Category: tv

The Need for Momentum When Consuming Certain Types of Media

If the title is confusing, I don’t blame you. I wasn’t sure what to call this post myself, and I’m not really sure how to start it…..So, I guess I’ll start by describing something I’ve recently observed–namely, that with certain media, if I don’t consume them regularly, they can be really difficult to get into. This applies specifically to mostly movies, TV shows, books, and writing–as in, taking the time to write something like this. However, suppose I watch a movie and then another movie right after that. If I see a movie soon after (say, the next day or two), the difficulty to sit watch the film isn’t so great. The same applies to books. If I read a book, and then another soon after, getting started and then finishing the book isn’t so difficult. Something applies to an individual book as well–namely, if I’m reading the book regularly and not really short spurts, then reading seems to flow. On the other hand, if my reading of the book is intermittent and each reading session is relatively short, reading can feel like a slog. It’s almost as if a type of momentum begins, making reading or watching a film easier. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what do you think is going on?

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An Alternate Approach to Best of the Year Lists

As I see the best of the year lists popping up, I once again think about another approach I wish critics would employ–namely, instead of identifying the best works relative to other works within a given year, identify the works in a given year that compare favorably with the all-time great works. One drawback here is that none of the works may meet this criterion. For me, I don’t see this as a drawback. Here’s the reason why (and this will explain my overall mindset with regard to this topic).

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How Was Barnes and Noble Able to Turn Things Around?

Barnes and Noble is doing so well financially that they plan to open thirty new stores in 2023. That caught my attention, and I think it’s great news. Why is the store thriving? That’s the question music critic, Ted Gioia, tries to answer in this post. I agree with some of the reasons he cites (e.g., appointing a better CEO who decentralized decision making), but I’m dissatisfied with the overarching reason he offers–namely, that the new CEO loves books.

In this thread, I’ll explain the reason I feel this way, as well as offer an alternate explanation that seems more compelling. (In spite of this slight disagreement, I recommend reading his post.) OK, let’s begin.

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Art: Innovations and Innovators

I really love artist that push and sometime break boundaries, leading to a new style or vocabulary, or even redefining what constitutes art or not. Marcel Duchamp, John Cage, and maybe Andy Kaufmann would be examples of the latter. Other innovators, who may not cause us to re-think art, but I still I like a lot are Frank Zappa, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, to name a few. This is a thread to discuss innovations of specific artists as well as innovations in art more generally. I want to start by talking about two different innovations in music that I’m interested in.