Wide Awake Yet Sleeping

Yes, it has been a while since I wrote here, I agree. And I apologize for my infrequent posting. I hope to change that once this semester is over. I will actually have something new and exciting to write about come June because I will be in Nicaragua for 11 weeks this summer! Very exciting, but I can't fully immerse myself in thoughts about the summer given that quite a bit of work still separates me from my departure date. That's as far as updates go.

The second thought that I wanted to put down is just how unexpectedly spring has crept up on me this year. I had been waiting and waiting. I saw the trees bloom but then I guess I stopped paying attention. At some point last week I actually finally noticed that dandelions and violets had sprung up all over the lawns on my way to school. Somehow that made me feel a little sad; I have always been good about noticing such things. And noticing has always put a smile on my face. But I guess my immersion in all the minute details of my school work made me completely overlook the big picture. That's just one of the things I actually finally noticed that "I didn't notice". I don't even want to think about what else I have missed out on (sigh).

Well, I guess I at least learned something from this: 1) I am never taking more than the regular load of classes again (what was I thinking?). 2) I really need my dose of outdoor time to be happy and feel sane. 3) Taking notice of little things is a treat not to be underestimated.

The Farce Factor

Don't you feel that these days farce and ridicule is a proxy for quality of entertainment? I do. We are bombarded on a daily basis by reality shows that bet on controversy, drama between participants, participants' lack of intelligence, and other things that I don't find synonymous with quality, for their success. At best, it is funny. At worst, it is insulting. Granted, I don't have to watch these shows and I don't, but I am still appalled by what this "quality of entertainment" suggests of people (i.e., consumers of TV programs) as a whole. It seems to suggest that most of us find joy in others' misery, embarrassment, lower intelligence, and social faux pas.

By now, I am sure most of you have heard of the Ken Lee phenomenon. A participant in the Bulgarian version of American Idol sang Mariah Carey's "Without You" for the audition, or rather - attempted to emulate the sounds of that song, all along thinking that the song was called "Ken Lee". If you have not yet been witness to this, check here. Well, only a few weeks later, she is the most famous participant in Music Idol to date and people across the globe have heard of her performance. She has been called on for multiple appearances both in Music Idol and other TV shows. Bulgarian news also reported that the head of EMI contacted the head of Universal for Bulgaria because he was really interested in her performance. You only need to search for "Ken Lee" on youtube and you will be presented with multiple instances of her appearances to date.

So, sadly, this is just another instance of what it seems to take to become popular. It has less to do with your qualities as a performer or ability to sing and more to do with the element of farce that you bring to your performance. But I guess that is nothing new. Singing puppets often dominate the music charts in Europe. Boy and girl bands assembled per recipe elicit strong fan followings. What I find interesting though is that the spread of technology (cable TV, internet, etc.) seems to have facilitated the distribution (and often encouraged the copying) of ridiculous and garbage performances. But perhaps that is a topic for another day :)