My particular brand of witty observation really has no place in your inboxes today. I thought I’d find the clip from the final episode of the Mary Tyler Moore show because you are my family, and it captures with grace and humor all the feelings going on, and it could serve as better catharsis than infinity pitchers of beer. But I guess it’s not online.
However, I’ll borrow Lou Grant’s last line: I cherish you people.
Winter Songs: Neil Young, Tell Me Why, Crosby, Stills, Nash (and sometimes Young), Teach Your Children. Music has therapeutic qualities.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
The Real World: Stevie Nicks
You should totally be reading my work blog!
Congratulations to Elisa’s children, on their introduction to Fleetwood Mac. I hope this supplants any interest in Disney Channel music. I saw those homely Jonas Brothers last weekend on SNL and am even more miffed at mainstream America’s promotion of these charmless, talentless hacks, who seem to be quietly shoveling very conservative values into the ears of America’s youth. Whatever, this shouldn’t even be a thing, because they aren’t real, but America keeps legitimizing them, and this is bad. Everyone: just listen to Rumours and Tusk, and forget this nonsense.
Besides, if it’s disposable culture you’re after, you should really be watching the Real World: Brooklyn, (it’s not the real world, and it’s not really Brooklyn). I keep looking to it as a beacon of progress: these people are unflappable, reasonable, even boring in their lack of roommate affairs, bigotry/hate-mongering, alcoholism. Sure, some of the people in the house are The Worst Human Beings in the World, as always, but it’s all very entertaining, and refreshing in its inability to be controversial at all. There are pranks! Nice house, also.
Winter Songs: I guess it’s a Stevie Nicks week, even though I don’t know if I’d like to meet her in real life. Amazing song, Dreams. “Players only love you when they’re playing” = resonant! Also, this made its rounds a while ago, but today is a good time to revisit it, particularly if you’ve never watched it. Just a lovely moment, Stevie in her dressing room, singing Wild Heart, impromptu and she seems to really love singing. She seems so unhappy as a person, it’s a lovely thing to catch her in her element. Well worth watching.
Congratulations to Elisa’s children, on their introduction to Fleetwood Mac. I hope this supplants any interest in Disney Channel music. I saw those homely Jonas Brothers last weekend on SNL and am even more miffed at mainstream America’s promotion of these charmless, talentless hacks, who seem to be quietly shoveling very conservative values into the ears of America’s youth. Whatever, this shouldn’t even be a thing, because they aren’t real, but America keeps legitimizing them, and this is bad. Everyone: just listen to Rumours and Tusk, and forget this nonsense.
Besides, if it’s disposable culture you’re after, you should really be watching the Real World: Brooklyn, (it’s not the real world, and it’s not really Brooklyn). I keep looking to it as a beacon of progress: these people are unflappable, reasonable, even boring in their lack of roommate affairs, bigotry/hate-mongering, alcoholism. Sure, some of the people in the house are The Worst Human Beings in the World, as always, but it’s all very entertaining, and refreshing in its inability to be controversial at all. There are pranks! Nice house, also.
Winter Songs: I guess it’s a Stevie Nicks week, even though I don’t know if I’d like to meet her in real life. Amazing song, Dreams. “Players only love you when they’re playing” = resonant! Also, this made its rounds a while ago, but today is a good time to revisit it, particularly if you’ve never watched it. Just a lovely moment, Stevie in her dressing room, singing Wild Heart, impromptu and she seems to really love singing. She seems so unhappy as a person, it’s a lovely thing to catch her in her element. Well worth watching.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Happy Go Your Own Day!
You should totally be reading my work blog! Sometimes we are subversive and link to the Daily Show where Jon Stewart says amazing/astute things like this (things we would never say) in response to former VP Cheney: “How does no longer electrocuting people’s testicles, because it violates everything we stand for, translate to ‘maybe if we take them to brunch, they’ll go away’? So Obama is planning for his new administration’s ‘terrorist prom’, Cheney wanted to let everyone know that his Faustian bargain had been our only refuge.”
I wrote up a couple of rebuttals to some of the things Cheney has said, using facts and reasoning instead of incisive humor like Jon Stewart. One of the few comments on the blog says, in part, “This is the stupidest website i have ever herd of… You hippies really need to get a life.” Does garnering hate-comments with poor spelling mean that I’ve arrived, in the blogosphere? Hope so.
Happy Valentine’s Day! As is my annual tradition, I have left valentine’s cards/treats in your mailboxes, (n.b. applies only to New York Office of Human Rights First), in homage to Valentine’s Day’s finest form: the elementary school card exchange. During my youth, lo those many years ago, we exchanged cards from the CVS (or even, People’s Drug, bought out by CVS circa 1990 in Maryland) festooned with Little Mermaid characters or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I bet you can find these on sale in hipster gift shops in Williamsburg, highly marked up in price and in irony and nostalgia. These days, kids must exchange cards bearing the image of Miley Cyrus and those unfortunate-looking Jonas Brothers. I buck the trends and make my own cards each year, reflecting the parts of pop culture I most wish to celebrate: Tina Fey and Buckingham Nicks, this year.
About the message adorning the Buckingham-Nicks card, “Go your own way!” Despite the fact that this is a bitter and brilliant break-up song, my intention is not to break up with you, Office. I spend several hours each day thinking about Fleetwood Mac, obvs, and turning the phrase over in my mind, I began to hear Lindsey Buckingham telling me warmly to go my own way, to find my own path, to make my own kind of music. What better sentiment to share with all of you! Go forth, Office, in your own way!
Great news! Great news I have been awaiting for like, nearly 27 years now! As you probably know, the best show ever, the Mary Tyler Moore Show was on the air for seven years, 1970-1977. The DVDs for seasons 1-4 were slowly released in the early 00’s, but then radio silence on seasons 5,6,7. At long last, it seems, the remaining seasons will be coming to DVD, BUT Fox has egregiously chosen to release them not as independent discs, but as part of a “Complete Series” set, a real blow to those of us who faithfully bought up seasons 1-4 as they came out. But, consumers are (=I am) dumb and emotional, and I totally still want this!
Winter Songs: Fleetwood Mac and Valentine’s Day? Sheesh. If you like tragic love stories/songs, you will love FM, the band that ripped apart from the inside and stayed intact only to make amazing tense songs, written for/to each other, recorded under strain with anguished collaboration. I bet John McVie cries every time he hears this song from his ex-wife, love of his life, Christine, recorded in one take, just her playing piano and singing on an empty stage, Songbird. After the glitter fades, indeed.
I wrote up a couple of rebuttals to some of the things Cheney has said, using facts and reasoning instead of incisive humor like Jon Stewart. One of the few comments on the blog says, in part, “This is the stupidest website i have ever herd of… You hippies really need to get a life.” Does garnering hate-comments with poor spelling mean that I’ve arrived, in the blogosphere? Hope so.
Happy Valentine’s Day! As is my annual tradition, I have left valentine’s cards/treats in your mailboxes, (n.b. applies only to New York Office of Human Rights First), in homage to Valentine’s Day’s finest form: the elementary school card exchange. During my youth, lo those many years ago, we exchanged cards from the CVS (or even, People’s Drug, bought out by CVS circa 1990 in Maryland) festooned with Little Mermaid characters or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I bet you can find these on sale in hipster gift shops in Williamsburg, highly marked up in price and in irony and nostalgia. These days, kids must exchange cards bearing the image of Miley Cyrus and those unfortunate-looking Jonas Brothers. I buck the trends and make my own cards each year, reflecting the parts of pop culture I most wish to celebrate: Tina Fey and Buckingham Nicks, this year.
About the message adorning the Buckingham-Nicks card, “Go your own way!” Despite the fact that this is a bitter and brilliant break-up song, my intention is not to break up with you, Office. I spend several hours each day thinking about Fleetwood Mac, obvs, and turning the phrase over in my mind, I began to hear Lindsey Buckingham telling me warmly to go my own way, to find my own path, to make my own kind of music. What better sentiment to share with all of you! Go forth, Office, in your own way!
Great news! Great news I have been awaiting for like, nearly 27 years now! As you probably know, the best show ever, the Mary Tyler Moore Show was on the air for seven years, 1970-1977. The DVDs for seasons 1-4 were slowly released in the early 00’s, but then radio silence on seasons 5,6,7. At long last, it seems, the remaining seasons will be coming to DVD, BUT Fox has egregiously chosen to release them not as independent discs, but as part of a “Complete Series” set, a real blow to those of us who faithfully bought up seasons 1-4 as they came out. But, consumers are (=I am) dumb and emotional, and I totally still want this!
Winter Songs: Fleetwood Mac and Valentine’s Day? Sheesh. If you like tragic love stories/songs, you will love FM, the band that ripped apart from the inside and stayed intact only to make amazing tense songs, written for/to each other, recorded under strain with anguished collaboration. I bet John McVie cries every time he hears this song from his ex-wife, love of his life, Christine, recorded in one take, just her playing piano and singing on an empty stage, Songbird. After the glitter fades, indeed.
Friday, February 6, 2009
After the banjo fades
Do you have a crush on Steve Martin? Wait a second before you answer, especially if you are a young person who has only seen latter-day paycheck-generating Steve. Frankly, I’m willing to forgive the existence of the Pink Panther 2 due to the press tour Steve has undertaken to lazily promote the movie while playing banjo and rather merrily being himself. Sorry to be an old person, but kids, in the good old days, Steve Martin movies were really awesome. Remember Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Jerk, Parenthood? Kids, he would wear bunny ears, or an arrow through his head, and do stand-up, and magic, and host SNL, and his was a unique voice in comedy, and delightful. Even though I loved him when I was a child and he really mattered to my cognitive development, this isn’t senseless nostalgia. He’s worth celebrating. Ignore the clip of the movie, but enjoy his banter with Stephen Colbert here. The spoken-word-off in the clip (3:55) is fairly amazing. I pretty much think comedy is more important art than drama.
I’m kind of angry at U.S. Swimming and Kelloggs and Subway Sandwiches. Just strikes me as cowardly on their parts, and disproportionate, and an extension of the part of our society that cannibalizes its heroes. Why do we expect them to be something other than human? In any case I can think of much worse things done by high Bush Administration officials that have thus far escaped the scrutiny and shame afforded Phelps.
Winter Song: Are somewhat melancholy songs a nice massage for our sad winter-depressed shoulders, or do they just make things worse? Confusingly, I think the former, even though it seems akin to eating poison when you have been food poisoned and up all night throwing up. Even if you’ve been metaphorically food poisoned by winter depression, I think this worn-out, end-of-the-night Stevie Nicks song will quiet your soul and ease the world’s bristling discomforts. It’s After the Glitter Fades, and it’s worth remembering the meteoric rise to fame/implosion of Fleetwood Mac when you listen to it.
I’m kind of angry at U.S. Swimming and Kelloggs and Subway Sandwiches. Just strikes me as cowardly on their parts, and disproportionate, and an extension of the part of our society that cannibalizes its heroes. Why do we expect them to be something other than human? In any case I can think of much worse things done by high Bush Administration officials that have thus far escaped the scrutiny and shame afforded Phelps.
Winter Song: Are somewhat melancholy songs a nice massage for our sad winter-depressed shoulders, or do they just make things worse? Confusingly, I think the former, even though it seems akin to eating poison when you have been food poisoned and up all night throwing up. Even if you’ve been metaphorically food poisoned by winter depression, I think this worn-out, end-of-the-night Stevie Nicks song will quiet your soul and ease the world’s bristling discomforts. It’s After the Glitter Fades, and it’s worth remembering the meteoric rise to fame/implosion of Fleetwood Mac when you listen to it.
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