Monday, April 05, 2004

Smells Like Ten Years More or less ten years ago today, Kurt Cobain decided that he had had enough.  For some folks finding out that Cobain had committed suicide was one of those "where were you when?" events.  Where were you when JFK was shot?  Where were you when the space shuttle blew up?  Things like that.  Well where was I when I heard the news?  I was driving back to my apartment in San Antonio after putting in a day working at The Psychological Corporation.  I'd taken a temp job there grading linguistics tests that had been given to elementary aged kiddos.  Loads of fun, that job (YAWN).  Yet I always remember that gig because it was while driving home from it that I heard on the radio that Kurt Cobain was dead. Nirvana wasn't even my favorite band at the time and I couldn't profess to being particularly attached to Kurt Cobain.  I didn't own all his cds, wasn't the flannel wearing type, and didn't smoke cigarettes or drink coffee. In other words, I wasn't exactly the poster child for Generation X with dreams of moving to Seattle.  But yet I was profoundly shaken by hearing about his death.  Even now I couldn't tell you exactly why, but I could tell you exactly where I was on the freeway driving home that day.  Strange. But I couldn't tell you where those ten years went.  Ten years?!?  If you went back in time to the Alex Mauldin of 1994 and told him that in ten years he would not only be a high school English teacher (no friggin' way!), but that he'd be an English teacher in Germany, he'd probably tell you to stop smoking the hippie lettuce and quit bothering him because he has a stack of linguistics tests to grade and hours of Kurt Cobain specials to wade through on MTV. Holy crap!  I used to watch MTV ten years ago, too!  That was probably the last time MTV meant anything to me.  In fact, this past year I've probably watched more FOX News than MTV, which is scary on so many levels. Wow.  Ten years!  Ten years ago the world wide web barely existed.  Ten years ago Clinton hadn't even heard of a girl named Monica.  Ten years ago events lie 9/11 were almost unthinkable.  Even the Oklahoma City bombing hadn't happened yet.  Ten years ago the Dallas Cowboys had a team that mattered.  Rock and roll mattered.  George Bush (either one) didn't matter.  The world ten years ago was very different than the world today, if only in the differences in what mattered. But back to Kurt.  I'm sure if I clicked on enough websites, or god forbid turned on MTV, someone is probably doing a "what would Cobain be doing today if he were alive today?" exercise.  Would he still be playing grunge?  Would Nirvana still be together?  Would he still be with that skanky Courtney Love?  Lots of "woulds" and very few real answers. My opinion?  Nevermind my opinion.  My opinion really doesn't matter.  But if Kurt Cobain were alive today, I think he'd probably be wondering where those ten years went, too.  That and wondering why his death still matters. Related links: Nirvana's Kurt Cobain did more than entertain us Fans remember Kurt Cobain for influence on music, style Rolling Stone.com:  Nirvana Anthology 9:34:46 PM     |

So That's What Happened To Seinfeld I was never a regular watcher of the Seinfeld show.  Not that I didn't think it was any good.  I'm just terrible at watching any kind of sitcom.  I never know when they are on and just don't have the burning desire to keep up.  Most sitcoms aren't funny to me, anyway, which adds to my general apathy toward the genre.  I've also never seen an episode of Friends for what that's worth. But I did somehow manage to watch a few episodes of Seinfeld, was aware that it was very popular, and I'm also aware that it is no longer on TV, though I have no idea why, nor do I care to look it up. I also saw quite a few of Jerry Seinfeld's American Express commercials.  These were much easier to watch because they didn't require any extra scheduling effort on my part and were invariably short.  They were also amusing.  Sometimes. Apparently those short, sometimes amusing, commercials weren't enough for everyone, though.  Especially that hardcore group of Seinfeld followers who have been lamenting the day his show went off the air.  Luckily for them, American Express has decided that not only does the world not have enough Jerry Seinfeld anymore, but that the world isn't in deep enough debt.  To deal with both problems, Seinfeld has been teamed up with a not-so-super Superman in what will be a series of short films available online. The first episode is called "Uniform" and is presented at The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman website.  Maybe some of you will find it an unending source of amusement.  I just find it interesting that Jerry Seinfeld gave up a very popular (even though I hardly watched it), and obviously lucrative, television show to appear online in short movies with a cartoon.  American Express must be throwing enough cash to choke a cow at him in order to pull this off.  Still not sure if this was the career move Seinfeld had in mind when he quit the show. Related links: American Express news release about the whole deal Jerry Seinfeld.com - unoffical site 3:24:20 PM     |

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