Hi, Bill. I couldn't agree more about the jazz analogy (but
then after all I'm an old lady). But to pursue this: if I'm a
jazz aficionado (-a?) and somebody says "Kenny G is not a
jazz musician" we might get into an interesting technical
discussion. If somebody says "obviously women are incapable
of playing jazz", or "MJQ isn't jazz because only Americans
can play jazz", I might only find the remark interesting if
the speaker (1) tries to back it up with technical (musical)
facts; or (2) talks about the sociological background of
early 20c jazz groups; or preferably both.
Fine. I've always enjoyed learning things. On the other
hand, if there is some Peter Pan jumping up and down in the
corner chanting, "Yah-yah, yah-yah, Nigel Kennedy sucks,
Nigel Kennedy sucks and so do you" it is kind of
boring.
So: instead of trading careless stereotypes and sloppy
insults, somebody just explain what they mean when they talk
about things being
"hard-boiled" -- or not? Or, if that isn't possible, somebody
could even start by saying why HARD TIME is not hard-boiled?
Or THE WIRE IN THE BLOOD? Or, if you like, why THE BIG SLEEP
is? I love pinning these things down. If I wanted to watch a
meaningless ruckus, I could go and hang out with an old
friend who is working weekends down in Islington as a night
club bouncer.
Living dangerously,
Marianne
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