Since 2006 nearly 47 million have viewed this video of Funtwo’s rock guitar version of Pachelbel’s Cannon.  It’s made him an internet star, and even earned  a mention in the NY Times.  As a novelty, it’s an interesting performance, and breathes some life into that old warhorse of classical music.  What’s lost is the profound gravitas of the Cannon, but then, after endless renditions from weddings to elevator muzak, that quality has long ago been leeched away.

Far more interesting is his version of Vivaldi’s “Summer” movement from the Four Seasons suite, which he plays in a dueling guitar style.

Whatever I may think about the deplorable cheese factor of these classics, there’s no doubt even to my amateur ears that Funtwo has enormous talent.  Bombastic Rock lives on.

A long time Chicago institution has folded.  Roger Ebert is shuttering up his balcony, and Ebert and Roepert’s At The Movies will be retooled, with a different name and a different format.  Movie going will never be the same.

I started watching Siskel and Ebert’s movie review show way back when it first started on Chicago’s WTTW, when it was called “Sneak Previews”.  I had read Siskel’s movie reviews for several years even before the two of them began broadcasting, and had always enjoyed his direct way of telling the reader about the movie.  No high falutin’ references to obscure foreign cinema, no automatically favorable reviews to foreign films by virtue of them being *foreign*,  and no cheap shots at any movies or actors, no matter how low the aim of the filmmakers were.

Up to then, the only popular critics that reached me in the obscure corner of the midwest that was my hometown were Rex Reed and Gene Shalit.  The former’s constant snideness was tiresome and uninformative, and the latter tended to repeat the studios’ press releases, making his reviews equally uninformative.

Siskel and Ebert’s show proved to be exactly the same as I had found Siskel’s reviews to be.  In their show they were two guys having a passionate conversation about the newly released movies of each week.  They never pandered to the industry, nor did they ever resort to panning a movie or performance simply to show off how smart they were.  They knew a lot about films, but never talked down to the viewers.  Their enthusiasm for the medium was catching, and unlike most critics at the time, they made the viewers understand why they might want to see a movie that might otherwise only play to art-house audiences.  Yet they never looked down on a movie if its aims were much lower.  They evaluated each movie based on what it was attempting, and not on what they thought it ought to be.

The best thing of all about Siskel and Ebert, however, was that you could just about always take their opinion to the bank.  Two thumbs up meant you were sure to enjoy the movie.  Two thumbs down meant that you would probably hate the movie.  And a mixed, one-thumb-up-one-thumb-down meant that it was probably okay to see, but consult your own judgement and taste when deciding.

I came across a mention of Buster Keaton in Ken Levine’s blog this morning.  In the ensuing comments, someone pointed out that most of his early movies are now in public domain, and posted an url to his masterpiece, Sherlock Jr.

I seem to have always known of Keaton, but I’d never before seen one of Keaton’s movies all the way through.  Most of the time one sees only a clip or two, usually as some part of a documentary or some sort of Hollywood tribute style show.   I also knew enough about him and his contemporaries to recognize that of all the silent comedians, he was my preferred one.  Now, thanks to the internet, I had an opportunity to see one of his movies in its entirety.

I got my own computer in 1997, which was a few years later than most.  It was a used 486, which had been souped up to the max, and so was barely able to do what the new Pentiums of the day could do without breaking into a sweat.  I had already discovered the World Wide Web through my computer at work, but now, finally, it was at my fingertips, and without any watchful eyes of the corporate cybercops.

One of the first things that I did with it were:

1. Participate in a sewing newsgroup
2. Join a Highlander web forum
3. Make extensive use of the Internet Movie Data Base

Guess which one of those three things I’m still doing?

Here’s an article about IMDB that explains its success better than I can.

I recently chanced upon The Blues Brothers movie playing on some channel late one night.  This movie is almost 30 years old, and to the younger generation it must seem like something from the olden days.

This movie arose out of a Saturday Night Live sketch, which spawned  a best selling album (A Briefcase Full of Blues) by two white guys, who single-handedly brought the genre into the mainstream.  Never mind that the two guys couldn’t sing all that well, and that they were WHITE middle-class comedians who could hardly have paid the dues that were owed to these songs, plus they had their own half spastic, half gymnastic, and completely idiosyncratic delivery style.

At the time they were accused of using the original material for their own commercial ends.  There’s no doubt that the duo behind The Blues Brothers certainly had immediate profits from their act.  Of course, it’s all show BUSINESS, and who would begrudge an entertainer their fee?  Life is tough and uncertain in show BUSINESS, even for those seemingly at the top.  (Just ask Ed McMahon or MC Hammer about this.  And besides, none of all the money could save one member of the Blues Brothers duo from death by an overdose.  Indeed, one could almost say that perhaps his dues bill was overdue, and Karma came to collect it in spades.)

I save up all week’s worth of Daily Show recordings to savor them on my weekends.  It’s a treat that I look forward to with anticipation.

This morning I got to watch Jon Stewart and Senator Jim Webb have fun with the Republicans who’ve been obstructing the new GI Bill that is making its way through congress.  Then it was instructive to see just how long we’ve waited for part two of the Senate Intel report on the Pre-Iraq War Intel.  Of course, as the Senate Republicans who kept it from coming out for three years knew, the report said that we were lied to about the reasons for going to war.  Since I don’t generally watch TV news, it was even more instructive to see Stewart point out that only one national TV organization thought it was important enough to mention to this report to the public, and even they didn’t dwell on its conclusions.  Then I got to watch Jon Stewart run circles around Ralph Reed, a Republican operative, who came on to hawk his latest book.

As I was enjoying all this, it occurred to me that this is the smartest public discourse that there is anywhere to be found in our nation.  Jon Stewart brings in politicians, newsmakers, and authors with interesting ideas, and not just celebrities hawking their latest movie or album.  He also does a fine job with balancing guests with right AND left leaning viewpoints, and he talks to them with civility, rather than shouting at them.  It’s a smart show, for a smart audience — and judging by the commercials that run, advertisers have also figured that out.  [I imagine that the same holds true for The Colbert Report, but I find that a little of Stephen Colbert goes a long way with me.]

Pundits like to take shots at The Daily Show by pointing out what a sad state of affairs it is when “young folk” get their news from a fake news show on The Comedy Channel.  As usual, they don’t know what they’re talking about.  To “get” what goes on in The Daily Show, you already have to know the news.   Although for the most part I already know the references that Stewart and his writers make in the show, what I do learn is a perspective on the nature of our public discourse — such as the one about how no television news organization really reported about something as important as the reasons we went to war.

I found some interesting on-line magazines today.   The Coudal and The Morning News.

How about some bit o’ quirky?

Since word processors came into being, font mania has swept the world — and not always for the better.  Here’s a guy who just LOVES typography.  And a guy who’s just NUTS for design.  And someone who’s cuckoo for ampersands.  They have STANDARDS!

How about some Art?  Or more Arty Stuff?

One concert tour I’d really like to see:  A group who’s next tour is titled In Memoria, which, based on this article by the group’s leader, promises songs of requiem and mourning.  I tell you, those Brits know a thing or two about pomp and circumstance.  (And isn’t it just absolutely fab publicity to contrive to have an article about the subject appear in The Guardian?)

Okay, enough with the precious and the twee.

Take a look at FlickrLeech and soothe your jangled nerves.

YouTube is a fascinating mixture of drek (mostly) and serendipitous treasure (rarely). Here’s an example of the latter:

I would have to say from a reviewer’s perspective, this is not only a good story, but the production values make the most of what is likely an amateur’s budget. The editing style, and the music add a whimsical quality and make the whole effort entertaining to watch.

Not that I have to tell you that.

P. J. O’Rourke, the noted libertarian commentator and author, finally actually read Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, and discovered that Smith hated corporations and the famous term “invisible hand” was used by him to describe unintended consequences, and not the market’s magical ability to restore balance. O’Rourke discovered that Smith thought that “businessmen never get together without cheating the public”.

This is all very interesting in light of the recent economic downturn brought about by mortgage brokers making subprime mortgage loans, and bankers creating the Structured Investment Vehicles whereby these subprime mortgages were re-sold around the world. Confused about how all that was done, you say? You can learn for yourself how this happened by watching this very illuminating video:

Surely our nation owes these Libertarians something for basing an entire political movement on some half-baked notion of what Adam Smith actually said.

Is life too complex for you? Then you need a dose of Main Stream Media news!!