NotoriousPKP

Fangirlin'

[notoriouspkp]

Dunning–Kruger effect

When idiots are so dumb they can’t even comprehend their own stupidity.

So many idiots. Oh, well. *shrug*

[notoriouspkp]

Lee Mead’s Singing

At the request of one of the original posters, I’ve deleted my post about Lee’s singing. I’ll repost later in an edited version because it’s become apparent that quite a few Holby City viewers were completely unaware that these are actors playing roles and the brief bit of song he did in the wedding ep was sung in character.

I know, I know, shocking isn’t it? How dare they try to pull the wool over our eyes. Obviously, he should’ve done his James Blunt impression.

[jeangrey]

Paul Rudd + Dancing

[notoriouspkp]

Comedy genius.

[notoriouspkp]

I saw a vlog on YT recently by somebody whose name I recognized from a stagey forum years ago. At the time, I held my tongue because I knew she was young, dumb and full of herself. She was still at a stage school and convinced that when SHE took to the WE that she would show all these people how it should be done! Suffice it to say that 8-9 years on, she has never worked as a performer let alone made a name for herself. And she has backtracked on some of her stupider pronouncements of various actors and shows.

It reminds me of the old saying that it’s better to be quiet and be assumed a fool than to speak your mind and remove all doubt of your foolishness. Unfortunately, people love their “hot takes”, don’t they? They are so desperate to be heard, by anybody. A platform is important, vital even, to their self-esteem.

You know what’s also really good for your self-esteem? Thinking about something until you have something interesting to say. Or to discuss if you’re not that sure of what to say.

Writing is also really important. I don’t mean writing the odd “hot take” or live blogging. Writing and rewriting is a cornerstone of one kind of thinking. You write something. Then you edit and question everything you’ve written. Is this true? Is this debatable? Are my points valid? And so on. This is how you build a critical mind.

Criticizing is not how to build a critical mind. OTOH, that might not appeal to you. YMMV. Platitudes are easy. Thinking or thoughtful discourse? Not so much.

[captaincrusher]

Mind. Blown.

(X)

[notoriouspkp]

Covers vs originals

@mysticgirl84

Wanted to reply to your reply about Lee singing as a cover artist versus singing his own original songs. I know you meant well, but . . . .

I know it’s prevalent among some demographics to consider that only singer/song writers are proper musical “artists”. I’m sorry but I think this is a very ill-informed opinion.

I’ve worked on the periphery of the music industry for many years and there is a shit ton of stuff that most people don’t know about how music is created for the chart or top 100 type of “artists” (and yes, the quotes are meant to be sarcastic). If you’re actually interested in that sort of thing, ask and I’ll bring the receipts, but suffice it to say that the people who are credited for a song are not always the actual song writer and in some cases have contributed nothing to the composition or lyrics.

And even if you believe that so-and-so did write some of the lyrics (or composition) to their bestselling songs, you’d have a mighty hard time convincing me that those lyrics are anything special, let alone “good”. 

Yes, there are still good songwriters who sing their own songs but they are few and far between. And most of the best songwriters are the worst singers. That has been true for a very long time (see Bob Dylan, and long before him, Tin Pan Alley, etc.). These are different skill sets.

Interpreting songs is also a different skill set.  I don’t listen to contemporary chart music, although it’s often inflicted on me because it’s an unavoidable aspect of pop culture.  Mostly I listen to jazz and jazz singers. The repertoire is generally 80-100% standards. Artists who’ve cut their teeth on standards know that you cannot throw any word salad down and make it a good song. Good song writing is beyond most people, even those with decades of musical training.

Puhleeze. How does creating a song based on your personal heartfelt feelings, opinions or experience make it a better song? 99.99% of the time, it doesn’t. One simplistic simile, metaphor or catchphrase repeated ad nauseum doth not make a good song. It might make a catchy song that will sell in the millions, but it does not make it good. If your idea of a brilliant song is that it charted and sold millions of singles, albums, downloads, then, congratulations -- you are the willing victim of the music industry’s branding and marketing machinery.

This is not my opinion -- just do some research on the history of the recording industry. (In short, many decades ago, a massive focus/marketing survey was commissioned by the recording industry and it basically told them that the #1 predictor for what would sell was brand recognition. In other words, all the same things that the advertising industry is built on. Or “if you build the brand, people will buy into it” because they are sheep. Or they are until a certain age (demographic) when they become more fixed in their opinions, not as malleable, and more likely to recognize new crap as crap.).

This is all to say, don’t apologize for loving an artist who sings standards (jazz, musical theatre, etc.). They are standards for a reason and singing standards is much harder than singing original songs. Ten gazillion others have sung this song before you, how do you make it your own and memorable? Fucking hell, it’s not that easy to sing a song full stop. 

When you can inhabit a song, make people forget the other versions they’re familiar with, make them feel emotions they didn’t realize were possible with that song, then that is a tremendous talent. And Mr. Mead has that talent, IMO. 

I’ve lost track of how many times he’s made me change my mind about a song. Songs that I’d grown heartily sick of, songs that seemed simplistic and uninteresting or merely okay-ish, until his interpretation made them memorable and told a story that I could relate to, etc. For me, he is a musical Scheherazade. 

NB: He has 2 co-written songs on his second album, Nothing Else Matters. If you listen to them, it’ll be pretty obvious who he was writing about.

[biphobique-deactivated20190110]

nothing makes me more livid than society continuing to treat 13 year old girls like grown women but still babying men in their 30’s

[notoriouspkp]

Lee Mead’s singing on Holby

Okay, I’ll be honest too (wish I could reblog the earlier Anonymous post and replies) . . . but I’ll try to be a bit more diplomatic since I know some of you are younger and happy to be all judgy based on the slightest of evidence without doing a smidgen bit more of research. (Forgive me if I then judge YOU based on the slightest bit of evidence).

If you’re referring to his singing on the recent Holby City ep where he sang a bit of “Only You”, I think you’d have to be remarkably naive to think that a WE star for the last 10+ years cannot sing and has a mediocre voice. This is almost hilarious. So, let’s shoot some fish in a barrel, shall we?

He’s an actor. He’s singing in character as Lofty, duh.  Lofty is not a singer, there’s no reason for him to sound like a professional singer, is there? Also, there’s context and subtext in spades which shouldn’t be ignored, but that’s another discussion. He’s not been allowed to sing as himself because the BBC has explicit rules about not allowing performers to promote themselves in outside projects or other professional capacities (Lee’s music & stage work, the other actors who do stage & film work regularly, like Hugh, Jemma, Guy, etc.).

BTW, you can hear a snippet of that song done in Lee’s “real” voice in a show that he did with his friend Stephen Rahman-Hughes in a small cabaret/jazz club setting earlier this year, here (it’s the second song):

https://youtu.be/0nszjB7Or8A

Granted, his voice might not be to your taste. You might not enjoy it, everyone has their own taste, but the guy has a vocal range that very few can match, for any genre of singing (not just WE/musicals).

Gary Barlow gave him a pop song “When I Need You The Most” for his debut album.

"I wrote this song with Wayne Hector and Jorgen Elofsson in 2003 at Delamere studios. Since then I've been searching for an artist to do it justice. Every Saturday night my kids would tune in to watch Joseph. As you all know Lee won and when I heard he was making an album I sent this song to him. He loved it and a few weeks later I heard the finished record. - Super!"  (Source: www.garybarlow.com)

If you hear the song, you’ll understand why Barlow wouldn’t let just anybody sing this song. The vocal range needed would be a challenge for most pop singers. Yes, there are a lot of pop singers who can’t sing for shit and are superstars anyway because their voices are manufactured in the studio. With proper singers, it’s often the opposite. His studio albums don’t even do justice to his live singing voice. From his debut album, All That You Know is probably better to show his range.

Or one of the songs he did for the indie movie Three and Out soundtrack, Somebody Help Me (the Spencer Davis Group rock number) or You’ve Got a Friend (the James Taylor classic). You might find them on Spotify. The latter is the backing track for this fanvid. It was done with a gospel choir and his range & power are pretty evident here (even though he didn’t do the falsetto parts):

https://youtu.be/cVDI7VhkPiM

But that was over 10 years ago -- surely he can’t sing as well now? Actually, his tessitura has an even wider range now. His falsetto is insane. When he did an impromptu version of Bring Him Home with Blake on Gaby Roslin’s BBC radio programme a few years ago, they gave him the big falsetto finish. He sings it solo, of course, and it’s been on his set lists for a few years.

He covered “From Now On” on the Jane McDonald & Friends show earlier this year. It’s not on YT, but one of his fansites might still have it. He smashed it. One of Jane’s backing musicians even mentioned it in on Insta and if you know musicians, you know they are notoriously stingy with their praise for singers. Now, I love me some Hugh Jackman, but HJ doesn’t have a trained singing voice and you can hear the strain when he sings. With Lee, there’s no strain -- from a whisper to belting, he makes it seem effortless.

He doesn’t grandstand like a lot of WE singers either, because that tends to take you out of the storytelling arc of the song, flatten the expressiveness (light and shade) emotionally, and makes the song about you instead of the song itself.  So, if you prefer power ballads where somebody’s shouting the entire song, then he’s not your guy. Just because you can blow the roof off doesn’t mean you should do it for the whole frickin’ song.  Listen to this, even though it’s not the whole song, it’s from the Glamis Proms 2017, singing Maria from West Side Story:

https://youtu.be/C89Y5ehJ5a8

Well, I could go on for days and days about his voice, but that’s enough for today. Feel free to jump in, but ya better bring your A game because yes, I do have all the receipts.

[progressiveauspol]

The massive downside to meaningful action on climate change is that if global warming is false were left with a clean environment and a sustainable economic model. What a bummer

[darjeelingandcoke-deactivated20]

[wenchyfloozymoo]

[bellygangstaboo]

This person is what I want to be as a parent.

[krxs100]

Repeated Rapist and Former Baylor frat president Jacob Anderson indicted for sexual assault will serve no jail time, not be registered as sex offender and only has to pay $400 fine

Anderson was accused of raping a 19-year-old woman at a 2016 off-campus party his fraternity, Phi Delta Theta, threw under his leadership as frat president. During the party, 

Anderson took the woman, who was intoxicated after receiving a drugged drink from him, outside to a “secluded part of the grounds” where he then sexually assaulted as while she was gagged and choked. The victim lost consciousness during the attack, at which point Anderson left the scene, leaving her nearly choking to death on her own vomit.

Anderson was initially brought up on for these alleged crimes, and charged him with “unlawful restraint” instead, for which the office recommended three years of probation, a $400 fine, and counseling.

This is the 3rd case in which this same judge has been lenient towards sexual offenders.

HERES HOW YOU CAN HELP

Sign the Petition 

CALL THE JUDGE: Ralph Strother

Phone: [phone]  Fax: [phone] 

CALL ATTORNEY WHO OFFERED PLEA DEAL: Hilary Stokes LaBorde 

Phone: [phone]

DEMAND JUSTICE!!!

#StayWoke

[fancykraken]

All the best for the season and year ahead! ❄

Please don’t repost or edit.

[babyanimalgifs]

I didn’t know cheetahs meow I’ve always thought they roar my whole life has been a lie

[anarchapella]

Ok but the other one is purring so hard

[valgalart]

If I ever don’t reblog this assume I’m dead

[excessively-english-jd]

Fun fact: technically, because of its inability to roar and its ability to purr, the cheetah is not a ‘big cat’ (or Great Cat) - they are still classified as Lesser Cats.

Also you haven’t heard anything until you hear them cheep.

[kunaiman]

YOU CANNOT JUST SAY THAT AND NOT PROVIDE A VIDEO

[excessively-english-jd]

I HAVE REALISED MY MISTAKE AND SHALL RECTIFY IT:

Cheeps.

[thespectacularspider-girl]

Oh my god

[that-stardust-deactivated201902]

I’m dead now

[fablegate]

OH MY GOD

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Mark Hamill and Bob Anderson - Return of the Jedi outtakes and alternate takes (1982)

[roane72]

CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW DAMNED FAST THEY’RE MOVING?

[culturevulture73]

“There’s no question that Luke is now an equal swordsman to Vader,” adds Hamill. “But Luke isn’t a sadist; he would never make Vader suffer, because I’m better at what a Jedi does than Darth Vader. So the question is, how do I resolve it?’ We were much more interested in the drama than in a long flashy fight.”

Diamond had therefore worked with Hamill and Anderson for a good four weeks of preparation, combining four martial arts with samurai, saber, foil, epée, and broadsword, drawing from his experience in more than 275 feature films. He had begun by plotting out all the footwork, as the style would come from the positioning of the feet, like ballet. “Mark’s progressed and he’s a very good swordsman now,” says Diamond. “But I have to think about how it’s going to look photographically. And of course an actor’s interpretation of character has to come into it. Errol Flynn couldn’t fence, but he knew photographically what looked good on the screen. Mark has now got a Flynn-quality about him.” ”

Excerpt From: J.W. Rinzler & Brad Bird. “The Making of Return of the Jedi (Enhanced Edition).” Random House Publishing Group, 2013. iBooks. https://itun.es/us/4sm4N.l

So to anyone doubting how good a swordsman Mark was, or how hard he worked, as we had on another of these posts? Step off.

[white-throated-packrat]

Oh, wow. It’s really obvious how much work is going on without the special effects to distract you…

[lucassfilm]

Bad

[niquito1]

[lvlbeginner-deactivated20181218]

This is why I’m on Tumblr. 

[filiasyth]

@squagel