It has been a bit since I posted. This is not the easiest of blogs to generate content for. It requires the input of others and, well, they do not get any bang from being a part of this other than the soft love and glow I radiate towards them. They are wonderful souls that are being illuminated by my love. Wonderful souls… the lot of them.
Lately I have been listening to my youngest playing piano and my oldest talking about playing the bass (not a fish) and French horn (not simultaneously). My lovely wife has been talking about song playlists that the youngest can listen to whilst we don’t want to pay attention to her, and I have been listening to podcasts that are non-musical. So, this week the topic being discussed poorly is… Music. I have a great line up on questions. Thanks this week go to The MikeStand, Dr B Dawg, Lsig, Nadolny, and Chris Ring.
Let’s answer some questions!
1. Do you like both kinds of music? That is, Country AND Western?
I guess I don’t like music then…
Rollin', rollin', rollin'
Rollin', rollin', rollin'
Rollin', rollin', rollin'
Rollin', rollin', rollin'
Rawhide
She rollin', rollin', rollin'
Though the streams are swollen
Keep them doggies rollin', rawhide
2. What is your favourite audio format? CD / Vinyl / 8 Track / Cassette / digital
I am really partial to digital these days. My mustache is not handle-barrish enough to be about the vinyl…. 180 gram vinyl where you hear the ‘pop’ when the needle hits the record.
3. Were you sad when Napster died, and what is your current opinion on music sharing? You may discuss pandora (still not available in Canada), spotify, apple music, and other subscription services.
I was already unsurprised by the time it shut down and had already stopped using Napster completely by that point. I think as music becomes easier to legally share, piracy will go away. That being said, I have always loved music sharing because I enjoy rewarding artists I find talented with my purchases even if I have borrowed their music to become familiar with them. Jonathan Coulton is one such artist.
4. Do you think that the current era of music promotion and distribution is better than in the olden-days, when the two or three companies with the most money told you what was good and what wasn't, only now there is a such a fire-hose of crappy music out there that it's impossible to wade through it all to find the "good stuff"?
I think there is a better chance to find music that you will well and truly love with the amount of content generators out there. That being said, you and I might love the exact same favorite “genre” of music but not listen to any of the same artists because there are so many creators now.
5. It's been said that one stops seeing their parents music as awesome at age 13, and by the time one is in their early 20s, their own tastes have more or less solidified and people will stop expanding their musical tastes. Briefly discuss. Use venn diagrams if necessary.
Who said that? Why did they say it? Were they complaining that kid’s music is not as good as their music when they were kids? I think there is always the possibility to find new types of music that are well-formed and good. No Venn Diagram necessary
6. Has music changed much in the past 20 years? To me, it hasn't. I would say the mid 90s to now has changed very little compared to 1920s to grunge in the early 90s where there were clear decade by decade shifts in style and philosophy.
I would say there have been a couple of of musical ages that have happened in the last 20 years when you look at genres. Very rarely is there a wholesale death of a genre like there was for disco and hair-metal, usually it is a slow evolution over time. You can see the underpinnings of grunge and 90’s rap in things even like EDM and Dubstep. It is a continuum… all of this answer was so I could use the word “continuum.”
7. Kendrick Lamar - a little overrated or a lot overrated?
Kind of overrated, but not a lot, but a bit more than a little.
8. How do Mick and Keith keep going?
They died years ago, but are so full of preservatives their bodies don’t know it yet.
9. Favorite top five guilty pleasure musical acts.
This is a difficult question because I don’t listen to too much music right now. I mainly consume podcasts, But I imagine I can come up with a handful of musical acts.
1. Weird Al Yankovic
2. Sia
3. Taylor Swift
4. some Katy Perry, but only some. She is an infuriating artist because she is empowering to young women one second and then becomes a fawning object in the next song
5. one song from G.R.L.
Keep in mind that most of these are only considered guilty pleasures because I am a 43 year old married father of 2.
10. Do you like the same music you liked as a kid/teen/young adult?
Somewhat. I still like what most of what I did as a kid, but I like more kinds of music now.
11. Do you like the same music as your kids?
Not quite. I don’t quite get the appeal of some of their music, now get off my damn lawn.
12. What was the last live music performance you attended? Was it too damn loud?
Little Man's symphonic concert. It was just loud enough.
13. Did you study music in school at any level? Do your kids?
Nope. Yep
14. Who is the best music teacher you have met?
My mom teaches music…. So... umm... not her.
15. What instruments do the kids play?
LIttle Man plays the upright bass and the French horn.
Q plays the piano.
16. What is the sound of music?
External vibrations interacting with the tympanic membrane that oscillates three small bones in your ear that interact with the cochlear nerve and is interpreted by your brain as the sound of music.
17. Favorite grammar rock song?
Word Crimes by the aforementioned Weird Al Yankovic
18. What song/s do you want play at your funeral party (many moons from now)? What? You didn’t know we were gonna have a party? Shhhh, it’s a surprise.
“All By Myself” and “Tainted Love”.. please leave other songs that should be at my “Gone Away Party” in the comments.
19. What music calms the beast?
Manamana
20. Song if you hear one more time you’ll pull a Van Gogh?
There is no music out there that would get me able to paint “Starry Night.” That is beyond perfection. If you mean, cleave off my ear, that wasn’t for a song, that was for a chick.
To recap:
Yesterday at dinner Q looked at me and said:
The song “The Carol of the Bells” is like a theme song for a squirrel
If you take away the words
She is not wrong
They are removing monuments to the Confederacy in New Orleans
1. Slavery apologists are claiming "the Civil War was not about slavery but about the economy"
That is only a nice way to say that the war was about slavery without actually saying it because the South’s economic model was built on the “peculiar institution” of slavery
2. Slavery apologists are claiming "the Civil War was not about slavery but about State’s rights."
That is also a nice way to say that the war was about slavery without actually saying it, since the State’s rights that the South was fighting for was the right of states to allow someone to own someone else
I grew up in the South, I have heard all the arguments for the Civil War… they all boil down to the South fighting for the ability for the ultra rich to own people
Suck it up South, it is time to walk away
Anyone want to do an interview?
Email me at mmmmmpig at gmail
Do it!... seriously
I have one interview out there that's about halfway done
I need to get a few more in the hopper
The youngest is in swimming now too
What have we done?
Sweet giblets and gravy we have 2 kids in the amazing time sink called swimming
Have a great week everyone