Yes, I am sick today. However, it has been a good day for learning things. For example:
- Verticality is overrated. Horizontal is good. Vertical is bad.
- No matter how sick I am, Steve will still believe that taking Michael to school is my job.
- Canadian music videos are just plain bad. Especially the older ones.
WELL!
I hardly watch TV these days, but daytime TV is much much worse than the tripe they air after I get home from work. I have the TV on now, just so the crushing silence doesn't overwhelm me. Specifically, I am watching Much More Retro, a station that airs music videos from the 1980s and 1990s. That way, I am able to indulge my own guilty pleasures such as Glass Tiger, the Thompson Twins and INXS. (Don't bother to suggest that I need treatment. I am in complete denial.)
That's how I stumbled across this video:
I admit, I stared in horror for several minutes. What could this be? Dear God, is that Corey Hart? GACK, it's the guy from Loverboy!
Then Bruce Cockburn appeared on the screen. That was when I realized that this is apparently the Canadian version of We Are The World. And wouldn't you know, it is distinctively Canadian. No need for sets! Just paint a room brown, rent a couple of microphones and let Joni Mitchell vamp it up. Buy a few seconds of footage from the CBC and you're in business!
Perhaps the blueberry princess has a professional comment about this phenomenon, but this video shows an example of a disturbing trend I keep seeing on American Idol: people who think that it is a good idea to put a finger in their ears when they sing. I can only guess that they do this because they see it on TV. If Neil Young covers his ears when he sings, that must be the way to do it! I've also seen Jessica Simpson do this just before I quickly change the channel. Are these people so delusional that they actually think they are wearing earphones with a backing track? Or have they completely missed the point?
1 comments:
Some people block one ear in order to hear themselves better. Some of my students in the past have blocked both ears so that the other vocal parts don't "mess them up." They don't realize that singing with correct pitch entails listening to the other parts and fitting yourself into the chordal structure. It usually doesn't take me a long time to teach this concept, because once you actually start listening to the other people you are singing with, the improvement is obvious. Blocking one ear is more damaging than helpful. A more effective approach is to cup one hand around one ear so that you can hear everyone else BETTER. I suppose if you're singing a capella by yourself it might help some, but that's the only case I can think of where it could possibly be beneficial.
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