Territorial Bloggings

For each of the past 11 years, Beloit College has released the “Mindset List” for that year’s incoming Freshman Class – i.e., the list of things that the kids in the class have always/never known. It’s always a fascinating read, guaranteed to fill you with amazement & consternation, as well as make you feel really, really old. This year’s list, for the Class of 2012, is no exception.

Of particular interest to me:

• Students entering college for the first time this fall were generally born in 1990.
• The Warsaw Pact is as hazy for them as the League of Nations was for their parents.
• Schools have always been concerned about multiculturalism.
• IBM has never made typewriters.
• The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay Leno and started at 11:35 EST.
• Lenin’s name has never been on a major city in Russia.

Fascinating stuff, both the things that kids can take for granted as “normal”, and how quickly we can assimilate changes & start to accept them as normal ourselves.

-ghp

It’s been a while since I wrote anything about realitytv in general, and about SYTYCD:4 in particular. That’s been partly accidental, but mostly purposeful. I just enjoy this show so darned much that I didn’t want to spoil it by writing about it. For, if I were to have written about it, I would’ve analyzed it, and if I would’ve analyzed it, I would’ve over-analyzed it. And that would’ve sucked some (most?) of the joy out of it. And that’s what AI exists for, right?

Anyway, with last night’s final performance show, I figured I could risk a quick post about this, the best season of the best realitytv show currently on TV. SYTYCD gets almost everything right — it’s a magical mix of art, pop-culture, personality, beauty, lust, storytelling, judging, hosting, sincerity, cheeziness, viewer engagement, choreography, vocation, work/work-ethic, and (above all) talent. Others are good (Survivor, The Amazing Race, etc…), but none are better than SYTYCD. None!

And this season has been the very best of the four seasons of SYTYCD. Each of the elements have been at their very best, most significantly the dancers and the choreographers. There have been more magical performances this seasons than, I think, in all three previous seasons combined. Hyperbole? Perhaps. But not by much, if at all.

This was/is the right final four, that was gotten out of the right top ten (noting, of course, that Jessica is the rightful member of the top ten instead of Comfort, who only performed in the top 10 due to Jessica’s injuries…). Incredible as it seems, this is a no-compromise final four, in that they all bring talent, skill, entertainment, and likability to the stage. There is no need for the caveat, “…well, so-and-so is so talented, but they just lack that connection…” or “…so-and-so is popular, but just lacking in skill/technique…” with any of them. They have all proven over the course of the season that they are supremely talented, even outside their areas of specialty, to the point that they don’t need/expect special allowances.

Who do I like? I like them all. Who has surprised me the most? Well, at the start of the top 20, I didn’t have any of these four pegged to make it this far — the only two I had pegged for the finals at that point were Kherington & Will. I liked Twitch because, well, Twitch is so darned likable. Courtney is just so darned cute & hot in equal amounts (and has been a bit of a surprise in that she really did earn this spot over Chelsie of the magical legs & hips!).

The best & truest surprise(s), though, have been Joshua & Katee. Together and individually, they have been the story of this season. From Katee nearly un-making the top 20, to Joshua’s dearth of formal training (relative to everyone else), to their magical chemistry together and with their various choreographers, these two have been the face of SYTYCD:4. They deserve to be the final two dancers standing. In all truth, they deserve to be co-winners.

Alas, that will not be the case.

That being the case, I want Joshua to win. I think he can win. He would be a legitimate winner. He would be a deserving winner. As would Katee. (Courtney & Twitch just slightly less so…) Joshua, though is just my personal preference.

Unfortunately, I won’t get to see the results until tomorrow (Friday) because the FOX affiliate in Chicago is tape-delaying the finale until 11pm in order to show a Bears preseason game. A regular season game I could understand, but a preseason football? Spare me…

-ghp

I’m so glad this show is back. It’s up there with Survivor & The Amazing Race as the very best realitytv shows going. And yes, my goodness yes, it’s so far and away better than Idol that it,s not even funny. The format, the judges, the voting, the contestants, the host — all better!

This season is shaping up to another good one. I don’t really have any die-hard favorites (on the level of season 2′s Allison) yet, although I could easily see Will, Jessica, & maybe Chelsie H. emerge from the pack.

SYTYCD brings out a rather primal/visceral reaction from me, in terms of what I like in/from the dancers. I find that the less I intellectualize it & the more I just feel & enjoy it, the better it is. It’s almost the exact opposite of how I approach Idol, in terms of analysis and breaking it down. Combined with the overall superiority of the show (especially with the judges, who happen to be choreographers that have actual, you know, current credibility & chops in the profession, so they actually speak truth rather than risk spouting crap like the Idol judges do so regularly…)

A quick word here about the choreographers. I’m not sure I’d want to ever really see Mia Michaels do her work & practice her craft (after all, who really wants to see sausage get made?). But, my goodness does that woman get beautiful results! The routine that she created for Mark & Chelsie H. was amazing, as her routines usually are. I don’t pretend to understand the creative, artistic mind, but I do know enough to appreciate good art when I see it — and more often then not, Mia Michaels choreographed routines are good art.

So, that’s another reason SYTYCD is a superlative show – it produces good art & makes it accessible to many folks (like me) who wouldn’t normally consume it.

I like the girls attractive, but mere superficial looks aren’t enough. Thus, this year I’m leaning more towards Jessica the most, closely followed by Chelsie H., Courtney G., & Kherington. Susie may have learned a lesson, because she toned things down nicely in week 1, and was well served by putting on more clothes & less makeup – but I don’t think that it should keep her in for the long haul. Comfort & Chelsea T. are worthy finalists, if only because they have great character and obvious talent. Kourtni L. is on the border for me – I think she could emerge as a serious contender, but I could just as easily see her wash out pretty quickly. I think I’d prefer the former. Katee? In week 1 I thought she & Joshua gave the best, “most pleasant surprise” performance. But I don’t think I care if she stays much beyond this next week or two.

The guys must be graceful & powerful but still manly. If you’re too gay you can’t really butch it up & fake it — it shows through – you can be nice, pleasant, & engaging, but just not a great, manly dancer is all (witness Chris, Matt, & Thayne). But guys like Will, Joshua, & Twitch have got it in spades. That’s why they’re my favorite guys so far this season. Mark is right behind them, just because he’s such an engagingly quirky & unique dancer. Marquis & Gev? Meh. They do nothing for me, they’ve done nothing to really stand out that much so far, so I hope they don’t do anything to drag any of the girls down too far before they get eliminated.

Overall, I agreed with the week 1 eliminations (Jamie & Rayven), in that I didn’t disagree with them. Truth be told I might have sent Matt home instead of Jamie, but overall it was a machts nichts to me. I was more annoyed by America putting Will & Jessica into the bottom 3 instead of Gev & Courtney G. — that was inexplicable & uncalled for.

All in all, though, it’s enough that SYTYCD is back & we get to enjoy it for the rest of the summer.

Yay for us!

-ghp

Flowers are Red (Harry Chapin)
The little boy went first day of school
He got some crayons and started to draw
He put colors all over the paper
For colors was what he saw
And the teacher said.. What you doin’ young man
I’m paintin’ flowers he said
She said… It’s not the time for art young man
And anyway flowers are green and red
There’s a time for everything young man
And a way it should be done
You’ve got to show concern for everyone else
For you’re not the only one

And she said…
Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There’s no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen

Watch the video at YouTube

An affinity for Harry Chapin, particularly the Legends of the Lost and Found live double album, is one of the few musical tastes that bigsis and I have in common. I recall listening to that album over & over again on bigsis’s stereo, when it was stored at our parents’ house right after bigsis got married (and before she got settled enough to lay claim to it again). I thought that was the coolest stereo system ever. So, there was an upside to your stuff taking up all that space, sweetie! ;^)

If’n you have a somewhat, shall we say, off sense of humor (like me), then I think you’ll like this.

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against lonliness in a quiet American suburb.

Yes, Garfield minus Garfield.

It took the surrealistic step of removing the title character himself, but this has once again made Garfield worth reading for me.

-ghp

This is pretty interesting & funny stuff: The original DLR vocal track from Van Halen’s 1978 offering Running With The Devil, sans music. It just goes to prove that Diamond Dave was never a singer as much as he was a great rock front man…

Also pretty darned funny is this audio mashup (from the same site), taking that bare vocal track & interspersing it with audio of the AI judges, wherein Simon hammers DLR.

[HT: Dan at NR via Katie's Beer]

-ghp

Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever was a watershed event back in early 1983. Not only did it offer a stunningly good slate of classic Motown talent, including a Temps vs. Tops “showdown”, a mini-reunion by Diana Ross & the Supremes, a powerful performance of What’s Goin’ On? by Marvin Gaye, and a performance by The Jackson 5, it also heralded the ascension of the King of Pop, with Michael Jackson’s seminal performance of Billie Jean, during which he unveiled the Moonwalk.

I still remember watching this show when it originally aired. It’s hard to put into words just how powerful and exciting it was. This was the rocket that boosted Michael Jackson into the stratosphere, and propelled Thriller to it’s status as the top-selling (non greatest hits) album of all time. Prior to this, MJ was “merely” the talented breakout star from the Jackson 5, who had grown up to have a pretty darned good solo album with Off The Wall. Afterwards, he began his long road to iconic superstardom & subsequent descent into bizarre eccentricity. But at that moment in time, Michael Jackson was an unbelievably talented, seemingly normal, and undeniably black man who was blowing an industry out of the water.

Here’s a video clip (5:05) that examines the Moonwalk and its impact.

-ghp

Very, very cool…

Because I need something to write about (as I hate the thought of having less than one post per week…), here’s some news about Survivor:  Survivor China’s Cast Revealed

Yay… The fall TV season is just about here. At least I’ve got that going for me…

And Sabra winning SYTYCD was a good thing…

I’ve been trying to spend more time reading books lately, because reading books is better escapism than spending time online (i.e., writing/blogging)…

<*sigh*>

-ghp

[tags]

pop culture, realitytv, sytycd, survivor

[/tags]

Check out a fascinating article over at Slate.com — The freaky origins of Christian rock.

Using the 40th anniversary of the so-called “Summer of Love” as a springboard, this article gives a brief but informative look into the beginnings of CCM. From the emergence of the “hippie Jesus” vibe to today’s more saccharine CCM “Jesus as your boyfriend” vibe, this article helps fill in some of the “how,” “when,” & “where” (if not the more important “why?”). Here’s a particularly interesting quote from early on in the article:

“By the early 1970s, a new Jesus had hit the American mind—communal, earthy, spontaneous, anti-establishment. And this Jesus continued to transform American worship long after the patchouli wore off, inspiring a more informal and contemporary style of communion and celebration that, while holding true to core principles, unbuckled the Bible Belt from American Christian life.”

I would disagree with the statement in the quote that such changes held true to “core principles”, because I really don’t think that such is the case. At all.

That aside, it’s still an interesting article – one that indicates that we’re just starting to see that enough time has passed for real, more objective, History to be written (with somewhere around 50 years being the minimum time needed for events to be treated as historical, rather than current, events…).

-ghp

[tags]

christianity, pop culture, music

[/tags]