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The Vagaries of Taste
Oct. 20th, 2021 10:09 pm1. After years of fawning over the celebrated musician, Rolling Stone finally admitted that ahem, Clapton's not exactly an exemplary human being, or necessarily that great a musician (they appear to be on the fence in that regard). This kind of goes back to our discussions about how we reconcile artists whose "work" or "art" we love with their ahem behavior and views.
Hear an Eye-Witness Account of Clapton's Full-Tilt Racist Rant in 1976
In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, senior writer David Browne discusses his recent blockbuster feature on Eric Clapton, which delved into the rock icon’s embrace of COVID-19 vaccine skepticism and his anti-immigration onstage rant in the Seventies — which was, by Clapton’s own description, “full-tilt racist.”
Eric Clapton isn't just spouting anti-vaccine nonsense, he's bankrolling it
( excerpt )
I'm kind of rooting for these folks to die of COVID. I wish they'd die instead of the nice musicians. Can we trade David Bowie for Clapton? I liked Bowie better as a musician. I did. Frankly I was never a huge fan of Clapton. Music critic boyfriends were, I was not. My brother wasn't either.
Apparently...he did some concerts against the vaccine with Van Morrison. Et Tu, Van? Sigh. First Brown Sugar by the Rolling Stones, now Eric Clapton. Frigging hell, Information Age. I want to go back to being blessedly ignorant, naive and idealistic.
Mother: I remember when you were idealistic...I worry for your niece. All idealists become cynical it seems..
ME: Law school beat it out of me, and volunteer work. They got ahead of the internet, then New York City, unemployment, and the information age drove it home. People suck. I'm giving money to cats.
Oh well at least, I wasn't a fan of Clapton's work. But I did like Morrison. They can't take Moondance from me! (Oh, wait, I can always jump over to the Clearance Clearwater Revivals - Bad Moon Rising.) I don't care about Brown Sugar - didn't like that song to begin with, it's an earworm. Kind of like We Didn't Start the Fire.
2. The 100 Greatest TV Series of the 21st Century (Uhm, isn't it a bit early to do this list? I'd wait at least fifty years, granted you might be dead but who cares.)
Ah they have a disclaimer that addresses my annoyance: "As ever, this list is designed not as an end in itself but merely as a starting point for discovery, discussion and debate. Tell us what you think – and what you think is missing – using the hashtag #TVOfTheCentury on BBC Culture's social channels. We hope you are as inspired and exhilarated by reading the results as we are – as collectively, they not only offer a celebration of TV itself, but a view of the modern era like few others. "
So this is clearly the BBC Cultural Critic's view of the best of the century. They do admit our mileage may vary. It does. And it doesn't.
It's notably not a cult list - everything on it is "mainstream" critical darlings, well known, and written about by mainstream critics. I don't see much cult in there. So if you like Asian television series, Supernatural Teen stuff or are into off-beat or cult stuff, you probably won't find your fav's in there. There are a few exceptions but not many. And no, Breaking Bad is NOT a cult series - it's a critical darling and very mainstream. Sorry.
( the list )
3. SmartBitches.com (the book reviewing/romance reviewing site) loves things, I don't. OR so I've noticed. They love Thomas Hardy, I can't read Thomas Hardy. He annoys me. I want to smack him. Also they love contemporary queer romance novels or contemporary romance period. It annoys me. I find the characters annoyingly cliche. In fact I wrote my own in protest.
And apparently Bec McMaster is the thing? I can't read her.
I've noticed something the better you market something - the more likely folks will want it. And positive marketing and negative marketing work wonders.
That said, I've bought a lot of cheap romance novels and other books because of Smart Bitches...I will admit to that. I just grabbed a contemporary romance that is basically Pride and Prejudice in a flower shop for free. Also grabbed one rec'd by Cat Sebastian via Twitter that was on sale.
Hear an Eye-Witness Account of Clapton's Full-Tilt Racist Rant in 1976
In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, senior writer David Browne discusses his recent blockbuster feature on Eric Clapton, which delved into the rock icon’s embrace of COVID-19 vaccine skepticism and his anti-immigration onstage rant in the Seventies — which was, by Clapton’s own description, “full-tilt racist.”
Eric Clapton isn't just spouting anti-vaccine nonsense, he's bankrolling it
( excerpt )
I'm kind of rooting for these folks to die of COVID. I wish they'd die instead of the nice musicians. Can we trade David Bowie for Clapton? I liked Bowie better as a musician. I did. Frankly I was never a huge fan of Clapton. Music critic boyfriends were, I was not. My brother wasn't either.
Apparently...he did some concerts against the vaccine with Van Morrison. Et Tu, Van? Sigh. First Brown Sugar by the Rolling Stones, now Eric Clapton. Frigging hell, Information Age. I want to go back to being blessedly ignorant, naive and idealistic.
Mother: I remember when you were idealistic...I worry for your niece. All idealists become cynical it seems..
ME: Law school beat it out of me, and volunteer work. They got ahead of the internet, then New York City, unemployment, and the information age drove it home. People suck. I'm giving money to cats.
Oh well at least, I wasn't a fan of Clapton's work. But I did like Morrison. They can't take Moondance from me! (Oh, wait, I can always jump over to the Clearance Clearwater Revivals - Bad Moon Rising.) I don't care about Brown Sugar - didn't like that song to begin with, it's an earworm. Kind of like We Didn't Start the Fire.
2. The 100 Greatest TV Series of the 21st Century (Uhm, isn't it a bit early to do this list? I'd wait at least fifty years, granted you might be dead but who cares.)
Ah they have a disclaimer that addresses my annoyance: "As ever, this list is designed not as an end in itself but merely as a starting point for discovery, discussion and debate. Tell us what you think – and what you think is missing – using the hashtag #TVOfTheCentury on BBC Culture's social channels. We hope you are as inspired and exhilarated by reading the results as we are – as collectively, they not only offer a celebration of TV itself, but a view of the modern era like few others. "
So this is clearly the BBC Cultural Critic's view of the best of the century. They do admit our mileage may vary. It does. And it doesn't.
It's notably not a cult list - everything on it is "mainstream" critical darlings, well known, and written about by mainstream critics. I don't see much cult in there. So if you like Asian television series, Supernatural Teen stuff or are into off-beat or cult stuff, you probably won't find your fav's in there. There are a few exceptions but not many. And no, Breaking Bad is NOT a cult series - it's a critical darling and very mainstream. Sorry.
( the list )
3. SmartBitches.com (the book reviewing/romance reviewing site) loves things, I don't. OR so I've noticed. They love Thomas Hardy, I can't read Thomas Hardy. He annoys me. I want to smack him. Also they love contemporary queer romance novels or contemporary romance period. It annoys me. I find the characters annoyingly cliche. In fact I wrote my own in protest.
And apparently Bec McMaster is the thing? I can't read her.
I've noticed something the better you market something - the more likely folks will want it. And positive marketing and negative marketing work wonders.
That said, I've bought a lot of cheap romance novels and other books because of Smart Bitches...I will admit to that. I just grabbed a contemporary romance that is basically Pride and Prejudice in a flower shop for free. Also grabbed one rec'd by Cat Sebastian via Twitter that was on sale.