Video Music Awards

I was doing a little channel surfing earlier this evening and noticed that the Video Music Awards were on MTV. I'm not quite sure what that even means. I haven't seen a video on MTV in ages so to which videos are they giving awards?

In any case, the few minutes that I saw were littered with pop icons whose identities were unknown to this author. At the risk of sounding like an incredibly old, Chevrolet seat-cover fart, I must confess that I don't know what "kids these days" are listening to. My parents couldn't stand the loud, screaming, metal that I enjoyed as a teenager but at least there were musicians playing instruments. All I saw and heard this evening was electronic beats, questionable vocal talents, and choreographed dance movements.

What saddens me even more is the fact that there is so much true talent in this country struggling on the road to eek out some meager living as a professional musician while some fool like "Diddy" gets a standing ovation when he walks on to the stage. Beyonce? Please.

If you want to see the real video of the year, then ladies and gentlemen.. I give you.. Neko Case.

A Convenient Truth

"South Florida residents breathed a sigh of relief early Wednesday after Tropical Storm Ernesto confounded forecasters by lumbering ashore without the hurricane-strength winds once feared."

Where are all the powerful hurricanes that were going to ravage the United States this hurricane season? Algore and others had us trembling in our sandals with warnings that 2006 would be a year of destruction unlike one we have ever seen. So far, we've gotten a few tropical depressions and a couple of storms.

If scientists (the smartest people on the planet) can so boldy declare with absolute conviction that we have doomed ourselves to irreversible climate change, I would think they could at least give us an accurate prediction of hurricane patterns in such a short timeframe.

Secrets

Who can guess the secret of the sea?
Who can guess the secret of the sea?
If you can guess the secret of my love for you
Then we both could know the secret of the sea

Am I Simply Getting Old?

I have very little patience for those who seemingly couldn't care less for those in their surroundings. Lately however, my fuse seems to be getting shorter. Oh I'm not flying off the handle or anything, but on the inside I fume when I encounter behavior or situations that are completely devoid of conscientiousness. Even as I type this, a couple is standing in the parking lot below my window flapping their gums about nothing in particular. Why must they stand under MY window? If they must stand outside to converse, why can't they find their own window to park their asses in front of?

Whether it's litter carelessly tossed into the street or some clown driving through the parking lot with his radio too loud, my thoughts cannot help but drift to that of tying the culprit up and dragging them across miles of broken glass. Ok, maybe that is a little extreme but I'm sure you get my point.

These things used to not bother me as much. But as I am getting older, I find myself expecting more from mankind.

Expecting more from mankind? Boy, that sounds like a formula for misery and high blood-pressure.

Can We Overreact Just a Little More?

My girlfriend's sister flew in from Seattle yesterday to visit for a few days. Unfortunately she had already left for the airport by the time the news of yesterday's thwarted terror plot had begun to be disseminated by your favorite new sources. Little did she know that she would soon be on the floor at the airport emptying her suitcase of all her newly purchased toiletries.

Yesterday, all across America, air travelers were being forced to throw-away such dangerous items as shampoo, perfume, toothpaste, face wash and lip balm.

This is how we do it here. In the interest of fairness, we punish everyone for the sins of a few. No one wants to be accused of the dreaded "profiling". So instead of extra screening for those who look like the terrorists who were trying to attack us, we make all travelers throw out their personal care items and feel up old ladies in wheel chairs.

If a bank were robbed by a 5'6" white man with a shaved head who drove away in a Dodge Dart, would we stop the Latino girl driving the Neon? Or harass the 80 year old war veteran in his Lincoln? I am pretty confident that the answer to these questions are no. Why then do we subject traveling American citizens to such inconvenience and embarrassment while simply trying to carry on (no pun intended) with their lives?

Insightful Late Night Observations

It's getting late and I cannot sleep. I am in Nashua NH on business and doing time at the local Holiday Inn (at least the internet access is free). I have always found it odd that the less expensive the hotel, the more "extras" you are afforded at no charge. At Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, I shelled out $300 per night and paid for internet access, breakfast, parking, phone usage, etc. Contrast that with my stay at a Holiday Inn Express in Washington state. The charge was $60 per night included free internet access, a real breakfast and an evening "cookie hour". What can beat that?

So here in Nashua, we have a happy medium: cheap breakfast and free internet access. I guess you can't have everything.