I concede! I have been judged by a jury of my peers and found guilty of being wrong. Apparently I am wrong about Kid Rock. I received many personal replies, none agreeing with my assessment of his voice. All but a couple were strongly supportive of him--his songs, his voice, his concerts, etc. And those couple were merely tepid toward him, not negative. I will repeat, though, I don't quite understand.
It leads me to wonder if some other guy could have been equally successful (and popular) with the same marketing, the same band/background, etc. Where would Mick Jagger have been without the Stones ("The world's greatest rock 'n' roll band," some said.), Madonna without her schtick and studio voice enhancements, Springstreet without Clarence Clemons and the rest of the E Street Band, etc.
While I am at it, what a cool AM to run! It was very reminiscent of AMs on the Cape, Cape Cod that is. Cool, cloudy/dark, and windy, enough to make noise. It brought back memories, a nostalgic wave. Mon night coming home from class, the full moon was reflecting off Union Lake. I pulled into the parking lot at the access site just to drink in a few minutes of it. Then, the next AM, as the sun was rising and peeking between the clouds, it reflected off Lake Sherwood. That, too, was very cool, worth stopping to look for a while.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Random Thoughts on a Wed AM
...or is it PM already? Hmmm......
I haven't posted here in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing. Sometimes, instead of blogging, I sent out mass e-mails, to a couple dozen people or more. This week, maybe Monday, I sent out one that I hoped would generate some responses. I was surprised, yet not at all surprised.
In that e-mail, I noted a television commercial I had seen last week and then again on Sun. It was for a truck; which one I don't remember. (Good commercial, huh?) The song for it was pretty good, certainly one to get the body moving a bit. But the singing was atrocious, even worse than that. It was atonal, not hitting any notes, at least none that I could fathom. I asked my grandson if he knew who the singer (and I was using the term loosely) was. He said, "That's Kid Rock." Now, I've always found that name to be hilarious. I know it's a stage name, but for an adult....? I guess I was surprised at Michael's answer. I don't know if I could identify any of his songs if they came on the radio; I'm pretty sure I couldn't. But I always figured, because he is so popular, that he'd be good. I find this commercial to be laughable, with such lousy singing. (Of course, I am reminded of others who are very successful, many of whom I like, who also are not top flight with the voices. Coming to mind are Madonna (Can a voice be any tinnier?), Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, and even Bruce Springsteen. Like I said, I like some (not all) of these entertainers. And consider many of the so-called "bands," who seem to think screaming louder and longer is the same thing as hitting notes.
But what really surprised me was the response I received from my e-mail. I sometimes mass e-mail a few dozen people about education, the President, our governor, etc. Sometimes it's about sports, college or professional. Criticizing Kid Rock, though, resulted in a record number of replies. One sent a list of a dozen of his songs, all supposedly good. I never heard of any of them, including one that seemed, by its title, perhaps obscene. Some replies noted that he "puts on a great concert." I never get the number of replies with more serious e-mails, never. And I never said people couldn't like the guy or that they didn't or shouldn't enjoy his stuff. I just said I thought his voice on this commercial was lousy.
This plays into a C-Span show I watched, only briefly, last weekend. On weekends, C-Span 2 and 3 run history programming. (Don't ever tell anyone you watch C-Span; you can watch it, just don't tell anyone.) A nun had written a book about how, for all of our communicating with each other, we really don't talk about anything significant. She was explaining that and she was right on the money. We talk, talk, talk (on the cell phone, texting, etc.), but rarely of anything of any real consequence.
And example is the recent death of that woman comedienne, whose name I don't remember. But apparently she was popular and I must not have cared for her comedy or I'd remember her name. her death has been in the headlines for days now. Hollywood-types are now the significant parts of our society, of our dialogue.
Yep, I find this all curiouser and curiouser.
Politically, it's hard to believe that in the Michigan US Senate race Gary Peters is ahead of Terry Lynn Land. Land is hardly a top-flight candidate, but I guess the Republicans had a hard time finding anyone who would run. (I'm guessing nobody was afraid of running against Peters. But what person with any integrity or self-respect would run for political office?????? Think of the shame to have one's name associated with the political class that includes Pelosi, Reid, Obama, the Clintons, McConnell, Dingell, Conyers, Boehner, et al!) But, c'mon...Gary Peters? How can anyone vote for him? Just look at the record of this career-politician. What's that definition of "insanity," doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? As unhappy as the people of Michigan should be, they keep sending the same people who created the messes (Dems and Reps) back to DC, Lansing, etc. I'm reminded of what so many suburbanites said during the downfall of Kwame Kilpatrick. The people of Detroit, for electing him not once but twice, got what they deserved. The people of Michigan are getting what they deserve for electing all these Bozos. Unfortunately, the rest of us are getting what they deserve, too.
K and I were at Michael's curriculum night at school last night. It's become too hard to be a parent of a kid in school. I'll bet K copied down a dozen or more Web sites that we are supposed to follow to keep track of achievement, homework, and everything. I left the school pretty well tuckered out from hearing all that I'm supposed to do. How about the teachers just teach my kid(s)? Let me know if there's a major problem. Forget all than damn homework. It's almost as if they are trying already lay the foundation for blame--not on them if students don't do well, but on parents (me). Oh, I don't blame them, in a way. They are getting all this from above. The god of "Technology" has to be used to keep parents involved. (Remember, "parental involvement" to the schools means blindly agreeing with them, supporting whatever they do, no matter how stupid. Cross them mean getting labeled, "a troublemaker" or worse.) But teachers should be able to stand up for somethings, not just kowtow. But, then again, I expect too much of teachers, who have shown me over the years their mettle, or lack of it. I was also dismayed to hear two teachers, at least, say that their classes would "really prepare" students for the ACT. Of course, not every student goes to college and some who do shouldn't. But that's not what upset me. It was the idea that the ACT is it, the be-all and end-all. No doubt this is the result of the push to test, test, test. Yes, it was a distressing visit.
Oh, there's lots more on my mind today, not the least of which is that watching Miggy hit again, now that he's hot, is really great. He roped two shots yesterday, after last week's five home runs. But I have to write a note to Bill Bennett (about teacher tenure), finish up the laundairy [sic], clean up the kitchen dishes, and grade essays (ugh!).
I haven't posted here in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing. Sometimes, instead of blogging, I sent out mass e-mails, to a couple dozen people or more. This week, maybe Monday, I sent out one that I hoped would generate some responses. I was surprised, yet not at all surprised.
In that e-mail, I noted a television commercial I had seen last week and then again on Sun. It was for a truck; which one I don't remember. (Good commercial, huh?) The song for it was pretty good, certainly one to get the body moving a bit. But the singing was atrocious, even worse than that. It was atonal, not hitting any notes, at least none that I could fathom. I asked my grandson if he knew who the singer (and I was using the term loosely) was. He said, "That's Kid Rock." Now, I've always found that name to be hilarious. I know it's a stage name, but for an adult....? I guess I was surprised at Michael's answer. I don't know if I could identify any of his songs if they came on the radio; I'm pretty sure I couldn't. But I always figured, because he is so popular, that he'd be good. I find this commercial to be laughable, with such lousy singing. (Of course, I am reminded of others who are very successful, many of whom I like, who also are not top flight with the voices. Coming to mind are Madonna (Can a voice be any tinnier?), Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, and even Bruce Springsteen. Like I said, I like some (not all) of these entertainers. And consider many of the so-called "bands," who seem to think screaming louder and longer is the same thing as hitting notes.
But what really surprised me was the response I received from my e-mail. I sometimes mass e-mail a few dozen people about education, the President, our governor, etc. Sometimes it's about sports, college or professional. Criticizing Kid Rock, though, resulted in a record number of replies. One sent a list of a dozen of his songs, all supposedly good. I never heard of any of them, including one that seemed, by its title, perhaps obscene. Some replies noted that he "puts on a great concert." I never get the number of replies with more serious e-mails, never. And I never said people couldn't like the guy or that they didn't or shouldn't enjoy his stuff. I just said I thought his voice on this commercial was lousy.
This plays into a C-Span show I watched, only briefly, last weekend. On weekends, C-Span 2 and 3 run history programming. (Don't ever tell anyone you watch C-Span; you can watch it, just don't tell anyone.) A nun had written a book about how, for all of our communicating with each other, we really don't talk about anything significant. She was explaining that and she was right on the money. We talk, talk, talk (on the cell phone, texting, etc.), but rarely of anything of any real consequence.
And example is the recent death of that woman comedienne, whose name I don't remember. But apparently she was popular and I must not have cared for her comedy or I'd remember her name. her death has been in the headlines for days now. Hollywood-types are now the significant parts of our society, of our dialogue.
Yep, I find this all curiouser and curiouser.
Politically, it's hard to believe that in the Michigan US Senate race Gary Peters is ahead of Terry Lynn Land. Land is hardly a top-flight candidate, but I guess the Republicans had a hard time finding anyone who would run. (I'm guessing nobody was afraid of running against Peters. But what person with any integrity or self-respect would run for political office?????? Think of the shame to have one's name associated with the political class that includes Pelosi, Reid, Obama, the Clintons, McConnell, Dingell, Conyers, Boehner, et al!) But, c'mon...Gary Peters? How can anyone vote for him? Just look at the record of this career-politician. What's that definition of "insanity," doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? As unhappy as the people of Michigan should be, they keep sending the same people who created the messes (Dems and Reps) back to DC, Lansing, etc. I'm reminded of what so many suburbanites said during the downfall of Kwame Kilpatrick. The people of Detroit, for electing him not once but twice, got what they deserved. The people of Michigan are getting what they deserve for electing all these Bozos. Unfortunately, the rest of us are getting what they deserve, too.
K and I were at Michael's curriculum night at school last night. It's become too hard to be a parent of a kid in school. I'll bet K copied down a dozen or more Web sites that we are supposed to follow to keep track of achievement, homework, and everything. I left the school pretty well tuckered out from hearing all that I'm supposed to do. How about the teachers just teach my kid(s)? Let me know if there's a major problem. Forget all than damn homework. It's almost as if they are trying already lay the foundation for blame--not on them if students don't do well, but on parents (me). Oh, I don't blame them, in a way. They are getting all this from above. The god of "Technology" has to be used to keep parents involved. (Remember, "parental involvement" to the schools means blindly agreeing with them, supporting whatever they do, no matter how stupid. Cross them mean getting labeled, "a troublemaker" or worse.) But teachers should be able to stand up for somethings, not just kowtow. But, then again, I expect too much of teachers, who have shown me over the years their mettle, or lack of it. I was also dismayed to hear two teachers, at least, say that their classes would "really prepare" students for the ACT. Of course, not every student goes to college and some who do shouldn't. But that's not what upset me. It was the idea that the ACT is it, the be-all and end-all. No doubt this is the result of the push to test, test, test. Yes, it was a distressing visit.
Oh, there's lots more on my mind today, not the least of which is that watching Miggy hit again, now that he's hot, is really great. He roped two shots yesterday, after last week's five home runs. But I have to write a note to Bill Bennett (about teacher tenure), finish up the laundairy [sic], clean up the kitchen dishes, and grade essays (ugh!).
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