Always Reforming

I was doing dishes this past Tuesday and, as is a prerequisite, I was listening to some music.  This particular evening I had surveyed my CD collection and selected Hybrid Theory, Linkin Park's groundbreaking album from '00.  Mind you, I hadn't listened to this album in its entirety for at least the better part of a decade, and, I assure you, the nostalgia was strong.  I have never been a huge Linkin Park fan, but I own a couple of their albums and I have always liked them.  I suppose they're one of those bands you don't quite realize just how many of their songs you know and love.  So when I heard that Chester Bennington had passed , I was saddened.  I was more than saddened; to my surprise, I was truly mournful.  Chester, as he was often simply known, had a unique voice, the type of voice that became synonymous with a musical era and formed the soundtrack to so many of our adolescent adventures. Moreover, he was still creating good music and touring ...

    I love films, perhaps more than I should.  In fact, I consider myself a student of them, though I would never claim to be adept at interpreting or reviewing them.  Nonetheless I enjoy film and watch it as an art form, not simply a means of entertainment.  Every art form has its unique advantages, film's, obviously, being the ability to portray in a visible, dramatic way the nuances of life.  It's easier to get paid for making a bad movie than a bad book, but it's at least as difficult to make a good movie as it is to write a good book.  I don't often write movie reviews, but this specific film was powerful and depressing enough to motivate me to try my hand at it.     The film I am referencing is Woody Allen's latest (I think--he produces films at a freakishly prolific rate) effort, Cafe Society .  It's not the best Allen film I've ever seen, but almost every movie of his I've ever had the pleasure of viewing has been worth the tim...

    Pop music of the last decade is not particularly known for its excellent songwriting.  Still, some of the lyrics that have graced our airwaves are especially appalling and revealing.  Take these lyrics from Nickelback's charting hit "Animals." No, we're not gonna quit, Ain't nothing wrong with it, Just acting like we're animals, No, no matter where we go, 'Cause everybody knows, We're just a couple animals. How profound!  The depth of meaning is outdone only by the potency of the rhymes.  Let's look at a similar song.  Take Maroon 5's super original song, "Animals." Baby, I'm preying on you tonight, Hunt you down eat you alive, Just like animals, animals, like animals-mals. This recapitulation of this oft-repeated theme at least features some repetition, which allowed it to become ubiquitous for longer than it deserved to be.  "Hungry Like The Wolf" (Maroon 5's "Animals" was...