Miley Cyrus is apologizing to anyone who’ll listen over this photo. I am clueless. What’s wrong with it? Now, I get the Disney/pure as the driven snow image she has to portray for Hannah Montana. But to me, this pic is pretty much pure as the driven snow. There’s nothing suggestive, nothing inappropriate, and not really any critical skin exposed. You’ll see a lot more flesh when she goes swimming in the most conservative bathing suit. So, I just don’t get it. Are we just that anxious to shoot down anyone that tries to set a good example for kids?
Rodney Carrington truly understands what makes the world go ’round, makes it get along better, and the key to world peace: ( WARNING! Not totally safe for work, but worth the risk. )
Norma Jeane Mortenson died August 5, 1962. Not quite a month later, I would be born. I’ve been around a while. My entire life, Norma Jeane, who became Marilyn Monroe, would be in and out of the news. Now, I never liked her movies, but I will give her credit with starting a totally 21st century internet phenom, the upskirt. Marilyn set the standard with hers. She even went so far as to pose nude for Playboy before it was quite the common place event that it is now.
But, from that point on, I don’t get it. There have been prettier, sexier, and certainly smarter starlets in the last near five decades. A lot have gotten me pretty excited at the time. However, as time goes by, they’re pretty quickly forgotten. Usually, right when starlets are on the verge of being forgotten, a sex tape will generally arise getting them some headlines and usually one last gasp at fame. So, what do we get fifty years after the fact?
Now, although my fascination for Marilyn never quite manifested itself to the cult adoration of millions of others, I would like to check this out. For no other reason whatsoever than the overwhelming drive that is the name of this category.
I have met a few celebrities along the way. Very few of them actually struck me as being worthy of the label “star”. To me, that should be a characteristic that stands out, not just because someeone’s in the media a lot. One of those that did stand out was Charlton Heston. When you met him, you knew why he was a star. I had always liked him as an actor. He tended to to do hokey parts occasionally that belied his talent. However, when he took on an issue, and he was trying to convince you the issue was important, you knew it. Out would come that booming Moses voice and you just dared not pay attention. The actor and the person were both very captivating. I enjoyed meeting Chuck. That’s more than I can say about most of the “stars” I’ve met.
Klaus Dinger recently passed away. Very, very, very few people who come here I doubt even have a remote clue who Klaus was. However, he had probably one of the greatest impacts on modern music of anyone you can name. In 1970, Klaus helped form Kraftwerk. Not too many of their songs became major hits, especially during the initial stages when Klaus was a member. However, it led to the modern synth sounds that would fuel careers like David Bowie, Annie Lennox, Gary Numan, and tons of other synth driven acts over the years. At this point in time, even grunge, emo, and the like rely heavily on synthesized vocals, sound effects, and percussion. This all started with Klaus and Kraftwerk.
Although recorded slightly after Klaus left Kraftwerk, one of my all time favorite tunes was a Kraftwerk ditty from 1974. In the age of long haired hippies whining about war and drugs, Autobahn was a shocking departure from the norm. It was synthesized exclusively, it had very few words, the singing was monotone with no melody at all. But, what shocked me and a lot of people I’m sure was the fact that it was a fun song anyway. The success I think of Autobahn in 1974 was the spark that set off the entire synth movement in pop and rock. Needless to say, it had a profound effect on me musically. Check out my little list of tunes over there, all of them were performed and recorded with no instruments. It is the result of knowing most of my entire life that music is simply a combination of electronic frequencies. That concept was born with Klaus Dinger and Kraftwerk. So, enjoy this blast as the past as much as I am now:
