Performers like Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Bob Dylan would never have been successful if they sang about being a Rock Star, making tons of money and having women throwing themselves at them. A good performer can connect with their audience and give a reflection of society of that era. Some audiences want to live vicariously through the performer, so those performers have their place and time as well. What I remember my father telling me about Rock 'n Roll though had forever shaped my image of the genre. He told me he played the Rolling Stones for my grandparents at some point in the 60's and they hated it. For it to be Rock 'n Roll,he said, your parents have to hate it. I read an article a while back in which Alice Cooper said as much about what was considered Rock 'n Roll for the modern day. They may be playing the same riff and beat as they did thirty years ago, but if your grandfather is blasting it in his Mercedes, it's not Rock 'n Roll.
Within the last decade, I went to a Metallica concert with my mom (yes, my mom). I sat around people who were between the ages of ten and fifty. Linkin Park had opened for Metallica at Giant Stadium that day, and I remember the older people around me shaking their heads as the Nu Rock band played their hits. I said to myself, "Hey kids, your parents hate it, so it must be Rock 'n Roll". I was right. After the concert I had to consider that Metallica was not Rock 'n Roll anymore. They're a great band, that's for sure, but they weren't Rock 'n Roll. I had to accept that being in my thirties; it was still okay for me to like Linkin Park as well as Metallica. Hell, I like Elvis and Johnny Cash! In time, I will be of the age where my kid plays a song that I will absolutely hate. That song will be Rock 'n Roll.
When I relate it to Sci-Fi, I notice that I've yet to read a book which takes a stab at predicting the direction of music in a futuristic Sci-Fi type of way. We have to understand that when Sci-Fi becomes our reality in fifty or so years, we will hate that music. I thought about including the most repulsive sounding music I could imagine in my next book. That repulsive music that I hate will the futuristic Rock 'n Roll. We will all hate it and that's a good thing.
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
A Generational Thing - Music
I thought of this topic when I was at a stop light. It was a nice day and I had the windows down. My mind started to wonder off and I was hoping the guy behind me would have an aneurism when he noticed I won't hit the gas the exact second the light turned green. Somewhere between wondering what green tasted like and which side of a coin was heavier, I heard a familiar tune coming out of the car which had just pulled up next to me. Bon Jovi was living on a prayer, not five feet from me, but I did not bother to look at who was driving. My mind already gave me the image of a familiar woman in her mid-thirties driving an Acura. The Left-Turn signal had changed to green and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man in his seventies driving a Mercedes ML-63 (a hundred thousand dollar car). My mind did a quick mental calculation of the meaning of the song versus the life that gentleman was living. No sir, he was not living on a prayer, he was surfing on a cloud.
Performers like Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Bob Dylan would never have been successful if they sang about being a Rock Star, making tons of money and having women throwing themselves at them. A good performer can connect with their audience and give a reflection of society of that era. Some audiences want to live vicariously through the performer, so those performers have their place and time as well. What I remember my father telling me about Rock 'n Roll though had forever shaped my image of the genre. He told me he played the Rolling Stones for my grandparents at some point in the 60's and they hated it. For it to be Rock 'n Roll,he said, your parents have to hate it. I read an article a while back in which Alice Cooper said as much about what was considered Rock 'n Roll for the modern day. They may be playing the same riff and beat as they did thirty years ago, but if your grandfather is blasting it in his Mercedes, it's not Rock 'n Roll.
Within the last decade, I went to a Metallica concert with my mom (yes, my mom). I sat around people who were between the ages of ten and fifty. Linkin Park had opened for Metallica at Giant Stadium that day, and I remember the older people around me shaking their heads as the Nu Rock band played their hits. I said to myself, "Hey kids, your parents hate it, so it must be Rock 'n Roll". I was right. After the concert I had to consider that Metallica was not Rock 'n Roll anymore. They're a great band, that's for sure, but they weren't Rock 'n Roll. I had to accept that being in my thirties; it was still okay for me to like Linkin Park as well as Metallica. Hell, I like Elvis and Johnny Cash! In time, I will be of the age where my kid plays a song that I will absolutely hate. That song will be Rock 'n Roll.
When I relate it to Sci-Fi, I notice that I've yet to read a book which takes a stab at predicting the direction of music in a futuristic Sci-Fi type of way. We have to understand that when Sci-Fi becomes our reality in fifty or so years, we will hate that music. I thought about including the most repulsive sounding music I could imagine in my next book. That repulsive music that I hate will the futuristic Rock 'n Roll. We will all hate it and that's a good thing.
Performers like Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Bob Dylan would never have been successful if they sang about being a Rock Star, making tons of money and having women throwing themselves at them. A good performer can connect with their audience and give a reflection of society of that era. Some audiences want to live vicariously through the performer, so those performers have their place and time as well. What I remember my father telling me about Rock 'n Roll though had forever shaped my image of the genre. He told me he played the Rolling Stones for my grandparents at some point in the 60's and they hated it. For it to be Rock 'n Roll,he said, your parents have to hate it. I read an article a while back in which Alice Cooper said as much about what was considered Rock 'n Roll for the modern day. They may be playing the same riff and beat as they did thirty years ago, but if your grandfather is blasting it in his Mercedes, it's not Rock 'n Roll.
Within the last decade, I went to a Metallica concert with my mom (yes, my mom). I sat around people who were between the ages of ten and fifty. Linkin Park had opened for Metallica at Giant Stadium that day, and I remember the older people around me shaking their heads as the Nu Rock band played their hits. I said to myself, "Hey kids, your parents hate it, so it must be Rock 'n Roll". I was right. After the concert I had to consider that Metallica was not Rock 'n Roll anymore. They're a great band, that's for sure, but they weren't Rock 'n Roll. I had to accept that being in my thirties; it was still okay for me to like Linkin Park as well as Metallica. Hell, I like Elvis and Johnny Cash! In time, I will be of the age where my kid plays a song that I will absolutely hate. That song will be Rock 'n Roll.
When I relate it to Sci-Fi, I notice that I've yet to read a book which takes a stab at predicting the direction of music in a futuristic Sci-Fi type of way. We have to understand that when Sci-Fi becomes our reality in fifty or so years, we will hate that music. I thought about including the most repulsive sounding music I could imagine in my next book. That repulsive music that I hate will the futuristic Rock 'n Roll. We will all hate it and that's a good thing.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
ICON 31 - Review
This was the best ICON I have ever attended. Since 2008, my friends and I would travel out to Stony Brook to nerd ourselves up at the Sci-Fi Convention. It wasn't what I was expecting at the time, but I found it to be really good if you were comfortable with being a participant instead of an observer. Like our college years revisited, we would trek (he he) over to the Students Activity Center and sit in a classroom while we read the summary of the activity.
"Evil Laugh Contest"
"Star Wars vs. Star Trek"
"Furry's: How not to be creepy?"
Subsequent years proved to be less entertaining. It seemed like an evolving experiment which would range from "very adult" to "family friendly". Those of us from the Golden Age of Sci-Fi have children and in some cases, grand-children. While we can appreciate adult-themed classes, it was awkward sitting with our children during some of those classes. In 2011, it was way too tame. Adult themed classes occurred during the evening, but during the day we were subjected to Twilight, Harry Potter and Teletubbies. I was a touch uncomfortable with the middle aged man dressed as a teletubby, but that's just me.
ICON 31 brought the perfect blend of balance. Enter Doctor Who! The first class of the day, I sat in a "Dalek Building" class with my wife and son. Steve Gostelow was an independent contractor who built Dalek's for the BBC and hosted the class in a Q&A style forum. We discussed how to actually build a Dalek prop. Any and all questions were answered, including how much the BBC paid for the work (not much).
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| Star Wars Rep in the Upper-Right |
I sat on a panel for "Star Wars vs. Star Trek" as the lone Star Wars supporter. I had some serious fun with the Trekkies and they certainly had some fun at my expense, as well. My friend Sunil peppered me with comments aimed to question my intelligence for actually preferring Star Wars over Star Trek. I stuck to my guns an pointed out that I had no trouble understanding Star Trek. I usually just fell asleep before the show was over to register an opinion.
After this, I went to a "Game of Thrones" class, in which we discussed the book and television show. The focus was on Season 2, which also covered opinions from the first book (Season 1). In the end, they showed a couple trailers for the second season on HBO.
I had a blast. I debated dressing up as Doctor Who, but in the end I'm glad I didn't. I don't have the "stick thin" physique of Matt Smith and I wasn't about to shave off my Goatee again.
I look forward to seeing everyone in Stony Brook next year!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Inspiration - Brothers Abroad
I spoke earlier about how the birth of my son was the event that made me pick up the pen to write Alorya, but inspiration comes in so many forms, at so many different times, that I'm going to write a few of the most inspiring things to happen which led to the creation of Alorya. I want to set the tone for this post by saying that I am defining inspiration as an event that took place which made me run to my computer and start writing. Of course my wife, my friends and family all inspire me to be the best that I can, but that's not what I'm talking about in this post. Many of the events that take place in Alorya are taken from moments in my life to which I applied artistic interpretation.
Both of my brothers were serving their country in Iraq during the writing of Alorya. Gabriel was in Iraq for three separate tours and Tim was away for one. They were both stationed over seas when they were not in Iraq, so they were always away, but with different degrees of danger around them. The main backdrop for Alorya was war. I would think that if my brothers were hippies at Berkley during this time, the story would have been much different.
Alorya contains three major characters which come from the warrior caste in a country called Bragar. Whether they are members of an organized military or warriors in their tribe, my brothers were the inspiration behind their creation, as well as the main theme of the story. I've had conversations about the use of bionics with my brother Gabriel so many times, that I thought it was a great idea to bring it into the story. Gabe and I disagree on the use of bionics, so I was inspired to create a scenerio of bionic soldiers with both success and failure which is attributed to our conversation. I also had numerous conversations with my brother Tim about the feeling of loss while you're away. The friends, the family and the romance becomes so difficult to manage that it became tempting to just walk away. I wrote about what I took from my conversations with both of my brothers about ultimate loss versus, something to look forward to when you return home. Inspiration comes in so many forms that my brothers may not even know that the little 15 minute conversation we had on Star Wars - Knights of the Old Republic in turn became an idea for my book.
The next post will be about inspiration which came from work.
Both of my brothers were serving their country in Iraq during the writing of Alorya. Gabriel was in Iraq for three separate tours and Tim was away for one. They were both stationed over seas when they were not in Iraq, so they were always away, but with different degrees of danger around them. The main backdrop for Alorya was war. I would think that if my brothers were hippies at Berkley during this time, the story would have been much different.
Alorya contains three major characters which come from the warrior caste in a country called Bragar. Whether they are members of an organized military or warriors in their tribe, my brothers were the inspiration behind their creation, as well as the main theme of the story. I've had conversations about the use of bionics with my brother Gabriel so many times, that I thought it was a great idea to bring it into the story. Gabe and I disagree on the use of bionics, so I was inspired to create a scenerio of bionic soldiers with both success and failure which is attributed to our conversation. I also had numerous conversations with my brother Tim about the feeling of loss while you're away. The friends, the family and the romance becomes so difficult to manage that it became tempting to just walk away. I wrote about what I took from my conversations with both of my brothers about ultimate loss versus, something to look forward to when you return home. Inspiration comes in so many forms that my brothers may not even know that the little 15 minute conversation we had on Star Wars - Knights of the Old Republic in turn became an idea for my book.
The next post will be about inspiration which came from work.
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