A smart speaker (incase you haven't come across one yet) is a little audio device that you plug into a power outlet, hook up to your home wi-fi network and then configure it with a tablet or PC. Once you've done this, the smart speaker can recognize your voice and respond to your requests.
If you ask it for the forecast, it will read it to you.
If you ask for the news, it will play the most recent newscast of your choice (CBC Radio One in my case).
If you ask it to play a particular song, it will (provided it has access to it), and will follow it up with similar or related songs by different artists.
If you ask it for a fact, it will read it right out to you, for instance "Okay Google, what is the current temperature?" Or price of a bitcoin, or current time in Pyeongchang, or what have you.
The fact that everything it does can be done just as well by the PC that sits within 1 foot of it, or the tablets or smartphones that pervade our house, does nothing to to change the fact that it is a dandy little device to have next to the kitchen. And in my case, it is unequivocally a time saver, especially when I cook breakfast on the weekend.
You see, the problem is, I like to have some music on when I cook, but rather than gravitate to one of my many playlists on the upstairs computer (such as "Funky Soul", or "Brunch with Dad"), I will let whimsy and recently recollected songs steer me stray, and then start building a new playlist to complement them. The next thing you know, someone is asking me how long until brekkie is ready, and I look at the clock and see that, gosh, have I really been curating songs for 25 minutes? Man, I didn't even preheat the oven yet!
Playlists still get their due around the house, but more often than not, I will be pouring something into a pan, notice the silence and say, "Hey Google, play 'I Ran' by A Flock of Seagulls." Google complies, but a few songs later I am already bored with the new wave selections it has chosen, so I ask it to play, oh, say, "Wichita Lineman" by Glen Campbell.
Sidebar: I can't tell you precisely why there is so much vintage country and western music going around our house these days, but I suspect movie soundtracks might have something to do with it. Django Unchained's "I Got a Name" by Jim Croce, "Glen Campbell's "Southern Nights" from Guardians of the Galaxy 2, or even "Country Roads Take Me Home" by John Denver from Kingsman 2: The Golden Circle, have all pulled a thread in our collective tastes and memories. For me, the nostalgia of listening to Mum sing along with Rhinestone Cowboy on CHQT through the tinny speaker of the kitchen clock radio is almost overwhelming.
Anyhow, "Wichita Lineman" led to a few different slices of pre-80s country western, but the lyrics on an older piece caught my ear, and I turned to Fenya to get a confirmation. "Are you listening to this?" I asked.
She looked up from her 11 pound stats text book and said, "Not really, why?"
"I think this is like a 50 year old country diss track...listen!"
If ya don't wanna go to fist city
Ya better detour around my town
'Cause I'll grab you by the hair a the head
And I'll lift a you off a the ground
Fenya's eyes widened. "Hey Google, what track is this?" she asked.
"You are listening to 'Fist City' by Loretta Lynn," the speaker obediently reported.
We re-started the track and marveled at just how badass this song, recorded in 1968, truly was. Based on Loretta's real experience with a tomcattin' husband unprepared for her fame and success, and subject to advances by other women. Badass enough to get her banned from the radio for a while, as a matter of fact.
It's a real treat, this song, and I highly recommend checking it out in the video below. Even if you aren't a fan of the genre, the gutsiness and sheer nerve it displays make it a worthwhile listening experience.
A you've been makin' your brags around town
That you've been a lovin' my man
But the man I love, when he picks up trash
He puts it in a garbage can
And that's what a you look like to me
And what I see's a pity
You better close your face and stay outta my way
If ya don't wanna go to fist city
If ya don't wanna go to fist city
Ya better detour around my town
'Cause I'll grab you by the hair a the head
And I'll lift a you off a the ground
I'm not a sayin' my baby's a saint 'cause he ain't
N' that he won't cat around with a kitty
I'm here to tell ya gal to lay offa my man
If ya don't wanna go to fist city
Come on and tell me what you told my friends
If you think you're brave enough
And I'll show you what a real woman is
Since you think you're hot stuff
You'll bite off more than you can chew
If you get too cute or witty
You better move your feet
If you don't wanna eat
A meal that's called fist city
If you don't wanna go to fist city
You better detour around my town
'Cause I'll grab you by the hair a the head
And I'll lift you offa the ground
I'm not a sayin' my baby's a saint 'cause he ain't
N' that he won't cat around with a kitty
I'm here to tell ya gal to lay offa my man
If ya don't wanna go to fist city
I'm here to tell ya gal to lay offa my man
If ya don't wanna go to fist city
It is unlikely I ever would have come across this little gem without indulging a bit of whimsy and having a computerized DJ to assist me, so, yeah, smart speakers? Count me as a fan!
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