Popular Culture

I'm taking a break over the next few days, so a lighter tack: 1. I am in the midst of playing GTA: San Andreas. This thing is pure art - a masterpiece. It is the best yet in the GTA series. My greatest joy? No more pauses for loading when you travel from city to city. The cities themselves are fantastic to explore. The tasks are challenging, but not insanely difficult. Yet. 2. In playing GTA: San Andreas, I have the ability to tune the stereos in cars and planes that I jack to various stations playing period songs from 1992-ish. I've mostly been tuning into Radio Los Santos, which plays gangsta rap. NWA, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg (back when he was still Snoop Doggy Dogg), and the like. Now, back in 1992, I was listening to Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and was vaguely aware of NWA because of the furor caused by "F*ck tha Police". I didn't buy any, and I'm not quite sure I ever contemporaneously heard any gangsta rap from that era. I became fascinated with it because, (especially when paired with the game) it's a fascinating snapshot of Rodney-King-era Los Angeles. Not only that, but the music was waaaaaay ahead of its time. I mean, Run-DMC sounds pretty dated now, but the stuff on GTA off of Dr. Dre's "The Chronic" sounds like it could have been released yesterday. And it sounds better than most hip-hop that came out yesterday. It's strange (and somewhat embarassing) to come to appreciate music only 13 years after it came out. But I really got into the Beatles in 6th grade in 1979, and that was about 10 years after they broke up, so there ya go. 3. The best TV show is Amazing Race. Period. I love to travel, so I enjoy watching teams face challenges - both producer-created and culture-related. And, as far as AR6 is concerned, I just can't wait for Jon & Victoria to get eliminated. As a matter of fact, in the last 2-3 years, I've totally stopped watching practically all scripted television. I find most of it trite and repetetive. I can tolerate CSI, but only the Vegas edition. I watch Sopranos when it's on, and innovative scripted comedies like Arrested Development. My all-time favorite is Family Guy, which is returning to Fox next May. (I was a fan before the DVDs came out). As for reality, I like Survivor and (obviously) Amazing Race. I also eventually get sucked into every season of Big Brother. I don't like the dating shows. I don't like the work-out shows. I think "The Swan" is the most depraved thing on TV - even more depraved than PPV porn. I enjoyed the first 2 seasons of the Mole, when Anderson Cooper was the host. It was a smart and witty show. They ruined it when Cooper left for CNN, and now it's Celebrity Mole. I like Pimp My Ride. I can't tolerate Real World / Road Rules. Don't like Osbornes or any of the other B-list celebrity reality shows. I listen to Howard Stern every morning, and have done so since 1985 when I was driving a 1977 Toyota Corolla that only had an AM radio. He and his show is like family to me. I think Tom Bauerle is a pretty good host, with whom I agree about 70% of the time. I find Sandy Beach to be the voice of reactionary septugenarian Buffalonians. Think Teresa. And that laugh. Ugh. I think that our local news is horrific. If it bleeds, it leads. Then off to some national or world story that has little or no local impact. Enough with the tsunami, ok? I don't need the locals informing me about this. I don't need Pete Kenworthy or Lisa Scott telling me anything about the Ukraine. Cable news and the network newscasts can handle it, 'kay? I don't ever want to hear someone who drives an SUV complain to me about Bush or the war in Iraq. Ever. I drive two cars, each of which get 30 MPG highway. They're both safe as a house, and would amply protect me in a collision with an inattentive Hummer driver. I'll take good handling, quick accelleration, 5-star safety rating and traction control over ground clearance any day. Is this still on? Hello?