Literal Music Videos: Taking the Enjoyment of Bad Videos to a Whole New Level

Word of advice: if your music video is this hilarious when sung literally, it might be time for a new director:

Featured Artist #2: Robert Randolph and the Family Band.

Ever heard an electric steel guitar? Robert Randolph is the master of this instrument. These guys rock. Check out this video of their appearance on Letterman:



Their recent album, Colorblind,is one of my favorites. Here are some samples from the album:

Where It All Began: My Introduction to Ancient Greece

Having just completed my M.A. in English, I found myself, for the first time in a very long time, free to read whatever I wanted however leisurely I wanted. This unfettered state, though exhilarating, brought with it an interesting dilemma: what, then, should I read? Or, rather, what do I want to read? In my attempts to answer these questions, I discovered a few things about my personal literary preferences. First of all, I must admit that I am partial to Western Literature. This is by no means a denial of the value of non-Western literature in the Grand Scheme of Things, but simply an admission of personal taste. What can I say? I am western, I am a Christian, and along with these characteristics come certain predispositions (i.e. I have read J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Ringstrilogy through twice and recently watched all three extended-length moviesback-to-back over a period of three days). So, in my quest to pick a book to read, I opened up my copy of The Norton Anthology of World Masterpiecesand perused the table of contents for works that caught my interest. I discovered I had not yet read one of the greatest and earliest works of Western literature – Homer’s The Iliad. As I researched the Greeks, more gaps in my knowledge became apparent; for instance, I found I had read very little of Plato and the Greek tragedians. It seemed that there was enough literature produced between 800 B.C. and the first century A.D. to keep me occupied for years. So, I narrowed my “to read” list down a bit.

I am starting, of course, with Homer’s The Iliad. I have chosen the Robert Fagles translation because I really liked his version of The Oresteia,which I frequently consulted as a respite from the god-awful Ted Hughes translationI was assigned to read in graduate school. Paired with this will be Fagles’ translation of The Odyssey,which I am very much looking forward to. Following these will be The Oresteia by Aeschylus, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Medea by Euripides, and Lysistrata by Aristophanes. Since I plan to read all this Greek literature chronologically, I will be simultaneously reading some of the great philosophical works, starting with the pre-Socratics and moving on to Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Epicurus. In addition to all this, I will include relevant recent publications, such as Bertrand Russell’s A History of Western Philosophy, Edith Hamilton’s Mythology,and C.S. Lewis’ retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche Till We Have Faces.It will prove, no doubt, to be an interesting and rather time-consuming venture. Fortunately for me, I have ample amounts of time to spare, given the complete non-existence of jobs for people who hold Master’s Degrees in English in my current location. Also, the wet, gray, dreary, dark European winter serves as a significant contributing factor to my current reclusive instinct. I eagerly trade this pale, central-European waste of ice and sludge for the warm, sun-kissed shores of the Mediterranean.

(Note: Some of you might be wondering what any of this has to do with Comedy. To this, I can only say that if a housewife obsessed with Greek literature isn’t comical enough for you, I don’t know what is.)

Artist Spotlight: Scottish Singer-Songwriter Amy Macdonald

My Artist Spotlight posts will feature artists who, in my opinion, appear to be particularly favored by the Muse.

Today's featured artist is Scottish singer/songwriter Amy MacDonald. Her recent album, This Is The Life,has been on almost constant rotation in my car and in my kitchen as of late. She has quickly become one of my favorites.

My Muse

I am an Army wife. This role brings with it unique challenges and expectations that at times can seem insurmountable. For instance, the average Army wife packs up her family's household goods and moves to a new location every 1.5 years, sometimes not even knowing in which hemisphere she and her family will be living until a month or two before. She is required to explain this remarkable state of affairs to non-military friends and family, maintaining the delicate balance between acknowledging its absurdity and affirming its inevitability. Furthermore, she is required to abide for long periods of time in a state of watchfulness and uncertainty, akin to holding one's breath, for her spouse to return home from deployments alive and unharmed. In addition to all of this, every aspect of her life, from the availability of medical care to the television programming she receives, is regulated by beaurocracy.

Whew.

If she is going to write about this life, she decides, she is going to have to invoke the Muses:

Sing to me, O Muses,
Tell of noble deeds and virtue,
Guide my pen and fill my mind with wit,
Or, at the very least, suggest some good topics with which I may entertain myself and others in this most wondrous medium of blogging . . .

I have devoted this blog to Thalia, the Muse of Comedy, because the comic not only serves as the greatest source of inspiration in my writing but also acts, in my opinion, as a significant component of wisdom.

My favorite writer, Flannery O'Connor, observed, "it is well to realize that the maximum amount of seriousness admits the maximum amount of comedy. Only if we are secure in our beliefs can we see the comical side of the universe" (from Mystery and Manners, Farrar, 1962).

And my side of the universe is truly comical, indeed.