Before I begin tonight I humbly request that we all join hands in a moment of silence for the latest victim of our economic downturn. I just received news that due to the layoffs at Viacom that John Norris has been let go at MTV. Yes, that John Norris. The guy who originally became a VJ in 1992. Yeah, I can’t believe he still had a job either. Given that they stopped playing music videos in about 1998 I’m not quite sure what his job has actually been. I assume it is making sure that Kurt Loder is safely entombed in his cryogenic chamber. Still, I guess this means we can officially close the era of Alternative Nation.
(Well, at least I can still find Serena Altchul on Sunday morning television. Though I miss Tabitha Soren. All news sounds more hopeful when read by Tabitha Soren.)
Oh, and the Grammy nominations were released today and…is there any award less meaningless than a Grammy? I don’t know anyone whose life dream is to win a Grammy. Christopher Cross has four of them; it’s not as though it is difficult to win them. Mainly my argument with the Grammies is that trying to judge one three minute pop song as being superior to another three minute pop song (amongst a million other three minute pop songs) is a completely frivolous task. There just is no way to create any meaningful definition of good or better so it just turns into a beauty contest. This is before we even get into the concept of comparing Coldplay and Lil Wayne on any sort of level playing field.
True, you could make this definition about any art form but it seems more endemic to music. While you still have genre issues in the Oscars (comedies never win anything unless they are indie films with a humerous bent) I at least find it easier to accept the judging of a few hundred movies with two hours of material to take into account. It still isn’t perfect but at least you can look at the nominees and feel decent that these are amongst the best films of the year. But with the Grammies you know that isn’t the case. Are the Jonas Brothers really one of the five Best New Artists? On the Disney Channel yes but in the real world that is nowhere near the case. So it makes the entire spectacle rather laughable.
Not much else to add tonight. Sorry, had to work really late tonight and I have spent much of the past hour staring at the blank screen trying to find something to discuss. Basically my mind is fried at the moment and all I want to do is sleep for a few hours before I have to make my way back to the office. I’ll try to write something for the messy room over the weekend. Specifically, in honor of The Pick Up Artist I will write one of my favorite Kansas City dating stories. The Dark Knight Returns. It is a great one, trust me.
No comments:
Post a Comment