With all the attention being given to the legendary pop/rock quartet The Four Seasons lately I thought I'd put my two cents worth in:
I think what made the "Seasons" work is a combination of Frankie Valli's histrionic (somewhat hyperbolic) singing style alongside tight-assedly precise vocal and instrumental arrangements, first-rate production, and some of the most professional backup studio musicians.




Why are the Heavens being so mean to Malaysia these days?
Just what has that country done to anyone else in the world to be deserving of the wrath it's been getting lately?

The More Laws There Are The More Criminals You'll Have

I don't think it's right the way society humiliates those with arrest and conviction records. With so many laws on the books and so many types of acts considered "offenses" it's a wonder 90% of the population doesn't have SOME kind of a criminal record.

I think those who've never been in trouble with the law have either never been caught or they just have influential individuals or organizations covering up for them when they DO fuck up.
Society views them as somehow "too highly regarded to fail".  Not to mention I find the pompous attitudes and sense of self-assurance and self-righteousness of such persons to be insufferable.

What I would wish on such persons:
It's discovered by authorities that one of their offspring has been running a meth lab.
Or, when engaging in one of their usual aggressive driving antics, they either hit a pedestrian or bicycle in a crosswalk (who has the legal right-of-way) ...or, when cutting through a parking lot at full speed (to avoid having to wait for the light) they crash head-on into someone trying to enter the (same) lot.
You know ...the kind of situation they can't weasel their way out of.
 

Elements

What kind of elements should comprise a program, be it a radio program, television program, or a magazine article, or a blog post?

Should it be pragmatic? Should everything be all about protocol, being tightly structured and regulated? Should only reality rule? Should everything be done clinically, no humor or imagination?

Or should it be creative, innovative, inspired, and improvisational? Should we focus on being crafty and "tricky" in a clever manner? Should all dialogue comprise ambiguous double entendre type writing or talk whose meanings are able to extend way beyond the immediate subject matter at hand?
Should it be obsessively philosophical and focus on "intellectual" matters?

Or should it be frivolous and mostly ephemeral, purely "fun-loving" and focused mainly on the "entertainment" aspect?

Personally I think the best programming and literature are those that are able to craftily and discreetly infuse all those elements into one overall package, highlighting each when they're called for and best fitted for the occasion.

                                                             The 1990s:
When a recording group or singer could determine how successful their latest hit was by how often it was getting played at McDonald's



                                                              Sports Obsessed Nation
The fault is not with the sports themselves.  They're simply elaborate interactive games someone concocted way back whenever.
It's the worship and idolatry of both the game and of select players.  When, instead of just being integral to the culture, it becomes too central to it, superceding other equally worthy factions in priority.



Google "mack h67 pics" and up will come photos of Mack's classic "Rolls Royce grill on a Volkswagon" style cabover model from the late-50s/early-60s.

As strange as it sounds, once I'm done producing any one post on this site I only look at it just long enough to proofread it to check for typing errors and proper wording.  Then I "move on" and read other sites.  In fact I enjoy reading what other people write more so than what I put out.

The reason being that I realize my views and opinions are always going to be hampered by my limited knowledge and experiences as well as by whatever inner prejudices I have.
No one person should ever have a final word on any given subject, no matter how enlightened and knowledgeable they are and for just those reasons.

One should be openminded when it comes to the internet, just as they should be with anything else.
To read other people's sites, to go outside of one's niche and belief systems and take into consideration arguments others make for how they think and what they believe.
Not that it should necessarily cause one to turn away from their own worldview, but to realize whatever one thinks is never going to be the last word anyone has on any subject.

Likewise, my blog site represents how things look from my vantage point.
Nothing more, nothing less.

...And so I went out to the country about 30 miles or so east of the city to visit my brother and his elderly godmother and their many cats this past Thursday.

I must say it was nice to be somewhere where one isn't subjected to the constant sound of emergency sirens every half hour or to helicopters hovering above you all the time.  Or to obnoxious traffic noise.

To be around people who talk to me in a respectful and straightforward manner as opposed to cocky strangers making unwarranted contemptuous comments to me  randomly when I've never done anything to them.

The only noise around here were crows screaming at raccoons who were nesting in the bird feeder.

Compare this to an environment that normally resembles the Democratic convention of 1968 in Chicago, or the Detroit race riots of the summer of 1967 ("summer of love"?).  Or a social climate of "Kent State"esque shootings, only instead of a National Guard those who pull the triggers are either local civilian authorities, gang members, or disillusioned despondent individuals who's only good fortune in life seems to be having enough to their name to purchase firearms.

             Richard "Ringo Starr" Starkey turned 74 on Monday.

Mick Jagger also has a birthday later on this month (the 26th, a Saturday).  He is set to turn 71 that day.
He's dating some 29-year-old (or someone like that) at the moment.  What a philanderer!
Too bad old Rolf Harris never had the celebritistic prestige or charisma of old Mick.  He wouldn't be in such hot water now if he did.
What do you think of incompetent authorities who expend all kinds of time, resources, and effort to go after an 84-year-old for stuff he did while still in his 20s, 30s, 40s, and/or 50s?  Obviously a sanctimonious gesture done to obscure their inefficiency as well as to appease popular prejudices and current-day hysteria.
In other words:  If they couldn't nail the guy BACK THEN they should forever hold their peace.  FORGET IT! You waited too long to respond to all of this.

 

The Officious Ones

We all had that ditsy aunt or grandmother whose idea of a Christmas present or birthday present was a sweater that always seemed to be the wrong size.  Who always felt obliged to be "generous", bring over tons of food of which we had to give half away ourselves simply due to not having enough space on our shelves or in our refrigerator to accommodate it all.

Recently some church group provided a "charity" service at the laundromat I always go to, in which they washed, dried, and folded clothes for the patrons for free.  Of course when I handed them my bag I made sure to mention I had detergent in a sandwich bag already premeasured among my dirty clothes, and to make sure not to put my laundry bag itself in the dryer after washing.  (As a "bonus" they were also serving us free hotdogs and soft drinks while we waited for our clothes.)

When I got home to put my clothes away I noticed they were still damp.  Whoever washed my stuff did not put enough time on the dryer apparently.
It was then that I thought: Shit, I would've been better off if they simply handed me a bunch of quarters and just let me do my stuff the way I normally do.

But that's what I'm getting at:  People who do "favors" for you randomly that you never requested or asked for.  All the unwanted gifts.  Bringing you tons of food that you have nowhere to store in your small apartment and can't possibly eat up before it spoils.  Or they loan you personal items of theirs even though you're not into borrowing or lending out yourself.  You wind up "babysitting" someone else's private property for months.

I'm not against people being generous.  It's just that if somebody wants to "do something for" another person they should first make sure that their acts and deeds will actually BENEFIT that other person---as opposed to merely alleviating their own guilty conscience or just being some kind of pious gesture.

In short:  Just give me some goddamn money and I'LL decide for myself what it is I either want or need!

                                                           Musing For Today


There's something to be said about a xenophobic social rank fascist society run by autocratic-minded officials and citizenry running ad campaigns like "End Discrimination Now" and "End Bullying Now".