Every Day is Media Day
The New York NBC TV affiliate (WNBC 4) has shown a clip or soundbite of a Giants player interview every single day since the end of the conference championship games a week and a half ago during the local news. I don’t know if NBC gets exclusive access to the players or if the team gives special treatment to the local media. But what it amounts to is media day every day. The blurbs shown on the local news do not seem to be old or stale, and are presented as either the same day or previous day’s comments (in the case of the morning news). This morning, one clip was a reporter asking “Jeff Feagles, how does it feel to have stepped off the plane in Arizona knowing that you are going to your first Super Bowl in your 20 year career?” So what purpose does today’s Media Day serve when the media seems to have daily access to these players? One indication that Media Day servers no purpose at all is that the majority of news coverage that results from Media Day is not about the players but rather about the media itself, with today’s most notable story coming out of Media Day being a wedding proposal to Tom Brady.
Comic book review: Civil War: Punisher War Journal
Along with Wolverine, the Punisher was my favorite Marvel character back when I was reading Marvel comics regularly in the early 1990s. So after deciding to read Marvel’s Civil War event, I naturally wanted to read the collected issues of Civil War: Punish War Journal #1-4. But in hindsight, I really didn’t need to. The stories contained in issues 1-3 contain a lot of recap of the events involving the Punisher that were already told in the main Civil War series. And while issue #4 was a good story about the Punisher taking down numerous villains at once, it had no relevance to Civil War. The inclusion of a black and white reprint of issue #1 (for which the color version was also contained in this collection) was completely unnecessary.
While the story told in Civil War may hint at the Punisher playing a larger role in the Marvel Universe in the future, that story is not evident in this collection.
Rating: 4 out of 10.
Music review: Fear of the Dark by Iron Maiden
When I decided I wanted to revisit music I had listened to 20 years earlier, I hadn’t expected that desire to influence what I would want to listen to in the present. But realizing just how good Iron Maiden is, I wanted to listen to some of their albums that I had never listened to when I was younger, as I stopped listening to Iron Maiden after Seventh Son of a Seventh Son was released. Reading reviews of Fear of the Dark seemed to indicate that this album would have enough decent songs to be worth listening to. And it turns out that what I read about Fear of the Dark seems to be correct. “Be Quick or Be Dead” and “Fear is the Key” are decent, if not classic, rock songs. The song “Fear of the Dark” is above average, and “Wasting Love” is probably the closest Maiden ever came to a power ballad. “Childhood’s End” features a decent chorus and lick, but “Afraid To Shoot Strangers” features an even better somewhat Baroque-like guitar line in the song, making it far and away the standout track on the album. Other songs are entirely unmemorable or sound way too much like AC/DC (“Weekend Warrior,” “From Here To Eternity” and “The Apparition”).
In hindsight, this album really isn’t much different than Piece of Mind, both having a few good songs along with about half an album’s worth of filler, so it would be only fitting that it gets the same rating.
Rating: 6 out of 10.
Comic book review: Civil War: New Avengers
Collecting issues #21-25 of New Avengers, this trade paperback focuses on the decisions of the characters of the New Avengers as whether or not to comply with the Superhero Registration Act as passed in Civil War. This book featured characters I was not at all familiar with but I found myself drawn into their stories nonetheless, especially the stories of Luke Cage and Spider-Woman, as they struggle with their decisions regarding the Civil War.
The final issue sees Iron Man nearly defeated by a former employee and brings to attention just how tenuous any of the characters lives can be and how the events of the larger Civil War storyline can be influenced by people other than the main characters.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10.
Music review: Thanks to Frank by Warren Cuccurullo
Guitarist Warren Cuccurullo began his career playing for Frank Zappa on Joe’s Garage, then was a founding member of Missing Persons with Dale and Terry Bozzio (both of whom also played on Joe’s Garage). After Missing Persons disbanded, Warren joined Duran Duran in the late 80s and remained with them throughout the 90s. But in that time he also released solo albums of guitar instrumentals. Thanks to Frank is his first solo album and his tribute to Frank Zappa. Released in 1996, the album did not make a splash outside of rock guitar aficionados.
With an emphasis on song structure more than technical wizardry, the songs on Thanks to Frank range from decent guitar licks to stuff that is entirely forgettable. Most of the best songs are at the beginning of the album, such as “The Canarsie Daiquiri” and “Jam Man Jam” but nothing stands out as a classic guitar instrumental the way the best rock guitar albums do, such as Steve Vai’s Passion and Warfare or Eric Johnson’s Ah Via Musicom.
Having said that, Thanks to Frank is still an enjoyable album and worth checking out if you are a fan of Joe Satriani or Steve Vai (who performed with Warren Cuccurullo on some Zappa albums).
Rating: 5.5 out of 10.
Vista excuses don’t hold water
I use Windows Vista on my personal computer and despite having used it for over a year now, Vista users still seem to be a small minority. While I can’t refute many of the reasons why you should not upgrade to Vista in there own right, I do think that almost all of those reasons can be applied to any Microsoft operating system since Windows 95. The fact that these arguements have been true for any operating system doesn’t seem to me to be a reason not to upgrade, otherwise we would all still be using Windows 95.
An article in PC World magazine entitled, Wait! Don’t Buy Microsoft Windows Vista contains the following reasons why you shouldn’t buy Vista, with my rebuttal applying their logic to any Microsoft OS.
Vista Is Incomplete
Guess what? Microsoft is still releasing Service Packs, hot fixes, and other patches for Windows XP. If you want an operating system that is complete, then use Windows 95.
As for hardware support, here’s a dirty-little secret that the Vista nay-sayers don’t want you to know: even if a hardware manufacturer doesn’t make a Vista specific driver for their device, that does not mean that the device won’t work in Vista. I am using an older Samsung monitor, which has neither a Vista driver nor even a 64-bit driver as a second monitor for my 64-bit Vista machine. That monitor works just fine using the generic driver included in Vista.
Vista Wants a New PC
I am a software developer. I am going to continue to write software that utilizes the capabilities of the hardware that is currently available in the marketplace. Every major release of a new operating system by any manufacturer has always had higher requirements for the hardware needed to run it. An operating system needs more powerful hardware in order for it to function faster than previous operating systems, and advanced hardware needs new software written for it to take advantage of the capabilities of the hardware. If you never expect to upgrade your hardware when you get a new operating system, then you would still be using Windows 95 on your Pentium I machine.
Vista Is Time-Consuming
Getting any new computer is time consuming, never mind installing a new OS. When you upgraded from Windows 98 to XP was that time consuming? Yes. If you had the choice to get that time back and still be using Windows 98 or to have invested the time to upgrade to XP which would you choose? So you’re going to have to bite the bullet again.
Windows XP Isn’t Obsolete
Windows 2000 is still not obsolete, as almost all of what runs on XP can run on 2000 just as well. So why isn’t everyone still using Windows 2000 then? I don’t know. I’m using Vista.
Gaylord Perry vs. Mark McGwire
I wrote the following paragraph several months ago as a draft of a blog entry with the intent of posting it now at the time when the latest inductees were announced for the baseball hall of fame:
It has been asked why Gaylord Perry is in the baseball hall of fame but Mark McGwire is not. Perry has admitted to cheating by doctoring baseballs throughout his career on his way to over 300 wins. So the question is why no sports writers have a problem with Perry getting into the hall of fame by doctoring baseballs while McGwire was not voted in because he doctored himself through steroid use. The reason is because sports writers only seem to be offended by cheating in the form of steroid use when it results in more home runs. Doctoring baseballs, throwing spitballs, stealing signs, even corking bats are all accepted parts of the game that have gone on for as long as the game has been played. But part of the reason steroid use is frowned upon is because it is a relatively new phenomenon which was not a part of the game in the past. It is as though Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire are somehow cheating against not the pitchers they hit against but rather they are cheating Hank Aaron and Roger Maris out of their home run records. No one in the media is outraged by the fact that 10 out of the 16 Major League Baseball players suspended for steroid use are pitchers. Why not? Because they don’t hit home runs.
I guess I was wrong about this one with all the brouhaha over Roger Clemens happening right now. It is apparent that the media only cares about players who are household names who take steroids, as I don’t hear any outrage over the fact that Ricky Bones, Alex Cabrera, Larry Bigbie, Tim Laker, Mark Carreon, F.P. Santangelo, Chris Donnels, Phil Hiatt, Cody McKay, Stephen Randolph, Bart Miadich, Gary Bennett Jr., Jim Parque, Chad Allen, Jeff Williams, Howie Clark, or Nook Logan were implicated in the Mitchell Report.
Re: Year End Best Of Lists
In a comment to the previous post titled Year End Best Of Lists, B.J. makes some good points and provides some great food for thought regarding the subject of art within the context of its time. I’d like to respond to some of the thoughts that this comment provoked.
It seems to me that the two of us may read these types of top 10 year end lists with different goals in mind. I as a reader of these types of lists want to know what the critical and/or popular opinion is of various types of entertainment with the goal of helping me decide whether I want to experience these works or not. I do not look at these as something to represent the time that we live in. Based on your response, it seems as though you may interpret these types of lists not for personal use, but rather as an attempt to capture the cultural zeitgeist, to define what is currently relevant and epitomizes the times.
I don’t necessarily believe, as you state: “that for art to be quality, it MUST stand the test of time.” But I do believe that the best of the best DOES “stand the test of time, age well, and be relevant a large number of years later.” I do believe that the best of the best works can only be judged by “taking the art itself out of the time in which it was made.” While it seems as though the focus of the points made relate to music, I’d like to cite examples from both books and music.
I like reading science fiction and in recent years have started reading more fantasy novels. I believe that the best fantasy and sci-fi transcend the time of which they are written. It’s easier to do when writing fantasy, as technology usually plays less of a role, but can be done by the best sci-fi writing as well. The most immediate examples of this are The Lord of the Rings and Dune. Does it matter one bit when these books were written? I really believe that it does not matter.
However, a point I may not have articulated in my previous post (hence maybe coming off as a bit of a snob) is the fact that art does not have to be timeless in order for it to be enjoyable – just that I believe the best of the best separates itself by standing the test of time. With regards to science fiction, I thoroughly enjoy many of Isaac Asimov’s and Robert Heinlein’s works. But some that I enjoy, such as Caves of Steel and The Door Into Summer, have shown their age now that about 50 years have passed since they were written. Does that mean these works are not worth reading? No. They are each still enjoyable today. Does that mean that I think Dune is better because I think it does not show any signs of aging and seems completely distinct from the period in which it was written? Yes.
As for music, that is a little thornier. Music is much harder to separate from the context of when it was written. So much of the history of music builds upon what came before that it becomes tricky to play the game of saying that X is great because it was the influence for Y. You can play that game all the way back to the point at which a caveman banged a rock against a stick to produce a beat. It is in this respect that I think musicians such as Bob Dylan and Louis Armstrong may be overrated. If you want to write a book about the history of jazz, Louis Armstrong would most certainly feature prominently throughout the book. If I wanted to listen to what I believe are some of the most enjoyable jazz tunes from the first half of the 20th century, I would probably prefer to listen to Sidney Bechet.
To me, the best music is enjoyable outside of the context in which it was created. I may have previously cited the example of London Calling by The Clash in comparing it to The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan as an album that was a product of its time but still seems relevant more than 25 years later. I didn’t grow up as a child of the punk/ska fusion of the late 70’s in England. I don’t know where Brixton is, “Jimmy Jazz” is a line of clothing stores in New York City, and “Rudie Can’t Fail” sounds like it should be the title of a campaign song for Rudolph Giuliani’s run for the Republican nomination for president. But despite me having little association with the time that London Calling was a product of, the music struck a chord with me when I first listened to it 25 years after it was released. The emotion, the catchy tunes, the pure enjoyment, and the raw power of songs resonated with me despite having no association with the time and place in which it was written. It is this same reaction that I expect from the very best music.
I am not a Lutheran church-goer who lived in Germany in first half of the 18th century, but Bach’s music speaks to me. It speaks to me 300 years after it was written. It speaks to me not through the bounds of religion but rather through the universal language of music. This is the reaction I expect from the very best music – to transcend time and place to exist on an entirely distinct level. For me, the best music stands on its own, outside of the context of the date from which it was written.
Year End Best Of Lists
Each year at about this time I always come across many Year End Best Of lists compiling the critical and popular favorites of the year for movies, music, tv shows, and books. Each year it seems as though I experience less and less of the works contained in these lists, especially when it comes to music. It’s not because I listen to less and less music each year, as the amount of music I listen to has been fairly consistent over the years. My attitude has changed to where I no longer feel the need to be on the cutting edge of entertainment and would instead rather let the cream rise over the course of several years, not just one year. If music is worth listening to, it will still be worth listening to 2, 5, 10, 20 or more years from now. Music is not food that will spoil with age, but rather the best music is like a fine wine that gets better with age.
Music needs to be consumed even less timely than some books, movies, or tv shows, as there are no plot points or surprise endings that can lessen the enjoyment of it if revealed ahead of time, such as how earlier this year I had to run out and read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows immediately after its release to find out who lives and who dies before I inadvertently stumbled across something I didn’t want to.
Movies these days seem to strive for the big bang: just come up with a property or concept that will attract as large an audience as possible for the opening weekend. Books seem to grow in popularity completely opposite from that of movies. Aside from Harry Potter and maybe The Da Vinci Code, novels often take many years for word of mouth to build to a point where a book is considered a success. The Lord of the Rings novels were not instant successes upon their release. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin was released to little fanfare in 1996, but over the course of ten years the book has come to be seen as one of the best fantasy novels ever written.
Wake me up in 2017 and let me know if any of the stuff released in 2007 is still worth experiencing at that time. In the meantime, maybe I’ll listen to the Actus Tragicus, which Bach wrote in ‘07. 1707, that is.
Book review: Dragons of Autumn Twilight
Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Book One of the Dragonlance chronicles, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman is a fantasy novel written in 1984. The plot is your run of the mill fantasy adventure, involving a colorful mix of motley fantasy characters. The group consist of a knight, a half-elf, a mage, a warrior, a cleric, a dwarf: just about every type you would have when creating a party of characters for a role-playing game. In fact the book is just that, it is based on the Dungeons & Dragons Dragonlance role-playing game. This fact isn’t relevant to the enjoyment of the book because the novel stands on its own.
While this is the type of book that I feel I would have enjoyed more had I read it when I was 15 years old, there are still things I found enjoyable reading it now. The authors do a good job of crafting interesting characters and giving them their own role to play in the story. The adventures and peril that the characters are put through moves the story along quite well making for never a dull moment. But after a certain point the reader realizes that this is the type of story that no matter how much danger the heroes are in they will always prevail in the end, even if they need a magic staff to resurrect them.
Even though I found Dragons of Autumn Twilight enjoyable enough, it isn’t quite compelling enough to make me want to go out and buy any further books in the Dragonlance chronicles.
Rating: 5 out of 10.
