who's the man?

riddle me this, riddle me that...

i am not made of steel or stone
yet can be sharp or flat.
i am rittled with scales from end to end
to swim with? no. i was never good at that.
you cannot see me, feel me, taste me, smell me,
do you finally know what i'm going at?

****

i was browsing youtube last night for clips on john williams, a famous hollywood composer. to be honest, i am not quite familiar with the name and it would be safe to assume that most of you are not as well. apart from serious music and movie buffs (both of which i am not), i sincerely doubt that the mere mentioning of his name would even create a flicker in the light bulbs in our heads.

so what is it about john williams, anyway? well, despite his name sharing the same level of familiarity with, lets say, augustus zabriskie (who, after i googled the name, was apparently a civil war dude from jersey... like i care), he is, as for my research, actually very famous! very VERY famous, so famous that his resume involves him working the movie industry's greatest movers and shakers. even greater, that his body of work involves creating the music for movies that are probably the icons of their time, and with that, he inadvertently also composed the soundtrack of our lives (those who were born early enough to know these movies, that is).

don't believe me? watch these two vids of SOME (underline SOME) of his works...





i swear... i found myself saying "OMG! he did THAT!? and THAT AS WELL?!" so many times, i just shut myself up and kept my comments to myself. amazing, particularly because i really did grow up listening to these pieces. i heard them, hummed them, pretended to be conducting them, and by golly, even sang them out loud on certain full moon nights! undeniably, his works have indeed left an impression in me. so deep, some pieces move me to tears (the theme from "schindler's list").

and why shouldn't they leave an impression? music already on it's own is a powerful force, combine this with a fantastic movie and you have a double whammy combo-meal galore! william's work not only was able to utilize this amazing tool, but was also able to successfully translate the movie into notes, and chords, and rhythm, and scale. he did this so perfectly that it is almost impossible to separate the movie from its score. can you honestly not think of "jaws" without hearing that ominous crecesdo? or can imagine darth vader and star wars without hearing "the imperial march" playing in the background? more so, hitchcock's "psycho" and that shower scene without hearing violins screaching to janet leigh's gruesome end?

to say that williams is a genious is like saying britney spears is kinda trashy... a gross understatement. john williams IS the man!!!!!

NB: this post was instigated by another post care of richie, who so timely posted this vid. it definitely gave me lots of cheer on the time i needed it the most.



performed a cappella by the dudes at moosebutter, here is canadian dancer, corey vidal, lip synching all 4 voices in this amazing and very amusing clip. for the lyrics, visit the site at moosebutter. hilarious!!!