tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52094713575211503092024-03-05T02:33:21.341-07:00In Case You Were Wondering...Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.comBlogger123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-14898466690734688292012-03-13T22:43:00.000-06:002012-03-13T23:15:46.390-06:0098. The Birdcage (1996)<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">When I was
doing the essays on the Top 100 Songs of My Lifetime, one of my arbitrary
“rules” was that I didn’t want to pick a song that was a cover, meaning an
artist covering another artist’s song.
Two songs, however, were so good that even with that rule; they made it
on my list. With movies, it wasn’t
really a consideration for me, because most remakes are pretty different from
the movies that inspired them. For #98
on my list, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Birdcage</i>, that’s not
really true.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Birdcage</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> is based on the 1978 French film, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La Cage Aux Folles</i>, and is very faithful
to the original. For me, that makes it
much more like a cover than a normal Hollywood remake, like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Departed</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ocean’s Eleven</i>. And much
like Van Halen’s cover of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” is far superior to the
original, so <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Birdcage </i>is superior
to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La Cage Aux Folles</i>. I know the arty folk out there will throw hot
espresso at me for blaspheming <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La Cage
Aux Folles</i>, and think that I’m just some dumb American who would rather have
chicken fried steak than bœuf </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">bourguignon</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">. But don’t worry, I’ll tell you why they’re
wrong, all the while munching on a chocolate chip cookie dough pop tart.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Don’t get
me wrong – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La Cage Aux Folles</i> is a
good movie. It’s quite funny and over
the top and it was groundbreaking in 1978.
The first time I saw it, I was fifteen years old and it was 1985. I was trying to broaden my horizons and see
movies that were outside of the Hollywood blockbuster box. </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I felt so cultured watching it. It was French! It had subtitles! So when I heard that they were remaking it, I was terrified that this would be a sucky Americanization of it. <i>The Birdcage</i> is definitely an Americanization of the original, but it’s not sucky. It turned out to be even better.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
Birdcage </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">was directed by Mike Nichols, a
man who started out his career as a comedian best known for his improv work with Elaine May. You say the word improv today and everyone
knows what you’re talking about. But May
& Nichols were doing this in the late fifties and early sixties, when
comedic improvisation was something brand new.
They were at the forefront of the movement that would give us Second
City, SCTV and The Groundlings. </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">To show that comedy teams are no
different than musicians, there eventually came a split. Elaine wanted to improvise more – that’s
where she had the most fun and thought they could have the most influence. Mike wanted to craft things they had already
done, honing them to a final perfect performance that could be replicated. That desire to craft performances led to his
becoming a very popular Broadway theater director. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">Nichols then made the natural
transition to film director. He’s been
very successful, with five Academy Award nominations and one win (1967’s </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Graduate</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">). </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> and </span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Graduate </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">were his first two movies. He took what could’ve been the distraction of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and turned it into a fiery pair of performances in <i>Woolf </i>(which won Liz an Oscar). <i>The Graduate</i> is a movie that can still speak to audiences today. The themes- uncertainty about the future, willingness to take risks and the distrust (bordering on disdain) of authority, will ring as true to a twenty-three year-old today, just as much as they did to that 23 year-old’s father in 1967.</span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">
She had a hit & mostly miss career as a film director herself (her
biggest miss would probably that she wrote and directed </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Ishtar*</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">). In between her directorial
efforts, she was a script doctor back in the days when that was seen as a bad
thing. She honed the screenplays to, among others, </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Reds, Tootsie, </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">and</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">
Scrooged.</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">
The pair hadn’t worked together for thirty years until they finally
reunited for </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
Birdcage</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">While it’s
a faithful remake of the French original, Elaine May goes all Muhammad Ali with her script,
assaulting us with powerful combinations of punch lines. I see the humor of the original as a
sparring match; many of the jokes are telegraphed or rushed into. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Birdcage</i>, it’s a heavyweight bout of laughs. She wants you to laugh so hard it hurts, and
she succeeds. Case in point: in the original, the Albert character is
taught how to be more manly by mimicking the walk of the ultimate man’s man,
John Wayne. That’s funny in its own
right, but Lane and Williams add even more humor when Albert comes back after his John Wayne walk
and says, “No good?” To which Armand replies, “Actually, it’s
perfect. I just never realized John
Wayne walked like that.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">There are
a few moments in the original where for some reason Nichols and May left comedic
gold in the mine. When Senator Keeley is
talking about his colleague dying after visiting with a prostitute, he blurts
it out. In the original, it’s far
funnier when Simon Charrier delivers the lines in an almost deadpan. “She was a prostitute…… and a minor……
and black.” You see him visibly
deflate as he utters each couplet. It’s
a far funnier delivery. Then again, if
Hackman had delivered it the same way, Nichols would’ve been slammed for his
blatant copying of the original. I
guess you can’t win for losing.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">What brought it all together,
though, and what makes </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
Birdcage </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">one of the Top 100 Movies of My
Lifetime, is the cast. May crafted a
brilliant script, but somebody had to </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">say</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;"> all of those brilliant words –
and say them just right. </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It’s not coincidence that the Sister
Sledge song “We Are Family” is the defacto theme song for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Birdcage</i>. The themes of
the song are echoed in the themes of the film, and even the production. Ensemble, the French word for together, is
apt for the gathering of actors that Mike Nichols gathered for the film. Here’s what he had to say:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It's the only time in my life that I
haven't thought, 'Well, this one character, I should have gotten so-and-so.' It
was exactly the actors who should have been these characters. Every single one,
right down to the non-speaking parts.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It’s rare
in movies nowadays to have a true ensemble.
With a stage play, it’s pretty much the nature of the medium. With television, they have entire seasons to
build a strong connection to multiple cast members. With a movie, however, you only have two
hours of film to get the story across.
Getting people to also care (and be entertained by) a variety of
characters somewhat equally is a much harder challenge. With <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Birdcage</i>, Nichols succeeded on every front.
The ensemble ended up </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">winning the inaugural Screen Actor’s Guild award for Best Cast in a Motion Picture. </span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">So let’s take a look at the actors and characters who made </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Birdcage </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">such a success.</span></i></div>
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<i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Robin Williams (Armand)</span></b></i><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;"></span></b></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">When the script for </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Birdcage </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">was done, it was sent to Robin Williams with a name highlighted –
Albert. The producers wanted him to play
the over-the-top “wife” to Armand’s “husband.”
There’s no actor better for over-the-top than Robin Williams. He was perfect for the part. And he said, “No.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I thought: I want to try something
different, something more elegant. People
expect me to be the more flamboyant one. I wanted something new. It's a dry, restrained comedy, versus being
so outrageous, and that's what was interesting for me. It's like learning a whole
set of different muscles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Since Williams decided not to take the role of Albert, it appears that he wanted to stay as far away from gay stereotypes as possible in his performance as Armand</span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">. </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Doing
his most restrained work since 1990’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Awakenings</i>, his performance is a joy, especially considering the subject matter and the
performance that Nathan Lane gives.
Normally, Robin is Mr. “Look At Me!”, with his manic persona taking
over. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Birdcage</i>, that beast shows its head for just a moment (when he hilariously
shows one of his dancers what he’s looking for) before sticking its head back
into its shell for the rest of the movie. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">One of
Williams’ shining moments is the scene where Armand changes his mind and
decides to do what his son asked of him, no matter how difficult it was. He would lie to the Keeleys and send Albert away for a few days. The camera stays on him for a full forty
seconds. That was a real ballsy move by
Nichols, especially in a comedy. Clint
Eastwood once said, “My old drama coach used to say, ‘Don’t just do something,
stand there!’ Gary Cooper wasn’t afraid to do nothing.” And neither is Robin Williams. But he’s not really doing nothing. Although he’s not moving – he’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">moving</i>, if you get my drift. You can see his brain working and that’s the
true feat of brilliant acting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">One
complaint leveled at the movie is that Armand and Albert don’t act like
lovers. And in that regard, that’s
right. They’re not lovers - they’re <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">married</i>.
Until gay marriage becomes legal and acceptable, everyone tries to play
the label game with gay couples. It’s
lovers, boyfriend, life companion. But
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Birdcage</i>, it’s husband and wife, just the way it’s supposed to be. It's just that the wife happens to also be a man. Albert and Armand are, for all intents and purposes, a married couple. They’ve been together for twenty years and it comes across on the
screen.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">That’s not to say that Williams
isn’t funny. Robin knew he needed to be
the straight man (pun intended) of the duo, but he also wanted a chance to be
funny, too. “</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The challenge for me was to play the
more subtle Armand and see if I could still get my share of laughs,” he said. And he does.
Although not as flashy as Albert’s role, when he delivers lines like, “I
made you short?” or “I’ve never seen so much go so wrong so quickly,” they’re
some of my heartiest laughs. But all of
this would’ve been for naught if they’d got the casting of Albert wrong. Luckily for us, they didn’t.</span></div>
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<i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Nathan Lane (Albert)</span></b></i><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;"></span></b></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">With the
star power of Robin Williams well established, Nichols had more freedom to find
the right actor for the role of Albert, rather than the right <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">movie star</i> for Albert. Nathan Lane was the perfect choice. Having starred on Broadway in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guys and Dolls </i>and a Tony winning turn
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to
the Forum</i>, Nichols knew the stage presence that Nathan had would work well
with the ensemble cast and the story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">When <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Birdcage</i> came out, many people
thought the character of Albert was too over-the-top. But in reality, I’ve known people just like
him- men with more estrogen than most women.
If you think I’m kidding, just look at the new season of Survivor. A member of the One World castaways is a guy
(pun intended) named Colton. Let me have him introduce himself:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">And if you
need further proof, check out the Albi/Zara character in the ’78 original. He makes Albert look like Harrison Ford. Albi/Zara is exponentially more over the top
than Albert. And compare the two
apartments that the couples live in. I
find it interesting that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Birdcage </i>is
often criticized for perpetuating negative stereotypes about gays, while the
original, which is even <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">more</i> stereotypical, gets a free pass. It must be because it’s French. Both Lane’s Albert and Michel Serrault’s
Albin are drama queens to be sure, but both actors weave full, well-rounded performances
in what could’ve been very much a one note character.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are some great, tender moments with Albert</span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;"> in </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
Birdcage </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">where you see another side to him</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">There’s one scene, in particular, that sticks out in my mind. Val is asleep in his room after a difficult
conversation with his father. Albert
walks into his room, </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">in full makeup from his performance as Judy Garland’s hobo from </span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Easter Parade’s </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">song,</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">
“A Couple of Swells.”</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">
After a full night on stage, and without showing an ounce of the
exhaustion he must be feeling, Albert looks lovingly at his son</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and picks up </span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">Val's dirty clothes. Almost as an
afterthought, like any parent would do, he covers Val up with a blanket. </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">They’re not paternal or maternal looks, they’re parental. It’s his son and the love is palpable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Williams
had never met Lane before the first rehearsal for <i>The Birdcage</i> but recalls it
was "love at first laugh. In just minutes Nathan and I were like an old
vaudeville act.” Nathan had some
trepidation about playing Albert next to Robin:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Everyone is surprised when they find out he's not playing my
part. He did tell me that the first few weeks, it was hard for him to watch me
go off. But then he said he found the comedy in his character.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Both Lane
and Williams did a stunning job. Sure
they both pulled off the comedy (I had no doubt that they would), but what
makes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Birdcage </i>a truly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">great</i> film are the quieter, relationship
moments between the two. The scene where
Armand gives Albert the palimony agreement, basically giving everything he has
to Albert, touches me deeply. “I’m fifty
years old. There’s only one place in the
world that I call home, and it’s because you’re there.” It’s lines like this that give <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Birdcage</i> the emotional soul that
transforms it from good movie to great movie.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Gene Hackman (Senator Kevin Keeley)</span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Gene</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Hackman doesn’t get to flex </span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">his comic chops all that
often. Normally, his characters are the “furrowed
browed serious” type or the “so tough he chews on nails” type. But he does do comedy well when he does it
(see: </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Get Shorty, Superman </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">and </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
Royal </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;"><i>Tennenbaums</i>).
In </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
Birdcage</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">, Hackman mostly plays Senator
Keeley in much the same way Leslie Nielsen played Dr. Rumack in <i>Airplane</i>. Nielsen said that he approached Rumack as a
dramatic character who didn’t know he was in a comedy.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It’ was a smart choice for Hackman. He’s funny – sometimes startlingly so. The scene where Albert is revealed immediately comes to mind. When he’s shaking his head, looking bewildered and saying, “I don’t understand” is golden. But he doesn’t go too outside the box, calling attention to himself, and that’s a refreshing trait in an actor. They’re supposed to call attention to themselves, that's what acting is. But like a great sixth man in the NBA, he knows he’s not going to get as many shots. Making the best of those shots is what makes a great supporting player, and Hackman is at his best here. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span> <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Hackman
gives Keeley that out of touch vibe that often accompanies the mildly addle-minded
(kind of like former senator Ted Stevens of Alaska). Often in this movie, Hackman reminds me of my
father, in that “a little too close to home” way that makes you feel
uncomfortable. But it’s a performance
that’s grounded in realism, even as he delivers ridiculous lines like, “Louise,
I'm the Vice President of the Coalition for Moral Order! My co-founder has just
died in the bed of an underage black whore!”</span>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Hank Azaria (Agador)</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The performance of Hank Azaria as Agador could’ve been a distraction in the movie. In a movie with many over the top characters, Hank Azaria’s Agador could’ve been a distraction. His acting would’ve almost certainly come off as a caricature if he weren’t so gosh darn funny and lovable. There’s a tenderness to the character that goes beyond his antics. Agador truly cares for Armand and Albert. In just a few scenes, you can tell that Agador is family to Armand and Albert. And although I can make it around with shoes on without tripping every five feet, being shoeless is me in my natural state, so Agador had me at “I don’t wear shoes.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">When we
meet Agador, he’s clothed in a white mesh tank top and jean cut-offs. It’s absolutely brilliant. He wouldn’t need to say a word for the entire
film and it would still be some of the greatest costuming in film history. In the original, Benny Luke gives a great
performance as Jacob (also with wonderful costuming), but he’s there
exclusively as a comedic force. Don’t
get me wrong – Benny’s a powerful comedic foil, but Agador adds a layer of
tenderness and familial love for Armand and Albert that’s just missing from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La Cage</i>.
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Dianne Weist (Louise Keeley)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In a role
that could’ve been merely a parrot role to her husband, Elaine May writes
Louise with a feisty spirit. Dianne
Weist gives those words extra punch in the way she stands up for, and to, her
husband. She’s supportive, sure, but she’s
fiercely protective of her family. Like
any mother, mess with her family and there’s hell to pay.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">There’s
also a naiveté to Louise. When she’s
looking at the dinner bowl (which portrays a bunch of men in, shall we say, an amorous pose) and says, “What interesting china. Why it looks like young men playing leapfrog,”
you believe it. She’s been sheltered her
entire life and all of these things are so foreign to her that she just doesn’t
know what to make of it. Much like
Hackman’s Kevin Keeley reminded me of my dad, Weist’s Louise Keeley reminds me
of my mom. I could picture her looking
at a bowl like that and saying something very similar. And while I was uncomfortable with Kevin
Keeley being a little too much like my dad (and not in the conservative
Republican way, more in the oblivious way), having Diane Weist remind me of my mom brings a little smile to my face.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Dan Futterman (Val)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">For the
majority of the movie, Val is an asshole.
He’s a kid who thinks he’s a grown up.
When he asks his parents to pretend to be something they’re not, he’s so
self-centered that he doesn’t realize what a betrayal it is. And Armand, being the loving father he is, moves
on from the betrayal and does his best to help his son when he’s in need. Val bosses people around, snapping at the people
who are trying to help him – everything a narcissistic young adult does when
they’re trying to act “adult.” I should
know. I used to be one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Futerman’s
performance shines when he asks his father to send Albert away. You can see the humiliation in his face as he
presents it. As misguided as Val is, he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">does</i> love his father and mother. He just doesn’t know another way out of it
and doesn’t have the maturity to find one. Futterman also does a good job of
making Val, if not likable, at least relatable.
We may not agree why he asks so much of his parents, but we understand
his motivation for doing so.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In an
interesting side note, Dan Futterman later moonlighted from his normal acting
and transitioned his Hollywood career into that of an actor/screenwriter. He won acclaim (and an Oscar nod) for his
screenplay for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Capote</i> in 2005+.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Christine Baranski (Katherine Archer)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Another
character that could’ve come across in a very negative light, since she gave up
her son, is Val’s birth mother, Katherine.
Christine Baranski gives Katherine a complexity that’s absolutely
amazing, considering that she has maybe twenty lines in the whole movie. Katherine is a strong, professional woman and
doesn’t have time for other people’s needs and is pretty unapologetic about that. That being said, what comes across in
Katherine is that she gave up Val because it was best for Val. Sure, it happened to be best for what she
wanted in her life as well, but Baranski shows that slight tinge of humiliation
that Katherine must feel to even admit that.
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Christine
has played grand comedy all over the place; on Broadway, TV and film. Much like Gene Hackman, she plays Katherine
very straight, giving up her penchant for laughs to be an emotional supporting
beam to the rest of the cast. Katherine gave up Val because it was the right thing to do, and mirroring that, Christine gave up
the laughs to make a better movie. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Calista Flockhart (Barbara Keeley)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Before she
was Ally McBeal, she was the eighteen year-old Barbara. In one of her first motion picture rolls,
Calista unfortunately gets overshadowed by the veteran cast that surrounds her. It’s not entirely her fault, though. I think Robert DeNiro would’ve had a hard
time keeping up with the whirlwind of the rest of this all-star cast. While Barbara has a few funny lines, her
presence in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Birdcage </i>is mostly as
“the girl that Val wants to marry.”
There’s only so much time for character development (and running time)
in a film, and Nichols rightfully sacrifices a well-rounded Barbara to make
room for the other characters. Even the
Screen Actor’s Guild agreed. The cast
members they nominated for the Best Cast award were Williams/Lane/Hackman/Weist/Azaria/Baranski/Futterman. Ouch.
Sorry, Calista. Don’t feel too
bad for her, though, she’s Harrison Ford’s wife now. Indiana Jones, Han Solo <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and </i>Jack Ryan? Yeah, I’d be
okay with being Harrison Ford’s wife, too.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Birdcage</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> doesn’t break any ground in the
worldview of homosexuality. Both sides
of the controversy have criticized it for that.
But what they don’t get – and what is the ultimate sign of how we’ve
progressed as a society – is that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">it
wasn’t supposed to</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Birdcage </i>isn’t trying to change
anyone’s preconceived notions one way or the other on the matter of being LGBT,
because it’s too busy just being a damn funny movie. Sure, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Birdcage</i> is filled with gay stereotypes, but so are other great “straight”
comedies, like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ghostbusters </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Office Space</i>. When asked about the reaction to the movie’s
gay themes, Robin Williams said:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">God
knows! The one thing that will help is the tenderness of it. We may have
sacrificed something, but we tried to get across a couple who were just as
loving as any heterosexual couple. It's a love story. But you have to brace
yourself, though, because there's gonna be people pissed off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Gay
& Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), which you might have thought
would have a problem with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Birdcage</i>,
instead praised the film for "going beyond the stereotypes to see the
character's depth and humanity. The film celebrates differences and points out
the outrageousness of hiding those differences."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Nichols,
May and the entire cast ended up making a great movie about people – not gay
people or straight people, just people.
It’s a movie that may challenge the conventional notion of what family
might be, but you cannot deny that these people are a family. Albert absolutely IS Val’s mother. He’s nourished Val and supported Val, as any
parent would. There’s no thought in
Albert’s mind that although this isn’t biologically his son, Val’s not his son. It doesn’t matter, because Val is, in every
way that matters, his son, just as much as Armand’s. </span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Birdcage</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> takes everything that was great about
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La Cage Aux Folles </i>and just fills it
out. It takes what was more of a two
dimensional comedy and given it a depth that the best comedies have. You laugh, for sure, but there’s a soul to
the film that makes you think about your own preconceived ideas in life. And that’s what all artistically successful movies
do – make you think.</span></div>
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* To read a great article about the spectacular failure of Ishtar, I found a <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=dOQCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=elaine+may+script+doctor&source=bl&ots=_fY6kDlsDU&sig=yo6epsovLQ67wDp0QUiM1shFWhA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fWNfT6O5JIndgQfHw6TpBw&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=elaine%20may%20script%20doctor&f=false" target="_blank">New York magazine</a> story that goes in depth into its production and the resulting artistic and commercial epic fail.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">+Dan
Futterman isn’t the only actor to do some serious screenwriting. Grant Heslov, who appears in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Birdcage </i>as the assistant to the
National Enquirer reporter, is a great friend and collaborator of George
Clooney’s. Heslov and Clooney were
nominated for their writing on 2006’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Good
Night and Good Luck</i>, as well as 2012’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Ides of March</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">(Fun Fact
#254: Mike Nichols is one of only twelve
people in history who’ve won the entertainment grand slam, meaning he’s won all
four of the major entertainment awards (Academy Award, Tony, Grammy,
Emmy). The other eleven? Of course, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_have_won_Academy,_Emmy,_Grammy,_and_Tony_Awards" target="_blank">there’s a Wikipedia page</a>. Check it out.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">(Fun Fact
#425: The score of the movie was done by
two guys, Jonathan Tunick and Mark Mothersbaugh. You might know Mark a little bit better from
his day job – lead singer of the new wave pioneering band, Devo. Are we not men?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">For those who want to do your homework for our next assignment, #97 of the Top 100 Movies of My Lifetime is the hilarious sci-fi spoof, <i>Galaxy Quest</i>.</span></div>
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</div>Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-26001771566554744832012-03-04T01:13:00.003-07:002012-03-05T09:52:58.067-07:00Are We Going to Die at Disneyland?I don't normally do two posts on the same day, so if you haven't checked the blog lately (and you are inclined to do so), check out the post below about my late night / early morning at Disneyland on Leap Day 2012.<br />
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So today was just supposed to be another day at Disneyland for our little vacation. We are staying at Paradise Pier, which is one of Disney's hotels here at the Disneyland Resort. It's a very cool, beach themed hotel. One of the perks of staying at a Disney hotel is something they call "Magic Morning Hours." On certain days of the week, people staying at Disney hotels can go into Disneyland an hour early and get to enjoy the park with other resort hotel guests. Since there are only three Disney hotels here at Disneyland, it ends up not being a ton of people, so for that hour, the lines are short and you can experience more rides in a short period of time.<br />
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We've done these Magic Mornings before and have really enjoyed them. But today, something strange happened. Normally, after the hour is up, they drop the ropes on Main Street and let the general public in. Then things start to get much more crowed - and quick. But that didn't happen this morning. My wife, Jennifer, was going to go over and get fast passes for Star Tours so we could go on it later in the morning and not have to wait as long. While she did that, I took Ty & Ethan on to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.<br />
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Fun was had by all and we were waiting in line when Jennifer met up with us a Dumbo. She was a bit frustrated because you couldn't get fast passes until Disneyland officially opened and so we'd have to go back after the rope drop. That's when things started to get weird. After the scheduled rope drop time, there was no huge infusion of people into the park. We didn't see the expected throngs of people heading over to Star Tours and the Finding Nemo ride trying to beat the crowds. Instead, we sat down and had some breakfast at the Jolly Holiday Bakery. <br />
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It was there that Jennifer got a text from a friend and co-worker who was also visiting Disneyland with her family. They were outside of the gates waiting to get in, but they weren't letting anyone in. Turns out they weren't letting anyone out, either (although we didn't know that at the time). There were lots of rumors flying around:<br />
<ul><li>There was a suspicious package somewhere</li>
<li>Some guy with a backpack rushed past security and got into the park. Now they're looking for him.</li>
<li>There are bomb sniffing dogs trying to find something.</li>
<li>Disneyland's on lockdown!</li>
<li>All the guests inside the park are sequestered in Frontierland!</li>
</ul>After all the hulabaloo, it turns out some idiot left a bag in a tree in the esplenade between Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. Inside the bag wasn't a bomb, but apparently some kind of "goodwill message." I don't know if I entirely believe that, but I'll tell you what was going on inside the park. <i>[UPDATE: After thinking about it for a while, a thought occurred to me. One report said that the message was "rolled up." If it had been rolled up and placed in a metal container of some sort, it could've appeared to be a pipe bomb. If that was the case, the delay makes a lot more sense to me. You don't mess around with a pipe bomb. Of course, I'm only speculating after the fact.]</i><br />
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We decided that we'd try and get a family picture taken because there wouldn't be three hundred people in the background. Here's the picture:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXRnBsYJqZS6DxfMzZzhfHCSLE9XILnHIYb-RJFFNhUO8MZEP1O-3ZplIE5aTbkqpHRF-ApxmRjBFredkCiJQYg3QLM2FqmAYz2k1MMEyv5ox-SfI9Q7utRDQdzyGD375lCP5IWE6N4oyf/s1600/The+Family.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXRnBsYJqZS6DxfMzZzhfHCSLE9XILnHIYb-RJFFNhUO8MZEP1O-3ZplIE5aTbkqpHRF-ApxmRjBFredkCiJQYg3QLM2FqmAYz2k1MMEyv5ox-SfI9Q7utRDQdzyGD375lCP5IWE6N4oyf/s320/The+Family.JPG" width="240" /></a></div> There's not three hundred people in the background. There's five.<br />
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Everywhere we went, people were acting like nothing was wrong, probably because most didn't know anything WAS wrong. We were encouraged by any cast member we chatted up to explore the park as we normally would, but we couldn't all the way back to the front entrance. Jennifer and I were a little scared, to be honest. We didn't split up, because we didn't want to be separated in case something bad happened. If it was going to be a dirty bomb or something, at least we were all going to be together in this place that we love with the people we love most. We didn't really dwell on those thoughts, but we both had them, for sure.<br />
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We kept all of our fears from the boys, who ended up thinking it was the best thing ever. Here's a panoramic picture of Frontierland / New Orleans Square at 9:30, a full hour and a half AFTER Disneyland should've opened.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHGtUcAemOxCy5pxX8cBloOa1_6I5ueEPTPZiI-cVS4mb1-dzdFQpgLN_0Up3aulOpVrvk1g-rcCx9gpy39YS1Pv-KVORTsf3qApPtRnGQRzahJZ_1cVhflWATST2B1PrBclY8p8jWBmfQ/s1600/Frontierland.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHGtUcAemOxCy5pxX8cBloOa1_6I5ueEPTPZiI-cVS4mb1-dzdFQpgLN_0Up3aulOpVrvk1g-rcCx9gpy39YS1Pv-KVORTsf3qApPtRnGQRzahJZ_1cVhflWATST2B1PrBclY8p8jWBmfQ/s320/Frontierland.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Five minutes after I took this picture, Ethan and I went on Pirates of the Caribbean. He and I were the ONLY people on our boat. The boat in front of us was completely empty, while the one behind us had a grand total of three people in it. While E and I were on Pirates, Jennifer and Ty went on Haunted Mansion. Their elevator ride down to the ride had a total of nine people on it. This was so strange.<br />
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Just to show how deserted Disneyland was, I took a couple more panoramic pictures, one looking south down Main Street - the other one looking north towards Sleeping Beauty's castle. These were taken at just before 11am.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpTnOVf8vpJNtdmfPAvZvmPsL49UZru_mGqlQpTM7yTheiIkUBSwtEwjnWqPE1URLBMIDnjZXND_RDBTdFh-pIm2KQrURWkjeSjt7jN-uaqeILjcCPoCmVCV5mvDR7lqWgFusgmMcwTFhQ/s1600/MS1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpTnOVf8vpJNtdmfPAvZvmPsL49UZru_mGqlQpTM7yTheiIkUBSwtEwjnWqPE1URLBMIDnjZXND_RDBTdFh-pIm2KQrURWkjeSjt7jN-uaqeILjcCPoCmVCV5mvDR7lqWgFusgmMcwTFhQ/s320/MS1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidD-6V2qSzRiynyZHJXNvv9LM9nu-enjSi3w5vFgoi1kR5ZEWzSm7d5NVWqghGipQ0AoCQxlF3yXdy7_zVYDHMdtTtXlSzxHM9Jj8QCK3a9hZq2fjeLwxRRUVhiJ_rC_xGpILosh_FVEZB/s1600/MS2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidD-6V2qSzRiynyZHJXNvv9LM9nu-enjSi3w5vFgoi1kR5ZEWzSm7d5NVWqghGipQ0AoCQxlF3yXdy7_zVYDHMdtTtXlSzxHM9Jj8QCK3a9hZq2fjeLwxRRUVhiJ_rC_xGpILosh_FVEZB/s320/MS2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The entire time we were in the park, we were never approached by a cast member requiring us to do something. They told us what little they knew, but again encouraged us to enjoy ourselves. One cast member put it perfectly. "If there was a serious danger to us or the park, they would have evacuated all of us through the safest location." And they didn't do that. They also didn't sequester us in Frontierland or anywhere else, for that matter. Although if they'd have wanted to sequester me at Rancho del Zocalo with an endless supply of those awesome chile lime tortilla chips and Arnold Palmers, I'd have been cool with that.<br />
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For almost three hours, we had the run of the park. We could go on whatever ride we wanted, virtually as often as we wanted. We ran into some girls who rode Space Mountain four times in a row without having to get out of their vehicle. Even though lots of people outside the park were freaking out (and with hour long waits just to get into the parking structure, I can understand why), nobody inside the park was. It was one of the most surreal experiences I think I'll ever have at Disneyland.<br />
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All of the cast members handled the event professionally and with grace. They helped us to still have a great time under stressful and strange circumstances. We apologize to all of you who waited outside Disneyland for three hours while we were able to have the run of the place. Although we had a lot of fun, we did so at your expense and that's just not fair. So sorry about that.<br />
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Disney decided to keep both Disneyland and California Adventure open for an additional hour today to try and make up for the delay. Sure it was only an hour, but it was a nice gesture on Disney's part. Some people were really angry and took it out on whatever cast member was closest to them. To those inconsiderate people, shame on you. You're the ones who get mad at the TSA people at the airport for wanting you to take your shoes off, or who yell at the person at Macy's who has the gall to ask you for your ID when you give them your credit card.<br />
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For me, I'd rather these security people overreact to something that turns out to be nothing than to underreact to something that could end up killing people. Maybe I'm just some naive idiot,<br />
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But then again, I'm still here, typing this all up. So I like my chances, thank you. And yes, tomorrow we're going to Disneyland. Hope to see you all there.Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-56812391518079361202012-03-04T00:16:00.002-07:002012-03-05T08:51:02.586-07:00Leap Day at DisneylandWhat a strange trip to Disneyland this has been. Our first day at the park was for their "One More Disney Day" promotion, where they opened the park at 6am on Wednesday, February 29th and proceeded to stay open for twenty-four straight hours. It's something they've never done before and we wanted to check it out. Even though they might have argued otherwise, we weren't about to subject our sons Ty (5) and Ethan (3) to a sleepless night at Disneyland, so after we were done as a family, Jennifer went for a bit while I stayed with the boys, and then she tagged me in so I could finish the "night." Here's the official welcome banner.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUremP3rCjV3IGCYtnByHJZcP9f_Fr9pyxg1JxoZp70qDisYFnY4oTAZW3_dx5k_vEVVkT1RYNFs9idO1oOdLwwNczZTQD8qiQ2kCiQBAbn34X8admGD-qRpti6DwWYxIXC2V-_I-rLEJ/s1600/0+Welcome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUremP3rCjV3IGCYtnByHJZcP9f_Fr9pyxg1JxoZp70qDisYFnY4oTAZW3_dx5k_vEVVkT1RYNFs9idO1oOdLwwNczZTQD8qiQ2kCiQBAbn34X8admGD-qRpti6DwWYxIXC2V-_I-rLEJ/s320/0+Welcome.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUremP3rCjV3IGCYtnByHJZcP9f_Fr9pyxg1JxoZp70qDisYFnY4oTAZW3_dx5k_vEVVkT1RYNFs9idO1oOdLwwNczZTQD8qiQ2kCiQBAbn34X8admGD-qRpti6DwWYxIXC2V-_I-rLEJ/s1600/0+Welcome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><br />
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First off, it was PACKED. I don't mean, "Man, there's a lot of people here, considering it's 2am on a Thursday morning" packed. I mean it was just plain packed. Like Disneyland on New Year's Eve packed. I figured I would be able to walk around the park with the few hundred or so who dared to brave the late/early hour. Not so. There were tens of thousands of us demented night-dwellers. We were all defacto extras in a Vampire Diaries episode.<br />
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Don't believe me? Here was the line TO GET IN!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNlOEqHrYBGCxJ0kTLdHiXwJk0fUU7XoWQU2p3puylYRP0-M-PqRVfeG30LVEc3danSQ2ZYeo2Y_-BginNaI07e9qxXJbZWHPYP9bEizlCvnFYe2HpqRbB_gMSiziy3FtUOIViTCci7Vs9/s1600/1+Line+to+Get+In.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNlOEqHrYBGCxJ0kTLdHiXwJk0fUU7XoWQU2p3puylYRP0-M-PqRVfeG30LVEc3danSQ2ZYeo2Y_-BginNaI07e9qxXJbZWHPYP9bEizlCvnFYe2HpqRbB_gMSiziy3FtUOIViTCci7Vs9/s320/1+Line+to+Get+In.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The people in this picture were going to wait forty-five minutes to get into Disneyland - to wait another forty-five minutes for practically anything else? You still doubt me? Okay...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEZD3qQpXL9aP4ZF9G7wURpHsR6p43rEXIjPX729YK2sYCrNSk_hqykfnCgAWkxme0tMHwGktNJzeosKSXXsuuw5DGOvNMkwtj0aB5yQKl3ADCBSTpcvnmPe6PF7U-mqRWvqLajcSym9j/s1600/Jolly+Holiday+Line.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEZD3qQpXL9aP4ZF9G7wURpHsR6p43rEXIjPX729YK2sYCrNSk_hqykfnCgAWkxme0tMHwGktNJzeosKSXXsuuw5DGOvNMkwtj0aB5yQKl3ADCBSTpcvnmPe6PF7U-mqRWvqLajcSym9j/s320/Jolly+Holiday+Line.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
You see, I didn't mean that they'd spend forty-five minutes waiting for the Indiana Jones ride (which, by the way, had an eighty-five minute plus wait time). These people are waiting in line at the Jolly Holiday bakery to get a scone, cupcake or cafe mocha! And it wasn't just in Main Street. In Frontierland, the line at the Stage Coach Cafe, which sells chicken tenders and funnel cakes was twenty five people deep at every line.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDWGT_kbDSllWHKd33gFdqERuge_95WQ9T89NdTkC2a8ufiL8nsHk-xwS0M9s6I3ZPmhSNh2qLhjO6mZKnMusC_r_8Tp16TSjXRUD57ONI76jT-3EhxxjMMD1NHRZSw_yISuySekez4Yf/s1600/Stage+Coach+Cafe+Line.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDWGT_kbDSllWHKd33gFdqERuge_95WQ9T89NdTkC2a8ufiL8nsHk-xwS0M9s6I3ZPmhSNh2qLhjO6mZKnMusC_r_8Tp16TSjXRUD57ONI76jT-3EhxxjMMD1NHRZSw_yISuySekez4Yf/s320/Stage+Coach+Cafe+Line.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Don't get me wrong. Those funnel cakes are pretty tasty, but come on. The weirdest thing, however, in this bizarro Disneyland night, was that there wasn't a tremendous wait at the table service restaurant in New Orleans Square, Cafe Orleans. So if you wanted to get something "fast," you had to wait in line for forty-five minutes. If you wanted the "slow" food you get at a table service restaurant, the wait was only fifteen minutes. AND you get to order from the cool "one night only" menu they had for the restaurant.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPk2CDwEzfkhwDsyPjQlXyTPqJM1l6LcVaYHLogdXnmr2qc0hydcOcrjWbSTi2jX42qmGl6BistYFb8ZNqBsl7gKJey8NiqX2jMzSWEaBDZbhJknIxCwYd-nsyBmZsSORn3dzjZRTQMtiE/s1600/Cafe+Orleans.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPk2CDwEzfkhwDsyPjQlXyTPqJM1l6LcVaYHLogdXnmr2qc0hydcOcrjWbSTi2jX42qmGl6BistYFb8ZNqBsl7gKJey8NiqX2jMzSWEaBDZbhJknIxCwYd-nsyBmZsSORn3dzjZRTQMtiE/s320/Cafe+Orleans.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
After I got it out of my head that I would get anything productive done, though, the night became more enjoyable for me. All told, I went on a total of ZERO rides. I stood in ZERO lines because it just wasn't worth it for me. I was going to come again the next day with my family and wait in lines a tenth as long. So what I did do, and did enjoy, was taking cool night pictures of the happiest place on earth, and people watch. Here are some of the cool pics I got:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWoS82d6WquurgeK3dLshhp868OOuuTERiduaUJ6vOqZL_0r0fy2or0bboS5-bAPfONc_iDDMwY3PUFCB0kjwnbaXu6bEymsjN9a3ESZVeqA0akg9clskWhXB36s-UsiYtagYAY6APc3ge/s1600/Carousel.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWoS82d6WquurgeK3dLshhp868OOuuTERiduaUJ6vOqZL_0r0fy2or0bboS5-bAPfONc_iDDMwY3PUFCB0kjwnbaXu6bEymsjN9a3ESZVeqA0akg9clskWhXB36s-UsiYtagYAY6APc3ge/s320/Carousel.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> King Arthur's Carousel (extended exposure)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVFJvm69R0QqEozl4sfygJe5klb-vUkiw96Ac1bjpLalxB3zglQRD6w8SBGK004zz_9Wo35VGslZ6qje0336812P0iSaXPOPoqO_TtBpCgv6QFxTyFwxlHl5vF2-7Hs1ZkjOMFxlsu_vwR/s1600/Castle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVFJvm69R0QqEozl4sfygJe5klb-vUkiw96Ac1bjpLalxB3zglQRD6w8SBGK004zz_9Wo35VGslZ6qje0336812P0iSaXPOPoqO_TtBpCgv6QFxTyFwxlHl5vF2-7Hs1ZkjOMFxlsu_vwR/s320/Castle.JPG" width="240" /></a></div> Sleeping Beauty's Castle (and reflection)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCugDo9K208cPNKPZqeXD9CfJPHRVuSngskaxic1_vnw69brFknwrY-o2c0vQT8nqbqHOm9IJJWJDO8YduLERyJADXPN6liAqIEWfw4ntlKJhJSdhjxcB-YQa_bDQrYnJjpOEWPbVnk83K/s1600/Cool+Materhorn+Shot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCugDo9K208cPNKPZqeXD9CfJPHRVuSngskaxic1_vnw69brFknwrY-o2c0vQT8nqbqHOm9IJJWJDO8YduLERyJADXPN6liAqIEWfw4ntlKJhJSdhjxcB-YQa_bDQrYnJjpOEWPbVnk83K/s320/Cool+Materhorn+Shot.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This cool shot of the Matterhorn and the little pond by Pixie Hollow looks just too cool. It looks almost like a more abstract oil painting, but I swear this is what came out of the camera. I haven't retouched it at all.<br />
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At about three, I headed over to Tomorrowland and heard the thumping bass of the Tomorrowland Terrace from a few hundred yards away. The crowd was really into it and I have to admit that I stayed and danced for a song (thankfully, there are no pictures of this - trust me on that). It reminded me of my old high school days and the nights I spent dancing the night away at Videopolis.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS-vWCLbVJPnAg8eY4VzCPtsJ3o2mBdvBMDfXPjYdcPulWWS3lcujHlyRhL0_z4YAoVNDuXli1exvGQvF3BfFM-U_DPcd9qFmokL0uovDKracZKxS4DtDrM_x3m8qpcCQe8_gKeE-LfDia/s1600/Dancing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS-vWCLbVJPnAg8eY4VzCPtsJ3o2mBdvBMDfXPjYdcPulWWS3lcujHlyRhL0_z4YAoVNDuXli1exvGQvF3BfFM-U_DPcd9qFmokL0uovDKracZKxS4DtDrM_x3m8qpcCQe8_gKeE-LfDia/s320/Dancing.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
In fact, the whole night gave me a very "Grad Night" kind of vibe. For those of you who've never been, Grad Night is a series of nights in late spring / early summer where Disneyland closes a little early and lets busloads of graduating high school seniors descend on the park from around 10pm till around 6am. This Leap Day promotion was a first, because Disneyland had never been opened to the entire general public for twenty-four straight hours before. FYI, they also had this same promotion at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Anyway, people were handling the overcrowded thing pretty well. I saw lots of groups just hanging out and having fun talking and people watch the people who were people watching them. I didn't see anyone get out of hand or see any security people laying down the Disney hammer. Even at 4am, things were still packed.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrFHzZ2p1aMqR3LQipmbX0_nxlVheQFC7ch88YiIzYTqL2EOzp4WqlzkmD54xry5fn3vNyacnYCh_jQ-4KYu4t7_o1AYLUZgjsnEis5uKUCwrrRTsHzZzLE9DgZverRTSXFyLifaiM5Tbk/s1600/Main+St+4am.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrFHzZ2p1aMqR3LQipmbX0_nxlVheQFC7ch88YiIzYTqL2EOzp4WqlzkmD54xry5fn3vNyacnYCh_jQ-4KYu4t7_o1AYLUZgjsnEis5uKUCwrrRTsHzZzLE9DgZverRTSXFyLifaiM5Tbk/s320/Main+St+4am.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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I saw a few funny things, like a bunch of guys who actually brought their breakfast with them, complete with bowls of Sugar Corn Pops and Toaster Strudels, which they toasted themselves with a nice white toaster they had brought with them to the park. They would serenade passersby with a pretty good rendition of "It's a Beautiful Morning." But probably the funniest thing was a guy who was giving high fives to everyone he could. I'd seen him earlier in the night, smacking one hand -"421!" Then another "422!" I didn't quite know what he was doing until almost six. I heard him coming from behind me. Slap "996!" A few more. Then, slap! "999! Dude, go over there, you're going to be 1,000." His friend ran about twenty feet away and then they both ran towards each other. While leaping in midair, they slapped hands with an almost thunderous roar. "1,000!" One of his other friends turned to all of us watching, "Dude! This guy has just high fived 1,000 people! 1,000 DIFFERENT people!" As far as they knew, he slapped no hand twice on his quest. And they weren't even drunk! It just goes to show you what lack of sleep can do to make anything seem fun. <br />
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<br />
Okay, I lied. I did wait in one line. It wasn't for a ride, though. It was for a picture of me with Chip and Dale. My brother, Todd and I used to call ourselves Chip & Dale, so I've got a soft spot in my heart for those dorky chipmunks. And to give myself some credit, the line was only three minutes long. It was cool, though, that they had characters available for pictures all over the park. And they were all wearing their PJs. Pretty cool.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8pFvU966jH6XFpEA4uj5k0CoweYCsBm27c7SNkuIndmnm36WCnYE6dna7or3nmUv3BjuOJuAlSAn0A8cmvZS3idxXlfo_7njk-LT_44kG6ecDPSNIwroeTYciCzqdJ8CjY0xta0SWQWy/s1600/Chip+-+Dale+-+Me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8pFvU966jH6XFpEA4uj5k0CoweYCsBm27c7SNkuIndmnm36WCnYE6dna7or3nmUv3BjuOJuAlSAn0A8cmvZS3idxXlfo_7njk-LT_44kG6ecDPSNIwroeTYciCzqdJ8CjY0xta0SWQWy/s320/Chip+-+Dale+-+Me.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
So as 6am approached, the sky began to get lighter. People were still getting along well, especially considering how tight things were. As I was getting ready to leave, I saw a cast member named Jon with a lanyard full of pins that you could trade for if you had a pin of your own to exchange. If you don't know what Disney pin trading is, you can google it. Anyway, Jon had a cool Mickey Mouse pin that I liked and I'd brought a few pins to trade, so as we made the trade, he asked me if I was a serious pin trader. "Nope. Not really," I said. "I just like the ones I like and don't worry about much more than that." "Well, you're in luck, then," Jon said. "That pin there is what's called an Artist's Proof. That's why it has AP stamped on it. This pin is a limited edition pin, and it's an artist's proof of that limited edition. So it's very valuable. Congratulations." I thanked him for the pin and for the explanation. Turns out that Jon was Jon Storbeck, who is the VP of the entire Disneyland Park. So it was pretty cool to spend a little bit of time with the guy who's in charge of this happiest place on earth. Good job, Jon. We all had a great time.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjydHHDSyHdSpGFL1u32VTimXtLH2In-OTKZMwz5sdFgfH7X2lGfL05a4qohVH8m_Kkd_dwp-eMFHbpR5SdqUpHWLlMwwDhxhQjLQ0eBdRroTsMLWecDPZokQNu7EYwwoGbjNZgQ_3EL8Pe/s1600/Jon.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjydHHDSyHdSpGFL1u32VTimXtLH2In-OTKZMwz5sdFgfH7X2lGfL05a4qohVH8m_Kkd_dwp-eMFHbpR5SdqUpHWLlMwwDhxhQjLQ0eBdRroTsMLWecDPZokQNu7EYwwoGbjNZgQ_3EL8Pe/s320/Jon.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> That's Jon to the right of the guy waving with the Mickey hand (in the khakis)<br />
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It was very surreal watching the sun COME UP while at Disneyland.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTzPvtf3OfsxnrBudcYycpzDygaMumfIOOsJq8s5ItwsywnNtDh6b0Vc3682BN6BRNwAE3foBpxg_uvJELnVjkw8xECPkLQG7Kiab52VBjdklpBZmPlUSWcY2Z2nFAsKWiUcVfDbVv0kD/s1600/Sunrise.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTzPvtf3OfsxnrBudcYycpzDygaMumfIOOsJq8s5ItwsywnNtDh6b0Vc3682BN6BRNwAE3foBpxg_uvJELnVjkw8xECPkLQG7Kiab52VBjdklpBZmPlUSWcY2Z2nFAsKWiUcVfDbVv0kD/s320/Sunrise.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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I have been at Disneyland many times as the sun set, but never when the sun came up. At Grad Nights, the sun doesn't come up until later in the morning, so I didn't get to see it when I was in high school. When 6am hit, the PAs across main street started playing the end theme to the Mickey Mouse Club: "Now it's time to say goodbye to all our company. MIC - see you real soon. KEY - Why? Because we like you. MOUSE." It was a very fitting tribute to the end of the day. Or the beginning of the day. Or whatever this was. Boy, was I tired.<br />
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Anyway, as I left the park, I turned around for one last picture. 6am on the railroad station clock. My time here is done.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl9Hyv3_W3570bSWeAou8PeoBoSuT5g6Ae_KDkSXQpR_9wDyd2T5O8Cor4vHxa_ykXEGtGSzhEsA_RRBTMihNAzZqFNRJrJrftHAVVVBDL_WTW83fDX_RASyGSUHAncA6HCoj3hh-E7Haz/s1600/6am.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl9Hyv3_W3570bSWeAou8PeoBoSuT5g6Ae_KDkSXQpR_9wDyd2T5O8Cor4vHxa_ykXEGtGSzhEsA_RRBTMihNAzZqFNRJrJrftHAVVVBDL_WTW83fDX_RASyGSUHAncA6HCoj3hh-E7Haz/s320/6am.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
See you guys in a few hours.Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-67095153411082385562012-02-02T14:10:00.001-07:002012-02-02T14:14:53.052-07:0099. Transformers (2007)<br />
<ul>
<li><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000881/" target="_blank">Michael Bay</a> was born to
make <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418279/" target="_blank">Transformers</a>.” - Stephen Spielberg</span></i></li>
<li><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“I’m not doing that
stupid, silly toy movie.” -Michael Bay,
late summer 2005</span></i></li>
<li><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Wow. They’re making a Transformers movie. They’re going to mess that up completely.” -<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0479471/" target="_blank">Shia LaBeouf</a>, Spring 2006</span></i></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It was
March, 2007, and a storm was brewing. You
knew it was coming. Something this
controversial – there had to be an outcry, both for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and </i>against. Once the news
was posted, the fierce debate began.
People on both sides of the issue weighed in, with 648 comments*, all
within 72 hours. No, we weren’t talking
about abortion, gun control or Peyton Manning finally winning his Super Bowl. We were, of course, talking about the new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers</i> one-sheet posters. Not the movie itself, mind you, just a couple
of posters <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">advertising</i> the
movie. Eventually, there would be ten <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers </i>posters released. Imagine the bandwidth wasted discussing the
other eight.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">What did
the fanboys do before the internet?
Going back and doing some research on <a href="http://www.aintitcool.com/" target="_blank">Ain’t It Cool News</a>, Harry Knowles’
ubergeek fanboy site, I saw literally thousands of posts dissecting every
aspect of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers</i>, and they were
all months before the movie even came out.
“New Transformers Cut Sheet – Is Optimus Taking Up Too Much of the
Page?” Stuff like that. Sure, it didn’t start with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers</i> (the Harry Potter and Star
Wars fan kingdoms probably take the cake), but it’s emblematic of the new
culture of overanalyzing EVERYTHING. If
only we spent this much time discussing the genocide in Bosnia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Of course,
I’m part of the problem, too. I’m not
writing an essay about the Darfur crisis or the Occupy Wall Street folks, I’m
wasting a few thousand words (and a few minutes of your time) on a movie that
came out four years ago. And a crappy
movie at that, many of you would argue. So
as vapid as I might be, at least I’m not a hypocrite. Maybe after this, we should all go read some
George Will or Thomas Friedman. Perhaps
I’ll do a book review of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The World Is
Flat </i>to clear my conscience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Yeah,
great,” I hear you say. “But what about
the robots?” I’ll get to them in a
second. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As the
quote up top said, Michael Bay didn’t want to make <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers.</i> He’d been
offered lots of superhero movies and the like, but he just wasn’t interested in
those kinds of movies. If he was going
to invest two plus years of his life into a movie, it was going to be a movie
he just <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">had </i>to make. And <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers
</i>wasn’t it. I’ll let Michael explain
how his mind got changed:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";">I was not a Transformers fan
before I signed on to this movie. I think I was two years older when the toys
came out, so I just discovered girls then instead of Optimus Prime. But I met with the CEO [at Hasbro] and I went
through the whole Transformer lore. I’ve
been such a fan of Japanese Anime it just hit me that if I make this really
real it could be something very new and different. So I quickly became probably
one of the bigger Transformer fans in the world, and I tried to make this movie
for non-Transformer fans. I wanted it to
be a little bit more adult, so I’m sure I’m going to get flack for [it].</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";"></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">And flack
he got. An early script was leaked to
the internet in early 2006 and, of course, the fanboys went apeshit. They didn’t trust Bay with their precious
cartoon. So as soon as he could, he
wanted to get a teaser trailer out there so the public could know this was
serious and not some rehash of the cartoon.
He said it was going to be more adult, and he needed to show us. Now I, like Bay, was never into the
Transformers cartoon, so I didn’t have a huge chunk of my childhood invested in
its lore. But by the reaction he was
getting, you’d think it was like Sofia Coppola directing the next <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars </i>movie. I hate to break it to you, guys, but the 80’s
Transformers cartoons have not aged well.
As a kid, I loved Tang because the astronauts drank it. But now, I realize it tastes more like
chemicals than orange. Looking at the
cartoons now, it’s become that kind of unintentionally funny thing that the
guys at Mystery Science Theater 3000 love.
But what Bay doesn’t get much credit for is that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">he listened</i> to the fanboys.
Screenwriters (and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformer </i>fans
themselves) <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0476064/" target="_blank">Alex Kurtzman</a> & <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0649460/" target="_blank">Roberto Orci</a> actually went to conventions and
talked to fans while they were working on the script. And the normally implacable Bay listened to
criticism about the design of the evil Decepticon leader, Megatron, and
actually changed it based on feedback from the fans. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">But this
was Michael Bay. He once famously said
that his movie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Armageddon </i>would “make
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Rock </i>look like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My Dinner With Andre+.” </i>What were these kids worrying about? Michael Bay was going to make the most badass
giant robot movie ever. He loves
action. He loves to blow things up. Nobody blows up and flips cars/tanks/trucks/planes/walls/trees/Trapper
Keepers better than Bay and his stunt coordinator, Kenny Bates. When other directors are going full CGI, Bay
still shoots as much as he can in real life, and then lets the wizards at ILM
or Digital Domain do their magic. He
knows story’s important, but that he’s not making <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Schindler’s List </i>here. Harry
Knowles, king übergeek at Aint It Cool News, talked about the lack of character
development, specifically mentioning the movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0129167/" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Iron Giant</i> </a>and its boy and robot story. He yearned for more of that in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers</i>. Harry actually writes the line, “</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";">Cuz what is necessary isn’t that she get back in
the car… but that Shia and that car spend some time together</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">.”
What?!!!! Dude, it’s Megan
Freakin’ Fox! Quality time with
Bumblebee can wait. Love ya, Harry, but
what?! Were you really expecting a
character development piece in a Michael Bay film? I loved <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Iron
Giant</i>, too, but this ain’t no <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Iron
Giant</i> movie.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Here’s
what makes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers </i>great and why
guys like Harry Knowles just didn’t get it.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers</i> is a close to
perfect popcorn movie. By that I mean
that it won’t change your sensibilities or make you contemplate the world we
live in. What it will do, however, is
take you on the “rollercoaster ride of the summer” and “never let you go.” And while those phrases have become cliché,
making the perfect summer blockbuster isn’t as easy as it looks. Bay started in commercials, with one of his
iconic ones being the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLSsswr6z9Y" target="_blank">Aaron Burr Got Milk?</a> commercial. He had thirty seconds to get you attention,
get his message across, and most importantly, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">get you to remember it</i>.
Imagine that thirty second freneticism spread out over a two hour
movie. That’s why you’re physically
tired after a Michael Bay movie, but in a good way. Sure, you’ve got to put your smartypants hat
away for a few hours and just go with the flow, but if you see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers</i> with the right attitude,
you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will </i>enjoy yourself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Okay,
that’s enough talk about everything but the actual movie, but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">what about the robots</i>?</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";">“Before time began, there was the cube.”</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">These are
the words that open <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers</i>. Delivered in a rich baritone by Peter Cullen,
who voiced the original Optimus Prime (which I didn’t know, but the fanboys
were so excited about), Michael Bay throws his pile of chips in the middle of
the table, confidently leaning back with a grin as if to say, “All in.” By that, I mean that if you can get past that
cheeseball line spoken with such gravitas, you’re going to be just fine. If you can’t, then you might as well stop the
DVD player right now and go watch <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Pianist.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Michael
Bay doesn’t get enough credit for his casting, and this is why. There isn’t much time for character
development in his movies, so he needs you to care about these people quickly. For some characters, they’ve got five lines
to impress you or get you to care about them.
Let’s take <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0241049/" target="_blank">Josh Duhamel’s</a> Captain Lenox as an example. Within minutes of seeing him onscreen, you
care about him. First he shows that he’s
just one of the guys, talking trash with his fellow Army Rangers. Then, you see him as a loving father and
husband, video chatting with his wife and newborn daughter that he’s never
met. Within another minute, he’s
treating a local Qatar boy with respect, showing he’s not some mindless, racist
grunt. So in just one minute and nine
seconds of screen time, Bay (and Duhamel, and the writers) have established a
well-rounded character that you will care about for the rest of the film. Again, it goes back to his commercial roots –
Bay got your attention with Captain Lennox, got you to care about him, and gave
you things to remember. All in a minute
and nine seconds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">And the
movie is littered with great character and comedic actors who make the most of
their screen time. Bay cast the brilliant Bernie Mac as car salesman Bobby
Bolivia, and actors Kevin Dunn and Julie White as Sam’s parents. In much the way Jack Black was instantly
memorable in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">High Fidelity</i>, White and
Dunn endear themselves to you within seconds.
Anthony Anderson is hilarious as a computer hacker and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000685/" target="_blank">John Voight</a> is
the John Wayne of Defense Secretaries (and I mean that in a good way). Say
what you want about the stunt casting of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1083271/" target="_blank">Megan Fox</a>’s stomach, but she gives Mikaela
a charm and toughness that go beyond her 8 minute abs. The only real misfire, in my opinion, is <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001806/" target="_blank">JohnTurturro </a>as Agent Simmons of Sector 7.
He’s one of his generation’s most talented actors, but he just is a bit
over the top and out of place in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">But the
biggest casting coup was Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky. Before Transformers, Shia had only had a few
bit parts in big movies – the funny kid/sidekick. Shia is quick on his feet (I haven’t seen
someone run this good on screen since Tom Cruise) both physically <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and </i>mentally. Bay likes actors who can improvise and go
with the flow, and Shia is a natural. Sure,
the real stars of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers </i>are the
robots, but if the actual people had acted as robotic as, say Jake Lloyd in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars: The Phantom Menace</i>, then <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers </i>would’ve gone pear shaped
real fast.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Much like
one of his mentors, Jim Cameron, Bay runs a film crew much like a military
operation, and it shows in virtually every frame. He’s got all the actors running all over the
place, getting smacked around and having various sizes of debris rained on
them. He’s tough on his cast and crew,
and doesn’t really care if you have a problem with it. At least Cameron feels a little remorse for
the hell he puts his actors through. Bay
– not so much. Unlike Cameron, Bay
shoots fast. While most directors will
do about twenty setups a day, Michael will do about sixty, on average. He’s going to go fast, and if you can’t keep
up, well then you’re just asking for aan ass chewing – and he won’t hesitate,
because you deserved it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">He’s been
called all sorts of unprintable names, often to his face, but he doesn’t
care. What he does care about is working
hard and making the best looking, most exciting, fun movies he can. So sue him.
He figures that he’s been around for a while now and if you don’t know
what you’re getting into when you sign on to do a Michael Bay movie, then it’s
your own damn fault. While fighting the
big fight scene at the end of the movie, they put bulletproof safety material
around the camera. Even Bay, who’s
standing fifty feet away, is wearing protective goggles. Shia LaBeouf, the lead of the movie? He gets to run through it all holding a prop
cube. His protection? A brown sweatshirt, I guess. But if you’re an actor willing to work hard
and take your lumps (literally, it seems), then Bay’s your guy. Shia summed it up well in an interview with
GQ magazine:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";">He is the sickest action director on the planet. He’s not Elia Kazan [brilliant director of On
the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire].
And he knows it. He's precise and he's specific and he's determined;
he's outrageously committed. He never flinches in a firefight. He's always
there for you; when the going gets tough, he never flinches. He's helpful; he's
confident; he's a risk-taker. But he's also completely unreasonable and
irrational sometimes and emotional and aggressive and demanding. He's my coach;
I love him; he's my captain. When we’re
at work, there’s no huggy, kissy shit.
You know what he is? New
York. If you can make it on a Bay set,
you can make it on any set.</span></i></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“BUT WHAT ABOUT THE ROBOTS?!!!!!!!!!”</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Okay, I
did that on purpose. I specifically
waited this long to talk about the robots to show that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers </i>is more than just those amazing looking robots. Without a strong foundation of a film
surrounding them, the Autobots and Decepticons would’ve been mere eye
candy. Sure, Michael Jordan is the best
player of all time, but he didn’t start winning championships until he had a
solid supporting cast around him. The
robots in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers</i> shine even
more because they’re in a great movie, rather than them <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">being</i> the movie. I so
desperately want to make a “more than meets the eye joke” here, but you get my
point.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">From the
first moment when that rogue helicopter’s blades stop on a dime, then fold back
as the whole thing disassembles and turns into Starscream at the beginning of
the movie, your mind spends the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rest </i>of
the movie trying to catch up. Even when
they run things in slow motion, you still can’t really comprehend the intricacy
and work that went into each transformation.
And that’s exactly the way Michael Bay wanted it. He <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wanted</i>
the fanboys to get the movie on Bluray and slow the speed waaaaay down,
analyzing every frame. Bay wasn’t going
to waste all of that amazing work by ILM by simplifying things for the
audience. He wanted you to shake your
head in disbelief, because that’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">exactly
</i>how it’d be in real life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Bay wanted
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers </i>to be real. And think about it, in real life, when a
Camaro goes speeding past you at eighty miles an hour, everything’s a blur and
you can barely get the color, much less a license plate. Now imagine that car’s 750 individual pieces
transforming it, at an alarming rate and with a complexity that is assuredly
alien, into a thirty foot tall yellow robot that’s shooting huge projectiles at
another thirty foot tall robot. Screw
the license plate, where’d that hubcap go?
Your mind would be spinning and your mouth would undoubtedly be open,
followed by a vigorous shaking of your head.
What the hell just happened here?
It’s that feeling that Bay wanted you to have, because he wanted you to
feel like you were IN the movie, not just watching it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The task
was enormous. <a href="http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/digital/visual-effects/4218826" target="_blank">In a story in PopularMechanics</a> titled “Transformers: The Best
Special Effects Ever?”, Jeff White, the digital production supervisor asked the
$100,000 question. “How are we gonna get
this thing from a car into the robot and back in a believable way?” Bumblebee’s 750 parts, if laid end to end,
would stretch a half-mile long. Someone
had to get them to make a car, and then get them to make a robot – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and every single frame in between!</i> According to the story, for just a section of
a Bumblebee transformation, visual effects art director Alex Jager had to “break
apart a fender close to the ground to unleash Bumblebee’s arm, then disassemble
a brake disc attached to the arm before shifting it out of the way, [with it] eventually
end[ing] up on his shoulder.” My brain
hurts just thinking about it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Now
imagine instead of 750 hand-modeled parts, you had to deal with 10,000. That’s what the ILM crew had to take into
account for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers</i>. Oh, and that was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">just for Optimus Prime!</i> Not only
that, but they had to give Optimus real character that you could see and
feel. So yes, hating fanboys, they gave
Optimus lips. Because if his voice just
looked like a blinking light emanating from a hole in his face, it would’ve
looked inane given the complexity of the bots they were creating. But cheer, fanboys, because the voice that
came from those lips was the voice of actor Peter Cullen, who did the voice of
the Autobot leader in the cartoon series.
To add a suitable menacing gravitas to the head of the Decepticons, Bay
decided to shake things up and use Hugo Weaving (Mr. Smith from the Matrix
movies) as the voice of Megatron. Once
they saw the movie, even the most ardent opponent of change had to admit that Weaving
did a stellar job as Megatron. The
result for all of this hard work garnered the ILM gang an Oscar nomination for
Visual Effects. That they lost to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Golden Compass</i> is the Oscar version
of Milli Vanilli winning the Grammy for Best New Artist. It’s just a crime.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">But it
wasn’t just the visual side of cars changing into robots (and vice versa).
They didn’t transform silently.
Just as important as these transformations looking real, they needed to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sound </i>real. That task went to veteran sound designer
Ethan Van der Ryn and his partner, Mike Hopkins. <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2011/08/play/scound-for-sci-fi" target="_blank">Wired magazine</a> interviewed Van der Ryn, about
those great transforming sounds. They
used brakes, scissor lifts, clashing swords, a faulty car window, a garden hose
and even his dog to make them. The
resulting sounds meshed so well with the visual effects that you thought to
yourself, “Of course that’s how it would sound.” The sound team was also nominated for an
Oscar, losing out to worthy opponent, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Bourne Ultimatum</i>. But don’t feel too
bad for Ethan – he’d already won two Oscars by the time he did <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers:</i> for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">King Kong </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lord of the
Rings: The Two Towers</i>.<span style="color: black;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The last
piece of the puzzle in any big movie is the music score. You need something that sounds as majestic
and exciting as the images that appear on the screen. Longtime Bay collaborator <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0413011/" target="_blank">Steve Jablonsky’s</a>
music adds a richness to the soundtrack, giving the music cues a strong
foundation. He learned under the tutelage
of his mentor, Hans Zimmer (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gladiator,
Inception, The Lion King</i>) – start slow but forceful. Then the music builds and adds layers and
intensity. The trick with any score is
to make it memorable, but not to distract from the visuals on the screen. Jablonsky succeeds in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers</i>. He’s written a
score that works perfectly in the movie, but is also music that you’d go out
and buy the soundtrack just to listen to it on its own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">From start
to finish, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers</i> is an
unapologetic action movie blockbuster.
That’s what Michael Bay wanted to make, and he succeeded at almost every
turn. You might never get a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Schindler’s List</i> out of Bay, but it’s
okay, because he doesn’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">want</i> to make
a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Schindler’s List</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So after
all of this trying to convince you doubters out there that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers</i> is indeed a great movie, you still may not like
it. Do you really think Michael Bay
cares? Of course not. And that’s what I love about him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">* God help
me. Yes, I counted them. All in all, I probably spent an hour and a
half researching, just for a joke. So am
I any better? Probably not, but at least
I don’t write something like: “LAME unless they showed that girls tits from the
trailer my god she is hot.” Yes, that’s
one of the 648 comments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">+ If you
don’t get the reference, look it up on Wikipedia. You’ll get why that’s a really funny line.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 14pt;">WRITER’S CORNER</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I tried
and tried to find a copy of the script for this movie so I could pay tribute to
Roberto & Alex’s work, but the lawyers at Paramount and Dreamworks have
done a very good job scrubbing the internet clean of all traces of that
originally leaked copy of the screenplay (as well as all others). So without that, I’ll pay tribute to another
writer. Yep, it’s Vern from Ain’t It
Cool News’ fanboy collective. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">While I
see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers</i> as a perfectly
crafted summer blockbuster, Vern disagrees.
Vehemently. You can <a href="http://www.aintitcool.com/node/33228">read the whole post here</a>, but
I’ve picked out some of my favorite gems that made me LOL.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I
definitely wanted to see [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers</i>]
out of morbid curiosity, but felt it would be morally wrong to pay for it. I
paid to see GHOST RIDER because I thought it would be funny, and I still feel
guilty about it.</span></div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I definitely wanted to see [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformers</i>] out of morbid curiosity, but felt it would be morally
wrong to pay for it. I paid to see GHOST RIDER because I thought it would be
funny, and I still feel guilty about it.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It’s
like God made up The Transformers just to get some use out of Michael Bay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Bay told God to fuck off and went and
made a movie about people [instead].<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">But
I think the Lord would agree with me when I say, Jesus Christ, if this is what
you guys consider exciting action sequences, I don’t even know how to relate to
you anymore.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I
know it’s not fair to drop the B&R bomb – it’s like comparing people to
Hitler in political discussion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
Transformers is honestly approaching Batman and Robin proportions of
horribleness.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So
in a way, that does explain to me why some people might enjoy this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some people like to be whipped and peed on.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I can't remember the last time I saw a movie that left me this befuddled that it actually existed. Now I now how your parents felt when they took you to see [the <i>Transformers </i>cartoon movie]. "Well, I guess this is what kids like now. Huh..." </span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Vern, my
man, you are quite funny. A bit full of
vitriol (and a potty mouth – hey, I got kids here), but very, very funny.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Here's my video for <i>Transformers, </i>with the scenes that best depict why it's a great movie.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gm0arsCjwhI?rel=0" width="640"></iframe>
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> And next up on my list, #98 - <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115685/" target="_blank">The Birdcage</a>.... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></div>Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-59425927968028524552012-01-23T20:53:00.001-07:002012-01-23T20:53:47.474-07:00Hi, I'm Kent, and I'm a mustard addict...<!--[if !mso]>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Yes, I’m
working on my entry for the next movie on my list, <i>Transformers </i>(which is coming along much quicker than the <i>High Fidelity </i>one)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">,</i> but before that, there’s something I need to get off
my chest.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Hi, I’m
Kent, and I’m a mustard addict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve
been in denial about this for a long time, but Jennifer finally helped me
realize that my addiction has reached a dangerous level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s reached the point that I’ve become a
danger not only to myself, but to others as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“How can that be?” you may ask.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just mustard, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A freakin’ condiment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">True,
mustard is just a condiment, and a tasty low-fat one at that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The jars, however, are another story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll get to that in a second.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But first, a little history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About a year ago, things had gotten out of
hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jennifer had always been gracious
enough (and enough of an enabler) to give me my own shelf on the door of the fridge
for my mustards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But slowly they started
to migrate into the fridge proper, taking up valuable real estate. Jennifer finally
laid down the commandment:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Yea, thou
shalt have mustard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But their number
shall be no more than ten.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Ten?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could do that, I thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it was harder than I thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time, I had sixteen, so that meant
getting rid of six.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ugh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to convince Jennifer that yellow mustard
and Dijon mustard shouldn’t count because she used those on a regular basis,
and were therefore “ours,” rather than “mine.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I went through all of
my mustards and pared them down to ten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I did alright until I had to toss my Trader Joe’s Wasabi Mustard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was a tough one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to have Jennifer actually toss it,
because I couldn’t bear to do it myself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Everything
was fine until a couple of months ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
of the mustards in a glass jar fell off the shelf and it was only my lighting
fast reflexes that helped me catch it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That was good, because it saved me from cleaning up a mustard mess and
grieving the loss of a friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also taught
me to make sure the glass ones are on the bottom row of the shelf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought I’d averted disaster.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I was
wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few weeks ago, the Nathan’s
Deli Mustard was jostled loose and fell on Jennifer’s foot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure it was only a plastic bottle, but it was
a plastic bottle half-full of mustard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s
a pound and a half falling from five feet, landing square on Jennifer’s bare
foot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to reorganize the shelf so it wouldn’t
happen again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily, it hasn’t, but I
fear that one of these days, Jennifer is going to count these puppies and
realize that they’ve started breeding again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I just
counted, and there are fourteen of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But we need them all, I swear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
try and rationalize my addiction, I’ll list every mustard currently in our
fridge, along with why it’s a necessary condiment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll even give you a picture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">French’s
Yellow Mustard – The classic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every
single fridge in the United States needs a bottle of this inside somewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you don’t have one in your fridge, go get
one and send me the bill…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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Gulden’s Spicy Brown Mustard – Another classic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If there was a second mandatory mustard, this would be it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For many, it’s the only mustard that goes on
a hot dog.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">French’s
Dijon Mustard – For those fancy times when you need a subtler mustard, this
works like a charm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And don’t forget to
use it in your vinaigrette.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Inglehoffer
Stone Ground Mustard – If you want a mustard that’s, you know, MUSTARD, then a
stone ground gives you that full bodied mustard taste without the tanginess of
yellow mustard.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Beaver
Sweet Hot Mustard – I wish I had this one as a kid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s got a horseradish kick with some honey
thrown in, giving a great savory/sweet taste that’s addictive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love it on almost everything, but my favorite
is on a cracker with some good cheddar cheese, from Wisconsin of course.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Nathan’s
Deli Style Mustard – If you’ve ever been to a Nathan’s hot dog stand, then you
know this mustard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a brownish
mustard with an interesting flavor – turmeric!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If I had to give this one up, I would, but a New Yorker might just beat
the crap out of me just for thinking that. Sabrett's has a really tasty one, too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Archer
Farms (Target brand) Lemon Dijon Mustard – Finding that perfect balance of
lemon/Dijon isn’t as easy as you’d think, so I let the pros at Target figure it
out for me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Ty Ling
Hot Mustard – I am NOT having an egg roll or a fried wonton without some
Chinese hot mustard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And no, they don’t
give you enough when you get takeout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
you need your sinuses cleared, this stuf’ll do the trick.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Grey
Poupon Harvest Coarse Ground Mustard – Okay, this one is probably redundant,
but I swear it tasted different than the Inglehoffer one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like saying if you’ve got one Merlot,
you don’t need another one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Terapin
Ridge Farms Brown Sugar Pecan Mustard – This one’s giving the Sweet Hot Mustard
a run for its money when it comes to the top spot on my list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The molasses in the brown sugar gives the
sweetness a fuller body and the pecans are a wonderful twist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you can find it, I urge you to try this
one out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You won’t regret it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Archer
Farms Brew Masters Mustard – Mustard and beer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Could there be a more natural combination?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Slimme
& Nunne Maple Peppercorn Mustard – I love mustard, maple syrup <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and </i>pepper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So put them all together and it’s a
winner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then again, I love marshmallow,
enchiladas and barbecue ribs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just
kidding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an awesome mustard.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Terapin
Ridge Blueberry Honey Mustard – This one Jennifer actually picked out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a specialty mustard, for sure, so it won’t
go well with a hot dog or burger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
with a really rich cheese and a nice slice of a baguette, it’ll make you a fast
fan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Bucky
Badger Honey Mustard Pretzel Dip – More sweet than hot, they’re not kidding
when they say it goes great with pretzels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you’re sitting on the couch, watching a football game with a jar of
this and a bag of pretzel sticks, I envy you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I have to
say, though, it’s not all my fault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jennifer
has to take some accountability for the mustard situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we went to her hometown of Madison,
Wisconsin, last summer, she said, “Sweetie, did you know that the National
Mustard Museum is just outside of Madison?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No, I did not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like telling
a drug addict, “Did you know there’s a Meth-R-Us twenty minutes out of where we’re
going?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And to top it all off, they let
you taste ANY of the over 500 mustards they have in the store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we were there, we picked up the Brown
Sugar Pecan, the Maple Peppercorn, the Blueberry Honey and the Bucky Badger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I had my ten before we went to
Madison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was just helping support a
national treasure of a museum by getting those four.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was my civic duty and I was proud to do
it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">If you
want to see the mustards in their natural habitat, here you go…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Not twenty
minutes after I took this picture, the Nathan’s took a dive again – this time at
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my</i> feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily, it fell in front of my toes, with no
harm done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also luckily, Jennifer didn’t
notice, or I’d be going through these guys right now, trying to figure out
which five have to go…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Uh
oh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It just fell again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time, tumbling right in front of
Jennifer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her feet were safe, but I
think I’m in trouble…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Aw,
crap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In preparing dinner this evening,
I was getting something from another shelf in the fridge when I spotted
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know, the “Pardon me…” kind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The normal Grey Poupon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Damn, that’s fifteen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What am I going to do? Which <i>five</i> do I cut, now?</span></div>
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<br /></div>Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-75208957707679120752012-01-13T22:40:00.000-07:002012-02-02T10:23:35.079-07:00100. High Fidelity (2000)<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Man, am I rusty. When I was writing most of the entries for my Top 100 Songs, they came out relatively easily, because I had been doing it consistently for a while. I had a good process and the words came out (mostly) easily, sometimes so much so that my fingers couldn’t keep up with my brain. But for this first post on the Top 100 Movies of My Lifetime, my brain is like my first car, an old 1980 Datsun 510 station wagon near the end of its life – starting in fitful spurts. My friends in the back seat would be hopeful that the engine was about to turn over, but I knew better. “We’re gonna have to roll start this thing,” I’d say. “Get out and push, guys.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I’ve now officially written five different openings to my essay on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">High Fidelity</i>*, but none of them appear to be anything more than a brief spurt, meaning they sound pretty good but won’t get me very far. So who’s going to roll start my brain?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Finally, after just letting my mind go blank for a bit (which was pretty easy for me), the solution came to me via my wife, Jennifer. Since John Cusack’s character of Rob Gordon reminds me so much of my brother, Scott, I thought it’d be fun to write the essay from Scott’s point of view. When I explained this to Jennifer, she asked, “What? Like you’ll interview him?” That wasn’t what I was thinking about, but it’s a great idea. I’ll write about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">High Fidelity</i> as a fictional interview, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rolling Stone</i> style. Peter Travers took the Top 5 motif from in the movie and used it for his review, so I think it’s only fitting that I use their long-form interview for my take on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">High Fidelity</i>.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">When I meet up with Scott, he’s standing in front of a taco truck in San Francisco, patiently waiting for his order. I’m the one who’s actually running a few minutes late, but he doesn’t appear annoyed. His hair is disheveled, but not distractingly so, and his clothes are a conglomeration of thrift store highlights that alternative teenagers would spend ten times as much for at Urban Outfitters. He offers me a taco from his plate that I politely decline, and I return the kind offer by getting the both of us some aguas frescas. We sit at a favorite bench of his nearby as he starts in on his tacos.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: So what makes High Fidelity a great movie?</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Scott: More than any movie I can think of, this movie was made for me. It’s about a guy my age who runs a record store and loves music. LOVES music. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: What else?</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Scott: He’s a smart, funny guy who has trouble with relationships. He loves to DJ and is a music snob. All of those things could describe me as well.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: Yeah, but why would someone like me, or even, God forbid, a woman, consider it a great movie?</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Scott: Most probably don’t, but if they do, it’s because the movie is so strong in showing Rob’s emotional journey and growth. His girlfriend Laura is as much an everywoman as Rob is an everyman. She’s even more approachable than Rob, and I’d bet that a lot of women see themselves in Laura.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: So it’s a chick flick movie wrapped up in a music geek wrapper?</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Scott: Kind of. There’s definitely a portion of it that would speak to a woman. They’d probably like how he spends the majority of the movie reexamining his past relationships, searching for what went wrong, and how he can learn from them. He said it best when he said about one of his exes - the Catherine Zeta-Jones character, “You gotta punch your weight. Don’t date a girl out of your league.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: I totally disagree. I’m happily married to a woman who’s out of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my</i> league. And she’s happy too. I’m living proof that you should swing for the fences, because the great thing about Jennifer and I is that we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">both </i>think we’re the luckiest people around.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Scott: But you’re the exception to the rule. Rob & I are a bit more pragmatic. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: What are your thoughts on the breaking of the fourth wall?</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Scott: The what?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: Breaking the fourth wall. You know, where a character directly addresses the audience, looking at us through the camera.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: Yeah. It’s kinda like Ferris Beuller grew up and now owns a record store. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: Ferris Bueller. It’s the- oh, forget it. Anyway, one review I read said that Jack Black “shoplifts the movie from Cusack” with his performance as Barry. Is that bad for a movie when something like that happens?</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Scott: That’s a funny line, but he didn’t steal the movie. That’s not fair to Jack. Rather than steal the movie, his performance is like a car crash, but in a good way. You just can’t look away. Stealing implies that Jack Black WANTED to steal it. You don’t steal something on accident. I’d like to think, as an actor, that he’s more generous than that. I met him once, and he was generous to me, and I’m just the guy who works at the record store where Tenacious D played.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: I agree. I also think that it takes away from John’s performance. Rob’s not as flashy as Barry, but that performance is the soul of the movie. And lest we forget Todd Louiso’s equally brilliant performance as Dick. He’s so understated and quiet, but you can’t help but watch his every move, too.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Scott: You’re right. And that one scene where Rob daydreams about a confrontation with Tim Robbins’ Ian/Ray character, it’s Dick who rips the air conditioner out of the wall to bash Ray’s head in. It’s so out of character that I still laugh when I think about it.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: Speaking of Ian/Ray, what are your thoughts on Tim Robbins?</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Scott: Oh man, was he bad. Don’t get me wrong. Tim Robbins is a great actor, but he’s just terrible in this movie.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: No arguments there. Do you have a problem with the filmmakers changing the location of the movie from England to Chicago?</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Scott: I don’t usually like it when they mess with books too much, but in this case, it makes the movie much more relatable to me, so I’m okay with it. Besides, America is where rock, jazz, soul, R&B, rap and hip-hop were invented, so it seems a natural choice.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: It’s funny that you say that. I read an interview with John Cusack where he related a conversation he had with Nick Hornby, who wrote the book. “We want to set it in Chicago. If that’s gonna make you sick, you gotta tell us. Nick said, ‘No, that’s great. My book’s about more than geography.”</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Scott: It’s nice that he was cool with it. I would still probably love the movie if it was in a London record shop, but I probably would’ve loved it even more if they’d set it in San Francisco. Then it would be the perfect movie!</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: Did you like how it ended?</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Scott: I did. I really did. Rob grew emotionally by the end- but not too much to make it a “happily ever after” ending. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: You don’t like “happily ever after” endings.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Scott: Uh, no. That’s not an interesting ending. I like movies where I can’t see where they’re going all the time. Too many movies today are moviemaking by numbers affairs, and that just bores me.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: So you’re not going to see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New Year’s Eve</i>?</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Scott: What’s that?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kent: Exactly. Anyway… Thanks for your thoughts, Scott.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Scott: No problem. Let’s go get some more tacos.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So that’s what I think Scott would say about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">High Fidelity</i>. And it’s pretty close to what I would say, too. It’s an almost perfect movie for someone like Scott, but I really love it too. That’s why it makes it on my list of the Top 100 Movies of My Lifetime.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">WRITER’S CORNER</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Just like a great B-side, the screenplay (by John Cusack, his writing/producing buddies D.V. DeVincentis and Steve Pink – as well as Scott Rosenbert) has the perfect intro to Rob. Having read it, I wish they would've opened the movie with it. But I can understand that cuts have to be made, and this opening would've taken a good minute longer. Still…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">INT. ROB'S APARTMENT - NIGHT</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">STEREO</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Not a minisystem, not a matching set, but coveted audiophile</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">clutter of McIntosh and Nakamichi, each component from a</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">different era, bought piece by piece in various nanoseconds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">of being flush.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">RECORDS</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">Big thin LPs. Fields of them. We move across them, slowly...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">they seem to come to rest in an end of a few books... but</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">then the CD's start, and go on, faster and faster, forever</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">then the singles, then the tapes...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">It seems the records, tapes, and CD's will never end until...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">we come to ROB -- always a hair out of place, a face that</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">grows on you. He sits in an oversized beanbag chair and</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";">addresses us, the wall of music behind him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">NITPICKER’S CORNER</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As wonderful a movie as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">High Fidelity</i> is, there are some shortcomings I have to acknowledge. Firstly, whoever was in charge of the hairstyling and wigs on this movie should have their head shaved. In all of the flashbacks of Rob and with Tim Robbins’ ridiculous wig, the hair department fails in every regard.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Speaking of Tim Robbins. He’s a fantastic actor (and will appear later in this list), but boy, does he suck ass in this movie. Sorry, Tim, but you do.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">For those annoyed by the breaking of the fourth wall, this movie must be insufferable, because Rob is one big, fat whiner.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I put together a couple of videos of all my favorite clips from the movie. Enjoy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><i>Just a quick note to Barry... Say what you want about "I Just Called to Say I Love You," but in 1984, this song that you so deride won both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for best original song from a film. So I think Stevie Wonder might say something like, "Suck it, Barry. I got a motherf*in' Oscar."</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">And in keeping with the b-side record theme, there's a great deleted scene that didn't make it into the movie. It doesn't really fit in with the storyline of Rob reexamining his past, so I understand why it's not in the movie, but it is hilarious. It's especially funny if you know (or are) a record collector.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I said that I'd post what's coming up next so you could watch the movie ahead of time if you want to. So #99 on the list will be the first <i>Transformers </i>movie, released in 2007.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">* Maybe I'll release them on the remastered version of my list in 2019. </span></div>Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-58443188534571873412012-01-10T09:41:00.001-07:002012-01-10T09:43:37.270-07:00The Top 100 Movies of My Lifetime<div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">No, I’m not dead, I’m just lazy.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">After I finished my blog posts on the Top 100 Songs of My Lifetime, I took a much deserved break. I had written 130,000 words on those songs, taking a year and a half to do it. I was a little burnt out because I put lots of time and research into each of the entries, rather than just puking out my brain on the keyboard like many bloggers do. But the break became longer when I moved on to some other writing projects and real life just got in the way. My lovely wife, Jennifer, didn’t really have a problem with it, because although she read every post, she wasn’t too geeked to read 1,500 words on Duran Duran’s “The Reflex.” She did, however, give me the high praise of: “Even though I couldn’t care less about many of these songs, your essays were almost always interesting and fun to read.” No excuses, though, I was just pretty lazy about it. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">No more. I got the kick in the butt from my brother who finally asked, “Are you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ever</i> going to do your Top 100 movies?” This is the same brother who read all 130,000 of my Top 100 songs posts and loved probably 87% of them. So after a break that probably killed all the momentum of getting me on some Top 100 blog list (HA!), let’s move on to the flicks.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Okay, let’s get this out of the way first. I’m a notoriously easy critic on movies. I’m the one who convinced four friends to go see Sylvester Stallone’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daylight</i>, because I said it was “pretty good.” None of them ever trusted me again to be the sole recommendation for a movie we were going to plunk down cold, hard cash on. But yeah, I hear you say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daylight </i>came out, like twenty years ago. Surely you’ve become more cultured in your middle aged years. Apparently not. Just last week, I convinced another fried to watch <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Green Lantern </i>because “it didn’t suck as much as everyone on the internet said it did.” Talk about your ringing endorsements. But she watched it! And <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">almost</i> liked it! My wife won’t watch a movie that I say is “good” with no other adjectives. It has to be at least “really good” for her to consider it (and I think she secretly does some online research to make sure I’m not wasting her time). But in my defense, I walked out of the movie theater twenty minutes into arguably the worst big-budget movie ever made, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Adventures of Pluto Nash</i>, starring Eddie Murphy. That’s gotta count for something, right?</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Truthfully, though, for this list of the Top 100 Movies of My Lifetime, I really tried to be as objective as possible. In order to do that, I came up with a few rules, or guidelines, for these movies:</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><ul><li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In case the title of the series didn’t give it away, the movie had to be released during my lifetime. I was born on November 12, 1969, so there’s your frame of reference.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It had to be a movie that I’d seen. I hear you. “Um, duh. Of course you’d had to have seen it.” That’s not what I mean, though. There are movies that are generally considered “great” that I just haven’t cared about enough to see before. I wasn’t going to put <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s List </i>on to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my </i>list just because it’s #8 on the IMDB Top 250.* I haven’t seen it yet.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I had to have seen the movie more than once. This is where it gets less objective, but hear me out. For many people, seeing a movie once is just fine. But for many movie fans, great movies, and in this case, GREAT movies, are so good that you can’t help yourself from watching them again. They’re so compelling, one viewing just isn’t enough. This is how you get the uber-geeks who’ve seen <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars</i> 437 times, dissecting every nuance of Han Solo’s performance while never once mentioning the name Harrision Ford. So for me, that knocks out other greats like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Apocalypse Now</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Shining</i>. Up until now, once was enough for me regarding those great films.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Any movies released in 2011 weren’t eligible. Just like the five year waiting period for sports halls of fame, I didn’t want something that I’d just seen that I loved weighing too heavily because of its newness. </span></li>
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</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">You may find these rules arbitrary at best or outright ridiculous (like my wife does), but I’m sticking by them. I just wanted to explain where I was coming from+.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The format for each entry will be the same. I’ll start off with my case for why that particular movie is a great one. If you haven’t seen the particular movie that I’m writing about, tread carefully. If there are key plot points, I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will</i> ruin them for you. I have no idea how a movie critic can write about a movie like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Sixth Sense </i>without talking all about its stunning ending. It’s like a writing a story about the Super Bowl without telling you who won. To help you with the ones you may not have seen, I’ll put the name of the next movie on the list at the end of the post of the current movie, so you have time to see it (if you’re so inclined).</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Next, since I have a tremendous respect for all writers, I’ll have a little Writer’s Corner, where I put my favorite excerpt from the script. Like many cinefiles, I can be an amateur nitpicker and want to acknowledge that no movie is perfect. So in fairness to the awesomeness of the movie, I’ll acknowledge a few of the weaknesses of the chosen movie in the Nitpicker’s Corner. Lastly there will be a video clip of some of my favorite scenes. And who knows, there may be a few fun facts thrown in that you may not know (although that’s become much more difficult since IMDB came out with their trivia section!).</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So come back tomorrow, and #100 will be hot off the presses (see the “coming from” footnote below…). I’m excited to be writing again, and I hope you’re at least mildly excited to be reading again.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Oh yeah. The first movie on my list. #100 - High Fidelity. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">* The Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com) is one of the largest and most influential movie sites in the world. They let their users, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> critics, rate every single movie on their site. They have a link to their Top 250 movies of all time, which takes all of those user opinions into account, so it’s a fair example of what the movie-loving public thinks are great movies. Of their Top 250 movies of all time, only 160 were released during my lifetime. Some of my movies are on that list, some aren’t. Many I’ve seen. More than I thought – I haven’t. So along with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cuckoo’s List</i>, some of the other notables that you won’t see on my list are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Taxi Driver, City of God, A Clockwork Orange</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chinatown</i>. And there are probably a dozen more. I know, it’s a crime, but no one made me care enough to see any of them before now, so off my list they stay.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">And just in case you think the IMDB folks are all geniuses, they’ve got that sentimental overacted piece of crap <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Life Is Beautiful</i>, starring that buffoon Roberto Begnini, at #62. It’s proof positive that if there are Jews being killed by Nazis, your film is criticism-proof to almost anyone.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">+ Metaphorically, of course. Does anyone really care that I was just coming from the kitchen to the living room to write this whole thing up? I don’t think so. Just like when your friend says they literally peed in their pants. Look at their pants. I would wager that there is no pee. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Okay, go back up, read the last sentence of my intro and then come back… Since these essays are published digitally, there are no actual presses that would be warmed from the friction of printing out these essays. Man, am I an English snob.</span></div>Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-52058520790320829012011-05-16T14:30:00.000-06:002011-05-16T14:30:07.604-06:00Walt Disney Wants to Kill Your Parents (not really, but kinda....)<i>(This is a two-part post, but if you haven't read this first part, the second part that I just posted won't make much sense. So I'm keeping this post on top so it's one cohesive essay. Feel free to comment!)</i> <br />
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The newspaper editor in me came up with the title to this post. It's provocative and engaging. Is there a secret plot by the Disney corporation to kill parents? In reality, of course not, but if you're a parent in a Disney animated cartoon, then I might invest in some of that cheap term life insurance, because you're in some serious danger. Throughout the history of Disney full-length features, there have been (with the release of <i>Tangled </i>in 2010), fifty animated features. If you put much thought to it, you'd be surprised how few of those movies have two parental figures of a major character in the story, or where both parents survive the entire story.<br />
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I was talking with my wife a few months ago and mentioned noticing the lack of dual parent households in the pantheon of Disney animated movies, or at least dual parent households where the parents survived the story. So it got me to thinking. What were the real stats? I searched online and found a<a href="http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080607052634AAwZKl5"> few mentions of the idea</a>, but not a whole lot of specifics. Where was there a breakdown of each movie and the parental situation of each? I couldn't find it. So I decided to do some more research and put it all in one place, along with some ideas on the psychology of Disney animated movies and <i>why</i> there were so few families where both mom & dad were present from start to finish.<br />
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You might assume that in wanting to gather all of this information that I have an agenda and am trying to make Disney look bad. At worst, you'd think that I'm a fervent Disney hater. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Both my wife and I are <i>huge</i> Disney fans who've been to Disneyland tons and also to Disney World. We love taking our sons to Disney parks and when they do watch movies, chances are it's a Disney or Pixar one. I have tremendous respect for the work that Walt Disney did as an artist and executive. I've always fantasized about working for Disney, helping to create some of the magic that I'd enjoyed so much as a kid and still enjoy as an adult. So my desire to figure this out was curiosity rather than animosity. It's a strange cultural phenomenon that I wanted to try and figure out.<br />
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So let's break it down, one movie at a time and see what the final results are. The movies are listed chronologically, beginning with the first full-length animated movie ever, <i>Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.</i><br />
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<i>Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) </i>- Snow White's mother is dead and her father is absent at best, presumed dead at worst.<i> </i>(Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 0)<br />
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<i>Pinocchio (1940)</i> - Geppetto created Pinocchio and survives the story. In all of my research, I can't find a single mention of a wife for Geppetto, either before or after Pinocchio's "birth." Can't really knock Disney for no mom, so for me,<i> Pinocchio </i>gets credit on the plus side. (Potential Parents: 1 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>Fantasia (1940) </i>- Since this is just a collection of shorts, I'm not going to count it on my list. There are a few other "features" that are just collections of shorts, so they won't be tallied either.<br />
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<i>Dumbo (1941)</i> - There's only Dumbo's mother* in the story, and she's taken away from him early in the movie in a very traumatic scene. Dumbo had no real father, even if Timonty Mouse became a parental figure to him. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>Bambi (1942) </i>- In one of the most traumatic deaths in cinematic history, Bambi's mother is shot by a hunter and dies, leaving the young deer with just his father. (Although in reality, you don't see her die. All you hear is a gunshot.) (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<blockquote>The next <b><i>six</i></b> animated features, <i>Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy Free, Melody Time </i>and <i>The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad </i>were all "package films," collections of shorts with some bridging sequences, so even though there's no mother figure in <i>The Three Caballeros </i>and it appears that Katarina's mom is dead in <i>The Legend of Sleepy Hollow</i>, I'm not counting any of them on my official tally. And for my purposes, I'm counting <i>Fantasia </i>and <i>Fantasia 2000 </i>as the same kind of movies.</blockquote><br />
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<i>Cinderella (1950)</i> - Cinderella's mom is already dead when the movie starts, and then her dad dies when she's a teenager. Her stepmother, who was pretty horrible while Cinderella's dad was alive, reveals her true bitch nature after his death, berating, tormenting & belittling Cinderella at every juncture. (Potential Parents: 3 / Surviving Parents: 1 (the horrible stepmom, of course))<br />
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<i>Alice in Wonderland (1951)</i> - I felt a little bad for knocking <i>Dumbo </i>for the lack of a dad, so I'm going to put <i>Alice</i> in the plus column because although there is no mention of parents, there's also no mention of a parental trauma. Alice and her sister appear well taken care of, evidenced by the fact that they are well dressed, well mannered, and can spend a lazy afternoon by the bank of the river. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 2 (I think))<br />
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<i>Peter Pan (1953) </i>- Although Wendy, John and Michael have parents at the beginning and end of the story, Peter is an orphan, with the lost boys all presumably orphans as well. The negatives outweigh the positives, so a minus for this one. (Potential Parents: 4 (not including The Lost Boys) / Surviving Parents: 2)<br />
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<i>Lady and the Tramp (1955)</i> - Although technically Lady's dog parents aren't present, she's adopted by the Darlings, who survive the movie and when are reunited with Lady at the end of the story, treat her well and even adopt Tramp. That's all a plus for me. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 2)<br />
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<i>Sleeping Beauty (1959)</i> - Both of princess Aurora's parents are alive and appear to love her. Everything bad that happens to Aurora is caused by the wicked fairy Maleficent. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 2)<br />
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<i>101 Dalmatians (1961)</i> - Another people/dog movie, but for me, as long as the parents survive, it's all good. In this one, not only do they survive, but the dalmatian Pongo finds both himself <i>and </i>his master, Roger, a wife in the film. All of these "parents" survive, so another in the plus column. (Potential Parents: 4 / Surviving Parents: 4)<br />
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<blockquote><i>So after ten complete full-length features, it seems that things aren't as dire as I suspected. Although there have been a fair amount of parental deaths, the tally is actually even:</i><br />
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Total movies where all parents survive (if applicable): 5<br />
Total movies where one (or more) parent dies, is already gone, or is completely absent: 5<br />
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<i>But just like a basketball game in the NBA, just when things look even, one team goes on a run. I'll give you three guesses as to which side does in our scenario, and you can save the other two for another time...</i></blockquote><br />
<i>The Sword in the Stone (1963)</i> - Arthur (or Wart) is an orphan. Although Merlin becomes a mentor and grandfather-type figure to him, his parents are still gone. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 0)<br />
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<i>The Jungle Book (1967)</i> - Mowgli is found in a basket in the middle of the jungle, presumably abandoned by a single mother. You wouldn't think that a married woman with a healthy husband would do such a thing, so this one goes 0 for 2. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 0)<br />
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<i>The Aristocats (1970) </i>- If the story ascribes parental roles to animals, I'll stick to that, so <i>The Aristocats </i>goes in the minus column because there's no father. I almost put it in the plus column because late in the film the alley cat O'Malley proposes to Duchess, but she declines. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>Robin Hood (1973)</i> - This is a tough one, because Robin's parents are never mentioned, and since he's an adult, I don't know if it's fair to assume, even if his parents are dead, that he's what you'd normally think of as an orphan. No other main character's parents are mentioned either, although in the Errol Flynn Robin Hood movie, Maid Marian is an orphan. This one's a push. (Potential Parents: N/A / Surviving Parents: N/A)<br />
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With <i>The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) </i>being another collection of short tales, albeit all with Winnie the Pooh themes, I'm not going to count it. I did some research, though, and couldn't find any mention whatsoever of Christopher Robin's parents, although the character of Christopher was based on A.A. Milne's own son, and Milne and his wife were together until his death. Since the Pooh stories are all figments of the fictional Christopher's imagination, there's no reason to assume he had lost a parent. But if you really wanted to be a stickler, you could point out that Roo has a mother, Kanga, but no father. Anyway, moving on...<br />
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<i>The Rescuers (1977)</i> - No ambiguity here - Penny, the lead character is an orphan. You find that out in the first two minutes of the movie. Whew! That one was easy. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 0)<br />
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<i>The Fox and the Hound (1981) - </i>While there is no mention of the hound, Copper's, parents, the fox, Tod, loses his mother and becomes an orphan when she is killed by a hunter. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 0)<br />
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<i>The Black Cauldron (1985) </i>- The lead character, Taran, is an orphan. He does have a duo guardians, but they're a pale replacement for parents. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 0)<br />
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<i>The Great Mouse Detective (1986)</i> - A young mouse, Olivia, has presumably already lost her mom when her dad gets kidnapped. Luckily, though, with the help of the Sherlock Holmes inspired Basil, they rescue him by movie's end. Still no mom, though. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>Oliver and Company (1988)</i> - Based on Charles Dickens' <i>Oliver Twist</i>, this movie stays true to the spirit of the book and is therefore full of orphans. The total number of missing parents could reach the hundreds, but for our sake, we'll just count Oliver and Dodger. (Potential Parents: 4 / Surviving Parents: 0)<br />
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<i>The Little Mermaid (1989) </i>- Even with the renaissance of Disney animation, parents didn't fare any better. Ariel's mother is dead, and while Eric's price status makes you assume that at least one parent is still alive, there's no mention of either - ever. (Potential Parents: 4 / Surviving Parents: 2)<br />
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<i>The Rescuers Down Under (1990) </i>- The lead character, while not an orphan like Penny in the original, has no father. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>Beauty and the Beast (1991) </i>- Belle's mother is dead, leaving her with a loving, but absent-minded father. Although it isn't specifically mentioned in the movie, the book that it's based on says that the Beast's father died when he was a boy. (Potential Parents: 4 / Surviving Parents: 2)<br />
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<i>Aladdin (1992)</i> - Another orphan, Aladdin, finds his true love in Princess Jasmine. They had things in common to talk about during dinner dates - her mom is dead as well. (Potential Parents: 4 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>The Lion King (1994)</i> - At the beginning, the lion prince Simba has two loving parents. But his father, Mufasa, in an effort to save Simba from a stampede of wildebeests, dies when his jealous brother, Scar, hurls him back down directly in the path of the stampede. The episode scars poor Simba for years, before he finally comes back and hurls the treacherous Scar into a bunch of starving hyenas. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>Pocahontas (1995)</i> - Another mother has already passed away, and the title character is left with only a father. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)</i> - The disfigured Quasimodo is an orphan who has been "raised" by his life-long guardian, Judge Frollo. Frollo is an evil man, and at the end of the film, falls to his death from the roof of the cathedral. Although I won't count him as a dead parent, it's still another death surrounding Quasimodo. Bummer. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 0)<br />
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<i>Hercules (1997)</i> - I'm tempted to give this one two in the plus column, partly to make up for the shellacking that the plus side is taking, but mostly because Hercules has two sets of parents that survive. His parents on Mount Olympus <i>as well as</i> his adopted human parents make it through the whole film. After fifteen films in a row (not counting the above-mentioned <i>Robin Hood </i>and <i>Winnie the Pooh</i>), Disney finally decided that it has a group of parents worthy for the end credits. (Potential Parents: 4 / Surviving Parents: 2)<br />
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<i>Mulan (1998) </i>- Mulan's parents are both alive and very supportive of their daughter. She loves them so much that she takes her father's place (in disguise) when the men of China are conscripted to fight the invading Huns. The only parental death noted is that of the father of Mulan's commanding officer, Li Shang. Even so, this one goes on the plus side. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 2)<br />
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<i>Tarzan (1999) </i>- Well, that didn't last very long, did it? Tarzan quickly becomes an orphan when his parents are killed by an evil leopard. He's adopted by a gorilla whose husband originally doesn't want him, but after being shot late in the film by humans, accepts Tarzan as his son with his dying breath. And I won't even get into the fact that Jane most likely doesn't have a mother... (Potential Parents: 4 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>Fantasia (2000) </i>- The most recent of films that's a collection of short vignettes, I won't count <i>Fantasia 2000</i> for either side.<br />
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<i>Dinosaur (2000) </i>- In this CG animated movie, the lead dinosaur Aladar's mother is forced to abandon her eggs during an attack by predators. One of her eggs is carried off by a pterodactyl where it hatches and the dinosaur is raised by a family of lemurs (of which there is no father). (Potential Parents: 4 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>The Emperor's New Groove (2000) </i>- Since he's the teenage emperor of the Inca empire, it's clear that Kusco's parents are dead. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 0)<br />
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<i>Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)</i> - The parents of the lead character, Milo, are never mentioned, so my initial thought was that <i>Atlantis </i>would be a push. However, the mother of the Atlantean princess, Kida, sacrificed herself to protect her people from a tsunami. That tips the scales in favor of another negative outcome for parents. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>Lilo & Stitch (2002)</i> - Stitch was created, much like Pinocchio, so there are no real parents for him. Lilo, on the other hand, is an orphan being raised by her sister. I don't care how much fun you can have with a crazy alien while listening to Elvis songs, it still sucks to not have any parents. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 0)<br />
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<i>Treasure Planet (2002)</i> - Teenager Jim Hawkins tries to help his mother run an inn, but is distracted by his calling to explore the far reaches of space. In a montage later in the film, we see that an indifferent father finally left without warning, leaving his wife and young son to fend for themselves. While he didn't die, it may have been better for poor Jim if he had. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: Technically 2, but really 1)<br />
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<i>Brother Bear (2003)</i> - The plot is a bit difficult to parse down into a sentence or two, so check out the Wikipedia plot if you're curious. Simply, though, one of the main characters, Koda, loses his mom to a human tribesman. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>Home on the Range (2004)</i> - There are no real parental roles in this film, positive or negative, so my first inclination is that <i>Home on the Range</i> would be a push. But the lead character, Maggie, has a husband, Bob, so kids could be a part of their future. I know it's a reach, but this one's a plus. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 2)<br />
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<i>Chicken Little (2005) </i>- Chicken Little has a dad, Buck Cluck, but sadly there's no mother mentioned. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>Meet the Robinsons (2007)</i> - Abandoned by his mother at an orphanage as as infant, Lewis never had a chance to know either parent. His best fried (and later, in an alternate timeline, enemy) Goob, is also an orphan. Happily for both, the end of the movie shows them both being adopted by what appear to be happy and loving parents. Although I'd love to give some credit for the plus side, an orphan is still an orphan, and the trauma can't be minimized. I will give them credit in the parent tally, though... (Potential Parents: 4 / Surviving Parents: 2)<br />
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<i>Bolt (2008)</i> - Penny has a mother, but no mention of a father (finally a break for you moms!) Penny's mother may be a little meek, but she fiercely defends her daughter at the end of the movie and is supportive throughout, making the best of her single parent situation. Still a negative, but a positive negative, if that makes any sense. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>The Princess and the Frog (2009)</i> - Tiana grows up with both parents in a loving and supportive household. By the time she's an adult, Tiana's father has passed away, although it's unclear as to exactly when he died. Although Tiana misses her father, she was raised by <i>both</i> parents to be a strong and hard-working person who values her family. Another positive negative. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>Tangled (2010)</i> - Originally, I was going to post this one under the negative, because Rapunzel's "mother" dies at the end. But then I had a discussion with my wife and she brought up some great points. Gothel was <i>never </i>Rapunzel's mother, even though Rapunzel considered her so. Gothel was Rapunzel's demented abductor, consistently lying and manipulating her captive for her own selfish gain. Rapunzel's parents not only were alive and loved her, but reminded the kingdom every year that she was not forgotten by releasing thousands of floating lanterns on her birthday. When reunited with her parents at the end of the film, the animation is breathtaking in the way they convey that love they have for her with only their eyes. So while Flynn was an orphan, he's an adult at the start of the movie and by the end of the movie, he's wholeheartedly welcomed into of the royal family. A big fat one on the plus side!<br />
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So after seventy-three years and fifty animated features (9 of which I'm not counting for above-mentioned reasons, and one, <i>Robin Hood</i>, which I counted as a push), what's the final count?<br />
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Total movies where all parents survive (if applicable): 10<br />
Total movies where one (or more) parent dies, is already gone, or is completely absent: 30<br />
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At a 3:1 advantage, that's a staggering number of films where children are left at least partially parentless. It's too large a number to be dismissed as coincidental. The evidence is too strong to support that notion, and just in case you didn't think I took this case far enough, let's look at some other examples of animated features.<br />
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Disney isn't the only animation studio that has released features. Throughout the decades, scores of other animated movies were released. I won't go into the details of all of those, but I will talk about the most recent animated features from a few other studios. With the debut of <i>Toy Story</i> in 1995, Pixar released the first animated feature done completely with computer animation. Dreamworks animation followed suit in 1998 with the debut of their own computer animated feature, <i>Antz</i> (and have released a total of twenty-one in the years since). Even Sony Pictures Animation has released three films, with many more in the works.<br />
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Since my entire idea was focused on Disney movies, I won't get into the Dreamworks+ or Sony movies (someone else can tackle that project), but Pixar's another story. From the start, Pixar was a financial (and creative) partner of Disney, and is now wholly owned by them. The creative team at Disney was instrumental in helping shape <i>Toy Story</i> into the benchmark movie it became. Even though there were lots of Pixar/Disney similarities (Pixar head John Lasseter even worked for Disney out of college), the Pixar story brain trust developed independently of the Disney studio. Naturally, I wondered if the guys at Pixar developed the same kind of storylines on their own. So to be over-the-top thorough (and because I love Pixar movies), I'll break down each of their movies to see where the parental peril lies.<br />
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<i>Toy Story (1995), Toy Story 2 (1999), Toy Story 3 (2010) - </i>It makes sense to group the trilogy together, since they share the same group of characters. Since none of the toys have parents, per se, (although I'm tempted to give the potatoheads credit for "adopting" the aliens), Andy's the one with the main family unit. Andy's father is never mentioned in <i>any</i> of the movies, so we can assume Andy's parents are most likely divorced. My wife made another really good point in reference to <i>Toy Story 3</i>. She notes that at the end of the movie, Bonnie, who inherits all of Andy's toys, is shown playing in her yard. We also see her mother, who we knew from earlier in the movie, as well as her father, who's raking leaves in the background. She argued (very persuasively, I might add) that I should give the filmmakers some credit for that parental relationship. I agreed, so the <i>Toy Story </i>trilogy will get a minus mark for Andy's family, and half a plus for Bonnie's. (Potential Parents: 4 / Surviving Parents: 3) <br />
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<i>A Bug's Life (1998)</i> - After doing some (kinda gross) research, I discovered that male ants die shortly after mating. So Princess Atta and Dot most likely never knew their father. Mother Nature's a cruel mistress, but this one would still count in the minus column (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>Monsters, Inc. (2001) - </i>It's clear that monsters have parents (based on the kids jump-roping on the street and the kids touring the factory, and Mike mention's Sully's mom), but the idea of any of those parents being gone is never addressed. Sully's dad could've very well been sitting next to Sully's mom in the family room when she was talking to Mike (I know my Mom did most of the talking for my parents). I know in science, lack of proof is proof of a negative, but I still think I'm going to put <i>Monsters, Inc</i>. on the plus side. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: Most likely 2)<br />
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<i>Finding Nemo (2003)</i> - Marlin and Coral are talking about their family's future when Coral is killed in a barracuda attack. Deeply traumatized and vowing to save the only surviving child from harm, Marlin becomes an overprotective single parent. Dory might have a family, but she can't quite remember... (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>The Incredibles (2004)</i> - Both Parr parents survive the movie, despite numerous attempts to kill them off by villains, giving nothing but support and help to their children. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 2)<br />
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<i>Cars (2006)</i> - Very much like <i>Robin Hood</i>, <i>Cars</i> doesn't really address the parental situation at all. No mention of any of the character's parents are made, either alive or dead. Although it appears that Ramone and Flo are probably married, and there's a very happy little kid car waving a flag at the last race, there's no mention one way or the other about parents. So <i>Cars </i>is another push. (Potential Parents: ? / Surviving Parents: ?)<br />
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<i>Ratatouille (2007)</i> - We find out early that it's just Remy, his brother Emille and his dad. No mom. (Potential Parents: 2 / Surviving Parents: 1)<br />
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<i>WALL-E (2008)</i> - Robots don't have parents, so my first thought was that this one wouldn't really count. But upon closer inspection, it appears that in 800 years, humans will abdicate the bulk of their parenting duties to robots. I don't think that's a very good example to set, so this one seems like a negative to me. But the future looks brighter, because when the children <i>were</i> put in danger, Mary and John put their laziness aside (and their bodies in harm's way) to help save them. (Potential Parents: Lots / Surviving Parents: Lots of apathetic ones)<br />
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<i>Up (2009)</i> - Russell mentions, and has great affection for, his mother. At the end of the film, she shows up waving happily during his Wilderness Explorers ceremony. His father, by Russell's own admission, is much more distant who Russell says is "really busy all the time." But based on the Disney/Pixar parental loss experience, Russell's doing okay. His dad may figure it out and realize he needs to be a better father, and since he's still alive, there's a chance he just might. Distant does not equal dead, so <i>Up</i>'s a plus in my book.<br />
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So after sixteen years and eleven animated features#, here's how Pixar's scorecard works out: <br />
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Total movies where all parents survive (if applicable): 3 1/2<br />
Total movies where one (or more) parent dies, is already gone, or is completely absent: 5<br />
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Once again, there's a preponderance of movies where parents are conspicuously absent. Starting off with the single parent household in <i>Toy Story</i>, John Lasseter and company have continued (mostly) to follow the Disney method of storytelling.<br />
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But after all of these words and all of my bloated discussion, the obvious question remains.<br />
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Why? Why did Walt Disney, and after his death the Walt Disney Animation Studio (and even the folks at Pixar and Dreamworks), persistently tell stories that are fraught with parental loss? I'll explore the "why" in my next post...<br />
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In the radio business, they call that a tease, designed to leave you hanging and wanting to wait through the commercial break to hear the rest. Normally I wouldn't do that to you (I always thought it was a mean trick, albeit an effective one), but I've already written far too much on the subject, and I need time to write far too much more on the "why" issue. So if you're interested, check back in a couple of days for my detailed look into the psychology of animated movies and fairy tales.<br />
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* To argue the other side, though, Dumbo was delivered to his mother by a stork, so there was no official pregnancy or birth, so you could reasonably put this one in the plus column if you wanted to. But since there aren't two parents in the story, I counted this one on the minus side.<br />
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+ Okay, I couldn't help it. I won't do them all, but I'll quickly do the top five grossing Dreamworks animated features. In <i>Shrek (2001)</i>, Shrek has no family unit whatsoever. His eventual bride, Fiona, though, has two parents (although her father becomes homicidal at the prospect of his beloved daughter marrying an ogre). <i>Kung Fu Panda (2008)</i> tells the story of Po, a panda being raised by his "father," a supportive goose. There's no mention of his mother, and they never address the whole goose/panda bear parental situation. 2005's <i>Madagascar </i>has no parents for any of the animals, but the sequel shows that the lion Alex assumed he was an orphan who ended up in New York's Central Park zoo. The sequel also reveals that both of his parents were alive the entire time and the family was reunited. The great movie <i>How to Train Your Dragon (2010) </i>tells the story of a meek Viking, Hiccup, awkwardly living in a single-parent household with his father. His mother died, presumably in a dragon attack. The fifth top-grossing film, <i>Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)</i> doesn't really mention the family units of any of the monsters, or aliens. The giant human in the film, Susan, is an adult whose family isn't mentioned. So you see, it's not just a Disney or Pixar thing...<br />
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# I also have to mention the stunning success of Pixar, both critically and at the box office. Out of the eleven movies they've released, they've amassed forty Academy Award nominations, winning ten of them (not including John Lasseter's Special Achievement award for <i>Toy Story</i>). Since the Best Animated Feature category was created, with only one exception (<i>Cars</i>), every time a Pixar film has been nominated in that category, it's won that Oscar. <i>Up </i>(and then <i>Toy Story 3</i>) became the first movies nominated in the Best Picture Category since <i>Beauty and the Beast </i>in 1991. Commercially, their success has been every bit as impressive. The global box office totals for the same eleven movies is just over $6.6 <i>billion</i>, for a staggering average of $600,000,000 per film. The <i>lowest </i>gross for a Pixar film is the original <i>Toy Story</i>, which still brought in $352,000,000 at the global box office. Their run of eleven straight hits is unprecedented in Hollywood history and shows no signs of slowing down with 2011's <i>Cars 2</i>. I could do a huge post just on the admiration I have for Pixar.Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-82580697436942609742011-05-16T14:28:00.000-06:002011-05-16T14:28:33.609-06:00The "Why" Behind It All...The "what" of something is always fun, but in reality the "why" is a much more important question. It's very easy to see the evidence in my previous essay and say that Walt Disney must've had something against parents, mothers in particular, since he killed them off with such frequency. During my research I found an interesting post about <a href="http://www.zimbio.com/Powerful+Women.+Powerful+Moms./articles/24/Mommy+mommy+dead+Disney+movie+honey">Disney's tendency to have mothers die in his movies</a> (I apologize in advance for the unnecessary pictures of Angelina Jolie, Heidi Klum and Halle Berry at the top of the post), which takes the stance that Disney is doing harm to generations of children with their storylines. At face value, you might want to agree with those folks who claim that Disney (and by example, Pixar & Dreamworks) has something against parents. But that's only looking at the part of the iceberg sticking out of the water. I wanted to go deeper and see if I could find the more substantial meaning.<br />
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In reading Neal Gablers lengthy (and excellent) biography on Walt Disney, I read nothing to indicate that Walt ever spoke publicly, or even privately, that he had a deep-seeded hatred for parents, explaining why he would have killed them off as often as possible in his animated features. I <i>did</i> discover quite a bit about Walt's childhood and his relationship with his own mother and father. Walt had a complicated relationship with his parents. His father Elias was a tough, conservative man who ruled the family and put the fear of God into his children. His volatile temper often resulted in beatings for the sons who disobeyed or disappointed him. The beatings would be considered child abuse in today's world (and should've been back then) and undoubtedly had a lasting effect on Walt's psychological development. Often arguing with his father, Walt ended up becoming the target of Elias' wrath. Finally, at the age of fourteen, with the moral support of his older brother Roy, Walt stood up to his father. After berating Walt for another moment of insolence, Elias ordered him down to the basement for a beating. As Walt headed down, Roy urged him to stand up to their father. Once downstairs, just as Elias was about to strike him with a hammer handle, Walt grabbed his father's arm, holding it in place and removing the hammer. When Elias tried to hit Walt with his other hand, the stronger Walt was able to grab that arm as well. Walt's father cried in shame and never touched him in anger again. When Walt went into animation for a career, Elias thought it was folly, dismissing his son's chosen profession as a waste of time.<br />
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Walt's mother, on the other hand, was the flip side of the parental coin. Neal Gabler has a passage that sums up Walt's mother and her importance to the Disney family:<br />
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<blockquote>It was Flora who provided the ballast for the Disneys—Flora who managed the money for Elias, made most of the children’s clothes and sewed their quilts, cooked their meals and encouraged their reading, connived with the children, and always exercised restraint and an even temper, and for all these things she would be beloved in their memories. And it was Flora alone who could tease her husband out of what his children called his “peevishness” and calm his raging storms, though she did so carefully, without confronting or countermanding him. Walt thought her saintly.</blockquote>Flora was supportive of Walt and his career where Elias was not. Due most likely to the strains of his childhood and the emotional distance between Walt and his parents, particularly his father, Walt wasn't close to them as an adult. He rarely saw them and wrote them infrequently. He and Roy did, however, buy their parents a house in Los Angeles after the success of Snow White in 1938. Elias, finally seeing that his son's hard work and talent had made him a success, was full of praise for the gift, telling his cousin, "I think it's a great day in my life. I don't expect to have another like it." <br />
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The house was a nice three bedroom home, that came with the nice feature of a centralized heating system. Not long after, however, the heating system began to malfunction. Walt and his brother Roy sent a workman from the studio to fix it, but in the end, he only ended up making it worse. The recirculating air ended up being sent back <i>into </i>the house, rather than outside. With that recirculating air being filled with carbon monoxide, the episode ended in tragedy when Walt's mother was overtaken with the odorless fumes and died. His father and their housekeeper barely escaped with their lives. Afterward, both Roy and Walt were racked with guilt, since they had been the ones who had sent the workman to fix the problem. Walt, who normally kept his emotions to himself, was inconsolable. It was something he never got over for the rest of his life.<br />
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But does his relationship with his parents exhibit a hatred strong enough to explain the subject matter of so many of the Disney animated movies. As far as the relationship with his father, possibly, but probably not. Even though he was abused by his father as a child, he still maintained a cordial, if somewhat strained, relationship with Elias as an adult. If anything, I think he felt more pity for his father than outright anger. For his mother Flora, it's clear that Walt loved her dearly and was devastated by her death. You would think that he wouldn't want to dwell on those feelings (especially the guilt that racked him) by intentionally making movie after movie that mirrored that storyline.<br />
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And later in life, as a parent himself, Walt was considered by his family to be a good father. Although he was a workaholic of sorts, when he <i>was </i>home, he spent quality time with both his wife and children. He was considered generally a good person by friends and colleagues, even with his sometimes volatile temper. He had a good sense of humor about himself and fully acknowledged the dichotomy between his public persona and his private one. He never really believed his own press, poking fun at himself with business associates and friends alike.<br />
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In all of my research, I don't think a reasonable case can be made that the storylines in Walt's movies were some sort of retribution against parents. There just isn't any proof of that. So if it wasn't an innate hatred of parents, mothers in particular, then the "why" question still remains. Why were these stories so filled with parental loss? Where did it all start?<br />
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For the fairytales we know today, it started in Germany in 1812, with the publication of a <i>Children's and Household Tales+</i> by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, containing eighty-six stories of local German folklore and "fairy tales" that had previously only been passed on verbally from generation to generation. Jacob and Wilhelm talked to scores of mostly women throughout Germany, asking them to tell the stories they told their own children. Then they basically just transcribed scores of the ones that were told to them. Those stories ran the gamut in terms of subject matter, from simple animal stories that contained a single lesson, to much more involved (and sometimes very dark) stories. So it was here that I started looking to see just how prevalent the idea of parental loss may have been in those stories.<br />
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To try and determine how common that theme was in Grimm fairytales, I got out a book I have that contained 78 of the collected stories. I selected ten to examine, completely at random. They were:<br />
<ul><li>The Adventures of Aladdin</li>
<li>[Chico and the Crane]</li>
<li>[The Conference of Mice]</li>
<li>The Flying Trunk</li>
<li>Hansel and Gretel</li>
<li>[The Horse and the Wolf]</li>
<li>The Little Pear Girl</li>
<li>[The Ox and the Frog]</li>
<li>Sayed's Adventures</li>
<li>The Wise Little Girl</li>
</ul>The four bracketed [] stories were all animal allegories and very short, so parents weren't a factor in them. For the other six, though, <i>every one of them</i> had a situation where a parent was dead or conspicuously absent. Aladdin's father was dead. Erik, the main character in "The Flying Trunk," had already lost his mother as the story started and his father dies in the middle of the story. "Hansel and Gretel" is awash in horrible parental behavior, topped off with the fact that their birth mother is dead, replaced by a stepmother who is truly reprehensible (and who also later dies). In "The Little Pear Girl," the title character's father is so afraid of coming up short on the required shipment of pears to the king that he abandons his daughter in a basket to make up for the weight. No mention of her mother, but we can presume she's dead. The title character in "Sayed's Adventures" loses his mother as a teenager. In "The Wise Little Girl," one of the lead characters, Ivan, has lost his wife and so it's just him and his daughter.<br />
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In all honesty, I was a little stunned. I figured that parental loss would be a theme that was addressed in the stories, but I had no idea how prevalent it was. So yet again, there was more "what" but no "why." I did more research and dug deeper. There had to be a reason <i>these </i>kinds of stories, in particular, were the ones that stood the test of time and became the ones passed on from generation to generation, finally landing on paper thanks to the Grimms.<br />
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I found some theories in my research and came up with a couple of my own that might explain why so many of these stories contain tales of parental loss. If we accept that modern fairytales are still structurally based on the fairytales the Grimms documented, themselves the product of generations of storytellers passing these stories on orally, we need to realize how different the world was in those days. Here are some of the reasons fairytales mention parental loss so often:<br />
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THE DRAMATIC EFFECT<br />
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My coworker, Julie, said it best, "It's not interesting if the story is just like normal life." And she's right. The thing that makes these fairytales interesting (and worth passing down) is the fantastic nature of the stories. Conflict abounds, with children and adults being put in perilous circumstances again and again. Very much like the reality TV that today's America is fascinated with, where we want to watch stories that are compelling. Reality TV is a bit of a misnomer, because what we really crave is <i>interesting</i> reality TV. We don't want to watch Kate Gosselin and her kids sitting around the house doing their homework, or watching some <i>other</i> reality TV show. We want to watch them feeding crocodiles in Australia, or other things we wish we could do, too. The same thing applies to fairytales. If the stories weren't compelling, they would've fallen by the wayside through the generations, replaced with other fanciful stories that were more interesting. In all likelihood, this is exactly what happened through the centuries.<br />
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THE ORAL TRADITION<br />
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Another factor in the absence or death of parents and parental figures in fairy tales is the oral tradition with which these stories were passed down from generation to generation. Think about it - when you tell a story to someone, you usually rely only on your memory to transmit all of the details. So you condense the story, making it easier to remember. Ancillary people, who may have been involved in the story but had no real impact, get lost in the retelling, often completely vanishing from the story. Other elements may be exaggerated for dramatic effect. After a few tellings, the story that is told may vary dramatically from the actual events (like the kid's game, Telephone). Since almost all fairytales were passed along verbally, rather than written down, they could've very well been affected by generation upon generation of "telephoning." One less parent is one less thing you have to remember when you're telling a story.<br />
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LIFE EXPECTANCY<br />
At the time the Grimms were putting together their books of collected fairytales, the average life expectancy (this was around 1800) was 40 years*, whereas in today's modern world it's 67 years. Since all of these tales had been passed down from previous generations, it's most likely that the life expectancy when the stories were actually created was even less. In today's world, life at 23 can be a time of trying to figure out what you're going to do with the rest of your life, without too much pressure to live in the "real world." Back in 1800, 23 was an age where, most likely, your third child was about to be born and you were working in a factory or on a farm. The working conditions in those factories and on those farms were often deplorable (there was no OSHA or unions back then) and safety wasn't much of a concern vs. productivity. So to project the ideals of a modern society on the age when these stories were created is irresponsible. Life was very different back then.<br />
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Women were most often married in their teens, with children coming soon after. Many of those women died in childbirth, while many of their husbands may have died in battle. To put it in perspective, in the United States today, there are on average 15 maternal deaths per 100,000 births. Back in 1800, mothers died in childbirth at a rate of 1,000 - 1,500 per 100,000 births. That's a lot less mothers around, especially considering families weren't today's units with 2.3 kids in them. Average family size was often triple that number. For fathers, it was the perils of war that often lead to their deaths. In the Iraq war, in just over eight years, 4452 American soldiers have lost their lives (I'm not discounting Iraqi lives lost, it's just hard to break down how many have died in combat with American soldiers vs. been killed by their own countrymen in terrorist attacks). At the battle of Gettysburg, around 7,900 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed, and that battle lasted only<i> three days</i>. The number of American fathers was decimated in just seventy-two hours. Please understand that I don't mean to be dismissive discussing so many tragic deaths, I'm just trying to illustrate the world at the time these stories were passed down versus our modern world.<br />
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Children didn't have the luxury of spending their twenties "finding themselves." They had the <i>obligation </i>of taking care of their families, both immediate and extended, often in difficult circumstances and at a much earlier age. Children needed to learn that life was short and hard, because life <i>was</i> short and hard. There wasn't time to coddle them - too much was at stake. It's a callus way of treating children, but these life lessons were essential for those young children to learn and these generational fairytales were, in my opinion, one of the least harmful ways of teaching those life lessons.<br />
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LIFE LESSONS AND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FAIRYTALES<br />
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Alongside the theory about life expectancy is the idea that fairytales were needed to teach valuable life lessons to children that needed to learn them. The physiology of a child's brain (and the resulting psychology that develops from it) plays a huge role in the structure, emotional complexity and storylines of fairytales. Adults are able to process intricate emotional complexities in the stories they read, but children's brains haven't developed the sophistication that would enable them to do so. Because of that, a lesson designed specifically for a child needs to be much simpler at its emotional core and in its storytelling. <br />
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On a psychological level, children don't have the ability to process characters that have both good and bad traits. It's also easier for them to comprehend simple characters, which is why so many characters in fairytales are one dimensional. These stories teach children that not everyone in the real world is good, no matter how much they'd like them to be. Kids are trusting and want to believe the best in everyone, and as adults, we know that's not the case. Children don't know that yet, and they need to be taught the lesson in the least traumatic way possible. Fairtytales can often be an effective and valuable tool to teach those life lessons. <br />
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Psychoanalyst Carl Jung wrote extensively about the idea of a collective unconscious, which refers to a universally shared unconscious knowledge. This theory would explain the lasting popularity of fairytales, since the subjects they address are unconsciously attractive to those who hear them. It would also explain why different cultures all over the world have fairy tales with similar themes. I found an interesting masters thesis by Amy Dorsey that discusses this. She writes, "Fairytales give children an outlet for, as well as a way to work through, many of the unconscious drives that cause dilemmas in their lives." So they teach children that hardships and trauma will happen, but that these obstacles are not insurmountable (a lesson a lot of adults would benefit from learning).<br />
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Oftentimes, children only learn when there are dire (to them) consequences. In their real lives, it may be as simple as losing a toy for the afternoon or a trip to time out, but to them, each of these is considered a horrible punishment. But in story form, since children aren't living out the stories themselves, the consequences have to be even more severe in order for them to relate. Everything in a child's mind is emotionally black or white, and sometimes a death in a story can be seen in much the same light as something much less severe. There are no shades of black.<br />
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The emotional life lessons learned from fairytales are important. Amy Dorsey again writes, "The psychological content of fairytales can help young children deal with fears, feelings, and impulses they may have no other way of working through. By relating different parts of his own personality to different characters, a child can begin to sort them out and understand himself." The fact that some of these stories may cause a certain amount of trauma to a child, while undeniably a negative initial effect, can end in an overall positive result, because children will eventually face some sort of trauma in their lives. Fairytales give children the opportunity to go through some of these traumas vicariously through other characters, and may help them work through their own traumas in a (hopefully) more constructive way.<br />
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All of the above theories try to explain the "why" of fairytales, but one thing they don't address is the potential negative effects that these kinds of stories can have on children. I've always thought that one-sided arguments do a disservice to the overall debate, because they immediately polarize people into the "agree with" camp and the "disagree with" camp. I think a healthy and reasoned debate, presenting both sides, is essential to actual resolution to a subject. I would be doing a disservice if I didn't address that as beneficial as the life lessons learned in fairy tales and animated movies can be, the negative flip side has a reasonable argument, and deserves to be presented as well.<br />
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I found dozens of comments on different discussion boards and forums where people have not learned life lessons from these fairytales and animated features, but instead have been traumatized by them. Here's a brief sampling of some of them:<br />
<blockquote><ul><li>I was traumatized by Bambi as a child. As a result, I have never seen it since, nor has my son seen it. Studies show the #1 fear children have is their parents dying or leaving them.</li>
<li>I have just taken my daughter to the umpteenth Disney film that begins with the death of a mother, and this time they threw in a dead brother, too. She was distraught all the way home, and the only way I could calm her down was to have her write a letter to the Disney Co. complaining about their unceasing insistence on killing off moms mostly, or other loved ones.</li>
<li>So what does Disney have against parents? If the main character isn’t an orphan at the beginning of the movie, odds are they will be by the end. I'm a little scared to go to Disney World now, for fear that one of us won't come back alive...</li>
</ul></blockquote>When I saw Bambi as a child, I wasn't traumatized, but I do find it entirely reasonable for someone else to have been. Emotionally sensitive children have an empathy with these characters and so when someone dies, they take it to heart. They relate <i>so </i>much that they begin projecting the events of the movie onto parts of their own life. Often it ends with a question similar to "Mommy, are you going to die?" It's completely reasonable for a child to make these connections, so many people in society are crying out for an end to telling our children these kinds of fairytales.<br />
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Another criticism of fairy tales (and the resulting animated movies) is that they generally portray women as people in need of protection and saving, not able to provide for themselves. Again, it's a valid criticism. Looking at especially the early Disney animated features, since both Snow White and Sleeping Beauty needed princes to save them, you see women who are completely dependent on men. What's interesting is that in the original Grimm stories published, there were a number of tales with strong leading women. I found that to be true in my research, particularly with the story "The Wise Little Girl." The girl in the title is smart and confident, and the most moral character in the story. Even a modern girl would find an exemplary life to emulate in that story. It was only with later editions of the Grimm stories where these characters were removed to suit the patriarchal norms of the time.<br />
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The more modern Disney animated features shine as a more positive example for children in general, and little girls in particular. Ariel in <i>The Little Mermaid</i> showed signs of independence, and it was Ariel who did the saving when she dragged Eric ashore after his ship sunk. My wife, Jennifer, said that it was really Belle in <i>Beauty and the Beast</i> who became the first leading lady who was a shining example to little girls all over the world, and I heartily agree. Belle was the emotional center of her family and the cornerstone of the household. It was her emotional strength that eventually showed the Beast that true love could be found. She was an avid reader, curious and intelligent, all ideals that were in contrast to the subserviant role that society put young women in at the time. She was different, and she was okay with that. She wasn't going to bend to a society that told her that Gaston was the proper husband for her. She held out for what she wanted and what she deserved, and she was rewarded in the end. The trend of stronger female characters has continued in the newest Disney animated features as well, with the hard working and morally strong Tiana in <i>The Princess and the Frog</i>, and even the naive, yet sure of herself Rapunzel in <i>Tangled.</i><br />
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While the negative criticism I found has some validity, I think that in the case of fairytales and animated features, the positive impact that these stories have on children outweighs these negative aspects. To use a personal example, our own two boys watch Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks animated movies, and I think they learn valuable life lessons in them. They learn that life can be difficult, but that through hard work and perseverance, a "happily ever after" ending is within their grasp. Even at a young age, children can experience loss. Usually it's grandparent or a pet, and for them, it's a substantial emotional blow that they have to deal with. These stories help them deal with those emotions and realize that the children in these stories have experienced what they have, and emerged through the trauma stronger, and better prepared to deal with the rest of life's difficulties. <br />
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So for those looking for a comprehensive explanation as to why fairytales, and by extension, animated features, have such a prevalence of parental loss, I think it's clear there isn't one "magic bullet" theory that covers it all. Just like in real life, the cause is multifaceted and complex, even if the stories are not. It's a combination of various factors that existed when these stories were created and passed down as well as the nature of storytelling itself. Each of the theories detailed above is a part of the puzzle that, when completed, explains why our fairy tales are the way they are.<br />
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Whether it's the collective unconscious that propels these kinds of storylines forward or a more conscious nod to tradition, it's clear that the structure of fiarytales has been around for centuries and will most likely be around for centuries more. But it's also conceivable that just as the patriarchal societal norms that excised many of the stories that featured strong female figures from some editions of the Grimm's fairytales, today's more progressive views may lead to another shift in some of the characteristics of fairytales to be passed on to future generations. So instead of the more meek Snow White and Sleeping Beauty that needed saving, the stronger characters of Belle from <i>Beauty and the Beast </i>and Tiana from <i>The Princess and the Frog</i> may be the ones passed on to our children's children and so on.<br />
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No matter what the future holds, it's clear that fairytales will continue to be passed on to our descendents all over the globe. While there may be a better way to teach these life lessons to children, fairytales have become an ingrained part of the human experience. All we can hope, as a society, is that the children that hear these stories decades or even centuries from now will learn the valuable life lessons they contain. <br />
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+ Disney, both Walt and the animation studio after his death, have used Grimm's fairy tales as the basis for their movies. <i>Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Princess and the Frog </i>and <i>Tangled </i>were all based on Grimm tales.<br />
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* People often use these numbers to portray that everyone dropped dead on their 41st birthday, and if you lived to 67 back then, you were ancient. That's not entirely true. I did a fair amount of research on this (darn you, thoroughness!) and discovered that the 40 year life expectancy in Europe in 1800 included infant deaths as well. Early childhood was perilous in those days, and many many children unfortunately didn't live to see their fifth birthday, due to tough conditions, lack of food, and disease. If you <i>did </i>make it past your fifth birthday in 1800, your life expectancy jumped to 48 years. Even more interesting is the fact that if you lived in an upper-class English household and you made it past your 21st birthday, life expectancy matched today's 67 years! So while life expectancy was much lower back then, it's helpful to look at the complete picture.Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-30691688684977783722011-05-11T08:12:00.002-06:002011-05-13T14:47:39.498-06:00Now What?As I neared the end of the entries on the Top 100 Songs of My Lifetime, the subject came up as to what I was going to do next. Would my blog become postings of whatever came to mind? Would I stop altogether? Another Top 100 list of some sort? What's next?<br />
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I thought about it a great deal and my brother, Scott came up with the idea that stuck. He was enjoying the format and the level of detail I did for the Top 100 songs, so he thought it would work really well if I did the same thing for the Top 100 movies, too. It didn't take me long to realize that I agreed. That conversation happened a few months ago, and I've been working behind the scenes on putting that list together. It was a fun (and frustrating) process that took me a long time. <br />
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The rules I had were similar to the ones I had for my music list. I would only choose movies that were released during my lifetime. I also tried to not choose too many movies from the last year or two, because they might seem better than they were just because they were newer*. On choosing my music list, I didn't want a ton of songs by a single artist, so I generally chose just one song from a band to be its representative on my list. I could've done the same thing with directors or maybe actors on my movie list, but movies are so much more collaborative that it seemed a bit more arbitrary (then again, my whole process is probably a bit arbitrary). <br />
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Just like the songs, it started out as a much larger list (this one began as 206 movies). Slowly the list shrunk, as favorites (and great movies) fell by the wayside, unable to withstand the argument that it was better than the movie above it on the list. Finally, after about a month, I had the list done. I can promise that it will probably be in a constant state of flux, just like my music list was, with one entry rising or falling based on further reflection. I'm sure there will be movies that will have you nodding in agreement, others that will make you scratch your head, or even others where you shake your head in disappointment. I do hope, however, that even if you don't particularly like a movie on my list, that you will give it a fair shake when you're reading my essay on it.<br />
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I'm really looking forward to another project. Stay tuned.... <br />
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But before I get to the first in another list that will take me probably another year and a half, I wanted to do a post on something that I found fascinating. So in a couple of days, I'll post my essay entitled, "Walt Disney Wants to Kill Your Parents (not really, but kinda...)," in which I look at the propensity in Disney movies to have parents die. I did a lot of research and what started out as a simple look into something I found curious, ended up being just short of a master's thesis on the subject. Curiosity turned into a little bit of obsession, as I tried to find an answer to "why?" <br />
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I hope you enjoy reading it, because again, I enjoyed writing it. And check back in a couple of weeks for the first entry in the Top 100 Movies of My Lifetime.<br />
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* I remember seeing <i>Raiders of the Lost Ark </i>in 1981 and saying it was the <i>best movie</i> <i>ever</i>! Then I saw <i>ET </i>the next summer, and that became the <i>best movie ever!</i> The next summer, <i>Return of the Jedi</i> was undoubtedly the <i>best movie ever!</i> Of course, 1984 was the year of <i>Ghostbusters</i>, so of course.............Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-30532849198059383362011-04-27T14:27:00.004-06:002011-04-27T15:03:12.581-06:00Top 100 Favorite Songs, Part 4Okay, this is the last I'm going to be waxing on (and on and on, I'm sure some of you probably think) about music for a while. This the last 25 in my Top 100 Favorite Songs. <br />
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I'll say it one last time, you musical purists out there might want to skip this one, because I put them all up there for consideration, even the embarrassing ones ("I'm Your Man" by Wham! immediately comes to mind). Because I'm a big pop music fan, there are lots of empty calories on this list (which I have to admit embarrasses me a little bit). But I wanted to be honest, so you've got my musical tastes on a platter, Quarter Pounder and all. To my credit, though, there's also a great bread pudding with vanilla-whiskey sauce on the platter, too. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0Lz_3xj2ZE">Todd Snider - Beer Run (Live)</a><br />
I've always been a fan of people who can be funny in a song. Putting the funny into a "good" song, though, is harder than it looks. Todd Snider's always been good at putting handfuls of humor into his songs, but with "Beer Run," he decided to go whole hog and make the entire song damn funny. The cool pneumonic of B double E double R U N got me laughing from the start, and when he lets loose "the guys both took it pretty hard," I was on the floor. When I need a laugh, this is usually the first song I play, with Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah Song" not far behind.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht672-wYelc">Stone Temple Pilots - Vaseline</a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_382430476"></a><br />
I have no idea what this song is about and I don't much care, because it's just a great song. With that so-simple-you-can't-believe-someone-didn't-use-it-before opening guitar riff, STP catch you from the start. Scott Weiland has one of those great rock voices that works so well in a balls to the wall song like "Vasoline." As a band, STP was more of a rock band than your standard grunge band, so their songs hold up a little better than some of their compatriots. I've listened to it a few more times in the last hour, and I still don't know what it's about. And I still don't care.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XcKBmdfpWs">Styx - Too Much Time on My Hands</a><br />
Critics railed on Styx for being "corporate rock." One critic compared one of their albums to "a parking lot full of whale vomit." Brilliant analogy aside, I think they were too hard on the band. As I made my case in my Boston post, I think bands like Styx made the records we all wanted to hear. Fun is okay. Everybody doesn't need to be Dylan. And fun is all over "Too Much Time on My Hands." With my propensity for procrastination, I always loved the line "I've got nothing to do and all day to do it." Sure, the hand claps in the chorus sound cheesy, but there's an inherent cheesiness to the song that works for me. So, music purists, go listen to Dylan and Tom Waits. I'll have another cup of Styx, please.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_bMySFaxBA">Sugar Ray - RPM</a><br />
I never knew Sugar Ray could rock until I unearthed the gem that is "RPM." The way guitarist Rodney Sheppard does a dueling banjos thing with an actual motorcycle engine is brilliant. At first, I thought singer Mark McGrath's voice wouldn't stand up in a full blown rocker, I was glad to see I was wrong. He's more restrained in songs like "Fly" and "Every Morning," but he shows he can belt it out when the song calls for it. I've always like the slightly quirky drum beat, so "RPM" became a favorite of mine on all levels. If you are in the mood for another Sugar Ray rocker, check out <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSuxv5rJFJ4">"Glory."</a> That song kicks ass, too.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgSVTdAtNYE">Talking Heads - And She Was</a><br />
David Byrne is one of those quirky geniuses that can always catch you off guard. While earlier albums had a much more alternative feel to them, "And She Was," the lead track off of their <i>Little Creatures</i> album, was their version of a pop standard. With me being a pop music groupie, it was right up my alley. While Byrne's voice is anything but pop, the way he delivers his vocals has that quirky cheekiness that really works. Jerry Harrison's simple guitar gives off a kids song vibe, but it works so well with the song as a whole. The "hey hey hey" vocals also have that I-can't-remember-the-words-so-I'll-just-say-hey thing that kids love to do. As a grown up kids song, I was hooked from the start, and I still am.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOIo4lEpsPY">James Taylor - Fire and Rain</a><br />
Although I love lush musical arrangements with top-notch production values, I also realize that sometimes all you need is a guitar and a great voice to make an amazing song. Armed with just those, James Taylor talks of life's struggles in such a mature way, acknowledging the difficulties while also trying to see some hope amid the despair. I love that he can encapsulate an entire life where he's seen "sunny days" and "lonely times" in just two lines. The heartache of "I always thought I'd see you again," touches me every time I hear it, especially after the death of my mother. There's a lot of meat to the barebones arrangement, and while fun songs are great, sometimes you need something to make you think. For me, it's not Bob Dylan, it's James Taylor that I turn to.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX3bzpCspvY">Tears for Fears - Broken</a><br />
This song has a killer bass line as well as a great guitar line. When played together, it's a sonic dance where the instruments blend perfectly. You'd think that each line is so distinctive that it'd take away from the other, but the combination is flawless. For many, "Broken" is merely the intro and outro to their popular hit "Head Over Heels," but for me, it's "Head Over Heels" that's the interruption of a great song. I even made a mix of the songs, removing "Head Over Heels" in its entirety. To catch the real ending to the song, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5LBmhvE_lg">check out this clip</a>, and fast forward 4:10 into the song. I love hit pop songs, but America got it wrong. "Broken" was the real hit here.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV4APJzW1qc">Third Eye Blind - Graduate (Remix)</a><br />
This is another remix where the album version is beefed up, and the underrated Third Eye Blind bring some great guitar to the party, and I especially love the neck slide after the initial chorus. "Semi Charmed Life" is a great song, but it pales in comparison to "Graduate," a more complex rocker that really shows what guitarist Tony Fredianelli can do. The stuttering drum and bass part at the end of Tony's guitar solo is another favorite part of mine. Stephan Jenkins has one of the more versatile rock voices that can let loose, like on "Graduate," but also handle the more mellow stuff, like "How's It Going to Be." Songs like "Graduate" appeal to me because they're great straightforward rockers with a great sonic subtext of complexity.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwqhdRs4jyA">Traveling Wilburys - End of the Line</a><br />
Okay, you've finally got me giving Bob Dylan the thumbs up. I've always been hard on him for his voice, but with fellow Wilburys Tom Petty, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne, his voice works for me (in small doses). Of course it helps that Harrison, Petty and Orbison sing the lead parts in "End of the Line," while Dylan's only vocals are of the background variety. Sorry, Bob. Anyway, with the simple, yet instantly classic, guitar opening, "End of the Line" is a great singalong song that catches your attention right away. In the video, they're all just sitting around singing, and with a song like this, it makes me wish I could be there singing along, too.<br />
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I don't know if I mentioned this in any of my regular posts, but I'm a pretty big U2 fan. Okay, they're the best group in the history of rock & roll. So when it comes to favorites, you know you're getting more U2. Here are three more great ones that easily could've made my Top 100 best songs list.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd01FObU3Q4">U2 - City of Blinding Lights</a><br />
In November of 2004, I was in Los Angeles, taking care of my mother who was very sick and would end up passing away the day before Thanksgiving. My wife was home in Colorado and I missed her very much. In this sad and depressing time, I needed something to lift my spirits. The first time I heard "City of Blinding Lights," the lyrics touched me in a profound way. U2 combined what I loved about "Where the Streets Have No Name" and made it a love song. "And I miss you when you're not around." As simple a lyric as it is, I was living it at that exact moment. Another simple, yet meaningful lyric was "Oh, you look so beautiful tonight." I think that so often when I look at my wife, and listening to it when she wasn't there brought back the good and happy memories I needed in that dark time. She still looks beautiful every night and I'm the luckiest guy in the world. I'm glad that there's a song now that is a constant reminder of that.<br />
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(Quick fun fact: The musical basis for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_blinding_lights">"Blinding Lights"</a> was a song they worked on during their <i>Pop </i>sessions. That song was a tribute to singer-songwriter Scott Walker. That's my older brother's name. Cool, huh?)<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ioutes4oY">U2 - Elevation (Tomb Raider Mix)</a><br />
"Elevation" is yet another case where the remix (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d39IUTiwM18">this one was done for the Tomb Raider movie</a>) kicks the ass of the<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIfxArLqCko"> album version</a>. To rip off the line from <i>Spinal Tap</i>, the remix takes the song to 11. It was always a rocker, but they brought much more rock to the party with the Tomb Raider mix. The acoustic guitar is gone from the chorus, and there's just so much more oomph to the rest of the song. Listen to them both and you'll see. I love the self-deprecating line, "Can't sing, but I've got soul." Edge has always been able to bring an arena rock guitar riff to the table, and "Elevation"'s is one of his best. Bono's "woo hoo"s were just made for audience participation, so it's no surprise that this song will always be a concert staple. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnD6ojjA0OA">U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For</a><br />
This song was my last cut when I decided I didn't want to have more than three U2 songs on my Top 100 list. Edge said that "Still Haven't Found" was their attempt to write a gospel song. They succeeded in spades, especially with Bono's heartfelt vocals and the lifting harmonies of the chorus. The quest for finding something to fill our God-shaped hole is something that is something we all relate to. Even for Atheists, the hole may not be God-shaped, but it's still there. Musically, the song is relatively simple by U2 standards, and I mean that in a good way. You don't want to screw up the beautiful simplicity of the melody with a bunch of extraneous stuff. I'm sure it was hard, especially for The Ede, to keep the music relatively simple, but in the end, U2's gospel song is one that will still speak to people decades later.<br />
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I'm one of the few Van Halen fans I know who was just as happy with Sammy on vocals as I was with Dave doing the same thing. I think that they did great albums with both lead singers. (I originally thought Gary Chereone was a good choice for VH III, but it just didn't work out). So I've got two of my Van Halen favorites, one from each guy. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5sfJBw-WRE">Van Halen - Judgement Day</a><br />
Van Halen has always been a great rock group, but I always wished that they would rock just a little bit harder. Eddie finally gave me what I was looking for with "Judgement Day." His guitar has a harder edge to it than ever before, and the song just kicks ass. Sammy has that great voice where he can be screaming lyrics but still hit the notes of the melody. Not too many vocalists can bring both talents to the same song. While some may scoff at the poppy harmonies in the pre-chorus, I think it adds a great change of pace to the out-and-out rocker that is "Judgement Day." There was talk that this song was in contention to be in Terminator 2, rather than "You Could Be Mine," by Guns N Roses. They both would've been excellent choices, so try muting your TV and put on "Judgement Day" while watching T2. It's pretty cool.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-NshzYK9y0">Van Halen - Panama</a><br />
Great guitar riffs are like chocolate for me, it's impossible to have too much. Eddie's guitar riff for "Panama" is one of his catchiest, and when you combine it with Dave's vocal (and literal) acrobatics, the song hits it out of the park. Alex plays the drums like they've pissed him off and he's punishing them while Michael holds down the bottom end with fierce efficiency. When Dave squeals alongside Eddie's guitar squeals, I'm as giddy as a little schoolgirl. Only David Lee Roth can pull off the spoken word bridge where he'll "reach down between my legs, and ease the seat back." Oh, and what the hell does Panama have to do with anything? I dunno, but since it's a Van Halen song, it doesn't much matter, does it?<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKz2U4fvA4U">Velvet Revolver - Slither</a><br />
The song title is so appropriate, because Duff McKagan's bass line that opens the song really does slither along the grimy floor like a snake would. Slash adds a great pulsing guitar riff that Duff beefs up with his bass. I always thought Scott Weiland's voice fit better with Velvet Revolver than with STP, and it shows in songs like "Slither" and "Illegal I Song," where Scott channels Perry Farrell. I know lots of people were happy when STP got back together, but I was a little bummed. Two albums just wasn't enough for me.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZoD8JEFjAE">Vertical Horizon - Everything You Want</a><br />
Another pop rocker that would embarrass some, I happen to be a huge fan of "Everything You Want." The chorus is instantly imprinted in your brain (luckily for me, happily imprinted) and you can sing along by the end of the song the first time you hear it. There's that great delay effect guitar intro that's augmented by a strong rhythm section where drummer Ed Toth plays a slightly quirky rhythm that I find fascinating. Matt Scannell's lyrics about unrequited love are so familiar. You've got a good friend that you've liked, even loved, for ages, but she doesn't see what's in front of her face. So as she pines for others, you finally let out, "I"m everything you want!" It's a tough position to be in, but many of us guys have been there way too much. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfyf0sMG798&feature=fvst">Joe Walsh - Life's Been Good</a><br />
Brevity may be the essence of wit, but if you're as witty as Joe Walsh, you can take a full eight minutes for a song. With a reggae feel to the choruses and an almost plodding pace, you'd think it'd be annoying. But since the subject of the song is the oblivious narcissism of rock stars, he's in on the joke. Plus you've got that great guitar line that weaves throughout the song. Even the guitar solo is indulgent, so it plays right into the mood of the song. Lyrically, the song is pure genius. From the opening, "I've got a mansion, forget the price. Ain't never been there, they tell me it's nice," to the end where he says "Everybody's so different. I haven't changed," it's poking fun at yourself to the nth degree.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W0d9xMhZbo">Wham! - I'm Your Man</a><br />
Sure, this song is full of empty pop calories, but it's also tons of fun, too. I'll overlook the now-known subtext of what "I'm Your Man" means (the fourteen year-old me would've said, "Wait? George Michael's gay?!!!, while the forty year-old me would point to George's shorts in the "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" video, complete with day-glo gloves and say, "Come on....") and focus primarily on the music. This song is pop perfect to the core. An elementary drum beat keeps time while the bass line pops up and down, not-so-subtly commanding your body to do the same. Many dance songs hide the singer's deficiencies, but George has such a strong voice that it's able so take center stage, right where it belongs. Sure, "I"m Your Man" would never earn (or deserve) a Grammy, but fun songs come in way more handy than Grammy winners, in my life. So I'll take another dose of "I'm Your Man," please, homoerotic subtext and all.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZyhB1-Yb4U">Andrew WK - She Is Beautiful</a><br />
While I think Andrew's vocal performance (the choice of going kinda death metal with the melody) is a bit absurd, it's the riveting guitar riff that gets me every time. I like the melody, and would like it even more if he delivered it in a more conventional way, but even with that, this song is still a favorite. The addition of the piano in a song like this is just the kind of whimsy I love. But for me, it all comes down to that guitar. It's a simple distorted guitar in the intro that morphs into an overdubbed embarrassment of riches in the verses with some extra thump from the matching bass line. I just can't get enough of it. More, please...<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0E0ynyIUsg">White Zombie - More Human Than Human</a><br />
Rob Zombie was one of the pioneers of mixing techno rhythms with heavy metal guitar riffs, combined with that "I just gargled gasoline" vocal style that would make Linda Blair in <i>The Exorcist </i>proud. "More Human Than Human" has that aggressive vibe that I love in heavy songs, and the great one-two punch of guitar and bass that punctuates the verses makes me pump my fists. If I'm working out and need some extra motivation to keep up the pace, this is the perfect song.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adw772km7PQ">Steve Winwood - Back in the High Life Again</a><br />
When "Back in the High Life Again" came out, I had no idea that the voice behind this song was the same voice that rocked out "Gimme Some Lovin'." The versatility of Steve Winwood, both musically and vocally is astounding. While many thought that this period was the low point of Winwood's career, I disagree. Just because he wanted to go in a singer-songwriter direction, it's not necessarily a bad thing, especially when you do it this well. From the great mandolin to that great accordion "solo," there's so much more than you'd normally expect from a pop song. When you add on the great backing vocals from James Taylor, "Back in the High Life" gives you so much to listen to that you find yourself putting the song on again just to soak it all in.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vV_L7OQtU0">Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart</a><br />
For many Yes fans, "Lonely Heart" was where they jumped the shark. Obviously, considering that it's one of my favorite songs ever, I disagree. Sure, it's a much more poppy sound for them. Some would call it elementary in its structure, and when you compare it to prog-rock opuses like "Roundabout," I'd have to agree. But I'd continue to argue that simple isn't always bad, and a great melody will always win out over over-complicated puffery. Don't get me wrong, I love "Roundabout," but also have room in my musical tastes to embrace both. Guitarist Trevor Rabin's influence is all over "Lonely Heart," which was actually going to be for his side project with other Yes members Chris Squire and Alan White. During the recording, however, former lead singer Jon Anderson and keyboardist Tony Kaye decided to join the production and Yes was reformed. Anderson does a great job with the vocals and Rabin's iconic guitar intro became instantly famous. So from the ashes arose the phoenix of Yes' biggest ever hit. Pop? Sure. Great? Absolutely.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJrmuew39kM">Paul Young - I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down</a><br />
Paul Young has one of those voices that seems to be so much richer than you'd expect from a pasty British guy. Belting out songs like "Playhouse" as well as delivering tender performances like "Wherever I Lay My Hat," he shows a talent and versatility that I always found criminally underrated. Pino Palladino's great bass line becomes the main musical focus (and if you had a bass line that memorable, it'd be the focus, too) while Steve Bolton's wailing guitar is a great addition. This remake of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwoKq6HPwkE">Ann Peebles' original </a>stays true only to the melody, taking the music and really amping it up. No offense, Ann, but listening to your original after hearing Paul's version is like watching bowling on TV. It just doesn't work for me. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfT7irhE8_Q">Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerard - Elysium/Honor Him/Now We Are Free </a><br />
This one isn't a cheat. It's not really three songs, it's one song in three parts. This music is the score from the climax of the movie <i>Gladiator</i>. Zimmer's always been one of my favorite movie composers (it's a crime he's only won a single Academy Award, for <i>The Lion King</i>) and this is him at his best. Working with Dead Can Dance vocalist Lisa Gerard, he uses her voice as another instrument, giving the quieter parts an angelic introspection while also bringing inspiring power and drama to the climax. It's a wonderful duet of sorts that I was skeptical of at first, but once I heard it, it immediately became a favorite of mine. (Quick side note: I've always wondered what the translation was of what Lisa was singing. Turns out that there is none. She sings in a made-up language from her childhood. <a href="http://www.filmtracks.com/comments/titles/gladiator/index.cgi?read=854">Here's a cool article about it.</a>)<br />
If you like what you hear, check out some other of Hans' brilliant scores, like <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMskSnRvWTw">Backdraft</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBTIoL5vaOM">Crimson Tide</a>, </i> <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZst_2xJHAI&feature=related">Batman Begins</a> </i>& <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcjgkSDy1vA&feature=related"><i>Inception</i></a>. Any of those could've been on this list, too.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vppbdf-qtGU">ZZ Top - La Grange</a><br />
This is one of those ZZ Top songs that I knew as a kid, but never knew it was the ZZ Top I knew as a teenager. You know, the "Sharped Dressed Man" and "Legs" ZZ Top. I'd heard it on the radio a bunch, but L.A. rock DJ's were pretty bad at telling you who did the songs (or I was too young to care very much). "La Grange" has that great guitar line that becomes the heartbeat of the song. It's a bluesy guitar that's rocked up with an early version of that great ZZ Top guitar sound. Billy Gibbons sings the song as if he's on the back side of a three day bender, but the vocal style goes perfectly with the song. One of the great driving songs of all time, "La Grange" always gets me to push a little harder on the accelerator as I head down the highway.Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-69331332498932418602011-04-15T13:08:00.000-06:002011-04-15T13:08:43.377-06:00Top 100 Favorite Songs, Part 3Here's the third group of 25 for the Top 100 Favorite songs.<br />
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I'll say it yet again, you musical purists out there might want to skip this one, because I put them all up there for consideration, even the embarrassing ones (yep - Sir Mix-a-Lot!). Because I'm a big pop music fan, there are lots of empty calories on this list (which I have to admit embarrasses me a little bit). But I wanted to be honest, so you've got my musical tastes on a platter, Awesome Blossom and all. To my credit, though, there's also some great braised short ribs with rosemary polenta on the platter, too. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ5wTHM1zkw">John Mayer - Bigger Than My Body</a><br />
First time I heard this, I had the same thought you did. Is that a guitar? Turns out it was. Using a great guitar effects unit, the <a href="http://www.rogerlinndesign.com/products/adrenalinn3/adrenalinn3.shtml">AdrenaLinn</a>, Mayer opens the song with that fantastic sound, unlike anything we'd ever heard before. But it's not just a flashy intro, there's a great rest of the song as well. Inspired after seeing Coldplay in concert, John felt the compulsion to create something better, bigger - hence the title. I think he succeeded. It's musically complex, but accessible and easy on the ears. For my money, that's a winning combination.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2JWJYLNUq4">Sarach McLachlan - Sweet Surrender</a><br />
Leaving her comfort zone of slow, singer-songwriter type songs behind (at least for a song), Sarah McLachlan quickens the pace a bit in "Sweet Surrender." Her vocals, strong, but still with a ghostlike quality, give the song a dreamy feel. Especially with the rich harmonies of the chorus, she shows how much a talented singer can bring to an already great song. I have a feeling she could sing the phone book, and I'd still sit and stare, entranced.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vldh7oQD-a4">George Michael - I Want Your Sex (Parts 1 & 2)</a><br />
After messing around with a drum machine and sequencer in the studio, George Michael accidentally created the trippy beat that opens "I Want Your Sex." Mixing soul vocal performances with pop sensibilities, George created a song that crossed all sorts of musical genre barriers. Controversial at the time, the song was actually about the sexual advantages of monogamy, so the criticism was a bit off base. Part 2 is just an extension of the original song, punctuated with some great horn and slow jam breakdown that's a tribute to his soul influences. It's one of the best dance songs of all time. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf8vud4Ifjs">Mike + the Mechanics - All I Need Is a Miracle</a><br />
Another pop perfect song, most music critics saw this song as a heaping mound of cotton candy - sweet with no substance. But I love cotton candy! I still don't see the problem in making a great pop song without a deep emotional undertone. Look at "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," by The Beatles. You won't confuse that with Kafka, but it's still a great song. And that's what "All I Need Is a Miracle" is. Using keyboards that are so powerful they're almost a percussion instrument, the band puts together a British pop version of an old standard like "It's the Same Old Song" with Paul Young's powerful voice. Combine that with the fact that they had <i>another </i>lead singer with a great voice, Paul Carrack, and you can't really go wrong with any song you listen to by Mike + the Mechanics.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jne9t8sHpUc">Alanis Morissette - Ironic</a><br />
Starting off like your standard "Lillith Fair" type song, with sorrowful lyrics and a halting vocal delivery, Alanis takes things to another level with her soaring chorus. And when she sings the line, "It's like meeting the man of your dreams - and meeting his beautiful wife," with a little "hmmmph" of resigned sadness at the end, the emotion really pours through. The best songs succeed when you feel like you've stepped into the artist's soul. Alanis Morissette is one of the best artists at opening up herself to us, and that's what makes a song like "Ironic" especially great.<br />
(Okay, now that I've got that out of the way, the writer in me has to take some issues with Alanis and her lyrics. The irony is that most of her lyrics lack the very thing she claims the whole song is about. Isn't that ironic, don't ya think? Coincidence and crappy timing do not equal irony. Check out this <a href="http://fgk.hanau.net/articles/ironic.html">great article by Matt Sturges</a> about her attempts (and successes) at irony.)<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNKbHJ3PTu4">Mr. Mister - Kyrie</a><br />
This song was me at my best in regards to lyrical ignorance. I was a faithful Christian in 1985 (and hopefully still am), when "Kryie" came out and had <i>no idea </i>that the song was about God. All I knew was that it was a great pop song with killer keyboards and Richard Page's soaring vocals. The drums pop and the guitar adds power chords when needed, but it's Page's stellar vocal performance that keeps me coming back again and again. And looking back, twenty-five years later, Richard can hold his head high, knowing he was the one member of the band who didn't grow a mullet.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGbr32Hn3bo">New Order - Blue Monday '88</a><br />
One of the greatest dance songs ever released from a new wave band,"Blue Monday" starts with that great drum machine beat, slowly augmented with that repeating keyboard line. The bass line, while simple, practically commands your body to move. I'm at work right now with my tie on, trying to restrain myself (and failing). Like any great dance song, it takes over two minutes before Bernard Sumner gets to sing anything, but when he does, it's worth the wait. When it comes to keyboards, New Order is right up there with the boys from Depeche Mode on intricate layering. I especially like the keyboard that sounds like an accordion on crack. Seven and a half minutes later, you're exhausted from either dancing or fighting the urge to dance. And you want to do it all again.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzY2Qcu5i2A">Offspring - Pretty Fly For a White Guy</a><br />
Tongue placed firmly in cheek, Dexter Holland, main songwriter, guitarist & lead vocalist of The Offspring pokes fun at his white friends who lived their lives as urban "black" youths, a la Steve Martin in <i>The Jerk</i> ("I was born a poor, black child...). All of us know guys like this. "He may not have a clue, and he may not have style. But everything he lacks, well he makes up in denial," Dexter sings. Musically, it's just as much fun as the lyrical content suggests. In the same way that Anthrax thrashed out "Hava Nagila," the guitar riff in "Pretty Fly" reminds me of a Jewish standard tipped on its head. Blasphemy? Sure. Fun? Absolutely. (Quick side note: If you love killer guitar riffs, check out the intro to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrZ4sMRYimw">"The Kids Are Not Alright." </a>)<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQB7wlslnwM">Oingo Boingo - Dead Man's Party</a><br />
Oingo Boingo are at their best when they're playing live, and they played their best live at their annual Halloween shows. I was lucky enough to see a few of them and the highlight was always Dead Man's Party. Taking a page from rock, new wave, punk, ska and even pop, Oingo Boingo developed their own kind of music. Backed by a full horn section and with bassist John Avilla rocking the bass line out on a keytar, Danny Elfman's "all dressed up and nowhere to go." He always performs with that half-smile, half-sneer, and it's clear no one's having a better time than him. Musically, Oingo Boingo was one of most talented group of musicians of their era, born to play live. If they ever decide to get back together and do another Halloween show, I'll be first in line.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTAAsCNK7RA">OK Go - Here I Go Again</a><br />
This song might've made my list based solely on the video, but it's a great song on top of that. It opens with that killer straightforward guitar riff, rounded out with the complimentary bass line, and then just keeps pounding away. The guys do a great job with the vocal harmonies in the choruses, while lead singer Damien Kulash's voice reminds me of a young Elvis Costello on just a little bit of helium. I love that the guitar solo is actually chord based, rather than the cacophony of notes that you normally get from a guitarist. It's a fun, tightly put together song that reminds me a bit of early Beatles stuff. And then there's the video! How come nobody ever thought of that before?! Genius!<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S73ypK3As8I">Pearl Jam - Corduroy</a><br />
At first, I thought the song was about a woman. It's not. It's a scathing attack on the people who became "fans" of Pearl Jam because they were popular. The song was inspired when Eddie Vedder saw a "designer" copy of the corduroy jacket he paid $2 for at a thrift store on sale for fifty times that. For those fans, he says "I don't want to take what you can give." He can unleash scathing poetry full of vitriol like no other. And then he spits them out an anger, railing against the "fans" who are so oblivious, they don't know this song is about them. The music is fast and frenetic, serving the lyrics and Eddie's vocal performance well. And if you want to know, I started out as a Pearl Jam one of these same "fans," but now I'm just a regular fan.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiH9yXKSMVM">Robert Plant - Tall Cool One</a><br />
Containing samples from Led Zeppelin songs, "Whole Lotta Love," "Dazed and Confused," "Custard Pie," "Black Dog," and "The Ocean," Robert Plant poked fun at the artists sampling Zeppelin songs for their own use and created this addictive mash up of his own. Singing over samples of his own voice (and having Jimmy Page play guitar as well), he winks at all of us while having a total blast. This song oozes fun from start to end as he consoles his lover, "Lighten up baby, I'm in love with you." From the great keyboard opening to the spoken word, "You stroll, you jump, you're hot and you tease," Plant takes what could have been a parody and turns it into a dance/rock standard that everybody I've ever met loves.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYHA_7vxrgc">POD - Boom</a><br />
While they got lumped in with the alt-metal crowd when this song came out, I always respected POD for being true to their faith, even while being denigrated as poseurs by the hardcore fans of the genre. They weren't, though. They were just loved this kind of music and happened to also be Christians. The band took that backlash and channeled it into a forceful retort to those detractors. "Is that all you got? I'll take your best shot," raps Sonny Sandoval, while Marcos Curiel's guitar propels the song forward with a menacing growl. The guitar line even bobs and weaves like a prizefighter, taunting you to bring it. With, "Boom," POD definitely brings it, leaving the real poseurs on the mat. And a ping pong video! Classic!<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNIZofPB8ZM">The Police - Don't Stand So Close to Me</a> -<br />
Starting off slow with an almost hesitant guitar and atmospheric keyboards, you think this might be a much more moody song. Sting sings the verses with an almost verbal pout, echoing the coy student in the lyrics. But the wheels come off in the choruses, where the mood is positively jubilant, playing against the uncomfortable lyrics, "Please don't stand so close to me." It's the schoolteacher being ecstatic and uncomfortable at the same time. Sting, a former schoolteacher himself, delivers his vocals to match the various moods of the lyrics. Combined with Stewart Copeland's <i>vastly</i> <i>underrated </i>drums and Andy Summer's almost jazzy guitar, it's clear they passed the test.<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jSl-Lr4VuY">86 Version</a><br />
It's not cheating if it's the same group doing the same song, so here goes...<br />
After breaking up in 1984 to pursue their own solo careers, The Police reunited for the Amnesty International concerts in June of '86 and went in the studio shortly thereafter to see if they could rekindle things. After a tense couple of weeks, they realized that they couldn't and the reunion was short-lived. What survived, though, was this moody, quirky, awesome rerecording of "Don't Stand So Close to Me." While the original juggled excitement with caution, this version is all about the foreboding consequences of teacher/student love/lust. A perfect yang to the original's yin, it shows how much a band's attitude can influence their music. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQvUBf5l7Vw">Iggy Pop - Lust for Life</a><br />
For me, the love of this song didn't begin with those lame Royal Caribbean commercials, or even its prominent use in the movie <i>Trainspotting</i>. Nope, for me it was the Jim Rome sports radio show that introduced me to Iggy Pop. The opening riff of "Lust for Life" opens each hour of Rome's show and immediately after I heard it for the first time back in '94, I had to find out what it was. Thankfully, a friend recognized it, and I bought the album. The great drum track, paired with an almost rockabilly guitar makes the instrumental part of the song hold up on its own. Then you add in Iggy's snarling lyrics, you realize his lust for life is actually a lust for heroin, which he was trying to kick back in '77. It's about trying to quit something that you know will kill you, but the lust for it is so compelling. Even decades later, I bet it's still a daily struggle for Iggy.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsV500W4BHU">Powerman 5000 - When Worlds Collide</a><br />
Mixing techno with thrash metal is a ballsy move, since both camps are fiercely territorial, but Powerman 5000 mixes the two so well, I don't think either side can complain. It's like dipping your french fries into your chocolate shake. Sure it sounds weird, but if you've tried it, you know what I'm talking about. Starting out with a pulsing dance beat, you think you know what you've got yourself into, but then the chorus throws it all out the window. Before you know it, amped up guitars and vocals are smacking you in the head. And you don't mind because in the end, just like chocolate shake french fries, it all works.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0vXxH1IEmQ">Elvis Presley - A Little Less Conversation</a><br />
Yes, it was the movie <i>Ocean's Eleven</i> that introduced me to this song. But just like Steven Soderberg, who directed the movie, I couldn't believe that there was this cool of an Elvis song that I'd never heard of. A great dance drum beat with some nice guitar work, Elvis does his best, well, Elvis, in singing, "A little less conversation, a little more action, please." (Pssst.... He's talking about sex! Don't tell anyone!) It made me want to find other gems from artists I thought I knew. Have found a few great ones ("Time" by INXS and "New Star" by Tears for Fears spring to mind) and I'm still looking.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_EEvpiNzO8">Prince and the Revolution - I Would Die 4 U</a><br />
For those of you who think drum machines and sequencers are the devil, I would offer up this song as Exhibit A as I mounted my defense. The great shimmying "high hat" that is the rhythmic basis for the song is infectious. And I love the percussive hand clap that permeates the song. The great harmonies with the ladies in The Revolution (mixed with Prince's own backing vocals) augment his strong vocal performance. As if <i>Purple Rain </i>didn't already have one of the greatest dance songs ever in "Let's Go Crazy," Prince decided to put another all-time great - on the same album! Genius, indeed.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtrEN-YKLBM">Queen & David Bowie - Under Pressure</a><br />
I don't care if they stole the bass line from Vanilla Ice, I still love this song. But seriously, folks... Roger Deacon's simple bass line laid a great foundation for the immense vocal talents of Freddie Mercury and David Bowie. Throughout the song, they both get to sing in all sorts of vocal styles, with Freddie hitting that great high note at the crescendo of the song. Brian May, whose guitars usually stood front and center in the mix, knew that for this song, he needed to hold back a bit because this song was all about the vocal performances. And in that regard, "Under Pressure" is a vocal extravaganza that I've never tired of.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eus0q7JNrs">Queensryche - Eyes of a Stranger (Live) w/ Anarchy Xtra (Start 1:30 in on the video)</a><br />
Being a sucker for an anthemic guitar line, I chose the live version of these songs because they're melded into a cohesive opus of metal. Geoff Tate may be the most talented of all his contemporaries, because he can pull off the quiet stuff (like "Silent Lucidity") as well as the screaming metal stuff as well. Playing harmoniously together, Chris Degarmo and Michael Wilton show how having two great guitarists in a metal band ends up with the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. Starting about 7:20 into the video, Wilton & Degarmo begin their buildup to what may be my favorite guitar part of all time. Paired with Scott Rockenfield's martial drums, it always gets me going.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuKVvsY2yfA">Red Hot Chili Peppers - Get Up and Jump</a><br />
I talked in my blog about wanting to play guitar like Richie Sambora. For drums, it'd be Neal Peart of Rush. For bass? A no brainer. Flea is the god of bass for me and I'd love to play with his passion and technical brilliance. The bass line in "Get Up and Jump" is so forceful, you either recoil from it or jump in with both ears. Travis Barker of Blink 182 plays the drums the same way. Both guys take seriously their responsibility in the rhythm section, but also know how to add a lot of fun to it as well. This is the Chilis at their infancy, but Anthony Keidis' rap-sing vocal style comes across as inventive and entertaining at the same time. When he blurts out, "Jam bob, jim bob, slim bob boogie. To the tune of slima billy, lookin’ like you’re mighty silly," its as if he's using his voice as another instrument. Fast paced and nothing but fun, "Get Up and Jump" makes me want to. Check out this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juBQTFQ-0ss">great remix</a>, too.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-O5IHVhWj0">Run DMC - It's Tricky</a><br />
This is kind of a two-for-one deal for me, because I get the great guitar line from "My Sharona" (another song that I love), with the incomparable back-and-forth of Run & DMC. No rap group before or since has been able to match the seemingly odd (but in the end perfect) combination of their two voices. Run's voice, up at the top of the register, plays perfectly off DMC's rich baritone. When they both deliver lines (or in this case, words), it's that sweet and salty vocal perfection that works so very well. They say that it's not that easy. They're absolutely right. But with a song like, "It's Tricky," they show that putting a great song together <i>can </i>be done.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH5c_jz_gE4">Rush - Bravado</a><br />
Complexity is the hallmark of most Rush songs. All three members can make great rock songs while also adding intricate instrumentation. "Bravado," however, isn't one of those songs. All of the parts are very straightforward, especially for Rush, but at its heart, "Bravado" is just a great song. I love the relatively simple guitar intro, which is interspersed throughout the song, and Geddy Lee's vocals hit the sweet spot of his more mature voice. The lyrics talk about the people whose lives end up changing the world. Even in the rubble of failure, they persevere and try again. These people realize that there's a cost, but the desire for success overwhelms them, propelling them to eventually succeed. It's a lesson that few really learn. I don't think I've completely learned it, but I strive every day to get better at it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOiVaE-pKqM&feature=fvst">Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al</a><br />
When Paul Simon recorded <i>Graceland</i>, he was greatly influenced by the African rhythms he'd been exposed to by a friend. "You Can Call Me Al" is a relatively standard "quirky" Paul Simon song, but when you add the great bass line and African backing vocals, it becomes that great burger with a twist that you have at your favorite restaurant. The lyrics are great, stream-of-consciousness type stuff that Paul's really good at, and his voice comes across as an everyman's voice (just one with perfect pitch). In what may be the funniest music video ever, Chevy Chase elbows Paul out of his own song, stealing the show while Paul adds his own moments of resigned humor. Twenty-five years later, I still know every word to this one. That's a favorite song if I've ever heard one.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY84MRnxVzo">Sir Mix-a-Lot - Baby Got Back</a><br />
"Oh my God. Becky, look at her butt." You know how it starts. You might want to pretend you don't, but you do. And you love it. You know you do. It's the guilty pleasure that everyone I know will begrudgingly admit to. They'll sadly shake their head up and down. "Yeah, I do love 'Baby Got Back.' I just can't help it." To use a <i>Friends </i>analogy (no, not that one), it's like the scene where the guys call Rachel on the fact that while she claims that <i>Dangerous Liasons </i>is her favorite movie, in reality it's <i>Weekend at Bernies</i>. We all have a <i>Weekend at Bernies</i>, and for me, it's "Baby Got Back." It's absolutely irresistible. When it's on, even the ladies are rappin' out "My anaconda don't want none unless you've got buns, hon." Some songs have that DNA that invade your brain like a virus. Most of them make you want you to try and poke them out with an ice pick. But with "Baby Got Back," for me, if this is being sick, I don't want to be healthy. I'm puttin' it on again. It's okay. You can do it, too. I won't tell anyone.Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-88479613672748029452011-04-06T11:55:00.000-06:002011-04-06T11:55:39.029-06:00Top 100 Favorite Songs, Part 2Here's the second group of 25 for the Top 100 Favorite songs.<br />
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I'll say it again, you musical purists out there might want to skip this one, because I put them all up there for consideration, even the embarrassing ones (yep - Chesney Hawkes!). Because I'm a big pop music fan, there are lots of empty calories on this list (which I have to admit embarrasses me a little bit). But I wanted to be honest, so you've got my musical tastes on a platter, pint of Cherry Garcia and all. To my credit, though, there's also some great spaghetti bolognase on the platter, too. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry4iwzS4Na0">Go West - King of Wishful Thinking</a><br />
I've always been a big fan of Peter Cox's voice. There's a richness to it that adds so much to what may just be a pop standard. Lesser vocalists would be overwhelmed by the rich production, but his voice is so strong that it not only holds up to it, but soars over it. Lyrically, "King of Wishful Thinking" is a hope for the best story of a man left by a lover, but you can tell that his wishful thinking is just that. So the somber lyrics are a yin to the yang of the upbeat melody and music. Instantly catchy, "King" still comes across fresh.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP4qdefD2To">Goo Goo Dolls - Slide</a><br />
Johnny Rzeznik not only has a great voice, but he can belt out some great tunes with his rich, raspy voice. His vocals really make the lyrics about a guy who's desperately in love truly shine. So many of us guys have wanted a woman to take that leap of faith and go down the slide with us. Adding some strong musicianship to a catchy song is never a bad thing, and in the case of "Slide," it's what helped make it one of my all-time favorites.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ChjLMbXVrU">Grandmaster Melle Mel - White Lines</a><br />
Most early rap was about having fun, dancing and goofing around. Grandmaster Melle Mel wanted to tell real stories from the streets where he lived. And he did not have a Bel Air or Manhattan address. What he did have was a cautionary tale for the kids in his neighborhood, because he knew they wouldn't get the preferential treatment that the folks in Bel Air would get. It's the classic mode of subterfuge - wrap your serious message in a fun way, and kids will listen. And damn, is this one catchy song. As a twelve year-old, I didn't really know what white lines were, but I knew I loved this song. Twenty-eight years later, I know what white lines are and I <i>still </i>love this song. I bet you do, too.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwnnSSs0kFA">Chesney Hawkes - The One and Only</a><br />
Sorry. I knew at some point, I was going to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickrolling">Rickroll </a>you all, but I never had the guts to do it in a serious post. If you clicked on the link above, you already know what I'm talking about, if not, click on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickrolling">Rickroll</a> link to read on. Anyway, I did it on this song, because <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8f2mW1GFSI">"The One and Only"</a> is admittedly a pretty vapid, useless pop song. The problem is - I can't get enough of it! This one may be even worse than Celine Dion, but I had to be honest. And like Celine, Chesney didn't even write it (that honor would go to underrated pop artist Nik Kershaw). But if you like pop music, this will hit the spot nicely. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBUfOioJ4ZM&feature=fvsr">Don Henley - Sunset Grill</a><br />
In many ways, there wouldn't have been a <a href="http://kentwalker.blogspot.com/2011/01/9-don-henley-new-york-minute.html">"New York Minute"</a> without a "Sunset Grill." It was the first time that Don Henley put a really complex instrumentation together. It's funny that the drummer would embrace the drum machine, but it adds a nice texture to the rest of the song. Add some great bass work by Pino Paladino. With the classic line, "What would we do without all these jerks / Besides, all our friends are here," Don sings of that <i>Cheers</i>-like place where everybody knows your name, even if they bug the crap out of you.<br />
Listening to the solo at the end of the song, I always thought it was a keyboard or some funky effect on a horn. In reality, it's a funky effect on a <i>guitar</i>. Brilliant! And that's this song from start to finish. Brilliant.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_UOL1-weMc">Hoobastank - Same Direction</a><br />
Always a sucker for a killer guitar riff, Hoobastank opens with the toned down version of a great guitar line and then takes the training wheels off to really kick the song into high gear. Many would consider a song like this to be cookie-cutter rock, a la Nickelback and Creed, and they may be right. But for me, this song rocks and I'm falling for it. Singer Doug Robb has that great rock voice that works best when he really unleashes it. Good thing for us all that his voice does indeed go to 11.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x2BjQ-tJ6E">Billy Idol - To Be a Lover (Mother of Mercy Mix)</a><br />
Once again, it's a killer guitar riff that pulls me in. The album version of "To Be a Lover" is great, but in this remix, guitarist Steve Stevens unleashes a guitar riff that makes me want to go down to Guitar Center and pick up a guitar and follow his lead. The first time I heard this mix (it was on a cassette tape), I had to look again to make sure it was the right song, since the guitar couldn't be for <i>this</i> song. But after listening to the whole thing, I found that although it's vastly different than the rest of the song, it still totally works, because Billy Idols growl of a voice holds up to it. If I'd give up a pinky finger to play like Richie Sambora, I'd give up the other one to play like Steve Stevens. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5n5HYvClIM">INXS - What You Need (Extended Remix)</a><br />
It's interesting what happens when you put things in alphabetical order. Two remixes in a row. Again, the album version of "What You Need" is great, but this remix is perhaps the greatest remix ever. That's not hyperbole. Listen to it and find me one that's better. Sure Men at Work were the first Australian band to use saxophone in pop music, but it was INXS who perfected it, with Kirk Pengilly bringing some serious rock sax to the party. Tim Ferris' great guitar work and Garry Garry Beers bass propel the song forward so Michael Hutchence's vocals take center stage - right where they belong. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3Ak78uo0UA">Iron Maiden - The Trooper</a><br />
For all the flack that they got for "Number of the Beast," Iron Maiden was always the thinking man's metal band. Covering subjects from the Native American battle against the invading United States, and a retelling of <i>Rime of the Ancient Mariner, </i>lyricist and bassist Steve Harris brought Tennyson's <i>Charge of the Light Brigade</i> to a new audience with "The Trooper." Harris plays the bass so hard, it sounds like he's literally shaking the strings loose. The two-headed guitar beast that is Dave Murray and Adrian Smith brings a great depth to any song, and they often play you-go I-go solos that are among the tops in heavy metal. Singer Bruce Dickinson has such a strong voice, that you believe that he's a soldier on the field of battle, railing at the horrors of war. "The Trooper" is not a rallying cry for war - it's an indictment of the senselessness of it all.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzkrWjUjDdQ">Janet Jackson - If</a><br />
Heavy guitar riffs don't often work well in dance songs, but in "If," it's a well choreographed combination. Laying down a heavy sonic layer that the hip-hop beats bounce off of, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis craft a hard-hitting instrumentation that goes extremely well with Janet's sexually aggressive lyrics. The sample from The Supremes' "Someday We'll Be Together" caught me by surprise at first, but in the highest compliment I can pay, I listen to The Supremes' version and think it's the derivative version. That's how well it fits in the musical landscape of "If." <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbHI1yI1Ndk">Michael Jackson - Jam</a><br />
For both Jackson siblings, it's the harder, funkier songs that are my favorites. In "Jam," an exquisitely produced track off of his <i>Dangerous </i>album, Michael takes what he started with "Beat It" and "Smooth Criminal" and takes it to a harder, funkier level. He even makes sleigh bells funky. I love it when Michael uses his voice as a percussive instrument, and he's at his best in "Jam." Hidden behind the weirdness, the musical genius that was Michael Jackson was only visible to those who looked hard enough. Being a huge music fan, I looked. And with every interview I saw or read, I saw the relentless perfectionist who was always looking to craft that perfect song. With "Jam," and with dozens of others, he succeeded. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX5T1U3yyg0">Jackson 5 - I Want You Back</a><br />
Most of the time, a bass player mimics the guitar line to give it some extra heft. Not often do you have a bass player working with a piano to give some more thump. That's the great combination in "I Want You Back." Add in that great soul/disco guitar, and there's a great musical foundation that the Jacksons added their strong vocals to. Of course Michael was the driving force with his tremendous vocals - and all this from a kid who hadn't even hit puberty yet! I can't really imagine what kind of girlfriend he may have had at the time that he needed back, but we'll just let that slide because this is one of the best soul/R&B songs of all time.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OO9LloDSJo">Howard Jones - Things Can Only Get Better</a><br />
One of the most innovative and talented musicians from the British "New Wave," Howard Jones took serious musicianship and married it with catchy pop songs. That great slap bass line, combined with those percussive horns add that pop to the lush musical background. Howard's talent on the keyboards knew no equal in his day, but his underrated vocal talent and production skill really shine in "Things Can Only Get Better." I always loved the lyric, "And do you feel scared? I do, but I won't stop and falter." To admit fear is something that the self-help gurus want to avoid, but in real life, you need to confront it, deal with it, and <i>then</i> overcome it. For a skinny British kid with crazy hair, Howard lived these lyrics and found himself a pretty successful music career thanks to all that hard work.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LatorN4P9aA">Journey - Separate Ways</a><br />
In stark contrast to "Don't Stop Believin'," which started slowly and built up to a faster pace, "Separate Ways" starts fast out of the gate and never slows down. Michael Cain's punchy keyboard intro is quickly built upon with Neal Schon's beefy guitar line. Steve Perry holds nothing back vocally and just kills it with every single word. When you add the layered harmonies of the rest of the band, it's almost an embarrassment of riches. The perfect marriage of pop sensibilities and melody with a solid rock foundation, Journey makes "Separate Ways" look easy. It's not.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_4406163"><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCLSgyU1mWk">Journey - Higher Place</a><br />
"I didn't know Steve Perry was back in Journey," was what I thought to myself the first time I heard this song. He wasn't. In 2000, it was Steve Augeri handling the vocals, but if you didn't know it, you'd have been fooled, too. With a pulsating opening, Neal Schon starts out with some guitar picking, before unleashing some serious power chords. As always, Ross Vallory uses his bass to augment Schon's guitar, and the result is a sound that makes this song even fuller. From an album that didn't even go gold, if you're a big classic Journey fan and haven't listened to 2000's<i> Arrival</i> yet, do yourself a favor and give it a spin. It stands up with some of their best work. (Quick aside: After Augeri's departure, Journey hit the Steve Perry sound-alike lottery again with the discovery of Philipino singer, Arnel Pineda on YouTube. Check out his version of "Don't Stop Believin'." This is starting to get scary. I can't wait to hear 84 year-old Gladys Washington fronting Journey in 2018, sounding frighteningly close to that Steve Perry guy.)<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RRoCkncvYo">Judas Priest - You've Got Another Thing Comin'</a><br />
With arguably the greatest heavy metal voice ever (but <i>definitely </i>the best metal scream ever), Rob Halford proved through countless performances that he had earned his monicker "The Metal God." With "Another Thing Comin'," Judas Priest took what may have been a catchy rock song and added pure metal to the mix. Rarely does a three-chord combination become synonymous with a song, but if you hear these three together, you know what song you're listening to. Another two-headed guitar beast, KK Downing and Glen Tipton, sometimes play the same quick strum, giving the song its pulsating heartbeat. With the greatest scream in the history of metal, Rob makes his voice its own instrument, and in the end, we're almost as spent as he is.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhSJuA8yTlE">Nik Kershaw - Somebody Loves You</a><br />
A great pop artist that most people don't know about, Nik Kershaw has always been able to put a catchy tune together. A talented musician who can play every instrument you'd need in a pop song, he did some great songs in the 80's. But it wasn't until the late 90's that he put his best work together. "Somebody Loves You," from his 1999 album <i>15 Minutes</i>, is a deeper, more powerful song than he'd ever done before. There's still a catchy chorus, but the subject matter - finding empty solace with your "friends" on TV speaks in a more profound way than he ever had before.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OrNS2zbTZg">Kid Rock - Bawitdaba</a><br />
Lifting the chorus from the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight," Kid Rock took that phrase and not only turned it on its head, but then blew it the hell up. Anthrax mixed rap and metal with humor, but Kid Rock kept both hardcore, with fantastic results. The first time I heard it, my first thought was, what the- wait- is that "Rapper's Delight?" What the hell is this? Then Kid unleashes his monicker in the scream of the decade and the song kicks into gear with some serious bass and a completely badass guitar line. Rapping about the people he grew up with and knew best - the freaks, topless dancers, meth heads, even cops, he tells the story of the streets more eloquently that you'd expect from a Detroit kid. But as he's shown with his career since then, he doesn't usually do what you expect.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjsjZWlRVvo">Alison Krauss - When You Say Nothing at All </a><br />
Three different artists have made this a hit song (including Chris Whitley and Ronan Keating), but Alison Krauss' angelic voice really captures the heart of the song best. Everything about the song is tender, from the opening quiet guitar, even the drums are muted, so as not to distract. But it's Alison's delivery of the melody and lyrics that make you feel special. Even though I know she's not singing to me, my heart disagrees. And although the arrangement is mostly country, it crosses musical genres and becomes a song that can speak to anyone in love. I'm not sappy very often, but when it's a song like this, I'll make an exception. Boy do I love my wife....<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWcigCsOTq4">Julian Lennon - Now You're in Heaven</a><br />
Comparisons with his father are inevitable, but I always thought that Julian Lennon got the short end of the stick. Although his first album was pretty poppy, his later albums were much more sophisticated in their music and lyrics. "Now You're in Heaven," from his third album <i>Mr. Jordan</i>, has his usually catchy melody, with a great sing-along chorus. He channels a little bit of Elvis while there's a great one-two guitar punch in the verses. Musically, it's a very interesting song to listen to, with many sonic layers that I'm sure make his Dad proud. (Quick side note: If you take your finger and cover Julian's eyes on the cover of his <i>Valotte </i>album, he's a dead ringer for my brother, Scott.)<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUIYEHPPNDM">Kenny Loggins - Conviction of the Heart</a><br />
In 1991, after going through a divorce, Kenny Loggins realized that he needed to make a difference in the world that he was leaving his children. Seeing the damage that his own generation was doing to the planet, "Conviction of the Heart" was his call to action. Starting with a great guitar strum, and then giving his vocals a personal, powerful voice, Kenny challenges us all to do what we can to help. Lyrically, he's direct without being too judgmental: "You say you're aware, believe and you care, but do you care enough?" The chorus builds up to his pleading refrain, "If we only try..." He made me want to try, and I have. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw28SV9T63E">Madonna - Open Your Heart</a><br />
(Shhh.... don't telly anybody, but I think I regret putting Madonna's "Holiday" on my Greatest list instead of this song. Oh well...) Coming out fast right out of the gate, Madonna has a voice that can keep up with the full production of "Open Your Heart." A Britney Spears or Avril Lavigne would sound like the kids they are trying to keep up. Even though Madonna wasn't as involved with the music on this particular song, her fingerprints are all over the <i>True Blue </i>album (and all of her other ones, too). I've always liked punchy brass in dance songs, and in "Open Your Heart" they add that extra richness that elevates what would've already been a great dance song.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypkv0HeUvTc">Marilyn Manson - The Beautiful People</a><br />
Following the lead of guys like Trent Reznor, Marilyn Manson became a master of mixing subdued, creepy music and vocals with the unleashed terror of screams and heavy guitar. It's a nice dichotomy that he weaves perfectly in "The Beautiful People." Starting at a slow simmer, he quickly rails against all sectors of conventional society - religion, capitalists, pretty people, judgmental people. This is not a "Happy, happy, joy, joy" song, it's a "Fuck you, fuck you, hate, hate" song. Many disaffected youth relate to the subject matter, being teased and ostracized for being different, and for them, "The Beautiful People" has become an anthem of sorts. Now I'm neither disaffected nor ostracized, and so I realize he's most likely singing about me. But I don't care, because it's a kick-ass song.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TWlFsvubwo">Marillion - Incommunicado</a><br />
With me being a sucker for songs that start slow and build to a climax, "Incommunicado" was made for guys like me. Starting quietly with Mark Kelly's keyboard intro, which builds to a trademark Steve Hogarth guitar crescendo. Mark then gets to really unleash his 'board with a blazing fast, intricate "solo." Lyricist and lead singer Fish paints a scathing indictment of today's celebrity lifestyle (and this was back in '87, three weeks before Lindsay Lohan's <i>first</i> birthday). With lyrics like, "I've got an allergy to Perrier, daylight and responsibility," he's not only mocking other rock stars and celebrities, but himself as well. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp1TX3iqdFM">Marry Me Jane - You Didn't Kiss Me</a><br />
Although Gwen Stefani got the notoriety for her break-up anthem, "Don't Speak," another great one is "You Didn't Kiss Me," which came out at almost the same time by a band you probably never heard of, Marry Me Jane. Being a happily married male, you'd think that I'd avoid songs like this, but the way that singer Amanda Kravat delivers her deeply personal lyrics almost moves me to tears, and that's saying something. "I know you don't care, you made that clear enough when I was leaving," she sings, heartbreak in every syllable. Yet she still misses him. A tremendous song about the dichotomy of being in/thrown out of love. You should read<a href="http://www.uppercutmusic.com/artist_m/marry_me_jane_lyrics/you_didnt_kiss_me_lyrics.html"> the lyrics</a> - they're pure poetry.Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-13570959323899244562011-03-28T09:59:00.000-06:002011-03-28T09:59:56.505-06:00Top 100 Favorite Songs - Part 1I guess I just can't let the music go just yet. <br />
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As I was working on my list, my best friend Todd and I were talking about my list. He was asking me about some songs he knew I loved and wondered if they were on my list. When I said no to a few, he was confused. I tried to clarify: my list was for the <i>best </i>songs of my lifetime, not my Top 100 <i>favorite </i>songs. Still noting the confusion on his face, I explained further. "Clocks" by Coldplay is a great song - perfectly written, crafted and performed. Critics around the world would agree with my placing it on a Top 100 list. It's a great song <i>and </i>it's one of my favorites. "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot is another favorite of mine, but even I couldn't make a case that it's a great song. I just happen to love it. So that's my distinction between great and favorite.<br />
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After I explained it to him, he then had a simple request. "Your list is great and all, but I want to know your Top 100 <i>favorite </i>songs." I gave it some thought (probably more than I should have) and decided that was a great idea. You musical purists out there might want to skip this one, because I put them all up there for consideration, even the embarrassing ones (yep - Celine Dion). Because I'm a big pop music fan, there are lots of empty calories on this list (which I have to admit embarrasses me a little bit). But I wanted to be honest, so you've got my musical tastes on a platter, deep fried Twinkies and all. To my credit, though, there's also a great juevos rancheros on the platter, too. <br />
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So Todd, in your honor, here are my Top 100 Favorite Songs of my lifetime (not already on the other list, since that would be a bit redundant and boring). <br />
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I'll do them in batches of 25, so I can get them out quicker. So here are the first twenty-five, purely in alphabetical order.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfQUuYY87fA">Anthrax - I'm the Man</a><br />
Opening with Sam Kinison's iconic scream, Anthrax decided to mix metal and rap in an inventive way. Instead of hardcore lyrics, they poke fun at everything, especially themselves. The fact that Charlie can't seem to get his rhyming scheme right cracks me up every time. Throw in a metal "Hava Nagila" and you can't go wrong.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpcb80P-OYg&feature=fvwrel">Asia - Heat of the Moment</a><br />
My first real favorite band, Asia got me with their power chords, lush keyboards and rich harmonies. Add on top of it John Wetton's powerful voice, and Asia had it all for kid with budding musical tastes. "Heat of the Moment" ties it all together and sounds just as good almost thirty years later. And you know if the guys on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBnyvF8j6bQ">South Park</a> do a tribute to one of your songs, you've hit one out of the park (pun intended...).<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs3xXlXSOKk">Barenaked Ladies - It's All Been Done</a><br />
Speaking of power chords, BNL unleashes a few of their own. This is a seriously great pop song, and then you add the playful "wooo hooo hooo" in the chorus to give it that BNL slice of whimsy. This has been a staple of their live shows ever since, because it's just so damn fun. <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Naf5uJYGoiU">Beastie Boys - Hey Ladies</a><br />
Although "Sabotage" is the Beastie Boys' best song, "Hey Ladies" is my favorite. The killer guitar line, mixed with their trademark vocal style where each guy delivers part of a line, makes you want to get up and rap along with them. And I do - every single time.. The Beastie Boys had done fun, fast-paced lyrics before, but with the production genius of The Dust Brothers on the entire <i>Paul's Boutique </i>album, it took that fun to a, dare I say, artistic level, even with goofy lines like "I got more hits than <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadaharu_Oh">Sadaharu Oh</a>."<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ht5RZpzPqw">Blink 182 - All the Small Things</a><br />
I'm a sucker for killer guitar riffs, and Tom DeLonge's one in "All the Small Things" had me at hello. For those who decry the entire pop-punk genre, this may be prosecution exhibit #1, but I'd argue that it's a killer pop song played perfectly well. And although that flies in the face of punk, their "Na na na na na na na na" is straight out of The Ramones playbook. Add on top of it all the video they did that lampooned all the boy bands, which is absolutely hilarious, the music world's a better place because "All the Small Things" is in it.<br />
(Funny aside: At first I thought it was a joke, but apparently it's not. The identical twin duo, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmrmZahuGvU">Jedwad</a>, did a cover of this song for their first album. Apparently, their parents decided against passing on the irony gene. The hand claps are a nice touch, though.)<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFro05ieV5c">Bon Jovi - Wanted Dead or Alive</a><br />
It was a coin flip on whether this song or "Livin' on a Prayer" would be on my list, and "Wanted" lost out. I could've easily made a case for this song as well. Taking a leisurely stroll down the neck of his acoustic guitar, Richie Sambora invented an intro that is essential for anyone wanting to learn guitar. If cowboys in the 1880's had amps and big ass drum sets, they would've written songs like this one. Luckily for us, Jon & Richie did, paying tribute to America's rich heritage while making a great rock song. Yeah, Jon, my face has been rocked.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czJHTEeEJmU">Cast of Rent - La Vie Boheme</a><br />
If I lived in the "musical world," where my friends and I could all sing and dance, and the idea of breaking out into song in the middle of dinner wasn't borderline insane, this is the kind of song that I'd like us all to sing. Pure fun and comraderie, "La Vie Boheme" takes the original <i>La Boheme</i> opera as a blueprint, throws it in a blender, and brings it to late 80's New York. The result is a catchy, provocative song that shows you that can be young, poor - even sick with the AIDS virus, and have a great dinner with friends. Youth and hope are a great combination.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN5V-6yCbpg">Ray Charles & the Blues Brothers - Shake a Tail Feather</a><br />
Another song from a very different musical, this one has Ray Charles as the owner of a music store, showing a doubtful Jake and Elwood blues just how good a certain electric piano is. The result is a classic version of The Five Du-Tones original song, and in my mind the definitive version. Taking us through all of the famous dance crazes from the 50's and 60's, Ray brings an infectious soul groove to the movie, having me thisclose to jumping into the aisles and joining the fun.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yipoOY56MbM">Kelly Clarkson - Behind These Hazel Eyes</a><br />
I've never been into <i>American Idol</i>, but this song from pop star (and season 1 winner) Kelly Clarkson has it all for me. There's the great guitar hook, nice tempo changes that don't feel awkward, and her stellar voice. She captures the true spirit of a lover scorned - wistful remembrance, anger, insecurity and depression, all within a four minute song. Add to that a lethally catchy tune, and you've got all the ingredients for success.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp6zoc84NcU">Marc Cohn - True Companion</a><br />
For all of us guys who wish we could write a song worthy of the women we love, guys like Marc Cohn take one for the team and write one for us. With a simple piano refrain, he tells the story of any of us guys, <i>all </i>of us guys. It's the story we all wish we could live, even when we're old and gray. The lyrics are poetry, to be sure, but <i>real </i>poetry, not the fairy tale poetry of Shakespeare and others."And when I look in your eyes / I'll still see that spark / Until the shadows fall /Until the room grows dark." "True Companion" is a song I hope I can live out with the rest of my life.<br />
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Okay, one quick aside - Why can't musicians who write amazing love songs about their true loves, you know, stay together?!<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9PRTF6vDYs">Jude Cole - Madison</a><br />
When you pick a song that you want to dedicate to your girlfriend/wife, you want to pick something that's personal and not too popular. You want it to be <i>your </i>song, not yours and four million other people's. "Madison" is a special song for me & Jennifer, not because of the cheatin' lyrics, but because it's a wistful remembrance of her hometown, Madison, Wisconsin. Top it off with the fact that Jude Cole can write great songs in his sleep, and we've got ourselves a keeper.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZFWHw05MFM">Harry Connick Jr. - She</a><br />
Not many people know the funkier side of Harry. For most, he's the crooner of old standards and new ones that sound like old ones. But he's so much more than that, and "She" is the living proof. The full bass, disco guitar, tricked out drums sound like anything <i>but </i>a Harry Connick Jr. song. Then at the end, when they let loose the reigns and tear into a dizzying instrumental break, it's a great reminder that you don't always need words. I wish he did more stuff like this.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpprOGsLWUo">Elvis Costello - Pump It Up</a><br />
I've already talked about the bass line, but if you only focus on that great bass, you miss out on the relentless pace of a seriously great song. There's some great keyboard, and Elvis' voice couldn't be more different than his namesake, but I mean that in a good way. At the end, I know I'm pumped up, and ready for another spin.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO3kWNHyZOE">Counting Crows - Angels of the Silences</a><br />
Another band not really known for their heavy side, Counting Crows shows that all they care about is making great music. Right out of the box, original guitarist, David Bryson, and brand new lead guitarist for the <i>Recovering the Satellites </i>album, Dan Vickrey, let loose and show you what you can really do with two talented guitarists. "Angels" is a rocker from start to stop, with a killer guitar solo thrown in that is the last thing you'd expect from Counting Crows. Even when the song slows for a bit, it's only to build up to the frantic bridge and chorus. Throw in Adam Duritz's powerful voice and lyrics, and "Angels" is a winner for any rock fan.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISMZOdaA_pc">Dan Reed Network - Baby Now I</a><br />
The who Network? That's the question I usually get from people when I mention this band. But trust me, this Network is worth tuning in for. Filled with tremendous musicians and a lead singer (that'd be the Dan Reed) whose gravelly voice can rip out a rocker as well as tenderly deliver a ballad, Dan Reed Network may be one of the best bands you've never heard of. I stumbled upon a 99 cent promo tape of theirs in early '88 and have been hooked since. Some bands you're glad when they make three albums and then fade away. Too bad for me, for us, this is not one of those bands. "Baby Now I" kicks down the door from the start with some thunderous drums and then never stops kicking - but in that good way.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ5bS3_BCDs">Def Leppard - Photograph</a><br />
From the opening memorable guitar riff, Def Leppard proved that you could play metal (or pseudo-metal as some would call it) and have it sound like, well, actual <i>music</i>. Producer Mutt Lange brought production values to a genre of music that had never cared much for them, while Def Leppard wrote songs that were poppy enough to be catchy, but serious enough to rock. The chorus just keeps building until you think Joe Elliot's voice may explode his own larynx - but in that good way. The harmonies were straight out of The Beatles, but dropped into a great rock song. It's like chocolate and peanut butter - a match made in heaven.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIrm0dHbCDU">Depeche Mode - Strangelove</a><br />
Another coin flip song from my other list, I love the musical intricacy of "Strangelove." Lots of unexpected musical twists and turns married with Dave Gahan's seemingly out of place rich baritone. But it works - in hundreds of songs, and especially in "Strangelove." Depeche Mode shows that they know how to build a song, musically, but just like the guys at Pixar (where story always comes first), it's the music that's important. "Strangelove" has a great musical foundation that they built upon to make it a great song and a very interesting song all at the same time. And just like the guys at Pixar, they make it look easier than it is.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6wbugWrfLU">Celine Dion - That's the Way It Is</a><br />
I tried to fight it, I swear. I wanted to be an elitist snob and scoff at Celine Dion. I wanted to hate her for the pop fluff and drippy ballads that she recorded. But I just couldn't help it. "That's the Way It Is" is a pure pop-perfect song, and I think I was powerless to resist it from the start. Even then, I was going to ditch it, out of pure embarrassment mostly. But my co-workers said, "You may not want to. But if it's really one of your favorites, you kinda have to, huh?" Fine! Here it is! I am cloaked in shame! Curse you Celine Dion! (But it really is a great song...)<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgE-Oedaiyk&playnext=1&list=PL932F791BC1E7829F">Eagles - Life in the Fast Lane</a><br />
Another tale from the dark side off of <i>Hotel California</i>, the Eagles tell the tale of a couple living life on the high wire. Starting with Joe Walsh's terminally pretty guitar riff, is the Eagles best rock song. With Henley's lyrics, like "He was brutally handsome, and she was terminally pretty," "Life" paints a vivid picture of the difference between desire and destruction is only as thin as a piece of paper, at times. You'd think that we'd all learn the lessons from those who came before us, but like the saying says, "<a href="http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_said_Those_who_ignore_history_are_bound_to_repeat_it">Those ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.</a>" I have a feeling Lindsay Lohan never went to history class much.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhpu2N4rQZM">Eurythmics - Would I Lie to You?</a><br />
Never really a group known for its guitar work, Dave Stewart of unleashed a wickedly contagious one at the beginning of this song. Annie Lennox gets to let loose vocally, showing that although she had that wonderfully ghostly voice on earlier tracks, she can belt it out with the best of them. She channels Aretha Franklin in this performance, verbally attacking her lover, much like Aretha did in "Respect." Eurythmics and "they rock" had never been put in the same sentence before, but Dave and Annie proved that, in fact, they do.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeMKQwIMBko">Everclear - Rock Star</a><br />
Opening with the typical rock star dogma, "Look at me!", Art Alexakis pokes fun at himself and the rest of the narcissistic music industry with some pretty biting lyrics. You can't write a song called "Rock Star" and have it not rock, and fortunately Everclear doesn't need to worry about that. It starts off rocking and just keeps going. And while he's poking fun with his lyrics, there are countless "musicians" out there who live with their own dogma, "I don't wanna be a loser / I don't wanna be an almost was."<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UPEvAW-n3M">Fall Out Boy - Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of this Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued</a><br />
Never ones for brevity in song titles, Fall Out Boy took the style of the moody emo genre and decided to kick it in the ass, making their own guitar driven modulation. And although bassist Pete Wentz gets most of the press, the musical force behind Fall Out Boy is lead singer and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump. He might look a bit, well, normal, for a rock band, but he can put together a killer guitar riff and melody like few others. Pulsating drums and a solid bass give the song the perfect foundation on which to make a perfect pop song that also happens to rock hard core.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR-qQcNT_fY">Five for Fighting - 100 Years</a><br />
As I said in my blog, I like loud more than quiet, but "100 Years" became an instant favorite for me the first time I heard it. With its simple, yet brilliant, piano line, combined with John Ondrasik's perfect tenor, it takes you through the life that most of us have lived - or want to live. It's the universal message to savor life as it passes by. The rest of the music (drums, bass, guitar) are all nice, but it's the piano and vocals that steal the show in "100 Years." <br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzPC7M6lQuE">Peter Gabriel - Kiss of Life</a><br />
If you've got a great drum beat, I'm listening. This is a more obscure Peter Gabriel song, but the rhythm of "Kiss of Life" is the star, which is perhaps why it never became too popular. Drummer Jerry Marotta shows some serious chops as his drum line is the true star of the show. Peter's melody melds well with the rhythm, while the bass and guitar are the ones that actually establish the musical foundation, taking a back seat to Jerry's drums. Infectious from the start, his drums keep a blistering pace that makes you want to dance around and maybe learn how to play the drums.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN60DR5GQpg">Genesis - Invisible Touch</a><br />
If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a sucker for a pop-perfect song. I know many musical purists see pop songs as disposable fluff, but they forget that The Beatles were a pop band. "Invisible Touch" is Genesis most pop-perfect moment, and I was hooked from the start. For three guys in a studio, Genesis sure can create some lush musical arrangements. When you have the talent of Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks, there's not much you can't do musically. And scoff if you want - you know you want to sing along, "She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah!"Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-2937852009884871022011-03-23T21:51:00.002-06:002011-03-26T08:02:50.876-06:00Epilogue<div class="MsoNormal">Whew!<br />
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Wow, that was a lot more complicated than I thought it was going to be when I started. Originally, I figured I'd just write a paragraph or two about each song making my case for its greatness, but before I knew it (probably around #90, Duran Duran's "The Reflex") I realized that I wanted to go more in depth about each of these songs. So what started out as glorified blurbs ended up being heavily researched, fully realized essays. My wife often wondered aloud, "Does someone really need 1,500 words to talk about "The Reflex"? For me, and for those who've told me how much they like my blog, the answer is an unqualified "Yes."<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">So how did it get so out of hand? That's an easy question to answer. As I was doing research on each song, I'd do all sorts of Google searches on the songs, the bands that did them, the albums they came from, and so on. What I found is that while some songs had extensive Wikipedia* entries, not many of them did. There were other mini-reviews of the various songs on various sites, but nothing with the detail I find fascinating. (I'm the guy that buys a movie's special edition DVD with three commentaries, four making-of featurettes and the music video, and watch every minute). I love finding out how things were made and why they were made that way, and I didn't see a ton of it out there. So I decided to throw my 2¢ on top of the pile.</div><br />
For the two of you out there who were wondering about the process, I'll break it down in as many words as possible (I'd say, just kidding, but I'm probably not...). It all started with lots of research. I read tons of Wikipedia pages, read lots of magazine articles and transcripts of interviews. I listened to each song at least a dozen times during the process and then, finally, began writing. Many posts started out a bit strained, and I found myself forcing to find a voice for what I wanted to say. Often I’d just throw away all I’d done and start fresh – or at least copy it down way down at the bottom of the post and then compare the two. Inevitably, though, when I’m thinking why am I even doing an entry on this song, the juices would start flowing and the words would start to spill out. Slowly, at first, and then my fingers would have to rush to keep up with the ideas that were leaping onto the page. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Sometimes I’d just write down the main sentence of the thought to flesh out later while I rushed to get the next thought down before it escaped into the ether. The funny thing is that many of these disparate sentences ended up being natural cousins of others, putting paragraphs together that I hadn’t even fully considered. It’s a fun process when it’s really going. The next thing I know, I’m typing the sum up and then I’m done. I generally don’t have to edit it much more after that, but sometimes upon rereading it, some major reconstruction has to take place, because the introduction doesn’t really get to the summation in a way that makes any real sense.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But when the dust finally settles, I breathe a sigh of relief and smile. “That’s a pretty good one,” I’ll think to myself, as I start doing the searches for the next post. It’s weird that I’m done and there are no more to do. It’s been a year and a half process, and I’ve loved almost all of it. I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading them as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them. I think it was Aristotle who said that you are what you do repeatedly. If that’s the case, then I’m a writer who loves his family very much.<br />
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I can live with that. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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Here's a little extra stuff for you stats fans out there.<br />
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If you look closely, there were only four artists that had more than one song on my list. They are: Metallica (2), Peter Gabriel (2), Prince (2) and U2 (3).<br />
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After I was done putting my list together (and since it was a snapshot of my entire life), I got curious about which songs came out at what point in my life. Being an Excel geek, I decided to put a chart together that broke it down. (To see 2003-07, you're going to have to click on the picture of the graph) Go ahead and roll your eyes now, Jennifer.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQVPGZe_BlUXM7oUBU0xcDBrP14JxGC9-DswpDcjtu2Xxb6uDxAOin9MCm-6L1FHsKy9ADccuKGleIlvRhL3NS2Qfvzk87YqvdUGatLHCKQQ1QEKS3mfCRxIqsmwalMvF0yxEyEgEHaGP/s1600/Top+100+Chart.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQVPGZe_BlUXM7oUBU0xcDBrP14JxGC9-DswpDcjtu2Xxb6uDxAOin9MCm-6L1FHsKy9ADccuKGleIlvRhL3NS2Qfvzk87YqvdUGatLHCKQQ1QEKS3mfCRxIqsmwalMvF0yxEyEgEHaGP/s640/Top+100+Chart.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
It was no big surprise to me that the year I graduated high school, 1987, had eight entries. I'd wager that for most music fans, the songs they listened to in high school are among their favorites. What <i>did</i> surprise me, though, was that my sophomore year of 1985 had <i>no </i>songs on my list. Other than that, I'm pretty proud of the even distribution of songs throughout my lifetime. It shows that I'm open to all sorts of music, no matter what the copyright date on the album says. It also shows me that I'm not too old yet, so that's pretty nice to see.<br />
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The longest song? If your're counting the live recordings, then it's Peter Gabirel's "Secret World," ticking in at 9:11. Next to that is "Won't Get Fooled Again?" by The Who, at 8:33. The shortest? No surprise. The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated" is a trim 2:29.<br />
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* The stuff on Wikipedia is pretty great, but what it lacked was a cohesive voice, a subjective voice, and humor. I like to think I added all to my posts.</div>Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-41603892852164370662011-03-18T22:36:00.000-06:002011-03-18T22:36:54.759-06:001. U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name<i>(Author's Note: For those who know me well and know my tastes in music, it wasn't a question of whether a U2 song was going to be #1 on my list, it was </i><i><b>which</b> U2 song was going to be #1 on my list. I was tempted to put "Hotel California" #1 just to be difficult, but who am I kidding? U2 is the greatest rock band of all time and they deserve the top spot. Just being contrarian for no good reason is a waste of energy. I've been waiting a long time to get this one on the books, so I won't dally any longer.)</i><br />
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As much as you can label and differentiate different kinds of music, it all really boils down to one choice - quiet or loud. Pretty much any song can be dropped into one of those buckets. When all else fails, loud trumps quiet. Upon looking at the breadth of this list, it's clear that if given the choice, I'm going to pick loud over quiet. Of the 100 songs on this list, only fifteen are quiet songs. Everything else gets to various levels of loud, some louder than others. But it's not just a me thing or a rock & roll thing. Being a moderate fan of classical music, I'm still prone to like the loud ones. I'll take <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wod-MudLNPA&feature=related">Beethoven's "Ode to Joy"</a> over his "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmVCcF42f-0">Piano Sonata No. 14, Op. 27/2</a>." While both are great, I'm going for the loud. Sure, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMbvcp480Y4">Albioni's "Adagio in G Minor</a>" is a wonderfully contemplative song, but when you put on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjvqY-U9gV0">Orff's "Carmina Burana-O Fortuna,"</a>* that's when my ears really prick up. (And I'm not just name-dropping for effect. All these songs are on my Ipod.)<br />
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But for me, the ones that really seem to flip my switch are the songs that start quiet and get loud, like "O Fortuna." I love the build-up of a song that makes you feel like it might be a ballad, but before you know it, you're singing along at the top of your lungs or banging your head. Going back on my list, you'll see quite a few songs that fit this musical blueprint. The thing about songs like this is that they're <i>building </i>to something, and when they get there, the payoff works. Much in the same way a preacher will start his sermons low and slow, building up to a raised voice and vigorous gestures, a good band can bring things to a fever pitch and inspire thousands. <br />
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Most rock songs are built with the music as the foundation, followed by the lyrics. This song was no different. The main musical force behind "Where the Streets Have No Name" is U2's guitarist, The Edge. Edge is considered by many to be the most creative guitarist in rock today. He's like the professor on Gilligan's Island, always tinkering to find out a better way to do things. He gets sounds out of a guitar that are unique, and does so often. Bono once said of Edge's guitar playing, "I put my fingers where he puts his and do the same thing, but I've never made it sound the same."<br />
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In the case of "Streets," Edge was in his home studio, working on demos and basic tracks for what would end up becoming U2's <i>The Joshua Tree</i> album. I could paraphrase, but Edge says it best:<br />
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<i>At first nothing came. I was recording onto a four-track tape machine, working alone, sequencing keyboards to the drum machine. I was starting to get desperate and thinking about the next tour. I imagined being at a U2 show and tried to dream up what <b>I</b> would want to hear [as a fan]. It was my attempt to conjure up the ultimate U2 live song. It was a strange feeling when I finished the rough mix, because I thought I had just come up with the most amazing guitar part and song of my life, but I was totally alone in a big house with no one to share it with. I remember listening to the complete silence of the house for a few seconds after the music had stopped and then doing a dance around the room punching the air.</i></blockquote>The funny thing is that although "Streets" ended up being arguably their most powerful live song, the process for recording it was anything but easy. Co-producer Brian Eno estimated that of all the time spent recording <i>The Joshua Tree</i>, almost 40% of that was spent tinkering with "Where the Streets Have No Name." Co-producer Daniel Lanois, at times, had to stand at a chalkboard with a pointer, conducting the band through the song like a schoolteacher. At one point, Eno was so frustrated with the recording process that he wanted to erase all the tapes in an "accident" and start all over again. Luckily, he was convinced otherwise (it's said that physical restraint was needed).<br />
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I know you're probably saying, "This is fun stuff on <i>how</i> the song was done, Kent, but <i>why</i> is this song #1?" And in cribbing a great line from Bill Cosby, "I told you that story to tell you this one." I think you need to understand <i>how</i> something great was created to really discover <i>why</i> it's indeed great.<br />
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Starting with Brian Eno's simple organ introduction, the song starts with a hymnal quality to it. Then Edge plays his moving guitar arpeggio as the song continues to build. Bassist Adam Clayton drops in (and down the neck of his bass) to kick the song into gear, where The Edge and Larry start to let go. After almost two minutes, Bono finally breaks in, belting out, "I wanna run... I wanna hide..." From this point on, the song keeps a relentless pace until the end, when The Edge's arpeggio leads the fade out. At the end, you're invigorated - you want to listen again. As you may have noticed, my musical breakdowns are usually more descriptive. That's because what I described was just the album version.<br />
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Don't get me wrong, "Where the Streets Have No Name" is a great song on <i>The Joshua Tree</i>. But that's not how you're really meant to listen to it. Since Edge was dreaming of the perfect U2 live song, it's a song that you need to listen to <i>live</i>. That's where the song has come into its own. Larry was asked about the process of making "Streets." <br />
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<blockquote><i>It took so long to get that song right. It was difficult for us to make any sense of it. It only became a truly great song through playing live. On the record, musically, it's not half the song it is live.</i></blockquote>He's right. The song that took them so long to craft finally took wing when they had to figure out how to replicate the studio version in front of an audience. The answer was - don't! U2 decided to keep many elements of the album version, but also let the song develop into what Edge had envisioned in his mind in his empty house - the ultimate U2 live song.<br />
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There are two definitive live versions of "Streets." The first is an early live recording from their movie, <i>Rattle and Hum, </i>recorded at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona back in 1987. It starts with the organ of the album version, but then Larry comes in with his sticks and high hat cymbal, clicking his way through the introduction while rhythmically hitting the high hat until Edge comes in with his arpeggio. When Adam comes in with his bass, the pace of the song picks up to a feverish pace, with Larry's tom toms pounding until Bono's vocals come in. Bono's voice lends itself to live performances, because he can convey emotion with an immediacy that you just can't replicate in the studio. U2 also adds some nice harmony vocals by the Edge during the choruses.<br />
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In the album version, the second verse is just a carbon copy of the first, but live, Larry kicks it into a more powerful groove, pounding on his snare drum with a martial beat. Edge then gives his guitar some extra musical muscle to keep up. Adam's bass is higher in the mix (and on the neck), adding a musical pulse that keeps your heart rate up. Edge really shows what he can do with a guitar as the song hits its apex, alternately muting the strings as he plays, then letting them loose with that great delay/echo effect he created in the studio. When you hear this version, you realize that this is what Edge had planned all along, it just took them a while to find it.<br />
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The second live version that's become an iconic performance of "Streets" is the one that U2 performed at halftime of Super Bowl XXXVI, in New Orleans, just a few months after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. It's in this performance that the lyrics really became more of the central focus of the live performance. Although there have been various interpretations of what the lyrics to "Streets" mean, Bono's always been pretty straightforward as to their origin:<br />
<blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="color: #333333;">"An interesting story that someone told me once is that in Belfast, by what street someone lives on you can tell not only their religion but tell how much money they’re making - literally by which [part] of the road they live on, because the further up the hill the more expensive the houses become. You can almost tell what the people are earning by the name of the street they live on. That said something to me, and so I started writing about a place where the streets have no name...."</span></i></div></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal">It was a vision of a world where equality and humanity were more important than the acquisition of wealth and power. It was a vision where religion was a unifying force, not a wedge that drives us apart. U2 has always been advocates for peace, patience, and tolerance, and the lyrics to "Where the Streets Have No Name" reflect that. Bono's lyrics have often told of places of peace, hope and love that are just out of reach, but still he strives to find them.</div><br />
<i>The city's a flood and our love turns to rust</i><br />
<i>We're beaten and blown by the wind</i><br />
<i>Trampled in dust</i><br />
<i>I'll show you a place</i><br />
<i>High on a desert plain</i><br />
<i>Where the streets have no name</i><br />
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He urges us to never give up the fight - the fight to recover our humanity, even in the face of tragedy and strife. And at no other time in my lifetime were those words more necessary than on that Super Bowl Sunday. The United States was still trying to recover from the tragedy of the attacks, and instead of trying to get people to forget their troubles, U2 had us face them head on. Instead of the organ intro of "Streets," U2 played "MLK" as an introduction to the song.<br />
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As the song starts, the names of those killed in the attacks started to scroll up a screen that soared into the rafters of the Superdome, remembering all who perished, both on the doomed flights and in the towers themselves. At first hundreds, then thousands of names scrolled into their deserved place in the heavens as Bono yelled to his adopted home, "America!" He then let out a scream in anguish, one conveyed the anger, frustration that was inside of us all. Yet at the same time there's a glimmer of hope in his voice that comes through, echoing the optimism that we tried to cling to. As Bono sings the song, he sings of a place he longs for, a place where love can be rebuilt after a fall.<br />
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And that's why "Where the Streets Have No Name" is the greatest song of my lifetime. It's a song that was born in a moment of sublime inspiration, went through a troubled adolescence in the studio, and then finally found its place on the stage. It's a song that is a testament to musicians everywhere that a great song can come from anywhere - sometimes you just have to carve through the marble to get to the statue that was inside the block the whole time. U2 has written hundreds of songs, but if I only had one to keep from this point on, "Where the Streets Have No Name" would be my choice. It's a song that speaks to my soul - fluently, because I think we're all searching for that place in the world where everything might not be perfect, but the odds aren't stacked against so many to really make something of their lives. <br />
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It's a dream that's been around for as long as people have been around. Really, it's what people call "the American dream." The dream that no matter where you come from, or who you are, if you're willing to work hard enough and treat people with respect along the way, anything is possible. It's a dream I want my sons to believe in, and I want to be there when they realize their dreams. That's why this song is so powerful. It's hope. It can't be taken from you. You can only give it away. So cling to your hope, folks, because that's the only thing that's really going to change the world in the long run. <br />
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* Yes, most of us know these pieces from the movies they've been in, rather than being actual classical music fans. I'm a bit of both. But in case you were wondering, "Ode to Joy" is probably best known for the vault opening scene in <i>Die Hard</i>, and in about a dozen other movies. "Piano Sonata No. 14," also known as "Moonlight," was in <i>Immortal Beloved, Misery, Crimson Tide </i>and<i> The Pianist</i>. "Adagio in G Minor" was in<i> The Doors</i> and <i>Flashdance</i>, while "O Fortuna" has been in countless movie trailers, but also opened the first <i>Jackass</i> movie (I know- Orff rolling over in his grave and all that, but it was damn funny!).<br />
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Three videos for this #1. The first is the music video for the album version. The second is the <i>Rattle and Hum </i>performance, while the third is U2's performance from Super Bowl XXXVI.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GzZWSrr5wFI" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/V-zqIS7vWbY" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gq08ouOwiqQ" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
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<i>(Fun Fact #40: I was in my senior year of high school on March 7th, 1987. As I drove into school, I was listening to a tape, not the radio, so I missed the announcement that my favorite band, U2, was going to film their latest video not twenty miles from my high school. After class that day, I finally heard from a friend about it, and we jumped in his car and headed down. We got a little lost in downtown L.A. so we missed most of their set. We did, however, get to hear the the second half of their last performance of "Streets", plus "Pride" on top of that liquor store. Adam Clayton said of the shoot: "The object was to close down the streets. If there's one thing people in LA hate, it's streets closing down, and we've always felt bands should shake things up. We achieved it because the police stopped us filming. Were we worried about being arrested? Not at the time..." Thank goodness they weren't, because I think the police may have had a mini-riot on their hands if they'd tried.)</i><br />
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</div>Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-74217614313943829232011-03-12T22:04:00.001-07:002011-03-18T22:39:16.530-06:00One Last Interruption Before #1Just like they make you wait in TV shows, "The results of the [vote, weigh-in, judge's deliberations, etc.] are coming up, right after this...", I'm going to make you read one more post before I get to the #1 song of my lifetime. But it's not because I'm trying to grease some money from a sponsor via commercials or build up some false anticipation for something. It's because I'm in San Francisco for work, while also getting some time to visit my brother, Scott, who's probably the biggest fan of this blog.<br />
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Scott loves food. He loves trying all different types of food and is constantly on the search for the hidden gems that you can find in the smaller restaurants that nobody knows about yet. He likes to document his quest for great food by taking pictures of his meals. He's a great photographer and the pictures he takes almost always make me jealous that I wasn't there to share in the meal - they all look so good. If you give him a chance (i.e. just ask him), he'll talk your ear off about his meal in vivid detail, his enthusiasm making your mouth water. I've always encouraged him to do his own blog where he breaks down the great meals he eats, complete with his amazing photography. I, for one, would love to have my mouth water more often. Hopefully for all of us, he'll be inspired and decide to share his culinary adventures with us all.<br />
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Scott lives here in San Francisco, which is, next to New York, the greatest American food city. Especially when you consider that The City (which is what they call SF here) is only seven miles by seven miles, it's amazing how many different quality restaurants from so many ethnicities are available to you, often with only a block's walk. So when I knew I was going to spend the weekend here, I knew good food was in my future. In fact, that was my plan the whole time. Scott worked 'till 10pm on Saturday, so the first part of my culinary adventure would be solo. No problem, though, since I used to live here, too.<br />
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So on Saturday afternoon, right after I landed and picked up my rental car, I headed straight to the iconic Ferry Building, which is now the "Ferry Building Marketplace." It's like a mall where the food court and the shops are flip flopped, Bizzaro style, and there are mostly restaurants and food places, while just a few non-food establishments. So the Ferry Building is a great place if you love food. There are all sorts of specialty shops that sell things you can’t get anywhere else.<br />
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<a 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" style="height: 177px; width: 256px;" width="200" /></a>One place that was on my have-to list was Bocalone, chef Chris Cosentino’s salami shop. It’s not just salami, though. It’s pretty much every kind of cured pork product you can imagine. If you’re a fan of salami, and in case you didn’t notice, I am, you’ve got to stop by. They have a salumi (yes, that's how you spell it) cone that gives you a few slices each of three of the day’s meats. This fine day, the selection was salami pepato, mortadella with pistachios, and some smoked prosciutto. The salami was about the best I'd ever had. It had enough fat to complement the meat, but not too much to make it really chewy. The mortadella was smooth as silk, with the crunch of the pistachios adding a nice change in texture. The prosciutto was milder and less salty than most I've had, really making it easier to focus on the taste of the pork. The cone only puts you back $3.50, and I snacked on it while I figured out what to have for lunch.<br />
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It took me a while to finally settle on what to eat, since there were so many options. I was also distracted by the specialty food shops all around, where you could get everything from cheese to chocolate to an entire shop devoted to mushrooms. After going down one of the hallways that criss-cross the marketplace, I smelled that wonderful smell of fresh corn tortillas. I followed my nose to a place called Mijita, where I perused the board and made my choices: carne asada taco, bowl of albondigas soup, chips and salsa. I sat down with my agua fresca and dug in.<br />
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<a href="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQbFraLCqPIWV2s4aiP9Cz9bGkrM70wgcMx2Nq4WFkH3U39XvKf3A" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" class="rg_hi" data-height="183" data-width="275" height="183" id="rg_hi" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQbFraLCqPIWV2s4aiP9Cz9bGkrM70wgcMx2Nq4WFkH3U39XvKf3A" style="height: 183px; width: 275px;" width="275" /></a>Whenever I go to a new Mexican restaurant, I want to try the carne asada. It's one of the staples and if a place does it well, chances are they do everything else well. This specific carne asada taco was probably the most expensive one I've ever ordered - $4.25 for a single taco! I've been to upscale Mexican restaurants where I've spent $12 on three, but never this much for a single taco. After finishing it, though, I have to say it was worth it. The meat was excellent, and I loved the pickled vegetables they put on it as well. But what did it for me (and why I'm now salivating a little) were the tortillas. They were arguably the best corn tortillas I've ever had. Since it's a Mexican style street taco, it's wrapped around two tortillas, so it doesn't disintegrate on you when you're walking down the street. Since I was sitting comfortably at a table, after the first bite I removed the outer tortilla to enjoy as its own course. Maybe I'm one for overstatement, maybe I'm not, but go get one of these tortillas as fast as you can!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoT4IZFNjWsZ7kHqnwZ6EpL00HT37aJLaTkDJtocI9BA4EuPzyvff-agPpzpsfDG7ED6cYsqSbIipfkiSCYXOPlDOf1YsYDfiHXyHZVWSn_OKLLJXHDrP36I9pSy5fwTMEpP1hyzp2asRs/s1600/IMAG0361.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoT4IZFNjWsZ7kHqnwZ6EpL00HT37aJLaTkDJtocI9BA4EuPzyvff-agPpzpsfDG7ED6cYsqSbIipfkiSCYXOPlDOf1YsYDfiHXyHZVWSn_OKLLJXHDrP36I9pSy5fwTMEpP1hyzp2asRs/s320/IMAG0361.jpg" width="191" /></a>The other parts of my meal were also excellent. The chips were authentic chips that you'd get in any good place in the likes of Cozumel or Mazatlan, with salsa that had a nice kick, but not so much it detracted from the food. But the highlight of the meal was the albondigas soup.<br />
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It's a Mexican meatball soup where they (generally) add rice to the meatballs and serve them in a flavorful broth, full of vegetables. It's the lesser known sister of chicken tortilla soup, and in my mind the underrated one. I'm kind of an albondigas snob, and order it whenever I can, testing each restaurant that has it by the taste of their albondigas. It's my carne asada experiment taken to the obsessive level. I've had dozens of different albondigas soups, and outside of The Burnt Tortilla in Gardena, CA, this was the best albondigas I'd ever had, and it may be even better. The broth would have been enough for me on its own, so rich and complex was its flavor. Some places have simpler broths, preferring to let the meatballs take center stage, but I think that's kind of a cop out. On top of that, the meatballs were nice and tender, with not so much rice that they fell apart. Crunchy vegetables were plentiful throughout, and they added warm (but not fried) strips of their amazing tortillas to complete the bowl of Mexican perfection.<br />
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After waddling out after lunch (yes, I ate more than I should have, but can you blame me?), I headed to check in to the Phoenix hotel, where Scott and I would stay for the weekend. Since Scott was working late, I relaxed a little and then had a late dinner at a restaurant in the Castro district called Frances. It's a restaurant that's just over a year old, but has received raves from critics all over town. <a href="http://blogs.sfweekly.com/foodie/2009/10/melissa_perello_of_frances_the.php">Chef Melissa Perello</a> has put a nice, modern touch on some French favorites, as well as some favorites of her own.<br />
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<a 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" 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" style="height: 180px; width: 240px;" width="240" /></a>My meal actually started with meeting a great guy named Jeff, who was in town for a chef convention. He's a chef at an exclusive country club in Connecticut and he loves to try other chef's creations when he's on the road. One item on my bucket list is to have dinner at Thomas Keller's The French Laundry in Napa. Jeff has been lucky enough to have dined there seven times, and he agrees that it's indeed the finest restaurant in the United States. Jeff and I were single diners who showed up at the same time and ended up sitting next to each other at the bar. He was great company and we talked about food for the entire meal.<br />
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We both went with three courses. His first course was an appetizer of frittes (above left), classic French fries, except these were made with chickpeas. Jeff loved the lightness to them, while also complimented the crunchy/soft texture combination. I had the applewood bacon beignets (above on the right), which came with a maple/chive creme fraiche dipping sauce. These also had the crunchy/soft texture and the bacon didn't overwhelm the flavor of the dough. The dipping sauce was so good, I was tempted to use my bread to sop the rest of it all up. Speaking of bread, they only serve bread on request (to save on waste), so make sure that you ask for some. The bread they were serving this evening was a wheat sourdough with a great thick crust on the outside. I'm a big fan of the thick, crunchy crusts, so they must've known I was coming.<br />
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<a 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" 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" style="height: 183px; width: 275px;" width="275" /></a>Both of us had the dungeness crab salad for our second course, which was absolutely lovely. It had a light buttermilk dressing with a nice touch of lemon and tarragon. I know buttermilk and light don't normally go together, but this wasn't your typical thick buttermilk ranch, it was a delicate dressing that didn't overwhelm the delicate crab, and that's a tough feat. Also in the salad were some surprise mandarin oranges, that gave a nice extra shot of citrus when you wanted it. The salads weren't all that big, so it made it easier for Jeff and I to eat all of them with no guilt.<br />
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<a href="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQmFIojnV3NapzjC_fC9nwA5rqWpp1dICJzhHPNzpfK5RuyYq2k" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" class="rg_hi" data-height="187" data-width="270" height="187" id="rg_hi" src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQmFIojnV3NapzjC_fC9nwA5rqWpp1dICJzhHPNzpfK5RuyYq2k" style="height: 187px; width: 270px;" width="270" /></a>Since I'd had a big lunch, I skipped the entree and headed straight towards desert. I'd read that the Lumberjack cake was to die for, so that's what I zeroed in on. Jeff, meanwhile, had the duck entree which he thoroughly enjoyed. My cake was similar to a fruitcake (which I don't really like at all), but had a much lighter texture to it, with shredded coconut and apple in it, rather than the denser jellied fruit you find in a fruitcake. Served alongside it was some housemade maple walnut ice cream, which went perfectly with the slightly warm cake. When you took a bite, the cake started to melt the ice cream just a little as it hit your tongue. The critics were right - Frances is not to be missed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJPH6BYgOmSjrM50kb5xlZi_r75zUCEME4Gh8a4JCjFMiO3jB3EsehxrsaNh_gSjXg7yVlBMMG1nDXsA4AK3lyFCyjCeepkh9B24j7EUodkaa-SlLAuYjSF3n7mrdAgdg-jAkSOnvRk_Mx/s1600/IMG_0122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJPH6BYgOmSjrM50kb5xlZi_r75zUCEME4Gh8a4JCjFMiO3jB3EsehxrsaNh_gSjXg7yVlBMMG1nDXsA4AK3lyFCyjCeepkh9B24j7EUodkaa-SlLAuYjSF3n7mrdAgdg-jAkSOnvRk_Mx/s320/IMG_0122.JPG" width="320" /></a>Brunch on Sunday was at a German restaurant called Suppenküche. It's kind of a hangout place for Scott and his friends, but not, apparently, for the superheroes that the name led me to believe would be there for a meal. I didn't know Germans really did brunch, but it was a tasty meal. Both Scott and I got the chicken schnitzel, obviously made with chicken rather than the pork or veal that's normally used in weinerschnitzel. Alongside were some great roasted potatoes and a simple butter lettuce salad with a tasty vinaigrette. The chicken was perfectly cooked and they served it with a German mustard that was fantastic. I'm a big mustard fan* and I ended up going through two little cups of it. Scott's best friend Trey and his girlfriend Dana were delightful company for the meal, echoing one of my Mom's sayings, "Meals aren't really about the food, they're about the company." Then she would pause, and add "Okay, well maybe it's about the food, too," with a smile.<br />
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After playing around the city for a while, Scott and I went to get him a new computer, since his five year-old Compaq had finally been taken off life support and passed away quietly in its sleep. Outside of San Francisco's Best Buy (there's only one in the city), I spotted the El Tonayense taco truck, parked in its usual spot on Harrison. Scott had been raving earlier about their food, so in the mood for a mid-afternoon snack, I went over to get a taco. They had all the standards, but since Scott had said how good everything was, I decided to take a bit of a gamble and ordered a taco de lengua. That's right, Spanish speakers, I went with the tongue taco.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhAttGLGAMtnOnFIk_O-nglFgXvx4zsU2wUuZvm8XltjD66p8FtykORr8spNlj2pPZ0pidacm1YfBFb-voPnuYcjYRKyELdAdF4yO8RBZI3tK01K14lyDLLGadM02u3BZ49VqcUCTx5ABJ/s1600/IMG_0141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhAttGLGAMtnOnFIk_O-nglFgXvx4zsU2wUuZvm8XltjD66p8FtykORr8spNlj2pPZ0pidacm1YfBFb-voPnuYcjYRKyELdAdF4yO8RBZI3tK01K14lyDLLGadM02u3BZ49VqcUCTx5ABJ/s320/IMG_0141.JPG" width="320" /></a>I'd had a tongue taco before, but from a place that didn't prepare it well. It was gamey and tough, while being so chewy that it took me two minutes to finish two bites. And with those two bites, I was done. I've always prided myself in being open to trying anything food related at least once, but I thought my beef tongue chapter had been open and closed. But this taco was excellent. It was perfectly tender, rich in flavor like most organ meat is. If you hadn't told me what it was, I would've quickly (and happily) finished off the entire taco. It was served street style as usual, with the two corn tortillas, cilantro, raw onions and the hot salsa I selected. While the tortillas were nowhere near as good as the ones at Mijita, the tongue really was tasty. So I'm back on the wagon again as far as tongue goes - I'll just make sure I get it at a place I can trust.<br />
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After getting Scott's new computer (and me helping him get it all set up), we went to the <a href="http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/">Walt Disney Family Museum</a>, at The Presidio. I'm a big Disney fan and had just finished Neal Gabler's fantastic biography of Walt a few months ago+, so it was great to be able to see so many of the things that I had read about. If you ever went to Disneyland in the early 70's and loved it the way I did, you <i>have</i> to visit this museum. There's one thing in particular that will blow your mind. I don't want to ruin it for you, but you seriously should go there if you're anywhere remotely near San Francisco. Okay, enough of that, back to the food.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbMvfkUoX2S71OGt_MO2jfmxrQDYSQrjxI_A1rYB5oCdu2-bNzRf-ZiLmLt3Lgbxp8FGKIOKwQnjObskVTeMM_wBoJ_eLfXXG6rQ8KwiA3svoQ64DIZ9Z1sMWMUk5yaSc3KnsLI5IHvDv/s1600/DSC08589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbMvfkUoX2S71OGt_MO2jfmxrQDYSQrjxI_A1rYB5oCdu2-bNzRf-ZiLmLt3Lgbxp8FGKIOKwQnjObskVTeMM_wBoJ_eLfXXG6rQ8KwiA3svoQ64DIZ9Z1sMWMUk5yaSc3KnsLI5IHvDv/s320/DSC08589.JPG" width="320" /></a>The last stop on our culinary trip through San Francisco was at Memphis Minnie's barbecue in the Lower Haight district. Both Scott and Trey had raved about the food, and they hadn't done me wrong yet. After driving around for twenty minutes looking for a parking spot in the rain on a Sunday night in San Francisco in a residential neighborhood where everybody was probably already in for the night, I was really hoping they were right.<br />
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They were. It was great barbecue. I got the sampler plate, so I could try three different meats. I couldn't finish them all (you're welcome, arteries), but the brisket was probably the best I've ever had. The spareribs were excellent and extremely tender. The only slight disappointment was the pulled pork. Don't get me wrong, it was very good, but also very standard tasting. It didn't differentiate itself from a dozen others I've had. The sides, though, were a highlight. Some barbecue places spend so much time getting the meat right that they let the sides suffer. Not at Memphis Minnie's. The mac and cheese was sumptuous and the baked beans were very tasty with chunks of meat in them. The cornbread was so good I was tempted to go back and spend $1.25 for another muffin. My stomach vetoed that idea. Scott was nice enough to share a bite of the coleslaw with me and its slightly sweet vinegary marinade shined through with every crunchy bite. I could've eaten a meal of just sides if I wasn't addicted to barbecued meats.<br />
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They have three different sauces to put on their meat. I always try the meats first on their own to truly see how good they are, and the brisket was so tasty that I didn't need to put any sauce on it whatsoever. There's South Carolina inspired mustard sauce, which was my favorite - probably not a surprise, huh? The Texas Red is slightly sweet and was my second favorite. The third, a North Carolina vinegar based sauce, was my least favorite. After a quick try, it was far too vinegary with no additional balance of taste for me to put it on this great barbecue. All in all, the meal (and the company) was fantastic. I'd go to Memphis Minnie's again and again if I lived anywhere close - and by anywhere close, I mean Fresno. <br />
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So in just two days, Scott and I filled a weekend with all sorts of culinary treasures. I ate more than I probably should have, but considering the quality of everything I ate, maybe I didn't eat enough. If you ever find yourself in San Francisco in the Upper Haight with an adventurous spirit and an empty stomach, stop by Amoeba records on Haight street and track down Scott. Hopefully, you can talk him into going to lunch or dinner with you, but at the very least, pry a restaurant recommendation out of him. He won't steer you wrong, this post is living proof. <br />
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* I'm such a big mustard fan, in fact, that my wife, Jennifer has limited me to ten mustards in our fridge. I tried in vain to argue that regular yellow mustard shouldn't count since it's a kitchen staple that should always be there. Jennifer pointed out that yellow mustard is, in fact a mustard, and should absolutely count. I hate it when she makes sense. So when I found the mustard they use at New York's famous hot dog stand, Nathan's, I had to jettison my Trader Joe's wasabi mustard to make room. It took a lot of resolve, but I held back the tears as I tossed it. Did I happen to mention that I love mustard?<br />
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+ Gabler's biography tries to paint a realistic picture of Walt Disney, rather than the stylized one that we've all heard about and wish were true. Walt Disney was much more complicated than the cherubic grandpa many of us remember from the Wonderful World of Disney shows, and Gabler prefers to show the complete Walt, warts and all. Walt's life was an intricate blend of seeming contradictions - a fervent Republican and anti-communist, Walt was a passionate advocate for the arts - <i>all</i> arts. While some of Disney's family clearly had issues with it (who wants to hear that their dad was a total asshole at times?), I highly recommend it.Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-46175424507914646842011-03-05T20:04:00.000-07:002011-03-05T20:04:35.083-07:002. Eagles - Hotel CaliforniaA quick note about the elephant in the room before I talk about #2: <br />
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Once again, the "Stairway" scenario pops up. In many post-Beatles Top 10 song lists, two songs that vie for the top spot are often my #2, "Hotel California" and Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven." Since I've already talked about <a href="http://kentwalker.blogspot.com/2010/10/17-led-zeppelin-rock-and-roll.html">how "Stairway" didn't even make my list</a>, I won't go into that.<br />
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So why does "Hotel California," the other contender for most overplayed song in the history of rock radio, get to #2 on my list when "Stairway to Heaven" doesn't even <i>make</i> the list and gets beat out by "Rock and Roll"? While not as technically flawless as "Hotel California," "Stairway to Heaven" is also a technically brilliant song, with arguably the better vocal performance. But much like the way I never really got into <i>One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest</i> as a Hall-of-Fame movie, "Stairway" just didn't move me, emotionally. Objectively, it's an amazing song that deserves its spot on many Top 10 lists - just not mine. It's not like I feel I need to justify why "Stairway" isn't on my list, I just wanted to <i>explain</i> why it wasn't. <br />
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So why is "Hotel California" #2 on my list? I'm glad you asked. That's kinda why I do these posts.<br />
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So back to our program... <br />
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Picking "Hotel California" as the second best song of my lifetime would be considered by some to be a pretty safe choice, kind of like putting <i>The Godfather</i> at the top of a movie list. A little boring, I know, but there's a reason "Hotel California" is at or near the top of lots of these lists - it's a <i>great song! </i>It's perhaps the most perfectly crafted song in the history or rock & roll. Every second of its six and a half minutes is constructed to bring the best out of every instrument and voice, and it shows. I'm a sucker for craftsmanship, so the fact that the Eagles put so much work into perfecting this song goes a long way with me. The band took eight months to record "Hotel California," the song (not all in a row, that would've been nuts). They were constantly working on it and tweaking it, adding at times, while at other times removing the extraneous parts. What was left at the end was one of the best songs ever.<br />
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While Don Henley and Glenn Frey were the main songwriters in the Eagles, it was actually guitarist Don Felder who came up with almost all of the music for "Hotel California," including that iconic guitar opening. He was sitting in a rented house in Malibu on a summer day, with all the windows and doors open. Messing around with different chord progressions, he came up with many different song fragments, laid some down on tape, and sent them to Henley. After hearing them, Henley said he liked some of them, but the one he liked most was the Mexican bolero - the Mexican reggae song. That Mexican reggae song ended up being the framework for "Hotel California."<br />
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The guitars are the main focus of the song musically, but Don Henley, who also happens to be the Eagles drummer, and bassist Randy Meisner don't want to stay in the shadows. Henley plays an almost waltzy drum line, which is much harder than it seems, spending much of the song on his high hat. Meisner plays a loopy, reggae influenced bass line that catches your attention, but not so much that it's a distraction. <br />
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So now that there was a musical foundation, the song needed some words to go with it. Song lyrics are often compared to poetry, and it's a natural comparison given the fragmented composition of each. They both try to get across in ten words what it takes prose writers paragraphs to say. Don Henley was the main lyricist of the Eagles, and every word of "Hotel California" was his. The way he opens the story quickly sets the stage for the rest of the song:<br />
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<i>On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair<br />
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air<br />
Up ahead in the distance, I saw shimmering light<br />
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim<br />
I had to stop for the night</i><br />
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The lyrics are so poetically vivid that there have been dozens of interpretations as to their meaning. Many suppose that the song's Hotel California is an actual place. It's an old church, taken over by Satanists. It's the Camarillo State Mental Hospital. It's a real hotel in Baja California where the Eagles spent many a drug and alcohol fueled weekend. Much like people who try to interpret the book of Revelation into literal, modern-day terms, there will always be those looking for the deeper, <i>real </i>story behind "Hotel California." Don Henley tires at the questions today because he's received the question so many times. In an interview with <i>60 Minutes </i>in 2007, he tried to finally lay the question to rest:<br />
<blockquote><i>It's a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream, and about excess in America - which we knew a lot about.</i> </blockquote>To which Glenn Frey added later, "We weren't the Stones, but we weren't the Osmonds either." After some prompting from interviewer Steve Kroft, Glenn smiled and added, "Yeah, closer to the Stones." Both Frey & Henley had grown up in the Midwest and had come to California because of the music they wanted to create. Quickly, these Midwestern boys injected the California lifestyle, in more ways than one. The autobiographical nature of the song's lyrics melded with the California culture that had become a part of their DNA. Henley said:<br />
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<blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><i>California is just a melting pot for America anyway. It's just a synthesis and it's avant-garde - it's a leader. Whatever happens here usually filters out to the rest of the nation. People make a mistake if they think that "Hotel California" was just about California. It was a metaphor for the rest of the world. That sounds pretty grandiose, but that's what we had in mind when we wrote it.</i></div></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal">As entrenched in the California lifestyle as they had become, they knew it was a slippery slope that they were most likely sliding too far down. It's the situation that most addicts find themselves in: they realize that what they're doing has ceased being fun, and has become almost exclusively harmful (to themselves and others), but they're powerless to stop it. Many addicts have likened it to an out-of-body type experience, where they're no longer in control. Again, Henley's poetry captures it perfectly:<br />
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</div><i>Last thing I remember, I was<br />
Running for the door<br />
I had to find the passage back<br />
To the place I was before<br />
'Relax,' said the night man,<br />
'We are programmed to receive.<br />
You can check-out any time you like,<br />
But you can never leave<br />
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It's a great ending to a captivating story. But just when you think you've enjoyed a great song with amazing lyrics that's just about to end, the guitars take center stage once again. Throughout the song, the teamwork between Felder and newcomer Joe Walsh reminds me of how Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen played together with the Chicago Bulls in their prime. They were two guys who both could've taken over at any given time, but they both knew they would be more successful if they worked together. If you listen to the song closely, you'll hear a rich layering of many different guitar parts, both electric and acoustic, that almost come across as an orchestra of guitars. You might think I'm overstating it, but put on some headphones and give it a listen. I think you'll agree.<br />
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Some people think that two guitarists are one too many, but I think if it's done right, it's almost the perfect scenario in a rock band. When you have two guitarists in a band, it gives you so many opportunities to give songs extra flavor. Salt on a steak is nice, but when you add <i>pepper</i>, that's when the taste is taken to another level. The Eagles had two amazing guitarists when they recorded <i>Hotel California</i>, Felder and newcomer Joe Walsh. And when you add Glenn Frey, who took care of most of the rhythm acoustic guitar work, Felder and Walsh really had a chance to stretch their wings. Felder summed up the relationship perfectly:<br />
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<blockquote><i>Typically, when you have two guitarists, one guy will play a support role until it's time for him to step up. Then the other guy will step back and let the other guy shine. Joe and I had great respect for each other to step back and have the courtesy to allow the other player to play and that's really something you learn over the years. Both guitarists have to dance together and have the grace to allow each other space.</i></blockquote>There's no more perfect example of the virtues of this kind of relationship than the guitar solo at the end of "Hotel California." It's the rock & roll version of "Dueling Banjos." Joe wrote his parts - Felder his, but they worked together on the harmonic bit at the end that every guitar player learns just as soon as they can. When the guitars slowly fade out, you realize that you've listened to something special. The amazing thing is that I just listened to "Hotel California" for about the 9,000th time, but I'm going to cue it up again. <br />
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That's why it's #2, just in case you were wondering...<br />
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Two videos here. The first is the iconic album version, while the second one is the version they played on their Hell Freezes Over tour, which has a stripped down, Spanish feel to it.<br />
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<i>(Fun Fact #643: While there is a desert flower known as colitas, it's not the flower that Don Henley sings about. Their Mexican-American tour manager used the term (which translates in Spanish as "little tails" or "little buds") to refer to the little buds that were the most potent part of the marijuana plant to smoke. It's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/420_%28cannabis_culture%29">4:20</a></i> <i>somewhere, right?) </i><br />
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<i>(Fun Fact #43: Don Henley has always been a social activist. He created the Walden Woods project to save the woods where naturalist Henry David Thoreau wrote his seminal work, Walden. He's also donated time to C.A.R.E., which fights poverty by empowering women in impoverished areas with education, as well as food and supplies. While traveling to a remote mountaintop in Honduras on behalf of C.A.R.E., he visited a village with no electricity or modern plumbing. After being there for about fifteen minutes, a man ran away from their group into a nearby hut. Confused, they all just stood there for a moment. The man quickly reappeared, holding a beat-up, old cassette player that had a tape of Hotel California in it. He pointed at the player, then pointed directly at Don and said, "You!" </i><br />
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<i>Never underestimate the power of music.)</i></div>Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-44099631208493871512011-02-26T22:38:00.002-07:002011-02-26T22:43:35.726-07:003. Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes<div class="MsoNormal">Most of us aren't fancy poets who can shower our lovers with earnest words that make their heart swoon. Most of us need Hallmark cards to find the right words to sum up our relationship. Especially if you're talking about us guys, we generally don't have the emotional depth and complexity to fully express what our heart is telling us to tell you. We want to - desperately, but it ends up coming out pretty lame most of the time. Something along the lines of, "You're so special to me. I just love you, like, more than a lot. You're the chocolate to my peanut butter, um, or the peanut butter to my chocolate, you know, whichever works better for you. Um..." You smile, tell us we're cute, and give us a sympathy hug.<br />
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And this isn't a new phenomenon. Throughout the ages, how many of us hapless males have used the words of the more talented to woo the fairer sex? From our forefathers quoting Shakespeare, Frost and Dickinson to the more modern poets of Dylan, Lennon/McCartney and Peter Gabriel. For me, Gabriel's song, "In Your Eyes" was the first love song I heard that wasn't just a sappy "how many different ways can I say I love you" love song. It was an <i>adult </i>love song. And even though I was only sixteen when it came out, it was something that I could aspire to. He formed the words that I knew would some day be in my heart, and God knows I would never be able to wrench them out like this:<br />
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<i>And all my instincts, they return</i><br />
<i>And the grand facade, so soon will burn</i><br />
<i>Without a noise, without my pride</i><br />
<i>I reach out from the inside</i><br />
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"In Your Eyes" is a song about a <i>real </i>relationship. Peter wrote it during his long romance with actress Rosanna Arquette*. It was a relationship that was difficult, complicated, heartfelt and passionate. The way Peter sums up the complex emotions involved in a serious adult relationship are nothing short of poetic. In just those four lines, he sums up the modern man's struggle to put aside the conventions that men need to be strong and reserved, which conflicts with their desire to show true emotions to the women they love. At sixteen, I knew I couldn't do this yet, but the song made me <i>want to</i>. That's the great power of music - it can inspire us to do more, <i>be </i>more.<br />
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That desire comes across perfectly in Cameron Crowe's directorial debut, <i>Say Anything.</i> In the movie, about a complex teenage relationship, John Cusack's Lloyd Dobler has run out of words to try and convince Diane that breaking up with him was a mistake. As a last resort, he comes to her house, stands outside while holding a boom box over his head, playing "In Your Eyes." The music wafts down the hillside, saying the things he's tried to say, but has failed to come up with on his own. This song says the sings we wished we would’ve said at just the right moment to the one we hold dear, or give us the hope that we will have someone, someday, to whom we can play this song.<br />
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Melding flawlessly with the touching lyrics is an equally complex musical arrangement. It starts with Peter's simple keyboards which are paired with Manu Katché's intricate percussive rhythms. Katché weaves in African drums (with a matching African rhythm), hand cymbals and even traditional rock drums to lay a multifaceted yet solid rhythmic base the rest of the instruments can build upon. David Rhodes plays the crisp guitar lines in the preludes to the chorus. Tony Levin, who normally gets to do some really cutting edge bass work in a Peter Gabriel song, puts ego aside and spends almost the entire song as the very bottom of his fretless bass, only occasionally showing those flashes of the standard Tony Levin brilliance. Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour adds vocals in his native Woolof at the end of the song, showing the most obvious African influences on Peter and his songwriting.<br />
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The process for writing and recording an album is an involved one. Since Peter changes tone from album to album, hell, even in the <i>middle </i>of an album, the complexity is increased almost exponentially. He puts it this way:<br />
<blockquote><i>The smart process involves harvesting performances, then analyzing them and layering them up. Initially you might just look at rhythm, then maybe you look at melody, then harmony, then timbre. Each time you put down a layer of performance you slow it down and analyze it. I love diversions and I keep on following them which makes the process a lot longer.</i></blockquote><br />
One of the diversions that he just couldn't let go was the final mix of "In Your Eyes." After the album was released, he kept following the diversions attached to this song, trying out new things. So when it came time to release the single of "In Your Eyes," Peter decided to release the result of the additional work on the song. Right away, you can hear the song's different - better. He added a vocal prelude, with lyrics that augment the original ones.<br />
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<i>Accepting all I've done and said</i><br />
<i>I want to stand and stare again</i><br />
<i>Til there's nothing left out </i><br />
<i>Oh, it remains there in your eyes</i><br />
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Manu Katché's rhythms remain the focal part of this new mix, but Tony Levin's bass gets a boost as well, coming out of the dark a little bit to show what he can pull off. He also had Youssou N'Dour add a substantial amount of new lyrics, almost making the song more African than British. Ronnie Bright, bass singer from The Coasters, adds the deep and rich "In your eyes" throughout the new mix. Gone are some of the verses, but the addition of Youssou's Woolof lyrics give the song a global feel that was only a footnote in the album version.<br />
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When Peter began performing "In Your Eyes" live, ever the tinkerer, he melded the two versions together and created what's probably the definitive version of the song. Probably the best recording of this is from his <i>Secret World Live </i>DVD, where the entire band is in top shape, and he's joined by Youssou on vocals, as well as a then unknown Paula Cole on backing vocals. The combination is an infectiously fun performance that makes this song such a joy to listen to. When you hear it live, you can feel it growing organically from a ballad to a combination ballad/uptempo song right in front of you. <br />
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Whenever I hear the chorus, I wish I had written those words for my wife. But the great thing about music is that the artists know that we're going to co-op their art and inject it into our lives. Peter knows that I can use his words to serenade my own love.</div><br />
<i>In your eyes</i><br />
<i>I am complete</i><br />
<i>In your eyes</i><br />
<i>I see the doorway to a thousand churches</i><br />
<i>In your eyes</i><br />
<i>The resolution of all the fruitless searches</i><br />
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That's why this song is the third best song of my lifetime. It's a song that's become woven into the fabric of my life, intertwined with others that have a deeper meaning than just the song itself. Whenever I have doubt, I know that <i>without</i> doubt, I am complete in Jennifer's eyes, and that's something that fills my heart with a joy that I wish for everyone. People have been cribbing the poetry of King David (thousands of years ago), Shakespeare (hundreds of years ago) and Peter Gabriel (um, ten minutes ago) almost as long as there have <i>been</i> people. If you haven't found a love like this for yourself - or if you've had it and lost it, don't be afraid to pick up your own boom box and let someone like Peter Gabriel help you tell him or her what you've yearned to, but just never found the words for. They might just make a movie about it someday.<br />
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* The story goes that Rosanna Arquette was not only the muse for "In Your Eyes," but also the inspiration for Toto's Grammy award winning "Rosanna." While it's true that Rosanna and Toto keyboardist Steve Pocaro were in a long-term relationship, songwriter/fellow keyboardist David Paich already had the song mostly done and just needed a name that fit. "Rosanna" was the perfect three syllable name.<br />
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<i>(Fun Fact #212: The story behind how "In Your Eyes" ended up in </i>Say Anything <i>rivals the movie itself in its awesomeness. While writing the screenplay for </i>Say Anything<i>, writer/director Cameron Crowe was sitting around, waiting for his wife (who's Heart's Nancy Wilson, by the way...) to finish getting ready so they could go out. Not one to waste time (and a bit frustrated at having to wait), he sat down to work on the story. The idea of holding up a boom box, playing a song where the artist sang the words you couldn't say yourself popped into his head. There was a song that Cameron just loved at the time that he thought was perfect for the scene. That song, of course, was....... "To Be a Lover" by Billy Idol+.</i><br />
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<i>But when it came time to edit the movie and put the song in the scene, it was clear that "To Be a Lover" wouldn't work. He searched records, looking for something that </i>would<i> work. He even commissioned a few songwriter friends to try and come up with something, to no avail. Finally, he came across the music that he had put together for his wedding to Nancy. One of the songs on that tape was "In Your Eyes." He immediately realized that this was the perfect song that he had been looking for and began the process of going through channels to ask Peter Gabriel for permission to use the song in his movie.</i><br />
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<i>Even now, Peter Gabriel very rarely allows his songs to be used in other media, and with "In Your Eyes" he was especially wary since it was a song so personal to him. When he was initially approached, his knee-jerk reaction was no, but he was convinced (by none other than Rosanna Arquette) to at least watch </i>Say Anything<i> before finalizing his refusal. Cameron Crowe gave him a call to get the verdict. "I appreciate you asking for the song. It's a very personal song to me and I just hope you don't mind that I have to turn you down." </i><br />
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<i>Crestfallen, Crowe just had to know why. Peter told him that it didn't feel like a proper use of the song when he takes the overdose. Crowe was instantly confused. "Uh, when he takes the overdose?" Peter replied, "Yeah, you're making the John Belushi story, right?" It turns out that the studio had sent over two movies for Peter to look at, the other being the John Belushi biopic, </i>Wired<i>. Crowe immediately said, "Oh, no, no, no. It's a movie about the guy in high school with the trench coat." Peter realized that it was the </i>other<i> movie, which they hadn't watched yet. He hung up with Cameron and watched the movie the next day, and then happily gave permission to complete one of the greatest scenes ever in a high school movie.)</i><br />
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+I know! "To Be a Lover"? Really? Why not just go with "Sussudio"? I cued up the movie, muted it, and played "To Be a Lover" over where "In Your Eyes" went. I laughed out loud. It was absurd. Don't get me wrong, I love Billy Idol (check out the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x2BjQ-tJ6E">Mother of Mercy mix of "To Be a Lover," </a>it's one of my favorite songs ever. I could eat Steve Stevens' riffs for breakfast, lunch and dinner), but that song just would never have worked. By the way, I checked out "Sussudio" the same way and it turns out that it was even funnier. Do it yourself if you're in the need for a laugh.<br />
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<i>(Fun Fact #32 Having Nothing at All to Do With "In Your Eyes": One of the groups that Cameron Crowe asked to do a song for Lloyd to play was The Smithereens. They ended up writing the song "A Girl Like You," which Cameron really loved, but realized wouldn't work in the movie either. No big deal, though. "A Girl Like You" ended up being a Top 40 hit for the band when they released it off their next album.)</i>Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-50657335684595577882011-02-21T12:19:00.000-07:002011-02-21T12:19:31.853-07:004. Journey - Don't Stop Believin'<div class="MsoNormal">Like most iconic rock songs, "Don't Stop Believin'" has a beginning become iconic because you can recognize them instantly. Often, you only need a second or two to start to nod your head, as if to say, “Yeah, this is a great song.” The opening piano riff of Journey’s “<i>Don’t Stop Believin’</i>” is one of those moments. Then Steve Perry’s perfect rock tenor echoes the thoughts of everman and everywoman. “Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world, she took the midnight train going anywhere.” How many of us have had that feeling? We run outside, hail a cab. "Where to mister?" “Anywhere... Anywhere but here.” There’s a life out there that’s better. And it’s not here.<br />
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But "Don't Stop Believin'" almost never happened.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>In 1980, Journey was at a crossroads. After years of success, founding member, keyboardist and vocalist Greg Rolle left the band and they needed to decide how to replace him. Do they hire a "yes" man who'd just do what they told him to do? Or do they take a risk, leave their comfort zone and bring in a new member who they expected to make substantial contributions? Luckily for us, they left safe harbor and brought in former Babys' keyboardist Jonathan Cain to man the keyboards and be an active songwriting contributor for the album that would end up being <i>Escape</i>.<br />
Right from the start, Cain clicked with lead singer Steve Perry and songs soon began flowing out of their collaborations. They quickly strung together pop melodies that were perfect for Perry's voice, while Neal Schon helped keep the rock in their roll. One of their early projects was the song that ended up becoming one of the greatest songs of my lifetime, "Don't Stop Believin'." In an interview with McKinney News, Cain talked about the songwriting process:<br />
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<blockquote><i>I brought in the title and the end piece and certainly the lyrics. I did a lot but it wasn’t without sitting there with Steve. We wrote together. There was a lot of arranging we did together. Neal brought the fire and the rock-n-roll attitude you want to have in a rock-n-roll band. Without the three of us, it just wasn’t Journey. <br />
</i></blockquote>Many serious music fans dismiss "corporate bands" such as Journey, Styx, Boston and others, seeing them as more interested in popularity and money than in making serious records. Band members were split on their reaction to the label. "I hated it. I thought it came from jealousy and envy.... and [us] having good business sense." Drummer Steve Smith, on the other hand, said, "We probably were guilty of everything the critics said, as far as writing hit records... but I personally don't see anything wrong with that." But they also took their craft seriously. Not every song needs to be "Subterranean Homesick Blues" or "Ohio," just not like every movie needs to be "The Accused" or "Sophie's Choice." Good music and good movies can also be <i>fun</i>. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.<br />
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Sean Penn once said that if the movie you're making isn't art, you're wasting your time. Sorry, Spicoli, but you've become a little too serious for my tastes. I want some fun with my art. I like movies like <i>Transformers </i>and <i>The Hangover.</i> So sue me. Even though they're fantastical stories, they're people I can relate to. I don't have much in common with Daniel Day Lewis' character in <i>There Will Be Blood</i>, which would fall under Penn's "art" test. But an insecure teenager who just happens to fight an alien invasion side by side with other aliens? That's more my cup of tea. Art is great, and it has its place, all work and no play... Jonathan Cain's sentiments said it best. "You know what? We're going to write songs about people's lives - about what's on <i>their</i> mind." That's why they were so popular. They wrote catchy songs with lyrics that people could relate to. Again, what's wrong with that?<br />
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That being said, if you look at "Don't Stop Believin'" from a purely musical level, you're forced to give Journey some artistic credit. Although the keyboard line and melody are pure pop, the rest of the song is more intricate and complicated than you'd think. Drummer Steve Smith dances all over his drum set, keeping the beat but almost never playing the same beat on the same drum or cymbal. He hits the tom toms, then lightly clinks a crash cymbal, finally hitting the snare that's the bread and butter of any rock song. but after that, he clinks <i>another </i>cymbal, giving the drums an almost melodic quality to them. Bassist Ross Vallory plays a bass line that isn't your typical timekeeper. There's a nice buzzy effect to it and he jumps all over the place while also keeping the song moving forward, which is harder than you think. Neal Schon's guitar work shows why people considered him a guitar wunderkind at the tender age of fifteen. His opening guitar line has him racing over the neck, slowly building up to a massive shred, which culminates in a wail punctuated by a double crash of Smith's cymbals.<br />
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Even the song structure belies the simplicity that's normally associated with pop songs. They don't even get to the real chorus of the song until the last fifty seconds of the song. The "corporate rock" textbook doesn't tell you to do that. It's intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-solo-bridge-chorus-fade. <br />
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And then there's the voice. Steve Perry has arguably the greatest voice in the history of rock & roll. He can belt out the rockers and softly deliver the tenderest of ballads. His vocal performances bring what's needed for each song, and in "Don't Stop Believin'" it's a delivery that starts out on a smaller scale when the lyrics address despair, but then builds up into a strong and deliberate tone when the chorus finally arrives. Jonathan's words flow out of Steve's voice so naturally, you can't believe the words aren't Steve's. It's a lyricist/vocalist collaboration right out of the "Taupin/John" school.<br />
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<i>Strangers waiting</i><br />
<i>Up and down the boulevard</i><br />
<i>Their shadows searching in the night</i><br />
<i>Streetlight people</i><br />
<i>Living just to find emotion</i><br />
<i>Hiding somewhere in the night</i><br />
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Although it was popular on radio at the time, "Don't Stop Believin'" really found its niche when they began to play it live. It almost instantly became the song that ended their concerts, so strong was the reaction. So much like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2, "Don't Stop Believin'" found its true home on the stage, rather than the studio. It's a song that doesn't sugarcoat that the world is a hard place, where countless people fall prey to the trappings of the easy life. But for those who want to leave all that behind and strive for something more, there's the reminder that as long as you believe, and as long as you're willing to work for what you want, anything is possible. It's a timeless message that still speaks to millions.<br />
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What's wrong with that?<br />
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<i>(Fun Fact #512: Steve Perry, who owns the rights to "Don't Stop Believin'" had a choice to make in 2007. He had been approached by the creators of The Sopranos to have the song play at the very end of the very last episode, fading to black. But Steve feared that "Don't Stop Believin'" would become forever known as the song that was playing when Tony Soprano died. Once the producers showed him how the episode would end, he agreed to have the song play. So while legions of Sopranos fans were disappointed with the ending, Steve Perry ended up being the real genius. The clip was played over and over on various news/entertainment outlets as well as clicked on millions of times on YouTube.) </i><br />
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<i>(Fun Fact #513: In early 2009, Steve, who had been approached hundreds of times to use "Don't Stop Believin'" in various ads and movies, declining all until </i><i>The Sopranos, was approached by the creators of a new television series. They also wanted to use the iconic song. Upon hearing that the series was focused around a glee club who took their singing very seriously indeed, he gave them permission to use the song. Upon its airing in May of 2009, the pilot of </i><i>Glee became an instant hit, largely to the rousing rendition they did of Journey's classic song. Released as a digital single in early July, it went on to be downloaded over 500,000 times, giving Journey yet another gold record - sort of.)</i><br />
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<i>(Fun Fact #723: During the San Francisco Giants' run to the World Series title in 2010, the team would play "Don't Stop Believin'" during inning changes, since Journey is a Bay Area hometown band. During game 5 of the National League Championship Series, they played the song again. In the club level, people started turning around with their cell phones, taking videos while pointing and smiling. What was the object of their attention? None other than Steve Perry himself, standing up and leading the whole section in his song, belting it out at the top of his lungs. I have to say I would've been as giddy as a schoolgirl if I'd been there. Here's a great <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P-DpMFd8_A&feature=player_embedded">YouTube clip</a>) </i></div>Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-73758171541591177452011-02-12T18:40:00.001-07:002011-02-12T20:53:49.159-07:005. Metallica - Enter Sandman<div class="MsoNormal">Movies are scary. Books are scary. Songs? Not so much, for the most part. Movies and books are mediums where it's much easier to inspire fear in someone. With the combination of video and sound, movies can shake you to your core. <i>Silence of the Lambs</i> is a great example. Even without images or sound, books can use bucketfuls of words to paint a very specific, terrifying mental picture. This is shown perfectly in the <i>Friends </i>episode where Joey puts Stephen King's book <i>The Shining</i> in the freezer because it scares him so much. But to do that with a <i>song</i>, that's the real challenge. <br />
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Music can inspire many emotions. Go ahead and make fun, but a song like "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion caused many a heart to swoon, its message of love was so strong. On the other hand, music can incite feelings of anger or hate. Check out my post on <a href="http://kentwalker.blogspot.com/2010/03/54-limp-bizkit-break-stuff.html">Limp Bizkit's "Break Stuff"</a> for living proof. But fear? Granted, Danny Elfman has written some creepy stuff for his movie score work (<i>The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hollow </i>and <i>Red Dragon</i> come to mind), and some Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson music <i>flirts</i> with fear, but the first song that actually stirred fear in me was "Enter Sandman" by Metallica.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">The song starts off innocently enough with the slow guitar open, played by Kirk Hammet, but then the wah-wah guitar whisps around, feeling like the twilight you experience as you're drifting off to sleep. Then there's a sudden thud as the drums and bass, symbolizing our increasing heart rate, let us know that things are not well. And then Kirk kicks off into the instantly classic guitar riff he came up with that was the basis for the entire song*. The riff confirms the fact that this is not going to be a good night’s sleep. Slowly, the guitar refrain is built upon and then Lars Ulrich's crash of cymbals confirm it - we know it’s going to be a <i>bad </i>night ahead. And all of this is before a single word is sung.<br />
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<i>Say your prayers little one</i><br />
<i>Don't forget my son</i><br />
<i>To include everyone</i><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">If the music were happier, you'd think that these were the kind words of a devoted father, tucking his child in bed for the night. But from the start, we've known this isn't a happy, genteel lullaby. For the first time, Metallica worked with legendary producer Bob Rock, who worked Metallica hard, asking more of them than any producer had ever had. To add some heft to the guitars, Rock and lead singer/guitarist James Hetfield recorded three separate rhythm guitar tracks, creating what they called a "wall of guitars," cribbing the old Phil Spector philosophy of the "wall of sound." It gives the song a full, dense sound that previous Metallica albums never really had. He also encouraged more straightforward rock songs, of which "Enter Sandman" is one, rather than the complicated, sprawling epics of past records, like <i>And Justice for All</i> 's "One." Rock tightened the production, the music and also tightened the lyrics.<br />
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James, Metallica's lyricist, originally had written "Enter Sandman" as a song about death, even referring to a suspicious crib death, but Lars and Bob Rock thought he could do better, and for the first time in the band's history, they challenged him to delve deeper - and do better. James was open to the task, and the storyline to "Enter Sandman" is a classic one that's so memorable. The lyrics are delivered in the trademark snarl/scream that James had always used on previous records, but Rock asked him to hit the notes of the melody more precisely than James had ever done in the past. This resulted in a stronger vocal performance, which the song's lyrics really needed. <br />
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<i>Sleep with one eye open</i><br />
<i>Gripping your pillow tight</i><br />
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What makes the image so scary, is that it’s the universal fear of what may happen while we’re asleep. From tales of the bogeyman to <i>Nightmare on Elm Street</i>, mankind has always been afraid of nightmares, especially the ones that are so hard to wake from. As our evil tour guide into the land of dreams, James welcomes us to our nightmare:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Exit light, enter night. </i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Take my hand, off to never never land. </i><br />
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In Peter Pan, it's Neverland, so never-neverland is the anti-neverland. This isn't the place where dreams come true and you can stay a child forever. This is the place where children dream adult nightmares and are forever haunted by them. The music matches the darkness and gloom of the lyrics, with the drums, bass and guitar all relentless in their attack on your senses.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">A sprawiling and screeching guitar solo feels like a runaway train through our nightmare, getting faster and more frantic, combining with the distorted wah-wah effect that adds to our disorientation. Kirk rides the neck back down to the low registers, quieting only to bring up the prayer that we all know so well, “Now I lay me down to sleep…” Lars and bassist Jason Newsted keep the rhythm pounding, with Lars riding the tom toms while Jason plays the persistent bass line that echoes our heartbeat. Then James taunts us with the song's most haunting lyrics:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<i>Hush little baby don't say a word</i><br />
<i>And never mind that noise you heard</i><br />
<i>It's just the beasts under your bed</i><br />
<i>In your closet in your head</i><br />
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These are the lyrics that really get to me. It reminds me of the story that Steven Spielberg told about making Jaws. He was responding to a question about why he waited so long before revealing the terrifying shark. He simply replied, "Nothing's more scary than what's in your head." James Hetfield fed on our insecurities and paranoias and let us fill in the rest with our imagination. And if your imagination is anything like mine, it can conjure up some terrifying stuff. I'd tell you about one of my worst nightmares, but "Enter Sandman" is traumatizing enough.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">After a nonstop four minute assault, the song ends the way it began, slowly bringing us out of sleep to return to the waking world, where we’ll never forget that nightmare that we had as a kid…<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">*Back when <i>Metallica </i>was recorded, the way Metallica wrote songs was that guitarist Kirk Hammet and bassist Jason Newsted would record riffs, melody and rhythm lines for songwriters James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich to piece together into songs of their creation. It wasn't until their album <i>St. Anger</i> that Metallica began writing songs as a whole group, with everyone involved in the process.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>(Interesting Fact #112: In 2003, the United States military used "Enter Sandman" to antagonize their Muslim prisoners. It was an interrogation tool, used to break down the will of the prisoners, making them easier to interrogate. On the flip side, they also used the theme to the children's show </i><i>Barney for the same purpose. I would guess if you alternated Metallica with Barney, I'd break in about an hour.)</i><br />
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Three videos for this one. The first is the official video of the song, with images that match the terror of the lyrics. Secondly, there's a great live performance of the song. Lastly, there's the headbanging cover by Apocalyptica, who covers Metallica songs with strings. That's right, these guys bang their heads while playing the <i>cello</i>.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0tN6_1dJveM" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe></div>Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-28664635092532482232011-02-05T07:42:00.120-07:002011-02-07T13:43:17.830-07:006. Prince and The Revolution - Let's Go CrazyPrince was at a crossroads in the middle of 1983. His previous album, <i>1999</i>, had become a big hit, becoming his first Top 10 album and spawning three Top 15 hit singles, "1999", "Delirious", and "Little Red Corvette." <i>1999</i> was the first album where he used a backup band called The Revolution. The addition of a band gave <i>1999 </i>a depth and organic musical complexity that was missing from his earlier works, where it was Prince adding layer upon layer of vocals and instrumentation in the studio virtually all by himself. So when it came time to record his next album, Prince needed to decide which path he would take, the solo genius at work, or the leader of a collaborative group of musicians - a band, if you will. It was a novel concept for Prince.<br />
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He realized that the opportunity to have others involved in the songwriting and recording process could only make the resulting songs better, so in August of 1983, Prince <i>and</i> The Revolution started work on the <i>Purple Rain </i>album. The band was involved not just in playing on the record, but also in its writing and production. Lengthy jam sessions spurred creativity for all, and the resulting songs had a much more cohesive construction. What started out as a music project morphed into a music and movie project, with the movie <i>Purple Rain</i> released in 1984. The songs Prince and The Revolution were working on ended up becoming the soundtrack to the film. And the song that would open both the album and the movie was aptly called "Let's Go Crazy," the sixth best song of my life.<br />
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Starting off with a church organ, you're not sure what you've gotten yourself into. Then Prince starts preaching:<br />
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<i>Dearly beloved<br />
We are gathered here today<br />
2 get through this thing called life</i> <br />
<i>Electric word life</i><br />
<i>It means forever and that's a mighty long time</i><br />
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It's very dramatic opening, so much so that it opens the album as well as the movie, but you start to wonder what this all has to do with an actual, well, song. But as Prince's preaching reaches the apex, the bass drum beat starts, followed by a cool, echoed quick drum tap. It's this beat that permeates the whole song, with other elements added, giving the song the complexity that The Revolution helped bring to "Let's Go Crazy." <br />
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First, there's the fuzzed out, almost metal guitar that Prince plays. Right off the bat, you can see that he's taking his music down another road. Building on what he'd started on his single "1999," he doesn't completely abandon the funk and soul that was such a huge part of his earlier records. He builds it on a classic dance song rhythm, but let's be clear, "Let's Go Crazy" is a rock song at its core.<br />
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And when you're Prince, the king of soul-funk-dance at the time, writing a rock song can piss a few people off. What most of us like when we like a certain artist or band is whatever kind of music they were playing at the time we started to like them. When artists stretch their musical boundaries, their fans revolt. If they wanted to hear a different kind of music, they'd listen to a different band. The problem with Prince, though, is that he <i>had no boundaries</i>. He wrote songs that interested him, and with the influence of The Revolution, he was exposed to musical styles and song structures that he'd never really paid that much attention to. That resulted in rock elements invading his music for the first time. In a rare interview* with MTV, Prince was asked about those rock elements:<br />
<blockquote><div align="left"><b>Some have criticized you for selling out to the white rock audience with Purple Rain, and leaving your black listeners behind. How do you respond to that?</b> </div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left">Oh, come on, come on! Okay, let's be frank. Can we be frank? If we can't do nothing else, we might as well be frank. Seriously, I was brought up in a black-and-white world and, yes, black and white, night and day, rich and poor. I listened to all kinds of music when I was young, and when I was younger, I always said that one day I would play all kinds of music and not be judged for the color of my skin but the quality of my work, and hopefully I will continue. There are a lot of people out there that understand this, 'cause they support me and my habits, and I support them and theirs. </div></blockquote> Musically, there's so much more, though, to "Let's Go Crazy." Sure it's a rock song, but the funk and soul elements of his previous efforts are still there. It's a buffet of musical styles. There are the rich vocals that would normally be found in a soul song, with the duo of Wendy & Lisa adding a nice vocal complement to Prince's strong voice. Dr. Fink plays some standard dance style keyboards, which work especially well with Bobby Z's danceable drum beat. Brown Mark's bass line, however, is textbook rock, virtually mirroring the guitar line, giving it that extra umph. It's a bass line that Van Halen's Mark Anthony could've done, and it's in a Prince song of all places. <br />
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Finally, there's Prince and his guitar playing. When I first heard him shred in this song, my first thought was "This is amazing! I didn't know he could play like this!" Then I thought how much we'd all missed if he could've played guitar like this the whole time. Of course he could, but he hadn't felt the need to until <i>Purple Rain</i>. But when he decided to show the world what he could do with a guitar, thankfully, he never stopped. Sure "Let's Go Crazy" is his most prominent guitar work on the record, but there's some great electric stuff in "When Doves Cry," some great acoustic stuff in "Take Me With U," and great all around guitar in "Purple Rain." He wasn't hiding his "guitar" light under a bushel anymore.<br />
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But the music isn't the only area where "Let's Go Crazy" bucked the trend. Lyrically, it's a song that urges us to put aside the trappings of the rock and roll lifestyle and to "punch a higher floor." You couldn't get more "un"<i> </i>rock&roll<i> </i>than these lyrics. So the church organ at the beginning of the song and his sermon were an appropriate introduction to everything that followed. Even though the music is rock and roll, the lyrics speak to the "be <i>in</i> the world, not <i>of</i> the world" convention of Christianity. It's as if he's saying, "I'll rock your pants off, but I'll teach you a valuable life lesson at the same time." It's a feat that's nigh impossible to pull off, but somehow Prince does it. Part of the reason it works so well is that he puts it in the language that his generation - our generation - would understand.<br />
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<i>Dr. Everything'll be alright</i><br />
<i>Will make everything go wrong</i><br />
<i>Pills and thrills and dafodills will kill</i><br />
<i>Hang tough children</i><br />
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Now I'm not sure about the perils of daffodils, but Prince is urging us to live as pure a life as we can. He acknowledges that although there will be temptations and troubles, the prize at the end, salvation, is worth the struggle in this world. Later in the MTV interview I quoted above, Prince summed up his belief system.<br />
<blockquote><div align="left"><i>I believe in God. There is only one God. And I believe in an afterworld. Hopefully we'll all see it. I have been accused of a lot of things contrary to this, and I just want people to know that I'm very sincere in my beliefs. I pray every night, and I don't ask for much. I just say, "Thank you" all the time. </i></div></blockquote>I'd always thought that Prince had a sense of entitlement - that he believed he deserved all of the accolades that were thrown his way by the music media. He was a genius, sure, but he <i>knew</i> he was a genius and his ego mirrored that. It's nice to see that there's also a heavy dose of appreciation for the gifts he received. It wasn't a revolutionary idea to add positive lyrics to a rock and roll foundation, but the way Prince and The Revolution did it brought the idea to a whole new generation. This wasn't a hippie song that our parents listened to, this was something <i>we</i> loved, from a voice from <i>our </i>generation.<br />
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I called Prince the Mozart of our time in my other <a href="http://kentwalker.blogspot.com/2010/06/35-prince-sign-o-times.html">Prince post</a>, and I stand by that assertion. Prince brought complex, technically intricate music to the masses. But it wasn't just complex, it was eminently listenable. Music fans from all over the spectrum call themselves Prince fans, and even the ones who don't really like his music generally acknowledge his genius. So sure, he's smart enough to know how talented he is, but at then end of the day, I'm glad he says thank you for it.<br />
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* After a few stories that he felt didn't reflect the actual interviews, Prince declined to speak to the media between 1981 and 1985. He did two major interviews in 1985, one with MTV and the other with Rolling Stone. The quotes in this essay are from the MTV interview, but one quote from the RS one I thought was pretty profound, "<i>I think when one discovers himself, he discovers God. Or maybe it's the other way around. I'm not sure...It's hard to put into words. It's a feeling -- someone knows when they get it. That's all I can really say</i>."<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ij-jM8CcQIQ" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe>Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-65741931243273974522011-02-01T12:03:00.004-07:002011-02-02T19:06:33.729-07:00Just couldn't restrain myself!I know I've only got a few songs left on my list and you want me to get to it, but I just couldn't help myself. So #6 is going to have to wait just a few days longer while I crank this one out. <br />
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If you ever liked Duran Duran back in the day you MUST listen to their new single, "All You Need Is Now." Normally I'm not one to tell people what to do, but when I heard this song for the first time a few days ago, I just couldn't shake it. Although I'm a big fan of Duran Duran, I have to admit that I had not idea they had a new album out+. After only the first listen, this quickly jumped into one of my favorite Duran Duran songs ever, and not just because it was new. It's a song that I didn't expect much from (wasn't a huge fan of their last effort), but being the huge fan of the band, I at least wanted to give it a fair shake. I just didn't expect it to shake back. But boy did it.<br />
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When the song kicks off, there's this strange keyboard riff that immediately reminded me of some of the stuff from <i>Red Carpet Massacre</i>, their last studio album (which I wasn't a huge fan of). Ugh, I thought to myself - not this again. But the more Nick Rhodes keyboards kept repeating, the more I started getting into it*. My head started to bob as John Taylor's straightforward (especially for him) bass line kicked in. Roger Taylor does a great drum beat, playing mostly the rim of his snare and laying down an infectious rhythm with his brother from another mother. <br />
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Simon LeBon's vocals have that "singing through a bullhorn" effect laid over them, giving a distant timbre to his voice. Normally, I'm not a big fan of this particular effect, but like the keyboard line, it quickly grew on me. The lyrics sound good with that aggressive delivery, and are vintage LeBon, meaning that I don't have any real idea what the hell he's talking about:<br />
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<i>It's all up to you now<br />
Find yourself in the moment<br />
Go directly to the voodoo<br />
Now the channel is open</i><br />
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Then I realized something about the opening and first verse- it's all a part of a yin-yang prelude to the chorus. The verses are the new Duran Duran dissonance laden dance-hall music, but with a nod to the more traditional Duran Duran melody. But then the chorus hits, with a slight change in tempo, a phasing effect and pow! You're immediately transported to 1982 with a chorus that could've been the lead single from their album <i>Rio</i>. It's such a shock that you pause for a second, wondering if you heard it right. I actually scrolled back a few seconds just to hear the transition again. There it was again, this juke to the right when you expected it to go left.<br />
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Realizing that they were paying tribute to the Duran Duran of the 80's, Simon's lyrics in the chorus more than nod to the past. In fact, he says it outright, as he paints a beautiful picture of what it was like back in the day - and that it can be like that again. <br />
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<i>And you sway in the moon the way you did when you were younger<br />
We told everybody all you need is now<br />
Stay with the music let it play a little longer<br />
You don't need anybody all you need is now</i><br />
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Producer Mick Ronson, who grew up a huge Duran Duran fan, wanted the band to take a page from both books, new and old, and meld them together into something special. A Grammy winner for his production on Amy Winehouse's breakout album <i>Back to Black</i>, he even helped out with the effort, playing the guitar on the new song and the rest of the new album. Thank God he talked the boys into going back to what they do so well, because they hit this one out of the park.<br />
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That's the great thing about music. It can surprise you and impress you when you least expect it. A band you've never heard of before gets played by someone in the cube next to yours. It starts off with "Who's that?" and turns into a new band that you really like. Other times, like this, a band that you miss puts out something that harkens to what they do best but also has a flair of originality that captures your attention - just like it did when you heard them play back in the day. Duran Duran caught me off guard, but in the best possible way. They made a song I wasn't sure they still had in them, and I'm hungry for more. <br />
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At this point, I'm contemplating at twelve-step program of some type to deal with this addiction. I've listed to the song twenty times in the last three days. And I'll listen to it another half-dozen times while I'm working on this post. So watch/listen to the clip below and put on your 80's regalia - neon, hair spray, whatever you got left, and enjoy new wave/pop music the way it's supposed to be done. <br />
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+ In fairness to me, they released it only on Itunes. I'm not a big Itunes fan - I don't like the way Apple wants to control my music and where/how I listen to it, so I get my music vial old-school CDs or other online outlets.<br />
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* But think about it for a minute. Aren't there some similarities between the whacked out keyboard intro to this song and the melancholy vampire-like intro to "The Chauffeur"? Both are catch you off guard, zig instead of zag keyboard lines. So while I called they keyboard intro and verses the "yin" to the "yang" of the chorus, there's a little more gray than we give it credit for.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/A7Er5TsQrGg" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="640"></iframe>Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-72592973828277590382011-01-28T21:43:00.001-07:002011-01-28T21:46:27.486-07:007. Guns N Roses - Welcome to the Jungle1987 was a great year for music. There were tons of albums released that were pretty amazing. Granted, 1987 was also the year I graduated from high school, and everybody thinks that the best music came out their senior year of high school. But look at this list.<br />
<ul><li>U2 - <i>The Joshua Tree</i></li>
<li>Prince - <i>Sign O the Times</i></li>
<li>REM - <i>Document</i></li>
<li>INXS - <i>Kick</i></li>
<li>Def Leppard - <i>Hysteria</i></li>
<li>Jane's Addiction - <i>Jane's Addiction (Live 1st Album) </i></li>
<li>Depeche Mode - <i>Music for the Masses </i></li>
<li>Marillion - <i>Clutching at Straws</i></li>
<li>George Michael - <i>Faith</i></li>
<li>The Cure - <i>Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me</i></li>
<li>Sting - <i>Nothing Like the Sun</i></li>
<li>Michael Jackson - <i>Bad</i></li>
</ul> Every one of these albums, released in 1987, were huge commercial and critical successes. Many of them were follow ups to other fantastic albums (i.e. <i>Bad, Hysteria, Sign o the Times, Joshua Tree</i>), while others were brilliant debuts (<i>Faith, Jane's Addiction</i>). But there's one album that, with credit to the brilliance of <i>The Joshua Tree</i>, changed the way I looked at music forever. That album was <i>Appetite for Destruction, </i>by Guns N Roses.<br />
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I happened upon the album completely by accident. In August of 1987, I was shopping at my favorite record store, Moby Disc, going through the used records (this was before CDs were huge). I came across an album that had cover art that blew me away.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBV1y2vMM-jxfaFeXXu1ihm_pJq6n6x34kbbnmDkNnvhyphenhyphenyyT-KaMpFHkAbKt3cLFOJvnFQupzCwIJIPU-wpLGIUGyJEx6Eb-fkHpnx7G5oQGg1KvdEoeMiT4WBEAz13Angxk6OT8UhfrC/s1600/GNR_Apetite_Original_Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBV1y2vMM-jxfaFeXXu1ihm_pJq6n6x34kbbnmDkNnvhyphenhyphenyyT-KaMpFHkAbKt3cLFOJvnFQupzCwIJIPU-wpLGIUGyJEx6Eb-fkHpnx7G5oQGg1KvdEoeMiT4WBEAz13Angxk6OT8UhfrC/s320/GNR_Apetite_Original_Cover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
It scared me a bit, sickened me a bit more, but also intrigued me. It was a promo copy of the album, complete with sticker saying that it was not to be resold (oops, Moby Disc.). I held it up and asked the guy behind the counter, "What the hell is this?" Immediately, he looked excited, came running out from behind the counter (he and I were the only ones in the store at 11am - no school since it was summer), grabbed the sleeve out of the jacket and ran back behind the counter, saying, "Oh man, you've got to hear this. It's this new band - Guns N Roses. This album kicks some serious ass. Serious ass," he repeated, giving the album that record store guy double stamp of approval. After a few pops and hisses from the needle, I heard the introduction of "Welcome to the Jungle" for the first time.*<br />
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With Slash's cool echo guitar intro, reminding me of something The Edge might do if he had a huge ax to grind, the song starts and just doesn't stop. With the spoken line "Oh my God!", it becomes clear that this wasn't your normal "havin' a great time, gettin' drunk, gettin' laid" attitude that was so prevalent to Guns N Roses hard rock contemporaries. Bon Jovi, Poison, Ratt, Def Leppard - they weren't the deepest of bands. "Welcome to the Jungle" is not about having a good time. It's about surviving in the urban jungle of Los Angeles, circa 1986, and that survival was not guaranteed. <br />
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Lead singer Axl Rose then lets loose one of the greatest screams in the history of rock & roll. Starting out low and then soaring higher and louder like a siren, he holds the scream for longer than you think a human being can. Just when <i>you're </i>about to pass out from the scream, he spits out, "Cha!" and the song gets even more aggressive. Slash and co-guitarist Izzy Stradlin do a great job of playing almost matching guitar riffs in each ear, giving the song a cool alternative to the overdubbed opulence of other metal bands. They both play the main guitar line, but each punctuates sections with little adlibs and tweaks to add their own personality. Listening with speakers you really don't appreciate the technical wizardry of <i>both </i>guitar players. Slash gets most of the press, but it's the two of them together, simultaneously rockin' out and bluesin' out that really gives the guitar work in so many Guns N Roses its fuzzed out, dirty complexity.<br />
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And I haven't even gotten to Axl's voice yet. Sure the scream was an attention getter, and I'm a big fan of the spat out "Cha" type vocals with their percussive pop, but when he actually starts to sing, you become aware that this isn't your run of the mill vocalist. His voice is so pitched and nasal that you might think that's it's a joke at first, but the snarling anger that comes with his vocal melodies quickly convinces you that he's trying to do something that hasn't been done before. And he's succeeding. The story he's telling is dark and dingy, and he's giving it vocals to match.<br />
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The lyrics talk about the streets of L.A. in a way that reminds me of Curtis Mayfield's "Pusherman," but with an even darker tinge.<br />
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<i>Welcome to the jungle<br />
It gets worse here everyday<br />
Ya learn ta live like an animal<br />
In the jungle where we play<br />
If you got a hunger for what you see<br />
You'll take it eventually<br />
You can have anything you want </i><br />
<i>But you better not take it from me</i><br />
<i><br />
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<i>All </i>of the lyrics show the dark side of the get high, get laid, get paid mentality that had been glamorized in countless songs before "Welcome to the Jungle." They don't talk about swimming against the stream, they talk about being stuck <i>under </i>the stream, panic growing as you realized that you're about to drown - and no one will even notice. The desperation and realism of the lyrics captured a vision of the streets that came across as authentic, rather than contrived. <br />
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Behind all of its anger and that voice of Axl's, the actual melody of the song is rooted in a more traditional pop formula than the rest of the song. But since Axl sings it the way he does, they never get the credit for putting together a catch kick ass rock song that you keep wanting to listen to. Drummer Steven Adler gets more focus in the mix than most drummers, and he doesn't waste it. Bassist Duff McKagan slithers through the entire song, weaving his bass line all over the place, playing a more complex bass line than you normally get in a hard rock song. It's when the song breaks down into the bridge that Adler and McKagan get to show what they're made of. Adler weaves a complex rhythm, complete with cowbell and maracas while McKagan just tears loose with a great bass riff. They keep it going until the song rips apart one more time as the song enters the death throes. Axl sounds the alarm -<br />
<i></i><br />
<i><br />
You know where you are?<br />
You're in the jungle baby.<br />
You're gonna die!</i> <br />
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Throughout the choruses, Axl breathes new life into the traditional "sha na na"s of the do wop generation and assaults you, bringing you to your sha na na na na na na na knees. And when he snarls, "I wanna watch you bleed," you believe him. From start to finish, you realize that there's no happy ending at the end of this fairy tale. Hopes and dreams are obliterated, leaving no evidence that they ever existed in the first place. The streets of Hollywood are going to tear you to pieces. And no one will even notice.<br />
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"Welcome to the Jungle" kicks off one of the greatest debut albums in the history of rock & roll, if not <i>the </i>greatest. It's relentless in its assault on your ears - from the wail of Axl's vocals to the gunshot snare drums, with the guitars screeching and tweaking constantly, keeping you off balance. Afterwords you need to sit down and rest for a bit. For not moving a muscle, you're exhausted. And that's the kind of song that belongs near the top of a list like this. And that's why it's here at #7. <br />
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Job well done, boys. I'm gonna go listen to it for the eleventh time in the last two hours. I just can't help myself. But I guess that's the point, now isn't it?<br />
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* After hearing "Welcome to the Jungle" for the first time in its entirety, I was sold. "Yeah, I'll have to get that one," I said. But instead of buying the one with the artwork, which was $7.99, he pointed out that they had a generic label promo with no artwork at all for $5.99. Being just out of high school, I saved the two bucks and took the generic promo home. I still enjoyed it, but the old me knows that the other promo with the banned artwork has sold for as much as $200 on Ebay. Oh well....<br />
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<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/o1tj2zJ2Wvg" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5209471357521150309.post-47966324791980712302011-01-23T10:42:00.003-07:002011-02-05T17:41:01.090-07:008. Queen - Bohemian RhapsodyThe first time you hear "Bohemian Rhapsody", you wonder to yourself whether Queen had gone off the deep end. It starts off with a lush, insanely overdubbed vocal harmonization that seems so out of place in a rock song. It's good, you concede, but it's pretty strange. As the song moves along, it seems at times like a haunting ballad with the lyrics seeming to confirm that:<br />
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<div style="background-color: transparent; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><i>Mama just killed a man <br />
Put a gun against his head <br />
Pulled my trigger, now he's dead </i><br />
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Then there's a semi-conventional guitar solo by Brian May that catches your attention and brings you back to the reality that this is a pretty kick-ass rock song, but then, to quote Queen lead singer (and writer of this schizophrenic masterpiece*), Freddie Mercury, "That's where the operatic bits come in!" And do they ever. With a seemingly mish-mash group of lyrics, the song becomes something out of "Pippin" or "The Pirates of Penzance," before the song takes another turn into a straightforward kick-ass hard rock song. </div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">And before you know it, there's yet another flawless transition back into the ballad that started it all. When it's all said and done, it's been just shy of six minutes of rock and roll confusion, topped off with a bang - literally (drummer Roger Taylor hammers a huge gong, poking fun at the over-the-top opulence of a lot of late 60's-early 70's rock), but you've loved every single second. And if you've listened to any amount of Queen songs, it's clear that this one is Freddie's baby from start to finish. It's as if his grandiose personality leaped out of his body and decided to become a song. Brian May summed it up in an interview in Q Magazine. </div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"></div><blockquote><div style="background-color: transparent; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">That was a great moment, but the biggest thrill for us was actually creating the music in the first place. I remember Freddie coming in with loads of bits of paper from his dad's work, like Post-it notes, and pounding on the piano. He played the piano like most people play the drums. And this song he had was full of gaps where he explained that something operatic would happen here and so on. He'd worked out the harmonies in his head.</div></blockquote><div style="background-color: transparent; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"></div>Looking back at the "Bohemian Rhapsody" and trying to figure it out, the inclination is to break the song into each of its elements or sections, which I already kind-of just did, and analyze it ad nauseum. You notice some things about the song that are different from anything else you've ever heard before. First, there's no actual chorus to the song. I didn't realize that until just recently. Bassist John Deacon plays the equivalent of three different bass lines within this one single song. Also, in keeping with the operatic theme that the song takes, Brian May's guitar solo takes the place of the soprano's aria (solo) in the middle of your standard opera. And just like an aria, May's solo is a complementary fully-formed song in itself, rather than just restating a previous melody.<br />
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But the Wikipedia page on "Bohemian Rhapsody" takes this dissection of the song to crazy (or as my wife, Jennifer, would say, "Crazier. You've already done some crazy of your own.") levels. It breaks the song down into its six sections, complete with to the second time stamps, and then begins to analyze every nuance contained within. If you thought the song was pretentious, you should read this stuff. Serious music critics are quoted saying things like "The confessional section is affirmative of the nurturant and life-giving force of the feminine and the need for absolution." Um, okay. It's not the song that's an almost Spinal-Tapian exercise in pomposity, it's the Wikipedia page <i>about </i>the song. It's 100 times more pretentious. I've looked up hundreds of songs on all sorts of sites researching my list, and this page is by far the most self-absorbed.<br />
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</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">But we all missed the point. Although there are some lyrics that can be interpreted as Freddie's personal struggles with his sexuality and how to deal with it, the song, in Freddie's words"<br />
<blockquote><div style="margin: 0px 2em;">I[s] one of those songs which has such a fantasy feel about it. I think people should just listen to it, think about it, and then make up their own minds as to what it says to them... "Bohemian Rhapsody" didn't just come out of thin air. I did a bit of research - although it was tongue-in-cheek and mock opera. Why not?</div></blockquote></div><br />
So the band was in on the joke the whole time. That's not to say that they didn't take the song, or the recording of it, seriously, but they were poking fun at the pomposity of rock songs while keeping true to a traditional operatic story arc. The song is awash in contradictions - at times wanting you to take it seriously, while at other times laughing along with you at its pretension. That's what makes it amazing. It pokes fun at bitself while still delivering a stunning pop/rock song that can't help but be burned into your brain.<br />
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And although Queen didn't take all of the song seriously, what they did take seriously was the actual recording process. Just the "opera" part of the song took a full three weeks to record it, and this was after a rehearsal period of <i>another </i>three weeks to figure out how to <i>do </i>the damn thing. So for a month and a half, "Bohemian Rhapsody" was Queen's full-time job, with them recording only a single section of the song for up to 10-12 hours a day, almost all of it vocals. Imagine singing like that for 10-12 hours a day for three straight weeks. You'd need a vacation just from <i>that</i>. And they weren't even done with the song yet.<br />
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But you can hear the fruits of all their hard labor. The vocals are some of the most complex ever recorded (if not <i>the </i>most complex). Even though in the video it shows all four band members singing the vocal introduction, in reality it's just Freddie, singing every single part and every single harmony, each performance layered on top of the other. For the rest of the song, Brian May sang the lower harmonies, Freddie's powerful voice held up the middle, while Roger Taylor had the unenviable task of hitting all those high notes. During the "opera" part, there are up to 180 overdubs+ layered on top of each other. It was so complex and the master tape had been run back and forth so many times to add each layer that it was almost destroyed. <br />
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In those operatic vocal moments, the song could've taken its jump over the shark, but Freddie realized the silliness of what they were trying to do and came up with lyrics to match:<br />
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<div style="background-color: transparent; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><i>I see a little silhouetto of a man <br />
Scaramouch, Scaramouch, will you do the Fandango <br />
Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very frightening me <br />
(Galileo) Galileo (Galileo) Galileo, Galileo Figaro </i></div><br />
The lyrics are basically mumbo-jumbo phrases that he used just because they rhymed. There is a feeling, though, that Freddie chose Galileo as a wink to Brian, an astronomy buff. So in a song where there are some serious lyrical issues, Freddie knew well enough to lighten things up a bit to let us all in on the joke.<br />
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And that's what makes "Bohemian Rhapsody" so brilliant. It's like one of those dramas that makes you laugh, like <i>Dead Poets Society</i>, or a comedy with a deeper message, like <i>The Breakfast Club</i>. There are songs that after you're done listening to them, you barely remember them. The songs on my Top 100 list are not those kind of songs. They're not empty calories. Each one gives you lots to chew on - lots to examine. "Bohemian Rhapsody", above all others, gives you the most to delve into. It's the six course meal that fills you up and when you're done, you can't wait to share it with others. So that's what this list is to me - great musical meals that I can't help but share with anyone who cares to listen.<br />
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* The song, not this post. I'm not so full of myself that I'd even remotely call anything I've written even close to the masterpiece level. <br />
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+ For those less music-geek inclined, an overdub is where they record the same thing (or different things) many different times to add complexity, depth or even disparity to any section of a song. So the 180 overdubs in the opera section are 180 different vocal tracks layered on top of each other, over and over and over again, to make it seem like more than there are just three vocalists singing. <br />
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<i>Fun Fact #265: Because of the difficulties in performing it live (and because they </i>really<i> didn't want to be on the British music show </i><i>Top of the Pops), Queen shot a music video (or pop promo, as they were known back then) for the song. Roger Taylor explained: "We did everything we possibly could to avoid appearing in </i><i>Top Of The Pops. It was one, the most boring day known to man, and two, it's all about not actually playing - pretending to sing, pretending to play. We came up with the video concept to avoid playing on </i><i>Top Of The Pops." The resulting video was so impressive, and so popular, that it inspired scores of other British bands to do the same. So when MTV started broadcasting, the lion share of videos that were available were from the British bands that followed Queen's lead. All because Queen didn't want to do Top of the Pops.</i><br />
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Okay, I didn't want to talk about this in the body of my essay, but you can't really talk about "Bohemian Rhapsody" without the awesome tribute Mike Myers paid to the song in his movie, <i>Wayne's World</i>. I loved it, and I'm sure you did as well. So here it is...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ea3oUnNfixw" title="YouTube video player" type="text/html" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Okay, I just ran across a great rendition that Jake Shimabukuro did of "Bohemian Rhapsody" on a ukelele. Check it out, it's pretty awesome.<br />
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<object width="446" height="326"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"></param><param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/JakeShimabukuro_2010-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/JakeShimabukuro-BohemianRhapsody-2010.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=1063&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=jake_shimabukuro_plays_bohemian_rhapsody;year=2010;theme=live_music;theme=a_taste_of_ted2010;theme=the_creative_spark;theme=spectacular_performance;event=TED2010;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;" /><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgColor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/JakeShimabukuro_2010-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/JakeShimabukuro-BohemianRhapsody-2010.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=1063&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=jake_shimabukuro_plays_bohemian_rhapsody;year=2010;theme=live_music;theme=a_taste_of_ted2010;theme=the_creative_spark;theme=spectacular_performance;event=TED2010;"></embed></object>Kent Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11384535464844569397noreply@blogger.com0