syntax

from downtown, manhattan, the village

ok maybe i'm a hypocrite b/c i'm currently watching "e true hollywood story: britney spears," but i'm a bit miffed at the state that PBS has become. growing up, PBS was the one channel on tv - including cable tv - where one could find chamber music concerts, the best documentaries, and "poirot." well now the shows are still generally decent. mainstays like "nature" and new intriguing shows like "supernatural science" are airing, but the problem is that, in addition, PBS has decided to pour on the velveeta. like big time.

case in point - "andre rieu: in wonderland." wtf?! ok i barely forgave PBS for airing sarah brightman and andre bocelli concerts, but i have to draw the line at andre rieu. this man is the kenny g of the violin, except kenny g is so much cooler than andre rieu. i am speaking volumes here, but this shouldn't be confused with admiration for kenny g. oh no no no. i'd advise you to check out an andre rieu concert but it's like recommending you to watch the aftermath of a particularly gory multiple car accident. it's terrible to ask of someone because his shows are just so crass, mind-searingly cheesy, and especially life-changing. really. because when i first saw him many years ago, i finally realized that classical violin wasn't always a lofty and noble art. yes this was before i had heard a vanessa mae album (i wanted to hang up the fiddle after that). but at the time i felt as if i had blood on my hands. the very same songs i had played on my own violin had been veritably destroyed by the man. because i enjoyed these songs, i felt like an accomplice to his unforgivable crimes against strauss and stradivarius. it was disgusting.

on PBS tonight, i saw an ad for "celtic magic," which appeared to be a concert featuring an irish version of N*SYNC. except there was some folk music with guitars involved, and a piece involving a greasy-haired guy in leather singing opera, and a greasy-haired little tyke crooning in his pre-pubescent soprano a love song from the '50s that you would hear on the local oldies station. the audience at this concert was made up of people older than my parents. they must have been blind b/c my parents would vomit at the sight of these performers. and they didn't sound too good either.

these are just examples of what i've witnessed in the last year from PBS. i just can't reconcile with my expectations from public television these programs of a channel showing what i'd expect VH1 for the elderly to air. i really don't feel like donating $100 for a mug if i'm sponsoring this garbage.

this britney spears show is truly awful. i'm going to go read a book. take that, hollywood! eat my shorts.

don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things

bah i'm sick! i think i have laryngitis. i haven't had that in years. once it turned into pneumonia which was gross. not much else is going on. i'm going to go have some nyquil and hibernate for a few years.

this is funny:

the world's 16 least inspiring flags.

and "ultraspontane" by the john jorgenson quintet is a really good album. virtuoistic gypsy jazz guitar and violin ftw.

keepin' touch with mama kin

as much disdain as i have for NY's news rags, the daily news and the NY post have the most ridiculous celeb gossip and as people always leave them out in the kitchen, i can't help but sneak a peek.

the daily news asked a bunch of famous singles what they were doing for v-day. since i spent the evening stuck in criminal procedure with like 10 other people, i felt a little better knowing that karolina kurkova wasn't doing anything special either. the best response though was from raekwon of the wutang clan:

"It's a special day. It's a day to understand the person who means the most to you." So how to celebrate?

"I'm the type of dude who may be in a helicopter over the city having sex."

who says romance is dead?

stuff has been pretty busy lately. i was in philly last weekend and saw the car show. i spent a lot of time looking at realistic cars since the 'rents need a new sedan. they don't care about the crucial stuff like visual appeal and power. in fact, they care so little for these factors that they want to buy a hyundai. i thought the new accord was pretty decent considering their budget but now the facts have changed and my mom wants an suv - the hyundai tuscon - and my dad is deadset on getting a mazda mx-5 (the miata). the mx-5 was sweet. he wants the hard-top retractable vert in british racing green which looks simply uber. let's see how long that lasts with all the potholes and petty thieves back in philly. but hey why not. let the man live his dream.

people were stealing stuff at the car show. saw some guy jack a radio out of a nissan who got scarily belligerent when some spectators confronted him. all the radio dials and gear shift knobs were missing from every car i got to check out. lovely world we live in, eh?

still waiting to hear back from people. fingers crossed...

giggity

i couldn't miss the giants parade, like literally b/c it was right downstairs. here are some clips. not such a great view, but the enthusiasm was present and accounted for.

http://mitothin.net/giantsparade1.
http://mitothin.net/giantsparade2.
http://mitothin.net/giantsparade3.
http://mitothin.net/giantsparade4.

Demoniac frenzy, moping melancholy, And moon-struck madness

finishing up "a short history of nearly everything," and started "the blank slate: a modern denial of human nature," which is particularly pertinent lately since i've been privy to some asinine nature vs. nurture discussions by a few very proudly closed-minded people. i love people who refuse to hear other opinions by claiming that they're correct and anyone with another idea is a stupid liberal. it's totally ridiculous b/c the people they're arguing with aren't liberals - in fact politics has absolutely nothing to do with the discussion. eh sometimes it's hard to argue with people who want to hear your opinion just to refute every point with their own twisted logic, but it's worse being shut out completely when opinion is refused, and then labeled with a totally irrelevant moniker. it's like arguing with particularly slow toddlers.

"kronos quartet performs phillip glass" is a great album. it's not the old minimal phillip glass that turns off a lot of people. it's his typical driving strings stuff that has been ripped off by every artsy car commercial. the "string quartet no. 3 (mishima)" pieces are best, but it's hard to find a single song on the album that's just "good."

started pre-bar review bar review class today. 3 1/2 hours of essay writing tips. uuugh. the teacher says she hopes this summer will be the worst summer we'll have in our entire lives, and that's a positive thing. :(