Elvis Impersonator Singing Only in Latin - what does it mean? It means there were two high points, so far, in the total history of Western Civilization - the Roman Empire of the 1st century AD and the American Empire of the 20th and 21st centuries with abslutely nothing of importance in between - empires or otherwise. RL Schuyler At 03:14 PM 6/5/2001 +0100, you wrote: >In Finland, there's a fairly well-known Elvis impersonator who sings >solely in Latin. > >Is that a sign of an existentialist vacuum, or is it perhaps the >inevitable final stage in the syncretisation of Western Civilisation (if >there is such a thing)? > >Alasdair Brooks > > >On Tue, 5 Jun 2001, geoff carver wrote: > >> somewhat non-archaeological, but... >> on the weekend some guy was singing at a local beer-fest; old rolling >> stones, beatles, simon and garfunkel tunes, etc. - all classics that everyone >> over the age of maybe 20 has heard 1000 times or more (if not willingly, then at >> least in the background, etc.) - the only thing remarkable about the whole thing >> was that the songs were written and sung in english by a german speaker (you >> could tell by his accent) in a city which used to be in east germany - >> i don't know if everyone else hanging out knew almost all the words to >> these things or not, and i don't know if there is a term for this kind of >> cultural transmission, but i keep wondering: what's it going to be like for the >> generation(s) which currently consume(s) techno or rap (or any variations >> thereof) about 20 years down the line? will they still be able to remember >> whatever dance track was all the rage at the raves during the summer of 1999? >> i don't want to start a debate about the relative merits of different >> musical genres here, i'm just wondering about something i'm only sort of getting >> around to defining - anyone with a guitar and enough beer can sing just about >> any bob dylan tune around the campfire, for example, but how can you whistle a >> disco remix? >> a culture needs to be self-replicating - there are stories you tell your >> kids because you remember your parents telling them to you once upon a time - >> there are songs you sing and remember because that was the song you heard when >> you first met so-and-so or... for whatever reason - >> but what happens when these relics or artifacts are replaced by such >> ephemeral and short-lived phenomena as computer games and dance trax? will there >> be some sort of existentialist vacuum (vaguely thinking of blade runner here) or >> will something else to fill it? or has modern western culture somehow changed >> itself in some drastic way, as a result of which that sort of memory - >> whether shared or personal - will be a thing of the past? >> >> >> geoff carver >> http://home.t-online.de/home/gcarver/ >> [log in to unmask] >> > > Robert L. Schuyler University of Pennsylvania Museum 33rd & Spruce Streets Philadelphia, PA l9l04-6324 Tel: (215) 898-6965 Fax: (215) 898-0657 [log in to unmask]