The Pop Culture Addict’s Blog

I have a lot of mishmash to spew out. Let me start with this: I finally heard The Grey Album and loved it! I feel like I shouldn’t even say it but my favorite song off of Jay-Z’s Black Album is 99 Problems. I might be betraying the sisterhood – I know. It’s just a really good song. But the Grey Album version is really clever – DJ Danger Mouse mixed in the Beatles’ Helter Skelter. It is perfect.

In case you missed it, The Grey Album is Danger Mouse’s mix of the Beatles’ White Album with Jay-Z’s Black Album and he had made it available for free online. By the time I heard about it, it was already gone. Even I have my lapses.

Pop Girl
A bit later… in between the time I entitled this “Feeling Beachy” and now, I actually made it to the beach. Note the scarf. Clearly it was a less than balmy day. But the air was refreshing, the sand sandy and the water blue.

Pop Books
What else did I want to say…someone commented that from reading my blog, it seemed like I wasn’t reading as much. No, I’m still reading the same amount of time as before. It’s just that I am presently stuck reading the same book. I have been reading Donna Tartt’s The Little Friend for weeks now, possibly months. I am into it but she just writes a really long book. I want to know how it ends so I keep plugging away. In the meantime, I read Jennifer Weiner’s In Her Shoes. And I still have all of the Freaks and Geeks teleplays to get through. That should be a pleasure to read.

Pop TV
I wasn’t sure if I’d like it but I am totally into the show Jake In Progress starring John Stamos. I have never given him much thought. But curiosity got the better of me along with falling for the marathon reruns ABC has been showing.

I’m still watching What Not to Wear religiously – both the BBC-A and TLC versions. And I watch my usuals (um…The OC, Alias, many more). I am the only person I know who cares about Carnivale. I am not sure what the appeal is but I can say I loved Days of Heaven which is set during the same time period I think. It is all very Grapes of Wrath. I watched The Office and liked it enough to think I will watch it again. Yes, I loved the original. No one can take the place of Gareth (Mackenzie Crook). So funny. I’m sure you’ve heard that Ricky Gervais is going to write an episode of The Simpsons.

Pop Movies
I am finally seeing Murderball tomorrow. I hope it lives up to my expectations. I know I keep mentioning it. I hope I like it enough to follow up on it. Btw, the thing I like about my blog is that unlike my dissertation when I had to follow through, I can just follow my whim. Ah, the good life.

Pop Technology
I had something in mind when I started but all I have left is, let’s turn it up to 11 and see what happens!

Added 3/29: How could I let 3/24 go by without mentioning the long-awaited Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable)? Well, of course it is incredibly cool. I don’t have one. I’m not a big gamer. But I’ve had a look-see at one. First off, the picture quality is pristine and the sound is crisp. Aside from the annoyance of having to hold up the PSP, I don’t think I would mind watching a 2-hour movie on it. The screen is a decent size. The design is sleek. The price is…well, it’s $250 I think. It’s comparable to similar items. The games look amazing on them. You can also listen to mp3’s, watch music videos, take and store pictures. I found the controls a tiny bit cumbersome but in truth, they are probably the same complexity as on a Sidekick. The Universal Media Disks are cute. The games are pricey – $40-50. The only movies you can purchase at the moment are ones released by Columbia and Sony Pictures, i.e., the ones Sony owns. So, given a choice of any handheld gaming device, I would go with this one and I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks this way. Sony will be rolling in money with this one.

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Stephen Chow’s new movie Kung Fu Hustle opens in NYC on 4/8. I just needed to share that I am looking forward to seeing it. I was talking to someone who saw it on dvd (it opened in HK last December) and I got all riled up. I skipped the most recent martial arts movies. I don’t know, I just wasn’t feeling them. But I know I am seeing Murderball real soon. So I’m psyched about that because although it is NOT a martial arts (wuxia) movie, I have a feeling it will be a good one.

I also have a gripe to finish getting off my mind. This is regarding the movie Story of the Weeping Camel (2003). And I’m going to talk about the ending so don’t say I didn’t warn you.

At the end of this contemporary documentarish movie (this is your chance to skip down to the next paragraph), this nomadic Mongolian shepherd family ends up getting satellite tv. A few of the people I saw it with seemed to feel really strongly against that. Just to provide some backstory, the little 7 (?) year old boy really wants to get a tv and his older brother says a tv would cost “a couple of sheep” and the lil bro asks how much would satellite cost and the big bro says “at least an entire flock.” I know without seeing the movie, you can’t really comment, but let me just say I was happy for the boys that they got their satellite tv. I thought it was sort of selfish to want them to stay in the dark ages of technology. I mean, without technology, we wouldn’t have been able to see them and their story. I felt confident that these boys who would inherit their family’s livelihood and livestock would be able to blend their earthy existence with a more futuristic one. Do I sound moralistic? Probably. At any rate, I think it’s self-evident how strongly I feel about how pop culture informs us about each other and ourselves.

On the subject of technology, it is almost magical when you receive the perfect gift. And lest I sound shallow and materialistic, I do think the perfect gift can be an intangible such as a look, a word, an understanding as well as a thing, you know what I mean. So what is this hullabaloo about? I have recently become the proud owner of an iPod Shuffle. And as you probably gather, I was ecstatic when I got it. It’s like my iPod had a baby. The only thing I’d change is the headset/earbuds. I used to have a “no tangles ever” earbud set from Korea. And guess what, it totally lived up to it’s packaging promise. The cord was really, really short. But I got it caught in a car door and it chopped in half. D’oh. So I’m back to standard length cords for the time being and they are a bit on the long side. But I’m not really complaining because I’m beaming from delight. Maybe I am shallow and materialistic…

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These are words I never thought I’d utter. Okay, maybe “love” is an overstatement. I like Metallica. Even these are words I am surprised to say. And to be more specific, this is my reaction to Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, the dvd edition. To be honest, I still don’t really know their music that well but what appeals to me about them is their attitude. I like them for allowing themselves to be documented in an honest and open way. I like them for not taking themselves too seriously. I like them for loving what they do. And it’s cool to see that they are good. It’s not that before seeing the movie I thought they were untalented. They just didn’t register on my radar because of what draws me in musically. But like you, I try to keep my eyes and ears open because you never know what will grab your attention at any given moment.

My original response to the movie from when I saw it last summer (7/04) is here: Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. And I wrote some other stuff in the mini-blog: SKOM thoughts.

There are two commentary tracks and both are worth listening to: the band commentary and the film makers’ commentary. More on this in a moment.

On Napster
I’m sure diehard fans know all this but for someone on the other side, to hear Lars react to his Napster footage makes him more sympathetic re: this issue. He says in the film it wasn’t his goal to become the most hated figure in rock. In one of the Q&A’s he said it all started from a brief phone call in which someone called him about how something they had just recorded and wasn’t even out yet had been made available on Napster. He said it was about control over their material. And their reaction to it became construed as an anti-fan sentiment. Kirk, who is normally less talkative, steps up and supports Lars saying despite all the controversy and anger towards them, their stance hasn’t changed.

I guess Lars’ reaction was the quickest and strongest because he is most involved in the business end of the band. It’s a tricky line because if you think about fans trading music for free without giving royalties to the band, but then consider that these fans will shell out millions to go to the concerts, buy the t-shirts, see this movie and even buy the albums, then isn’t that a trade-off? There are artists, I think Jason Mraz is one of them, who says, feel free to record my concerts but please don’t charge anyone money for the footage or recordings. Just keep them for personal enjoyment and trading with fellow fans.

Going with the theme of this site, imagine if someone you didn’t know got a hold of and then posted part of your results section of your dissertation online mid-analysis. That’s not right. It’s your work. You obviously didn’t feel ready to publish it yet because you would’ve turned it in already if you did. So it’s that feeling of someone taking your stuff without your knowledge and showing it to people without your permission. I mean, now that I’m done (with my results section and everything else), obviously, I’m fine with people seeing what I did.

Anyway, let’s not get hung up this. Next…

On Phil Towle, the therapist
Hearing the film makers express their gratitude to him makes me feel like he was better than he appears in the film. As I said before, it’s clear Phil Towle is well-meaning. He thinks he can help Metallica mend themselves and he wants to help them. And more importantly, one by one, Lars, Kirk and eventually (after a 6 months in rehab) James, believe it and want it. That’s what makes it work. Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky talk about the rift between them during the filming of this caused by Joe Berlinger having gone off on his own to do Blair Witch 2. They have a long-time partnership and they said Phil Towle helped them find a way to keep working together.

More on the DVD Extras
In the commentaries and extras, it’s cool to hear the band members cringe at how fat they look or how funny their hair looks, etc. It’s very humanizing and makes them interesting and real. At one point, Lars says how he’s a little bit desensitized because James says, what does it feel like to watch yourself onscreen with your father? And Lars says, I’ve seen this so many times now, it almost feels like I’m watching 2 characters on screen, not real people. But in a way, that’s a defense mechanism and a functional one at that. If he kept feeling all the emotions he felt the first time every time he viewed it, it would be distracting and maybe overwhelming. Anyway, it’s fun to hear the band reminisce.

They have a hard time with the Jason Newsted footage. I think not enough time has passed for the band to be objective. That’s perfectly understandable. But the film makers thank him for being available for the film despite the fact that he left Metallica, and upon consideration, as a viewer, it is cool that Jason Newsted agreed to be interviewed for the movie, knowing how the rest of the band probably felt towards him at that point. And what really comes out is the fact that the band never got over the death of original bassist Cliff Burton who they had known since they were teenagers. Imagine the pain they were carrying around. And though through Monday morning quarterbacking we can say, obviously, Cliff Burton’s death had a huge impact on the psyche of Metallica as a whole and individually on the members, let’s allow that people are more complicated than that kind of 30-second analysis and go on.

If you’re a fan, you’ve already heard about the fascinating scene with Dave Mustaine, the lead guitarist who was kicked out of Metallica way back when. Again, it’s honest and touching. And Lars says they had spoken on the phone before filming the scene and had something of a relationship. But what Dave Mustaine says to him in the context of trying to work out past conflicts, is still news to him and to James (after the fact). Unfortunately, it seems Dave Mustaine found the process too painful. This is me editorializing. I think he felt too exposed. The film makers say that once the movie came out, Dave Mustaine called it “Some Kind of B.S.” and refused to let them use any Megadeth footage in it.

There is a fantastic deleted scene showing producer Swizz Beatz working with producer Bob Rock in the studio piecing together what eventually became a Ja Rule/Metallica joint um… I think it was called We Did It Again. I can see why it was cut from the final film. It would’ve cut the flow of the story. But being privy to the creative process is very cool. It made me respect the talent of Swizz Beatz. And it’s very interesting to learn that pre-rehab, James had firmly expressed his dislike of hip hop. Yet, in his absence, the band proceeds with this project. Hm. No word on James’ reaction to the end product.

Just a couple of more observations:

Another great deleted scene, definitely better cut from the film but perfect as a dvd extra, depicts the process by which the band and the film makers decided whether or not to press forward with the film upon James’ return from rehab. Basically what changed James’ mind was viewing 20 minutes of the film in progress. It would’ve been too jarring to see it within the film but to see it afterwards is cool. You see the reactions of Lars, Kirk and James as they see the footage for the first time. Amazing the trust they had in the film makers.

One last thought… I would’ve enjoyed having MTV’s Icon: Metallica show as a dvd extra because they talk about it in the film. I didn’t watch it originally because I didn’t care. But after viewing SKOM, I totally care and short of going to the Museum of Television and Radio archives, I don’t have easy access to it. But, it must’ve been a Viacom/financial issue. The band foot the entire bill of the movie and rights to an MTV production most likely costs a pretty penny.

So, initially, I thought the film ran a bit long, as I typically do, but upon second viewing, I thought it was just right. And when I first read about the 10 hours or so of footage on the dvd, I thought, yikes. But they did a good job of including interesting stuff. I still stand behind my recommendation of the film as a form of entertainment and as a source of creative inspiration.

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Well, whatever that rascal Cole Porter meant by that, I’ve been thinking about what Sondre Lerche said about how he loves music but it is so hard to find something that grabs him and keeps him there because after a few listens, he can see how it goes together and he can’t enjoy it anymore. Or maybe after one listen, he’s already over it.

I think we all go through that. To keep with the music thing, that totally happens to me where I love, love, love a song, a group, an album, whatever, and then one day I don’t want to hear it ever again. As I always say, while I am not a fan of the smug, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I am a member (admitting it is the first step), but I would never deign to think that I had the vast and innate musical knowledge that Sondre Lerche has. But I do believe without expertise, anyone can know what’s appealing on an individual level. So really, everyone’s an expert when it comes to personal taste. Accepting that, let’s say that what Sondre means is that music is his life, it’s his business, it’s his love. He understands it intrinsically. So when he says he can listen to a song and hear what’s it’s all about and is unable to appreciate multiple listenings, he’s saying he can’t suspend his disbelief anymore, he sees through the smoke and mirrors and just doesn’t buy the dog and pony show. That must happen to you whatever your profession is whether you’re an architect, a web designer, a teacher, a writer, a mechanic or a musician.

So I think whatever you’re really into, you are able to see through elements of it but it doesn’t always get in the way of your enjoyment of it. It’s sort of like the Law and Order syndrome. Despite it being on 5x daily, I don’t really watch it. And I don’t have anything against it. But Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum writer Jane Espensen, now of Gilmore Girls, said she loves Law and Order. You don’t have to be the talented veteran tv writer she is to see right through it. This is unabashedly formulaic tv in your face (a lil redundancy goes a long way). Obviously, people don’t care. In fact, they love it! It’s comforting to have intrigue and crime that resolves in an hour.

But it is odd to know exactly what’s going on when you’re experiencing it be it a book, a tv show, a song, a movie or a work of art. Let’s stick with the Buffy thing here. Remember Buffy’s cookie dough analogy to her life? She can’t be with Angel yet because she’s not done baking. So what Sondre means is that when we understand something too well, it’s that instead of enjoying the fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate cookie goodness, we are seeing, tasting and thinking too much about the eggs, salt, sugar, flour, water, etc. that went into them and not about the whole effect. As a result, we just don’t care about those cookies the same way we did before.

Still, I guess instead of being bummed out that I can’t get into a song, book, movie or tv show like I thought I would or like I used to and can’t shake that feeling it’s all a sham, I should keep in mind that there’s so much going on I will soon shake that old pop culture ennui and jump feet first into something again and love everything about it. The brain, especially the pop center of it, is ever-growing, ever-pliant, ever-ready for what’s next. (You can tell I aced my neuroscience course.)

So, while there were a few cool things about the Oscars, including Chris Rock, they just didn’t sparkle. Yes, I’m still looking for sparkle in award shows. Oh, and the pre-shows aren’t even worth commenting on. Okay, until the next cool thing…

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