Thursday, May 29, 2003
Fascinating Wall Street Journal article on Ronald McDonald's tightly controlled public image, complete with stippled portrait. A window into the creepy world of corporations that think of their mascots as real beings: "'Ronald doesn't go out to work,' says Amy Murray, a director in U.S. marketing. 'He goes out to have fun.'" (via TMF,TML)
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Todd Dominey's weblog post about music, nostalgia and changing formats touched a nerve. I've been thinking about the same stuff lately, as I chuck the jewel boxes on most of my old cds and file them into a book, bringing a little cohesion to what was once randomly hidden inside blue Rubbermaid bins. Touching discs I haven't heard in ten years brought back memories of how I'd bring one home, carefully listen to each track, study the booklet design, pore over the credits, and read along with the song lyrics. Not all of them were great, but the investment of time and money elevated their importance.
Things subtly changed during the short time I was a music critic. The stint had its perks (free music, yay!), but I'd go through cds like kernels of popcorn. Music was there to be analyzed, and on deadline to boot. Any enjoyment was just a side effect.
Which brings me to today. Even though I love the convenience of mp3s, and the euphoria of coming across something unexpected in that format, the passion has eroded somewhat. Where the old method of listening to music was like savoring a fine meal, mp3 consumption is more like scarfing down junk food. I download something, keep it in the library for further reference, then it's on to the next fix. I was a listener, now I'm a consumer. Whatever their merits, it's hard to imagine anyone getting misty-eyed over an old mp3.
Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 33554432 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 6119 bytes) in /home/mhinrichs/www/archive/2003_05_01_archive.php on line 4
|
