14 March 2012

Humpday Happenings...
Middle of the week, and it sure feels like it's damn near summer...at least that's what the weather reports are saying for the heartland in the next week.
Highs today...(drum roll)...near SEVENTY!
We've already got hyacinth blooms, and the daffodils aren't that far behind.
And to think the FIRST day of Spring won't get here until the 20th?
Kinda makes those "6 more weeks of Winter" prediction from our groundhog sort of...well, WRONG, right?
Still, if you track back to the earlier parts of the 20th century, we had WARM spells as well, when most of the (soon-to-be broken?) records were established. Hell, I remember wearing short sleeves right after the New Year in the early 1970s.
But, we've other things to attend to this day, so let's get on with it...
*** Today's WHO SAID THAT? military quote is as follows:
"The glory of human nature lies in our seeming capacity to exercise conscious control on our own destiny."
So...who said that? Answer tomorrow at the top of the post.
*** As you (should) know, I'm a huge fan of Fox news channel's THE FIVE...on at, well...5PM (better than calling it "The 1700"...LOL).
And yesterday's show had a marvelous topic that I found so ridiculous, that I'm glad those on the show decided to run with it...and comment accordingly.
Here's the video:
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/the-five/index.html
I'm gonna run with this one out of the barn today, so bear with me....this is about a recent study (aren't they all fairly "recent"?) saying that rock n roll could make you racist.
Well, maybe it's not THAT pronounced, but (according to that study) there is a racial BIAS attached to such music.
(and like RAP doesn't have similar if not more pronounced tendencies towards racial BIAS?)
Listening to Springsteen makes me a skinhead...O...M...G...!!!
Actually, the reference is to "white supremacist" music (which I personally loathe as much as RAP, btw), a specific "genre" (within a genre?).
A genre's genre, as it were...getting confused yet?
Heather LaMarre authored the study when she was working on a doctorate at OSU (I did chide Wifey for attending that university, even thought she's not a racist, either...but she DOES listen to some rock 'n roll, as do I).
Ms. Lamarre is now a professor with the Mass Communications and Journalism School at UMinn.
I'm sorry, but MY personal preferences in music are VERY wide-ranging...
I DO love classical music (about 90% of it, in fact)...there is a smattering that I find annoying, but none of the familiar works.
And I do love the music of Scott Joplin...and Smokey Robinson...and George Benson...and Nat King Cole...and Sammy Davis, Jr...and yes, even Charley Pride.
I like a LOT of country music such as Sara Evans, Toby Keith, Garth Brooks (to name a few), and bluegrass music like Alison Krauss, as well as Enya, Elvis, Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Diamond, and also AC/DC,













Ted Nugent, Sammy Hagar, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, The Monkees, The Dave Clark Five, and the Beach Boys.
And that's only the tip of my musical iceberg...
I love good BLUES music... such as B.B.King, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Dinah Washington, The Ink Spots, Clarence Gatemouth Brown (you might have to look up a couple of those...not that well known, but GOOD musicians...lol)
So MY taste in music is quite extensive...I know what I like, AND...I NEVER thump it from my house OR my car so it can be heard several blocks away.
Good music is (or at least SHOULD be) like a fine liquor, such as a scotch or bourbon...meant for SIPPIN'...and NOT for GUZZLIN'.
It's like a classic car...meant for DRIVING...not for showing off and racing!
It's like a comfortable chair or shoes...the older they get...the better you enjoy it.
Good music seems to "fit"...no matter what the occasion or state of mind...it works.
And that's what bothers me. Since I like music from both BLACKS and WHITES...what "kind" of racist does that make me?
I'm torn between two races, musically-speaking...maybe that's why I dislike everyone (equally)...ROFLMAO!
Seriously though, as you get older, you should develop a keen sense of self, and much of what makes up that "self" is an appreciation for certain things in life.
Doesn't matter if it's food or drink...cars, or music, or art of another fashion....it can be ALL good, if you take the time to "get to know it".
Sadly today, many don't bother with anything that isn't "instant" in some manner...
Instant coffee (last resort because I hate it), instant communication, instant banking, instant gratification...damn near instant anything.
Now, to me, it's nice to have something made easier (semi-instant) in life...once in a great while...makes things a bit better to manage, but when people look at "instant" as being something that's done FOR THEM, well, that can open the floodgates, can't it?
When we STOP doing for ourselves, and someone (or something) can do it all FOR US, how does that forward the evolutionary process?
Welcome to the first step into "Entitlementland", kids!
And I've come to feel the same way about music...you have to work at it to find the RIGHT songs (including artists and groups) that make that impact in your life, be it in love, work, play..whatever.
After a time, you manage to assemble "your tunes"...songs that mean something to YOU.
I really dislike the cookie-cutter mentality that pervades music today (as well as other parts of our lives).
I dislike American Idol for that reason...they all sound alike (to me).
Cripes, you can listen to several different TENORS in the same part in the same opera and yet hear the DIFFERENCE in their voices.
The DISTINCTION and the uniqueness is what should matter...not whether they sound as good as the next guy (or gal).
If ANY racism is fostered with specific genres of music, then it has to be the "skinhead" music (spewing hatred of Blacks and Jews and most everyone but themselves) and most all (c)rap music (spewing hatred of the police, misogynistic treatment of women, and a notion of "success at ANY price" in the 'hood). The overwhelming "theme" to BOTH "styles" of music is SELF-GRATIFICATION (hurray for me, to hell with everyone else).
Hedonism at it's finest, people...plain and simple.
Those TWO sub-genres of music serve ONLY to hate the other, but yet, someone comes along, plays the race card yet AGAIN, and now ALL rock n roll is subject to the microscope of bias...give me a damn break, here.
If one were to trace the roots of "rock and roll", one need only look back to black GOSPEL music.
Now, I'm sure CWM could perform a much better job at splainin" this to all of us, as he's the musical guru in these parts.
I'm just someone who has listened to a LOT of different music genres, brought up with black AND white music played on the stereo, and learned to love MANY types of music by people of ANY race...it's just what sounds good.
The FOX video goes into another aspect of the whole race gig, and that's the theme of "Big Race"...much like Big Oil...or Big Government.
We're reaching a point now, where race, which was supposed to NOT be an issue, is in fact becoming THE issue...for anything AND everything.
That's not a good thing at all.
Listen to a certain music style - you're racist.
Say a certain word - you're racist.
Eat a specific food - you're racist.
Call out the welfare queens - you're racist.
Think anything other than a liberal mindset - you're racist.
Own a gun and a bible - you're racist.
Say anything against Obama's policies - you're racist.
(where does this BS end?)
Curiously, it's not the whites perpetuating this against the populace, but, as is so often the case, THEY (we) are the ones targeted with misplaced "guilt" by others. And it's undeserved guilt at that!
I have said for decades that IF we were headed for another "civil war", it wouldn't be North against South.
In fact, it wouldn't be ANY geographical aspect assigned to it. It would become a lot more "personal" in nature.
Sure hope to hell I'm wrong on this one.
Now, I will admit that I detest people who go out of their way to practice that special kind of stupid throughout the world, and if THAT makes me a racist, so be it. THAT one I can live with.
Those who are chronically stupid, blatantly stupid, loudly stupid (never met a QUIET one yet), and rampantly stupid ALL have no place in society, because it's called EDUCATION for a damn reason.
(but enough about my "neighbors"...lol)
I just feel it's time to call out the REAL racists for who THEY are, and not who they want us to think are racist.
And by God, if we have to do it to the tune of Elvis Presley, let's have at it then, hmm?
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.

4 comments:

John DuMond said...

Yeah, that stupid groundhog got it wrong here too (not that I'm complainin'). I guess that's what happens when you get weather forecasts from a rodent. Then again, the weatherman on TV ain't much better. And he doesn't even have his own holiday. :)

I'll go with Thomas Jefferson for that quote. Admittedly, a complete guess.

Bob G. said...

John D.:
Hey, if a bunch of old white guys (in top hats & white gloves, no less) rousted MY ass outta bed on some god-awful EARLY February morning...I'd probably tell 'em anything they wanted to hear (or expected) as well...LOL.
(unless they had COFFEE...and LOTS of it - EXTRA sweet)

Jefferson?
Nope, sorry...Wifey was guessing the Revolutionary period as well.

She also thought it was Napoleon...wrong again.

It's a GOOD guess, though.
See 'ya back here tomorrow, then, right?

You take care and thanks for stopping on by today and commenting.

Roll safe out there.

CWMartin said...

Dude, I think you covered the bases on the music/racism topic ( although that DC5 is kinda nazi, LOL). I would posit it is not the music but the person listening and the spirit in which they listen. I really can't think of a mainstream rock song that's racist (unless you want to stretch the point on Sweet Home Alabama, a song which it always amuses me to see blacks sing along to). Rap, on the other hand (which KC is trying to up my exposure to) caters not only to racism, but everything listed under the "will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven" category outside of homsexuality. But of course, that's just a "cultural thing" dontcha know, unlike skinhead music which is simply unforgivable. No, really, it is.

The quote struck me as something Napoleon would say. BOY, did I miss THAT one!

BTW, isn't your shout racism guy wearing an Obama for America button?

Bob G. said...

CWM:
I agree about the "spirit" of the individual listening to music and it's bearing on how it might be interpreted (when you grow up with one mindset drilled into you, it tends to follow into your adulthood, hence the societal issues and "taste" in tunes today), but some music IS most unforgivable, and would NEVER hit the airwaves a few decades ago.

Nope, not Napoleon...(Wifey guessed him too)

And yes, that IS an "O" sticker..as it was meant to be...lol.
Neat, huh?
(and laced with irony)

Hey, thanks for stopping on by today and commenting.

Stay safe up there in Scrappy Hollow.