This song is one of a kind. Truly. "Kung Fu Fighting" is truly infantile, trite and misinformed (as to the ways of the martial arts)...having said that, the song is absolutely cute, unassuming and entertaining. The opening riff (with its pentatonic air) is fabulously distinctive -- if you hum it to most anyone, that person (the anyone) will exclaim, "Kung Fu Fighting? Isn't that the song about Kung Fu Fighting?"
Don't think about it. Just enjoy it. Silly sound effects and all. It's a "old school" type of Top 40 hit.
DAZZ is the nickname for this chap who once fancied becoming a professional musician. He started playing guitar in the fifth grade, and was, thereafter consumed with it.
He played in a string of garage bands, some nightclubs, some bungalow colonies, at Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, Christenings, Weddings, Gasoline Station Openings, School Proms, Recording Studio Sessions. He wrote songs. He dreamed of being a singer-songwriter with a group of his own. Then, things went terribly wrong, and he wound up getting an MBA instead.
He resumed an unenchanted mortal life as just "Douglas Castle," "Doug," "Sensei Douglas," "Associate Professor Castle," "Double D," "Uncle Doug," "Dad" ... but DAZZ (the funky white boy) somehow was lost in the shuffle. I did everything not to be that DAZZ. After a time, he was like a character in a movie that I had seen.
I recently re-discovered him, while picking up a guitar. He took me over for a while, with incredible force, like an awakened poltergeist. I think he was angry at having been stuffed into a tiny, dark corner for all of those years. He played so much that my fingers were bloody. I tried to cram him back inside, but he refused to be denied. We now share my body. We are still negotiating a peace between us.
I dedicate this utterly self-indulgent post to my father, the late Marc W. Castle.
We had a strained relationship -- he was ill, and in a great deal of pain, but I didn't understand...not then.
My Mother wanted me to be a stockbroker, or a college professor (I did this for a while), or a physician.
But Dad, like a single-minded, obsessive child, actually wanted me to become a musician. He would boast of my musical talent (such as it was) to anybody who would listen. It's too late to tell him that he was always right about who I really was. I've spent my life trying to run away from who I truly am, but I still come back to DAZZ, my father's real son.
Dad - Please forgive me. I was too busy trying to impress other people to realize that I was ignoring my greatest fan. I'd give anything to have you back -- maybe you could give me a second chance. Happy Father's Day.
I dedicate this song to you, Dad. It's called "My Back Pages," and it was done by the Byrds in the 1960s. The line "I was so much older then/ I'm younger than that now," sums it up.
Douglas Castle, also referred to as “Castle Douglas” or “Castle Dangerous,” the regal remains of which legendary and celebrated edifice still stand today in Douglas, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, is not in any way related (regrettably) to Douglas E Castle, the common-born chairman of TNNWC Group, LLC, who currently resides in the United States of America.
The latter-mentioned Human Being does not even bear a remote genealogical relationship to any of the members of Clan Douglas. In fact, he has never even had an opportunity to visit his namesake landmark; further, the closest that he has come to nobility is by the place of his birth; the Borough of Queens, in the City of New York. He collects no rents, receives no royalties and levies no taxes on any Gaelic (or other) persons or establishments in the Realm of Douglas.
He has neither a serf nor a servant in his retinue – besides, serfs and servants are terribly expensive, and in this tempestuous and challenging economy they would be a conspicuous extravagance. The neighbors and stakeholders would ask too many questions.
About The Other Douglas Castle:
The information which follows is provided courtesy of Wikipedia™, one of the Human Douglas Castle’s favorite resources:
“Douglas Castle. These ruins are also known as Castle Dangerous (after being immortalised in Sir Walter Scott's Novel of the same name) and lie in beautiful parkland east of Douglas. Most of the ruins were demolished because of Subsidence in the 1940's but this castle was once home to the Black Douglas family and has a long and bloody history.”
Douglas Castle was a stronghold of the Douglas family from medieval times to the 19th century. The first castle, erected in the 13th century, was destroyed and replaced several times until the 18th century when a large mansion house was built in its place. This too was demolished in 1938, and today only a single corner tower of the 17th-century castle remains. The castle was the former family seat of the Prime Minister, Alec Douglas-Home. The castle was located around 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) north-east of the village of Douglas, South Lanarkshire, in south-west Scotland. The remains are protected as a category C listed building.[1]
The Douglas family built the first Douglas Castle, which was constructed of either wood or stone, sometime before 1288.[2] In 1307, during the Wars of Scottish Independence the castle was captured and garrisoned by the English under Lord Clifford. Sir James Douglas, companion of Robert the Bruce successfully recaptured his family seat by storming the castle on Palm Sunday, while the garrison was at chapel. He had the garrison killed and thrown into a cellar, before the structure was burned. The event has become known as "Douglas' larder".
####
For information about the far less-glamorous Douglas E Castle, simply scroll down to the footer of this article posting.
There. I guess that should serve to clear things up a bit.
Faithfully,
Douglas Castle
[Composed of flesh, bone and blood, and not of brick, stone or other construction materials. Considered by some to represent a sentient life form, this Douglas Castle is made of 100% recycled genetic materials, and is fully biodegradable – at a faster pace than he would like]
Illustrations Follow:
Castle Douglas - The Edifice In Scotland
Douglas Castle - The Human Being (Not In Scotland)
About This Author: Further information regarding this author’s professional experience, expertise and service offerings can be found at ABOUT DOUGLAS E CASTLE
Other Blogs And RSS Feeds By This Author: A comprehensive list of blogs and RSS feeds on various subjects written or moderated by Douglas E Castle may be found by clicking on the orange icon below.
The author highly recommends that each of his respected readers becomes Pinglerized (a Lingovation™) in order to maximize SEO, search engine ranking, and to exponentially increase both unique visitors and recurring traffic to your website or blog. Leverage this wonderful technology.
The author wishes to thank the following resource providers: Feedburner, CoolText Graphics, JavaScript Free Code, Zemanta, Google, WordPress, Widgetbox, and Wikipedia
---------------
About This Author: Further information regarding this author’s professional experience, expertise and service offerings can be found at ABOUT DOUGLAS E CASTLE
Other Blogs And RSS Feeds By This Author: A comprehensive list of blogs and RSS feeds on various subjects written or moderated by Douglas E Castle may be found by clicking on the orange icon below.
The author highly recommends that each of his respected readers becomes Pinglerized (a Lingovation™) in order to maximize SEO, search engine ranking, and to exponentially increase both unique visitors and recurring traffic to your website or blog. Leverage this wonderful technology.
Yes. This is a RadioDAZZ music break for de-stressing, re-energizing, and refreshing those creative juices. It contains two songs selected by none other than Mr. Mark H. Blankenship of TNNWC Group and GIST VIDEO. Mark just can't get enough of these songs -- they are sacred to him. It mentions them daily...not unlike a mantra.
Take a moment (or two) to listen to the each of these two fine musical selections. The first one (from 1968) will knock your socks off, stimulate dopamine and epinephrine production, accelerate your metabolism and make you want to go out and buy duct tape and sharp tools..
The second, a beautiful, famous work by Billy Joel (my former limo driver), will calm you down... so much so that you'll leave your machine gun at home when reporting for your job at the U.S. Postal Service. It will put you into an alpha state; the brainwave frequency setting most conducive to imagination, imagery and creativity. You may want to spray paint something personal, yet cute, about an old lover on a restroom stall in a large public place which is well-travelled.
Listen. 'Tis all I can ask. The first one will rile your bile. The second will calm you down so delightfully you may want to purchase a fine bouquet of flowers for your boss, or an old school principal, or a kindly priest (if he hasn't been on the Vatican's "Rotational Protection Program".
Lastly, please read the important message from GIST VIDEO at the end of this post. It's at the bottom, where fellows like Mr. Blankenship usually like to go fishing.
Remember to visit RadioDAZZ daily at http://radiodazz.blogspot.com/ , and to make us a FAVORITE. If you scroll around on the site, there's even a time machine jukebox. No foolin'.
Click on each of the hyperlinks or video players (if they decide to appear on your screen) below to enjoy some (honestly) wonderful music. I swear. Constantly.
If the picture below is causing you eye strain, just click on it for a "big as life" version.
GIST VIDEO gets them to "YES." Click on http://bit.ly/UltraFastMessaging to learn more. If that's too much too ask, you may also click on http://bit.ly/TheGist . This last one sounds like a Stephen King story. It does to me. "WHEN THE COMMITTEE DOESN'T HAVE TIME FOR A SLIDE SHOW OR A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION" -- Just the GIST, ma'am. Short. Sweet. Perfect.
----------------
FEATURE YOURSELF ON RADIO DAZZ.
POTENTIAL EXPOSURE TO AN AUDIENCE OF MILLIONS!If you have a downloadable audio or audio/video (YouTube, for example) recording either one of your live performances, or of an album or demonstration recording ( a sampler) that you'd like to get exposed to millions, Radio DAZZ wants to help put your music out there. We have loads of established platforms, venues and media distribution channels. Simply click on the button (either above or below), fill-in the pop-up form, submit it, and we’ll do the rest. If you’re good, everyone will know it. Everywhere.
The legendary Sam Cooke singing "Chain Gang." An iconic, melodious, unforgettable tune with two extra special things to listen for:
1. The percussive "clank" of a stick hitting a metal pipe -- keeping time to the music on every upbeat;
2. The bass back-up singer who sings the intro words "...and don't ya know..." Very rich.
Real live instruments. Fabulous vocal harmony. Not overproduced or underproduced -- just perfect. A wonderful work song for every entrepreneur living in this era. Fellow (and lady) captains of the next generation of great business enterprises, I salute you all!
Put your shovels and picks down for a moment, wipe the sweat from your brow, stretch your back, and take a well-deserved RadioDAZZ music break from your self-imposed servitude. Stay positive and (in the words of others far greater than I), "Just keep on keepin' on!"
POTENTIAL EXPOSURE TO AN AUDIENCE OF MILLIONS!If you have a downloadable audio or audio/video (YouTube, for example) recording either one of your live performances, or of an album or demonstration recording ( a sampler) that you'd like to get exposed to millions, Radio DAZZ wants to help put your music out there. We have loads of established platforms, venues and media distribution channels. Simply click on the button (either above or below), fill-in the pop-up form, submit it, and we’ll do the rest. If you’re good, everyone will know it. Everywhere.
A beautiful song performed by Roger McGwynn (sp?) and The Byrds in the 1960s. The tangy, classical "Mr. Tambourine Man" riff in D Major, enhanced by the twang of the 12-string guitar. And these prayerful, comforting lyrics were inspired by scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1-15. Two versions follow for your enjoyment.
