Dec 072013
Sounds of the hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!
In this week’s episode your Moderator bemoans the dissipation of yet another clubhouse. Boo hoo hoo! Good work abounds regardless and will continue to do so. Listen in and see if you can’t help this man out of his latest crisis in faith.
RTH Saturday Night Shut-In 120
[Note: You can add Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your iTunes by clicking here. The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player.]
Playlist…after the jump!
- The Banana Splits Theme
- Fats Domino, “Poor Me”
- Foxygen, “In the Darkness”
- Jimmy Reed, “Roll & Rhumba”
- The Beatles, “Strawberry Fields Forever” (German True Stereo)
- Taman Shud, “Lady Sunshine”
- Del Shannon, “Stranger in Town”
- Na Hawa Doumbia, “Kungo Sogoni”
- Television, “Friction”
Hmm, now I’m depressed. I’m going to feel flow with typing and see where it takes me.
For the record this site is not “meh”. Certainly the attention and debate that the site once enjoyed has ebbed. However that doesn’t mean the quality of writing and content has stalled. There are some truly gifted writers, critics and commenters that contribute to the Hall. To be sure, if you are looking for a magic solution for rejuvenation, the answer is not an easy one to figure out. Don’t beat your head against the wall looking for the magic bullet.
I follow Indycar racing. Steadily since 1993 the sport has lost relevancy due to a number of factors (the CART/IRL split of 1995, the retirement of household names like Foyt, Andretti and Unser, the incursion of european drivers). Despite the dwindling TV ratings and track attendance the racing product has never been better (talented drivers, multiple winners, exciting championships). Yet fans wring their hands together and lament why the sport can not return to it’s glory days despite the quality of the racing. I believe it is because of the expansion of the internet and cable TV that has drawn eyeballs away and isolated sports fans into their own niche. All major sports have suffered this except the NFL. Further, young people’s interests are scattered across so many media avenues. No longer are there 5-8 TV station or 5-6 rock and roll stations in medium sized market.
Similarly, rock music has suffered at the hands of cable tv, the expansion of the internet and to greater extent gaming. Rock music blogs have exploded in the last 5 years. I am guilty of trying to start up my own blog, thus drawing my attention away from much worthier sites such as RTH. One of the reasons, I started following the Hall was a lack of interest in the hacks at Pitchfork or the snooty critics at NPR Music. This site provides a cranky fans interest in the mundane and self important topics rarely covered elsewhere on the web.
If this site has become a burden and a hassle than by no means should you continue. Life will go one. Perhaps some time off is in order before rushing into a something drastic that you might regret. I little reflection and time away might give you the perspective you need to either continue down the same path, shut it down, redecorate the place, or start down a new road. I wish you success in whatever direction you take and I thank you for providing an outlet for my rock nerdom.
Good points, cliff. Thanks. I won’t feel so bad if your Lions eke out a win in today’s snow bowl.
I don’t think RTH is “meh.” Everything seems to be a little down right now. I can think of some places that were getting over 3000 unique hits a week (so they say) dropping to around 300. I don’t know why, but everyone seems to be caught up in their own thing right now.
I agree with Cliff. There’s plenty of fun and interesting stuff here, even when all I have time for is reading it and moving on. And while I don’t always say anything, I think my favorite thing about this clubhouse is SNSI. I like just about everything, but I think the podcast is my favorite. Even if I only end up liking one or two songs.
I hear you, and I feel it. The reason I shut down my own music blog was that all I heard was my own echo.
Also, I get wary and self-protective around the clubhouse mentality. I remember once wanting to be friends with a clique of kids. One day they called me up and said “come on over and hang out…oh, and on the way, can you stop and pick up some thumbtacks?” I picked some up, feeling included and dutiful toward my new friends. I arrived, and they laughed at me and pointed out “those are Push Pins, heh-heh” Someone won a bet, and I was the fall guy. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
So perhaps it’s my own sensitivity, but RTH has made me wary about sharing things that are near and dear to me. It’s not so fun to go to the clubhouse if you’re gonna get a wedgie.
Let’s try to rally!
Mod, this is the only blog I follow. My dwindling participation has nothing to do with the site; it’s an unfortunate by product of my new job and having less time to participate in entertainment of just about any sort. I’ll tell you, though, I think of you and this site all the time, and when I have a few cogent thoughts, I try to write them down and post them. SNSI is one of my favorite parts of this site, and one day, I’d like to do another one.
Yeah we’re grumps but we’re musically cultured ones. I like hearing what people are listening to, and as I’ve said before, I’ve been exposed to a lot of music I normally wouldn’t have known much about. I really appreciate that.
I do feel, as Slim said above, that at times, I put a lot of thought into something, even if it’s silly, and to get no comments can feel a bit sad and tiring. I know I often don’t comment on other people’s posts because I don’t always feel very clever or I have something worth while to add. Maybe it would be better for me to put aside my self-consciousness and just say, “Cool post.”
I try to at least use the high five, but sometimes I have to view the site as a drive by, where I think of a veryy witty reply two hours later, only to forget what it was next time I get here!
Your support and empathy are appreciated. Even more appreciated are your continued excellent contributions. One of the problems with my occasional moans over the lack of stirring participation by once-key participants is that those I’m pointing the finger at are not present to see it directed at them. Instead, those of you who are here have to endure. I will heed your and the Roches’ advice and keep on doing what I’m doing.
[Cue the brass section from the “Theme from Rocky”!]
SWAT at least makes a certain amount of sense, Mod. We played Hawaii-Five-O for a couple of months. That seems pretty weird in retrospect. I had to be Dan-O. Story of my life.
I can sympathize with your disappointment, but don’t be the guy who breaks the only good bat when he strikes out one times too many for his liking.
Jesus, talk about a meh comment. No wonder I never post anything.
That has to be the most random act of hazing I have ever heard about.