Tour Theme Song

After the now-infamous scratch-n-sniff screen debacle (I left the episode about potted meat out of the refrigerator for a few days), I have been pondering how best to muddle the masses by appealing to senses other than sight. Today the secret underground laboratories have produced an innovation that is sure to rock the Internet: Music. Yes, you heard it here first; modern technology will make it possible for people to share and distribute their favorite tunes. Mark my words, once news of this leaks out, everyone will be doing it.

Somewhere around here you should be able to find a button which, when clicked, will cause the song “All For Me Grog” to come out of your crappy little computer speakers. The song is by Harold’s Craich Band — or at least that’s what they called themselves back when they recorded this for the soundtrack of Pirates of the White Sand. Those of you who have been waiting for the movie can think of this as a sneak peek.

This is my first time posting up tunes, so let me know if you have any trouble.

All For Me Grog!
Play All For Me Grog
(right-click to save file)

18 thoughts on “Tour Theme Song

  1. While reviewing the comments for the potted meat episode, I came across a long post by Bill about the launch of his Alaskan adventure. In a couple of places, it said “more later.”

    Well, Bill, in a flagrant abuse of my power, I declare “now” to be later.

    Also, how long does it look like you’ll be up there? I want to visit, but this summer is getting pretty full.

  2. Speaking of “more later,” um, not to nag or anything, but at least according to the tour status update bar, you haven’t updated the photos since July 31. Think you might get some new ones up soon?

  3. I had a report that one user’s computer was confused by the m4a file format for this song, so I have changed it to mp3. The downside is that the file is larger now. I’m curious if other people were getting an error with the m4a. Anyone? Anyone?

  4. Actually, I didn’t get an error before. I have the current version of iTunes, and everything worked fine when the file was m4a. But now I’m told that I have to download a plugin to play the mp3. That strikes me as totally odd.

    Since I’ve already downloaded the song as m4a, I can still play it — but I can’t play the mp3 directly from the blog.

    There are always going to be compatibility issues. While it is important to keep compatibility with as wide a range of software as possible, sometimes you have to make choices. In your case, it’s figuring out how many people can’t experience the full joy of your blog because mp3 files don’t work right, versus the number of people who miss out because m4a files don’t work.

    I’d come down in favor of the more advanced software, since that’s what people are moving toward rather than away from.

  5. The smaller file size is a plus for m4a, but I’m amazed you don’t have a plugin (like, say, Quicktime, which iTunes is built on top of, or Windows Media Player that came with your computer) that’s configured to play mp3’s. It’s about as universal a standard for music as you’re going to find.

    fuego has WinAmp, and although he had it set to play m4a files, it wouldn’t do so in his browser. Firefox thought he needed Quicktime. Which he also has. Crazy Windows.

    There’s something you can set somewhere to make things work correctly, but I have no idea what or where that thing is. Maybe John S. can shine some light on this.

    For now I’m going to stick to mp3, because it is a more ubiquitous format, but I’d like to hear how things are going for other folks.

  6. In fact, the plugin that Firefox says I need is Quicktime, which, as you said, is now part of iTunes. Apparently Firefox doesn’t know that, however, so it won’t let me try to play the mp3.

  7. What everyone else said – Firefox, Quicktime, iTunes, and no way I can find to bypass the whole mess and just save the file to my computer.

  8. Bleah. What’s weird is that each of you has at least two different mp3 players installed on your computers. The iTunes installer must be hosing some setting buried deep within windows.

    I really, really hope that Windows Vista (due out, I hear, in the year 2525) does away with the ridiculous hack that is the registry.

    Meanwhile, I’ll go back to putting a button that opens a new window to play the tune, so at the very least you can right-click and download the file.

  9. The MP3 file worked for me (Windows XP and Windows Media Player).

    Would you care to elaborate on the line “for across the western ocean I’m a father”?

  10. Where as Jerry keeps blaming Windows, I blame Mac (specifically ITunes) for these problems. ITunes has tricked Firefox into thinking that only ITunes can play the song, probably since the song was originally ripped by ITunes. I bet when it was ripped, ITunes put some sort of “This is an ITunes thang, so the rest of you can go rip yourselves!” code into the file. If there is one program worse than Windows as far as being a fascist regime of 1’s and 0’s, it is ITunes.

  11. OK, first, I did blame iTunes. Second, m4a is an industry standard, and there is no room in the standard for selecting a preferred application. Second-and-a-half, firefox never evan read the file, so any time bomb in it wouldn’t have worked anyway – it simply got messed up trying to figure out what to do with _any_ m4a file. Third, I did not rip the song at all, I got it from a Windows user and posted it unaltered. Finally, impugning macs because the windows version of an application sucks makes no sense whatsoever.

    Other than that, pL’s insane rant was completely valid.

  12. I am in charge of the photo slide show for 5th grade promotion showing the various 5th grade classes on their overnight field trips on board the Star of India. It’s elementary school’s best field trip, an historical emersion with a captain, first and second mates, and a cook, with the kids playing the part of a the crew on board an 1875 trip to New Zealand (just as the real Star of India, nee’ Euterpe, did).

    Anyway, they haven’t provided me with the sea shanties yet, so I’ve made “All for me grog” the soundtrack. Doug’s fifth grade teacher liked it; said it was different (from the sea shanties he’s heard for 10 years).

    Any copyright problems here?

    For those of you of the nautical bent, my pictures for our voyage are on shutterfly under Mr. Bueker’s class.

  13. All for me Grog was originally sung at a much slower pace, and was associated with a certain station on the ship. (Capstan?) The song itself is public domain, the performance here is by the guys left behind when Joe Byrne (Callahan’s musical regular) moved to Nashville.

    I am pushing things, I suspect, to have them on my blog, despite the legal agreement they agreed to let me forge their signatures upon. But they’re good guys and the resulting fame can only help them.

    Fame. Heh.

  14. Heck, if it’s the Joe Bryne Band, I should just wander down the hall and ask Dave Bernat for permission. Problem solved.

    I didn’t realize until I visited here that “All for Me Grog” was a traditional shanty and not an original. (He has it listed as a “Forecastle Songs and Ballads,” not as a line hauling or capstan shanty, interestingly enough.)

    I have to check if the lyrics on the song match the lyrics on the web page, because I think singing of whoring goes a little beyond the pale for fifth grade graduation.

  15. Joe Byrne isn’t part of it, it’s just Harold and Dave. As far as I can tell they don’t have a Web site or I would have included a link to it. Say hello to Dave for me.

    The version they did is a bit different than the one listed there, and there are plenty of other versions I found lying about as well.

    Also on the Pirates sound track is “Bonnie Ship the Diamond”, so if you decide “All for me Grog” is not appropriate, I can slide you that one. (If parents object to references to alcohol in “All for me Grog”, point out that the song is about the destructive influence of grog on the man’s life, and don’t mention that he’s not at all sorry about it.)

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