High school revisited
After I got the one-pound cheeseburger, I went home to chill out for a while until miashell calls me to say she's at her parents' house in Bristol. And of course, she wants me to come over so I can show off Mr. Sexxx E. Carr.
I talk with her very nice parents for a while, mostly about the car and ESPN, and then we watch the first half of the "American Idol: Idol Gives Back" charity special. After that I squire Michelle about town to Staples and then to my house to watch the rest of AI.
I haven't watched AI since the first week when they have all the horrible singers, and that's usually all I watch, but my pop-culture antennae have kept me somewhat in the loop (why I'm not an entertainment editor, I don't know), so I have some idea who all the remaining finalists are. As usual with my singing/acting/directing background, I start critiquing all the singers.
But now the awfulness of the singers is paired with smarmy charity vignettes featuring soul-crushing poverty and misery ... with Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell in the middle of it. It just seemed so fake and cynical, on top of the fact that they kept juxtaposing it with a results show. And while there were many dark moments -- from Il Divo to Josh Groban with the obligatory gaggle of smiling African children -- the ultimate nadir was Celine Dion in Vegas singing alongside a green-screened Elvis! Elvis, dug up and put next to her like he was fucking there! And even worse, because of the obvious differences in video quality, AI decided to downgrade the overall video quality to match Elvis! They can officially rewrite history now, and the audience afterward looked shocked, just as Michelle and I were. The pain!
But it was all worth it, because hanging out with friendly folks was the perfect end to a great day. It was very funny, though, because I felt like I was on a high school date night -- driving to pick up a girl from her parents' house in the new car I got after just getting my license. I just had to do it 10 years later :)
I talk with her very nice parents for a while, mostly about the car and ESPN, and then we watch the first half of the "American Idol: Idol Gives Back" charity special. After that I squire Michelle about town to Staples and then to my house to watch the rest of AI.
I haven't watched AI since the first week when they have all the horrible singers, and that's usually all I watch, but my pop-culture antennae have kept me somewhat in the loop (why I'm not an entertainment editor, I don't know), so I have some idea who all the remaining finalists are. As usual with my singing/acting/directing background, I start critiquing all the singers.
But now the awfulness of the singers is paired with smarmy charity vignettes featuring soul-crushing poverty and misery ... with Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell in the middle of it. It just seemed so fake and cynical, on top of the fact that they kept juxtaposing it with a results show. And while there were many dark moments -- from Il Divo to Josh Groban with the obligatory gaggle of smiling African children -- the ultimate nadir was Celine Dion in Vegas singing alongside a green-screened Elvis! Elvis, dug up and put next to her like he was fucking there! And even worse, because of the obvious differences in video quality, AI decided to downgrade the overall video quality to match Elvis! They can officially rewrite history now, and the audience afterward looked shocked, just as Michelle and I were. The pain!
But it was all worth it, because hanging out with friendly folks was the perfect end to a great day. It was very funny, though, because I felt like I was on a high school date night -- driving to pick up a girl from her parents' house in the new car I got after just getting my license. I just had to do it 10 years later :)