Oscars

[patricia]

You're right, AfricaBrass. But, in a way, jazz has made itself an elitist artform.

Sometimes those newbies who have just discovered the magic of jazz are put off by the navel-gazing that they see many jazz musicians and longtime aficianados doing. Not understanding the nuances of the artform is not a weakness. It's fixable in time, if those who could help them see the total spectrum would just do that, mentor them.

I don't see a solution, because "accessable" quite often is wheeling in the dreaded Kenny G.

There are many veteren jazzers, such as Oscar Peterson and others who have been great ambassadors, trying to spread the joy of jazz to the masses, but I fear that there is much of what I can only interpret as an unwillingness to share this most precious jewel we all know and love.

Edited March 1, 2005 by patricia

[AfricaBrass]

You're right, AfricaBrass. But, in a way, jazz has made itself an elitist artform.

Sometimes those newbies who have just discovered the magic of jazz are put off by the navel-gazing that they see many jazz musicians and longtime aficiados doing. Not understanding the nuances of the artform is not a weakness. It's fixable in time, if those who could help them see the total spectrum would just do that, mentor them.

I don't see a solution, because "accessable" quite often is wheeling in the dreaded Kenny G.

There are many veteren jazzers, such as Oscar Peterson and others who have been great ambassadors, trying to spread the joy of jazz to the masses, but I fear that there is much of what I can only interpret as an unwillingness to share this most precious jewel we all know and love.

Good point, Patricia.

Even though I'm a musician myself; I still have a hard time understanding what I'm SUPPOSED to be listening for in jazz. That's why I don't participate in a lot of jazz criticism. I LOVE the music, but sometimes I feel like there's some hip secret I'm not in on. I think I know what I'm listening to and for, but I know it's tough for someone new to the music.

Okay... I'm guilty of a little too much navel gazing, but I'm all for sharing this artform with all. I appreciate ANYONE who does so.

Regarding the Oscars: If I was going to watch an award show, I'd watch this one.

As I keep saying, my only sadness is that people revere celebrities too much. I've seen shows where people are getting surgery to look like their favorite star. I just wish everyone could see their own value and not put stars on such high pedastals. There's absolutely nothing wrong, IMO, with respecting someone for their great work, but celebrity oftentimes seems to trump craft.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

The last time I watched an awards program of this sort, Sony had just introduced the Walkman.

[AfricaBrass]

The last time I watched an awards program of this sort, Sony had just introduced the Walkman.

WOW!

[jazzbo]

Anyone else think Chris' little bit about Bush reapplying for his job was pretty funny!?

[Soul Stream]

I like how Hillary Swank won the oscar for playing a role based in her own roots..."I had a dream when I was living in the trailer park!" (or something to that effect). It's ACTING!.

I thought she developed that bad accent for the role. Guess she had it all along. I bet Annette was ready to stangle her. That speach was a drag..."no, you can't stop me from rambling on...I'm a STAR!"

Also, was unaware Foxx had that ridiculously large back-o-the-head tattoo. Guess he's been hangin' with Tyson.

Edited February 28, 2005 by Soul Stream

[BruceH]

Anyone else think Chris' little bit about Bush reapplying for his job was pretty funny!?

YES!!!

We went to an Oscar party at a friends house. Good time. If they would just drop the performance of the "Best Song" noms (better yet, drop the category altogether) then I think they could get the show in at under three hours. As it was, this was the fastest Oscar show that I can remember.

---Best Original Screenplay: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-----way to go!!!

That made me happy.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

We went to an Oscar party

What's that like? Do y'all eat wings, bet & yell at the screen? B-)

[BruceH]

We went to an Oscar party

What's that like? Do y'all eat wings, bet & yell at the screen? B-)

Making fun of anyone and everyone who appears on screen is an integral part of it, I'll admit. But in this case we had a sit-down lemon-chicken and salad dinner in the middle, while the Tivo caught it for us. Cheating? Yes, perhaps, but it was fun to then go back and get closer and closer to real time.

[Jim Alfredson]

Also, was unaware Foxx had that ridiculously large back-o-the-head tattoo. Guess he's been hangin' with Tyson.

My wife explained to me that when he was Oprah, he told her it was for a movie he's making right now. So I don't think it's real.

[sheldonm]

The last time I watched an awards program of this sort, Sony had just introduced the Walkman.

WOW!

....what's a walkman???

[Guest che]

The Oscars are a metaphor for a much wider issue

Che.

[jazzypaul]

Coulda caught the Oscars I guess, but I just found my box of drumming videos and DVD's, and went...ooooh, I wonder what's on that one...or that one...or that one...

Steve Smith is a mutha. Dude can play John Bonham and Tony Williams with equal panache. And Bill Bruford. Nicest guy I ever met, and damn...

So, I watched bad ass drummers show me tricks all night, and you saw the Oscars. We're all winners on this awards night.

[Late]

Not to stir up the pot too much, but this board is often like TV for me — it's a narcotic of sorts. Sometimes that's a very good thing, and sometimes it's not. I do know that I come here more often than not to not be too serious. If a distraction can be pleasant and (sometimes) informative ... that's icing on the cake!

NOVA's had some decent documentaries on the evolution of existence lately, and (everything has to have its opposing pole) then there's The Oscars. There will (probably) always be both, and how we manage our attention to either one (or none) is of course finally up to our own sense of at-the-moment values. If I watch The Oscars, am fleetingly titilated by it, and then feel stupid afterward ... at least I have that feeling of stupidity to puzzle over. (Can I learn anything from that?) I can then turn to Bud Powell's Moods, put it in the player, and feel oh-so warm and fuzzy and smart.

[jazzbo]

Soon to be introduced, the Walkwoman.

[Soul Stream]

Also, was unaware Foxx had that ridiculously large back-o-the-head tattoo.  Guess he's been hangin' with Tyson.

My wife explained to me that when he was Oprah, he told her it was for a movie he's making right now. So I don't think it's real.

Hmmm. Maybe they could have washed it off for the Oscars.

[Guest che]

Not to stir up the pot too much, but this board is often like TV for me — it's a narcotic of sorts. Sometimes that's a very good thing, and sometimes it's not. I do know that I come here more often than not to not be too serious. If a distraction can be pleasant and (sometimes) informative ... that's icing on the cake!

NOVA's had some decent documentaries on the evolution of existence lately, and (everything has to have its opposing pole) then there's The Oscars. There will (probably) always be both, and how we manage our attention to either one (or none) is of course finally up to our own sense of at-the-moment values. If I watch The Oscars, am fleetingly titilated by it, and then feel stupid afterward ... at least I have that feeling of stupidity to puzzle over. (Can I learn anything from that?) I can then turn to Bud Powell's Moods, put it in the player, and feel oh-so warm and fuzzy and smart.

You make some interesting points.

I come here to debate and discuss, not so much the jokes that I just don't get anyway .Like the Oscars they have a role. but are not that important in my life.

Che.

[BruceH]

Also, was unaware Foxx had that ridiculously large back-o-the-head tattoo.  Guess he's been hangin' with Tyson.

My wife explained to me that when he was Oprah, he told her it was for a movie he's making right now. So I don't think it's real.

Was he in Booty Call? Quite a career odyssey...

[Soul Stream]

Also, was unaware Foxx had that ridiculously large back-o-the-head tattoo.  Guess he's been hangin' with Tyson.

My wife explained to me that when he was Oprah, he told her it was for a movie he's making right now. So I don't think it's real.

Was he in Booty Call? Quite a career odyssey...

Yes, back in the "Living Color" days...who would have thought. And also, 21 Jump Street's Johnny Depp as one of our greatest living actors.

Some career turnarounds no question.

[Late]

I come here to debate and discuss, not so much the jokes that I just don't get anyway.

Damn, and those jokes are sometimes pretty funny! (Like when some jackass quotes another poster saying REALITY, but thinks it would be funny to edit out the I and make it REALTY, which then allows him to proceed on a tangent about homebuying and real estate.)

I think it's interesting that you come here to debate — nothing wrong with that, of course, and I think a lot of others do too. For myself, I can live without debates on music. I often sense (and this is not directed to you Mr. Che, or to anyone else in particular) that there exists a strong impulse in those who listen to "jazz" to be right.

Bev (I think it was Bev) made a comment a long time ago about coming to this board because he likes to see/read other people enthuse about certain records. I think that's my favorite aspect of boards like this one. I'd rather be a jazz dork — wetting my pants over some Schlippenbach album — than a jazz aesthete. But, maybe, the words "jazz" and "aesthete" are somewhat inseparable ... ?

At any rate, back to The Oscars! 1985 broke my heart when Dexter and Bob Hoskins lost out to (a deserving, but just not for that movie) Paul Newman. I boycotted for years, and now watch the chump show every now and then. A mediocre, if numbing, form of procrastination — good for avoiding that stack of essays that need grading.

[tonym]

Cate Blanchett looked PERFECT!

Hey!!!

Cate Blanchett is perfect.

[MartyJazz]

Cate Blanchett looked PERFECT!

Hey!!!

Cate Blanchett is perfect.

She is a terrific actress, no doubt. And certainly while I was not gung ho about THE AVIATOR, her performance as Kate Hepburn was wonderful. My ambivalence about THE AVIATOR had more to do with casting (Leonardo was just not right for that role IMO) and a fanciful screenplay that went over the top when it came to Hughes' OCD. Nevertheless I was rooting for Scorcese to win a best director. How the Academy can continue to overlook that man (as they do with Robert Altman and John Sayles) is beyond me.

[sal]

An interesting statistic....Martin Scorsese now joins Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Altman in the "5 nominations, 0 wins" club.

[jazzbo]

Marty, as far as I can tell from reading, Leonardo WAS the movie, he was the one fighting to have a movie made about Hughes, who maybe had the rights to do so, etc. He was going to be the actor no matter what!

I felt that the OCD was actually pretty well displayed. . . . Living closely with someone with mental illness I felt that they got that part of it pretty right while still dealing with it delicately. . . .

I don't like Leonardo much, but on the whole I think he did a good job on this film.

[Guest che]

I come here to debate and discuss, not so much the jokes that I just don't get anyway.

Damn, and those jokes are sometimes pretty funny! (Like when some jackass quotes another poster saying REALITY, but thinks it would be funny to edit out the I and make it REALTY, which then allows him to proceed on a tangent about homebuying and real estate.)

I think it's interesting that you come here to debate — nothing wrong with that, of course, and I think a lot of others do too. For myself, I can live without debates on music. I often sense (and this is not directed to you Mr. Che, or to anyone else in particular) that there exists a strong impulse in those who listen to "jazz" to be right.

Bev (I think it was Bev) made a comment a long time ago about coming to this board because he likes to see/read other people enthuse about certain records. I think that's my favorite aspect of boards like this one. I'd rather be a jazz dork — wetting my pants over some Schlippenbach album — than a jazz aesthete. But, maybe, the words "jazz" and "aesthete" are somewhat inseparable ... ?

At any rate, back to The Oscars! 1985 broke my heart when Dexter and Bob Hoskins lost out to (a deserving, but just not for that movie) Paul Newman. I boycotted for years, and now watch the chump show every now and then. A mediocre, if numbing, form of procrastination — good for avoiding that stack of essays that need grading.

We all see and respond to things in different ways.

I have no problem with people posting 'in-house' jokes and comments, but then again if we are discussing Israel or Russia it poses some questions for me.

I do not feel that I have to be 'right', I just feel more concerned that there are many dfferent views and some of these are not heard. When you enter a forum, on whatever subject, you will find that there are some that have posted many posts or have strong opinions. It does not mean that they are right, or that you and me have any lesser opinions or rights to post.

For me I have a great interest in jazz, but also politics, sport, literature etc etc. You know just becasue some person has posted 11,000 plus post, does not make that person anymore right or an exponant of the truth than you or me.

Che.