Escape from American Idol

I am still travelling at the moment, and therefore was unable to write my post. Our hosts last night spurred us to watch the final American Idol, a show that I have never watched and hope to never watch again. I was squirming in my seat for two hours, bombarded with advertisements for Ford and Coca-Cola. And, I didn't really think that any of these singers were all that impressive.

So, this is one of those moments when I realize how out of synch I am with the average, American public. I hope its not because I am simply too snooty or ivory towerish to identify with reality shows such as this. My real distaste comes from the pace and business of the show. The editing, the sound, the colors, the product placement simply make me dizzy. And, of course, Fox (which produces the show) tends to always makes me feel really stressed out during one of their programs. Sadly, the major focus of these programs seem to be to sell, sell and sell. There is no excuse, otherwise, for why I had to wait 2 hours for information they already had.

When the program ended, we got DC Fox news, and boy was that even more uncomfortable. The first seven minutes were about: 3 murders (including a stabbing at the Nordstrom in Bethesda), a school bus driver who sexually assaulted a 9 year-old girl (and has a day-care in his home), and the unbelievable dilapidation of DC public schools in NW. I had to stand up and excuse myself. After 2hrs and 7 minutes of FOX, I was absolutely agitated. If I were to watch that everyday, I would be a neurotic mess.

As an antidote to last night, I am sitting in this quiet and peaceful library at James Madison University. My only frustration has been that the space bar on the key board sticks, so I have to type more slowly than I would like.