This Is This

Oscar night’s fine with me. It gives us something to talk about and it elevates an artform to a talking point and there’s nothing wrong with that. People who argue that rewarding Hollywood stalwarts with little gold trophies does nothing for the artform aren’t seeing the big picture.

This prestige rubs off on every film-maker big and small, and therein lies an inspiration. Reputations follow an industry, but opions change. Journalists, politicians, priests, cooks - the perceptions of all these professions have all swung dramatically in the last 50 years. Back then saxophone players were to be treated with caution. They were wild Dad-io, out there cats. Now you average tenor player is more likely to be an industrious and meticulous student of theory and form.

Bloggers too, were once regarded as sad lonely individuals with nothing better to do. Mainly by me, admittedly, before I became one myself. But even this negative impression spurred me on to start one up, even at the risk of becoming a little like that stereotype.

So don’t worry what other people think, you can change things a little yourself, but pretty much things are going to change anyway whether you do make a decision or not. Opinions evolve and fashions change and there’s nothing you can do about it. Even falling into line doesn’t stop things.
So celebrate your differences and don’t worry what other people think. Do what you want so long as no one gets hurt and your intentions are good. Go ahead: learn the tuba, become a cartographer, wear both corduroy trousers AND shirt and re-inact the Battle of Gettysburg. Not all at the same time obviously, but you get the idea.

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There is no quiet way to ransack a bathroom. Benjamin Franklin said that.
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This entry was posted on Monday, February 28th, 2005 at 11:17 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed, or leave a comment yourself.