Dan Bern – Jan 27, 2011, Poor David’s Pub, Dallas, Texas

Saw Dan Bern this evening at one of my favorite venues, Poor David’s Pub in Dallas.

Bern is often compared to a young Bob Dylan, and I see why some would say that. But have you ever seen folksinger Jerry Jeff Walker before he morphed into an outlaw cowboy? Back when HE was compared to Bob Dylan? Bern reminds me of that incarnation of JJW – not only in style, delivery, wit, behavior, and mannerisms, but also in appearance.

Bern’s lyrics, however, are from all over the place – quite a few from the tongue-in-cheek, dark-side. He lists as one of his influences, Charles Bukowski – which makes perfect sense and can readily be noted in his lyrics.

Rather than ending one song and then beginning another, Bern often played a standard (Freight Train Blues, Heartaches by the Number, etc) and then transitioned from those into one or two of his own.

Dan Bern is not for everybody. But I intend to catch him every chance I can.

3-D Film and TV

Who remembers when home theater demos were all about how much the subwoofer could shake the room? Apocalypse Now, Top Gun, and Schwarzenegger films seemed to run continuously and the object was to see how realistically we could duplicate the sound and feel of an actual explosion in the living room. This was an “effect” toy that most viewers, the more sophisticated ones in my opinion, tired of quickly. We readjusted our subwoofers to provide the appropriate bottom and depth to our sound and left it at that.

And how about all of those schlocky, cheesy cuts and wipes that our video editing software offered? They were fun at first but, as we became more sophisticated video editors most of us relegated them to the stupid effects bin and never used them again.

3-D film and TV are, in my opinion, in this category of stupid effects. There will always be a market for this schlock among less sophisticated film goers. But it’s hard to imagine that anyone with good (film-related) judgment and knowledge and experience of the elements of film – lighting, editing, cinematography, sound, set design, acting, etc, etc – that is, the elements beyond that of the top layer of the story itself which, let’s face it, is about all that many filmgoers ever even notice – will consider 3-D to be anything other than a toy for the unwashed masses.

There was a time back in my sound reinforcement days when I desperately needed an audio technician. So I met with one of the top recording engineers in the US, a guy who also had conducted workshops for over a decade for aspiring sound engineers. I told him that I naturally needed someone with the requisite technical abilities but that I also needed someone with good judgment. His response was: “I can teach the technical essentials to just about anyone, but I’ve never figured out how to teach good judgment.”

If you are offended by my pronouncement that 3-D is for unsophisticated filmgoers then I suggest your education with regard to film production is lacking and/or you are just one of those whose judgments with regard to film are always going to come up short. Enjoy your films and your toys but keep your critiques to yourself and stay away from the biz – you’ll starve. Sorry.