... listened to the Magnetic Fields' "69 Love Songs". She seemed to dig it, as I thought she would, because it's full of really interesting, offbeat sounds. They should really think about going the They Might Be Giants route and recording a children's album. It's just goofy enough to work.
I swear, if this kid grows up with lousy taste in music, it won't be my fault. She's getting quite the exposure to indie rock, britpop, post-punk, and lots of other good stuff. And some classical and jazz thrown in as well. But I do think it's important for kids to find their own likes, and to not just regurgitate the music their parents like. I think it's very sad to meet people my age or younger whose favorite band is the Beetles or some other group that broke up years before they were born. Like that stupid Juno, spouting off about the '70's punk scene, which ended roughly 20 years before she was born (at least Jason Bateman called her out for that).
One of the things that has changed about growing up was rebelling against your parents by finding your own music. And, of course, it's the Baby Boomers' fault. Not that the music from the '60's and '70's wasn't good, but you need to find your own thing. There was a really funny Bloom County strip about this, back when they were doing the Billy and the Boingers stuff: We see a kid talking about why he's a slobbering B&TB fan; he says, first off, they dress totally cool; then, in the background, we see his parents getting ready to go to a Bruce Springsteen concert; he then says "that's the second reason".
So I guess my point is that it's important to support the music of your era, even if it's lame. My generation (Gen X) was lucky that we had grunge, even if that went to hell rather quickly.
We also played a game (tentatively) called "hold Daddy's finger and run around in a circle" for the better part of an hour. You wouldn't think that running around in a circle could amuse someone for so long, but there you go. You also wouldn't think the momentary pausing of said game to regain one's equilibrium would be the cause for much trauma, but you'd be wrong about that as well. I swear, if we could get that kid on a treadmill, she could power the house.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Dan DiDio Makes My Point
Dan DiDio, DC Comics' Executive Editor, made an interesting point at a recent DC Nation panel in Bristol, England. Quoted from Comic Book Resources:
"DiDio emphasized the fact that DC’s business was periodicals, not trade paperback graphic novel collections, because those comics readers who rely on trade collections make him nervous. “We have to make it feel like you can’t wait for the trade. I hate the expression ‘wait for the trade.’ It’s the thing that upsets me the most, because it means in my opinion that what we’re creating isn’t worth reading now. ‘I can pick it up a year from now.’”
Well, you forgot to add "it's not worth paying $3-4 for", but yeah, you're essentially correct. Most comics are not worth reading now. They are, in fact, designed to make collections the optimal reading format. What is so hard for you guys to accept about this? You created this beast, with your decompressed storytelling methods that take roughly 10 minutes to read. And do you really, honestly believe that anything you're publishing is of such amazing quality that it absolutely must be read immediately, even if it's in an inferior format for an inflated price?
Listen, trade paperbacks are better. They just are. They read better, they keep better, and new readers prefer them. Just stop fighting it.
"DiDio emphasized the fact that DC’s business was periodicals, not trade paperback graphic novel collections, because those comics readers who rely on trade collections make him nervous. “We have to make it feel like you can’t wait for the trade. I hate the expression ‘wait for the trade.’ It’s the thing that upsets me the most, because it means in my opinion that what we’re creating isn’t worth reading now. ‘I can pick it up a year from now.’”
Well, you forgot to add "it's not worth paying $3-4 for", but yeah, you're essentially correct. Most comics are not worth reading now. They are, in fact, designed to make collections the optimal reading format. What is so hard for you guys to accept about this? You created this beast, with your decompressed storytelling methods that take roughly 10 minutes to read. And do you really, honestly believe that anything you're publishing is of such amazing quality that it absolutely must be read immediately, even if it's in an inferior format for an inflated price?
Listen, trade paperbacks are better. They just are. They read better, they keep better, and new readers prefer them. Just stop fighting it.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Banes of My Existence: NBC.com
So we don't have tv anymore; well, we have a tv, but it's not hooked up to anything outside of the DVD player that allows us to watch anything. This is not a big deal. It was an easy choice to make, in fact, because there's really nothing on tv anymore that you can't watch online or via DVD. So we've got to wait until Thursday night to watch Lost-- so what? It's a perfect plan... except for NBC.com.
NBC.com sucks. It's one of the worst sites of any kind that I've ever suffered through. Navigation is more difficult than it should be; to watch an episode it often takes several clicks just to get to the player. But that's nothing compared to how !@#$ long it takes to watch an episode. Let's say you're watching The Office; the show will play for roughly five seconds, then buffer for five seconds, then play then buffer. So you pause the show, to allow it to buffer. First off, the shows often don't stay paused, starting up again without warning. Secondly, no matter how long you pause, it doesn't seem to make a difference. Last week I started an episode while my wife took a shower, and paused it. After she was done, we resumed the episode, and it didn't make it to the credits. Ridiculous!
NBC, look at the sites for Fox and ABC ( I suppose you could look at CBS, but I haven't watched a CBS show in years. Do they have a web site?). Shows play continuously without interruption. There's no reason to have such poor streaming video. And you're only hurting yourself; we haven't sampled Parks and Recreation, for example, because it's too much of a pain in the ass. Thank God none of your hour long shows are worth watching.
Stop sucking, NBC.com!
NBC.com sucks. It's one of the worst sites of any kind that I've ever suffered through. Navigation is more difficult than it should be; to watch an episode it often takes several clicks just to get to the player. But that's nothing compared to how !@#$ long it takes to watch an episode. Let's say you're watching The Office; the show will play for roughly five seconds, then buffer for five seconds, then play then buffer. So you pause the show, to allow it to buffer. First off, the shows often don't stay paused, starting up again without warning. Secondly, no matter how long you pause, it doesn't seem to make a difference. Last week I started an episode while my wife took a shower, and paused it. After she was done, we resumed the episode, and it didn't make it to the credits. Ridiculous!
NBC, look at the sites for Fox and ABC ( I suppose you could look at CBS, but I haven't watched a CBS show in years. Do they have a web site?). Shows play continuously without interruption. There's no reason to have such poor streaming video. And you're only hurting yourself; we haven't sampled Parks and Recreation, for example, because it's too much of a pain in the ass. Thank God none of your hour long shows are worth watching.
Stop sucking, NBC.com!
The Moment of Truth....
Launched my electronic portfolio today. Definitely one of the hardest things I've ever done.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Hello World!
Hey, it's my blog. I've started this as part of my electronic portfolio assignment for my INFO 652 class, but I've always thought about keeping a blog, so it world out well. Anyway, I'll have more to say when I'm done with the site and I have some free time again....
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