The ‘unobtanium age’

“We don’t live in the golden age of television. We don’t even live in the platinum age of television. Apparently we live in the unobtanium age of television.

“Enough. This has become a joke. Theodore Sturgeon said 90 percent of everything is crap. He was being generous. Even so, this means that maybe 2 or 3 percent of everything is truly outstanding. If you think 60 TV shows out of 400 are must watch—and it was hard to narrow it down to that number from 175—you’re just not being critical enough.”

Kevin Drum in Mother Jones, Dec. 21

Flipping Channels with Bob

“One of the best music videos of 2013 belongs to a 48-year-old song. The interactive video for Bob Dylan’s ‘Like a Rolling Stone,’ released yesterday, is a tour de force: as the music plays, you can flip between sixteen channels of simulated TV programming. But whether you’re watching a financial news update, a romantic comedy, or a tennis tournament, it looks authentic except that everyone seems to be lip-synching the lyrics of the song. While many of the channels are peopled by actors, the lineup is peppered with numerous celebrity performers such as comedian Marc Maron, rapper Danny Brown, the hosts of ‘Pawn Stars,’ and Drew Carey (on the set of ‘The Price Is Right’). The overall effect is head-spinning but incredibly compelling: the more you surf through the ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ video, the more the song’s contempt seems to be addressed to all of western civilization. By the time you land on a vintage live performance of the actual Bob Dylan, he feels like the only real person in existence.”
– Gavin Edwards, Rolling Stone

Here’s a link — http://video.bobdylan.com/desktop.html — whadd’ya think?

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