Not a whole lot to say about today, actually. It was the tail end of my unexpected three-day weekend, and I spent it mostly doing the same things I did for the past two days. I did finish a short-short story I’ve been working on recently, and I e-mailed it out to a small-press magazine for consideration. So, y’know, fingers crossed and all that. Regardless of what happens to the story, it’s nice to finish a piece and send it out. That’s not something I do often enough.
I spent the rest of the day reading through accumulated links in Google Reader and watching some stuff online and on DVD. There are scant few extras on the DVD for A Serious Man, but I was amused when one of the production crew discussed how, in re-creating the ’60s, they couldn’t use cars made later than 1960, since these look too distinctively flashy, too later-century, to our modern eyes and therefore don’t read as believable on the screen anymore. I remember this sort of thing coming up a few years back in my viewing of Lost and Deadwood, and how those shows had to diverge from reality in order to make things look more real.
What I didn’t watch today was the winter Olympics — though from all the talk on Twitter, I gather I missed one heck of a hockey game between Canada and the United States and I am, right now, missing one very interesting closing ceremony. I watched a lot more of this year’s Olympic games than I have in recent years, and from the little I saw I think Vancouver did a splendid job of hosting the events. It was nice to regain a little of the Olympic spirit I really haven’t felt too strongly since the early ’90s, but I’m afraid that didn’t translate to watching a parade of flags and Nickelback. Not when there were episodes of The Mighty Boosh and Being Human I could watch.
Though if someone had told me there would be giant inflatable beavers, I might have reconsidered.
Well done! You must resist the Nickelback at all costs. We have no choice in Canada, our radio stations are legally obligated to play 65% Canadian music. This explains why bands like Nickelback are famous here. You can avoid our fate!
Are they legally required to have half the music in French?
I’ll admit, when I first read, on Twitter, that Nickelback was a central act in the closing ceremonies, I thought everyone meant Nickel Creek. And the idea of getting worked up over Nickel Creek, pro or con, just seemed silly. I mean, I have a Nickel Creek song in my iTunes, and I couldn’t even tell you what it sounds like. They’re decent, but I suspect they’re the sort of songs you could forget as you’re playing them.
Nickelback, on the other hand, I hadn’t a clue. I’ve since listened to a little of their music, and I’m not entirely surprised to see them described as the Canadian Creed. It just seems so aggressively mediocre.
Canada’s produced a lot of great musicians. I promise not hold Nickelback against your entire nation.