Rihanna thrills crowd at Washington, D.C., concert

Pop music sensation Rihanna brought her Diamonds World Tour to Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., on Monday and delivered the goods you’d expect from one of the most prominent music artists of her generation.
Reviewers, including the Washington Post, have noted that Rihanna, 25, can seem aloof or bored in live performances. She looks like she’s just going through the motions during certain dance segments or at times singing only half the lyrics and letting background singers or backing tracks pick up the rest.
I’ve come to accept that as her style. A native of Barbados, she’s got that laid-back, island-time manner. What’s undeniable about Rihanna is her charisma, beauty, sex appeal, fashion sense and vocal chops. She’s got the whole package.
She’s a great performer, even when she’s not trying very hard. That seemed to be the case early in the show Monday night, when she marched through some of her newer, lesser known material. But she cranked up the energy later in her 90-minute performance.
Highlights of the show for me included Rihanna performing “You Da One,” “Man Down,” “All of the Lights,” “We Found Love,” “Stay” and “Diamonds.” (See the set list at Setlist.fm.)
You also can check out photos of the show at Rihanna Daily (see above sample) and Voz de America.
I’m glad I got to see Rihanna at this point in her career, with her extensive catalog of hit songs. She’s definitely in her prime now. (See Wikipedia entry on her Diamonds World Tour, which runs for eight months through mid-November.)
However, I feel sorry for parents who let their teenage daughters go to the show (including President Barack Obama), because they had to sit through opening act ASAP Rocky. The farthest thing from a role model, Rocky rapped about the stereotypical thug life.
“Pussy, money, weed. That’s all a nigga need,” he rapped. Very inspiring.

I was wrong about Twitter

I signed up for the microblogging service Twitter four years ago.
On April 22, 2009, I tweeted, “Signing up with Twitter to see what all the fuss is about.”
I couldn’t understand why so many people were raving about Twitter.
Of course, in those days, Twitter was a lot more superficial than it is now. Back then, it was more a platform for people to reveal the everyday aspects of their life, letting people know where they are and what they’re doing.
That’s still a big part of Twitter, but the service has become more of a mainstream news feed over the past few years. It also has been accepted by media, public figures and advertisers, who use it to their advantage. Twitter celebrated seven years in business in March.
Before I signed up for Twitter and even for some time afterward, I would joke about the service. I thought it was a lot of pointless blather in 140-character bursts. It didn’t think the service had legs.
I was wrong.
But today’s service is greatly improved from the one I joined four years ago. Many of my early complaints (such as the difficulty of following conversations on Twitter) have been addressed. Flaws (such as frequent service outages) have been fixed. The quality of information on the service also has improved immensely as media organizations, public figures and prominent analysts and pundits have joined it.
I didn’t see the utility of Twitter early on. But I’m addicted to it now. I use Twitter to follow technology, media and entertainment news services, as well as analysts and colleagues. Twitter is a modern RSS service where news organizations share headlines (and sometimes story summaries) along with weblinks to their articles and videos.
I don’t post very many tweets on Twitter myself, mostly weblinks to my articles on Investors.com. (Sorry, I know that’s self-promotional.) Occasionally I’ll make a pithy comment or post a photo though.
I still get the feeling that Twitter is used mostly by a hardcore group of fans and that the general public isn’t really interested in it. The service has more than 200 million active users and a large portion of them post little if anything, The Next Web reports. They’re like me and use it mostly for the news stream.
So after four years, I’m happy to say that I finally “get” Twitter.

Photos: Social media propaganda-style poster for Twitter by artist Aaron Wood (top) and my first tweet.

Coinstar’s new company name, Outerwall, makes me think of other walls

In December 2011, I predicted that Coinstar would change its name to Redbox to reflect the fact that the majority of its sales come from the DVD rental kiosk business. I ended up being half right.
Coinstar this week did announce a name change. But it decided on Outerwall. It’s an odd name that makes me think of other walls in pop culture, not a company involved in automated retail.
I understand why they chose Outerwall. It connotes what it used to call its “fourth wall” strategy. Coinstar puts its machines in the underutilized front of stores. Traditionally retailers sold things everywhere but the very front of the store. But Coinstar’s coin-counting machines, DVD kiosks and premium coffee vending machines have helped change that.
Still, when I hear Outerwall, other walls come to mind. Here are a few.

Wonderwall

“Wonderwall” (1995) is the classic song by English rock band Oasis.

Sugar Walls

“Sugar Walls” (1985) is a single by pop singer Sheena Easton. The song, composed by Prince, is presumed to refer to the “walls” of the vagina and was considered one of the “Filthy Fifteen” by a parents group at the time.

Pink Floyd’s The Wall

“The Wall” (1979) is the classic double-album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd.

The Wall from 'Game of Thrones'

In the fantasy book series “A Song of Fire and Ice,” and the HBO TV series “Game of Thrones” based on it, the Wall is a colossal fortification that stretches for 300 miles along the northern border of the Seven Kingdoms. It is over 700 feet tall and made of solid ice. It was built to defend the realm from the White Walkers who live beyond it.

The Wall from ‘Almost Human’

The Fox sci-fi cop show “Almost Human” was set in 2048 in a city divided by a giant wall. The Wall separates the good part of the city from a lawless zone populated by terrorists. (Note: This entry added on April 30, 2014.)

Photos: The Wall from HBO’s “Game of Thrones”; covers of “Wonderwall,” “Sugar Walls” and Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”; another photo of the “Game of Thrones” wall; and the Wall from “Almost Human.”

Public surveillance cameras a godsend for solving crimes

Some people are opposed to the use of public surveillance cameras. They think it’s a step toward Big Brother watching its citizens and gathering information on them.
But when a crime like the Boston Marathon bombings happens, we thank our lucky stars for having photos and video that capture the perpetrators. Video and still images in that case helped to identify the terrorist suspects and likely prevented more bombings.
Cameras in public places are a fact of life in the 21st Century -- not just government security cameras, but surveillance cameras belonging to private businesses and homeowners. Then you have people with their cellphone cameras. Cameras are everywhere in public capturing both newsworthy images and the mundane.
I don’t think security cameras are a great deterrent in preventing crime. But they make police work a hell of a lot easier after the fact. We’ve all seen enough movies and TV shows where the first thing detectives do is gather all the surveillance footage they can get. It’s the logical first step. Cameras are better than eyewitnesses.
When a child goes missing or terrorists strike, we want to see what happened at the scene.
Surveillance cameras were used to ID Boston Marathon bombers Tamerlan and Dzhokar Tsarnaev. (See articles by Gizmodo and the Daily Mail.)
In January, a 5-year-old girl was kidnapped from a Philadelphia elementary school and the incident was caught on video, according to the Daily Mail.
In July 2011, video surveillance cameras helped capture “Butcher of Brooklyn” Levi Aron for the murder of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky.
I’ve written a couple of times about my support for public surveillance cameras. In February 2010, I listed a bunch of major crimes solved by having images captured by such cameras. In May 2010, I wrote about how the foiled Times Square bomber was caught on video.
Could cameras be abused by government authorities? Yes. But they also could be a check and balance against government abuse and misconduct, such as violent cops.

Photo: Surveillance photo that helped catch the Boston Marathon bombers.

Movies where the setting was changed to ‘in space’

Hollywood is always looking to tell stories in fresh ways.
Sometimes writers will suggest setting a familiar story “in space” to provide a twist on an old tale. They might describe their screenplay as “‘Die Hard’ in space,” maybe with a dramatic pause before “in space.” Or, “It’s ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ … in space.” You get the idea.
A couple of public domain works are being turned into science-fiction adventure movies this way. Director Lynne Ramsay is making a movie called “Mobius,” which is described as “Moby Dick” in space, according to the Hollywood Reporter. And Warner Bros. is producing a version of Homer’s The Odyssey set in space, according to Deadline.
Here’s a list of other movies and TV shows where conventional stories and familiar characters were put in space to liven things up.

“Abbott and Costello Go To Mars” (1953): Abbott and Costello is space.
“Forbidden Planet” (1956): William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” in space.
“The Three Stooges in Orbit” (1962): The Three Stooges in space.
“Robinson Crusoe on Mars” (1964): “Robinson Crusoe” in space.
“Lost in Space” (1965-68): “The Swiss Family Robinson” in space.
“Pigs In Space” (1976-81): Muppets in space, a recurring segment on “The Muppet Show.”
“Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” (1977): “The Hidden Fortress” in space.
“Battlestar Galactica” (1978-79): “Wagon Train” in space.
“Alien” (1979): “Jaws” in space.
“Moonraker” (1979): James Bond in space.
“Outland” (1981): “High Noon” in space.
“Lifeforce” (1985): Vampires in space.
“Event Horizon” (1997): “The Shining” in space.
“Treasure Planet” (2002): “Treasure Island” in space.
“Jason X” (2002): Jason Voorhees in space.
“Dracula 3000” (2004): “Dracula” in space.
“Defying Gravity” (2009): “Grey’s Anatomy” in space.

Photo: Cast photo from “Lost In Space,” which is based on “The Swiss Family Robinson.”

Top Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snubs, a subjective list

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is an exclusive club with a long list of notable music artists waiting to get in.
The website Future Rock Legends has a comprehensive list of the biggest Rock Hall snubs. It also calculates the odds of performers getting into the shrine. Some of my favorites are long shots for induction.
In September 2009, I compiled a list of 12 perennially overlooked artists who deserved to be included in the Rock Hall. Since then, three have been inducted (Genesis, Heart and Rush).
What follows is an updated list of music acts that I think deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After each artist, I’ve included their first year of eligibility for the hall and their chances for induction, according to Future Rock Legends.

1. Yes (1994), 40% chance of induction.
2. Chicago (1994), 9%.
3. KISS (1999), 40%.
4. Journey (2000), 10%.
5. Boston (2001), 32%.
6. The Damned (2001), 29%.
7. Cheap Trick (2002), 45%.
8. The Cars (2003), 38%.
9. The Cure (2003), 57%.
10. Joy Division (2003), 58%.
11. Siouxsie & the Banshees (2003), 17%.
12. Def Leppard (2004), 36%.
13. The Psychedelic Furs (2004), 7%.
14. The Motels (2004), 6%.
15. INXS (2005), 13%
16. The Go-Go’s (2005), 36%.
17. New Order (2006), 58%.
18. The Smiths (2008), 59%.
19. Bon Jovi (2008), 35%
20. Concrete Blonde (2011), 5%.

Photos: Album covers from Concrete Blonde and the Go-Go’s.

‘Disco queen’ inducted into Rock Hall of Fame. What the hell?

When I was in high school in the late 1970s, nothing was less rock ‘n’ roll than disco.
Disco was more than a derided type of music. It was a lifestyle. There were disco clubs, disco-style fashions and disco dance moves. As a teenager, I hated disco. It was something lame older people enjoyed.
Disco also was responsible for killing the rock music scene at the time. Clubs replaced live music with DJs spinning disco tracks.
Fast forward to the present and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is inducting Donna Summer, the “Queen of Disco” music, into its ranks on Thursday at a ceremony in Los Angeles. What the hell?
Growing up in Chicago, young people in the disco age rebelled against the disco craze. “Disco sucks” was a common refrain.
Chicago also was the scene of Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park, where DJs from a local rock station blew up disco records after a White Sox game as part of an ill-fated promotion. The second game of a planned double-header on July 12, 1979, had to be canceled after fans stormed the field. The spirit of rock-and-roll rebellion lived that night.
Now, I don’t have anything against Donna Summer personally. A lot of her music is very good. But she’s not rock and roll.
I’ve said many times that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should be called the Popular Music Hall of Fame because it includes other genres like rap and pop.
During Donna Summer’s heyday, I was listening to Pink Floyd, Rush and other bands. Ironically, Rush also is being inducted into the Rock Hall this year, along with Heart (finally), hip-hop group Public Enemy and producer Quincy Jones.

Photo: Cover of Donna Summer’s 1975 single “Love to Love You Baby.”