REM was my favorite band and soundtrack for my life for many years. If bands were significant others (if only!), REM would be my long term relationship. But as often happens with LTRs, things got a little stale as the years went on. We tried to stick together for old time’s sake, but the magic was gone, and finally REM and I parted amicably. For the past few years I’ve been seeing other bands, and I’ve gotten pretty serious with one in particular. I’ve moved on, but REM, I’ll never forget you and the times we shared.
Oh god. Anyway, with REM reappearing on the scene with a new album (April 1?) and tour (June 13!), it hit me that it really does seem like a lifetime since I’ve thought about them. Their new album is supposed to be a “return to form”, whatever that means. My hopes aren’t high since they’ve said that about the last 3, but I’m looking forward to it anyway.
From one of the last times I saw them in concert:
Me (standing in line for hot chocolate): “Why is the line for hot chocolate way longer than the beer line at a rock concert?”
Well, it’s too late to post much of anything tonight, since I put off something that was due Monday morning until 10:30 Sunday night. So here’s the Bishop Allen video for “Click click click click”. It’s a simple, cool little idea. I can’t believe this hasn’t been done before, but the youtube commenters seemed to think it was original, for what that’s worth (probably not much since the average age of your typical youtube commenter seems to be about 12). On the other hand, I just saw the exact same idea used today in a PBS promo piece, so either it’s a over-used technique, or PBS is ripping off Bishop Allen.
My only complaint is that I don’t think the video really complements the song all that well.
Filed under: Uncategorized — by bittertwee @ 1:24 am
Those ticketmaster codes they make you type before you purchase tickets are becoming impossible. It’s probably a no-no, but I lifted a few of them so you can see what I mean. Any ideas what these might say?
..the number of maintenance/facilities/mail guys who sing as they walk by my office. This isn’t just humming, they’re bursting into full-blown song. I’m glad they’re happy, but I’m starting to feel like I’m living in a musical.
Apropos of my last post (which is now the post following this one, due to issues with importing from tumblr), here’s a video that shows how bystanders react when people around them spontaneously burst into song. Answer: they look very uncomfortable, and then applaud when it’s over.* I guess that’s to be expected.
*I do realize there’s potential for a sex joke here
Salon recently ran this story on how we shouldn’t fear that the internetz is making our kids dumber. It’s only so-so; for one thing it makes unsubstantiated accusations against people with concerns (they’re insecure and jealous? acting like “mean girls”? and you base that on..?). And then you get to this whopper:
Twenty-plus years ago, high school students didn’t have the Internet to store their trivia. Now they know that the specific dates and what-was-that-prince’s-name will always be there; they can free their brains to go a little deeper into the concepts instead of the copyrights, step back and consider what Scout and Atticus were really fighting for.
Two points: 1. If kids are grateful that they aren’t being asked to memorize facts, it’s because they’d rather not memorize facts. Are they using all that extra time to dig deeper into concepts? Unlikely.
2. I’m tired of people confusing the potential of the internet with reality. Sure, the internet has the potential to be used as an educational tool, as does TV. Or even video games. But that’s not how these things are being used. The internet has had a profound impact in many realms (entertainment, commerce, social interactions), but I’m not sure we, collectively as a society, are any better informed than before.
Case in point- the internet really took off in what- the late 90s? Well, since then we’ve voted into power (twice!) what is possibly the worst and most damaging administration ever in US history. So much for power to the people.
Surely the war must be over if this is what passes for breaking news? ‘Kristen’ has reportedly left her building Spokesman says Spitzer-linked call girl may not be going back to apartment
This is sort of a delicate subject, but here goes. I was watching Supernanny last night (no, that’s not the delicate part), and one of the side issues was that the 3 year old boy enjoyed playing with his sister’s dress-up clothes and dolls. Dad was unhappy enough about this that the poor little guy was reduced to hiding in the closet (literally!) to get his purse/dress/doll fix. Well, Supernanny was having none of that. “What are you afraid of- that he’ll be a transvestite?” she asked. Dad laughed nervously.. no, of course not, she’s right, that’s just silly. Thing is, we all know what dad was really afraid of, and that remained unspoken.
Supernanny maintained that dress-up is harmless. All kids do it! She made the family all get dressed up to prove her point. She dressed up as a bee- did that make her a bee? Of course not! Lesson learned, and dad chilled out a bit.
So, yay for Supernanny, and her message of accepting kids as they are and not shaming them for what they choose to play with. But what about her zero-correlation message? I thought back to some boys I knew a long time and many jobs ago, who made a beeline to the dress-up area at the start of the day, and NOT to put on the overalls and fireman’s hat, let’s just say. Wonder how they’re doing now?, thought I. Suddenly it occurred to me that the answer was a visit to facebook away. A few clicks and a network change later and I was able to track down one no-longer kid and, yep, gay. So.. it’s a sample size of one, and let me be very clear that I *don’t* think correlation implies causation, or that it even implies 100% correlation. But I don’t think the correlation is zero either, and the message of accepting your kids as they are is far more important. I wish Supernanny had asked the dad the follow-up question- “So, even if your fears are realized, would you love your kid any less?”
Apologies for yet another airing of the Spitzer pic, but my first thought when I saw it was “That’s Waldorf!”, followed by “Or Statler” and then “Sam would know”. So I decided to see how close they came. Not bad!
Statler: Wake up you old fool. You slept through the show.
Waldorf: Who’s a fool? You watched it.
[edited to add: Sam informs me that it's Statler. Also gawker referred to the Spitzer pic later in the week as "that muppet photo", so I guess my observation wasn't that original. Or maybe gawker ripped it off from me! (unlikely)]
