I'm co-teaching an Honors Seminar this semester on Popular Music and Society, and consequently thinking quite a bit about the the ways that music, especially rock and roll, is presented in other media aside from straight performance or recording. Of course, much of that transference to other forms involves a degree of mythologizing artists or styles in a way that often has little to do with the music itself, or anyway posits the music as an outgrowth of something other than mere creative or even artistic expression. It's easy to decide that you like a song because of what it sounds like, but all-but-the-most-casual fans almost always take it further (again, maybe especially with rock and roll) to imagine links with the musicians based on factors that only begin with their work and extend to often carefully managed offstage personas. Obviously, this kind of celebrity association extends to everyone from movie stars to athletes to politicians in our culture, but I'm not sure any of those other professions are so powerfully affective as rock and roll is to young people, since the inherent message of the genre itself, from Elvis Presley forward, has to do with the power to define yourself, to construct your own destiny, usually in opposition to the status quo. The myths of rock and roll expressed in the music itself can be intensely magnified when converted to narrative film, where the visual, story, and aural elements are stretched out beyond the three minutes of the typical pop single. When all those components are in sync, it's quite a heady mix. Not all films devoted to rock pull this off, but I think that
The Runaways, directed by Floria Sigismondi, comes pretty close. There's a fair amount of melodrama in this true story of the notorious seventies group composed of five teenage girls and their manipulative manager, and that's always a danger. But there are some near transcendent scenes of Kristen Stewart especially, playing Joan Jett being transformed by just playing her guitar. Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie has a couple of powerful scenes too, though Currie's motives seem less visceral than Jett's and that, oddly, seems important in this context. Apparently the film was not a hit (it never played a theater in Montana as far as I can tell-- I watched the DVD), so maybe I'm misjudging its potency. But another possibility is that rock and roll has kind of spent itself, so that in the age of Lady Gaga audiences have become so jaded that they no longer relate to the truly transgressive without giggling. If so, maybe it's time for another musical revolution to shake things up.
"If those in charge of our society - politicians, 
This should be an easy one: whose eyes are these? Put your guesses in the comments section.
Here's a little switch. I found this shot (from last Christmas) of l. to r. Montana, Puss, and Andromeda. Did I name the cats in the right order? Someone is sure to correct me if I got them mixed up.
The cold weather is right around the corner, so I'm posting this to remind myself (and others) that it's not all bad. That's Sally and Ben checking something out in the woods at Artpark.
"Either you repeat the same conventional 
I'm co-teaching an Honors Seminar this semester on Popular Music and Society, and consequently thinking quite a bit about the the ways that music, especially rock and roll, is presented in other media aside from straight performance or recording. Of course, much of that transference to other forms involves a degree of mythologizing artists or styles in a way that often has little to do with the music itself, or anyway posits the music as an outgrowth of something other than mere creative or even artistic expression. It's easy to decide that you like a song because of what it sounds like, but all-but-the-most-casual fans almost always take it further (again, maybe especially with rock and roll) to imagine links with the musicians based on factors that only begin with their work and extend to often carefully managed offstage personas. Obviously, this kind of celebrity association extends to everyone from movie stars to athletes to politicians in our culture, but I'm not sure any of those other professions are so powerfully affective as rock and roll is to young people, since the inherent message of the genre itself, from Elvis Presley forward, has to do with the power to define yourself, to construct your own destiny, usually in opposition to the status quo. The myths of rock and roll expressed in the music itself can be intensely magnified when converted to narrative film, where the visual, story, and aural elements are stretched out beyond the three minutes of the typical pop single. When all those components are in sync, it's quite a heady mix. Not all films devoted to rock pull this off, but I think that The Runaways, directed by Floria Sigismondi, comes pretty close. There's a fair amount of melodrama in this true story of the notorious seventies group composed of five teenage girls and their manipulative manager, and that's always a danger. But there are some near transcendent scenes of Kristen Stewart especially, playing Joan Jett being transformed by just playing her guitar. Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie has a couple of powerful scenes too, though Currie's motives seem less visceral than Jett's and that, oddly, seems important in this context. Apparently the film was not a hit (it never played a theater in Montana as far as I can tell-- I watched the DVD), so maybe I'm misjudging its potency. But another possibility is that rock and roll has kind of spent itself, so that in the age of Lady Gaga audiences have become so jaded that they no longer relate to the truly transgressive without giggling. If so, maybe it's time for another musical revolution to shake things up.
"If we are to achieve a richer culture, 
I received a copy of Bob Newhart's autobiography for Christmas a couple years ago, but somehow it got buried in my to-read pile until just recently. Sadly, I must report that it isn't very good. Newhart's comic style, which I always enjoyed on his records and TV shows, just does not translate to the printed page. His deadpan style just comes across as flat, and the stories are dull. Maybe his patented stuttering vocal delivery could rescue some of these stories, but not all o0f them. In the final analysis, the guy has not led a very colorful life, even despite his sojourns in Hollywood, Las Vegas, and the world of television. He really seems to be straining to come up with interesting anecdotes and even resorts to providing transcripts of some of his most famous standup routines, though they don't come off any better in this format than the other material. So my recommendation is that, if you are a Newhart fan, go back and give The Button-Down Mind another spin, or pop in a DVD of The Bob Newhart Show (the one with Emily and Howard and Mr. Carlin)-- I can practically guarantee that you'll enjoy either more than this book.
Yesterday was my little sister Liz's birthday, and I hope it was a great day all around (today too, for that matter). I'm not sure exactly what she's doing in the above picture, but no doubt it was something in an artistic vein, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if she wasn't engaged in some similar pursuit on her birthday. Am I right Lizzie?.
"The most common error made in matters 
Here are a couple pictures I took the last time I was in New York City, views of the skyline from the Empire State Building. As you can probably tell, these actually did not turn out that great, but I've tried to rescue them a bit by converting them to black and white, and applying a couple of artistic effects. What do you think, was I successful in making them at least presentable?
"I don't think the human mind can 
