Tonight's American Idol

Here's my ranking of tonight's performances on American Idol:

1. Kris - Absolutely saved the night. Have not been a fan of his, but, WOW! tonight he was awesome!
2. Danny - Went back to what makes him good. That song was right in his wheelhouse;
3. Allison - Not sure if she was really this good tonight but she was better than the remaining 6. She looked like Cyndi Lauper but it did not distract me;
4. Scott - Funny how he sounded pretty good after he finally picked a song originally sung by a male;
5. Adam - If Simon thought Allison shouted her song... Seemed like he wanted to criticize Adam but was scared of inciting a riot. Not sure where Paula was coming from comparing him to Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler. A rocker he is not;
6. Lil - Think the true Lil has been coming out over the last couple of weeks but have never really gotten her all year. Think American Idol is trying to save her? Showcasing the kids was a little over the top;
7. Matt - Just didn't get the song and it sounded like he was mumbling;
8. Anoop - Didn't get his song, either. Wish he had been mumbling;
9. Megan Joy - What can I say?

Anyway, that's the way I heard it.

I'm an Old Coot...

I realized while watching American Idol last week that I'm an old coot. Well, at least when it comes to music.

Joss Stone (whom I'd never heard of before last Thursday) was singing before Smokey Robinson came out, and I caught myself thinking, "If this is what they call music nowadays..." That's when it hit me like a 2 x 4 upside the head. BAM!!! I have become too old for most of today's so-called music!

I was home one weekend during college and was watching a history of rock on TV. Jimi Hendrix was on when the Old Man came downstairs for a snack. Being an old school country music fan, he naturally wondered what that noise was coming from the TV. I told him it was Jimi Hendrix and asked him if Hank Williams could play like that. Just as the last 't' came out of my mouth, Jimi ran the neck of his guitar down the microphone stand. Pop said, "Son, if that's what you call playing a guitar, then the answer is no."

I often think something to that effect when I watch American Idol. Not even sure why I watch the show. Well, I know why. Like most people, I want to hear what Simon has to say about the performances. I also want to hear those occasional performances that make you want to jump around like Paula. I really enjoyed David Cook's "Billy Jean" but just didn't get David Archuletta's "Imagine" nor Blake Lewis' "You Give Love a Bad Name," two songs most people went nuts over.

To me, original music pretty much died in the late 80's. There have been a few good bands come along since then (Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, and a few others) but not many. Seems like the way new "talent" looks and dances is more important than their musical abilities in today's music industry. With the exception of the old school bands, today's new music all sounds pretty much the same to me. But, my parent's generation probably said the same thing in the 60's and 70's, and their parents before that, and their parents before that. Guess that's just the circle of life.

But, I'll keep watching American Idol. I'm rooting for Allison this year. Have even voted for her a couple times. Never voted for anyone before. Haven't ever bought any of the songs before, either. Who knows? Maybe that will happen this year, too. Then again, probably not.

Facebook, MySpace, and Other Social Networks

I've seen several stories in the "mainstream media" lately about the social network phenomenon. They are about how older generations are using them. The writers always seem to take the approach this is a surprise. Can't say it surprises me, though.

To me, it's all about the stage of life we are in. When you are young, you have no concept of what life is about. I can remember thinking how someone who was 40 (my current age) was ancient. You think you are going to live forever and you usually look ahead to what will be instead of where you have been. Some of us keep up with our high school and college friends. More of us lose touch with each other as we get jobs, move away, and/or start our own families. It was the latter for me.

As you get older, you realize how fleeting life on Earth really is. You start thinking more and more about your legacy and the impact you have made here on Earth. It really started hitting me after my children were born. The older they get, the more I think about it.

You also think about the impact others have made on your life. You start thinking about friends, teachers, and co-workers you've known in the past. Wondering how they are doing, where they are, do they remember you, etc.

This is where social networking and the "older" generations intersect, especially people within my age group. We are technically-savvy enough and sentimental enough to take advantage of these sites. We want to know how people in our past are doing. So, we join these sites with the hope of finding people from our past.

Some people I have been trying to find have not signed up, yet. At least not on Facebook, which is the only one I have a page on. Maybe they have moved on with their lives to the point where there's no looking back. Or, more than likely, they think there's not enough time to keep up with a page or they don't understand them.

I have to admit I had no plans to join Facebook. I knew about the social networking pages but had never checked them out. Figured they were all glorified dating services. Then, a friend of ours joined one and asked my wife to join. She ended up setting up a page for both her and me. Ironically, the friend deleted hers shortly after we joined. But, we kept our pages and have really enjoyed Facebook.

We've both had friend invites where we had to ask the other if we know so-and-so. I've had invites from people I haven't thought about in years, much less talked to. I've been able to renew friendships with some people as though we had just spoken last week instead of many years ago. I've especially enjoyed the daily status reports on what is happening in people's lives every day. But, I digress.

To me, these stories are an example of how the mainstream media doesn't always "get" what goes on in the lives of ordinary people. I don't know what stage of life these reporters are in. Maybe they are young and think it's weird for us "old coots" to enjoy the same things they do. Maybe they are older and just don't understand the sites. I don't know. But, if you want them to keep scratching their heads a little, I encourage you join a site if you haven't already. They are easy to join and easy to keep up with. The way I figure it, if 92 year old Kirk Douglas can have a page, why can't you?

Awesome Memories!!!

Vacations are all about creating memories. Sometimes the memories are good. Sometimes they are bad. Sometimes what seems like a bad memory turns in to a good one as time goes by. The best part about memories is they are what you make of them. You don't even have to remember all the details to enjoy them.

The family went to Orlando, FL last week and it was one of the best trips I have ever taken! I have lots of memories from this trip which will remain with me forever. I would like to share some with you and hope they bring back your pleasant memories.

They include (in no particular order):

• The kids' reactions every time they saw a Disney character
• Watching the space shuttle launch at dusk and feeling proud to be an American
• Hearing people around me clap because they were proud, too
• My daughter's excitement the first time she saw Shamu
• My daughter getting more excited seeing a lizard (which she sees just about every day at home) outside the gorilla compound in Animal Kingdom than seeing the gorillas inside the compound
• My son slapping high-fives with everyone around him after he got a game ball at the Braves' spring training game
• My son running the bases and getting autographs after the game
• My wife getting excited collecting Disney pins
• Getting kissed on the cheek by Minnie Mouse
• The whole family getting soaked by 52 degree water at the Shamu show and loving every minute of it (well, I did , anyway)
• Being happy the wife took the cheaper camera that day (it seems to be working now)
• My daughter wishing for and getting twin pearls out of an oyster at Sea World
• Diving (s0rt of) with the sharks at Sea World
• The kids hating Splash Mountain as much as they loved the Haunted Mansion
• My wife beating my score in the Buzz Lightyear ride
• Noticing how the light everywhere we went made my hair look gray in all of our pictures but not my wife or kids (how strange)
• Seeing an older gentleman wearing a t-shirt which said "Growing old is mandatory; Growing up is optional"
• Going to bed every night thinking there's no way tomorrow can be any better
• Being wrong about that every day and loving it!
• Being grateful God gave me the opportunity to enjoy this trip with my family!

So many memories. So little time and space.

Well, thanks for indulging me with my first blog. Never said they would be great but hope you enjoyed it, anyway. If this blog has brought back good memories from any of your past trips, I will consider it a success.