Avenue G

Well folks, this is probably the last entry for Avenue G for a long while.

I started this blog back in 2006 as a way to "cut loose" and do wacky blogs away from the judgmental eyes of coworkers and relatives. That really didn't happen primarily because blogging is a lot of work and I got behind. Supporting two blogs is pretty difficult and time-consuming.

I tried putting Avenue G on "auto-pilot" with syndicated content and selected retreads from my other blog, Strange Fascination. Was hoping that I could focus more interest on the arts and movie/book reviews but it didn't garner enough page hits to be worthwhile.

The blog will stay out here; who knows I might even resume posting to it again if I get the time back in my schedule.

My other blog is still active: http://strange-fascination.blogspot.com

Best wishes and thank you for your patronage faithful readers.

Robert, aka blogSpotter

Labels: Retrospective

I Know You Want Me -- Picture courtesy of Acer

by blogSpotter
Dear readers, I’m having my year-end writer’s block along with coming off of colds, flu and vacations. If I can ever get back to my normal, quiet and otherwise healthy existence I may recover the muse of witty and provocative blog-writing.

That being said, we’ll have to make do with a "Christmas memory" retrospective and movie review combo. My mother has become frail in recent years and we don’t do an over-the-top, house-of-lights yuletide festival that we once did at her house. In fact, this year there was nary a Santa candle to be found on any table top. We still had a wonderful family gathering with good food, cheer and gift exchange. In a Dickensian moment, it finally occurred to me that Christmas is not about the gaudy tinsel decor or the towering Scotch pine Christmas tree. It’s not really about the Mississippi mud pie or pecan fudge desserts. No sir, not at all. In the final analysis, Christmas is about the gifts. OK, you can bring baby Jesus into it too if you want. After we did our exchange of cologne, jewelry, candy, gift cards and various DVD’s all was right with the world. Well, almost right.

My Mother’s gift to herself was a purple (Amethyst) Acer Aspire netbook computer. It’s the new model, with 160GB hard drive and Windows 7 Starter edition. She paid about the same as I paid a year ago for a black HP Mini with Windows XP and a seriously smaller hard drive. I don’t know why my mind works as it does, but in the time that I set up her new Aspire, my HP Mini (which now has a dark spot on the middle of the screen) lost pretty much all of its appeal. How can I go thru major electronics as quickly as other people go thru shirts or magazines? I haven’t done anything yet, but an avocado green mini is probably in the near future for me.

We had 10 people and 4 dogs crowded into 1 house, so I had to flee the premises a couple of times to go to the Round Rock Cinemark. I watched Up In the Air in which George Clooney portrays a workaholic bachelor who lives out of a suitcase and lays people off for a living. The movie is an eye-opener for some of us who can relate to the main character’s lonely but simultaneously clueless situation. This movie will make the viewer question what success is in any real sense. It ends a little bit sadly and ambiguously -- you hope that George’s character, Ryan, has found a key to happiness if not yet happiness itself.

I also caught Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey and Jude Law. This movie was stylish and plush with eye candy for all. With it’s clever plot twists, technical intrigue and fun bromance attitude, it reminded me of either Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid or maybe The Sting. Some of the technical gimmickry reminded me of Wild, Wild West where things improbable for 2009 are shown happening in London of 1887. No matter -- this movie is certainly not for historical nitpickers. This movie is for anyone who enjoys action, romance, intrigue and plot twists galore -- the main ingredients for all great cinema.

In sum, I had a really fun Christmas and very long (6 day) stay in Round Rock. I’m hoping that my future blog entries bring me back to history, science or philosophy but I’ll need to flush all the cold medicine, flu germs, and Christmas candy out of my system. Cheers, and Happy 2010 to all.


© 2009 blogSpotter

Labels: Cinema, Humor, Retrospective

Michael's HIStory statue in Europe -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
When news of Michael Jackson’s recent death reached me, I was shocked but not entirely surprised. In the 80’s, People ran an MJ byline that said, “Is this guy weird or what?” At that point, he was just known for harmless eccentricities -- an Elephant man here, a chimp over there, maybe a hyperbaric oxygen chamber next to that. By the 90’s, his behavior verged upon reactionary neurosis and mental melt-down. He veered from child molestation charges to weirdly arranged marriages and then baby-dangling episodes. His odd plastic surgery evolution had to be (at least in part) outwardly indicative of his inward mental implosions.

Probably in part as a reaction to all his bad press, he had been treated for pain killers and rushed to the hospital on various occasions. Now if TMZ and various tabloid sources can be trusted, it appears that Jackson was getting daily Demerol injections from a live-in physician. How much emotional or physical pain do you have to be in to require such dosages from a Dr. “Feel Good”? This drug is potent, and Jackson probably cheated death innumerable times before the grim reaper came and stayed.

His death reminded me in some ways of other tormented celebs -- Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Judy Garland to be sure. Marilyn was found in “barbiturate coma” a time or two by agents and housekeepers prior to her actual death in 1962. At 42, Elvis was a bloated vestige of his youthful persona -- chowing down peanut butter & banana sandwiches and popping tranquilizers. He also had a Dr Feel Good in the wings at the time of his 1977 death.

What to make of these things? Marilyn was 36, Elvis was 42, Judy was about 47 and MJ was 50. All were around mid-life but still young enough for reinvention and new career moves. A modest being might just be content to do like Greta Garbo -- retire at 38 and live happily off of investments. You’d have lingering mystique and privacy to boot; she certainly did. Somehow with others, the out-size fame and fortune brings out-size expectations… “I’m famous and beautiful, how can I be so alone?”

Michael and Elvis in particular created insular, make-believe worlds even similar in name -- “Graceland” and “Neverland”. Both were surrounded by sycophants, servants and doctors wielding needles and vials with mighty elixirs of sleep and relaxation. One supposes that out-size egos might want out-size medications that exceed the limits of ordinary budgets, FDA laws and even common sense.

It’s a mighty shame, because all of the aforementioned had so much more to give the world -- in spite of low self-esteem moments they might have felt at the times of their demises. I was very much looking forward to a Michael Jackson comeback -- musical redemption was in the offing. We (and they in the beyond) can settle on the weird consolation that the world will never see their bodies buckled with age or faces withered like leather masks. To the athlete (or entertainer) who died young -- we will miss you terribly. Thank you for what you gave us while you were here.

© 2009 blogSpotter

Labels: Music, Retrospective

The year it all changed -- Picture courtesy of ABC

by blogSpotter
I've always been fascinated by change -- not change for the sake of change, but real, progressive change. We see it everywhere and yet much of the time the changes are unsubstantial or stylistic in nature. I'd like to discuss a year, 1965, when very nearly everything changed. To be sure, 1965 was a year of stylistic changes -- '65 automobiles phased from a chrome-laden rocket style over to smooth, geometric lines. Young women and men became suddenly "mod", sporting bangs and Beatle boots. The major networks began showing all broadcasts in living color for fall of '65 and we were graced with the first airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas. Along with all of this, Gemini 2 was launched as part of the ambitious NASA space program.

All of these were visual cues to accompany the sea changes that were unfolding all around. President Johnson described his "Great Society" in the '65 State of the Union address. He signed the Social Security Act of 1965, establishing Medicaid and Medicare and simultaneously declared a War on Poverty. August of that year, he signed the Voting Rights Act into law. Some of the most influential legislation of modern times came to us in these few short months. 1965 was a momentous year in the struggle for civil rights. Martin Luther King and 35,000 civil rights activists marched from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery. Malcolm X was assassinated on the first day of National Brotherhood Week, and the Watts Riots broke out in Los Angeles.

The Viet Nam War was starting to dominate the news. In May, Berkeley staged a teach-in of 30,000 in which draft cards were observed being burned. In reaction, Johnson signed a law making draft-card burning punishable by 5 years in prison. The Pentagon informed Johnson that a major sweep of Viet Cong operations would call for an increase of troops from 120,000 to 400,000. Johnson followed this advice and the escalated war later became his political undoing.

The music of 1965 pop culture was a direct reaction to the turbulent times. Bob Dylan shocked fellow folk artists by using an electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival. That August, he released Highway 61 Revisited which featured his magnum opus "Like a Rolling Stone". Meanwhile the Beatles were appearing at Shea Stadium and Jefferson Airplane debuted at the Matrix in San Francisco. Not all music was about war protest, to be sure, but the message of change was compelling nonetheless.

The events I just described here would make for a busy decade nowadays --- everything that could possibly change did so, and in grand scale. Someone coming out of a one year coma on 1/1/1966 might have trouble recognizing or reconciling a few things in the room. In 2008, we can only get excited by a new gizmo (iPhone) or maybe a writers' strike. While I'm by no means an Obama groupie, it might just be that Obama's ascendancy is some kind of reviving jolt to the political senses -- maybe an America striving to rediscover its activist past. We surely don't savor the idea of public assassinations or war escalation, but we probably relish the idea of being "relevant" once more -- the crackling energy of ideals in action. 1965 was such a period, and and we can hope that 2008 or 2009 reenergizes us once more.

© 2008 blogSpotter

Labels: Retrospective, Society

Peter and Lois in a musical moment -- Picture courtesy of FOX TV

by blogSpotter

BUT FIRST A QUICK LOOK AT CURRENT EVENTS

There's a lot going on in the news, so I'll make this a combo "current events -- TV review" article. Obama just beat Hillary in South Carolina this weekend. Good for him, but I think Hillary will prevail hereon. Maybe I'm wrong. Rolling Stone has an article this week titled "Blame Pedro". In it, author Tim Dickinson points out that the GOP is shooting itself in the foot by demonizing Mexican immigrants. More than 9 million Latinos are expected to vote in this year's election and there is a conundrum. GOP candidates are bashing immigration to get nominated, but may have to "turn tail" when they actually want to court the Latino vote this autumn. Oh what a web we weave.... I was shocked, like everyone else at the untimely death of Heath Ledger last week. It appears he overdosed on a variety of prescription drugs including Ambien. Ledger, the handsome sought-after star, had the whole world in his hands -- his girlfriend (and mother of his daughter Matilda) only left him momentarily and conditionally; she wanted him to quit using heroin. If ever something called to mind the "Richard Corey" poem it is this tragedy.

OK, this is a wrap on my current headline review.

FAMILY GUY

Back in September '05, I did a review of FOX shows, including Family Guy. I praised the show for its originality but then retracted the "kudos" a month later when Family Guy showed cruelty toward animals. I still do not sanction that, but I must confess that I keep watching the show; its approach to everything else is bold and brash to say the least. Family Guy is now syndicated on TBS as well as other independent stations -- you can probably catch it at least 4 times a night. Something with this kind of presence on the schedule calls for an investigation. What my investigation suggests is that the show has extremely crass, laugh-out-loud gimmicks that should appeal to any frat house. The show takes no prisoners and aims its guns at everything from religion to marriage and all that is sacred. Much of the humor is in the form of pop culture segues that can only be funny to someone who keeps up a wee tad with current personalities and events. The frat that watches this show needs to have some RTF majors to explain some of the jokes.

Who do I love on the show? I love the musical numbers, of which there are many. They even did “Shipoopi” from Music Man. I also have to confess to liking Stewie the scheming babie (with a British Mayfair accent) and Brian the talking family dog. Brian evinces the most maturity although in one episode he still needed house training and he has a "bestial" crush on Lois the mother. Chris is the pimply goober son, and Meg is the nerd daughter who is overshadowed by her sexy mother Lois. Many people have likened Family Guy to The Simpsons but the shows are very dissimilar. The only real similarity is that Peter, the man of the house is made out to be a selfish clown much like Homer Simpson. Their antics are different tough -- Family Guy veers wildly off-road doing jokes about aborted fetuses, Jesus and other topics that Simpsons wouldn't touch. Simpsons is your silly uncle that you can laugh with, but don't take too seriously. Family Guy is your crazy uncle that needs to keep taking the Thorazine, talk to him at your own risk.

And apparently many people, particularly college kids, Gen Y and Gen X are willing to risk the crazy, nay, demented humor of the Griffin family. The show probably appeals more to men than women -- they have lots of commercials for Jack in the Box. The "guy" humor includes lots of violence, hitting and occasional cruelty to animals. I don't like that angle but it is cartoon in nature -- it's played "for laughs" and not real. The other aspects of the show will test you in every way. If you have a high threshold for being offended, give this show a look. You'll laugh, be horrified, and laugh again.

© 2008 blogSpotter

Labels: Retrospective, Television

Blur of movement

The internet is a revolving door of changes, to say the least. Avenue G has decided to refresh its appearance and to appeal to a more general audience. The blog will still be irreverant, ironic, and at times silly. Sometimes, Avenue G may even be helpful or informative. It will still broach unusual topics from time to time. But Avenue G is a pop culture ezine that should invite readers from all across the board. I'm hoping you enjoy the offerings, some from guest contributors and quality syndicated sources. Welcome!

blogSpotter

Labels: Retrospective