Disney World Pictures
A recent trip to Disney World was enjoyable. The photos I like best can be summarized as “family and fun” so here are some good examples of each, starting with me and Al from Toy Story 2:
Next are two shots of the new Yeti featured in Animal Kingdom’s Expedition Everest rollercoaster. He’s soft and cute!
Here’s a good shot of me and Cindy with our pal the snowman:
Pandas are always cute:
Cindy meets two versions of Tigger:
Here are some good shots of the entire family, with Mom and Yappy, and Helen and Justin. Am I really a head taller than everyone or is it just how these were shot?
Lastly, Helen makes some new friends and meets her newst pal Eeyore:
Expectations and Movies
Expectations play a large part in my enjoyment of entertainment, especially when it comes to movies. I feel that one reason that I enjoy movies less than I used to has to do with expectations. Movie studios hype their products to such an extent that it is very hard for the movie itself to ever live up to the hype. About 5 to 10 years ago, it seemed that I always bought into the hype. In the 1990s, Hollywood realized that audiences, including myself, were especially vulnerable to buying into the hype involving movies made from entertainment properties that had an existing fan base. Movies based on popular books, TV shows, comics books, or other movies (as sequels) became all the rage. Much of it was based on the fact that if you enjoyed what the movie is based on, movie studios had a built in audience who would want to see a movie about it.
But gradually, I came to realize that I was watching one mediocre movie after another. But I was being told by the Hollywood hype machine that each new release was going to be the best movie ever. The built-in fan base is as much to blame for creating and contributing to the hype and expectations as any media is. All a movie studio has to do is announce that they have acquired the rights to make a popular comic book into a movie and the fans will start salivating at the prospect of seeing it, only to be the first people to proclaim it the “worst movie ever” on the internet.
I believe that such internally and externally created expectations are the number one reason that Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is widely belittled by those of my generation. Many people, myself included, thought that The Phantom Menace was going to be the best movie ever, or at least the third best movie ever behind the original Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. And then when The Phantom Menace turned out not to be the best movie ever, many people felt somehow cheated out of the movie experience that they expected it should have been. Yet many people didn’t realize they were engaging in this kind of faulty thinking and the same thing happened the following year when the X-Men movie was released. Eventually, I saw the error of my ways and have changed my thinking. Having no expectations about the first Fantastic Four movie (having only recently seen it for the first time), I found I actually enjoyed it.
So I have recently tried to change my attitude regarding my expectations of a movie. I try and pay as little attention to pre-release hype about a movie as possible. In other words, I try not to have any expectations at all for a film. Having no expectations is different from having low expectations. I simply try to approach watching a movie as a way to enjoy spending two hours engaging in escapist entertainment, rather than thinking that this movie will somehow change my life.
Book review: The Life and Death of Classical Music by Norman Lebrecht
Norman Lebrecht is the epitome of a classical music snob. He wears his holier-than-thou attitude on his sleeve and is never at a lapse to tell you how much he knows about classical music. So why do I keep reading what he writes? Because he does know a heck of a lot about music. His latest book, The Life and Death of Classical Music, attempts to document the history of the classical music recording industry in the 20th century. He tries to present a chronological order to his stories and anecdotes about recording artists and record industry executives, but even within a certain time frame his writing jumps around from one tale to the next without much rhyme or reason. There are some interesting bits, most notably about the beginnings of the Naxos label or some of the conductors of Baroque music, but none of this history is ground-breaking information.
Mr. Lebrecht’s admittedly subjective lists of the 100 best and 20 worst classical recordings ever made at least did contain some interesting facts and stories about the recordings, but I found his list to be lacking many of what are generally considered to be the all-time best. Gramophone magazine’s list of the 100 greatest classical music recordings is a much better list in my opinion.
Rating 3 out of 10.
The Gramophone list can be found on Amazon at:
1-25: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/3RCZKS11HCQ75
26-50: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/20AI7YL0FOJ3F
51-75: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/O8XTOAIYALSQ
76-100: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/EZ47UCPCJH1N
Star Wars Celebration III
While I won’t be going to Star Wars Celebration IV taking place in Los Angeles this Memorial Day weekend, I did enjoy Star Wars Celebration III in Indianapolis as you can see by my encounter with Darth Tater:
The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is played out
Let me first mention that my opinion regarding this rivalry was formed during the middle of the 2004 season, before the 4 game comeback by the Red Sox in the 2004 post-season and well before a recent three game sweep by the Sox at Fenway Park. And yes, I am a Yankee fan. So you will have to take my word that what I am about to say is not sour grapes. But for me, the rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox has been played out. It no longer holds the same excitement, intensity, or interest that it did before 2004. The main reason is that the two teams have played each other way too many times for each meeting to be an event.
One of the most compelling facts in my mind is the fact that these two teams played each other a total of 52 times during the two years of 2003 and 2004. That counts the regular season and the playoff games, not any spring training exhibitions. The number of times the Yankees and Red Sox faced each other in 2003 and 2004 bears repeating: 52 times. And for about the first 40 times during those two years, I got caught up in the rivalry, getting excited about every meeting, every game, thinking that this time would somehow prove once and for all that the Yankees were better than the Red Sox. But even after a Yankee victory, the next meeting was always seemingly around the corner. And that upcoming series would always be billed as the biggest battle yet in the greatest rivalry in sports. But the truth is that the latest series in this rivalry would turn out not to be the biggest battle ever, but it would rather start to feel routine. As though the Yankees playing the Red Sox was no different than the Yankees playing the Devil Rays. And the reason for that is simply the fact that the two teams play each other so often. As a fan I can’t maintain the level of intensity or desire that “the biggest game ever” demands, when that game happens with such frequency. Baseball is different than football, where intensity builds all week to one game played on Sunday. Baseball is a daily grind for about 6 months. Both the players and the fans would burn out if 162 games a year were treated as the biggest game of the year.
One of the things I enjoy about baseball is that the games are a routine part of daily life in the summer. I don’t blame the media for fueling this sort of hype, as it is the role of the media to promote the product that Major League Baseball is producing. But just because the media treats this rivarly as the be-all-and-end-all of sports viewing doesn’t mean that I have to.
The Album Is Sacred
I first began to seriously listen to music when the compact disc first became popular, but CD players were slow to become ubiquitous in cars. And since at that time I listened to a lot of music while driving, I listened to most of my music on cassette tape. Because of the inaccuracy of fast-forwarding over a song on tape and my laziness to attempt to do so, I always ended up popping in an album on cassette and just pressing play. This resulted in me listening to entire albums whether I thought all of the songs were good or not, even if I had preconceived notions of what the “hits” were on that album. What I soon discovered is that any rock band or artist worth their salt released albums in which every song on it was good and was worth listening to. Led Zeppelin put out albums with nothing but quality material. Pink Floyd’s The Wall compelled me to continue listening to each and every song to appreciate the story and concept of the album. To do otherwise became sacrilegious. And to truly evaluate an artist and their music, the entire album must be listened to.
This is how I felt for about 20 years. But today, three factors have changed the way I listen to music, all of which diminish the value of the album as a whole in my mind.
First is how classical music has influenced my thinking about rock and pop music. A classical composer, even modern ones, do not write for the gramophone or the compact disc. Anton Webern wrote pieces that are less than one minute in length while Richard Wagner’s opera The Ring is countless hours long (14 hours). So even though rock music is crafted to fit on an LP or a CD, true art knows no bounds. So if I am going to consider rock music as art, then why be bound to a singular and entire CD? Classical albums are often packaged with extras thrown in to fill up the length of a CD. And as a listener, I never feel compelled to listen to both the Schumann and Grieg Piano Concertos together despite all the record producers putting these two works on the same album.
Second is time. Or the demands on my time versus the supply of music that I want to listen to. As I get older, I have a little more money in which to buy music but a lot less time to listen to music. So if I find that through reviews or word of mouth that a new band may be worth checking out, listening to a few songs is a good way to find out if it is worth both my time and money to buy an entire album. If I find out that I do not like these few songs, I no longer feel the need to continue listening to the entire album to find out if it will improve after further listenings.
Third and most obviously is the influence of iTunes. There is no longer a need for artists to be confined to the format of an LP or a CD because consumers no longer need to purchase music in that way. While single songs were available in the past, never before have all of an artist’s songs been available individually. If I want to buy someone’s greatest hits, I now get to choose which hits are truly the greatest.
So while my first preference is still to listen to entire albums, I not longer feel compelled by some kind of personal code to do so.
TV review: Pardon The Interruption (PTI)
I have been watching Pardon The Interruption on ESPN with regularity for about a year and a half now. I really enjoy the show, despite the fact that the aspects of the show that made me turn it off when it first aired are still true. At first I found the 60 to 90 seconds allotted to discuss the day’s sports topics too short a time to make any meaningful and relevant contribution. There were times when Tony Kornheiser would explain the topic or news story and by the time he would say “Your thoughts, Wilbon.” the bell would ring and it would be time to move on to the next topic after Wilbon got in only 5 words. Also, I found that there were times when one of the two hosts would take a contrarian opinion that they really didn’t wholeheartedly believe just for argument’s sake. And while Kornheiser and Wilbon’s knowledge of the NFL and the NBA is unquestionable, their knowledge of other sports that I enjoy (baseball and soccer) is lacking (I can’t comment on their knowledge of hockey because I know nothing about hockey).
Having said all that, I find myself looking forward to each episode. Quite simply, Kornheiser and Wilbon make it work. Their witty banter combines both the seriousness of journalism and the exuberance of teenaged fans arguing that “my team is better than your team.” And the humor they bring makes the show worth watching. Segments such as role play where each of the hosts take turns addressing a topic from the point of view of a sports figure while putting a giant cutout of that person’s head over their face can often be laugh out loud funny. And the show is formatted in such a way that I often don’t feel the need to watch SportsCenter, as PTI combines headlines with analysis with important highlights in a more entertaining way than anything else.
One way you get a sense of just how good Kornheiser and Wilbon are at what they do is when they are not there. A few of the guest hosts are good (Bob Ryan), but most are not even worth watching. And then there’s Dan LeBatard. At first I couldn’t stand Dan LeBatard and found him annoying. But after a while I found his self-deprecating humor and reluctance to play by the rules brought some fresh viewpoints to the show. And now I actually find him entertaining.
And a final aspect that makes the show enjoyable for me is that even if I do not watch an episode the same day it airs, I will still want to watch it days later even knowing all the headlines and results. It is still entertaining days later. Maybe not weeks later, but at least days later.
Zappa Top 10 lists
First is a list of 10 albums that best represent the distinct styles or phases of Frank Zappa’s career. These are not the 10 best albums overall, or my 10 favorite (that list is next), but 10 albums that best present a broad overview of the musical styles that Frank Zappa created throughout his varied career. Some phases/styles can be represented by many albums, but I tried to choose the one album that best shows that style. So here is the list in chronological order:
- We’re Only in It for the Money
Phony hippies beware. Frank Zappa was on to you in 1968. And he throws in a little bit of Edgard Varese for good measure at the end.
- Hot Rats
Instrumental jazz/rock fusion at its finest.
- Over-Nite Sensation
Zappa’s somewhat commercial breakthrough of the early 70s.
- Zoot Alures
Straight forward rock.
- Joe’s Garage
1979 was a good year for concept albums (see The Wall in The Perfect 10s).
- Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch
Zappa in the 80s.
- Shut Up ‘N Play Yer Guitar
Nothing but guitar solos.
- Jazz From Hell
Zappa discovers the synclavier.
- Broadway the Hard Way
The 1988 tour.
- Strictly Genteel
A compilation of orchestral and instrumental works.
Next is a list of my favorite Frank Zappa albums, in chronological order:
- Absolutely Free
Songs about vegetables and the deviance of politicians are only the tip of the iceberg.
- We’re Only In It for the Money
Phony hippies beware. Frank Zappa was on to you in 1968. And he throws in a little bit of Edgard Varese for good measure at the end.
- Uncle Meat
Contains many classic Zappa musical themes explored throughout his other works through conceptual continuity. Ignore the 38 minutes of film excerpts and you have a great album.
- Hot Rats
Instrumental jazz/rock fusion at its finest.
- One Size Fits All
Complex rock that grows even better after hearing it many, many times.
- Bongo Fury
Two words: Captain Beefheart.
- Studio Tan
An album of leftovers, but one of them happens to be the single greatest “song” that Frank Zappa ever created, the 20 minute “Adventures of Greggery Peccary.”
- Sheik Yerbouti
Great melodies, rockin guitars, scathing humor.
- Joe’s Garage
It took me 3 years before I began to like this album beyond the first two songs. But once I got past the “story” of the album, I realized the music is truly great.
- Broadway the Hard Way
The 1988 tour was Zappa last full-scale tour, and this album showed that Zappa was still at the top of his game.
Frank Zappa page
I first listened to Frank Zappa’s music during Rykodisc’s rerelease of Zappa’s entire catalog in 1995. During the rerelease, many of Zappa’s albums were receiving rave reviews from rock critics and I was intrigued enough to purchase We’re Only In It For the Money and Sheik Yerbouti. After first listening to We’re Only In It For the Money my honest reaction was “there goes 12 bucks I’ll never get back again.” It was way out there like nothing I’d ever heard. But Sheik Yerbouti was much more immediately accessible and I found myself enjoying the humor and the rock guitar aspects of the album. So I gave WOIIFTM another chance. And although it is a completely different album than Sheik Yerbouti, I grew to love it. What at first sounded “out there” soon revealed itself to be brilliance. If this was what music could be then I wanted to hear more. Much more. Fortunately for me, Frank Zappa created somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 albums depending on how you count them. I’ve listened to about 35 of them by now and will be sharing my thoughts and reviews periodically in this blog, including an index of them on a web page on this site at http://bobsala.com/frank-zappa or listed under the Pages section of my blog.
Music review: Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major
When a composer uses gimmicks or other effects in their music, it either sounds like a half-hearted attempt to impress the listener or ends up working really well. Pizzicato is one such effect and Ravel uses it brilliantly in the second movement of his only string quartet, combining it with a beautiful and flowing melody. The quartet opens with another beautiful theme that takes advantage of the new chromatic and harmonic language of the 20th Century that was begun by Wagner and Debussy, with this piece being written in 1902-03.
The slow third movement provides nothing to write home about, but passion and tension abound in the fourth movement, with hints of those wonderful melodies heard earlier in the quartet. Musically, Ravel’s quartet is “not your father’s” string quartet and is a world away from Haydn or Mozart (though maybe not a world away from a late Beethoven string quartet). Overall this music stands as an achievement to what could be done with a string quartet in the 20th Century.
I own the Belcea Quartet’s performance of Ravel’s String Quartet and have heard this piece performed in concert by the Enso String Quartet but have not heard enough different performances of the work to be able to comment on these performances.
From inside a rock, out comes a monkey 