Korg has released their DS-10 software synth for the Nintendo DS in Japan, and now Europe, and it's coming here next month. Since I have a flashcard, I've been able to extensively "preview" this little miracle cartridge while I wait for my preordered copy to arrive. Here's a little track I made, which I call "gummi berry cider" for no particular reason except I have to wonder if Disney's Gummi Bears were enjoying their cash crop to its fullest potentional, if you catch my drift. If you're a musician, please pardon me, as I'm not, and it's obvious.
edit: Removed. I can make this better. I'll try to rework it and post it later.
I was watching some 1980s commercials recently and it struck me how much more similar they are to 1950s advertising than they are to current advertising. I'm trying to figure out if the commercials seem more traditional as a result of the Christmas holiday buying push from when they were run, and a desire to appeal to people's nostalgia and goodwill, or if advertising had already largely taken a plunge off the deep end by that point, into the postmodern no-man's land that embodied the 1990s.
Thanks to Youtube user, VCRfromHeck, we have these 1986 upstate New York holiday TV ads preserved in pristine condition. (They are especially pristine when I consider some of the crappy SLP/EP--for Super Long Play/Extended Play--tapes of Full House or Alf we used to watch religiously as kids).
The Michael J. Fox Pepsi commercial is probably the most forward-thinking of the lot, and since it's an "image" ad for a product that would benefit from Christmas, but not nearly as much as the gadgets and luxury items in some other commercials in the user's series of 15 or 16 clips.
It's interesting how Pepsi was trying to push the Gen-X/Boomer divide as a means of marketing. This was, afterall, 1986, and we get the picture: The library is reminiscient of The Breakfast Club, which was released the prior year. Michael J. Fox embodies not only his slacker-cool Marty McFly (also introduced the prior year) but also Bender, whose angst and ultimate conclusion, "I blame my parents for my social problems," the teens share.
The Pepsi spot is about 3/5 of the way in. The second embedded clip below is the longer, 60-second version.
But, seriously watch this Velveeta ad from some time in the late 80s and ask yourself if this seems closer to 1950 (minus the microwave, color, and big hair) or 2008.
No self respecting ad exec would come up with this nowadays. Neither can we imagine the vocalist recording that jingle in the studio. She'd pull up to the mic, clutching the giant headphones to her ears, glance over the songsheet on the stand in front of her and then immediately doubt the producer's sanity. Where's the self referential smirk? Velveeta is better than cheddar? That's so patently false there has to be an angle I'm missing here. I know, this is one of those real men of genius commercials, right? No? (sigh)
Until I watched some of these commercials, I had thought that I grew up in a completely postmodern world. But it looks more like modernism was in its death throes as I came of age, with corporations like Kraft helping to put it out of its misery.
I wasn't a huge fan of Batman Begins, because I thought the film took itself too seriously. Well, Dark Knight takes itself even more seriously, and even if it is a better movie, its tone still bothers me.
I could nitpick the message, or the unnecessarily cheesy--and impossible--gadgetry that is employed, or the surprise twists that were telegraphed way in advance. But the thing is I still liked the movie for what it was, I just don't really prefer what it was as a type of movie.
Most importantly, it really felt more like an R rated movie to me. I don't know why the MPAA lets studios trade in sex or swearing for more violence, but they must do this because this movie was as excessively violent as many R movies I've seen. It was a more visceral, intense kind of violence, too, not the A-Team, everybody is okay, all the bullets missed kind.
On the way back from a wedding tonight I stopped by Best Buy, figuring I'd pick up some music or a crappy movie or something. While looking at DS games, I walked down the Wii aisle and, lo and behold, there was a single Wii on the shelf, which I picked up. I didn't realize what it was at first, but once I did I noticed that several people who entered the video games area seemed to be eyeing me, with a hunger in their eyes that was altogether inhuman. One couple in particular were so obviously hovering at the end of the aisle that I almost wanted to strike up a conversation just to watch them squirm.
I had only fleeting thoughts of purchasing that Wii. Even if the money weren't an issue, I have a stack of unconquered PS2 games, including some I really, really like. There are probably three or four Wii games I really want to play for their own sake, but only Super Mario Galaxy is, for me, what I would call a "killer ap." Maybe I'm being judgmental or if I paid closer attention more games would appeal to me. On the other hand, there are a ton of good games for my DS. I set the Wii down and the couple snatched it up right away and I saw them with it at the checkout maybe ten minutes later. Hopefully they're less critical of the current catalogue than I am or else they are fine with its status as a grandma-friendly party system.
As background here, let me note that I can scarcely begin to outline a review for The Incredibles before the inevitable love poem that proceeds from my keyboard surpasses the intended Prufrockian proportions and tracks toward something more like Leaves of Grass in its epic scope and gushing demeanor. Even in the act of mentioning this repeated failure on my part, something inside me decries my inability to here adequately commend that movie for its appropriate and contextual violence and the loving yet honest homage it presents to silver age comics. Oh, and the architecture!...
I can recommend movies for certain people to see, people whose tastes I am somewhat familiar with. But ultimately all any of us can do with certainty is explain how a piece of art affects us. WALL-E gave me goosebumps. Seriously, I love this movie. I almost knew that I would have to love it, since I harbor deep affection for Pixar, robots, space, science fiction in general, and reasonably handled eco-cautionary tales. And while I could list some of the film's genius that struck me on this first pass, it would be much easier just to say that I found WALL-E himself to be one of my new favorite characters in fiction. He's so well realized and so likeable that it would almost be inhuman not to be drawn to him and to root for him and feel his despairs and triumphs alike.
The preceding short, Presto, is hilarious. Gamers will note parallels to the Valve game, Portal.
Well, there's my initial reaction, before I binge on details after subsequent viewings.
