Ya, ya, I know, long time no write. I still have lots to babble about, just wholly different time frameworks to work within. I also kept thinking that I had to write long posts, or write about something important or meaningful, so I didn't look stupid.
I've changed my mind. There are tons of stupid blog posts out there!
So, here are my ramblings for the day. First of all, music. Music needs a sharp infusion of some new idea. Much of it is derivative these days. That doesn't preclude it being well done, but it's still a tale already told. Innovation, please! And by innovation I don't necessarily mean louder, noisier, more incoherent, "edgier", more violent, more controversial, or anything else. Just please come up with a new way of doing a few things, and a new way of presenting them.
Oh, and one other thing. Could singers PLEASE learn proper diction? Is that really so much to ask? Finish your words, and don't distort your vowels. It's not that hard. There's no need to sing "bow-beh Ah dun noooo" when you could sing "baby I don't know", including the "t" at the end of the word.
Thank you.
On to the next thing. Movies. I want to say up front that I enjoy movies of all genres, don't demand art house films or subtitles or that they be based on some obscure novel from 1794 in France. However, that should not necessarily be translated into saying I want to watch yet another film based on a comic book or a video game. Seriously, people. Most of these "adaptations" are painfully bad, flat and moronic. An exception will be made for the Pirates of the Caribbean series, which I viewed very doubtfully before release because ffs, they were based on a theme park ride! However, they're great fun, and definitely take you places you don't expect to go. That being said, I will say that it was a huge relief to have offerings like The Lake House and The Devil Wears Prada, films that were actually driven by plots and character development rather then by the size of the special effects budget.
Done with that? Oh good. Let's move on to books. Again, I don't demand that they all be future classics, and I don't mind graphic novels or silly novels. I'm not a big fan of "stream of consciousness" books, where somebody writes up something that greatly resembles the average blog post and is somehow instantly regarded as a pop culture guru or a grass roots philosopher. I wouldn't object quite so much if any of their ideas were new, but again, most of them aren't. And most of them have been said much better by other people.
On the subject of books, I'd like to add that I don't understand why those old classics are held in such contempt these days. How is it that people are graduating with full high school or, god forbid, college degrees, and have never even cracked the covers of some of the best stories ever written? I'm not saying you have to have read all the great books, or think all the famous old authors are great -- personally, for example, I consider reading Dickens somewhat akin to wading through mud up to my waist. It's slow going, turgid prose. Hemingway makes me feel like I'm being hit over the head with a shovel. Or in other words, I don't enjoy reading their books. Don't get me started on Nathaniel Hawthorne's writing style. But the stories, oh some of the stories they tell! They're wonderful. And many of the authors read easily, comprehensible no matter how much times have changed, and they open up realms of knowledge and imagination that are unparalleled. Schools don't even require people to read Dickens, or Shakespeare, or Victor Hugo, or any of these novels. I've heard it argued that kids today won't read, can't understand it, don't appreciate it. I think we're seriously underestimating and insulting those same kids. And how do we know if they could read and appreciate it, if we don't even try? Kids love pirate stories, ghost stories, epic adventures, heroes and villains and fair maidens. Give them a crack at Robin Hood, King Arthur, Captain Blood, and don't dumb them down. You'll be surprised. Don't believe me? Consider the Harry Potter books, hundreds of pages long and gobbled down by kids (and adults) worldwide. If the tale is good, they will come.
Guess that's it for ramblings, which obviously turned out to be much more of a rant than anything else! For those who really want some inane ramblings instead, I'll close with the following priceless morsels of information: one of my kitties threw up last night, I spent last weekend with my husband up in a cabin in the mountains cooking our keisters off in record breaking heat, I need to prune my rose bushes, and I still think George W. Bush looks like an organ grinder's monkey.
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