Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 4 Editor's Choice: 2
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Hmmm....
[Read the article: Download. Listen. Vote! Song Search begins!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Using the alleged Song Search judging criteria, 1 to 10 scale (10 = strong, 1 = weak):
Colorforms - Green and White Stripes
Originality ----- 4
Talent ---------- 6
Overall Sound --- 5
Themes ---------- 5
Lyrics ---------- 4
Musicianship ---- 6
Comment: Sounds like a Regina Spektor knock-off. A song about songs that offers little insight, just a few slight observations delivered in an overly precious manner.
The Caterpillars - Motorbike
Originality ----- 6
Talent ---------- 5
Overall Sound --- 4
Themes ---------- 5
Lyrics ---------- 7
Musicianship ---- 6
Comment: Intriguing idea but the production and performance do not sell the song. What is a professional production team doing in an amateur songwriting contest?
Overall:An unimpressive start to this contest. Agree with other posters, neither worth a vote.
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OK, I'll Step Up...
[Read the article: Two new contenders step up]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...and offer to host all the losers' songs on my web site.
I submitted a song as well, and like many of the people who've commented on the very biased filtering of Bartlett et al, I agree that all the contest entries should be made available to everyone so they can judge for themselves. I have the feeling there were tons of great songs submitted to this contest that are much more interesting than what's been offered so far, and I want to hear all of them as much as everyone else here does.
Go to doctechnical dot com slash cgi dash bin slash salonlosers dot cgi and fill out the form there.
-doccy
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Without A Net
[Read the article: I Like to Watch]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think the "Day 5" installment, with John's seemingly off-the-wall soliloquy, will turn out to be Milch's throwing down the gauntlet episode of this series: "Either you're with me in this or you're not." It's certainly separating the fanatics from the less committed viewers, that's for sure. I'm in the fanatics crowd but I can also understand how Heather would be turned off - who really wants to have to work that hard to figure out what is going on in a television series? To make sense of what has taken place in JFC so far (especially the Day 5 episode), I was compelled to read Steve Hawk's "Behind The Episode" column on the HBO web site, along with JFC forum posts on both the HBO and Television Without Pity sites. While this took some time from my day, the effort paid off for me; I have a much better appreciation of what Milch is after with this series, and I can't wait to see what happens next. I also have an appreciation of how, with JFC, Milch is really flying without a net: a lot of the details and side trips in this series are the result of chance and improvisation on the set. JFC may aggravate Heather but it fascinates the hell out of this viewer.
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Cultutal Criticism and the Cult Of Personality
[Read the article: YouTube, j'accuse!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In Siegel, we seem to have an individual parlaying his perceived (as well as self-perceived) cultural relevance on a stance deriding the very culture he inhabits. As such it's hard to take him seriously, regardless of the merits of his arguments.
Not meaning to go off on a tangent here but: there was a recent interview on NPR with a climatologist who said (I am paraphrasing here) that with the effects of global warming taking its toll on the environment, the world of 50 to 100 years from now will likely be unrecognizable to the current population. When there's no energy (or not enough energy) to power the technologies we increasingly rely on for our survival (much less entertainment), the supposedly bankrupt state of our culture will be the least of our problems.