Odds and Ends

I apologize for the lack of blogging lately. I suppose I got out of the habit when my computer was down. I shall try to do a better job. Here are some random thoughts, news items and such:

• Flickr has released a great new feature for pro users (which I am) - stats! I've turned mine on, and I think this will be a very useful feature. Why? Because now I can answer the big question I've always wondered: do people actually look at my photos?

• I've started a new meme at bdinsanity called Writing Wednesday. It will replace the old, tired Mind Hump. The premise: I post a prompt or a brief beginning of a story, and my readers will use their creativity to respond or add on to what I've posted. The only problem is that I seem to have a much smaller number of readers there! Maybe people are just busy with the holidays. Anyone who wants to play is more than welcome to do so.

Now for my thoughts on . . .

• The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominations: I think Madonna gets in just for the impact she made on music in the 80s and part of the 90s. She was one of the biggest stars in the glory years of MTV, and that makes her a rock star even if she's never rocked in her life. John Mellencamp gets in because he makes music that matters. He's the Springsteen of the heartland. Good on the Ventures for making it in. Good on Leonard Cohen too. He's more influential than popular, but influence should count too. I'm still not familiar with the Dave Clark Five, but good on them as well.

• Ike Turner's death: He may have been a bad man, but he was a bad man who was a rock and roll pioneer and a great guitar player. Also, I was thinking about this earlier today - is he really any worse than your favorite rock and roller? I'm sure there are scores of rockers who did the same things Ike did, but their victims rarely had the guts to go public about it like Tina did. Led Zeppelin is rumored to have done some really wild, bizarre things, and people are all abuzz over their recent reunion show.

• Speaking of Led Zeppelin's reunion: Do we really want them touring again? Led Zeppelin was Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham. Period. You didn't see Paul, George and Ringo replacing John, did you? I'm OK with the occasional gig for benefits, but an actual LZ tour shouldn't happen. I have a lot of respect for the three remaining guys for not pretending like Bonham is replaceable, and I'd like to keep that respect.

• The baseball steroid report: No comment, really. I stopped caring a long time ago. Pro sports are beyond repair.

• Lastly, Bill Maher's d***heads of the year.
  

You know, I probably should have broken that up into multiple posts. Oh well.