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As time wears on, I - like most other television watching Americans - want the Writers Guild of America strike to end. For the most part the strike doesn’t bother me (God forbid I be forced to leave the house or read a book), but I am annoyed by the idea that the strike might promote an influx of more eye-gouging ‘reality’ television or that it could negatively impact the shows that are coming to an end this year.

I have no sympathy for the producers and studio executives who could have easily forgone a strike by making equitable concessions to Writers Guild demands. I was surprised by how little control and compensation many Hollywood writers receive for their work, which plays no small role in making studios billions of dollars. I understand that the major studios are playing their available cards - and that their considerations encompass more than just appearing insuperable to the writers - but this generally sucks.

On the other hand, it irritates me to see two generally wealthy and well-off groups argue melodramatically about money, particularly when the country is filled with people who are much more screwed over than Hollywood writers are.

Seeing the panic that “new media” has caused for both the film and music industries, I think it was wise of the writers to go on strike now. I disagree with those who say that they should have waited to see how lucrative methods of “new media”/internet distribution will become. If companies do find means of profit in these distribution methods, I would think that it would be much harder for writers to get financial ownership of them down the road. What would compel major studios to generously give up the financial rights to an assured area of tremendous revenue? It could be argued that the studios would want to invest what is necessary to keep their “new” revenue stream going, but I suspect that wouldn’t turn out to be the case.

My primary concerns, as I stated above, reflect my status as a television watcher; not an insider. What will happen to the shows whose final seasons are this year? Will I be able to see the end of Scrubs as it was intended? Will scripted comedies and dramas become even less visible on television as studios favor even more easy-to-produce ‘reality’ shows? As with many other things, we probably won’t be able to assess the damage until it’s done. Here’s to pastime creativity.

No, not for your music, but for your decision to release your new album In Rainbows yourselves, and for the fact that you made it available for download at a pay-what-you-will price. I thunderously applaud the decision… not that the members of Radiohead are likely gasping for accolades. :)

Sometimes you may not like the artist, but you love their decisions. How truly enterprising.

Random bits of interest.

1. Schizophrenia Gene May Have On/Off Switch Interesting, specifically for people suffering from schizophrenia and their families. The study was done on mice and there is no guarantee that the results will transfer over into humans, but the mice supposedly displayed behaviors similar to those that are seen in people with the disorder. Hopefully we’ll hear about this again someday, as opposed to many of the seemingly revolutionary medical tests I read about in the news that mysteriously disappear.

2. Amish donate cash to school gunman’s widow Although I am wary of people who urge universal forgiveness, I was struck and impressed by the sympathy in this act. For the Amish people to be able to make such a kind gesture toward a woman who has probably suffered a great deal since the incident in question - when her husband took several Amish schoolgirls hostage, eventually killing four and injuring others - is thought-provoking and inspiring.

3. Commuting Sucks One of the most beneficial perks of living in New York City is the top-notch public transportation system. NYC is the only place I have ever lived where the public transportation system was so comprehensive and reliable that it greatly diminished your need for a car. In most American places, people have to rely on cars because they have no alternatives - places where public transit is limited to poor to non-existent. This study isn’t telling people anything they don’t know. Comprehensive public transportation improvements need to be a higher priority of the American public and of our politicians.

4. White Stripes cancel all 2007 tour dates :*[ Anyone who has read of my love of the White Stripes knows this is distressing news. Here’s hoping Meg gets better sometime soon. If she needs a break, she needs a break. I’m just glad I was able to see them when I did.

I went to see Nickel Creek with Fiona Apple in Central Park yesterday. I was generally impressed with the way the whole thing was set up other than the fact that, as a non-extremely tall person, it was very hard to see the performers. That killed me. I spent almost the whole time standing on my tip toes. I’ve wanted to see Fiona Apple perform ever since I got Tidal and part of the fun of seeing her perform is seeing her dance on stage - flailing about wildly, periodically hitting herself and pouring herself into the music.

Before going, I didn’t know the gist of the tour was that Nickel Creek and Fiona were performing together. When I first found this out, the idea seemed disappointing to me because I assumed it would minimize the amount of Fiona I got to see. Until last night, I also had never listened to Nickel Creek, despite being both a country and bluegrass fan.

This was one of the most entertaining and memorable shows I have ever been to. Nickel Creek is a warm, congenial band in which every member is a high caliber performer. There’s a sister/brother fiddler/guitar picker combination (Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins, respectively), the Mandolin player Chris Thile, and the current bassist Mark Schatz. Sara, Chris, and Sean all sing lead on different songs. I love bluegrass music and that love is amplified when the band on stage loves playing bluegrass music. They played their instruments expressively, they harmonized beautifully, and their whole show had the tone of a freewheeling, open experience while still having the edge of an incredibly professional performance. They played for 2 1/2 hours. I can now easily be considered an official Nickel Creek fan. They were great. There is no doubt in my mind that if the band members separate for good, each member will individually produce great music.

The way the show functioned in relation to Fiona Apple was like a special treat for avid Fiona Apple fans. Nickel Creek performed for about 45 minutes and then Fiona came out to join them. They performed a few of her songs before taking a short 20-minute intermission. Hearing Fiona Apple songs interpreted in a Bluegrass style - hearing the performers transfer each song to their string instruments from her standard piano - was fascinating and uniquely satisfying. Their last song before intermission was Limp from When the Pawn…. It may have been my favorite song of hers that they performed that evening. One of the aspects of that song that I always loved is that it’s so unapologetically angry. She sang it with significant anger and verve. I adore her.

Some of the other really popular Fiona songs they performed last night were Extraordinary Machine, Paper Bag, Waltz (Better Than Fine), Not About Love, Criminal, and Fast As You Can. She was, I can only assume, at the top of her game because every performance was treasurable. The covers were amazing. They closed the show with a priceless rendition of the 1926 song “Tonight You Belong to Me”. Favorite moment of the whole evening. Apparently you can see her sing this song with other people on the Extraordinary Machine dvd. You can also see it here.

Not only would I highly recommend every music fan buy tickets to this show, I would go so far as to say it’s one of those rare moments in music history when two bands come together to create a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon that transcends the normal quality of what fans get to see on a tour. I’m extremely glad I had the opportunity to see it. Go if you can.

Here’s another worthwhile cover from the club where they all hob-knob and play in L.A. Enjoy.
Fiona Apple performs “River, Stay Away From My Door”

Photos from their tour are available at the official Nickel Creek website.

The guy who took a lot of those photographs has an interesting website too: Acoustic Images Online

I don’t really enjoy Feministe, but there is an excellent post on their blog titled, “Criticizing the things you love”. As a pop-culture junkie and someone who doesn’t like ignoring the “minor” things that degrade something wonderful, I can really identify with the author’s feelings.

It’s an eternal struggle - when is it o.k. to overlook something that stands out as sexist, racist, stupid, or objectionable? How guilty should I feel for liking Speedy Gonzalez? Everyone has a different answer and not all of them are right. I liked her explanation; you don’t keep quiet about it. You point out what you like and you point out what you don’t like. There is precious little in this world that can be loved unconditionally.

“And you think Rockford Files is cool - But there are some things that you would change - If it were up to you”

- Ben Folds Five

I read an article that really irritated me regarding the concept of the ‘emotional affair’, i.e. cheating on your spouse in the form of emotional support from another. The whole idea of the emotional affair is exploited to make women feel guilty about having profound personal relationships outside of their marriage.

I’m not saying that forming emotional connections to someone else can’t be hurtful to your spouse or evolve into something that becomes a full fledged physical affair, but I loathe this idea that a married woman has to cut herself off from the world; that every moment of satisfaction and fulfillment she receives should be through her husband and her husband alone; that having a valuable friend outside of her husband is something she should feel guilty about.

Oh society, with your mixed messages and lose-lose ultimatums - you really have it out for girls, don’t you?

If you’re into that sort of thing.

It was excellent. It definitely lived up to the high standards the show has set for itself. I haven’t laughed that hard at the movies in a while.

This was brought on by a recent article in the Wall Street Journal which has received a lot of attention, called “Blame It on Mr. Rogers: Why Young Adults Feel So Entitled”. I’m not linking it because I don’t want to give the individuals who have written it what they want, which is more people reading their vacantly inflammatory rhetoric.

Fred Rogers, the late TV icon, told several generations of children that they were “special” just for being whoever they were. He meant well, and he was a sterling role model in many ways. But what often got lost in his self-esteem-building patter was the idea that being special comes from working hard and having high expectations for yourself.

No. No that did not get “lost in his self-esteem-building patter”. It is not his fault if other people misinterpreted or distorted his intentions and teaching techniques. Modern teenagers and young adults feel more entitled because the people around them have created that sense of entitlement.

Lazy, well-off parents throw money at their kids instead of paying attention to them or giving a damn about the way they treat other people. They also scream at teachers who don’t hand out A’s like business cards; administrators who won’t automatically enroll their children in Advanced Placement or Honors classes. People who don’t correct or yell at their kids because it’s easier not to have to play an actual role in raising them. People who think Bratz dolls are harmless or boys acting like psychopaths are ‘just being boys’. “I deserve whatever I want and don’t have to do anything to get it” attitudes are not only pervasive, but celebrated, and that sure as hell wasn’t what Mr. Rogers was promoting when he told kids they were special and could look forward to getting up in the morning.

I detest when people do this - attack someone or something who does not deserve censure because they’ve either failed at identifying the source of a problem themselves or because they want people to pay attention to them. Way to use your shockingly impressive powers of observation and means of mass communication to achieve positive ends, you inane poseurs.

I was treated to a splattering of posters for the Bratz movie around Manhattan today, a film based upon the popular doll/cartoon/puzzle piece franchise. These are Bratz dolls:

Ewwwwwwww… It sends a shudder down my spine to even have to upload the picture. You’ve probably seen them. A quick glance, they look like any twiggy thin Barbie doll, then you do a double take because their hideous makeup-caked faces have made an imprint on your brain.

Here, in a succinct little bite-sized portion, is why Bratz dolls are clearly created, endorsed, and owned by satan or other satan-related affiliates:

WHY WOULD YOU GIVE THIS TO YOUR DAUGHTER?! I guess someone may have said that about Barbies, once, too…

1) They celebrate stupidity.

They’re called “Bratz”. Need more? Look at their website, watch the cartoon, go see the upcoming movie, which I’m sure is a shining example of progressive pro-feminist ideals developed by women for a smart, impressionable female audience.

2) They take the laughably unrealistic beauty standard and blow it out of the water.

I mean, Jesus, just look at them. The nose thing kills me. They hardly have them. Oversized, pouty Angelina Jolie lips. Eyes drowning in eyeliner and eyeshadow. Why is it that girl dolls are never allowed to have noses? Is being able to smell unattractive? Their faces look almost identical, save for the slightly differing skin tones and preferred shades of makeup. I’m not even against makeup in every way, shape, or form. I’m fine with teenage girls playing with makeup, but not when it’s to tear down their first face and create a new one.

3) They’re teaching girls… what?

To plaster industrial strength makeup on their faces much earlier than ever before; to dress as provocatively and mass-market targeted as possible; to adopt the attitudes that very insecure, self-bankrupt older women adopt now rather than later; to achieve a level of thinness thought impossible by human test subjects; to get plastic surgery so that their noses are extra itty bitty and cwute (meaning barely visible); to gloriously and proudly refer to themselves as ‘bratz’, a word that, by my recollection, used to mean you were obnoxious and self-entitled; to love shopping without reason or rhyme; to be cliquey and exclusionary; to predicate their lives on fashion, fun, and flirtatiousness.

It annoys the hell out of me that these dolls have managed to become so popular. Why can’t girls be assertive rather than ‘bratty’? Why can’t they have dolls that reflect something of what their lives are actually like? And, if they actually live lives like those of Bratz dolls, why would we encourage anyone to celebrate or idolize that mentality?

Thank God my sister missed this craze by a small margin, because if I had ever seen her playing with a Bratz doll I may have had to remove it from her presence, tear it’s head off, and chuck it in the trash.

So we’ve had a celebrity frequenting my place of employment lately. Even after the initial ‘ooh’ing and ‘ahh’ing, she’s turned out to be a pretty cool gal, all things considered, with her own specific quirks that I probably notice more acutely than I would with other people. You know, the glam of the whole situation wore off very fast. Today was only the second time I’ve met this person, and it was like seeing any other familiar face walk through the door. I guess that’s not really weird. Hmph. Anyway.

Other than this person being a generally pleasant soul, when she came by today things were overwhelmingly busy. There were people everywhere demanding my attention, but when she arrived I went out of my way to greet her, as well as her mother and their family friend (who had been waiting for their arrival and whose needs I was already attending to).

The celebutante in question had casually asked me to get her something and I assented. I had every intention of getting it, but I believe she noticed how busy we were, saw that I became caught up in something else, and thought she would “help” by getting it herself. She strolled into the back room/clearly designated “Employees Only” area and asked me where the item was, expressing to me her intention by shouting, “I’ll just get it myself”.

Here’s the thing: whether or not she may have thought she was helping, or whether she was just being an impatient little superstar, it was a bad idea all around for her to have done this. The ‘back room’ I speak of is a disaster zone. There are boxes blocking passageways, precariously perched inventory items just waiting to drop from shelves, sensitive business-related materials, random junk, and, periodically, employees hiding from the throngs of customers who want 100% of that person’s attention 100% of the time.

What am I supposed to say at that point? “Wait, stupid girl, if my boss knew you were doing this she would probably scream!” or “No, thanks anyway, but pending any possible injuries to your person, we don’t want to get sued.” I did neither, although I instinctively wanted to. Instead I told her that it would be troublesome because the items were high up and I would have to use a ladder. Then I immediately dropped what I was doing and went to get them myself, preventing her from any further attempts to take control of the situation on her own.

I know this sounds like a ridiculously silly story to even bother thinking twice about, and that it was only one small event in a long line of mundane daily superfluous plot points, but I wanted to reach out to any celebrities, demi-celebrities, or future celebrities who may or may not be reading this blog (ha!) - I admire your tenacity, but please let us do our thing. Thank you.