Behind the Headlines

Or maybe just temporarily maim it.

I just submitted a story about National Turn Off Your TV Week ending on Sunday. These are the kinds of stories I love and hate working on. It’s definitely interesting, but has certainly robbed my viewing of it’s guiltless innocence. I read all the statistics, I talked to parents, I spoke with a sociology/anthropology professor, but still, when I went home yesterday after doing all this, I turned on my TV. It’s not that I can’t live without it… I could if I needed to. It’s just that I’m a TV girl, living in a TV world.
For years in college, I didn’t have a television. When we did get one, it was old and got 1.5 channels somewhat clearly. When my roommate Chuck moved in he insisted on getting super cable. It was like having Vegas in our living room for about two weeks before the novelty wore off. When I would come home Chuck, who took pills that looked like lentils, would be sitting in the same spot, watching TV still or again. When he wasn’t there, an indent indicating his dedication remained. When he dropped out of school soon thereafter and moved out, we cut off the cable. That was the only time in 10 years that I actually had access to cable in my house.
When people flew planes into the World Trade Center, another roommate in a different apartment and I listened to it on the radio. We carted our neighbor’s tube over to try to see what was going on. Without cable we mostly got static mixed with a few alarmingly clear shots of the chaos in New York.
When I moved from Marquette to Minneapolis a month later, I had nothing. I was given a little TV by an aunt and uncle, one that had to be changed by the dials, and cable was still beyond my reach. At least there without hook up 7 or so channels would come in crisply. MTV2 would come in on the weekends just in time for Sucker Free Sundays. Most of the time it was Telemundo.
When I moved back to Michigan, and then tucked into a remote corner of Monroe County, cable was finally mine. It’s been about one year exactly since I moved to the county and got cable. It’s odd how quickly I slipped into watching or having the TV on most of the time when I’m home. And I’m a reader.
The concept of Turn Off Your TV week is great - the point of drawing a person more consciously into their habits is a strong one. But it’s more difficult than I initially thought now that I rest in the warm bosom of my TV and its wide array of opportunities. In some way I feel like I’ve stored up enough non-TV life to earn a free pass on watching Golden Girls reruns if I damn well please.

That said, I now have to take a more deliberate role in selecting to watch it rather than just defaulting and searching to find something, anything to entertain me.

Over the weekend, I logged onto MySpace to check it out since I hadn’t been there in awhile. Oy.

What I found still has me a little shocked. Not the content and the solicitation and so on and so forth - I’ve been one of the defenders of social sites like MySpace for awhile now because they’re only as dangerous as you let them be. But because I found out that one of my cousins is pregnant. Not just a little pregnant, but giving birth in less than three months, the baby already has a name and they know his gender pregnant. Through a series of random events and clicks I found this out.

My first thought: Is this for real? What a weird joke. Nope. It’s real; it has to be.

Second thought: “Mom, did you know about this?” Yeah, she says, I just found out and forgot to tell you. No one really knew until last week.

I’ve heard of people finding out they were no longer dating because their person had changed their profile to “single”, but this was a little different. People have been scraping out of break ups for forever, but a pregnancy those involved are happy about?

Wow. MySpace as the messenger. I’m not sure I really like that, but I suppose it’s better than not knowing. I guess it just shows the pervasiveness of the Internet, and networks like this, in passing on news that was once considered personal and merited at least a phone call.

A story from businesswire.com, giving “all purpose” a new meaning:

MINNEAPOLIS–When Cookie severely fractured her leg, Mary Jane Martinez fashioned a cast from a Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day All-Purpose Cleaner bottle. Martinez, a happy farmer from the Missouri Ozarks, is hero of the mantra “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” Eight weeks after the break, the Mrs. Meyer’s cast came off to reveal a well-healed leg. Good thing, too, as Cookie’s kid is due in just a few weeks.

The real Mrs. Meyer, Thelma, is dedicated to creating earth-friendly and cruelty-free household cleaners containing plants found in her garden in Iowa. The company’s entire line of aromatherapeutic household cleansers is hard-working, yet gentle on the earth.

By the way, why is there snow in the Ozarks in this picture?

Kermit’s lament years ago was truer than he knew. It ain’t easy being green - sometimes. But, it’s getting easier.

It seems like green is the new black. As in, being “green”, as in being environmentally conscious is now the more fashionable thing to do.

In covering Earth Day stuff for a few years now, it feels like this year it’s really taking off. I don’t know that Al Gore can be credited for inventing environmental awareness - much like this ‘internet’ he speaks of - but I think the movie he put together may have something to do with it. Just general interest in the Global Warming debate, maybe, has sparked something.

Also, the trends in the American culture seem to recirculate every 30 years or so. With the war in Iraq drawing comparisons to Vietnam, it seems somewhat instinctual - and pardon the pun - natural that we would turn an eye more toward living organically and sustainably, a movement that really gained steam in the 70’s.

Like so many things borrowed from the past though, perhaps this is more than a trend, maybe it will become our way of life, rather than our fad diet. Hey bell bottoms and hip huggers infiltrated their way into everyday dress, were repurposed and renamed and have stuck. Who among us doesn’t have a pair of boot cut or flare leg pants?

I had to make an emergency trip to the library yesterday after an alarming conversation with a co-worker.

Talking about all the literacy-related events with the Big Read this month, she mentioned that it was funny how some libraries have trimmed stacks of the classics to make room for more popular titles.

Cut out Hemingway, Twain and Dickens? For what, dating guides and comic books?

To each his own, I understand. But this is true to a point.

There are more copies floating around of the book on the newest diet craze than there are with Voltaire’s “Candide.” At least people are reading something, I guess.
In our own library I am comforted to find more than a dozen copies of many of what I would consider “the essentials.”

Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” can be found at 12 different branches and in four different formats. The words of Albert Camus can be found in better than half of those locations.

My personal favorite “Slaughterhouse-Five” is at six branches. And Nietzche’s Zarathustra still speaks from the shelves of four library branches.

But scary indeed if we would enter a library and not find Atlas shrugging.

Welcome! This weekly blog is to keep you in the ‘now’ of what’s going on in the pop culture world. I’ll fill you in on upcoming concerts, what DVDs are being released and what’s going on around town.
Be sure to check the weekly updates so you don’t miss out on what everyone else is talking about.
Here are some dates and events you will want to pencil into your calendar. If you hear about any cool events, be sure to let me know. Either reply to this post or email at mswartz@monroenews.com.
If you feel like chatting, call me at 240-5784.
Here’s your first dose of news:

Small screen debuts
With the cold, overcast days upon us, you might want to stay inside this weekend. If so, try to rent Casino Royale – just released earlier this week. Since that one will be snatched up fast, the Prestige is a worthy rental. You won’t be disappointed.
A nice, safe romantic comedy (aka: chic flick) is the Holiday with Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Jack Black. It just came out this past Tuesday. But if Jude or Cameron aren’t your type, what about Patrick Swayze or Demi Moore? Buy the special collector’s edition DVD of “Ghost,” it’s on the shelves right now. And yes, it really has been 17 years since it debuted on the big screen – yikes!

Listen up
A lot of potentially good albums will be released on Tuesday. The one I am most looking forward to is “We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank” by Modest Mouse. One of the singles, “Dashboard,” is already getting decent airtime.
I know their previous album, “Good News For People Who Love Bad News” was their breakout in the mainstream, but my personal favorite album is “Lonesome Crowded West.” Let me know what you think.
Also in stores Tuesday is the debut of Stephen Marley, the son of Reggae legend Bob Marley. His album, “Mind Control” is worth a listen. He’s been in the music business a long time so I’m curious to hear what he has to offer. It will be hard not to compare him to his dad, though.
Yet another American Idol contestant is looking to break through. Elliott Yamin, who fell short last season, is releasing a self-titled debut album on Tuesday. If you don’t remember him, he’s the one nicknamed “snaggletooth” for his unfortunate crossbite. But now he’s all smiles – he had $50,000 worth of porcelain veneers put in along with other dental work.

He got your votes, now get his tickets
Do you need your American Idol fix? If so, tickets are now on sale for a Taylor Hicks concert. He’s performing April 22 at Royal Oak Music Theatre. Get your tickets by calling 800-919-6272.
In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last year, Taylor won last season’s “American Idol” over Katherine McPhee.

Scratch your funny bone
If sitcom shows are letting you down, check out some really funny comedians performing in the area. Grafton Inn in Carleton holds a Comedy Night every Wednesday and Ambassador Hall in Monroe offers a dinner comedy show on the second Friday of each month. The performers are no amateurs, either. They are comedians you’ve seen on Comedy Central or HBO. Check it out!

Sports
If you are a basketball fan, I think you know what time it is. March Madness is running wild. Hours and hours of college basketball can be seen all weekend long.
If you prefer professional basketball, then don’t miss the Detroit Pistons take on the Dallas Mavericks at home on Sunday. It starts at 3:30 p.m. This is a true test for the Pistons because the Mavericks boast the best record in the league.

I was wondering if anyone was as surprised as I was to find out a portion of the movie “Jumper” was filmed in the backyard of a Newport couple. I was skeptical at first, but the family has tons of pictures and were more than willing to let the film crew rent their home for a day to film the scene and to talk to me about the whole experience.
If a couple of people knocked on your door and said they were looking for a place to shoot a movie scene, would you let them?

I wish these guys were from here: (Only because it would be a fun story to write.)

http://www.crazyskimask.com