14 June 2008

Ignorance is bliss...

Hello Folks,

Someone forwarded an article to me the other day. I thought I might comment on it. First I must make sure the writer of the article gets credit. There is a point to this I promise.

Herald & Review.com CENTRAL ILLINOIS' No.1 NEWS SOURCE published their own Tim Cain's review of a recent Zappa Plays Zappa concert. He found the show to be satisfactory. He's actually quite a big fan.

He knows a lot of my Father's songs. He's even purchased many of the albums for his own personal enjoyment. He was unnerved by something though - I inadvertently "harshed his mellow" when I commented to the audience that I was distracted by someone blatantly taping the concert from a few feet away. Not with a cell phone but a full blown video camera. I also said that the fan with the camera was taping something he did not own.

Now this did not sit well with Tim. He went on to write:

“Yes, in fact, we (the fans) DO own this music.

I’m not proud – nor am I ashamed – of the amount of money I’ve invested in music during my lifetime. And yes, I consider it an 'investment.' I’ve long (and only half-jokingly) said music is my best friend, because it’s always giving something to me and never asking anything in return.

So I’ve dropped thousands of dollars on Frank Zappa’s music, between vinyl and CDs and DVDs and cassettes. I lot of that went to Zappa or his family, and some went to collectors who had managed to collect a fair amount of Frank Zappa concert tapes. That’s where my ownership comes in."

My favorite part is the end when Tim writes:

"(I’d estimate that I haven’t gone a week on the last 25 years without listening to some Frank Zappa music, and I can’t say that about any other act, not even my beloved Beatles.)

Just don’t try to tell me that I don’t have some ownership of it."

While I totally appreciate Tim's enthusiasm for Frank's music and the kind words he's had to say about Zappa Plays Zappa, let me apply Tim's logic to something other than music.

I really like oranges. I have enjoyed them my whole life. I buy them all the time, I even have orange juice in my fridge. I like them so much that at this point I feel pretty good about saying that I own a piece of them. The next time I go to the store and fill my shopping cart with them no-one should mind if I just walk out without paying for them. The store won't care, it's not like they spent any money to stock and supply them, the farmers won't care, they didn't have to do any work to grow them or protect them from frost and hordes of insects or anything like that, the police won't care, they'll totally understand and support my thievery because ... I love oranges... I own them.

Now perhaps I should remind you that there are laws that protect such things as music and oranges. Whether you like it or not.

Those of you who protest the protection of trademarks, copyrights and oranges and view it as pure greed might want to imagine yourself in the position of the copyright/trademark or farm owner for once. If you have something of value would you protect it? You protect your home and your car, don't you? You protect your family and your own money, don't you??? Why is that considered to be a bad thing? You'd be a fool if you didn't protect those things.

I guess some people like to view it negatively so they can convince themselves they're not being disrespectful to the things they "love" while they try to take advantage of the things they "love" because they are special... and they "love" them so much...

Oh by the way the fan with the video camera came up to me at the end of the show and offered a heartfelt apology. He said he didn't know he wasn't allowed to tape the show. I commend him for making the effort to apologize. Nice manners.

DZ

POSTED BY DWEEZIL ZAPPA AT 2008-06-14 21:26:49