parsimon is totes rolling her eyes at this.
Do you have a link to the song that isn't a commercial?
2: I was searching for one but got distracted by NCAA basketball and posted without it. If you find one, do share.
Hm, their (quasi-?)official YouTube account contains just these two videos and a couple of videos of them playing other songs.
4: It's possible they're doing a project just for song placement. I occasionally lay drumbeats for just that purpose: someone's looking for a commercial song, or whatever.
This makes me think of "Scott Pilgrim" (the movie, at least), and how it was supposed to be such a betrayal for Sex Bob-omb to go commercial at the end. It seemed outdated to me at the time -- people still care about selling out? -- but apparently I was wrong.
Also I finally got around to listening to the Fun. track that got posted last week, and it (and the other track of theirs I listened to) is a) catchy as hell, b) kind of horrible, and c) totally built for use in a commercial/TV show/movie.
My God, I was at the office yesterday evening (the office is staffed by law students), and someone was playing some internet radio station, and that horrible song came on, the one neb linked to, ft. Janelle Monae. Several people seemed to know it, and I said I really hated it, and then several people said they loved it and I was being a hipster not to like it. I questioned people about it: "Doesn't it annoy you that it seems to switch genres so rapidly and frequently?" Responses: "I guess I've never really listened to the whole song all the way through." Or: "No, it sounds good." My question: "Doesn't it sound horribly overwrought?" I was met by incomprehension. Conclusions: (1) I'm getting old. (2) Other people like shit music. (3) The record companies who pump out this everything-core shit really know what they're doing; people only listen for little hooks that they vaguely like, and that's enough to get people to say "OMG I love this song." (4) It's a good thing we have strict intellectual privacy laws that enable this kind of stuff to get made and enrich our sonic lives.
8: I probably shouldn't admit how many times I listened to that song today, should I?
8: I probably shouldn't admit how many times I listened to that song today, should I?
I probably shouldn't admit how many times I clicked the submit button, should I?
Don't worry, Josh. I listened to it a bunch of times too. The only thing we have to fear is Bave's hipster rage.
I'm going to be entirely off topic.
Ed Crane, of Cato:
That email -- well, we had a strategy meeting on how to deal with the crisis of contributions. Our contributions have dropped precipitously from people who like us. They call in and say, until this thing's settled, I'm not giving you another dime. My position, in writing to contributors, was, look: We still are Cato. We still are a libertarian think tank doing what we've always done and we need your money.
Libertarianism, gentiles and ladymen.
Although I think it's still a bit early in the thread to go entirely off topic.
how I'd react if one of my bands got approached about a song placement
A drummer friend of mine appears for about half a second in this Twix ad from the 1980s, and paid for college from the royalties from it.
Sorry, Teo. What is the proper count, 125 or so? Or does there have to be a mention of anal first?
Anyway, I just thought that was very very funny, and wanted to share.
I still haven't listened to that song with someone or other. I may have clicked over to the video with the sound off, but I can't remember.
Sorry, Teo. What is the proper count, 125 or so? Or does there have to be a mention of anal first?
Eh, it's not a big deal, especially on a slow night like this. It's just that some people (including me at times) do sometimes get annoyed at threadjacks before there's been much discussion of the topic of the post itself, especially if it's a topic we don't discuss very often. That's not really the case here, though.
20: Someone I used to date is an art photographer, and was offered low-ish five figures for unlimited, exclusive use of a photo by Nike. They stuck on the "exclusive" part, but I think that's only because she could afford it the time.
I'm not sure there is a lesson here.
20: Someone I used to date is an art photographer, and was offered low-ish five figures for unlimited, exclusive use of a photo by Nike. They stuck on the "exclusive" part, but I think that's only because she could afford it the time.
I'm not sure there is a lesson here.
Erm. "Snicker" is "Grumbles". Embarrassing. My dumb machine is not Doing the Right Thing here.
Are Snicker and Grumbles commenting from the same computer? Or are you courting LB's pseud-switching wrath?
Also, Stanley is a sellout. I'm ashamed to know him.
Anheuser-Busch approached us in 1994 and bought a song for a commercial. I thought it was terrific. I liked seeing the commercial, and people would ask me how I felt about it, and I would tell them it was the easiest money I ever made. I never looked at it as anything bad. Sometimes something like that can be lame, but for beer, which is very American, it's good.
Grumbles and snicker are commenting from the same iPad, I happen to be the same person. Weirdly, clearing cookies and that sort of thing are not working. If I had more energy at the moment, I'd switch to a different network, but it is 1 am, and I caught something and am entirely too phlemy (avoiding an obvious hazard here) to fuck around with my firewall and figure out what I did wrong on the cookie/session mess..
A drummer friend of mine appears for about half a second in this Twix ad from the 1980s, and paid for college from the royalties from it.
Suddenly, I think I want a Twix. Mmm.
Oh, and I agree that the sell-out plot-point in Scott Pilgrim seemed weird, but then, a lot of that movie is about weird things.
16 18
Whar's notable about this? They aren't asking for a government handout.
A drummer friend of mine appears for about half a second in this Twix ad from the 1980s, and paid for college from the royalties from it.
Did all those drummers get royalties? That must get pretty expensive.
Does this mean that I have to pay royalties whenever I wear my rage bunny shirt in court?
34: They did. It was a bizarre amount of money. That commercial was on all the damn time, though. The name of the drum corps was The Bridgemen.
To the OP, I would imagine it's not terribly likely your song would get placed in an ad unless you sent a CD to one of those placements agencies, at which point it would become maybe even somewhat likely, right?
I think you should do it. Ads pay good money, and nobody watches the ads on TV anymore, so who would know?
Of course, unc and every other public college cost about 8,000 for four years.
I thought now that the record industry is basically dead, doing a commercial was an acceptable way to make some money. Its not like signing to a major label used to be anyway, because they don't reshape and repackage you. They just use your song.
The sell out thing in Scott Pilgrim definitely seems anachronistic. The comic came out in 2004, and the record industry was clearly a zombie by then.
Note: I stopped following music like it was sports in 1999, so I really don't know what is going on now.
I don't think the sellout bit was in the comic.
With apologies to teofilo, can I interrupt this thread with a fashion bleg? I thought I'd post it here since unfogged is a notorious hang out for haute couture types.
I've been an all 501s all the time except for formal occasions person for most of my life. Recently, I've moved to a different (hotter more humid) part of the country and realized that jeans are all wrong for this climate. They're too heavy and absorb moisture too readily and I don't enjoy walking around feeling like I just took a shower in my clothes.
The trouble is that the obvious alternative, khakis, look weird on me for some reason. I think it's because I'm on the skinny side and they tend to puff out at the hips or something (this is what comes of never thinking about clothes, I don't even have the vocabulary to explain what I mean).
Anyway, can someone recommend pants that are more or less 501-ish in cut & etc. but are suitable for muggy subtropical climes?
AL, I don't know your sex -- I'm guessing male -- but the advice is the same. "Khakis" is not really a single category. Try different cuts, avoiding pleats at all costs, and long khaki shorts as well as cargo (again, encompassing a broad range) pants and shorts. Useful.
Other than that, it's pretty much madras and seersucker.
Can you give us a hint as to where you are?
This sounds like the perfect opportunity to start wearing a lot of linen.
Can you give us a hint as to where you are?
Parsimonville.
It's odd, because I lived here back in the 90s & wore jeans all the time and apparently didn't mind.
Of course, I also lived in an upper floor apartment with no air conditioning, which suggests that I was just insane back then.
they tend to puff out at the hips or something
This could be a question of the type of pockets. Chinos/Khakis with side-seam pockets that you leave sewn shut (or that you sew shut yourself) might help the puffing problem, if that is the cause.
Don't forget the pith helmet, of course.
I recently got some pseudo-khakis that I really love, after a longstanding hatred of all things khaki. They're Dockers in a D2 cut (you might also try D1 which is "slim"), and they're basically tan-colored cotton pants with a subtle pattern in the fabric.
But, really, nosflow gets it right: linen!
To the OP: I got so mad when Chumbawamba went major label and sold "Tubthumping" for use in the Home Alone 3 commercials. Not least because Alice Nutter had written a very stirring manifesto about not doing exactly those things less than a year before. Of course, then they got all over-exposed and people tuned them out except for 90s compilation albums and old anarchists like me. I'm actually kinda looking forward to the inevitable point where Janelle Monae ceases to be the toast of the town and I'll be able to go and see her in smaller venues. I wouldn't be surprised, given the way she's managed her career so far, if she felt the same way herself.
I guess the way I figure it, unless your band takes a strong ideological stance against appearing on commercials, what's the big deal? Esp. after William S. Burroughs' turn as a Nike pitchman. Kind of a Kissinger-wins-the-Nobel-Peace-Prize moment as far as the whole concept of "selling out" goes.
My son gets a few hundred bucks a year because a song he wrote played in the background of a TV show that's in reruns.
49: They're Dockers in a D2 cut
Aren't you missing an "n" there?
Besides pockets, the main cause of puffiness is pleats. If you look at any pants, and you see little folds in the fabric on the front starting at the waistband and trailing off into nothing, do not buy. Also, make sure that the pants don't taper/narrow in at the feet. That can also create a weird silhouette.
Linen really is the best warm humid weather fabric. Look for pants that are cut straight down. Don't worry about the wrinkles too much. Linen wrinkles like mad but for some reason it's okay.
Also maybe go a little wider in your pant leg width? I don't know what cut you wear now but I find a little bit of flow in pants make them much more bearable in the heat.
I used to hear grapevine-stories of people who'd done amazingly well out of songs that got licensed for films or commercials, especially indie types who had savvy deals. A friend of mine used to do some engineering work for a Glasgow producer who'd had some instrumental music placed in a big Hollywood movie, and that basically built his studio. Similarly, Edwyn Collins allegedly made bucketloads from 'A Girl Like You'.
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Finally, finally got my prescriptions for the ongoing gout pain* filled yesterday. After completely withdrawing from opiates over the last couple of weeks, getting 5 mg of oxycodone is suddenly pretty affecting. I wouldn't say I'm "high" exactly, but the alteration in my perceptions of the world are certainly quite noticeable. Quite noticeable indeed.
*Yup, it's still going on, a full month later. I'm seeing my doctor again on Monday, and looking into herbal remedies with friends who are into that stuff.
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I believe that a royalty is paid every time a baseball audience sings "Na na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye" on TV, at least if the organ plays. Them is some powerful lyrics there.
@50
I know nothing about Chumbawamba except the one song, but I seem to recall that they played "Tubthumping" on an awards show they were all wearing T-shirts with "One hit wonder" printed on them in big letters (I don't remember if they wore jeans or khakis).
So was that a message to their pre-existing fans and not just a joke for themselves?
Thanks for the pants suggestions everyone.
Insert "and" between "show" and "they".
57.2 Yeah, they did a bunch of other things to sort of sabotage the whole promotional process. I saw them at the Metro in Chi on that tour, and they did most of their explicitly political/anarchist songs, befuddling the assembled crowd of hundreds of jocks and teeny-boppers, and mollifying the 6 or 7 long-time fan punks.
Na na na na became a sports chant at the University of Minnesota under the legendary jerk coach Bill Mussellman.
59: I remember seeing them at the Lounge Ax in Chicago. That must have been before Tubthumping hit, I guess. It was a really good show. They brought out these huge parade cymbals for one song.
60: Once, when Bill Mussellman was on a scouting trip in rural Minnesota, he got completely lost. He was driving down a rutted country road when he saw a young man plowing a field with two mules. He stopped the car and got out to ask the young man for directions back to the highway. The young man said "I can give you directions alright, but first I'm going to sing you a little song I wrote." He proceeded to sing "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" with perfect pitch, and Mussellman immediately saw it's potential to galvanize the fans at football games. Then the young man gave him the directions. As Mussellman got into his car, he saw the young man pick up the mule team and the plow, and start walking back to the barn, still singing.
With apologies to teofilo, can I interrupt this thread with a fashion bleg?
I decree that 40 comments in is fine.
Mussellman was thug basketball, young man. Had some good teams but also got MN an NCAA suspension.
Mussellman did recruit one MN country boy, Mark Olberding from Melrose (down the road from Wobegon). Olberding had a pro career and was an enforcer type and Bruise Brother. It's my understanding that it is extremely unusual for Minnesota country folk to play high level basketball, what with their lack of speed and jump. Down linemen in football is about it.
What is it about the Minnesota countryside that so imbues the locals with such limited running and jumping capabilities?
Whiteness of course, but Wobegonian culture is especially phlegmatic and inclines toward beefiness. Not many quarterbacks, receivers, or running backs either (except blocking fullbacks who sometimes run).
Whiteness of course, but Wobegonian culture is especially phlegmatic and inclines toward beefiness. Not many quarterbacks, receivers, or running backs either (except blocking fullbacks who sometimes run).
41: Linen pants can be expensive to clean and a little too floppy to be suitable for non-resort occasions. For warm weather I'd try some of the slimmer "khaki"-branded trousers, particularly in poplin. I think Bill's Khakis makes their slimmest model, the M3, in poplin, and you can find them sometimes for pretty decent prices at Sierra Trading Post.
Remember when "London Calling" got used in a commercial? For Jaguar?!!!
Within a few months Joe Strummer was dead.
Just saying.
OK, for next time I'll try to remember Post ≠ Preview.
Why are pleats in pants so very common? Back when I made a project of asking a few people "how should I dress to look better?" the one thing everyone immediately said was "don't wear pleated pants." (I wore a lot of Dockers. They actually make pants I don't have to get hemmed, which is extremely uncommon.)
Why are pleats in pants so very common?
They're forgiving to very heavy-set people, and there are a lot of very heavy-set people in this country?
This talk of pleats reminds me that I saw a guy wearing a suit with pants that had both pleats and cuffs. My immediate reaction was "how very '90s".
I wear pleated pants more than non-pleated. They're just so much more comfortable that I don't care if they're a little billowy.
I think part of my problem is that I've never really ventured beyond the standard Banana Republic, Macy's & etc. type stores when looking for khakis. I guess the big retail places all go in for pleats.
We've discussed pleats before, but I don't think we ever reached any solid conclusions about them.
50: I guess the way I figure it, unless your band takes a strong ideological stance against appearing on commercials, what's the big deal?
Yeah, pretty much. Now, if the song is actually about the evils of consumer manipulation through advertising/marketing, and you do interviews in which you earnestly explain that you wrote the song in hopes of providing a powerful message about said evils, then it's going to be a little weird if your song is used in a commercial. Otherwise, eh.
I thought there was an anti-pleats consensus a few years ago (not just here). Recently, I've heard pleats are ok again (but not from here). I've concluded from this to not pay much attention to the pleat vs. non-pleat debate (in the larger world).
I buy pants almost exclusively from big retail stores. There's usually a lot of both pleat and non-pleat everywhere I've been.
I don't normally watch much sports, but I've had basketball on in the background a lot the last few days out of some kind of vestigial Kentuckianism if nothing else, and: is it just me, or does the dialogue of sportcasters comprise almost exclusively double entendres?
The post linked in 80 is pretty hilarious. Sherri is a taskmaster!
I don't see how exceptions can be made for mock turtlenecks, however.
Shouldn't priority for heart transplants go to people who had a heart to begin with?
If the implementation of the ACA hadn't been so long delayed, this never would have happened.
On the original topic, wasn't there a flurry of "whatever happened to the idea of selling out?" stories about when Feist was first showing up in Apple ads?
Something strikes me about that Labs post linked in 80!
He starts off saying "I'm proud to say I'm a Hickey Freeman man", then approvingly quotes someone else saying "I have, in my closet, somewhere around $1500 worth of pleated suits and pants."
But how many Hickey Freeman suits is that, anyway? At most one, and potentially not even all of one.
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So, for people who are childless, who presumably have more money to save that they're not spending on their kids, how do you make sure that you're taken care of in your old age?
Because, let me tell you, hospital social workers seem to be focused on "find next of kin. Tell them to deal with it."
I mean, maybe I can save up for assisted living and have some young friends who will visit me when I'm old, but....
I hate the baby boomers for not designing policies to deal with the aging of the population.
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90: Oh hey, we fucked that up too? Sorry as can be, everyone! But here's an idea: You've been old enough to vote for a while now. You do something about it.
63: I decree that 40 comments in is fine.
I for one fear welcome our new assertive teo overlord.
I hate the baby boomers for being Republicans.
I hate the baby boomers for not dying.
Too soon?
90: Sorry, mcmc. I'm just stressed dealing with my parents and the lack of resources and the cost of care. I think my Dad is technically not a boomer, but a member of the Silent Generation.
And, seriously, do you have a plan for yourself, mcmc? I ask, because I'm kind of afraid that I'm going to die in a ditch or something, since neither I nor my sister are likely to have kids.
94: I'm starting to wonder whether I should be like Biohazard and make plans to shoot myself once I'm old and decrepit.
This is sick and not what I really believe.
And, seriously, do you have a plan for yourself, mcmc? I ask, because I'm kind of afraid that I'm going to die in a ditch or something
I don't have much of a plan. I've had discussions with friends on the feasibility of forming an old people coop that could buy a building somewhere in the rust-belt, share the cost of a visiting nurse/housekeeper/meals-on-wheels sort of team, or I don't know what, but we haven't really come up with anything. I'll probably end up living on ramen noodles in a trailer next to a meth lab, and get mauled to death by the pit bulls.
Actually, the only thing I'm really afraid of is dementia.
Shouldn't priority for heart transplants go to people who had a heart to begin with?
Really. I was promised death panels.
My mother (born in 1938) had a plan for herself: no heroic measures, no life support. She had a will and power of attorney plan drawn up spelling out end of life care. She did, of course, have two children, but neither of us is of especial financial means. She was also drawing both Social Security and a pension, my father having been in the military, and then later a civil servant with the US Postal Service. So, she and my father made life choices -- including not getting actually divorced when they separated -- with these things in mind.
Now that many defined benefit pension plans are a thing of the past, increasing numbers of us are in a bad position by comparison.
Other than that, she cultivated extended family relationships: my aunt and uncle, who've built a new house for themselves over the past 10 years or so, planned an extra room for my mother should she need to be taken in when the time came. Bless their hearts.
Other than that, there's Medicaid.
I do know a couple of women who are 15 years or so older than I am--they had adventurous lives as freelance journalists and are now living on basically on SS. They still manage to have a good time even though their circumstances are pretty dire.
I need to start befriending 8 year-olds, parsimon.
It's just so frustrating that society thinks that because my Mom would be unable to take care of my Dad once he gets out of the hospital and still needs IV antibiotics that I'm supposed to drop everything and do it myself. That's less about the money part than societal expectations.
100: I think that Medicare should pay for home health aids and nurses. Medicaid in MA does.
100: I'm figuring on something like that, yes. Keep your contacts and friends up. Solidarity, roommates, sharing resources.
102: If you can find one. The Visiting Nurses organization (at least in Chelsea) spends all its money on middle management and has laid off a bunch of nurses and aids.
104: That sucks. My agency gets city psych to bring people meds a lot, and they do insulin. But that's for clients of the department of mental health.
Why are pleats in pants so very common?
Pants used to be worn higher, at the natural waist rather than on the hips, and cut fuller, and tended to be made of heavier materials, which draped better than the current stuffs.
Yeah, Medicaid kicks in for LTC once assets are spent down, so it's the biggest payer I think. Still sucks though. Shame about the CLASS Act, which was meant to do something about it.
So, for people who are childless, who presumably have more money to save that they're not spending on their kids, how do you make sure that you're taken care of in your old age?
IME, many don't, and the results are very sad.
I plan to train a team of Falabellas to care for me in my old age.
Men should look for non-pleated pants, generally speaking. This will be true for another few years, I think.
For women, pleats have come roaring back, but they're tricky. You're looking for a slim and drapey line. High waists have also come back, which necessitate a least a certain amount of tucks. Non-pleats are of course safer, but the bleeding-edge involves asymmetrical pleats. Do I have any? No.
110: Yep. Pleats are now fashion forward. The trick is to make it look like you purposefully are wearing pleats, not that you've kept a pair of pants around from 1991. Oh, man, I'm going to say it, you have to wear them ironically.
Sorry.
They should appear back in department store men's wear in less than 5 years? But in the young, stylish men section.
Oh jeggings! They are so horrible!
And I was wearing a pair around the house just today.
They're like pajamas that miraculously have been okayed for outside (or at least they were last year).
I saw someone wearing jeggings today.
I won't lie; she looked pretty hot.
Pleats have never left the big boring chain department stores in malls.
Jeggings are puzzling. On the one hand, every time I see someone wearing them, I feel like I'm witnessing a crime against the very idea of good taste. And yet--and yet--almost inevitably, the person wearing them seems, subjectively speaking, to be pretty hot. There's gotta be some sort of antimony involving practical or theoretical reason implicated here, but I'll leave this for nosflow to puzzle out.
Only those with high confidence in their attractiveness could wear something so ridiculous.
108: Right, and I'm stuck dealing with my parents. I don't want to be the sort of burden on anyone that they are on me, so, someday, I'd like to plan, but it doesn't really seem like it's possible.
I saw someone wearing really big houndstooth print ones, the other day [big print, not big leggins]. Which seem to be a thing.
Planning for yourself, longterm care insurance exists. I don't know how well it works, but in theory that's how you pay for assisted living and such. Taking care of family who hasn't done this? I wish I knew.
Are jeggings really anything other than a new name for some very old tight pants? It's basically what Olivia Newton John was wearing in this classic scene from Grease, and that movie was made in like 1840.
You'r thinking of leggings, surely? Not that that's accurate either.
My takeaway from all of this is that AcademicLurker should be looking for keggings.
121: I think I know why "You're the one that I want" is stuck in your head.
Pleats are now fashion forward. The trick is to make it look like you purposefully are wearing pleats, not that you've kept a pair of pants around from 1991. Oh, man, I'm going to say it, you have to wear them ironically.
I have some pants and some shorts with pleats. New pleats, not saved pleats. I'm pleased with them.
124: Heh. The stuck song happened first. Then I made that comment over here.
Has the meaning of 'jeggings' broadened in the past few years? When I first saw it, it seemed to refer exclusively to things that were definitely on the leggings end of the pants/leggings spectrum, but then maybe had back pockets, or pseudo-demin coloring, or ghastly printed-on fly and pockets and seaming detailing. Now it does seem to refer to actual pants, just really tight and stretchy ones.
120: In my experience--not broad but n>1--Long Term Care Insurance is a pretty dodgy proposition fraught with misunderstandings, high premiums* and significant variability among providers. When does "unable to feed one's self" actually kick in, for instance? That said I do know one person who is currently getting benefits from their policy (an aide several times a week**). So a lot of care and due diligence required, and probably "best" if started at a relatively early age, although that runs right into the face of massive uncertainty about the shape of old-age care in the relatively distant future. (I am currently in a long drawn out low-level battle of wills with my wife on this very point--recent experience with family members have pushed us in opposite directions on the desirability of pursuing it further. So far my impressive well-honed procrastination skills are prevailing since she believes we need to investigate options together.)
*They seem to have skyrocketed in recent years for precisely the reasons that they have become of great interest to many.
Speaking of methods of arranging adequate care on a societal basis, the coverage and media dialogue on the ACA Supreme Court arguments is going to make my head explode isn't it? And I'm not sure that's covered under my existing plan.
128: That's what I'd heard. It was a good deal for a while, but then they jacked up the rates a bunch, and it's a mess. New York Life is apparently still reputable.
I am planning on checking out a book by a New York Times reporter called A Bittersweet Season: Caring for Our Aging Parents.
Even if you have money to pay, the professionals are not always on top of things, and I think you are in trouble without a good advocate once dementia sets in etc.
