Nicole and I are hosting an inauguration ball for our town's democrat club. We'll be clearing all the furniture out of our backroom for maximum dancing. I need to put together a playlist. There are some obvious picks--"Revolution" by The Beatles and "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac--that reflect the theme. There are artists like Jay-Z and Aretha Franklin who ought to be represented due to their support for Barack Obama.
Any suggestions? What songs get people dancing? What songs represent the historic moment?
1/05/2009
1/01/2009
blogging the movies
Recently on netflix...
The Corner. Relentless and outstanding piece of work. The creative team behind The Wire is responsible for this 2000 HBO mini-series and you can certainly see that team developing its signature style: realistic, character-driven, slowly unfolding narratives about drugs in Baltimore. But The Corner values depth over breadth. The Corner doesn't have The Wire's broad scope, instead benefiting from a more tightly focused gaze on two middle-aged heroin addicts and their teen son. Imagine The Wire if the stories all revolved around the day-to-day lives of Bubbles and Johnny Weeks and Michael's mom. Depressing stuff, but powerful too. Grade: A-
Transsiberian. Not my cup of chai. Despite a good performance from Emily Mortimer, this is a suspense film that never made me anxious. Essentially, a troubled American couple finds intrigue on a long and snowy train journey across Russia. The plot had loads of potential and I was really looking forward to what I thought would be part Hitchcock homage and part moody and cold melodrama. The story never struck me as real and, though the characterizations were interesting, I never felt all that invested in the good guys, bad guys, or morally ambiguous guys. This reminded me of a lot of the post-Fargo, mediocre, late 90s films (think "Simple Plan" with Billy Bob Thorton) about everyday folks who get caught up in crime and/or their own moral underworlds. Grade: C-
Step Brothers. Bloody awful. Only the most devoted Will Ferrell fans need apply. Grade: F
Tom Petty: Runnin' Down a Dream. I watched this documentary and "The Waiting" played in my head for about a week. Actually what was in my head was Eddie Vedder's brilliant rendition of the song, backed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, as heard in one of the many excellent live clips from this doc. Though cool in their own right, those live clips are bested by the film's characterization of Petty himself. The film introduces Petty in his own words as well as the words of his colleagues and peers, admirers, producers, bandmates, and even ex-bandmates. We get a view of Petty as a great songwriter and performer and also as a staunchly individualistic and ambitious (sometimes to a fault) dude. "Runnin' Down A Dream" tells some great stories: Petty fighting with his record label, attorneys, the industry at large. The stories suck us in, but so do Petty's traits. I'm not sure I'd want to be a Heartbreaker. See this great documentary and maybe you'll see what I mean. Further, this is a documentary that manages to make an argument. "Dream" (successfully) makes the case that Petty's music bucks trends but also fits nicely within unexpected genres like, say, first-wave punk. Don't be scared off by the four-hour (!) running time. Even casual music fans (admittedly, I am NOT in that camp) will appreciate the many ways "Dream" transcends "Behind the Music" cliches. Grade: A
Recently at the cinema...
Gran Torino. Loved it. I haven't seen much of this winter's Oscar bait, but so far this is my pick for best film of '08. And not just because it's set and filmed in Detroit. Clint Eastwood, director and star of "Torino," puts a subtle exclamation point on his career. The story is low-key and energizing all at once. Eastwood plays an utterly unlikable racist. See the film and notice that he never really becomes likable. It takes some real narrative restraint to tackle themes like redemption without a feel-good protagonist or a whole lot of comic relief. Imagine "The Shawshank Redemption" if the Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins characters were both pricks. There are so many things that "Gran Torino" doesn't do: tell viewers how to feel or how to think about big things (Race. The City. Catholicism.) or small things (Eastwood's character's parenting skills), fill up the soundtrack with swelling music, provide easy answers, etc. I could go on but I won't. See this. I got home and put all five Dirty Harry movies on my netflix list. Grade: A
Seven Pounds. Speaking of films that take on big themes and moral ambiguities. Here's a film in which Will Smith plays with his own unimpeachable likability (as he did in Hancock) by playing a character who makes some screwed-up choices. Like Eastwood's character in "Gran Torino," the enigmatic Will Smith character is a new kind of vigilante. I won't reveal the film's secrets but I will say that, although the film is emotionally manipulative, it resists facile readings. Are Smith's actions good? Are they bad? Ultimately do his choices benefit the common good? Do they benefit himself? You might hate this movie but if you really stop and think about these questions, you won't be able to come up with easy answers to them. Overall, this is a fair piece of work. Grade: C
Slumdog Millionaire. Thoroughly enjoyable. Definitely not the best film of the year, but I appreciated the original mode of storytelling. In fact, I love the very *idea* of telling somebody's life story by explaining how that person knows the answers to particular trivia questions. And I was captivated by the unflinching representations of poverty. The early acts of the film have an affective quality that's almost indescribable. You'll walk out of the theater remembering many of the images. Hats off to director Danny Boyle. You know those moments in Trainspotting that still take up space in your cranium? Boyle offers a whole bunch of those this go around. Grade: B+
The Corner. Relentless and outstanding piece of work. The creative team behind The Wire is responsible for this 2000 HBO mini-series and you can certainly see that team developing its signature style: realistic, character-driven, slowly unfolding narratives about drugs in Baltimore. But The Corner values depth over breadth. The Corner doesn't have The Wire's broad scope, instead benefiting from a more tightly focused gaze on two middle-aged heroin addicts and their teen son. Imagine The Wire if the stories all revolved around the day-to-day lives of Bubbles and Johnny Weeks and Michael's mom. Depressing stuff, but powerful too. Grade: A-
Transsiberian. Not my cup of chai. Despite a good performance from Emily Mortimer, this is a suspense film that never made me anxious. Essentially, a troubled American couple finds intrigue on a long and snowy train journey across Russia. The plot had loads of potential and I was really looking forward to what I thought would be part Hitchcock homage and part moody and cold melodrama. The story never struck me as real and, though the characterizations were interesting, I never felt all that invested in the good guys, bad guys, or morally ambiguous guys. This reminded me of a lot of the post-Fargo, mediocre, late 90s films (think "Simple Plan" with Billy Bob Thorton) about everyday folks who get caught up in crime and/or their own moral underworlds. Grade: C-
Step Brothers. Bloody awful. Only the most devoted Will Ferrell fans need apply. Grade: F
Tom Petty: Runnin' Down a Dream. I watched this documentary and "The Waiting" played in my head for about a week. Actually what was in my head was Eddie Vedder's brilliant rendition of the song, backed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, as heard in one of the many excellent live clips from this doc. Though cool in their own right, those live clips are bested by the film's characterization of Petty himself. The film introduces Petty in his own words as well as the words of his colleagues and peers, admirers, producers, bandmates, and even ex-bandmates. We get a view of Petty as a great songwriter and performer and also as a staunchly individualistic and ambitious (sometimes to a fault) dude. "Runnin' Down A Dream" tells some great stories: Petty fighting with his record label, attorneys, the industry at large. The stories suck us in, but so do Petty's traits. I'm not sure I'd want to be a Heartbreaker. See this great documentary and maybe you'll see what I mean. Further, this is a documentary that manages to make an argument. "Dream" (successfully) makes the case that Petty's music bucks trends but also fits nicely within unexpected genres like, say, first-wave punk. Don't be scared off by the four-hour (!) running time. Even casual music fans (admittedly, I am NOT in that camp) will appreciate the many ways "Dream" transcends "Behind the Music" cliches. Grade: A
Recently at the cinema...
Gran Torino. Loved it. I haven't seen much of this winter's Oscar bait, but so far this is my pick for best film of '08. And not just because it's set and filmed in Detroit. Clint Eastwood, director and star of "Torino," puts a subtle exclamation point on his career. The story is low-key and energizing all at once. Eastwood plays an utterly unlikable racist. See the film and notice that he never really becomes likable. It takes some real narrative restraint to tackle themes like redemption without a feel-good protagonist or a whole lot of comic relief. Imagine "The Shawshank Redemption" if the Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins characters were both pricks. There are so many things that "Gran Torino" doesn't do: tell viewers how to feel or how to think about big things (Race. The City. Catholicism.) or small things (Eastwood's character's parenting skills), fill up the soundtrack with swelling music, provide easy answers, etc. I could go on but I won't. See this. I got home and put all five Dirty Harry movies on my netflix list. Grade: A
Seven Pounds. Speaking of films that take on big themes and moral ambiguities. Here's a film in which Will Smith plays with his own unimpeachable likability (as he did in Hancock) by playing a character who makes some screwed-up choices. Like Eastwood's character in "Gran Torino," the enigmatic Will Smith character is a new kind of vigilante. I won't reveal the film's secrets but I will say that, although the film is emotionally manipulative, it resists facile readings. Are Smith's actions good? Are they bad? Ultimately do his choices benefit the common good? Do they benefit himself? You might hate this movie but if you really stop and think about these questions, you won't be able to come up with easy answers to them. Overall, this is a fair piece of work. Grade: C
Slumdog Millionaire. Thoroughly enjoyable. Definitely not the best film of the year, but I appreciated the original mode of storytelling. In fact, I love the very *idea* of telling somebody's life story by explaining how that person knows the answers to particular trivia questions. And I was captivated by the unflinching representations of poverty. The early acts of the film have an affective quality that's almost indescribable. You'll walk out of the theater remembering many of the images. Hats off to director Danny Boyle. You know those moments in Trainspotting that still take up space in your cranium? Boyle offers a whole bunch of those this go around. Grade: B+
12/31/2008
break
The story of break is the story of food. Cooking to relax. Cooking to entertain. Some highlights...
Christmas Eve is all about the fish and seafood. My dad is the main architect of the dinner, but my sister and I helped. A lot of frying--croppies, shrimp, smelt--and I have the burn to prove it. Then there's the squid, which can't be undercooked or overcooked or it becomes inedible. I take no credit for the squid. That was all dad. Ditto the bacala salad. When I was a kid, my grandma served the bacala straight, but my dad's taken to combining the fish with eggplant, artichokes, celery, et al which is a brilliant move.
After the late-night drive, Christmas day. I made turkey with all the trimmings for the wife's side of the family. Even the gravy (I'm notoriously inconsistent with gravy) turned out well. Drippings from the turkey in a pan, I shake up milk and flour in a tupperware and then whisk the mixture into the drippings. Add a dash of salt and pepper, and that's it. Good stuff. Simple mashed potatoes. Simple stuffing (lots of celery and sage). Lots of homemade cookies. All-American meal after the seafood extravaganza of the previous night.
Yesterday, we celebrated Nicole's birthday. I made chili, a big fruit salad with lots of wedges of clementines, and a ricotta cake with cherries on top. That pretty much capped off the cooking frenzy. I'm starting a healthy eating plan a day early, missing the new year's rush.
Christmas Eve is all about the fish and seafood. My dad is the main architect of the dinner, but my sister and I helped. A lot of frying--croppies, shrimp, smelt--and I have the burn to prove it. Then there's the squid, which can't be undercooked or overcooked or it becomes inedible. I take no credit for the squid. That was all dad. Ditto the bacala salad. When I was a kid, my grandma served the bacala straight, but my dad's taken to combining the fish with eggplant, artichokes, celery, et al which is a brilliant move.
After the late-night drive, Christmas day. I made turkey with all the trimmings for the wife's side of the family. Even the gravy (I'm notoriously inconsistent with gravy) turned out well. Drippings from the turkey in a pan, I shake up milk and flour in a tupperware and then whisk the mixture into the drippings. Add a dash of salt and pepper, and that's it. Good stuff. Simple mashed potatoes. Simple stuffing (lots of celery and sage). Lots of homemade cookies. All-American meal after the seafood extravaganza of the previous night.
Yesterday, we celebrated Nicole's birthday. I made chili, a big fruit salad with lots of wedges of clementines, and a ricotta cake with cherries on top. That pretty much capped off the cooking frenzy. I'm starting a healthy eating plan a day early, missing the new year's rush.
12/18/2008
the 2008 mixtape
I love year-end lists. Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em. Best films. Most interesting people. Most incomprehensible things overheard in the UM-Dearborn Arts Sciences and Letters Building. Strangest Gatorade flavors.
In his work on journaling, scholar Tom Romano talks about imagining an audience for his journal writing: himself as an old man, an old man who may or may not remember what it felt like to be 20 years old, or 35, or whatever age. Lists freeze a moment like few other genres can.
As a fairly obsessive music fan, the music lists are by far my favorite. As an old man, maybe forgetful of what my 34th year was like, what will I remember as my favorite music of 2008? Here's the recorded music I most enjoyed...
10. Tie: Hard Lessons, "See and Be Scene" and Estelle/Kanye West, "American Boy"
9. REM, Accelerate album
8. Belle and Sebastian, "I'm Waiting for the Man"
7. Beyonce, "Single Ladies"
6. The Kills, Midnight Boom album
5. SSM, Break Your Arm for Evolution album
4. Dengue Fever, Venus on Earth album
3. TV on the Radio, "Golden Age"
2. Santogold, s/t album
1. The Dirtbombs, We Have You Surrounded album
In his work on journaling, scholar Tom Romano talks about imagining an audience for his journal writing: himself as an old man, an old man who may or may not remember what it felt like to be 20 years old, or 35, or whatever age. Lists freeze a moment like few other genres can.
As a fairly obsessive music fan, the music lists are by far my favorite. As an old man, maybe forgetful of what my 34th year was like, what will I remember as my favorite music of 2008? Here's the recorded music I most enjoyed...
10. Tie: Hard Lessons, "See and Be Scene" and Estelle/Kanye West, "American Boy"
Two great duets. The Hard Lessons let the boy-girl vocal sharing mirror the fact that the guitar and organ share lead duties too. The vocals, which critique hipsterism, are a bit predictable, but that doesn't stop the song from being a great 60s pop throwback anthem. Meanwhile, Estelle (yes, her voice is gorgeous) and Kanye raise the bar for r&b ballads.
9. REM, Accelerate album
Is this the greatest thing REM's recorded? Of course not. But listen without prejudice and find lean, fast rock songs like "Living Well is the Best Revenge" and "Man-Sized Wreath." Who cares if they're old? So am I.
8. Belle and Sebastian, "I'm Waiting for the Man"
From the two-disc BBC Sessions record, this live Velvet Underground cover is, out of nowhere, one of B&S's essential recordings. How can a band that does twee get so gritty?
7. Beyonce, "Single Ladies"
I'm not a big fan of much top 40 music, but Beyonce turns out such hooky, well-written, well-executed singles, you can't help but listen.
6. The Kills, Midnight Boom album
They do dirty blues-rock better than The Black Keys in my opinion. Antagonistic lyrics and an overall aggressive ethos, but without sacrificing melody. Standout track: "Tape Song."
5. SSM, Break Your Arm for Evolution album
Psychedelic synth-rock from Detroit. The weirdest record I heard all year. Best when consumed loudly.
4. Dengue Fever, Venus on Earth album
Dengue Fever gets tagged with the dreaded "dad rock" and "NPR rock" labels all the time and, well, I first heard them on NPR, so I guess the tags have merit. Who cares? DF is a psychedelic-rock band fronted by a Cambodian diva who on some tracks sings gorgeous love songs in her native tongue. Other tunes, sung in English by various band members, take a more traditional rock approach. The opener, "Seeing Hands" is hypnotic. "Sober Driver," a kind of re-telling of Wilco's "Passenger Side," is funny and sad all at once.
3. TV on the Radio, "Golden Age"
What a messy and beautiful collision of funk, Afrobeat, pop, and rock: "It comes like a natural disaster/all blowin' up like a ghetto blaster."
2. Santogold, s/t album
Like TVOTR, genre and race boundaries are a non-issue for Santogold. Take a little ska, a little punk, a little dance, a little electronic...you get the point. A lot of the year's best music seems influenced by the mash-up movement that was so popular a few years back, except now artists are mashing the disparate genres on their own, making later mashes unnecessary.
1. The Dirtbombs, We Have You Surrounded album
Thematically, the tightest record yet from the best band in Detroit. Lyrics about urban unrest and anxiety set to a fast and fun amalgamation of soul and punk rock. The perfect soundtrack for a year when things fell apart in motown.
12/16/2008
Bill O'Reilly Flips Out
Via stereogum.com part 2. Most people have probably seen this already, but it's like a fine wine...
12/09/2008
thanks jerk
Thanks Blagojevich. The country's not in enough of a mess. Obama doesn't already have a hard enough time cleaning up a dozen different spills. He really needed a distraction like this. Of course by all credible accounts, Obama's circle seems to have had absolutely nothing to do with this knucklehead's schemes. But that won't stop the right from doing a guilt-by-association number ("they're all part of the Chicago machine"). At any rate, thank goodness Blagojevich has given the media something to divert people's attention from dumb stuff like the auto industry crisis, the recession, and the legacy of Bush foreign policy.
How stupid was Blagojevich? He apparently didn't think anybody would be paying attention to the appointment of a replacement for that obscure Illinois politician WHO JUST GOT ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Nah, nobody's gonna be watching that process.
How stupid was Blagojevich? He apparently didn't think anybody would be paying attention to the appointment of a replacement for that obscure Illinois politician WHO JUST GOT ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Nah, nobody's gonna be watching that process.
what haven't you read?
This week's AV Club has a nice piece called "Art We've Resisted," in which staffers talk about the music, tv, or film they've never made time to consume. "Resisted" is a telling and appopriate choice of words. When you consume pop culture in Big Gulps (the 48-oz. variety), you're essentially making a choice not to see the buzzworthy film or listen to the record that pitchfork gave a 10.0.
Me? I've never seen Titanic, Top Gun, or the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I've never listened to a Radiohead studio album from beginning to end. I've never read Thomas Pynchon, except for the Crying of Lot 49, which I read for a class (this would have been circa 1995, Postmodernism taught by Prof. Culik).
At my former institution, we once played the "what book haven't you read?" at an English Department party. The highbrow version of the AV Club article, I suppose.
How about you? What haven't you read? What haven't you consumed?
Me? I've never seen Titanic, Top Gun, or the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I've never listened to a Radiohead studio album from beginning to end. I've never read Thomas Pynchon, except for the Crying of Lot 49, which I read for a class (this would have been circa 1995, Postmodernism taught by Prof. Culik).
At my former institution, we once played the "what book haven't you read?" at an English Department party. The highbrow version of the AV Club article, I suppose.
How about you? What haven't you read? What haven't you consumed?
12/05/2008
mini-review: Belle and Sebastian
Like The Smiths, Belle and Sebastian invoke Andy Warhol on most of their record sleeves. Their new release, "BBC Sessions," is no exception. And the young hippychick, shown in black and white lost in a smile, is suggestive of the experience of hearing B&S, who for the most part showcase their optimistic pop inclinations on "Sessions."
The new record consists of two discs, one a collection of several appearances on BBC radio and one a concert taped in Glasgow in 2001. The BBC disc offers mellow versions of some of the best songs from "Tigermilk," "If You're Feeling Sinister," and their late-90s EPs. The standout track is a reading of "Lazy Line Painter Jane" (here called "Lazy Jane" for some reason), a song rightly considered one of the band's finest hours. The "Lazy Jane" version is, well, lazy sounding, but in a good way, as the melody lilts along without a whole lot of effort. Beautiful. Several unreleased songs, all heavy on Isobel Campbell vocals, end the disc, including the bouncy "Magic of a Kind Word," another standout moment. Over and over again, listeners are reminded of what a big sound B&S creates, combining rock guitars with string arrangements, percussions that echo 60s pop-rock, and even the occasional horn or two.
Even more enjoyable, the high-energy live disc. While the BBC tracks are slightly more mellow than the studio versions, the live tracks sound aggressive and fast. Even with the additional strings, the band never sounds orchestral in a wimpy way. In short, the live set rocks. "Me and the Major" benefits from the speed-it-up ethos of the set. So do covers of "I'm Waiting for the Man" and "The Boys Are Back in Town." Do we need another indie band doing an homage to the Velvet Underground? Yes. The band's reading of "I'm Waiting for the Man" is dirty, fuzzy, free of frills, and essential. With the exception of Yo La Tengo, I don't know another act with the breadth of Belle and Sebastian. Both discs of this new release see the band moving from lush and twee to raucous and fun. Recommended for diehards and newbies alike.
12/03/2008
winter blues
Smokey and Hyatt six short weeks ago, enjoying autumn in the backyard. These two really miss those fall temperatures. Hunker down, guys, you won't be lounging in the fresh air for at least three months.
12/02/2008
is Christmas frightening?
So last night Nicole and I put up our Christmas tree whilst enjoying some seasonal music. I should admit up front that aside from Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" and the Ronettes' version of "Frosty the Snowman," I'm not a big fan of Christmas music. I love Christmas. I love music. Christmas music? Not so much.
Having said that, what's the story with "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"? Specifically, the line about the Christmas party where people share "scary ghost stories." Who tells ghost stories at a Christmas party?
Also, how about Louis Prima's "Shake Hands with Santa Claus." Not bad for a Christmas song, but what's with the whole verse about bananas? "If you want bananas, I'll give you bananas." I think this line is supposed to be from Santa's perspective, and I guess the implicit point Santa is making is that he can give you anything you want. I'm not sure bananas are the best way to illustrate the breadth of Santa's gift-giving ability. Alternate interpretation: Prima is lapsing into his King Louie persona from The Jungle Book.
Having said that, what's the story with "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"? Specifically, the line about the Christmas party where people share "scary ghost stories." Who tells ghost stories at a Christmas party?
Also, how about Louis Prima's "Shake Hands with Santa Claus." Not bad for a Christmas song, but what's with the whole verse about bananas? "If you want bananas, I'll give you bananas." I think this line is supposed to be from Santa's perspective, and I guess the implicit point Santa is making is that he can give you anything you want. I'm not sure bananas are the best way to illustrate the breadth of Santa's gift-giving ability. Alternate interpretation: Prima is lapsing into his King Louie persona from The Jungle Book.
12/01/2008
back
Oh how the semester starts to disappear after Thanksgiving. So does free time. Not a good day to be sluggish. I got in a morning workout at the rec center and tried tried tried to catch up on work in my office. Emails. IRB paperwork. Prepping for class. Marking student papers. Generally getting organized. I've just organized the rest of the day's work and I'm heading home before the snow starts to accumulate.
Despite feeling sluggish, nice to be back after a great week in Arizona. The house is still standing. Hyatt and Smokey are still the most neurotic dogs in the motor city. And sadly Michigan is still cold.
As always, our Arizona hosts were awesome and showed us a good time. We did a quick trip to Tucson but mostly stayed in the Tempe-Phoenix area, where we took in the Botanical Gardens (which has a spectacular Chihuly Glass installation right now) and The Heard. Nicole and I ended up spending the better part of a day at the Heard Museum and got a lot out of their exhibit on the awful Indian boarding schools the government set up for kids who they essentially kidnapped in order to "civilize."
No matter how cool Detroit is, there's always a part of me that wonders why we ever left Arizona. Especially this time of year.
Despite feeling sluggish, nice to be back after a great week in Arizona. The house is still standing. Hyatt and Smokey are still the most neurotic dogs in the motor city. And sadly Michigan is still cold.
As always, our Arizona hosts were awesome and showed us a good time. We did a quick trip to Tucson but mostly stayed in the Tempe-Phoenix area, where we took in the Botanical Gardens (which has a spectacular Chihuly Glass installation right now) and The Heard. Nicole and I ended up spending the better part of a day at the Heard Museum and got a lot out of their exhibit on the awful Indian boarding schools the government set up for kids who they essentially kidnapped in order to "civilize."
No matter how cool Detroit is, there's always a part of me that wonders why we ever left Arizona. Especially this time of year.
11/19/2008
democracy is coming...
One of the easiest punchlines in pop culture during the past decade or two has been Axl Rose of Guns 'N Roses fame. Why? Because he's been working on a new G 'N R record since I was in high school. Well, "Chinese Democracy" is finally out. Many fans (those with much patience, I guess) have been looking forward to its release. Me, I've been looking forward to Chuck Klosterman's review of the record moreso than the record itself. First, because I think Klosterman is really funny. Second, because he's made his career cracking wise about Axl Rose's pretentions. Like pretty much Klosterman's whole body of work, his review of "Democracy" doesn't disappoint, in large part because the review is so self aware:
I don't have much interest in listening to "Chinese Democracy." But the review interests me very much. Klosterman's review also has a head-exploding kind of quality to it. It's like if David Sedaris' family released exhaustive, hidden camera footage of Sedaris' youth. Or if O.J. Simpson and the Goldman family all became buddies. All of a sudden, everything changes. I'm using hyperbole here. I mean, Klosterman has other obsessions--KISS comes to mind, not to mention his interest in why Billy Joel doesn't have more critical acclaim, etc. And I genuinely admire the way Klosterman reveres his subject matter and points to its absurdity all at once. He really is one of my favorite writers.
Reviewing Chinese Democracy is not like reviewing music. It's more like reviewing a unicorn. Should I primarily be blown away that it exists at all? Am I supposed to compare it to conventional horses? To a rhinoceros? Does its pre-existing mythology impact its actual value, or must it be examined inside a cultural vacuum, as if this creature is no more (or less) special than the remainder of the animal kingdom? I've been thinking about this record for 15 years; during that span, I've thought about this record more than I've thought about China, and maybe as much as I've thought about the principles of democracy. This is a little like when that grizzly bear finally ate Timothy Treadwell: Intellectually, he always knew it was coming. He had to. His very existence was built around that conclusion. But you still can't psychologically prepare for the bear who eats you alive, particularly if the bear wears cornrows.The AV Club is the perfect venue for Klosterman's review. A venue for snark. Not quite as hipster-snooty as Pitchfork (which AV Club scoops with its review of Chinese Democracy!). A place wear Klosterman can stretch out and say what he wants to say about the record, himself, the whole Axl spectacle. The release of "Democracy" represents a real head-exploding, end-of-an-era, kind of pop culture moment. Nixon and Elvis shaking hands at the White House. A member of Public Enemy getting a reality tv show. But it's also inevitably disappointing. Kind of like if the Beatles would have accepted Lorne Michaels' invitation to reunite on Saturday Night Live in the 70s.
I don't have much interest in listening to "Chinese Democracy." But the review interests me very much. Klosterman's review also has a head-exploding kind of quality to it. It's like if David Sedaris' family released exhaustive, hidden camera footage of Sedaris' youth. Or if O.J. Simpson and the Goldman family all became buddies. All of a sudden, everything changes. I'm using hyperbole here. I mean, Klosterman has other obsessions--KISS comes to mind, not to mention his interest in why Billy Joel doesn't have more critical acclaim, etc. And I genuinely admire the way Klosterman reveres his subject matter and points to its absurdity all at once. He really is one of my favorite writers.
11/18/2008
the big three killed my baby
Local news media here in Detroit have begun to rally with much enthusiasm around the auto industry. But is the job of the media to rally around anything?
Proponents and opponents of particular causes seem to think the press should offer its "support" or "opposition" for those causes. The result is that pundits make odd statements like "The media doesn't support the president." Huh?
I don't kid myself into believing that some idealized version of objectivity can be attained. The media always filters, emphasizes and de-emphasizes, foregrounds and backgrounds, includes and excludes. But that doesn't negate the basic responsibilty of the press: report and inform. Even in a time of war, the press needs to report on what's going on, thereby keeping us informed.
Back to the auto industry. In both op-ed pages and front-page news articles, the local press has not created spaces to question the current moment and consider the complexities and implications of whether the federal government should loan the auto industry $25 billion. It's simply taken for granted that Detroit ought to get these loans.
Those who oppose--or even question--the loans are showing "vitriol" for car companies. They "hate the industry" and "rely on half-truths and lies."
Look, for various reasons I hope that congress acts quickly and makes these loans. Otherwise, the state where I live will likely slip into a massive recession. Otherwise, taxpayers will likely have to pay even more to contend with the unemployment and crime which will result. Let me be clear: I'm in favor of the loans.
But I'm also in favor of reasoned debate. I want to hear multiple points-of-view. I don't think the debate benefits from dismissing opponents of the loan as hateful or uninformed. How do you know that opposition to the loans is necessarily an expression of vitriol? How do you know opposition necessarily results from being misinformed?
I actually think it's better for the auto industry and for workers to make room for multiple perspectives. Let's talk about the business practices that led to the current situation. Let's talk about the American auto industry's lack of committment to hybrids and opposition to environmental regulation. Too many in the local media think the current moment is a moment where we should shut up and "support" the industry. I'm pro-union and pro-Michigan. I'm also pro-information. Don't try to silence the various points-of-view that are floating around out there.
Proponents and opponents of particular causes seem to think the press should offer its "support" or "opposition" for those causes. The result is that pundits make odd statements like "The media doesn't support the president." Huh?
I don't kid myself into believing that some idealized version of objectivity can be attained. The media always filters, emphasizes and de-emphasizes, foregrounds and backgrounds, includes and excludes. But that doesn't negate the basic responsibilty of the press: report and inform. Even in a time of war, the press needs to report on what's going on, thereby keeping us informed.
Back to the auto industry. In both op-ed pages and front-page news articles, the local press has not created spaces to question the current moment and consider the complexities and implications of whether the federal government should loan the auto industry $25 billion. It's simply taken for granted that Detroit ought to get these loans.
Those who oppose--or even question--the loans are showing "vitriol" for car companies. They "hate the industry" and "rely on half-truths and lies."
Look, for various reasons I hope that congress acts quickly and makes these loans. Otherwise, the state where I live will likely slip into a massive recession. Otherwise, taxpayers will likely have to pay even more to contend with the unemployment and crime which will result. Let me be clear: I'm in favor of the loans.
But I'm also in favor of reasoned debate. I want to hear multiple points-of-view. I don't think the debate benefits from dismissing opponents of the loan as hateful or uninformed. How do you know that opposition to the loans is necessarily an expression of vitriol? How do you know opposition necessarily results from being misinformed?
I actually think it's better for the auto industry and for workers to make room for multiple perspectives. Let's talk about the business practices that led to the current situation. Let's talk about the American auto industry's lack of committment to hybrids and opposition to environmental regulation. Too many in the local media think the current moment is a moment where we should shut up and "support" the industry. I'm pro-union and pro-Michigan. I'm also pro-information. Don't try to silence the various points-of-view that are floating around out there.
11/15/2008
opulent to homeless?
So last night Nicole and I slept in a $300 per night hotel room.
A friend of ours had a convention at the MGM Grand, one of Detroit's gigantic new casinos. The organizers blocked too many rooms and they would have remained empty, so our pal put out an e-mail yesterday offering free rooms. Free night at a fancy place? We accepted.
Normally I tend to hate casinos. Not for any moral reason necessarily, they're just depressing. And the glassy-eyed patrons tend to be so focused on the reason they're there--as if it's a business venture--that they don't strike me as very friendly. But Nicole and I did decide to splurge and play $20 on a 'Deal or No Deal' slot machine. We quickly turned our $20 into $35 and quit.
The hotel room. Really something else. Flat-screen tv in the room, and one embedded in the mirror of the bathroom. Fancy sheets. A view of the Ambassador Bridge. The whole deal. Worth $300? I just find it hard to believe anybody in this state (or even visiting this state) has that much money. At any rate, we had a very nice time.
Ironically enough, this a.m. I'm off to the HAND (Homeless Action Network of Detroit) march downtown with a group of my service learning students. They've been hammering away at the research projects they've been doing in consultation with HAND and I'm excited for them to see another view of the organization. Too bad it's looking like freezing rain all day. Bundle up.
A friend of ours had a convention at the MGM Grand, one of Detroit's gigantic new casinos. The organizers blocked too many rooms and they would have remained empty, so our pal put out an e-mail yesterday offering free rooms. Free night at a fancy place? We accepted.
Normally I tend to hate casinos. Not for any moral reason necessarily, they're just depressing. And the glassy-eyed patrons tend to be so focused on the reason they're there--as if it's a business venture--that they don't strike me as very friendly. But Nicole and I did decide to splurge and play $20 on a 'Deal or No Deal' slot machine. We quickly turned our $20 into $35 and quit.
The hotel room. Really something else. Flat-screen tv in the room, and one embedded in the mirror of the bathroom. Fancy sheets. A view of the Ambassador Bridge. The whole deal. Worth $300? I just find it hard to believe anybody in this state (or even visiting this state) has that much money. At any rate, we had a very nice time.
Ironically enough, this a.m. I'm off to the HAND (Homeless Action Network of Detroit) march downtown with a group of my service learning students. They've been hammering away at the research projects they've been doing in consultation with HAND and I'm excited for them to see another view of the organization. Too bad it's looking like freezing rain all day. Bundle up.
11/13/2008
Lessenberry
Ever-incorrigible Detroit-area journalist and critic Jack Lessenberry shared his post-election thoughts with UM-Dearborn. Among other points, he emphasized that the 2010 elections here in Michigan look to be huge in terms of their potential impact on the state. New governor and lieutenant governor, massive turnover in both the state house and state senate, the possibility of a new Michigan Constitution (apparently, every sixteen years, we have the option to re-write the thing!). As always, he offered his wry observations about the right wing. On Sarah Palin, he said, and I'm paraphrasing here: 'She was like steroids. She gave a quick boost. But in the end, she killed him.'
11/12/2008
a thought
Is it just me, or has Sarah Palin given more interviews in the past four days than she did during the whole campaign?
11/11/2008
high standards
For the first few weeks of my comp classes this term, I leaned heavily on political rhetoric. We looked at speeches, representations in the popular press, and pretty much anything and everything associated with the presidential campaign. I used Don Lazere's 'Ground Rules for Polemicists' and some other very useful materials from his Reading and Writing for Civic Literacy text. The 'Ground Rules' challenge students' perceptions of how arguments work and should work. Lazere sets a high bar for the ethics of political rhetoric, for instance, emphasizing the importance of fully and fairly representing opposition perspectives, avoiding ad hominem attacks, and so forth.
Have others out there used Lazere? Any thoughts on this? One challenge is how to reconcile his guidelines with the realities of political discourse. My students have essentially concluded that nobody really follows these ground rules. Not on cable news, certainly, but not on op-ed pages either. I can't say I disagree with their assessments, but one of the things I'm trying to do is to temper their critiques of the current climate with genre realities. For instance, an op-ed piece simply doesn't allow enough space to do all the things Lazere suggests. A couple hundred words, max. It's simply not possible to represent "fully" the mythic "other side."
We've had some good discussions that come down to the notion that something's gotta give. Following any set of ground rules for argumentats limits the possibilities, putting regulations of sorts on Aristotle's definition of rhetoric ("all" the available means of persuasion). If you follow Lazere's rules, you draw on all the ethical means. One downside to using Lazere: students often end up looking for this impossible an untenable "bias free" political rhetoric. Again, I need to do a better job teaching civic genres. I keep writing on student papers things like "but an op-ed is SUPPOSED to advance a particular p-o-v."
Have others out there used Lazere? Any thoughts on this? One challenge is how to reconcile his guidelines with the realities of political discourse. My students have essentially concluded that nobody really follows these ground rules. Not on cable news, certainly, but not on op-ed pages either. I can't say I disagree with their assessments, but one of the things I'm trying to do is to temper their critiques of the current climate with genre realities. For instance, an op-ed piece simply doesn't allow enough space to do all the things Lazere suggests. A couple hundred words, max. It's simply not possible to represent "fully" the mythic "other side."
We've had some good discussions that come down to the notion that something's gotta give. Following any set of ground rules for argumentats limits the possibilities, putting regulations of sorts on Aristotle's definition of rhetoric ("all" the available means of persuasion). If you follow Lazere's rules, you draw on all the ethical means. One downside to using Lazere: students often end up looking for this impossible an untenable "bias free" political rhetoric. Again, I need to do a better job teaching civic genres. I keep writing on student papers things like "but an op-ed is SUPPOSED to advance a particular p-o-v."
11/10/2008
Monday Miscelaneous
--Interesting but too brief op-ed in today's Free Press about muslim community's support of Obama. This might be worth discussing in classes this week. Interesting demographic factoid: only two percent of American muslims (in a ten-state, 600-person poll) voted for McCain.
--Just picked up: The Clash, "Live at Shea Stadium." What a great piece of work. The setlist is a veritable greatest hits. The band's legendary energy, in full effect on "Shea Stadium," is remarkable, given that they're in front of tens of thousands of Who fans standing around in the rain. They transcend the "opening act" label and give every fan who thought she was paying to see The Who's "final" tour her money's worth, and then some.
--A lovely snow this a.m. I hit Coffee Beanery bright and early and got some good work done. Most productive morning in some time, in fact. Maybe the brisk air. Maybe the pretty white stuff covering Woodward.
--Facebook? Way addictive. Not sure whether or not I'm glad about succumbing.
--Just picked up: The Clash, "Live at Shea Stadium." What a great piece of work. The setlist is a veritable greatest hits. The band's legendary energy, in full effect on "Shea Stadium," is remarkable, given that they're in front of tens of thousands of Who fans standing around in the rain. They transcend the "opening act" label and give every fan who thought she was paying to see The Who's "final" tour her money's worth, and then some.
--A lovely snow this a.m. I hit Coffee Beanery bright and early and got some good work done. Most productive morning in some time, in fact. Maybe the brisk air. Maybe the pretty white stuff covering Woodward.
--Facebook? Way addictive. Not sure whether or not I'm glad about succumbing.
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