Who do I still think I am??

This one's about the generation and how we listen.

30DBC PROMPT: "How do you predict people of the future will remember the reputation of the generation of teens living today? Pay attention to pop culture like music, movies, TV shows, and literature."

What's up y'all? Ya know, personally this is a challenging prompt, because I don't think many people have the tendency to look at what's going on all around them and say (to themselves, or out loud) "This is how my generation is going to be defined". I think it's rather hard to simultaneously live in the now while gambling on an idea that becomes sort of the face of a particular time frame. Case in point: nobody expected The Beatles to be as big a part of the '60's as they were when they first landed in America; Vietnam and Reaganomics meant just as much to their respective decades as much as anything else; and the '90's spawned a renaissance in boy bands, teenybopper Mickey Mouse Club singers, reality television, and wearing one's clothes backwards (RIP Chris Kelly, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=010KyIQjkTk). I'm still trying to figure out what the '00's were all about; maybe the years are still too fresh and there hasn't been a long enough period of detachment from them yet.

Pop culture really is a funny thing to gauge and compare, especially in an era where social networking is more prominent than ever before. Take this list compiled by Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/rolling-stones-best-of-2013-20131201. It would take hours upon hours, days even, to try and separate the wheat from the chaff in regards to what's actually relevant from 2013 versus what's just a disposable commodity. What will have staying power, and what will end up on a t-shirt you're never gonna wear anymore that just gets stuffed into the back of a dresser drawer? Will we remember in 20 years what the fox said? Will the light go on for Miley Cyrus (and not the one she blazes up with) and stay on longer than her clothes did? Is Breaking Bad one of the greatest television shows ever, or was it really, really good this year and everyone paid more attention because it was in its last season? I don't know.

Everything seems to move at a much faster rate than it did many yesterdays ago. Already people are waiting on what the next biggest technological advances will be; Facebook and Snapchat are so 2011. Back when I was a teenager, looking back on a year that had just passed never would've looked like this: http://www.google.co.uk/trends/topcharts?zg=full&hl=en-gb; we would've had to settle for a list in the newspaper or a montage at the end of a nightly national news broadcast. And with the speed of change increasing exponentially, so does the pressure (especially on teenagers, I believe) to navigate trends and keep up with whatever the latest whatever is these days. Like I alluded to earlier, we may not know what that is yet, or perhaps we won't know until we've had the benefit of hindsight down the road. I just hope for the sake of humanity that twerking goes away really soon.

BCF PROMPT: "What's your opinion of music nowadays?"

I kinda made myself sad thinking about this prompt earlier today. I pride myself in having a large collection and extensive knowledge of music (if you haven't checked out https://www.facebook.com/asongadaycuzIcan, please do and give it a like), but I have a hard time getting into new bands and artists. I don't think it's because it's terrible, because clearly some bands win critical acclaim every time a magazine trots out a new issue. It's more likely that I tend to attach myself emotionally to music and as it relates to certain situations, and nothing I've heard recently has affected me in such a way.

It could be too that age has stopped creepin' and finally caught up with me (but you'll only hear that pushed out of my cold, dead lips), and the truth that nothing's as good or ever will be as good as everything I've fallen into place with over the first 38 years of my life. But are my standards too high? Will there never be anything close to the likes of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Beastie Boys, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Wilco, or other bands I've grown up with? Probably not. But that still doesn't explain why nothing moves me the same way as I was when I was younger.

I may have to go digging around for a copy of the book Nothing Feels Good by Andy Greenwald (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Feels_Good:_Punk_Rock,_Teenagers,_and_Emo), because it does explain a little about how we can grow up listening to certain bands or types of music and then experience changes in taste over time. But there's gotta be some kind of reason for why I don't care for anything "new" or that's out of the comfort zone I've long established. Maybe music just sucks right now and is in some kind of downward, cyclical slump and the world is waiting for some artist or performer to pull us out of a collective rut. Who knows.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

I'm fully aware that today is a national day of remembrance for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr...everybody's posted their statuses on Facebook about how cool it is to have the day off and this or that, but I've seen very few posts that actually recognized the man for what he's meant to this country (and to the world). I feel like I say this every year, but the fight's still not over, and the teachings of Dr. King should be not only celebrated, but upheld on a daily basis. Still, with as much progress that has been made in the quest for civil rights for all people, nobody should be satisfied until everyone- regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other way a person chooses to discriminate against another- is afforded the same treatment as every other citizen on this great planet we all share. Even though this song is well over 20 years old, the basic message and principle behind it is still relevant to society today. As many great scholars and activists have said before, "There is only one race; the human race."

THE DAILY BOX SCORE:

Anyone catch the end of that Seahawks/49ers game last night for the NFC Championship? First of all, it was a terrible game. Poorly played, coached and officiated. Neither team looked like they would be a match for Denver. Then there was the bizarre postgame interview with stellar Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, which seemed to incite enough opinions on either side of the fence (you either loved it or hated it). Very rarely does someone make that much of a difference on me after about thirty seconds of face time on national television that I feel compelled to hop on Twitter to voice my opinion...

And this is knowing full well that his comments ("I'm the best cornerback in the game" was probably the least inflammatory of his statements) were gonna get scrutinized not only in the 24/7/365 news cycle sports has become, but also because this happened right after the game that propelled Seattle into the Super Bowl (which itself is no stranger to two weeks full of every story imaginable regarding everyone from the biggest names to the people who work for the people in the front office of each team...it's the world's biggest fishbowl). Now, not to sound like a Sherman apologist, but this article nails the entire situation on the head and puts the moments of that interview in an entirely different perspective. http://www.forbes.com/sites/tommytomlinson/2014/01/19/22-brief-thoughts-about-th...

Speaking of football, at the beginning of the season I did a little preview to the season. Two weeks from today, after the Super Bowl is over and all the major awards have been given out, I'll revisit that entry and see how I did with my predictions.

Here's a little humor regarding Martin Luther King...I defy anyone to tell me this clip isn't from a great movie. "You ain't never met Martin Luther The King!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHUML0EZ1BQ

"Invalid Item"  is underway, but there's still time to enter if you wanna be a part of it. There's a great lineup and all kinds of neat things. Can't wait to start getting into the entries...should be a lot of fun.

The doctor's appointment I'd been putting off for months? Well, it's finally gonna happen. On Feb. 14th, of all days. And it couldn't come soon enough...I woke up in the middle of the night for the first time in quite awhile because my surgically-repaired left ankle was in a lot of pain. People say, "Oh, well, it must really bother you when the weather gets bad!" No, it bothers me because there is a plate and five screws in there that weren't there when I was born, and I haven't left the comfort of my building in a few days, so I don't necessarily know that it's super cold and shitty outside unless I look out the window or pay attention to what people say about the weather on Facebook.

I think I had more to complain about, but I'll stop there because, ummmm, that's where I feel like leaving off for the day. Peace, yes you, me, myself and I, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!