Loading Up Some Music and Thinking

I"m sitting here at the computer loading some music onto my MP3 player and wondering, am I becoming like my father? I'm sure each generation hears that one day you will grow up to be your parents and each generation swears that it won't be them, but... The funny thing is that as I get older I can't help but to see the truth in that statement. It couldn't be more evident than as I load music into my MP3. Let me try to explain.

My father and I shared a deep love for music. There was many nights where we would sit around our family stereo listening to Muddy Waters and Bobby "Blue" Bland albums on old vinyl, then maybe Simon and Garfunkel and Bob Dylan. We would throw on some Connie Francis or Ann Murray for Mom to make her happy, but we both couldn't wait to get back to the blues or classic folk rock. I remember when Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album came out and how much we both loved it. We borrowed the vinyl from our neighbors and nearly wore it out before getting our own copy. Soon there after I introduced him to Led Zeppelin and he liked the earlier, more bluesy albums. He bought Journey's Escape album after hearing Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' and was quite disappointed when he found out the song wasn't even on that album! Yeah, the musical harmony was probably somewhat unique between us and was certainly one of the elements that helped bond our relationship. It was bliss. Then things kind of changed.

The 80's music scene is what changed. With New Wave dancing it's way from Punk and Hair Metal forming like a greasy puddle dripping from Dee Snyder's perm, I was sucked into the vortex of the 80's musical excesses. I was particularly drawn to Hair Metal, which drew heavy influence from blues music. With my and my dad's love for Blues well established I thought this a natural progression for us both. Not exactly. Some of the first Hair Metal albums my brother and I owned were Ratt's Out of the Cellar an Poison's Look What the Cat Dragged In. I can still here my dad saying, "Why do you listen to that Rat Poison? It's horrible!" I tried to bridge the musical gap growing between us with Whitesnake's self titled, 1987 release. But, to no avail. We still shared time listening to B.B. King and Buddy Guy. Not to mention The Beatles, which we both loved. He would let me play him something new and would tell me his thoughts, usually a scathing dismissal followed by a "I remember when..." comment. Our musical synchronicity was ever so sightly askew.

So, here I am today loading up my MP3 player and wondering what does my son have on his? I just loaded up The Beach Boy's Pet Sounds and Breakfast in America by Supertramp. Those are what one might call "old school". Recently he wanted me to listen to some Radiohead. After listening to it I was not sure whether to laud it for being innovative or say I thought it was kind of weird. It reminded me of Bauhaus with some pop sensibilities thrown in. However, he and I share the same passionate love for music that I shared with my father. We also seem to be going through a similar stylistic shift that my father and I went through as well. It's funny how history repeats itself.

OK, so I'm becoming like my father in some ways, but I don't think that's a bad thing. My dad and I didn't always appreciate the same songs, but we always appreciated and respected each others passion for music. I think my son and I are in the same place. I know he has Pet Sounds on his MP3 player And he knows I have OK Computer on mine. As with me and my dad its music, not the genre that we love and can always share. That's a pretty cool thing to emulate from my dad. I bet my son doesn't realize that one day he'll have a similar epiphany and think, "Oh No! I'm turning into my old man!" Ha! Well, if it's love for music he continues to have and hopefully passes on, then that will be OK with me.

Still in the Game...Sort of...

I have failed The Pit of 100 Trials for the tenth time. I have to admit that it's driving me crazy that I haven't finished it yet. Dang. What, you don't know what that is? It's a part of Super Paper Mario you unlock after finishing the main campaign. What's Super Paper Mario you ask? It's a video game for the Nintendo Wii game console. Why is a grown man playing a video game, you might ask? Uh, well...

OK, it's not a big deal. My wife thinks it's a bit silly, but I'm not alone out there. After a Google search I found some interesting statistics about video game play. The first thing is not a surprise, 97% of teenagers play video games. It's a perfect 100% in my house. This next stat was a little surprising and also a little comforting, 60% of adults ages 30 to 49 play video games. This next one did surprise me, 23% of adults 65 years old or older also play. So much for the "teaching old dogs new tricks" myth. Perhaps the retirement years holds more for us than bingo night down at the American Legion hall after all. Of course, males play more video games than females in all age categories, so the ladies can still hold that over our heads when we haven't finished the honey-do list.

Still, why do I play video games? Well, I've actually mulled that over and have an answer. Like most people, I think they are amazingly fun. Video games can be visually stunning, intricately complex and involved, mentally stimulating and simply an enjoyable way to spend time. I know people will argue if it's a good way to spend time, but I'll let them debate that.

But that's not the whole reason. I play partly because I have a very competitive nature. I was the kid that spent his summers down at the neighborhood park playing whatever pick up game came along. I played little league baseball. I tried to play high school football, but my mom feared I'd get injured and wouldn't let me. If she would have seen us play tackle football elsewhere... man, that was violent! I'm lucky I never got seriously hurt. As a young adult I was in softball and basketball leagues a couple nights a week. Then I blew my knee out. Three knee operations later and I simply don't compete in sports anymore. What's the kid pent up inside a grown man supposed to do? Well, I have found video games. It started with the sporting games like Madden football and some baseball. I used to have the Sega Genesis gaming system years ago and loved to play Sonic the Hedgehog, so naturally I drifted toward other games and found them fun and engaging. So, for a 41 year old dude with a bum knee, video games replaced sports and helped satisfy that competitive nature. It's purely anecdotal, but If you ask other older guys why they play video games you might get a similar response.

Now, not all the studies I found were good news. It would seem that older folks who play video games are more sedentary, over weight and are less sociable. I thought it was funny that it took a study to figure that one out... Of course, a lot of adults are sedentary, over weight and less sociable who scoff at the thought of gaming... and I think they're lazy... just sayin'. But I wasn't surprised to find adult gamers are more susceptible to depression. I actually can relate. I still can't finish that stupid pit of a million trials! My son informed me that there is a second pit of a million trials elsewhere in the game as well! Now that is depressing. I simply have to beat it! Dang video game!

So What's a Pork Barrel Anyway?

I think most people have heard the term, "pork barrel spending". In fact, I just asked my thirteen daughter if she had heard the term and she answered, " Yeah, on Bulls and Bears". I didn't know she watched that show. Hm... I then asked her if it's a good or bad thing. She said, "Bad...because they (they being politicians) waste money". Dang. My girl is pretty astute when it comes to politics. Makes me proud. Then I asked her if she knew what a pork barrel was and she replied, "A what?". OK, I might have mumbled the question in order to elicit the answer I wanted. Still, I will now endeavor to enlighten her and whoever else might happen to run across this spewing of useless verbiage as to what a pork barrel is and then further ramble on about pork barrel spending.

Here's a bit of etymology for the phrase "pork barrel". Before refrigeration pork was preserved in wooden barrels of brine. (Now that sounds yummy, doesn't it?) There, you have your pork barrel.

Now for the etymology of"pork barrel spending". It was first used as a political metaphor in the early 1900's and it seems to refer to the distribution of salt pork to slaves on plantations. The slaves would rush the barrels in order to get as much as they could. Early journalists and political critics used this image to describe politicians rushing to put in as many appropriation items for their districts as they could in omnibus spending bills.

Now, I know it seems racist to compare slaves trying to acquire sustenance to the wasteful spending of America's tax dollars, but let's face it, America was racist at the beginning of the 20th century. We still see the scars of racism today and they still often bleed, so I'm a little surprised to find the term still used in political discourse today. Not because I think it should be taken as an offense, but because politicians are usually so careful to be politically correct. Politicians are quick to harangue others over an offensive racial comment (and rightfully so), but have no qualm with enslaving minorities to whatever social program they implement with the funds they get through pork barrel appropriation. Seems kind of ironic.

Racist connotations aside, it is still interesting to find out what a pork barrel is. There are many phrases we just take for granted and with a fuller understanding of their origin we acquire a fuller understanding of their meaning. I'm still impressed that my baby girl knew what pork barrel spending was all about. Hm, I think I'll now ask her if she's heard of an earmark. (She has!)