let me tell y'all a little something
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up, uh
I said Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up

Come on, dance
Jump on it
If you sexy then flaunt it
If you freaky then own it
Don't brag about it, come show me
Come on, dance
Jump on it
If you sexy then flaunt it
Well it's Saturday night and we in the spot
Don't believe me just watch (come on)

Doh
Doh doh doh, doh doh doh, doh doh (Hah!)

Don't believe me just watch

Doh
Doh doh doh, doh doh doh, doh doh (Hah!)

Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Don't believe me just watch
Hey, hey, hey, oh!

Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up (say whaa?!)
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up (say whaa?!)
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up (say whaa?!)
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up
Uptown Funk you up, Uptown Funk you up (say whaa?!)
Uptown Funk you up
Aaaaaaow!


References

Published on Nov 19, 2014 by MarkRonsonVEVO

Wikipedia: Uptown Funk
"Uptown Funk" (stylised as "UpTown Funk!") is a song recorded by British record producer Mark Ronson and American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars, for Ronson's fourth studio album, Uptown Special (2015).

Music video
The music video was released on 17 November 2014. It stars Mars, Ronson and the Hooligans walking around a city, wearing brightly colored suits and chains. On 19 November, it was released on Vevo and YouTube. It was directed by Bruno Mars and Cameron Duddy. In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres on the Ellen Show, Ronson and Mars stated that it had been filmed in many cities where Mars was touring. Parts were also filmed at 20th Century Fox Studio's "New York street" backlot in Los Angeles, California. The video has over 2.10 billion views on video sharing website YouTube as of January 2017, making it the fourth most viewed YouTube video of all time.


Copyright controversies and accusations
Copyright controversies about "Uptown Funk" have dogged Ronson and Mars, with The Gap Band's three core members being added on as songwriters as part of a mutually settled agreement given the inspiration given to the track by "Oops! Upside Your Head". Serbian pop artist Viktorija has also argued that "Uptown Funk" infringed on her track "Ulice Mracne Nisu Za Devojke". A third accusation was made by funk group Collage that released music in the early 1980s. The group sued Ronsons and Mars for alleged copyright infringement, claiming "Uptown Funk" and its own 1983 song "Young Girls" are "almost indistinguishable".


YouTube: Oops Upside Your Head - The Gap Band (1979)

YouTube: Grupa Aska - Ulice mracne nisu za devojke - (Audio 1984)

YouTube: Collage - Young Girls

YouTube: Uptown Funk vs Young Girls

My Opinion
There are similarities between the various pieces of music. Is there a case for copyright infringement? Personally, I think the Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars number is unique in its own right. There's nothing new under sun: inevitably, anything you do is going to sound like something else. But if it's done well, if it brings a new twist to what's old, that in my mind makes it original. Led Zeppelin may have borrowed slash stolen stuff, but what they ended up with was not somebody else's stuff, but their own.


2017-01-06

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