Rock critics are another matter. > >>I'm tempted to eradicate Lester Bangs as well; not so much for what he >wrote, but for what he wrought -- for all the gazillions of Bangs wannabes >who've cluttered up the landscape since. I'll settle for hermetically >sealing him off. I don't agree about Bangs. He often brought a hail fellow well met but I'll rib you anyway to his writings. He often liked the people he wrote about, just didn't like some of the music and he endeavored to say so with a barbed wit. He took his writing seriously and was a very learned writer. He often looked beyond a musician's ability to play an instrument proficiently and tried to separate that proficiency from the musical merit on an album. He also was the one of the first (if not the first) to categorize the music of Led Zeppelin as "heavy metal" - which is a term widely accepted today in categorizing music No, I couldn't wipe him away from this earth. > >In other news, sometimes on this list I feel like I've wandered into an >alternate universe, where everything is the same as this one, except for >one little weird change. Reading the recent comparison between women's >makeup and production was one of those times. Nevermind the actual >*argument* -- it's the assumptions about women's makeup that caught my >maybellined eye. > >Most effective if it's not noticeable? Tasteful if it's done right? What is >this, a junior-high school grooming guide? > >Clue: in today's modern world, many women who use makeup feel it's not >effective unless it's noticeable. Many young women, in fact, use make-up in >an --you'll excuse the phrase -- in-your-face way. "Effective," yes. >"Tasteful" isn't the point. But older women, too, use lots of mascara, >eyeshadow, and above all, lipstick, for it to be noticed, by god. Not to >mention fingernails! Comparing makeup to production values -- well, all I >can say is that on any given day I see a lot of women with faces that look >like a Phil Spector production. A wall-of-face kinda deal. (Of course, this >is at an office building in the big city, not a Mennonite gathering, so >YMMV.) > >Next I'll be hearing that the hemlines of women's skirts should fall at the >middle of the knee. Hairstyles should be attractive but not outlandish. >Heels should never be higher than an inch and a half. Wear colors that are >feminine and not too brash. Talk about things he likes. Sheesh. > >And while I'm at it, the snide remarks about Shania Twain's dress got on my >nerves. It's one thing to criticize her music; another to apply a double >standard to her stage clothes. What double standard? Imagine the same exact >dress on Tina Turner. That double standard. Plus, the catty comments about >the Dixie Chicks' sartorial shortcomings are pretty rich coming from a >group that accepts hats made out of sweatpant legs. <g> > >I'm done now. > >--Cheryl Cline > >Oh, but P.S.: Did someone mention the new Rosie Flores album and give it a >less-than enthusiastic review? WRONG! > > > > > > >
