Pyro @ the NBA
So I'm watching the Pistons-Pacers game last night (all the Pacers need to do to win tomorrow is shoot a measly 35%, jeebus...), and during the player intros, I was floored - no, not like that new Taco Bell soft taco thingy on the commercials. Anybody who's ever watched a sporting event - collegiate, professional, even some big-time high school games - knows that the visiting team is introduced first and in a lackluster way before the home team is introduced to much fanfare. What got me was the extent to which the fanfare extended at Detroit's Palace of Auburn Hills.
After the Pacers' starters were announced and properly booed by the hometown fans (we do the same to our opponents), the arena went dark, as expected. Here's where it gets a little more hardcore - the Pistons PR team had put together a little video a couple minutes long with highlights and other video, and the whole deal was narrated by Rasheed and Ben Wallace (no relation, I think). After the video, which was well-made and all that, fire launchers mounted atop the backboards were activated, shooting pyrotechnic glory a good 30 feet above the backboards. Only after all of this was the Pistons' starting five announced. I had never seen such a show just for player introductions, save for the
WWE and maybe the Super Bowl.
Maybe it's because I haven't been paying close attention to the player intros lately, or maybe it's because this is the Playoffs. Regardless, it was entertaining television, if only because I personally wasn't expecting it.
Go Pacers.
The Glorious (?) Return of the Ageless One
It looks like
Dick Clark, the man who has been 45 for the last 3 millennia, will have a little more on his plate than New Years Rockin' Eve soon. Everyone knows, even if we can't remember for ourselves, about that old bastion of teenage rebellion and corporate America's taking advantage thereof: American Bandstand. Well, boys and girls, it looks like we're going to get the chance to experience the phenomenon, just like our parents got to.
That's right, according to
Reuters, is reporting that Clark will work with the creator of everybody's favorite U-21 kareoke bar American Idol to relaunch his old staple sometime next summer. They're currently pitching the idea to networks. I'd put my money on ABC nailing the rights, which inevitably means the show will fail...miserably.
Not to be outdone by WGN's feature weekend show, Soul Train, the new-and-improved
AB will feature a dance competition and a
yet-to-be-named younger host. I guess 45-going-on-97 is too old to host the MTV demographic nowadays.
Limits has the flow that makes you booty go OH SNAP
So I'm new to this game. I don't want any shame brought to it on my behalf, so I'll try to make sense.
Okay, here's the deal. I've had a lot to comment on regarding many things since school has retired for..well, for two weeks or so. This appears to be an adequate forum for my pseudointellectual discourse.
OKAY!
It's both wonderful and horrifying that the music of the 1980s is making a strong comeback. The decade seems to be crawling up from its grave. The "I Love the 80s!" special on VH1 made this knowledge mainstream, but it has been happening for quite some time. I believe the advent of the new millennium has made people painfully aware of how fast society (and time itself) is progressing, so we believe we need to reach back to move forward. For the most part, this is true. I believe that you cannot move forward without having an adequate understanding of where you have been.
However, that's not the way the music industry is being treated. More and more, I am hearing songs on the radio that are painfully reminiscent of trends of both the late 70s, all of the 80s, and the early 90s. Now, I'm not one to bash trends of those times. In fact, the 80s was a grossly underrated decade in terms of music. The problem to me is that a majority of the population still ridicules those who enjoyed the music of the 80s.
Now, to open their eyes, I pose these two points:
1. "Take My Breath Away" by Jessica Simpson.
Don't get me wrong, I dislike this song. A lot. The point is that it's an extremely popular song on the radio these days. I know my indie cred is forever damaged because I keep abreast of radio songs on drives to and from school, but I believe I should be knowledgeable of as many forms of music as possible. However, that's not important. This song is increasingly popular and many people seem to neglect the fact that it's a remake (Berlin). As far as they're concerned, it's a new pop hit. That's an issue to me. Abhorring a period of our culture and praising it when it returns via a current popular individual. In fact, the band System of a Down redid a song by Berlin (The Metro) and again, many people I encountered did not acknowledge this fact. Yet, Berlin is relegated to VH1 specials.
2. "Lovesong" by 311
Now, this is just appalling. Again, a song that is popular on alternative pop radio these days. The original song by The Cure is off, in my opinion, one of the greatest albums of all time (Disintegration). To hear it redone in an absolutely awful pop-cum-reggae style has made me wretch with each listen. It sounds like Sublime on a horrible bender after they just broke up with their 8th grade significant other. I suppose I'd let it pass if people enjoyed the song..I mean, each person is entitled to their own opinion.
The point is that
people have not heard the original...and not hearing the original lessens your entire experience. Also, even in the case of hearing it, they dismiss all songs of the area as kitschy and worthless. In the case of "Take My Breath Away," more people have heard it. But for every "Take My Breath Away," there are so many Billy Squire songs (note: Dizzee Rascal, Kelis, etc.), Cure songs (note: nearly every current emo band), and of course...Gang of Four/Public Image Ltd. (note: The Rapture, Hot Hot Heat, !!!, virtually every new dancepunk band).
Respect your elders, people.
PS
Today is the anniversary of the death of
Ian Curtis. 24 years to the day.
He was the lead singer of
Joy Division, one of the all-time greats.
A band that released a mere two true studio albums.
A band whose life was cut tragically short by the hanging of their engaging leader.
New Order rose from their ashes, but they cannot touch Joy Division.
Experience the magic of the albums
Closer (my personal favorite) and
Unknown Pleasures.
Returning to Form
My sincerest apologies, readers of Culturegeist. The end of the semester crept up on Collin and me in April, and to add to that, my computer decided to die. Needless to say, this blog was neglected. Fear not, though! Summer is come, and with it comes somewhat more free time than Finals allow.
That said, expect some changes:
- As you've no doubt noticed by now, the format of the site has changed. This is thanks to Blogger's being awesome and adding new templates (you thought we actually designed this layout ourselves!?) and features.
- Speaking of new features, Blogger now supports commenting. Alas, it is only available on new posts, so any comments that were made on our "old" posts were lost. Sorry for that, but nobody's going to read that far down the page, anyway, right?
- For those of you readers out there who love blogs as much as I do - and I do, and I get made fun of for it, constantly - you probably use RSS. If you don't know, go here to learn more about it. Anyway, Blogger now supports RSS for free! Which means you can type our URL into your aggregate's browser, and bam!-you have Culturegest syndicated right to your fingertips. I think it's really cool.
- Probably the most exciting piece of news: new contributor(s) to Culturegeist. I figure since Collin and I are too damn lazy to keep the blog going on our own, we might as well get somebody or a couple somebodies to help us out. I've already invited a friend of mine to join, and Collin just might do the same when he gets around to it.
That's about it for now, except for another promise not to drop the ball and not to allow major lapses in posting to occur...again.
