A free pass to an internal movie, complete with poll

[gurdonark]

Thursday night I rode the hotel shuttle from the John Wayne Airport in Orange County to the Doubletree Hotel that Priceline.com found for me cheap. When I got in the shuttle, I was suddenly enveloped with the sounds of the Carpenters, singing "I can take all the madness the world has to give, but I won't last a day without you". I thought to myself about how Karen Carpenter really couldn't quite take all the madness the world had to give.

I realized that even in my fervent teenage years, when I divided all music (thankfully, for a very brief period) according to whether it "rocked" or "didn't rock", I always gave the Carpenters what I call "a free pass". I'm not a fan of their form of treachly pop, but in their hands, I really admired what they did. Karen's voice was so silky, and the records had an unabashedly pop sensibility.

I got to thinking about this idea of the "free pass". Some people use the term "guilty pleasures", but I think that's really a different connotation. To me, the "free pass" is someone who works in a genre or style I just can't really get into at all, but the individual performer still catches my fancy. Sometimes one is short of soul mates, after all, and just needs to ward off nausea.

So I put together this

[Poll #148493]

Comments

[angel80.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that, it was fun. I had trouble choosing between my free passes - there are too many of them!

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it. I noted with chagrin that I have a lot of film star passes, and they are all too often reserved for attractive movie actresses.

Re:

[angel80.livejournal.com]

I found it easier to think of film stars too, but Fred Astaire doesn't qualify in the attractive category!

[ghostsandrobots.livejournal.com]

So, I'm not normally into musicals, but any of the ones we did in high school leave me all squishy. Fame especially. Maybe I should reserve that comment about Tatu until I've heard more, but after hearing so many people complain about them, I'm surprised to enjoy.

Truman Capote, at one time, was my idol. Took me years to realize that his writing wasn't always up to the heights it sometimes reached. But that's okay. Still gotta respect him.

Drew Barrymore -- what can I say? I'd watch her in anything. Even interviews in which she comes off as slightly flaky and nutty. Like good granola.

This was fun; thanks!

[daisydumont.livejournal.com]

my son bought the Tatu cd, and i've seen a few of their videos. the music is actually good (he wouldn't listen to crap, honest), and though the one girl's voice can stray into the too-high-for-comfort zone for me, i like the songs.

i'm backing you up on this one. ;D

Re:

[ghostsandrobots.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Daisy. Glad you have my back! :)

Now I'm going to have to break my inertia and find the CD. I've been curious to listen to the whole thing.

[bluegreen17]

i love the movie 'breakfast at tiffany's' and just a few months ago i read it. i loved how he wrote it,and i'm really fussy!

i like drew too. she's just so unique.

Re:

[ghostsandrobots.livejournal.com]

I'd love to read that one again. Now that you mention it, I may just have to! The last thing of Capote's I went back to was In Cold Blood, a couple years ago. When you look at it now, you think, "The world's full of this kind of stuff." But back then, it wasn't. He was apparently the first to write about a real crime in that way. And his writing itself still holds up very well. Very depressing, but worth the read.

[myasma.livejournal.com]

When I was 15, my family went to Lake Tahoe for a week-long vacation. They surprised us by taking us to see the Carpenters at one of the casino showrooms. My siblings and I were mortified--what if our friends found out?

It remains as one of the most memorable shows I have ever seen. Possibly because it was about the only time I wasn't under the influence of something. She had a beautiful voice.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

I would have loved to see Karen Carpenter live. Even when I was "too cool" for her, I would have enjoyed her.

My wife and I actually went to see Barry Manilow last year, whom I would never have seen in my younger days. A friend of my wife's father was doing back up band duty. It was a good show. The LJ post I wrote about that was one I thought quite amusing, but it got no comments. Barry Manilow remains one of those taboos that one just can't mention amid cool people :)!

[amatrixangel.livejournal.com]

There's an airport called 'John Wayne Airport'? You've gotta be kidding me. What do they have there? A posse that takes you out to your plane?

Good grief.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Have you ever seen movies where they talk about Orange County? It's the local conservative county.
It's not far right conservative in the way that some southern counties can be (though it has a few ultra right folks), but instead it's monied interest conservatives.

The Duke, as they call John Wayne, is very revered in CA. He's got his own airport!

[salaryman.livejournal.com]

you're in OC?

the summer in LA is just gearing; Dodgers games; free concerts at the Autry; the Hollywood Bowl; and right now, Japanese Outlaw Masters at the Cinematheque.

welcome.

or, more properly, welcome back. (a decade in L.A. makes you a de facto Angeleno.)

S

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I just got to stop in for a night and a day for an appellate argument (cheaper fare to OC), but it is always good when I get to visit again. My next trip is mid-July, and it will be a welcome break from the heat, assuming that it's not 112 downtown like one Summer!