An interesting notion that occurred to me last week ... Anyway, I hopped on down to Puyallup for the Western Washington Fair and to see Brian Wilson play a two-hour set for ten bucks. Before the show starts, the evening's MC gets up ... let us leave it at the idea that he perfectly embodied a local stereotype--well, not even local, since you can get most of it off a stale Jeff Foxworthy routine. But every little town adds its own quirks to the stereotypical redneck. As his semi-charming speech winds down, he wants to thank God and praise his country ... gasp! ... but wait! I'm not even bothered. He introduces a lady who he claims to regard as having the sweetest voice in the world, and she will sing not the Star-Spangled Banner, but (gasp!) the "stunning" God Bless America. Gasp, choke, wheeze. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Actually, I'm not even bugged by this. This isn't even an issue to me at all, at this point. And it wouldn't be an issue even now if I hadn't seen a replay of a commercial in which the gun manufacturers get together and pay an actor to rip up an American flag for effect. Suddenly, I have notions about presentation and purpose. What bugs me about this whole God Bless America bit was that the singer was terrible! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I mean just plain awful. You know those "church sopranos"? The ones who hit a high note in their high school choir and have sung every song of their lives thenceforth as if they could carry an opera? The ones who would, had you the misfortune of standing in front of them during church hymns, leave you with tone deafness for the rest of the afternoon? It was enough to make me cry, "My God!" Thus the question: Did we really honor anything by cracking people's eardrums? I care not about God-issues, except as they relate to pride. I mean, this performance was shamefully awful, and suddenly I'm recalling Roseanne Barr singing the Anthem at a baseball game and being thankful for her comic relief throughout that performance (spitting, crotch-grabbing, bird-flipping, &c.). * If you are doing something to honor an idea, should you not make an effort to present yourself well throughout the act? As a patriotic statement or as a statement of faith, I was mortified that such an unpleasant experience as this eardrum-splitting rendition (complete with karaoke musical score, sounding somewhat Disney-ish in its fancies) would pass as an acceptable declaration of anything. Thankfully, there's a pretty good bootleg of Brian Wilson's set floating around. I'm quite sure I missed a whole bunch taking place around me because of that nasty ringing left in my ears by that travesty of a tribute to God and Country. But it will be nice to hear those parts of the music that I could not due to tone deafness. But when I think of poor tributes ... While Roseanne was flat-out offensive in terms of the sanctity we award our national anthem, this lady was so horrible as to hurt peoples' ears. We even whined about it at each other on the way home, though most of that conversation slipped by unheard. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! thanx, Tiassa Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! (PS--YES! I'm whining!) ------------------ Whether God exists or does not exist, He has come to rank among the most sublime and useless truths.--Denis Diderot
<img src = "http://www.exosci.com/ubb/icons/icon10.gif"> Well...it was a good laugh for those of us who attended the show through this thread. Thanx <img src = "http://www.exosci.com/ubb/icons/icon10.gif"> ------------------ It's all very large.
LOL, sounds like my grade 8 religion teacher has a new gig......oooh she'd scare a banshee. You have put a smile on my face. BTW all that choking and wheezing...hmmmm sounds like BONG-kitus to me....stay away from dry billies, they'll hurt ya everytime. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
