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Darren New <dne### [at] san rrcom> wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
> > Now as to whether MJ was a genius or not, well, personally, I don't think
> > so. His music always struck me as rubbish pop. But that's just my
> > tastes against his style.
> I think it's not unreasonable to look to the dozens of other famous
> performers and composers who cited him as inspirational and geniusly talented.
I must admit I haven't looked if MJ composed his songs himself, or whether
he just performed them. AFAIK he personally composed at least *some* (if not
most) of the songs he performed.
IMO regardless of whether or not one *likes* the songs in question, one
cannot reasonably claim that they don't show compositional talent. Many of
the songs are quite complex in structure and content. So complex in fact,
that it can be very difficult for the average person to perform them even
nearly as well as he did. Yet they still manage to be good-sounding and
catchy.
The music of the songs is also often complex and well-composed, IMO.
If you tried to play them eg. with a guitar, it would be quite difficult.
I'm thinking about songs like Billie Jean, Beat It and Black Or White.
--
- Warp
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Mueen Nawaz <m.n### [at] ieeeorg> wrote:
> On 06/28/09 12:36, John VanSickle wrote:
> > I did hear of a man who applied for work at a day care center. He was
> > regarded as a pervert trolling for victims.
> Let me guess. He was probably single?
I find it a bit ironic that the exact same photograph can be completely
legal and ok in a family photo album, and illegal in a single man's
personal computer. This even though the letter of the law probably doesn't
make the distinction.
--
- Warp
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somebody <x### [at] ycom> wrote:
> The court may come to completely different conclusions if a partner in sex
> is 17.9 years as opposed to 18.1 years old. To me, that's more or less
> meaningless, and I have a much more smooth judegement curve, which takes
> into account the age differential between the partners.
You mean if a 45-yo has sex with a 18.1-yo, that's ok, but if he has
sex with a 17.9-yo, that's not ok?
--
- Warp
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"Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote in message
news:4a47a147@news.povray.org...
> Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
> > But I also hold the opinion (based on what was
> > reported, so arguably not a very solid foundation) that he had problems
> > as regards kids and that the jury let the "star factor" get in the way
of
> > an objective verdict in his case, just like happened with OJ's trial.
> One interesting aspect is that even if he *did* like kids in the wrong
> way, that's actually not illegal. You can't punish people for how they
> think (not yet, at least; we are still not that Orwellian), only for what
> they *do*.
Correct. But *I* (as well the rest of society) can very well judge people
for what I think they think.
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somebody <x### [at] ycom> wrote:
> Correct. But *I* (as well the rest of society) can very well judge people
> for what I think they think.
Then you are being prejudiced, and judging people on appearances.
We'll just have to agree to disagree on whether this is an acceptable
stance or not.
--
- Warp
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Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:
> Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
> > Jim Henderson wrote:
> > > Now as to whether MJ was a genius or not, well, personally, I don't think
> > > so. His music always struck me as rubbish pop. But that's just my
> > > tastes against his style.
>
> > I think it's not unreasonable to look to the dozens of other famous
> > performers and composers who cited him as inspirational and geniusly talented.
>
> I must admit I haven't looked if MJ composed his songs himself, or whether
> he just performed them. AFAIK he personally composed at least *some* (if not
> most) of the songs he performed.
>
> IMO regardless of whether or not one *likes* the songs in question, one
> cannot reasonably claim that they don't show compositional talent. Many of
> the songs are quite complex in structure and content. So complex in fact,
> that it can be very difficult for the average person to perform them even
> nearly as well as he did. Yet they still manage to be good-sounding and
> catchy.
>
> The music of the songs is also often complex and well-composed, IMO.
> If you tried to play them eg. with a guitar, it would be quite difficult.
> I'm thinking about songs like Billie Jean, Beat It and Black Or White.
Yes, excellent response.
No, I don't think he was the composer, he was mainly a lyricist and performer.
Perhaps melody and basic harmonic progression was his doing, but the detailing
and complexity of the arrangements and orchestration was left to real
musicians, like Quincy Jones and special guests like Eddie Van Halen or Paul
McCartney.
Regardless, I never said he was a musical genius -- while I truly do enjoy some
of his songs from a musical standpoint alone. He was a performatic genius,
whatever that means. He's also pretty much an embodiment of the 80's and left
a huge influence on whatever came after, specially on street dance.
I'm mostly a music snob, but having met Michael before the classicals may be
what has proven his music so enduring with me. I still find his offerings much
better than most of the majority of pop music.
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On 06/28/09 13:11, Darren New wrote:
> John VanSickle wrote:
>> And let us all learn from it: Don't be a s**t to your kids (MJ's dad
>> reportedly was), and don't surround yourself with sycophants (which MJ
>> clearly did).
>
> Funny enough, all his actual close friends all thought he was a great,
> kind, funny guy. It's only those who wanted something from him that
> called him out.
I think his point was that MJ surrounded himself with people who liked
him, and he'd get quite upset at those who'd criticize (legitimately)
his ways and habits, and probably wouldn't maintain ties with those people.
In other words, he didn't have an effective feedback mechanism from
which he could gauge how he was doing.
(I'm not, BTW, talking about kids - more about his inability to take
control of finances, medications, and some personality aspects).
--
For a while, she had a boyfriend with a wooden leg. Then she broke it off.
/\ /\ /\ /
/ \/ \ u e e n / \/ a w a z
>>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
anl
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On 06/28/09 13:54, somebody wrote:
>> Here I disagree with you. Courts have nothing to do with it. I feel
>> that for serious charges, judgment should be suspended until there _is_
>> enough data to declare it.
>
> My mind does not work in a binary manner (gratefully).
My paragraph did not imply a need to be binary.
>> See above paragraph. I personally need more data of being a racist
>> before coming to a conclusion that someone indeed is a racist.
>
> Do you believe that it's all black and white? That if MR crossed a certain
> treshold (say, 12 episodes of racist rants per year) that you'd consider him
> a racist, but anything below that you would not? Can you honestly say even a
> single episode will not change your mind about him just a little bit?
Nope. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough.
I need a certain threshold before I will even _consider_ whether
someone is a racist. That's not being binary.
My threshold isn't "one incident" (at least in MR's case).
--
For a while, she had a boyfriend with a wooden leg. Then she broke it off.
/\ /\ /\ /
/ \/ \ u e e n / \/ a w a z
>>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
anl
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On 06/28/09 13:27, Darren New wrote:
> Great sig, btw. :-)
>
> Do Not Attempt to Traverse a Chasm in Two Leaps...
>
> /\ /\ /\ /
> / \/ \ u e e n / \/ a w a z
Thanks. Don't recall where I got it from...
--
For a while, she had a boyfriend with a wooden leg. Then she broke it off.
/\ /\ /\ /
/ \/ \ u e e n / \/ a w a z
>>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
anl
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On 06/28/09 13:15, Darren New wrote:
> somebody wrote:
>> shopping mall, and you'll instantly have a swarm of adoring females. You
>> won't see any similar flocking behaviour from men
>
>
> And, uh, which camp does MJ fall into, then? Not that I'm being totally
> serious, but given how many people make fun of him for his femininity...
Well, hope no one minds the resumption of MJ jokes, but here's one I
saw on Reddit. For context, people there often complain about things
like missing white females get a lot more press and collective worry
than missing black men.
A: Oh suuure. Rich white lady dies of a heart attack and the media is
all over it. What if this was a black man?
B: Only in America can a poor black man grow up to be a rich white woman!
--
For a while, she had a boyfriend with a wooden leg. Then she broke it off.
/\ /\ /\ /
/ \/ \ u e e n / \/ a w a z
>>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
anl
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On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:06:19 -0400, Warp wrote:
> one
> cannot reasonably claim that they don't show compositional talent.
Well, I disagree. Most pop music in and of itself consists of very
simple rhythm and not a lot of musical ingenuity, based on what I've
heard.
Jim
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On 06/28/09 13:38, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> It isn't, however, illegal. And I suspect it's not even
> "universally"
>> inappropriate (in terms of all of humanity).
>
> Um, some of the things he was accused of are in fact illegal. That's why
> he went to court.
I know - I was, however, referring to what we *know* rather than what
he's been accused of.
> Well, you're entitled to do that. I would deem those parents
> irresponsible at least to just think that it's OK to let their kids sleep
> over with him because he's a star. It's naive to think that the stage
Well, I think anyone who thinks it's OK to let their kids sleep over
anyone's house merely due to stardom is irresponsible to an extent (not
enough for the law, though).
But was that the case? The parents had not spent time with MJ?
> Those who were willing to let their kids stay with him when they didn't
> know about him as a *person* might just as well have left their kids with
> some other stranger. Just because someone is famous doesn't mean that
Do you know that the parents didn't know him personally?
--
For a while, she had a boyfriend with a wooden leg. Then she broke it off.
/\ /\ /\ /
/ \/ \ u e e n / \/ a w a z
>>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
anl
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On 06/28/09 14:16, somebody wrote:
> Correct. But *I* (as well the rest of society) can very well judge people
> for what I think they think.
We all know you *can*. That was never under dispute.
--
For a while, she had a boyfriend with a wooden leg. Then she broke it off.
/\ /\ /\ /
/ \/ \ u e e n / \/ a w a z
>>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
anl
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On 06/28/09 14:06, Warp wrote:
> I must admit I haven't looked if MJ composed his songs himself, or whether
> he just performed them. AFAIK he personally composed at least *some* (if not
> most) of the songs he performed.
Looking at the Thriller album, he did write some of the songs (at least
the lyrics). Beat It and Billie Jean were written by him, for example.
Some others as well.
Looking at Bad, he wrote Bad, Smooth Criminal, and a bunch of others
from that album.
Too lazy to look at the rest. But it is clear that he did write some of
his big hits.
--
For a while, she had a boyfriend with a wooden leg. Then she broke it off.
/\ /\ /\ /
/ \/ \ u e e n / \/ a w a z
>>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
anl
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Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
> Well, I disagree. Most pop music in and of itself consists of very
> simple rhythm and not a lot of musical ingenuity, based on what I've
> heard.
Musical ingenuity does not necessarily have to be measured in technical
terms. There's also the subjective component to it.
Even a simple tune can be really catchy. If someone composes such a tune,
one could argue that's music ingenuity at work.
--
- Warp
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On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:02:41 -0400, Warp wrote:
> Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
>> Well, I disagree. Most pop music in and of itself consists of very
>> simple rhythm and not a lot of musical ingenuity, based on what I've
>> heard.
>
> Musical ingenuity does not necessarily have to be measured in
> technical
> terms. There's also the subjective component to it.
Of course. And in my subjective opinion, pop music simply isn't complex
enough or rich enough to meet my own criteria for "genius".
> Even a simple tune can be really catchy. If someone composes such a
> tune,
> one could argue that's music ingenuity at work.
Sure. Sometimes simple is ingenious, but there's a difference between
something simple that's ingenious and a three-chord wonder.
Jim
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On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:49:51 -0500, Mueen Nawaz wrote:
> On 06/28/09 13:38, Jim Henderson wrote:
>>> It isn't, however, illegal. And I suspect it's not even
>> "universally"
>>> inappropriate (in terms of all of humanity).
>>
>> Um, some of the things he was accused of are in fact illegal. That's
>> why he went to court.
>
> I know - I was, however, referring to what we *know* rather than
what
> he's been accused of.
What I know is what was in the few reports that I read.
>> Well, you're entitled to do that. I would deem those parents
>> irresponsible at least to just think that it's OK to let their kids
>> sleep over with him because he's a star. It's naive to think that the
>> stage
>
> Well, I think anyone who thinks it's OK to let their kids sleep
over
> anyone's house merely due to stardom is irresponsible to an extent (not
> enough for the law, though).
Exactly.
> But was that the case? The parents had not spent time with MJ?
According to the reports I had read, no, they hadn't spent time enough to
know how he'd behave. They were wowed by the "star factor" and that he
wanted to spend time with their kid.
>> Those who were willing to let their kids stay with him when they didn't
>> know about him as a *person* might just as well have left their kids
>> with some other stranger. Just because someone is famous doesn't mean
>> that
>
> Do you know that the parents didn't know him personally?
According to the reports that I read, they didn't.
Jim
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"Mueen Nawaz" <m.n### [at] ieeeorg> wrote in message
news:4a47d5ce$1@news.povray.org...
> > Do you believe that it's all black and white? That if MR crossed a
certain
> > treshold (say, 12 episodes of racist rants per year) that you'd consider
him
> > a racist, but anything below that you would not? Can you honestly say
even a
> > single episode will not change your mind about him just a little bit?
> Nope. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough.
>
> I need a certain threshold before I will even _consider_ whether
> someone is a racist. That's not being binary.
You don't consider whether someone's a racist below a treshold, you consider
whether someone's racist above it. However you word it (and yes, I realize
the difference between X and considering the possibility of X), it's a
binary proposition.
> My threshold isn't "one incident" (at least in MR's case).
Is it 3, 5, 25? Why do I have a feeling you won't be willing to share that
treshold with us? :P
Personally, one incident is enough for me to entertain the notion, and I
don't have a problem with thinking that someone might be very mildly racist.
Of course the more incidents, the stronger my conviction is about the
strength of the racism, but I cannot really pinpoint a treshold. It's
entirely possible your mind works very differently in that respect.
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"Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote in message
news:4a47c132@news.povray.org...
> somebody <x### [at] ycom> wrote:
> > The court may come to completely different conclusions if a partner in
sex
> > is 17.9 years as opposed to 18.1 years old. To me, that's more or less
> > meaningless, and I have a much more smooth judegement curve, which takes
> > into account the age differential between the partners.
> You mean if a 45-yo has sex with a 18.1-yo, that's ok, but if he has
> sex with a 17.9-yo, that's not ok?
Possibly from a legal point. Not from my personal POV. That's the whole
point. Something does not have to be a (provable) crime for me to pass
unfavourable personal judgement. That the 45 yo was cleared by the court
because the partner happened to have their 18th birthday the day before
changes very little, if anything at all, for me.
That said, you can be fined the same parking fee whether you are 1 minute or
59 minutes over, and will not be fined if you are 15 seconds under. While
that's also a very binary "legal" judgement, it doesn't carry any moral
implications.
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"Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote in message
news:4a47c1fb@news.povray.org...
> somebody <x### [at] ycom> wrote:
> > Correct. But *I* (as well the rest of society) can very well judge
people
> > for what I think they think.
> Then you are being prejudiced, and judging people on appearances.
Appearance?
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On 06/28/09 17:43, somebody wrote:
>> I need a certain threshold before I will even _consider_ whether
>> someone is a racist. That's not being binary.
>
> You don't consider whether someone's a racist below a treshold, you consider
> whether someone's racist above it. However you word it (and yes, I realize
> the difference between X and considering the possibility of X), it's a
> binary proposition.
By that reasoning, yours is also a binary proposition. Either he's not
a racist, or he might be.
>> My threshold isn't "one incident" (at least in MR's case).
>
> Is it 3, 5, 25? Why do I have a feeling you won't be willing to share that
> treshold with us? :P
Because it's nebulous, and depends on the incident(s).
--
For a while, she had a boyfriend with a wooden leg. Then she broke it off.
/\ /\ /\ /
/ \/ \ u e e n / \/ a w a z
>>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
anl
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On Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:46:11 -0400, Jim Henderson wrote:
> Now as to whether MJ was a genius or not, well, personally, I don't
> think so. His music always struck me as rubbish pop. But that's just
> my tastes against his style.
I should add that while I think his music was generally rubbish, he had
significant abilities in the areas of showmanship and dance. I had
forgotten about a lot of that until I was at the gym this afternoon and
watched videos (on MTV, natch) without the sound. There's no doubt he
was talented in those areas.
Jim
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"somebody" <x### [at] ycom> wrote:
> "Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote in message
> news:4a47c1fb@news.povray.org...
> > somebody <x### [at] ycom> wrote:
>
> > > Correct. But *I* (as well the rest of society) can very well judge
> people
> > > for what I think they think.
>
> > Then you are being prejudiced, and judging people on appearances.
>
> Appearance?
Well just my take on this issue.
The court found it did not have enough information to determine guilt or
innocents. However from other evidence like the video posted earlier I would
not risk my children being in contact with someone in the same situation as MJ
was in. It is not a matter of guilt but the risk of guilt. Trust must be
reestablished.
Example: The wife’s friends tell her the husband cheated. He claims he did not.
She has no proof. He will still have to overcome her doubt even if he is
telling the truth. It is human nature.
This is also why OJ had to pay the wrongful death suit but not spend time in
jail. Different levels of proof.
I agree with Warp in that we should not pass improvable guilt but when the risks
are high caution should prevail.
Ah here is another example. If I am swinging a bat at you, you will try to stop
me and take my bat away even though I have not hit you yet. You would be
finding guilt in me and punish me by taking my bat. It is the possibility of
risk and not the fact of guilt.
There is a possibility MJ was innocent but I would not put my children at risk
to find out.
It was quite entertaining to see the ongoing debate. Things like this should
stimulate us all to think about things like this. I believe it is not thinking
that has lead to unbending laws.
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Warp wrote:
> Mueen Nawaz <m.n### [at] ieeeorg> wrote:
>> On 06/28/09 12:36, John VanSickle wrote:
>>> I did hear of a man who applied for work at a day care center. He was
>>> regarded as a pervert trolling for victims.
>
>> Let me guess. He was probably single?
>
> I find it a bit ironic that the exact same photograph can be completely
> legal and ok in a family photo album, and illegal in a single man's
> personal computer. This even though the letter of the law probably doesn't
> make the distinction.
It is probably illegal in both; but the single man is the one who is
more likely to be prosecuted, and more likely, if prosecuted, to be
convicted.
Regards,
John
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Mueen Nawaz wrote:
> On 06/28/09 12:36, John VanSickle wrote:
>> I did hear of a man who applied for work at a day care center. He was
>> regarded as a pervert trolling for victims.
>
> Let me guess. He was probably single?
That is a detail of which I have no recall.
Regards,
John
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