The GirlAlive Blog

The Guitar Hero Debate

I recently got involved in a debate over Guitar Hero (Rock Star, Rock Band and other similar games) on YouTube.  Are these games a good thing for music, or a bad thing?  I’m not sure.

Side One:  These games introduce kids to older music that completely rocks.  Lots of people are fans of "Say It Aint So" by Weezer because they’ve heard it in one of those games.  Might make them buy some cd’s, or at least download some good music.  It’s making kids listen to music that involves real bands playing real instruments, and not just some plastic singer with synthesizers.  Current music is formulated empty crap and a lot of kids are learning that music doesn’t have to be that way because they hear old stuff by Nirvana and Weezer.  

Side Two:   Though these kids are listening to good old music, made by real musicians, they aren’t creating anything of their own.  When I was shopping for my new guitar, I found numerous listings for guitars in brand new condition.  They were bought for kids who were interested in music, but then abandoned their guitars when they found that Guitar Hero was easier.  Guitar Hero is pure imitation with no individual creativity.  You are forced to play exactly like the original track.  There is no reinterpretation of a song.  There is no "making it your own" like with a real instrument. 

I’m not sure where to stand on this.  I’m all in favor of listening to good music, but I’d like the teenagers of today to be creating some of their own too.   It has to be healthier to have guitar string callouses than to have RSI from playing a video game. 

I don’t have kids.  I don’t know how I’d handle the whole musical game debate if I did.  But I’d hope that my kids would find music they love and then learn to play it on a real instrument, one way or another.

Alana 

My new best friend.

I have an old green Fender guitar with broken electronics.  It’s been frustrating me for several years, and I’ve never gotten it to play without cutting out on a regular basis.  I love that guitar, but it is aggravating.

My husband has been learning to play bass guitar, so he got himself an amp.  I wanted to play my guitar, but when you plug it into an amp, it’s just annoying.  I decided it was time to do something.

I bought a new set of electronics for my Fender.  It didn’t work.  My guitar is a bit of a mutant and I’m not good enough at soldering to get it together.  (Next time my brother is in town I’ll have him take a crack at it.  He’s an electrical engineer.)

I was checking out eBay and seeing if there were any guitars that looked halfway decent.  The price I set for myself was that I didn’t want to spend more than 60 pounds including shipping.  There’s a crappy Fender look alike in the charity shop, which is poor quality and covered in ugly skater stickers, for 60 pounds.  It’s way overpriced.  But I didn’t want a top quality brand name guitar.  I just want to play.  So that’s the line I drew.  If I couldn’t find anything cheaper than the ugly one in the charity shop, I wouldn’t get one.

There was one on ebay that I liked.  It was a Stagg brand copy of a Fender Jazzmaster.  The starting bid was 40 pounds, with 12 pounds for shipping.  The auction was ending at 11:30 at night so I couldn’t stay up for the end of it because husband had to get up early for work.  I threw a ridiculously small bid in on it and went to bed.

In the morning I found that I had won.  No other bids.  I got it for the starting bid.  52 pounds, with shipping.  It arrived today.

I love this guitar.  It fits into my arms perfectly.  It sounds great.  It’s the most comfortable guitar I think I’ve ever played.  We were meant for each other. 

The picture doesn’t do it justice.  It’s so shiny and pretty.  I love my new guitar.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with the giant box full of crumpled newspaper that it came in… 

Jayne loves Weezer

Our new hamster Jayne is very shy and nervous, which is totally normal for any new pet.  A while ago, something startled her and she ran into her little house and stayed there motionless for about half an hour.  Until I put on an MP3 of "Pork and Beans" by Weezer.  Then she came out of her house and started trying to climb up the walls.  After that, I wasn’t playing any music for a while and she just kind of sat around and nibbled at some food.  Then I put on the early demo version of "Buddy Holly" from Rivers Cuomo’s solo album, and she started running in the wheel like a fluffy little lunatic.  I’ve been playing more Weezer music since then, and I’ve never seen a hamster so active during the day.

So our new hamster likes Weezer.  Good thing, cause whether she likes it or not, she’ll probably be hearing a lot of Weezer around here.  The other rodents don’t seem to have strong feelings one way or another, although Spike does like The Beach Boys and The Monkees

Alana 

Me and Weezer

Way back in 1994 I remember watching and loving Weezer’s video for Buddy Holly.  (Feel free to click on the link for a reminder.  It’ll open in a new window, so you can keep reading.)  It was hilarious and also a good song.  And after that, I pretty much forgot about Weezer for a good long time.  They came up in conversation now and then with my friends, because Weezer is primarily known as nerd rock, and most of my friends (especially back in college) were both musicians and nerds.

Now jump forward to 2007.  I’m a huge fan of Cute Overload.  I mean, who doesn’t love puppies and stuff?  At some point Cute Overload posted the video of Weezer’s video for Island In the Sun.  There’s an air-drumming kitten and a herd of retriever puppies.  It’s adorable! 

Then there was Pork and Beans.  I watched the video initially because it’s funny.  It’s got all kinds of internet stars and it’s just fun.  After watching in a few times, I started to really pay attention.  That’s when I decided that I love that song, with or without the video.   So after flirting with Weezer for the past 14 years, I’m finally willing to commit.  I am now officially a Weezer fan.  And I think that in Pork and Beans, I have found my new theme song.

Alana 

what you listening to?

So what are the kids listening to these days?  At my office, we have the radio on all day, but it is on an inoffensive middle of the road pop station where I get to hear a lot of Queen and Britney Spears.  To be fair, they play a good amount of stuff that isn’t terrible, but I am starting to feel disconnected from good music.

Back In The Day, when I lived in Seattle, I hung out with all the cool people and most of my friends were musicians or promoters or in some way connected to good music.  I was friends with the guys from Poor Old Lu and with Damien Jurado and some of the guys from Pedro the Lion.  

The last bunch of music I acquired was a Leigh Nash cd, a few cd’s of Over the Rhine, Fair (Aaron Sprinkle’s new band) and The Killers and I downloaded the free cd from This Diminishing West. 

What am I missing?  What is going on back in the real world that I’m missing over here in the land of techno and pop?  I desperately miss living in a country that doesn’t give a crap about Robbie Williams.

Alana 

A song for all the astronauts and pirates.

Okay, so there’s something bothering me this morning.  That thing is "Arthur’s Theme" by Christopher Cross.  In case you don’t know, that’s the song about being caught between the moon and New York City.

The chorus is as follows:

When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it’s crazy, but it’s true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do ……
The best that you can do is fall in love

Let’s look at this logically.  "When you get caught" implies that it is inevitable that you will be caught between the moon and New York City at some point.  In reality, how likely is this? 

Given that the earth rotates once on its axis every day, the moon and New York City lining up so anything can be between them can only occur twice a day.  When the moon is directly above New York City, one would need to be in a geo-synchronous orbit above NYC in order to "get caught".  The other way to be between the moon and NYC is to be on the other side of the earth with the moon overhead.  I calculate this to be somewhere near the McDonald Islands in the southern Indian Ocean.  Also an unlikely scenario.  

Is this a song merely for astronauts and pirates?  And what does the alignment of the moon with a major North American city have to do with falling in love?  And if the singer is just poetically trying to say that he’s standing in New York City and the moon is overhead and he is thus between the two objects, this would be an occurrance that happens pretty much every day.  Does he fall in love with whoever is nearby when the moon is overhead?

Frankly, I find this song easily as questionable as the Pina Colada Song.  And don’t get me started on What You Waiting For by Gwen Stefani.

Alana