Aging?

Maybe it's a function of getting older, but I've noticed something interesting over the past year or so. I used to read Modern Drummer magazine from cover to cover (I've even published a few articles with them), and when I turned on the E! channel I knew every celebrity on there. I thought my cultural I.Q. was pretty good, even very good.

But lately I pick up a Modern Drummer and think, "Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?" These are guys from bands I've never heard of, who I guess are good and all, but they're not what I choose to listen to. I listen to music that's quite off the beaten path these days, so I'm not up on who's drumming for Pink (who I have heard of, of course; I just don't care). And when I turn on E!, it's a bunch of reality "stars" from shows I never watch who mean nothing to me. Whatever happened to actual celebrities who do something? Yes, I know who Kim Kardashian is, and I respect that booty a great deal. But that booty would never give me a second glance, so who really cares? She's famous for being famous, and that's just ridiculous. Remember when it was only Paris Hilton, and everybody made fun of her? I do. I guess those were the good old days.

And Lady Gaga. WTF? Really? Let's all be Madonna, but INCREDIBLY WEIRD. Same gay following, same provocative videos, same lame, formulaic music. I guess she'll be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, too, and Rush still won't get in. But Rush don't want or need the Hall of Fame, according to them. And so they don't. But I can still complain. Just remember the Peter Gabriel Genesis didn't get into the Hall; it was only the poppy Phil Collins version. That's why Peter didn't show up; he knew. Phil and the boys were gracious, but they knew, too. And anybody who knows anything will never forgive them for "Invisible Touch."

So my cultural I.Q. is sliding into the abyss. Who the HELL is Chad Ochocinco, and why should I care about who he dates? Is he some sort of sports figure? Do I care?

I feel like I'm gradually becoming an old man hoarding my outdated CDs and VHS tapes and crawling away from the world.

I'm watching the Saturday Night Live season two boxed set on DVD, since I still don't have cable that works (which is more painful than I thought it would be), and I had really forgotten how absolutely brilliant Gilda Radner and Bill Murray were. Gilda was iconic - every character (Emily Litella, Baba Wawa, etc.) was thoroughly drawn and clean and hilarious. I saw a sketch in the Candace Bergen episode where she advocates for "extremely stupid people," and Candace starting breaking up within about a minute; Gilda just kept going, adapting her lines to what she had to say. It was beautiful. She deserved a far bigger career than she got; she should have done movies and TV shows and books and whatever. Why Hollywood didn't clamor for her, I really don't know. She was a real gem. Maybe she was TOO talented. That happens. Look at Andy Kaufman (who I'm watching right now), and many others. If you're mild and tame (see Tom Hanks), you make millions; if you have a wild, untamable talent, you can't get a job.

Bill Murray, on the other hand, has had a stellar career, from Caddyshack to Lost in Translation and beyond. But, on SNL, he was everything - he played such a variety of characters it was dizzying. He was a true comic talent (and still is), just showing off what he could do for the first time. Even in a bit part he could steal the stage.

Where are today's Gilda Radners and Bill Murrays? Today we get Dane Cook and a bunch of other "comics" who know nothing about improv, and nothing about acting, and everything about being a celebrity. I'm so tired of celebrities...I want to see somebody with TALENT. We're in danger, I think, of losing American Humor to people who know nothing about it, but who know how to walk a red carpet. Where are the Woody Allens? The Johnny Carsons? Some may say it's an evolution. Sorry; in this case Darwin is wrong. It's a Devolution. We're making a move back to dumbass humor, and that's not a good thing. How many films have you really laughed at lately? We are letting humor become less of an art and more of an assembly line jokefest. It's sad.

I love American humor. It is a unique art form. But we have let it sink into a miasma of jokes and goofiness. When do we get our intelligence back?