24-Hour News Blues

   I'm probably not the only one who has noticed that, recently, things have been less than friendly across the donkey/elephant aisle.  And though I do tend to side with most non-Republicans, I am not quick to say that all the guilt lay on their side of the political ocean.  So, who's to blame then (you may be asking yourself)? Well I can tell you, and it's simple... 24-Hour Cable News Networks!
   Now here, it's not the matter of how biased television news has become (that started with the newspapers and was bound to happen to television).  What is the matter is how big of a deal is made out of certain issues by television news and, consequentially, how much the general population is made to care about certain issues.  In other words (as mother always said), too much television will rot your brain, and that's exactly what has happened.  American television has driven America mad!  Every year people are murdered over political ideologies, and in our everyday lives we feel the need to have constant access to some form of cable news; while in line at the bank, at your favorite fast-food restaurant, at the gym, at the car-wash, even an app on your phone.  Yet when one actually observes 24-hour cable news as the science-experiment-gone-wrong it truly is, you will notice that in any given day the networks will only have a hand-full of stories, and you will also notice that they are recycled, re-worded, and exaggerated all day long by, literally, paid professional television entertainers... not true journalists! (with the exception of the obvious few).  Now I'm not saying let's go back to the 1960's, life back then was far too black & white.  But, back then it seems people were at least still capable of living side by side as Americans and neighbors, and not as Democrats or Republicans, Pro-Life or Pro-Choice, Anti-This or Tea Party That.  Things were simpler then, things moved slower.  Back then people watched their news in the morning before work, and later either right before dinner, after dinner, or at 11pm if you worked late.  You got thirty minutes of the stuff that matter, you voted, you volunteered, and you were a member of the school board.  Today, that would be considered media starvation.  Despite our recent advancements in communication technology, lately everyone just seems to be so disconnected from everyone else.
   Reflectively, it can be said that this concept of constant news has produced some positive results;  first, that it can be an asset in an emergency/crisis situation (although if there really ever were an emergency the government could exercise its right to take over the networks), and secondly the attention it has brought to issues that truly matter like the Egyptian revolution, gay rights, and sustainability.  These topics are definitely deserving of all the attention they have received.  My problem is when too much time & attention are paid to meaningless things.  And even if your flag be true, no matter what your cause, obsessing over it will make you crazy, or at least unpleasant to be around.  We need to look to our common humanity while we try to workout the issues that divide us. -

ZBB

Since my past few blogs have been relatively negative, I thought I'd lighten the mood & let you, my devoted follower, know about a new band that has plenty of talent & substance to go around.  This would be the Zac Brown Band, a country/rock/funk/reggae/progressive/jam group from the hills of Georgia.  Though ZBB has just recently begun to get some well-deserved recognition, they have actually been touring bars & college campuses nation-wide for over ten years.  Now, I am personally not a fan of country music, but ZBB is no ordinary country band.  After moving to Atlanta in 2005 my tolerance for country music naturally grew stronger and one night,  after having just started working at a local steakhouse, a co-worker invited me out to see this band she liked.  So we went to this bar somewhere outside of Canton & there they were, the Zac Brown Band.  They had the entire place moving & dancing, their most memorable song being a wicked rendition of Charlie Daniel's 'Devil Went Down To Georgia'.  I knew one day they would make it, but after that night I went on with my non-country-music life & didn't keep very good tabs on ZBB.  Well let's fast-forward five years.  In 2010 the Zac Brown Band had several number one hits on country radio, performed live on television, won Best New Artist at the Grammys, and played the main-stage at the Bonnaroo Arts & Music Festival in Tennessee (one that over 100,000 people attend).  Now that is progress!  I'm not sure if it's the small sentimental attachment for ZBB & Georgia that I have, but something makes me so happy to see these guys succeed.  They are one of the hardest working bands ever to have toured.  Their songs are very well-written and are enhanced by a chorus of harmonizing backing-vocals (I think everyone in the band sings, which I guarantee is a product of their Georgia roots).  As a whole the ZBB is technically sound, for all of you snobby musicians out there.  They are so tight together that it makes you strive to find flaws in their music, but you won't succeed in that endeavor.  These boys are simply the result of years of constant hard-work & jamming, mixed in with good southern hospitality & values (ZBB is known to throw parties for fans before and after shows, and they have also traveled over-seas to perform for the troops).   So check them out & tell a friend, that is if you like music that makes you feel good. -

Half-time shmaf-time

Can someone tell me why the Super Bowl Half-Time Show has, in recent years, become the most over-produced, predictable, circus of supposed 'entertainment' imaginable?  I'm sorry but the Black Eyed Sneeze are lucky they had those colorful high-tech outfits (as well as what seemed to be well over 100 choreographed dancers who were sporting those glow-in-the-dark jackets), because otherwise no one watching would have made it all the way through.  Is it true?  Are we really de-volving over time in the field of arts & entertainment, is it true that we are creatively dumber than our Renaissance & Enlightenment ancestors?  Are we really satisfied with simple infantile stimulations of color & motion.  Now don't get me wrong, I don't think Shakespeare could keep 100 million Superbowl viewers entertained for ten minutes let alone twenty, but could we please at least get some real talent on the stage?  Get a kick-ass rock band up there (a young one), strip down the spectacle (of course you'll still need some simple yet effective pyrotechnics), and just let people enjoy some good meaningful songs with memorable melodies sang by a guy with true passion in his heart.  Imagine the wave of residual inspiration that would surge through homes all across the nation.  Now that would be some real entertainment.