I applied to IU but was accepted to Butler early and never even auditioned at Indiana. If they’d had these guys back then I might have tried a little harder:

Thanks to Bumble.

This has to be one of the best of that specification: “You Can’t Take it with You When You Go,” by Rhonda Vincent and the Rage. Not too needy, not too tough: You can change your mind, but it’s a limited-time offer.

Watch where you’re standin’
When you close that door
‘Cause if you’re on the wrong side
It won’t open any more.
Be sure before you leave me
That it’s the only way
Take off your coat and think about
What I’m about to say.

(Chorus:)
I gave you my heart
I gave you my soul, completely
You’ve got my dreams;
You’ve got everything that I’ll need if you leave me alone.
I’ll give you my love
For the rest of my life
But I want to make sure you know:
You can’t take it with you when you go.

I hear what you’re saying
But I don’t believe it’s you
Tellin’ me that it’s all over
After all that we’ve been through.
If you’ve found a new love
Then just tell me so
And I’ll make it easy
So she’ll never know.

Chorus

YouTube has somebody’s image-string video, which somewhat stunningly has a shot of Captain Mal and River Tam in it, to go with it:

And something a little more cheerful and kick-ass, from the band’s appearance at the 2007 River City Bluegrass Festival here in Portland (I didn’t see that show but I saw them at River City in 2006), Kentucky Borderline. She has some of the best in her band:

Why are the Eagles selling their new album exclusively through Wal-Mart? Not that I mind, but it doesn’t seem to track with Henley’s annoying politics. Maybe those are only about speech, as in his and his fellow performers’, and not about his money, though.

Oh, and here’s a hint, Don: It ain’t “debate,” civil or otherwise, when people pay to hear you sing and you treat them to your views without them being able to “debate” back. See how that works?

“Given what my good friend Linda Ronstadt —” Henley started telling the crowd, but he was cut down as the audience erupted in boos, reports the Orange County Register. Henley responded: “Whoops — Orange County, we used to be able to have civil debate in this country. Not anymore.”

If concerts were supposed to be give-and-take, I’d have been on stage with both Billy Joel and James Taylor by now, politics be damned.

Great voice, silenced.

By coincidence I had just ordered a recording of his Turandot, inspired by The Bean’s sudden interest in opera after hearing some Carmen on the radio and by the amazing rendition of “Nessun Dorma” by the amateur on Britain’s Got Talent.

The discs arrived yesterday. We’ll be listening to Pavarotti today. RIP.

See?

I told you.

Was the Hamster Dance always to Roger Miller’s Robin Hood music?

Cool.

Aside, the people who made this video have one heck of a DVD collection.

H/t Bookworm Room.

… check out this surprisingly serious, sad, sweet little Ernest number from Ernest Goes to Camp. Yeah, you read that right. I saw it as a teenager, and even though over-the-top physical comedy isn’t my thing, I’m quite sure the user comment at IMDB is correct that it’s the funniest of the Ernest movies. Battered, pathetic Jim Varney is credible and lovable here as the fallen hero, and the song itself is so catchy that I spent literally years with a fragment floating in and out of my mind from time to time … “Gee, I’m glad it’s rainin’ … now dammit, how does the rest of that song go?” I thought I’d never find out, because I didn’t really want to know badly enough to rent an Ernest movie. Behold the wonders of YouTube for reviving sad songs from the zany-movie genre.

Jim Varney died of lung cancer in 2000. He was a funny guy who did some very good things:

When given the chance to have a lifelong dream fulfilled by such groups as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, several hundred terminally ill children have asked to meet Ernest. He never let them down.

RIP, Slinky Dog.

Music jumping genres. This is great. (h/t Allah at Hot Air, reminding you that if it’s acoustic, it’s “hippie.”) I suppose it would be funnier if I had known anything about the song or Outkast before I watched it, but since I didn’t, it was more musically impressive than funny, especially since I garnered from the context of the video what he had to work with going in. The original lyrics seem to consist of the idea that love is sex and thus not an exception to the adage “nothing lasts forever.” But since Mat Weddle of Obadiah Parker leaves out the overt sex stuff, the song morphs into a lament over being stuck in a relationship that is really over. Better song, to my way of thinking.

And since we’re on the subject, check out my favorites, Nickel Creek, and their stirring rendition of “Toxic,” performed originally, I am reliably informed, by Britney Spears. They did this when I saw them play last winter, too, but I am just too unhip to recognize Spears songs when I hear them and had to ask my neighbor in the audience. Didn’t stop me from enjoying watching Chris shake it, though. This YouTube version was the pick of a bad lot in the sense that it 1) had audio and video tracks synched up; 2) showed all of the band members (I always get a kick out of watching Sean on guitar, solid as a rock, while Chris hotdogs); 3) wasn’t blocked by somebody’s head in front. It’s not as close up as would be optimal, especially if you haven’t seen Nickel Creek before, but … c’est la vie. Enjoy.