Friday 5: I Don't Get It Either

Twitch is an enormously popular livestreaming platform mostly for watching people play video games. It has more than 1.5 million broadcasters and more than one million visitors per month, and Amazon acquired it for nearly a billion dollars in 2014. Which of your computer activities would you livestream if there were a way to make some money doing it?

Y'all want to watch me write blog entries in real time, right? Right??


EDM (electronic dance music) is usually performed by DJs on stage in front of audiences, playing tracks they’ve mixed, right off their laptops. If you were a push-button DJ playing your tunes in a club, what would be your opening and closing songs, assuming everyone’s there because they’re into whatever sounds you’re into?

My opening song would be absolutely be "Gangnam Style," or one of the infinite mashups out there. This one might be my favorite:



Or this one:



What can I say? 2012 might have been my peak year.

As for the end of the set, I think this is a good closer:



What’s a good Adele song, and why is Adele so popular?

I don't know if I like this shade you're throwing on Adele, Friday 5! I'm not obsessed with Adele but I like her voice.

Speaking of 2012, I was also cheered to see that Adele was so popular with my Korean students. In a country that can be even more looks-based and body-conscious than the US, I hope that at least a few of my girl students realized that it's possible for them to be talented and successful without looking like a typical K-pop star.

I listened to "Rolling in the Deep" a lot with those kiddos, so that's probably my favorite Adele song.


The Walking Dead?

I don't get this one either, Friday 5.


Every generation seems to arrive at a “They don’t write ’em like that anymore” attitude. Why does it seem like most middle-aged people lose interest in new music?

There's actually a reason for this! I think it has something to do with the way your brain is still developing as a teenager versus how it is as an adult, and so music from your childhood and teenage years will always be more immediate and visceral for you than most anything else. In other words, nostalgia's a helluva drug.