No More Music Television on MTV - Is this Really News?

As a kid I swore that when I was older I would never begin a story with "when I was your age." But there is one subject that I can't help but make such comparisons in discussing. The price of gas you say? Nope. What you could buy with a dollar? Don't care.

If I hear someone under 25 mention the former Music Television channel (now exclusively MTV, no music, no television) and suddenly I'm an old fogey with a walking cane and a propensity for wearing pants and suspenders at the same time. I can't help but tell these young whippersnappers that when I was their age, MTV had MUSIC. Lots of it!

That's right, MTV literally was music television. My wife and I often reminisce about our favorite music videos of yesteryear. And guess where we saw them? Not CBS.

My favorite show was Dial MTV. A precursor to TRL, and frankly, the internet, daily video lovers would call in (no doubt using the then modern miracle of touch tone phones) to vote for their favorite video. How much have times changed? The record for number one videos of the day was held by Def Leppard.

Then came the seminal game show "Remote Control." I loved the show and in fairness the challenge round did revolve around music videos, but little did I know then that "Remote Control" was the harbinger of things to come.

Within a few years MTV increasingly cut into to videos to show more and more reality shows. But it was ostensibly at least, still focused on music.

Now MTV has dropped all pretense by dropping the reference to music from its title.

I can't say I blame MTV. Remember the A&E channel once meant "Arts and Entertainment." I'm pretty sure Dog the Bounty Hunter was not what they had in mind. Even the Weather Channel shows movies now.

And given the creative morass that pop music finds it in, I'm not sure that if MTV were to go back to its roots much would change.

Still when I think about my formative music years, I will always think about MTV of lore. And I'll think about my favorite videos.

Then I'll listen to my Ipod.

Does the Thought Really Count on Jobs?

One of the mantras of modern-day liberalism is that caring and good intentions can make up for actual failure. Put simply, even if what we are doing isn't working, criticism should be avoided because hey, we meant well!

This is a topic I've written of before.

Today the AP, hardly a bastion of right-wing reporting, reports that the "bi-partisan" jobs bill is unlikely to create any jobs.

Quoting from the article:

Even the Obama administration acknowledges the legislation's centerpiece — a tax cut for businesses that hire unemployed workers— would work only on the margins.

As for the bill's effectiveness, tax experts and business leaders said companies are unlikely to hire workers just to receive a tax break. Before businesses start hiring, they need increased demand for their products, more work for their employees and more revenue to pay those workers.

"We're skeptical that it's going to be a big job creator," said Bill Rys, tax counsel for the National Federation of Independent Business. "There's certainly nothing wrong with giving a tax break to a business that's hired a new worker, especially in these tough times. But in terms of being an incentive to hire a lot of workers, we're skeptical."

Now does any one believe that the good intentions can compensate for billions of dollars in failure? I know the administration is on the ropes right now with jobs, and they want to show they are doing something.

But can we stop pretending that this bill is anything other than glorified PR?

Things You Learn While Trying to Sleep in Your Car at 5:30 in the Morning

I usually have no trouble sleeping. In fact, I typically have the opposite problem.

When its time for me to hit the hay, I'm unconscious with such rapidity I almost never remember actually falling asleep. I kind of just come to in the morning and ask Marnie, "what happened?"

My normal routine has me up at 5:15am. To put that in perspective, for the last four years I've been in night school three nights a week, forty five miles from home with classes that don't even end till nine or ten.

Over the years, I've averaged about five hours of sleep a night. Yes I know we are supposed to get eight or more but frankly, anything beyond six is wonderful to me.

I hear people talk of having problems sleeping - what is that? I'm sure its legitimate - but that's a problem like having too much money - a challenge I'd love to take on.

I'm up so early because I take my oldest son Joshua to seminary (a church-run religious class that meets before school). We carpool with another family and the arrangement is that I pick up the kids, and the other family takes them to school after the class ends. I usually work out after dropping the kids off.

This morning, the other family couldn't pick them up so instead of the gym, I had the opportunity of spending an hour, in the dark, in freezing weather, in quiet solitude in my mini-van.

The problem is, you can't sleep in my van. Oh sure you could fold down the seats, blow up an air mattress and camp out just fine. But sleeping on those seat cushions? Nope, not going to happen. Apparently the Dodge engineers, in an effort to cut down on driving fatigue designed their seats so as to avoid any possibility of comfort. Think of rocks and plywood.

So after reading the morning news on my phone and after giving up on stealing a few minutes of sleep, I just sat there. And did nothing.

The last years have been so full of school, work, family, church service, parenting. I'm always doing something. Most times I'm doing like fifty things. But this morning, I just stared out the window, watched the rain dribble down my windshield and savored the sunrise.

It hit me this morning that I should make more of an effort to take time to just be at one with my thoughts. I always have time to read and to pray. But taking time to just ponder, why is that so hard to do?

I got home still an hour before work and was excited to tell my wife about my experience this morning. I got about two lines into the story.

Then I feel asleep.

If a Tree Falls..

Since I started this blog last Fall, I've not gone as long as the last few months between posts. Much like my long-suffering personal journal, which has gaps that measure in the years, I've contemplated just giving it up.

Plus I often wonder if it even really matters? Its kind of like the tree that falls in the forest, if no one is there to hear it does it make a sound?

I've thought about this a lot recently, and as I approach these last few months of school before I close myself off from all of civilization to prepare for the bar, I've decided that even if that tree doesn't make a sound when no one is there to hear it - I need this.

I spend so much time ready news, following current events and paying attention to things. And for what its worth, I want to throw my two cents in.

So even if the only person to read these ramblings is myself and my wife (who, after prodding and begging eventually reads these things) I'm going to keep on writing.

That sound in the forest? It's mine.