The best things to come from the US
I had a nice day today and, for once, I feel compelled to start a Happy Thread. I turned on the radio and heard this song by Bruce Springsteen. I forgot the name, but it's from his 'Tunnel of Love' album from 1987. It was, arguably, the nicest song from that album. Anyway. I am quite a Springsteen fan. I have just about all his albums, up to the 4 cd 'Tracks' set, and I am perpetually in doubt as to which album I like most (I do know I like the Human Touch - Lucky Town duo the least). High up there is definitely Nebraska and The River, and The Ghost of Tom Joad, maybe Darkness on the Edge of Town too, and I actually have a liking for Tunnel of Love (though I guess that's not universal). Hell, I've left out his Live set (from 1986), which is just amazing. [I'm not crazy about The Rising though. It sounds awfully repetitive and dull to me.] Anyway, you'll notice that I really cannot pin one down as his best. I love (almost) all of them.
So, after having taking up the nice routine of bashing the US five to ten minutes a day (you'll see, it DOES keep the doctor away), I thought I'm not doing Springsteen, and all the other things from the US that I like, a favor. Plenty of good things can still be said about the US. Plenty of good things originate there. And I WAS thinking of Springsteen as a prime example of what I mean. And, in second (or even first place), I'd have to mention literature. Strangely enough though, as I am European and therefore closer (even if just geographically) to the theatre in which the entire history of literature took place. But America has decent literature. It might have something to do with me having been a student of English, and having come in contact in detail and over a long time, with the work of Afro-American author John Edgar Wideman, and many others, I have seen and read many things I love.
I could mention the Jewish-American authors. Saul Bellow! BELLOW! A name deserving of an exclamation mark. They should give the man another Nobel Prize. Philip Roth. E.L. Doctorow. John Steinbeck even. I love them all. The Beats of course, who hasn't been an adolescent (I imagine) and has tried his hand at being hip by being a Beat-reader... And of course, let's not forget the chest of Afro-American fiction. A subject in which I hope to, one day, earn a PhD.
Ah well, you get my drift. Any thoughts?
So, after having taking up the nice routine of bashing the US five to ten minutes a day (you'll see, it DOES keep the doctor away), I thought I'm not doing Springsteen, and all the other things from the US that I like, a favor. Plenty of good things can still be said about the US. Plenty of good things originate there. And I WAS thinking of Springsteen as a prime example of what I mean. And, in second (or even first place), I'd have to mention literature. Strangely enough though, as I am European and therefore closer (even if just geographically) to the theatre in which the entire history of literature took place. But America has decent literature. It might have something to do with me having been a student of English, and having come in contact in detail and over a long time, with the work of Afro-American author John Edgar Wideman, and many others, I have seen and read many things I love.
I could mention the Jewish-American authors. Saul Bellow! BELLOW! A name deserving of an exclamation mark. They should give the man another Nobel Prize. Philip Roth. E.L. Doctorow. John Steinbeck even. I love them all. The Beats of course, who hasn't been an adolescent (I imagine) and has tried his hand at being hip by being a Beat-reader... And of course, let's not forget the chest of Afro-American fiction. A subject in which I hope to, one day, earn a PhD.
Ah well, you get my drift. Any thoughts?
Comments
Best thing: Rock & Roll
If this is your gesture of goodwill maybe you'll be able to redraft it so it isn't so filled with shock that there may be a some good things lurking in the Heart of Fascist Darkness that is America.
Back on topic - I also like rock and roll music. I really like classic rock and there's sure some good stuff out there by Petty, Clapton, Springsteen, and the like. Macintosh computers also rank high on the list of good things from the USA
One thing I don't like is most of the food here. I have a hard time eating anywhere but an ethnic restaurant. My favorite type of food has to be middle eastern, just about any kind. Indian, Afghani, Ethiopian... I just love a good curried dish. So flavorful, unlike most American food, although a good hamburger is just right sometimes.
Originally posted by ShawnPatrickJoyce
Sliced Cheese. 8)
They should rename that colour to "cheese". It looks just like Irish Cheddar. So amazing that it makes me want a cheese burger.
Originally posted by ShawnPatrickJoyce
Sliced Cheese. 8)
Bullshit. Cheese in a can. That is american genius!
Originally posted by M3D Jack
Bullshit. Cheese in a can. That is american genius!
I agree.
The James Dean of Cheese. 8) 100% Cool.
Originally posted by der Kopf
I could mention the Jewish-American authors. Saul Bellow! BELLOW! A name deserving of an exclamation mark. They should give the man another Nobel Prize. Philip Roth. E.L. Doctorow. John Steinbeck even. I love them all. The Beats of course, who hasn't been an adolescent (I imagine) and has tried his hand at being hip by being a Beat-reader... And of course, let's not forget the chest of Afro-American fiction. A subject in which I hope to, one day, earn a PhD.
Ah well, you get my drift. Any thoughts?
when i read doctorow i keep a dictionary handy.....the way he always finds the perfect word always astounds me.
however i think america's greatest gift to the world are....
MOVIES!
serious, stupid, funny, romantic, inane, beautiful, ugly, big budget, low budget, artistic......
i love foreign films, don't get me wrong, but america invented MOVIES.
oh and JAZZ too.
Originally posted by kraig911
Actually the french and us invented movies at the exact time, different concepts same product though, however our system was cheaper and our society took more to movie's at the time...
truth be told
the Lumiere bros
and Marey
French
and Edison and that famous photo dude who's books every artist has who's name escapes me at the moment
American
though I think it was the French who came up with the first idea of editting by putting two different shots together
but hey, HOLLYWOOD, Rock and Roll, Jazz, Hip Hop, Country Music, BlueGrass,
and, though invented by an Italian(?) and used, first en masse by the Nazis,(!) we perfected Television *ehem...cough..*
also: Plastic: that famous synthetisist Caruthers I believe
and, though the Germans actually invented them, we took the Automobile to truly nuerotic levels of obsession.
and flight
Personal Computers
Walt Whitman, Wallace Stevens, Poe, Plath, Pynchon, Dickenson
Rauschenberg, Warhol, Cage, Bengalis, Cecelia Condit, Pollock, Vito Acconci, Bruce Naumann,
Charles Ives
we invented MOVIES.
the culture of movies, the movie star, taking it to the next gaudy level,
hollywood and all that.....
In America I think it is cool to see people reach the top so often.
Tiger Woods....
Fellowship
Baseball, Football (the kind with helmets
Fenway Franks, Velveeta
Transcendentalism, Antitranscendentalism
The Blues.
The Zippo.
The doggy bag.
In that order.
Aw crap... wait a minute, that's from Canada.
Uhhh. Reason 2.5! No wait - that's German.
Errr... I'll have to say Chicago Style Pizza (cuz believe me, it's not Italian!)