Remember the very first scene of Downton Abbey in Season 1, when the operator learns the Titanic has sunk by reading the telegraph machine’s paper tape?
Is reading Twitter really all that different?
On Sunday evening, I was one of maybe 10 people on the planet who wasn’t watching the Grammys.
(Doing so would only highlight how little I know about music. Plus, Downton Abbey was on. Please.)
Of course, I was checking Twitter while I was watching PBS. And by evening’s end, it felt like I had watched the Grammys…because every news outlets, friend and celebrity I follow had blabbed all the details from the ceremony.
The Twitter version, that is — 140 characters or less. So I had been reading a kind of modern version of the telegraph tape.
I have to believe that, if Michael Jackson were alive today, he would not only approve of this version of his famous moonwalk, but change his to match.
It’s for business — as is most of my travel — but every time I think about my upcoming stay in Heidelberg, it takes me back to junior year at the University of Kentucky.
I ushered every performance of The Student Prince, an operetta in four-acts that did a week of performances at the university arts center. The musical is set in Heidelberg, and after seeing that many shows in succession, it is what I associate most with the city.
When I walk into a pub this week, I fully expect to hear choruses of “Drink, Drink!” (and if I don’t, might be forced to start a round or two myself).
That operetta must be playing year round in Heidelberg — wonder if I could see it again in the motherland? It has been a year or two since my junior year.
“Guilty Pleasures” week on Dancing with the Stars has been fun on a couple of levels.
(Yes, I am just now catching up on DVR.)
First, it’s fun to see what cliche songs ‘speak’ to the celebrities. The theme to Titanic. Copacabana by Barry Manilow. Disco anthems.
Stars…they’re just like us.
Which leads to the second thing I enjoy — imagining what song I would select in the same circumstance.
The Barry Manilow song catalog would be a good place to start, although probably one of the love ballads like Ships or Weekend in New England. Or maybe I would pick a hit from the Kansas ‘Point of No Return’ album.
I thought they were very deep at the time.
Or we could always pull out the soundtrack to Les Miserables.
Bring Him Home should score a ’10′ with the judges.
I’ve been rather obsessed with Downton Abbey lately, and a good friend asked if it was time for an intervention.
It might be now. But not just for me.
Adam WarRock, the Internet’s ‘foremost comic book rapper,’ has gone gaga for Downton Abbey, too.
A rapper….all wrapped up in the soap opera at Grantham Hall. He even posted a confession on his website:
Downton Abbey is the kind of thing that you hear about, and you’re all like, “That sounds terrible.” And then even one of your best friends won’t shut up about it, and then you have to fly to Seattle, and you watch it on the plane, and get completely obsessed with it. And then you’re calling your friend and saying things like “I’m at the part where Matthew Crawley is investigating the entail for Lord Grantham, and the Dowager Countess finds out about it,” and you realize you’re whispering because honestly, what the HELL are you even saying?
I love this guy.
Now he’s gone one step farther and written a rap about Downton Abbey. You gotta give it a listen.
I have always loved “Blister in the Sun.” It’s an anthem of sorts for me…and my bear Snuffles’ favorite dance number. And now the theme song for HP, which just happens to be my laptop.
What are the chances?
Here are the Femmes performing the song live. I was lucky enough to see them myself back in the day.
In a current TV ad campaign, a teenage boy asks Siri to remember the band name “Migraine Headache.”
And the terminally-quick Craig Ferguson will label any funny-sounding phrase he utters as the name of his band or the movie he’s writing.
And now I find myself doing the same.
Funny headline on nytimes.com? Could be a band name. Someone posts a photo on Twitter or Facebook with an odd title? Band name. Someone misspeaks in everyday conversation? Band name!
I am in the best mood right now. I have been literally dancing around my living room. The dog has joined in.
And I didn’t even win the Powerball.
No, I’m watching That Thing You Do on Encore. And I defy anyone to be in a bad mood when that movie is on.
I’ve watched the film before…at least seven or eight times, I would guess. But every time I do, I am struck by the positive energy and sheer happiness radiating from every frame. I’m sure if they filmed me watching the movie, I would be grinning from ear to ear (when I’m not moved to tears).
I’m also amazed at how many times they play the title song “That Thing You Do,” and how it never seems to get old. It’s like the engine driving the film, and every time they play it, the movie gets another burst of life and energy.
For trainers everywhere
For my Southern sisters
For Jennifer
Tales of the tape
Remember the very first scene of Downton Abbey in Season 1, when the operator learns the Titanic has sunk by reading the telegraph machine’s paper tape?
Is reading Twitter really all that different?
(Doing so would only highlight how little I know about music. Plus, Downton Abbey was on. Please.)
Of course, I was checking Twitter while I was watching PBS. And by evening’s end, it felt like I had watched the Grammys…because every news outlets, friend and celebrity I follow had blabbed all the details from the ceremony.
The Twitter version, that is — 140 characters or less. So I had been reading a kind of modern version of the telegraph tape.
Look how far we’ve come in 100 years!
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Posted in Commentary, Entertainment, History, Humor, Internet, Music, Television, TV
Tagged awards ceremony, commentary, Downton Abbey, entertainment, Grammy Awards, Grammys, history, Internet, Music, telegraph, telegraph machine, telegraph operator, telegraph tape, Television, Titanic, TV, tweet, Twitter