AIM: Pancaek Beast | E-mail: shdwdde@gmail.com | Denny's House of Pancaeks
Would you please tell us about a few of your favorite books, poems, authors, films, plays, pieces of music, musicians, performers, paintings, artists,
Feel free to touch on one, some, or all of the categories listed, or add a category of your own.
Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata in C minor is my favorite piece of classical music. Published in 1799, it represents to me the beginning of the Romantic movement in the arts. The Pathetique is one of Beethoven's earliest sonatas, so it obeys certain rules of form. The first movement consists of a jarring, deranged, recurring theme; an entirely unconventional and unique main theme; and traditional development and recapitulation. The second and third movements follow convention as well, relaxing melodies and agitated Rondo, respectively.
The innovation and the heart of the Pathetique lie in its melodic structure and raw depiction of emotion. Breaking all of the rules of the time, Beethoven's piece did not pay lip service to the physical constraints of the harpischord. Its massive chords and pointed accents demanded more than the thin strings of its contemporary instruments could offer. The "Grave" introduction to the piece indicates the dramatic, intense tone that continues throughout the first movement. The second movement is simplistic in tune and in notes, but its alternating texture is divinely beautiful. The third movement, possibly the most "conventional" of the piece, revisits the themes of the first movement with a satirical tone, making it an ironic, spirited, and thoroughly fresh conclusion.
Less divine but equally spirited is Scatman's World. Scatman John is my favorite artist. Of note in the album is the hit single, "Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)." Over an intoxicating beat, beautifully recognizable choruses, and prodigious scatting, the artist explains his vocation. Afflicted with a stutter, he has transformed this "problem" into his greatest asset: scatting ability. Though it was thoroughly a 1990s album, Scatman John preaches idealised peace, love, and happiness much in the style of the stereotypical hippy. "If a Scatman can do it, brotha," he asserts, "so can you." The optimism of his message bleeds into the songs, and the result is infectious musical excellence.
My favorite writer is Dave Barry. He clearly writes for an audience, yet he also exudes an aura of not caring about what his audience thinks of him. His sense of humor is unbridled and uncensored, unconcerned with such petty factors as others' feelings, political correctness, factual accuracy, and grammar. The confidence in Dave Barry's writing makes it hilarious. His techniques never fail to amaze me; there is an impeccable melange of wit, exaggeration, satire, and blatant lying. Though he has retired from his position as the Miami Herald's columnist, his legacy in my heart secure.
I am completely enamored with FOX television's critically acclaimed drama series, 24. It is the most consistently suspenseful, best-paced show I have ever seen. Federal agent Jack Bauer takes on terrorist threat after terrorist threat in the Los Angeles area. Much of 24's appeal is in its style. A clock reminds the viewers that "events occur in real time"; a dynamic camera and an insidious musical score create flawless atmosphere and a cutting-edge, technological feeling.
The protagonist of 24, Jack Bauer, is the single most incredible character in any form of media. Throughout the longest hundred and twenty hours of his life, he kills a hundred and thirty terrorists, is clinically dead twice, and loses his family and friends. On the job, Jack is incapable of being wrong or afraid. While Jack deals with a nuclear threat, terrorists torture him to clinical death without gaining a response from him. He never hesitates to break protocol when protocol does not match his plan. Though the viewer squirms with Jack's defiance, he executes his plans and terminates terrorist plots flawlessly. With each episode, the situation worsens, but Jack Bauer always finds a way.
SD
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Saturday, December 16, 2006
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