Tenuous Connections - Richard Wagner and Bill Cosby

Ring Festival LA is gone and forgotten, pretty much.  Has it really been five whole years since the Los Angeles Opera tried to market their production of Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle to ten million people by holding a county-wide arts festival?

Only a few really cared much about the underfunded festival one way or the other.  Opposition centered around the fact that Wagner himself was an antisemitic jerk and also that his music was favored by Adolf Hitler.  Absolutely no one in recent history is considered worse than Adolf Hitler. Although Hitler still serves a useful purpose: eventually almost everyone compares almost anyone they don't like to him.  Adolf is our go-to guy when we need to call something the most evil thing ever.

Supporters of the festival used the arguments that Wagner's music was supremely beautiful and his opera plots were about the power of love.  Neither of these points is even slightly true in my opinion.  I wrote a lot about Wagner and Ring Festival LA back in those days.  It doesn't hurt to mention it once in a while.

The notion that people who create successful, respected, well-loved art and entertainment can be totally awful people in real life is pretty widely accepted.  There are a lot of examples.  And irrespective of the personal qualities or intentions of the creator, works of art can be misinterpreted for evil purposes.  Wagner and his operas, used by the Nazis to promote Aryan superiority, are just one excellent example.

But Bill Cosby?  How does he fit into this discussion?

Cosby's fatherly personal image has abruptly crumbled under the weight of evidence that he has been a serial sex offender.  This has led some people to reassess the real meaning and effects of his iconic eponymous television show.  I came across one interesting article which made this point:  "How 'The Cosby Show' Duped America: The Sitcom That Enabled Our Ugliest Reagan-Era Fantasies” written by Chauncey DeVega.  Go read that now.

Here's a quote:

... the politics and values of “The Cosby Show,” which were so attractive to so many and for such a long time, are based on a distorted and inaccurate presentation of the black community, one that has enabled a pernicious type of right-wing “colorblind” racism to flourish.

Here's another:

... the Cosby family was an African-American version of the model-minority myth, one of the favorite deflections and rejoinders of white racists in the post-civil rights era, where there are “exceptional” minorities and the rest are failures because they do not work hard, are lazy, and complain too much about white racism. While unintentional, “The Cosby Show” enabled some of the ugliest Reagan-era fantasies. 

The idea, more or less, is that The Cosby Show presented America with a very upscale black family dealing with problems any white family might have.  The show avoided specific issues of race that would be unique to black Americans.  As a result those whites who were so inclined could reinforce their racist attitudes against less affluent black families.  (Really, go read the article for yourself.)

I claim even less interest and expertise with Bill Cosby than with Richard Wagner.  The Cosby Show show aired in the midst of a 16-year period when (by choice) I had no access to television.

I do remember seeing one episode.  Dr. Huxtable helps a young boy score points with a young girl by suggesting that he cook her a romantic dinner, cleverly substituting tangy BBQ sauce for the spaghetti sauce.  The flavors, he promised, would really impress her.  In the end Claire Huxtable sees through the plot because Cliff had pulled the same stunt on her years before.  Or something like that.  In light of recent revelations you'd have to wonder what other ingredients, ones unmentionable on television, the real-life Cosby might have considered adding to the sauce.

No matter how little familiarity I claim with that show or with television of the era, I certainly have far far less personal experience with the issues of being black in America.  Like many, in 2008 I expected that having a black U.S. president would inaugurate some sort of post-racial era.  Instead, by his very skin color, Obama seems to have heightened our long-term racial tension.  Somewhere I read a trenchant comment that while the U.S. might be "post-racial" it certain isn't "post-racist".

Being a rapist, however, doesn't make Bill Cosby or his television show or his comedy racist.  The argument here is that he presented himself and his fictional black family in such a way that certain white people could use it to convince themselves, as they looked in the mirror each morning, that they weren't really racists.  Liking the Cosby Show was tremendously reassuring to them as they went about their daily lives actually discriminating against the real, less affluent black people they encountered (and probably others as well.)  Sort of absolution by television.

So, what's the point here?  Is there really a comparison to be made between The Ring Cycle and the Cosby Show?  How can an endlessly turgid grand opera about gods whose petty squabbles result in the destruction of civilization and a situation comedy about the petty daily issues of wealthy New York family who just happen to be black people have anything in common?

The answer is not in the creative works themselves nor is it in the personal failings of their creators.  The answer is in the eyes of the beholders.  And in our ears.  And in our hearts and minds.  And if darkness lives in our hearts and our minds already - be it jack-booted Nazi antisemitism or good old fashioned American-as-apple-pie racism - then an otherwise simple entertainment becomes fertilizer for evil.

And when you mix shit into the earth it helps grow both flowers and weeds.   Sometimes you must wait a while to figure out which are the weeds.  Culture and civilization ought to demand that we do our best to pull the weeds.

Hey, I said it was a tenuous connection.

---

Here's another ending I wrote for this post:

Whether watching grand opera or television sitcoms, whether listening to singers or stand-up comedians, it is a dangerous thing to completely suspend your disbelief.  Enjoying a performance comes with a small bit of responsibility.  It's a really small bit, but it is a real bit.

Sure, it's super easy to give oneself up mindlessly to the massive numbers of seductive entertainments our culture offers us so casually.  There needs to be just a little bit of situational awareness somewhere way back in everyone's mind as they watch and listen.  This would help keep art and reality separated.

So, the next time you enjoy made-up stories about marauding zombies or conspiratorial politicians or young people on their own for the first time seeking love in the big city or black people or mythical gods or just about anything, remind yourself to take a quick step back and reflect on how you're reacting.  Consider whether this entertainment is reinforcing your better qualities - or your worse ones.  Remember that in reality, reality is a lot more complicated than you'll ever see on a stage or television.

Good luck sorting that out.

---

Read Mixed Meters' post Mommy, who is Michael Jackson?
Here are all the MM posts labeled "television"
Here are all the MM posts labeled "Wagner"

House and Wooster and Income Disparity

House is a soap opera.  Of course it's not really an "opera" in the musical sense nor is it sponsored by a soap company.  It is an episodic weekly television drama which details the continuing experiences of a group of characters as their lives constantly evolve and revolve.  Each episode hangs on some inexplicable medical mystery which, inevitably, gets explicated.

The title character, the drug-addled miscreant genius Dr. House, is played by Hugh Laurie.  Dr. House the character is an American but Hugh Laurie the actor is English.  You'd never know it from watching the show.  Laurie's ability to imitate American speech is, at least for me, the most interesting aspect of the show.  (Okay, you figured it out - I don't particularly like House.)   

Over the last few months, several times a week, Leslie and I have spent some of our quality time watching the series Jeeves and Wooster, an English television production from the early 90s based on the characters and stories of P.G. Wodehouse.  Jeeves, the talented, discreet Gentleman's Gentleman, is played by actor Stephen Fry.  (When I first saw Fry as Jeeves I thought he was too young.  Now I'm 15 years older and he seems just the right age.)  Bertie Wooster, the young, carefree, rich, puffin-headed bachelor, is played by Doctor House, I mean by Hugh Laurie, using his own genuine English accent.

Leslie and I both adore Jeeves and Wooster.  We regret they only made 23 episodes.  The action happens in the 1930's, mostly in England, occasionally in New York City.  There's a steady stream of gorgeous architecture, lavish apartments and hotel-size estates.  There's another steady stream of gorgeous vintage automobiles.  The costumes, especially the men who run around about half the time in tuxedos, are also, well, gorgeous.  Nice theme music too.

As adapted by Clive Exton, P.G. Wodehouse's plots are no less predictable than contemporary television, but they are much funnier.  Most revolve around someone wanting to or not wanting to get married, pretending to be someone else, breaking and entering in order to steal some insignificant object, or attempting a hare-brained scheme for getting rich or out of debt.   All of them involve Bertie bumbling his way into embarrassing social difficulties from which he is, in the end, coolly extricated by Jeeves.

Wodehouse's characters fall into clear categories.  The upper-class women include Bertie's domineering Aunts and domineering marriageable women friends and even a few school girls in training to be domineering.  The upper-class men include a host of Bertie's ineffectual neer-do-well friends (who repeatedly say things like "Isn't she the most beautiful woman you've ever seen, Bertie?"), a few crusty older men who repeatedly threaten Bertie with bodily harm and even a few schoolboys who repeatedly cause mischief.  The lower class characters include waitresses, constables, butlers and other valets, con artists and rich American businessmen. 

These parts are brought to life by some fine English actors.  It's disconcerting when certain continuing roles are played by different actors in different seasons.  And not one of them comes close to the quality of the American speaking accent which Hugh Laurie does in House.  Probably English television audiences don't notice the difference.

Of course, the real weight of every episode is carried by the two principal actors, Fry and Laurie.  Their marvelous performances consistently convey the ridiculous in the most sublime fashion.  Here's a great example of the two of them together.  In this clip Bertie tries to sing a current popular tune (which you'll recognize) but typically must rely on the help of his ever-so-tactful valet to finish the job.

Did the world of Jeeves and Wooster ever really exist?  Most doubtful. I think Wodehouse was doing a fine job of writing parody. These days it's impossible to judge what bits of this television series might fairly represent those historical times. Two things come through from the scripts, however. First, there were distinct differences between English social classes.  There was also a great inequality in the distribution of wealth; certain people were fantastically wealthy. According to this, in 1936 53% of the total wealth of England was held by just 1% of the population.

Today, in the U.S. during the time of House, we strenuously deny that class differences exist.  We're told that anyone can get filthy rich if they're talented and driven and lucky enough.  To prove this, the media shows us a handful of super-wealthy people (think Oprah) who serve as inspirations to the hundreds of millions who will, most likely, never get rich.   However, like Bertie's England, America does have an incredible inequality in the distribution of wealth.  According to this, in 2007, 43% of total wealth in the United States was held by just 1% of the population.   (For more on America's financial inequalities check this out. Or this.)

While the upper-class wealth of Bertie Wooster's time would eventually decline over much of the 20th century, the wealth of the American elite today is climbing steadily.  Maybe that's why we perceive the English wealthy as idle slackers and the American wealthy as greedy over achievers.  It's not just a saying these days that "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer".  Today it's more like an actual law.

I think that the U.S. of 2011 needs our own P.G. Wodehouse.  We need an author or television producer who can parody the amusing day to day lives of super-rich people.  Why shouldn't there be a television show to make it clear how people like Bill Gates or Warren Buffett who have billions of dollars aren't close to being capable of muddling through their own lives, or even to mixing their own martinis, without the help of a faithful, discrete, patient, intelligent servant such as Reginald Jeeves?  I propose that such a show would make many less-than-wealthy Americans more accepting of the obscene disparities of wealth in our country and of their own place in the financial hierarchy.

You know, if we can't do anything else about the problem of the ultra-wealthy, at least we should be able to have a good laugh at their expense.

Wealthy Tags: Jeeves and Wooster. . . Hugh Laurie. . . House television show. . . P.G. Wodehouse. . . income disparity

Culture Eats Itself

Leslie and I work mostly on different schedules. There are many days when the only time we are together is spent watching evening television. Our viewing options are limited because we don't subscribe to cable and, of course, because so much television programming is awful crap. She always has a few favorites which I eventually learn to like.  And I enjoy the Fox animation shows.

A couple months ago we saw two cop shows, just a few days apart, with identical plots. One was NCIS (which has an interesting ensemble cast) and the other was Castle (you never heard of it and it hasn't been canceled yet.)

Here's the plot: two separate crimes are being investigated.  The prime suspects with motive have alibis while evidence points to other suspects with no connection to the victims.  Eventually someone figures out that these apparently unrelated suspects secretly know one another because they commute every morning on the same train.

Both shows had a scene when they begin to figure it out.  "It's just like that old Hitchcock movie where two strangers meet on a train and agree to commit each other's murder.  What's it called?"  "Strangers on a Train?"

Alfred Hitchcock's 1951 movie Strangers on a Train.  The title itself tells quite a bit about the plot right upfront and, unlike the television shows, the movie goes on to explore the psychology and relationship of the conspirators - well beyond their merely getting caught.

What NCIS and Castle have done is crib a plot idea idea from a 60-year old film as a way to tie two unrelated shooting schedules into one supposedly coherent hour-long show. 

At the end the bad guys go to jail because advertisers have paid the television networks to hire production companies to create the minimum amount of entertainment necessary to make you and me feel good enough to watch their commercials and consider buying their products.  The writers earned their paychecks by stealing a little bit of cultural history. Capitalism has been served.

But why did they need to mention Hitchcock?  The shows would be just as good (or bad) if they'd omitted the reference.

Or would they?

Does raiding the common cultural legacy change the legacy itself?  Do quotes from earlier creations change our relationship to those very artworks? I think that when a two-bit police procedural cribs from a great film of the twentieth century, it is the film which take the hit.  No one has done Hitchcock any favors.  Some of his film's status has been taken away.  It becomes fertilizer for the more modern media.

One particular television show has become famous for cribbing from popular culture.  It stands head and shoulders above all the others in making references to movies, music, politics, religion, other television shows, even entire countries.  It's a huge success and I love it.  The Simpsons.

Here's a fascinating website that details some of The Simpson's many movie references.   (It's in Spanish.) After porn, more space on the Internet is devoted to explaining pop cultural references in The Simpsons than any other subject.  Or so it seems.  Try this search.

Sometimes I wonder "Are there any original ideas anywhere in The Simpsons?"  Maybe everything in every episode is just stuff from other places and I don't get all of it.  If I don't know what's going on I generally assume they're honoring some campy horror film or some unlistenable pop group - or both.

I figure there must be at least one person somewhere who knows what they're spoofing.  Could anyone get every reference?  And if someone did, would that person be able to hold a normal conversation?

Suppose The Simpsons wanted to do a parody of a movie which you had never seen or even heard of (like, in my case, this one).   If you learned about this after watching the animated episode would you want to go watch the original?  For me the answer is "Absolutely not".  I think that's a pretty common response.   After viewing an out-of-context comedy version, experiencing the original, in-context serious version would be kind of a downer where you giggle in inappropriate places.

I'm guessing that the references are not put there by the producers for people who have no clue.  The references are for the people who immediately get it.  These people, including myself sometimes, are rewarded with a little positive emotional response.  "I'm so smart." we think. "I feel good because I'm in on the joke." And because we feel good we're more likely to watch the commercials and consider buying the products.  Capitalism is served again.

In this funny 20th anniversary retrospective of the Simpsons Matt Groening talked about his original intentions for the show:

So my goal from the very beginning was to invade pop culture.  That was my goal as an underground cartoonist, [to] see how far I could carry this.

He carried it pretty damn far.  Matt Groening has done more than invade.  The Simpsons has conquered pop culture.  If only the US invasion of Iraq could have been half as successful.  Many of their little borrowings will, in the future, become better known by more people via the Simpsons than directly through the original esoteric thing, whatever it was.

It may be the show's central facet but the device of pop culture reference is by no means unique to The Simpsons.  The idea of using other peoples earlier work - in smaller or greater chunks, largely recognizable but altered to a new context, often without attribution - is all around us these days.  It started with hip-hop music.  It has been made ubiquitous by the rise of cheap technology, over enthusiastic fans and a voracious media where a hundred cable channels seem puny in comparison to the entire Internet.    

The result?  We, as a culture, have found a new dominant paradigm for our time.  It the dawning of the Age of Cultural Peculation.  (What's Peculation?  Another definition.)

Our entertainment industry rips off small bits of existing cultural flesh and consumes it without chewing too well.  It then creates newer, more generic, less unique, less satisfying cultural product to use as it sees fit.  It feeds us this stew, hoping a few chunks of old, good stuff will blind us to the thin, watery broth which is the principal ingredient.

If they can keep us happy consuming this crap, Capitalism will be served. But the more they do it the more our Culture will suffer irreparable harm. The more we let them do it, the more we deserve no better.

Other Mixed Meters Simpsons references:
Placido Domingo: High Culture Meets Pop Culture
The Simpsons and Samuel Barber
The Real Simpsons

Here's a list of other pop culture references to Strangers on a Train.

Nathan Fillion, star of Castle, also starred in the wonderful, short-lived science fiction show Firefly.

Here's the source of the Van Gogh portrait of Goundskeeper Willie.  The other pictures were found here and there on Flickr.  Generate your own Simpsons title screen here.

Here's a recent NY Times article, Texts Without Context, by Michiko Kakutani which deals with some of these issues on a much higher and more literary intellectual level. Here's the last sentence:

we face a situation in which culture is effectively eating its own seed stock.

Here are some words I managed to avoid using anywhere in this post.  (You're welcome.)
remix
sampling
meme
copyright
Plagiarism

Peculation Tags: The Simpsons. . . NCIS. . . Castle. . . Alfred Hitchcock. . . Strangers on a Train. . . Peculation

Fallen Avocados 5

Fallen Avocados, an ancient Mixed Meters regular feature, is back from its long hiatus. Sort of like Indiana Jones.

See all the Fallen Avocados episodes by clicking on this sentence.

For those of you who don't remember what Fallen Avocados was, the format is to combine a picture of an avocado which has fallen from a tree (and is often half-eaten and which I photograph just as I find it) with some video or other link, the sort that you might get in an email from an annoying friend.

Fallen avocados are a common sight in Pasadena. And in other places as well, I'm sure. The avocados have often been a meal for wild animals such as squirrels or raccoons or possums or our dog Chowderhead, who isn't actually wild. Our neighbor's avocado tree drops avocados into our back yard and I say "the backyard feeds our dog automatically".


This video link is to a compendium of all the Simpson's television show couch gags. The "couch gag" is that little bit of the Simpsons introduction just after Homer is chased through the garage by Marge's bad driving and the whole family tries to sit down on the couch in front of the television. Generally each episode has a different couch gag. The compilation goes on for a while. It's like the funniest episode ever.

Be sure to listen to the sound track as you watch - the constant repetition of the same bit of music from Danny Elfman's brilliant theme is interrupted occasionally by bits of pop culture music. What a wonderfully unpretentious minimalist score. Too bad minimalist pieces in concerts don't have a similarly free spirit.

Here and here and here are some MM posts which reference the Simpsons.

Fallen Couch Gag Tags: fallen avocados. . . Simpsons. . . couch gags. . . video

Garry Moore and John Cage

These days a musician who wants to sell albums goes on television. And that happened in 1960 too, I guess. Thanks to WFMU's Beware of the Blog you can watch a video of John Cage performing live on national television game show called I've Got a Secret hosted by Garry Moore.

The performance has everything - an incredulous host, a union dispute, a change of plans, no panelists, an amused audience and a performance of Water Walk, with a last moment change to the radio parts. Nine minutes, twenty-two seconds. Enjoy this little avant-garde side show.






Click here for a list of previous Mixed Meters mentions of "John Cage"

I've Got a Secret Tags: John Cage. . . I've Got A Secret. . . Garry Moore. . . video. . . television. . . game show. . . Water Walk

The Simpsons and Samuel Barber

Robert Gable is a blogger who I suspect stays up late - since his posts arrive in my reader very early in the morning. He has documented various appearances of the Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber. The tune, funereal, beautiful, morbid, elegant, depressing, easy to recognize and therefore very popular, has obviously become an established "musical icon" in our culture.

Last week Leslie and I caught a new Simpsons episode which we had taped. In it Bart and Marge play online video games while Lisa and Homer get involved in soccer. That is until Lisa watches a DVD (from Canal+) on soccer hooliganism.

Here are four captures from the short clip (inexpertly done directly from the TV into my pocket point 'n shoot) which are accompanied by the narration below.

And the music to accompany this Rambo-like action scene? Why it's the Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber, of course. I didn't actually fall out of my chair laughing. Came close.

NARRATOR: Last year in Brazil an onfield scuffle became so violent that locals say a statue of the virgin Mary came alive . . . and beat the holy snot out of everyone.

P.S. Someday I will explain my idea of "musical iconography" here on Mixed Meters - probably when I finally publish my midi-symphony Wagner and Schubert Have Intercourse, which makes use of the concept.

Hooliganism Tags: Simpsons. . . Samuel Barber. . . Adagio for Strings. . . Aworks. . . Robert Gable. . . musical icon

Here's a previous Mixed Meters post on the Simpsons.

Who Is Wieden & Kennedy Anyway

Another television advertisement for basketball shoes with classical music and religion. Instead of a Hip Hop version of the Dies Irae, this one uses music by Mozart. The Lacrimosa from his Requiem.

You can watch the commercial here.
You can read about it here.
Read more here.

Here is the "Money Shot".


The ad is real noir. A dark story of crushing defeat as the home team loses by one point in the last second because an opponent is wearing better shoes. Life is like that, huh?

Here are the words to Lacrimosa

Tearful that day,
on which will rise from ashes
guilty man for judgement.
So have mercy, O God, on this person.
Compassionate Lord Jesus,
grant them rest. Amen.

Read about the Lacrimosa at Wikipedia.

Here is my previous post about selling basketball shoes with liturgical music. This post has gotten (and will get) more hits than any other Mixed Meters article - from now until eternity (or whenever Nike stops running the Second Coming commercial.)

Both commercials were produced by the same ad agency - Wieden & Kennedy of Portland Oregon. Here's their website.

Apparently Wieden & Kennedy are eager to teach their methods. Tuition for one year is $15,000. Click here then click on the jangling keys.


Meanwhile, Mozart's music continues to inspire musicians of all species. Here's a video of a bird with some interesting ideas about motivic development.

Shoe Sale Tags: Nike. . . basketball. . . television commercial. . . advertising. . . Michael Jordan. . . XX2. . . basketball game. . . athletic shoes. . . Lacrimosa. . . Mozart. . .Wieden and Kennedy. . . dunk

A picture of a Mozart shoe.
I found out about this commercial via The Rest is Noise. (Actually, in music, a "rest" is silence.)

In which David is confused by The Second Coming

[Welcome to Mixed Meters - my post about The Second Coming is getting far more hits than Mixed Meters is accustomed to.

The Nike Second Coming campaign interests me because it uses apocalyptic music from the Catholic liturgy to sell shoes. I'm interested in music (I like it) and in religion (I'm against it) and advertising (say hello to Big Brother).

If you're interested in this aspect of the commercial, or if you've actually purchased shoes because of this advertising, I'd appreciate you leaving a comment about why.

I post on a variety of subjects with lots of pictures plus some mp3s of my own music.. If you really like Juelz Santana's music you will think I come from another planet. Please listen to some of my stuff anyway. I invite you to stay and look around.

If all you want the real lyrics to the music, Anonymous has kindly posted them in the comments.]

[The original post begins here . . .]
It's an advertisement from a company known by a four-letter N word. (They sell shoes. I saw this on Fox while watching a cartoon show.)

The images are of 10 tall black men playing basketball inside a very large airplane hanger, cut against other shots of them walking out of the sunset (sunrise?) in a straight line, wearing all white, on a (military?) airbase runway with planes in the background. (I can visually recognize only Kobe Bryant. Is this his product-endorsement comeback? The only other name I recognize is LeBron James. No, I'm not a basketball fan.)

So far, it's a yawner for me. But the soundtrack made me perk right up. Someone is rapping over the Dies Irae, the Gregorian chant for dead people or the end of time or something, against a very heavy percussive back beat. Now that made me wonder what was going on here. (Read about Dies Irae on Wikipedia. Section 5 deals with the musical theme.)

The whole thing is entitled "The Second Coming." Watch it yourself, here. The website tagline is "The game is waiting. The future is now. And it belongs to you. Continue the legacy." Does this, I wonder, sell shoes or religion?

Are they selling basketball sneakers to young Catholics heading off to fight in Iraq? Are these particular athletes somehow leading George II's surge?

Rachmaninoff used the Dies Irae in his music quite a bit. (See this previous Mixed Meteristic post about the Iraq surge and Pasadena bumper stickers to understand that reference.)

Here's the "libretto" of The Second Coming (or is it some sort of sacred scripture or prayer?) (as near as I can figure it out):

They say the family that prays together, stays together.
And one that balks apart just falls apart.
So, together we stand, divided we fall
United we form ? and take our ball
Lets move, yes. The birds left the nest,
I'm all grown up I've got a flower to rest. Uh-huh
The best of the best it what we strive to be.
A legacy is what we tryin' to leave.
(?) Let's say good bye to the past.
The future's here, at last, at last.
The second comin'. The new beginnin'.
The truth is speaking. you should listen, listen.
So glorious, victorious.
We take what we want. We're ? warriors.

I'd appreciate if anyone who can identify the music or the singer would please leave a comment. (Addendum: Thanks to those who made comments for the help - it's Juelz Santana and Just Blaze. )

Here an English translation of the first 3 verses of Dies Irae

1 Day of wrath and terror looming!
Heaven and earth to ash consuming,
David's word and Sibyl's truth foredooming!

2 What horror must invade the mind,
when the approaching judge shall find,
and sift the deeds of all mankind.

3 The trumpet casts a wondrous sound,
through the tombs of all around,
making them the throne surround.

Does Dies Irae have a chorus to go with all those verses?

Here's one of my favorite MixMet posts about Iraq, television commercials, religions and virgins.

Postlude-addendum: Here's a press release with details of Nike's ad campaign - find out what they're really selling. Nike's ad agency is Wieden & Kennedy.

Another MM post, entitled Who Is Weiden-Kennedy Anyway?, about a different Nike television commercial they did which used religious-themed classical music to sell basketball shoes.

This little poem, straight out of Mordor, is from their website:

We specialize
in understanding
cultural trends.
As a result,
we have made
brands
like Nike,
ESPN
and Miller High Life
influence our culture.

Once brands
are accepted
on this level,
they are infinitely
more powerful.

Shoe Sale Tags: Nike. . . basketball. . . Iraq. . . surge. . . airbase. . . runway. . . airplane hanger. . . television commercial. . . advertising. . . Kobe Bryant. . . LeBron James. . . Dies Irae. . . rap music. . . back beat. . . The Second Coming. . .Juelz Santana. . .Just Blaze. . .Wieden & Kennedy. . .Rachmaninoff