Very interesting comment on the last post about whether or not Obama qualifies as a Gen Xer. We are certainly agreed in that Obama is the first post-Boomer president, which was the crux of my argument. I had never heard of the Generation Jones concept and I will admit that it does make sense in that using twenty years for generations does create issues when looking at things from a cultural standpoint. I still say that Obama shows Gen X tendencies especially in his embracing of the internet and the understanding of the importance of the medium. Also, Henry Rollins was also born in 1961 and I would like to think that we are of the same generation so take that for what it is worth.
Ok, on to the final five.
9/11: I almost didn’t include this one. Maybe it is because it is so obvious or maybe it is because it is a rather challenging subject to write about. Even though it has almost been eight years the wound is still fresh enough that examining it in a detached manner is difficult but I’ll try.
Obviously this is the biggest historical moment of my lifetime and the one where I can discuss where I was in great detail. I was lying in bed listening to sports talk radio when I heard that the first plane had hit. I ran over to my living room to turn on the news in time to watch the second plane hit live. It still bugs me that when I heard the news I jumped out of bed but Bush decided to keep on reading the children’s book.
What interests me more is how we have changed as a nation as a result. The hope was that we would become a less cynical, more helpful and understanding to our fellow man as a result. Instead I think we have become darker. We lost our boundless optimism and replaced it with a self defeating view of the world. What I find even more telling is that the greatest damage caused by that attack wasn’t by the terrorists: it was by ourselves. The attack was horrible and tragic and we all still feel for the thousands of innocent people who lost their lives that day. But the events that followed: the misguided war, the loss of civil liberties, the crashing of the financial system, none of those were caused by the terrorists. We did that to ourselves out of fear and poor leadership. In fifty years that is how historians will view the events of that day.
My family gets cable: Ok, I guess from a generational viewpoint this would be the mainstream introduction of cable but I will write this solely from my experience. Getting cable meant access to a whole new world of options. Imagine growing up in a world of maybe six or seven channels, several of which came in either fuzzy or in Spanish. Then imagine having forty channels including ones dedicated to music and sports (mainly Australian Rules Football) and children’s programming. It was a completely mind altering experience. The options seemed to be limitless and it has led to my having hundreds of channels of which I watch, well, six or seven.
I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the other main benefit of cable: boobs. Yes, the wonders of premium cable in which you could see naughty bits and hear swear words all in the comfort of your own home. This is another reason why I can’t even comprehend what it must be like to be a 13 year old boy today. In my day it was a huge deal to try to sneak down to the living room late at night to watch something that was forbidden. Now I expect kids just sit in their rooms and download the most vile things imaginable. I never thought that I would refer to my youth as a simpler time.
Launch of the Atari 2600: A major event on so many levels that it can’t even begin to be understood. First off, it was one of the first times in which a new thing became commonplace in a home. People had a television and a stereo. Now they also needed an Atari. This was the first true gaming system for the home and I can’t even begin to estimate just how many hours of my life were spent playing every game imaginable. From the incredibly basic sports games (one on one basketball! Four on four football!) to the epic Activision games of River Raid and Keystone Kapers. And let us not forget Decathalon; the game that taught us the importance of the javelin toss while also giving carpal tunnel syndrome to every man my age.
But really Atari marked the beginning of the home gaming craze. What had started in the arcades (and Pac-Man in the arcades really deserves an honorable mention here) entered the home and has never left. Nintendo took up the banner and now we have Playstation and Xbox and immense online games played on computers. It is considered commonplace to all sit down in front of a screen with a controller in hand and play. Except that in reality that experience is only thirty years old.
Run DMC Releases “Walk This Way”: Rap existed before this song hit the airwaves but no one knew about it. Correction: white suburban kids did not know about it because MTV would not air the videos. But with this song the hip hop revolution was launched and has not stopped since.
It really is amazing to look at just to what extent hip hop has taken over the musical landscape. Back when I studied the sale of ringtones (I’ve had some strange jobs in my life) the top of the sales charts consisted almost entirely of hip hop. It wasn’t even close. You would have to scroll through pages of songs before you came across the first traditional rock band. The same is true in many aspects with album sales. Look at any billboard chart for the past ten years. Hip hop has replaced two guitars, bass and drums as the musical standard.
At its best, rap and hip hop are the first new art form produced by American culture since jazz. At its worst, it can be really, really bad, which doesn’t separate it from any other art form. But everything from music to fashion to language has been influenced by hip hop and it all started with this one song.
I join the internet: Everyone remember when they first got online? For me it was 1993 with a Prodigy account. Technically I was online earlier with an email account through Illinois’ mainframe system but I consider 1993 as the year I entered the internet age. My AOL account was started in 1995 and I will have had the same email address for fourteen years this summer, which is just amazing.
Simply put, the internet changed everything. It gave a reason for people to have a home computer for something other than playing video games. It led you to find people of similar interests from around the world instantaneously. The entire world shrunk. No store was too far away or a conversation to difficult to have. The idea of writing a letter became ludicrous. Even now, I can scarcely remember how I lived before Mapquest. How in the world did people find where they were going? (On a similar note, the launch of the cell phone gets an honorable mention as well due to the fact that without it meeting people in a crowd was essentially impossible.) Thanks to my phone I am essentially online 24 hours a day and run a website that is visited by people on every continent. Pretty amazing event if you ask me.
So there are my fifteen. Let me know if you think there is anything that I missed.
Showing posts with label The influential 15. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The influential 15. Show all posts
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
The Influential 15: Culture (Part Two)
Time for part two of the Top 15 Cultural Moments of my Lifetime. First off though I would like to give an honorable mention to the introduction of the Denny’s Grandslamwich. I know that it was only officially introduced today so I don’t have a lot of historical data to go on but I am certain that this will go down as one of the high points of western civilization. How could you go wrong with “scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, American cheese, mayonnaise and a maple spiced spread between two slices of potato bread?” Finally, a meal for those of us who have sat down at a Denny’s while still technically drunk, looked down at our Grand Slam breakfast and said “You know what would make this better? Mayonnaise. And a convenient way to hold it in your hand.”
Anyway, back to the countdown.
Live Aid: This begins with the release of Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, which I still contend is not only the best charity song ever released but simply one of the best songs of all time. How many other songs from that time frame can you both name and sing in its entirety? This really is the one and only huge concert event of my lifetime. The Baby Boomers can have their Woodstock (three days in the mud to hear Country Joe and the Fish followed by Sha Na Na? The drugs must have been really good.) Gen X will certainly try to disavow any knowledge of Woodstock ’94 (brought to you by Pepsi) and Woodstock ’99 (come for the music, stay for the looting.) Even Lollapalooza never touched the epic scale of Live Aid. It was one of the moments where you spent all of what was a beautiful summer Saturday staying inside watching television because you just did not know what you were going to miss if you left. Led Zeppelin getting back together? Black Sabbath with Ozzy? A reunited Beatles with Julian Lennon replacing John? That last one was plausible on that day. And it was all for a cause that people were really behind. Give Bob Geldof credit, he galvanized the world on the topic of starvation in Africa. While some of the attempts since have focused on needy causes none had the epic scope of Live Aid. Plus, it helped launch U2 into superstardom so we should give it credit for that as well.
The O.J. Simpson Verdict: I was working in an office at ComEd that housed a call center at the time this verdict was read. For the ten minutes before and the five minutes after the verdict they did not receive a single call. This is a call center for one of the largest utilities in the country. That is the best indication that I can give as to how everyone was glued to the television set at the moment this verdict was read. Most people discuss the trial and the verdict and the aftermath from a race viewpoint. In my mind, this trial was all about celebrity. It had little to do with justice or with law and had everything to do with showmanship and fame. Everyone involved became famous. People would comment on Marcia Clark’s wardrobe or Johnnie Cochrane’s wordplay and then go home to watch the Dancing Ito’s on Leno. Yes, in a double murder trial we felt that it was comical to have a vaudeville version of the judge. This wasn’t a trial about race or murder. It was an indication as to how seemingly sensible people can be completely derailed once they discover that the whole world is paying attention to them. And how the shrewd among them can use that aura of celebrity to get away with murder.
Shawn Fanning Launches Napster: The mark of a sea change in the way all media will be created and distributed. We haven’t even begun to understand just what Napster wrought on the world. It wasn’t Shawn’s intention to completely revolutionize (and possibly destroy) the entire entertainment industry. He just wanted to make it easy to share music with his friends. But oh, what a world he has created.
Essentially the issue is this. Napster showed that information and data (which is all that a song or a book or a movie is at the end of the day) wants to be free and easily shared. If I have a copy and I want to lend it to you I will. That has always been true. However, before the internet I would have to physically hand you my copy. Now I can give you a copy over the net that is completely identical to my original. In fact, you don’t even have to be my friend. You can just be some no name online. So we have an end product being treated like it is free when it still costs significant capital to create. People can watch Wolverine before it is even released and the movie studio doesn’t receive a cent for something that cost 50 million to make. That is the biggest issue that Napster has created. How do you have an entertainment industry when there is a system in place that will ensure that you will never profit from your creation?
Also, bonus points for being the application that drove broadband into the forefront. Previously the only people striving for higher bandwith were gamers and people who were interested in accessing the, uh, darker portions of the internet. With the ability to easily download music suddenly the world wanted to go faster. Not a bad accomplishment for a college kid.
Election of Barack Obama: Let’s put politics aside for a moment. Whether you agree with his policies or disagree with them is irrelevant for the points that I am going to make here. Obama marks a massive change in the political landscape. First, he is the first Gen X president. Born in 1961 he just makes the cut under Strauss and Howe’s definition of the 13th Generation (see my 15 Influential Books for more details). After several election cycles in which Baby Boomer candidates were questioned about their activities in Vietnam he comes in from beyond that crisis with a new viewpoint. That alone is worth noting.
But more importantly his election indicates that the idea that anyone can become president has become much more of a reality than it has ever been before. Growing up I assumed that one day we would have an African American as president but it was in the same category as my belief that we would have astronauts flying to Mars and I would have my own flying car. It was a possibility but not a probability. This presidential election though seemed to transcend race. Include Hillary Clinton’s and Sarah Palin’s role and you can even say that it transcended gender. The issue bubbling under the surface wasn’t that of Obama’s race it was the whispers that he might secretly be a Muslim. That is what indicates where the dark side of the American psyche now lies. We may be beyond race but in no way are we beyond religion.
Star Wars Opens on May 25, 1977: No movie ever has or ever will capture the pop culture zeitgeist the way that this movie has. 32 years later and we are still talking about Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. Kids today whose parents hadn’t even been born when the movie was released can discuss in detail the construction of the Death Star. The only near equivalent is Harry Potter but it builds upon much of the same framework. Create a story that children can relate to and imagine themselves in but provides enough escapism for adults.
Even more important though is that it created the world of marketing and mass consumerism that is tied to every mainstream movie release. This is coming from someone who has his childhood Boba Fett action figure sitting on his printer as he types it. I did not play with generic toys as a kid. I played with Star Wars figures, complete with their own pre-developed backstory and neatly leading me to want to watch the next film. This led to the launch (or relaunch) of G.I. Joe, Transformers, He Man and all of the other toy commercials masquerading as cartoons. The line between play and consumerism was erased. While nothing comes between me and the Fett man I can’t say that is a good thing.
Wednesday Night Music Club: Time to promote Neko Case’s new album “Middle Cyclone”. Here is the best song to ever feature the word “Maneater” in the chorus other than Hall and Oates song of the same name.
Anyway, back to the countdown.
Live Aid: This begins with the release of Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, which I still contend is not only the best charity song ever released but simply one of the best songs of all time. How many other songs from that time frame can you both name and sing in its entirety? This really is the one and only huge concert event of my lifetime. The Baby Boomers can have their Woodstock (three days in the mud to hear Country Joe and the Fish followed by Sha Na Na? The drugs must have been really good.) Gen X will certainly try to disavow any knowledge of Woodstock ’94 (brought to you by Pepsi) and Woodstock ’99 (come for the music, stay for the looting.) Even Lollapalooza never touched the epic scale of Live Aid. It was one of the moments where you spent all of what was a beautiful summer Saturday staying inside watching television because you just did not know what you were going to miss if you left. Led Zeppelin getting back together? Black Sabbath with Ozzy? A reunited Beatles with Julian Lennon replacing John? That last one was plausible on that day. And it was all for a cause that people were really behind. Give Bob Geldof credit, he galvanized the world on the topic of starvation in Africa. While some of the attempts since have focused on needy causes none had the epic scope of Live Aid. Plus, it helped launch U2 into superstardom so we should give it credit for that as well.
The O.J. Simpson Verdict: I was working in an office at ComEd that housed a call center at the time this verdict was read. For the ten minutes before and the five minutes after the verdict they did not receive a single call. This is a call center for one of the largest utilities in the country. That is the best indication that I can give as to how everyone was glued to the television set at the moment this verdict was read. Most people discuss the trial and the verdict and the aftermath from a race viewpoint. In my mind, this trial was all about celebrity. It had little to do with justice or with law and had everything to do with showmanship and fame. Everyone involved became famous. People would comment on Marcia Clark’s wardrobe or Johnnie Cochrane’s wordplay and then go home to watch the Dancing Ito’s on Leno. Yes, in a double murder trial we felt that it was comical to have a vaudeville version of the judge. This wasn’t a trial about race or murder. It was an indication as to how seemingly sensible people can be completely derailed once they discover that the whole world is paying attention to them. And how the shrewd among them can use that aura of celebrity to get away with murder.
Shawn Fanning Launches Napster: The mark of a sea change in the way all media will be created and distributed. We haven’t even begun to understand just what Napster wrought on the world. It wasn’t Shawn’s intention to completely revolutionize (and possibly destroy) the entire entertainment industry. He just wanted to make it easy to share music with his friends. But oh, what a world he has created.
Essentially the issue is this. Napster showed that information and data (which is all that a song or a book or a movie is at the end of the day) wants to be free and easily shared. If I have a copy and I want to lend it to you I will. That has always been true. However, before the internet I would have to physically hand you my copy. Now I can give you a copy over the net that is completely identical to my original. In fact, you don’t even have to be my friend. You can just be some no name online. So we have an end product being treated like it is free when it still costs significant capital to create. People can watch Wolverine before it is even released and the movie studio doesn’t receive a cent for something that cost 50 million to make. That is the biggest issue that Napster has created. How do you have an entertainment industry when there is a system in place that will ensure that you will never profit from your creation?
Also, bonus points for being the application that drove broadband into the forefront. Previously the only people striving for higher bandwith were gamers and people who were interested in accessing the, uh, darker portions of the internet. With the ability to easily download music suddenly the world wanted to go faster. Not a bad accomplishment for a college kid.
Election of Barack Obama: Let’s put politics aside for a moment. Whether you agree with his policies or disagree with them is irrelevant for the points that I am going to make here. Obama marks a massive change in the political landscape. First, he is the first Gen X president. Born in 1961 he just makes the cut under Strauss and Howe’s definition of the 13th Generation (see my 15 Influential Books for more details). After several election cycles in which Baby Boomer candidates were questioned about their activities in Vietnam he comes in from beyond that crisis with a new viewpoint. That alone is worth noting.
But more importantly his election indicates that the idea that anyone can become president has become much more of a reality than it has ever been before. Growing up I assumed that one day we would have an African American as president but it was in the same category as my belief that we would have astronauts flying to Mars and I would have my own flying car. It was a possibility but not a probability. This presidential election though seemed to transcend race. Include Hillary Clinton’s and Sarah Palin’s role and you can even say that it transcended gender. The issue bubbling under the surface wasn’t that of Obama’s race it was the whispers that he might secretly be a Muslim. That is what indicates where the dark side of the American psyche now lies. We may be beyond race but in no way are we beyond religion.
Star Wars Opens on May 25, 1977: No movie ever has or ever will capture the pop culture zeitgeist the way that this movie has. 32 years later and we are still talking about Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. Kids today whose parents hadn’t even been born when the movie was released can discuss in detail the construction of the Death Star. The only near equivalent is Harry Potter but it builds upon much of the same framework. Create a story that children can relate to and imagine themselves in but provides enough escapism for adults.
Even more important though is that it created the world of marketing and mass consumerism that is tied to every mainstream movie release. This is coming from someone who has his childhood Boba Fett action figure sitting on his printer as he types it. I did not play with generic toys as a kid. I played with Star Wars figures, complete with their own pre-developed backstory and neatly leading me to want to watch the next film. This led to the launch (or relaunch) of G.I. Joe, Transformers, He Man and all of the other toy commercials masquerading as cartoons. The line between play and consumerism was erased. While nothing comes between me and the Fett man I can’t say that is a good thing.
Wednesday Night Music Club: Time to promote Neko Case’s new album “Middle Cyclone”. Here is the best song to ever feature the word “Maneater” in the chorus other than Hall and Oates song of the same name.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
The Influential 15: Culture (Part One)
Time for me to finish up the Influential 15 thread that I started a few weeks ago with one that will actually have some sociological reasoning behind it (as opposed to discussions of my love of science fiction and British comedy). Tonight will be part one of my examination of the 15 most influential cultural moments of my lifetime. Again, I am talking about being memorable and life changing here as opposed to the best moments of my life. Many of those were not nationally televised (though some have come with a live blog feed). So keep that in mind.
Also, this is being written by someone who was born in 1973 and all of this is from that mindset. As a result I will not be listing Woodstock or landing on the moon as they do not fit my timeframe as well as the former being overrated and the latter being filmed on a soundstage in Arizona. Plan is to examine five a night for the next three nights. Let’s go…
Nirvana releases Smells like Teen Spirit / Kurt Cobain commits suicide: I do not know how to separate these two events any more. Every reference to one must include a reference to the other. In my mind, this is the biggest event of my life and I know that many people may consider that strange or shallow but let me explain. Smells like Teen Spirit was released in 1991 soon after I had turned 18. Not only did it mark music going into a completely different direction (the death of hair metal and the rise of grunge) but it marked the entry of Generation X into the forefront of the cultural landscape. Suddenly the airwaves were filled with people who looked and thought like I did. After years of living in the wake of the Baby Boomers we had finally entered the limelight. And two and a half years later, as I neared my 21st birthday, it all ended at our own hands. While the opening notes of Smells like Teen Spirit marked the birth of grunge the gunshot marked the end of it. We had lost our leader and we never recovered. What was a group of energetic, if slightly disheveled, 18 year olds had become a band of world weary 21 year olds who had already seen the dark side of life. Generation X walked away from the limelight. We went to take care of ourselves, to make art and music and movies on our own terms as we saw that the spotlight could destroy your soul. We ceded that scene to Gen Y with the Britney’s and Lindsey’s who thought nothing of sacrificing their being for five more seconds of fame. Generation X still exists 15 years after Kurt’s death. We’re just still haunted by it.
The Real World premieres on MTV: This should make the list just for starting the reality television revolution. True, it wasn’t until Survivor that the major networks realized how cost effective it was to put real people who were either telegenic, interesting or hopefully both into a contrived situation with a number of cameramen and see what happens but The Real World marked the start of the modern era of the genre. Given the amount of programming that falls into this realm it deserves a place on the list.
More importantly though it makes an appearance because, as in the words of Matthew McConnaghy in Dazed and Confused “I get older but the cast of The Real World stays the same age.” This creates for an incredibly cultural study as I view the cast through my eyes. The first several seasons were wonderful and I was completely hooked as I was the same age as the cast members and I could see myself as being on the show (and longtime blog commentator Super Dave did almost make the Miami cast). I would watch the show and think which girl would I like to date and who would I want to hang out at a bar with. As the seasons progressed though I found myself connecting less and less with the cast and therefore being less engrossed with the show. I started finding the characters shallow and annoying. At first I thought this was a result of casting but as the years have progressed I realized it was just because they are 21 years old. All 21 year olds are shallow and annoying, the 21 year old version of myself included. Now I can’t even watch the show. A 21 year old today was one when the Berlin Wall fell, seven when Cobain died and 13 on 9/11. What in the world would I have in common with them other than we both breathe oxygen?
The Miracle on Ice (US defeats the USSR in Lake Placid): You know what is sad? I really felt required to write that little explanation because I’m not sure if everyone would understand the reference if I just said Miracle on Ice. Even though I was six at the time even I knew that this was a huge deal. The underdog group of college kids competing in the Olympics against the evil Soviet professional players who were expected to walk all over them. The desire and heart shown in their miracle win (helped by the fact that the Soviets pulled Tretriak (the greatest goalie of all time) after the first period) that really shook a nation from an emotional low point driven by the Iran hostage drama, a bad economy, and the Soviet threat. I don’t know if people even ten years younger than me can understand living under the threat of nuclear war. I grew up with the understanding that it was entirely possible that the world would end before I would even have a chance to grow up. The Doomsday Clock was two minutes to midnight. This hockey game gave us hope that there was light at the end of the tunnel.
Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger: This was the first “Do you remember where you were when” moments of my life. It’s strange how this event has taken up such a bigger cultural role than the loss of Columbia. The end result is the same tragedy: seven lives are lost in a tragic accident but for some reason Challenger has a much stronger tie on the psyche. Part of it is due to Christa McCauliff, the teacher in space who was on the flight which meant that many of us were watching the launch from our classrooms. Part of it is due to the fact that the space program had been infallible for decades. I was a NASA geek and couldn’t really comprehend how we could put a man on the moon (allegedly) and fail a simple launch. (And I have to admit that 11 year old me was immediately concerned with how this would impact the future of the space program). But I think the real reason this plays such an important role in the memories of Gen X is that this was our first huge “huddle around the TV” moment. It is a nature of life that there are significant, world changing events in the course of a generation. Gen X wasn’t aware during the turmoil of the 60’s and even I was too young to fully comprehend the assassination attempts on Reagan and the Pope. The Challenger disaster was the first time when all of the channels were turned to the same story and it was one I comprehended.
(Side note: I also learned how quickly off-color jokes are formed in the wake of a disaster. In this case I believe I was hearing them on the playground the next day.)
Christian Laettner hits “The Shot” to defeat Kentucky in the East Regional Final: A few years ago if you asked me to list the top five moments of my life this would have made the list, which is pretty sad given that I a) wasn’t there, b) Duke rejected my application and c) I was sitting alone in a dorm room at Illinois at the time. Luckily my life has improved since then. It would still make the top twenty. Ok, fifteen.
Easily the best college basketball game I have ever seen as Duke races out to the early lead to only see Kentucky claw back into it resulting in the best last few minutes of regulation and overtime ever. Every possession seemed to be a matter of life or death as the lead constantly changed hands until with 2.1 seconds left Duke was down one and Grant Hill through the ball the length of the court to Christian. With a quick fake, two dribbles and a fadeaway Christian cemented his place in history. He ended with a perfect game: ten for ten from the field, ten for ten from the line, and perfect hair throughout.
Why does this matter to me? Because I was a Duke fan who wanted to be Christian Laettner. In high school I became a Duke fan thanks to the encouragement of an English teacher. This was before the program became synonymous with first excellence and later arrogance. For me as a teenager it was just the team that played the game the way I thought it should be played and who I supported when no one else did. And twice a week after dealing with the living horror that is high school I would go home and watch my team win. Culminating in my favorite player hitting the game winning shot in the biggest game of his career. After seeing that, you pretty much realize that everything is possible.
Also, this is being written by someone who was born in 1973 and all of this is from that mindset. As a result I will not be listing Woodstock or landing on the moon as they do not fit my timeframe as well as the former being overrated and the latter being filmed on a soundstage in Arizona. Plan is to examine five a night for the next three nights. Let’s go…
Nirvana releases Smells like Teen Spirit / Kurt Cobain commits suicide: I do not know how to separate these two events any more. Every reference to one must include a reference to the other. In my mind, this is the biggest event of my life and I know that many people may consider that strange or shallow but let me explain. Smells like Teen Spirit was released in 1991 soon after I had turned 18. Not only did it mark music going into a completely different direction (the death of hair metal and the rise of grunge) but it marked the entry of Generation X into the forefront of the cultural landscape. Suddenly the airwaves were filled with people who looked and thought like I did. After years of living in the wake of the Baby Boomers we had finally entered the limelight. And two and a half years later, as I neared my 21st birthday, it all ended at our own hands. While the opening notes of Smells like Teen Spirit marked the birth of grunge the gunshot marked the end of it. We had lost our leader and we never recovered. What was a group of energetic, if slightly disheveled, 18 year olds had become a band of world weary 21 year olds who had already seen the dark side of life. Generation X walked away from the limelight. We went to take care of ourselves, to make art and music and movies on our own terms as we saw that the spotlight could destroy your soul. We ceded that scene to Gen Y with the Britney’s and Lindsey’s who thought nothing of sacrificing their being for five more seconds of fame. Generation X still exists 15 years after Kurt’s death. We’re just still haunted by it.
The Real World premieres on MTV: This should make the list just for starting the reality television revolution. True, it wasn’t until Survivor that the major networks realized how cost effective it was to put real people who were either telegenic, interesting or hopefully both into a contrived situation with a number of cameramen and see what happens but The Real World marked the start of the modern era of the genre. Given the amount of programming that falls into this realm it deserves a place on the list.
More importantly though it makes an appearance because, as in the words of Matthew McConnaghy in Dazed and Confused “I get older but the cast of The Real World stays the same age.” This creates for an incredibly cultural study as I view the cast through my eyes. The first several seasons were wonderful and I was completely hooked as I was the same age as the cast members and I could see myself as being on the show (and longtime blog commentator Super Dave did almost make the Miami cast). I would watch the show and think which girl would I like to date and who would I want to hang out at a bar with. As the seasons progressed though I found myself connecting less and less with the cast and therefore being less engrossed with the show. I started finding the characters shallow and annoying. At first I thought this was a result of casting but as the years have progressed I realized it was just because they are 21 years old. All 21 year olds are shallow and annoying, the 21 year old version of myself included. Now I can’t even watch the show. A 21 year old today was one when the Berlin Wall fell, seven when Cobain died and 13 on 9/11. What in the world would I have in common with them other than we both breathe oxygen?
The Miracle on Ice (US defeats the USSR in Lake Placid): You know what is sad? I really felt required to write that little explanation because I’m not sure if everyone would understand the reference if I just said Miracle on Ice. Even though I was six at the time even I knew that this was a huge deal. The underdog group of college kids competing in the Olympics against the evil Soviet professional players who were expected to walk all over them. The desire and heart shown in their miracle win (helped by the fact that the Soviets pulled Tretriak (the greatest goalie of all time) after the first period) that really shook a nation from an emotional low point driven by the Iran hostage drama, a bad economy, and the Soviet threat. I don’t know if people even ten years younger than me can understand living under the threat of nuclear war. I grew up with the understanding that it was entirely possible that the world would end before I would even have a chance to grow up. The Doomsday Clock was two minutes to midnight. This hockey game gave us hope that there was light at the end of the tunnel.
Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger: This was the first “Do you remember where you were when” moments of my life. It’s strange how this event has taken up such a bigger cultural role than the loss of Columbia. The end result is the same tragedy: seven lives are lost in a tragic accident but for some reason Challenger has a much stronger tie on the psyche. Part of it is due to Christa McCauliff, the teacher in space who was on the flight which meant that many of us were watching the launch from our classrooms. Part of it is due to the fact that the space program had been infallible for decades. I was a NASA geek and couldn’t really comprehend how we could put a man on the moon (allegedly) and fail a simple launch. (And I have to admit that 11 year old me was immediately concerned with how this would impact the future of the space program). But I think the real reason this plays such an important role in the memories of Gen X is that this was our first huge “huddle around the TV” moment. It is a nature of life that there are significant, world changing events in the course of a generation. Gen X wasn’t aware during the turmoil of the 60’s and even I was too young to fully comprehend the assassination attempts on Reagan and the Pope. The Challenger disaster was the first time when all of the channels were turned to the same story and it was one I comprehended.
(Side note: I also learned how quickly off-color jokes are formed in the wake of a disaster. In this case I believe I was hearing them on the playground the next day.)
Christian Laettner hits “The Shot” to defeat Kentucky in the East Regional Final: A few years ago if you asked me to list the top five moments of my life this would have made the list, which is pretty sad given that I a) wasn’t there, b) Duke rejected my application and c) I was sitting alone in a dorm room at Illinois at the time. Luckily my life has improved since then. It would still make the top twenty. Ok, fifteen.
Easily the best college basketball game I have ever seen as Duke races out to the early lead to only see Kentucky claw back into it resulting in the best last few minutes of regulation and overtime ever. Every possession seemed to be a matter of life or death as the lead constantly changed hands until with 2.1 seconds left Duke was down one and Grant Hill through the ball the length of the court to Christian. With a quick fake, two dribbles and a fadeaway Christian cemented his place in history. He ended with a perfect game: ten for ten from the field, ten for ten from the line, and perfect hair throughout.
Why does this matter to me? Because I was a Duke fan who wanted to be Christian Laettner. In high school I became a Duke fan thanks to the encouragement of an English teacher. This was before the program became synonymous with first excellence and later arrogance. For me as a teenager it was just the team that played the game the way I thought it should be played and who I supported when no one else did. And twice a week after dealing with the living horror that is high school I would go home and watch my team win. Culminating in my favorite player hitting the game winning shot in the biggest game of his career. After seeing that, you pretty much realize that everything is possible.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The Influential 15: TV (Continued)
Yes, I know that I missed a post on Thursday night. That is probably the first post that I missed where I wasn’t a) out of town or b) dealing with a medical misadventure in several years. I do have a vaguely valid reason for it. I was at a Flyers game that night and then came home to watch Duke screw up in a rather epic fashion and was just not in the mood to sit down and write. Over the last week or so I felt that I needed to take a momentary break from the blog and I decided that Thursday night was it. Maybe a long weekend is what I needed to refill my creative batteries after nearly four and a half years of constant writing.
However, I still owe the second half of the fifteen most inluential television shows so here they are.
Monty Python’s Flying Circus: Again, a pretty obvious no brainer for anyone who knows me. The epitome of television comedy and an example of what can happen when you break all of the rules. Did you know that over the entire series that there is only one episode that contains a plot from the beginning to the end? All of the other episodes are made up of the continual switching of sketches where one can start in a barber shop and end by singing about lumberjacks. I include this not just because it taught me everything I know about comedy but also because it represents the wonder that was watching PBS late at night for British shows. Dr. Who, Prisoner from Cell Block H, Red Dwarf, the original Whose Line is it Anyway all of which I found out about by staying up too late on a Sunday night watching PBS.
How I Met Your Mother: I am still contemplating suing the creators of this show for stealing my life and placing it on the air. There was a time when I really felt that there was a camera crew following me at all times to record my every misadventure to be used in an upcoming episode. Luckily an increase in my medication and the strange fact that Ted has become a bit more of a jerk in recent seasons has put a stop to that. Great show for two reasons. One is that it shows what life is really like in terms of being single in your late twenties. The conversations do seem to be taken from bar talk that I have had with my friends and everything seems to have a bit more of a realistic tinge to it. I just could never say the same thing about Friends. The other reason is that Barney may be one of the greatest characters ever created. Not only is it believable that he owns a life size stormtrooper, sleeps in a pajama suit and hires a group of actors to portray his family so his mom will think that he is happily married but when he falls for Robin you still cheer for him to get the girl. Greatness all around.
Junkyard Wars: Sigh. How I miss Junkyard Wars. Still one of the greatest ideas ever where you take two teams, place them in a junkyard and tell them “You have twelve hours to build a hovercraft. Get to it.” For engineers or people who just like to see how things get built or even those who like to study problem solving techniques this show was amazing. I still can’t figure out how some of these teams pulled off what they did. Do you know how hard it is to build a glider or an amphibious vehicle in one day? I wouldn’t even think it was possible but these teams would do it every single time. Honorable mention here to Robot Wars and Battle Bots because I would be remiss if I did not give praise to those shows that honored those upstanding members of our community who spend their free time building killer robots.
3-2-1 Contact: The greatest PBS show ever! Screw Zoom and the Electric Company, though bonus points for having Spider Man as a character, nothing can touch the wonders that was 3-2-1 Contact. I have this show to thank and or blame for my having a degree in electrical engineering. I’m not sure if there ever was a show that so enthralled me in the world of science and nature. Even Mr. Wizard’s World was a little stale in comparison. Mainly because Mr. Wizard didn’t get to go backstage at a freaking Kiss concert to show how the lighting and explosions worked. Also, Mr. Wizard totally lacked the Bloodhound Detective Agency, most likely due to the fact that twelve year olds shouldn’t be placed in harms way in an attempt to solve crime.
Beavis and Butt-Head: Ah, college. Where every night can be spent watching Beavis and Butt-head and laughing like a complete maniac. In my mind the videos were the best part of the show as the two would just rip on every stupid song that MTV would play every five minutes. It was wonderfully subversive: the networks most popular show stating that much of the music that they were promoting was crap. As the show progressed the episodes themselves became better and better and would occasionally have you rolling on the ground laughing. Bonus points for the spin off of Daria, which was one of the few shows that had an intelligent female teenage lead even if it was a cartoon. Oh, and if you didn’t have a crush on Jane you didn’t have a soul.
Head of the Class: Sigh. I wish my high school honors program was like the one in Head of the Class. I would have gladly have had a Scottish comedian or a refuge from WKRP in Cincinnati who could probably score me some pot as a teacher. The interesting thing is that while the show played on the stereotypes of who smart kids in school are they actually got a lot of them right. You do have the kids who are pushed by their parents, the tough guy who happens to be really bright, the sensitive poet girl, the computer expert, and the skinny guy with glasses who happens to be really good at math. Not that I considered myself to be Arvid or anything. Mainly this was an escape show for me growing up as it was the only show about high school where I felt that I could fit in. I would not make the cut on 90210 but here I would.
The Muppet Show: People make such a big deal about Shrek and the Pixar movies and how they were able to mesh entertainment for children together with entertainment for adults as if that is a new thing. Meanwhile The Muppet Show did it earlier and better than anyone in history. We all still know who Kermit and Miss Piggy and Gonzo are even though the show has been out of the spotlight for years. It was almost like Monty Python with puppets in the way the show would break the rules and have Stadler and Waldorf cynically comment on the show from the balcony. Slapstick comedy, interesting guests, Pigs in Space, get this on DVD now.
VR 5: You do not remember this show. Odds are you aren’t even aware this show existed unless you were really into the X-Files as this show aired at roughly the same time. It was a single season show starring Lori Singer as the daughter of this computer science expert with a massively complex plot about virtual reality and government conspiracies. Despite the fact that they were able to access photorealistic worlds via a dial up modem this was the first show that I can recall that hit upon the idea of virtual worlds as a significant plot point. I even felt it went a few steps beyond The X-Files in terms of creating an over arching plot and is more of a precursor to Lost and Heroes than anything. It is one of the shows that I remember and wish that it had a bit more of a following than it did.
Best of 120 Minutes: I’m in the mood for some old school R.E.M. tonight. Here is a video from back in the Southern Gothic era.
The five random CDs of the week:
1) R.E.M. “Reckoning”
2) Joe Ely “Live at Antone’s”
3) Kelly Willis “What I Deserve”
4) The Sundays “Reading, Writing and Arithmetic”
5) The Iguanas “Sugar Town”
However, I still owe the second half of the fifteen most inluential television shows so here they are.
Monty Python’s Flying Circus: Again, a pretty obvious no brainer for anyone who knows me. The epitome of television comedy and an example of what can happen when you break all of the rules. Did you know that over the entire series that there is only one episode that contains a plot from the beginning to the end? All of the other episodes are made up of the continual switching of sketches where one can start in a barber shop and end by singing about lumberjacks. I include this not just because it taught me everything I know about comedy but also because it represents the wonder that was watching PBS late at night for British shows. Dr. Who, Prisoner from Cell Block H, Red Dwarf, the original Whose Line is it Anyway all of which I found out about by staying up too late on a Sunday night watching PBS.
How I Met Your Mother: I am still contemplating suing the creators of this show for stealing my life and placing it on the air. There was a time when I really felt that there was a camera crew following me at all times to record my every misadventure to be used in an upcoming episode. Luckily an increase in my medication and the strange fact that Ted has become a bit more of a jerk in recent seasons has put a stop to that. Great show for two reasons. One is that it shows what life is really like in terms of being single in your late twenties. The conversations do seem to be taken from bar talk that I have had with my friends and everything seems to have a bit more of a realistic tinge to it. I just could never say the same thing about Friends. The other reason is that Barney may be one of the greatest characters ever created. Not only is it believable that he owns a life size stormtrooper, sleeps in a pajama suit and hires a group of actors to portray his family so his mom will think that he is happily married but when he falls for Robin you still cheer for him to get the girl. Greatness all around.
Junkyard Wars: Sigh. How I miss Junkyard Wars. Still one of the greatest ideas ever where you take two teams, place them in a junkyard and tell them “You have twelve hours to build a hovercraft. Get to it.” For engineers or people who just like to see how things get built or even those who like to study problem solving techniques this show was amazing. I still can’t figure out how some of these teams pulled off what they did. Do you know how hard it is to build a glider or an amphibious vehicle in one day? I wouldn’t even think it was possible but these teams would do it every single time. Honorable mention here to Robot Wars and Battle Bots because I would be remiss if I did not give praise to those shows that honored those upstanding members of our community who spend their free time building killer robots.
3-2-1 Contact: The greatest PBS show ever! Screw Zoom and the Electric Company, though bonus points for having Spider Man as a character, nothing can touch the wonders that was 3-2-1 Contact. I have this show to thank and or blame for my having a degree in electrical engineering. I’m not sure if there ever was a show that so enthralled me in the world of science and nature. Even Mr. Wizard’s World was a little stale in comparison. Mainly because Mr. Wizard didn’t get to go backstage at a freaking Kiss concert to show how the lighting and explosions worked. Also, Mr. Wizard totally lacked the Bloodhound Detective Agency, most likely due to the fact that twelve year olds shouldn’t be placed in harms way in an attempt to solve crime.
Beavis and Butt-Head: Ah, college. Where every night can be spent watching Beavis and Butt-head and laughing like a complete maniac. In my mind the videos were the best part of the show as the two would just rip on every stupid song that MTV would play every five minutes. It was wonderfully subversive: the networks most popular show stating that much of the music that they were promoting was crap. As the show progressed the episodes themselves became better and better and would occasionally have you rolling on the ground laughing. Bonus points for the spin off of Daria, which was one of the few shows that had an intelligent female teenage lead even if it was a cartoon. Oh, and if you didn’t have a crush on Jane you didn’t have a soul.
Head of the Class: Sigh. I wish my high school honors program was like the one in Head of the Class. I would have gladly have had a Scottish comedian or a refuge from WKRP in Cincinnati who could probably score me some pot as a teacher. The interesting thing is that while the show played on the stereotypes of who smart kids in school are they actually got a lot of them right. You do have the kids who are pushed by their parents, the tough guy who happens to be really bright, the sensitive poet girl, the computer expert, and the skinny guy with glasses who happens to be really good at math. Not that I considered myself to be Arvid or anything. Mainly this was an escape show for me growing up as it was the only show about high school where I felt that I could fit in. I would not make the cut on 90210 but here I would.
The Muppet Show: People make such a big deal about Shrek and the Pixar movies and how they were able to mesh entertainment for children together with entertainment for adults as if that is a new thing. Meanwhile The Muppet Show did it earlier and better than anyone in history. We all still know who Kermit and Miss Piggy and Gonzo are even though the show has been out of the spotlight for years. It was almost like Monty Python with puppets in the way the show would break the rules and have Stadler and Waldorf cynically comment on the show from the balcony. Slapstick comedy, interesting guests, Pigs in Space, get this on DVD now.
VR 5: You do not remember this show. Odds are you aren’t even aware this show existed unless you were really into the X-Files as this show aired at roughly the same time. It was a single season show starring Lori Singer as the daughter of this computer science expert with a massively complex plot about virtual reality and government conspiracies. Despite the fact that they were able to access photorealistic worlds via a dial up modem this was the first show that I can recall that hit upon the idea of virtual worlds as a significant plot point. I even felt it went a few steps beyond The X-Files in terms of creating an over arching plot and is more of a precursor to Lost and Heroes than anything. It is one of the shows that I remember and wish that it had a bit more of a following than it did.
Best of 120 Minutes: I’m in the mood for some old school R.E.M. tonight. Here is a video from back in the Southern Gothic era.
The five random CDs of the week:
1) R.E.M. “Reckoning”
2) Joe Ely “Live at Antone’s”
3) Kelly Willis “What I Deserve”
4) The Sundays “Reading, Writing and Arithmetic”
5) The Iguanas “Sugar Town”
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The Influential 15: TV
I can finally get back on track and return to doing what I do best: writing about old television shows. Tonight we will begin the analysis of the 15 most influential television shows of my life. I say begin because for ease from a reading and writing perspective I am going to do this in two parts. Again, the idea behind the influential list is that these may not be the best shows of all times or my favorites. They are all shows that influenced the way I interpreted culture.
The Simpsons: Absolutely no doubt that this is where I would have to start. As someone who was called Bart throughout high school (a nickname that predated the show) I was a fan from the very first episode. No question that this completely changed the way animation was viewed in that it was no longer relegated to Saturday mornings or loose plots disguised as advertisements for action figures. It changed the idea of comedy as it worked on so many levels. Some people saw it as the crazy antics of Bart, others caught the subtle political humor while others focused on the incredible literary references. And while the show has gone downhill in recent years they can still knock me over with laughter as they did this weekend with Once jokes. Will you stop sending pianos?
You Can’t Do That on Television: The absolute best after school television show ever. Who knew that Canadians could be so funny? This was Saturday Night Live for the pre-teen crowd but with even more inventive comedy. The fourth wall was broken from the moment the show started and they created enough running gags to fill a pop culture guide book. Green slime, locker jokes, Barth’s Burgers, buckets of water, the firing squad, I could go on and on. Heck, Christine was referred to as Moose the entire show and no one ever thought that it might be really bad from a body image perspective to do that. This show helped form the foundation of my sense of humor.
The Monkees: I have argued that The Monkees should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I will also argue that they should be in the TV Hall of Fame, the Baseball Hall of Fame, and every other Hall of Fame in existence. In essence, this show was as groundbreaking as a show could be. From the opening credits, featuring scenes from episodes that didn’t exist and featured the cast members being jumbled around, to the constant asides to the audience to the quick cuts and sight gags this show set the standard for off the wall comedy. Think about Family Guy’s cutaway gags. The Monkees did it first. MTV videos back when they actually showed videos? Monkees did it first. And don’t forget that the music was a great launching point for country rock and people still love the songs. This is the DVD set I want more than anything.
Sports Night: Back when I kind of lost hope that television was going to turn out to be much of anything this show came along and really made me realize just how wonderful a well written and well acted show could be. The concept was simple, the backstage goings on at an ESPN type network, and most people were confused by thinking that it was a sitcom and about sports except that it was neither. Sports exists in the same way that medicine exists on ER, as something to help out the plot. And while it was a comedy there were no punchlines or wacky neighbors. Just well rounded characters with flaws being witty and urbane. And I would kill to be Jeremy in real life.
Quantum Leap: A science fiction show that did not scare people away by the fact that it was science fiction. That is a rather difficult challenge. When you write a show that features time travel and a wise cracking hologram you are setting yourself up for failure. Instead you had Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell putting on the best two character show as they were able to subtly build their relationship within weekly plots that could vary from the humorous to the romantic to the dramatic. Also, while a bit overhanded, it was a wonderful show in terms of presenting America in the second half of the twentieth century. As someone who never had a history class get past the civil war a show about the Cuban missle crisis was very enlightening.
Night Court: There are people who will be upest that I do not list Cheers or Seinfeld here. TO be honest, I was never that big of a Seinfeld fan and while I watched Cheers I’m not sure if I can recall that many punch lines. But Night Court I can remember episode after episode. Maybe the best cast of characters ever for a sitcom. Judge Harry, Bull, Dan Fielding, Markie Post (I assume her character had a name), the occasional Mel Torme sighting, the list goes on and on. It was wacky humor in a courtroom, which is something you almost never see. There are a ton of law dramas, some of which try to bring in occasional comedy, but you seldom see it as a setting for comedy. But Night Court worked and was the funniest show out there for a long time.
Real People: The start of reality television. Ok, maybe not (I could probably give that award to Candid Camera) but am I the only one who remembers just how huge of a show this was in the early 80’s? It launched the careers of Sarah Purcell and Skip Stephenson! It consisted almost entirely of badly shot tapes of eccentric people and places across the US followed up by really bad comedy. And Peter Billingsly was also on the show. Never really explained why he was, they just happened to always keep him around the set. Maybe this show was my first indication that if you promote to the lowest common denominator you will never go out of business. The show was stupid and sophomoric and was constantly at the top of the ratings.
The Simpsons: Absolutely no doubt that this is where I would have to start. As someone who was called Bart throughout high school (a nickname that predated the show) I was a fan from the very first episode. No question that this completely changed the way animation was viewed in that it was no longer relegated to Saturday mornings or loose plots disguised as advertisements for action figures. It changed the idea of comedy as it worked on so many levels. Some people saw it as the crazy antics of Bart, others caught the subtle political humor while others focused on the incredible literary references. And while the show has gone downhill in recent years they can still knock me over with laughter as they did this weekend with Once jokes. Will you stop sending pianos?
You Can’t Do That on Television: The absolute best after school television show ever. Who knew that Canadians could be so funny? This was Saturday Night Live for the pre-teen crowd but with even more inventive comedy. The fourth wall was broken from the moment the show started and they created enough running gags to fill a pop culture guide book. Green slime, locker jokes, Barth’s Burgers, buckets of water, the firing squad, I could go on and on. Heck, Christine was referred to as Moose the entire show and no one ever thought that it might be really bad from a body image perspective to do that. This show helped form the foundation of my sense of humor.
The Monkees: I have argued that The Monkees should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I will also argue that they should be in the TV Hall of Fame, the Baseball Hall of Fame, and every other Hall of Fame in existence. In essence, this show was as groundbreaking as a show could be. From the opening credits, featuring scenes from episodes that didn’t exist and featured the cast members being jumbled around, to the constant asides to the audience to the quick cuts and sight gags this show set the standard for off the wall comedy. Think about Family Guy’s cutaway gags. The Monkees did it first. MTV videos back when they actually showed videos? Monkees did it first. And don’t forget that the music was a great launching point for country rock and people still love the songs. This is the DVD set I want more than anything.
Sports Night: Back when I kind of lost hope that television was going to turn out to be much of anything this show came along and really made me realize just how wonderful a well written and well acted show could be. The concept was simple, the backstage goings on at an ESPN type network, and most people were confused by thinking that it was a sitcom and about sports except that it was neither. Sports exists in the same way that medicine exists on ER, as something to help out the plot. And while it was a comedy there were no punchlines or wacky neighbors. Just well rounded characters with flaws being witty and urbane. And I would kill to be Jeremy in real life.
Quantum Leap: A science fiction show that did not scare people away by the fact that it was science fiction. That is a rather difficult challenge. When you write a show that features time travel and a wise cracking hologram you are setting yourself up for failure. Instead you had Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell putting on the best two character show as they were able to subtly build their relationship within weekly plots that could vary from the humorous to the romantic to the dramatic. Also, while a bit overhanded, it was a wonderful show in terms of presenting America in the second half of the twentieth century. As someone who never had a history class get past the civil war a show about the Cuban missle crisis was very enlightening.
Night Court: There are people who will be upest that I do not list Cheers or Seinfeld here. TO be honest, I was never that big of a Seinfeld fan and while I watched Cheers I’m not sure if I can recall that many punch lines. But Night Court I can remember episode after episode. Maybe the best cast of characters ever for a sitcom. Judge Harry, Bull, Dan Fielding, Markie Post (I assume her character had a name), the occasional Mel Torme sighting, the list goes on and on. It was wacky humor in a courtroom, which is something you almost never see. There are a ton of law dramas, some of which try to bring in occasional comedy, but you seldom see it as a setting for comedy. But Night Court worked and was the funniest show out there for a long time.
Real People: The start of reality television. Ok, maybe not (I could probably give that award to Candid Camera) but am I the only one who remembers just how huge of a show this was in the early 80’s? It launched the careers of Sarah Purcell and Skip Stephenson! It consisted almost entirely of badly shot tapes of eccentric people and places across the US followed up by really bad comedy. And Peter Billingsly was also on the show. Never really explained why he was, they just happened to always keep him around the set. Maybe this show was my first indication that if you promote to the lowest common denominator you will never go out of business. The show was stupid and sophomoric and was constantly at the top of the ratings.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The Influential 15: Movies
I would like to take a moment to congratulate “The Birdman” Koko B. Ware on his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. Yes, the guy who brought the parrot to the ring and seemingly lost every match he ever appeared in has made the Hall of Fame. Like everyone else on the internet, I am appalled as to how this makes the WWE look like a sham. If a pro wrestling hall of fame cannot have standards what do we have to look to in this world?
Alright, time for the 15 most influential movies of my life.
Star Wars (Episode IV: A New Hope): Well, duh. This might be the first movie that I ever saw in a theater and I would have been four or five at the time (I certainly remember seeing it at a theater). If I need to explain to you just how awesome this movie is you really shouldn’t be reading the blog. I mean it’s got space ships, lightsabers, grossly inaccurate stormtroopers, poorly designed waste disposal systems and Darth freakin Vader. Oh, and Carrie Fisher doesn’t wear a bra throughout the entire film. ‘Nuff said.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Again, there should be no surprise that this film is on the list. Easily my choice for the best comedy of all time. The amazing thing is how well this film has aged. I could watch it tonight and still laugh my ass off even though the film is thirty years old and I’ve seen it a hundred times already. I mean, the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch? The Knights that say Ni? Sir Not Appearing in this Film? Just brilliance.
Casablanca: If there is any old school actor that I would want to be it would be Humphrey Bogart. He was hard edged cool. A Cary Grant always carried himself with the air of someone who knew he would get his way because he was so handsome. Bogart looked like a guy who was going to smoke half a pack of unfiltered cigarettes, down half a bottle of whiskey and still steal your woman from you by just being gruff and cool at the same time. I consider this to be the best film ever made. Unbelievable writing and acting and an ending that does not cave into Hollywood expectations.
Before Sunrise / Before Sunset: I have to combine these two into one entry because they comprise one ongoing story. Now it is true that part of my including these films is my complete adoration of Julie Delpy and any film that essentially consists of her walking around and talking has my vote. But what really strikes me about these films is how they really do capture what life is like at least for people like me. I am roughly the same age as the characters and the conversations that they have are the same as I have on dates. These strange philosophical discussions on life and love and wondering if you can ever find the one. Before Sunset is the better film because it is messy, as is life.
Kicking and Screaming: No, this is not the one where Will Ferrell coaches a children’s soccer team. I’m talking about the Noah Baumbach that had Parker Posey in it. This is my hidden gem of a film. Few people know about it, or remember it from the mid nineties, but I feel that I could pop in the DVD and make anyone a believer. It is a film that focuses on what happens in those moments after you graduate college. When you have no interest in joining the real world but are now forced to be an adult. It is one of the few films that really speaks to that phase of your life where you are adrift and still find yourself back on the college campus because that is all you know. And it has one of my favorite endings ever, which I won’t spoil for you here.
The Blues Brothers: The quintessential Chicago film. There are a few people who would say Ferris Beuller is more representative of the city but really that is a suburban view of Chicago where you wander around the Art Institute, see a parade and catch a Cubs game. The Blues Brothers captures the grittiness of the city and the sense of the neighborhoods. Oh and the music, don’t forget the music. As a kid in Chicago this was required viewing whenever it was on television. If it was on cable we got to hear all of the swearing and when it was on ABC we got to hear, oh, maybe half the script. But they kept the car chases and that was all that mattered.
Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: This is the Gene Wilder version and not the Johnny Depp version. If you ask me what is the scariest film of all time I will answer immediately “Willie Wonka”. I’m not much of a horror fan but none of those films have ever freaked me out as much as this film did as a kid. Again, I’ve always wondered why this was required viewing every year. There may not be a movie that will cause greater psychological scarring than this one. First off, why do we unleash the Oompa Loompas (complete with psychedelic graphics) on eight year olds? And even as an adult I have a hard time watching the scene of the boat going through the tunnel. But the ending makes up for all of it. Come with me and you’ll see…
Joe vs. the Volcano: There are only two people on the planet that like this film: Roger Ebert and me. Every other person I have ever met cannot stand this film. You have Meg Ryan playing three separate roles with only the last one being your typical Meg Ryan role. Tom Hanks is being nebbish and depressed the entire film. There are puns and dark humor throughout the entire film as well as the lesson of buying the best luggage possible. For some reason I just think this is a wonderful romance and comedy. Everyone else hates it. Oh well, I can’t always get the world to agree with me.
Office Space: The film for all of us cubicle drones out there. Swingline actually produced a red stapler to meet the demand that this film created. And you have to love any film that references the plot to Superman III. Not only is this film totally hilarious but it is also one of the few that really captures what it is like to be stuck in a meaningless job that you go to just because it is there. If you have ever had your soul forcibly ripped from your body due to office beauracracy, looked around at your coworkers and just shook your head, or just wanted to say “screw it” and walk away this film is for you.
Metropolitan: Whit Stillman’s film about a group of young adults as they go through debutante season in New York. One of those films that I wish I could have written (and given the way it was written and produced is one of the films that made me wonder about whether I should make a go of it as a screenwriter). It’s a very interesting film about how when you are eighteen or nineteen you speak as if you know everything in the world when in reality you are a total idiot. How that is different from when you are thirty five is beyond me. Best line in film “Playing strip poker with an exhibitionist just takes the challenge out of it.”
12 Monkeys: A completely underrated film by Terry Gilliam. The time travel aspects of the film alone are worth a doctoral thesis (who is controlling the time travel, does free will even exist, what the hell does it mean when she says that she is in “insurance?”) It is also a film that keeps you guessing. Not in that bad M. Night Shamalayn way in which you spend the entire film trying to find the twist. Here you follow the plot but are never quite sure where it is going to end up, which is good because neither do the characters. Also, for the guys you get to spend much of the film watching Madeline Stowe while for the ladies there is Brad Pitt. Equal opportunity for all.
Once: Will you just go see this movie, please? It’s just the best film of the past few years. Yes, you might need to put on subtitles in order to understand all of the Irish accents and it really helps for one scene if you speak Czech but by doing so you will be able to watch one of the best romantic movies of all time. And easily the one with the best music ever.
Baseketball: Sigh. I hate to admit how funny I find this movie. I should put something like Caddyshack or Animal House in this spot. Instead I have to settle on Baseketball. Don’t ask me why the guy who reads Shakespeare finds this film so drop dead hilarious. Or why when I am having a bad day this is what I pop into the DVD player. That is just one of the mysteries of my life.
Garden State: While this film isn’t nearly as enlightening on repeated viewings (you tend to start to see massive holes in the plot) it was the first film in many years that made me actually like watching movies again. There were a few years there where I just didn’t care to sit down and watch a movie. They all seemed to be meaningless and blurred into each other. This one was different. Maybe it was because Natalie Portman is purty. I just think it was a rather interesting examination of what happens when for once in your life you decide to actually live.
The Player: Robert Altman’s brilliant examination of Hollywood and what really goes on behind the scenes. Lyle Lovett gets his best role here as he basically has to play a strange looking guy who lurks ominously in the background. Lyle does a great job of it. Also, Tim Robbins wears the best suits in this film. Not to sound all Barney Stinson here but man, I’d kill for a few of those suits.
I think I’ll take a break tomorrow before moving on to the television shows. Writing these lists is a lot tougher than I originally anticipated.
Alright, time for the 15 most influential movies of my life.
Star Wars (Episode IV: A New Hope): Well, duh. This might be the first movie that I ever saw in a theater and I would have been four or five at the time (I certainly remember seeing it at a theater). If I need to explain to you just how awesome this movie is you really shouldn’t be reading the blog. I mean it’s got space ships, lightsabers, grossly inaccurate stormtroopers, poorly designed waste disposal systems and Darth freakin Vader. Oh, and Carrie Fisher doesn’t wear a bra throughout the entire film. ‘Nuff said.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Again, there should be no surprise that this film is on the list. Easily my choice for the best comedy of all time. The amazing thing is how well this film has aged. I could watch it tonight and still laugh my ass off even though the film is thirty years old and I’ve seen it a hundred times already. I mean, the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch? The Knights that say Ni? Sir Not Appearing in this Film? Just brilliance.
Casablanca: If there is any old school actor that I would want to be it would be Humphrey Bogart. He was hard edged cool. A Cary Grant always carried himself with the air of someone who knew he would get his way because he was so handsome. Bogart looked like a guy who was going to smoke half a pack of unfiltered cigarettes, down half a bottle of whiskey and still steal your woman from you by just being gruff and cool at the same time. I consider this to be the best film ever made. Unbelievable writing and acting and an ending that does not cave into Hollywood expectations.
Before Sunrise / Before Sunset: I have to combine these two into one entry because they comprise one ongoing story. Now it is true that part of my including these films is my complete adoration of Julie Delpy and any film that essentially consists of her walking around and talking has my vote. But what really strikes me about these films is how they really do capture what life is like at least for people like me. I am roughly the same age as the characters and the conversations that they have are the same as I have on dates. These strange philosophical discussions on life and love and wondering if you can ever find the one. Before Sunset is the better film because it is messy, as is life.
Kicking and Screaming: No, this is not the one where Will Ferrell coaches a children’s soccer team. I’m talking about the Noah Baumbach that had Parker Posey in it. This is my hidden gem of a film. Few people know about it, or remember it from the mid nineties, but I feel that I could pop in the DVD and make anyone a believer. It is a film that focuses on what happens in those moments after you graduate college. When you have no interest in joining the real world but are now forced to be an adult. It is one of the few films that really speaks to that phase of your life where you are adrift and still find yourself back on the college campus because that is all you know. And it has one of my favorite endings ever, which I won’t spoil for you here.
The Blues Brothers: The quintessential Chicago film. There are a few people who would say Ferris Beuller is more representative of the city but really that is a suburban view of Chicago where you wander around the Art Institute, see a parade and catch a Cubs game. The Blues Brothers captures the grittiness of the city and the sense of the neighborhoods. Oh and the music, don’t forget the music. As a kid in Chicago this was required viewing whenever it was on television. If it was on cable we got to hear all of the swearing and when it was on ABC we got to hear, oh, maybe half the script. But they kept the car chases and that was all that mattered.
Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: This is the Gene Wilder version and not the Johnny Depp version. If you ask me what is the scariest film of all time I will answer immediately “Willie Wonka”. I’m not much of a horror fan but none of those films have ever freaked me out as much as this film did as a kid. Again, I’ve always wondered why this was required viewing every year. There may not be a movie that will cause greater psychological scarring than this one. First off, why do we unleash the Oompa Loompas (complete with psychedelic graphics) on eight year olds? And even as an adult I have a hard time watching the scene of the boat going through the tunnel. But the ending makes up for all of it. Come with me and you’ll see…
Joe vs. the Volcano: There are only two people on the planet that like this film: Roger Ebert and me. Every other person I have ever met cannot stand this film. You have Meg Ryan playing three separate roles with only the last one being your typical Meg Ryan role. Tom Hanks is being nebbish and depressed the entire film. There are puns and dark humor throughout the entire film as well as the lesson of buying the best luggage possible. For some reason I just think this is a wonderful romance and comedy. Everyone else hates it. Oh well, I can’t always get the world to agree with me.
Office Space: The film for all of us cubicle drones out there. Swingline actually produced a red stapler to meet the demand that this film created. And you have to love any film that references the plot to Superman III. Not only is this film totally hilarious but it is also one of the few that really captures what it is like to be stuck in a meaningless job that you go to just because it is there. If you have ever had your soul forcibly ripped from your body due to office beauracracy, looked around at your coworkers and just shook your head, or just wanted to say “screw it” and walk away this film is for you.
Metropolitan: Whit Stillman’s film about a group of young adults as they go through debutante season in New York. One of those films that I wish I could have written (and given the way it was written and produced is one of the films that made me wonder about whether I should make a go of it as a screenwriter). It’s a very interesting film about how when you are eighteen or nineteen you speak as if you know everything in the world when in reality you are a total idiot. How that is different from when you are thirty five is beyond me. Best line in film “Playing strip poker with an exhibitionist just takes the challenge out of it.”
12 Monkeys: A completely underrated film by Terry Gilliam. The time travel aspects of the film alone are worth a doctoral thesis (who is controlling the time travel, does free will even exist, what the hell does it mean when she says that she is in “insurance?”) It is also a film that keeps you guessing. Not in that bad M. Night Shamalayn way in which you spend the entire film trying to find the twist. Here you follow the plot but are never quite sure where it is going to end up, which is good because neither do the characters. Also, for the guys you get to spend much of the film watching Madeline Stowe while for the ladies there is Brad Pitt. Equal opportunity for all.
Once: Will you just go see this movie, please? It’s just the best film of the past few years. Yes, you might need to put on subtitles in order to understand all of the Irish accents and it really helps for one scene if you speak Czech but by doing so you will be able to watch one of the best romantic movies of all time. And easily the one with the best music ever.
Baseketball: Sigh. I hate to admit how funny I find this movie. I should put something like Caddyshack or Animal House in this spot. Instead I have to settle on Baseketball. Don’t ask me why the guy who reads Shakespeare finds this film so drop dead hilarious. Or why when I am having a bad day this is what I pop into the DVD player. That is just one of the mysteries of my life.
Garden State: While this film isn’t nearly as enlightening on repeated viewings (you tend to start to see massive holes in the plot) it was the first film in many years that made me actually like watching movies again. There were a few years there where I just didn’t care to sit down and watch a movie. They all seemed to be meaningless and blurred into each other. This one was different. Maybe it was because Natalie Portman is purty. I just think it was a rather interesting examination of what happens when for once in your life you decide to actually live.
The Player: Robert Altman’s brilliant examination of Hollywood and what really goes on behind the scenes. Lyle Lovett gets his best role here as he basically has to play a strange looking guy who lurks ominously in the background. Lyle does a great job of it. Also, Tim Robbins wears the best suits in this film. Not to sound all Barney Stinson here but man, I’d kill for a few of those suits.
I think I’ll take a break tomorrow before moving on to the television shows. Writing these lists is a lot tougher than I originally anticipated.
Monday, March 09, 2009
The Influential 15: Books
An interesting fact was brought to my attention by the person who is directly responsible for this interesting fact. A few weeks back I mentioned how difficult it was for me to write when I am incredibly happy and how I felt that I was a better writer when I was cynical and bitter. The odd thing is now that I am smiling on a pretty much constant basis my blog readership has nearly tripled. So apparently people really like reading what Happy Chris has to say. I just promise to do my best to keep it that way.
(Though I will admit that being happy is not a regular state of existence for me. I’ve said in the past that I really view myself like the main character in Herman’s Head where there are several people in charge of my day to day internal operations. Right now they are all scurrying about yelling things like “What do you mean we don’t have a manual on how to deal with happiness?” and “Are you sure that there is no historical data to compare this to?”)
Anyway, time to continue with the Influential 15. Tonight, the 15 books that most influenced my life.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: Not only is this one of my favorite books but it is also the one that is most directly responsible for my writing style. The constant asides and footnotes, the slightly detached view of everything, my complete inability to write a coherent plot, it all stems from the dozens of times I sat down to read this book. It is science fiction and humor and philosophy all tied up into one neat little package. Oh, and in one of the sequels you learn how to fly. That is an incredibly useful skill to have.
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne: The story of Eeyore as he confronts the harsh truth of reality while all of the other characters blindly pursue their immature goals. What? Doesn’t everyone read the book that way? This is the one book from my childhood where I still have the actual book on my shelf. The reason is very simple. Christopher Robin was the first character I ever came across who had the same name as I did. There isn’t much more you want as a little kid than to share your name with a favorite character.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Simply the greatest novel ever written. The reaching for the green light, Gatsby catching time in his hands, the impotent eyes of Dr. Eckelburg, “her voice is full of money” and my favorite scene of all time of Gatsby flinging his dress shirts into the air to show just how successful he has become. I’ve named the blog and the URL after the book, I find myself turning back to it time after time and sometimes I wonder if maybe, just maybe, that fortune teller was right.
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut: I wrote a paper on this book in high school and received an A and an F at the same time. Essentially my analysis of the work was spot on but, in writing a book in which the plot goes from the present to the future to the past, my verb tense also would go from the past tense to the future tense to the present tense often within the same sentence. As a result I learned to not base my master’s thesis on stories that involve time travel. While much of the power of this book comes from the fact that it strips the façade off of the glory of war and shows it for what it is: random, cruel and bafflingly meaningless, for me it was the first book that showed me that there are other ways to write. I didn’t understand that novels did not have to follow a linear time frame, that the author does not have to stand apart from his work, until I read this.
13th Gen by Neil Howe and Bill Strauss: Ok, odds are you have never heard of this book and it wouldn’t surprise me. It is a non-fiction examination of Generation X written in the early 90’s (the title 13th Gen is in reference to the fact that Gen X is the 13th American generation since the Declaration of Independence and is seemingly cursed as a result.) They were so spot on in examining our generation and predicting what we would face in the future that it is rather amazing. Reading this was the first inkling I had into looking at society from a cultural and generational perspective and I would like to think that this has influenced my way of thinking ever since.
A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters by Julian Barnes: It begins with the story of stowaways on Noah’s Ark. It ends with a preview of heaven. In between you find insects on trials, a discussion on why you should always travel with an Irish passport, a view of art history that focuses on history as much as art, and stories about people coming to grips with the world around them. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Every chapter brings you another bit of brilliance that you never expected to find. Sometimes the book makes you stop and think and feel rather ashamed to be part of the human race. But you never stop being awed by how well written it is. I wish I could write something like this.
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman: It’s not a comic book, it’s a graphic novel! In fact, this collection marks the first time that I felt that comic books could legitimately be considered literature. It is the story of Morpheus, Dream of the Endless, who must decide whether to change after millennia of presiding over the universe in a certain manner. If that sentence doesn’t make much sense all I can say is that after reading the 75 issues it will be perfectly clear. Neil creates his own mythology in this series out of whole cloth. You actually begin to believe that you could check sources from 200 years ago and find a story about the goddess Delirium who was born Delight. Get over the fact that it is a comic book and read it.
The Day the Universe Changed by James Burke: I could pretty much link together all of James Burke’s Connections series (in both book and television form) in this one entry. This is the way to teach history and science in a way that people actually understand. What James focuses on is how seemingly unrelated events can build upon each other until suddenly there is a fundamental change in the way we view the world. Like we wouldn’t be able to fly to the moon unless someone had created the raincoat first. Just fascinating stuff and my first understanding that science can be taught without formulas.
The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare: The first Shakespeare play I ever read. I was thirteen years old and in eighth grade. This wasn’t because I was in some amazingly advanced grade school where we read Shakespeare. I did this on my own because I wanted to read Shakespeare. That is the type of kid I was. This did start my long relationship with the Bard as since then I have averaged reading a play a year and have now completed all of the romances along with most of the comedies and tragedies. It took a good decade before I could read and understand what I was reading (as opposed to just looking at a lot of words) but now I can follow the masterpiece without much guidance. One day I would like to teach Shakespeare to kids to see if maybe, just maybe, I could get them to see his work in the same way that I do.
Animal Farm by George Orwell: “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.” I would say this book had a bigger impact on me than 1984 (though Brave New World probably had an equal impact). Maybe it was more effective because the idea of the story being told via talking pigs seemed more realistic than having the government spying on us 24 hours a day. Oh how naïve I was at 14. Again, this was one of those times when my eyes were opened as to what a story could be. Here was political allegory told in the simplest format imaginable. The symbolism and the meaning were on display but you weren’t pounded over the head with them. And poor, poor Snowball.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy: Yes, I know that this was an Oprah Book Club selection. It also happens to be the best written book that I have come across in the last twenty years. I like to fancy myself as a writer but after reading this book I was tempted to give up knowing that I would never get anywhere near Cormac’s mastery of the language. I will also state that this book is, without a doubt, the most depressing work of fiction I have ever read. It is just brutal and heart wrenching page after page after page. I read it on vacation and one should never be horribly depressed while travelling. They have finished filming the movie but haven’t released it yet because I don’t think people want to see the world brutally end right now for their evening entertainment.
About a Boy by Nick Hornby: I actually prefer this one to High Fidelity. I’m not listing this just because it is a great book. This is also the first book I point to when I say, “This is what I want my novel to be like.” I really want to be the American equivalent to Nick Hornby. Partly because it would mean that I would be a great novelist but mainly because it would give me an excuse to write about music and soccer all day.
Life After God by Douglas Coupland: This is one of my desert island books. Despite the fact that every critical analysis of this book completely pans it I just think it is brilliance. Maybe it is just because I like the tone that Douglas takes in it. A very lackadaisical, pondering, introspective style. It is a book that meanders its way through sets of stories. Occasionally there is a glimpse of wonder but there is never a rush. It is one of those books that I like because of the way it reads.
The Straight Dope by Cecil Adams: The first collection of trivia, miscellany and imponderables that I ever purchased. In it I learned why pigeons bob their heads when they walk and why Betty wasn’t included in Flintstones vitamins. This is vitally important information to have in life. For those who wonder why I seem to know so much minutiae on so many subjects it is because I have spent much of my free time devouring books like this one.
Ulysses by James Joyce: Influential if only because I challenged myself to read it and understand it in one month and I succeeded. Easily one of the most challenging books I have ever read and to be honest it is a very satisfying read. It is just a book that requires a great deal of effort and concentration in order to gain anything close to a full understanding. I’m so proud that I have a picture of myself with a copy of the book in hand standing on the very spot where the novel begins. I might not have an English degree but I have proven to myself that I could if I wanted to.
Tomorrow: Movies. And probably some complaining about how difficult it is to come up with fifteen of these things.
(Though I will admit that being happy is not a regular state of existence for me. I’ve said in the past that I really view myself like the main character in Herman’s Head where there are several people in charge of my day to day internal operations. Right now they are all scurrying about yelling things like “What do you mean we don’t have a manual on how to deal with happiness?” and “Are you sure that there is no historical data to compare this to?”)
Anyway, time to continue with the Influential 15. Tonight, the 15 books that most influenced my life.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: Not only is this one of my favorite books but it is also the one that is most directly responsible for my writing style. The constant asides and footnotes, the slightly detached view of everything, my complete inability to write a coherent plot, it all stems from the dozens of times I sat down to read this book. It is science fiction and humor and philosophy all tied up into one neat little package. Oh, and in one of the sequels you learn how to fly. That is an incredibly useful skill to have.
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne: The story of Eeyore as he confronts the harsh truth of reality while all of the other characters blindly pursue their immature goals. What? Doesn’t everyone read the book that way? This is the one book from my childhood where I still have the actual book on my shelf. The reason is very simple. Christopher Robin was the first character I ever came across who had the same name as I did. There isn’t much more you want as a little kid than to share your name with a favorite character.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Simply the greatest novel ever written. The reaching for the green light, Gatsby catching time in his hands, the impotent eyes of Dr. Eckelburg, “her voice is full of money” and my favorite scene of all time of Gatsby flinging his dress shirts into the air to show just how successful he has become. I’ve named the blog and the URL after the book, I find myself turning back to it time after time and sometimes I wonder if maybe, just maybe, that fortune teller was right.
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut: I wrote a paper on this book in high school and received an A and an F at the same time. Essentially my analysis of the work was spot on but, in writing a book in which the plot goes from the present to the future to the past, my verb tense also would go from the past tense to the future tense to the present tense often within the same sentence. As a result I learned to not base my master’s thesis on stories that involve time travel. While much of the power of this book comes from the fact that it strips the façade off of the glory of war and shows it for what it is: random, cruel and bafflingly meaningless, for me it was the first book that showed me that there are other ways to write. I didn’t understand that novels did not have to follow a linear time frame, that the author does not have to stand apart from his work, until I read this.
13th Gen by Neil Howe and Bill Strauss: Ok, odds are you have never heard of this book and it wouldn’t surprise me. It is a non-fiction examination of Generation X written in the early 90’s (the title 13th Gen is in reference to the fact that Gen X is the 13th American generation since the Declaration of Independence and is seemingly cursed as a result.) They were so spot on in examining our generation and predicting what we would face in the future that it is rather amazing. Reading this was the first inkling I had into looking at society from a cultural and generational perspective and I would like to think that this has influenced my way of thinking ever since.
A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters by Julian Barnes: It begins with the story of stowaways on Noah’s Ark. It ends with a preview of heaven. In between you find insects on trials, a discussion on why you should always travel with an Irish passport, a view of art history that focuses on history as much as art, and stories about people coming to grips with the world around them. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Every chapter brings you another bit of brilliance that you never expected to find. Sometimes the book makes you stop and think and feel rather ashamed to be part of the human race. But you never stop being awed by how well written it is. I wish I could write something like this.
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman: It’s not a comic book, it’s a graphic novel! In fact, this collection marks the first time that I felt that comic books could legitimately be considered literature. It is the story of Morpheus, Dream of the Endless, who must decide whether to change after millennia of presiding over the universe in a certain manner. If that sentence doesn’t make much sense all I can say is that after reading the 75 issues it will be perfectly clear. Neil creates his own mythology in this series out of whole cloth. You actually begin to believe that you could check sources from 200 years ago and find a story about the goddess Delirium who was born Delight. Get over the fact that it is a comic book and read it.
The Day the Universe Changed by James Burke: I could pretty much link together all of James Burke’s Connections series (in both book and television form) in this one entry. This is the way to teach history and science in a way that people actually understand. What James focuses on is how seemingly unrelated events can build upon each other until suddenly there is a fundamental change in the way we view the world. Like we wouldn’t be able to fly to the moon unless someone had created the raincoat first. Just fascinating stuff and my first understanding that science can be taught without formulas.
The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare: The first Shakespeare play I ever read. I was thirteen years old and in eighth grade. This wasn’t because I was in some amazingly advanced grade school where we read Shakespeare. I did this on my own because I wanted to read Shakespeare. That is the type of kid I was. This did start my long relationship with the Bard as since then I have averaged reading a play a year and have now completed all of the romances along with most of the comedies and tragedies. It took a good decade before I could read and understand what I was reading (as opposed to just looking at a lot of words) but now I can follow the masterpiece without much guidance. One day I would like to teach Shakespeare to kids to see if maybe, just maybe, I could get them to see his work in the same way that I do.
Animal Farm by George Orwell: “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.” I would say this book had a bigger impact on me than 1984 (though Brave New World probably had an equal impact). Maybe it was more effective because the idea of the story being told via talking pigs seemed more realistic than having the government spying on us 24 hours a day. Oh how naïve I was at 14. Again, this was one of those times when my eyes were opened as to what a story could be. Here was political allegory told in the simplest format imaginable. The symbolism and the meaning were on display but you weren’t pounded over the head with them. And poor, poor Snowball.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy: Yes, I know that this was an Oprah Book Club selection. It also happens to be the best written book that I have come across in the last twenty years. I like to fancy myself as a writer but after reading this book I was tempted to give up knowing that I would never get anywhere near Cormac’s mastery of the language. I will also state that this book is, without a doubt, the most depressing work of fiction I have ever read. It is just brutal and heart wrenching page after page after page. I read it on vacation and one should never be horribly depressed while travelling. They have finished filming the movie but haven’t released it yet because I don’t think people want to see the world brutally end right now for their evening entertainment.
About a Boy by Nick Hornby: I actually prefer this one to High Fidelity. I’m not listing this just because it is a great book. This is also the first book I point to when I say, “This is what I want my novel to be like.” I really want to be the American equivalent to Nick Hornby. Partly because it would mean that I would be a great novelist but mainly because it would give me an excuse to write about music and soccer all day.
Life After God by Douglas Coupland: This is one of my desert island books. Despite the fact that every critical analysis of this book completely pans it I just think it is brilliance. Maybe it is just because I like the tone that Douglas takes in it. A very lackadaisical, pondering, introspective style. It is a book that meanders its way through sets of stories. Occasionally there is a glimpse of wonder but there is never a rush. It is one of those books that I like because of the way it reads.
The Straight Dope by Cecil Adams: The first collection of trivia, miscellany and imponderables that I ever purchased. In it I learned why pigeons bob their heads when they walk and why Betty wasn’t included in Flintstones vitamins. This is vitally important information to have in life. For those who wonder why I seem to know so much minutiae on so many subjects it is because I have spent much of my free time devouring books like this one.
Ulysses by James Joyce: Influential if only because I challenged myself to read it and understand it in one month and I succeeded. Easily one of the most challenging books I have ever read and to be honest it is a very satisfying read. It is just a book that requires a great deal of effort and concentration in order to gain anything close to a full understanding. I’m so proud that I have a picture of myself with a copy of the book in hand standing on the very spot where the novel begins. I might not have an English degree but I have proven to myself that I could if I wanted to.
Tomorrow: Movies. And probably some complaining about how difficult it is to come up with fifteen of these things.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
The Influential 15: Music
One of the annoying things about Facebook recently is that I have received a barrage of notes by people filling out questionnaires in order to reveal facets of their deeper personality. This is an extension of the ever popular “25 random things” meme that became so widespread that even I put one together. Now it seems to have become more trivial and I can’t find any reason why I would care who some random person from the past first talked to this morning. I know this seems like a strange rant from someone who has spent the past four and a half years posting his entire life to the internet but I have two reasons why I feel my blog is superior: 1) All of these posts are lovingly hand crafted and are not dependent on questions someone else has devised and 2) After years of building a readership the thought of competition in a more readily accessible form frightens me.
Still, one of the latest notes I received caught my interest. It is to simply list the 15 most influential albums of your life. I liked that idea and have decided to expand it. All week I will be posting top 15 lists of the most influential albums, books, movies, television shows and cultural events of my life. Now note that I am talking influential here and not favorite or best. I will be listing a few things that I absolutely hate. This is a list of what changed my view for good or for bad.
Let’s start with the music list.
Men at Work “Cargo”: This is the first musical recording that I ever purchased with my own money. I bought the cassette at the Musicland inside the North Riverside Mall, for those of you who are intent on tracking every moment of my life. I would like to think that now that Colin Hay is this respected, indie artist that this showed my musical cred at an early age. More likely it is an indication that I liked the song Down Under a lot and wanted to get their new album on the hope that it would just contain 12 different versions of that song.
Nirvana “Nevermind”: All you need to know about me is that I had just turned eighteen when this album was released. The first time I heard the opening guitar riffs on “Smells Like Teen Spirit” the entire universe changed. I was never a hair band type of guy and could never understand what everyone saw in Bon Jovi or Poison. All I needed were to hear those first few seconds of intro and I knew that music had changed. Personally I still find Come As You Are to be the high point musically and from a video perspective. That song was the death of hair metal.
Sting “The Soul Cages”: It probably is odd for anyone who knows my musical tastes now to discover that a) this was the first CD I ever purchased and b) Sting was the first concert I ever attended. I wish it was because I was a huge Police fan but it was more that I was a fan of Sting’s rather whiny solo work. I’m listing this here because it is the first CD of what would become a massive collection and it really is the first step on a journey of a thousand miles.
Jeff Buckley “Grace”: What can I say? I found this album fascinating when I first heard it and anyone who was in college in the early 90s and didn’t think that Last Goodbye explained their life is lying through their teeth. After Jeff’s death (and all of the fame that he gained from it) makes it difficult to appreciate this album for what it was. Everyone paints it to be a glimpse of brilliance from someone who didn’t have a chance to fulfill his potential. I just like it for what it was when I first bought it: an album that you would listen to in the dark at two in the morning in order to see if it helped you to make sense out of life.
Spice Girls “Spice”: For the record, I do not and have never owned this album. But it really should be mentioned in the same sentence as Nevermind. While that album marked the end of hair metal the Spice Girls marked the death of grunge. Sure, we all held onto some hope after Kurt’s death that someone would pick up the mantel but the Spice Girls becoming huge was an indication that we had returned to the age of bubblegum pop. To be honest, I’m not sure if we have left it yet. And as much as I hate to admit it, my mood does brighten whenever I hear “Wannabe”.
Zachary Richard “Snake Bite Love”: I’m not entirely certain if this is the first Zydeco record I purchased or not. If it isn’t it was in the first group as I know I bought it while still in college. First off, if you ever want a starting point in learning the music of Louisiana Zachary Richard is a wonderful place to start. This disc is all sorts of brilliance and that is before you get to a song that consists entirely of singing the praises of crawfish. I’m listing it because it marks the start of my becoming incredibly fluent in a style of music that you never hear on the radio and that is something I think everyone should do at least once in their life.
Kelly Willis “What I Deserve”: It is going too far to say that this disc saved my life but it certainly kept me going during a time when things were really dark. There is just something about her voice that digs into my soul and on certain songs I really do get chills up my spine every time I hear them. It is an album by someone who was ready to give up on the music industry and decided to try to just once create the music that she believed in and not what someone sitting in an office thought was listener friendly. By being true to herself she had the biggest release of her career and gave me something to listen to during many a dark day stuck in a cubicle.
Uncle Tupelo “Anodyne”: The number of chances that I had to see Uncle Tupelo while I was in college and didn’t go astounds me. I really didn’t become a hard core music fan until well into my twenties and by then the band had broken up and I realized that the best music I have ever heard was being played three blocks from my dorm room and I didn’t go. For those less into the history, this is the band that resulted in the formation of Wilco and Son Volt and pretty much paved the way for much of the alternative country scene. This is their final album and is pure brilliance the entire way through. Why does this disc make the list? Because ever since I heard the song “Chickamauga” I have always contemplated the meaning of the lyric “Catch yourself in midair thinking your dreams can never be bought.”
Josh Rouse “Nashville”: For the life of me I am not sure exactly how I ended up buying this disc. At best I may have heard a song from it on the Americana music channel on my cable system. That is a really tenuous start for a trip to the music store to plop down some money on something you are not even sure you will like. But I don’t believe I have ever become a fan of anyone faster than I have of Josh Rouse. I can’t explain what is so wonderful about his music. It’s rather simple singer songwriter stuff but there is something about it that really speaks to me. And for some reason if I listen to his music good things tend to happen to me. He’s my good luck charm.
R.E.M. “Life’s Rich Pageant”: Like every other suburban kid R.E.M. was my entry point into the alternative scene. You really can’t diminish the importance of that; the fact that there was a world beyond Top 40 radio was mind blowing as a 17 year old. Of all their recordings I have to say that Life’s Rich Pageant is the one that best represents the group. There are lyrics that you can comprehend (or at least have words), jangly guitars that stood apart from the rest of the music scene, and one of my favorite songs of all time in “Fall on Me”. It really is the band at its pre-widespread popularity best.
Neko Case and Her Boyfriends “Furnace Room Lullaby”: This record got me into business school. Ok, that is not entirely correct. My GMAT score got me into grad school; this was what I listened to night after night while writing entrance essays. Even the music snob in me is happy that Neko has gained a real following after my first seeing her as one of maybe a hundred people in a bar. Her voice, which is best if heard in a smoky, slightly dingy club, really does sound like Patsy Cline after a tortured love affair. She has my favorite voice on the planet.
The Frames “Set List”: Tough to choose a Frames album that really works for this list so I will go for this one. When I first started listening to them in 2004 it was really difficult to get a sense of their back catalog and this live album was the best in introducing me to their music and give me a sense of just how powerful they were in concert. Given that they have become, in all of their various incarnations, my favorite band I just have to list them here.
Lyle Lovett “Joshua Judges Ruth”: This was the first disc that I purchased that would unequivocally be considered a country record. Lyle was always viewed to be a country act and slightly strange looking. But I was able to get over that hurdle of “Country = Horrible” and start myself on a journey into music that is much closer to my own tastes than I ever imagined. The talent of Lyle cannot be doubted either. This album contains one of the best lines written by any person in any medium, ever: “There is nothing as unwavering as a woman when she has already made up her mind.”
Tori Amos “Little Earthquakes”: Yes, I had to get one of the “Alternative Female” records on the list. The amount of music that I purchased in the 90’s by female singer songwriters was stunning. Some I still count amongst my favorites (Liz Phair), some haven’t aged as well (Sarah McLachlan) and some I really wonder just how drunk I was when I made the purchase (Paula Cole, I am looking in your direction). But much like Nirvana broke the mold so did Tori. No one was making music like this, or at least not that you ever saw on MTV. Imagine seeing Motley Crue’s ode to strip clubs “Girls, Girls, Girls” and then have it be followed up by a song like “Silent All These Years”. It marked a sea change in what music could (and really should) be.
Arcade Fire “Funeral”: There are a lot of discs I could put in this last spot. What I wanted to do was list a more recent one that made me stop what I was doing and go, “You’re not supposed to be able to do that.” Sufjan Stevens and The Polyphonic Spree both fit the bill but I felt it better to acknowledge Arcade Fire because, seriously, no one should be able to make music like they do. It breaks so many rules but in the end you are mesmerized by it. I probably listened to Rebellion (Lies) a dozen times the first night I owned the disc. That is the sign of an influential album.
Tomorrow: My 15 most influential books. See you then.
Best of 120 Minutes: Since I mentioned it, here is the video for Come As You Are.
The five random CDs for the week:
1) Air “The Virgin Suicides”
2) Mike Doughty “Haughty Melodic”
3) John Mayer “Any Given Sunday”
4) Bob Dylan “The Essential Bob Dylan”
5) Richard Buckner “S/T”
Still, one of the latest notes I received caught my interest. It is to simply list the 15 most influential albums of your life. I liked that idea and have decided to expand it. All week I will be posting top 15 lists of the most influential albums, books, movies, television shows and cultural events of my life. Now note that I am talking influential here and not favorite or best. I will be listing a few things that I absolutely hate. This is a list of what changed my view for good or for bad.
Let’s start with the music list.
Men at Work “Cargo”: This is the first musical recording that I ever purchased with my own money. I bought the cassette at the Musicland inside the North Riverside Mall, for those of you who are intent on tracking every moment of my life. I would like to think that now that Colin Hay is this respected, indie artist that this showed my musical cred at an early age. More likely it is an indication that I liked the song Down Under a lot and wanted to get their new album on the hope that it would just contain 12 different versions of that song.
Nirvana “Nevermind”: All you need to know about me is that I had just turned eighteen when this album was released. The first time I heard the opening guitar riffs on “Smells Like Teen Spirit” the entire universe changed. I was never a hair band type of guy and could never understand what everyone saw in Bon Jovi or Poison. All I needed were to hear those first few seconds of intro and I knew that music had changed. Personally I still find Come As You Are to be the high point musically and from a video perspective. That song was the death of hair metal.
Sting “The Soul Cages”: It probably is odd for anyone who knows my musical tastes now to discover that a) this was the first CD I ever purchased and b) Sting was the first concert I ever attended. I wish it was because I was a huge Police fan but it was more that I was a fan of Sting’s rather whiny solo work. I’m listing this here because it is the first CD of what would become a massive collection and it really is the first step on a journey of a thousand miles.
Jeff Buckley “Grace”: What can I say? I found this album fascinating when I first heard it and anyone who was in college in the early 90s and didn’t think that Last Goodbye explained their life is lying through their teeth. After Jeff’s death (and all of the fame that he gained from it) makes it difficult to appreciate this album for what it was. Everyone paints it to be a glimpse of brilliance from someone who didn’t have a chance to fulfill his potential. I just like it for what it was when I first bought it: an album that you would listen to in the dark at two in the morning in order to see if it helped you to make sense out of life.
Spice Girls “Spice”: For the record, I do not and have never owned this album. But it really should be mentioned in the same sentence as Nevermind. While that album marked the end of hair metal the Spice Girls marked the death of grunge. Sure, we all held onto some hope after Kurt’s death that someone would pick up the mantel but the Spice Girls becoming huge was an indication that we had returned to the age of bubblegum pop. To be honest, I’m not sure if we have left it yet. And as much as I hate to admit it, my mood does brighten whenever I hear “Wannabe”.
Zachary Richard “Snake Bite Love”: I’m not entirely certain if this is the first Zydeco record I purchased or not. If it isn’t it was in the first group as I know I bought it while still in college. First off, if you ever want a starting point in learning the music of Louisiana Zachary Richard is a wonderful place to start. This disc is all sorts of brilliance and that is before you get to a song that consists entirely of singing the praises of crawfish. I’m listing it because it marks the start of my becoming incredibly fluent in a style of music that you never hear on the radio and that is something I think everyone should do at least once in their life.
Kelly Willis “What I Deserve”: It is going too far to say that this disc saved my life but it certainly kept me going during a time when things were really dark. There is just something about her voice that digs into my soul and on certain songs I really do get chills up my spine every time I hear them. It is an album by someone who was ready to give up on the music industry and decided to try to just once create the music that she believed in and not what someone sitting in an office thought was listener friendly. By being true to herself she had the biggest release of her career and gave me something to listen to during many a dark day stuck in a cubicle.
Uncle Tupelo “Anodyne”: The number of chances that I had to see Uncle Tupelo while I was in college and didn’t go astounds me. I really didn’t become a hard core music fan until well into my twenties and by then the band had broken up and I realized that the best music I have ever heard was being played three blocks from my dorm room and I didn’t go. For those less into the history, this is the band that resulted in the formation of Wilco and Son Volt and pretty much paved the way for much of the alternative country scene. This is their final album and is pure brilliance the entire way through. Why does this disc make the list? Because ever since I heard the song “Chickamauga” I have always contemplated the meaning of the lyric “Catch yourself in midair thinking your dreams can never be bought.”
Josh Rouse “Nashville”: For the life of me I am not sure exactly how I ended up buying this disc. At best I may have heard a song from it on the Americana music channel on my cable system. That is a really tenuous start for a trip to the music store to plop down some money on something you are not even sure you will like. But I don’t believe I have ever become a fan of anyone faster than I have of Josh Rouse. I can’t explain what is so wonderful about his music. It’s rather simple singer songwriter stuff but there is something about it that really speaks to me. And for some reason if I listen to his music good things tend to happen to me. He’s my good luck charm.
R.E.M. “Life’s Rich Pageant”: Like every other suburban kid R.E.M. was my entry point into the alternative scene. You really can’t diminish the importance of that; the fact that there was a world beyond Top 40 radio was mind blowing as a 17 year old. Of all their recordings I have to say that Life’s Rich Pageant is the one that best represents the group. There are lyrics that you can comprehend (or at least have words), jangly guitars that stood apart from the rest of the music scene, and one of my favorite songs of all time in “Fall on Me”. It really is the band at its pre-widespread popularity best.
Neko Case and Her Boyfriends “Furnace Room Lullaby”: This record got me into business school. Ok, that is not entirely correct. My GMAT score got me into grad school; this was what I listened to night after night while writing entrance essays. Even the music snob in me is happy that Neko has gained a real following after my first seeing her as one of maybe a hundred people in a bar. Her voice, which is best if heard in a smoky, slightly dingy club, really does sound like Patsy Cline after a tortured love affair. She has my favorite voice on the planet.
The Frames “Set List”: Tough to choose a Frames album that really works for this list so I will go for this one. When I first started listening to them in 2004 it was really difficult to get a sense of their back catalog and this live album was the best in introducing me to their music and give me a sense of just how powerful they were in concert. Given that they have become, in all of their various incarnations, my favorite band I just have to list them here.
Lyle Lovett “Joshua Judges Ruth”: This was the first disc that I purchased that would unequivocally be considered a country record. Lyle was always viewed to be a country act and slightly strange looking. But I was able to get over that hurdle of “Country = Horrible” and start myself on a journey into music that is much closer to my own tastes than I ever imagined. The talent of Lyle cannot be doubted either. This album contains one of the best lines written by any person in any medium, ever: “There is nothing as unwavering as a woman when she has already made up her mind.”
Tori Amos “Little Earthquakes”: Yes, I had to get one of the “Alternative Female” records on the list. The amount of music that I purchased in the 90’s by female singer songwriters was stunning. Some I still count amongst my favorites (Liz Phair), some haven’t aged as well (Sarah McLachlan) and some I really wonder just how drunk I was when I made the purchase (Paula Cole, I am looking in your direction). But much like Nirvana broke the mold so did Tori. No one was making music like this, or at least not that you ever saw on MTV. Imagine seeing Motley Crue’s ode to strip clubs “Girls, Girls, Girls” and then have it be followed up by a song like “Silent All These Years”. It marked a sea change in what music could (and really should) be.
Arcade Fire “Funeral”: There are a lot of discs I could put in this last spot. What I wanted to do was list a more recent one that made me stop what I was doing and go, “You’re not supposed to be able to do that.” Sufjan Stevens and The Polyphonic Spree both fit the bill but I felt it better to acknowledge Arcade Fire because, seriously, no one should be able to make music like they do. It breaks so many rules but in the end you are mesmerized by it. I probably listened to Rebellion (Lies) a dozen times the first night I owned the disc. That is the sign of an influential album.
Tomorrow: My 15 most influential books. See you then.
Best of 120 Minutes: Since I mentioned it, here is the video for Come As You Are.
The five random CDs for the week:
1) Air “The Virgin Suicides”
2) Mike Doughty “Haughty Melodic”
3) John Mayer “Any Given Sunday”
4) Bob Dylan “The Essential Bob Dylan”
5) Richard Buckner “S/T”
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