Catching Up

Who Cares Anymore?

I'm not going to say I'm "back" after a four-week absence, because I'm still not sure how regularly I'll post here. Although I'm continuing my work with Downsize DC, I generally refrained from "politics" over the past month. For instance, I don't know of any development in the Ron Paul campaign in the last 2 1/2 weeks - and Ron Paul is supposed to be my guy.

In another instance, 60 Minutes did a report on New York City's decision to force fast-food chains to publish the calories of their food more prominently, even though such information is already available at their websites and on the walls of their restaurants. Curiously, the City is not forcing this requirement on restaurants that don't publish this requirement at all. Normally, I would call NYC's government health nazis, but instead I am torn between bemused and amused.

Nor did I get angry when I saw this evening that Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle complained about the "ridiculous" profits of the NFL and of cable companies, - as if watching the Green Bay-Dallas game this Thursday night on free television or basic cable was an inalienable human right. The reality is, the NFL is telling cable companies that they should carry the NFL Network, which is broadcasting the game. That the cable companies still refuse to carry it means they are making a business decision. For a moment I thought that bashing Doyle's face in with football cleats would be fitting punishment for his demagoguery, and that Ayn Rand built a fortune denouncing people just like Doyle, and that the more Doyle's that are out there, the more Ayn Rand is right, but then I thought, "what's the big deal? Doyle is who he is, and the world is what it is."

What I mean is, that's how it goes. Doyle personifies the problem, but he isn't the problem. If the Archduke isn't assassinated when he was, World War I will have started for some other reason at some later date, but it would still have happened. If Gore took the Presidency in 2000, Sept 11, 2001 might have happened instead on 11-09, 2002, and Gore would have invaded Iraq July, 2004 instead of March, 2003, just to keep up with his own crazed anti-Saddam rhetoric he had been cynically spewing since the 2000 campaign.

In other words, if we go back in time at any point to kill one person or change one event, something similar would have happened soon after regardless. If the United States is slipping toward the most hellish dystopia on Earth, even Ron Paul's election won't stop it. If, on the other hand, the United States is heading toward freedom, Ron Paul's election isn't necessary. It will happen regardless, at exactly the right time.

Is your life, or my life, an exam on right and wrong, where the more you suffer (or at least, the more you are properly indignant) the better your score? Or are we here to enjoy the ride called life? I think I'll experiment with the latter idea for a while. After all, if you have been suffering, but now choose not to suffer, you are reducing the total amount of suffering in the world. Your deficits don't help you, and certainly don't help anyone else. But your surpluses will benefit you and will potentially benefit others.

So perhaps we should focus on the joy we receive from life, and on the pleasure we receive from investigating topics we find interesting, rather than dwelling on the misery. It is in that spirit that I write the rest of this post.

Rosanna

Paul McCartney apparently hooked up with Rosanna Arquette recently. This is huge, HUGE!

How so?

Because Ms. Arquette dated a member of the band Toto, and Toto's "Rosanna" won the 1982 Grammy for Record of the Year. Say what you will about the state of rock in the early 80's, "Rosanna" actually has a catchy melody and some good instrumental and vocal arrangements.

Also, because Ms. Arquette is the subject of one of Peter Gabriel's signature songs: "Your Eyes." This song has even been used for the worship of Jesus Christ. I'm not kidding; some popular female CCM artist covered it a few year's back.

Ms. Arquette was also the lead in one of apparently only two good movies featuring Madonna, "Desperately Seeking Susan." ("Evita" is allegedly the other one, but I haven't seen it.)

If Toto, Peter Gabriel, and even Madonna can reach new heights with Rosanna Arquette, what can Paul McCartney - the top of the heap, the conceiver of Sgt. Pepper's, the composer of "Yesterday" and "Hey Jude" - do?

We should expect the Greatest Song Ever Written soon.

No One

Nobody cares who will win this year's college football BCS National Championship Game. I maintain my position that there should be a "national championship" game if and only if there are two undefeated teams from major conferences. Otherwise, let the bowls play themselves out, and if two 12-1 teams share the title, who cares? Only undefeated teams have a claim to greatness. But if this is unsatisfactory, go with Dan Wetzel's plan and get it over and done with already!

For the Listener of Classic Rock

If you're so "hot-blooded" that you have a fever of 103, do you really expect the hottest woman on the dance floor to come back to your place and have sex with you? Sheesh!

How come I haven't heard "Abracadabra" by Steve Miller even once since the early 1980's, while I've heard "The Joker" enough to almost drive me to suicide?

And why do radio stations play Mellencamp's "Pink Houses" and "Small Town" by about 4:1 ratios to every other Mellencamp song?

You know, the least played track from Led Zeppelin IV anymore is "Stairway to Heaven." It's gone from the most overrated to the most underrated song of all time.

That's It

I have more thoughts on the "trivial" matters that actually make real life interesting, but I'll call it a night.