Drove the snowmobile tonight, for the first time. I think I like driving better than passengering. This weekend I might take Rachel out to West Arm, where there are hills, and go sledding with her. She's been bugging me to go.
I'm at a loose end tonight. It wasn't very busy at work today, just cleaning up files after court, and I feel as if I have energy that could be put to use but I can't think of anything to do. I'm hampered by the knowledge that if I start something tonight, tomorrow is Cubs night and I'll be out, and Wednesday night I'll probably be tired again. So what am I doing? Reading weblogs and my email, and listening to the kids bicker about what to watch on tv.
They've settled on music videos. Gwen Stefani singing "It's My Life". Commenting on whether or not one should wear lipstick when being executed in the electric chair. Consensus is -- not. It's interesting to live with folk who have only been alive and cognizant of their surroundings for the past decade or so. Most recently I have found myself explaining Watergate, ABBA, Liza Minnelli, West Side Story, Tang, Fiddler on the Roof, and hysterectomies. I worry that they will have a whole lot to unlearn when they realize that I am not an expert on US presidential scandals, Scandinavian supergroups, Broadway, powdered drinks, or surgical procedures. But I've found to my chagrin that they only listen to short explanations, and will not sit through anything I research to present to them. A longish explanation is likely to be cut off by non sequiturs. "Is she holding a pig? Yeah, whatever, mom."
Sampling is also problematic. Playing Stevie's Edge of Seventeen the other day while I was doing housework prompted some comments about "I hate that song. Isn't it supposed to be a Destiny's Child song?" No, it is not. It's Stevie Nicks. "Is that a man? Girls aren't called Stevie." Yeah, whatever.
I had to go and look up what ABBA song Madonna was sampling in Hung Up. As in, I knew I knew it and that it was ABBA but the title was buried somewhere in my subconscious.
4 comments:
It seems like classic songs are continually being remade, or having their beats copied for a rap song.
I try to tell my teens that this song is a blatant rip off and they shrug. For them it sounds better their way.
*sigh*
There is no accounting for taste.
I remember when my niece came to visit and told me all about this "new group Duran Duran who just came out with a CD I love. Isn't it cool when you can get famous even if you're old?"
Yeah. Blah.
She also liked some group that did remixes of ABBA songs, which I knew was total crap, but she wouldn't hear it.
I think it's cheating. Take a melody that's already out there, so you don't have to do the work of making a new hook and embedding it into everyone's psyches, and then talk around it, and call it a new song. Ha.
I agree, there are few "artists" out there today who create their own music, lyrics and sound. One of the few I've listened to recently is The John Butler Trio.
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