Tag Archives: ramblings

Monday Afternoon Ramblings

May 24, 2010 D.A. Adams 1 Comment

One of the best TV series of all time came to a close last night, and unlike shows like the Sopranos that ended with a gutless, wishy-washy, open-for-interpretation cop out or Sex and the City that went the sentimental route, or countless other series that ended on a whimper, the series finale for Lost was nearly perfect.

As a storyteller, I’ve been impressed season after season at the continuity of the show despite the immense scope of the plot lines. A couple of years ago, I heard an interview with the man who was in charge of tracking all of the character interactions, who met when and how, likes and dislikes, the day in day out minutiae that many of us storytellers take for granted because we’re working on one project for a given amount of time and have a limited number of main characters. For most projects, one person can keep up with everything with a minimal amount of effort. However, Lost, with its multitude of primary characters and plethora of supporting characters spread out over a six year period, needed an archivist to keep the writers straight. That fact alone is impressive.

Another great admiration for the show was the character development. Each season, the characters grew, regressed, matured, changed allegiances, and suffered, and within the confines of the story, they were nearly always believable as true-to-life. Again, as a storyteller, I’m impressed with how the writers were able to maintain that verisimilitude over an extended period.

Probably the thing I loved most about the series was that it was smart. The creators didn’t dumb-down the show to appeal to a broader audience; they didn’t back off of planting cultural nuggets like important pieces of art or great works of literature into scenes to challenge the audience. In fact, they seemed to relish the opportunity to make the show intellectually stimulating. As a fan, I loved that.

Last night, the series finale made me cry more than once, and I’m not often moved to tears by a TV show. The scene when Jin’s memory is triggered by seeing his daughter’s ultrasound was one of the most moving moments of television I’ve ever experienced. In part, that’s because of my own memory of that first ultrasound, but also because it was so realistic to me. Each of the “awakenings” was triggered by some connection to love, and even though he never got to meet his daughter in person, his paternal love was so strong that seeing her heartbeat on the ultrasound was enough to make him whole. In terms of storytelling, that moment was sublime, and I reserve use of that word for only truly transcendental moments. To me, that scene qualifies as sublime.

The other amazingly beautiful moment occurred between Benjamin Linus and John Locke at the end of the show when Ben apologizes for all he had done. That moment of humility and penitence was sincere and moving. The fact that Ben realized he wasn’t ready to move on and needed more time to sort through his personal issues is what kept the scene from wandering into the sentimental. He was a deeply flawed character but was headed in the right direction. Locke forgiving him was an encapsulation of what all spirituality is supposed to be: forgiveness and reconciliation.

I’m sad to see the series end, but I’m glad it’s closing on such a strong note. Few TV series can claim that they ended before they grew stale and tired, but Lost can honestly make that statement.

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General Posts

Wednesday Afternoon Ramblings

May 19, 2010 D.A. Adams Leave a comment

I’ve heard and read a lot of grumbling about how boring this season of American Idol has been, and while it’s true that the two front-runners have been clearly the best of the bunch and there’s been little doubt that both of them would make it to the top three, I’m not sure what people are complaining about. Last night’s performances by Lee Dewyze and Crystal Bowersox were magnificent. The duet they sang together last week was fabulous. Week in and week out, the two of them have delivered some of the best musical performances in all of my experience with the show. While I’ll admit that many of the other performers weren’t that great (How Tim Urban made the top 12 even is astonishing), these two singers alone have been worth hearing week in and week out.

Last night, Bowersox’s performance of the Paul McCartney song “Maybe I’m Amazed” was nothing short of spectacular, and to me, it was the best performance of the night. I didn’t care so much for her rendition of “Come to My Window” by Melissa Etheridge, but it was strong enough not to undermine the brilliance of the second song. In terms of range, tone, power, and soul, she is the best singer I’ve heard in quite some time. I hope she gets to make the kind of music she wants to make and the industry doesn’t screw up her career and it so often does with gifted artists.

Lee Dewyze, who I really admire and respect, was solid, but I wasn’t overjoyed by the performance of “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen. First, he shouldn’t have had a backup choir because it wasn’t a level playing field for the other two and also because it took away from his voice. He sang the song well; there was nothing wrong with his vocals, per se. But I will always measure every version of that song to Jeff Buckley’s, which is painfully transcendentally beautiful, and his rendition came up a little short for me. Also, I didn’t care for the song choice of “Simple Man.” I loved the choice of Lynyrd Skynyrd, but I would have preferred something else from them, maybe “The Ballad of Curtis Lowe” or “All I Can Do Is Write About It,” but again, he sang the song well.

I really hope these two make the finals. Casey James, as I’ve said before, is a one-trick show pony. He’s not in the same league talent-wise with either Mommasox or Dewyze. They are both serious artists who hopefully with have tremendous careers making music that has substance and soul. They both have the potential.

General Posts

Tuesday Morning Ramblings

May 18, 2010 D.A. Adams 1 Comment

For my friends who I’ve offended recently, and that’s a pretty long list, this post is to clarify a few things about my reasons for mocking regressive thinking. Not too long ago, there was a page circulating on Facebook praying to God for President Obama’s death. Recently, while driving, I saw a bumper sticker that read “Save a Miner: Kill a Tree Hugger.” On the surface, many of you may think that these are just harmless little jokes and that the people forwarding the page and the redneck driving the Super Duty Ford Truck didn’t really mean it, but to me, these are symptoms of a much problem with regressive thinking.

In July 2008, a conservative walked into a Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, TN and opened fire on the congregation. Two died and seven were injured. His reason for attacking was that they were liberals, and in his home were books by Michael Savage, Bill O’Reilly, and Sean Hannity, all written along the lines of how liberalism is a mental disease that needs to be cured. What scares me most is that often people with this mentality believe that anyone who doesn’t think just like them or believe everything they believe must be a liberal. That kind of black and white, simplified thinking is what led to the Holocaust.

Back to the redneck miner, his mentality is that because he doesn’t know anything about it, all science must be bunk, so instead of him taking the time to learn why certain environmental groups believe that certain mining operations are damaging the environment, he would just rather kill them so he can make his $20 an hour. Rather than learn a trade like plumbing or carpentry, he wants to work in that mine cause that’s what his daddy and granddaddy did, nevermind that they both died real young from major medical problems. He needs that $20 and hour to buy fuel for that Super Duty. That’s real dumb and real scary to someone like me who is curious and likes to take the time to learn a little.

And the mentality is bigger than that. It has to do with the belief that God is on their side, so it must be okay for them to do whatever they need to do to preserve their beliefs because God ordained them to do so. Some of the worst atrocities in history have been committed under this belief. Every single one of the 19 hijackers on September 11 believed that they were serving God’s will by killing the infidels. Timothy McVeigh believed passionately that he was serving God by blowing up the building in Oklahoma City. I could go on and on for hours with thousands more examples.

Many of my friends who I’ve offended are people who enjoy a good debate and like to read and have curiosity about the world. I love and respect you guys even if I disagree with you. The fact that you look deeper into things shows that you have intelligence and the capacity for rational thought. Most of you wouldn’t even consider walking into a church with a shotgun or filling a truck with homemade explosives or hijacking a jumbo jet to attack a skyscraper.

But there are many conservatives who embrace violence as the answer. To them, the commandment “Thou Shalt Not Kill” reads “Thou Shalt Not Kill Unless The Person Disagrees With You Or You Feel Threatened Or You Don’t Like Something About Them.” These people terrify me, so I mock them in an effort to point out the absurdity and backwardness of their thinking. I’m sometimes an asshole about it, too, but the reason I’m so passionate about ridiculing the far right is because it’s my feeble attempt to stand up to a very wealthy, very powerful movement that uses lies and propaganda to stir the emotions of people like Jim Adkisson into using force against their enemies.