The first day of the show is going well. Seeing so many of my old friends has been very uplifting. These guys are so supportive and so encouraging that just being around them recharges my batteries. I also got to roast Andy Deane on a panel, which was pretty fun. He’s a great guy, and I really hope he knows I was kidding.
I’ll try to write more tomorrow. Now, I’m going to bed.
How many of us feel like we’ve been transported to Bizarro World when we weren’t looking? It really feels like our society is collapsing all around us. Basic etiquette is dead; common decency is so rare that when it does happen it feels foreign and out of place; patience has faded into the past; personal pride is vanishing before our eyes. What the hell is happening to us? There’s no simple answer, and any solutions will be met with resistance and controversy by the ones who wish to maintain the status quo, but one of the biggest issues we now face is the rampant apathy that has seeped into every crack and crevice of our culture.
When Christina Aguilera flubbed the National Anthem at the Super Bowl, at first, I wrote it off to nerves. I mean, with hundreds of millions of viewers in nearly two hundred countries, anyone could be overwhelmed by the pressure. However, it turns out that one of the biggest factors is that she blew off rehearsal beforehand. One of the basic tenets that will hold true for as long as people attempt anything is this: “You are going to play how you practice, so practice how you want to play.” I don’t know how many thousands of dollars she was paid for that performance, but whatever the amount, she should have had the gumption to at least rehearse it fully on the stage before doing it live. But I believe apathy took over. Who cares if I get it right. It’s just the National Anthem.
How many times have you walked into a business and been greeted by someone who seems as if they would rather be anywhere but at their job? There’s a Subway on Douglas Dam Road that I won’t be a patron to anymore because the workers there are the most apathetic, lazy people I’ve seen in a business. But they aren’t alone. Nearly every cashier in every fuel station I’ve been in for the last ten years has had a glazed, dull expression on their face. Now, I get that those jobs aren’t the greatest in the world, but could it possibly be that the reason the person is stuck in that job is their attitude?
I’m a classic Gen-Xer, so I’m not claiming that I haven’t had my moments of apathy, but I like to think that in every job I’ve ever held, regardless of how menial, I’ve taken pride in the work I’ve done. I can’t comprehend this new level of detachment that is ruining us. Not too long ago, we were the greatest nation on this planet, and we carried ourselves with pride in our lives and jobs. Now, we just seem like a bunch of slouchers going through the motions. That’s not my country. That’s not the society I want to live in, but how do we change this? From my experiences teaching, I’m certain education alone can’t fix it. So how do we restore our national pride and get people back to caring about the quality of their lives?
First, congratulations to the Green Bay Packers. They simply beat us and deserve to be champs. It was a good game, and we had our chances to win it but just didn’t make the necessary plays. Losing sucks, and I’m not going to pretend like it doesn’t sting, but life goes on. I’m just as big of a Steelers fan today as I was yesterday. We’ll be back in the big game soon, and we will bring home number seven.
That’s enough about the game. What I really want to write about today is that god-awful excuse for a halftime show. Five Finger Freddy, or whatever the hell his name is, said that the Black Eyed Peas were going to take it to the next level. Well, if that’s the best you got, you are a terrible excuse for an entertainer. That show was pathetic. Sure, there were lots of flashing lights and cool effects, but the “music” was beyond lame. I would’ve rather watched Milli Vanilli lip-sync their way through twenty minutes of their crap than watch those four no-talent jerk-offs stand around like statues and mumble their songs out of tune, out of tempo, and out of harmony.
That show confirmed so much of what I believe about what hippity-hoppity has done to the music industry. I prefer my music sung by people who understand harmonics and key changes and well, singing. Hippity-hoppity has become a terrible parody of itself, much like Air Supply and Journey were a terrible parody of real rock. Real musicians hold up live, regardless of the venue. That steaming pile of horse dung that Sam I Am, or whatever the hell his name is, and the others left in the middle of Cowboys Stadium shows just how thin and weak the music industry has become. Real musicians, who can play real instruments and create beautiful songs, can’t break into the industry, while talentless hacks get to play the Super Bowl. I mean, they were so bad they made Slash, one of the greatest guitar legends of all-time, sound lifeless and bland.
Part of me looks at the music industry as a perfect metaphor for where we are as a nation. Sixty years ago, our nation created some of the most powerful and amazing music in the world, and that music inspired the world to follow it. Musicians like Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and Elvis Presley had real talent and honed skill. At that same time, our nation was revolutionizing technology and industry and leading the world into the future. Today, our country produces mediocre garbage that couldn’t inspire a pig to root in crap. Our masses still lap it up, however, because we’ve become so accustomed to mediocrity that most of us can’t appreciate real music and real talent. At the same time, we have lost our innovative edge and have fallen hopelessly far behind in education. We stand around bragging about how great we are, while the rest of world blazes by us.
Please, America, please, wake up and realize that when you settle for mediocre crap, you become mediocre crap.
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