My silly time

kw: entertainment

I just watched a rerun of the June 1, 2010 episode of Wipeout on ABC, one I had missed. Wipeout is not quite my favorite show, but it is close. The show I most hate to miss is America's Funniest Videos. Besides these two, the only other show I seldom miss is Nature on PBS.

I've never been much of a TV watcher. I am more of a reader, as this weblog demonstrates. But I began watching AFV almost ten years ago as laugh therapy while undergoing chemotherapy. I got hooked, and when Wipeout began a couple years ago, it provided a mid-week "fix" for me. My work is so serious that I really relish some silly time.

Go jump off a building for fun and profit

kw: opinion, entertainment

There are very few TV shows that I watch with any regularity. One I took a liking for in its first season was Wipeout on ABC. Its new season has just begun, and it is being followed by another "win a million" sort of show, titled Downfall.

I've only seen the trailers, which indicate that you start with a lot of cool stuff on a conveyor belt at the edge of a skyscraper, and you have to answer trivia questions. Wrong answer? Something is shot off the roof to crash below. Too many wrong answers? You are also shot off (wearing a harness so you can scream all you want, but don't hit bottom).

I decline to watch Downfall. The premise is terminally silly. Now, Wipeout I like!

Over-selected critters

kw: opinion, artificial selection, entertainment

One of the first "real" books I read, at age 6 or so, was about a cocker spaniel named Champion Tom [some name I don't recall]. The story of this genius among dogs was a real inspiration. During my grade school years, several friends and neighbors had cockers, and they were bright, affectionate, eager companions.

By contrast, cocker spaniels today are a bit cuter, with better "conformation", but slaverish and dumber than stones. I read a comment in a column about a dog show that spaniel "lovers" had "bred all the brains" out of the breed, in the interest of a certain physical template called "conformation".

Today, the horse Barbaro is much in the news again. This poor colt is still spending lots of time in a sling, as the vets and trainers help him recover from the laminitis that's been plaguing him for months now. "Signs are hopeful," says one commentator.

Does anyone else think, as I do, that Barbaro is a prime example of an over-bred horse? One bred for so much speed that he is too, too fragile? Would the owner of any costly mare really be willing to breed her with Barbaro? Such a match is most likely to produce foals that might run fast, but be truly useless and worthless as a "real horse", overly likely to break a leg.

We recently visited relatives in Arcadia, California. When we drove past the Santa Anita raceway, we saw that they are preparing to convert another big chunk of the parking lot into an addition to the gigantic Westfield Mall that takes up half the lot already. I remarked to my wife that the advent of color television in the late 1950s had led to a great reduction in attendance to "live" events such as horse and auto racing.

The reduction is still going on. The cash flow in horse racing leveled off decades ago and is decreasing. Why are we still over-breeding the animals? Do aficionados really think they can get billions of couch potatoes to sit in a real arena and watch horses run from hundreds of yards away, when they can see it on TV for so much less bother, with a hugely better view?

The Snicker Factor

kw: entertainment, audience factors, vulgarity, rejections

I read portions of a book for which I decline to provide more information. It looked like it could be a fun book, billed as a humorous look at parenthood. I found it near-pornographic.

I have been an entertainer, sporadically and amateur, for more than forty years. Some time about 1970 I made a strategic decision: I will appeal to my audience's nobility. That is related to output. Then, approaching 1990, after we had our son, I decided that, to help him have a genuine childhood, not a pressure-filled 'miniature adulthood', we needed to strictly regulate his exposure to 'popular culture'. Furthermore, for the sake of consistency, and my own peace of mind, that if something was not appropriate for him, neither was it appropriate for me. That took care of input. No garbage in, no garbage out.

There was a recent newspaper article (it came off AP, so many papers carried it) that noted the recent 'G-Rated' movie "Chicken Little" is mis-rated. It has more violence than one would expect. We're in the middle of a ratings shift. In fact, based on what I've been told about some recent movies, the material in many R-Rated films would have earned them an X rating in the 1980s.

We know that kids need to learn what real life is like. However, most parents I know agree that they need to learn it SLOWLY. And there are many facets of "real life" that nobody really needs to learn in any subjective way; at most they need to be warned that certain things may be done by some people, but one hopes he or she never becomes acquainted with such a person.

Everyone who seeks to entertain others, whether by 1-on-1 wit to a friend or stand-up comedy; whether by performing, writing, creating artwork, or whatever; all must decide to what audience they wish to appeal. I am a singer and songwriter. I like some Country music. There are two basic streams to it: more common is the cry-in-your-beer about lost love, lost dogs, lost trucks, lost memory...the less common is about loving families, good friends, happy experiences, and successful relationships. I have chosen the latter path.

Of my more recent songs, one is about how similar I am to my father when he was this age, another about a formative experience my mother had as a pre-teen, another about raising a son young enough to be my grandson. People love them.

I perform for people who want something good in their lives. When I write humor, I aim for an honest belly laugh, not for an embarrased snicker. So when I read a book by a popular young woman that is filled with vulgarity and callous jests, it makes me sad that she finds an audience who wishes to be so debased and degraded. Of course I didn't finish the book! I don't need that kind of input.