|
8108. uzmakk - 3/17/2006 10:39:15 PM the mob= "ordinary decent citizens"
8109. PelleNilsson - 3/17/2006 10:49:53 PM Or the reverse. 8110. alistairConnor - 3/18/2006 12:02:22 AM You've intrigued me with the Brel thing, Judith... tell me about it! 8111. Magoseph - 3/18/2006 12:27:47 AM It's playing soon, the 17th, I think.
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris - Musical
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well & Living in Paris is a musical revival which originally opened off-Broadway at The Village Gate Theatre in 1968 and ran for more than four years, often playing to sold-out houses. Often referred to as the Bob Dylan of France, Jacques Brel wrote songs about people actively questioning their own values as well as the rising tide of conservatism around them. With a cast of four actors and four musicians, the show celebrates Brel's relevance and enduring passions. Translated from the French by American poet Eric Blau and lyricist Mort Shuman, the show is a blend of ballads, tangos, boleros, rock and classics. Each piece tells a story, examining themes of love, war, adventure, broken dreams, people from all classes, being young, growing old and death, but always remembering life has much humor in it.
Cast Members:
Robert Cuccioli, Natascia Diaz, Rodney Hicks, Gay Marshall
Venue:
Zipper Theatre
336 West 37th Street (Between 8th and 9th Avenues)
New York NY 10018
Running Time:
Approximately 2 hours, including one 15 minute intermission 8112. alistairConnor - 3/18/2006 12:54:20 AM Well, Mort Shuman is well-respected in France in his own right. Horrible singer, but great songs : "Il pleut sur le lac Majeur", "Papa Tango Charlie", etc.
Brel, of course, is in the pantheon of intangible cultural references. Not French, he was Belgian - Flemish, in fact. I wish I could have seen him in the title role of "Man of La Mancha", one of his great moments. 8113. uzmakk - 3/18/2006 2:45:26 PM Uz, my remarks in Message # 8068 were provocatively ad hominem, perhaps because if I addressed your views in political language it would have been even nastier.
I was going to let this go, but I must register my amusement.
But perhaps I misunderstood. We probably agree that justice should be administered in an unsentimental manner. To me, this cuts two ways :
- it means that justice should not go soft out of pity for people who didn't get a good start in life;
- it also means that it should not seek to punish out of anger and revenge. I agree with bullet one. And perhaps we agree on bullet two also. We must moderate our anger and revenge, but dispense with it? Impossible, you bloodless toad! (provocatively ad hominum)
Justice ought to seek the best outcome, and needs not only to be just (and seen to be just) but to be effective.Seen to be just by whom? Just by whose judgement? Effective by who's judgement? This might mean that some idiot who burns down a church or ruins a football field gets some sort of non-custodial sentence, for example, because sending him to jail would turn him into a full-time criminal, at a far greater overall cost to society than if he's forced to spend his time helping out old folks or kids for a couple of years.
I agree with this because I am a right thinking American savage who prefers American democracy to European civilization. Just because I'm a savage and you are civilized doesn't mean we can't come to some kind of an agreement.(nyuk, nyuk, nyuk) My first thought is not to lighten the sentence, whereas it is the first thing out of our liberal talkshow host's mouth. A matter of degree and priorities as with most things. There's nothing like a short jail sentence, a very short jail sentence, to "build character" among those who are not completely lost.
A justice system which is closely coupled with public opinion is not likely to have the latitude to develop effective strategies. We don't vote on the structural design of bridges; we don't elect the engineers either.
Do you think that the analogy between the human and the mechanical is a good one? Once again, it is a question of degree; none of us denies that we are designing some kind of a system and that our outlook is essentially mechanical. I'm not fond of your compartmentalizing and cutting the feedback loops to the citizenry, Citizen Connor.
8114. uzmakk - 3/18/2006 2:13:07 PM Connor, I believe you are speaking of a professional class which shares your conception of "individual human rights." Yes? 8115. arkymalarky - 3/18/2006 5:23:21 PM I want to start an "Uzmakk for President" movement. I get dibs on campaign chair. 8116. judithathome - 3/18/2006 10:36:06 PM I just ordered a CD by this guy, with whom I post on another forum. He is insanely talented as this piece shows. Give it a listen:
Steve Schalchlin's Song "Save Me a Seat 8117. uzmakk - 3/20/2006 3:09:31 PM Thank you for the vote of confidence, Arky, but I am going to take your previous advice which was to work for one's issue if one has an issue. However, if I was drafted to run for POTUS I might reconsider.(nyuk nyuk)
Judith, would you like a comment? Too much visible ego in that particular song for me. This is not to say that the man is not oozing talent. 8118. alistairconnor - 3/20/2006 3:58:32 PM Connor, I believe you are speaking of a professional class which shares your conception of "individual human rights." Yes?
No, I believe there are fundamental human rights which, once agreed upon, should be set in concrete, and then scrupulously defended by a professional class. This is not a particularly European concept.
Otherwise, you start making exceptions, and you go to hell. For example : yes, in principle, everyone is entitled to a fair trial, and is protected against arbitrary detention, and cruel and unusual punishment. But we except terrorists, obviously. Also, paedophile murderers. Oh, and while we're at it, that guy whose dog craps on my lawn every day. 8119. Ms. No - 3/20/2006 5:34:52 PM Alistair,
You're forgetting the Parable of the Cave.
What we perceive to be fundamental human rights today may not even encompass those that next year we will perceive to be human.
Would you truly argue for a system of government that was not answerable to the governed? 8120. alistairconnor - 3/20/2006 6:20:14 PM That's not what I'm arguing at all. I'm saying (again) that fundamental principles should be held at arm's length. In France, we have a constitution that gets changed every time something in it becomes inconvenient for the government. That doesn't offer individuals much protection from their government. I think the US model is somewhat better in that respect.
On the other hand, you're right that it's a conservative mechanism I'm talking about : it's no easier to extend new rights than to abrogate old ones. 8121. anomie - 3/22/2006 1:04:01 AM Sarah McLachlan
Sarah McLachlan
Am I the only adult male who missed this artist?
She's a frickin genius if she has anything to do with the arrangements. Every song has a hook and and a vocal miracle.
Good lord, this is why we are human...listen to this women. 8122. Macnas - 3/28/2006 9:35:26 AM Nikki Sudden is dead.
8123. wonkers2 - 3/28/2006 1:21:48 PM Especially that guy whose dog craps on my lawn every day! 8124. Ms. No - 3/28/2006 4:58:35 PM Connor,
Sorry, I didn't mean to wander off.
I'm saying (again) that fundamental principles should be held at arm's length.
I agree that they should but I don't know how you're suggesting that we ensure such a thing.
Personally, I believe I'm fondest of Plato's model, but only if the folks in charge are truly wise and just, which cannot be counted upon. Since it cannot, I must subscribe to a more democratic ideal. 8125. Ms. No - 3/28/2006 5:23:06 PM anomie,
Yes, I think she is responsible for a lot of her arrangements. I could be mistaken. She's quite a talented artist and I've enjoyed a lot of her work but her vocals are so specifically stylized that I can get over-done on her sometimes ---- not her music so much as her vocal style.
My personal modern, musical goddess is Tori Amos. Not every single thing she puts out sends me, but, so many times, listening to her play is like having my chest torn open and a whirlwind blow through it--- not painful, but cathartic and energizing. She plays piano that way as well. An aquaintence of mine has actually seen her use a drool bucket during performance. Talk about tearing it up and leaving it all over the stage. She's like a force of nature, and at the same time she can be cute and sweet and fragile seeming and incredibly girly. Tori Amos is like the archetypal woman to my mind. Like if you looked up woman in the Dictionary of the Universe there she'd be.
However, most of her songs are not as lyrical as MacLachlan's so they're harder to sing along to. I know a lot of people enjoy both artists, but if what appeals to you about MacLachlan is the melodiousness of her music then certain of Amos albums would probably not appeal to you much at all.
8126. anomie - 3/28/2006 10:52:56 PM Ms. No, I know exactly what you mean about a singer like SM overdoing it. From what I've heard, (mostly the Afterglow concert), she stops short of the country-western yodel. I think her restraint creates a certain tension that adds to the experience cause you can feel her potential to explode. I guess I was a bit manic with my recommendation, but music is sometimes a completely irrational thrill - almost an astonishment of some kind. And with all due respect to whales, is an experience unique to humans.
I like all styles of music. I've heard of Tori Amos many times but I don't know if I've ever listened to her perform. I'll check her out. Thanks for the recommendation. I like artists who feel their music, but I could do without the drool bucket. Ha! 8127. Ms. No - 3/28/2006 11:11:47 PM I'm hardly one to throw stones at others for enthusiastic endorsements ---- and I don't think I'd actually want to watch Tori use a drool bucket, but the very thought that she'd be so committed to her performance that she needed one is kind of cool to me.
Her first two albums are probably her most accessible for a first-time listener. I'll bet you've probably caught a couple of her tunes on the radio somewhere once or twice if you're ever in the habit of listening to the alternative music stations.
|
