Juggling

So I've been trying to learn how to juggle recently, and I figured I would use that as a springboard for writing a blog entry, since I am definitely behind in my blogging. And my juggling. I really suck still. But that's what practice is for, right? Anyway. I wanted to share a clip that I love, and didn't think I'd have much to talk about, until I found a second clip. Please excuse my ineptitude with our blogging system, and my inability to post actual links, but please just copy and paste the urls to take a look at what I'm talking about in each case.

Sometime last semester I saw this awesome video that many of you may have been already privy to, us having our ear to the ground of the Internet buzz and all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im6Gn0c4XN4&mode=related&search=

This is Chris Bliss doing a pretty cool juggling routine to the Beatles medley at the end of Abbey Road. I really like it because he synchs up his routine to the music so well. At different points in the song, his juggling is following the strings, the vocals, the bass line, the drums, the piano. Just about every prominent music line is represented. The expression of music through the medium is what I was going to talk about and how cool I think it is that music can be so accurately represented (in my opinion) through some other art form (which for the sake of my argument, we will assume juggling can be).

But if you paid extra close attention to the comments at the bottom of the page, you'll realize that certain members of what I can only assume is the vibrant world juggling community have taken it upon themselves to dismantle Bliss' reputation, and others have just as vehemently dedicated themselves to protecting his good name. I refer you to this "mashup" video of the same routine set to Jack Johnson's song "Cocoon":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnmBWhM-TKQ&mode=related&search=

I hope you didn't waste too much time watching that version. In my opinion, it's not nearly as good. As one of the comments notes, just because it fits into the same time signature doesn't make it as poor a routine as some of the juggling fanatics are suggesting. If anything, to me that's a critique of popular music following the same boring archetypes for the last several decades (I follow them too, don't worry). They also suggest that because Chris Bliss has been doing the same routine for 22 years, it detracts from the performance. I think that's bullshit also. Just because Bruce Springsteen has played "Born to Run" at every show he's done since 1975, does that make the song any less good? or the experience of watching it any more boring? Not to me, at least. In the end, it's the final product that we should care about in art. To me, the mashup simply illustrates why the original was so good. But I'm sure someone disagrees...