Bieber vs. Sinatra (Rant)

I hate these memes.  First off, it implies that Justin Bieber is today’s equivalent of Frank Sinatra.  Second off it pretty much says that the world has lost all sense and good taste because Justin Bieber is so popular.  “What has the world come to?!”  You know what, it’s not the world, you’re just old.  You have become old and rigid… that is what the world has come to.

Let’s break this down.  The Sinatra song lyrics here are from “The Way You Look Tonight.”  It won the best original song in 1936 as performed by Fred Astaire.  It was written by song writers Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern.  Mr. Sinatra covered this song in 1964, nearly three decades later.  Sinatra was 49 years old when he recorded this ballad.

The Justin Bieber song lyrics are from a song titled “Baby” (clever, yea).  Bieber wrote this song with four other song writers and I imagine with the simple nature of the track it’s not out of line to imagine he actually had some input in it. Bieber was 16 when the song was released. Baby debuted at #5 on the Billboard 100.

We should be comparing Justin Bieber to 1964 teenagers… one of whom was Millie (age 18) with her big hit; My Boy Lollipop

(Bieber fairs pretty well against her)

Big downgrade for the Beebs however if you count in the fact that Sir Paul McCartney was doing rather well with his little band by age 18,  however if you look at the songs the Beatles were releasing at the beginning of their career (when they were Justin’s age they were still calling themselves “The Quarrymen” but let’s fast forward a bit to the early Beatles proper)

 “Please Please Me” Lyrics include

Last night I said these words to my girl

I know you never even try girl

Come on

Come on

Come on…

Please, please me, whoa yeah

Like I please you

You don’t need me to show the way, love

Why do I always have to say ‘love

Come on

Come on

Come on…

So it’s not terrible, but it’s not terribly clever just yet.

 “Please, Please Me” is a much better song than “Baby” but it’s not as far off as the old person telling ‘those damned kids to turn down that noise’ would have us believe.

Sinatra on the other hand was fairly well established in 1964, was in the middle of reviving his singing career in the midst of his successful movie career.  So we should be comparing him to someone like that in 2012… The music industry is drastically different, there aren’t more than a handful of actors who are taken seriously as singers or vice versa, so as far modern singers with amazing acting chops to boot, I would like to nominate (although currently 62 years old) Tom Waits as the modern Frank Sinatra.

Pick a Tom Waits song  (oh except that he actually writes his own songs and Sinatra did not)  any song and it will probably blow Sinatra out of the water.  That’s right I choose Tom Waits for my dodgeball team while Frank can wait for the next round.

"All the world is green" lyrics;

I fell into the ocean
When you became my wife
I risked it all against the sea
To have a better life
Marie you're the wild blue sky
And men do foolish things
You turn kings into beggars
And beggars into kings

Basically the memes that like to point out that the world is going down the drain don’t take into consideration the filter of time or context.  1964 had some amazing music that we still love today but it also had crap that we’ve collectively let settle into the dust of oblivion.   Also I am curious as to how many pre-teen girls in 1964 were into Frank Sinatra (that is Bieber's main audience.)  Someday Justin Bieber will either improve or be forgotten and everyone who thinks it’s cool to rag on a 16 year old teen heart throb needs to take a long hard look at the celebrity they had a crush on at age 12 and chill out.  Really, who was it?  David Cassidy?  New Kids on the Block?  Wesley Crusher (yea that was mine)... 

This guy;?

Corporate Disaster.

Recently a friend of the blog, The Bummer Free Zone, held a survey about the employees ** who are least likely to be helpful in the wake of a natural disaster.  Somehow the pole results chose Starbucks over Jo-Ann's fabrics.  This result was clearly derived from voters who don't know how to sew but do know how to drink coffee.  As someone who can both sew and drink coffee I heartily contest this result.

In defense of Starbucks employees; They know how to make the crazy-named drinks they are trained to.  If you tell them to make you a Grande-mocha-carmel-extra-fudge-macciato with extra whip, that is exactly the syrup laden acrid tasting beverage you are going to get.  They take you in order, they take your credit card for minuscule amounts and manage to not have a judgmental look on their faces.  These facts lead me to believe they can 1. follow direction 2. retain information for longer than 3 minutes (or at least read the code scrawled on the cup) and 3. mind their own business (Yes I lack the planning to carry $1.35 for a tall coffee, so what?!).  In the face of a natural disaster they will have access to a stock pile of coffee that may not be the tastiest but will be preferable to no-coffee. Even to the non-coffee-drinker the access to coffee may be valuable as a trade commodity.  Their ability to read code will make them useful message carriers as our internet and technology will have crumbled with our sources of power and their ability to stick to the task will be a boon with the many distractions of crumbling buildings and increasing chaos (when the Starbucks is full, they keep their heads about them and keep people moving out).

Jo-anns however... you are lucky when there is someone at the cutting table who knows how to sew.  They have this 'take a number' system that they rigidly follow.  If you are the only person standing in front of the table holding fabric they will look at the number over their head, and look at you to ask
"number 86?"
 "I didn't take a number."
"Oh, well you need to take a number so we don't lose track."
I pull a number, it is 94... chaos ensues despite the total lack of any other customers.  The employee will then need to fumble with the number counter to forward it all the way to 94.  If the employee doesn't know how to use the number counter, a supervisor will be called.
Standing at the table I hand the bolt of fabric to the cutter,
"Three yards please"
Then the cutter will marvel over the fabric,  the color, the texture, tell me how much it costs (clearly marked on the bolt BTW) and ask me what I am making.
"pit gussets" or "fetish wear" or "a giant yellow bird"
Who the f*** cares?
"uh how many yards did you say?"

The Jo-Ann's employee will be distractible in the face of change.  Despite the access to fabrics that may be useful for blankets (hello stockpile of polar fleece) most employees will be unable to create the clothes of the apocalypse due to total lack of knowledge.  Their basic glitter glue skills and ability to find the scrapbook aisle will be inapplicable as the dystopia of the future will be unpredictable.  The few employees with basic sewing or knitting skills are the few that we can keep in our stronghold designed to keep the hoards out, but for the most part I attest that the company tries to hire employees who lack the skill-set of your average Halloween enthusiast and will be a deadweight for our survival.

**Correction; The BFZ asked about the clientele, not the employees... new factors are to be considered for this question.

My neighbor dog makes an appearance.

(just FYI, Mijo has a Spanish accent in my head)

 Hello.  I am Mijo.  I am beautiful.

 ...but you may not touch me.

 Call me if you wish to feed me cheese.

 ...but I have more important things to do than be adored.

I scratch my eye.  Why must the paparazzi follow me about?

Congratulations Rosie!

A quick shout out to my friend Rosie who just gave birth to her third child!

Say Yes.

Say Yes

Take the chance.

Jump into the pool all at once.

Do not be afraid of looking like a total idiot.

Forgive yourself for looking like a total idiot.

Learn.

Go to college unsure if you will succeed.

Move to a new place you’ve never even seen.

Ask that guy/girl out.

Make mistakes.

Go to concerts of groups you’ve never heard of.

Go out with new people.

Make conversation at parties even when you want to go hide in the corner.

Be Bold.

Act brave when you do not feel brave.

Go on that vacation; even if you need to save for years to do it.

Go to the movies alone.

Take that job you’re not sure you can do. Try like hell to succeed at it.

Learn the names of your postman and favorite barista.

Go to the opera even if you don’t understand it.

Go cheer for the local sport team even if you don’t care.

Help the tourists find where they are going.

See the beauty in your city.

Laugh at yourself.

Take care of yourself.

Wear sunscreen

Listen.

Call your parents.

Learn how to cook.

Read trashy books, watch cheesy movies and children’s cartoons;

          Do not make excuses for doing so.

Try to find something good in everyone.

Say Yes.

Plum blossom

Men in Tops

This photo makes me smile for so many reasons...

Here's the article if you're so inclined...

My latest aural obsession

Johann Baptist Neruda.

Frequently played on the classical radio station but I've only found one CD of his work... it's lame I tell you!  Why is America so limited in our choices of composers?  I checked out the SF Symphony schedule and it's mostly Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Hayden.  Seriously, no Bach, no Neruda, no Telemann, no Schostakovich.  It's our collective* poor musical education being pandered to by people who think that noone will come see these 'unknown' composers.  Well you know what, I'm not going to see the known ones so what's that tell you?  I dare say theatre is just as bad with its narrow selection of playwrights, but right now I'm ranting on music, so basically I'm saying there's this composer from the 1700's, I only learned about him recently, and I love him.

*Disclaimer; my music education was great, thanks ISOMATA, Mom & Dad, Buzz, Vic... I'm making sweeping generalizations on the poor quality of arts education for a large portion of the U.S.