The Boston Celtics have made it to the NBA finals for the first time since 1987. 21 years ago, the Celtics lost to the Lakers, one of the biggest sports rivalries of the 1980s.
21 years ago (at this time), I had been married for less than a year. My wife and I moved from Georgia to Maine 21 years ago, and it would be another six years before we started reproducing.
21 years ago, I was 26 years old and had hair.
One newspaper story states: "Boston got past an old nemesis to set up a matchup with another rival." The Detroit Pistons were an old nemesis from over twenty years ago. But back then they had Bill Laimbeer, Isiah Thomas and Dennis Rodman. The Pistons of today don't exude one-one hundredth of the "badness" that those guys did.
Then again, the Celtics of today have a Big 3, but something doesn't seem right to place that moniker on Garnett, Pierce and Allen. As much as they may be a Big 3, they aren't THE Big 3, if you know what I mean. In fact, I would daresay, there'll never ever be a trio like Bird, McHale and Parrish in the history of basketball again.
Yeah, it's the newsies trying to gin up comparative excitement. I don't think it's necessary, though. The NBA was magic back in the 80s for what it brought in terms of talent and entertainment. Now it seems to be resurging a bit from its hip-hop, grunge 90s image, and the new-look Celtics have caused people to notice it again.
Good luck 2008 Celtics. You don't need to worry about the brand legacy. Create your own.
On another note:
Apparently Susan Sarandon has stated that if McCain is elected President, she will move to Italy or Canada.
Didn't she say something very similar when Bush was running back in 2004?
Hey Susan - your credibility is showing! lol
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Is It Too Much to Ask?
Can we, as a culture, just stop saying the combo word "ginormous" right now? It's not funny; it's not cute. I don't even think it's particularly descriptive.
Am I wrong here?
Also, can we ban normal retail commercials where the spokesman in the ad at the end says, "I'm so and so, and I approved this message."? It's annoying enough to have to hear it in political ads.
Am I wrong here?
Also, can we ban normal retail commercials where the spokesman in the ad at the end says, "I'm so and so, and I approved this message."? It's annoying enough to have to hear it in political ads.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The AI Finals
First song:
Clive Davis Pick
Second Song
Songwriters Contest
Third Song
Personal Choice
Because of this mindless love for "Imagine" Archie probably won the round. I would have picked DC though. His performance was artistry. Archie's was schmaltz.
So in my world the score ends up David Cook 2, David Archuleta 1.
But I've always preferred art over teenage marketability. Guess that's why I'm not rich.
Clive Davis Pick
- David Cook - “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by U2
- David Archuleta - “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” by Elton John
Second Song
Songwriters Contest
- David Cook - “Dream Big”
- David Archuleta - “In This Moment”
Third Song
Personal Choice
- David Cook - “The World I Know” by Collective Soul
- David Archuleta - “Imagine” by John Lennon
Because of this mindless love for "Imagine" Archie probably won the round. I would have picked DC though. His performance was artistry. Archie's was schmaltz.
So in my world the score ends up David Cook 2, David Archuleta 1.
But I've always preferred art over teenage marketability. Guess that's why I'm not rich.
Friday, May 16, 2008
What Could be Done?
American Idol has slipped in the ratings. It's not drawing the same amount of people it has in the past. For its time slot, it still usually leads, however, the decline has been noticed and commented on ad nauseum (sometimes with hand-rubbing glee).
Part of this has to be attributable to being in its 7th season. The bloom is off the rose, so to speak. It has reached saturation and is going through the natural evolution of a show that has run for multiple years. I assume (I don't really know) that Survivor probably doesn't draw like it used to. But these reality shows are so inexpensive to make (relative to other shows) that CBS is still able to make money from it despite the drop in ratings.
That's ultimately what keeps a show running - if it makes money.
One of the other problems with AI, as far as I can see, is that it has become all too predictable. Even if the judges' comments aren't scripted, they often give the appearance of being so. And it seems like they try to shape the 'contest' to go in a specific direction. This year's example would be the final David vs. David face-off.
I think it's time to retool Idol.
I think it's time to turn it into a singing competition instead of a popularity contest.
Here's a few ideas as to what sort of changes I'd like to see.
1. When it gets down to the final 6-8 (or maybe even 10?), the participants should sing the ENTIRE song - not a 90 second snippet. Or at least they should be limited to 3 minutes (this will prevent someone from singing a 10-minute song, but still give sufficient time to build to a climax.
2. The results show needs to go. It's 95% fluff with only 5% of what we want to see. I did not watch any results show beyond the top 10 this year because I am sick to death of Ford videos, group sings, special guest star sings and so on. I just want to know who stays and who goes.
3. The top 6 should have to face off against each other in a steel cage death match. Bo staff optional.
4. There should only be one vote per person. No speed dialing, no multiple text messaging. Then we will actually see that only 100 people are voting each time - not the 300 million they continue to claim.
These are a few ideas. I'm sure that others have many more. Feel free to submit them in comments.
Part of this has to be attributable to being in its 7th season. The bloom is off the rose, so to speak. It has reached saturation and is going through the natural evolution of a show that has run for multiple years. I assume (I don't really know) that Survivor probably doesn't draw like it used to. But these reality shows are so inexpensive to make (relative to other shows) that CBS is still able to make money from it despite the drop in ratings.
That's ultimately what keeps a show running - if it makes money.
One of the other problems with AI, as far as I can see, is that it has become all too predictable. Even if the judges' comments aren't scripted, they often give the appearance of being so. And it seems like they try to shape the 'contest' to go in a specific direction. This year's example would be the final David vs. David face-off.
I think it's time to retool Idol.
I think it's time to turn it into a singing competition instead of a popularity contest.
Here's a few ideas as to what sort of changes I'd like to see.
1. When it gets down to the final 6-8 (or maybe even 10?), the participants should sing the ENTIRE song - not a 90 second snippet. Or at least they should be limited to 3 minutes (this will prevent someone from singing a 10-minute song, but still give sufficient time to build to a climax.
2. The results show needs to go. It's 95% fluff with only 5% of what we want to see. I did not watch any results show beyond the top 10 this year because I am sick to death of Ford videos, group sings, special guest star sings and so on. I just want to know who stays and who goes.
3. The top 6 should have to face off against each other in a steel cage death match. Bo staff optional.
4. There should only be one vote per person. No speed dialing, no multiple text messaging. Then we will actually see that only 100 people are voting each time - not the 300 million they continue to claim.
These are a few ideas. I'm sure that others have many more. Feel free to submit them in comments.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Redirect - Jason Fans, Enjoy
I can't be much of a blogger if I keep posting what other people write, eh? However, I really enjoyed this article. It made me wish I'd written it. It's written by Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times.
Jason Castro rides off with the fun parade
The question hangs in the air: is “Idol” working? Or do dropping ratings and the strange enervation of the show’s Final Four contenders suggest that it has lost the potential to tap into pop’s fundamental pheromone, cited again and again by exhausted Idol strivers as a goal: simple, fleeting fun?
Jason Castro had more fun than any other contestant has managed in weeks, doing his hippie dance as he romped through “I Shot the Sheriff” after being eliminated. Good for him for reprising a song the judges clearly thought was inappropriate -- a song he obviously loved, and actually sang fairly competently, whatever the panel says.
Think about “I Shot the Sheriff” for a minute. A huge crossover hit for Eric Clapton in 1974, the song definitely sounded more Marley-esque in Castro’s hands. Its lyric is about killing a police officer; its rhythms evoke the off-kilter, skanky reggae of the late Jamaican master’s most revolutionary songs. This choice was way edgier than David Cook’s post-Stone Temple Pilots reworkings of R&B.
Had Castro chosen a more conciliatory Marley song, like “No Woman, No Cry” (also on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll) Syesha might have departed before he did. But the good-natured nonconformist, apparently already sensing doom, chose to put his own pleasure first. His loosey-goosey rendition offered an exceedingly rare “Idol” sighting: the kind of spontaneity musicians actually conjure when playing live nearly anywhere but a television studio.
I wanted Jason to be eliminated, because I thought his super-sleepy energy was damping the fire of his more vocally gifted and showmanlike competitors. Now I’m not so sure. There’s something wrong up there: David Cook seems truly drained, David Archuleta’s melismatic runs grow more extreme as his anxiety visibly mounts, and Syesha Mercado is so desperate to figure out why she’s special that she’s taken to embarrassing herself with sweeping declarations about her “Idol” journey’s relationship to the slightly more momentous contest taking place on the primary circuit.
A quick defense of Syesha: I know some people were horrified that she turned the civil rights anthem “A Change Is Gonna Come” into a vehicle for self-aggrandizement. She didn’t make her comparison tactfully, but she’s not the only entertainer to relate personal success to the larger matter of uplifting the race.
Kanye West’s notorious line in the song “Good Morning” –- “I’m like the fly Malcolm X, buy any jeans necessary” –- may or may not have been a joke, but Mary J. Blige was dead serious when she told “Blender" magazine, “My God wants me to bling.” And I’ll bet Halle Berry’s emotional Academy Awards’ speech upon becoming the first African-American to win Best Actress was somewhere in the back of Syesha’s mind when she made her comments.
Of course, Syesha’s hardly the first non-white woman to do well on “Idol.” But she stands alone in that category now. This year’s wide range of personalities could be one reason for the current aura of melancholy –- as their numbers dwindle, each hopeful seems more isolated within his or her niche.
Previous seasons had variety, but there was a sense that the Idols were learning from each other, or at least enjoying friendly rivalries. Now, each fits into a slot so particular that it’s hard to see how they even relate. What can Cook, a grown man who even tried (vainly) to inject some sex into the show this week with a growly “Hungry Like the Wolf,” really have to say to the virginal Archuleta? Can Syesha, whose charisma has unfurled alongside a disturbingly ruthless pageant-queen personality, stand to be around either of them, or is Cookie too grimy and Archie too naïve?
The “Idols” have to love each other for the show’s formula to work. They have to project real glee when they joke around in those silly Ford commercials, and cry in each other’s arms when Ryan gives one the ax. Without camaraderie –- without some whiff of fun, even in the hardest moments -- “Idol” no longer feels like an agent of magical transformation. It feels like an endless casting call.
No one wants to watch careerist kids fighting to be become pawns in a dying music industry. If the last few episodes of this season continue to sink in that direction, it will end in a sad finale, no matter who wins. Come on, Final Three. Bring back the fun. Keep that bit of Jason Castro’s spirit with you.
- Ann Powers
(photo courtesy of Fox)
Jason Castro rides off with the fun parade
The question hangs in the air: is “Idol” working? Or do dropping ratings and the strange enervation of the show’s Final Four contenders suggest that it has lost the potential to tap into pop’s fundamental pheromone, cited again and again by exhausted Idol strivers as a goal: simple, fleeting fun?
Jason Castro had more fun than any other contestant has managed in weeks, doing his hippie dance as he romped through “I Shot the Sheriff” after being eliminated. Good for him for reprising a song the judges clearly thought was inappropriate -- a song he obviously loved, and actually sang fairly competently, whatever the panel says.
Think about “I Shot the Sheriff” for a minute. A huge crossover hit for Eric Clapton in 1974, the song definitely sounded more Marley-esque in Castro’s hands. Its lyric is about killing a police officer; its rhythms evoke the off-kilter, skanky reggae of the late Jamaican master’s most revolutionary songs. This choice was way edgier than David Cook’s post-Stone Temple Pilots reworkings of R&B.
Had Castro chosen a more conciliatory Marley song, like “No Woman, No Cry” (also on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll) Syesha might have departed before he did. But the good-natured nonconformist, apparently already sensing doom, chose to put his own pleasure first. His loosey-goosey rendition offered an exceedingly rare “Idol” sighting: the kind of spontaneity musicians actually conjure when playing live nearly anywhere but a television studio.
I wanted Jason to be eliminated, because I thought his super-sleepy energy was damping the fire of his more vocally gifted and showmanlike competitors. Now I’m not so sure. There’s something wrong up there: David Cook seems truly drained, David Archuleta’s melismatic runs grow more extreme as his anxiety visibly mounts, and Syesha Mercado is so desperate to figure out why she’s special that she’s taken to embarrassing herself with sweeping declarations about her “Idol” journey’s relationship to the slightly more momentous contest taking place on the primary circuit.
A quick defense of Syesha: I know some people were horrified that she turned the civil rights anthem “A Change Is Gonna Come” into a vehicle for self-aggrandizement. She didn’t make her comparison tactfully, but she’s not the only entertainer to relate personal success to the larger matter of uplifting the race.
Kanye West’s notorious line in the song “Good Morning” –- “I’m like the fly Malcolm X, buy any jeans necessary” –- may or may not have been a joke, but Mary J. Blige was dead serious when she told “Blender" magazine, “My God wants me to bling.” And I’ll bet Halle Berry’s emotional Academy Awards’ speech upon becoming the first African-American to win Best Actress was somewhere in the back of Syesha’s mind when she made her comments.
Of course, Syesha’s hardly the first non-white woman to do well on “Idol.” But she stands alone in that category now. This year’s wide range of personalities could be one reason for the current aura of melancholy –- as their numbers dwindle, each hopeful seems more isolated within his or her niche.
Previous seasons had variety, but there was a sense that the Idols were learning from each other, or at least enjoying friendly rivalries. Now, each fits into a slot so particular that it’s hard to see how they even relate. What can Cook, a grown man who even tried (vainly) to inject some sex into the show this week with a growly “Hungry Like the Wolf,” really have to say to the virginal Archuleta? Can Syesha, whose charisma has unfurled alongside a disturbingly ruthless pageant-queen personality, stand to be around either of them, or is Cookie too grimy and Archie too naïve?
The “Idols” have to love each other for the show’s formula to work. They have to project real glee when they joke around in those silly Ford commercials, and cry in each other’s arms when Ryan gives one the ax. Without camaraderie –- without some whiff of fun, even in the hardest moments -- “Idol” no longer feels like an agent of magical transformation. It feels like an endless casting call.
No one wants to watch careerist kids fighting to be become pawns in a dying music industry. If the last few episodes of this season continue to sink in that direction, it will end in a sad finale, no matter who wins. Come on, Final Three. Bring back the fun. Keep that bit of Jason Castro’s spirit with you.
- Ann Powers
(photo courtesy of Fox)
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Idol Wrap - Wednesday Night
I don't want to go into any specific comments with regards to particular singers and songs. However, I do have to say that the judges seem to be following some sort of scripted(?) path to carry Archuleta to the finals. I don't know why, but he just didn't deserve the magnanimous amounts of praise heaped on him.
He wasn't bad, but he wasn't THAT good.
I think Jason looked and sounded better during dress rehearsal than the live performance. Syesha did a really nice job, both songs.
And David Cook was David Cook.
With the show creating David Archuleta as some sort of strange standard-bearer, I find my interest levels dropping in the whole process. Next week, when it's only Cook, Mercado and Archuleta, I'm going to be hard pressed to think of a reason to tune in.
But I probably will anyway.
He wasn't bad, but he wasn't THAT good.
I think Jason looked and sounded better during dress rehearsal than the live performance. Syesha did a really nice job, both songs.
And David Cook was David Cook.
With the show creating David Archuleta as some sort of strange standard-bearer, I find my interest levels dropping in the whole process. Next week, when it's only Cook, Mercado and Archuleta, I'm going to be hard pressed to think of a reason to tune in.
But I probably will anyway.
500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll
This is the list that the AI contestants have to choose from this week:
500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll
They pick two from the list. Which direction do you think they'll go in?
Jason - The Weight by The Band?
David C - London Calling by The Clash?
David A - Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel?
Syesha - Respect by Aretha?
Tune in and find out.
AND HERE ARE THE SPOILERS:
500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll
They pick two from the list. Which direction do you think they'll go in?
Jason - The Weight by The Band?
David C - London Calling by The Clash?
David A - Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel?
Syesha - Respect by Aretha?
Tune in and find out.
AND HERE ARE THE SPOILERS:
Performance Order! From Carie
- David Cook - “Hungry Like the Wolf” by Duran Duran
- Syesha Mercado - “Proud Mary” by Ike and Tina Turner
- Jason Castro - “I Shot the Sheriff” by Bob Marley
- David Archuleta- “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King
- David Cook - “Baba O’Riley” by The Who
- Syesha Mercado - “Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke
- Jason Castro - “Mr. Tambourine Man” by Bob Dylan
- David Archuleta - “Love Me Tender” by Elvis Presley
Thursday, May 1, 2008
You Gotta Love Jason Castro
This is a quote from Entertainment Weekly:
If these quotes are true, then I would say to him - "Be true to your vision of yourself. If the mantle of American Idol with all its kowtows and requirements doesn't fit within that vision, then enjoy the run while it lasts and learn something from it. Then you can seek out the venue that best expresses you and your art."
That's what I think is going on with Jason. God bless you, man.
I've said it before, I'll say it again. I like Jason. He seems to me to be a guy who just wants to do music and forget show business. Know what I mean?He made it through Paulagate 2008, but is American Idol’s Jason Castro ready to call it quits? EW’s Jessica Shaw was on the scene as the Idols rehearsed for Neil Diamond week (read her “Why Song Selection Matters” feature in the issue out Friday) and spoke with Castro on Monday afternoon: “I’ll get around to practicing,” he promised her, after noting that his brother and a friend had visited over the weekend and that his Saturday meeting with Diamond had gone “really bad” because he didn’t yet know his songs. “What happens happens. I’ll sing and if people like it, they like it. And if they don’t, they don’t. I’m kind of ready to go home.”
You’re kind of ready to walk off America’s biggest stage???
“It’s been overwhelming,” Castro continued. “I got 150 balloons yesterday delivered to the studio because people heard I was sick last week. That’s cool, but that’s just weird.”
If these quotes are true, then I would say to him - "Be true to your vision of yourself. If the mantle of American Idol with all its kowtows and requirements doesn't fit within that vision, then enjoy the run while it lasts and learn something from it. Then you can seek out the venue that best expresses you and your art."
That's what I think is going on with Jason. God bless you, man.
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