Laozi
Grammys,
The secret Life of Walter Mitty, and
other news and reviews
TV Review
2014 Grammy Awards
January 27, 2014
Last night was weird.
I watched the Grammy Awards (I never
watch the Grammy Awards!), and I enjoyed it.
It was also weird because of what was missing -- awards. Not many gold
sippy cups were handed out.
Of the 82 awards, 70 were given out before the Grammys at the pre-award
show, leaving the Grammys only a dozen. They took the awards out of the
award show and made it a better show.
There were many great performances. Here's the order of my favorites:
1. John Legend - All Of Me
This was just about the music. No theatrics, just John singing at the
piano.
2. Kacey
Musgraves - Follow Your
Arrow
Kacey's performance had a great song with great lyrics. The way she
sang them, with horrible emphasized into whore-ible, was lively. And
her outfit, right down to the light up boots, was great.
3. P!nk - Give Me A Reason
P!nk's acrobatics over the audience were great. This was performance
with a capital P!nk.
4. Metallica
& Lang Lang - One
Great combination. The 2014 Grammy Awards
Show was all about combinations of performers, like a fantasy football
of music.
5. Daft Punk,
Nile Rodgers, Stevie Wonder, & Pharrell Williams - Get Lucky medley
Good medley.
6. Beyoncé
& Jay-Z - Drunk
In Love
Good performance. Didn't she just have a baby? Is that the new mommy?
Five of the 12 acceptance speeches for theawards were missing
because the French robots Daft Punk kept winning but saying nothing.
Wow, letting your music speak for itself -- that is so artistic!
Two hundred or so other words were missing from the broadcast. Bleeped
out of existence without even a bleep. The missing words were
commonplace.
Usually I'm a fan of Katy Perry, but her Dark Horse was too not-Katy,
too dark. Even the camera stayed away from her.
The Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr song Queenie Eye was OK.
“Coming up,
Paul McCartney and a special guest.” Right.
Special guest my queenie eye.
The Robin Thicke & Chicago medley was cringeworthy. Fine time for the censors
to take a break.
Music Association: John Legend -
All Of Me
P!nk performs over the 56th annual Grammy Awards on
January 26, 2014
Feeling Laozi
January 21, 2014
When I say I'm feeling Laozi (or Lao-tze), I am not feeling bad. I'm
feeling zen.
When I say I'm feeling zen but feeling Laozi as well, some see
conflict. I do not.
Zen grew from Buddhism and Taoism, just as I grew from a mix of west
and east. Call it Weast, if you must.
Laozi, the founder of Taoism said:
“Being
deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply
gives you courage.”
“
Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.”
“
If you don't
trust people, you make them untrustworthy.”
“
Health is the
greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure.”
“
A good
traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”
“
I have just
three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three
are your greatest treasures.”
“
Music in the
soul can be heard by the universe.”
Music Association: Never Shout
Never - Lousy Truth “
Shine outward, not inward”
movie review
The Dream Zone
January 20, 2014
As a positively optimistic dreamer, I am a fan of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. and Walter Mitty. I recently stood on the step King stood at
the Lincoln Memorial when he delivered his I Have A Dream
speech. And I recently saw the Secret Life
of Walter Mitty.
If you did not see the Secret Life of Walter Mitty
don't feel bad. Most haven't. We saw it in an otherwise empty theater.
It was as if Walter Mitty's life really was a secret. Walter Mitty is
the story of a mild-mannered man who occasionally zones out and
imagines a life he's never lived. The original James Thurber 1939 short
story and the original 1947 movie starring Danny Kaye both share
a negative view of the people in Mitty's life. I always liked
the
daydreamer side of Mitty but not the bleak portrait of the real world.
The recent Secret Life
of Walter Mitty
movie breaks out of the gloom and doom post-911 evil zombie world where
life as we know it is about to end. Life is not about to end, but Life
Magazine is about to end and Walter Mitty works at Life with the
negatives. He's the negative assets manager. He's surrounded by the
negatives of Life. And he's lost one of the negatives.
Ben Stiller starred in the movie, while also directing it and
co-producing it. He brought it to life after the project had been
kicked around the studios for almost two decades, mostly leaning on Jim
Carrey as Walter Mitty. Ben Stiller is better cast as
the Walter
Mitty every man,
living in the tapestry of Life magazine covers that never were.
The Secret Life of
Walter Mitty
is a good movie with the potential to be a great movie. If I were
directing and editing the movie I would play with the scope. Mitty
would be as boxed in as his negatives. His dreams would be a blur of
animated overlays and full-fledged day dreams. But then, I would be
steering the movie further away from James Thurber than Ben Stiller
did. I just
dream of movies that live up to their potentials.
And that potential is what I saw while daydreaming from the steps of
the Lincoln Memorial -- a better world.
Music Associations: Blondie -
Dreaming & Aerosmith - Dream On
Simple Pleasures
Hot Shirt
January 14, 2014
I just put on a shirt straight out of the dryer. That feels good.
Music Association: James Brown -
I Feel Good
Snowballs, Snow Falls
January 4, 2014
At almost midnight last night, the snow was falling like snowballs. It
was cartoonish. It startled the cats.
When did I move into a snowglobe?
Governor Dayton announced yesterday that Minnesota
public schools will be closed on Monday due to the extreme
cold temperatures forecasted. Good plan.
For the record, Minnesota hasn't closed the schools ahead like this in
years. Gov. Carlson closed the schools three
times in the 1990s.
More information about what stops working as the degrees drop can be
found at the Twin Cities Calendar
for January.
Stay warm my friends.
Music Association:
Foreigner - Cold As Ice