Jun 212012
Looking back on it, was Dino Lee a visionary? For those of you new to the Halls of Rock, the All-Star Jam is the place for any Townsperson to step up to The Main Stage and chime in with news, oddball thread ideas, and even your own visions of the future.
Hey, speaking of visions of the future…I see Rock Town Hall interviews with both Peter Zaremba of The Fleshtones and Dream Syndicate founder Steve Wynn coming later tonight. It’s not a dream, it’s a vision. Stay tuned!
Here’s an item I picked up from the somehow-still-running Chalkhills list, where XTC fanboys like myself hang in there for a miracle.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ae-0617-twitter-backlash-partridge-20120615%2c0%2c3267542.column
Even the chance to communicate directly with Andy Partridge fails to raise my interest in Twitter, especially considering his sense of humor.
Another quick note – we’ve created a new Category on the left border of RTH that collects all of our RTH Interviews, nearly 40 of them to date!
https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/index.php/category/rth-interviews/
These items have been tagged, but we’re hoping the distinct Category will allow newcomers and oldtimers more direct access to time-wasting opportunities.
Political incorretness aside, Andy P.’s Twitter feed is a bit of fascinating trainwreck for a number of reasons, including his refusal or inability to adhere to several social media standard practices. For example, it is in fact not immediately apparent that the Twitter account belongs to former XTC frontman Andy Partridge.
What, you’re not supposed to use a “handle” on Twitter, you’re supposed to use your name or a well-known nickname (eg, @MrModerator, or whatever my Twitter handle is)?
And what’s with “hash tags?” If Twitter were a Six-Pack or Shotgun proposition I’d be reaching for my shotgun.
Totally unrelated to Partridge and Twitter, on the topic of Six-Pack or Shotgun scenarios, can anyone help me determine my feelings on Louis C.K.? He’s been jammed down my throat for the last year as the Greatest Comic Ever. I find him interesting, but I rarely laugh at any of his extended jokes. I’ll get one quick, heartly laugh for 15 minutes of hearing him do his thing. I appreciate his ability to reduce all issues to “0,” but is he ever really funny? He seems like George Carlin’s Even Smarter-Than-He-Thinks-He-Is Brother. Am I off track on this guy? Thanks.
Yeah, following Partridge is kind of uncomfortable, which is probably about right. I think he’d be much more comfortable in a forum like this than Twitter, frankly.
Mod, just think of hashtags as halfway between a Last Man Standing and a Worldwide Texas Tour/Walter Becker’s Beard/Holy Trinity. Usually, people abuse them and they end up like a Last Man Standing with too many possible answers, but there is an art to making them worthwhile.
And yeah, I think you’re off on Louis CK. I’d try his FX show out, which is pretty malleable and able to balance the humor with telling stories in interesting ways. And tune out the acclaim, as we’ve hit a critical mass of people being too effusive about the best things on TV. Sets expectations too high.
Thanks for the tips and explanations, Magic Man. I don’t dislike this CK guy; I’m just not getting more than that one hearty laugh yet. As I always did with Carlin, I feel like he’s showing off a little more than necessary.
I’m pro-Louie. I think a lot of his appeal is that he isn’t a BIG JOKE guy. He’s a small joke/situation guy. His character (which I’ll only comment on since I don’t know if he’s a real life asshole) is very sympathetic. The under average looking guy who seems to be above average in intelligence, compassion, and decency who jokes about his baser instincts. He says all the dark things in his head during his stand-up, but he does his best to control them in his real life. I find the humor in his honesty about raising his kids really funny. He loves them, but acknowledges what a huge bore and drag they can be.