East Meets West – Podcast

Washington Birthday, AKA "Presidents Day" approaches, i thought it might be interesting to see what of Washington's centuries old farewell address still had relevance, i believe i've managed to pick out that much.

(From Wikipedia)

Washington continues to advance his idea of the dangers of sectionalism and expands his warning to include the dangers of political parties to the government and country as a whole. His warnings took on added significance with the recent creation of the Democratic-Republican Party by Jefferson, to oppose Hamilton's Federalist Party, which had been created a year earlier in 1791, which in many ways promoted the interest of certain regions and groups of Americans over others.

Washington provides strong support for a balanced federal budget, arguing that the nation's credit is an important source of strength and security. He urges the American people to preserve the national credit by avoiding war, avoiding unnecessary borrowing, and paying off any national debt accumulated in times of war as quickly as possible in times of peace so that future generations do not have to take on the financial burdens that others have taken on themselves.

Washington uses this portion of the address to explain that while he does not expect the advice he has given in this letter to make any great impression upon the people, or to change the course of American politics, he does hope that the people will remember to try to moderate political parties, be suspicious of foreign influence, and to be wary of false patriotism. He further explains that he hopes the principles laid out in this letter will help the American people understand his actions taken as president and during his service to his country.

End of source.

In the face of a trillion dollar deficit, vehement partisanship and a deadlocked congress, the founder may have had a point....

I actually think that a balanced to slightly surplus budget (over a economic cycle) is the optimum position but I do think that the world that Washington et al lived in was a more simple one (economically speaking) then what we live in now. Think about all the things that occur now that did not occur then such as; global financial systems, break down of the idea of extended family as a source of social security, concept of pensions, all the things we have, etc. and know there is more stresses on the government and its budget then before.

Personally I am thinking that the levels of public sector debt in almost all developed countries are too high (65%+ of their nation's GDP) and at one level any further borrowing to help such as countries as Greece, Spain and Portugal might not be there in the EU. If they are not careful this could lead to the break up of the Euro.

In the case of the trillion dollar deficit as this blog post puts it something of the big three has to give. The big three expenditure items been the Military, social security, and medicare& medicaid. There is some items that could be cut in the other bits but they are just not enough to bring the budget to a break even position.
http://brontecapital.blogspot.com/2010/02/globalizing-australian.html
The blog post has a bit to say about the position of the US and that the deficit is really the Bush tax cuts, the terrorism induced increased military expenditure and a small tax hike, that is something that is controllable and correctable. The question is can the current political system make the hard choices that are required.

The really interesting point for me is that the US model of government hasn't really worked in any other country as the traditions and the like that allow it to work in the US don't hold true for the other countries that it had been transplanted. It is now seeming that the US political system is no longer able to take the hard choices (that is something other than give tax cuts to politicians and their friends) and so the question is now long can the house of cards last?

Tom, Roger some people have said that as the political system in California is excessively "people power" and so captured by extremist elements of society, what do you think? What I mean by people power is not talking about voting but more the idea of petitions allowing the recall of governors or having to get a referendum done on some legislation or constitutional change as a result of a relatively small number of signatures on a petition.

I'm a long-time listener of EMW, and also a film composer, so I'm very excited that you guys decided to talk about my particular trade, which I feel is often overlooked and under-appreciated.

Before I give my take on the argument, I'll give a little background. I am classically trained and educated, and have been involved in both the "serious" world of concert music as well as music for film, TV, and video games.

It's ironic, the arguments many have on classical music versus film music, because most people forget that a good deal of what we now think of as "classical" music was background music in its original context, especially during the Baroque and Classical musical periods in the 17th and 18th centuries. Bach, Mozart, and others would be commissioned by patrons to write music for social events where the music may not have been the "main attraction". It was only until the 1800s or so — with the Romantic musical period — when composers started having even bigger egos than before, and began composing music for its own sake. But since the very beginning, music has most often been used to accompany or support something else. Take "Music for the Royal Fireworks" by Handel, for instance.

Given all that, is film music really so different? You have a "patron" (the director) who comes to a composer looking for music to accompany his "event" (the film). Handel's underscore for King George II's fireworks is considered classical. Why not John Williams' score for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or Danny Elfman's music for Spider-Man? I think time will tell. Film music as a genre is still younger than the moving picture itself.

You guys talked about musical character themes or emotional themes that recur in television to help underscore what's being shown on screen. I'm in Tom's camp, even as a DVD watcher of Lost, that the music of Lost doesn't get in the way of the storytelling.

If your listener wants to be truly annoyed by a musical score, pick up a copy of "Twin Peaks" on DVD. Not only are the emotional themes re-used, the transitions between themes are reused (e.g. the love theme always swells into the scary theme). So you can predict that someone will be watching in the woods or that a character is in danger, because you know that the music is about to transition. It makes the show almost unwatchable.

Re: emotional responses to familiar soundtracks, re-watch the Budweiser "Body Bridge" SuperBowl ad for the action theme from "Stripes". Love it.

I just wanted to know where you guys were going that is all.

There is a blog post that a fund manager wrote concerning long term demographic change. I have even found the comments to the post to be also thought provoking. We live in interesting times. I think that some of the comments that TechPriest made about the US tax base and the ability to pay off debt is quite succinctly answered.
http://brontecapital.blogspot.com/2010/02/globalizing-australian.html

Boleslaw, pronounced bowl-eh-suave, is a well known Polish name and is the name for a string of Polish monarchs.

I know from his twitter feed that Roger watched the 2 hour special Smallville "Absolute Justice". Did you watch it as well Tom? And what were the thoughts on it from whomever did watch it?

Tom, you kind of touched on something about the Super Bowl commercials, but didn't go as far as I'd hoped you would have. I spoke about this on my podcast on Friday, http://www.averagejoeshow.com/average-joe-show-067-bodies-in-boots/. Super Bowl commercials aren't at the same level of entertainment as they were years ago, and it's not worth spending several million dollars to have 30 seconds of airtime. Nowadays, you can get more exposure by being REJECTED by the NFL. Look at Go Daddy. They purposely make risque commercials that they know won't get on the air just so they get the word of mouth. (In my opinion I'm numb to this technique they use, and don't really care anymore.) Another example is the ManCrunch commercial. That has been spoken everywhere from mainstream media to tech shows. All you have to do it go to YouTube and watch it yourself. And one other point on that commercial, it's glaringly obvious to me that they knew it wouldn't get on the air. Even if the NFL didn't care about the men making out in the commercial they sure as heck wouldn't have allowed it to air with them wearing those jerseys. They look too much like authentic jerseys and the NFL police wouldn't allow that to pass.

Tom, you just hit one of my pet peeves. Movie soundtracks aren't "classical music". They just use a symphony orchestra. There's a difference.

And, yes, I think it's going too far to call John Williams the "Beethovens" of our time. I might be biased, having taken a minor in music in college, but I think everyone who has studied this stuff in depth would agree. Beethoven was a genius....John Williams is good at creating memorable themes but fairly simple, repetitive music. And the musical language of modern film composers is more or less derived directly from the classical ones. There isn't really anything new here....unlike the most famous classical composers during their time. I agree with Roger.

These days, all newer music is derived from some other music, somewhere; but I don't think it's fair to say that there isn't anything new after its derivation from classical music. There's a hell of a lot you hear often in film music, especially nowadays, that you would never hear in "serious" concert music. The sometimes gratuitous use of electronics is one of the best examples. That's certainly "new" from classical music. On a more personal level, as a composer — and I believe I speak for many film composers out there, too — I wish to "evolve" just as much as that of a concert composer. Just because I write for film, that doesn't mean I'm not trying "new" things. Originality may not be the purpose of film music, but that does not necessarily mean originality doesn't occur.

I am not a musician so I won't comment on whether they are at the same level as the older composers. Mind you I think its a bit much to compare anyone to Beethoven or Mozart as they were truly are extraordinary people.

Anyway what I wanted to say was I really like the music in Looney Tunes, especially the operatic programs. I have read some critics stated they are much overlooked in terms of their artistic expression.