THEY SAY YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST: A PRELUDE TO MY TWO SHITS WORTH

     It was the Summer of 1983 and our family decided to take a trip to Yellowstone National Park.  Even then as an 11 year old boy, I knew it was completely insane to try to take a picture of yourself right next to an antelope or invite a bear into your station wagon to dry off from a nasty summer rainstorm.  Still, we all wanted to at least observe some animals in their natural habitat.  And so we went.
     On the first night, our family stayed in some trash can masquerading as a motel.   While everyone else was tired and went to bed early,  I stayed up scanning the motels' TV set to see if there were any channels they got and our sleepily out of touch town didn't get.  Now you're probably thinking to yourself, 'this prepubescent lump is searching for the channels with the naked people making the flippy-floppy.'  And you would be wrong.  As a young music fan,  I was searching for something called MTV.  This was when they played music videos 24/7.  The network actually started out on rural cable lineups first to test the waters before expanding to the larger cities.  Believe it or not, my hometown would not get MTV on cable until around 1995.  By that time, the party was OVER!
     But in 1983, it was still paradise for a wide-eyed American pre-teen.  After watching videos for about two hours, I went to bed as well.  The next morning as everyone was getting ready to go over to the motel coffee shop for breakfast, I faked a stomach ache to get out of eating.  As soon as my family was safely out of sight, I hopped into bed and turned the set back on to MTV again.  It was great!  No one could bother me with their gargling or hair dryers.  Just music.....with pictures!
    And then something happened and I would never be the same again.  A music video a brand new song called "One Thing Leads To Another" by a band called The Fixx appeared on the screen.  What was this strange but danceable sound I was hearing?  What were these bizarre images I was seeing?  Why was there a man walking down a large tube making weird hand gestures while dogs seemed to be chasing him?  I had never see anything remotely like it.  But something about it immediately appealed to me.  This band appeared to be from another planet as far as I was concerned.  Even in 1983,  I felt like I was from another planet. An anomaly.  Maybe that was the connection.
     As the following months turned into years and then into decades,  this 11 year old trapped in a 44 year old's body is still very much in love with the music The Fixx are making.  I think I have every song they've recorded.  If not, I know I have at least HEARD every song they've recorded by visiting their official site, fansites and YouTube.  Their classic 1980s music is a time capsule of what was happening in the world, especially the idea of a possible World War III with nuclear ramifications.  Their lyrics told me it was okay to be afraid of this possibility but also to speak your mind if you didn't like what was happening around you and that it was your birthright to question authority.  I still have this mindset today even though my priorities have changed a bit.  I can't say this for sure, but I'm willing to bet that the kids my age who have been listening to Def Leppard all this time can't make these type of claims.
     By the way, I finally did make some time to see some awesome animals that Summer!
    

WE BELIEVE IN MODERATION.....BUT ONLY IN EXCESS.

     Everything I've seen and read in the past week seems to point to the absurd but sadly appropriate title of this latest post.  I'm afraid I'm not exempt from it either but am really trying to do better.  On a much lighter note, I hope all Fathers (a category of that I do not belong) have a lovely Father's Day.

MY 'TO TELL THE TRUTH' REVIEW.

     Just for the record, this review is for the 2016 version.  I could tell I was not going to be impressed when host Anthony Anderson and panelist Mike Tyson started yelling (playfully) at each other about something completely unrelated to the game.  The first group of stumpers on this episode were three people who each claimed to be championship eaters.  Panelist Jalen Rose jokingly asked one of the three contestants if they had ever eaten an ear.  Mr. Tyson piped up to say, "An ear doesn't taste good.  It tastes like ass!"  The studio audience roared with laughter (as they did when anyone said anything even mildly amusing).  Poor Betty White (who apparently was there as a panelist for tradition's sake) forced a strained smile. This reviewer turned off the TV and picked up a good book. 

A POSSIBLE REPSONSE TO THE CONCERNS OF A SLOWLY DYING REASONING HUMAN BEING.

     Recently I was asked if I had any solutions to the issues I had presented on my post on 6/1/16.  I can't say that I'm that intelligent but in light of the recent events in Orlando,  I keep thinking of a line from a well known song and so here it is:

'.....love's such an old fashioned word and love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night and love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves.....'

(Words and music by Queen and David Bowie)

UNTITLED

Cry me a river so I can float out to sea.

CONCERNS OF A SLOWLY DYING REASONING HUMAN BEING.

     It's everywhere.  The breakdown of civil discourse.  The rise of righteous indignation.  What makes a human behave the way they do?  I have no idea.  But I wonder why knowledge and the search for knowledge is treated like a liability and not an asset?  It's strange to me how violence has become so commonplace that most people tend to ignore it unless it directly relates to their own little bubble in which they live.  For many years, critically lauded films like "The Exorcist" and "Straw Dogs" were banned in Great Britain because of their violent content.  Here in the free world, the appetite for destruction has never waned and, in fact, keeps growing.  I was a young child at the dawn of home gaming systems when your so-called enemies were merely dots on an otherwise pitch black screen.  Today, video games are striving to be more and more realistically violent.  Why? What does it really matter?  Does seeing that silver bullet piercing and then ripping through someones' virtual but bloody body make a difference on how many points you receive versus how many points you would receive if these lifelike vessels where nothing more than the dots I had previously mentioned?
     I find it odd how so-called reality television has taken over the increasingly depressing airwaves.  Couples bickering about what house is better worth their $375,000 when very real people are wondering where they will be sleeping tonight.  Housewives trying to outdo each other in worldly possessions when very real people are struggling to find their place in the world.  Is this really escapism?  Is it voyeurism?  Again, I have no idea. 
     I know this pondering is unlike my previous posts but it really does have a connection to my previous and seemingly irrelevant ramblings.  The game shows of my youth were strictly for fun.  Maybe you won a few thousand dollars in cash and/or prizes.  Maybe you had the chance to meet someone somewhat famous.  Maybe you had a decent time as a winner or even a loser.  Maybe the show host looked and acted a bit fake but was nice to you anyway.  All this is just not enough today.
     Today's shows are strictly an all or nothing situation.  No parting gifts if you lose.  The newer hosts are mostly comedians who are more concerned about their performance and less concerned about the actual contestants or the few rules of the show.  The stakes are so high and/or ridiculous, it's a wonder that the contestant doesn't have a myocardial infarction right there on stage.  This is fun?  This is entertainment?  Does everything have to be morphed into the 'Bigger Better Faster More' mindset?  Do we really need everything coming at us at mind-boggling lightning speeds?
Speaking as someone with a very small but concerned voice,  I sincerely hope not.