Not Quite Rock
I’m going to watch AmIdol right about now. Yea, big fan — and I weep over some of the sad stories with hope, which makes my wife laugh her ass off…
I’ve pretty much watched every episode since day one. I love — I’m an enormous sucker for — the American Dream. That’s my draw to it. That dream, as a guiding world principle, is more in danger than ever (sorry my good friends from abroad…). We’re striving to "be just like everyone else," like a pack of wolves who get a conscience beyond their nature. That means death. America will die; not with bombs, but by default. I can’t do anything about it.
Anyway, here’s another look into my eclectic tastes. I’ve owned and cherished this album among my favorites since it came out a long time ago. Rickie Lee Jones, Flying Cowboys. Title track.
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I have the same fear, Richard. More and more I see the American people being brainwashed, debased, taken advantage of; the worst part of it is, we (most of us) don’t care, and those that do (specifically me) either don’t know what to do, don’t have the balls to do what needs to be done, or feel that its just too hopeless (in my case all three.)
I recall a very interesting piece that compared the American people to certain forced sex workers – they don’t want to do what they do, but they don’t want anyone to help them escape their situation; to do so would be to put their Hell into the spotlight, and make them live with their shame. So much easier to internalize it and let it kill you slowly from the core.
We need some of this in our lives:
I don’t think any democracy has lasted much more than 200 years.
On the other hand, here’s a political cartoon from 1934. Look familiar? Read especially the sign in the lower left of the panel…
I love Idol too. I fought it for the first couple of years. Then I tried to pretend I only liked to see Simon ridicule. BS. I finally gave in around season 3 and admitted that I love it for what it is, a really high stakes singing competition. I’m also a sucker for the American Dream element.
For whatever reason, this post reminded me of this song this morning and it’s been stuck in my head since. I had to come back and post the link:
Aaron and Richard, I share your concerns but I am optimistic. Humans didn’t get this far by being complete idiots as a species. We are often smarter and better than we believe. We have allowed politicians to increasingly run our lives with many of the rich and powerful helping them. This symbiosis of evil can destroy our civilization, but I remain optimistic. The American spirit is strong and many throughout the world share that love of freedom.
Evil is strong, but good is stronger. Blogs like this one contribute to positive change. We must stand up to the madness of some and remain committed to life and freedom. Time to climb down from the soapbox now.
And you gotta love Rickie Lee
My wife keeps a tissue box next to her when we watch.
There’s a bit of schadenfreude involved in showing the horrible contestants. When the people go out of their way to make fools of themselves or are ridiculously arrogant–which makes up about half, I’d guess–I get a good laugh. But too many of the people obviously have some sort of mental problem beyond their control–some are clearly on the Autism spectrum (high-functioning, e.g., Asperger)–which makes targeting them a bit exploitative. I don’t mean to be stridently PC about this. I’m just saying that if I were a producer, I’d drop some of those people and show more of the assholes who can control themselves but choose not to. Better yet, I’d replace the saddest cases with actual good singers.
It’ll be interesting to see Ellen in the mix now. For one thing, she can speak coherently. I’m hoping she won’t be as big a softie as Paula.
Now, losing Simon next year may change things for the worse.
I agree with everything you said, Steve.
I have always loved this album and especially this song. Hadn’t seen the video — thanks!