Just as the season prepares to change and give way (we’re starting to think maple syrup drips under all that snow), so must the idle world I watch. Tonight, the auditions are over and the run toward the ribbon begins on American Idol. With the report of the voting for this week, the cast of thousands is now down to an talented dozen with equal expectations.
posted in Idol | Comments Off on End of the auditions | 271 words
Any time we mention health care up here in Canada, there’s a sense of pride that we have a system, an admission that it costs a lot of money and a whispered prayer that someone will find a magic bullet to reduce the whole pyramid scheme to something we can afford. Well, perhaps not a pyramid; think of it as a really big ball carried on the backs of a collected multitude.
posted in health, Idol | Comments Off on No beds available, I guess | 357 words
Someone who was superstitious, or who believed that a multiplicity of unusual events would be very worried right now. To a scientific mind, all of the following things can be explained with rational arguments, but put yourself in the hide of a less world-weary person. These are troubled times, says he.
posted in environment, Idol, politics, technology | Comments Off on It could be something else | 403 words
They came, they sang; we laughed, we cried. Life in a walnut shell, our quest for the next American Idol. While the rest of the nation worries about things like primaries and battlefields, those of us with a slack evening and cable TV can catch glimpses into the public moments of otherwise private people.
posted in Idol | Comments Off on We laughed, we cried | 242 words
Now here’s a thought: what if the contest to be the president of a large neighbouring nation was decided with a singing contest? We could spend the next few weeks (months?) watching all of the qualifying candidates performing songs chosen from a random hit parade list. All the necessary rights would be paid to the copyright holders, of course, and we could travel around the continent with our posse. I think I’ll call my program Idol Politician. It works on several different levels, and the advertising derivatives would be enormous.
posted in Idol, politics | Comments Off on Parallel universe or Moebius strip | 327 words
Further proof that the universe is unfolding as it should; last evening saw the first episode of American Idol VII. When anything gets to the point where Roman numerals are useful (football games, kings and popes, encyclopedia volumes) then there’s a whole mythology available to those who care about trivia. Will this be the meltdown season? Is there another Reuben in the wings? Should I be videotaping these programs for my grandchildren?
posted in Idol | Comments Off on Let the auditions begin | 381 words
It’s too easy to fall into the trap of cynicism. After all, “nobody could be that dumb, right?”. Tonight saw me back in front of the Fox, watching the Fifth Grader tests. For a change, a familiar face. And the question.
posted in Idol | Comments Off on Return of a comet | 275 words
The television is on and I can feel the edges of my brain melting and dripping wherever such things go. Lay the blame (first, because I can’t figure out how to reprogram the remote and change the channel, on me) squarely with the producers of “Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?“. Obviously, no. Anyone who has school tomorrow is already in bed or doing something more entertaining. Perhaps playing WOW.
posted in Idol | Comments Off on Trivially entertaining | 246 words
The excuse of being on vacation doesn’t hold much water when the travel part is over. It’s time to get “back in the saddle”, time for putting on the old routine (well-worn clothes). Time to put the house in order.
posted in Idol | Comments Off on Putting on the old routine (well-worn clothes) | 327 words
Wikipedia defines the mediocrity principle as the notion that there is nothing special about humans or the earth. Today offered me two different but complementary examples. Without placing myself among these others (and I’m the first to admit that I follow a path that is in the middle of the road wherever possible), I will cite them and their exemplary behaviour.
posted in environment, Idol | Comments Off on Models of the mediocrity principle | 251 words
