I just read on Wikipedia that "Last Kiss" was Pearl Jam's biggest hit. Pearl Jam--the band that has written songs about child molestation, spousal abuse, and teenage suicide; the band that promotes activism and always tries to paint itself as a little deeper than everyone else...yet their biggest hit is a cover of a 1950s ballad. It just goes to show you that meaning and intelligence have very little to do with a song's likeability. Write a catchy tune with easy-to-follow lyrics and you'll get a hit. I don't why people try to act like music is any more than that.

---

There is no current event going on right now that I care less about than the writer's strike. That's not to pick sides, one or the other. But in my opinion, it's much ballyhoo about nothing. Even though it's one of the top stories every night on the news, it really doesn't affect most of us as much as you'd think.

When the grocery store clerks went on strike a few years ago, that proved to be problematic. When the garbage men went on strike, people had piles of trash in front of their house. Firemen, police, teachers--all of those strikes impact us on a daily basis.

But the writers? The only people affected right now are die-hard Jay Leno fans--and those people shouldn't count anyway.

It's probably a dominate issue because the writers in the media (different guild, same brethren) make it a top story. The strike is about six weeks old. Prime time television hasn't been affected because original episodes usually don't start up again until January. The movie business is unaffected because a movie's script is usually completed at least a year before its release. The only people affected are the non-writers who are out of work.

But even when it starts to become an issue--let's say February rolls around and there's nothing new on television or even if this lingers awhile and there's no new movies--I still think the media is making a bigger deal out of it than it really is. People watch too much TV anyway (do we really need 200 channels America?). Instead of Friday night at the movies, folks could interact with each other--maybe a ballgame or bowling (and I hate bowling). Friday night at the multiplex has become a crutch in American entertainment--it's the first thing people think to do because it's easy. Who knows--maybe audiences will become so scorned Hollywood would have actually come up with good movies (it's a dream, but it's my dream!).

But the Big Picture, it's way too early for this to be an issue. I have yet to hear anybody really care about the strike. Sure, a couple of my friends are bummed because they don't now when/if there will ever be a new episode of "The Office"--but they'll survive. With the internet, home theaters, PlayStations, and good'ole fashion bumpin-n-grindin', we'll always find something else to do. And for those who can't live without the drama of "Desperate Housewives," get a life.

Seriously. One for yourself. You gotta have something else going on that Wisteria Lane.

What? This affects "The Simpsons?" Ah crap.

© 2007 siknerd.com