Ranpitsu

If we are faced with the prospect of Tony Blair suddenly emerging, suddenly pupating into an intergalactic spokesman for Europe, then I think the British people deserve a say on it … I do think it would be right for such a debate to be held, particularly if the upshot of the Lisbon treaty is going to produce President Blair.

There are about 100 hardcore criminals in this country who have specialized in this type of serious robbery. They are definitely no amateurs.

Chicks who dig home runs aren’t the ones who appeal to me. I think there’s sexiness in infield hits because they require technique. I’d rather impress the chicks with my technique than with my brute strength. Then, every now and then, just to show I can do that, too, I might flirt a little by hitting one out.

Since 1966, when I started in this business, I’ve worked in almost every aspect of entertainment. I’ve been a manager, I’ve run a record label, I’ve produced TV shows and movies—pretty much everything. And, still, the most powerful thing I know of in entertainment is the live experience. The performer onstage receiving the adulation of the fans—there’s nothing like it, and that’s never going away.

Originality is, in its own way, a sign of authenticity: only Bowie could be Ziggy Stardust, because the character, however elaborately garbed and alien-seeming, came from within. Lady Gaga is more like a collection of quotes than a singular performer. Every move she makes, every crazy ensemble she wears, can be easily traced. She’s a human mash-up, a sample bank, recycled and reused.

To Gaga’s detractors — and, I suspect, to dance floor veterans 30 and older, who say she makes them feel old — the borrowed quality of her act undermines her obvious smarts, decent voice and endearingly overwrought sense of purpose. But what pop innovator hasn’t also been a borrower? In the permanent state of Gaga, “new” is a false category, just like “real.” Every thought’s been had by someone who came before and is searchable through Google. Every image has been minted and uploaded to YouTube.

Wikipedia has, over time, instituted gradually more control because of some embarrassing incidents, particularly involving potentially libelous material, and some people get histrionic about it, proclaiming the death of Wikipedia. But the idea of a pure openness, a pure democracy, is a naïve one.

Issues of personal taste usually shouldn’t be a factor when engaging in legitimate movie criticism. The good movie critic should be able to aptly assess a film’s merit regardless of their own personal preferences for what they like to see on screen. Yet when it comes to a movie like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, personal taste is the major factor that will determine the response of everybody who sees it. Those who embrace the aesthetic of Michael Bay or were a fan of the first film are most likely going to have a good time with this one. For those who think Bay’s films are emblematic of everything wrong with contemporary Hollywood cinema, Transformers 2 will prove to be further evidence to fuel their fire. While many will defend this film and many others will despise it, there’s one thing this film is sure not to do: disappoint. Whatever expectations you have going into it—whether it be a bombastic summer-fun explosions-and-cleavage fest or a bloated schizophrenic mess of incomprehensible noises and images—Bay delivers fully on these expectations.

Actors live dependent on being validated by other people’s opinions. I don’t understand what it is I do that people want. I don’t know what an actor does. I have no credentials. I don’t know what I’m doing. To my mind, talent doesn’t really exist. Talent is like a card player’s luck. It is motivation, ambition, and luck. It’s just a drive to be the best. I think acting is a con game.

This work provides great academic perspective that will hopefully lead to cross-discipline agreement among linguists, archeologists and anthropologists for reconciliation in population theory. But to groups who still hold on to traditions to explain origins, unfortunately, science will provide contentious information in those circles. It’s just a progression seen in all facets of life where old knowledge and new knowledge must try to reconcile.

The demise of the record cover has been under way since the arrival of the music video, followed by the shrunken canvas of the CD. Today, the album cover is just one of a dozen requirements for the successful marketing of music. The most important activity for the modern record company is getting artists onto magazine covers or into hit TV shows: the album cover is just one of many surfaces to be filled, no less or no more important than any other. Cover art will survive, encouraged by small independent labels and bands who crave a visual expression of their music. But as far as the major labels are concerned, if they could avoid spending money on record sleeves they would do it tomorrow.

The Coldplay cover, with its intriguing puzzle and uncommercial design, is an almost nostalgic statement of graphic simplicity. It can be viewed as a neat commentary on the death of the old record industry, but in the future it is more likely to be seen as a last hurrah for sleeve design and the notion of record covers as shared generational artifacts.