Tuesday, December 18, 2007

On The Whine Train

I enjoy how newspapers have enabled online comments from the public. I'm not sure I enjoy that Topic Drift, wherein an interesting topic for discussion becomes an excuse for the airing of unrelated pet peeves, is an inescapable facet of the human condition. (Of course, Yr Humble Servant tries to stay on topic, but it's not always easy.)

Today's casus belli was restaurant service. The complainant wants to be served his wine in a certain way, and the poor fellow often seems to get an argument about it from the restaurant staff. One would think that the responses to his tale of woe would include sympathy, solutions and retorts. My rough analysis of the actual results is

  • 13 thoughtful, pertinent responses
  • 5 silly ones
  • 6 attacks on the plaintiff's knowledge, motives and psychological health
  • 10 attacks on other commenters' knowledge, motives and psychological health
  • 4 attacks on the staff's training
  • 4 attacks on the restaurant's role in the capitalist system
  • 11 posts that have lost the plot entirely

The other common thread seems to be love of one's own voice. But then, I must be guilty too or I wouldn't be here.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Hunting for DJs

Lately one of our local milongas has been without a regular DJ, so we've had various visitors doing the honors. Last night's was a winner. Every piece he played was danceable, interesting and a great arrangement - many classics but also a few I haven't heard before.

OK, Libertango wasn't danceable but someone requested it, so I won't hold it against the DJ's record. Seriously, have you ever seen anyone dance Libertango well? (That's a challenge, folks - show me the video for proof.) The only hope I see is to dance it nuevo, mostly one step or less per measure. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in the anti-Piazzolla camp. I love the piece, but it's not something that works as an overcaffeinated milonga.

Our hostess says this DJ is not available again for several months. Too bad - he's the best we've had in the last year or so. This kind of organizational headache is one reason I'm quite happy to let other people run the milongas.

Another local hostess has eliminated this staffing problem by DJing herself. She also has the whole night of music preprogrammed so she can dance too. I've heard some grumbling that she needs to rearrange the playlist, though.