I like doing research but what exactly isn’t research? I finished the book on Celine Dion and René Angélil and now onto Colonel Tom and Elvis. This could be a good course but first must sort what each case study entails. I do not want to spend too much on biography but rather cut to the chase, jump in at the end as Kurt Vonnegut recommends. It was one of his writer tips, start at the end. Another was make sure at least one character is likeable. I wonder how he reached that conclusion? Is there a legacy of stories only about assholes? I won’t dispute him, do not want to risk never entering chrono-synclastic infundibulum. There is a quote I read once attributed to Kurt that music was proof of the existence of God because it was filled with magic and transformed him from states of depression. I can’t argue the magic and depression part. I often manage to do a super job of not knowing popular culture as it is happening. I am even proud of it. I heard Kanye’s music for the first time about fifteen years after he was widely known. While reading the Celine Dion bio I didn’t know she had covered Tina Turner’s version of River Deep Mountain High. It was weird to view the videos from years ago. She nails it and yet I feel icky watching because more than being musical it makes me notice the acting. There is no magic or cures for depression when music is acting, so it seems to me. In another search, I watched her win the Eurovision in the 80s and whoever she was then and there, seemed so much more accomplished and even authentic than was the person in unison with Tina’s every growl on Letterman. Indeed, so it goes.