Slate's Culture Gabfest

Mwahahaha, Kinsella, you know you're turning into one of us! Soon you'll be *eating* those grayscale croissants!

I want to listen to it through audible, but because I am a Canadian (and currently in Cambodia) they won't let me download it! Frustrating!

If there is so much disdain for musicianship, is there equal disdain for the lack thereof? I can't tell you how many shows I sat through in the nineties in NYC with some yob explaining to me that this band or another was great BECAUSE they couldn't really play their instruments. Ex...Sleater Kinney...Lack of musicianship is the biggest myth of the ... Read Morepunk rock generation. THe Clash...hardly primitive musicians.
I am not really a Paisley fan. I do really love Country Music. Gram Parsons functioned as my mentor on that. Leading me to George Jones and then eventually to Roy Acuff, Bob Wills, Bill Monroe, etc.
I do think the howling disdain for someone mentioning their OPINION about how much they like his record is a little unsettling. It just goes to show you how narrow minded someone "open minded" can be.

Daniel- If your comment is at all directed at mine - I did not intend , and reading it back don't think I have, expressed anything as harsh as disdain for anyone, especially Paisley, who is obviously a talented musician regardless of how I may feel about his tunes. I don't equate being a technically inapt musician with being an intrinsically ... Read Moreartistic or interesting one , as I don't equate being a "good" musician with being a good artist or songwriter. Both seem silly. In the article above, and if I remember correctly in the podcast discussing Paisley, his virtuosic guitar work is offered as a quality that should make "sophisticates" take notice. While it seems appropriate to bring this up , I don't think it does much to convince skeptics they may be mistaken about this guy, which unless I'm totally off is what this discussion is about. The disdain here seems more directed at some sort of close-minded indie mentality. I actually took what I hope was an open-minded listen to Paisley after hearing the recommendation. It only reinforced my natural aversion to modern country music. I believe that was because of what I heard, not because of a flimsy elitist ideology I have. I was attempting, not disdainfully, to say that the reasons those not seeing Paisley as an important or special artist and giving him the recognition he arguably deserves, cannot be reduced to snobbery or close- mindedness. I wouldn't be as crude as to lump together Paisley fans on insulting assumptions about why they dig him. I don't think similar ones should be made about those who don't.

Or to expand that a bit, a discussion of the "anti-folk" genre (is it a genre?), into which she is placed.

I had that problem with Audible once. I wanted Three Men in a Boat read by Hugh Laurie, but it was only available for UK members. I ordered it from Amazon.co.uk instead. Talk about shooting yourself in the proverbial foot.

there is a really handy RSS feed with the recommendations from all the Slate Podcasts: http://media.slate.com/media/slate/Podcasts/Daily/audible1.xml

Just the thing. . .thanks very much!

No, I mean you come across as the most generous viewer! Generally Julia finds the movies you discuss over-long and/or pretentious, and Steve... well, that's harder to summarize. He dislikes each movie on its merits. But he pretty reliably finds something to dislike.
And lest that look like Metcalf-bashing, I dislike most multiplex movies on their merits too... or I would if I went to see them instead of just listening to Filmspotting and Spoiler Specials!

I have to say, I finally saw Precious last night and thought it was almost worth all the crazy hype. A lot more artful than I expected.

Josh: Within The Context of No Context, though be forewarned, it's a peculiar little volume. But I love it. (SM)

Thanks!

Modern Family is not, I guess, for everyone. But I generally find it funny. Stock characters are a part of all comedy. But Modern Family finds ways to twist those a bit that are funny and sensitive. Yes the gay characters are a little flamboyant , but the show is making fun of them, it's on their side. Plus they diverge in from the stock in ... Read Moreimportant ways - for example, Cameron played football at a Big 10 school and paints his face for game days (which is why he makes fun of Mitch's figure skating). Last week's epi was just ok, watch the pilot on Hulu. It's the funniest 30min of network TV since Arrested Development ended.

Okay, thanks. I'll give it another go, I guess.