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Word comes of the passing of John LaPado, local legend. So much has been written, said, and repeated about him in the past several months that it seems redundant to add to it. Only to observe that someone so well-loved and long-revered leaves an absence you can almost see. My condolences and best wishes to Christine and Lydia, and to all who loved John. RIP.
Perhaps it is my immersion in the recent live box set of Frank Sinatra performing live in Las Vegas over the course of 25 years, but when I heard that James Brown had passed away on Christmas morning, my initial thought was that he was the Sinatra of black pop culture.
Like Sinatra, he was enormously innovative and influential, achieved unprecendented superstardom, had an iterative career that passed through distinct phases, scandals, and lulls, and he was caricatured on Saturday Night Live (okay, that last isn't exactly a unique distinction).
The comparison to Sinatra is arguably more apt than to the Beatles, in my opinion. The Beatles were an inherently collaborative enterprise, while Brown and Sinatra were sole proprietors. Both Brown and Sinatra were strict taskmasters, demanding perfection and loyalty from their sidemen and associates. Both were sui generis artists, who repeatedly reinvented themselves and sustained their careers through fluctations in popular taste. And both were profoundly flawed people who exercised lamentably misguided judgment, but whose enormous talents bought them a lot of slack. They utilized, and perhaps exploited, the talents and efforts of countless other contributors, but the vision, values, purpose and principles animating their accomplishments were entirely their own.
I saw Tony Bennett at Ceasar's Palace the night Sinatra passed away. Seeing Prince at the Apollo would have been an appropriate equivalent, I think. RIP.
My favorite Christmas movie, and perhaps my favorite movie of all time, is the 1968 hit "The Lion in Winter". It isn't, strictly speaking, a "Christmas movie", but the story takes place during the Christmas court of Henry II (Peter O'Toole) in 1183. Henry is old, knows he will die soon, and wants to dispose of the question of succession. He battles with his wife, Eleanor of Acquitaine, over who will wear the crown.
We all know what actually happened; Richard succeeds Henry, only to be usurped by John while on Crusade. The legend of Robin Hood takes place during John's reign, as well. But all that is still in the future as this film takes place.
It is a stunning ensemble performance, featuring Anthony Hopkins' first film appearance as the bellicose Richard. The doltish John is played by Nigel Terry (who played King Arthur, among other roles). Timothy Dalton, late of James Bond fame, plays Prince Philip of France. But Katherine Hepburn's portrayal as Eleanor earned her a Best Actress Oscar. She's simply magnificent in this picture, as is O'Toole.
They all benefit from spectacular writing (also won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay) by James Goldman, with some of the greatest lines ever uttered onscreen.
Including (Richard, to Eleanor); "You're so deceitful you can't ask for water when you're thirsty. We could tangle spiders in the webs you weave."
And (Eleanor to Henry); "I could peel you like a pear and God himself would call it justice!"
But my all-time favorite is Henry to Philip: "I found out the way your mind works and the kind of man you are. I know your plans and expectations - you've burbled every bit of strategy you've got. I know exactly what you will do, and exactly what you won't, and I've told you exactly nothing. To these aged eyes, boy, that's what winning looks like!"
Which makes me wonder what victory looks like in 21st century warfare. Five years ago, Islamic extremists were killing Israelis and Americans. Today, those extremists are killing each other. To these aged eyes, that's what victory looks like.
For as long as humans have been upright, it has been a tradition to observe the dimming and subsequent rebirth of the sun in the winter sky. When human survival was more subject to the whims of weather, this celebration of the hope of continued survival made abundant sense.
Over the centuries, as belief systems have fallen and risen, this venerable tradition has assumed many forms. Notwithstanding the dominant religion in a particular society, the solstice time remains a universal holiday in every liturgical calendar. Even in conquest, you can take away a man’s gods, but you don’t mess around with his feast days.
The selection of December 25th as Jesus' birthday was not fixed until over 300 years after his death. That date had been previously used, for about a thousand years, as the birthdate of Mithras, a Persian sun god, because that was when the solstice fell way back then. Due to something called the precession of the equinox, the date of the solstice has crept earlier in the year. During the Age of Aries (we're currently in the age of Pisces; the Age of Aquarius doesn't actually dawn until 2012, Rado and Ragni to the contrary notwithstanding), it fell on December 25th, and that was a fitting birthdate for a solar deity. Mithraism was especially popular with Roman soldiers during the first few centuries of the common era. As a competitive strategy, Christianity adopted (read "stole") this date.
The relentless drumbeat of the Christmas Cult every year is as tedious as it is unavoidable, but it betrays no prospect of diminishing, so those among us who don’t necessarily resonate with the cultural iconography must grit their teeth and forbear for weeks at a time this incessant mass market compulsion.
The battle between those who assert an intrinsically Christian expression of this tradition and those who embrace only the secular aspects of it is as pointless as the tradition is essentially meaningless. It means whatever you want it to mean, including nothing at all if you prefer. Whether you are in the majority or not is utterly inconsequential.
My solution to the constant Christian omnipresence at this time of year is to embrace a belligerent secularization of the season. I set up a Pandora station to play seasonal favorites that have nothing to do with the divinity of Christ. I picked out three songs, "Baby It's Cold Outside", "Let It Snow", and "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm", and selected "Rat Pack" renditions by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis. The result is a hip, sardonic, jazzy playlist with no angels, shepherds, litte drummer boys, or silent nights. Wise guys instead of wise men. As a bonus, also no Frosty, Rudolph, or Jingle (*%$ Bells. It's more about sex and snow than improbable narratives about a virgin giving birth. Occasionally I get Bing's White Christmas, but that's as bad as it gets.
Send me your email address, and I'll send you a link to the station. Have yourself a merry little Festivus, on me.
Tim Westergren of Pandora came to town last week. He was the keynote speaker at the recent North State Entrepreneur, CEO, and Innovation Forum held at the Sierra Nevada Big Room.
His story is pretty amazing. A musician by training, he wanted to figure out a way to correlate music by attribute, as contrasted to genre, radio format, or category. The result was an ambitious database development program called the Music Genome Project. His company, Savage Beast Technologies, presented their business plan and funding pitch at the Golden Capital Network's 2003 East Bay Venture Capital Conference, and won the Best of Show award.
His business model at that time was licensing his database to music retailers that would use it to recommend music to their customers based on their preferences. That model, in Tim's words, "sucked", and about a year ago, he rebranded the firm as Pandora, and launched what has become one of the most popular internet music sites.
It's "roll your own radio", enabling anyone with a web browser and a sound card to define their own radio stations, based on artists or songs they like. The Genome database selects material based on the attributes of the music you specify, programs it into sets of a few similar tunes, and streams it to your computer. The service is free, supported by advertising.
Why is this man smiling? Because his business, which operated for years in deep debt, is now profitable and growing at a phenomenal rate. With over 100 employees, and more than 4.5 million subscribers, Pandora is the third most popular radio site on the internet. Considering how many streaming music sources there are out there, they're clearly doing something right.
After the conference, Tim hosted a "meet up" at the City Council chamber for local subscribers. I saw some familiar faces, and plenty of people I've never met, who all use Pandora to supply or at least supplement their listening. Tim also gave away some logo tchotchkes (hats, t-shirts, etc.) and answered questions about the service and future features. Right now, users can notify friends about their stations, and give them access to their programming. Soon, users will be able to broadcast their programming to the net promiscuously. One more nail in the coffin of the major labels, and a real chance for independent artists to find an audience. Check it out, thank me later.