Tried to learn guitar, but quit before I grew calluses!
Same with piano, harmonica, and drums!
(But played tambourine one time with an LA group called the Leaves onstage at the Whiskey a Go Go!)
Music, as listener, as observer, as lyrics writer, is ingrained in my life!
It fills so many spaces & places in my life, soul & heart, I can't explain!
And I know I'm not alone!
At age 72 (born June 24th, 1944, same exact date as Jeff Beck!), I was breast fed on Elvis milk, weaned by Ernie Fields, masturbated with Hendrix, lost it to Janis, married Bob, divorced Tom Petty, got sick over Alanis, took out the Garbage, played Pick Up Sticks with the Dixie Chicks, and now, I don't have a clue!
In reality, it began with Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show in 1956!
Was living then in Edgewater NJ, facing Manhatten across the Hudson River!
Listened to Alan Freed on NYC's WOR radio, the first Top 40 station!
Also lived across from Harlem, where I never attended the Apollo.
Never lived in the Village, or saw Blake visions at Columbia University, or shared joints and ass fucks with Ginsberg & Kerouac!
Elvis--and those 'burns!
Mom, I want sideburns too!
When you're older, son!
So I combed my hair into a duck-tail and shook my hips instead!
I'd heard the black music, what was called jitterbug or rhythm & blues, until King James said it's funky!
I was never afraid of Harlem!
Once defied my Mother's instructions & changed trains at 125th!
(Later would walk the streets of the Fillmore District--fearless as a white ass rebel!)
But it was the music that turned my head!
It was that tingle and burn I felt deep within--an inner me I couldn't then define--that would add to my life a passion I'd never lose!
Some do.
They feel it too--but then lose it to the suburban zookeepers & their monotonous daily feedings!
I didn't lose it!
And it made my life what it became!
It was torn down in 1965, but I went numerous times to Palisades Amusement Park, a slow uphill walk from our apartment.
They had bands play there--early rockers, not too adult, not kids!
All later appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand--a show I watched all the time!
But I remember some earlier music too!
My older sister (Born in 1939, still kicking it at age 78 in Arizona!) loved Eddie Fisher!
His version of Oh My Papa was MY favorite Fisher song!
(She was a real FANatic--had whole scrapbooks with everything Eddie Fisher!!)
To this day, I still love that song!
Bob Dylan is turning out CD's of real oldies now--and I don't mean ROCK oldies!
Couldn't figure out why I don't like his doing that--until I reminded myself he and I were born 3 years apart!
He was raised on THOSE oldies--I was raised on ROCK oldies!!
We appreciate what we hear--what first fills our ears & minds & voids!
Why did Rock & Roll begin?
Why did it inflame the energies of America's youth?
The generic reason given by "experts" was that the 50's were too staid, too boring, too conservative!
The sexual passions were hidden behind bedroom windows in houses made of ticky-tacky, those Valium wives without values!
And it was born of fear--of the bomb, of living a life without LIVING it, of the TV image of the Stepford household where "Father" knew best--but knew nothing!
It was those Commies!
It was them John Birchers!
It was the "Nigras"!
Oh my!
But check out the reality!
Black R&B & Be-Bop revved the engines of war-ravaged lads and ladies!
They weren't really racist!
They probably never even heard the word "racism"!
But in their bones, they knew!
We can't be friends with them, but we could dig their MUSIC!!
Oh baby, they SWING!!
And we swung WITH them--in our secret hideaways, our midnight escapes to jazz clubs, our radio tours of THEIR music!
But shhhhhhh, don't tell anyone your dirty little secret!
And that's why Elvis became Elvis!
He was the white innocent (even with his hip shakes!) who twisted James Brown flash and Muddy Waters blues and Robert Johnson porch swing into the seed that became known as Rock & Roll!
Elvis became the butterfly, the tree, the rounded Earth, the eternal Sea, the REASON rock survived past its emergence from the Womb!
His voice was sweet & sensual, his leer a temptation but not a rape, his songs instant hits!
Past the record burnings, past the church sermons (Ironic, really, as Elvis made some really beautiful Gospel albums!!), past all the noise & fuss, Elvis helped Rock take its first steps, speak its first words (You ain't nothing but a Hound Dog! I want you to be my Teddy Bear! I Got Stung!), and become potty trained!
Can you imagine Elvis clone Ricky Nelson sitting on a toilet at his Garden Party?)
Then Pat Boone MURDERED this infant culture!
Or maybe it was Elvis himself who did the deed!
He enlisted in the Army in 1958.
He emerged back into his old world in 1960!
I was by then a Californian--first a year in Sunnyvale, then to North Hollywood!
From East coast to West!
From Alan Freed to Wink Martindale!
From WOR to KRLA!
From the Cafe Wha? to the Hollywood Bowl!
From blizzards & thunderstorms to droughts & sunshine!
From James Brown to the Mothers of Invention!
And I followed the path--which became my own!
My journey--and Music's evolution--continues in Chapter 2.
Coming soon!
Saturday, March 25, 2017
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Rating TV Shows--21st Century
For my first post here since October 3rd (Sorry!!), I've decided to do something with this perverted sickness I suffer---binge-watching TV shows on Netflix!
For a year or so (though some date from earlier), I've watched a total of 34 TV shows---all dating from this century!
Sixteen of those either lasted just 1 season, or that's all I chose to watch!
The number of seasons a show lasted (or that I watched) made rating ALL 34 shows problematic!
I thought it unfair to pit a one-season-wonder against a show that lasted several seasons!
Then there's the number of episodes per season.
Some had as few as 10, while some averaged 20 or more per season!
Also, some shows had episodes lasting 30 minutes or so, while others went 45 to 60 minutes each episode!
The following lists are mine, and mine alone!
These are MY opinions!
Yours may---and probably will--be entirely different!
For example, I didn't watch even ONE episode of Breaking Bad or The Sopranos, two iconic shows EVERYONE watched---except me!
I made THREE lists!
One for those ONE season shows.
Another for shows that lasted TWO or THREE years.
Then the last for shows that went on from FOUR to SEVEN years!!
I'll present each list in inverse order!
Hope you enjoy this---and maybe you'll decide to watch some of these, inspired by this post!
ONE Season (16 shows)
16. Slasher (Kind of easy to rate a show "last" when you can't even remember anything about it! Must have been OK, though, since I watched the whole season!
15. American Housewife (Did NOT watch a whole season--just 4 episodes! The "housewife' was so whiny & bitchy, I couldn't watch anymore!
14. Better Things (I LOVED Pamela Adlon in Californication!! But, while her 3 daughters were adorable, and 1 or 2 cameos were interesting, a show can't depend on one actress's strengths, no matter how endearing!)
13. Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic (This is essentially a tie with the next show listed! Ms Silverman is an acquired taste--and I chose to NOT acquire future years of her show! While some might label her the "female Lenny Bruce", I found it difficult to sit through all the racist and sexist "jokes". Sad to say, however, that I actually LAUGHED at most of them!!)
12. The Sarah Silverman Program: First Season (See above!)
11. This Is Us (This show had REAL possibilities!! But after its pilot episode, confusion set in! The back-and-forth between the present and the past became too much for me to keep track of. I loved the character of the dying father! And the relationship of the obese couple! But joined together, they became lost in the plot lines!)
10. Aquarius (I saw this AFTER watching the brilliant Californication--all 7 years of it!! So I'd become a fan of David Duchovny as slovenly sex-crazed foul-mouthed Hank Moody! The whole Charles Manson thing was fascinating--as I'm a person who still remembers the 60's with fondness--but even that couldn't overcome the alterations in Duchovny's appearance, demeanor, and everything else! Besides, I HATE Manson. Why make a show showing any form of "humanity" in him?)
9. Life's a Tripp (I was, and to some degree, remain a fan of Sarah Palin! Shoot me! But I'm able to separate her politics from HER! Seen as a PERSON, Sarah is a fascinating character! So is her family--3 daughters, 2 sons, a few grandkids, Mom & Pop! Two of them--Bristol and Willow--are featured in this show, with cameos from Sarah, Todd, and some others! Take this show as a look at the lives of a celebrity's kids! You can exchange them for ANY set of a famous person's children! But maybe you just GOTTA like the Mother!!)
8. Search Party (This is another show that I've pretty much forgotten the plot, characters, and the show itself! But I DO recall being embraced by the suspense, the drama, the realism factor, and maybe the attractiveness of the lead actress!! Give it a shot! I think I will---again!!)
7. Easy (This--and the show following--was about SEX! And how sex makes--or breaks--a relationship! I remember it as funny, dramatic, and with scripts you could believe! Of course, nudity helped!)
6. Love (This and the above show can be laced together, even though they're NOT at all connected! Again, sex, and its role in relationships based on and formed from love, plays a large role! Cast nudity as a frequent guest star!!)
5. Scandal (I LOVED this show's first few episodes! Such a STRONG---and even PERFECT---lead woman character!! Then I saw this same "perfection" (beauty, smarts, always a winner) as "breath-taking". As in--literally--breath TAKING!! No woman---or person--is THAT perfect! It took too long for me to find the flaws in her! I enjoyed the character of the President! One more thing--the woman introduced in the pilot got lost in the shuffle--until it got so late in the game, I didn't really care about her anymore! Too bad--I liked her!!)
4. Tell Me You Love Me (I admit it! I found this show by googling "TV shows with REAL sex"!! Of course, there's still a question as to whether REAL sex REALLY happened here! I for one doubt it! Whatever the case, this had good scripts about 3 couples and their interactions with a female shrink--played exquisitely by Jane Alexander, one of my favorite actresses!! Too bad it went just 1 season!)
3. Sarah Palin's Alaska (See my comments about the other Palin show--Life's a Tripp. But this one isn't whiny in any teenage-ish way--like "Tripp". Taped in 2010--when Sarah still held some gravitas as a recent VP candidate and Governor--this follows Sarah and family around her beloved state! While some episodes--the log-sawing on Kodiak, and the hike up Mt McKinley--were a bit too "staged", I enjoyed the series as a whole---and NOT solely because of Sarah! Her youngest daughter--Piper, then 9--is featured quite a bit--and she's adorable! But maybe the best feature of this show was ALASKA!! What a gorgeous state!!)
2. Pitch (PLEASE, let the 2nd season begin!! The first female in Major League Baseball--the female Jackie Robinson--in a way! It scored from the very first shot in the pilot episode! And found the middle of the strike zone with every "pitch"!! The baseball scenes were as realistic as could be--filmed inside the San Diego Padres home stadium!! But the locker room scenes--but, awwww, no nude shower scenes!!--were just as good, and maybe realistic too!! An excellent show, in all aspects!)
1. Commander-In-Chief (Made for the 2005-2006 season, this was supposedly based on Hillary Clinton! I saw this "live"--in its original showing on TV---then later in DVD form! When I first saw it, I didn't know about Sarah Palin! But when I saw the DVD, it was post-Palin as VP candidate---and potential President! So I watched it THEN with Sarah, NOT Hillary, in mind! So, impressed as I was by "Mac's" strength, decisiveness, genuine humaneness, and overall Presidential demeanor, I saw this as being supportive of Sarah Palin being our President! But whether you apply a known woman to Geena Davis's brilliant performance, or see "Mac" as a prototype for a generic First Female President, doesn't really matter. It's a well-done show that SHOULD have been given a 2nd season!!)
TWO or THREE Seasons (13 shows)
13. Starting from....NOW! (Sorry, but can't recall what this was about! Although I believe it was one of those series that went out on You Tube, not on TV! I think it had to do with lesbian life, as that subject holds my interest! I may check it out again!)
ADDED NOTE (Feb 23rd) I watched this entire series again yesterday--after posting this! It IS about lesbians, and IS on You Tube! But it went for 6 seasons, not 2 or 3! However, because each season's episode count was SIX, and each episode lasted less than 10 minutes, I watched ALL of them in one day! It's good, with good acting, and in a future rating like this, will probably move UP a couple of places! It's from Australia!
12. Blue (Ditto here! It was a You Tube series that went 3 seasons, and I watched all of it! They were brief episodes--maybe 8-12 minutes each--as I recall! Also about lesbians!)
ADDED NOTE (Feb 23rd) I did NOT watch this one again, but I DID research it, and now I remember what it was about! NOT about lesbians, but about a single mom of a 12 year old son, who sides as a high-end call girl to help pay bills--as she has another job! It's a drama. I would probably leave it right here in a future rating!
11. Orange is the New Black (Why isn't this iconic show rated higher? Just too "crazy" for me---and my using that word also references one of the leading character's names--as in "Crazy Eyes". Some scenes were good, but as a whole, too much crazy!!)
10. Satisfaction (Basically the British version of "The L Word", the 3 seasons were good, with the requisite sex scenes, and the interlocking of relationships. But after seeing "The L Word", I've lowered my estimation of this show! It's not bad--just not up to the other's standards! Also, it's NOT available on DVD's that work in the United States! That's a big flaw, IMO!)
9. Bliss (This was the earliest 21st century series I remember watching! Filmed in Canada--thus being more liberal with its nudity and sex scenes--though NOT as much as would happen later on other shows!!--this one had different characters and plots on each episode! No thread running through them. Not bad for its time!)
8. Lip Service (Here's yet another series---about lesbians?!--that I've lost touch with! Maybe too like "The L Word", but in a much less controversial way! Another series I may give one more shot!)
7. Wentworth--or Wentworth Prison (An Australian OITNB, but critics all say is far better, and much more realistic! Extremely tough, gritty, no-holds-barred attack on your senses, this features Bea Smith, a smart-ass lesbo who confronts, and defeats the prison's "Boss Lady" in the first season, then becomes her over the next two seasons! There's also the :Governor"--read Warden!--who gives Bea a run for her money! Death, sex, drugs, babies, rape--it's all here! You've been warned!!)
6. Cedar Cove (A genteel Lifetime Movie sensibility smothers this fine show--to its advantage!! Starring the adorably sexy Andie MacDowell as the Judge, this has all the tools for a sunshiny, all's well, touchy-feely series! There IS a villain, of course! But he gets what he deserves in the end! I just wish he'd been sent packing much earlier!! HATED the asshole!! The grizzled restaurant owner was GREAT!! A show MADE for Valentine's Day!!)
5. Grace and Frankie (My rating is based on its first two seasons! I LOVED Jane Fonda as a hippie mother in the movie "Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding"! So it was a bit much seeing her transform into Grace, a posh, snobby, elderly matron in "G & F". But after that initial shock, I loved her character! Frankie's immersion in all things mystical wasn't as pretty! Loved seeing Old Farts Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston KISSING and playing gays to the hilt!! The "kids" all were good, and added much to the show! Scripts maybe TOO scripted, still a great show!!)
4. Rita (Another show NOT available on US DVD's!! A Swedish show, it featured "Rita", a teacher of grades 4 & 9 in a fairly small school. She's having an affair with the Principal, while juggling a single mom home life and her immense popularity with her students! Why aren't great "foreign: shows made more easily available to US audiences?? Luckily, I found all 3 seasons on Netflix!! There's another series that features one of the characters from "Rita", which I don't care for! "Rita" was too in your face to enjoy someone else in the same school!)
3. Madam Secretary (The first season covered the story of the death of the former-Secretary of State--whom Tea Leone's "Elizabeth McCord" replaced! Leone's only flaw is that she hasn't aged!! Still as sexy as she was in "The Family Man" and other movies, it was hard to see her in as important a role as Secretary of State!! I hope that doesn't sound sexist, because I don't think a person's attractiveness should determine their political status! Think Abraham Lincoln!! Also, I wish they'd featured daughter "Stevie" more! And I liked the relationship between the speechwriter and Press Secretary in the first season! Still, I'm hooked!!)
2. Life Unexpected (Why was this show cancelled after just 2 seasons? Beautifully scripted, plotted, and acted, I truly LOVED this show! Showing life inside a radio station is novel. I live near Seattle, where they have a morning male-female duo! This show takes place in Portland, so its sensibilities are pretty similar to what I'd imagine the show being based in Seattle would be!! Follows the thread of a teen girl searching for--and finding--her birth parents, after many years in various foster homes! I sought out this show AFTER having seen my Number One-rated show--which is next!)
1. The Fosters (I'm now watching its 4th--and final--season! But this rating is based solely on its first 3 seasons! "Callie" is released from "Juvie"--or Juvenile Detention--into the care of lesbian foster parents Stef and Lena--a police officer and school vice-principal! They already foster care for latino twins--a boy and girl--and their own child, the prodigal pianist Brandon! Callie brings in her younger brother--a kid just itching to "out" himself as the gay he seems to be! The ONLY flaw is with the seriousness the kids take and see life! Don't they ever soften their "edge" just a little?? Jeez!! But that notwithstanding, I absolutely LOVE this show!! I've seen the first few episodes of its final season. Hint: they are DYNAMITE!!!)
FOUR to SEVEN Seasons (5 shows)
5. Girls (Let me tell you, all five of these shows could get top-rating--all deservedly! But since this is MY rating, Girls falls to the "bottom" of this list!! While Lena Dunham as Lena Dunham might be truly lovable, I don't see her character as such! It's not her weight, or her tattoos, or her being so obnoxious! In fact, I don't know what it is--but she just GRINDS on me!! My fave character is that of the British world traveler! Never a huge fan of Adam Driver either! But I'm willing to see Season Five, which has already begun!)
4. Masters of Sex (Based on the true story of Virginia Johnson and Bill Masters, sex gurus of the 50's and 60's, this goes off on tangential--and inherently false--incidents in their lives, historically documented in various books! But as a "show", it works! The acting is brilliant! There's drama, love, humor, nudity, and of course, SEX!! In every sub-strata imaginable!! In and of every human orifice and fetish! Also, and this is important, they deal with historic moments in a memorable and realistic manner! Just sit back and enjoy the ride!!)
3. Switched at Birth (If they'd stopped after the first 2 episodes, I might have rated this higher! As with The Fosters, the kids here take life way too seriously!! I was a teenager once--long ago and far away!--and I don't recall all this angst and drama! If you get past that, this show about two sets of parents---one rich, one not---who accidentally take home each other's babies from the hospital--is excellent!! "Daphne" has been deaf from age 3, while "Bay" is a hip artist-rebel! The fact that they each wind up being "promiscuous" is a bit problematic for me! Daphne seemed too GOOD for that! Her transformation becomes less believable because of that! Loved the signing!! Has REAL deaf actors!! Now in its 4th season--and still excellent!)
2. The L Word (This was my latest "binge-watch"!! I sat still for all it's 6 seasons of hour-long episodes--not wanting it to end!! I held off seeing this show because I had the---wrong!!--image of its being like "Sex and the City"--i.e. pretentious, elitist, Danielle Steel novels brought to life! How far OFF was this show!! Locked in from its pilot episode on, I was enthralled--and made horny!!--watching these ladies fuck each other senseless--in bare-all scenes--in EVERY episode!! A blogger counted 97 such sex scenes in its 6 year run!! You can even forget they're lesbians! Their stories are universally HUMAN!! Love, death, compassion, sex, desire, loss! The ULTIMATE lesbian show!! Only possible BETTER show would have to include ALL the ingredients that made this the BEST---PLUS include porn-style sex scenes!! Is anyone brave enough?? And talented enough??)
1. Californication (What a PERFECT title! This show's 7 seasons had a central theme--the love affair of Hank Moody and Karen. They were lovers in NYC, then moved with 12 year old daughter Becca to Venice CA! Hank's a writer with a BFF-agent, while Karen still loves Hank, but can't BE with him!! Karen's set to marry Dull Bill, whose 16 year old HOTTIE daughter Mia, Hank soon takes to bed!! Oh my!! From there, the shows evolves through all the ups and downs, ins and outs of Hank and Karen's relationship!! Becca, however, becomes MY favorite character!! About the same time when I first watched this show, I got turned on to Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett! Compare their faces--and hair styles! Don't they seem almost TWINS?? Not to mention that Becca's also a singer-songwriter!! Hank's agent and his wife--played by Pamela Adlon!--are GREAT, and add much to my liking the show! There's TONS of nudity and sex scenes, plus 1000's of STRONG cuss words--so beware!! Spoiler alert!! This one has a HAPPY ending!!)
Apologies for the length!
Hope you enjoyed reading it, and wish you'll try some of these shows yourself!!
Let me know what YOU think!!
For a year or so (though some date from earlier), I've watched a total of 34 TV shows---all dating from this century!
Sixteen of those either lasted just 1 season, or that's all I chose to watch!
The number of seasons a show lasted (or that I watched) made rating ALL 34 shows problematic!
I thought it unfair to pit a one-season-wonder against a show that lasted several seasons!
Then there's the number of episodes per season.
Some had as few as 10, while some averaged 20 or more per season!
Also, some shows had episodes lasting 30 minutes or so, while others went 45 to 60 minutes each episode!
The following lists are mine, and mine alone!
These are MY opinions!
Yours may---and probably will--be entirely different!
For example, I didn't watch even ONE episode of Breaking Bad or The Sopranos, two iconic shows EVERYONE watched---except me!
I made THREE lists!
One for those ONE season shows.
Another for shows that lasted TWO or THREE years.
Then the last for shows that went on from FOUR to SEVEN years!!
I'll present each list in inverse order!
Hope you enjoy this---and maybe you'll decide to watch some of these, inspired by this post!
ONE Season (16 shows)
16. Slasher (Kind of easy to rate a show "last" when you can't even remember anything about it! Must have been OK, though, since I watched the whole season!
15. American Housewife (Did NOT watch a whole season--just 4 episodes! The "housewife' was so whiny & bitchy, I couldn't watch anymore!
14. Better Things (I LOVED Pamela Adlon in Californication!! But, while her 3 daughters were adorable, and 1 or 2 cameos were interesting, a show can't depend on one actress's strengths, no matter how endearing!)
13. Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic (This is essentially a tie with the next show listed! Ms Silverman is an acquired taste--and I chose to NOT acquire future years of her show! While some might label her the "female Lenny Bruce", I found it difficult to sit through all the racist and sexist "jokes". Sad to say, however, that I actually LAUGHED at most of them!!)
12. The Sarah Silverman Program: First Season (See above!)
11. This Is Us (This show had REAL possibilities!! But after its pilot episode, confusion set in! The back-and-forth between the present and the past became too much for me to keep track of. I loved the character of the dying father! And the relationship of the obese couple! But joined together, they became lost in the plot lines!)
10. Aquarius (I saw this AFTER watching the brilliant Californication--all 7 years of it!! So I'd become a fan of David Duchovny as slovenly sex-crazed foul-mouthed Hank Moody! The whole Charles Manson thing was fascinating--as I'm a person who still remembers the 60's with fondness--but even that couldn't overcome the alterations in Duchovny's appearance, demeanor, and everything else! Besides, I HATE Manson. Why make a show showing any form of "humanity" in him?)
9. Life's a Tripp (I was, and to some degree, remain a fan of Sarah Palin! Shoot me! But I'm able to separate her politics from HER! Seen as a PERSON, Sarah is a fascinating character! So is her family--3 daughters, 2 sons, a few grandkids, Mom & Pop! Two of them--Bristol and Willow--are featured in this show, with cameos from Sarah, Todd, and some others! Take this show as a look at the lives of a celebrity's kids! You can exchange them for ANY set of a famous person's children! But maybe you just GOTTA like the Mother!!)
8. Search Party (This is another show that I've pretty much forgotten the plot, characters, and the show itself! But I DO recall being embraced by the suspense, the drama, the realism factor, and maybe the attractiveness of the lead actress!! Give it a shot! I think I will---again!!)
7. Easy (This--and the show following--was about SEX! And how sex makes--or breaks--a relationship! I remember it as funny, dramatic, and with scripts you could believe! Of course, nudity helped!)
6. Love (This and the above show can be laced together, even though they're NOT at all connected! Again, sex, and its role in relationships based on and formed from love, plays a large role! Cast nudity as a frequent guest star!!)
5. Scandal (I LOVED this show's first few episodes! Such a STRONG---and even PERFECT---lead woman character!! Then I saw this same "perfection" (beauty, smarts, always a winner) as "breath-taking". As in--literally--breath TAKING!! No woman---or person--is THAT perfect! It took too long for me to find the flaws in her! I enjoyed the character of the President! One more thing--the woman introduced in the pilot got lost in the shuffle--until it got so late in the game, I didn't really care about her anymore! Too bad--I liked her!!)
4. Tell Me You Love Me (I admit it! I found this show by googling "TV shows with REAL sex"!! Of course, there's still a question as to whether REAL sex REALLY happened here! I for one doubt it! Whatever the case, this had good scripts about 3 couples and their interactions with a female shrink--played exquisitely by Jane Alexander, one of my favorite actresses!! Too bad it went just 1 season!)
3. Sarah Palin's Alaska (See my comments about the other Palin show--Life's a Tripp. But this one isn't whiny in any teenage-ish way--like "Tripp". Taped in 2010--when Sarah still held some gravitas as a recent VP candidate and Governor--this follows Sarah and family around her beloved state! While some episodes--the log-sawing on Kodiak, and the hike up Mt McKinley--were a bit too "staged", I enjoyed the series as a whole---and NOT solely because of Sarah! Her youngest daughter--Piper, then 9--is featured quite a bit--and she's adorable! But maybe the best feature of this show was ALASKA!! What a gorgeous state!!)
2. Pitch (PLEASE, let the 2nd season begin!! The first female in Major League Baseball--the female Jackie Robinson--in a way! It scored from the very first shot in the pilot episode! And found the middle of the strike zone with every "pitch"!! The baseball scenes were as realistic as could be--filmed inside the San Diego Padres home stadium!! But the locker room scenes--but, awwww, no nude shower scenes!!--were just as good, and maybe realistic too!! An excellent show, in all aspects!)
1. Commander-In-Chief (Made for the 2005-2006 season, this was supposedly based on Hillary Clinton! I saw this "live"--in its original showing on TV---then later in DVD form! When I first saw it, I didn't know about Sarah Palin! But when I saw the DVD, it was post-Palin as VP candidate---and potential President! So I watched it THEN with Sarah, NOT Hillary, in mind! So, impressed as I was by "Mac's" strength, decisiveness, genuine humaneness, and overall Presidential demeanor, I saw this as being supportive of Sarah Palin being our President! But whether you apply a known woman to Geena Davis's brilliant performance, or see "Mac" as a prototype for a generic First Female President, doesn't really matter. It's a well-done show that SHOULD have been given a 2nd season!!)
TWO or THREE Seasons (13 shows)
13. Starting from....NOW! (Sorry, but can't recall what this was about! Although I believe it was one of those series that went out on You Tube, not on TV! I think it had to do with lesbian life, as that subject holds my interest! I may check it out again!)
ADDED NOTE (Feb 23rd) I watched this entire series again yesterday--after posting this! It IS about lesbians, and IS on You Tube! But it went for 6 seasons, not 2 or 3! However, because each season's episode count was SIX, and each episode lasted less than 10 minutes, I watched ALL of them in one day! It's good, with good acting, and in a future rating like this, will probably move UP a couple of places! It's from Australia!
12. Blue (Ditto here! It was a You Tube series that went 3 seasons, and I watched all of it! They were brief episodes--maybe 8-12 minutes each--as I recall! Also about lesbians!)
ADDED NOTE (Feb 23rd) I did NOT watch this one again, but I DID research it, and now I remember what it was about! NOT about lesbians, but about a single mom of a 12 year old son, who sides as a high-end call girl to help pay bills--as she has another job! It's a drama. I would probably leave it right here in a future rating!
11. Orange is the New Black (Why isn't this iconic show rated higher? Just too "crazy" for me---and my using that word also references one of the leading character's names--as in "Crazy Eyes". Some scenes were good, but as a whole, too much crazy!!)
10. Satisfaction (Basically the British version of "The L Word", the 3 seasons were good, with the requisite sex scenes, and the interlocking of relationships. But after seeing "The L Word", I've lowered my estimation of this show! It's not bad--just not up to the other's standards! Also, it's NOT available on DVD's that work in the United States! That's a big flaw, IMO!)
9. Bliss (This was the earliest 21st century series I remember watching! Filmed in Canada--thus being more liberal with its nudity and sex scenes--though NOT as much as would happen later on other shows!!--this one had different characters and plots on each episode! No thread running through them. Not bad for its time!)
8. Lip Service (Here's yet another series---about lesbians?!--that I've lost touch with! Maybe too like "The L Word", but in a much less controversial way! Another series I may give one more shot!)
7. Wentworth--or Wentworth Prison (An Australian OITNB, but critics all say is far better, and much more realistic! Extremely tough, gritty, no-holds-barred attack on your senses, this features Bea Smith, a smart-ass lesbo who confronts, and defeats the prison's "Boss Lady" in the first season, then becomes her over the next two seasons! There's also the :Governor"--read Warden!--who gives Bea a run for her money! Death, sex, drugs, babies, rape--it's all here! You've been warned!!)
6. Cedar Cove (A genteel Lifetime Movie sensibility smothers this fine show--to its advantage!! Starring the adorably sexy Andie MacDowell as the Judge, this has all the tools for a sunshiny, all's well, touchy-feely series! There IS a villain, of course! But he gets what he deserves in the end! I just wish he'd been sent packing much earlier!! HATED the asshole!! The grizzled restaurant owner was GREAT!! A show MADE for Valentine's Day!!)
5. Grace and Frankie (My rating is based on its first two seasons! I LOVED Jane Fonda as a hippie mother in the movie "Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding"! So it was a bit much seeing her transform into Grace, a posh, snobby, elderly matron in "G & F". But after that initial shock, I loved her character! Frankie's immersion in all things mystical wasn't as pretty! Loved seeing Old Farts Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston KISSING and playing gays to the hilt!! The "kids" all were good, and added much to the show! Scripts maybe TOO scripted, still a great show!!)
4. Rita (Another show NOT available on US DVD's!! A Swedish show, it featured "Rita", a teacher of grades 4 & 9 in a fairly small school. She's having an affair with the Principal, while juggling a single mom home life and her immense popularity with her students! Why aren't great "foreign: shows made more easily available to US audiences?? Luckily, I found all 3 seasons on Netflix!! There's another series that features one of the characters from "Rita", which I don't care for! "Rita" was too in your face to enjoy someone else in the same school!)
3. Madam Secretary (The first season covered the story of the death of the former-Secretary of State--whom Tea Leone's "Elizabeth McCord" replaced! Leone's only flaw is that she hasn't aged!! Still as sexy as she was in "The Family Man" and other movies, it was hard to see her in as important a role as Secretary of State!! I hope that doesn't sound sexist, because I don't think a person's attractiveness should determine their political status! Think Abraham Lincoln!! Also, I wish they'd featured daughter "Stevie" more! And I liked the relationship between the speechwriter and Press Secretary in the first season! Still, I'm hooked!!)
2. Life Unexpected (Why was this show cancelled after just 2 seasons? Beautifully scripted, plotted, and acted, I truly LOVED this show! Showing life inside a radio station is novel. I live near Seattle, where they have a morning male-female duo! This show takes place in Portland, so its sensibilities are pretty similar to what I'd imagine the show being based in Seattle would be!! Follows the thread of a teen girl searching for--and finding--her birth parents, after many years in various foster homes! I sought out this show AFTER having seen my Number One-rated show--which is next!)
1. The Fosters (I'm now watching its 4th--and final--season! But this rating is based solely on its first 3 seasons! "Callie" is released from "Juvie"--or Juvenile Detention--into the care of lesbian foster parents Stef and Lena--a police officer and school vice-principal! They already foster care for latino twins--a boy and girl--and their own child, the prodigal pianist Brandon! Callie brings in her younger brother--a kid just itching to "out" himself as the gay he seems to be! The ONLY flaw is with the seriousness the kids take and see life! Don't they ever soften their "edge" just a little?? Jeez!! But that notwithstanding, I absolutely LOVE this show!! I've seen the first few episodes of its final season. Hint: they are DYNAMITE!!!)
FOUR to SEVEN Seasons (5 shows)
5. Girls (Let me tell you, all five of these shows could get top-rating--all deservedly! But since this is MY rating, Girls falls to the "bottom" of this list!! While Lena Dunham as Lena Dunham might be truly lovable, I don't see her character as such! It's not her weight, or her tattoos, or her being so obnoxious! In fact, I don't know what it is--but she just GRINDS on me!! My fave character is that of the British world traveler! Never a huge fan of Adam Driver either! But I'm willing to see Season Five, which has already begun!)
4. Masters of Sex (Based on the true story of Virginia Johnson and Bill Masters, sex gurus of the 50's and 60's, this goes off on tangential--and inherently false--incidents in their lives, historically documented in various books! But as a "show", it works! The acting is brilliant! There's drama, love, humor, nudity, and of course, SEX!! In every sub-strata imaginable!! In and of every human orifice and fetish! Also, and this is important, they deal with historic moments in a memorable and realistic manner! Just sit back and enjoy the ride!!)
3. Switched at Birth (If they'd stopped after the first 2 episodes, I might have rated this higher! As with The Fosters, the kids here take life way too seriously!! I was a teenager once--long ago and far away!--and I don't recall all this angst and drama! If you get past that, this show about two sets of parents---one rich, one not---who accidentally take home each other's babies from the hospital--is excellent!! "Daphne" has been deaf from age 3, while "Bay" is a hip artist-rebel! The fact that they each wind up being "promiscuous" is a bit problematic for me! Daphne seemed too GOOD for that! Her transformation becomes less believable because of that! Loved the signing!! Has REAL deaf actors!! Now in its 4th season--and still excellent!)
2. The L Word (This was my latest "binge-watch"!! I sat still for all it's 6 seasons of hour-long episodes--not wanting it to end!! I held off seeing this show because I had the---wrong!!--image of its being like "Sex and the City"--i.e. pretentious, elitist, Danielle Steel novels brought to life! How far OFF was this show!! Locked in from its pilot episode on, I was enthralled--and made horny!!--watching these ladies fuck each other senseless--in bare-all scenes--in EVERY episode!! A blogger counted 97 such sex scenes in its 6 year run!! You can even forget they're lesbians! Their stories are universally HUMAN!! Love, death, compassion, sex, desire, loss! The ULTIMATE lesbian show!! Only possible BETTER show would have to include ALL the ingredients that made this the BEST---PLUS include porn-style sex scenes!! Is anyone brave enough?? And talented enough??)
1. Californication (What a PERFECT title! This show's 7 seasons had a central theme--the love affair of Hank Moody and Karen. They were lovers in NYC, then moved with 12 year old daughter Becca to Venice CA! Hank's a writer with a BFF-agent, while Karen still loves Hank, but can't BE with him!! Karen's set to marry Dull Bill, whose 16 year old HOTTIE daughter Mia, Hank soon takes to bed!! Oh my!! From there, the shows evolves through all the ups and downs, ins and outs of Hank and Karen's relationship!! Becca, however, becomes MY favorite character!! About the same time when I first watched this show, I got turned on to Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett! Compare their faces--and hair styles! Don't they seem almost TWINS?? Not to mention that Becca's also a singer-songwriter!! Hank's agent and his wife--played by Pamela Adlon!--are GREAT, and add much to my liking the show! There's TONS of nudity and sex scenes, plus 1000's of STRONG cuss words--so beware!! Spoiler alert!! This one has a HAPPY ending!!)
Apologies for the length!
Hope you enjoyed reading it, and wish you'll try some of these shows yourself!!
Let me know what YOU think!!
Monday, October 3, 2016
A Poem or a Song
First, my apologies for taking almost 6 months to produce another post.
Was VERY busy with my Track & Field blog, this having been an Olympic year.
But still, not a good excuse!
My intentions for this blog was for a much more frequent output.
Then again, it's quality over quantity--eh?
Writers have 2 methods--planned and spontaneous.
In one, you form a plot, give life to characters, draw outlines, keep Thesaurus & Dictionary at hand.
In the other, you apply pen to paper, or fingers to typewriter keys, and let words and symbols fall where they may--to be edited & revised later.
But that speaks to a finished product that--eventually---will look (and even feel) the same at its conclusion.
You will have a book---or a poem--or a short story--or a play--or a song.
It will be--in the end---what you intended it to be.
But what of those "works of art" that BEGIN as a poem, but END as the first in a series of 7 novels?
If you're an artist--a painter--how often does your drawing, your sketch, turn into a brilliant painting hanging on a museum wall?
A lifelong Bob Dylan fan, I've always agreed with those who call him Rock's Bard, its Minstrel Poet.
You have the music, of course, which is often brilliant by itself.
But Dylan's grand legacy will be his WORDS, not his songs.
Take "Visions of Johanna"--which happens to be my favorite Dylan lyric!
I've often described it as an Edward Hopper painting brought to life.
Or as Van Gogh's "The Night Cafe".
Maybe even linked to that mysterious woman named "Mona Lisa".
Dylan's in the meat-bone of New York City, in some "loft" where "the heat pipes just cough", and though "country music plays soft", there's really "nothing to turn off".
Except "Visions of Johanna", a woman in the writer's life who has an intense hold on his tired wracked brain and his lonesome eyes and wounded heart.
Who is "Johanna", a woman who even though "Louise is alright, she's just near", and she's "delicate & seems like the mirror", but who "makes it all too concise and too clear" that Johanna----that woman Dylan loves--isn't there!
Yet, in Dylan's "Vision" he sees "the ghost of 'lectricity" that "howls in the bones of (Louise's) face"---but allows that aching for Johanna to be traded off for this psychedelic visage of Louise--who instead is "entwined with her lover" in the rapturous movements of love---with the music of "harmonicas" & "skeleton keys" & "the rain" as background.
No wonder Mona Lisa had the "highway blues"!
Who wouldn't?
I digressed.
But what were Dylan's words intended to be?
A song?
A poem?
Journal ramblings of a stoned wanderer?
Same applies to this post.
It began as a piece looking at how one's INTENDED format isn't always the END product!
Though my love of Dylan is passionate, I truly did NOT intend to make his best song the core focus of this post.
That happens with characters in novels too.
In my "novel" about an important (life-changing!) relationship I had with an artist in the late '70's (title of "Identity"), one of the characters was Kate Caplan (Shute), who was estranged from her husband, Mark Shute.
Mark was INTENDED to be an almost invisible minor character, an "extra" in a movie.
Yet midway through, my heroine, "Sally", is at her cabin near Lake Tahoe, alone with her 12 year old son, Charles.
Mark suddenly enters, begins an attempted rape of Sally--only to be stopped in time by young Charles, who scares Mark out the door!
This scene was NOT planned!
I had no idea Mark Shute would do what he did---or that Sally's son would save her!
Or that the entire direction and structure of my novel would be forever changed---making its 2nd half a whole different "vision".
Talk to a thousand authors, and they'll tell you the same story--names changed.
It's nice to do a piece that starts and finishes in basically the same place.
A poem stays a poem--a play is never a short story--a haiku doesn't transmogrify to Whitman's "Song of Myself"!!
But as "traders in the arts", we all know (and try to accept) the volatility of the ingredients and tools we use.
We need to be ready to see three words become a 300,000 word novel.
We must know that characters are more than words on paper--that they are blood, sweat, and tears.
My vision?
I'd love to see Hopper, Van Gogh, and Dylan sitting in that "Night Cafe", or in Hopper's 3 a.m. diner---or in Dylan's "loft"---talking about their visions.
And Madonna?
Well, like all women to a lonesome man's eyes, she "still has not showed".
Was VERY busy with my Track & Field blog, this having been an Olympic year.
But still, not a good excuse!
My intentions for this blog was for a much more frequent output.
Then again, it's quality over quantity--eh?
Writers have 2 methods--planned and spontaneous.
In one, you form a plot, give life to characters, draw outlines, keep Thesaurus & Dictionary at hand.
In the other, you apply pen to paper, or fingers to typewriter keys, and let words and symbols fall where they may--to be edited & revised later.
But that speaks to a finished product that--eventually---will look (and even feel) the same at its conclusion.
You will have a book---or a poem--or a short story--or a play--or a song.
It will be--in the end---what you intended it to be.
But what of those "works of art" that BEGIN as a poem, but END as the first in a series of 7 novels?
If you're an artist--a painter--how often does your drawing, your sketch, turn into a brilliant painting hanging on a museum wall?
A lifelong Bob Dylan fan, I've always agreed with those who call him Rock's Bard, its Minstrel Poet.
You have the music, of course, which is often brilliant by itself.
But Dylan's grand legacy will be his WORDS, not his songs.
Take "Visions of Johanna"--which happens to be my favorite Dylan lyric!
I've often described it as an Edward Hopper painting brought to life.
Or as Van Gogh's "The Night Cafe".
Maybe even linked to that mysterious woman named "Mona Lisa".
Dylan's in the meat-bone of New York City, in some "loft" where "the heat pipes just cough", and though "country music plays soft", there's really "nothing to turn off".
Except "Visions of Johanna", a woman in the writer's life who has an intense hold on his tired wracked brain and his lonesome eyes and wounded heart.
Who is "Johanna", a woman who even though "Louise is alright, she's just near", and she's "delicate & seems like the mirror", but who "makes it all too concise and too clear" that Johanna----that woman Dylan loves--isn't there!
Yet, in Dylan's "Vision" he sees "the ghost of 'lectricity" that "howls in the bones of (Louise's) face"---but allows that aching for Johanna to be traded off for this psychedelic visage of Louise--who instead is "entwined with her lover" in the rapturous movements of love---with the music of "harmonicas" & "skeleton keys" & "the rain" as background.
No wonder Mona Lisa had the "highway blues"!
Who wouldn't?
I digressed.
But what were Dylan's words intended to be?
A song?
A poem?
Journal ramblings of a stoned wanderer?
Same applies to this post.
It began as a piece looking at how one's INTENDED format isn't always the END product!
Though my love of Dylan is passionate, I truly did NOT intend to make his best song the core focus of this post.
That happens with characters in novels too.
In my "novel" about an important (life-changing!) relationship I had with an artist in the late '70's (title of "Identity"), one of the characters was Kate Caplan (Shute), who was estranged from her husband, Mark Shute.
Mark was INTENDED to be an almost invisible minor character, an "extra" in a movie.
Yet midway through, my heroine, "Sally", is at her cabin near Lake Tahoe, alone with her 12 year old son, Charles.
Mark suddenly enters, begins an attempted rape of Sally--only to be stopped in time by young Charles, who scares Mark out the door!
This scene was NOT planned!
I had no idea Mark Shute would do what he did---or that Sally's son would save her!
Or that the entire direction and structure of my novel would be forever changed---making its 2nd half a whole different "vision".
Talk to a thousand authors, and they'll tell you the same story--names changed.
It's nice to do a piece that starts and finishes in basically the same place.
A poem stays a poem--a play is never a short story--a haiku doesn't transmogrify to Whitman's "Song of Myself"!!
But as "traders in the arts", we all know (and try to accept) the volatility of the ingredients and tools we use.
We need to be ready to see three words become a 300,000 word novel.
We must know that characters are more than words on paper--that they are blood, sweat, and tears.
My vision?
I'd love to see Hopper, Van Gogh, and Dylan sitting in that "Night Cafe", or in Hopper's 3 a.m. diner---or in Dylan's "loft"---talking about their visions.
And Madonna?
Well, like all women to a lonesome man's eyes, she "still has not showed".
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Our First Woman President
You might be asking yourself, "WTF is this guy doing? This is a blog on CULTURE! Is there ANYthing "cultural" about a political race?"
My answer would be, "Yes, there is!"
It might have begun in 1948, when Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn starred in "State of the Union", the story of Tracy running for office, but the greater power--the power behind the throne, as it were--being Hepburn!
There was a farcical attempt to place a woman on the ballot in 1964, when Polly Bergen had "Kisses for My President".
In real life, Walter Mondale chose Geraldine Ferraro as his Vice-Presidential candidate, which stirred women's hearts and imaginations!
Would it be possible?
But it really wasn't until 1992 that "serious" movements towards a Female as President took place.
In the actual race, Governor Clinton's wife--Hillary--became more controversial than her womanizing-draft evading husband!
Talk of her hair, clothes, figure--and her being one of the 100 highest rated lawyers in the country--dominated the news!
But it was an obscure--and Impossible to find!--Lifetime Channel movie that truly opened some doors!
Blair Brown starred as a Field General whose strategic moves won a Gulf War--who is urged to run for the Presidency--does, and wins!
The movie was called "Majority Rule"--which isn't so fictional when you consider that women outnumber men--in the population, and as likely voters!
While some of the later plot becomes a bit much--nearer to Hollywood than to Washington DC--it helped give weight to the notion that a woman COULD be our President!
(Interesting that a REAL General was making a name for herself about then--and even being talked about as "short list" material for Veep!)
I've read several novels about women running for, or holding, high office.
One, by Blayne Cooper, called "Madam President", had some good scenes, and some decent dialogue, but the woman was a late 30's lesbian who, after being elected, hires a woman to come live in the White House and write her biography!
It then turns into a "lesbian novel" rather than a serious treatise on what a woman President might do!
For one season--2005-06--a TV show called "Commander-In-Chief" took its turn on the ladder toward building hype behind a female candidacy for the Oval Office.
Geena Davis plays "Mac Allen", a 2-term Congresswoman who quit for ethical reasons, became a University Chancellor, and was asked to become "Teddy Roosevelt Bridges" VP.
Two years into their first term, he suddenly dies, and she fights off Republican House Speaker "Nate Templeton"s attempt to get her to resign, and takes the Oath!
Templeton is played brilliantly by Donald Sutherland, and their battles throughout the 18 episodes shows her savvy--and strength!
The rumors--maybe the truth!--was that Davis was Hillary Clinton--who was said to be planning a Presidential run in 2008!
(Who says "truth is stranger than fiction"?)
Then along came Sarah!
John McCain shocked everyone when he announced the Governor of Alaska as his VP choice!
And for about 3 weeks, it worked!
Her brilliant speech at the Convention, and her popularity on the stump, made people believe we'd have our first female Vice-President.
And with McCain then 72, images of a "President" Palin weren't so hallucinatory!
Then McCain killed it with his stupid move to suspend his campaign to try to stop the economic meltdown, and boom, we had instead our first black President--a man!
And here we are--it's 2016--and the same Hillary Rodham Clinton--now 69 years old!--is on the precipice of becoming--for REAL--America's first President with breasts and ovaries!
It's maybe ironic that Palin endorsed Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner--in a race to STOP a woman from becoming President!
It's been Palin who's been most vocal in speaking of a new Feminist dialogue and paradigm for the past several years, as she's defined in speeches before important "women's groups".
IMHO, it's sad that this argument--and this woman!--has been so severely attacked--even with death threats against Sarah and her family!
The reason--or the MAIN reason--seems to be Palin's total advocacy of a "pro-life" philosophy!
Yet, on every "woman's issue" standard, Palin's life history truly DEFINES feminism--and its child, feminIST!--like no other!
If Clinton becomes President, will life in America be any different than under the rule of the 44 MEN who preceded her?
Look at the many examples around the world.
We've had Presidents (or Prime Ministers) in India, the Philippines, Great Britain, Germany, and Israel, among others.
Those countries are still alive and kicking--to varying degrees!
I can't see "Armageddon" for America with a woman President!
One difference we MIGHT see, however, would be a rush by writers to pen the "great American novel" --an "All the King's Men", or even an "All the President's Men" (if Hillary becomes the SECOND Clinton to face impeachment!!)--although the latter wasn't fiction, but as many reviewers said, read like a mystery novel!
I can imagine novels written about a lesbian becoming President--but with a more serious tone than Ms Cooper's earlier tome.
I can foresee "sex scenes" and marital discord perhaps trading chapters with discussions of peace treaties and terrorists and "global warming".
There would be children, and pets, and in-laws (Polly Bergen played a wonderful Mom to Geena Davis's character in a few episodes of "C-i-C"!), and most likely, affairs!
After all, what's "normal" for her 44 male predecessors would be normal for her!
Why not?
It's politics, yes, to think of what a woman Presidency might be like--but all we need do is look at some of what the movies and novels have said about it to get a fair idea of what to expect!
It would have been great--again in MY humble opinion!--if we had been served TWO women to choose from instead of one!
Imagine a race--if Sarah had decided to run!--between Palin and Ms Clinton!
Between "old feministic" ideas and "new" ones!
Between a "woman of the 60's" vs a "woman of the 21st century"!
The mind boggles.
IMPORTANT NOTE!!
This blog will NOT accept nor publish any comments speaking to the "popular" memes of "Palin as idiot" , or any comments which demean Palin in any way as a PERSON of SERIOUS demeanor and ability!
Same goes for Hillary--though it seems MOST of the attacks have been against Sarah and her family!
Otherwise, feel free to comment!
My answer would be, "Yes, there is!"
It might have begun in 1948, when Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn starred in "State of the Union", the story of Tracy running for office, but the greater power--the power behind the throne, as it were--being Hepburn!
There was a farcical attempt to place a woman on the ballot in 1964, when Polly Bergen had "Kisses for My President".
In real life, Walter Mondale chose Geraldine Ferraro as his Vice-Presidential candidate, which stirred women's hearts and imaginations!
Would it be possible?
But it really wasn't until 1992 that "serious" movements towards a Female as President took place.
In the actual race, Governor Clinton's wife--Hillary--became more controversial than her womanizing-draft evading husband!
Talk of her hair, clothes, figure--and her being one of the 100 highest rated lawyers in the country--dominated the news!
But it was an obscure--and Impossible to find!--Lifetime Channel movie that truly opened some doors!
Blair Brown starred as a Field General whose strategic moves won a Gulf War--who is urged to run for the Presidency--does, and wins!
The movie was called "Majority Rule"--which isn't so fictional when you consider that women outnumber men--in the population, and as likely voters!
While some of the later plot becomes a bit much--nearer to Hollywood than to Washington DC--it helped give weight to the notion that a woman COULD be our President!
(Interesting that a REAL General was making a name for herself about then--and even being talked about as "short list" material for Veep!)
I've read several novels about women running for, or holding, high office.
One, by Blayne Cooper, called "Madam President", had some good scenes, and some decent dialogue, but the woman was a late 30's lesbian who, after being elected, hires a woman to come live in the White House and write her biography!
It then turns into a "lesbian novel" rather than a serious treatise on what a woman President might do!
For one season--2005-06--a TV show called "Commander-In-Chief" took its turn on the ladder toward building hype behind a female candidacy for the Oval Office.
Geena Davis plays "Mac Allen", a 2-term Congresswoman who quit for ethical reasons, became a University Chancellor, and was asked to become "Teddy Roosevelt Bridges" VP.
Two years into their first term, he suddenly dies, and she fights off Republican House Speaker "Nate Templeton"s attempt to get her to resign, and takes the Oath!
Templeton is played brilliantly by Donald Sutherland, and their battles throughout the 18 episodes shows her savvy--and strength!
The rumors--maybe the truth!--was that Davis was Hillary Clinton--who was said to be planning a Presidential run in 2008!
(Who says "truth is stranger than fiction"?)
Then along came Sarah!
John McCain shocked everyone when he announced the Governor of Alaska as his VP choice!
And for about 3 weeks, it worked!
Her brilliant speech at the Convention, and her popularity on the stump, made people believe we'd have our first female Vice-President.
And with McCain then 72, images of a "President" Palin weren't so hallucinatory!
Then McCain killed it with his stupid move to suspend his campaign to try to stop the economic meltdown, and boom, we had instead our first black President--a man!
And here we are--it's 2016--and the same Hillary Rodham Clinton--now 69 years old!--is on the precipice of becoming--for REAL--America's first President with breasts and ovaries!
It's maybe ironic that Palin endorsed Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner--in a race to STOP a woman from becoming President!
It's been Palin who's been most vocal in speaking of a new Feminist dialogue and paradigm for the past several years, as she's defined in speeches before important "women's groups".
IMHO, it's sad that this argument--and this woman!--has been so severely attacked--even with death threats against Sarah and her family!
The reason--or the MAIN reason--seems to be Palin's total advocacy of a "pro-life" philosophy!
Yet, on every "woman's issue" standard, Palin's life history truly DEFINES feminism--and its child, feminIST!--like no other!
If Clinton becomes President, will life in America be any different than under the rule of the 44 MEN who preceded her?
Look at the many examples around the world.
We've had Presidents (or Prime Ministers) in India, the Philippines, Great Britain, Germany, and Israel, among others.
Those countries are still alive and kicking--to varying degrees!
I can't see "Armageddon" for America with a woman President!
One difference we MIGHT see, however, would be a rush by writers to pen the "great American novel" --an "All the King's Men", or even an "All the President's Men" (if Hillary becomes the SECOND Clinton to face impeachment!!)--although the latter wasn't fiction, but as many reviewers said, read like a mystery novel!
I can imagine novels written about a lesbian becoming President--but with a more serious tone than Ms Cooper's earlier tome.
I can foresee "sex scenes" and marital discord perhaps trading chapters with discussions of peace treaties and terrorists and "global warming".
There would be children, and pets, and in-laws (Polly Bergen played a wonderful Mom to Geena Davis's character in a few episodes of "C-i-C"!), and most likely, affairs!
After all, what's "normal" for her 44 male predecessors would be normal for her!
Why not?
It's politics, yes, to think of what a woman Presidency might be like--but all we need do is look at some of what the movies and novels have said about it to get a fair idea of what to expect!
It would have been great--again in MY humble opinion!--if we had been served TWO women to choose from instead of one!
Imagine a race--if Sarah had decided to run!--between Palin and Ms Clinton!
Between "old feministic" ideas and "new" ones!
Between a "woman of the 60's" vs a "woman of the 21st century"!
The mind boggles.
IMPORTANT NOTE!!
This blog will NOT accept nor publish any comments speaking to the "popular" memes of "Palin as idiot" , or any comments which demean Palin in any way as a PERSON of SERIOUS demeanor and ability!
Same goes for Hillary--though it seems MOST of the attacks have been against Sarah and her family!
Otherwise, feel free to comment!
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
The New
"Nothing is new under the sun"!
Oh really?
One could say, "Look who's talking!", or "Consider the source!", the latter being my favorite go-to maxim.
For if anyone is averse to "the new", it's been me.
Born in 1944, I've always referred to myself as a "50's-60's" person.
Meaning, I STILL see Bob Dylan, the Beatles & the Stones, Janis & Jimi, and yes, even the Haight-Ashbury as starting points to the definition of ME!
(Not forgetting Henry Miller, Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, The Graduate, Easy Rider, and I Love Lucy!!)
But what about NOW?
Today?
The NEW?
And more to the point, how do I move from THEN to NOW, without removing the foundational entities that formed, and TRANSformed, me?
Let me give you some examples.
In 1964, before I turned 20, I "discovered" the Beatles and Bob Dylan.
Almost back to back.
First, of course, came the Fab Four when they appeared on (and I saw them!) on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Followed soon thereafter by their movie "A Hard Day's Night", and their having several Number One Top 40 singles.
Then, a few weeks later, I was on a blind date with an attractive "Beat" girl--meaning she wore a white turtleneck sweater and black fishnet lace stockings and boots ("made for walkin'"??).
We were in a cafe, talking, and listening to a "folkie" singing a Dylan song.
My date asked if I like him.
"Not familiar with him."
"Oh, you have to get his new album, "Freewheelin'"!
Long story short, I go to a "record shop" the next day and ask the clerk for the new Bob "DIE-lynn" album.
That was the LAST time I mispronounced Bobby's name!
(P.S. That girl and I never dated again, as I recall!)
So that was how it all started.
Me discovering "the new".
But being that "60's guy", it was a long time before anyone REALLY new entered my world.
And then it became like a tsunami, as author after author, and band/singer after band/singer took the "60's" from my register and made it the 60's AND the 90's and the 2000's!
But let's return to the 70's for a minute.
That was when I "found" Kurt Vonnegut.
It again took a girl to open up my narrow world.
(This girl was then my best friend, and had been since we met in the Fillmore West on July 5, 1968!)
Lee (the girl) had been asking me to read Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" since it came out in 1969.
And I'd refused, telling her I wasn't into "cult" authors, and didn't like books (or movies) about war!
Finally, in 1975, when I was working in a used bookstore in Arcata CA, I "found" Mr Vonnegut!
I read "Slaughterhouse Five", and LOVED it!
But I loved not just THAT book, but Vonnegut's writing style, his seemingly simplistic overuse of repetitive words or phrases, like "So it goes.", or later, in "Slapstick", his "Hi ho"s.
So I went back to "Player Piano", his 1952 novel, and worked my way through all of his (then-) 11 published novels & collections.
I still consider Vonnegut my favorite novelist.
In moving from the 60's to the 90's--from the Beatles to "the new"--I wasn't completely ignoring "the now".
I liked The Police, Tom Petty, Joan Jett, among a few others.
Fast forward to about 2002, to Lincoln City OR, where I was a cashier in a Chevron Food Mart.
I was then about 57 or 58, and had a young (19 or 20) co-worker, a guy.
One day, we were hanging out waiting for customers, listening to the radio.
I told him I liked whatever song was then playing.
It was sung by Sheryl Crow, whom I knew nothing (or almost nothing) about.
So, similar to that 1964 blind date experience, I found myself in Astoria OR in a "CD" store searching out Sheryl Crow CD's.
I found her Central Park concert, where she played with several name musicians, among them the Dixie Chicks.
You guessed it!
Loving Crow (and about to eat it---so to speak! LOL), I ALSO then sought out the DC, and "found" their "Goodbye Earl", my favorite Chicks song to this day!
Speaking of "Earl", I'd also seen around that time the DC's video of that song, starring "NYPD Blue"'s Dennis Franz as Earl.
You guessed it again!
Since the show began in 1993, "NYPD Blue" had been my favorite TV show, with Franz my favorite actor!
See how all of that came together?
From "Blue" to Crow to the DC--boom, boom, BOOM!--and I'd moved 30 years into "the new".
BTW, that same guy told me I would "love" a group called Garbage!
I thought---a band called GARBAGE??!!
But again, I bought their first CD, and fell in love with Shirley and the gang!
In 2007, I found myself in jail for 4 months.
(The last time I'll ever spend behind bars!)
Anyway, seeing 120 days standing before my eyes, and not liking my "roomies" or the lousy movies they let us watch, I turned to my old standby, books, to save the day(s).
In those 120 days, I read 107 books!
Yes, that's correct--I said 107 books in 120 days!
(I'd kept a list of all of them!)
Since my selection was limited, I had to turn to "new" writers--ones I'd heard about (having worked 9 years in bookstores!), but hadn't read!
(Besides "cult" writers, I was also somewhat averse to "popular" writers, and "best sellers".)
Well, among those 107 books were titles by....
Janet Evanovich
Robert B Parker
John Sandford
J A Jance
Sue Grafton
Patricia Cornwell.....
and maybe 2 or 3 others!
Yes, I'd again "found" someone(s) "new", and loved them!
Well, let's bring this story to the present day!
Because I've AGAIN found some "new" to add to the "old".
And I have Netflix, Xfinity, Amazon, and Rolling Stone to thank for introducing us!
I have a habit of buying books and DVD's, but then taking weeks, even months, to get around to reading or watching them!
Same goes for my two magazine subs--Track and Field News, and Rolling Stone.
I sometimes have a backlog of several MONTHS of issues sitting around unread!
So one day recently, as I was working my way through the spring and summer months of RS's unread issues, I "found" their review of Courtney Barnett's CD "Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit".
Then I read their big article about her.
Yep, I went online to Amazon, and ordered that CD.
I got it, listened to it once, and Ms Barnett became an instant love affair!
(She's an Australian lesbian--outed, with a long-term partner--so my chances with her, however limited they were--dropped to ZERO!! LOL)
I then bought her "Double EP" CD, and love that one too!
I Googled her, and found FULL concerts of her on YouTube, and various short interviews---all of which I LOVE!
This, all in just the past few WEEKS!!
I own over 700 movies on DVD!
(Never liked to rent!)
But however varied--and great!--my private collection is, I want more!
Thus, my joining Netflix, taking them up on their 30 day free trial offer!
(I'll probably cancel before having to pay!!)
In just the past ONE WEEK, I've discovered two TV shows I'm adding to my list of All-Time Greats!
First came the Australian (sic!) "women in prison" drama called either "Wentworth" or "Wentworth Prison".
In the space of less than 3 days, I watched all 34 episodes from its 3 seasons of existence (2013-2015), with each episode running about 50 minutes!
One ep after another after another!
Each one "forcing" me to watch the next!
(Their 4th season begins next April!)
After "Wentworth", I still had 3 weeks left on my Free Trial!
So, having loved Jane Fonda in "Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding", I found her "Grace and Frankie" show, new this year, and a "Netflix Exclusive".
I've seen just the first 3 (of 13) episodes so far, but Sheesh!, I just started watching it TODAY!!
(Well, about 10-12 hours ago, just after midnight!)
You can safely bet I'll have the other 10 episodes gobbled up, like I plan to gobble up my turkey & trimmings Thanksgiving meal in a few days!
Another title/author/singer/ARTISTIC ENTITY to define my "new", always keeping the "old" (and once-upon-a-time NEW!) as my BFF!
How about you?
What (or whom!) is NEW in YOUR life?
Oh really?
One could say, "Look who's talking!", or "Consider the source!", the latter being my favorite go-to maxim.
For if anyone is averse to "the new", it's been me.
Born in 1944, I've always referred to myself as a "50's-60's" person.
Meaning, I STILL see Bob Dylan, the Beatles & the Stones, Janis & Jimi, and yes, even the Haight-Ashbury as starting points to the definition of ME!
(Not forgetting Henry Miller, Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, The Graduate, Easy Rider, and I Love Lucy!!)
But what about NOW?
Today?
The NEW?
And more to the point, how do I move from THEN to NOW, without removing the foundational entities that formed, and TRANSformed, me?
Let me give you some examples.
In 1964, before I turned 20, I "discovered" the Beatles and Bob Dylan.
Almost back to back.
First, of course, came the Fab Four when they appeared on (and I saw them!) on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Followed soon thereafter by their movie "A Hard Day's Night", and their having several Number One Top 40 singles.
Then, a few weeks later, I was on a blind date with an attractive "Beat" girl--meaning she wore a white turtleneck sweater and black fishnet lace stockings and boots ("made for walkin'"??).
We were in a cafe, talking, and listening to a "folkie" singing a Dylan song.
My date asked if I like him.
"Not familiar with him."
"Oh, you have to get his new album, "Freewheelin'"!
Long story short, I go to a "record shop" the next day and ask the clerk for the new Bob "DIE-lynn" album.
That was the LAST time I mispronounced Bobby's name!
(P.S. That girl and I never dated again, as I recall!)
So that was how it all started.
Me discovering "the new".
But being that "60's guy", it was a long time before anyone REALLY new entered my world.
And then it became like a tsunami, as author after author, and band/singer after band/singer took the "60's" from my register and made it the 60's AND the 90's and the 2000's!
But let's return to the 70's for a minute.
That was when I "found" Kurt Vonnegut.
It again took a girl to open up my narrow world.
(This girl was then my best friend, and had been since we met in the Fillmore West on July 5, 1968!)
Lee (the girl) had been asking me to read Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" since it came out in 1969.
And I'd refused, telling her I wasn't into "cult" authors, and didn't like books (or movies) about war!
Finally, in 1975, when I was working in a used bookstore in Arcata CA, I "found" Mr Vonnegut!
I read "Slaughterhouse Five", and LOVED it!
But I loved not just THAT book, but Vonnegut's writing style, his seemingly simplistic overuse of repetitive words or phrases, like "So it goes.", or later, in "Slapstick", his "Hi ho"s.
So I went back to "Player Piano", his 1952 novel, and worked my way through all of his (then-) 11 published novels & collections.
I still consider Vonnegut my favorite novelist.
In moving from the 60's to the 90's--from the Beatles to "the new"--I wasn't completely ignoring "the now".
I liked The Police, Tom Petty, Joan Jett, among a few others.
Fast forward to about 2002, to Lincoln City OR, where I was a cashier in a Chevron Food Mart.
I was then about 57 or 58, and had a young (19 or 20) co-worker, a guy.
One day, we were hanging out waiting for customers, listening to the radio.
I told him I liked whatever song was then playing.
It was sung by Sheryl Crow, whom I knew nothing (or almost nothing) about.
So, similar to that 1964 blind date experience, I found myself in Astoria OR in a "CD" store searching out Sheryl Crow CD's.
I found her Central Park concert, where she played with several name musicians, among them the Dixie Chicks.
You guessed it!
Loving Crow (and about to eat it---so to speak! LOL), I ALSO then sought out the DC, and "found" their "Goodbye Earl", my favorite Chicks song to this day!
Speaking of "Earl", I'd also seen around that time the DC's video of that song, starring "NYPD Blue"'s Dennis Franz as Earl.
You guessed it again!
Since the show began in 1993, "NYPD Blue" had been my favorite TV show, with Franz my favorite actor!
See how all of that came together?
From "Blue" to Crow to the DC--boom, boom, BOOM!--and I'd moved 30 years into "the new".
BTW, that same guy told me I would "love" a group called Garbage!
I thought---a band called GARBAGE??!!
But again, I bought their first CD, and fell in love with Shirley and the gang!
In 2007, I found myself in jail for 4 months.
(The last time I'll ever spend behind bars!)
Anyway, seeing 120 days standing before my eyes, and not liking my "roomies" or the lousy movies they let us watch, I turned to my old standby, books, to save the day(s).
In those 120 days, I read 107 books!
Yes, that's correct--I said 107 books in 120 days!
(I'd kept a list of all of them!)
Since my selection was limited, I had to turn to "new" writers--ones I'd heard about (having worked 9 years in bookstores!), but hadn't read!
(Besides "cult" writers, I was also somewhat averse to "popular" writers, and "best sellers".)
Well, among those 107 books were titles by....
Janet Evanovich
Robert B Parker
John Sandford
J A Jance
Sue Grafton
Patricia Cornwell.....
and maybe 2 or 3 others!
Yes, I'd again "found" someone(s) "new", and loved them!
Well, let's bring this story to the present day!
Because I've AGAIN found some "new" to add to the "old".
And I have Netflix, Xfinity, Amazon, and Rolling Stone to thank for introducing us!
I have a habit of buying books and DVD's, but then taking weeks, even months, to get around to reading or watching them!
Same goes for my two magazine subs--Track and Field News, and Rolling Stone.
I sometimes have a backlog of several MONTHS of issues sitting around unread!
So one day recently, as I was working my way through the spring and summer months of RS's unread issues, I "found" their review of Courtney Barnett's CD "Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit".
Then I read their big article about her.
Yep, I went online to Amazon, and ordered that CD.
I got it, listened to it once, and Ms Barnett became an instant love affair!
(She's an Australian lesbian--outed, with a long-term partner--so my chances with her, however limited they were--dropped to ZERO!! LOL)
I then bought her "Double EP" CD, and love that one too!
I Googled her, and found FULL concerts of her on YouTube, and various short interviews---all of which I LOVE!
This, all in just the past few WEEKS!!
I own over 700 movies on DVD!
(Never liked to rent!)
But however varied--and great!--my private collection is, I want more!
Thus, my joining Netflix, taking them up on their 30 day free trial offer!
(I'll probably cancel before having to pay!!)
In just the past ONE WEEK, I've discovered two TV shows I'm adding to my list of All-Time Greats!
First came the Australian (sic!) "women in prison" drama called either "Wentworth" or "Wentworth Prison".
In the space of less than 3 days, I watched all 34 episodes from its 3 seasons of existence (2013-2015), with each episode running about 50 minutes!
One ep after another after another!
Each one "forcing" me to watch the next!
(Their 4th season begins next April!)
After "Wentworth", I still had 3 weeks left on my Free Trial!
So, having loved Jane Fonda in "Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding", I found her "Grace and Frankie" show, new this year, and a "Netflix Exclusive".
I've seen just the first 3 (of 13) episodes so far, but Sheesh!, I just started watching it TODAY!!
(Well, about 10-12 hours ago, just after midnight!)
You can safely bet I'll have the other 10 episodes gobbled up, like I plan to gobble up my turkey & trimmings Thanksgiving meal in a few days!
Another title/author/singer/ARTISTIC ENTITY to define my "new", always keeping the "old" (and once-upon-a-time NEW!) as my BFF!
How about you?
What (or whom!) is NEW in YOUR life?
Friday, September 18, 2015
This Writer's Changed World
Is it too late?
Is the WRITTEN word doomed?
(I ALL CAPPED "written" for a reason. Keep reading.)
I was late coming to computers.
July 2009, to be exact.
At age 65.
(I was also late coming to other "modern" techno products, but that's another story.)
Before entering (Quite reluctantly, I might add! Call me a Luddite!) the "computer age", I was a WRITER!
Yes, that means I used a BIC pen to place words & commas and such on pieces of lined notebook paper.
After a revision or two, I would then TYPE the final copy---on a TYPEWRITER, using 20 lb bond paper.
My favorite writer's quotation speaks to this.
Truman Capote was said to remark on Jack Kerouac's "On the Road"--"That's not writing! That's typing!".
And how close to the truth he was!
For Kerouac actually DID type his signature novel!
It's well known he typed the book in just a few days on a scroll of paper!
My Hero Bob Dylan also used a typewriter---a MANUAL one, no less!!--to write his "memoir" (Chronicles: Volume 1) a few years ago!
But I digress.
Isn't writing---writing---no matter the tools used?
A typewriter.
Pen or pencil.
Computer.
NO!
For over four decades, I wrote my poems, song lyrics, novels, essays, autobiographies, reviews and critiques using that aforementioned BIC and that cheap lined paper.
Only a few times---and then only as an experiment!---did I TYPE my first draft of whatever I was writing.
However, I found typing a first draft to make editing and revision difficult---and in a sense, redundant.
After all, my TYPED copies were normally my FINAL copies!
So I went back to my paper & pen.
Until July 2009.
Then I began putting words on my computer's screen---or monitor.
(Sort of ironic---IMO---that the computer keyboard is the same as the typewriter's!)
I had a printer, which later broke, so I removed it.
But I'm glad it broke, because I didn't like how my words looked on the paper.
Maybe it was my inability (or refusal!) to learn "computer technique"--meaning ways of making your words appear the same as they would coming off a typewriter.
Maybe it was just being used to how those words looked coming out of my Smith-Corona XL1900, a machine I'd been using for DECADES!
I just couldn't see computer-"written" words as WRITING!
The words didn't translate from mind to screen the same way they did from mind to pen & paper.
There seemed to be a deflector that caused my words to veer off course.
They'd not only LOOK different---they WERE different!
As Capote inferred about Kerouac, I was TYPING (but on a computer's keyboard, NOT a typewriter's!), not writing!
The "sound" was wrong.
The "flow" seemed dammed up!
The "rhythm" was off-key, atonal.
There also emerged a problem with continuity of theme or idea.
My concentration, my focus was off kilter.
For the past 6 years, I've "written" most (about 99%!!) of my works using my computer.
But unsatisfied with the appearance of my words on a monitor, I knew I couldn't leave them there.
(For one thing, what if my computer crashed? What if ALL computers crashed?)
Yes, I feared losing my (self-)valued "works of art"!
(Forget my refusal to learn ways to "save" computerized "writings!" See Luddite note above!)
One other misnomer when attempting to define words on a computer screen.
When are those words nothing more than the manic scribblings of a child who has yet to learn the alphabet, let alone any rules of grammar?
(Check out most blogs and Tweets---or writings on Facebook---and you'll find NUMEROUS spelling and grammatical errors! The use of "to" in place of "too", or "their" instead of "there", for example! It's rampant, like a PLAGUE!!)
Before beginning my blogs (Aaron K's Track and Field Record Book and this one, My Cultural World), most of my "writings" were merely comments on various websites, whether of a political, cultural, or sports-oriented nature.
I'd "post" my comments, or reply to another person's "post".
(That---"post"---is another word that was redefined in the Computer Age.)
Most of what I "posted" was drivel!
(Do NOT say a WORD!! I realize and accept that you might believe THIS is drivel!!)
Sometimes, it was one word.
Not to mention a whole other language--especially when I started on Twitter in April 2013.
(One example of how Twitter has messed up meanings is the use of "LOL". I've learned it means "laugh out loud"---OR---"lots of love". How the Hell is your recipient to know which one you meant??)
But I've found a solution!
Since I see MOST of what I "post" as being NOT-writing, I decided to NOT save most of it!
(Wait until the monkey types the Encyclopedia Britannica before copying anything he/she "writes" It's called "discretion"---or "taste".)
That which I deem "art"---or something RESEMBLING art!!--is copied (using my trusty----and CHEAP!!---BIC pens and CHEAP college-ruled lined notebook paper!) onto paper, THEN, after doing my needed revisions, is TYPED---using my refurbished Smith-Corona XL1900---onto my typing paper!
Then---and ONLY then!!---do I see my words as WRITING!!
(Same difference---sort of!---between reading a book that you hold in your hands---made of paper & such---and "reading" a book using "kindle" or listening to an "audio-book". If I were Capote, I'd probably say--"That's not READING! That's HEARING!")
I hope this "Computer Generation" realizes the difference between using a MACHINE to "write", and letting the words flow from your heart and brain using a simple instrument like a pen or pencil.
Imagine a painter trying to paint his landscapes or her portraits on a computer!
Van Gogh might have cut off BOTH ears if he'd lived in this era!!
Even with my strong editing process---and my strict rules of selection---I'm still dis-satisfied with my choice of what I've saved---and count as part of my oeuvre, my "collected works".
I compare my "pre-computer" writing to what came after, and they're two (almost!) entirely different animals!
It's like my writing entered a black hole, and coming out the other side, found itself in a whole different universe, with a whole different form of communication!
I wonder if any other "elders"--especially you fellow Luddites!---understand what I'm saying!
One probable result from this is that I haven't written any poems or song lyrics for many months--in fact, YEARS!!
(And I'd written a couple of THOUSAND of them prior to 2009!! The only ones I "wrote" since were on Skype, during my "cyber-relationship" with an Italian woman living in Texas (!!). They were just part of an on-going conversation we were having.)
Will kindle and computers and "text messaging" and such mark the end of libraries and archives where WRITTEN works are kept?
Not in MY world!
Not in MY apartment!
(Look around, and about HALF of what you see here are BOOKS and a 4-drawer file cabinet FILLED with my WRITTEN works!!)
You know what they say about money?
That it's not worth "the paper it's written on"?
Same with the SHIT that passes as "writing" in the Computer Age!
Alas.
Is the WRITTEN word doomed?
(I ALL CAPPED "written" for a reason. Keep reading.)
I was late coming to computers.
July 2009, to be exact.
At age 65.
(I was also late coming to other "modern" techno products, but that's another story.)
Before entering (Quite reluctantly, I might add! Call me a Luddite!) the "computer age", I was a WRITER!
Yes, that means I used a BIC pen to place words & commas and such on pieces of lined notebook paper.
After a revision or two, I would then TYPE the final copy---on a TYPEWRITER, using 20 lb bond paper.
My favorite writer's quotation speaks to this.
Truman Capote was said to remark on Jack Kerouac's "On the Road"--"That's not writing! That's typing!".
And how close to the truth he was!
For Kerouac actually DID type his signature novel!
It's well known he typed the book in just a few days on a scroll of paper!
My Hero Bob Dylan also used a typewriter---a MANUAL one, no less!!--to write his "memoir" (Chronicles: Volume 1) a few years ago!
But I digress.
Isn't writing---writing---no matter the tools used?
A typewriter.
Pen or pencil.
Computer.
NO!
For over four decades, I wrote my poems, song lyrics, novels, essays, autobiographies, reviews and critiques using that aforementioned BIC and that cheap lined paper.
Only a few times---and then only as an experiment!---did I TYPE my first draft of whatever I was writing.
However, I found typing a first draft to make editing and revision difficult---and in a sense, redundant.
After all, my TYPED copies were normally my FINAL copies!
So I went back to my paper & pen.
Until July 2009.
Then I began putting words on my computer's screen---or monitor.
(Sort of ironic---IMO---that the computer keyboard is the same as the typewriter's!)
I had a printer, which later broke, so I removed it.
But I'm glad it broke, because I didn't like how my words looked on the paper.
Maybe it was my inability (or refusal!) to learn "computer technique"--meaning ways of making your words appear the same as they would coming off a typewriter.
Maybe it was just being used to how those words looked coming out of my Smith-Corona XL1900, a machine I'd been using for DECADES!
I just couldn't see computer-"written" words as WRITING!
The words didn't translate from mind to screen the same way they did from mind to pen & paper.
There seemed to be a deflector that caused my words to veer off course.
They'd not only LOOK different---they WERE different!
As Capote inferred about Kerouac, I was TYPING (but on a computer's keyboard, NOT a typewriter's!), not writing!
The "sound" was wrong.
The "flow" seemed dammed up!
The "rhythm" was off-key, atonal.
There also emerged a problem with continuity of theme or idea.
My concentration, my focus was off kilter.
For the past 6 years, I've "written" most (about 99%!!) of my works using my computer.
But unsatisfied with the appearance of my words on a monitor, I knew I couldn't leave them there.
(For one thing, what if my computer crashed? What if ALL computers crashed?)
Yes, I feared losing my (self-)valued "works of art"!
(Forget my refusal to learn ways to "save" computerized "writings!" See Luddite note above!)
One other misnomer when attempting to define words on a computer screen.
When are those words nothing more than the manic scribblings of a child who has yet to learn the alphabet, let alone any rules of grammar?
(Check out most blogs and Tweets---or writings on Facebook---and you'll find NUMEROUS spelling and grammatical errors! The use of "to" in place of "too", or "their" instead of "there", for example! It's rampant, like a PLAGUE!!)
Before beginning my blogs (Aaron K's Track and Field Record Book and this one, My Cultural World), most of my "writings" were merely comments on various websites, whether of a political, cultural, or sports-oriented nature.
I'd "post" my comments, or reply to another person's "post".
(That---"post"---is another word that was redefined in the Computer Age.)
Most of what I "posted" was drivel!
(Do NOT say a WORD!! I realize and accept that you might believe THIS is drivel!!)
Sometimes, it was one word.
Not to mention a whole other language--especially when I started on Twitter in April 2013.
(One example of how Twitter has messed up meanings is the use of "LOL". I've learned it means "laugh out loud"---OR---"lots of love". How the Hell is your recipient to know which one you meant??)
But I've found a solution!
Since I see MOST of what I "post" as being NOT-writing, I decided to NOT save most of it!
(Wait until the monkey types the Encyclopedia Britannica before copying anything he/she "writes" It's called "discretion"---or "taste".)
That which I deem "art"---or something RESEMBLING art!!--is copied (using my trusty----and CHEAP!!---BIC pens and CHEAP college-ruled lined notebook paper!) onto paper, THEN, after doing my needed revisions, is TYPED---using my refurbished Smith-Corona XL1900---onto my typing paper!
Then---and ONLY then!!---do I see my words as WRITING!!
(Same difference---sort of!---between reading a book that you hold in your hands---made of paper & such---and "reading" a book using "kindle" or listening to an "audio-book". If I were Capote, I'd probably say--"That's not READING! That's HEARING!")
I hope this "Computer Generation" realizes the difference between using a MACHINE to "write", and letting the words flow from your heart and brain using a simple instrument like a pen or pencil.
Imagine a painter trying to paint his landscapes or her portraits on a computer!
Van Gogh might have cut off BOTH ears if he'd lived in this era!!
Even with my strong editing process---and my strict rules of selection---I'm still dis-satisfied with my choice of what I've saved---and count as part of my oeuvre, my "collected works".
I compare my "pre-computer" writing to what came after, and they're two (almost!) entirely different animals!
It's like my writing entered a black hole, and coming out the other side, found itself in a whole different universe, with a whole different form of communication!
I wonder if any other "elders"--especially you fellow Luddites!---understand what I'm saying!
One probable result from this is that I haven't written any poems or song lyrics for many months--in fact, YEARS!!
(And I'd written a couple of THOUSAND of them prior to 2009!! The only ones I "wrote" since were on Skype, during my "cyber-relationship" with an Italian woman living in Texas (!!). They were just part of an on-going conversation we were having.)
Will kindle and computers and "text messaging" and such mark the end of libraries and archives where WRITTEN works are kept?
Not in MY world!
Not in MY apartment!
(Look around, and about HALF of what you see here are BOOKS and a 4-drawer file cabinet FILLED with my WRITTEN works!!)
You know what they say about money?
That it's not worth "the paper it's written on"?
Same with the SHIT that passes as "writing" in the Computer Age!
Alas.
Monday, September 7, 2015
Evoking Emotions
I'm what people call a "heart on sleeve" man.
You know the type--they LOVE Lifetime Channel movies, seek out "tear-jerker" novels, and weep just THINKING about a movie they've seen or a book they've read.
I've always loved Vincent Van Gogh's art.
But upon reading several biographies about him, and then reading his collection of Letters to Theo (his brother), I came to FEEL for Vincent the MAN, the PERSON, the SOUL!
I had a girlfriend in the late 70's--an excellent, serious, and successful artist in her own right--who also loved Van Gogh.
She told me of the time she went to Europe, and saw her first VG painting in person!
She reported having wept for 10 minutes just standing before this great work, mesmerized!
I'm now a lonely old man.
My last girlfriend and I split up over 9 years ago.
(Though I had a VERY interesting "Skype affair" since then that lasted almost 2 years (!!), and involved LOTS of "cyber-sex" and even "words of love". POSSIBLY a post about THAT in the future??)
Anyway, sad to say, my only "involvement" with others (except for casual "Hi, how are you, the weather is....!"-type conversations) is with characters in novels and movies.
But maybe those intimate connections shouldn't be blamed on a lack of "the real thing" in my physical existence.
After all, I've ALWAYS felt this connection with the novels & movies I've immersed myself in!
Ask anyone who's gone to a movie with me---I am 100% involved in that movie--with or without anyone sitting beside me!
Same with a book.
When reading, the rest of the world could disappear, and it wouldn't matter!
Okay, just a WEE bit hyperbolic!!
But you get the picture!
Who ARE these characters, and WHAT is their story--that raw deep feelings emerge through their voice or their image?
Why do I cry because a make-believe person is going through something traumatic in their lives?
Why do I fear for their lives when I see that villain out to kill them?
Why do I care that an abused woman or child finds safety in a shelter or in the sheltering arms of a gentle nice new love?
Sure, it probably takes the ability---and the WILLINGNESS!!--to leave "reality" behind and to dive into the "story" being told.
Most people probably don't become so involved.
They can watch a horror movie and not be scared.
They can read a romantic novel and think only that this match was NOT made in Heaven!!
Why are THOSE people allowed to be entertained by these fictional life tales--without wanting to SAVE the person in danger from harm, or without wanting to offer HIS love to that woman so much in need of a warm hug?
Why can't I just sit there and ENJOY the book or movie--without needing a napkin to wipe my tears away---or even feeling a bit SILLY sitting there CRYING because a FICTIONAL CHARACTER was having a bad day??
I mean, Jeez!!
Of course, seriously, it has to do with the author, or the actors (or a combination of actors & director, etc) being so great and in control of their craft that they evoke these emotions from their audience.
It's not how they place words in a sentence, or images on a screen.
It's not whether the story is "based on a true story" or not.
It's not even on whether YOU are susceptible to the manipulations of the writer or creator of this work of art.
Did Van Gogh ever cry at another's paintings?
(Based on Kirk Douglas's hammy portrait of VG in "Lust for Life", I'd say YES!)
Why did my ex-lover weep standing before one of his paintings?
Why do I cry while reading a Nicholas Sparks novel, or watching a movie based on his books?
Does HE cry while writing such a tome?
The "ability" to FEEL---to have every emotion evoked by a fictional work of art--comes from many places--for several different reasons.
Sure, "craft" has something to do with it.
After all, another novel or film telling the SAME story can leave you cold and tearless.
The images of the facial expressions---especially the eyes, or the quivering jawline--can bring these emotions FROM them TO you!!
Having experienced something similar to their tale in your own life can contribute to such deep involvement!
Especially those rare times you truly believe that THIS book was written about YOU---or FOR you!!
(I've thought that a lot while listening to Bob Dylan!!)
And sure, some of it is just "wish fulfillment"--the living out of a dream or fantasy.
You really BECOME that Detective who always saves the day!
You ARE that friend who tenderly consoles the grieving new widow--and winds up sleeping with her a few hours after she's buried her ex!
But you know what?
I LOVE feelings and emotions being evoked from mere words on a page or connected images in a two hour movie.
I sometimes have asked friends WHY I have to FEEL so much, when life would be so much easier if I could just shovel a movie or book in and out of my life like so much dirt in a field!
No, my friends.
I wouldn't have it any other way!
"The ghost of 'lectricity HOWLS in the bones of her face---where these Visions of Johanna have now taken her place!"
Bob Dylan, from Visions of Johanna
You know the type--they LOVE Lifetime Channel movies, seek out "tear-jerker" novels, and weep just THINKING about a movie they've seen or a book they've read.
I've always loved Vincent Van Gogh's art.
But upon reading several biographies about him, and then reading his collection of Letters to Theo (his brother), I came to FEEL for Vincent the MAN, the PERSON, the SOUL!
I had a girlfriend in the late 70's--an excellent, serious, and successful artist in her own right--who also loved Van Gogh.
She told me of the time she went to Europe, and saw her first VG painting in person!
She reported having wept for 10 minutes just standing before this great work, mesmerized!
I'm now a lonely old man.
My last girlfriend and I split up over 9 years ago.
(Though I had a VERY interesting "Skype affair" since then that lasted almost 2 years (!!), and involved LOTS of "cyber-sex" and even "words of love". POSSIBLY a post about THAT in the future??)
Anyway, sad to say, my only "involvement" with others (except for casual "Hi, how are you, the weather is....!"-type conversations) is with characters in novels and movies.
But maybe those intimate connections shouldn't be blamed on a lack of "the real thing" in my physical existence.
After all, I've ALWAYS felt this connection with the novels & movies I've immersed myself in!
Ask anyone who's gone to a movie with me---I am 100% involved in that movie--with or without anyone sitting beside me!
Same with a book.
When reading, the rest of the world could disappear, and it wouldn't matter!
Okay, just a WEE bit hyperbolic!!
But you get the picture!
Who ARE these characters, and WHAT is their story--that raw deep feelings emerge through their voice or their image?
Why do I cry because a make-believe person is going through something traumatic in their lives?
Why do I fear for their lives when I see that villain out to kill them?
Why do I care that an abused woman or child finds safety in a shelter or in the sheltering arms of a gentle nice new love?
Sure, it probably takes the ability---and the WILLINGNESS!!--to leave "reality" behind and to dive into the "story" being told.
Most people probably don't become so involved.
They can watch a horror movie and not be scared.
They can read a romantic novel and think only that this match was NOT made in Heaven!!
Why are THOSE people allowed to be entertained by these fictional life tales--without wanting to SAVE the person in danger from harm, or without wanting to offer HIS love to that woman so much in need of a warm hug?
Why can't I just sit there and ENJOY the book or movie--without needing a napkin to wipe my tears away---or even feeling a bit SILLY sitting there CRYING because a FICTIONAL CHARACTER was having a bad day??
I mean, Jeez!!
Of course, seriously, it has to do with the author, or the actors (or a combination of actors & director, etc) being so great and in control of their craft that they evoke these emotions from their audience.
It's not how they place words in a sentence, or images on a screen.
It's not whether the story is "based on a true story" or not.
It's not even on whether YOU are susceptible to the manipulations of the writer or creator of this work of art.
Did Van Gogh ever cry at another's paintings?
(Based on Kirk Douglas's hammy portrait of VG in "Lust for Life", I'd say YES!)
Why did my ex-lover weep standing before one of his paintings?
Why do I cry while reading a Nicholas Sparks novel, or watching a movie based on his books?
Does HE cry while writing such a tome?
The "ability" to FEEL---to have every emotion evoked by a fictional work of art--comes from many places--for several different reasons.
Sure, "craft" has something to do with it.
After all, another novel or film telling the SAME story can leave you cold and tearless.
The images of the facial expressions---especially the eyes, or the quivering jawline--can bring these emotions FROM them TO you!!
Having experienced something similar to their tale in your own life can contribute to such deep involvement!
Especially those rare times you truly believe that THIS book was written about YOU---or FOR you!!
(I've thought that a lot while listening to Bob Dylan!!)
And sure, some of it is just "wish fulfillment"--the living out of a dream or fantasy.
You really BECOME that Detective who always saves the day!
You ARE that friend who tenderly consoles the grieving new widow--and winds up sleeping with her a few hours after she's buried her ex!
But you know what?
I LOVE feelings and emotions being evoked from mere words on a page or connected images in a two hour movie.
I sometimes have asked friends WHY I have to FEEL so much, when life would be so much easier if I could just shovel a movie or book in and out of my life like so much dirt in a field!
No, my friends.
I wouldn't have it any other way!
"The ghost of 'lectricity HOWLS in the bones of her face---where these Visions of Johanna have now taken her place!"
Bob Dylan, from Visions of Johanna
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