Jennifer Hudson did a great rendition of Purple Rain for “The Color Purple”‘s tribute at the end of last night’s show. That girl has some pipes.
3.
Old Dan and Little Anne
Hey, would someone please tell me how to search Balloon Juice by a specific date? I saw it recently and can’t remember or figure it out on my own. Thanks in advance.
4.
Dork
Banned why?
5.
Betty Cracker
@Old Dan and Little Anne: Just add /2016/04/22 to the end of the URL (replacing those numbers with the date you want, obvs.).
I thought I was the only “Hamilton” hater here! Actually, I don’t hate “Hamilton” any more than I hate Justin Bieber or One Direction or whomever the kiddies are squeeing over these days — I’m just sick of hearing about it. But if there are others out there, let’s band together to counter the influence of this insidious cult!
@Mary: Don’t know enough about Hamilton to either love him or hate him. I do think the deification of the so-called Founding Fathers borders on idolatry. Now Hamilton has joined the pantheon. YMMV.
FWIW, most people worship Lin-Manuel Miranda much more than the actual historical figure. LMM is an official genius since he won a McArthur Foundation grant last year.
17.
different-church-lady
I keep thinking, “Prince can’t be dead — he’s Prince!“
I begin to perceive why Mnem has such a crush on this show…
In honor of someone’s suggestion yesterday, I am wearing my mourning for Prince: Raspberry beret, paisley turtleneck, fringed jacket, high-heeled boots. Yeah, it may get me some weird looks in the hardware store, but feckit.
Really, though, it’s kind of like Cole complaining about all of the Prince love on his Facebook. LMM created a piece of art that speaks to a lot of people on multiple levels. If you don’t enjoy that piece of art, you’re not going to get why people love it so much.
23.
Miss Bianca
@Mnemosyne: dang, that’ll bring tears to your eyes.
24.
gogol's wife
Don’t knock Hamilton until you’ve listened to the cast album.
But I have had people tell me they walked out of it in the middle. I don’t get it. I think it’s brilliant from beginning to end.
I guess I have to admit that although I love music of all kinds, I have completely missed the whole phenomenon of Prince. I don’t recognize a single one of his songs. I had no idea he was important enough to be in the middle of the top of the front page of the New York Times.
25.
gogol's wife
I’ll also register a contrarian opinion that that kind of melismatic, overwrought singing Jennifer Hudson does leaves me completely cold. The other woman is good, though, I guess it’s Cynthia Erivo.
26.
trollhattan
Interesting, today’s Uber settlement. I suspect the employee vs. independent contractor issue will eventually bite the bidnez model in the ass, but not if the union-haters have any say about it.
27.
FlipYrWhig
@gogol’s wife: Not even “1999,” which was played nonstop in… 1999?
Completely and utterly missed it, as a musical experience. I remember the title but never heard the song.
And when I do hear snippets of his music, as in the two Broadway tributes here referenced, I don’t hear anything that I could recognize if I heard it again.
29.
trollhattan
@gogol’s wife:
A continuation of the Whitnification of pop singing, where every singer tries to copy Whitney Houston. Do not want.
I am a little sorry that I’m almost certainly never going to see it with the original cast, because they all seem to really like each other and like working together.
When it comes to the performing arts, what makes someone a true genius is not just the part or parts they did, but their ability to gather really talented people around them and inspire those people to perform at the top of their game. It’s the whole “A level people hire A+ people” mentality, and I think that’s another thing at play in the ongoing Hamimania. Even the chorus is made up of people who have been featured players in other shows.
I had no idea he was important enough to be in the middle of the top of the front page of the New York Times.
You are not alone in that. I heard someone on NPR yesterday stating that Prince was bigger than Mozart. All I could think was, “Oh fer crying out loud…”
36.
FlipYrWhig
@gogol’s wife: Were you alive in 1984? I’m 44 and the _Purple Rain_ album from that year was one of the biggest things of my youth. And it’s full of very strange, distinctive sounds.
As I alluded to above, it’s gospel-style singing and fits in really well with that specific Prince song, which has a lot of gospel influences. But the style isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, for sure, especially when singers try to cram it into everything they sing whether it fits or not.
@gogol’s wife:
What she did was unique at the time and at least in sync with her considerable talent. Her imitators, not so much (looking at you, Mariah). Just hit the note and move along.
44.
Emma
@Mnemosyne: OK, I loved the Hamilton but this is… oh my God. Nothing like gospel voices to do justice to this song.
@gogol’s wife: I gave “Hamilton” a listen and was profoundly underwhelmed. Just a matter of taste, I guess. I loved Prince, though — the soundtrack of my youth! ;)
@gogol’s wife: I would guess that the biggest things in recorded popular music (for white people) in that stretch were Thriller, Born in the USA, and Purple Rain. Maybe Van Halen’s _1984_.
49.
Eric U.
@Betty Cracker: I tried to watch the Hamilton video with Obama, and lost interest quickly. I probably would enjoy going to it, but so far I haven’t been able to make myself share the excitement.
@Mnemosyne: Kinda like Prince, eh? He had an amazing capacity not only for putting together crack bands, but nurturing and inspiring talent.
51.
gene108
Found out via Facebook one of my high school classmates has cancer and another died last month.
Plus a co-workers father and another’s father-in-law both passed away in the last couple of weeks; heart attacks in both cases, I believe.
It’s not anyone I’m really close to, but that’s a lot of premature deaths on the periphery of people I’m acquainted with.
Crazy how fleeting life can be.
52.
Emma
@schrodinger’s cat: Actually, no. The whole point about Hamilton is that it doesn’t deify Hamilton. It’s warts and all. They don’t pull punches about his temper or his inability to keep ye trousers buttoned. He’s not a Godling in this play, which is why I like it.
My poor husband has to decipher my constant quoting. There really is a phrase for all occasions. Mnemosyne’s been using it to reply to trolls.
57.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@LAO: I stand with you and Betty. While respecting the rights of others to join the borg of their preference, and of course recognizing and admiring the immense talent involved, etc.
I spent last night doing Prince tribute karaoke and falling into the beautiful pit called love. Some of the versions were… unique, to say it nicely. Many of the locals were amazing though. Amazing how many dumpy schlub guys can sing the hell out of some Filter and other tunes. And my favourite probable mistake was the best over all, but I have real bias.
63.
raven
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): God, I’d hoped I’d never see “borg” here. They started using is at Pat Lang’s Sis Semper Tyrannis a couple of months ago and they can’t fucking stop.
@raven: Not a Star Trek, fan I see, no matter. You shall be assimilated, resistance is futile.
66.
Amaranthine RBG
@gogol’s wife: you’re correct that I have no idea what minstrelsy means.
67.
raven
@schrodinger’s cat: They even have an “as the borg turns” tag. They think they are soon fucking cute. It was narcissist for the longest time, now this. Ugh.
I opened my email to a message from an old pal reminding me that we’d both missed a stealth public ($5 ticket) rehearsal for the Purple Rain tour. It was the kind of thing we’d both (along with others& he’s a guitar player) gotten in to had we not all managed to somehow get crosswise with some powers that be. A late friend asked me at the time – WTF? Why weren’t you there?
In front of me there were these two young women, early 20s,” he [Bogart’s owner] said. One turned to the other and said,
Well, as long as you accept that you are wrong wrong WRONG!
Kidding! I think I feel the same way about Stanley Kubrick that you guys do about Hamilton. I can watch his movies and recognize that there’s an immense talent at work there, but they just leave me cold, for the most part. (Weirdly, I like his comedies, but not his dramas.)
“he most hurtful thing of all is to see an officer of the US Marine Corps, sworn to protect The Republic, stoop to lie to us from Baghdad in the service of WH talking points. Ah, but perhaps he believes the BS. When you are part of the Borg you eventually come to believe that the talking points are the only reality and that defeat is evidence of impending victory.
Locutas said that resistance is futile. Perhaps it is. “
@gogol’s wife: My guess is you’re right. Now set your pie filter and have a better life.
76.
Emma
@schrodinger’s cat: I got interested in the play because I had read parts of the biography and after spending a year and a half many, many years ago at Mr. Jefferson’s University, and knowing Hamilton pretty much as the writer of most of the good Federalist Papers and the object of John and Abigail Adams’ oddly poisonous hatred, I wanted to see what I could glean. I was amazed to see that it did in fact apply a corrective without going overboard in the other direction.
77.
raven
@Mnemosyne: His dramas are comedies. “I’m talking abut the duality of man, sir . . . “
The New York TimesVerified account
@nytimes
Breaking News: Virginia’s governor will restore voting rights to more than 200,000 convicted felons
79.
Shana
And to tie two threads of the comments together: a couple of rabbinical students have made a Hamilton Haggadah. I don’t know how to link, but it’s a google doc called, wait for it, Hamilton Haggadah. Home recorded songs included. You’re welcome.
80.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@raven: I’ll never use it again – I was responding…
OT – I’m curious if you know anything about the breeding of your buddy’s brother’s (now W. Gates’s) jumper? Even sireline would be interesting to me. I gotta admit that it’s a little weird to wander up to the in gate with a handful of ribbons, where assorted riders’ connections (trainers, friends, family, etc) are grouped during a class, and have the Boss smile and nod at you. That only happened to me a couple of times, but it happened.
81.
Jon Marcus
@Amaranthine RBG: Can you explain what you mean by minstrelsy? ‘Cause that’s a pretty damn loaded term to casually toss around describing a Black/Hispanic cast.
As far as I’m aware, minstrelsy was whites in black-face making fun of how stupid n*****s were. So…are you saying the cast of LMM & the cast Hamilton are somehow whites (oreos?) in black-face mocking blacks? Or that they’re stupid n*****s? Or something less offensive that I’m just not getting?
82.
trollhattan
@FlipYrWhig:
Nary a one contaminated my collection. Yeah, I was that guy.
Thank bog for college radio and punk clubs of the day.
@raven: What’s his point? Is he trying to be funny or ironic? I found it to be neither funny nor insightful. Star Trek Borg were truly chilling till someone decided they should add a Borg Queen and give her a speaking part, that and 7 of 9.
85.
trollhattan
@rikyrah:
What hoops do they have to jump through to register before fall?
86.
ruemara
@Mnemosyne: I’m like this about a lot things. I’m going to check out Hamilton at some point to see if I care.
@Jon Marcus: I think it is throwing loaded terms around for the attention.
87.
trollhattan
@schrodinger’s cat:
Just remember 7of9’s role in giving us President Obama.
88.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Jon Marcus: If I had to guess, it’s an ignorant attempt to say “musical theater,” while being as offensive in the context of this particular show as I can imagine possible.
Words have meaning, people – as well as connotations that can be nasty. Please learn these before using. Thank you.
89.
raven
@schrodinger’s cat: All I know is that the constant use of the term bugs the shit out of me.
90.
Miss Bianca
@Icedfire: Awww…and thanks for turning us on to “The Current”. Listening now, what a great find! Suddenly nostalgic for the midwest, particularly Madison and Minneapolis, such great energy in those towns. Might be time for a visit this summer…
The second time I’ve posted the Dave Chappell -Eddie Murphy-Prince sketch and not a peep.
92.
FlipYrWhig
@Jon Marcus: @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I think Ama means to imply that _Hamilton_ is based on people of color playing to stereotypes for the purposes of entertaining white people. Pretty gross, but that’s Ama for you.
93.
charluckles
Those people and their phones should all be struck by a meteor.
94.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@raven: Thanks; I’ll do that. Next Thursday night, will you at least point in the direction of the Georgia Theatre and think of what fine playing you’re missing? I like to think they played Miss Ohio in Louisville for me, LOL. They also did that happy GW piece April the 14th Part 1/Ruination Day.
@trollhattan: I actually like Jeri Ryan on the show. 7 of 9 and the Doctor were about the only two things enjoyable about Voyager. The Borg became much less scary after she became a series regular.
I thought I was the only “Hamilton” hater here! Actually, I don’t hate “Hamilton” any more than I hate Justin Bieber or One Direction or whomever the kiddies are squeeing over these days
Kiddies?
Here are some elders reacting to Hamilton. Some alter kockers are still rockers! Instead of kvetching, their minds still stretching!
101.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@raven: It is hilarious, and I meant to thank you but I’ve been distracted getting all teary eyed going down my personal memory lane. Only Jumpers moves some very high end stock; I don’t know them since I’ve been away from the ring for so long (see above). And most of the jumper trainers I know also have connections, though they probably have gotten something there – it’s often a giant circle that way.
My closest world class jumper rider/trainer pal retired a mare named Happy Z ($1M of her own prize earnings) a couple of seasons ago and when I saw him he said, “Bella, you were one of the few people who didn’t think I was nuts when I started with Happy.” It was actually true, and quite a compliment. Needless to say, he’s got plenty of money – an immigrant who made his way in the US. Of course he wasn’t exactly poor when he arrived.
There I go down a road again. Sorry folks, I’ll quit talking about myself now.
102.
Betty Cracker
@Brachiator: I wasn’t claiming only kiddies like “Hamilton,” as the show’s decidedly middle-aged fan base here makes perfectly obvious. I was comparing the nature of the “Hamilton” fandom to that of the teen pop star groupie set, i.e., unable to stop gushing about their idols, etc.
103.
Jon Marcus
@Betty Cracker: When Bieber raps out a piece of historical fiction based on a 800+ page biography, I promise to squee over him too. :)
Interesting, today’s Uber settlement. I suspect the employee vs. independent contractor issue will eventually bite the bidnez model in the ass, but not if the union-haters have any say about it.
I used Uber for the first time earlier this week, and was surprised at how frictionless and pleasant the experience was compared to a conventional cab.
Talked to the driver. He wasn’t making a ton of money, but he needed the Uber job because he was unable to find work in his main field (scientific research).
I don’t know that the independent contractor vs employee issue has been finally resolved at all. In the meantime, I was surprised to see how Uber and similar services are disrupting another aspect of transportation services: car rentals.
More business travelers are hopping rides with ride-hailing services such as Uber or Lyft — taking more business away from car rental agencies and the taxi industry, according to a new report.
The number of trips taken with the ride share services by corporate trekkers nearly doubled in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2015, according to expense management company Certify, which reviewed more than 9 million receipts and expenses. At the same time, there were 10% fewer trips taken in car rentals than in the first three months of 2015. And the number of taxicab rides fell compared with a year ago. From 37% share for taxis at the start of 2014, it fell to 25% last year and now has hit 14%.
Its been a while since Ive been in a Broadway theater, but do they really let audience members do that much recording? Or was it only for this tribute?
I know. But I thought the elder reaction to Hamilton was charming, and saw this as an easy way to insert the link and reference.
Also, the show’s fan base is more than “decidedly middle-aged” (although this may be true of the people who can most likely afford tickets to the play).
And by alter kocker, I am alluding as much to attitude as chronological age. The elders reacting to Hamilton all gave me vibes of people who have always been open to new experiences and perspectives.
Apparently LMM made some rap mixtapes for Sheldon Harnick, the 91-year-old lyricist most famous for “Fiddler On The Roof,” at Harnick’s request.
And I can’t help wondering if he actually calls Stephen Sondheim “Sondheezy” to his face like he does on Twitter. They’re pals, too — Sondheim helped with some of the workshopping late in the process.
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Yea I’m not really sure wht the deal is. I know he sold some kind of tech company to Samsung and they moved him and the family (and horses) to NORCAL. I juts found out the other day that he didn’t like working for someone else so he moved it all to Florida.
Also, the show’s fan base is more than “decidedly middle-aged”…
Hence the word “here,” as in “at Balloon Juice.” Jeebus. There’s no talking to you super-fans when you’re on a roll, but thanks for demonstrating the phenomenon to which I was alluding so comprehensively! ;-)
113.
Miss Bianca
@raven: I’ll be SERVING the pancakes. Bitchez. : )
I think I feel the same way about Stanley Kubrick that you guys do about Hamilton. I can watch his movies and recognize that there’s an immense talent at work there, but they just leave me cold, for the most part.
Yeah, I understand this reaction in some people who are totally wrong, wrong, wrong about Kubrick.
@Brachiator: HItchcock’s movies are the best! I became a fan when I saw a retrospective of Hitchcock movies in the theaters when I was a teen. A lot of the magic is lost if you see them at home.
I think “superfan” behavior is human behavior — Mozart and Beethoven really did have women throwing their panties (or the period equivalent) at them. It’s just that we old folks have developed better taste than the Bieber fans. It’s a process.
@Mnemosyne: I am with you on Kubrick, although I have only seen 2001. I was like WTF at the end. These days, I am in love with Vishal Bharadwaj and his Shakespeare adaptations in the Indian context. He is brilliant, he directs his movies, writes them, composes their score and even sings. I have become a fan just after watching the songs.
123.
Miss Bianca
We interrupt this Prince and Hamilton thread with an important announcement: Today marks my first HUMMINGBIRD sighting of the year! And there’s still snow on the ground! This means I have to get cracking with the hummie chow when I get home! Yaaaayyyy! (imagine Kermit arms waving furiously).
124.
gogol's wife
So it’s okay to go on and on about sports teams many of us care nothing about and games that most of us didn’t see, but a few of us aren’t supposed to talk about Hamilton every once in a while? The scroll button doesn’t work?
125.
gogol's wife
@gogol’s wife: ‘
ETA, except editing sends me into moderation: In a thread that has a “Hamilton” video as the original post?
Apparently LMM made some rap mixtapes for Sheldon Harnick, the 91-year-old lyricist most famous for “Fiddler On The Roof,” at Harnick’s request.
Very cool. I didn’t know much about LMM’s background, but one profile, maybe on 60 Minutes, noted how much he had been into musical theater growing up. It makes sense (and it’s a nice gesture) that he would reach out to other Broadway creative types.
The Sonheim stuff is a hoot. I can’t imagine him getting away with the “Sondheezy” thing, but you never know.
HItchcock’s movies are the best! I became a fan when I saw a retrospective of Hitchcock movies in the theaters when I was a teen. A lot of the magic is lost if you see them at home.
I think that I have seen almost all of Hitchcock’s films. I agree that seeing them on the big screen is magical, but some of the early films, the silents and the early British films, are rarely shown anymore except on tv.
133.
Betty Cracker
@schrodinger’s cat: Apparently not, SC! Let’s blow this popsicle stand — fresh open thread above!
I think “superfan” behavior is human behavior — Mozart and Beethoven really did have women throwing their panties (or the period equivalent) at them
Not too sure about Mozart, but Franz Liszt definitely had a Tom Jones thing working, with women going wild over his handkerchiefs and velvet gloves. Some may have thrown their panties back. And, oddly enough, some of the castrati drove admirers wild. And at least one, Caffarelli, had to escape a jealous husband.
LAO
LOL. Chag Sameach, to all my fellow Hebrews.
geg6
Jennifer Hudson did a great rendition of Purple Rain for “The Color Purple”‘s tribute at the end of last night’s show. That girl has some pipes.
Old Dan and Little Anne
Hey, would someone please tell me how to search Balloon Juice by a specific date? I saw it recently and can’t remember or figure it out on my own. Thanks in advance.
Dork
Banned why?
Betty Cracker
@Old Dan and Little Anne: Just add /2016/04/22 to the end of the URL (replacing those numbers with the date you want, obvs.).
TaMara (HFG)
@Dork: Hamilton hate + John Cole opening the morning complaining about all the Prince tributes on facebook. :-D
Mary
@TaMara (HFG): Who hates Hamilton? (Other than the Southern muthafuckin’ Democratic Republicans, natch?)
oldster
Yeah, for me it’s been “Raspberry Beret” on a mental loop. What a feel, what a groove.
Gonna miss that kid.
Old Dan and Little Anne
@Betty Cracker: Cheers!
Betty Cracker
I thought I was the only “Hamilton” hater here! Actually, I don’t hate “Hamilton” any more than I hate Justin Bieber or One Direction or whomever the kiddies are squeeing over these days — I’m just sick of hearing about it. But if there are others out there, let’s band together to counter the influence of this insidious cult!
Mnemosyne
@geg6:
Here’s Hudson and the rest of the cast of “The Color Purple” tearing the roof off. And this is AFTER performing a two-hour show! Damn!
@Mary:
Betty is firmly resisting the “Hamilton” Borg. At least we’ll all have something to bicker about once the primary is over.
;-)
LAO
@Betty Cracker: I stand with you Betty.
schrodinger's cat
@Mary: Don’t know enough about Hamilton to either love him or hate him. I do think the deification of the so-called Founding Fathers borders on idolatry. Now Hamilton has joined the pantheon. YMMV.
schrodinger's cat
@Betty Cracker: I will join you in the resistance!
Paul in KY
@LAO: Hope all our great Jewish BJers have a blessed Passover!
Mnemosyne
@Betty Cracker:
Betty, if you would just stop destroying the pods whenever you find them in your garage, it would be so much … easier on you.
@schrodinger’s cat:
FWIW, most people worship Lin-Manuel Miranda much more than the actual historical figure. LMM is an official genius since he won a McArthur Foundation grant last year.
different-church-lady
I keep thinking, “Prince can’t be dead — he’s Prince!“
schrodinger's cat
@Mnemosyne: I don’t hear this much squeeing about any other MacArthur fellow.
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: @LAO: @schrodinger’s cat: What do you guys have against the ten dollar bill?
Miss Bianca
I begin to perceive why Mnem has such a crush on this show…
In honor of someone’s suggestion yesterday, I am wearing my mourning for Prince: Raspberry beret, paisley turtleneck, fringed jacket, high-heeled boots. Yeah, it may get me some weird looks in the hardware store, but feckit.
Paul in KY
@Miss Bianca: Go on with your bad self!!
Mnemosyne
@schrodinger’s cat:
He’s more Genius-y than they are. ;-)
Really, though, it’s kind of like Cole complaining about all of the Prince love on his Facebook. LMM created a piece of art that speaks to a lot of people on multiple levels. If you don’t enjoy that piece of art, you’re not going to get why people love it so much.
Miss Bianca
@Mnemosyne: dang, that’ll bring tears to your eyes.
gogol's wife
Don’t knock Hamilton until you’ve listened to the cast album.
But I have had people tell me they walked out of it in the middle. I don’t get it. I think it’s brilliant from beginning to end.
I guess I have to admit that although I love music of all kinds, I have completely missed the whole phenomenon of Prince. I don’t recognize a single one of his songs. I had no idea he was important enough to be in the middle of the top of the front page of the New York Times.
gogol's wife
I’ll also register a contrarian opinion that that kind of melismatic, overwrought singing Jennifer Hudson does leaves me completely cold. The other woman is good, though, I guess it’s Cynthia Erivo.
trollhattan
Interesting, today’s Uber settlement. I suspect the employee vs. independent contractor issue will eventually bite the bidnez model in the ass, but not if the union-haters have any say about it.
FlipYrWhig
@gogol’s wife: Not even “1999,” which was played nonstop in… 1999?
gogol's wife
@FlipYrWhig:
Completely and utterly missed it, as a musical experience. I remember the title but never heard the song.
And when I do hear snippets of his music, as in the two Broadway tributes here referenced, I don’t hear anything that I could recognize if I heard it again.
trollhattan
@gogol’s wife:
A continuation of the Whitnification of pop singing, where every singer tries to copy Whitney Houston. Do not want.
Mnemosyne
@Miss Bianca:
I am a little sorry that I’m almost certainly never going to see it with the original cast, because they all seem to really like each other and like working together.
When it comes to the performing arts, what makes someone a true genius is not just the part or parts they did, but their ability to gather really talented people around them and inspire those people to perform at the top of their game. It’s the whole “A level people hire A+ people” mentality, and I think that’s another thing at play in the ongoing Hamimania. Even the chorus is made up of people who have been featured players in other shows.
gogol's wife
@trollhattan:
I did like Houston, because she did it with some restraint and taste, at least in the songs of hers that I know.
raven
Dude could ball, if he were a fucking hockey player Cole would be all over it.
Gin & Tonic
@gogol’s wife: Come sit over here by me.
gogol's wife
@Gin & Tonic:
Ask Alice to move over.
OzarkHillbilly
@gogol’s wife:
You are not alone in that. I heard someone on NPR yesterday stating that Prince was bigger than Mozart. All I could think was, “Oh fer crying out loud…”
FlipYrWhig
@gogol’s wife: Were you alive in 1984? I’m 44 and the _Purple Rain_ album from that year was one of the biggest things of my youth. And it’s full of very strange, distinctive sounds.
Mnemosyne
@gogol’s wife:
As I alluded to above, it’s gospel-style singing and fits in really well with that specific Prince song, which has a lot of gospel influences. But the style isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, for sure, especially when singers try to cram it into everything they sing whether it fits or not.
gogol's wife
@FlipYrWhig:
I was alive, but just finishing a Ph.D. so I guess I wasn’t partying much. I guess I basically missed the late ’80s.
gogol's wife
@Mnemosyne:
Classic gospel singers don’t overdo it like that.
jeffreyw
More sad news from the music industry – Earlier today Kayne West was found alive in his apartment.
h/t Funny or Die
gwangung
@schrodinger’s cat:
Coates.
Jeffro
@Mary: win!
trollhattan
@gogol’s wife:
What she did was unique at the time and at least in sync with her considerable talent. Her imitators, not so much (looking at you, Mariah). Just hit the note and move along.
Emma
@Mnemosyne: OK, I loved the Hamilton but this is… oh my God. Nothing like gospel voices to do justice to this song.
trollhattan
@jeffreyw:
Heh.
Betty Cracker
@gogol’s wife: I gave “Hamilton” a listen and was profoundly underwhelmed. Just a matter of taste, I guess. I loved Prince, though — the soundtrack of my youth! ;)
Shana
@gogol’s wife: I see what you did there.
FlipYrWhig
@gogol’s wife: I would guess that the biggest things in recorded popular music (for white people) in that stretch were Thriller, Born in the USA, and Purple Rain. Maybe Van Halen’s _1984_.
Eric U.
@Betty Cracker: I tried to watch the Hamilton video with Obama, and lost interest quickly. I probably would enjoy going to it, but so far I haven’t been able to make myself share the excitement.
Miss Bianca
@LAO: To you as well!
@Mnemosyne: Kinda like Prince, eh? He had an amazing capacity not only for putting together crack bands, but nurturing and inspiring talent.
gene108
Found out via Facebook one of my high school classmates has cancer and another died last month.
Plus a co-workers father and another’s father-in-law both passed away in the last couple of weeks; heart attacks in both cases, I believe.
It’s not anyone I’m really close to, but that’s a lot of premature deaths on the periphery of people I’m acquainted with.
Crazy how fleeting life can be.
Emma
@schrodinger’s cat: Actually, no. The whole point about Hamilton is that it doesn’t deify Hamilton. It’s warts and all. They don’t pull punches about his temper or his inability to keep ye trousers buttoned. He’s not a Godling in this play, which is why I like it.
Amaranthine RBG
@Betty Cracker: @Betty Cracker: @Betty Cracker:
Hamilton is an odious bit of ahistorical minstrelry, but it’s not worth the effort of hating it.
Miss Bianca
@jeffreyw: oh, that’s *bad*! Funny, tho’.
FlipYrWhig
@FlipYrWhig: And _Like a Virgin_ was just after that! Hell of an omission, self.
gogol's wife
@Shana:
My poor husband has to decipher my constant quoting. There really is a phrase for all occasions. Mnemosyne’s been using it to reply to trolls.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@LAO: I stand with you and Betty. While respecting the rights of others to join the borg of their preference, and of course recognizing and admiring the immense talent involved, etc.
Betty Cracker
@FlipYrWhig: Dead Kennedys!
Tinare
@FlipYrWhig: Synchronicity too.
gogol's wife
@Amaranthine RBG:
I don’t think minstrelsy means what you think it means.
FlipYrWhig
@Tinare: Effect with a cause! Sub-atomic laws!
ruemara
I spent last night doing Prince tribute karaoke and falling into the beautiful pit called love. Some of the versions were… unique, to say it nicely. Many of the locals were amazing though. Amazing how many dumpy schlub guys can sing the hell out of some Filter and other tunes. And my favourite probable mistake was the best over all, but I have real bias.
raven
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): God, I’d hoped I’d never see “borg” here. They started using is at Pat Lang’s Sis Semper Tyrannis a couple of months ago and they can’t fucking stop.
schrodinger's cat
@Emma: Don’t hate or love Hamilton, haven’t yet seen it. Hamilton fans, however are another matter.
schrodinger's cat
@raven: Not a Star Trek, fan I see, no matter. You shall be assimilated, resistance is futile.
Amaranthine RBG
@gogol’s wife: you’re correct that I have no idea what minstrelsy means.
raven
@schrodinger’s cat: They even have an “as the borg turns” tag. They think they are soon fucking cute. It was narcissist for the longest time, now this. Ugh.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@jeffreyw: Bad, but hilarious.
I opened my email to a message from an old pal reminding me that we’d both missed a stealth public ($5 ticket) rehearsal for the Purple Rain tour. It was the kind of thing we’d both (along with others& he’s a guitar player) gotten in to had we not all managed to somehow get crosswise with some powers that be. A late friend asked me at the time – WTF? Why weren’t you there?
nested quote test
schrodinger's cat
@gwangung: Ahh yes! His every utterance is taken as gospel, he is like the Jeebus of race relations.
schrodinger's cat
@raven: I have no idea what that means and I have probably watched all the Borg episodes on the different Trek incarnations.
Icedfire
Well, I’m not done with the Prince love yet.
Here’s several thousand people singing Purple Rain in downtown Minneapolis last night.
Mnemosyne
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
Well, as long as you accept that you are wrong wrong WRONG!
Kidding! I think I feel the same way about Stanley Kubrick that you guys do about Hamilton. I can watch his movies and recognize that there’s an immense talent at work there, but they just leave me cold, for the most part. (Weirdly, I like his comedies, but not his dramas.)
raven
@schrodinger’s cat: Well here you go.\”
“he most hurtful thing of all is to see an officer of the US Marine Corps, sworn to protect The Republic, stoop to lie to us from Baghdad in the service of WH talking points. Ah, but perhaps he believes the BS. When you are part of the Borg you eventually come to believe that the talking points are the only reality and that defeat is evidence of impending victory.
Locutas said that resistance is futile. Perhaps it is. “
rikyrah
Hamilton rocks!!
and Jennifer Hudson was fabulous too last night.
Iowa Old Lady
@gogol’s wife: My guess is you’re right. Now set your pie filter and have a better life.
Emma
@schrodinger’s cat: I got interested in the play because I had read parts of the biography and after spending a year and a half many, many years ago at Mr. Jefferson’s University, and knowing Hamilton pretty much as the writer of most of the good Federalist Papers and the object of John and Abigail Adams’ oddly poisonous hatred, I wanted to see what I could glean. I was amazed to see that it did in fact apply a corrective without going overboard in the other direction.
raven
@Mnemosyne: His dramas are comedies. “I’m talking abut the duality of man, sir . . . “
rikyrah
ELECTIONS.HAVE.CONSEQUENCES.
The New York TimesVerified account
@nytimes
Breaking News: Virginia’s governor will restore voting rights to more than 200,000 convicted felons
Shana
And to tie two threads of the comments together: a couple of rabbinical students have made a Hamilton Haggadah. I don’t know how to link, but it’s a google doc called, wait for it, Hamilton Haggadah. Home recorded songs included. You’re welcome.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@raven: I’ll never use it again – I was responding…
OT – I’m curious if you know anything about the breeding of your buddy’s brother’s (now W. Gates’s) jumper? Even sireline would be interesting to me. I gotta admit that it’s a little weird to wander up to the in gate with a handful of ribbons, where assorted riders’ connections (trainers, friends, family, etc) are grouped during a class, and have the Boss smile and nod at you. That only happened to me a couple of times, but it happened.
Jon Marcus
@Amaranthine RBG: Can you explain what you mean by minstrelsy? ‘Cause that’s a pretty damn loaded term to casually toss around describing a Black/Hispanic cast.
As far as I’m aware, minstrelsy was whites in black-face making fun of how stupid n*****s were. So…are you saying the cast of LMM & the cast Hamilton are somehow whites (oreos?) in black-face mocking blacks? Or that they’re stupid n*****s? Or something less offensive that I’m just not getting?
trollhattan
@FlipYrWhig:
Nary a one contaminated my collection. Yeah, I was that guy.
Thank bog for college radio and punk clubs of the day.
raven
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I posted after you left that I looked him up and he actually has a company that sells (or something) jumpers.
look up only jumpers
schrodinger's cat
@raven: What’s his point? Is he trying to be funny or ironic? I found it to be neither funny nor insightful. Star Trek Borg were truly chilling till someone decided they should add a Borg Queen and give her a speaking part, that and 7 of 9.
trollhattan
@rikyrah:
What hoops do they have to jump through to register before fall?
ruemara
@Mnemosyne: I’m like this about a lot things. I’m going to check out Hamilton at some point to see if I care.
@Jon Marcus: I think it is throwing loaded terms around for the attention.
trollhattan
@schrodinger’s cat:
Just remember 7of9’s role in giving us President Obama.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Jon Marcus: If I had to guess, it’s an ignorant attempt to say “musical theater,” while being as offensive in the context of this particular show as I can imagine possible.
Words have meaning, people – as well as connotations that can be nasty. Please learn these before using. Thank you.
raven
@schrodinger’s cat: All I know is that the constant use of the term bugs the shit out of me.
Miss Bianca
@Icedfire: Awww…and thanks for turning us on to “The Current”. Listening now, what a great find! Suddenly nostalgic for the midwest, particularly Madison and Minneapolis, such great energy in those towns. Might be time for a visit this summer…
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I think the offensiveness was intentional, alas.
raven
The second time I’ve posted the Dave Chappell -Eddie Murphy-Prince sketch and not a peep.
FlipYrWhig
@Jon Marcus: @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I think Ama means to imply that _Hamilton_ is based on people of color playing to stereotypes for the purposes of entertaining white people. Pretty gross, but that’s Ama for you.
charluckles
Those people and their phones should all be struck by a meteor.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@raven: Thanks; I’ll do that. Next Thursday night, will you at least point in the direction of the Georgia Theatre and think of what fine playing you’re missing? I like to think they played Miss Ohio in Louisville for me, LOL. They also did that happy GW piece April the 14th Part 1/Ruination Day.
Miss Bianca
@raven: Watched. Appreciated. Thank you. : )
schrodinger's cat
@trollhattan: I actually like Jeri Ryan on the show. 7 of 9 and the Doctor were about the only two things enjoyable about Voyager. The Borg became much less scary after she became a series regular.
raven
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): When it burned we could see it from our morning seat at Big City, I’ll look that way again Thursday .
raven
@Miss Bianca: I just wondered if maybe no one thought it was hilarious but me.
Miss Bianca
@raven: Oh no…believe me. It was funny. : )
Brachiator
@Betty Cracker:
Kiddies?
Here are some elders reacting to Hamilton. Some alter kockers are still rockers! Instead of kvetching, their minds still stretching!
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@raven: It is hilarious, and I meant to thank you but I’ve been distracted getting all teary eyed going down my personal memory lane. Only Jumpers moves some very high end stock; I don’t know them since I’ve been away from the ring for so long (see above). And most of the jumper trainers I know also have connections, though they probably have gotten something there – it’s often a giant circle that way.
My closest world class jumper rider/trainer pal retired a mare named Happy Z ($1M of her own prize earnings) a couple of seasons ago and when I saw him he said, “Bella, you were one of the few people who didn’t think I was nuts when I started with Happy.” It was actually true, and quite a compliment. Needless to say, he’s got plenty of money – an immigrant who made his way in the US. Of course he wasn’t exactly poor when he arrived.
There I go down a road again. Sorry folks, I’ll quit talking about myself now.
Betty Cracker
@Brachiator: I wasn’t claiming only kiddies like “Hamilton,” as the show’s decidedly middle-aged fan base here makes perfectly obvious. I was comparing the nature of the “Hamilton” fandom to that of the teen pop star groupie set, i.e., unable to stop gushing about their idols, etc.
Jon Marcus
@Betty Cracker: When Bieber raps out a piece of historical fiction based on a 800+ page biography, I promise to squee over him too. :)
Brachiator
@trollhattan:
I used Uber for the first time earlier this week, and was surprised at how frictionless and pleasant the experience was compared to a conventional cab.
Talked to the driver. He wasn’t making a ton of money, but he needed the Uber job because he was unable to find work in his main field (scientific research).
I don’t know that the independent contractor vs employee issue has been finally resolved at all. In the meantime, I was surprised to see how Uber and similar services are disrupting another aspect of transportation services: car rentals.
Shell
Its been a while since Ive been in a Broadway theater, but do they really let audience members do that much recording? Or was it only for this tribute?
Shell
Susan Sarandon on the Leonard Lopate show today. Really hope she doesn’t get into politics, puhleeeeze.
Brachiator
@Betty Cracker:
I know. But I thought the elder reaction to Hamilton was charming, and saw this as an easy way to insert the link and reference.
Also, the show’s fan base is more than “decidedly middle-aged” (although this may be true of the people who can most likely afford tickets to the play).
And by alter kocker, I am alluding as much to attitude as chronological age. The elders reacting to Hamilton all gave me vibes of people who have always been open to new experiences and perspectives.
Mnemosyne
@Brachiator:
Apparently LMM made some rap mixtapes for Sheldon Harnick, the 91-year-old lyricist most famous for “Fiddler On The Roof,” at Harnick’s request.
And I can’t help wondering if he actually calls Stephen Sondheim “Sondheezy” to his face like he does on Twitter. They’re pals, too — Sondheim helped with some of the workshopping late in the process.
Miss Bianca
@raven: @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): “Game…blouses” is going to be my internal rallying cry from now on when I smoke my opposition. Just sayin’.
raven
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Yea I’m not really sure wht the deal is. I know he sold some kind of tech company to Samsung and they moved him and the family (and horses) to NORCAL. I juts found out the other day that he didn’t like working for someone else so he moved it all to Florida.
raven
@Miss Bianca: Would you like pancakes?
Betty Cracker
@Brachiator:
Hence the word “here,” as in “at Balloon Juice.” Jeebus. There’s no talking to you super-fans when you’re on a roll, but thanks for demonstrating the phenomenon to which I was alluding so comprehensively! ;-)
Miss Bianca
@raven: I’ll be SERVING the pancakes. Bitchez. : )
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne:
Yeah, I understand this reaction in some people who are totally wrong, wrong, wrong about Kubrick.
Hitchcock gets this reaction sometimes as well.
debbie
@gogol’s wife:
I can’t imagine paying what those tickets cost and then walking out. Big babies.
The Golux
@gogol’s wife:
One of the songs from “Spamalot” is a hilarious send-up of that type of singing, perfomed brilliantly by Sara Ramirez.
schrodinger's cat
The only Hamilton I know much about is this one.
JCJ
@raven:
I watched it. Thanks so much!
Mnemosyne
@Brachiator:
I like Hitchcock. Don’t like Kubrick. Tastes differ.
schrodinger's cat
@Brachiator: HItchcock’s movies are the best! I became a fan when I saw a retrospective of Hitchcock movies in the theaters when I was a teen. A lot of the magic is lost if you see them at home.
Mnemosyne
@Betty Cracker:
I think “superfan” behavior is human behavior — Mozart and Beethoven really did have women throwing their panties (or the period equivalent) at them. It’s just that we old folks have developed better taste than the Bieber fans. It’s a process.
schrodinger's cat
@Mnemosyne: I am with you on Kubrick, although I have only seen 2001. I was like WTF at the end. These days, I am in love with Vishal Bharadwaj and his Shakespeare adaptations in the Indian context. He is brilliant, he directs his movies, writes them, composes their score and even sings. I have become a fan just after watching the songs.
Miss Bianca
We interrupt this Prince and Hamilton thread with an important announcement: Today marks my first HUMMINGBIRD sighting of the year! And there’s still snow on the ground! This means I have to get cracking with the hummie chow when I get home! Yaaaayyyy! (imagine Kermit arms waving furiously).
gogol's wife
So it’s okay to go on and on about sports teams many of us care nothing about and games that most of us didn’t see, but a few of us aren’t supposed to talk about Hamilton every once in a while? The scroll button doesn’t work?
gogol's wife
@gogol’s wife: ‘
ETA, except editing sends me into moderation: In a thread that has a “Hamilton” video as the original post?
debbie
@gogol’s wife:
I will draw the line at calling Hamilton 3/5 of a human being! ;)
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne:
Very cool. I didn’t know much about LMM’s background, but one profile, maybe on 60 Minutes, noted how much he had been into musical theater growing up. It makes sense (and it’s a nice gesture) that he would reach out to other Broadway creative types.
The Sonheim stuff is a hoot. I can’t imagine him getting away with the “Sondheezy” thing, but you never know.
Mnemosyne
@gogol’s wife:
I know! You’d think if there was one thread where we could play in our sandbox without interruption, it would be this one.
I can’t remember, did you get your copy of the Hamiltome yet?
gogol's wife
@Mnemosyne:
Yes, I’ve been reading a little bit before bedtime every night. It’s fantastic. I love the annotations.
raven
@gogol’s wife: talk about what you want to talk about.
schrodinger's cat
@gogol’s wife: Of course you can talk about it, but we can also pull your leg, a little bit.
Brachiator
@schrodinger’s cat:
I think that I have seen almost all of Hitchcock’s films. I agree that seeing them on the big screen is magical, but some of the early films, the silents and the early British films, are rarely shown anymore except on tv.
Betty Cracker
@schrodinger’s cat: Apparently not, SC! Let’s blow this popsicle stand — fresh open thread above!
Mnemosyne
@gogol’s wife:
The online Genius annotations are really extensive, so he restrained himself for the book.
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne:
Not too sure about Mozart, but Franz Liszt definitely had a Tom Jones thing working, with women going wild over his handkerchiefs and velvet gloves. Some may have thrown their panties back. And, oddly enough, some of the castrati drove admirers wild. And at least one, Caffarelli, had to escape a jealous husband.
Mnemosyne
Apropos of nothing, LMM is so talented in so many arenas that it makes me feel a little better to know he’s kind of a goofy dancer.
PaulWartenberg2016
about 35 seconds in I noticed half the audience had their smartphones out recording that.
J.
@Betty Cracker: Count me in!
KS in MA
@schrodinger’s cat: May I nominate Bryan Stevenson? (a different kind of squeeing, to be sure)