Breaker Breaker, Got Yer Ears On? 2006 or 1976?
Is it me, or are we re-living the 70's all over again?
And not just in the fluffy, nostalgic ways you would expect. Every generation, at some point, develops a fondness for the last one and brings back some of its music and fashion and whatnot. But in this case, things seem to have gotten a bit out of hand. Let me show you what I mean, and this is just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head...
We've got an out of touch, beady-eyed, arch-criminal Republican in the White House, currently cowering in the shadows cast by looming storm clouds of scandal -- angry black thunderheads ready to burst and rain shame and ignominy down on his pin head. Can I coin the term "lemon-gate" right here? "Yellowcake-gate" just doesn't have the same ring to it.
We've got an increasingly unpopular war -- a war we initiated -- being fought on very foreign soil, in a hostile environment with a hostile climate. The terrain is populated by a segmented, and at least partially hostile, indigenous population. It's impossible to tell the good guys from the bad, and the bad guys are defending their homeland by utilizing non-traditional -- but highly effective and deadly -- means of guerilla warfare. Sound familiar?
On a lighter note, disco dancing -- of all things -- seems to be making a comeback in the form of bad reality television. (Is there good reality television?) Cross the Solid Gold Dancers with The Love Boat, and you've got the new "hit" show, Dancing With The Stars. The Solid Gold Dancers were hot, sinewy, professional hoofers with porn star looks, draped in revealing and sparkling garb, and The Love Boat, if you recall, was cast with a revolving assortment of show-biz has-beens. Why a mix of these two 70's pop culture schlock-slingers has managed to resurface as a ratings grabber with a devoted fan base is beyond me. It appears that everything old, is indeed, new again, including bad taste.
For example, could it merely be a coincidence that O-P-R-A-H shares two of the same -- and contains the same number of -- letters as D-I-N-A-H?
And retro-fashion trends are one thing, but every pair of blue-jeans hanging on the department store racks these days looks as though they were just pulled off of the still warm and nodding body of James Taylor, Circa. 1973. They come pre-worn-out and abused, complete with flares, bell-bottoms, patches, embroidery, holes, rips, tears, stains, rust spots, and dirt -- or at least the look of dirt.
The new class of female soul singers are all sporting huge afros; gas prices are at all-time highs; cars are getting smaller; the Japanese automakers are gaining market share over the Big 3; The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith and Jimmy Buffet and Elton John and Paul McCartney are the biggest grossing concert tours of the year; gay culture seems to be entering the mainstream; (Did they have to call it Brokeback Mountain?) high school kids across the country are smoking weed and popping pills like they're perpetually hanging out backstage with Led Zeppelin; a King Kong re-make was the big holiday blockbuster release... The list goes on and on. What is going on here? Haven't we seen all this before?
What's next? Macrame owls, ferns, and fondue? A Gordon Lightfoot reunion tour? Billy Beer?
I could go on forever like this, but I don't have time to rap with you cats anymore, man. I've got to go upload my re-mastered, 30th anniversary, Born To Run CD into my ipod. (Walkman)
And not just in the fluffy, nostalgic ways you would expect. Every generation, at some point, develops a fondness for the last one and brings back some of its music and fashion and whatnot. But in this case, things seem to have gotten a bit out of hand. Let me show you what I mean, and this is just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head...
We've got an out of touch, beady-eyed, arch-criminal Republican in the White House, currently cowering in the shadows cast by looming storm clouds of scandal -- angry black thunderheads ready to burst and rain shame and ignominy down on his pin head. Can I coin the term "lemon-gate" right here? "Yellowcake-gate" just doesn't have the same ring to it.
We've got an increasingly unpopular war -- a war we initiated -- being fought on very foreign soil, in a hostile environment with a hostile climate. The terrain is populated by a segmented, and at least partially hostile, indigenous population. It's impossible to tell the good guys from the bad, and the bad guys are defending their homeland by utilizing non-traditional -- but highly effective and deadly -- means of guerilla warfare. Sound familiar?
On a lighter note, disco dancing -- of all things -- seems to be making a comeback in the form of bad reality television. (Is there good reality television?) Cross the Solid Gold Dancers with The Love Boat, and you've got the new "hit" show, Dancing With The Stars. The Solid Gold Dancers were hot, sinewy, professional hoofers with porn star looks, draped in revealing and sparkling garb, and The Love Boat, if you recall, was cast with a revolving assortment of show-biz has-beens. Why a mix of these two 70's pop culture schlock-slingers has managed to resurface as a ratings grabber with a devoted fan base is beyond me. It appears that everything old, is indeed, new again, including bad taste.
For example, could it merely be a coincidence that O-P-R-A-H shares two of the same -- and contains the same number of -- letters as D-I-N-A-H?
And retro-fashion trends are one thing, but every pair of blue-jeans hanging on the department store racks these days looks as though they were just pulled off of the still warm and nodding body of James Taylor, Circa. 1973. They come pre-worn-out and abused, complete with flares, bell-bottoms, patches, embroidery, holes, rips, tears, stains, rust spots, and dirt -- or at least the look of dirt.
The new class of female soul singers are all sporting huge afros; gas prices are at all-time highs; cars are getting smaller; the Japanese automakers are gaining market share over the Big 3; The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith and Jimmy Buffet and Elton John and Paul McCartney are the biggest grossing concert tours of the year; gay culture seems to be entering the mainstream; (Did they have to call it Brokeback Mountain?) high school kids across the country are smoking weed and popping pills like they're perpetually hanging out backstage with Led Zeppelin; a King Kong re-make was the big holiday blockbuster release... The list goes on and on. What is going on here? Haven't we seen all this before?
What's next? Macrame owls, ferns, and fondue? A Gordon Lightfoot reunion tour? Billy Beer?
I could go on forever like this, but I don't have time to rap with you cats anymore, man. I've got to go upload my re-mastered, 30th anniversary, Born To Run CD into my ipod. (Walkman)
1 Comments:
But man, with broad band and high speed Internet, nobody's holding up a Farrah Fawcet poster with one hand these days.
By Sam Ogden, at 2:23 PM
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home