What’s Important
The most important news story today is the passing of David Bowie who was associated with the music industry and wrote songs I didn’t like, but a lot of other people did. He was younger than me, but had been battling with cancer, which he did not advertise. It is certainly sad news for close friends and family, but the news media have gotten a bit carried away reporting on it.
Crude oil has dropped to $31 a barrel, and some talking head on a financial channel admitted he didn’t know why it hasn’t rallied.
The price is supposed to be determined by supply and demand, but you need to remember that there are two supplies involved: the supply of the product and the supply of cash available to the consumers of the product. There is an over-supply of crude oil, and the refiners have been increasing their profits by maintaining their prices while their costs have gone down. This is why the airlines are still charging extra for fuel, and the price of gas hasn’t dropped as fast or as far as the price of crude oil. When you add in the pollution problems in India and China which have caused restrictions on vehicle use to be imposed, lower oil prices have not led to higher demand. People have more necessary things to buy with their limited supply money.
19 comments
Don’t know much about the oil market, but I -am- one of those people who likes David Bowie and his music. Music and performance as art and Science Fiction, the perfect storm for Geeks like me. 🙂
I hold him responsible for Lady Gaga … 🙂
Well… other than that ridiculous meat dress, I like her, too. 😀
I’m more into the music than the performance. After going to several concerts, I just bought albums and listened at home. My choice which is nothing more than that. I don’t assume that anyone else listens to the same music that I do.
I liked some of Bowie’s music, mainly his earlier titles. I also liked the duet he did of The Little Drummer Boy / Peace on Earth with Bing Crosby. What can I say… I have broad eclectic tastes! 😉 😀
So, about this oil price thing… Is this really happening?? (I am very sheltered these days and don’t get out much.) About the only way this seems to have impacted me is that Social “Security” has decided not to give me a cost of living increase because the price of gasoline has gone down. Say what? Nothing else seems to have done. When can I expect the cost of food and electricity to go down? Ever?
Regardless, I’m not expecting things to change any time soon. 🙁
Kryten, eclectic doesn’t begin to cover my musical taste that includes bagpipes, Coltrane, ELP, the Who, Eric Clapton, Joan Baez, etc. Bowie just didn’t touch me. He was obviously very popular with a lot of people as his death dominated the world news sites.
Yes, the drop in the price of oil will save me about $40/year given that I drive less than 2000 miles a year. Of course, that decrease doesn’t come close to covering my increased costs for food and health care. The lack of a Social Security raise is effectively a cut in income for people on Social Security.
The price of crude oil is dropping, but the cost of gasoline hasn’t dropped as quickly. The refiners have significantly increased their profit margin.
LOL m8! Don’t even think of getting me to compare musical tastes!! You’ll regret it! 😉 😀
I think it was Rocket Man that grabbed me with Bowie. I had a big thing about Space at that time. 🙂 And I think that’s one of the reasons I watched the ‘Life on Mars’ series (UK & US versions.) Curiously, I liked the US version slightly better. 🙂
My music tastes are decidedly eclectic, ranging from bluegrass to noise rock and most things inbetween, but I couldn’t really get into Bowie either as a musician. I just was not / am not a glam rock fan, and that’s where he made his mark on the world.
There are swathes of popular music that I didn’t hear because of where I was and what was on the Armed Forces Radio Network when it was available. I tend to be drawn to individual pieces more than anything else, and then it is dependent on my mood at the time.
Same here Bryan. 🙂 I rarely like all songs on an album/CD.
I really like all kinds… Classical, instrumental, experimental, blues, jazz, rock, pop, heavy metal, psycadelic, new wave, single instrument (guitar, piano, violin, recorder, harpsichord, pan pipes, moog… etc, etc.), lounge, chill, ambiental, folk, Celtic… And many others. Basically, if it’s done well (basically the artist can sing and/or play well) I’ll probably like it. 🙂
I will admit that many of the pieces I like have more to do with where I was in life when I first hear them.
Let’s see, I just finished listening to an epic 30 minute slowcore / drone song that was the entire set performed by Low at a music festival (which almost got them lynched because the audience had come there to rock, well, they chose the wrong band for that!), then an Americana song by Ray Wylie Hubbard where he converses with the Devil about how all the Fox News whores, Nashville record executives, and country music radio program directors are gonna burn in the fires of Hell, and then before that it was a surf rock song by La Luz. Then before that was some Phil Ochs. And a progressive metal song, “Sleep Together”, by Porcupine Tree off their brilliant album “Fear of a Blank Planet”, hmm, time to play “Anesthetize” off that album (17 minutes of pure brilliance). Oh, and a 22 minute ambient track, “Can I Use Magic To Stop The World From Turning”, by Tiny Vipers, which I won’t even post on my blog because it is very much an acquired taste. I don’t have much classical though, and I don’t think I have any jazz at all. Psychedelia… been getting into The Black Angels lately. Trying to decide if my favorite album from them is Phosphene Dream or Passover. Which reminds me that it’s time to post something from them on the blog…
You also like songs by suicidal writers…
Actually, I should thank you for introducing me to the music of Sarah Jarosz.
I helped a couple friends set up an online music sales, distribution business called GUP (Ground Under Productions) in ’99- 2000. They specialised in Goth, Industrial, Noise & similar genere’s. Eventually, they produced their own bands & label. Sadly, the market declined by late 2000’s despite being sold through a major retailer here & several online stores such as iTunes. Anyway, you might find them interesting. Sales part is offline, but the label catalog is still up. 🙂
GUP
I really enjoyed some of the Productions & still own several CD’s. Went to a lot of Goth parties too! They were a fun crowd, made me an honorary Goth even though I wouldn’t dress up (Said I had the true Goth soul, and I guess I do!) LOL I told them I’d had enough of wearing uniforms to last eternity! Somewhat surprisingly, they got it. 🙂
And THAT is something I’ve never told anyone who didn’t already know. 😉
There is an absolute dearth of diversity in the over-the-air media. The bosses look at sales numbers and only play the biggest sellers … except the legacy rating services don’t reflect the real numbers. They are as bad as the old TV rating services. If you look at popular play lists you have to wonder who are the people buying most of these songs and how can there be so many of them?
Note: I think there is something about the way you write on some topics that drives the spam program to the point of hostility.
Ehhh… I figured your spam filter hates me. *shrug* Probably doesn’t understand Queens English! LOL
Like everything Bryan, it’s all rigged. I worked in the Music industry long enough to know that.
The AUD is 0.66 vs USD currently. If it gets any lower, nobody will be buying anything from the USA here.
Bryan, here in the US the over-the-air playlists are largely determined by payola now, though they go by the rubric “marketing fees”. Yes, labels must *pay* radio stations to get their songs on the air today, with the exception of various “underground” stations and college radio stations and public broadcasting radio stations. No pay, no play. It’s the American way. I understand there was a scandal about payola back in your youth which made it illegal, but when it comes to money and companies with more money than God, there’s always a way around the law.
I’ve made it a rule that I won’t play anything on my blog that has played on the radio. I make an exception on rare occasions — I played Serj Tankian’s “Empty Walls” there, for example, because its video was just that good, even though I first heard it on the radio — but in general I like finding people who haven’t played on the radio and sharing their music with others. I do have more commercial stuff on my own personal iTunes though, including some of the classics like CCR and early Stones :). I also have all of Courtney Barnett’s stuff, something about her deadpan Aussie slacker anthems just appeals to me, she gives zero f*cks and it shows.
Kryten, you are about at parity with Canada on the money front, and anymore the US has almost nothing to export except a name brand sticker, for which they charge entirely too much.
It’s just like supermarkets – most people don’t know that supermarkets sell the best locations on their shelves to their suppliers. The stuff that is convenient paid for that advantage. The stuff that is heard on the radio, paid for the advantage – one way or another.