A Resolution: Things that are Cool

My Resolution to Blog More is twofold:

There is a whole whole whole lot of cool stuff on the internet.
Since almost everybody at this point who's a digital friend of mine is a real friend too, I think we all have pretty similar tastes (or some cool crossovers at least).

I'm pretty picky about things I like and things that I purposefully intake as media (music, movies, books). I'm slow and deliberate; I'm quality over quantity.

I also take the "review" of these things pretty seriously - Almost everybody here (looks around the internet) has witnessed or been a part of a conversation in a living room, front porch, bar, or car where I'll get into a nearly-heated argument with one or more friends about something that seems completely trivial. Flawless Albums. Advancement Theory. Design Intent and Morality. Steely Dan. The list goes (and will go) on.

What I'm going to do is to make 2 posts per week, probably on the weekend. The first is going to be a video of some sort, the second is going to be a review of some other sort. Most of it will probably be content that is at least 20 years out of date, because I think a lot has been done that may not be timely, but is worth taking another look at.

There's so much crap on the internet, my goal is that by limiting and rationing my posts, most of what I put up should be worth spending a few minutes watching or reading.

So here goes.

Week one starts with this video:


"You Got Lucky"

I'm reading a book called Conversations with Tom Petty and in it it chronicles his life but also talks about his music in depth (including for instance, commentary on his lyrics and specific chord progressions). In it he speaks about this video.

This video came out in 1982 (MTV started in 1981), and has two remarkable "firsts."

1) The video footage is conceptually complimentary to the song and offers a better or potentially alternate understanding. Unlike earlier promotional films that feature bands performing, "You Got Lucky" promotes a visual concept.

2) The video contains a significant introductory sequence that occurs before the song. This has since been adapted by almost everybody; MJ's "Thriller" to Lady GaGa's "Telephone".